Vladimir the Great
Vladimir I. Svyatoslavich (Russian: Владимир Святославич; Ukrainian Володимир Святославич; belarusian Уладзімер Сьвятаславіч; * 960, † July 15, 1015 in Berestowo ), called Vladimir the Holy, the Great or the same apostle, was 980-1015 Knjas of Kiev. He was the youngest and illegitimate son of Sviatoslav I of the race of Rurik. His mother was Maluscha, the housekeeper of Princess Olga.
Beginning of the reign
His power strengthened by Vladimir further campaigns. 981, he fought against the Ljachen ( = Poland) to the important trading center Czerwień, the center of the Red Rus. On the southern borders of his country he had " help folks " settle, which protected the kingdom ( for example, the Turkic Torki and Berendei ). Other campaigns he waged against Wjatitschen, Radimitschen, the Baltic Yotvingians, the Estonians, the Volga Bulgars and Pechenegs.
Overall, he enlarged the Rus through the subjugation of various neighboring peoples so that it has already reached to Lake Ladoga, and to the Daugava river Dnepr from under him.
Christianization of Rus
The most important event of the reign of Vladimir was the Christianization of Kievan Rus in 988 on the occasion of his marriage to Princess Anna of Byzantium, daughter of the Byzantine Emperor Romanos II. For this he received the nickname of the Saints and after his death in the state of an Arhat the Orthodox Church raised.
Prior to his own baptism in 987, he describes the saint's legend as a libertine with seven wives, and 800 mistresses. He had erected everywhere idols and was a zealous supporter of paganism. For Christian faith brought him according to tradition, reason. Allegedly, he was send by all religions scholar, and he chose the best of. ( Reply to the Muslim envoy: " The Rus is the Trunkes friend, we can not be without .")
In fact, Vladimir's baptism was but a diplomatic move: The aim was to connect to the Byzantine imperial family. Emperor Basil II needed help against the Bulgarians, the common enemies of Vladimir and the Eastern Roman Emperor. Vladimir sent an army of 6000 Rus by Konstantin Opel. He also exercised by attacking the Byzantine Chersonesus in the Crimea pressure on the emperor. Finally, this agreed: If Wladimir could baptize, as Basil II would give him his sister Anna in marriage for military support. So it happened, and Vladimir I. became the first European ruler a purple -born wife. The baptism of Knjasen was celebrated in Kiev as a great act: After tearing down the pagan idols a mass baptism took place in the Dnepr. Open resistance to the Christianization it seems not to have given, although paganism could hold, especially in rural areas long. The church began nevertheless quickly with the establishment of a network of churches and monasteries, which contributed significantly to the strengthening of the Kievan State. In addition, this region has also culturally further by the new faith. The orthodoxy had now finally reached a dominant position in the Rus. At the same time Vladimir had become a figure of diplomatic importance through the adoption of Christianity and the matrimonial alliance with the Byzantine imperial family.
In connection with the Christianization you took over, not only in church life, but the Old Bulgarian or Old Church Slavonic written language, which led to the first South Slavic influence.
The end of the reign
Of such secured, he pushed for the inner expansion of its territory. In new castle towns along the Dnieper tributaries, he moved to Ilmenslawen ( Slovenia ), Kriwitschen, Wjatitschen and Chud, which should ward off the attacks of the Pechenegs. The administration of the various regions of the Kievan Rus' he confided to his twelve sons. However, this de facto division weakened the kingdom. A first serious conflict broke out even to Vladimir's lifetime to the wealthy trading city of Novgorod. The designated ( after the death of his older brother Wyscheslaw ) heir Jaroslaw received this important to Kiev city. In 1014 Yaroslav refused to his father to pay the toll. At a campaign against his son Vladimir did not happen anymore, because Vladimir died on 15 July 1015.
Vladimir was in honor of Vladimir order founded and built in 1853 in his memory bank of the Dnieper in Kiev on high an imposing monument.
References
Swell
- Alexander Fyodorovich Hilferding: A unedirtes testimony of contemporaries Vladimir the Saint and Boleslav the Bold. In: Journal of Slavic literature, art and science. Volume 2, Issue 3, 1864, ZDB - ID 529 289 -x, pp. 179-206 (full text).