Internal policy of Yaroslav the Wise: highlights

The internal policy of Yaroslav the Wise is a matter worthy of special attention. The history of Kievan Rus would have followed a completely different path, had it not been for the actions of this ruler. What was the peculiarity of his domestic policy? This and other questions will be answered below.

Ascent of Yaroslav to the throne

In 1015, Prince Vladimir died. Naturally, the struggle between the heirs for the throne began. For four years of fratricidal strife, Gleb, Svyatopolk, Boris and Svyatoslav were killed.

Yaroslav ascended to the throne in Kiev. It is remarkable. That from 1024 to 1036 in Kievan Rus there were two princes who did not fight among themselves, and reigned together from two administrative centers - Kiev and Chernigov. As noted by the chroniclers, the internal policy of Yaroslav the Wise, briefly if described, was a policy of an enlightener and builder of a centralized state. But first things first.

Internal policy of Yaroslav the Wise regarding the church

Yaroslav the Wise, wishing to withdraw from the "guardianship" of Byzantium, appoints in 1051 the metropolitan of the church figure Ilarion. This is the beginning of a complete and final confirmation of Christianity in Russia. As it was said above, Yaroslav was mostly famous not for his conquests, but for the work on the improvement of Kievan Rus. In particular, he did a lot for the Christian church, continuing the work of Vladimir - the introduction of Christianity. In addition, with the spread of the new faith, there was an increasing need for clergymen. Another Vladimir ordered to teach boyar children to read and write, then to make them clergymen, much needed by Kievan Rus. The mothers of these children wept over them, because they were not yet firmly established in the faith. Yaroslav continued this tradition, afterwards he organized a spiritual school in Novgorod for 300 boys, sons of elders and priests.

The prince differed in his love for books and hired scribes to rewrite the Bulgarian manuscripts. Sometimes he even instructed to correct Bulgarian translations or translate directly from Greek. The chronicle says that he himself rewrote some books, and then brought them as a gift to the temple of Hagia Sophia. It was under Yaroslav the Wise that monastic communities began to appear, which were engaged in rewriting books.

The legal legislation of Rus is the merit of Yaroslav

It was the internal policy of Yaroslav the Wise that was marked by the creation of the first code of laws - "Russian Truth". The prince seriously approached the issue of reforming the legal system of the state. Historians associate the appearance of the oldest part of the "Russian Truth" with the name of Yaroslav the Wise. And even called the approximate place of its publication - Novgorod. Unfortunately, the original version of the arch did not reach us. It is well known that in the 11th and 12th centuries the sons of Yaroslav changed the text of the scripture and called it "Yaroslavich's Truth". With the introduction of Christianity, pagan concepts of morality, crime and punishment began to be replaced by the norms and rules of Christian morality.

Crime in the "Russian Truth" was defined not as a violation of the will of the prince or anyone else, but as damage. That is, the criminal offense did not differ from civil law, since the culprit had to pay a certain compensation to the injured party. Thus, the internal policy of Yaroslav the Wise was mainly aimed at strengthening the state. The description of the punishment for this or that crime in Russkaya Pravda clearly shows that Yaroslav strove to create a system of uniform legislation for all.

Culture and town planning of Kievan Rus during the reign of Yaroslav

The reign of this prince-enlightener is often called historians "the golden age" of the development of culture and sciences of Kievan Rus. In addition to the development of Christianity and the census of books, the internal policy of Yaroslav the Wise was characterized by an unprecedented flowering of urban development.

The church of Hagia Sophia was built - a pearl of medieval architecture, as well as other large and small churches. And, if before the adoption of Christianity, all the buildings in the cities were wooden, then with a new faith in Rus came and stone architecture. Basically, temples were built, because the developing Christianity was in dire need of places of worship. In Kievan Rus the most popular model of the temple was the cross-domed, because the temples were a cross of two arches, crowned with a dome. In a nutshell, such was the internal policy of Yaroslav the Wise. The table is presented below.

As we see, Yaroslav acted in three main directions. Quite a difficult topic - the internal policy of Yaroslav the Wise. The table will help you better understand it.