Grand Prince Vladimir OF KIEV the Great

  General Notes:

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 from his relative Ladejarl Håkon Sigurdsson, ruler of Norway, assembled a Varangian army and reconquered Novgorod from Yaropolk. By 980 Vladimir had consolidated the Kievan realm from modern day Ukraine to the Baltic Sea and had solidified the frontiers against incursions of Bulgarian, Baltic, and Eastern nomads. Originally a pagan, Vladimir converted to Christianity in 988, and proceeded to baptise all of Kievan Rus'.

Described by Thietmar of Merseburg as a great profligate (Latin: fornicator maximus). He had a few hundred concubines in Kiev and in the country residence of Berestovo. He also had official pagan wives, the most famous being Rogneda of Polotsk. His other wives are mentioned in the Primary Chronicle, with various children assigned to various wives in the different versions of the document. Hence, speculations abound.

Vladimir married Rogneda of Polotsk, daughter of Rogvolod of Polotsk and Unknown. (Rogneda of Polotsk was born in 962 and died in 1002.)