Fraternal union
Yaroslav died in 1054. At that time he had five sons. The prince survived the sixth, eldest son, Vladimir, for two years. A few years after his death, two more sons died - the younger ones Vyacheslav (in 1057) and Igor (in 1060). Only three heirs to the throne remained in Russia: Izyaslav, Svyatoslav and Vsevolod. The brothers, remembering the dying instructions of their father, did not quarrel and use swords to find out which of them would become the head of the Russian state, as their father and grandfather did. On the contrary, they founded a strong alliance that went down in history as the Yaroslavich Triumvirate.
Despite the fact that the Kiev throne in seniority went to Izyaslav, Svyatoslav sat in Chernigov, and Vsevolod - in Pereyaslavl, the Yaroslavichi ruled the state together. They revised and improved the law introduced by their father, the so-called "Russian Truth". The military alliance was also useful. For example, in 1060 the brothers made a successful joint campaign against the Torks (a nomadic tribe from the Black Sea steppes).
Prisoner on the throne
In 1067, the Yaroslavich triumvirate had to face a serious enemy: the Polotsk prince Vseslav, nicknamed the Wizard, led his army to Russia. He even managed to capture Novgorod. Izyaslav, Svyatoslav and Vsevolod had to urgently gather an army and set off on a military campaign against the Polotsk principality. There they took Minsk by storm, and then not far from the city fought Vseslav the Sorcerer himself. The chroniclers later wrote: “The opponents met on the (river) Nemiga in the month of March on the 3rd day; and the snow was great, and they went against each other. And there was a cruel slaughter, and many fell in it. " A mention of this battle is also found in "The Lay of Igor's Campaign": "The bloody shores of Nemiza (Nemiga) were not sown well, they were sown with the bones of Russian sons."
The Yaroslavichs won the battle, but they failed to capture Vseslav the Sorcerer, he fled to Polotsk. And then the brothers decided on a rather mean act. They sent their enemy a message: "Come to us, we will not harm you," in confirmation of which they kissed the cross. Vseslav hoped that the princes would not dare to transgress the kissing of the cross. But as soon as he appeared at the peace talks, he was captured and imprisoned in Kiev prison.
According to the chroniclers, it was because the Yaroslavichs broke the sacred oath that a great misfortune was sent down on them. Less than a year later, the Polovtsy invaded the Russian lands. The brothers met their horde on the Alta River, but suffered a crushing defeat.
When Izyaslav took refuge behind the walls of Kiev, the townspeople turned to him:
- Here, the Polovtsians have scattered throughout the land. Give, prince, weapons and horses, and we will once again fight with them.
But Izyaslav did not dare to go out against the nomads again. Then, to his surprise, the disillusioned Kievites went to the prince's dungeon, freed Vseslav the Sorcerer from captivity and announced that now the Sorcerer would become their prince. Seeing this turn of events, Izyaslav chose to flee from Kiev, leaving his recent prisoner on the Russian throne.
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Revenge
Having defeated the Russian army, the Polovtsian horde first plundered the environs of Kiev, and then headed to the Chernigov principality. Svyatoslav, unlike his brother, decided to prevent the devastation of their lands by the nomads. He risked going out to meet them with three thousand soldiers, despite the fact that there were four times more Polovtsians.
“It is better for us to express our courage here, not sparing life, than to leave, fearing the multitude, and to leave wives, children, relatives and all property for captivity to the pagans,” he said to the squad.
The soldiers, inspired by the words of the prince, rushed into battle, and they managed to put the superior enemy to flight. Behind the Polovtsians was the river Again. Retreating under the onslaught of the Russian squad, many nomads drowned in its waters. Having won a heroic victory and taking many prisoners, including the Polovtsian prince Sharukan, Svyatoslav returned to Chernigov.
While Svyatoslav was fighting the invaders, Izyaslav fussed over how to regain the Kiev throne. He went to Poland to his nephew Boleslav II the Bold and persuaded him to provide troops for the campaign against Russia. In 1069 the Polish army moved towards Kiev. Vseslav the Charodey, who was still reigning there, realized that he could not defeat Izyaslav, and fled to his native Polotsk under cover of night. Fearing retribution from the returning prince, the people of Kiev turned to his brothers:
“We did something wrong by driving our prince away, and in this we are ready to ask his forgiveness. But now he is leading the Poles against us, who can ruin us without mercy. We ask you to come to Kiev and not let the Poles possess us as slaves. Otherwise, we will have nothing left, only to set fire to the city and go to the Greek land.
Svyatoslav and Vsevolod reassured the people of Kiev:
- We will send to our brother. If he goes with the Poles in order to destroy you, we ourselves will go to war against him, for we will not let the cities of our father be destroyed. If he wants to go in peace, then let him come with a small retinue.
The brothers sent messengers to Izyaslav. He obeyed and released the Polish army. And yet the Kievites did not escape revenge. Before entering the city, the prince sent his son Mstislav there. He inflicted a terrible judgment on everyone involved in the release of Vseslav the Sorcerer: he blinded many, and executed the rest. Only after that Izyaslav entered Kiev and sat on his former throne.
Will foreign countries help?
All these events cooled the relationship between the brothers. Izyaslav reigned in Kiev for four more years. But in 1073 Svyatoslav convinced Vsevolod that Russia did not need such a ruler. At the same time, he accused his elder brother of conspiring with Vseslav the Sorcerer:
- They intend to take away the property that was given to us from our father. If we do not forestall them, they, having gathered great troops, can easily expel us.
Svyatoslav and Vsevolod besieged Kiev, and Izyaslav had to flee from there a second time. Svyatoslav took the throne of Kievan Rus. So the triumvirate of the Yaroslavichs fell apart.
For many years Izyaslav did not give up hope of regaining power. He, as before, counted on help from abroad. First he went to Poland. But his nephew Boleslav, as well as other Polish nobles, although they accepted rich gifts, did not want to quarrel with the new ruler of Russia and refused to give Izyaslav an army. Moreover, soon they completely expelled the outcast prince from the country. Then Izyaslav tried in vain to enlist the support of the German emperor Henry IV. He even sent his son Yaropolk to Pope Gregory VII, but there, too, he was refused.
Only in 1077 Izyaslav's hopes were justified. Poland suddenly agreed to give its people to capture Kiev. The reason for this was the news of the sudden death of the Kiev prince Svyatoslav.
Backstab
When Izyaslav at the head of the Polish army returned to Russia, Vsevolod decided not to fight with his brother. He voluntarily ceded power to him in Kiev, he himself went to reign in Chernigov. But the third reign of Izyaslav on the throne of the ruler of the Russian state again turned out to be short-lived. The next year, a new strife broke out in Russia: their nephews rebelled against the Yaroslavichs - Svyatoslav's son Oleg and Vyacheslav's son Boris. Those came to Russia not alone, but with the support of a whole horde of Polovtsians. First of all, the nephews besieged Chernigov and defeated Vsevolod's small army. The latter was forced to flee to Kiev and ask Izyaslav for help. Despite the previous grievances, the ruler of Russia agreed to support his brother and march against his nephews.
“Brother, let's not grieve,” he said. - If we have our lot in the Russian land, then both; if we are deprived of it, then both. I'll lay down my head for you.
The armies of the Yaroslavichs and their nephews met near Chernigov near the village of Nezhatina Niva. Oleg, seeing what kind of force his uncles had gathered against them, tried to convince Boris not to enter the battle and decide everything without bloodshed. His cousin answered him with a sneer:
- You were afraid of the multitude of their people? But look at me. I am ready and will stand against them all!
But Boris boasted in vain: he was killed as soon as the battle began. The Yaroslavich army completely defeated the forces of the nephews. Izyaslav was not destined to see the victory and flight of Oleg with the remnants of the squad. In the thick of the battle, one of the enemy cavalry broke through the infantry line and hit the prince from behind with a spear in the shoulder. The wound was fatal.
After the death of Izyaslav, Vsevolod, the last of the Yaroslavichs, sat on the Kiev throne and ruled Russia until the end of his days.