Holy rulers of Russia. Grand Duke ANDREY BOGOLYUBOKY

The day of July 17 has a strange mystical meaning in Russian history. On this day in 1174, the conspirators killed Grand Duke Andrew, nicknamed Bogolyubsky for his pious life and fervent faith - the head of the Russian state, the first unifier of the Russian land. And in 1918, in Yekaterinburg, on the same day, the last Russian tsar Nicholas II and his family were shot.

Andrey was the son of the legendary Grand Duke Yuri Dolgoruky, the founder of the capital of our Motherland, Moscow. He is also the grandson of Vladimir Monomakh, who from childhood carefully read the teachings of his grandfather. The famous and beloved Grand Duke of Kiev Monomakh instructed the children: "Give to the orphan and justify the widow, do not let the strong destroy a person", "Honor the old as a father, and the young as brothers", "Love your wife, but do not give power over yourself", "What you can do well, do not forget, and what you can not do, learn", " Let him not catch the sun is shining in your bed", "For God's sake, don't be lazy, I beg you, for only by doing can you receive God's mercy".

His father gave Andrey control of the small, then newly formed suburb of Rostov, Vladimir-na-Klyazma, where the prince quietly and peacefully "ruled affairs" to the delight of his subjects. The southern, as well as the northern, chronicle is silent about him until the beginning of a noisy struggle that ensued between his father and cousin Izyaslav Volynsky. Andrew appears in the south for the first time in 1148, when Yuri "sat on the Kiev table." Andrew immediately stood out among the southern princes for his personal qualities. In prowess, he was not inferior to his brave rival Izyaslav, he was bold in battle. After the battle, Andrey did not remember evil, he was able to quickly become cautious and prudent. He was a good politician and organizer.

Prince Andrew did not like war, and after a successful battle, he always asked his father to make peace with the beaten enemy. The Russian chronicler describes the prince as follows:"Andrew was not stately for military rank, but he expected praise only from God." There was no love of power or envy in Andrey's character. The prince grieved in secret that his brothers, nephews, and numerous relatives were in eternal enmity with each other, all striving to occupy the golden table of Kiev, not disdaining either sword, poison, or slander. In 1155, Grand Duke Yuri Dolgoruky gave Vyshgorod, a suburb of Kiev, as an inheritance to his son. But he was burdened by the inheritance and aspired to the Rostov-Suzdal land, where he spent his childhood. Fate was pleased to strengthen the prince in this decision, and in the future to move the capital of the Russian state to the city of Vladimir, which became the prince's native city.

One day, close boyars came to Andrey and told him about the miracles they had witnessed. Once an icon of the Mother of God was brought from Constantinople - Constantinople to Kiev. It was said that it was written by the holy Apostle Luke the Evangelist himself. Then the icon was moved to Vyshgorod, where it was installed in a place of honor. But those who entered the church more than once observed a wonderful phenomenon: the icon, as if in weightlessness, floated in the air.

"So she doesn't like this place," Prince Andrew guessed.

Immediately, he hurried to the monastery, entered the church, and was struck by the bright radiance emanating from the icon. The prince prostrated himself and began to pray fervently. Andrew's idea of establishing a separate principality in the North was further strengthened in his prayers. And in 1155, secretly, without the knowledge of his father, the young prince leaves the Kiev land. Instead of treasures, he took only his favorite icon of the Mother of God. In all subsequent centuries, it will be called Vladimir and honored as the main shrine of Russia. Many miracles are associated with this icon...

At the end of the XIV century, Timur's invincible hordes, having defeated the Caucasian peoples, marched on Moscow in a forced march. It seemed that there was no escape for the city, it would be reduced to ashes. But an icon of the Mother of God is being brought from Vladimir to Moscow, and both young and old people pray to her. And here is a miracle: before reaching Moscow a few versts, the" iron lame " Timur orders to sharply turn the army to the south. The servants notice that he is not himself, as it were. Later, Timur will tell the court chroniclers that he was blinded by "his wife in a wonderful light" and forbade to go further.

But the events described are still two and a half centuries away, and while Prince Andrew's detachment was moving from Kiev to the Rostov-Suzdal borders, an equally remarkable event occurred.

Ten versts before reaching Vladimir, the horses suddenly stopped in their tracks. They snore, push back, and talk... from the spot. Then the desperate Andrew ordered to change the team of horses, but even they could not move the sledge (it was in the sledge that even in the summer it was supposed to carry the shrine. - Author). A sensitive soul, Prince Andrew immediately felt that this was no accident. He ordered a halt and a tent to be pitched. In a dream, the Mother of God appeared to the Prince and ordered him not to take her icon to Rostov, but to put it in Vladimir. And on the place where the vision occurred, build a stone church in the name of the Nativity of the Virgin and establish a monastery with it. Andrey did everything exactly...

In general, the construction of rich churches testifies not only to the well-being of the Rostov-Suzdal land, but also to the political gift of Andrew. The construction of any new church was an important event in the life of the Russian people, and it aroused respect for those who built it. And the prince built a lot... Through his efforts, the Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir (where the main Russian shrine, the miraculous icon of the Mother of God, was kept), the Church of the Intercession on the Nerl, the Cathedral Church of the Savior in Pereyaslavl, and the Church of St. Theodore Stratelates were erected.

But perhaps the main historical merit of Prince Andrew was that he was the first Russian prince to realize the disastrous consequences of the civil strife that threatened Ancient Russia. Having fought together with his father Yuri Dolgoruky for the Grand ducal throne of Kiev, having seen enough of the excesses of the mob and the perjury of the boyars, Andrey Bogolyubsky, nicknamed the second Solomon for his intelligence, was the first to come up with the idea of a Russian centralized state, which was later adopted and successfully developed by the Moscow sovereigns. After becoming Grand Duke and moving the capital from Kiev to Vladimir-on-Klyazma, Andrew did everything possible and impossible to limit the Veche freemen of Rostov and Suzdal, which often resulted (as in Novgorod) in a brawl of "better or better" people and "lesser" - artisans - citizens. Knowing the Holy Scriptures well, Andrew always remembered the biblical words that every kingdom divided in itself will perish. Therefore, the chroniclers informed us that the prince not only built a lot, but also fought a lot. And not only with external enemies. Under the holy Grand Duke, the scattered pagan tribes in the northeast were united into a single Great Russian nation, which acquired a firm and unshakeable conviction: without Orthodoxy, there can be no Russia.

But not all the subjects of Andrei Bogolyubsky shared his political views on the strict centralization of Southern and Northern Russia. There were a lot of hunters to the specific" independent " principalities and to the anarchist Veche freemen. A conspiracy has matured. Historian N. I. Kostomarov writes that among the conspirators was Andrei's key keeper named Ambal (Yasin is a native of the Caucasian tribe) and his confidant, a Jew Yefim Moizich. It was these two men who brought the assassins to the Grand Duke's bedchamber. People, showered with the benefits of their ruler, also destroyed him... This tragic event happened in 1174. Time has put everything in its place. Grand Duke Andrew, who was mourned by the people, was buried with honors in the Church of the Holy Virgin in Vladimir, and the conspirators died by the same sword that they dared to raise against their ruler and benefactor. Well, this has happened many times in history...