YAROSLAV VSEVOLODOVICH

(d. 1246), grand prince of Vladimir and grand prince of Kiev.

Before dying in 1212, Yaroslav's father Vsevolod Yurevich "Big Nest" gave Yaroslav the patrimony of Pereyaslavl Zalessky. In 1215 Yaroslav also occupied Novgorod, but lost control of it in 1216 when he joined Yuri against their senior brother Konstantin, who defeated them at the river Lipitsa. After the latter died in 1218, Yuri replaced him as grand prince of Vladimir. Although Yaroslav helped Yuri campaign against the Polovtsy and the Volga Bulgars, his main objective was to assert his rule over Novgorod. He helped the citizens by marching against the Lithuanians, the Chud, and other tribes. In his quest for more power over the town, he antagonized many Novgorodians to the point where, in 1224, they asked Mikhail Vsevolodovich of Chernigov for help. After the latter occupied Novgorod and curtailed Yaroslav's authority, he developed a lifelong hatred for Mikhail. In 1232 Yaroslav finally secured his rule in Novgorod; in 1236 he briefly occupied Kiev. After the Tatars killed his brother Yuri in 1238, Yaroslav became grand prince of Vladimir and appointed his sons Alexander "Nevsky" and Andrei to Novgorod. In 1243 Yaroslav traveled to Saray, where he was the first prince to submit to the khan Batu. Although the khan made him the grand prince of Kiev, Yaroslav did not occupy it. More important was his acquisition of Batu's patent for Vladimir, through which he secured the town for his heirs. Two years later the Tatars summoned Yaroslav to Mongolia, to the Great Khan's court in Karakorum, where they poisoned him. He died on September 30, 1246.

See also: alexander yaroslavich; batu khan; golden horde; grand prince; novgorod the great; vsevolod iii; yuri vsevolodovich

bibliography

Fennell, John. (1983). The Crisis of Medieval Russia, 1200–1304. London: Longman.

Martin Dimnik