SVYATOSLAV!
"HUSBAND OF BLOOD"
(PRINCE SVYATOSLAV IGOREVICH)
Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich left a bright mark on Russian history. He ruled the Kyiv land for only 8 years, but these few years were well remembered for many subsequent centuries, and Prince Svyatoslav himself became a model of military valor and courage for many generations of Russian people. The first time his name thundered in the Russian chronicle was in 946. After the death of Prince Igor’s father in the Drevlyan land, he, then a three-year-old boy, was the first to begin the battle with the rebel Drevlyans, riding out in front of the Kyiv regiments and throwing a combat spear towards the enemy. And although, thrown by a weak child’s hand, it fell to the ground in front of the feet of his own horse, even then this act of Svyatoslav meant a lot. Not a prince, but a prince! Not a boy, but a warrior! And the words of the old grunt-voivodes, recorded by the chronicler and needing no translation, sound symbolically: “The prince has already begun. Let’s fight, squad, according to the prince!”
Svyatoslav’s teacher and mentor was the Varangian Asmud, who taught his young pupil to be the first in battle and hunting, to stay firmly in the saddle, control a boat, swim, hide from enemy eyes both in the forest and in the steppe. Apparently, Princess Olga could not find a better mentor for her son than Uncle Asmud - he raised him to be a real warrior. The art of military leadership was taught to Svyatoslav by the chief Kyiv governor Sveneld. There is no doubt that this Varangian only limited the prince’s extraordinary talent, explaining to him the tricks of military science. Svyatoslav was a bright, original commander, who intuitively sensed the high symphony of battle, who knew how to instill courage in his troops with decisive words and personal example, and who could predict the actions and deeds of his enemies.
And Svyatoslav learned one more lesson from the instructions of his governor-educators - to always be at one with his squad. For this reason, he rejected the offer of his mother, Princess Olga, who converted to Christianity in 855 and wanted to baptize her son. The Kyiv warriors, who revered Perun, were opposed to the new faith, and Svyatoslav remained with his knights.
“When Svyatoslav grew up and matured,” it is recorded in the chronicle, “he began to gather many brave warriors, and easily, like a pardus (cheetah), moving on campaigns, he fought a lot. On campaigns he did not carry with him either carts, boilers, or he cooked meat, but, thinly cutting horse meat, or animal meat, or beef, he fried it on coals and ate it like that. When he went to bed, he put the sweatcloth from his horse under him, and the saddle under his head.”
Svyatoslav made two great campaigns.
The first is against the huge predatory Khazaria - a dark kingdom that owned lands from Caucasus Mountains to the Volga steppes; the second - against Danube Bulgaria, and then, in alliance with the Bulgarians, against Byzantium.
Back in 914, the army of Prince Igor, Svyatoslav’s father, died in the Khazar possessions on the Volga, trying to secure the Volga trade route. To take revenge on the enemy and complete the work begun by his father - perhaps this is what threw the young Kyiv prince on a long campaign. In 964, Svyatoslav’s squad left Kyiv and, ascending the Desna River, entered the lands of the Vyatichi, one of the large Slavic tribes that were tributaries of the Khazars at that time. Without touching the Vyatichi and without destroying their lands, only ordering them to pay tribute not to the Khazars, but to Kyiv, Svyatoslav went out to the Volga and moved his army against the ancient enemies of the Russian land: the Volga Bulgarians, Burtases, and the Khazars themselves. In the vicinity of Itil, the capital of the Khazar Kaganate, a decisive battle took place, in which the Kyiv regiments defeated and put the Khazars to flight. Then he moved his squads against other tributaries of the North Caucasian tribes of the Yases and Kasogs, the ancestors of the Ossetians and Circassians. This unprecedented campaign lasted for about 4 years. Victorious in all battles, the prince crushed all his enemies, captured and destroyed the capital of the Khazar Khaganate, the city of Itil, and took the well-fortified fortresses of Sarkel (on the Don), Semender (in the North Caucasus). On the shores of the Kerch Strait in the captured Khazar village of Tamatarkhe, he founded an outpost of Russian influence in this region - the city of Tmutarakan, the center of the future Tmutarakan principality.
Returning to Kyiv, Svyatoslav spent only about a year in his capital city and already in 968 he set off on a new military expedition - against the Bulgarians on the distant blue Danube. Kalokir, the ambassador of the Byzantine Emperor Nicephorus Phocas, persistently called him there, hoping to pit two peoples dangerous to his empire in a war of extermination. For the help of Byzantium, Kalokir gave Svyatoslav 15 centinarii (455 kilograms) of gold, but it would be wrong to consider the Russian campaign against the Bulgarians as a raid of mercenary squads. The Kiev prince was obliged to come to the rescue of the allied power under an agreement concluded with Byzantium in 944 by Prince Igor. Gold was only a gift accompanying a request for military assistance...
The Russian prince took only 10 thousand soldiers with him on the campaign, but great commanders do not fight by numbers. Having descended along the Dnieper into the Black Sea, Svyatoslav quickly attacked the thirty thousand Bulgarian army sent against him. Having defeated him and driven the remnants of the Bulgarians into the Dorostol fortress, the prince took the city of Malaya Preslava (Svyatoslav himself called this city, which became his new capital Pereyaslavl), forcing both enemies and yesterday's friends to unite against him. The Bulgarian Tsar Peter, feverishly gathering troops in his capital Velikaya Preslava, entered into a secret alliance with Nicephorus Foka. He, in turn, bribed the Pecheneg leaders, who willingly agreed to attack Kyiv in the absence of the Grand Duke. The people of Kiev were exhausted in a desperate, bloody battle, but the Pecheneg onslaught did not weaken. Only a night attack by the small army of governor Pretich, mistaken by the Pechenegs for the vanguard of Svyatoslav, forced them to lift the siege and move away from Kyiv. Connected with this story is the first description in our chronicle of a heroic deed committed by the remaining nameless Kyiv youth. When “the Pechenegs besieged the city with great force, there were countless numbers of them around the city. And it was impossible to leave the city or send messages. And the people were exhausted from hunger and thirst. And the (military) people from that side of the Dnieper gathered in boats and stood on on that shore. And it was impossible either to get to Kiev or from Kiev to them. And the people in the city began to grieve, and said: “Is there anyone who could get over to the other side and tell them: if you don’t approach us in the morning. city - let's surrender to the Pechenegs." One youth said: "I'll get through." And they answered him: "Go." He left the city, holding a bridle, and ran through the Pechenegs' camp, asking them: "Has anyone seen a horse? "For he knew Pecheneg, and they took him for one of their own. And when he approached the river, he threw off his clothes, rushed into the Dnieper and swam. Seeing this, the Pechenegs rushed after him, shot at him, but could not do anything with him to do. They noticed this on the other side, sailed up to him in a boat, took him into the boat and brought him to the squad. And the youth said to them: “If you don’t approach the city tomorrow, the people will surrender to the Pechenegs.” Their commander, named Pretich, said to this: “We will go tomorrow in boats and, having captured the princess and princes, we will rush to this shore. If we do not do this, then Svyatoslav will destroy us.” And the next morning, close to dawn, they got into the boats and blew a loud trumpet, and the people in the city screamed. It seemed to the Pechenegs that the prince himself had come, and they ran away from the city in all directions."
The call of the Kievites, who with difficulty fought off the attack of their enemies, flew far to the Danube: “You, prince, are looking for someone else’s land and taking care of it, but you left your own, the Pechenegs, and your mother, and your children almost took us away. If you don’t come and don’t If you protect us and they will take us again, then don’t you really feel sorry for your old mother or your children?”
Svyatoslav could not help but hear this call. Returning with his squad to Kyiv, he overtook and defeated the Pecheneg army and drove its pitiful remnants far into the steppe. Silence and peace then reigned in the Russian land, but this was not enough for the prince seeking battle and feat of arms. He could not stand a peaceful life and prayed to his mother: “I don’t like sitting in Kyiv. I want to live in Pereyaslavets on the Danube. There is the middle of my land. Everything good flocks there: from the Greeks - gold, fabrics, wines, various vegetables; from the Czechs and Hungarians - silver and horses, from Rus' - furs, wax and honey."
Princess Olga listened to the hot, passionate words of her son and said only one thing in response: “You see that I am already sick, where do you want to go from me? When you bury me, then go wherever you want...”
3 days later she died. Having buried his mother, Svyatoslav divided the Russian land between his sons: he placed Yaropolk as prince in Kyiv, sent Oleg to the Drevlyansky land, and Vladimir to Novgorod. He himself hastened to his conquered possessions on the Danube by force of arms. He was forced to hurry by the news coming from there - the new Bulgarian Tsar Boris, who had ascended the throne with the help of the Greeks, attacked the Russian detachment left by Svyatoslav in Pereyaslavets and captured the fortress.
Like a swift leopard, the Russian prince rushed at the enemy, defeated him, captured Tsar Boris and the remnants of his army, and took possession of the entire country from the Danube to the Balkan Mountains. Soon he learned about the death of Nicephorus Phocas, who was killed by his close associate John Tzimiskes, a native of the Armenian femme nobility, who declared himself the new emperor. In the spring of 970, Svyatoslav declared war on him, threatening the enemy to pitch his tents near the walls of Constantinople and calling himself and his soldiers “men of blood.” Then he crossed the snow-covered mountain slopes of the Balkans, took Philippol (Plovdiv) by storm and approached Arkadiopol (Lule-Burgaz). There were only 4 days left to travel across the plain to Constantinople. Here there was a battle between the Russians and their allies the Bulgarians, Hungarians and Pechenegs with a hastily assembled army of the Byzantines. Having won this battle, Svyatoslav, however, did not go further, but, having taken “many gifts” from the Greeks, returned back to Pereyaslavets. This was one of the few, but it became a fatal mistake of the famous Russian warrior.
John Tzimiskes turned out to be good student and a capable commander. Having recalled the best Byzantine troops from Asia, gathering detachments from other parts of his empire, he taught and drilled them all winter, rallying them into a huge trained army. Tzimiskes also ordered to assemble a new fleet, repairing old ones and building new warships: fire-bearing triremes, galleys and monerias. Their number exceeded 300. In the spring of 971, Emperor John sent them to the mouth of the Danube, and then up this river to cut off Svyatoslav’s squad and prevent it from receiving help from distant Rus'.
Byzantine armies moved towards Bulgaria from all sides, many times outnumbering the Svyatoslav squads stationed there. In the battle near the walls of Preslava, almost all the soldiers of the 8,000-strong Russian garrison located there were killed. Among the few who escaped and broke through to their main forces were the governor Sfenkel and the patrician Kalokir, who had once called Svyatoslav to Bulgaria. With heavy fighting, fighting off the advancing enemy, the Russians retreated to the Danube. There, in Dorostol (the modern city of Silistria), the last Russian fortress in Bulgaria, Svyatoslav raised his banner, preparing for a decisive battle. The city was well fortified - the thickness of its walls reached 4.7 m.
Approaching Dorostol on April 23, 971, on the day of St. George, the Byzantines saw in front of the city Russian army, lined up for battle. The Russian knights stood like a solid wall, “closing their shields and spears” and did not think of retreating. Over and over again they repulsed 12 enemy attacks during the day. Only at night did they retreat to the fortress. The next morning, the Byzantines began a siege, surrounding their camp with a rampart and a palisade with shields attached to it. It lasted more than two months (65 days) until July 22, 971. On this day the Russians began their last battle. Gathering his soldiers in front of him, Svyatoslav said his famous: “The dead have no shame.” This stubborn battle lasted a long time, despair and courage gave unprecedented strength to Svyatoslav’s soldiers, but as soon as the Russians began to overcome, the rising strong wind hit them in the face, covering their eyes with sand and dust. Thus, nature snatched the almost won victory from Svyatoslav’s hands. The prince was forced to retreat back to Dorostol and begin peace negotiations with John Tzimiskes.
Their historical meeting took place on the banks of the Danube and was described in detail by a Byzantine chronicler who was in the emperor’s retinue. Tzimiskes, surrounded by his entourage, was waiting for Svyatoslav. The prince arrived on a boat, sitting in which he rowed along with ordinary soldiers. The Greeks could distinguish him only because the shirt he was wearing was cleaner than that of other warriors and because of the earring with two pearls and a ruby inserted into his ear. This is how eyewitness Lev Deacon described the formidable Russian warrior: “Svyatoslav was of average height, neither too tall nor too short, with thick eyebrows, blue eyes, a flat nose and a thick, long mustache hanging on his upper lip. He had a head completely naked, only a strand of hair hung on one side, indicating the antiquity of the family. The neck was thick, the shoulders were wide and the whole figure was rather slender. “He seemed gloomy and wild.”
During the negotiations, the parties made concessions. Svyatoslav promised to leave Bulgaria and go to Rus', Tzimiskes promised to let the Russian army through and allocate 2 measures of bread for the 22 thousand surviving soldiers.
Having made peace with the Byzantines, Svyatoslav went to Kyiv. But on the way, at the Dnieper rapids, the Pechenegs, notified by the treacherous Greeks, were already waiting for his thinned army. Sveneld's cavalry detachment managed to cross the steppe to Rus' unnoticed by the enemy. Svyatoslav, who was traveling on boats, had to spend the winter at the mouth of the Dnieper in Beloberezhye, but in the spring of 972 he decided to break through to Kyiv through the Pecheneg barriers. However, the forces were too unequal. In a heavy battle, Svyatoslav’s faithful squad also died, and he himself fell in this cruel battle. From the skull of Svyatoslav, the Polovtsian prince Kurya, according to the old steppe custom, ordered to make a bowl bound in gold for feasts.
Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich is the youngest prince in the entire history of Rus'. Not only did he officially ascend to the throne at the age of 3, but he also lived only 30 years. However, these were very important 30 years for our state. Let's look at this in more detail.
Reign of Prince Svyatoslav
Officially, his reign took place in the 4th year of his life, when his father Igor died. But since the new prince was still too young, his mother, Princess Olga, ascended the throne. Later, when Prince Svyatoslav matured and was able to rule Russia himself, all power was also distributed between him and his mother in the following form:
- Svyatoslav went on campaigns and conquered new lands, and also concluded treaties beneficial for Rus'. We'll talk about this a little later.
- Olga was studying internal politics state at the time when Svyatoslav was on campaign.
If we talk about Prince Svyatoslav as a person, then he will be remembered throughout his reign as a warrior prince. After all, from the age of 22 he himself took part and led troops on campaigns.
That is why I propose to continue the conversation about Svyatoslav with stories about his most memorable campaigns.
Hiking
Khazar campaign
There are many versions of who helped the Pechenegs organize such a successful ambush. According to some sources, these could be the Bulgarians, whose desire to take revenge for so many losses of soldiers was still great. According to others, Byzantium, for which this battle would be very useful for its foreign policy reasons.
Still other sources even claim that Byzantium, on the contrary, asked the Pechenegs to clear the way for Prince Svyatoslav and his army and not kill him.
Years of the reign of Prince Svyatoslav
Different chronicles give different names for the prince's birth date. But now this is the generally accepted one: 942. If you believe her, then Svyatoslav lived only 30 years, since he died in a battle with the Pechenegs in March 972.
But we remember that his reign officially began at the age of 3. Thus, The years of the reign of Prince Svyatoslav are as follows: 945 - March 972.
Conclusion
It is not possible for us to know 100% everything that happened in those days. Therefore, we can only blindly believe sources like the “Tale of Bygone Years” and other chronicles of those times.
Considering that we no longer have any other options, I suggest that each of us choose those options for the development of events that he sees as the most possible and truthful.
P.S. I tried to tell interesting biography Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich in simple words with your retelling. I hope I succeeded.
If so, then I look forward to your questions and suggestions regarding the next heroes of the “Great Commanders of Russia” column in the comments to the article.
Prince Svyatoslav short biography for children
Back in 942, the future great commander and Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich was born into the princely family. At the age of three he was left without a father, and formally began to be considered a prince. Princess Olga, who wants to take revenge on the Drevlyans for the death of her husband, takes her four-year-old son on a hike. Being just a boy at that time, Svyatoslav, for the first time in his life, began a battle by throwing a spear... And so began his glorious history as a commander and prince.
Prince Svyatoslav, to put it briefly, was a very skillful and agile warrior, one chronicler compared him to a cheetah for his speed and agility in battle, and the chronicler also emphasized the prince’s ability to select the best warriors for his squad. He described him not as a pompous and whimsical prince, but as a real warrior who knew how to endure all the hardships of military campaigns, he slept in the open air, and did not indulge himself in princely dishes. He did not accept Christianity as his mother insisted, but remained a pagan like his entire squad, he was afraid that the soldiers would not understand such an act...
In 964 he began his first major campaign against the Khazars. He chose the path not directly across the steppes, but 
along the rivers, along the Oka and Volga. His allies on the campaign were the Pechenegs and Guzes. Having taken Itil, Semender, Sarkel, he completely knocked out the Khazars from the Volga, which greatly surprised Byzantium. And after that, he returned victoriously to Kyiv.
After Grand Duke defeated the Khazar, in 968 an embassy from Byzantium arrived to him with a huge amount of gold and many different gifts, they proposed a campaign against Bulgaria. Very soon Svyatoslav was already sitting in Pereyaslavets at the mouth of the Danube. But soon he was forced to return to Kyiv, as the Pechenegs attacked him. Having fought them off from the Capital, he organized a campaign, as a result of which the Kaganate would be completely defeated. After the death of his mother, he reorganized the administration of the state by placing Yaropolk in the reign of Kiev, Vladimir in Novgorod, and placing Oleg over the Drevlyans. After which he moved with his squad to Bulgaria again.
After the coup in Byzantium, the political situation changed a little, the Bulgarians rushed to her for 
help. But while Byzantium was thinking, the Bulgarians entered into an alliance with the Rusichs. And in 970, together with them, as well as with the rest of the allies, the Pechenegs and Hungarians, they attacked Byzantium. The Greeks first surrounded the Pechenegs and defeated them, then took on the main forces of the Russians. Svyatoslav was not with them, he was in Dorostol, where the battle subsequently smoothly shifted. The city was taken under a three-month siege. The army on both sides was exhausted, Svyatoslav was wounded in one of the battles. Ultimately, Byzantium and Rus' entered into an agreement, after which the prince handed over all the captured Greeks and left Bulgaria, he also pledged not to attack Byzantium and protect it from attacks by tribes. Meanwhile, Rus' was devastated by the Pechenegs, and when the prince was returning, the Pechenegs waylaid him and in this mortal battle the prince was killed. The life of the Grand Duke and commander ended in the spring of 972 at the mouth of the Dnieper River.
Perevezentsev S.V.
Svyatoslav Igorevich (d. 972) - son of Prince Igor the Old and Princess Olga, Russian commander, Grand Duke of Kiev from 964.
The first time the name of Svyatoslav is mentioned in the chronicle is in 945. As a child, he took part in his first battle. This was the time when Princess Olga and her retinue went to war with the Drevlyans to avenge her murdered husband, Prince Igor. Svyatoslav sat on a horse in front of the Kyiv squad. And when both armies came together - the Kiev and the Drevlyans, Svyatoslav threw a spear towards the Drevlyans. Svyatoslav was very small, so the spear flew away not far - it flew between the horse’s ears and hit the horse in the leg. But the Kyiv governors said: “The prince has already begun, let us follow, squad, the prince.” That's how it was ancient custom Rus - only the prince could start the battle. And it doesn’t matter what age the prince was.
Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich was raised as a warrior from childhood. Svyatoslav’s teacher and mentor was the Varangian Asmud, who taught the young pupil to be the first in battle and hunting, to stay firmly in the saddle, control a boat, swim, and hide from enemy eyes both in the forest and in the steppe. Svyatoslav was taught the art of military leadership by another Varangian - the main Kiev governor Sveneld.
While Svyatoslav was growing up, Olga ruled the principality. Since the mid-60s. X century can be counted as the beginning independent government Prince Svyatoslav. The Byzantine historian Leo the Deacon left a description of him: of medium height, with a broad chest, blue eyes, thick eyebrows, beardless, but with a long mustache, only one strand of hair on his shaved head, which indicated his noble origin. In one ear he wore an earring with two pearls.
But Svyatoslav Igorevich was not like his mother. If Olga became a Christian, then Svyatoslav remained a pagan - and in public life, and in everyday life. So, most likely, all of Svyatoslav’s sons were from different wives, because the pagan Slavs had polygamy. For example, Vladimir’s mother was the housekeeper-slave Malusha. And although the housekeeper, who held the keys to all the princely premises, was considered an important person at court, her son, the prince, was contemptuously called “robicic” - the son of a slave.
Many times Princess Olga tried to teach her son the Christian faith, saying: “I have come to know God, my son, and I rejoice, if you know it too, you will rejoice.” Svyatoslav did not listen to his mother and made an excuse: “How can I accept it alone? new faith“What if my squad starts laughing at me?” But Olga loved her son and said: “God’s will be done. If God wants to have mercy on my family and the Russian people, he will put in their hearts the same desire to turn to God that he gave to me.” And so speaking, she prayed for her son and for all the Russian people every night and every day.
Mother and son understood their responsibilities as rulers of the state differently. If Princess Olga was concerned about preserving her principality, then Prince Svyatoslav sought glory in long military campaigns, not caring at all about Kievan Rus.
The chronicle tells of Svyatoslav as a true warrior. He spent the night not in a tent, but on a horse blanket, with a saddle in his head. On campaigns, he did not carry carts or boilers with him, did not cook meat, but thinly sliced horse meat or beef, or the meat of wild animals, fried it over coals and ate it that way. His warriors were just as hardy and unpretentious. But Svyatoslav’s squad, unencumbered by convoys, moved very quickly and appeared unexpectedly in front of the enemy, instilling fear in them. And Svyatoslav himself was not afraid of his opponents. When he went on a campaign, he always sent a warning message to foreign lands: “I want to go against you.”
Prince Svyatoslav made two large campaigns. The first is against Khazaria. In 964, Svyatoslav’s squad left Kyiv and, ascending the Desna River, entered the lands of the Vyatichi, one of the large Slavic tribes that were tributaries of the Khazars at that time. Prince of Kyiv ordered the Vyatichi to pay tribute not to the Khazars, but to Kyiv, and moved his army further - against the Volga Bulgarians, Burtases, Khazars, and then the North Caucasian tribes of the Yases and Kasogs. This unprecedented campaign lasted for about four years. Victorious in all battles, the prince crushed, captured and destroyed the capital of the Khazar Khaganate, the city of Itil, and took the well-fortified fortresses of Sarkel on the Don and Semender in the North Caucasus. On the shores of the Kerch Strait he founded an outpost of Russian influence in this region - the city of Tmutarakan, the center of the future Tmutarakan principality.
In 968, Svyatoslav set off on a new military expedition - against Danube Bulgaria. Kalokir, the ambassador of the Byzantine Emperor Nicephorus Phocas, persistently called him there, hoping to pit two peoples dangerous to his empire in a war of extermination. For assistance to Byzantium, Kalokir gave Svyatoslav 15 centinarii (455 kilograms) of gold. The Russian prince was obliged to come to the rescue of the allied power under an agreement concluded with Byzantium in 944 by Prince Igor. Gold was a gift that accompanied a request for military assistance.
Svyatoslav with a 10,000-strong army defeated a 30,000-strong Bulgarian army and captured the city of Malaya Preslava. Svyatoslav named this city Pereyaslavets and declared it the capital of his state. He did not want to return to Kyiv.
The Bulgarian Tsar Peter entered into a secret alliance with Nicephorus Phocas. He, in turn, bribed the Pecheneg leaders, who agreed to attack Kyiv in the absence of the Grand Duke. But the arrival of a small army of governor Pretich, mistaken by the Pechenegs for the vanguard of Svyatoslav, forced them to lift the siege and move away from Kyiv.
Svyatoslav had to return with part of his squad to Kyiv. He defeated the Pecheneg army and drove it to the steppe. After that, he announced to his mother: “I don’t like sitting in Kyiv. I want to live in Pereyaslavets on the Danube. There is the middle of my land. Everything good flows there: from the Greeks - gold, fabrics, wines, various vegetables; from the Czechs and Hungarians - silver and horses, from Rus' - furs, wax and honey.”
Three days later, Princess Olga died. Svyatoslav divided the Russian land between his sons: he placed Yaropolk as prince in Kyiv, sent Oleg to the Drevlyansky land, and Vladimir to Novgorod. He himself hurried to his possessions on the Danube.
Here he defeated the army of Tsar Boris, captured him and took possession of the entire country from the Danube to the Balkan Mountains. In the spring of 970, Svyatoslav crossed the Balkans, took Philippol (Plovdiv) by storm and reached Arkadiopol. His squads had only four days left to travel across the plain to Constantinople. This is where the battle with the Byzantines took place. Svyatoslav won, but lost many soldiers and did not go further, but, taking “many gifts” from the Greeks, returned back to Pereyaslavets.
In 971 the war continued. This time the Byzantines were well prepared. Newly prepared Byzantine armies moved towards Bulgaria from all sides, many times outnumbering the Svyatoslav squads stationed there. With heavy fighting, fighting off the advancing enemy, the Russians retreated to the Danube. There, in the city of Dorostol, the last Russian fortress in Bulgaria, cut off from their native land, Svyatoslav’s army found itself under siege. For more than two months the Byzantines besieged Dorostol.
Finally, on July 22, 971, the Russians began their last battle. Having gathered the soldiers before the battle, Svyatoslav uttered his famous words: “So we will not disgrace the Russian land, but we will lie here as bones. For the dead know no shame, and if we run, we will be covered in shame. We won’t run like that, but we’ll stand strong, and I’ll go ahead of you. If my head falls, then decide for yourself what to do.” And the soldiers answered him: “Where your head lies, there we will lay our heads.”
The battle was very stubborn, and many Russian soldiers died. Prince Svyatoslav was forced to retreat back to Dorostol. And the Russian prince decided to make peace with the Byzantines, so he consulted with his squad: “If we don’t make peace and they find out that we are few, they will come and besiege us in the city. But the Russian land is far away, the Pechenegs are fighting with us, and who will help us then? Let's make peace, because they have already committed to pay us tribute - that's enough for us. If they stop paying us tribute, then again, having gathered many soldiers, we will go from Rus' to Constantinople.” And the soldiers agreed that their prince was speaking correctly.
Svyatoslav began negotiations for peace with John Tzimiskes. Their historical meeting took place on the banks of the Danube and was described in detail by a Byzantine chronicler who was in the emperor’s retinue. Tzimiskes, surrounded by his entourage, was waiting for Svyatoslav. The prince arrived on a boat, sitting in which he rowed along with ordinary soldiers. The Greeks could distinguish him only because the shirt he was wearing was cleaner than that of other warriors and because of the earring with two pearls and a ruby inserted into his ear. This is how an eyewitness described the formidable Russian warrior: “Svyatoslav was of average height, neither too tall nor too short, with thick eyebrows, blue eyes, a flat nose and a thick, long mustache hanging on his upper lip. His head was completely bare, only on one side of it hung a strand of hair, signifying the antiquity of the family. The neck is thick, the shoulders are wide and the whole figure is quite slender. He seemed dark and wild."
Having made peace with the Greeks, Svyatoslav and his squad went to Rus' along the rivers in boats. One of the governors warned the prince: “Go around, prince, the Dnieper rapids on horseback, for the Pechenegs are standing at the rapids.” But the prince did not listen to him. And the Byzantines informed the Pecheneg nomads about this: “The Rus, Svyatoslav with a small squad, will go past you, taking away from the Greeks a lot of wealth and countless prisoners.” And when Svyatoslav approached the rapids, it turned out that it was completely impossible for him to pass. Then the Russian prince decided to wait it out and stayed for the winter. With the beginning of spring, Svyatoslav again moved to the rapids, but was ambushed and died. The chronicle conveys the story of Svyatoslav’s death as follows: “Svyatoslav came to the rapids, and Kurya, the prince of Pechenezh, attacked him, and killed Svyatoslav, and took his head, and made a cup from the skull, bound it, and drank from it.” This is how Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich died. This happened in 972.
A brave and skillful commander, Svyatoslav never did anything to streamline state affairs either in his principality or in the conquered territories. It was not for nothing that he generally wanted to leave Kyiv and settle in Pereyaslavets on the Danube: “I don’t like to be in Kyiv,” said Svyatoslav, “I want to live in Pereyaslavets on the Danube - there is the middle of my land.” And the people of Kiev saw this reluctance of Svyatoslav to take care of their state. In 968, when Kyiv was besieged by the Pechenegs, and Svyatoslav was on another campaign, the people of Kiev sent the prince a message of reproach: “You, prince, are looking for a foreign land and taking care of it, but have left your own... Don’t you feel sorry for your fatherland?”
As already mentioned, Svyatoslav divided Kievan Rus itself in 970, before going to Danube Bulgaria, between his sons: Yaropolk got Kyiv, Oleg got the Drevlyansky land, and Vladimir got Novgorod. This division of the principality into appanages was carried out clearly according to the ethno-state principle - along the borders of the already existing tribal unions of the Polans-Russians, the Drevlyans and the Ilmen Slovenes. As can be seen from the very fact of division, these tribal unions retained a certain independence during the reign of Svyatoslav. And after 970, in place of a relatively single state, three principalities actually arose, led by the three sons of Svyatoslav. It is interesting that the Krivichi and their cities of Smolensk and Polotsk are not mentioned at all. The fact is that, apparently, already in the middle or second half of the 10th century. Krivichi (or part of them) separated from Kyiv. In any case, as will be shown further events, in Polotsk in the 70s. X century there was its own princely dynasty.
In general, this decision of Svyatoslav marked the beginning of a kind of “appanage period” in Russian history - for more than five hundred years, Russian princes would divide the principalities between their brothers, children, nephews and grandchildren. Only at the end of the 14th century. Dmitry Donskoy bequeaths the Grand Duchy of Moscow to his son Vasily as a single “fatherland”. But appanage relations will continue after the death of Dmitry Donskoy for another 150 years - in the middle of the 15th century. Moscow Rus' will be struck by a real “feudal war”; both Ivan III at the end of the 15th century and his grandson Ivan IV in the middle of the 16th century will fight with the appanage princes.
The appanage principle of dividing Russian principalities, of course, was based on objective reasons. At first, as under Svyatoslav, ethno-state factors played a large role; later, economic, political and even personal factors (rivalry between princes) would take first place. Here it is necessary to take into account that in Kievan Rus power was transferred according to the principle of “eldership” - to the eldest in the family. But already in the second half of the 11th century there were so many princes and family relationships were so confused that the rights to this or that reign, and especially to the title of Grand Duke, could only be clarified by force. That is why constant and endless princely strife struck Rus' for five hundred years.
Of course, here we must take into account that a significant role in political life In Rus', local veche self-government of cities and lands also played a role, which could refuse to accept this or that prince or, on the contrary, invite a prince who seemed to have no rights to this table. Similar cases happened more than once and also became the causes of new strife. And the first strife occurred between the sons of Prince Svyatoslav.
Grand Duke Svyatoslav Igorevich is not only an excellent warrior, but also an intelligent and competent politician. It was he who put in a lot of effort and shaped the course foreign policy Rus'. Prince Svyatoslav essentially continued and implemented the efforts of his great ancestors and predecessors Rurik, Prophetic Oleg and Igor. He embraced and strengthened the power of Rus' in such areas as the Volga region, the Caucasus, Crimea, the Black Sea region, the Danube region, the Balkans and Constantinople, he claims Alexander Samsonov .
Historians believe that after the meeting with the Byzantine emperor, when an honorable peace was concluded, which returned Rus' and Byzantium to the provisions of the treaty of 944, Svyatoslav remained on the Danube for some time. When Svyatoslav left the Danube region, Rus' retained its conquests in the Azov region, the Volga region, and held the mouth of the Dnieper.
Svyatoslav arrived on the Dnieper only in late autumn. The Pechenegs were already waiting for him at the Dnieper rapids. According to the official version, the Greeks were not going to let the formidable warrior return to Rus'. The Byzantine chronicler John Skilitsa reports that before Svyatoslav, the master of political intrigue, Bishop Theophilus of Euchaitis, came to the Dnieper.
The bishop was carrying expensive gifts to Khan Kure and a proposal from John I Tzimiskes to conclude a treaty of friendship and alliance between the Pechenegs and Byzantium. The Byzantine ruler asked the Pechenegs not to cross the Danube again and not to attack the Bulgarian lands that now belonged to Constantinople. According to Greek sources, Tzimiskes also asked for unhindered passage of Russian troops. The Pechenegs allegedly agreed to all the conditions, except one - they did not want to let the Rus through.
The Russians were not informed about the refusal of the Pechenegs. Therefore, Svyatoslav walked in full confidence that the Greeks had fulfilled their promise and the road was clear. The Russian chronicle claims that the Pechenegs were informed by anti-Russian residents of Pereyaslavets that Svyatoslav was coming with a small squad and great wealth. Thus, there are three versions: the Pechenegs themselves wanted to hit Svyatoslav, the Greeks only kept silent about it; the Greeks bribed the Pechenegs; The Pechenegs were notified by the Bulgarians who were hostile to Svyatoslav.
The fact that Svyatoslav marched towards Rus' in complete calm and confidence confirms the division of his army into two unequal parts. Having reached the “Island of Russ” on boats at the mouth of the Danube, the prince divided the army. The main forces under the command of governor Sveneld left on their own through the forests and steppes to Kyiv. They arrived safely. No one dared to attack the powerful army. According to the chronicle, Sveneld and Svyatoslav offered to go on horseback, but he refused. Only a small squad and, apparently, the wounded remained with the prince.
When it became clear that it was impossible to pass through the rapids, the prince decided to winter in Beloberezhye, an area between modern cities Nikolaev and Kherson. According to the chronicle, the winter was difficult, there was not enough food, people were starving and dying from disease. It is believed that Sveneld was supposed to arrive in the spring with fresh forces. In the spring of 972, without waiting for Sveneld, Svyatoslav again moved up the Dnieper. On the Dnieper rapids, Svyatoslav’s small squad was ambushed. The details of Svyatoslav’s last battle are unknown. One thing is clear: the Pechenegs outnumbered Svyatoslav’s warriors, the Russian soldiers were exhausted by the difficult winter. The entire squad of the Grand Duke was killed in this unequal battle.
The Pechenezh prince Kurya ordered to make a cup-cup from the skull of the great warrior and bound it with gold. There was a belief that in this way the glory and wisdom of the Grand Duke would be transferred to his conquerors. Raising the cup, the Pecheneg prince said: “Let our children be like him!”
Kyiv trace
The official version about a straightforward warrior who was easily deceived by the Romans, exposing him to attack by the Pechenegs, is illogical. There are continuous questions all around. Why did the prince stay with a small squad and choose the water route in boats, although he always flew swiftly with his cavalry, which left with Sveneld? It turns out that he had no intention of returning to Kyiv?! He was waiting for the help that Sveneld was supposed to bring in order to continue the war. Why didn’t Sveneld, who reached Kyiv without any problems, send help or bring troops? Why didn’t Yaropolk send help? Why didn’t Svyatoslav try to take a longer, but safer road - through Belaya Vezha, along the Don?
Historians S.M. Soloviev and D.I. Ilovaisky, and in the 20th century - B.A. Rybakov and I.Ya. Froyanov, drew attention to the strange behavior of Voivode Sveneld. Currently, this strange fact was noted by researcher L. Prozorov. The governor’s behavior is all the more strange since he did not even have to return to Kyiv. According to the Novgorod First Chronicle, Prince Igor gave Sveneld to “feed” the land of the Uliches, a large union of tribes living in the region from the Middle Dnieper, above the rapids, to the Southern Bug and the Dniester. The princely governor could easily recruit a serious militia in the lands.
S.M. Soloviev noted that “Sveneld, willingly or unwillingly, dawdled in Kyiv.” D.I. Ilovaisky wrote that Svyatoslav “was waiting for help from Kyiv. But, obviously, either in the Russian land at that time things were in great disorder, or they did not have accurate information about the position of the prince - help did not come from anywhere. However, Sveneld arrived in Kyiv and had to present Prince Yaropolk and the Boyar Duma with information about the state of affairs with Svyatoslav.
Therefore, many researchers concluded that Sveneld betrayed Svyatoslav. He did not send any help to his prince and became the most influential nobleman at the throne of Yaropolk, which Kyiv received. Perhaps this betrayal is the origin of the murder by Prince Oleg, the second son of Svyatoslav, the son of Sveneld - Lyut, whom he met while hunting in his domain. Oleg asked who is driving the beast? Hearing “Sveneldich” in response, Oleg immediately killed him. Sveneld, avenging his son, set Yaropolk against Oleg. The first internecine, fratricidal war began.
Sveneld could be the conductor of the will of the Kyiv boyar-merchant elite, who were dissatisfied with the transfer of the capital of the Russian state to the Danube. In his desire to found a new capital in Pereyaslavets, Svyatoslav challenged the Kyiv boyars and merchants. Capital Kyiv was relegated to the background. They could not openly confront him. But the Kiev elite was able to subordinate the young Yaropolk to their influence and delay the matter of sending troops to help Svyatoslav, which became the reason for the death of the great commander.
In addition, L.N. Gumilyov noted such a factor as the revival of the “Christian party” in the Kyiv elite, which Svyatoslav defeated and drove underground during the pogrom of the mission of the Roman bishop Adalbert in 961 (“I’m coming to you!” Education of the hero and his first victory). Then Princess Olga agreed to accept Adalbert's mission. The Roman bishop persuaded the Kyiv elite to accept Christianity from the hands of the “most Christian ruler” in Western Europe- German king Otto. Olga listened attentively to the envoy of Rome. There was a threat of the Kyiv elite accepting the “holy faith” from the hands of the envoy of Rome, which led to the vassalage of the rulers of Rus' in relation to Rome and the German emperor. During that period, Christianity acted as an information weapon that enslaved neighboring regions. Svyatoslav harshly suppressed this sabotage. Bishop Adalbert's supporters were killed, possibly including representatives of the Christian party in Kyiv. The Russian prince seized control from his mother, who was losing her mind, and defended the conceptual and ideological independence of Rus'.
Svyatoslav's long campaigns led to the fact that his most faithful comrades left Kyiv with him. The influence of the Christian community was revived in the city. There were many Christians among the boyars, who had large profits from trade, and merchants. They were not happy about the transfer of the center of power to the Danube. The Joachim Chronicle reports on Yaropolk’s sympathies for Christians and Christians in his circle. This fact is confirmed by the Nikon Chronicle.
Gumilyov generally considers Sveneld the head of the surviving Christians in Svyatoslav’s army. Svyatoslav arranged the execution of Christians in the army, punishing them for their lack of courage in battle. He also promised to destroy all churches in Kyiv and destroy the Christian community. Svyatoslav kept his word. Christians knew this. Therefore, it was in their vital interests to eliminate the prince and his closest associates. What role Sveneld played in this conspiracy is unknown. We do not know whether he was the instigator or just joined the conspiracy, deciding that it would be beneficial for him. Perhaps he was simply set up. Anything could have happened, including Sveneld’s attempts to turn the situation in favor of Svyatoslav. No information. One thing is clear, the death of Svyatoslav is connected with Kyiv intrigues. It is possible that the Greeks and Pechenegs in this case were simply appointed as the main culprits in the death of Svyatoslav.
Conclusion
The actions of Svyatoslav Igorevich would have been enough for another commander or statesman for more than one life. The Russian prince stopped Rome's ideological invasion of Russian lands. Svyatoslav gloriously completed the work of the previous princes - he overthrew Khazar Khaganate, this monstrous snake of Russian epics. He razed the Khazar capital from the face of the earth, opened the Volga route for the Rus and established control over the Don (Belaya Vezha).
They are trying to present Svyatoslav in the image of an ordinary military leader, a “reckless adventurer” who wasted the strength of Rus' in vain. However, the Volga-Khazar campaign was an act worthy greatest commander, and was vital for the military-strategic and economic interests of Rus'. The struggle for Bulgaria and the attempt to establish itself in the Danube region were supposed to solve the main strategic problems in Rus'. The Black Sea would finally become the “Russian Sea”.
The decision to move the capital from Kyiv to Pereyaslavets, from the Dnieper to the Danube, also looks reasonable. During historical turning points, the capital of Rus' was moved more than once: Oleg the Prophet moved it from north to south - from Novgorod to Kyiv. Then it was necessary to focus on the problem of unifying the Slavic tribal unions and solving the problem of protecting the southern borders; Kyiv was better suited for this. Andrei Bogolyubsky decided to make Vladimir the capital city, leaving Kyiv, mired in intrigue, where the degenerate boyar-merchant elite drowned all the sovereign's undertakings. Peter moved the capital to the Neva in order to secure Russia’s access to the shores of the Baltic (formerly Varangian) Sea. The Bolsheviks moved the capital to Moscow, since Petrograd was militarily vulnerable. The decision on the need to move the capital from Moscow to the east, for example, to Novosibirsk, is ripe (even overripe) at the present time.
Svyatoslav was on his way to the south, so the capital on the Danube had to secure the Black Sea region for Russia. It should be noted that the Russian prince could not help but know that one of the first cities called Kyiv had already existed on the Danube. The transfer of the capital greatly facilitated the development and subsequent integration of new lands. Much later, in the 18th century, Russia will have to solve the same problems that Svyatoslav outlined (Caucasus, Crimea, Danube region). Plans to annex the Balkans and create a new capital of the Slavs - Constantinople - will be revived.
Svyatoslav did not fight for the sake of the war itself, although they are still trying to show him as a successful “Varangian”. He solved strategic super-tasks. Svyatoslav did not go south for the sake of mining or gold, he wanted to gain a foothold in the region and get along with the local population. Svyatoslav outlined priority directions for the Russian state - Volga, Don, North Caucasus, Crimea and Danube (Balkans). Bulgaria (Volga region), the North Caucasus entered the sphere of interests of Rus', the way was opened to the Caspian Sea, to Persia, and to the Arabs.
The heirs of the great strategist, mired in civil strife, quarrels and intrigues, had no time for a rush to the south and east. Although they tried to implement certain elements of Svyatoslav’s program. In particular, Vladimir captured Korsun. But in general, the plans and fruits of the Grand Duke’s victories were buried for many centuries. Only under Ivan the Terrible did Russia return to the Volga region, occupying Kazan and Astrakhan (in its area are the ruins of the Khazar capital - Itil), began to return to the Caucasus, and plans arose to subjugate Crimea. Svyatoslav was “simplified” as much as possible, turned into a successful military leader, a knight without fear or reproach. Although behind the actions of the warrior one can easily read the strategic plans for the construction of Great Rus'.
The titanic power and mystery of the figure of Svyatoslav Igorevich was also noted in Russian epics. His image, according to scientists, was preserved in the epic image of the most powerful hero of the Russian land - Svyatogor. His strength was so enormous that over time, the storytellers said, his mother earth stopped carrying him, and Svyatogor the hero was forced to go to the mountains.
Sources:
Artamonov M.I. History of the Khazars. 1962.
Ilovaisky D.I. The beginning of Rus'. M., 2012.
Leo Deacon. Story
Novoseltsev A.P. The Khazar state and its role in the history of Eastern Europe and the Caucasus. M., 1990.
Prozorov L. Svyatoslav the Great: “I’m coming to you!” M., 2011.
