<oo>→<rg> Rusian genealogy

Introduction | About | Browse | Query | Sources | Maps

Briacheslav Davidich

There is no easily assignable date for the marriage of Brjačeslav Davydič and a daughter of M′stislav Volodimerič. The chronicles note the marriage simply through a familial relationship between Brjačeslav and the M′stislaviči, when Izjaslav M′stislavič helps his “ziat′” Brjačeslav during M′stislav’s campaign against Polack in 1127. ^[6] However, put into the context of the wider Rusian political world of the early twelfth century it is perhaps inevitable that a marriage between the M′stislaviči, or Volodimeriči more broadly, would have been made with someone of the Polack clan. The only prior dynastic marriage made by the Polack Rjurikids was with a daughter of Jaropolk Izjaslavič, a member of the rival Izjaslaviči branch of the family. In an effort to broaden his base of support, Volodimer, or more likely his son, might have arranged the marriage with the ruler of Polack, Davyd Vseslavič, for their children to marry. The effects of the marriage are seen in Izjaslav’s intervention on behalf of his brother–in–law, and the subsequent protection of his sister’s interests in Izjaslavl′, Brjačeslav and his wife’s home, during the Volodimeriči campaign against Polack. ^[7] Despite these efforts, however, Davyd of Polack and M′stislav were unable to come to a lasting accord and in 1129, M′stislav banished Davyd and his kin to Constantinople. ^[8] In question is whether or not Brjačeslav and his wife were part of the banished. It would seem unlikely for M′stislav to banish his own daughter, a woman that he put in the position in the first place, but certainly not impossible. The two chronicles that specifically mention the banished by name do not list Brjačeslav or his wife, ^[9] while the chronicles that are more general in their statement include the children of Davyd, which would be Brjačeslav. Baumgarten has chosen to include Davyd and his wife among the banished, and has gone so far as to list a name for the M′stislavna, Xenia. ^[10] He does this based upon the “Itinerary of St. Antony of Novgorod” who views a tomb of Xenia, daughter of Brjačeslav, during his stay in Constantinople. ^[11] In this context it is possible to acknowledge that Brjačeslav may have been banished and lived out the remainder of his life, and his family’s lives in Constantinople, most likely (in that case) with his wife. ^[12]

Footnotes

1. Birth/Death: [↑]
2. Father: Laurentian Chronicle, s.a. 1127.[↑]
3. Mother: Conjectural based upon the existence of Briacheslav Davidich.[↑]
4. Kniaz′ of Iziaslavl′: Hypatian Chronicle, s.a. 1128.; Voskresenskaia Chronicle, s.a. 1127.; Hypatian Chronicle, s.a. 1128.[↑]
5. Marriage to N. N. Mstislavna: Laurentian Chronicle, s.a. 1127.; Voskresenskaia Chronicle, s.a. 1127.; Hypatian Chronicle, s.a. 1128.; Nikon Chronicle, s.a. 1127.; All of these sources reference Briacheslav's relationship to the Mstislavichi, or Iziaslav Mstislavich specifically as his ziat'. No date is given for the marriage.[↑]
6. Laurentian Chronicle, s.a. 1127; Voskresenskij Chronicle, s.a. 1127; Hypatian Chronicle, s.a. 1128; Nikon Chronicle, s.a. 1127.[↑]
7. Specifically Hypatian Chronicle, s.a. 1128 which refers to Viačeslav Volodimerič protecting M′stislav’s daughter’s possessions during the sack of the city. [↑]
8. By name – Voskresenskij Chronicle, s.a. 1129; Tver Chronicle, s.a. 1129; More generally – Hypatian Chronicle, s.a. 1130; Laurentian Chronicle, s.a. 1129.[↑]
9. Voskresenskij Chronicle, s.a. 1129, Tver Chronicle, s.a. 1129.[↑]
10. Baumgarten. “"Généalogies,"” VIII.[↑]
11. Antoine, Archevêque de Novgorod. In Itinéraires Russes en Orient, Ed. B. de Khitrowo (Geneva: Imprimerie Jules–Guillaume Fick, 1889), 109.[↑]
12. This is made more likely by the later banishment of several Jureviči and their families who make a life for themselves in Byzantium, even ruling territory from the tsar. Hypatian Chronicle, s.a. 1162.[↑]