Sviatoslav of Rylsk

Who he is

Name

Sviatoslav Olgovich

Title

Prince of Rylsk

Since

By 1185

Born

Not pinned (a young man in 1185)

Family

Son of Oleg Sviatoslavich (d. 1180), Igor's elder half-brother; so Igor's nephew

Confidence

low

Named as prince of Rylsk in the 1185 campaign (Hypatian Chronicle; en.wikipedia, Vladimir Igorevich). No later record of him as prince of Rylsk reached me.

Overlord

His uncle Igor.

What it holds

• Rylsk and its district on the Seim (held in 1185; not pinned for 1200)

How it was acquired

Not recorded.

Allies and rivals

Igor's line.

Wealth

The upper Seim's farms and the steppe trade.

Military

His retinue; Rylsk fort.

Threats

• Cuman raids up the Seim

Places of note

• Rylsk: His seat in 1185.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: One dated tenure (1185); nothing after.

On the map: Holder low confidence; the ground is the Olgovichi's.

Primary sources for Chernigov (the Olgovichi)

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