Talk:1174–1177 Suzdalian war of succession

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Dimnik 2015

Although it is so far the best English-language summary of this war that I've been able to find, I'd like to point out that Dimnik 2015's article about Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich of Chernigov being "kingmaker" of Suzdalia has a number of flaws.

Dimnik did little more than just write down in English whatever the Kievan Chronicle (KC) wrote in Old East Slavic, plus a little commentary, superficial analysis, and some speculation. For a scholarly paper, I'm not very impressed. The KC has a lot of biases, rhetorical devices and errors in it, and Dimnik often failed to spot them.
Dimnik had a known bias in favour of the Olgovichi of Chernigov, whom he regarded as a sort of exemplary holy Christian ruling family. Dimnik's hagiographic tendencies towards Michael of Chernigov perhaps illustrate this best. The fact that Sviatoslav is at the centre of his narrative just because he's an Olgovichi prince of Chernigov is quite revealing, especially considering that this paper was written for a journal decicated to the history of Siveria, i.e. Novhorod-Siverskyi, where the hostile cadet branch under Oleg II Svyatoslavich was based!
Dimnik did not take into account that the author of this section of the KC is very pro-stepbrothers and very anti-nephews. Very pro-Vsevolod, in other words, which is essentially as if the history book was commissioned by the winner (and that might well be right). Vsevolod is called "pious and God-fearing", which is a telltale sign that the chronicler is on his side. Dimnik does not seem to notice. His champion, Sviatoslav Olgovich, is allied to Vsevolod, therefore, Vsevolod must be the good guy. Dimnik accepts the KC claim at face value that Mikhalko had seniority over the nephews, who supposedly "broke" their vow.
Dimnik does not question why the Vladimirians wanted to blind Mstislav and Yaropolk, and why a hesitant Vsevolod eventually gives in. He portrays him as a kind of Pontius Pilate, who needs to punish innocent prisoners to calm down a murderous mob. As if he does not have the power to do whatever he wants. Nor does Dimnik question why the nephews miraculously regain their sight. The chronicler might have had a reason to claim this, not because he sided with the nephews, but perhaps to lessen the cruelty inflicted upon them by Vsevolod's blinding of them? Neither of them seems to have survived the 1176 blinding for very long anyway, with Mstislav dying in 1178 and Yaropolk around 1182.

I don't know what the truth was, but I do know that the KC does not provide a dis-interested and objective account of what happened. And I'm disappointed that Dimnik did not examine the source material more critically. NLeeuw (talk) 07:53, 4 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]