ON SS. ROMANUS AND DAVID, OTHERWISE BORIS AND GLEB OR HLIB,
PRINCES OF RUSSIA.
A.D. 1015.
PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.
Romanus, otherwise Boris, prince of Russia (S.)
David, otherwise Gleb or Hlib, prince of Russia (S.)
BY J. S.
§ I. The ancient cult of these Saints, which persists both among Catholics and among Schismatics: whence the Acts to be published were received, and of what sort they are.
[ ] The Fasti in which the memory of SS. Romanus and David is announced The Saints announced in various Fasti on the 24th of July: have already been enumerated by our Sollier on the 24th of July in the catalogue of Things Passed Over, where he wrote these things: Boryssus and Glebus are announced as princely martyrs in the Greek-Muscovite Ephemerides before the first volume of May, as also in various other Ruthenian Fasti, in the Slavo-Russian Menology of Sparwenfeld, and likewise in Polish ones, whence Ferrarius the Spicilegist probably drew them, from whom they seem to have passed into Castellanus's Martyrology also. The praised Fasti join both Saints on the 24th of July, on which they are honored together by the Russians; excepting however Castellanus, who separated them, and commemorates Boris, called Romanus in baptism, on that same
day, the 24th of July, on which he is honored with his brother; but Gleb, called David in baptism, he referred to this day, the 5th of September, on which he was beheaded. This is the reason why Sollier, purposely seeking delay because he doubted about a Catholic cult, referred both Saints to this day, that here at last it might be determined whether their Acts were to be inserted in our Work, or rather altogether to be passed over.
[2] But since I perceived that a longer disputation was needed these were certainly Catholics, before Sollier's doubt could prudently be laid aside, and since I noted that the same doubt could be raised about several who are honored as Saints among the Russians, I thought a Dissertation should be prefixed to this volume, from which it might be gathered which of those whom the Russians honor can certainly be held for Catholics, which on the contrary were certainly schismatics, and lastly about which there can be doubt. Further, from that Dissertation §3 it is clearly plain that Boris and Hlib (so the names are written in Latin by the Ruthenians) were certainly Catholics, since they were converted and slain before the schism reached the church of the Russians, when the church of Constantinople itself also, under which that one lay, was united with the Roman Church. Yet from these things it does not yet follow that they can be held by us for Saints, unless it be also shown that the same were honored from time immemorial not only by schismatics but also by Catholics, and were acknowledged as Saints. This therefore I now set about proving: for the Fasti praised above alone do not sufficiently establish it.
[3] and are honored as Saints by Catholics at this time: First, the Poles and Lithuanians who sent hither notices about the Saints commonly reckon Boris and Hlib, or Gleb, as they themselves write, otherwise Romanus and David, among them, and several of them expressly observe that these Saints are honored also by Catholics, that is, by the Ruthenians united to the Roman Church. In one of the said notices, in which the cult of the Ruthenians is scrupulously inquired into, I find these very words: I would name only Vladimir with his two sons Romanus and David, who are truly held for Saints by all Russia, and most of all by the united. With this notice, which denies a Catholic cult to many others whom some number among the Saints, and which therefore I think may safely be followed, there agrees the catalogue of Polish Saints which Father Franciscus Molitor of the Society of Jesus copied out for us in the year 1723 from the little book of Christopher Warszewicki, published at Rome in the year 1601. For in this catalogue, which is long enough, I find indeed many called Blessed about whose cult there can be doubt: but I find absolutely none who can be suspected of schism, none who is honored by schismatics alone. Nevertheless SS. Romanus and David are reckoned in it in this manner: SS. Gleb and Boryssus, brothers and martyrs, sons of the duke of Kiev. Of the present-day cult therefore of these Saints I add no more, since from what has been said it seems certain enough.
[4] Further, that the cult of Romanus and David is ancient that cult is ancient, can easily be shown. Kojałowicz in his Miscellanea of Lithuania, reviewing the holy patrons of the great duchy of Lithuania, and numbering David and Romanus among them, concludes their eulogy at pag. 5 with these words: Frequent among the Russians are churches erected under the name of these blessed Martyrs. Beautiful is that which stands on the Dvina over against the city of Polotsk, together with an abbey anciently founded, now under the administration of the united. The church which had been anciently founded when that author published his little book in the year 1650 probably hints at the antiquity of the cult. Długosz however, as a writer of the 15th century, brought forth a more certain testimony about the ancient cult, when at the year 1005, having reported the death of the holy Princes, he subjoins these things: The Ruthenian church and the Ruthenian people honor these two Brothers as martyrs and saints, affirming that they shine with several miracles. Other testimonies about the antiquity of the cult are not lacking: but these, with the addition of the Greek-Muscovite Ephemerides, which were composed in the same 15th century, seem to me to suffice for this purpose, especially since presently more must be said about the antiquity of the cult, where its beginning will be investigated.
[5] For another doubt can arise, namely whether the cult of these Saints was first begun by Catholics and it seems to have been begun in the 11th century by a Catholic metropolitan, or arose through schismatics. To this doubt I answer that the cult seems to have been begun by a Catholic metropolitan. For Ignatius Kulczyński in his Specimen of the Ruthenian Church pag. 111 and 112 writes the following about the fifth metropolitan of the Russians: George I, a native, began to preside over the flock of the Russians in the year 1068, as Stryjkowski writes book V chap. III. This metropolitan decreed and promulgated the cult and veneration of the holy Boris and Hlib, who, born of the divine Vladimir, and called in baptism Romanus and David, were butchered by Sviatopolk the fratricide through hired assassins in the year MX (nay, more probably in the year 1015) . The Ruthenian church honors them as martyrs, perhaps because Sviatopolk, meditating tyranny and apostasy from the faith, slaughtered them in hatred of religion, although contemporary writers, consulting the honor of Vladimir's blood, kept this silent. Their sacred bodies were translated to a new church, built in their honor in the city of Vyshgorod, in the year 1072. Which translation the princes Iziaslav, Sviatoslav and Vsevolod solemnly celebrated; George the metropolitan, Peter bishop of Pereyaslav, Michael bishop of Persia, Theodosius hegumen of the Caves, and many other prelates and magnates.
[6] Nicolaus Cichovius, in letters to Bolland given at Ostrog in the year 1647, narrates the said translation in almost the same manner, [who translated the bodies: they are commonly called martyrs, because taken off by a violent death:] and attributes it to George I metropolitan of Kiev. He adds however some things here omitted, namely that George the metropolitan, who before made little of these Saints' bodies, changed his opinion and sought pardon for his error, because so sweet an odor was poured forth from the opened sarcophagi. The rest agrees, and besides the persons here named only two other hegumens are added. But now from the testimonies adduced, which rightly agree, and are mutually repugnant on no point, I not only gather that the cult of these Saints was begun in the 11th century, but I also infer that it was decreed by a Catholic metropolitan: for that George was a Catholic I have shown in the preliminary Dissertation §7 num. 69. Wherefore nothing now remains that can raise a doubt about the Catholic and lawful veneration of Romanus and David. Whether the title of martyrs properly belongs to them cannot be certainly known, because it is not known whether their brother Sviatopolk contrived death for them for any other cause than that he might possess their dominions. I suspect that the title of martyrs was given them by the Ruthenians because they were taken off by a violent death, as has been done in the case of several others. But since a violent death alone does not make a martyr, nor can their martyrdom be proved from the Acts, I have not called them Martyrs; nor yet on that account would I deny that they can be called Martyrs, both because for many centuries they have been honored as Martyrs, and because they really are martyrs, if they died for the faith or for any other virtue referred to God.
[7] their twofold festivity: a proper Office. But whatever be the case about the martyrdom properly so called of Romanus and David, Kulczyński in his Specimen of the Ruthenian church pag. 33 writes thus about their celebrated cult and twofold festivity: The synod of Zamość, tit. on fasts and feasts pag. CXXI, numbered the feast of these holy Romanus and David both on the present day (the 24th of July), on which their death, and on the second day of May, on which their translation is recalled, among the feasts of precept, and ordered it thus to be celebrated in Lithuania. The same writer in his Appendix pag. 14 published a proper Office of these same Saints, which is put together in the Ruthenian or Greek rite. Such a title is prefixed to the Office: An Office of the holy martyrs and brothers according to the flesh, Boris and Hlib, called in baptism Romanus and David. The deeds are not related in it historically; nevertheless the Saints' virtues and miracles are from time to time briefly touched upon. That whole Office therefore it does not please me to reprint; but I will insert some things from it about the Saints' virtues and miracles in their own place. Thus far of the lawful cult; now a few words about the Acts to be published.
[8] Whence the Acts were received, and of what sort. We received these Saints' Acts, with several others, from Lithuania, where the most illustrious lord George Tyszkiewicz, then bishop of Methone, and afterward promoted to the bishopric of Vilna, in the year 1621 judged them faithfully taken from trustworthy archives and most ancient manuscripts .. and worthy of print and of the knowledge of the faithful, and attested this by setting his name and seal to it. It is not however expressed who is the author of the Acts, nor is it set forth at about what time they were composed. Nay, it can be doubted whether they were first drawn up in Latin, or rather were afterward translated into Latin from another tongue. Ignorance of all these things makes it so that I do not dare to claim undoubted credit for these Acts, especially since the method of narrating which the author used is not so accurate that this alone should suffice to procure irrefragable authority for the Acts. For he narrates many sayings and doings of the Saints so minutely, as if he had been present at each; or at least had learned them from those who had been present: nevertheless it is not likely that he was so accurately informed about each, since nowhere does he say that he was present at the Saints' slaying, or that he understood anything from any one who had been present. Nay, it is far more likely that the Acts were not drawn up by a contemporary writer: and perhaps they were composed some centuries after the Saints' death. Nevertheless I think the chief heads of the Acts are not to be rejected, because they agree well enough with those things which Polish and Ruthenian writers have recorded about these Saints. I will give therefore the recorded Acts divided after our manner, and illustrated with such annotations that from them the reader may in some measure be instructed about the probability of the deeds related.
§ II. Various eulogies of the Saints are given, partly manuscript, partly printed.
[ ] A manuscript eulogy of the Saints is recited, Besides the recorded Acts of SS. Romanus and David, I find certain other eulogies of the same, partly manuscript, partly printed. And since these are not easy to come by, it pleases me to transfer them hither, that from them it may in some measure appear which things in the Acts are the more probable. Among the writings which our Janning received at Rome in the year 1700 from those left by Father Melchior Inchofer, the writer of the Hungarian History, there occurs, without any author's name, a eulogy, or compendium of the Acts, which runs thus: Boris duke of Rostov, born of his father Vladimir duke of Russia, together with twelve brothers and with that same father born again at the font of baptism, having set out with the army committed to him by his father against the Pechenegs breaking into Russia, on his return, when he had learned that snares were being laid for his life by his brother Sviatopolk, who was aiming at the dukedom and concealing his father's death,
he learned it. He commends the matter to God with tears, and chose rather to become a victim to God than to be made conqueror of his elder brother. And so the impious brother, then residing at Kiev, conspires with the men of Vyshgorod for the slaying of Boris, whom he invites to himself under the show of brotherly love and of favor for the enlarging of his patrimony.
[10] But Bl. Boris, then abiding at the Alta, and not accepting the soldiery which the nobles supplied, which agrees thus with the Acts in most things, remained alone with his servants [], and at last, passing the night in his tent, when the Lord's day was dawning, was chanting hymns and psalms with his priest. Which voice the assassins hearing, they rush into the tent, and cruelly transfix the Blessed one with a lance. Whose servant George, a Hungarian by nation, presented with a golden collar by his lord, falling upon his lord's body, and bewailing the Prince, died transfixed. But the Blessed one, having received the wound, leapt out of the tent: and, praying to God for his slayers and for his own brother, ended his life on the 24th of July, in the year MDCXXXII (perhaps the author wrote 1032.) Whose body, wrapped in the tent and laid upon a wagon, they carried away with them. When they had come to the woods, the Martyr began to lift his head: which when it had become known to Sviatopolk, he had his heart transfixed. Several then who were with the Martyr were slain.*
[11] These things being done, the most impious fratricide threatens a like end to the remaining brothers. Bl. Gleb, named David, he invites in his father's name. And when he was hastening toward him, so that it may seem a compendium of the Acts. and, having fallen from his horse, had somewhat bruised his foot, passing by Smolensk, he embarked in a little boat at Smiadyn. Yaroslav, informed by his sister at Pereyaslavl of his brother's slaying and of his father's death, gives notice to Bl. Gleb. Unlooked for, the assassins fly upon him: and those whom he awaits as suppliants he finds fierce with drawn swords. And when they would not receive his prayers for his temporal life, the same being turned to God for eternal life (there is a fault; read idem … conversus &c.), he was stabbed with a knife by Torchin, Boris's cook, and died on the 5th of September. His body, cast forth in a desert place between two trunks of trees, was often honored from above with a light like a fiery pillar and with angelic strains. Which when, after several years, it was sought for by Yaroslav (he, having divinely avenged his brother's blood, laid Sviatopolk low in two battles; who, fleeing, was seized by a demon, and, convulsed in all his limbs, was borne along in a litter, continually crying out: Flee, flee, they are following us; and, wandering, perished, slain by I know not whom), it was pointed out by certain men of Smolensk, was diligently sought by presbyters, was honorably brought to Vyshgorod, and, famous with various miracles together with the body of Bl. Boris, rests in the church of St. Basil. Thus far the author of this eulogy, which is almost wholly taken from the Acts, and can be called a compendium of the Acts. The year of death however is here assigned otherwise than in the Acts.
[12] A second written eulogy, Shorter is that which Nicolaus Cichovius gathered from the ecclesiastical books of the Ruthenians, and transmitted hither in writing in the year 1647. The whole of it, except the translation of the bodies recorded above, I bring hither: Boris and Hleb, sons of Vladimir the great duke, exchanged their barbarous names for the names of Romanus and David, holy baptism intervening: and after the death of their father they were slain by their brother Sviatopolk. For he, having learned of the death of his father Vladimir, while Boris was detained by the war with the Pechenegs, seized Kiev the metropolis of Russia: and, that it might not be snatched from him, he instructed the men of Vyshgorod to slay Boris on his return: which they also did; and they pierced with swords the pious Duke as he was praying on the Lord's day and fixed in the gaze of an image of Christ, together with his servant George the Hungarian. But Hleb, or David, duke of Murom, that same Sviatopolk circumvented with such a fraud. Dissembling the death of his father Vladimir, he feigned that he was held by a grave sickness, and that he desired that he should visit him. David believed, and gave himself to the journey: and when he had accomplished a great part of it, and was one mile from Smolensk, Sviatopolk's soldiers fell upon him and slew him: and they buried his body in a desert place. Above which angelic songs were heard and burning lamps were seen. Of them the Menology on the 24th of July has thus: On the same day, the death of the holy martyr dukes of Russia, brothers according to the flesh, Boris and Hleb, or Romanus and David, who were slain by their brother Sviatopolk, Boris being transfixed with lances, but Hleb with a knife.
[13] a third printed, from Kojałowicz; A third eulogy I subjoin from the Miscellanea of Lithuania, where Kojałowicz at pag. 5, among the holy patrons of Lithuania, thus records them: SS. David and Romanus MM., sons of Vladimir monarch of the Russians, called in their native tongue and after the ancient manner of the heathen Hleb and Borys, changed their names at the sacred font. Their parent Vladimir being dead, Romanus (formerly called Boris) duke of Rostov, urged by his own men to be willing to succeed his father, and either to drive out or to make away with his brother Sviatopolk, a truculent man and bent on the slaughter of the remaining brothers, spurned bloody counsels: nay rather, he himself betook himself to him, to prove his obedience to him. On that journey, when he was praying at the Alta under a tent in the morning hours of the Sabbath, amid prayers and the singing of the divine praises he was pierced with a lance by the assassins whom Sviatopolk had sent from Vyshgorod, and fell to the ground. A servant who chanced to be present, George, a Hungarian by country, that he might guard his Master from further wounds by the interposing of his own body, lay down upon him: and the servant indeed was there dispatched by the parricides, but the Master, having first burst out of the tent, and having obtained from the robbers who again rose against him some time for prayer, breathed out his soul in the midst of praying, and wrung tears from the parricides themselves.
[14] That these things were done in the year MXXVIII, on the 14th (elsewhere the 24th) of July, in which some things are set forth otherwise: the old Slavonic codices testify. A little after, David or Hleb, when, called forth by that same Sviatopolk, he was sailing on the Dvina, warned by his brother Yaroslav of the snares, before he could take counsel for himself, was stabbed with a knife in the boat by the parricides sent against him, after he had obtained time for prayer, and fell on the 5th of September. His body, cast forth in an unknown place among the woods, was pointed out long afterward by a heavenly harmony, whose concert the herdsmen often heard from near by, was found whole, and was honorably entombed by his brother Yaroslav (who now, Sviatopolk having been driven out, alone held all Russia) at Vyshgorod in the church of St. Basil, in which place Romanus also had before been buried. To these he adds some things about the cult of both Saints, which have already been given above.
[15] Lastly I add a fourth eulogy from Kulczyński's Specimen of the Ruthenian church, a fourth from Kulczyński, who at the 24th of July rendered these things into Latin from the Ruthenian Synaxary: The holy and glorious martyrs Boris and Hlib were the sons of Vladimir, who had made Russia illustrious by baptism. He himself had twelve sons, among whom he distributed his dominions in this manner: to Vysheslav Novgorod, to Iziaslav Polotsk, to Sviatopolk Turov, to Yaroslav after the death of Vysheslav Novgorod, to Boris Rostov, to Hlib Murom, to Sviatoslav the Drevlyans, to Vsevolod Vladimir, to Mstislav Tmutarakan, to Stanislav Smolensk, to Bracislav Lutsk, to Sudislav Pskov. But Vladimir called Boris to Kiev; for he was dearer to him than the rest of his sons: and when it was announced that the Pechenegs were invading Russia, having levied a great army, he sent that same Boris beyond the Dnieper: for he himself lay sick and a little after died. After whose death Sviatopolk, having entered Kiev, seized his father's throne, and his heart was filled with iniquity, and he said within himself: I will slaughter all my brothers, and I shall become monarch in Russia. Thinking these things, he set out by night for Vyshgorod, and, having called together his magnates, Putsha, Yelovich and Lyashko, said to them: Go and slay my brother Boris, and you shall be my most intimate friends. They promised the crime. And when Boris, not having found the Pechenegs, and having dismissed the army, returning with a small following, had passed the night at the river Alta, the assassins, coming thither, pierced him with spears, and, having laid the body on a chariot, brought it to Vyshgorod, and entombed it in the church of St. Basil.
[16] After these things Sviatopolk sent a messenger to Hlib, saying with guile: Come without delay; for our parent is sick. Hlib, ignorant of his brother's fraud, in which certain other things do not agree with the Acts. girded himself for the journey, and when he was at the Volga, having hurt one foot by a sudden fall from his horse, he mounted a chariot, in which, being borne along hastily, when he had entered the wood of Smiadyn, he was intercepted by assassins, with Horaser for their leader, at whose bidding they surrounded the chariot. But one of Hlib's servants, Torchin by name, who was master of the kitchen, having drawn his sword pierced his lord the divine Hlib, who passed out of this life on the 5th day of September. His body being cast forth in the wood between two trees, a light gliding down from heaven, God revealed it to shepherds, who announced it to the inhabitants of Smolensk. And they, coming with crosses and tapers, reverently bore away the sacred remains, and placed them in a church. Sviatopolk being afterward overthrown, and the city of Kiev seized, the pious prince Yaroslav ordered the body of St. Hlib to be translated to Vyshgorod, where it was placed at the side of the divine Boris. And the Lord glorified both with miracles: for they cure diseases, they give light to those deprived of sight, they restore their step to the lame, they drive demons out of possessed bodies, they free men from prisons and chains, and they help with their prayers the Ruthenian princes fighting against the infidels. Would that we too, humble as we are, might be made worthy by their intercession to obtain the divine grace here and now and in the day of judgment. Thus far the Synaxary, says the author.
ANNOTATIONS.
*. That is, servants.
§ III. The more certain heads of the Life are assigned, and certain other things are examined: the year of death is investigated.
[ ] The things which are more certain about the Saints are reviewed. If anyone shall diligently compare the four eulogies now recited with the Acts, he will easily see that all agree well enough in the deeds chiefly pertaining to our Saints. For first, by the consent of all, Boris and Hlib are asserted to have been the sons of Vladimir duke of Russia. Secondly, both are said to have been slain after their father's death by the guile of their brother Sviatopolk, and indeed before the war which arose among Vladimir's sons on that occasion. Thirdly, both shrank from making war upon their brothers, and were content with the dominion received from their living father, Boris namely with the dukedom of Rostov, Hlib with that of Murom. Boris's dukedom of Rostov was among the chief. Its metropolis Rostov is situated at a lake, from which arises the river Kotorosl, which near Yaroslavl flows into the Volga. Murom, Hlib's metropolis, which is elsewhere marked in the maps as Merom and Morum, is placed at the river Oka, where below it the Klyazma flows into the Oka. Fourthly, both are said to have been buried, at different times however, at Vyshgorod or Vyshegorod, and there to have been famous for miracles. And Vyshgorod I find marked in certain geographical maps not far from the city of Kiev on the Dnieper. But the bodies of both are believed to have been afterward translated by the schismatics to Moscow, and to be kept there even now. These are the chief and more certain heads of the Life of both; nevertheless from other writers a not slight objection can be formed against the first and the second.
[18] Thietmar attributing only three sons to Vladimir. Thietmar, a contemporary author, attributes only three sons to Vladimir, writing thus in book 7 a little before the end about Vladimir: He, having three sons,
he gave in marriage to one of them the daughter of duke Boleslav, our persecutor &c. And below, after he had narrated that that son, to whom the daughter of Boleslav duke of Poland had been married, was consigned to prison by Vladimir, he again has thus: After these things that king, full of days, died, leaving the whole of his inheritance to two sons, the third being still placed in prison: who afterward escaping, his wife being left there, fled to his father-in-law, namely Boleslav the Pole. But if Vladimir, when dying, left only three sons, these two Saints cannot both be numbered among his sons, since Yaroslav and Sviatopolk, who after their father's death contended for the rule, were certainly his sons. I confess that this reason is not to be despised: for the Saxon Annalist too at the year 1018 records only three sons of Vladimir, and of these names only Yaroslav and Sviatopolk, who likewise are alone named by Thietmar, whom he followed.
[19] I answer therefore that from the said authors it can really be doubted [he does not seem to have known them all: certainly let Boris and Hlib be believed his sons.] whether all those twelve whom other writers enumerate were sons of Vladimir: for after his death only two, or in Długosz three, sons are read to have contended for the kingdom, and two others were slain. Besides, Yaroslav had various sons, and these could by an easy error have been held by posterity for sons of Vladimir, since the first three of them in Długosz at the year 1052 are called Iziaslav, Vsevolod and Sviatoslav, which are the names of three whom posterity attributes to Vladimir as sons. Nevertheless I answer that it is more probable that Vladimir had twelve sons, since, besides the Acts and the eulogies given, Długosz writes quite distinctly about all of them at the year 1005. For it could be that not all became known to Thietmar, who dwelt far from the Russians: unless perhaps Vladimir had only three sons born of a lawful bed, and Thietmar numbered those alone. But whatever be the case about all the twelve, the consent of writers for Boris and Hlib is too great for them deservedly to be doubted of, merely because Thietmar seems to have been ignorant of one of them. For I suspect that only those became known to him who had acquired some name by their exploits, namely Sviatopolk the son-in-law of the duke of Poland, Yaroslav the rival of the former, and probably Boris, all of whom had commanded armies; but that the rest were unknown to him, because none of them had become famous in warlike affairs while Thietmar was writing.
[20] Another objection arises from Thietmar's words, but it is more conveniently to be dissolved below, About the year of death there are different opinions: when I shall have examined the year of death of both Saints and certain other things. Writers agree that both Saints were slain in the same year in which Vladimir had died: but in assigning that year they have gone into different opinions. Kulczyński in his Appendix pag. 110 and 111 binds Vladimir's death to the year 1008. Długosz narrates his death at the year 1005. Kojałowicz, whose words were given at num. 14, assigned the year 1028. In the Acts at num. 1 Vladimir is said to have died in the twenty-eighth year after he received baptism: which epoch leads to the year 1015, since Vladimir was more probably baptized in the year 988, as has been shown in the Dissertation on the conversion of the Russians §2. And indeed what is said in the Acts about the day of death of both Saints agrees excellently with the year 1015: and what Thietmar relates about the wars which followed in Russia clearly hints that Vladimir's death cannot be removed far from the year 1015, as I set about proving a little more fully.
[21] There can be no doubt that Sviatopolk recovered the dukedom of Russia through Boleslav duke of Poland, whose son-in-law he was, in the year 1018: for, on the testimony of Thietmar then writing in book 8 near the end, but from the year 1018, in which Sviatopolk recovered Kiev through Boleslav, Boleslav carried off a signal victory over Yaroslav in the month of July of the year 1018, and, presently advancing to Kiev, besieged that city: But it (Kiev) was defended by its own inhabitants, but quickly lay open to foreign forces: for, being abandoned by its own king turned to flight, on the 18th of the Kalends of September it received Boleslav, and Sviatopolk its elder [], whom it had long lost … From these words I further gather that the preceding battle, in which Sviatopolk was conquered by Yaroslav and compelled to flee into Poland, cannot be referred to the year 1017, but probably befell in the year 1015 or 1016: for the word long*, which Thietmar likewise uses in book 7, where he says that Sviatopolk, long driven out, was afterward restored by Boleslav, requires at least that we believe more time than one year to have come between the expulsion and the restoration. Besides, in book 7 pag. 416 of Leibniz's edition it is said that the emperor Henry in the month of November of the year 1017 learned that the king of the Russians had attempted something against Boleslav, but with vain result. And so Yaroslav himself seems to have made war upon Boleslav in the year 1017, when the latter was already for some years entangled in war against the emperor Henry.
[22] compared with the chronological notes which are had in the Life, From what has been said it clearly follows that Yaroslav's victory is not to be fixed after the year 1016. Yet from these things it cannot safely be inferred that it is to be affixed to that same year 1016, nor do I find any reason by which this may be shown. It can also be doubted whether Sviatopolk was first conquered by Yaroslav in the same year in which Vladimir, Boris and Hlib ended their life, or rather in the following year. Yaroslav could, on hearing of the death of his father and of his brother Boris, at once have taken up arms, and have conquered his brother toward the end of that same year, and this appears more likely, since time was not lacking, as I shall show in the annotations to the Life. But whether Sviatopolk was driven out of Russia in the same year in which he had seized his dead father's throne, or in the following year, the Acts supply an argument by which Vladimir's death can quite probably be bound to the year 1015. For Boris in the Acts is said to have been slain on the Lord's day and on the 24th of July; but Hlib on the second feria, that is, on Monday, and on the 5th of September, and lastly Vladimir is narrated to have fallen into his last sickness in the twenty-eighth year after he received baptism. All these things agree with the year 1015, which was the twenty-eighth after Vladimir was baptized, and in which too the 24th day of July was a Sunday, and the 5th day of September fell together with the second feria, as is understood from the Dominical letter b. And so this agreement of three chronological notes furnishes a probable argument by which the death of Vladimir, Boris and Hlib may be affixed to the year 1015, especially since it has been proved from Thietmar that it cannot be removed far from this year.
[23] the year 1015 seems to be established. It can indeed be objected that in the Acts at num. 8 Boris's death is ascribed to the year 1028, which is far from the truth; and thence it may be inferred that no authority ought to be attributed to those chronological notes which I have produced from the Acts. But I answer that that year seems to have been added by some later hand: for nowhere in the Acts is a year from the Lord's birth expressed, and therefore I cannot believe that it was expressed there either. Besides, it is certain that the Russians were not wont to number years from the Incarnation of Christ, but after the manner of the Greeks from the founding of the world. And so that year 1028 is to be attributed to the translator of the Acts or to an interpolator, not to the author himself. If anyone will have it that the Acts are of a Latin writer, which is little likely, he ill gathered that year from Ruthenian monuments, or was led into that opinion by some slight conjecture. But the same reasoning does not seem to hold of the days of the months and of the weeks on which the Saints were slain: for these were probably found by the author of the Acts in ancient monuments; and they have so much the greater authority as they more rightly agree with themselves and with the things reported by Thietmar. And so I shall fix the death of both Saints and of their father Vladimir at the year 1015, until someone teach more certain things.
[24] But the wars which followed I shall thus arrange. In the month of August of the year 1015 Yaroslav gathered an army, The wars which afterward followed in Russia: which he led against his brother Sviatopolk, and at the beginning of winter, namely in the month of November or December of that same year, conquered him and compelled him to flee to Boleslav. In the years 1016 and 1017 Boleslav, being occupied with the war against the emperor Henry, attempted nothing for Sviatopolk against Yaroslav. But when peace had been made with Henry, he set his mind on restoring his son-in-law to the dukedom of Russia, and brought this to effect in the year 1018, Yaroslav being first overthrown and Kiev then taken with other cities of Russia, yet Yaroslav not being altogether driven out, who afterward again conquered Sviatopolk, deserted by Boleslav, and drove him out of all Russia. But this last victory of Yaroslav's befell after the death of Thietmar, who died in the year 1019; and therefore its year cannot be shown so certainly. Nor is it necessary for my purpose to examine in what year Sviatopolk was altogether driven out of Russia, and afterward slain. But the objection must be discussed which can be formed from Thietmar's words against Yaroslav's first victory, and against the slaying of Boris and Hlib, done by the contrivance of Sviatopolk, as I hinted before.
[25] For this writer in book 7 toward the end, after he had narrated that to one of Vladimir's sons, an answer is given to the second objection, namely to Sviatopolk, the daughter of Boleslav duke of Poland had been married, then speaks thus about them and about the bishop Reinbern, sent into Russia at the same time: Whom (Reinbern) the aforesaid king (Vladimir), hearing that his own son at Boleslav's secret exhortation would resist him, he seized together with him and with his wife, and shuts up in solitary custody. He then says that Vladimir died, the third son, namely Sviatopolk, being still placed in prison: who afterward escaping, his wife being left there, fled to his father-in-law (Boleslav). These words seem to hint that Sviatopolk, as soon as he escaped from prison, fled to Boleslav; but not that he fled after Boris and Hlib were slain, nor after the disaster brought upon him by Yaroslav. But I answer that Sviatopolk probably, his parent being dead, at once escaped from prison, and won the hearts of the men of Kiev for himself, and then contrived death for his two Brothers, but resisted the third by arms, until, being conquered, he fled into Poland. Unless Thietmar be thus expounded, he did not rightly say of the city of Kiev intercepted by Boleslav: It received Sviatopolk its elder, whom it had long lost … For Sviatopolk was not lord of the men of Kiev before Boleslav stormed Kiev, and so this city had not lost that lord; unless Sviatopolk seized it after Vladimir's death.
[26] For which cause I answer that the consent of all Polish and Ruthenian writers is to be preferred to the authority of Thietmar alone, which can be formed from Thietmar. however contemporary, especially since he clearly does not contradict the others, but only does not report Sviatopolk's first disaster, either because he did not take care to relate all things pertaining to the Russians, or because, dwelling far off, he was also ignorant of many things. Thietmar did not write a history of the Russians, and therefore did not care to investigate all things: but only a few things about
Vladimir, Sviatopolk and Yaroslav he narrated, and those chiefly which were connected with Polish or German affairs. Wherefore neither Thietmar's silence about the slaying of Boris and Hlib, and about Sviatopolk's first disaster, nor his words about Vladimir's three sons, which are equivalent to silence about the others, are to be pressed too far against the consent of the Poles and Ruthenians. For these, although they are later in time, ought nevertheless to have greater authority, when they write of matters which they carefully handle, than he, when he merely keeps silent about things which he neither cared to investigate nor to write. The contrary however must be said where Thietmar clearly asserts something about these matters, or assigns the times of the deeds done. For this cause I have used Thietmar's authority for determining the Saints' year of death; and I believe true what he writes about Sviatopolk's imprisonment, although the Acts are silent, and Długosz even narrates the contrary.
[27] Długosz, writing rightly enough about the death of Boris and Hlib, yet errs, For this Polish writer at the year 1005, narrating very many things agreeing with the Acts about Boris and Hlib, is repugnant on one point both to the Acts and to Thietmar, when in Sviatopolk's place he makes Yaroslav a rebel against his father Vladimir, asserts that the castle of Kiev with his father's treasures was seized by him, and relates the rest thus: Which his father Volodimir bearing most bitterly, draws together forces from all the principalities which he had divided among his sons, meaning to fight with his son Yaroslav. Which Yaroslav having learned, he sends and hires the Pechenegs and the Varangians, to make resistance to his father. Meanwhile Volodimir the duke and father, seized with a grave languor from the grief arising from his son Yaroslav's rebellion and hostility, setting his son Borysz over the army, sends him against Yaroslav: he himself, the disease growing stronger, dies a few days after in the castle of Berestovo … Not knowing that their father, namely duke Volodimir, had departed this life, these two sons, Borysz and Sviatopolk, enter upon the contest with Yaroslav and with his people, and Yaroslav, being conquered, flees with the Pechenegs and Varangians his helpers. But Sviatopolk seizes Kiev and snatches the principality, the other brother Borysz being at leisure for mourning his father's death. And although the aforesaid duke Borysz was urged in the array of the soldiers that, his brother Sviatopolk being driven out, he should himself possess the principality of Kiev, yet, refusing the soldiers' urgings, he answered that his brother Sviatopolk, his father being taken away, he would honor in his father's place, nor would he ever contrive anything adverse to him.
[28] when he makes Yaroslav a rebel against his father. But Sviatopolk, returning an unequal favor to his brother, suborns the men of Novgorod (nay, of Vyshgorod, as all others assert), men of Belial, who transfix duke Borysz with lances as he prayed in his chamber, but they slay along with him his armor-bearer Gregory also, a Hungarian by nation, protecting his lord. Then Sviatopolk sends in guile to the other brother Gleb, inviting him to himself; but, being warned by his brother Yaroslav, lately worsted, that he was being called to slaughter, he halted with checked step, and with great wailing bewails both his father's death and his brother's slaying. At length other men come, sent by Sviatopolk, and slay duke Gleb, his head being cut off. Thus far Długosz, whose report of the death brought upon Boris and Hlib agrees well enough with the Acts and with the eulogies given before. It also agrees with the Acts that he asserts Boris was made leader of the army by his sick father. But in the Acts Boris is not said to have been sent with an army against Yaroslav, but against the Pechenegs, who are here called Pieczyngi, elsewhere Pecinaci, and more commonly called by the Greeks Patzinacitæ or Pazzinaci. These were neighbors of the Russians and once not inferior to them, as may be seen in Constantine Porphyrogenitus in his book On Administering the Empire chap. 1, 2 and following, and most of all chap. 37. Nor is it likely that Yaroslav was allied with the Patzinacites, since they afterward gave aid to Sviatopolk, on the testimony of Długosz himself at the year 1008: nay, the Patzinacites also stood by Boleslav against Yaroslav, as Thietmar has in book 8, where he calls them Petinei. And so either the Patzinacites invaded Russia of their own motion, or they did it for Sviatopolk, then a captive because of his rebellion, as we have from Thietmar. But Długosz seems wrongly to have transferred Sviatopolk's rebellion — whether this broke out into open war, or was checked beforehand by his imprisonment — to Yaroslav. To these things at last I subjoin the Acts, meaning to set forth more briefly in the annotations whatever things need further discussion.
ANNOTATIONS.
*. That is, lord.
ACTS
by an anonymous author
From a Ms. sent hither from Vilna
Romanus, otherwise Boris, prince of Russia (S.)
David, otherwise Gleb or Hlib, prince of Russia (S.)
BHL Number: 7321
By an Anonymous author.
CHAPTER I.
The sickness and death of Vladimir duke of the Russians, converted with his twelve sons: St. Boris slain by his brother's contrivance.
[ ] Boris, set over the army by his sick father, on hearing of his father's death, That great monarch of all Russia, Vladimir a, when, by the favor of divine grace, having been cleansed at the sacred font with his twelve sons b — Vysheslav c, Iziaslav d, Yaroslav e, Boris, Gleb, Sviatoslav f, Vsevolod g, Mstislav h, Stanislav, Sudislav i, Sviatopolk k — he received the Christian mysteries; he took care also that all Russia should be purified and enlightened by the saving water of Baptism. In the twenty-eighth year therefore after he received Baptism king Vladimir fell into a grave infirmity. But there had come at that time to his sick father Boris duke of Rostov, the pious son of a most pious king, called Romanus at the sacred font: to whom his parent committed the whole army, and sent him against the Pechenegs l, who had broken into Russia with a strong band, grieving exceedingly that, because of failing health and the weakness of his body, it was not permitted him in his own person to repel the boldness of the enemy. Wherefore, having called Boris, he at once sent him against the enemy. Who, immediately obeying his father, departed: but, not finding the enemy, as he was returning he received the sad message, namely that his father was already dead: but that Sviatopolk m was hiding his father's death, that meanwhile, unknown to his brothers, he might alone be able to seize the whole kingdom.
[2] fears the snares of his brother Sviatopolk; When blessed Boris learned these things, he began to bewail his parent's death with inmost affection, saying: Alas for me! light of my eyes, path of my youth &c. Alas for me! my father, my lord &c. Woe is me, that I was not present! I myself would have buried thy body. And he said many other things besides: My heart burns within me, my soul confounds my sense. And: To whom I shall turn, I know not, and to whom show this my sadness. Is it to my father n, whom I hold in a father's place? But he follows the glory of this world, and plots death for me: yea, he will slay me. To the Lord God let me be made a martyr: I do not gainsay it. According to the Scripture, the Lord God resists the proud, but to the humble he gives grace. The Apostle also said: If any man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar. Today therefore I will go to my brother. Let us say to him: Be thou to me, O my brother, a father, be a sister, and be a brother. These and the like blessed Boris was saying, and directed his course to his brother. And he spoke with himself: I shall yet see o my younger brother Gleb.
[3] but chooses rather to die than to invade the principality. Again he said: The Lord's will be done. And, naming to himself, he said: If I shall enter my father's house, the shield of evil men's tongues will forestall me [p], and they will persuade me to drive out Sviatopolk, and to do him injury for the glory of the principality. But all this glory is changed more swiftly than a spider's web: and when I shall have to leave this mortal life, what answer shall I obtain? Where shall I hide the multitude of my sins? What did my father and my brothers carry away with them of this world's glory? Where is the glory of their life? Where the gold and the silver? All these have vanished: nor did the glory of the world bring any help. Good works alone and sincere charity bring help. And as he went he was wholly bathed in tears, nor could he refrain himself from weeping: and all who saw him weeping so greatly wept: for the Blessed one appeared wearied in face and contrite in heart. And so blessed Boris renewed his speech again, saying: I know that evil men will compel my brother to slay me: and if he shall slay me, I shall be a martyr to the Lord. Being comforted therefore with divine words, he was also strengthened as he went in the Lord's Passion, and said: Despise me not, merciful Lord, who hope in thee: but save my soul for thy mercy's sake.
[4] Meanwhile Sviatopolk suborns the men of Vyshgorod to slay him: But Sviatopolk was residing at Kiev after his father Vladimir's death, and sent craftily to Boris, saying: My brother, I desire to establish charity with thee, and I will enlarge thy patrimony. But these things he said fraudulently; and he came by night to Vyshgorod; and secretly called to himself Putsha [q] and the men of Vyshgorod, to whom he said: Tell me all the truth: have ye friendship with me? To whom Putsha answered: Nay, we will all lay down our heads for thee. But when the devil noted that blessed Boris had placed all his trust in the duke [*], he sets about preparing death for him: and as of old he stirred up Cain without cause against Abel, so he deceived and stirred up the wretched Sviatopolk to slay his brothers, and alone to possess the Ruthenian kingdom. Then, the men of Vyshgorod having been called to him, that most wretched of men Sviatopolk says to Putsha: Since, brother, ye promise to lay down your heads for me, go secretly and slay my brother Boris. And he promised that he would satisfy his words.
[5] Meanwhile blessed Boris was abiding at the Alta [r]: But Boris, urged in vain to seize the throne, whom the nobles were urging by their words to seize his father's throne, showing him a ready and present force of soldiers. But Bl. Boris answered: Far be it from me to lift up hands against my elder brother, whom I hold in a father's place. These things being commanded, the soldiers departed [s]. But the Blessed one remained alone with his servant. It was at that time the day of the Sabbath, and blessed Boris betook himself into his tent: calling upon God with tears and groaning, he said: My tears, O Lord, be not silent at, for in thee do I trust: join me, O Lord, to thy servants. And he called to mind also the martyrdom of St. Nicetas [t], and of St. Wenceslas, who likewise died slain by his brother, and of St. Barbara, who was slain by her parent. He considered also the words of the most wise Solomon, saying: The just shall live for evermore, and shall receive their reward from the Lord: with these sentences therefore he comforted himself. And when it was now growing toward evening, he bade the evening prayers be chanted. He too spent his labor with unceasing tears in chanting the divine evening praises. These being ended, he betook himself to bed, weighing with himself with much anxiety how he ought to offer himself to death and passion, to finish his course, to keep the faith, and to receive from God the crown of fidelity.
[6] Being awakened therefore in the early morning of the Lord's day, when he perceived that the time of the morning prayers was at hand, and, deserted by the soldiers, prepares himself for death by pious exercises. he roused his priest to begin the praises of our Savior. The Blessed one too, after he had dressed and washed his face,
at once betook himself to paying his prayers to God. Meanwhile the murderers sent by Sviatopolk came by night to the Alta, and when they had drawn nearer, and had caught the voice of blessed Boris chanting the morning psalms, then it was signified to him about the slaying. The Saint therefore began to recite the psalms, saying: Lord, why are they multiplied that trouble me? many rise up against me &c.: and he added the rest of the morning psalms even to the end, singing: Many dogs have compassed me: the council of the malignant. O Lord my God, in thee have I hoped: and at last the canon. And when Matins were finished, he turned himself to the image of the Savior, praying as a suppliant and saying: Lord Jesus Christ, who didst so appear on earth, and who didst deign of thy own will to be fastened with nails, and didst undergo death on the cross for our sins, grant me also to suffer. Meanwhile about the tent he heard the hissing of malignant men amid their bellowing, and weeping he prayed: Glory to thee, Lord Jesus, who hast deigned that I should suffer this tribulation on account of envy, and on account of thy word: for I would not seek myself nor covet anything, according to the Apostle: Charity suffereth all things, believeth all things, seeketh not her own: in charity there is no fear: perfect charity casteth out fear: for, Lord, all my things are always in thy hands, who have not forgotten thy Law: as it pleases thee, Lord, so let it be done.
[7] But the priest with the servant, seeing their Lord so afflicted, The Saint is wounded, and his servant is slain, were led by compassion and wept together, saying: O most beloved Lord, with how great goodness art thou filled! Therefore, having so great a force of soldiers in thy hands, thou wouldest not oppose thy brother for the love of Christ. Meanwhile the most abandoned servants of that abandoned Sviatopolk suddenly burst into the tent, and cruelly pierced the holy martyr Boris with a lance: Putsha, Talets, Yelovich, Lyashko. Perceiving this, St. Boris's beloved servant George, a Hungarian by nation, to whom the blessed Prince had given a golden collar, fell upon his Lord's body, weeping: Would that I might not desert thee, my most excellent Lord: let me too die where thy beauty has met its end. Which those most wretched murderers seeing, they transfixed him also. But holy Boris, having received the wound, leapt out of the tent. But they, standing round, cried out: Why stand ye gazing at him? Let us approach and finish what was commanded. The blessed Martyr, hearing this, prayed as a suppliant, saying: My dearest brethren, grant me, I beseech you, a little time, that I may pour forth prayers to the Lord my God.
[8] then the Saint too, having first obtained some time for prayer, Lifting up therefore his eyes to heaven, with tears and sighs he prayed: Lord God, clement and merciful, glory to thee, who hast granted me to go forth out of the deceit of this deceitful life: glory to thee, most kindly Bestower of life, who hast made me a partaker of the labors of thy holy martyrs: glory to thee, Lover of men, who hast granted me to accomplish the desire of my heart: glory, O Christ, to thy great mercy, wherewith thou hast directed my feet into the way of peace, that they might run to thee without stumbling: look forth from thy holy height, and behold the grief of my heart, which I have received from my own brother. It is known to thee that I neither oppose nor gainsay: for I had in my hand all my father's soldiery, and all that was dear to my father. To these and the like words he added: But do thou, Lord, look, and be between me and my brother, and lay not this sin to his charge: but receive my soul in peace. This prayer being ended, he looked upon them with eyes full of compassion, and, wholly swimming in tears, addressed them: Brethren, draw near and finish the work which ye have been commanded, and let there be peace to my brother and to you all.
[9] is slain and buried at Vyshgorod. Hearing these things they could answer never a word; but, full of fear and anguish, they wept: and each said within himself: Woe to us, our most beloved Prince, most blessed Leader of the blind, Clothing of the naked, Staff of the aged, Instructor of the untaught, how hast thou spurned the glory of this world? Who will not wonder at so great humility? And who will not be humbled, led by thy example? Holy Boris therefore straightway rendered his blessed soul to his Creator on the 24th of July, in the year 1028 [u]. But those impious murderers slew several others who were present with the blessed Martyr: among whom the Blessed one's beloved servant George, whose head he cut off, who could not draw off the golden collar … Wherefore his trunk of a body could not be recognized. But the holy Martyr's body, wrapped in the tent and laid upon a chariot, they carried away with them. And when they were in the woods, the Blessed one began to lift his head [x]. Which when the most wretched Sviatopolk had learned, he straightway sent two men, who pierced the holy Martyr's heart with a sword: and thus the Blessed one obtained the unfading crown. And so they carried the body as far as Vyshgorod [y], and there buried it in the earth in a church consecrated to the divine Basil.
ANNOTATIONS.
p. The phrase is ambiguous and ambiguously written: but what follows is clear, which suffices for understanding the author's meaning.
q. Długosz at the year 1005 has thus about those who slew the Saints: These are the names of the chief men who slew the dukes Borysz and Gleb: Puchsza, Halicz, Lowicz and Lasko. Three also are named in the Commentary num. 15.
r. Altæ here and in the first eulogy, as though it were the name of a city or town. In the third eulogy, given in the Commentary num. 13, at the Alta, and in the fourth num. 15, at the river Alta. Długosz at the year 1010, on another occasion, places the site of Boris's slaying about the river Olha. All these things I confess to be very obscure to me, since I have been able to find neither a place nor a river of either name which can be designated with sufficient probability. Nevertheless I perceive well enough that the place was not very far from Kiev, and is to be sought in modern Volhynia and probably beyond the Dnieper. For all things hint that Boris was then between Kiev and the borders of the Patzinacites: and the borders of the Patzinacites extended on both sides of the Dnieper toward Kiev, as can easily be established from Porphyrogenitus's book On Administering the Empire chap. 9 and elsewhere.
s. Writers agree that Boris was unwilling to invade the principality by arms. And so the army, the expedition being finished, was dismissed by him, or of its own accord melted away, because the Saint would not consent to its leaders, or also because by Vladimir's death Boris's command was ended.
t. Which Nicetas out of the various Saints of that name the author meant to designate, I shall not easily say. St. Wenceslas duke of Bohemia and martyr, who is honored on the 28th of September, and St. Barbara, who on the 4th of December, are more clearly indicated. But both these things and what follows the author has excogitated.
u. That the Saint was probably slain in the year 1015, and without any doubt before the year here assigned, I have shown in the Commentary §3.
x. This deed (although it is likewise asserted in the first eulogy in the Commentary num. 10) is little credible, but appears fictitious; especially because of those things which about
the heart being transfixed follow. For if the Saint had not been altogether dead from the wounds received, those who first noticed it would doubtless have completed the slaying they had begun.
y. This town I sought in vain in geographical Dictionaries; but at length I found it in the charts or maps, in which it is marked on the Dnieper a few miles above Kiev, and written Wyszgrod, as it is also written in the first eulogy. That the Saint was buried at Vyshgorod in the church of St. Basil, the eulogies given in the Commentary agree. But Długosz has thus about the burial of both Saints: But the bodies both of Borysz and of Gleb, having been brought to Kiev, are entombed in the church of St. Basil in one sepulcher. I would rather assent to all the others than to Długosz alone, unless perhaps Vyshgorod was among the suburbs of the city of Kiev, which at that time is said to have been very great, and therefore he did not distinguish Vyshgorod from Kiev.
. Perhaps God.*
CHAPTER II.
St. Gleb slain on the journey by the contrivance of the same brother Sviatopolk: his body cast forth in a desert place, then, Sviatopolk having been conquered by Yaroslav, found incorrupt: the tomb of both at Vyshgorod famous for miracles.
[ ] St. Hlib, invited to Kiev by his brother's guile, Meanwhile that most impious fratricide Sviatopolk, having committed such a crime, in no wise turned to uprightness, but, despairing of his own salvation at the devil's suggestion, resolved in his mind to make away with his other brothers also. He sent therefore messengers to blessed Gleb, called David at the receiving of the sacred font, saying fraudulently: Come quickly: our father calls thee, for he is gravely sick. Blessed Gleb therefore, when he learned it, having mounted the swiftest horse, set out on the journey with a small following. But on the journey his horse slipped under him in a certain ditch, and bruised his foot a little. And when he had come to Smolensk a, and had departed from Smolensk in the twinkling of an eye, he enters a little boat at Smiadyn. While matters stood thus, the rumor had reached Yaroslav from his sister at Pereyaslavl about the death of his father Vladimir, and about the slaying of Boris. Wherefore Yaroslav as speedily as possible directed messengers to his brother Gleb, signifying: Do not, brother, go forward: for our father has departed from the living: thy brother Boris has been cruelly slain by Sviatopolk.
[11] When blessed Gleb perceived these things, weeping bitterly he cried out, while he sets out on the journey, saying: Alas for me! alas for me! For two causes I weep and sigh. I lament over thee, my father: and again vehemently I lament over thee, my brother and lord Boris — how cruelly art thou pierced through? O my beloved brother, if thou hast received confidence with the Lord, pray for my vileness, that I too may be worthy to suffer these things, and to live with thee. When blessed Gleb was saying these and the like things, doubling his groans and sighs, and calling upon God with most frequent sobs, he swam no less in tears than in the river. Behold, unlooked for, the wicked murderers sent by Sviatopolk came up, unmerciful bloodsuckers, most evil wild beasts, having furious minds. But the Blessed one was sailing in the Scopsa b not far from Smiadyn. When therefore the Blessed one had noticed them, he exulted in his soul. And they, recognizing him, were saddened as they drew near to him. The Saint awaited from them a friendly greeting: and when they had now come alongside, at once those most evil robbers leapt into the Saint's skiff, holding drawn swords in their hands. Immediately the oars fell from all their hands, and all for fear were as men dead beforehand.
[12] Beholding these things, and perceiving that he was to be slain by them, by assassins suborned by Sviatopolk the Blessed one looked upon them with suppliant eyes, and, washing his face with tears, with repeated sighs, addressed them with a voice full of compassion: Spare me, I beseech you: spare, my most beloved brethren: spare me, who have committed no evil. Do not offend me, my lords. What wrong have I done my brother and you? If ye have any wrong, lead me to your prince, my brother and lord. Have pity on my servitude [*]: have pity on me, my lords. Let me be your servant: be ye my lords. What evil have I committed? Bear witness, and I shall not grieve, if ye desire to be sated with my blood. Behold, I am in your hands, made ready for my brother and your prince. To these and the like words they in no wise attending, like the fiercest beasts they seized the Blessed one. Who, perceiving that they cared nothing for his words, implored the help of his dead father and of his slain Brother, and, doubling the name of his mother: Save me, father &c. Then also: Save thou too thyself, my brother and enemy, Sviatopolk.
[13] is slain on the way. At length he protested his innocence before heaven and earth, adding: My brother Boris, intercede for me with the common Lord of all, that I may have confidence and be able to stand before his throne. At last, his knees being bent, he prayed, saying: Most kindly and most merciful Lord, despise not my tears &c. See, Lord, and judge: for behold, my soul is made ready before thee, Lord, and to thee I render glory, to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit &c. His prayer being ended, with placid countenance he looked upon his slayers: with a lowlier voice he addressed them: Brethren, slay me and finish the work committed to you. Then the most wretched Horaser c bade him be slaughtered speedily. Boris's cook therefore, Torchin by name d, slaughtered blessed Gleb with a knife, like an innocent lamb, on the second feria, the 5th of September. And they, having cast forth the blessed Martyr's body in a certain desert place between two trunks of trees, returned to the impious Sviatopolk, by whom they were received with an unhappy joy.
[14] The body cast forth in the wood is honored with divine prodigies; But the Lord, who keeps the bones of his Saints, preserved this Saint's corpse also unharmed and incorrupt for a long space of time. And often by shepherds and hunters, and by others making their journey about that place, there was seen a fiery pillar, kindled torches, and sometimes heavenly music, and angelic songs were seen e, all being astonished, no one knowing the cause, namely that this was being done for the sake of the holy body. Nor did it come into any man's mind f, divine providence so permitting, to search for the holy Martyr's body: until prince Yaroslav, impatient of so great a fratricide, having snatched up arms, sent an army against the impious Sviatopolk. He prayed to God and said: Not I, Lord, not I am the author of this fratricide, but he. Do thou, Lord, avenge the blood of my brothers Boris and Gleb, innocently shed. Let me not, I beseech, perish also by this death, but judge justly, that the malice of the sinner may be ended &c.
[15] and Sviatopolk being conquered by Yaroslav, Sviatopolk too, as soon as he perceived that Yaroslav had moved his camp, stirred up all Russia and enrolled an innumerable army, and pitched camp beyond the Dnieper; but Yaroslav on the other side of the river. And when for three months nothing had been fought on either side, and winter now froze the ice like marble, on a certain night Sviatopolk with his men, being drunken, suspected no evil. Meanwhile Yaroslav with his men carried the army across successfully, and they pushed the boats off from the bank, and set upon g the battle. But Sviatopolk's army was distributed between two huge pools; and so, since it had no help from the other part of the army because of the intervening waters of the pools, Sviatopolk's soldiers, not sustaining the enemy's onset, were retiring over the ice, but the ice broke with them, and many were drowned in the waters, others cut down. Thus conquered, the fratricide Sviatopolk betook himself to Boleslav prince of the Poles, Yaroslav seizing his father's throne at Kiev h.
[16] Sviatopolk, having obtained help from the Poles, returning with a great band of soldiers, and he being then again overthrown and dead, conquered and overthrew Yaroslav i. A new army being enrolled, he took his stand at the Alta k, where blessed Boris was slain. There, with hands and eyes lifted to heaven, he said: Behold, my brother's blood cries to thee, Lord, as Abel's &c. These and the like things being said, he made the army engage. Where, when it had been bravely fought for three days, Yaroslav obtained the palm. But Sviatopolk fled, and in his flight was seized by a demon l, and all his limbs were loosened: nor could he now sit his horse, but was carried in litters: and he fled without ceasing as far as Brest m. And he cried out: Flee, flee: for behold, he pursues me; although he was pursued by none. And when, thus fearful and wandering, he could rest peacefully in no place, he wandered over all Poland, pursued by God's just wrath. At length in the woods between Poland and Bohemia, slain by I know not whom, he most wretchedly breathed out his impious soul.
[17] Yaroslav meanwhile, having obtained the principality of Russia alone, being sought by Yaroslav's care, he is buried at Vyshgorod: carefully inquired about the burial of the holy Martyrs. Of holy Boris therefore it was told that he was buried at Vyshgorod in the basilica of the divine Basil. But blessed Gleb had escaped the knowledge of all, save that someone knew that he had been slain at Smolensk n. Some men of Smolensk therefore who were present related how about Smolensk in a certain desert place a light and kindled torches appeared. Yaroslav answers: They are tokens of my brother Gleb's body. He sent therefore priests to search for the holy Martyr's body, which he found in the aforesaid place. Priests therefore and deacons, and the rest of the people, with censers and kindled torches, having received the sacred body, carried it to Vyshgorod, where they buried it most honorably beside St. Boris's body.
[18] But a thing befell most worthy of the memory of all, namely that blessed Gleb the martyr's body, miracles at the tomb of both. which had lain unburied so many years o, was found wholly unharmed and incorrupt, harmed by no bird or carnivorous beast, of a bright and most beautiful color, and most entire, and giving forth most sweet odors, the Lord thus glorifying and guarding the body of his Martyr. And very many miracles were wrought, by the granting of divine grace, at the Martyrs' tombs: for the blind obtained sight, the lame their step, and those possessed by demons deliverance [p], fleeing with the reverence and fear of faith to that holy church. To the greater honor and glory of God the best and greatest. Amen.
ANNOTATIONS.
it is also hinted in the Commentary §2 in the first, second and fourth eulogy. The third eulogy at num. 14 has that he was slain while .. he was sailing on the Dvina. But the Dvina is far enough from Smolensk, nor does it lead to Kiev. Perhaps the river Desna is meant, which above Kiev flows into the Dnieper. But thus the Saint will not have been slain in the neighborhood of the city of Smolensk, nor had he to come as far as Smolensk in order to sail by that river to Kiev. Wherefore, if the slaying was done in a boat, since most assert it was done not far from Smolensk, I think it more probable that the Saint sailed by the Dnieper. For the rest, it cannot certainly be known whether he was slain in a boat or in a chariot, since the writers disagree and are forced to divine.
p. About the miracles the eulogies agree, and the Office very frequently proclaims healings and other benefits in general, but I have found no particular miracle written down anywhere.
. Perhaps of my youth.*