When Constantine was summoned by his father to the war in Ryazan, a large force from Novgorod marched with him under command of Dmitri, who was greatly distinguished at the taking of Pronsk. He was wounded severely and Big Nest detained him to be healed in Vladimir, but he died. After his death the people in Novgorod seized all his family property, plundered his house and the house of his father and burned them. They sold the country places of the son and the father, and also their servants; they took possession of their effects and divided them. The debts due the family were left to the prince. Still the people were not satisfied; they insisted on punishment, and when Dmitri’s body was brought from Vladimir, they wished to hurl it into the river. Mitrophan, the archbishop, was barely able to stop them. When Big Nest sent his son, Sviatoslav, to the city, the people kissed the cross in assembly not to admit any son of Dmitri to Novgorod, and they gave his family to the prince for imprisonment. But, though Sviatoslav received the sums due Dmitri, and through them got much wealth, he did not obey Novgorod in this affair. Some of the family he sent under guard to Vladimir; a few he permitted to stay unobserved in the city.
As this uprising was directed against all adherents of Big Nest, the Novgorod people did not escape punishment. Again he arrested Novgorod merchants and their goods throughout the lands of Vladimir. Great inconvenience was felt by Novgorod people, and Oleksa’s avengers spread complaints wherever they could against Big Nest, who, being then at the height of his power and influence, had no effective opponents. It seemed as though no man could refuse him obedience.
But at this juncture a prince of the smallest region in Russia, Mystislav of Toropets, son of Mystislav the Brave, had courage to challenge the greatness of Big Nest. On hearing how Novgorod was treated, he offered himself to the city, a thing unheard of till that day in Russia.
In the first years of this reign, during troubles in Novgorod, Mystislav the Brave had inflicted defeat upon Big Nest, and now, in 1210, a more unexpected rebuff was delivered by the son of [[181]]that same prince, Mystislav the Gallant, who had grown up and strengthened in this interval, and whose fame began with this challenge. Thus far this young prince had appeared only in small actions, in the quarrels of Rurik, his uncle, and in two or three raids on the Polovtsi, but on coming to Novgorod he began a brilliant career as a hero and defender of justice, a protector of the weak and offended, and he so towered above other princes that he soon had no equal. Later on, he reminded the world of his father, for he made a triumphant campaign against the Chuds, and brought them all to obedience from border to border of that country.
His appearance in Novgorod astonished every one by its daring, and was crowned with incredible victory. From his small, insignificant Toropets he came with a slender but chosen army. At Torjok he seized Sviatoslav’s boyars and took possession of their property; then he sent the following message to Novgorod: “I bow to Holy Sophia; to the grave of my father, and to all men of Novgorod. I have heard of the violence done by your princes, and I grieve for my inheritance. Do ye wish me to be prince in your city?” The Novgorod men were delighted and sent for him. Sviatoslav they confined in the bishop’s palace with all his attendants, to keep him till “Lord Novgorod” should settle with his father.
The Prince of Vladimir in anger sent against “The Gallant” a numerous army, with his three elder sons at the head of it. But immediately after he hesitated. He now, as on a time Dolgoruki, his father, had done, thought proper to say when he faced an untamable enemy: “I am old, he is young in all the passions of this world. It is not for me, near the end of existence, to be occupied with quarrels and bloodshed. I should be patient.” And he sent envoys to Mystislav with this message: “Thou art my son; I am thy father. Free Sviatoslav with his boyars, and return what thou hast taken. The merchants and their goods will be liberated.”
Mystislav did at once all that was asked of him, and Big Nest fulfilled his promise. Sviatoslav returned to his father, and Mystislav entered Novgorod, rejoicing that he had passed through great peril without bloodshed.
Big Nest was nearing the end of his earthly existence. He had continued the task undertaken by his father and his brother to [[182]]preserve and enlarge the principality of Vladimir. He had not worked for all Russia, though he had tried to hold a share in the Russia outside of Vladimir. During his rule, which was firm and at times even terrible, he not only preserved unimpaired, but extended and strengthened Vladimir. He established the beginning of a state in the North and fixed its central region. Earlier than Big Nest, not only in the time of his father, but also in that of Andrei, his brother, Rostoff and Suzdal were remembered as belonging to Novgorod. Men did not consider Vladimir or Moscow or any other place, as that Great Russia which they were to obey, and to which they must gravitate. Before Big Nest’s activity, Bailozersk and Galitch beyond the Volga, and other places, if not claimed by Novgorod altogether, were claimed at least partially. Now the Dvina country beyond the Volga had become so connected with Vladimir that all was reconstituted. That broad region looked on itself as Great Russia, and all men began to regard it in that light. Lord Novgorod itself was forced to count those lands as lost forever. Neither Rostoff nor Suzdal, from the time of Big Nest, dared to think of their earlier primacy, the memory of which became mingled with traditions of its ancient connection with Novgorod. After Big Nest there could be no talk of separation from Vladimir, for it became clear that not to Rostoff, or to Suzdal did that Great Russia gravitate, but to Vladimir.
As his father had left Rostoff and Suzdal to his younger sons and Vladimir to the eldest, so Big Nest, almost on the eve of his death, gave Vladimir to his eldest son, Constantine, and left Rostoff to Yuri his second son.
Constantine, who was in Rostoff at this time and enjoyed there great friendship among boyars, was angry that his favorite city was given not to him but to Yuri, and he would not abandon Rostoff for Vladimir at the command of Big Nest. This was not his first disobedience. His father had not forgotten the campaign of Ryazan, when Constantine spoke against him in the presence of others. Big Nest repeated the command. Constantine refused a second time, and sent a demand that Rostoff should be given with Vladimir. The Grand Prince was grieved and distressed at his son’s disobedience, and there was no measure to his anger. As a result that took place which up to this time had been unknown in Russia: Big Nest deprived his eldest son of [[183]]seniority, and gave it to his second son, Yuri. From all the districts and towns in Vladimir he summoned an assembly of priests, merchants, nobles, and people, with Yoan, the bishop, at the head of them, and in their presence gave the capital of Vladimir to Yuri, imposing on him seniority. He commanded Yuri’s brothers to obey him, and they kissed the cross to do so. Then the people kissed the cross to the Grand Prince, that they would obey Yuri. From this came endless contention in the family of Big Nest, who died shortly after. He expired at the age of fifty-eight, Sunday, April 15, 1212, at the hour when mass was ending in all the churches of Vladimir. They buried him near his brother Andrei in the golden-domed cathedral, the day following his death, as was the custom at that time.