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Mykola Zharkikh (Kyiv)

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Rostov relatives
of prince Michael Vsevolodovych

Nicholas Zharkikh

Shortened text of the section. Full text in ukrainian version.

Maria, the daughter of prince Michael Vsevolodovych, was first mentioned at the beginning of 1228 on the occasion of her marriage to prince Vasylko Kostiantynovich of Rostov (T-93).

On July 24, 1231, they had a son, who was named Boris (in memory of Saint prince Boris, who is commemorated on this day, T-113).

In 1237 or at the beginning of 1238, their second son was born, whose name was already "programmed" – he was named Gleb.

What do we know next about Maria, Boris and Gleb?

This is all we know about the daughter and grandchildren of prince Michael Vsevolodovich. As for the 13th century, these are very detailed biographies. From them, we see that the Rostov princes took part in the affairs of their family (episodes 5, 17, 22, 25), took care of the church (episodes 8, 18) and helped the Tatars to rule (episodes 16, 28, 32).

The only thing that Boris did not have to do throughout his life was to fight. Gleb had to fight once on the side of the Tatars against the Alans. (Later, all this was called "the heroic struggle of the great Russian people against the Tatar yoke".)

But why do we need to know about the princes of Rostov for the history of the Chernihiv principality?

Michael had one daughter – Maria, the wife of prince Vasylko of Rostov, and their two grandsons – Boris and Gleb, who are discussed here. So they were the closest heirs to Michael.

And for 32 years (1246 – 1278), we have no hint that Boris or Gleb raised questions about their Chernihiv heritage.

This is how important the activity (or inactivity) of the Rostov princes is for the history of the Chernihiv principality.