Christianization of Kievan Rus'

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Christianization of Kyivan Rus
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Klavdiy Lebedev
c. 1900)

The Christianization of Kievan Rus' was a long and complicated process that took place in several stages.

Kiev. The latter events are traditionally referred to as baptism of Rus' (Russian: Крещение Руси; Ukrainian: Хрещення Русі; Belarusian: Вадохрышча Русі) in Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian literature.[9]

Antiquity

Although sometimes solely attributed to Vladimir/Volodymyr, the Christianization of Kievan Rus' was a long and complicated process that began before the state's formation.

Arian Christianity in the 4th century, leaving behind 4th- and 5th-century churches excavated in Crimea (which was outside of Kievan control, except for Tmutarakan), although the Hunnic invasion of the 370s halted Christianisation for several centuries.[10]

Ninth century

Some of the earliest Kievan princes and princesses such as

Rus'-Byzantine War of 860, Photius informs the Oriental patriarchs and bishops that, after the Bulgarians turned to Christ in 864,[11] the Rus' followed suit so zealously that he found it prudent to send to their land a bishop.[12]

Baptism of the first Rus, illustrated in the 14th century Manasses Chronicle.

Byzantine historians, starting with the continuation of

the Intercession of the Theotokos. This conviction dictated the following interpretation: awed by the miracles they witnessed under the walls of the imperial capital and grief-stricken at the disaster that befell them, the Rus' sent envoys to Photius and asked him to send a bishop to their land.[13]

According to

Basil the Macedonian, it was his ancestor who persuaded the Rus' to abandon their pagan ways. Constantine attributes the conversion to Basil and to Patriarch Ignatius, rather than to their predecessors, Michael III and Photius. He narrates how the Byzantines galvanized the Rus' into conversion by their persuasive words and rich presents, including gold, silver, and precious tissues. He also repeats a traditional story that the pagans were particularly impressed by a miracle: a gospel book thrown by the archbishop (sic) into an oven was not damaged by fire.[14]

Constantine's account precipitated a long-term dispute over whether the 9th-century Christianization of the Rus' went through two stages. One school of thought postulates that there was only one Christianization: wishing to glorify his ancestor, Constantine simply ascribed to Basil the missionary triumphs of his predecessor, Michael III.[15]

On the other hand,

Constantine Zuckerman argues that, in response to the initial request of the Rus', Photius (and Michael III) sent to the Rus' Khaganate a simple bishop. The pagans felt slighted at the low rank of the prelate and their Christian zeal evaporated. In September 867, Michael was assassinated by Basil, who (together with a new patriarch, Ignatius) sent to the Rus' an archbishop who propped up the religious fervor of the local leaders with rich presents. Parenthetically, the contemporaneous Christianization of Bulgaria was likewise effected in two stages: the Bulgars were offended when a simple bishop arrived to their capital from Constantinople and requested Pope Nicholas I to send them a higher-ranking church official. Such considerations were an important matter of political prestige.[16] This pattern has parallels with the stories of Frankish historians about the multiple "baptisms" of the Norsemen, whose true intention was to get hold of the rich gifts accompanying the Christianization rituals.[17]

The date and rationale for the Christianization are also shrouded in controversy.

Dmitry Obolensky inclines to accept 874 as the date of the definitive Christianization.[19]

Tenth century

Whatever the scope of Photius's efforts to Christianize the Rus', their effect was not lasting. Although they fail to mention the mission of Photius, the authors of the

St. Elijah (whose cult in the Slavic countries was closely modeled on that of Perun) is mentioned in the text of the chronicle, leaving modern scholars to ponder how many churches existed in Kiev at the time.[citation needed
]

Radzivill Chronicle

Either in 945 or 957, the ruling regent,

]

Although it is usually presumed that Olga was baptized in Constantinople rather than Kiev, there is no explicit mention of the sacrament, so neither version is excluded. Olga is also known to have requested a bishop and priests from Rome.

Slavic pantheon. He remained a stubborn pagan all of his life; according to the Primary Chronicle, he believed that his warriors would lose respect for him and mock him if he became a Christian.[citation needed
]

Sviatoslav's successor,

Alexander Nazarenko suggests that Yaropolk went through some preliminary rites of baptism, but was murdered at the behest of his pagan half-brother Vladimir (whose own rights to the throne were questionable) before his conversion was formalized. Following this theory, any information on Yaropolk's baptism according to the Latin form would have been suppressed by the later Eastern Orthodox chroniclers, zealous to keep Vladimir's image of the Rus Apostle untarnished for succeeding generations.[21]

Conversion of Vladimir

The Conversion of Volodimer[22] is a narrative recorded in several different versions in medieval sources about how Vladimir the Great converted from Slavic paganism to Byzantine Christianity in the 980s.

In traditional historiography, it is known as the Baptism of Volodimer,

Christianization of Kievan Rusʹ
(dubbed the Baptism of Rus').

What virtually all accounts agree on is that Volodimer's baptism happened around the same time as two other events: Volodimer's marriage to
Church Slavonic: Кърсунь/корсоунь, romanized: Kŭrsunĭ/Korsun', modern Ukrainian and Russian: Херсон(ес) Kherson(es)[b]). What they disagree on is how these three events were related, in which sequence they happened, and why.[22] The entire conversion story covers a large chunk of the Primary Chronicle (PVL): pages 84–121, or 37 out of a total of 286 pages (12.9%) of the entire text.[23]

Baptism of Kiev

Volodymyrska Hill
in Kiev near the place of the mass baptism of Kiev people

Returning to Kiev in triumph, Vladimir exhorted the residents of his capital to the Dnieper river for baptism. This mass baptism became the iconic inaugural event in the Christianization of the state of Kievan Rus', and is sometimes called the Baptism of Rus'.[citation needed]

At first, Vladimir baptized his twelve sons and many

Slavic pagan gods (which he had himself raised just eight years earlier). They were either burnt or hacked into pieces, and the statue of Perun — the supreme god — was thrown into the Dnieper.[24]

Then Vladimir sent a message to all residents of Kiev, "rich, and poor, and beggars, and slaves", to come to the river on the following day, lest they risk becoming the "prince's enemies". Large numbers of people came; some even brought infants with them. They were sent into the water while priests, who came from Chersonesos for the occasion, prayed.[25]

To commemorate the event, Vladimir built the first stone church of Kievan Rus', called the Church of the Tithes, where his body and the body of his new wife were to repose. Another church was built on top of the hill where pagan statues stood before.[26]

Aftermath

The Ostromir Gospels, written in the Church Slavonic, one of the first dated East Slavic books.

The baptism of Kiev was followed by similar ceremonies in other urban centres of the country. The

Cathedral of Holy Wisdom "with 13 tops" on the site of a pagan cemetery.[27]

Paganism persisted in the country for a long time, surfacing during the Upper Volga Uprising and other occasional pagan protests. The northeastern part of the country, centred on Rostov, was particularly hostile to the new religion. Novgorod itself faced a pagan uprising as late as 1071, in which Bishop Fedor faced a real threat to his person; Prince Gleb Sviatoslavich broke up the crowd by chopping a sorcerer in half with an axe.[28]

The Christianization of Rus firmly allied it with the

Yaroslav I, Metropolitan Ilarion authored the first known work of East Slavic literature, an elaborate oration in which he favourably compared Rus to other lands known as the "Sermon on Law and Grace"[citation needed]. The Ostromir Gospels, produced in Novgorod during the same period, was the first dated East Slavic book fully preserved. But the only surviving work of lay literature, The Tale of Igor's Campaign, indicates that a degree of pagan worldview remained under Christian Kievan Rus'.[citation needed
]

In 1988, the faithful of the Eastern Catholic and Orthodox churches which have roots in the baptism of Kiev celebrated a millennium of Eastern Slavic Christianity. The great celebrations in Moscow changed the character of relationship between the Soviet state and the church. For the first time since 1917, numerous churches and monasteries were returned to the Russian Orthodox Church.[citation needed] In Ukrainian communities around the world, members of various Ukrainian churches also celebrated the Millennium of Christianity in Ukraine.[citation needed]

In 2008 the National Bank of Ukraine issued into circulation commemorative coins "Christianization of Kievan Rus" within "Rebirth of the Christian Spirituality in Ukraine" series.[30]

In 2022, the traditional date of the holiday was granted the status of state public holiday in Ukraine under the title of Statehood Day.

Gallery

  • Vladimir listening to the Orthodox priests, while the papal envoy stands aside in discontent (Ivan Eggink 1822)
    Vladimir listening to the Orthodox priests, while the papal envoy stands aside in discontent (Ivan Eggink 1822)
  • St. Vladimir's Cathedral in Chersonesus, with the statue of Saint Andrew in the foreground
    Saint Andrew
    in the foreground
  • Baptism of Olga of Kiev (Sergey Kirillov 1993)
    Baptism of Olga of Kiev (Sergey Kirillov 1993)
  • The Orekhovo-Borisovo Cathedral was built in the 21st century to celebrate the millennium of the Baptism of Rus'
    The
    Orekhovo-Borisovo Cathedral
    was built in the 21st century to celebrate the millennium of the Baptism of Rus'

See also

Notes

  1. Church Slavonic: Володимѣръ, romanized: Volodiměrъ; Belarusian: Уладзiмiр, romanizedUladzimir, Russian: Владимир, romanizedVladimir, Ukrainian: Володимир, romanizedVolodymyr. See Vladimir (name)
    for details.
  2. ^ Not to be confused with the present-day city of Kherson, named after it, and founded in 1778 (since 1803 capital of the Kherson Governorate), in present-day mainland Ukraine.

References

  1. ^ a b Katchanovski et al. 2013, p. 74–75.
  2. ^ "The Rusian Primary Chronicle". Swarthmore. 8 July 2014. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  3. ^ Dvoichenko-Markov, Demetrius de (1979). "The Russian primary chronicle and the Vlachs of Eastern Europe". Byzantion. 49. philpapers.org: 175–187. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  4. ^ "The Rusian Primary Chronicle". Swarthmore. 8 July 2014. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  5. ^ Dvoichenko-Markov, Demetrius de (1979). "The Russian primary chronicle and the Vlachs of Eastern Europe". Byzantion. 49. philpapers.org: 175–187. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  6. ^ "Vladimir I and Christianization". libretexts. 27 September 2020. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  7. ^ "Christianization of Russia". advantour. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  8. ^ Oleg Rapov, Russkaya tserkov v IX–pervoy treti XII veka (The Russian Church from the 9th to the First 3rd of the 12th Century). Moscow, 1988.
  9. ^ "ЧАСТЬ ВТОРАЯ, ЦЕРКОВНАЯ - ГЛАВА I. ХРИСТИАНСТВО В БЕЛАРУСИ" (in Russian). belapc. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  10. ^ a b c d Katchanovski et al. 2013, p. 74.
  11. ^ Photii Patriarchae Constantinopolitani Epistulae et Amphilochia. Ed. B. Laourdas, L.G. Westerinck. T.1. Leipzig, 1983. P. 49.
  12. ^ Theophanes Continuatus, Ioannes Cameniata, Symeon Magister, Georgius Monachus. Ed. I. Becker. Bonnae, 1838 (CSHB), p. 196.
  13. ^ heophanes Continuatus, Ioannes Cameniata, Symeon Magister, Georgius Monachus. Ed. I. Becker. Bonnae, 1838 (CSHB), pp. 342-343.
  14. ^ A. Avenarius. Christianity in 9th-century Rus. // Beitruge zur byzantinischen Geschichte im 9.-11. Jahrhundert. Prague: V. Vavrinek, 1978. Pp. 301-315.
  15. ^ Zuckerman, Constantine. Deux etapes de la formation de l'ancien etat russe, dans Les centres proto-urbains russes entre Scandinavie, Byzance et Orient. Actes du Colloque International tenu au College de France en octobre 1997, ed. M. Kazanski, A. Nersessian et C. Zuckerman (Réalités byzantines 7), Paris 2000, p. 95-120.
  16. ^ Петрухин В.Я. Начало этнокультурной истории Руси IX-XI вв. Moscow: Gnozis, 1995. P. 220.
  17. ^ Florja B.N., Litavrin G.G. Christianization of the Nations of Central and South-East Europe and the Conversion of Old Rus. // Byzantinoslavica. 1988. 49. P. 186.
  18. ^ D. Obolensky. Byzantium and the Slavs: Collected Studies. London, 1971. V.4.
  19. archbishop of Magdeburg, Adalbert of Prague, before being promoted to this high rank, was sent by Emperor Otto to the country of the Rus (Rusciae) as a simple bishop but was expelled by pagans. The same data is duplicated in the annals of Quedlinburg and Hildesheim, among others.[original research?
    ]
  20. .
  21. ^ a b Ostrowski 2006, p. 567.
  22. ^ Ostrowski & Birnbaum 2014, 0.1–286, 7pp.
  23. .
  24. ^ Lavrent (PSRL 1), col. 102.
  25. ^ Lavrent (PSRL 1), cols. 108-9.
  26. ^ Novgorodskaia tretiaia letopis, (PSRL 3), 208. On the initial conversion, see Vasilii Tatishchev, Istoriia rossiiskaia, A. I. Andreev, et al., eds. (Moscow and Leningrad: AN SSSR, 1962), vol. 1, pp. 112-113.
  27. ^ Arsennii Nasonov, ed. Novgorodskaia Pervaia Letopis: Starshego i mladshego izvodov (Moscow and Leningrad: AN SSSR, 1950), pp. 191-96.
  28. ^ Averintsev S. The Baptism of Rus' and the path of Russian culture, in The Christianization of ancient Russia, a millennium: 988-1988, ed. Y. Hamant (Paris, 1992), 139-147
  29. ^ Commemorative Coins "Christianization of Kievan Rus", National Bank of Ukraine web-site, July 2008

Bibliography