Yaroslav was a son ofVladimir the Great andRogneda of Polotsk. Yaroslav ruled the northern lands aroundRostov before being transferred toNovgorod in 1010. He had a strained relationship with his father and refused to pay tribute to Kiev in 1014. Following Vladimir's death in 1015, Yaroslav waged a complicated war for the Kievan throne against his half-brotherSviatopolk, ultimately emerging victorious in 1019.
As the Grand Prince of Kiev, Yaroslav focused on foreign policy, forming alliances with Scandinavian countries and weakeningByzantine influence on Kiev. He successfully captured the area around present-dayTartu, Estonia, establishing the fort of Yuryev, and forced nearby regions to pay tribute. Yaroslav also defended his state against nomadic tribes such as thePechenegs by constructing a line of forts. He was a patron of literary culture, sponsoring the construction ofSaint Sophia Cathedral in 1037 and promoting the first work ofOld East Slavic literature byHilarion of Kiev.
Yaroslav marriedIngegerd Olofsdotter in 1019 and had several children who married into foreign royal families. His children from his second marriage went on to rule various parts of Kievan Rus'. Yaroslav was known for promoting unity among his children and emphasizing the importance of living in peace. After his death, his body was placed in a sarcophagus within Saint Sophia's Cathedral, but his remains were later lost or stolen. Yaroslav's legacy includes founding several towns and having numerous monuments and institutions named after him.
The early years of Yaroslav's life are mostly unknown. He was one of the numerous sons ofVladimir the Great, presumably his second byRogneda of Polotsk,[5] although his actual age (as stated in thePrimary Chronicle and corroborated by the examination of hisskeleton in the 1930s)[6] would place him among the youngest children of Vladimir.[7]
It has been suggested thathe was a child begotten out of wedlock after Vladimir's divorce from Rogneda and marriage toAnna Porphyrogenita, or even that he was a child of Anna Porphyrogenita herself. French historianJean-Pierre Arrignon argues that he was indeed Anna's son, as this would explain his interference in Byzantine affairs in 1043.[7] William Humphreys also favors a reconstruction making Yaroslav the son, rather than the step-son, of Anna, by invokingonomastic arguments. It is curious that Yaroslav named his elder sonVladimir (after his own father) and one of his daughtersAnna (as if after his own mother). There is a certain pattern in his sons having Slavic names, and his daughters having Greek names only.[8] Furthermore, Yaroslav's maternity byRogneda of Polotsk had been questioned byMykola Kostomarov in the 19th century.[9][10][11]
Yaroslav figures prominently in the Norsesagas under the nameJarisleif the Lame; his legendary lameness (probably resulting from an arrow wound) was corroborated by the scientists who examined his remains.[citation needed]
In his youth, Yaroslav was sent by his father to rule the northern lands aroundRostov. He was transferred to Veliky Novgorod,[12] as befitted a senior heir to the throne, in 1010. While living there, he founded the town ofYaroslavl (literally, "Yaroslav's") on theVolga River. His relations with his father were apparently strained,[12] and grew only worse on the news that Vladimir bequeathed the Kievan throne to his younger son,Boris.[citation needed] Yaroslav refused to pay tribute to Kiev in 1014 and brought over Varangians from overseas, with only Vladimir's illness and subsequent death in July 1015 preventing a war.[13]
During the next four years Yaroslav waged a complicated and bloody war for Kiev against his half-brotherSviatopolk I of Kiev, who was supported by his father-in-law, DukeBolesław I the Brave (King of Poland from 1025).[14] During the course of this struggle, several other brothers (Boris, Gleb, and Svyatoslav) were brutally murdered.[14]"Princes Boris and Gleb". 2008-10-07. Archived fromthe original on 2008-10-07. Retrieved2020-06-12.</ref> ThePrimary Chronicle accused Sviatopolk of planning those murders.[14] The sagaEymundar þáttr hrings is often interpreted as recounting the story of Boris' assassination by theVarangians in the service of Yaroslav.
However, the victim's name is given there asBurizaf, which is also a name of Boleslaus I in the Scandinavian sources. It is thus possible that the Saga tells the story of Yaroslav's struggle against Sviatopolk (whose troops were commanded by the Polish duke), and not against Boris.[citation needed]
Yaroslav defeated Sviatopolk in their first battle, in 1016, and Sviatopolk fled to Poland. Sviatopolk returned in 1018 with Polish troops furnished by his father-in-law, seizedKiev,[14] and pushed Yaroslav back intoNovgorod. Yaroslav prevailed over Sviatopolk, and in 1019 firmly established his rule over Kiev.[15] 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 theNovgorod 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 theveche often convened) was namedYaroslav's Court after him. It probably was during this period that Yaroslav promulgated the first code of laws in the lands of theEast Slavs, theRusskaya Pravda.
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".[citation needed] A less appealing side of his personality is revealed by his having imprisoned his youngest brotherSudislav for life. In response, another brother,Mstislav of Chernigov, whose distant realm bordered theNorth Caucasus and theBlack Sea, hastened to Kiev.
Despite reinforcements led by Yaroslav's brother-in-law KingAnund Jacob of Sweden (asYakun - "blind and dressed in a gold suit"[16] or "handsome and dressed in a gold suit")[17] Mstislav inflicted a heavy defeat on Yaroslav in 1024. Yaroslav and Mstislav then divided Kievan Rus' between them: the area stretched east from theDnieper River, with the capital atChernigov, was ceded to Mstislav until his death in 1036.
In his foreign policy, Yaroslav relied on a Scandinavian alliance and attempted to weaken the Byzantine influence on Kiev. According toHeimskringla, Olaf the Swede made an alliance with Yaroslav, even though the alliance was not liked in Sweden, in order to declare war againstOlaf II of Norway. This was sealed in 1019 when King Olof of Sweden married his daughter to Yaroslav instead of the Norwegian king. That led to protests in Sweden because the Swedes wanted to reestablish control over their lost eastern territories and bring in tribute from Kievan Rus', as his fatherEric the Victorious had, but after years of war against Norway, Sweden no longer had the power to collect regular tributes from Kievan Rus', according toHeimskringla. In 1022 Olaf was deposed and forced to give power to his sonAnund Jakob.[18]
He[clarification needed] defended the Eastern countries from invaders, ensuring Swedish military interests.[18]
In a successful military raid in 1030, he capturedTartu,Estonia and renamed it Yuryev[19] (named after Yury, Yaroslav'spatron saint) and forced the surroundingUgandi County to pay annual tribute.
In 1031, he conqueredCherven cities from the Poles followed by the construction ofSutiejsk to guard the newly acquired lands. In c.1034 Yaroslav concluded an alliance withPolish KingCasimir I the Restorer, sealed by the latter's marriage to Yaroslav's sister, Maria.
Yaroslav's eldest son,Vladimir, ruled in Novgorod from 1034 and supervised relations in the north.[20]
Later in Yaroslav's reign, around c.1035,Ingvar the Far-Travelled,Anund Jakob's jarl, sent Swedish soldiers into Kievan Rus due to Olof's son wanting to assist his father's ally Yaroslav in his wars against the Pechenegs and Byzantines. Later, in c.1041 Anund Jakob tried to reestablishSwedish control over the Eastern trade routes and reopen them.[21] The Georgian annals report 1000 men coming intoGeorgia but the original force was likely much larger, around 3,000 men.[22]
Ingvar's fate is unknown, but he was likely captured in battle during the Byzantine campaigns or killed, supposedly in 1041. Only one ship returned to Sweden, according to the legend.[23]
Yaroslav presented his second direct challenge to Constantinople in 1043, when a Rus' flotilla headed by one of his sons appeared near Constantinople and demanded money, threatening to attack the city otherwise. Whatever the reason, the Byzantines refused to pay and preferred to fight. The Rus' flotilla defeated the Byzantine fleet but was almost destroyed by a storm and came back to Kiev empty-handed.[24]
To defend his state from thePechenegs and other nomadic tribes threatening it from the south he constructed a line of forts, composed ofYuriev,Bohuslav,Kaniv,Korsun, andPereyaslavl. To celebrate his decisive victory over thePechenegs in 1036, who thereafter were never a threat to Kiev, he sponsored the construction of theSaint Sophia Cathedral in 1037.[25]
Yaroslav was a notable patron of literary culture and learning. In 1051, he had a Slavic monk,Hilarion of Kiev, proclaimed themetropolitan bishop of Kiev, thus challenging the Byzantine tradition of placingGreeks on the episcopal sees. Hilarion's discourse on Yaroslav and his father Vladimir is frequently cited as the first work ofOld East Slavic literature.
Saint Sophia's Cathedral in Kiev houses afresco representing the whole family: Yaroslav, Irene (as Ingegerd was known in Rus'), their four daughters and six sons.[28] Yaroslav had at least three of his daughters married to foreign princes who lived in exile at his court:
Yaroslav had one son from the first marriage (his Christian name being Ilya (?–1020)), and six 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 theCathedral of St. Sophia, Novgorod, predeceased his father. Vladimir succeeded Yaroslav asprince of Novgorod in 1034.[20]
Following his death, the body of Yaroslav the Wise was entombed in a whitemarble sarcophagus withinSaint Sophia's Cathedral. In 1936, the sarcophagus was opened and found to contain the skeletal remains of two individuals, one male and one female. The male was determined to be Yaroslav. The identity of the female was never established, though some believe them to be those of Yaroslav's spouse Ingegerd. The sarcophagus was again opened in 1939 and the remains removed for research, not being documented as returned until 1964.[29][30]
In 2009, the sarcophagus was opened and surprisingly found to contain only one skeleton, that of a female. It seems the documents detailing the 1964 reinterment of the remains were falsified to hide the fact that Yaroslav's remains had been lost. Subsequent questioning of individuals involved in the research and reinterment of the remains seems to point to the idea that Yaroslav's remains were purposely hidden prior to theGerman occupation of Ukraine and then either lost completely or stolen and transported to theUnited States, where many ancient religious artifacts were placed to avoid "mistreatment" by the communists.[29][30]
Facial reconstruction of Yaroslav the Wise made byMikhail Gerasimov using a mould of the now-lost skull, 1940
Four towns in four countries were named after Yaroslav, three of which he also founded:Yaroslavl (in today's Russia),Jarosław in Poland, Yuryev (nowBila Tserkva, Ukraine), and another Yuryev in place of conquered Tarbatu (nowTartu) between 1030 and 1061 inEstonia. Following the Russian custom of naming military objects such as tanks and planes after historical figures, the helmet worn by many Russian soldiers during theCrimean War was called the "Helmet of Yaroslav the Wise". It was the first pointed helmet to be used by a modern army, even before German troops worepointed helmets.
In 2008 Yaroslav was placed first (with 40% of the votes) in their ranking of "our greatestcompatriots" by the viewers of the TV showVelyki Ukraintsi.[31] Afterwards, one of the producers of The Greatest Ukrainians claimed that Yaroslav had only won because of vote manipulation and that (if that had been prevented) the real first place would have been awarded toStepan Bandera.[32]
In 2003, a monument to Yaroslav the Wise was erected inKyiv, Ukraine. The creators of the monument areBoris Krylov and Oles Sydoruk. Various streets are named after the prince in cities throughout Ukraine including Yaroslavska Street andYaroslaviv Val in Kyiv.
Iron Lord was a 2010 feature film based on Yaroslav's early life as a regional prince on the frontier.
On December 12, 2022, on theConstitution Day of the Russian Federation, a monument to Yaroslav the Wise was unveiled at the site near the Novgorod Technical School. The author of the monument is sculptor Sergey Gaev.[33]
^Russian:Ярослав Мудрый,IPA:[jɪrɐˈslafˈmudrɨj];Ukrainian:Ярослав Мудрий,romanized: Yaroslav Mudryi. "Mudryi" ("the Wise") is a nickname made up by 19th-century nationalist historians; it does not appear in medieval sources.[2]
^Olafr svænski gifti siðan Ingigierði dottor sina Iarizleifi kononge syni Valldamars konongs i Holmgarðe (Fagrskinna ch. 27). Also known as Jarisleif I. SeeGoogle books
^abArrignon J. —P. Les relations diplomatiques entre Bizance et la Russie de 860 à 1043 // Revue des études slaves. - 1983 .-- T. 55 . - S. 133-135 .
^abWilliam Humphreys, "Agatha, mother of St. Margaret: the Slavic versus the Salian solutions - a critical overview",Foundations, 1(1):31-43; Joseph Edwards, "Editorial",Foundations, 1(2):74; William Humphreys, "Agatha ‘the Greek’ – Exploring the Slavic solution",Foundations, 1(4):275-288.
^abYaroslav the Wise in Norse Tradition, Samuel Hazzard Cross,Speculum, 178.
^Jonathan Shepard, "The Origins of Rus' (c. 900–1015)," inThe Cambridge History of Russia, vol. 1, ed. Maureen Perrie (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006), 72.
^Uplysning uti konung Anund Jacobs Historia utur Ryska Handlingar in Kongl. Vitterhets Historie och Antiquitets Akademiens Handlingar, Stockholm 1802 p. 61
^Pritsak, O. (1981). The origin of Rus'. Cambridge, Mass.: Distributed by Harvard University Press for the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute. p. 412
^abSnorre Sturluson, Nordiska kungasagor. Vol. II. Stockholm: Fabel, 1992, pp. 89-95 (Olav den heliges saga, Chapters 72-80).
^Berit, Ase (December 31, 2010).Lifelines in World History: The Ancient World, The Medieval World, The Early Modern World, The Modern World. Routledge. p. 216.ISBN978-0765681256.
Martin, Janet (1995).Medieval Russia, 980-1584. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.ISBN0-521-36276-8.
Nazarenko, A. V. (2001).Drevniaia Rus' na mezhdunarodnykh putiakh: mezhdistsiplinarnye ocherki kul'turnykh, torgovykh, politicheskikh sviazei IX-XII vekov (in Russian). Moscow: Russian History Institute.ISBN5-7859-0085-8.
Le Clerk, JM.Path of Ravens: The Last Varangian, Printed in France by Amazon. ISBN 9798307122136.
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