Hatred is an active feeling of discontent; envy - passive. It is not surprising that envy quickly turns into hatred.
Goethe Johann Wolfgang
In 1015, a new civil war broke out in Kievan Rus. The reason for this was the death of Grand Duke Vladimir. After himself, he left twelve children, who began to divide the grand-ducal throne among themselves. Vladimir’s adopted son, Svyatopolk, was the first to declare his rights to power. Quickly taking advantage of the opportunity given to him, he independently assembled the Kiev veche and named himself the ruler of Kievan Rus.
A Word about Svyatopolk the Accursed, or Who Killed Boris and Gleb
One of the darkest places in the original Russian history is the death of princes Boris and Gleb, who later became the first Russian saints. It is officially believed that both brothers were killed on the orders of Svyatopolk “The Accursed”, who was then expelled from Kyiv by the famous Yaroslav, nicknamed “The Wise” by his descendants. This version is confirmed by chronicles, hagiographic tales and stories, and is contained as the main or only one in numerous textbooks, encyclopedias and monographs.
However, even a cursory reading of the sources raises serious doubts about the plausibility of the events described. Judge for yourself.
The first mention of Svyatopolk and Yaroslav in the chronicle dates back to 988. The author first lists all twelve sons of Vladimir, and then describes who was seated on which table that year. It is unlikely that all the offspring of the Grand Duke had already been born, but for now we are only interested in the eldest. Vysheslav settled in Novgorod, Izyaslav became the founder of the Polotsk dynasty, Svyatopolk got Turov, and Yaroslav got Rostov.
The next line is the news of Vysheslav’s death (in fact, he died much later, several years before Vladimir’s death). Yaroslav goes to Novgorod, Rostov goes to Boris, Gleb becomes the prince of Murom, Svyatoslav becomes the prince of the Drevlyans, Vsevolod becomes the prince of Volyn, and Mstislav goes to distant Tmutorokan. Izyaslav had already died by that time, and his son Bryachislav ruled in Polotsk.
And here is the first omission of the chronicle. Why is there no mention of the eldest of the heirs, Svyatopolk? In theory, it was he who should have taken the Novgorod table. Let's remember this important point and move on.
Our story begins in 1014. Yaroslav, sitting in Novgorod, refuses to send his father a legal tribute of two thousand hryvnia. Vladimir begins to gather an army and gives the order to pave the roads and bridge crossings. However, the father will not have the opportunity to go on a campaign against his son. He is struck down by a serious illness. The chronicler says that “God did not give the devil joy.” Despite such an optimistic statement, these events become the prologue to a long ten-year war between the descendants of Vladimir.
The following year the old prince dies. Shortly before this, Boris, who is in Kyiv with his father, goes on a campaign against the Pechenegs. He leads Vladimir's squad and the Kiev army (militia). This is where things get weird. Power in Kyiv is seized, and it is not entirely clear how Svyatopolk ended up there. He begins to give gifts and “estate” to the people of Kiev, they take it, but still (according to the chronicler) they want Boris.
At the same time, Svyatopolk sends messengers with the news of his father’s death to Boris, who at this time returns back, since he “did not find the Pechenegs.” The squad and the Kiev army offer Boris to go to Kyiv and take power. He refuses, citing the fact that he will not go against his older brother, he is now “instead of a father”, etc.
In fact, hagiographic stories and legends present Boris and Gleb as very young, their beards and mustaches either do not grow or are very small. However, apparently, in those years Boris was already about 27-28 years old. In those days, when people began to reign independently at the age of 15-16, this age could not be called infantile.
The squad and warriors abandon the hapless prince and leave. Svyatopolk finds out about this and goes to Vyshgorod. Local boyars agree to go and kill Boris. All this time, the latter sits in his tent on the Alta (a tributary of the Trubezh), praying, crying and singing psalms. Even when he finds out that they want to kill him, he does nothing. The conspirators burst into the tent and pierce the prince and his servant with sulits (short spears). At the same time, the servant’s head is cut off (an important detail, let’s remember it, like the whole surroundings with the night attack).
The killers are taking Boris's body to Vyshgorod. On the way, he begins to show signs of life, this becomes known to Svyatopolk, who sends two Varangians to finish off Boris. The last detail generally looks fantastic. How did Svyatopolk find out that Boris was still alive, why did he send the Varangians to finish him off (why couldn’t the conspirators themselves do this - did their conscience wake up, or what?), how did they manage to turn around so quickly, etc.
Boris’s behavior is no less strange. He is the son of the Grand Duke of Kyiv, the legitimate heir to the ruler of the vast Eastern European empire. Shortly before his death, his father calls him to him, actually makes him his co-ruler, gives him command of his personal squad and the army of the capital city. Both the squad and the people of Kiev themselves want to see Boris as their prince. What does this mean? It seems that Boris’s personal qualities suited both professional warriors and the middle wealthy strata of Kiev residents (those who made up the military militia). That is, he was at least a brave and decisive warrior, at the same time, probably, a fairly skillful and tough administrator.
And suddenly Boris refuses the power offered to him by fate itself, begins to shed tears, sing psalms and does nothing even after he learns that assassins have already been sent against him. To be honest, the image of this “non-resistance to evil” and “nerd-intellectual” in no way fits with the real Russian prince, the favorite of the squad and wealthy strata of the “armed people.” It is clear that the authors of the chronicle could have added a little, giving the appearance of Boris “holiness”, as they understood it. But in any case, Boris’s behavior cannot be called logical.
The most interesting thing is that the behavior of the “cursed” Svyatopolk is not entirely logical. He knows very well that neither Yaroslav, nor Mstislav, nor Bryachislav will obey him. There will be a war. At the same time, Boris (and Gleb) do not show the slightest resistance to him (as the eldest in the family). And for some reason he orders the killing of his potential allies. This cannot be explained by anything other than “cursedness.” The chronicler, however, doesn’t really try.
With Gleb, the story turns out to be completely strange. Svyatopolk sends him a messenger with instructions to “come to his dying father.” He travels from Murom to the Volga, then to Smolensk, and boards a ship (or landing ship) just below the city. In fact, the path from Murom to Kyiv does not lie either through the Volga or through Smolensk and goes much further south. If by rivers, then along the Oka and then through the tributaries of the Desna - to Chernigov. One could assume that Gleb is traveling from Rostov, where he is temporarily reigning instead of Boris, who was recalled to Kyiv. However, given the more than strange behavior of his personal guard (youths), this option is also unlikely.
Along the way, Gleb is met by messengers from Yaroslav (from Novgorod), who report the death of his father and the murder of Boris. Gleb immediately begins to shed tears (and, probably, sing psalms). The killers who soon arrived from Svyatopolk, with complete non-resistance from Gleb’s people, give the order to the latter’s personal cook (!) to stab his master with a knife. Which is what he does.
It was probably simply impossible to come up with a more stupid and illogical version. Why did Gleb take a roundabout route through the Volga and Smolensk? Why did his youths not offer the slightest resistance? If he was so soft-hearted that he was openly despised by his own people, including his personal chef, why was it necessary to kill him at all, what danger could he pose for the eldest in the family, Svyatopolk? And in general, aren’t there too many indecisive weaklings among the sons and heirs of the Grand Duke?
In general, it is clear that the official version is no good. But what really happened? Foreign sources are helping to restore the picture. But first, let us very briefly describe subsequent events in the interpretation of the chronicle.
After the death of Gleb, on the orders of Svyatopolk, Svyatoslav of Drevlyansky is killed. Yaroslav the next year (1016) opposes Svyatopolk and defeats him. The latter flees to Poland and returns two years later (1018) with the army of the Polish king Boleslav. Now Yaroslav is fleeing for his life. A year later, Svyatopolk expels the Poles. Yaroslav sets out on a new campaign and wins a final victory, including over the Pechenegs allied with Svyatopolk. Svyatopolk flees and dies from his wounds.
Now let’s turn to the chronicle of Thietmar of Merseburg, who until the end of 1018 was the bishop of the German lands on the border with Poland. According to Thietmar, one of Vladimir’s sons was married to the daughter of the Polish king Boleslav. The Polish chronicle Galla Anonyma reports the same thing. Considering that Svyatopolk was one of the eldest sons (after the deceased Izyaslav and Vysheslav) and then fled to Poland, obviously, we are talking about him.
Apparently, at first Vladimir wanted to make Svyatopolk his heir and perhaps even co-ruler. However, he then suspected a conspiracy and imprisoned his son (along with his wife and her priest Rainburn). Probably, the death of the Novgorod prince Vysheslav dates back to this time, and it is precisely for this reason that Svyatopolk is not included in the list of sons who received new inheritances.
But then it turns out that at the time of Vladimir’s death Svyatopolk was in prison! According to Thietmar, he managed to escape only after some time, and his wife remained in Kyiv, under lock and key. This means that Svyatopolk could not have organized the murder of Boris, Gleb and Svyatoslav (if they happened in 1015, as the chronicle claims). Moreover, he could not fight with the army of Yaroslav who marched on Kyiv in 1016!
With whom then was the last person to fight for the capital city? It is clear that in 1018 it was Svyatopolk, together with Boleslav, who expelled Yaroslav (here the chronicle of Thietmar confirms the information in the chronicle). There is no particular doubt that Yaroslav ruled Kiev since 1016. But who did he have to defeat in the battle on the banks of the Dnieper? Here Thietmar’s information cannot help us in any way; he does not name the Russian prince who ruled immediately after the death of Vladimir.
Help comes from the Scandinavian sagas. In two of them, “The Saga of Ingvar the Traveler” and “The Strands of Eymund,” the events of interest to us are mentioned. In both sources, Eymund (either a Swede or a Norwegian) arrives in Holmgard, where King Yaritsleif, married to Ingigerd, rules. At this time, in Gardarik there is a struggle between the three sons of the deceased king Valdamar. One, named Vartilav, reigns in Polteskju. The second has the richest lands, its capital is Kenugard, and its name is Buritzleif or Burislaf. In the following, "Eymund's Strand" describes in detail the course of the war between Yaritsleif and Burislaf.
There is no doubt here that the first two refer to Yaroslav, who reigned in Novgorod (his wife was indeed Ingigerda) and Bryachislav of Polotsk (grandson of Vladimir). But who was Burislaf, who was sitting in Kyiv (Kenugard of Scandinavian sources)? Historians tried to explain the messages of the saga by the fact that the Polish king Boleslav was in the capital of Rus' at that time, whose name was given as Burislaf or Buritsleif.
However, it is worth taking a closer look at the description of the war. Burislaf demands part of the lands from Yaritsleif. The latter goes on a campaign and expels his opponent from Kyiv. The next year, Burislaf went to war against Yaroslav. Tom manages to repel the attack, and he is wounded in the leg and remains lame for the rest of his life (which is consistent with the data known to us). A year later, Burislaf sets out on his last campaign. And here is the most interesting detail.
Eymund takes the warriors with him and goes to meet them. At the edge of the forest, at night, the Varangians break into the tent and kill the prince along with all his companions. Doesn't remind you of anything? They then cut off Burislaf's head and take it to Yaritsleif. He orders them to bury the murdered prince. Two Varangians go back for the body. So a reasonable explanation appears for the two Varangians, whom it is unclear why Svyatopolk sent after the murder, and so a head pops up, allegedly cut off from a servant of the deceased prince.
So what happens? Burislaf is Boris/Borislav, and it was with him that Yaroslav fought for the Kiev table? It seems very likely that this is exactly what happened. At least this version is the only one that does not contradict any of the foreign sources. But the Yaroslavichs’ own court chronicle could well have been falsified.
The question of who killed Gleb and Svyatoslav turns out to be hardly resolvable. It is likely that Svyatoslav became a victim of Boris, who first seized the land of the Drevlyans, and only then began to make claims on the territory of Yaroslav. Or maybe Svyatoslav died at the hands of the same Yaroslav. Or his killer is really Svyatopolk, who captured Kyiv in 1018 with the help of Polish troops.
The cause of Gleb’s death is also unclear. If you believe the chronicle, then he was Boris’s brother, their mother was a “Bulgarian” (this version is confirmed by the names of the princes). At the same time, it is quite likely that after Vladimir’s death he could become (or became) the ruler of not only Murom, but also Rostov. In this case, he automatically became a rather strong opponent for both Yaroslav and Boris himself. His route to Kyiv across the Volga is also explained. Or maybe he was going to connect with Yaroslav?
In general, we have very little information about Gleb’s possible killer. After all, foreign sources say nothing about this, and guessing exactly what the chronicle is lying about and what it “just” doesn’t say is an obviously useless exercise in this case.
In addition to the above arguments for the above-described version of the war between Vladimir’s heirs, we also have indirect arguments. Firstly, none of Yaroslav’s sons received the names Boris and Gleb (as well as the baptismal names of Roman and David). Considering the implanted cult of the holy brothers “innocently killed by the accursed Svyatopolk”, this is not very logical. Among Yaroslav's further descendants, these names are also not very common.
But the name of Svyatopolk, on the contrary, is not subject to any “obstruction”. This is exactly what one of Yaroslav’s eldest grandchildren was named during his grandfather’s lifetime. This name begins to fall out of use only after the widespread dissemination of the church legend and, obviously, after the final editing of the chronicle story.
The personality traits of Yaroslav himself also speak in favor of such a hypothesis. For example, he cruelly and treacherously dealt with the Novgorodians (just before the start of the war for Kyiv). Or a more suitable example is his action towards his brother Sudislav. From 1024 to 1036, Yaroslav had to share power with Mstislav, who sat in Chernigov and ruled “Left Bank” Russia.
After the death of Mstislav, Yaroslav immediately planted the last survivor, Vladimirovich Sudislav, in the chop. Even the chronicler directly says that this was done based on slander (that is, the brother was slandered, and everyone knew this very well).
The only opponent that Yaroslav could not reach was his nephew Bryachislav. The independent direct line of the Polotsk princes will be stopped only under Yaroslav's great-grandson Mstislav the Great, son of Vladimir Monomakh. After this, only representatives of various branches of the Yaroslavichs will rule on the main tables in Rus' for a long time.
The meaning of noble princes in Orthodoxy
If we take into account the unofficial version of events of the 11th century, the canonization of Russian princes takes on special significance. The exact date has not been established, but their veneration as saints began under Yaroslav the Wise. Boris and Gleb are numbered among the martyrs-passion-bearers. The face of saints unites Christians killed by Christians without resistance. There are similarities between their fate and the death of the Romanov family. The princes suffered innocently in the internecine war. People were healed at the relics of the saints, so they began to be revered as miracle workers and healers. For the princely descendants they became patrons and are considered protectors of the Russian land.
Boris and Gleb acted according to the Christian law, which yesterday’s pagan Russians did not yet know well. The brothers showed an example of higher love. As First John says, anyone who says he loves God but raises his hand against his brother is a liar. They preferred to die immediately rather than fight with their brothers. The body can be killed, but the soul is immortal. The feat of the holy princes lies in the fact that they did not return evil for evil, but humbled themselves before the will of their elder brother.
If the princes had rebelled against Svyatopolk, they would not have received such honor as grace in Heaven and eternal memory. But the princes sacrificed their lives to preserve peace. Svyatopolk is compared to Cain. He received retribution for fratricide. After defeat in the battle with Yaroslav the Wise, Svyatopolk hid in Poland and could not find refuge for himself. After his death, his grave was considered unclean. The princes he killed symbolize God's Punishment.
The winner does not always win. This is confirmed in Serbian history, when King Lazar received a revelation from God. If he wins, he will reign on earth, and if he loses, he will reign in Heaven. Lazarus chose the eternal Kingdom of Heaven. Victory can turn into loss. Boris and Gleb are strong warriors. Like Lazarus, they knew when to use weapons and when to die from them.
What do the holy passion-bearers ask for?
Christians turn to princes with requests:
- send a wise ruler;
- strengthen in the Orthodox faith;
- protect from enemies;
- relieve poverty and hunger;
- heal from sorrow and despondency;
- prevent sudden death;
- reconcile the warring;
- drive out anger and hatred;
- establish peace in the state.
The holy brothers are asked to pray to the Lord for the forgiveness of sins and the healing of diseases of the legs and eyes.
Prayer text
Oh, sacred duo, beautiful brethren, good passion-bearers Boris and Gleb, who from their youth served Christ with faith, purity and love, and adorned themselves with their blood like scarlet, and now reigns with Christ! Do not forget us who exist on earth, but as warm intercessors, by your strong intercession before Christ God, preserve the young in holy faith and purity, unharmed from every excuse of unbelief and impurity, protect us all from all sorrow, bitterness and vain death, tame all enmity and malice, raised up by the action of the devil from neighbors and strangers. We pray to you, Christ-loving passion-bearers, ask the Great-Gift Master for forgiveness of our sins, unanimity and health, deliverance from the invasion of foreigners, internecine warfare, plagues and famine. Provide (this city) with your intercession to all who honor your holy memory, forever and ever. Amen.
