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Vsevolod Ol′govič arranged two marriages for daughters of Vsevolodko Davydič in 1144. Due to the structure of this chapter, which is based upon generations from Volodimer and focused on Rusian males as a guiding principle, the second daughter, who was married to Vsevolod’s own cousin Volodimer Davydič, will be dealt with first. [6] This is another example of the Kyivan ruler’s ability to arrange marriages for the Volodimeroviči family at large, but it also bears very specifically on his own larger family, the Svjatoslaviči. Volodimer Davydič, in 1144, was already the ruler of Černihiv, having succeeded Vsevolod himself when Vsevolod took control of Kyiv. [7] Thus, his marriage would have been important to the larger Svjatoslaviči interests, but perhaps not to the interests of Vsevolod’s own burgeoning ambitions. One possible reason to arrange this marriage was to provide his cousin with a wife, an outwardly good gesture, for the sake of the larger family, but a wife who brought with her almost no political power whatsoever. Vsevolodko Davydič had died in 1141, his sons were largely nonexistent in the powerplays within Rus′, and the family as a whole would not have brought territory, influence, or connections of any sort to Volodimer. [8] It also would have stopped Volodimer from making a more advantageous marriage on his own. Though speculation, it is possible that this was an attempt by Vsevolod to manage Volodimeroviči marital relations broadly, and Svjatoslaviči relations specifically, to the advantage of his branch of the family. Of course, the fact must also be considered that there were few Svjatoslaviči options for a partner for the Vsevolodkovna, as the majority were married, dead, or too young, with only Igor′ Ol′govič as a notable exception. [9] For Volodimer Davydič, then, the purpose of the marriage was largely focused on procreation, and the couple had one son, Svjatoslav, before Volodimer’s death in 1151. [10] It is unlikely that it was due to Vsevolod’s manipulation, but Volodimer Davydič’s line never challenged his own.
Volodimer’s death was not the last heard of the Vsevolodkovna. In a rarely seen event, she remarried following Volodimer’s death, moreover she married a Polovtsian khan, something completely unheralded in Rusian dynastic marriage until this time. Marriages between the Volodimeroviči and the Polovtsy had been occurring since the end of the eleventh century, [11] but always between Volodimeroviči men and daughters of the Polovtsisn khans, most likely because of religious issues regarding Christianization. However, in the year 1159, there is reference made to Svjatoslav Volodimerič’s step–father, Baškord of the Polovtsy. [12] Beyond a simple mention, Baškord assists Svjatoslav Volodimerič, most likely because of those familial ties which are explicitly mentioned by the chronicler. Though she never appears in a chronicle after her marriage in 1144, this unknown Vsevolodkovna is the first Volodimeroviči woman to marry a Polovtsian khan, and even extends her familial connections among the Polovtsy to help her son by her first husband. Who arranged this marriage and the purpose of the marriage are unknown, but that it was beneficial to her family was made clear in 1159, even if all that existed of her family at that time was her son.