Grand Prince of Novgorod and Kiev I Yaroslav

Other Events:

• Name: Yaroslav I the Wise
• Reference Number: 15907

Notes:

Yaroslav I the Wise (East Slavic: ??????? ??????; Old Norse: Jarizleifr, c. 978 - February 20, 1054) was thrice Grand Prince of Novgorod and Kiev, uniting the two principalities for a time under his rule. During his lengthy reign, Kievan Rus' reached the zenith of its cultural flowering and military power.

Rise to the throne

Coins of Yaroslav and his descendants represent the trident.

Forensic facial reconstruction
The early years of Yaroslav's life are shrouded in mystery. He was one of the numerous sons of Volodymyr the Great, presumably his second by Rogneda of Polotsk, although his actual age (as stated in the Primary Chronicle and corroborated by the examination of his skeleton in the 1930s) would place him among the youngest children of Volodymyr. It has been suggested that he was a child begotten out of wedlock after Volodymyr's divorce from Rogneda and marriage to Anna Porphyrogeneta, or even that he was a child of Anna Porphyrogeneta herself. Yaroslav figures prominently in the Norse Sagas under the name of Jarisleif the Lame; his legendary lameness (probably resulting from an arrow wound) was corroborated by the scientists who examined his remains.
In his youth, Yaroslav was sent by his father to rule the northern lands around Rostov but was transferred to Novgorod, as befitted a senior heir to the throne, in 1010. While living there, he founded the town of Yaroslavl (literally, "Yaroslav's") on the Volga. His relations with father were apparently strained, and grew only worse on the news that Volodymyr bequeathed the Kievan throne to his younger son, Boris. In 1014 Yaroslav refused to pay tribute to Kiev and only Volodymyr's death prevented a war.
During the next four years Yaroslav waged a complicated and bloody war for Kiev against his half-brother Sviatopolk, who was supported by his father-in-law, Duke Boleslaw I Chrobry of Poland. During the course of this struggle, several other brothers (Boris, Gleb, and Svyatoslav) were brutally murdered. The Primary Chronicle accused Svyatopolk of planning those murders, while the Saga of Eymund is often interpreted as recounting the story of Boris's assassination by the Varangians in the service of Yaroslav.
Yaroslav defeated Svyatopolk in their first battle, in 1016, and Svyatopolk fled to Poland. But Svyatopolk returned with Polish troops furnished by his father-in-law, seized Kiev and pushed Yaroslav back into Novgorod. Yaroslav at last prevailed over Svyatopolk, and in 1019 firmly established his rule over Kiev. One of his first actions as a grand prince was to confer on the loyal Novgorodians (who had helped him to gain the Kievan throne), numerous freedoms and privileges. Thus, the foundation of the Novgorodian republic was laid. For their part, the Novgorodians respected Yaroslav more than they did other Kievan princes; and the princely residence in their city, next to the marketplace (and where the veche often convened) was named Yaroslavovo Dvorishche ("Yaroslav's Court") after him. It probably was during this period that Yaroslav promulgated the first code of laws in the East Slavic lands, "Yaroslav's Justice" (now better known as Russkaya Pravda, "Russian Truth").
[edit]Reign

Yaroslav's monument in Yaroslavl depicted on Russian 1000 roubles banknote

The Ukrainian hryvnia represents Yaroslav.

Eleventh-century fresco of St. Sophia Cathedral in Kiev representing the daughters of Yaroslav I, with Anna probably being the youngest. Other daughters were Anastasia, wife of Andrew I of Hungary; Elizabeth, wife of Harald III of Norway; and Agatha, wife of Edward the Exile.
Leaving aside the legitimacy of Yaroslav's claims to the Kievan throne and his postulated guilt in the murder of his brothers, Nestor the Chronicler and later Russian historians often presented him as a model of virtue, styling him "the Wise". A less appealing side of his personality is revealed by his having imprisoned his younger brother Sudislav for life. Yet another brother, Mstislav of Tmutarakan, whose distant realm bordered the Northern Caucasus and the Black Sea, hastened to Kiev and inflicted a heavy defeat on Yaroslav in 1024. Yaroslav and Mstislav then divided Kievan Rus between them: the area stretching left from the Dnieper, with the capital at Chernihiv, was ceded to Mstislav until his death in 1036.
In his foreign policy, Yaroslav relied on the Scandinavian alliance and attempted to weaken the Byzantine influence on Kiev. In 1030, he reconquered Red Rus from the Poles and concluded an alliance with King Casimir I of Poland, sealed by the latter's marriage to Yaroslav's sister Maria. In another successful military raid the same year, he founded Yuriev (named after Saint George, or "Yury", Yaroslav's patron saint) and forced the surrounding province of Ugaunia to pay annual tribute.

One of many statues of Yaroslav holding the "Russkaya Pravda" in his hand. See another image here.
In 1043, Yaroslav staged a naval raid against Constantinople led by his son Vladimir and general Vyshata. Although the Rus' navy was defeated, Yaroslav managed to conclude the war with a favourable treaty and prestigious marriage of his son Vsevolod to the emperor's daughter. It has been suggested that the peace was so advantageous because the Kievans had succeeded in taking a key Byzantine possession in Crimea, Chersones.
To defend his state from the Pechenegs and other nomadic tribes threatening it from the south he constructed a line of forts, composed of Yuriev, Boguslav, Kaniv, Korsun, and Pereyaslav. To celebrate his decisive victory over the Pechenegs in 1036 (who thereupon never were a threat to Kiev) he sponsored the construction of the Saint Sophia Cathedral in 1037. Other celebrated monuments of his reign, such as the Golden Gates of Kiev, have since perished.
Yaroslav was a notable patron of book culture and learning. In 1051, he had a Russian monk Ilarion proclaimed the metropolitan of Kiev, thus challenging old Byzantine tradition of placing Greeks on the episcopal sees. Ilarion's discourse on Yaroslav and his father Vladimir is frequently cited as the first work of Old Russian literature.
[edit]Family life and posterity

In 1019, Yaroslav married Ingegerd Olofsdotter, daughter of the king of Sweden, and gave Ladoga to her as a marriage gift. There are good reasons to believe that before that time he had been married to a woman named Anna, of disputed extraction.[citation needed]
The Saint Sophia Cathedral houses a fresco representing the whole family: Yaroslav, Irene (as Ingegerd was known in Rus), their five daughters and five sons. Yaroslav had three of his daughters married to foreign princes who lived in exile at his court: Elizabeth of Kiev to Harald III of Norway (who had attained her hand by his military exploits in the Byzantine Empire); Anastasia of Kiev to the future Andrew I of Hungary, and the youngest daughter Anne of Kiev married Henry I of France and was the regent of France during their son's minority. Another daughter may have been the Agatha who married Edward the Exile, heir to the throne of England and was the mother of Edgar Ætheling and St. Margaret of Scotland.

Sarcophagus of Yaroslav the Wise.
Yaroslav had one son from the first marriage (his Christian name being Ilya (?-1020)), and 6 sons from the second marriage. Apprehending the danger that could ensue from divisions between brothers, he exhorted them to live in peace with each other. The eldest of these, Vladimir of Novgorod, best remembered for building the Saint Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod, predeceased his father. Three other sons-Iziaslav, Sviatoslav, and Vsevolod-reigned in Kiev one after another. The youngest children of Yaroslav were Igor (1036-1060) of Volyn and Vyacheslav (1036-1057) of Smolensk.
[edit]Legacy

Four different towns in four different countries were found by and named after Yaroslav: Jaroslaw (in today's Poland), Yaroslavl (in today's Russia), Yuryev (now Tartu, Estonia) and another Yuryev (now Bila Tserkva, Ukraine). "Yuriy" was a Christian name of Prince Yaroslav. Also, derived from the Russian custom of naming military objects such as tanks & planes after historic characters, The helmet worn by many russian soldiers during the Crimean War was called the "Helmet of Yaroslav Mudry". It was the first pointed helmet to be used by any army, even before any German armies wore pointed helmets.
[edit]See also

List of Ukrainian rulers
List of rulers of the Kievan Rus
List of Russian rulers
[edit]Sources

Martin, Janet (1995). Medieval Russia, 980-1584. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-36276-8.
Nazarenko, A. V. (2001) (in Russian). Drevniaia Rus’ na mezhdunarodnykh putiakh: mezhdistsiplinarnye ocherki kul’turnykh, torgovykh, politicheskikh sviazei IX-XII vekov. Moscow: Russian History Institute. ISBN 5-7859-0085-8.

I — Ingegerd Olofsdotter of Sweden. Ingegerd (daughter of Olof Skötkonung and Estrid of The Obotrites) was born 1001; died 10 Feb 1050. [Group Sheet]

1. Anne of Kiev was born Abt 1024; died 1075; was buried , La-Ferte-Alais, Essonne, France.

Other Events:

• Name: Vladimir Svyatoslavich the Great
• Reference Number: 15909

Notes:

Vladimir Svyatoslavich the Great, also sometimes spelled Volodymer Old East Slavic: ?????????? ???????????? (c. 958 - 15 July 1015, Berestovo) was the grand prince of Kiev who converted to Christianity in 988[1][2][3], and proceeded to baptise the whole Kievan Rus'. His name is spelt variously: in modern Ukrainian, for example, as Volodymyr (?????????); in Old Church Slavonic and modern Russian, as Vladimir (????????); in Old Norse as Valdamarr; and, in modern Scandinavian languages, "Valdemar".

Way to the throne

Vladimir and Rogneda (1770).
Vladimir was born in 958 and was the youngest son of Sviatoslav I of Kiev by his housekeeper Malusha, described in the Norse sagas as a prophetess who lived to the age of 100 and was brought from her cave to the palace to predict the future. Malusha's brother Dobrynya was Vladimir's tutor and most trusted advisor. Hagiographic tradition of dubious authenticity also connects his childhood with the name of his grandmother, Olga Prekrasa, who was Christian and governed the capital during Sviatoslav's frequent military campaigns.
Transferring his capital to Pereyaslavets in 969, Sviatoslav designated Vladimir ruler of Novgorod the Great but gave Kiev to his legitimate son Yaropolk. After Sviatoslav's death (972), a fratricidal war erupted (976) between Yaropolk and his younger brother Oleg, ruler of the Drevlians. In 977 Vladimir fled to his kinsmen Haakon Sigurdsson, ruler of Norway in Scandinavia, collecting as many of the Viking warriors as he could to assist him to recover Novgorod, and on his return the next year marched against Yaropolk.
On his way to Kiev he sent ambassadors to Rogvolod (Norse: Ragnvald), prince of Polotsk, to sue for the hand of his daughter Rogneda (Norse: Ragnhild). The well-born princess refused to affiance herself to the son of a bondswoman, but Vladimir attacked Polotsk, slew Rogvolod, and took Ragnhild by force. Actually, Polotsk was a key fortress on the way to Kiev, and the capture of Polotsk and Smolensk facilitated the taking of Kiev (980), where he slew Yaropolk by treachery, and was proclaimed konung, or khagan, of all Kievan Rus.
[edit]Years of pagan rule

Vladimir continued to expand his territories beyond his father's extensive domain. In 981, he conquered the Cherven cities, the modern Galicia; in 983, he subdued the Yatvingians, whose territories lay between Lithuania and Poland; in 985, he led a fleet along the central rivers of Kievan Rus' to conquer the Bulgars of the Kama, planting numerous fortresses and colonies on his way.
Though Christianity had won many converts since Olga's rule, Vladimir had remained a thoroughgoing pagan, taking eight hundred concubines (besides numerous wives) and erecting pagan statues and shrines to gods. He may have attempted to reform Slavic paganism by establishing the thunder-god, Perun, as a supreme deity. "Although Christianity in Kiev existed before Vladimir’s time, he had remained a pagan, accumulated about seven wives, established temples, and, it is said, taken part in idolatrous rites involving human sacrifice." [4]
“In 983, after another of his military successes, Prince Vladimir and his army thought it necessary to sacrifice human lives to the gods. A lot was cast and it fell on a youth, Ioann by name, the son of a Christian, Fyodor. His father stood firmly against his son being sacrificed to the idols. More than that, he tried to show the pagans the futility of their faith: ‘Your gods are just plain wood: it is here now but it may rot into oblivion tomorrow; your gods neither eat, nor drink, nor talk and are made by human hand from wood; whereas there is only one God - He is worshipped by Greeks and He created heaven and earth; and your gods? They have created nothing, for they have been created themselves; never will I give my son to the devils!’”
An open abuse of the deities, to which most Russians bowed in reverence in those times, triggered widespread indignation. Rampant crowds killed the Christian Fyodor and his son Ioann (later, after the overall christening of Russia, people came to regard these two as the first Christian martyrs in Russia and the Orthodox Church set a day to commemorate them, July 25th).
Immediately after the murder of Fyodor and Ioann, early mediaeval Russia saw persecutions against Christians, many of whom escaped or concealed their belief.
However, Prince Vladimir mused over the incident long after, and not in the last place, for political considerations too. The chronicles have it that different preachers came to the Prince, each offering a particular faith. Vladimir spoke to Muslims, Catholics, and Jews, but for different reasons rejected all the religions. Finally, a Greek philosopher told the prince of the Old and New Testaments and presented him with a canvas depicting Doomsday. When he learned of the fate of the unrepentant were in for, Prince Vladimir was benumbed by terror and after a short pause said with a sigh: “Blessed are the doers of good and damned are the evil doers!”" [5]
[edit]Baptism of Rus'

Main article: Christianization of Kievan Rus'

The Baptism of Saint Prince Vladimir, by Viktor Vasnetsov (1890)

Icon of Saint Vladimir, Novgorod, 16th century
The Primary Chronicle reports that in the year 987, as the result of a consultation with his boyars, Vladimir sent envoys to study the religions of the various neighboring nations whose representatives had been urging him to embrace their respective faiths. The result is amusingly described by the chronicler Nestor. Of the Muslim Bulgarians of the Volga the envoys reported there is no gladness among them; only sorrow and a great stench. They also said that the Bulgars' religion was undesirable due to its taboo against alcoholic beverages and pork[citation needed]; supposedly, Vladimir said on that occasion: "Drinking is the joy of the Rus'."[citation needed] Russian sources also describe Vladimir consulting with Jewish envoys (who may or may not have been Khazars), and questioning them about their religion but ultimately rejecting it, saying that their loss of Jerusalem was evidence of their having been abandoned by God[citation needed]. Ultimately Vladimir settled on Christianity. In the churches of the Germans his emissaries saw no beauty; but at Constantinople, where the full festival ritual of the Byzantine Church was set in motion to impress them, they found their ideal: "We no longer knew whether we were in heaven or on earth," they reported, describing a majestic Divine Liturgy in Hagia Sophia, "nor such beauty, and we know not how to tell of it." If Vladimir was impressed by this account of his envoys, he was yet more so by political gains of the Byzantine alliance.[citation needed]

A mid-19th century statue overlooking the Dnieper at Kiev, by Peter Klodt and Vasily Demut-Malinovsky
In 988, having taken the town of Chersonesos in Crimea, he boldly negotiated for the hand of the emperor Basil II's sister, Anna. Never before had a Byzantine imperial princess, and one "born-in-the-purple" at that, married a barbarian, as matrimonial offers of French kings and German emperors had been peremptorily rejected. In short, to marry the 27-year-old princess off to a pagan Slav seemed impossible. Vladimir, however, was baptized at Cherson, taking the Christian name of Basil out of compliment to his imperial brother-in-law; the sacrament was followed by his wedding with Anna. Returning to Kiev in triumph, he destroyed pagan monuments and established many churches, starting with the splendid Church of the Tithes (989) and monasteries on Mt. Athos.
Arab sources, both Muslim and Christian, present a different story of Vladimir's conversion. Yahya of Antioch, al-Rudhrawari, al-Makin, al-Dimashki, and ibn al-Athir[6] all give essentially the same account. In 987, Bardas Sclerus and Bardas Phocas revolted against the Byzantine emperor Basil II. Both rebels briefly joined forces, but then Bardas Phocas proclaimed himself emperor on September 14, 987. Basil II turned to the Kievan Rus' for assistance, even though they were considered enemies at that time. Vladimir agreed, in exchange for a marital tie; he also agreed to accept Orthodox Christianity as his religion and bring his people to the new faith. When the wedding arrangements were settled, Vladimir dispatched 6,000 troops to the Byzantine Empire and they helped to put down the revolt.[7]
[edit]Christian reign

Modern statue of Vladimir in London
He then formed a great council out of his boyars, and set his twelve sons over his subject principalities.
It is mentioned in the Primary Chronicle that Vladimir founded the city of Belgorod in 991.
In 992 he went on a campaign against the Croats, most likely the White Croats (an East Slavic group unrelated to the Croats of Dalmatia) that lived on the border of modern Ukraine. This campaign was cut short by the attacks of the Pechenegs on and around Kiev.
In his later years he lived in a relative peace with his other neighbors: Boleslav I of Poland, Stephen I of Hungary, Andrikh the Czech (questionable character mentioned in A Tale of the Bygone Years).
After Anna's death, he married again, most likely to a granddaughter of Otto the Great.
In 1014 his son Yaroslav the Wise stopped paying tribute. Vladimir decided to chastise the insolence of his son, and began gathering troops against Yaroslav. However, Vladimir fell ill, most likely of old age and died at Berestovo, near Kiev.
The various parts of his dismembered body were distributed among his numerous sacred foundations and were venerated as relics.
[edit]Family

Main article: Family life and children of Vladimir I
The fate of all Vladimir's daughters is uncertain whose number is around nine.
Olava or Allogia (Varangian), speculative she might have been mother of Vysheslav while others claim that it is a confusion with Helena Lekapena
Vysheslav (~977-~1010), Prince of Novgorod (988 - 1010)
a widow of Yaropolk I, a Greek nun
Sviatopolk the Accursed (~979), possibly the surviving son of Yaropolk
Rogneda (the daughter of Rogvolod), later upon divorce she entered a convent taking the Christian name of Anastasia
Yaroslav the Wise (no ealier than 983), Prince of Rostov (987-1010), Prince of Novgorod (1010-1034), Grand Prince of Kyiv (1016-1018, 1019-1054). Possibly he was a son of Anna rather than Rogneda. Another interesting fact that he was younger than Sviatopolk according to the words of Boris in the Tale of Bygone Years and not as it was officially known. Also the fact of him being the Prince of Rostov is highly doubtful although not discarded.
Vsevolod (~984-1013), possibly the Swedish Prince Wissawald of Volyn (~1000)
Mstislav, other Mstislav that possibly died as an infant if he was ever born
Mstislav of Chernigov (~983), Prince of Tmutarakan (990-1036), Prince of Chernigov (1024-1036), other sources claim him to be son of other mothers (Adela, Malfrida, or some other Bulgarian wife)
Izyaslav of Polotsk(~979, Kyiv), Prince of Polotsk (989-1001)
Predslava, a concubine of Boleslaw I Chrobry according to Gesta principum Polonorum
Premislava, (? - 1015), some source state that she was a wife of the Duke Laszlo (Vladislav) the Bold of Arpadians
Mstislava, in 1018 was taken by Boleslaw I Chrobry among the other daughters
Bulgarian Adela, some sources claim that Adela is not necessarily Bulgarian as Boris and Gleb were born from some other wife
Boris (~986), Prince of Rostov (~1010-1015), remarkable is the fact that Rostov Principality as well as the Principality of Murom used to border the territory of Volga Bolgars
Gleb (~987), Prince of Murom (1013-1015), as Boris, Gleb is being also claimed the son of Anna Porphyrogeneta
Stanislav (~985-1015), Prince of Smolensk (988-1015), possible of another wife and a fate of whom is not certain
Sudislav (?-1063), Prince of Pskov (1014-1036), possible of another wife, but he is mentioned in Nikon's Chronicles. He spent 35 years in prison and later before dying turned into a monk.
Malfrida
Sviatoslav (~982-1015), Prince of Drevlians (990-1015)
Anna Porphyrogeneta
Theofana, a wife of Novgorod posadnik Ostromir, a grandson of semi-legendary Dobrynya (highly doubtful is the fact of her being Anna's offspring)
a granddaughter of Otto the Great (possibly Rechlinda Otona [Regelindis])
Maria (~1012), the Duchess of Poland (1040-1087)
Agatha, a theoretical daughter according to Jette
other possible family
a out-of-marriage daughter (?-1044), a wife of the Nordmark Margrave Bernard
Pozvizd (prior to 988-?), a son of Vladimir according to Hustyn Chronicles. He, possibly, was the Prince Khrisokhir mentioned by Niketas Choniates.
[edit]Vladimir's significance and historical footprint

One of the largest Kievan cathedrals is dedicated to him. The University of Kiev was named after the man who Christianized Kievan Rus. There is the Russian Order of St. Vladimir and Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary in the United States. The Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches celebrate the feast day of St. Vladimir on 15 July.
His memory was also kept alive by innumerable Russian folk ballads and legends, which refer to him as Krasno Solnyshko, that is, the Fair Sun. With him the Varangian period of Eastern Slavic history ceases and the Christian period begins.

Other Events:

• Name: Sviatoslav Igorevich
• Reference Number: 15910

Notes:

Sviatoslav I Igorevich (Old East Slavic: ?~??????? / ??a???????[1] ?????????, Sventoslavu / Svantoslavu Igorevici; Ukrainian: ????????? ????????, Svyatoslav Igorovic; Svetoslav; Russian: ????????? ????????, Svyatoslav Igorevic; Bulgarian: ?????????, Greek: Sfe?d?s???ß??, Sphendosthlabos; c. 942 - March 972), also spelled Svyatoslav, was a warrior prince of Kievan Rus'. The son of Igor of Kiev and Olga, Sviatoslav is famous for his incessant campaigns in the east and south, which precipitated the collapse of two great powers of Eastern Europe-Khazaria and the First Bulgarian Empire; he also subdued the Volga Bulgars, the Alans, and numerous East Slavic tribes, and at times was allied with the Pechenegs and Magyars. His decade-long reign over Rus' was marked by rapid expansion into the Volga River valley, the Pontic steppe and the Balkans. By the end of his short life, Sviatoslav carved out for himself the largest state in Europe, eventually moving his capital from Kiev to Pereyaslavets on the Danube in 969. In contrast with his mother's conversion to Christianity, Sviatoslav remained a staunch pagan all of his life. Due to his abrupt death in combat, Sviatoslav's conquests, for the most part, were not consolidated into a functioning empire, while his failure to establish a stable succession led to civil war among his successors.

Personality

The Kievan Rus' at the beginning of Sviatoslav's reign (in red), showing his sphere of influence to 972 (in orange)
Sviatoslav was the first true ruler of Kievan Rus' whose name is indisputably Slavic in origin (as opposed to his predecessors, whose names are ultimately derived from Old Norse). This name is not recorded in other medieval Slavic countries. Even in Rus', it was attested only among the members of the house of Rurik, as were the names of Sviatoslav's immediate successors: Vladimir, Yaroslav, Mstislav).[2] Some scholars speculate that the name of Sviatoslav, composed of the Slavic roots for "holy" and "glory", was an artificial derivation combining those of his predecessors Oleg and Rurik (they mean "holy" and "glorious" in Old Norse, respectively).[3]
Virtually nothing is known about his childhood and youth, which he spent reigning in Novgorod. Sviatoslav's father, Igor, was killed by the Drevlians around 942 and his mother, Olga, ruled as regent in Kiev until Sviatoslav's maturity (ca. 963).[4] His tutor was a Varangian named Asmud. "Quick as a leopard,"[5] Sviatoslav appears to have had little patience for administration. His life was spent with his druzhina (roughly, "troops") in permanent warfare against neighboring states. According to the Primary Chronicle:

Ship burial of Igor the Old in 945, depicted by Henryk Siemiradzki (1843-1902).
“ Upon his expeditions he carried with him neither wagons nor kettles, and boiled no meat, but cut off small strips of horseflesh, game or beef, and ate it after roasting it on the coals. Nor did he have a tent, but he spread out a horse-blanket under him, and set his saddle under his head, and all his retinue did likewise.[6] ”
Sviatoslav was noted by Leo the Deacon to be of average height and build. He shaved his head and his beard (or possibly just had a wispy beard) but wore a bushy mustache and a one or two sidelocks as a sign of his nobility. He preferred to dress in white, and it was noted that his garments were much cleaner than those of his men. He wore a single large gold earring bearing a ruby and two pearls.[7][8]
His mother converted to Christianity at the court of Byzantine Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus in 945 or 957. However,[9] Sviatoslav continued to worship Perun, Veles, Svarog and the other gods and goddesses of the Slavic pantheon. He remained a pagan for all of his life; according to the Primary Chronicle, he believed that his warriors would lose respect for him and mock him if he became a Christian.[10] The allegiance of his warriors was of paramount importance in his conquest of an empire that stretched from the Volga to the Danube.
[edit]Family

Svjatoslav's mother, Olga, with her escort in Constantinople, a miniature from the late 11th-century chronicle of John Skylitzes.
Very little is known of Sviatoslav's family life. It is possible that Sviatoslav was not the only (and the eldest) son of his parents. The Russo-Byzantine treaty of 945 mentions a certain Predslava, Volodislav's wife, as the noblest of the Rus' women after Olga. George Vernadsky was among many historians to speculate that Volodislav was Igor's eldest son and heir who died at some point during Olga's regency. At the time of Igor's death, Sviatoslav was still a child and he was raised by his mother or at her instructions. Her influence, however, did not extend to his religious observance.
Sviatoslav, had several children, but the origin of his wives is not specified in the chronicle. By his wives, he had Yaropolk and Oleg.[11] By Malusha, a woman of indeterminate origins,[12] Sviatoslav had Vladimir, who would ultimately break with his father's paganism and convert Rus to Christianity. John Skylitzes reported that Vladimir had a brother named Sfengus; whether this Sfengus was a son of Sviatoslav, a son of Malusha by a prior or subsequent husband, or an unrelated Rus' nobleman is unclear.[13]
When Sviatoslav went on campaign he left his various relations as regents in the main cities of his realm: his mother Olga and later Yaropolk in Kiev, Vladimir in Novgorod, and Oleg over the Drevlians.
[edit]Cousins
The following people are mentioned as the Igor's nephews:
Sludy
Prasten Akun
[edit]Sons
Oleg
Yaropolk
Vladimir, a son of Malusha (supposedly slavanized version of Malfried)
[edit]Eastern campaigns

The site of the Khazar fortress at Sarkel, sacked by Sviatoslav c. 965 (aerial photo from excavations conducted by Mikhail Artamonov in the 1930s)
Shortly after his accession to the throne, Sviatoslav began campaigning to expand the Rus control over the Volga valley and the Pontic steppe region. His greatest success was the conquest of Khazaria, which for centuries had been one of the strongest states of Eastern Europe. The sources are not clear about the roots of the conflict between Khazaria and Rus', so several possibilities have been suggested. The Rus' had an interest in removing the Khazar hold on the Volga trade route because the Khazars collected duties from the goods transported by the Volga. Historians have suggested that the Byzantine Empire may have incited the Rus' against the Khazars, who fell out with the Byzantines after the persecutions of the Jews in the reign of Romanus I Lecapenus.[14]
Sviatoslav began by rallying the Khazars' East Slavic vassal tribes to his cause. Those who would not join him, such as the Vyatichs, were attacked and forced to pay tribute to the Kievan Rus' rather than the Khazars.[15] According to a legend recorded in the Primary Chronicle, Sviatoslav sent a message to the Vyatich rulers, consisting of a single phrase: "I want to come at you!" (Old East Slavic: "???? ?? ?? ???")[16] This phrase is used in modern Russian (usually misquoted as "??? ?? ??") to denote an unequivocal declaration of one's intentions. Proceeding by the Oka and Volga rivers, he invaded Volga Bulgaria and exacted tribute from the local population, thus bringing under Kievan control the upper Volga River. He employed Oghuz and Pecheneg mercenaries in this campaign, perhaps to counter the Khazars' and Bulgars' superior cavalry.[17]
Sviatoslav destroyed the Khazar city of Sarkel around 965, and possibly sacked (but did not occupy) the Khazar city of Kerch on the Crimea.[18] At Sarkel he established a Rus' settlement called Belaya Vyezha ("the white tower" or "the white fortress", the East Slavic translation for "Sarkel").[19] He subsequently (probably in 968 or 969) destroyed the Khazar capital of Atil.[20] A visitor to Atil wrote soon after Sviatoslav's campaign: "The Rus attacked, and no grape or raisin remained, not a leaf on a branch."[21] The exact chronology of his Khazar campaign is uncertain and disputed; for example, Mikhail Artamonov and David Christian proposed that the sack of Sarkel came after the destruction of Atil.[22]
Although Ibn Haukal reports Sviatoslav's sack of Samandar in modern-day Dagestan, the Rus' leader did not bother to occupy the Khazar heartlands north of the Caucasus Mountains permanently. On his way back to Kiev, Sviatoslav chose to strike against the Ossetians and force them into subservience.[23] Therefore, Khazar successor statelets continued their precarious existence in the region.[24] The destruction of Khazar imperial power paved the way for Kievan Rus' to dominate north-south trade routes through the steppe and across the Black Sea, routes that formerly had been a major source of revenue for the Khazars. Moreover, Sviatoslav's campaigns led to increased Slavic settlement in the region of the Saltovo-Mayaki culture, greatly changing the demographics and culture of the transitional area between the forest and the steppe.[25]
[edit]Campaigns in the Balkans

Pursuit of Sviatoslav's warriors by the Byzantine army, a miniature from 11th-century chronicles of John Skylitzes.

Siatoslav invading Bulgaria; Manasses Chronicle
The annihilation of Khazaria was undertaken against the background of the Rus'-Byzantine alliance, concluded in the wake of Igor's Byzantine campaign in 944.[26] Close military ties between the Rus' and Byzantium are illustrated by the fact, reported by John Skylitzes, that a Rus' detachment accompanied Byzantine Emperor Nicephorus Phocas in his victorious naval expedition to Crete.
In 967 or 968[27] Nicephorus sent to Sviatoslav his agent, Kalokyros, with the task of talking Sviatoslav into assisting him in a war against Bulgaria.[28] Sviatoslav was paid 15,000 pounds of gold and set sail with an army of 60,000 men, including thousands of Pecheneg mercenaries.[29][30]
Sviatoslav defeated the Bulgarian ruler Boris II[31] and proceeded to occupy the whole of northern Bulgaria. Meanwhile, the Byzantines bribed the Pechenegs to attack and besiege Kiev, where Olga stayed with Sviatoslav's son Vladimir. The siege was relieved by the druzhina of Pretich, and immediately following the Pecheneg retreat, Olga sent a reproachful letter to Sviatoslav. He promptly returned and defeated the Pechenegs, who continued to threaten Kiev.
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v • d • e
Rus'-Byzantine Wars
830s - 860 - 907 - 941 - 968-71 - 988 - 1024 - 1043

Boris Chorikov. Sviatoslav's Council of War.
Sviatoslav refused to turn his Balkan conquests over to the Byzantines, and the parties fell out as a result. To the chagrin of his boyars and mother (who died within three days after learning about his decision), Sviatoslav decided to move his capital to Pereyaslavets in the mouth of the Danube due to the great potential of that location as a commercial hub. In the Primary Chronicle record for 969, Sviatoslav explains that it is to Pereyaslavets, the centre of his lands, "all the riches flow: gold, silks, wine, and various fruits from Greece, silver and horses from Hungary and Bohemia, and from Rus furs, wax, honey, and slaves".
In summer 969, Sviatoslav left Rus' again, dividing his dominion into three parts, each under a nominal rule of one of his sons. At the head of an army that included Pecheneg and Magyar auxiliary troops, he invaded Bulgaria again, devastating Thrace, capturing the city of Philippopolis, and massacring its inhabitants. Niceforus responded by fortifying the defenses of Constantinople and raising new squadrons of armored cavalry. In the midst of his preparations, Niceforus was overthrown and killed by John Tzimiskes, who thus became the new Byzantine emperor.[32]
John Tzimiskes first attempted to persuade Sviatoslav into leaving Bulgaria, but was unsuccessful. Challenging the Byzantine authority, Sviatoslav crossed the Danube and laid siege to Adrianople, causing panic on the streets of Constantinople in summer 970.[33] Later that year, the Byzantines launched a counteroffensive. Being occupied with suppressing a revolt of Bardas Phocas in Asia Minor, John Tzimiskes sent his commander-in-chief, Bardas Sklerus, who defeated the coalition of Rus', Pechenegs, Magyars, and Bulgarians in the Battle of Arcadiopolis.[34] Meanwhile, John, having quelled the revolt of Bardas Phocas, came to the Balkans with a large army and promoting himself as the liberator of Bulgaria from Sviatoslav, penetrated the impracticable mountain passes and shortly thereafter captured Marcianopolis, where the Rus were holding a number of Bulgar princes hostage.

Siege of Durostorum in Manasses Chronicle
Sviatoslav retreated to Dorostol, which the Byzantine armies besieged for sixty-five days. Cut off and surrounded, Sviatoslav came to terms with John and agreed to abandon the Balkans, renounce his claims to the southern Crimea and return west of the Dnieper River. In return, the Byzantine emperor supplied the Rus' with food and safe passage home. Sviatoslav and his men set sail and landed on Berezan Island at the mouth of the Dnieper, where they made camp for the winter. Several months later, their camp was devastated by famine, so that even a horse's head could not be bought for less than a half-grivna, reports the Kievan chronicler of the Primary Chronicle.[35] While Sviatoslav's campaign brought no tangible results for the Rus', it weakened the Bulgarian statehood and left it vulnerable to the attacks of Basil the Bulgar-Slayer four decades later.
[edit]Death and aftermath

The Death of Sviatoslav by Boris Chorikov.
Fearing that the peace with Sviatoslav would not endure, the Byzantine emperor induced the Pecheneg khan Kurya to kill Sviatoslav before he reached Kiev. This was in line with the policy outlined by Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus in De Administrando Imperio of fomenting strife between the Rus' and the Pechenegs.[36] According to the Slavic chronicle, Sveneld attempted to warn Sviatoslav to avoid the Dnieper cataracts, but the prince slighted his wise advice and was ambushed and slain by the Pechenegs when he tried to cross the cataracts near Khortitsa early in 972. The Primary Chronicle reports that his skull was made into a chalice by the Pecheneg khan, Kurya.[37]
Following Sviatoslav's death, tensions between his sons grew. A war broke out between Sviatoslav's legitimate sons, Oleg and Yaropolk, in 976, at the conclusion of which Oleg was killed. In 977 Vladimir fled Novgorod to escape Oleg's fate and went to Scandinavia, where he raised an army of Varangians and returned in 980. Yaropolk was killed and Vladimir became the sole ruler of Kievan Rus'.
[edit]In art and literature

Ivan Akimov. Sviatoslav's Return from the Danube to His Family in Kiev (1773)
Sviatoslav has long been a hero of Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian patriots due to his great military successes. His figure first attracted attention of Russian artists and poets during the Russo-Turkish War, 1768-1774, which provided obvious parallels with Sviatoslav's push towards Constaninople. Russia's southward expansion and Catherine II's imperialistic ventures in the Balkans seemed to have been legitimized by Sviatoslav's campaigns eight centuries earlier.
Among the works created during the war was Yakov Knyazhnin's tragedy Olga (1772). The Russian playwright chose to introduce Sviatoslav as his protagonist, although his active participation in the events following Igor's death is out of sync with the traditional chronology. Knyazhnin's rival Nikolai Nikolev (1758-1815) also wrote a play on the subject of Sviatoslav's life. Ivan Akimov's painting Sviatoslav's Return from the Danube to Kiev (1773) explores the conflict between military honour and family attachment. It is a vivid example of Poussinesque rendering of early medieval subject matter.

Eugene Lanceray, "Sviatoslav on the way to Tsargrad", (1886)
In the 19th century, interest in Sviatoslav's career waned. Klavdiy Lebedev depicted an episode of Sviatoslav's meeting with Emperor John in his well-known painting, while Eugene Lanceray sculpted an equestrian statue of Sviatoslav in the early 20th century.[38] Sviatoslav appears in the Slavophile poems of Velimir Khlebnikov as an epitome of militant Slavdom:
?????????? ??? ?????, Pouring the famed juice of the Danube
??????? ? ????? ?????, Into the depth of my head,
????? ???? ?, ????????? I shall drink and remember
??????? ????: "??? ?? ??!". The cry of the bright ones: "I come at you!"[39]

Controversial statue of Sviatoslav I trampling a Khazar warrior. The statue was designed by Vyacheslav Klykov.
He is the villain of Samuel Gordon's novel The Lost Kingdom, or the Passing of the Khazars,[40] a fictionalized account of the destruction of Khazaria by the Rus'. The Slavic warrior figures in a more positive context in the story "Chernye Strely Vyaticha" by Vadim Viktorovich Kargalov; the story is included in his book Istoricheskie povesti.[41]
In 2005, reports circulated that a village in the Belgorod region had erected a monument to Sviatoslav's victory over the Khazars by the Russian sculptor Vyacheslav Klykov. The reports described the 13-meter tall statue as depicting a Rus' cavalryman trampling a supine Khazar bearing a Star of David. This created an outcry within the Jewish community of Russia. The controversy was further exacerbated by Klykov's connections with Pamyat and other anti-Semitic organizations, as well as by his involvement in the "letter of 500", a controversial appeal to the Prosecutor General to review all Jewish organizations in Russia for extremism.[42] The Press Center of the Belgorod Regional Administration responded by stating that a planned monument to Sviatoslav had not yet been constructed, but would show "respect towards representatives of all nationalities and religions."[43] When the statue was unveiled, the shield bore a twelve-pointed star.

Other Events:

• Reference Number: 15911

Notes:

gor (Ukrainian: ????, Russian: ?????, Old Norse: Ingvar) was a Varangian ruler of Kievan Rus from 912 to 945.

Biography

Very little is known about him from the Primary Chronicle. It has been speculated that the chroniclers chose not to enlarge on his reign, as the region was dominated by Khazaria at that time.[citation needed] That he was Rurik's son is also questioned on chronological grounds.
He twice besieged Constantinople, in 941 and 944, and in spite of his fleet being destroyed by Greek fire, concluded with the Emperor a favourable treaty whose text is preserved in the chronicle. In 913 and 944, the Rus plundered the Arabs in the Caspian Sea during the Caspian expeditions of the Rus, but it's not clear whether Igor had anything to do with these campaigns.
Drastically revising the chronology of the Primary Chronicle, Constantine Zuckerman argues that Igor actually reigned for three years, between summer 941 and his death in early 945. He explains the epic 33-year span of his reign in the chronicle by its author's faulty interpretation of Byzantine sources.[1] Indeed, none of Igor's activity are recorded in the chronicle prior to 941.

Prince Igor Exacting Tribute from the Drevlyans, by Klavdiy Lebedev (1852-1916).
Igor was killed while collecting tribute from the Drevlians in 945 (Leo the Deacon describes how Igor met his death: "They had bent down two birch trees to the prince’s feet and tied them to his legs; then they let the trees straighten again, thus tearing the prince’s body apart."[2]) and avenged by his wife, Olga of Kiev. The Primary Chronicle blames his death on his own excessive greed, indicating that he was attempting to collect tribute a second time in a month. As a result, Olga changed the system of tribute gathering (poliudie) in what may be regarded as the first legal reform recorded in Eastern Europe.

— Olga. was born 890; died 11 Jul 969, Kiev, Kyiv, Ukraine. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Reference Number: 15912

Notes:

Saint Olga (Russian and Ukrainian: ?????, also called Olga Prekrasa (????? ????????), or Olga the Beauty, Old Norse: Helga; born c. 890 died July 11 969, Kiev) was a ruler of Kievan Rus as regent (945-c. 963) for her son, Svyatoslav.

Biography

Olga was a Pskov woman of Varangian extraction who married the future Igor of Kiev, arguably in 903. The Primary Chronicle gives 879 as her date of birth, which is rather unlikely, given the fact that her only son was probably born some 65 years after that date. After Igor's death, she ruled Kievan Rus as regent (945-c. 963) for their son, Svyatoslav.
At the start of her reign, Olga spent great effort to avenge her husband's death at the hands of the Drevlians, and succeeded in slaughtering many of them and interring some in a ship burial, while still alive. She is reputed to have scalded captives to death and another, probably apocryphal, story tells of how she destroyed a town hostile to her. She asked that each household present her with a dove as a gift, then tied burning papers to the legs of each dove which she then released to fly back to their homes. Each avian incendiary set fire to the thatched roof of their respective home and the town was destroyed. More importantly in the long term, Olga changed the system of tribute gathering (poliudie) in what may be regarded as the first legal reform recorded in Eastern Europe.
She was the first Rus ruler to convert to Christianity, either in 945 or in 957. The ceremonies of her formal reception in Constantinople were minutely described by Emperor Constantine VII in his book De Ceremoniis. Following her baptism she took the Christian name Yelena, after the reigning Empress Helena Lekapena. The Slavonic chronicles add apocryphal details to the account of her baptism, such as the story how she charmed and "outwitted" Constantine and how she spurned his matrimonial proposals. In truth, at the time of her baptism, Olga was an old woman, while Constantine had a wife.
Seven Latin sources document Olga's embassy to Emperor Otto I in 959. The continuation of Regino of Prüm mentions that the envoys requested the Emperor to appoint a bishop and priests for their nation. The chronicler accuses the envoys of lies, commenting that their trick was not exposed until later. Thietmar of Merseburg says that the first archbishop of Magdeburg, Saint Adalbert of Magdeburg, before being promoted to this high rank, was sent by Emperor Otto to the country of the Rus (Rusciae) as a simple bishop but was expelled by pagan allies of Svyatoslav I. The same data is duplicated in the annals of Quedlinburg and Hildesheim, among others.
Olga was one of the first people of Rus to be proclaimed a saint, for her efforts to spread the Christian religion in the country. Because of her proselytizing influence, the Orthodox Church calls St. Olga by the honorific Isapóstolos, "Equal to the Apostles". However, she failed to convert Svyatoslav, and it was left to her grandson and pupil Vladimir I to make Christianity the lasting state religion. During her son's prolonged military campaigns, she remained in charge of Kiev, residing in the castle of Vyshgorod together with her grandsons. She died soon after the city's siege by the Pechenegs in 969.