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Name:Svyatoslav Igorevich (Svyatoslav Rurikovich)
Date of Birth: 942 BC
Age: 30 years
Date of death: 972 BC
Activity: military leader, statesman
Family status: was married
Svyatoslav Igorevich: biography
Prince of Novgorod and Kiev Svyatoslav Igorevich ruled the Russian state from 944 to 972. The ruler is known for his military campaigns and conquests, battles against the Bulgarian state and Byzantium.
Svyatoslav became the only son of Prince Igor and Princess Olga. The exact date of birth of the future ruler is still not known. According to the Ipatiev list, Svyatoslav Igorevich was born in 942 (some sources indicate 940). The event record is missing from the Laurentian list. This raises a lot of questions among researchers, since the information is contradictory. In literary sources, 920 is declared, but historians consider this to be fiction, not true.
The upbringing of the prince's son was entrusted to the shoulders of the Varangian Asmud, who focused on basic skills. Young Svyatoslav received knowledge that was useful in military campaigns: the art of combat, control of horses, boat, swimming, skill in disguise. Another mentor, voivode Sveneld, was responsible for the military leadership. The first data about Svyatoslav, which can be seen in the Russian-Byzantine treaty of Prince Igor, began to appear in 944. A year later, the prince dies.
The dissatisfaction of the Drevlyans about the collection of too much tribute led to the death of the ruler. Since Svyatoslav Igorevich is still a child, the reins of power are transferred to his mother, Princess Olga. A year after the murder of her husband, Olga goes to the lands of the Drevlyans. As befits the head of state, 4-year-old Svyatoslav begins the battle together with his father's squad. The young ruler won the battle. The princess forced the Drevlyans to obey. To prevent similar tragedies from happening in the future, the regent introduces a new system of government.
The annals say that in childhood Svyatoslav Igorevich did not part with his mother and permanently lived in Kiev. Scientists have found evidence of the incorrectness of this judgment. The Byzantine Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus told the following:
"The monoxylae coming from outer Russia to Constantinople are one of Nemogard, in which Sfendoslav, the son of Ingor, Archon of Russia, was sitting."
Researchers believe that Svyatoslav moved to Novgorod at the request of his father. There was a mention in the annals of Olga's visit to Constantinople. At the same time, they talk about the future prince without naming the title of Svyatoslav Igorevich.
The beginning of the reign
The Tale of Bygone Years says that the first campaign of Svyatoslav Igorevich happened in 964. The main goal of the ruler was to strike at the Khazar Kaganate. The prince did not become distracted by the Vyatichi who met along the way. The attack on the Khazars came a year later - in 965. The chronicle says the following:
“In the summer of 6473 (965) Svyatoslav went to the Khazars. Hearing, the Khazars went out to meet him with their prince Kagan and agreed to fight, and in the battle Svyatoslav the Khazars defeated them, and took their city and Belaya Vezha. And he defeated the Yasov Ikasogs. "
It is interesting that a contemporary of Svyatoslav presents events in a different way. Ibn-Haukal claimed that the prince dealt with the Khazars later than the time indicated in the chronicle.
A contemporary recalled other military actions against the Volga Bulgaria, but there is no such information in official sources. Here is what Ibn Hawkal said:
“Bulgar is a small city, there are no numerous districts in it, and was known for being a port for the states mentioned above, and the Rus devastated it and came to Khazaran, Samandar and Itil in the year 358 (968/969) and set off immediately after to the country of Rum and Andalus ... And al-Khazar is a side, and there is a city in it called Samandar, and it is in the space between it and Bab al-Abwab, and there were numerous gardens in it ..., but the Rus came there, and did not there were neither grapes nor raisins left in that city. "
In 965 Svyatoslav Igorevich arrives at Sarkel on the Don. Several battles were required to conquer this city. But the ruler did not celebrate the victory for long, since Itil, the main city of the Khazar Kaganate, appeared on the way. The conqueror got one more locality - Semender. This glorious city is located on the shores of the Caspian Sea.
The Khazar Kaganate fell before the onslaught of Svyatoslav, but this was not enough for the ruler. The prince tried to conquer and secure these lands. Soon, Sarkel was renamed Belaya Vezha. According to some reports, in the same years Kiev received Tmutarakan. It is believed that it was possible to retain power until the beginning of the 980s.
Domestic policy
Domestic policy of Svyatoslav Igorevich was active. The ruler set a goal for himself - to strengthen power by attracting military squads. Politics did not attract the young prince, therefore, there were no special changes in the internal activities of the state during the years of Svyatoslav's rule.
Despite his dislike for the internal affairs of Russia, Svyatoslav Igorevich made some adjustments. In particular, he formed a new system for collecting taxes and taxes. In different parts of the Old Russian state, special places were organized - churchyards. Here they collected money from residents. Svyatoslav Igorevich was able to overcome the Vyatichi, who now and then rebelled against the ruler. During the campaign, the prince pacified the violent people. Thanks to this, the treasury began to replenish again. Despite the work in this direction, Princess Olga took over most of the worries.
The wisdom of the reign of the Grand Duke is manifested after the birth of sons. Svyatoslav Igorevich needed to put loyal and devoted people on the thrones in different cities. In Kiev, Yaropolk ruled, in Novgorod, Oleg became Prince of Drevlyansky.
Foreign policy
Foreign policy became the young prince's passion. He has several major wars on his account - with the Bulgarian kingdom and Byzantium. Many versions in history have these important events for Russia. Historians have focused on two variations of the struggle against the Bulgarian kingdom. The first opinion was that it all started with the conflict between Byzantium and the Bulgarian kingdom. In this regard, the Byzantine emperor turned to Svyatoslav Igorevich for help. It was his soldiers who were supposed to attack Bulgaria.
The second opinion lies in the fact that Byzantium tried to weaken the Kiev prince, since the ruler was able to conquer their lands. And in the Byzantine state there was no peace: the ambassador who arrived to Svyatoslav decided to arrange a conspiracy against his emperor. He persuaded the Russian prince, promised him Bulgarian lands and treasures from the treasury of Byzantium.
The invasion of Bulgaria took place in 968. Svyatoslav Igorevich managed to overcome opponents and conquer Pereyaslavets, located at the mouth of the Danube. Relations with the Byzantine state began to deteriorate gradually. In the same year, the Pechenegs raided Kiev, so the prince had to urgently return to the capital of Russia. In 969, Princess Olga died, who was involved in the internal politics of the state. This prompted Svyatoslav Igorevich to involve children in the government. The prince did not want to stay in the capital:
“I don’t like to sit in Kiev, I want to live in Pereyaslavets on the Danube - for there is the middle of my land, all the benefits flow there: from the Greek land, gold, poultry, wine, various fruits; from the Czech Republic and from Hungary silver and horses; from Russia furs and wax, honey and slaves. "
Despite the fact that it was the Byzantine government that organized the raid on the Bulgarians, the latter turned to them for help in the fight against Svyatoslav. The emperor thought for a long time what to do, but then decided to strengthen his state with a dynastic marriage. At the end of 969, the sovereign dies, and John Tzimiskes ascended the throne. He did not allow a Bulgarian son and a Byzantine maiden to get engaged.
Painting "Meeting of Svyatoslav with John Tzimiskes". K. Lebedev, 1916 Realizing that Byzantium is no longer an assistant, the authorities of the Bulgarian state decide to conclude an agreement with Svyatoslav Igorevich. Together the rulers go against Byzantium. Military tension between the empire and the Russian state was growing. Gradually, troops were brought up to the fortresses. In 970, there was an attack on Byzantium. Bulgarians, Hungarians and Pechenegs were on the side of Svyatoslav. Despite serious advantages in terms of the number of soldiers, Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich was defeated in a general battle.
Painting "Trizna of Svyatoslav's vigilantes after the battle at Dorostol in 971". Henryk Siemiradzki A year later, the troops regained their strength and again began to raid the Byzantine state. Now rulers clashed in battle. Again the fighters of Byzantium were more successful. They captured the Bulgarian king and got close to Svyatoslav. In one of the battles, the prince was wounded. After that, the Byzantine emperor and the Russian ruler sat down at the negotiating table. Svyatoslav Igorevich leaves Bulgaria, but restores trade relations with Byzantium. Now the eastern part of the Bulgarian state is subject to the emperor. The western regions gained independence.
Personal life
Military campaigns became the main goal of the life of Svyatoslav Igorevich. The prince's personal life was going well. The ruler became the father of three sons - Yaropolk, Oleg and Vladimir. The young sons took care of the internal policy of the state while their father conquered new territories.
Painting "Grand Duke Svyatoslav kissing his mother and children upon his return from the Danube to Kiev". I. A. Akimov, 1773 In the official documents of that time, there is no information about the wife who gave birth to two eldest sons. It is known about Vladimir's mother. The woman was not married to the prince, but was a concubine.
Death and memory
The biography of Svyatoslav Igorevich ends in March 972. The prince could not remain at the mouth of the Dnieper. Together with the army, the ruler tried to get through the ambush of the Pechenegs. This was a disastrous mistake, as the weakened fighters fell at the hands of the nomads. The Pechenegs brutally dealt with Svyatoslav:
“And smoking attacked him, prince of Pechenezh; and they killed Svyatoslav, and cut off his head, and made a cup out of the skull, bound the skull, and then they drank from it. "
During his reign, the prince expanded the territory of the state and received the nickname Brave. Svyatoslav is so called in historical references. The memory of Svyatoslav Igorevich still lives on. The image of the warrior prince was used in fiction and art. At the beginning of the 20th century, the first monument "Svyatoslav on the way to Tsar-grad" appeared. The sculptures are located in Kiev and the Ukrainian regions.
A kind of photo is available on the Internet. According to the descriptions of the prince's contemporaries, the masters created a portrait: a man of medium height, snub-nosed, with thick eyebrows, blue eyes, a long mustache, a strong nape and a broad chest.
Svyatoslav Igorevich
In the year of birth of Svyatoslav (942) Igor could not be much less than 70 years old, since during Oleg's campaign to Kiev (879) he could not be older than 10-12 years, otherwise then the campaign would have been led not by Oleg, but by Rurik's son , Igor. If we accept the calculations of V.N. Tatishchev, then the birth of Igor, according to the Raskolnichy Chronicle, falls on the period from 873 to 875. In this case, Igor in the year of birth of Svyatoslav was from 67 to 69 years old. The age to become a father is not quite the right one. If we turn to the Nizhny Novgorod Chronicle, which indicates 861 as the year of Igor's birth, then at 81 it is even more "hesitant" to have a child (in the words of VN Tatishchev).
This served as a basis for suggestions that the actual father of Svyatoslav could not be Igor, but someone else. They even sometimes remember the matchmaking to Princess Olga, the mother of Svyatoslav, the Drevlyan prince Mal, forgetting that this matchmaking was unsuccessful, and the Drevlyan's daughter later became the concubine of Svyatoslav himself and bore him a son, Vladimir. In addition, the chronicle sources report that during Olga's war with the Drevlyans, Svyatoslav was already three years old.
Other assumptions are made about the origin of Svyatoslav, in particular L.N. Gumilev. But all these versions contradict documentary sources. Svyatoslav is called the son of Igor in their writings by Byzantine authors who are well aware of the situation in Russia.
Is the year of birth of Svyatoslav sometimes contested? it belongs to some historians 20 years earlier. This is stated in the study of E.V. Pchelova. Chronicler errors in recording dates are quite possible.
The development of the hypothesis that Svyatoslav's father was not Igor (and such a hypothesis became very attractive for some history buffs) leads to the conclusion that the reign of Svyatoslav meant the change of the Varangian dynasty (if we agree that the first Russian princes - Rurik, Oleg and Igor - were Varangian or maybe of Scandinavian origin) into Slavic.
Archaeological research by T.I. Alekseeva showed that the Scandinavian anthropological types are present in burials on Ladoga and in burial grounds near Chernigov, but absolutely absent in Kiev. But these objective data do not at all deny Igor's paternity. All that follows from them is the fact that there was no significant number of Scandinavians in Kiev. They were not in the army of Oleg, they did not appear during the reign of Igor and Olga. Hence, it is natural to assume that these princes themselves had nothing to do with the Scandinavians. Then no change of the dynasty happened, because the dynasty was not Scandinavian.
One can assume the Slavic origin of Svyatoslav. With an even greater degree of probability, we can talk about this in relation to Vladimir Svyatoslavich and Yaroslav Vladimirovich. However, Yaroslav introduced the custom of entering into dynastic marriages with princes and princesses from the families of rulers of other nations. There is nothing wrong with this custom, it was done all over the world. Sons were often married at the age of 14–16; daughters were given to wives even earlier. It was unnecessary to talk about the mutual feelings of young people in such conditions. Dynastic marriages in the name of achieving political goals later made the ethnicity of the Russian princes very difficult to determine. In this sense, the example of Andrei Bogolyubsky, a descendant of Svyatoslav in the sixth generation, is typical. It mixed the blood of Swedish, Byzantine and English princesses (grandmother, great-grandmother and great-great-grandmother), and the Polovtsian princess became his mother. He himself was married, as it is supposed, three times: in his youth to a Bulgar woman, after her death to the Suzdal hawthorn Ulita, and the third marriage to an Ossetian woman. With all this Andrei? a typical Russian prince, a zealous Christian. Subsequently, he was ranked among the Orthodox saints.
Unlike his descendants, Svyatoslav was a convinced pagan, so he sharply rejected the spread of Christianity in Kiev. When Olga offered 12-year-old Svyatoslav to be baptized, he refused: "My squad will start daring to this."
At the same time, calling the Christian faith "ugliness", he showed some religious tolerance: "If anyone gets baptized, do not scold, but I swear: the unfaithful are more of a Khrestyan ugliness" ( "If anyone wanted to be baptized, he did not scold him, but scoffed: to unbelievers, the Christian faith is like ugliness.").
In 959 Svyatoslav is already 17 years old. He expressed dissatisfaction with Olga's acceptance of Christianity, "and besides, he was desperate for his mother."
B.A. Rybakov draws attention to the fact that during the hostilities with Byzantium, led by Svyatoslav, Christianity could not but become a persecuted religion. Maintaining their traditional religious beliefs was part of defending political sovereignty.
Svyatoslav showed himself to be a brilliant commander and a noble man. The years of his reign have forever adorned Russian history. "Coming at you",? he nobly warned enemies about his campaign, avoiding treachery and deceit. The chroniclers compared him with a cheetah: "... He himself is brave and easily walking, aky pardus." Pardus? this is a cheetah; this word was also called a leopard or a leopard, but it is the cheetah that, among all the animals of the earth, is distinguished by its irrepressible speed, determination and ease of running. In battle, he fought in the forefront of his soldiers: "I will go before you,"? he said.
His strategic abilities made it possible to defeat the Khazar army in several battles. The dependence of Russia on the Judeo-Khazar state supposed by historians was completely and finally eliminated. The nature of this dependence is assessed by historians in different ways: from political and economic vassalage (L.N. Gumilev) to the struggle for dominance over the tribes that paid tribute (B.D. Grekov).
Svyatoslav began to "mate, many and brave," in 964. With his squad, as follows from the research of B.D. Grekov, he made victorious campaigns on the Oka, the Volga, the Kama and Danube Bulgarians, and the Caucasus. G.V. Vernadsky believed that the Crimean Goths and Russians in Tmutarakan recognized their vassalage towards him at the beginning of January 963 and supported them in the hostilities against Khazaria.
Svyatoslav was close to expanding Russia at the expense of the Bulgarian kingdom. “He has already completely taken possession of their country,”? wrote a Byzantine historian. Svyatoslav's passion for his conquests in Bulgaria almost led to the capture of Kiev by the Pechenegs. In the Danube campaigns of the Rus, Byzantium saw a threat for itself. The Slavic leopard could not oppose the mighty empire with a twenty-thousandth army (BD Grekov is inclined to this estimate), and he left the conquered Bulgaria.
Historians have discrepancies regarding the number of Svyatoslav's troops. Byzantine historian Leo the Deacon names 60 thousand. In The Tale of Bygone Years, the chronicler names 10 thousand soldiers, specifying that in negotiations with the Byzantines Svyatoslav added as many more soldiers to overstate the amount of compensation for the cessation of hostilities and the withdrawal from Bulgaria. This was emphasized by M.N. Tikhomirov. More soldiers required a larger amount of compensation.
On the way back, on the Dnieper rapids, the remnants of the exhausted squad were destroyed by the Pechenegs, and Svyatoslav himself, in his prime, suffered perhaps the most tragic fate of all Russian princes. From the skull of the great Slavic leader, a bowl was made for the Pechenezh Khan Kuri. Allegedly, Kurya ordered to make an inscription on the bowl: "He who seeks someone else's, he will lose his own." This could hardly be, the Pechenegs did without writing.
It is not entirely clear why, upon returning to Kiev, Svyatoslav's army was divided. Part of it, led by the voivode Sveneld, arrived safely in Kiev, and Svyatoslav himself was forced to spend the winter on the way, having neither equipment nor provisions.
For example, B.A. Rybakov, that such a development of events does not exclude direct betrayal on the part of Sveneld. In the text of The Tale of Bygone Years, however, there is no hint of this. It says that Sveneld proposed to bypass the Dnieper rapids and arrive in Kiev by land on horseback. Svyatoslav did not listen to him and continued to move on the boats, up the Dnieper. The movement through the rapids was closed by the Pechenegs, the forced hungry wintering further weakened the strength of the Russian detachment, which led to its defeat and the death of the Slavic prince.
It can be assumed, knowing the knightly character of Svyatoslav, that the reason for the refusal to disembark and move to Kiev on horseback was that there were simply few horses. Indeed, the main strength of the Russians? these are infantrymen, and the cavalry detachment was small from the very beginning. Heavy fighting with the Byzantines and the difficulty of the return journey further reduced the number of horses. Svyatoslav could have saved himself and his closest associates, but the rest would have been doomed, left without him in the Pechenezh steppe. The prince did not want to abandon his soldiers on the way home, who made a campaign with him to Bulgaria. Recalling another historical era and other events, one can notice that when the French army retreated from Russia in 1812, Napoleon only cared about his own salvation. Almost all of his army, once called the Great, remained forever in the Russian expanses, and he himself rushed off on a winter December evening on a sleigh to Paris, observing, as E.V. Tarle, "the strictest incognito, understanding the danger of these critical days." Svyatoslav, not so sophisticated in assessing priorities, apparently considered it more important to save his squad.
L.N. Gumilyov did not rule out that it was not the Byzantines or Bulgarians who took care of the interception of Svyatoslav by the Pechenegs, but influential members of the Christian community of Kiev, who feared the return of the pagan prince.
The fact is that one of the reasons for his defeat in the war with the Byzantines in Bulgaria Svyatoslav considered the anger of the pagan gods due to the presence of Christians in his army. Torture and execution of Christians began in Dorostol. Christians "rejoice at the torment of the idyakh, renounce the faith of Christ and do not want to worship idols." It is possible that the prince's tolerance for the Kievan Christians in Kiev would have ceased. Perhaps, the destruction of Kiev churches has already begun, B.A. Rybakov.
It is no less likely that the Pechenegs themselves were looking for an opportunity to settle accounts with the prince, whose name alone terrified them. A bowl made from his skull was intended for the Pechenezh Khan and his wife to drink from it. Then they would have, as they believed, born children, equal to Svyatoslav in courage and military talent.
Svyatoslav? one of the few Russian princes whose appearance we can get a clear idea of. The Greek historian left a description of the meeting in Bulgaria of the Byzantine emperor Tzimiskes with Svyatoslav. The emperor looked as befits an emperor: gilded armor, astride a handsome horse, a magnificent retinue. Svyatoslav drove up to the shore in a "lodge".
“He looked like this: medium height ... with bushy eyebrows, with blue eyes ... His head was completely naked; but only on one side of it hung a lock of hair, signifying the nobility of the family; the neck is thick, the shoulders are wide and the whole waist is rather slender. He seemed gloomy and stern. In one ear hung a gold earring ... His clothes were white, nothing but cleanliness, not different from others. " He shaved his beard and wore a mustache that was "thick and long." Despite his modest attire next to the brilliant emperor, he talked to him about the terms of the peace treaty, "sitting on a bench in a boat."
Let us recall Gogol's "Taras Bulba" with excellent illustrations by E.A. Kibrik and a painting by I.E. Repin "The Cossacks write a letter to the Turkish Sultan." In the Kiev region, the traditions of men's fashion turned out to be conservative. Courageous warriors after 600 years? Zaporozhye Cossacks? continued to shave their beards, keeping a long, downward mustache; shaved their heads, leaving a forelock on the crown? donkey. This settler gave them the nickname "Ukrainians". Did the spread of Christianity bring with it new trends in appearance among the upper strata of the Russians? modeled on the Byzantines and their priests.
What was the prehistory of the Bulgarian campaigns of Svyatoslav?
Bulgaria posed a real threat to Byzantium, in contrast to Rus. The Byzantines were also irritated by the raids of the Hungarians, whose passage through their territory was freely provided by the Bulgarians. This is stated in the works of A.N. Sakharov.
The emergence of Bulgaria as a unified state is attributed to 679 (or, according to other sources, to 681) after the resettlement of a part of the Turkic tribe of Bulgarians from the Azov region to the Balkan Peninsula under the leadership of Khan Asparukh, who headed the united local Slavic and resettled Turkic tribes. The aborigines were subordinated to the newcomers, who gave their name to the formed union.
The Bulgarian Tsar Simeon Borisovich (reigned 893-927), who, incidentally, was educated at the Constantinople court along with the sons of Emperor Michael, proved to be an outstanding statesman, a talented commander and patriot of his homeland. After the death of his father, he left the monastic order, which he had taken at the insistence of the Greeks, and fled home. The hopes of Greek politicians for the inclusion of Bulgaria into the Byzantine Empire were not destined to come true. Moreover, Tsar Simeon managed to take away from the Byzantines almost all of their possessions in the Balkans: the very capital of the empire, Constantinople, was surrounded on all sides by lands that came under the rule of Bulgaria. There were several failed attempts to capture the capital of the empire. From the north, the Hungarians allied with the Byzantines acted against Simeon.
We see that the relationship between the Byzantines, Hungarians and Bulgarians has undergone changes. If earlier the Bulgarians let the Hungarians through for predatory raids to the borders of Byzantium, then later the Hungarians began to help the Byzantines to cope with the Bulgarians.
In 919 Simeon accepted the title of "Tsar and autocrat of all Bulgarians and Greeks", married his heir Peter to a Byzantine princess. The Byzantine Empire was forced to reckon with the former pupil of the imperial family. At the palace receptions, the Bulgarian ambassadors occupied the first place, they were treated with greater respect than even the ambassadors of the Holy Roman Empire.
The Greek courtiers remembered allied treaties with Russia. The Byzantine Kalokir went to Svyatoslav to persuade him to go to war with Bulgaria. One and a half thousand pounds of gold (more than half a ton!) Was offered as payment for military aid. The calculation of the cunning Greeks was, apparently, on the fact that the Russians and the Bulgarians would weaken each other, and Byzantium would be able to restore its former position.
In the end, it turned out that way. This manifested the power of Constantinople diplomacy and the ability to draw up and implement far-reaching plans, honed to perfection over the centuries of the Byzantine Empire. Although everything did not go very smoothly and not very quickly. For the Byzantine courtiers, there were more than once very acute moments when, it seemed, their plans were not destined to come true.
Kalokir's mission requires clarification. He was the chief magistrate of the Crimean city of Chersonesos (according to information given by A.N.Sakharov, he was the son of the Chersonesos stratigus), belonging to Byzantium. Most of Crimea had previously recognized its vassalage from Svyatoslav. Kalokir was interested in expanding his influence in Crimea. In addition, the Byzantine historian wrote very remarkable words: "When hiring Svyatoslav against the Bulgarians, he [Kalokir] had to confidentially hint to the Russian prince that his campaign in the Balkans should not be limited to Bulgaria alone." Historians, including G.V. Vernadsky, admit that the ambassador hoped to overthrow the Emperor Nicephorus with Russian help and seize the throne for himself.
At the same time, not all historians are inclined to trust Svyatoslav's message about the incentives for the Balkan campaign. In any case, Svyatoslav subsequently clearly showed that he had his own goals and plans, and his behavior did not fit into the image of a Byzantine mercenary. The Emperor of Constantinople wanted to remove Svyatoslav from Crimea and punish Bulgaria, while the Kiev prince saw an opportunity to expand his possessions and even move the capital of his state to a new place.
The successor of Simeon Borisovich, the Bulgarian Tsar Peter, was much inferior to him in his abilities. Svyatoslav was in his prime of strength and military talent. The Byzantines, probably not without bewilderment, watched as in 968-969. the Russian army quickly defeated the Bulgarians. As a result, 80 cities were captured (the number, however, raises doubts in A.N.Sakharov), and the victorious Svyatoslav decided to found a new capital in the south of the Danube, in the city of Pereyaslavets, instead of Kiev. He explained his decision in a logical and simple way: in this place “... all good things converge: from the Greek gold, pavoloka [expensive fabrics], wines and vegetables of different faces, from Czech, from the Eel [from Hungary] silver and komoni [horses] , from Russia, soon [furs], honey and servants [captives for the slave trade; another version of V.N. Tatishchev? army]".
Instead of two weakened neighbors under the walls of Constantinople, there was a strong Russian army led by Svyatoslav, who was not even going to leave anywhere.
The Byzantine emperor Nicephorus II Phoca tried to reconcile with the "co-religionists [Bulgarians]". The Christian Bulgarians allowed the pagan Slavic prince to come dangerously close to the capital of the empire.
The Byzantines were partially helped by the Pechenegs, who approached Kiev in 968. The coincidence in the time of their raid with the successful actions of Svyatoslav in Bulgaria makes it plausible to assume that the Pechenegs were hired either by the Byzantines or the Bulgarians.
The Tale of Bygone Years calls this the first appearance of the Pechenegs in Russia, but earlier in the chronicle it was already said about the resolution of the conflict with the Pechenegs by Igor in 915: “The first came to the Rus land.” Svyatoslav had to leave Bulgaria and move in a hurry to Kiev, where his mother remained. Svyatoslav did not come to a clash with the Pechenegs, the Pechenegs were driven off by the advance detachment of Voivode Pretich. Peace was concluded, the Pechenezh Khan exchanged weapons with Pretich and left for the steppe. The Pechenegs did not represent a serious problem for such a commander like Svyatoslav. The chronicler reports in just one phrase how Svyatoslav resolved this issue: "Get together howl and drive the pechenzi to poly, and peace be fast."
After that, he completed the defeat of Khazaria. Of the Great Khazar Empire, wrote G.V. Vernadsky, the end has come. Tmutarakan became Russian.
Information about Svyatoslav in foreign chronicles is much more detailed than in Russian chronicles. A contemporary of the Russian prince, an Arab geographer, to whom B.D. Grekov, wrote: “Now there is no trace left either from the Bulgar, or from the Burtases, or from the Khazars, because Russia destroyed everyone, took away from them and annexed their land to itself, and those who escaped ... fled to the surrounding places in the hope to come to an agreement with Russia and become under her rule. "
The people of Kiev reproached Svyatoslav: "You, prince, are looking for a foreign land, but you have forgotten about yours ... Do not you feel sorry for your fatherland, an elderly mother, children." Soon Princess Olga died. Having buried his mother according to the Christian rite, Svyatoslav returned to Bulgaria again in 969.
Before returning to Bulgaria, Svyatoslav divided state power between his sons. This was the first experience of the formation of appanages, which later, as some historians believe, led to the death of the centralized state. The eldest son Yaropolk remained in Kiev, in the land of the Drevlyans? Oleg, in Novgorod? Vladimir, known as the future Baptist of Rus. Other historians believe that Svyatoslav by this act, on the contrary, consolidated power over the Russian lands for his family, for the Rurik dynasty.
Svyatoslav, and after him other rulers of Russia, considered the country as their possession, with which one could act at their discretion. It was not the rulers who served the country, but the country, together with its people, was used as a source of well-being for the rulers.
This attitude to the country as to their property is characteristic not only of the rulers of Russia. Boleslav Krivousty (ruled in 1102-1138) also ordered Poland. Before his death, he divided the country into four equal parts. The result is logical: the internecine wars of the brothers began, in which both the German king and the Russian princes intervened with great pleasure. King Louis X of France in the middle of the XIII century signed a treaty with the English king Henry III. As a sign of his favor, he gave England some lands of France. When the advisers began to explain to the king that this should not have been done, he, according to Joinville, said: “There is a good reason to give him [the English king] land. After all, we are married to sisters and our children are cousins; therefore it befits peace between us. " The king of England also generously distributed the estates of England to the French noble knights who had arrived with his wife.
The new Byzantine emperor John Tzimiskes, who in conspiracy with the Empress Theophano killed Nikifor Foku, who ruled earlier, continued the previous policy towards the Slavs in Bulgaria. He invited Svyatoslav to conclude a peace agreement. Svyatoslav rejected proposals for a peace treaty that were unfavorable for Russia.
Tzimiskes turned to military threats. He reminded Svyatoslav "of the pitiful fate" of his father Igor, who was executed by the Drevlyans. In response, Svyatoslav's army approached Constantinople. The threat of seizing the capital of the empire became more than real.
Military operations began. The actions of the Byzantine army under the command of the commander Barda Sklira were complicated by the revolt of Barda Phocas in Asia Minor. Only after the defeat of the rebels in 972, the military successes of Tzimiskes allowed him to resume negotiations. He suggested that the Russians "immediately and without any reservations come out of the land that did not belong to them at all." In conclusion, the emperor said to Svyatoslav: "I do not think that you could return to your homeland if you force the entire Roman army to oppose you." Svyatoslav responded by saying that Bulgaria was conquered by him? this is "our land", and he compared the emperor's threats to "how babies are frightened with various stuffed animals."
The decisive battle took place on July 26, 971 (other authors indicate June 21, as well as July 20) at the city of Dorostol, where the Russian army was besieged. B.A. Rybakov gives a description by a Byzantine historian of one of the episodes of the siege: “When night fell on the earth and the full circle of the moon shone, the Scythians [Russians] went out onto the plain and picked up their dead. They piled them up in front of the wall, made frequent fires and burned them, while stabbing many captive men and women, according to the custom of their ancestors. It is cruel to sacrifice captives to pagan gods. But Vasily II, the emperor of Christian Byzantium, subsequently acted no less cruelly, ordering to blind 15 thousand captive Bulgarians.
The Russian chronicle preserved the prince's appeal to his army before the battle. His words remained forever in Russian military history: “Let us not shame the Russian lands, but let us lie down with our bones; the dead are not for shame an imam, if we run away, shame imam; do not flee to the imam, but let us stand strong. I will go before you. If my head falls, then provide for yourself "( “We will not shame Russia, it is better to perish, for the dead are not ashamed. Let us not be saved by shameful flight, but let us stand firm. I will be ahead of you. If I die, then decide for yourself what to do. ").
The Byzantine historian quoted by B.D. Greeks, this speech full of stern dignity is conveyed in the following words (let's not forget that this was written by a representative of a hostile country): “Glory, the companion of the Russian weapon, who easily defeated neighboring peoples and conquered entire countries without shedding blood, will die, if we now shamefully give in to the Romans. So, with the courage of our ancestors and with the idea that Russian strength has been invincible until now, let us fight bravely for our life. We do not have a custom to flee to the fatherland, but either live victorious, or, having accomplished famous feats, die with glory. "
We will probably never know if Captain Rudnev remembered from the gymnasium the words of the Russian prince, spoken more than 900 years ago. Maybe he was not the most exemplary high school student and even skipped history lessons. But, having received the Japanese ultimatum, on January 26, 1904, the captain of the Varyag addressed the team with the following words: “Of course, we are going for a breakthrough and will engage in battle with the squadron, no matter how strong it is. Can't there be any questions about the surrender? we will not surrender the cruiser and ourselves, and will fight to the last opportunity and to the last drop of blood. Perform each of your duties accurately, calmly, and slowly. Especially the gunners, remembering that every shot must harm the enemy. " The cruiser and the gunboat who was with him raised their battle flags and entered the battle. The enemy could neither flood nor capture the Russian ships. Due to the damage received in the battle, it was not possible to continue the battle. The Russian ships were scuttled, and the crew returned to Russia through neutral ports. The Japanese emperor, in recognition of the heroism of the Russian sailors, sent V.F. Rudnev Order of the Rising Sun. Under the impression of this feat, the Austrian poet Rudolf Greinz wrote a poem that is now known to everyone in our country. His translation by E.M. Studenskaya from German into Russian? this is the lyrics of the song. Here are her first lines:
Upstairs you, comrades, all in their places,
The last parade is coming.
Our proud "Varyag" does not surrender to the enemy,
Nobody wants mercy!
We can recall one more example from the Russian-Turkish war, when, having met four times superior enemy forces, General P.A. Rumyantsev announced to the troops: "Our glory and dignity cannot be tolerated in order to endure the presence of an enemy standing in our sight, without stepping on him!" The battle, which ended in the defeat of the 80,000-strong Turkish army, took place on July 7, 1770. So, different circumstances, different times? and the fighting spirit of the Russian soldiers has not changed over the past centuries.
In the battle with Svyatoslav, the Byzantine army won. Before the decisive battle, the Russians had only a third of the original number of soldiers, of which only half were capable of fighting because of the wounds received. Nevertheless, there was no surrender. Svyatoslav left with an armed army, the Byzantines supplied him with food and freely released him from Bulgaria. Under the treaty, Svyatoslav undertook not to attack any more on Byzantium and to provide it with military assistance.
Perhaps one of the reasons for Svyatoslav's defeat was his cruelty to the Bulgarians, some of whom were pro-Byzantine. At the first stage of the Balkan campaign, Svyatoslav fought with the Bulgarian troops, fulfilling the agreement concluded with the mediation of Kalokir. When relations with the Byzantines became hostile, the Bulgarians became his allies in military operations against the Greeks. This is how the second stage developed. The Bulgarian Tsar Boris (who ascended the throne after the death of his father, Tsar Peter) was not deprived by Svyatoslav of his royal title, that is, he was considered by him not as a prisoner, but as an ally in the struggle against the Greeks. Bulgarians and Russians jointly defended the Bulgarian capital Preslav from the Byzantines. At the third stage, Tzimiskes proclaimed the goal of his campaign to liberate Bulgaria from the rule of the "Scythians". Svyatoslav, "seeing that the Misians [Bulgarians] are lagging behind his union," ordered the execution of 300 pro-Byzantine noble Bulgarian nobles. Has the hasty and thoughtless repression likely prompted the Bulgarians to join their recent opponents? Byzantines, despite the fact that those, as shown in his studies by A.N. Sakharov, in search of profit, did not even disdain to rob the Bulgarian churches.
The Russian chronicler biasedly describes the military campaign of the Kiev prince. He is not talking about defeat. On the contrary, according to him, the Greeks, as before, under Oleg and Igor, paid a large tribute, and only after that Svyatoslav withdrew his army. But the reality is that all of Svyatoslav's conquests in Bulgaria were lost.
This example of the chronicler's biased attitude to the description of events does not allow one to fully believe in a rich ransom. The scene of the test of Svyatoslav by the gifts of the Byzantines is also legendary. First, the emperor sent the Russian prince gold and expensive fabrics (pavoloks). The knight-prince indifferently told his entourage to remove these gifts. The second time the emperor sent a weapon, ordering his messenger: "Watch his appearance, face and thoughts." The visual-psychological test of the Byzantines did not please. The warrior, who was compared to a leopard, immediately changed upon seeing a sword and other equipment. He took it in his hands and began to examine it. It was then that the supposedly Greek emperor decided to pay tribute to Svyatoslav and stop hostilities with him.
In the winter of 973, the weakened squad of Svyatoslav was destroyed on the way home on the Dnieper rapids by the Pechenegs.
Eastern Bulgaria with the former capital of Tsar Simeon Preslav was annexed by Tzimiskes to Byzantium. Western Bulgaria was conquered by Emperor Vasily II by 1018.
Bulgaria, which experienced its short-lived prosperity, starting with Khan Krum (ruled from 802 to 815) and up to Tsar Simeon, remained under the rule of Byzantium until the end of the XII century. Having become independent from Byzantium in 1187, Bulgaria experienced its second heyday, quickly replaced by a period of decline and feudal fragmentation. Continuous invasions of Tatars, Polovtsians, Byzantines, peasant uprisings exhausted the country. After a little over 200 years, Bulgaria again lost its statehood, having fallen from 1396 under the 600-year rule of the Ottoman Turks.
It is widely believed about Svyatoslav among some historians that this warlike prince neglected the state interests of Russia, spending his time in predatory campaigns on neighboring lands, gradually turning "Kiev into a base for robber raids" (in the words of LN Gumilyov). This point of view, which ignores the domestic and foreign policy role of Svyatoslav, has, unfortunately, a rather long history.
It is difficult to agree with this, and the reason for the disagreement is not only in the knightly attractiveness of the Slavic leopard, whom even the historian of hostile Byzantium characterized as "hot, bold, impetuous and active."
There is also another assumption regarding the motives behind Svyatoslav's campaigns. If we proceed from the fact that Olga was the actual ruler until her death, then Svyatoslav, with his campaigns, created the principality "for himself." Indirect confirmation of this point of view E.V. Pchelov believes that he allocated the inheritance to his sons only after Olga's death.
If we turn to the facts, we can see that Svyatoslav's actions were aimed at protecting state interests. His campaigns differ sharply in their goals and results from Igor's Caspian campaigns. However, Svyatoslav's father, having captured the city of Berdaa, tried, according to A.N. Sakharov, to include him in the number of subordinate territories, and not just limit himself to robbery in order to get away with war booty.
The defeat of Khazaria as a result of the military victory of Svyatoslav eliminated the long-term dependence of the Slavic tribes on the Khazar-Jews and provided the Russians with access to the Azov and Black Seas. Later, a rich Russian Tmutarakan principality arose there, which became part of Kievan Rus.
The conquest of Bulgaria and the subsequent war with Byzantium? this is not a predatory raid, but the acquisition of fertile lands, gaining control over almost the entire northern coast of the Black Sea, the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits, and access to the Aegean and Mediterranean seas. You can even say that Svyatoslav came close to creating a huge Russian empire from the mouth of the Danube to the mouth of the Volga, from the Black and Mediterranean seas to the Baltic.
This means that practically all world trade between northern European countries and southern eastern peoples, as well as most of the trade between Europe and Asia, including Central and Southeast Asia, China, India, would be in the hands of the ruler of this country. It is simply surprising to read that some historians imagine Svyatoslav as a dim-witted swordsman, who would just go on a campaign in order to fight with someone. The greatness of the plans of the Kiev prince, who succeeded in all his military ventures, is simply overwhelming. It was no accident that he faced stubborn resistance from the Byzantines, who were able to squeeze him out of Bulgaria only by exerting all their strength. The Byzantine emperor himself commanded troops against the Russian expeditionary army.
From antiquity to the present, sea trade routes have been the most efficient. Kindred Slavic tribes lived in the Balkans, who would hardly have actively resisted joining Russia, especially having survived the oppression of Byzantium. Svyatoslav did not touch the treasures of the Bulgarian kings. Later, after the capture of Preslav, they were captured and sent to Constantinople by Tzimiskes. Christian churches in Bulgarian cities, as Byzantine historians note, were robbed not by Svyatoslav, but by Greek troops. It is difficult to disagree with the opinion of historians that the Bulgarians traditionally hated Byzantium. And this was justified, as subsequent events showed. After the departure of the Russian troops, Preslav and Dorostol received the Greek names Ioannopol and Theodoropolis, Greek garrisons were deployed in large Bulgarian cities, Tsar Boris, along with his brother Peter, was sent to Constantinople, where he was deprived of the symbols of royal power, and the crown of the Bulgarian kings was transferred to Constantinople. temple of St. Sophia. Bulgaria ceased to exist as an independent state.
Svyatoslav's project to transfer the capital from Kiev to the Danube town of Pereyaslavets? this is not a gamble at all. He quite convincingly justified the choice of this place for the benefits of international trade, since the European-Asian trade routes began to move here. This is what Oleg did earlier, making Kiev “the mother of Russian cities,” and so did Peter the Great in later history.
However, as the development of events showed, Svyatoslav overestimated his strength, entering into a struggle with Byzantium. His plans were not destined to come true? neither with him, nor at a later time.
There is no doubt that the war did not lead to the defeat of the Russian army, it left Bulgaria with arms, having received food and ransom from the Byzantines. Svyatoslav, having concluded an armistice, intended to return, gathering reinforcements.
But he did not succeed. Why?
The death of Svyatoslav at the hands of the Pechenegs during his return from Bulgaria to Kiev requires more careful consideration.
Let us remember how easily Svyatoslav's father Igor made peace with the Pechenegs in 915. In 944, they participated with Igor in a campaign against the Greeks, one of Igor's few enterprises that brought him success. After Igor's death, Olga lived in peace with the Pechenegs. In his numerous battles, Svyatoslav also never fought with the Pechenegs, although he made successful campaigns against the Khazars, Yases, Kasogs, Vyatichi. It can be assumed that Svyatoslav had allied relations with the Pechenegs and he did not see them as a threat to his land.
Let's remember the tragic moment of Svyatoslav's death. Sveneld warns the prince that the Pechenegs are at the Dnieper rapids, and invites the prince to bypass them. Svyatoslav fearlessly ascends to the rapids on boats. Can we assume that the professional commander Svyatoslav was able to underestimate the military danger? Apparently, he did not consider the meeting with the Pechenegs dangerous for himself. The Pechenegs, however, do not let him pass (as the chronicle writes), and he arranges for the winter in Beloberezhye. But hostilities did not start. Therefore, there is no reason to believe that Svyatoslav spent the winter near the Dnieper only because of the Pechenegs. There could be other reasons for this, which we will discuss below. Noteworthy is the remark of S.M. Solovyov that Svyatoslav "came as a fugitive to his native land", in which he had already set his sons to rule.
The chronicler writes that, fleeing hunger, Russian soldiers paid half a ruble for a horse's head. Who did they buy horses from? Trade could only go with the same Pechenegs. They also supplied the Russian camp with horse meat. This is typical not for irreconcilable enemies, but for the relationship of allies, each of which has its own interests, including trade and money. And only in the spring something happened that led to the attack of the Pechenegs on the camp. The attack was treacherous, no doubt about it. It led to the death of Svyatoslav and to the confirmation of Yaropolk on the Kiev throne. But the Pechenegs could not dare to attack Svyatoslav for several months.
What gave them their determination?
It is generally accepted that the Byzantines (or Bulgarians) bribed the Pechenegs, and they first blocked Svyatoslav with his army in front of the Dnieper rapids, not allowing him to reach Kiev, and then defeated the Russian soldiers and killed the Kiev prince. But this version, set forth in The Tale of Bygone Years, seems unlikely.
Imagine how the Greek (or Bulgarian) embassy goes to the Pechenegs in the Dnieper steppes, following Svyatoslav. What are the tasks facing the embassy? Firstly, it is necessary to secretly get to the Pechenezh prince in an unfamiliar territory of a foreign country. Let's not forget that Svyatoslav? an experienced military leader and he probably had a high-level patrol service and intelligence. It seems that any ambassadors who wandered the steppe in search of the Pechenegs would very quickly be caught by one of the mobile detachments and would testify to Svyatoslav himself about the purpose of their wanderings. Secondly, these ambassadors had to find the leader of the nomads in the endless steppe. Thirdly, they had to manage not to be robbed by any of the steppe inhabitants who first noticed them, but to be able to present their gifts to the one who could fulfill their request. Fourthly, they should have received, after the presentation of the gifts, guarantees of the fulfillment of the "order."
And now let's imagine that there was still a "order" for the murder of Svyatoslav, but on the other hand, from Kiev. All of the above questions are immediately removed. Anyone who wanted to eliminate Svyatoslav by the hands of the nomads knew who to turn to, since there were contacts with the leaders of the nomads, and with some of them the Russian governors even fraternized and exchanged weapons. There were no problems with payments for the completed "order". Who was the "customer"? We must see who lost the most if Svyatoslav returned to Kiev.
The logic of reasoning indicates only one person who lost a lot in this situation. This is the son of a Russian leopard, twenty-year-old Yaropolk. Has he been for two years now? Kiev prince. He is the eldest of the brothers, which means that both Oleg and Vladimir are in the position of his vassals. But if his father returns to Kiev, he must give up his throne, as if he were a boy who was allowed to play for a while, and then sent to sleep in the nursery.
It is unclear whether Svyatoslav was going to return to Kiev. Most likely no. Firstly, it is hard to believe that the hero of the Bulgarian campaign, whom even the Byzantine emperor and his entire army could not force to surrender, were able to block the Pechenegs, who had recently fled at the sound of his name. Voivode Sveneld went to Kiev. Secondly, it was psychologically difficult for the renowned commander to appear in his hometown not as a triumphant who won another victory, but as having lost in battles even to such a colossus as the Byzantine Empire. Thirdly, the noble knight was not going to limit the rights of his eldest son. He wanted one? collect additional forces sufficient to defeat Byzantium. For this he sent Sveneld to Kiev, having spent the winter at the Dnieper rapids.
And then, as can be assumed, the unexpected happened, something that the brave warrior Svyatoslav could not foresee. Yaropolk explained to Sveneld that it would be better for him to stay in Kiev instead of a dangerous trip to Bulgaria. More honor, more material well-being and absolutely safe, since others will eliminate the restless warrior. It is possible that it was the other way around. Sveneld explained to the young to the Kiev princethat you can keep your throne for a very small price. Be that as it may, it is possible that the old voivode betrayed Svyatoslav, with whom he had been on campaigns since the time when he was three years old. Svyatoslav was betrayed by his son, who owed him everything: his birth, his beautiful wife and the Kiev throne. If we accept this version, then the two traitors understood each other and the old man Sveneld became the closest person to Yaropolk.
For several months they had to persuade the Pechenegs to kill Svyatoslav. Those could not decide. It was clear to them that Svyatoslav could not be victorious in an open battle. It was also clear that in case of failure, the retribution would be cruel and there would be no mercy from the Russian leopard. Only after receiving rich gifts and thinking over some very cunning and cunning plan, the Pechenegs plucked up courage and in the spring they were able to kill the prince. Maybe it was the despair of the doomed. Yaropolk and Sveneld could no longer play for time. Svyatoslav could move to Kiev himself, without waiting for troops and food from Sveneld and Yaropolk. They understood that, having come to Kiev, the formidable commander could find out the reasons for the slowness of those whom he trusted most. Surely there were many veterans of the princely campaigns who would open his eyes to the strange behavior of his son and the governor. Svyatoslav was chivalrously noble, but this does not mean that he can be considered a naive simpleton. Without a doubt, he could quickly figure out the situation.
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Advance notice.
A precious fragment of the Byzantine descriptions of Leo Deacon of Kaloensky, from AD 959 to 975. is still in handwritten in the Paris Public Library. G. Gaza, serving with it, and dealing with the description of the manuscripts in this Library, intended to publish the History written by Leo the Deacon and, correcting the text, was preparing to start publishing it with a Latin translation, but unfortunately, other activities distracted him from this useful for Russian Stories of intention. (His Excellency the State Chancellor, Count Nikolai Petrovich Rumyantsov, zealously zealous for the successes of our national history, subscribes from Paris, at his own expense, an exact copy of this manuscript in order to publish it here with a correct Russian translation. The answer from Paris has not yet been received.)
That is why G. Gazet is now content with publishing only a short piece of news about the composition of Leo the Deacon, with the appendix to it of the VI book of his History (Soon this book will be printed in Greek with literal translations, Latin and Russian, and some notes. for the necessary, we read briefly to explain that Leo the Deacon was a contemporary of V.K.Svyatoslav Igorevich; for in 960 he considered himself an adult already a young man, as he himself says, and in 981, being already a Deacon, he was in the camp of Emperor Vasily II during the time of his campaign against the Bulgarians.According to the details of the description that he left us about the appearance of our Great Duke Svyatoslav Igorevich, it should be concluded that he wrote all these things according to the words of the eyewitness who was with the Emperor John of Tzimiskes when this one on his horse rode up to that place , at which the meeting of these two Sovereigns was agreed, and to whom Svyatoslav Igorevich sailed across the Danube, as Leo the Deacon says, on the back of sheet 315 e th manuscript. Hase, Notice de Histoire, composee par Leon Diacre, page 16, remarque 16.). From this news, written for the curious, attached herewith in Greek, the image or portrait of the Grand Duke Svyatoslav Igorevich with a literal, so to speak, translation thereof into Russian and with some notes to that.
Transfer:
“Svyatoslav walked (1) on a certain Scythian small ship (a) and, crossing the river, worked with an oar (2) on a par with the others, rowing with us (b); he looked: medium height, not taller than usual and not too small; the eyebrows had thick, blue eyes, the nose was flat, (3) the beard was bare; (4) thick strands of stripes hung along the upper lip; (c) and on his head, albeit almost naked, only a crest fluttered, (d) signifying his noble origin. He had a thick neck, a wide chest, and his whole body and limbs were excellent; his look was gloomy and wild; in my ears (5) hung a gold earring, decorated with two pearls, between mine was inserted a wormy yacht; (6) the clothes on him are white, they were no different from others, except for its purity (e).
Historical Notes.
(a.) Ἐπί τινος Σκυϑικᾶ ακατια. - On a certain Scythian boat. - Not on the Little Russian boat, which are now called oaks? These river vessels (used by the Zaporozhians on the coast of the sea, following the example of the ancient Russians) were hollowed out from one oak ridge, from which the oak and oaks got their name. (Nowadays, these ships are mostly made of thick linden ridges (hopefully for the lack of oak trees), which does not prevent, however, from calling them oaks, according to the ancient custom.) They lift up to 40 and up to 50 people.
In the Nestorov Chronicle, the ships on which the Russians went to fight in Tsar-grad have different names, namely: the ship, (κάραβος, κάραβιον, This Greek speech at the beginning served solely to the name of a sea tailless crayfish, in French Crabe; - when the Greek language began to fall in Byzantium, then κάραβος, κάραβιον already meant what we in distant times was called the Ship.Now the question will arise which of these two peoples, that is, of the Greeks and Russians, this utterance from another borrowed its own language appropriated?) Lodya, Skedia or Scheedia, from the Greek Σχεδιά, that is, a vessel, hastily, hastily made, what name could be more appropriate for a boat from one ridge hollowed out? Nestor says that these courts were raised by 40 people.
(b.) Σὺν τοῖς ἑτέρις ἐρεπῖῶν. It should be noted here that there is anyone who thought it strange to see the Grand Duke Svyatoslav Igorevich himself working with an oar, along with others, then you just need to remember the Words of St. Nestor about the properties, habits and courage of this ancient Russian knight:, Prince Svyatoslav (says Nestor) came to age and matured, began to copulate "many troops and brave", and walked lightly, like a parde (a kind of tiger), many waged wars; and on campaigns he did not have a convoy with him, nor a boiler; I didn’t cook any meat, but after thinly slicing up horse meat or animal, or beef, baked it on coals, and ate it; he did not have a tent, but he made a lining (probably a saddle cloth) under him (instead of a bed) and put a saddle in his heads (instead of a pillow); such were his other soldiers ”- (Nestor. Koenigs. years.; volume 6472/964.
After reading these words of Nestor, there is nothing to be surprised at that Svyatoslav, crossing the river, rowed along with the others. According to this short description about the beginning of the Principality and about the properties of V.K. Svyatoslav, one can foresee in him that fearless warrior who will once exclaim to his faithful squad, with these memorable words: “We will not disgrace the Russian land, but we will lie down here with bones. The dead have no shame. If we win, we will cover ourselves with shame, and so we will fight hard, and I will go before you. - If I lay down my head, then you already think about yourself. To these delightful words, the faithful and brave Russian army answered him: "Where your head lies, here we will put our own heads." (Nestor. Koenigs. Years, under the summer of 971).
This is the way of thinking of our ancestors in the 10th century! - Here is their determination against a large army in a foreign land, within the proud and still strong Byzantium! (This determination and this courage are examples in the deeds of our other fellow tribesmen! - When even before Svyatoslav Kahan of Abarskaya (the people known in our annals under the name of Obrov) sent to the Southern Slavs to demand tribute from them, they answered him: “As long as there will be swords - we will not be tributaries to anyone; we are accustomed to taking foreign lands: we will not let anyone else suck our land. "- Memorie popalorum - or extracts from the Byzantine Writers of G. Stritter.") - Who can doubt that even now the brave descendants of Svyatoslav's army do not exclaim like their ancestors: let us die or win! And with this word, they courageously did not lay down their heads for the glory of the Fatherland and in love for their Tsar! - This was written back in 1811. My prophecy came true on the glorious Kulm rabbi in 1813!
(c.) The original says; that from the upper lip hung along the thick strands of hair. - Just say: thick, long mustache. - In Greek Μάςαξ or Μυςαξ. Mustache. Here, however, the word Μυςαξ is not used, and it seems that it is not without reason, for it means just an ordinary mustache. It is immediately said in the length of the hanging strand of hair; It is hopeful that these mustaches, descending from the upper lip on both sides of the mouth, continued down the beard and already made up long thick strands of hair, as some Little Russians, Poles and other Slavic tribes still wear.
(d) Βόςρυχος, Cincinnicus. - Strand of hair. - Cirrus - crest. According to this description, it is clear that Svyatoslav in 971 A.D. walked in the same hair cleaning, and also shaved his beard, leaving only a mustache, like our old Little Russians still walk, and that the word Βόςρυχος can be safely translated into Russian with a technical Little Russian saying: forelock, or to express it with another Little Russian word, namely Osellets, that is, a long and thin strand of hair left in the middle of the forelock itself, which the Zaporozhians still wear, wrapping it around one ear ...
(d.) Εσϑὴς τέτω. His clothes are white and so on. By imagination, we can conclude that Svyatoslav, crossing the river and exercising. in hard work (for he rowed, as the descriptor says, on a par with the others) he sat in the same shirt; that's why it is said that the white clothes on him did not differ from others in anything, except for cleanliness: consequently, the cut of it was the same for everyone. This assumption, and therefore it is likely that those who practice rowing among all peoples usually do this work in a shirt, for this occupation requires freedom in body movements, for a comfortable and powerful paddle, and a light wide dress in order to perform such a tedious work cooler and without extreme fatigue. ...
Grammar Notes.
(1.) The Greek says, ἦκεν ἐπι ... ἀκατίσ the word “ἦκεν is literally translated by the word walk, for this saying is characteristic of our language. and in this exact sense it is used until now: he went on such a ship, he came on a ship. They went by boat ...
(2.) Τῆς κόπη 969; μμέιος. - The last word literally means in Greek: tied. - In a figurative sense, the participle ἡμμέιος, derived from the verb, ἄπτω, ̚0; πτομοα I knit, tie, tie, sometimes taken for capessere - to take, grasp, or tangere - toucher, manier; touch, touch, act with your hands. Here we are talking about rowing, about the action with an oar, therefore, you can use the word: to act or better, to work with an oar (maniant la rame), because tied to the oars, it will be completely incomprehensible, and in its exact sense it is not possible, as everyone who knows action oars.
(3.) Σιμος. - Contrasted with the utterance γρυπός, the first is translated into Latin by the word: simus, qui pressis est naribus. - In French, camus, camard, - who has flattened nostrils. Γρυπός in Latin is translated by the word aquilinus, aduncus, a cursed nose with a hump. Consequently, Σιμος should, in its exact sense, translate with the common people word horny, or snub-nosed, derived from the old, uncommon language of the root, or short, short-nosed, or even more correctly flat-nosed.
(4.) Ἐψιλωμνος τον πωγῶος… τὴν δὲ κεφαλὴν πάνυ ἐψίλωτο. It cannot be said in the affirmative that ἐψιλωμένος and ἐψίλωτο mean shaved, for the ancient peoples shaved the hair on the head and beard, cut it, washed it, removed it with ointment (dépilation, épilation), just as the Turks now derive these with a special compound called Ruzana. For these reasons, instead of shaved, the general word naked is put here, which is used by our people to mean a person with a shaved or close-cropped head or beard. Exposing your beard is the same as shaving.
(5.) The original says; in the ears in plural, meanwhile, as the earring is mentioned in the only one. In other matters, our people say: what kind of earring in your ears, gold or copper.
(6.) Ἄνϑςακος λίϑα - in our translation of Holy Scripture, this stone is called Anphraz, carbunculus. - A gem that looks like a hot coal; in general, it is mistaken for a worm yacht, ruby, rubis. -
A. Olenin.
"Son of the Fatherland", 1814. Part 11, No 2.
Karamzin called Prince Svyatoslav "Russian Macedonian", historian Grushevsky - "Cossack on the throne." Svyatoslav was the first to make an active attempt at an extensive expansion of the lands. Legends are still circulating about his exploits ...
Svyatoslav's reign
After the death of his father, Igor Rurikovich, from the Drevlyans in 945, the three-year-old Svyatoslav formally became a prince, but his mother, Olga, ruled the cities de facto.
According to the Tale of Bygone Years, already at the age of four Svyatoslav had the opportunity to demonstrate his courage: together with her young son Olga went on a campaign against the Drevlyans, and “Svyatoslav threw a spear at them, and the spear flew between the horse's ears and hit the horse in the legs, for it was Svyatoslav still a child. "
Having besieged the Drevlyansky Iskorosten, the cunning Olga did not take revenge for the murder of her husband, and offered the offenders an insignificant tribute, "from each yard, three pigeons and three sparrows." The Drevlyans were delighted with such mercy, not recognizing the military cunning: according to the legendary description of Nestor, the army of Olga and Svyatoslav tied tinder to the birds, the city was in flames, after which it was completely ruined.
In 955, Olga went to Constantinople to be baptized, but returning home, she could not persuade her son to do the same - he was faithful to paganism until the end of his days. “How can I alone accept another faith? And my retinue will scoff. "
Chronicles describe Svyatoslav as a brave warrior who did not shy away from living in the same conditions as ordinary warriors: on campaigns he did not have his own tent, he did not carry with him "neither carts, nor cauldrons", frying the meat of animals caught along the way on the fire ...
Svyatoslav became famous for the fact that he sent a messenger with the laconic phrase "I want to go to you ..." (I go to you) to the foreigners on whom he went on a campaign. In 965, he defeated the Khazar Kaganate, and established himself in the former Khazar territories, including the cities of Belaya Vezha and Tmutarakan.
Hike to the Bulgarians
In 966, a conflict was brewing between the Byzantine Empire and Bulgaria. Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus called the Bulgarians a "godless people" and tried to promote internal political strife in Bulgaria, which by that time was a dangerous rival of Byzantium. In addition, Constantinople paid a shameful tribute to the Bulgarians, and in 966 the ambassadors who came for it were expelled from the city: this was the beginning of the confrontation.
Portrait of Svyatoslav Igorevich from the Tsar's titular book of the 17th century.
A year later, the emperor of Byzantium sent patrician Kalokir with an embassy to Svyatoslav in order to ask for help in crushing the Bulgarian kingdom - and the prince agreed, having received almost 500 kilograms of gold to arm the troops. However, Kalokir had his own, rather ambitious plans - he persuaded Svyatoslav to assist him in seizing the Byzantine throne after the Bulgarian campaign.
In 968 Svyatoslav defeated the Bulgarians and stayed in Pereyaslavets, where, presumably, he wanted to found a new capital of his state, "for there is the middle of my land, all the benefits flow there." After a successful campaign, Svyatoslav had to urgently return to Kiev, which in his absence was besieged by the Pechenegs. However, even the death of his mother due to illness did not delay him there for a long time: having defeated the Pechenegs, the warlike Svyatoslav again organized a campaign against Bulgaria.
War with Byzantium
Svyatoslav again managed to defeat the Bulgarian troops and firmly establish himself in the capital of the Bulgarian kingdom - Pereyaslavets, which seriously bothered the Byzantine power. Having provoked the Russians to a war with Bulgaria, the Byzantine Empire somewhat miscalculated, since now the mighty army of Svyatoslav stood near its borders.
He was asked to leave there, according to a previously concluded agreement, but the prince refused, hoping to use the captured lands for the needs of his state, which had significantly increased in size. The clash of interests ended in a large-scale war between Russia and Byzantium: its results, however, are illuminated in different ways in the ancient chronicles.
The tale of bygone years speaks of the crushing victory of the princely warriors who defeated the Byzantine army, which was ten times greater in number. According to Nestor, the army of Svyatoslav reached almost to Constantinople itself, subsequently collecting an enormous tribute.
But Byzantine historians give a completely different picture: during the battles, the Byzantine warrior Anemas "rushed forward on horseback, rushed to Sfendoslav (Svyatoslav), and hitting him on the collarbone with a sword, threw him head down to the ground, but did not kill him."
After this event, despite all the courage of the Russian troops, Svyatoslav enters into peace negotiations with the emperor of Byzantium, and requires the following conditions: he gives the Byzantines Bulgaria, and in exchange, Byzantium will not pursue his army on the way to Kiev, and in particular, it will not attack "On them along the road with fire-carrying ships" - the famous "Median fire" was meant.
After the conclusion of a peace treaty, Svyatoslav met with Emperor John, and the Byzantine chronicle describes in detail all the details of this historical meeting, including the appearance of the prince: “Sfendoslav also appeared, having sailed along the river on a Scythian boat; he sat on the oars and rowed with his entourage, no different from them.
This is what his appearance was: of moderate height, not too tall and not very short, with shaggy eyebrows and light blue eyes, snub-nosed, beardless, with thick, excessively long hair above the upper lip. His head was completely naked, but on one side a tuft of hair hung down - a sign of the nobility of the family; a strong back of the head, a wide chest and all other parts of the body are quite proportionate, but he looked sullen and wild.
He had a gold earring in one ear; it was adorned with a carbuncle framed by two pearls. His attire was white and differed from the clothes that were close to him only in cleanliness. "
Many historians are of the opinion that such a description is far from reality and was only a stereotypical visual characteristic of the "steppe", as the Byzantines saw the prince of Russ. After the meeting, the sovereigns parted as allies - but it is not known whether their truce was sincere.
Death of Svyatoslav
It is possible that Byzantium still did not leave Svyatoslav alone: \u200b\u200bafter the armistice, John sent messengers to the Pechenegs, a tribe that, according to the Byzantines, "devoured lice, carried dwellings with it and spent most of its life in carts."
Most likely, it was the emperor who ordered the Pechenegs to make an ambush, waiting for the approaching Svyatoslav; anyway, while trying to cross the Dnieper, the Pechenegs attacked the prince and killed him, and then made a cup out of his skull. Svyatoslav died, fighting along with his retinue, as befits a noble commander.
Prince Svyatoslav, with his numerous military companies, has become a real legend for Russian and Ukrainian historians. Karamzin called him the Russian Alexander the Great, and Grushevsky called him the Cossack on the throne. The memory of the great conqueror lives on well in our days: songs are composed in honor of the famous "Coming to You", novels are written about Svyatoslav and coins with his portrait are issued.
Sergey Zotov
Young Svyatoslav's mother allocated her own destiny - Novgorod. Here he grew up, under the guidance of the boyar Asmud, he learned to be a ruler, comprehended military science. From the same young people as the prince, his squad was formed.Stories and exercises are not enough to educate real warriors, but in Novgorod there were opportunities to learn from practice. Together with the Novgorodians, Svyatoslav made expeditions to the Estonians, Finns, and Samoyeds. Subdued the tribes, levied tribute. Probably, the prince also participated in the Varangian sea campaigns. In these enterprises, an unparalleled iron squad was rallied and forged. And the twenty-year-old Svyatoslav himself turned into an experienced and skillful boss. Nestor said that he "walked easily on campaigns, like a sail, and fought a lot." Without carts, tents, boilers. I was content with meat roasted on coals. He slept with his sweat cover on, with a saddle in his head. All his other soldiers were like that. "
Leo the Deacon described the portrait of the prince: “He was of moderate height ... bushy eyebrows, blue eyes, a flat nose, a thin beard, his upper lip was covered with thick and descending hair. The head was completely naked, only a tuft of hair hung on one side - a sign of noble birth. The neck is thick, the shoulders are wide and the whole build is very slender. His gaze was gloomy and stern. In one ear hung a gold earring adorned with two pearls with a ruby \u200b\u200bin the middle. He was wearing white clothes, only different from others in purity ”(ordinary soldiers). As you can see, the “sign of noble birth” among the Russians was the same “oseledets” that the Zaporozhians later sported, and one earring from the Cossacks meant the only son of the mother - which was Svyatoslav.
He did not have the slightest interest in administrative and economic issues, he tried to avoid them. But the Novgorod boyars liked it. The prince does not meddle in their affairs, that's okay, they somehow figure it out themselves. Olga, too, did not insist that her son master these duties more carefully. She prepared Svyatoslav for the main business of her and his life. A fatal blow to Khazaria. Even when the prince grew up, his mother retained a huge influence on him, and there was a kind of separation of their functions. Olga was still in charge of all civil administration, and this allowed Svyatoslav not to be distracted by current affairs, to focus on the military sphere.
The Grand Duchess continued to conduct active diplomacy. In addition to Germany, she entered into an alliance with Hungary and agreed to seal it by marriage, married a Magyar princess to her son. In Russia it was named Predslava. True, the then Hungarians were not at all like the current ones. The Ugric nomads had not yet managed to mingle with the Europeans; they remained short, stocky, with wide faces and narrow eyes. Is it any wonder that Svyatoslav, having married an ally, fell in love with another girl, the servant of his mother Malusha. However, she was not an ordinary slave, but Olga's housekeeper, who managed the farm. Yes, and not a simple family - her brother Dobrynya was not a farmer, not a craftsman, but a professional warrior. Some historians suggest that Malusha's father, the Liubechian Malk, was none other than the Drevlyan prince Mal, whom Olga turned into captivity and settled in Lyubech. It is known that Malk was a very devoted servant of the princess, after her he was baptized, receiving the name Nikita.
The spiritual activity of St. Olga did not leave either. There was no metropolitan in the country, alien priests, Bulgarians and Greeks served, and the empress, willy-nilly, became the head of Russian Christians. Unofficially, but the head of the community is like an island, and around is a pagan sea. Olga could not use her power to influence the pagans. She also did not have missionaries to carry the light of Orthodoxy across Russia. And yet she launched an offensive: an example of mercy and kindness. She helped the poor, the sick, took widows and orphans under the protection. People saw firsthand - that's what it is, Christianity. They looked closely, they themselves reached for him.
Sure, the best way influencing the subjects would be the appeal of Svyatoslav. Olga took the name of St. Helena is the mother of St. Constantine the Great was baptized before her son. The Grand Duchess probably told Svyatoslav about this, persuading him to follow her, but in this case her authority was not enough.
The son refused. He answered - what will my squad say? Well, each of them reasoned from their own point of view. St. Olga believed that if the prince turned to the Lord, He would help overcome the Khazars. And Svyatoslav thought in a purely earthly way. He feared that the change of faith would split the army and the people. Before the decisive battle, he wanted to maintain unity. Mother could not insist on her own. But she took the prince's children. Sons from Predslava, Yaropolk and Oleg, from Malusha - Vladimir. I took it up myself. I hoped that at least the grandchildren could be raised as Christians.
Meanwhile, the situation in the surrounding countries was changing. Byzantium still looked omnipotent. There, the talented commander Nikifor Foka advanced. Smashed the Baghdad Caliphate, captured Crete, invaded Syria. The Greeks were extremely cruel. After the capture of the big city of Aleppo, all the inhabitants were killed, only children and beautiful women for sale into slavery. Emirs of other cities were frightened and entered into negotiations. But at all times the most vulnerable point of Byzantium was its capital ...
The government of Constantine Porphyrogenitus was ruled by figures that were far from pure and not honest. The atmosphere at the court was appropriate. The son of the emperor Roman grew up and was brought up in it. The careerists adjusted to him, indulged him in everything. From his youth, he was addicted to wandering around taverns and brothels. In one of the noble establishments I dug up my bride, the beauty Theophano. Life taught her to play different roles, and she managed to please the emperor. She portrayed herself as a modest, humble girl. Perfect wife! And the fact that from the common people, for the king and his entourage was even better. Will not bring a pack of noble relatives into the palace. Feofano gave birth to two sons, Vasily and Constantine.
But the emperor was 54 years old, he was in good health. Well, how much longer will the heirs wait? As it turned out, Feofano knew how to cook poisons. In 959, the son and daughter-in-law banished Constantine to the other world. And here the shy girl showed her temper! As soon as Roman II and Theophano were crowned king, she sent her mother-in-law to the monastery, and tonsured five of her husband's sisters into nuns. There is nothing to get under the Empress's feet ... Although the crown did not change Roman's behavior. On the contrary, he completely sank, drank recklessly, and clever temporary workers intercepted the government.
This situation did not suit Feofano at all - an eternally drunk husband, omnipotent dignitaries were in charge of the court. She was smart enough, she understood that she could not hold out on the throne alone with her young sons. The Empress had her eyes on Nicephorus Foku - a man anywhere, a renowned folk hero! She began to show him signs of attention, struck up a friendship. In 963, Theophano poisoned her spouse and called for help to Nicephorus: come, save the empire, save the royal widow and children. He immediately moved from Syria with regiments, dispersed the temporary workers and married Theophano. Formally he became the co-regent and guardian of the children of Vasily II and Constantine VIII, but in reality he became the emperor.
But Nicephorus by nature was primarily a soldier. Severe, unpretentious. The power in his hands, he regarded as a call from God. Abruptly changed the policy of the empire, as he himself understood it. I was convinced that the Byzantines should again realize their power, be real Romans. Hippodrome festivities? Cancel. Send money to the army. Paying tribute to the Sicilian pirates? A shame. Instead of gold, Nicephorus sent the entire fleet to Sicily. And he himself gathered a huge army and in 964 led it to Syria ... All the forces of Byzantium were connected on two fronts. The most opportune moment has come - for Russia.
Svyatoslav and Olga managed to prepare well for this. The army was well armed, trained, skillfully acting on commands, keeping the line under the enemy's blows. Fast boats rushed across the sea, to recruit additional Varangian contingents. The Kiev rulers also looked after new allies. The Khazars, having reached the Dnieper forts, began to press the Pechenegs without hesitation, they already considered them their subjects. The nomads could not like this in any way. But the kaganate also quarreled with the guzes, which he used against the Pechenegs. It seems that their help was no longer required. So why flirt, send gifts? They began to treat scornfully, to take them into slavery. In Kiev, such things were monitored. Now the time has come, the Russian ambassadors rushed to the Pecheny and Guz.
The campaign plan was developed in advance. Going to Itil along the Black Sea coast was suicide. There were three hundred fortresses in this direction, the Khazars behind such an impressive "fence" felt themselves in complete safety. Another route to Khazaria, through the Upper Volga, was also blocked by cordons, cities and fortresses of the Khazar vassals. You will get involved in protracted battles, the allies of the Kaganate, the Bulgarians, will strike from the rear, the Byzantines will join. No, it was necessary to act quickly, and immediately achieve complete victory.
There was a third way, along the Oka, through the lands of the Vyatichi and Muroma, and it led right into the heart of the kaganate. However, here it was possible to get bogged down for a long time. It was no easier to besiege the Vyatichi forest fortresses than stone castles. But the kaganate was destroyed by the short-sighted greed of its rulers. The state looked indestructible and eternal - from the "river Kuzu" to "the cold country of yuru and visu", everyone is submissive, "fearing our sword." Who dares to encroach on Khazaria? And if so, then you can not stand on ceremony with your subjects. The Vyatichi covered an important section of the border, but a high tribute was taken from them, not with animal skins, but with silver, "up and down the plow." Therefore, Svyatoslav's envoys managed to come to an agreement with the tribe.
All preparations were carried out in deep secrecy. In Kiev, the Grand Duchess did not find the slightest hint of imminent change. Khazar diplomats and merchants were confident that they were still feared, ingratiated, ready to yield. They smugly calculated Russian debts, cheated with interest. They were wondering what else they would be able to demand from a supportive empress who did not want to irritate them. And she only gave vent to true feelings at night. Saint Olga prayed fervently. She could not entrust secrets even to priests, she only revealed herself to God. Yes, her son remained a pagan. But Titus Flavius, who destroyed Jerusalem, was also a scholar! And in Itil, the descendants of the very Jews who crucified Christ ruled. Will He not help?
And in the depths of the country, far from the Jewish quarter of Kiev and from the Byzantine spies, troops were gathering. They were secretly transferred to the Chernigov region, to the villages of the northerners. In the late autumn of 964, Svyatoslav moved up the Desna. From the upper reaches, the boats were dragged to the tributaries of the Oka. Here the possessions of the Vyatichi began. They were already waiting. The harvest was harvested, which made it possible to feed the army. Khazars, who were in their cities, cut the Vyatichi with great pleasure. Just a thaw, freeze-up broke out, snow fell, and the forest edge was reliably cut off from Itil for several months.
Svyatoslav spent the winter with the Vyatichi, repaired ships, built new ones. He negotiated with the Muroma, and the tribe willingly agreed to return to Russia. And in the spring of 965, as soon as the ice melted, boats with messengers sailed down the river. They carried three menacing words: "I'm going to you!" These words burst out like a bolt from the blue. Stunned, panicked. The Khazars and their satellites were unaware of the danger until the last moment. And now it was too late to do anything. The mighty Russian flotilla followed the messengers to the Volga. She destroyed the Volga Bulgaria, Burtases. They, too, were forced tributaries of the kaganate, but did they not help him? Weren't they exterminated once the Russians? So the payback has come.
In Itil, the Khazars managed to organize themselves. They raised the guard, armed the townspeople, accepted the fleeing Bulgarians and Burtases. But Svyatoslav was counting on this when he sent a daring challenge. Let the enemies gather in a heap to finish them off at once. The allies approached the prince. From the right bank of the Volga - Pechenegs, from the left - Guzy. The Khazar army was led into the field by Tsar Joseph and the puppet kagan from the Ashina clan, history has not even preserved his name. "And sostulishaya for battle, and the battle was fast, defeated Svyatoslav Kozar." The kagan fell in the wheelhouse. Joseph is missing. Pursuing and trampling the "fleeing Khazar militia, the Russians broke into Itil. The metropolis, stretching for several kilometers, was destroyed and burned to the ground. Fantastic palaces, luxurious houses, and entertainment establishments disappeared, dispersed in black smoke.
And how many slaves and slaves have found freedom? Those who labored in the sweat of their brow for the Jewish masters, who pleased them. Those held in the barracks by the slave traders were exposed naked in front of buyers. Those who had already been sold and were waiting to be sent to distant countries ... How many people burst into happy tears and hugged their fellow tribesmen - Rus, Vyatichi, Murom, Pechenegs, Guzes? They are not mentioned anywhere. But they were. But the Khazars were hit hard. Ibn Haukal wrote that "there was nothing left of them except a scattered incomplete part." They were hiding on the Volga Islands with the hope of “staying in the neighborhood of their regions” - to return home when the Russians left. But "the Russian people ... were scouring for her", for this "incomplete part." The nest of evil spirits was taken out under the root, so that it would no longer be reborn.
Having destroyed Itil, part of the Russian army went to the Terek, wiped out the former Khazar capital Semender and Belendzher. And Svyatoslav himself and the backbone of his squads dragged the boats from the Volga to Ilovlya, splashed out onto the Don and took Sarkel. It was not just a fortress, but the center of the Khazar border command. From here, the entire system of fortresses was controlled. Excavations revealed that Sarkel was captured in a fierce battle and razed to the ground. In its place, Svyatoslav ordered to build the Russian fortress Belaya Vezha.
Along the Don, the prince entered the Sea of \u200b\u200bAzov, defeated Samkerts and Tamatarkh. All major cities of Khazaria were crushed in one campaign! Svyatoslav aimed not to defeat the kaganate, but to completely eliminate it. Cut off all the heads of the monster in one fell swoop. He cut them down. And there was no need at all to take hundreds of castles blocking the steppes between the Don and the Dnieper. As soon as Itil and Sarkel fell, the Khazar garrisons, with which the Russians went to the rear, abandoned the fortresses and fled to their friends, to Bulgaria. Svyatoslav fought in the North Caucasus, defeated the Khazar vassals, Yases (Alans) and Kasogs. They split up. Some followed the Khazars rushed to the Bulgarians, others joined the Russians. Some of the Yases and Kasogs, the prince "bring Kiev" and settled in its vicinity.
But the brilliant campaign of 965 was not limited to these successes. Russia was faced with another vital task - to establish itself at sea. Svyatoslav also solved it, and it was easy, as if by chance. On the way home, his army marched through the Byzantine possessions in the Azov region and Northern Crimea. They robbed 10 cities and 500 villages. But the population in these parts was mixed. Together with the Greeks, the Slavs have long settled, entered into marriages with each other. One of the Byzantine toparchs (chiefs of the provinces, his name remained unknown) regretted that most of his subordinates "lived according to the customs of the barbarians," and when the Russians invaded "cities and peoples voluntarily joined them." Even the local nobility refused to obey the toparch, unanimously decided to obey Svyatoslav. The author of the notes had to go to Kiev. In the capital he found a prince "who is mighty in a large army and is proud of his strength in battles." Svyatoslav affectionately received the toparch and talked to him. For the fact that the Byzantine expressed obedience, the prince left him as the ruler of the former possessions and even added one region, promised the new subjects protection and preservation of all income.
But Svyatoslav intended to finish off the enemy coalition. In 966, he set out on the next campaign - to Bulgaria, where many Khazars took refuge. Although this time the plans fell through. Vyatichi rose up. They were not in the least against the liberation from the kaganate, but they did not want to obey Kiev either. When they learned that Svyatoslav's regiments went to the Danube, they took up arms. But the prince did not like such jokes. He understood that for a war with external enemies, one must have a solid rear. Having received news of the mutiny, he immediately turned the army in the opposite direction, to the Oka. Svyatoslav defeated Vyatichi and imposed a tribute. It's your own fault. If you do not want to serve Russia in an amicable way, if you please pay.
After the collapse of Khazaria, the Upper Volga region, the interfluve of the Volga and Oka rivers, returned to Russia. The local Finnish tribes Merya, Meschera, Muroma behaved quite differently from the Vyatichi. They have already been under the rule of the Russian princes and the rule of the Khazars, so they made an unambiguous choice. Not a single of their uprisings against the Russians have been recorded in history.
I present to your attention an attempt at a scientific and historical reconstruction of the appearance of Prince Svyatoslav. The textbook description of Svyatoslav's appearance was given by Lev the Deacon, a contemporary of the Russian-Byzantine war in Bulgaria.
The siege of Dorostol ended with a personal meeting between the emperor John Tzimiskes and the Russian prince. The emperor came to the banks of the Danube on horseback, accompanied by his retinue. “Sfendoslav also showed up,” the Deacon continues, “who sailed along the river on a Scythian boat; he sat on the oars and rowed with his entourage, no different from them. This was his appearance: moderate growth, not too tall and not very short, with furry eyebrows and light blue eyes, snub-nosed, beardless, with thick, excessively long hair above the upper lip. His head was completely naked, but on one side a tuft of hair hung down - a sign of the nobility of the family; a strong nape, wide chest and all other parts of the body are quite proportionate, but he looked sullen and wild. He had a gold earring in one ear; it was adorned with a carbuncle framed by two pearls. His attire was white and differed from the clothing of his entourage only in cleanliness. Sitting in the boat on the rowing bench, he talked a little with the sovereign about the conditions of peace and left. " (Translated by M.M. Kopylenko).
True, some details of the description of Svyatoslav's appearance by Leo Deacon allow for ambiguous interpretation. So, instead of "beardless", let's say the translation is "with a sparse beard", and "a tuft of hair" may hang not from one, but from both sides of the head. This is exactly how - with a sparse beard and two braids - Svyatoslav appears on the pages of SM Solovyov's History.
This reconstruction is based on a more traditional view of the appearance of the ancient Russian princes.
The "average" height of Svyatoslav is corrected by the length of his sword ("Frankish" swords of that time did not exceed 80-90 cm). His age at the time of death did not exceed 30-32 years.
In the attire of Svyatoslav, the “poverty” of his clothing is emphasized, and vice versa, good, “rich” armor and weapons. This prince's trait - indifference to luxury and love of weapons - is historical, attested by the chronicle.
The helmet reproduces the type of military headdress of the middle of the 10th century. from the so-called "princely" Black Grave near Chernigov.
The "teardrop" form of the shield of the Rus of that time was attested by the same Leo Deacon.
Pants for the prince were "sewn" according to the testimony of an Arab author of the late 9th century. Ibn-Rust says that the Russians "wear wide trousers ... putting on such trousers, they gather them in an assembly and tie them at the knees."
Boots came into wide use in Russia, apparently, only in the XI century. Source
