Editing Grand Prince of Kiev (section)

=== ''Velikiy knyaz'' Yaroslav and descendants ===
[[Sviatopolk I of Kiev]] was never called ''velikiy knyaz'' ("grand prince") in any source.{{sfn|Dimnik|2004|p=264}} Moreover, he has been stigmatised by chroniclers with the nickname "the Accursed" or "the Damned" (''okayannyy'') because of how he violently rose to power in the war of succession following Volodimir's death in 1015.{{sfn|Dimnik|2004|p=264}} On the other hand, [[Yaroslav the Wise]] is the first widely attested ''velikiy knyaz'' ("grand prince") in virtually all sources of the second half of the 11th century, and surviving copies of the [[Church Statute of Prince Yaroslav]] also strongly suggest he applied the title to himself while he was alive.{{sfn|Dimnik|2004|p=264–265}} Dimnik (2004) concluded that by the end of Yaroslav's reign in the third quarter of the 11th century, he was regularly calling himself and being called the ''velikiy knyaz'' of Kiev, and the competing titles of ''kagan'' and ''[[tsar]]'' had decisively lost in favour of ''velikiy knyaz'' as the preferred appellation of the Kievan monarch.{{sfn|Dimnik|2004|p=306}} The ''velikiy knyaz'' was [[rota system|designated by genealogical seniority]] and given the right to reign from Kiev – the grand principality superior to all other principalities in the realm – over all other princes descended from Yaroslav.{{sfn|Dimnik|2004|p=306–307}} The reason why the system of succession did not always work as Yaroslav intended was because some princes simply [[usurper|usurped power]] through a [[coup d'état]] at the court in Kiev.{{sfn|Dimnik|2004|p=307}} The 1097 [[Council of Liubech]] upgraded the dynastic capitals of the inner circle of senior princes to grand principalities as well, but still acknowledged the superiority of Kiev.{{sfn|Dimnik|2004|p=307}} 

It was not until the [[Sack of Kiev (1169)]] by [[Andrey Bogolyubsky]] of [[Vladimir-Suzdal]] that the [[Grand Duke of Vladimir|grand princes of Vladimir]] launched a fierce competition with the grand princes of Kiev over who had primacy over the entire realm.{{sfn|Dimnik|2004|p=307}} Since then, the phrase "''velikiy knyaz'' of Kiev" was merely [[Titular ruler|titular]], and chroniclers applied the symbolic title of ''velikiy knyaz'' to Kiev or [[Vladimir, Russia|Vladimir on the Klyazma]] according to whomever they favoured.{{sfn|Dimnik|2004|p=307}} In practice, the military supremacy of any particular prince – especially from [[Vsevolod the Big Nest]] onwards – would determine whether the other princes would or would not acknowledge him as "grand prince".{{sfn|Dimnik|2004|p=307–308}} After the [[Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus']] and [[Siege of Kiev (1240)|Sack of Kiev]] in the late 1230s and 1240s, the khans of the [[Golden Horde]] "in effect, terminated the office of the ''velikiy knyaz{{'}}'' of Kiev and conferred political supremacy on their puppet in Vladimir."{{sfn|Dimnik|2004|p=308}}