“We have kissed the cross to Sviatoslav,” declared they frankly. “We grieve over Igor, our cousin. He is a monk now; set him free, and we will ride at thy stirrup. Would it please thee if we held thy brother?” The treaty papers were cast at their feet, and these words were added in answer: “Ye took oath to be with me till death, and I gave you the lands of both sons of Oleg. I expelled Sviatoslav; I won his lands and gave you Putivl with other places. We divided Sviatoslav’s property between us. I took Igor’s. And now, brothers, ye have broken your oath. Ye invited me hither intending to kill me. Let God be on my side and [[71]]the power of the life-giving cross. I will manage as the Lord may assist me.”
The prince asked Rostislav, his brother, to bring Smolensk forces from all sides. He sent to Kief also, explaining the conduct of the sons of David, and reminded the people of what they had promised. The Kief men decided immediately to go forward in boats and on horseback to help him. “We rejoice,” declared they in a message, “that God has preserved thee. We come and bring our sons with us, according to promise!” When thus excited, some man in the throng called out loudly: “We will fight for our prince, but think first of one important thing. Here in this city is the enemy of our prince. Let us slay him to finish that family in Chernigoff, and then go!” The people rushed to the monastery, and before Prince Vladimir, the metropolitan, or the commander in the city, could stop them they had seized Igor, and slain him.
Izyaslav was at the edge of Chernigoff when news of Igor’s death came to him: “If I had thought of this, I should have guarded him more carefully,” said he to his warriors. “Men will say now that I wished to kill Igor, but God knows that I did not.” “Be not concerned,” answered his warriors. “God knows, and people know, also, that not thou, but his own cousins killed him; they who took an oath to thee, and then conspired traitorously to kill thee.”
Izyaslav seized Kursk, where he placed his son, Mystislav, and thus barred out the Polovtsi. But Glaib, son of Yuri, came later with Sviatoslav to take the place. The people would not raise a hand against Glaib, since he was a grandson of Monomach. They would have fought against Sviatoslav had he come unassisted, as they informed Mystislav, who returned to his father.
Glaib, after installing posadniks, left that region, and the Polovtsi were free to appear again. Rostislav of Smolensk led in large forces to help his brother, the Grand Prince, and after an involved and tedious war, ending rather against Izyaslav than for him, the Chernigoff princes were unable to continue the struggle; their territory was stripped of provisions, and ruined in great part; they had no food for their warriors, and could not pay Polovtsi allies. Yuri had sent a son with forces, but he would not go with his main strength in person, and without Yuri the Chernigoff princes were unable to stand against Izyaslav and his brothers. [[72]]
In such straits, they sent these words to Yuri: “Thou didst kiss the cross to go with us against Izyaslav; thou hast not done so. Izyaslav came, burned our towns, took our country. He came a second time; he burned and seized what he spared at the first attack, but thou hast neither come to us nor fought against Izyaslav. If thy wish is to march now against the Kief prince, we will go with thee; if not, we are freed from our oath; we have no wish to perish in war unassisted.”
From Yuri came no answer of value, hence they turned with proposals to the Kief prince. He replied that he would consult with Rostislav and then answer finally. He consulted with his brother for form’s sake, and then made peace with the princes of Chernigoff, who took oath to forget Igor’s death, and be in friendship for the future. Kursk remained in their possession.
At this time Rostislav, Yuri’s eldest son, once prince in Novgorod, came to Kief, declaring that he had quarreled with his father, who refused him land in Suzdal; hence he had come to Izyaslav with homage. The Kief prince gave him those five towns held formerly by Sviatoslav, son of Vsevolod, and also Gorodok, where Izyaslav did not wish to see Yuri’s son Glaib, to whom he sent this command: “Find lands with the sons of Oleg.”
In autumn, the Grand Prince went to Gorodok, taking Rostislav with him. The sons of David were there, but no son of Oleg. When Izyaslav mentioned this, the princes replied: “We are here. It is indifferent whether they come or not; they and we took the oath to make common cause with thee, and to go with thee against Yuri, starting when the rivers should be frozen.” They who had been Yuri’s allies a short time before had now become his enemies, and allies of Izyaslav. When the time came, Izyaslav left Vladimir, his brother, in Kief, and visited Smolensk, to confer with Rostislav.
Novgorod had assembled large forces to march against Yuri, and now sent many warriors, as did Smolensk. They moved down the Volga, and, finding no trace of Yuri, ravaged both sides of the river as far as Uglitch. Here news came that the sons of David, with Sviatoslav, brother of Igor, had marched to assist them, but had halted in the Vyatichi country to see who would be victor, the Kief prince, or Yuri.