Konstantin Vsevolodovich

Who he is

Name

Konstantin Vsevolodovich (later called the Wise)

Title

prince, eldest son of the grand prince

Since

not applicable: no town of his own on 1 January 1200

Born

18 May 1186 (en.wikipedia, which places his birth at Rostov); aged 13

Family

Married in 1196 (by the usual account) to a daughter of Mstislav Romanovich, prince of Smolensk since 1197 and later of Kiev; en.wikipedia calls her Maria, Russian accounts Agafia: not pinned. No children yet: his eldest son Vasilko is born in 1209 (later).

Confidence

high

en.wikipedia (birth dates); Laurentian Chronicle as summarised in the standard accounts

Overlord

His father, Grand Prince Vsevolod III

What it holds

• No town or land of his own on 1 January 1200: he lives at his father's court in Vladimir

How it was acquired

Not applicable.

Allies and rivals

His father's allies. The brothers' rivalry belongs to the future (Konstantin against Yuri and Yaroslav, 1212-1216).

How things stand that morning

At his father's court in Vladimir, without a town.

Wealth

His father's household; no revenues of his own are recorded.

Military

None of his own.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The Laurentian Chronicle records the births of Vsevolod's children; their later careers are well documented. Konstantin's marriage date (1196) and the Cuman campaign (1198 or 1199) rest on the Laurentian Chronicle as reported in the standard accounts.

On the map: Not drawn: he holds no land on 1 January 1200.

Primary sources for Vladimir-Suzdal

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• The Chronicle of Novgorod (kept year by year; the Synodal manuscript written in the 13th and 14th centuries). Novgorod's own record, kept at St Sophia. Read online
• The Hypatian Chronicle (the Kievan Chronicle compiled about 1200 at the Vydubichi monastery; the Galician-Volhynian Chronicle in the 13th century). The southern record. Read online
• The Laurentian Chronicle (the Suzdal continuation kept in the late 12th and 13th centuries; manuscript 1377). The court record of Vsevolod III of Vladimir. Read online
• The birch-bark letters (11th to 15th centuries). Excavated letters and notes on birch bark, dated by the layer they lie in. Read online
• The Tale of Igor's Campaign (about 1187 to 1200 (disputed)). A poem on Igor Sviatoslavich's defeat by the Polovtsians in 1185 that addresses the princes of the day by name: Vsevolod of Vladimir, Rurik and David Rostislavich, Yaroslav of Galich, Roman of Volhynia and the Olgovichi of Chernigov, of whom Igor himself was prince from 1198. Read online