Under Vladimir, the state was united, united under the leadership of an Orthodox ruler. Vladimir had 12 sons in principalities in different cities. After his death in 1015, a bloody strife began. Vladimir's son Svyatopolk (later nicknamed the Accursed for his crimes), having married the daughter of the Polish King Boleslav the Brave and counting on his support, declared himself the Great Prince of Kiev (1015-1016; 1017-1019). The PVL says that he killed his brothers Boris (whom Vladimir and the top of power wanted to see as a successor) and Gleb. (And Svyatoslav).

However, his brother Yaroslav, who was in Novgorod the governor of the Grand Duke of Kiev, gathered a large army of Novgorodians and the Varangians called by them to help, went to Kiev. The first battle (near Lyubech) Svyatopolk, having enlisted the support of the Pechenegs, lost, and fled to the Polish king Boleslav (father-in-law). Yaroslav ruled for a year in Kyiv. But in the next year 1017, Svyatopolk with the Polish army (led by Boleslav) won the second battle (on the banks of the Bug). And without resistance, he sat down to reign in Kyiv. Then Yaroslav fled to Novgorod, but the Novgorodians, together with the posadnik Konstantin, the son of Dobrynya, persuaded the prince to go again to Svyatopolk. Novgorodians raised money for the war and in 1019 Yaroslav again goes to his brother, who by this time had expelled Boleslav from Kyiv due to a quarrel. Svyatopolk, again enlisting the support of the Pechenegs, is defeated, flees to Poland, but dies from wounds somewhere in the Carpathian region. And Yaroslav occupies the throne of Kiev in 1019.

Although already at that time there was disunity among the brothers, Yaroslav tried to consolidate his power. He sent boyars loyal to him to different cities and lands of the state, who demanded complete submission to Kyiv. Those who disobeyed were severely punished (as, for example, brother Sudislav). Under Yaroslav the Wise, Kievan Rus reached its peak: cities were fortified, fortresses were built, Kyiv was decorated, marriages of princely children with well-born surnames of foreign states were concluded.

18. The reign of Yaroslav the Wise.

Yaroslav the Wise (978-1054) son of Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich of Kyiv and Princess Rogneda of Polotsk. After the death of St. Vladimir (1015), the Russian land was divided according to the number of his sons. The brothers, fighting over inheritance, exterminated each other. His eldest son Svyatopolk (nicknamed the Accursed for his crimes) killed his brothers Boris, Gleb and Svyatoslav and "began to reign in Kiev." However, his brother Yaroslav, who was in Novgorod the governor of the Grand Duke of Kiev, gathered a large army of Novgorodians and the Varangians called by them to help, defeated Svyatopolk (who was helped by the Poles) and occupied the Kiev throne in 1019.

Yaroslav undertook a number of military expeditions against neighboring lands and peoples. In 1030, he made a successful campaign in the land of the Baltic "chud" and built the city of Yuryev to the west of Lake Peipus. He also made campaigns in the land of Lithuania and in the land of Mazovia. In 1043, the last Russian campaign against Byzantium took place: Yaroslav sent his son Vladimir “to the Greeks” with a large army, but the campaign ended in complete failure.

But Yaroslav's struggle with the Pechenegs ended in complete success, whom he inflicted a decisive defeat in the battle of Kiev in 1036. Then Yaroslav creates a strong defense of Russia against the steppe nomads by building fortifications and colonizing the outskirts of the steppe. The reign of Yaroslav is the era of prosperity of Kievan Rus, its political unity and power. By his deeds, this prince earned the nickname Wise among his descendants.

In his domestic policy, Yaroslav was a tireless builder of Russia. He contributed to the spread and strengthening of Christianity in the vast confines of his state. Grandiose, by that time, work begins. Calling masters from Byzantium, Yaroslav built churches - one of the most famous is St. Sophia Cathedral - the residence of the Metropolitan of "Kyiv and All Russia". In 1054, the first metropolitan not from the Greeks, but from the Russians, Hilarion, who created the ecclesiastical and political treatise "The Sermon on Law and Grace", stood at the head of the church. The first Russian monasteries arose, including the Kiev-Pechersk one, which played an important role in the development of Russian literature and chronicle writing.

It was during the reign of Yaroslav that translation and book writing began to develop intensively. Yaroslav was very fond of books. He multiplied the number of books in Russia and gradually introduced them into use. Since that time, book wisdom has firmly established itself among Russians. All over the earth they gathered children and taught them to read and write.

Yaroslav's internal activities were also aimed at strengthening and decorating the capital city of Kyiv. In the first half of the 11th century, Kyiv, the growing trade, craft, administrative and cultural center of Russia, expanded again. Significantly increased the territory of Kyiv, Yaroslav surrounded by a new line of fortifications and built the Golden Gate. Kyiv at that time was in lively trade and diplomatic relations not only with Byzantium, but also with other European countries.

The time of Yaroslav is the time of internal stabilization, which contributed to the growth of the international authority of Russia, as evidenced by the fact that his daughters became queens: Anna - French, Elizabeth - Norwegian, and then Danish, Anastasia - Hungarian. Yaroslav himself was married to the daughter of the Swedish king Ingigerda.

Under Yaroslav the Wise, the recording of the norms of Russian law began, which later formed a legal collection known as Russian Truth.

Princely civil strife - the struggle of Russian princes among themselves for power and territory.

The main period of civil strife fell on the 10th-11th centuries. The main reasons for the enmity between the princes were:

• discontent in the distribution of territories;
• struggle for sole power in Kyiv;
• struggle for the right not to depend on the will of Kyiv.

• the first civil strife (10th century) - enmity between the sons of Svyatoslav;
• the second civil strife (beginning of the 11th century) - enmity between the sons of Vladimir;
• the third civil strife (end of the 11th century) - enmity between the sons of Yaroslav.

In Russia, there was no centralized power, no single state, and no tradition to pass the throne to the eldest of the sons, so the great princes, leaving many heirs according to tradition, doomed them to endless enmity among themselves. Although the heirs received power in one of the large cities, they all aspired to become princes of Kyiv and be able to subjugate their brothers.

The first civil strife in Russia

The first family feud broke out after the death of Svyatoslav, who left three sons. Yaropolk received power in Kyiv, Oleg - in the territory of the Drevlyans, and Vladimir - in Novgorod. At first, after the death of their father, the brothers lived peacefully, but then conflicts over territory began.

In 975 (976), on the orders of Prince Oleg, on the territory of the Drevlyans, where Vladimir ruled, the son of one of the governors of Yaropolk was killed. The governor, who learned about this, reported to Yaropolk about what had happened and persuaded him to attack Oleg with an army. This was the beginning of the civil strife, which lasted for several years.

In 977 Yaropolk attacks Oleg. Oleg, who did not expect an attack and was not prepared, was forced, together with his army, to retreat back to the capital of the Drevlyans - the city of Ovruch. As a result of panic during the retreat, Oleg accidentally dies under the hooves of the horse of one of his warriors. The Drevlyans, having lost their prince, quickly surrender and submit to the authority of Yaropolk. At the same time, Vladimir, fearing an attack by Yaropolk, runs to the Varangians.

In 980, Vladimir returned to Russia with the Varangian army and immediately undertook a campaign against his brother Yaropolk. He quickly retakes Novgorod and then moves on to Kyiv. Yaropolk, having learned about his brother's intentions to seize the throne in Kyiv, follows the advice of one of his assistants and flees to the city of Rodna, fearing an assassination attempt. However, the adviser turns out to be a traitor who entered into an agreement with Vladimir, and Yaropolk, dying of hunger in Lyubech, is forced to negotiate with Vladimir. Having reached his brother, he dies from the swords of two Varangians, without concluding a truce.

Thus ends the civil strife of the sons of Svyatoslav. At the end of 980, Vladimir becomes a prince in Kyiv, where he rules until his death.

The first feudal civil strife marked the beginning of a long period of internal wars between the princes, which would last for almost a century and a half.

The second civil strife in Russia

In 1015, Vladimir dies and a new enmity begins - the civil strife of the sons of Vladimir. Vladimir left 12 sons, each of whom wanted to become a prince of Kyiv and gain almost unlimited power. However, the main struggle was between Svyatopolk and Yaroslav.

Svyatopolk becomes the first Kyiv prince, since he had the support of Vladimir's warriors and was closest to Kyiv. He kills the brothers Boris and Gleb and becomes the head of the throne.

In 1016, a bloody struggle for the right to govern Kyiv between Svyatopolk and Yaroslav begins.

Yaroslav, who ruled in Novgorod, gathers an army, which includes not only Novgorodians, but also Varangians, and goes with him to Kyiv. After a battle with the army of Svyatoslav near Lyubech, Yaroslav captures Kyiv and forces his brother to flee. However, some time later, Svyatoslav returns with Polish soldiers and recaptures the city, forcing Yaroslav back to Novgorod. But the fight doesn't end there either. Yaroslav again goes to Kyiv and this time he manages to win the final victory.

1016 - becomes a prince in Kyiv, where he rules until his death.

The third civil strife in Russia

The third enmity began after the death of Yaroslav the Wise, who during his lifetime was very afraid that his death would lead to family strife and therefore tried to divide power between the children in advance. Although Yaroslav left clear instructions for his sons and established who would reign where, the desire to seize power in Kyiv again provoked civil strife between the Yaroslavichs and plunged Russia into another war.

According to Yaroslav's testament, Kyiv was given to his eldest son Izyaslav, Svyatoslav got Chernigov, Vsevolod - Pereyaslavl, Vyacheslav - Smolensk, and Igor - Vladimir.

In 1054, Yaroslav dies, but the sons do not seek to win back territories from each other, on the contrary, they fight unitedly against foreign invaders. However, when the external threat was defeated, the war for power in Russia begins.

For almost the entire 1068, different children of Yaroslav the Wise ended up on the throne of Kyiv, but in 1069 power again returned to Izyaslav, as Yaroslav bequeathed. Since 1069, Izyaslav rules Russia.

Pre-Mongol Rus in chronicles of the 5th-13th centuries. Gudz-Markov Alexey Viktorovich

Svyatopolk the Accursed (1015–1019)

The son of Vladimir Svyatopolk, born from the wife taken away from Yaropolk, followed in the footsteps of Prince Yaropolk and was nicknamed the Accursed in Russia. Svyatopolk was the eldest among the brothers and was in Kyiv. He concealed his father's death by wrapping Vladimir's body in a carpet and at night he brought it in a sleigh to the stone church of the Virgin in Kyiv. The people found out about the death of the prince, began to converge and grieved deeply for Vladimir as an intercessor. Vladimir was placed in a marble sarcophagus and laid to rest in the stone church of Kyiv he built.

Meanwhile, Svyatopolk began to distribute the estate of the deceased to the people.

Young Boris, having not met the Pechenegs, returned to Russia. Upon learning of the death of his father, the prince began to cry. The chronicler says that Vladimir loved Boris more than his other sons. Boris's tent was pitched over the Alt River. The squad offered Boris support and advised him to sit on his father's table in Kyiv. Boris refused, explaining that he did not want to raise a hand against his brother. The squad left Boris, only a few youths remained on the shore.

Meanwhile, Svyatopolk sent assurances of love to Boris. Perhaps Svyatopolk was afraid of the squad and did not know that Boris had let her go.

The conspiracy took shape in Vyshgorod. Svyatopolk arrived in the suburbs of the capital and secretly gathered the Vyshgorod boyars and among them a certain Putsha. There they agreed to kill Boris.

No matter how hard Svyatopolk tried to keep the plan a secret, Boris was warned about the conspiracy. The prince began to read the prayer and sing the morning prayer. The people who came from Svyatopolk pierced Boris with a spear and killed his youths. And the servant of Boris, Ugrin George, was beheaded for the sake of the golden hryvnia, donated by the master.

When Boris was brought to Svyatopolk, he was still breathing. Svyatopolk ordered two Varangians to finish off Boris. One of the Varangians pierced his heart.

Boris's body was buried in the church of St. Vasily in Vyshgorod. Further, Svyatopolk decided to kill Gleb, Boris's brother by his Bulgarian mother. We remember that Gleb was sent by his father to Murom, on the Oka. Svyatopolk sent Gleb a message that, they say, the father is unwell and is calling for his son, and you should go quickly.

Gleb, without delay, mounted his horse and with a small retinue hurried to the Volga, bypassing the Vyatichi forests that were not kind to Russians. On the Volga, Gleb's horse broke his leg in a ditch. That was a sign to the prince.

Earlier, the daughter of Vladimir Predslava sent news to Yaroslav of Novgorod about the death of his father and about the affairs of his brother. Yaroslav managed to preempt Gleb by sending to the upper reaches of the Dnieper to say that Boris was killed by Svyatopolk, his father was dead, and something bad was planned against Gleb. Gleb began to cry and, like Boris, began to pray. He was heard to say, “It is better for me to die with my brother than to live in this world.”

The assassins sent by Svyatopolk seized Gleb's boat, killed the prince, and laid his body among the luggage. Soon the boat landed on the right bank of the Dnieper under the walls of Vyshgorod.

Gleb was laid to rest in the Vyshgorod church of St. Vasily next to the grave of Boris.

Svyatopolk managed to deal with another brother - Svyatoslav, who was sitting in the land of the Drevlyans. Svyatoslav fled to Hungary, but could not escape death.

At that time, another bloody tragedy broke out in Novgorod. The Varangians, brought by Yaroslav, had a lot of free time and tried to use it to good use. This resulted in the Varangians chasing Slovenian girls and wives and committing violence.

The character of the Novgorodians was severe, and, having seen enough of what was happening, the Slovenes took up arms and beat the Varangians in the courtyard of Paromoni.

Yaroslav was furious. The prince slyly invited the Novgorodians to his court, and the Varangians cut off a thousand Slovenians. On the same terrible night, news came to Novgorod from Predslava to Yaroslav about the death of his father and that Svyatopolk had sent to Kyiv to kill Boris and Gleb. In the morning a veche was held in Novgorod. After the night battle, the Novgorodians stood under the banner of Yaroslav. A thousand Varangians and four thousand Slovenes gathered at the prince's hand. With this force, Yaroslav went to Svyatopolk, saying that it was not he who began to beat the brethren, but Svyatopolk.

And Svyatopolk gathered soldiers in Russia, called the Pechenegs and stood on the right bank of the Dnieper.

The year 1016 came. Both armies stood against each other for three months. Once the voivode Svyatopolk drove up to the banks of the Dnieper and began to ridicule the Novgorodians, they say, they came with their lame man (Yaroslav), and the carpenters themselves, and put them in charge of cutting mansions.

The Novgorodians listened to that governor and told Yaroslav that in the morning they would cross to the opposite bank. Yaroslav "performed the army" before dawn.

“And that evening, Yaroslav was transported with a howl to the other half of the Dnieper, and the boat was thrown away from the shore, and that night he went to the set. And Yaroslav said to the squad: you are famous, turn your head around your head. And be slaughter evil; and defeat Svyatoplka before the light. And Svyatoplk ran to the Pechenegs, and Yaroslav went to Kiev ... and began to divide it: the elders for 10 hryvnias, and the smerdom for hryvnias, and Novgorod for 10 all. and let me go all the houses. (Novgorod First Chronicle. PSRL, 1841). So Yaroslav sat on the table in Kyiv, and the prince was 28 years old. In 1017, a fire broke out in Kyiv and the churches burned down. They were mostly wooden. And the stone bulk of the temple of the Mother of God of the Tithes calmly towered over the plank roofs of the capital, chopped from logs.

In 1018, the Polish king Boleslav I the Brave, who had a long-standing grudge against Russia for the Cherven lands, moved the Lyash regiments to help Svyatopolk, who was not stingy with promises. Yaroslav was notified in advance of the upcoming campaign and, having gathered warriors from Russia, the Varangians and Slovenes, set out to meet the enemy. The regiments stood on opposite sides of the Western Bug, not far from the ancient city of Velyn.

In many ways, the situation on the Western Bug in 1018 repeated what happened on the Dnieper in 1016. Only the parties changed roles. Voivode Yaroslav, who was called Budyn, drove up to the river bank and began to shout to Boleslav that he would flog his thick belly. And Boleslav was heavy.

Boris and Gleb on horseback. 2nd half of the 14th century YYY

Hearing those speeches, Boleslav rushed on horseback across the river. Following the king, the Polish army rushed into the river. Yaroslav did not expect such a turn of events, did not have time to dress up the regiments and ingloriously fled with four people to Novgorod.

Soon the Poles headed by Boleslav I and with them Prince Svyatopolk approached Kyiv from the west. The city opened the gates. Polish soldiers were taken to the yards of the people of Kiev for food.

Boleslav I considered it necessary to inform Germany about what was happening in Russia. Bolesław sent Abbot Tuni to the court of Henry II.

The Bishop of Merseburg, mentioned above, Titmar, in 1012-1018. who wrote a chronicle that paid much attention to the Slavs, he learned a lot of information, including about Russia, from Abbot Tuni. Titmar also spoke with German mercenaries who had been with the army of Boleslav I in Kyiv.

Living in Kyiv turned into a misfortune for the Poles, because they began to beat them little by little. Soon this phenomenon took on such a scale that Boleslav I fled from Kyiv like Bishop Adalbert. At the same time, the Poles managed to withdraw the estate from the Russian capital. Boleslav and Yaroslav's sister, his boyars and people were taken away from Kyiv.

The campaign ended with Bolesław taking Red Rus, and this was the main acquisition of Poland in 1018.

And this is what happened in Novgorod. Yaroslav, who came running from Volhynia, wanted to sail across the sea. But he was prevented by the son of Dobrynia, the mayor Konstantin. With the Novgorodians, the posadnik cut the boats ready to sail. The Novgorodians told the prince that they intended to fight Boleslav and Svyatopolk.

In Novgorod, they began to raise funds - 4 kunas from her husband, 10 hryvnias from the elders, 80 hryvnias from the boyars.

The chronicler calls these means "cattle". They brought "Varangians and brought them cattle." An impressive force gathered in Novgorod. The Varangians were always happy to serve for an appropriate fee.

It was not difficult for Yaroslav to cope with Svyatopolk, who remained without Polish help. And Svyatopolk fled to the Pechenegs.

The brothers met for the last time on the Alt River, where Boris was massacred. Yaroslav stood on the spot where Boris's tent once stood and prayed.

Svyatopolk approached Alt with the Pechenegs "in heavy strength." The battle began, and such a cruel slaughter had never been in Russia before. The enemy retreated three times. The earth was covered with blood. By the end of the day, the Yaroslavl regiments began to overcome. Svyatopolk fled, and his strength left him to such an extent that he had to carry the prince on a stretcher.

They brought Svyatopolk to Berestye (Brest). The spirit of the prince was broken, and in Russia he had nothing more to do. Svyatopolk was not expected in Poland either. The prince traveled through Poland, approached the borders of the Czech Republic and disappeared without a trace in the forests of the Carpathians.

Yaroslav entered Kyiv and, in the words of the chronicler, wiped his sweat, showing great work. Thus ended the inglorious reign of Svyatopolk the Accursed (1015–1019).

In 1019, the Novgorod posadnik Konstantin, for some unknown reason, greatly angered Yaroslav. The son of Dobrynya was imprisoned in Rostov the Great. Three years later Konstantin was killed in Murom.

Meanwhile, the era of the reign of Yaroslav the Wise began. She left many visible and invisible monuments in Russian history and on Russian soil, and we will devote the next chapter to the story of this.

This text is an introductory piece. From the book The Newest Book of Facts. Volume 3 [Physics, chemistry and technology. History and archeology. Miscellaneous] author Kondrashov Anatoly Pavlovich

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2. Internecine struggle of the sons of Vladimir (1015-1036)

2. Internecine struggle of the sons of Vladimir (1015-1036)

After the death of Vladimir, a bloody feud between his sons began. The lack of brotherly love between them can partly be explained by the fact that they were only half-brothers. Before his baptism, the Grand Duke had had many wives, and there was no doubt great tension in relations between different families. Of his numerous offspring, Yaroslav, Mstislav and Izyaslav are considered the sons of Rogneda. Svyatopolk is of dubious origin, the son of Yaropolk's widow, whom Vladimir married when she was already pregnant, according to the chronicler. Svyatoslav's mother is the Czech wife of Vladimir, Boris and Gleb are the sons of a Bulgarian woman, according to The Tale of Bygone Years. However, as described in the “Tale” about the sufferings of the last two, who were later canonized as saints, Gleb was just a child at the time of the murder (1015). If so, then he must have been the son of the prince's first Christian wife, the Byzantine princess Anna.129

Apparently, Vladimir intended to transfer his state to Boris, one of the youngest sons, to whom, during his last illness, he entrusted the command of the troops sent against the Pechenegs. Boris was already returning from the campaign and had just reached the banks of the Alta River when he received news of the death of his father and the seizure of the Kyiv throne by Svyatopolk. The squad urged Boris to oppose the latter, warning that otherwise Svyatopolk would kill him. Boris' position was typical of that thin upper stratum of Russian people who accepted Christianity in all seriousness. He did not want to resist evil with violence, he hated the thought of a war with his older brother, so he dismissed the vigilantes and calmly waited for the killers. He was killed, but by his very death, Boris remained forever alive in the memory of the people as a symbol of brotherly love. Boris and his brother Gleb, also killed by Svyatopolk's mercenaries, became the first Russians canonized by the Church. Another brother, Svyatoslav from the Drevlyane land, fled to the west, but was intercepted by Svyatopolk's envoys on their way to Hungary. Izyaslav Polotsky remained neutral and was not annoyed, Mstislav Tmutarakansky also did not see himself as a threat from Svyatopolk. It can be assumed that there was some kind of agreement between them, perhaps a non-aggression pact. In any case, Mstislav was busy expanding his possessions in the Azov region. In 1016, with the help of Byzantine troops, he fought against the remnants of the Khazars in the Crimea.130

The only brother who dared to rise up against Svyatopolk was Yaroslav of Novgorod, the reason for which the Novgorodians saw in their dissatisfaction with the Kievan supremacy over them. The war between these two people was more a struggle between Novgorod and Kyiv than just a personal enmity between the brothers. It lasted four years (1015-1019), and both opponents used mercenary troops from other countries. Yaroslav hired the Varangian detachments, and Svyatopolk the Pechenegs. After the first defeat, Svyatopolk fled to Poland and made an alliance with King Boleslav I. Together they were able to recapture Kyiv from Yaroslav (1018), who, in turn, fled to Novgorod. Deciding that the danger was over, Svyatopolk quarreled with his Polish ally, and Boleslav returned home, taking with him two of Yaroslav's sisters and the boyars, who sympathized with Yaroslav, apparently as hostages. He also reunited the cities of Cherven with Poland.131 Svyatopolk's triumph, however, proved to be brief, because Yaroslav attacked him again some time later. Svyatopolk again hired detachments of the Pechenegs and lost again. This defeat became final, he died (1019), probably somewhere in Galicia, as he fled to the west. Now Yaroslav has a new opponent - his brother Mstislav. By this time, he was firmly entrenched in the eastern Crimea and Tmutarakan. In 1022, the Kosogs (Circassians) recognized him as their overlord after he killed their prince Rededya in a fight. This episode, apparently, is described in the epic, on the basis of which it is recorded in The Tale of Bygone Years.

Having strengthened his encirclement with the Khazars, Kosogs and, possibly, Yassians, Mstislav marched north and occupied the lands of the northerners, undoubtedly agreeing with the population, since they gave him soldiers. When he reached Chernigov, Yaroslav once again returned to Novgorod and again turned to the Varangians for help. Hakon the Blind responded by bringing a strong Varangian army to Novgorod.132

The decisive battle took place at Listven (near Chernigov), the victory went to Mstislav (1024). Yaroslav decided to compromise, and the brothers agreed to divide Russia into two parts along the Dnieper. Although Kyiv at the same time went to Yaroslav, he preferred to stay in Novgorod. Mstislav made Chernigov his capital (1026). It should be noted that one of the Russian lands north of the Dnieper watershed - Polotsk - was not affected by the treaty. From that moment on, she was, to a certain extent, independent.

Yaroslav and Mstislav maintained a close alliance, and in 1031, using the death of King Boleslav and the troubles of Poland that followed, they recaptured the cities of Cherven and plundered the Polish lands. According to The Tale of Bygone Years, they also captured many Poles and sent them to different places. Yaroslav resettled his captives along the Ros River.133 It is interesting to note that during the period of cooperation between the brother-princes, Kyiv temporarily lost its dominant position in Russian politics. Now Novgorod and Chernigov acted as the leading political centers. Behind this political change, we can assume a change in the direction of the main trade routes. Novgorod, as before, controlled the northern part of the waterway of goods from the Baltic to the south, but from Chernigov goods were now sent along the steppe rivers and portages to the Azov region, and not along the lower Dnieper to the Black Sea and Constantinople. Perhaps this happened because the lower reaches of the Dnieper at that time were blocked by the Pechenegs. But the shift of the southern trade route could also be the result of a conscious policy of Mstislav, representing, in this case, the interests of the merchants of Tmutarakan. The Azov region lay at the crossroads of several trade routes: to Turkestan, to Transcaucasia and - through the Crimea - to Constantinople.

Without a doubt, it was precisely in order to establish complete control over the Azov region that Mstislav undertook a campaign against the Yasses, who lived in the lower reaches of the Don north of the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov. They recognized his authority in 1029134

The chronicler describes Mstislav as “fat and red-faced, with big eyes, brave in battle, merciful and loving his squad, sparing no money, no food, no drink for her.” 135 As the ruler of Tmutarakan, Mstislav apparently bore the title of kagan. It is interesting to note that in the Tale of Igor's Campaign, the Chernigov prince Oleg, who also ruled Tmutarakan for some time, is also called a kagan. Thus, the reign of Mstislav is, in a certain sense, an attempt to replace the dominance of Kyiv in Russia with the dominance of Tmutarakan and to revive the ancient Russian Khaganate of pre-Kiev times. At that time, apparently, Tmutarakan was a kind of spiritual capital of Russia.

Mstislav was a keen builder. During the fight with Rededea, he made a vow in case victory to build a church dedicated to the Mother of God in Tmutarakan, and kept his promise. When he moved the capital to Chernigov, he founded a majestic temple in honor of Christ the Savior. The chronicler notes that by the time of Mstislav's death the church was "higher than a rider, sitting on a horse, could reach with his hand." 136 It is significant that in their architectural style the churches of Mstislav followed the canon of Eastern Byzantine art (Transcaucasia and Anatolia). In this case, as in many others, artistic influences spread along trade routes.

It can be assumed that there was a migration of the population between Tmutarakan and the northern regions. Mstislav brought a large detachment of Kosozh warriors to Chernigov. Some of them may have settled in that part of the land of the northerners, which later became known as Pereyaslavl. Although this is not mentioned in the chronicles, the very name of the river in this area, Psol, is an indirect confirmation of this, since it is of Kosozh origin: in the Circassian language, psol means "water". The Psol River flows into the Dnieper from the east. Not far from this place, on the western bank of the Dnieper, there is a city called Cherkasy, which in Old Russian means "Circassians". This name is not found, however, in the sources of the Kievan period and was first mentioned in the 16th century. At that time, not only Kosogs were called Circassians in Russian, but also Ukrainian Cossacks; this suggests that, in the minds of the Russians of the Moscow period, there was a certain connection between the scythes and the Cossacks. Indeed, Ukrainian scientists of the 17th century believed that the word "Cossack" came from the word "kosog". From another point of view, the kozak (now usually spelled "kazak" in Russian) came from the Turkic "kazak", which means "a free inhabitant of the frontier land". In a word, the issue is not easy, and we cannot give it the necessary attention here.137 Suffice it to say that Mstislav's scythes may have settled where the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks appeared five centuries later as a strong military community.

Returning now to the policy of Yaroslav as the ruler of Novgorod, we must first of all mention the privileges granted to him by the laws of 1016 and 1019 to the northern capital in order to reward the Novgorodians for their support in the civil war. Unfortunately, neither the originals nor copies of these laws have survived. In some lists of Novgorod chronicles, their texts are replaced by the text of Russkaya Pravda. There is no doubt that the very compilation of the so-called "Pravda" of Yaroslav is somehow connected with the publication of these laws. The introductory article to Pravda proclaims the equality of the people of Novgorod and Kiev. Apparently, this was an important point of the Novgorod requirements.

Yaroslav's campaign against the Chud in Estonia was also obviously dictated by the interests of the Novgorodians. This campaign was an attempt to extend westward control of the Novgorodians over the southern shores of the Gulf of Finland and adjacent territories. In the conquered territory in 1030, Yaroslav founded a city named Yuryev in honor of his patron saint (Yuri is the old Russian form of the name George). After the German conquest of the Baltic provinces in the 13th century, the city became known as Derpt (now Tartu).

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