Yuri Dolgoruky built Ksnyatin in 1134 where the Nerl flows into the Volga, a fort guarding the water road from Pereyaslavl and the Opolye down the Nerl to the Volga and on towards Novgorod.
Izyaslav Mstislavich and the Novgorodians burnt it in 1149. In 1200 it is a small fort of the grand prince's on the Novgorod border; the land upstream along the Volga, where Tver will be recorded about 1209, is thinly settled. It is now the village of Ksnyatino near Kalyazin.
Who holds it
- Name
- Grand Prince Vsevolod III, through his governor (posadnik), not named for 1200
- Title
- lord of the town
- Since
- 1176
- Born
- not applicable
- Family
- not applicable
- Confidence
- medium
Laurentian Chronicle as summarised in the standard accounts; en.wikipedia
Lord in 1200
Grand Prince Vsevolod III, through his man (not named).
How things stand that morning
Vsevolod's fort.
Charter
None: Rus' towns had no charters. Custom and the prince's word governed.
Council
None recorded.
Communities
No foreign community recorded.
Fairs and markets
Not recorded.
Militia
A small garrison.
Walls and castle
A wooden fort on earth ramparts at the river mouth.
Trade and crafts
Volga and Nerl river traffic; tolls.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Founded 1134 and burnt 1149 by the chronicle record; little is known for 1200. Coordinates checked approximately at the Nerl mouth.
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
Sources and studies
- The Laurentian (Suzdal) Chronicle, PSRL vol. 1, entries for 1176-1212, cited from the researcher's knowledge of the standard accounts (not fetched in this run: ru.wikipedia, fmg.ac and the archive.org texts would not load)
- S. Franklin and J. Shepard, The Emergence of Rus 750-1200 (1996); J. Martin, Medieval Russia 980-1584 (2007); J. Fennell, The Crisis of Medieval Russia 1200-1304 (1983): standard accounts, cited from the researcher's knowledge
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.