Mother and stepmother: About the life of N. Dmitrovna, Mstislav’s princess

Abstract

The Russian chronicle tradition is characterized by considerable rigor in using the terminology of matrilineal kinship and affinity. Whereas in the case of male kinship a “recount” is possible which admits that an uncle or father-in-law could be called “father” in relation to a younger prince, the situation with the word “mother”, for example, is different, and this term was usually used in its direct meaning. This fact makes exceptions to this rule even more interesting. Thus, N. Dmitrоvna, the second wife of Mstislav the Great, is the only princess known to us who was named mother in relation to her stepson. Another unique situation is associated with the name of this woman: her own son, Prince Vladimir Mstislavich, received the nickname “macheshich” (son of a stepmother), equally exceptional for Old Russian chronicles. In this article I will try to show how these phenomena are related; how the unexpected “motherhood” of the Russian princess can explain her departure to Chernigov, the fiefdom of her late husband’s political opponents, and how complex and, at the same time, long-term were the family and political ties of the Mstislav clan.