Sviatoslav II of Kiev

Sviatoslav Iaroslavich (1027 – December 27, 1076, Kiev) was the Prince (Kniaz) of Chernigov from 1054 to 1073 and Grand Prince (Veliki Kniaz) of Kiev from 1073 until his death. A son of Iaroslav I the Wise, he was a founder of the Chernigov princely line and is sometimes referred to as Sviatoslav of Chernigov.

Upon his father's death in 1054, Sviatoslav joined his brothers Vsevolod and Iziaslav in forming a kind of a princely triumvirate that oversaw the affairs of Kievan Rus' until 1072. In 1067, they defeated Vseslav of Polotsk, on the Nemiga River and took him prisoner. A year later, the brothers were defeated by the Polovtsi on the Alta River. After a while, Sviatoslav returned to defeat these steppe nomads with a smaller force at the town of Snov, thus enhancing his prestige among the populace.

The second part of the first Russian legal code "Russkaya Pravda" is assigned to the brothers.

Sviatoslav's first wife was named Kilikia, a lady of unknown origin, but possibly a princess from the Caucasus. Their sons were Oleg, Gleb, Roman, and David. In 1072, Sviatoslav married Oda, daughter of a certain "Count Lippold", and the sister of Burkhard, provost of Trier. Oda's grand-uncles were Pope Leo IX and Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor.

In 1073, the triumvirate broke up, when Sviatoslav, supported by his younger brother Vsevolod, dethroned and replaced his older brother Iziaslav. Three years later, Russian scribes compiled the so-called "Izbornik Sviatoslava" at his request. One of the oldest relics of the Old East Slavic language, the book is a compilation of articles on grammar, logic, poetics, church matters, sermons, riddles, and parables. One of the miniatures represents Sviatoslav himself, standing with his second wife Oda and sons.

Sviatoslav's son Oleg of Chernigov had a posterity which continues in the male line to the present day. His son by Oda, Yaroslav, founded the great dynasty of Riazan, and the Seljuk Sultan Kilij Arslan II claimed to descend from one of Sviatoslav's daughters.