Prince of Turov (988-1015) and Grand Duke of Kiev (1015-1019) Svyatopolk Vladimirovich, known in ancient Russian historiography as Svyatopolk the Accursed, was born around 979. At baptism he was given the name Peter.
Svyatopolk is the son of Yaropolk Svyatoslavich, his mother Julia was a Greek woman, a nun. As the chronicle says, at one time Svyatoslav brought her as a prisoner and gave her for Yaropolk.
The chronicler reports that after the murder of his brother Yaropolk, Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich married his widow, who was already pregnant by Yaropolk. Soon she gave birth to a son, Svyatopolk, whom Vladimir raised along with his children. Therefore, in some sources Svyatopolk is called the son of Yaropolk, in others - the son of Vladimir.
Around 988, Vladimir gave Svyatopolk an inheritance in Turov.
Around 1013, Svyatopolk married the daughter of the Polish prince Boleslav the Brave. Together with the young princess, her confessor, Bishop Reinburn, arrived in Turov, who obviously had the intention of tearing the Russian Church away from Constantinople and resubordinating it to Rome.
Svyatopolk, dissatisfied with Vladimir and incited by his wife and bishop, began to prepare an uprising against Prince Vladimir, enlisting the support of his father-in-law. But the plot was uncovered, and Vladimir imprisoned Svyatopolk, along with his wife and Reinburn.
Vladimir died in 1015 while preparing to attack Novgorod against another rebellious son, Yaroslav. The prince did not have time to make any orders regarding the heir, and therefore Svyatopolk was released and took the throne without any difficulty.
In The Tale of Bygone Years, Svyatopolk is accused of organizing the murder of Boris and Gleb, who are canonized as saints, as innocently killed. First of all, Svyatopolk decided to deal with Vladimir's favorite, the Rostov prince Boris, who had at his disposal the grand ducal squad. Svyatopolk sent loyal people to Boris. During matins, the murderers made their way to the prince's tent and stabbed him with spears. Wounded, but still alive, Boris was brought to Svyatopolk, and already there he was hacked to death with a sword. Then Svyatopolk sent messengers to Gleb of Murom, inviting him to visit his allegedly seriously ill father, whose death Gleb did not yet know. On the way, assassins sent by Svyatopolk attacked Gleb, and one of Gleb's people, a cook named Torchin, stabbed his master to death on the orders of the villains. The third brother, Svyatoslav Drevlyansky, having learned about the death of Boris and Gleb, fled to Hungary, but on the way Svyatopolk's people overtook him and also killed him.
After the reprisals against his relatives, Svyatopolk received the nickname "Cursed" from his contemporaries.
Having learned about the murder of the brothers, the Novgorod prince Yaroslav, with the support of the Varangians and Novgorodians, in 1016 went to war against Svyatopolk. A struggle for power began between Svyatopolk and Yaroslav. The troops met on the Dnieper at Listven. Yaroslav went on the attack, taking advantage of the moment when Svyatopolk and his retinue were having a feast. The troops of Svyatopolk the Accursed were defeated and thrown into the river. Yaroslav seized the throne in Kyiv.
Prince Svyatopolk fled to Poland and called for help from King Boleslav I the Brave, his father-in-law. In 1017, with the support of the Pecheneg and Polish troops, they marched on Kyiv. The meeting of the squads took place on the Bug, Yaroslav was defeated and fled to Novgorod.
The throne of Kyiv again belonged to Svyatopolk. In order not to support the troops of his father-in-law Boleslav, who were stationed in Russian cities, he expelled the Poles. Together with Boleslav the Brave, most of the Kyiv boyars also left.
Meanwhile, with the money collected by the Novgorodians, Yaroslav hired a new army from the Varangians and went to Kyiv. Left without military force, Svyatopolk fled to other allies - the Pechenegs. There he recruited a new army and moved to Rus'. In 1019, Yaroslav met him on the Alta River, not far from the place where Boris was killed. The Pecheneg army was defeated, and Svyatopolk himself was seriously wounded. He fled to Poland, then to the Czech Republic.
The chroniclers wrote: "... and relaxing his bones are not able to be gray, they carry them on a stretcher." Abandoned by everyone, he died in 1019 on the road somewhere between Poland and the Czech Republic.
Vladimir Svyatoslavich |
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7th Grand Duke of Kyiv |
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Predecessor: |
Vladimir Svyatoslavich |
Successor: |
Yaroslav Vladimirovich the Wise |
Predecessor: |
Yaroslav Vladimirovich the Wise |
Successor: |
Yaroslav Vladimirovich the Wise |
Religion: |
Paganism, converted to Orthodoxy |
Birth: |
OK. 979 |
Dynasty: |
Rurikovichi |
Yaropolk Svyatoslavich |
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Reigning and killing brothers
Fight with Yaroslav
In historiography
Svyatopolk Vladimirovich, in baptism Peter, in ancient Russian historiography - Svyatopolk the Cursed(c. 979-1019) - Prince of Turov (from 988), and then Kiev in 1015-1016 and 1018-1019, ruler of Kievan Rus.
Origin
He was born a Greek woman, the widow of the Kyiv prince Yaropolk Svyatoslavich, taken as a concubine by his brother and murderer Vladimir. The chronicle says that the Greek woman was already pregnant at that time (she was not idle), so Yaropolk was his father. Nevertheless, Vladimir considered him his legitimate son (one of the eldest) and gave him an inheritance in Turov. The chronicler calls Svyatopolk the son of two fathers (from two fathers) and remarks with a hint of the future fate of the prince: “from a sinful fruit there is evil.”
In The Tale of Bygone Years, another son of Vladimir, Yaroslav, who became the Grand Duke of Kyiv, Yaroslav the Wise, is placed ahead of Svyatopolk. In the Novgorod First Chronicle, Yaroslav the Wise occupies the fourth position, which, apparently, is more true in the opinion of historians. The rumor about the birth of Svyatopolk from two parents gives reason to believe that he was born 7-9 months after Vladimir's entry into Kyiv in June 978, respectively, Svyatopolk could have been born at the beginning of 979.
Some historians continue to consider the origin of Svyatopolk debatable. G. Kotelshchik on the basis of the tamga on the coins of Svyatopolk believes that the prince himself declared his origin from Yaropolk. If this version is correct, and the interpretation of the princely tamgas is rather controversial (the bident was also on the tamga of Mstislav Vladimirovich found on Taman), then this proves Svyatopolk's effort to dissociate himself from Vladimir and his other sons. It is known that in 1018 Svyatopolk took Yaroslav's stepmother and sisters hostage; this would hardly be admissible if he also considered himself the son of Vladimir.
Marriage
Svyatopolk was married to the daughter of the Polish prince Boleslaw the Brave (Polish Boleslaw I Chrobry). She was born from a third marriage to Emgilda between 991-1001. (closer to the first date) and died after August 14, 1018. Most researchers date the marriage to 1013-1014, believing that it was a consequence of the peace concluded with Poland after the unsuccessful campaign of Boleslav. However, the mission of the Cistercian Bruno in 1008, which could have ended in a peace sealed by marriage, remains unattended. Svyatopolk occupied the throne of Turov somewhere from 990, his lands bordered on Poland, and therefore Vladimir chose him as a candidate for marriage with a Polish princess.
Reigning and killing brothers
Shortly before Vladimir's death, he was imprisoned in Kyiv; together with him, his wife (daughter of the Polish king Bolesław I the Brave) and his wife's confessor, Bishop Rhineburn of Kołobrzeg (Kolberg), who died in prison, were taken into custody. The reason for the arrest of Svyatopolk was, apparently, Vladimir's plan to bequeath the throne to his beloved son Boris; it is noteworthy that another eldest son of Vladimir, Prince Yaroslav of Novgorod also rebelled against his father around this time.
After the death of Vladimir on July 15, 1015, Svyatopolk was released and ascended the throne without much difficulty; he was supported by both the people and the boyars who made up his entourage in Vyshgorod near Kiev.
In Kyiv, Svyatopolk managed to issue pieces of silver (50 such coins are known), similar to Vladimir's pieces of silver. On the front side is an image of a prince with a circular inscription: "Svyatopolk on the table [throne]". On the reverse side: a princely sign in the form of a bident, the left end of which ends with a cross, and the inscription: "And behold his silver." On some coins, Svyatopolk is referred to by his Christian name Petros or Petor.
During the same year, three brothers of Svyatopolk were killed - Boris, Prince Gleb of Murom and Svyatoslav of Drevlyansk. The Tale of Bygone Years accuses Svyatopolk of organizing the murder of Boris and Gleb, who under Yaroslav were glorified as holy martyrs. According to the chronicle, Svyatopolk sent the men of Vyshgorod to kill Boris, and when he learned that his brother was still alive, he ordered the Vikings to finish him off. According to the chronicle, he called Gleb in the name of his father to Kyiv and sent people to kill him on the way. Svyatoslav died while trying to escape from the killers to Hungary.
However, there are other theories about this. In particular, the Scandinavian Saga of Eymund mentions the war between the king Yarisleif (Yaroslav) and his brother Burisleif, where Yarisleif hires the Varangians to fight his brother and eventually wins. The name Burisleif is identified by many with Boris (cf. also the connection between the name Boris and the name Borislav), but according to another version, this is the name of King Boleslav the Brave, which the saga calls his ally Svyatopolk, without separating them. Also, the chronicle of Titmar of Merseburg, which tells how Svyatopolk fled to Poland, is often interpreted in favor of his innocence, since it does not mention the reign of Svyatopolk in Kiev (which, however, contradicts the existence of Svyatopolk's coins) and any actions against Boris and Gleb.
Fight with Yaroslav
A struggle for power began between Svyatopolk and Yaroslav. In 1016, Yaroslav marched with the Novgorod and Varangian troops against his brother. The troops met near Lyubech on the Dnieper, neither side for a long time decided to be the first to cross the river and give battle. Finally, Yaroslav attacked, taking advantage of the moment when Svyatopolk was feasting with his squad. The troops of the Kyiv prince were defeated and thrown into the river, Yaroslav captured Kyiv.
The defeated prince retired to Poland, where he called for help from his father-in-law, King Boleslav I the Brave. In 1018, with the support of the Polish and Pecheneg troops, Svyatopolk and Boleslav set off on a campaign against Kyiv. The squads met on the Bug, where the Polish army under the command of Boleslav defeated the Novgorodians, Yaroslav again fled to Novgorod.
Svyatopolk again occupied Kyiv. Not wanting to support the troops of Boleslav, placed in Russian cities to feed, he broke the alliance and expelled the Poles. Together with Boleslav, many Kievan boyars also left. Less than a year later, having lost his military strength, Svyatopolk was forced to flee from Kyiv again from Yaroslav, who returned with the Varangians. The Kiev prince called for help from other allies, the Pechenegs, hoping to return power with their help. In the decisive battle on the Alta River (not far from the place where Boris died), Svyatopolk received a wound, from which, apparently, he died: “... and when his bones were relaxed, they could not bear gray hair, they carried them on a stretcher.” The place of death of Svyatopolk PVL designates as “between the Poles and the Chachy”, which many researchers (starting with one of the first researchers of the Borisoglebsk monuments O. I. Senkovsky) consider not a literal geographical designation of the border between the Czech Republic and Poland, but a saying with the meaning “God knows where” .
There is an Icelandic saga "The Strand of Eimund Hringsson", which describes the struggle between three brothers: Buritslav, in which most researchers see Svyatopolk, Yaritslav (Yaroslav the Wise) and Vartislav, who is most often identified with the Polotsk prince Bryachislav Izyaslavich, a nephew, not a brother Yaroslav and Svyatopolk. According to her, after being wounded, Buritslav goes to "Turkland" and returns with the army. So the feud could continue indefinitely. Therefore, King Eimund asked Yaritsleif: “Will you order him to be killed or not?” To which Yaritsleif agreed:
Having received consent, Eimund and his associates went to meet Buritslav's army. After setting up an ambush on the way and waiting for the night, Eymund tore down the tent of the prince's tent and killed Buritslav with his guards. He brought the severed head to Yaritsleiva, and asked if he would order to bury his brother with dignity. Yaritsleif said that since they killed him, they should also bury him. Then Eymund returned for the body of Buritsleif, left by the army dispersed after his death, and brought it to Kyiv, where the body was buried along with the head.
The version of the "Strand" about the murder of Buritslav-Svyatopolk by the Varangians, who were sent by Yaroslav, is now accepted by many historians, sometimes preferring it to the story of the death of Svyatopolk in the annals.
In historiography
In connection with the role that Svyatopolk plays in the chronicle and hagiographic story about Boris and Gleb (created starting from the third quarter of the 11th century), he appears as one of the most negative characters in medieval Russian history; Svyatopolk the Accursed is such a constant epithet of this prince in the annals and lives. There are hypotheses of a number of historians of the second half of the 20th century. (N. N. Ilyin, M. Kh. Aleshkovsky, A. Poppe) revise the reports of sources, disagreeing with the chronicle texts, justify Svyatopolk, and attribute the murder of Boris and Gleb to Yaroslav or even Mstislav Vladimirovich. This point of view is based, in particular, on the testimonies of the Scandinavian sagas, where Prince "Burislav" dies at the hands of Yaroslav.
Prince of Turov (988-1015) and Grand Duke of Kiev (1015-1019) Svyatopolk Vladimirovich, known in ancient Russian historiography as Svyatopolk the Accursed, was born around 979. At baptism he was given the name Peter.
Svyatopolk is the son of Yaropolk Svyatoslavich, his mother Julia was a Greek woman, a nun. As the chronicle says, at one time Svyatoslav brought her as a prisoner and gave her for Yaropolk.
The chronicler reports that after the murder of his brother Yaropolk, Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich married his widow, who was already pregnant by Yaropolk. Soon she gave birth to a son, Svyatopolk, whom Vladimir raised along with his children. Therefore, in some sources Svyatopolk is called the son of Yaropolk, in others - the son of Vladimir.
Around 988, Vladimir gave Svyatopolk an inheritance in Turov.
Around 1013, Svyatopolk married the daughter of the Polish prince Boleslav the Brave. Together with the young princess, her confessor, Bishop Reinburn, arrived in Turov, who obviously had the intention of tearing the Russian Church away from Constantinople and resubordinating it to Rome.
Svyatopolk, dissatisfied with Vladimir and incited by his wife and bishop, began to prepare an uprising against Prince Vladimir, enlisting the support of his father-in-law. But the plot was uncovered, and Vladimir imprisoned Svyatopolk, along with his wife and Reinburn.
Vladimir died in 1015 while preparing to attack Novgorod against another rebellious son, Yaroslav. The prince did not have time to make any orders regarding the heir, and therefore Svyatopolk was released and took the throne without any difficulty.
In The Tale of Bygone Years, Svyatopolk is accused of organizing the murder of Boris and Gleb, who are canonized as saints, as innocently killed. First of all, Svyatopolk decided to deal with Vladimir's favorite, the Rostov prince Boris, who had at his disposal the grand ducal squad. Svyatopolk sent loyal people to Boris. During matins, the murderers made their way to the prince's tent and stabbed him with spears. Wounded, but still alive, Boris was brought to Svyatopolk, and already there he was hacked to death with a sword. Then Svyatopolk sent messengers to Gleb of Murom, inviting him to visit his allegedly seriously ill father, whose death Gleb did not yet know. On the way, assassins sent by Svyatopolk attacked Gleb, and one of Gleb's people, a cook named Torchin, stabbed his master to death on the orders of the villains. The third brother, Svyatoslav Drevlyansky, having learned about the death of Boris and Gleb, fled to Hungary, but on the way Svyatopolk's people overtook him and also killed him.
After the reprisals against his relatives, Svyatopolk received the nickname "Cursed" from his contemporaries.
Having learned about the murder of the brothers, the Novgorod prince Yaroslav, with the support of the Varangians and Novgorodians, in 1016 went to war against Svyatopolk. A struggle for power began between Svyatopolk and Yaroslav. The troops met on the Dnieper at Listven. Yaroslav went on the attack, taking advantage of the moment when Svyatopolk and his retinue were having a feast. The troops of Svyatopolk the Accursed were defeated and thrown into the river. Yaroslav seized the throne in Kyiv.
Prince Svyatopolk fled to Poland and called for help from King Boleslav I the Brave, his father-in-law. In 1017, with the support of the Pecheneg and Polish troops, they marched on Kyiv. The meeting of the squads took place on the Bug, Yaroslav was defeated and fled to Novgorod.
The throne of Kyiv again belonged to Svyatopolk. In order not to support the troops of his father-in-law Boleslav, who were stationed in Russian cities, he expelled the Poles. Together with Boleslav the Brave, most of the Kyiv boyars also left.
Meanwhile, with the money collected by the Novgorodians, Yaroslav hired a new army from the Varangians and went to Kyiv. Left without military force, Svyatopolk fled to other allies - the Pechenegs. There he recruited a new army and moved to Rus'. In 1019, Yaroslav met him on the Alta River, not far from the place where Boris was killed. The Pecheneg army was defeated, and Svyatopolk himself was seriously wounded. He fled to Poland, then to the Czech Republic.
The chroniclers wrote: "... and relaxing his bones are not able to be gray, they carry them on a stretcher." Abandoned by everyone, he died in 1019 on the road somewhere between Poland and the Czech Republic.
In 1019, a strange procession wandered in the desert area “between the Poles and the Czechs”. The soldiers carried on a stretcher a paralyzed man who groaned, growled like an animal, and kept repeating: “Further, go further! They're after me!" When he finally died, they buried him in the same wild desert. For a long time a fetid smoke emanated from his grave. So terrible was, according to the Tale of Bygone Years, the end of the life of one of the first Rurikovich, the Grand Duke of Kyiv Svyatopolk Vladimirovich, nicknamed the Accursed. How did he deserve his nickname and a terrible death?
Son of two fathers
Svyatopolk was the third son of Prince Vladimir the Red Sun. Vladimir, as you know, before the adoption of Christianity was very feminine, had several wives and even more concubines. Svyatopolk's mother was a Greek ("Greek woman"), whom Vladimir's brother Yaropolk captured in one of the military campaigns and made his wife, captivated by her beauty. Before her marriage to Yaropolk, this Greek woman was even, according to some sources, a nun. She did not stay long as Yaropolk's wife. When civil strife began between the brothers, Vladimir captured Kyiv and, along with other trophies, took the “Greek woman”, who at that time was already pregnant from Yaropolk. So they think, because Svyatopolk was given the nickname "the son of two fathers." He was born around 979. At baptism he was given the name Peter. In all likelihood, Vladimir considered Svyatopolk his son. In any case, he did not distinguish him from his other sons in any way and gave the city of Turov to reign.
However, historians have reason to believe that Svyatopolk still tried to oppose himself to other children of Vladimir. So, during the years of his reign in Kyiv, Svyatopolk managed to mint coins with the image of his princely tamga (family sign). He chose the same tamga that Yaropolk had, and not at all the one that Vladimirov had.
The murderer of Boris and Gleb
Even during the lifetime of Grand Duke Vladimir Svyatoslavich, Svyatopolk took part in the intrigues and strife of the Kyiv court. It seems that at the instigation of his Polish wife, the daughter of King Boleslav the Brave, he started to turn the Russian people away from Byzantine Orthodoxy and introduce the Latin rite. Like it or not, but shortly before the death of Vladimir Svyatopolk, together with his wife, ended up in prison in Kyiv, where his father sent him. However, perhaps the cause of his father's disfavor was not at all religious differences. Vladimir, as the chronicles say, loved his son Boris very much and he wanted to make him his heir, bypassing his older brothers. Svyatopolk had to be "eliminated" precisely for this reason, so as not to interfere. At about the same time, another of his sons, Yaroslav, who ruled in Novgorod, rebelled against Vladimir.
After the death of Vladimir in 1015, Svyatopolk is free. He easily occupies the throne, he is supported by the nobility and the people. It was during this period that he managed to mint coins with the image of Yaropolk's tamga.
And then the younger brothers of Svyatopolk Boris and Gleb were killed. Boris was then an adult experienced warrior, Gleb was a 15-year-old boy.
The Tale of Bygone Years and The Life of Boris and Gleb tell of the dark details of these murders. Boris was killed on the Alt River, where his father sent him before his death to repulse the nomads. Boris was warned that Svyatopolk planned to kill him, but he did not try to resist, but declared his obedience to his older brother and humbly prayed in a tent in anticipation of the killers.
With regard to Gleb, the story looks even more dramatic: Svyatopolk summoned him to his place from Murom, where he reigned, and sent assassins to meet him. They met Gleb halfway and stabbed him to death.
Further, as the chronicle tells, a whole series of civil strife began, in which Yaroslav won. He expelled Svyatopolk outside the country, where he, paralyzed and lost his mind, met his terrible end. Boris and Gleb, on the initiative of Yaroslav, were canonized and recognized as holy martyrs. At the same time, the martyrdom of the brothers had a specific, very characteristic character for Rus': they suffered not for faith, but for obedience to the elder in the family. No one encroached on the Orthodox faith of Boris and Gleb, but Yaroslav made sure that all generations of Russian princes could learn a moral lesson from the story of Boris and Gleb: no matter how tyrant and villain the elder brother, God tells him to obey, honor and not start a strife.
Isn't this a slander?
The nickname "Cursed" stuck with Svyatopolk forever. However, many historians believe that Prince Svyatopolk did not deserve it.
Boris and Gleb, as follows from the text of the chronicle, repeatedly and publicly declared their obedience to their older brother and unwillingness to fight him. Why should Svyatopolk kill them? But Yaroslav, who at the time of Vladimir's death was in Novgorod, really wanted to take the grand throne. And on his way stood Svyatopolk - by right of seniority - and Boris - it was his father who wanted to see him as his heir. So who benefited from Boris's death?
In addition, there is the Scandinavian saga about Eimund, which tells about the struggle of the kings Yarisleif and Burisleif. To kill Burisleif, Yarisleif hires the Varangians and wins. The name Yarisleif is easily interpreted as "Yaroslav", and Burisleif is read by many as "Boris". However, this may well be the name of the Polish king Bolesław the Brave, and in this case we are talking about the fight against the Polish father-in-law.
And, finally, in favor of Svyatopolk's innocence, the fact that his name remained in the list of names that the Kyiv princes gave to their children speaks in favor of. If he really was to blame for the deaths of Boris and Gleb, then the Rurikovichs would hardly have called their children Svyatopolk.
Be that as it may, Svyatopolk's innocence is nothing more than a hypothesis. The evidence in her favor is exclusively indirect, and the only written source - The Tale of Bygone Years - directly and unequivocally accuses Svyatopolk of this crime. So he certainly remains one of the most negative characters in early Russian history.
Knows many cases of fratricide. The same Vladimir, the father (and according to some sources - uncle) of Svyatopolk, killed his brother Yaropolk, and even at the moment when his wife was in demolition, and the Red Sun had a nickname.
Svyatopolk got his prefix to the name - Cursed - probably because of the number of brothers killed. There were three of them: Boris, Gleb and Svyatoslav.
The first rulers of Rus'
Prince Svyatopolk, according to some sources, was Vladimir I not a son, but a nephew, since Krasno Solnyshko immediately married the widow of the murdered Yaropolk, a Greek woman, Yulia, and she was already carrying another fratricide. Actually, Svyatopolk had all the rights to the Kiev throne both as Vladimirovich, because he was the eldest son after the death of Vysheslav, and as Yaropolkovich, because he was the legitimate son of the legitimate Kiev ruler. All of the above were the first Russian rulers from whom the history of Rus' began. Svyatopolk was the great-great-grandson of Rurik, the great-grandson of Igor and Olga, the grandson of Svyatoslav, the son or nephew of Vladimir. Under them, Rus' became, was baptized, under them faith grew stronger and the lands multiplied.
Well-deserved prefix to the name
Of course, not all of them were fratricides. Judging by the chronicles and historical sources, contemporaries have fond memories of Boris and Gleb. Given the innocent death and high spiritual qualities, the brothers-passion-bearers were canonized, and they became the first Russian saints. Their blood stopped sedition in Rus'. Why did Svyatopolk Vladimirovich Accursed kill them? Why was it named like that? Why is Svyatoslav not counted among the saints, who also fell at the hands of the Accursed?
The very term "cursed" in Ancient Rus' has the following synonyms: ungodly and sinful, rejected by the church and damned. That is, if Svyatopolk was given such a nickname, and he “became famous” with him for centuries, it means that his crimes overflowed the cup of human patience. Svyatopolk Vladimirovich the Accursed did not live even 40 years (born in 979, died in 1019), he ruled Kievan Rus for about a year and remained in the memory of people as a murderer of brothers.
stranger
He was brought up by Vladimir as his own son and received the reign in Turov, the capital of the Turov principality, located on the territory of present-day Belarus. Later, Red Sun gave him possession of the Drevlyansk lands and Pinsk, that is, as we see, he did not offend him at all.
Prince Svyatopolk of Turov on this throne was the first representative of the Rurik family and reigned there since 988. Svyatopolk himself called himself the son of Yaropolk. Its origin is reflected in the name. All other sons of Vladimir the Baptist have the root “glory” in their names in honor of their grandfather Svyatoslav: Izyaslav and Vysheslav, Yaroslav and Mstislav. And in the name of Svyatopolk, the first syllable indicates that Svyatoslav Igorevich was really the grandfather, and Yaropolk was the father. There is no absolutely exact data, and the mother is not always indicated as a Greek woman (sometimes they talk about a Czech woman who was Vladimir's first wife). In The Tale of Bygone Years, they write about him as the son of two fathers and call him the "evil fruit."
Catholic wife
One way or another, but all the actions of the hero of our story indicate that he did not love either Vladimir himself, or brothers or sisters. So, in 1018, Svyatopolk Vladimirovich the Accursed took hostage his sisters and stepmother, that is, the next wife of Vladimir, and his brother Yaroslav, later nicknamed the Wise. In addition, he married a Polish princess, daughter of Bolesław I the Brave, in 1015. The young lady had a spiritual mentor - the Bishop of Kolberg Reinburn, and all of them together dreamed of resubordinating Rus' to Catholic Rome. For this purpose, it was necessary to overthrow Vladimir, who, moreover, had once killed Svyatopolk's father. But the plot was uncovered by the Greek clergyman Anastas Korsunyanin, who at the time was the de facto leader of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Achievement of the desired goal
Svyatopolk Vladimirovich Accursed with his wife and her mentor were thrown into prison. One can imagine how evil he came out of there after the death of Vladimir, which happened on July 15, 1015. None of the brothers were in Kyiv, Svyatopolk freely occupies the throne and becomes Great. He did not recognize all his relatives, but his father's favorite - Boris - hated fiercely. The people of Kiev supported him. How the Accursed dreamed of power can be judged by the fact that, sitting on the throne for only a year, he managed to issue his own currency - pieces of silver with a circular inscription around the portrait: "Svyatopolk on the table."
Cynical killer
During the same year, he kills three brothers (considering them not relatives, but stepbrothers) - the Rostov prince Boris, the favorite of the army and the people, the Murom prince Gleb and the Drevlyansk Svyatoslav. Boris and Gleb were distinguished by piety and simple human decency.
They did not listen to the persuasions of their inner circle and responded to the false call of Svyatopolk about the desire for reconciliation. Gleb, who did not know about the death of his father, was summoned by Svyatopolk on behalf of Vladimir. Moreover, both Boris and Gleb recognized the power of the new Kyiv prince unconditionally and promised to honor him, as they honored their father. Boris the Accursed killed with particular cruelty. Svyatoslav wanted to flee to Hungary, but the killers overtook him there too. Perhaps because he resisted and did not swear allegiance to Svyatopolk, the church did not canonize him among the saints.
Cursed Villain
Svyatopolk Vladimirovich Accursed, without hesitation for a minute, would have killed Yaroslav, but at the first meeting near Lyubech on the Dnieper he was defeated by his troops, and Yaroslav occupied Kiev.
But the Accursed, who fled to his father-in-law, returned with him and the Polish troops, who, under the leadership of Boleslav I the Brave, defeated the Novgorodians on the Bug. Svyatopolk again took the throne of Kyiv. But in this man, obviously, there were no any positive qualities, including elementary gratitude: he expelled Polish troops from Kyiv so as not to put them on allowance.
Evil is punished
Returning with the Varangians, Yaroslav finally defeated all of Svyatopolk's allies (this time they were Pechenegs) on the Alta River, near the place where Svyatopolk Vladimirovich Damned killed his brother Gleb. His brief biography contains facts of conspiracies, betrayals, murders and ... nothing that would have been done, like his father Vladimir the Baptist and brother Yaroslav the Wise, for the glory of the Russian land. There is no exact information about when, where and how he died. There are legends that during the flight from the battlefield, the fratricide went crazy and died somewhere in a deserted place on the border of Poland and the Czech Republic.
Unconfirmed options.
There are some versions that say that Svyatopolk was slandered, and that he had nothing to do with the murder of the brothers Boris and Gleb, they say, this was the work of Yaroslav, who openly opposed his father.
Before his death, Vladimir was preparing for a campaign against Novgorod to pacify his recalcitrant son, who, in the presence of older brothers, could not even dream of the throne of Kiev. And Yaroslav was very ambitious. In addition, the name of this Svyatopolk continued to be called princely children, while there was a clear set of family princely names, from which “bad” ones were excluded. By the way, in the Scandinavian "Edmund's Saga" it is Yaroslav who is indicated as the murderer of Boris. It is difficult, however, to imagine that Yaroslav could have been on the shoulder in those days, in the absence of the media, to commit the murder of three brothers and so successfully shift the blame on Svyatopolk, who for several hundred years has been considered the accursed killer of Boris and Gleb, who became heavenly after death defenders of the Fatherland.
