Division among opponents gave Vsevolod the headship. Had they been united he could not have taken Kief, or, if he had taken that city, he could not have retained it. Even now his hold, though efficient, was exceedingly slender and delicate, for among his adherents, that is, his cousins and his brothers, there was endless dissension and wrangling. [[58]]
[1] This phrase is a declaration of war. [↑]
[2] The value of the gold grieven was about one hundred and eighty-six rubles while that of the silver grieven was from four to five rubles. [↑]
[3] The burying of gold and silver was customary at that time. [↑]
CHAPTER III
STRUGGLES FOR THE THRONE OF KIEF
The death of Andrei, son of Monomach, brought many changes. Vsevolod induced Vyacheslav, Yuri’s brother, to take Pereyaslavl, that city which led to the Kief succession, and leave Turoff, where he put Sviatoslav, his own son. “He has a principality for his son, but for us he has nothing,” cried Vsevolod’s brothers. “It was heavy at their hearts,” adds the chronicler.
Hereupon Vsevolod summoned his cousins and brothers to a council, saying he wished to make peace with them if possible. Having no confidence in Vsevolod, they would not enter the city, so the two parties encamped on the Dnieper, near Kief, and held communication from side to side of the river. Since the terms proposed by the Grand Prince, one town to each of his relatives, were acceptable to none of them, his brothers kissed the cross to each other and to their cousins, then joined in a pact to resist the injustice of Vsevolod. Still he did not increase his first offer. Thereupon they marched against Vyacheslav, thinking to have as easy a victory over him as had Vsevolod, when he took Kief from this simple-minded and interesting old prince. But Pereyaslavl met them firmly, and, failing to take the city by assault, they laid siege to it.