Kniaz' Yaropolk I Sviatoslavich (alternative spelling Iaropolk) (? - 980) was a young and rather enigmatic ruler of Kiev between 972 and 980. His royal title is traditionally translated as "Prince". Kniaz’ or knyaz (князь in Russian and Ukrainian; knez in Serbian; cneaz in Romanian fem. ... Events Births Emperor Ichijo of Japan Humbert I of Savoy Avicenna Godiva, Countess of Mercia Deaths Categories: 980 ... Motto: Oblast Municipality Municipal government City council (Київська Міська рада) Mayor Oleksandr Omelchenko Area 800 km² Population  - city  - urban  - density 2,642,486 100% 3,299/km² Founded City rights around 5th century 1487 Latitude Longitude 50°27′ N 30°30′ E Area code +380 44 Car plates  ? Twin towns Athenes, Brussels, Budapest... Events Otto II marries Theophanu, Byzantine princess. ... For other meanings, see Prince (disambiguation). ...

Yaropolk was given Kiev by his father kniaz' Sviatoslav I, who left on a military campaign against the Danube Bulgars. Soon after Sviatoslav's death, however, civil war soon began between Yaropolk and his brothers. According to one chronicle, Yaropolk's brother Oleg killed Lyut, the son of Yaropolk's chief adviser and military commander Sveneld. In an act of revenge and at the insistance of Sveneld, Yaropolk went to war against his brother and killed him. Then, Yaropolk sent his men to Novgorod, from which his other brother Vladimir had fled on receiving the news about Oleg's death. Yaropolk became the sole ruler of Rus. Motto: Oblast Municipality Municipal government City council (Київська Міська рада) Mayor Oleksandr Omelchenko Area 800 km² Population  - city  - urban  - density 2,642,486 100% 3,299/km² Founded City rights around 5th century 1487 Latitude Longitude 50°27′ N 30°30′ E Area code +380 44 Car plates  ? Twin towns Athenes, Brussels, Budapest... Kniaz’ or knyaz (князь in Russian and Ukrainian; knez in Serbian; cneaz in Romanian fem. ... Sviatoslav I, Prince of Kiev (c. ... Length 2,888 km Elevation of the source 1,078 m Average discharge 30 km before Passau: 580 m³/s Vienna: 1,900 m³/s Budapest: 2,350 m³/s just before Delta: 6,500 m³/s Area watershed 817,000 km² Origin Black Forest (Schwarzwald-Baar, Baden- Württemberg... Bulgars (also Bolgars or proto-Bulgarians) a people of Central Asia, probably originally Pamirian, whose branches became Slavicized and Turkic over time. ... Generally a chronicle (Latin chronica) is historical account of facts and events in chronological order. ... Velikiy Novgorod (Но́вгород) is the foremost historic city of North-Western Russia, situated on the highway (and railway) connecting Moscow and St Petersburg. ... Detail of the Millenium of Russia monument in Novgorod (1862) representing St Vladimir and his family. ... The word Rus or Rus (Русь in Cyrillic Alphabet) may refer to: the Rus (people) of disputed origin who were at the roots of the statehood of Eastern Slavic peoples; the territories they ruled, also known by the Latinized name, Ruthenia; Kievan Rus, the most powerful of early Ruthenian (Eastern...

Murder of Yaropolk

In 980, Vladimir returned with the Varangian mercenaries and attacked Yaropolk. On his way to Kiev, Vladimir seized Polotsk due to the fact that Rogneda, daughter of the Polotsk kniaz' Rogvolod, had chosen Yaropolk over him. Vladimir forced Rogneda to marry him. Then, Vladimir seized Kiev with the assistance from a boyar Blud, who had become Yaropolk's chief adviser upon the death of Sveneld. Blud betrayed Yaropolk by advising him to flee from Kiev and go into retreat in a town of Rodnya at the mouth of the Ros' River. Vladimir sieged Rodnya and forced starving Yaropolk to negotiate. Yaropolk trusted Blud and his brother's promises of peace and left for Vladimir's headquarters, where he would be killed in an ambush by two Varangians. Image File history File links Murder of Yaropolk (18th-century picture) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Murder of Yaropolk (18th-century picture) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... The Varangians or Variags were Scandinavians who travelled eastwards, mainly from Sweden. ... A mercenary is a soldier who fights, or engages in warfare primarily for money, usually with little regard for ideological, national or political considerations. ... Polatsk (Belarusian: По́лацак, По́лацк; Polish: Połock, also spelt as Polacak; Russian: По́лоцк, also transliterated as Polotsk, Polotzk, Polock) is the most historic city in Belarus, situated on the Dvina river. ... Vladimir and Rogneda (1770). ... Kniaz’ or knyaz (князь in Russian and Ukrainian; knez in Serbian; cneaz in Romanian fem. ... Ros (Ukrainian and Russian: Рось, Ros) is a river in Ukraine, a right tributary of the Dnieper. ... Headquarters denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are concentrated. ...

As for contemporary foreign sources, they mention a mission sent to Kiev from Prague that converted the ruling prince to Christianity. It has been suggested that Yaropolk went through some preliminary rites of baptism, but was murdered by his pagan half-brother (whose own rights to the throne were questionable) before he could be formally received in the Christian faith. Any information on Yaropolk's baptism according to the Latin rite would be suppressed by later Orthodox chroniclers, zealous to keep Vladimir's image of the Russian Apostle untarnished for succeeding generations. Prague (Praha in Czech) is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. ...