Russian prince Yaroslav the wise. Yaroslav (George) the Wise

The future Grand Duke of Kiev Yaroslav the Wise was born into the family of Vladimir Svyatoslavich and Rogneda, the Polotsk princess. He began reigning already in 987, when the Rostov lands were transferred to him for rule. However, after the death of his eldest son Vysheslav, Yaroslav became the ruler of Novgorod. The death of the Kyiv prince Vladimir gave rise to a fierce struggle between his children to gain paternal power. At the same time, the throne is seized by Svyatopolk the Accursed, who killed for this his two brothers Gleb and Boris, who reigned in the Smolensk and Rostov lands. It was destined for Yaroslav to stop Svyatopolk, who, having won, became the Grand Duke.

The prince married Ingigerda, who was the daughter of the king of the Swedes.

During the reign of this great prince (1019-1054), Kievan Rus reached its greatest prosperity, becoming one of the most powerful in Europe. All political and military activities of Yaroslav the Wise were entirely aimed at strengthening the capital city and vast possessions. It was during the period of this ruler that the active construction of cities began.

Thanks to his strategic mind and the conduct of a wise foreign policy, the Kiev prince was able to significantly increase the authority of the state. Yaroslav was also very successful in military affairs. For example, military campaigns against Poland, the Principality of Lithuania, and also in territories that belonged to the Finnish peoples are considered very successful. However, the most memorable significant victory was the defeat of the Pechenegs in 1036.

In addition, during the reign of this wise prince, Kievan Rus faced Byzantium for the last time, entering into a military conflict with it and subsequently signing a peace treaty, which was supported by a dynastic marriage. It should be noted that Yaroslav the Wise quite often used this political device (dynastic marriages) to consolidate the results of his foreign policy.

The reforms of the Kyiv prince were able to cover every sphere of public life. Yaroslav the Wise actively developed the ideas of enlightenment in Rus', and most of his domestic policy was aimed at increasing the literacy and education of the people. He founded a school where boys were taught church work. By the way, it was during the reign of Yaroslav that Kievan Rus had its own metropolitan.

And, of course, it is worth noting the mentoring literary activity of the prince, who left behind very important literary and legal monuments.

Yaroslav the Wise is a man who did a lot for the prosperity of his state; he was born around 978 and died in 1954. He had a difficult childhood, adolescence and youth. And after he passed this period of life, civil strife awaited him in the struggle for the Grand Duke's throne of Kiev, which began after the death of Yaroslav the Wise's father Vladimir I in 1015, and ended in 1019 with the victory of Yaroslav.

Under Yaroslav, the state lived in peace and harmony. Many European states wanted a peaceful neighborhood with Russia, and some rulers wanted to win the hands of his daughters. A prosperous country contributed to the development and active construction within the state. In Kyiv, the Golden Gate was erected, St. Sophia Cathedral was built, and in addition to this, enlightenment, science and education developed. It was thanks to this activity that Yaroslav received the nickname “Wise”.

Under Yaroslav the Wise, Kyiv became one of the centers of Orthodoxy, because the metropolitan began to reside there. Yaroslav was very concerned about chronicle writing and tried to support its development. In addition, the name of Yaroslav the Wise is associated with the development of legislation; under him, the first set of laws appeared - “Russian Truth”. This was a breakthrough for Rus', which for a long time did not have a code of laws, or rather, “Russian Truth” was the first code of laws. The most important point in the first legislative document was that from now on blood feud was outlawed.

Yaroslav the Wise sought to increase the authority of Rus'. To do this, he developed writing, science, culture, and at the same time did not ignore religion. Under him, stone architecture began to develop independently, influenced by the architecture of the Byzantine Empire. It is difficult to find a ruler of that time who cared so much about the development of his state as Yaroslav the Wise did.

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Biography of Yaroslav the Wise about the main thing

Yaroslav Vladimirovich the Wise was the great Prince of Kyiv. The year of his birth is currently unknown, but if you believe many sources, Yaroslav was born in 978.

Yaroslav received the nickname Wise for his boundless craving for enlightenment, and also for the fact that it was he who created the first set of laws in Rus', which was later called “Russian Truth”. Among other things, he was a wonderful father, grandfather and uncle of a large number of European rulers. For the Russian Orthodox Church, Yaroslav is revered as a faithful. Even the date of memory of this great and powerful ruler was included in the calendar.

As a young man, Yaroslav was already given the title of Prince of Rostov. If you believe history, then it was during this period of time that the glorious city of Yaroslavl was built.

After Vysheslav died, and this happened in 1010, the Wise automatically became the Prince of Novgorod.

The period of the reign of Yaroslav the Wise contains many traditions and all kinds of legends. Some historians idealize this period, while others, on the contrary, demonize it.

The reign in Novgorod had a higher status than the reign in Rostov. But, one way or another, he was also subordinate to the Prince of Kyiv, Vladimir I - his father, to whom he paid 2/3 of the tribute collected from the lands of Novosibirsk every year. The amount was only 2000 hryvnia, and the remaining 1000 remained in the treasury for the maintenance of the princely squad and Yaroslav himself.

Surely it was this fact that prompted Yaroslav to rebel against his father and refuse to pay him a rather large tribute. This event took place in 1014. All of Novgorod supported its ruler, and Vladimir, meanwhile, began preparing for the campaign in order to quickly pacify the rebels. But at that time he was already of a very respectable age. Very soon Vladimir falls ill and quickly dies. He never managed to punish his own son.

Yaroslav’s older brother, Svyatopolk the Accursed, takes his father’s place. To ensure all power in his own hands, he kills three brothers: Gleb, Svyatoslav and Boris, whom all the people of Kiev loved so much. The same fate awaited Yaroslav, but he did not give up and defeated Svyatopolk in the bloody battle that took place between them near Lyubech. Only in 1016 did the Wise manage to enter Kyiv, which they later divided along the Dnieper. In 1019, Svyatopolk dies and Yaroslav becomes the sole and rightful ruler of Kievan Rus.

The prince's greatest merit was his undeniable victory over the Pechenegs. This event took place in 1036.

Now the “Golden Time” of Yaroslav has come. At the site of the victory over the Pechenegs, St. Sophia Cathedral was built. After which the famous Golden Gate appears, over which, as if before our eyes, the Church of the Annunciation has grown.

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Interesting facts and dates from life

Yaroslav the Wise is rightfully considered a revered ancient Russian prince, the son of the great Vladimir the Red Sun (Baptist). He is called the Wise because of his love for science and literature. During his reign, the first set of laws was issued, so to speak - the code of civil law. He was also the father, uncle and grandfather of many European rulers. During baptism, Yaroslav received the name Yuri. Thanks to his love for the Orthodox Church, the construction of many cathedrals and temples, today the Orthodox clergy celebrates the day of his memory: the fourth of March in a leap year and the fifth in a regular year.

Historians cannot agree on the date of birth of the prince. However, most agree that he was born in 978. But this also raises doubts, let alone a birthday that is not reliably known to anyone.

The father of Yaroslav the Wise was Vladimir (Red Sun) from the Rurik family. Mother - Rogneda Rogvoldovna from the Polotsk family. It is worth noting that some famous historians, for example, N. Kostomarov, doubt that Rogneda was his mother. He is also supported by the French historian Arrignon, who is confident that the mother of Yaroslav the Wise is a Byzantine princess. This is evidenced by the prince's active intervention in internal Byzantine affairs in 1043.

Yaroslav the Wise had 3 brothers - Izyaslav, Mstislav and Vsevolod. Their father sent each of them to rule in different cities. The wise man got Rostov, at that time he was not even 10 years old, the governor of Buda was assigned to help the boy, who later became the closest ally and even friend of Prince Yaroslav.

Like his date of birth, the reign of the prince is overwhelmingly shrouded in mystery, shrouded in legends and legends. The time of his principality, as well as the prince himself, is idealized by some historians, while others, on the contrary, reproach it. But, as always, the truth lies in the golden mean.

The reign of Novgorod, where Yaroslav the Wise ruled after Rostov, was more honorable than the reign in Rostov. But, nevertheless, the Novgorod prince was subordinate to the Kyiv prince Vladimir. Thus, Yaroslav the Wise annually had to give two-thirds collected from his subordinate lands. At that time, this amount was 1000 hryvnia - a huge fortune at that time.

This video presents the program “Hour of Truth: Yaroslav the Wise.”

In 1014, Yaroslav the Wise rebelled and refused to pay tribute to his own father. It is worth saying that his decision was supported by the majority of Novgorodians; this can be read in the surviving writings. The father was angry with his son and was preparing for a campaign to pacify those who disagreed, but soon Prince Vladimir fell ill and died suddenly.

The Principality of Kiev passed to the eldest son Svyatopolk the Accursed. For his own safety, as well as to retain power, he killed his brothers Gleb, Svyatoslav and Gleb, especially revered by the people of Kiev. The same fate awaited Yaroslav the Wise, but in 1016 the Rostov prince defeated Svyatopolk, and his army entered the capital. The brothers divided Kyiv into two parts along the Dnieper line and declared a truce, which was always fragile and “hot” clashes still took place from hour to hour. Three years later, Svyatopolk died, and Yaroslav reigned supreme over Kiev.

One of the greatest merits of Yaroslav the Wise is considered to be the victory over the Pechenegs in 1036. From the pages of the chronicles you can learn that Kyiv was besieged by nomads, and at the same time the prince went to a neighboring city, but returned to the capital with lightning speed and defeated the enemy army. For several years, bloody raids on the lands of Rus' ceased.

After the stunning defeat of the Pechenegs, Yaroslav the Wise was engaged in grandiose construction. At the site of the battle with the nomads, the St. Sophia Cathedral was founded. The building was an exact copy of the Tsaregrad temple. It was decorated with frescoes and mosaics - it amazed with its beauty not only in those days, but even today the St. Sophia Cathedral is rightfully considered one of the most beautiful Orthodox churches. Yaroslav the Wise never skimped on the construction and decoration of churches, and always called the best craftsmen of Greece to decorate them. During his reign, the legendary Golden Gate and the Church of the Annunciation appeared.

The domestic policy of Yaroslav the Wise was fundamentally different from his predecessors. He made a lot of efforts to develop the culture of his own people and educate them. Several main events can be noted that characterize the ruler as truly a wise prince:

1. Thanks to Yaroslav the Wise, it was possible to get rid of the dependence of the Russian Orthodox clergy on Byzantium. In 1054, for the first time in Rus', the church was headed by a Russian, and not a Greek, Metropolitan Hilarion.
2. The main idea of ​​the prince's internal policy was the enlightenment of the people and increasing their education, the eradication of the pagan faith. Christianity was popularized with renewed vigor.
3. During his reign, many books were translated from Greek into Slavic. Yaroslav the Wise loved to read and instilled a love of books in all his relatives and subordinates. It was because of this that reading became fashionable at that time. The church began to teach children writing and literacy. Also, for the first time in Rus', a school for boys was opened.
4. It was during his principality that the first Orthodox monasteries appeared, incl. and the Kiev Pechersk Lavra that has survived to this day. This not only popularized Orthodoxy, but also played an important role in enlightenment - books were translated here and chronicles were written.
5. Yaroslav the Wise became the first to publish a set of laws - “Russian Truth”. His followers later expanded and completed the document.

Yaroslav the Wise spent the last few years of his life in the city of Vyshgorod. He died in the arms of his son Vsevolod on the day of the Triumph of Orthodoxy. Historians agree that this happened on February 20, 1054. He was buried in St. Sophia Cathedral (Kyiv) in a sarcophagus weighing more than six tons. Alas, the remains of the prince disappeared. The sarcophagus was opened several times, first in 1936, then in 1939 and later in 1964.

This video presents a documentary about Yaroslav the Wise. Don't forget to leave your questions, suggestions and

Yaroslav was the son of Prince Vladimir the Saint. There are many versions regarding the seniority of Yaroslav among his many brothers, which gives reason to see in the personality of Yaroslav the prince of his time, a man who managed to overcome all difficulties and establish a legal order of inheritance that determined the development of Russia for the next two centuries.

Initially, Yaroslav received Rostov as an inheritance from his father, but he did not rule independently, but under the tutelage of the governor Buda (or Budai). After the death of his brother Vysheslav, Yaroslav received his inheritance in 1011 - the Novgorod land, which was second in status after the Kyiv lands. Traditionally, the Novgorod princes did not live in Novgorod itself, but not far from it - in Gorodishche, but Yaroslav became the first prince who created his own court (Yaroslav's Dvorishche) in the city itself.

The Novgorod prince was supposed to annually send tribute to Kiev in the amount of 2000 hryvnia, but in 1014 Yaroslav unexpectedly refused to send tribute to his father and hired a squad of Varangians for this amount to march on Kiev. However, the Varangians in Novgorod provoked its inhabitants and were killed, and Yaroslav was actually left without military force. In the same year, the Grand Duke of Kiev Vladimir also died.

After his death, it was not clear which of his sons should become the next prince in Kyiv. Vladimir’s beloved son Boris was ready to cede this right to his elder brother Svyatopolk, who took advantage of his brother’s peacefulness by killing him and the youngest of the Vladimirovichs, Gleb. Prince Yaroslav was warned about Svyatopolk's atrocities by his sister Predslava.

Yaroslav gathered a new army from the Varangians and Novgorodians and marched against Svyatopolk, capturing Kyiv in 1016. Let us note that before the campaign, in which many Novgorodians participated, Yaroslav collected the first written set of laws - Yaroslav's Truth, which later became the basis for the formation of national law in Russia. In 1018, the Polish king Boleslav, an ally of Svyatopolk, defeated Yaroslav on the river. Bug and occupied Kyiv. The people of Kiev did not accept the power of Boleslav, demanding that Svyatopolk remain prince. This destroyed the allied relations between Boleslav and Svyatopolk, who, left without Polish help, was defeated on the river in 1019. Alta, and Yaroslav established himself in Kyiv.

Yaroslav, having become the prince of Kyiv, did not forget about the support that the Novgorodians provided him. In 1030, he defeated the Chud tribe and founded the fortress city of Yuryev in the Baltic states. During the years of his reign, Yaroslav stopped the Pecheneg raids on Rus', defeating them in 1038 near the walls of Kyiv, in honor of which the Hagia Sophia Cathedral was founded. In an effort to strengthen international ties, Yaroslav used dynastic marriages, in particular, he married his daughter Princess Anna Yaroslavna to the French king Henry I.

Prince Yaroslav died in 1054, leaving a will to his children, in which he determined the next (ladder) order of government. Some historians believe that it was this order that became one of the reasons for fragmentation in Rus'.

Yaroslav Vladimirovich, in the historiographic tradition Yaroslav the Wise. Born approx. 978 - died on February 20, 1054 in Vyshgorod. Prince of Rostov (987-1010), Prince of Novgorod (1010-1034), Prince of Kiev (1016-1018, 1019-1054).

Yaroslav the Wise was born around 978. The son of the baptist of Rus', Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich (from the Rurik family) and the Polotsk princess.

At baptism he was named George.

Yaroslav is first mentioned in the Tale of Bygone Years in article 6488 (980), which talks about the marriage of his father, Vladimir Svyatoslavich, and Rogneda, and then lists 4 sons born from this marriage: Izyaslav, Mstislav, Yaroslav and Vsevolod.

Year of birth of Yaroslav the Wise

In the article of the year 6562 (1054), which talks about the death of Yaroslav, it is said that he lived for 76 years (according to the ancient Russian count of years, that is, he lived for 75 years and died in the 76th year of his life). Accordingly, according to the chronicles, Yaroslav was born in 978 or 979. This date is the most commonly used in the literature.

However, there is an opinion that this year is erroneous. The chronicle article under the year 1016 (6524) talks about the reign of Yaroslav in Kyiv. If you believe this news, then Yaroslav should have been born in 988 or 989. This is explained in different ways. Tatishchev believes that there was a mistake and he should be not 28, but 38 years old. In the chronicles that have not survived to this day, which were at his disposal (Raskolnichya, Golitsyn and Khrushchev chronicles), there were 3 options - 23, 28 and 34 years, and according to the Orenburg manuscript, the date of birth of Yaroslav should have been attributed to 972.

Moreover, in some later chronicles it is read not 28 years, but 18 (Sofia First Chronicle, Arkhangelsk Chronicle, Ipatiev List of the Ipatiev Chronicle). And in the Laurentian Chronicle it was stated that “And then Yaroslav would be 28 years old in Novgorod,” which gave S. M. Solovyov grounds to assume that the news refers to the duration of Yaroslav’s Novgorod reign: if we take 18 years as correct, then from 998, and if 28 years is the total reign in Rostov and Novgorod since 988. Solovyov also doubted the correctness of the news that Yaroslav was 76 years old in the year of his death.

Taking into account the fact that the marriage between Vladimir and Rogneda, according to the now established opinion, was concluded in 978, and also that Yaroslav was the third son of Rogneda, he could not have been born in 978. According to historians, the dating of 76 years appeared in order to present Yaroslav as older than Svyatopolk. However, there is evidence that it was Svyatopolk who was the eldest of the sons at the time of Vladimir’s death. Indirect evidence of this can be the words of Boris, which he said to his squad, not wanting to occupy Kiev, since it was Svyatopolk who is the eldest: “He said, “Don’t let me lay my hands on my elder brother, even if my fathers die, then I’ll be in Father's revenge."

At the moment, the fact of Svyatopolk’s seniority is considered proven, and the indication of age is considered evidence that the chronicler tried to present Yaroslav as the elder, thus justifying his right to the great reign.

If we accept the traditional date of birth and seniority of Svyatopolk, then this leads to a revision of the chronicle story about the struggle of Vladimir and Yaropolk for the Kiev throne, and attributing the capture of Polotsk and Vladimir’s marriage to Rogneda to 976 or the beginning of 977, before his departure for the sea.

Additional information about Yaroslav’s age at the time of death is provided by data from a study of Yaroslav’s bone remains conducted in 1939-1940. D.G. Rokhlin indicates that Yaroslav was over 50 years old at the time of death and indicates 986 as the probable year of birth, and V.V. Ginsburg - 60-70 years old. Based on these data, it is assumed that Yaroslav could have been born between 983 and 986.

In addition, some historians, following N.I. Kostomarov was expressed doubts that Yaroslav is the son of Rogneda. However, this contradicts the news of the chronicles, in which Yaroslav is repeatedly called her son. There is also a hypothesis by the French historian Arrignon, according to which Yaroslav was the son of the Byzantine princess Anna, and this explains Yaroslav’s intervention in internal Byzantine affairs in 1043. However, this hypothesis also contradicts all other sources.

Yaroslav the Wise (documentary film)

Yaroslav in Rostov

The Tale of Bygone Years for the year 6496 (988) reports that Vladimir Svyatoslavich sent his sons to various cities. Among the listed sons is Yaroslav, who received Rostov as a table. However, the date indicated in this article, 988, is quite arbitrary, since many events fit into it. Historian Alexey Karpov suggests that Yaroslav could have left for Rostov no earlier than 989.

The chronicles about Yaroslav's reign in Rostov do not report anything other than the fact of his imprisonment. All information about the Rostov period of his biography is of a late and legendary nature, their historical reliability is low.

Since Yaroslav received the Rostov table as a child, real power was in the hands of the mentor sent with him. According to A. Karpov, this mentor could be the “breadwinner and governor named Buda (or Budy)” mentioned in the chronicle in 1018. He was probably Yaroslav's closest ally in Novgorod, but he no longer needed a breadwinner during the Novgorod reign, so it is likely that he was Yaroslav's educator even during the Rostov reign.

The founding of the city of Yaroslavl, named after the prince, is associated with the reign of Yaroslav in Rostov. Yaroslavl was first mentioned in the “Tale of Bygone Years” in 1071, when the “revolt of the Magi” caused by famine in the Rostov land was described. But there are legends that attribute the founding of the city to Yaroslav. According to one of them, Yaroslav traveled along the Volga from Novgorod to Rostov. According to legend, on the way he was attacked by a bear, which Yaroslav, with the help of his retinue, hacked to death with an axe. After this, the prince ordered to cut down a small wooden fortress on an impregnable cape above the Volga, named after him - Yaroslavl.

These events are reflected on the city's coat of arms. This legend was reflected in “The Legend of the Construction of the City of Yaroslavl,” published in 1877. According to the research of the historian and archaeologist N.N. Voronin, the “Tale” was created in the 18th-19th centuries, but according to his assumption, the basis of the “Tale” was formed by folk legends associated with the ancient cult of the bear, characteristic of the tribes living in the forest zone of the modern Russia. An earlier version of the legend is given in an article published by M. A. Lenivtsev in 1827.

However, there are doubts that the Yaroslavl legend is connected specifically with Yaroslav, although it probably reflects some facts from the initial history of the city.

In 1958-1959, Yaroslavl historian Mikhail Germanovich Meyerovich substantiated that the city appeared no earlier than 1010. This date is currently considered the founding date of Yaroslavl.

Yaroslav reigned in Rostov until the death of his elder brother Vysheslav, who ruled in Novgorod. The Tale of Bygone Years does not report the date of Vysheslav’s death.

The “State Book” (XVI century) reports that Vysheslav died before Rogneda, Yaroslav’s mother, whose year of death is indicated in the “Tale of Bygone Years” (1000). However, this information is not based on any documents and is probably a guess.

Another version was given in “Russian History” by V.N. Tatishchev. Based on some chronicle that has not reached our time (probably of Novgorod origin), he places information about the death of Vysheslav in an article for the year 6518 (1010/1011). This date is now accepted by most historians. Vysheslav was replaced in Novgorod by Yaroslav.

Yaroslav in Novgorod

After the death of Vysheslav, Svyatopolk was considered the eldest son of Vladimir Svyatoslavovich. However, according to Thietmar of Merseburg, he was put in prison by Vladimir on charges of treason. The next eldest son, Izyaslav, had also died by that time, but even during his father’s life he was actually deprived of the right to inheritance - Polotsk was allocated to him as an inheritance. And Vladimir installed Yaroslav in Novgorod.

The Novgorod reign at this time had a higher status than the Rostov reign. However, the Novgorod prince still had a subordinate position to the Grand Duke, paying an annual tribute of 2000 hryvnia (2/3 collected in Novgorod and the lands subordinate to it). However, 1/3 (1000 hryvnia) remained for the maintenance of the prince and his squad, the size of which was second only to the size of the squad of the Kyiv prince.

The period of the Novgorod reign of Yaroslav until 1014 is just as little described in the chronicles as the Rostov one. It is likely that from Rostov Yaroslav first went to Kyiv, and from there he left for Novgorod. He probably arrived there no earlier than 1011.

Before Yaroslav, the Novgorod princes from the time of Rurik lived, as a rule, on the Settlement near Novgorod, but Yaroslav settled in Novgorod itself, which, by that time, was a significant settlement. His princely court was located on the Trade side of Volkhov, this place was called “Yaroslav’s courtyard”. In addition, Yaroslav also had a country residence in the village of Rakoma, located south of Novgorod.

It is likely that Yaroslav's first marriage dates back to this period. The name of his first wife is unknown, but presumably her name was Anna.

During excavations in Novgorod, archaeologists found the only copy of the lead seal of Yaroslav the Wise, which was once suspended from a princely charter. On one side of it are depicted the holy warrior George with a spear and shield and his name, on the second - a man in a cloak and helmet, relatively young, with a protruding mustache, but without a beard, as well as inscriptions on the sides of the chest figure: “Yaroslav. Prince Russian." Apparently, the seal contains a rather conventional portrait of the prince himself, a strong-willed man with a humpbacked predatory nose, whose dying appearance was reconstructed from the skull by the famous scientist - archaeologist and sculptor Mikhail Gerasimov.

Yaroslav's speech against his father

In 1014, Yaroslav resolutely refused to pay his father, the Kyiv prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich, an annual lesson of two thousand hryvnia. Historians suggest that these actions of Yaroslav were connected with Vladimir’s intention to transfer the throne to one of his younger sons, the Rostov prince Boris, whom he brought closer to himself in recent years and transferred command of the princely squad, which actually meant the recognition of Boris as heir. It is possible that this is precisely why the eldest son Svyatopolk rebelled against Vladimir, who was then imprisoned (he remained there until his father’s death). And it was precisely this news that could prompt Yaroslav to oppose his father.

In order to confront his father, Yaroslav, according to the chronicle, hired the Varangians overseas, who arrived led by Eymund. Vladimir, who in recent years lived in the village of Berestovo near Kiev, ordered to “break the path and pave bridges” for the campaign, but fell ill. In addition, in June 1015, the Pechenegs invaded and the army gathered against Yaroslav, led by Boris, was forced to set off to repel the raid of the steppes, who, having heard about Boris’s approach, turned back.

At the same time, the Varangians hired by Yaroslav, doomed to inaction in Novgorod, began to cause unrest. According to the first Novgorod chronicle: “The Varangians began to commit violence against their married wives.”

As a result, the Novgorodians, unable to withstand the violence being committed, rebelled and killed the Varangians in one night. Yaroslav at this time was at his country residence in Rakom. Having learned about what had happened, he called to himself representatives of the Novgorod nobility who participated in the rebellion, promising them forgiveness, and when they arrived to him, he brutally dealt with them. This happened in July - August 1015.

After this, Yaroslav received a letter from his sister Predslava, in which she reported on the death of his father and the events that happened after that. This news forced Prince Yaroslav to make peace with the Novgorodians. He also promised to pay the viru for each person killed. And in subsequent events, the Novgorodians invariably supported their prince.

Yaroslav in Kyiv

On July 15, 1015, Vladimir Svyatoslavich died in Berestovo, having not managed to extinguish his son’s rebellion. And Yaroslav began the fight for the Kiev throne with his brother Svyatopolk, who was released from prison and declared their prince by the rebellious Kyivians. In this struggle, which lasted four years, Yaroslav relied on the Novgorodians and the hired Varangian squad led by King Eymund.

In 1016, Yaroslav defeated the army of Svyatopolk near Lyubech and occupied Kyiv in late autumn. He generously rewarded the Novgorod squad, giving each warrior ten hryvnia. From the chronicles: “And let them all go home, - and having given them the truth, and having written off the charter, he said to them: walk according to this letter, just as it was copied for you, keep it in the same way.”

The victory at Lyubech did not end the fight with Svyatopolk: he soon approached Kiev with the Pechenegs, and in 1018 the Polish king Boleslav the Brave, invited by Svyatopolk, defeated Yaroslav’s troops on the banks of the Bug, captured his sisters, his wife Anna and Yaroslav’s stepmother in Kiev and, instead In order to transfer the city (“table”) to his daughter’s husband Svyatopolk, he himself made an attempt to establish himself in it. But the people of Kiev, outraged by the furies of his squad, began to kill the Poles, and Boleslav had to hastily leave Kyiv, depriving Svyatopolk of military assistance. And Yaroslav, having returned to Novgorod after the defeat, prepared to flee “overseas.”

But the Novgorodians, led by the mayor Konstantin Dobrynich, having chopped up his ships, told the prince that they wanted to fight for him with Boleslav and Svyatopolk. They collected money, concluded a new treaty with the Varangians of King Eymund and armed themselves.

In the spring of 1019, this army, led by Yaroslav, carried out a new campaign against Svyatopolk. In the battle on the Alta River, Svyatopolk was defeated, his banner was captured, he himself was wounded, but escaped. King Eymund asked Yaroslav: “Will you order him to be killed or not?” - to which Yaroslav gave his consent: “I will not do any of this: I will not set anyone up for a (personal, chest to chest) battle with King Burisleif, nor blame anyone if he is killed.”

In 1019, Yaroslav married the daughter of the Swedish king Olaf Sjötkonung - Ingigerda, for whom the king of Norway Olaf Haraldson had previously wooed her, who dedicated his wife to her and subsequently married her younger sister Astrid. Ingigerda in Rus' is baptized with a consonant name - Irina. As a dowry, Ingigerda received from her father the city of Aldeigaborg (Ladoga) with adjacent lands, which have since received the name Ingermanlandia (Ingigerda's land).

In 1020, Yaroslav's nephew Bryachislav attacked Novgorod, but on the way back he was overtaken by Yaroslav on the Sudoma River, defeated here by his troops and fled, leaving behind prisoners and loot. Yaroslav pursued him and forced him to agree to peace terms in 1021, assigning to him the two cities of Usvyat and Vitebsk as his inheritance.

In 1023, Yaroslav's brother - the Tmutarakan prince Mstislav - attacked with his allies the Khazars and Kasogs and captured Chernigov and the entire Left Bank of the Dnieper, and in 1024 Mstislav defeated Yaroslav's troops under the leadership of the Varangian Yakun near Listven (near Chernigov). Mstislav moved his capital to Chernigov and, sending ambassadors to Yaroslav, who had fled to Novgorod, offered to share the lands along the Dnieper with him and stop the wars: “Sit down in your Kiev, you are the elder brother, and let me have this side.”

In 1025, Bolesław the Brave's son Mieszko II became king of Poland, and his two brothers, Bezprym and Otto, were expelled from the country and took refuge with Jarosław.

In 1026, Yaroslav, having gathered a large army, returned to Kyiv and made peace at Gorodets with his brother Mstislav, agreeing with his peace proposals. The brothers divided the lands along the Dnieper. The left bank was retained by Mstislav, and the right bank by Yaroslav. Yaroslav, being the Grand Duke of Kyiv, preferred to stay in Novgorod until 1036 (the year of Mstislav's death).

In 1028, the Norwegian king Olaf (later called the Saint) was forced to flee to Novgorod. He arrived there with his five-year-old son Magnus, leaving his mother Astrid in Sweden. In Novgorod, Ingigerda, the half-sister of Magnus's mother, Yaroslav's wife and Olaf's former fiancée, insisted that Magnus remain with Yaroslav after the king returned to Norway in 1030, where he died in the battle for the Norwegian throne.

In 1029, helping his brother Mstislav, he made a campaign against the Yases, expelling them from Tmutarakan. The following year, 1030, Yaroslav defeated Chud and founded the city of Yuryev (now Tartu, Estonia). In the same year he took Belz in Galicia. At this time, an uprising arose against King Mieszko II in the Polish land, the people killed bishops, priests and boyars.

In 1031, Yaroslav and Mstislav, supporting Bezprym's claims to the Polish throne, gathered a large army and marched against the Poles, recaptured the cities of Przemysl and Cherven, conquered Polish lands, and, taking many Poles prisoner, divided them. Yaroslav resettled his prisoners along the Ros River. Shortly before this, in the same 1031, Harald III the Severe, king of Norway, half-brother of Olaf the Saint, fled to Yaroslav the Wise and served in his squad. As is commonly believed, he took part in Yaroslav's campaign against the Poles and was a co-leader of the army. Subsequently, Harald became Yaroslav's son-in-law, taking Elizabeth as his wife.

In 1034, Yaroslav installed his son Vladimir as prince of Novgorod. In 1036, Mstislav suddenly died while hunting, and Yaroslav, apparently fearing any claims to the reign of Kiev, imprisoned his last brother, the youngest of the Vladimirovichs - the Pskov prince Sudislav - in a dungeon (cut). Only after these events did Yaroslav decide to move with his court from Novgorod to Kyiv.

In 1036, he defeated the Pechenegs and thereby freed Rus' from their raids. In memory of the victory over the Pechenegs, the prince founded the famous Hagia Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv; artists from Constantinople were called to paint the temple.

In the same year, after the death of his brother Mstislav Vladimirovich, Yaroslav became the sole ruler of most of Rus', with the exception of the Principality of Polotsk, where his nephew Bryachislav reigned, and after the death of the latter in 1044 - Vseslav Bryachislavich.

In 1038, Yaroslav's troops made a campaign against the Yatvingians, in 1040 against Lithuania, and in 1041 a water expedition on boats to Mazovia.

In 1042, his son Vladimir defeated the Yams, and during this campaign there was a large loss of horses. Around this time (1038-1043), the English prince Edward the Exile fled from Canute the Great to Yaroslav.

In addition, in 1042, Prince Yaroslav the Wise provided great assistance in the struggle for the Polish royal throne to the grandson of Boleslav the Brave - Casimir I. Casimir married Yaroslav's sister - Maria, who became the Polish Queen Dobronega. This marriage was concluded in parallel with the marriage of Yaroslav’s son Izyaslav to Casimir’s sister, Gertrude, as a sign of alliance with Poland.

In 1043, Yaroslav, for the murder of “one famous Russian” in Constantinople, sent his son Vladimir, together with Harald Surov and governor Vyshata, on a campaign against Emperor Constantine Monomakh, in which hostilities unfolded on sea and land with varying success and which ended in peace , concluded in 1046.

In 1044, Yaroslav organized a campaign against Lithuania.

In 1045, Prince Yaroslav the Wise and Princess Irina (Ingegerda) went to Novgorod from Kyiv to visit their son Vladimir to lay the foundation stone for the St. Sophia Cathedral, instead of the burnt wooden one.

In 1047, Yaroslav the Wise broke the alliance with Poland.

In 1048, ambassadors of Henry I of France arrived in Kyiv to ask for the hand of Yaroslav's daughter Anna.

The reign of Yaroslav the Wise lasted 37 years. Yaroslav spent the last years of his life in Vyshgorod.

Yaroslav the Wise died on February 20, 1054 in Vyshgorod, exactly on the feast of the Triumph of Orthodoxy, in the arms of his son Vsevolod, having outlived his wife Ingigerda by four years and his eldest son Vladimir by two years.

The inscription (graffiti) on the central nave of the St. Sophia Cathedral under the ktitor's fresco of Yaroslav the Wise himself, dated 1054, speaks of the death of “our king”: “In 6562 February 20 of the Ascension of our Tsar in (Sunday) in (n) food (lyu) (mu)ch Theodore.”

In different chronicles, the exact date of Yaroslav’s death was determined differently: either February 19, or February 20. Academician B. Rybakov explains these disagreements by the fact that Yaroslav died on the night from Saturday to Sunday. In Ancient Rus', there were two principles for determining the beginning of the day: in church reckoning - from midnight, in everyday life - from dawn. That is why the date of Yaroslav’s death is called differently: according to one account it was still Saturday, but according to another, church account, it was already Sunday. Historian A. Karpov believes that the prince could have died on the 19th (according to the chronicle), but he was buried on the 20th.

However, the date of death is not accepted by all researchers. V.K. Ziborov dates this event to February 17, 1054.

Yaroslav was buried in St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv. The six-ton ​​marble sarcophagus of Yaroslav still stands in the Cathedral of St. Sofia. It was discovered in 1936, 1939 and 1964 and not always qualified research was carried out.

Appearance of Yaroslav the Wise

Based on the results of the autopsy in January 1939, anthropologist Mikhail Gerasimov created a sculptural portrait of the prince in 1940.

The height of Yaroslav the Wise was 175 centimeters. The face is of the Slavic type, with a medium-height forehead, a narrow bridge of the nose, a strongly protruding nose, large eyes, a sharply defined mouth (with almost all teeth, which was extremely rare in old age), and a sharply protruding chin.

It is also known that he was lame (which is why he walked poorly): according to one version, from birth, according to another, as a result of being wounded in battle. Prince Yaroslav's right leg was longer than his left due to damage to the hip and knee joints. This may have been a consequence of hereditary Perthes disease.

According to Newsweek magazine, when the box with the remains of Yaroslav the Wise was opened on September 10, 2009, it was found that it contained, presumably, only the skeleton of Yaroslav’s wife, Princess Ingegerda. During the investigation conducted by journalists, a version was put forward that the remains of the prince were taken from Kiev in 1943 during the retreat of German troops and are currently possibly at the disposal of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the USA (the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople).

Disappearance of the remains of Yaroslav the Wise

In the 20th century, the Sarcophagus of Yaroslav the Wise was opened three times: in 1936, 1939 and 1964.

In 2009, the tomb in the St. Sophia Cathedral was opened again, and the remains were sent for examination. During the autopsy, Soviet newspapers Izvestia and Pravda, dated 1964, were discovered.

The results of a genetic examination published in March 2011 are as follows: the tomb contains not male, but only female remains, and they are composed of two skeletons, dating from completely different times: one skeleton from the times of Ancient Rus', and the second a thousand years older, that is, from the time of Scythian settlements .

The remains of the Old Russian period, according to anthropologists, belong to a woman who did a lot of hard physical labor during her life - clearly not of a princely family. M. M. Gerasimov was the first to write about female remains among the found skeletons in 1939. Then it was announced that in addition to Yaroslav the Wise, other people were buried in the tomb.

The trace of the ashes of Yaroslav the Wise can be traced to the icon of St. Nicholas the Wet, which was taken from the St. Sophia Cathedral by representatives of the UGCC, who retreated along with the German occupiers from Kyiv in the fall of 1943. The icon was discovered in the Holy Trinity Church (Brooklyn, New York, USA) in 1973.

According to historians, the remains of the Grand Duke should also be looked for in the USA.

Yaroslav the Wise - Monument “1000th Anniversary of Russia”

Personal life of Yaroslav the Wise:

First wife (before 1019) - presumably Norwegian by name Anna. She was captured in Kyiv in 1018 by the Polish king Boleslav the Brave along with Yaroslav's sisters and taken forever to Poland.

Second wife (since 1019) - Ingegerda(in baptism Irina, in monasticism, possibly Anna); daughter of King Olaf Skötkonung of Sweden. Their children dispersed throughout Europe.

Sons of Yaroslav the Wise:

Ilya(before 1018 -?) - possible son of Yaroslav the Wise from his first wife, taken to Poland. Hypothetical prince of Novgorod.

Vladimir(1020-1052) - Prince of Novgorod.

Izyaslav (Dmitry)(1025-1078) - married the sister of the Polish king Casimir I - Gertrude.

Svyatoslav (Nikolai)(1027-1076) - Prince of Chernigov, it is assumed that he was married twice: the first time in Killikia (or Cicilia, Caecilia), of unknown origin; the second time was probably on the Austrian princess Oda, daughter of Count Leopold.

Vsevolod (Andrey)(1030-1093) - married a Greek princess (presumably the daughter of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine IX Monomakh), from whose marriage Prince Vladimir Monomakh was born.

Vyacheslav(1033-1057) - Prince of Smolensk.

Igor(1036-1060) - Prince of Volyn. Some historians assign Igor fifth place among the sons of Yaroslav, in particular, based on the order of listing the sons in the news of the will of Yaroslav the Wise and the news that after the death of Vyacheslav in Smolensk, Igor was removed from Vladimir (“The Tale of Bygone Years”).

Daughters of Yaroslav the Wise:

Elizabeth became the wife of the Norwegian king Harald the Harsh.

Anastasia became the wife of King Andras I of Hungary. In the city of Tichony, on the shores of Lake Balaton, a church was named in their honor and a monument was erected.

She married King Henry I of France. In France she became known as Anna of Russia or Anna of Kiev. In France, in the city of Senlis, a monument was erected to Anna.

Holy relatives of Yaroslav the Wise:

The future Orthodox saint, noble prince Yaroslav (King Yaritsleiv) was the brother-in-law of the common Christian future saint, the Norwegian king Olaf the Saint - they were married to sisters: Yaroslav to his older sister, the future Orthodox saint Ingigerd, Olaf to his younger sister, Astrid.

Before that, both saints had one bride - Princess Ingigerd of Sweden (in Rus', the blessed princess Irina), who in the spring of 1018 agreed to marry Olaf of Norway and personally embroidered a cloak with a gold clasp for her groom, and in the fall of the same year, at the request of her father, she gave agreement to marry Yaroslav (the wedding took place in 1019).

The romantic relationship between Olaf and Ingigerd from 1018 to 1030 is described in three Scandinavian sagas: “The Saga of Olaf the Holy”, “The Strands of Eymund”, etc. "Rotten skin."

In 1029, Olaf, while in exile in Novgorod, wrote a visu (poem) about Ingigerd; part of it has survived to the present day. According to the sagas, Olaf in Novgorod in the winter of 1029/1030 showed two miracles of healing: in particular, he cured the seriously ill nine-year-old son of Yaroslav and Ingigerd, the future Orthodox saint Vladimir (Valdemar). After the death and glorification of Olaf in Novgorod, b. In the capital city of Yaroslav, the Church of St. Olaf, popularly nicknamed the “Varangian”, was erected.

The young son of the future Saint Olaf, Magnus the Good, was adopted by the future Saint Yaroslav the Wise after the death of his father, was brought up in his family, and upon reaching adulthood, with the help of his adoptive father, received back the throne of Norway, and then Denmark.

Also Yaroslav the Wise is the brother of the Orthodox, the first saints glorified in Rus' - princes Boris and Gleb, the father of the Orthodox saints Vladimir and Svyatoslav Yaroslavich, the grandfather of the locally revered Orthodox saint Vladimir Monomakh and the Catholic Hugo the Great, Count of Vermandois.

Yaroslav was buried in Sophia of Kyiv in the former six-ton ​​Prokonesian marble tomb of the Holy Pope Clement, which his father Vladimir Svyatoslavich took from the Byzantine Chersonese he conquered. The tomb is still intact.

There is also a point of view that Yaroslav the Wise had another daughter named Agatha, who became the wife of Edward the Exile, heir to the throne of England. Some researchers question the fact that Yaroslav was the son of Rogneda, and there is also a hypothesis that he had a wife, Anna, who died around 1018. Perhaps Anna was Norwegian, and in 1018 she was captured by Boleslav the Brave during the capture of Kiev . There, a hypothesis is put forward that a certain Ilya is the “son of the King of Rus'” Yaroslav the Wise.

The origin of the wife of one of the sons - the German princess Oda, daughter of Leopold - is a controversial fact in terms of belonging to the Staden family (rulers of the North March) or the Babenbergs (rulers of Austria before the Habsburgs). It is also controversial whose wife Oda was - Vladimir, Svyatoslav or Vyacheslav. Today the dominant point of view is that Oda Leopoldovna was the wife of Svyatoslav and came from the Babenberg family.

Yaroslav the Wise in culture

Yaroslav is a traditional character in literary works of the hagiographic genre - the Life of Boris and Gleb. The very fact of the murder serves as a favorite theme for individual legends for ancient chroniclers. In total, “The Tale of Boris and Gleb” has been preserved in more than 170 copies, of which the oldest and most complete are attributed to the Monk Nestor and the monk Jacob Mnich.

It says, for example, that after the death of Vladimir, power in Kyiv was seized by Vladimir’s stepson Svyatopolk. Fearing the rivalry of the Grand Duke's own children - Boris, Gleb and others, Svyatopolk first of all sent assassins to the first contenders for the table in Kyiv - Boris and Gleb. A messenger sent from Yaroslav conveys to Gleb the news of the death of his father and the murder of his brother Boris... And now, saddened by grief, Prince Gleb sails along the river in a boat, and it is surrounded by the enemies who have overtaken him. He realized that this was the end and said in a humble voice: “Since you have already started, when you start, do what you were sent to do.” And Yaroslav’s sister Predslava warns that their brother Svyatopolk is going to eliminate him too.

Yaroslav is also mentioned in the “Sermon on Law and Grace” by Metropolitan Hilarion and in “Memory and Praise to the Russian Prince Vladimir” by Jacob Mnich.

Since Yaroslav was married to Ingegerda - the daughter of the Swedish king Olaf Skötkonung and arranged dynastic marriages of his daughters, including Elizabeth (Ellisiv) - with the King of Norway Harald the Severe, he himself and his name are repeatedly mentioned in the Scandinavian sagas, where he appears under the name " Yarisleyva Konung Holmgard", that is, Novgorod.

In 1834, a professor at St. Petersburg University, Senkovsky, having translated “Eymund’s Saga” into Russian, discovers that the Varangian Eymund, together with his retinue, was hired by Yaroslav the Wise. The saga tells how King Yarisleif (Yaroslav) fights with King Burisleif (Boris), and in the saga Burisleif is killed by the Varangians by order of Yarisleif. Then, some researchers, based on the saga about Eymund, supported the hypothesis that the death of Boris was the “work of the hands” of the Varangians sent by Yaroslav the Wise in 1017, given that, according to the chronicles, Yaroslav, Bryachislav, and Mstislav refused to recognize Svyatopolk as the legitimate prince in Kiev.

However, Senkovsky’s hypothesis, based solely on the data of the “Eymund Saga”, an active supporter of which is currently the historian and source scientist I. N. Danilevsky, proves the possible “involvement” of Yaroslav only in the murder of Boris (“Buritsleiv”), but not in any way Gleb, who is not mentioned at all in the saga.

At the same time, it is known that after the death of Prince Vladimir, only two brothers - Boris and Gleb - declared their allegiance to the new Kiev prince and pledged to “honor him as their father” and for Svyatopolk it would be very strange to kill his allies. To date, this hypothesis has both its supporters and opponents.

Also, historians, starting with S. M. Solovyov, suggest that the story of the death of Boris and Gleb was clearly inserted into the Tale of Bygone Years later, otherwise the chronicler would not have repeated again about the beginning of the reign of Svyatopolk in Kiev.

Old Russian chroniclers raise the topic of Yaroslav’s wisdom, starting with the “praise of books” placed under the year 1037 in the “Tale of Bygone Years”, which, according to them, consisted in the fact that Yaroslav is wise because he built the churches of Hagia Sophia in Kiev and Novgorod, then there is dedicated the main temples of the cities of Sofia - the wisdom of God, to which the main temple of Constantinople is dedicated. Thus, Yaroslav declares that the Russian Church is on a par with the Byzantine Church. Having mentioned wisdom, chroniclers, as a rule, reveal this concept by referring to the Old Testament Solomon.

The oldest of the portraits of the Kyiv prince was made during his lifetime on the famous fresco in the Cathedral of St. Sophia. Unfortunately, part of the fresco with portraits of Yaroslav and his wife Ingegerda has been lost. Only a copy of A. van Westerfeld, the court painter of the Lithuanian hetman A. Radzivil, made in 1651 from an entire fresco, has survived.

The famous sculptor and anthropologist Mikhail Gerasimov reconstructed Yaroslav’s face based on his skull. The sculptural image of Yaroslav was created by M. O. Mikeshin and I. N. Schroeder in the monument “Millennium of Russia” in 1862 in Novgorod.

In fiction: he is a minor hero in the historical novels by Valentin Ivanov “Great Rus'” (1961), by Antonin Ladinsky “Anna Yaroslavna - Queen of France” (1973), in the historical story by Elizaveta Dvoretskaya “The Treasure of Harald”, as well as in the story by Boris Akunin “Fiery finger" (2014).

In cinema:

- “Yaroslavna, Queen of France” (1978; USSR) directed by Igor Maslennikov, in the role of Prince Yaroslav Kirill Lavrov;
- “Yaroslav the Wise” (1981; USSR) directed by Grigory Kokhan, in the role of Yaroslav Yuri Muravitsky, Yaroslav in childhood Mark Gres;
- "Yaroslav. A thousand years ago" (2010; Russia) directed by Dmitry Korobkin, in the role of Yaroslav Alexander Ivashkevich.