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| Vladimir II Monomakh | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Seal of Vladimir II Monomakh | |||||
| Reign | 1113–1125 | ||||
| Predecessor | Sviatopolk II | ||||
| Successor | Mstislav I of Kiev | ||||
| Prince of Smolensk | |||||
| Reign | 1073–1078 | ||||
| Prince of Chernigov | |||||
| Reign | 1076/8–1094 | ||||
| Predecessor | Vsevolod I of Kiev | ||||
| Successor | Oleg I of Chernigov | ||||
| Prince of Pereyaslav | |||||
| Reign | 1094–1113 | ||||
| Grand Prince of Kiev | |||||
| Reign | 1113–1125 | ||||
| Predecessor | Sviatopolk II of Kiev | ||||
| Successor | Mstislav I of Kiev | ||||
| Born | 26 May 1053 | ||||
| Died | 19 May 1125 (aged 71–72) Kiev | ||||
| Burial | Saint Sophia's Cathedral, Kiev | ||||
| Spouse |
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| Issue |
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| Dynasty | Rurik | ||||
| Father | Vsevolod I | ||||
| Mother | "Greek princess"[1] | ||||
| Religion | Eastern Orthodox Christianity | ||||
Vladimir II Monomakh (Old East Slavic:Володимѣръ Мономахъ,romanized: Volodiměrŭ Monomakhŭ;[a] Christian name:Vasily;[2] 26 May 1053 – 19 May 1125) wasGrand Prince of Kiev from 1113 to 1125.[3][4] He is considered asaint in theEastern Orthodox Church and is celebrated onMay 6.[5]
His father wasVsevolod Yaroslavich, bornc. 1030 as the fifth son of grand prince of KievYaroslav the Wise (r. 1019–1054); he himself would go on to reign as grand princeVsevolod I of Kiev from 1078 to 1093. In 1046, to seal an armistice in the Rus'–Byzantine War, Vsevolod Yaroslavich, then a junior member of the princelyRurikids ofKievan Rus', contracted a diplomatic marriage with a relative of the reigning Byzantine emperorConstantine IX Monomachos (r. 1042–1055), from whom Vladimir (born in 1053) likely inherited his sobriquet,Monomakh.[6]
The name and ancestry of his mother are unknown; Byzantine sources do not mention the marriage at all, and thePrimary Chronicle only says that his father Vsevolod had him by atsesaritsa Gr'kyna, meaning "Greek princess".[1] The fact that Vladimir Vsevolodovich was later given the nicknameMonomakh provides the only significant clue, namely that his mother was likely a member of theByzantine Monomachos family, the same as the then-reigning emperor Constantine IX.[7] Contemporary Byzantine naming-practice allowed the adoption of a maternal surname if convention regarded the mother's family as of a more exalted origin than the father's.[8]
According to a later fictitious story written in the early 16th century,The Tale of the Princes of Vladimir, Vladimir Vsevolodovich defeated Constantine Monomachos in a war, and Constantine sued for peace by offering him many gifts, after which Vladimir Vsevolodovich became known as Vladimir Monomakh;[9] however, this is not possible, because Constantine died in 1055, when Vladimir was only one and a half years old.[9] He is never calledMonomakh in thePrimary Chronicle, and the first time his name ever appears in primary sources asVolodimer' Monomakhŭ[b] is not until his eulogysub anno 1126 [sic] in theKievan Chronicle.[11] It has also been found on his seal.[7]
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In his famousInstruction (also known asThe Testament) to his own children, Monomakh mentions that he conducted 83 military campaigns and 19 times made peace with thePolovtsi. At first he waged war against the steppe jointly with his cousinOleg, but after Vladimir was sent by his father to ruleChernigov and Oleg made peace with the Polovtsi to retake that city from him, they parted company. Since that time, Vladimir and Oleg were bitter enemies who would often engage in internecine wars. The enmity continued among their children and more distant posterity.
In 1068 he allied with the Cuman chief Bilge-Tegin.[12]From 1094, his chief patrimony was the southern town ofPereiaslav, although he also controlledRostov,Suzdal, and other northern provinces (seePrincipality of Pereyaslavl). In these lands he founded several towns, notably his namesake,Vladimir, the future capital of Russia. In order to unite the princes ofRus' in their struggle against the Great Steppe, Vladimir initiated three princelycongresses, the most important being held atLyubech in 1097 andDolobsk in 1103.
In 1107 he defeatedBoniak, aCumankhan who led an invasion onKievan Rus'.
In 1111, Vladimir, alongsideSviatopolk II, led an army at theBattle of the Salnytsia River [uk], where they defeated a Cuman army on theSalnytsia [ru] river. The site of this battle is probably at modern-dayIzium.[13]
WhenSviatopolk II died in 1113, theKievan populace revolted and summoned Vladimir to the capital. The same year he entered Kiev to the great delight of the crowd and reigned there until his death in 1125. As may be seen from hisInstruction, he promulgated a number of reforms in order to allay the social tensions in the capital. These years saw the last flowering ofAncient Rus, which was torn apart 10 years after his death.
Vladimir Monomakh was buried atSaint Sophia Cathedral. Succeeding generations often referred to his reign as thegolden age of that city. Numerous legends are connected with Monomakh's name, including the transfer fromConstantinople to Rus of such preciousrelics as theTheotokos of Vladimir and the Vladimir/Muscovite crown calledMonomakh's Cap.
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Vladimir married three times. The 13th-century chroniclerSaxo Grammaticus reported that, in what would have been his first marriage, Vladimir wedGytha of Wessex, daughter ofHarold, King of England, who had fallen atHastings in 1066 and ofEdith Swannesha. This marriage is not reported by any contemporary sources, and none of the Russian sources report the name or parentage of Vladimir's first wife. The "Testament of Vladimir Monomakh" records the death of the mother of Vladimir's son Yuri on 7 May 1107, but it does not mention her name. Most historians agree it was more likely Yuri's mother was Gytha, based upon Yuri's acceptable marriage age in 1108.
They had at least the following children:
A daughter has been attributed to either the first or the second wife:
Vladimir's second wife,Euphemia, is considered to have been a Byzantine noblewoman.[6] This marriage produced at least five children:
Vladimir's third marriage is thought to have been to a daughter of Aepa Ocenevich, Khan of theCumans. Her paternal grandfather was Osen. Her people belonged to theKipchaks, a confederation of pastoralists and warriors ofTurkic origin.
However thePrimary Chronicle identifies Aepa as father-in-law to Yuri Dolgoruki, with Vladimir negotiating the marriage in name of his son.[citation needed] Whether father and son married sisters or the identity of intended groom was misidentified remains unclear.
Vladimir II Monomakh Born: 1053 Died: 1125 | ||
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Grand Prince of Kiev 1113–1125 | Succeeded by |
