wolodomir

The eldest sister was given to Otho the Second, emperor of the West; the younger became the wife of Wolodomir, great duke and apostle of Russia, and by the marriage of her granddaughter with Henry the First, king of France, the blood of the Macedonians, and perhaps of the Arsacides, still flows in the veins of the Bourbon line.

Edward Gibbon - History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire — Volume 4

The sons of Ruric were masters of the spacious province of Wolodomir, or Moscow; and, if they were confined on that side by the hordes of the East, their western frontier in those early days was enlarged to the Baltic Sea and the country of the Prussians.

Edward Gibbon - History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire — Volume 5

But the conversion of Wolodomir was determined, or hastened, by his desire of a Roman bride.

Edward Gibbon - History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire — Volume 5

In the next generation, the relics of Paganism were finally extirpated; but as the two brothers of Wolodomir had died without baptism, their bones were taken from the grave, and sanctified by an irregular and posthumous sacrament.

Edward Gibbon - History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire — Volume 5

The edict of Wolodomir had proclaimed, that all who should refuse the rites of baptism would be treated as the enemies of God and their prince; and the rivers were instantly filled with many thousands of obedient Russians, who acquiesced in the truth and excellence of a doctrine which had been embraced by the great duke and his boyars.

Edward Gibbon - History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire — Volume 5

In the nuptials of her sister Anne, every prejudice was lost, and every consideration of dignity was superseded, by the stronger argument of necessity and fear. A Pagan of the North, Wolodomir, great prince of Russia, aspired to a daughter of the Roman purple; and his claim was enforced by the threats of war, the promise of conversion, and the offer of a powerful succor against a domestic rebel.

Edward Gibbon - History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire — Volume 5

Her son Swatoslaus was apprehensive of the scorn and ridicule of his companions; and her grandson Wolodomir devoted his youthful zeal to multiply and decorate the monuments of ancient worship.

Edward Gibbon - History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire — Volume 5

But the Byzantine nation was servile, solitary, and verging to a hasty decline: after the fall of Kiow, the navigation of the Borysthenes was forgotten; the great princes of Wolodomir and Moscow were separated from the sea and Christendom; and the divided monarchy was oppressed by the ignominy and blindness of Tartar servitude.

Edward Gibbon - History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire — Volume 5