Prince Igor Sviatoslavich the Brave, also spelt Ihor Sviatoslavych (Old East Slavic: Игорь Святъславичь, Igorĭ Svjatŭslavičĭ; , Igor Svyatoslavich; , Ihor Svyatoslavych; Old Norse: Ingvar Sveinaldsson) (Novhorod-Siverskyi, April 3/10, 1151 – the spring of 1201/December 29, 1202) was an Olgovichi prince. His baptismal name was Yury. Igor was prince of Putivl (1164–1180), of Novgorod-Seversk (1180–1198), and of Chernigov (1198–1201/1202).
Chronicle evidence reveals that he had an enviably successful military career; he led many campaigns against the Cumans from among which the chronicles report only one defeat. But it was his defeat at the river Kayala (the exact location of which has never been definitively established) that has become immortalized through its literary rendering in “The Lay of Igor’s Campaign”, the most celebrated epic of Rus’.
During his reign Novhorod-Siverskyi enjoyed the status of the second most powerful town in the Chernigov land. Basing their observations on archaeological evidence, a number of investigators proposed that Igor built the Cathedral of the Holy Savior in the Monastery of the Transfiguration outside of the town. It has also been suggested that he founded the stone church in Putivl.
To judge from circumstantial evidence, Igor's reign in Chernigov was uneventful. He continued the family chronicle that his father and brother had commissioned.
His early life
Igor was the elder son of Svyatoslav Olgovich, by his second wife, the Novgorodian Catherine. By giving the child the baptismal name of Yury, Svyatoslav Olgovich acknowledged his friendship with prince Yury Vladimirovich of Suzdal. In choosing Igor for the boy's princely name, he testified to the close bond that had existed between him and his deceased brother.
When Sviatoslav died on February 15, 1164, Igor's older half-brother, Oleg Svyatoslavich, took over the control of Novgorod Severskiy and probably gave Putivl to Igor. Before 1170, Igor married a daughter of prince Yaroslav Volodymyrkovych Osmomysl of Halych.
Around June 1171, the Cumans renewed their raids along the Ros River and they attacked towns belonging to the Olgovichi (the ruling dynasty of Chernigov). Igor led a campaign against the invaders on June 29. After crossing the river Vorskla, he learnt that Khans Kobyak and Konchak were devastating districts around Pereyaslavl; he crossed back over the river and rode to confront the raiders. On July 20, his druzhina killed many of the nomads and took others captive.
While returning from his victory, Igor visited the shrine of SS. Boris and Gleb in Vyshgorod to celebrate their feast. There he met with Roman I Rostislavich of Kiev (his brother-in-law) and his brothers on July 25. Their meeting was political in nature in that Igor would have pledged allegiance to the new ruler of Kiev.
Prince of Novgorod-Seversk
His half-brother, Oleg Sviatoslavich died on January 16, 1180; thus Igor left Putivl to succeed him in Novgorod Severskiy. Soon after Oleg Sviatoslavich's death, grand prince Sviatoslav III Vsevolodovich of Kiev summoned Igor and Igor's brother Vsevolod Svyatoslavich to Lyubech and concluded an agreement. Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich's main objective in assembling the senior generation of Olgovichi was to secure Igor's allegiance. On September 8, Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich ordered Igor and prince Vsevolod III Yuryevich of Vladimir to lead the junior Olgovichi and Monomashichi against Vyshgorod that he was besieging; the nine-week siege of the town became a failure.
At the beginning of 1181, Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich launched an expedition against Vsevolod Yuryevich in order to free from captivity his son Gleb Svyatoslavich (Prince of Chernigov). Before setting out, the grand prince commanded his son Yaroslav Svyatoslavich and Igor to remain behind and defend Chernigov against the Rostislavichi (the members of the ruling dynasty of Smolensk). Later, Yaroslav Svyatoslavich and Igor waged war on the Principality of Drutsk whose prince Gleb Rogvoldovich formed a pact with prince David Rostislavich of Smolensk. Although David Rostislavich came to assist the prince of Drutsk, but Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich, who had expanded his authority over Novgorod, made David Rostislavich flee from the field of battle and forced Gleb Rogvoldovich to capitulate.