The Kiev land of Rurik Rostislavich

Who rules

Name

Rurik Rostislavich, baptised Vasily

Title

Prince of Kiev (the 'golden table' of Kiev, the senior seat of the Rus' princes in name)

Since

Summer 1194, when he came from Ovruch to Kiev after the death of Sviatoslav Vsevolodovich, with whom he had shared the Kiev land since about 1181

Born

About 1140 (Encyclopedia of Ukraine); about 60 on 1 January 1200

Family

A Rostislavich, the Smolensk branch of Vladimir Monomakh's line: son of Rostislav Mstislavich of Smolensk and Kiev (died 1167), grandson of Mstislav the Great. His brothers are all dead: Sviatoslav, Roman and Mstislav the Brave by 1180, David of Smolensk in April 1197. Wives: first a Cuman, daughter of Khan Beglyuk (married 1163, Kievan Chronicle); then Anna, daughter of Prince Yuri Yaroslavich of Turov, who is living (she is made a nun with him in 1204). Sons: Rostislav (born 1172 or 1173), prince of Torchesk (Rostislav of Torchesk), married to Verkhuslava, daughter of Vsevolod III; Vladimir (born 1187), about 12 (Vladimir Rurikovich). Daughter Predslava married Roman Mstislavich of Volhynia (en.wikipedia dates the marriage 1188); whether that marriage still stands this winter is disputed (see the Roman section). Another daughter (Anastasia in the genealogies) is married to Gleb Sviatoslavich of the Olgovichi, son of the late Sviatoslav of Kiev (Gleb Sviatoslavich); other daughters' marriages are not pinned here. Nephews: Mstislav Romanovich, prince of Smolensk since 1197 (pol); Mstislav Mstislavich, later called the Bold (Mstislav of Trepol); David's sons.

Confidence

high

The Kievan Chronicle (in the Hypatian Codex) runs to 1198/1199 and is the main source for Rurik's reign; it ends with the eulogy of Rurik by Abbot Moses of Vydubychi for the wall Rurik built at that monastery (usually dated 24 September 1199). For 1199-1201 the Laurentian (Vladimir) chronicle and the opening of the Galician-Volhynian Chronicle are thin. Rurik's death is given as 19 April 1212 (Encyclopedia of Ukraine; other dates 1211, 1214, 1215).

What the realm holds

• Kiev: the Mountain (the towns of Vladimir and Yaroslav, St Sophia, the Golden Gate) and the trading quarter (Podil) with the harbour on the Pochaina (Kiev)
• Vyshgorod, the shrine town of Boris and Gleb north of Kiev (Vyshgorod)
• Belgorod on the Irpin, Rurik's seat in 1181-1194 and a bishop's see; his church of the Holy Apostles was consecrated there in 1197 (Belgorod)
• Vasilev and Trepol on the Stugna line (Vasilev, Trepol)
• Porosye, the Ros frontier: Torchesk (Rostislav Rurikovich's), Yuriev, Korsun, Boguslavl, Kanev, Rodnya and the Black Hoods' towns (Torchesk, Kanev, Korsun, Boguslavl, Yuriev, Black Hoods)
• The Derevlian land with Ovruch (Vruchiy), Rurik's patrimony since 1168, and Iskorosten (Ovruch, Iskorosten)
• The western towns towards Volhynia (Kotelnitsa, Gorodsk, Zvyagel, Polonny): holders in 1200 not pinned
• Overlordship in practice over Turov and Pinsk, whose princes are his wife's kin (Turov and Pinsk)

How it was acquired

Rurik first held Ovruch and the Derevlian land from 1168, briefly held Kiev in 1173 and again in 1180-1181, and then shared the Kiev land with Sviatoslav Vsevolodovich (the duumvirate), keeping Belgorod and the towns while Sviatoslav sat in Kiev. When Sviatoslav died in summer 1194 the Kievans received Rurik as prince, with the consent of Vsevolod III as the senior of their house (the Vladimir chronicle has Vsevolod's envoys seat him). He called his brother David from Smolensk to Kiev to share counsel and the 'Rus land', and David was feasted by Rurik, the Kievans and the Black Hoods (Kievan Chronicle, 1195).

Allies and rivals

Allies: his sons Rostislav and Vladimir; his nephews Mstislav Romanovich of Smolensk and Mstislav Mstislavich; the Turov and Pinsk princes; the Black Hoods; Vsevolod III, coolly. Rivals: Roman Mstislavich of Galicia and Volhynia; the Olgovichi of Chernigov; the Cumans.

The realm that morning

Rurik holds Kiev and the Kiev land without challenge that morning, with his son Rostislav at Torchesk among the Black Hoods. There is no war. Roman Mstislavich holds Volhynia and, since 1199, Galich to the west (galicia, hal); the Olgovichi hold Chernigov across the Dnieper to the north-east (che); Vsevolod III holds the southern Pereyaslavl on the left bank (Pereyaslavl (Vsevolod III's)) and Gorodets on the Oster; Turov and Pinsk to the north-west are ruled by Rurik's wife's kin (Turov and Pinsk); south of the Ros and the Sula the steppe is the Cumans' (cum).

The quarrel with Roman is unresolved and is the likeliest war of 1200-1201.

Wealth

Kiev is the great market of the south: the Dnieper route to Byzantium (the Greek route) for silk, wine, oil, spices and church goods; the overland road west through Vladimir-Volynsky to Cracow, Prague and Regensburg; the salt route from the Crimea and the trade with the Cumans; and the upriver trade with Chernigov, Smolensk and Novgorod. Tolls (myto), court fines, tribute from the towns and the Derevlian land, the prince's estates and his share of the Black Hoods' service. Kievan workshops make enamel, glass bracelets, jewellery and icons; Ovruch exports pink slate spindle whorls across Rus'.

Military

Kiev's walls of earth and timber with the stone Golden Gate; the forts of the Stugna line (Vasilev, Trepol) and the Ros line (Torchesk, Yuriev, Korsun, Boguslavl, Kanev, Rodnya) facing the steppe; Belgorod and Vyshgorod as citadels on the approaches. Rurik's record: long experience in the Cuman wars of the 1180s with Sviatoslav (the victory on the Orel in 1184), and in the princes' wars of 1196. No numbers.

Threats

• Roman Mstislavich, with Galich and Volhynia in one hand since 1199, who can march on Kiev and whom the Kievans may welcome
• The Olgovichi, who claim Kiev
• Vsevolod III, who wants a share in the Kiev land and can choose between Rurik and Roman
• The Cumans south of the Ros
• The town assembly (veche) and the Black Hoods, who can open the gates to a rival

Consort

Anna Yurievna of Turov, daughter of Yuri Yaroslavich of Turov and sister of the Turov-Pinsk princes (see holder); she ties Kiev to the Pripet princes.

Heirs

No fixed rule: Kiev passes by seniority among the descendants of Monomakh and by force. Rurik's own line is Rostislav, then Vladimir. Rivals for Kiev: Roman Mstislavich of Galicia and Volhynia (his son-in-law, a grandson of Iziaslav Mstislavich and so of the senior Monomashich line), the Olgovichi of Chernigov (Igor Sviatoslavich, senior since 1198), and Vsevolod III, who claims a share in the Kiev land as the senior Monomashich.

Officers and household

• The commander of the Kiev town host (tysyatsky): not securely named for 1199-1200 in the sources reached
• The prince's governors (posadnik) in the towns he does not give to kin, and his stewards (tiun) on his estates and in the courts
• The prince's retinue (druzhina): the senior men (boyars) and the young retainers (detskie, otroki)
• The metropolitan of Kiev: Nikephoros II, metropolitan since about 1182 and the man who mediated between Rurik, Roman and Vsevolod in 1195; his last dated appearance is in the 1190s and whether he lives on 1 January 1200 is not pinned; his successor Matthew is first named in the early 1200s (lists differ, 1201 to 1210)
• Abbot Moses of Vydubychi, the court's chronicler and panegyrist (the eulogy of 1199)
• The master builder Peter Milonega, who built Rurik's wall at Vydubychi

Great families

The Kievan boyars of the Mountain and the town's leading men act through the town assembly (veche) and with the Black Hoods in calling in a prince or opening the gates to one (they did so for Rurik in 1194 and do so for Roman in 1201). No boyar family is pinned for 1199-1200 in the sources reached: see Kievan boyars.

Treaties

The settlement of 1195 with Vsevolod III (the five towns, Torchesk to Rostislav Rurikovich); the oaths of 1195 by which Rurik, David and Vsevolod demanded that the Olgovichi renounce Kiev and Smolensk, which the Olgovichi refused; the peace of 1196 between Vsevolod and Yaroslav of Chernigov, made without Rurik. No written treaty survives; all are known from the chronicles.

Wars and feuds

No open war on 1 January 1200 as far as the sources show. Live quarrels: with Roman Mstislavich over the towns of 1195 and over Kiev itself; with the Olgovichi over Kiev, unresolved since 1195-1196; a coolness with Vsevolod III since his separate peace of 1196. The Cumans are the standing enemy of the Ros frontier, but no raid is recorded for the winter of 1199-1200.

Relations

Vsevolod iii

Rurik acknowledged Vsevolod as the senior of Monomakh's line; in 1195 Vsevolod complained that Rurik had given the Kiev land to younger kin and left him no share, and Rurik gave way on the metropolitan's advice. The marriage of Rostislav Rurikovich to Vsevolod's daughter Verkhuslava (1187, or 1189 in Raffensperger and Ostrowski) binds the two houses. Vsevolod's separate peace with the Olgovichi in 1196 angered Rurik; that winter the alliance is cool but not broken.

Roman mstislavich

Roman, prince of Vladimir-Volynsky and since 1199 also of Galich, is Rurik's son-in-law. Rurik gave him the Ros and Dnieper towns (Torchesk, Trepol, Korsun, Boguslavl, Kanev) after 1194, took them back for Vsevolod in 1195, and in 1196 Roman joined the Olgovichi against him while Rurik's son Rostislav and Vladimir Yaroslavich of Galich raided Roman's lands. The Kievan Chronicle has Roman wanting to put Predslava away during the quarrel of 1195-1196, and most accounts have him do so; he is married to Anna by 1201, when their son Daniel is born, but the date of the second marriage (1197 to about 1200) is not pinned, and the Laurentian Chronicle still calls Predslava 'Roman's wife' when she is made a nun with her parents in 1204 (hal writes Roman's household). Rurik's ally of 1196, Vladimir Yaroslavich of Galich, died in 1199 (1198 in Dimnik), and Roman took Galich with Polish help. With Galich and Volhynia in one hand since 1199 Roman can strike Kiev at will.

Olgovichi

The Olgovichi claim Kiev as Sviatoslav Vsevolodovich's heirs. Igor Sviatoslavich has been senior at Chernigov since 1198 (che). They refused in 1195 to renounce Kiev; they are Roman's enemies over Galich, where Igor's sons claim through their mother, so a Rurik-Olgovichi alliance against Roman is possible but not made that winter.

Smolensk

Rurik's nephew Mstislav Romanovich, prince of Smolensk since 1197, is his ally (pol).

Turov pinsk

The Turov and Pinsk princes are kin of Rurik's wife Anna and have followed the princes of Kiev on campaign (Turov and Pinsk).

Cumans

Rurik's first wife was a Cuman khan's daughter, and the princes of Kiev both fight and hire the Cumans. Rostislav Rurikovich and the Black Hoods raided the Cuman camps in the 1190s. No treaty or raid is pinned for the winter of 1199-1200 (cum writes the hordes).

Church

The metropolitan of Kiev heads the Rus' church under the patriarch of Constantinople; the bishops of Belgorod and Yuriev sit in the Kiev land. Rurik is a great builder and patron: the church of St Basil at his court in Ovruch (1190), the Holy Apostles at Belgorod (1197), the wall at Vydubychi (1199). The Latin Church has no lordship here.

Coinage

None: Rus' struck no coins in this period. Payment is in silver ingots (the grivna; the hexagonal 'Kiev type' ingot), weighed silver, furs (kuny) and foreign coin.

The host

The prince's retinue, the Kiev town host under its commander (tysyatsky), the retinues of his sons and nephews, and the Black Hoods, the light horse who guard the Ros and lead the raids into the steppe. The Turov and Pinsk princes and his nephew at Smolensk can be called on. No numbers in the sources.

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.

In 1200

1. 1200 (en.wikipedia; the Laurentian Chronicle's year may also be read as 1201)Vsevolod III sends his son Yaroslav, aged nine, to rule the southern Pereyaslavl, planting a Suzdal prince on the left bank opposite Kiev (Pereyaslavl (Vsevolod III's)).Depends on: Vsevolod's will and the peace on the left bank. Stopped by: A war that ties Vsevolod down, a Cuman threat to Pereyaslavl, or Rurik or the Olgovichi contesting the town.
2. Late 1200 or 1201 (en.wikipedia's Kingdom of Galicia-Volhynia gives 1200; the Laurentian Chronicle's year 6709 and most lists give 1201)Rurik forms a coalition of princes with the Olgovichi against Roman and moves against Galicia-Volhynia; Roman defeats or forestalls it and marches on Kiev with the Galicians and Volhynians, the Kievans open the gates of the Podil to him, Rurik withdraws to Ovruch, and Roman sets Ingvar Yaroslavich of Lutsk in Kiev.Depends on: Roman's hold on Galich being secure enough to leave it; the Kievans and the Black Hoods preferring Roman; Vsevolod accepting the change. Stopped by: A reconciliation between Rurik and Roman; Vsevolod backing Rurik with force; trouble for Roman in Galicia (the boyars, Hungary, the Poles); Rurik winning over the Kievans first.

Later, on the likely course

1. Later: 2 January 1203Rurik with the Olgovichi and the Cumans takes and sacks Kiev (outside 1200; given for the campaign's orientation).Depends on: Rurik's loss of Kiev to Roman and his alliance with the Olgovichi and the Cumans. Stopped by: Anything that keeps Rurik in Kiev in 1200-1201.

Places of note

• Kiev: The prince's seat, the metropolitan's see, the great market
• Ovruch (Vruchiy): Rurik's patrimonial court and refuge
• Torchesk: The Black Hoods' chief town, Rostislav Rurikovich's seat

Where the sources disagree

• en.wikipedia (Roman the Great) says Rurik granted Roman 'several towns' after 1194 (the Kievan Chronicle names five: Torchesk, Trepol, Korsun, Boguslavl, Kanev) and that Roman divorced Predslava about 1196; the Laurentian Chronicle still calls her Roman's wife at her tonsure in 1204, so the divorce date is disputed (hal follows the 1196 reading).
• Rostislav Rurikovich's marriage is dated 1187 by the Kievan Chronicle as usually read and 1189 by Raffensperger and Ostrowski (cited on en.wikipedia).

Evidence: The Kievan Chronicle is detailed to 1198/1199 and is the best evidence for Rurik's court, his towns and his quarrels; it stops just before 1200, so the position on 1 January 1200 is read from its last entries and from the thin Laurentian and Galician-Volhynian chronicles. Holders of many lesser towns are not named for these years. We could not open the Russian and Ukrainian encyclopedias or the chronicle texts online in this run, so several points rest on the standard accounts as we know them and are marked.

On the map: The western border with Volhynia (the Horyn and Sluch country) and the north-western border with Turov in the Pripet marshes are not fixed by any source for 1200 and are drawn along the rivers. South of the Ros the steppe belongs to no one in the farming sense.

Primary sources for this realm

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