1174–1177 Suzdalian war of succession

1174–1177 war of succession in Vladimir-Suzdal Civil war in Rus' (disambiguation) July 2024July 2024 thumb|1176 battle of Lipitsa: Vsevolod Yurievich defeats Mstislav Rostislavich. Image from the Radziwiłł Chronicle. The Suzdalian war of succession of 1174–1177 was a war of succession in Vladimir-Suzdal (Suzdalia), a complex of principalities in the northeast of Kievan Rus'. The casus belli was the assassination of prince Andrey Bogolyubsky on 28 June 1174 by his own boyars. Immediately, his surviving step-brothers, son and nephews started fighting amongst themselves about who had the right to succeed him. The conflict would not be resolved until Vsevolod Yurievich "the Big Nest" had defeated his other brothers and his nephews, and seized power across Suzdalia in 1177.Martin 2007 128Raffensperger Ostrowski 2023 84–85 Belligerents Yurievichi family tree 1st ~ y ~ ~ Dol ~ ~ V ~ 2nd Aepa son of Osen''s daughter;Yuri's first wife background-color:lightgrey Yuri DolgorukiyPrince of Suzdal1108/25–1157Martin 2007 43, 110 background-color:lightgrey Helena;Yuri's second wife background-color:lightgrey , - - - v - - - v - - - v - - - v - ^ - v - - - v - * - v - - - v - - - v - - - . RY IY Olga Bog Maria Sviatoslav Yaroslav : Gleb Boris Mstislav Vasilko RostislavPrince of Pereyaslavl1149–1151 Ivan(died 1154) OlgaPrincess of Galicia1153–1189 AndreyPrince of Vladimir1155/62–1174 MariaPrincess of Novgorod-Seversk (died 1166) Sviatoslav(died 20January 1174) Yaroslav(died 1166) GlebPrince of Kiev1169–1171 BorisPrince of Turov(died 1159) Mstislav(died 1166) VasilkoPrince of Novgorod(deposed 1161) background-color:lightgrey background-color:lightgrey background-color:LightCoral background-color:lightgrey background-color:lightgrey background-color:lightgrey background-color:lightgrey background-color:lightgrey background-color:lightgrey background-color:lightgrey ` v - - - v - - . ! , - - - ^ v - - . MR YR Euphrosyne YB MY Vse YY MstislavRostislavich YaropolkRostislavich EuphrosynePrincess of Ryazan YuryBogolyubsky Mikhalko Yurievich(died 1176) Vsevolod"the Big Nest" YaropolkYurievich background-color:Honeydew background-color:Honeydew background-color:OldLace background-color:Lavender background-color:Lavender background-color:Lavender lightgrey Died before the conflict began LightCoral Cause of the conflict: assassination of Andrey Bogolyubsky Honeydew Claimants to the throne: the Rostislavichi (Andrey's nephews) OldLace Claimant to the throne: Yury Bogolyubsky (Andrey's son) Lavender Claimants to the throne: the Yurievichi (Andrey's step-brothers) Andrey's son Yury Bogolyubsky was dethroned as prince of Novgorod shortly after Andrey's murder.Martin 2007 128Raffensperger Ostrowski 2023 85–86 Yury fled to the Caucasus, playing no role in the Suzdalian succession crisis.Raffensperger Ostrowski 2023 85–86 The two belligerent factions became Andrey's nephews the Rostislavichi, and Andrey's step-brothers the Yurievichi.Dimnik 2015 95 Rostislavichi Yaropolk Rostislavich and Mstislav Rostislavich "the Eyeless" were the sons of Rostislav Yuryevich (died 1151), the older brother of Andrey by Yuri Dolgorukiy's first wife.Dimnik 2015 95 Their power base was in Rostov and Suzdal in the north, where the boyars supported them. They would ally themselves with the princes of Smolensk, Ryazan (their sister Euphrosyne Rostislavich was married to prince Gleb of RyazanDimnik 2015 95), Murom, Polotsk, and Vitebsk (Yaropolk married prince Vseslav's daughter in the winter of 1174–75Heinrich 1977 360). Yurievichi Mikhail or "Mikhalko" Yurievich of Vladimir and Vsevolod Yurievich "the Big Nest" were the sons of Yuri Dolgorukiy by his second wife Helena, and thus Andrey's step-brothers. Their power base was in Vladimir on the Klyazma in the south, as well as Chernigov (modern Chernihiv), the capital of their Olgovichi allies.Dimnik 2015 95 Although the nephews and step-brothers of Andrey would shortly after his death agree to recognise Mikhalko as the senior prince, with the title of prince of Vladimir, conflict soon erupted nevertheless.Dimnik 2015 95 List of battles thumb|250px|The northeastern Rus' principalities of Vladimir-Suzdal and their neighbours (1216) Siege of Vladimir (1174) by Yaropolk Rostislavich for seven weeks, with Mikhalko Yurievich defending the city from within until the inhabitants demanded that he surrender to end their misery.Heinrich 1977 358–360 Yaropolk was recognised as prince of Vladimir, and Mstislav as prince of Rostov.Dimnik 2015 95 Novgorod-Seversk – Chernigov conflict (1174), when Oleg II Svyatoslavich, Prince of Novgorod-Seversk and husband of the Rostislavichi's aunt Maria, attacked the Yurievichi-allied Olgovichi of Chernigov. Oleg sacked Lutava and Morovsk, and unsuccessfully besieged Starodub, plundering its countryside.Dimnik 2015 96 The Olgovichi then besieged Novgorod-Seversk, after which they made peace.Heinrich 1977 361–362 Battle of the Belekhov plain near Zagor'je (15 June 1175), with the Yurievichi defeating the Rostislavichi and recapturing Vladimir. Mikhalko Yurievich was again recognised as prince of Vladimir.Dimnik 2015 96Heinrich 1977 363–364 Battle of Lipitsa (1176) ru Липицкая битва (1176), 27 June 1176, Vladimirian and Chernigovian troops of Vsevolod Yurievich defeated the Rostovian forces under Mstislav Rostislavich. Battle of Koloksha (1177) ru Сражение на Колокше (1177), 7 March 1177, Yurievichi forces of Vladimir, Chernigov and Pereyaslavl defeated the Rostislavichi forces of Rostov, Suzdal', and Ryazan. Decisive Yurievichi victory; Vsevolod became the undisputed prince of Vladimir, imprisoning and blinding the Rostislavichi brothers.Dimnik 2015 97 Aftermath The war of succession devastated Suzdalia, leading to infighting, killing and the widely-condemned mutilation of the Rostislavichi brothers within its reigning clan, war-time violence and destruction, and the loss of control over Novgorod. More importantly, due to Andrey's death, the Yurievichi clan also dropped out of the competition for the Kievan throne, never seeking it again,Martin 2007 130 supporting Rurik Rostislavich's accession in 1194.Martin 2007 131 Instead, Vsevolod would focus only on their patrimony in Vladimir-Suzdal, and the neighbouring principalities of Ryazan and Murom (which they did manage to seize control of, at the loss of their previous Olgovichi overlords), and on regaining control of the Novgorod Republic,Martin 2007 130 although the Yurievichi clan would not do so again for another decade.Martin 2007 128 With the death of Vsevolod in 1212, the Yurievichi definitively lost their right to sit on the throne of Kiev.Martin 2007 134 It also triggered yet another war of succession in Vladimir-Suzdal (1212–1216).Martin 2007 128 See also List of wars involving Kievan Rus' Kievan succession crisis of 1015–1019 Siege of Vyshgorod (1173), which precipitated Andrey's murder Battle of Lipitsa (1216), which decided the 1212–1216 Vladimir-Suzdal war of succession upon Vsevolod the Big Nest's death References Bibliography Primary sources Kievan Chronicle ( 1200) (modern English translation) Heinrich Lisa Lynn https://www.proquest.com/openview/19e194adba30c8370f27104300e74150/ The Kievan Chronicle: A Translation and Commentary PhD diss. Vanderbilt University 1977 616 Nashville, Tennessee 7812419 Suzdalian Chronicle ( 1203) Novgorod First Chronicle ( 1275) Literature Dimnik Martin 2015 Prince Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich of Chernigov, Kingmaker in Suzdalia (1174–1179) http://www.irbis-nbuv.gov.ua/cgi-bin/irbis_nbuv/cgiirbis_64.exe?C21COM=2&I21DBN=UJRN&P21DBN=UJRN&IMAGE_FILE_DOWNLOAD=1&Image_file_name=PDF/sviu_2015_8_19.pdf Сіверщина в історії України [Siveria in Ukrainian History] Національний заповідник «Глухів» 95–96 Medieval Russia: 980–1584. Second Edition. E-book Martin Janet Janet L. B. Martin https://www.ebooks.com/en-us/book/802816/medieval-russia-980-1584/janet-martin/ 2007 Cambridge University Press Cambridge 978-0-511-36800-4 The Contest for the "Kievan Succession" (1155–1175): The Religious-Ecclesiastical Dimension Jaroslaw Pelenski Jaroslaw Pelenski Harvard Ukrainian Studies 1988 12/13 761–780 41036344 Raffensperger Christian Ostrowski Donald Donald Ostrowski The Ruling Families of Rus: Clan, Family and Kingdom Reaktion Books London 2023 309 978-1-78914-745-2 (e-book) Category:1170s conflicts Category:Battles involving Kievan Rus' Category:Vladimir-Suzdal Category:Wars of succession involving the states and peoples of Europe Category:Principality of Chernigov