Sviatoslav II of Kiev

Sviatoslav Iaroslavich (1027 – December 27, 1076, Kiev) was the Prince (Kniaz) of Chernihiv from 1054 to 1073 and Grand Prince (Veliki Kniaz) of Kiev from 1073 until his death. A son of Iaroslav I the Wise, he was a founder of the Chernihiv princely line and is sometimes referred to as Sviatoslav of Chernihiv and his sons Oleg and Davyd would later rule the Chernihiv's lands challenging the authority of Kiev. Sviatoslav's son Gleb was instrumental in establishing his father's authority in Novgorod and Tmutarakan.

Upon his father's death in 1054, Sviatoslav joined his brothers Vsevolod and Iziaslav in forming a kind of a princely triumvirate that oversaw the affairs of Kievan Rus' until 1072. In 1067, they defeated Vseslav of Polotsk, on the Nemiga River and took him prisoner. A year later, the brothers were defeated by the Polovtsi on the Alta River. After a while, Sviatoslav returned to defeat these steppe nomads with a smaller force at the town of Snov, thus enhancing his prestige among the populace.

The second part of the first Russian legal code Russkaya Pravda is assigned to the brothers.

Sviatoslav's first wife was named Kilikia (Cecilia), a lady of unknown origin, but possibly a princess from the Caucasus. Their sons were Oleg, Gleb, Roman, and Davyd. There are also some speculations of Kilikia (Cecilia) had a daughter Wyszesława of Kiev, which could be erroneous due to Sviatoslav's principal stance towards his older brother Izyaslav I of Kiev. In 1072, Sviatoslav married Oda, daughter of a certain "Count Lippold", and the sister of Burkhard, provost of Trier. Oda's grand-uncles were Pope Leo IX and Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor. Not much is known about Sviatoslav's son Roman who also was nicknamed as the Red. Roman replaced Gleb after the last one being sent to Novgorod, then he united with his brother Oleg and cousin Boris (a son of one of younger sons of Yaroslav the Wise) in the fight against their uncles Grand Princes Vsevolod and Iziaslav after the death of his father in 1076. He took part at the battle of Nezhatina Niva, soon after which was killed somewhere in the Kipchak steppes (Desht-i Qipchaq) on August 2, 1079.

In 1073, the triumvirate broke up, when Sviatoslav, supported by his younger brother Vsevolod, dethroned and replaced his older brother Iziaslav. Three years later, Russian scribes compiled the so-called Izbornik Sviatoslava at his request. One of the oldest relics of the Old East Slavic language, the book is a compilation of articles on grammar, logic, poetics, church matters, sermons, riddles, and parables. One of the miniatures represents Sviatoslav himself, standing with his second wife Oda and sons.

Sviatoslav's son Oleg of Chernihiv had a posterity which continues in the male line to the present day. His son by Oda, Yaroslav, founded the great dynasty of Riazan, and the Seljuk Sultan Kilij Arslan II claimed to descend from one of Sviatoslav's daughters.

Ancestry

See also

• List of Ukrainian rulers
• List of Russian rulers