Saint Vladimir Svyatoslavich the Great, also sometimes spelled Volodymer (Old East Slavic: ?????????? ????????????). His name is spelt variously: in modern Ukrainian as Volodymyr (?????????); in Old Church Slavonic and modern Russian, as Vladimir (????????); in Old Norse as Valdamarr; and, in modern Scandinavian languages, "Valdemar".

Born: c. 958
Died:15 July 1015, Berestovo
Father: Sviatoslav I of Kiev
Mother: Malusha
Spouses:
Rogned of Polotsk
Anna of Byzantium
Adelia von Öhningen
9 mistresses
Issue:
Iziaslav Vladimirovich
Iaroslav Vladimirovich
Mstivslav Vladimirovich "the Brave"
Vsevolod Vladimirovich
2 unnamed daughters (first)
second
Sviatopolk Vladimirovich
Vysheslav Vladimirovich
Sviatoslav Vladimirovich (illegitimate)
Boris Vladimirovich (illegitimate)
Gleb Vladimirovich (illegitimate)
Pozvizd Vladimirovich (illegitimate)
Sudislav Vladimirovich (illegitimate)
Stanislav Vladimirovich (illegitimate)
Name unknown Vladimirovna (illegitimate)
Premislava Vladimirovna (illegitimate)
Dobronega Maria Vladimirovna (illegitimate)
VLADIMIR Sviatoslavich. The Primary Chronicle names Yaropolk, Oleg and Vladimir as grandsons of Olga. The Primary Chronicle names Malusha, stewardess of Olga and sister of Dobrinya, as mother of Sviatoslav's son Vladimir, when recording that his father sent him to Novgorod in 970 with his maternal uncle after the inhabitants had demanded a prince of their own. After the death of his half-brother Oleg, Vladimir fled "beyond the seas" and governors were assigned to Novgorod. With support mustered in Scandinavia, Vladimir regained control of Novgorod. He captured Polotsk after killing Rogvolod Prince of Polotsk, who had refused Vladimir's offer to marry his daughter (whom he married anyway). He then moved southwards towards Kiev to attack his half-brother Iaropolk, who fled to Rodnia but was murdered when he returned to Kiev to negotiate with Vladimir. He thereby succeeded in [980] as VLADIMIR I "Velikiy/the Great" Grand Prince of Kiev. In 981, Vladimir invaded Polish territory and conquered Czerwien, "Peremyshl" and other cities. After actively promoting the worship of pagan idols, he was baptised in [987/88] as part of an agreement to help Emperor Basileios II to defeat a rebellion. He increased his own personal prestige by marrying the emperor's sister and imposed Christianity on his people by force. He sought to rule his diverse territories by nominating his various sons to rule in different towns, although at the end of his reign he was faced with the rebellions of his son Iaroslav and his adopted son Sviatopolk. Vladimir died while preparing for war with Novgorod following the suspension of payment of tribute by his son Iaroslav. Vladimir was described as "fornicator immensus et crudelis" by Thietmar. According to the Primary Chronicle, Vladimir had 300 concubines at Vyshgorod, 300 at Belgorod and 200 at Berestovo. The Primary Chronicle records the death of Vladimir at Berestovo 15 Jul 1015. He was later esteemed to be a saint, his feast day being 15 July. m firstly ([977], divorced 986) as her second husband, ROGNED of Polotsk, widow of --- Jarl in Sweden, daughter of ROGVOLOD Prince of Polotsk & his wife --- ([956]-[998/1000]). The Primary Chronicle names Rogned, daughter of Rogvolod Prince of Polotsk, recording that she at first refused to marry Vladimir, preferring his half-brother Yaropolk. She became a nun in [989]. The Primary Chronicle records the death of Rogned in [998/1000]. m secondly (Kherson 988) ANNA of Byzantium, daughter of Emperor ROMANOS II & his second wife Theophano [née Anastasia] (13 Mar 963-[1008/11] or [1022], bur Kiev, church of the Palace). Cedrenus records that "filiam…Annæ" was born two days before the death of Emperor Romanos II[88]. The Primary Chronicle names Anna, sister of Emperors Basil and Constantine, recording that her brothers agreed to her marriage to Vladimir if he accepted baptism, and her arrival and marriage at Kherson. Zonaras records that "Uladimero ducem [Russorum]" married "sorore Anna" (referring to Basileios and Konstantinos). The marriage marked the start of increased influence for the Greek Orthodox church in Russia, as the new Russian church reported to the Patriarch of Constantinople. The sources are contradictory regarding the dating of Anna´s death. The Primary Chronicle records the death of Anna wife of Vladimir in [1008/11]. Cedrenus records that "Anna imperatoris sorore" died "in Rossia", adding that her husband had already died, in a passage following the record of events dated to [1022], adding that "Chrysochir quidam Bladimeri cognatus" (not yet identified) sailed for Constantinople after she died but was defeated and killed at Lemnos by "Davido Achridensi Sami præfecto ac Nicephoro Cabasila duce Thessalonicæ". m thirdly (after 1011) [ADELIA] [von Öhningen, daughter of KONRAD Duke of Swabia & his wife Richlint ---] (-after 14 Aug 1018). The Genealogia Welforum refers to the four daughters of "Chuno comes [et] filia Ottonis Magni imperatoris", specifying that the third (unnamed) married "regi Rugorum". The Historia Welforum refers to the four daughters of "Couno comes" and "filia Ottonis magnis imperatoris…Richlint", specifying that they married "una Roudolfo isti [=Welforum], alia cuidam de Rinveldin, parenti Zaringiorum, tercia regie Rugiorum, quarta comiti de Diezon". As noted in the document SWABIA DUKES, these two sources are unreliable in their recording of the sons of Konrad I Duke of Swabia, so should not be assumed to be any more precise in recording his daughters. The primary source which confirms her name has not yet been identified.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_I_of_Kiev

Vladimir the Great was the grand prince of Kiev who converted to Christianity in 988, and proceeded to baptise the whole Kievan Rus'.

Way to the throne

Vladimir was born in 958 and was the youngest son of Sviatoslav I of Kiev by his housekeeper Malusha, described in the Norse sagas as a prophetess who lived to the age of 100 and was brought from her cave to the palace to predict the future. Malusha's brother Dobrynya was Vladimir's tutor and most trusted advisor. Hagiographic tradition of dubious authenticity also connects his childhood with the name of his grandmother, Olga Prekrasa, who was Christian and governed the capital during Sviatoslav's frequent military campaigns.

Transferring his capital to Pereyaslavets in 969, Sviatoslav designated Vladimir ruler of Novgorod the Great but gave Kiev to his legitimate son Yaropolk. After Sviatoslav's death (972), a fratricidal war erupted (976) between Yaropolk and his younger brother Oleg, ruler of the Drevlians. In 977 Vladimir fled to his kinsmen Haakon Sigurdsson, ruler of Norway in Scandinavia, collecting as many of the Viking warriors as he could to assist him to recover Novgorod, and on his return the next year marched against Yaropolk.

On his way to Kiev he sent ambassadors to Rogvolod (Norse: Ragnvald), prince of Polotsk, to sue for the hand of his daughter Rogneda (Norse: Ragnhild). The well-born princess refused to affiance herself to the son of a bondswoman, but Vladimir attacked Polotsk, slew Rogvolod, and took Ragnhild by force. Actually, Polotsk was a key fortress on the way to Kiev, and the capture of Polotsk and Smolensk facilitated the taking of Kiev (980), where he slew Yaropolk by treachery, and was proclaimed konung, or khagan, of all Kievan Rus.

Years of pagan rule

Vladimir continued to expand his territories beyond his father's extensive domain. In 981, he conquered the Cherven cities, the modern Galicia; in 983, he subdued the Yatvingians, whose territories lay between Lithuania and Poland; in 985, he led a fleet along the central rivers of Kievan Rus' to conquer the Bulgars of the Kama, planting numerous fortresses and colonies on his way.

Though Christianity had won many converts since Olga's rule, Vladimir had remained a thoroughgoing pagan, taking eight hundred concubines (besides numerous wives) and erecting pagan statues and shrines to gods. He may have attempted to reform Slavic paganism by establishing the thunder-god, Perun, as a supreme deity. "Although Christianity in Kiev existed before Vladimir’s time, he had remained a pagan, accumulated about seven wives, established temples, and, it is said, taken part in idolatrous rites involving human sacrifice."

“In 983, after another of his military successes, Prince Vladimir and his army thought it necessary to sacrifice human lives to the gods. A lot was cast and it fell on a youth, Ioann by name, the son of a Christian, Fyodor. His father stood firmly against his son being sacrificed to the idols. More than that, he tried to show the pagans the futility of their faith: ‘Your gods are just plain wood: it is here now but it may rot into oblivion tomorrow; your gods neither eat, nor drink, nor talk and are made by human hand from wood; whereas there is only one God — He is worshipped by Greeks and He created heaven and earth; and your gods? They have created nothing, for they have been created themselves; never will I give my son to the devils!’”

An open abuse of the deities, to which most Russians bowed in reverence in those times, triggered widespread indignation. Rampant crowds killed the Christian Fyodor and his son Ioann (later, after the overall christening of Russia, people came to regard these two as the first Christian martyrs in Russia and the Orthodox Church set a day to commemorate them, July 25th).

Immediately after the murder of Fyodor and Ioann, early mediaeval Russia saw persecutions against Christians, many of whom escaped or concealed their belief.

However, Prince Vladimir mused over the incident long after, and not in the last place, for political considerations too. The chronicles have it that different preachers came to the Prince, each offering a particular faith. Vladimir spoke to Muslims, Catholics, and Jews, but for different reasons rejected all the religions. Finally, a Greek philosopher told the prince of the Old and New Testaments and presented him with a canvas depicting Doomsday. When he learned of the fate of the unrepentant were in for, Prince Vladimir was benumbed by terror and after a short pause said with a sigh: “Blessed are the doers of good and damned are the evil doers!”"

Baptism of Rus'

The Primary Chronicle reports that in the year 987, as the result of a consultation with his boyars, Vladimir sent envoys to study the religions of the various neighboring nations whose representatives had been urging him to embrace their respective faiths. The result is amusingly described by the chronicler Nestor. Of the Muslim Bulgarians of the Volga the envoys reported there is no gladness among them; only sorrow and a great stench. They also said that the Bulgars' religion was undesirable due to its taboo against alcoholic beverages and pork[citation needed]; supposedly, Vladimir said on that occasion: "Drinking is the joy of the Rus'." Russian sources also describe Vladimir consulting with Jewish envoys (who may or may not have been Khazars), and questioning them about their religion but ultimately rejecting it, saying that their loss of Jerusalem was evidence of their having been abandoned by God. Ultimately Vladimir settled on Christianity. In the churches of the Germans his emissaries saw no beauty; but at Constantinople, where the full festival ritual of the Byzantine Church was set in motion to impress them, they found their ideal: "We no longer knew whether we were in heaven or on earth," they reported, describing a majestic Divine Liturgy in Hagia Sophia, "nor such beauty, and we know not how to tell of it." If Vladimir was impressed by this account of his envoys, he was yet more so by political gains of the Byzantine alliance.

A mid-19th century statue overlooking the Dnieper at Kiev, by Peter Klodt and Vasily Demut-Malinovsky

In 988, having taken the town of Chersonesos in Crimea, he boldly negotiated for the hand of the emperor Basil II's sister, Anna. Never before had a Byzantine imperial princess, and one "born-in-the-purple" at that, married a barbarian, as matrimonial offers of French kings and German emperors had been peremptorily rejected. In short, to marry the 27-year-old princess off to a pagan Slav seemed impossible. Vladimir, however, was baptized at Cherson, taking the Christian name of Basil out of compliment to his imperial brother-in-law; the sacrament was followed by his wedding with Anna. Returning to Kiev in triumph, he destroyed pagan monuments and established many churches, starting with the splendid Church of the Tithes (989) and monasteries on Mt. Athos.

Arab sources, both Muslim and Christian, present a different story of Vladimir's conversion. Yahya of Antioch, al-Rudhrawari, al-Makin, al-Dimashki, and ibn al-Athir[6] all give essentially the same account. In 987, Bardas Sclerus and Bardas Phocas revolted against the Byzantine emperor Basil II. Both rebels briefly joined forces, but then Bardas Phocas proclaimed himself emperor on September 14, 987. Basil II turned to the Kievan Rus' for assistance, even though they were considered enemies at that time. Vladimir agreed, in exchange for a marital tie; he also agreed to accept Orthodox Christianity as his religion and bring his people to the new faith. When the wedding arrangements were settled, Vladimir dispatched 6,000 troops to the Byzantine Empire and they helped to put down the revolt.

Christian reign

He then formed a great council out of his boyars, and set his twelve sons over his subject principalities.

It is mentioned in the Primary Chronicle that Vladimir founded the city of Belgorod in 991.

In 992 he went on a campaign against the Croats, most likely the White Croats (an East Slavic group unrelated to the Croats of Dalmatia) that lived on the border of modern Ukraine. This campaign was cut short by the attacks of the Pechenegs on and around Kiev.

In his later years he lived in a relative peace with his other neighbors: Boleslav I of Poland, Stephen I of Hungary, Andrikh the Czech (questionable character mentioned in A Tale of the Bygone Years).

After Anna's death, he married again, most likely to a granddaughter of Otto the Great.

In 1014 his son Yaroslav the Wise stopped paying tribute. Vladimir decided to chastise the insolence of his son, and began gathering troops against Yaroslav. However, Vladimir fell ill, most likely of old age and died at Berestovo, near Kiev.

The various parts of his dismembered body were distributed among his numerous sacred foundations and were venerated as relics.

Family

The fate of all Vladimir's daughters is uncertain whose number is around nine.

* Olava or Allogia (Varangian), speculative she might have been mother of Vysheslav while others claim that it is a confusion with Helena Lekapena
o Vysheslav (~977-~1010), Prince of Novgorod (988 - 1010)
* a widow of Yaropolk I, a Greek nun
o Sviatopolk the Accursed (~979), possibly the surviving son of Yaropolk
* Rogneda (the daughter of Rogvolod), later upon divorce she entered a convent taking the Christian name of Anastasia
o Yaroslav the Wise (no ealier than 983), Prince of Rostov (987-1010), Prince of Novgorod (1010-1034), Grand Prince of Kyiv (1016-1018, 1019-1054). Possibly he was a son of Anna rather than Rogneda. Another interesting fact that he was younger than Sviatopolk according to the words of Boris in the Tale of Bygone Years and not as it was officially known. Also the fact of him being the Prince of Rostov is highly doubtful although not discarded.
o Vsevolod (~984-1013), possibly the Swedish Prince Wissawald of Volyn (~1000)
o Mstislav, other Mstislav that possibly died as an infant if he was ever born
o Mstislav of Chernigov (~983), Prince of Tmutarakan (990-1036), Prince of Chernigov (1024-1036), other sources claim him to be son of other mothers (Adela, Malfrida, or some other Bulgarian wife)
o Izyaslav of Polotsk(~979, Kyiv), Prince of Polotsk (989-1001)
o Predslava, a concubine of Boleslaw I Chrobry according to Gesta principum Polonorum
o Premislava, (? - 1015), some source state that she was a wife of the Duke Laszlo (Vladislav) the Bold of Arpadians
o Mstislava, in 1018 was taken by Boleslaw I Chrobry among the other daughters
* Bulgarian Adela, some sources claim that Adela is not necessarily Bulgarian as Boris and Gleb were born from some other wife
o Boris (~986), Prince of Rostov (~1010-1015), remarkable is the fact that Rostov Principality as well as the Principality of Murom used to border the territory of Volga Bolgars
o Gleb (~987), Prince of Murom (1013-1015), as Boris, Gleb is being also claimed the son of Anna Porphyrogeneta
o Stanislav (~985-1015), Prince of Smolensk (988-1015), possible of another wife and a fate of whom is not certain
o Sudislav (?-1063), Prince of Pskov (1014-1036), possible of another wife, but he is mentioned in Nikon's Chronicles. He spent 35 years in prison and later before dying turned into a monk.
* Malfrida
o Sviatoslav (~982-1015), Prince of Drevlians (990-1015)
* Anna Porphyrogeneta
o Theofana, a wife of Novgorod posadnik Ostromir, a grandson of semi-legendary Dobrynya (highly doubtful is the fact of her being Anna's offspring)
* a granddaughter of Otto the Great (possibly Rechlinda Otona [Regelindis])
o Maria (~1012), the Duchess of Poland (1040-1087)
o Agatha, a theoretical daughter according to Jette
* other possible family
o a out-of-marriage daughter (?-1044), a wife of the Nordmark Margrave Bernard
o Pozvizd (prior to 988-?), a son of Vladimir according to Hustyn Chronicles. He, possibly, was the Prince Khrisokhir mentioned by Niketas Choniates.
Vladimir's significance and historical footprint

One of the largest Kievan cathedrals is dedicated to him. The University of Kiev was named after the man who Christianized Kievan Rus. There is the Russian Order of St. Vladimir and Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary in the United States. The Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches celebrate the feast day of St. Vladimir on 15 July.

His memory was also kept alive by innumerable Russian folk ballads and legends, which refer to him as Krasno Solnyshko, that is, the Fair Sun. With him the Varangian period of Eastern Slavic history ceases and the Christian period begins. ______________________________________________________

Vladimir was the youngest son of Sviatoslav I of Kiev by his housekeeper Malusha, described in the Norse sagas as a prophetess who lived to the age of 100 and was brought from her cave to the palace to predict the future. Malusha's brother Dobrynya was Vladimir's tutor and most trusted advisor.

In 977 Vladimir fled to his kinsmen Haakon Sigurdsson, ruler of Norway in Scandinavia, collecting as many of the Viking warriors as he could to assist him to recover Novgorod, and on his return the next year marched against Yaropolk.

On his way to Kiev he sent ambassadors to Rogvolod (Norse: Ragnvald), prince of Polotsk, to sue for the hand of his daughter Rogneda (Norse: Ragnhild). The well-born princess refused to affiance herself to the son of a bondswoman, but Vladimir attacked Polotsk, slew Rogvolod, and took Ragnhild by force. Actually, Polotsk was a key fortress on the way to Kiev, and the capture of Polotsk and Smolensk facilitated the taking of Kiev (980), where he slew Yaropolk by treachery, and was proclaimed konung, or khagan, of all Kievan Rus.

Family life and children of Vladimir I

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Until his baptism, Vladimir I of Kiev (c.958–1015) was described by Thietmar of Merseburg as a great profligate (Latin: fornicator maximus). He had a few hundred concubines in Kiev and in the country residence of Berestovo. He also had official pagan wives, the most famous being Rogneda of Polotsk. His other wives are mentioned in the Primary Chronicle, with various children assigned to various wives in the different versions of the document. Hence, speculations abound.
Norse wife

Norse sagas mention that, while ruling in Novgorod in his early days, Vladimir had a Varangian wife named Olava or Allogia. This unusual name is probably a feminine form of Olaf. According to Snorri Sturluson the runaway Olaf Tryggvason was sheltered by Allogia in her house; she also paid a large fine for him.

Several authorities, notably Rydzevskaya ("Ancient Rus and Scandinavia in 9-14 cent.", 1978), hold that later skalds confused Vladimir's wife Olava with his grandmother and tutor Olga, with Allogia being the distorted form of Olga's name. Others postulate Olava was a real person and the mother of Vysheslav, the first of Vladimir's sons to reign in Novgorod, as behooves the eldest son and heir. On the other hand, there is no evidence that the tradition of sending the eldest son of Kievan monarch to Novgorod existed at such an early date.

Those scholars who believe that this early Norse wife was not fictitious, suppose that Vladimir could have married her during his famous exile in Scandinavia in the late 970s. They usually refer an account in Ingvars saga (in a part called Eymund's saga) which tells that Eric VI of Sweden married his daughter to a 'konung of fjord lying to the East from Holmgard'. This prince may have been Vladimir the Great.

Polotsk wife

Main article: Rogneda of Polotsk

Rogneda of Polotsk is the best known of Vladimir's pagan wives, although her ancestry has fuelled the drollest speculations. See this article for extensive but tenuous arguments for her Yngling royal descent.

The Primary Chronicle mentions three of Rogneda's sons - Izyaslav of Polotsk (+1001), Vsevolod of Volhynia (+ca 995), and Yaroslav the Wise. Following an old Yngling tradition, Izyaslav inherited the lands of his maternal grandfather, i.e., Polotsk. According to the Kievan succession law, his progeny forfeited their rights to the Kievan throne, because their forefather had never ruled in Kiev supreme. They, however, retained the principality of Polotsk and formed a dynasty of local rulers, of which Vseslav the Sorcerer was the most notable.

Greek wife

During his unruly youth, Vladimir begot his eldest son, Sviatopolk, relations with whom would cloud his declining years. His mother was a Greek nun captured by Svyatoslav I in Bulgaria and married to his lawful heir Yaropolk I. Russian historian Vasily Tatischev, invariably erring in the matters of onomastics, gives her the fanciful Roman name of Julia. When Yaropolk was murdered by Vladimir's agents, the new sovereign raped his wife and she soon (some would say, too soon) gave birth to a child. Thus, Sviatopolk was probably the eldest of Vladimir's sons, although the issue of his parentage has been questioned and he has been known in the family as "the son of two fathers".

Bohemian wife

Main article: Malfrida

Vladimir apparently had a Czech wife, whose name is given by Vasily Tatishchev as Malfrida. Historians have gone to extremes in order to provide a political rationale behind such an alliance, as the Czech princes are assumed to have backed up Vladimir's brother Yaropolk rather than Vladimir. His children by these marriage were probably Svyatoslav of Smolensk, killed during the 1015 internecine war, and Mstislav of Chernigov. Some chronicles, however, report that Rogneda was Mstislav's mother.

Bulgarian wife

Another wife was a Bulgarian lady, whose name is given by Tatishchev as Adela. Historians have disagreed as to whether she came from Volga Bulgaria or from Bulgaria on the Danube. According to the Primary Chronicle, both Boris and Gleb were her children. This tradition, however, is viewed by most scholars as a product of later hagiographical tendency to merge the identity of both saints. Actually, they were of different age and their names point to different cultural traditions. Judging by his Oriental name, Boris could have been Adela's only offspring.

Anna Porphyrogeneta

Anna Porphyrogeneta, daughter of Emperor Romanos II and Theophano, was the only princess of the Makedones to have been married to a foreigner. The Byzantine emperors regarded the Franks and Russians as barbarians, refusing Hugues Capet's proposals to marry Anna to his son Robert I, so the Baptism of Kievan Rus was a prerequisite for this marriage. Following the wedding, Vladimir is said to have divorced all his pagan wives, although this claim is disputed. Regarded by later Russians as a saint, Anna was interred with her husband in the Church of the Tithes.

Anna is not known to have had any children. Either her possible barrenness or the Byzantine house rule could account for this. Had she had any progeny, the prestigious and much sought imperial parentage would have certainly been advertised by her descendants. Hagiographic sources, contrary to the Primary Chronicle, posit Boris and Gleb as her offspring, on the understanding that holy brothers should have had a holy mother.

German wife

Anna is known to have predeceased Vladimir by four years. Thietmar of Merseburg, writing from contemporary accounts, mentions that Boleslaw I of Poland captured Vladimir's widow during his raid on Kiev in 1018. The historians long had no clue as to identity of this wife. The emigre historian Nicholas Baumgarten, however, pointed to the controversial record of the "Genealogia Welforum" and the "Historia Welforum Weingartensis" that one daughter of Count Kuno von Oenningen (future Duke Konrad of Swabia) by "filia Ottonis Magni imperatoris" (Otto the Great's daughter; possibly Rechlinda Otona [Regelindis], claimed by some as illegitimate daughter and by others legitimate, born from his first marriage with Edith of Wessex) married "rex Rugorum" (king of Russia). He interpreted this evidence as pertaining to Vladimir's last wife.

It is believed that the only child of this alliance was Dobronega, or Maria, who married Casimir I of Poland between 1038 and 1042. As her father Vladimir died about 25 years before that marriage and she was still young enough to bear at least five children, including two future Polish dukes (Boleslaw II of Poland, who later became a king, and Wladyslaw Herman), it is thought probable that she was Vladimir's daughter by the last marriage.

Some sources claimed Agatha, the wife of Edward the Exile of England, was another daughter of this marriage and full-sister of Dobronegra. Their marriage took place by the same time of Dobronegra's wedding (the date of birth of her first child support this) and this maybe because was double wedding of both sisters. This can resolve the question about the connection between Agatha and the Holy Roman Empire claimed by several medieval sources.

Yaroslav's parentage

There is also a case for Yaroslav's descent from Anna. According to this theory, Nestor the Chronicler deliberately represented Yaroslav as Rogneda's son, because he systematically removed all information concerning Kievan ties with Byzantium, spawning pro-Varangian bias (see Normanist theory for details). Proponents allege that Yaroslav's true age was falsified by Nestor, who attempted to represent him as 10 years older than he actually had been, in order to justify Yaroslav's seizure of the throne at the expense of his older brothers.

The Primary Chronicle, for instance, states that Yaroslav died at the age of 76 in 1054 (thus putting his birth at 978), while dating Vladimir's encounter and marriage to Yaroslav's purported mother, Rogneda, to 980. Elsewhere, speaking about Yaroslav's rule in Novgorod (1016), Nestor says that Yaroslav was 28, thus putting his birth at 988. The forensic analysis of Yaroslav's skeleton seems to have confirmed these suspicions, estimating Yaroslav's birth at ca. 988-990, after both the Baptism of Kievan Rus and Vladimir's divorce of Rogneda. Consequently, it is assumed that Yaroslav was either Vladimir's natural son born after the latter's baptism or his son by Anna.

Had Yaroslav an imperial Byzantine descent, he likely would not have stinted to advertise it. Some have seen the willingness of European kings to marry Yaroslav's daughters as an indication of this imperial descent. Subsequent Polish chroniclers and historians, in particular, were eager to view Yaroslav as Anna's son. Recent proponents invoke onomastic arguments, which have often proven decisive in the matters of medieval prosopography. It is curious that Yaroslav named his elder son Vladimir (after his own father) and his eldest daughter Anna (as if after his own mother). Also, there is a certain pattern in his sons having Slavic names (as Vladimir), and his daughters having Greek names only (as Anna). However, in the absence of better sources, Anna's maternity remains a pure speculation.

Obscure offspring

Vladimir had several children whose maternity cannot be established with certainty. These include two sons, Stanislav of Smolensk and Sudislav of Pskov, the latter outliving all of his siblings. There is also one daughter, named Predslava, who was captured by Boleslaw I in Kiev and taken with him to Poland as a concubine. Another daughter, Premyslava, is attested in numerous (though rather late) Hungarian sources as the wife of Duke Ladislaus, one of the early Arpadians.

Saint Vladimir Svyatoslavich the Great (c. 958 – 15 July 1015, Berestovo) was the grand prince of Kiev who converted to Christianity in 988[1], and proceeded to baptise the whole Kievan Rus. His name may be spelled in different ways: in Old East Slavic and modern Ukrainian as Volodimir (?????????), in Old Church Slavonic and modern Russian as Vladimir (????????), in Old Norse as Valdamarr and the modern Scandinavian languages as Valdemar.

Way to the throne

Vladimir was the youngest son of Sviatoslav I of Kiev by his housekeeper Malusha, described in the Norse sagas as a prophetess who lived to the age of 100 and was brought from her cave to the palace to predict the future. Malusha's brother Dobrynya was Vladimir's tutor and most trusted advisor. Hagiographic tradition of dubious authenticity also connects his childhood with the name of his grandmother, Olga Prekrasa, who was Christian and governed the capital during Sviatoslav's frequent military campaigns.

Transferring his capital to Preslavets in 969, Sviatoslav designated Vladimir ruler of Novgorod the Great but gave Kiev to his legitimate son Yaropolk. After Sviatoslav's death (972), a fratricidal war erupted (976) between Yaropolk and his younger brother Oleg, ruler of the Drevlians. In 977 Vladimir fled to his kinsmen Haakon Sigurdsson, ruler of Norway in Scandinavia, collecting as many of the Viking warriors as he could to assist him to recover Novgorod, and on his return the next year marched against Yaropolk.

On his way to Kiev he sent ambassadors to Rogvolod (Norse: Ragnvald), prince of Polotsk, to sue for the hand of his daughter Rogneda (Norse: Ragnhild). The well-born princess refused to affiance herself to the son of a bondswoman, but Vladimir attacked Polotsk, slew Rogvolod, and took Ragnhild by force. Actually, Polotsk was a key fortress on the way to Kiev, and the capture of Polotsk and Smolensk facilitated the taking of Kiev (980), where he slew Yaropolk by treachery, and was proclaimed konung, or khagan, of all Kievan Rus.

Years of pagan rule

In addition to his father's extensive domain, Vladimir continued to expand his territories. In 981 he conquered the Cherven cities, the modern Galicia; in 983 he subdued the Yatvingians, whose territories lay between Lithuania and Poland; in 985 he led a fleet along the central rivers of Russia to conquer the Bulgars of the Kama, planting numerous fortresses and colonies on his way.

Though Christianity had won many converts since Olga's rule, Vladimir had remained a thorough going pagan, taking eight hundred concubines (besides numerous wives) and erecting pagan statues and shrines to gods. It is argued that he attempted to reform Slavic paganism by establishing thunder-god Perun as a supreme deity.

Baptism of Rus

The Primary Chronicle reports that in the year 987, as the result of a consultation with his boyars, Vladimir sent envoys to study the religions of the various neighboring nations whose representatives had been urging him to embrace their respective faiths. The result is amusingly described by the chronicler Nestor. Of the Muslim Bulgarians of the Volga the envoys reported there is no gladness among them; only sorrow and a great stench, and that their religion was undesirable due to its taboo against alcoholic beverages and pork; supposedly, Vladimir said on that occasion: "Drinking is the joy of the Rus'." Russian sources also describe Vladimir consulting with Jewish envoys (who may or may not have been Khazars), and questioning them about their religion but ultimately rejecting it, saying that their loss of Jerusalem was evidence of their having been abandoned by God. Ultimately Vladimir settled on Christianity. In the churches of the Germans his emissaries saw no beauty; but at Constantinople, where the full festival ritual of the Byzantine Church was set in motion to impress them, they found their ideal: "We no longer knew whether we were in heaven or on earth," they reported, describing a majestic Divine Liturgy in Hagia Sophia, "nor such beauty, and we know not how to tell of it." If Vladimir was impressed by this account of his envoys, he was yet more so by political gains of the Byzantine alliance.

In 988, having taken the town of Chersonesos in Crimea, he boldly negotiated for the hand of the emperor Basil II's sister, Anna. Never had a Greek imperial princess, and one "born-in-the-purple" at that, married a barbarian before, as matrimonial offers of French kings and German emperors had been peremptorily rejected. In short, to marry the 27-year-old princess off to a pagan Slav seemed impossible. Vladimir, however, was baptized at Cherson, taking the Christian name of Basil out of compliment to his imperial brother-in-law; the sacrament was followed by his wedding with Anna. Returning to Kiev in triumph, he destroyed pagan monuments and established many churches, starting with the splendid Church of the Tithes (989) and monasteries on Mt. Athos.

Arab sources, both Muslim and Christian, present a different story of Vladimir's conversion. Yahya of Antioch, al-Rudhrawari, al-Makin, al-Dimashki, and ibn al-Athir[2] all give essentially the same account. In 987, Bardas Sclerus and Bardas Phocas revolted against the Byzantine emperor Basil II. Both rebels briefly joined forces, but then Bardas Phocas proclaimed himself emperor on September 14, 987. Basil II turned to the Kievan Rus' for assistance, even though they were considered enemies at that time. Vladimir agreed, in exchange for a marital tie; he also agreed to accept Orthodox Christianity as his religion and bring his people to the new faith. When the wedding arrangements were settled, Vladimir dispatched 6,000 troops to the Byzantine Empire and they helped to put down the revolt.

Christian reign

He then formed a great council out of his boyars, and set his twelve sons over his subject principalities. With his neighbors he lived at peace, the incursions of the Pechenegs alone disturbing his tranquillity. After Anna's death, he married again, most likely to a granddaughter of Otto the Great.

He died at Berestovo, near Kiev, while on his way to chastise the insolence of his son, Prince Yaroslav of Novgorod. The various parts of his dismembered body were distributed among his numerous sacred foundations and were venerated as relics. One of the largest Kievan cathedrals is dedicated to him. The University of Kiev was named after the man who both civilized and Christianized Kievan Rus. There is the Russian Order of St. Vladimir and Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary in the United States. The Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches celebrate the feast day of St. Vladimir on 15 July.

His memory was also kept alive by innumerable Russian folk ballads and legends, which refer to him as Krasno Solnyshko, that is, the Fair Sun. With him the Varangian period of Eastern Slavic history ceases and the Christian period begins.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_I_of_Kiev

Saint Vladimir Svyatoslavich the Great, also sometimes spelled Volodymyr Old East Slavic: ?????????? ???????????? (c. 958 – 15 July 1015, Berestovo) was the grand prince of Kiev who converted to Christianity in 988[1], and proceeded to baptise the whole Kievan Rus. His name may be spelled in different ways: in modern Ukrainian as Volodymyr (?????????), in Old Church Slavonic and modern Russian as Vladimir (????????), in Old Norse as Valdamarr and the modern Scandinavian languages as Valdemar.

Storfyrste Vladimir I Svjatoslavitj -den store-den Hellige av Kiev

Saint Vladimir Svyatoslavich the Great (c. 958 – 15 July 1015, Berestovo) was the grand prince of Kiev who converted to Christianity in 988, and proceeded to baptise the whole Kievan Rus. His name may be spelled in different ways: in Old East Slavic as Volodimir (?????????), in modern Ukrainian as Volodymyr (?????????), in Old Church Slavonic and modern Russian as Vladimir (????????), in Old Norse as Valdamarr and the modern Scandinavian languages as Valdemar.

Painting: Vladimir and Rogneda

Vladimir was the youngest son of Sviatoslav I of Kiev by his housekeeper Malusha, described in the Norse sagas as a prophetess who lived to the age of 100 and was brought from her cave to the palace to predict the future. Malusha's brother Dobrynya was Vladimir's tutor and most trusted advisor. Hagiographic tradition of dubious authenticity also connects his childhood with the name of his grandmother, Olga Prekrasa, who was Christian and governed the capital during Sviatoslav's frequent military campaigns.

Vladimir Svyatoslavich the Great (c. 958 – July 15, 1015, Berestovo), also known as Saint Vladimir of Kiev, was the grand prince of Kiev who converted to Christianity in 987 and is generally credited as the person most responsible for the Christianization of Russia.

The illegitimate son of Prince Sviatoslav I of Kiev, Vladmir consolidated the Kievan Rus' from the Ukraine to the Baltic Sea through his military exploits. During his early reign, he remained a zealous pagan, devoting himself to the Slavic-Norse deities, establishing numerous temples, and practicing polygamy. In 987, however, he converted to Christianity as a condition of a marriage alliance with Anna, the daughter of the Byzantine Emperor Basil II. He then ordered the conversion of Kiev and Novgorod to the Orthodox Church and began the destruction of other faiths.

After his conversion, and with the Byzantine Empire now his ally, Vladimir was able to live for the most part in peace with his neighbors and devote new resources to education, legal reform, and charitable works. The Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches celebrate the feast day of St. Vladimir on July 15. A large number of legends and Russian folk songs were written in Vladimir’s memory.

Returning to Kiev, Vladimir began the conversion of his people to Christianity. He formed a great council out of his boyars, and set twelve of his sons over his various principalities. He put away his former pagan wives and mistresses and destroyed pagan temples, statues, and holy sites. He built churches and monasteries and imported Greek Orthodox missionaries to educate his subjects. He also reportedly gave generously to various charitable works. After Anna's death, he married again, most likely to a granddaughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Otto the Great.

Not all of Vladimir's subjects accepted his policies peacefully, however. Among these were some of his former wives and their sons. Several of these princes rose in armed rebellion, notably Prince Yaroslav of Novgorod. In the course of putting down this revolt, Vladimir died in battle at Berestovo, near Kiev on July 15,

St. Vladimir I, Grand Duke of Kiev (1)

M, #220658, d. 1015

Last Edited=7 Mar 2007

St. Vladimir I, Grand Duke of Kiev was the son of Svyatolslav I, Grand Duke of Kiev.1 He married Anna (?), daughter of Romanus II, Emperor of Constantinople. (2)
He died in 1015. (1)

St. Vladimir I, Grand Duke of Kiev succeeded to the title of Grand Duke St. Vladimir I of Kiev in 978. (1)
Children of St. Vladimir I, Grand Duke of Kiev and Anna (?)

-1. Boris of Kiev d. 1015 (2)

-2. Gleb of Kiev d. 1015 (2)

Children of St. Vladimir I, Grand Duke of Kiev

-1. Jarislaus I, Grand Duke of Kiev+ d. 1054 (1)

-2. Svyatopolk I, Grand Duke of Kiev+ d. 1019 (1)

-3. unknown (?)+ 1

-4. Dobronega Maria of Kiev+ b. c 1011, d. 1087 (3)

Forrás:

http://www.thepeerage.com/p22066.htm#i220658

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_I,_Prince_of_Kiev

Vladimir Svyatoslavich the Great, also sometimes spelled Volodymer Old East Slavic: ?????????? ???????????? (c. 958 – 15 July 1015, Berestovo) was the grand prince of Kiev who converted to Christianity in 988[1][2][3], and proceeded to baptise the whole Kievan Rus'. His name is spelt variously: in modern Ukrainian, for example, as Volodymyr (?????????); in Old Church Slavonic and modern Russian, as Vladimir (????????); in Old Norse as Valdamarr; and, in modern Scandinavian languages, "Valdemar".

Way to the throne

Vladimir and Rogneda (1770).

Vladimir was born in 958 and was the youngest son of Sviatoslav I of Kiev by his housekeeper Malusha, described in the Norse sagas as a prophetess who lived to the age of 100 and was brought from her cave to the palace to predict the future. Malusha's brother Dobrynya was Vladimir's tutor and most trusted advisor. Hagiographic tradition of dubious authenticity also connects his childhood with the name of his grandmother, Olga Prekrasa, who was Christian and governed the capital during Sviatoslav's frequent military campaigns.

Transferring his capital to Pereyaslavets in 969, Sviatoslav designated Vladimir ruler of Novgorod the Great but gave Kiev to his legitimate son Yaropolk. After Sviatoslav's death (972), a fratricidal war erupted (976) between Yaropolk and his younger brother Oleg, ruler of the Drevlians. In 977 Vladimir fled to his kinsmen Haakon Sigurdsson, ruler of Norway in Scandinavia, collecting as many of the Viking warriors as he could to assist him to recover Novgorod, and on his return the next year marched against Yaropolk.

On his way to Kiev he sent ambassadors to Rogvolod (Norse: Ragnvald), prince of Polotsk, to sue for the hand of his daughter Rogneda (Norse: Ragnhild). The well-born princess refused to affiance herself to the son of a bondswoman, but Vladimir attacked Polotsk, slew Rogvolod, and took Ragnhild by force. Actually, Polotsk was a key fortress on the way to Kiev, and the capture of Polotsk and Smolensk facilitated the taking of Kiev (980), where he slew Yaropolk by treachery, and was proclaimed konung, or khagan, of all Kievan Rus.

Years of pagan rule

Vladimir continued to expand his territories beyond his father's extensive domain. In 981, he conquered the Cherven cities, the modern Galicia; in 983, he subdued the Yatvingians, whose territories lay between Lithuania and Poland; in 985, he led a fleet along the central rivers of Kievan Rus' to conquer the Bulgars of the Kama, planting numerous fortresses and colonies on his way.

Though Christianity had won many converts since Olga's rule, Vladimir had remained a thoroughgoing pagan, taking eight hundred concubines (besides numerous wives) and erecting pagan statues and shrines to gods. He may have attempted to reform Slavic paganism by establishing the thunder-god, Perun, as a supreme deity. "Although Christianity in Kiev existed before Vladimir’s time, he had remained a pagan, accumulated about seven wives, established temples, and, it is said, taken part in idolatrous rites involving human sacrifice." [4]

“In 983, after another of his military successes, Prince Vladimir and his army thought it necessary to sacrifice human lives to the gods. A lot was cast and it fell on a youth, Ioann by name, the son of a Christian, Fyodor. His father stood firmly against his son being sacrificed to the idols. More than that, he tried to show the pagans the futility of their faith: ‘Your gods are just plain wood: it is here now but it may rot into oblivion tomorrow; your gods neither eat, nor drink, nor talk and are made by human hand from wood; whereas there is only one God — He is worshipped by Greeks and He created heaven and earth; and your gods? They have created nothing, for they have been created themselves; never will I give my son to the devils!’”

An open abuse of the deities, to which most Russians bowed in reverence in those times, triggered widespread indignation. Rampant crowds killed the Christian Fyodor and his son Ioann (later, after the overall christening of Russia, people came to regard these two as the first Christian martyrs in Russia and the Orthodox Church set a day to commemorate them, July 25th).

Immediately after the murder of Fyodor and Ioann, early mediaeval Russia saw persecutions against Christians, many of whom escaped or concealed their belief.

However, Prince Vladimir mused over the incident long after, and not in the last place, for political considerations too. The chronicles have it that different preachers came to the Prince, each offering a particular faith. Vladimir spoke to Muslims, Catholics, and Jews, but for different reasons rejected all the religions. Finally, a Greek philosopher told the prince of the Old and New Testaments and presented him with a canvas depicting Doomsday. When he learned of the fate of the unrepentant were in for, Prince Vladimir was benumbed by terror and after a short pause said with a sigh: “Blessed are the doers of good and damned are the evil doers.

Baptism of Rus'

The Primary Chronicle reports that in the year 987, as the result of a consultation with his boyars, Vladimir sent envoys to study the religions of the various neighboring nations whose representatives had been urging him to embrace their respective faiths. The result is amusingly described by the chronicler Nestor. Of the Muslim Bulgarians of the Volga the envoys reported there is no gladness among them; only sorrow and a great stench. They also said that the Bulgars' religion was undesirable due to its taboo against alcoholic beverages and pork[citation needed]; supposedly, Vladimir said on that occasion: "Drinking is the joy of the Rus'."[citation needed] Russian sources also describe Vladimir consulting with Jewish envoys (who may or may not have been Khazars), and questioning them about their religion but ultimately rejecting it, saying that their loss of Jerusalem was evidence of their having been abandoned by God[citation needed]. Ultimately Vladimir settled on Christianity. In the churches of the Germans his emissaries saw no beauty; but at Constantinople, where the full festival ritual of the Byzantine Church was set in motion to impress them, they found their ideal: "We no longer knew whether we were in heaven or on earth," they reported, describing a majestic Divine Liturgy in Hagia Sophia, "nor such beauty, and we know not how to tell of it." If Vladimir was impressed by this account of his envoys, he was yet more so by political gains of the Byzantine alliance.[citation needed]

In 988, having taken the town of Chersonesos in Crimea, he boldly negotiated for the hand of the emperor Basil II's sister, Anna. Never before had a Byzantine imperial princess, and one "born-in-the-purple" at that, married a barbarian, as matrimonial offers of French kings and German emperors had been peremptorily rejected. In short, to marry the 27-year-old princess off to a pagan Slav seemed impossible. Vladimir, however, was baptized at Cherson, taking the Christian name of Basil out of compliment to his imperial brother-in-law; the sacrament was followed by his wedding with Anna. Returning to Kiev in triumph, he destroyed pagan monuments and established many churches, starting with the splendid Church of the Tithes (989) and monasteries on Mt. Athos.

Arab sources, both Muslim and Christian, present a different story of Vladimir's conversion. Yahya of Antioch, al-Rudhrawari, al-Makin, al-Dimashki, and ibn al-Athir[6] all give essentially the same account. In 987, Bardas Sclerus and Bardas Phocas revolted against the Byzantine emperor Basil II. Both rebels briefly joined forces, but then Bardas Phocas proclaimed himself emperor on September 14, 987. Basil II turned to the Kievan Rus' for assistance, even though they were considered enemies at that time. Vladimir agreed, in exchange for a marital tie; he also agreed to accept Orthodox Christianity as his religion and bring his people to the new faith. When the wedding arrangements were settled, Vladimir dispatched 6,000 troops to the Byzantine Empire and they helped to put down the revolt.

Christian reign

Modern statue of Vladimir in London

He then formed a great council out of his boyars, and set his twelve sons over his subject principalities.

It is mentioned in the Primary Chronicle that Vladimir founded the city of Belgorod in 991.

In 992 he went on a campaign against the Croats, most likely the White Croats (an East Slavic group unrelated to the Croats of Dalmatia) that lived on the border of modern Ukraine. This campaign was cut short by the attacks of the Pechenegs on and around Kiev.

In his later years he lived in a relative peace with his other neighbors: Boleslav I of Poland, Stephen I of Hungary, Andrikh the Czech (questionable character mentioned in A Tale of the Bygone Years).

After Anna's death, he married again, most likely to a granddaughter of Otto the Great.

In 1014 his son Yaroslav the Wise stopped paying tribute. Vladimir decided to chastise the insolence of his son, and began gathering troops against Yaroslav. However, Vladimir fell ill, most likely of old age and died at Berestovo, near Kiev.

The various parts of his dismembered body were distributed among his numerous sacred foundations and were venerated as relics.

[edit] Family

The fate of all Vladimir's daughters is uncertain whose number is around nine.

* Olava or Allogia (Varangian), speculative she might have been mother of Vysheslav while others claim that it is a confusion with Helena Lekapena
o Vysheslav (~977-~1010), Prince of Novgorod (988 - 1010)
* a widow of Yaropolk I, a Greek nun
o Sviatopolk the Accursed (~979), possibly the surviving son of Yaropolk
* Rogneda (the daughter of Rogvolod), later upon divorce she entered a convent taking the Christian name of Anastasia
o Yaroslav the Wise (no ealier than 983), Prince of Rostov (987-1010), Prince of Novgorod (1010-1034), Grand Prince of Kyiv (1016-1018, 1019-1054). Possibly he was a son of Anna rather than Rogneda. Another interesting fact that he was younger than Sviatopolk according to the words of Boris in the Tale of Bygone Years and not as it was officially known. Also the fact of him being the Prince of Rostov is highly doubtful although not discarded.
o Vsevolod (~984-1013), possibly the Swedish Prince Wissawald of Volyn (~1000)
o Mstislav, other Mstislav that possibly died as an infant if he was ever born
o Mstislav of Chernigov (~983), Prince of Tmutarakan (990-1036), Prince of Chernigov (1024-1036), other sources claim him to be son of other mothers (Adela, Malfrida, or some other Bulgarian wife)
o Izyaslav of Polotsk(~979, Kyiv), Prince of Polotsk (989-1001)
o Predslava, a concubine of Boleslaw I Chrobry according to Gesta principum Polonorum
o Premislava, (? - 1015), some source state that she was a wife of the Duke Laszlo (Vladislav) the Bold of Arpadians
o Mstislava, in 1018 was taken by Boleslaw I Chrobry among the other daughters
* Bulgarian Adela, some sources claim that Adela is not necessarily Bulgarian as Boris and Gleb were born from some other wife
o Boris (~986), Prince of Rostov (~1010-1015), remarkable is the fact that Rostov Principality as well as the Principality of Murom used to border the territory of Volga Bolgars
o Gleb (~987), Prince of Murom (1013-1015), as Boris, Gleb is being also claimed the son of Anna Porphyrogeneta
o Stanislav (~985-1015), Prince of Smolensk (988-1015), possible of another wife and a fate of whom is not certain
o Sudislav (?-1063), Prince of Pskov (1014-1036), possible of another wife, but he is mentioned in Nikon's Chronicles. He spent 35 years in prison and later before dying turned into a monk.
* Malfrida
o Sviatoslav (~982-1015), Prince of Drevlians (990-1015)
* Anna Porphyrogeneta
o Theofana, a wife of Novgorod posadnik Ostromir, a grandson of semi-legendary Dobrynya (highly doubtful is the fact of her being Anna's offspring)
* a granddaughter of Otto the Great (possibly Rechlinda Otona [Regelindis])
o Maria (~1012), the Duchess of Poland (1040-1087)
o Agatha, a theoretical daughter according to Jette
* other possible family
o a out-of-marriage daughter (?-1044), a wife of the Nordmark Margrave Bernard
o Pozvizd (prior to 988-?), a son of Vladimir according to Hustyn Chronicles. He, possibly, was the Prince Khrisokhir mentioned by Niketas Choniates.
[edit] Vladimir's significance and historical footprint

One of the largest Kievan cathedrals is dedicated to him. The University of Kiev was named after the man who Christianized Kievan Rus. There is the Russian Order of St. Vladimir and Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary in the United States. The Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches celebrate the feast day of St. Vladimir on 15 July.

His memory was also kept alive by innumerable Russian folk ballads and legends, which refer to him as Krasno Solnyshko, that is, the Fair Sun. With him the Varangian period of Eastern Slavic history ceases and the Christian period begins.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_life_and_children_of_Vladimir_I#Anna_Porphyrogeneta

Family life and children of Vladimir I

Until his baptism, Vladimir I of Kiev (c.958–1015) was described by Thietmar of Merseburg as a great profligate (Latin: fornicator maximus). He had a few hundred concubines in Kiev and in the country residence of Berestovo. He also had official pagan wives, the most famous being Rogneda of Polotsk. His other wives are mentioned in the Primary Chronicle, with various children assigned to various wives in the different versions of the document. Hence, speculations abound.

Norse wife

Norse sagas mention that, while ruling in Novgorod in his early days, Vladimir had a Varangian wife named Olava or Allogia. This unusual name is probably a feminine form of Olaf. According to Snorri Sturluson the runaway Olaf Tryggvason was sheltered by Allogia in her house; she also paid a large fine for him.

Several authorities, notably Rydzevskaya ("Ancient Rus and Scandinavia in 9-14 cent.", 1978), hold that later skalds confused Vladimir's wife Olava with his grandmother and tutor Olga, with Allogia being the distorted form of Olga's name. Others postulate Olava was a real person and the mother of Vysheslav, the first of Vladimir's sons to reign in Novgorod, as behooves the eldest son and heir. On the other hand, there is no evidence that the tradition of sending the eldest son of Kievan monarch to Novgorod existed at such an early date.

Those scholars who believe that this early Norse wife was not fictitious, suppose that Vladimir could have married her during his famous exile in Scandinavia in the late 970s. They usually refer an account in Ingvars saga (in a part called Eymund's saga) which tells that Eric VI of Sweden married his daughter to a 'konung of fjord lying to the East from Holmgard'. This prince may have been Vladimir the Great.

[edit] Polotsk wife

Main article: Rogneda of Polotsk
Rogneda of Polotsk is the best known of Vladimir's pagan wives, although her ancestry has fuelled the drollest speculations. See this article for extensive but tenuous arguments for her Yngling royal descent.

The Primary Chronicle mentions three of Rogneda's sons - Izyaslav of Polotsk (+1001), Vsevolod of Volhynia (+ca 995), and Yaroslav the Wise. Following an old Yngling tradition, Izyaslav inherited the lands of his maternal grandfather, i.e., Polotsk. According to the Kievan succession law, his progeny forfeited their rights to the Kievan throne, because their forefather had never ruled in Kiev supreme. They, however, retained the principality of Polotsk and formed a dynasty of local rulers, of which Vseslav the Sorcerer was the most notable.

[edit] Greek wife

During his unruly youth, Vladimir begot his eldest son, Sviatopolk, relations with whom would cloud his declining years. His mother was a Greek nun captured by Svyatoslav I in Bulgaria and married to his lawful heir Yaropolk I. Russian historian Vasily Tatischev, invariably erring in the matters of onomastics, gives her the fanciful Roman name of Julia. When Yaropolk was murdered by Vladimir's agents, the new sovereign raped his wife and she soon (some would say, too soon) gave birth to a child. Thus, Sviatopolk was probably the eldest of Vladimir's sons, although the issue of his parentage has been questioned and he has been known in the family as "the son of two fathers".

[edit] Bohemian wife

Main article: Malfrida
Vladimir apparently had a Czech wife, whose name is given by Vasily Tatishchev as Malfrida. Historians have gone to extremes in order to provide a political rationale behind such an alliance, as the Czech princes are assumed to have backed up Vladimir's brother Yaropolk rather than Vladimir. His children by these marriage were probably Svyatoslav of Smolensk, killed during the 1015 internecine war, and Mstislav of Chernigov. Some chronicles, however, report that Rogneda was Mstislav's mother.

[edit] Bulgarian wife

Another wife was a Bulgarian lady, whose name is given by Tatishchev as Adela. Historians have disagreed as to whether she came from Volga Bulgaria or from Bulgaria on the Danube. According to the Primary Chronicle, both Boris and Gleb were her children. This tradition, however, is viewed by most scholars as a product of later hagiographical tendency to merge the identity of both saints. Actually, they were of different age and their names point to different cultural traditions. Judging by his Oriental name, Boris could have been Adela's only offspring.

[edit] Anna Porphyrogeneta

Anna Porphyrogeneta, daughter of Emperor Romanos II and Theophano, was the only princess of the Makedones to have been married to a foreigner. The Byzantine emperors regarded the Franks and Russians as barbarians, refusing Hugues Capet's proposals to marry Anna to his son Robert I, so the Baptism of Kievan Rus was a prerequisite for this marriage. Following the wedding, Vladimir is said to have divorced all his pagan wives, although this claim is disputed. Regarded by later Russians as a saint, Anna was interred with her husband in the Church of the Tithes.

Anna is not known to have had any children. Either her possible barrenness or the Byzantine house rule could account for this. Had she had any progeny, the prestigious and much sought imperial parentage would have certainly been advertised by her descendants. Hagiographic sources, contrary to the Primary Chronicle, posit Boris and Gleb as her offspring, on the understanding that holy brothers should have had a holy mother.

[edit] German wife

Anna is known to have predeceased Vladimir by four years. Thietmar of Merseburg, writing from contemporary accounts, mentions that Boleslaw I of Poland captured Vladimir's widow during his raid on Kiev in 1018. The historians long had no clue as to identity of this wife. The emigre historian Nicholas Baumgarten, however, pointed to the controversial record of the "Genealogia Welforum" and the "Historia Welforum Weingartensis" that one daughter of Count Kuno von Oenningen (future Duke Konrad of Swabia) by "filia Ottonis Magni imperatoris" (Otto the Great's daughter; possibly Rechlinda Otona [Regelindis], claimed by some as illegitimate daughter and by others legitimate, born from his first marriage with Edith of Wessex) married "rex Rugorum" (king of Russia). He interpreted this evidence as pertaining to Vladimir's last wife.

It is believed that the only child of this alliance was Dobronega, or Maria, who married Casimir I of Poland between 1038 and 1042. As her father Vladimir died about 25 years before that marriage and she was still young enough to bear at least five children, including two future Polish dukes (Boleslaw II of Poland, who later became a king, and Wladyslaw Herman), it is thought probable that she was Vladimir's daughter by the last marriage.

Some sources claimed Agatha, the wife of Edward the Exile of England, was another daughter of this marriage and full-sister of Dobronegra. Their marriage took place by the same time of Dobronegra's wedding (the date of birth of her first child support this) and this maybe because was double wedding of both sisters. This can resolve the question about the connection between Agatha and the Holy Roman Empire claimed by several medieval sources.

[edit] Yaroslav's parentage

There is also a case for Yaroslav's descent from Anna. According to this theory, Nestor the Chronicler deliberately represented Yaroslav as Rogneda's son, because he systematically removed all information concerning Kievan ties with Byzantium, spawning pro-Varangian bias (see Normanist theory for details). Proponents allege that Yaroslav's true age was falsified by Nestor, who attempted to represent him as 10 years older than he actually had been, in order to justify Yaroslav's seizure of the throne at the expense of his older brothers.

The Primary Chronicle, for instance, states that Yaroslav died at the age of 76 in 1054 (thus putting his birth at 978), while dating Vladimir's encounter and marriage to Yaroslav's purported mother, Rogneda, to 980. Elsewhere, speaking about Yaroslav's rule in Novgorod (1016), Nestor says that Yaroslav was 28, thus putting his birth at 988. The forensic analysis of Yaroslav's skeleton seems to have confirmed these suspicions, estimating Yaroslav's birth at ca. 988-990, after both the Baptism of Kievan Rus and Vladimir's divorce of Rogneda. Consequently, it is assumed that Yaroslav was either Vladimir's natural son born after the latter's baptism or his son by Anna.

Had Yaroslav an imperial Byzantine descent, he likely would not have stinted to advertise it. Some have seen the willingness of European kings to marry Yaroslav's daughters as an indication of this imperial descent. Subsequent Polish chroniclers and historians, in particular, were eager to view Yaroslav as Anna's son. Recent proponents invoke onomastic arguments, which have often proven decisive in the matters of medieval prosopography. It is curious that Yaroslav named his elder son Vladimir (after his own father) and his eldest daughter Anna (as if after his own mother). Also, there is a certain pattern in his sons having Slavic names (as Vladimir), and his daughters having Greek names only (as Anna). However, in the absence of better sources, Anna's maternity remains a pure speculation.

[edit] Obscure offspring

Vladimir had several children whose maternity cannot be established with certainty. These include two sons, Stanislav of Smolensk and Sudislav of Pskov, the latter outliving all of his siblings. There is also one daughter, named Predslava, who was captured by Boleslaw I in Kiev and taken with him to Poland as a concubine. Another daughter, Premyslava, is attested in numerous (though rather late) Hungarian sources as the wife of Duke Ladislaus, one of the early Arpadians.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rurik_Dynasty

The Rurik Dynasty was the ruling dynasty of Kievan Rus' (after 862), the successor principalities of Galicia-Volhynia (after 1199), Vladimir-Suzdal, and the Grand Duchy of Moscow, as well as the early Tsardom of Russia (after 1168).

According to the Primary Chronicle, the dynasty was established in 862 by Rurik, the legendary great ruler of Novgorod. The exact origin of his tribe, the Varangians called Rus', is disputed and his ethnicity remains unclear, although Scandinavian and Slavic influences are cited. He and his brothers founded a state that later historians called Kievan Rus'. By the middle of the twelfth century, Kievan Rus' had dissolved into independent principalities (Russian, or Rus' principalities), each ruled by different branches of the Rurik dynasty.

In the west, Galicia-Volhynia continued to be ruled by the Rurikids until 1323. The last ones were two brothers Andrew and Lev II, who ruled jointly and were slain trying to repel Mongol incursions on behalf of the rest of Europe. Polish king Wladyslaw I the Elbow-high in his letter to the Pope wrote with regret: "The two last Ruthenian (Ukrainian) kings, that had been firm shields for Poland from the Tatars, left this world and after their death Poland is directly under Tatar threat." Losing their leadership role, Rurikids, however, continued to play a vital role in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the later Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Most notably, the Ostrogski family held the title of Grand Hetman of Lithuania and strove to preserve the Old Ukrainian language and Eastern Orthodoxy in this part of Europe.

In the north-east, the principality of Moscow won a struggle for supremacy among medieval Rus states by the end of the fifteenth century. Beginning with the reign of Ivan the Terrible, the Muscovite branch of the Rurik dynasty used the title "Tsar of All Russia" and ruled over the Tsardom of Russia. The death in 1598 of Tsar Feodor I ended the rule of the Rurik dynasty. The unstable period known as the Time of Troubles succeeded Feodor's death and lasted until 1613. In that year, Mikhail I ascended the throne, founding the Romanov dynasty that would rule until 1762 and as Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov until the revolutions of 1917. One descendant of the Rurik Grand Prince of Tver was Catherine the Great, who married Peter III of the Romanov dynasty. Historian Vasily Tatishchev and filmmaker Jacques Tati were descended from Rurik.

Saint Vladimir Svyatoslavich the Great (c. 958 – 15 July 1015, Berestovo) was the grand prince of Kiev who converted to Christianity in 988, and proceeded to baptise the whole Kievan Rus. His name may be spelled in different ways: in Old East Slavic as Volodimir (?????????), in modern Ukrainian as Volodymyr (?????????), in Old Church Slavonic and modern Russian as Vladimir (????????), in Old Norse as Valdamarr and the modern Scandinavian languages as Valdemar.

Vladimir Svyatoslavich the Great, also sometimes spelled Volodymer Old East Slavic: ?????????? ???????????? (c. 958 – 15 July 1015, Berestovo) was the grand prince of Kiev who converted to Christianity in 988[1][2][3], and proceeded to baptise the whole Kievan Rus'. His name may be spelled in different ways: in modern Ukrainian as Volodymyr (?????????), in Old Church Slavonic and modern Russian as Vladimir (????????), in Old Norse as Valdamarr and the modern Scandinavian languages as Valdemar.

Way to the throne

Vladimir was the youngest son of Sviatoslav I of Kiev by his housekeeper Malusha, described in the Norse sagas as a prophetess who lived to the age of 100 and was brought from her cave to the palace to predict the future. Malusha's brother Dobrynya was Vladimir's tutor and most trusted advisor. Hagiographic tradition of dubious authenticity also connects his childhood with the name of his grandmother, Olga Prekrasa, who was Christian and governed the capital during Sviatoslav's frequent military campaigns.

Sviatoslav designated Vladimir ruler of Novgorod the Great but gave Kiev to his legitimate son Yaropolk. After Sviatoslav's death (972), a fratricidal war erupted (976) between Yaropolk and his younger brother Oleg, ruler of the Drevlians. In 977 Vladimir fled to his kinsmen Haakon Sigurdsson, ruler of Norway in Scandinavia, collecting as many of the Viking warriors as he could to assist him to recover Novgorod, and on his return the next year marched against Yaropolk.

On his way to Kiev he sent ambassadors to Rogvolod (Norse: Ragnvald), prince of Polotsk, to sue for the hand of his daughter Rogneda (Norse: Ragnhild). The well-born princess refused to affiance herself to the son of a bondswoman, but Vladimir attacked Polotsk, slew Rogvolod, and took Ragnhild by force. Actually, Polotsk was a key fortress on the way to Kiev, and the capture of Polotsk and Smolensk facilitated the taking of Kiev (980), where he slew Yaropolk by treachery, and was proclaimed konung, or khagan, of all Kievan Rus.

Years of pagan rule

In addition to his father's extensive domain, Vladimir continued to expand his territories. In 981 he conquered the Cherven cities, the modern Galicia; in 983 he subdued the Yatvingians, whose territories lay between Lithuania and Poland; in 985 he led a fleet along the central rivers of the Kievan Rus' to conquer the Bulgars of the Kama, planting numerous fortresses and colonies on his way.

Though Christianity had won many converts since Olga's rule, Vladimir had remained a thorough going pagan, taking eight hundred concubines (besides numerous wives) and erecting pagan statues and shrines to gods. It is argued that he attempted to reform Slavic paganism by establishing thunder-god Perun as a supreme deity. "Although Christianity in Kiev existed before Vladimir’s time, he had remained a pagan, accumulated about seven wives, established temples, and, it is said, taken part in idolatrous rites involving human sacrifice." [4]

"In 983, after another of his military successes, Prince Vladimir and his army thought it necessary to sacrifice human lives to the gods. A lot was cast and it fell on a youth, Ioann by name, the son of a Christian, Fyodor. His father stood firmly against his son being sacrificed to the idols. More than that, he tried to show the pagans the futility of their faith:

“Your gods are just plain wood: it is here now but it may rot into oblivion tomorrow; your gods neither eat, nor drink, nor talk and are made by human hand from wood; whereas there is only one God — He is worshipped by Greeks and He created heaven and earth; and your gods? They have created nothing, for they have been created themselves; never will I give my son to the devils!”

An open abuse of the deities, to which most of our forefathers bowed in reverence in those times, triggered widespread indignation. Rampant crowds killed the Christian Fyodor and his son Ioann. Later on, after the overall christening of Russia, people came to regard them as the first Christian martyrs in Russia and the Orthodox Church set a day to commemorate them — July 25.

Immediately after the murder of Fyodor and Ioann Ancient Russia saw persecutions against Christians, many of which had to escape or conceal their belief.

However, Prince Vladimir mused over the incident long after, and not in the last place, for political considerations too. The chronicles have it that different preachers came to the Prince, each offering a particular faith. Vladimir spoke to Muslims, Catholics, Jews but for different reasons rejected all the religions. Finally, a Greek philosopher told the prince of the Old and New Testaments and presented him with a canvas depicting Doomsday. When he learned of what the unrepentant were in for, Prince Vladimir went numb with horror and after a short pause said with a sigh: “Blessed are the good doers and damned are the evil!”" [5]

Baptism of Rus'

The Primary Chronicle reports that in the year 987, as the result of a consultation with his boyars, Vladimir sent envoys to study the religions of the various neighboring nations whose representatives had been urging him to embrace their respective faiths. The result is amusingly described by the chronicler Nestor. Of the Muslim Bulgarians of the Volga the envoys reported there is no gladness among them; only sorrow and a great stench, and that their religion was undesirable due to its taboo against alcoholic beverages and pork; supposedly, Vladimir said on that occasion: "Drinking is the joy of the Rus'." Russian sources also describe Vladimir consulting with Jewish envoys (who may or may not have been Khazars), and questioning them about their religion but ultimately rejecting it, saying that their loss of Jerusalem was evidence of their having been abandoned by God. Ultimately Vladimir settled on Christianity. In the churches of the Germans his emissaries saw no beauty; but at Constantinople, where the full festival ritual of the Byzantine Church was set in motion to impress them, they found their ideal: "We no longer knew whether we were in heaven or on earth," they reported, describing a majestic Divine Liturgy in Hagia Sophia, "nor such beauty, and we know not how to tell of it." If Vladimir was impressed by this account of his envoys, he was yet more so by political gains of the Byzantine

alliance.

A mid-19th century statue overlooking the Dnieper in Kiev, by Peter Klodt and Vasily Demut-Malinovsky

In 988, having taken the town of Chersonesos in Crimea, he boldly negotiated for the hand of the emperor Basil II's sister, Anna. Never before had a Byzantine imperial princess, and one "born-in-the-purple" at that, married a barbarian, as matrimonial offers of French kings and German emperors had been peremptorily rejected. In short, to marry the 27-year-old princess off to a pagan Slav seemed impossible. Vladimir, however, was baptized at Cherson, taking the Christian name of Basil out of compliment to his imperial brother-in-law; the sacrament was followed by his wedding with Anna. Returning to Kiev in triumph, he destroyed pagan monuments and established many churches, starting with the splendid Church of the Tithes (989) and monasteries on Mt. Athos.

Arab sources, both Muslim and Christian, present a different story of Vladimir's conversion. Yahya of Antioch, al-Rudhrawari, al-Makin, al-Dimashki, and ibn al-Athir[6] all give essentially the same account. In 987, Bardas Sclerus and Bardas Phocas revolted against the Byzantine emperor Basil II. Both rebels briefly joined forces, but then Bardas Phocas proclaimed himself emperor on September 14, 987. Basil II turned to the Kievan Rus' for assistance, even though they were considered enemies at that time. Vladimir agreed, in exchange for a marital tie; he also agreed to accept Orthodox Christianity as his religion and bring his people to the new faith. When the wedding arrangements were settled, Vladimir dispatched 6,000 troops to the Byzantine Empire and they helped to put down the revolt.

Christian reign

He then formed a great council out of his boyars, and set his twelve sons over his subject principalities.

It is mentioned in the Primary Chronicle that Vladimir founded the city of Belgorod in 991.

In 992 he went on a campaign against the Croats, most likely the White Croats (an East Slavic group unrelated to the [Croats that lived in Dalmatia) that lived on the border of modern Ukraine. This campaign was cut short by the attacks of the Pechenegs on and around Kiev.

In his later years he lived in a relative peace with his other neighbors: Boleslav I of Poland, Stephen I of Hungary, Andrikh the Czech (questionable character mentioned in A Tale of the Bygone Years).

After Anna's death, he married again, most likely to a granddaughter of Otto the Great.

In 1014 his son Yaroslav the Wise stopped paying tribute. Vladimir decided to chastise the insolence of his son, and began gathering troops against Yaroslav. However, Vladimir fell ill, most likely of old age and died at Berestovo, near Kiev.

The various parts of his dismembered body were distributed among his numerous sacred foundations and were venerated as relics.

Vladimir's significance and historical footprint

One of the largest Kievan cathedrals is dedicated to him. The University of Kiev was named after the man who Christianized Kievan Rus. There is the Russian Order of St. Vladimir and Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary in the United States. The Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches celebrate the feast day of St. Vladimir on 15 July.

His memory was also kept alive by innumerable Russian folk ballads and legends, which refer to him as Krasno Solnyshko, that is, the Fair Sun. With him the Varangian period of Eastern Slavic history ceases and the Christian period begins.

http://www.rulex.ru/01030630.htm

Vladimir I Svjatoslavitj (fornöstslaviska: ?????????, Volodimir; fornkyrkoslaviska och ryska: ????????, Vladimir; ukrainska: ?????????, Volodymyr; fornnordiska: Valdamarr; modern nordiska: Valdemar), kallad Vladimir den store (Vladimir Velikij) eller Vladimir den helige (Vladimir Svatoj), född omkring 956-958, död 15 juli 1015, var storfurste av Kiev. Han var son till Svjatoslav I och Malusja.

Med ambitionen att förena folken i Kievriket ville storfurst Vladimir ge de dem en gemensam religion. Han gjorde ett försök att slå ihop alla hedniska gudar i riket till en religion. Då detta misslyckades tog han dop år 988 och därmed var den grekisk-ortodoxa kyrkan etablerad i Kiev; Vladimir kristnade sedan hela Kievriket. Folket tvingades till massdop och man anlade grottklostret i Kiev.

Han gifte sig 989 med Anna av Bysans.

Storfyrste Vladimir den Hellige av Novgorod levde i år 980. Død 15.07.1015. Han var sønn av Storfyrste Svjatoslav I av Kiev. Født omkring 942. Død 972, og Matuscha ???.

Vladimir hadde sønnen:

1. Storfyrste Jaroslav I den Vise av Novgorod. Født omkring 988. Død 20.02.1054 i Vyshorod.

Vladimir var Fyrste av Kiev i 970 og Storfyrste av Novgorod 980 - 1015.

Vladimir kalles også «den Store». Han ble døpt i 989 med navnet Basilius.

Vladimir fikk Novgorod etter sin far, men måtte rømme til Sverige på grunn av fiendtligheter fra sin brors side. 980 felte han broren og ble russisk enehersker. Han utvidet riket, bl. a. ved seire over polakker og bulgarere. Han lot seg døpe i 988 og prøvde å kristne sitt folk.

Mogens Bugge anser i « Våre forfedre» at Anna av Bysants var mor til Jaroslav. Bent og Vidar Billing Hansen anser derimot i «Rosensverdslektens forfedre» at Rogneda av Polotsk var hans mor. 1)

1). Svenskt Biografiskt Lexikon, bind 20 (1973/75), side 6. N. de Baumgarten: Généalogie et Mariage occidenteaux des Rurikides Russes du Xe au XIII Siècle. Mogens Bugge: Våre forfedre, nr. 145, se også nr. 167 og side 63. Bent og Vidar Billing Hansen: Rosensverdslektens forfedre, side 90. Gyldendals Store Konversasjonsleksikon S-Å, sid. 3127.

VLADIMIR I 980-1015, SVIATOPOLK I 1015-1019

VLADIMIR Sviatoslavich, son of SVIATOSLAV I Grand Prince of Kiev & his mistress Malusha [Malfred] ([960]-Berestov 15 Jul 1015). The Primary Chronicle names Yaropolk, Oleg and Vladimir as grandsons of Olga[72]. The Primary Chronicle names Malusha, stewardess of Olga and sister of Dobrinya, as mother of Svyatoslav's son Vladimir, when recording that his father sent him to Novgorod in 970 with his maternal uncle after the inhabitants had demanded a prince of their own[73]. After the death of his half-brother Oleg, Vladimir fled "beyond the seas" and governors were assigned to Novgorod. With support mustered in Scandinavia, Vladimir regained control of Novgorod. He captured Polotsk after killing Rogvolod Prince of Polotsk, who had refused Vladimir's offer to marry his daughter (whom he married anyway) [74]. He then moved southwards towards Kiev to attack his half-brother Iaropolk, who fled to Rodnia but was murdered when he returned to Kiev in an attempt to negotiate with Vladimir. He thereby succeeded in [980] as VLADIMIR I "Velikiy/the Great" Grand Prince of Kiev. In 981, Vladimir invaded Polish territory and conquered Czerwien, "Peremyshl" and other cities[75]. After actively promoting the worship of pagan idols, he was baptised in [987/88] as part of an agreement to help Emperor Basileios II in defeating a rebellion. He increased his own personal prestige by marrying the emperor's sister and imposed Christianity on his people by force. He sought to rule his diverse territories by nominating his various sons to rule in different towns, although at the end of his reign he was faced with the rebellions of his son Iaroslav and his adopted son Sviatopolk. Vladimir died while was making preparations for war with Novgorod following the suspension of payment of tribute by his son Iaroslav[76]. Vladimir was described as "fornicator immensus et crudelis" by Thietmar[77]. According to the Primary Chronicle, Vladimir had 300 concubines at Vyshgorod, 300 at Belgorod and 200 at Berestovo[78]. The Primary Chronicle records the death of Vladimir at Berestovo 15 Jul 1015[79]. He was later esteemed to be a saint, his feast day being 15 July.

m firstly ([977], divorced 986) as her second husband, ROGNED of Polotsk, widow of --- Jarl in Sweden, daughter of ROGVOLOD Prince of Polotsk & his wife --- ([956]-[998/1000]). The Primary Chronicle names Rogned, daughter of Rogvolod Prince of Polotsk, recording that she at first refused to marry Vladimir, preferring his half-brother Yaropolk[80]. She became a nun in [989]. The Primary Chronicle records the death of Rogned in [998/1000][

Vladimir I "The Great" Svyetoslavitch storhertig av Kiev och Novgorod

begravda kyrka Tionden, Kiev, Ukraina

Vladimir Svjatoslavitj den storeOckså ibland stavat Volodymer

Vladimir föddes i 958 och var den yngste son Svjatoslav I av Kiev hans hushållerska Malusha, Som beskrivs i Nordiska gudasagan en profetissa som levde till en ålder av 100 och kom från hennes grotta till palatset för att förutsäga framtiden. Malusha bror Dobrynya var Vladimir handledare och mest betrodda rådgivare. Hagiografisk tradition av tvivelaktig äkthet ansluter också sin barndom med namnet på sin farmor Olga Prekrasa, Som var kristen och regleras huvudstaden under Svjatoslav är ofta militära kampanjer.

Överföra sitt kapital till Pereyaslavets år 969, Svjatoslav utsedda Vladimir härskare Novgorod the Great men gav Kiev till sin legitime son Jaropolk. Efter Svjatoslav död (972), ett inbördeskrig bröt ut (976) mellan Jaropolk och hans yngre bror Oleg, Härskare över Drevlians. I 977 Vladimir flydde till sina fränder Haakon Sigurdsson, Härskare Norge in Scandinavia, Samla så många av Viking warriors han kunde för att hjälpa honom att återhämta Novgorod, och om sin återkomst nästa år marscherade mot Jaropolk.

På väg till Kiev han skickat ambassadörer till Rogvolod (Nordisk: Ragnvald), furste av Polotsk, Att föra talan om hand av sin dotter Rogneda (Nordisk: Ragnhild). Den väl född prinsessa vägrade affiance sig att sonen till en trälinna, men Vladimir attackerade Polotsk, dräpte Rogvolod, och tog Ragnhild med våld. Egentligen var Polotsk en viktig fästning på väg till Kiev, och tillfångatagandet av Polotsk och Smolensk lättare att ta av Kiev (980), där han dräpte Jaropolk av förräderi, och utropades KonungEller KhaganAv alla Kievriket.

År hedniska regel

Förutom sin fars stora domän, fortsatte Vladimir att expandera sina territorier. I 981 han erövrade Cherven städer, den moderna Galicia, I 983 han underkuvade YatvingiansVars territorier låg mellan Litauen och Polen, I 985 han ledde en flotta längs centrala floder av Kievriket att erövra Bulgarer av Kama, Plantering många fästningar och kolonier på väg.

Fastän Christianity hade vunnit många omvandlar sedan Olga styre hade Vladimir förblev en grundlig går hedning, med åtta hundra konkubiner (förutom många fruar) och sätta hedniska statyer och helgedomar till gudar. Det hävdas att han försökt att reformera slavisk hedendom genom att inrätta thunder-god Perun som en högsta gudom. "Även om kristendomen i Kiev fanns innan Vladimir tid, hade han varit en hednisk, samlade omkring sju fruar, etablerade tempel, och, sägs det, deltagit i avgudadyrkande riter innefattar mänskliga offer. [4]

"I 983, efter en annan av hans militära framgångar, Prince Vladimir och hans armé ansåg det nödvändigt att offra människoliv till gudarna. Mycket kastades och den föll på en yngling, Ioann namn, son till en kristen, Fjodor. Hans far stod stadigt mot sin son offras till avgudar. Mer än så, försökte han v

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_the_Great

Gift med
Rogneda of Polotsk, född 962 i Polatsk, Vitebsk Province, Vitryssland, död cirka 1002 i Polatsk, Vitebsk Province, Vitryssland.

Barn:
Jaroslav Mudryj, född cirka 978, död 1054-02-20
Iziaslav Vladimirovich Rurikids, född cirka 978-979, död 1001

Gift med
Anna Porphyrogeneta, född 963-03-13 i Konstantinopel, Byzantine Empire, död cirka 1011 i Kiev, Ukraina. Storhertiginna av Kiev, Prinsessa av Byzantinska riket.

Barn:
Dobroniega Maria Vladimirovna, född 1011, död 1087-12-13