Sons of Yaroslav the Wise

Unlike Vladimir the Baptist, who had children from many wives, the sons of Prince Yaroslav the Wise were born from a single woman – the Swedish princess Ingigerda of Sweden. There is a historical theory that does not have unambiguous evidence, according to which, before Ingigerda, Yaroslav was married to Anna, who gave birth to his son Ilya. He died early, and Anna was captured by the Polish king Boleslav I the Brave during his invasion of Kyiv.

V. Nagornov, “Yaroslav the Wise and Sons”

Vladimir Yaroslavich

(1020 — 1052)

He was appointed by his father to govern Novgorod, according to various chronicles, in 1030 or 1034. The governor of Vyshat and Bishop Luke Zhidyat, who later became canonized, helped him manage the principality.

In 1042, Vladimir made a victorious campaign on the tribes Yam’ (territory of Southern Finland), and the next 1043 he went to Byzantium together with III the Cruel. The Byzantine campaign ended in failure, but there is a version that in 1044, Vladimir took Chersonese.

It was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church in the 15th century, as “the holy noble prince Vladimir Yaroslavich of Novgorod”.

(1024 — 1078)

The second son of Yaroslav and Ingigerdy received from his father a reign in Turov. After the death in 1052 of the elder brother of Novgorod Prince Vladimir, Izyaslav put his son Mstislav in Novgorod and, according to the then dynastic rules, became the heir to the Kyiv table (although Vladimir had a son). After the death of his father, he became the Grand Duke of Kyiv.

Together with his brothers Svyatoslav and Vsevolod, they created the Triumvirate of Yaroslavichy – the princes ruled the southern lands of Kievan Rus in 1054-1073 without entering into a confrontation. Enmity broke out between the brothers in 1073, and in 1078 Izyaslav died during a battle with the troops of his nephews.

Svyatoslav Yaroslavich. Portrait of a late artist

(1027—1076)

The third son of Yaroslav the Wise and Ingegerda of Sweden. In 1054-1073 he was a member of the “triumvirate of the Yaroslavichi”. During his reign, Chernigov was under active construction, and the local bishop adopted the status of metropolitan.

On November 1, 1068, near Snovsk, Svyatoslav defeated the Polovtsians after being defeated by them on the Alta River with his brothers.

In 1073, having entered into a conspiracy with Vsevolod, overthrew Izyaslav, who fled to Europe. December 27, 1076 Svyatoslav died in the 50th year of life, becoming the first known victim of an unsuccessful surgical operation in Russia: he died from “cutting the tumor”.

(1030 — 1093)

The fourth son of Yaroslav and Ingigerdy. During the life of his father, Vsevolod was not his viceroy in any city and lived in Kyiv with his parents. From 1054 to 1073 he reigned in the Pereyaslavl-Russian and Rostov lands, and belonged to the “triumvirate of the Yaroslavichi”.

In 1046 he married a relative (presumably a daughter) of the Byzantine emperor Constantine IX Monomakh, from the marriage with which Vladimir Monomakh was born – the future grand duke.

He reigned in Kyiv in 1076-1077 and from 1078 until the end of his life, he was the first ruler of Kyiv, who used the title “Prince of All Russia.”

Vyacheslav Yaroslavich

(1036—1057)

Almost nothing is known about Vyacheslav. He was probably born in Kiev, where he lived until adulthood. In 1054, after the death of Yaroslav, he received the Principality of Smolensk. Died three years later, in 1057.

Igor Yaroslavich

Igor is the brother of Vsevolod. William Took. History of Russia from the founding of the monarchy by Rurik to the reign of Catherine — Igor is the brother of Vsevolod. (art. William Took)
History of Russia from the founding of the monarchy by Rurik to the reign of Catherine

(1036—1060)

The youngest son of Yaroslav and Ingigerdy. In 1054, according to the will of his father, he received the Principality of Volyn, and in 1057, after the death of his brother Vyacheslav, he was appointed by three senior Yaroslavichs to reign in Smolensk.

Like his brother Vyacheslav, Igor died at an early age – in 1060. At the time of his death, he was about 24 years old. He left his young sons: Davyd and Vsevolod, who became rogue princes and, by the decision of the senior Yaroslavichs, did not inherit lands from their father.

Testament of Yaroslav the Wise to his sons

Yaroslav the Wise, before his death, divided a land between his children, and from that time on, an appanage system began to develop in Old Rus. Yaroslav gave his sons a testament of how they should treat each other, and this testament served as the basis for the mutual relations of the princes in the specific period.

«Here I am moving away from this world, my children! love one another, because you are brothers, from the same father and from the same mother. If you live in love with one another, then God will be with you. He will subdue all your enemies and you will live in peace. If you begin to hate each other, quarrel, then you will perish and destroy the land of your fathers and grandfathers, which they acquired with their great labor. So live peacefully, obeying one another; I entrust my throne of Kyiv instead of myself to my eldest son and your brother Izyaslav: obey him, asobeyed me, let him be instead of me».