Civil strife between Russian princes. sunset of Kievan Rus

The first internecine war in Rus' began after the death of Prince Svyatoslav: his sons Yaropolk, Oleg and Vladimir could not divide the empty throne of Kiev. It was not possible to resolve the issue amicably, so it was not possible to avoid fraternal bloodshed. Subsequently, similar stories were repeated several times. Read about the strife that followed this conflict in our material.

Sources:

Presnyakov A. E. “Princely law in Ancient Rus'”
Bokhanov A. N., Gorinov M. M.“History of Russia from ancient times to the end of the 20th century”

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The fate of Prince Vladimir was shared by his children: they were also destined to become participants in the internecine war. The main contenders for the Kiev throne were Svyatopolk, who went down in history under the nickname Damned, and Yaroslav, well known as the Wise. As a result of this conflict, Vladimir's other sons, Boris and Gleb, were killed (they later became the first Russian saints). Svyatopolk fled to Eastern Europe, but never managed to settle there: he died of illness.

During the civil strife, Boris and Gleb were killed

By the way, historians do not rule out that Svyatopolk was simply “framed”: Yaroslav himself could have given the order to kill Boris and Gleb, who, if you follow this logic, then contributed to the formation of the image of the “cursed” brother. As they say, the one who wins is the one who wins.

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Another civil strife began after the death of the Kyiv prince Vsevolod Olgovich. This time the main opponents were Izyaslav Mstislavich and Yuri Vladimirovich, widely known as Dolgoruky. First of all, the war was fought for Kyiv. The end to the irreconcilable struggle was set only when Izyaslav died: only soon after this did Yuri finally manage to take root on the Kiev throne.

Yuri Dolgoruky strengthened himself in Kyiv only after the death of Izyaslav

Yuri Vladimirovich also managed to separate Pereyaslavl and Volyn from Kyiv. True, the prince did not rejoice at his achievements for long: he settled in Kyiv in 1155, and died in 1157.

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In 1158, the struggle for reign in Kyiv and other territories began again. At that time, Izyaslav Davydovich ruled over the “mother of Russian cities,” but, as usual, his possessions were not enough for him, and he got involved in the struggle for the Principality of Galicia. This led to Izyaslav’s position being shaken. Rostislav Mstislavich, Prince of Smolensk, and Mstislav Izyaslavich, Prince of Volyn, turned their gaze to the Kiev throne.

Izyaslav Davydovich was killed by black hoods

As a result of the struggle, Izyaslav Davidovich died. During one of the armed clashes, he was killed by black hoods - the so-called Turkic mercenaries who served the Russian princes.

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The internecine war of 1094–1097 had hardly ended when it was replaced by a new one. This time the struggle was for the western lands: Terebovl, Volyn, Przemysl. The most striking and, perhaps, the most famous episode of this strife was the blinding of the Terebovl prince Vasilko Rostislavich, described in detail in The Tale of Bygone Years. This happened immediately after the Lyubech Congress of 1097, within the framework of which the princes tried to agree on an end to the strife. The result, however, was the opposite.

After the Lyubech Congress, Prince Vasilko was blinded

During the war, the Kiev prince Svyatopolk Izyaslavich managed to achieve the annexation of Volyn and gave it to his son Yaroslav Svyatopolchich. One of the main participants in this conflict, Davyd Igorevich, who managed to visit both sides of the barricades, was deprived of Volyn with the words: “We don’t want to give you Vladimir’s table, because you threw a knife into us, which has never happened in Russian land.” However, in return, Davyd received other lands and even a monetary payoff.

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In 1094, the heirs of Svyatoslav Yaroslavich, the son of Yaroslav the Wise, began to fight for the lands that belonged to their father. At the same time, Svyatoslav had been dead for almost twenty years. Svyatopolk Izyaslavich, also the grandson of Yaroslav the Wise, reigned in Kyiv at that time.

The internecine war coincided with the attacks of the Cumans

The enmity between the Svyatoslavichs - Oleg, David and Yaroslav - and Svyatopolk, as well as Vladimir Monomakh and other princes, escalated precisely during the period when southern Rus' had difficulty fighting off the Polovtsians. In many ways, it was this that contributed to the fact that many of the lands that had previously belonged to Svyatoslav’s patrimony were nevertheless managed to be returned to his sons, even though during the civil strife they made a lot of strategic mistakes. However, Kyiv still remained with Svyatopolk Izyaslavich.

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From the school history course we know that civil strife and civil wars are bad for any state. They bring destruction, weaken powers, which, as a rule, leads to their destruction by various external forces.

This was the case everywhere and at all times: in the ancient period in Greece and Rome, in the medieval period in Europe and Rus', etc. What wars are called internecine? Why did they weaken the states in which they occurred? We will try to answer these questions in our article.

Concept

Civil war is a war that occurs between cities and lands. This concept refers to the feudal period in the history of any state. However, sometimes the term “internecine war” is used in the study of the history of the ancient and ancient periods as a synonym for the term “civil war”.

Is feudal fragmentation a tragedy?

It is believed that feudal fragmentation and, as a consequence, internecine war is a tragedy for any state. This is how it is presented to us in school courses and cinema. But if you look at it, feudal fragmentation, on the contrary, is beneficial for the state as a whole, although it is sometimes accompanied by armed conflicts between lands and cities.

During a period of fragmentation, economic prosperity always occurs, the development of all lands on the territory of a once united state while maintaining cultural and religious ties. It is the latter factors that prevent the lands from completely separating from each other.

Let us remember our history: each appanage prince sought in his city to build something like the “mother of Russian cities” with powerful walls, churches, and estates. Also, fragmentation made it possible not to send all resources to the center, but to keep them for their own development. Therefore, the collapse of the state before the emergence of capitalist market relations always brings only benefits. However, it is always accompanied by two negative factors:

1. Constant wars between cities and lands.
2. The risk of being captured and enslaved by external forces.

Thus, we can conclude: internecine war is a normal process in the natural historical development of any state. The only tragedy is that sometimes this is taken advantage of by peoples who are experiencing a lower stage of cultural and socio-economic development - the stage of “military democracy”. So, we have said which wars are called internecine. Let's move on to some real examples from history.

Greece

The policies of Hellas have always been independent and independent, despite constant civil strife. They united only when Hellas was in mortal danger of being captured. The rest of the time, each policy developed independently, sometimes united into unions, and became either a metropolis or a colony, depending on the situation. This did not particularly affect the lives of ordinary citizens.

On the territory of Hellas there were two political centers on which peace in the region depended: Athens and Sparta. Peace between them was impossible by definition, since they adhered to diametrically opposed ideologies. Athens was supporters of democracy, engaged in trade, crafts, and art. Sparta was a harsh totalitarian state. The policy had strict discipline, complete hierarchical subordination of some group members to others. It was believed that the only necessary occupation of real Spartans was war and preparation for it. A wound in the back was regarded as a real shame for the men of this policy, which was punishable by humiliating death.

Athens dominated the sea; no one could defeat Sparta on land. A certain parity developed: some established their protectorate over the island cities, others captured those that could be reached without ships. However, in the 5th century BC. A long internecine war broke out, lasting about 30 years (431-404 BC).

Most of the Greek city-states were drawn into the war, divided into two camps. Some supported Athens, others - Sparta. This war was distinguished by the fact that it aimed to completely destroy the enemy, without thinking about future consequences: women and children were exterminated, olive trees and vineyards were cut down, workshops were destroyed, etc. Sparta won the war. However, over the course of 30 years, the Spartan ideology, based on asceticism and total submission, was undermined: gold coins began to be minted, public land began to be given and sold, and social stratification of Spartan society occurred.

Why did internecine wars weaken Greece? Firstly, almost the entire economic power of Hellas was destroyed, and secondly, processes began in Sparta that dealt an irreparable blow to the centuries-old ideology of the polis. The Spartans understood what wealth, entertainment, delicious food, and pleasure were. They no longer wanted to return back to the rigid confines of the police state. As a result, Hellas immediately lost both the economic power of Athens and the military power of Sparta. The northern tribes of nomadic shepherds from Macedonia took advantage of this, completely subjugating all of Hellas.

The first civil strife in Rus'

Internecine wars in Rus' also broke out quite often. It is believed that the first occurred between the sons of Svyatoslav - Yaropolk and Vladimir in the 10th century. As a result, Vladimir came to power and later baptized Rus'.

Second civil strife in Rus'

The second civil strife occurred after the death of Vladimir (from 1015 to 1019) - between his sons. Many worthy people died in it, including the first holy martyrs - Boris and Gleb - the sons of Vladimir from the Byzantine princess Anna. As a result of the second civil strife, Yaroslav the Wise came to power. Under him, Rus' reached its greatest power.

Final fragmentation in Rus'. Invasion of the Mongol-Tatars

The most active period of internecine princely wars begins with the death of Prince Yaroslav the Wise (1054). Formally, the state was still united, but it was already becoming clear that the processes of feudal fragmentation had actively begun. Not only Russians, but also Cumans, Lithuanians, Torques, Kosogi and other unfriendly tribes took part in the constant princely squabbles.

The Gentiles did not spare the Orthodox Russian population, and the princes did not spare each other. One of the most influential princes, Vladimir Monomakh, formally extended the unity of Rus'. His son, Mstislav the Great, was able to achieve this. However, after the death of the latter in 1132, Rus' completely plunged into endless internecine wars and feudal fragmentation. And here, too, there were external enemies: in the 13th century, hordes of Mongol-Tatars came to Rus', who captured most of our state.

1. What were the reasons for the princely strife in Rus' in the second half of the 11th century?

In the Old Russian state there was a clear system of succession to the grand-ducal throne, which was called the ladder system. All the sons of Yaroslav the Wise received inheritances, the more valuable the older the son was. After the death of Yaroslav, his eldest son Izyaslav became the Grand Duke of Kyiv, and the remaining sons received new inheritances. After the death of the eldest son, the throne was supposed to be transferred to his younger brother, and the remaining princes were to be “moved” again - to be given new appanages of “rank” higher than the previous ones. The throne was supposed to pass from brother to brother, and only after the death of the youngest - to the eldest of the grandsons of Yaroslav the Wise. Moreover, with each change of the Grand Duke, the remaining contenders for this title “moved” among their destinies, as if ascending the stairs to Kyiv. There was no confusion, because everyone knew who was the eldest and who was the youngest.

The slender staircase system was first broken by the will of the Kyiv veche, which elevated Vseslav of Polotsk, nicknamed the Magician, to the throne, who was not at all a descendant of Yaroslav the Wise. But the veche intervened in the fate of the princes quite rarely. The main reason for the strife was the same as that of the struggle of the sons of Vladimir (and Svyatoslav) - each of the princes had his own inheritance, from which he drew resources for the struggle, and most importantly, a squad loyal only to him.

2. Describe the consequences of princely civil strife. Can we say that as a result of this struggle, someone emerged as a winner?

During the strife, the Russian lands were devastated, many by the nomadic Polovtsians. As a result, Vladimir Monomakh ended up on the throne, so we can say that he won. But the specific centers benefited the most. The struggle between the heirs of Yaroslav became the road to a period of specific fragmentation, which became the heyday of these same specific centers.

3. Reveal the significance of the congress of princes in Lyubech in 1097. Explain what was new in the decision of the congress “Let everyone own their homeland.”

At this congress the ladder system was abolished. The resolution “let everyone own his fatherland” meant that now the appanages and the grand-ducal throne in Kyiv had to be transferred from the father to the eldest son, and the “ascension” by appanage was cancelled. This decision accelerated the beginning of specific fragmentation, because now the princes had no hope of a grand princely throne, and each began to strengthen his principality, turning it into an independent center.

4. Describe Vladimir Monomakh as a ruler.

Vladimir Monomakh was an excellent commander (it was not for nothing that Polovtsian mothers frightened their children with his name so that they would not cry). He was fair in court, fair in government affairs - he did not allow abuse of power. At the same time, he was not at all eager to rule the country - the Kiev boyars called him.

5*. Some historians believe that strife was common at that time. Do you agree with this statement? Express your point of view. In what cases and thanks to what was it possible to stop strife? Give examples.

Strife was indeed inevitable when everyone who potentially had the right to the throne of the Grand Duke in Kyiv had their own principalities and their own squads. In such conditions, only good will could keep the brothers from fighting, and this incentive does not work well in politics. Such strife stopped when all the contenders except one lost their lives or at least real chances to take the throne (this was, for example, the case with the sons of Vladimir Svyatoslavich). Sometimes it was possible to simply show the other applicants that they were clearly weaker and had no real chance of success (this happened during the transfer of power from Vladimir Monomakh to his son Mstislav the Great.)

The princely strife placed a heavy burden on the inhabitants of Rus'. From the second half of the 11th century they became commonplace. The princes fought with each other for the best lands and autocracy.

Yaroslav the Wise died in 1054, leaving five sons. The eldest were Izyaslav, Svyatoslav and Vsevolod. The prince divided the Russian land between his sons: Izyaslav - Kyiv and Novgorod, Svyatoslav - Chernigov and the Murom-Ryazan land, Vsevolod - Pereyaslavl and the Rostov-Suzdal land. The remaining sons received smaller plots. A “regular” order of succession to the throne developed: the Kiev throne was occupied by the eldest in the clan, the next in importance, the Chernigov throne, was occupied by the second brother, etc. from brother to brother, from uncle to nephew. The death of any of the princes entailed the transition of all those below him one step up. If a prince died before he could take the Kiev throne, his children lost the right to move up the ladder of seniority and became “outcasts.”

Until 1068, the Yaroslavichs ruled the Russian land jointly. In 1068 they were defeated by the Polovtsy and were forced to take refuge in Kyiv. The people of Kiev demanded that they be given weapons, but were refused by Izyaslav and rebelled. Izyaslav fled, and a distant relative of the Yaroslavichs, Vseslav, Prince of Polotsk, was proclaimed Prince of Kyiv. Izyaslav, with the help of his father-in-law, the Polish king, managed to return to Kyiv, but soon he quarreled with his brothers and was expelled a second time. Svyatoslav became Grand Duke in 1073. After his death in 1076, Izyaslav returned to the throne for the third time. In 1078, he died during an attack on Kyiv by his nephew, Oleg Svyatoslavich. (The nephews - the sons of the younger Yaroslavichs and Svyatoslav - were dissatisfied with the size of their estates and tried to expand them). In 1078-1093 Grand Duke was the last of the sons of Yaroslav the Wise - Vsevolod

In 1093, Vsevolod's son Vladimir MonomakhWithout a fight, Kyiv lost to his cousin Svyatopolk Izyaslavich. Since Izyaslav was the elder brother, his son also had an advantage over the sons of his younger brothers.

The strife continued. To stop them, a princely congress was convened in 1097 in Lyubech. Participants: Svyatopolk, Oleg, Vladimir Monomakh, Davyd Igorevich Volynsky, Vasilko Terebovlsky (Terebovl is a city in Southwestern Rus', in Galicia). The main decision of the congress read: “Let everyone keep his fatherland.” The significance of the congress was that it actually recognized as a fact the disintegration of the previously unified Kievan Rus into “fatherland” - the ancestral domains of individual princely lines. But Kyiv still retained the significance of a single capital and the grand-ducal throne still remained attractive to the princes.

After the congress, the strife did not stop. Davyd and Svyatopolk lured Vasilko Terebovlsky into a trap and blinded him.

Svyatopolk died in 1113. An uprising took place in Kyiv, directed against the boyars of Svyatopolk and the moneylenders whom he supported. In an effort to calm the rebels, the Kiev elite called Vladimir Monomakh to reign (out of order of seniority). Having become the Grand Duke, Monomakh adopted laws aimed at easing social oppression, in particular, he significantly eased the procurement situation.

Monomakh was Grand Duke in 1113-1125. In 1125-1132 His son Mstislav the Great ruled in Kyiv. During this period, the collapse of Kievan Rus stopped, since the authority of the Kievan princes was very great. However, after the death of Mstislav, strife began between the descendants of Monomakh. This led to the final loss of the unity of Kievan Rus. An era of fragmentation has arrived.

Strife in Rus' after the death of Yaroslav the Wise

The first strife in Rus'.

After the death of Svyatoslav. In Kyiv, young Yaropolk, surrounded by his father’s governors, took power. Oleg, who was a year younger, ruled in the Drevlyan land, the youngest, Vladimir, the son of Svyatoslav from his concubine Malusha, sat in Novgorod.
After the death of their father, both Oleg and Vladimir found themselves independent rulers of their lands. They became the center of attraction for forces who wanted to regain independence from Kyiv.
Igor's campaigns against Byzantium and the great conquests of Svyatoslav brought Rus' to a prominent place in Eastern Europe.
Yaropolk initially established himself as a ruler who sought to consolidate what his predecessors had conquered. Separated from his father from an early age, he was greatly influenced by his Christian grandmother Olga. His wife was a beautiful Greek nun, whom Svyatoslav captured during the war with Byzantium. There is reason to believe that Yaropolk, who was reputed to be a meek and gentle young man, either became a Christian or was inclined towards Christianity, which caused discontent among the pagan Kievites and especially the squad.
However, three years later the situation changed dramatically. And again, a threat to the unity of Rus' came from the Drevlyan lands. By order of Oleg, who reigned there, who was only 13 years old, the son of Sveneld, Yaropolkov's governor, the same Sveneld who had collected tribute there back in the time of Igor, was killed during a hunt in the Drevlyan forests. One might think that the Drevlyans took revenge on him for previous insults and set a course for separation from Kyiv.
The result of this discord was the campaign of the Kyiv army led by Yaropolk against the Drevlyans two years later. The Kievans defeated the Drevlyans, who fled beyond the fortress walls of the city of Ovruch. There was a stampede on the bridge over the fortress moat, in which the young Prince Oleg died. The Drevlyans were again subordinated to Kyiv.
Novgorod also showed a desire to secede. Having received news of the death of his brother, Vladimir fled to the Varangians. Yaropolk sent his governor in his place. The Russian land was united again. But Vladimir did not accept the position of an outcast prince. After spending more than two years in a foreign land, he hired a detachment of Varangians and drove the governor Yaropolk out of Novgorod. Then he gathered a large army, consisting of Slovenes, Krivichi and Chuds, and together with the Varangians moved south, repeating the path of Oleg.
Once again the North made its claims to leadership in the Russian lands. Again Novgorod took the initiative to unite Rus' in order to establish the unified power of the mother of Russian cities - Kyiv. Along the way, Vladimir took possession of Polotsk, where he killed the Varangian Rogvold, who reigned there, and his sons, and forcibly took his daughter Rogneda as his wife. In Kyiv, Yaropolk’s position was precarious; the squad distrusted the prince, who patronized Christians. In addition, Vladimir entered into secret negotiations with some Kyiv boyars, including those close to Yaropolk.
As a result, Yaropolk was unable to gather troops to fight his brother and locked himself behind the Kyiv walls. Feeling that a conspiracy was brewing against him in Kyiv, Yaropolk fled the city, and then, on the advice of his boyars, who had already secretly sided with Vladimir, came to him for negotiations. As soon as Yaropolk entered Vladimir’s tent, he was immediately raised to the sword by two Varangians.

The first strife in Rus'.

Second strife in Rus'.

On July 15, 1015, Vladimir Svyatoslavich died, having lived a little over 50 years. He fell ill at the moment when he was preparing for a campaign against Novgorod after his son Yaroslav, who reigned there, born of the Polotsk princess Rogneda, began a rebellion against his father and stopped paying the due tribute to Kiev. Yaroslav, like Vladimir once, turned to the Varangians for help, but at that moment news came from Kyiv about the death of the Grand Duke.
Of the 12 sons from Vladimir's various wives, most survived and were already adult princes. But their position in the princely family was different. Since Rogneda’s two eldest sons, Vysheslav and Izyaslav, died, the eldest in the family, Svyatopolk, an adopted son whom Vladimir did not like, remained a contender for the Russian throne. Married to the daughter of the Polish king Boleslav I the Brave, Svyatopolk, with the support of the Poles, even plotted against his father, but was put in prison, from where Vladimir soon released him.
The closest sons to him were the children from Princess Anna Boris and Gleb. Father especially loved Boris, kept him with him, entrusted him with commanding his squad. At the time of his father’s death, Boris was just on his next campaign against the Pechenegs.
But Vladimir could not transfer the throne to him, since this would violate the universally accepted order of succession to the throne by seniority and through the direct male line. A very difficult situation with the succession to the throne was created. The rise of Boris was watched with alarm by the disgraced Svyatopolk and Yaroslav, who settled in Novgorod, the second eldest of his surviving sons.
As soon as Vladimir died, Svyatopolk took power in Kyiv. The princely squad was on a campaign and could not prevent him. In order to strengthen his power, Svyatopolk began to bribe the people of Kiev, giving them money and various gifts. But, as the chronicler notes, the hearts of the people of Kiev were with the young Prince Boris.
The news of his father's death came to Boris at the moment when he was with his squad on the Alta River, having never found the Pechenegs. Those close to him began to persuade him to lead his squad to Kyiv and take power into their hands. But Boris refused to do this, either guided by moral motives and not wanting to disrupt the order of succession to the throne, or for fear of storming Kyiv, where Svyatopolk had already gained enough supporters. Having encountered a refusal, the army dispersed to their homes, and he himself remained only with his bodyguards.
Svyatopolk immediately took advantage of this. In Kyiv, he formed a detachment of soldiers led by the boyar Putsha and ordered them to kill Boris. The killers, having scattered Boris's guards and killed his beloved bodyguard, burst into the tent and rushed with a spear at the praying prince. Under their blows, he fell lifeless next to his servant. When Boris's body, wrapped in a tent, was brought to Kyiv and thrown at the feet of Svyatopolk, he discovered that Boris was still breathing. Right there, in front of Svyatopolk’s eyes, people loyal to him finished off Boris with swords, piercing his heart.
But there was still the Murom prince Gleb. Svyatopolk sent messengers to him with a request to come to Kyiv, since his father was seriously ill. Unsuspecting Gleb and a small retinue set off on a journey - first to the Volga, and from there to Smolensk and then in a boat to Kyiv. Already on the way, he received news of the death of his father and the murder of Boris. Gleb stopped and landed on the shore. Here, halfway to Kyiv on the Dnieper, Svyatopolk’s people found him. They burst onto the ship, killed Gleb’s warriors, and then, on their orders, Gleb’s cook stabbed him to death with a knife.
The death of the young brothers shocked Russian society. Boris and Gleb over time became symbols of non-resistance to evil, righteousness, goodness and martyrdom for the glory of the bright ideas of Christianity. Both princes already in the 11th century. became the first Russian saints.
Svyatopolk also destroyed another of the brothers - Svyatoslav, who ruled in the Drevlyansky land. Now Kiev, where Svyatopolk, who received the popular nickname “The Damned,” and Novgorod, where Yaroslav Vladimirovich remained, stood against each other again.
Yaroslav, who was 28 years old at that time, surprisingly repeated the fate of his father. In the civil strife that had begun, Yaroslav also turned to the Varangians for help and gathered an army from all over the north of Rus'. He led an army of 40 thousand to Kyiv. Svyatopolk set out to meet Yaroslav with the Kyiv squad and hired Pecheneg cavalry.
The opponents met on the Dnieper in the early winter of 1016 near the city of Lyubech and stood on opposite banks of the river. Yaroslav attacked first. Early in the morning, on numerous boats, his army crossed to the opposite bank. Yaroslav addressed his army with a fiery speech, then his soldiers pushed the boats away from the shore, as if showing that there was no turning back for them, and attacked the Kievites. Sandwiched between two already frozen lakes, Svyatopolk’s warriors became confused and stepped on thin ice, which began to break under their weight. The defeat of Svyatopolk's army was complete. The Grand Duke himself fled to Poland, to his father-in-law Boleslav I.
Yaroslav occupied Kyiv in 1017. In the same year, he entered into an alliance with the German Emperor Henry II against Poland. However, the struggle did not end there. Svyatopolk “The Accursed” returned to Rus' along with Boleslav I and the Polish army. Yaroslav was defeated and fled to Novgorod, Svyatopolk and the Poles occupied Kyiv. The Poles began to commit violence against people, and the population began to take up arms. Svyatopolk called on the people of Kiev to oppose their allies. Thus, the prince tried to save his own authority and maintain power.
The general uprising of the townspeople forced the Poles to leave. But, leaving Kyiv, they robbed the city, taking with them a lot of people, in particular Vladimir’s daughter and Yaroslav’s sister Predslava. The Supreme Hierarch of the Russian Church, Anastas, also left with the Poles, taking with him the entire treasury of the main cathedral of Russia, the Church of the Tithes. The Poles also captured the Cherven cities.
At this time, Yaroslav was recruiting a new army in Novgorod. Rich townspeople supported him, donating large amounts of money to hire troops and having gathered enough strength, Yaroslav moved south again. Svyatopolk did not tempt fate. The indignation of the Kievites against him was too great, they did not forgive him for bringing the Poles to Kyiv. He fled to the Pechenegs. The rivals met again in open battle in 1018. This time the battlefield was the bank of the Alta River, not far from the place where Boris was villainously killed. This gave Yaroslav's army additional strength. Three times the regiments of the warring parties met in hand-to-hand combat. By the end of the day, Yaroslav defeated his opponent and he fled. First, Svyatopolk ended up in Polish lands, then he moved to the land of the Czechs and died on the way.
Yaroslav did not immediately succeed in restoring the unity of Rus'. During the civil strife, his brother, the ruler of the Tmutarakan principality on Taman, the talented commander Mstislav, showed independence. He became famous for his victories over the North Caucasian peoples. And in 1024, Mstislav near Listvinny, not far from Chernigov, defeated Yaroslav, after which Rus', according to an agreement between the brothers, was divided into two parts. The entire left bank of the Dnieper with the Seversk land, Chernigov, Pereyaslavl and other cities went to Mstislav. Mstislav, who became co-ruler of Rus', made Chernigov his residence. Kyiv with the right bank lands and Novgorod remained under the control of Yaroslav.
The brothers lived peacefully and even undertook joint campaigns against external enemies. Thus, their united army defeated the Polish king, after which the disputed Cherven cities again went to Rus'.
In 1036 Mstislav fell ill while hunting and soon died. He had no heirs, so his part of Rus' went to Yaroslav. So, more than twenty years after the death of Vladimir, Rus' became united again.