Prince Izyaslav Yaroslavich as a personality. Izyaslav Mstislavich, Grand Duke of Kyiv: years of life and reign. New internecine war

Izyaslav Yaroslavich, the biography of the Grand Duke of Kyiv is marked by serious changes in the laws of the state.

Izyaslav did a lot for the development of culture, left the built monasteries as a memory.

Have a tall stature, with a handsome face of a prince and a corresponding character. The man is not malicious, without tricks, did not like deceivers and constantly stood for the truth.

Years of life

Izyaslav, baptized Dmitry, was born in 1020 in Nezhatina Niva to Yaroslav the Wise and Irina, the Swedish princess Ingigerda.

In addition, the family had an older brother Vladimir and 5 younger brothers and a sister. The prince of Kyiv died after being seriously wounded in the battle on October 3, 1078.

Years of government

While his father lived, Izyaslav ruled in Turov in Polissya. In 1052, when his elder brother died, Novgorod also inherited. With the death of his father in 1054, according to his will, he began to reign in the Grand Duchy of Kiev. The rest of the land, as requested by the father, was divided between the brothers.

For 10 years, the rule was calm, with the exception of two victorious wars with the Latvians and the goliads. There were no strife and civil strife within the country. Ruled by Izyaslav Yaroslavich together with Svyatoslav and Vsevolod. This system was called the triumvirate of the Yaroslavichs.

The brothers revised "Russian Truth", Yaroslav the Wise and adopted "The Truth of the Yaroslavichs". Principalities became separate metropolises. Interesting. The law of Russian Truth "Damage of the beard" states: For damage to the beard of another person, a fine of 12 hryvnias is charged.

The triumvirate broke up after the defeat of the Polovtsians in 1068. The retreating soldiers of Izyaslav demanded to be provided with weapons and horses, but were refused. An uprising began, during which the prince fled under the protection of the Polish king. Then the rebels released the arrested Vseslav of Polotsk, the prince's nephew, and put him on the throne. After 7 months, Izyaslav returns to Kyiv.

1071-1073 took place in clarifying the relationship between the princes of Kyiv and Polotsk. And at this time, the Polovtsy ruined Russian villages. Vsevolod, convinced by his brother that Izyaslav was a traitor along with Vseslav, plotted. In 1075, Izyaslav had to flee again to the Polish principality.

The Polish prince, who had entered into an alliance with his brothers, drove out Izyaslav. Germany also received a refusal to help. He even tried to ask the Pope to intercede in exchange for the adoption of the Latin faith and the secular power of the pope. Izyaslav Yaroslavich was able to return to his homeland after the death of Svyatoslav and reconciliation with Vladislav in 1076.

In July 1077, the prince again ascended the throne of Kyiv. 1078 - the beginning of a new civil strife, this time the nephews Oleg Svyatoslavich and Boris Vyacheslavich. In the decisive battle on the river. Sozhitsa, Izyaslav was mortally wounded. Thus ended the reign of the Grand Duke of Kyiv, Izyaslav Yaroslavich.

Domestic politics

The board of Izyaslav Yaroslavich within the state consisted of:

  • in the struggle with the brothers and nephew for power in Kyiv and the strengthening of princely power;
  • in the further development of laws in Russia with the aim of restoring order - the abolition of blood feud and replacement with a fine; abolition of the death penalty;
  • in the development of cultural heritage: the Dimitrovsky Cathedral was erected and the Kiev-Pechora Monastery was built.

Foreign policy

Foreign policy is marked by the struggle against the Polovtsians and the defense of Russian territory from outside enemies.

  • 1055, 1060 - the joint defeat of the Torques.
  • 1058 - the success of the campaign against the Baltic tribe of golyad.
  • In 1061, the Polovtsy attacked Russia for the first time.
  • 1064 Izyaslav repulsed the attack in the battle on Snova.
  • 1968 - Yaroslavichi brothers lost the battle.

Wife and kids

Izyaslav's wife is Gertrude (baptized Elena), daughter of the King of Poland, Mieszko II Lambert. Three sons and one daughter were born. The eldest son, who was born in 1043, was named Yaropolk and christened Peter. Subsequently, the prince of Volyn and Turov. It is believed that the Vsevolodkovich family descended from Yaropolk.

The second son was named Svyatopolk, at baptism he was given the name Michael. Born in 1050 ruled in Polotsk, Novgorod, Turov and Kyiv. The youngest, born in 1054, was called Mstislav. Ruled in the Novgorod and Polotsk principalities. Daughter Eupraxia, born in 1059, was subsequently married to the Polish prince Mieszko, son of Boleslav.

Doom

In 1078, the internecine war resumed, marked by the confrontation between the brothers and nephews of Oleg Svyatoslavovich, who claimed Chernigov and Boris Vyacheslavovich, the outcast prince. Yaroslavichi with a large army went to Chernigov. The battlefield was Nezhatinaya Niva. Izyaslav was defended by infantry, but the prince received a mortal blow from the spear of the enemy horse. The brothers won this battle, but, already left alone. Oleg was not caught, he fled to Tmutarakan, and Boris was killed. Izyaslav Yaroslavovich was buried in Kyiv, in the Cathedral of St. Sophia.

Results

The main merit of Izyaslav Yaroslavich is the completion, together with his brothers, of the code of laws in the Russian state called "The Truth of the Yaroslavichs." The laws spoke of a ban on the death penalty and blood feuds. Thanks to Prince Izyaslav, land was allocated and the Kiev-Pechersky Monastery was built. In addition, the Dimitrovsky Monastery with a cathedral was founded.

Dealing with internecine wars, the prince managed to repel the invasions of external enemies: Polovtsy, Torks, Baltics. The memory of Izyaslav is not marked by monuments or works of art. The name of the prince is found only in the Tale of Bygone Years, in foreign chronological tables, and in the historical records of researchers.

Prince Izyaslav

As far as a person conquers fear, so much he is a person.

T. Carlyle

After the death of Yaroslav the Wise in 1054, the throne of Kyiv, as well as the throne of Novgorod, went to his eldest son Izyaslav. The remaining areas were distributed among the four brothers. So, Svyatoslav received the lands of Chernigov, Murom and Tmutarakan in his control. Vsevolod ruled in Pereyaslav, as well as all the Volga lands. Vyacheslav got the Smolensk lands, and Igor ruled Vladimir-Volynsky. In Polotsk, Vseslav, the son of Izyaslav, the elder brother of Yaroslav the Wise, ruled, who became the culprit of a new internecine war in Kievan Rus.

New internecine war

The reason for the new internecine war was the intricacies of the system of succession to the throne. Prince Izyaslav inherited the throne according to the Byzantine system that came to Russia, according to which only a direct relative (son after father, etc.) could inherit the throne, bypassing all others. Prince Izyaslav was the eldest son of Yaroslav, and, according to the Byzantine system of succession that came to Russia, he was the only heir to the Kyiv throne. The system of inheritance of ancient Russia was direct inheritance by the eldest in the family, when the inheritance was received not by the son, but by the elder brother. This is what Vseslav took advantage of and announced that he had more rights to the Kyiv throne than anyone else.

Vseslav organized a campaign to seize power. His goal fell on Novgorod. The united army of the Yaroslavichs, which included Prince Izyaslav Yaroslavovich, Svyatoslav and Vsevolod, defeated the army of Vseslav. After the battle, Izyaslav invited Vseslav to his tent to negotiate. During the negotiations, Vseslav was arrested. The prisoner was sent to Kyiv and imprisoned. Vseslav did not stay there for long. In 1067, Prince Izyaslav was defeated in a battle with the Polovtsy. The defeat was hard. The Kievan people demanded from their sovereign that he distribute weapons to the people and go with them on a new campaign against the Polovtsians. The ruler of Kyiv refused this. The townspeople took this as cowardice and cowardice. As a result, an uprising broke out in Kyiv, as a result of which the inhabitants of the city released Vseslav and declared him their prince.

Restoration of power

Izyaslav was then forced to flee the capital. He fled to Poland, where he asked for help from the Polish king Boleslav II. The Polish monarch, who always showed a desire to influence Kievan Rus, not only allocated an army to Izyaslav, but also personally led it. The Polish army was very powerful. Vseslav gathered the Russian army and advanced towards the enemy, but when he saw a huge number of Polish soldiers, he fled, leaving his squad. So Boleslav II and Izyaslav approached Kyiv. The townspeople were in no hurry to open the gates of the city and prepared for battle with the enemy. They, perhaps, were ready to admit the fact that Prince Izyaslav Yaroslavovich was the legitimate ruler of Kyiv, but the appearance of the Polish army did not allow them to do this. In the memory of many, the atrocities committed in Kyiv by the father of the current king of Poland Boleslav the First, as well as Svyatopolk the Accursed, were fresh. Hoping to avoid bloodshed, the people of Kiev went to the princes Svyatoslav and Vsevolod, who were called to Kyiv to protect the city. Brotherly feelings were strong. The princes, not wanting to quarrel with their elder brother, went to negotiate with him. Izyaslav after these negotiations agreed to enter Kyiv and become its ruler.

Prince Izyaslav Yaroslavovich, after restoring his power, decided to punish the invader Vsevolod and went to him. He captured Polotsk and installed his son to reign there. Several times the city of Polotsk after that passed from the hands of Izyaslav to the hands of Vseslav and vice versa, until In 1077, near the city of Chernigov, Prince Izyaslav Yaroslavovich was not killed in one of the internecine wars, leaving behind three sons: Svyatopolk, Mstislav and Yaropolk.

Izyaslav Yaroslavich

In life, joys are often interspersed with worries, and joyful side by side with sadness.

The years 1023 and 1024 were alarming for Prince Yaroslav Vladimirovich, later called the Wise. His younger brother Mstislav moved his regiments from Tmutarakan to Kyiv. Only the intractability of the people of Kiev prevented him from occupying the capital of the Russian land. But this did not greatly reduce Yaroslav's worries. Mstislav recognized the Chernihiv land as his prince, and his possessions were almost equal in size to the territories of the Kyiv prince. In addition, the Tmutarakan prince established control over the southern part of the trade route "from the Varangians to the Greeks." Yaroslav's income was bound to fall.

Yaroslav saw no other way out than to force his brother to return again to the coastal Tmutarakan. But the strength was on the side of the lucky younger brother. In 1024, the elder brother in the battle of Listven suffered a crushing defeat from Mstislav.

However, soon after all these troubles, another son was born to Yaroslav, who had crossed the forty-year milestone? Izyaslav. It is not difficult to understand the feelings of a father to whom his wife, the Swedish princess Ingigerda, gave a child, and even a son. At that time, many children were born in families, but many died. Each child was a gift of fate, which was so difficult to keep. In baptism, they named their son Dmitry.

Failures in relations with Mstislav were not so acutely experienced when Yaroslav approached the cradle of his son. When Mstislav died, the Russian land became united again.

Fate would have it that after 30 years it was Izyaslav on the eve of his death that Yaroslav handed over the work of his whole life, the Russian land he had gathered together with such difficulty. His previously born sons, Ilya and Vladimir, had already died by this time. It must be borne in mind that in the Old Russian language the word "land" was used not only in the sense of "soil" or "territory". Under the Russian land was understood the Russian state and its parts. In The Tale of Bygone Years, under the year 1054, Yaroslav's testament was transferred to his sons: “Here I entrust my table in Kyiv to my eldest son and your brother Izyaslav; obey him as they obeyed me; let him be yours instead of me.”

Izyaslav took the throne in Kyiv, already having a family. His wife was Gertrude, sister of the King of Poland, Casimir I, who bore him three sons? Mstislav, Yaropolk and Svyatopolk, as well as the daughter of Evpraksia (Slavic name Vysheslav).

At that time, ruling the state meant making a campaign against foreigners, expanding the borders of one's country, and acquiring new tributaries. In 1058, Izyaslav made a successful trip to the fowl. N.M. Karamzin assumed that they were Latvians, inhabitants of Prussian Galindia.

State affairs were intertwined with family ones. It turned out that in the first years of his reign, Izyaslav made all the most important decisions on the advice of his younger brothers, Svyatoslav and Vsevolod. Historians would later refer to this concerted state decision-making as a "triumvirate". However, for each of the brothers, Yaroslav in his will assigned separate parts of the Russian land: “I give Chernigov to Svyatoslav, and Pereyaslavl to Vsevolod, and Vladimir to Igor, and Smolensk to Vyacheslav.” It was not a division of a single state. The younger brothers, if we literally understand the testament of Yaroslav, were the governors of the Grand Duke of Kyiv, whether he was Yaroslav himself or his older brother appointed by him: "... Obey him, as they obeyed me ..." At the same time, each brother had in control their lands, and the eldest in the family was obliged to protect the interests of each of them: "If anyone wants to offend his brother, you help the one who is offended." Of course, such a duality of the situation should have led to manifestations of discontent among those who considered their interests to be infringed. As subsequent events showed, the interests of even the greatest Kyiv prince, to whom the throne was officially transferred, turned out to be infringed. But that was later, and at first the brothers were able to find a common language with each other.

At the family council, it was decided to release Uncle Sudislav, who had been languishing in prison for more than 20 years. The old man survived his cruel brother. Even dying, Yaroslav did not remember him and did not order to release him.

The annals do not say about the conditions in which Sudislav was kept. The generally accepted place of keeping the offender in those days was the so-called "cut down", which was a log house without doors, lowered to its entire height into the ground. The convict was lowered there through the upper window, through which the unfortunate was fed. Perhaps for his brother, about whom the chronicle writes that "he was slandered before him", Yaroslav provided for more "humane" conditions of imprisonment, for example, in a cellar or in a dungeon. However, the chronicle says: “In the year 6567 (1059). Izyaslav, Svyatoslav and Vsevolod freed their uncle Sudislav from the cut where he had been sitting for 24 years, taking the kiss of the cross from him; and he became a black man.

Impressive time spent in custody. It is also impressive that before the slandered, and therefore innocently injured, they did not repent, but took the kiss of the cross from him (that is, he himself had to swear something, perhaps that he would not claim a great reign) and sent him to live out his life in a monastery. Four years later, in 1063, Sudislav died. They buried him in the church, named after the heavenly patron Yaroslav, in the church of St. George. This can be considered a symbol of the reconciliation of brothers after death.

In 1060, the brothers made a successful campaign against the Torques (nomadic people) together. The Prince of Polotsk Vseslav also helped them. The organization of the campaign, apparently, was traditional for the Russian Middle Ages. Part of the forces moved in cavalry across the steppe, the other part? along the rivers in boats. The steppes suffered serious damage. The next chronicle message about the hostilities with them dates back to 1080, that is, for 20 years the Torques did not pose a threat to the Russians. Some of them even switched to a settled way of life and became allies of the Kyiv prince.

However, already next year a new, even more formidable enemy appeared than the Torks and even the Pechenegs. In 1061, for the first time, Polovtsians appeared on Russian soil. Having defeated Vsevolod, who had come out to meet them on February 2, the Polovtsy went back to the steppes. Let us note that winter was not a hindrance for the Polovtsy, when there was no grass in the steppe and nothing to feed the horses. Let us also note that only one brother, Vsevolod, acted against the Polovtsians. The other two either did not have time to come to the rescue, or quarrels had already begun between the brothers.

At the time when the Russian princes were fighting the Polovtsy, in the Mediterranean the Italian republics were fighting the Arabs. In 1063, the Pisans defeated the Arabs in the naval battle of Palermo, after which it was decided to build a cathedral in Pisa, corresponding to the status of a commercial republic. The construction of the bell tower began only in 1173, and was completed after 164 years. But the whole world knows this bell tower. This is the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa.

The prince of Kyiv had a reason to organize his brothers for joint action against the steppes, when unexpectedly in 1067 a former ally in the war against the Torks, prince Vseslav of Polotsk, occupied Novgorod. He was then, according to N.M. Karamzin, the property of Izyaslav himself. The chronicler best described how the brothers appeased their cousin-nephew: “Three Yaroslavichs, Izyaslav, Svyatoslav, Vsevolod, having gathered soldiers, went to Vseslav in severe frost. And they approached Minsk, and the Minskers shut themselves up in the city. These brothers took Minsk and killed all the husbands, and captured the wives and children and went to Nemiga, and Vseslav went against them. And the opponents met on the Nemiga in the month of March on the 3rd day; and the snow was great, and they went against one another. And there was a fierce slaughter, and many fell in it, and defeated Izyaslav, Svyatoslav, Vsevolod, Vseslav fled. How many people died in the battles for Novgorod, Minsk and on the Nemiga (on the Neman River), how many people froze to death in a severe cold? The chronicler does not mention this. Bitter was the fate of the survivors, captured wives and children, who were deprived of their husbands and fathers. They were considered the legitimate prey of the victorious princes. Relatives could not redeem them, because they either died or were also taken prisoner. This means that the path of these unfortunate lay on the slave markets, including the eastern cities, among which the primacy belonged to Constantinople.

Summer has come. The Yaroslavichi brothers continued to see their nephew as a threat to themselves and invited him to negotiations near the town of Rshi near Smolensk, vowing not to harm him. After Vseslav, trusting in the kiss of the cross, sailed with his two sons in a boat across the Dnieper, he was captured and put in prison by Izyaslav.

While the proud Rurikovichs considered their ambitions among themselves, the Polovtsy reappeared. The night battle of the combined forces of Izyaslav, Svyatoslav and Vsevolod took place near the Alta River, which, apparently, was a natural border from the steppes. Izyaslav's uncle, Prince Boris Vladimirovich, used to go to this river, and Izyaslav's father, Yaroslav, fought with his other uncle, Svyatopolk, on whose side the Pechenegs were also. The battle with the Polovtsians in September 1068 was lost, and this had very serious consequences for Izyaslav. It can even be said that the defeat in the battle with the Polovtsy turned his whole life upside down, led to the loss of power, material deprivation and many humiliations. To Izyaslav's credit, at the end of his life he was able to philosophically evaluate all his losses and rise above worldly grievances.

When Izyaslav, having escaped death and captivity, returned to Kyiv, the people of Kiev demanded that the prince give them weapons and horses to fight the Polovtsians. The prince refused. Then an uprising began, which ended with the expulsion of Izyaslav from their capital, and on September 15, the people of Kiev proclaimed Vseslav of Polotsk, who had been captured earlier, as their prince. It was, as they would later write, a real revolution. The princely court was plundered, the former ruler fled, and the one who was imprisoned gained supreme power.

There are moments in this episode that deserve careful analysis.

What would happen if the townspeople, having received weapons, went out into the steppe against the Polovtsy, for whom war was a way of life? If the combined forces of the three brothers had lost the battle, it is unlikely that the people of Kiev, for the most part artisans and merchants, would have returned home alive after a campaign against the nomads. By refusing to give weapons to the inhabitants of Kyiv for the war with the Polovtsy, Izyaslav, it turns out, saved their lives. Or did the rioters need the weapons for other purposes? What did the call of the rebels mean: "Let's go and free our squad from prison"? What team are you talking about? What kind of squad was in the dungeon?

To what has been said, it must be added that there was no immediate threat to the Russian lands after the lost battle. Svyatoslav, who fled there, drove them away from Chernigov. Further, the chronicle does not report on the attacks of the steppe inhabitants over the next 10 years until 1078, when they were brought to Russia by Oleg Svyatoslavich and Boris Vyacheslavich.

Izyaslav's associates feared that the raging crowd would free Vseslav and the rebels would have a leader. They advised him to secretly kill him: “Send to Vseslav, let them call him to the window by deceit and pierce him with a sword.” Izyaslav did not commit this crime, although in this case there was a question about his life and death, and after a while he was forced to flee to Poland. What is the reason for such mercy? Misunderstanding the gravity of the situation? Or the nobility of the soul, which did not allow to take the life of a member of his kind, even in the name of saving himself?

The Polish king Boleslav II was married to the daughter of Izyaslav, and therefore he counted on the help of his son-in-law. However, it is possible that in the historical literature the degree of kinship between the Kyiv princes and the Polish kings is not indicated quite accurately. If Boleslav's father, Casimir, and Izyaslav's wife, Gertrud, were brother and sister, then Evpraksia and Boleslav were cousins. In this case, their marriage is unlikely.

Regardless of the degree of kinship, Boleslav had his own reasons to help the Kievan prince. The Polish army marched on Kyiv, and the Grand Duke Vseslav, proclaimed by the people of Kyiv, advanced towards him towards Belgorod. The events took place in April 1069. It is difficult to understand what the people of Kiev were counting on when they put Vseslav on the table and entered into a confrontation with the three Yaroslavich brothers, who control the entire Russian land. The intervention of the Poles completely made their situation hopeless. Vseslav, on the other hand, objectively assessed the situation, “and with the onset of night, secretly from the people of Kiev, he fled from Belgorod to Polotsk.”

The time for sobering has come. In desperation, the people of Kiev even declared to Svyatoslav and Vsevolod, seeking protection from Izyaslav and the Poles: “We have already done something bad, driving our prince away, and he is leading us to the Polish land: go to the city of your father; if you don’t want to, then you will inevitably have to set fire to your city and go to the Greek land. Almost all historians paid attention to the threat of the Kyivans to leave for the Greek land, but an exhaustive explanation of these words of the chronicler has not yet been given. Also incomprehensible are the words of the chronicler, given below, that "the Greek land will take the place of the Russian, and the Russian will take the place of the Greek."

The brothers tried to soften their brother's anger at the rebellious people of Kiev. It ended with the fact that the son Mstislav Izyaslavich, sent by him ahead, "killed the people of Kiev who liberated Vseslav, numbering 70 people, and blinded others, and killed others without guilt, without investigation." Izyaslav on May 2, 1069, after such a “cleansing” of the city, entered Kyiv, expelled Vseslav from Polotsk and put his son in his place.

To the grief of Izyaslav, his faithful assistant, son Mstislav, who cruelly taught the people of Kiev a lesson, soon died in Polotsk. What is the reason, the chronicler does not say, saying only that his brother Svyatopolk replaced him. Two years later, in 1071, Vseslav expelled him and took possession of Polotsk.

Of course, Mstislav still had enemies in Kyiv, and they certainly appeared in Polotsk. It is unlikely that Polotsk residents have forgotten the events of six years ago, when Minsk was sacked after the battle near Nemiga. There were enough people who wanted to take revenge on the son of Izyaslav, but it is not known whether they could bring their plans to fruition.

The situation of 50 years ago was repeated with the Poles, when they came to Russia, called by Svyatopolk to fight Yaroslav. Placed "to feed" the Polish garrison, the locals began to slowly cut out. Bolesław returned to Poland.

The transfer of the relics of the holy martyrs Boris and Gleb to the church in Vyshgorod, newly built by Izyaslav, became a symbol of reassurance and mutual brotherly love. A real bright holiday was arranged, Izyaslav, Svyatoslav and Vsevolod themselves brought in the coffin with the body of Boris, numerous clergymen were present, the brothers dined together ...

But, as it turned out, the vicissitudes of Izyaslav's fate did not end with a revolt of the people of Kiev. The trouble came from an unexpected direction, from siblings. For almost 20 years, the three Yaroslavichs lived in peace and in harmony with each other. When they became old people, strife began. Taking advantage of the absence of Izyaslav, Svyatoslav and Vsevolod entered Kyiv on March 22, 1073 and "sat down on the table." As the chronicler writes, the ambitious Svyatoslav was the initiator of the coup d'état. Striving for power, he convinced Vsevolod that their brother had conspired against them together with the Polotsk prince Vseslav, and they needed to get ahead of the conspirators. Perhaps this turn of events also answered Vsevolod's secret desires.

For Izyaslav began years of life abroad in exile.

He turned to Poland, but he squandered all the wealth he had taken away with him. “The Poles took all this away from him and drove him out,” ? recorded in The Tale of Bygone Years.

Then he turned in the city of Mainz for help to the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and the German nation Henry IV. He did not refuse the Russian prince, deprived of his throne, but did not help in any way. The 24-year-old emperor (he was born in 1050) had his own serious problems. He inherited the throne at the age of 6. While the empire was ruled in his name by a guardian, the central authority was weakened. In response to the construction of fortresses by Henry and the placement of garrisons in them, the so-called "Saxon uprising" broke out. In August 1074, Henry IV was forced to flee from Harzburg, which was besieged by the rebels. N.M. Karamzin wrote, referring to the German chroniclers, that Izyaslav was even ready to recognize himself as a vassal of the emperor. As you can understand, Henry IV sent his representatives to Kyiv to get information on the spot. Historians even write that he, through ambassadors, demanded that Svyatoslav return the great reign to his brother, threatening otherwise to enter Kyiv with troops. Svyatoslav showed the Germans the wealth of the princely treasury: "countless gold, silver and silk fabrics." It must be assumed that he not only showed, but made rich gifts to the ambassadors and the emperor himself. The embassy was headed, as N.M. Karamzin, Bishop Burchardt of Trier. According to the research of V.M. Kogan and V.I. Dombrovsky-Shalagin, he was the brother of Oda, the wife of Svyatoslav Yaroslavich, that is, he was his brother-in-law. It seems that the choice of the imperial ambassador was not accidental. Relatives were able to agree among themselves, despite the language barrier.

It was difficult for Izyaslav, who had spent money in Poland, to compete in generosity with his brother, who controlled the princely treasury. Did he try to find support from the spiritual ruler of Western Europe? by Pope Gregory VII. The humiliating negotiations conducted by Yaropolk, the son of Izyaslav, ended, as they say, only with the "moral" support of the exile. N.M. Karamzin literally quotes the pope's answer to Izyaslav, from which it follows that he was counting on the conversion of Russia to Catholicism in response to his help: and sends the Apostolic blessing. Your son, having visited the holy places of Rome, humbly prayed to us that we, by the power of St. Peter, would confirm him in the Principality, and took an oath to be faithful to the Head of the Apostles. Have we fulfilled this good will? I agree with yours, as he testifies, ? entrusted to him to feed the State of Russia in the name of the Supreme Apostle, with the intention and desire that St. Peter preserve your health, reign and good fortune until the death of the stomach and make you once a partaker of eternal glory. Wishing also to express readiness for further services, do we trust these Ambassadors? of which one is known to you and a faithful friend? verbally talk with you about everything that is and is not in the letter. Receive them with love, as the Ambassadors of St. Peter; listen favorably, and doubtless believe what they offer you on our behalf? and so on. May Almighty God enlighten your hearts and lead you from temporal blessings to eternal glory. Written in Rome, May 15, Indict XIII" (that is, in 1075).

Although, perhaps, it was the pope who was able to convince the Poles to once again help Izyaslav, since in 1077 he returned to Russia with Polish troops.

It should be borne in mind that Henry IV and the Pope of Rome spent a lot of time and energy in the mutual struggle that had begun with each other. In 1076, the emperor and pope deposed each other in turn. Their confrontation dragged on for many years.

In 1076, Svyatoslav died during a surgical operation due to some kind of tumor. His place on the Kiev table was taken by Vsevolod. He did not have such ambition as Svyatoslav. Moreover, he was in a difficult situation: having learned about the approach of Izyaslav with the Polish forces, their nephew, Prince Boris Vyacheslavich, the son of the Smolensk prince Vyacheslav Yaroslavich, seized power in Chernigov.

The young prince (he was not yet 25 years old) felt deprived of his inheritance. According to V.M. Kogan and V.I. Dombrovsky-Shalagin in the genealogical study "Prince Rurik and his descendants", Boris was taken away after the death of his father by his mother in 1057 to her homeland, Germany. Princess Oda was the daughter of Count Leopold of Staden. Perhaps he met with Izyaslav during his wanderings in Europe, where an adventurous plan to seize power in one of the Russian cities was born in his head. But his lightning throw to Chernigov did not give him anything. Eight days later he fled to Tmutarakan, where his cousin Roman Svyatoslavich reigned.

Vsevolod did not argue with his brother, he met him near Volhynia, where they "created the world." Such compliance of the younger brother shows that, probably, Svyatoslav was the initiator of the expulsion of Izyaslav from Kyiv. Perhaps Izyaslav himself decided to try his luck in his native Russian land, only learning about the death of Svyatoslav. Having released the Poles, Izyaslav returned to Kyiv on July 15, 1077, and Vsevolod occupied Chernigov.

This was the third occupation of the Kyiv throne by Izyaslav. Vsevolod had problems.

Recall that Chernihiv, according to Yaroslav's will, was intended for Svyatoslav, and Vsevolod? Pereyaslavl. Of course, everyone understood that Chernigov was richer than Pereyaslavl, and Svyatoslav was already in the grave and could not challenge the actions of the brothers. With nephews, the sons of Svyatoslav, one could not reckon. However, Vsevolod could think so, and the sons of Svyatoslav thought in a completely different way. Vsevolod was also aware of the danger posed by his nephews, and he kept the most restless of them, Oleg Svyatoslavich, with him in Chernigov.

In 1078, Oleg fled from his uncle to Tmutarakan and his cousins, Oleg and Boris, agreed to act together. They hired the Polovtsy. Surely Roman Svyatoslavich, who reigned in Tmutarakan, helped them with financial resources. As a result, Vsevolod was defeated by his nephews on August 25, 1078 in a battle near the Sozhitsa River. Broken, deprived of his principality, he came to Kyiv to Izyaslav. No doubt, in this difficult hour, he recalled the events of five years ago, when he and Svyatoslav treacherously expelled his older brother from Kyiv, forcing him to wander in a foreign land. He must have wondered how his older brother would meet him.

In The Tale of Bygone Years, the Kyiv prince is characterized as follows: “But Izyaslav’s husband was handsome in appearance and great in body, mild-tempered, hated lies, loving the truth. For there was no cunning in him, but he was a simple mind, he did not repay evil for evil.

The chronicler's characterization was fully confirmed. Izyaslav said to Vsevolod: “Brother, do not grieve. Do you see how many things have happened to me: have they not thrown me out first and plundered my property? And then, what did I do wrong the second time? Have I not been driven out by you, my brothers? Have I not wandered in foreign lands, deprived of my possessions, without doing any evil? And now, brother, let's not grieve. If we have a lot in the Russian land, then both; if we are deprived of it, then both. I will lay down my head for you."

Izyaslav did not yet know that he had not yet drunk the whole cup of his suffering. His words that he would lay down his head for his brother came true literally. In the ensuing battle on October 3, 1078 at Nezhatina Niva with recalcitrant nephews, Izyaslav was killed. Boris Vyacheslavich, who found his death at less than 25 years old, also died. This is what, it turns out, was waiting for him in Russia instead of wealth and honor. The epitaph was written by the author of The Tale of Igor's Campaign: “Did the boasting of Boris Vyacheslavich bring to court and on the feather-grass a cover of mortal green spread for offending Olegov? brave and young prince.

Izyaslav remained in Russian history the first ruler to introduce a "moratorium" on the death penalty. Having taken the throne after the death of Yaroslav, he made, in agreement with his brothers, a change in the Russian Truth, establishing a monetary penalty (fine) for murders. The new edition of the Code of Laws is known to historians as "The Truth of the Yaroslavichs". During the reign of Izyaslav, the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery, founded under Yaroslav, and then grown into one of the main centers of Orthodoxy, received further development. Under Izyaslav, the first Russian saints, Boris and Gleb, were canonized.

The life of different generations does not repeat itself, but similar events appear in a strange way. As Yaroslav the Wise repeatedly lost his power in battles with his brothers, and then regained it again, so did his heir to the throne of Kyiv, Prince Izyaslav Yaroslavich, experienced in his life the bitterness of losses and the despair of unfulfilled hopes. When it seemed to him that he had already been able to regain everything unfairly taken away, fate forever laid him to rest on the battlefield.

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Reigns: 1054-1078

From the biography

  • Izyaslav - the second son of Yaroslav the Wise and his wife Ingrida (Irina)
  • Together with the brothers Svyatoslav and Vsevolodovich, he initially ruled quite peacefully. In history, even they are all called Yaroslavichs, and the reign of the brothers is a triumviat (that is, the reign, the union of three princes). However, later the struggle for the Kyiv throne began, which in the end will lead to the death of Izyaslav.
  • Nestor Izyaslav describes with love in The Tale of Bygone Years: “But Izyaslav’s husband was handsome in face and great in stature, gentle in disposition, hated liars, loved the truth. There was no cunning in him, but he was straightforward, did not repay evil for evil.
  • Izyaslav was married to the daughter of the Polish king Gertrude
  • He was buried in the Hagia Sophia in Kyiv.

Historical portrait of Izyaslav I Yaroslavich

Activities

1. Domestic policy

Activities results
The struggle for the throne of Kyiv, strengthening the power of the prince. He received the great Kievan reign under the will of his father, Yaroslav the Wise in 1054. However, in 1068, the people of Kiev, dissatisfied that Izyaslav did not give them weapons to fight the Polovtsy, planted Prince Vseslav. Izyaslav fled to Poland and only the next year - in 1069 - returned the grand prince's table. 1073 - a struggle with the brothers Svyatoslav and Vsevolod. Izyaslav was overthrown, he fled for help to Poland, then to Germany, but everywhere - refusal. And only after the death of Svyatoslav, he established himself on the throne. In 1078, a new internecine struggle begins - with nephews, sons of Svyatoslav. And although the victory was for the Yaroslavichs, Izyaslav was mortally wounded in 1078 at the battle of Nezhatin.
Further development of legislation in Russia. 1072 - together with the brothers, publishes Pravda Yaroslavichi. This collection of laws supplemented the "Russian Truth" by Yaroslav the Wise, their father. The blood feud was abolished and replaced with a fine. The death penalty has been abolished in general. Violation of property rights, encroachment on the personal safety of citizens has become punishable. The purpose of the laws is to restore order in the country, to protect the property of the feudal lords.
Further development of culture. Under Izyaslav, the Dimitrovsky Cathedral was erected in Kyiv (in baptism the name of Izyaslav is Dmitry). He allocated a place for the construction of the Kiev-Pechersky Monastery (founded in 1051), construction was carried out in 1061-1062

2. Foreign policy

RESULTS OF ACTIVITIES

  • The constant struggle for the throne took too much time in the politics of Prince Izyaslav. Endless battles, flight, return and again flight and again return to the throne.
  • The greatest merit of Izyaslav and his brothers was the adoption of Pravda Yaroslavichi. This document significantly improved the legislative system of the country. Banned the death penalty. And although the document primarily protected the property rights of the feudal lords, it was a significant step in the development of the legislation of Russia.
  • The prince did two great deeds in the field of culture: it was under him that the building of the Kiev Caves Monastery and the Dimitrovsky Cathedral in Kyiv were built.
  • Internecine wars did not prevent Izyaslav from fighting external enemies. Alternate victories were with the Polovtsy, in the last battle on Nezhatin he was killed. Successful campaigns against Torques and Sharks.

Summing up, I would like to note that the name of Izyaslav in the history of Russia is forever associated with the "Truth of the Yaroslavichs" and the construction of the Kiev Caves Monastery. This is his great merit.

Chronology of the life and work of Izyaslav I Yaroslavich

1024-1078 Years of life
1054-1078 Great reign of Izyaslav intermittently (1054-1068, 1069-1073, 1077-1078)
1058 Successful trekking.
1061 The first attack of the Polovtsians on Russia, a protracted struggle began with them.
1061-1062 Construction of the Kiev Caves Monastery.
1064 Izyaslav reflects the attack of the Polovtsy.
1068 The Polovtsy approached Kyiv. For refusing to give weapons to the townspeople, Izyaslav was removed. Vsevolod ascended the throne,
1068 The battle with the Polovtsy on the river. Alte. Defeat of the Yarslavichs.
1069 An unsuccessful attempt to return the throne, but another brother, Svyatoslav, is already in power. Only after the death of Svyatoslav Izyaslav came to power, Yaroslav voluntarily gave him the throne.
1072 Acceptance of Pravda Yaroslavichi.
1078 Battle on Nezhatin with nephews - children of Svyatoslav. The death of Izyaslav. He was buried in the Hagia Sophia in Kyiv.

This material can be used to prepare

Izyaslav (baptized Demetrius) was born in 1024. Years of government: 1054-1078

His father is the Grand Duke of Kyiv Yaroslav the Wise, his mother is the Swedish princess Ingegerda (baptized Irina). During the life of his father, Izyaslav received the Turov land, and after the death of his elder brother Vladimir in 1052, he became the prince of Novgorod.

In 1054, according to the will of his father, Izyaslav received the great Kievan reign, and his son Mstislav - Novgorod.

The reign of Izyaslav Yaroslavich took place in alliance with his brothers - Prince Svyatoslav of Chernigov and Prince Vsevolod of Pereyaslav. They revised the "Russian Truth" and adopted the "Truth of the Yaroslavichs", established separate metropolises in the principalities. Historians called their system the triumvirate of the Yaroslavichs. Also brothers together in 1055 and 1060. defeated the Torks.

In 1064 Prince Izyaslav Yaroslavich repelled the Polovtsian invasion. In 1067, the prince of Kyiv and his brothers ravaged the city of Minsk in revenge for the robbery of Novgorod by Vseslav Bryachislavich, the prince of Polotsk. And in the same year, during the peace negotiations, Vseslav was captured and imprisoned in a Kyiv prison.

In 1068, the Yaroslavichi brothers were defeated by the Polovtsy on the river. Alte. The refusal of Izyaslav I Yaroslavich to give weapons to the people of Kiev to protect them from the Polovtsians caused a popular uprising against him. The people of Kiev freed Vseslav Bryachislavich and proclaimed him their prince, and Izyaslav Yaroslavich was forced to flee to Poland to ask for help from his nephew, Prince Boleslav II.

In 1069, Izyaslav I Yaroslavich returned to Kyiv with the Polish army and regained the throne, inflicting reprisals on the perpetrators of his exile.

In 1073, the younger brothers, Svyatoslav and Vsevolod, entered into a conspiracy against the Kyiv prince Izyaslav, as a result of which in 1075 Izyaslav fled to Poland again, and Svyatoslav of Chernigov seized the throne of Kyiv.

But Izyaslav I Yaroslavich was also expelled from Poland, because. the Polish prince entered into an alliance with Svyatoslav and Vsevolod. Then Izyaslav went to Germany for help to Emperor Henry IV, but even there he was refused.

Izyaslav's wanderings ended in 1076, when Svyatoslav Yaroslavich suddenly died, and he regained power again. And Vsevolod, having reconciled with his brother, retired to Chernigov in 1077.

In 1078, their nephews, the Tmutarakan prince Oleg Svyatoslavich and the outcast prince Boris Vyacheslavich, rebelled against Izyaslav and Vsevolod Yaroslavich. In the battle on the Nezhatenaya Niva for the Chernigov Principality, Oleg fled, Boris was killed. Yaroslavichi won, but Izyaslav died from his wound. The death of Izyaslav and Boris is mentioned in the Tale of Igor's Campaign.

Izyaslav I Yaroslavich was buried in the Hagia Sophia in Kyiv.

During the reign of Izyaslav, the Dimitrovsky Monastery was built in Kyiv, land was allocated for the Kiev-Pechersky Monastery.

Prince Izyaslav was married to the daughter of the Polish king Mieszko II Lambert, Gertrude (baptized Elena).

Children: Yaropolk (prince of Volyn and Turov), Svyatopolk II Izyaslavich (prince of Polotsk, Novgorod, Turov, and then the great Kyiv), Mstislav (prince of Novgorod).

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