482 



RUSSIA. 



Russia. 



904. 



(Ikorest, or Koristen), of the Drevlians, and committed 

 the most barbarous outrages and cruelties upon the 

 people. But in the opinion of her panegyrists, Ol^a 



Sviatoslaf. attempted to introduce the Christian religion into the 

 Russian territories. She undertook a journey to Con- 

 stantinople, about the middle of the tenth century, 

 when she was baptized, the Emperor Constantine Por- 

 phyrogenitus himself having conducted her to the bap- 

 tismal font ; and in the character of her sponsor, having 

 given her the name of Helen. After she had ceased to 

 rule, she persuaded her son to embrace the Christian 

 religion, but he disregarded her solicitations. Never- 

 theless, a few proselytes were made among the people. 



Olga appears to have been a woman of considerable 

 talents, ar-d to have infused useful instruction into her 

 sex. She has long occupied a distinguished place among 

 the Russian saints. 



Sviatoslaf, who had been in possession of the go- 

 vernment long before his mother's death, was quite a 

 military character. He passed his life in the camp, 

 inured himself to every kind of privation and hardship, 

 and in fact denied himself every accommodation ex- 

 cept what he could enjoy in common with his soldiers. 

 By this conduct, he ingratiated himself with his troops, 

 and then carried them against the Khosars, whom he 

 completely defeated. The emperor Nicephorus Phocas, 

 being harassed by the Ungrians, who were assisted by 

 his treacherous allies theBulgarians, applied toSviatoslaf 

 for assistance. A treaty having been entered into, 

 Sviatoslaf advanced with a numerous army, and made 

 himself master of most of the Bulgarian towns along 

 the Danube. He was obliged/however, to retrace his 

 steps, in consequence of the invasion of his territories 

 by the Petchenegues, whom he afterwards completely 

 defeated. He now resumed a former design of esta- 

 blishing himself upon the banks of the Danube, and 

 divided his hereditary dominions among his children. 

 He gave Kief to Yaropolk, the territory of the Drev- 

 lians to Oleg, and the government of Novgorod to Vla- 

 dimir ; a natural son born to him by one of the at- 

 tendants of Olga. After a defeat, he was ultimately 

 successful over the Bulgarians, but he was overcome 

 by a Grecian army, which was sent against him in 

 consequence of his having acted like a master, and not 

 like an ally. Subsequently he suffered another defeat 

 from the Petchenegues, and was killed. Yaropolk van- 

 quished his brother Oleg, and afterwards he himself 



Vladimir, was slain, when Vladimir, prince of northern Russia, 

 acquired the undivided possession of all his father's 

 territories, which he widely extended, and became one 

 of the most distinguished monarchs of the age. He 

 carried on a successful war with Poland. By his vic- 

 tories, he extended and enriched his empire, and esta- 

 blished the Christian religion, which had hitherto made 

 little progress in his dominions. He himself was bap- 

 tized by the name of Basilius, and was married to the 

 sister (or the niece) of the Grecian emperors Basilius 

 and Constantine. If we can credit history, after his 

 conversion he became quite another man, and led an 

 exemplary life of virtue and religion. The establish- 

 ment of Christianity, and with it of arts and sciences, 

 commerce, and schools, forms the most memorable 

 event in the life of Vladimir, (and one of the most im- 

 portant in the history of Russia,) who, considering the 

 time in which he lived, has with considerable justice 

 been called Vladimir the Great. In his old age, he 

 marched against a rebellious son, on whom he had be- 

 stowed the government of Novgorod ; but he died of 



810. 



97?. 

 973. 



98k 

 98G. 



grief upon the road after a long, and glorious reign of 

 thirty-five years. 



Before his death, Vladimir had divided his extensive 

 dominions among his twelve sons, whom he had had 

 by four wives, reserving to himself and his immediate 

 heir the grand principality of Kief. The consequences 

 of this ill-judged distribution were dreadful. Disunion, 

 contention, and almost perpetual warfare existed among 

 his descendants. Sviatopolk ordered his brother Boris, 

 who had a right to the throne, to be assassinated in 

 1015, as also his cousins Gleb and Sviatoslaf. In 10:6', 

 being deprived of the throne by Yaroslaf, he had 

 recourse to Boleslaus, king of Poland, and his fa- 

 ther-in-law for assistance. He ravaged Kief and its 

 neighbourhood in the year 1018, and reascended the 

 throne. But soon afterwards he was obliged to fly, 

 when Yaroslaf again took his place. In 1026., the 

 principality of Tmutarakan (ancient Phanagoria, and 

 now Tainan) was joined to Russia. Different wars 

 were maintained with the Greeks. Yaroslaf formed 

 the first code of laws in his country, known under the 

 appellation of " Russian Code." In the year 1037, he 

 ordered Ilarin to be consecrated metropolitan of Kief, 

 without the consent of the patriarch of Constantinople ; 

 and in 1053, the Greek church separated itself from the 

 Roman Catholic church. In 1051- Yaroslaf joined to- 

 gether the two most powerful principalities, those of 

 Kief and Novgorod, and soon afterwards he died, as is 

 supposed, after a reign of thirty-five years. Like his 

 father, he also divided his territories among his five 

 sons, and the same consequences followed. Isyaslaf, 

 his eldest son, and great duke of Kief, was once ex- 

 pelled from his dominions, but received them agaiir, 

 and reigned till the year 10?cS. From the death of 

 Yarosliif to the beginning of the thirteenth century, the 

 history of Russia comprises little else than a series of 

 intestine commotions and petty warfares with the neigh- 

 bouring states. The system of dismemberment of the 

 dominions was imprudently continued by the princes 

 at their death, and was attended with the same melan- 

 choly results. During this period, there were not 

 fewer than seventeen independent principalities, which 

 were afterwards reduced to seven, viz, those of Kief, 

 Novgorod, Smolensk, Vladimir, Tver, Galitch, and 

 Moscow. Of these Kief and No"6rod long continued 

 to be the most powerful, though they could not always 

 maintain their superiority over the other principalities. 

 Vladimir also became a grand principality and as power- 

 ful as Kief and Novgorod. The names of the various 

 princes who were in power during the above period, 

 especially as there were ore, two, and three of the same 

 name, make a long catalogue. Among them occur 

 Isyaslaf, Vseslaf, Vsevolode, Sviatopolk, Vladimir, sir- 

 named Monomach, Mstislaf, Igor, Georgii, Rostislaf, 

 Andrei Bogholyubskii, who made Vladimir his capital, 

 Michail, Constantine, &c. 



The Poles and the Hungarians took advantage of 

 the intestine broils that attended the dismemberment 

 of the Russian monarchy, and made several successful 

 inroads. The Tartars likewise made different irrup- 

 tions into Russia, and at length, under the Khan Batii 

 completely overran it, and made themselves masters of 

 Kief and Novgorod. Although the khan did not him- 

 self assume the nominal dignity, he may be feaid to 

 have been sovereign, as he placed on the throne any of 

 the native princes whom he pleased. Among a suc- 

 cession of these, Alexander Yaroslavitch, prince of 

 Novgorod was by far the most distinguished. He 

 6' 



Dismem- 

 berment of 

 the empire. 

 101.5, 



1018, 



1054, 



1078. 

 1264. 



Inroadi of 

 the Poles, 

 Hunga- 

 rians, and 

 Tartars. 



