Consolidation of State Power Under Volodimer

With the adoption of Christianity as the religion of the Prince and his close commanders and “druzhina” retainers the nature of Volodimer s domain began to take a different turn, towards the development of a semi-feudal state.

Volodimer himself, however, was far from an absolute ruler and still depended on the elite members of his entourage for council and support. A landed aristocracy did not yet exist and men were chosen for positions of military command on the basis of individual ability. Social stratification was becoming a fact of life and with time would solidify into a hereditary aris­tocracy, with members drawn from the boyars and the Church. Volodimer s method to encourage support and allow influential citizens and elders to mix with members of his “druzhina” was to throw banquets as described in the Kyiv Chronicle:

There was much meat, beef, and game, and an abundance of all victuals.

A major preoccupation for Volodimer during his entire reign remained the expansion of territory for trade and tribute as well as security. In 992 he took his men west to the Carpa­thian Mountains where he defeated the Slav Croats, which brought his domain closer to the Danube trade route. This com­pleted his western campaigns and he now turned his attention towards the Pechenegs who had begun to threaten Kyiv during his absence. Since their arrival in the Ukrainian steppes they had remained a powerful force, consisting of eight tribal armies or “urdas” each subdivided into five sections of mounted archers and lancers. With fresh spare horses at their disposal they could Coverlong distances in a short period of time, and could mount unexpected attacks on any force sent against them, at a time and place of their choosing. The only effective measures against the nomads were fortified towns or “grady,” linked with earth­works and palisades called the “Zmievy Valy” or “Dragon Ram­parts.” The extensive walls which were built as a part of the earthworks were either parallel or crossed each other, so that with the river systems they formed enclosed areas where Pech­eneg forces could be trapped with their lines of retreat cut off.

Then Volodimer reflected that it was not good that there were so few towns round about Kyiv, so he founded forts on the Desna, the Oster, the Trubezh, the Sula, and the Stugna (rivers).

Chuds (Estonian Finns), and the Viatichi, and peopled these forts with them. For he was at war with the Pechenegs and he fought with them, he often overcame them.”²⁵

In 991 the stronghold of Bilhorod was founded to guard Kyiv along the southwest approaches; Pereiaslav was erected the year after to the southeast and Vyshorod about 9 miles to the north of Kyiv. Also, four miles to the south, the settlement of Kitaevo was fortified and further south the defenses along the Stuhna River were reinforced by the stronghold of Vasiliv. Some of these strongholds were imposing, with Bilhorod for example enclosing some 42 acres of land. Remnants of the orig­inal strongholds and the Dragon Ramparts have been excavated and radio-carbon dated. We know that under Volodimer the 30-mile-long system built by Sviatoslavwas extended by an 87- mile addition to the south and east, with the ramparts following major rivers such as the Ros, Dnipro and the Sula. For much of their length the ramparts were not manned but were intended to slow down the nomad cavalry, and perhaps hem them in where they could be attacked and destroyed. Volodimer s build­ing and fortifications program represented a major effort and a great feat of organization for that time. During the 25 years following this conversion, more than 300 miles of earthen ram­parts were raised and about IOO fortified “grady” and other un­fortified settlements built, with others strengthened and rein­forced.²⁶ A letter written in 1008 by the Saxon bishop Bruno of Querfurt to the Western Emperor Henry II, after he was called for missionary work among the Pechenegs, describes some of his observations passing through Kyiv: “The Prince of Rus is a mighty and rich ruler who kept me against my will over a month in his palace and tried to dissuade me from going to preach among the Pechenegs who, he said, would kill rather than allow me to save their souls.” EventuallyVolodimer re­lented and “took his troops and accompanied me on the two- day journey to the border of his state, where because of enemy raids he ordered the erection of a strong and extensive fence.”²⁷ The bishop also noted that the Pechenegs were Veryhostile to Rus and considered war between them as a normal state of af­fairs.

The fortifications did not prevent direct military clashes between the nomadic Pechenegs and the agricultural settlers of Rus. The extensive battles, however, were often preceded by a duel or combat between opposing champions and added a personal dimension to the conflicts, which otherwise pitted ethnic groups, religious beliefs and fundamental lifestyles against each other. Such an event is described in the Kyiv Pri­mary Chronicle, which illustrates the importance in which per­sonal worth was held. Volodimer had returned from the Croa­tian war just in time to encounter a Pecheneg army on the banks of the Trubezh tributary of the Sula River where Pereiaslav would be built. The two armies stood facing each other on the opposite banks of the Trubezh, neither daring to make a move.

Finally, perhaps bored by inactivity, the Pecheneg Khan made a proposal:

The Prince of the Pechenegs came down to the river bank, and calling to Volodimer proposed to him. “Send one of your war­riors, and I shall detail one of mine, that they may do battle to­gether....” Volodimer returned to his camp and sent heralds through it to inquire whether there was any man who would fight with the champion of the Pechenegs.

No champion came forth, since it soon became known that the Pecheneg champion was “gigantic and fearsome.” Then an old man who had come with his four sons to fight the Pech­enegs approached Volodimer. He also had a fifth son who had remained in Kyivbut who possessed great strength, and when angry could rip an ox rawhide to pieces with his bare hands. The son was sent for and, when told no one had come forward, agreed to fight the Pecheneg giant:

On the morrow, the Pechenegs approached and began to shout, “is there no champion present? See, ours is ready.” Volodimer had given orders that night to rest upon their arms, and at dawn the two champions went forth. The Pechenegs had sent out their man, who was gigantic and fearsome. Volodimer sent forth his champion, and when the Pecheneg saw him he laughed, for he was but of moderate size....

The fortifications erected by Sviatoslav and Volodimer were also intended to protect shipping along the Dnipro River down to the Black Sea and the Graeco-Roman world. Large fortified harbors had been built at Vitichiv and Voin as well as other settlements in the vicinity of the great river. The Dragon Ramparts were extended to the Dnipro rapids following the east bank beyond the wide flood plain of the river. The stretch of river above the rapids became a reasonably secure area, with the cataracts or the “pragi” literally marking the threshold of Volodimer^,s domain. Toward the end of the IOth century, a major trading Settlementwas also established on Oleshia Island in the Dnipro estuary, which could easily be defended from at­tack. Covering an area of some 1.6 acres it was still thriving up to the middle of the 13th Centurywith its numerous warehouses and workshops. By this time there were many other Slav settle­ments around the rapids and along the lower Dnipro region²⁹ and centuries later the narrow strip of territory along the Dnipro River would become the center of the Cossack movement.

The building activity commissioned by Volodimer was not only confined to fortress settlements and ramparts. By the time he assumed power Kyiv had grown to about 4 acres and he proceeded to expand and enclose another part of the hill that became known as Volodimer s City. It was intended for residence of the Princely and Church dignitaries as well as other feudal lords in his service, with the artisans and craftsmen re­siding in the much larger Podol or Lower Town suburb, spread over some 180 acres along the shore of the Dnipro. It was the city’s main manufacturing area and excavations reveal extensive ironworks, glass-making, amber craft and Otherjewelry, spindles for weaving, and leather production.³⁰

By the turn of the first millennium Volodimer was the undisputed ruler of the eastern Slavic lands with few external foes to contend with.

When Iaroslavwas in Novgorod he paid two thousand “grivny” a year as tribute to Kyiv, and another thousand was given to his garrison in Novgorod. All the lieutenants of Novgorod had al­ways paid like sums, but Iaroslav ceased to render this amount to his father. Then Volodimer exclaimed, “repair roads and build bridges,” for he proposed to attack his son Iaroslav, but he fell ill.³²

Volodimer died on 15 July 1015, probably not yet 60 years old. During his 35-year reign he laid the foundations for a feudal state occupying an area of some 340,000 square miles. His do­main stretched from Novgorod and the Lithuanian lands in the north and the northwest down to the cataracts on the Dnipro River, and to within 200 miles of the Volga as the eastern fron­tier; and to the west his territory extended as far as Cracow in today’s southeastern Poland.³³ Kyiv also grew from 4 to 28 acres in area to become one of the greatest cities of Europe if we can trust the Saxon Bishop Thietmar of Mersburg who visited the city three years after Volodimer s death. “The City of Chitau (Kyiv), capital of the Regent Vlodemiri of Rus, is extremely well fortified. The hostile Pedenei (Pechenegs) frequently raid it.... In this great city are over 400 churches and 8 marketplaces, and a great multitude of people.”³⁴

The number of churches was perhaps exaggerated but soon Kyiv would grow to become the second or third largest city in Europe with a population of some 100,000 people. Writ­ing in the second half of the Ilth CenturyAdam of Bremen ob­served that “by the sea route one boards ship at Schleswig (Old­enburg) to get to Jumne. From the latter city it is fourteen days’ sail up to Ostrogard (Novgorod, Ostrov?) of Rus. The largest city of Rus is Kyiv, rival of the scepter of Constantinople.”³⁵

Also Bishop Gauthier Saveraux, who was in Rus in the 1040s at the head of envoys from King Henry I of France to Volodimer s court in Kyiv, left us with the impression that “This land is more unified, happier and more civilized than France herself.”³⁶ As for Prince Volodimer he was canonized into saint­hood sometime before the middle of the 13th century, the first Orthodox saint of Eastern Europe.