ABSTRACT

In the late 1040s Ilarion, a priest of the church of the Holy Apostles at the princely residence of Berestovo just south of Kiev, issued a rhetorical invitation to Vladimir to rise from the grave and gaze upon his legacy, to see how worthily and gloriously he was succeeded by his son: ‘whom God made heir to your rule after you . . . Arise . . . Behold your offspring! Behold him whom you loved! . . . Behold him who adorned the throne of your land, and so rejoice and be glad!’1 This beloved son and divinely appointed heir was Iaroslav, in baptism Georgii, ruler of Kiev until 1054, renowned as Iaroslav the Wise, patron of learning, builder of a great city (‘shining in splendour’, enthused Ilarion), kinsman - through the marriages of his children - to royalty throughout Europe, legislator, founder of the magnificent church of St Sophia which shimmered with the gold of its mosaics, creator and emblem of the Golden Age of Kievan Rus. As the chronicler said, ‘his father Vladimir ploughed and harrowed the land - that is, enlightened it by baptism. And Iaroslav sowed the hearts of the faithful with the words of the Books. And we reap the harvest . . .’2