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Vsyevolod II Ol'govich was born about in 1094, the son of
Oleg Svyatoslavich prince of Chernigiv and Theofano
Muzalonissa. He was prince of Chernigiv (1127-1139) and then of Kyiv
(1139-1146). He married about in 1116 with Agraf'ia, daughter of Mstislav
I Vladimirovich, prince of Kyiv. Their sons were Svyatoslav, prince of Kyiv; Yaroslav, prince of Chernigiv; and their daughter was
Zvyenislava (Sbislava). She married Bolyeslaw IV Kudryavi, King of Poland.. One
source mentions that there was another son, Vladimir. Vsyevolod appears on the
family diagram.
( Four families in addition to the Monomashichi now rule over a splintered
Kievan principality. When the appanage princes felt strong enough to challenge
the leading Prince Mstislav of Kyiv, they did so, as with their efforts to
subjugate the Pereyaslavl lands which were repulsed on two occasions by Yuri Dolgoruki. Yaroslav Svyatoslavich in Chernigiv was
ousted by the armed band of his nephew, prince Vsyevolod Ol'govich. The
Chernigiv Druzhina was decimated, the city left in ruins, and Yaroslav
taken and thrown in the dungeon. When news reached Kiev, the Prince's court
decided the immediately put down the insurrection. Mstislav Volodomirovich
called upon his brother, Yaropolk, to form an army. Meanwhile Prince Vsyevolod
soon exiled his nemesis, Yaroslav, to Murom on the
far reaches of the Chernigiv Principality. Vsyevolod also teamed up with the
Polovtsi whose horde of Kochevniki numbering 7000 were strong enough to
dissuade Mstislav to put down the insurrection. Vsyevolod consolidated his
power in Chernigiv and following the death of Mstislav, forced the weak-minded
Prince Vyacheslav to return to his appanage in Turov and in this manner in 1139
he ascended the throne of the leading Princedom of Kyiv. During Vsyevolod's
lifetime there was erected the church of Saint George in city of Kanev around
1144. This city is located 150 Km south of Kiev on the Dnieper.
Chronology:
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