Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich was born in the city of Vladimir on the Klyazma on March 27, 1196. One of the eight sons of Vsevolod Yuryevich the Big Nest, Grand Duke of Vladimir. Mother - Czech Queen Maria Shvarnova.
When Svyatoslav was 4 years old, Vsevolod Yuryevich, at the request of the Novgorodians, sent him to reign in Veliky Novgorod. Then he was replaced by his older brother Konstantin, but in 1208 Svyatoslav returned to Novgorod again. But this time, too, his reign was short-lived.
In 1210, some influential Novgorodians, who disagreed with the policy of Vsevolod the Big Nest, invited the Toropets prince Mstislav Udatny to the city. He was in Torzhok - a Novgorod possession, from where he sent a message to his supporters. After the arrival of the messenger from Mstislav, Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich was seized and put into custody in the archbishop's house. Mstislav Udatny, who arrived in Veliky Novgorod, was received with all the honors. Having established himself in the principality, he soon returned to Torzhok again.
Having learned about the fate of his son, as well as the events in Novgorod, Prince Vladimirsky, in turn, imprisoned the Novgorod merchants in his possession, and sent a large army to Torzhok, led by his elder sons Konstantin and Yaroslav. After some time, Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich was released from Novgorod. He joined his brothers in Tver, and then together with them returned to his father in Vladimir. There he remained until the death of Vsevolod Yuryevich. Before his death, Prince Vladimirsky allocated to his son the city of Yuryev-Polsky and Gorodets (Radilov) in the Vladimir province.
When Prince Vsevolod, the son of Yuri Dolgoruky, felt the nearness of his death, he decided to give Vladimir to his eldest son, Konstantin, and to his second son, Yuri Rostov. However, Constantine demanded both cities. Angry with him, Prince Vsevolod summoned the boyars, who, together with Bishop John, advised him to put Yuri on the Grand Prince Vladimir's table, but in this way the rights of inheritance were violated.
When Vsevolod the Big Nest died on April 14, 1212, an internecine war broke out in North-Eastern Russia. The power struggle took place between Yuri and Konstantin. Yuri was ready to give Vladimir, but in exchange for Rostov. Konstantin did not agree and offered his brother Suzdal. Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich took the side of Yuri. Together with him, in 1213, he took part in a campaign against Rostov against his brother, whose side was taken by another son of Vsevolod - Yaroslav. For four weeks, the troops of the brothers stood against each other, but in the end a peace was concluded, which, however, did not last long.
In 1215, Yaroslav Vsevolodovich quarreled with the Novgorodians and settled in Torzhok. There he was besieged by Mstislav Udaty. Prince Yuri sent Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich to help his brother, together with an army of 10 thousand people. They occupied the city of Rzhev in the Tver province, but were forced to retreat under the onslaught of the horsemen Mstislav Udatny.
Konstantin also fought on the side of Mstislav. Since April 20, there have been separate skirmishes between Novgorodians and Yaroslav's people on the banks of the Lipitsa. Then Yuri fortified himself on Mount Avdov, and the opponents occupied Yuryev Mountain. The next day, the Suzdal people noticed movement in the Novgorodian camp and thought that they were going to retreat. Yuri's troops descended from the mountain to strike the Novgorodians in the rear, but they turned against them. A battle took place in which Yaroslav, his brother Yuri and their allies were completely defeated.
It was necessary for Yuri Vsevolodovich to appear before the winners. An agreement was concluded, according to which Constantine received the principality of Vladimir and Suzdal, and Yuri was left with the inheritance of Gorodets on the Volga. Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich greatly experienced the bitterness of the defeat of his brother, whose side he held all this time.
In 1218, Konstantin Vsevolodovich dies, and Yuri becomes the Grand Duke of Vladimir-Suzdal for the second time. Two years later, he gathered a huge army against the Bulgarians who were attacking the border volosts. At the head of the army, the prince puts Svyatoslav, who decides to lead the soldiers to the city of Oshel. The city had a prison, fenced with a strong oak tyn. There were two more fortifications behind the prison, and between them there was a rampart. It was on this rampart that the besieged inhabitants fought with the Russians.
First of all, Svyatoslav sent soldiers with fire and axes, followed by spearmen and archers. The army was able to strike the tyn, destroy both fortifications, and then set the city on fire from all sides. The Bulgarian prince managed to escape with a small number of his supporters. All women and children leaving the burning city were taken prisoner, men were immediately killed. Some Bulgarians took their own lives by killing their wives and children. After Oshel was exterminated, Svyatoslav, together with his army, moved up the Volga, devastating many cities and villages along the way. In the same winter, the Bulgarians sent ambassadors to ask for peace. Svyatoslav safely reached the mouth of the Kama, and then returned to Vladimir.
The following years, on the instructions of his brother, Prince Vladimir, Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich several times went with an army to Novgorod, took part in the siege of the city of Kes, albeit unsuccessfully. In 1226 he helped his other brother Ivan, the prince of Starodub, to suppress the uprising of the Mordovian people, who were against the construction of Nizhny Novgorod on their lands. In 1228, Prince Yuri granted his brother South Pereyaslavl, where Svyatoslav spent the next ten years.
In 1230, Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich began the construction of the St. George Cathedral in Yuryev-Polsky on the site of an ancient church founded by Yury Dolgoruky. Prince Svyatoslav ordered to dismantle the dilapidated building and start building a new one. Many historians argue that St. George's Cathedral is a kind of monument to the victory won by Yuri Vsevolodovich over the Volga Bulgarians.
The construction of St. George's Cathedral was completed in 1234, and no one succeeded in surpassing this masterpiece of architecture either before or after, although, of course, there were attempts. The building was decorated with the richest stone carvings made with rare diligence. The relief images of people, animals and birds on the stones were laid out in such a way that together they made up whole pictures. At present, a stone cross has been preserved in the cathedral, carved by Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich himself in memory of his miraculous rescue on the Volga River in 1224.
In 1238 Svyatoslav returned to Vladimir and on March 4 he took part in the battle with the Tatars at Sitskaya Kitsch. In the same year, Grand Duke Yuri dies in a battle with the troops of Khan Batu. Yaroslav Vsevolodovich becomes Prince of Vladimir. He gives Svyatoslav the city of Suzdal. In the historical literature, 1238 is considered to be the beginning of the formation of the Suzdal principality.
In 1245, Prince of Suzdal accompanied Prince Yaroslav on a trip to the Horde, from which he returned only a year later. After the death of his brother in 1246, Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich became the Grand Duke of Vladimir. All seven of Yaroslav's sons, his nephews, were distributed by the prince across the principality, but they remained dissatisfied with this distribution. In 1248, the nephew of Prince Svyatoslav, Mikhail Yaroslavovich Hororit, expelled him from the principality and sat down at the table in Vladimir himself.
Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich returns to Yuryev-Polsky, where he founded a monastery in honor of the Archangel Michael. In 1250, together with his son Dmitry, he went to the Horde, trying to return the label to the principality, but was defeated. The prince spends the last years of his life in prayer and repentance. The date of death of Svyatoslav is considered February 3, 1252.
