The Beginnings Of Christianity

With military control established in the tribal lands and along the trade routes, Volodimer began to take measures which would transform Rus into a Christian monarchical state, allied to the Eastern Roman Empire.

Drawing a lesson from his father’s inability to confront both the Graeco-Roman Empire and the Pechenegs simulta­neously, Volodimer realized that the only effective policy lay in entering into the orbit of Eastern Christian civilization. Also trade with the Muslim east had declined and much of Kyivs trade was now directed towards Constantinople. The Great Prince ofKyivwas not an absolute monarch but depended on his boyars for council, which placed a certain restriction on his own degrees of freedom. He was also subject to the moods of the popular Veche which was influential in Novgorod and Kyiv. Should he lose popularity with the citizens of Kyiv he would be expelled from the city and risk losing his position as Prince, but as a Christian monarch he would rule by the will of God, and through the Church exercise great personal authority. Per­haps he had also come under the influence of Christian beliefs which were not uncommon in Kyiv at the time, but there are no indications that this was the case.

To gain what was probably a negotiating advantage with Constantinople, Prince Volodimer is reported to have begun to canvass the main religions to choose which was supposed to replace his pantheon of pagan gods.

First came the Muslims who described their faith to Volodimer:

... they believed in (one) Godand... to practice circumcision, to eat no pork, to drink no wine.... Mohammed, they asserted, “will give each man 70 fair women. He may choose one fair one, and upon that woman will Mohammed confer the charms of them all, and shall be his wife.” Volodimer listened to them for he was fond of women and indulgence. But circumcision and absti­nence from pork and wine were disagreeable to him. “Drinking/’ said he, “is the joy of the Rusichi. We cannot exist without that pleasure.”

After rejecting Islam, Volodimer received the German Western Christian envoys who came as emissaries of the Pope, with a message:

“... your country is like our country, but your faith is not as ours.... We worship God, who has made heaven and earth, the stars, the moon and every creature, while your gods are only wood.” Volodimer inquired what their teaching was. They replied, “fasting according to one’s strength....” Then Volodimer answered, “depart hence; our fathers accepted no such principle.”

Then the Jewish Khazars came:

“...

The Greeks then sent a “scholar” who—after denouncing the Muslim Bulgars and the “men from Rome” and informing Volodimer that the cities of the Jews “were destroyed and they were scattered among the gentiles under whom they are now in servitude”—recited a lengthy discourse on the Old and the New Testament of the Bible. After he left Volodimer summoned his boyars and the elders to seek advice. “You know, oh Prince, that no man condemns his own possessions, but praises them instead.... Send them (your servants) to inquire about the ritual of each (ruler) and how he worships God.”

The advice would provide another opportunity to praise Eastern Christianity and its material development and status. Volodimer then sent 10 “good and wise men” to the Bulgars, Germans and to Tsargrad (Constantinople). The men from Rus were overwhelmed by their experience in the imperial capital. Brought to a place of worship (evidently the imposing St. Sophia Cathedral) and after hearing mass they were showered by gifts from the Emperors Basil and Constantine, who were then sharing the imperial title. After giving Volodimer an un­favorable assessment of the Muslim Bulgars and the popes of the Germans, the emissaries replied:

Then we went to Greece, and the Greeks led us to the edifices where they worship their God, and we knew not whether we were in heaven or on earth. For on earth there is no such splen­dor or such beauty, and we are at a loss how to describe it.

The Cathedral of the HolyWisdom (The Hagia Sophia) would continue to impress visitors for centuries to come.

This account of Prince Volodimer s quest for a different official religion was written after the Great Schism of 1054 be­tween the Churches of Rome and Constantinople and was in­tended to show that Orthodox Christianity had been chosen for its own (and obvious) merit when compared to the other religions, IncludingWestern (“Catholic”) Christianity. The Pri­mary Chronicles poetic justifications aside, Volodimer soon had an opportunity to draw closer to Constantinople. By 988 Emperor Basil II was in a great need of military aid. Together with his brother Constantine as co-emperor he had in 976 suc­ceeded John Tzimiskes, who had died suddenly following his spectacular reconquest of most of Palestine, Syria and Lebanon, which had been in Moslem possession for over three centuries. Following his victory over Sviatoslav, Tzimiskes had also incor­porated Bulgaria into his realm, retaining Tsar Boris as the nom­inal ruler. Now a new and self-proclaimed Tsar by the name of Samuel rose against Constantinople and in 980 began invading Thessaly, the northern part of the Greekpeninsula. He was the youngest of the four sons ofWestern Bulgaria’s governor during Sviatoslav’s invasion, and when John Tzimiskes died the broth­ers launched a war of independence against the empire. With Tsar Boris killed in an “accident” by one of his people, and his eunuch brother Romanus barred from the position, Samuel as­sumed the title of Tsar. By 986 he was in possession of Thessaly and its capital Larissa.

Basil assumed command of the Imperial forces and pro­ceeded to march north towards Sardica (Sofia), the Bulgarian capital. On hearing of the Emperor’s advance Tsar Samuel marched to meet him, reaching the Trajan’s Gate pass first, the only way through the otherwise impassable mountains.

Hemmed in by the Bulgarians and his own rebels, Basil found himself in a difficult situation. His first and obvious source of help was the Western Roman Empire, whose German Emperor Otto II had concluded an alliance with John Tzimiske by marrying his niece Theophano in 972. Following the wars with Sviatoslay Bulgaria had fallen into Tzimiskes’ hands and the wedding was hoped to be the first step towards a reunifica­tion of East and West under a single Emperor. UnlikeJohn Tzi­miskes, however. Emperor Basil did not favor a close relation with Otto II and the papal West and turned his attention east­ward. He now recalled that Prince Sviatoslav of Rus had signed a treaty with his predecessor which replaced the Khazars as Constantinople’s traditional eastern ally. On their return from Kyiy Basils ambassadors informed him that Prince Volodimer considered himself bound by his fathers treaty and was prepared to send the Emperor help. This was the opportunity Prince Volodimer was waiting for, a chance to draw closer to the wealth and culture of the most powerful and technologically advanced state in Europe.

To cement the alliance Volodimer now asked for the hand of the Imperial Princess Anna, Basils sister. He must have real­ized the enormity of the request, for being the daughter of an Emperor Anna was a princess in her own right—and royal princesses did not marry barbarian foreigners, especially pagans. Even the powerful Western Emperor Otto II was not given the hand of a “p Orphyrogenit a” or a born princess. Basil must have had little choice in the matter and Prince Volodimer released a naval expeditionary force to rescue him. In December 988 a flotilla from Rus was sighted on the Black Sea, and by the winter of989 the whole Rusian fleet was anchored in the Golden Horn. For the first time the warriors of Rus were there as friends and not bent on conquest and pillage. Imperial records, with typical exaggeration, indicate that Volodimer sent 6,000 men but such a large force is unlikely. With about 20 men per boat, including supplies, the expedition would have required some 300 boats a large number to assemble and to negotiate the formidable Dnipro rapids. With the expulsion of the Scandinavian merce­naries Volodimer s available pool of manpower had shrunk, and with the Pecheneg nomads at his doorstep he could hardly have spared such a large force.¹⁴

Reinforced by Volodimer s men, Basil first decided to re­lieve the pressure on Constantinople, and early in 989 he crossed the Bosphorus and attacked Chrysopolis. Phocas’ men were defeated in a pitched battle and the strategic location fell to the Rusian and Romanian allies. On hearing of the defeat Bardas Phocas marched to Abydos to reinforce his commander Mellissenos’ besieging force. The location was of strategic im­portance since once the port was taken the rebels could cross the Hellespont and advance on Constantinople. To relieve the siege Basilbegan to assemble a Rusian naval relief force, and in 989 under the command of his brother and co-emperor Con­stantine the fleet landed in besieged Abydos. On 13 April the combined defenders’ forces sortied from the town and formed up to face Phocas’ relief army. As dawn fell the Russian infantry charged, falling upon the rebel forces and shattering their ranks. Phocas managed to regroup his retreating men, and perceiving Basil in front of his troops he charged the Emperor only to fall lifeless from his horse, perhaps a victim of a stroke. The battle was soon over, and Volodimer s men had won a second great victory and ensured that Basil could remain on the throne.

While Volodimer s expeditionary force was fighting the rebels in Asia Minor, the Prince himself led another expedition down the Dnipro River past the mighty cataracts and halted before the Greek city of Chersonesus on the Crimean Peninsula; “ide Volodimer s voi na Korsun” (“goes Volodimer with warriors on Chersonesus”), as stated cryptically in the Kyiv Primary Chronicle. After a six-month siege Volodimer s infantry was unable to breach the city’s defenses until someone shot an arrow into the Rusian camp from behind the walls with a note attached, informing the besiegers the source of Cher­sonesus’ water supply. The water was promptly cut off, forcing the city to surrender, with a promise that it would not be sacked and pillaged. So far the main written sources are in agreement, but beyond these events they diverge. The Kyiv Primary Chron­icle, on which traditional historians have based their analysis, records that Volodimer captured Chersonesus in order to pres­sure Emperor Basil to give his sister’s hand in marriage: “Behold, I have captured your glorious city. I have also heard that you have an unwedded sister. Unless you give her to me to wife, I shall deal with your own city (Constantinople) as I have with Kherson.”¹⁵

The Chronicle makes no mention ofVolodimer’s alliance with Basil or of the expeditionary force which the Prince of Rus had sent to Constantinople. Also, the Primary Chronicle claims that it was a Greek by the name of Anastasius who shot the arrow which informed Volodimer of the “springs behind you to the east, from which water flows in pipes (to the city).” If in­deed it was Anastasius who warned Volodimer, the Chronicle does not explain why a Christian Greekwould betray his own city to a pagan barbarian.¹⁶ Actually Anna’s hand in marriage as well as Volodimers conversion to Eastern Christianity was a part of the alliance which Basil and Volodimer had entered into some time before the capture of Chersonesus. The correct log­ical conclusion would be that Chersonesus had declared for the rebel Bardas Phocas and Volodimer captured the port on behalf ofEmperor Basil, not to pressure him but to honor their agree­ment. Princess Anna arrived in the Crimea soon afterwards Withpriests and dignitaries, and following Volodimer’s conver­sion to Christianity a princess of the Roman Empire married the Prince of Rus. The Kyiv Primary Chronicle could not resist the temptation of inserting an account of a “miracle” which oc­curred just before the baptism. Suffering from an eye ailment Volodimer lost his sight, which was promptly restored following the baptismal ceremonies. Volodimer then “gave Kherson back to the Greeks as a bride-gift for the empress,” and with his new wife and the entire entourage returned to Kyiv. With the union the prestige of Rus rose considerably for this was the first time a born princess had married a barbarian foreigner.

Volodimer wasted no time in replacing the old cults with the new. All statues of Slavic gods in Kyiv were destroyed and over time replaced by churches. At first Christianity was con­fined to the feudal and merchant classes of Kyiv, Chernihiv, and other towns of Rus in what is today north central Ukraine, where it already had a foothold and the influence of the Great Prince of Kyiv was most pronounced. In the outlying pos­sessions of Volodimer s realm, however, in what is today north­ern and Eastern European Russia the spread of Christianitywas much slower. In the distant city of Rostov, for example, Chris­tianity only began to take hold in the second half of the Ilth Centurywhen the local bishop gave up on the adults and began to teach the tenets of Christianity to children! Also, the Viatichi tribesmen of the northeast were still pagans as late as the second half of the 12th century when we are told that St. Kuksha and his disciple Nikonwere killed for preaching the Christian faith. Even in Novgorod, the second largest city in Eastern Europe Christianity was slow to take root. The Primary Chronicle relates an event which occurred in the 1070s during a public debate between the bishop and a “volkhv,” a Slavic shaman. When the “volkhv” began to criticize and ridicule Christianity only the local prince and his “druzhina” retainers came to the bishops defense, the people Sidingwith the shaman.¹⁷ The early regional distribution of Christianity is also confirmed by ar­chaeology. Burialpractices in line with Christianitywere mainly restricted to Rus where bodies were buried in coffins, placed in graves and usually laid on their backs with head towards the west, and hands beside the body or across the chest. No artifacts are found in Christian burials except occasionally for some pot­tery containing food probably symbolizing a pagan funeral feast, a practice retained by some Christians.

The spread of Christian literature and other cultural in­fluences from the south required literacy among the ruling elite who, as a rule, were illiterate. To spread the new faith Volodimer turned his attention to children, taking the “children of the best families and [sending] them for instruction in book-learning.”¹⁸

This was apparently done to the great grief of the mothers who never expected to see their children again. The task of lit­eracy was made easier for the Slavs than it was in western Europe and Scandinavia where the pagan Germanic popula­tions had to first master Latin in order to make use of the al­phabet.¹⁹ Rather than adopt the Greek alphabet, which like Latin was not well suited to Slavic phonetics, the Patriarch of Constantinople commissioned two Greek scholars, Constan­tine (Cyril) and Methodius, to create a special alphabet for the Slavs. Born and raised in Thessalonica both Cyril and Metho­dius were fluent in Slavic, as indeed were all the inhabitants of the region. The first alphabet known as the Glagolithic script was composed of Greek, Hebrew, and Coptic characters, and was followed by the simpler Cyrillic script used today amongst Slavs who at the time were Orthodox Christians. The Cyrillic alphabet as it exists today consists of 32 letters and is based mainly on Greek, with six characters taken from Hebrew.²⁰ Alongwith the Cyrillic script the Orthodox Church introduced Bulgarian-Macedonian Slavic speech known as Church Sla­vonic. All education conducted by the Church was in Bulgarian, which became the language of the ruling classes and the state while the common population continued to use the local Slavic speech of Rus.

Once baptized, Volodimer embraced Christianity with the zeal and the naivete of a recent convert. A new church was ordered to be built in Kyiv and dedicated to the Mother of God as Mary is referred to in the Greek Orthodox Church. It was built of stone and brick by artisans and craftsmen brought from Constantinople and other Imperial cities who were joined by Bulgarian and Greek Churchmen. Completed in seven years and dedicated on 12 May 996, the church was built with flat bricks, using mortar mixed with finely pulverized baked clay. It became known as the “Desiatina,” literally “of one-tenth,” or the Church of the Tithe since one-tenth of Volodimer s revenue was dedicated for its building and upkeep. The erection of the church (which has not survived) marked the beginning of me­dieval Graeco-Roman architecture in Eastern Europe.

The scriptures had a great effect on Volodimer, who in­sisted that his priests read to him from the Bible, as he himself was illiterate. The passages read were probably selective in nature and were intended to influence his attitude and behavior towards the people. The new Church soon discovered, to its disapproval, that the Prince was taking Christianity too literally, particularlywhen he attempted to abolish capital punishment:

While Volodimer was thus dwelling in the fear of God, the num­ber ofbandits increased, and the bishops calling to his attention the multiplication of robbers inquired why he did not punish them. The Prince answered that he feared the sin entailed (of taking life). They replied that he was appointed by God for the chastisement of the bad and for the practice of mercy toward the righteous, so it was entirely fitting for him to punish a robber but only after due process of law.²¹

After the reassurance of the Church, it seems capital punish­ment was reinstated.

A narrow brush with death also reinforced Volodimer s feelings of pity and compassion, especially for the poor. One day, taking a small number of men with him he ran into a large Pecheneg detachment, and was forced to flee. Hiding under a bridge he narrowly escaped detection and made it back safely to the Vasilevo stronghold nearby. In gratitude for his good for­tune he founded a church in Vasilevo “and made ready a great festival for which he caused to be brewed 300 kettles of mead... and distributed to the poor the sum of 300 grivni.”

After celebrating for eight days Volodimer and his men returned to Kyiv to yet another celebration, the feast of the As­sumption of the Holy Mother of God.

There also he held a great festival and gathered together a count­less multitude of people. When he saw that the people were Christians he rejoiced in soul and body, and celebrated likewise every year. For he loved the words of the scriptures, and on one occasion he had heard read in the Gospel; “Blessed are the mer­ciful for they shall obtain mercy”; and further, “Lay not up for yourself treasures upon earth, where moth corrupts and thieves steal.” And David said; “Blessed is he that Considereth the poor.” Volodimer listened also to the words of Solomon; “He that giveth unto the poor Iendeth unto the Lord.” When he heard these words he invited each beggar and poor man to come to the Prince s palace and receive whatever he needeth, both food and drink, and marten skins from the treasury.”

Not content to receive the poor in his palace, Volodimer went out of his way to reach them.

With the thought that the weak and sick could not easily reach his palace he arranged that wagons should be brought in and after having them loaded with bread, meat, fish, various fruits, mead in casks, and kvass (a light beer-like drink brewed from bread) he ordered them driven out throughout the city. The driv­ers were under instruction to call out, “Where is there a poor man or a beggar who cannot walk?” To such they distributed ac­cording to their needs.²²