Yaroslav osmomysl. Gold on black. Yaroslav Osmomysl Yaroslav Osmomysl

(1187-10-01 )
Galich Genus: Rurikovich, First Galician Dynasty Father: Vladimir Volodarevich Spouse: Olga Yurievna Children: Efrosinya, daughter, Vladimir, Vysheslava, Oleg

Yaroslav Vladimirovich (Vladimirkovich) Osmomysl(c. -October 1), Galich) - Prince of Galicia (1153-1187), son of Vladimir Volodarevich. Mother (presumably) - Sophia of Hungary, daughter of King Kalman the Book (1070-1116). Osmomysl means “one who has eight minds,” that is, very smart.

Biography

In general, Yaroslav had great influence in the disputes between the princes over the grand princely Kiev table. The power can be judged from the words of a contemporary, the singer of the Lay of Igor’s Campaign:

« Galichki Osmomysle Yaroslav! Sitting high on his gold-plated table, he propped up the Ugric mountains with his iron regiments, interceding the queen’s path, closing the gates of the Danube, swords of burden through the clouds, rowing the courts to the Danube. Your thunderstorms flow across the lands; open the gates to Kyiv, shoot from the gold of the Saltani table for the lands»…

Yaroslav gained no less respect from his contemporaries for his concerns about the welfare of Galician Rus'. Under him, trade, industry and agriculture flourished; Galician land maintained trade relations with Bulgaria and Byzantium; owning Maly Galich, Yaroslav held in his hands the key to Danube trade. It is not without reason that for his caring, wise rule, Yaroslav received the nickname Osmomysl (that is, thinking for eight, another common interpretation is that he speaks eight languages).

Fight against the boyars

Despite all his power, Yaroslav had to experience opposition from the Galician boyars, who, following the example of the neighboring Polish and Hungarian nobility, rallied into a powerful and wealthy aristocracy. The discord between Yaroslav and the boyars especially emerged during the break between Yaroslav and his wife Olga, whom he forced to flee with her son Vladimir to Poland in 1171. Yaroslav at this time loved another woman, some Anastasia, and gave preference to her and her son Oleg over his legal wife and son. A party of dissatisfied boyars staged a rebellion in Galich, captured and burned Anastasia alive, and forced the prince to swear an oath that he would live in harmony with his wife. The following year, however, Olga and her son had to flee from Galich to Vladimir. Yaroslav managed to restore his power over the boyars and reconcile with his son Vladimir.

In 1172, Vladimir Yaroslavich again left his father, this time to Lutsk, to the ally of the Smolensk Rostislavichs and the enemy of Svyatoslav of Chernigov, Yaroslav Izyaslavich. Yaroslav Osmomysl and the Poles burned two Volyn cities, and he had to send Vladimir to Torchesk, to Mikhail Yuryevich. He sent him to Suzdal through Chernigov, but Vladimir stayed in Chernigov, and then was given to the Smolensk Rostislavichs in exchange for Mikhail’s brother Vsevolod and nephew Mstislav. The Rostislavichs recognized Yaroslav Lutsky as the senior contender for Kyiv and returned Vladimir to Galich, and Yaroslav Osmomysl gave them an army against Andrei Bogolyubsky ().

Death

Yaroslav died in Galich and was buried in the Assumption Cathedral. Dying (), he left the main table to his illegitimate son, Oleg, and to the eldest and legitimate one, Vladimir - Przemysl. Soon, however, Oleg (nicknamed “Nastasich” by his mother) was poisoned, and power passed to Vladimir.

The remains of Yaroslav were discovered in 1939 by Soviet archaeologist Yaroslav Pasternak.

Literary image

Mikhail Kazovsky’s historical novel “Gold on Black” (2002) is dedicated to the life of Yaroslav Osmomysl.

List of campaigns of Galician troops during the reign of Yaroslav

1. 1153 - Yaroslav Osmomysl, Battle of Terebovl;
2. 1159 - Mstislav Izyaslavich. Izyaslav Davydovich, Principality of Kiev;
3. 1159 - Vladimir Andreevich, Yaroslav Izyaslavich. Cumans;
4. 1161 - Mstislav Izyaslavich. Izyaslav Davydovich, Principality of Kiev;
5. 1167 - Mstislav Izyaslavich. Cumans;
6. 1167 - Mstislav Izyaslavich. Vladimir Mstislavich, Principality of Kiev;
7. 1169 - Mstislav Izyaslavich. Vladimir Andreevich. Dorogobuzh;
8. 1170 - Mstislav Izyaslavich. Gleb Yurievich, Principality of Kiev;
9. 1173 - Yaroslav Osmomysl. Yaroslav Izyaslavich, Lutsk;
10. 1173 - Yaroslav Izyaslavich. Mstislav Andreevich, Vyshgorod;
11. 1181 - Rurik Rostislavich. Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich, Principality of Kiev;
12. 1183 - Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich. Cumans, Battle of the Aurelie River.

see also

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Literature

• // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
• Korsakova V.// Russian biographical dictionary: in 25 volumes. - St. Petersburg. -M., 1896-1918.
• Froyanov I. Ya. Ancient Rus' of the 9th-13th centuries. Popular movements. Princely and veche power. M.: Russian Publishing Center, 2012. pp. 489-502.

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Excerpt characterizing Yaroslav Osmomysl

- Why have you never been to Annette? – the little princess asked Anatole. “And I know, I know,” she said with a wink, “your brother Ippolit told me about your affairs.” - ABOUT! “She shook her finger at him. - Even in Paris I know your pranks!
- And he, Hippolytus, didn’t tell you? - said Prince Vasily (turning to his son and grabbing the princess by the hand, as if she wanted to run away, and he barely had time to hold her), - but he didn’t tell you how he himself, Hippolyte, wasted away for the dear princess and how she le mettait a la porte? [kicked him out of the house?]
- Oh! C "est la perle des femmes, princesse! [Ah! this is the pearl of women, princesse!] - he turned to the princess.
For her part, m lle Bourienne did not miss the opportunity, when she heard the word Paris, to also enter into a general conversation of memories. She allowed herself to ask how long ago Anatole left Paris, and how he liked this city. Anatole very willingly answered the Frenchwoman and, smiling, looking at her, talked to her about her fatherland. Having seen the pretty Bourienne, Anatole decided that here, in Bald Mountains, it would not be boring. “Very pretty! - he thought, looking at her, - this demoiselle de compagn is very pretty. [companion.] I hope she will take it with her when she marries me,” he thought, “la petite est gentille.” [little one is cute.]
The old prince was slowly dressing in his office, frowning and pondering what he should do. The arrival of these guests angered him. “What do I need Prince Vasily and his son? Prince Vasily is a braggart, empty, well, he must be a good son,” he grumbled to himself. He was angry that the arrival of these guests raised in his soul an unresolved, constantly suppressed question - a question about which the old prince always deceived himself. The question was whether he would ever decide to part with Princess Marya and give her to her husband. The prince never directly decided to ask himself this question, knowing in advance that he would answer fairly, and justice contradicted more than a feeling, but the entire possibility of his life. Life without Princess Marya was unthinkable for Prince Nikolai Andreevich, despite the fact that he seemed to value her little. “And why should she get married? - he thought, - probably to be unhappy. There's Lisa behind Andrey (it seems hard to find a better husband now), but is she happy with her fate? And who will take her out of love? Dull, awkward. They'll take you for your connections, for your wealth. And don’t they live in girls? Even happier!” This is what Prince Nikolai Andreevich thought as he got dressed, and at the same time, the question that was being postponed demanded an immediate solution. Prince Vasily brought his son, obviously with the intention of making an offer and, probably, today or tomorrow he will demand a direct answer. The name and position in the world are decent. “Well, I’m not against it,” the prince said to himself, “but let him be worth it. This is what we will see.”
“We’ll see about that,” he said out loud. - We'll see about that.
And he, as always, entered the living room with cheerful steps, quickly looked around everyone, noticed the change in the little princess’s dress, and Bourienne’s ribbon, and Princess Marya’s ugly hairstyle, and the smiles of Bourienne and Anatole, and the loneliness of his princess in the general conversation. “I got out like a fool! – he thought, looking angrily at his daughter. “There’s no shame: but he doesn’t even want to know her!”
He approached Prince Vasily.
- Well, hello, hello; glad to see you.
“For my dear friend, seven miles is not a suburb,” Prince Vasily spoke, as always, quickly, self-confidently and familiarly. - Here is my second one, please love and favor.
Prince Nikolai Andreevich looked at Anatoly. - Well done, well done! - he said, - well, go ahead and kiss him, - and he offered him his cheek.
Anatole kissed the old man and looked at him curiously and completely calmly, waiting to see if the eccentric thing his father had promised would soon happen from him.
Prince Nikolai Andreevich sat down in his usual place in the corner of the sofa, pulled an armchair towards him for Prince Vasily, pointed to it and began asking about political affairs and news. He listened as if with attention to Prince Vasily’s story, but constantly glanced at Princess Marya.
– So they’re writing from Potsdam? - He repeated the last words of Prince Vasily and suddenly stood up and approached his daughter.
- You cleaned up like that for the guests, huh? - he said. - Good, very good. In front of guests, you have a new hairstyle, and in front of guests, I tell you that in the future, don’t you dare change your clothes without my asking.
“It’s me, mon père, [father,] who is to blame,” the little princess interceded, blushing.
“You have complete freedom,” said Prince Nikolai Andreevich, shuffling in front of his daughter-in-law, “but she has no reason to disfigure herself - she’s so bad.”
And he sat down again, no longer paying attention to his daughter, who had been brought to tears.
“On the contrary, this hairstyle suits the princess very well,” said Prince Vasily.
- Well, father, young prince, what is his name? - said Prince Nikolai Andreevich, turning to Anatoly, - come here, let’s talk, let’s get to know each other.
“That’s when the fun begins,” thought Anatole and sat down next to the old prince with a smile.
- Well, here's the thing: you, my dear, they say, were brought up abroad. Not the way the sexton taught me and your father to read and write. Tell me, my dear, are you now serving in the Horse Guards? - asked the old man, looking closely and intently at Anatole.
“No, I joined the army,” answered Anatole, barely restraining himself from laughing.
- A! good deal. Well, do you want, my dear, to serve the Tsar and the Fatherland? It's war time. Such a young man must serve, he must serve. Well, at the front?
- No, prince. Our regiment set out. And I'm listed. What do I have to do with it, dad? - Anatole turned to his father with a laugh.
- He serves well, well. What do I have to do with it! Ha ha ha! – Prince Nikolai Andreevich laughed.
And Anatole laughed even louder. Suddenly Prince Nikolai Andreevich frowned.
“Well, go,” he said to Anatoly.
Anatole approached the ladies again with a smile.
– After all, you raised them there abroad, Prince Vasily? A? - the old prince turned to Prince Vasily.
– I did what I could; and I will tell you that the education there is much better than ours.
- Yes, everything is different now, everything is new. Well done little guy! Well done! Well, let's come to me.
He took Prince Vasily by the arm and led him into the office.
Prince Vasily, left alone with the prince, immediately announced to him his desire and hopes.
“What do you think,” said the old prince angrily, “that I’m holding her and can’t part with her?” Imagine! – he said angrily. - At least tomorrow for me! I’ll just tell you that I want to know my son-in-law better. You know my rules: everything is open! I’ll ask you tomorrow: she wants it, then let him live. Let him live, I'll see. - The prince snorted.
“Let him come out, I don’t care,” he shouted in that shrill voice with which he shouted when saying goodbye to his son.
“I’ll tell you straight,” said Prince Vasily in the tone of a cunning man, convinced of the needlessness of being cunning in front of the insight of his interlocutor. – You see right through people. Anatole is not a genius, but an honest, kind fellow, a wonderful son and dear one.
- Well, well, okay, we'll see.
As always happens for single women who have lived for a long time without male society, when Anatole appeared, all three women in the house of Prince Nikolai Andreevich equally felt that their life had not been life before that time. The power to think, feel, and observe instantly increased tenfold in all of them, and as if it had hitherto been happening in darkness, their lives were suddenly illuminated with a new light, full of meaning.
Princess Marya did not think or remember at all about her face and hairstyle. The handsome, open face of the man who might be her husband absorbed all her attention. He seemed to her kind, brave, decisive, courageous and generous. She was convinced of it. Thousands of dreams about a future family life constantly arose in her imagination. She drove them away and tried to hide them.
“But am I too cold with him? - thought Princess Marya. “I try to restrain myself, because deep down I feel too close to him; but he doesn’t know everything that I think about him, and he can imagine that he is unpleasant to me.”
And Princess Marya tried and failed to be polite to the new guest. “La pauvre fille! Elle est diablement laide,” [Poor girl, she’s devilishly ugly,] Anatole thought about her.
M lle Bourienne, also raised to a high degree of excitement by Anatole's arrival, thought in a different way. Of course, a beautiful young girl without a certain position in the world, without relatives and friends and even a homeland, did not think of devoting her life to the services of Prince Nikolai Andreevich, reading books to him and friendship with Princess Marya. M lle Bourienne has long been waiting for that Russian prince who will immediately be able to appreciate her superiority over the Russian, bad, poorly dressed, awkward princesses, fall in love with her and take her away; and this Russian prince finally arrived. M lle Bourienne had a story that she heard from her aunt, completed by herself, which she loved to repeat in her imagination. It was a story about how a seduced girl introduced herself to her poor mother, sa pauvre mere, and reproached her for giving herself to a man without marriage. M lle Bourienne was often moved to tears, telling him, the seducer, this story in her imagination. Now this he, a real Russian prince, has appeared. He will take her away, then ma pauvre mere will appear, and he will marry her. This is how her entire future story took shape in M ​​lle Bourienne’s head, while she was talking to him about Paris. It was not calculations that guided m lle Bourienne (she didn’t even think for a minute about what she should do), but all this had been ready in her for a long time and was now only grouped around the appearance of Anatole, whom she wanted and tried to please as much as possible.

The pseudonym under which the politician Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov writes. ... In 1907 he was an unsuccessful candidate for the 2nd State Duma in St. Petersburg.

Alyabyev, Alexander Alexandrovich, Russian amateur composer. ... A.'s romances reflected the spirit of the times. As then-Russian literature, they are sentimental, sometimes corny. Most of them are written in a minor key. They are almost no different from Glinka’s first romances, but the latter has stepped far forward, while A. remained in place and is now outdated.

The filthy Idolishche (Odolishche) is an epic hero...

Pedrillo (Pietro-Mira Pedrillo) is a famous jester, a Neapolitan, who at the beginning of the reign of Anna Ioannovna arrived in St. Petersburg to sing the roles of buffa and play the violin in the Italian court opera.

Dahl, Vladimir Ivanovich
His numerous stories suffer from a lack of real artistic creativity, deep feeling and a broad view of the people and life. Dahl did not go further than everyday pictures, anecdotes caught on the fly, told in a unique language, smartly, vividly, with a certain humor, sometimes falling into mannerism and jokeiness.

Varlamov, Alexander Egorovich
Varlamov, apparently, did not work at all on the theory of musical composition and was left with the meager knowledge that he could have learned from the chapel, which in those days did not at all care about the general musical development of its students.

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None of our great poets has so many poems that are downright bad from all points of view; He himself bequeathed many poems not to be included in the collected works. Nekrasov is not consistent even in his masterpieces: and suddenly prosaic, listless verse hurts the ear.

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Sherwood-Verny Ivan Vasilievich
“Sherwood,” writes one contemporary, “in society, even in St. Petersburg, was not called anything other than bad Sherwood... his comrades in military service shunned him and called him by the dog name “fidelka.”

Obolyaninov Petr Khrisanfovich
...Field Marshal Kamensky publicly called him “a state thief, a bribe-taker, a complete fool.”

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From the encyclopedic dictionary.

Ed. Brockhaus and Efron.

Vol. LХХХII. St. Petersburg, 1892.

Roslav Vladimirkovich - Prince of Galicia (1187), son of Vladimirka Volodarievich. In 1153 he fought with Izyaslav II Mstislavich, the Grand Duke of Kyiv, over the cities captured in Volyn by his father, which Yaroslav did not want to return. The battle at Terebovl was indecisive, but Izyaslav retreated without taking the disputed cities from Yaroslav. In 1158, Yaroslav had a quarrel with Izyaslav Davidovich, who was sitting in Kyiv, because of the exiled Galician prince Ivan Rostislavich Berladnik, an enemy of Yaroslav, whom Izyaslav supported in his quest to return the lost Galician volosts. In alliance with other princes, with the support of the Hungarian king and the Polish princes, Yaroslav demanded that Izyaslav hand over Berladnik, but in vain. Izyaslav, seeing the trouble, reconciled with the Olgovichs of Chernigov and upset the alliance, but then, incited by Berladnik, who was invited to reign by the Galicians dissatisfied with Yaroslav, together with the Polovtsy, Torks and Berendeys he went against Yaroslav. The latter, with the allied prince Mstislav Izyaslavich of Volyn, locked himself in Belgorod. Soon, as a result of the betrayal of the Berendeys, Izyaslav had to flee from Belgorod. Yaroslav and Mstislav gave the Kiev table to Rostislav Mstislavich (1159). Ivan Berladnik died in exile in a foreign land, and Yaroslav, until his death, owned the Galician land without rivals, enjoying great importance among the then Russian princes. His squads took part in campaigns against the Polovtsians, and he was a threat to these nomads. Yaroslav had close and family relations with the Byzantine emperors. In Galich, the Byzantine prince Andronicus (1164), persecuted by Emperor Manuel and apparently a cousin of Yaroslav on his mother’s side, found refuge in Galich. Soon Andronik made peace with Emperor Manuel, and Yaroslav entered into an alliance with the latter against the Hungarians (1167). In 1170, Yaroslav helped Mstislav II Izyaslavich, who was expelled from Kyiv, to return this city. In general, Yaroslav had great influence in the disputes between the princes over the grand princely Kiev table. The power of Yaroslav can be judged from the words of a contemporary, the singer of “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign”: “Galician Osmomysle Yaroslav! You sit high on your gold-plated table; supported the Ugric mountains with his iron regiments, blocking the path of the (Hungarian) king; closed the gates of the Danube... The thunderstorm of your name flies over the earth; you open the gates of Kyiv and shoot from your father’s golden table at the distant Saltans (Polovtsians)…” Yaroslav gained no less respect from his contemporaries for his concerns about the welfare of Galician Rus'. Under him, trade, industry and agriculture flourished; The Galician land maintained trade relations with Bulgaria and Byzantium; owning Maly Galich, Yaroslav held in his hands the key to Danube trade. It is not for nothing that for his caring, wise rule Yaroslav received the nickname Osmomysl (i.e., thinking for eight). Despite all his power, Yaroslav had to experience opposition from the Galician boyars, who, following the example of the neighboring Polish and Hungarian nobility, rallied into a powerful and wealthy aristocracy. The discord between Yaroslav and the boyars was especially evident during the break between Yaroslav and his wife Olga, daughter of Yuri Dolgoruky, whom he forced to flee in 1172 along with her son Vladimir. Yaroslav at this time loved another woman, some Anastasia, and gave preference to her and her son Oleg over his legal wife and son. A party of dissatisfied boyars staged a rebellion in Galich, captured and burned Anastasia alive, and forced the prince to swear an oath that he would live in harmony with his wife. The following year, however, Olga and her son had to flee from Galich to Vladimir-Suzdal. Yaroslav managed to restore his power over the boyars and reconcile with his son Vladimir, but he continued to show preference to Oleg and, dying (1187), left the main table (Galich) to his illegitimate son Oleg, and the eldest and legitimate Vladimir - small Przemysl. The Galich Zemstvo Council did not dare to disobey this order.

“Galichki Osmomysle Yaroslav!

Highly sedishi

on your gold-plated table,

propped up the Ugorsky mountains

with their iron bars,

stepping in the queen's way,

closing the gates of the Danube,

sword of burden through the clouds,

courts as far as the Danube.

Your thunderstorms flow across the lands,

opening the gates of Kyiv,

shooting from the gold of the table

Saltani for the lands..."

A Word about Igor's Campaign

PART ONE. RING WITH POISON

Chapter first

Alitsky Prince Vladimirko Volodarich was a man not without oddities. From time to time, an evil melancholy attacked him: he wandered through the chambers of his palace, bumped into people and objects, screamed, could not recognize anyone, did not touch food and drink, muttered something, sometimes wringed his hands and, huddled in a corner, cried. He refused attempts by relatives and friends to put the patient to bed. He threatened to plunge a knife into his heart if anyone tried to argue with him, accused everyone of wanting to hurt him, to take revenge for their sins. “What are these special sins? - asked Bishop Kuzma, the prince’s confessor, brought deliberately to the ill man. “You are holy, like the lamb of God!” - “As if you don’t know! - Vladimirko smiled wryly. “I killed you!” - "Like me?" - the clergyman took a step back and crossed himself in horror. "Yes you. You are the brother I killed, Rostislav Volodarich? I see that he has grown a waist-length beard, has turned gray and flabby, but his eyes and lips are still the same. What, did you come to settle accounts, to repay for the poison added to the wine brought from me as a gift? I know I know. I have been waiting for this hour for a long time. Twelve whole years. And I’d rather commit suicide than let you drag me into hell!” Snatching the dagger, the prince tried to inflict a wound on himself. But the nimble servants, ceasing to stand on ceremony, took the weapon from the master, swaddled the unfortunate man's arms and legs and carried him to the bed - the prince's bedroom. He squealed and kicked, promised reprisals to everyone, promised to cut off the heads of the unwanted, put them on stakes and publicly flog them. But then it calmed down, fell asleep, slept for at least a day, and then woke up, although emaciated, but healthy, began to eat, gradually returning to normal. Each time, the attacks of madness lasted for the Galician ruler for about a week.

He got the disease from his great-grandfather, the youngest son of Yaroslav the Wise.

However, even on calm days the ruler of Galich was unpredictable. Like any short man (by today's standards, no more than 160 centimeters tall), he envied the strong and tall and wanted to push them around. This is probably where the prince’s unprecedented cruelty comes from. The sight of other people's suffering, pain, torment brought him almost animal pleasure. To bleed the face of a careless servant, to personally release the intestines of a wild boar caught while hunting, and to stab the breasts of his concubines with a pin was in the order of things for him. He didn’t feel sorry for anyone, didn’t let anyone off the hook.

Galician prince Yaroslav Osmomysl was born around 1130 (the exact date of birth is unknown) in the family of Vladimir Volodarevich (also called in chronicles as Vladimirko). The boy's mother was Sophia, the daughter of the Hungarian monarch Kalman I the Book. Yaroslav ruled during a turbulent era of political fragmentation, when regular internecine wars were considered commonplace. Having become famous for his wise and prudent policies, he received the nickname Osmomysl, which meant “with eight minds.”

Father's right hand

From his earliest years, Yaroslav Osmomysl, as his father's heir, was preparing to take his place. He accompanied Vladimir on campaigns and learned from him how to manage his estate. Galich was located in Southwestern Rus'. This city grew thanks to the lucrative salt trade. With the onset of political fragmentation, the Galician rulers sought to gain and maintain their own independence from the former capital of Kyiv. Vladimir Volodarevich also sought to act in line with this policy.

In 1149, the ruler of Galicia married his son to Yuri Dolgoruky’s daughter Olga. Young Yaroslav Osmomysl, at the behest of his father, entered into this marriage to commemorate an alliance with the Rostov-Suzdal prince against the Kyiv prince, who was Izyaslav Mstislavovich. Then the war began. In 1152, Vladimir Volodarevich was defeated by his opponent on the banks of the San River. Yaroslav's father began to work for an unfavorable peace, but already in the next 1153 he died.

War with the Kyiv prince

After the death of Vladimir, Yaroslav Osmomysl took the place of his parent. He recognized the formal seniority of the Kyiv prince, but his assurances did not lead to actual concessions. Then Izyaslav gathered his allies and went to the Galician land for the second time.

The opposing armies met near the city of Terebovlya. The troops were located on opposite sides of the Seret River. Together with Izyaslav were princes Vladimir Andreevich and Mstislav Izyaslavovich (his son). The Kiev sovereign gave them a detachment of black hoods and instructed them to create the illusion of an attempt to cross the Seret. Izyaslav himself, with the second part of the army, crossed the river on another section of it.

Yaroslav Osmomysl did not notice the maneuver due to the heavy fog, from which even the spear tips were not visible. A fierce battle ensued, in which luck smiled on the people of Kiev. The Galician prince retreated to Terebovl and soon made peace with the winner. Yaroslav agreed to recognize him as eldest, but just a few months later Izyaslav died, and the established political order collapsed.

New feud

For several years Yaroslav ruled peacefully, dealing with the internal affairs of his land. The calm was interrupted in 1158. Yaroslav had cousin Ivan Rostislavich, nicknamed Berladnik, who owned the neighboring town of Zvenigorod. Boyars dissatisfied with Osmomysl began to flock to this relative. The fact was that in Galicia there traditionally existed an influential aristocracy, which from time to time tried to place a prince dependent on it on the throne.

Ivan, hoping to take away his inheritance from his cousin, turned for help to the new owner of Kyiv, Izyaslav Davydovich. Realizing the betrayal, Yaroslav Osmomysl Galitsky began to demand from his neighbor the extradition of Berladnik. Izyaslav Davydovich refused and began to assemble regiments, involving the steppe people in the campaign: Torks, Polovtsians and Berendeys.

Yaroslav was supported by the kings of Poland and Hungary. His other faithful ally was Prince Mstislav Izyaslavovich. The Kyiv army besieged him in the Belgorod fortress. Izyaslav was let down by the wavering Berendeys who betrayed him. This circumstance allowed Yaroslav and Mstislav to win the war. Izyaslav lost Kyiv. In 1159, Yaroslav gave the “mother of Russian cities” to the Smolensk prince Rostislav Mstislavich. Ivan Berladnik, because of whom the civil strife began, fled to a foreign land, where he died an outcast.

Relations with Byzantium

After the war against Izyaslav of Kyiv and Ivan Berladnik, Yaroslav received the entire Galician land, including Zvenigorod. Since then he became one of the most influential Russian princes. Its importance was emphasized by an amazing story that happened in 1164. The heir to the Byzantine throne, Andronikos Komnenos, arrived in Galicia. He fled from his rival Manuel. On the way to Galicia he was caught by the Wallachians, but the Greek managed to escape from them.

Yaroslav Osmomysl, whose short biography would not be complete without mentioning this episode, cordially received the exile. Andronik received several towns as his inheritance. The noble Greek lived with Yaroslav. A year later, an embassy from Emperor Manuel arrived in Galich. He persuaded Andronik to return home. At the same time, Manuel concluded an alliance with Yaroslav against the Hungarians. As for Andronicus, after 18 years he nevertheless became the Byzantine emperor.

Domestic policy

Yaroslav did more than any other Galician prince to increase the well-being of his subjects. Under him and thanks to him, agriculture, crafts and trade flourished. Merchant connections were maintained with Byzantium, Bulgaria, Hungary and Poland. Yaroslav Osmomysl, whose reign coincided with the height of the power of the Principality of Galicia, controlled the transit of Danube goods to the rest of the Russian lands. It is significant that the unknown author of the main monument of ancient Russian literature, “The Lay of Igor’s Campaign,” wrote about him with admiration.

Boyar rebellion

In 1171, the reign of Yaroslav Osmomysl was overshadowed by his quarrel with his wife Olga. The prince fell in love with a certain Anastasia, with whom he had a son, Oleg. Olga and her child Vladimir left Galicia and settled in Poland. The aristocracy, dissatisfied with the prince, took advantage of the family turmoil.

The boyars staged a rebellion, as a result of which Galich plunged into unrest. Yaroslav and his devoted servants even ended up in prison. The rebels captured Anastasia, carried out lynching and burned the prince's mistress. This was the only case in the history of Ancient Rus' when a woman was subjected to such a cruel execution. Yaroslav had to agree with the demands of the boyars. Olga and Vladimir came to her husband. A year later, the son again quarreled with his father, fled to Volyn, but soon returned to Galich.

Death and legacy

From Anastasia, Yaroslav left an illegitimate son, Oleg. Dying, Osmomysl bequeathed to him the Galician throne. Vladimir was supposed to get Przemysl. Yaroslav died in 1187. His hopes that the aristocracy would remain faithful to his will turned out to be false. A year after his father's death, Oleg was poisoned.

Vladimir took sole possession of power over Galicia. However, fate turned out to be unkind to all of Yaroslav’s offspring. Vladimir also died in 1198. The first Galician dynasty came to an end. Her inheritance passed to the princes of Vladimir-Volynsky.