Volodimer the Great
When Sviatoslavrushed back from Bulgaria to defend Kyiv from the Pechenegs he entrusted his domain to his three young sons to represent his authority under the tutelage of trusted “voivodas.” The eldest son Iaropolk received Kyiy Oleg was given Dereva on the Pripet River, and the youngest, Volodimer, was invited to rule in Novgorod, apparently by the citizens’ popular demand.
Military authority and the princely rule which went with it was by now established to be the prerogative of Ruriks descendants, and although this was not yet totally accepted by the Slav tribesmen the legitimacy of the succession was recognized and maintained by the “boyars” and the prince s “druzhina” retinue. Primogeniture as it was practiced in some parts of Europe was not a part of the setup, and princely rule in Rus was to be shared by all male members of the family. Although the eldest son was made responsible for Kyiv there is no indication that he was recognized as the supreme ruler of all of Sviatoslav’s possessions. Perhaps Sviatoslavmeant the appointments to be a temporary measure until his conflict with Bulgaria and the Romanian Empire was resolved but most likely he was ensuring that his entire domain remained in family hands. Sviatoslav’s chief commander Sveneld had survived the Pecheneg ambush and the oldest son Iaropolks “voivoda.” His council would lead to war between the brothers to secure Iaropolks supremacy and the deadly struggle between the brothers would establish a precedent for the next two centuries, preventing any form of political unity.By 975, a few years into the brothers’ rule, disagreement broke out between Iaropolk and Oleg. The conflict had arisen over territory, with both brothers claiming exclusive hunting rights in a particular area. When Svenelds son Liut had gone hunting in the disputed wooded terrain he was attacked by Oleg and his men, and killed.
Liut and Iaropolk were childhood friends and Sveneld had little difficulty in convincing Iaropolk to attack his brother and avenge Liut s death. Here was an opportunity for Iaropolk to replace his younger brothers as the sole ruler of his father’s two domains. Marching on Dereva, he defeated Oleg in battle, who fled with his “druzhina” and the remaining men to the fortified town of Vruchy (Ovruch). They began to crowd the bridge leading across the moat and Oleg and members of his “druzhina” were pushed off the narrow causeway and crushed under the weight of the falling men and horses. Wrongly informed that Oleg had been killed by his brother, and believing that he would be next, Volodimer fled to Norway to seek refuge in the king’s court, where he began to recruit a mercenary force. By about 978 Volodimer was ready to return. Reinforced by local troops he first re-occupied Novgorod which in the meantime had been taken over by Iaropolks lieutenants. The captive lieutenants were sent back to Kyivwith a message to Iaropolk that Volodimer “was marching on him” as his father was in the habit of doing. First he struck against his brother’s ally the principality of Polotsk, which lay some 600 kilometers north of Kyiv and blocked the way to the city.1 Before beginning the advance Volodimer had sought an alliance with the Polotsk Prince Rogvolod through marriage to his daughter Rogneda to upset Rogvolods alliance with Kyiv, since Rogneda was betrothed to Iaropolk.He (Volodimer) remained in Novgorod and sent word to Rogvolod in Polotsk that he desired his daughter to wife. Rogvolod inquired of his daughter whether she wished to marry Volodimer. “I will not,” she replied, “draw off the boots of a slave’s son, but I want Iaropolk instead.”... The servants of Volodimer returned and reported to him all the words of Rogneda, the daughter of Rogvolod, Prince of Polotsk. Volodimer then collected a large army... and marched against Rogvolod. At this time the intention was that Rogneda should marry Iaropolk.
But Volodimer attacked Polotsk, killed Rogvolod and his two sons, and after marrying the prince’s daughter he proceeded against Iaropolk.2He would not forget Rogneda’s unkind words which referred to the fact that his mother was Sviatoslav’s servant. Further reinforced by troops from Polotsk, Volodimer marched on Kyivwhere Iaropolk had taken refuge. After several assaults and unable to penetrate the city’s defenses Volodimer decided on treachery. He first tried to have Iaropolk assassinated but to no avail. Iaropolk was popular and widely respected, and no one came forward for the task in spite of a handsome reward. He next opened secret negotiations with Iaropolks voivoda
Blud, persuading him that Iaropolk s case was lost and that he should throw in his lot with him, Volodimer. Blud agreed, and proceeded to convince his prince that the citizens of Kyivhad gone over to Volodimer s side and were prepared to hand him over to his half-brother. Heeding the treacherous advice, Iaropolk fled the city and headed south to the fortress of Rodnia, at the mouth of the Ros River.3 Volodimer followed and besieged the stronghold which was not intended for such a large force and soon began to run out of food and supplies. Ignoring his advisor Variazhko to break out and join the Pechenegs, Iaropolk once again put his faith on Blud and opened negotiations with Volodimer. The talks were to take place in their father s stone hall, and as Iaroslavwalked through the entrance two hired Varangians closed the door and killed him with their swords. His loyal advisor Variazhko managed to fight his way out and escape, and joining the Pechenegs he would take part in many raids on Volodimer s domain.
Claiming Kyiv as their prize, the Varangians in Volodimer s army who had been recruited in Norway now presented him with an ultimatum: either he pay two gold grivny for every resident in Kyiv, or they would pillage the city according to rules of war.4 Volodimer had no intentions to meet their demand and once again resorted to trickery.
If they would wait for a month a tribute in the form of marten pelts would be due, and they would then be paid. Instead, Volodimer used the time to bring in local Slav forces, and seeing that they had been tricked, the Varangian rebels asked to be allowed to depart for Constantinople to serve in the Imperial army. The episode is described by the Chronicle:The prince urged them to go on their way. He then selected from their number the good, the wise and the brave men, to whom he assigned cities, while the rest departed for Tsargrad (Constantinople) in Greece. But in advance of them Volodimer sent couriers bearing this message. Varangians are on their way to your country. Do not keep many of them in your city or else they will cause such harm as they have done here. Scatter them therefore in various localities and do not let a single one return this way.5
Seven years had passed between gaining power and his father s death at the hands of the Pechenegs. Volodimer was now the sole ruler of Rus and its dependent outlying territories, an area of some 330,000 square kilometers stretching from what is today north central Ukraine, southern Belarus, to the Gulf of Finland and part of the Volga region in the east.6 Towns in the northeast, such as Moscow, Suzdal, Iaroslav and Vladimir, which would become the centers of Moscovy, were not yet established but the area was beginning to be colonized by Slavs. Volodimer realized that to enhance princely prestige and power he had to introduce a greater degree of unity to his widespread domain. After putting his uncle Dobrynia (his mothers brother) in charge of Novgorod he turned his attention to religion, or more precisely to building a state.
Concepts familiar to us today, such as patriotism, nationalism and political ideology, did not exist in the Middle Ages, and Ioyaltywas largely directed towards ones clan and tribe. Ancestor worship and other tribal religious cults and practices also played an important part, but not all gods were common to all tribes.
To unify religious practice Volodimer began to establish an official state pantheon of deities. Six gods were selected and their statues erected in Kyiv, to be worshipped by all inhabitants and visitors: Perun the god of war and thunder, made of oak with a Silverhead and a gold moustache, followed by gods associated with prosperity such as Dazhbog, Stribog, Khors, Simargl and Mokosh. Similar statues were also erected in other towns and although tribal gods were permitted all other religions such as ChristianityJudaism and Islam were banned. Under Volodimer religion in Rus began to take on a political character but by his time eastern Christianity had established a presence in Kyiv. Volodimer s grandmother Olga was a Christian, and by the first half of the IOth century we know there was a Christian cemetery in the city, as well as the public parish church (the Greek “katolike eklesia”) of St. Elias in the commercial lower part of Kyiv called Podol.On a more personal note, Volodimer began to develop a great interest in women, four of which would bear him 12 sons and an unknown number of daughters. The Kyiv Primary Chronicle describes the Princeswomanizingwith some typical exaggeration for effect:
Now Volodimer was overcome by lust for women. His lawful wife was Rogned whom he settled in Lybed (now a part of Kyiv). Byher he had four sons: Izyslav, Mstislav, Yaroslav, and Vsevolod, and two daughters. The Greek woman bore him Sviatoslav; by one Czech (woman) he had a son Vysheslav; by another, Sviatoslav and Mstislav; and by a Bulgarian woman, Boris and Gleb. He had three hundred concubines at Vyshgorod, three hundred at Belgorod and two hundred at Berestovo.... He was insatiable in vice. He even seduced married women and violated young girls, for he was a libertine like Solomon.7
Trade was the only means by which ruling elites of Rus obtained goods which could not be produced or grown locally. Revenue from trade was also crucial in maintaining the men- at-arms and the military forces which provided defense and access to lucrative trade routes.
AlthoughVolodimerhad expelled most of the mercenary Varangians he could still rely on his personal “druzhina” retainers as well as Rus warriors from the Slav Poliani tribe of the middle Dnipro (today s north central Ukraine). Following his father s military policy he began to secure access to the western trade routes leading to the basin of the Vistula River and the Baltic Sea. Setting out with his men he defeated the Liakhs (Poles) on his western border in 981 in what later became Galicia, seizing the towns of Buzhsk, Belz, and Volyn on the Western Buh River, as well as Cherven and Przemysl (Peremysl) further to the west. Next he turned his attention to Slavic and Lithuanian tribes, some of which had seized the opportunity presented by his conflict with his brother Iaropolk to break away from Kyiv’s authority. “In the same year he conquered the Viatichi and imposed upon them tribute according to the number of their ploughs, just as his father had done. (The year after) the Viatichi went to war, but Volodimer... conquered them a second time.”8The Viatichi were the most northeastern Slavic tribe on the mouth of the Oka River, just to the south of where Moscow would be built, and controlled access to the Volga River trade route which led to the Caspian Sea and the Moslem civilization. Another river, the Nieman, which drains from the great Pripet marsh, also provided a trade route to the southeastern Baltic area. Its upper reaches flowed through the land of the Iatvigians and in 983 Volodimer conquered the Lithuanian tribe and seized its territory. Ayear Iaterwhen the Slavic Radimichi tribe from the upper Dnipro and the Desna rivers revolted they were defeated in the battle of the Pishcha River.9
Otherwise the Great Prince s rule was not intrusive, and as long as tribute was paid the defeated tribes could conduct their affairs in any way they wished. With the interior territory secured and with access to a greater reserve of manpower, Volodimer next set out against the WealthyVolga Bulgars. His father Sviatoslavhad defeated the Bulgars twenty years before, sacking their wealthy capital Bolgary near the junction of the Volga and Kama rivers. Enlisting the nomad Tork cavalry, which was to advance overland, Volodimer s men set out on boats on the Oka, heading towards the Volga River. Rus had still not managed to build an effective cavalry force and continued to rely on the Steppe horsemen. The Bulgars were defeated in a great battle and were forced to conclude a peace treaty and establish trade relations, which allowed shipping from Rus to proceed along the Volga to the Caspian Sea. The attack, however, may have dealt a fatal blow to the Volga Bulgar economy, since we know that the last silver dirhams were Struckby the Bulgars about this time in 986-87 (which followed a general decline in the flow of the silver coins several decades earlier).10 After returning to Kyiv, Volodimer secured the eastern territory by mounting an expedition against what remained of the Khazar state in the Crimea and along the shores of the Sea of Azov. The Great Prince could now turn his attention towards solidifying authority within Rus, Novgorod, and the conquered tribal areas.