Battle of the Alta River

Battle of the Alta River

The Battle of Alta River was a 1068 [ [http://gatchina3000.ru/brockhaus-and-efron-encyclopedic-dictionary/002/2342.htm Alta article] in Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary ru icon] clash on the Alta River between Polovtsy nomads on the one hand and Kievan Rus' forces of Grand Prince Iziaslav I of Kiev, Prince Sviatoslav of Chernigov, and Prince Vsevolod of Periaslavl on the other in which the Rus' forces were routed and fled back to Kiev and Chernigov in some disarray.Janet Martin, "Medieval Russia 980-1584" (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995), 49.] The battle led to an uprising in Kiev that briefly deposed Grand Prince Iziaslav, thus showing the power of the veche and the common people to influence princely politics in Kievan Rus' (particularly in Kiev and also in Novgorod the Great.)

The Polovtsy were first mentioned in the "Russian Primary Chronicle" under the year 1055, when Prince Vsevolod drew up a peace treaty with them. In spite of the treaty, in 1061, the Polovtsy breached the earthworks and palisades constructed by Princes Vladimir (d. 1015) and Yaroslav (d. 1054) and defeated an army led by Prince Vsevolod that had marched out to intercept them. Following the unsuccessful Battle on the Alta River near Pereislavl, Iziaslav and Vsevolod fled back to Kiev and their unwillingness to arm the general populace to march out and fight the raiders led to an uprising in the city. A veche (public assembly) was convened in the marketplace and the people there demanded arms to fight the Polovtsy. When these were not forthcoming, they ransacked the house of Voevoda Konstantin. ["Lavrent'evskaia Letopis' " ("Povest Vremennikh Let"), in "Polnoe Sobranie Russkikh Letopisei", Vol. 1, cols. 170-1; Boris D. Grekov, "Kiev Rus' " trans. by Y. Sdobnikov (Moscow, Foreign Language Publishing House. 1959), 656-7; Martin, "Medieval Russia", 35, 49; Mikhail Tikhomirov, "The Towns of Ancient Rus' ", trans. by Y. Sdobnikov (Moscow, Foreign Language Publishing House. 1959), 198-199.] The Kievans freed Prince Vseslav of Polotsk, who had been imprisoned earlier by Iziaslav, Vsevolod, and Sviatoslav, and placed him on the Kievan throne in hopes that he could stop the Polovtsy. Iziaslav, for his part, fled to his father-in-law, Boleslaw II of Poland, who supported him with arms with which he returned to Kiev the following May (1069) and took back the throne.

In Iziaslav's absence, Prince Sviatoslav managed to defeat a much larger Polovetsian army on November 1, 1068 and stem the tide of Polovetsian raids. A small skirmish in 1071 was the only disturbance by the Polovtsy for the next two decades. Thus, while the Battle of Alta River was a disgrace for Kievan Rus', Sviatoslav's victory the following year releaved the Polovtsy threat to Kiev and Chernigov for a considerable period.

ee also

* Battle of the Stugna River
* Lay of Igor's Campaign

References


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Alta River — ( uk. Альта) is a small river in Ukraine, a right tributary of Trubizh River. The ancient town of Pereyaslav (currently Pereiaslav Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine) is situated between the Trubizh and Alta rivers.The river is considered a place there the… …   Wikipedia

  • Alta controversy — The Alta controversy refers to a political controversy in Norway in the late 1970s and early 1980s concerning the construction of a hydroelectric power plant in the Alta river in Finnmark, Northern Norway.Key eventsThe background for the… …   Wikipedia

  • Alta California — This article is about a historical territory. For the locale in Placer County, California, see Alta, California. Coordinates: 38°N 115°W / 38°N 115°W / 3 …   Wikipedia

  • Alta (novel) — infobox Book | name = Alta title orig = translator = image caption = author = Mercedes Lackey cover artist = country = United States language = English series = The Dragon Jousters genre = Fantasy publisher = DAW release date = March 2004 media… …   Wikipedia

  • The Motorcycle Diaries (book) — This article is about the book. For the movie based on the book, see The Motorcycle Diaries (film). The Motorcycle Diaries   …   Wikipedia

  • Historical outline of the United States — The following is an outline of the history of the United States of America with hyperlinks to relevant Wikipedia articles.Outline1490s*On 1493 11 14, a Spanish fleet under the command of Cristoforo Colombo (Christopher Columbus) lands on a large… …   Wikipedia

  • Trabancos River — The Trabancos is a river in Spain which flows between the Zapardiel and the Guareña rivers and is a tributary of the Duero river. The source of the Trabancos is in Moraña, a region in the north of the province of Ávila, near Blascomillán. The… …   Wikipedia

  • Battle of Rio San Gabriel — Infobox Military Conflict conflict=Battle of Rio San Gabriel caption=Memorial overlooking the battleground in Montebello, CA partof=the Mexican American War date=January 8, 1847 place=near Los Angeles, California result=American victory… …   Wikipedia

  • History of religion in the United States — The religious history of the United States begins more than a century before the former British colonies became the United States of America in 1776.Some of the original settlers were men and women of deep religious convictions. The religious… …   Wikipedia

  • Native Americans in the United States — This article is about the indigenous people of the United States. For other indigenous people see Indigenous peoples by geographic regions Native Americans …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”