First of the great conquering princes of Russia. Fought against Bulgars in Bulgaria, Patzinaks who threatenened Kiev from south east. Driven out of Bulgaria by Armenian Byzantine Emperor John Zimisces in 971, killed by the Patzinaks on the return to Kiev. 50 pg 180, 243
His wife, Malfrid Malkodtr, was born in Ljubec about 925, died abt 1000, had a famous sister, Dobrynja (b 910 in Ljubec. Her parents were Malko and Olga Nn. per http://gw.geneanet.org/index.php3?b=kellypetit&lang=en;p=malko;n=nn
Malusha, a slave girl, is described in the Norse sagas as a prophetess who lived to the age of 100 and was brought from her cave to the palace to predict the future.
the warrior Varangian prince of Kiev, who carved out for himself the largest state in Europe and finally moved his capital to Pereyaslavets in Bulgaria in 969.
We have no information about Svyatoslav's minority and youth, which he spent reigning in Novgorod. His mother, Saint Olga, ruled as Kievan regent until his majority (c.963). Sviatoslav was notorious as a stubborn pagan who rejected the Christianity, which had been embraced by his mother ca 945 or (more likely) in 957.
In moving his capital to Bulgaria, Svyatoslav intended to make it the center of his extensive empire. He was forced to give up the Balkan lands (971), however, in a war with the Byzantine Emperor John I. His unorthodox appearance was noted by the Greeks, who described him as having shaved one side of his head, and having a single large gold earring. During his return from the abysmal Byzantine campaign, Sviatoslav was ambushed and killed by the Pechenegs (972). According to the Primary Chronicle, his skull was made into a chalice by the Pecheneg khan.
Succeeded by son Yaropolk I, then son Vladmir
More at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sviatoslav_I_of_Kiev
Ruled Uppsala after his father, a great warior. He spent a winter in Finland
with Snae, the king and married his daughter, Driva. When he elft in the
spring, he promised to return within three years, but did not make it back
for ten. Meanwhile, Driva requests a witch, Huld to spell bound him back
or kill him. Vanlandi has an urge to return to Finland, his buddies keep
him home and he dies of witchcraft. His body was burned at a river named
Skytaa.
Heimskringla, Ynglinga Saga, Section 16
Vanlade, Vanlande was a Swedish king at Uppsala of the House of Yngling in Norse mythology. He was the son of Sveigder. Snorri Sturluson wrote in the Ynglinga saga, that Vanlade was a great warrior.
Once he stayed for the winter in Finland with Snær the Old, and was married to his daughter Drífa. When he left in spring, he left Drífa behind. Although he had promised her to come back in three years time, she had to wait ten years. Then she sent her and Vanlade's son Visbur to Sweden, and sent a message to the völva Huld. She asked the völva to either bring Vanlade back to Finland or kill him.
As the völva worked to bring Vanlade back, he was staying at Uppsala and he felt a great need to travel to Finland. His advisors and friends told him not to go and claimed that it was the witchraft of the Finns that made him want to go. Having resisted the wish to leave, he became drowsy and went to bed. A little later he screamed that he was hagridden and his men came to help him. However, when they grasped his head the Mara stepped on his legs and when they held his legs she trod on his head. This caused him to die. The Swedes burnt his body by the River Skyt (one of the tributaries of the River Fyris) and raised a menhir over him.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanlade
The cup holder at the Crowning of Otto I , Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire?
Herman II (died 4 May 1003) was the Conradine duke of Swabia from 997 to his death, as the son of and successor Conrad I.
Herman opposed the election of Henry III, Duke of Bavaria, as king of Germany because he himself had been a contender. Henry separated Alsace from Swabia and took control of the duchy, a situation which continued through the reign of Herman's son and successor, Herman III.
Sviatopolk II Iziaslavich (1050 – April 16, 1113) was a supreme ruler of Kievan Rus for 20 years, from 1093 to 1113. He was not a popular prince and his reign was marked by incessant rivalry with his cousin Vladimir Monomakh. Upon his death the Kievan citizens raised a rebellion against the Jewish merchants and Varangian officials who speculated in grain and salt.
Sviatopolk was the illegitimate1 son of Iziaslav Yaroslavich by his mistress. During his brother Yaropolk's life, Sviatopolk was not regarded as a potential claimant to the Kievan throne. In 1069 he was sent to Polotsk, a city briefly taken by his father from the local ruler Vseslav, and then he spent ten years (1078-88) ruling Novgorod. Upon his brother's death he succeeded him in Turov, which would remain in possession of his descendants until the 17th century.
When Vsevolod Yaroslavich died in 1093, Sviatopolk was acknowledged by other princes as the senior son of Veliki Kniaz and permitted to ascend the Kievan throne. Although he participated in the princely congresses organized by Vladimir Monomakh, he is sometimes charged with encouraging internecine wars among Rurikid princes. For instance, he sided with his cousin David of Volhynia in capturing and blinding one of Galician princes. He also sided with Vladimir Monomakh in several campaigns against the Kypchaks but was defeated in the Battle of the Stugna River (1097).
Sviatopolk's Christian name was Michael, so he encouraged embellishment of St Michael's Abbey in Kiev, which has been known as the Golden-Roofed up to the present. The history now known as the Primary Chronicle was compiled by the monk Nestor during Sviatopolk's reign.
Sviatopolk married twice; to a Bohemian princess and then in 1094 to a daughter of Tugor Khan of the Kypchaks. By his first wife he had two daughters, Zbyslava, whom he married to king Boleslaw III of Poland, and Predslava to Prince Álmos of Croatia. His son Yaroslav reigned in Volynia and was married three times - to Hungarian, Polish, and Kievan princesses. In consequence of Yaroslav's early death, his descendants forfeited any right to the Kievan throne and had to content themselves with Turov and Pinsk. His other daughter, Maria, married Piotr Wlostowic.
Gertrude, wife of Iziaslav of Kiev, included her prayer book as part of the medieval illuminated manuscript known as "Gertrude Psalter". In it she prays six times for Yaropolk, "unicus filius meus" (my only son). Gertrude is the only known wife of Iziaslav, and on her own authority Sviatopolk was not her son. Because Sviatopolk first became active politically in 1069, whereas Yaropolk did not become active until 1071, it is probable that he is older than Yaropolk. Consequently Sviatopolk was not legitimate.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sviatopolk_II_of_Kiev"
Sunifred II (c.870-950) or, in Spanish, Suñer II and, in Catalan, Sunyer II, was count of Barcelona, Gerona, Urgell and Ausona from 911 to 948. He was the son of Wilfred the Hairy and younger brother of his predecessor in Barcelona, Wilfred II Borrel.
He was associated with his brother in the government of their father's counties after their father's death (897). He did not reign independently until his brother's death (911), however.
Upon the death of his uncle, Count Radulf I of Besalú, in 913 or 920, there emerged a conflict between Sunifred and his brother Count Miró II of Cerdagne over the succession to the county of Besalú. In exchange for total renunciation of all claims on Barcelona, Sunifred gave up his on Besalú.
In 925, Sunifred married for the second time to Richilda of Tolouse, daughter of the count of Rouergue, with whom he had four sons and a daughter: Ermengol (925), Miró (926), Borrel (927), Adelaide (928), and William (929).
In the domestic political arena, Sunifred protected the church and strengthened her institutions, conceding her territories and tributes. He stimulated the repopulation of Ausona.
In the realm of foreign affairs, he abandoned defensive actions and took up the fight actively against the Moors. He fought battles with them in Lérida and Tarragona. At the same time, he managed to retain diplomatic relations with Córdoba, repopulating the county of Penedés as far as Olérdola (929).
In 912, the Moorish governor of Lérida attacked and destroyed the Barcelonan army under Sunifred in the valley of Tárrega. But in 914, Sunifred's counterattack successfully pushed them back again.
During the intervening period, 936 to 937, he led an expedition against the Moslems of the littoral. It appears to have been a success: the Moslem dead were excessive and the quadi of Valencia was among them. The Moors temporarily abandoned Tarragona (then converted into a no-man's land) and were forced to pay tribute to Tortosa.
In 947, he retired to the monastic life and ceded the government of the realms to his sons: Borrell II and Miró I. He died in the Monastery of La Grassa (in Conflent) in 950.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunifred_II%2C_Count_of_Barcelona