Vladimir II Vsevelodovich Monomakh of Kiev

  General Notes:

Born: 1053
Marriage: Gyda Haraldsdatter circa 1070
Died: 19 May 1125, near Kiev [now in Ukraine] at age 72
Another name for Vladimir was Vladimir II Vsevelodovich Monomakh of Novgorod.
General Notes:
VLADIMIR VSEVOLODOVICH MONOMAKHVladimir was the son of Grand Prince Vsevolod I Yaroslavich (ruled Kiev 1078-93) and Irina, the daughter of the Byzantine emperor Constantine IX Monomachus. He became active in the politics of Kievan Rus, helping his father and uncle Izyaslav I (ruled at Kiev intermittently 1054-78) defeat his cousins Oleg Svyatoslavich and Boris Vyacheslavich at Chernigov (1078; modern Chernihiv, Ukraine) and succeeding his father as prince of Chernigov when Vsevolod became grand prince of Kiev. Vladimir ruled Chernigov from 1078 to 1094, restoring order among his cousins in Volhynia (1084-86) and assuming a leading role among princes of Rus at the conferences held to avert perpetual warfare among themselves (1097 and 1100). When his cousin Grand Prince Svyatopolk II (ruled Kiev 1093-1113) died, the veche (city council) of Kiev named him successor. During his reign, as prior to it, Vladimir was almost constantly involved in wars, fighting primarily the Polovtsy, who had settled in the steppe region southeast of the Kievan state and had been raiding the lands of Rus since 1061. In his "Testament," which he wrote for his sons and which constitutes the earliest known example of Old Russian literature written by a layman, Vladimir recounted participating in 83 noteworthy military campaigns and recorded killing 200 Polovtsy princes. In addition to his martial qualities, Vladimir Monomakh was known as an adept administrator, whose ability to curtail the internecine warfare among his princely relatives revived, if only temporarily, the declining strength of Kievan Rus. He was also noted as a builder; he founded the city of Vladimir on the Klyazma River in northeastern Russia, which by the end of the 12th century replaced Kiev as the seat of the grand prince.Fra Snorre Sturlasson: Magnus Erlingssons saga:"2. ... Kong Valdemar var nær frende til kong Magnus. Ingelborg, kong Valdemars mor, og Malmfrid, mor til Kristin, som var Magnus's mor, var søstre og døtre til kong Harald [Mstislav I] øst i Gardarike, som var sønn til Valdemar [Vladimir] Jarisleivsson. ...."
Noted events in his life were:
• Acceded: Grand Prince of Novgorod (Kiev), 1113.
Vladimir married Gyda Haraldsdatter, daughter of Harald II Gudinesson of England and Edgyth Swan-neck, circa 1070. (Gyda Haraldsdatter was born in 1065 and died in 1132.)

Vladimir married Gyda Haraldsdatter, daughter of Harald II Gudinesson of England and Edgyth Swan-neck, about 1070. (Gyda Haraldsdatter was born in 1065 and died in 1132.)