Vladimir the Great

Vladimir's father Sviatoslav I died in 972, setting off a succession bloodbath: his brother Yaropolk killed their other brother Oleg in 977 and forced Vladimir to flee Novgorod. He came back with a Varangian army, deposed Yaropolk in 978, and spent the next two years locking down territory from the Baltic to the steppe frontiers against Bulgarians, Baltic tribes, and eastern nomads. He ruled as a Slavic pagan until 988, when he converted to Christianity and Christianized the Kievan Rus' by decree. He died in 1015 after nearly four decades as Grand Prince, and both the Catholic and Eastern Orth…