The two meetings, the first at Lubetch, the second at Vititchevo, ended
that struggle which had raged half a century. The strong princes became
stronger, the izgoi (orphans) and their descendants were excluded.
Volodar and Vassilko were the only izgoi who retained a province. The
descendants of Vyacheslav, son of Yaroslav, lost their places in the
first generation; those of Igor, his brother, in the second. Later on
they reappear as petty princes of small places without independent
significance. With full and equal rights appear only the descendants of
the three elder sons of Yaroslav, Izyaslav, Sviatoslav and Vsevolod. Of
these, the sons of Sviatoslav saved themselves only after a bitter and
bloody struggle, thanks also to the moderation of Monomach, and his son
Mystislav.
The division of land between the descendants of these three sons of
Yaroslav the Lawgiver was unequal. Monomach, through his superior
personality and favoring fortune, received a much larger portion than
his brothers. He received Pereyaslavl, Novgorod, Smolensk and Rostoff.
Sviatopolk received Volynia, but Novgorod, connected always so closely
with Kief, did not fall to him. The sons of Sviatoslav, Oleg and his
brothers, received nothing beyond the land which their father had held.
Sviatopolk was greatly dissatisfied that Novgorod did not remain with
his house. As he could not take it from Monomach without compensation,
he gave Volynia in return for it. But when Mystislav, Monomach’s son,
was recalled to give place to a son of Sviatopolk, the men of Novgorod
revolted, and sent envoys to Kief with this message: “Novgorod wishes
neither Sviatopolk nor his descendants. If Sviatopolk’s son has two
heads, let him come to us.” Sviatopolk had to live without Novgorod.
Monomach, now free to act against steppe tribes, urged Sviatopolk to
help him. “Let us join our forces,” said he, “and march in the spring
against these enemies.” Sviatopolk turned to his warriors for counsel.
They were unwilling to move, and answered that war during spring months
took men from their labor. “Let us meet in some place, and consult with
the warriors,” was Sviatopolk’s answer to Monomach. They met at
Dolobsk, above Kief, on the bank of the Dnieper. “Begin, brother, thou
art the elder,” said Monomach; “tell what we are to do in our Russia.”
“Begin thou, that is better,” answered Sviatopolk. “How am I to speak,”
replied Monomach, “thy warriors will oppose, and say that I wish to
ruin earth-tillers and their labor, though I wonder why they are so
tender of earth-tillers, forgetting how Polovtsi come in the
spring-time, strike down each man in his furrow, take his wife, take
his children, seize his horse, and burn his granary.” “True,” said the
warriors. “Thou art right, they do much evil.” “I am ready to go!”
exclaimed Sviatopolk. And he rose and proclaimed the expedition. “Thou
hast done a great deed, O my brother,” said Monomach.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account