Volodar Glebovich of Minsk was a

prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

belonging to the so-called Polotsk dynasty (or the Polotski) after the

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

ian the city and the principality

Polotsk Polotsk (russian: По́лоцк; be, По́лацк, translit=Polatsk (BGN/PCGN), Polack (official transliteration); lt, Polockas; pl, Połock) is a historical city in Belarus, situated on the Dvina River. It is the center of the Polotsk Distr ...

, from where it originated. He was the son of

Gleb Vseslavich Gleb Vseslavich ( be, Глеб Усяславіч, russian: Глеб Всеславич) (died September 13, 1119) was the prince of Minsk between 1101 and 1119. During his reign Minsk was at war with Kiev and Polatsk. He started the Minsk branch ...

of Minsk (death 1119) and Anastasia, a daughter of

Yaropolk Izyaslavich Yaropolk Iziaslavich or Yaropolk Iziaslavych (died 1087) was a '' Kniaz'' (prince) during the eleventh-century in the Kievan Rus' kingdom and was the King of Rus (1076–1087). The son of Grand Prince Iziaslav I of Kiev (Kyiv) by a Polish ...

. Volodar died after 1167, possibly 1176. Volodar's family had long been in conflict with the Grand Prince of

Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

Vladimir Monomach Vladimir II Monomakh (Old East Slavic: Володимѣръ Мономахъ, ''Volodiměrŭ Monomakhŭ''; uk, Володимир Мономах, translit=Volodymyr Monomakh; russian: Владимир Мономах; Christian name: ''Vasiliy'' ...

, who in 1113 (according to some information 1119) conquered Minsk from Volodar's father. Later, the remaining possessions of the Polotsk dynasty had been conquered by Vladimir's son

Mstislav I of Kiev Mstislav I Vladimirovich Monomakh (Russian: Мстислав Владимирович Великий, uk, Мстислав Володимирович Великий; February, 1076 – April 14, 1132), also known as Mstislav the Great, was t ...

and its members were forced into exile to, inter alia,

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

. However, after Mstislav's death in 1132, the Kiev Empire slowly collapsed and the Polotsk dynasty could return to the Russian political scene. Volodar was married June 5, 1135 (probably while in exile in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

) with

Richeza of Poland, Queen of Sweden Richeza of Poland ( pl, Ryksa Bolesławówna, sv, Rikissa; 12 April 1116 – after 25 December 1156), a member of the House of Piast, was twice Queen of Sweden and once Princess of Minsk through her three marriages. Richeza was the daughter of ...

, daughter of

Bolesław III Wrymouth Bolesław III Wrymouth ( pl, Bolesław III Krzywousty; 20 August 1086 – 28 October 1138), also known as Boleslaus the Wry-mouthed, was the duke of Lesser Poland, Silesia and Sandomierz between 1102 and 1107 and over the whole of Poland between ...

and widow of the Danish prince and short-lived king

Magnus I of Sweden Magnus the Strong ( sv, Magnus Nilsson; da, Magnus Nielsen Bricka, Carl Frederik, ''Dansk Biografisk Lexikon'', vol. XI aar – Müllner 1897, pp.45Available online/ref>) (about 1106 – 4 June 1134 in the Battle of Fotevik) was a Danish duke wh ...

, who the year before fell in the

Battle of Fotevik Battle of Fotevik ( da, Slaget ved Fodevig) was fought between forces of King Niels of Denmark and his son Magnus Nilsson, against those of Erik Emune on 4 June 1134 at the bay of Fotevik in Skåne. At his death, King Eric I of Denmark h ...

. Volodar and Rikissa had the daughter

Sofia of Minsk Sophia of Minsk or Sophia of Polotsk (died 5 May 1198) was a Danish queen consort by marriage to King Valdemar I of Denmark, and a landgravine of Thuringia by marriage to Louis III, Landgrave of Thuringia. Life Origin Sophia was the daughter of ...

, who later married

Valdemar the Great Valdemar I (14 January 1131 – 12 May 1182), also known as Valdemar the Great ( da, Valdemar den Store), was King of Denmark from 1154 until his death in 1182. The reign of King Valdemar I saw the rise of Denmark, which reached its medieval zen ...

of Denmark. The marriage of Volodar and Rikis was a political move by her father directed against the then alliance between

Erik Emune Eric II the Memorable ( da, Erik II Emune; – 18 September 1137) was king of Denmark between 1134 and 1137. Eric was an illegitimate son of Eric I of Denmark, who ruled Denmark from 1095 to 1103. Eric the Memorable rebelled against his uncle Nie ...

of Denmark and the descendants of Monomach. Since several central actors in this conflict died and the position of the Monomies in Russia greatly weakened, the foundation of the marriage also fell, which was dissolved in divorce, after which Rikissa married

Sverker I of Sweden Sverker I or Sverker the Elder (Old Swedish: ''Swærkir konongær gambli''), murdered 25 December 1156, was King of Sweden from about 1132 till his death. Of non-royal descent, he founded the House of Sverker, the rulers of which alternated with ...

Misconception

In ancient history research, Volodar was usually confused (among others by Nikolaj von Baumgarten) with the half-mythical prince Vladimir Vsevolodic of

Novgorod Veliky Novgorod ( rus, links=no, Великий Новгород, t=Great Newtown, p=vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪj ˈnovɡərət), also known as just Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the ol ...

References

* John Lind "The Russian Marriages. Dynamic and Political Coalitions During the Danish Civil War of the 1130s" in (Danish) '' Historical Journal '' No. 2 1992. {{authority control 1176 deaths Rurik dynasty Belarusian rulers