Yaroslav the Wise
Allies along the Baltic coast

In his foreign policy, Yaroslav relied on a Scandinavian alliance and attempted to weaken the Byzantine influence on Kiev. According to Heimskringla, Olaf the Swede made an alliance with Yaroslav, even though the alliance was not liked in Sweden, in order to declare war against Olaf II of Norway. This was sealed in 1019 when King Olof of Sweden married his daughter to Yaroslav instead of the Norwegian king. That led to protests in Sweden because the Swedes wanted to reestablish control over their lost eastern territories and bring in tribute from Kievan Rus', as his father Eric the Victorious had, but after years of war against Norway, Sweden no longer had the power to collect regular tributes from Kievan Rus', according to Heimskringla. In 1022 Olaf was deposed and forced to give power to his son Anund Jakob.

He defended the Eastern countries from invaders, ensuring Swedish military interests.

In a successful military raid in 1030, he captured Tartu, Estonia and renamed it Yuryev (named after Yury, Yaroslav's patron saint) and forced the surrounding Ugandi County to pay annual tribute.

In 1031, he conquered Cherven cities from the Poles followed by the construction of Sutiejsk to guard the newly acquired lands. In c.1034 Yaroslav concluded an alliance with Polish King Casimir I the Restorer, sealed by the latter's marriage to Yaroslav's sister, Maria.

Yaroslav's eldest son, Vladimir, ruled in Novgorod from 1034 and supervised relations in the north.

Later in Yaroslav's reign, around c.1035, Ingvar the Far-Travelled, Anund Jakob 's jarl, sent Swedish soldiers into Kievan Rus due to Olof's son wanting to assist his father's ally Yaroslav in his wars against the Pechenegs and Byzantines. Later, in c.1041 Anund Jakob tried to reestablish Swedish control over the Eastern trade routes and reopen them. The Georgian annals report 1000 men coming into Georgia but the original force was likely much larger, around 3,000 men.

Ingvar's fate is unknown, but he was likely captured in battle during the Byzantine campaigns or killed, supposedly in 1041. Only one ship returned to Sweden, according to the legend.
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