Y
757
Yaroslav the Wise(980–1054) grand prince of Kievan
Rus ́
The son of VLADIMIRI THEGREAT, Yaroslav had to deal
with a long struggle with his brother, Sviatoslav I the
Damned (r. 1015–19), and his elder brother, Mstislav (d.
1035), before finally becoming the great prince of KIEVin
- Lame since childhood, he was nevertheless a good
soldier. It was not until 1035 or 1036 with the childless
death of Mstislav, that he won real control of all of his
father’s dominions and assumed the title kagan.This
began a prosperous period for Kievan Rus ́.
Despite an unsuccessful war with the BYZANTINE
EMPIREbetween 1043 and 1046, trading and religious
connections between the two states grew. Christianity
solidified its position and KIEVwas recognized by the
patriarch of Constantinople as the seat of a metropolitan.
Yaroslav made Kiev his capital, where he started a build-
ing program which culminated in the CATHEDRALof Saint
Sophia in 1037. He established schools in Kiev and NOV-
GOROD. Laws were clarified and codified in the Ruskasis
Pravada. Religious texts were translated into Slavic.
Yaroslav extended and consolidated the frontiers of
Kievan Rus ́, especially in the Baltic region and main-
tained and solidified peaceful relations with the West
through dynastic marriages. After Yaroslav’s death in
1054, authority was again distributed among various
members of his family. This fragmentation began a
decline in fortunes of Kievan Rus ́.
Further reading: Samuel H. Cross and Olgerd P.
Sherbowitz-Wetzor, trans., The Russian Primary Chronicle:
Laurentian Text,(Cambridge, Mass.: Mediaeval Academy
of America, 1973); Boris D. Grekov, Kiev Rus ́,trans. Y.
Sdobnikov, ed. Dennis Ogden (Moscow: Foreign Lan-
guages Publishing House, 1959); Boris A. Rybakov, Early
Centuries of Russian History,trans. John Weir (Moscow:
Progress, 1965).Yazid I bin Muawiya(r. 680–683)second Umayyad
caliph
Yazid was an experienced soldier and the son of Muawiya
(r. 661–680). After succeeding his father despite opposi-
tion, he was the UMAYYADcaliph who sent forces against
AL-HUSAYNand his followers at Karbala in IRAQin 680,
resulting in their massacres and martyrdom. Through this
act he began to personify evil for the SHIA. He also had to
put down a rebellion in MECCA, which his troops pillaged
and burned at the moment of his death. He was an able
general, though unsuccessful in besieging the city of
CONSTANTINOPLE. A good administrator, he reformed the
caliphate’s financial system and improved AGRICULTURE.
He died in 683 and was succeeded by a minor.
See alsoALI IBNABUTALIB;SCHIA,SHIISM, ANDSHIITES.
Further reading:Syed Husain M. Jafri, The Origins
and Early Development of Shia Islam(Oxford: Oxford Uni-
versity Press, 2000); W. Montgomery Watt, The Formative
Period of Islamic Thought(Oxford: Oneworld, 1998).year 1000 The year 1000 was associated with apoca-
lyptic expectations linked with the end of the millennium
or 1,000 years after the Incarnation and birth of Christ.
The perception of this fear seems mostly to have been a
creation of later historians. Although the overwhelming
majority of people then were not very conscious of what
year it was, there was some concern and anticipation
among more learned contemporaries such as ABBO OF
FLEURYand Raoul Glaber (d. 1047). The anticipation of
this ominous date of the supposed end of the world did