So Vsevolod refused the request and a fierce battled ensued with Mystislav, his nephew, near Yurieff. The boyars of Rostoff and their followers fought with great valor. The men of Vladimir, “the masons and carpenters,” needed no urging to pay back the insults which they had received, and strike down the men who had tried to enslave them. The battle hung long in even balance, till the Pereyaslavl men “tore forward with all their strength,” and pushed back the right wing of Mystislav’s forces; at this juncture the Vladimir men, aided by a regiment from Suzdal, swept everything before them. Mystislav fled from the field with few followers; not many of his adherents could save themselves. His two main advisers, Dobrynya Dalgi and Ivanko Stefanovitch, fell in the battle. The surviving boyars were seized and bound with ropes. Mystislav made his way to Novgorod, but Novgorod men conducted him out of the city with these words: “God has given judgment against thee, in the dispute between thee and thy uncle.” He went then to Glaib of Ryazan for assistance. Glaib gave fresh aid to his brother-in-law, and they raided Vladimir territory at once, plundering and burning all before them. At last they burned Moscow. This action forced Vsevolod to leave Rostoff regions, and make ready to attack Glaib’s inheritance. But Glaib marched home quickly from Moscow, and Vsevolod deferred the attack till his forces were properly assembled. Novgorod of its own will had offered volunteers. From Chernigoff were coming Oleg and Vladimir, sons of Sviatoslav, with good warriors. From southern Pereyaslavl on the Alta were coming men under Vladimir, Vsevolod’s nephew. Vsevolod set out for Ryazan toward the beginning of winter, but on the way halted at Kolomna, where he received most astonishing intelligence,—intelligence which turned his campaign in another direction. Glaib with his two sons, and with Mystislav, who led a large force of Polovtsi, had gone by other roads to Vladimir, the capital. The Polovtsi were plundering, burning, and taking captives; Glaib had given them a free hand on every side. He himself had seized Bogolyuboff, had torn down the chief doors of its church and stripped the place of everything.