Vladimir III Igorevich

Vladimir III Igorevich (October 8, 1170 – Putivl, 1211 or after)[1] was a Rus' prince (a member of the Rurik dynasty).[2] His baptismal name was Peter.[1] He was prince of Putivl (1180–after 1211), and of Halych (1206–1208, 1210–1211).[1]

Contents

His early life

Vladimir was the eldest son of prince Igor Svyatoslavich of Putivl, by his wife (possibly Evfrosinia Yaroslavna), a daughter of prince Yaroslav Volodimerovich of Halych.[1]

In 1180, Igor Svyatoslavich succeeded his half-brother, Oleg Svyatoslavich in Novgorod-Seversk, and thus Vladimir followed his father as prince of Putivl.[1] It was probably in 1181 when Igor Svyatoslavich and Khan Konchak concluded the betrothal of the latter’s daughter to Vladimir.[1]

In the summer of 1184, Vladimir joined his father who conducted a raid against the Cumans living close to the Poseme region (along the Seym River).[1] They defeated a Cuman raiding party of 400 strong around the river Merla south of the Kihiriya (a tributary of the Vorskla River) and returned home.[1] In April 1185, Vladimir joined his father’s new campaign against the Cumans.[1] In the Battle at the Kayala River (which was the most serious blow the nomads had ever inflicted on the princes of Rus’) Vladimir was captured by Khan Kopti.[1]

Vladimir returned home from captivity with Khan Konchak’s daughter, Svoboda only in 1188.[1]

Prince of Halych

In 1198[1] (or 1199), Vladimir’s maternal uncle, prince Vladimir II Yaroslavich of Halych died.[2] Vladimir Yaroslavich’s death changed the balance of power in Rus’ and created a political vacuum that a number of claimants were eager to fill.[1] It was grand prince Rurik Rostislavich of Kiev who could now claim that, after the dynasty of Halych became defunct, the territory reverted to the jurisdiction of the grand prince of Kiev.[1] After Vladimir Yaroslavich’s death, however, prince Roman Mstislavich of Volodymyr was the quickest off the mark, and he captured the town.[1] When he died on June 19, 1205, two sons survived him: Daniil Romanovich aged four and Vasilko Romanovich aged two.[2] The Galicians pledged allegiance to Daniil Romanovich, but he had no dynastic claim to Halich: his claim to Halych was justified on the grounds that he had the right to sit on the throne of his father, but his father’s patrimonial domain (and consequently that of Daniil Romanovich) was Volodymyr-Volynskyi.[1]

In the early summer of 1206, grand prince Vsevolod IV Svyatoslavich assembled all the Olgovichi (the members of the dynasty of Chernigov) for a snem (a meeting) presumably to organize a campaign to Halych.[1] When the Galicians heard how large a force had assembled against them, they asked king Andrew II of Hungary for help; even so, Daniil Romanovich fled to his patrimony of Volodymyr-Volynskyi.[1]

Meanwhile, King Andrew II crossed the mountains and, on learning that the Poles were marching against Daniil Romanovich, went to confront them.[1] The king also sent messengers to prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich of Pereyaslavl inviting him to rule Halych.[1] The king evidently hoped to draw Yaroslav Vsevolodovich’s father, prince Vsevolod III Yurevich of Suzdalia, into the conflict.[1]

On learning that the Hungarians stood poised for battle near Volodymyr-Volynskyi, the Olgovichi dared not attack Halych.[1] Finally, after the king negotiated peace with the Poles and returned home, the Olgovichi also withdrew.[1] When the Galicians learnt that the king had deserted them, they feared that the Olgovichi might attack them while they had no prince.[1] They therefore sent word in secret to Vladimir who had blood ties to the extinct dynasty of Halych asking him to rule the principality.[1] On receiving the information, Vladimir stole away at night from his relatives, rode to Halych, and occupied it; his brother Roman Igorevich went to Zvenigorod.[1] Meanwhile, Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, who was riding to Halych, learnt that Vladimir had already entered the town so he returned to Pereyaslavl.[1]

In 1207, Vladimir sent troops against Daniil and Vasilko Romanovich in Volodymyr-Volynskyi forcing them to flee to the Poles.[1] Then Vladimir appointed his brother Svyatoslav Igorevich to the town.[1] However, Svyatoslav Igorevich lost his newly acquired domain to prince Aleksandr Vsevolodovich of Belz (who was the cousin of Daniil and Vasilko Romanovich).[1] In the meantime, duke Leszek I of Cracow kept Vasilko Romanovich at his side but sent Daniil Romanovich to king Andrew II of Hungary requesting him to reinstate him in Halych.[1]

Some time in the summer of 1207, Vladimir came to Vsevolod Svyatoslavich’s aid who was launching a campaign against Rurik Rostislavich.[1]

At the beginning of 1208,[1] Vladimir bribed the Hungarians and the Poles not to attack him.[3] Shortly afterwards,[4] Vladimir and his brother Roman Igorevich, however, quarreled;[5] the latter rode to the Hungarians and with their help defeated Vladimir.[3] Roman Igorevich therefore occupied Halych forcing Vladimir to flee to Putivl.[1]

In 1209, after Andrew II learnt of the “lawlessness and revolt” of the Galicians, he dispatched Benedek (the Voivode of Transylvania)[3] against Halych.[1] Voivode Benedek captured Halych and took Roman Igorevich captive.[3] Andrew II refused to appoint a prince to Halych; the atrocities the Hungarian troops inflicted on the Galicians suggest that the king wished to avenge himself on them for breaking their promise.[1] Voivode Benedek tormented the people, and he and his men also gave vent to their lust by defiling married women, nuns, and the wives of priests.[1]

Sometime in the early part of 1210, the Galicians sent messengers to Vladimir admitting that they had sinned against him and his brothers and begging him to save them from the tormentor.[1] The three brothers set out against Benedek and drove out him from Halych.[1] They evidently returned to the same towns that they had ruled before their quarrel.[1] Vladimir also gave his elder son Izyaslav Vladimirovich the town of Terebovl.[1] Vladimir commissioned his younger son Vsevolod Vladimirovich with the delicate task of placating Andrew II; he sent the king many gifts hoping to bribe him into allowing him and his brothers to stay in Halych.[1] He may have also asked the king to hand over Daniil Romanovich, but the king refused.[3]

According to the chronicler, the three brothers conspired to do away with the Galician boyars and, as chance presented itself, killed some 500 of them.[1] They were also accused of plundering the boyars’ estates, of handing over their daughters to marry slaves, and of giving their patrimonies to outsiders from the Chernigov lands.[1] Because a faction of boyars championed Daniil Romanovich’s return, the three brothers undoubtedly removed the hostile boyars from their domains and replaced them with Chernigov druzhinniki and loyal Galicians.[1] Because of these outrages, some boyars fled to Hungary and beseeched king Andrew II to let them have Daniil Romanovich and to help them seize Halych.[1] The king answered their pleas by dispatching a great force with the young prince.[3]

Significantly, Daniil Romanovich’s attacking forces were made up mostly of non-Galicians: except for the boyars who organized the revolt, the troops backing them constituted the Hungarians, the Poles, and the princes of Volhynia.[1] Vladimir dispatched his son Izyaslav Vladimirovich to bring the Cumans.[1] After the nomads routed the Hungarians besieging Zvenigorod, Roman Igorevich rode out to seek help from Kiev.[1] While passing by the hostile town of Shumsk, enemy soldiers captured him and handed him over to Daniil Romanovich.[1] After Vladimir learned that his two brothers had been taken captive, he fled from Halych with his son.[1] After that, the boyars of Volodymyr-Volynskyi and Halych, along with the Hungarians, installed Daniil Romanovich on the throne.[1] In September, the Galicians hanged Vladimir's two brothers and Rostislav Romanovich who may have been Vladimir's nephew.[1]

Vladimir and his son Izyaslav Vladimirovich returned to their patrimonies in the Poseme region.[1] The chronicles never again mention Vladimir; presumably, he died in Putivl.[1]

Marriage and children

#1188: Svoboda, a daughter of Khan Konchak[2] of the Donets Cumans[1]

Ancestors

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd be bf bg Dimnik, Martin. The Dynasty of Chernigov - 1146–1246. 
  2. ^ a b c d e Charles Cawley (2009-03-14). "Russia, Rurikids - Grand Princes of Kiev, Princes of Chernigov, descendants of Sviatoslav II, Grand Prince of Kiev (fourth son of Iaroslav I)". Medieval Lands. Foundation of Medieval Genealogy. http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/RUSSIA,%20Rurik.htm#RostislavMikhailovichdied1263B. Retrieved 2009-04-12. 
  3. ^ a b c d e f Benda, Kálmán (General Editor). Magyarország történeti kronológióája – I. kötet: A kezdetektől 1526-ig. 
  4. ^ The earliest possible date for the conflict was March 1208 and the latest possible date was February 1209; Dimnik, Martin op. cit. 263.
  5. ^ As was frequently the case, the dispute was probably over domains: since the Poles were holding their brother Svyatoslav Igorevich captive, Vladimir, as the senior prince, probably appropriated his brother’s domain; Roman Igorevich may have demanded a fair share of Svyatoslav’s land.; Dimnik, Martin op. cit. 263.

Sources

Preceded by
Igor Svyatoslavich
Prince of Putivl
1180–1211 or after
Succeeded by
Izyaslav Vladimirovich
Preceded by
Daniil Romanovich
Prince of Halych
1206–1208
Succeeded by
Roman II Igorevich
Preceded by
Andrew I
Prince of Halych
1210–1211
Succeeded by
Daniil Romanovich