; (943 – 26 March 972), also spelled Svyatoslav, was
Grand Prince of Kiev
The Grand Prince of Kiev (sometimes grand duke) was the title of the ruler of Kiev and the ruler of Kievan Rus' from the 10th to 13th centuries. In the 13th century, Kiev became an appanage principality first of the grand prince of Vladimir and ...
famous for his persistent campaigns in the east and south, which precipitated the collapse of two great powers of Eastern Europe,
Khazaria
The Khazars ; he, כּוּזָרִים, Kūzārīm; la, Gazari, or ; zh, 突厥曷薩 ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a semi-nomadic Turkic people that in the late 6th-century CE established a major commercial empire coverin ...
and the
First Bulgarian Empire. He conquered numerous
East Slavic tribes, defeated the
Alans
The Alans (Latin: ''Alani'') were an ancient and medieval Iranian nomadic pastoral people of the North Caucasus – generally regarded as part of the Sarmatians, and possibly related to the Massagetae. Modern historians have connected the A ...
and attacked the
Volga Bulgars
Volga Bulgaria or Volga–Kama Bulgaria, was a historic Bulgar state that existed between the 7th and 13th centuries around the confluence of the Volga and Kama River, in what is now European Russia. Volga Bulgaria was a multi-ethnic state wi ...
, and at times was allied with the
Pechenegs
The Pechenegs () or Patzinaks tr, Peçenek(ler), Middle Turkic: , ro, Pecenegi, russian: Печенег(и), uk, Печеніг(и), hu, Besenyő(k), gr, Πατζινάκοι, Πετσενέγοι, Πατζινακίται, ka, პა ...
and
Magyars (Hungarians).
His decade-long reign over the
Kievan Rus'
Kievan Rusʹ, also known as Kyivan Rusʹ ( orv, , Rusĭ, or , , ; Old Norse: ''Garðaríki''), was a state in Eastern and Northern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical Atlas of ...
was marked by rapid expansion into the
Volga River
The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchme ...
valley, the
Pontic steppe
Pontic, from the Greek ''pontos'' (, ), or "sea", may refer to:
The Black Sea Places
* The Pontic colonies, on its northern shores
* Pontus (region), a region on its southern shores
* The Pontic–Caspian steppe, steppelands stretching from no ...
, and the
Balkans
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
. By the end of his short life, Sviatoslav carved out for himself the largest state in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
, eventually moving his capital in 969 from
Kiev (modern-day Ukraine) to
Pereyaslavets
Pereyaslavets ( East Slavic: ) or Preslavets ( bg, Преславец) was a trade city located near mouths of the Danube. The city's name is derived from that of the Bulgarian capital of the time, Preslav, and means Little Preslav (). In Greek ...
(identified as the modern village of
Nufăru
Nufăru is a commune in Tulcea County, Northern Dobruja, Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders B ...
,
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...
)
on the
Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , p ...
.
In contrast with his mother's conversion to
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
, Sviatoslav remained a staunch
pagan all of his life. Due to his abrupt death in an ambush, his conquests, for the most part, were not consolidated into a functioning empire, while his failure to establish a stable succession led to a
fratricidal feud among his three sons, resulting in two of them being killed.
Name
![St Olga by Nesterov in 1892](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/St_Olga_by_Nesterov_in_1892.jpg)
The ''
Primary Chronicle'' records Sviatoslav as the first ruler of the
Kievan Rus'
Kievan Rusʹ, also known as Kyivan Rusʹ ( orv, , Rusĭ, or , , ; Old Norse: ''Garðaríki''), was a state in Eastern and Northern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical Atlas of ...
with a name of
Slavic origin, as opposed to his predecessors, whose names had
Old Norse
Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlemen ...
forms. Some scholars see the name of Sviatoslav, composed of the Slavic roots for "holy" and "glory", as an artificial derivation combining the names of his predecessors
Oleg
Oleg (russian: Олег), Oleh ( uk, Олег), or Aleh ( be, Алег) is an East Slavic given name. The name is very common in Russia, Ukraine and Belаrus. It derives from the Old Norse ''Helgi'' ( Helge), meaning "holy", "sacred", or "bless ...
and
Rurik, but modern researchers question the possibility of such a translation of names from one language to another. Sveinald or Sveneld is identical to Sviatoslav, as the Norse rendition of the Slavic name.
In 10th-century Eastern Roman Emperor
Constantine VII in Greek-language work ''
De Administrando Imperio'' ("On the Governance of the Empire") records his name as ''Σφενδοσθλάβος'' ("Sfendostlabos").
Early life and personality
Virtually nothing is known about Sviatoslav's childhood and youth, which he spent reigning in
Novgorod. Sviatoslav's father,
Igor
Igor may refer to:
People
* Igor (given name), an East Slavic given name and a list of people with the name
* Mighty Igor (1931–2002), former American professional wrestler
* Igor Volkoff, a professional wrestler from NWA All-Star Wrestling
* ...
, was killed by the
Drevlians
The Drevlians ( uk, Древляни, Drevliany, russian: Древля́не, Drevlyane) were a tribe of Early East Slavs between the 6th and the 10th centuries, which inhabited the territories of Polesia and right-bank Ukraine, west of the ea ...
around 945, and his mother,
Olga, ruled as
regent
A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...
in
Kiev until Sviatoslav reached maturity (ca. 963). Sviatoslav was tutored by a
Varangian
The Varangians (; non, Væringjar; gkm, Βάραγγοι, ''Várangoi'';[Varangian]
" Online Etymo ...
named Asmud. The tradition of employing Varangian tutors for the sons of ruling princes survived well into the 11th century. Sviatoslav appears to have had little patience for administration. His life was spent with his ''
druzhina
In the medieval history of Kievan Rus' and Early Poland, a druzhina, drużyna, or družyna ( Slovak and cz, družina; pl, drużyna; ; , ''druzhýna'' literally a "fellowship") was a retinue in service of a Slavic chieftain, also called ''knyaz ...
'' (roughly, "company") in permanent warfare against neighboring states.
According to the Primary Chronicle, he carried neither wagons nor kettles on his expeditions, and he boiled no meat, rather cutting off small strips of horseflesh, game, or beef to eat after roasting it on the coals. Nor did he have a tent, rather spreading out a horse-blanket under him and setting his saddle under his head, and all his retinue did likewise.
![Slav warrior from Solntsev book](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/Slav_warrior_from_Solntsev_book.jpg)
Sviatoslav's appearance has been described very clearly by
Leo the Deacon Leo the Deacon ( el, Λέων ο Διάκονος) (born c. 950) was a Byzantine Greek historian and chronicler.
He was born around 950 at Kaloe in Asia Minor, and was educated in Constantinople, where he became a deacon in the imperial palace. Whi ...
, who himself attended the meeting of Sviatoslav with
John I Tzimiskes. Following Deacon's memories, Sviatoslav was a bright-eyed man of average height but of stalwart build, much more sturdy than Tzimiskes. He had a bald head and a wispy beard and wore a bushy mustache and a
sidelock as a sign of his nobility. He preferred to dress in white, and it was noted that his garments were much cleaner than those of his men, although he had a lot in common with his warriors. He wore a single large gold earring bearing a
carbuncle
A carbuncle is a cluster of boils caused by bacterial infection, most commonly with ''Staphylococcus aureus'' or ''Streptococcus pyogenes''. The presence of a carbuncle is a sign that the immune system is active and fighting the infection. The ...
and two
pearl
A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carb ...
s.
Religious beliefs
Sviatoslav's mother,
Olga, converted to Orthodox Christianity at the court of the
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
Emperor
Constantine Porphyrogenitus
Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (; 17 May 905 – 9 November 959) was the fourth Emperor of the Macedonian dynasty of the Byzantine Empire, reigning from 6 June 913 to 9 November 959. He was the son of Emperor Leo VI and his fourth wife, Zoe Ka ...
in 957, at the approximate age of 67. Sviatoslav remained a
pagan all of his life. In the treaty of 971 between Sviatoslav and the Byzantine emperor John I Tzimiskes, the Rus' swore by the gods
Perun
In Slavic mythology, Perun (Cyrillic: Перýн) is the highest god of the pantheon and the god of sky, thunder, lightning, storms, rain, law, war, fertility and oak trees. His other attributes were fire, mountains, wind, iris, eagle, f ...
and
Veles.
According to the Primary Chronicle, he believed that his warriors (
druzhina
In the medieval history of Kievan Rus' and Early Poland, a druzhina, drużyna, or družyna ( Slovak and cz, družina; pl, drużyna; ; , ''druzhýna'' literally a "fellowship") was a retinue in service of a Slavic chieftain, also called ''knyaz ...
) would lose respect for him and mock him if he became a Christian. The allegiance of his warriors was of paramount importance in his conquest of an empire that stretched from the Volga to the Danube.
Family
Very little is known of Sviatoslav's family life. It is possible that he was not the only (or the eldest) son of his parents. The
Rus'-Byzantine treaty of 945 mentions a certain Predslava, Volodislav's wife, as the noblest of the Rus' women after Olga. The fact that Predslava was Oleg's mother is presented by
Vasily Tatishchev
Vasily Nikitich Tatishchev (russian: Васи́лий Ники́тич Тати́щев) (19 April 1686 – 15 July 1750) was a prominent Russian Imperial statesman, historian, philosopher, and ethnographer, best remembered as the author of the ...
. He also speculated that Predslava came from the Hungarian nobility.
George Vernadsky
George Vernadsky ( Russian: Гео́ргий Влади́мирович Верна́дский; August 20, 1887 – June 12, 1973) was a Russian Empire-born American historian and an author of numerous books on Russian history.
European years
...
was among many historians to speculate that Volodislav was Igor's eldest son and heir who died at some point during Olga's regency. Another chronicle told that Oleg (? - 977?) was the eldest son of Igor. At the time of Igor's death, Sviatoslav was still a child, and he was raised by his mother or under her instructions. Her influence, however, did not extend to his religious observance.
![Svatoslav titularnik](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/32/Svatoslav_titularnik.png)
Sviatoslav had several children, but the origin of his wives is not specified in the chronicle. By his wives, he had
Yaropolk and
Oleg
Oleg (russian: Олег), Oleh ( uk, Олег), or Aleh ( be, Алег) is an East Slavic given name. The name is very common in Russia, Ukraine and Belаrus. It derives from the Old Norse ''Helgi'' ( Helge), meaning "holy", "sacred", or "bless ...
. By
Malusha
Malusha Malkovna ( Old Ruthenian: Малушa) was allegedly a servant ( kholopka) for Olga of Kiev and concubine of Sviatoslav I of Kiev. According to Slavonic chronicles, she was the mother of Vladimir the Great and sister of Dobrynya. The Nors ...
, a woman of indeterminate origins, Sviatoslav had
Vladimir
Vladimir may refer to:
Names
* Vladimir (name) for the Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Macedonian, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak and Slovenian spellings of a Slavic name
* Uladzimir for the Belarusian version of the name
* Volodymyr for the Ukr ...
, who would ultimately break with his father's paganism and
convert Rus' to Christianity.
John Skylitzes
John Skylitzes, commonly Latinized as Ioannes, la, Johannes, label=none, la, Iōannēs, label=none Scylitzes ( el, Ἰωάννης Σκυλίτζης, ''Iōánnēs Skylítzēs'', or el, Σκυλίτση, ''Skylítsē'', label=none ; la, ...
reported that Vladimir had a brother named
Sfengus
According to John Skylitzes, Sfengus or Sphengos was a brother of Knyaz Vladimir I of Kiev. Sfengus was a leader in the joint Byzantine- Kievan campaign to depose Georgius Tzul, the last recorded khagan of the Khazars.
Though identified as a bro ...
; whether this Sfengus was a son of Sviatoslav, a son of Malusha by a prior or subsequent husband, or an unrelated Rus' nobleman is unclear.
Children
Predslava
* Oleg of Drelinia (died 977?)
*
Yaropolk I of Kiev
Yaropolk I Sviatoslavich (Old East Slavic: Ꙗрополкъ Свѧтославичъ, transliterated as ''Iaropolk Svyatoslavich''; Russian: ; Ukrainian: Ярополк I Святославич; 952 – 11 June 978) was a young and rather enig ...
(952 - 978)
Malusha
Malusha Malkovna ( Old Ruthenian: Малушa) was allegedly a servant ( kholopka) for Olga of Kiev and concubine of Sviatoslav I of Kiev. According to Slavonic chronicles, she was the mother of Vladimir the Great and sister of Dobrynya. The Nors ...
*
Vladimir the Great
Vladimir I Sviatoslavich or Volodymyr I Sviatoslavych ( orv, Володимѣръ Свѧтославичь, ''Volodiměrъ Svętoslavičь'';, ''Uladzimir'', russian: Владимир, ''Vladimir'', uk, Володимир, ''Volodymyr''. Se ...
(c. 958 - 1015)
*
Sfengus
According to John Skylitzes, Sfengus or Sphengos was a brother of Knyaz Vladimir I of Kiev. Sfengus was a leader in the joint Byzantine- Kievan campaign to depose Georgius Tzul, the last recorded khagan of the Khazars.
Though identified as a bro ...
?
Eastern campaigns
Shortly after his accession to the throne, Sviatoslav began campaigning to expand Rus' control over the Volga valley and the
Pontic steppe
Pontic, from the Greek ''pontos'' (, ), or "sea", may refer to:
The Black Sea Places
* The Pontic colonies, on its northern shores
* Pontus (region), a region on its southern shores
* The Pontic–Caspian steppe, steppelands stretching from no ...
region. His greatest success was the conquest of
Khazaria
The Khazars ; he, כּוּזָרִים, Kūzārīm; la, Gazari, or ; zh, 突厥曷薩 ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a semi-nomadic Turkic people that in the late 6th-century CE established a major commercial empire coverin ...
, which for centuries had been one of the strongest states of
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whic ...
. The sources are not clear about the roots of the conflict between Khazaria and Rus', so several possibilities have been suggested. The Rus' had an interest in removing the Khazar hold on the
Volga trade route
In the Middle Ages, the Volga trade route connected Northern Europe and Northwestern Russia with the Caspian Sea and the Sasanian Empire, via the Volga River. The Rus used this route to trade with Muslim countries on the southern shores of the ...
because the Khazars collected duties from the goods transported by the Volga. Historians have suggested that the Byzantine Empire may have incited the Rus' against the Khazars, who fell out with the Byzantines after the persecutions of the
Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
in the reign of
Romanus I Lecapenus.
["Rus", ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'']
Sviatoslav began by rallying the
East Slavic vassal tribes of the Khazars to his cause. Those who would not join him, such as the
Vyatichs
The Vyatichs or more properly Vyatichi or Viatichi (russian: вя́тичи) were a native tribe of Early East Slavs who inhabited regions around the Oka, Moskva and Don rivers.
The Vyatichi had for a long time no princes, but the social struct ...
, were attacked and forced to pay tribute to the Kievan Rus' rather than to the Khazars. According to a legend recorded in the Primary Chronicle, Sviatoslav sent a message to the Vyatich rulers, consisting of a single phrase: "I want to come at you!" (Old East Slavic ) This phrase is used in modern Russian and Ukrainian (usually misquoted as ) to denote an unequivocal declaration of one's intentions. Proceeding by the
Oka
Oka or OKA may refer to:
Cars
* Oka (automobile), a small car designed by AvtoVAZ and produced by ZMA and SeAZ
* OKA 4wd, a large 4-wheel-drive vehicle made in Western Australia by OKA
Military
* 2B1 Oka, Soviet 420 mm self-propelled mor ...
and Volga rivers, he attacked
Volga Bulgaria
Volga Bulgaria or Volga–Kama Bulgaria, was a historic Bulgar state that existed between the 7th and 13th centuries around the confluence of the Volga and Kama River, in what is now European Russia. Volga Bulgaria was a multi-ethnic state wi ...
. He employed
Oghuz and
Pecheneg
The Pechenegs () or Patzinaks tr, Peçenek(ler), Middle Turkic: , ro, Pecenegi, russian: Печенег(и), uk, Печеніг(и), hu, Besenyő(k), gr, Πατζινάκοι, Πετσενέγοι, Πατζινακίται, ka, პაჭ ...
mercenaries in this campaign, perhaps to counter the superior
cavalry of the Khazars and Bulgars.
Sviatoslav destroyed the Khazar city of
Sarkel
Sarkel (or Šarkel, literally ''white house'' in the Khazar language was a large limestone-and-brick fortress in the present-day Rostov Oblast of Russia, on the left bank of the lower Don River.
It was built by the Khazars with Byzantine ass ...
around 965, possibly sacking (but not occupying) the Khazar city of
Kerch
Kerch ( uk, Керч; russian: Керчь, ; Old East Slavic: Кърчевъ; Ancient Greek: , ''Pantikápaion''; Medieval Greek: ''Bosporos''; crh, , ; tr, Kerç) is a city of regional significance on the Kerch Peninsula in the east of t ...
on the
Crimea
Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...
as well. At Sarkel he established a Rus' settlement called Belaya Vyezha ("the white tower" or "the white fortress", the East Slavic translation for "Sarkel"). He subsequently destroyed the Khazar capital of
Atil
Atil (also Itil) , was the capital of the Khazar Khaganate from the middle of the 8th century until the end of the 10th century.
Known to have been situated on the Silk Road in the vicinity of the Caspian Sea, its precise location has long bee ...
. A visitor to Atil wrote soon after Sviatoslav's campaign: "The Rus' attacked, and no grape or raisin remained, not a leaf on a branch." The exact chronology of his Khazar campaign is uncertain and disputed; for example,
Mikhail Artamonov and
David Christian proposed that the sack of Sarkel came after the destruction of Atil.
![Svyatoslav chorikovasky](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/Svyatoslav_chorikovasky.jpg)
Although
Ibn Haukal reports the sack of
Samandar by Sviatoslav, the Rus' leader did not bother to occupy the Khazar heartlands north of the
Caucasus Mountains
The Caucasus Mountains,
: pronounced
* hy, Կովկասյան լեռներ,
: pronounced
* az, Qafqaz dağları, pronounced
* rus, Кавка́зские го́ры, Kavkázskiye góry, kɐfˈkasːkʲɪje ˈɡorɨ
* tr, Kafkas Dağla ...
permanently. On his way back to Kiev, Sviatoslav chose to strike against the
Ossetians
The Ossetians or Ossetes (, ; os, ир, ирæттæ / дигорӕ, дигорӕнттӕ, translit= ir, irættæ / digoræ, digorænttæ, label=Ossetic) are an Iranian ethnic group who are indigenous to Ossetia, a region situated across the no ...
and force them into subservience. Therefore, Khazar successor statelets continued their precarious existence in the region. The destruction of Khazar imperial power paved the way for Kievan Rus' to dominate north–south trade routes through the steppe and across the
Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...
, routes that formerly had been a major source of revenue for the Khazars. Moreover, Sviatoslav's campaigns led to increased Slavic settlement in the region of the
Saltovo-Mayaki
Saltovo-Mayaki or Saltovo-Majaki is the name given by archaeologists to the early medieval culture of the Pontic steppe region roughly between the Don and the Dnieper Rivers, flourishing roughly between the years of 700 and 950.
History
Saltovo- ...
culture, greatly changing the demographics and culture of the transitional area between the forest and the steppe.
Campaigns in the Balkans
![63-manasses-chronicle](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/63-manasses-chronicle.jpg)
The annihilation of Khazaria was undertaken against the background of the Rus'-Byzantine alliance, concluded in the wake of
Igor's Byzantine campaign in 944. Close military ties between the Rus' and Byzantium are illustrated by the fact, reported by John Skylitzes, that a Rus' detachment accompanied Byzantine Emperor
Nikephoros Phokas
Nikephoros II Phokas (; – 11 December 969), Latinized Nicephorus II Phocas, was Byzantine emperor from 963 to 969. His career, not uniformly successful in matters of statecraft or of war, nonetheless included brilliant military exploits whi ...
in his victorious naval expedition to
Crete
Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...
.
In 967 or 968, Nikephoros sent his agent,
Kalokyros, to persuade Sviatoslav to assist the Byzantines in a war against
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
. Sviatoslav was paid 15,000 pounds of gold and set sail with an army of 60,000 men, including thousands of Pecheneg mercenaries.
[W. Treadgold, ''A History of the Byzantine State and Society'', 509]
Sviatoslav defeated the Bulgarian ruler
Boris II and proceeded to occupy the whole of northern Bulgaria. Meanwhile, the Byzantines bribed the Pechenegs to
attack and besiege Kiev, where Olga stayed with Sviatoslav's son Vladimir. The siege was relieved by the ''druzhina'' of
Pretich, and immediately following the Pecheneg retreat, Olga sent a reproachful letter to Sviatoslav. He promptly returned and defeated the Pechenegs, who continued to threaten Kiev.
Sviatoslav refused to turn his Balkan conquests over to the Byzantines, and the parties fell out as a result. To the chagrin of his
boyars and his mother (who died within three days after learning about his decision), Sviatoslav decided to move his capital to
Pereyaslavets
Pereyaslavets ( East Slavic: ) or Preslavets ( bg, Преславец) was a trade city located near mouths of the Danube. The city's name is derived from that of the Bulgarian capital of the time, Preslav, and means Little Preslav (). In Greek ...
in the mouth of the Danube due to the great potential of that location as a commercial hub. In the Primary Chronicle record for 969, Sviatoslav explains that it is to Pereyaslavets, the centre of his lands, "all the riches flow: gold, silks, wine, and various fruits from
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...
, silver and horses from
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...
and
Bohemia, and from Rus' furs, wax, honey, and slaves".
In summer 969, Sviatoslav left Rus' again, dividing his dominion into three parts, each under a nominal rule of one of his sons. At the head of an army that included Pecheneg and Magyar auxiliary troops, he invaded Bulgaria again, devastating
Thrace
Thrace (; el, Θράκη, Thráki; bg, Тракия, Trakiya; tr, Trakya) or Thrake is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, which is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to ...
, capturing the city of
Philippopolis, and massacring its inhabitants. Nikephoros responded by repairing the defenses of Constantinople and raising new squadrons of armored cavalry. In the midst of his preparations, Nikephoros was overthrown and killed by
John Tzimiskes
John I Tzimiskes (; 925 – 10 January 976) was the senior Byzantine emperor from 969 to 976. An intuitive and successful general, he strengthened the Empire and expanded its borders during his short reign.
Background
John I Tzimiskes ...
, who thus became the new Byzantine emperor.
John Tzimiskes first attempted to persuade Sviatoslav to leave Bulgaria, but he was unsuccessful. Challenging Byzantine authority, Sviatoslav crossed the Danube and laid siege to
Adrianople, causing panic in the streets of Constantinople in summer 970. Later that year, the Byzantines launched a counteroffensive. Being occupied with suppressing a revolt brought by
Bardas Phokas in
Asia Minor
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
, John Tzimiskes sent his commander-in-chief,
Bardas Skleros
Bardas Skleros (Greek: Βάρδας Σκληρός) or Sclerus was a Byzantine general who led a wide-scale Asian rebellion against Emperor Basil II during the years 976 to 979.
Background
Bardas belonged to the great family of the Skleroi, ...
, who defeated the coalition of Rus', Pechenegs, Magyars, and Bulgarians in the
Battle of Arcadiopolis. Meanwhile, John, having quelled the revolt of Bardas Phokas, came to the Balkans with a large army and promoting himself as the liberator of Bulgaria from Sviatoslav, penetrated the impracticable mountain passes and shortly thereafter captured
Marcianopolis
Marcianopolis or Marcianople (Greek: Μαρκιανούπολις), also known as Parthenopolis was an ancient Greek, then Roman capital city and archbishopric in Moesia Inferior. It is located at the site of modern-day Devnya, Bulgaria. The a ...
, where the Rus' were holding a number of Bulgar princes hostage.
![64-manasses-chronicle](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/64-manasses-chronicle.jpg)
Sviatoslav retreated to
Dorostolon, which the Byzantine armies
besieged for sixty-five days. Cut off and surrounded, Sviatoslav came to terms with John and agreed to abandon the Balkans, renounce his claims to the southern Crimea, and return west of the
Dnieper 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 an ...
. In return, the Byzantine emperor supplied the Rus' with food and safe passage home. Sviatoslav and his men set sail and landed on
Berezan Island at the mouth of the Dnieper, where they made camp for the winter. Several months later, according to the Primary Chronicle, their camp was devastated by famine, so that even a horse's head could not be bought for less than a half-
grivna
Grivna (гривна) was a currency as well as a measure of weight used in Kievan Rus' and other East Slavic countries since the 11th century.
Name
The word ''grivna'' is derived from from . In Old East Slavic it had the form ''grivĭna ...
. While Sviatoslav's campaign brought no tangible results for the Rus', it weakened the Bulgarian state and left it vulnerable to the attacks of
Basil the Bulgar-Slayer
Basil II Porphyrogenitus ( gr, Βασίλειος Πορφυρογέννητος ;) and, most often, the Purple-born ( gr, ὁ πορφυρογέννητος, translit=ho porphyrogennetos).. 958 – 15 December 1025), nicknamed the Bulgar ...
four decades later.
Death and aftermath
Fearing that the peace with Sviatoslav would not endure, the Byzantine emperor induced the
Pecheneg
The Pechenegs () or Patzinaks tr, Peçenek(ler), Middle Turkic: , ro, Pecenegi, russian: Печенег(и), uk, Печеніг(и), hu, Besenyő(k), gr, Πατζινάκοι, Πετσενέγοι, Πατζινακίται, ka, პაჭ ...
khan Kurya to kill Sviatoslav before he reached Kiev. This was in line with the policy outlined by
Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus in ''
De Administrando Imperio'' of fomenting strife between the Rus' and the Pechenegs. According to the Slavic chronicle,
Sveneld attempted to warn Sviatoslav to avoid the
Dnieper rapids
The Dnieper Rapids ( uk, Дніпрові пороги, ) are the historical rapids on the Dnieper river in Ukraine, composed of outcrops of granites, gneisses and other types of bedrock of the Ukrainian Shield. The rapids began below the presen ...
, but the prince slighted his wise advice and was ambushed and slain by the Pechenegs when he tried to cross the cataracts near
Khortytsia
Khortytsia ( uk, Хортиця, Hortycja, translit-std=ISO, ) is the largest island in the Dnieper river, and is long and up to wide. The island forms part of the Khortytsia National Park. This historic site is located within the city limi ...
early in 972. The Primary Chronicle reports that his skull was
made into a chalice by the Pecheneg khan.
Following Sviatoslav's death, tensions among his sons grew. A war broke out between his legitimate sons, Oleg and
Yaropolk, in 976, at the conclusion of which Oleg was killed. In 977
Vladimir
Vladimir may refer to:
Names
* Vladimir (name) for the Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Macedonian, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak and Slovenian spellings of a Slavic name
* Uladzimir for the Belarusian version of the name
* Volodymyr for the Ukr ...
fled Novgorod to escape Oleg's fate and went to
Scandinavia
Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...
, where he raised an army of
Varangians
The Varangians (; non, Væringjar; gkm, Βάραγγοι, ''Várangoi'';[Varangian]
" Online Etymo ...
and returned in 980. Yaropolk was killed, and Vladimir became the sole ruler of Kievan Rus'.
Art and literature
Sviatoslav has long been a hero of
Belarusian,
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
, and
Ukrainian
Ukrainian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Ukraine
* Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe
* Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine
* So ...
patriots due to his great military successes. His figure first attracted attention of Russian artists and poets during the
Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774), which provided obvious parallels with Sviatoslav's push towards Constantinople. Russia's southward expansion and the imperialistic ventures of
Catherine II
, en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes
, house =
, father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst
, mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp
, birth_date =
, birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anha ...
in the Balkans seemed to have been legitimized by Sviatoslav's campaigns eight centuries earlier.
Among the works created during the war was
Yakov Knyazhnin's tragedy ''Olga'' (1772). The Russian playwright chose to introduce Sviatoslav as his protagonist, although his active participation in the events following Igor's death is out of sync with the traditional chronology. Knyazhnin's rival
Nikolai Nikolev (1758–1815) also wrote a play on the subject of Sviatoslav's life.
Ivan Akimov's painting ''Sviatoslav's Return from the Danube to Kiev'' (1773) explores the conflict between military honour and family attachment. It is a vivid example of
Poussinesque rendering of early medieval subject matter.
![Monument to Svyatoslav the Brave, winner of Khazars](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/Monument_to_Svyatoslav_the_Brave%2C_winner_of_Khazars.jpg)
Interest in Sviatoslav's career increased in the 19th century.
Klavdiy Lebedev depicted an episode of Sviatoslav's meeting with
Emperor John in his well-known painting, while
Eugene Lanceray
Yevgeny Yevgenyevich Lanceray (russian: Евгений Евгеньевич Лансере; 23 August 1875 – 13 September 1946), also often spelled Eugene Lansere, was a Russian graphic artist, painter, sculptor, mosaicist, and illustrator, a ...
sculpted an
equestrian statue
An equestrian statue is a statue of a rider mounted on a horse, from the Latin ''eques'', meaning 'knight', deriving from ''equus'', meaning 'horse'. A statue of a riderless horse is strictly an equine statue. A full-sized equestrian statue is a d ...
of Sviatoslav in the early 20th century.
[
E. A Lanceray. ']
Sviatoslav_on_the_way_to_Tsargrad
..html" ;"title="Tsargrad">Sviatoslav on the way to Tsargrad
.">Tsargrad">Sviatoslav on the way to Tsargrad
. "''
The Russian History in the Mirror of the Fine Arts
Sviatoslav appears in the 1913 poem of Velimir Khlebnikov ''Written before the war'' (#70. Написанное до войны) as an epitome of militant Slavdom:
Знаменитый сок Дуная,
Наливая в глубь главы,
Стану пить я, вспоминая
Светлых клич: "Иду на вы!".
Pouring the famed juice of the Danube
Into the depth of my head,
I shall drink and remember
The cry of the bright ones: "I come at you!"
Sviatoslav is the villain of the novel ''The Lost Kingdom, or the Passing of the Khazars'', by Samuel Gordon, a fictionalised account of the destruction of Khazaria by the Rus'. The Slavic warrior figures in a more positive context in the story "Chernye Strely Vyaticha" by Vadim Viktorovich Kargalov; the story is included in his book ''Istoricheskie povesti''.
In 2005, reports circulated that a village in the
Belgorod
Belgorod ( rus, Белгород, p=ˈbʲeɫɡərət) is a city and the administrative center of Belgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Seversky Donets River north of the border with Ukraine. Population: Demographics
The population of B ...
region had erected a monument to Sviatoslav's victory over the Khazars by the Russian sculptor
Vyacheslav Klykov. The reports described the 13-meter tall statue as depicting a Rus' cavalryman trampling a supine Khazar bearing a
Star of David and
Kolovrat. This created an outcry within the
Jewish community
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
of Russia. The controversy was further exacerbated by Klykov's connections with
Pamyat
The Pamyat Society (russian: Общество «Память», russian: Obshchestvo «Pamyat», ; English language, English translation: "''Memory''" Society), officially National Patriotic Front "Memory" (NPF "Memory"; russian: Национал ...
and other anti-Semitic organizations, as well as by his involvement in the "letter of 500", a controversial appeal to the Prosecutor General to review all Jewish organizations in Russia for extremism. The Press Centre of the Belgorod Regional Administration responded by stating that a planned monument to Sviatoslav had not yet been constructed but would show "respect towards representatives of all nationalities and religions." When the statue was unveiled, the shield bore a twelve-pointed star.
Sviatoslav is the main character of the books ''Knyaz'' () and ''The Hero'' (), written by Russian writer
Alexander Mazin
Alexander Vladimirovich Mazin (russian: Александр Владимирович Мазин) is a Ukrainian-born Russian writer, poet, and songwriter, specializing in the genres of science fiction, fantasy, and alternate history.
Born in 1959 ...
. Sviatoslav plays a major role in the
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
historical anthology film ''The Legend of Princess Olga'', which tells the story of his mother, Olga. Sviatoslav appears in various segments, both as a child as an adult. The adult prince Sviatoslav is played by
Les Serdyuk
Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Serdyuk ( uk, Олекса́ндр Олекса́ндрович Сердю́к), also known as Les Serdyuk ( uk, Лесь Сердюк); October 14, 1940 in Kharkiv, Ukrainian SSR – May 26, 2010 in Kyiv, Ukraine) wa ...
.
In November 2011, a Ukrainian fisherman found a one metre long sword in the waters of the Dnieper on
Khortytsia
Khortytsia ( uk, Хортиця, Hortycja, translit-std=ISO, ) is the largest island in the Dnieper river, and is long and up to wide. The island forms part of the Khortytsia National Park. This historic site is located within the city limi ...
, near where Sviatoslav is believed to have been killed in 972. The handle is made out of four different metals including gold and silver, and could possibly have belonged to Sviatoslav himself, but this is speculation—the sword could have belonged to any nobleman from that period.
Legacy
In some cities of
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
there is Svyatoslav the Brave Street or Prince Svyatoslav Street.
See also
*
List of Russian rulers
*
List of Ukrainian rulers
This is a list that encompasses and includes all reigning leaders/rulers in the history of Ukraine.
This page includes the titles of the Grand Prince of Kyiv, Grand Prince of Chernigov, Grand Prince of Pereyaslavl, Grand Prince of Galicia ...
Notes
References
*
Artamonov, Mikhail ''Istoriya Khazar''.
Leningrad
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, 1962.
*
Barthold, W. "Khazar". ''
Encyclopaedia of Islam'' (Brill Online). Eds.: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C. E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W.P. Heinrichs. Brill, 1996.
*Chertkov A. D. . Moscow, 1843.
*Chlenov, A. M. (.) "." () (Moscow, 1970).
*
Christian, David. ''A History of Russia, Mongolia and Central Asia.'' Blackwell, 1999.
*Cross, S. H., and O. P. Sherbowitz-Wetzor. ''The Russian Primary Chronicle: Laurentian Text''. Cambridge, Mass.: Medieval Academy of America, 1953.
*
Dunlop, D. M. ''History of the Jewish Khazars.'' Princeton Univ. Press, 1954.
*Franklin, Simon and
Jonathan Shepard
Jonathan Shepard is a British historian specialising in early medieval Russia, the Caucasus, and the Byzantine Empire. He is regarded as a leading authority in Byzantine studies and on the Kievan Rus. He specialises in diplomatic and archaeologica ...
. ''The Emergence of Rus 750-1200.'' London: Longman, 1996. .
*
Golden, P. B. "Rus." ''
Encyclopaedia of Islam'' (Brill Online). Eds.: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C. E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W. P. Heinrichs. Brill, 2006.
*
Grekov, Boris. ''Kiev Rus''. tr. Sdobnikov, Y., ed. Ogden, Denis. Moscow: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1959
*
*
Kendrick, Thomas D. ''A History of the Vikings''. Courier Dover Publications, 2004.
*Logan, Donald F. ''The Vikings in History'' 2nd ed. Routledge, 1992.
*Manteuffel Th. "". ''.'' Warsaw, t. 22, 1970.
*
Nazarenko, A. N. (). (). Moscow, Russian Academy of Sciences, World History Institute, 2001. .
*
Pletneva, Svetlana. ''Polovtsy'' Moscow: Nauka, 1990. .
*
Sakharov, Andrey. ''The Diplomacy of Svyatoslav''. Moscow:
Nauka, 1982.
online
*
Subtelny, Orest. ''Ukraine: A History''. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1988.
*
Vernadsky, G. V. ''The Origins of Russia.'' Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1959.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sviatoslav 01 Of Kiev
Medieval child rulers
Murdered Russian monarchs
Grand Princes of Kiev
Rurikids
Rurik dynasty
940s births
972 deaths
10th-century conflicts
10th-century princes in Kievan Rus'
10th-century murdered monarchs
Slavic pagans