Prince Yaroslav the Wise (978-1054) - Find a Grave Memorial

Monarch of the Principality of Rus'. Son of Volodymyr I, he became Grand Prince after years of bloody family feuds ended with the death of his brother Svjatopolk I (1019). The years of controversy and civil wars had interrupted the commercial possibilities of the Principality and therefore he undertook an attempt to conquer Constantinople (1043) as a way of access to the Mediterranean which ended with a treaty of exchanges with the Ottomans and with a thirty-year respite (1046). According to some historians he was a very balanced man, enough to deserve the nickname of Yaroslav the Wise. Numerous were his initiatives to improve the conditions of his Kingdom, including building growth and architectural improvement, judicial reform, commercial development which extended throughout Europe. With his death (1054) began the decline of Kyiv to the benefit of the Principality of Muscovy. He was canonized as a Saint by the Russian Orthodox Church in 2005.

Bio by: Lucy & Chris