Rurik of Kiev

Who he is

Name

Rurik Rostislavich (baptised Vasily)

Title

Prince of Kiev; hereditary prince of Ovruch and the Derevlian land

Since

Kiev: summer 1194. Ovruch: 1168

Born

About 1140 (Encyclopedia of Ukraine)

Family

As in Kiev (Rurik Rostislavich): son of Rostislav Mstislavich; wife Anna Yurievna of Turov; sons Rostislav (Rostislav of Torchesk) and Vladimir (Vladimir Rurikovich); daughter Predslava, Roman Mstislavich's wife or former wife; a daughter married to Gleb Sviatoslavich of Chernigov (Gleb Sviatoslavich); nephews Mstislav Romanovich of Smolensk and Mstislav Mstislavich (Mstislav of Trepol).

Confidence

high

His towns and court are known from the Kievan Chronicle to 1198/1199; the chronicle's last entry is Abbot Moses of Vydubychi's eulogy for the wall Rurik built under that monastery (usually dated 24 September 1199). Who governed each lesser town for him in 1200 is not recorded.

Overlord

None in law; he acknowledged Vsevolod III as the senior of Monomakh's line and gave way to him in 1195.

What it holds

• Kiev with its near district (Kiev)
• Vyshgorod (Vyshgorod)
• Belgorod on the Irpin, his seat in 1181-1194, with the church of the Holy Apostles (1197) (Belgorod)
• Vasilev on the Stugna (Vasilev)
• The Ros and Dnieper towns of the 1195 settlement other than Torchesk: Korsun, Boguslavl, Kanev, and Trepol (Korsun, Boguslavl, Kanev, Trepol): held under Rurik's lordship, but whether he governs them himself, through kin, or still through Vsevolod's men placed in 1195 is not pinned
• Yuriev on the Ros (Yuriev)
• The Derevlian land: Ovruch and Iskorosten (Ovruch, Iskorosten)
• The hunting place of Chernobyl on the Pripet, named as his in a record of 1193 (Chernobyl)
• The western towns towards Volhynia (Kotelnitsa, Gorodsk, Zvyagel, Mikhailov): holders in 1200 not pinned
• Polonny on the Sluch, an old possession of the Tithe Church of Kiev: holder in 1200 not pinned (possibly offered to Roman in 1195; not checked)

How it was acquired

Ovruch in 1168 as his share of his father's inheritance in the Kiev land; Kiev in 1194 by the Kievans' invitation after Sviatoslav Vsevolodovich's death, with the consent of Vsevolod III as senior.

Allies and rivals

Allies: his sons, his nephews of Smolensk, the Turov princes, the Black Hoods; Vsevolod III coolly. Rivals: Roman Mstislavich; the Olgovichi; the Cumans.

How things stand that morning

Holds Kiev and the Kiev land; no war that morning. He has made no move yet against Roman, whose taking of Galich in 1199 has shifted the balance in the south.

Wealth

The tolls and market dues of Kiev and the Dnieper crossings, the courts, the tribute of the Kiev land and the Derevlians, his estates and hunting grounds, the gifts and ransoms of the Cuman wars.

Military

His retinue; the Kiev town host; the forts of Kiev, Belgorod, Vyshgorod, the Stugna and the Ros; the Black Hoods under his son. A seasoned commander in the Cuman wars (with Sviatoslav on the Orel in 1184).

Threats

• Roman Mstislavich
• The Olgovichi
• The Kievans' readiness to change princes
• The Cumans

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

1. Late 1200 or 1201 (en.wikipedia's Kingdom of Galicia-Volhynia gives 1200; the Laurentian Chronicle's year 6709 and most lists give 1201)Roman drives Rurik out of Kiev; Rurik withdraws to Ovruch and seeks the Olgovichi and the Cumans.Depends on: Roman's freedom of action in Galicia; the Kievans opening the gates. Stopped by: A settlement with Roman, Vsevolod backing Rurik, or Roman being tied down in Galicia.

Places of note

• Vydubychi monastery wall: Built for Rurik by Peter Milonega; finished in 1199
• Church of St Basil at the prince's court, Ovruch: Built by Rurik about 1190
• Church of the Holy Apostles, Belgorod: Consecrated 1197 (Kievan Chronicle)

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Rurik's reign to 1198/1199 is well told in the Kievan Chronicle; his hold on each lesser town in 1200 is not.

On the map: Rurik's direct holdings and those of his kin overlap; the governors of the Ros towns are not named for 1200.

Primary sources for Kiev (Rurik Rostislavich)

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 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 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