Битва на Ирпене: литовско-киевское сражение XIII века?

Semi legendary, supposed 1320s battle between Lithuania and Kiev

The Battle on the Irpin River was a semi legendary battle between the armies of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Principality of Kiev. According to the story, Gediminas, the Grand Duke of Lithuania, conquered Volhynia before turning his attention to Kiev. He was opposed by Prince Stanislav of Kiev allied with the Principality of Pereyaslavl and Bryansk. Lithuanians achieved a great victory and extended their influence to Kiev. There are no contemporary sources attesting to the battle. It is known only from late and generally unreliable Lithuanian Chronicles. Therefore, historians disagree whether it was an actual battle in the early 1320s

As told by the Lithuanian Chronicles, having made peace with the Teutonic Order, Gediminas marched against Volhynia. The Lithuanian Army successfully attacked and captured Volodymyr. Prince Vladimir (most likely an incorrect name for Andrew of Galicia) was killed during the battle. His brother Leo II of Galicia fled to his brother in law in Bryansk. The Lithuanian Army spent the winter in Brest and, the second week after Easter, marched against the Principality of Kiev. Left without its ruler, Kiev surrendered. The Lithuanians also captured Vyshhorod, Cherkasy, Kaniv, Putyvl, as well as Pereiaslav. Algimantas, Mindaugas' son from the Alšėniškiai family, was installed in Kiev as Gediminas' viceroy.

Information about the Lithuanian conquest comes from generally confused and unreliable Lithuanian Chronicles (second and third redaction) and Ukrainian (Gustynskaia Chronicle) produced many years after the events. No contemporary sources directly corroborate the story. In the 1880s, Ukrainian historian Volodymyr Antonovych was the first to critically evaluate the chronicles and dismiss the campaign and battle as fiction. However, after careful analysis, modern historians believe that Antonovich was too critical and that there is some truth to the story. After the attack in 1315, the Principality allied with the Teutonic Order, a long standing Lithuanian enemy. A link between this alliance and the Lithuanian attack was suggested by Bronisław Włodarski. The Lithuanian takeover of Cherkasy, Kaniv, Putyvl probably refers to a campaign led by Vytautas in 1392. It is known that brothers Andrew and Leo of Galicia–Volhynia died sometime between May 1321 and May 1323. Bolesław Jerzy was poisoned in 1340 bringing about the prolonged Galicia–Volhynia Wars that split the territory between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Kingdom of Poland. Contemporary sources also do not indicate that the brothers were slain by the Lithuanians.

Names recorded in the Chronicle are often confused. The Chronicle mentions Prince Vladimir of Volodymyr. No such prince was known at the time of Gediminas' reign; the last Prince Vladimir III Ivan Vasilkovich died in 1289. Further, contemporary sources attest that brothers Andrew and Leo of Galicia–Volhynia died sometime between May 1321 and May 1323. Roman of Bryansk was a 13th century prince; Dmitry Romanovich was Prince of Bryansk at the time. It could also be explained as an error and confusion of the patronymic name with the first name of a more famous predecessor. There is no evidence to prove or disprove whether Leo and Dmitry Romanovich were brothers in law. Historians had suggested that the three names were borrowed from an earlier campaign: the Hypatian Codex recorded a 1274 battle between the Lithuanians and Vladimir of Volodymyr, Leo I of Galicia, and Roman of Chernihiv and Bryansk at Drahichyn. S. C. Rowell found a mention of Ioann Stanislavich who, Rowell extrapolated, could have been a prince of Vyazma and son of Stanislav of Kiev (Stanislav is not a common name among East Slavs). A list of Olshanskis found in the Pskov Caves Monastery mentions Algimantas (Olgimont) who was baptized as Michael. His son Ivan Olshansky was a prominent noble in the Grand Duchy and, in 1399, became viceroy in Kiev after Skirgaila's death. Historians struggled to reconcile Algimantas with Fiodor (Theodore) mentioned in 1331. Lithuanians gained full control of the city only in 1362 after the Battle of Blue Waters against the Golden Horde.