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During the long reign of Grand Duke
Yaroslav Vladimirovich, 1015-1054,
important strides were made in the cultural development of Kievan Russia. The
new Christian religion and the church itself were firmly established. By
appointing Hillarion, a Russian priest from the village of Berestov as the
first Russian Metropolitan of Kiev, Yaroslav demonstrated his independence from
Constantinople and the Greek Patriarch. The Chronicler described Yaroslav as
very fond of reading. He invited to Kiev literary men, translators and copyists
who, in his time, completed many hand written books in the Church-Slavonic
alphabet. Hillarion himself was one of the first highly educated Russians and a
distinguished speaker.
With similar eagerness Yaroslav approached the arts. Here the advance was
particularly marked most probably because of the existence of a strong national
folklore. During his reign several magnificent stone churches were erected
throughout the realm. Yaroslav wanted to pull his people out of the dark and
reduce the cultural inequality that existed between his and other leading
countries. For his hard work he became known to his people as Yaroslav the
Wise.
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