Siege of Vyshgorod

Siege of Vyshgorod
Part of the 1171–1173 Kievan succession crisis[1]

Former Vyshgorod hill fortress site (pictured 2012)
Date8 September[2] – 18/19 December 1173[3]
Location
near Vyshhorod, Kievan Rus'
Result Kiev and allies victory; defeat of Andrey Bogolyubsky's coalition[4][1]
Belligerents

Andrey's coalition

Кiev and allies


Reinforcements:

Commanders and leaders

Yurievichi (Suzdalia):
Yury Bogolyubsky[2]
Mikhalko Yurievich
Vsevolod "the Big Nest"

Olgovichi (Chernigov):
Sviatoslav Vsevolodich[2]

Rostislavichi (Smolensk):
Yaropolk Romanovich
(forced by Andrey[5])

Rostislavichi (Smolensk):
Mstislav Rostislavich
Rurik Rostislavich
Davyd Rostislavich

Iziaslavichi (Volyn/Lutsk):
Yaroslav Iziaslavich

Olgovichi (Chernigov):
Sviatoslav Vsevolodich
(switched sides near end[4][b])
Strength
50,000 (per Kievan Chronicle, probably exaggerated[6][7]) unknown

The battle and siege of Vyshgorod (modern Vyshhorod) took place in late 1173, during the 1171–1173 Kievan succession crisis.[1] Commanding another broad coalition army, prince Andrey Bogolyubsky of Vladimir-Suzdal launched a second campaign against Kiev (modern Kyiv), capital city of Kievan Rus'. After the conquest and sack of Kiev in March 1169 by an earlier coalition assembled by Andrey, his brother Gleb of Pereyaslavl had been installed as the new grand prince, only to die under suspicious circumstances in January 1171. A series of princes briefly reigned in Kiev thereafter, with Andrey usually managing to put his preferred candidates on its throne, until his brother Vsevolod "the Big Nest" was driven out by the Rostislavichi of Smolensk in April 1172, enthroning Rurik Rostislavich.[6][1] Andrey was most displeased when he heard about this, and assembled another coalition army under his son Yury to militarily enforce his will on Kiev.[6][1]

The coalition army, consisting of Yurievichi princes of Suzdalia, the Novgorod Republic, Olgovichi of Chernigov (modern Chernihiv) and various princes from present-day Belarus, approached Kiev by crossing the Dnieper from the northeast, where a pitched battle occurred, the indecisive battle of Vyshgorod. The defending Kievans and Rostislavichi then retreated into the medieval hill fortress of Vyshgorod, beleaguered by coalition forces. Reinforcements from the Iziaslavichi of Volhynia relieved them, delivering a crushing defeat upon the northern coalition, which fell apart in the aftermath. The conflict established a new balance of power, definitively breaking the short-lived Kievan overlordship (March 1169 – January 1171) of Andrey,[8][9] who was assassinated by his own courtiers the next year.[9]


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  1. ^ a b c d e Martin 2007, p. 128.
  2. ^ a b c Makhnovets 1989, p. 309.
  3. ^ Makhnovets 1989, pp. 310–311.
  4. ^ a b Pelenski 1988, p. 777.
  5. ^ Heinrich 1977, p. 331.
  6. ^ a b c Pelenski 1988, p. 776.
  7. ^ Raffensperger & Ostrowski 2023, p. 84.
  8. ^ Pelenski 1988, pp. 775–776.
  9. ^ a b Martin 2007, pp. 127–128.