Yaroslav the Wise

Yaroslav (978-1054) - son of Vladimir Svyatoslavovich, the baptist of Rus', and Rogneda, princess of Polotsk.
His wife is the princess of Sweden, baptized Irina.
Sons: Vladimir, Izyaslav, Svyatoslav, Vsevolod, Vyacheslav, Igor. daughters: Anna, Anastasia, Elizaveta.
At baptism he was named George.

OK. 987 - ca. 1010 - Prince of Rostov .

Rostov period

The Tale of Bygone Years for the year 6496 (988) reports that Vladimir Svyatoslavich imprisoned his sons 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, then 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 after 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.

Memorial sign at the legendary founding site of Yaroslavl

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 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 tribes living in the forest belt modern Russia. More early version legends are 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 date of the founding of Yaroslavl.

Monument to Yaroslav the Wise in Yaroslavl

Yaroslavl. The chopped city. Okolny (Zemlyanoy) city. Historical cultural layer, 11-13, 14-17 centuries. The legend about the founding of Yaroslavl tells of the existence of an older settlement on this site.

After Yaroslav the Wise established himself in the great reign in Kyiv, he takes measures to ensure the safety of the routes to Rostov and Beloozero. After suppressing the uprising of the Magi in Suzdal in 1024, he “staffed that land” with graveyards and strongholds. Along the inner edge of Bear Gully were placed wooden fortifications- A log city with two gates along the slopes of the cape, Volzhsky and Podzelensky.

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, however, based on an analysis of a number of later sources. 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.

Yaroslav Replaced Vysheslav in Veliky Novgorod.

Novgorod period

1010 - 1034 - Prince of Novgorod.

After the death of Vysheslav, Svyatopolk was considered the eldest son of Vladimir, however Grand Duke for some reason I chose to leave him in Turov. 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, while 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 M.M. Gerasimov.

Rebellion against father

In 1014, Yaroslav resolutely refused to pay his father, the great to the prince of Kyiv To 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. However, Vladimir, who in recent years lived in the village of Berestovo near Kiev, was already old and was in no hurry to take any action. 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 steppe people, 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 Novgorod first chronicle:
... the Varangians began to commit violence on 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 him 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 Yaroslav to make peace with the Novgorodians, promising to pay the viru for each killed. And in subsequent events, the Novgorodians invariably supported their prince.

The struggle for the Kyiv throne

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.

1016 - 1018 - great Prince of Kyiv.

In 1016, Yaroslav defeated the army of Svyatopolk near Lyubech and late autumn occupied Kyiv. 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 copied the charter, you said to them: walk according to this charter, 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 neither set anyone up for a (personal, chest-to-chest) battle with Prince Svyatopolk, nor will I blame anyone if he is killed.

1019 - 1054 - great Prince of Kyiv.

In 1019, Yaroslav married the daughter of the Swedish king Olaf Shotkonung - Ingigerda, for whom the Norwegian king Olaf Haraldson had previously wooed, 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 gift from her husband, Ingigerda received 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 divide the lands along the Dnieper with him and stop the wars:
Sit down in your Kyiv, you are the elder brother, and let me have this side.

Rostov-Suzdal Land

The first Rostov-Suzdal prince was the son of Vladimir Yaroslav the Wise c. 987 - ca. 1010
Evidence of the resistance of the pagans to the penetration of the new religion is a series (1024, 1071, 1091) of uprisings led by the Magi that broke out throughout North-Eastern Rus'.

In 1024, the inhabitants of Suzdal suffered severe famine, taking advantage of this misfortune, the pagan sorcerers caused an indignation among the Suzdal residents, assuring them that the famine was due to the fact that the old women “held the gobilos,” as a result of which the beating of women began. This brutal beating of women soon assumed such enormous proportions that the intervention of the grand ducal authorities was required to stop the indignation. Grand Duke Yaroslav himself personally appeared in Suzdal and, partly with words of exhortation, partly by executing the main culprits - the Magi, restored peace and order in the Suzdal land. In 1071, two wise men in the Rostov land, also in a time of famine, killed “the best wives, assuring that they contained livestock, honey and fish in themselves.”
In the northwestern part of the Suzdal Kremlin, traces of fortifications of the ancient Russian city (Detinets) were discovered, consisting of a rampart and three lines of ditches 1.0-3.2 m deep, 1.0-7.3 m wide. Even in ancient times, the rampart was leveled and the ditches were filled in, apparently during suppression of the Smerd uprising. The area of ​​the early Suzdal detinets was approx. 1.5 ha. Fragments of molded and pottery ceramics, as well as other found objects, date back to the time of the emergence of Detinets in the 10th century.
After the suppression of the uprising of the Magi in Suzdal in 1024, he (Prince Yaroslav the Wise) “set up that land” with graveyards and strongholds. Along the inner edge of the Bear Gully, wooden fortifications were erected - a chopped city with two gates along the slopes of the cape, Volzhsky and Podzelensky.
After the fire of 1024, reflected in the chronicles, the area of ​​the Kremlin increased approximately 7-8 times; on the eastern floor side it was protected by a rampart up to 4 m high with internal shaft structures made of wood and a ditch in front of it. In the beginning. 12th century The entire territory of the Kremlin was already surrounded by a rampart.

Bust of Yaroslav the Wise from the Vladimir-Suzdal Museum-Reserve.

According to the will of Yaroslav the Wise, Rostov, along with other cities of North-Eastern Rus', became the possession of his son, the Pereyaslavl prince Vsevolod Yaroslavich, where he sent governors.

K con. XI century Suzdal becomes a large administrative, religious, craft and shopping center. At the narrowest point of the Kamenka bend, a new rampart and ditch were erected. The fortified territory of the city reached 14 hectares. Urban buildings were located in rows on the river cliff.
See Suzdal Kremlin.

In the same year, after the death of his brother Mstislav Vladimirovich, Yaroslav became the sole ruler of most of Kievan 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.

St. Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod

In 1046, Grand Duke 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. The cathedral was founded on the site of the Vladychny Court and was built until about 1050 instead of the 13-domed wooden church of 989 that burned down before that, but not in the same place, but to the north. According to various chronicles, the cathedral was consecrated in 1050 or 1052 by Bishop Luke.

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

Wisdom of Yaroslav

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 Kyiv and Novgorod, then is dedicated to the main temples of the cities of Sofia - to the wisdom of God, to which it is dedicated main temple Constantinople. 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.
“His mind was kind and he was brave in battle” (chronicle).

Prince Yaroslav the Wise reads the law to the people

Yaroslav himself read books, mainly under him Christianity began to spread, and monks began to multiply. The first written civil charter dates back to his time - “Russian Truth” by Yaroslav the Wise (a set of all the laws according to which the ancestors ruled the Russian land).

Death of Yaroslav

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

In 1051, by order of Yaroslav, a council of Russian bishops elected monk Hilarion as Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Rus', thereby emphasizing the independence of the Kyiv Metropolis from the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Metropolitan Hilarion called Yaroslav the “Russian Hagan.”
Yaroslav the Wise died on February 20, 1054 in Vyshgorod in the arms of his son Vsevolod, having outlived his wife by four years and his eldest son Vladimir by two years.

An inscription on the wall of the St. Sophia Cathedral, dated 1054, speaks of the death of “our king.” In different chronicles exact date Yaroslav's death was determined in different ways: either on February 19, or on the 20th. Academician B. Rybakov explains these disagreements by the fact that Yaroslav died on the night from Saturday to Sunday. IN Ancient Rus' to determine the beginning of the day, there were two principles: 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.
However, the date of death is not accepted by all researchers. VC. Ziborov dates this event to February 17, 1054.

Sarcophagus of Yaroslav the Wise

Yaroslav was buried in St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv. The sarcophagus of Yaroslav still stands in the Cathedral of St. Sofia. It was opened in 1936, 1939 and 1964. and did not always conduct qualified research. The prince's height was 172-175 cm. It is also known that he was lame: 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 only the skeleton of Yaroslav’s wife, Princess Ingegerda. During the investigation conducted by journalists, a version was put forward that the prince’s remains were taken from Kyiv 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).

Veneration in Christianity

Yaroslav the Wise

The blessed Prince Yaroslav the Wise is revered by Christians immediately after his death, for the first time as a Saint he is mentioned by Adam of Bremen, who in the “Acts of the High Priests of the Hamburg Church,” dating back to 1075, calls Grand Duke Yaroslav Vladimirovich a saint. Yaroslav the Wise was not formally one of the saints of the Russian Orthodox Church; On March 9, 2004, in connection with the 950th anniversary of his death, he was included in the calendar of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the MP, and on December 8, 2005, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II, February 20 (March 5) was included in the calendar as a day of remembrance Holy Blessed Prince Yaroslav the Wise. Unrecognized Ukrainian Orthodox Church The Kyiv Patriarchate at the Local Council in 2008 canonized Yaroslav the Wise as a holy noble prince.

The first Rostov bishops Fedor and Hilarion had little success in introducing Christianity into the Rostov-Suzdal land and left Rostov, unable to tolerate the inveterate paganism of its population. The third bishop was the famous preacher of Christianity, Saint Leontius, who died at the hands of the pagans. He was replaced by Saint Isaiah, who had previously been the abbot of the Demetrius Monastery in Kyiv. The life of Bishop Isaiah (d. 1090) reports that, having arrived from Kyiv to Rostov, he walked around “all the cities and villages in the Rostov and Suzdal region, and where else he found idols and temples, ruined them and set them on fire.”
A wave of uprisings that swept the entire Suzdal region swept through the entire 11th century. In 1071, a large uprising engulfed Beloozero, then spread to Rostov. This circumstance led to the strengthening of the old settlement of Suzdal with an earthen rampart with a tine made of large oak logs. WITH outside this shaft was partially skirted by the Kamenka River, and a deep ditch was dug from the side of the plateau. The name of the city of Suzdal is subsequently associated with this fortress.
After the death of Yaroslav, the Rostov-Suzdal land was taken into possession by Prince Rostislav Vladimirovich (1052-1057 - Prince of Rostov-Suzdal).

In 1057, the Rostov-Suzdal Land was taken into possession by the younger Yaroslavich - Vsevolod Yaroslavich (1057 - 1093 - Prince of Rostov-Suzdal), Prince of Pereyaslavl the Russian. Under him, the Rostov-Suzdal Land became the volost of his son Vladimir Monomakh, and subsequently - the undivided possession of the Monomashichs.

Dmitrievsky Pechersky Monastery

During the period of penetration of Christianity, a monastery arose near Suzdal on the high bank of the Kamenka River. It was founded by the monks of Kiev Pechersky Monastery. A church was built in it in honor of Demetrius of Thessaloniki, which is why the monastery got its name Demetrius Pechersky Monastery. Chronicle sources mention the monastery of Demetrius (see Dmitrievsky Pechersky Monastery of Suzdal) in Suzdal under 1096.

Novgorod birch bark document, which mentions Suzdal. XII century

Nearby entrance gate archaeologists have excavated the remains of rich estates of Scandinavian warriors, presumably in the service of the Suzdal tysyatsky Georgy Shimonovich. George, the son of Shimon Afrikanovich, a native of Scandinavia, who served Yaroslav the Wise, was also the teacher of the young Prince Yuri Vladimirovich. The finds of a treasure of gold bracelets, a Byzantine act seal, items of military equipment, coins and expensive jewelry indicate the wealth of the owner of the estate, his membership in the druzhina class and the princely administration. The estates of the warriors were destroyed by fire in 1096 during the invasion of the Chernigov prince Oleg Svyatoslavich into the Rostov-Suzdal land.

Finds from the estates of the Suzdal Kremlin. XI century

Amphora with the inscription "OLE". XI century

In the chronicle story under the year 1096 it is said that Oleg of Chernigov took possession of the Suzdal “city” and, retreating under the pressure of the squad of Mstislav of Novgorod, the son of Vladimir Monomakh, burned down Suzdal, in which only “the monastery courtyard of the Pechersk Monastery and the church of St. Dmitry, Ephraim also left the village to the south.” The Battle of the Kolochka River ended in Mstislav's victory. The people of Suzdal, captured by Oleg, were freed.

Trade connections of Suzdal land

International relations of Suzdal X-XIII centuries. were versatile: foreign policy, military, dynastic, cultural and trade. Due to its geographical location Suzdal land was an intermediary in trade between Northwestern Europe and the East.
Eastern trade was carried out along the Volga-Caspian route. From the countries of the fabulously rich East (Iran, Syria, Egypt, India, Central Asia, Arab Spain), Bulgarian ceramics, silver in coins and products, silk fabrics, semi-precious stones, pearls, cowrie shells, glass beads came to Suzdal through the mediation of Volga Bulgaria. Painted irrigated and glassware, spices and incense. An Iranian polychrome jug with Arabic inscription: “Allah is the support.”
Patterned silks - “Axamites”, gold ribbons, glass jewelry and dishes were brought from Byzantium, gems, olive oil and grape wine in amphorae.
Southern trade was carried out through the mediation of Kyiv. From there, glassware and slate whorls (spindle weights) also came to North-Eastern Rus'.
Amber was delivered from the Baltic states, weapons and non-ferrous metals (copper, tin, lead) were imported from Northern Europe, Western Europe- silver, church utensils, stained glass, carved bone products.
The intermediary in western and northern trade was Novgorod, where grain, wax, honey, furs and eastern imports were transported from Suzdal.
Suzdal Rus' has long maintained close contacts with many countries of the world and was involved in the system of pan-European cultural relations, which had a great influence on the formation of its vibrant and unique culture. Prince Vladimir I the Saint. Foundation of the city of Vladimir.
Foundation of the city of Suzdal. . 1096 - 1113 and 1135 - 1138 - Prince of Rostov-Suzdal.
Prince Yuri Dolgoruky. 1113 - 1149 or 1096 - 1149 - Rostov-Suzdal. Since 1125 the capital has been Suzdal.

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