Predslava, Grand Princess of Kiev

Predslava (Ukrainian: Предслава) (?-990), was a Grand Princess of the Kiev by marriage to Sviatoslav I, Grand Prince of Kiev (r. 945–972).^[1][2]

Biography

There is little information about the wives of Grand Duke Svyatoslav. It is known that he had a harem. According to the Russian historian Vasyl Tatishcheva, the eldest wife was a Hungarian princess named Predstlavna. However, according to Ukrainian researcher Leontii Voytovych, this name is the result of Tatishchev's erroneous conclusion from the text of the 944 agreement between Russia and the Byzantine Empire. Otherwise, it is quite likely that the union with Hungary could have been sealed by a marriage with the daughter of the Hungarian prince Takshon. In addition, there is an opinion that Predslava was the daughter of a Kyiv boyar or a Pecheneg khan.

There are reports that Predslava allegedly sent a mercenary to kill Malusha, Svyatoslav's concubine, but failed. After that, the grand duke sent his wife to the settlement, which received her name - Peredslavyne (according to another version, it is named after the daughter of the grand duke Vladimir). Further fate is unknown.

Family

She is considered the mother of the Grand Duke Yaropolk, and sometimes also his brother Oleg. The researcher Georgiy Vernadskyi suggested that the son of Predslava and Svyatoslav could be Volodyslav, who died young. However, she did not raise children, as her mother-in-law, the princess Olga took over.

Issue

• Oleg of Drelinia (died 977?)
• Yaropolk I of Kiev (952 - 978)

References

Sources

• Tatishchev V. N. История Российская, part 2, chapter 4, note. 148 (in Russian)
• Vernadsky H.V. The Golden Age of Kievan Rus. — M.: Algoritm, 2012 (in Russian)
• Voytovych L. Rurikovichi. Personal composition
• Predslava, Pereslava, Predyslava, Preslava^{[dead link]}

This page was last edited on 23 April 2024, at 16:27