[citation needed] Sviatoslav III Vsevolodovich was the sixth son of Vsevolod the Big Nest and Maria Shvarnovna.
Before his death, grand prince Vsevolod divided his territories between his sons; as soon as he died, the Vladimir-Suzdal war of succession (1212–1216) broke out between them.
[citation needed] Sviatoslav III's reign in Vladimir was short and uneventful.
In 1248, his nephew Mikhail Khorobrit of Moscow, in defiance of the centuries-old succession system, seized the city of Vladimir and ousted Sviatoslav back to Yuriev-Polsky.
Two years later, Sviatoslav and his son visited the Golden Horde, pleading with the Khan to reinstate him on the grand princely throne.