PRINCE OF HUNGARY MADE KING OF GALITCH
When Roman’s death became known, Chermny, Prince of Chernigoff, set out
for Kief. But the monk Rurik was in the city before him. Throwing off
his habit, he ruled again in the ancient capital, replacing Rostislav,
who left the throne to his father. Rurik and his allies, bound by old
treaties, took fresh oaths, Rurik agreeing to give them certain towns
near the capital, Bailgorod on the Ros, Torchesk, and Tropoli.
Meanwhile in Galitch there were disturbances, quarrels and uprisings.
There was no end to dissensions among boyars, who rushed in from all
sides, returning some from Hungary, and others from Poland. Roman’s
former enemies tried to arm all men against the heirs of their late
opponent. The youthful widow of Roman was left with two sons, Daniel,
four years of age, and Vassilko, an infant. Though in 1205 the people
of Galitch had proclaimed Daniel to be their prince, and had taken oath
to him, it was impossible for a little boy, or those who had charge of
him, to keep peace among quarreling factions which were threatening one
another with bloodshed. At this difficult juncture, the widow sought
audience of Andrei of Hungary, who had just received the Hungarian
crown so long withheld from him. This was the same Andrei who had once
ruled in Galitch, but had become afterward a friend of Roman. He was
moved now by her grief as she presented Roman’s orphans, and he
remembered the promise which on a time he had given their father. Loyal
to his brother by adoption, as he called Roman, who was a distant
relative, Andrei’s grandfather, Geiza, having married Efrosina,
daughter of Mystislav the Great, and sister of Roman’s grandfather,
Andrei fondled Daniel, called him “dear son,” and sent a detachment of
warriors to establish him in Galitch and guard the peace there.
Hungarian garrisons were distributed also in many places. This timely
aid, though foreign, stopped attack from Kief and Chernigoff princes,
who fought on the Dniester and Seret successfully, but dared not draw
near Galitch.
This evidence of friendship on the part of the king forestalled action
by the boyars of Galitch. But the year following, 1206, Chermny again
led his men into Galitch, bringing with him a great force of Polovtsi.
All the sons of the late Igor of Novgorod-Seversk joined him, and also
the grandsons of Yaroslav, who, through their mother, the daughter of
Eight Minds, thought themselves the next heirs to Galitch. Chermny also
engaged the Mazovian princes, who were hostile to Galitch. Though
connected with these princes by marriage, for his wife was the daughter
of Kazimir, he relied less on their friendship for him than on their
jealousy of Hungary. He believed that the Poles and Hungarians would
dispute over Galitch, and he was not mistaken. Rurik also, as Kief
prince, thought himself master of every inheritance. This time the
allies were more numerous than a year earlier.
At news of this advance of Russian princes and of their alliance with
Poles, a disturbance began which was worse than any preceeding it. The
enemies of Roman’s sons preferred Chernigoff princes. Some of the
boyars wished neither Daniel nor any grandson of Eight Minds, but
Hungary, with which they desired perfect union. Others inclined toward
the Poles; still others declared that they wished no prince whatever,
that they were all foreign upstarts; that a government by boyars was
the right one for Galitch. To this party were joined men who had
deserted the people, adventurers of all kinds. These disposers of
Galitch were willing to attach themselves to any faction, to leave any
side for any other. They were ready to flatter all parties at once, if
by thus doing they could continue disorder. The seizure of lands and
the winning of fortunes was their single policy. The tyranny of boyars
increased daily. The grabbing of land had become now an everyday
action, and men who were not boyars at all, but laid claim to the
title, took lands and kept them.
Roman’s sons were surrounded by falsehood and treason. When they heard
that Polish and Russian forces were marching against them, they turned
to their protector. But to wait for the king would have been perilous.
He gave notice indeed that he was coming and would save them, but
Galitch disorders had become so serious that the widowed princess
refused to stay longer in the city with her children; and the family of
Roman saved itself only by flight to Volynia. When the king had passed
the mountains, he heard that the Poles were marching on Volynia, and he
hastened to intercept them.
Igor’s sons crossed the Galitch boundary, but halted when they found
that the king was leading in a strong army. At this juncture, affairs
suddenly called Andrei back to Hungary. Such disturbances had broken
out there that he feared for his throne. In view of this, he sought
peace with the Poles, pointing out to them that he did not seek Galitch
for himself, and did not insist now on setting up Roman’s children. He
advised Galitch men to invite Yaroslav, son of Big Nest, to be their
prince.
Abandoned by Andrei and all the Hungarians, the men of Galitch were
terrified by the advance of Rurik and the Chernigoff forces. Yaroslav
was hastening to them from Pereyaslavl, but the sons of Igor
anticipated him, for they were present in the Chernigoff army. Owing to
the ancient ties between Novgorod-Seversk and the family of Eight
Minds, but, more than that, owing to the triumph at that juncture of
those boyars who preferred the sons of Igor to all other princes, they
established themselves in Galitch. Such a quick turn toward Oleg’s
descendants put an end to the whole expedition.
Chermny, satisfied with the success of his line, withdrew from his
connection with Rurik and the quarreling allies returned to their
homes. But it was not enough that the sons of Igor were in Galitch. The
boyars who had seated them did not wish to lose Volynia, and commanded
these princes, who were now in their power, to get possession of that
city, and expel the sons of Roman. The sons of Igor immediately sent
envoys to Volynia to demand the surrender of the city. The people were
so enraged by this demand that they wished to tear the envoys to
pieces. But in Volynia, too, there were boyars who sided with the sons
of Igor, hence the disposition of the capital was mutinous. The widowed
princess, on learning that the sons of Igor had threatened to destroy
Volynia if Roman’s sons, Daniel and Vassilko, were not given up to
them, and that the city contained not a few partisans of those princes,
counseled with Miroslav, her elder son’s tutor, and resolved to flee
promptly.
Avoiding the city gates, where the guards might be hostile, the
princess crept through a hole in the wall during night hours. With her
were three persons, Miroslav, a priest, and a nurse who cared for the
little princes. “Not knowing to what place they should flee,” adds the
chronicler, “since the Poles had murdered Roman.” But being related to
Leshko, the widow decided to appear before him, and ask refuge. Leshko
was moved when he saw the little orphans of the man who had been both
his friend and opponent. “The devil himself made us disagree in those
days,” cried he. Leshko had in fact loved Roman; but the crafty Cane
Legs, for purposes of his own, had brought about the quarrel.
Leshko kept the princess with her infant Vassilko, and sent Daniel with
attendants to Hungary, commanding his envoys to say to the king there:
“Remember not the faults of Roman, for he was a friend to thee. He and
thou swore to each other that whoso of you lived the longer would
cherish the orphans of the dead man. Now Roman’s children are exiles,
but thou and I may help them to return to their country.” These words,
flattering, through confidence, served to bring the prince and the
Hungarian king nearer to each other. Hitherto they had been quarreling,
but thenceforth both men cared actively for the two sons of Roman. This
care was friendly in appearance, but fatal in reality. These men had
now an opportunity to reëstablish the strong house of Roman, but
fearing its power, they hesitated to do so. For them there was profit
in separating Galitch from Volynia, and more profit still in taking
possession of those lands and dividing them. Hence throughout Galitch
and Volynia endless disorder continued.
In Kief troubles multiplied immensely, because Big Nest did not choose
to put an end to them. He left Southern Russia to follow its own
course. But great changes were at hand. Chermny, seeing that matters
had arranged themselves well to his profit in Galitch without Rurik’s
devices, and that Rurik had not power to bestow on Chernigoff the Kief
cities promised it, quarreled with him finally, and, relying on
himself, seized Kief. “Why should I not take it?” thought he. “I am
Sviatoslav’s heir.”
Once in Kief, Chermny sent these words to Yaroslav, Prince of
Pereyaslavl on the Alta: “Go to thy father, and seek not to take
Galitch from my cousins. Unless thou leave of thy own will, I will
march against thee.”
Pereyaslavl was vacated immediately, and Chermny installed a prince of
his own line. Rurik, enraged by this, summoned Mystislav, the Smolensk
prince, Mystislav the Gallant, and his own sons, Vladimir and
Rostislav, to help him, and, aided by their forces, he drove Chermny
out of Kief, and won back Pereyaslavl. The following winter Chermny, as
was his wont, led into the country great hordes of Polovtsi, and laid
siege to Kief, but was soon forced to raise the siege and withdraw. At
the end of the year he returned with larger forces, and began by
winning Tripoli on the Ros. Vladimir, son of Igor, came with
assistance, and all marched on Kief. Rurik, learning that enormous
forces were moving against him from every side, and knowing that there
was no aid from any place, withdrew to Ovrutch. Chermny, besides
seizing Kief, took Bailgorod, and reduced Torchesk by famine. Thus at
the end of 1207 all the Kief country fell into his possession.
Meanwhile, in Galitch and Volynia, affairs were very gloomy. At first
the Hungarian king, taking pity on Daniel, wished to give him the
dominions of his father, but the sons of Igor sent costly gifts to
Andrei, and ceased not in the sending, declaring at the same time that
they were ready to remain as his assistants. This was the position
which the boyars desired. Such subjection of Galitch pleased the king,
who kept Daniel near him, as if through hospitality. Leshko, by
sheltering Vassilko and his mother, under pretext of defending the
orphans and restoring their inheritance, managed in Volynia as he did
in his own house. At this work he was helped most zealously by
Alexander, better known as Bailski, Roman’s nephew, his brother’s son,
who wished to rule in Volynia, and set aside Roman’s sons if possible.
So the sons of Igor were protected by the King of Hungary, and Bailski
worked with Leshko to keep Volynia from the sons of Roman. Thanks to
Bailski, Leshko, and Konrad his brother, brought Polish forces to
Volynia and disposed of places in it, as if they were their own
inherited possessions. Some they gave to Russian princes who pleased
them; others they reserved for their own special use. The people of
Volynia, indignant at this Polish action, passed judgment on Bailski
“the traitor,” saying; “We trusted Bailski, since he was Roman’s
nephew. Had it not been for that, the Poles could never have crossed
the Būg to rob us.”
The Polish princes kept Bailski in Volynia, as the manager. Leshko
married Gremislav, Bailski’s daughter, and the former connection of
Mazovian princes with the princes of Volynia became even more involved
through this marriage, which gave them, as they thought, still greater
right to use Volynia as their own inheritance.
But soon the senior of Volynian princes, that same Ingvar who in
Roman’s day had reigned in Kief, though very briefly, claimed Volynia,
and was established in it, though for a short period only. The Polish
guardians changed their minds quickly. The place returned to Bailski,
and Ingvar was sent back to Lutsk.
To Vassilko, Roman’s second son, his Polish guardians gave Brest at the
urgent demand of its people, who, alarmed that Poles had taken
possession of Russian land so near them, wished to have their native
princes. When the mother went to Brest with Vassilko, the people met
her with joy, and declared that in the boy they beheld the great Roman.
The widow complained with bitterness: “They have given Bailski all our
lands; only one town is left for my son.” In view of this complaint
Leshko, who had given much to Bailski, commanded him to yield Bailz to
Daniel and his brother.
Sviatoslav, son of Igor, once captured in Volynia, was sent to his
brothers in Galitch, neither to his own good nor theirs, as became
evident later. In Galitch the boyars made prince quarrel with prince,
and brother rise against brother. Each son of Igor wished to take all
that his brothers had, each wished to rise at the expense of the
others; each of them fled more than once from his portion, and returned
to it eagerly. More than once was complaint made in Hungary against all
three of them. The king wished at last to be rid of these quarrelsome
princes, so he placed in Galitch his own viceroy, Benedict Bor, a noted
magnate, to whom he gave great authority.
Big Nest, Prince of Vladimir, now suddenly decided to cast aside his
policy of non-interference and take active part in Southern Russia.
When his son Yaroslav, driven from Pereyaslavl, returned home and
described Chermny’s accession, and the general predominance of Oleg’s
descendants, even in Galitch, Big Nest inquired: “Is all that land
theirs, or is it ours as well?” And these words of the Grand Prince
went whirling through Russia. They encouraged the descendants of
Monomach and confused the Chernigoff princes. A great army soon moved
from the North toward the South. Command was given to the troops of
Ladoga, of Pskoff, of Nova-Torg and Tver to march with it. All these
forces were led by Constantine, the eldest son of the Prince of
Vladimir, who waited for his father at Moscow. Big Nest advanced with
the men of Rostoff and Suzdal and the Vladimir regiments, led by his
second and third sons, Yuri and Yaroslav; with him also was Vladimir,
his youngest son. The troops of Pronsk, Ryazan and Murom had received
commands to join the expedition at Moscow.
In Moscow the two main divisions met. The Grand Prince gave a week for
rest. He praised the posadnik of Novgorod and the boyars of that city
for obedience, and gave a great feast to them. In general, the Moscow
halt was gladsome for the warriors. From Moscow they went to the Oká,
where, in the meadows opposite the Chernigoff-Ryazan bank, they pitched
their camp. There they were soon joined by the remaining forces, but
still they did not advance. This caused general surprise in the army,
and men began to complain of delay and indecision.
It was said that Big Nest’s eldest son, Constantine, had quarreled with
his father over this question. It was also stated that there was
treachery in the army, that two princes of Ryazan, Roman and
Sviatoslav, sons of Glaib, had betrayed their uncle and cousins, and
had promised to go over to Chermny’s side and deliver Big Nest into his
hands. It seems true that Ryazan princes had been brought into this
campaign against their wishes, that they did not desire success for Big
Nest, and in case of his failure would have gone over, in all
likelihood, to his opponents.
The cautious Prince of Vladimir acted in his own way. He sent to his
capital as prisoners all the princes who had come to him from Ryazan,
and all their boyars, with command to keep them carefully under guard.
Then he turned toward Ryazan. First he attacked Pronsk, which after
desperate resistance surrendered. He then appointed his own men to
places throughout the principality, and moved on Ryazan. He was within
twenty versts of that city and about to pass the Pron River, when a
large company of penitent Ryazan men came, bringing with them envoys
from the bishop. They bowed down and humbly implored the Vladimir
prince not to ruin their city. Arseni, the Ryazan bishop, had sent more
than once remonstrating letters, and now he spoke through envoys:
“Grand Prince and lord, do not ruin noble places. Do not burn God’s
holy churches; sacrifice is offered to the Lord in them, and prayers
for thee. We promise to accomplish thy will as thou wishest precisely.”
Big Nest, pleased with this obedience, turned his anger into mercy. He
ordered the army to withdraw to Kolomna, where the petitioners were to
meet him for final negotiations. It was late in the year, inclining to
frost. The Oká was not firmly frozen, but there was ice on it. Big Nest
had to wait two days in tents near the river; the third day heavy frost
came; the whole army crossed the Oká on the ice, and entered Kolomna.
The night after a tremendous storm rose; next morning came a violent
rainfall, and the ice broke. The bishop, Arseni, and the Ryazan men
crossed in boats, with great peril. The bishop thanked the Grand Prince
for his clemency, and begged him to be gracious to the end, to return
the captured princes, and he, the bishop, would answer for their
loyalty.
“Cast aside thy anger against those men,” said he; “take them into thy
favor and the Most Holy will cast aside thy faults. Turn thy ear from
calumniators, for they, with feigned loyalty and fawning, are working
not for the good of the country, but for their own profit. God has
placed thee, O great prince, as a ruler to judge and give justice to
His people. It is proper for thee to punish the guilty, God himself
commands thee to do so, but there is need also for mercy, and not of
punishment in anger. I, thy lowly petitioner, have been sent to thee at
the prayer of all the Ryazan men. I have not come with power to
command, that is not given from God to me, but with mildness and tears
I implore and pray thee to accept my beseeching.”
Big Nest was moved by these speeches, and declared to the bishop, that
because of his pastoral intercession, and the penitence of the Ryazan
men, he was willing to give complete peace, if they would promise not
to conspire against him or oppose him in future. The bishop took this
promise on himself, and engaged to bind the whole people to it by an
oath. Big Nest agreed to think of the captive princes, but later
on,—not that day. In this, however, he did not yield to the prayers of
Arseni, offered in the name of Ryazan. On the contrary, he demanded
that they should without delay send the remaining princes and
princesses to him in Vladimir, so that there should be no further
disturbance.
November 21, 1207, the army arrived in Vladimir, and there was great
rejoicing. Big Nest again thanked and rewarded the Pskoff and Novgorod
men, who had shared the campaign and its toils with him. Especially was
he kind to the wounded, many of whom he retained in Vladimir at his own
expense till they recovered.
The Ryazan men, when the bishop returned to them, listened to the
tidings which he brought, and took counsel. They did not find it
possible to disobey the Grand Prince; so they sent the rest of their
princes and princesses to Vladimir. Such a quick and complete
accomplishment of his will was a surprise even to Big Nest. He
explained it only by this, that the bishop, who was dependent on him,
not on Chernigoff, brought them to submission.
In the winter of 1208, Big Nest sent as prince to Ryazan his son
Yaroslav, who had been driven from Pereyaslavl by Rurik. The Ryazan
men, not without astonishment, but without resistance, accepted the
prince and kissed the cross to him, and there was no special
dissatisfaction.
But the bishop’s statement when he spoke of calumniators, who feigned
loyalty and only sought their own objects, proved true somewhat later.
Glaib, who at the beginning of the campaign against Chernigoff had
informed the Prince of Vladimir of the disloyalty of Ryazan men, had no
doubt that after such service he would be made prince in Ryazan. Now,
when he was put aside, he began to intrigue in all places. He could not
be detected in open treason, but secretly he worked with untiring
energy to increase discontent. He roused “the thought of disorder and
the spirit of pride,” which in Ryazan displeased the Grand Prince so
greatly. The name of Glaib was used now among the people as the
watchword of liberty. In him they saw the defender of Ryazan, the hero
of their freedom. Danger threatened the son of Big Nest. Many of his
lieutenants were driven from their places; some were confined in
cellars, others were put in chains, and some died of hunger. There were
uprisings throughout the whole principality, and all things indicated
that a general revolt was beginning.
Big Nest saw that he had been deceived by the Ryazan men, and that he
had congratulated himself too soon. He was indignant, and, determining
that neither they nor their bishop should deceive him a second time, he
led a new attack on Ryazan. When he was approaching the doomed capital
his son, Yaroslav, came to meet him, thinking to incline him toward
mercy. Shielding the guilty as far as was possible, he assured his
father of the general obedience, and brought forward many men to
strengthen this statement. But excuses and speeches seemed insolent to
Big Nest; he paid no heed to any statement. Commanding the people to
leave the city immediately, and take all movable property with them, he
sent warriors to fire the place. From Ryazan he marched to Bailgorod,
and the same cruel fate met that city. The whole Ryazan region was
turned into emptiness by Vsevolod, Grand Prince of Vladimir.
During this campaign multitudes of proud, unbending men were seized in
various Ryazan towns and sent with their families to Vladimir to be
settled afterward in remote places. Big Nest took the most notable
boyars to Vladimir, also the bishop. Of the princes who survived this
visitation, only two tried to struggle further. Izyaslav, the only one
of Glaib’s sons who had abstained from intrigue, and had distinguished
himself by gallant fighting at Pronsk, and Kir Michael, who had sought
refuge with Chermny, his father-in-law, and returned to reign afterward
amid the ashes and ruins of his birthplace.
In the winter of 1209–1210, these two princes, in revenge for the
burning of the Ryazan, attacked the southwestern edge of the Vladimir
principality and burned many villages near Moscow. Big Nest sent his
son, Yuri, who expelled the two princes easily. He severely punished
Izyaslav’s forces, but Kir Michael escaped without injury. In
1210–1211, attacks were made on Ryazan, but with decreased vigor. Big
Nest did not go himself; he sent his sword-bearer. This time also many
prisoners were brought from Ryazan, and settled at various points in
Vladimir. Thus ended the war with Ryazan. Roman and Sviatoslav never
again saw their birthplace; both died in Vladimir. The younger princes
were freed, but only after the death of Big Nest.
In the two years which Big Nest spent in warring with Ryazan,
disturbances in the South grew more and more intricate. There was war
between Chermny and Rurik. Meanwhile disorder in Galitch and Volynia
increased continually. In Galitch, after the expulsion of the sons of
Igor, nothing was gained by the coming of Benedict Bor. That
overbearing viavoda, or viceroy, was dissolute and addicted to women;
he ruled in a conquered country and demanded from boyars and common men
unlimited submission. His one care was for feasts and orgies. Following
the custom of Hungarian magnates of that day, not only was he not
ashamed of his vicious life,—he was proud of it. He seized maidens and
other men’s wives when it pleased him; priests’ wives and nuns were his
preference. It was said among the people that he did not govern, he
harassed the country. Later on he received the appellation
“Antichrist.”
Men demanded at last that they should be freed from this depraved
viceroy. The people of Galitch began to communicate in secret with the
sons of Igor, and with neighboring princes. At last they appealed to
Mystislav the Silent, Prince of Peresopnitsa. This inconsiderable
prince, the youngest son of Lutsk, brother of Ingvar, imagining himself
the liberator of Galitch, came as a champion against “Antichrist,” but
he appeared without troops. His attendants were “so few that bystanders
could count them.” The boyars laughed him to scorn. More fortunate were
his rivals, the sons of Igor, who heard these words from Galitch,
through an embassy sent to them: “We have sinned against you, but come
to us and save us from torture and ‘the harrier.’”
Taught by experience, the brothers now made a treaty with one another.
They promised to have no more disputes, to take no land from one
another, to ask nothing of the King of Hungary, and with common forces
to support one another and guard well the country which they had lost
and to which they were now summoned. When Benedict Bor came to Galitch,
he had seized in a bath their eldest brother, Vladimir. Now they came
near taking Bor in exactly the same condition. They entered the city so
unexpectedly and surprised the viceroy so thoroughly that “Antichrist”
did not dream of resistance. He thought only to save himself, and
rushed in disgrace back to Hungary.
Igor’s sons began to rule with great sternness. The king held them as
rebels and disturbers; the boyars looked on them as outlaws and as
rebels against boyar lordship; but the princes gave no ear to those
boyars, showing a contempt which was calculated and unsparing. They
hunted boyars and put them to death without mercy; they put magnates to
death for the least opposition, and brought back the stern days of
Roman. Against boyars a council was created which put to death Yuri
Vassilievitch, Ilya Stepanovitch, and other distinguished men. Five
hundred in all lost their lives. Many fled from Galitch. Even
Volodislav, that boyar who first brought Galitch people to favor Igor’s
sons during their boyhood, when their mother, the daughter of Eight
Minds, was living, was forced to seek safety in flight, and from being
their ally, he now became their worst enemy. With him went Sudislav and
Philip, celebrated boyars, and other men like them. These swore on
leaving the country that they would return and show who they were to
those fellows who had dared to ape Roman.
The rage of those men against Igor’s sons was not to be measured.
Volodislav toiled now in Hungary, saying: “Igor’s sons, in clear
violation of regal right, and in hostility to the will of their
monarch, are ruling as despots.” Volodislav implored Andrei to give him
an army and Daniel, then ten years of age, to go with him. “I will
bring Galitch to the feet of your Majesty promptly,” said he.
The king wished in one way or another to establish Roman’s heir, whom
he was guarding. There were reports that he thought of giving Daniel
his daughter, and with her Galitch as dowry. Volodislav’s words pleased
the king; he gave a trusty following, and sent with the boyar his
so-called son, Daniel.
The first towns, Peremysl and Zvenigorod, were hostile; neither place
yielded. Daniel was shown to the people, and they were advised to take
the prince born to them, but they clung to Igor’s sons firmly. They saw
the king’s banners before them, they heard that voevodas and horsemen
had come in large number from Hungary,—still they would not surrender.
In Peremysl, they stood resolutely for Sviatoslav, that son of Igor who
was with them. Then Volodislav himself went up to the walls of the city
and called to the people: “Oh, brothers, why do ye waver? Are the men
now managing our country not foreign intruders? Did they not slay both
your fathers and brothers and bear off your property? Did they not give
your daughters to their servants? Do ye wish to lay down your lives for
them?” The people listened to these questions, and remembered the evil
done in the first reign of Igor’s sons. They hesitated also to dip
their hands in blood in a war against Daniel, so at last they opened
the gates of the city to him. Igor’s son, Sviatoslav, was captured.
At Zvenigorod the people fought stubbornly. The besieged did not let
Volodislav come near the walls, and they made desperate sallies. The
prince in that city was Roman, son of Igor, who brought “wild Polovtsi”
to help him. Mika, Andrei’s voevoda, was unable to save himself. The
“wild ones” took the head from his shoulders. That day the Hungarians
were badly defeated.
When the Volynia men heard that “their Daniel” had come, they rose up
against the sons of Igor. In Volynia all “the people” favored Daniel
and his brother.
Envious, since Galitch was becoming the property of Hungary, Leshko,
the guardian of Vassilko, took part in the uprising also. The Poles
hastened to war against Hungary. Ingvar of Lutsk went with them, while
Vassilko sent men from Bailz to his brother. It was difficult for
Zvenigorod to remain independent. Roman, son of Igor, fearing the fate
of his brother, declared that he was going for assistance, but he was
captured and taken to the camp of the enemy. Then the allies sent this
message to the citizens: “Your prince is captured! Surrender!” They
could not believe it, and continued to fight for him, but when they saw
Roman a captive they yielded. The eldest brother, Vladimir, who was in
Galitch, left the city as the enemy approached it, and sought safety in
flight. He was pursued and came near being captured, but his
swift-footed stallion saved him.
Thus was accomplished in Galitch what Roman’s widow, tortured by
waiting and exile, had not dared even to hope for; her firstborn son,
Daniel, entered Galitch in triumph, and occupied the throne of his
father. She appeared now in Galitch very promptly. Daniel, the boy of
ten years, did not know her, but, as the annalist tells us, he
expressed all the more feeling when he heard the word “son” from her
lips, and saw the tears of delight which fell from her eyes. The boyars
did not want that strong-hearted mother in the country, for her word
might have power there against them, hence she was removed quickly and
without ceremony. Daniel was frantic at the parting. The boy had no
wish to be in Galitch without his mother, and, while her foes were
conducting her out of the city, he rode at her side, and held her robes
firmly. One of the boyars seized the bridle of his horse to stop him.
Furious at this, the young prince gave a sword-blow which missed the
boyar, but wounded the horse on which he was riding. The mother grasped
Daniel’s sword-hilt, bidding him to be calm and stay bravely in
Galitch. On returning to Bailz, she sent a message to Hungary,
complaining bitterly of the boyars, of Sudislav, and of Philip, but,
above all, of Volodislav.
The boyars had not got what they wanted. They had overthrown Igor’s
sons, who had dared to remind them of Roman, but to overthrow those
princes was not enough; they must punish them. Such men as Sudislav and
Volodislav were ready to give immense sums in gold for opponents like
Sviatoslav and Roman. The voevodas, however, refused to yield up the
captives, saying that such traitors should be sent to the sovereign.
The boyars now had recourse to gold, and the voevodas, persuaded by
great gifts, agreed to surrender the princes. In this way the men got
possession of Igor’s sons and then hanged them. While the princes were
swinging on gibbets, those boyars pierced them with arrows shot from
their own bows by their own hands. That done they gave homage to
Daniel, placed on the throne by the King of Hungary, and went home in
good humor. Galitch was governed by boyars.
That same year, 1211, the king, touched by the tears of Roman’s widow,
went in person to establish her in Galitch, where, to his amazement, he
found Daniel’s relatives from Volynia,—Ingvar of Lutsk and others, who
were there under pretext of visiting the new prince.
The king acted quickly. Volodislav, with Sudislav and Philip, were
placed under guard, and then tortured; after this they were exiled.
Sudislav, however, bought his freedom. “He turned himself into gold,”
as is said by the chronicler. Volodislav was sent to Hungary in
fetters, but he had two brothers in freedom, who were precisely such
wily heroes as Volodislav himself. These men appeared now before
Mystislav, whose brother, Ingvar, had not been in Galitch without a
purpose. All Volynia rose in revolt quickly, and made war on Andrei.
Volynia was managed at this time by Leshko of Poland. This guardian of
Vassilko had taken Bailz from his ward and given it back to Bailski,
his father-in-law. The little Vassilko had been forced to hide himself
in the poor town of Kamenyets. No one knew well, save the managers,
what was happening in Volynia. To the outward observer there was chaos
everywhere. In Galitch confusion seemed dominant. Reports were brought
in that countless regiments were moving against the city. The people
were ready to surrender, and go out and join with those regiments.
Daniel and his mother, whom the king had brought back, fled now to save
themselves, and Mystislav the Silent, who had been brought by
Volodislav’s brothers, entered the city in triumph.
After this incredible triumph of Mystislav, came the still more
incredible triumph of the chief of these brothers, Volodislav. From
fetters and a prison in Hungary, he appeared before the king in his
palace, and was nearer to power than he had ever been. A report flew
through the country that the king was disposed to give him the throne
of Galitch, and in fact not much time passed before Volodislav, at the
head of Hungarians and a mercenary army, broke into Galitch.
Mystislav the Silent, whose rule had been short-lived, left his
capital, and vanished. His place was immediately occupied by
Volodislav. The chronicler says that he took the throne and ruled
Galitch. All this was incredible only in appearance, for everything
took place in the simplest manner possible.
The Poles and Hungarians, who were guarding the persons, and also the
inheritance of Daniel and Vassilko, vied with each other in turning
this inheritance to their own use and profit. Neither lacked will in
the matter; means alone failed them. The determination of Hungarians
equaled that of the Poles, but their absence of means was equal also.
The Poles tried to win by bringing forward their kinship in Russia. The
Hungarians worked in another way. They promised to give the boyars of
Galitch a constitution like that in Hungary. They agreed to deliver the
whole land and the people to those boyars.
Volodislav’s aims were clear and consistent. A year earlier, he had
promised the submission of Galitch; he had guaranteed to snatch the
whole land from Igor’s sons and return it to Hungary. This he had done,
and the king might have placed there as viceroy any boyar whom he
liked, but to have Daniel thrust upon this party of magnates was
unendurable. Volodislav had fulfilled his promise, and now he explained
to Andrei that Galitch did not want a Russian prince; it wanted to be
governed by boyars associated intimately with Hungary. This time
Volodislav assured the king of a satisfactory agreement. Thus the solid
union of Galitch with Hungary seemed imminent.
Andrei sent Volodislav forward with associates to bring all things to
order, while he, with his main army, followed. He was on the Russian
slope of the mountains when news overtook him of a terrible outburst in
Hungary, not simply in the kingdom, but in his own palace.
Andrei had been forced to yield more than any preceding king, to do
more toward lessening royal power and building up nobles. Gertrude, his
queen, was ambitious. A German princess, she had filled Hungary with
her relatives and with Germans in general. She had urged Andrei to
cruelties, and in retaliation attacks upon Hungarians were increasing.
The queen helped her relatives and countrymen to wealth and high
places. She was fond also of aiding in love intrigues. Eckbert, her
brother, became enamoured of the wife of Benedict Bor, the man known in
Galitch as Antichrist. The queen permitted the lovers to meet in the
palace, even in one of her own chambers. Though Bor was notorious for
absence of morals, and was in the habit of seizing other men’s wives if
they pleased him, he could not pardon the queen, when her love
intrigues involved his own family. The king being absent, Bor joined
with other avengers, and slew a great number of Germans. Queen Gertrude
was cut into pieces, and the whole palace was plundered. This was the
news brought to Andrei in the mountains.
He returned to his capital by forced marches, and quelled the savage
outburst with great bloodshed.
Volodislav, sent in advance of the king to take possession of Galitch,
acted like a man clothed in majesty. No matter how far-reaching were
his powers, he increased them, since the king was not present.
When Andrei had put down the uprising and freed himself somewhat in
Hungary, he hurried off to make war on Leshko for his ravages in
Galitch, which the king looked on as his own spoil and property.
Leshko, besides guarding Vassilko, had taken on himself the care of
Daniel. For the sake of these orphans, as he declared, he was ready to
fight for Galitch as well as Volynia. Daniel, on seeing the terrible
bloodshed in Hungary when Queen Gertrude was murdered, withdrew thence
to Poland, where he got naught from Leshko but a reception with honor;
later he went to Kamenyets, where his brother was living. There, still
more than in Bailz, was Vassilko attended by the ancient adherents of
Roman, his father. Daniel, who was of an age now to ride a horse
splendidly, joined them, and Roman’s boyars rallied round the brothers
with enthusiasm. Leshko could not hide his astonishment on seeing that
after Bailz had been taken from Vassilko not one of those faithful
adherents abandoned the orphans, and when a whole court gathered round
them in Kamenyets, he was still more disquieted. “Thenceforward, Leshko
felt great affection for Daniel.”
Volynia rose now against Volodislav. First Mystislav the Silent was put
forward, then Bailski, Leshko’s father-in-law, sent his brother,
Vsevolod, to attack the adventurer, and went himself later. Last of all
Daniel acted. After that, Leshko with Poles and men of Volynia advanced
against Volodislav. Volodislav left to his brothers the task of
defending the capital, and with hired forces hurried forth to meet his
opponents, but he was driven back and defeated. The victors could not
take Galitch, however. They fought at its walls till exhausted, and
then had to abandon the task. On the way home, Leshko induced Bailski,
now Prince of Volynia, to give two towns near the capital to the
orphans, who then moved thither from Kamenyets, and, being near the
capital, ceased not to sigh for it. “It will come to us,” thought they.
And it came earlier than they expected.
Not Leshko, but his voevoda, Pakoslav, keen at invention, found means
to reconcile warring interests for the moment. Leshko had a young
daughter and Andrei of Hungary had a son. Leshko sent Pakoslav to the
king with this message: “Volodislav, a boyar, should not be on a
throne. Take thou my Saloméya for thy Koloman, and let us install them
in Galitch.” Pakoslav’s plan pleased Andrei. He had a meeting with
Leshko, and they arranged all the details of the marriage. The king,
from the portion of Koloman, gave two cities to Pakoslav,—Peremysl and
Lubetch.
Pakoslav now offered a second good counsel: “Let the prince, out of
love for the orphans, give them Vladimir of Volynia.” Immediately
Leshko sent this message to Bailski: “Give Vladimir to Vassilko and
Daniel. If thou wilt not consent, I will take it.” Bailski would not
yield, then Leshko constrained him, and installed Roman’s sons in
Vladimir.
Volodislav, now a prisoner, was put in fetters and died in confinement.
No prince would shelter his orphans, because their father had aspired
to sovereignty.
The King and Queen of Galitch, though mere children, were crowned
straightway. Andrei, seeing that the boyars were desirous of union with
Hungary, and remembering their statement that the people would not
oppose union, if their faith and its ceremonies were respected, now
wrote to the Pope on the subject: “Let it be known to your Holiness
that the princes of Galicia, and the people there under us, wish as
king our son, Koloman, and promise union with the Most Holy Roman
Church if they may keep their own ritual. Lest delay harm a thing so
useful to us and to you, give a written command, we beg of you, to the
Archbishop of Strigonia to anoint, at the earliest, our son, the King
of Galitch.”
In the Russian chronicles it is written under the year 1214: “The
Ugrian king seated his son in Galitch; he then drove out and hunted the
clergy and bishops from the churches, and brought in his own Latin
priesthood.”
Thus Galitch was lost for a time to Russian princes and the Orthodox
clergy. In Chernigoff and Kief, people were not thinking of Galitch;
they had their own troubles. Chermny and Rurik exchanged
principalities, Chermny went to Kief and Rurik to Chernigoff. Thus the
ancient home of Oleg and his descendants passed to a descendant of
Monomach, and Chermny, the senior of Oleg’s descendants, not only took
the old capital, but threatened to drive from Kief regions all the
descendants of Monomach. He declared that through their fault a
terrible crime had been committed. “Ye caused the death of my cousins
in Galitch, and put a great shame on us. Ye have no part in Kief
regions,” asserted he. Still after that Chermny turned to Big Nest with
a prayer for peace and friendship. He begged the metropolitan to bear
this request to Vladimir. Peace was granted, and that winter Big Nest
strengthened this peace by a marriage between his second son, Yuri, and
the daughter of Chermny.
Toward the end of his life, the Prince of Vladimir had many disputes
with Novgorod, which for years had been friendly. It was most important
for Novgorod to be at peace with Vladimir, to trade with its broad
regions, and receive grain, which in Novgorod was lacking at all times.
Nothing harmed Novgorod more than a quarrel with Vladimir, whose prince
could stop grain from reaching the city and surrounding country, and
arrest Novgorod merchants wherever he found them in his own territory.
But this was not sufficient to change the quarrelsome disposition of
Novgorod, where factions fought with one another continually. When a
posadnik displeased them, they beat him, or hurled the man from the
bridge to the river. Big Nest did not interfere with their freedom. On
the contrary he apparently commended it. “Love him who seems good to
you, but execute bad men,” said he. And the Novgorod people carried out
this instruction, even against their own adherents, the Miroshiniches,
with whom they settled in real Novgorod fashion.
Miroshka was chosen posadnik in 1187 to please Big Nest. He was the son
of Naizda, a man killed by them in the days of Andrei Bogolyubski, for
adherence to Vladimir. When Miroshka died his descendants became famous
people. Big Nest was unable for a long time to bring about the
election, as posadnik, of Miroshka’s son, Dmitri. He could not do so
till he sent his own son, Constantine, as prince to the city. The
Novgorod men then cast out the old posadnik, and gave the office to
Dmitri. This brought about a conflict with a great citizen of Novgorod,
Oleksa Bogolyubski Sbyslavich, but he met his death very quickly.
During Constantine’s stay in Novgorod, 1205–1209, with Dmitri as
posadnik, it might be said that Big Nest ruled Novgorod as pleased him.
The execution of Oleksa is proof of this. All were astounded when Big
Nest sent this command: “Execute Oleksa without trial!” That is, at the
good judgment of Constantine. And though all men were roused, and said
on the day after the execution that the Mother of God had dropped tears
for Oleksa, the will of the prince was accomplished. After this Dmitri
became so strong in his office, and served the Grand Prince so
zealously, that the four years of Constantine’s rule passed in harmony.
When Constantine was summoned by his father to the war in Ryazan, a
large force from Novgorod marched with him under command of Dmitri, who
was greatly distinguished at the taking of Pronsk. He was wounded
severely and Big Nest detained him to be healed in Vladimir, but he
died. After his death the people in Novgorod seized all his family
property, plundered his house and the house of his father and burned
them. They sold the country places of the son and the father, and also
their servants; they took possession of their effects and divided them.
The debts due the family were left to the prince. Still the people were
not satisfied; they insisted on punishment, and when Dmitri’s body was
brought from Vladimir, they wished to hurl it into the river.
Mitrophan, the archbishop, was barely able to stop them. When Big Nest
sent his son, Sviatoslav, to the city, the people kissed the cross in
assembly not to admit any son of Dmitri to Novgorod, and they gave his
family to the prince for imprisonment. But, though Sviatoslav received
the sums due Dmitri, and through them got much wealth, he did not obey
Novgorod in this affair. Some of the family he sent under guard to
Vladimir; a few he permitted to stay unobserved in the city.
As this uprising was directed against all adherents of Big Nest, the
Novgorod people did not escape punishment. Again he arrested Novgorod
merchants and their goods throughout the lands of Vladimir. Great
inconvenience was felt by Novgorod people, and Oleksa’s avengers spread
complaints wherever they could against Big Nest, who, being then at the
height of his power and influence, had no effective opponents. It
seemed as though no man could refuse him obedience.
But at this juncture a prince of the smallest region in Russia,
Mystislav of Toropets, son of Mystislav the Brave, had courage to
challenge the greatness of Big Nest. On hearing how Novgorod was
treated, he offered himself to the city, a thing unheard of till that
day in Russia.
In the first years of this reign, during troubles in Novgorod,
Mystislav the Brave had inflicted defeat upon Big Nest, and now, in
1210, a more unexpected rebuff was delivered by the son of that same
prince, Mystislav the Gallant, who had grown up and strengthened in
this interval, and whose fame began with this challenge. Thus far this
young prince had appeared only in small actions, in the quarrels of
Rurik, his uncle, and in two or three raids on the Polovtsi, but on
coming to Novgorod he began a brilliant career as a hero and defender
of justice, a protector of the weak and offended, and he so towered
above other princes that he soon had no equal. Later on, he reminded
the world of his father, for he made a triumphant campaign against the
Chuds, and brought them all to obedience from border to border of that
country.
His appearance in Novgorod astonished every one by its daring, and was
crowned with incredible victory. From his small, insignificant Toropets
he came with a slender but chosen army. At Torjok he seized
Sviatoslav’s boyars and took possession of their property; then he sent
the following message to Novgorod: “I bow to Holy Sophia; to the grave
of my father, and to all men of Novgorod. I have heard of the violence
done by your princes, and I grieve for my inheritance. Do ye wish me to
be prince in your city?” The Novgorod men were delighted and sent for
him. Sviatoslav they confined in the bishop’s palace with all his
attendants, to keep him till “Lord Novgorod” should settle with his
father.
The Prince of Vladimir in anger sent against “The Gallant” a numerous
army, with his three elder sons at the head of it. But immediately
after he hesitated. He now, as on a time Dolgoruki, his father, had
done, thought proper to say when he faced an untamable enemy: “I am
old, he is young in all the passions of this world. It is not for me,
near the end of existence, to be occupied with quarrels and bloodshed.
I should be patient.” And he sent envoys to Mystislav with this
message: “Thou art my son; I am thy father. Free Sviatoslav with his
boyars, and return what thou hast taken. The merchants and their goods
will be liberated.”
Mystislav did at once all that was asked of him, and Big Nest fulfilled
his promise. Sviatoslav returned to his father, and Mystislav entered
Novgorod, rejoicing that he had passed through great peril without
bloodshed.
Big Nest was nearing the end of his earthly existence. He had continued
the task undertaken by his father and his brother to preserve and
enlarge the principality of Vladimir. He had not worked for all Russia,
though he had tried to hold a share in the Russia outside of Vladimir.
During his rule, which was firm and at times even terrible, he not only
preserved unimpaired, but extended and strengthened Vladimir. He
established the beginning of a state in the North and fixed its central
region. Earlier than Big Nest, not only in the time of his father, but
also in that of Andrei, his brother, Rostoff and Suzdal were remembered
as belonging to Novgorod. Men did not consider Vladimir or Moscow or
any other place, as that Great Russia which they were to obey, and to
which they must gravitate. Before Big Nest’s activity, Bailozersk and
Galitch beyond the Volga, and other places, if not claimed by Novgorod
altogether, were claimed at least partially. Now the Dvina country
beyond the Volga had become so connected with Vladimir that all was
reconstituted. That broad region looked on itself as Great Russia, and
all men began to regard it in that light. Lord Novgorod itself was
forced to count those lands as lost forever. Neither Rostoff nor
Suzdal, from the time of Big Nest, dared to think of their earlier
primacy, the memory of which became mingled with traditions of its
ancient connection with Novgorod. After Big Nest there could be no talk
of separation from Vladimir, for it became clear that not to Rostoff,
or to Suzdal did that Great Russia gravitate, but to Vladimir.
As his father had left Rostoff and Suzdal to his younger sons and
Vladimir to the eldest, so Big Nest, almost on the eve of his death,
gave Vladimir to his eldest son, Constantine, and left Rostoff to Yuri
his second son.
Constantine, who was in Rostoff at this time and enjoyed there great
friendship among boyars, was angry that his favorite city was given not
to him but to Yuri, and he would not abandon Rostoff for Vladimir at
the command of Big Nest. This was not his first disobedience. His
father had not forgotten the campaign of Ryazan, when Constantine spoke
against him in the presence of others. Big Nest repeated the command.
Constantine refused a second time, and sent a demand that Rostoff
should be given with Vladimir. The Grand Prince was grieved and
distressed at his son’s disobedience, and there was no measure to his
anger. As a result that took place which up to this time had been
unknown in Russia: Big Nest deprived his eldest son of seniority, and
gave it to his second son, Yuri. From all the districts and towns in
Vladimir he summoned an assembly of priests, merchants, nobles, and
people, with Yoan, the bishop, at the head of them, and in their
presence gave the capital of Vladimir to Yuri, imposing on him
seniority. He commanded Yuri’s brothers to obey him, and they kissed
the cross to do so. Then the people kissed the cross to the Grand
Prince, that they would obey Yuri. From this came endless contention in
the family of Big Nest, who died shortly after. He expired at the age
of fifty-eight, Sunday, April 15, 1212, at the hour when mass was
ending in all the churches of Vladimir. They buried him near his
brother Andrei in the golden-domed cathedral, the day following his
death, as was the custom at that time.
After this began ceaseless troubles, not in Galitch, Kief, and
Chernigoff, where there was never an end to trouble, but in Vladimir,
where for thirty-seven years peace and quiet had flourished. Deprived
of seniority, Constantine did not accept the decision of his father,
but warred against Yuri and Yaroslav, who stood firmly together.
Vladimir and Sviatoslav wavered, joining now one, now the other side.
Vladimir, the youngest brother, wished Moscow as his part, but expelled
from Moscow by Yuri, he obtained his father’s inheritance in the
South,—Gorodok and Pereyaslavl. Yuri offered Constantine peace, and
even Vladimir, but asked Rostoff for himself. Constantine would not
yield; he would give Suzdal, and take Vladimir, only if Rostoff were
given him also.
Yuri freed the Ryazan and Murom princes imprisoned by his father.
Strengthened by them, he could war against his brother more
successfully. Constantine, leaving for a time his attempt on Vladimir,
continued hostile action in northern places. He seized Saligalsk, and
burned Kostroma. The whole principality was in conflict from Vologda to
Moscow. A second and a third year after the death of Big Nest this
struggle continued.
Finally, Mystislav the Gallant, their now all-powerful neighbor in
Novgorod, the main decider of wars and disputes in Russia at that time,
interfered. He had made two campaigns against the Fins near the Baltic,
and inflicted sharp punishment, but he was eager for weighty deeds and
great actions, not on distant borders, but in Russia. His cousins, the
grandsons of the “monk loving” Rostislav, turned to him for succor, and
protection. Chermny, now prince in Kief, was driving them from Dnieper
regions. “The Kief prince will not give us a part in the Russian land,”
complained they. “Come thou and help us.”
Mystislav summoned the assembly and bowed down before Novgorod, saying:
“I am going to Kief to rescue my relatives. Will ye aid me?” “If thou
go, we will follow,” was the answer. The men chosen set out under
Tverdislav, but at Smolensk the Novgorod men had a quarrel and killed a
Smolensk man; they refused thereupon to go farther, saying: “We
promised to conduct the prince hither, but to Kief we will not go.”
Mystislav embraced the posadnik, kissed all the officers, then he bowed
to the Novgorod men, bidding Godspeed to them, and moved forward with
only his personal following and Smolensk warriors.
The Novgorod men were not pleased with themselves, and they halted.
“Lord brothers,” said Tverdislav, “what ye decide will be done at all
hazards. The question is ought we to abandon our prince at this
juncture. In their day our fathers and grandfathers marched to suffer
at Kief when their prince commanded. It is clear that we should act in
the old way.” Pleased with this speech, they turned, and with hurried
marches overtook Mystislav.
Chermny’s fate was decided at Vyshgorod. His allies were crushed, and
he fled. Two of his cousins were captured. Ingvar of Volynia, who
accompanied Mystislav, refused the Kief throne, and Roman, son of
Mystislav of Smolensk, obtained it. Vladimir, son of Rurik, received
Smolensk in addition to districts near Kief inherited from his father.
So Chermny was unable to keep his promise to avenge Igor’s sons and
expel all descendants of Monomach from Dnieper regions. Mystislav the
Gallant now besieged Chermny in Chernigoff, and imposed peace on him.
Chermny died soon after, leaving as heir his son Michael, who later on
ruled in Kief and Novgorod. His name is still known and revered among
Russians, not because he ruled, but because he died a martyr’s death
among Mongols.