The Sudden Christianization of Kyivan Rus' 988
It was not easy being a Viking kingdom on land. The possibility of lightning raids followed by escape into the ocean mists was gone. If you took treasure by force, you also had to defend it by force.
Vladimir “The Great,” who ruled Kyivan Rus’ from 980-1015 (after assassinating his brother for the throne), found it progressively harder to hold his kingdom together. The Bulgars, Slavic cousins of the Rus’, were constantly harassing Vladimir’s empire from the west, and proving remarkably resistant to conquest. The great Bulgar Empire with its Bulgarian Tsars had dominated the region between Ukraine and Constantinople. They were now in decline, but they were not an easy conquest. They fought back. Meanwhile, the lack of easy prosperity was fostering discontent in Vladimir’s own ranks, including, ominously, his Varangian mercenaries from the fjords, who were showing signs of discontent.Vladimir sent out ambassadors to assess whether forging an alliance with the Muslims, Christians, or Jews would best stabilize his empire. It is important to note that in those times, there was no such thing as a secular state. A nation state was by definition the army of some god or another. As an aside, it’s fascinating to observe how much the most articulate secular state in the world, Russia, has reverted to using religion and religious symbolism in its 21st-century politics. Anyway, Vladimir’s ambassadors reported that Constantinople seemed the best bet, with its strong walls, functional alliance network, and gleaming golden cupolas. It was strong and rich.
It was also very decidedly Christian, the Greek Orthodox Church having a major stake in the power structures of the Byzantine Empire. Vladimir reached out to Emperor Basil II in his capital city, Constantinople. Kyiv had nothing of the status and glory of Constantinople, but Basil II was having his own trouble with the Bulgars and bickering army chiefs. Vladimir caught Basil’s attention by sacking Cherson, a stronghold of rebels against Basil, and offering 6000 hard-handed Varangian soldiers to help in Basil’s wars. So, they worked out a deal. Vladimir would help Basil II with protecting his golden city. In return, he would marry Basil’s sister Anna. As a codicil demanded by the church, Vladimir would also convert to Christianity, along with his people.
All the people of Kyivan Rus’ got baptized in the Dnieper in a mass baptism. When the king tells you to become a Christian, you do it.
The Orthodox Church was very pleased at this sudden addition to their people power, adding weight to their cause in squabbling with Rome for control of the Mediterranean. Monks in the scriptorium wrote the history of their times; they thought Vladimir was Great.
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