Ustyug outpost

Who he is

Name

not named

Title

the grand prince's governor or tribute collector at Ustyug

Since

not pinned

Born

not pinned

Family

not pinned

Confidence

low

Ustyug is first mentioned in a chronicle under 1207 (en.wikipedia); the fort of Gleden at the confluence of the Sukhona and the Yug is older by local tradition (the Ustyug chronicles credit Vsevolod's time). No governor is named before the thirteenth century.

Overlord

Grand Prince Vsevolod III (as part of the Rostov land)

What it holds

• The fort of Gleden and the settlement of Ustyug
• The furs of the Yug and the lower Sukhona
• A hold on Novgorod's Sukhona route to the Dvina

How it was acquired

Rostov-Suzdal colonisation of the twelfth century (not pinned).

Allies and rivals

Novgorod (whose Totma and Vologda lie up the Sukhona and whose Dvina land lies below); the Komi (Perm) of the Vychegda and Luza, Novgorod's tribute people.

How things stand that morning

A Vladimir outpost, not pinned in detail.

Wealth

Furs; tolls on the river route.

Military

A wooden fort (Gleden); no figures.

Threats

• Novgorod's tribute expeditions
• The Bulgars (a raid in 1218/1219 is later)

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: First chronicle mention 1207; earlier existence rests on local tradition and archaeology.

On the map: Drawn as a small block round the confluence; its reach up the Yug is an estimate.

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