The Battle of Listven (1024) was part of the succession struggle following the death of

Vladimir the Great Vladimir I Sviatoslavich or Volodymyr I Sviatoslavych ( orv, Володимѣръ Свѧтославичь, ''Volodiměrъ Svętoslavičь'';, ''Uladzimir'', russian: Владимир, ''Vladimir'', uk, Володимир, ''Volodymyr''. Se ...

(Volodymyr) in 1015. It was fought between Mstislav of Chernigov and Kievan forces supporting

Yaroslav the Wise Yaroslav the Wise or Yaroslav I Vladimirovich; russian: Ярослав Мудрый, ; uk, Ярослав Мудрий; non, Jarizleifr Valdamarsson; la, Iaroslaus Sapiens () was the Grand Prince of Kiev from 1019 until his death. He was al ...

; Mstislav defeated Yaroslav. According to legend, the battle took place at night during a thunderstorm. Yaroslav the Wise

Following the Baptism of Rus, Vladimir sent his son, Yaroslav, to govern

Novgorod the Great Veliky Novgorod ( rus, links=no, Великий Новгород, t=Great Newtown, p=vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪj ˈnovɡərət), also known as just Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the ol ...

in the north of the Rus' lands. Mstislav was sent to

Tmutarakan Tmutarakan ( rus, Тмутарака́нь, p=tmʊtərɐˈkanʲ, ; uk, Тмуторокань, Tmutorokan) was a medieval Kievan Rus' principality and trading town that controlled the Cimmerian Bosporus, the passage from the Black Sea to the Se ...

, in the south (on the Sea of Azov). Upon Vladimir's death, his son Sviatopok "The Accursed" seized the throne and killed three of his brothers, Sviatoslav of Smolensk and the more famous

Boris and Gleb Boris and Gleb ( orv, Борисъ и Глѣбъ, ''Borisŭ i Glěbŭ''; russian: Борис и Глеб, ''Boris i Gleb''; ua, Борис і Гліб, ''Borys i Hlib''), Christian names Roman and David, respectively ( orv, Романъ, Да� ...

, the first Russian saints. Sviatopolk was defeated by Yaroslav, who then challenged Mstislav for supremacy over Kiev. Mstislav marched on Kiev, but the Kievans rejected him. When he withdrew to Chernigov, northeast of Kiev, Yaroslav marched on him with an army of

Varangians The Varangians (; non, Væringjar; gkm, Βάραγγοι, ''Várangoi'';Varangian
" Online Etymo ...

under

Yakun Yakun or Jakun, deriving from Old Norse ''Hákon'', was a Varangian (Viking) leader who is mentioned in the '' Primary Chronicle'' and in the Cave monastery in Kyiv. The chronicle tells that he arrived in Kievan Rus' in the year 1024 and fought in ...

but was defeated at Listven by Mstislav and Severians. The battle led to a stalemate, with neither brother really able to gain supremacy over the other and rule from Kiev as sole ruler. Two years later, the brothers divide control of Kievan Rus' along the

Dniepr River } The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and ...

, with Yaroslav taking the western or Right Bank and Mstislav the eastern or Left Bank. Yaroslav ruled from Novgorod, while Mstislav remained at

Chernigov Chernihiv ( uk, Черні́гів, , russian: Черни́гов, ; pl, Czernihów, ; la, Czernihovia), is a city and municipality in northern Ukraine, which serves as the administrative center of Chernihiv Oblast and Chernihiv Raion within t ...

. This division persisted and the two princes seemed to rule compatibly until Mstislav died in 1036, after which Yaroslav became sole ruler over Kievan Rus, ruling in Kiev itself until his own death in 1054.See also Thomas S. Noonan, "European Russia ca. 500- ca. 1050." In Timothy Reuter, ed., ''The New Cambridge Medieval History'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 51; George Vernadsky, ''Kievan Russia'' (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1973), 192.

References

{{coord, 51.766667, 31.5, display=title Listven Listven 1024 in Europe 11th century in Kievan Rus'