Saint Vladimir, Prince of Kiev, was born with the pagan name Volodimir, meaning peaceful ruler. His grandmother was St. Olga, Princess of Kiev, the first one in Kievan Rus’ to have been baptized into Orthodox Christianity. He was the son of Svyatoslav I, Grand Prince of Kiev, who was killed in 971 in a battle with the Patsinacks, a nomadic tribe from the Black Sea steppes. His mother, Malusha, was a housekeeper in St. Olga’s court (OCA website). Toward the end of his reign, his father divided the Russian empire among his three sons. Vladimir had Novgorod, Yaropolk had Kiev, and Oleg had the Drevlyani lands. Yaropolk favored Christianity and wanted to rule all of Russia, and he expelled Vladimir from Novgorod. He fled to Scandinavia and began
