1.58 - The Downward Spiral

[00:00:00] Hello and welcome to the Russian Empire History Podcast, the history of all the peoples of the Russian Empire.

[00:00:08] I'm your host, JP Bristow. This is Season 1, The Forest, The Steppe and the Birth of the Russian Empire, and Episode 58, The Downward Spiral.

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[00:01:01] We left off last episode with the death of Sviatoslav. His final act was to summon Rurik, his designated successor, who would now no longer need to share power.

[00:01:16] You might think that their agreement to share power and secure the succession would help to ensure a stable transfer of power, but no, there will be no more stability in Rus.

[00:01:30] The Knyazes are becoming entirely fixated on internal squabbles for power.

[00:01:36] The Chronicle does say that the people of Kiev were happy to welcome Rurik.

[00:01:46] He had already ruled the city, he had a solid claim, and he was the descendant of their favourite clan, the sons of Mstislav.

[00:01:55] Therefore, he arrived and the throne of the father and grandfather.

[00:02:03] The Laurentian Chronicle, the text compiled in Suzdalia, tries to claim that Sjavlod Balšoj Gnjistov, acting as the eldest Knyaz of the Monomax, sent his representatives to install Rurik.

[00:02:20] But this certainly didn't happen.

[00:02:23] It was not possible for Sjavlod to receive word of Sviatoslav's death and send his people to Kiev in time.

[00:02:33] At most, they would have turned up later to declare Sjavlod's approval.

[00:02:39] The episode is, however, an indicator of Sjavlod's intention to interfere in Kievan affairs, now that the balance of power has been rearranged.

[00:02:52] As the ruler of Kiev and head of the Olgovici, Sviatoslav had been able to play Suzdalia off against the Rostislavici.

[00:03:03] Now, Rurik held greater authority as the Knyaz of a Kiev undivided from its lands,

[00:03:11] and a simple opposition appeared between the Rostislavici and Suzdalia.

[00:03:17] But let's step back for a minute. This was not Sjavlod's first attempt to impose his influence on southern Rus.

[00:03:39] Last episode, we skipped over events in Halic following the death of Yaroslav Osman Misal.

[00:03:46] So, let's catch up on that now.

[00:03:51] Yaroslav had died in 1187 and appointed his younger son, Alek, born to a concubine named Anastasia, as his successor.

[00:04:02] This was obviously a break with the traditional line of succession and therefore bound to cause trouble.

[00:04:10] His eldest son, Vladimir, from his wife Olga, the sister of Sjavlod Bignest, was given the town of Pirumishul.

[00:04:21] The people of Halic soon expelled Alek, who fled to shelter with Rurik, and Vladimir took over Halic as well.

[00:04:33] Besides not being appointed the designated heir, Vladimir Yaroslavic was also allegedly a person of poor character,

[00:04:42] although we always have to be careful taking the chronicler's claims about people they dislike at face value.

[00:04:50] After his wife, Skatoslav's daughter Boleslava, had died, he had two sons with a priest's wife.

[00:04:59] This made him vulnerable to challenges from other would-be kniazes.

[00:05:05] So, Roman Mstislavic, kniaz of Vladimir in Valinia, basing his claim on the extremely flimsy grounds that his daughter, Fyador, was married to Vladimir's son, Vasilko, decided that he would take Halic.

[00:05:26] According to one chronicler, the townspeople supported Roman, but were unable to kill or expel Vladimir.

[00:05:34] In the end, they persuaded him to leave by threatening to kill his wife, and Vladimir took refuge with King Bila III of Hungary.

[00:05:47] According to another chronicle, Alek, who had fled to Rurik when Vladimir overthrew him, found Rurik unwilling to support his claim.

[00:05:58] So instead he looked to King Kazimierz of the Poles for assistance.

[00:06:03] Just to note that when we're talking about different chronicles here, it means the chronicles kept in different kniazestors.

[00:06:16] There had long been Novgorod and Kiev chronicles.

[00:06:20] By now, Suzdalje and Halic had their own.

[00:06:25] Other cities had chronicles that have only survived as fragments or references in other texts.

[00:06:35] So in this version, it was Alek and his Polish allies that threw Vladimir out of Halic, and he also flees to Hungary.

[00:06:47] Kashimierz then installed Alek as the kniaz of Halic.

[00:06:54] In this chronicle, the townspeople also support Roman, and they poison Alek so that Roman can take over.

[00:07:02] But Roman's position is far from secure.

[00:07:07] Bila is very happy to bring Halic under Hungarian influence by supporting Vladimir, and together they soon drive Roman out.

[00:07:18] He tries to go back to Vladimir in Volunia, but his brother, who had taken over when Roman left, refuses to give the city back.

[00:07:29] Roman runs to the Poles for support, but they're not interested, and he's left to go cap in hand to his father-in-law, Rurik.

[00:07:40] This is where the disagreement between Rurik and Sviatoslav that we mentioned in the last episode takes place.

[00:07:49] Bila asks Sviatoslav to send his son Gleb to rule in Halic.

[00:07:55] The chronicle says that this is the fulfilment of some oath, but as usual it does not tell us what the oath was or when it was made.

[00:08:05] Whatever the circumstances, Sviatoslav sends Gleb as requested, without consulting Rurik.

[00:08:13] Rurik is enraged by this because, as you'll recall, part of their power-sharing agreement was that they would not enter into separate political agreements without each other.

[00:08:25] As Sviatoslav appears to be breaking the agreement, Rurik thinks that Sviatoslav is plotting against him.

[00:08:34] According to the chronicler, Sviatoslav manages to appease Rurik by reassuring him that he had sent Gleb on a private mission.

[00:08:43] If you guessed that the chronicle does not tell us what the mission is, you'd be right.

[00:08:49] Some scholars believe that the mission may have been negotiating a marriage between Gleb's daughter and a Byzantine prince.

[00:08:58] As Gleb was married to Rurik's daughter, this would indeed have settled him down.

[00:09:06] With this done, Sviatoslav suggests that the two of them remove Vladimir from Halic.

[00:09:13] It soon becomes clear what his ulterior motive is here.

[00:09:17] As we have noted, Rurik's control of the Kyiv lands severely reduces the wealth and authority of Sviatoslav as the Knyas of Kyiv.

[00:09:26] So Sviatoslav comes up with the idea of offering Rurik Halic in exchange for the Kyiv lands.

[00:09:35] Unfortunately, Rurik does not take this bait and they abandon their plans.

[00:09:43] Meanwhile, Bela proves a fickle ally to Vladimir.

[00:09:49] After using him to secure the city, he sends him back to Hungary, essentially as his captive, and places his son Andrew in Halic instead.

[00:10:00] A foreigner at the head of one of the Knyas is a provocation for the Rus.

[00:10:06] Roman, still without a domain and still coveting Halic, now finds Rurik quite ready to provide him with troops and attacks Andrew.

[00:10:17] However, Andrew drives him off.

[00:10:21] Then the people of Halic rebel.

[00:10:24] They ask Rostislav, son of Ivan Berlatnik, remember him from a few episodes back, to rule over them.

[00:10:34] But Andrew successfully defends the city against him too, killing Rostislav in the process.

[00:10:41] In 1189, Vladimir manages to escape from Hungary and arrives at the court of Kashmir II in Poland.

[00:10:54] This time Kashmir is more interested in helping and makes his troops available.

[00:11:02] With his new Polish allies, Vladimir succeeds in expelling Andrew, and to secure his position he asks his uncle, Siewelod Bignest, to support him as Knyas in exchange for his oath as a vassal.

[00:11:19] Siewelod agrees and issues a notice prohibiting any Knyas from challenging Vladimir's right to rule in Halic.

[00:11:30] This is really aimed at his two rivals-stroke allies.

[00:11:35] It would be difficult for Siewelod to directly intervene in Halic, as he would have to cross the whole of Rus to do so.

[00:11:43] The aim here is to extend his influence over the other Knyases and to reinforce his claim to be the senior Knyas of the Monomashici.

[00:11:53] Just to remind you again, he was actually the genealogically senior Knyas.

[00:12:00] As the grandson of Vladimir Monomash, he had precedence over Rurik, who was a great-grandson.

[00:12:10] Siewelod's ambitions to be recognised as the senior Knyas were much weaker in relation to Sviatoslav, who was not a Monomash and was himself the senior Knyas of the Olgovici.

[00:12:23] At first glance, the Knyas of Kyiv was also politically senior to the Knyas of Vladimir and Suzdal.

[00:12:32] But we can understand that Siewelod was looking at the example of his brother Bogolyubski

[00:12:40] and thinking about how he could make himself the dominant Knyas, the power behind the throne, the king-maker.

[00:13:00] In any case, to return to our story, Sviatoslav is now dead and Rurik rules in Kyiv.

[00:13:08] At first glance, the relationship between Siewelod and Rurik is rather clearer.

[00:13:14] Rurik appears to have taken the throne without needing to rely on Siewelod, but now we are going to see them testing each other.

[00:13:24] In 1195, Siewelod married his eldest son, Konstantin, to the daughter of Mistislav Romanovich of Smaljensk.

[00:13:33] It looks like he was trying to boost his personal ties to the rest of Rostislavici in preparation for challenging Rurik.

[00:13:45] The grounds for the dispute arose from the already contentious issue of the allocation of the Kyiv lands.

[00:13:53] When he took the throne, Rurik invited his brother, David, to Kyiv and the pair of them decided who would get what.

[00:14:04] Rurik's son, Rostislav, got Belgorod, David kept Vysgorod, Roman Mistislavich, would-be of Halic, received five smaller towns,

[00:14:16] and all the Olgovici were removed from the Kyiv lands.

[00:14:23] Unexpectedly or not for Rurik, Siewelod objected.

[00:14:28] Rurik and the Rostislavici, as well as their Izyslavici allies in Volhynia,

[00:14:35] had acknowledged him as the senior kniaz of the Rostislavici, he reminded them,

[00:14:41] probably back in 1189, although the chronicler does not make it clear.

[00:14:46] Despite this, Rurik had not given him towns or consulted him about the allocations.

[00:14:53] Siewelod therefore withdrew his support, and told Rurik he would have to defend Rus without him.

[00:15:01] What's more, he strongly objected to Roman receiving any towns at all and threatened to attack him.

[00:15:21] Rurik accepted the complaint.

[00:15:25] Roman agreed to return the towns to Rurik for other compensation or other allocations,

[00:15:31] and Rurik gave the towns to Siewelod.

[00:15:36] Siewelod did not push things too far.

[00:15:39] He installed Rurik's son, Rostislav, who was also his son-in-law in Torchysk,

[00:15:45] and put his Pasadniki in the other towns.

[00:15:52] Siewelod based his complaint on his seniority among the Monomakhs.

[00:15:56] He had not challenged Rurik's right to dispose of the towns as the kniaz of Kyiv.

[00:16:02] Rather, he had asserted his right as the senior kniaz to influence Rurik's decisions.

[00:16:10] So Rurik's plan to legitimise himself as the sole ruler through his co-rulership with Svatoslav did not quite come to fruition.

[00:16:22] Even though there was no formal arrangement like there had been with Svatoslav,

[00:16:27] he had now acknowledged that he was not strong enough to stand up to Siewelod,

[00:16:32] and by giving him the towns he had strengthened Siewelod's position in the south.

[00:16:42] Siewelod's manoeuvres in the Kyiv lands were also intended to curb Roman,

[00:16:47] whose fortunes had recently improved.

[00:16:51] Roman's brother Siewelod, the one who had seized Vladimir and Valinia from him,

[00:16:57] had died in 1195.

[00:17:00] Vladimir reverted to Roman,

[00:17:02] and together with the Kyiv towns Rurik had given him,

[00:17:07] that quickly took him from a kniaz of nothing who had failed to grab Halic

[00:17:12] to a new force in western Rus,

[00:17:15] a force potentially capable of helping Rurik resist Siewelod's influence.

[00:17:24] Roman was quite understandably angry at Siewelod for displacing him,

[00:17:29] especially after Siewelod gave Turchesk to Rostislav,

[00:17:34] which the chronicler tells us had been Roman's plan for the town.

[00:17:40] Rurik advised him to swallow his pride and maintain relations with Siewelod as the senior kniaz,

[00:17:47] but Roman was not for conciliation.

[00:17:52] Instead, he went to Yaroslav Siewelod of Ternikiv and persuaded him that it was actually his turn to rule in Kyiv.

[00:18:02] Rurik learned of their conspiracy and appealed to Bignest for support.

[00:18:08] Roman got cold feet and fled to Poland.

[00:18:13] He returned to Volinia after being wounded in Poland, admitted his fault to Rurik and was forgiven.

[00:18:21] Rurik even allocated him the town of Polony and some land in Porosia as compensation for his previous losses.

[00:18:42] Thus, with the dust of Rurik's ascent to the throne of Kyiv finally settled,

[00:18:48] we find ourselves with five rival kniazes.

[00:18:52] Four of them are Monomachs.

[00:18:55] Siewelod Bignest, the genealogically senior kniaz and the most powerful individually,

[00:19:01] has the strongest claim to Kyiv,

[00:19:04] but like his brother he prefers to remain in his own domain and assert his overlordship of the rest of Rus.

[00:19:13] Rurik and his brother David of Smolensk,

[00:19:17] the senior kniazes of the Rostislavici branch,

[00:19:20] are trying to assert their independent rule after playing second fiddle to Sviatoslav for years.

[00:19:29] Roman Mstislavici, now the senior kniaz of the Isislavici of Volinia,

[00:19:36] has a claim to Kyiv too, but is behind Siewelod and the Rostislavici.

[00:19:42] Too far down the line to make a credible bid independently,

[00:19:47] but significant enough for him to demand substantial payment for his allegiance.

[00:19:53] And lastly, there was Yaroslav Siewelodovic of Chernihev.

[00:19:58] His father had ruled in Kyiv, so he had a solid claim,

[00:20:02] but it would be difficult for him to make a challenge unless some of the Monomachs came over to his side.

[00:20:12] I'm sure that all of you who have been listening to the events of the last century or so

[00:20:17] can plainly see that the system of succession created by Yaroslav the Wise

[00:20:22] is a constant source of instability and conflict.

[00:20:25] It's hard to imagine that this would not also have been plain to the people of the time too,

[00:20:34] but no kniaz was willing to give up his chance at succession,

[00:20:39] to allow someone else to rule with greater stability.

[00:20:46] Yaroslav Siewelodovic's failed attempt to displace Rurik with Roman

[00:20:50] made him Rurik's first target when it came to consolidating his position in Kyiv.

[00:20:56] Together with David and Siewelod Bignest,

[00:21:00] he presented Yaroslav with a demand that the Olgovici kiss the cross

[00:21:05] and swear never to seize their patrimonies, Kyiv or Smolensk,

[00:21:10] from them, their descendants or any other Monomach ever again.

[00:21:15] As the basis for their claim, they asserted that Yaroslav the Wise had given Sviatoslav,

[00:21:23] the founder of the Czernikov branch of the family, land on the east bank of the Dnieper,

[00:21:29] and therefore the Olgovici had no business claiming domains on the western side of the river.

[00:21:36] The major drawback to this argument, if Yaroslav Siewelodovic spotted it,

[00:21:43] was that Yaroslav had also given Monomach's father, Siewelod,

[00:21:47] lands on the eastern side of the river.

[00:21:51] According to the chronicler, they spent a long time arguing without reaching any conclusion.

[00:21:59] Clearly, Rurik and David were aiming to secure Kyiv in the possession of the Rostislavici,

[00:22:07] which was a violation of the Yaroslavian system of succession,

[00:22:11] which stipulated that Kyiv must always remain the common patrimony of the wider family, not any single branch.

[00:22:20] Of course, this was not the first such attempt.

[00:22:23] Vladimir Monomach had demoted the Svetislavici of Czernikov at Lubec,

[00:22:29] then designated his sons as successors.

[00:22:33] Then Mstislav, somehow, we're not told how anywhere,

[00:22:37] seems to have persuaded Kyiv to accept his descendants, the Mstislavici, as their preferred knyazes.

[00:22:44] However, those descendants were not as capable as their forefathers,

[00:22:49] and the succession reverted to the original system.

[00:22:57] Yaroslav was only willing to agree to one point,

[00:23:00] not to try to expel Rurik from Kyiv.

[00:23:04] Easy enough, as he had little chance of doing so in any case.

[00:23:09] For the succession, he rejected Rurik and David's demands entirely

[00:23:14] and told them that it would be up to God who ruled Kyiv after Rurik.

[00:23:18] As they were all, he said, descendants of Yaroslav, they all had a claim.

[00:23:26] But Rurik was not willing to settle on that outcome.

[00:23:31] As things stood, he had David and Big Nest with him.

[00:23:35] Roman had reconciled, and so Yaroslav stood alone.

[00:23:39] The balance of forces was definitely in favour of the Prostislavici.

[00:23:46] There was also a chance to curry favour with Vsevolod.

[00:23:50] By asking him to lead the campaign against Yaroslav,

[00:23:54] Rurik was once again acknowledging him as the senior knyaz of the Monomax.

[00:23:59] So, Vsevolod gathered his forces, calling in representation from all of what he termed Vladimir's tribe,

[00:24:11] that is, all the Monomax domains.

[00:24:15] Rurik also summoned Kyiv's Plovsi allies,

[00:24:18] and with the full strength of Rus arrayed against him,

[00:24:23] Yaroslav sent word to Vsevolod asking for peace terms.

[00:24:31] Rurik negotiated terms with Yaroslav, agreeing that in exchange for Yaroslav giving up his ambitions for Kyiv,

[00:24:41] Rurik would give him Vytipsk, a town the Rostislavici held that was not part of the Smalensk patrimony or the Kyiv lands.

[00:24:53] Rurik had the authority to dispose of the town, but a problem arose because David was the knyaz who actually held it,

[00:25:01] and he refused to give it up.

[00:25:04] Yaroslav took this as a violation of the agreement and declared war again.

[00:25:10] The army of Cernichev, commanded by Yaroslav's nephew Alek, marched on Vytipsk, where David's son-in-law was in charge,

[00:25:49] pillaging the Smalensk lands as they went.

[00:25:52] David sent his nephew, Mistslav Romanović, and the Smalensk militia to defend the city.

[00:25:59] Alek received support from the Polotsk militia and defeated the Smalensk troops.

[00:26:07] Captured Smalensk soldiers told Alek that the people of Smalensk were unhappy with David,

[00:26:12] so he sent word to his uncle, summoning him to march on Smalensk.

[00:26:19] As Yaroslav gathered the Orgovici militia to set out, he received a message from Rurik telling him that if he planned to kill David,

[00:26:28] he was breaking the agreement they had kissed the cross on, and if he marched on Smalensk, Rurik would march on Cernichev,

[00:26:37] and then God would decide the outcome.

[00:26:42] The threat was enough to make Yaroslav halt, but it did not resolve the dispute.

[00:26:49] Yaroslav claimed that David had caused the conflict by refusing to hand over Vytipsk.

[00:26:54] Rurik said that it was simply that his messengers had not reached David in time to inform him.

[00:27:01] More importantly, Rurik said that attacking Smalensk was a breach of the oath Yaroslav had made

[00:27:07] not to challenge the Rostislavich's control of their patrimonial city.

[00:27:12] So no agreement was reached.

[00:27:19] Rurik complained to Szevolod that Yaroslav had been able to attack Vytipsk because Szevolod did nothing to stop him,

[00:27:27] and therefore he should attack Cernichev now.

[00:27:31] Szevolod didn't want to do that, but he did agree that he would support Rurik if Rurik attacked Cernichev.

[00:27:39] Rurik did attack Cernichev, but Szevolod left him hanging.

[00:27:44] In late 1196, the balance of forces shifted again.

[00:27:52] Roman Mestislavich of Vladimie in Valinia broke with Rurik and reformed his alliance with Yaroslav.

[00:28:00] Using Poloni, the town Rurik had given him as a base, he attacked the territory of David.

[00:28:09] After this, Big Nest finally joined in Rurik's attack on Cernichev, and as he was already busy there, Rurik ordered his nephew Mstislav and Vladimir Yaroslavich of Halic to attack Roman.

[00:28:27] So, Suzdalia, Kyiv, Cernichev, Smalyensk, Bolinia and Halic were all at war.

[00:29:03] Szevolod, as ever, was looking out mainly for his own interests.

[00:29:09] Yaroslav wrote to him asking for reasonable peace terms.

[00:29:14] By reasonable, he meant that the Olgovici would keep their right to contest the throne of Kyiv when the succession opened.

[00:29:23] Szevolod was inclined to agree, although Rurik and David remained dead set on eliminating the Olgovici as rivals.

[00:29:33] Szevolod promised to support them by attacking Cernichev but once again failed to turn up.

[00:29:40] Since Szevolod did not wish to leave Suzdalia to rule in Kyiv, Yaroslav was not his rival.

[00:29:49] The Olgovici had done his lands no harm.

[00:29:52] His daughter, Psiaslava, was married to Yaroslav's son Rostislav.

[00:29:58] Yaroslav's brother, Sviatoslav, had been a friend and ally.

[00:30:02] So, Szevolod asserted his rights as the senior monomach to overrule the Rostislavici and agreed a peace.

[00:30:12] He imposed a settlement that Yaroslav not seize Kyiv from Rurik or Smalyensk from David as before,

[00:30:20] but he did not require Yaroslav to renounce any future claim.

[00:30:26] To appease Rurik, Yaroslav was supposed to end his alliance with Roman, but he did not and Szevolod did not do anything about it.

[00:30:37] This alliance was in his interests anyway as the combined threat of Yaroslav and Roman made Rurik dependent on military aid from Suzdalia.

[00:30:48] The chronicler makes it clear that Szevolod is acting in his own interests with the other parts of the agreement.

[00:30:58] He asks for the release of Mstislav Romanović, captured during the Vtib's campaign.

[00:31:05] However, he is recorded in the chronicle as Szevolod's son-in-law's father rather than one at the Rostislavici,

[00:31:13] to show that his value lies in his relationship to Szevolod, not Rurik.

[00:31:19] Then Szevolod asked Yaroslav to expel Yaropol Krostislavich.

[00:31:26] Remember him from last time, the guy who tried to rule Vladimir on the Kliasma during the last Suzdalian succession?

[00:31:35] Yaroslav was not going to be allowed to support any challenges to Szevolod's rule.

[00:31:41] At the same time as this agreement was being negotiated, Szevolod, David and Yaroslav also agreed separately that Novgorod would be free to choose their kniaz from any branch of the family.

[00:31:57] The Jurjevićes of Suzdalia, the Yzlislavici of Balinia, the Rostislavici of Smolensk or the Olgovici of Chernihiv.

[00:32:08] This agreement is a bit of a mystery. Given the context, the assumption is that it was made at Szevolod's initiative.

[00:32:16] But given that Novgorod had already been doing this for a couple of generations, what difference did it make?

[00:32:24] The Chronicler, as ever, does not explain.

[00:32:27] But we can simply take it as another instance of Szevolod imposing his influence on other domains.

[00:32:38] The outcome of these agreements is that Szevolod is, on the one hand, on good terms with Yaroslav for facilitating the peace,

[00:32:48] and with Roman for not forcing him to break up the alliance, and on the other hand, formally allied with Rurik and David, who are unhappy about being forced to settle for less than they wanted.

[00:33:04] Szevolod has therefore quite tidily put himself in a position to dictate which side is strongest in any dispute between them.

[00:33:15] Rurik knew this, and he took it badly.

[00:33:18] In late autumn, Big Nest went home to Szezdalia and wrote to Rurik, telling him that the peace had been concluded.

[00:33:27] Rurik angrily objected.

[00:33:29] He told Szevolod that he had continually gone out of his way to accommodate him, and Szevolod had let him down at every turn.

[00:33:37] He had made Roman his enemy because Szevolod made him take his towns away and give them to him.

[00:33:43] He had attacked Czernukiv because Szevolod said he would support him, and then Szevolod did not turn up.

[00:33:50] When Szevolod finally did get involved, he had negotiated a peace without consulting Rurik, but left Yaroslav and Roman as potential threat.

[00:34:00] Szevolod was an oath-breaker, and therefore Rurik was going to take those towns back and give them to the Rostislavici.

[00:34:09] It has to be said that this was really a short-sighted move.

[00:34:14] Rurik's trouble had all started with offending Szevolod by not giving him these towns.

[00:34:20] Taking them away was not going to go down any better, and he was not going to secure his throne against Roman and Yaroslav.

[00:34:29] Join me next episode to see how Rurik's attempt to resist the Big Nest's influence plays out.

[00:34:37] Thank you for listening, and until next time, goodbye.

[00:34:41] Bye.