Yaroslav the Wise – Kyiv prince from the Rurik dynasty.
Place of Birth, Education
He was born in 978 or 979. His mother was Princess Rognida, the daughter of the Polotsk ruler, defeated by his father, Prince Vladimir the Great, who later baptized Russia.
Career
Yaroslav gained his first political experience at a young age. When he was 10 years old, his father appointed him to rule the Suzdal land.
Already in 1010, Vladimir instructed his son to rule Novgorod – the main trade and military center of the north of Kievan Rus. Yaroslav easily held power on the Novgorod throne, despite the obstinacy and belligerence of local residents and neighboring tribes.
In 1014, he refused to pay tribute to Kyiv in the amount of 2 thousand hryvnias. Because of this, his father was going to oppose him with an army the following summer, but died suddenly.
After the death of his father, Yaroslav decided to seize the Kyiv throne. In November 1015, the Novgorod army near Lyubech defeated the forces of the Kyiv prince Yaropolk. After the victory, Yaroslav entered Kiev, but a year later he was forced to retreat when Yaropolk returned with the army of his father-in-law, the Polish king Bolesław the Brave.
Having gathered new forces in Novgorod, Yaroslav defeated his brother on the territory of the modern Kyiv region and established power over almost all of Russia, except for Tmutarakan, which was ruled by his brother Mstislav.
Principality period
The newly-minted prince gradually limited the influence of the Varangians in state affairs and began to appoint representatives of the Polyans and other local tribes to leadership positions.
In 1023, Mstislav marched on Kyiv and even defeated Yaroslav’s army, but did not take power over the capital.
In 1026, they reached an agreement and divided Rus into two parts: the Chernihiv region and the lands on the left bank of the Dnieper passed to Mstislav. After his death in 1036, the state was again united under the rule of Yaroslav.
The main achievement of Yaroslav in domestic policy was the conclusion of the “Yaroslav’s Truth” – the first set of laws of Kievan Rus. The document consisted of 18 articles and provided mainly for monetary penalties for most offenses. Only for a few of the most serious crimes, blood feud against the victim’s relatives was allowed.
The prince’s foreign policy was marked by flexibility. The prince returned the Cherven cities to Rus, carried out campaigns against the tribes of the Baltic States and founded the city of Yuriev near Lake Peipus. He also eliminated the threat from the Pechenegs, who had long been a danger to Kyiv.
Wanting to strengthen the position of Kievan Rus in Europe, the prince established ties with the ruling families of the continent.
In 1019, he married Ingigerda, the daughter of the Norwegian king Olav Eirikson. His children also married representatives of European royal dynasties:
- eldest son Elijah – with the daughter of the Danish and English king Cnut;
- Iziaslav – with the daughter of the Polish ruler Casimir, Gertrude;
- Svyatoslav – with the granddaughter of the German Emperor Henry II;
- Vsevolod – with the Byzantine princess Maria;
- Igor – with the German princess Kunigunda.
Yaroslav’s four daughters – Elizabeth, Anastasia, Anna and Agatha – became queens of Norway, Slovakia, France and England. Thanks to such dynastic ties, the prince was nicknamed the “Father-in-law of Europe”.
After the victory over the Pechenegs in 1034, Yaroslav the Wise ordered the construction of the Hagia Sophia – the future main shrine of Kievan Rus. The temple was noted for its luxurious decoration, and the most famous Greek masters worked on its frescoes and mosaics.
Yaroslav also paid great attention to the development of the culture of Kievan Rus. During his reign, schools and places for copying books were opened in large cities . Kyiv also grew significantly. The area of the city has increased sevenfold. By order of the prince, the Golden Gate was erected – a solemn entrance to the capital, decorated with precious stones and metals.
Death/Fatalities
The death of his eldest son in 1052 deeply affected Yaroslav. Feeling old, he increasingly thought about the future of Kyiv and the whole state.
To prevent fratricidal wars between heirs, the prince decided to change the order of succession to the throne. He introduced a new principle – the throne was to be passed in order of seniority: first to the eldest son, and after his death – to the next oldest brother, and so on as long as all the sons of the ruler were alive.
Yaroslav the Wise died in 1054, and according to his will, power was divided among his sons:
- Iziaslav became the prince of Kyiv;
- Svyatoslav received the Chernihiv region;
- Murom and Tmutorokan, Vsevolod – Pereyaslav region, Suzdal and Rostovshchina;
- Igor – Volodymyr-Volynskyi;
- Vyacheslav inherited the Smolensk region.
Yaroslav the Wise: interesting facts
Among the interesting facts about the prince:
- After examining his burial, it turned out that the prince was lame, which in those days was considered a serious injury. Despite this, he was good with weapons and confidently kept in the saddle;
- Yaroslav had a large library, which, according to historians, numbered several thousand books. However, no traces of it have been found to this day. There are suggestions that the collection was either taken away by Batu’s troops or ended up in the treasures of Ivan the Terrible;
- The prince also played an important role in church life. During his reign, the Kyiv Metropolis was formed, subordinate to the Patriarch of Constantinople. In the 50s of the XI century, the first monasteries of Rus were founded – the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, St. Sophia of Kiev and the Iryninsky Cathedral.
