Vsevolod IV of Kiev

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Vsevolod IV of Kiev bigraphy, stories - Ruler of Kievan Rus' (1203-1212)

Vsevolod IV of Kiev : biography

– 1212

Vsevolod IV Svyatoslavich the Red () (died August 1212) was a Rus’ prince (a member of the Rurik dynasty). His baptismal name was Daniil. He was grand prince of Kiev (1203, 1206, 1207, 1208–1212); he was also prince of Chernigov (1204–1206/1208) and of Belgorod (1205).

He was one of the most successful senior princes of the Olgovichi (the ruling dynasty of Chernigov): while he was senior prince, they for the first time established their rule over lands stretching from Halych through Kiev and Pereyaslavl to Chernigov.

Architectural and circumstantial evidence suggest that he initiated building projects in Chernigov: he sent an artel’ (a team of builders) to the town where it built the Church of St. Paraskeva Pyatnisa between 1211 and 1214.

Ancestors

Footnotes

His early life

He was the third son of Sviatoslav Vsevolodovich (who later became the grand prince of Kiev) by his wife, Maria Vasilkovna of Polotsk. On November 14, 1179, Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich brought a daughter of duke Casimir II of Poland (her name was AnastasiaAccording to other sources, her birth name was Maria; the name Anastasia was probably used after her marriage. according to the Lyubetskiy sinodik) as wife for Vsevolod. Vsevolod’s patrimonial domain was located in the northwestern part of the Vyatichi lands.

When Khan Konchak with his Cumans pillaged the Pereyaslavl lands as far as Dimitrov in February 1184, Svyatoslav Vsevolodivich sent his sons (including Vsevolod) and his troops to prince Igor Svyatoslavich of Novgorod-Seversk ordering him to pursue the tribesmen. Igor Svyatoslavich pursued the raiders, found them at the river Khiriya (a tributary of the river Vorskla), and took many captive.

Enemy bands frequently pillaged the Poros’e district (the Ros River basin) and the Chernigov lands after 1187. In 1192, Svyatoslav Vsevolodivich sent his sons (Vsevolod, Vladimir, and Mstislav) to march against the Cumans. The purpose of the campaign (which was lead again by Igor Svyatoslavich) was to plunder Cumanian camps; the Olgovichi ventured deep into the steppe, past Kursk into the upper reaches of the river Oskol. But the nomads assembled in great numbers and awaited the princes. Igor Svyatoslavich, on seeing that he was outnumbered, resolutely ordered his troops to steal away under the cover of darkness.

His father died during the last week of July 1194, and his death changed the order of seniority among the Olgovichi. His only brother, Yaroslav Vsevolodovich became the new senior prince of the dynasty, and thus Vsevolod became answerable to his uncle. In the autumn of 1196, Yaroslav Vsevolodovich ordered Vsevolod and his brother, Mstislav Svyatoslavich to accompany him against grand prince Vsevolod III Yuryevich of Vladimir and prince David Rostislavich of Smolensk who were pillaging the domains of the Olgovichi.

Grand prince of Kiev

During the winter of 1210, Vsevolod and all the Olgovichi sent Metropolitan Matfey to Vsevolod Yuryevich, who had been razing the towns of Ryazan, requesting peace. The chronicler states that they submitted to him in all matters; Vsevolod Yuryevich undoubtedly demanded that the Olgovichi relinquish control of Pereyaslav. After Vsevolod submitted in all matters, Vsevolod Yuryevich released his daughter (the wife of Mikhail Vsevolodovich of Pronsk). Nevertheless, Vsevolod Yuryevich kept the princes of Ryazan in chains and refused to forgive them. In the following year (on April 10, 1211), Vsevolod Yuryevich’s son Yuri Vsevolodovich and Vsevolod’s daughter Agafia Vsevolodovna were married in the Cathedral of the Mother of God in Vladimir; Vsevolod attended with his court.

In September 1211, Daniil Romanovich attacked the Olgovichi in Halych and captured the towns ruled by them. The Galician boyars hanged three of Vsevolod’s relatives (Roman Igorovich, Svyatoslav Igorovich, and Rostislav Romanovich). If the information of a late chronicle is true, Roman and Svyatoslav’s wives and children were executed with them. Consequently, the Igorevichi were reduced to one family, that of Vladimir Igorevich. In appropriating the patrimonies of the two executed Igorevichi, Vsevolod increased his personal holdings.