2. XX CONGRESS OF THE CPSU. STRENGTHENING AND DEVELOPMENT OF LENINIST NORMS OF PARTY AND STATE LIFE. XIX CONGRESS OF THE CPSU OF UKRAINE The tasks of the further struggle of the party and people for building communism in the coming five years were expressed in the Directives of the XX Congress of the CPSU on the sixth

Lyubech Congress 1097

History knows many examples of how good and reasonable solutions, capable of directing the development of the state along a path favorable to it, remain only empty declarations, due to their malicious non-fulfillment. One such episode of past centuries is the Lyubech Congress of Princes, held in 1097.

The fatal mistake of the wise prince

Feeling the approach of death in 1054, the Kiev prince Yaroslav the Wise made a decision that had long been cherished by him - to divide the territory of the huge state under his control into several principalities, putting his children at the head of each of them.

Despite all his previous merits that gave him the right to be called Wise, this decision of his cannot be called far-sighted, since it was it that marked the beginning of the feudal fragmentation of Rus' and many subsequent troubles.

To eliminate possible discontent among the heirs, Yaroslav, guided by the age principle, gave Kyiv into the possession of his eldest son Izyaslav, and the other five, in descending order of age, other lands - from Chernigov, received by Svyatoslav, to Vladimir-Volynsk, which became Igor’s patrimony. In general, I wanted to do what was best for the elderly prince, but it turned out...

The beginning of princely feuds

Immediately after his death, discord began between the heirs, which turned into open hostility often leading to bloodshed. Didn't stay away from her ordinary people, who bore the main burdens of the princely civil strife. It was their lot that suffered the most suffering and grief. The disastrous situation was aggravated by the constant raids of the Polovtsians, who took advantage of the weakening of the state and did not encounter organized resistance from the appanage princes.

In the current situation, it was necessary to take urgent measures, for the discussion of which Vladimir Monomakh, who was still Yaroslav the Wise’s right hand during the life of Yaroslav the Wise, invited the brothers to get together and peacefully resolve all issues. The place of the general meeting, which went down in history as the Lyubech Congress of Princes, was chosen to be the city of the same name located on the banks of the Dnieper, near which was the family estate of Vladimir Monomakh.

An attempt to resolve disagreements

To participate in solving the most important issues of that time, in addition to the sons of Yaroslav the Wise and his other relatives, all the most noble princes also gathered in Lyubech. Thus, the Lyubech Congress (1097) became a forum in which the entire political elite of the late 11th century took part.

After lengthy discussions, disputes, oaths and mutual reproaches, a number of decisions were developed that did credit to the meeting participants for their sober approach to the problems discussed. A record of them was preserved in the famous “Tale of Bygone Years” - chronicle code, compiled at the beginning of the 12th century by the monk of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra Nestor.

Congress resolutions

The Kiev chronicler, in particular, reports that the Lyubech Congress outlined the boundaries of the possession of each of the Rurikovichs and obliged them to strictly comply with the decision made, without laying claim to other people's possessions. In case of attempts on anyone’s part to encroach on the land property of a neighbor, the culprit will be considered a criminal, and his actions must be suppressed by the forces of the united militia of other princes.

In the event of further raids by nomads, the Lyubech Congress charged each of the assembled Rurikovichs with the responsibility of participating in their joint reflection. This point was especially important, since at that time the vicious practice had been established not only of evading assistance to a neighbor under attack, but also of using the Polovtsians in internecine struggles to weaken possible competitors.

The significance of the Lyubech Congress also lies in the fact that one of the points of its decisions was to legalize hereditary ownership of land passing from father to son. Such a decision, according to its authors, was supposed to put an end to territorial disputes and the struggle for power. Even though this did not happen in full, it became one of the most important legislative acts of the Middle Ages, since large feudal landownership subsequently took shape on its basis.

Distribution of land holdings

In general, the division of the disputed lands at that time came down to the fact that the Mother of Russian cities was Kyiv, and in addition to it, Pinsk and Turov went to the eldest of the princes, Svyatopolk. He was also given the title of Grand Duke. The initiator of the congress, Vladimir Monomakh, received the Pereyaslavl principality, and with it the Suzdal-Rostov land, Beloozero and Smolensk.

Two Svyatoslavovichs - David and Oleg - took possession of Tmutarakan, Ryazan, Murom and Chernigov, and Prince David Igorevich - Lutsk and Vladimir-Volynsky. The youngest of all - Vasilko Rostislavovich - became the master of Cherven, Terebovl and Przemyshl.

The Lyubech Congress ended, as is customary in Rus', with the general kissing of the cross, which was supposed to testify to the readiness of each of those present to sacredly observe decisions made. However, as subsequent events showed, this readiness did not last long, and the vows were forgotten.

The sad result of perjury

The decisions of the Lyubech Congress of Princes contributed to the cessation of civil strife only on the left bank of the Dnieper, but could not prevent the war that soon began over the southwestern territories, some of which went to Vasilko Rostislavovich. David Igorevich, who was present at the congress and kissed the cross with everyone else, turned out to be an insidious aggressor. He not only encroached on other people's possessions, but also, having captured them, blinded their rightful owner, Prince Vasilko.

A bad example, as we know, is contagious, and after a short time it is already a Great Prince of Kyiv Svyatopolk stained himself with perjury by attacking Volyn and Przemysl. Soon after this, the entire south-west of Rus' began to burn.

Thus, the decisions taken by the Lyubech Congress in 1097 were for the most part not respected, and the Russian land was again stained with the blood of internecine wars. Without becoming a single monolithic state, it continued to be subject to raids by nomads, and after a century and a half it found itself under the yoke of the Tatar-Mongol yoke.

III. DIVISION INTO PARTIHS. POCUTS AND VLADIMIR MONOMACH

(continuation)

Svyatopolk II. - Oleg Svyatoslavich and civil strife for Chernigov. - Lyubech Congress. - Blinding of Vasilko and disputes over Volyn - Vitichevsky Congress - - Bitterness against the Polovtsians. - United campaigns of princes in the steppe.

The beginning of the reign of Svyatopolk Izyaslavich

With the death of the last of Yaroslav's sons, the grand-ducal dignity was supposed to pass to one of his grandsons. According to the clan concepts of that time, seniority belonged to Svyatopolk Izyaslavich, that is, the son of the eldest of the Yaroslavichs who occupied the Kiev table. Although the people of Kiev expressed a desire to have the courageous Vladimir Monomakh as prince, who was called by his dying father to Kyiv and was present at his burial; but Vladimir did not want to violate the rights of Svyatopolk and bring on an internecine war. He sent for him to Turov to invite him to the grand-ducal table, and he himself went to his Chernigov inheritance. It was not for nothing that the people of Kiev wanted to bypass Svyatopolk: he soon discovered his inability to instill respect in his younger relatives and fear in the external enemies of Russia.

Svyatopolk Izyaslavich on the pedestal of the monument to the 900th anniversary of the Congress of Princes in Lyubech (face in the center). Sculptor Gennady Ershov

Battle with the Cumans on Stugna (1093)

The Polovtsy went to fight the Russian land at the time when the news of Vsevolod’s death reached them; they sent ambassadors to Svyatopolk with a peace proposal, accompanying his proposal, of course, with various demands. Svyatopolk, not heeding the advice of the experienced Kyiv boyars who served his father and uncle, listened to his warriors who came with him from Turov, and ordered the Polovtsian ambassadors to be taken into custody. Then the Polovtsians began to devastate the Russian borders and, by the way, besieged Torchesk, a city located on the Ros River, on the border with the steppe and populated mainly by captive Torks. Svyatopolk came to his senses, released the Polovtsian ambassadors and himself offered peace; but now it was difficult to stop the horde. Having no more than 800 youths, the Grand Duke, on the advice of foolish people, wanted to oppose the barbarians; however, he finally listened to the old boyars and sent to ask for help from Vladimir Monomakh. The latter did not hesitate to come from Chernigov, and called his younger brother Rostislav from Pereyaslavl. But the forces gathered were insufficient. When the princes came to the Stugna River, Vladimir advised them to stop and, threatening the Polovtsians from here, enter into negotiations with them. But Svyatopolk dared to fight, which the ardent Kiev youth also demanded. The Stugna River was then in flood. (This happened in the month of May.) The troops crossed it, passed the city of Trepol and went beyond the rampart built by Russia to protect against the steppe inhabitants. Here the Polovtsian horde met the Russians and struck first of all at Svyatopolk’s squad; the latter could not stand it and ran; then the barbarians broke the squads of Vladimir and Rostislav. Svyatopolk rushed with his people to the nearby city of Trepol, and the Chernigov and Pereyaslav residents ran to Stugna and forded through it; and Rostislav drowned. Vladimir, who wanted to catch his brother, almost went to the bottom himself. In this battle he lost a significant part of his squad with many boyars and returned to Chernigov very sadly. And Svyatopolk fled from Trepol to Kyiv that same night. Then the Polovtsians, having spread their corrals across the Russian land, freely began to plunder and take full. Their corrals reached as far as Vyshgorod, that is, north of Kyiv. Svyatopolk tried to fight the barbarians again and was again completely defeated. Meanwhile, the besieged Torchesk defended itself courageously for more than nine weeks; Finally, tormented by hunger and thirst, he opened the gate. The barbarians set fire to the city, and divided its inhabitants among themselves and took them to their vezhi along with a huge captivity captured in other cities and villages. The following year, 1094, Svyatopolk made peace with the Polovtsians and, to seal it, married the daughter of the strongest of the Polovtsian khans, Tugorkan. But this war was only the beginning of those disasters and internecine wars that marked the reign of Svyatopolk-Mikhail.

Continuing the fight against Oleg Svyatoslavich

The reason for the civil strife that took place under Svyatopolk II was the continuation of disputes, on the one hand, for Chernigov, on the other, for Volyn. Oleg Svyatoslavich, imprisoned by the Greek government on the island of Rhodes, stayed there for two years. But with his accession to the Byzantine throne famous Alexey But circumstances have changed. The Russian prince not only received freedom, but, it seems, also help, with which he regained the Tmutarakan table (in 1083); Moreover, he severely punished the seditious Tmutarakan Khazars and executed the main culprits of his exile. For about ten years Oleg sat quietly in Tmutarakan; but after the death of Vsevolod, in 1094 he appeared with crowds of Polovtsians near Chernigov to conquer his hereditary inheritance. Vladimir Monomakh, who had not yet recovered from the defeat on the banks of the Stugna, was not ready to fight this time. When the enemies began to burn out monasteries and villages lying near Chernigov, after an eight-day defense, he made peace with Oleg and surrendered the city to him; and he and his family, under the cover of a small squad, passed through the Polovtsian crowds and retired to their hereditary Pereyaslavl. However, Oleg did not suddenly establish himself in the Chernigov region. Svyatopolk and Vladimir Monomakh invited him to go with them against the Polovtsians; but he avoided war with his former allies. The next year, 1096, Svyatopolk and Vladimir sent to call Oleg to Kyiv in order to jointly discuss the protection of the Russian land from barbarians and think about it together with bishops, abbots, boyars and city elders. Oleg gave a proud answer: “It is not fitting for bishops, abbots and smerds to judge me.” “So you are neither with us for the filthy ones, nor for advice with us; but you are plotting to help the filthy ones against us,” Svyatopolk and Vladimir ordered him to tell him and, united, they went against Oleg. The latter was expelled from Chernigov; but instead of Tmutarakan, he now retired to another hereditary inheritance of the Svyatoslavichs, to the land of Murom-Ryazan. Not long before that time, one of the sons of Vladimir Monomakh, Izyaslav, expelled Oleg's mayors from Murom and took possession of this city. Oleg and the Ryazans came to Murom, and defeated Izyaslav under its walls; the last one fell in this battle; and his Rostov and Belozersk warriors were captured and put in chains. Not content with the return of the Murom inheritance, Oleg, in turn, captured the neighboring volosts - Rostov and Suzdal, hereditary in the Monomakh family, placed his mayors there and began to collect tribute. Then his godson, the eldest son of Monomakh Mstislav, who reigned in Novgorod the Great, spoke out against Oleg. He appeared in the Suzdal region and expelled Oleg's mayors from there. The modest Mstislav then offered peace to his godfather. “I am younger than you,” he ordered to tell Oleg, “send with my father, return the captured squad; and I will listen to you in everything.”

The letter from Monomakh to Oleg, preserved in the chronicle, probably dates back to the same time. Despite the sadness over the loss of his youngest son, Vladimir, however, is inclined to Mstislav’s peace-loving beliefs; he addresses his enemy with words of reconciliation and, in a touching message to him, pours out his feelings as a father and a Christian. But the insidious Oleg only wanted to gain time through negotiations in order to prepare his forces and attack by surprise. It was the first week of Lent. Mstislav was once sitting at dinner in Suzdal when news came to him that Oleg had already appeared on Klyazma. The young prince managed to gather his squad, consisting of Novgorodians, Rostovites and Belozersk residents, hastened to meet Oleg and defeated him on the banks of the Koloksha River, which flows into the Klyazma. Chasing his godfather and uncle deep into the Ryazan region, Mstislav ordered him to say: “Don’t run, but rather go to your brothers with a request; they will not deprive you of the Russian land (i.e., inheritance in Southern Rus'); I will also ask for you his father." Oleg finally followed his advice, and this time peace negotiations led to the famous Lyubech Congress, which stopped the brutal civil strife for Chernigov.

Lyubech Congress 1097

In 1097, the senior princes, Yaroslav’s grandsons Svyatopolk, Vladimir Monomakh, David Igorevich and Oleg with his brother David, and their nephew Vasilko Rostislavich gathered in Lyubech on the banks of the Dnieper. “Why are we destroying the Russian land with our quarrels,” they said to each other, “while the Polovtsians rejoice in our internecine warfare and destroy our land; from now on, let us be together, and let everyone own his homeland.” As a result, it was decided that Svyatopolk would still hold Kyiv, and Vladimir Monomakh would hold the lands of Pereyaslav and Rostov, David, Oleg and Yaroslav Svyatoslavich would hold Chernigov and Murom-Ryazan, David Igorevich would hold Vladimir-Volyn; The cities that were assigned by Vsevolod were left to the Rostislavichs, namely to Volodar - Przemysl, and to Vasilko - Terebovl. The princes kissed the cross, i.e. swore an oath on this decision, and pledged to arm themselves with everything against anyone who decided to violate the agreement. Then they parted ways. Thus, Chernigov was returned to Svyatoslavich.

The Lyubech Congress has the significance in our history that it clearly expressed the desire of Rus' to fragment into separate lands (fatherland), i.e. to the consolidation of these lands behind the well-known branches of the Russian princely house, and therefore to some of their isolation. The resolution of this congress formed the basis for almost all subsequent inter-princely relations.

Blinding of Prince Vasilko

But as soon as the internecine warfare on the part of Chernigov subsided, it quickly and unexpectedly arose on the other side: the Volyn issue came up behind Chernigov, accompanied by even more bloody and dramatic deeds. Before moving on to further events, it is necessary to mention one case that has a close connection with them. It is said above that during the reign of Vsevolod, his nephew Yaropolk Izyaslavich received the Vladimir-Volyn region as an inheritance and that his neighbors Rostislavich were at enmity with him: the latter wanted to increase their inheritance at the expense of the Volyn land. One day Yaropolk Izyaslavich was traveling from Vladimir to his Cherven Zvenigorod and lay on a cart. Suddenly one of the warriors accompanying him, named Neradets, seized the moment, thrust his sword into the prince’s side and galloped away. The killer fled to Przemysl to the eldest of the Rostislavichs, Rurik; Therefore, suspicion fell on them of conspiracy to commit an atrocity, which apparently remained unpunished. After that, the Vladimir-Volynsky inheritance went to David Igorevich.

Volyn was also approved by David at the Lyubech Congress, with the exception of some of its part adjacent to the Cherven cities and given to two Rostislavichs, Vasilko and Volodar (their elder brother Rurik had already died). The insidious, envious David was burdened by the proximity of the Rostislavichs. It is not known whether he wanted to own the entire Volyn land undividedly, or whether he did not consider himself safe on their part; but the fact is that he listened to some evil advisers and decided to destroy Vasilko; and for this he took advantage of the old, dark case about the death of Yaropolk Izyaslavich. From Lyubech, the Volyn prince arrived in Kyiv together with Svyatopolk and began to convince him that Vladimir Monomakh and Vasilko Rostislavich had conspired to act together: the first wanted to take possession of Kiev, and the second - Vladimir. Circumstances seemed to confirm his slander: Vasilko was really gathering forces, calling the Berendeys and Torks to him and preparing for war. Grand Duke at first he expressed disbelief in David’s words; but the latter reminded him of the fate of his older brother Yaropolk, directly asserting that he died from the Rostislavichs. This reminder had an effect on the faint-hearted Svyatopolk; he became accessible to the suggestions of David, who repeated: “Until we capture Vasilko, neither you will reign in Kyiv, nor will I reign in Vladimir.”

Meanwhile, Vasilko, returning from Lyubech, also arrived at Kyiv; on November 4th he crossed the Dnieper with his convoy at the Vydubetsky Monastery; in the evening he dined at the monastery and then spent the night in his camp. In the morning Svyatopolk-Mikhail sent to ask that he stay in Kyiv until his name day, the Grand Duke, i.e. until November 8th. Vasilko refused, saying that he needed to hurry home, that he was in danger of being attacked by the Poles. A new reason for David’s evil suggestions to Svyatopolk: “Look, he doesn’t consider you an elder at all, and you’ll see how he returns home and seizes your volosts of Turov and Pinsk and Berestye.” Svyatopolk sent to tell Vasilko to visit him at least for a short time. Vasilko mounted a horse and rode to Kyiv with some servants. According to the chronicle, some youth, i.e. one of the younger warriors, warned him of the danger, but in vain; the prince did not believe it, remembering the recent kissing of the cross in Lyubech, and said: “The will of the Lord be done.” In Svyatopolk’s garden he met David; While the owner was talking to the guest, David sat in silence, with downcast eyes. Svyatopolk went out under the pretext of ordering breakfast; David also left after him. Warriors immediately attacked Vasilko and put him in chains. The matter was very important; Therefore, the next day Svyatopolk gathered his boyars together with the Kyiv elders with Vladimir Monomakh to kill the Grand Duke and take possession of his cities. The boyars and elders were perplexed whether to believe this or not, and gave an evasive answer: “You, prince, must take care of your head, and if the accusation is true, Vasilko is subject to punishment; but if David told a lie, then let him answer for it before God.” . Having learned about this, the abbots of the monasteries hastened to intercede for Vasilko with the Grand Duke. Then David redoubled his efforts to intimidate the latter and persuade him to blind the prisoner; Svyatopolk, after some hesitation, agreed.

That same night, Rostislavich was brought to Zvenigorod, a place about ten miles from Kyiv, and they stayed with him in the same hut. Then Vasilko saw the prince’s shepherd, a stickman by birth, sharpening a knife; he guessed that they wanted to blind him and began to cry bitterly. Indeed, two grooms came in, one Svyatopolkov, the other Davidov, spread out a carpet and wanted to knock down the prince; the latter, although tied up, desperately defended himself; two more were called. They knocked Vasilko down, put boards on his chest and all four of them sat on them; the unfortunate man's bones crunched. Then Torchin, with brutal cruelty, committed blindness. They put the prince dead on a cart and took him to Vladimir Volynsky. When the guides stopped for lunch in the town of Zdvizhenye, they took off Vasilko’s shirt and gave him to wash his priest. Having washed it and put it back on the prince, the priest began to cry for him as if he were dead. From this crying the prince woke up, drank fresh water and, feeling his chest, said: “Why did he appear before God in it and with it?” In Vladimir, David put the prisoner under guard and assigned 30 soldiers to him with two princely youths, Ulan and Kolcheya. Sitting in prison, Vasilko, in a moment of humility, said that God, of course, punished him for his pride. He had no thoughts about Svyatopolk or David; but he had extensive plans. He gathered an army and called on the Berendeys and Torks with the Pechenegs to go against the Poles. He thought of telling David and his brother Volodar: “Give me your younger squad, and drink and be merry; I will go to the land of Lyash, take it and avenge the Russian land.” Then he wanted to capture some part of the Danube Bolgars and settle them with him; and after that he intended to ask Svyatopolk and Vladimir for the Polovtsians and there either gain glory for himself, or lay down his head for the Russian land. “I had already rejoiced in my soul, hearing that the Berendichs were coming to me; but God deposed me for my arrogance,” the prisoner concluded.

The news of Vasilko’s blindness horrified the other princes: “such a thing has never happened in our family,” they said. Vladimir Monomakh immediately called the Svyatoslavichs, David and Oleg, and went with them to Kyiv. In response to reproaches addressed to the Grand Duke, the latter justified himself by what David Igorevich told him about Vasilko’s plans. “You have no reason to refer to David,” the brothers answered him, “Vasilko was not taken and blinded in the city of David.” Vladimir and the Svyatoslavichs were already preparing to cross the Dnieper in order to expel Svyatopolk from Kyiv, when Vladimir’s stepmother and Metropolitan Nicholas came to them as ambassadors from the people of Kiev. They begged the princes not to destroy Rus' with new internecine warfare and not to please the Polovtsians; the latter will come and take the Russian land, which the old princes acquired with their courage and their great labors. Vladimir was touched by these admonitions; he honored his father’s wife, he also honored the rank of hierarch and agreed to peace, but so that Svyatopolk himself would go against David Igorevich and punish him for vile slander. Svyatopolk promised. Meanwhile, Volodar Rostislavich had already started a war with David and agreed to peace only on the condition of extraditing his blinded brother. David really gave him Vasilko; but the peace did not last. Blind Vasilko thirsted for revenge; In addition, there was a dispute about some cities, and the war flared up again. The Rostislavichs besieged David in Vladimir itself and sent to tell the citizens that they did not want to ruin the city, but only demanded the extradition of their villains Turyak, Lazar and Vasil, who persuaded David to blind Vasil. The citizens forced the prince to hand over Lazar and Vasil (Turyak managed to escape to Kyiv). The Rostislavichs hanged them and retreated from the city. The example of these people shows what active participation in the unrest of that time the boyars and princely warriors had and how they subjugated short-sighted or weak-minded princes to their influence.

Svyatopolk hesitated to fulfill his promise to Vladimir Monomakh and the Svyatoslavichs. Only in 1099 did he finally get his act together and go against David. The latter turned with a request for help to his ally, the Polish king Vladislav Herman; but Svyatopolk also offered his alliance to Vladislav and sent him rich gifts. Besieged in Vladimir and not receiving help from the Poles, David was forced to surrender the city to Svyatopolk and be content with the small volost left to him. But the civil strife did not end there. The Grand Duke, encouraged by success, now decided to expel the Rostislavichs from the Volyn land in order to own it in full. The memory of the power of the Kyiv sovereign, who dominated all Russian lands, was still too vivid, and even such an unenterprising prince as Svyatopolk II (of course, not without the influence of the Kyiv boyars), reveals an attempt, if not to unify, then to seize as much land as possible into his own. hands. And in such cases, the fertile Volyn land, as the closest to Kyiv and not separated from it by any natural barriers, usually served as the first subject of Kyiv harassment. The fight against the brave brothers, however, was unsuccessful. Then the Grand Duke called for help from the Ugric king Koloman. But this time the common danger reconciled the Rostislavichs with David: he united with them against Svyatopolk in order to regain Vladimir. David brought hired Polovtsian help. The famous Polovtsian Khan Bonyak came with him, and they decided to attack the Ugrians, who stood near Przemysl on the Vagra River and were much more numerous than the Polovtsians. On this occasion, our chronicler reports interesting details about Bonyak. On the night before the battle, he rode out of his camp into the field and began to howl like a wolf; At first one wolf responded to him, then many began to howl. Bonyak returned to the camp and said to David: “Tomorrow we will have victory over the Ugrians.” In the morning, he divided the army into three parts: he sent his commander Altunop forward, and put David back under the banner, i.e. under the banner, with his Russian squad; and he and the rest of the Polovtsians set up an ambush on the sides. The Ugrians stood as outposts; Altunopa attacked the first outpost and, having fired arrows, took a feigned flight. The Ugrians were deceived and began to pursue him; when they passed the ambush, Bonyak came out and attacked them from the rear; Altunopa turned them in the face; David also arrived. Bonyak, as the chronicle puts it, knocked down the Ugrians with a ball, “like a falcon knocks down a jackdaw.” The Ugrians began to flee; and many of them drowned in the Vagra and San rivers.

Congress in Vitichev (“Uvetichi”) in 1100

The war of David and Rostislavich with Svyatopolk lasted until the next 1100; in August of this year, the princes gathered for a new congress, which this time took place near Vitichev. Svyatopolk, Vladimir Monomakh, David and Oleg Svyatoslavich, accompanied by their warriors, came together to judge the case of David Igorevich, and, it seems, on his own complaint. He also came to the congress. “Well, now you’re sitting with us on the same carpet,” the brothers said to David, “tell me what your complaint is.” The brothers got up, mounted their horses, and each rode up to his squad to consult with it. David, meanwhile, sat on the sidelines and waited for a decision. Having talked with the boyars and among themselves, the brothers dispatched their husbands: Svyatopolk - Putyata, Vladimir - Orogostya and Ratibor, David and Oleg Svyatoslavich of some Torchin, and ordered to tell David Igorevich the following:

“We are not giving you the Vladimir table, because you threw a knife between us and did something that has never happened in the Russian land. We are not imprisoning you and are not doing you any other harm; go, sit down in Buzhsk and Ostrog; Svyatopolk gives you also Dubno and Chartorysk, Vladimir - two hundred hryvnia, David and Oleg - also two hundred hryvnia."

The disgraced prince had to obey the decision of his brothers. Vladimir Volynsky remained with Svyatopolk; the latter also gave David the city of Dorogobuzh, where he later died.

Russian princes make peace in Uvetichi. Painting by S. V. Ivanov

Just as the Lyubech congress resolved the dispute over Chernigov, the Vitichev congress stopped civil strife over the Volyn region. Having established peace in the Russian land, the princes bowed to the convictions of Vladimir Monomakh and with united forces now turned to their common enemies, i.e. to the wild Polovtsians. Around that time, Rus'’s struggle with these nomads took on a fierce, stubborn character. As insidious as they were predatory, the Polovtsian khans often made peace with the Russian princes, taking the jars and vowing not to attack the Russian lands; but then they forgot about their oaths and again came to burn, rob and take the Russian population captive. Such treachery embittered the Russian people, and only this general bitterness can explain the following act of Vladimir Monomakh, who most respected oaths and treaties, the most chivalrous of the Russian princes of that time.

Rus' and the Polovtsians under Svyatopolk Izyaslavich

In 1095, two Polovtsian khans, Itlar and Kitan, came to Vladimir in Pereyaslavl to conclude peace. Itlar and his people entered the city itself and settled in the courtyard of Ratibor; and Kitan stood outside the city between the ramparts, taking one of Vladimirov’s sons, Svyatoslav, hostage. Ratibor was an old, noble boyar, who had served as a governor to Monomakh’s father. For some reason, this boyar and his family were especially angry with the Polovtsians and decided to treacherously kill their guests. At the same time, the Kiev boyar Slovyata was in Pereyaslavl, sent from Svyatopolk with some kind of assignment (obviously related to the same Polovtsians). Together with him, the Ratiborovichs began to persuade Vladimir to exterminate the Polovtsians. The prince hesitated, saying: “How can this be done after the oath just taken?” The squad calmed his conscience with the words: “There is no sin in that; the Polovtsians always take an oath to maintain peace and always break it, constantly shedding Christian blood.” Vladimir, although reluctantly, gave his consent. That same night, Slovyata with a detachment of Russians and Torks crept up to Kitan’s camp: first they kidnapped young Svyatoslav, and then they rushed at the Polovtsians and killed everyone along with the khan. Itlar and his people meanwhile spent the night in the courtyard of Ratibor, knowing nothing about Kitan’s fate. In the morning he was invited to the hut to have breakfast and warm up, since it was the end of February. But as soon as the khan and his retinue entered the hut, they were locked, the ceiling was opened, and from there the first Olbeg Ratiborich landed an arrow right in the heart of Itlar; then they beat all his people. Such treachery, of course, did not bring any significant benefit to the Russian land. It only made both sides even more bitter. Following this, Svyatopolk and Vladimir, with united forces, undertook a campaign in the steppes, destroyed some Polovtsian vezhi and returned with large booty, consisting of servants, horses, camels and other livestock. This was the campaign in which Oleg Svyatoslavich avoided participating. The Polovtsians took revenge in the same year by invading the Kyiv borders; They besieged the city of Yuryev, on the Ros River, for a long time, and finally burned it after it was abandoned by its inhabitants. Svyatopolk settled these people from Yuryev on the site of ancient Vitichev, on a high hill on the right Dnieper bank, and the newly founded city here named Svyatopolch after itself.

The following year 1096, when the Grand Duke and Vladimir were busy internecine war with Oleg Svyatoslavich, the Polovtsians took advantage of the convenient time and intensified their raids. Their ferocious khan Bonyak ravaged the right bank of the Dnieper all the way to Kyiv, and devastated the outskirts of the capital and turned the countryside grand-ducal courtyard on Berestov to ashes; and the other khan, Kurya, was raging on the left side near Pereyaslavl. Svyatopolk's father-in-law, Tugorkan, came and besieged Pereyaslavl itself in the absence of Vladimir. Then Svyatopolk and Vladimir, uniting, crossed the Dnieper at Zarub and, unexpectedly for the Polovtsians, appeared near Pereyaslavl. The barbarians were completely defeated. Among those killed was Tugorkan; the Grand Duke ordered him, as his father-in-law, to be taken to the capital and buried at Berestov. But while the princes were still in Pereyaslavl, Bonyak, taking advantage of the absence of troops, appeared again near Kyiv and almost broke into the city itself. He burned several monasteries and villages, including the red princely courtyard built by Vsevolod on Vydubetsky Hill. During this unexpected invasion, the famous Pechora Monastery also suffered. The barbarians attacked her with wild cries at the hour when the monks were sleeping in their cells after Matins. Having cut down the monastery gates, they began to loot, set fire to the Church of the Mother of God and scour the empty cells from which the monks managed to escape. Hearing about this invasion, Svyatopolk and Vladimir hastened to attack Bonyak; but he left for the steppes with the same speed with which he came. The Russian princes chased him, but could not overtake him.

Similar attacks by the Cumans were repeated almost every year; Russian princes sometimes managed to gather forces in time and defeat one or another crowd of barbarians. Often the princes came together with the Polovtsian khans, made peace with them, sealed it with mutual oaths and even marriages with their daughters. But nothing could stop the destructive Polovtsian raids. The defensive war was proving too insufficient; it was necessary to wage a more energetic and united struggle in order to repel the movement of the steppe towards Southern Rus'. Thanks to the efforts of Vladimir Monomakh, the Russian princes waged just such an offensive struggle at the beginning of the 12th century. This attack of the Eastern European people on their Turkish neighbors coincided in time with the same movement of Western European peoples against another part of the same Turkish tribe, which emerged from the same Trans-Caspian steppes and, uniting under the banner of the Seljukids, extended its rule to almost all of Western Asia. Glorious Russian campaigns deep into the Polovtsian steppes coincided with the beginning Crusades for the liberation of the Holy Land. Vladimir Monomakh and Gottfried of Bouillon are two heroic leaders who simultaneously fought to defend the Christian world against the hostile east.

Dolob Congress (1103) and campaigns of Russian princes against nomads

In 1103, Vladimir invited Svyatopolk to go together on a campaign against the Polovtsians in the spring; but the warriors advised against the campaign on the grounds that it was not the time to tear the farmers away from the field. To discuss this matter, the princes gathered near Kyiv on the left bank of the Dnieper near Lake Dolobsky and sat in the same tent, each with his retinue. Vladimir was the first to break the silence:

Brother, you are the eldest, start talking about how we can protect the Russian land?

Svyatopolk answered;

Brother, you better start.

How can I speak! – Vladimir objected. - Both mine and your squad are against me; They will say that I want to destroy both the villagers and the arable land. But here’s what’s surprising to me: how sorry you are for them, but you won’t think that in the spring the stinker will plow on his horse; and suddenly a half-dealer will arrive, kill the stinker with an arrow, take his horse, wife and children for himself, and burn the threshing floor. Why don't you think about this?

Dolobsky Congress of Princes - a meeting between Prince Vladimir Monomakh and Prince Svyatopolk. Painting by A. Kivshenko

The squad unanimously recognized the truth of his words.

“I’m ready to go with you,” said Svyatopolk.

“You will do great good, brother, to the Russian land,” Vladimir noted.

The princes stood up, kissed and sent to invite the Svyatoslavichs with them on the campaign. Oleg excused himself by illness, but his brother, David, went. In addition to these senior princes, several of their younger relatives went on a campaign with their squads, including one of the sons of the recently deceased Vseslav of Polotsk. The princes moved with horse and foot troops; the latter sailed in boats along the Dnieper, and the former led her horses along the shore. Having passed the rapids, the boats stopped at the island of Khortitsa; the infantry went ashore, the horsemen mounted their horses and, uniting, went into the steppe. After a four-day campaign, Rus' reached the enemy nomads. In preparation for battles, princes and warriors prayed fervently and made various vows; one promised to distribute generous alms, the other - to make a donation to the monastery.

Meanwhile, the Polovtsian khans, having heard about the Russian campaign, also gathered at a congress and began to consult. The eldest of them, Urusoba, advised to ask for peace. “Rus' will fight hard with us, because we have done a lot of evil to the Russian land,” he said. But the younger leaders did not want to listen to him and boasted, having beaten Rus', to go to its land and take its cities. The Polovtsians sent ahead Altunopa, who was famous among them for his courage. He encountered a Russian guard detachment, was surrounded, beaten, and himself fell in this battle. Encouraged by their first success, the Russian regiments boldly attacked the main forces of the Polovtsians. The barbarians covered a wide field like a dense forest; but there was no cheerfulness in them; according to our chronicle, both riders and horses stood in some kind of drowsiness. The Polovtsians did not withstand the rapid attack of Rus' for long and fled. The battle took place on April 4. Up to twenty Polovtsian princes fell in it, including Urusoba. One of the strongest khans, Belduz, was captured and began to offer the Grand Duke a ransom for himself, promising a lot of gold, silver, horses and all kinds of livestock. Svyatopolk sent him to Vladimir. “How many times have you sworn not to fight in the Russian land?” Monomakh told him. “Why didn’t you restrain your sons and relatives so that they would not break the oath and shed Christian blood?” - and ordered to chop him into pieces. The Russians ravaged many Polovtsian villages and took large amounts of booty in captives, horses, camels and other livestock. They also captured some of the Pechenegs and Torks, who united with the Polovtsians. The princes returned to their cities with great honor and glory.

But the strength of the nomads was far from broken by this brilliant campaign. In the following years, the barbarians took revenge on Rus' with new raids. The fierce Bonyak and old Sharukan were still alive. One day they came to Rus' together and stopped near the city of Lubno on the banks of the Sula. Svyatopolk and Vladimir united this time with Oleg Chernigovsky. They attacked the Polovtsians so unexpectedly that they did not have time to “even raise a banner” and were completely defeated. On Dormition Day, the temple holiday of the Pechersk Monastery, Svyatopolk returned from the campaign and went straight to the monastery to thank for the victory. The Russian princes made peace with the Polovtsian khans, and Vladimir married his youngest son Yuri, the later famous Dolgoruky, to the daughter of one of these khans, Aepa. Oleg Svyatoslavich married his son Svyatoslav to the daughter of another khan, who was also called Aepa. But these peace treaties and marriage alliances, as usual, did not stop the hostile actions and raids of the Polovtsians. Then Monomakh convinced the Russian princes to make a new big campaign with joint forces in order to defeat the Polovtsian vezhi in the very steppes of Zadonsk.

The united militia was again headed by Svyatopolk, Vladimir Monomakh and David Svyatoslavich. This time the princes acted even more early time than before, precisely at the end of February, in order to make a hike before the onset of the summer heat, so painful in the southern steppes. The army still walked to the Khorol River along the winter route, but here it was necessary to abandon the sleigh. It gradually passed Psel, Vorskla, Donets and other rivers, and in the sixth week, on Tuesday, it reached the banks of the Don. On these banks there were settled camps, or winter quarters, of the main Polovtsian khans. Rus' put on armor, which during the campaign was usually folded onto a cart. The regiments settled down and moved in battle formation towards the city of Khan Sharukan; By order of Vladimir, the priests walked ahead of the army singing troparions and kontakions. The Sharukans came out to meet Rus' with a bow, with fish and wine, which saved their homes from destruction. Khan's next town, Sutra, was burned. On Thursday, the Russian army moved further from the Don. The next day, March 24, she met with the Polovtsian horde. The Russians remained victorious and celebrated their victory along with the Day of the Annunciation. Main battle happened on Holy Monday, on the banks of Salnitsa. The enemies were very numerous, and again they surrounded the Russian army like a dense forest. The stubborn battle lasted until Vladimir Monomakh, with a swift onslaught at the head of his regiment, decided the victory. According to the chronicle legend, the Polovtsians justified their defeat by the miraculous help that some bright warriors who rushed over the Russian regiments provided the Christians. Again the Russians returned from the campaign with a huge number of prisoners and all kinds of livestock. The chronicler adds that the glory of these victories spread far among other peoples, such as the Greeks, Ugrians, Poles, Czechs, and reached Rome itself.

About Vsevolod’s daughters, see Karamzin to volume II note. 156 and 157. A critical summary of all Latin news about the marriage of Eupraxia with Henry IV is found in Krug in the second volume of his Forschungen in der akteren Geschichte Russlands. S-Ptrsb. 1848.

The Lyubech Congress and in general the events of Svyatopolkov’s reign, see P.S.R. Years. Khrushchev "The Legend of Vasilka Rostislavich" in Thu. About. Nestor the chronicler. Book I. Kyiv. 1879. Regarding Vsevolod’s nephew Yaropolk Izyaslavich, see Schlumberger in the history of Zoya and Theodora on pp. 463 and 465 portraits of this prince and his mother in Byzantine royal costumes, taken from the miniatures of the “Psalter” of Archbishop Treves.

The chronicle about the place of the princely congress in 1100 says: “in Uvetichi.” Some scientists tried to determine where these Uvetichi lay, and made different assumptions. But there is an obvious misunderstanding here. In the oldest list, of course, there was: “at Vitichev”; the illiterate scribal, not understanding it well, took it for one word and for greater clarity added the preposition c. However, we find the real reading in Tatishchev: “on Vyatichev.” Artsybashev also assumed a mistake here (II. 329. Research and lectures by Pogodin. IV. 162).

Campaigns against the Polovtsians, see Complete. Collection Rus. chronicles.