Chernihiv-Seversky principality: geographical position, management, large cities

The Chernigov (or Chernigov-Seversky) principality was one of the most significant states to which the Rurikovich's single possessions were originally divided. In the Principality, several cities were constantly reinforced, so in the end it broke up into smaller estates. In the fourteenth century, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania included the Chernigov-Seversky principality as one of the subordinate lands.

The natural conditions and the territory of the principality

The main territories of this principality were located in the basin of the Desna and the Seym, spreading to the eastern bank of the Dnieper. From the Don the merchants reached the Seimas, from it they got to the Desna, and from it - to the Dnieper. It was on trade on these rivers that the Chernigov-Seversky principality was based. The occupation of the population was typical for the lands of the middle zone of Russia at that time. Most of it worked the ground, cutting down and burning for this forest.

In different decades the Chernigov-Seversky principality included different territories. Most of its history in the west, it was limited to the lands of Chernigov, in the east in the heyday included even Moore. The most significant of its city after Chernigov was the Novgorod-Seversky major part of the history, in the last decades of independent existence the center of this state became Bryansk.

The Principality becomes independent

For the first time Chernigov became the center of a separate principality after the battle of Lystnye in 1024. This is the last and the biggest battle between the sons of Vladimir the Saint. During the battle, Mstislav Vladimirovich Udaloy defeated Yaroslav Vladimirovich (later the Wise), but did not continue the struggle, but offered his brother to divide the subordinate lands. The main city of the part of Mstislav was just Chernigov. But the Chernigov-Seversky principality did not receive in this person the name of the founder of his dynasty, nicknamed the Prince's Prince, as his only son Eustathius died before his father and did not leave his own heirs. Therefore, when in 1036 Mstislav died on a hunt, his possessions were under the rule of Yaroslav.

Yaroslav the Wise, as is known, shared his state between sons before death. Chernigov went to Svyatoslav. Then the future of the Chernigov-Seversky principality became finally independent. Princes of his dynasty began to be called Olgovichi by the name of the son of Svyatoslav Oleg.

The struggle of the heirs of Yaroslav the Wise for the Principality

Yaroslav the Wise commanded his three sons to live in peace. These sons (Izyaslav, Vsevolod and Svyatoslav) did so for almost 20 years - they formed an alliance, which today is called the Triumvirate of Yaroslavichy.

But in 1073 Svyatoslav, with the support of Vsevolod, expelled Izyaslav and became Grand Duke, having united under his rule the Kiev and Chernigov-Seversky princedoms. Three years later, Svyatoslav died because he was unsuccessfully tried to remove the tumor. Then Vsevolod reconciled with Izyaslav, who returned from Poland, gave him the Kiev throne, and received as a reward from him the Chernigov-Seversky principality.

The policy of the brothers in the redistribution of land deprived the sons of Svyatoslav Chernigov. They did not accept this. The decisive battle at this stage was the battle on Nezhatina Niva. This time Vsevolod won, the Chernigov-Seversky principality remained behind him (as well as Kiev, because Izyaslav was killed by an enemy spear).

The difficult fate of Oleg Svyatoslavich: overseas

As already mentioned above, as a result, the family of the Chernigov-Seversky princes went exactly from Oleg Svyatoslavich. But his path to his father's legacy was very difficult.

After the defeat in the battle on Nezhatina Niva, Oleg and Roman managed to flee to the lot of the second - Tmutarakan. But soon Romana was killed by his betrayed allies, the Polovtsians, and Oleg was captured by the Khazars and transferred to Constantinople.

It is not known what plans the Byzantine emperor had about the grandson of Yaroslav the Wise, in any case, they radically changed after the riot of the famous Varangian Guard, which then constituted natives of the Russian lands.

The political underpinnings of this event were not: just warriors, being drunk, attacked the imperial bedroom. The performance failed, its participants were forgiven, but expelled from the capital, and the Varangian Guard from that time consisted of Anglo-Saxons fleeing England after the country was conquered by William the Conqueror. There is no information about Oleg's participation in the riot, but he was also exiled - to the island of Rhodes.

In Rhodes, Oleg's affairs gradually began to improve. He married a representative of the local influential family Feofano Muzalon. In 1083 he, apparently, not without the help of the Byzantine detachment, expels the Khazar and becomes either a prince or a Byzantine governor in Tmutarakan.

The difficult fate of Oleg Svyatoslavich: return to Chernigov

In 1093 Vsevolod Yaroslavich died and the Polovtsians attacked the Russian lands, including the Chernigov-Seversky principality, whose geographical position allowed nomadic peoples from the Black Sea steppes to reach it. It was the Polovtsians who supported Oleg Svyatoslavich in the struggle for his father's inheritance. The famous son of Vsevolod, Vladimir Monomakh, opposed the nomads.

The following year, Svyatoslavich received Chernigov. He began to join other cities of the principality, went on campaigns to Murom, Rostov and Suzdal, but was defeated by the sons of Vladimir Monomakh Mstislav and Vyacheslav and the Polovtsians (who now acted on Vladimir's side).

To establish the world at last between the Russian princes, in 1097 a famous congress was held in Lyubich. It is believed that he cemented the tendency to the disintegration of the heritage of Vladimir the Saint into destinies. But for this article it is important that the Chernigov-Seversky principality, despite the defeat of Oleg, passed to this prince definitively.

Novgorod-Seversky is separated from the principality

Specific fragmentation is the time of constant wars between princes. Almost all of them tried to expand their possessions and many - to take the throne of the throne in Kiev. Actively participated in these wars and the Chernigov-Seversky principality. Geographical location (proximity to Kiev and control over part of the Dnieper) contributed to this. Therefore the princedom many times was ruined.

Major principalities were divided into smaller units. Novgorod-Seversky became the center of a separate principality by the decision of the princes' congress in Lyubech in 1097, but for a long time its ruler was the heir to the throne in Chernigov. In 1164, after the death of Svyatoslav Olgovich, an agreement was concluded between his son Oleg and the senior cousin Oleg - Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich. On it Chernigov got the first, and the second - Novgorod-Seversky. Thus, independent dynasties began to rule in these cities.

Gradually the fragmentation of these principalities into smaller estates continued.

Batyevo invasion

The tartar-Mongol troops led by Batu-Khan (in the Russian tradition Batyi) were unable to defeat the small destinies of the principality. There are many explanations for this, one of the main - the cities have not rallied in the face of a common enemy. The Chernigov-Seversky principality is a vivid confirmation of this.

It was the target of the main enemy strike in 1239, although its first destinies were routed back in the previous, 1238th. After the first blow, Prince Mikhail Chernigovsky was not prepared to repel the main blow. He fled to Hungary, returned several years later, went to the Horde and died for refusing to perform pagan rituals (canonized as a holy martyr), but he never left the battlefield against the Tatar-Mongol.

The defense of Chernigov was headed by Mstislav Glebovich, who previously claimed the princely throne in this city. But he resisted Chernigov without the support of the rest of the principality and was defeated, Mstislav fled to Hungary again.

The Chernigov-Seversky principality became famous also for the defense of one of its small towns - Kozelsk. The young prince (he was only 12) ruled in the city, but he was built inaccessible. Kozelsk was on a hill between two rivers (Zhizdra and Drugusnaya) with steep banks. The defense lasted 7 weeks (it was possible to protect only the powerful Kiev longer). It is significant that Kozelsk fought alone: the main forces of the Chernigov-Seversky principality, which in 1238 was practically unaffected by the invasion, did not come to his aid.

Under the Tatar-Mongol yoke

Soon after the conquest of the Russian lands, the Tatar-Mongolian state disintegrated. Batu-Khan actively participated in the struggle of the descendants of Genghis Khan with each other. As a result, he became the ruler of one of the fragments of his power - the Golden Horde (which also subordinated to the Russian lands).

Under the rule of the Golden Horde, the princes did not lose their power, but they needed to confirm the right to it, for which they went to the Horde and received the so-called label. It was advantageous for the invaders to control the Russian lands by the hands of the Russians themselves.

The administration of the Chernigov-Seversky principality was built on the same principle. But its center has shifted. Now the great princes of Chernigov began to rule from Bryansk. He significantly less Chernigov and Novgorod-Seversky suffered from the invasion.

The Ol'govichi, who could not organize the defense of the principality, lost this title. Over time, the princes of Smolensk received it.

As part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania

In 1357, Bryansk captured the Grand Duke of Lithuania, Olgerd. Soon the other parts of the Chernigov-Seversky principality were included in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. It is worth saying a few words about Olgerda, whose efforts the Chernigov-Seversky principality emerged from the power of the Tatar-Mongol.

Olgerd was not the eldest son of the previous Grand Duke of Lithuania Gedemin, but four years after his father's death, he, with the support of his brother Keystut, received supreme power. Of his sons, the most famous is Jagiello. Thus, the descendants of Olgerd were the Jagiellons, a dynasty that rules in several states of Eastern and Central Europe.

When Olgerd and Keystut received supreme power in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, they divided their powers. Keystut took up the defense of the western borders, his main opponent was the Crusaders. Olgerd took on the eastern foreign policy. Its main opponent was the Golden Horde and its dependent states (one of which at that time was the Moscow Principality). Olgerd succeeded. He defeated the Tatars in 1362 in a major battle in the Blue Waters and annexed to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania many of the ancient possessions of the Rurik. He became the master of the capital of the first Russian dynasty - Kiev.

In the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, for a long time, autonomy remained, which means that the features of the Chernigov-Seversky principality, because formally it remained independent, its ruler was appointed from Vilna. The last such prince was Roman Mikhailovich, who later ruled Smolensk, where in 1401 he was killed by angry inhabitants of the city. In the XV century, the possessions of the former Chernigov-Seversky principality lost their independence.

Afterword

Among the states to which the once-single power of the Rurik people disintegrated, one of the most significant was the Chernigov-Seversky principality. The characteristic of its history is relatively typical for many former possessions of Yaroslav the Wise, but also has its own interesting pages.

It separated, fell apart, could not resist the invasion of the Tatar-Mongols and obeyed them, and later the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In 1569, his lands were transferred to the Polish kingdom.

From the inheritance of the Chernigov-Seversky principality, many influential clans of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Commonwealth took place. The most famous of them are the princes of Novosilsky.