Sviatopolk II of Kiev

Yaropolk had aided his father Grand Prince Iziaslav and his uncle Vsevolod in 1078, when Oleg Svyatoslavich (and his brother Boris) had attempted to gain the throne of Chernigov from Vsevolod.

Oleg had been allied to the Polovtsy, and with their help had defeated Vsevolod in battle.

Izyaslav and Yaropolk, as well as Vsevolod's son Vladimir Monomakh, had been able to reverse this result, and Oleg had been forced to retreat to Tmutorokan.

Izyaslav had died as a result of the battle.

The Primary Chronicle records that in 1078 before the death of Izyaslav, Yaropolk was "ruling in Vyshhorod", a city north of Kiev, while his brother Svyatopolk ruled as Prince of Novgorod, and Vladimir Monomakh ruled as Prince of Smolensk.

After his uncle Vsevolod became Grand Prince, Yaropolk had been given Vladimir-in-Volhynia and Turov, while Monomakh had received Chernigov.

Little is known for the following eight years, but by 1085, Vsevolod and Yaropolk are reported to have become entrenched against each other.

The laconic account of these developments in the Primary Chronicle makes the course of events far from transparent.

Vasilko and Vladimir Rostislavich, two Galcia-based princes unhappy with territorial settlement under Vsevolod, are said to have attempted to expel Yaropolk in 1084, but Grand Prince Vsevolod's son Vladimir Monomakh had driven away these Rostislavchi.Following this, a gift made by the Grand Prince to Davyd Igorevich, which includes land in Volhynia and control of trade with Constantinople, is said to have made Yaropolk hostile to the Grand Prince.

Vsevolod orders Vladimir to march against Yaropolk.

Lacking confidence in his own resources, Yaropolk flees Volhynia to Poland, leaving his followers (and mother) at Lutsk.

Vladimir captures Lutsk and Yaropolk's family, attendants and treasure, and assigns his whole principality to Davyd Igorevich.

Yaropolk had returned in 1086 and reportedly had come to an agreement with Vladimir Monomakh, but nothing specific is known of the terms other than Yaropolk being reinstated.

He is murdered in 1087.

The circumstances of his murder are not clear, but the Primary Chronicle suggests the complicity of Rurik Rostislavich, Prince of Peremyshl, and his brother Vasilko Rostislavich, Prince of Terebovl.

His murderer is a man called Neradets, who put a sword through Yaropolk before fleeing to hide with Riurik in Peremyshl; the date given is November 22, 1087.

His body is taken to Kiev and buried in the church of St. Peter, the church which Yaropolk himself had endowed.

Yaropolk is said to have married to the German noblewoman, Kunigunde, daughter of Otto, Margrave of Meissen.

Whether by Kunigunde or not, Yaropolk had several children whose names have come into the record.

A daughter Anastasia will marry her distant relative Gleb Vseslavich, Prince of Minsk, who is a member of the Polotsk branch of the Riurik's family.

The Annalista Saxo records another daughter, and that she married Günther, Count of Schwarzburg, though it does not mention her name.

Three sons are known, namely, Yaroslav (died 1102), Viacheslav (died 1104) and Vasilko.

The fate of his descendants is as mysterious as his and only has some scarce records left.

Embedded in the Primary Chronicle is a eulogy to Prince Yaropolk, and among the honors assigned to him, is that he was in the habit of assigning a "tenth part of his wealth to the Mother of God".

Probably due to his personal devotion to the papacy and to St Peter, Yaropolk had established a new church of St. Peter at the monastery of St Demetrios in the city of Kiev.

He was said to have left all his wealth to the Monastery of the Caves in Kiev.

The Primary Chronicle's eulogy is the first indication of saintly regard, and indeed today he is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church, with his feast day falling on the reported day of his death, November 22.

Sviatopolk is the son of Iziaslav Iaroslavich by his wife Gertrude of Poland.

During his brother Yaropolk's life, Sviatopolk had not been not regarded as a potential claimant to the Kievan throne.

In 1069 he had been sent to Polotsk, a city briefly taken by his father from the local ruler Vseslav.

He has spent the past ten years (1078–88) ruling Novgorod.

Upon his brother's death, he succeeds him in Turov, which will remain in possession of his descendants until the seventeenth century.

Vsevolod had inherited the Kievan throne upon the death of his brother Sviatoslav in 1076 but had ceded it to the banished Iziaslav in return for his patrimony of Chernigov.

But Iziaslav dies two years later, and Vsevolod takes the Kievan throne yet again.

Vsevolod is versed in Greek learning and speaks five languages.

Since he loses most of his battles, his eldest son, Vladimir Monomakh, a grand and famous warrior, does most of the fighting for his father.

The last years of his reign have been clouded by grave illness, and Vladimir Monomakh has presided over the government.

When Vsevolod Iaroslavich dies in 1093, Sviatopolk is acknowledged by other princes as the senior son of Veliki Kniaz and permitted to ascend the Kievan throne.

Although he has participated in the princely congresses organized by Vladimir Monomakh, he is sometimes charged with encouraging internecine wars among Rurikid princes.

He has sided with Vladimir Monomakh in several campaigns against the Cumans but is defeated in the Battle of the Stugna River in 1093.

Sviatopolk's Christian name is Michael.

He encourages the embellishment of St. Michael's Abbey in Kiev, which will be been known as the Golden-Roofed up to the present.

The history now known as the Primary Chronicle is compiled during Sviatopolk's reign by Nestor, a monk of the Monastery of the Caves in Kiev from 1073.

The Cumans had raided Rus' soon after the death of Vsevolod and sought to buy peace with the new great prince, Sviatopolk.

However, Sviatopolk has incarcerated the Cumans ambassadors, and the Cumans have come in force to attack Kiev.

Facing an enemy army of eight thousand, Sviatopolk takes the advice of counsel and calls for help from Vladimir Monomakh, prince of Chernigov.

Monomakh comes with his troops and also calls upon his only brother, Rostislav of Pereyaslav.

Monomakh insists on peace with the Cumans while Sviatopolk wants war.

Union against the Cumans is achieved, and Sviatopolk releases the Cuman ambassadors.

The armies of the three princes join together and set out for the city of Trepol'.

Approaching the Stugna River, the princes are undecided, so they halt their advance to hold a council.

The Cumans are across the river.

Monomakh (whose wife is a Cuman princess) continues to demand that they sue for peace, but the Kievan troops want battle.

They cross the river and meet the Cumans in a valley at the rampart of Trepol'.

Svyatapolk deploys on the right, Rostislav in the center, and Vladimir on the left.

The Cumans first attack Sviatapolk's troops, and after a bloody battle, Sviatapolk's troops run.

Then Vladimir Monomakh is crushed and all the Kievan troops retreat.

Sviatapolk takes cover in Trepol', but Rostislav and Monomakh attempt to swim the Stugna River.

Rostislav, in a heavy chain armor, drowns.

Monomakh retreats to Chernigov and Sviatapolk retreats at night to Kiev.

Khan Boniak, together with Togortac, leads the Cuman invasions of Kievan Rus'.

Boniak attacks Kiev in 1096, plunders the Kiev Monastery of the Caves, and burns down the prince's palace in Berestovo.

Grand Prince Svyatopolk II of Kiev sends his son Yaroslav—who is the husband of one of Coloman's nieces—to Hungary to seek assistance from Coloman against the princes of the westernmost regions of Rus' in 1099.

Yaroslav convinces Coloman to intervene in the conflict.

The king and his army cross the Carpathian Mountains and lay siege to Peremyshl (Przemyśl, Poland), the seat of Volodar Rostislavich, one of the rebellious princes.

David Igorevich, one of Volodar Rostislavich's allies, persuades the Cumans to attack the Hungarians.

In the ensuing battle, the Hungarian army is soundly defeated.

Zbigniew, by aligning himself with Boleslaw’s southern neighbor, wishes to compel Boleslaw to cease his raids into Pomerania.

Boleslaw, on the other hand, allies himself with Kievan Rus and Hungary.

His marriage to Zbyslava, the daughter of Sviatopolk II Iziaslavich in around 1103, is to seal the alliance between himself and the prince of Kiev.

However, Boleslaw's first diplomatic move had been to recognize Pope Paschal II, which had put him in strong opposition to the Holy Roman Empire.

A later visit of papal legate Gwalo, Bishop of Beauvais, brings the church matters into order, it also increases Boleslaw's influence.

Zbigniew sees the marriage of Boleslaw to a princess from Rus' and an alliance with Kiev as a serious threat.

He therefore prevails upon his ally, Borivoj II of Bohemia, to invade Boleslaw’s province.

Boleslaw retaliates with expeditions into Pomerania in 1104–1105, which bring the young prince not only loot, but also effectively disintegrates the alliance of Pomeranians and Zbigniew.

Boleslaw’s partnership with King Coloman of Hungary, whom he had aided in gaining the throne, bears fruit in 1105 when they successfully invade Bohemia.

Also in 1105, Boleslaw enters into an agreement with his stepmother Judith of Swabia, the so-called Tyniec Accord.

According to their agreement, in exchange for a generous grant, the prince is guaranteed Judith's neutrality in his political contest with Zbigniew.

Boleslaw manages in 1106 to bribe Borivoj II of Bohemia and have him join his side in the contest against Zbigniew.

In this same year, Boleslaw formally allies himself with Coloman of Hungary.

During a popular assembly, attended by both princes, it is agreed that neither of the brothers will conduct war, sign peace treaties, or enter into alliances without the agreement of the other.

This creates a very unfavorable situation for Boleslaw, and in effect it leads to civil war, with overlordship of the entire country at stake.