| Notes |
- Sviatopolk II Iziaslavich (Old East Slavic: Свѧтополкъ Изѧславичь; Russian: Святополк Изяславич; Ukrainian: Святополк Ізяславич; November 8, 1050 – April 16, 1113) was supreme ruler of the Kievan Rus for 20 years, from 1093 to 1113. He was not a popular prince, and his reign was marked by incessant rivalry with his cousin Vladimir Monomakh.
Early life
Sviatopolk was the son of Iziaslav Iaroslavich by his concubine. Sviatopolk's Christian name was Michael. During his brother Iaropolk's life, Sviatopolk was not regarded as a potential claimant to the throne of Kiev (Kyiv). In 1069 he was sent to Polotsk, a city briefly taken by his father from the local ruler Vseslav, and then he spent ten years (1078–88) ruling Novgorod. Upon his brother's death he succeeded him in Turov, which would remain in possession of his descendants until the 17th century.
Reign
When Vsevolod Iaroslavich died in 1093, Sviatopolk was acknowledged by other princes as the senior son of Veliki Kniaz and permitted to ascend the Kievan throne. Although he participated in the princely congresses organized by Vladimir Monomakh, he is sometimes charged with encouraging internecine wars among Rurikid princes. For instance, he sided with his cousin David of Volhynia and his son-in-law Bolesław III Wrymouth in capturing and blinding one of the Galician princes.[1] He also sided with Vladimir Monomakh in several campaigns against the Kypchaks but was defeated in the Battle of the Stugna River (1093).[2] Later that year, Sviatopolk would face the Kypchaks again, and again be defeated.[2] Whereupon the Kypchaks destroyed Torchesk, an Oghuz Turk settlement.[2]
In 1096, in an attempt to force Oleg I of Chernigov into a Rus compact, Sviatopolk left his lands undefended.[3] His father-in-law, Tugorkhan raided Pereiaslavl, while Boniak raided as far as Kiev, destroying Berestovo and sacking the three monasteries of Klov, Vydubichi, and the Caves.[3] Tugorkhan would be killed during his raid on Pereiaslavl, consequently Sviatopolk would have him buried in Kiev.[4]
Sviatopolk's Christian name was Michael, so he encouraged embellishment of St Michael's Abbey in Kiev, which has been known as the Golden-Roofed up to the present. The history now known as the Primary Chronicle was compiled by the monk Nestor during Sviatopolk's reign.
Marriage and children
Sviatopolk married firstly a Bohemian princess (Přemyslid dynasty), probably a daughter of Duke Spytihněv II. They had three children:
Zbyslava, married to king Boleslaw III of Poland on November 15, 1102.
Predslava, married to Prince Álmos of Hungary on August 21, 1104. Her fate is less known.
Iaroslav (died 1123), Prince of Volynia and Turov was married three times - to Hungarian, Polish Sophia (daughter of Władysław I Herman and his second wife Judith of Swabia), and Kievan princesses. In consequence of Iaroslav's early death, hescendants forfeited any right to the Kievan throne and had to content themselves with Turov and Pinsk.
Secondly, in 1094 Sviatopolk married to a daughter of Tugorkhan of the Kypchaks, Olena.[5] They had four children:
Anna (died 1136), married to Sviatoslav Davydych from Chernihiv who turned into a monk upon her death and later became Saint Nikolai Svyatoslav Davydych of Chernihiv.
Maria, married Piotr Włostowic, castellan of Wroclaw and Polish palatine.
Bryachislav (1104–1127), possibly dethroned Iaroslav as the Prince of Turov (1118–1123) in 1118.
Izyaslav (died 1127), possibly the Prince of Turov in 1123.
In 1104, Sviatopolk would marry for a third time to Barbara Comnena.[6]
Some sources claim Sviatopolk had an out-of-wedlock son Mstislav who ruled Novgorod-Sieversky in 1095–1097 and later Volyn (1097–1099). Mstislav later was murdered in Volodymyr-Volynski.
- (Translated from Ukramian)
Sviatopolk Izyaslavych (Old Russian: Свполтополкъ Изѧславичь; November 8, 1050 - April 16, 1113 [1]) was a Russian prince from the Rurik dynasty. Grand Duke of Kyiv (1093–1113) [1]. Prince of Polotsk (1070-1071), Novgorod (1078-1088) and Turov (1088-1093) [1]. Son of Izyaslav Yaroslavovych (Grand Duke of Kyiv, who was proclaimed King of Russia in 1075), grandson of Yaroslav the Wise. Son-in-law of Polovtsian Khan Tugorkan (since 1094) [2]. After receiving the throne of Kiev, he was forced to repel the almost annual attacks of the Polovtsians. In 1103-1111, together with Volodymyr Monomakh, he carried out a series of victorious campaigns in the Polovtsian land. He held the Lyubetsky (1097) and Vitechivsky congresses (1100), which calmed the contradictions between the Russian princes [1]. He was unpopular among the people of Kiev. After his death, the Kyiv uprising broke out, which was suppressed by Volodymyr Monomakh.
Names
Sviatopolk Izyaslavych is a traditional writing in Ukrainian historiography. In "The Tale of Bygone Years" there is a different inscription of the name (Old Russian: Свѧтополкъ, Ст҃ополкъ).
Sviatopolk-Mykhailo Izyaslavych [1] - by the baptismal name "Mykhailo", in honor of the archstrategist Mykhailo.
Sviatopolk II - in Western historiography, according to the Western European tradition of naming monarchs.
Biography
Polovtsian wars
Read more: Battle of Stugna and Battle of Zhelyan
During the reign of Sviatopolk II there was a special intensification of Polovtsian attacks on Russia (Khan Bonyak, in alliance with which were the Chernihiv princes Svyatoslavich).
War 1093-1094
In April-May 1093, without consulting his father's older wife, Sviatopolk Izyaslavych imprisoned the Polovtsian ambassadors, who demanded ransom for peace after the death of Vsevolod Yaroslavych. This led to the march of the Polovtsians to Russia under the leadership of the khans Tugorkan and Bonyak. When the invaders laid siege to Torchesk, the prince of Kiev returned the ambassadors, but the Polovtsians refused to reconcile. Not having a proper army, the prince asked for help from Chernihiv Prince Vladimir Monomakh and Pereyaslav Prince Rostislav Vsevolodovich. In Kyiv, Sviatopolk and Volodymyr quarreled - the former sought war, the latter peace; nevertheless, all three princes attacked the enemy and arrived in Trepol [3]. The decisive battle took place on May 26 on the Stugna River, in which the Russians suffered a crushing defeat. Sviatopolk fled to Trepol, and on the night of May 27 returned to Kyiv. On July 23 of the same year, the Kyivan prince tried for the second time to stop the Polovtsians, but was again defeated in the battle of Zhelyany. In 1094, Sviatopolk made peace with the nomads and married Tugorkan's daughter.
But this did not stop the Polovtsian attacks, during which the suburbs of Kiev were destroyed (1096). In 1095 Sviatopolk together with Volodymyr Monomakh defeated the Polovtsians, and the following year he waged war with the Chernihiv prince Oleg Svyatoslavych, who refused to come to Kyiv for the congress of princes.
The Polovtsian threat and princely quarrels led to the convening of princely congresses, in particular (Lyubetsky 1097, during which the princes recognized the principle that each of them had to own the land allotted to him by his father, which legitimized the fragmentation of the Kiev state into separate hereditary principalities. Despite the decision of the congress, Sviatopolk did not prevent David Ihorovych from capturing and blinding Prince Vasylko Rostyslavych of Terebovlia, and in 1098, with the support of Volodymyr Monomakh, he captured Volodymyr-Volynsky and expelled Prince David Ihorovych.
Domestic policy
Sviatopolk was a participant in the Vytychiv Congress, the Zolotchany Congress and the Dolobsky Congress. Together with Volodymyr Monomakh, Sviatopolk and his son Yaroslav took part in victorious battles with the Polovtsians (1110 and 1111), in which the Polovtsian cities of Sharukan and Sugriv were captured.
Sviatopolk was involved in salt speculation and fraud by moneylenders, which led to the Kiev uprising of 1113. During the reign of Sviatopolk II, St. Michael's Golden-Domed Cathedral was built - a pearl of Ukrainian architecture of the XI century.
He was buried in the church of St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery built with his help.
Estimates
In Tatishchev Svyatopolk has the following characteristics:
This great prince was tall, dry, reddish and straight hair, long beard, sharp eyesight. He was a book reader and very memorable, and he could tell what had happened over the years. Because of illness he ate little; and quite rarely, and evenn due to the coercion [6] of others, revel. He was not willing to go to war, and although he was soon angry with someone, he soon forgot about it. At the same time he was very avaricious and stingy, for which he gave the Jews many liberties against Christians and because of which many Christians were deprived of trade and crafts. He took his concubine as his wife, and loved her so much that he could not part without tears for a short time, and, listening to her a lot, he suffered shame and often harm with compassion from the princes. And if Volodymyr had not protected him, the Sviatoslavs would have deprived him of Kyiv a long time ago [7]
Mykola Kotlyar: "was a weak and inconsistent ruler, incited enmity between the princes"
Family
The first wife is an unknown name. According to some sources, she was the daughter of Bohemian Prince Spitignev II,
From his first wife he had three children:
Zbyslava Sviatopolkivna
Predslava Sviatopolkivna
Yaroslav Svyatopolkovich (1072-1123) - Prince of Vladimir and Dorogobuzh.
In 1094 Sviatopolk remarried. Wife Olena Tugorkanivna (daughter of Polovtsian Khan Tugorkan] [2].
He had four children with his second wife:
Anna Sviatopolkivna
Maria Sviatopolkivna
Bryachyslav Sviatopolkovych (1104-1123) - Prince of Turiv.
Izyaslav Sviatopolkovych (1107 () - 1127) - Prince of Turiv.
According to other sources, Sviatopolk had three wives. The mother of the eldest son died around 1094. In 1094 the prince married the daughter of the Polovtsian khan Tugorkan. Polovchanka died around 1103. In 1104 Sviatopolk Izyaslavych married for the third time the Byzantine princess Irina-Varvara Komnen, daughter of Alexy I Komnin.
Honoring the memory
In 1997, a monument to the Lyubech Congress of Princes was unveiled in Lyubech. Sviatopolk Izyaslavych is depicted among the people on the monument.
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1050 - Yes, date unknown
Isjaslaw I. Jaroslawitsch Kyyivdan, Grootvorst
English
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