The Conversion Of Christianity In Rus

THE CONVERSION OF CHRISTIANITY IN RUS Name Course Date The Christianization of Rus’ is widely accepted to have happened in the latter half of the 9th century with various Russian chroniclers and Byzantine sources attesting to the onset of Christianization of Rus’ between 860 and 867. Prior to the onset of Christianity, pagan beliefs and traditions were prevalent in the region with numerous pagan shrines existing in the region. It was during the reign of Vladimir I that Rus’ embraced Christianity. Vladimir I elected the first Orthodox Church in Kiev and ordered destruction of the pagan shrines. Vladimir I baptized his 12 sons and ordered the Kievan Rus residents to be baptized by the Orthodox priests from Constantinople. Despite the order, the conversion was strictly voluntary. Nonetheless, there was opposition from locals who wanted to preserve their traditional beliefs. Language barrier was another eminent challenge facing Christianization endeavors due to illiteracy. Further, the death of Vladimir I was a setback to the Christian Orthodox community, and Rus’ was exposed to invasion threats from their enemies. While multiple challenges were experienced in the earlier Christianization attempts, Rus’ conversion to Christianity was largely a success attributable mostly to the growth of the Christian Orthodox faith led Vladimir I, and the subsequent rulers. Little information is known regarding the political prehistory and the origin of both the Rus and the Kievan state. The Russian primary chronicles reveal that Rus was established in 879 by Viking Oleg, the leader of Novgorod. Due to its strategic location along river Dnieper, Kiev became the capital city of the Kievan Rus. Therefore, Viking Oleg extended his territory by uniting with the Finnish and the Slavic. He also made trade agreements with the constantanapoles, thus positioning the Kievan Rus as a compelling and influential state in the region. Now, long after the death of Viking Oleg, there emerged rise to the throne of Vladimir I. He was a Slavic ruler who ascended to the throne of the power of Kievan Rus in 980.[Sarah C. Simmons, “13 Rus’ Dynastic Ideology in the Frescoes of the South Chapels in St. Sophia, Kiev,” in From Constantinople to the Frontier: The City and the Cities (BRILL, 2016), 207–225.] Prior to the onset of Christianity, the residents of Kievan Rus had their own pagan beliefs and traditions. Before his rise as the leader of the Kievan Rus, the original Rus territory was inhabited by people that resided in small regions and towns. Each of these regions had their own beliefs on religious matters. However, the majority of the religious practices were based on localized traditions and the rule of the pagans. Christianity was first mentioned in Rus in the year 860 after the Byzantine war of 860. The people were delighted and enthusiastic to learn about the new religion in the kingdom of Rus. Therefore, a bishop was sent to convert the population from the pagan beliefs to Christianity voluntarily. However, the bishop did not make a successful transformation to turn the inhabitants of Rus to Christianity.[Matthew Young, “Folk Epics and the Role of Gender in Medieval Kievan Rus’” (PhD Thesis, Simmons College, 2016).] The change of leadership in Kiev Rus initiated the change from paganism to Christianity. It was until Vladimir I rose to the throne when Christianization of Rus became imminent. He was born in 958 as the last born son of the then ruler of Kiev Rus, king Sviatoslav. While he was serving as the prince of Novgorod, his father died and left a very fragile political background. His elder brother, Yaropolk became the king after killing his other brother, Oleg. Therefore, Vladimir was forced to flee to Scandinavia. While in exile, Vladimir I collaborated with the ruler of Norway to organize an army to fight his cruel brother, regain the kingdom of Rus and establish himself as the leader. By 978, Vladimir I successfully recaptured Kiev Rus and killed Yaropolk on the basis of treason, thus becoming the ruler of this great kingdom. However, during his first years of rule, Vladimir continued exploring policies to expand his holdings, stabilize his military and ensuring strong border securing against the invasion of his enemies. Furthermore, Vladimir I continued to worship pagan beliefs and even constructed numerous shrines for their gods and worship.[Ibid., 213] [M. White, “Late Byzantine Views of Rus: A Reassessment,” Byzantinoslavica, 2017.] In his bid to look for God, and also to consolidate his rule through strategic alliances, Vladimir led in the Christianization conversion. Vladimir I decided to send his envoys to Constantinople in 987 to find a report on their religion. The envoy positively reported that the presence of God in the Christian Orthodox faith and the festivities were very appealing and beautiful. They, hence, convinced Vladimir to reconsider his religion in the future. Besides the benchmark from Constantinople, Vladimir was needed as a political ally and a concrete military base to fight a local uprising near Constantinople. He, therefore, was offered a royal marriage to Anna. Anna was the sister to the basil ii, the leader of Byzantine. In return, Vladimir vowed to Christianize all the Kievan Rus. First, Vladimir I was to be baptized in the orthodox Christian faith before marrying Anna. On his return to Kiev after baptism, Vladimir destroyed all pagan monuments and temples. He constructed the first stone church in Kiev and named it the church of tithes as an assurance of a broad political alliance between Rus and the Byzantine Empire.[Catherine Philippa Sykes, “Latin Christians in the Literary Landscape of Early Rus, c. 988-1330” (PhD Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2018).] [Ibid., 993] The spread of Christianity to Kievan Rus residents was intensified under the King’s orders, and pagan beliefs were suppressed through the destruction of their shrines. Besides the destruction of all the pagan shrines and the construction of the first Orthodox Church in Kiev, Vladimir also baptized his twelve sons in the new faith. He also christened various boyars in recognition of the orthodox faith. Additionally, Vladimir ordered all the Kievan Rus residents to adjourn near river Dnieper to be baptized by the Orthodox priests from Constantinople. This was a historic moment for the conversion of Christians in Rus, hence was marked as the baptism in Kiev. Additionally, anxiety and fear drove a large number of people into the river for baptism and conversion. Despite the initiation, various pagans instituted uprisings to oppose the banishment of their beliefs and religion. Many native residents rejected the Christian faith for more than a century until the brutal upraise in 1071 in Novgorod. However, after his death, Vladimir’s body parts were distributed across the country to serve as the orthodox holy relics. Since then, Vladimir has been considered as the symbol of the Russian Orthodox religion.[John Thompson, Russia: A Historical Introduction from Kievan Rus’ to the Present (Routledge, 2018).] The acceptance of Christianity by the ruler and his subsequent conversion push raises peculiar interest. There is evidence that there is a critical underlining factor that compelled Vladimir to accept and reinforce Christianity in Rus. First, it is believed that Vladimir was healed from an eye disease through prayers to God of the orthodox by his grandmother. Furthermore, the report from the Constantinople by his envoy that praised the grandeur of the traditional eastern service amazed Vladimir as the ruler. Another alleged reason for Vladimir turning point in religion was the claims that the first apostle of the orthodox faith conducted their first mission in his homeland in 50-60 A.D. Therefore, these reasons are said to have aided in the proliferation of Christianity in Kiev Rus.[Christian Raffensperger, The Kingdom of Rus’ (ISD LLC, 2017).] Subsequent leadership continued to support the Christianization of Rus in various ways. After the death of Vladimir, his son took the mantle of the kingdom. Before the end of Vladimir, Yaroslav was the grand prince of Kiev. During his leadership in Novgorod, he spread Christianity to the people of Rus. He also founded the first legal codes in Rus, which granted him an opportunity to be considered as the wisest all-time ruler in the history of Russian religion and politics. According to chronicles, Yaroslavl loved religion, written language, and literature. He, therefore, applied his wisdom considerably to promote the conversion of Christianity in Kiev Rus. He managed to construct the Saint Sophia Cathedral and the monasteries which were respectively named Saint Irene and Saint George. He also established the first school and a library at the Saint Sophia Cathedral, which encouraged t...