Vsevolod Yaroslavych

Vsevolod Yaroslavych [Jaroslavyč], b 1030, d 13 April 1093. Kyivan Rus’ prince; fifth (and favorite) son of Yaroslav the Wise and father of Volodymyr Monomakh. He received lands in the Pereiaslav, Upper Volga, Rostov-Suzdal, and Belozersk regions after his father's death in 1054 and for nearly two decades maintained the peace of the realm through close co-operation with his elder brothers, Iziaslav Yaroslavych and Sviatoslav II Yaroslavych. One of the crowning achievements of that period was the confirmation in 1072 of the so-called Pravda Iaroslavychiv (see Ruskaia Pravda), an extensive revision of their father's law codes. Fighting between the princes started in 1073, when Vsevolod rose up against Iziaslav at Sviatoslav’s bidding. Iziaslav then fled abroad, Sviatoslav emerged as the grand prince of Kyiv, and Vsevolod took the throne of Chernihiv. Upon Sviatoslav's death in 1077, Iziaslav returned to Kyiv, but he died the following year while helping Vsevolod to defend Chernihiv from their nephew, Oleh (Mykhailo) Sviatoslavych. Vsevolod Yaroslavych then ascended the Kyivan throne (1078) and placed his own son, Volodymyr Monomakh, in Chernihiv. The remainder of Vsevolod's reign saw continued fighting among the Kyivan Rus’ princes, although without serious challenges to Vsevolod's own position. It also witnessed considerable artistic and cultural development, including the building of the Vydubychi Monastery near Kyiv.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 5 (1993).]