Why did Kyiv lose its power?

For more than two centuries, Kyiv had stood at the centre of the political life of Rus’. It was the city of Vladimir’s baptism and Yaroslav’s great cathedral. It stood on the Dnieper, connected to the Black Sea and to Constantinople, and the prince who ruled Kyiv could claim a special place among the rulers of the Rurikid family.

But a city can lose its importance without being destroyed. By the twelfth century, Kyiv was beginning to face competition from other centres, and the reasons were both political and economic.

The first problem was that the great river route which had helped Kyiv become powerful was no longer as important as it had once been. The connection between the Baltic, the Dnieper and Constantinople continued to exist, but trade patterns were changing. Constantinople itself was no longer as strong as it had been in earlier centuries, and other routes through Europe and the steppe were becoming more important.

At the same time, the lands around Kyiv were exposed to attacks from the steppe. Nomadic peoples, especially the Cumans, known in Russian history as the Polovtsians, often fought with the princes of Rus’. Sometimes the princes made alliances with them; at other times they fought them. Their presence made the southern lands less secure and encouraged people and political power to move towards safer regions.

The northeast offered different conditions. The lands around Vladimir and Suzdal were far from the most dangerous parts of the steppe. Their forests provided timber, game and other resources, while rivers connected settlements with one another. As more people moved into the region, its towns became larger and its princes became richer.

The rise of Vladimir was closely connected with one particular ruler: Andrei Bogolyubsky. He was the son of Yuri Dolgorukiy and became one of the most powerful princes of the northeast. Unlike many princes of his generation, Andrei did not dream of making Kyiv the centre of his power. He wanted to strengthen Vladimir.

In 1169, Andrei attacked Kyiv. His army captured and plundered the city, and the event shocked the political world of Rus’. Kyiv had been attacked before, but this time something was different. The prince who captured the city did not remain there. Andrei returned to his own lands, leaving Kyiv with a new ruler.

The message was clear. Kyiv was still important, but it was no longer necessary for a powerful prince to live there. A ruler could remain in the northeast and still be one of the most powerful men in Rus’.

This did not make Vladimir the new Kyiv overnight. The political world was more complicated than that. Kyiv continued to have enormous religious and symbolic importance, and many princes still wanted to control it. But its position had changed. It was no longer the unquestioned centre from which the rest of Rus’ could be governed.

Other cities were experiencing the same process in their own way. Novgorod was growing wealthy from northern trade and was becoming increasingly independent in its political life. Smolensk controlled important routes to the west. In the southwest, Galicia and Volhynia developed strong princely governments of their own.

The result was a new balance. Instead of one city dominating all the others, several centres now competed for influence.

This change can be seen especially clearly in architecture. The princes of Vladimir and Suzdal built churches that were different in style from the older monuments of Kyiv. They were still Christian churches, built within the same broad tradition, but they expressed the wealth and ambitions of a new region.

The famous Church of the Intercession on the Nerl, built under Andrei Bogolyubsky, is a good example. It is small compared with the great cathedrals of Kyiv, but its elegance shows the confidence of the northeastern principality. Its location near the river also reminds us how closely architecture, politics and geography were connected.

Kyiv’s decline was therefore not simply the result of one military defeat or one bad ruler. It was part of a much larger change. The old trade routes were changing, new lands were becoming populated, and powerful princes were building their own centres.

There was also a change in the meaning of political power. In the early days of Rus’, a prince who controlled Kyiv stood at the centre of the whole system. In the twelfth century, a prince could build his own power without depending entirely on Kyiv. His land could have its own wealth, army, churches and political traditions.

Kyiv remained a sacred and historic city, but it was becoming one centre among several.

The country was not simply breaking apart into isolated pieces. Instead, several regional worlds were forming inside the larger world of Rus’.

This was one of the great changes of medieval Rus’. The country was not simply breaking apart into isolated pieces. Instead, several regional worlds were forming inside the larger world of Rus’.

And because these regional rulers were becoming stronger, they were also becoming more willing to fight one another.