| 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 | 1078–1094 | ||||
| Predecessor | Vsevolod I of Kiev | ||||
| Successor | Oleg I of Chernigov | ||||
| Prince of Pereyaslavl | |||||
| 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 commemorated onMay 6, along with 122 other saints of Ukraine and medieval Rus as well asSaint Andrew.[5] He is not to be confused with SaintVladimir the Great.
His father wasVsevolod Yaroslavich, born 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]
During his rule in Smolensk and Chernigov, Monomakh led 13 military campaigns in the name of his father, then Grand Prince of Kiev, and also participated in diplomatic missions.[12] In 1068 he allied himself with the Cuman chief Bilge-Tegin.[13] 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.
After the death of his father Vsevolod, in 1094 Monomakh became the prince of Chernigov (Chernihiv), meanwhile his cousinSviatopolk II, son of Iziaslav, took over Kiev. Using the uncertainty during the transition of power to new princes, Polovtsians soon invaded Rus and defeated the united forces of Sviatopolk, Vladmir Monomakh and the latter's brotherRostislav Vsevolodovich on theStuhna river nearTrypillia. During thebattle Rostislav drowned, and Polovtsians devastated the vicinity of Kiev, besieging and capturing the town ofTorchesk. Following this success, Oleg allied with the nomads and attacked Chernigov, forcing Monomakh to retreat toPereyaslav.[14] From 1094, Pereyaslav was Vladimir's chief patrimony, although he also controlledRostov,Suzdal, and other northern provinces (seePrincipality of Pereyaslavl). In these lands he founded several towns, notably his namesake,Vladimir.
In order to unite the princes ofRus' in their struggle against the Great Steppe, Monomakh initiated three princelycongresses being held atLyubech in 1097,Vytachiv in 1100 andDolobsk in 1103. The congresses aimed to satisfy Oleg and otherdispossessed princes by allowing each princely branch to retain its patrimony. Between 1103 and 1111 Rus princes conducted yearly raids against the Polovtsians.[15] In 1107 Monomakh defeatedBoniak, aCumankhan who led an invasion onKievan Rus'. In 1111, Monomakh, alongside Sviatopolk, led an army at theBattle of the Salnitsa river, where they defeated a Cuman army. The site of this battle is probably at modern-dayIzium.[16] Those victories succeeded in drawing Cumans into the steppes and successfully prevented new raids against Rus.[15]
WhenSviatopolk II died in 1113, the Kievan populace revolted, attacking government officials, rich citizens andJews, who were reported to have cooperated with the late prince. In order to restore order, the ruling circles of the capital invited Monomakh to take the throne, as he was considered to be the most liked ruler by the people. After accepting the invitation, the new prince immediately started working to remove the causes of popular disaffection by reducing the rate of interest on loans.[17]
During his rule in Kiev Monomakh promulgated a number of reforms in order to allay the social tensions, providing concessions toburghers and lowerestates of Kiev, regulating the status ofbondsmen and restricting power of theboyars. Among others, Monomakh's decrees prohibitedusury, banned the enslavement ofmerchants indebted as a result of an accident and defined the status ofkholopy. The text of Monomakhs's statute was included into the revised edition of theRusskaya Pravda.[18][better source needed]
Vladimir Monomakh was buried atSaint Sophia Cathedral. Known as the founder of theMonomakhovichi dynasty, he became remembered as a strong ruler and skillful statesman, and the years of his rule saw the last flowering of Ancient Rus', which was torn apart by internal struggles after the death of his son and heirMstislav in 1132.[19][20]
Succeeding generations often referred to Monomakh reign as thegolden age of Kiev. Numerous legends are connected with his name, including the transfer fromConstantinople to Rus of such preciousrelics as theTheotokos of Vladimir, and theVladimirian andMuscovite crown calledMonomakh's Cap.
Monomakh'sInstruction to Children, writtenc. 1117, entered theLaurentian Chronicle along with his letter to prince Oleg Sviatoslavich. A didactical and autobiographical work,Poucheniie is considered to be one of the best texts of literature dating to the period of Kievan Rus', and contains passages condemning the internecine struggles between princes, promoting the idea of a unified state.[21][better source needed]
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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 produced at least five children by Vladimir:
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 |
