Sviatoslav II | |
---|---|
Prince of Vladimir | |
Reign | c. 1040–1054 |
Principality of Chernigov | |
Reign | 1054–1077 |
Grand Prince of Kiev | |
Reign | 1073–1077 |
Predecessor | Izyaslav I |
Successor | Vsevolod I |
Born | 1027 |
Died | 27 December 1076 (aged 48–49) Kiev |
Burial | Holy Savior Cathedral, Chernigov (Chernihiv, Ukraine) |
Wives |
|
Issue |
Vysheslava Gleb Oleg David Roman Yaroslav |
Dynasty | Rurik |
Father | Yaroslav the Wise |
Mother | Ingegerd of Sweden |
Sviatoslav II Iaroslavich or Sviatoslav II Yaroslavich (1027 – 27 December 1076 in Kiev) was Grand Prince of Kiev between 1073 and 1076. He was born as a younger son of Grand Prince Yaroslav the Wise. His baptismal name was Nicholas.
He ruled the Principality of Vladimir in Volhynia in his father's lifetime (from around 1040 to 1054). Yaroslav the Wise, who divided the Kievan Rus' between his five sons in his testament, willed the Principality of Chernigov to Sviatoslav. Sviatoslav joined his brothers, Iziaslav of Kiev and Vsevolod of Pereyaslav, in forming a princely "triumvirate" that oversaw the affairs of Kievan Rus' until 1072. The three brothers together fought against their enemies, including the nomadic Oghuz Turks, and their distant relative, Prince Vseslav of Polotsk. The Cumans defeated their united force in the autumn of 1068, but Sviatoslav routed a Cuman band plundering his principality.
The "triumvirate" broke up, when Sviatoslav, supported by his younger brother Vsevolod, dethroned and replaced their older brother Iziaslav in 1073. He commissioned the compilation of at least two miscellanies of theological works. Otherwise, his short reign was uneventful.
Sviatoslav was the fourth son of Yaroslav the Wise, Grand Prince of Kiev, and his wife, Ingegerd of Sweden. He was born in 1027. The Lyubetskiy sinodik—a list of the princes of Chernigov which was completed in the Monastery of Saint Anthony in Lyubech—writes that his baptismal name was Nicholas.
The Russian Primary Chronicle writes that Sviatoslav was staying "at Vladimir" (Volodymyr-Volynskyi, Ukraine) in Volhynia around the time his father fell seriously ill before his death. According to the historian Martin Dimnik, the chronicle's report shows that Yaroslav the Wise had, most probably in about 1040, appointed Sviatoslav to rule this important town of the Kievan Rus'.