Russia at that time was second to no European nation.

Kief, under his reign, was one of the most prosperous cities. This was
due to her situation on the Dnieper and her trade with the Byzantine
Empire, to the great fertility of the Black Earth land, and to
Iaroslaf's connection by marriage with the reigning families of
Europe. Of his daughters Elizabeth was the wife of the King of Norway,
Anne of the King of France, and Anastasia of the King of Hungary; his
sister Mary was married to the King of Poland, and his sons had
married into royal families. Merchants from Holland, Germany, Hungary,
and Scandinavia were established at Kief. The Dnieper was alive with
merchant vessels, and she counted eight markets. It is evident that
Iaroslaf took pains to protect and advance commerce. He had coins
minted with his Slav name on one side, and his Christian name Ioury
(George), on the other.

Perhaps his greatest work is the code of laws established by him,
known as the _Russkaia Pravda_ or Russian Right. Though necessarily
primitive, it was a long step in advance of that time. It followed
chiefly the ideas of right and wrong according to the conceptions of
the Scandinavians.

At this time, although the dignity of _kniaz_, duke or prince, was (p. 046)
hereditary in the family of Rurik, it was understood by all parties
that the reign of the prince depended upon the consent of his
subjects, and perhaps more still upon that of his drujina. A story is
told that in Vladimir's time the drujina complained that they were
made to eat from wooden bowls, whereupon he gave them silver ones,
saying: I could not buy myself a drujina with gold and silver; but
with a drujina, I can acquire gold and silver, as did my father and my
grandfather.

Ever since Kief had been the residence of Rurik's descendants, they
had been recognized as Grand Dukes, because they represented the
eldest of the descendants. They did not, as a rule, interfere with the
administration, but were the dukes, the commanders of the armies. Many
districts had such a duke, who was, however, invariably of the blood
of Rurik, and recognized the superior authority as the eldest of the
blood. When the Grand Duke of Kief died, he was not succeeded by his
son, unless he had neither uncle nor brother living; but it was within
the power of the grand duke to leave one or more districts to his
sons.

The descendants of the Norsemen were, therefore, the defenders of the
districts whic