Yuri Vsevolodovich events. Grand Duke of Vladimir Yuri II Vsevolodovich

YURI II VSEVOLODOVICH

Yuri (George) Vsevolodovich (1189-1238) - Grand Duke of Vladimir - 1212-1216. and 1218-1238

Vel. book martyr Georgy Vsevolodovich. Icon. 1645

Yuri is the third son of the Grand Duke of Vladimir Vsevolod Yuryevich Big Nest from his first marriage to Maria Shvarnovna. He was born in Suzdal on November 26, 1187, according to the Ipatiev Chronicle, and according to the Laurentian Chronicle - in 1189. He was baptized by Bishop Luke. On July 28, 1192, Yuri was tonsured and on the same day he was mounted on a horse; “And there was great joy in the city of Suzdal,” the chronicler notes on this occasion.
In 1208 or 1209, he completely defeated the Ryazan princes, who were devastating the Moscow region, near the Drozdna (Trostna) River.
In 1210, he took part in a campaign against the Novgorodians, who imprisoned his brother, Svyatoslav, and called Mstislav Mstislavich Udatny to reign; peace, however, was concluded without bloodshed.
In 1211, Yuri married Princess Agathia Vsevolodovna, daughter of Vsevolod Svyatoslavich Chermny, Prince of Chernigov; The wedding took place in Vladimir, in the Assumption Cathedral, by Bishop John.

1212-1217 – Grand Duke Vladimirsky.
After his death (1212), Vsevolod III appointed his second son, Yuri, as his successor, and not the eldest, Constantine, because the latter did not want to take Vladimir without his beloved. A fight broke out between the older brothers, in which both younger brothers.

(c.1212-1345) - capital Yuryev-Polsky.
Uglich Principality(1216-1591) - capital of Uglich.
Yaroslavl Principality(1218-1463) - capital Yaroslavl.

Already in 1212, Yuri released from captivity the Ryazan princes captured by his father in 1208, including Ingvar and Yuri Igorevich, who came to power in Ryazan as a result of the struggle of 1217-1219. and became Yuri's allies.

In 1214 it was formed by the will of the Grand Duke of Vladimir Georgy Vsevolodovich.
Since 1149 Rostov, Suzdal and Murom diocese.
Since 1164 (1172) Rostov and Murom diocese.
Since 1198 Rostov, Suzdal and Vladimir diocese.
Since 1213 (1214) Rostov, Pereyaslav and Yaroslavl diocese.
Since 1214 Vladimir and Suzdal diocese.
Since 1226 Rostov and Yaroslavl diocese.
Since 1228 Suzdal, Vladimir and Pereslavl-Zalessk diocese.

In 1215, Yuri established a special diocese for the Vladimir-Suzdal region in order to eliminate its ecclesiastical dependence on Rostov. was appointed bishop Abbot Simon. Simon was dedicated from the abbots of Vladimir in Kyiv - Metropolitan Matthew. The newly installed Bishop of Vladimir and Suzdal in 1214 placed his residence in the same place where he had previously been abbot, i.e. in the Mother of God Nativity Monastery in Vladimir.
Saint Simeon is the author of eight stories about the Pechersk monks, which laid the foundation for the Kiev-Pechersk Patericon - the first Russian "Fatherland". Bishop Simon died on May 22, 1226 and was buried in the Assumption Cathedral in the city of Vladimir.
The next bishop of Vladimir was the abbot of the Vladimir Nativity Monastery Mitrofan, dedicated by Kyiv Metropolitan Kirill II. The saint took a lot of care about decorating the Vladimir Assumption Cathedral.

Georgy Vsevolodovich came to the defense of Yaroslav, on whose side were the younger Vsevolodovichs Svyatoslav and John, as well as Blgv. book Muromsky Davyd (Peter) Georgievich. Mstislav Udaloy took the side of Konstantin. Yuri and his younger brothers suffered a strong defeat at 1216.
Yuri, frozen three horses, on the fourth rode at noon on April 22, Friday, to Vladimir, sad, exhausted in only a shirt (he threw off his outer dress on the road, as it slowed him down in his flight). The people of Vladimir did not recognize their prince the first time: his appearance was so unusual. Not expecting defeat, they mistook him for a princely messenger, hastening to please them with the news of victory. “Ours will prevail,” they shouted enthusiastically, following the horseman approaching the city. But what was their surprise when they recognized him as the prince himself and in such a pitiful form. “Strengthen the walls, lock 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? Everyone capable of carrying weapons was taken on the march. Remained in the city: spiritual, decrepit elders, children, and women. Instead of joy there was crying in the city; In the evening and into the night, ordinary people began to come running, one would come running wounded, another would kick. And then bitter complaints were heard against Yaroslav, the main culprit of the disaster: “We suffered such a misfortune from you, it is said about your perjury: come, birds of the sky, feed on human blood, animals eat human flesh.” 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 could not help him in any way: they only promised not to hand him over to Constantine.

1217 - prince in Gorodets Radilov.
The winners were in no hurry to come to Vladimir. They spent the whole day at the site of the massacre, probably cleaning up dead bodies and only on Sunday, the third day after the battle, April 24, they approached Vladimir and besieged it. On the night from Sunday to Monday there was a fire in the prince's palace. Despite strong desire Vladimir took the Novgorodians and Smolnyans by storm; Mstislav did not allow them to do this and saved the city from defeat. The next night, Tuesday, the fire in the city repeated again: it caught fire opposite the place where the Smolyans were encamped, and burned until daylight. This time Prince of Smolensk did not allow his people to enter Vladimir by surprise. The victorious princes were confident that George himself would surrender the city to them and ask them for peace. On Wednesday morning (April 27), Yuri came out to the winners with rich gifts; “Brothers, I beat you with my brow, give you life and feed me with bread.”
Constantine solemnly entered Vladimir, led the inhabitants to the cross, reconciled Yaroslav with Mstislav, and gave Yuri Gorodets 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 sadness in prayerful cries and, shedding tears, fell on the coffin of his parent. “God judge my brother Yaroslav for bringing me to this,” 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 who wished to follow him was the Bishop of Vladimir, the virtuous Simon, who did not want to leave his prince in misfortune.
Having seen off Georgy Vsevolodovich, the residents of Vladimir opened the gates to the victors and met them with a procession of the cross.

1217-1219 - Prince of Suzdal .
Soon after his accession to the throne, Constantine asked George to come to him in Vladimir for a friendly meeting. George did not hesitate to answer the call and, out of his kindness, sincerely forgave his brother. Both brothers, in the words of one writer, during their meeting “were caught up and cried for many hours,” entered the cathedral church of the Mother of God, where, at the tomb of their parent, they sealed their reconciliation with prayer and kissing the cross. Constantine assigned George another inheritance, the city of Suzdal, and declared him heir to his throne. George, for his part, gave his word to Constantine to replace his father in the person of his children when he led. Prince of Vladimir. Consoled, George left with his family and court for Suzdal on September 11, 1217.

On February 2, 1219, Constantine died, causing general sadness among the people; The chronicle says this: “they cried with great tears - the boyars, as the intercessors of their land, the servants, as for a feeder and master, the wretched and monks, as for their consolation and the clothing of their nakedness.” Yuri sat down in Vladimir.

1219-1238 – Grand Duke Vladimir .
After death he led. Prince Konstantin, the people of Vladimir kissed the cross of his brother Georgy Vsevolodovich, who, after a short break, assumed his rights as a grand duke for the second time. Together with him, his inseparable companion, Bishop Simon, arrived from Suzdal.
The second accession of Georgy Vsevolodovich to the grand-ducal throne took place under favorable circumstances. Although northeastern Rust still remained divided into appanages and even into a large number of them, since, after the death of Constantine, Rostov Principality was divided between his two sons; but, ruled by princes connected by blood ties of kinship, she did not particularly suffer from this. None of the chronicles says that the appanage princes were dissatisfied with their inheritances; on the contrary, it is known that they revered George, as the eldest in the family, as a father and acted in everything according to his will.
The Volga Bulgarians took advantage of the civil strife that existed in the Vladimir principality after the death of Vsevolod, again began to disturb the Russian possessions and in 1217 reached Ustyug, which belonged to Prince of Vladimir. The first thing George did upon ascending the throne was to pacify the Bulgarians. For this reason, in 1220, he equipped a large army and sent it on a campaign under the leadership of his brother, Svyatoslav Yuryevsky. It reached the city of Oshel on the Volga and burned it. At the same time, the Rostov and Ustyug regiments along the Kama entered the land of the Bulgarians and destroyed many cities and villages. At the mouth of the Kama, both armies united and returned home. The Grand Duke and his children went to meet the victors in Bogolyubov, he himself introduced them with due honor into the capital, generously presented them with gold, silver and materials and arranged a cheerful three-day feast in their honor. That same winter, the Bulgarians sent envoys to ask for peace, but the experience of previous years had already shown that peace with this restless people could not be reliable; Yuri refused them. In order to completely stop the Bulgarian raids on Rus', it was necessary to strengthen the eastern borders of the Vladimir-Suzdal principality.
In 1221, a fire devastated the city of Vladimir, and 27 churches burned down. Two years later, a new fire destroyed the grand ducal courtyard and 2 churches.

In 1221, he himself wanted to go against the Bulgarians and marched to Gorodets. On the way, he was met by a second Bulgarian embassy with the same request and was again refused. A third embassy arrived in Gorodets with rich gifts, and this time Yuri agreed to peace.

Founding of Nizhny Novgorod

Drive base book martyr Georgy Vsevolodovich N. Novgorod near the Dyatlov Mountains. thin V.P. Malinovsky. 2003

The “last” Slavic city on the Volga until 1221 was Gorodets.
In 1221, Prince Georgy Vsevolodovich founded a border defense stronghold at the confluence of the two great rivers Volga and Oka Principality of Vladimir from Moksha, Erzi, Mari and Volga Bulgars under the name Novgorod of the Nizovsky land (the Vladimir principality was called the Nizovsky land by the Novgorodians) - later this name was transformed into Nizhny Novgorod, and remained in the imperial title until 1917.

Monument to Yuri Vsevolodovich and Bishop Simon in the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin

St. Michael the Archangel Cathedral in Moscow

The Archangel Cathedral is the sacred center of the Kremlin. The cathedral is located on Chasovaya Hill. The wooden church of the Archangel Michael was built back in 1221, then it was soon rebuilt into a stone one. In 1225 he founded the stone Church of the Savior.

SUZDAL

Nativity Cathedral in Suzdal

The first construction of the cathedral dates back to the 11th century, during the reign of Vladimir Monomakh. In 1222, by order of Yuri Vsevolodovich, the dilapidated building was dismantled, and in its place a new one was built, made of white stone. It stood until the 16th century. In 1528, the white stone walls were dismantled down to the arched belt with women's masks and replaced with brick ones. The three-domed cathedral received a five-domed completion in the 17th century. signed from the inside. Thus, the cathedral has survived to this day with great changes. The interior has preserved wall paintings from the 13th, 15th, and 17th centuries.
- the first city temple intended not only for the princely family.
It is located in the center of the ring of earthen ramparts, in the bend of the Kamenka River. Throughout its history, the temple burned down several times. The sons of Prince Yuri Dolgoruky, princes from the Shuisky family, and others are buried in the cathedral.

In 1223, terrible news spread throughout Rus' about new, never-heard-of enemies approaching the Grand Duchy of Kyiv. Nobody in Rus' knew who these enemies were and where they came from. Some called them Tatars, others Taurmen, others Pechenegs. It was heard that they had already conquered many lands outside of Rus': Yasov, Obezov, Kosagov, devastated the Polovtsian land, and from here it was not far to Kyiv. The Polovtsian prince turned to the Russian princes for help. “Today they have taken our land,” he told them, “tomorrow they will take yours, and therefore help us.” Council of Princes southern Rus' it was decided to help the Polovtsians. “It is better to meet enemies on foreign land,” they reasoned, “than on our own,” and they sent for help to Vladimir to Georgy Vsevolodovich. But the Tatars, as these new enemies in Rus' were called, did not hesitate to attack, and the Vladimir army, sent under the leadership of Vasilko Konstantinovich, did not get to the point. The Battle of Kalka, known in Russian history for such a strong defeat of the Russians, “which has never happened since the beginning of the Russian land,” has already ended. In this battle, 6 Russian princes, 70 heroes, many tyasyats, boyars and governors fell; some Kyivans died then up to ten thousand, “about them it is impossible to say how many of them were beaten, although only God knows the number is countless” (Nick. 354.) and out of the entire Polovtsian and Russian army, barely a tenth managed to escape. “And there was crying and grief in Rus' and throughout the whole earth, who heard this misfortune” (Laurel 189). Southern Rus' was expecting complete destruction, but suddenly the Tatars turned back and “we don’t know where it came from or where it came from.” Vasilko Konstantinovich, having brought his army only to Chernigov and, “hearing this great misfortune,” hastily returned to Vladimir, “preserved by God and the Most Pure Mother of God” (Lav. 189.).

In the summer of 1223 there was a terrible drought throughout the Vladimir-Suzdal land: forests and swamps were burning; the air was filled with such darkness and smoke that birds fell to the ground and animals from the forests fled to cities and villages, “and there was fear and horror on everyone” (Nick. 347). Terrible comets frightened the northern people in 1223 and 1225. But the year 1230 was especially difficult and threatening for the people of Vladimir and more than half of Rus'. On May 3, an unprecedented natural phenomenon occurred in Vladimir. During the liturgy, at a time when cathedral church the Gospel was being read, such a strong earthquake occurred that many churches cracked, the icons in them moved out of place, chandeliers and candlesticks swayed from side to side; The people, thinking in horror, “as if a head had gone around them,” fell to the ground. That same month, on the 10th and 14th, terrible solar eclipses were visible in the sky. “Not for good, but for evil, dividing our sins, God shows us signs” (Nov. 114.). “And God was angry and devastated the earth” from the Annunciation to Elijah’s day there was rainy weather, then there was a cold, the grain did not have time to be harvested in the fields in time, frosts began on September 14th, and unfortunately the previous year had a poor harvest. As a result, a famine began so severe that people ate pine and linden bark, tree leaves instead of bread, they did not disdain horse meat, dogs, even carrion, “and the wrath of God spread and killed people all over the earth, they are innumerable.” In 1231 this disaster passed: the grain harvest and different vegetables That year was excellent throughout the Russian land, and besides, a lot of grain and flour were imported from German soil. The survivors thanked God, who had sent His mercy to them, “when, terribly speaking, the Russian land was already perishing from famine.” The next 5 years passed well for the city of Vladimir.

In the west there was a struggle with strong enemies who began to threaten Rus' even before the Tatars: Lithuania, Swedes and German knights Teutonic Order. They threatened not only with the seizure of territory, but also with the destruction of the Orthodox faith, the spiritual basis of the Russian people. In 1222 - the campaign of Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich against the Order of the Swordsmen near Wenden, the Lithuanians became allies of the Russians.
In 1223 - Yaroslav Vsevolodovich's campaign near Revel to help the Estonians who rebelled against the Order of the Swordsmen.
According to the “Chronicle” of Henry of Latvia, in 1224 a third campaign was launched, but Russian troops only reached Pskov. Russian chronicles date Yuri's conflict with the Novgorod nobility to approximately the same time. In 1229, the campaign against the order planned by Yaroslav did not take place due to disagreements with the Novgorodians and Pskovians, but in 1234 Yaroslav defeated the knights in the battle of Omovzha.
In 1225 - the campaign of Yaroslav Vsevolodovich against the Lithuanians (Grand Duchy of Lithuania), who ravaged Smolensk and Novgorod lands, ended with the victory of Yaroslav at Usvyat.

The founding of Nizhny Novgorod entailed a struggle with the Mordovians, taking advantage of disagreements between its princes. In 1226, Yuri sent his brothers, Svyatoslav and Ivan, against her, and in September 1228, his nephew, the Prince of Rostov; in January 1229 he himself went against the Mordovians. After this, the Mordovians launched an attack on Nizhny Novgorod, and in 1232 they were pacified by Yuri’s son Vsevolod with the princes of Ryazan and Murom. Opponents of the spread of Vladimir's influence on the Mordovian lands were defeated, but a few years later, during the Mongol invasion, part of the Mordovian tribes sided with the Mongols.

In Novgorod, the struggle between parties continued, in which Yuri also had to take part. In 1221, the Novgorodians sent envoys to him with a request to give them his son as a prince. Yuri sent his young son Vsevolod to reign in Novgorod and helped the Novgorodians in the fight against the Livonian Order, sending an army led by his brother Svyatoslav. Vsevolod, however, soon returned to Vladimir, and instead of him, Yuri sent, at the request of the Novgorodians, his brother Yaroslav. In 1223, Yaroslav left Novgorod for his Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, and the Novgorodians again asked for Vsevolod Yuryevich. This time there were some misunderstandings between Yuri and the Novgorodians; Vsevolod was taken from Novgorod to Torzhok, where in 1224 his father came to him with an army. Yuri demanded the extradition of the Novgorod boyars, with whom he was dissatisfied, and threatened, in case of disobedience, to come to Novgorod “to water his horses in Volkhov,” but then left without bloodshed, being satisfied with a large sum of money and giving the Novgorodians his brother-in-law, Prince Mikhail Vsevolodovich, prince Chernigovsky.
But the continuous change of princes in Novgorod continued: either Yuri’s brother, Yaroslav, or his brother-in-law, Mikhail Chernigovsky, reigned there. In 1228, Yaroslav, again expelled from Novgorod, suspected the participation of his older brother in his exile and won over his Konstantinovich nephews, Vasilko, Prince of Rostov, and Vsevolod, Prince of Yaroslavl, to his side. When Yuri found out about this, he called all his relatives to a congress in Vladimir in September 1229. At this congress, he managed to settle all the misunderstandings, and the princes bowed to Yuri, calling him father and master.
In 1230, the Grand Duke of Kiev Vladimir Rurikovich and Mikhail of Chernigov turned to Yuri with a request to settle disputes between Mikhail and Yaroslav over Novgorod. With the participation of Metropolitan Kirill, Yuri reconciled the opponents; Yaroslav submitted to the will of his elder brother and abandoned Novgorod, which was given to Michael's son, Rostislav.

Dnieper Rus', still torn apart by civil strife, again, as happened under Vsevolod, began to turn to his son, Vladimir, for help in its needs.

In 1231 George went to Chernigov land against Mikhail, who, in alliance with Vladimir Rurikovich, Grand Duke of Kyiv, began hostile actions against Yuri's son-in-law, Vasilko Romanovich, and the latter's brother, Daniil Galitsky. After this campaign, Mikhail lost Novgorod, which again passed to Yaroslav, after which for a hundred years only the descendants of Vsevolod the Big Nest were Novgorod princes.

In 1226, the Vladimir Church lost its worthy Archpastor. “Blessed, merciful and teaching” Bishop Simon died on May 22nd and was mourned. the prince and the entire flock, was buried in the Vladimir Assumption Cathedral. In his place, Mitrofan was elected by George, according to some chronicles hegumen, according to others archimandrite of the Vladimir Nativity Monastery; but for some reason his consecration was postponed until for a long time. The Grand Duke, being in Chernigov, met with Metropolitan Kirill of Kyiv, who arrived here at the head of an embassy from Prince of Kyiv with the same goal of pacifying the princes. This metropolitan, a Greek by birth, was “cunning in the teaching of the Divine Scriptures and very teacherly.” He won over all the princes who were at the congress; but Vel loved him most of all. book Georgy. He begged the High Hierarch of All Rus' to go with him to Vladimir, “and bless him there too” and install a bishop of the Vladimir-Suzdal region. In the first days of March, the Metropolitan arrived in Vladimir and was received by the citizens “with great honor.” The consecration of the bishop was scheduled for the 14th of March 1227, “at the end of Lent, when we worship the Holy Cross.” George invited 4 more bishops from neighboring principalities to this celebration, and almost all the princes came northeastern Rus'. On the appointed day they gathered at the Assumption Cathedral. The prince, his entire family, visiting princes, boyars and many Vladimir residents, and with such a large assembly, were installed by the council of Russian hierarchs Mitrofan as bishop of “Volodymer, Judgment and Pereslavl”.
The chronicler who described this event was himself an eyewitness to it. “Let me, a sinner, be and see something wondrous and glorious and glorify the All-Merciful God and the Great Prince George.”
After the consecration, the Metropolitan stayed for several more days in Vladimir, “being honored a lot” and leading. the prince and the people of Vladimir, and then went to Kyiv. Vel himself. The prince with his children and brothers escorted the distinguished guest out of the city.
In 1230, the successor of Metropolitan Kirill, who died in 1229, was in Vladimir, the Metropolitan of Kiev of the same name, who was at the head of an embassy to George from the Prince of Kyiv to pacify the same Chernigovsky Mikhail with Pereslavsky Yaroslav. The prince led and this time treated the Metropolitan with due respect and persuaded his brother Yaroslav to make peace with Mikhail.
Vel. Prince George, having heard about it, wished that his holy relics would be transferred to Vladimir. An opportunity was soon found for this. At the end of 1229, ambassadors from Bulgaria came to the prince to renew peace treaties with Russia. George demanded that the ambassadors give him St. the relics of the martyr, to which they willingly agreed. On March 9, 1230, on the day of remembrance of 40 martyrs, “the martyr of Christ Abraham the new was brought from the Bulgarian land to the glorious city of Volodymer,” Bishop Mitrofan and all the clergy of Vladimir “with great honor and with lights,” the prince and his entire family and all Vladimir residents came out to meet St. the relics a mile outside the city and, singing church songs, they brought them into the city “and laid them in the church of St. Mother of God, to the monasteries of the Grand Duchess Vsevolozhie, the Assumption, and the Women’s Monastery.”

He carried rumors about piety. book George and his influence on other Russian princes spread far beyond the borders of Rus', and Pope Gregory IX did not fail to make an attempt to attract him. Prince of Vladimir into the Roman Catholic faith. In 1231, he sent a letter to George in Vladimir, in which, after flattering expressions of love and good wishes, Vel. the prince and the usual convictions to submit to him, the pope, as the vicar of Christ and successor of the Ap. Peter, supposedly the only one who has the power to bind and decide, wrote: “We, sincerely desiring the salvation of your soul and every success, benefit and honor, we beg and convince your lordship that you humbly accept and observe the rites and customs of the Latin Christians, subduing yourself and your kingdom, out of love for Christ, the sweet dominion of the mother of all Christians, the Roman Church, which offers to have you in the Church of God as a great sovereign, and to love you as a chosen son; but you will feel the grace of the apostolic seat and ours more abundantly if, leaving the path of error, you follow the straight path shown to you. And we, for our part, will accept you and your kingdom under the protection of our strong patronage.” But dad's attempt was unsuccessful.

Mind. 1238
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. 1238-1246 - Grand Duke of Vladimir.

Yuri (Georgy) Vsevolodovich(November 26, 1188 - March 4, 1238) - the third son of the Grand Duke of Vladimir from his first marriage, with Maria Shvarnovna. Yuri (Georgy) Vsevolodovich canonized by Russian Orthodox Church in the face of the faithful princes. Prince's relics Yuri Vsevolodovich are located in the Assumption Cathedral in the city of Vladimir.
Principalities:
- Grand Duke Vladimirsky(1212-1216, 1218-1238);
- prince Gorodetsky(1216-1217);
- prince Suzdal (1217-1218).
Yuri Vsevolodovich born in Suzdal on November 26, 1188. Baptized Yuri Vsevolodovich Bishop Luke.
July 28, 1192 Yuri was tonsured and on the same day he was mounted on a horse. As the chronicler noted, “ and there was great joy in the city of Suzdal “.
IN 1207 Yuri Vsevolodovich took part in the campaign against the Ryazan princes.
in winter 1208/1209 Yuri Vsevolodovich With Konstantin Vsevolodovich participated in the campaign to Torzhok against the Novgorodians, who imprisoned his brother, Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich, and called Mstislav Mstislavich Udatny to reign, and at the very beginning of 1209 - against the Ryazanians, who tried to take advantage of the absence of the main Suzdal forces and attacked the outskirts of the city of Moscow.
IN 1211 Yuri Vsevolodovich married Princess Agathia Vsevolodovna, daughter of Vsevolod Svyatoslavich Chermny, Prince of Chernigov. The wedding took place in Vladimir, in the Assumption Cathedral, by Bishop John.

Conflict between Yuri Vsevolodovich and his brother Konstantin Vsevolodovich.

Mongol invasion.

IN 1236 at the beginning of the Mongol campaign in Europe, it was devastated. According to the refugees were accepted Yuri Vsevolodovich and settled in the Volga cities.
IN end of 1237 Batu appeared within the Ryazan principality. The Ryazan princes turned to Yuri Vsevolodovich, but he didn’t give it to them, wanting to “ the individual himself does the swearing “. Batu's ambassadors came to Ryazan and Vladimir demanding tribute. In Ryazan, the ambassadors were refused, but in Vladimir they were gifted. At the same time Yuri Vsevolodovich sent troops led by his eldest son Vsevolod Yurievich to help Roman Ingvarevich, who had retreated from Ryazan.
Destroying December 16, 1237 Ryazan, Batu moved to Kolomna. Vsevolod Yurievich was defeated and fled to Vladimir (Vladimir governor Eremey Glebovich and youngest son Genghis Khan Kulkan). After this victory, Batu burned Moscow, captured Vladimir Yuryevich, the second son of Yuri, and moved towards Vladimir.
Having received news of these events, Yuri Vsevolodovich He called the princes and boyars to a council and, after much deliberation, set off across the Volga to gather an army. Surviving in Vladimir were his wife Agafia Vsevolodovna, sons Vsevolod and Mstislav, daughter Theodora, Vsevolod’s wife Marina, Mstislav’s wife Maria and Vladimir’s wife Khristina, grandchildren and governor Pyotr Oslyadyukovich. The siege of the city of Vladimir began on February 2–3, 1238. The city fell on February 7, 1238, the siege and assault lasted 8 days. The Mongol-Tatars burst into the city and set it on fire. Yuri's entire family died (Vladimir Martyrs); of all his offspring, only his daughter Dobrava survived, who had been married to Vasilko Romanovich, Prince of Volyn since 1226.

The death of Yuri Vsevolodovich, his relics and canonization.

March 4, 1238 In the Battle of the City River, the Grand Duke's troops were defeated at the camp by secondary forces of the Mongols led by Burundai, who followed a more northern route separately from the main forces. Among those killed was himself Yuri Vsevolodovich.

The headless body of the prince was discovered by the princely clothes among the remaining unburied bodies of killed soldiers on the battlefield by Bishop Kirill of Rostov, returning from Beloozero. He took the body to Rostov and buried it in a stone coffin in the Church of Our Lady. Subsequently, Yuri's head was also found and attached to the body.
IN 1239 remains Yuri Vsevolodovich were solemnly transferred by Yaroslav Vsevolodovich to Vladimir and laid in the Assumption Cathedral. In the “Book of the Powerful Royal Genealogy” it is described that the head of the Grand Duke Yuri Vsevolodovich during burial stuck to his body, and right hand stood up: “ His holy head is so closely attached to his honest body, as if there is not a trace of cutting off on his neck, but all the parts are intact and inseparable... Also, his right hand is stretched out to see, with it, as if alive, showing the feat of his accomplishment“.
On February 13 and 15, 1919, the opening of the relics took place Yuri Vsevolodovich. According to the Orthodox Encyclopedia, an eyewitness to the opening of the relics reported that the head of the Grand Duke Yuri Vsevolodovich It was previously cut off, but fused with the body so that the cervical vertebrae were displaced and fused incorrectly.

According to the chronicler “ Yuri was adorned with good morals: he tried to fulfill God's commandments; I always had the fear of God in my heart, remembering the Lord’s commandment about love not only for neighbors, but also for enemies, and was merciful beyond measure; not sparing his property, he distributed it to the needy, built churches and decorated them with priceless icons and books; honored priests and monks“. In 1221 Yuri Vsevolodovich founded a new stone cathedral in Suzdal to replace the dilapidated one, and in 1233 he painted it and paved it with marble. In Nizhny Novgorod he founded the Annunciation Monastery.
IN 1645 the incorruptible relics of the prince were found, and January 5, 1645 Patriarch Joseph began the process of canonization Yuri Vsevolodovich Orthodox Church. At the same time, the relics were placed in a silver shrine. Yuri Vsevolodovich was canonized as the Holy Blessed Prince George Vsevolodovich. His memory is February 4 (17) “ in memory of his transfer from Rostov to Vladimir “.
IN 1795 on the initiative of the Nizhny Novgorod vice-governor Prince Vasily Dolgorukov, a descendant Yuri Vsevolodovich, in Nizhny Novgorod they began to celebrate the date of birth of the city’s founder.

Family of Yuri Vsevolodovich.

Married since 1211 to Agafya Vsevolodovna (about 1195 - 1238), daughter of Vsevolod Svyatoslavich Chermny, Prince of Chernigov, Grand Duke of Kyiv.
Sons:
– Vsevolod (Dmitry) (1212/1213 - 1238), Prince of Novgorod (1221-1222, 1223-1224). Married since 1230 to Marina (1215-1238), daughter of Vladimir Rurikovich. Killed at Batu's headquarters during negotiations before the capture of Vladimir by the Mongols;
– Mstislav(after 1213 - 1238), married from 1236 to Mary (1220-1238) (origin unknown). Died during the capture of Vladimir by the Mongols;
– Vladimir(after 1218 - 1238), Prince of Moscow, married since 1236 to Christina (1219-1238) (origin unknown, presumably from the Monomashich family). Killed during the siege of Vladimir by the Mongols.
Daughters:
– Dobrava(1215-1265) In 1226, she was married to Prince Vasilko Romanovich of Volyn, thanks to this she became the only survivor of the devastation of Vladimir by the Tatar-Mongols (1238), a descendant of Yuri Vsevolodovich;
– Theodora (1229-1238).

Today, March 4, many centuries ago, Grand Duke Yuri Vsevolodovich passed away. The story of his glorification is amazing: he was neither outstanding commander, nor a brilliant politician, his time was marked by unrest, strife, disorder, and his fate turned out to be, in general, tragic. However, the people judged him not by the results, but by the intention of his actions.

People felt that “according to their hearts,” according to their inner structure, he was a good-natured, peaceful prince who strived in life to fulfill the gospel commandments. He turned out to be close in that he drank from the same cup of suffering, which is why his name was inscribed in the history of the last heroic defense...

On November 26, 1187, according to the Ipatiev Chronicle (and 1189 - according to the Laurentian Code), a son was born into the family of Grand Duke Vsevolod the Big Nest - Yuri (George) Vsevolodovich. He was destined to become a contemporary and participant in dramatic events - the seizure of Rus' by the Mongol-Tatars and the establishment of a foreign yoke.

Holy Blessed Grand Duke George (Yuri) Vsevolodovich

Pure heart

“The same days, put him on a horse. And there was great joy in the city of Suzhdal,” - this is how the Chronicle reports about the event that occurred when the son of the Grand Duke of Vladimir Vsevolod the Big Nest, Yuri, was four years old. On May 28, 1192, the prince underwent the ceremony of tonsure, i.e. initiation into warriors. On this occasion, his father, according to tradition, presented a treat to the townspeople, and none of the merry Suzdal residents then thought that perhaps one of the most peace-loving and doomed Russian commanders was riding in the saddle.

From his youth, Yuri Vsevolodovich was a man of quiet disposition, modest and obedient to his father. Feeling that the spirit of piety prevailed in his son, Prince Vsevolod did not give him independent military assignments, unlike his brother Yaroslav. Thus, Yuri, the first of the sons of Vsevolod the Big Nest, did not distinguish himself on the battlefield, but it was to him, the youngest in age, contrary to the custom of those years, that his father decided to leave the grand-ducal throne.

The father's favor was attracted by the son's obedience to his parental will. Yuri's elder brother - direct heir - Konstantin incurred the wrath of his father's self-will ( see footnote). The Zemsky Sobor, assembled on this occasion, approved Yuri as the successor of Grand Duke Vsevolod, bypassing Constantine.

Already in the first years of his reign, Yuri's temperament manifested itself. When, against his will, he found himself drawn into a strife with his older brother, on whose side were two others - Vladimir and Svyatoslav, he sought to resolve the dispute, avoiding a fratricidal battle. The standing of the parties and the separate exits of the detachments ultimately decided the outcome, and peace was concluded, but only for a year. In 1216, Prince Yuri had to take under his protection his brother Yaroslav, his faithful ally, who had been ousted from the throne by the Novgorodians, whom Konstantin Vsevolodovich did not fail to support. And in this new dispute between the princes, the straightforwardness and loyalty to the word of Prince Yuri was especially evident. When the head of the Novgorod militia, Mstislav Udatny, tried to persuade him to peace, sharing with his brother: “You and I have no quarrel, we have a quarrel with Yaroslav,” the prince replied: “My brother Yaroslav and I are like one person.”

The forces of the parties turned out to be unequal; Prince Yuri, having driven several horses, reached Vladimir, where there were almost no defenders left. However, even in defeat, he showed a truly Christian character, asking the townspeople only not to hand him over as a hostage and to leave him the opportunity to go out to his opponents himself. Having bowed to the Novgorodians, Prince Yuri said: “Brothers! I hit you with my forehead, but my brother Konstantin is at your mercy.” The princess won the hearts of his opponents towards him, and Mstislav Mstislavich himself persuaded Konstantin Vsevolodovich to reconcile with Yuri.

With humility, Yuri Vsevolodovich accepted the “new lot”, retiring in 1216 with his family and court to Gorodets Radilov on the Volga and placing all his hope in the mercy of God. And in fact, its removal turned out to be short-lived. Already in 1217, Prince Konstantin summoned Yuri from exile, gave him Suzdal and promised Vladimir after his death. And on February 2, 1218, Prince Konstantin died, and Yuri, according to his will, returned to reign.

Taking away the capital like a bride

After restoration to the throne, Yuri Vsevolodovich made considerable efforts to improve the capital of the principality. The golden domes of the temples, the rich vestments of the altar icons and the carved decoration of the iconostases sparkled like the last rays of the sun before a storm. The principality rested under his hand. Among the strife of those years, out of fourteen campaigns, only four ended in battle. Prince Yuri also resolved relations with former opponents in the same spirit of kindness. In 1212, he released in peace the Ryazan princes captured by his father, who had entered into an alliance with him.

When news of the upcoming battle of Kalka reached the Vladimir lands, Prince Yuri, in response to a request from Kyiv for help, sent an army under the command of Vasilko Konstantinovich to the south, but it was not in time for the battle and returned from Chernigov. To protect against raids by steppe dwellers, the prince built new fortresses - in 1221, at the mouth of the Oka River, he founded Nizhny Novgorod, and soon events confirmed that these fears were not in vain. In 1229, refugees – Saksins and Polovtsians – arrived from the Trans-Volga steppes to Volga Bulgaria, and then they were driven out from the river line by the Mongols. Yaika Bulgarian "watchmen". During these years, the prince managed to establish peaceful relations with Volga Bulgaria, since its rulers were forced to seek an alliance with their northern neighbors in the face of the Mongols.

The undertakings of Prince Yuri and his policies in general seemed reasonable and successful to his contemporaries. In the administration, which made it possible to maintain Vladimir’s primacy among the Russian lands, there was a sense of calm prudence, and yet the enemy, with whom a battle was to be fought in the near future, turned out to be much more skillful and powerful than the Russian princes could have imagined...

Heavenly sign

According to legend, a coward became a harbinger of the impending disaster on May 3, 1230. In Vladimir churches during the liturgy, everything went dark, lamps and icons swayed on the walls. Soon the Tatars reappeared in the Middle Volga, remaining to spend the winter in close proximity to the Bulgar borders.

Information about the new enemy in Rus' was the most inaccurate. Thus, the traveling Hungarian monk Julian testified that at that time in the Vladimir region they repeated the deep-rooted opinion that the “Tatars” avoided storming fortresses, but only ravaged their surroundings. Perhaps the Russians and their prince got this impression due to the fact that the bulk of the refugees from Bulgaria were villagers, while none of the city defenders escaped. These conversations overlapped with memories of the pogrom on Kalka, which left the impression of the new conquerors as typical steppe inhabitants who would not go deeper into Russian lands. Meanwhile, in 1236, the impregnable capital of Volga Bulgaria was taken by storm, despite six rows of walls, and almost its entire population was destroyed. Information about this came to Rus' belatedly. The princes continued to hope that in the event of a “raid” the enemy would not dare to besiege the cities.

Last prayer

The advance of the Mongol hordes was like breaking a dam. One after another, news came about the fall of cities: Pronsk, Belgorod, Izheslavets. Heroic Defense Ryazan and Kolomna choked under a hail of arrows and fire from the Tatar army of thousands.

And what about the Grand Duke? The letter from Ryazan residents sent to him for help remained unanswered. At that time they said that he wanted to “make a fight” out of fear of competition from the Ryazan prince, but this rumor bears little resemblance to the truth: after the defeat of Bulgaria and the Battle of Kalka, there was no time for competition. Most likely, the reason was different - the prince wanted to deflect the blow from Vladimir, leaving him in the care of his sons and heading with the militia to the river. City. Perhaps Yuri Vsevolodovich hoped that if his brother Yaroslav arrived in time, they would be able to gather a significant army. This took time, but the central regions of the grand duchy remained unprotected.

...Approaching the walls of Vladimir, the Mongols tried to come to an agreement with the townspeople, hoping to trick them into capitulating. On February 7, the assault began: within a few hours of shelling, the walls in the designated places were destroyed, the surviving defenders were forced to retreat to the gates of the old city, but even there they could not resist and rolled back to the stone fort, in whose cathedrals the clergy confessed to the townspeople preparing for death. And at the end of February, the detachment of Burundai, who had just captured Rostov and Uglich, suddenly, like a tornado, fell on the army of Yuri Vsevolodovich.

According to one of the chronicles, Grand Duke Yuri Vsevolodovich accepted only after he had time to rise from prayer. What did he pray for at that hour? – Is it about victory or about the repose of the souls of brothers in faith and his family, who died during the siege of Vladimir, about the only surviving daughter - Dobrava, or about the granting of patience in the test of the cross sent to him? Or perhaps he asked forgiveness for the sins of the Russian princes, divided by the spirit of competition, or blamed himself? He met death meekly, like the first Russian saints - the passion-bearing princes, with words of fervent appeal to God. The Russian lands were plunged into darkness, but folk legend for a long time preserved the memory of the time when the Grand Dukes tried to fulfill their lives eternal law- Gospel commandments and showed in their lives examples of obedience to the will of their parents, humility, loyalty to their word and zeal in peaceful service to their land.

1645... The last year of the reign of the pious king. A fertile time for the restoration of the world after the turmoil. This year the relics of Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich were discovered. With the blessing of Patriarch Joseph, the blessed prince was glorified as a saint. Thus, the Russian Church was given another patron, and Mikhail Fedorovich’s successors were given a reminder of those qualities that determine the true dignity of a Christian ruler.

Footnote: Konstantin was not satisfied with his father’s decision in the distribution of capital cities and proposed to give Vladimir to Konstantin, and Rostov to Yuri, and demanded both cities. This caused the father’s anger and a change in the order of inheritance.

The Holy Blessed Grand Duke George (Yuri) Vsevolodovich was born in 1189 in the city of Vladimir Klyazmensky. His parents were the Grand Duke of Vladimir Dimitri-Vsevolod III *, called by history the Great, and his wife Grand Duchess Maria Shvarnovna.

*Until the 14th century, it was customary in Rus' to give the children of princes two names: one on the 1st birthday - Slavic, containing the words peace, power, glory and the like, or which were consonant with Christian names. This name was called the prince's name. Another name - Christian - was given at baptism. The first name was more famous than the second.

The Great Vsevolod was one of the most worthy Russian princes, adorned with good qualities of soul and civic virtues. According to the legends of Russian chronicles, he pardoned the good, executed the evil, did not respect the faces of the strong and did not give offense to anyone, not in vain carrying the sword given to him by God. But at the same time, as the same chronicles tell, he was not exalted by this earthly glory, did not magnify himself; but he placed his hope in everything in God, for he always had the fear of God in his heart. Monuments of the piety of the Great Vsevolod are still preserved in Vladimir. These are white stone churches - two chapels at the Assumption Cathedral, the Dmitrievsky Cathedral and the Assumption Cathedral convent. In addition to these temples, Vsevolod also built the Nativity of the Theotokos Church, located in the current Bishop's House, which in the 18th century lost its ancient appearance due to numerous extensions, but was restored to its original form during the reign of Emperor Alexander II.

George's mother, Princess Maria Shvarnovna, was no less distinguished by her piety than her husband. She, being a very kind woman, piously spent her entire life from childhood in the fear of God, loving the truth, comforting the sad, sick and needy, giving them what they needed. According to the inscrutable fate of God's Providence, 7–8 years before her death she suffered a serious illness. With truly Christian patience, without the slightest murmur, she bore this cross, imitating the patience of Job and the free suffering of the Lord Jesus Christ. “If we receive good things from the hand of the Lord,” the Grand Duchess loved to repeat during her illness, “we will not endure the evil ones.” 17 days before her death, she moved from the palace to a women’s monastery built by her faithful husband, where, having renounced the world, she ended her long-suffering days in the rank of nun. Is it surprising after this that such pious parents raised such a pious son as George was?

Being only two years old, George, according to the chroniclers, was already zealous for the piety and faith of his father. When he was three years old, in the city of Suzdal he was elevated to princely dignity by Bishop John, according to the then custom, with a special church prayer and rite called tonsure. On the same day he was mounted on a horse, and there was a great celebration in honor of this in the city of Suzdal. Growing in body, the prince grew in spirit. Every day he went to church for divine services, listened with reverence to the reading and singing there, loved to talk about sacred objects at home, and also exercised himself in fasting, vigil and prayer. The parents were pleased to see such piety in their young son, and they listened to him more than to other sons. When George was 17 years old, he lost his dearly beloved mother. An ancient biography writer depicts a touchingly sad picture of George’s farewell to his dying mother: George fell on his mother’s chest and, shedding tears, exclaimed: “Alas for me, the world, my mother, my lady! To whom will I look, to whom will I resort, and where will I be satisfied with such teaching and punishment of the mind? Alas for me, shining in the dawn of my face, the reins of my youth, where are you going, my mother?” Touched by such a tender love for her son, the princess consoled and blessed him. “O compassionate, dear child,” she said to him in a weakening voice, as if in a prophetic spirit, “be praised and blessed throughout all generations.” Grand Duke Vsevolod buried his wife with due honor. Many tears were shed by everyone over her coffin, but most of all, it is said, George cried and did not want to be consoled, because she loved her more than all other sons.

Grand Duke Georgy Vsevolodovich tours
on boats the newly conquered lands at the mouth of the Oka River.
Hood. G. Maltsev

At the age of 19, Georgy Vsevolodovich entered into marriage with the daughter of the Grand Duke of Kyiv Vsevolod Chermny Agathia. The sacrament of marriage was performed in the Vladimir Cathedral Church by Bishop John. God gave the pious George a wife worthy of him. Here is what one ancient biography writer says about this couple: “Both, both husband and wife, being of pious roots, were well taught piety and so both are holy, righteous, merciful, meek, taking the offended from the hands of those who offend, and the poor are kind to the great, He is diligent in abstinence and loves fasting, chastity and purity, and again, greatly pleasing Christ in everything with his good deeds, desiring, according to the Lord’s word, to inherit the earth of the meek and to find the peace of the righteous.” This is how the life of the noble prince flowed peacefully in Vladimir until the death of his parent. Four successful campaigns against the enemies of the Vladimir principality are known only from this time. But from the age of 25 it begins independent activity for the Church and the Fatherland.

Feeling the approach of death, Grand Duke Vsevolod wished to settle his children. By right of seniority, the throne of Vladimir should have belonged to the eldest of the sons, Konstantin, who was then reigning in Rostov, and Vsevolod wanted to place him on it while he was alive, but so that Rostov would belong to George. To declare his will, Vsevolod demanded all his children. Everyone came when called, except for Konstantin, who wanted to keep Rostov with him along with Vladimir, which did not agree with his father’s will. Three times the father sent for his son, but each time he received a refusal to appear unless the father did so according to the son’s wishes. Distressed by Constantine's disobedience, Prince Vsevolod gathered the boyars and people of Vladimir and before them poured out his grief on his son. It was decided by the people to deprive Constantine of his eldership and transfer the grand-ducal throne to George. So, Georgy Vsevolodovich, being 24 years old, was declared Grand Duke of Vladimir and blessed for this feat by his dying parent. “Be brothers instead of father,” he told him, “have them the same way I had them. And you, children,” he continued, turning to the other children, “do not take up arms against each other, and if one of the other princes rises up against you, you will all unite together against them. May the Lord and the Holy Mother of God and the prayer of your grandfather George and great-grandfather Vladimir be your helper, then I will bless you,” and with these words he quietly departed to the Lord, April 12, 1213.

At first, after the death of their father, the brothers lived peacefully. George, although he was the Grand Duke, showed all respect and love to his elder brother. Having buried his father, he went to Rostov to see Konstantin in order, on the one hand, to personally testify to him brotherly love, and on the other - to agree on the reign. Constantine, apparently, had come to terms with his position; at least, he did not express hostile feelings towards George.

Grand Duke Georgy Vsevolodovich meets his
brother Svyatoslav

Another time, the Grand Duke was with Constantine, at the invitation of even himself, at the consecration of the cathedral church in Rostov. In his humility, George agreed, as long as there was no enmity between the brothers and bloodshed, even to cede the grand-ducal throne to Constantine, but so that the dying will of his parents would be sacredly fulfilled. “Brother Konstantin,” said Georgy, “if you want Vladimir, go, sit in it, and give me Rostov.” But Konstantin persisted in his approach. “You sit down in Suzdal,” he answered George. Five years passed like this. But then Prince Mstislav, a defender of Novgorod freedom, who spent his entire life in military pursuits, arrived from southern Russia to northeastern Russia. He traveled with his squad, made up of battle-hardened warriors, throughout Rus', and appeared wherever he was invited. For him fighting life the people nicknamed him Daredevil. It was he who offered Konstantin his services against George, promising to do everything to put him in Vladimir, without taking away Rostov. Konstantin happily accepted the offer. A bloody battle took place near the city of Yuryev. For Konstantin there were Rostov and Novgorod residents with Mstislav and his squad; for George the people of Vladimir, Suzdal and Pereslavl. The former had both the number of troops and desperate courage, tested in many battles, on their side. George was defeated. But as a result, he did not become bitter and did not strive, as other princes did, to win at any cost. Submitting to the inscrutable destinies of God’s Providence, which controls the destinies of kingdoms and peoples, he went out to the winners with gifts and said to them: “Brothers, I hit you with my forehead, you give me a belly and feed me with bread!” The council of Constantine and Mstislav assigned him the poor Volga Gorodets, or Radilov, as his inheritance. Before leaving Vladimir, George entered the cathedral church of the Mother of God, where he poured out all his sadness in prayerful cries before the miraculous icon of the Mother of God, watered the coffin of his parent, who loved him so tenderly, with tears, and, reassured by faith and hope in God’s mercy, leaving the temple, he sat down with his family into the boat and went to his appointed destiny. Among the few friends who wished to accompany him was the Bishop of Vladimir, the virtuous Simon, who did not want to leave the prince in his misfortune and thereby proved the correctness of his actions.

Mstislav, having done his job, left, and Konstantin sat down in Vladimir. But his conscience was not calm, moreover, his health was greatly upset, he already felt the fragility of his life. And then, two or three months later, Konstantin asks George to come to Vladimir. The latter, having forgotten everything, goes to him. The brothers met each other, and everything old was forgotten between them. “Both were overwhelmed when they met,” says the chronicle, “and they stayed away for many hours.” They entered the cathedral church of Our Lady, where, at the grave of their parent, they sealed their reconciliation with prayer and kissing the cross. Constantine begged George to move to Suzdal and declared him heir to his throne. A year later, Constantine died and George sat on the throne of Vladimir for the second time.

On the throne of the Grand Duke, George took up the organization of his region. He endowed his brothers and nephews with cities, and they began to honor George instead of their father and act in everything according to his will. As a result, the internal life of our country flowed peacefully and calmly. For this, the people blessed God and Grand Duke George. Through the united actions of all the princes of the Vladimir principality, external enemies were pacified - the Bulgarians and Mordovians, who lived along the banks of the Oka and Volga rivers and often disturbed the Vladimir region with predatory raids. In three campaigns these enemies were completely pacified. And the Grand Duke, in order to forever secure the eastern borders of his principality from these enemies, himself went to the banks of the Volga and there, having carefully examined the area, founded the city, the famous Nizhny Novgorod, in 1221, populated it with inhabitants and created in it the temples of the All-Merciful Savior and Archangel Michael *. The inhabitants of this city formerly reverently revered their founder**.

*On the porch of the Archangel Cathedral before the revolution there was an inscription that began like this: “In ancient times, the land of Nizovsk was owned by idolaters - the Mordovians. The pious Grand Duke, now in spirit in God, and resting with his incorruptible body in the city of Vladimir, Georgy Vsevolodovich, in order to ease his possessions from the raids of neighboring peoples, founded a city at the mouth of the Oka River and named it Nizhny Novgrad and erected the first church in it in the name of Archangel Michael, wooden, and then in 1227, stone, cathedral.”

** Before the revolution, on the day of remembrance of the Holy Blessed Grand Duke George (February 4, Old Style), festive services were held in all churches of Nizhny Novgorod. In April 1875, at the request of citizens, an icon of St. George with part of his relics was sent from Vladimir to Nizhny Novgorod, which was installed in the Archangel Cathedral.

The success of weapons and inner peace countries raised the glory of the Grand Duke. As a result, the princes of southern Rus' began to turn to George for advice and help in difficult circumstances.

Blessed George was always happy to serve his neighbors and never refused to help a just cause. Twice during his reign, the Russian high priests, the Kyiv metropolitans, visited him in Vladimir and blessed him for the improvement of the church, for the splendor of the churches of God and the pious life of his subjects. Metropolitan Kirill, during his stay in Vladimir in 1225, in place of the deceased virtuous Simon, ordained the abbot of the Vladimir Nativity Monastery, Mitrofan, as Bishop of Vladimir, Suzdal and Pereslavl. The event is hitherto unprecedented in Vladimir! But the piety of Grand Duke George was especially expressed by the fact that, at his command, the holy relics of the martyr Abraham, who suffered a martyrdom from his fellow citizens for the zealous spread of the Christian faith among them, were transferred from the Bulgarian land to the city of Vladimir. The Lord God glorified his faithful servant for his pious zeal for the glory of God, and from the very first day the martyr’s grave was marked by heavenly signs and wonders. Georgy Vsevolodovich wished to have holy relics in Vladimir. The Bulgarians did not refuse him this. And so on March 9, 1230, on the day of remembrance of the 40 martyrs, Bishop Mitrofan and all the clergy of Vladimir, the Grand Duke and the inhabitants of the city with great honor met the holy relics outside the city, and with the singing of church songs they brought them into the city and laid them in the women’s monastery of the Most Holy Theotokos .

Rumors about the piety of the Grand Duke of Vladimir reached Rome and Pope Gregory IX tried to seduce him into Latinism. But Georgy Vsevolodovich was born in the Orthodox faith and remained in it until his death, despite the most difficult circumstances that God destined him to experience in the last days of his life.

A little bright days Saint George saw it throughout his entire life. But her last days represent a whole series of suffering, both physical and mental. Through many sorrows the Lord God led His faithful servant to eternal bliss. The first years of his second reign on the throne of Vladimir apparently promised complete prosperity for the country. There were no princely feuds, which so cruelly tore apart southern Russia, or attacks from external enemies pacified by the weapons of Prince George. But this apparent prosperity was only the calm before the storm. Terrible signs, repeated from time to time in nature, served as harbingers of future disasters. So, in the summer of 1223 there was a terrible drought throughout the Vladimir region. Forests and swamps were burning; the air was filled with such darkness and smoke that birds fell to the ground and animals from the forests fled to cities and villages, and there was fear and horror on everyone. Terrible comets in the same years 1223 and 1225 frightened the superstitious people. But the year 1230 was especially difficult and threatening for most of Rus'.

On May 3, an unprecedented natural phenomenon occurred in Vladimir. During the liturgy, while the Gospel was being read in the cathedral church, such a strong earthquake occurred that many churches cracked, the icons in them moved out of place, chandeliers and candlesticks swayed from side to side; the people, thinking in horror “as if the head had gone around them,” fell to the ground. That same month, on the 10th and 14th, terrible solar eclipses were visible in the sky. Not for good, - said the frightened people, - but for evil, God shows us a sign of our sins. And indeed, a menacing cloud was already approaching the Russian horizon. The terrible news spread throughout Russia that the hordes of Tatars, approaching in 1223 Southern Russia and those who fled to God knows where after the Battle of Kalka are again approaching the Russian borders. From the end of 1236, rumors about the Tatars began to reach the city of Vladimir, each more terrible than the other: they captured the Bulgarian land (on the territory of modern Tatarstan), its inhabitants were either killed or taken prisoner; now they are already in the Mordovian land (the current Penza and Nizhny Novgorod regions) and are moving their forces closer and closer to the possessions of Rus'. Finally, an embassy from Ryazan comes to Vladimir to Grand Duke Georgy Vsevolodovich with a request for help against the Tatars who were advancing on the Ryazan principality.

The Grand Duke and the people of Vladimir had great thoughts about this embassy: to give help or to refuse it. We decided to refuse in order to save our strength for our fight against the enemy, just in case. “There is bewilderment,” the chronicler notes on this occasion, “and threat, and fear, and trembling God brought upon us for our sins, and the wisdom of those who were able to build military affairs was quickly swallowed up, and strong hearts were converted into female weakness, and for this sake not a single from the Russian princes go to each other’s aid.”

Meanwhile, on December 21, 1237, the Tatars, after an evil battle, in terrible furies, captured Ryazan and rushed further to Kolomna, and from here it was not far to Moscow. Vladimir, the second son of Grand Duke George Vsevolodovich, reigned in Moscow at that time. Having heard about this movement, the Grand Duke of Vladimir sent an army to Kolomna, under the command of his eldest son Vsevolod and the battle-experienced governor Eremey Glebovich. Near Kolomna, for the first time, the Vladimir army met with a “beast-like enemy”, which they had hitherto known only from rumors. She entered the battle undaunted, but could not defeat the numerous enemy. Most of the soldiers, together with the governor Eremey Glebovich, fell under the blows of Tatar swords. Vsevolod and his small retinue barely escaped to Vladimir, where he told his parent about the sad outcome of his battle. Having taken Kolomna, the Tatars, without stopping, moved on to Vladimir. Moscow, then still a small town, was burned by them, almost all of its inhabitants were killed; Vladimir Georgievich was captured and had to follow the horde, enduring all sorts of hardships and suffering along the way.

Georgy Vsevolodovich saw the hopelessness of his situation and understood that he could not defeat the enemy on his own: the united forces of all Rus' were needed to repel enemies as numerous as “locusts” and fierce as “demons.” But it was impossible to concentrate these forces in Vladimir. Batu quickly moved with his horde towards the capital of north-eastern Rus' and the allied troops could not keep up in time. And so the Grand Duke decided to perform an extraordinary feat for his fatherland: he leaves his capital city and in it those closest to his heart - his wife, children, grandchildren - are guarded by a small squad, and he himself drives off to the banks of the City River, in a modern Yaroslavl region, so that, uniting with other princes, together they can repulse the enemy’s force. One of the Russian chroniclers touchingly describes the departure of the Grand Duke from Vladimir. Bishop Mitrofan and the boyars of Vladimir gathered in the grand-ducal palace. The Grand Duke was already in military attire, completely ready to set off; They prayed to God, the departing person received a blessing from the saint; farewells began with my wife, children, grandchildren and everyone present, tears flowed uncontrollably from everyone’s eyes and interrupted the words. Meanwhile, a squad and people were waiting for the prince in front of the palace. Accompanied by the bishop and relatives, hardly hiding his tears, the prince left the palace and headed to the cathedral church of the Mother of God; with a tearful cry he fell here before St. with the icon of the Most Pure One, entrusting his family and subjects to her intercession, he bowed to the tomb of his sovereign parent, was blessed again by the bishop, hugged those close to his heart for the last time, said the last “forgiveness” to the people and left the church. People's crying and sobbing accompanied the prince everywhere and did not stop until he left the city. “And there was great lamentation in the city, and no one could hear it, speaking to each other in tears and sobs.” Everyone seemed to have a presentiment that this was the last farewell to the Grand Duke, that they would no longer see him in this life.

Death of Grand Duke Georgy Vsevolodovich.
Rice. V. Vereshchagina

“On the 3rd day of Tuesday, the month of February, a week before Meat Empty,” this is how the chronicler begins the sorrowful story of the Tatar invasion of Vladimir, “a multitude of Chrestian bloodsheds came, without number, like the Pruz.” The residents of Vladimir tightly locked all the city gates and, with submission to the will of God, awaited their fate. The eldest children of the Grand Duke Vsevolod and Mstislav Georgievich, together with the experienced governor Peter Oslyadyukovich from the Golden Gate, observed the movement of the enemy and encouraged the frightened Vladimir residents. The Tatars initially avoided the battle and demanded surrender. They singled out a cavalry detachment from the whole horde, which they sent to the Golden Gate. “Where is Grand Duke Yuri, is he in the city,” was their first question to the people of Vladimir. But instead of answering, they shot arrows at their enemies. “Don’t shoot,” the Tatars shout, and they take Vladimir Georgievich out of the middle of the horde. “Do you recognize your prince,” they ask the residents of Vladimir. Indeed, it was not easy to recognize Vladimir: his face changed so much from severe captivity and heartache. The prince-brothers and the people could not help but cry, seeing him emaciated, pale, barely able to stand on his feet; but they tried to overcome sorrowful feelings so as not to show their cowardice to the proud enemy. The prince himself, despite the severity of his situation, convinced his brothers not to surrender the cities to the enemies. “Do not surrender the cities, my brothers,” he exclaimed to them. - It’s better for me to die before the Golden Gates for the Holy Mother of God and the Orthodox Christian faith rather than their will be done to us.” The fierce barbarians, having heard this bold speech of Vladimir, immediately tore him to pieces, as soon as the unfortunate sufferer managed to say: “Lord Jesus Christ! Receive my spirit, that I may rest in Thy glory.”

The Tatars, seeing that the people of Vladimir would not surrender the city to them without a fight, positioned their main camp opposite the Golden Gate, while other parts of the horde in countless numbers surrounded the city on all sides. At the sight of such preparations by the enemy, the residents of Vladimir had no hope of salvation: each of them expected either death or a shameful execution. But this did not make them fall into inactive despair: they were eager to fight the enemy and preferred an honest death on the battlefield to life in shameful slavery. “Brothers,” the princes exclaimed to their squad, “it is better for us to die before the Golden Gate for the Holy Mother of God and for the Orthodox faith than to be in the will of our enemies.” These words were to the hearts of all the warriors: everyone was eager to fight the enemy of faith and fatherland. Only the old governor Pyotr Oslyadyukovich opposed this. He saw that haste in military action would bring more harm It is of no use to the residents of Vladimir that the inevitable death of the squad will only sooner give the Tatars access to the city; he could hope that by delaying offensive actions enemy, will give the Grand Duke time to gather an army and come to the rescue of the besieged. “The Lord brought all this upon us for our sins,” said the governor, “how can we go against the Tatars and resist such a multitude? It’s better for us to sit in the city and defend against them as much as possible.” They listened to the governors and, having lost all hope in their strength, turned to the consolations of religion. “And we began,” the chronicler narrates, “to sing prayers and sobs, shedding many tears to the Lord God and His Most Pure Mother, Theotokos.”

Meanwhile, the Tatars, having surrounded Vladimir with their camp, singled out several detachments from the entire horde and headed for Suzdal. “And great evil happened to the Suzdal land, the kind of evil that had never happened since the baptism of Rus'.” The city was burned and plundered. Many residents were mercilessly killed: “Hegumens, priests and deacons, monks and monks, the blind and lame, and the deaf, then all the Tatars were cut down, and other residents, wives, and children were taken captive and in the severe frost had to follow the horde barefoot and uncovered, dying of filth.”

Icon of the Savior with falling saints. blgv. prince
Alexander Nevsky (in schema Alexy) and
St. blgv. Prince Georgy Vsevolodovich

After the troops returned from Suzdal, Batu began offensive operations against Vladimir. On February 6, from morning to evening, the Tatars placed forests and vices (a type of battering guns) around the city and at night surrounded the entire city with tyn. Helpless citizens had no means of defense. The air was filled with the great cry of the people of Vladimir. Everyone, young and old, doomed themselves to martyrdom and hurried to prepare for it in a Christian way. Everyone confessed and received the Holy Mysteries; many even took monastic vows. Vladyka Mitrofan, the princes, governor Peter Oslyadyukovich, all the boyars and people saw that “their city had already been taken,” the chronicler narrates, “they burst into great tears and went into the cathedral church of the Most Pure Mother of God and tonsured into the holy angelic image from Vladyka Mitrofan the Grand Duchess and her sons, and her daughters, and her daughters-in-law, and the elders wanted, and there was a cry and a cry, and great weeping in the city.”

The sacred rite was performed in solemn silence. Famous Russians said goodbye to the world, to life, but, standing on the threshold of death, they still prayed to Heaven for the salvation of Russia, so that its beloved name and glory would not perish forever. On February 7, the meat-eating week, when the Holy Church, with the image of the Last Judgment, awakens her children to repentance, a terrible destruction and devastation of the city of Vladimir took place. Throughout the night, hardly any of the Vladimir residents closed their eyes to sleep. The morning service began in the cathedral church. The touching chants of that day were involuntarily intended to elevate the spirit of those praying and strengthen them with faith and hope for heavenly rewards promised to unshakable confessors of the name of Christ. It began to get light in the sky; but this morning was already the last for large number Vladimirtsev. An attack on the city began from all sides; battering guns broke through city walls; stones fell from the Tatar camp “like rain” onto the city; the walls had already been broken on four sides, and with wild fury, “like demons,” the Tatar horde burst into the city from the Golden Gate, and from Lybid - at the Orin Gate, and at the Copper Gate, and also from Klyazma - at the Volozh Gate. A terrible massacre of citizens and the devastation of the city began. For several hours, the part of the city between the Golden Gate and the Kremlin, called the New City, consisted of heaps of ash and piles of ruins, among which lay many lifeless bodies of Vladimir residents. Princes Vsevolod and Mstislav and the remaining citizens sought salvation in the middle city called Pecherny, the current Kremlin. Bishop Mitrofan, the Grand Duchess and her family, the Vladimir clergy, the boyars and many citizens sought refuge from fierce enemies in the Church of the Mother of God. Here, at the Divine Liturgy, the saint made a bloodless sacrifice for himself and his unfortunate flock for the last time. The words of prayer were interrupted by sobs. Everyone was preparing for death, putting aside all worldly cares. Guided into eternal life by the Holy Mysteries from the hands of their archpastor, the people of Vladimir calmly, with Christian hope, awaited their death. The bishop, the grand-ducal family, archimandrites and abbots, boyars and eminent citizens took refuge in the ascending floors (today's choirs), where a secret staircase led. Many citizens remained below the temple. Entrance doors were locked from the inside. The bishop blessed his flock for the feat of martyrdom. “Lord God of hosts, Giver of Light, sit on the cherubim,” he prayed, “stretch out Your invisible hand and receive Your servants in peace.”

Cover on the relics of St. blgv. prince
Georgy Vsevolodovich

At the very time when such a wondrous and touching spectacle was taking place inside, in those very solemn moments of Christian feelings, filled with selflessness and faith, the pagan Tatars, with vicious hatred of everything Christian and Russian, were agitated outside the temple. A handful of city defenders could not withstand the pressure of an entire horde. Princes Vsevolod and Mstislav and their friends fell from the Tatar swords. Through the corpses of their wild horde furiously burst into the Pecherny city and rushed to plunder temples and houses, destroying everything that could not be taken with fire and sword. The princely palace was looted and set on fire; court church in honor of St. Great Martyr Demetrius - the zeal of Grand Duke Vsevolod III - was deprived of all her treasures. The Cathedral Church of Our Lady was surrounded by Tatars from all sides. The strong locks of its doors could not withstand the pressure of enemies. With demonic fury, the pagans burst into God's temple, cutting everyone who was in it, and its wonderful copper floor was stained with Christian blood. Everything that was valuable in the temple: gold, silver, precious stones, vessels, clothes of the first Grand Dukes, which were kept in churches in memory of them, even liturgical books, became the property of predators. The miraculous icon of the Mother of God was stripped of all expensive decorations. But neither the rich booty nor the many victims of the inhumane beating satisfied the greed of the enraged Tatars. They were looking for the grand ducal family. Having learned that it was hiding on the sunken floors and, not finding a way to get there, they either with caresses or threats persuaded the Grand Duchess to surrender to them. But she and those who were with her decided to endure everything that would be sent from God, just so as not to fall into the hands of their enemies alive. Enraged even more by the failure, the barbarians piled up around the temple and dragged trees and brushwood inside it and set fire to it. Thus, from the heat and smoke, with prayer on their lips, they gave up their souls to the Lord and became partakers of the martyrdom: Bishop Mitrofan, the Grand Duchess with their daughter, daughters-in-law and grandchildren. The Church of Our Lady, burnt and dilapidated, remained a sad monument to these sufferers.

Grand Duke Georgy Vsevolodovich received the sad news of the death of the capital city and his family in it in the last days of February. It is clear with what grief he was struck by this news. At once he lost everything: his family, his subjects, and his estate. He expected no better fate for himself. It was clear that he could not defeat his numerous enemies. Going to the banks of the City River, he hoped to gather an army so large that he would be able to resist the enemy. But his hopes were not destined to come true. His brother Svyatoslav came to him with his Yuryevites and his nephews - the Konstantinovichs with the Rostovites and Yaroslavlites; but in vain he waited for his brother Yaroslav with the Pereslavl people. “Lord, Almighty,” he exclaimed, having heard the sad news about what happened in Vladimir, “is this pleasing to Your love for mankind! Like Job, I have now lost everything; but I know that it was sin for our sakes that all this happened; may the will of the Lord be done, blessed be the name of the Lord from now to eternity. Oh me, Master! And why am I left alive alone, besides these new martyrs? Vouchsafe, Lord, for me to suffer for Your Holy Name, the Christian faith and the Orthodox people, and count me among Your holy martyrs.”

Cancer with the relics of St. blgv. prince
Georgy Vsevolodovich.
Photo by V. Alekseev. 2009

Meanwhile, the barbarians did not have to wait long. The Grand Duke sent his vanguard, consisting of 3,000 warriors of proven courage, to reconnoitre the enemy; but the detachment, having retreated a little, returned with the news that the Tatars were already bypassing them. Georgy Vsevolodovich and his allies mounted their horses, they lined up their regiments in battle formation and fearlessly met the enemy. On March 4, a “great war and an evil slaughter” began, in which human blood flowed like water. But no matter how courageously the Russians fought the enemy, they could not defeat him. Strength prevailed over courage, and the battlefield was littered with the corpses of Russian knights. The Grand Duke shared the fate of his comrades: beheaded, he fell on the battlefield, “like a good warrior, like an invincible martyr for the faith and Orthodox Rus', like Christ a martyr.” His martyrdom followed at the age of 49 from birth. His reign lasted 24 years (from 1213 to 1217 and from 1218 to 1238).

The ancient biography writer depicts the virtues with which the blessed Grand Duke George adorned himself during his earthly life in the following words: “Being meek and humble, having mercy and providing for everyone, and loving alms and the church structure, he cared about this with all his soul, decorating with wonderful icons and all kinds of decorations; what about the priestly and monastic rank and giving them for their needs, taking blessings from them. Be bo Prince George truly, according to Job, an eye to the blind, a leg to the lame and a hand to the needy; and loving everyone, clothing the naked, calming the difficult, comforting the sad; offend no one in any way, but make everyone wise with your conversations; often reading the holy books with diligence, and doing everything according to what is written and not repaying evil for evil; verily, for God bestowed upon him the meekness of David, and the wisdom of Solomon; and filled with apostolic orthodoxy.”

Cancer with the relics of St. blgv. Prince Georgy Vsevolodovich
in the Assumption Cathedral in the city of Vladimir.
Photo by V. Alekseev. 2009

A short time after the unfortunate battle of the City River, Rostov Bishop Kirill, elevated to the rank of hierarch from the archimandrites of the Vladimir Nativity Monastery, returned from Bela Lake to his flock. His path lay not far from the site of the ill-fated battle. The archpastor went there to offer prayers to God for the repose of the souls for the faith and fatherland of the fallen soldiers. Among the many dead bodies, the bishop recognized the body of George by the grand ducal attire; but the body lay without a head. He took the body with reverence famous prince, brought him to Rostov and here, amid great weeping, singing the usual chants, he buried him in the cathedral church. After some time, the head of the Grand Duke was found and attached to his body.

In 1239, a year after the unfortunate battle of the City River, when the Tatar thunderstorm subsided for a while, the new Grand Duke of Vladimir Yaroslav Vsevolodovich ordered the coffin with the body of his deceased brother George to be moved from Rostov to Vladimir. The honorable remains of the sovereign sufferer for faith and fatherland, as they approached Vladimir, were met by Bishop Kirill with all the clergy and monastics, the Grand Duke and his brother Svyatoslav and their children, all the boyars and all the inhabitants of Vladimir, young and old. At the sight of the coffin, there was general crying and sobbing, “and you couldn’t hear the singing in the crying and crying of the great one.” With funeral singing, they placed the coffin with the relics of the passion-bearer in the Church of the Mother of God, where his parents and other sovereign ancestors already rested.

At the same time, the Lord, wondrous in His saints, deigned to comfort sorrowful hearts Orthodox people Russian, revealing in the blessed Grand Duke George his saint. All who witnessed the transfer of his relics then saw “a glorious miracle worthy of wonder.” The holy head of George, once cut off by the sword of a barbarian, grew in the tomb to his honest body, so that not a trace of its cutting off was visible on his neck; but all the joints were intact and inseparable. Since then, from the holy body of the blessed Grand Duke George, according to the ancient biography of him, “many and various healings began to be carried out for all those who were sick and who came with faith.” But his relics remained hidden for a long time after that. 407 years after his death, the Lord was pleased to fully glorify his saint on earth. In 1645, January 5th, under the rule of Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich, under Patriarch Joseph of All Russia, the found incorruptible holy relics of Grand Duke George were transferred from a stone coffin to a rich, silver and gilded reliquary, arranged according to the vow of the Patriarch by his own treasury, in through which they, “remaining to this day, exude healing to the souls and bodies of those who worship them with faith.”

The shrine with the holy relics of the blessed Grand Duke George is placed in the Assumption Cathedral Church.

The celebration in honor of the Holy Blessed Grand Duke George is celebrated by the Church on February 17.

GEORGE Saint, Grand Duke of Vladimir- son of Grand Duke Vsevolod III Georgievich and his wife Grand Duchess Maria Shvarnovna, was born in 1189 (1238) and was raised in strict Christian morals. In 1211, he married the daughter of the Prince of Chernigov, Vsevolod Chermnago, Agathia, who was also raised in the spirit of ancient piety. Under him, Bishop Simon moved his see from Suzdal to Vladimir, and from that time, from 1215, a series of independent bishops of Vladimir began.

In 1220 George. sent an army against the Volga-Kama Bulgarians, defeated them, and on the border with them, at the confluence of the Oka and the Volga, built Nizhny Novgorod, in which he built the churches of the Transfiguration of the Lord, the Archangel Michael and the Mother of God Monastery. In Vladimir itself, under him, around the same time, the consecration of the Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God in the Nativity Monastery took place.

In 1224, the Tatars appeared in the south of the Russian land and defeated the Russian princes in the battle on the river. Kalke. George. did not participate in this battle and, apparently, did not foresee how dangerous the new enemies would be. In 1229, the Kama Bulgarians killed the zealous Christian Abraham; in the next 1230, his relics were transported by Russian merchants to Vladimir, where the Grand Duke met them with triumph and placed them in the Assumption Vladimir convent, founded by the wife of Vsevolod III, Maria. In the same 1230, an earthquake occurred in Vladimir, causing the chandeliers in the Assumption Cathedral to sway and the icons to move from their places. The same earthquake was felt throughout the Russian land. The following year, 1237, there was a terrible Tatar invasion, which first devastated the Ryazan principality. In vain the princes of Ryazan, Murom and Pron asked for help from George. he did not provide this assistance, but sent his army against the Tatars under the leadership of his eldest son; This army met the Tatars near Kolomna and was defeated. Having then devastated Moscow, where they captured Georgiev’s son Vladimir, the Tatars moved further to the city of Vladimir, which on February 7. 1238 was taken, and the entire family of Grand Duke George died. At the end of February Georg. was informed of the destruction of his capital and the death of his family. “It would be better for me to die than to live in the world,” he exclaimed. Now why am I left alone? On March 4, a battle took place with the Tatars in the City, within the current Tver province. The Russian army was defeated, Georg. was killed and his head was cut off. A short time later, Bishop Kirill of Rostov came to the battlefield and found the body of George. incorruptible, but I could not find his head. The body was transferred to Rostov and laid in the Rostov Cathedral. Soon, other people found George’s head on the battlefield; brought to Rostov and placed in a coffin, it fused tightly with the body. To the grand-ducal throne in Vladimir after George. his brother Yaroslav Vsevolodovich joined. By his order, in 1239, the incorruptible relics of George. were solemnly transferred to Vladimir and placed in the Assumption Cathedral, where they still rest at the autopsy. We heard from the local cathedral archpriest A. Vinogradov that he and other cathedral clergy repeatedly had occasions to become convinced that the head of St. George. really tightly fused with the body; Thus, in 1890, during the transposition of St. relics from a linden tomb to a cypress one, when raising the relics, the head sat tightly on the neck, not supported by the hands. The same thing is observed when putting clothes on the relics. The body itself is hidden from view because, to prevent dust, it is sewn into a piece of silk fabric.

According to the unanimous testimony of the chronicles, St. George was adorned with all Christian virtues, especially loved the feat of prayer, was very temperate, merciful to the poor, and caring about church affairs.

Sources and manuals: Chronicles of Nikonov. and Rostovsk. Handwritten life of St. George, written at the end of the 17th century. and translated into Russian. language in 1895 archim. Porfiry, “Vladim. Eparch. Ved" 1895 and department. brochure Lives of the Saints. February.

* Kremlevsky Alexander Magistrianovich,
Master of Theology, Law Yaroslav. Demid. Lyceum

Text source: Orthodox theological encyclopedia. Volume 4, column. 224. Petrograd edition. Supplement to the spiritual magazine "Wanderer" for 1903. Modern spelling.