Prince Vladimir Monomakh became the only ruler in Russian history who voluntarily renounced great power. He was born in one thousand fifty-two. His life principle was the preservation of the honor of his ancestors. And the time of his reign was the best for Kievan Rus.
The activities of Vladimir Monomakh were of great importance for Russia, and to find something similar in history is very difficult. He tries to do the best, shed less blood on his brothers and save the lives of Christians. Protects its land and at the same time is ready to conclude contracts, if it becomes possible.
Famous majestic headdress
Great Vladimir Monomakh! His biography is not familiar to everyone, but every schoolboy knows the name. And largely thanks to a very famous subject. Trimmed with fur, a golden crown adorned with rubies and emeralds, the most famous of all the royal regalia, is the Monomakh hat.
According to legend, this rich crown of emperor Konstantin Monomakh sent to his grandson Vladimir to show the continuity of power of the Russian rulers. And any portrait of Vladimir Monomakh always represented him in this famous headdress. But how wrong the artists were! After all, he never even held the royal crown in his hands, and the Russian princes put it on his head only four centuries later.
Mysterious Byzantine Amulet
Another famous thing that belonged to the prince was a mysterious serpentine medallion. On one side is the image of the Archangel Michael, and on the other is a head surrounded by snakes. No one knows how the prince got this strange locket, but Vladimir never parted with him.
Scientists paid special attention to the inscriptions that an unknown master left on this amulet. One of them is prayer, but the other has baffled historians. This is a Greek antique spell that played a role. In what matters did Monomakh help a strange spell on the Byzantine medallion? Without a doubt, Byzantium played a huge role in the life of the prince
The progenitors of a great ruler
On the maternal side, Byzantine Emperor Konstantin Monomakh was his grandfather. It is this nickname, meaning "martial artist" in the future, that will become the main political mission of the great Russian prince, which will characterize the activities of Vladimir Monomakh. He took the name of his grandfather and wore it all his life. This led to the fact that the halo of Byzantine education, way of thinking, traditions and so on - all this was included in his biography.
Blood issues played a huge role in the fate of the prince. His grandfather on the part of his mother was Konstantin, endowed, according to the ancient chronicler, with the gift of winning the hearts of his subjects. By the way, Prince Vladimir Monomakh himself owned this gift. He enjoyed sincere folk love. According to his father, his grandfather was Yaroslav the Wise himself. It seemed that all the best qualities of this branch of the clan — the craving for knowledge, the analytical mind, and the stubborn desire to obey the law — were concentrated in the character of the young prince.
Father of the young prince Vladimir
We can say that Europe and Asia shared the best with Monomakh. But his father, Vsevolod Yaroslavovich, had no less influence on him. He knew five foreign languages and was one of the most educated people of his time. From the age of seven, his father tempered the young prince in long campaigns and battles.
Eagerly studied courage and patience Vladimir Monomakh. The biography of the prince reports the facts that already from the age of thirteen he led the squad and even his own estate - Rostov. Then there were Smolensk, Chernihiv and dozens of other small cities.
Monomakh used to meekly endure inconvenience and hardship. But the hunt was a truly skilled warrior. Riding along the steppes, as legend has it, he caught dozens of wild horses in dozens and tied them with his bare hands. There was then no better way to develop courage, dexterity, strength and speed of reaction.
The beginning of an adult career in difficult times
It is the tactics developed in the young years on the hunt, when the prince drove the beast on its territory, later it will become the main weapon of Monomakh against a more dangerous enemy. Vladimir Monomakh, whose reign had a very difficult period, began his adult career when the onslaught of nomads continuously went on Russia.
And initially, each raid was accompanied by the ruin of Russia and the defeat of the Russian princes. There were, of course, some successes, but on the whole they could not stop this onslaught. And the character of Vladimir was forged precisely in this period. Young Vladimir Vsevolodovich considered the war with the Polovtsians, who occupied a vast steppe territory from the Danube to the Irtysh, to be his main task.
The capture of Jerusalem, or the experience of European relatives
By this time, the first Crusade had already taken place in Europe, which ended with the capture of Jerusalem and the creation of a Christian state in the Middle East. Vladimir’s cousin, Count Hugo Vermandois, took part in this campaign. And Vladimir decided to adopt the experience of European relatives.
He was immensely inspired by the deeds of the crusaders. And the main characteristic of Vladimir Monomakh suggests that his whole life passed under the sign of struggle. He prepared for every fight, but desire alone was not enough. This is where the tactics that the young prince used during horse hunting came in handy. It is necessary to drive the enemy, like a beast, on its territory.
Vladimir Monomakh. Warrior Biography
Monomakh was the first who, at the end of the eleventh century and the beginning of the twelfth, switched to a different battle tactic - attacking the steppe. And this was the fundamental difference between the previous battles and confrontations that Vladimir demonstrated: go to the steppe, along nomads, take the cities and camps of nomads with battle, where to finish them off on the spot.
It is this new strategy that is the characteristic of Vladimir Monomakh, which shows his enormous gift as a leader. He, being just Prince Pereyaslavsky, gathered squads from all over Russia under his banner. His authority at this crucial moment was much higher than that of the Kiev ruler himself. Opponents met on March 27, one thousand one hundred and eleven, on the river Solnitsa, a tributary of the Don.
The devastating defeat of the nomads
The steppe did not know such an unconditional defeat from the Russian armies. About ten thousand Polovtsy died on the battlefield. The news of the victorious campaign on the steppe spread throughout the world. Vladimir Monomakh manages the almost impossible.
Despite the fact that all lands have already become fragmented, Kievan Rus ceased to exist, and the Old Russian state collapsed, it unites all these forces together and to a large extent controls the situation over almost the entire territory of Kievan Rus.
Brother Oleg, or the murder of a son
Nomads will not soon be driven out of Russian soil, but Vladimir has taken a huge step towards this victory. What was he like, this greatest Russian commander? The history of Vladimir Monomakh did not preserve reliable descriptions of his appearance. Each historian imagines his Monomakh. One thing is known: he was an ascetic, stoic, wise and courageous ruler.
But the prince could not occupy the most important throne of Kiev by law. After all, power in the state, according to the rules of inheritance described by his grandfather Yaroslav the Wise, was transferred not from father to son, but to the eldest in the family. And the law for Monomakh was above all. That is why Vladimir Monomakh reigns in Chernigov inferior to the rightful owner, although he reigns there for sixteen years.
He passes the board to his cousin Oleg. And the wife and children of Vladimir Monomakh, of course, together with the prince himself, leave their native estate. Subsequently, Oleg will attack Murom and kill the son of Vladimir. The rejection of the fratricidal war was more important than the personal grief experienced by Vladimir Monomakh. His biography suggests that he fought all his life only with external enemies, and considered the murder of relatives a crime. That is how he understood the law.
The death of Prince Vsevolod
Monomakh never betrayed his principles. Under no circumstances did he get involved in internecine warfare. On April 13, one thousand ninety-three, Vladimir's father, Prince of Kiev, Vsevolod, died , and he seemed to have a chance to seize the first throne of Russia. He was popular among the people, respected by the princes - after all, the people of Kiev themselves offered to take his father's place. But he again refused, as he was sure that the throne should be passed by law. And the ruler was the one who was supposed to be in seniority - a cousin of Svyatopolk.
History knows only a few rulers who voluntarily renounced power. This is the Roman emperor Diocletian and Lucius Cincinnatus. But Vladimir Monomakh was the only one who gave up power only because he considered himself an illegal ruler. And this was the basis of his authority in the princely family and among all the Old Russian nobility. Vladimir never broke anything. He always adhered to the rules, even to the detriment of himself.
Finally on the throne
But Prince Monomakh, who, it seemed, was never destined to be on the throne of Kiev, finally occupies him. During the reign, he adopts a number of laws that have reduced the intensity of social passions. This is one of his greatest achievements. Having occupied the main throne of Russia, Vladimir did not abandon his military campaigns. In one thousand one hundred and sixteenth year, the prince began a war against Byzantium. Together with a huge army, he went to the Danube, and the opposing side hastened to settle relations with the world.
Russia led by Monomakh became very strong, and the whole world had to reckon with this. An embassy with rich gifts was sent to Kiev. Among them were items of formal clothes, and it was then that the legend of the famous Monomakh hat appeared. Russia has found in the person of Vladimir its protector and savior. He is the one who proved that for protection you need to stop all internal strife and unite. And thanks to his military policy, the Polovtsian tribes moved further away from the Russian borders.