"Secretive" Grandson of the Kyiv Prince

"I am the King of Kings, the greatest of all beneath the heavens. It is fitting that I should be met on my arrival and received with the pomp and ceremony appropriate to my noble birth," as per Anna Komnene's words, was addressed to the Byzantine Emperor by one of the leaders of the first crusade - Hugh the Great, Count of Vermandois. He was the brother of the French King Philip I and thus the son of Queen Anna of Kyiv and the grandson of the great Prince of Rus, Yaroslav the Wise.

However, on his journey eastward, Hugh soon found himself in a shipwreck, miraculously survived, was delivered to the Constantinople court, and was forced to swear allegiance to the Emperor. During the crusade itself, he only made it to Antioch, from where he first returned to the Byzantine capital seeking aid, and later to France, where he was accused of failing to fulfill his promise to participate in the liberation of Jerusalem.

Reconstructed Genealogy

Yet, among the Crusaders, it seems Hugh was not the only Rurikid, nor was he the only grandson of Yaroslav. According to Orderic Vitalis' account, a fleet led by Edgar Etheling, the last representative of the House of Wessex on the English throne, assisted the knights in capturing Antioch. Edgar had by then definitively relinquished the crown in favor of William the Conqueror, although he came to the throne after William's victory at Hastings and the death of the "unfortunate king" Harold Godwinson. Not every historian even mentions Edgar's rule, which lasted only a few months and remained uncrowned (hence why he's sometimes referred to as the "lost king"). He laid down his arms not because he lacked the will to resist the Normans, but because he realized he didn't have broad support among his countrymen.

Photo: Edgar Etheling. Source: Wiki

But why do we speak so uncertainly about Edgar being the grandson of Yaroslav the Wise? The matter lies in the fact that his mother – Agatha – researchers for a long time considered... a German. Even the daughter of Emperor Henry II.

Some medieval sources adhered to this version - the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle along with several medieval chroniclers, not just from England but also from Scotland and France. However, in purely German chronicles, no confirmation of this version was ever found. Instead, in the "Laws of Edward the Confessor," there is a mention that Edgar's father, Edward the Exile, married Agatha in Kyiv, and she hailed from the rulers of Rus.

Quebec genealogy researcher René Jetté simply combined this information with William of Malmesbury's testimony that Agatha was the sister of the Hungarian queen, who at that time was the daughter of Yaroslav, Anastasia. He concluded that Agatha was also a daughter of Yaroslav, and consequently, Edgar was the grandson of the Grand Prince of Kyiv. Noble birth – as Hugh of Vermandois once said.

Inherited Ambitions

However, this was a case where noble birth could mean "significant heritage." Ukrainian historians traditionally consider Yaroslav the Wise's reign the "Golden Age" of Rus. His sons, after their father's death, also attempted to live in harmony but eventually fell into discord. Bitter struggles for the Kyiv throne involved conspiracies, betrayals, blinding of opponents, killings, leading to the rapid decline of the first Ukrainian state and the separation of individual principalities - Chernihiv, Pereyaslav, Galicia, and so forth.

However, if Jetté's version is true, it appears that Yaroslav's sons-in-law and their descendants fiercely fought for power as well. However, they sought not the throne of Kyiv but that of the English crown. Elizabeth Yaroslavna's husband, the Norwegian King Harald Hardrada, considered himself the legitimate heir of England's conqueror, Canute the Great. The aforementioned Edward the Exile was also a lawful successor to the Anglo-Saxon King Edward the Confessor. Eventually, Edward the Confessor had no children of his own, and Edward the Exile was his grandson. However, within the Anglo-Saxon magnates (almost oligarchs), they had their own plans. So, it was necessary for the Exile to return to his homeland, where he was poisoned. After Edward the Confessor's death, the throne was not given to Edward's son, Edgar, but to the most influential magnate – Harold Godwinson.

Photo: Bayeux Tapestry Scene. Source: Wiki

Harold even managed to repel the Norwegian contender. However, he found himself powerless against the forces of the iron-clad Norman knights of William. It was only then that the magnates remembered Edgar as the last representative of the House of Wessex. He took the invitation to the throne with all the responsibility and attempted to organize resistance against the foreign invasion. But there were few willing to join his cause. The son of the Exile spent most of his life in migration, and most of his subjects didn't see much difference between him and the Norman duke. Edgar only received support in the north. But as soon as the Danes received money, they turned away from him.

He had to flee to Scotland under the protection of his sister's husband, King Malcolm III, and later to Flanders. Eventually, Edgar decided to renounce his claims to the throne, acknowledge the Conqueror as the rightful king, and himself as his vassal. Later, he even became kin to his former adversary: William's younger son, Henry I Beauclerc, married Edgar's niece Matilda. Through this marriage, the descendants of Yaroslav the Wise became not only Scottish kings but also the future English Plantagenets.

English under the Cap of Monomakh

Interestingly, several branches of the Rurikids could also consider themselves descendants of the Anglo-Saxon kings but under a different genealogy. Because the daughter of the "unfortunate king" Harold - Gytha of Wessex - escaped the wrath of the Conqueror and was married to the Danish King Sweyn II, who then married her to Volodymyr Monomakh (also, incidentally, a descendant of Yaroslav but through the male line), with whom she bore at least nine children.

However, Gytha later took on monasticism, returned to the West, and according to one version, even participated in a crusade (the same as Hugh and Edgar) and finally found peace, being buried at the Pantaleon Monastery in Cologne.

As for Edgar, after reconciling with William, he conducted himself as an "exemplary knight" and a conscientious vassal. Even his later involvement in conflict with the same Henry I (despite being his relative) is explained by his attempt to maintain loyalty to the lord – William's eldest son, Robert II, the Norman Duke known as "Short Stockings."

From childhood, Edgar seemed to have fostered a love for wandering. He fought in southern Italian Apulia, served under the Byzantine Emperor, and sailed ships to the Holy Land...

Yet, he never set foot in the homeland of his grandfather Yaroslav. In essence, he still considered himself primarily a descendant of the Wessex and Anglo-Saxon kings. Finally, he found his last refuge in English Hertfordshire, far from the banks of the Dnipro.