The Kiev Principality

The Kiev principality is one of the specific lands formed as a result of the dissolution of Kievan Rus. After the death of Prince Yaroslav the Wise in the middle of the XI century, the princedom began to become obsolete and by the 30th years of the 12th century it became completely independent.

Its territory covered the ancestral lands of Drevlyans and glades along the Dnieper River and its tributaries (Teterevu, Pripyat, Irpeni and Rosi). It also included part of the left bank of the Dnieper opposite Kiev. All these are modern lands of the Kiev and Zhytomyr regions of Ukraine and the southern part of the Gomel region of Belarus. In the east, the principality was bordered by the Pereyaslavl and Chernigov princedoms, in the west by the Volodymyr-Volynskoye, in the south the Polovtsian steppes closely adjoined it .

Due to the mild climate and fertile soils , agriculture was intensively developed here. Also inhabitants of these lands were actively engaged in cattle breeding, hunting, fishing and beekeeping. Early enough, specialization of crafts took place here. Of particular importance was "drevoel", leather and pottery crafts. The deposits of iron made it possible to develop a blacksmith's craft.

An important factor was that through the principality of Kiev, the path "from the Varangians to the Greeks" (from Byzantium to the Baltic Sea) passed. Therefore, an influential layer of traders and artisans was formed early in Kiev.

From the 9th to the 10th centuries these lands were the central part of the Old Russian state. During the reign of Vladimir, they became the nucleus of the Grand Duke's domain, and Kiev - the church center of all of Russia. Although the prince of Kiev was no longer the supreme owner of all lands, but was the actual head of the feudal hierarchy, he was considered "senior" in relation to other princes. It was the center of the Old Russian princedom, around which all the other areas were concentrated.

However, this situation was not only positive. Very soon the Kiev lands turned into an object of intense struggle between the separate branches of the Rurik dynasty. Powerful Kiev boyars and the top of the trade and craft population also joined the struggle.

Prior to 1139, Monomashichi was sitting on the throne of Kiev: after Mstislav the Great, his brother Yaropolk (1132-1139) came to power, and then Vyacheslav (1139). After this, the throne passed into the hands of the captured Chernigov prince Vsevolod Olgovich. The rule of the Ol'govichi was very short. In 1146, power passed to Izyaslav Mstislavich (representative of Monomachich). In 1154, it was captured by the Suzdal branch of Monomashichy (Yuri Dolgoruky was on the throne of Kiev until his death in 1157). Then the power again went to the Olgovichs, and in 1159 returned to the Mstislavichs.

Already from the middle of the 12th century, the political significance, which had before it the Kyiv Principality, began to decrease. At the same time, he disintegrated into destiny. By the 1170s, the Kotelnichesky, Belgorod, Trepolsk, Vyshgorod, Toric, Kanev and Dorogobuzh princedoms had already been singled out. Kiev ceased to play the role of the center of Russian lands. At the same time, Vladimir and Galicia-Volynskiy make every effort to subdue Kiev. Periodically, they manage to do it and on the throne of Kiev are their henchmen.

In 1240 the principality of Kiev is under the rule of Batu. In early December, after a desperate nine-day resistance, he seized and defeated Kiev. The Principality was devastated, and after that it could not recover. From the 1240s, Kiev is in a formal dependence on the princes of Vladimir (Alexander Nevsky, then Yaroslav Yaroslavich). In 1299, from Kiev to Vladimir was transferred to the Metropolitan Department.

By the first half of the 14th century the principality was weakened to the limit. Therefore, it became the object of Lithuanian aggression. In 1362 under Prince Olgerdet, these lands became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.