November 21, 1207, the army arrived in Vladimir, and there was great rejoicing. Big Nest again thanked and rewarded the Pskoff and Novgorod men, who had shared the campaign and its toils with him. Especially was he kind to the wounded, many of whom he retained in Vladimir at his own expense till they recovered.
The Ryazan men, when the bishop returned to them, listened to the tidings which he brought, and took counsel. They did not find it possible to disobey the Grand Prince; so they sent the rest of their princes and princesses to Vladimir. Such a quick and complete accomplishment of his will was a surprise even to Big Nest. He explained it only by this, that the bishop, who was dependent on him, not on Chernigoff, brought them to submission.
In the winter of 1208, Big Nest sent as prince to Ryazan his son Yaroslav, who had been driven from Pereyaslavl by Rurik. The Ryazan men, not without astonishment, but without resistance, accepted the prince and kissed the cross to him, and there was no special dissatisfaction.
But the bishop’s statement when he spoke of calumniators, who feigned loyalty and only sought their own objects, proved true somewhat later. Glaib, who at the beginning of the campaign against Chernigoff had informed the Prince of Vladimir of the disloyalty of Ryazan men, had no doubt that after such service he would be made prince in Ryazan. Now, when he was put aside, he began to intrigue in all places. He could not be detected in open treason, but secretly he worked with untiring energy to increase discontent. He roused “the thought of disorder and the spirit of pride,” which in Ryazan displeased the Grand Prince so greatly. The name of Glaib was used now among the people as the watchword of liberty. In him they saw the defender of Ryazan, the hero of their freedom. Danger threatened the son of Big Nest. Many of his lieutenants were driven from their places; some were confined in cellars, others were put in chains, and some died of hunger. There were uprisings throughout the [[170]]whole principality, and all things indicated that a general revolt was beginning.
Big Nest saw that he had been deceived by the Ryazan men, and that he had congratulated himself too soon. He was indignant, and, determining that neither they nor their bishop should deceive him a second time, he led a new attack on Ryazan. When he was approaching the doomed capital his son, Yaroslav, came to meet him, thinking to incline him toward mercy. Shielding the guilty as far as was possible, he assured his father of the general obedience, and brought forward many men to strengthen this statement. But excuses and speeches seemed insolent to Big Nest; he paid no heed to any statement. Commanding the people to leave the city immediately, and take all movable property with them, he sent warriors to fire the place. From Ryazan he marched to Bailgorod, and the same cruel fate met that city. The whole Ryazan region was turned into emptiness by Vsevolod, Grand Prince of Vladimir.
During this campaign multitudes of proud, unbending men were seized in various Ryazan towns and sent with their families to Vladimir to be settled afterward in remote places. Big Nest took the most notable boyars to Vladimir, also the bishop. Of the princes who survived this visitation, only two tried to struggle further. Izyaslav, the only one of Glaib’s sons who had abstained from intrigue, and had distinguished himself by gallant fighting at Pronsk, and Kir Michael, who had sought refuge with Chermny, his father-in-law, and returned to reign afterward amid the ashes and ruins of his birthplace.
In the winter of 1209–1210, these two princes, in revenge for the burning of the Ryazan, attacked the southwestern edge of the Vladimir principality and burned many villages near Moscow. Big Nest sent his son, Yuri, who expelled the two princes easily. He severely punished Izyaslav’s forces, but Kir Michael escaped without injury. In 1210–1211, attacks were made on Ryazan, but with decreased vigor. Big Nest did not go himself; he sent his sword-bearer. This time also many prisoners were brought from Ryazan, and settled at various points in Vladimir. Thus ended the war with Ryazan. Roman and Sviatoslav never again saw their birthplace; both died in Vladimir. The younger princes were freed, but only after the death of Big Nest. [[171]]
In the two years which Big Nest spent in warring with Ryazan, disturbances in the South grew more and more intricate. There was war between Chermny and Rurik. Meanwhile disorder in Galitch and Volynia increased continually. In Galitch, after the expulsion of the sons of Igor, nothing was gained by the coming of Benedict Bor. That overbearing viavoda, or viceroy, was dissolute and addicted to women; he ruled in a conquered country and demanded from boyars and common men unlimited submission. His one care was for feasts and orgies. Following the custom of Hungarian magnates of that day, not only was he not ashamed of his vicious life,—he was proud of it. He seized maidens and other men’s wives when it pleased him; priests’ wives and nuns were his preference. It was said among the people that he did not govern, he harassed the country. Later on he received the appellation “Antichrist.”
Men demanded at last that they should be freed from this depraved viceroy. The people of Galitch began to communicate in secret with the sons of Igor, and with neighboring princes. At last they appealed to Mystislav the Silent, Prince of Peresopnitsa. This inconsiderable prince, the youngest son of Lutsk, brother of Ingvar, imagining himself the liberator of Galitch, came as a champion against “Antichrist,” but he appeared without troops. His attendants were “so few that bystanders could count them.” The boyars laughed him to scorn. More fortunate were his rivals, the sons of Igor, who heard these words from Galitch, through an embassy sent to them: “We have sinned against you, but come to us and save us from torture and ‘the harrier.’ ”
Taught by experience, the brothers now made a treaty with one another. They promised to have no more disputes, to take no land from one another, to ask nothing of the King of Hungary, and with common forces to support one another and guard well the country which they had lost and to which they were now summoned. When Benedict Bor came to Galitch, he had seized in a bath their eldest brother, Vladimir. Now they came near taking Bor in exactly the same condition. They entered the city so unexpectedly and surprised the viceroy so thoroughly that “Antichrist” did not dream of resistance. He thought only to save himself, and rushed in disgrace back to Hungary. [[172]]