Konstantin yurievich prince of vladimir. Grand Duke Konstantin Vsevolodovich. Power struggle between older brothers

Ancient historiographers awarded him with the epithets “Wise” and “Kind”.

B. Chorikov. "The Kindness of the Grand Duke Constantine"

Konstantin Vsevolodovich (May 18, 1186 - February 2, 1218) - the eldest son of the Grand Duke of Vladimir Vsevolod Yuryevich the Big Nest.
Already in the tenth year, in 1195, his father married him in Vladimir to the daughter of Prince of Smolensk Mstislav Romanovich, not known by name (in monasticism - Agafya, d. January 24, 1220). The sacrament of marriage was performed by Bishop John in the Golden-Domed Church of Our Lady in the presence of the great Vsevolod, their wife and children, and many visiting princes. The wedding feast lasted 7 days with great fun and splendor. The whole city was triumphant then. A lot of merchants came to Vladimir from Novgorod, Kiev, Bulgaria with various goods from Europe and Asia, and a magnificent fair was organized.
Until 1205 he was with his father, being present, as a representative of the latter, at the consecration of churches in Vladimir and participating in 1199 in the campaign to the Don against the Polovtsy.
In the end. 1190s did not reign for long in Pereyaslavl-Yuzhny.

Prince of Novgorod: 1205-1207

In 1205 he was sent by his father to reign in Novgorod to replace his brother Svyatoslav. Seeing off took place on March 1, 1206. Then they escorted Konstantin from Vladimir to the river. Shedaksha (Sodyshki river) his brothers Yuri, Vladimir and all the boyars of Vsevolod, all merchants and ambassadors of other princes. There, on the elevated bank of the river. Sodyshki was a country palace led. book Maria Shvarnovna, wife of Vsevolod, mother of Constantine, where she loved to stay with her children. When Vsevolod was seen off, everyone stayed here until evening and saw him off, as the chronicle says, “with joy with great pleasure,” and it would be inconvenient to feast on March 1 not in a house, in the open air, in the early season, and it would be inconvenient to fit in such an amount could not otherwise, as in the palace of the grand duke. Palace attendants lived near the place where the palace was. And "byst talk is great," the chronicle said, "aky to heaven from a multitude of people, from great joy ... I will witness the evening, his brothers bowed to him and all the people and all the men of his father, and all his brothers and sisters bowed to him and praise it was given to him great, having gone back to their own, pitiful and joyful tears are frightening, leaving such consolation, the sobbing of a multitude of faithful people, seeing the father of the Syrym and the feeder departs and great sad consolation, darkening the light-bearing star, sinking into courage and living and the truth is taken away by him, the second Solomon was wisdom "(Laurel years. under 1206, ISRL ed. 1846, p. 177).
He stayed in Novgorod until 1207, but spent most of his time not in Novgorod, but in Vladimir and V. Then he, having gathered the Novgorodians, Pskovites, Ladozhians and Novotorzhites, arrived with them to Moscow to help his father in the campaign against Ryazan and in the siege of Pronsk.

Prince of Rostov: 1207-1216

After some time, his father gave him an inheritance with five other cities, but which ones are unknown.

In 1209, he built a church in the name of the Archangel Michael in his courtyard in Vladimir, and solemnly consecrated it; at the church he opened a school, where Russian and Greek monks "taught babies."
“… While his father was still alive, he built in his yard in Vladimir a church in honor of Arch. Michael. On the day of her consecration (November 25), he gave a generous and hearty meal to all the people. The chronicler describes this treat as follows: as Solomon the king set a feast for the consecration of his church, so also the blessed Constantine set a feast for the consecration of his church and found people and bless the people of Constantine, more often: blessed, it makes sense to give Vsevolod his son's son, it is reasonable to give God wisdom to Solomon, as well as to Constantine, is a lot green and spills hearts, like sand like the same with a mori, and his wisdom spreads more than the meaning of all people. " And it is not for nothing that contemporaries compared Constantine with Solomon. He was one of the few princes of the time distinguished by his activities for the benefit of "enlightenment by teaching books". So in Vladimir at the church of Arch. Michael, he founded a school where Russian and Greek monks worked, "taking part in infants." At the same time, the school was opened by him a rich library, made up of books, partly bought by him, partly received as a gift from the patriarchs. They say that Constantine had over 1000 Greek books alone. Loving himself reading books, the Grand Duke had learned people with him who translated Greek books into Russian for him. For his love of enlightenment and concern for its dissemination, Constantine was called the Wise by history. "
The palace of Prince Constantine was located on the street. ... After that, there were government salt barns, later a tseikhgauz and a manege of the regiment that lodged in Vladimir. From time immemorial this place was called "prince". In the end. XIX century there was a well, which was also called a prince.
In 1221 a fire devastated the city of Vladimir, 27 churches burned down, among them the Church of the Archangel Michael. The famous library of Constantine and the school with her also perished in that fire.

In his absence, in 1211, almost all of Rostov burned out, and he, having learned about this, immediately returned to it from Vladimir.

The Novgorodians took the prince of Toropetsky Mstislav to their reign; as a result, Constantine and his brothers went to Torzhok against Novgorod. The affair, however, ended without bloodshed.

Shortly before his death, Vsevolod wanted to give seniority to his eldest son Konstantin, and put Yuri in Rostov. But Konstantin was dissatisfied, he wanted to take Vladimir and Rostov for himself. Then Vsevolod “summoned all his boyars from cities and volosts and Bishop John, and abbots, and priests, and merchants, and nobles, and all people” (Voskresenskaya Chronicle) and handed over the seniority to his youngest son, Yuri. The root custom was violated, which led to strife and disagreement.
In 1212 Vsevolod died and a struggle broke out between the brothers; their younger brothers went over to the side of one or the other of the older brothers. Constantine, relying on the right of the eldest in the family, began to solicit the great reign, and Yuri, wanting to end the world, conceded Vladimir to him, and asked Rostov for himself, but Konstantin did not agree, wanting to take Rostov and Vladimir for himself, and send Yuri to Suzdal.

After the death of Vsevolod, specific principalities were formed in North-Eastern Russia: Suzdal, Pereyaslavskoe (with Tver, Dmitrov), Rostov (with Beloozero, Ustyug), Yaroslavskoe, Uglichskoe, Yurievskoe,.

At the congress in Yuryev, Konstantin and Yuri reconciled, but in 1213 Konstantin again planned to march against Yuri, who, however, warned him, approached Rostov himself, burned many villages here, but the bloody battle on the Ishna River ended in vain; soon the brothers made peace, but in 1216 they started fighting again.

LIPITSKY BATTLE

In 1215, Yaroslav Vsevolodovich opposed Novgorod because the latter took Mstislav the Bold to reign. Konstantin first took the side of his brother, but then Mstislav attracted him to his side with a promise to deliver him the grand-ducal table.
Yuri began to help Yaroslav against the Novgorodians, and Konstantin entered into an alliance with the latter. Mstislav Udatny with the Novgorodians, his brother Vladimir with the Pskovites and their cousin Vladimir Rurikovich with the Smolnyans approached the capital city of Yaroslav, Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, and Yaroslav went to Yuri.

The Grand Duke gathered a large army, "all the power of the Suzdal land," and stood on the Kze River, near Yuriev-Polsky. The opponents then left Pereyaslavl in the same way to Yuryev and settled partly near Yuryev, partly near the Lipitsa River.

Before joining the battle, Mstislav made an attempt to make peace separately with Yuri, but he replied: "My brother Yaroslav and I are one person!" Negotiations with Yaroslav also did not lead to anything. Then Mstislav and his allies were sent to say: “We did not come for bloodshed, God forbid we see blood, it is better to deal with it first; we are all of the same tribe, so we will give seniority to Prince Constantine, put him in Vladimir, and you all have the Suzdal land! " Yuri replied to this: "Come, go wherever you want, and tell your brother, Prince Constantine: overpower us - and then the whole earth is for you."
After the battle, the Smolensk warriors in one of the abandoned tents found a "letter", a written agreement: "For me, brother Yaroslav, Vladimir and Rostov land, and you - Novgorod; and we will give Smolensk to our brother Svyatoslav, and we will give Kiev to the princes of Chernigov, and Galich to us ”.
The Novgorodians and the Rostovites settled down, joining together, on the banks of the Lipitsa; when Yuri retreated from his former place and fortified himself on Mount Obdova, then they also occupied the opposite Mount Yuryev.

On April 20, at first, there were separate skirmishes between Novgorod hunters and Yaroslav's people, while Yuri, having sat down in the fortification, did not want to go into the open field. On April 21, the allies already wanted to go from St. George's to Vladimir, but Konstantin persuaded them to stay. The Suzdal people, seeing the movement in their camp, thought that they were retreating, and left the mountain to strike in the rear, but the Novgorodians immediately turned to them.

There was a battle. The cruelty of the battle was also indicated by the fact that some especially desperate warriors on the battlefield "jumped out barefoot ..." The chronicler does not explain this detail in any way. Apparently, for contemporaries, she did not require an explanation. Some princes led their warriors bareheaded into the most desperate battles. That is, the nobility took off their helmet, and the commoners threw off their boots and bast shoes ... When the slaughter ended, “you could hear the screams of the living, wounded not to death, and the howl of those punctured in the city of Yuryev and near Yuryev. There was no one to bury the dead ... For the killed soldiers of Yuri and Yaroslav cannot be imagined by the human mind. " In one day, April 21, 1216, “nine thousand two hundred thirty-three” Russian soldiers were killed in the battle on the Lipitsky field, the chronicle says.
In one of the published conversations L.N. Gumilyov exclaims with undisguised horror: "We have not lost so much during the wars with the Mongols!" However, according to the information given by the historian A.N. Nasonov, in the year of the Mongol invasion only on Galician Russia, a total of twelve thousand people died there. Analyzing this and other data, L.N. Gumilyov concludes: "It should be admitted that Batu's campaign in terms of the scale of the destruction carried out is comparable to the internecine war, common for that turbulent time."

Yaroslav, hiding in Pereyaslavl, was forced to make a humiliating peace with Mstislav Udal and Konstantin.
Yuri, having killed three horses, rode on the fourth at noon on April 22, on Friday to Vladimir, sad, exhausted in one shirt (he threw off his outer dress on the road, as slowing his flight). The people of Vladimir did not recognize their prince the first time: so unusual was his appearance. Not expecting defeat, they mistook him for the prince's messenger, hurrying to please them with the news of the victory. “Ours are prevailed,” they shouted enthusiastically, - watching the horseman approaching the city. But what was their surprise when they recognized in him the prince himself and in such a pitiful state. “Strengthen the walls, lock up the city,” were the first words of George that reached the ears of the people of Vladimir. But who was to strengthen and defend the city? All those capable of carrying weapons were taken on a campaign. Remained in the city: spiritual, decrepit elders, children, and women. Instead of merriment, crying arose in the city; in the evening and at night, ordinary people began to run too, one wounded would come running, the other with their feet. And then bitter complaints were heard against Yaroslav, the main culprit of the disaster: "We have suffered such a misfortune from you, it is said about your perjury: come birds of heaven, feed on human blood, animals eat human meat." The unfortunate prince asked the citizens not to hand him over to the victors. He wanted to leave the city of his own free will. The people of Vladimir sympathized with the prince, but they could not help him in any way: they only promised not to hand him over to Constantine.
The winners were in no hurry to come to Vladimir. They spent the whole day at the site of the massacre, probably engaged in cleaning up the dead bodies, and only on Sunday, on the third day after the battle, on April 24, did they approach Vladimir and besieged him. On the night of Sunday to Monday, there was a fire in the palace led by the prince. Despite the strong desire of the Novgorodians and Smolny residents to take Vladimir by storm, Mstislav did not allow them to do this and saved the city from defeat. On the following Tuesday night, the fire in the city was repeated again: it caught fire in front of the place where the Smolyans were camped, and burned to light. This time the Smolensk prince did not allow his unawares to enter Vladimir. The victorious princes were sure that George himself would hand over the city to them and ask them for peace. On Wednesday morning (April 27), Yuri went out to the winners with rich gifts; "Brothers, I beat you with my head, give you my stomach and feed me with bread."
Konstantin solemnly entered Vladimir, led the inhabitants to the cross, reconciled Yaroslav with Mstislav, Gorodets gave Yuri Radilov on the Volga. Before leaving Vladimir, Georgy Vsevolodovich entered the Cathedral Church, where in front of the miraculous icon of the Mother of God he poured out all his sorrow in prayer cries and, shedding tears, fell on his parent's coffin. “God judge my brother Yaroslav that you have brought me to this place,” he said, leaving the temple, then sat down with his family in the boat and down the river. Klyazma went to his new destiny. Among the few friends, the Bishop of Vladimir, the virtuous Simon, who did not want to leave his prince in misfortune, also wished to follow him.
After seeing Georgy Vsevolodovich off, the people of Vladimir opened the gates to the victors and met them with a procession.

The battle left an unkind memory in the people's memory. She became a symbol of the disorder of the Russian land on the eve of the Tatar-Mongol invasion. Its echoes were preserved in the epic, in which the bragging of the Suzdal brothers (i.e., Yuri and Yaroslav) caused the defeat of the Russian army from the Tatars and the death of all Russian heroes. A tacit reminder of those bloody events is the famous find - the helmet of Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, thrown by the prince along with his armor at the time of the disorderly flight of his regiments.

Helmet of the Pereyaslavl Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich
The helmet of the Pereyaslavl prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich (in 1238-1246 the great Vladimir prince) is one of the most famous finds of ancient Russian protective weapons, the helmet lost by the prince during his flight after the Battle of Lipitsa in 1216.
According to the classification of A.N. Kirpichnikov's helmet belongs to the IV group of helmets, which is represented by expensive samples of the XII-first half. XIII centuries Such helmets are part of the equipment of the most noble warriors, princes and boyars. Outwardly, they are characterized by a high, rounded, pointed at the top of the crown and a fixed visor (half-face combined with the nosepiece). Helmets were decorated with gold and silver plates with images of saints, inscriptions and ornaments. A chain mail mesh (aventail) was attached to the helmet from all sides to the holes in the half-mask, nosepiece and crown of the crown, which completely covered the head, neck and face. The helmet was discovered in the fall of 1808 by a peasant woman named Larionova near the village of Lykov near the town of Yuryev-Polsky, not far from the site of the massacre. He was lying on a chain mail, the armor was badly rusted. The peasant woman took the find to the headman of the village, who, seeing the image on the helmet, gave it to the bishop. The priest sent this find to Alexander I, from whom it came to the historian A.N. Olenin. He found that the helmet with chain mail had been thrown by Yaroslav Vsevolodovich while fleeing from the Lipitsk battle of 1216, 20 versts from it.
The body of the helmet is covered with a silver leaf, decorated with gilded silver embossed overlays with images of Christ and the saints, along the lower edge - a crown with an ornament. At the top of the helmet are four Christian images: the Almighty Savior, Saints George, Basil and Theodore. On the forehead plate - the image of the Archangel Michael with the inscription: "Vliky the archangel Michael help your servant Theodore" (Yaroslav was called Fedor in holy baptism). The helmet is currently kept in the Armory.

VOEVODA EREMEY GLEBOVICH

Voivode Yeremey Glebovich Yeremey Glebovich - Old Russian voivode, participant of the Lipitsk battle, voivode of Rostov and Vladimir princes, sons of Vsevolod the Big Nest.
He died in the winter of 1238 in a battle with the Tatars near Kolomna.
Initially, Eremey Glebovich served the Rostov prince Konstantin Vsevolodovich. In 1216, before the Lipitsk battle, he led 500 soldiers to the aid of a coalition of princes led by Konstantin Rostovsky and Mstislav Udal, who rose up against the brothers Yuri and Yaroslav Vsevolodovich.
After the death of Konstantin, he served as a voivode for the son of Konstantin Vasily and the prince of Vladimir Yuri Vsevolodovich.
Under 1219 and 1228 he made two campaigns against the Kama Bulgars.
In the winter of 1237-1238, during the invasion of Batu, Eremey Glebovich was sent with a regiment to Kolomna to help the son of Yuri Vsevolodovich Vsevolod and the Ryazan prince Roman Olegovich. In the course of an unprecedented bloody battle near Kolomna, the Russian army was defeated. The fierceness of the battle is evidenced by the death in battle of Prince Kulkan, the youngest son of Genghis Khan. Vsevolod Yurievich fled to Moscow. Prince Roman and Eremey Glebovich were killed.

ALESHA POPOVICH

V.M. Vasnetsov. "Heroes"

It is commonly believed that the Rostov boyar Alexander (Olesha) Popovich served as the historical prototype for Alyosha Popovich. According to the chronicles, this was the famous "brave" (elite warrior) who served first to Vsevolod the Big Nest, and then to his son Konstantin Vsevolodovich against his brother and contender for the Vladimir table, Yuri Vsevolodovich, and Alexander Popovich fought several of Yuri's best warriors in duels. With the death of Constantine and the reign of Yuri (1218), he went to the Grand Duke of Kiev Mstislav the Old and died with him in the battle of Kalka in 1223.
Having become the Grand Duke of Vladimir, he did not break, however, ties with Rostov, spending most of his time here, laying the foundation of the cathedral church and leaving behind many other monuments, and, by the way, the library, which continued to grow under his son Vasilka.

Grand Duke Vladimir: 1216-1218

YAROSLAVL

The first mention of the Yaroslavl Dormition Church is contained in the life of the Yaroslavl princes Vasily and Constantine, compiled by the monk Pakhomius around 1530: “Prince the Great Konstantin Vsevolodovich in his smaller city of Yaroslavl, in his yard, built a stone church of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, in the summer of 6723 (1215 ), and that same summer, lay a different church in the big city, at the gates, a bar, the Cathedral of the Archangel Michael, and make it that same summer. " A manuscript of the end of the 17th century was kept in the Arkhangelsk church, in which similar information was reported: “The church of the holy Archangel Michael was originally built on this place, cobbled near the gate, then from the church named Arkhangelsk, by the Grand Duke Konstantin Vsevolodovich (the Wise), during his reign in Yaroslavl , in the year from the birth of Christ in 1213 and consecrated in 1216, that church stood for 79 years. " The wooden church of Michael the Archangel is mentioned in the Yaroslavl Census Book of 1646.
The now existing stone church in the name of the Cathedral of the Archangel Michael and other disembodied Heavenly Forces with the chapel of Zosima and Savvaty of Solovetsky in the northern wing of the gallery was founded in 1657 at the expense of parishioners, its construction lasted more than twenty years, since the church was consecrated after 1680.

Church of the Archangel Michael in Yaroslavl

The stone church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary stood in the center of the wooden fortress on the Strelka. The Church of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos was solemnly consecrated in 1219 by the Rostov bishop Kirill.
The cathedral was built of thin bricks (plinths). White stone reliefs with ornaments and masks are inserted into the walls. The interior of the temple was decorated with an elegant floor made of glazed ceramic tiles. The doors were decorated with gilded brass. Prince Constantine, by whose will the cathedral was built, was buried in this temple.
In its original form, the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary existed until the beginning. XVI century In 1501, a fire broke out and the vaults collapsed near the church. The temple was rebuilt around 1516. It was a small church on the basement. In the western part there was a side-chapel "on the floor" in about the same way as in the Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. When clearing the rubble after the fire, the relics of the Yaroslavl princes of the 13th century - Vasily and Konstantin Vsevolodovich were discovered. The relics of the Yaroslavl princes became the main cathedral relic.
After 1605, an illustrated synodic began to be compiled in the Church of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos. In 1612, during the Time of Troubles, Metropolitan Kirill blessed Dmitry Pozharsky here on a campaign to liberate Moscow.
In the XVII century. The Assumption Cathedral in Yaroslavl is already dilapidated. The temple was damaged during a fire in 1658. And the cathedral was too small for the city that had grown. Therefore, by order of the tsar, a new church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was built. It was a six-pillar five-domed building, without a basement, at the northern, western and southern entrances there were stone porches, typical for many Yaroslavl churches of the 17th century. An octahedral hipped-roof bell tower was erected next to the cathedral.

Assumption Cathedral in Yaroslavl

In 1788 the city became the center of the diocese. Now the Assumption Cathedral in Yaroslavl has become a cathedral. New rebuilding of the temple began. A warm church with a throne in the name of the holy princes Basil and Constantine was added to the southern wall, and other reconstructions were carried out. In 1836, according to the project of the architect A.I. Melnikov, a new bell tower was built. Its height was about 55 meters. The architecture of the bell tower combined features of different styles. A quadruple of the first tier, then an octagon of the second and then again a quadruple of the third tier. Initially, a passable arch was arranged at the bottom of the bell tower.
In 1844, the domes of the cathedral - the first in the city - were covered with gold. The cathedral had a magnificent five-tiered iconostasis with valuable icons.
The Assumption Cathedral in Yaroslavl was badly damaged during the anti-Bolshevik uprising in 1918, but then it was restored. In 1922, the temple was closed for services, the bell tower was dismantled, having previously dropped the bells from it. The church was given over to the Labor Exchange; from 1930 to 1937, it housed a grain warehouse. In 1937, the city authorities decided to demolish the temple itself, and on August 26, 1937, the cathedral was blown up. In the place where the Assumption Cathedral stood, a city park of culture and recreation was laid out. During repeated excavations, the efforts of N.N. Voronin and other archaeologists in finding the foundations of a brick cathedral of the pre-Mongol era were not crowned with success.
For the 1000th anniversary of Yaroslavl, it was decided to recreate the Assumption Cathedral in the city. The new cathedral was founded on October 26, 2004 on the site of the blown up in 1937.

Assumption Cathedral of Yaroslavl

Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery in Yaroslavl at the beginning of the 17th century (drawing by a modern artist)

It was founded in the XII century. outside the walls of the then city near the Kotorosl crossing, taking a corner position in the system of city defensive structures. In 1216-1218. The first religious school in North-Eastern Russia worked in the Spassky monastery, then it was transferred to Rostov.
In 1216-1224 the Savior Transfiguration Cathedral was built in the monastery.

Bookmark of the Transfiguration Cathedral

In honor of the formation of the Yaroslavl principality in 1218, according to legend, a miniature Church of the Entry into Jerusalem was erected at the southeastern corner of the cathedral, which has not survived to this day. Already in the first floor. XIII century a large library was formed in the monastery, work was carried out on the correspondence of books. Here was found "The Lay of Igor's Campaign" - a monument of Old Russian literature.

Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral of Yaroslavl

The chroniclers call Constantine “blessed”, adorned with “all good manners,” who did not darken his mind with “the wasteland glory of this beautiful light,” “the second Solomon”; they say that he "grips his whole mind" into "an ageless endless life," which "take advantage of with your alms and great good-naturedness," point to his truthfulness, generosity, meekness and humility, to his concern for the creation of "beautiful churches of God", which he adorned with "wonderful" icons and supplied with books, praise him that he "honored the priestly and minish rank more than measure" and so on. Constantine earned the nickname "Wise": he spoke several languages, loved books "more than any property" and collected, "not sparing his fortune" (in his library there were more than a thousand only Greek manuscripts), he appreciated art, kept "learned men" with him, engaged in translations from foreign language texts.

Prince Constantine had three sons: Vasilka (), Vsevolod and Vladimir. In 1217, Constantine, feeling an imminent death and fearing for the fate of young children, summoned his brother Yuri from Gorodets, gave him many gifts and appointed him, after his death, Vladimir, but for now he gave Suzdal, making him swear that he would be a father for his nephews, having given Rostov to Vasilka, Yaroslavl to Vsevolod, and Uglich to Vladimir.

Uglitsky principality

The first Uglitsk appanage prince was the youngest son of Prince Konstantin Vsevolodovich - Vladimir Konstantinovich (1214 - 1249). He received Uglich as his inheritance, apparently in 1216 or 1218. It is known that this prince took part in the battle on the City River on March 4, 1238.
When the entire Uglitsky principality was devastated by the Mongol-Tatars, he went “about his fatherland” to the Horde in 1244 and 1245.
Vladimir Konstantinovich died in Vladimir on December 27, 1249, his body was escorted by Prince Alexander Nevsky, and was buried in the Uglich Transfiguration Cathedral.
Cm. .

Soon after his accession to the throne, he asked George to come to him in Vladimir for a friendly meeting. George was not slow to appear at the call and, out of his innocence, sincerely forgave his brother. Both brothers, in the words of one descriptor, when they met, "hunted and placast for many hours," entered the cathedral church of the Mother of God, where, at the grave of their parent, they captured their reconciliation by prayer and kissing the cross. Constantine appointed George another inheritance of the city of Suzdal and declared him heir to his throne. George, for his part, gave his word to Constantine to replace his children in the person of his father, when he was led. Prince Vladimirsky. Consoled, George left with his family and court to Suzdal on September 11, 1217.

The Bishop of Polotsk, knowing the love and desire of Constantine to everything divine, church building, to St. icons and relics of saints, brought to Vladimir in 1218 from Constantinople sacred relics - "to the eter part of the Passion from the Lord", a particle of the hand of the martyr. Longinus the centurion ("both his holy hands" - PSRL. Vol. 1. Stb. 441) and parts of the relics of St. Mary Magdalene.
On the day of commemoration of St. login (October 16), at the end of Matins, a procession was arranged from the Assumption and Dmitrievsky Cathedrals to the Ascension monastery in the country, where the shrine was originally laid. This procession was accompanied by the Bishop with all the clergy of Vladimir, the prince himself with children, boyars and people. The Bishop placed the reliquary on his head with St. with the relics and accompanied by the same procession, he transferred him to the courtier and "that holy shrine, the Bishop and the prince and all orthodox people."
Tatishchev wrote that Bp. Polotsk brought to Constantine a part of the cross of the Lord and what he led. the prince inserted it into a large gold cross kept in the Moscow Assumption Cathedral, where the parts of St. relics - unknown (Ist. Karamz. to t. III, ch. VI approx. 179).

Prince Constantine in Vladimir builds in 1218 a small stone church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross to the Auction. In the annals under the year 1218: "Found Constantine a stone church on the merchant site in Volodymeri. Exaltation of the honest cross, the same summer, was accomplished and sacred in September on the 14th day" (Lavr. Years, p. 186). The Kremlin ramparts on the western side, in the place of the cathedral meadow, had a gate, which was called trading even in the 17th century. Near them, a bridge was thrown across the moat, which was called a trade bridge. In 1676, perhaps even earlier, there was a trading tower near the trading gates, on which, as it appears in the formal letter of the steward and voivode Fyodor Grigoriev Orlov, “a dilapidated iron clock, a sentry bell, also a messenger, weighed 10 poods with half , two bells of perechasnyh, weighing in one half two pounds, in the other pudding 10 hryvnias. " Here, in the trade, there were probably the frontal and veche places.
The Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross was located behind the house of the Noble Assembly (B. Moskovskaya St., 33). In 1469 it was repaired by the Moscow builder V.D. Ermolin. In 1626 it stood "in its decrepitude, was empty - without singing", and in 1676 its gates were without locks, the roof collapsed. She was still intact at the beginning. XVIII century and is depicted in the "drawing" of Vladimir in 1715. Judging from this miniature drawing, it was a small, possibly pillarless church. In the 18th century, the church was completely dismantled. The city plan of 1769 shows a street named after the Vozdvizhenskaya church that existed on it, but by the end. XIX century and the street with that name ceased to exist.

In 1218, Constantine endowed his sons with inheritance: the eldest Vasilko was 9 years old given a table from Rostov, and the youngest Vsevolod, 8 years old, from Yaroslavsky. “I feel,” he said to his children, “I feel, children, that my end is approaching and I entrust you to God, His Most Pure Mother, brother and lord Yuri, who will be you instead of me.”
Prince Constantine died on February 2, 1219, in the 34th year from birth, causing general sadness among the people; the chronicle says: "they wept with great lamentation, - the boyars, as the defenders of their land, the servants, as about the breadwinner and master, the poor and the black people, as about their consolation and the garment of their nakedness." Hearing about the death of the Grand Duke, the inhabitants of Vladimir, all from young to old, from boyars to beggars, came to the Grand Duke's court and expressed their love for the deceased with abundant tears. Soon the brothers all arrived in Vladimir and, having mourned the deceased, buried his body in the Golden-Domed Church of Our Lady. The widowed Grand Duchess, in the words of the chronicler, “did a wondrous deed then” (Step. Pr. P. 327. Laurel. P. 188). Feeling that with the loss of her husband she had lost all the joys on earth, she, without leaving the church, took the monastic rank over his grave and soon after her husband's funeral left for Rostov, where she died 2 years later in monastic seclusion.

On death led. Prince Constantine, the people of Vladimir kissed the cross to his brother Georgy Vsevolodovich, who, after a short break, entered into the rights of the grand duke for the second time. Together with him came from Suzdal and his inseparable companion, Bishop Simon.