General Notes

He was the son of Vsevolod I by an anonymous daughter of Emperor Constantine IX Monomachos, from whom he takes his nickname of Monomakh ("One who fights alone").

Through his maternal grandmother's family, Vladimir was apparently a descendant of Argyros and Skleros families of Byzantium, and thus could have traced his bloodline to several other emperors such as Leo V and Romanus I. These Greek connections played an important role in his foreign affairs.

From 1094, his chief patrimony was the Southern town of Pereyaslav, although he also controlled Rostov, Suzdal, and other Northern provinces. In these lands he founded several towns, notably his namesake, Vladimir, the future capital of Russia. In order to unite Russian princes in their struggle against the Great Steppe, Vladimir initiated three princely congresses, the most important being held at Lyubech in 1097 and Dolobsk in 1103.

Vladimir was married three times: firstly to Gytha of Wessex, then to a Byzantine noblewoman and finally to a daughter of Kypchak khan. By his first marriage he had Mstislav, his illustrious heir. Among the children by second wife were Yury Dolgoruky, the founder of Moscow, and two daughters: Eufemia who married King Coloman of Hungary and Maria, married to the Byzantine pretender who called himself Leon Diogenes. Vladimir's only sister Praxedis became too well-known all over Europe for her divorce with Emperor Henry IV on the ground that he had attempted a black mass on her naked body.

Vladimir Monomakh is buried in the Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kiev. Succeeding generations often referred to his reign as the golden age of that city. Numerous legends are connected with Monomakh's name, including the transfer from Constantinople to Rus of such precious relics as the Theotokos of Vladimir and the Muscovite crown called Monomakh's Cap.