As the next generation of rulers begins to contest the throne of Kyiv, one of them has a different idea.
[00:00:00] Music
[00:00:26] Hello and welcome to the Russian Empire History Podcast, the history of all the peoples of
[00:00:33] the Russian Empire. I am your host JP Bristow. This is season 1, The Forest, The Step and
[00:00:41] the birth of the Russian Empire and episode 49, Go and Take Kyiv.
[00:00:53] The death of Yuri Dolgoruky forced the people of Kyiv to accept Izheyslav Davidovich as their
[00:01:01] ruler despite their professed hatred for the kings of Chernighev. He to this was the
[00:01:07] fact that Rostislav Mstislavich, who could have been their preferred choice if he had thrown
[00:01:13] his hat in the ring, maintained his support for Izheyslav. Therefore on 19th May 1157 Izheyslav
[00:01:24] ascended the throne of Kyiv without opposition.
[00:01:27] In Suzdalia, the people of Rostov-Vladimir and Suzdal acclaimed Yuri's eldest living son,
[00:01:41] Andrei as his successor. Andrei was known as Bogolubsky, god-lover. This was not actually
[00:01:51] a reference to his religiosity, rather he built a residence called Bogolubov just outside
[00:01:59] Vladimir on a site where he claimed to have had a vision of the Theotokos or Mother of God.
[00:02:07] He commissioned an icon of the Theotokos which became known as one of the miracle working
[00:02:13] icons of Russia and founded a church and a monastery. It was as a result of this vision
[00:02:20] that the capital of Suzdalia was transferred to Vladimir.
[00:02:32] Yuri's death also meant that the people of Novgorod, who as we have already seen,
[00:02:37] liked to switch their allegiance to whoever they thought was the strongest,
[00:02:42] expelled Mstislav Yurivich and invited Svyatoslav, son of Rostislav Mstislavich of Smolensk
[00:02:50] to rule instead. Once he was established in Kiev,
[00:02:57] Izyslav moved to shore up Rostislav's support by providing his brother Vladimir with a new domain.
[00:03:05] If you recall from last time, Vladimir had been forced out of Vladimir in Valinia
[00:03:11] and was therefore without his own lands.
[00:03:14] The target was Turov. Yuri Dogoruky had appointed his sons to a ring of towns around Kiev,
[00:03:24] but as the tradition was that Kiev lands were no one's patrimony,
[00:03:29] they were unable to hold them after his death.
[00:03:34] Barys, who had been in Turov, had been forced out by Yuri Yaroslavich,
[00:03:40] a descendant of the Izyslav to whom Yaroslav the wise had given Turov as his patrimony,
[00:03:47] but who Rostislav and the rest of the Mstislaviching had declared had lost his right to rule the town
[00:03:54] as his father had not ruled. A large alliance marched out with troops from across southern
[00:04:02] Rusyn Smoliansk. However, the people of Turov fought valiantly for Yuri,
[00:04:09] and when a plague struck the attackers horses, Yuri declared that it was evidence that God was
[00:04:15] on his side. Izyslav was forced withdraw without fulfilling his promise to give Vladimir a new domain.
[00:04:22] The
[00:04:28] Izyslav's fatal blunder was his support for Ivan Berljadnik, the pretender to the throne of Galicia
[00:04:35] we discussed in the last episode. While Izyslav had been the ruler of Chernihiv,
[00:04:42] his support for Berljadnik had been a minor irritation, but now that he was the ruler
[00:04:48] of Kiev, Berljadnik became a rival that Yaroslav Osmomezil had to take seriously.
[00:04:59] Yaroslav secured the support of the Mstislavichy in neighbouring Volinia.
[00:05:04] Once again, the chronicle fails to mention why they switched their support from Izyslav,
[00:05:09] so we are left to guess that the failure to take Turov for Vladimir had undermined
[00:05:15] Izyslav's position with the Mstislavichy. Izyslav thought that he was still the head
[00:05:23] of the strongest alliance in Rus. He persuaded some of the Galician boyars who had previously
[00:05:29] supported Ivan Berljadnik to once again invite him to take the throne and then declare war on
[00:05:37] Yaroslav Osmomezil. Unfortunately, he had misread the situation.
[00:05:44] Before he could move, the combined forces of Yaroslav Osmomezil, Mstislavichy Zyslavich and
[00:05:52] Vladimir Mstislavich attacked Kiev. His own cousin, Svetislav Ogovich, now ruling in Chernihiv,
[00:06:00] refused to come to his defence. His Turkic allies, Grinde and Torky from Paarossia
[00:06:07] and Palyotsi from the steppe switched their allegiance to Mstislav Izyslavich.
[00:06:16] The people of Kiev had no use for an Olgavich who was no longer the strongest ruler in Rus,
[00:06:22] and they withdrew their support. The armies met outside Belgerod on 22nd December 1158,
[00:06:31] fighting to a disastrous defeat for Izyslav. He fled the field of battle and revenged himself
[00:06:39] on his cousin by pillaging the lands of the Olgavichy as his army retreated. The result was that he
[00:06:46] became an outcast in his own family. He had held Kiev for less than two years.
[00:06:52] Yaroslav Osmomezil, Mstislav Izyslavich and Vladimir Mstislavich will decline the opportunity
[00:07:08] to claim Kiev for themselves. The military defeat of Izyslav Davidovich did not provide
[00:07:15] sufficient legitimacy in the face of Rostislav's superior genealogical claim
[00:07:22] Rostislav was currently the senior prince of both the Mstislavichy and the wider
[00:07:28] Monomashichi families, giving him the right to rule through two lines of succession.
[00:07:36] Against him Izyslav Davidovich could attempt to reclaim Kiev or Svetislav and Yaroslav,
[00:07:43] the sons of Sivolod Olgavich, could present their claim based on their father having ruled
[00:07:49] in Kiev. Meanwhile, the people of Kiev made their support for Rostislav clear.
[00:07:58] Rostislav Mstislavich arrived in Kiev on 12th April 1159.
[00:08:07] In May he met with Svetislav Ogovitch at Morovesk and they concluded a pact in which
[00:08:14] Svetislav supported Rostislav's claim to Kiev and Rostislav supported Svetislav retaining
[00:08:21] Tchenikhev instead of returning it to Izyslav Davidovich.
[00:08:27] Rostislav appeared to have an unassailable position, yet the full support of the Mstislavichi
[00:08:34] and of Yaroslav Osmomysil in Galicia, the allegiance of the Torky Berendi and Palotsi
[00:08:41] allies and the support of the Olgavich.
[00:08:49] Izyslav however was not ready to just roll over. He wanted Tchenikhev back.
[00:08:56] He went to the Palovtsi in the steppe with Ivan Beladnik. If you recall from last episode
[00:09:03] when things got too hot for Ivan in Tchenikhev, he had spent some time in the steppe with the
[00:09:09] non-allied Palovtsi raiding Galicia and shipping.
[00:09:15] The pair found support and attacked Svetislav Ogovitch's home city of Poteville,
[00:09:22] most likely intending to take it and then exchange it for Tchenikhev.
[00:09:28] When this attempt failed he decided to attack Rostislav Smoliansk's domains.
[00:09:34] His Palovtsi raided towns across the Smoliansk lands, taking tens of thousands of captives to
[00:09:41] sell into slavery. This also failed to extract concessions from Rostislav.
[00:09:48] Izyslav had one place left to turn, a ruler who has so far been absent from these power plays,
[00:09:57] Andrei Bogolubský.
[00:09:59] Izyslav sent messages to Andrei, proposing that his nephew, Svetislav Vlady Mirovitch,
[00:10:08] marry Andrei's daughter. The other part of the deal being, of course, Andrei providing Izyslav
[00:10:16] with military support. Despite having been standing off to the side since he took the throne,
[00:10:25] it seems like Andrei shared his father's interest in influencing the affairs of the rest of Rus.
[00:10:33] And right now he wanted to undermine the Mistsislavici, particularly in Novgorod,
[00:10:40] where Rostislav had placed his son Svetislav.
[00:10:45] While pledging to support Izyslav's attempts to regain Kiev, Andrei also announced that he
[00:10:52] planned to rule Novgorod, warning its citizens that he would take it by force if he had to.
[00:11:02] Although the alliance did not bear any immediate fruit, there were signs of the usual cracks
[00:11:08] beginning to appear in Rus. These people just can't stay friends for more than five minutes.
[00:11:14] In the winter of 1159, the Volinia Mistsislavici attacked Yuri Yaroslavic in Turov,
[00:11:23] once again trying to seize the city for Vlady Mir Mistsislavitch. A short siege ended in failure
[00:11:30] and they were forced to go home empty-handed.
[00:11:33] 1160 opened with the people of Novgorod once more causing trouble for their leaders,
[00:11:45] this time complaining to Rostislav about having to support both Svetislav and another son of
[00:11:52] Rostislav Davide who was living in Novy Torg. Svetislav conceded the point and sent
[00:11:59] Davide to join their brother Roman in Smolensk, but then he found out that the townspeople were
[00:12:06] conspiring against him personally. He appealed to their conscience reminding them that they had
[00:12:12] kissed the cross to swear to Rostislav that Svetislav would rule them for life,
[00:12:18] but they seized him and imprisoned him in Ladoga. When Rostislav received word,
[00:12:26] he ordered the Novgorodians in Kiev be rounded up and thrown into a pit. So many captives were
[00:12:33] stuffed into the pit that 14 of them suffocated to death overnight. The chronicle tells us that
[00:12:40] Rostislav grieved over this and he had the survivors spread out among several towns.
[00:12:49] Meanwhile, the people of Novgorod asked Andrei Bogolubovsky to give them one of his sons,
[00:12:56] he sent his brother, Mstislav instead. This did not suit Novgorod as Mstislav had already ruled
[00:13:04] there and been rejected by the people so they refused to admit him. Andrei sent his nephew,
[00:13:11] Mstislav Rostislavich, instead. Svetislav escaped to Smolensk.
[00:13:18] Still hopeful of recovering his position, Izyslav managed to win Svetislav Ogovich's support by
[00:13:24] promising him that he could remain in Chernikiv when Izyslav took Kiev.
[00:13:31] The rest of the Ogovich fell into line behind him as well so he began gathering his troops.
[00:13:37] They assembled at Periaslava with the Polovtsy and asked Gleb Yurievich to join them.
[00:13:45] Gleb, maybe somewhat surprisingly given Andrei's position, refused. After a two-week standoff that
[00:13:52] failed to persuade him, Izyslav set off to meet Rostislav.
[00:13:59] Rostislav had heard that he was at Periaslava with his armies
[00:14:04] and used a delay caused by Gleb to gather his own forces.
[00:14:08] When Izyslav learned that Rostislav was marching towards him with superior numbers,
[00:14:13] he abandoned the field.
[00:14:16] But that was not the end of it.
[00:14:18] Mnuvus continued and on 8th February 1161, Izyslav finally succeeded in catching Rostislav by surprise
[00:14:28] and forcing him to run away to Belgorod.
[00:14:32] Izyslav took Kiev, but with Rostislav so near he clearly could not claim to control it.
[00:14:38] He pursued Rostislav to Belgorod and put the city under siege.
[00:14:55] We rather get the impression that Izyslav was not the greatest of military commanders
[00:15:01] and in this case his inability to make any impression on Belgorod allowed Mr. Slav Izyslavic
[00:15:08] to arrive from Vladimir in Valinia, leading reinforcements from Yaroslav Osmomeysil,
[00:15:15] the Berendee, Kovil, Torky and Petrionegs, another of Bogolubskis brothers, Vassil Kohn,
[00:15:22] and a couple of minor rulers.
[00:15:24] The people of Kiev provided Izyslav with no support and his own soldiers started slipping away.
[00:15:34] Mr. Slav Izyslavic had driven him out of Kiev for the second time.
[00:15:42] Rostislav and Mr. Slav pursued Izyslav as he fled.
[00:15:46] The chronicle tells us that they found him hiding in a pine woods by the lakes
[00:15:51] on 6th of March 1161. Their soldiers attacked him and killed him.
[00:15:57] Rostislav returned to Kiev and Mr. Slav returned to Vladimir in Valinia.
[00:16:05] I think it's quite interesting how rare this kind of incident seems to be in the narrative.
[00:16:10] We are three generations into near continuous warfare between the rival families,
[00:16:15] cousins and brothers, but how many times have you heard that one pretender ran another to ground
[00:16:21] and killed them? It seems that like outright killing your rivals was not part of the game.
[00:16:38] Izyslav's death put a stick in the wheel of Andrei's plans to extend Sazdalia's influence
[00:16:43] over the rest of Rus. It was forced to pull back from Novgorod, while Rostislav's position there
[00:16:50] was strengthened. Mr. Slav Rostislavic was recalled to Sazdalia and his place was taken by Svetislav.
[00:17:01] Inside Sazdalia however it was a different story. Andrei was actively building his power
[00:17:08] in a way that we have not yet seen in Rus. In the same year of 1161 he expelled his brothers,
[00:17:16] Mr. Slav and Veselko, and his nephews, Mr. Slav and Yaropok from their domains,
[00:17:22] as well as depriving some of his father's leading officials of the domains that they had been rewarded
[00:17:27] with. Only his brothers with possessions outside of Sazdalia were unscathed. Mr. Slav and
[00:17:36] Veselko were shipped off to Constantinople with their Byzantine mother, where the emperor treated them generously.
[00:17:46] According to the Chronicle Andrei's aim was to become the sole unchallenged authority in Sazdalia
[00:17:53] and Autocrat. And that is what he achieved. No one in Sazdalia was able to dispute his power.
[00:18:01] We might contrast him to Mr. Slav Izyslavic in Vladimir and Valinia, who clearly saw himself as the
[00:18:10] leader of the Mr. Slavici. But there were so many Mr. Slavici their domains were fragmented
[00:18:18] and the ones who were not also Izyslavic only acknowledged his authority when it was convenient
[00:18:25] to them. While Sazdalia remained less developed than the Kievan heartland, Andrei's consolidation of
[00:18:36] power dramatically increased his strength in relation to the fractured and quarrelling rulers of the rest of Rus.
[00:18:44] Mr. Slav Izyslavic's ambitions received another setback when Rostislav made peace with Yuri Yaroslavic
[00:18:59] of Turov and agreed to protect him. That meant that the Valinians had to abandon their attacks
[00:19:07] and look elsewhere for a domain for Vladimir Mr. Slavic.
[00:19:13] Vladimir Mr. Slavic decided to solve the issue himself by seizing Slutsk, a town north of Turov.
[00:19:21] This stirred up a different hornet's nest as Slutsk belonged to the Ogavitchi
[00:19:27] and Rostislav had a pact with Svetislav Ogavitch. Rostislav therefore sent his son Uruik
[00:19:36] and several other Princes of the Ogavitchi and Polotsk to deal with Vladimir who gave in without a fight.
[00:19:45] Instead he went to Rostislav in Kiev and Rostislav gave him a triple and some smaller towns.
[00:19:53] After several years demanding a major domain, he was now forced to settle for a provincial
[00:20:00] corner of the Kiev lands.
[00:20:02] According to the Chronicle, 1161 also saw a breakdown in the relationship between
[00:20:12] Rostislav and Mr. Slav Izya Slavic although the Chronicle once again does not tell us why.
[00:20:20] Mr. Slav tried to get Vladimir Andreevich in Perusovnitsa to join him against Rostislav
[00:20:28] but he refused which thwarted any plans Mr. Slav might have had at a time being.
[00:20:38] The entry for 1162 probably resolved the problem of what had caused them to fall out.
[00:20:46] We are told that Rostislav made peace with Mr. Slav and returned to him some towns that he had
[00:20:52] taken and reallocated to other allies including Turchesk, Belgorod and Kanyv.
[00:21:00] These were Kievan towns and the Chronicle does not tell us when or why Rostislav gave them to
[00:21:07] Mr. Slav. The kings of Kiev usually gave the surrounding towns especially Belgorod
[00:21:14] to their immediate family and Rostislav is the first we hear giving them to his allies
[00:21:21] which reduced his own holdings.
[00:21:28] In early 1164, Slav Ogovich died and was succeeded by Slav Sivolodovich
[00:21:36] who in addition to being his nephew was also Rostislav and Vladimir's nephew through his
[00:21:43] mother Maria. This put him in a position to influence both the Ogovich and the Monomashichi.
[00:21:55] Later in 1164 after several years of mostly peace other than the occasional raid
[00:22:02] the Palyovtsy crossed the Volga and began serious incursions into Rus once again.
[00:22:09] A Rus force went out to fight them under the leadership of someone called Vassilko Yerepolkovich.
[00:22:16] The Rus won the battle on the Rost river and took many captives but in 1166 the Palyovtsy
[00:22:25] set up camp at the Dnipr Rapids and began harrying the merchants travelling to Byzantium.
[00:22:32] The Palyovtsy raids and Rus punitive expeditions continued with mixed success
[00:22:39] and in the end Rostislav was forced to assemble a proper army to take action.
[00:22:46] He gathered most of the Monomax including Mstislav Izjaslavich and Gleb Yuriyovic
[00:22:52] as well as a number of Lesser rulers assembling their forces at Kanyev.
[00:22:58] The threat of this army held the Palyovtsy at bay and the merchants were able to complete their
[00:23:03] journey for this navigation season. There was no battle and no resolution. The conflict would
[00:23:10] continue to escalate.
[00:23:17] Towards the end of 1166 Rostislav decided to travel to Novgorod to visit his son Srebranov.
[00:23:24] Because the chronicles say the townspeople were once again causing trouble.
[00:23:30] He visited his daughter in the Chernichev lands and his son Roman in Smolinsk.
[00:23:36] On the upper reaches of the Lovot he stopped because he was feeling unwell and sent word
[00:23:42] to Srebranov to meet him in Vilikilugin.
[00:23:46] Srebranov and the prominent people of Novgorod came to him and pledged loyalty to him and Srebranov
[00:23:52] and Rostislav set off back to Kyiv.
[00:23:57] On 14th March 1167 somewhere between Smolinsk and Kyiv he died. He was buried next to his
[00:24:05] father in the monastery of St. Fjorda.
[00:24:16] Rostislav successfully established the ruling family of Smolinsk, which would remain in power
[00:24:22] for another century and kept it more consolidated than their cousins, the Mstislavici.
[00:24:29] However he achieved this by allocating his son's patrimonial domains in the Kyiv lands,
[00:24:36] avoiding the fragmentation of Smolinsk but directly violating testimony of Yaroslav
[00:24:42] that all his predecessors had followed. This would weaken Kyiv.
[00:24:50] He was accepted as the senior member of the wider house of Monomakh and therefore his rule faced no
[00:24:57] serious challenges. Outside of a few disputes he generally held the loyalty of the other rulers.
[00:25:05] However we cannot say that he left Rus any stronger than he found it,
[00:25:11] and to add to the rivalries between the ruling families we now have a growing threat from the step once again.
[00:25:27] Following Rostislav's death, the two paths of succession that he had united,
[00:25:33] the one favoured by Yuridogorukin and the one favoured by the Mstislavici,
[00:25:39] now led to his younger brother Vladimir Mstislavic of Dorogobuzh.
[00:25:46] However instead the always ambitious Mstislavic is the Slavich of Vladimir and Valinia,
[00:25:52] the city he had taken from Vladimir Mstislavic. Once more usurped his uncle.
[00:25:59] The Mstislavici generally supported the move and the people of Kyiv favoured Mstislav over Vladimir,
[00:26:10] who was suspected of harboring Olga Vici sympathies since he had attempted to defend
[00:26:16] Eagle against the mob. So Vladimir Mstislavic joined the Kyivans,
[00:26:23] Breurik and David Rostislavic, in inviting Mstislav to take Kyiv.
[00:26:31] Mstislav sent word to his nephew Vassilko Yaropolchic to hold Kyiv for him, which he did.
[00:26:39] While Vassilko was waiting for Mstislav to arrive, he found out that Vladimir Mstislavic,
[00:26:46] Vladimir Andreevich, Yaroslav Izyaslavic and Rostislav's sons had already distributed domains
[00:26:54] to each other and kissed the cross to seal their alliance. Mstislav paused his march to Kyiv to
[00:27:02] summon Yaroslav Oswemisil, the Poles, the Sievolodichi, Berenday Torky, Petchenegs and Churny Klobuki
[00:27:11] and Churny Klobuki. He arrived in Kyiv at the head of an army and immediately called the Council
[00:27:19] of War. Meanwhile, Vladimir Mstislavic had occupied the nearby Vizhgorod.
[00:27:30] Mstislav marched on Vizhgorod with overwhelming force
[00:27:34] and Vladimir Andreevich and David Rostislavic came out to negotiate settlement.
[00:27:41] Agreement was reached on the allocation of domains and they all kissed the cross.
[00:27:47] Mstislav Izyaslavic ascended the throne of his father and grandfather in Kyiv
[00:27:53] on 19th May 1167.
[00:27:56] But Vladimir Mstislavic was not in fact reconciled to Mstislav's rule in Kyiv.
[00:28:08] He began plotting against him almost immediately. His first attempt got nowhere.
[00:28:14] David Rostislavic got wind of it and reported it to Kyiv
[00:28:18] and Vladimir was forced to claim that he was being falsely accused of treachery
[00:28:23] and declare his loyalty all over again. Mstislav rewarded him with Katelnitsa,
[00:28:30] a town in the west of the Kyiv and land.
[00:28:35] But before long he was plotting again. He tried to get his Druzhina involved but
[00:28:41] they refused so he went to the Beryndi. He claimed that Vladimir Andreevich,
[00:28:48] Yaroslav Izyaslavic and David Rostislavic were with him but when the Beryndi saw that he turned
[00:28:55] up alone they suspected that they were being deceived and attacked him.
[00:29:01] Vladimir was wounded and fled home towards Dorogobush. He could not reach it because
[00:29:08] Vladimir Andreevich blocked the bridge across the orina and denied him passage.
[00:29:14] He had one option left. He sent word to Andrei Bogolubsky in Suzdal who told him that he would be safe in Rizan.
[00:29:27] By now you will not be surprised to learn that the change of King in Kyiv also resulted in
[00:29:33] turmoil in Novgorod. The leading citizens of Novgorod called a secret vietu but they
[00:29:41] decided to depose Sviatoslav Rostislavic. Sviatoslav got wind of the plot and fled to Veliki Luki.
[00:29:50] From whence he sent word that he had decided he no longer wanted to rule Novgorod.
[00:29:56] The people of Novgorod sent word to Mstislav asking that he send his son to rule them.
[00:30:02] Meanwhile Sviatoslav made his way to Andrei Bogolubsky on the Volga.
[00:30:08] Abandoning his previous opposition, Andrei provided Sviatoslav with troops which he used to burn
[00:30:16] the Novgorod town of Nori Torgh while his brothers Roman and Mstislav raided Veliki Luki.
[00:30:25] Bogolubsky gathered more troops from Polotsk and Smolinsk.
[00:30:31] Bogolubsky gathered more troops from Polotsk and Smolinsk
[00:30:36] and established a blockade around the Novgorod lands to prevent any messengers from reaching
[00:30:42] Mstislav. He was not quite successful as one messenger did manage to sneak through.
[00:30:50] Sviatoslav and his brothers led a force of troops from Suzdal Smolinsk and Polotsk
[00:30:56] against the Novgorodians at Rusa on the Polist River. The battle was inconclusive and
[00:31:02] Sviatoslav's troops continued to pillage the lands.
[00:31:09] We've seen several cases now where the people of Novgorod have immediately switched allegiance to
[00:31:15] whoever the new ruler of Kyiv is and demanded a new ruler be sent to them.
[00:31:20] This time we have a new development in that the existing ruling family, the Drostyslavichy,
[00:31:27] decide that they will impose their continuing rule by force.
[00:31:32] The Chronicle does not tell us why Bogolubsky decided to get involved, given that he has previously
[00:31:38] objected to Sviatoslav ruling Novgorod so we have to assume that he is in an alliance with
[00:31:45] his neighbours in Smolinsk. Allowing Mstislav to establish control over Novgorod would give
[00:31:52] him a foothold in the North East while keeping him out, but maintain a balance of forces against
[00:31:58] the Izyslavichy in the South.
[00:32:10] For the time being Mstislav had limited options to deal with Novgorod.
[00:32:15] This place in Kyiv was secure since Vladimir had been his only challenger,
[00:32:21] but he had a more pressing issue, the continuing Polovtsy raids.
[00:32:26] Despite supposed peace treaties entire villages were being abducted and sold into slavery
[00:32:33] and there was major disruption to the southern trade routes.
[00:32:37] So he summoned the other rulers and their forces and they were all quite willing to
[00:32:42] join the campaign. Brurik Rostyslavich led his own and his brother Davidsmen,
[00:32:48] Mstislav's brothers Yaroslav and Yaropolt came. Even Bogolubskis brothers Gleb and Mikhail Kovat
[00:32:55] turned up, the Olga Vici came and so did many of the minor rulers. The army set out on the second
[00:33:03] of March. They reached the Polovtsy at their camps on the Uglah and Sniporod. The Polovtsy
[00:33:10] had seen them coming and were fleeing, but the Rus ran them down. Many Rus prisoners were
[00:33:16] recovered and booty was taken. This was the first victory against the steppe by a combined Rus army,
[00:33:28] since Mstislav Vladimirovich had driven the Polovtsy back across the Volga in 1129.
[00:33:35] It should have been a triumph, but Mstislav managed to spoil his victory.
[00:33:41] He sent his own men to raid the Polovtsy camp at night, without the troops of the other rulers,
[00:33:49] depriving them of the booty that they had counted on. This meant that rather than the victory making
[00:33:56] him even more secure in Kiev, he had infuriated and offended his allies who now began plotting
[00:34:04] against him. The distrust was fed by boyars spreading baseless rumours against Mstislav.
[00:34:13] They told David Rostislavich that Mstislav was plotting to take him and his brother captive
[00:34:19] and seize their domains. Mstislav also refused a reward Vladimir Andreevich with additional towns,
[00:34:28] which increased his disgruntlement.
[00:34:31] On the 14th of April 1168, Mstislav decided to appoint his eldest son, Roman, to Novgorod.
[00:34:42] This further antagonised almost everyone, as the rulers of Rus were coming to see him as someone
[00:34:48] who grabbed everything for himself and failed to reward his allies.
[00:34:55] The Rostislavichs who were not abandoning their brothers' claim to Novgorod
[00:35:00] were ready to break with Mstislav entirely. Andreev Bogolubskiy needed no encouragement,
[00:35:07] and by the end of the year he had formed an alliance of the Malkantents.
[00:35:20] With the onset of winter Bogolubskiy ordered his son, Mstislav, to lead an army of Monomarch
[00:35:26] rulers and troops to attack Mstislav Izjaslavich in Kiev.
[00:35:33] Forces from Rostov, Vladimir, Suzdal and Bielozera were joined by Sv'olod Yuriyovich
[00:35:40] and Mstislav Rostislavich back from their exile in Byzantium.
[00:35:47] Gleb Yuriyovich from Pereyaslavl, Roman Rostislavich from Smolensk,
[00:35:53] Rurik Rostislavich from Vruchi, David Rostislavich with the men of Viskorod,
[00:36:00] Vladimir Andreevich who was the only one from Volinia and Alek and Igor Svetislavich from the
[00:36:07] Ogavitchi. They were joined along the way by more troops from Polotsk, Morom and Ryzan.
[00:36:15] The only Monomarchich still supporting Mstislav was Mikhail Kolyuriyovich.
[00:36:25] Mstislav sent him to Novgorod to reinforce Roman. The Smolensk forces found out that he was on his way
[00:36:32] and intercepted and captured him.
[00:36:36] While Andreev gathered his coalition and dispatched a huge army against Kiev,
[00:36:45] Mstislav Yuriyovich was having trouble finding anyone other than the people of Kiev willing to
[00:36:51] stand with him. Only his brother Yaroslav answered the call. The Torky and the Birindy sat the
[00:36:59] fight out waiting to see the results. His other supposed allies, Vladimir Mstislavich, Yaroslav
[00:37:07] Osmomeysil, the rulers of Turov and Chernikov stayed at home. Meanwhile Andreev was deep in
[00:37:16] heavy negotiations. He was working from a position of strength. Suzdalia was not fragmented among
[00:37:24] quarrelling cousins, which made him individually the strongest of Rus' rulers. The other rulers
[00:37:31] already agreed with him that Mstislav is the Oslavich had to be driven out of Kiev.
[00:37:37] Most importantly, since Vladimir Mstislavich had failed to take Kiev and was now an exile
[00:37:43] without a domain, Andreev, through his father Yuri Dolgoruky, had the senior
[00:37:50] claimed Kiev by lateral succession, with priority over Mstislav Yuriyovich. He therefore had the might
[00:37:59] and the right. His allies agreed to accept Mstislav Andreevich as the commander in chief
[00:38:11] and to follow Andreev's plan. According to the chroniclers, the people of Kiev defended their
[00:38:18] city valiantly. But Mstislav Izyaslavich's Gruzheniki saw the writing on the wall and told him that they
[00:38:26] could not hold. He fled with his brother Yaroslav to Vladimir in Valinia. On the 12th of March,
[00:38:34] 1169, Mstislav entered the city. The siege had lasted only three days.
[00:38:42] But there was no immediate move to claim the throne. Instead, the attackers ran wild, pillaging the city,
[00:38:50] massacring the townspeople, looting the monasteries and churches.
[00:39:00] The reason was that Bogolubskie had another plan. He did not want the throne of Kiev.
[00:39:07] What he wanted was for the other rulers of Rus to acknowledge that Kiev was his
[00:39:16] to give to whom he pleased, and that Vladimir on the Kliasma was now the chief city of Rus.
[00:39:24] He did not even want to visit Kiev. He stayed in Svazdalia and sent his son to perform the
[00:39:30] mission for him. The sack of Kiev, a shocking and unprecedented event for contemporaries,
[00:39:37] was to drive the point home.
[00:39:43] Mstislav Andreevich appointed his uncle Gleb to rule in Kiev.
[00:39:49] Ostensibly this was in keeping with the rules of succession. Gleb was the next eldest after Andrei
[00:39:56] and his father had ruled in Kiev. By the strict lateral succession that Dolgoruky had asserted,
[00:40:03] all of his sons had a superior claim to rule in Kiev than Mstislav Izyslavich.
[00:40:13] Since the Rus had arrived in Kiev 300 years ago, this was the first time its primacy
[00:40:20] been challenged since Svazdislav the brave had briefly declared that he was moving to
[00:40:25] Pyryaslavets on the Danube and left his son Yerepoch to take care of Kiev.
[00:40:34] The scarcity of sources from this period means that we are left guessing about some things.
[00:40:40] Was the sack of Kiev revenge for the townspeople killing Yuri Dolgoruky?
[00:40:46] Were the soldiers of Suzdal and Smolinsk settling scores from regional rivalries?
[00:40:54] Did Andrei order the sack and looting to undermine Kiev's culture on commercial power
[00:41:01] and boost Suzdalia? We can only say for sure that they definitely attacked the city itself,
[00:41:10] not just Mstislav Izyslavich who had already run away.
[00:41:16] The Sacking of Kiev has quite naturally been seen as a watershed in the history of Rus,
[00:41:26] but we must be careful not to read too much backwards into it from later events.
[00:41:32] It was certainly a major assertion of power by Suzdalia, a claim to preeminence.
[00:41:39] However historians have extensively debated what the immediate result was.
[00:41:46] The prevailing view is that Kiev remained the leading political, cultural and ecclesiastical
[00:41:53] city of Rus until the middle of the next century. But the old story that we have been following
[00:42:00] for 300 years with the core rulers of Kiev, Chernihiv and Pyryaslavl competing amongst
[00:42:08] themselves for the capital while dominating the peripheral domains has shifted forever.
[00:42:16] Our story will be shifting too. We are not leaving Rus just yet, but our focus will be
[00:42:23] moving northeast towards the beginnings of what will one day become Russia.
[00:42:30] And that makes this the perfect place to pause for your questions and answers in the next episode.
[00:42:38] I've already received some excellent questions and if you have one you haven't asked yet
[00:42:43] there's still a couple of days to get it in. Send it by email to hello at the russian empire
[00:42:49] history podcast dot com through twitter, facebook or the Spotify app or the website.
[00:42:57] Beyond that we will be looking at everyday life in Rus catching up with developments in
[00:43:03] Volga Bulgaria which has also grown and is now entering into a period of direct rivalry
[00:43:09] with the Rus on the Volga, introducing the Bolts and the Baltic Crusades before we return to the main narrative.
[00:43:20] But while the kings and princes of Rus scrubble over Kiev, far away a man has been poisoned
[00:43:28] by a rival clan. His widow and small children are left destitute, cast out and reduced to
[00:43:36] subsisting on roots. Their survival is far from certain. Despite their poverty,
[00:43:43] one of the children begins to impress those they encounter through the sheer force of his personality,
[00:43:50] winning himself followers, rising through service and spending time in exile before
[00:43:57] eventually recovering his father's position and then more. His mother called him Temujin,
[00:44:04] he will call himself Shingiz. The people of Rus have no idea what is just over the horizon.
[00:44:12] Thank you for listening and until next time, goodbye.
[00:44:33] you