May 15 – transfer of the relics of the faithful passion-bearers princes Boris and Gleb, in the baptism of Roman and David.
In Russian Orthodoxy, Boris and Gleb occupy a place of honor. Innocently killed, they did not have time to accomplish either military or spiritual feats, did not live a long godly life. Believers honor them as passion-bearers who accepted death from a relative and at the moment of death showed truly Christian gentleness and non-resistance to violence, for which they were the first in Rus' to be canonized.
The chronicles describe an episode with the murder of the prince brothers. Believed to have killed them brother Svyatopolk, who was popularly called the Damned and “Russian Cain” for this atrocity. However, a comparison of various historical versions allows us to assert that Svyatopolk was not the murderer of his brothers Boris and Gleb...
Historians know little about the younger sons. Boris and Gleb (baptized Roman and David, respectively) were sons Prince of Kyiv from Byzantine princess Anna from the Macedonian dynasty. As soon as the boys grew up, Vladimir gave each one a city as an inheritance: Boris - Rostov, and Gleb - Murom.
It is difficult to judge what the princes looked like; however, a description of Boris’s appearance has been preserved, but written down half a century after his death. “The Legend of Boris and Gleb” says that the young man was “handsome in body, tall, round in face, broad shoulders, thin in the waist, kind in his eyes, cheerful in face.”
It is impossible to find such meager information about Gleb; one can only trust one’s imagination or iconographic tradition, which depicts Gleb as very young, long-haired and beardless. That's all that has survived to this day about the two young princes. As if they did not stand out in any way among Vladimir’s other offspring.
It should be noted that Prince Red Sun was a father of many children; he had several sons from different wives: Vysheslav from the Scandinavian Olovya, Svyatopolk(by blood - the son of Yaropolk’s brother killed by Vladimir), Izyaslav, Yaroslav and Vsevolod- from Yaropolk’s wife Rogneda, captured by the prince after fratricide, Mstislav, Stanislav and Sudislav from Adele, Svyatoslav from the “Czech” Malfrida, Pozvizd, whose mother is unknown, and children of Anne of Byzantium Boris and Gleb.
Grand Duke Vladimir Svyatoslavich with his sons. Painting of the Faceted Chamber of the Moscow Kremlin. 1882
It is almost impossible to count the daughters, who were almost never written about in the chronicles, and the illegitimate children from many concubines.
Vysheslav and Izyaslav died before my father, Svyatopolk and Yaroslav rebelled against his power (Yaroslav, for example, refused to give the tribute collected in Novgorod), and Vladimir turned his attention to younger sons- Boris and Gleb.
Firstly, they were the only of his sons born in Christianity, that is, in the opinion of the Baptist, his most legitimate children. Secondly, the blood of the Byzantine basileus flowed in them, who at that time still remained a model and authority for Russian rulers. And finally, thirdly, the younger ones were, apparently, the most obedient of the princes and could continue their father’s policies after his death.
According to fragmentary chronicles, Vladimir kept Boris with him, thinking of transferring the great reign to him, and even subordinated his squad to him. However, by the time of the death of his parent, Boris went on a campaign against the Pechenegs, and Gleb remained in his inheritance - Murom.
Rus' in the 11th century
Canonical murder story
It is surprising that with such an abundance of sons, Vladimir did not make formal orders about the heir. He probably shared the common belief of many rulers: he believed that he would rule forever. But the hour of death also came for him, and after his death the question arose: who will become the prince of Kyiv, the main one on Russian soil?
Official story about further events says the following. Since Vladimir’s two sons had already died by 1015, there were two real contenders for the Kiev table: Svyatopolk, married to his daughter Polish prince Boleslav, and Yaroslav (then not yet the Wise, but the Lame), who had the Swedish king Olaf as his father-in-law.
Yaroslav was holed up in the Novgorod inheritance, and Svyatopolk was in Kyiv, so he took power into his own hands. However, according to the chronicle legend, he did not rest on this, but decided to physically eliminate all other contenders for the great reign.
Boris at that time was in a hurry home from an unsuccessful military campaign, but did not have time to find his father alive - he received the news of Vladimir’s death when he stopped camp on the Alta River. The squad, who trusted the young prince, began to persuade him to go to Kyiv and take power. This is evidence once again proves that Boris was viewed as his father's heir. But the chronicle reports that he did not succumb to the persuasion of the soldiers, and answered them:
- I will not raise my hand against my elder brother: if my father died, then let this one be my father instead.
The decision was truly Christian and supported the strength of family ties, but the squad did not agree with it and left for Kyiv. Boris remained only with his nearby youths, which Svyatopolk took advantage of. He sent assassins to Alta, and they carried out their dirty deed without meeting any resistance.
Boris sang psalms and did not think of saving himself, only his old Hungarian servant tried to shield the prince with his body from the spears of the conspirators. Boris's body was transported to Vyshgorod and hastily buried near the Church of St. Basil.
Having got rid of one rival, Svyatopolk set about another brother - Gleb. Chroniclers believe that he not only wanted to destroy another contender for the throne, but also feared revenge from the half-relative of Boris, who he killed.
Gleb received news from Svyatopolk about the death of his father and went to Kyiv, but stopped near Smolensk, where he was found by a second message - from Yaroslav.
It should be noted that the route from Murom to Kyiv itself passes away from Smolensk, and how Gleb ended up there is another mystery of this story. But one way or another, Yaroslav’s letter, reporting a threat to his life, according to the chronicler’s story, found the prince there.
The killers also found him there, and none of his youths, who were strictly forbidden to use weapons, could prevent the crime. Gleb was buried right at the scene of the murder, in a simple coffin made of hollowed out wood.
While the fratricidal strife lasted, Yaroslav gathered 40,000 militia and 1,000 Varangian mercenaries in Novgorod under the leadership of Earl Eymund, moved to Kyiv and expelled Svyatopolk from there, who fled to Poland.
By order of Yaroslav, Gleb’s body was found and transported to Vyshgorod, where it was buried next to Boris.
From that moment on, the dead princes ceased to be just young men killed in the struggle for power, they became a lesson for anyone starting a fratricidal massacre.
Yaroslav did everything to make the memory of them sacred, but to this day historians habitually call Svyatopolk the Accursed. But did he really give the order to kill Boris and Gleb?
Other versions
Along with the traditional hypothesis about the murder of the princes, there is another one, and in it the killer is a “positive” one, who eventually occupied the Kiev table. One of the arguments in favor of this version is explained by ordinary logic.
As is known from chronicle sources, the younger Vladimirovichs supported Svyatopolk in his claims to the throne and resolutely refused to take up arms against him.
Because of his peacekeeping position, Boris even lost power over his squad, which immediately defected to the winner. Of course, it would be more than strange for Svyatopolk to kill his allies.
Another argument accusing Yaroslav is contained in the Scandinavian “Eymund’s Saga”. The jarl was Yaroslav's military leader back in Novgorod. The saga tells how Eymund was hired in Holmgard (Novgorod) to serve King Yarisleif (Yaroslav) and how he fought for power in Gardarik (Rus) with another king Burisleif (Boris).
In the saga of Boris, the Varangians take his life on the orders of Yaroslav, and Eymund brings him in a sack a terrible proof of the work done - Boris's head. Then, the saga says, “all the people in the country went under the hand of Yarisleif and swore oaths, and he became king over the principality that they had previously held together.”
There are also several indirect evidence of Yaroslav's guilt. His ability to get rid of his rivals is confirmed by the 23-year imprisonment of another Vladimirovich in the Kiev prison - the Pskov prince Sudislav.
He was kept in prison by none other than Yaroslav. In addition, Yaroslav, who canonized Boris and Gleb and did so much to glorify their memory, did not name any of his children by their secular or baptismal names.
Give to children heavenly patrons siblings would have been more than natural, but this did not happen. But one of the grandsons of the Kyiv prince bore the name Svyatopolk, which could not have happened if it was the name of the fratricide, the “Russian Cain.”
Followers in scientific community both the canonical and alternative versions have...
Long memory
In Russian Orthodoxy, Boris and Gleb occupy a place of honor. Believers honor them as passion-bearers who accepted death from a relative and at the moment of death showed truly Christian gentleness and non-resistance to violence, but they were also canonized because of the miracles performed by the prayers of believers with their holy relics.
On the pages of the “Tale” the blind received their sight, the lame and crippled were healed, repentant sinners were released from prison through prayer, and all these miracles were performed by the holy princes Boris and Gleb.
The holy noble princes-passion-bearers Boris and Gleb (in Holy Baptism - Roman and David) are the first Russian saints canonized by both the Russian and Constantinople Churches. They were the youngest sons of the saint Prince Equal to the Apostles Vladimir (+ July 15, 1015). The holy brothers, born shortly before the Baptism of Rus', were raised in Christian piety. The eldest of the brothers - Boris received a good education. He loved to read Holy Bible, the works of the holy fathers and especially the lives of the saints. Under their influence, Saint Boris had an ardent desire to imitate the feat of the saints of God and often prayed that the Lord would honor him with such an honor.
Saint Gleb with early childhood was brought up with his brother and shared his desire to devote his life exclusively to serving God. Both brothers were distinguished by mercy and kindness of heart, imitating the example of the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duke Vladimir, merciful and responsive to the poor, sick, and disadvantaged.
While his father was still alive, Saint Boris received Rostov as an inheritance. While ruling his principality, he showed wisdom and meekness, caring first of all about planting Orthodox faith and establishing a pious lifestyle among his subjects. The young prince also became famous as a brave and skillful warrior. Shortly before his death, Grand Duke Vladimir called Boris to Kyiv and sent him with an army against the Pechenegs. When the death of Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir followed, his eldest son Svyatopolk, who was in Kyiv at that time, declared himself Grand Duke of Kyiv. Saint Boris was returning from a campaign at that time, having never met the Pechenegs, who were probably frightened of him and fled to the steppe. Upon learning of his father's death, he was very upset. The squad persuaded him to go to Kyiv and take the grand-ducal throne, but the holy Prince Boris, not wanting internecine strife, disbanded his army: “I will not raise my hand against my brother, and even against my eldest, whom I should consider as my father!”
This is how the chronicle tells about it (translation by D. Likhachev): “When Boris, having set out on a campaign and not meeting the enemy, was returning back, a messenger arrived to him and told him about the death of his father. He told how his father Vasily passed away (Vladimir was named by this name in holy baptism) and how Svyatopolk, having concealed the death of his father, at night dismantled the platform in Berestovo and, wrapping the body in a carpet, lowered it on ropes to the ground, took it on a sleigh and set it up in the Church of the Holy Virgin. And when Saint Boris heard this, his body began to weaken and his whole face became wet with tears, shedding tears, he was unable to speak. Only in his heart did he think like this: “Woe is me, the light of my eyes, the radiance and dawn of my face, the rein of my youth, the teacher of my inexperience! Alas for me, my father and lord! To whom shall I resort, to whom shall I turn my gaze? Where else will I find such wisdom and how will I manage without the instructions of your mind? Alas for me, alas for me! How did you set, my sun, and I wasn’t there! If I had been there, I would have removed your honest body with my own hands and given it to the grave. But I did not carry your valiant body, I was not honored to kiss your beautiful gray hair. O blessed one, remember me at your resting place! My heart is burning, my soul is confused, and I don’t know who to turn to, who to tell this bitter sadness? To the brother whom I revered as a father? But he, I feel, cares about the vanity of the world and is plotting my murder. If he sheds my blood and decides to kill me, I will be a martyr before my Lord. I will not resist, for it is written: “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” And in the letter of the apostle it is said: “Whoever says: “I love God,” but hates his brother, is a liar.” And again: “There is no fear in love; perfect love casts out fear.” So what will I say, what will I do? So I’ll go to my brother and say: “Be my father - after all, you are my elder brother. What do you command me, my lord?
And thinking this in his mind, he went to his brother and said in his heart: “Will I at least see my younger brother Gleb, like Joseph Veniamin?” And he decided in his heart: “Thy will be done, Lord!” I thought to myself: “If I go to my father’s house, then many people will persuade me to drive away my brother, as my father did for the sake of glory and reign in this world before holy baptism. And all this is transitory and fragile, like a spider’s web. Where will I go after I leave this world? Where will I end up then? What answer will I get? Where can I hide my many sins? What did my father's brothers or my father acquire? Where is their life and the glory of this world, and scarlet clothes, and feasts, silver and gold, wine and honey, abundant dishes, and fast horses, and decorated mansions, and great, and many riches, and countless tributes and honors, and boasting of their boyars . It’s as if all this never happened: everything has disappeared with them, and there is no help from anything - neither from wealth, nor from the multitude of slaves, nor from the glory of this world. So Solomon, having experienced everything, seen everything, mastered everything and collected everything, said about everything: “Vanity of vanities - all is vanity!” Salvation is only in good deeds, in true faith and unfeigned love."
As he walked his way, Boris thought about his beauty and youth and burst into tears. And I wanted to restrain myself, but I couldn’t. And everyone who saw him also mourned his youth and his physical and spiritual beauty. And everyone groaned in their souls from heartbreak, and everyone was overcome with sadness.
Who would not weep when he imagines this disastrous death before the eyes of his heart?
His whole appearance was sad, and his holy heart was contrite, for the blessed one was truthful and generous, quiet, meek, humble, he pitied everyone and helped everyone.
This is how God-blessed Boris thought in his heart and said: “I knew that my brother evil people they incite my murder and he will destroy me, and when he sheds my blood, then I will be a martyr before my Lord, and the Master will accept my soul.” Then, forgetting mortal sorrow, he began to console his heart by God's word: “He who sacrifices his soul for me and my teaching will find and keep it in eternal life.” And he went with a joyful heart, saying: “Merciful Lord, do not reject me, who trusts in you, but save my soul!”
However, the insidious and power-hungry Svyatopolk did not believe Boris’s sincerity; In an effort to protect himself from the possible rivalry of his brother, who had the sympathy of the people and troops on his side, he sent assassins to kill him. Saint Boris was informed of such treachery by Svyatopolk, but did not hide and, like the martyrs of the first centuries of Christianity, readily met death. The killers overtook him while he was praying for Matins on Sunday, July 24, 1015, in his tent on the banks of the Alta River. After the service, they burst into the prince’s tent and pierced him with spears. The beloved servant of Saint Prince Boris, Georgy Ugrin (originally a Hungarian), rushed to the defense of his master and was immediately killed. But Saint Boris was still alive. Coming out of the tent, he began to pray fervently, and then turned to the murderers: “Come, brothers, finish your service, and may there be peace for brother Svyatopolk and you.” Then one of them came up and pierced him with a spear. Svyatopolk's servants took Boris's body to Kyiv; on the way they met two Varangians sent by Svyatopolk to speed up the matter. The Varangians noticed that the prince was still alive, although he was barely breathing. Then one of them pierced his heart with a sword. The body of the holy passion-bearer Prince Boris was secretly brought to Vyshgorod and laid in a church in the name of St. Basil the Great.
After this, Svyatopolk just as treacherously killed the holy Prince Gleb. Having insidiously summoned his brother from his inheritance - Murom, Svyatopolk sent warriors to meet him in order to kill Saint Gleb on the road. Prince Gleb already knew about the death of his father and the villainous murder of Prince Boris. Deeply grieving, he chose death rather than war with his brother. The meeting of Saint Gleb with the murderers took place at the mouth of the Smyadyn River, not far from Smolensk.
What was the feat of the holy noble princes Boris and Gleb? What is the point in dying like this - without resistance at the hands of murderers?
The lives of the holy passion-bearers were sacrificed to the main Christian good deed - love. “Whoever says, ‘I love God,’ but hates his brother is a liar” (1 John 4:20). The holy brothers did something that was still new and incomprehensible to pagan Rus', accustomed to blood feud - they showed that evil cannot be repaid with evil, even under the threat of death. “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul” (Matthew 10:28). The holy martyrs Boris and Gleb gave their lives for the sake of obedience, on which a person’s spiritual life and, in general, all life in society is based. “You see, brethren,” notes the Monk Nestor the Chronicler, “how high is obedience to an elder brother? If they had resisted, they would hardly have received such a gift from God. A lot now young princes who do not obey their elders and are killed for resisting them. But they are not likened to the grace that these saints were awarded.”
The noble passion-bearing princes did not want to raise their hands against their brother, but the Lord Himself took revenge on the power-hungry tyrant: “Vengeance is mine, and I will repay it” (Rom. 12:19).
In 1019, Prince Yaroslav the Wise of Kiev, also one of the sons of Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir, gathered an army and defeated Svyatopolk’s squad.
Let us turn again to the chronicle: “Blessed Boris returned and set up his camp on Alta. And the squad said to him: “Go, sit in Kyiv on your father’s princely table - after all, all the warriors are in your hands.” He answered them: “I cannot raise my hand against my brother, who is also the eldest, whom I honor as a father.” Hearing this, the soldiers dispersed, and he remained only with his youths. And it was the Sabbath day. In anguish and sadness, with a dejected heart, he entered his tent and cried in contrition of heart, but with an enlightened soul, plaintively exclaiming: “Do not reject my tears, Master, for I trust in you! May I be worthy of the fate of Your servants and share the lot with all Your saints, You are a merciful God, and we give glory to You forever! Amen".
He remembered the torment and suffering of the holy martyr Nikita and Saint Vyacheslav, who were killed in the same way, and how the murderer of Saint Barbara was her own father. And I remembered the words of the wise Solomon: “The righteous live forever, and their reward is from the Lord and their adornment from the Most High.” And only with these words did he console himself and rejoice.
Meanwhile, evening came, and Boris ordered to sing vespers, and he himself entered his tent and began to create evening prayer with bitter tears, frequent sighing and continuous lamentations. Then he went to bed, and his sleep was disturbed by melancholy thoughts and sadness, bitter, heavy, and terrible: how to endure torment and suffering, and end his life, and preserve the faith, and accept the prepared crown from the hands of the Almighty. And, waking up early, I saw that it was already morning. And it was Sunday. He said to his priest: “Get up, begin matins.” He himself, having put on his shoes and washed his face, began to pray to the Lord God.
Those sent by Svyatopolk came to Alta at night, and came close, and heard the voice of the blessed passion-bearer singing the Psalter at Matins. And he had already received news of his impending murder. And he began to sing: “Lord! How my enemies have multiplied! Many rise up against me” - and the rest of the psalms to the end. And, having begun to sing according to the Psalter: “Groups of dogs surrounded me and fat calves surrounded me,” he continued: “Lord my God! I trust in you, save me!” And after that the canon sang. And when he finished Matins, he began to pray, looking at the icon of the Lord and saying: “Lord Jesus Christ! How are you, in this image appearing on earth and by one's own will who allowed himself to be nailed to the cross and accept suffering for our sins, grant me the ability to accept suffering in the same way!”
And when he heard an ominous whisper near the tent, he trembled, and tears flowed from his eyes, and said: “Glory to you, Lord, for everything, for you have made me worthy of envy for the sake of accepting this bitter death and enduring everything for the love of your commandments. You yourself did not want to avoid torment, you did not wish anything for yourself, follow the commandments of the Apostle: “Love is patient, believes everything, does not envy and does not boast.” And again: “There is no fear in love, for true love drives out fear." Therefore, Lord, my soul is always in your hands, for I have not forgotten your commandment. As the Lord wishes, so it will be.” And when they saw the priest Borisov and the youth serving the prince, their master, overwhelmed with grief and sadness, they wept bitterly and said: “Our merciful and dear master! What kindness are you filled with, that you did not want to resist your brother for the love of Christ, and yet how many warriors you kept at your fingertips!” And having said this, she became sad.
And suddenly I saw those rushing towards the tent, the flash of weapons, naked swords. And without pity the honest and merciful body of the holy and blessed one was pierced. Christ's passion-bearer Boris. The cursed ones struck him with spears: Putsha, Talets, Elovich, Lyashko. Seeing this, his youth covered the body of the blessed one with himself, exclaiming: “Let me not leave you, my beloved lord, where the beauty of your body fades, here I too will be honored to end my life!”
He was a Hungarian by birth, named George, and the prince awarded him a golden hryvnia [*], and was loved immensely by Boris. Here he too was pierced, and, wounded, he jumped out of the tent in shock. And those standing near the tent spoke: “Why are you standing and looking! Having begun, let us complete what we have been given.” Hearing this, the blessed one began to pray and ask them, saying: “My dear and beloved brothers! Wait a little, let me pray to God.” And looking up to heaven with tears, and lifting up sighs of grief, he began to pray in these words: “O Lord my God, most merciful and merciful and most merciful! Glory to You for making me worthy to escape the seductions of this deceptive life! Glory to Thee, generous giver of life, who has made me worthy of a feat worthy of the holy martyrs! Glory to you, Lord the Lover of Mankind, who has vouchsafed me to fulfill the innermost desire of my heart! Glory to You, Christ, glory to your immeasurable mercy, for you have directed my groans to the right path! Look from the height of your holiness and see the pain of my heart that I suffered from my relative - after all, for your sake they are killing me on this day. I was compared to a ram destined for slaughter. After all, You know, Lord, I do not resist, I will not contradict, and, having at my hand, all the soldiers of my father and everyone whom my father loved, I did not plot anything against my brother. He raised up against me as much as he could. “If an enemy reviled me, I would endure it; if my hater slandered me, I would hide from him.” But you, Lord, be a witness and bring judgment between me and my brother and do not condemn them, Lord, for this sin, but accept my soul in peace. Amen".
And, looking at his killers with a sad look, with a haggard face, shedding tears, he said: “Brothers, having begun, finish what has been entrusted to you. And may there be peace to my brother and to you, brothers!”
And everyone who heard his words could not utter a word from fear and bitter sadness and abundant tears. With bitter sighs they lamented and wept, and each one groaned in his soul: “Alas for us, our merciful and blessed prince, guide to the blind, clothing to the naked, staff to the elders, mentor to the foolish! Who will guide them all now? I didn’t want the glory of this world, I didn’t want to have fun with honest nobles, I didn’t want greatness in this life. Who will not be amazed at such great humility, who will not humble himself, seeing and hearing his humility?
And so Boris rested, surrendering his soul into the hands of the Living God on the 24th day of the month of July, 9 days before the calendar of August.
They also killed many youths. They could not remove the hryvnia from George and, having cut off his head, they threw it away. That's why they couldn't identify his body.
Blessed Boris, wrapped in a tent, was placed on a cart and taken away. And as they rode through the forest, he began to lift his holy head. Having learned about this, Svyatopolk sent two Varangians, and they pierced Boris with a sword in the heart. And so he died, having received the unfading crown. And, having brought his body, they laid it in Vyshgorod and buried it in the ground near the church of St. Basil.”
Svyatopolk, called the Accursed by the Russian people, fled to Poland and, like the first fratricide Cain, did not find peace and refuge anywhere. Chroniclers testify that even his grave emanated a stench.
“From that time,” the chronicler writes, “sedition in Rus' died down.” The blood shed by the holy brothers to prevent internecine strife was that blessed seed that strengthened the unity of Rus'. The noble passion-bearing princes are not only glorified by God for the gift of healing, but they are special patrons and defenders of the Russian land. There are many known cases of their appearance in difficult times for our Fatherland, for example, to Saint Alexander Nevsky on the eve Battle on the Ice(1242), to Grand Duke Dimitri Donskoy on the day of the Battle of Kulikovo (1380). The veneration of Saints Boris and Gleb began very early, shortly after their death. The service to the saints was compiled by Metropolitan John I of Kyiv (1008-1035).
The Grand Duke of Kiev Yaroslav the Wise took care to find the remains of Saint Gleb, which had been unburied for 4 years, and buried them in Vyshgorod, in the church in the name of Saint Basil the Great, next to the relics of Saint Prince Boris. After some time, this temple burned down, but the relics remained unharmed, and many miracles were performed from them. One Varangian stood irreverently on the grave of the holy brothers, and a suddenly emanating flame scorched his feet. From the relics of the holy princes, a lame youth, the son of a resident of Vyshgorod, received healing: Saints Boris and Gleb appeared to the youth in a dream and made the sign of a cross on his sore leg. The boy woke up from sleep and stood up completely healthy. The blessed prince Yaroslav the Wise built a stone five-domed church on this site, which was consecrated on July 24, 1026 by Metropolitan John of Kyiv with a cathedral of clergy. Many churches and monasteries throughout Rus' were dedicated to the holy princes Boris and Gleb; frescoes and icons of the holy passion-bearing brothers are also known in numerous churches of the Russian Church.
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.
The murder of Boris and Gleb
At this time, Prince Boris and his retinue were returning to Kyiv from a campaign. On the Alt River he was told the sad news about the death of his father and that his brother had seized power in Kyiv. The squad, led by Boris, consisting mainly of Vladimir’s old soldiers, suggested that the young prince take power by force. Upbringing and brotherly feelings did not allow young man draw a weapon on his older brother. This behavior of the young prince was perceived as cowardice and cowardice, therefore most of Boris's squad went to Kyiv to serve the local prince.
Svyatopolk, meanwhile, went to Izhgorod to personally verify the devotion of the boyars there. Not believing in simple words, he demanded that the boyars bring him Boris's head as proof of their devotion. The boyars agreed and went to the Alt River, where Boris was camped. The young prince prayed in his tent. The killers waited until he fell asleep and killed him. The body was wrapped in sheets and sent to Svyatopolk. So Boris was killed by his own brother.
Svyatopolk the Accursed continued his atrocities. After the murder of Boris, he sent messengers to Murom, which was ruled by his other brother, Gleb. The messengers conveyed the news to the prince that Vladimir was seriously ill and wanted to see his son. The deception worked, and Gleb with a small army went to Kyiv. Svyatopolk ordered to organize an ambush and kill his brother. Not far from Smolensk, Gleb and his squad were stopped by Yaroslav's envoys, who told him the news of his father's death and his brother's betrayal. Gleb mourned his father. At this time he was surrounded by killers. The small squad could not save the prince; his own cook killed him, hoping to please to the Kyiv ruler. The murder of Boris and Gleb was a vile step, and the brothers themselves were later canonized by the Orthodox Church. For these atrocities, the people dubbed Svyatopolk himself “cursed.”
New atrocities
Drevlyansky prince Svyatoslav, having learned about what had happened, fell into despair. Seeing no opportunity to resist Svyatopolk, he decided to flee to the Hungarian state. However, Svyatopolk foresaw this and his army had already moved into Svyatoslav’s possession. Near the Carpathians they caught up with the prince and, as chroniclers testify, brutally killed him. Thus, the accursed Svyatopolk, as the people began to call him, had already killed three of his brothers. He did not feel guilty, but he knew that the people might not forgive him. Therefore, he often gathered people and gave them money, furs and clothes, trying to buy their respect.
Confrontation between Svyatopolk and Yaroslav
In 1016, Yaroslav went to punish his brother. They first met near the city of Lyubech. The forces were equal, the accursed Svyatopolk hired the Polovtsians for the war. However, Yaroslav, a competent tactician, defeated his brother and entered Kyiv victorious. Svyatoslav fled to Poland and asked for help from the local king Boleslav. The Polish king agreed to provide his army and personally went on a military campaign against Kyiv. Near the Bug River, Yaroslav and his army met the enemy. The Poles, whose army consisted mainly of German and Hungarian mercenaries, fought bravely and defeated the Russians. With a small handful of soldiers, Yaroslav managed to reach Novgorod. From there the young prince wanted to go to Sweden in order to find comrades-in-arms there in the fight against Boleslav and Svyatopolk. The Novgorodians dissuaded him from fleeing. At the same time, Boleslav and his army approached Kyiv. The city did not resist for long and on August 14, 1018, the people of Kiev surrendered. Boleslav, King of Poland, entered Kyiv to proclaim Svyatopolk the new Prince of Kyiv.
The Polish king, finding the problem solved, sent the entire mercenary army home. The Poles from his squad were stationed at southern cities. Boleslav did not yet know about the treachery and betrayal of his “protégé”, who, fearing for the Poles’ encroachment on his throne, secretly gave the order to kill all the soldiers with whom the Polish king came. The massacre was terrible. Almost the entire Polish army was destroyed, only Boleslav managed to escape.
At this time, Yaroslav gathered a new army and went with it to Kyiv. Svyatopolk the Accursed did not believe in the loyalty of the people of Kiev, but allied troops He no longer had any Poles. This forced him to flee to the Polovtsians, among whom he recruited his new army, with which he went to Rus'. Two armies met on the Alto River in 1019, in the very place where the murderers, conspired by the insidious Svyatopolk, killed Prince Boris. During the battle, Svyatopolk was forced to retreat, but was overtaken by one of the Varangians, who delivered his head to Yaroslav.
August 6 The Church honors memory of the holy martyrs Boris and Gleb. The holy noble passion-bearing princes Boris and Gleb were the youngest sons of the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles. They were born shortly before the Baptism of the Russian Land and were raised in the spirit of the Christian faith. The eldest of the brothers, Boris, received a good education. Gleb shared his brother’s desire to devote his life exclusively to serving God. The brothers were distinguished by their mercy and kindness, imitating the example of their father, Prince Vladimir, who was merciful and sympathetic.
Life of Princes Boris and Gleb
Boris and Gleb were the sons of Grand Duke Vladimir of Kyiv (c. 960 - 07/28/1015) from his wife, the Byzantine princess Anna (963 - 1011/1012) from Armenian dynasty, only sister ruling emperor Byzantium of Basil II (976-1025). At holy baptism, Boris received the name Roman, and Gleb received the name Davyd. From early childhood, the brothers were raised in Christian piety. They loved to read the Holy Scriptures, the works of the holy fathers. They ardently wanted to imitate the feat of God's saints. Boris and Gleb were distinguished by their mercy, kindness, responsiveness and modesty.
During the life of Prince Vladimir, Boris received Rostov as an inheritance, and Gleb received Murom. While ruling their principalities, they showed wisdom and meekness, caring primarily about inculcating the Orthodox faith and establishing a pious way of life among people. The young princes were skilled and brave warriors. Shortly before his death, their father, Grand Duke Vladimir, summoned his elder brother, Boris, and sent him with a large army against the godless Pechenegs. However, the Pechenegs, frightened by the strength of Prince Boris and the power of his army, fled to the steppe.
After the death of Vladimir the Great in 1015, his eldest son from a Greek woman, the widow of the Kyiv prince Yaropolk Svyatoslavich (? - 06/11/978), Svyatopolk (c. 979 - 1019) declared himself the great prince of Kyiv. Upon learning of his father's death, Prince Boris was very upset. The squad persuaded him to go to Kyiv and take the grand-ducal throne, but the humble Boris disbanded the army, not wanting internecine strife:
I will not raise my hand against my brother, and even against my elder, whom I should consider as my father!
Svyatopolk was a fairly insidious and power-hungry man, did not believe the sincerity of the words of his brother Boris and saw in him only a rival, on whose side the people were. Immediately Svyatopolk decided to terrible crime, sending assassins to Boris. Boris was notified of this, but did not hide. Remembering the exploits of the first Christian martyrs, he readily faced death. The assassins sent by Svyatopolk overtook Boris at Matins on Sunday, July 24 (old style), 1015, in his tent on the banks of the Alta River. After the service, the criminals broke into the prince's tent and pierced Boris with spears.
The servant of Saint Prince Boris Georgy Ugrin rushed to the defense of his master, but was immediately killed. However, Boris was still alive. Coming out of the tent, he began to pray, and then turned to the murderers:
Come, brothers, finish your service, and may there be peace to brother Svyatopolk and to you.
Then one of the killers came up and pierced him with a spear. Svyatopolk's servants took Boris's body to Kyiv; on the way they met two Varangians sent by Svyatopolk to speed up the matter. The Varangians noticed that the prince was still alive, although he was barely breathing. Then one of them pierced his heart with a sword. The body of the passion-bearer Prince Boris was secretly brought to Vyshgorod and laid in a church in the name of St. Basil the Great.
After this, Svyatopolk decided to kill his younger brother, Gleb. Svyatopolk summoned Gleb from Murom and sent his warriors to meet him so that they would kill him on the way. At this time, Prince Gleb learned about the death of his father and the fratricidal crime of Svyatopolk. Grieving this, Gleb, like Boris earlier, chose martyrdom fraternal war. The killers met Gleb at the mouth of the Smyadyn River, not far from Smolensk. The murder of Prince Gleb occurred on September 5, 1015. The killers buried Gleb's body in a coffin consisting of two hollowed out logs.
The martyrdom of princes Boris and Gleb
The life of the passion-bearers Russian princes Boris and Gleb was sacrificed to the main Christian good deed - love. The brothers, by their will, showed that evil must be repaid with good. This was still new and incomprehensible to Rus', accustomed to blood feud.
Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul (Matthew 10:28).
Boris and Gleb gave their lives for the sake of obedience, on which a person’s spiritual life is based. " You see, brothers, - says the Monk Nestor the Chronicler, - How high is obedience to an older brother? If they had resisted, they would hardly have received such a gift from God. There are many young princes today who do not obey their elders and are killed for resisting them. But they are not likened to the grace that these saints were awarded».
The Russian passion-bearing princes did not want to raise their hands against their brother, but the power-hungry Svyatopolk was punished for fratricide. In 1019, the Kiev prince Yaroslav the Wise (c. 978 - 02/20/1054) - the half-brother of Boris and Gleb, one of the sons of Prince Vladimir, gathered an army and defeated Svyatopolk's squad.
By the providence of God, decisive battle occurred on a field near the Alta River, where Prince Boris was killed. Svyatopolk, called the Accursed by the Russian people, fled to Poland and, like the biblical fratricide Cain, did not find peace and refuge anywhere. Chroniclers testify that even his grave emanated a stench.
« Since then, - writes the chronicler, - sedition has died down in Rus'" The blood shed by the brothers Boris and Gleb to prevent internecine strife turned out to be the fertile seed that strengthened the unity of Rus'.
Veneration of Saints Boris and Gleb
The noble passion-bearing princes Boris and Gleb are not only glorified by God for the gift of healing, but they are special patrons and defenders of the Russian land. There are many known cases of their appearance in difficult times for our Fatherland, for example, to Holy Prince Alexander Nevsky on the eve of the Battle of the Ice (1242), to Grand Duke Dimitri Donskoy on the day of the Battle of Kulikovo (1380). They also talk about other cases of the intercession of saints during wars and armed conflicts in later times.
The veneration of Saints Boris and Gleb began very early, shortly after their death. The service to the saints was compiled by Metropolitan John I of Kyiv (1008-1035).
The Grand Duke of Kiev Yaroslav the Wise took care to find the remains of Prince Gleb, which had been unburied for 4 years, and buried them in Vyshgorod, in the church in the name of St. Basil the Great, next to the relics of St. Prince Boris. After some time, this temple burned down, but the relics remained unharmed, and many miracles were performed from them.
One Varangian stood irreverently on the grave of the holy brothers, and a suddenly emanating flame scorched his feet. From the relics of the holy princes, a lame youth, the son of a resident of Vyshgorod, received healing: the passion-bearing princes Boris and Gleb appeared to the youth in a dream and made the sign of the cross on his sore leg. The boy woke up from sleep and stood up completely healthy.
The noble prince Yaroslav the Wise built a stone five-domed temple on the site of the burnt church, which was consecrated on July 24, 1026 by Metropolitan John of Kyiv with a council of clergy.
The year of canonization of the holy passion-bearers is considered to be 1072. They became the first Russian saints. However, it is known that the Greek bishops, who at that time headed the Russian Church, were not particularly enthusiastic about the glorification of Russian saints. But a large number of miracles emanating from the relics of the holy passion-bearers, and popular veneration did their job. The Greeks finally had to recognize the holiness of the Russian princes. IN folk legend the holy princes, first of all, appear as intercessors of the Russian land. In honor of the saints, many prayers were composed, including the unique, famous hagiographic Proverbs, which were preserved in Russian worship until early XVII century.
The number of icons, copper castings and other images of Saints Boris and Gleb is enormous. In almost any historical museum, dedicated to ancient Russian icon painting, today you can find icons of the most holy different sizes and levels of icon painting skill.
The Old Believer icons of Boris and Gleb are also known. So, after church schism Cast icons of saints have become widespread, of which there are about 10 different versions.
There are also several cities and towns named after the saints.
Installed next days veneration of Saints Boris and Gleb:
- May 15 - transfer of the relics of the holy martyrs Russian princes Boris and Gleb, named Roman and Davyd in holy baptism (1072 and 1115);
- June 2 - the first transfer of the relics of the holy martyrs Boris and Gleb (1072);
- August 6 - joint celebration of Saints Boris and Gleb;
- August 24 - transfer of the old shrine of the holy passion-bearers Princes Boris and Gleb from Vyshgorod to Smolensk (1191);
- September 18 - Dormition of the holy and blessed Prince Gleb, brother of Saint Boris according to the flesh (1015).
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Library of Russian Faith
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Troparion, tone 2
A truthful passion-bearer, and a true listener to the Gospel of Christ, chaste Romane, with the kindly Davyd, without resisting the enemy, I am a brother who kills the body, but cannot touch the soul. Let the evil power-hungry cry, but you, rejoicing with the faces of the angels, are about to Holy Trinity. Praying for the power of your relatives to be pleasing to God, and for your Russian sons to be saved.
Kontakion, tone 3
Today is the glorious memory of the noble passion-bearer of Christ, Roman and David, calling us to the praise of Christ our God. Therefore, the gift of healing that flows to the race of relics is acceptable, through the prayers of the holy Vayu, you are a divine physician.
Temples in honor of Saints Boris and Gleb
It is interesting that the veneration of Saints Boris and Gleb in ancient Rus' was much more widespread than even the veneration of the saints Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir and Princess Olga. This is especially noticeable in the number of churches built in the name of these saints. Their number reaches several dozen.
The construction of churches in honor of the holy Russian princes Boris and Gleb was extensive throughout the history of the Russian Church. In the pre-Mongol period, this was, first of all, a church in Vyshgorod, where pilgrimages were constantly made.
In honor of Saints Boris and Gleb, monasteries were created: Novotorzhsky, in Turov, Nagorny in Pereslavl-Zalessky. By the beginning of the 70s. XI century At the sites of the death of both princes, wooden churches were built, which were eventually replaced by stone ones. One of the centers of veneration for princes Boris and Gleb was the monastery on Smyadyn. In the 12th century. Boris and Gleb Cathedral, which still exists today, was erected in Chernigov.
Similar stone buildings appeared in Ryazan, Rostov-Suzdal land, Polotsk, Novgorod, Gorodnya and others.
The dedication of temples and monasteries to Boris and Gleb did not stop in subsequent times. Boris and Gleb churches were built: in Rostov, Murom, Ryazan, in the village of Lyuboditsy (now Bezhetsky district of the Tver region). Several churches were dedicated to Boris and Gleb in Novgorod: at the gates of the Kremlin, “in Plotniki”.
A significant number of Boris and Gleb churches existed in Moscow and the outskirts of the city: at the Arbat Gate, on Povarskaya Street, the upper church of the church in Zyuzin, as well as in the Moscow region.
In the XIV - early XX centuries. there were monasteries in the name of Boris and Gleb: Ushensky on the banks of the Ushna River near Murom, in Novgorod “from Zagzenya”, in Polotsk, on the Sukhona River in the Totemsky district of the Vologda province, in Solvychegodsk, in Mozhaisk, in Pereslavl-Zalessky “on the sands”, in Suzdal, in Chernigov.
In 1660, the monks of the Mezhigorsky Transfiguration Monastery received a letter from Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich to build a monastery “on the blood” of Boris, but for unknown reasons the monastery was not created. In 1664, the archpriest of the Pereyaslav Assumption Cathedral, Grigory Butovich, erected a stone cross here. At the end of the 17th century. a temple in the name of Boris and Gleb is mentioned not far from the place of Boris’s death.
Currently operating are the first in Rus', the Novotorzhsky Borisoglebsky monastery in the city of Torzhok, Tver region, and the Borisoglebsky monastery on Ustye in the village of Borisoglebsky Yaroslavl region, Borisoglebsky monastery in Dmitrov, Anosin in the name of Boris and Gleb, Borisoglebsky convent in the Istra district of the Moscow region, Borisoglebsky convent in the village of Vodyanoye Kharkov region, Ukraine.
In the Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church, the Russian Old Orthodox Church and other Old Believer communities there is not a single temple dedicated to the holy princes - passion-bearers Boris and Gleb. Which, it must be admitted, indicates a decline in the veneration of Russian saints in the Old Believers. At the same time, it should be noted that the passion-bearers are still revered in the South Slavic countries, and in the Moscow Patriarchate new churches and monasteries are periodically opened in the name of these saints.
(medieval detective)
In Chernigov on Val, next to the Spassky Cathedral stands the single-domed Boris and Gleb Cathedral. The temple was built on the foundation of an older church Prince of Chernigov David Svyatoslavich (n. XII century) as the family tomb of the Davydovichs and is a monument to the Chernigov architectural school period of Kievan Rus. And now, in the northern and southern parts of the cathedral, visitors can see well-preserved 6 niche tombs (arcasols) for princely burials. The temple was named Borisoglebsky in memory of the first Russian saints, princes Boris and Gleb (Roman and David in baptism), the youngest sons of the great Kyiv prince Vladimir 1, the Baptist. After the death of their father in 1015, Boris and Gleb were criminally killed by their brother Svyatopolk in a fierce struggle for power. For this serious crime, Prince Svyatopolk was nicknamed “The Accursed” (he committed the “Cain sin”). With this brand he forever entered into national history. Later, the Russian Orthodox Church canonized the innocently murdered brothers and ranked them among the host of pan-Slavic saints revered throughout the Orthodox world. ABOUT tragic events bloody war 1015-1019 tells “The Tale of Bygone Years,” compiled by the Kiev-Pechersk monk Nestor. In the struggle for Kyiv, Prince Svyatopolk suffered crushing defeat from the Novgorod prince Yaroslav. And he fled in great fear, but died ingloriously in the Carpathians, on the way to Poland.
IN historical science pre-revolutionary Russia and in Soviet time, following an already established tradition, Svyatopolk the Accursed was considered the founder civil war in Rus'. The killer of his brothers. Another point of view (for example, N. Ilyin) was considered tendentious and was not taken seriously by learned men from history. Currently (everything flows, everything changes) the palette of opinions about events “long ago” days gone by” began to be widely covered in specialized literature, and even splashed out on the pages of periodicals. A number of researchers (A. Golovko, A. Khoroshev, A. Nazarenko and others), following N. Ilyin, express doubt that Svyatopolk the Accursed was involved in the death of princes Boris and Gleb. Yaroslav the Wise, perhaps Mstislav of Tmutarakan (N. Kotlyar), is considered guilty of their death. In their research, they rely on Western sources: the Scandinavian “Eymund's Saga” and the “Chronicle” of the Saxon bishop Thietmar of Merseburg.
It turns out that Svyatopolk the Accursed is not “accursed” at all, he was undeservedly slandered in history, and Yaroslav the Wise is not a “wise” prince at all, but a cunning and cruel intriguer. For the sake of a thirst for power, he killed his younger brothers. And having accomplished his plan, he hastened to whitewash himself. Therefore, “The Tale of Bygone Years” should not be particularly trusted. Nestor the chronicler deliberately falsified events to please Prince Yaroslav.
Any point of view has the right to exist, especially if it is scientifically proven. But as if “they didn’t throw out the baby with the bathwater,” they began to believe too much in Western sources and questioned the domestic one.
Old Scandinavian sagas - a source of folklore, legendary, oral experience folk art. The word “saga” is translated as “that which is told about.” “Eymund’s Saga” speaks fondly of the main character Eymund, who brought his Varangian squad to Novgorod to Prince Yaroslav. And he remembers Yaroslav as a not very wise military leader. And he was not famous for his “gentleness for a penalty” - generosity. In addition, we must remember that the saga was written down only in the 13th century. and came to us in the only list of the XIV century. as part of the Icelandic corpus. She suffered long haul before becoming widely known. And it is unlikely that she can be trusted unconditionally. It’s not for nothing that among historians there are no consensus Who owns the name “Burislef” in the saga – Svyatopolk the Accursed, his father-in-law King Boleslav the Brave of Poland or Prince Boris? If it was Prince Boris, then he was not killed immediately after the death of his father, as Nestor tells us about this. And for some time he reigned in Kyiv. He fled from Kyiv after the battle with Yaroslav to the Pechenegs. But he did not calm down and tried to return to Rus' with them. And then Yaroslav decided to get rid of him. He sent spies to Boris’s camp - Eymund and his squad. The Varangians knew their business well. Burisleif-Boris was killed, and Eimund brought his head to Yaroslav. So in the saga. And it turns out that only the cunning Prince Yaroslav is to blame for the death of his younger brother.
The situation is no better with the “Chronicle” of the German Bishop Thietmar of Merseburg. He was a contemporary of the events, but not a participant, and wrote his “Chronicle” from the words of the Saxon knights, whose detachment participated in the campaign Polish king Boleslav the Brave to Kyiv. Since ancient times, Polish aggression (read: Catholicism) was already directed to the east. And here I would like to draw attention to an important point: the split of Christianity into Western and Eastern religions, which existed for a long time, but was legally formalized only in 1054. Year of death of Yaroslav the Wise. And the reason for “clearing roads and laying bridges” to Rus' was the expulsion of Svyatopolk from Kyiv. And then the researchers drew attention to a significant point in the chronicler’s story. It turns out that Svyatopolk last years during the life of Grand Duke Vladimir he was imprisoned. After the death of his father, he managed to escape from captivity (apparently, not without the help of his well-wishers) and hastily, leaving his family, fled to Poland. Svyatopolk returned to Rus' with Polish army his father-in-law (1018). Then it turns out that he had nothing to do with the death of princes Boris and Gleb!
And one more important fact regarding Thietmar’s “Chronicle”. G.M. Philist, famous Belarusian historian, at one time (1990) noted “we do not know the translation of the chronicle into Russian, we have not found it in German either.” The original died in 1945 in Dresden (apparently during the American bombing of the city). Maybe over the past years a translation of the Chronicle into Ukrainian language? Without familiarity with the original source, repeating it from hearsay and obviously biased, it is difficult to agree with the integrity of its supposed “researchers.”
Prince Vladimir had 12 sons. After his death, Svyatopolk, Prince of Turov, remained the eldest in the family. The story of his birth is interesting. In the internecine struggle for primacy in the Russian land, Prince Vladimir killed his brother Yaropolk. By force he took his pregnant wife as his wife and adopted the born boy. Gossips in Rus' they said that Svyatopolk was born from two husbands. Therefore, he hardly had any kindred feelings for his uncle. And was it not at an early age that the prince developed a bold and a sly plan take revenge on my father's murderer? Prince Vladimir apparently felt the hidden hostility of his adopted son. And when the time came for the matured Svyatopolk to give an inheritance, he planted him not far from himself, right there, in Kyiv land, in Turov on Pripyat. Svyatopolk married the daughter of the Polish king Boleslav the Brave. Bishop Rainburn became the family's confessor. It was he who persuaded Svyatopolk to accept the dogmas of the Western Christian faith. Svyatopolk moved away from the eastern christian church, which further strengthened his dislike for his adoptive father. The time for a conspiracy is ripe. But the young prince acted too carelessly. The conspiracy was discovered, and Svyatopolk, his wife and confessor were summoned to Kyiv and put in a prison prison. And only the unexpected death of Prince Vladimir allowed him to break free. And I think, not without the effective support of their supporters.
Svyatopolk did not flee to Poland, as the chronicler Thietmar claims, but actively joined the fight for Kyiv. At night, he secretly(?), wrapped in a carpet, buries the Grand Duke in the Church of the Tithes, and in the morning he cajoles the people of Kiev with generous promises. With great reluctance, the people of Kiev agree to admit new government. With reluctance, perhaps because a rumor spread among the townspeople: Prince Vladimir did not die, but was killed as a result of a conspiracy (which is why he was buried secretly). And Svyatopolk is involved in it. But, reluctantly, I still had to admit it. After the death of his father, Svyatopolk, by right of seniority, laid claim to the throne. And the people of Kiev did not want bloodshed!
As they say: “From rags to riches,” from prison to the throne of Kiev! Winning the people of Kiev to your side was only half the battle; there were still brothers who could lay claim to Kyiv. A real threat represented Novgorod prince Yaroslav. Even during his father’s life, he fully demonstrated his rebellious disposition and refused to pay tribute to Kyiv. Such “liberty” aroused the wrath of the Grand Duke of Kyiv, and they were judged only by his unexpected death. There were still brothers Boris and Gleb, born from Byzantine princess Anna (possibly Bulgarian - there is such a version). And although they were the youngest in the family, their chances for the princely table were preferable, yet royal blood flowed in their veins. The vague origins of Svyatopolk (it is not clear whose son he is after all?) cast doubt on the legality of his claims to supreme power.
So it turns out that the ambitious Svyatopolk was interested in the death of his younger brothers, who posed a threat to his irrepressible thirst for power. WITH clean hands and with a soft heart they do not strive for power! If you want to be first, you need to put aside sentimentality (no kindred feelings!) and get your rivals out of the way, otherwise you yourself will be eliminated. The struggle for power is quite in the spirit of the times. This is what Prince Vladimir did in his time.
As you know, winners are not judged. This postulate was clearly confirmed by Prince Yaroslav. It can be assumed that for the same reasons he was prevented younger brothers. In the ensuing confrontation, Princes Boris and Gleb were killed, and another brother, Prince Svyatoslav, also ingloriously disappeared “on the run.” Svyatopolk lost the fight, found himself an outcast in Rus', and his contemporaries condemned him: “The fruit of evil comes from the sinful root.” And the epithet “Cursed” was added to the name. Prince Yaroslav turned out to be the winner in a four-year fratricidal war. People's memory, unfortunately, is short-lived; even difficult things are quickly forgotten. Time passed, and for posterity the prince appeared “Wise” (there is a statement that the historian N.M. Karamzin first called him that).
Prince Yaroslav carried the memory of those sad events throughout his life. Conscience, apparently, tormented me greatly. And when he had to die, he bequeathed to his sons: “Have love for each other, since you are brothers of one father and one mother; Yes, if you love each other, God will be in you, and he will subdue your enemies, and you will live peacefully; If you live by hatred, you will be punished in strife, you yourself will perish, and the earth... you will destroy.”
History doesn't know subjunctive mood, and is also replete with legends. Perhaps, during his lifetime, Prince Yaroslav created for himself the legend of a just fighter for power and a strict guardian of the still nascent Orthodox traditions. However, he entered Russian history as an enlightened monarch, a guardian of the Russian land. Under Yaroslav, Rus' reached the peak of its economic and military potential and became a country “known in all corners of the world.” And is it worth overthrowing heroes from their pedestal just because there were times when they were used to being considered sinless, and other points of view were obstructed? Be that as it may, it is impossible to prove Yaroslav’s “guilt” over the years. And it’s hardly worth proving it. IN real life it happened the way it happened.
But “there is no silver lining.” This sad story has provided an invaluable service Orthodox Church. A country that had only recently adopted Christianity needed the cult of all-Russian saints. The innocently murdered brothers Boris and Gleb were quite suitable for this purpose. Appeared chronicle story“About the murder of Borisov”, “The Tale of Boris and Gleb”. According to the church, they knew their fate and accepted death with meekness. And they humbly prayed for the salvation of the souls of their murderers. The brothers' lives became the embodiment high principles Christian morality: saving faith in God; ardent love for one's neighbor; honoring elders; meekness and humility. The Boris and Gleb cult has received wide recognition in all Orthodox countries. In Rus', as the first Russian saints, Boris and Gleb were recognized as the patrons of the Russian land.
The Church is faithful to its traditions and currently commemorates the passion-bearers Boris and Gleb on May 15 and August 6 - the day of their murder.
Reviews
Hello, dear Vitaly.
The Chronicle of Thietmar has been translated into Russian and is available on the Internet:
http://www.vostlit.info/haupt-Dateien/index-Dateien/T.phtml?id=2059
For me personally, it is a mystery why Thietmar is being made a “prosecution witness” against Yaroslav the Wise. He is more suitable for the role of "defense witness".
As a “private literary detective” I will try to prove the innocence of Yaroslav Vladimirovich.