The importance of the rule of Grand Duke Yaroslav the Wise in the history of Russia is difficult to overestimate. He expanded the borders of the state, published the Church Charter, “Russian Truth” - a set of laws of the Russian feudal state, monasteries, schools were opened with him, books were written. After years of years of turmoil, Yaroslav the Wise established autocracy. But after his death, the country broke up into specific principalities. Who ruled after Yaroslav the Wise?
Civil strife in Russia of the XI century
The united and strong state left by Yaroslav the Wise, after his death, slowly broke up into separate principalities, which were at enmity with each other, bringing the weakening and decline of Russia. Formally, the state remained united, but the principalities were bound only by a single faith and a common race. They were in constant strife and struggle for Kiev rule. Over time, alienation became more and more. The culprits of this were those who ruled after Yaroslav the Wise - his sons and the order of succession, according to some scholars, established by the Grand Duke himself.
The consequence of this confusion was the weakening of the Kiev state: both economic and political. Having defeated the Pechenegs under Yaroslav, now Russia could not gather enough troops to repulse the new nomadic people - the Polovtsy, who had appeared in the southern steppes from the middle of the XI century. They ravaged the Russian land: robbed, created obstacles to trade, capturing all the way to the south and east. What could have happened, what was the cause of this disaster?
Yaroslav the Wise and his sons
The reason for this was the established inheritance of the throne of Kiev, the so-called ladder, which determined those who ruled Russia after Yaroslav the Wise. According to some reports, the Grand Duke himself distributed all the cities included in Kievan Rus between his sons, of whom he had five. The eldest son, Izyaslav, inherited Kiev and Novgorod, the next most important city of Chernigov went to Svyatoslav, Vsevolod following them - Pereyaslavl. Two others, according to some sources, have died by this time.
The eldest son ruled Kiev and Novgorod. He was considered the first among the brothers, but each ruled his own city on his own. The order of inheritance was as follows: after the death of the Kiev prince, his children inherited a city. Prince of Chernigov became the ruler of Kiev. If he died before reaching the title of Grand Duke of Kiev, then his children lost the right to inheritance in the same way as the children of other princes, except for Kiev. The ruler of Chernigov was the prince, the next in seniority from his brothers, and so on.
In this order, without strong centralized power, the separation of the principalities of Kievan Rus from year to year became more noticeable, which led to a deplorable state. Among those who ruled after Yaroslav the Wise and their children, grandchildren of the Grand Duke, began swarms and feuds. For example, Prince Izyaslav was twice expelled from Kiev, first by townspeople, and then by brothers. The title of Grand Prince of Kiev, with the help of the army, was received by Svyatoslav, who ruled the city until his death.
After him, the title of Grand Duke was received by Vsevolod, who lost it to his elder brother Izyaslav. Moreover, according to the established rules of inheritance, the children of Svyatoslav did not have the right to the throne of one of the principalities of Kievan Rus, since their father was not legally considered the Grand Duke because his older brother Izyaslav was alive.
The beginning of the reign of the sons of Yaroslav
The first years of activity of those who ruled after Yaroslav the Wise, his sons, were marked by stability in the country and successful joint military campaigns, as a result of which new lands were annexed. The brothers tried to keep their father’s covenant - to live in peace and help each other. At the same time, some provisions of the Yaroslavl Truth are being reviewed. It was supplemented by a ban on blood feud. Instead, large fines were introduced. Protection of Russian property was also reflected in the law, a lot of attention was paid to it. The additions affected the safety of residents of Kievan Rus. This important document was called "The Truth of Yaroslavich".
At the initial stage of the reign of the sons, who was after Yaroslav the Wise, two important events occurred that negatively affected Kievan Rus:
- The invasion of the Polovtsy. In 1061, they made a terrible and devastating raid on Pereyaslavl. Encouraged by the first victory and not receiving a proper rebuff, they continued to rob and slave the Russians, which caused significant harm to the state.
- The rebellion of Rostislav, the son of the deceased under Yaroslav the Wise of Prince Vladimir. He captured the Principality of Tmutarakan in the southern lands and expelled its rightful ruler Gleb.
Kiev rebellion
As noted above, the reign of Prince Izyaslav in the early years was quite productive, but the years with the Polovtsy fell on the years of his reign. The Polovtsians, led by Prince Vseslav, in 1068 captured and plundered Novgorod and moved on. Yaroslavichi, in response to this, went on a campaign in Minsk - the capital of the Polovtsy. Having captured the city, they killed the entire male population in it and invaded Prince Vseslav, who was taken to Kiev.
In response to this, the Polovtsy defeated the Yaroslavich army. This failure made each of the brothers fear for their lands, which gave rise to indecision in common actions. The people of Kiev, seeing this inaction, began to demand that they be given weapons. Having not received it, he raised a rebellion, expelled Izyaslav and instead of him put Vseslav. Seven months later, Yaroslavichi besieged Kiev. The prince of Polotsk fled, and the rebellion was brutally crushed.
The reign of Svyatoslav and Vsevolod
Considering Izyaslav a weak ruler, his brothers, Svyatoslav and Vsevolod, having forgotten the established rule about who rules after Yaroslav the Wise, united against him and expelled from Kiev. He fled to the Germans. Svyatoslav became the ruler of Kiev. His reign was short-lived. After his death, Vsevolod, not wanting to break the rules, cedes the rule of Kiev to his elder brother Izyaslav, who dies in the war with his nephews - the sons of Svyatoslav.
In 1078, Vsevolod became the Grand Duke of Kiev. To stop the feud between the clan of the Rurikovich, he redistributes the inheritance. This had the opposite effect, new deprived heirs appeared. Sons of Svyatoslav began to unite with the Polovtsy, trying to go to Kiev together, but the Polovtsy sided with Vsevolod.
The son of Vsevolod - Vladimir Monomakh fought with the rebellious Vyatichi. The famine of 1092 was a terrible disaster. Following him, a series of epidemics swept through Kievan Rus, which significantly reduced the country's population.
The consequences of the reign of the Yaroslavovich
Not even 100 years after the death of Yaroslav the Wise, as internecine strife turned the once mighty Kievan Rus into several disparate parts. The principality of Kiev was in poverty and desolation. There was no centralized authority capable of bringing all the principalities together. The reason for this was the ladder order of inheritance, which did not suit heirs who considered themselves deprived.
Civil strife weakened the state, made it accessible to attack from the outside. In order to realize the fallacy of the ladder order of inheritance, which, in principle, led to the fragmentation of the state, a difficult path had to be taken, and at that time it was far from that.