Yaroslav the Wise - Great Kiev Prince. During his reign, Kievan Rus reached the highest power and international recognition. The noblest royal courts of Europe wanted to intermarry with the family of Yaroslav the Wise.
The prince's nickname "Wise" is explained by his legislative and educational activities. Everyone was amazed that the prince himself read books, for those times it was a real miracle of learning. He created a library of Greek and Russian books, which was transferred to the St. Sophia Cathedral to ensure general accessibility. Yaroslav strove to ensure that literacy was spread everywhere, in connection with which the clergy was instructed to educate children. The opening by the prince of the Novgorod school for three hundred boys in the 11th century aroused as much admiration as the opening of the first university could have caused. Prince Yaroslav the Wise gave the Slavic lands the first handwritten law - "Russian Truth".
Prince Yaroslav the Wise realized that the state could achieve power through stability and peace, and not by waging impartial civil wars. The active energy accumulated among the masses must be directed towards mutually beneficial trade, economic prosperity, friendship with neighbors, the promotion of crafts, arts and construction.
Yaroslav's foreign policy is also successful. In 1030, he made a campaign against the Chud tribe, built the city of Yuryev there. The defeat inflicted on the Pechenegs in 1036 was so crushing that they never again appeared on the territory of the Kiev state. After three years of struggle with Byzantium, in which the princely army was defeated, a favorable peace for Kiev was concluded. Byzantium released the prisoners, confirmed the privileges established earlier.
The zealous piety of the prince did not prevent him from thinking about state benefits in church affairs. When Yaroslav felt the approach of death, he called his children together and gave them prudent instructions, wishing to prevent any quarrels between them. In the annals, Yaroslav earned the name of the wise sovereign, who returned to Russia the lands lost in civil strife, showing genuine love for his people.
