Reign
In 1173, Vsevolod was briefly installed on the Kievan throne and taken prisoner by two Smolensk princes who captured the town. Ransomed a year later, he took his brother Mikhalko's side in his struggle against the powerful boyars of Rostov and Suzdal. Upon Mikhalko's death, Vsevolod succeeded him in Vladimir. He promptly subjugated the boyars and systematically raided the Volga peoples, notably Volga Bulgaria. He installed his puppets on the throne of Novgorod and married his daughters to princes of Chernigov and Kiev.
Vsevolod showed little mercy to those who disobeyed his word. In 1180 and 1187, he punished the princes of Ryazan by ousting them from their lands. In 1207, he burnt to the ground both Ryazan and Belgorod. His military fame spread quickly. The Tale of Igor's Campaign, thought to be written during Vsevolod's reign, addresses him thus: Great prince Vsevolod! Don't you think of flying here from afar to safeguard the paternal golden throne of Kiev? For you can with your oars scatter in drops the Volga, and with your helmets scoop dry the Don.
But Kievan matters concerned Vsevolod little in the latter part of his reign. He concentrated on making his own capital, Vladimir. His Ossetian wife, Maria Shvarnovna, who devoted herself to the works of piety and founded several convents, was glorified by the Russian church as a saint. By her Vsevolod had no fewer than fourteen children, thus earning for himself the sobriquet Big Nest. Four of them—Konstantin, George, Yaroslav and Sviatoslav—succeeded him as Grand Dukes of Vladimir. He died on April 12, 1212 and was buried at the Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir.
Read more about this topic: Vsevolod The Big Nest
Famous quotes containing the word reign:
“Nature seemed to have adorned herself for our departure with a profusion of fringes and curls, mingled with the bright tints of flowers, reflected in the water. But we missed the white water-lily, which is the queen of river flowers, its reign being over for this season.... Many of this species inhabit our Concord water.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Without poets, without artists, men would soon weary of nature’s monotony. The sublime idea men have of the universe would collapse with dizzying speed. The order which we find in nature, and which is only an effect of art, would at once vanish. Everything would break up in chaos. There would be no seasons, no civilization, no thought, no humanity; even life would give way, and the impotent void would reign everywhere.”
—Guillaume Apollinaire (1880–1918)
“Fatalism, whose solving word in all crises of behavior is “All striving is vain,” will never reign supreme, for the impulse to take life strivingly is indestructible in the race. Moral creeds which speak to that impulse will be widely successful in spite of inconsistency, vagueness, and shadowy determination of expectancy. Man needs a rule for his will, and will invent one if one be not given him.”
—William James (1842–1910)