-987- Vladimir, son of Sviatoslav, was now knyaz of the Rus!!
-However, the Varangians from Novgorod (who had helped Vladimir win the throne) now demanded payment for their services.
-Knowing that this would just make Kievan Rus' into a tributary state of the Varangians, Vladimir instead suggested that the Varangians hit up the Byzantines instead, who were a far wealthier nation. This actually worked!
-Vladimir was not the first Christian Russian ruler, but he is known as the bringer of Christianity to the masses of Kievan Rus'.
-Bro loved sex; it was recorded that he had six wives and over 800 concubines!
-His wives were not just from Kievan Rus', but also consisted of Vikings, non-Kievan Rus' Slavs, Greeks, Bulgars, etc.
-His main wife was Rogneda of Polotsk (located in modern-day Belarus), a noblewoman (possibly Viking royalty).
-Before they were married Vladimir was really into her, but she had been really in love with Yaropolk I (Vladimir's brother) and wasn't feeling Vladimir. So, Vladimir raised an army and invaded Polotsk, conquered it, and killed Rogneda's parents and brothers (and probably also raped Rogneda). Then Vladimir took her back to Novgorod and married her.
-Until 988, Vladimir was a pagan.
-Erected statues to the gods Perun, Svarog, Stribog, etc.
-Human sacrifice was indeed practiced during this time, too.
-However, Vladimir was interested in exploring other religions, too.
-He had emissaries sent to different places to bring to him different religious missionaries who would present their religions to him so he could learn about them.
-During this time in Kiev there were a wide variety of religious faiths visible in the city- Khazar Jews, Christians, Muslims, pagans, etc.
-Anyway, there are conflicting reports as to what actually happened, but it appears as if during this time in the Byzantine Empire there was a rebellion by some Byzantine generals against Emperor Basil II (AKA Basil the Porphyrogenitus / Basil the Young) and that Basil II called upon Kievan Rus' for help, and Vladimir agreed to help crush the rebellion in exchange for Basil II's sister's (Anna Porphyrogenita) hand in marriage. Additionally, Christianity got thrown into the deal and Vladimir agreed to convert to Christianity and help spread the religion to the masses in Kievan Rus'.
-Another version states that Vladimir also invaded the Byzantine-held city of Chersonesus (outside of modern-day Sevastopol, Crimea) in order to hold it as collateral in case the Byzantines decided to back out of the deal after he had crushed the generals' rebellion.
-According to this version, Vladimir was baptized at Chersonesus Cathedral (AKA St. Vladimir's Cathedral) in Chersonesus.
-Additionally, because Vladimir had already been exposed to/studied other popular religions he knew that Christianity (specifically, Eastern Orthodoxy) was much more preferable over Islam (no fun, no alcohol, no pork, too many Bulgars and their ugly (in his opinion) mosques), Judaism (why would God kick out his own people from the Holy Land?!), Roman Catholicism (too many rules and he would have to concede authority to the Vatican), etc.
-Also, with Eastern Orthodoxy, the ruler of a kingdom was also the head of its church, so that worked for Vladimir.
-Last, Constantinople during this time was a beautiful, magnificent city, and when the nobles of Kievan Rus' came to visit it they felt like they were in Heaven.
-So, in 988 Vladimir was baptized as a Christian in the Eastern Orthodox Church, he was married to Anna Porphyrogenita, and then they returned to Kiev.
-Upon returning they immediately began converting the masses to Christianity and removing all the pagan statues and shit.
-Mass was held in old East Slavic (AKA Old Russian), the language of Kievan Rus'. Also, Vladimir made this version of Eastern Orthodoxy his own, which resulted in the birth of Russian Orthodox Christianity.
-Unfortunately, this would also be one of the biggest reasons why Russia would be isolated from from Catholic Europe over time (especially during the Renaissance).
-After religious reforms, Vladimir introduced education reforms.
-Built schools and promoted reading.
-Vladimir also got rid of all of his wives and concubines and shit once he converted, but he still had an unquenchable thirst for power and conquest, and continued to fight with neighbors (especially the Pechenegs) and invade enemy territory.
-Speaking of the Pechenegs, who is actually were these people?
-The Pechenegs were a semi-nomadic, warlike Turkic horde which inhabited a khanate next to Kievan Rus'.
-Kievan Rus' always had problems with them.
-1015- Vladimir the Great finally croaks.
-With no clear heir (or at least one that could secure power), Kievan Rus' plunged into civil war between various factions led by Vladimir's sons.
-The main instigator (and eventual victor) was one of Vladimir's sons, Sviatopolk (AKA Sviatopolk I; Sviatopolk the Accursed), who quickly had had three of his brothers (Boris, Gleb, and Sviatoslav) killed and seized control of Kiev. However, it should be noted that this is according to the "Primary Chronicle" (AKA "The Tale of Past Years"), compiled by the Orthodox monk Nestor the Chronicler c. 1113 AD.
-Fun fact: Boris (AKA Roman) and Gleb (AKA David) were actually the first two saints from Kievan Rus' to be canonized in the Eastern Orthodox Church.
-After Sviatopolk killed off Boris, Gleb, and Sviatoslav, war broke out between him and his remaining brothers Mstislav and Yaroslav.
-Yaroslav immediately began to raise an army to invade Kiev and its surrounding territories. After doing so and taking the capital, Sviatopolk fled to the Polans (a West Slavic tribe occupying what would become the Kingdom of Poland) and while he was there petitioned Duke Bolesław (AKA Bolesław I the Brave; Bolesław I the Great) of the Piast dynasty, for help in fighting off Yaroslav's army.
-Why would Poland bother to get involved?
-Perhaps they were looking for an opportunity to expand their options or manipulate the situation to work in their favor in the region, or it's also possible that they wanted to spread Catholicism there.
-Sviatopolk was surprisingly successful in convincing the Piast dynasty to raise an army and liberate Kiev, and soon Sviatopolk was back on the throne. However, he allowed for the Piast dynasty's army to stay and defend the city, but in order to accommodate these new troops he ordered for the citizens of Kiev to house them in their own homes!
-Obviously, this pissed off just about everyone who lived in Kiev, so they began to murder the Polish warriors while they were sleeping. Realizing that they were in great danger staying in Kiev, the Polish army made the wise decision to GTFO of the city.
-1019- Of course, Sviatopolk was weak without the help of the Piast dynasty, so he appealed to the Pechenegs for help when Yaroslav inevitably invaded again.
-Unfortunately for Sviatopolk, he was defeated by Yaroslav's forces, and so he once again fled to the Piast dynasty for help but died on the way there.
-Yaroslav (AKA Yaroslav I; Iaroslav; Yaroslav the Wise; etc.) was now the new grand prince of Kievan Rus'!
Thursday, March 29, 2018
Monday, March 26, 2018
Who Are the Russians? Rurik to Yaropolk I
-Early Russians were the Slavs, a peaceful folk with blue or grey eyes and fair skin.
-Always were being raided by warlike people, such as the Scythians.
-We know a lot about the Slavs from the writings of Herodotus, a Greek historian from the 5th century BC ("The Father of History").
-He wrote about the Scythian domination of the Slavs.
-After the Scythian civilization crumbled the Slavs were dominated by the Sarmatians (the conquerors of the Scythians) in the 4th and 3rd centuries BC.
-The Goths began to invade their lands in the 2nd century AD.
-This went on for like 200 years!
-They were invaded by the Huns in the 4th century AD.
-The Huns' conquest of the region ended in 453 AD when Attila the Hun died and his empire collapsed.
-The Bulgars invaded after the collapse of the Huns' empire.
-The "Avars" (unclear as to who exactly these barbarians were) then invaded c. 558 AD.
-The Avars were so brutal that many Slavs were forced to flee to the north, and according to legend it was there that they founded the city named after their prince (or "knyaz"), Kyi- the city of Kiev!
-After the founding of Kiev, it was conquered by the Khazars. It then became a tributary state to this horde.
-However, because of this trade began to flourish between Kiev and the Byzantines, as the Khazars were major trading partners with between the two during this time.
-The Arabs were also growing quite powerful in the Middle East, but the Khazars kept them from spreading into Slavic lands.
-During this time the Slavs began migrating outwards into modern-day Finland and Lithuania.
-The Slavs typically had no currency, so wealth was measured in slaves.
-The Slavs worshiped many gods, such as Perun (god of thunder and lightning).
-Christianity was just starting to make its way into the region due to Byzantine missionaries, which included Saints Cyril and Methodius (the former of whom the Cyrillic alphabets are named after!).
-Government of these Slavic lands were very loose in terms of control, and poorly organized.
-800s AD- Vikings explode onto the European scene!
-One of these groups was the Varangians, led by a dude named Rurik (AKA Hrøríkʀ).
-Rurik and the Varangians arrived at the Slavic town of Ladoga and took over. They later moved their seat of power to the city of Novgorod.
-There are two legends that have different accounts as to why the Varangians set up shop in Novgorod:
-Aristocrats of Novgorod invited the Varangians to serve as mercenaries.
-Same as above, except Rurik and his crew ended up taking over instead.
-Prince Vadim (prince of Novgorod) tried to defend his town from these invaders, but he ended up being defeated.
-Regardless of why the Varangians came to Novgorod, Rurik's dynasty was founded c. 862 AD and would last over 700 years!!
-Rurik's brothers moved down to Kiev to rule there while Rurik was up in Ladoga and/or Novgorod.
-They also began expanding their territory south along the Dnieper River all the way to the Black Sea, with their ultimate goal being to conquer Constantinople!
-860 AD- the Varangians attack Constantinople! Of course, they also ravaged the countryside along the way.
-During this time the Byzantine emperor Michael III (AKA Michael the Drunkard (haha)) was in the middle of fighting off the Abassid Caliphate and the main Byzantine army wasn't close to the city.
-Unfortunately for the Byzantines, however, the Varangians couldn't breach the walls and were soon chased off by the main Byzantine forces when they returned to the city.
-879 AD- Prince Rurik dies. His kingdom had grown quite big, so it ended up getting divided into fiefdoms to be ruled by his sons as princes/dukes (based out of Kiev, the new capital).
-First grand duke/prince (knyaz) was Oleg (AKA Helgi or "Örvar) of Novgorod (who was responsible for moving the capital from Novgorod to Kiev and who was ruling as regent since Rurik's son was too young).
-Consolidated power by making the other Slavic princes swear fealty to him or be executed!
-He took Kiev by having Askhold and Dir (who had been ruling the city) put to death.
-Oleg's three goals:
-Turn the Slavic lands into a powerful kingdom centered around Kiev.
-Expand trade with Mediterranean powers.
-Expand his kingdom, now known Rus' (AKA "Kievan Rus'").
-907 AD- Oleg attacks Constantinople (The Rus'-Byzantine War of 907).
-Demanded better trade deals with the Byzantines, which actually resulted in the Byzantines accepting their terms. However, Byzantine records have no mention of this, so it's very confusing as to what really was going on during this time.
-912 AD- Oleg dies, replaced by Rurik's son, Igor (Ingvar Røriksen).
-According to legend, Oleg had been told by pagan priests that he would die because of his horse. When his horse died, Oleg was really happy and went to where the remains of his horse were to confirm its death. However, when he touched the horse's skull with his boot, a snake came out of the skull and bit him, killing him!
-941 AD- Igor attacks Constantinople. However, the Byzantines used "Greek fire" to destroy the Rus' ships, which really fucked them up.
-944 AD- Igor tries again to attack Constantinople, this time with a Pecheneg army as an ally. However, it's also possible that the Pechenegs had joined up with them earlier too.
-Hoping to avoid trouble, the Byzantines were able to negotiate a deal; this satisfied the Rus' and so they backed off.
-945 AD- Igor is killed by the Drevlians, a nearby Slavic tribe who had stopped paying tribute to Kievan Rus' and whom Igor was trying to dominate again.
-Igor was executed by being tied up to two birch trees that had been bent down with ropes, so that when the ropes were cut the trees snapped up straight Igor was ripped apart!
-Unfortunately, Igor's son, Svyatoslav (AKA Sveinald Ingvarsson), was too young to rule, so his mother (Igor's wife), Queen Olga, ruled as regent in his place.
-955 AD- Queen Olga converts to Christianity.
-957 AD- Queen Olga travels to Constantinople and is warmly received by Constantine VII.
-She was blown away by by the Hagia Sophia (a giant cathedral dedicated to "the holy wisdom of God").
-The Hagia Sophia would have an extremely strong and long-lasting impact on Russian architecture in the future.
-Olga was baptized and Constantine VII became her godfather.
-Perhaps her main motive was for religious reasons, or it's possible that she just wanted to improve trade agreements.
-She was forced to stay in Constantinople for one year (!) to perform a seemingly never-ending series of rituals.
-Anyway, although she was now a Christian, Olga was still brutal as fuck.
-As revenge against the Drevlians, Olga destroyed entire villages in "creative" ways, including using birds to set fire to houses and then forcing the inhabitants to stay inside while their buildings burned.
-Instituted the poliudie system, which streamlined the tribute gathering system and was also the first recorded legal reform in Eastern Europe.
-However, Olga was unable to get her son or the Rus' as a whole to convert to Christianity.
-969 AD- Olga dies (maybe; see below), Svyatoslav finally becomes knyaz.
-At this point, we see the rulers becoming less like Vikings and more like a Slav, such as shaving his beard, taking a Slavic name, etc.
-Sviatoslav kicked off his reign by starting a war with the Khazars!
-At this point it's also possible that Olga was actually not dead and was still technically ruling as regent, but either way Svyatoslav was calling the shots.
-Next he started to fuck up neighboring tribes and/or groups who refused to pay tribute or submit to Kievan Rus'.
-Because of this, Kievan Rus' doubled in size in terms of territory!
-In fact, the kingdom grew so powerful that the Byzantines actually paid them to help out in a war against the Bulgars!
-Thus, Kievan Rus' were eventually successful in conquering some of the Bulgars' northern territory. Also, the Bulgars were quite wealthy, so when Sviatoslav invaded with his army he ended up just deciding to stay in this newly conquered territory, even going so far as to move the Kievan Rus' capital to the city of Pereyaslavets (outside of modern-day Tulcea, Romania), which really pissed off everyone in Kiev (including his mom, who ended up dying three days later (according to some sources).
-The Byzantines were also scared that they had created a monster!
-969 AD- Byzantine emperor Nikephoros II Phokas was assassinated, replaced by his nephew, wife's secret lover, and assassin General John I Tzimiskes (the greatest military leader in Byzantine history!).
-Svyatoslav, not knowing this, decided to try and take on the Byzantines again by demanding that the Byzantines allow Kievan Rus' to keep their Bulgarian lands, which was a ridiculous proposal since the Byzantines had hired Kievan Rus' to simply invade as mercenaries.
-Of course, John I Tzimiskes turned down Svyatoslav's proposal, so Kievan Rus' began to attack some Byzantine cities in retaliation. Big mistake- eventually John I Tzimiskes raised a huge army and fucked up the Kievan Rus' forces pretty badly, and soon Svyatoslav found himself besieged by Byzantine forces at the city of Sorostolon (modern-day Silistra, Bulgaria).
-Knowing that he was facing defeat, Svyatoslav finally sued for peace with a crushed army, and John I Tzimiskas allowed them to leave peacefully.
-972 AD- on their way back to Kiev, the Kievan Rus' army was constantly attacked by bands of Pecheneg barbarians, which ultimately resulted in Svyatoslav himself being hacked to pieces!
-According to legend, the Pecheneg khan, Kurya, used Svyatoslav's skull as a chalice.
972-980 AD- war broke out over who would rule after Sviatoslav's death between his sons Oleg and Yaropolk.
-977 AD- Oleg was killed by Yaropolk. Thus, Yaropolk became Knyaz Yaropolk I and ruled Kievan Rus' unopposed.
-However, Svyatoslav also had another son, Vladimir, who had thus far been not involved in the war of succession. Still, worrying for his life Vladimir ended up fleeing to Novgorod, where he rallied a Varangian army and crushed the Kievan Rus' (which also included the death of Yaropolk I himself) in 980 AD.
-Always were being raided by warlike people, such as the Scythians.
-We know a lot about the Slavs from the writings of Herodotus, a Greek historian from the 5th century BC ("The Father of History").
-He wrote about the Scythian domination of the Slavs.
-After the Scythian civilization crumbled the Slavs were dominated by the Sarmatians (the conquerors of the Scythians) in the 4th and 3rd centuries BC.
-The Goths began to invade their lands in the 2nd century AD.
-This went on for like 200 years!
-They were invaded by the Huns in the 4th century AD.
-The Huns' conquest of the region ended in 453 AD when Attila the Hun died and his empire collapsed.
-The Bulgars invaded after the collapse of the Huns' empire.
-The "Avars" (unclear as to who exactly these barbarians were) then invaded c. 558 AD.
-The Avars were so brutal that many Slavs were forced to flee to the north, and according to legend it was there that they founded the city named after their prince (or "knyaz"), Kyi- the city of Kiev!
-After the founding of Kiev, it was conquered by the Khazars. It then became a tributary state to this horde.
-However, because of this trade began to flourish between Kiev and the Byzantines, as the Khazars were major trading partners with between the two during this time.
-The Arabs were also growing quite powerful in the Middle East, but the Khazars kept them from spreading into Slavic lands.
-During this time the Slavs began migrating outwards into modern-day Finland and Lithuania.
-The Slavs typically had no currency, so wealth was measured in slaves.
-The Slavs worshiped many gods, such as Perun (god of thunder and lightning).
-Christianity was just starting to make its way into the region due to Byzantine missionaries, which included Saints Cyril and Methodius (the former of whom the Cyrillic alphabets are named after!).
-Government of these Slavic lands were very loose in terms of control, and poorly organized.
-800s AD- Vikings explode onto the European scene!
-One of these groups was the Varangians, led by a dude named Rurik (AKA Hrøríkʀ).
-Rurik and the Varangians arrived at the Slavic town of Ladoga and took over. They later moved their seat of power to the city of Novgorod.
-There are two legends that have different accounts as to why the Varangians set up shop in Novgorod:
-Aristocrats of Novgorod invited the Varangians to serve as mercenaries.
-Same as above, except Rurik and his crew ended up taking over instead.
-Prince Vadim (prince of Novgorod) tried to defend his town from these invaders, but he ended up being defeated.
-Regardless of why the Varangians came to Novgorod, Rurik's dynasty was founded c. 862 AD and would last over 700 years!!
-Rurik's brothers moved down to Kiev to rule there while Rurik was up in Ladoga and/or Novgorod.
-They also began expanding their territory south along the Dnieper River all the way to the Black Sea, with their ultimate goal being to conquer Constantinople!
-860 AD- the Varangians attack Constantinople! Of course, they also ravaged the countryside along the way.
-During this time the Byzantine emperor Michael III (AKA Michael the Drunkard (haha)) was in the middle of fighting off the Abassid Caliphate and the main Byzantine army wasn't close to the city.
-Unfortunately for the Byzantines, however, the Varangians couldn't breach the walls and were soon chased off by the main Byzantine forces when they returned to the city.
-879 AD- Prince Rurik dies. His kingdom had grown quite big, so it ended up getting divided into fiefdoms to be ruled by his sons as princes/dukes (based out of Kiev, the new capital).
-First grand duke/prince (knyaz) was Oleg (AKA Helgi or "Örvar) of Novgorod (who was responsible for moving the capital from Novgorod to Kiev and who was ruling as regent since Rurik's son was too young).
-Consolidated power by making the other Slavic princes swear fealty to him or be executed!
-He took Kiev by having Askhold and Dir (who had been ruling the city) put to death.
-Oleg's three goals:
-Turn the Slavic lands into a powerful kingdom centered around Kiev.
-Expand trade with Mediterranean powers.
-Expand his kingdom, now known Rus' (AKA "Kievan Rus'").
-907 AD- Oleg attacks Constantinople (The Rus'-Byzantine War of 907).
-Demanded better trade deals with the Byzantines, which actually resulted in the Byzantines accepting their terms. However, Byzantine records have no mention of this, so it's very confusing as to what really was going on during this time.
-912 AD- Oleg dies, replaced by Rurik's son, Igor (Ingvar Røriksen).
-According to legend, Oleg had been told by pagan priests that he would die because of his horse. When his horse died, Oleg was really happy and went to where the remains of his horse were to confirm its death. However, when he touched the horse's skull with his boot, a snake came out of the skull and bit him, killing him!
-941 AD- Igor attacks Constantinople. However, the Byzantines used "Greek fire" to destroy the Rus' ships, which really fucked them up.
-944 AD- Igor tries again to attack Constantinople, this time with a Pecheneg army as an ally. However, it's also possible that the Pechenegs had joined up with them earlier too.
-Hoping to avoid trouble, the Byzantines were able to negotiate a deal; this satisfied the Rus' and so they backed off.
-945 AD- Igor is killed by the Drevlians, a nearby Slavic tribe who had stopped paying tribute to Kievan Rus' and whom Igor was trying to dominate again.
-Igor was executed by being tied up to two birch trees that had been bent down with ropes, so that when the ropes were cut the trees snapped up straight Igor was ripped apart!
-Unfortunately, Igor's son, Svyatoslav (AKA Sveinald Ingvarsson), was too young to rule, so his mother (Igor's wife), Queen Olga, ruled as regent in his place.
-955 AD- Queen Olga converts to Christianity.
-957 AD- Queen Olga travels to Constantinople and is warmly received by Constantine VII.
-She was blown away by by the Hagia Sophia (a giant cathedral dedicated to "the holy wisdom of God").
-The Hagia Sophia would have an extremely strong and long-lasting impact on Russian architecture in the future.
-Olga was baptized and Constantine VII became her godfather.
-Perhaps her main motive was for religious reasons, or it's possible that she just wanted to improve trade agreements.
-She was forced to stay in Constantinople for one year (!) to perform a seemingly never-ending series of rituals.
-Anyway, although she was now a Christian, Olga was still brutal as fuck.
-As revenge against the Drevlians, Olga destroyed entire villages in "creative" ways, including using birds to set fire to houses and then forcing the inhabitants to stay inside while their buildings burned.
-Instituted the poliudie system, which streamlined the tribute gathering system and was also the first recorded legal reform in Eastern Europe.
-However, Olga was unable to get her son or the Rus' as a whole to convert to Christianity.
-969 AD- Olga dies (maybe; see below), Svyatoslav finally becomes knyaz.
-At this point, we see the rulers becoming less like Vikings and more like a Slav, such as shaving his beard, taking a Slavic name, etc.
-Sviatoslav kicked off his reign by starting a war with the Khazars!
-At this point it's also possible that Olga was actually not dead and was still technically ruling as regent, but either way Svyatoslav was calling the shots.
-Next he started to fuck up neighboring tribes and/or groups who refused to pay tribute or submit to Kievan Rus'.
-Because of this, Kievan Rus' doubled in size in terms of territory!
-In fact, the kingdom grew so powerful that the Byzantines actually paid them to help out in a war against the Bulgars!
-Thus, Kievan Rus' were eventually successful in conquering some of the Bulgars' northern territory. Also, the Bulgars were quite wealthy, so when Sviatoslav invaded with his army he ended up just deciding to stay in this newly conquered territory, even going so far as to move the Kievan Rus' capital to the city of Pereyaslavets (outside of modern-day Tulcea, Romania), which really pissed off everyone in Kiev (including his mom, who ended up dying three days later (according to some sources).
-The Byzantines were also scared that they had created a monster!
-969 AD- Byzantine emperor Nikephoros II Phokas was assassinated, replaced by his nephew, wife's secret lover, and assassin General John I Tzimiskes (the greatest military leader in Byzantine history!).
-Svyatoslav, not knowing this, decided to try and take on the Byzantines again by demanding that the Byzantines allow Kievan Rus' to keep their Bulgarian lands, which was a ridiculous proposal since the Byzantines had hired Kievan Rus' to simply invade as mercenaries.
-Of course, John I Tzimiskes turned down Svyatoslav's proposal, so Kievan Rus' began to attack some Byzantine cities in retaliation. Big mistake- eventually John I Tzimiskes raised a huge army and fucked up the Kievan Rus' forces pretty badly, and soon Svyatoslav found himself besieged by Byzantine forces at the city of Sorostolon (modern-day Silistra, Bulgaria).
-Knowing that he was facing defeat, Svyatoslav finally sued for peace with a crushed army, and John I Tzimiskas allowed them to leave peacefully.
-972 AD- on their way back to Kiev, the Kievan Rus' army was constantly attacked by bands of Pecheneg barbarians, which ultimately resulted in Svyatoslav himself being hacked to pieces!
-According to legend, the Pecheneg khan, Kurya, used Svyatoslav's skull as a chalice.
972-980 AD- war broke out over who would rule after Sviatoslav's death between his sons Oleg and Yaropolk.
-977 AD- Oleg was killed by Yaropolk. Thus, Yaropolk became Knyaz Yaropolk I and ruled Kievan Rus' unopposed.
-However, Svyatoslav also had another son, Vladimir, who had thus far been not involved in the war of succession. Still, worrying for his life Vladimir ended up fleeing to Novgorod, where he rallied a Varangian army and crushed the Kievan Rus' (which also included the death of Yaropolk I himself) in 980 AD.
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