Igor Svyatoslavich (3 April 1151 – ), nicknamed the Brave, was Prince of Novgorod-Seversk (1180–1198) and

Prince of Chernigov The Prince of Chernigov () was the ''kniaz'', the ruler or sub-ruler, of the Rus' people, Rus' Principality of Chernigov, a lordship which lasted four centuries straddling what are now parts of Ukraine, Belarus and the Russian Federation. List of ...

(1198–1201/1202).

Life

The son of Sviatoslav Olgovich, prince of

Chernigov Chernihiv (, ; , ) is a city and municipality in northern Ukraine, which serves as the administrative center of Chernihiv Oblast and Chernihiv Raion within the oblast. Chernihiv's population is The city was designated as a Hero City of Ukrain ...

, in 1169 Igor took part in the war against Mstislav Iziaslavich of

Kyiv 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, ...

on the side of

Andrey Bogolyubsky Andrey Yuryevich Bogolyubsky (, lit. Andrey Yuryevich of Bogolyubovo; died 28 June 1174) was Prince of Vladimir-Suzdal from 1157 until his death. During repeated internecine wars between the princely clans, Andrey accompanied his father Yuri D ...

. In order to counter

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 " ...

raids on the lands of southern

Rus' Rus or RUS may refer to: People * East Slavic historical peoples (). See Names of Rus', Russia and Ruthenia ** Rus' people, the people of Rus' ** Rus, a legendary eponymous ancestor, see Lech, Czech and Rus * Rus (surname), a surname found in Ro ...

, in 1185 he organized a campaign against the nomads, without the knowledge of the Grand Prince of Kyiv. After an initial victory, Igor's army was surrounded on the in modern-day eastern

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. The prince himself was captured, but managed to escape. After Igor's defeat the Cumans raided the Pereiaslav region.

In culture

Igor's defeat from the Cumans is the subject of the

epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...

'' Lay of Igor's Campaign'', whose central theme is the fate of Rus' territories during the period of feudal division between various princes. The work describes in detail Igor's preparations for the campaign and the course of the three-day battle between Rus' forces and the nomads. The text is concluded with a praise of the prince, his younger brother and comrade-in-arms Vsevolod Sviatoslavich, as well as his son

Volodymyr Volodymyr (, ; ) is a Ukrainian given name of Old East Slavic origin. The related Ancient Slavic, such as Czech, Russian, Serbian, Croatian, etc. form of the name is Володимѣръ ''Volodiměr'', which in other Slavic languages became Vladimi ...

Marriage and children

Before 1170:

Euphrosyne In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Euphrosyne (; ) is a goddess, one of the three Charites. She was sometimes named Euthymia () or Eutychia (). Family According to Hesiod, Euphrosyne and her sisters Thalia and Aglaea are the daughters ...

(possibly) Yaroslavna, the second daughter of prince

Yaroslav Osmomysl Yaroslav Osmomysl (, ''Osmomyslŭ Jaroslavŭ''; , ''Yaroslav Volodymyrovych Osmomysl'') ( – 1 October 1187) was a knyaz of Halych (now in western Ukraine). He is best-known for appearing in ''The Tale of Igor's Campaign''. His sobriquet, meani ...

of Halych by his first wife Olga Yuryevna of Kiev *Prince Vladimir Igorevich of Halych (October 8, 1170 – 1211 or after) *''Unnamed'' Igorevna (1171/1173 – after 1196), wife of David Olegovich *Oleg Igorevich (b. 1174) died at an early age *Prince Svyatoslav III Igorevich of Vladimir-in-Volhynia (1176 – September, 1211) *Prince Roman II Igorevich of Halych (1177/1179 – September, 1211)

Ancestors

Notes

References

Sources

*Dimnik, Martin: ''The Dynasty of Chernigov - 1146-1246''; Cambridge University Press, 2003, Cambridge; . *Jellinek, George: ''History through the Opera Glass: From the Rise of Caesar to the Fall of Napoleon''; Proscenium Publishers Inc., 2000, New York; . *Vernadsky, George: ''Kievan Russia''; Yale University Press, 1948, New Haven and London; . *Zenkovsky, Serge A.: ''Medieval Russia’s Epics, Chronicles and Tales''; Penguin Group, 1974; .
Dimnik, Martin. Battle of Kayala River (1185).The Encyclopedia of War 2011Anatoly Vorony. In Search of the River Kayala. Day, Kiev. 12 December, 2000
{{DEFAULTSORT:Igor Svyatoslavich 1151 births 1200s deaths Olgovichi family Princes of Novgorod-Seversk Princes of Chernigov Eastern Orthodox monarchs The Tale of Igor's Campaign