The Grand Duke, who forever went down in the history of Rus' as a warrior prince. There was no limit to the courage and dedication of the prince. Not much information has been preserved about Svyatoslav Igorevich, even the date of his birth is not exactly known. Chronicles brought to us some facts.
- Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich (brave). Born in 942, died in March 972.
- Son of Prince Igor and Princess Olga.
- Prince of Novgorod 945-969
- Grand Duke of Kiev from 964 to 972
The first time the name of Svyatoslav is mentioned in the chronicle describing the events of 945, when Svyatoslav's mother, Princess Olga, went with an army to the Drevlyans to avenge the death of her husband, Prince Igor. Svyatoslav was just a child, but he took part in the battle. His participation was symbolic and consisted of the following. Svyatoslav, sitting on a horse, was in front of the Kyiv squad. According to the military tradition of that time, it was the prince who had to start the battle. Svyatoslav started - threw a spear. And no matter that it did not fly far, the fact was that the prince gave rise to the battle.
Svyatoslav received precisely military education. Asmud is mentioned as his mentor. Svyatoslav was taught the military art of warfare by the chief Kiev voivode Sveneld.
Since the mid 60s. X century, you can count the time of the beginning of the independent reign of Prince Svyatoslav. The Byzantine historian Leo Deacon left a description of him: medium height, with a broad chest, blue eyes, thick eyebrows, beardless, but with a long mustache, only one strand of hair on his shaved head, which testified to his noble origin. In one ear he wore an earring with two pearls.
Although the prince was from Kiev, he did not like to sit in the capital. The internal affairs of the state did not fascinate him. But hiking was everything to him. They write that he shared life with simple warriors, ate with everyone, did not have any special amenities during the campaign.
The squad of Svyatoslav, unencumbered by convoys, moved very quickly and appeared in front of the enemy unexpectedly, instilling fear in them. And Svyatoslav himself was not afraid of his opponents, and moreover, before the campaign he sent a warning to the enemy.
End of the Khazar Khaganate
The first big campaign of Svyatoslav and perhaps his most famous victory came in 964-65. There was then a strong Jewish state of the Khazar Khaganate in the lower reaches of the Volga, which imposed tribute on the Slavic tribes. The squad of Svyatoslav left Kyiv and went to the lands of the Vyatichi, who at that time paid tribute to the Khazars. The Kiev prince ordered the Vyatichi to pay tribute to Kyiv, and not to the Khazars.
Svyatoslav sent his squads against the Volga Bulgars, Burtases, Khazars, and then the North Caucasian tribes of Yases and Kasogs. Volga Bulgaria - also a powerful state - was forced to pay off a tribute to the Kyiv prince and agreed to allow Russian merchants through its territory.
Winning in all battles, the prince crushed, captured and destroyed the capital of the Jewish Khazaria, the city of Itil, took the well-fortified fortresses Sarkel on the Don, Semender in the North Caucasus. On the shores of the Kerch Strait, he founded an outpost of Russian influence in this region - the city of Tmutarakan, the center of the future Tmutarakan principality.
How Byzantium killed the Prince of Kyiv
Behind the Volga campaigns of 964-966. followed by two Danube campaigns of Svyatoslav. In the course of them, Svyatoslav made an attempt to create a huge Russian-Bulgarian kingdom with its center in Pereslavets on the Danube, which in geopolitical terms could become a serious counterbalance to the Byzantine Empire.
The first trip to Bulgaria happened in 968. At that time, he was led there by a debt of honor - an agreement with Byzantium, concluded in 944 by Prince Igor. Svyatoslav contacted Europe, and eventually died. But that was later.
The ambassador of the Byzantine emperor Nikephoros Foki, named Kalokir, summoned Svyatoslav to Bulgaria, ostensibly to protect the interests of his emperor. In fact, the calculation was to push Rus' and the Bulgarians against each other in order to weaken both powers.
Pereyaslavets
Svyatoslav, with a 10,000-strong army, defeated the army of the Bulgarians three times superior in number and captured the city of Malaya Preslava. Svyatoslav called this city Pereyaslavets. Svyatoslav even wanted to move the capital to Pereyaslavets from Kyiv, arguing that this city was located in the middle of his possessions. But Byzantium had other plans that Svyatoslav apparently did not know about.
Emperor Nicephorus Fokoi bribed the Pecheneg leaders, who agreed to attack Kyiv in the absence of the Grand Duke. From Kyiv, they managed to send news to the Grand Duke, who, leaving part of his squad in Pereyaslavets, hurried to Kyiv and defeated the Pechenegs. Three days later, Princess Olga died.
Svyatoslav divided the Russian land between his sons:
- Yaropolk planted to reign in Kyiv,
- Oleg was sent to the Drevlyane land,
- Vladimir - in Novgorod.
He himself returned to the Danube.
Byzantium tightens the noose
While the prince was in Kyiv, an uprising broke out in Pereyaslavets, and the Bulgarians drove the Russian warriors out of the city. The prince could not come to terms with this state of affairs, and again led the troops to the west. He defeated the army of Tsar Boris, captured him and took possession of the whole country from the Danube to the Balkan Mountains. In the spring of 970, Svyatoslav crossed the Balkans, took Philippol (Plovdiv) by storm and reached Arcadiopol.
His squads had only four days to travel across the plain to Tsargrad. Here the battle with the Byzantines took place. Svyatoslav won, but the losses were great and the prince decided not to go further, but, having taken "many gifts" from the Greeks, he returned back to Pereyaslavets.
In 971 the war continued. This time the Byzantines prepared well. The newly trained Byzantine armies moved to Bulgaria from all sides, many times outnumbering the Svyatoslav squads standing there. With heavy fighting, fighting off the pressing enemy, the Russians retreated to the Danube. The last stronghold was the city of Dorostol, where Svyatoslav's army was under siege. For more than two months, the Byzantines besieged Dorostol.
On July 22, 971, the last battle took place. The Russians no longer had much hope of surviving. The battle was very stubborn, and many Russian soldiers died. Prince Svyatoslav was forced to retreat back to Dorostol. And the Russian prince decided to make peace with the Byzantines, so he consulted with the squad: “If we don’t make peace and find out that we are few, then they will come and besiege us in the city. And the Russian land is far away, the Pechenegs are fighting with us, and who will help us then? Let's make peace, because they have already pledged to pay tribute to us - that's enough for us. If they stop paying tribute to us, then again, having gathered a lot of soldiers, we will go from Rus' to Tsargrad. And the soldiers agreed that their prince was speaking correctly.
Svyatoslav began peace negotiations with John Tzimisces. Their historical meeting took place on the banks of the Danube and was described in detail by a Byzantine chronicler who was in the emperor's retinue. Tzimiskes, surrounded by close associates, was waiting for Svyatoslav. The prince arrived on a boat, sitting in which he rowed along with ordinary soldiers. The Greeks could distinguish him only because the shirt he wore was cleaner than that of other warriors and by an earring with two pearls and a ruby worn in his ear.
Last trip
Despite the clear superiority of the Byzantines in strength, Svyatoslav managed to make peace with the Greeks. After that, together with his retinue, he went to Rus' along the rivers in boats. One of the governor warned the prince: "Go around, prince, the Dnieper rapids on horseback, for the Pechenegs are standing at the thresholds." But the prince did not listen to him.
And the Byzantines of the Pechenegs then informed, hinting at the great wealth that Prince Svyatoslav was carrying with him. When Svyatoslav approached the rapids, it turned out that there was no passage. The prince did not enter the battle, but decided to wait it out and stayed for the winter. 
With the beginning of spring, Svyatoslav again moved to the rapids, but he was ambushed and died. The Pechenegs did not retreat anywhere, but waited stubbornly. The chronicle conveys the story of Svyatoslav's death in this way: "Svyatoslav came to the thresholds, and Kurya, the Pecheneg prince, attacked him, and killed Svyatoslav, and took his head, and made a cup from the skull, fettered him, and drank from it." So Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich perished. It happened in 972.
Sent an embassy to Svyatoslav. 15 centinaries of gold (approximately 455 kg) were handed over to the head of the embassy, Kalokir, in order to send the Rus to raid Bulgaria. According to one version, Byzantium wanted to crush the Bulgarian kingdom with the wrong hands, and at the same time weaken Kievan Rus, which, after the annexation of Khazaria, could turn its gaze to the Crimean possessions of the empire. According to another version, the goal of Byzantium was only to curb the aggression of the Bulgarian king by proxy, which was the standard practice of Byzantine foreign policy.
Kalokir agreed with Svyatoslav on an anti-Bulgarian alliance, but at the same time asked for help to take the Byzantine throne from Nicephorus Foka. For this, according to the version of the Byzantine chroniclers John Skylitsa and Leo the Deacon, Kalokir promised "great, countless treasures from the state treasury", and the right to all the conquered Bulgarian lands.
In 968, Svyatoslav invaded Bulgaria, defeated the Bulgarians in the battle of Dorostol, took many cities and settled at the mouth of the Danube, in Pereyaslavets, where "tribute from the Greeks" was sent to him.
During the stay of the prince in Kyiv, his mother, Princess Olga, who actually ruled Russia in the absence of her son, died. Svyatoslav arranged the administration of the state in a new way: he put his son Yaropolk on the reign of Kiev, Oleg - on the Drevlyansk, Vladimir - on the Novgorod. After that, in the fall of 969, the Kiev prince again went to Bulgaria with an army. The Tale of Bygone Years conveys his words:
I don’t like to sit in Kyiv, I want to live in Pereyaslavets on the Danube - for there is the middle of my land, all good things flow there: from the Greek land, gold, curtains, wines, various fruits; from the Czech Republic and from Hungary silver and horses; from Rus', furs and wax, honey and slaves.
The chronicle Pereyaslavets has not been accurately identified. Sometimes it is identified with Preslav or referred to the Danube port of Preslav Maly. According to unknown sources (according to Tatishchev), in the absence of Svyatoslav, his governor in Pereyaslavets, voivode Volk, was forced to endure a siege by the Bulgarians. Byzantine sources sparingly describe Svyatoslav's war with the Bulgarians. His army on boats approached the Bulgarian Dorostol on the Danube and after the battle captured him. Later, the capital of the Bulgarian kingdom, Preslav the Great, was also captured, and Tsar Boris was captured by Svyatoslav. After the fall of the capital, the whole country quickly came under the control of Svyatoslav.
War with Byzantium (970-971)
The Byzantines released Boris II, but they did not return him to power. The capital of Bulgaria was renamed Ioannopolis in honor of the emperor, and a Byzantine governor was installed there. All eastern Bulgaria was annexed to Byzantium, only the western regions retained their independence. Boris II was publicly stripped of his royal crown and regalia, which were placed on the altar of Hagia Sophia. The former king remained to live in Constantinople, having received dignity from the emperor.
Svyatoslav the Brave is known from chronicles as the ruler of Rus' in 945-972. He distinguished himself as a brave commander. The biography of Svyatoslav is full of interesting facts that we will consider.
Origin
Old Russian chronicles tell that Svyatoslav the Brave is the son of Princess Olga and Prince Igor. There is no exact information about the date of his birth. Some sources indicate the year 942, others - 920.
In the history of Ancient Rus', Svyatoslav the Brave is considered the first leader to have a Slavic name. His ancestors are of Scandinavian origin.
In some sources, the name of the prince is mentioned as Sfendoslavos. Experts suggest that the Scandinavian name Sven merged with the Slavic ending -slav. But not all scientists agree with this interpretation, because many Slavic names have the prefix Svent-, which, after the loss of sounds, gives the Slavic syllable “svyat”, which means “holy”.
Childhood
In the historical chronicles, the first mention of Svyatoslav is in 944. This is an agreement between Prince Igor and Byzantium. According to chronicle documents, Prince Igor was killed in 945 for collecting huge tribute. Olga, who had a young child, spoke out against the Drevlyans.
The campaign was successful, and Olga, having won, conquered the Drevlyans and began to rule them.
Chronicles inform that Svyatoslav spent all his childhood with his mother in Kyiv. Olga in 955-957 became a Christian and tried to baptize her son. His mother told him about the happiness of being a Christian. Svyatoslav did not prevent others from converting, but he himself treated Christianity with disrespect and believed that the squad would not understand him.
Having matured, the prince was inflamed with a desire to distinguish himself as a commander. He was truly noble and always declared war on the nations first, then attacked.
Some experts believe that Olga's delegation to Constantinople was undertaken in order to negotiate the marriage of Svyatoslav and the princess from Greece. Having been refused, the man was offended and firmly decided to remain a pagan.
Adulthood
The chronicle speaks about the adult life of Svyatoslav from 964. At this time, the young man matured. The reign of Svyatoslav Igorevich began with the fact that he drove out all the Christian priests who had come at the insistence of Olga's mother. For Svyatoslav, who did not want to accept Christianity, this was a fundamental step.
The Kiev prince gathered a squad of soldiers and actively participated in campaigns. The Tale of Bygone Years says that he did not take boilers and carts with him, but cut pieces of meat and cooked on coals, and slept under the open sky, putting a saddle under his head.
Svyatoslav the Brave began campaigns in 964, first he went to the Vyatichi living on the Oka and Volga, then to Khazaria. He managed to defeat the Khazars.
Historical sources report various information about the capture of Khazaria. Some say that at first Svyatoslav managed to take the city of Sarkel, then Itil. Others believe that during a large military campaign, Svyatoslav managed to conquer Itil, and then Sarkel.
Prince Svyatoslav was able to destroy the Khazar Khaganate, later he secured the conquered lands for himself. Instead of Sarkel, Belaya Vezha was formed.
After the capture of Khazaria in 966, Svyatoslav took over the Vyatichi for the second time and imposed tribute on them.
Anti-Bulgarian Union
In 967, Byzantium and Bulgaria came into conflict. The Byzantine ruler sent delegates to Svyatoslav with a request to go to Bulgaria. That is how Byzantium wanted to take Bulgaria and weaken Rus'. Kalokir, the head of the delegation, signed an anti-Bulgarian alliance with Svyatoslav and expressed his desire to take the throne in Byzantium. In return, he promised the Russian prince untold wealth.
In 968, Svyatoslav went to Bulgaria, and after the hostilities he remained at the mouth of the Danube, where Greek tribute was sent to him.
In 968-696 Kyiv was attacked by the Pechenegs, and Svyatoslav returned there. At the same time, Olga died, Svyatoslav distributed the reins of government between his sons. Then he went on a campaign against Bulgaria and crushed it. The Bulgarians had to ask for protection from Byzantium, which was slow to provide assistance. As a result, the Bulgarian tsar signed an alliance with Svyatoslav, and later Bulgaria already fought together with the Rus against Byzantium.
Attack on Byzantium
After establishing a partnership with the Bulgarians, Svyatoslav remained on the Danube. So he expanded his own lands.
In 970, Svyatoslav attacked the Byzantine territories in Thrace. He, along with the army, reached the outskirts of Constantinople, where the final battle took place. Historians interpret his results in different ways. Some documents say that the allied forces of Svyatoslav were crushed, and then his forces. In others, it is reported that Svyatoslav managed to win, but he withdrew, collecting tribute.
In any case, the battles in Byzantium were over by the summer of 970, although the Rus' raids were not over.
The crushing of Bulgaria
In 971, Emperor John I Tzimisces opposes Svyatoslav, sends a fleet to the Danube to cut off the Rus.
Soon the Bulgarian capital Preslav was taken, the king was taken prisoner. Russian soldiers break through to Dorostol, Svyatoslav is also located there. The courage of Svyatoslav grows along with the dangers. According to the testimony of Byzantine historians, the Rus behaved bravely. When they could not save themselves, they stabbed themselves in the heart. Their wives behaved like real Amazons, participating in battles. Being taken prisoner, the Russians kept their composure, burned their dead brothers at night and hardened captives over them, and babies were allowed into the waters of the Danube.
John comes to Dorostol, the Russians leave the fortress, besieged for three months. Luck leaves the Russians. Their fatherland is very far away, the neighboring peoples are on the side of the Greeks. The army of Svyatoslav was weakened from wounds and hunger, while the Greeks did not need anything.
Svyatoslav gathers a squad. Some want to run at night, others offer peace. But the prince decides to try his luck, so as not to fall into contempt of the neighboring peoples. The army goes into battle. The prince encourages the soldiers and gives the order to lock the gates of the city so that no one escapes.
The battle begins in the morning, by noon the Greeks are exhausted and begin to retreat. Soon the battle resumed. Tzimisces was amazed at the courage of the enemy and decided to end the war. After that, the fight continues. The Greeks really wanted the death of Svyatoslav. The knight Anemas crushed the prince and threw him off his horse, but the helmet did not allow Svyatoslav to die.
Svyatoslav, having lost many strength and being seriously wounded in the final battle, decides to demand peace. John Tzimiskes is delighted and accepts the conditions of the Rus, in turn Svyatoslav leaves Bulgaria and concludes an alliance with Byzantium. After the approval of peace, the emperor provides the Russians with food supplies and sees them off. The military resources of Svyatoslav after the battles were sharply reduced, the army weakened.
Historians of those times analyze the war as successful for the Greeks, but Svyatoslav did not demand anything for Russia. Eastern Bulgaria joins Byzantium, only the western territories manage to maintain their independence.
The friendship between Svyatoslav and Tzimiskes can be assessed in different ways. Svyatoslav with a small army retreated to his fatherland. And Tzimiskes sent ambassadors to the Pechenegs, who were dissatisfied with the reconciliation of the Russians and Greeks. Perhaps the Greeks themselves informed the Pechenegs about the return of the weakened Russian army. The Pechenegs were waiting for the Russians at the rapids of the Dnieper.
Doom
After the declaration of peace, Svyatoslav approached the Dnieper. The governor warned him that the Pechenegs were nearby. But Svyatoslav was not afraid and decided to spend the winter on the Dnieper. Exhausting hunger and need accompanies the Rus at this time.
In the spring, Svyatoslav the Brave sets off on a dangerous journey home. In another fight, he was mortally wounded. He was attacked by the prince of the Pechenegs Kurya, cut off his head and drank from the skull of Svyatoslav. Only a few Russians managed to escape. Thus died a courageous commander, possessing amazing generosity. A monument to Svyatoslav Igorevich was erected at the place of his death in Zaporozhye (Ukraine). On the monument, a warrior is depicted with a sword.
Historians believe that the Pecheneg warriors stormed Svyatoslav at the insistence of the Byzantines. Byzantium strove for friendship with the Pecheneg peoples to protect them from the Rus and Hungarians. The crushing of Svyatoslav was necessary for the Greeks. Although the chronicle calls the initiators of the ambush the Bulgarians, not the Greeks.
The Tale of Bygone Years indicates the reasons for the death of Svyatoslav in that he did not obey his mother, who dreamed of making a Christian out of her son. In any case, the example of Sfendoslav is the image of a brilliant commander and an example of the great sovereign of the Russian land, who captivated many contemporaries by the strength of his character. Svyatoslav Igorevich, whose biography we have examined, even after his death, terrified neighboring peoples with his image for a long time.
About appearance
The Greek writer of that time, Leo the Deacon, vividly draws the prince of Kyiv. Sfendoslav was of restrained growth, had thick eyebrows and blue eyes, a mustache, and a tuft of hair twisted on his bald head, which indicated a noble origin. The prince's expression was stern. In the ear was a golden earring with stones. The clothes were white and clean.
Some sources call the prince beardless, others - with a rare beard. Sometimes he is described with one tuft of hair, as well as with two braids. The nose of the prince, according to the descriptions of that time, is sometimes snub-nosed, sometimes flat.
Descendants
History knows the children of Svyatoslav Igorevich, these are:
- Yaropolk, who ruled Kyiv;
- Oleg, prince of the Drevlyans;
- Vladimir who baptized Rus'.
Sometimes Sfeng is mentioned, whom A. V. Solovyov considers not the son, but the grandson of Sfendoslav.
So, the policy of Svyatoslav Igorevich differed sharply from the reign of his mother Olga. The ruler paid more attention to external wars. He defeated the Khazar Khaganate and undertook several successful campaigns against the Bulgarians.
from book
Albert MAXIMOV
Rus' WHICH WAS-2
Alternate version of history
YAROPOLK, OLEG AND VLADIMIR
So, Sveneld, returning from Bulgaria, calmly leaves for Kyiv, where, influencing Yaropolk, eldest son Svyatoslav, seizes power in the country on his behalf. On TV, Svyatoslav had three sons: Yaropolk, Oleg and Vladimir. Soon, in the battle between the troops of Yaropolk and his other brother, Oleg, the latter dies.
The chronicle reports that the Drevlyansky prince Oleg Svyatoslavich had previously killed the son of Sveneld Luta while hunting, which was the reason for the hostilities. An interesting detail: Oleg was a Drevlyansk prince, and it was because of the Drevlyansk tribute that Igor died. I think that, perhaps, the hostilities here also began precisely because of the tribute. Sveneld probably already considered the Drevlyansky lands to be his fiefdom, sent his son Lyut there with an army, and Oleg, defending his rights, killed him.
According to AV, after the death of Oleg, Svyatoslav's NEPHEW Vladimir, who ruled in Novgorod = Yaroslavl, "feared and fled across the sea." In this case, this should be considered a flight to Tmutarakan. But what was the cause of such panic fear? Yaropolk, according to the chronicle, did not clash with his own (on TV) brother Vladimir, and the case with Oleg is special, there was a good reason here - the murder of Lyut. If we accept the alternative version that Vladimir is not Yaropolk’s brother, but only a cousin, and even then not one hundred percent, since their grandfather Igor had several wives, then the situation becomes noticeably clearer: if Yaropolk did not regret Oleg’s sibling, then his half-cousin there is something to fear.
The word "native" is not chosen by chance. There is little information about Oleg Svyatoslavich. Chronicles consider Oleg to be the average among the brothers. But according to AB, Vladimir is not Yaropolk's brother at all, and he is much older than him. Is Oleg Yaropolk's brother?
The Polish historiographer Bartosz Paprocki in 1593 referred to some “Russian and Polish annals” he had. Paprocki's speech was about the origin of the noble Moravian family of Žerotinov. According to the Pole, the ancestor of the Zherotin family was a certain Russian prince, who was the son of Prince Kolga Svyatoslavich and, accordingly, the nephew of Prince Yaropolk. This certain prince was sent to the Czech Republic by his father (i.e., Kolga) out of fear of Yaropolk, from whose hand Kolga soon died. Without a doubt, we are talking about Prince Oleg=Kolga.
So, Oleg had a son, probably from a noble Czech woman. Oleg clearly knew about the danger that threatened him, but according to the annals (that is, on TV), Oleg's death was quite accidental, and Yaropolk was very worried about the death of his brother. But Oleg, according to Paprocki, was not only afraid for his life, he was also afraid for his son! And this already speaks only of one thing: Yaropolk wanted to destroy ALL of his relatives, the entire top of the ruling family, which is why at the same time Vladimir was so "scared and fled across the sea."
But was Oleg still Yaropolk's brother? In those days, morals were harsh, but still not so much as to kill infants (and on TV Oleg's son could only be a baby) children of siblings. But was Oleg's son a baby? How old could he be? To do this, you need to return to the childhood of Prince Svyatoslav.
In 946, Olga goes to take revenge on the Drevlyans for the murder of Prince Igor by them. Her son "Svyatoslav threw a spear at the Drevlyans, and the spear flew between the horse's ears and hit the horse's legs, for Svyatoslav was still a child." How old could Svyatoslav be? According to chronicles, Svyatoslav was born in 942. Well, the four-year-old prince could just throw (albeit half a meter, but he could) a spear before the start of the battle. In this case, Oleg - the second son of Svyatoslav - could be born in the best case in 959 (and then with an incredible stretch), and Oleg dies in 977, already having a son. The time chain is so unnaturally tense that it's hard not to notice. Well, Oleg could not be a father at that time. Or ... he was not the son of Svyatoslav. Maybe that's why he was afraid of Yaropolk? Not a brother, but some kind of water on jelly. And for Sveneld, he was completely a stranger, like Vladimir.
Three years after the death of Oleg, Vladimir, with an assembled retinue, regains Novgorod and then, including soldiers from the Slavs, Chuds and Krivichi in the retinue, goes to Yaropolk in Kiev. Further, I can quote the words from the book by Franklin and Shepard “The Beginning of Rus': 750-1200”: “... even if we assume that he managed to persuade the Slavs and Finno-Ugric peoples to go on such a long campaign with him, Vladimir had little chance of overthrowing Yaropolk ... Vladimir did not dare to approach Kiev closer than Dorohozhychi, a few kilometers north of the city. But for some reason Yaropolk is running. Is it not because young Yaropolk fled because Vladimir was not his younger, moreover, semi-legitimate brother, as chronicles (TV) testify, but the eldest in their princely family (according to AB)? And, therefore, Vladimir had more rights to power than Yaropolk.
At the end of this story, Yaropolk was killed, and what happened to Sveneld, the chronicle does not tell. He probably either died or fled to his allies, the Pechenegs, where he died of old age.
According to The Tale of Bygone Years, Vladimir's mother was Malusha, the housekeeper of Princess Olga. According to the Nikon chronicle: “Volodimer bobe from Malka, the housekeeper Olzhina. And be the birth of Volodymyr in Budutin; tamo bo in anger sent ea Olga, the village bo byashe ea tamo, and dying dade St. Mother of God." That is, Vladimir was born in Budutin, where Olga sent Malusha in anger.
The Tale ... says: “Malusha was Dobrynya's sister; their father was Malk Lubechanin. Historians suggest that we are talking about the Drevlyan prince Male, who killed Prince Igor. Malusha (Malka), no doubt, is considered a Slav. While not denying this opinion, nevertheless, I note that it is still not so and indisputable. The above fragment from the Nikon chronicle allows us to consider, albeit with a stretch, the village of Bududino as the birthplace of Malusha.
“... in Budutin Vesi ...”: here the word “all” is a small village, but the Finno-Ugric people who lived in the Ladoga region and White Lake were also called the whole. This phrase, under certain circumstances, can be understood as the fact that Bududino is a village of the Vesi people. However, Malusha could have been a Volga Bulgar. The ruler of Bulgaria, who ruled in the 10th century, was called Almush. Compare: Malusha and Almusha. If this is so, then it is not surprising that it was Vladimir who began to be called kagan. If he is the grandson or, rather, great-grandson of Almush, the Bulgar kagan, then it is clear how he received this title. How true this is is probably impossible to determine.
One of the versions of Fomenko and Nosovsky should be noted here. The word "malik" (MLK) means "king", hence it may follow that Malusha's father Malk (Mal) Lyubchanin simply means "king", and Malusha herself is a queen or princess. With this approach, the nickname of her father is also interpreted differently. Lyubchanin can no longer mean that he belongs to the city of Lyubech, but it can sound like “beloved king”.
According to our chronicles, Malusha had a brother, Dobrynya, who became a well-known voivode under Vladimir and a Novgorod posadnik. If on TV Malusha was a slave, a concubine of Svyatoslav, and this follows from the chronicles, then how unenviable was the fate of her brother, the son of the Drevlyan prince Mal, who killed Prince Igor, Svyatoslav's father? I was embarrassed by the figure of Dobrynya for a long time, there was something lubok, unreal here. And now, from the ancient Polish historian Strykovsky, he discovered: “There was a noble Kaplushka Malec, a guest in Novgorod, having 2 daughters, Malusha and Dobrynya. From this Malusha, the former treasurer under Olga, Svyatoslav's son Vladimir was born. Strykovsky used some intermediate chronicles, which said that Dobrynya was Malusha's sister. Well, everything falls into place. There was no brother Dobrynya, all these are inventions of those who boldly corrected our history, as is an invention that Vladimir was the son of Svyatoslav.
Finally, for some reason it is believed that since Malusha is Olga's housekeeper, it means that she is a slave. Meanwhile, the housekeeper is, in our times, something like a manager under the president. The housekeeper kept the keys to the pantries full of good things, and not everyone Olga could trust in this. Tatishchev was right when he wrote that "the rank of housekeeper at court was great."
So, who is Malusha? Bulgar princess, merchant's daughter, Olga's housekeeper, or just some kind of slave? And most importantly: is she a mother to Vladimir at all? Alas, it is almost impossible to get to the bottom of the truth in this matter. Although you should try, but more on that below. But about the probable age of the mother of Prince Vladimir, we will decide the question now.
According to the traditional version of the story, Malusha is the daughter of the Drevlyan prince Mal, or in other words Malka Lyubchanin. Prince Mal was killed by Olga in 946, when Svyatoslav was still very young. This led to the conclusion that Malusha could be the same age as Svyatoslav, that is, she was born no earlier than 940, unless, of course, Svyatoslav did not like older women. But such a conclusion is in conflict with the information of the Saga of Olaf Tryggvason.
This saga speaks of King Valdamar ruling in the East in Gardariki. His mother was so weak from old age that they carried her into the ward. Vladimir ruled in Novgorod from 972 to 980. Did a forty-year-old (as it turns out on TV) woman look like such an old woman? If Vladimir was born in the early forties (and this follows from AB), then Vladimir's mother by 980 could be about sixty years old, if not more. According to Tatishchev, Svyatoslav was born in 920. But, perhaps, it was about the birth of Prince Igor this year not Svyatoslav, but another son, named Uleb, the future father of Prince Vladimir (this is according to AB).
The “Chronicler of Pereyaslavl-Suzdal” claims that Prince Vladimir, who died in 1015, lived for 73 years, therefore, he was born in 941-942, which is in perfect agreement with the alternative version of history and is in clear contradiction with TV. As you can see, not everything has yet been cleared out of the annals during their editing.
That is, the Joachim Chronicle, on the evidence of which Tatishchev wrote his “History of Russia”, simply confused the two sons of Prince Igor: the nameless (Uleb), whose son Vladimir was according to AB, and Svyatoslav. For example, Tatishchev says that Svyatoslav was married to Predslava, the daughter of the Hungarian king. For some reason, our historians consider this news a fiction (there is no such princess in the Hungarian chronicles). The fact that Hungarian sources do not report anything about her is just not strange: sources are usually stingy with information about women. But the Slavic name of the Hungarian is surprising. Nevertheless, the fact that Predslava could be the wife of Svyatoslav was confirmed by one of the Russian chronicles. Do you believe it?
The name of Predslava is found in the list of Prince Igor's ambassadors in an agreement with the Greeks and is the sixth in a row. A hypothesis has already been put forward here that this Predslava may have been the wife of Igor, the nephew of Prince Igor. The role of this prince forgotten by history was supplanted by the bright personality of Svyatoslav. This Igor, under the name Ikmor among Greek authors, died in the Balkan campaign of Svyatoslav, and the name of his wife Predslava was transferred by the chroniclers to Svyatoslav's entourage.
From the same agreement between Igor and the Greeks, it turns out that Uleb's wife was a certain Sfandra, who, it turns out, should be Vladimir's mother. But what about Malusha? Alas, the chronicle information about her is most likely a later invention. But Malusha is nevertheless a historical person, she was simply “transported” to earlier times. By the way, they did the same with Rogneda, which we will talk about in the next chapter.
Malusha's full name is Malfrida. The Tale of Bygone Years, under the year 1000, reports, without connection with any events, that a certain Malfrida passed away. And, by the way, he adds that “Rogneda, Yaroslav’s mother, also passed away that same summer.” There are no more events under this year, just as there is no more news about a woman named Malfrida in the "Tale ...". But Tatishchev, on the basis of the Joachim Chronicle, reports that Malfrida was the wife of Prince Vladimir and bore him a son, Svyatoslav. We are talking about Svyatoslav, who was killed by Svyatopolk the Accursed. Pay attention to the Tatishchev bunch of names: Vladimir - Malfrida - Svyatoslav. Replacing the ponderous name of Malfrid with the more affectionate Slavic Malusha, we get a bunch of Vladimir - Malusha - Svyatoslav. Does this remind you of anything? On TV, we have a bunch of Svyatoslav - Malusha - Vladimir. People are different, but the name is common.
I am afraid that the readers have finally become entangled in the tangle into which the rulers have turned our history. Therefore, if I add a few more strange and confusing chronicle messages, I think it will not become more difficult for you. According to The Tale of Bygone Years, Vladimir had four sons from Rogneda: Izyaslav, Mstislav, Yaroslav and Vsevolod, and from another, unnamed wife - Svyatoslav and, for some reason, again Mstislav. One Mstislav is clearly superfluous. In another list of the sons of Vladimir, "The Tale ..." among the 12 sons names Mstislav only once. In the chapter devoted to Yaroslav the Wise, this paradox of the chronicle will be considered. The conclusion there is this: Mstislav's brother is not Izyaslav and his brethren, but Svyatoslav, but Malfrida (not Rogneda!) - the mother is not Svyatoslav, but Izyaslav and his brothers.
Why did the Joachim Chronicle call Malfrida the mother of Svyatoslav? To answer this question, it should be taken into account that the Joachim Chronicle is one of the first versions of Russian chronicles, but by no means the first. This is an option that, for a number of reasons, turned out to be a dead end, but it existed for a long time and, of course, was repeatedly rewritten. Something from its original version was taken by “The Tale ...”, and something later was brought into it from the “Tale ...” itself.
The Joachim Chronicle calls Malfrida the mother of Svyatoslav (one of the sons of Prince Vladimir), but at that time the chronicler monks still remembered that the Tmutarakan prince Mstislav was Svyatoslav's brother. At the same time, they needed to declare Mstislav the brother of Yaroslav the Wise. So Prince Mstislav appeared on the pages of The Tale twice, from two different mothers. This error turned out to be uncorrected in the "Tale ...". When editing the Joachim Chronicle, the mistake was taken into account, and a separate mother was invented for Mstislav - named Adil.
Having thus combined the names of Malfrida and Svyatoslav (Vladimirovich), the rulers of history made a duplicate of these names, having received Malusha, the concubine of Prince Svyatoslav and the mother of Vladimir.
It has already been said here that Prince Svyatoslav, the son of Prince Igor, was allegedly married to a Hungarian princess named Predslava. The name is by no means Hungarian. And here is what The Tale of Bygone Years writes about the events of 1015: “The accursed and evil Svyatopolk killed Svyatoslav, sending him to Mount Ugorskaya when he fled to the Ugry.” Why did Svyatoslav Vladimirovich fled to Hungary? Most likely, he was married to a Hungarian princess, but by no means to Predslava. Predslava is the wife of Igor-Ikmor and had nothing to do with the Ugric princesses.
Thus, information about the Hungarian princess Predslava, to whom Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich was allegedly married, appeared by merging two events-traditions that the first chroniclers still remembered. This is the memory of Predslava, Igor's wife - the nephew of Prince Igor, who died in the Bulgarian campaign, and information that Svyatoslav Vladimirovich was married to a Hungarian princess.
What was the further fate of Predslava? No one knows this, just as no one knows the details of her life. "The Tale of Bygone Years" writes about Rogneda, "which he settled on Lybid, where the village of Predslavino is now located." Isn't this village named after the widow of Igor-Ikmor, who received a village in her "pension"?
We have finished reviewing the history of Rus' from the time of the first Rurikovich. But it would be more correct to call this dynasty - Igorevichs. Rurik was not in Rus'. This is just a phantom of the Bulgarian Prince Boris. Yes, and the chronicle Oleg, who ruled, according to the annals, while Igor, the “son” of Rurik, was small, also turned out to be “blinded” by the ancient chroniclers from two historical characters: the Hungarian prince Almosh and the prince (voivode) of the Russians Oleg.
Starting with Igor, all the heroes of ancient Russian history are already real. However, much of their biographies are quite distorted. The chroniclers "forgot" about Uleb, the eldest son of Prince Igor. Uleb is the father of Prince Vladimir, the baptist of Rus'. But it would be more correct to call Vladimir the baptizer of Rus' according to the Greek rite. Vladimir, as you can see, turned out to be not the son of Prince Svyatoslav at all, but his nephew. Yes, and Oleg, the second son of the prince, is also not the son of Svyatoslav. Who he is, we can only speculate about it. Perhaps the son of Igor-Ikmor, who died along with Prince Svyatoslav in the Bulgarian campaign? Well, according to age, this is quite possible, and the name Oleg could be given to him in honor of his grandfather, the voivode Prince Igor.
Prince Svyatoslav - the great Kiev prince from 945 to 972, was born in 942, the son of the Kyiv prince Igor and the famous princess Olga.
Prince Svyatoslav became famous as a great commander, to a lesser extent a politician. After the death of his father, he became a prince, but his mother, Princess Olga, ruled. When Svyatoslav was able to rule the country himself, he was engaged in military campaigns, and in his absence, his mother ruled.
early years
The young prince was the only son of Prince Igor and his wife Princess Olga and became the legal heir of his father, having no other competitors for the throne. There is an opinion that Svyatoslav was born in 942, but there is no exact confirmation of the birth of the prince in this year.
Svyatoslav is a Slavic name, and Prince Svyatoslav became the first prince with a Slavic name, before that his ancestors had Scandinavian names. The first mention of the future prince dates back to the Russian-Byzantine treaties of 944.
The following year, his father, Prince Igor, was killed by the Drevlyans. And already in 966, Princess Olga, together with her four-year-old son, went to war against them. As the chronicles say, before the battle with the Drevlyans, little Svyatoslav threw a spear at the enemy, but it did not reach the goal. Seeing this, the squad began to attack, saying "The prince has already begun, it would be time for the squad to join."
Having defeated the Drevlyans, the princess returned to the capital with her son. Russian chronicles say that Svyatoslav spent all his childhood next to his mother, but there are also refuting records from Byzantium.
Svyatoslav's reign
Having ascended the throne, Svyatoslav refused to accept paganism, as his mother did, believing that such a gesture would deprive him of the loyalty of his squad. The Tale of Bygone Years says that the prince himself began to rule only in 964. Prince Svyatoslav began his reign from a military campaign. The Vyatichi and the Khazar Khaganate became his target.
In 965, his army attacked the Khazar Khaganate, and before that they imposed a large tribute to the Vyatichi. Svyatoslav wanted to annex the territories of the kaganate to the territory of his state. On the site of the former capital of the kaganate, the Russian village of Belaya Vezha appeared. Returning to the capital, the prince once again defeated the Vyatichi and again imposed tribute on them.
In 967, Rus' declares war on the Bulgarian kingdom, as an ally of the Byzantine Empire. The very next year, Svyatoslav and his army attacked the territory of the Bulgarian kingdom. In 966, the Pechenegs attacked Kyiv, to which Svyatoslav reacted. Together with his retinue, he returned to defend the capital and successfully drove the Pechenegs back to the steppe. To prevent this from happening again, Svyatoslav immediately opposed the Pechenegs on a campaign, after which he completely defeated them and captured their capital, Itil.
During these years, Princess Olga dies, and now there is no one to rule the country in the absence of Prince Svyatoslav, he himself was not much involved in public affairs, but preferred to fight. His sons began to rule the country: Yaropolk, Oleg and Vladimir. And the prince himself went on a new campaign against the Bulgarians.
There is practically no information about this war, but it is known that Svyatoslav won a number of very important victories over the Bulgarians and even captured their capital. Due to catastrophic defeats, the Bulgarians were forced to conclude a peace that was humiliating for them, but beneficial for Svyatoslav.
At this moment, the allies of the Bulgarians, the Byzantines, intervened, they offered tribute to Prince Svyatoslav in exchange for the fact that he would leave the Bulgarian kingdom with an army. But Svyatoslav refused to comply with these demands. Svyatoslav wanted not only to plunder the Bulgarian kingdom, but also to make these lands his own.
In response to this, the Byzantines begin to accumulate their troops on the border with the Bulgarian kingdom. Not expecting an attack by the Byzantines, Svyatoslav himself went to war against them, attacking Thrace. In 970 there was a battle at Arcadiopolis. Sources differ on the outcome of the battle. The Byzantines say that they won the battle, and Svyatoslav was defeated. Russian chronicles say that he won and almost approached Constantinople, but then returned and imposed tribute on Byzantium.
Then Svyatoslav continued to attack the Bulgarian kingdom and won several big victories. The Byzantine king led a campaign against Svyatoslav personally. After several battles with the Russians, the Byzantines began to talk about peace. The battles were of mixed success and both sides lost many soldiers - peace here was the best option for both sides.
The peace was signed successfully and Svyatoslav left Bulgaria, trade was resumed with Byzantium, and she was obliged to provide for the Russian army during this retreat.
Death of Svyatoslav
Returning home, at the mouth of the Dnieper, Prince Svyatoslav was ambushed by the Pechenegs, as a result of which he died. Having only his squad at his disposal, he did not expect a siege, and was defeated by more numerous Pechenegs.
There are opinions that Byzantium had a hand in the murder of Svyatoslav, because they wanted to get rid of this threat once and for all, and took advantage of the Pechenegs for their own purposes.
After his death, he left three sons, which were mentioned above. The name of his wife is unknown to historians, as there are no documents left of her existence.
I remember Prince Svyatoslav as a great Russian commander and a brave warrior. He earned the greatest respect in the ranks of his squad and warriors. As a politician, he was not marked by special talent, he was little interested in state affairs. But as a result of successful campaigns, he managed to significantly expand the territory of Kievan Rus.
