How the life of all Russian princes of Rurikovich was arranged from birth to the last will

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

For almost seven centuries - from 862 to 1547, the Russian lands were ruled by the princes of the Rurik dynasty. During this time, Russia was destined to go through many significant events: to be baptized, to be under the yoke of the Mongols and Tatars, to annex new lands to itself. As a result, becoming the largest and one of the most powerful states in the then world. Against the background of all these events, the very way of life of the Russian princes was rather monotonous. Although at the same time, the rulers of Russia have never had to frankly miss. In this material, we will briefly, as it were, live the life of an "average" Russian prince from the Rurik dynasty.

The birth of the future prince

The birth of a boy in the prince's family was truly the beginning of a kind of new milestone in the history of the entire dynasty of rulers of Russia. Relatives and households perceived the appearance of the prince as a hope for new prospects: both for the family and for the entire state. And they tried to indicate such prospects immediately after the birth of the baby, giving him not one, but two names at once.

The first name of the future prince ("grandfather's name") was generic - as a rule, it was the name of a close relative (father, grandfather or uncle). However, according to an unspoken rule in "pre-Mongol" Russia, it was by no means possible to call a newborn prince by the name of a relative living at that time. The second “grandfather's name” was assigned to the little heir to the princely throne in honor of a certain angel or Archangel. This holy image was supposed to protect the future prince throughout his life.

Another rule (which was rather the prerogative of the grand dukes) was the construction of an Orthodox church in honor of the prince's birth in the city where he was born. This was not unusual: the real life of the princes did not involve sitting in the mansions of Kiev, Novgorod or Moscow. The ruler of Russia was always obliged to be in the very center of the life of his state. Whether it's a military campaign or a simple detour of the controlled county possessions.

Get tonsured and imprisoned the prince

At the age of 2-3 years, young princes had to go through their second in life (after baptism) initiation rite - "tonsure". Historians are confident that this custom was inherent not only in Russia, but also in other Slavic peoples and tribes. It consisted in the fact that the prince's hair was cut for the first time. To this day, no reliable descriptions of this rite have survived. Therefore, researchers believe that no special "rituals" were observed during the tonsure.

Immediately after the "tonsure" of the young prince, another initiation awaited - "imprisonment". It consisted in the first solemn landing of his son on a horse by the prince. It was believed that from this moment the boy entered a new, more adult stage of his life. Some scholars of the history of Russia believe that before the "imprisonment" of the prince was dressed in armor and weapons specially made for this rite.

Since ancient times, horsemen in Russia have been associated with military courage and physical strength. This rite was a kind of antagonist to the definition of an old or physically weak person. In Russia, they often said about such people “unable to mount a horse”, or “cannot even stay in the saddle”. Thus, the rite of "imprisonment" symbolized the achievement of a young man of the age from which he became a real man.

The first reign "under the father's hand"

Very often the first reign of a young prince began quite early. Sometimes, immediately after the "tonsure", the child was sent (of course, accompanied by the mother and security) to another city. Thus, the prince, as it were, signified that although he is in a different place, his power in the person of the prince is concentrated here as well.

Naturally, the little princes could not independently conduct state affairs. For this, they always had "regents". Most often, their role was played by the prince's siblings or uncles. This period in the life of the princes was one of the most dangerous. Indeed, even among blood relatives, there were those who seriously hoped to overthrow the prince, taking his throne. And to achieve this goal, mercenary relatives could go to any action - up to the murder of their legitimate heirs.

The usual hostage role of the father's enemies

Being the son of a ruler is not always a pleasant and safe role. Quite often, almost all of his childhood and part of his youth, the young heir was forced to spend in the camp of his parent's former enemy. Holding the heir of his "sworn friend" hostage, any nobleman could provide himself with guarantees of non-aggression from the lord-father.

This "forced captivity" ended in different ways. Often against the one who kept the heir, the father of the latter unleashed a war. However, before that, "rescue operations" were necessarily carried out, as a result of which the vigilantes released the prince. Further, of course, full-scale hostilities began.

However, sometimes the story with the hostage ended with a real “happy ending”: the slave fell in love with the daughter of his “jailer”. The young people got married, which made both parties incredibly happy. This is the story that happened to Gleb, the son of the Chernigov prince Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich, who was captured by the prince of Kiev Vsevolod Yurievich "Big Nest".

Father has "on the right stirrup"

If the political and military situation was in favor of the prince, his sons remained with him. Taking part in all affairs and military campaigns, which were by no means uncommon in those days. Such a "school of life" for the princes was most welcome: young people in practice learned the basics of state and military government.

In the annals there is a description of how Yaroslav (Galitsky) swore an oath to Izyaslav Mstislavovich - "Just like your son, Mstislav, rides at your right stirrup, so I will ride at your left stirrup." Indeed, Mstislav accompanied his father everywhere, on his instructions he traveled with embassies to neighboring princes and King Geza II - the Hungarian monarch, and also independently led military sorties against the Polovtsy.

The wedding of the prince and the first children

The wedding ceremony of the prince was arranged, as a rule, by one of the older close relatives. In addition to the father-prince, it could be an uncle or a grandfather. By the way, quite often weddings in Ancient Russia were arranged in pairs: 2 brothers or 2 sisters, or just close relatives were married and celebrated this event on the same day.

As for the age of the young, by modern standards he was obscenely early. The princes "got" wives at the age of 17-20 years. As for the brides, they were even younger. The youngest princess (according to the chronicles) was the daughter of Prince Vsevolod "Big Nest". The girl was only 8 years old when she was married off to Rostislav, the son of Rurik Rostislavovich.

As for children, especially males, then the extremes were fraught with huge problems for the father-prince. The absence of heirs made the ruler vulnerable to his ill-wishers even during his lifetime: a prince who had no children could easily be “removed” from the throne. However, the presence of several sons (for example, Vsevolod “Big Nest” had 9 of them, and the founder of Moscow Yuri Dolgoruky - as many as 11) was a significant problem.

After all, they were all contenders for the "position". It was possible, of course, to distribute lands to all of them, thus making them appanage princes. But in this case, the risk of an aggravation of the struggle for the main throne increased significantly. In addition, the state, scattered by such strife, was doomed to face external threats.

Father's death

One of the most important and, in many respects determining the subsequent life of the prince, was the death of his father-prince. It was the lifetime achievements of the deceased that influenced the future fate of the young prince. In addition, it was important how his brothers were disposed towards him and how the life of his sisters was arranged - to which of the influential foreign rulers they were married.

As an example, historians remember Prince Izyaslav Mstislavich. The brothers' attitude towards him could not be called warm. However, Izyaslav's nieces and sisters at one time were married to very influential nobles in Russia and the rulers of European states. It was this aspect in many ways that became decisive in the successful rivalry of Izyaslav Mstislavich for the Kiev princely throne.

In order to prevent the young princes from finding themselves in the position of oppressed and persecuted in relation to their uncles after the death of their father, the practice of handing over the children of the deceased "into the arms" of his brothers was established. It worked like this: a special agreement was concluded between the two brothers-princes, according to which one of the brothers pledged to help the children of the one who would die earlier. At the same time, the nephew and his uncle, if their relationship was sealed by such a document, could refer to one another as “father” and “son”.

The last will of the prince

Quite often it happened that Russian princes died suddenly, at a still young age. Naturally, in this case, they could not leave any parting words or wills to their successors. However, in those cases when the prince, in years or during a serious illness, realized that he would soon leave this world - the first thing he tried to do was to provide for his children or those closest to him.

Historians cite a very interesting case of the transfer of power by one childless prince to his successor from his relatives. We are talking about the last will of the Galician prince Vladimir Vasilkovich. Having only an adopted daughter in his upbringing and worrying about her future fate, Vladimir, having chosen his cousin Mstislav Danilovich as heir to his throne before his death, entered into an agreement with him.

Under this agreement, after the death of Vladimir Vasilkovich, all of his lands and the throne passed to Mstislav. For this, the latter took a commitment after the death of the prince to take care of his relatives: to marry his adopted daughter to whomever she wants, and treats Vladimir's widow, Princess Olga, like his own mother. This agreement was fully executed by Mstislav.

This was the real life of almost every prince from the Rurik family. For wealth and honor, most of the young heirs to the throne endured trials and humiliations. And many of the princes died in early childhood only because they were destined to be born the sons of the ruler of the Russian land.