Prince Svyatoslav historical portrait. Summary: The first Rurikovich: historical portraits (Olga, Svyatoslav, Vladimir). Hike to the Khazars

In many historical sources one can find the fact that Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich was truly a brave warrior. A brief biography can tell that his reign was short, but nevertheless during this period he managed to significantly increase the territory of Ancient Russia. In terms of his character, he was more of a conqueror than a politician, so he spent most of his reign on campaigns.

Childhood and early reign

Presumably, we can say that Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich was born in 940. His biography in this place is slightly different in different sources, so it is difficult to name the exact date of the birth of the son of Igor and Olga.

At the time of his father's death, he was only three years old, so he could not head the state on his own. His wise mother began to rule the country.

She decided to take revenge on the Drevlyans for the cruel death of her husband and went on a campaign against them. According to the tradition of those times, only the ruler of the state, who was the four-year-old prince Svyatoslav Igorevich, could lead the campaign. A brief biography of the early years of his life tells that it was he who then threw a spear at the feet of the enemy, after which he gave the order to his squad to advance.

In subsequent years, the affairs of the state and the internal politics of the prince were completely uninterested. The solution to all these issues was always dealt with by the regent, who was his mother. But it was so until a certain point.

Further reign

The first independent action of the young ruler of Great Russia was the expulsion from their lands of the bishop and all the priests who came with him, invited by Olga to baptize and Christianize the state. This happened in 964 and was a fundamental moment for a young man, so this is exactly what Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich decided to do. His brief biography tells that the mother tried to convert her son to the Christian faith, and he preferred to remain a pagan.

Being a great commander, he explained this by saying that he could lose authority with his squad by becoming a Christian. At the same moment of life, the independent military activity of the young ruler also began, and he spent the following years away from home.

Hike to the Khazars

Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich led his mighty army to the east against the Vyatichi. A brief biography of his conquest can tell that he conquered this tribe and went on. This time he decided to subjugate the Khazar Kaganate.

Having reached the Volga itself and having conquered many villages and towns on his way, the commander moved further to Khazaria, where he met a large marching army. In 965, the Khazars were completely prince and his glorious retinue was defeated, and their lands were devastated. After that, a brief biography of Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich tells that he won another series of victories and decided to return home.

Bulgarian campaigns

But the prince did not have long to rest, after some time the ambassador of the ruler of the Greek lands arrived to him and began to ask for help in the battle against the Bulgarians living on the Danube. Therefore, the ruler of the ancient Russian state went to the banks of this river, defeated the people living there and seized their territory.

The vile Pechenegs, bribed by the emperor of Byzantium, took advantage of the absence of the prince and his squad. They surrounded Kyiv, but Olga still managed to call the Old Russian governor Pretich to her aid, who at that very time was nearby with his army. The enemies thought that it was Svyatoslav himself in a hurry to rescue the city and hastily retreated. And then the prince himself returned to Kyiv, driving the Pechenegs even further away from the capital of Russia.

After the death of his mother, the great warrior decided to go on another campaign to the Bulgarian lands, and instead of himself left his sons on the throne, of whom he had three. This offensive was also crowned with the victory of the prince, and he even managed to capture the children of the king of Bulgaria.

But the new ruler of Byzantium did not like this, and he sent his messengers demanding that the prince leave this territory. In his response, Svyatoslav offered him to buy out the Bulgarian territory. Thus was the beginning of the war between these powerful states, in which almost the entire Russian army was destroyed.

The biography of Prince Svyatoslav briefly tells that he spent four months in a besieged city and, together with his squad, experienced deprivation, need and hunger. The Greek army was also exhausted by long wars, so the warring parties decided to conclude a truce. The prince of Russia promised to extradite all the captured Greeks and leave the Bulgarian cities, and also not to start a war with Byzantium again.

Doom

In 972, after the conclusion of such an agreement, the prince safely reached the banks of the Dnieper and set off on boats to its thresholds. At this time, the Byzantine ruler informed the leader of the Pechenegs that the great Russian commander was heading home with a small number of soldiers.

The Pecheneg leader took advantage of this situation and attacked him. In this battle, the entire squad and Prince Svyatoslav himself died. A brief summary of the history of the reign tells that after him the son Yaropolk ascended the throne.

Board results

He spent most of his reign in endless battles. Some historians can be quite critical of the commander and say that he participated in various foreign policy adventures.

But, as the brief biography of Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich shows, the years of reign (from 965 to 972) were not in vain. Campaigns against the Khazars, as well as on the Bulgarian lands, were able to ensure the access of the Russian state to the Caspian waters.

In addition, Kievan Rus acquired its own fortification post on the Tamakan Peninsula, and also won recognition as a strong and powerful state.

Since the Grand Duke was also an experienced conqueror, he knew how to correctly bring confusion into the ranks of the enemy army in order to subsequently defeat him. Just before the start of the battle, he sent his messenger to the enemy with a message in which it was written: "I'm going to you!". At first glance, it may seem that this is completely contrary to common sense, but the prince had his own calculation.

Such a letter forced the entire enemy army to gather in one place for a decisive battle. Thus, Svyatoslav could avoid battles with separate groups of soldiers. We can say that he was one of the first to use information and psychological warfare.

This great man accomplished many feats in his short life and remained in history as a wise and warlike ruler of Ancient Russia.

Forewarning.

A precious excerpt from the Byzantine descriptive writings of Leo the Deacon of Caloene, from 959 to 975 from R. Chr. still in manuscript in the Paris Public Library. G. Gaze, who serves at it, and deals with the description of the manuscripts in this Library, intended to publish the History written by Leo the Deacon and correcting the text, he was preparing to start printing 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 for his dependency an exact copy of this manuscript, so that it can be published here with a correct Russian translation. No response has yet been received from Paris.)

And therefore, G. Gaze was now content with publishing only a short news about the work of Leo the Deacon, with an 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. Meanwhile, here we consider it necessary to briefly 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 about it, and in 981, already a Deacon, he was in the camp of Emperor Basil II in the time of his campaign against the Bulgarians. Based on the details of the description that he left us about the appearance of our Grand Duke Svyatoslav Igorevich, we must conclude that he wrote all this according to the words of that eyewitness who was under Emperor John Tzimiskes, when this one rode up to that place on his horse , on which the meeting of these two Sovereigns was arranged, and to whom Svyatoslav Igorevich swam 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 message, for the curious, the image or portrait of the Grand Duke Svyatoslav Igorevich was written out for the curious, attached herewith in Greek, with a literal, so to speak, translation of it into Russian and with some notes to that.

Translation:

“Svyatoslav walked (1) on a certain Scythian small ship (a) and swimming across the river, with an oar (2) he worked on a par with the others, rowing with us (b); he was of medium height, not taller than usual, and not too small; eyebrows had thick, blue eyes, a flat nose, (3) the beard was bare (4) thick strands of stripes hung along the upper lip; (c) and on his head, however, almost completely naked, only a crest fluttered, (d) meaning his noble origin. He had a thick neck, a wide chest, and his whole body and limbs were excellent; his eyes were gloomy and wild; in my ears (5) hung a golden earring, adorned with two pearls, between mine was inserted a worm-like yahont; (6) the clothes on him are white, they did not differ from the others in anything, except for their cleanliness (e).
Notes Historical.

(a.) Ἐπί τινος Σκυϑικᾶ ακατια. - On a certain Scythian ship. - Is it not on the Little Russian canoe, which is now called oaks? These river boats (used by the Cossacks along the sea shores, following the example of the ancient Russians) were hollowed out from one oak ridge, from which the oak, oaks got their name. (Now these ships are mostly made of thick linden ridges, (reassuringly for the lack of oak trees), which does not prevent them from calling them oaks, according to the custom adopted from ancient times.) They raise up to 40 and up to 50 people.

In the Nestor Chronicle, the ships on which the Russians went to fight in Tsarya-grad have different names, namely: a ship, (κάραβος, κάραβιον, This Greek saying at the beginning served only for the name of a sea tailless cancer, in French Crabe; - when the Greek language began to decline in Byzantium, then κάραβος, κάραβιον already meant what we called Ship in ancient times.Now the question arises which of these two peoples, i. appropriated?) boat, Skedia or shedia, from the Greek Σχεδιά, i.e., a vessel, hastily, hastily made, what name could be more appropriate for a boat, hollowed out of one ridge? Nestor says that these ships raised 40 people.

(b.) Σὺν τοῖς ἑτέρις ἐρεπῖῶν. It should be noted here that it seemed strange to anyone to see the Grand Duke Svyatoslav Igorevich himself working with an oar, along with others, then you just need to remember the Words of Pr. Nestor about the properties, habits and courage of this ancient Russian knight: Prince Svyatoslav (says Nestor), having come of age and matured, began to copulate "many and brave troops", and walked easily, like a pard (kind of a tiger), created many wars; and on campaigns he did not have a convoy with him, nor a boiler; he didn’t cook meat, but thinly cut up horse meat or animal meat, or beef, baked it on coals, ate it; he didn’t have a tent, but he laid a lining (probably a sweatshirt) under himself (instead of a bed) and put a saddle in his head (instead of a pillow); such were his other warriors" - (Nestor. Koenigs. years.; volume 6472/964.

After reading these words of Nestor, there is nothing to be surprised that Svyatoslav, swimming across the river, rowed along with the others. According to this brief description of the beginning of the reign and the properties of V.K. Svyatoslav, one can foresee in him that fearless warrior who once exclaims 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, then 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, we will lay our heads here.” (Nestor. Koenigs. years, under the summer of 971).

This is the mindset of our ancestors in the 10th century! - Here is their determination against a large army in a foreign land, within the boundaries of proud and still strong Byzantium! (There are examples of this determination and this courage in the deeds of our other fellow tribesmen! - When, even before Svyatoslav, Kakhan of Abarskaya (a people known in our annals under the name Obrov) sent to the South 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 used to taking other people's lands: we will not let anyone suck ours. like their ancestors: we die or we 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 at the glorious Kulm rabbi in 1813!

(c.) The original says; that thick strands of hair hung from the upper lip. — Just to say: thick, long mustache. - In Greek Μάςαξ or Μυςαξ. mustache. Here, however, the word Μυςαξ is not used, and it seems that not without reason, for it simply means an ordinary mustache. It is immediately said that strands of hair hung in length; It is hopeful that these mustaches, descending from the upper lip on both sides of the mouth, continued down the beard and already formed long thick locks of hair, as some Little Russians, Poles and other Slavic tribes still wear.

(d) Βόςρυχος, Cincinnicus. - A strand of hair. - Cirrus - crest. According to this description, it is clear that Svyatoslav in 971 AD walked in the same haircut, and also shaved his beard, leaving only his mustache, like our ancient 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 Oselslets, that is, a long and thin strand of hair left in the middle of the forelock itself, which the Cossacks still wear to this day, wrapping it around one ear .

(e.) Εσϑὴς τέτω. His clothes are white, etc. By consideration, we can conclude that Svyatoslav, swimming across the river and exercising. in hard work (for he rowed, as the descriptor says, on a par with others) sat in one shirt; therefore it is said that the white clothes on him did not differ in anything from the others, except for cleanliness: consequently, their cut was the same for everyone. This assumption is therefore plausible that those who practice rowing among all peoples usually do this work in a shirt, because this occupation requires freedom in body movements, for comfortable and strong action with an oar, and a light, wide dress in order to cool down and without extreme fatigue to perform such tedious work. .

Notes Grammar.

(1.) In Greek it is said, ἦκεν ἐπι… ἀκατίσ the word "ἦκεν" is literally translated by the word went, for this saying is peculiar to our language. and in this exact sense it is still used: he went on such and such a ship, he came on a ship. They were on a boat...

(2.) Τῆς κόπη 969;μμέιος. - The last word literally means in Greek: tied. - In a figurative sense, the participle ἡμμέιος, which comes from the verb, ἄπτω, ̚0; touch, touch, act with hands. Here we are talking about rowing, about action with an oar, therefore, you can use the word: act or better, 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 anyone who knows the action knows oars.

(3.) Σιμος. - Contrasted with the saying γρυπός, the first is translated into Latin by the word: simus, qui pressis est naribus. - In French, camus, camard, - who has pressed, flattened nostrils. Γρυπός in Latin is translated by the word aquilinus, aduncus, a cursed nose with a hump. Therefore, Σιμος should, in its exact sense, be translated by the vernacular word hornosnius, or snub-nosed, derived from the old, uncommon saying 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 affirmatively said that ἐψιλωμένος and ἐψίλωτο meant shaved, for the ancient peoples shaved, cut, washed, removed the hair on their heads and beards with ointment (dépilation, épilation), as the Turks now bring them out with a special composition called Ruzana. For these reasons, instead of shaven, the general word bared is put here, which is used by our people to mean a person with a shaved or tightly trimmed head or beard. To bare a beard is also what to shave.

(5.) The original says; in the ears in the plural, while the earring is mentioned in the singular. In other matters, among our people it is also said: what kind of earring do you have in your ears, gold or copper.

(6.) Ἄνϑςακος λίϑα - in our translation of the Holy Scriptures, this stone is called Anphraz, carbunculus. - A precious stone that looks like hot coal; in general, it is mistaken for a lenticular yahont, ruby, rubis. —

A. Olenin.
"Son of the Fatherland", 1814. Part 11, No 2.

In the early 60s, Olga, after the death of her husband, was forced to transfer the reign to her son Svyatoslav.

“Remaining a three-year-old child after the death of his father, who was killed by the Drevlyans, Svyatoslav (964-972) grew up among combatants,” the Russian Biographical Dictionary of 1904 testifies. Already in 946, he was at the head of a squad that opposed the Drevlyans with revenge for the death of Igor; a little four-year-old prince is put on a horse and given a spear in his hands, which he throws at his enemies; a spear thrown by a weak childish hand falls at the feet of the prince's horse; the squad, seeing at its head the infant chief who started the battle, bravely rushes at the enemies and quickly overcomes them.

The historian Leo the Deacon described Svyatoslav's appearance: “Medium height, with thick eyebrows, blue eyes, a flat nose and thick, long hair hanging on his upper lip. 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 broad and the whole body is rather slender. He seemed dark and wild."

In his mature years, Svyatoslav did not recognize and did not consider himself a prince of Kyiv, and in the 40s he lived in Novgorod.

Svyatoslav's tutor was Asmud, and the voivode was Sveneld. As soon as Svyatoslav matured, he discovered the typical features of a warrior prince; Zemsky affairs interested him little, he was drawn to military enterprises in remote lands.

The annals preserved a description of the prince’s and his squad’s camp life: “... he easily went on campaigns,“ like a pardus ”(like a leopard), and fought a lot. On campaigns, he did not take carts or cauldrons with him, he did not cook meat, but he thinly sliced ​​horse meat, or game, or beef, roasted it on coals, and ate it. He did not have a tent, but slept, spreading a sweatshirt with a saddle in his head, and such were his warriors. He sent to foreign lands, announcing: "I'm going to you."

Svyatoslav was faced with the task of protecting Russia from the raids of nomads (Pechenegs) and clearing trade routes to other countries. Svyatoslav coped with this task successfully, which allows us to speak of him as a capable figure and commander.

From 964, Svyatoslav began a fierce struggle against the Khazar Khaganate, which posed a constant threat to Kyiv. First, Svyatoslav liberates the Vyatichi lands from the power of the Khazars and subordinates the latter to Kyiv. Then he wins victories over the Volga Bulgars, the North Caucasian tribes of Yases, Kasogs, Kabardians, Circassians and Adyghes. Svyatoslav's victories weakened the Khazar Khaganate so much that it was no longer able to revive its former power and soon collapsed.

In 967-968. in alliance with Byzantium, Svyatoslav fought with Bulgaria for the Danube. The brilliant victories of the Kyiv prince frightened the Byzantine emperor Nicephorus Fok - he reconciled with the Bulgarians, and then entered into a secret alliance with the Pechenegs. In the summer of 968, the Pechenegs laid siege to Kyiv. There were no squads capable of repelling the enemy in Kyiv. Olga with three young grandchildren took refuge behind the fortress walls. Svyatoslav with the army was far away, but on the left bank of the Dnieper there was a small squad of the Kyiv governor Pretich, capable of resisting the Pechenegs for a short time. Some young Kievan managed to get through the Pecheneg camp, swim across the Dnieper and notify Pretich about the invasion of nomads. When Pretich's squad suddenly appeared at the walls of Kyiv, the Pechenegs, frightened by the military prowess of the Russians, made peace and retired from the city.

In 969 Svyatoslav returned to Kyiv. He divided his possessions between his sons: Yaropolk gave Kyiv, Oleg - the land of Drevlyansk, Vladimir - Novgorod, and he again went to Bulgaria, intending to move the capital of Russia to the Bulgarian city of Predslavets, where, as he believed, "benefits from different countries would converge ”: silk, gold, Byzantine utensils, silver and horses from Hungary and the Czech Republic, wax, honey, furs and captive slaves from Russia.

Returning to Bulgaria (970), Svyatoslav found there not subjects, but enemies, who had to be subdued by fire and sword. The Byzantine emperor John Tzimiskes, fearing the strengthening of Svyatoslav's power, demanded that he leave Bulgaria. Svyatoslav refused, and a bloody war ensued. A decisive battle took place near the city of Adrianople. Before the battle, Svyatoslav told the squad: “Escape will not save us. Let us not disgrace the Russian land, but let us lie here with our bones, for the dead have no shame! Let's get strong. I am going before you, and when I lay down my head, then do what you want.” The small squad of Svyatoslav rushed at the Byzantines with such fury that the army of Tzimiskes could not resist and fled. After this battle, having met on the banks of the Danube, Svyatoslav and John Tzimiskes signed a truce.

In the next 971, the Byzantine emperor, violating the truce, laid siege to the city of Pereyaslavets (Svyatoslav's headquarters). After a long siege and examples of the desperate courage of Russian soldiers, Svyatoslav concluded a peace treaty with Ion Tzimiskes and led his thinned army to Kyiv.

However, the insidious Byzantine emperor, wishing to finally destroy Svyatoslav, let the Pecheneg Khan Kure know that "... the prince of Kyiv is returning to his fatherland with small forces, but with great wealth." In the spring of 972, at the Dnieper rapids (on the island of Khortitsa), Svyatoslav was ambushed and died along with his squad in an unequal battle. According to legend, Khan Kurya made a cup out of Svyatoslav's skull and, as a sign of his military prowess, drank only from it.

The story about the wars of Svyatoslav in Bulgaria, which Leo the Deacon finds in The Tale of Bygone Years, refers to real history in the same way as the short story about Olga's trip to Constantinople.

D. S. Likhachev states: “However, Svyatoslav, as you know, came with his army to Bulgaria not on horseback, but in boats, and not from Kyiv, but from the shores of the Kerch Strait, where he had to sail on his ships, as both Leo the Deacon and Skylitsa testify to all this in agreement. Thus, the warnings of the resurrected Sveneld and the circumstances of the death of Svyatoslav in the spring of 972 belong entirely to literature, and not to history, just like the legend about the moralizing inscription on the rim of the bowl from the skull of Svyatoslav, made by the notorious Pecheneg prince Kurei. In fact, the attack of the Pechenegs on Svyatoslav most likely took place in July or August of the same 971 between the arm of the Danube and the Dnieper "white coast", which segment of the path was indicated by Constantine Porphyrogenite as the most dangerous from the Pechenegs.

According to pagan custom, Svyatoslav had several wives. The mother of the princes Yaropolk and Oleg Drevlyansky was the Pecheneg (or Hungarian) princess Predslava, and the future Grand Duke of Kyiv Vladimir was born from the housekeeper Malusha (servant of Princess Olga).



Svyatoslav Igorevich

In the year of Svyatoslav's birth (942), Igor could not have been much less than 70 years old, since during Oleg's campaign to Kyiv (879) he could not have been older than 10–12 years, otherwise Oleg's son, but Rurik's son, would have led the campaign , Igor. If we accept the calculations of V.N. Tatishchev, the birth of Igor, according to the Schism Chronicle, falls on the period from 873 to 875. In this case, Igor was from 67 to 69 years old in the year Svyatoslav was born. The age to become a father is not quite right. If we turn to the Nizhny Novgorod chronicle, indicating 861 as the year of Igor's birth, then at 81 to have a child is even more "doubtful" (in the words of V.N. Tatishchev).

This served as the basis for the assumption that the actual father of Svyatoslav could not be Igor, but someone else. Even sometimes they recall the matchmaking to Princess Olga, the mother of Svyatoslav, the Drevlyansky prince Mal, forgetting that this matchmaking was unsuccessful, and the daughter of the Drevlyan later became the concubine of Svyatoslav himself and bore him a son, Vladimir. In addition, chronicle sources report that during the war between Olga and the Drevlyans, Svyatoslav was already three years old.

There are other assumptions about the origin of Svyatoslav, in particular L.N. Gumilyov. 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 Svyatoslav's birth sometimes disputed? it belongs to some historians 20 years earlier. This is stated in the study by E.V. Pchelova. Chronicler's errors in recording dates are quite possible.

The development of the hypothesis that Svyatoslav's father was not Igor (and such a hypothesis has become very attractive for some history buffs) leads to the conclusion that Svyatoslav's reign meant a change in the Varangian dynasty (if we agree that the first Russian princes? Rurik, Oleg and Igor? were Varangian or perhaps of Scandinavian origin) into Slavic.

Archaeological research by T.I. Alekseeva showed that Scandinavian anthropological types are found in burials on Ladoga and in cemeteries near Chernigov, but are absolutely absent in Kyiv. But these objective data do not at all deny Igor's paternity. From them follows only the fact that there was no noticeable number of Scandinavians in Kyiv. 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 in common with the Scandinavians. Then no change of dynasty occurred, 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 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 in marriage even earlier. It was superfluous to talk about the mutual feelings of the young in such conditions. Dynastic marriages in the name of achieving political goals subsequently made the ethnicity of the Russian princes very difficult to determine. In this sense, the example of Andrei Bogolyubsky, a sixth-generation descendant of Svyatoslav, is typical. It mixed the blood of the Swedish, Byzantine and English princesses (grandmothers, great-grandmothers and great-great-grandmothers), and the Polovtsian princess became his mother. He himself was married, as expected, three times: in his youth to a Bulgar woman, after her death to the Suzdal hawthorn Ulita, and by a third marriage to an Ossetian. With all this, Andrey? a typical Russian prince, a zealous Christian. Subsequently, he was canonized as an Orthodox saint.

Unlike his descendants, Svyatoslav was a convinced pagan, so he sharply rejected Christianity spreading in Kyiv. When 12-year-old Svyatoslav Olga offered to be baptized, he refused: "My squad will start laughing at this."

At the same time, calling the Christian faith “ugliness”, he showed some religious tolerance: “If anyone wants to be baptized, I don’t scold, but I scold him: there is ugliness to the faith of the Christian” ( “If anyone wanted to be baptized, he did not scold him, but scoffed: for unbelievers, the Christian faith is the same as ugliness”).

In 959, Svyatoslav was already 17 years old. He showed dissatisfaction with the adoption of Christianity by Olga, "besides, he was angry with his mother."

B.A. Rybakov draws attention to the fact that during the hostilities with Byzantium, which were led by Svyatoslav, Christianity could not help but become a persecuted religion. Preserving their traditional religious beliefs was part of the defense of political sovereignty.

Svyatoslav proved to be a brilliant commander and a noble man. The years of his reign have adorned Russian history forever. "I'm coming for you"? he nobly warned his enemies about his campaign, avoiding treachery and deceit. The chroniclers compared it with a cheetah: "... He himself is brave and walking easily, like a pardus." Pardus? this is a cheetah; the leopard or leopard was also called this word, but it is the cheetah among all the animals of the earth that is distinguished by uncontrollable speed, purposefulness and ease of running. In battle, he fought in the forefront of his soldiers: “But 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, assumed 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. Gumilyov) to the struggle for dominance over the tribes that paid tribute (B.D. Grekov).

Svyatoslav began "to copulate many and brave" from 964. With his squad, as follows from the studies of B.D. Grekov, he made victorious campaigns on the Oka, on the Volga, to the Kama and Danube Bulgarians, to the Caucasus. G.V. Vernadsky believed that the Crimean Goths and Russians in Tmutarakan recognized their vassalage in relation to him in early January 963 and supported him in military operations 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 Kyiv by the Pechenegs. Byzantium saw a threat to itself in the Danube campaigns of the Rus. The Slavic leopard could not resist the mighty empire with a twenty-thousand-strong army (B.D. Grekov is inclined to such an assessment), and he left Bulgaria conquered by him.

Regarding the number of Svyatoslav's troops, historians have disagreements. The Byzantine historian Leo the Deacon calls 60 thousand. In The Tale of Bygone Years, the chronicler names 10,000 soldiers, while specifying that in negotiations with the Byzantines, Svyatoslav added the same number of soldiers to overestimate the amount of compensation for the cessation of hostilities and the withdrawal from Bulgaria. This was emphasized by M.N. Tikhomirov. A larger number of 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 the prime of life, suffered perhaps the most tragic fate of all Russian princes. From the skull of the great Slavic leader, a bowl was made for the Pecheneg Khan Kuri. Allegedly, Kurya ordered to make an inscription on the bowl: "He who seeks someone else's will lose his own." It could hardly be, the Pechenegs did without writing.

It is not entirely clear why Svyatoslav's army split up when they returned to Kyiv. Part of him, led by the governor Sveneld, arrived safely in Kyiv, and Svyatoslav himself was forced to spend the winter on the way, having neither equipment nor provisions.

It is alleged, for example, B.A. Rybakov, that such a development of events does not exclude direct betrayal by Sveneld. In the text of The Tale of Bygone Years, however, there are no hints of this. It says that Sveneld offered to bypass the Dnieper rapids and arrive in Kyiv 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 starvation winter further weakened the forces 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 land on the shore and move to Kyiv on horseback was that there were simply few horses. Indeed, the main force of the Russians? they are foot soldiers, and the cavalry detachment was small from the very beginning. Heavy fighting with the Byzantines and the difficulties of the return journey further reduced the number of horses. Svyatoslav could save himself and his closest associates, but the rest would be doomed, left without him in the Pecheneg steppe. The prince did not want to leave his soldiers on the way home, who had made a trip to Bulgaria with him. Recalling another historical era and other events, one can see that when the French army retreated from Russia in 1812, Napoleon took care only of his own salvation. Almost all of his army, once called the Great, remained forever in the Russian open spaces, and he himself rushed off on a winter December evening on a sleigh to Paris, observing, as E.V. wrote. Tarle, "the strictest incognito, understanding the danger of these critical days." Svyatoslav, who was not so sophisticated in matters of 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 in Kyiv, 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 "with joy at the torment of an idiot, renounce the faith of Christ and bow down to idols without wanting to." It is possible that the prince's tolerance for the Kievan Christians would have ceased in Kyiv. Perhaps the destruction of Kyiv churches has already begun, noted 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. The cup from his skull was intended for the Pecheneg Khan himself and his wife to drink from it. Then they would have, as they believed, children would be born, with courage and military talent equal to Svyatoslav.

Svyatoslav? one of the few Russian princes whose appearance we can get a clear idea. The Greek historian left a description of the meeting in Bulgaria of the Byzantine emperor Tzimiskes with Svyatoslav. The emperor looked like an emperor: gilded armor, riding a handsome horse, a magnificent retinue. Svyatoslav drove up to the shore in a boat.

“He looked like this: medium height ... with thick 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 broad and the whole body is rather slender. He seemed gloomy and stern. He had a golden earring hanging in one ear ... 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 in the boat on the bench."

Let us recall Gogol's "Taras Bulba" with beautiful illustrations by E.A. Kibrik and the 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. After 600 years, courageous warriors? Zaporizhian Cossacks? they continued to shave their beards, keeping long mustaches going down; shaved their heads, leaving a forelock on the crown? settler. This settler gave them the nickname "Khokhly". 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, unlike Russia. The Byzantines were also annoyed 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 single state is attributed to 679 (or, according to other sources, to 681) after the resettlement of part of the Turkic tribe of Bulgarians from the Azov region to the Balkan Peninsula, led by Khan Asparuh, who led the united local Slavic and resettled Turkic tribes. The natives were subjugated by the newcomers, who gave their name to the formed union.

The Bulgarian Tsar Simeon Borisovich (reigned 893-927), who, by the way, was brought up at the court of Constantinople along with the sons of Emperor Michael, showed himself to be an outstanding statesman, 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 in 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 capital of the empire itself, Constantinople, was surrounded on all sides by lands that had come under Bulgarian rule. Several failed attempts were made to capture the imperial capital. From the north, the Hungarians, allied to the Byzantines, acted against Simeon.

We see that the relationship between the Byzantines, Hungarians and Bulgarians has changed. 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 cope with the Bulgarians.

In 919, Simeon took the title of "king 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 palace receptions, the Bulgarian ambassadors took first place, they were treated with more respect than even the ambassadors of the Holy Roman Empire.

The Greek courtiers remembered the allied treaties with Russia. The Byzantine Kalokir went to Svyatoslav in order 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 assistance. The calculation of the cunning Greeks was, apparently, that the Russians and the Bulgarians would weaken each other, and Byzantium would be able to restore its former position.

In the end, it did. This showed the strength of Constantinople diplomacy and the ability to draw up and implement far-reaching plans, honed to perfection over the centuries of the existence 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 that their plans were not destined to come true.

The mission of Kalokir requires explanation. He was the chief magistrate of the Crimean city of Chersonesus (according to information given by A.N. Sakharov, the son of a Chersonesus strategist), belonging to Byzantium. Most of the Crimea had previously recognized its vassalage from Svyatoslav. Kalokir had an interest in expanding his influence in the Crimea. In addition, the Byzantine historian wrote very remarkable words: “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 Emperor Nicephorus with Russian help and seize the throne for himself.

At the same time, not all historians tend to unconditionally trust the message about the motives behind Svyatoslav's 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 the Crimea and punish Bulgaria, while the Kyiv prince saw an opportunity to expand his possessions and even move the capital of his state to a new location.

The successor of Simeon Borisovich, the Bulgarian Tsar Peter, was much inferior to him in his abilities. Svyatoslav was in the prime of life and military talent. The Byzantines, probably not without bewilderment, observed how in 968-969. The Russian army quickly defeated the Bulgarians. As a result, 80 cities were captured (the number, however, causes doubt in A.N. Sakharov), and the victorious Svyatoslav decided to establish a new capital in the south of the Danube, in the city of Pereyaslavets, instead of Kyiv. He explained his decision logically and simply: in this place “... all good converges: from Greek gold, pavoloki [expensive fabrics], various wines and vegetables, from Czech, from Eel [from Hungary] silver and komoni [horses] , from Russia it is fast [furs], honey and servants [captives for the slave trade; another version of the translation by 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 going to leave anywhere.

The Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros II Phocas tried to reconcile with "the same faith Misians [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 Kyiv in 968. The coincidence in 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 appearance of the Pechenegs in Russia the first, but earlier in the annals it was already said about the resolution of the conflict with the Pechenegs by Igor in 915: "The first came to the Russian land." Svyatoslav had to leave Bulgaria and hastily march to Kyiv, where he left his mother. Svyatoslav did not come to a collision with the Pechenegs, the Pechenegs were driven away by the advance detachment of the governor Pretich. Peace was concluded, the Pecheneg Khan exchanged weapons with Pretich and went to the steppes. The Pechenegs did not represent a serious problem for such a commander as Svyatoslav. The chronicler, in just one phrase, reports how Svyatoslav resolved this issue: "Gather howl and drive away the pejnzi in poly, and be peace."

After that, he completed the defeat of Khazaria. 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 referred to by B.D. Grekov, wrote: “Now there is no trace left of either the Bulgars, or the Burtases, or the Khazars, because Russia destroyed everyone, took away from them and annexed their land, and those who escaped ... fled to the surrounding places in hope to come to an agreement with Russia and become under its power.

The people of Kiev reproached Svyatoslav: “You, prince, are looking for someone else’s land, but you forgot about your own ... Don’t you feel sorry for your fatherland, your elderly mother, and children.” Soon Princess Olga died. Having buried his mother according to the Christian rite, Svyatoslav again returned to Bulgaria 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 a centralized state. The eldest son Yaropolk remained in Kyiv, in the land of the Drevlyans? Oleg, in Novgorod? Vladimir, known as the future baptizer of Russia. Other historians believe that, by this act, Svyatoslav, on the contrary, secured 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 they could do as they pleased. It was not the rulers who were in the service of the country, but the country, together with its people, was used as a source of prosperity for the rulers.

Such an attitude to the country, as to their property, is typical not only for the rulers of Russia. Bolesław Krivousty (ruled 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 of France Louis X in the middle of the XIII century concluded an agreement with the English king Henry III. As a sign of his location, he gave England some of the lands of France. When the advisers began to explain to the king that this should not have been done, he, according to the testimony of Joinville, declared: “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 is fitting that there be peace between us.” The English king also generously distributed the estates of England to the French noble knights who came with his wife.

The new Byzantine emperor John Tzimiskes, who, in collusion with the Empress Theophano, murdered the earlier ruling Nicephorus Foka, continued his former policy towards the Slavs in Bulgaria. He invited Svyatoslav to conclude a peace agreement. Svyatoslav rejected the proposals of a peace treaty that were unfavorable for Russia.

Tzimiskes moved on to military threats. He reminded Svyatoslav "of the miserable fate" of his father Igor, who was executed by the Drevlyans. In response, the army of Svyatoslav approached Constantinople. The threat of capturing the capital of the empire became more than real.

Military operations began. The actions of the Byzantine army under the command of the commander Varda Sklir were complicated by the uprising of Varda Foki in Asia Minor. Only after the defeat of the rebels in 972 did the military successes of Tzimiskes allow him to resume negotiations. He suggested that the Russians “immediately and without any reservations come out of the land that does not belong to them at all.” In conclusion, the emperor declared to Svyatoslav: “I don’t think that you could return to your fatherland if you force the entire Roman army to oppose you.” Svyatoslav replied that the Bulgaria he conquered? this is “our land”, and he compared the emperor’s threats with “how they scare babies with various stuffed animals.”

The decisive battle took place on July 26, 971 (other authors indicate June 21, as well as July 20) near 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, slaughtering many captive men and women, according to the custom of their ancestors. It is cruel to sacrifice captives to pagan gods. But Basil II, the emperor of Christian Byzantium, acted no less cruelly, ordering the blinding of 15,000 captive Bulgarians.

The Russian chronicle preserved the appeal of the prince to his army before the battle. His words remained forever in the national military history: “Let us not disgrace the Russian lands, but lie down with bones; the dead are not shameful to imam, if we run away, shame to imam; Imam will not run away, but we will become strong. I will go before you. If my head lies down, then provide for yourself ”( “Let's not disgrace Russia, we'd rather die, for the dead are not ashamed. Let us not flee in a shameful flight, but let us stand strong. I will be ahead of you. If I die, then decide for yourself what to do.”).

The Byzantine historian quoted by B.D. Grekov, this speech, full of severe dignity, is conveyed in the following words (let’s not forget that it was written by a representative of a hostile country): “Glory, the companion of the weapons of the Russians, who easily defeated neighboring peoples and conquered entire countries without shedding blood, will perish if we now shamefully yield to the Romans. So, with the courage of our ancestors and with the thought that the Russian force has been invincible so far, let us fight courageously for our life. We do not have the custom of fleeing to the fatherland, but either live victorious, or, having accomplished famous deeds, 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 schoolboy and even skipped history lessons. But, having received a Japanese ultimatum, on January 26, 1904, the captain of the Varyag addressed the team with the following words: “Of course, we are going to break through and will engage in battle with the squadron, no matter how strong it is. Any questions about the surrender can not be? 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, without haste. Especially gunners, remembering that each shot must harm the enemy. The cruiser and the gunboat that was with him raised their battle flags and entered the battle. The enemy could neither sink nor capture the Russian ships. Due to the damage received in battle, it was not possible to continue the battle. Russian ships were flooded, and the team returned to Russia through neutral ports. The Japanese emperor, in recognition of the heroism of Russian sailors, sent V.F. Rudnev Order of the Rising Sun. Impressed by this feat, the Austrian poet Rudolf Greinz wrote a poem now known to everyone in our country. His translation by E.M. Studentskaya from German into Russian? this is the lyrics. Here are her first lines:

Upstairs you, comrades, all in places,

The last parade is coming.

Our proud Varyag does not surrender to the enemy,

Nobody wants mercy!

One more example can be recalled, 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 are not tolerated in order to endure the presence of the enemy, standing in sight of us, without stepping on him!” The battle, which ended in the defeat of the 80,000th Turkish army, took place on July 7, 1770. So, different circumstances, different times? and the fighting spirit of 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. However, there was no surrender. Svyatoslav left with an armed army, the Byzantines supplied him with food and released him from Bulgaria without hindrance. Under the agreement, Svyatoslav undertook not to attack Byzantium anymore and to provide military assistance to it.

Perhaps one of the reasons for the defeat of Svyatoslav 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 of his royal title by Svyatoslav, that is, he was considered by him not as a prisoner, but as an ally in the fight 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 be the liberation of Bulgaria from the power of the "Scythians". Svyatoslav, “seeing that the Misians [Bulgarians] were lagging behind his alliance,” ordered the execution of 300 pro-Byzantine noble Bulgarian nobles. Hasty and ill-considered repressions, probably, prompted the Bulgarians to join their recent opponents? the Byzantines, despite the fact that, as A.N. Sakharov, in search of profit, did not disdain even to rob Bulgarian churches.

The Russian chronicler biasedly describes the military campaign of the Kyiv prince. He doesn't talk 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 the conquests of Svyatoslav 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. Also legendary is the scene of the test of Svyatoslav with the gifts of the Byzantines. At first, the emperor sent the Russian prince gold and expensive fabrics (linings). The prince-knight indifferently told his entourage to remove these gifts. The second time the emperor sent weapons, punishing his messenger: "Watch his appearance, face and thoughts." The visual-psychological test did not please the Byzantines. The warrior, who was compared to a leopard, immediately changed when he saw the sword and other equipment. He took it in his hands, began to examine. 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 Preslava was annexed by Tzimiskes to Byzantium. Western Bulgaria was conquered by Emperor Basil II by 1018.

Bulgaria, which experienced its short-lived heyday, starting with Khan Krum (reigned from 802 to 815) and up to Tsar Simeon, remained under the rule of Byzantium until the end of the 12th century. Having become independent from Byzantium in 1187, Bulgaria experienced its second heyday, quickly followed by a period of decline and feudal fragmentation. Continuous invasions of Tatars, Polovtsy, Byzantines, peasant uprisings exhausted the country. After a little over 200 years, Bulgaria again lost its statehood, falling from 1396 under the 600-year rule of the Ottoman Turks.

There is a widespread opinion 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 “Kyiv into a base for robber raids” (in the words of L.N. Gumilyov). Such a point of view, ignoring the internal and external political role of Svyatoslav, has, unfortunately, a rather long history.

It is difficult to agree with this, and the reason for disagreeing is not only in the knightly attractiveness of the Slavic leopard, which even the historian of hostile Byzantium characterized as "hot, bold, impetuous and active."

There is 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 created the principality “for himself” with his campaigns. Indirect confirmation of this point of view E.V. Pchelov believes that he allocated inheritances to his sons only after the death of Olga.

If we turn to the facts, it is clear that the actions of Svyatoslav 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 taken possession of the city of Berdaa, tried, according to A.N. Sakharov, include it in the number of subject territories, and not just limit himself to robbery in order to leave with military 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 principality of Tmutarakan 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 and access to the Aegean and Mediterranean seas. It can even be said 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 amazing to read that some historians represent Svyatoslav as a narrow-minded grunt, who just needs to go on a campaign to fight with someone. The grandeur of the plans of the Kyiv prince, who succeeded in all his military enterprises, is simply stunning. It is no coincidence that he encountered 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, maritime trade routes have been the most efficient. Related Slavic tribes lived in the Balkans, which 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 Tzimisces. Christian churches in Bulgarian cities, as noted by Byzantine historians, were robbed not by Svyatoslav, but by Greek troops. It is difficult to disagree with the opinion of historians that the Bulgarians traditionally felt hatred for Byzantium. And it was justified, as subsequent events showed. After the departure of the Russian troops, Preslav and Dorostol received the Greek names Ioannopol and Theodoropol, Greek garrisons were placed in large Bulgarian cities, Tsar Boris, together 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. Church of Hagia Sophia. Bulgaria ceased to exist as an independent state.

Svyatoslav's project to transfer the capital from Kyiv to the Danube city of Pereyaslavets? this is not an adventure at all. He quite convincingly justified the choice of this place by the benefits of international trade, since the European-Asian trade routes began to move here. This is what Oleg did earlier, making Kyiv the “mother of Russian cities”, this is what Peter the Great did in later history.

However, as the development of events showed, Svyatoslav overestimated his strength by entering into a struggle with Byzantium. Did his plans fail? 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 weapons, having received food and ransom from the Byzantines. Svyatoslav, having concluded a truce, 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 Kyiv requires more careful consideration.

Let us recall how easily Svyatoslav's father Igor made peace with the Pechenegs in 915. In 944, they participated with Igor in the campaign against the Greeks, one of the few undertakings of Igor, which brought him success. After the death of Igor, Olga also 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, and 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 us recall the tragic moment of the death of Svyatoslav. Sveneld warns the prince that the Pechenegs are standing at the Dnieper rapids, and invites the prince to bypass them. Svyatoslav, on the other hand, fearlessly rises 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 through (as the chronicle writes), and he arranges wintering in Beloberezhye. But hostilities did not begin. Therefore, there is no reason to believe that Svyatoslav wintered 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 put his sons to rule.

The chronicler writes that, fleeing from hunger, Russian soldiers paid half a hryvnia for a horse's head. Who did they buy the horses from? Trade could only go with the same Pechenegs. They supplied the horsemeat to the Russian camp. This is typical not for irreconcilable enemies, but for the relations 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. It led to the death of Svyatoslav and to the approval of Yaropolk on the throne of Kiev. But the Pechenegs could not decide to attack Svyatoslav for several months.

What gave them the courage to do so?

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 letting him through to Kyiv, and then defeated the Russian soldiers and killed the Kyiv prince. But this version, set out in The Tale of Bygone Years, seems unlikely.

Let us imagine how a Greek (or Bulgarian) embassy to the Pechenegs follows Svyatoslav to the Dnieper steppes. What are the tasks of the embassy? Firstly, it is necessary to secretly get to the Pecheneg prince on an unfamiliar territory of a foreign country. Let's not forget that Svyatoslav? an experienced military leader and he probably had a patrol service and intelligence organized at a high level. It seems that any ambassadors who wandered around 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 dwellers who first noticed them, but to be able to hand over their gifts to the one who could fulfill their request. Fourthly, they had to receive guarantees for the fulfillment of the “order” after the presentation of the gifts.

And now let's imagine that there was still an "order" for the murder of Svyatoslav, but on the other hand, from Kyiv. 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 connections with the leaders of the nomads, and with some of them the Russian governors even fraternized and exchanged weapons. There were no problems with the calculations for the completed "order". Who was the "customer"? We need to see who lost the most if Svyatoslav returned to Kyiv.

The logic of reasoning points to 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 here for two years? Kyiv 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 Kyiv, 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 not clear whether Svyatoslav was going to return to Kyiv. Most probably not. Firstly, it is hard to believe that the hero of the Bulgarian campaign, who could not be forced to surrender even by the Byzantine emperor with his entire army, was able to block the Pechenegs, who had fled shortly before at the mere sound of his name. Voivode Sveneld passed to Kyiv. Secondly, it was psychologically difficult for the famous commander to appear in his native city 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. Did he want one? gather additional forces sufficient to defeat Byzantium. For this, he sent Sveneld to Kyiv, wintering at the Dnieper rapids.

And then, as you can imagine, 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 Kyiv instead of a dangerous trip to Bulgaria. More honor, more material well-being and absolutely safe, because others will eliminate the restless warrior. It is possible that it was the other way around. Sveneld explained to the young prince of Kyiv that he could keep his throne for quite a small price. Be that as it may, it is possible that the old governor betrayed Svyatoslav, with whom he had been on campaigns since the time when he was three years old. Svyatoslav was also betrayed by his son, who owes him everything: his birth, his beautiful wife, and the throne of Kyiv. 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. They couldn't decide. It was clear to them that Svyatoslav could not be defeated in an open battle. It was also clear that in case of failure, retribution would be cruel and there would be no mercy from the Russian leopard. Only having received rich gifts and having thought over some very cunning and insidious plan, the Pechenegs plucked up courage and in the spring 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 himself move to Kyiv, without waiting for troops and food from Sveneld and Yaropolk. They understood that, having come to Kyiv, the formidable commander could find out the reasons for the slowness of those whom he trusted the most. Surely there were many veterans of princely campaigns who would have opened his eyes to the strange behavior of his son and governor. Svyatoslav was knightly noble, but this does not mean that he can be considered a naive simpleton. Without a doubt, he would be able to quickly sort out the situation.

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Svyatoslav's reign

After the death in 945 from the Drevlyans of his father, Igor Rurikovich, the three-year-old Svyatoslav formally became a prince, but de facto his mother, Olga, ruled the cities.
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’s legs, for Svyatoslav was still a child."

Having besieged the Drevlyansk Iskorosten, the cunning Olga did not avenge the murder of her husband, and offered the offenders an insignificant tribute, "from each yard, three doves and three sparrows." The Drevlyans rejoiced at such mercy, not recognizing the military trick: according to the legendary description of Nestor, the army of Olga and Svyatoslav tied tinder to the birds, the city was engulfed in flames, after which it was completely devastated.

In 955, Olga went to Constantinople to be baptized, but when she returned 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 accept a different faith alone? And my squad will laugh.”

The 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 “neither wagons nor boilers” with him, frying the meat of animals caught along the way at the stake .

Svyatoslav became famous for the fact that he sent in advance to strangers, on whom he went on a campaign, a messenger with a laconic phrase "I want to go to you ..." (I'm going to you). In 965, he inflicted victory on the Khazar Khaganate, and entrenched 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 her 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 the 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 help 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 establish a new capital of his state, "because there is the middle of my land, all good things flow there." After a successful campaign, Svyatoslav had to urgently return to Kyiv, which, in his absence, was besieged by the Pechenegs. However, even the death of his mother due to illness did not detain 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 worried the Byzantine authorities. Having provoked the Russians into a war with Bulgaria, the Byzantine Empire miscalculated somewhat, since now the mighty army of Svyatoslav stood not far from its borders.

He was asked to leave from there, according to a previously concluded agreement, but the prince refused, hoping to use the occupied 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 covered in different ways in ancient chronicles.

The Tale of Bygone Years speaks of the crushing victory of the princely warriors, who defeated the Byzantine army, ten times its number. According to Nestor, Svyatoslav's army reached almost to Constantinople itself, subsequently collecting a huge tribute.

But Byzantine historians give a completely different picture: during the battles, the Byzantine warrior Anemas "pulled forward on his horse, rushed to Sfendoslav (Svyatoslav), and, striking him on the collarbone with his sword, threw him head down to the ground, but did not kill."

After this event, despite all the courage of the Russian troops, Svyatoslav enters into peace negotiations with the emperor of Byzantium, and demands the following conditions: he gives the Byzantines Bulgaria, and in exchange Byzantium will not pursue his army on the way to Kyiv, and in particular - will not attack “on them along the road with fire-bearing ships” - the famous “Medes fire” was meant.

After the conclusion of the peace treaty, Svyatoslav met with Emperor John, and the Byzantine chronicle describes in detail all the details of this historic meeting, including the appearance of the prince: “Sfendoslav also appeared, sailing along the river on a Scythian boat; he sat at the oars and rowed along with his entourage, no different from them.

This is what his appearance was like: 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 his 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, a broad 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 of those 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 - however, it is not known whether their truce was sincere.

The death of Svyatoslav

It is possible that Byzantium still did not leave Svyatoslav alone: ​​after the truce, John sent messengers to the Pechenegs, a tribe that, according to the Byzantines, "devoured lice, carried dwellings with them and spent most of their lives in wagons."

Most likely, it was the emperor who ordered the Pechenegs to ambush, waiting for the approaching Svyatoslav; one way or another, when trying to cross the Dnieper, the Pechenegs attacked the prince and killed him, and then made a bowl out of his skull. Svyatoslav died fighting together with his retinue, as it was supposed to be for 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 a Cossack on the throne. The memory of the great conqueror lives on very well today: songs are composed in honor of the famous “I’m going to attack you”, novels are written about Svyatoslav and coins with his portrait are issued.

Sergey Zotov