Svyatopolk I

(c. 980 - 1019), grand prince of Kiev, replacing Vladimir Svyatoslavich, the Christianizer of Rus.

The identity of Svyatopolk's father is uncertain. Around 980, after Vladimir had his half-brother Yaropolk killed, he slept with Yaropolk's Greek wife, a former nun, and she gave birth to Svyatopolk. Because he was born of adultery, the chronicler explains, Svyatopolk ("the Cursed," by which appellation he came to be known) was stigmatized for the rest of his life. Nevertheless, Vladimir treated him as his son. Before 988, it appears, he gave Svyatopolk the town of Turov. While there, Svyatopolk established friendly relations with the Poles and, around 1013, married the daughter of Boleslaw I and accepted Latin Christianity. Later he plotted with the Poles against Vladimir, and the latter imprisoned him. After Vladimir died in 1015, Svyatopolk, allegedly his eldest surviving son, bribed the Kievans to accept him as their prince, even though many preferred his half-brother Boris, perhaps in keeping with Vladimir's wish. Because Svyatopolk's succession was challenged, he initiated a fierce campaign to eradicate his half-brothers, who posed a threat to his rule. Thus he had Boris, Gleb, and Svyatoslav killed. In 1016, however, Yaroslav of Novgorod and his Varangians defeated Svyatopolk and his Pechenegs near Lyubech. Svyatopolk fled to the Poles, where Boleslaw I joined him; together they evicted Yaroslav from Kiev in July 1018. In 1019, after the king departed, Yaroslav attacked Svyatopolk and defeated him. As Svyatopolk fled, his reason and strength failed him, and he died somewhere between the Polish and the Czech lands.

Bibliography

Dimnik, Martin. (1996). "Succession and Inheritance in Rus' before 1054." Mediaeval Studies 58:87 - 117.

Franklin, Simon, and Shepard, Jonathan. (1996). The Emergence of Rus 750 - 1200. London: Longman.

—MARTIN DIMNIK