Rulers of Kievan Rus'
Rurik, a semi-legendary Scandinavian
Varangian, was at the roots of
Kievan Rus'. He founded the
Rurikovich dynasty that would rule
Ruthenia for the next 800 years.
Rurik's capital was the northern city of
Novgorod. His successor
Oleg relocated the capital to
Kiev at around
880, thus laying the foundation of what has become known as Kievan Rus'.
While the early rulers of Rus' were
Scandinavians, they gradually merged into the local
Slavic population. Still, in the 11th century,
Yaroslav, (called
Jarisleif in Scandinavian chronicles) maintained the dynastic links, married a
Swedish princess, and gave asylum to king
Olaf II of Norway.
The movement of nobility also went in the opposite direction. According to
Adam of Bremen,
Anund GÃ¥rdske, a man from Kievan Rus' was elected king of
Sweden, ca
1070. However, as he was a Christian, he refused to sacrifice to the
Aesir at the
Temple at Uppsala and he was deposed by popular vote.
The unity of Kievan Rus' gradually declined, and was all but gone by 1132. After that period Kievan Rus' shattered into a number of smaller states all of which contested for the throne of Kiev.
Kievan Rus' was finally destroyed by the
Mongols in
1240, but the Riurikovich line persisted and continued to rule northern Russian principalities until the early seventeenth century.
Rulers of Kievan Rus' held the titles
Kniaz and later
Velikiy Kniaz, traditionally translated as
Duke and
Grand Duke, respectively.
Princes of Novgorod
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Rurik (c. 860â€"879)
*
Oleg (Regent, 879â€"912)
Rulers of Kiev
*
Askold and Dir? (864?â€"882?), supposedly, killed by
Oleg*
Olma (884-887, 888)
Rulers of Kievan Rus'
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Oleg (882â€"912)
*
Igor (912â€"945)
*
Olga (Regent, 945â€"962)
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Sviatoslav I (962â€"972)
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Yaropolk (972â€"980)
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Vladimir I (980â€"1015)
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Sviatopolk I (1015â€"1019)
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Yaroslav (1019â€"1054)
*
Iziaslav I (1054â€"1073, 1076â€"1078)
*
Vseslav (1068â€"1069)
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Sviatoslav II (1073â€"1076)
*
Vsevolod (1078â€"1093)
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Sviatopolk II (1093â€"1113)
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Vladimir Monomakh (1113â€"1125)
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Mstislav (1125â€"1132)
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Yaropolk II (1132â€"1139)
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Viacheslav I (1139, 1151â€"1154)
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Vsevolod II (1139â€"1146)
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Igor II (1146)
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Iziaslav II (1146â€"1154, with intervals)
*
George I (1149â€"1151, 1155â€"1157)
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Rostislav I (1154â€"1167, with intervals)
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Iziaslav III (1155â€"1162, with intervals)
*
Mstislav II (1167â€"1169)
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Gleb I (1169, 1170â€"1171)
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Vladimir (1171)
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Michael I (1171)
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Roman I (1171â€"1173, 1175â€"1177)
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Vsevolod III (1173)
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Rurik (1172â€"1211, with intervals)
*
Yaroslav II, (1174â€"1175, 1180)
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Sviatoslav III (1173, 1176â€"1180, 1181â€"1194)
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Ingvar I (1202, 1214)
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Roman II (1203-1205)
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Rostislav II (1204â€"1206)
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Vsevolod IV (1206â€"1212, with intervals)
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Mstislav III (1214â€"1223)
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Vladimir III (1223â€"1235)
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Iziaslav IV (1235â€"1236)
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Yaroslav III (1236â€"1238, 1246)
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Michael II (1238â€"1239, 1241â€"1246)
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Rostislav III (1239)
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Daniel I (1239â€"1240)
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List of Russian rulers*
List of rulers of Halych and Volhynia
