Thus disorder was rife in all places, and only after much time and great effort was Yaropolk, the Grand Prince, able to satisfy his nephews, without, at the same time, enraging his brothers. When all were in a deadlock of dissension and wearied of fighting, he gave them lands in the following order: Izyaslav, eldest son of Mystislav, received for his sons the Polotsk principality, or the greater part of it, and for himself Volynia and its adjuncts. His [[53]]brother, Rostislav, received Smolensk, which, increased by additions from Polotsk and Volynia, became a great principality. Vsevolod, son of Mystislav, connected with Pskoff till his death, left no posterity. Vladimir and Sviatopolk, also sons of Mystislav, received nothing and led a landless existence. Yaropolk’s brothers, that is, the other surviving sons of Monomach, were settled thuswise: Yuri Dolgoruki retained his northern land in entirety. He obtained also Gorodok on the Oseter, a place which he prized because of its connection with Kief and with Southern Russia. Pereyaslavl was given to Andrei, the youngest brother. Having settled questions as best he was able Yaropolk had little left for himself save the capital.
It is to be remembered that besides the few leading princes, who gave away or received immense regions, there was now a horde of small princes, all related to one another and to the great ones. These it was necessary to satisfy, some with a single town, others with more, as the case might be. There was not land enough to satisfy all, however, for sons of the ruling princes were increasing in number. There were also princes who, dying before they had received places, left orphans. These orphans needed sustenance; they were of princely blood and, what was of more importance, made trouble when discontented, if they had power to do so. This great band of land-seekers turned to the Kief prince, who was for them in the place of a father. Yaropolk, while trying to settle princes of this kind, was forced to set aside towns to support them till he could find permanent places. Thus Kief was soon reduced to narrow limits.
At first the lands of the mother city covered all Southern Russia. On the southwest and the south they touched the Carpathians and the Danube; on the west they reached the headwaters of every river flowing toward the Euxine and included some rivers flowing into the Baltic. They extended toward the Volga and the Caspian till they reached the territory occupied by the wild tribes of the Polovtsi. But now, by gifts to the dissatisfied and the demanding, Yaropolk left little to the city. In later reigns there was nothing left, and in that final day a Kief prince was no longer the highest power in Russia; he was scarcely more than a guardian of the capital.
It was not the might of Kief which, in his day, gave Yaropolk [[54]]influence, but his native worth, and his character, which recalled that of Monomach, his father. Lofty qualities gave him strength against Vsevolod, the keen, cunning, shifty son of Oleg. Vsevolod had not seized Chernigoff from his uncle to sit there in quietness; he aimed at Kief, through which alone power was at that time obtainable, and power was the lodestar of his existence.
During Mystislav’s reign Vsevolod had made no move whatever, and, while Yaropolk was settling with his brothers and nephews, he took no part with the dissatisfied, but when Yaropolk had decided every question, the crafty Vsevolod joined hands with Igor and Sviatoslav, his cousins, sons of David, and attacked Yaropolk on both sides of the Dnieper. Fire and sword swept through those lands on the Ros and the Sula, and west of the Dnieper a great war began in which all men of weapons took part with eagerness. After several preliminary battles troops hurried in from many places,—brothers and nephews came to help Yaropolk. From Volynia, Polotsk, Smolensk, Rostoff, Turoff and Suzdal did they come. Yaropolk himself led the regiments of Kief and the Black Caps, called also “Cherkassi” (Circassians).
At sight of these overwhelming forces Vsevolod lost all hope of victory. He prepared to abandon Chernigoff and flee to the Polovtsi, but he was stopped by the bishop at the head of the people. “Halt,” said the bishop; “leave thy pride, and beg for peace. Yaropolk is kind and generous; he will grant it.” Vsevolod listened to this advice, and sent envoys to Yaropolk, who received the men graciously, gave presents in return for those brought by them, forgave Vsevolod, and made peace.
Yaropolk’s advisers were enraged at this peace. They desired the destruction of Vsevolod, and wished to avenge their comrades who had fallen in recent battles, but Yaropolk was firm; he dismissed his forces and returned to Kief, where he ruled for a season, and then died, after years of sore trial and effort.
Yaropolk was succeeded in 1150 by his brother, Vyacheslav, a prince “poor in wit, and simple,” as the chronicler assures us, but in fact a person original and most interesting,—one of “God’s fools” in the language of myth tales. Vsevolod’s chance appeared now, and he seized it greedily. He promised Chernigoff to his cousins, Monomach’s descendants, and then pledged to his brothers all the possessions of those same descendants of Monomach, [[55]]thus promising to men what was not their own, but their neighbors’. He fell upon Kief, fired the suburbs, and sent this message to Vyacheslav: “Go in peace out of Kief.” “Not of myself did I come to Kief,” replied Vyacheslav; “I came, commanded by my ancestors and in succession to my brother. If thou, abandoning thine own, hast come to take what belongs to thy senior, I will offer no resistance; I become thy junior.” And he went out of Kief, thus making his withdrawal a reproach and a shame to Vsevolod.
That prince, however, cared no whit for reproach and shame; he wanted power. To him all else, be it right or wrong, was as nothing. Hence he entered Kief in pomp and great circumstance. An immense feast was placed before the people, and to the monasteries and churches rich presents were given. Highly gifted with the art of pleasing, and lavish of money and flattery, Vsevolod won the multitude quickly.
This seizure and holding of sovereignty by a man in a junior and excluded line was a real exploit. How did Vsevolod accomplish it; and, once having Kief, how did he hold it? Why did Monomach’s descendants let Oleg’s son take possession of the city, which was theirs by inheritance, and thus lose that which distinguished them from all other princes?