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Primary Chronicle
St Nestor the Chronicler, tr. Cross, 1930
2. Appendix 2
A. Letter of Vladimir Monomakh to Oleg, Son of Svyatoslav
This letter refers to the death of Vladimir Monomakh’s son Izyaslav near Murom on September 6, 1096 in battle against Oleg, son of Svyatoslav. Oleg was Vladimir Monomakh’s own cousin. Oleg’s father Svyatoslav had been Prince of Kiev for three years after the expulsion of Izyaslav, son of Yaroslav, in 1073, but upon Svyatoslav’s death, and after the restoration of Izyaslav in 1077, Oleg was not assigned an important domain. He therefore fled to join his brother Roman in Tmutorakan. First with his cousin Boris and later alone, he organized several Polovcian raids into Russian territory. In 1078, Boris and Oleg thus fought a crucial battle against Vsevolod and Izyaslav at the Nezhatina plain, in which both Izyaslav Yaroslavich and Boris lost their lives. Upon his return southward, Oleg was captured by the Khazars and shipped to Constantinople, whence he returned to South Russia only in 1083. He remained quiescent for some ten years, until in 1094 he again appeared before Chernigov with his usual Polovcian allies. Vladimir Monomakh discreetly surrendered the city and withdrew to Pereyaslavl. A year later, Oleg’s relations with his cousins Svyatopolk and Vladimir once more became strained when he refused to join them in a campaign against the nomads. In 1096, Oleg likewise declined to make any pact with his kinsmen, with the result that Svyatopolk and Vladimir laid siege to Chernigov and forced Oleg to flee. Reduced to surrender at Starodub, Oleg was then directed to rejoin his brother David at Smolensk, pending a general conference at Kiev. He immediately began to collect troops for the purpose of capturing Murom, over which then ruled Vladimir’s son Izyaslav. The young prince offered a bold resistance, but was slain in his first collision with Oleg’s force, and later buried at Novgorod. Izyaslav’s brother Mstislav, who was then Prince of Novgorod, immediately offered to effect a reconciliation between Vladimir Monomakh and Oleg, and it was at Mstislav’s request that Vladimir wrote the letter reproduced below.
As in the case of the Pouchenie, there is no satisfactory explanation for the inclusion, not only of this letter, but also of the subsequent prayer attributed to Vladimir, within the compass of the Povest, in which they follow immediately upon the Pouchenie without any attempt at differentiation of the three texts. The most plausible suggestion is that of V. M. Istrin (Известия, XXVII [1924], 228) that certain works of Vladimir Monomakh were preserved, perhaps in mutilated form, among the latter’s descendants at Novgorod and Suzdal, and thus fell into the hands of the copyist Lavrentii, who perceived their relation to the events of 1096, and thus interpolated them bodily into the narrative for that year.
[252] Oh long-suffering and wretched man that I am! My soul, long hast thou wrestled with my heart, and thou hast conquered it. For being but mortal, I reflect how I may stand before the dread Judge ere we have done penance and become reconciled with one another. “For if any man say, I love God, and love not his brother, it is a lie.” (John, iv, 20.) Likewise, “If ye do not forgive your brother’s trespasses, neither will your heavenly Father forgive you.” (Matt. vi, 15.) The Prophet says, “Fret not thyself because of evildoers, nor be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.” (Ps. xxxvii, 1.) “Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” (Ps. cxxxiii, 1.)
But the teaching of the devil prevails everywhere. There were wars in the days of our wise grandsires and our righteous and blessed sires. For the devil, who desires no good to the race of man, continues to incite us.
I have written these words because my son, whom you christened, and who lives near you, influenced me to do so. He sent to me a messenger with letters, saying, “Let us make peace and be reconciled. Judgment has been visited upon my brother. Let us not set ourselves up as avengers, but rather trust in God. The criminals shall stand before the bar of God. But let us not bring ruin upon the land of Rus.” I observed the humility of my son, and in the fear of God, I said, “In his youth and his inexperience he is humble [253] and trusts in God, while I am a man sinful before all his fellows.” I heeded the words of my son, and wrote this letter. I shall discern from your answer whether you receive it with favor or scorn. For with these my words I have forestalled you in the action to which I expected humility and repentance would impel you, just as I myself desire God’s forgiveness for my former sins. Our Lord is not a mere man, but a divinity throughout the whole world. Yet though he can, if he so desire, perform any miracle in the winking of an eye, he submitted himself to reviling, to spitting, and to blows, and even delivered himself up to death, though he was Lord of both life and death. But what are we, sinful men? Today alive, tomorrow dead; today in glory and honor, tomorrow in the grave and unremembered, while others divide our treasures.
Look, my kinsman, upon our sires. What did they carry away with them, or what did they profit by their promises? Only as much as they had done for their souls. Would that you, my kinsman, had been the first to write, and had forestalled me in these utterances! When my son was slain, and you beheld his blood and his mutilated corpse as he lay like a withered flower or a slaughtered lamb, you might have stood over him and said, as you read the secret thoughts of your soul, “Alas, what have I done? Without considering his inexperience, I have brought crime upon myself through the perversity of this vain world, and have brought tears upon his father and his mother.” You could have lamented like David, “I know my sin, it is ever before me.” (Ps. li, 3.)
Without the shedding of blood, David, the Lord’s anointed, committed adultery. But when he cast dust upon his head and wept bitterly in that hour, God remitted his sins. You might have repented also. You might have sent me a letter of consolation, and returned to me my daughter-in-law (for in her there is no harm), that I might embrace her and mourn her husband and her marriage, instead of uttering joyous songs. For because of my sins I did not behold their joy of other days nor their betrothal. But now, for God’s sake, send her to me quickly with your first [254] answer, so that I may mourn with her unceasingly and set her in the station that befits her: so may she sit languishing like a dove on a dry tree, and I shall be consoled in God!
Our sons and our fathers have trod this same path. Judgment came to my son from the hand of God, not at your hand. But if you had satisfied your desire, and had taken Murom instead of Rostov, a message to me would have reconciled us. But consider which was fitting, that I should write to you, or you to me. If you had bidden my son to write to his father, I should have sent conciliatory messages ten times over.
Is it strange that a man should have perished in war? Better men have died ere this even in our own family. You should not have coveted another’s domain, nor brought me to shame and sorrow, for slaves have learned to steal for themselves, but they have won only evil thereby. If therefore you repent before God, you will make me of good cheer. Send me your messenger or a priest, and write a letter with just intent. Then you shall receive your domain with my good wishes, you will turn our hearts toward each other, and we shall be better off than before. I am not malicious or revengeful. I did not desire to see your blood shed at Starodub. May God grant that I should not see blood shed by your hand or at my command, or through the instigation of any kinsman of mine! If I lie, may God and the Holy Cross judge me!
Perhaps I sinned when I attacked you in Chernigov because of the pagans. But I repent of my action, and I have said so aloud to my kinsman, and confessed it repeatedly, for after all I am but human. If this seems good, let it be so; if ill, let your godson sit with his little brother, eating his uncle’s bread, while you possess your domain, and make your own decision in this regard. If you purpose to kill them both, they are in your power, for I wish no ill, but I desire rather the good of my kinsmen and of the land of Rus. If you are thinking to use violence, remember that out of friendly regard for you we restored to you your inheritance at Starodub. But God is witness that we have come to an agreement with your brother, [255] but it does not avail us to make any terms without your adherence. We have done no evil, but have said, “Send for your brother that we may be reconciled.” If one of you does not wish good or peace to Christian men, let him receive no repose for his soul at God’s hand in the life to come! It is not by compulsion that I address you, nor am I in any wise distressed, but you hear me speak from God’s inspiration. My soul is dearer to me than aught else in this world. At the last judgment, I count myself without accusers.
B. Prayer Attributed to Vladimir Monomakh
Wise ruler, bestower of knowledge, chastiser of the thoughtless and protector of the needy, confirm my heart in wisdom, oh Lord! Give me a fatherly word, for thou hast not hindered me from raising my cry unto thee, Merciful Father, have pity upon a weak mortal. God is my hope, Christ my refuge, the Holy Ghost my protection. Oh my hope and my fortress, scorn me not, blessed one! Since I possess thee as my helper in sorrow and in sickness and against all adversities, I glorify thee, exalted being?
Understand and see that I am God, who test your hearts and know your minds, who reveal your deeds, punish your sins, and render justice to orphans and to the poor and the needy.
Incline, oh my soul, and consider thy deeds that thou hast done; bring them before thine eyes, shed tears from thine eyes and confess openly all thy actions and thoughts to Christ, and be purified. Holy Andrew, thrice blessed father, shepherd of Christ, cease not to intercede for us who honor thee, that we may escape from all malice, all sorrow, pollution, sin, and misery, faithfully honoring thy memory.
Pure Virgin Mother, preserve thy city, which through thy help endures in faith, that we may be strengthened by thee and hope in thee, and conquer all obstacles, overthrowing our enemies and living in obedience.
Oh exalted [256] Mother, who didst bear the Holy Word of all the Saints, accept this present oblation and protect us from all incursions and besetting torments, now that we call upon thee! We thy servants entreat thee and kneel before thee with prayerful hearts. Incline thine ear, pure one, and save us, who are constantly beset by misfortune, and guard thy city, oh Mother of God, from every captivity of its foes!
Oh God, spare thy heritage, look not upon our sins, since we on earth pray to thee, who, through thy pity for this world, wast born unbegotten, and didst deign, oh Christ, to clothe thyself in flesh.
Spare us, our newborn Savior, and preserve immaculate her who bore thee, even when thou dost come, sinless and merciful, to judge our deeds as God and lover of mankind.
Pure Virgin, who didst not know marriage, delight of God, guide of the faithful, save me as I perish and call upon thy Son. Have mercy upon me, oh Lord, have mercy when thou shalt judge. Judge me not with fire nor accuse me in thine anger! The Holy Virgin, who bore thee, intercedes with thee, oh Christ, in company with the angelic host and the army of martyrs. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom be honor and glory, to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, now and forever, world without end.