Vladimir of Polotsk

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Vladimir (Latin: Woldemarus ; † 1216 ) was Prince of Polotsk from 1184/1202 to 1216.

Life

Vladimir was only mentioned in the Chronicle of Henry of Latvia and not in any Russian tradition. He was referred to as rex ( king ), later also rex magnus ( great king , grand duke ), Heinrich's usual name for princes of Russia . Its origin is unknown, there are various hypotheses about it in Russian literature.

Vladimir was first mentioned to Heinrich around 1184 when he gave the priest Meinhard permission to do missionary work at the mouth of the Dunes in Livonia . The area was tribute to his principality. Since in Russian chronicles either other names were given for this time or no prince is said to have ruled at all, it is possible that this statement by Heinrich, who had only come to Livonia in 1205, was a transfer of later circumstances to this time. The Principality of Polotsk was split up into several sub-principalities and was engaged in battles with neighboring principalities. Meinhard was appointed the first bishop of Uexküll in 1186 .

In 1201 the bishopric was moved to Riga and in 1202 the Order of the Brothers of the Sword was founded in Livonia. It is not known that Vladimir agreed to this. He was named for that year when he moved to Lithuanian territory. In 1203 he besieged the German and Liv castles in Uexküll and Holm in vain , his vassal Vissewald von Gersike moved as far as Riga. Three years later, Vladimir again besieged the two castles with a large army, but could be prevented from advancing to Riga.

In 1210, Bishop Albert of Riga managed to conclude a peace agreement with the prince, which enabled the merchants of Riga to move freely through the Polotsk region (along the Daugava ). Livonia's tribute payments to Polotsk have been confirmed. In 1212, in a personal meeting with Vladimir at Gersike's, Albrecht was even able to cancel the tribute payments made by the Livs to Polotsk.

In 1215 Vladimir prepared again for a campaign against Riga, with Estonians and warriors from several Rus principalities, but died unexpectedly when entering the ship.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Leonid Arbusow and Albert Bauer (eds.): Scriptores rerum Germanicarum in usum scholarum separatim editi 31: Heinrichs Livländische Chronik (Heinrici Chronicon Livoniae). Hanover 1955, p. 241 ( Monumenta Germaniae Historica , digitized version )
  2. ^ Eduard Pabst: Heinrich's von Lettland Livonian Chronicle . Reval 1867. p. 4 I, 3
  3. ↑ Anti Selart: Livonia and the Rus' in the 13th century (= sources and studies on Baltic history , volume 21). Böhlau, Cologne, Weimar, Vienna 2007. ISBN 3-412-16006-7 . Pp. 72-75 , especially p. 74
personal data
SURNAME Vladimir of Polotsk
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Woldemarus (Latin); Владимир (Russian)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prince of Polotsk
DATE OF BIRTH 12th Century
DATE OF DEATH 1216