Vsevolod III Big Nest

Who he is

Name

Vsevolod III Yuryevich (Dmitry), called Big Nest

Title

grand prince (veliky knyaz) of Vladimir

Since

1176 (accepted at Vladimir after Mikhalko's death on 20 June 1176; secured by the battle on the Koloksha in 1177)

Born

19 October 1154; aged 45

Family

Son of Yuri Dolgoruky; husband of Maria Shvarnovna; father of six living sons (Konstantin, Yuri, Yaroslav, Vladimir, Sviatoslav, who is enthroned in Novgorod on 1 January 1200, and Ivan) and of daughters married to Rostislav Rurikovich of Kiev and Rostislav Yaroslavich of Chernigov (see the realm record).

Confidence

high

en.wikipedia Vsevolod the Big Nest; Laurentian Chronicle as summarised in the standard accounts

What it holds

• Vladimir, Bogolyubovo, Suzdal, Kideksha, Yuryev-Polsky (the Suzdal Opolye)
• The lower Klyazma: Starodub and Gorokhovets are not yet recorded (1218, 1239), but the river valley is his
• Rostov, Yaroslavl, Uglich, Mologa and the Rostov land
• Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, the old Kleshchin hillfort, Ksnyatin at the mouth of the Nerl
• Moscow and Dmitrov
• Kostroma (first recorded 1213) and the Merya country of the upper Kostroma river towards Galich (first recorded 1238)
• Gorodets (Radilov) on the Volga frontier
• Beloozero and the Sheksna
• Ustyug and Gleden on the Sukhona
• The Volga above Ksnyatin where Tver will be recorded about 1209 (thin)
• Outside the land: the disposal of the southern Pereyaslavl, his line's patrimony on the Cuman frontier (kie record; its holder that morning is not pinned), and the share of the Kiev land on the Ros he took from Rurik in 1195 (kie)

How it was acquired

Inherited share of Yuri Dolgoruky's line; won in the war of 1174-1177.

Allies and rivals

See the realm record: Rurik of Kiev, Mstislav of Smolensk, Ryazan and Murom stand with him; the Olgovichi and Roman of Galicia-Volhynia are the powers to watch.

How things stand that morning

Holds the whole land directly through his governors. No part is pledged, contested or held by another prince on 1 January 1200.

Wealth

Furs and tribute of the north; the Volga trade with Bulgar; grain of the Opolye; court fines and tolls. No figures.

Military

His retinue, the town hosts and the dependent princes of Ryazan and Murom. Campaigns: 1177, 1180-1181, 1183, 1186, 1186-1187, 1196, 1198 or 1199 (see the realm record).

Threats

• The Olgovichi
• Novgorod's veche
• The Volga Bulgars beyond Gorodets

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. 1 January 1200His son Sviatoslav is enthroned as prince of Novgorod (see the nov records).Depends on: Already in train. Stopped by: A rising of the Novgorod veche (no sign of one).
2. 1200 or 1201, month not pinnedHis son Yaroslav is sent to the southern Pereyaslavl.Depends on: See the realm record. Stopped by: See the realm record.

Places of note

• Kideksha: Yuri Dolgoruky's residence and church of Sts Boris and Gleb (1152): Princely residence near Suzdal
• Ksnyatin: Yuri's fort of 1134 at the mouth of the Nerl: Volga fort on the Novgorod frontier
• Gleden: the fort at the Sukhona-Yug confluence: Northern outpost by Ustyug

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The extent of each block is drawn from the towns the chronicles give to the Suzdal princes between 1149 and 1238; the posadniks of 1200 are not named.

On the map: Blocks follow the towns and rivers; the outer edges in the east and north are estimates of tribute land, not lines.

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