#tsarsky titulyarnik

[littlehistorian]

Sviatoslav I Igorevich (943-972) was Prince of Kiev from 945 until his death in 972.

He is known for his persistent campaigns in the east and south, which precipitated the collapse of two great powers in Eastern Europe, Khazaria and the First Bulgarian Empire. He conquered numerous East Slavic tribes, defeated the Alans and attacked the Volga Bulgars, and at times was allied with the Pechenegs and Magyars.

[littlehistorian]

Vsevolod II Olgovich (1104-1146) was Prince of Chernigov (1127–1139) and Grand Prince of Kiev (1139–1146). He was a son of Oleg Svyatoslavich, Prince of Chernigov.

His entire reign was marked by incessant civil wars between cousins for the Kievan throne, between descendants of the great Yaroslav the Wise, with on one side the Monomakhs, descendants of Vsevolod (son of Yaroslav the Wise), and on the other side the descendants of Sviatoslav (another son of Yaroslav the Wise), of which Vsevolod II was a part.

[littlehistorian]

Vsevolod IV Svyatoslavich the Red was Grand Prince of Kiev (1203; 1206; 1207; 1208–1212). He was also Prince of Chernigov (1204–1206/1208) and Belgorod Kievsky (1205).

He was one of the most successful heads of the House of Olgovichi (the ruling dynasty of Chernygov): while he was prince, he first established his rule from the Halych lands to Kiev and from Pereyaslavl to Chernygov.

[littlehistorian]

Vseslav of Polostk (1039-1101; also known as Vseslav the Sorcerer or Vseslav the Seer) was Prince of Polotsk (1044–1101) and Grand Prince of Kiev (1068–1069).

Vseslav was the son of Bryachislav Izyaslavich, Prince of Polotsk and Vitebsk, and was thus the great-grandson of Vladimir I of Kiev and Rogneda of Polotsk.

Vseslav had a great reputation for sorcery. The Russian Primary Chronicle states that he was conceived by sorcery and was born with a caul (a veil of birth membrane) on his head, and that the sorcerers told his mother that this should be bound to his head for the rest of his life as it was a sign of good luck.

[littlehistorian]

Saint Olga of Kiev (890/925-969) was a regent of Kievan Rus' for her son Sviatoslav from 945 until 957.

Even though it was her grandson Vladimir who adopted Christianity and made it the state religion, she was the first ruler to be baptized.

[littlehistorian]

Vladimir I the Great (958-1015) was Prince of Novgorod from 970 and Grand Prince of Kiev from 978 until his death in 1015. The Eastern Orthodox Church canonised him as Saint Vladimir.

He is one of the great figures of Kievan Rus', both politically and spiritually. He is celebrated as a saint by both the Catholic and Orthodox Churches on July 15.

[littlehistorian]

Anna Porphyrogenita (963-1011) was the grand princess consort of Kiev during her marriage to Vladimir the Great.

[littlehistorian]

Igor II Olgovich was Prince of Chernigov and Grand Prince of Kiev (1146). He was a son of Oleg I of Chernigov.

He was the chosen successor of his brother, Vsevolod II of Kiev. Though his brother had extracted promises of loyalty from his Kievan subjects, Igor and his family, the Olgovichi, were unpopular and there was resistance against his accession. The chroniclers accused Igor of being dishonest, greedy, scheming, and violent. He had reigned less than two weeks before the Kievans invited his cousin and rival, Iziaslav II, to be their prince. Reneging on a promise he had made not to seek power, Iziaslav attacked and defeated Igor.

Igor was captured and thrown into a pit by Iziaslav. He languished there until the autumn of 1146, when, desperately ill, he asked permission to become a monk at St. Theodore's Monastery in kyiv under the name Ignati. In 1147, a mob attacked and killed Igor under the mistaken impression that he was trying to usurp the throne from Iziaslav. His body was dragged behind a cart and displayed at a market.

Miracles were alleged to have occurred around Igor's body, and he was proclaimed a saint-martyr.