Vladimir of Novgorod

Vladimir Yaroslavich ( _ru. Владимир Ярославич) (1020 – October 4, 1052) reigned as prince of Novgorod from 1036 until his death. He was the eldest son of Yaroslav I the Wise of Kiev by Ingigerd, daughter of king Olaf Skötkonung of Sweden. [Traditionally, Ingegerd is associated with Anna of Novgorod, who is buried in the cathedral in another niche near Vladimir. However, Soviet archaelogists who opened her sarcophagus found the remains to be that of a woman in her 30s, whereas Ingegard is said to have lived into her fifties. Thus it is thought that Vladimir's mother, Anna, was Yaroslav's first wife and is not the same person as Ingegerd.]

In 1042, Vladimir may have been in conflict with Finns, according to some interpretations even making a military campaign in Finland. [The first indisputable Novgorodian expedition to Finland was done in 1191. "Suomen varhaiskeskiajan lähteitä". Gummerus Kirjapaino Oy, 1989. ISBN 951-96006-1-2. See also [http://193.184.161.234/DF/detail.php?id=12 online description of the conflict] from Laurentian Codex as hosted by the [http://www.narc.fi National Archive of Finland] . In Swedish.] In the next year he led the Russian armies against the Byzantine emperor Constantine IX. He predeceased his father by two years and was buried by him in St Sophia Cathedral he had built in Novgorod. His sarcophagus is in a niche on the south side of the main body of the cathedral overlooking the Martirievskii Porch. He is depicted in an early twentieth century fresco above the sarcophagus and on a new ephigial icon on top of the sarcophagus. [T. N. Tsarevskaia, "Sofiiskii Sobor v Novgorode".] His younger brothers Izyaslav I, Svyatoslav II and Vsevolod I all reigned in Kiev.

Vladimir's only son, Rostislav Vladimirovich, was a landless prince who usurped power in Tmutarakan. [http://genealogy.euweb.cz/russia/rurik3.html His descendants] were dispossessed by their uncles but gradually managed to establish themselves in Halychina, ruling the land until 1199, when their line went extinct. In order to downplay their claims to Kiev, the records of Vladimir's military campaigns seem to have been obliterated from Kievan chronicles. As a result, medieval historians often confuse him with two more famous namesakes — Vladimir the Great and Vladimir Monomakh.

Vladimir's memory was better preserved in foreign sources. In Norse sagas he frequently figures as Valdemar Holti (that is, "the Nimble"). George Cedrenus noticed Vladimir's arrogance in dealing with the Byzantines.

Further reading

*Volkoff, Vladimir. "Vladimir, the Russian Viking". Overlook Press, 1985.

References