Yaroslav the Wise

Yaroslav I, Grand Prince of Rus’, known as Yaroslav the Wise or Iaroslav the Wise (Old East Slavic: Ꙗрославъ Володимировичъ Мѫдрꙑи, Jaroslavŭ Volodimirovičŭ Mǫdryi; Old Norse: Jarizleifr; Russian: Яросла́в Му́дрый, Yaroslav Mudry; Ukrainian: Ярослав Мудрий; c. 978 – 20 February 1054) was thrice grand prince of Veliky Novgorod and Kiev, uniting the two principalities for a time under his rule. Yaroslav’s Christian name was George (Yuri) after Saint George (Old East Slavic: Гюрьгi, Gjurĭgì). A son of the Varangian[2][3] Grand Prince Vladimir the Great, he was vice-regent of Novgorod at the time of his father’s death in 1015. Subsequently, his eldest surviving brother, Sviatopolk I of Kiev, killed three of his other brothers and seized power in Kiev. Yaroslav, with the active support of the Novgorodians and the help of Varangian mercenaries,[4] defeated Svyatopolk and became the Grand Prince of Kiev in 1019. Under Yaroslav the codific