The history of Russia knows many cases of fratricide. The same Vladimir, the father (and, according to some sources, uncle) of Svyatopolk, killed his brother Yaropolk, and even at that moment when his wife was on demolition, and the nickname was Red Sun.
Svyatopolk received his prefix to the name - Cursed - probably because of the number of brothers killed. There were three of them: Boris, Gleb and Svyatoslav.
The first rulers of Russia
Prince Svyatopolk, according to some reports, was not a son of Vladimir I, but a nephew, since Krasnoy Solnyshko immediately married the widow of the murdered Yaropolk, Greek from Yulia, and she already had another brother-killer. Actually, Svyatopolk had all the rights to the throne of Kiev both as Vladimirovich, because he was the eldest son after the death of Vysheslav, and as Yaropolkovich, because he was the legitimate son of the legitimate Kiev ruler. All the listed Grand Dukes were the first Russian rulers with whom the history of Russia began. Svyatopolk was the great-great-grandson of Rurik, the great-grandson of Igor and Olga, the grandson of Svyatoslav, the son or nephew of Vladimir. When they became Russia, was baptized, with them the faith grew stronger and the earth increased.
Deserved name prefix
Of course, not all of them were fratricides. Judging by the chronicles and historical sources, contemporaries left bright memories of Boris and Gleb. Given the innocent death and high spiritual qualities, the martyr brothers were canonized, and they became the first Russian saints. Their blood stopped sedition in Russia. Why were they killed by Svyatopolk Vladimirovich the Accursed? Why was he called that? Why is not Svyatoslav ranked among the saints, who also fell at the hand of the Cursed?
The term "cursed" in ancient Russia has the following synonyms: wicked and sinful, rejected by the church and damned. That is, if Svyatopolk was given such a nickname, and he "became famous" with him for centuries, then his crimes filled the cup of human patience. Svyatopolk Vladimirovich the Cursed did not live even 40 years (born in 979, died in 1019), ruled Kievan Rus for about a year and remained in the memory of people as a killer of brothers.
Stranger
He was brought up by Vladimir as his own son and received reign in Turov, the capital of the Principality of Turov, located in what is now Belarus. Later, the Red Sun gave him the Drevlyansk lands and Pinsk, that is, as we see, did not offend him at all.
Prince Turovsky Svyatopolk on this throne was the first representative of the Rurikovich clan and reigned there since 988. Svyatopolk himself called himself the son of Yaropolk. Its origin is reflected in the name. All other sons of Vladimir the Baptist have in their names the root of "glory" in honor of Grandfather Svyatoslav: Izyaslav and Vysheslav, Yaroslav and Mstislav. And in the name of Svyatopolk, the first syllable indicates that Svyatoslav Igorevich was really a grandfather, and Yaropolk was a father. There is absolutely no exact data, and the mother is not always indicated by the Greek woman (sometimes they talk about the Czech woman, who was the first wife of Vladimir). In the "Tale of Bygone Years" they write about him as the son of two fathers and call him "the evil fruit."
Catholic wife
One way or another, but all the actions of the hero of our story indicate that he did not like Vladimir himself, nor his brothers, nor sisters. So, in 1018, Svyatopolk Vladimirovich the Cursed took his sisters and stepmother hostage, that is, the next wife of Vladimir, and his brother Yaroslav, later nicknamed the Wise. In addition, he married the Polish princess, daughter of Boleslaw I the Brave, in 1015. The young lady had a spiritual mentor - Kolberg bishop Rainburn, and together they dreamed of reassigning Russia to Catholic Rome. For this purpose, it was necessary to overthrow Vladimir, who also once killed the father of Svyatopolk. But the plot was uncovered by the Greek clergyman Anastas Korsunyanin, who during the baptism of Rus was the actual leader of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Achieving the desired goal
Svyatopolk Vladimirovich Cursed with his wife and her mentor were thrown into prison. One can imagine how evil he came out of there after the death of Vladimir on July 15, 1015. None of the brothers were in Kiev, Svyatopolk freely takes the throne and becomes the Grand Duke of Kiev. He did not recognize all relatives, but his father's favorite - Boris - hated fiercely. Kievans supported him. How the Cursed dreamed of power, one can judge by the fact that, sitting on the throne for a year, he managed to issue his own currency - pieces of silver with a circular inscription around the portrait: "Svyatopolk on the table."
Cynical killer
In the same year, he kills three brothers (considering them not relatives, but stepbrothers) - Rostov Prince Boris, a favorite of the army and people, Murom Prince Gleb and Drevlyansky Svyatoslav. Boris and Gleb were distinguished by piety and simple human decency.
They did not listen to the entreaties of their inner circle and responded to the false call of Svyatopolk about the desire for reconciliation. Svyatopolk generally called Gleb, who did not know about the death of his father, on behalf of Vladimir. Moreover, both Boris and Gleb recognized the authority of the new Kiev prince unconditionally and promised to honor him as they honored their father. Boris the Accursed killed with particular cruelty. Svyatoslav wanted to escape to Hungary, but the killers overtook him there too. Perhaps because he resisted and did not swear allegiance to Svyatopolk, the church did not rank him as a saint.
Cursed villain
Svyatopolk Vladimirovich the Cursed, without hesitation even for a minute, would have killed Yaroslav, but at the first meeting near Lyubech on the Dnieper he was defeated by his troops, and Yaroslav occupied Kiev.
But the Cursed, who fled to his father-in-law, returned with him and the Polish troops, who, under the leadership of Boleslav I the Brave, defeated the Novgorodians on the Bug. Svyatopolk again occupied the Kiev throne. But this man, obviously, lacked any positive qualities, including elementary gratitude: he expelled the Polish troops from Kiev so as not to put them on contentment.
Evil is punished
Returning with the Vikings, Yaroslav finally defeated all Svyatopolk’s allies (this time it was the Pechenegs) on the Alta River, near the place where he killed his brother Gleb Svyatopolk Vladimirovich Okayanny. His brief biography contains the facts of conspiracies, betrayals, murders and ... nothing that would have been done, like his father Vladimir the Baptist and brother Yaroslav the Wise, to the glory of the Russian land. There is no exact information about when, where and how he died. There are legends that during the flight from the battlefield the fratricide went crazy and died somewhere in a deserted place on the border of Poland and the Czech Republic.
Unverified Options
There are some versions that say that Svyatopolk was agreed, and that he has nothing to do with the murder of the brothers Boris and Gleb, they say, this is the work of Yaroslav, who openly opposed his father.
Before his death, Vladimir was preparing to march on Novgorod to pacify the rebellious son, who did not have to dream about - with the presence of older brothers - about the Kiev throne. And Yaroslav was very ambitious. In addition, princely children continued to be named after this
fiend of hell Svyatopolk, while there was a clear set of generic princely names from which the "bad" were excluded. By the way, in the Scandinavian "Saga of Edmund" it is Yaroslav who is indicated as the murderer of Boris. It is difficult, however, to imagine that in those days, in the absence of the media, Yaroslav could do the killing of three brothers and so blame it on Svyatopolk, who for several hundred years has been considered a cursed killer of Boris and Gleb, who became heavenly after death defenders of the Fatherland.