page_title: Vladimir the Great
section_title: Family
hierarchical_section_title: Vladimir the Great / Family
context_page_description: Vladimir Sviatoslavich, called the Great, was Prince of Novgorod, Grand Prince of Kiev, and ruler of Kievan Rus' from 980 to 1015.
  Vladimir's father was Prince Sviatoslav of the Rurik dynasty. After the death of his father in 972, Vladimir, who was then prince of Novgorod, was forced to flee to Scandinavia in 976 after his brother Yaropolk had murdered his other brother Oleg and conquered Rus'. In Sweden, with the help of his relative Ladejarl Håkon Sigurdsson, ruler of Norway, he assembled a Varangian army and reconquered Novgorod from Yaropolk. By 980, Vladimir had consolidated the Kievan realm from modern-day Belarus, Russia and Ukraine to the Baltic Sea and had solidified the frontiers against incursions of Bulgarians, Baltic tribes and Eastern nomads. Originally a follower of Slavic paganism, Vladimir converted to Christianity in 988 and Christianized the Kievan Rus'. He is thus also known as Saint Vladimir.
context_section_description: The fate of all Vladimir's daughters, whose number is around nine, is uncertain. His wives, concubines, and their children were as follows: 
  Olava or Allogia (Varangian or Czech), speculative she might have been mother of Vysheslav while others claim that it is a confusion with Helena Lekapene
  Vysheslav (c. 977 – c. 1010), Prince of Novgorod (988–1010)
  a widow of Yaropolk I, a Greek nun
  Sviatopolk the Accursed (born c. 979), possibly the surviving son of Yaropolk
  Rogneda (the daughter of Rogvolod); later upon divorce she entered a convent taking the Christian name of Anastasia
  Izyaslav of Polotsk (born c. 979, Kiev), Prince of Polotsk (989–1001)
  Yaroslav the Wise (no earlier than 983), Prince of Rostov (987–1010), Prince of Novgorod (1010–1034), Grand Prince of Kiev (1016–1018, 1019–1054). Possibly he was a son of Anna rather than Rogneda. Another interesting fact that he was younger than Sviatopolk according to the words of Boris in the Tale of Bygone Years and not as it was officially known. That he was Prince of Rostov is very dubious but not disproven.
  Vsevolod (c. 984 – 1013), possibly the Swedish Prince Wissawald of Volyn (c. 1000), was perhaps the first husband of Estrid Svendsdatter
  Mstislav, other Mstislav that possibly died as an infant if he was ever born
  Mstislav of Chernigov (born c. 983), Prince of Tmutarakan (990–1036), Prince of Chernigov (1024–1036), other sources claim him to be son of other mothers (Adela, Malfrida, or some other Bulgarian wife)
  Predslava, a concubine of Bolesław I Chrobry according to Gesta principum Polonorum
  Premislava, (died 1015), some source state that she was a wife of the Duke Laszlo (Vladislav) "the Bald" of Arpadians
  Mstislava, in 1018 was taken by Bolesław I Chrobry among the other daughters
  Bulgarian Adela, some sources claim that Adela is not necessarily Bulgarian as Boris and Gleb were born from some other wife
  Boris (born c. 986), Prince of Rostov (c. 1010 – 1015), remarkable is the fact that Rostov Principality as well as the Principality of Murom used to border the territory of Volga Bolgars
  Gleb (born c. 987), Prince of Murom (1013–1015), as Boris, Gleb is being also claimed the son of Anna Porphyrogenita
  Stanislav (born c. 985 – 1015), Prince of Smolensk (988–1015), possible of another wife and a fate of whom is not certain
  Sudislav (died 1063), Prince of Pskov (1014–1036), possible of another wife, but he is mentioned in Nikon's Chronicles. He spent 35 years in prison and later before dying became a monk.
  Malfrida
  Sviatoslav (c. 982 – 1015), Prince of Drevlians (990–1015)
  Anna Porphyrogenita
  Theofana, a wife of Novgorod posadnik Ostromir, a grandson of semi-legendary Dobrynya (highly doubtful is the fact of her being Anna's offspring)
  a granddaughter of Otto the Great (possibly Rechlinda Otona [Regelindis])
  Maria Dobroniega of Kiev (born c. 1012), the Duchess of Poland (1040–1087), married around 1040 to Casimir I the Restorer, Duke of Poland, her maternity as daughter of this wife is deduced from her apparent age
  other possible family
  Vladimirovna, an out-of-marriage daughter (died 1044), married to Bernard, Margrave of the Nordmark.
  Pozvizd (born prior to 988), a son of Vladimir according to Hustyn Chronicles. He, possibly, was the Prince Khrisokhir mentioned by Niketas Choniates.
caption: Vladimir and Rogneda (1770)
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