Editing Vladimir the Great (section)

==Rise to power==
{{Further|Feud of the Sviatoslavichi}}
Born in 958, Vladimir was the [[illegitimate]] and youngest son of [[Sviatoslav I of Kiev]] by his housekeeper [[Malusha]].{{sfn|Bain|1911}} Malusha is described in the [[Norse saga]]s as a prophetess who lived to the age of 100 and was brought from her cave to the palace to predict the future. Malusha's brother [[Dobrynya]] was Vladimir's tutor and most trusted advisor. Hagiographic tradition of dubious authenticity also connects his childhood with the name of his grandmother, [[Olga of Kiev]], who was Christian and governed the capital during Sviatoslav's frequent military campaigns.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kovalenko |first=Volodymyr |title=Young years of Volodymyr Svyatoslavych: the path to the Kyiv throne in the light of the theories of A. Adler - E. Erikson |journal=Bulletin of the Chernihiv National Pedagogical University. Series: Historical Sciences. |volume=2015 |issue=134 |pages=10–18}}</ref>

Transferring his capital to [[Pereyaslavets]], Sviatoslav designated Vladimir ruler of [[Novgorod the Great]] in 970,<ref name="Feldbrugge">{{cite book |last1=Feldbrugge |first1=Ferdinand J. M. |title=A History of Russian Law: From Ancient Times to the Council Code (Ulozhenie) of Tsar Aleksei Mikhailovich of 1649 |date=20 October 2017 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-35214-8 |page=473 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TDI9DwAAQBAJ |language=en}}</ref> but gave Kiev to his legitimate son [[Yaropolk of Kiev|Yaropolk]]. After Sviatoslav's death at the hands of the [[Pechenegs]] in 972, a fratricidal war erupted in 977 between Yaropolk and his younger brother [[Oleg of Drelinia|Oleg]], ruler of the [[Drevlians]]; Vladimir fled abroad and assembled a Varangian army to assist him in deposing Yaropolk,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fennell |first1=John L. |title=A History of the Russian Church to 1488 |date=14 January 2014 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-89720-0 |page=9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fBitAgAAQBAJ |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Martin">{{cite book |last1=Martin |first1=Janet |title=Medieval Russia, 980-1584 |date=7 December 1995 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-36832-2 |pages=1–2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sRCc3TtL9bIC |language=en}}</ref> against whom he marched on his return the next year. On his way to Kiev he sent ambassadors to [[Rogvolod]] (Norse: Ragnvald), prince of [[Polotsk]], to sue for the hand of his daughter [[Rogneda of Polotsk|Rogneda]] (Norse: Ragnhild). The high-born princess refused to affiance herself to the son of a bondswoman (and was betrothed to Yaropolk), so Vladimir attacked Polotsk, took Ragnhild by force, and put her parents to the sword.{{sfn|Bain|1911}}<ref>{{Cite book|last=Levin|first=Eve|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.7591/9781501727627|title=Sex and Society in the World of the Orthodox Slavs 900–1700|year=1995|publisher=Cornell University Press|doi=10.7591/9781501727627|isbn=978-1-5017-2762-7}}</ref> Polotsk was a key fortress on the way to Kiev, and capturing it along with [[Smolensk]] facilitated the taking of Kiev in 978, where he slew Yaropolk by treachery and was proclaimed [[knyaz]] of all [[Kievan Rus']].<ref>[http://www.katolsk.no/biografier/historisk/vladimi1 Den hellige Vladimir av Kiev (~956–1015)], [[Roman Catholicism in Norway|Den Katolske Kirke]]</ref><ref name="Hanak">{{cite book |last1=Hanak |first1=Walter K. |title=The Nature and the Image of Princely Power in Kievan Rus', 980-1054: A Study of Sources |date=10 October 2013 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-26022-1 |page=15 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WfV0AQAAQBAJ |language=en}}</ref>