Sviatoslav, the second son, received Chernigoff with Ryazan, Murom, and Tmutarakan, beyond the Sea of Azoff. Vsevolod, the third son, received Pereyaslavl, Suzdal and Bailo-Ozero; the fourth son, Vyacheslav, got Smolensk, and the fifth, Igor, Volynia with its capital, Vladimir. Rostislav, son of Vladimir, Yaroslav’s eldest son, who died before his father, received from his uncles Rostoff, situated in the middle of Vsevolod’s territory.
In this division of Russia the best principality, Kief, went to the eldest son; the second in value, Chernigoff, to the second son, and so on. The idea was to give each prince a place whose income corresponded to his rank in the scale of seniority. Kief, besides its superior income, carried with it the sovereignty of Russia.
Let us follow the working of this system. In 1057, three years after Yaroslav’s death, died the fourth brother, Vyacheslav of Smolensk, leaving one son. Igor of Volynia was transferred to Smolensk by his brothers, and Rostislav, the nephew, was [[25]]moved from Rostoff to Volynia. In 1060 Igor died in Smolensk, leaving sons also. The remaining three brothers gave Smolensk neither to Igor’s sons, nor to Rostislav, to whom, by the established order, it would belong.
Rostislav, enraged at his uncles, found daring spirits in Novgorod to help him, among others Vyshata, son of Ostromir, the posadnik. With these men he set out for Tmutarakan to find warriors and win by the sword that which, as he thought, belonged to him.
In 1058 the four surviving brothers freed their uncle Sudislav from prison, where Yaroslav, his brother, had kept him for eighteen years. They took from him an oath to act in no way against them. Old and childless, he entered a monastery, and died five years later.
Rostislav now took Tmutarakan from Glaib, son of Sviatoslav. Sviatoslav hurried to help his son, and, as Rostislav did not resist his uncle, Glaib was put back into power very promptly. No sooner was Sviatoslav at home, however, than Glaib was driven out a second time by Rostislav, who now settled down firmly and with a purpose. He began at once to extend his dominion along the Caucasus, and was rapidly gaining power to use against his uncles, when the Greeks of the Chersonese poisoned him, and Glaib took his old place again unhindered.
The three sons of Yaroslav were rid now of their nephew, but they had a cousin who began to give them much trouble. This cousin was Vseslav of Polotsk, grandson of Izyaslav, the eldest brother of Yaroslav the Lawgiver. This Vseslav was known to be desperate in battle, and swift beyond any man in marching. People believed him born through enchantment, they thought him a real devil’s son, who could turn to a gray wolf and race in one night from the Caucasus to Novgorod. This so called “wizard,” excluded from the sovereign circle, now began war in defense of rights which to him, the great-grandson of Vladimir the Apostle, might indeed seem well founded.
In 1065 the wizard attacked Pskoff, meeting with no success, but the following year he entered Novgorod, captured many people, took down the great bell of Sophia, seized church ornaments and hurried away. “Immense was the misery of that day,” states the chronicler. Izyaslav and his brothers pursued Vseslav during terrible cold, for the time was midwinter. On the road [[26]]they halted at Minsk. The people had shut themselves up in the stronghold; so they stormed the stronghold and captured it, cutting down all defenders, sparing only women and children as captives.
They followed Vseslav till early in March, when they overtook him, and notwithstanding a blinding snow-storm, there was a terrible battle. Many fell on both sides. Vseslav was defeated, but he escaped, as he always did, because of his swiftness and “magic.”
The following summer, Izyaslav invited the “evil wizard” to a council of peace and kissed the cross not to harm him. Vseslav, with his two sons, passed over the Dnieper, but when he entered Izyaslav’s tent he was seized, though a wizard, and imprisoned; his sons were imprisoned also.