Siege of Novgorod (1170)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Iziaslavichi–Novgorodian military victory (1169)[1]
- Suzdalian blockade caused Novgorodians to expel Roman Mstislavich (1170)[1]
- Rurik Rostislavich of Smolensk became Prince of Novgorod (1170)[1]
- Yury Bogolyubsky of Suzdalia became Prince of Novgorod (1171)[1]
| Siege of Novgorod (1170) | |||||||
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| Part of the aftermath of the 1169 Sack of Kiev[1] | |||||||
 Battle as shown on Battle of the Novgorodians with the Suzdalians, a mid-15th century Novgorodian icon | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
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Coalition[1] | |||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Roman "the Great" Mstislavich[1] |
Andrey Bogolyubsky[1] Sviatoslav Rostislavich[1] | ||||||
The siege of Novgorod (Russian: Осада Новгорода; Belarusian: Аблога Ноўгарада) was a 1169/1170 siege of the city of Veliky Novgorod, capital of the Novgorod Republic, in the aftermath of the Sack of Kiev (1169).[2]
After the Iziaslavichi grand prince Mstislav II of Kiev had been ousted during the Sack of Kiev in March 1169 by a coalition of Rostislavichi (Smolensk), Yurievichi (Suzdalian), and Olgovichi of Chernigovian) princes,[3] the dethroned grand prince's son Roman Mstislavich, prince of Novgorod, was beleaguered by another Yurievichi army sent from Suzdalia by Andrey Bogolyubsky.[1] Unlike their victory at Kiev, the Suzdalians and their allies suffered a crushing defeat at Novgorodian hands.[1]
The battle in history
The episode took place in 1169 when Andrei Bogolyubsky, Prince of Vladimir (on the Kliazma), besieged the city. His protégé in Novgorod, Prince Sviatoslav Rostislavich, had left Novgorod in 1167 upon the death of his father (Grand Prince Rostislav Mstislavich, who had also backed his reign in Novgorod). When the new Kievan grand prince, Mstislav Iziaslavich, sent his son, Roman, to be prince of Novgorod, Andrei fought to return Sviatoslav to the Novgorodian throne, sending his army to besiege Novgorod and force them to drive out Roman and take back Sviatoslav.[citation needed]
The Novgorodians delivered a crushing defeat upon the Suzdalians and their allies.[1]
Bogolyubsky was, in fact, able to place his candidate on the Novgorodian throne the following year. The Novgorodians dismissed Sviatoslav in 1170. Bogolyubsky was, by then, the most powerful prince in Kievan Rus'. He had conquered Kiev and placed his candidate, Gleb, on the grand princely throne there. Andrei then remained the most powerful prince in Rus until his assassination in 1174. Thus, while the Novgorodians felt it had been miraculously delivered from Bogolyubsky's clutches in 1169, their policy of independence from him failed, and they gave in to his policies the following year.[4]