Vladimir the Great

Grand prince of Kiev (r. 980-1015)

• Born: c. 956
• Birthplace: Kiev, Kievan Rus' (now in Ukraine)
• Died: July 15, 1015
• Place of death: Berestova, near Kiev, Kievan Rus' (now in Ukraine)

Vladimir expanded the territorial base of Kiev, the first Russian state, to unite the East Slavs and Finno-Baltic peoples into a large nation. He linked the cultural fortunes of the Rus with the Byzantine world by his conversion of the East Slavs to Orthodox Christianity in 988.

Early Life

Born in Kiev sometime after 950, Vladimir Svyatoslavich was the son of Malusha and Svyatoslav I, grand prince of Kiev. Svyatoslav, as prince of Novgorod, had fought bravely against the Khazars, Volga Bulgars (Huns), and Viatichi. He later fought against the Byzantines and the Bulgarians of southern Europe. Although Vladimir’s grandmother, grand princess and later saint Olga, had converted to Christianity in Constantinople around 957, the principality remained pagan, as did her son, Svyatoslav. When he died in 971, civil wars erupted as his sons fought over the succession to the throne. Yaropolk, prince of Kiev, defeated Oleg and compelled Vladimir to flee to Scandinavia. For a short time, Yaropolk united Novgorod and Kiev. Vladimir, however, recruited Viking armies, which liberated Novgorod and then Polotsk from Yaropolk’s governance. Rogvold, the ruler of Polotsk, allowed his daughter, Ragneda, to marry Vladimir. Then Vladimir marched on Kiev, forcing his brother to flee. Soon after, Yaropolk died. Vladimir forged a new union of Novgorod and Kiev with the help of Scandinavian and Novgorodian forces. To maintain this empire, however, a common religious bond was required; thus the new grand prince considered a new religion for the nation.

Life’s Work

Early in his reign, Vladimir considered the adoption of a new pagan cult to unify the realm. He had already created a pagan pantheon of gods, using regional cults in conjunction with the state cult of Perun. He soon realized, however, that the pagan cult could have little impact on the frontiers of the state. There were missionaries from Rome, Constantinople, the Volgan Islamic Bulgars, and the Jewish Khazars. Vladimir’s grandmother Olga had been baptized in Constantinople, and there is evidence of Christian settlements in various parts of Rus.

Chroniclers relate the famous story of emissaries sent to investigate the various religions and the discussions the grand prince had with each of them. There is undoubtedly some truth to the account of the prince’s aversion to the abstinence from drink and the practice of circumcision among the Jews and Muslims as well as to his particular attraction to the beauty of the Byzantine liturgy over that of the Roman and his aversion to the “foul-smelling” Islamic mosques. Yet it seems that the close political and economic ties between Kiev and Constantinople were decisive, as was the prince’s apprehension of submitting to the central authority of Rome. His proposed marriage to the Byzantine emperor’s sister, Anna, surely was another factor. The early chroniclers do not hesitate to reveal that the adoption of Byzantine Orthodoxy in 988 was a state decision enforced on the community of Kiev, whose people were marched to the Dnieper River for baptism. Nor was there any doubt that the new church organization would be tied to the prince, whose elevation was invariably blessed by the clergy.

Vladimir is remembered for building the Kievan empire and expanding it in nearly all directions. His early concerns were toward the south and east, where the state was frequently attacked by nomads from the steppes. The internecine warfare that preceded his reign weakened the frontier defenses; thus, Vladimir began offensive operations. He began a number of expeditions against the Viatichi, forcing them into dependence on Kiev in 981-982; he then did the same against the Radimichi in 984, thus uniting all the eastern Slavic peoples. Next he subdued the Volga Bulgars, descendants of the Huns, and the Khazars, their overlords. Making alliances with some Turkic tribes, Vladimir compelled the Bulgars to accept Kievan suzerainty over almost the entire Volga area, although his lieutenant Dobrynia told him that people who wore boots, as did the Bulgars, would never submit. Later campaigns in 994 and 997 were designed to reassert Kiev’s control. The Khazar tribes, no longer the powerful empire of old, were weakened by the regime of Khorezm and so fell before Vladimir’s armies in 985. As a result, the Black Sea port of Tmutarakan, with its link to the Volga, fell into Kievan hands. Vladimir also strengthened his presence in Sarkel, a former Khazar stronghold taken by Svyatoslav in 965. These successful operations in the east and southeast were supplemented by the grand prince’s construction of a chain of fortifications in the southeast to check the raids of the Petchenegs. Divided into eight hordes, the Petchenegs sometimes wandered within a day’s march of Kiev itself. The forts at the rivers Desna, Oster, Trubezh, Sula, and Stugna were constructed in 988-989. Staffed by northerners, who sometimes resented service in the south, the forts in the steppes were linked by stockades and entrenchments. These measures enabled Vladimir to contain the nomad threat.

The seizure of Tmutorakan was a delicate matter, however, since that city was also within the influence of the Byzantine Empire. In 988, therefore, Vladimir sent a bodyguard of six thousand Varangian warriors to aid Basil II to quell a rebellion. This force was the origin of the famed Varangian Guard in Constantinople. When Basil refrained from sending his sister to Vladimir, however, an angry prince attacked the Byzantine port of Chersonesus. Soon after, the emperor sent Anna to marry Vladimir in Chersonesus and recognized the Kievan presence in the Black Sea.

Meanwhile, Vladimir paid attention to the lands to the north and west as well. In the borderlands between Kiev and Poland lived many peoples of uncertain ethnic identity; in 981, the Kievan forces moved to incorporate these regions within the state. This action did not cause irreparable damage to Kievan-Polish relations, since Vladimir’s son Svyatopolk married the daughter of King Bolesław I Chrobry (r. 1000-1025) early in the next century. Polish missionaries were even allowed to cross Kievan territory to preach to the Petchenegs, although little is known about the success of that mission. Vladimir also maintained friendly relations with Stephen I of Hungary and Udalrich of Bohemia. Troubles began with Poland only late in his reign, when Svyatopolk was suspected of trying to turn over his appanage of Turov-Pinsk to his father-in-law. When Vladimir imprisoned his son in 1012, the Poles invaded the Kievan state, supported by Petchenegs and Germans. The war continued after Vladimir’s death in 1015, and three years later, Poland had regained the borderlands lost to Vladimir earlier.

Early in his reign, Vladimir sent Dobrynia to be posadnik of Novgorod. His mission was to defend the northern borders. Under Dobrynia, Novgorod paid two thousand grivny each year to Kiev as tribute and another one thousand to cover its defense expenses. Novgorod often sent troops to the southern reaches but with increasing reluctance. In 988, Dobrynia was replaced by Vladimir’s son Vycheslav, himself later replaced by another son, Yaroslav, later called “the Wise.” In 1014, Yaroslav rebelled against the grand prince’s financial exactions, an event that foreshadowed a new round of fratricidal warfare when Vladimir died in 1015.

Less is known of Vladimir’s internal policies except for the matter of religion. By allying with the upper class, whose sons were the first students in his new religious schools, he provided its members with important posts in his newly created bureaucracy. By suppressing tribal boundaries, Vladimir set up a network of new administrative centers in Polotsk, Novgorod, Turov, Rostov, Murom, Vladimir, and Tmutorakan with his own sons and druzhiny as chieftains. He adopted the administrative organizations called the “hundreds” and “thousands” from tribal military practices, making their officers princely officials. Tribal leaders were treated lavishly and used by the grand prince within his administrative structure, as were many elders of the towns. Vladimir freely used Varangian mercenaries from the north; once, when they threatened to pillage Kiev, he simply sent them on an offensive mission to Constantinople. Vladimir also preceded Yaroslav’s famed Russian law code by adopting the principle of fixed fines in the court of justice to replace the dependence on blood feuds and vengeance. This unusual policy was not influenced by churchmen, who even had to convince him that it was proper to execute robbers. To support the construction of a new cathedral, Vladimir introduced the collection of the tithe, a Western church practice. The metropolitan of Kiev, Ilarion (1051-1054), noted that Vladimir often consulted with the bishops on matters of state and security.

Significance

The religion adopted by Vladimir was to strengthen the princely class, to combat the centrifugal movements within the state, and to abet the state’s need for ties to the West. Most important was the fact that Vladimir’s decision to choose the Orthodox faith meant the adoption of an entire culture, replete with the artistic tradition of icon painting, Byzantine architecture, monasticism, religious education, legal principles, and other patterns of thought. It is worth noting that one feature was absent from the legacy of the Byzantine Empire namely, the interest in theological speculation. Several modern authorities argue that Vladimir and the Kievan Rus were so entranced by the beauty of Orthodoxy that tampering with doctrinal formulations was thought to be tampering with perfection. Another modern analysis holds that the Russians were not really converted to Christianity so much as they overlaid a veneer of Christianity over a pagan base.

The extent to which Vladimir himself was converted is also disputed. Chroniclers make frequent mention of his weekly feasts, wherein he invited druzhiny and others to dine at court, while servants would distribute food to the poor in the streets. Notice is also made of his newfound aversion to capital punishment and the cessation of his harem. He continued to exercise little restraint in warfare, however, allowing his soldiers to pillage at will the usual custom of the time.

It is strange to discover some Western elements in Vladimir’s religious policies. Reference was made earlier to the introduction of the Western tithe to support the grand prince’s designs for a church. In the matter of ecclesiastical law, Vladimir gave the Church a broad charter of immunity from civil law so broad that it included many persons dependent on the Church and even those without the protection of clan or class. The Church’s own jurisdiction included not only moral and liturgical matters but also family disputes and inheritances. Such a situation corresponds more to Western than to Greek practices.

Unlike his Kievan predecessors, who were chiefly concerned with defending the frontiers, Vladimir wanted to expand those frontiers; consequently, he took an active interest in European affairs. To each of his twelve sons, Vladimir left a principality. His son Yaroslav of Novgorod eventually was to succeed him in Kiev. Vladimir was canonized two centuries after he died.

Rulers of Kievan Rus, c. 862-1167

Reign

• Ruler

c. 862-879

• Rurik

879-912

• Oleg

912-945

• Igor

945-964

• Saint Olga (regent)

964-972

• Svyatoslav I

972-980

• Yaropolk

980-1015

• Vladimir I (with Anna)

1015-1019

• Sviatopolk I

1019-1054

• Yaroslav

1054-1073

• Iziaslav

1073-1076

• Svyatoslav II

1076-1078

• Iziaslav (restored)

1078-1093

• Vsevolod

1093-1113

• Sviatopolk II

1113-1125

• Vladimir II Monomakh

1125-1132

• Mstislav

1132-1139

• Yaropolk

1139-1146

• Vyacheslav

1146-1154

• Iziaslav

1149-1157

• Yuri I Dolgoruky

1154-1167

• Rostislav

Bibliography

Cross, Samuel Hazzard, and Olgerd P. Sherbowitz-Wetzor, eds. and trans. The Russian Primary Chronicle. Cambridge, Mass.: Medieval Academy of America, 1953. This work contains the translation of “Povest vremennykh let” (compiled c. 1113), the principal annals of Vladimir’s era.

Fedotov, George P. Kievan Christianity. Vol. 1 in The Russian Religious Mind. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1946. A classic exploration of the historical roots of Russian Orthodoxy and its relations with the state by a writer who combines scholarship with beautiful prose.

Fennell, John. A History of the Russian Church: To 1448. London: Longman, 1995. A volume on the life of the early Russian church that also contains considerable detail concerning the ties between Byzantium and the early Russian metropolitans.

Franklin, Simon, and Jonathan Shepard. The Emergence of Rus: 750-1200. New York: Longman, 1996. This book examines the medieval origins and development of the Slavic peoples of Eastern Europe, focusing on Scandinavian, Byzantine, and barbarian influences. Includes an important chapter on the period from 960 to 1015 and Vladimir’s role in expanding and shoring up the power structure in Kiev. Maps, extensive bibliography, list of genealogies, and excellent index.

Grekov, Boris D. “The Reign of Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich.” In Kiev Rus, translated by Y. Sdobnikov. Moscow: Foreign Languages, 1959. The most noted work by a Soviet scholar on the Kievan era of Russian history. Argues that paganism yielded to Christianity because the former was a tribal religion whereas the latter was essentially class oriented.

Grunwald, Constantin de. “Saint Vladimir.” In Saints of Russia, translated by Roger Capel. New York: Macmillan, 1960. A concise, intelligent account of Vladimir’s life, drawing on many Nordic sources and stressing his Scandinavian ties. Argues that the conversion of the Kievan people took place in 990.

Kluchevsky, Vasily O. A History of Russia. Translated by C. J. Hogarth. 5 vols. New York: Russell and Russell, 1960. An entertaining analysis by a great Russian historian. Though sparing of detail on Vladimir’s career, it contains well-considered judgments on the grand prince’s milieu.

Korpela, Jukka. Prince, Saint, and Apostle: Prince Vladimir Svjatoslavič of Kiev, His Posthumous Life, and the Religious Legitimization of the Russian Great Power. Wiesbaden, Germany: Harrassowitz, 2001. This ingenious study examines how Vladimir has been described and represented in Russia since his death. It looks at how the image of Vladimir was used to support and even legitimate several rulers of Russia, especially Ivan the Terrible.

Vernadsky, George. Kievan Russia. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1948. The standard account of Vladimir’s reign by a well-respected scholar whose discussion of the grand prince is still unchallenged.

Volkoff, Vladimir. Vladimir, the Russian Viking. Woodstock, N.Y.: Overlook Press, 1985. The first full-scale, twentieth century biography of the grand prince. This account is interesting, faithful to detail, and imaginatively constructed. Includes an index, maps, illustrations, and a select bibliography.