Vsevolod II of Kiev has two sons, but his chosen successor is his brother, Igor, and he has obtained pledges from his subjects to accept Igor as his heir.

According to one account, Vsevolod even had the Kievans kiss the Holy Cross and swear loyalty to Igor, which they resented.

Shortly before his death in 1146, Vsevolod becomes a monk under the name Gavriil.

Igor II and his family, the Olgovichi, are unpopular and there is resistance against his accession.

The chroniclers accuse Igor of being dishonest, greedy, scheming, and violent.

He has reigned less than two weeks before the Kievans invite his cousin and rival, Iziaslav Msistislavich, the oldest son of Mstislav Vladimirovich, Kniaz' (Prince) of Novgorod, to be their prince.

Reneging on a promise he had made not to seek power, Iziaslav attacks and defeats Igor and his brother Svyatoslav.

Svyatoslav escapes, but Igor becomes entrapped in some marshes and is unable to flee because of an infirmity in his legs.

He is captured, and Iziaslav has him thrown into a pit, where he languishes until autumn 1146, when, desperately ill, he requests permission to become a monk.

Iziaslav releases him, but Igor is so weak he has to be carried from the pit and nearly dies of illness.

He becomes a monk at the monastery of St. Feodor in Kiev under the name Ignati.

Iziaslav, who is already Prince of Pereyaslav (1132), Prince of Turov (1132-1134), Prince of Rostov, (1134- ), Prince of Vladimir and Volyn (1134—1142), and Prince of Pereyaslavl (1143-1145), now becomes Velikiy Kniaz (Grand Prince) of Kiev.