Source: Encyclopedia Britannica - Yaroslav the Wise prince of Kievan Rus
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Encyclopedia Britannica - Yaroslav the Wise prince of Kievan Rus |
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Yaroslav the Wise, also called Yaroslav I, Russian Yaroslav Mudry, (born 980—died February 2, 1054), grand prince of Kiev from 1019 to 1054.
A son of the grand prince Vladimir, he was vice-regent of Novgorod at the time of his father’s death in 1015. Then his eldest surviving brother, Svyatopolk the Accursed, killed three of his other brothers and seized power in Kiev. Yaroslav, with the active support of the Novgorodians and the help of Varangian (Viking) mercenaries, defeated Svyatopolk and became the grand prince of Kiev in 1019.
Yaroslav began consolidating the Kievan state through both cultural and administrative improvements and through military campaigns. He promoted the spread of Christianity in the Kievan state, gathered a large collection of books, and employed many scribesto translate Greek religious texts into the Slavic language. He founded churches and monasteries and issued statutes regulating the legal position of the Christian Church and the rights of the clergy. With the help of Byzantine architects and craftsmen, Yaroslav fortified and beautified Kiev along Byzantine lines. He built the majestic Cathedral of St. Sophia and the famous Golden Gate of the Kievan fortress. Under Yaroslav the codification of legal customs and princely enactments was begun, and this work served as the basis for a law code called the Russkaya Pravda (“Russian Justice”). |