Section 07: The Sons and the Succession
The section treating Vladimir’s many sons and the bloody struggle that followed his death on 15 July 1015. At its heart are Boris and Gleb, two of his sons murdered in the succession war by their half-brother Svyatopolk “the Accursed” — passion-bearers who chose not to lift a hand against a brother, and who became the first canonized native saints of Rus’. The companion file sets the murders in the wider strife of 1015–1019, the war among Vladimir’s sons that ended with the triumph of Yaroslav the Wise.
Tradition: Russian Orthodox (Equal-to-the-Apostles)
Contents
| File | Topic |
|---|---|
| Boris and Gleb | Vladimir’s sons; the passion-bearers Boris (in baptism Roman) and Gleb (in baptism David), murdered in 1015 by Svyatopolk the Accursed; their voluntary non-resistance and what makes them passion-bearers rather than martyrs; the first canonized native Rus’ saints; the cult, the translation of relics to Vyshgorod, the feast (24 July); the three sources (the Primary Chronicle, the anonymous Skazanie, Nestor’s Chtenie) |
| The Conflict at His Death | The strife of 1015: Vladimir’s death at Berestovo (15 July 1015); the secret kept while Svyatopolk seized Kyiv; the war among the sons; Svyatopolk “the Accursed” and the question of his parentage (the “son of two fathers”); the eventual triumph of Yaroslav the Wise at the battle of the Alta (1019) |
How to Use
- Read Boris and Gleb for the passion-bearers and the founding of native Rus’ sanctity.
- Read The Conflict at His Death for the dynastic struggle that frames the martyrdoms and that ended Vladimir’s reign in blood before issuing in the long reign of Yaroslav.
A Note on Sources
The murders of Boris and Gleb are reported in three early sources — the Primary Chronicle, the anonymous Skazanie, and Nestor’s Chtenie — which differ in detail and whose relative dating is a scholarly question; the collection reports the common account, pinned to these sources per methodology §3.5. The hostile portrait of Svyatopolk as “the Accursed” is the victors’ and the hagiographers’ portrait, and is named as such.
Cross-References
- For the wives and the irregular birth of Svyatopolk, see The Pagan Prince.
- For Vladimir’s own veneration, which his sons’ anticipated, see Section 08: Veneration.
- For the later Rus’ Church the dynasty governed, see Orthodoxy: Russian Orthodox Tradition.