Vladimir Monomakh

Vladimir II Monomakh
Grand Prince of Rus
Vladimir II Monomakh at the Millennium Monument in Novgorod
Reign	1113–1125
Predecessor	Sviatopolk II
Successor	Mstislav I of Kiev
Prince of Smolensk
Reign	1073–78
Prince of Chernigov
Reign	1078–94
Prince of Pereyaslav
Reign	1094–1113
Born	1053
Died	19 May 1125 (aged 71–72) Kiev
Burial	Saint Sophia's Cathedral, Kiev
Full name Vladimir Vsevolodovich
Dynasty	Rurikid
Father	Vsevolod I
Mother	Anastasia of Byzantium

Vladimir II Monomakh (Old East Slavic: Володимѣръ Мономахъ, Volodimer Monomakh; Christian name: Vasiliy, or Basileios) (1053 – 19 May 1125) reigned as Grand Prince of Kievan Rus' from 1113 to 1125.

He was the son of Vsevolod I (married in 1046) and Anastasia, daughter of the Byzantine emperor Constantine IX Monomachos, from whom Vladimir obtained his surname. Contemporary Byzantine naming practice allowed the adoption of a maternal surname if the mother's family was perceived to be of a more exalted origin than that of the father.

Eupraxia of Kiev, a half-sister of Vladimir, became notorious all over Europe for her divorce from the Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV on the grounds that he had attempted a black mass on her naked body.

In his famous Instruction (also known as The Testament) to his own children, Monomakh mentions that he conducted 83 military campaigns and 19 times made peace with the Polovtsi. At first he waged war against the steppe jointly with his cousin Oleg, but after Vladimir was sent by his father to rule Chernigov and Oleg made peace with the Polovtsi to retake that city from him, they parted company. Since that time, Vladimir and Oleg were bitter enemies who would often engage in internecine wars. The enmity continued among their children and more distant posterity.

From 1094, his chief patrimony was the southern town of Pereyaslav, although he also controlled Rostov, Suzdal, and other northern provinces (see Principality of Pereyaslavl). In these lands he founded several towns, notably his namesake, Vladimir, the future capital of Russia. In order to unite the princes of Rus' in their struggle against the Great Steppe, Vladimir initiated three princely congresses, the most important being held at Lyubech in 1097 and Dolobsk in 1103.