Council Of Uvetichi
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The Council of Uvetichi consisted of two meetings of the senior generation of princes of
Kievan Rus' Kievan Rus', also known as Kyivan Rus,. * was the first East Slavs, East Slavic state and later an amalgam of principalities in Eastern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical At ...
. It took place in August 1100, and it had a twofold purpose: to bring about a reconciliation among the princes and to pass judgment on Prince Davyd Igorevich. The venue of the conference was the town of Uvetichi, which is on the right bank of the
Dnieper The Dnieper or Dnepr ( ), also called Dnipro ( ), is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. Approximately long, with ...
not far from
Kiev Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...
. It is now the village of Vytachiv in the
Kyiv Oblast Kyiv Oblast (, ), also called Kyivshchyna (, ), is an Administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in central and northern Ukraine. It surrounds, but does not include, the city of Kyiv, which is administered as a city with special sta ...
. The Rus' Primary Chronicle ("The Tale of Bygone Years", the Povest' vremennykh let) is the primary source of information for the meetings, and the information is presented twice in the chronicle: first in detail under the year 1097, and then sequentially under the years 1098-1100.


Background

The council was preceded by severe conflict involving the Volhynian and Galician regions. It began in November 1097 when, violating the agreements reached at the earlier meeting of princes at the
Council of Liubech The Council of Liubech (sometimes referred to as the Liubech Conference) (, ) was one of the best documented princely meetings in Kievan Rus' that took place in Liubech (today in Chernihiv Oblast, Ukraine) on October 19, 1097. The council ended the ...
, Volhynian Prince and Prince Svyatopolk II Izyaslavich of Kiev had captured and blinded
Vasilko Rostislavich Vasilko Rostislavich (; ; – 1124) was a prince of Kievan Rus' and member of the Rurik dynasty. He was the first Prince of Terebovl' from 1092. His Byzantine-style blinding was very unusual among the Rurik dynasty. Life He was the third son ...
, prince of
Terebovlia Terebovlia (, ; ; ) is a small city in Ternopil Raion, Ternopil Oblast, western Ukraine. Terebovlia hosts the administration of Terebovlia urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Population: 13,661 (2001). History Terebovlia is one of ...
, whom Svyatopolk had tricked into coming to Kiev. The princes' reasons for convening included their suspicion of an alliance between Vasilko and Vladimir Vsevolodovich (Vladimir Monomakh) with the goal of installing Vladimir in Kiev and Vasilko in all the western regions, as well as Prince Davyd's concern for his own fate. Davyd had initiated a campaign to take possession of Vasilko's holdings, but was opposed by Vasilko's older brother Volodar, who besieged Davyd at Buzhsk and succeeded in securing the release of his brother. In the spring of the following year, 1098, Vasilko and Volodar besieged Davyd in the town of
Vladimir Vladimir (, , pre-1918 orthography: ) is a masculine given name of Slavic origin, widespread throughout all Slavic nations in different forms and spellings. The earliest record of a person with the name is Vladimir of Bulgaria (). Etymology ...
. In the end they made peace, after the boyars responsible for the blinding of Vasilko were turned over to them for adjudication. In 1098 there was a meeting in Gorodets of Svyatopolk's cousins, Vladimir Monomakh, Davyd Svyatoslavich, and Oleg Svyatoslavich. Threatening military action, they demanded that Svyatopolk expel Davyd Igorevich. Then Svyatopolk deprived Davyd Igorevich of his throne in Vladimir, causing him to flee to Poland, and Svyatopolk installed his son Mstislav in Vladimir. Subsequently, Sviatopolk went to war with Vasilko and Volodar, asserting that according to dynastic law, the lands which they held belonged to him. Svyatopolk was defeated Rozhne Pole. King
Coloman the Learned Coloman the Learned, also the Book-Lover or the Bookish (; ; ; 10703February 1116), was King of Hungary from 1095 and King of Croatia from 1097 until his death. Because Coloman and his younger brother Álmos were underage when their father Géz ...
of Hungary joined the conflict on the side of Svyatopolk. The exiled Davyd Igorevich took the side of Vasilko and Volodar, and he brought in the
Cuman The Cumans or Kumans were a Turkic nomadic people from Central Asia comprising the western branch of the Cuman–Kipchak confederation who spoke the Cuman language. They are referred to as Polovtsians (''Polovtsy'') in Rus' chronicles, as " ...
s and at the Vyagro River. Davyd then besieged Mstislav in Vladimir and captured the town. Svyatopolk's son was killed by an arrow during the siege on June 12, 1099. On August 5, the town of Vladimir was recaptured by
Putyata Putyata () was a ''tysyatsky'' (chiliarch) of Vladimir the Great Vladimir I Sviatoslavich or Volodymyr I Sviatoslavych (; Christian name: ''Basil''; 15 July 1015), given the epithet "the Great", was Prince of Novgorod from 970 and Grand Pr ...
, a Kievan military commander, but then David with the help of the
Cumans The Cumans or Kumans were a Turkic people, Turkic nomadic people from Central Asia comprising the western branch of the Cumania, Cuman–Kipchak confederation who spoke the Cuman language. They are referred to as Polovtsians (''Polovtsy'') in Ru ...
once again took possession of Vladimir and
Lutsk Lutsk (, ; see #Names and etymology, below for other names) is a city on the Styr River in northwestern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Volyn Oblast and the administrative center of Lutsk Raion within the oblast. Lutsk has a populati ...
as well, driving out Svyatopolk's ally, Svyatoslav Davidovich.


The Council and its consequences

The first meeting took place on August 10, and Svyatopolk, Vladimir Monomakh, Davyd Svyatoslavich and Oleg "made peace among themselves." When they met again on August 30, they summoned Davyd Igorevich. After listening to his explanation, the brothers pointedly moved away from him, leaving him by himself, and they would not allow him to speak. The kinsmen mounted their horses: Svyatopolk was with his military retinue and Davyd and Oleg each with their own retinues, but Davyd Igorevich remained on the sidelines since the others would not admit him to their presence while they discussed him. Once they made their decision, they sent messengers to him: Svyatopolk sent Putyata, Vladimir sent Orogost and Ratibor, and Davyd and Oleg sent Torchin. The envoys announced the kinsmen's decision: "We will not give you the throne at Vladimir because you raised a sword at us in a way never seen before in the Land of Rus'" He was deprived of Vladimir-Volhynsky, which was given to Svyatopolk's son Yaroslav. In exchange he received from Svyatopolk the towns of Buzhsky Ostrog, Duben, Czartorysk and wergeld of 400 grivnas from the other brothers, that is, 200 from Vladimir and 200 from the sons of Svyatoslav. Later Svyatopolk gave the town of Dorogobuzh to Davyd. As for Vasilko and Volodar, a decision was made to deprive Vasilko of his throne at Terebovl, apparently because a blinded prince was considered incapable of ruling. Envoys were sent to Volodar with orders that either he was to take care of his blind brother personally, or else send his brother to Kiev, where the princes promised to take care of him. Vasilko and Volodar did not accept these orders. The conditions under which the peace was concluded are not known, but Vasilko did remain Prince of Terebovl until his death. A short time later Svyatopolk came into conflict with Prince Yaroslav Yaropolkovich, his nephew by the older brother of his who had been killed by Vasilko and Volodar in 1086. In the end Yaroslav died in a Kiev prison.


See also

*
Council of Liubech The Council of Liubech (sometimes referred to as the Liubech Conference) (, ) was one of the best documented princely meetings in Kievan Rus' that took place in Liubech (today in Chernihiv Oblast, Ukraine) on October 19, 1097. The council ended the ...
(1097) * Council of Dolobsk (1103 and 1111)


References


Bibliography


Primary sources

* * * {{Cite book , last=Thuis , first=Hans , date=2015 , title=Nestorkroniek. De oudste geschiedenis van het Kievse Rijk , trans-title=Nestor Chronicle: the oldest history of the Kievan Realm , url=https://www.vantilt.nl/boeken/nestorkroniek/ , location=Nijmegen , publisher=Uitgeverij Vantilt , pages=304 , isbn=9789460042287 , language=nl 11th century in Kievan Rus' Primary Chronicle episodes