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Vladimir's death in 1015 and the uncertainty over his succession again trig-
gered a period of conflict among his sons. After four years, Yaroslav (r. 1019-54)
defeated his brothers but then had to split control of Kievan territory with one
brother until 1036. Despite these tumultuous beginnings, Yaroslav, already
known as “the Wise” during his lifetime, presided over a reign generally con-
sidered the peak of Kievan history. Geographically Kievan Russia extended
from the Black Sea to the Baltic Sea and westward to the Carpathians. Ties with
central and western Europe were strengthened in a series of marriage alliances.
Yaroslav's sister married the king of Poland, and three of his daughters married
foreign monarchs: the kings of Hungary, Norway, and Poland. Yaroslav admin-
istered a decisive defeat to the Pechenegs in 1037, the warlike nomads who
lived between the Kievan state and the Black Sea and who had posed a threat
to Kiev for over a century. For a brief time afterward, Kievan Rus was free from
the threats of steppe nomads.
Kiev emerged as an important cultural center and one of the important cities
of Europe during Yaroslav's reign. New churches, schools, and libraries were
built. The Kievan era also marks the beginning of a distinctive Russian tradition
in art and architecture that at first was strongly influenced by Byzantine tradi-
tions and focused on religious themes. An early example of these were the St.
Sophia cathedrals constructed in Kiev and Novgorod. Another important com-
ponent of early Russian art was the development of a tradition of icons, reli-
gious pictures painted on wooden panels that were placed both in churches and
in private homes.
The Kievan economy was based on both trade and agriculture. Although his-
torians disagree on the relative weight of each in Kievan economic life, the bulk
of the population was engaged in agriculture. Trade tended to be dominated by
the princes, their retinues, and wealthy merchants. At its height the Kievan
state included both steppe and forest regions. Trade between northern centers
like Novgorod and southern cities like Kiev probably involved exchanging grain
and cattle from the south for furs and timber from the north. Kievan Rus also
had a lively and important trading relationship with the Byzantine Empire. The
grand prince of Kiev gathered tribute from the regions under his control. Each
spring he led a trading expedition down the Dnieper River and across the Black
Sea to Byzantium. Private merchants from all over Kievan Rus traveled along
under the prince's protection. The Kievans traded raw materials such as furs for
finished goods like weapons and luxuries such as spices and jewelry.
There were two regional types of farming. In the steppe, where land was
abundant and easy to cultivate, farmers moved frequently as fields wore out.
The basic crop was wheat. In the zones farther north, farmers got new land only
by laboriously clearing away the forest. Thus they were more settled, alternately
using a part of their land or letting it rest fallow. The basic crops were rye, bar-
ley, and oats.
In cultural matters, with the conversion of the population to Christianity in
988 and the diffusion of the Cyrillic alphabet initially developed by the Ortho-
dox missionaries Cyril and Methodius to aid them in translating the Bible for
the conversion of the Southern and Western Slavs, Kievan Rus acquired a writ-
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