His decade-long reign over theKievan Rus'was marked by rapid expansion into theVolga Rivervalley, thePontic steppe, and theBalkans. By the end of his short life, Sviatoslav carved out for himself the largest state inEurope, eventually moving his capital in 969 fromKiev(modern-day Ukraine) toPereyaslavets(identified as the modern village ofNufăru,Romania)[6]on theDanube. In contrast with his mother's conversion toChristianity, Sviatoslav remained a staunchpaganall of his life. Due to his abrupt death in ambush, his conquests, for the most part, were not consolidated into a functioning empire, while his failure to establish a stable succession led to afratricidalfeud among his three sons, resulting in two of them being killed.
Olga of Kiev, who served as regent during her son's youth
ThePrimary Chroniclerecords Sviatoslav as the first ruler of theKievan Rus'with a name ofSlavicorigin (as opposed to his predecessors, whose names hadOld Norseforms). Some scholars see the name of Sviatoslav, composed of the Slavic roots for "holy" and "glory", as an artificial derivation combining the names of his predecessorsOlegandRurik,[7]but modern researchers question the possibility of such a translation of names from one language to another.[8][9]SveinaldorSveneldis identical to Sviatoslav, as the Norse rendition of the Slavic name.[10]
In 10th-century Eastern Roman EmperorConstantine VIIin Greek-language workDe Administrando Imperio("On the Governance of the Empire") records his name asΣφενδοσθλάβος("Sfendostlabos").
Early life and personality
Virtually nothing is known about Sviatoslav's childhood and youth, which he spent reigning inNovgorod. Sviatoslav's father,Igor, was killed by theDrevliansaround 945, and his mother,Olga, ruled asregentinKievuntil Sviatoslav reached maturity (ca. 963).[11]Sviatoslav was tutored by aVarangiannamed Asmud.[12]The tradition of employing Varangian tutors for the sons of ruling princes survived well into the 11th century. Sviatoslav appears to have had little patience for administration. His life was spent with hisdruzhina(roughly, "company") in permanent warfare against neighboring states. According to the Primary Chronicle, he carried neither wagons nor kettles on his expeditions, and he boiled no meat, rather cutting off small strips of horseflesh, game, or beef to eat after roasting it on the coals. Nor did he have a tent, rather spreading out a horse-blanket under him and setting his saddle under his head, and all his retinue did likewise.[13]
Sviatoslav's appearance has been described very clearly byLeo the Deacon, who himself attended the meeting of Sviatoslav withJohn I Tzimiskes. Following Deacon's memories, Sviatoslav was a bright-eyed man of average height but of stalwart build, much more sturdy than Tzimiskes. He had a bald head and a wispy beard and wore a bushy mustache and asidelockas a sign of his nobility.[14]He preferred to dress in white, and it was noted that his garments were much cleaner than those of his men, although he had a lot in common with his warriors. He wore a single large gold earring bearing acarbuncleand twopearls.[15]
Religious beliefs
Sviatoslav's mother,Olga, converted to Orthodox Christianity at the court ofByzantineEmperorConstantine Porphyrogenitusin 957,[16]at the approximate age of 67. However, Sviatoslav remained apaganall of his life. In the treaty of 971 between Sviatoslav and the Byzantine emperor John I Tzimiskes, the Rus' swore by the godsPerunandVeles.[17]According to the Primary Chronicle, he believed that his warriors (druzhina) would lose respect for him and mock him if he became a Christian.[18]The allegiance of his warriors was of paramount importance in his conquest of an empire that stretched from the Volga to the Danube.
Family
Sviatoslav's mother, Olga, with her escort inConstantinople, a miniature from the late 11th century chronicle ofJohn Skylitzes.
Very little is known of Sviatoslav's family life. It is possible that he was not the only (or the eldest) son of his parents. TheRus'-Byzantine treaty of 945mentions a certain Predslava, Volodislav's wife, as the noblest of the Rus' women after Olga. The fact that Predslava was Oleg's mother is presented byVasily Tatishchev. He also speculated that Predslava came from the Hungarian nobility.George Vernadskywas among many historians to speculate that Volodislav was Igor's eldest son and heir who died at some point during Olga's regency. Another chronicle told that Oleg (? - 977?) was the eldest son of Igor. At the time of Igor's death, Sviatoslav was still a child, and he was raised by his mother or under her instructions. Her influence, however, did not extend to his religious observance.
Sviatoslav I in theTsarsky Titulyarnik, 1672
Sviatoslav had several children, but the origin of his wives is not specified in the chronicle. By his wives, he hadYaropolkandOleg.[19]ByMalusha, a woman of indeterminate origins,[20]Sviatoslav hadVladimir, who would ultimately break with his father's paganism andconvert Rus' to Christianity.John Skylitzesreported that Vladimir had a brother namedSfengus; whether this Sfengus was a son of Sviatoslav, a son of Malusha by a prior or subsequent husband, or an unrelated Rus' nobleman is unclear.[21]
Shortly after his accession to the throne, Sviatoslav began campaigning to expand Rus' control over the Volga valley and thePontic stepperegion. His greatest success was the conquest ofKhazaria, which for centuries had been one of the strongest states ofEastern Europe. The sources are not clear about the roots of the conflict between Khazaria and Rus', so several possibilities have been suggested. The Rus' had an interest in removing the Khazar hold on theVolga trade routebecause the Khazars collected duties from the goods transported by the Volga. Historians have suggested that the Byzantine Empire may have incited the Rus' against the Khazars, who fell out with the Byzantines after the persecutions of theJewsin the reign ofRomanus I Lecapenus.[22]
The Kievan Rus' at the beginning of Sviatoslav's reign (in red), showing his sphere of influence to 972 (in orange)
Sviatoslav began by rallying theEast Slavicvassal tribes of the Khazars to his cause. Those who would not join him, such as theVyatichs, were attacked and forced to pay tribute to the Kievan Rus' rather than to the Khazars.[23]According to a legend recorded in the Primary Chronicle, Sviatoslav sent a message to the Vyatich rulers, consisting of a single phrase: "I want to come at you!" (Old East Slavickhochiu na vy iti)[24]This phrase is used in modern Russian and Ukrainian (usually misquoted asidu na vy) to denote an unequivocal declaration of one's intentions. Proceeding by theOkaand Volga rivers, he attackedVolga Bulgaria. He employedOghuzandPechenegmercenaries in this campaign, perhaps to counter the superiorcavalryof the Khazars and Bulgars.[25]
Sviatoslav destroyed the Khazar city of Sarkel around 965, possibly sacking (but not occupying) the Khazar city ofKerchon theCrimeaas well.[26]At Sarkel he established a Rus' settlement called Belaya Vyezha ("the white tower" or "the white fortress", the East Slavic translation for "Sarkel").[27]He subsequently destroyed the Khazar capital ofAtil.[28]A visitor to Atil wrote soon after Sviatoslav's campaign: "The Rus' attacked, and no grape or raisin remained, not a leaf on a branch."[29]The exact chronology of his Khazar campaign is uncertain and disputed; for example,Mikhail ArtamonovandDavid Christianproposed that the sack of Sarkel came after the destruction of Atil.[30]
AlthoughIbn Haukalreports the sack ofSamandarby Sviatoslav, the Rus' leader did not bother to occupy the Khazar heartlands north of theCaucasus Mountainspermanently. On his way back to Kiev, Sviatoslav chose to strike against theOssetiansand force them into subservience.[31]Therefore, Khazar successor statelets continued their precarious existence in the region.[32]The destruction of Khazar imperial power paved the way for Kievan Rus' to dominate north–south trade routes through the steppe and across theBlack Sea, routes that formerly had been a major source of revenue for the Khazars. Moreover, Sviatoslav's campaigns led to increased Slavic settlement in the region of theSaltovo-Mayakiculture, greatly changing the demographics and culture of the transitional area between the forest and the steppe.[33]
The annihilation of Khazaria was undertaken against the background of the Rus'-Byzantine alliance, concluded in the wake ofIgor's Byzantine campaignin 944.[34]Close military ties between the Rus' and Byzantium are illustrated by the fact, reported by John Skylitzes, that a Rus' detachment accompanied Byzantine EmperorNikephoros Phokasin his victorious naval expedition toCrete.
In 967 or 968,[35]Nikephoros sent his agent,Kalokyros, to persuade Sviatoslav to assist the Byzantines in a war againstBulgaria.[36]Sviatoslav was paid 15,000 pounds of gold and set sail with an army of 60,000 men, including thousands of Pecheneg mercenaries.[37][38]
Sviatoslav defeatedthe Bulgarian rulerBoris II[39]and proceeded to occupy the whole of northern Bulgaria. Meanwhile, the Byzantines bribed the Pechenegs toattack and besiege Kiev, where Olga stayed with Sviatoslav's son Vladimir. The siege was relieved by thedruzhinaofPretich, and immediately following the Pecheneg retreat, Olga sent a reproachful letter to Sviatoslav. He promptly returned and defeated the Pechenegs, who continued to threaten Kiev.
Pursuit of Sviatoslav's warriors by the Byzantine army, a miniature from 11th century chronicles ofJohn Skylitzes.
Sviatoslav refused to turn his Balkan conquests over to the Byzantines, and the parties fell out as a result. To the chagrin of hisboyarsand his mother (who died within three days after learning about his decision), Sviatoslav decided to move his capital toPereyaslavetsin the mouth of the Danube due to the great potential of that location as a commercial hub. In the Primary Chronicle record for 969, Sviatoslav explains that it is to Pereyaslavets, the centre of his lands, "all the riches flow: gold, silks, wine, and various fruits fromGreece, silver and horses fromHungaryandBohemia, and from Rus' furs, wax, honey, and slaves".
In summer 969, Sviatoslav left Rus' again, dividing his dominion into three parts, each under a nominal rule of one of his sons. At the head of an army that included Pecheneg and Magyar auxiliary troops, he invaded Bulgaria again, devastatingThrace, capturing the city ofPhilippopolis, and massacring its inhabitants. Nikephoros responded by repairing the defenses of Constantinople and raising new squadrons of armored cavalry. In the midst of his preparations, Nikephoros was overthrown and killed byJohn Tzimiskes, who thus became the new Byzantine emperor.[40]
John Tzimiskes first attempted to persuade Sviatoslav to leave Bulgaria, but he was unsuccessful. Challenging Byzantine authority, Sviatoslav crossed the Danube and laid siege toAdrianople, causing panic in the streets of Constantinople in summer 970.[41]Later that year, the Byzantines launched a counteroffensive. Being occupied with suppressing a revolt brought byBardas PhokasinAsia Minor, John Tzimiskes sent his commander-in-chief,Bardas Skleros, who defeated the coalition of Rus', Pechenegs, Magyars, and Bulgarians in theBattle of Arcadiopolis.[42]Meanwhile, John, having quelled the revolt of Bardas Phokas, came to the Balkans with a large army and promoting himself as the liberator of Bulgaria from Sviatoslav, penetrated the impracticable mountain passes and shortly thereafter capturedMarcianopolis, where the Rus' were holding a number of Bulgar princes hostage.
Siege of Durostorum in Manasses Chronicle
Sviatoslav retreated to Dorostolon, which the Byzantine armies besieged for sixty-five days. Cut off and surrounded, Sviatoslav came to terms with John and agreed to abandon the Balkans, renounce his claims to the southern Crimea, and return west of the Dnieper River. In return, the Byzantine emperor supplied the Rus' with food and safe passage home. Sviatoslav and his men set sail and landed onBerezan Islandat the mouth of the Dnieper, where they made camp for the winter. Several months later, according to the Primary Chronicle, their camp was devastated by famine, so that even a horse's head could not be bought for less than a half-grivna.[43]While Sviatoslav's campaign brought no tangible results for the Rus', it weakened the Bulgarian state and left it vulnerable to the attacks ofBasil the Bulgar-Slayerfour decades later.
Death and aftermath
Fearing that the peace with Sviatoslav would not endure, the Byzantine emperor induced thePechenegkhanKuryato kill Sviatoslav before he reached Kiev. This was in line with the policy outlined byConstantine VIIPorphyrogenitus inDe Administrando Imperioof fomenting strife between the Rus' and the Pechenegs.[44]According to the Slavic chronicle,Sveneldattempted to warn Sviatoslav to avoid theDnieper rapids, but the prince slighted his wise advice and was ambushed and slain by the Pechenegs when he tried to cross the cataracts nearKhortytsiaearly in 972. The Primary Chronicle reports that his skull wasmade into a chaliceby the Pecheneg khan.[45]
Following Sviatoslav's death, tensions among his sons grew. A war broke out between his legitimate sons, Oleg andYaropolk, in 976, at the conclusion of which Oleg was killed. In 977Vladimirfled Novgorod to escape Oleg's fate and went toScandinavia, where he raised an army ofVarangiansand returned in 980. Yaropolk was killed, and Vladimir became the sole ruler of Kievan Rus'.
Art and literature
Sviatoslav has long been a hero ofBelarusian,Russian, andUkrainianpatriots due to his great military successes. His figure first attracted attention of Russian artists and poets during theRusso-Turkish War (1768–1774), which provided obvious parallels with Sviatoslav's push towards Constantinople. Russia's southward expansion and the imperialistic ventures ofCatherine IIin the Balkans seemed to have been legitimized by Sviatoslav's campaigns eight centuries earlier.
Ivan Akimov.Sviatoslav's Return from the Danube to His Family in Kiev(1773)
Among the works created during the war wasYakov Knyazhnin's tragedyOlga(1772). The Russian playwright chose to introduce Sviatoslav as his protagonist, although his active participation in the events following Igor's death is out of sync with the traditional chronology. Knyazhnin's rivalNikolai Nikolev(1758–1815) also wrote a play on the subject of Sviatoslav's life.Ivan Akimov's paintingSviatoslav's Return from the Danube to Kiev(1773) explores the conflict between military honour and family attachment. It is a vivid example ofPoussinesquerendering of early medieval subject matter.
Monument to Sviatoslav I in Kiev, Ukraine. The authors areBoris Krylovand Oles Sydoruk.
Interest in Sviatoslav's career increased in the 19th century.Klavdiy Lebedevdepicted an episode of Sviatoslav's meeting withEmperor Johnin his well-known painting, whileEugene Lanceraysculpted anequestrian statueof Sviatoslav in the early 20th century.[46]Sviatoslav appears in the 1913 poem ofVelimir KhlebnikovWritten before the war(#70. Написанное до войны)[47]as an epitome of militant Slavdom:[48]
Знаменитый сок Дуная, Наливая в глубь главы, Стану пить я, вспоминая Светлых клич: "Иду на вы!".
Pouring the famed juice of the Danube Into the depth of my head, I shall drink and remember The cry of the bright ones: "I come at you!"
Sviatoslav is the villain of the novelThe Lost Kingdom, or the Passing of the Khazars, by Samuel Gordon,[49]a fictionalised account of the destruction of Khazaria by the Rus'. The Slavic warrior figures in a more positive context in the story "Chernye Strely Vyaticha" by Vadim Viktorovich Kargalov; the story is included in his bookIstoricheskie povesti.[50]
In 2005, reports circulated that a village in theBelgorodregion had erected a monument to Sviatoslav's victory over the Khazars by the Russian sculptorVyacheslav Klykov. The reports described the 13-meter tall statue as depicting a Rus' cavalryman trampling a supine Khazar bearing aStar of DavidandKolovrat. This created an outcry within theJewish communityof Russia. The controversy was further exacerbated by Klykov's connections withPamyatand other anti-Semitic organizations, as well as by his involvement in the "letter of 500", a controversial appeal to the Prosecutor General to review all Jewish organizations in Russia for extremism.[51]The Press Centre of the Belgorod Regional Administration responded by stating that a planned monument to Sviatoslav had not yet been constructed but would show "respect towards representatives of all nationalities and religions."[52]When the statue was unveiled, the shield bore a twelve-pointed star.
Sviatoslav is the main character of the booksKnyaz(Kniaz) andThe Hero(Geroi), written by Russian writerAlexander Mazin. Sviatoslav plays a major role in theSoviethistorical anthology filmThe Legend of Princess Olga, which tells the story of his mother, Olga. Sviatoslav appears in various segments, both as a child as an adult. The adult prince Sviatoslav is played byLes Serdyuk.
On 7 November 2011, a Ukrainian fisherman found a one metre long sword in the waters of the Dnieper onKhortytsianear where Sviatoslav is believed to have been killed in 972. The handle is made out of four different metals including gold and silver, and could possibly have belonged to Sviatoslav himself, but this is speculation—the sword could have belonged to any nobleman from that period.[53]
