Vyacheslav, the man who never wishes to leave Turov, takes the throne in Kyiv. But for how long?
[00:00:00] Hello and welcome to the Russian Empire History Podcast.
[00:00:30] The History of All the People of the Russian Empire, I'm your host, JP Bristow.
[00:00:37] This is Season 1, the Forest, the Step and the Birth of the Russian Empire, and Episode
[00:00:43] 47, The Sons of Monomar Part 2.
[00:00:49] Thank you to new Boyar Jeffrey, and as always thank you to the new subscribers on Spotify
[00:00:55] and Apple Podcasts, even if I don't see your names.
[00:01:01] Just a reminder to keep sending you questions for the Episode 50 Q&A, you can use the Spotify
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[00:01:16] Podcast.com
[00:01:24] The legislature of Vladimir Rich, arrived in Kiev four days after Yarapolk had died.
[00:01:32] According to the Chronicle, the people in the Metropolitan greeted him and placed him on
[00:01:36] the throne of his father Vladimir Monomak, so far so good.
[00:01:42] The lateral succession is working as it was supposed to, and the people of Kiev seem to
[00:01:48] be accepting the Monomashishy as their ruling dynasty.
[00:01:54] The Chronicle makes no mention of any objection from Izia Slav, Mr Slavrovich.
[00:02:00] So once again we have to conclude that the agreement to place Mr Slav's sons in Periyas
[00:02:07] level did not necessarily put them in line for the throne in Kiev.
[00:02:15] But we've already seen that Vyacheslav was maybe a bit lacking in that lust for power
[00:02:22] that drove medieval princes to always want something more.
[00:02:27] When Yarapolk moved him to Periyas level, he had refused and gone home to Turov.
[00:02:34] While his brothers and nephews might support him taking Kiev, would he have what it takes
[00:02:39] to impose himself on his cousins if they did not want to acknowledge his sovereignty?
[00:02:49] If you just know, you'd be right.
[00:02:52] Within two weeks of Vyacheslav arriving in Kiev, Sivolod Olgavich of Zhenykov was attacking
[00:02:58] the suburbs of the capital.
[00:03:00] He was leading a small force, presumably what he had been able to put together at short
[00:03:06] notice, mostly Olgavich men with some support from the Davidovichy.
[00:03:13] It was an opportunistic move counting on Vyacheslav not having the spine to resist
[00:03:18] and the bed paid off.
[00:03:23] Vyacheslav did not try to defend himself and did not appeal to his brothers for assistance.
[00:03:30] As usual, the chronicler says that he declined to fight to avoid shedding Christian blood.
[00:03:39] This seems to have been the go-to phrase whenever the chronicler did not want to discuss
[00:03:43] the real reasons why someone did not fight, whether it was from cowardice or just because
[00:03:49] it might make them look bad and interfere with the royal propaganda.
[00:03:55] In this case, going by past behavior, we have to think that maybe Vyacheslav was glad
[00:04:01] to get out of Kiev and head back home to Turov.
[00:04:05] He sent a message to Sivolod with the Metropolitan, quote,
[00:04:11] Brother, I have come here after my brothers, Mr. Slav and Yarapok, according to the
[00:04:16] testament of our fathers.
[00:04:19] If you want this throne and wish to abandon your patrimony, then brother, I am younger than
[00:04:25] you, so let it be so.
[00:04:28] Withdraw to Vyacheslav and wait, I will return to my former domain and Kiev will be yours.
[00:04:35] End quote.
[00:04:40] Sivolod waited a few days before entering Kiev and Vyacheslav left for Turov.
[00:04:46] Sivolod, of course, could not take the throne on the traditional basis that his father had
[00:04:51] held it.
[00:04:52] He had to rely on the acclamation of the people.
[00:04:57] Historian Martin Dymnik believes that the chronicler is being purposefully ambiguous here.
[00:05:03] If the testament of our fathers had meant the testament of Vladimir Monomak and Yaraposlav
[00:05:09] the wise, it would have said so.
[00:05:12] Instead, their fathers can be interpreted to mean Vladimir Monomak and Aliya Kovtyaniv,
[00:05:20] and therefore the reference is to the agreement that they appear to have concluded regarding
[00:05:25] the succession.
[00:05:27] The one that allowed Monomak and then Mr. Slav to rule ahead of the more genealogically
[00:05:33] senior candidates.
[00:05:36] Vyacheslav, therefore asserts that he has the right to rule on the basis of the agreements
[00:05:42] between their fathers, in which Aliya gave up his rights of inheritance, but he agrees
[00:05:48] to acknowledge Sivolod's seniority by age.
[00:05:54] If you are hoping to avoid Bruce breaking apart, this is all a bit of a disaster.
[00:06:00] Vyacheslav has broken the line of Vladimir Monomak and his son's ruling.
[00:06:06] He's rendered any agreement between the families on the succession defunct, and he's thrown
[00:06:12] the potential succession wide open.
[00:06:16] Whereas before Vyacheslav was to be succeeded by Yuri Anandrey who still retained rights
[00:06:23] as their father had sat on the throne, and the Mr. Slavich had their own claims since
[00:06:29] their father had sat on the throne, now the Olga Vyacheslav suddenly reinserted themselves
[00:06:35] into the equation.
[00:06:38] The succession was no longer clear.
[00:06:40] The claimants would say as the occasion arose that it was for God to decide, and God's
[00:06:47] decision was something that they were determined by force.
[00:06:56] Vyacheslav's monomachotry were hostile to Sivolod from the beginning.
[00:07:01] They rejected his demands that they pledge allegiance and began to prepare for war.
[00:07:07] Sivolod responded by ordering Izya Slav, Rostislav and Andrey to vacate their cities.
[00:07:16] Sivolod went after the Kordomains, the ones that Yaroslav had left to his sons.
[00:07:22] He already held Kiev and Chenyhov, now he wanted Periyaslavl, Smalyansk, Vladimir and
[00:07:28] Valiniyya and Turov.
[00:07:31] If he succeeded, he would flip the balance of power, and the monomachotry would be left
[00:07:36] with just Suzdalia and Novgorod.
[00:07:39] The Mr. Slavichy would be left with nothing.
[00:07:45] Sivolod had two main advantages, lack of unity among his enemies, and the great distances
[00:07:51] between their domains.
[00:07:54] He tried different approaches, he sent his cousin Izya Slav Davidovich with some bollovcy
[00:08:00] and his cousins from Galicia to attack Izya Slav, Mr. Slavichy in Vladimir and Valiniyya.
[00:08:11] At the same time he ordered Andrey Vladimirovich to swap places with Sivolod's brother, Serathoslav
[00:08:18] in Kursk.
[00:08:21] The campaign against Vladimir failed and Andrey said no.
[00:08:28] The campaign against Izya Slav failed and Andrey said no.
[00:08:33] Periyaslavl was the city of his father and grandfather, and if Sivolod wanted it he would
[00:08:40] have to kill Andrey.
[00:08:44] Sivolod ordered Sivolod to attack, but Andrey won the battle.
[00:08:51] Sivolod was forced to conclude a peace, but shortly afterwards Periyaslavl caught fire
[00:08:57] at night.
[00:08:59] The chronicle claims that it was not Sivolod's men who started the fire and Sivolod did
[00:09:05] order them not to attack.
[00:09:09] Nonetheless, the city was devastated and Andrey was forced to surrender.
[00:09:15] Rather than press home his advantage, Sivolod decided to accept Andrey declaring loyalty
[00:09:22] and then left in Periyaslavl after all.
[00:09:27] Meanwhile, Eager and Vladimirko of Galicia had attacked Piatr Slav, and he, as always,
[00:09:35] gave in rather than risk losing Turok.
[00:09:38] This caused a rift with Izya Slav who invaded Vyacheslavl and himself.
[00:09:44] The first time that the Monomashichi and Miss Dyslavlachiy had fought each other since they
[00:09:49] sorted out who would get Periyaslavl.
[00:09:52] What it provoked Izya Slav was that Vyacheslavl as the eldest had ruled the Monomashichi
[00:10:00] out of contesting Kiev by pledging allegiance to Sivolod.
[00:10:05] However, the polls invaded Vladimir and Valinia in support of Sivolod,
[00:10:11] and Izya Slav was also forced to come to terms.
[00:10:15] The primary inducement was keeping his domains, but Izya Slav would also later claim that
[00:10:22] Sivolod had agreed to nominate him as his successor.
[00:10:25] That left Yuri, who initiated a campaign to remove Sivolod from Kiev as soon as he heard of the
[00:10:36] takeover. He marched to Smalyansk to join his nephew, Brostislav, and sent word for his son,
[00:10:45] also Brostislav, sorry if it's getting confusing again, to join them with the army of Novgorod.
[00:10:52] The people of Novgorod refused to fight.
[00:10:57] Brostislav Yurivic was forced to flee, and Yuri was forced to abandon his plans to march on Kiev,
[00:11:05] although he did seize a couple of Novgorodian towns as punishment on his way home.
[00:11:13] At some point during the next couple of years,
[00:11:16] Brostislav of Smalyansk also pledged allegiance to Sivolod. The people of Novgorod
[00:11:23] aligned with the Olga Vichy again, and received Sivolod's brother Sveta Slav as ruler.
[00:11:30] And then Sivolod moved to conclude new treaties with the Polovtsi.
[00:11:36] He took Andrei Rhythm as Koryaslvel on the edge of the step was the most vulnerable domain.
[00:11:43] This left only Yuri opposed to Sivolod's rule in Kiev.
[00:12:05] The fickle people of Novgorod were done with Sveta Slav by the beginning of 1140,
[00:12:11] and asked Sivolod to send him his son instead. Initially, an agreement was reached for Sveta Slav
[00:12:18] to stay until the sun arrived, but he heard that there was a plot to kill him and fled with his family.
[00:12:26] Archbishop of Novgorod Neethon persuaded Sivolod that he should still go to Novgorod with his son,
[00:12:32] but on the way he received the message that we've already mentioned a couple of episodes ago
[00:12:38] that Novgorod would not have his brother, his son or any other member of his family.
[00:12:43] Instead they wanted Sveta Polka to scoff and miss this Lavać.
[00:12:51] Not unreasonably, Sivolod took offence at all of this. He prohibited the miss this Lavać
[00:12:57] from going to Novgorod and told the city to find a ruler if it could.
[00:13:02] Then he ordered a boycott of the city like Yarapolka done previously,
[00:13:07] including the supply of wheat. After nine months, the hungry Novgorodians were forced to turn to
[00:13:14] Uri and that meant welcoming back Rostislav for a second time.
[00:13:21] The Chronicle implies that Sustal had also stopped grain supplies for its own reasons,
[00:13:27] but now the deliveries were restored.
[00:13:31] Sivolod retaliated by attacking Uri's town,
[00:13:35] Goro-Dietzastijewski on the border of Piri-Aslival.
[00:13:44] That was not the end of the story. If he recall, Sivolod was married to Maria,
[00:13:50] daughter of Miss Dislov and she decided to support her family's case.
[00:13:55] Sivolod listened to her and gave Svetapolk permission to take Novgorod.
[00:14:02] When the people of Novgorod heard, they arrested Rostislav and held him captive
[00:14:07] until Svetapolka arrived. Rostislav returned to Sustal.
[00:14:14] This meant three Miss Dislovićs, Izislav, Rostislav and Svetapolk,
[00:14:19] now held important domains with only Vladimir still without.
[00:14:24] For now they held them at the pleasure of Sivolod, but in terms of resources,
[00:14:29] the three of them were essentially the equal of Sivolod, Piatislav and Andrei.
[00:14:40] Andrei of Piri-Aslival died on 22 January 1142, probably the lowest achieving of all day monomashichy.
[00:14:50] He was buried in the Church of St. Michael in Piri-Aslival rather than with the rest of the family
[00:14:55] in Kiev and that left two, Piatislav of Turov and Yuri of Sustalia.
[00:15:05] Like the other members of the family, Andrei and Yuri had agreed to take care of each other's sons,
[00:15:11] in this case Andrei's son Vladimir.
[00:15:15] The death set off a new round of conflict.
[00:15:19] Sivolod declared Turov a part of the domain of Kiev and ordered Piatislav to move to Piri-Aslival.
[00:15:27] This was following the rules of lateral succession, but ignored the agreement that Piri-Aslival
[00:15:34] belonged to the Miss Dislovićs. He began raiding along the Sustalian border
[00:15:40] seizing livestock, stores and towns.
[00:15:45] The outcome of all this was that Sivolod appeared to have maneuvered very successfully.
[00:15:52] Giving the Miss Dislović Novgorod kept them happy, giving Piri-Aslival to Piatislav,
[00:15:59] according to the lateral succession rules, left Yuri without any grounds to object,
[00:16:06] putting his own son in Turov, strengthened his position in the heartland.
[00:16:18] But the efforts to placate rival families left his own brothers unhappy with the minor domains
[00:16:25] that they had been given, and they made their complaints known. Sivolod attempted to buy them off
[00:16:32] with towns in the Turov domain. The brothers, Igor and Sivatislav, and their cousins,
[00:16:39] Vladimir and Izgeslavovic Davidovich rejected the offer and demanded Chernigovland.
[00:16:48] Sivolod refused and they decided to attack Piri-Aslival instead.
[00:16:54] So the Sivatislavić raided across Piri-Aslival. Sivolod sent troops to assist Vyacheslav.
[00:17:03] Izgeslav, Miss Dislović also came from Vladimir and Valiniyya.
[00:17:08] Rostislav, Miss Dislović, was on his way to Kiev when he heard. He joined in by raiding
[00:17:14] Sivatislavić lands around Gomi.
[00:17:17] When Izgeslav heard what his brother was doing, he also attacked Chernigovlands on the desna.
[00:17:28] Although the Chronicles says that Igor and Sivatislav wanted to take Piri-Aslival,
[00:17:35] they did not attack the city and so the raiding was probably more of an effort to pressure Sivolod
[00:17:41] into giving them what they wanted. They may have counted on the Miss Dislović having their
[00:17:46] own interests in Piri-Aslival as well but their opponents stayed united.
[00:17:53] So the next move was to attack Piri-Aslival itself and this finally made it clear to Sivolod
[00:18:01] that they were not going to back down so he granted them additional towns and domains in Chernigovlands.
[00:18:09] While Sivolod might have thought that he finally got things sorted, it was not to be.
[00:18:20] Vyacheslav wanted out of Piri-Aslival again. When Izgeslav had come to help his
[00:18:27] defence, he had proposed that they swapped domains and now he asked Sivolod to approve.
[00:18:33] So Izgeslav moved Piri-Aslival, Vyacheslav moved back to Turov and Sivolod's son Svatsislav
[00:18:42] moved from Turov to Vladimir in Bolinia. This new reshuffle enraged Sivolod's brothers once again
[00:18:51] who accused him of favouring his inlaws over his own blood.
[00:18:55] Back when Yarapolod tried to give Piri-Aslival to Namistislavichy, the monomessichy brothers had
[00:19:05] joined forces to oppose. Now even if Yuri was against it, he stood alone since Vyacheslav had
[00:19:15] proposed the appointment and therefore he wasn't able to do anything about it.
[00:19:20] While Yarapolod's brothers raged and demanded he join them in opposition to the monomax,
[00:19:27] Sivolod stood firm and so they were forced to live with it.
[00:19:37] At the start of 1143, Stratapolod's Missislavich of Novgorod married a Moravian woman,
[00:19:45] who once again the chroniclers did not provide any details on.
[00:19:50] According to the tale, Izislav spent the whole winter with his brother in Novgorod celebrating
[00:19:56] which shows that he must have felt secure in Piri-Aslival.
[00:20:02] The following year, Izislav married his daughter and named of course to
[00:20:07] Rogvalod Borisovich of Polotsk. Sivolod and Maria attended the wedding in Piri-Aslival,
[00:20:15] continuing expressions of good will towards the Missislavichy.
[00:20:20] This wedding is notable that it shows Izislav attempting to secure friendship with the
[00:20:25] Polotsk family who his father had deported to Byzantium.
[00:20:29] In 1145, Sivolod summoned the rulers of Rus to Kiev for a conference.
[00:20:39] Most of the big names came, his brothers, Igor and Svetislav,
[00:20:44] the Davidovichy cousins and the Missislavichy, but Vyacheslav and Yury of Susdal were very
[00:20:52] conspicuously not invited. Sivolod made the following announcement, quote,
[00:21:01] brothers, you know that by the law of Rus each king bequeathes his patrimonial domain to his son.
[00:21:07] Vladimir Monomak appointed his son Missislav to Kiev and the latter designated his brother Yerapok
[00:21:15] as his successor, and now I proclaim that after God takes me, I bequeath Kiev to my brother, Igor.
[00:21:26] According to the Chronicle, Izislav Missislavich had to think deeply about this,
[00:21:32] as it meant that he would have to kiss the cross and pledge loyalty to Igor.
[00:21:38] But in the end, he and his brothers did so.
[00:21:41] This is the Chronicle getting into a bit of foreshadowing, although Sivolod is claiming to be
[00:21:50] following the precedent of Vladimir Monomak and Missislav, an attempt to pass the throne to his
[00:21:56] brother is inevitably going to provoke the Monomashishy. With the conference complete,
[00:22:03] Sivolod launches a campaign to support his Polish allies, and appoints Igor as the commander
[00:22:10] to give him a chance to earn some prestige. Izislav claims that he's sick and stays at home.
[00:22:24] On 1 August the following year 1146, Sivolod died and was buried in the church of the saints,
[00:22:32] Baudice and Gleb. On his deathbed, he had sent messages to Izislav and his cousins,
[00:22:39] demanding that they confirm their allegiance to Igor, securing the throne for the Olga Vichy.
[00:22:46] Both branches of the ruling clan were surviving claim, the Olga Vichy and the Monomashishy
[00:22:53] were rejecting, rotating rulership and asserting their right to keep the throne within their family.
[00:23:01] Although Sivolod had successfully reinserted the Olga Vichy in the line of succession by
[00:23:07] seizing the throne of Kiev for himself, he had been forced to rely on the support of the
[00:23:12] Monomashishy and Missislavychy cousins to rule. While he had succeeded in undermining and
[00:23:21] isolating Yuri in Susbel, he had established the Missislavychy in Periasslava, Novgorod
[00:23:28] and Smalyansk. Igor's position was far from secure.
[00:23:50] In fact, the oaths that Sivolod had gone to such an effort to miss secure endured for barely two
[00:23:57] weeks, and according to the Chronicle, the people of Kiev met Igor with hostility.
[00:24:05] He tried to appease them by appointing officials popular with the crowd, but the situation continued
[00:24:11] to deteriorate and rioters began looting official buildings.
[00:24:17] Igor asked Izislav in Periasslava for support.
[00:24:21] Izislav declined. According to the Chronicles, the people of Kiev then invited Izislav to take the throne.
[00:24:31] The various regional chronicles paint this as due to a combination of personal dislike for Igor,
[00:24:37] resistance to Kiev becoming a part of the Olga Vichypatromanic and loyalty to the Monomashishy.
[00:24:45] It was not so much that the people of Kiev objected to becoming the patrimony of a ruling family,
[00:24:54] just not this ruling family. This is consistent with what we've already been told about them
[00:25:02] welcoming Missislav Yadapolk and Vyacheslav. Sivolod had been accepted because he won the military
[00:25:09] contest, but that did not mean they would accept his heirs. The only small surprise is that they
[00:25:16] invited Izislav of the Missislavicy to take over rather than Vyacheslav or Yuri.
[00:25:28] Izislav would have been well aware that his uncles had the prior claim by genealogical superiority,
[00:25:35] but he was ready to remove Igor from Kiev. First, he would need to justify breaking his oath,
[00:25:43] which he did very easily. He simply stated that Sivolod had coerced him into making the oath
[00:25:49] and therefore he did not consider himself bound by it. He also declared that he had his own claim
[00:25:56] to Kiev on the traditional basis that it was the throne of his father and grandfather.
[00:26:01] Igor's father, on the other hand, had not ruled in Kiev.
[00:26:07] Before setting out he also prayed publicly and declared that it was up to God to give either him
[00:26:13] or Igor the victory, so if he succeeded in taking the throne that would prove that it was God's will.
[00:26:22] He marched on Kiev, defeated Igor and was welcomed by the people of the city. On 13th of August
[00:26:29] 1146, he was installed on the throne in the cathedral of Saint Sophia.
[00:26:39] Igor's brother, Sveta Slav, had managed to escape to Cherniv,
[00:26:44] but there was no immediate threat since the Davidovic e-cousins had decided to align themselves with Izislav.
[00:26:50] Igor and Sivolod's Drogenicke, who had been settled in Kiev and lands, were rounded up. Their
[00:26:58] possessions confiscated. Igor was taken to Pyrrheas level and thrown into a pit at the monastery of
[00:27:05] Saint Euan. With Igor removed from the picture a conflict played out between Vladimir and Izislav
[00:27:16] Davidovich, who were ruling in Cherniv and took Izislav's side. And Igor's brother, Sveta Slav
[00:27:24] Olgavich and nephew Sveta Slav, Sivolodovich. The Davidovich demanded that Sveta Slav
[00:27:33] Olgavich pledge allegiance to them and said they would remove him from his city Novgorod
[00:27:39] if he did not. Sveta Slav refused, sent demands to Izislav for the release of Igor and began
[00:27:48] recruiting allies from other root cities and the Polovtsi. Most importantly, he turned to
[00:27:55] Yuri of Suzdalia, who was only too glad to find a southern ally who could help him challenge
[00:28:03] Izislav. Meanwhile, Izislav was entrenching himself in Kiev. He kicked Sveta Slav Sivolodovich out of
[00:28:15] Vladimir in Valinia and returned it to the Missislaviching. Sveta Slav was given five minor towns
[00:28:22] in the southern Kiev lands and appears to have accepted his fate. Unexpectedly, Piotr Slav of Turov
[00:28:30] objected to the move and seized Vladimir along with some other towns that Sveta Slav had previously
[00:28:37] taken from him and incorporated it into the Kievan lands. In justification he asserted the
[00:28:44] seniority of the monomashishy, that is he put out a reminder that he had the senior claimed to
[00:28:51] Kiev. Izislav sent his brother Rostislav of Smolians to put Piotr Slav back in his place.
[00:29:01] He also took steps to repay the Davidovichy by supporting them in their plans,
[00:29:07] which included killing Sveta Slav Olgovich and taking his domains. Izislav sent his son Mr. Slav
[00:29:15] with russ troops and the Turkic Birin Day allies to assist the Davidovichy in an attack on
[00:29:22] Novgorod Sivosky that saw the outlying villages slaughtered and the land pillaged.
[00:29:30] Yuri set out to assist Sveta Slav, but Izislav had prepared this by ordering Rostislav
[00:29:38] to attack Sveta Slav if you removed. When Yuri heard that his lands were under attack,
[00:29:45] he returned to defend his home, but he did send his son Ivanko to aid Sveta Slav in Novgorod Sivosky.
[00:29:54] Ivanko succeeded in relieving the city and Sveta Slav gave him course as a reward.
[00:30:01] It's a pretty unusual move for an Olgovich to give a monomashichy one of their cities.
[00:30:10] This could be assigned that Sveta Slav was so desperate to secure Yuri's support
[00:30:15] that he would do anything. Alternatively, if we recalled that the monomucks had previously ruled
[00:30:22] course, Yuri may have asserted a claim and demanded that it be handed over as the price for his support.
[00:30:31] The Davidevichy again demanded that Sveta Slav give up his claims and swear allegiance to them,
[00:30:42] and once again he refused.
[00:30:46] The Chronicle gets a bit confusing at this point. The Davidevichy sees Sveta Slav's town of
[00:30:54] Portivo. Easy as Slav comes up to join them and distributes Sveta Slav's property.
[00:31:00] Sveta Slav's saddle, Sivos Olgovich, turns up although he is supposed to be dealing with Vyacheslav.
[00:31:08] Mr Slav is the Slavich disappears from the campaign and reappears as the rule of course,
[00:31:14] which seems to have become a Mr Slavichy town before Ivanko even managed to visit.
[00:31:20] Meanwhile, Igor had got sick due to conditions in the pit.
[00:31:29] Fearing that he would die, he asked for permission to become a monk, which was granted on 5th
[00:31:35] of January 1147. Is Sveta sent him to the monastery of St. Piotr, which was controlled by the
[00:31:42] Mr Slavichy, becoming a monk stripped Igor of his secular status and therefore there was now no
[00:31:50] reason to seek his release. Igor's loss of status meant that Sveta Slav now became the senior prince
[00:31:59] of the Olgovichy which made his defeat more important. So is Sveta Slav and the Davidevichy
[00:32:06] marched on Novgorod Sivosky once again. Sveta Slav retreated to Karachov in the Vyatichi lands,
[00:32:18] Isislav pursued and Sveta Slav fled into the forest. Isislav luted Karachov, told the Davidevichy
[00:32:29] he had discharged his obligations to them leaving them in possession of Chernichev,
[00:32:34] Prutivil and Novgorod Sivosky, and he returned to Kiev. The Davidevichy still wished
[00:32:42] killed Sveta Slav and continued to pursue him as he fled further east.
[00:32:52] Sveta Slav breached Koltijsk, the northernmost town in the Chernichev lands where he was met by a
[00:32:59] thousand men Yuri had sent from Bielo-Ozir. Ivanka still with Sveta Slav fell ill and died,
[00:33:06] and Sveta Slav sent his body to Yuri. Despite this loss, Yuri reiterated his support for the
[00:33:14] Sveta Slav and promised to send another son. The Davidevichy called off their pursuit once they
[00:33:22] realized that Sveta Slav had been reinforced. Clear lines had therefore been drawn, the Manumashichy
[00:33:31] and the Mistislavichy were on opposite sides. The two strongest rulers Yuri and Isislav were enemies.
[00:33:40] In the spring of 1147, Yuri and Sveta Slav launched their campaign, but rather than tacking Isislav
[00:33:49] and the Davidevichy, they went after the northern Mistislavichy, Suzdaliya's neighbors.
[00:33:57] Sveta Polkupnovgorod had previously not been involved in the dispute at all,
[00:34:02] and Rostislava Smelyansk who had supported the Davidevichy.
[00:34:09] Yuri summoned Sveta Slav to plan the campaign,
[00:34:14] but he did come near Brativ of Moscow.
[00:34:17] Come to me brother, in Moscow says the Chronicle, the first known mention of a little village you might
[00:34:25] have heard of somewhere. Sveta Slav arrived on 4th April 1147.
[00:34:36] The campaign opened with Yuri seizing Torshok and the Mistya River district from Novgorod.
[00:34:42] While Sveta Slav marched on the Smelyansk lands, pillaging as he went in revenge for Rostislava pillaging
[00:34:49] the Vyatichi lands. Gleb Yuriich joined him with men from Murom and Bolovtsi auxiliaries
[00:34:57] and together they defeated the Davidevichy forces and began recovering Sveta Slav's towns.
[00:35:04] The next phase was to attack Rutevil and Kursk, but the Davidevichy sent messengers offering peace,
[00:35:12] an exchange for giving up the Vyatichi lands and Novgorod Sivosky.
[00:35:18] The Chronicle notes that there was no real reconciliation.
[00:35:28] The Davidevichy were in fact only looking to buy time.
[00:35:42] And as soon as the peace was concluded they were trying to persuade Izya Slav to support them
[00:35:47] in a new campaign to expel Sveta Slav once again, as well as a campaign against Yuri to force him
[00:35:54] into a settlement. Izya Slav was inclined to agree but the people of Kiev were not willing
[00:36:02] to fight a monomer and they were still hostile to the rulers of Cheneyhe. Instead Izya Slav sent one
[00:36:10] of his men to Cheneyhe to get a better idea of what was going on. His man found out that the
[00:36:18] Vyatichi and Sveta Slav Sivosky had reached an agreement with Sveta Slav Orgovich and were in contact
[00:36:26] with Yuri. Their aim was to capture or kill Izya Slav. Izya Slav sent word to the Davidevichy
[00:36:36] demanding that they reaffirmed their oath to him. They refused and demanded that he release eager.
[00:36:43] Izya Slav claimed that they had violated their oath and he declared war.
[00:36:52] So Izya Slav gathered his forces to march on Cheneyhe. He sent word back to Kiev from his camp
[00:36:59] outside the Petyaslavl, asking his brother to raise the city's militia.
[00:37:05] The people of Kiev called their Vyatichi to discuss the call and agreed to fight for Izya Slav.
[00:37:13] But then someone pointed out that eager was still in the monastery of St. Fjorda and could be a threat.
[00:37:24] What if someone released him and tried to restore him to the throne while Izya Slav and the men
[00:37:28] of Kiev were away? Therefore they should kill him before they leave. To give him his due, Vladimir
[00:37:36] tried to stop him. Izya Slav had not ordered them to kill eager. Ego was a monk who had given up the
[00:37:43] world, but the mob was not for listening. They set off for the monastery. Vladimir went too begging
[00:37:51] for Ego's life. He called Ego up on his horse and rode to his mother's house for safety.
[00:37:57] The mob pursued them, smashed the gates of the house, seized Ego and killed him.
[00:38:03] The next day the Metropolitan took his body and buried it in the monastery of St. Simeon,
[00:38:09] that his father, Sveta Slav had found it.
[00:38:16] The murder of Ego made it clear that the dominant faction in Kiev supported the monomashichi
[00:38:21] and was completely opposed to the Olga Vichy. They were also prepared to act against the wishes
[00:38:27] of the ruling Mr. Slavichy. In late September 1147, Yuriy Sengleb joined Sveta Slav Olga Vichy,
[00:38:39] the Davidovichy and Sveta Slav Sivolovich to recover the towns of Persimia that Izya Slav had taken
[00:38:46] for the Mr. Slavichy. The first target was Izya Slav's son, Mr. Slav, in Kursk.
[00:38:54] If you recall the previous campaign, Kursk had been promised to Gleb's brother Ivanko as the
[00:39:01] reward for his participation and now it was to go to Gleb for the same reason.
[00:39:09] In the event, the people of Kursk refused to fight and welcomes back her prince of the monomashichi.
[00:39:16] However, the outlying towns belonging to Kursk took the side of the Mr. Slavichy and put up a
[00:39:23] strong resistance. Meanwhile, for the Mr. Slavichy, Izya Slav pillaged lands belonging to the
[00:39:30] Davidovichy in southwest Cherneev territory and raised the towns to the ground.
[00:39:37] Rostislav marched south from Smoliansk raiding Cherneev lands as he went, including Gormi,
[00:39:44] formerly Ego's capital and Lubic, part of the Davidovich patrimony.
[00:39:49] Gleb, next moved against Izya Slav's son Vladimir, who had been placed in Goro-Dieta-Stjersky.
[00:39:58] He recovered the city that Sevalot had taken from Yuri, driving out Vladimir and increasing
[00:40:04] the hostility between the monomashichi and the Mr. Slavichy.
[00:40:08] The following year, Izya Slav marched on Cherneev. Rostislav's warfare was still underdeveloped,
[00:40:24] so he was not keen on attacking the strongly fortified city itself and Kurskislavichy were in no
[00:40:31] hurry to come out and give battle before their allies arrived.
[00:40:38] Even when their allies did arrive, the battle did not take place as spring floods prevented
[00:40:44] the armies from meeting. Izya Slav fell back on more pillaging, causing enormous damage across
[00:40:52] the Davidovichy domains. Yuri also declined to help them fight Izya Slav. It turned out that he had been
[00:41:00] happy to send Gleb with forces to recover Kursk and Goro-Dieta-Stjersky, which he considered his own,
[00:41:07] but he was less interested in helping anyone else achieve their objectives.
[00:41:14] This left the Davidovichy in a tough spot. Izya Slav had seized their resources and ravaged their lands.
[00:41:22] Yuri had apparently renegade on his promise to support him, so they were forced to settle with Izya Slav.
[00:41:30] He forced them to swear not to hold him responsible for Eager's death and to abandon their claims to
[00:41:36] Kirv. While this was happening, Yuri had sent another son, Rostislav, with forces to support the
[00:41:45] Olga-Vichy. However, perhaps jealous of Gleb receiving Kursk, he changed his mind and marched
[00:41:52] to Kirv where he asked Izya Slav to give him her domain. He declared that Izya Slav was the
[00:41:59] senior of Monomak's grandsons, and therefore Rostislav wished to ride at his side.
[00:42:08] Izya Slav replied that Yuri was the senior in the House of Monomak, but he was unable to live in
[00:42:15] agreement with his nephews. For his part, Izya Slav regarded the Eurovichy as his brothers,
[00:42:21] and if Yuri would not give Rostislav a domain, then he would be glad to.
[00:42:28] The Olga-Vichy saw that they would not be receiving their reinforcements,
[00:42:33] and that the Davidovichy had agreed peace with Izya Slav,
[00:42:37] and they had no option but to follow suit.
[00:42:42] Izya Slav completed the season by driving Gleb out of Goro-Dyatsasjuski,
[00:42:49] and he returned to Yuri in Sustal.
[00:42:57] While his sons had been busy in the south, Yuri himself had been raiding the lands of Noggorod,
[00:43:03] where Izya Slav's brother Stratapok ruled. In 1147, though, Noggorod Chronicles says that
[00:43:10] Stratapok had assembled the entire forces of Noggorod to match up, to march against Yuri.
[00:43:17] In 1148, Archbishop Niefond of Noggorod tried to negotiate a peace with Susdal, but failed.
[00:43:25] With the south pacified, Izya Slav wanted to end hostilities in Noggorod as well.
[00:43:32] He tried to reshuffle, moving Stratapok to Vladimir in Valinia and sending his son Yeroslav to Noggorod,
[00:43:39] but Yuri continued his raids.
[00:43:44] Izya Slav decided that it was time to test the loyalty of his new allies,
[00:43:49] and summoned the Davidovići and Olgavići to a meeting at Goro-Dyatsasjuski,
[00:43:55] where he asked them to march against Yuri and end the raiding in Noggorod lands.
[00:44:01] The Davidovići came and confirmed their loyalty.
[00:44:06] Stratapok's love, Olgavić, stayed away.
[00:44:12] Izya Slav took this as a repudiation of his oath, but the Davidovići said that they would
[00:44:18] persuade him, and they agreed that they would all set out when the rivers froze over.
[00:44:24] While they waited for the rivers to freeze, steps were taken to bring Stratapok's love,
[00:44:29] and on 9 January 1149, Stratapok's daughter, not named of course, arrived in Smalyansk to marry
[00:44:40] Rostislav's eldest son, Roman.
[00:44:46] The rivers finally froze, and Izya Slav and the other Mr Slavicci set off to punish Yuri for attacking
[00:44:54] Noggorod. The Davidovići and Olgavići agreed to join them at the Volga, but instead they stopped
[00:45:02] at the edge of the Bioticci lands to watch how Izya Slav would get on in Suzdalia.
[00:45:09] Even though the result of the previous two years campaigning looked as if it had created a united
[00:45:16] ruse behind Izya Slav against an isolated Yuri, it seemed like loyalty to the Mr Slaviccii remained
[00:45:23] weak, and no one wanted to provoke Yuri into a serious campaign to the south. Izya Slav marched around
[00:45:32] did some of the usual pillaging, but failed to find an army to fight and withdrew before Easter.
[00:45:38] Back in Kiev there were more problems. Rostislav Yuri, which was accused of plotting to depose Izya Slav while he
[00:45:51] was away. Rostislav naturally denied the accusations, but Izya Slav expelled him from Kiev anyway,
[00:45:59] forcing him to return to his father in Suzdalia, which must have been rather embarrassing for him.
[00:46:06] It turned out that Yuri was a lot more forgiving of his son for going over to the other side in
[00:46:12] order to grab himself a domain than he was of Izya Slav for punishing Rostislav over unproven allegations.
[00:46:21] This was the provocation that would make Yuri finally gather his troops for a direct attack on Izya Slav.
[00:46:28] Izya Slav had received assurances from Vladimir Davidovich that the Davidovichcii would fight Yuri for him,
[00:46:41] but Svetoslav Olgavich was questionable once again.
[00:46:47] Izya Slav sent a messenger to check that their agreement still held and Svetoslav locked him up.
[00:46:54] Then he sent his own messenger to Yuri to ask him what his plans were. Was he going to attack Izya Slav or
[00:47:01] to attack Olgavichidlands? Yuri confirmed that he was only interested in punishing Izya Slav for failing
[00:47:09] to give Rostislav a worthy domain, presumably periast level and expelling him from Kiev.
[00:47:16] Feeling safe from Yuri, Svetoslav sent a second messenger to Izya Slav saying he was willing to help
[00:47:25] if Izya Slav would give him back Ego's lands. Izya Slav was outraged by this attempt to bargain. He told
[00:47:35] Svetoslav that he had sworn to be loyal and to not hold Izya Slav responsible for Ego's death.
[00:47:41] If he was going to break his promises then he would have war. Svetoslav's attempt to get a better
[00:47:48] deal had ended with him forced into an alliance with Yuri. Yuri and Svetoslav's forces met up
[00:47:59] on 7th August 1149. They sent messages to the Davidovichcii inviting them to join their campaign,
[00:48:08] that our Vidovichcii refused because Yuri had failed to come to their aid during their former lines,
[00:48:14] which had resulted in Izya Slav ravaging their lands. So Yuri and Svetoslav continued towards
[00:48:22] periast level where Svetoslav's civil order which and the force of Bolotse joined them.
[00:48:28] Izya Slav and Rostislav, with the army of Kiev and the Rusruva Bolotse marched out to meet them
[00:48:39] at the Altar River. Yuri started by offering Izya Slav peace. He demanded that Izya Slav hand
[00:48:47] periast level over to Rostislav Yururich and recompense for attacking his domains and denying
[00:48:54] his seriorety. Yuri would then allow Izya Slav to remain in Kiev. Izya Slav rejected the deal and chose
[00:49:02] battle. It was not a wise choice. The Kievans who had already demonstrated limited willingness to
[00:49:12] fight the monomerciature began deserting. As the fighting grew fiercer, the periast level militia
[00:49:19] withdrew and sent a messenger to Yuri inviting him to take the city. Abandoned Izya Slav fled.
[00:49:28] It took him four days to reach Kiev. He demanded that people let him enter and prepare to defend
[00:49:34] Kiev. They told him and Rostislav to seek safety elsewhere, although they did promise that
[00:49:41] they were still with the Miss Dislavich here against Yuri. Izya Slav fled to Valinia and Rostislav
[00:49:49] to his home in Smalyans, leaving the road to the city open for their uncle. Join me next episode
[00:49:57] as Yuri arrives in Kiev for the first time. Thank you for listening and until next time goodbye.