Yaroslav II Vsevolodovich (Kiev, 1139–1198)
was a
Rus’ prince (a member of the
Rurik dynasty
The Rurik dynasty ( be, Ру́рыкавічы, Rúrykavichy; russian: Рю́риковичи, Ryúrikovichi, ; uk, Рю́риковичі, Riúrykovychi, ; literally "sons/scions of Rurik"), also known as the Rurikid dynasty or Rurikids, was ...
).
He was prince of Ropesk (c. 1146–1166), of
Starodub
Starodub ( rus, links=no, Староду́б, p=stərɐˈdup, ''old oak'') is a town in Bryansk Oblast, Russia, on the Babinets River (the Dnieper basin), southwest of Bryansk. Population: 16,000 (1975).
History
Starodub has been known ...
(1166–1176), and of
Chernigov
Chernihiv ( uk, Черні́гів, , russian: Черни́гов, ; pl, Czernihów, ; la, Czernihovia), is a List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in northern Ukraine, which serves as the administrative ...
(1176–1198).
His early life
He was the second son of prince
Vsevolod II Olgovich
Vsevolod II Olgovich (Cyrillic: Всеволод II Ольгович) (died August 1, 1146) was the Prince (Knyaz) of Chernigov (1127–1139) and Grand Prince of Kiev (Velikiy Knyaz), 1139–1146), son of Oleg Svyatoslavich, Prince of Chernigov.
...
of Chernigov (who later became
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 ...
) and
Maria Mstislavna of Kiev Maria Mstislavna of Kiev (died 1179), was a Grand Princess consort of Kiev by marriage to Prince Vsevolod II of Kiev. She was the daughter of Mstislav I of Kiev and Christina Ingesdotter of Sweden.
Her marriage was arranged in 1116 to facilitate be ...
(a daughter of grand prince
Mstislav I Vladimirovich
Mstislav I Vladimirovich Monomakh (Russian: Мстислав Владимирович Великий, uk, Мстислав Володимирович Великий; February, 1076 – April 14, 1132), also known as Mstislav the Great, was t ...
of Kiev).
His father died on August 1, 1146.
He began his political career as the prince of Ropesk (a town, located southwest of Starodub).
In 1162, the younger brother of grand prince
Rostislav I Mstislavich of Kiev,
Vladimir Mstislavich seized Sluchesk, which had belonged to the Olgovichi. On February 15, 1164, Svyatoslav II Olgovich died.
In the spring in 1166, prince Svyatislav Vladimirovich of Vshchizh died, and he evidently had no sons. Svyatoslav III Vsevolodovich as the
senior prince of the Olgovichi held the authority to allocate the dead prince's domains, and he gave Starodub to Yaroslav. However, their cousin, prince Oleg Svyatoslavich of Novgorod-Seversk challenged the senior prince's preferential treatment of his own family.
At the beginning of 1168, grand prince
Mstislav II Izyaslavich of Kiev asked the princes of
Rus' to help attack the
Cumans
The Cumans (or Kumans), also known as Polovtsians or Polovtsy (plural only, from the Russian language, Russian Exonym and endonym, exonym ), were a Turkic people, Turkic nomadic people comprising the western branch of the Cuman–Kipchak confede ...
; the Olgovichi sent Yaroslav, his brother Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich, as well as their cousins Oleg and Vsevolod Svyatoslavich.
On March 8, 1169 the strong army of Andrey Yurevich took Kiev,
but did not sack it. Mstislav Andreyevich appointed his uncle
Gleb Yurevich to Kiev. Nevertheless, when the dethroned grand prince attacked Kiev in February 1170, Yaroslav and his brother sent troops to him.
Oleg Svyatoslavich and his brothers attacked Starodub (Yaroslav's town), while prince
Yaroslav Izyaslavich of Lutsk and the Rostislavichi sacked the towns of Yaroslav's brother. However, Oleg Svyatoslavich and his brothers did not manage to capture Starodub, and they accepted peace terms.
Prince of Chernigov
On July 22, 1176, Yaroslav's brother Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich occupied Kiev and promoted Yaroslav to Chernigov.
At the beginning of 1181, Yaroslav's brother, who had been expelled from Kiev, launched a campaign against prince
Vsevolod III Yurevich of Suzdalia.
Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich (who had regained Kiev) and prince
Rurik Rostislavich of Belgorod countered Cumans who were raiding the
Pereyaslavl lands. That summer Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich launched a major campaign against the Cumans, but Yaroslav absented himself from the campaign.
In April 1185, Igor Svyatoslavich invited Yaroslav to a campaign against the Cumans, but Yaroslav did not go and his sons were still too young to fight. Instead, he sent Olstin Oleksich along with the ''Kovui'' (the
pagan
Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. ...
auxiliaries
Auxiliaries are support personnel that assist the military or police but are organised differently from regular forces. Auxiliary may be military volunteers undertaking support functions or performing certain duties such as garrison troops, u ...
fighting in the service of the Olgovichi) from the Chernigov area. After learning of
his cousin's defeat at the Kayala River, Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich requested levies from Yaroslav. After Igor Svyatoslavich had escaped from captivity, he visited Yaroslav and Chernigov to request military assistance.
In the winter of 1187, Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich himself traveled to Chernigov to assemble the dynasty's troops in order to lead a campaign against the Cumans who had pillaged the district of Tatinets, a ford on 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 and B ...
. Although Yaroslav joined the expedition and he went as far as the river Samara, he refused to continue and returned home.
His brother died at the end of July 1194 (after 25 July). Shortly before his death, Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich summoned Rurik Rostislavich, indicating that Rurik would be his successor.
In 1195, prince
Roman Mstislavich of Volodymyr-Volynskyi commenced to conspire against his father-in-law, grand prince Rurik Rostislavich. When Roman appealed for help, Yaroslav agreed.
The two sides clashed on March 12, and Mstislav Romanovich defeated Oleg Svyatoslavich's troops; however, the
princes of Polotsk
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...
who had come to Oleg Svyatoslavich's assistance defeated Mstislav Romanovich's men and took him captive.
Yaroslav proposed peace with Vsevolod Yurevich via envoys, and the latter also sent envoys to negotiate with Yaroslav. Vsevolod Yurevich altered the terms of the Rostislavichi to further his own interest: he demanded the release of Mstislav Romanovich by Yaroslav and that Yaroslav break his alliance with Roman.
The ''Lyubetkiy sinodik'' states that Yaroslav entered holy orders and took the name Vasily. He was buried in the
Cathedral of St. Saviour next to his grandfather Oleg.
Marriage and children
''#before 1171:'' Irene
[The chroniclers neglect to reveal the identity of Yaroslav’s wife, but the ''Lyubetskiy sinodik'' calls her Irene; ''Dimnik, Martin op. cit. 121.'']
*Prince
Rostislav Yaroslavich of Snovsk (June 24, 1171 – after 1212 / before 1223);
*Prince
Yaropolk III Yaroslavich of Novgorod (? – after 1214 / before 1223);
*''Unnamed'' Yaroslavna, wife of prince Vladimir Glebovich of Pereyaslavl.
Ancestors
Footnotes
Sources
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vsevolodovich, Yaroslav 02
12th-century princes in Kievan Rus'
Olgovichi family
Princes of Chernigov
Eastern Orthodox monarchs
1139 births
1198 deaths