Vladimir II Monomakh

Vladimir II Monomakh (Володимѣръ Мономахъ; Christian name: Vasily; 26 May 1053 – 19 May 1125) was Grand Prince of Kiev from 1113 to 1125. He is considered a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church and is celebrated on May 6.

Family background
His father was Vsevolod Yaroslavich, born c. 1030 as the fifth son of grand prince of Kiev Yaroslav the Wise ((r. 1019 – 1054)); he himself would go on to reign as grand prince Vsevolod 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 princely Rurikids of Kievan Rus', contracted a diplomatic marriage with a relative of the reigning Byzantine emperor Constantine IX Monomachos ((r. 1042 – 1055)), from whom Vladimir (born in 1053) likely inherited his sobriquet, Monomakh. The name and ancestry of his mother are unknown; Byzantine sources do not mention the marriage at all, and the Primary Chronicle only says that his father Vsevolod had him by a tsesaritsa Gr'kyna, meaning "Greek princess". The fact that Volodimer Vsevolodovich was later given the nickname Monomakh provides the only significant clue, namely that his mother was likely a member of the Byzantine Monomachos family, the same as the then-reigning emperor Constantine IX. 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.

According a later fictitious story written in the early 16th century, the Tale About the Vladimer Kniazi, Volodimer Vsevolodovich defeated Constantine Monomachos in a war, and Constantine sued for peace by offering him many gifts, after which 'Volodimer Vsevolodovich was known as Volodimer Monomakh'. This is impossible, because Constantine died in 1055, when Volodimer was only 1.5 years old. He is never called 'Monomakh' in the Primary Chronicle, and the first time his name ever appears in primary sources as Volodimer' Monomakhŭ (Володимерь Мономахъ ) is not until his eulogy sub anno 1126 [sic] in the Kievan Chronicle. It has also been found on his seal.

Reign
In his famous Instruction (also known as The Testament) to his own children, Monomakh mentions that he conducted 83 military campaigns and 19 times made peace with the Polovtsi. At first he waged war against the steppe jointly with his cousin Oleg, but after Vladimir was sent by his father to rule Chernigov 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. From 1094, his chief patrimony was the southern town of Pereiaslav, although he also controlled Rostov, Suzdal, and other northern provinces (see Principality of Pereyaslavl). In these lands he founded several towns, notably his namesake, Vladimir, the future capital of Russia. In order to unite the princes of Rus' in their struggle against the Great Steppe, Vladimir initiated three princely congresses, the most important being held at Lyubech in 1097 and Dolobsk in 1103.

In 1107 he defeated Boniak, a Cuman khan who led an invasion on Kievan Rus'.

In 1111, Vladimir, alongside Sviatopolk II, led an army at the Battle of the Salnytsia River, where they defeated a Cuman army on the Salnytsia (river) river. The site of this battle is probably at modern-day Izium.

When Sviatopolk II died in 1113, the Kievan 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 his Instruction, he promulgated a number of reforms in order to allay the social tensions in the capital. These years saw the last flowering of Ancient Rus, which was torn apart 10 years after his death.

Vladimir Monomakh was buried at Saint Sophia Cathedral. Succeeding generations often referred to his reign as the golden age of that city. Numerous legends are connected with Monomakh's name, including the transfer from Constantinople to Rus of such precious relics as the Theotokos of Vladimir and the Vladimir/Muscovite crown called Monomakh's Cap.

Marriages and children
Vladimir married three times. The 13th-century chronicler Saxo Grammaticus reported that, in what would have been his first marriage, Vladimir wed Gytha of Wessex, daughter of Harold, King of England, who had fallen at Hastings in 1066 and of Edith 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:


 * Mstislav I of Kiev (1 June 1076 – 14 April 1132)
 * Izyaslav Vladimirovich, Prince of Kursk (c. 1077 – 6 September 1096)
 * Svyatoslav Vladimirovich, Prince of Smolensk and Pereyaslav (c. 1080 – 16 March 1114)
 * Yaropolk II of Kiev (1082 – 18 February 1139)
 * Viacheslav I of Kiev (1083 – 2 February 1154)

A daughter has been attributed to either the first or the second wife:
 * Marina Vladimirovna (d. 1146). Married Leon Diogenes, a pretender to the throne of the Byzantine Empire who claimed to be a son of Romanos IV and who rose to the rank of khan of the Cumans in Ossetia.

Vladimir's second wife, Euphemia, is considered to have been a Byzantine noblewoman. This marriage produced at least five children:
 * Roman, Prince of Volhynia (d. 6 January 1119)
 * Euphemia of Kiev (d. 4 April 1139). Married Coloman of Hungary.
 * Agafia (Agatha). Married Vsevolod Davidovich, Prince of Grodno. According to older historians her husband was a son of David Igorevich, Prince of Volhynia (d. 1113), but this theory was rejected.
 * Yuri (George), later known as Yuri Dolgoruki (d. 15 May 1157).
 * Andrew, Prince of Volhynia (11 July 1102 – 1141).

Vladimir's third marriage is thought to have been to a daughter of Aepa Ocenevich, Khan of the Cumans. Her paternal grandfather was Osen. Her people belonged to the Kipchaks, a confederation of pastoralists and warriors of Turkic origin.

However the Primary Chronicle identifies Aepa as father-in-law to Yuri Dolgoruki, with Vladimir negotiating the marriage in name of his son. Whether father and son married sisters or the identity of intended groom was misidentified remains unclear.