Igor Svyatoslavich - Prince of Novgorod-Seversk

Prince of Novgorod-Seversk

His half-brother, Oleg Svyatoslavich died on January 16, 1180; thus Igor left Putivl to succeed him in Novgorod Severskiy. Soon after Oleg Svyatoslavich’s death, grand prince Svyatoslav III Vsevolodovich of Kiev summoned Igor and Igor’s brother Vsevolod Svyatoslavich to Lyubech and concluded an agreement. Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich’s main objective in assembling the senior generation of Olgovichi was to secure Igor’s allegiance. On September 8, Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich ordered Igor and prince Vsevolod III Yuryevich of Vladimir to lead the junior Olgovichi and Monomashichi against Vyshgorod that he was besieging; the nine-week siege of the town became a failure.

At the beginning of 1181, Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich launched an expedition against Vsevolod Yuryevich in order to free from captivity his son Gleb Svyatoslavich. Before setting out, the grand prince commanded his son Yaroslav Svyatoslavich and Igor to remain behind and defend Chernihiv against the Rostislavichi (the members of the ruling dynasty of Smolensk). Later, Yaroslav Svyatoslavich and Igor waged war on the Principality of Drutsk whose prince Gleb Rogvoldovich formed a pact with prince David Rostislavich of Smolensk. Although David Rostislavich came to assist the prince of Drutsk, but Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich, who had expanded his authority over Novgorod, made David Rostislavich flee from the field of battle and forced Gleb Rogvoldovich to capitulate.

From Drutsk, Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich traveled south to evict grand prince Rurik Rostislavich from the Kievan land. Meanwhile, Igor, accompanied by Khans Konchak and Kobyak, was waiting for him near Vyshgorod. After Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich occupied the capital, the Cumans asked him to let Igor accompany them to the Lake Dolobsk. When Ryurik Rostislavich learnt that Igor and the nomads were encamped on the other side of the Dnieper River, he sent troops to attack them. His troops defeated the Cumans; Igor and Khan Konchak, however, escaped by boat to Chernihiv. It is likely that Igor and Khan Konchak formed a marriage alliance and arranged their children’s engagement.

When Khan Konchak with his Donets Cumans pillaged the Pereyaslavl lands in February 1184, Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich sent his sons and his troops to Igor ordering him to pursue the tribesmen. Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich’s co-ruler, Rurik Rostislavich, for his part, sent his troops under the command of prince Vladimir Glebovich of Pereyaslavl. Igor was appointed to command all the troops of the Olgovichi, and he refused Vladimir Glebovich permission to spearhead the attack, because the vanguard contingent would get the first chance to grab the booty. Shortly afterwards, Vladimir Glebovich pillaged the Seversk towns of the Olgovichi and rode off in a huff; Igor also sent the Kievan troops home. Consequently, Igor went in pursuit of the Cumans with a greatly diminished force, including some Black Hats. Igor pursued the raiders, found them at the river Khiriya (a tributary of the Vorskla), and took many captive. On his way home, he probably attacked Vladimir Glebovich’s town of Glebov (on the right bank of the Trubizh River).

In the summer, grand prince Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich launched a major campaign against the Cumans; Igor proposed that Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich take the route across the Pereyaslavl lands and he would meet him at the river Sula. But Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich rejected his proposal, and therefore Igor boycotted the expedition. However, on learning that Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich’s troops had departed, he also summoned his relatives; his aim was to plunder Cuman camps while the nomads were preoccupied fighting Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich’s forces. Anticipating no opposition, Igor was surprised to chance upon a Cuman raiding party of 400 strong around the river Merla (south of the Khiriya) which gave his men an opportunity to win glory in the battle.

In 1184, Igor harbored Vladimir Yaroslavich (his brother-in-law) who had been driven out of Halych by his own father.

When Khan Konchak attacked again Rus’ with a large force in 1185, Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich and Ryurik Rostislavich quickly assembled a force. The chronicler claims that Igor was also eager to attack him even against the advice of his druzhinniki and adverse weather conditions prevented his departure.