VLADIMIR BECOMES THE CAPITAL OF RUSSIA
Peace in Vladimir was short-lived, however. Mihalko died that year,
1176. The men of Vladimir acknowledged Vsevolod and kissed the cross to
him, as did all the Suzdal men then in Vladimir. The popular voice was
in favor of Vsevolod, but the boyars of Rostoff insisted that in the
oath given to the late prince no mention had been made of his brother,
hence no man was bound to consider him as heir of Mihalko, and this
occupation of the throne was illegal. “Come to us quickly!” said the
boyars, in a message to Mystislav. “We will have none but thee to rule
over us.”
Vsevolod marched now with his forces toward Suzdal, but the people were
not altogether satisfied with him; they complained of his kindness, and
his self-effacing politeness to rebels. He had sent to Mystislav, his
nephew, saying: “Vladimir and Pereyaslavl have kissed the cross to me;
they are mine. Rostoff has sent for thee. Let it be so; stay thou in
Rostoff. Let Suzdal wait; whomever Suzdal chooses will be prince
there.” Mystislav was not opposed to this offer, but the boyars who had
sent for him would not consider it and said: “If thou think to be
reconciled with thy uncle, we will not permit thee.”
Mystislav now invaded Vladimir, and from Yurieff sent his uncle a
message, which was something between a demand and a request to visit
him for a personal conference. Vsevolod seemed ready to go, but when
his partisans heard of the matter their anger was very great. “Think
not,” cried they, “to visit the camp of the enemy. Those people are
seeking thy life; they are oath-breakers, all of them. Are we to perish
because thou art soft-hearted?”
So Vsevolod refused the request and a fierce battled ensued with
Mystislav, his nephew, near Yurieff. The boyars of Rostoff and their
followers fought with great valor. The men of Vladimir, “the masons and
carpenters,” needed no urging to pay back the insults which they had
received, and strike down the men who had tried to enslave them. The
battle hung long in even balance, till the Pereyaslavl men “tore
forward with all their strength,” and pushed back the right wing of
Mystislav’s forces; at this juncture the Vladimir men, aided by a
regiment from Suzdal, swept everything before them. Mystislav fled from
the field with few followers; not many of his adherents could save
themselves. His two main advisers, Dobrynya Dalgi and Ivanko
Stefanovitch, fell in the battle. The surviving boyars were seized and
bound with ropes. Mystislav made his way to Novgorod, but Novgorod men
conducted him out of the city with these words: “God has given judgment
against thee, in the dispute between thee and thy uncle.”
He went then to Glaib of Ryazan for assistance. Glaib gave fresh aid to
his brother-in-law, and they raided Vladimir territory at once,
plundering and burning all before them. At last they burned Moscow.
This action forced Vsevolod to leave Rostoff regions, and make ready to
attack Glaib’s inheritance. But Glaib marched home quickly from Moscow,
and Vsevolod deferred the attack till his forces were properly
assembled. Novgorod of its own will had offered volunteers. From
Chernigoff were coming Oleg and Vladimir, sons of Sviatoslav, with good
warriors. From southern Pereyaslavl on the Alta were coming men under
Vladimir, Vsevolod’s nephew. Vsevolod set out for Ryazan toward the
beginning of winter, but on the way halted at Kolomna, where he
received most astonishing intelligence,—intelligence which turned his
campaign in another direction.
Glaib with his two sons, and with Mystislav, who led a large force of
Polovtsi, had gone by other roads to Vladimir, the capital. The
Polovtsi were plundering, burning, and taking captives; Glaib had given
them a free hand on every side. He himself had seized Bogolyuboff, had
torn down the chief doors of its church and stripped the place of
everything.
Vsevolod, moving with swift marches toward his capital, found the
invaders in a strong camp near the Koloksha, a river flowing into the
Klyasma, some miles from Vladimir. The Polovtsi had their thousands of
prisoners in stockaded pens, while Glaib’s booty-laden wagons were
arranged in a place at that time inaccessible. Both he and the Polovtsi
were beyond the river. Winter was beginning, but the season was
capricious beyond parallel. Frosts, thaws, rains, followed one another
unexpectedly, and made the passage of the river dangerous and
exceedingly difficult, hence the two armies stood a whole month there
facing each other. Glaib wished for peace, but Vsevolod would not grant
it. Glaib had not been offended by Vsevolod. He had listened to evil
tales from Rostoff men and from Mystislav; he had brought in the
Polovtsi; he had plundered the churches and pillaged Vladimir; his
punishment must meet him.
Vladimir of Pereyaslavl on the Alta at last led troops across the
river, and took a flank position against Mystislav, Glaib’s ally. After
this, reinforcements crossed over in numbers to strengthen him,
Vsevolod remaining meanwhile on the other bank of the river: Glaib,
thinking to cut Vsevolod off and capture him, pushed across the river.
While he was making this movement, Vladimir struck with great impetus
on Mystislav, put his warriors to flight and pursued them. Glaib’s men
crossed the river, but seeing their comrades in flight on the other
side, fell into disorder. Vsevolod charged now quickly, and a general
rout was the end of the battle. Oleg and Vladimir, sons of Sviatoslav,
rushed forward to hunt down the Polovtsi. Their warriors were trained
well in sword-play, and they spared no man. Of the Polovtsi only those
who were swiftest and strongest could save themselves. Joyous shouts
were raised in the pens which the pagans had built around their
captives, freed now by that fortunate battle. Mystislav was made
prisoner. Nearly all his advisers were slain; those who survived were
bound with hemp ropes and taken to Vladimir.
The return of the victors to the capital was a triumph such as no man
there had ever seen or imagined. In front of all rode the princes, Oleg
and Vladimir, who had hewn down the Polovtsi; next came the bound
prisoners, the boyars, then Vsevolod the conqueror, and last of all
came the captives saved from the Polovtsi by the battle. Delight was
unbounded in Vladimir, where there were mothers who had been weeping
for sons, and wives for husbands whom they had looked on as lost to
this world. To crown the whole victory were the treasures and booty
seized from the Polovtsi.
After the triumph came questions of policy, and here the prince and the
people differed greatly. “He is too kind,” said the people. “He does
not understand those traitors, their plans and their wickedness. He is
too innocent, too good-hearted.” Still Vsevolod’s celebrated
“good-heartedness” was what bound the people to him. They believed him
to be honest and kind. But they saw in the captured boyars vile enemies
with whom there could be no compromise. They were traitors who had
burned, robbed and slain, and were not to be forgiven. They accused the
Ryazan princes and boyars openly of framing the plot to kill Andrei.
They accused Glaib’s brother-in-law and his adherents of being
connected with the murder, because they exhibited no enmity toward the
assassins.
All the inhabitants met and took counsel. Then, going to Vsevolod, they
addressed him thus: “We are willing to lay down our lives for thee, and
will spare nothing. But those Ryazan prisoners are treated as if they
were guests in our city. In secret they are preparing to attack us, and
will do so if freed from prison. We ask thee to punish these enemies
with death, or if not with death to put their eyes out. If thou wilt do
neither, deliver them to us. We will care for them.”
It was difficult for Vsevolod to restrain the people who stood there
before him. He promised to keep the prisoners, not as guests, but in
strictness, and to treat future captives more sternly. He declared also
that he had sent a demand to deliver other enemies to Vladimir; if not,
he would march to Ryazan with his warriors. But prayers for the
captives came now from many sides. Mystislav the Brave, who had married
Glaib’s daughter, begged Sviatoslav of Chernigoff to free the prisoners
if possible. A whole embassy came from Chernigoff with the bishop at
the head of it. In Vladimir the report spread that Vsevolod was
weakening. There was anger a second time, and more danger than ever.
The people threatened to break open the prisons and slay the captives,
or at least blind them. The crowd gathered in greater numbers than
before. Vsevolod went out to them, accompanied by the bishop, and
declared that the Ryazan princes would not be freed until all the
conditions were complied with. The bishop spoke to the people, who
answered: “We wish not to break faith, we ask only that God’s justice
be dealt out to traitors. The Lord himself, seeing their wickedness,
has delivered them to us. Are we free to liberate such criminals?”
Seeing this intense feeling, Vsevolod gave his final decision:
“Yaropolk and Mystislav will be freed only when blinded. If Glaib
yields not the cities which we demand of him, he will stay in prison
till he dies there.” On hearing this the people went to their homes
somewhat pacified. Toward evening of that day the sons of Rostislav
suffered that operation which gave them the name of Bezoki, or The
Eyeless ever after. The “Good-hearted,” however, had given command not
to injure their eyes, but to simply perform an operation which would
deceive the people. The executioner made deep cuts above their eyes,
which he seemed then to dig out. In the night both princes were borne
away to Smolensk very speedily, lest the people should kill them even
though they had been blinded, as was supposed. Years after, the story
was current that they had been blinded through too great anger of the
people, and that the Lord had given back to them their eyesight. Still,
though they had their eyes, they retained the surname—Bezoki.
Freedom was offered Glaib if he would yield up Kolomna. He did not
accept the proposal. To the offer made through the Prince of Chernigoff
that he should go to the south and surrender the Ryazan principality,
he gave the stern answer: “Rather than do that, I will die here in
prison.” Some time later, while still a prisoner, he was found dead.
After Glaib’s death his son, Roman, having promised perfect submission,
was set free with permission to go to Ryazan.
Thus ended the war and the disturbance which broke out after the murder
of Andrei, and lasted from 1174 till 1177. It ended to the profit of
the work begun by Yuri Dolgoruki, enlarged by Andrei, and strengthened
by Vsevolod.
The work of Yuri, his father, and Andrei, his elder brother, was
completed finally by Vsevolod. During his life Rostoff and Suzdal, and
now we must call it the Vladimir country, contained a well-ordered
society, in which the prince’s authority was great, because the people
approved and accepted it. The people and the prince stood face to face
squarely. The people knew well that their popular society could not
stand without the prince, and the prince knew that he could not rule a
day without the people to support him. This mutual understanding
secured the position of Vladimir and made Northern Russia what it is
to-day, the head of a great empire, and, after Northern Russia, made
what is called Great Russia, that country beyond the forest. This land
of the younger sons of Monomach grew to be more important than the
domains of the eldest sons, and got the upper hand of Southern Russia.
Rostoff and Suzdal bowed at last, when forced to do so, and Vladimir
became, as to influence, the mother of Russian cities, the recognized
capital. This was the result of the understanding between prince and
people, and of that searching for the best place wherein to do a
work,—an effort which is always made when people are in earnest. Later
on, Vladimir lost the position and Moscow attained it. But at first
Vladimir was the natural capital of Russia. It was the place in which
the greatest number of people were willing to give their adherence to
him whom they considered best qualified to hold their society together.
And in that age the prince by descent and connection with their history
was the man for that work. Because of this great mutual interest, the
people and their prince formed a unit, while the boyars formed a number
of units, each acting mainly for itself.
Among the princes who preceded and followed him, Vsevolod occupied an
exceptional position. He seemed not to strive for mastery. He made no
claim to be Grand Prince of all Russia, or even of Vladimir. But when
all Russia was mentioned, it meant in the minds of most people that
Russia which had its head in Vladimir. In this way, though Vsevolod was
not called Grand Prince of all Russia, he was treated as holding that
position, and the political business of Russia was carried on in great
part in Vladimir.
After the death of Sviatoslav of Chernigoff, “the sister’s son,” Kief
had no great significance. During the life of this Sviatoslav, it might
have been said that the Russia of Kief and that of Vladimir balanced
each other, but in different senses. After Sviatoslav’s death, Vladimir
was beyond question the capital of Russia. Galitch fell a victim to the
struggles between boyars. Rent by internal dissensions, it became a
prey at times to Volynia, at times to Smolensk and Chernigoff, and was
torn apart finally by Poles and Hungarians, to the first of whom it at
last became a possession.
Toward the end of his reign, Vsevolod felt able to treat Kief more
decisively. While his friend Sviatoslav was living, the Prince of
Vladimir held aloof from the South, but when “the sister’s son” died,
Vsevolod’s activity so increased that South and North became closely
connected. Through nearness to Ryazan and to Novgorod, Vsevolod had to
deal with them always, and his dealings with these two regions were
more important than those of any prince who preceded him.
The Ryazan princes, conquered in that war after which Glaib died in
prison, had engaged to appear before Vsevolod whenever he summoned
them. Kolomna had been joined to Vladimir. The same fate awaited
Ryazan, in case of refusal to carry out promises. Its princes had
increased greatly in number, and to them were added those of Pronsk and
Murom. But no matter how those princes united and fought, they could
not resist Vladimir. In case of resistance, they knew not how to deal
with the problem. Behind them were small quarreling parties, in front a
united strong people. The Ryazan princes were under guidance, and this
meant what it means always, subjection. Vsevolod, through kindness, but
also through wisdom, would not claim to be master.
As to “Great Lord Novgorod,” it was surrounded by adherents of
Vsevolod. Not at that moment, but soon afterward, the city preferred a
bad peace to good warfare. The Dvina land dropped away from Great
Novgorod, and from giving tribute to that city, and joined Vladimir.
After that, smaller places about which there might be disputes crept
away gradually and became connected inseparably with the capital.
Novgorod could not go anywhere, to the harm of Vladimir. The Volga was
closed to the city completely, nothing that touched the Volga was
accessible to Novgorod without the consent of Vladimir. Vsevolod
strengthened the town at that point where the Oká joins the Volga, and
called it Lower Novgorod (Nizni-Novgorod). Soon he settled people
there, and so roused that region that during the time of his children
Lower Novgorod became a considerable city. In the days of his
grandchildren, the settlement which extended from the city became a
large district, and to one of those grandchildren it went as a portion.
On the Volga, at its upper waters, Tver was now founded at the side of
the Tvertsa River. To this well-fortified little town came settlers in
such numbers that, even in Vsevolod’s day, it became the head of a
principality. The Vladimir men not only defended this place from “Lord
Novgorod,” but they made it a new advance post against that proud city.
They seized also Nova-Torg, the portage.
The Vladimir princes held now an exceptional position toward Novgorod.
If they could retain the two places Torjok and Tver, they were superior
to Novgorod, in every case equal. In Yuri Dolgoruki’s day, Novgorod
men, keen to spy out advantage, were watching for eastern connections,
and would have seized the Vladimir position and prevented the rise of a
principality, had not Yuri anticipated them. Yuri’s work, done in the
nick of time, settled the fate of “Lord Novgorod.”
It was only when firmly seated on the throne of Vladimir that Vsevolod
found himself at enmity with the men of Novgorod, whom he could not
forgive for receiving the Bezoki (Eyeless) with great kindness, and for
having seated Mystislav, one of those brothers, in Novgorod, and the
other, Yaropolk, in Nova-Torg. Mystislav died somewhat later, and they
buried him in Saint Sophia, the Novgorod cathedral. They transferred
Yaropolk then to their own city.
Vsevolod seized at once every Novgorod merchant in the land of
Vladimir. He stopped commerce between the two cities, and began war in
earnest. This alarmed the Novgorod men greatly, and they showed
Yaropolk the road leading out of their city. Though Vsevolod himself
was satisfied with the banishment of Yaropolk, and was ready to raise
his blockade, the war was continued by the people, the reason being
that Vladimir and Tver men thought that it touched not only the honor
of their prince, but still more their own profit. They wished to stop
the encroachments of Lord Novgorod. Again they blamed Vsevolod for good
nature; again they accused him of indecision. “The Novgorod men,” said
they, “take oaths every day, but they break them continually. We are
not here to kiss Novgorod warriors, but to stop their advance.” They
took Nova-Torg then, bound every man in it capable of fighting, seized
women and children, took all goods, burned the place, and sent the
captives, tied with ropes, to Vladimir.
Vsevolod moved now toward Nova-Torg, but before reaching the town, he
decided that enough had been done to punish Novgorod, hence he retired
to Vladimir. Soon after this the Novgorod people invited Mystislav the
Brave, son of Rostislav, the Smolensk prince, to rule in Novgorod.
Mystislav the Great was revered beyond all princes who had ever ruled,
and Mystislav the Brave was his grandson. The young prince’s heart did
not lean toward the city, however, and the more he thought over the
matter, the more he resolved on refusal. But his brothers and his
drujina began to urge him, and at last he yielded to their persuasion
and went to Novgorod, where he was received by a procession and with
great honor. He visited Holy Sophia and then sat on the throne of his
father and his grandfather.
The service Novgorod men prized most in their princes was the defense
of the city against pagans,—the Chud, who swept in from the side of the
Baltic. Pskoff and Novgorod borders suffered greatly at first from wild
men, who had an unknown, boundless country behind them. These men had
at last been defeated and tribute imposed on them. Among the tributes
established was the bearing of goods and boats over portages. All at
once, just before Mystislav’s coming, these men sent to bear goods
became robbers. When the prince assumed power, he called together the
best men of Novgorod, and said: “Brothers, let us free this Novgorod
land of offenders.” With one voice they answered: “If it please God and
thee, we are ready.”
When the troops were assembled, and Mystislav drew them up in review,
he found that they numbered twenty thousand. He went to the land of the
pagans, and these twenty thousand men marched with him. He passed
through that land from end to end, not stopping till he reached the
seacoast. He seized men, cattle and property; when there was need to
punish, he reduced all before him to ashes. In one word, he established
obedience. Then he turned toward Pskoff.
According to old usage, the posadnik of Pskoff was appointed by
Novgorod, but on this point there were endless disputes between the two
cities. The Pskoff men wished independence and their own prince. During
the winter of 1180 Mystislav planned a campaign for the springtime. He
remembered the offenses of Prince Vseslav, the Plotsk wizard, who could
turn, as the people declared, into a gray wolf and run in one night
from the Caucasus to Novgorod. Vseslav, years before, had seized a part
of Great Novgorod; he had carried off its assembly bell and borne away
holy images and church vessels. Mystislav resolved to bring all these
back to the city. The prince in Polotsk at that time was Vseslav, a
brother-in-law of Roman, son of Rostislav.
When spring came, Mystislav moved against Polotsk with his army. Roman
sent an envoy to meet him with these words: “Thou hast not been
offended by Vseslav, why go against him? If thou decide on attack, thou
wilt meet me before others.” Mystislav, not wishing to offend his own
elder brother, turned back from his enterprise. Barely had he reached
Great Novgorod, when he fell ill. No man could tell what affected him.
For a time he lay without memory. His wife stood at his bedside, as did
his drujina and best friends. When his mind returned, he looked at
those present, and tears came to his eyes. Only a few of the words
which he uttered had meaning. Vladimir, his youngest son, he entrusted
to a favorite boyar. Of the two sons left to his brothers, one was
renowned much in later years as Mystislav the Gallant. “Forget not my
children,” begged he of his brothers. He raised his hands, sighed from
the depth of his heart, tears came to his eyes again, and his breath
left him.
Roman, eldest son of Glaib, and once prisoner in Vladimir, had married
a daughter of Sviatoslav, the Kief prince, and had thus become an ally
of “the sister’s son.” In 1180 Roman’s brothers turned to Vsevolod of
Vladimir, saying: “Thou art our lord and father; settle between us and
Roman, who takes away our land at the advice of his brother-in-law,
Sviatoslav.” Vsevolod moved against Roman, who met him at Kolomna.
Sviatoslav sent his son Glaib from Kief to aid Roman. Vsevolod invited
this son of Sviatoslav to meet him and negotiate. Glaib was unwilling
to do so, but as Kolomna was occupied by Vsevolod, he had to accept the
inevitable. Upon his arrival, Vsevolod ordered him put in chains and
sent him to Vladimir, whither he sent all the men and property seized
by Glaib’s warriors, commanding that both man and property should be
kept under strong guard. Roman, leaving his two younger brothers in
Ryazan to defend it, fled to steppe regions. When Vsevolod marched to
Ryazan, the princes submitted, whereupon he made peace and apportioned
the principality between them. All kissed the cross to Vsevolod, even
Roman, who returned now and joined his brothers.
When he heard that his son had been captured, Sviatoslav was
tremendously indignant, and went at once to Chernigoff. In Chernigoff,
at that time, ruled Yaroslav, brother of the Kief prince. Of the
younger princes, there were present in the city Igor, son of
Sviatoslav, and his brother, Vsevolod the “Rushing Bull,” as he is
called by a Russian poet. With them were their sons just reaching
maturity. All had taken to heart the offense which Sviatoslav had
suffered. After they had counseled together and were agreed, Sviatoslav
addressed them in these words: “As a father, I command you to act as
follows: thou, Igor, will stay with Yaroslav, my brother, to guard
Chernigoff, while I will go to Suzdal to free my son from Vsevolod. And
let God judge between us.”
Sviatoslav left one half of his forces in Chernigoff, and led away the
other half, taking with him a man who was his guest at that time,
Yaropolk Bezoki. Sviatoslav’s son, Vladimir, who had become prince in
Novgorod after the death of Mystislav, was to meet his father on the
road. The allies from North and South assembled in lands within the
Tver boundaries, and marched toward Pereyaslavl.
Beginning at the Tvertsa and on the Dubna, they laid everything in
ashes, sparing nothing. “They emptied the whole Volga region,” says the
chronicler. When forty versts from Pereyaslavl, they met Vsevolod on
the Blena River, a branch of the Dubna. The Vladimir prince was in a
wonderful position. The Blena had steep, rough, stony banks, broken
into gullies. The place was chosen wisely, for it was remarkably
defensive. The warriors had their positions on heights and in hollows.
No enemy could reach them. During two weeks the armies faced each
other. Vsevolod’s army was numerous, and, if compared with the forces
of Sviatoslav, was enormous. As the Ryazan and Murom princes had to
ride with their men at the stirrup of Vsevolod, they were now in his
army. Against Vsevolod were the sons of the Kief prince, Oleg and
Vladimir, the latter now Prince of Novgorod. These were the two princes
who a short time before had conducted Vsevolod to Vladimir, and had cut
down the Polovtsi in battling with Ryazan, which was now on the side of
Vladimir. The personal following of the Vladimir prince was eager to
engage the enemy; his warriors were praying to begin the battle, but
Vsevolod would not permit them to advance. At first he sent out the
warriors of Ryazan and Murom, who burst into Sviatoslav’s camp and
broke the regiments of Chernigoff, but “Rushing Bull” came to the
rescue and drove back the assailants with much loss. After that,
nothing was won on either side; every effort was fruitless. Sviatoslav
tried now to negotiate, and, through two priests who had come with him,
sent this message to Vsevolod: “My brother and my son, I have done thee
much good and did not think to receive such a return from thee. Thou
hast imprisoned my son, and harmed me greatly. Give now a road by which
I can go to thee. If not, I will give thee a road to meet me, and let
God judge between us.”
Vsevolod sent the two priests as prisoners to Vladimir, and gave no
answer to Sviatoslav, whose position then was not free of danger. Delay
was impossible; Sviatoslav saw that warm weather was coming, that
rivers would rise, and all roads would be impassable, that, in fact, if
he did not withdraw he would be forced to surrender, hence he raised
camp and departed. Vsevolod gave his men leave to attack Sviatoslav’s
train, but forbade them to injure the Kief prince, or pursue him.
Sviatoslav’s allies, avoiding places which they had plundered in
coming, burned many towns, among others Dmitroff, the town in which
Vsevolod was born. Sviatoslav permitted his son Oleg to withdraw, and
also Rushing Bull, his cousin, and with Vladimir, another son, went to
Novgorod, taking with him Yaropolk Besoki, and seating him in
Nova-Torg.
In the South, after Sviatoslav had gone on this expedition against
Vsevolod, Rurik, son of Rostislav, prepared again to seize Kief. He
brought from Volynia Vsevolod, and also asked aid of Yaroslav “Eight
Minds,” who sent a few men under Tudor, his boyar. David, Rurik’s
brother, set out for Smolensk to get help from Roman, but Roman died
before he arrived there. David then seized the vacant throne, and
delayed in Smolensk. Yaroslav, who with Igor, his cousin, was left to
take care of Chernigoff, did not wait for the enemy, but marched at
once to strike Smolensk regions. With their own men those two princes
took also Polovtsi, and hastened toward Vitebsk. One of the Polotsk
princes, Glaib, had joined the Smolensk side, and, with the aid of
Smolensk warriors, was fighting against the other Polotsk princes, who
were defending their independence. They had brought in allies from
Lithuania, and timely assistance came now from Chernigoff. Because of
this, the war assumed large proportions at once. The Chernigoff princes
sent to Novgorod, then acting with Sviatoslav of Kief, and expected
help from that city. In the camp of the Polotsk and Chernigoff allies
appeared—a thing till then never witnessed—aid from Lithuania and
Livona. And now was understood what “strength from the Baltic” meant.
Against this combination stood David, the new Smolensk prince. He had
wished to force the battle, but Yaroslav of Chernigoff held back; he
was waiting for his brother. Yaroslav occupied a strong position near
the Drutcha River, and remained a whole week, warding off the enemy,
who could only reach him by crossing the river. Sviatoslav of Kief now
appeared, and began at once to bridge the Drutcha. David, seeing the
strength of the enemy, would not risk a battle, and withdrew to
Smolensk very promptly. Sviatoslav burned the Drutcha fortress, ended
the expedition, and returned to his capital. Yaroslav and his cousin,
Igor, went to Chernigoff.
Vsevolod of Vladimir, incensed at this Novgorod and Ryazan struggle,
attacked Nova-Torg, stormed and captured the town, seized Yaropolk
Bezoki, and carried him to Vladimir. Novgorod, grown weary of
wrangling, dismissed Vladimir, son of Sviatoslav, and requested
Vsevolod to send the prince whom he liked best. He sent one of the most
obscure princes of that period, his own brother-in-law, however.
Satisfied with the change in Novgorod, Vsevolod now liberated Glaib,
and all were in agreement again.
The peace which followed was strengthened by two marriages. A son of
Sviatoslav of Kief, that Glaib just released from prison, married
Rurik’s daughter, and Mystislav, another son, married a sister-in-law
of Vsevolod. So there was harmony between North and South for a season.
Sviatoslav not only made peace with the Prince of Vladimir, but sent
two sons to assist him in his campaign against the Silver Bulgars. “God
grant us in my day to stand against pagans,” wrote Sviatoslav, and he
sent one thousand men, led by Vladimir, his son, late prince in
Novgorod. Forces came, too, from Ryazan and Murom, also from
Pereyaslavl in the South, that place which the Polovtsi had always hit
the hardest. This contingent was led by Izyaslav, the most gallant of
Vsevolod’s nephews. All the forces met at Nizni-Novgorod, whence one
part of the army advanced on horseback, and the other in boats down the
Volga. Vsevolod himself was with the expedition.
Never before did Russians go into an enemy’s country so deeply as this
time. They gave many a defeat to the pagan Bohmitan, as Mohammedans
were called at that period. But in front of a palisaded fort, to the
great grief of all, the gallant Izyaslav, son of Glaib, was struck in
the heart by an arrow, and brought to the Russian camp dying. The loss
of this youth, loved by the army, was avenged through a crushing battle
fought at the edge of the Volga. More than one thousand Bulgars were
drowned with their boats. More than fifteen hundred were cut down near
the river. The body of the brave Izyaslav was taken back to Vladimir,
and buried there with great honor.
The Grand Prince did not wish at that time to bring Mohammedans under
his rule; his only desire was to prove beyond question that
Nizni-Novgorod and the places around it belonged to Vladimir, his
capital. He wished to settle Russian ownership in those places, and
establish moral influence over the people who lived between him and the
Mohammedans, and who were still pagans.
Not fearing war when it must come, but shunning it always when
possible, Vsevolod, at home again, toiled at developing the lands of
Vladimir. He desired, above all, the confidence of the people, and won
it through giving them safety, order, and prosperity. He was busied
specially with the many towns founded by Yuri, his father. In Suzdal he
built a strong fortress, and put walls around it. He also repaired the
cathedral in that city. “Though old, let it be as if new,” was said of
the building. Pereyaslavl, renewed, and adorned as in the old time,
grew distinguished.
In Vladimir the Kremlin was enlarged with walls and towers of greater
beauty and strength than even those of Suzdal. In other towns also did
Vsevolod labor and erect buildings which were monuments. But the chief
one, the marvel of Vsevolod’s day, and the one which, after centuries,
forms in our time the glory of Vladimir, is the cathedral, which he
built in honor of Dmitri, the martyr of Salonica. Not equal in size and
in wealth to the church which Andrei built, it surpassed that
golden-domed structure in proportions and beauty. It was noted,
moreover, for a subtle variety of exterior adornment. But the
God-loving church builder enriched it with relics more precious by far
to believers than silver or gold. Those treasures were a slab from the
grave of Dmitri, his tunic, and some of the great martyr’s bones.
Unbounded delight was felt by the men of Vladimir when those sacred
relics were brought to the city.
Ryazan was a source of great anxiety to Vsevolod, for its princes were
always quarreling, and they did not hesitate to openly threaten one
another with destruction. The Grand Prince was forced to put an end to
these disputes. To guard his own cities he must protect Ryazan regions
from the Polovtsi. The insolence of those nomads increased with the
quarrels of the Ryazan princes. In view of this, Vsevolod undertook a
campaign against the Polovtsi, and went to the heart of the Don region.
He struck at the center of the steppes occupied by the “wild” Polovtsi,
those who made the Ryazan attacks. He passed quickly and assailed their
winter quarters, but his agile foes slipped away at once; he merely
frightened them. To defend Ryazan, it was necessary to have Ryazan
itself under control.
At this period party struggles in Novgorod sometimes threatened the
peace of Vladimir, but Vsevolod had no need to support princes whom by
request he had sent to that city. He made no move to stop Novgorod from
changing their prince. When the city complained of Yaroslav, Vsevolod
replaced him by Mystislav, son of David of Smolensk, his ally in the
Bulgar expedition. When Novgorod, which never liked any prince long,
asked for Yaroslav a second time, it got him. More than once did those
two unimportant princes rule Novgorod. Later on these words came from
the city to Vsevolod: “Novgorod is the inheritance of thy father and
grandfather; send thy own son to us.”
Vsevolod sent Sviatoslav, one of his younger sons, at that time a boy.
Several times this son was returned to his father, and sent back each
time at request of the city. Holding Novgorod in peace by commanding
the roads to it, the Grand Prince was not disquieted by that city, but
Ryazan affairs were involved and troublesome.
Roman, the eldest Ryazan prince, had brought his brothers to war with
one another. He was a vain and ambitious man who, as son-in-law of the
Kief prince, thought far more of himself than was proper. Igor and
Vladimir, younger brothers of this Roman, who with him held Ryazan, had
invited Vsevolod and Sviatoslav, their brothers who ruled in Pronsk, to
visit them. Those younger brothers, hearing that the other two wished
to imprison or kill them, remained in Pronsk and fortified the city.
The elder brothers marched promptly against Pronsk, besieged the place,
and ravaged the country around it. Roman and his brothers, in making
this war, appeared to censure their younger brothers for good will
toward the Prince of Vladimir, and also to declare that they themselves
cared not a whit for that Vladimir principality. Thus their action was
a challenge to Vsevolod, and he gave answer very quickly. Without
mingling in the quarrel between the brothers, he sent two boyars to
Ryazan with this message, which was really a warning: “It is not a
wonder to me that pagans ravage your country. But it is a wonder that
ye, instead of living like brothers and guarding your lands against
Bulgars and Polovtsi, attack one another and slay your own people. I
will not permit such deeds. God has sent me to preserve justice and
protect people, to bring to obedience those who break the law
criminally. I fear that unless I am careful, God will judge me for the
crimes that ye are committing. O brothers, what harm are ye doing? I
leave that for you to judge.”
Though the princes knew well what these words meant, they answered
haughtily. Wise and cool advisers were not numerous among them. “Each
man of their intimates gave nine powers to himself in comparison with
others, and, seeing no enemy, was a victor at all times.” They
nourished the quarrelsome nature of Roman, and he answered the envoys,
with insolence: “What right has Vsevolod to talk here? Are we not just
such princes as he is?” The envoys brought back these words to
Vladimir. The younger princes in Pronsk had asked Vsevolod to help
them. He, to show that he had been asked to protect the weaker, and not
as an exhibition of strength, sent three hundred men to aid Pronsk,
where they were received gladly. But Roman, with his brothers,
continued the siege, looking contemptuously on such a contingent.
Vsevolod now sent against Roman the Murom princes and a regiment of his
own men. These troops were still in Kolomna when Roman, alarmed at the
approach of such forces, left Pronsk with his warriors and hurried
home. Vsevolod, one of the Pronsk princes, left Sviatoslav, his
brother, in the city and went himself to the allies in Kolomna. When
informed of Roman’s flight, the contingent considered the campaign at
an end, and returned to Vladimir. But the Pronsk prince went to
Vsevolod’s capital, and asked for further protection, as he had no
confidence in maintaining peace with his elder brothers.
When Roman heard of the retreat from Kolomna of the allies, he returned
and attacked Pronsk a second time. Turning the river, he deprived the
place of water and brought the people to great suffering. Then he tried
to capture Pronsk by treachery, and at last succeeded in this way:
Sviatoslav, who held the city, became an enemy of Vsevolod, his
brother, who had gone to Vladimir. “Destroy not thyself and thy men
with hunger,” said Roman to him. “Come out to us. Thou art our brother,
why fear us? We are fighting not against thee, but against the Prince
of Vladimir.” The friends of the besieged prince continually repeated
to him words like these: “Thy brother Vsevolod has gone over to the
Prince of Vladimir; he has deserted and betrayed thee. Why destroy
thyself and us?” At last, influenced by these speeches, the Pronsk
prince surrendered. The three hundred men from Vladimir were captured
and sent to Ryazan. A worse fate befell the men serving the prince who
had gone to Vladimir, and, as his enemies alleged, had gone over to the
Grand Prince. They were seized, every one of them, both boyars and
common men, bound with ropes and thrown into prison. Roman detained
Vsevolod’s wife and children, and imprisoned them. Vsevolod of Pronsk,
on hearing of this, began war against all of his brothers.
When news was brought to the Prince of Vladimir that Pronsk had been
captured by deceit, he at once prepared for war in earnest. He began by
sending a message to the prince who had surrendered to Roman: “Give
back my men. Give back all my men and property. Thou and thy brother
asked aid of me. Not wishing to desert you in trouble, I gave it; now
thou hast made peace with Roman and betrayed the men sent by me.” When
the Pronsk prince received this message, Roman, fearing an attack from
Vladimir, sent straightway these words to the Grand Prince: “Thou art
our lord, father and elder brother. Wherever there is an offense
against thee, we will be first to avenge thee. We have warred against
our brother, for he would not obey us, but be not angry because of
that. We stand with bowed heads before thee. Thy men will be freed
without harm, and immediately.”
The Grand Prince, seeing that Roman had turned from venomous malice to
deceitful submission, did not wait for a lying peace. “An honorable war
is better than a disgraceful peace,” declared he to the envoys of
Roman, and he sent them away. He moved then on Kolomna, and commanded
the Murom men and the Pronsk prince to advance. They crossed the Oká,
and on the Ryazan side made a desert wherever they showed themselves.
Knowing the state of affairs in Ryazan, the Polovtsi, who were ever
watching with keenness, rose and began to ravage the country. The lands
of those wrangling brothers were subjected to every evil that man could
inflict. Roman, not forgetting that he was a son-in-law of the Kief
prince, and remembering that Ryazan was connected with Chernigoff
territory in some degree, begged the Chernigoff princes to bring
Vsevolod to leniency. The bishop of Chernigoff, who was the Ryazan
bishop also, was sent to the city of Vladimir, where he begged the
resident bishop to assist him. The two bishops, aided by boyars from
the Kief prince, persuaded Vsevolod that peace was best if obtained
with honor. The trouble now lay in details. The real question which
rose in the mind of Vsevolod was this, that the Ryazan princes must
cease to be sovereign, they must obey Vladimir. The bishop assured him
that the princes promised this faithfully, that they would kiss the
cross to be under his will altogether, and would in future obey him.
The Grand Prince granted power to make peace on this basis. That done,
he liberated all the Ryazan men held captive in Vladimir. He freed also
the envoys, who had been sent to him, and then appointed an embassy to
conclude the treaty in Ryazan. The Chernigoff bishop reached Ryazan
earlier than Vsevolod’s envoys. He brought details of the conditions
proposed, and had influence on negotiations, but everything that he
presented, and that he did was in a different spirit from that
concerted in Vladimir. Then he hastened home to Chernigoff, avoiding
the envoys of the Grand Prince. The Chernigoff bishop, it is clear,
desired that Ryazan should remain bound to Chernigoff in church
matters, and subjected, in some degree at least, to his own direction.
To Vladimir it was very important that Ryazan should not be under
Chernigoff in any way. The Vladimir people blamed Porfiri, the
Chernigoff bishop, for acting not as a man of God, but as a wily
politician. They complained that peace with Ryazan was not concluded on
the conditions fixed in Vladimir. They wished Vsevolod to expose the
man who had given information in a sense hostile to Vladimir, and then
vanished. But Vsevolod did not find it proper to do what they demanded.
Peace was concluded, and the princes, who had sworn to recognize
Vsevolod of Vladimir “to the full extent of his will,” were bound over
now to submission. Vsevolod, Roman’s brother, was reinstated in Pronsk,
and he and his brother regained all the lands there, both ruling in
common.
After that the princes of Ryazan without exception remained obedient to
Vladimir. The troubles just described occurred in 1185–86, and so
strong were the relations formed then that years later, when
Constantine, son of Vsevolod, was crowned in Vladimir, all the Ryazan
princes were present to render homage.
In 1184, being again friendly with Rurik of Bailgorod, and David of
Smolensk, as well as with the Volynia princes and the Prince of
Galitch, Sviatoslav of Kief invited all princes to join him in a war
against their common enemy, the Polovtsi. The southern princes promised
Sviatoslav aid, but in Chernigoff his brothers and cousins were more
difficult to deal with than remoter relatives, because of questions
touching land in Chernigoff. His sons needed territory in that region,
and princes, when dividing lands, nearly always disputed. Still his
brothers and cousins did not refuse directly. The campaign, they said,
was arranged awkwardly for them. If he would change the plan they would
go with him. But other princes had assembled, and with them warriors in
sufficient number.
With the Kief prince marched his sons, Glaib and Mystislav, also the
gallant Vladimir, son of Glaib, from Pereyaslavl on the Alta. From
Volynia came Roman, son of Mystislav, who brought with him two cousins,
and also princes less distinguished. From Smolensk came Izyaslav, son
of David, and Rurik came from Bailgorod. Yaroslav Eight Minds sent a
contingent also. The allies, under Sviatoslav, came upon the enemy near
a river, now known as the Orel, but then called Erela by the Polovtsi,
at a place where the Vorskla and the Erela, both tributaries of the
Dnieper, flowing almost parallel and close to each other, form a long
tongue of land bounded by the Dnieper and those two rivers on two sides
and one end. At that time this place was called simply “The Corner.” In
that corner was won a great victory.
When they were nearing the Polovtsi, the daring Vladimir, son of Glaib,
therefore grandson of Sviatoslav, begged for the first place. “Let me
go against them, O my father,” implored he. “They have turned my lands
into a desert. Let me go in advance with my men to attack them.” But
the sons of the prince would not consent to be behind Vladimir in
valor, hence Sviatoslav sent forward with his gallant grandson all the
youngest princes of his guard, adding twenty-one hundred Cherkasi to
strengthen their forces, but Vladimir led on with such swiftness that
the princes going with him were left far behind, and he with his single
command met the enemy in “The Corner.”
The numerous vanguard of the Polovtsi swept round the advancing
Vladimir and sent word quickly to Kobyk, the chief Khan in command of
the army, that they had the Russians surrounded. The Polovtsi were
delighted. “We have not worked for this,” said they, “but the Russians
have come to us. Great wealth is falling into our hands; we will take
it.” And they rushed with shrill, piercing shouts to the battle.
Vladimir withstood the fierce onset. The youngest of the princes held
his ground; he did not quiver. The Polovtsi, not dreaming of resistance
such as that, were astounded and whirled back on both sides to give a
blow with more impetus. Meanwhile Kobyk, the commander, moved out
strong detachments. These rushed forward swiftly. The Khan, thinking
that there were no attackers save those who were fighting in front of
him, commanded to strike savagely, to break, and then to hunt down
Vladimir’s detachment.
But, all at once, the Polovtsi saw new forces hurrying forward. These
were the princes who had set out with Vladimir, but Kobyk mistook them
for Sviatoslav and his whole army. The Polovtsi, now greatly alarmed,
wished to escape from the field, but that second force held them at
bay. A fierce battle raged, till at last the Polovtsi were thrown into
disorder. At that juncture, Sviatoslav and the older prince came up.
The victory was complete. Kobyk was captured, and with him his two
sons; Toblie with his son and also his brother. Of Khans alone twenty
were captured, and common men were taken in great numbers. Among Khans
who fell, the chief one was Tarsuk. The battle was on Monday, June 30,
1184. “God gave an immense victory over pagans, and Sviatoslav returned
to Kief with great glory and honor.”
Igor, the Chernigoff prince, who had not gone with Sviatoslav against
the Polovtsi, had, besides land questions, many cares to detain him at
home. He was a son-in-law of Eight Minds. This old Galitch prince had
long since divorced his wife, a daughter of Yuri Dolgoruki, hence a
sister of Vsevolod of Vladimir, with whom she had taken refuge. Eight
Minds had also expelled his legitimate son, Vladimir, who for a time
could find no asylum in any place. From Galitch he turned first to
Roman, son of Mystislav, in Volynia, but this stern prince had so much
fear of old Eight Minds that, for reasons of interest and policy, he
would not let the exile pass even one night in his capital. No matter
where Vladimir tried, and he even went to Vsevolod, his uncle in
Vladimir, he found no reception till he turned at last to his sister,
and Igor, her husband, in Chernigoff. With them he found rest, for they
met him with kindness. He lived two years in Chernigoff,—lived there
until he was reconciled with his dying father, old Eight Minds.
This connection of Igor with Galitch brought ruin later on to his sons,
but who in that day could foresee this? Just at the time of Vladimir’s
visit, a wave of delight was passing over Russia. Sviatoslav’s victory
over the Polovtsi was magnified as the “Erela triumph.” All men
glorified this marvelous adventure. The Chernigoff princes had taken no
part in it, so now the thought dropped into Igor’s mind to win glory in
this very field, independently, and at all costs. He boasted of his own
campaigns, and said to his warriors: “Though the Polovtsi came to those
princes and they fought with them, they dared not follow them. But with
you I will cross the Don and crush them. If true success comes, we will
pursue them to places to which our grandfathers never thought, even in
dreams, of advancing. We will win for ourselves splendid glory.”
With his own men and a detachment of Chernigoff warriors, Igor set out
on his adventure, April 23, 1185, accompanied by his son, now touching
manhood, his brother Vsevolod the “Rushing Bull,” and a few neighboring
princes with their forces. He met the Polovtsi in a desperate battle,
and was vanquished with great slaughter. He and his fellow princes all
went beyond the Don,—but they went as prisoners. “They were taken from
the saddles of princes and put on the saddles of captives.” Along the
whole Luko Morye (Sea of Azoff) shouts of delight rose from pagans. At
the place where the Don River touches the Sea of Azoff, thousands of
Polovtsi were singing and celebrating, not honor to Russia, but woeful
disaster. “Little Polovtsi boys and beautiful Polovtsi maidens
magnified the fame of their people.”
This crushing defeat of Igor’s forces roused all the Polovtsi to
greater activity, and gave them at once boundless insolence. They sent
a message to Sviatoslav: “Come hither and ransom thy brothers, or wait
at thy own place till we come for our people.” By this they referred to
Kobyk and the other Khans captured on the Erela. And now the Polovtsi
raced over Russia. They burned and plundered, and seized captives. The
gallant Vladimir, son of Glaib, defended himself at Pereyaslavl on the
Alta. “Wounded from head to foot,” he was borne out of battle dead, as
his friends thought. A year later he died of those wounds, though he
had apparently recovered, and had warred against the Polovtsi a second
time. After Vladimir’s death there was no heir to Pereyaslavl on the
Alta, hence the place went to Vsevolod of Vladimir.
Sviatoslav’s grief was unspeakable when he heard what had happened to
Igor and his comrades. “Striplings!” said he, overwhelmed with sorrow
and bitterly bewailing their rash enterprise. “Why did they tarnish the
glory of victory? Why did they ruin the work of an old man and his
allies? Why did they destroy a God-given triumph?” He had walled up the
road against pagans, and the “striplings” had thrown this wall down
again.
All measures possible were taken by Sviatoslav to ward off the
onrushing Polovtsi, but these measures were inadequate and in no way
proportionate to the strength of the enemy. Igor was humble in presence
of the misfortune which he had caused. He prayed and did penance, often
repeating: “Why have I remained alive; I, who have destroyed so many
people?”
Not soon did those robber raids cease, but they did cease in time, not
so much because the Polovtsi had inflicted great and sufficient loss on
the Russians as because that flush of joy at a victory, which for them
seemed well-nigh incredible, died away; and then the two camps, one on
the Kief-Chernigoff border, and the other on the Polovtsi steppe,
resumed their former attitude.