Konstantin Vsevolodovich

The eldest son of the Grand Duke of Vladimir Vsevolod Yuryevich Big Nest . Already in the tenth year ^[2] his father married him in Vladimir to the daughter of prince Smolensky Mstislav Romanovich Maria ^[3] (in monasticism - Agafia , d. January 24, 1220). Until 1205, he was with his father, present as a representative of the latter, at the consecration of churches in Vladimir and participating in the campaign to the Don Polovtsians in 1198. In the late 1190s he did not reign long in Pereyaslavl-Yuzhny .

In March 1205, his father was sent to reign in Novgorod in the place of his brother Svyatoslav , where he stayed until the beginning of 1208 ^[4] , but spent most of his time not in Novgorod, but in Vladimir and Rostov. Then he, collecting Novgorodians, Pskovites, Ladogaites and Novotorzhians, arrived with them in Moscow to assist his father in the campaign against Ryazan and in the siege of Pronsk .

After some time, his father gave Rostov to him and, in addition to it, five more cities: Yaroslavl, Beloozero, Mologa, Uglich and Veliky Ustyug ^{[2] [5]} . In his absence, in 1211, almost the whole of Rostov burned out, and when he found out about this, he immediately returned to it from Vladimir, where he went to see his father. As a native of Rostov and a man who lived there for a long time, he established not only a moral connection with his homeland, but also imbued with its political ideals, seeking both Rostov’s seniority to Vladimir and the political indivisibility of the entire Rostov-Suzdal land . Meanwhile, the Novgorodians took to their reign Prince Toropetsky Mstislav ; as a result, Konstantin and his brothers spoke against Torzhok Novgorod. The affair, however, ended without bloodshed.

In 1211, when his father was “beginning to exhaust”, he sent to Rostov for Prince Konstantin in order to “bless” him with the Grand Duchy of Vladimir, and Rostov to hand him over to his brother Yuri . Prince Konstantin refused to go to Vladimir and transfer Rostov, proving that he, as the eldest son, has the right to the entire great principality. After a three-time invitation, Vsevolod called to Bishop John , the clergy and laity of all ranks and conditions, and forced them to swear allegiance to Yuri, as his successor in grand dignity, bequeathed to him by Vladimir and Suzdal , and Konstantin - Rostov and Yaroslavl .

Power Struggle

In 1212, Vsevolod died and a struggle broke out between the brothers; their younger brothers went over to the side of one or the other of the older brothers. Konstantin, relying on the elder’s right, began to solicit a great reign, and Yuri, wanting to end the world, gave way to him, Vladimir asked for himself, but Konstantin did not agree, wanting to take both Rostov and Vladimir, and send Yuri to Suzdal. At the congress in Yuryev, Konstantin and Yuri reconciled, but in 1213 Konstantin again decided to go to Yuri, who, however, warned him, went to Rostov himself, burned many villages here, but the bloody battle on the Ishna River ended without result; the brothers soon made peace, but in 1216 they began to fight again. In 1215, Yaroslav Vsevolodovich opposed Novgorod because the latter accepted the reign of Mstislav Udalny ; Konstantin first took the side of his brother, but then Mstislav attracted him to his side with a promise to deliver him a grand-princely table. The battle took place on the banks of the Lipitsa River : Yaroslav and Yuri fled, and Konstantin solemnly entered Vladimir, brought the inhabitants to the cross, reconciled Yaroslav with Mstislav, Yuri gave Gorodets Radilov on the Volga.

Great reign

Having become Grand Duke of Vladimir, he did not break ties with Rostov, spending most of his time here, laying the cathedral church and leaving behind many other monuments, and, by the way, the library, which continued to grow under his son Vasilka . Chroniclers call Konstantin “blessed,” adorned with “all good morals,” who have not dimmed their minds, “the desolate glory of this beautiful light,” “the second Solomon ”; they convey that he “trust his whole mind” into an “ageless endless life”, which “improve with your alms and great lack of kindness”, indicate his truthfulness, generosity, meekness and humility, his worries about the creation of “God's beautiful churches”, which he decorated with “miraculous” icons and furnished with books, praise him that he “honored the priestly and ministry’s rank” and more. Konstantin earned the nickname "Wise": he knew several languages, loved books "more than any estate" and collected, "not sparing his fortune" (in his library there were more than a thousand Greek manuscripts only), appreciated art, kept "learned men" with him, engaged in translations from foreign texts. ^[6]

Prince Konstantin had three sons: Cornflower , Vsevolod and Vladimir . In 1217, Konstantin, sensing a quick death and fearing for the fate of young children, called on his brother Yuri from Gorodets, presented many gifts and appointed him, after his death, Vladimir, but for now he gave Suzdal, forcing to swear that he would be a father to his nephews, giving Rostov - Vasilka, Yaroslavl - Vsevolod, and Uglich - to Vladimir. Prince Constantine died on February 2, 1218, causing general sadness among the people; the chronicle says: “they cried a great cry, - the boyars, what kind of defenders of their land, the servants, as a feeder and lord, the wretched and little blacks, as their consolation and the robe of their nakedness.”

The foundation of the Grigoryevsky shutter within the walls of the Yaroslavl Spassky Monastery as an educational institution. Thus, the Grigoryevsky Shutter is probably the first educational institution in the North-East of Russia. There is an assumption that Konstantin transferred the theological school to Rostov in 1214, presumably it was located on the territory of the current metropolitan garden in the Rostov Kremlin.

Wife from 1196 Maria ^[7] (monk Agafya) (d. January 24, 1220), daughter of the Smolensk prince Mstislav Romanovich the Old .

Children:

Vasilko Konstantinovich (1208-1238) the specific prince of Rostov (from 1218).

Vsevolod Konstantinovich (1210-1238) - the 1st unit prince Yaroslavsky (from 1218).

Vladimir Konstantinovich (1214–1249) - the 1st unit prince Uglitsky (from 1218).

• Vinogradov A. Rostov and Belozersky specific princes // Russian Biographical Dictionary : in 25 volumes. - SPb. - M. , 1896-1918.
• Konstantin Vsevolodich the Wise . On the Chronos website .