The military-political struggle for the land of the vyatichi in the late X-first half of the XII centuries

Introduction . The article examines the history of the inclusion of the Vyatichi tribal union into Rus‘. The stages of the integration of the Vyatichi land into the system of feudal statehood are highlighted, which are associated with a change in the subject composition of the holders of supreme state sovereignty. Materials and methods . Based on the results of the analysis of the Laurentian, Ipatiev and Trinity chronicles, generalization of scientific approaches and the latest achievements of areology, the author examines such periods as the time of the formation of the "Rurikovich power", the formation of the Chernigov Principality and the separation of the Olgovich domain in Novgorod-Seversky from its composition . Results . The prerequisites for strengthening the importance of the Upper Oka basin as a resource base, which was not actually affected by princely-boyar colonization until the beginning of the XII century, are determined. This is connected with the transformation of the Verkhneoksky volosts into the subject of long-term rivalry between the houses of Olgovich and Davidovich . Conclusion . The transformation of the Vyatich lands from a peripheral region into one of the epicenters of internecine confrontation can be associated with the conditions of feudal fragmentation. In the conditions of permanent dynastic competition, the smaller princely groups constantly needed to ensure their political claims by using the economic, communication and demographic potential of the territories of the Upper Oka.