Vladimir III Igorevich

Vladimir III Igorevich (October 8, 1170 - Putivl, 1211 or after)^[1] was a Rus' prince (a member of the Rurik dynasty).^[2] He was the son of Igor Svyatoslavich and was with him during his campaign against the Cumans on 13 April 1185, immortalized in the epic The Tale of Igor's Campaign; he participated in the first battle, wherein he set off ahead of the main group along with Svyatoslav Olgovich of Rylsk and defeated the Cuman forces.^[1] However, he was captured in the second battle by Khans Gzak and Konchak. The Tale of Igor’s Campaign describes how, after Igor escaped from captivity, Gzak and Konchak debated whether to kill Vladimir or entice him into marrying a Cuman maiden:^[3]

Says Gzak to Končak:
“if the falcon [Igor] flies to its nest, —
let us shoot the falconet [Vladimir]
with our gilded arrows.”

Said Končak to Gzak:
“If the falcon flies to its nest,
let us snare the falconet
with a beautiful maiden.”

And said Gzak to Končak:
“If we snare him with a beautiful maiden,
we will have neither the falconet,
nor will we have the beautiful maiden,
so that the birds will begin to strike us
in the field of the Cumans.”

— The Lay of Igor’s Campaign^[4]

The Tale of Igor’s Campaign ends with Vladimir still captive to the khans.^[3] In the autumn of 1188 he returned home from captivity with Khan Konchak’s daughter Svoboda.^[1] Soon after, on 26 September, Rurik Rostislavich organized festivities to celebrate Vladimir’s wedding to Svoboda, attended by the rest of his family.^[1]

Marriage and children

#1188: Svoboda, a daughter of Khan Konchak^[2] of the Donets Cumans^[1]

• Prince Izyaslav Vladimirovich (1188 or after - 1255 or after) of Putivl;^[1]
• Prince Vsevolod Vadimirovich (after 1188 - 1210 or after).^[1]

Ancestors

Ancestors of Vladimir III Igorevich^[1][2]

Footnotes

1. Dimnik, Martin. The Dynasty of Chernigov - 1146-1246.
2. Charles Cawley (2009-03-14). "Russia, Rurikids - Grand Princes of Kiev, Princes of Chernigov, descendants of Sviatoslav II, Grand Prince of Kiev (fourth son of Iaroslav I)". Medieval Lands. Foundation of Medieval Genealogy. Retrieved 2009-04-12.
3. Owens, Katherine. “The Lay of Igor’s Campaign and the Works It Has Inspired” in Vestnik: The Journal of Russian and Asian Studies. 2005.
4. Translated from the original text: «Молъвитъ Гза къ Кончакови: — "Аже соколъ къ гнѣзду летитъ, соколича рострѣляевѣ своими злачеными стрелами." Рече Кончакъ ко Гзѣ: — "Аже соколъ къ гнѣзду летитъ, а вѣ сокольца опутаевѣ красньою дѣвицею." И рече Гзакъ къ Кончакови: — "Аше его опутаевѣ красною дѣвицею, ни нама будетъ сокольца ни нама красны дѣвице: то почнутъ наю птици бити въ полѣ Половецкомъ."» Published in Magnus, Leonard A., The Tale of the Armament of Igor, 1915.

Sources

• Benda, Kálmán (General Editor): Magyarország történeti kronológiája - I. kötet: A kezdetektől 1526-ig /A Historical Chronology of Hungary - Volume I: From the Beginnings to 1526/; Akadémiai Kiadó, 1981, Budapest; ISBN 963-05-2661-1 (the part of the book which describes the events of the period from 1197 to 1309 was written by László Solymosi).
• Dimnik, Martin: The Dynasty of Chernigov - 1146-1246; Cambridge University Press, 2003, Cambridge; ISBN 978-0521-03981-9.