 saint michael of chernigov or mikhail vsevolodovich ( â saray, september 20, 1246) was a rus' prince (a member of the rurik dynasty). he was grand prince of kiev (1236â1240, 1240, 1241â1243); and he was also prince of pereyaslavl (1206), of novgorod-seversk (1219â1226), of chernigov (1223â1235, 1242â1246), of novgorod (1225â1226, 1229â1230), and of halych (1235â1236). archaeological evidence reveals that chernihiv towns enjoyed an unprecedented degree of prosperity during his period which suggests that promoting trade was a priority for him. commercial interests, in part, also motivated him to seize control of halych and kiev because they were channels through which goods from the rhine valley and hungary passed to chernihiv (ukraine). he also negotiated commercial treaties and political alliances with the poles and the hungarians. he alleviated the tax burden of the novgorodians and granted their boyars greater political freedom from the prince. he was the last autonomous senior prince of kiev, where he was deposed not by a more powerful prince but by the invincible mongols. on the eve of mongol invasion, he was one of the most powerful princes in rusâ. he has been accused of ineffective leadership because he failed to unite the princes of rusâ against the invaders; in defense it must be pointed out that this was an impossible task. mikhail was the first prince of the olgovichi (the dynasty of chernigov) to become a martyr according to the commonly understood meaning of the word: he underwent the penalty of death for persistence in his christian faith. he and 
1180s_births 1246_deaths 13th-century_Christian_saints 13th-century_Eastern_Orthodox_martyrs 13th-century_Russian_princes Eastern_Catholic_saints Eastern_Orthodox_saints Murdered_Russian_monarchs Olgovichi_family Orthodox_monarchs People_executed_by_the_Golden_Horde Princes_of_Chernigov Princes_of_Halych Princes_of_Novgorod Rulers_of_Kievan_Rus\' Russian_Roman_Catholic_saints Ukrainian_Roman_Catholic_saints