Yaroslav the Wise

Yaroslav the Wise
Grand Prince of Kiev and Novgorod
Forensic facial reconstruction of prince Yaroslav I the Wise by Mikhail Gerasimov.
Reign	1019–1054
Predecessor	Sviatopolk the Accursed
Successor	Iziaslav I
Prince of Rostov?
Reign	978–1010
Prince of Novgorod
Reign	1010–1019
Born	~978
Died	20 February 1054 [aged ~76] Vyšgorod
Burial	Saint Sophia's Cathedral, Kiev
Spouse	Ingegerd Olofsdotter of Sweden, later Irene-Anna (a daughter of Olof Skötkonung)
Issue	see the main article
Full name Yaroslav Vladimirovich
Dynasty	Rurikid
Father	Vladimir the Great
Mother	Rogneda of Polotsk (according to the Primary Chronicle)
Sign

Yaroslav I, Grand Prince of Rus', known as Yaroslav the Wise or Iaroslav the Wise (Old East Slavic: Ꙗрославъ Володимировичъ Мѫдрꙑи, Jaroslavŭ Volodimirovičŭ Mǫdryi; Old Norse: Jarizleifr;Russian: Яросла́в Му́дрый, Yaroslav Mudry; Ukrainian: Ярослав Мудрий, Yaroslav Mudriy; c. 978 – 20 February 1054) was thrice grand prince of Veliky Novgorod and Kiev, uniting the two principalities for a time under his rule. Yaroslav's Christian name was George (Yuri) after Saint George (Old East Slavic: Гюрьгi, Gjurĭgì).

A son of the Varangian Grand Prince Vladimir the Great, he was vice-regent of Novgorod at the time of his father's death in 1015. Subsequently, his eldest surviving brother, Sviatopolk I of Kiev, killed three of his other brothers and seized power in Kiev. Yaroslav, with the active support of the Novgorodians and the help of Varangian mercenaries, defeated Svyatopolk and became the Grand Prince of Kiev in 1019. Under Yaroslav the codification of legal customs and princely enactments was begun, and this work served as the basis for a law code called the Russkaya Pravda ("Rus Truth [Law]"). During his lengthy reign, Kievan Rus' reached the zenith of its cultural flowering and military power.

The early years of Yaroslav's life are shrouded in mystery. He was one of the numerous sons of Vladimir the Great, presumably his second by Rogneda of Polotsk, although his actual age (as stated in the Primary Chronicle and corroborated by the examination of his skeleton in the 1930s) would place him among the youngest children of Vladimir. It has been suggested that he was a child begotten out of wedlock after Vladimir's divorce from Rogneda and marriage to Anna Porphyrogenita, or even that he was a child of Anna Porphyrogenita herself. Yaroslav figures prominently in the Norse sagas under the name Jarisleif the Lame; his legendary lameness (probably resulting from an arrow wound) was corroborated by the scientists who examined his remains.