Life
He left Vyshhorod in 1155 and moved to Vladimir. Promoting development of feudal relations, he relied on a team and on Vladimir’s townspeople; he connected to trading-craft business of Rostov and Suzdal. After his father’s death (1157), he became Knyaz (prince) of Vladimir, Rostov and Suzdal.
Andrei Bogolyubsky tried to unite Rus' lands under his authority. From 1159 he persistently struggled for submission of Novgorod to his authority and conducted a complex military and diplomatic game in South Rus. In 1169 his troops took Kiev. After plundering the city including stealing much religious artwork, he returned to the northeast afterwards. This act underlined the declining importance of that city. Andrei achieved the right to receive a tribute from the population of the Northern Dvina land. Becoming "ruler of all Suzdal land", Andrei Bogolyubsky transferred his capital to Vladimir, strengthened it and constructed the magnificent Assumption Cathedral and other churches and monasteries. Under his leadership Vladimir was much enlarged, and fortifications were built around the city.
At the same time the castle Bogolyubovo was built next to Vladimir, and was a favorite residence of his. In fact he received his nickname "Bogolyubsky" in honor of this place. It was he who brought the Theotokos of Vladimir to the city whose name it now bears. During Andrei Bogolyubsky’s reign Vladimir-Suzdal principality attained significant power and was the strongest among the Rus' principalities.
Amplification of princely authority and conflict with outstanding boyars was the cause of a plot against Andrei Bogolyubsky, as a result of which he was killed on the night of June 28 to June 29, 1174. Twenty of his disgruntled retainers burst into his chambers and slew Andrei in his bed. His silver-inlaid war axe can now be viewed at the State Historical Museum in Moscow.
His son, Yuri Bogolyubsky, was the first husband of Queen Tamar of Georgia.
Read more about this topic: Andrey Bogolyubsky
Famous quotes containing the word life:
“If youth is the period of hero-worship, so also is it true that hero-worship, more than anything else, perhaps, gives one the sense of youth. To admire, to expand one’s self, to forget the rut, to have a sense of newness and life and hope, is to feel young at any time of life.”
—Charles Horton Cooley (1864–1929)
“You must, to get through life well, practice industry with economy, never create a debt for anything that is not absolutely necessary, and if you make a promise to pay money at a day certain, be sure to comply with it. If you do not, you lay yourself liable to have your feelings injured and your reputation destroyed with the just imputation of violating your word.”
—Andrew Jackson (1767–1845)
“Hermann and Humbert are alike only in the sense that two dragons painted by the same artist at different periods of his life resemble each other. Both are neurotic scoundrels, yet there is a green lane in Paradise where Humbert is permitted to wander at dusk once a year; but Hell shall never parole Hermann.”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)