Religious History of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus 2: The Baptism of Rus'
1. Introduction
In 1988, the "Millennium of the Baptism of Rus'", also known as the Millennium of the Baptism of Russia, was celebrated in Moscow. The Soviet government, which had promoted anti-religious policies, had imposed thorough oppression on the Russian Orthodox Church since the Russian Revolution of 1917, but under the Gorbachev administration, it shifted its policy toward religious tolerance and reconciliation between church and state. The "Millennium" was an event that truly symbolized the revival of the Orthodox Church.
The conversion of Russia is considered to have taken place 1,000 years before 1988, that is, in 988. At that time, there was no such thing as Russia; instead, there existed a country of East Slavs called Kievan Rus', which spanned the lands of present-day Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. In this installment, I would like to look at the circumstances under which Rus' converted to Christianity.
2. Religion in Rus' before Christianity
Regarding what religion was practiced in Rus' before Christianity, only fragmentary information from later ages remains, and the actual situation is not well understood. It is said that Prince Vladimir, who officially introduced Christianity, erected six wooden statues of gods on a hill in Kiev: Perun, Khors, Dazhbog, Stribog, Simargl, and Mokosh. Among these, Perun was the god of lightning and thunder, war and battle, and the prince and his retinue, and is considered to have been the chief deity, much like Zeus in Greek mythology.
Such polytheistic beliefs became the target of condemnation and eradication by the church with the introduction of Christianity, and were subsequently discarded.
3. Rus' and the Byzantine Empire
In the early 10th century, Oleg, who succeeded the founder Rurik, and in 941, Rurik's son Igor, each launched attacks on Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire. The treaties concluded after each war stipulated clauses for trade by Rus' merchants in Constantinople, suggesting that while the two were in a tense relationship, they were also in an extremely close relationship. As relations with the Byzantine Empire deepened in this way, the Grand Prince of Kiev moved closer to Christianity in order to maintain good relations.
One of the earliest converts in Rus' was Grand Princess Olga. Olga, who took power after her husband Igor died, converted to Christianity in Constantinople in 957. Furthermore, in 959, she requested the dispatch of missionaries to Otto I of the East Frankish Kingdom (the later Holy Roman Emperor), and a Frankish mission visited Kiev.
However, Olga's conversion remained a purely personal act, and when her son Svyatoslav ascended to the throne, the Frankish mission was expelled, and Rus' remained a polytheistic society. Svyatoslav also launched an attack on Constantinople but failed, and was forced to promise never to attack Byzantium again.
4. The Baptism of Grand Prince Vladimir
The "official acceptance" of Christianity in Rus' is considered to be the baptism of Olga's grandson, Vladimir I. In 987, Byzantine Emperor
Basil II encountered a large-scale rebellion led by the nobleman Bardas Phokas. Basil, who was in a life-or-death crisis, requested reinforcements from Grand Prince Vladimir I of Kiev. In exchange for sending 6,000 reinforcements, Vladimir I demanded the promise of marriage to the Emperor's sister, Anna. The following year, the rebellion was suppressed, but Basil was reluctant to marry off the princess to the "barbarian" Rus'. Vladimir attacked the Crimean Peninsula, which was then Byzantine territory, captured Chersonesus (near present-day Sevastopol), and demanded the fulfillment of the promise. Anna resisted, even saying she would rather die, but Basil managed to persuade her and added the condition to Vladimir that he convert to Christianity.
Thus, in 988, Vladimir was baptized and converted to Christianity. Upon returning to Kiev, Vladimir established Christianity as the state religion and had the residents of Kiev baptized in a group. Furthermore, he toppled the statues of the gods he had once worshipped, such as Perun, dragged them through the city, and threw them into the Dnieper River.
5. The Flowering of Christian Culture
After the introduction of Christianity, a metropolitan was established in Kiev, and Greek clergy were sent from Constantinople. Additionally, after Bulgaria fell in 1018, Bulgarian clergy fled there, bringing with them Slavonic liturgy and Slavonic scriptures, and introducing the Cyrillic alphabet.
Churches and monasteries were also actively built; the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Saint Sophia Cathedral, the Pechersk Lavra, and the St. Michael's Cathedral, famous for its golden domes, were all constructed during the Kievan Rus' era. It is said that at its peak, there were 400 churches standing in Kiev.
Christian culture spread not only to Kiev but also to the various principalities of Rus'. In Novgorod, the second city of Rus' which flourished through Baltic Sea trade, a Saint Sophia Cathedral was built following the one in Kiev. Furthermore, in the Principality of Polotsk, located in present-day Belarus, Christian culture was promoted in the 12th century under Princess Euphrosyne. The Church of the Saviour's Transfiguration, now a valuable cultural heritage site, was constructed, and the "Cross of Euphrosyne," considered one of the greatest masterpieces in the history of Old Rus' art, was created by the jeweler Lazar Bogsha.
6. Summary
Kievan Rus' became a member of the Eastern Orthodox cultural sphere by introducing Christianity from the Byzantine Empire due to their close relationship, and by inheriting the Slavonic liturgy and Slavonic scriptures from Bulgaria. However, as the conflict between the Eastern and Western churches intensified and eventually led to the Great Schism, Rus' became isolated from Western European civilization despite sharing the same Christian faith. Furthermore, after the fall of the Byzantine Empire, it became almost the only independent Orthodox country, leading it to develop in its own unique way.
Thank you for reading to the end.
References
Tsuneo Doi, "The Land of the Russian Romanov Dynasty," Kodansha, 2016 (First edition 2007)
Fumiaki Hattori, "World History of Ancient Slavonic," Hakusuisha, 2020
Michitaka Hattori, Tsuyoshi Koshino, "50 Chapters to Understand Belarus," Akashi Shoten, 2017
Masahisa Hirooka, "A Millennium of Russian Orthodoxy," Kodansha, 2020 (Original edition 1993))
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