Under what prince did the baptism of Russia take place. How did the baptism of Russia take place. Version of the sermon in Russia by Cyril and Methodius

New world. 1988. No. 6. pp. 249-258.

In Soviet historical science devoted to ancient Russia, there is no more significant and at the same time least studied issue than the question of the spread of Christianity in the first centuries of baptism.

At the beginning of the 20th century, several extremely important works appeared at once, posing and resolving the issue of accepting Christianity in different ways. These are the works of E. E. Golubinsky, Academician A. A. Shakhmatov, M. D. Priselkov, V. A. Parkhomenko, V. I. Lamansky, N. K. Nikolsky, P. A. Lavrov, N. D. Polonskaya and many others. However, after 1913, this topic ceased to seem significant. She simply disappeared from the pages of the scientific press.

Therefore, it is the task of my article not to complete, but to begin posing some of the problems associated with the adoption of Christianity, to disagree, and perhaps contradict ordinary views, especially since the established points of view often do not have a solid foundation, but are the result of certain, unspoken and largely mythical “settings”.

One of these delusions, stuck in the general courses of the history of the USSR and other semi-official publications, is the idea that Orthodoxy has always been the same, has not changed, has always played a reactionary role. There were even claims that paganism was better (“folk religion”!), more fun and “more materialistic”…

But the fact is that the defenders of Christianity often succumbed to certain prejudices and their judgments were to a large extent “prejudices”.

Let us dwell in our article on only one problem - the state significance of the adoption of Christianity. I do not dare to pass off my views as precisely established, especially since the most basic, initial data for the emergence of any reliable concept are generally unclear.

First of all, one should understand what paganism was like as a “state religion”. Paganism was not a religion in the modern sense - like Christianity, Islam, Buddhism. It was a rather chaotic collection of various beliefs, cults, but not a teaching. This is a combination of religious rites and a whole heap of objects of religious veneration. Therefore, the unification of people of different tribes, which the Eastern Slavs so needed in the 10th-12th centuries, could not be carried out by paganism. And in paganism itself there were relatively few specific national features that were characteristic of only one people. At best, on the basis of a common cult, individual tribes, the population of individual localities, united. Meanwhile, the desire to escape from the oppressive influence of loneliness among sparsely populated forests, swamps and steppes, the fear of abandonment, the fear of formidable natural phenomena forced people to seek associations. There were “Germans” all around, that is, people who did not speak an understandable language, enemies who came to Russia “from a bride”, and the steppe strip bordering Russia is an “unknown country” ...

The desire to overcome space is noticeable in folk art. People erected their buildings on the high banks of rivers and lakes in order to be visible from afar, held noisy festivities, and performed cult prayers. Folk songs were designed to be performed in wide spaces. Bright colors were required to be seen from afar. People strove to be hospitable, treated with respect the merchant guests, for they were messengers of a distant world, storytellers, witnesses of the existence of other lands. Hence the delight before rapid movements in space. Hence the monumental nature of art.

People built mounds to remember the dead, but the graves and tombstones did not yet testify to the sense of history as a process extended over time. The past was, as it were, a single, antiquity in general, not divided into epochs and not ordered chronologically. Time constituted a recurring annual circle, with which it was necessary to conform in their economic work. Time as history did not yet exist.

Time and events demanded knowledge of the world and history on a large scale. It is worthy of special attention that this craving for a broader understanding of the world than that given by paganism, affected primarily along the trade and military roads of Russia, where, first of all, where the first state formations grew up. The desire for statehood was not, of course, brought from outside, from Greece or Scandinavia, otherwise it would not have had such a phenomenal success in Russia, which marked the 10th century of the history of Russia.

Baptism of Russia. New empire builder

The true creator of the vast empire of Russia - Prince Vladimir I Svyatoslavich in 980 makes the first attempt to unite paganism throughout the entire territory from the eastern slopes of the Carpathians to the Oka and Volga, from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea, which included East Slavic, Finno-Ugric and Turkic tribes. The chronicle says: “And the beginning of the prince Volodimer in Kyiv is one, and put idols on the hill outside the courtyard of the tower”: Perun (Finno-Ugric Perkun), Khors (god of the Turkic tribes), Dazhbog, Stribog (Slavic gods), Simargl, Mokosh (goddess Mokosh tribe).

The seriousness of Vladimir’s intentions is evidenced by the fact that after the creation of the pantheon of gods in Kyiv, he sent his uncle Dobrynya to Novgorod and he “put an idol over the Volkhov River, and feed him the people of nobility like a god.” As always in Russian history, Vladimir gave preference to a foreign tribe - the Finno-Ugric tribe. This main idol in Novgorod, which Dobrynya set up, was the idol of the Finnish Perkun, although, apparently, the cult of the Slavic god Beles, or otherwise Volos, was most common in Novgorod.

However, the interests of the country called Russia to a more developed and more universal religion. This call was clearly heard where people of different tribes and peoples most of all communicated with each other. This call had a great past behind it, it echoed throughout Russian history.

The great European trade route, known in the Russian chronicles as the route "from the Varangians to the Greeks", that is, from Scandinavia to Byzantium and back, was the most important in Europe until the 12th century, when European trade between south and north moved west. This path not only connected Scandinavia with Byzantium, but also had branches, the most significant of which was the path to the Caspian along the Volga. The main part of all these roads ran through the lands of the Eastern Slavs and was used by them in the first place, but also through the lands of the Finno-Ugric peoples who took part in trade, in the processes of state formation, in military campaigns against Byzantium (no wonder Kyiv is one of the most famous places was Chudin yard, that is, the farmstead of merchants of the Chud tribe - the ancestors of today's Estonians).

Numerous data indicate that Christianity began to spread in Russia even before the official baptism of Russia under Vladimir I Svyatoslavich in 988 (there are, however, other alleged dates of baptism, the consideration of which is beyond the scope of this article). And all these testimonies speak of the appearance of Christianity, first of all, in the centers of communication between people of different nationalities, even if this communication was far from peaceful. This again and again indicates that people needed a universal, world religion. The latter was supposed to serve as a kind of introduction of Russia to world culture. And it is no coincidence that this entry into the world arena was organically combined with the appearance in Russia of a highly organized literary language, which would consolidate this initiation in texts, primarily translated ones. Writing made it possible to communicate not only with modern Russian cultures, but also with past cultures. It made it possible to write one's own history, a philosophical generalization of one's own national experience and literature.

Already the first legend of the Primary Russian Chronicle about Christianity in Russia tells about the journey of the Apostle Andrew the First-Called from Sinopia and Korsun (Chersonesos) along the great path “from the Greeks to the Varangians” - along the Dnieper, Lovat and Volkhov to the Baltic Sea, and then around Europe to Rome.

Christianity already in this legend acts as a uniting country, including Russia in Europe. Of course, this journey of the Apostle Andrew is a pure legend, if only because in the 1st century the Eastern Slavs did not yet exist - they did not take shape into a single people. However, the appearance of Christianity on the northern shores of the Black Sea at a very early time was also recorded by non-Russian sources. The Apostle Andrew preached on his way through the Caucasus to the Bosporus (Kerch), Feodosia and Chersonese. The spread of Christianity by the Apostle Andrew in Scythia is mentioned, in particular, by Eusebius of Caesarea (died about 340). The Life of Clement, Pope of Rome, tells of Clement's stay in Chersonese, where he died under Emperor Trajan (98-117). Under the same emperor Trajan, the Jerusalem Patriarch Hermon sent several bishops one after another to Chersonesus, where they were martyred. The last bishop sent by Hermon died at the mouth of the Dnieper. Under Emperor Constantine the Great, Bishop Kapiton appeared in Chersonesos, who also died a martyr. Christianity in the Crimea, which needed a bishop, was authentically recorded as early as the 3rd century.

The first ecumenical council in Nicaea (325) was attended by representatives from the Bosporus, Chersonesus and Metropolitan Gotfil, who was outside the Crimea, to whom, however, the Tauride bishopric was subordinate. The presence of these representatives is established on the basis of their signatures under conciliar resolutions. The Church Fathers - Tertullian, Athanasius of Alexandria, John Chrysostom, Blessed Jerome - also speak about Christianity of a part of the Scythians.

The Christian Goths who lived in the Crimea constituted a strong state that exerted a serious influence not only on the Slavs, but on the Lithuanians and Finns - in any case, on their languages.

Communications with the Northern Black Sea region were then hampered by the great migration of nomadic peoples in the second half of the 4th century. However, trade routes still continued to exist, and the influence of Christianity from south to north undoubtedly took place. Christianity continued to spread under Emperor Justinian the Great, covering the Crimea, the North Caucasus, as well as the eastern shore of the Sea of ​​​​Azov among the Goths-meals, who, according to Procopius, “revered the Christian faith with innocence and great calmness” (VI century).

With the spread of the Turko-Khazar horde from the Urals and the Caspian to the Carpathians and the Crimean coast, a special cultural situation arose. In the Khazar state, not only Islam and Judaism were widespread, but also Christianity, especially due to the fact that the Roman emperors Justinian II and Constantine V were married to Khazar princesses, and Greek builders erected fortresses in Khazaria. In addition, Christians from Georgia, fleeing from the Muslims, fled to the north, that is, to Khazaria. In the Crimea and the North Caucasus within the limits of Khazaria, the number of Christian bishops naturally grows, especially in the middle of the 8th century. At this time, there were eight bishops in Khazaria. It is possible that with the spread of Christianity in Khazaria and the establishment of friendly Byzantine-Khazar relations, a favorable environment is created for religious disputes between the three dominant religions in Khazaria: Judaism, Islam and Christianity. Each of these religions strove for spiritual predominance, as Jewish-Khazar and Arab sources speak of. In particular, in the middle of the 9th century, as evidenced by the “Pannonian Life” of Cyril-Constantine and Methodius, the enlighteners of the Slavs, the Khazars invited theologians from Byzantium for religious disputes with Jews and Muslims. This confirms the possibility of the choice of faith described by the Russian chronicler Vladimir - through polls and disputes.

Baptism of Russia. Epoch of Christianity

It seems natural that Christianity in Russia also appeared as a result of the realization of the situation that developed in the 10th century, when the presence of states with a Christian population as the main neighbors of Russia was especially obvious: here is the Northern Black Sea region, and Byzantium, and the movement of Christians along the main trade routes that crossed Russia from south to north and from west to east.

Byzantium and Bulgaria played a special role here.

Let's start with Byzantium. Russia besieged Constantinople three times - in 866, 907 and 941. These were not ordinary robber raids, they ended with the conclusion of peace treaties that established new trade and state relations between Russia and Byzantium.

And if only pagans participated in the agreement of 912 on the Russian side, then in the agreement of 945, Christians already take the first place. In a short period of time, the number of Christians has clearly increased. This is also evidenced by the adoption of Christianity by the Kievan princess Olga herself, whose magnificent reception in Constantinople in 955 is told by both Russian and Byzantine sources.

We will not enter into consideration of the most difficult question of where and when Olga's grandson Vladimir was baptized. The 11th-century chronicler himself refers to the existence of various versions. I will only say that one fact seems obvious: Vladimir was baptized after his courtship to the sister of the Byzantine emperor Anna, for it is unlikely that the most powerful emperor of the Romans, Basil II, would have agreed to intermarry with the barbarian, and Vladimir could not help but understand this.

The fact is that the predecessor of Basil II, Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus, in his well-known work “On the Management of the Empire”, written for his son - the future Emperor Roman II (father of Emperor Basil II), forbade his descendants to marry representatives of barbarian peoples, referring to the Equal-to-the-Apostles Emperor Constantine I the Great, who ordered to inscribe in the altar of St. Sophia of Constantinople, the Romans were forbidden to be related to strangers - especially to the unbaptized.

It should also be taken into account that from the second half of the 10th century the power of the Byzantine Empire reached its greatest strength. The empire by this time repelled the Arab danger and overcame the cultural crisis associated with the existence of iconoclasm, which led to a significant decline in fine arts. And it is noteworthy that Vladimir I Svyatoslavich played a significant role in this heyday of Byzantine power.

In the summer of 988, a select six-thousand detachment of the Varangian-Russian squad, sent by Vladimir I Svyatoslavich, saved the Byzantine emperor Basil II, utterly defeating the army of Varda Foki, who was trying to take the imperial throne. Vladimir himself escorted his squad, sent to the aid of Vasily II, to the Dnieper rapids. Having fulfilled their duty, the squad remained to serve in Byzantium (subsequently, the squad of the Anglo-Varangians was the guard of the emperors).

Along with the consciousness of equality came to Russia the consciousness of the common history of all mankind. Most of all in the first half of the 11th century, Metropolitan Hilarion of Kyiv showed himself in the formation of the national self-consciousness of Rusyns by origin in his famous “Sermon on Law and Grace”, where he drew a common future role for Russia in the Christian world. However, back in the 10th century, the “Speech of the Philosopher” was written, which is a presentation of world history, into which Russian history was supposed to merge. The teaching of Christianity gave first of all the consciousness of the common history of mankind and the participation in this history of all peoples.

How was Christianity adopted in Russia? We know that in many countries of Europe Christianity was forcibly planted. Baptism in Russia was not without violence, but on the whole, the spread of Christianity in Russia was quite peaceful, especially if we recall other examples. Clovis forcibly baptized his squads. Charlemagne forcibly baptized the Saxons. Stefan I, King of Hungary, forcibly baptized his people. He forcibly forced those who managed to accept it according to the Byzantine custom to abandon Eastern Christianity. But we do not have reliable information about mass violence on the part of Vladimir I Svyatoslavich. The overthrow of the idols of Perun in the south and in the north was not accompanied by repression. The idols were lowered down the river, as later dilapidated shrines were lowered - old icons, for example. The people wept for their fallen god, but did not rise up. The uprising of the Magi in 1071, which the Primary Chronicle tells about, was caused in the Belozersky region by hunger, and not by the desire to return to paganism. Moreover, Vladimir understood Christianity in his own way and even refused to execute robbers, declaring: "... I am afraid of sin."

Christianity was conquered from Byzantium under the walls of Chersonesos, but it did not turn into an act of conquest against its people.

One of the happiest moments of the adoption of Christianity in Russia was that the spread of Christianity proceeded without special requirements and teachings directed against paganism. And if Leskov in the story “At the End of the World” puts into the mouth of Metropolitan Platon the thought that “Vladimir was in a hurry, and the Greeks were cunning - they baptized the ignoramuses of the unlearned,” then it was precisely this circumstance that contributed to the peaceful entry of Christianity into popular life and did not allow the church to occupy sharply hostile positions in relation to pagan rites and beliefs, but on the contrary, to gradually introduce Christian ideas into paganism, and to see in Christianity a peaceful transformation of people's life.

So doubling? No, not duality! There can be no dual faith at all: either there is only one faith, or there is none. The latter in the first centuries of Christianity in Russia could not possibly exist, for no one has yet been able to deprive people of the ability to see the unusual in the ordinary, to believe in an afterlife and in the existence of a divine principle. To understand what happened, let us return again to the specifics of ancient Russian paganism, to its chaotic and non-dogmatic character.

Any religion, including the chaotic paganism of Russia, has, in addition to all sorts of cults and idols, also moral foundations. These moral foundations, whatever they may be, organize the life of the people. Old Russian paganism permeated all layers of the society of Ancient Russia that began to feudalize. From the records of the annals it is clear that Russia already possessed the ideal of military behavior. This ideal is clearly visible in the stories of the Primary Chronicle about Prince Svyatoslav.

Here is his famous speech addressed to his soldiers: let us not disgrace the Russian lands, but lie down with bones, the dead are not shameful to the imam. If we run away, shame on the imam. Imam will not run away, but we will stand strong, but I will go before you: if my head lies down, then provide for yourself.

Once upon a time, Russian secondary school students learned this speech by heart, perceiving both its chivalrous meaning and the beauty of Russian speech, as, incidentally, other speeches of Svyatoslav or the famous characteristic given to him by the chronicler: “... walking easily, like a pardus (cheetah), wars are much more creative. Walking, he doesn’t carry a cart by himself, neither a boiler nor cooking meat, but having slashed a horse meat or beef on coals, he baked an uncle, not a tent, but he laid a lining and a saddle in his head; the same is true of other howls of his weight byahu. And sent to the countries of the verb: “I want to go to you.”

I deliberately quote all these quotations without translating them into modern Russian, so that the reader can appreciate the beauty, accuracy and laconism of ancient Russian literary speech, which has enriched the Russian literary language for a thousand years.

This ideal of princely behavior: selfless devotion to one's country, contempt for death in battle, democracy and the Spartan way of life, directness in addressing even the enemy - all this remained even after the adoption of Christianity and left a special imprint on the stories about Christian ascetics. In the Izbornik of 1076, a book specially written for the prince, who could take it with him on campaigns for moralizing reading (I write about this in a special work), there are the following lines: “...beauty is a weapon for a warrior and sails (sails) for a ship, tacos and the righteous veneration of the book. The righteous is compared to a warrior! Regardless of where and when this text was written, it also characterizes the high Russian military morality.

In Vladimir Monomakh's "Instruction", most likely written at the end of the 11th century, and possibly at the beginning of the 12th century (the exact time of writing does not play a significant role), the fusion of the pagan ideal of the prince's behavior with Christian instructions is clearly visible. Monomakh boasts of the number and speed of his campaigns (the “ideal prince” - Svyatoslav looks through), his courage in battles and hunting (two main princely affairs): (walking on hikes) and fishing (hunting) from the age of 13. And describing his life, he remarks: “And from Shchernigov to Kiev, I didn’t (more than a hundred times) go to my father, in the afternoon I moved until vespers. And all the ways are 80 and 3 great, but I can’t remember the smaller ones for now. ”

Monomakh did not hide his crimes: how many people he beat and burned Russian cities. And after that, as an example of truly noble, Christian behavior, he cites his letter to Oleg, about the amazing content of which I had to write more than once. In the name of the principle proclaimed by Monomakh at the Lyubech Congress of Princes: “Let each one keep his fatherland” - Monomakh forgives the defeated enemy Oleg Svyatoslavich (“Gorislavich”), in the battle with whom his son Izyaslav fell, and invites him to return to his fatherland - Chernigov: “ And what are we, human sinners and dashing? - live today, and die in the morning, today in glory and honor (in honor), and in the morning in the coffin and memorylessness (no one will remember us), and our assembly will be divided. The arguments are quite Christian and, let's say in passing, extremely important for their time during the transition to a new order of ownership of the Russian land by princes at the turn of the 11th and 12th centuries.

Education after the baptism of Russia

Education was also an important Christian virtue under Vladimir. After the baptism of Russia, Vladimir, as the Primary Chronicle testifies,. These lines evoked various guesses as to where this “book teaching” was held, whether these were schools and what type, but one thing is clear: “book teaching” has become a matter of state concern.

Finally, another Christian virtue, from the point of view of Vladimir, was the mercy of the rich in relation to the poor and wretched. Having been baptized, Vladimir began to take care of the sick and the poor first of all. According to the annals, Vladimir “ordered every poor and wretched person to come to the prince’s court and collect all the needs, drink and food, and from the wives with kunami (money).” And for those who could not come, the weak and sick, to deliver supplies to the yards. If this concern of his was to some extent limited to Kiev, or even part of Kyiv, then even then the chronicler's story is extremely important, because it shows what exactly the chronicler considered the most important in Christianity, and with it the majority of his readers and rewriters of the text - mercy, kindness. Ordinary generosity became mercy. These are different acts, for the act of good deed was transferred from the person giving to those to whom it was given, and this was Christian mercy.

In the future, we will return to another moment in the Christian religion, which turned out to be extremely attractive in the choice of faiths and for a long time determined the nature of East Slavic religiosity. Now let's turn to that lower stratum of the population, which before the baptism of Russia was called smerds, and after, contrary to all the usual ideas of modern scientists, the most Christian stratum of the population, which is why it got its name - the peasantry.

Paganism here was represented not so much by the highest gods, but by a layer of beliefs that regulated labor activity according to the seasonal annual cycle: spring, summer, autumn and winter. These beliefs turned work into a holiday and brought up the love and respect for the land, which is so necessary in agricultural work. Here Christianity quickly came to terms with paganism, or rather, with its ethics, the moral foundations of peasant labor.

The language was not uniform. This idea, repeated by us above, should also be understood in the sense that in paganism there was a “higher” mythology associated with the main gods, whom Vladimir wanted to unite even before the adoption of Christianity, arranging his pantheon “outside the courtyard of the tower”, and mythology "lower", which consisted mainly in connection with the beliefs of an agricultural nature and brought up in people a moral attitude towards the land and towards each other.

The first circle of beliefs was decisively rejected by Vladimir, and the idols were overthrown and lowered into the rivers - both in Kyiv and in Novgorod. However, the second circle of beliefs began to become Christianized and acquire shades of Christian morality.

Studies of recent years (mainly the remarkable work of M. M. Gromyko “Traditional Norms of Behavior and Forms of Communication of Russian Peasants of the 19th Century.” M. 1986) provide a number of examples of this.

The moral role of the baptism of Russia

Remained, in particular, in different parts of our country, peasant help, or cleanup - a common work performed by the entire peasant community. In the pagan, pre-feudal village, help was performed as a custom of common rural work. In the Christian (peasant) village, help became a form of collective assistance to poor families - families that have lost their head, the disabled, orphans, etc. The moral meaning contained in help became stronger in the Christianized rural community. It is remarkable that help was performed as a holiday, had a cheerful character, was accompanied by jokes, witticisms, sometimes competitions, general feasts. Thus, the entire offensive character was removed from the peasant assistance to poor families: help from the neighbors was made not as alms and sacrifice, humiliating those who were helped, but as a cheerful custom that brought joy to all participants. People, realizing the importance of what was being done, went out to help in festive clothes, the horses were “put in the best harness”.

“Although the cleanup work is hard and not particularly pleasant, but meanwhile the cleanup is a pure holiday for all participants, especially for children and youth,” a witness to the cleanup (or help) in the Pskov province reported.

The pagan custom acquired an ethical Christian coloring. Christianity softened and absorbed other pagan customs. So, for example, the initial Russian chronicle tells about the pagan kidnapping of brides near the water. This custom was associated with the cult of springs, wells, water in general. But with the introduction of Christianity, beliefs in water weakened, and the custom of meeting a girl when she was walking with buckets of water remained. By the water, preliminary agreements between a girl and a guy were also made. Perhaps the most important example of preserving and even increasing the moral principle of paganism is the cult of the earth. Peasants (and not only peasants, as V. L. Komarovich showed in his work “The Cult of the Family and the Land in the Princely Environment of the XI-XIII centuries”) treated the land as a shrine. Before the start of agricultural work, they asked the land for forgiveness for the fact that they “ripped open its breast” with a plow. They asked the earth for forgiveness for all their offenses against morality. Even in the 19th century, Raskolnikov in Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment" first of all publicly asks for forgiveness for the murder right on the ground right in the square.

There are many examples. The adoption of Christianity did not abolish the lower stratum of paganism, just as higher mathematics did not abolish elementary mathematics. There are no two sciences in mathematics, there was no dual faith among the peasantry. There was a gradual Christianization (along with the withering away) of pagan customs and rituals.

Now let's turn to one extremely important point in .

The initial Russian chronicle conveys a beautiful legend about the testing of faith by Vladimir. The ambassadors sent by Vladimir were with the Mohammedans, then with the Germans, who served their service according to Western custom, and finally came to Tsargrad to the Greeks. The last story of the ambassadors is extremely significant, because it was the most important reason for Vladimir to choose Christianity from Byzantium. I will give it in full in translation into modern Russian. The ambassadors of Vladimir came to Constantinople and appeared to the king. “The king asked them - why did they come? They told him everything. Hearing their story, the king rejoiced and did them a great honor on the same day. The next day he sent to the patriarch, saying to him: “The Russians have come to test our faith. Prepare the church and the clergy, and put on the hierarch's robes yourself, so that they may see the glory of our God." Hearing about this, the patriarch ordered to convene the clergy, held a festive service according to custom, and censers were lit, and singing and choirs were arranged. And he went with the Russians to the church, and they put them in the best place, showing them the beauty of the church, the singing and service of the bishops, the presence of the deacons, and telling them about serving their God. They (that is, the ambassadors) were in admiration, marveled and praised their service. And the kings Basil and Constantine called them, and said to them: “Go to your land,” and let them go with great gifts and honor. They returned to their own land. And Prince Vladimir summoned his boyars and elders and said to them: “The men sent by us have come, let us listen to everything that happened to them,” and turned to the ambassadors: “Speak before the retinue.”

I omit what the ambassadors said about other faiths, but here is what they said about the service in Constantinople: “and we came to the Greek land, and brought us to where they serve their God, and did not know whether we were in heaven or on earth : for there is no such sight and beauty on earth, and we do not know how to tell about it. We only know that God dwells there with people, and their service is better than in all other countries. We cannot forget that beauty, for every person, if he tastes the sweet, then will not take the bitter; so we can no longer be here in paganism.”

Architecture

Let us recall that the test of faiths meant not which faith is more beautiful, but which faith is true. And the Russian ambassadors proclaim its beauty as the main argument for the truth of faith. And this is no accident! It is precisely because of this idea of ​​the primacy of the artistic principle in church and state life that the first Russian Christian princes built their cities with such zeal and built central churches in them. Together with church vessels and icons, Vladimir brings from Korsun (Chersonesos) two copper idols (that is, two statues, not idols) and four copper horses, “about which the ignoramuses think they are marble”, and puts them behind the Church of the Tithes, on the most solemn place in the city.

The churches erected in the 11th century are still the architectural centers of the old cities of the Eastern Slavs: Sofia in Kyiv, Sofia in Novgorod, the Savior in Chernigov, the Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir, etc. No subsequent churches and buildings overshadowed what was built in the 11th century.

None of the countries that bordered Russia in the 11th century could compare with it in the grandeur of its architecture and in the art of painting, mosaics, applied arts and in the intensity of historical thought expressed in chronicles and translation chronicles.

The only country with high architecture, complex both in technology and in beauty, which, apart from Byzantium, can be considered the forerunner of Russia in art, is Bulgaria with its monumental buildings in Pliska and Preslav. Large stone temples were built in northern Italy in Lombardy, in northern Spain, in England and in the Rhine region, but this is far off.

It is not entirely clear why in the countries adjacent to Russia rotunda churches were predominantly distributed in the 11th century: whether this was done in imitation of the rotunda built by Charlemagne in Aachen, or in honor of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, or it was believed that the rotunda is most suitable for performing the rite of baptism.

In any case, temples of the basilica type are replaced by rotunda temples, and it can be assumed that in the 12th century the adjacent countries were already carrying out extensive construction and catching up with Russia, which nevertheless continued to retain its primacy until the Tatar-Mongol conquest.

Returning to the height of the art of pre-Mongolian Russia, I cannot help but quote from the notes of Paul of Aleppo, who traveled around Russia under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and saw the ruins of the Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv: “The human mind is unable to embrace her (the Church of Sophia) because of the variety of colors of her marbles and their combinations, the symmetrical arrangement of parts of its structure, the large number and height of its columns, the elevation of its domes, its vastness, the multiplicity of its porticos and vestibules. In this description, not everything is accurate, but one can believe the general impression that the Sophia temple made on a foreigner who saw the temples of both Asia Minor and the Balkan Peninsula. One can think that the artistic moment was not accidental in the Christianity of Russia.

The aesthetic moment played a particularly important role in the Byzantine revival of the 9th-11th centuries, that is, just at the time when Russia was being baptized. Patriarch Photius of Constantinople in the 9th century, in an address to the Bulgarian prince Boris, persistently expressed the idea that beauty, harmonious unity and harmony as a whole distinguish the Christian faith, which differs from heresy precisely in this. In the perfection of the human face, nothing can be added or subtracted - and so it is in the Christian faith. In the eyes of the Greeks of the 9th-11th centuries, inattention to the artistic side of worship was an insult to divine dignity.

Russian culture was obviously prepared for the perception of this aesthetic moment, for it remained in it for a long time and became its defining element. Let us recall that for many centuries Russian philosophy was closely connected with literature and poetry. Therefore, it should be studied in connection with Lomonosov and Derzhavin, Tyutchev and Vladimir Solovyov, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Chernyshevsky... Russian icon painting was a speculation in colors, it expressed, first of all, a worldview. Philosophy was also Russian music. Mussorgsky is the greatest and far from being discovered thinker, in particular, a historical thinker.

It is not necessary to list all the cases of the moral influence of the church on the Russian princes. They are well known to everyone who, in one way or another, to a greater or lesser extent, impartially and unbiasedly is interested in Russian history. I will say briefly that the adoption of Christianity by Vladimir from Byzantium tore Russia away from Mohammedan and pagan Asia, bringing it closer to Christian Europe. Whether that's good or bad, let the readers judge. But one thing is indisputable: the well-organized Bulgarian literature immediately allowed Russia not to start literature, but to continue it and create works in the very first century of Christianity that we have the right to be proud of.

Culture itself does not know the starting date, just as the peoples, tribes, and settlements themselves do not know the exact starting date. All anniversary beginning dates of this kind are usually arbitrary. But if we talk about the conditional date of the beginning of Russian culture, then I, in my opinion, would consider the year 988 the most reasonable. Is it necessary to delay anniversaries in the depths of time? Do we need a date of two thousand years or one and a half thousand years? With our world achievements in the field of all kinds of arts, such a date is unlikely to elevate Russian culture in any way. The main thing that the Eastern Slavs have done for world culture has been done over the last millennium. The rest is just assumed value.

Russia appeared with its Kiev, a rival of Constantinople, on the world stage exactly a thousand years ago. A thousand years ago, both high painting and high applied art appeared in our country - just those areas in which there was no lag in East Slavic culture. We also know that Russia was a highly literate country, otherwise where would such a high literature have formed at the dawn of the 11th century? The first and most amazing work in form and thought was the work of the “Russian” author Metropolitan Hilarion “The Sermon on Law and Grace” - a work that no other country had the likeness of in his time, - ecclesiastical in form and historical and political in content.

Attempts to substantiate the idea that they accepted Christianity according to the Latin custom are devoid of any scientific documentation and are clearly tendentious in nature. Only one thing is not clear: what could it matter if the entire Christian culture was adopted by us from Byzantium and as a result of relations between Russia and Byzantium. Nothing can be deduced from the very fact that baptism was accepted in Russia before the formal division of the Christian churches into Byzantine-Eastern and Catholic-Western in 1054. How can nothing decisively be deduced from the fact that before this separation Vladimir received Latin missionaries in Kyiv “with love and honor” (what grounds did he have for receiving otherwise?). Nor can anything be deduced from the fact that Vladimir and Yaroslav gave their daughters to kings adjacent to Western Christendom. Didn't Russian tsars in the 19th century marry German and Danish princesses, didn't they marry their daughters to Western sovereigns?

It is not worth listing all the weak arguments that are usually given by Catholic historians of the Russian Church, Ivan the Terrible rightly explained to Possevino: "Our faith is not Greek, but Christian."

But it should be taken into account that Russia did not agree to the union.

No matter how we consider the refusal of the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily Vasilyevich to accept the Union of Florence in 1439 with the Roman Catholic Church, for its time it was an act of the greatest political significance. For this not only helped to preserve their own culture, but also contributed to the reunification of the three East Slavic peoples, and at the beginning of the 17th century, in the era of Polish intervention, helped to preserve Russian statehood. This idea, as always with him, was clearly expressed by S.M. Solovyov: the rejection of the Union of Florence by Vasily II “is one of those great decisions that determine the fate of peoples for many centuries to come ...”. Loyalty to ancient piety, proclaimed by Grand Duke Vasily Vasilyevich, supported the independence of northeastern Russia in 1612, made it impossible for the Polish prince to ascend the throne of Moscow, and led to a struggle for faith in the Polish possessions.

The Uniate Cathedral of 1596 in the ominous Brest-Litovsk could not wash away the line between national Ukrainian and Belarusian cultures.

The western reforms of Peter I could not wash away the line of originality, although they were necessary for Russia.

The hasty and frivolously conceived church reforms of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and Patriarch Nikon led to a split in Russian culture, the unity of which was sacrificed for the sake of the church, purely ritual unity of Russia with Ukraine and Belarus.

Pushkin said this about Christianity in his review of N. Polevoy's "History of the Russian People": "Modern history is the history of Christianity." And if we understand that by history Pushkin meant, first of all, the history of culture, then Pushkin's position is, in a certain sense, correct for Russia as well. The role and significance of Christianity in Russia were very changeable, just as Orthodoxy itself was changeable in Russia. However, considering that painting, music, to a large extent architecture and almost all literature in Ancient Russia were in the orbit of Christian thought, Christian disputes and Christian themes, it is quite clear that Pushkin was right, if his thought is broadly understood.

The baptism of Russia or the adoption by Russia (the Russian people) of the Christian religion of the Greek sense occurred during the reign of Kievan Rus, Grand Duke Vladimir I Svyatoslavich (Vladimir the Red Sun, Vladimir the Holy, Vladimir the Great, Vladimir the Baptist) (960-1015, reigning in Kyiv from 978)

After the death of Olga, Svyatoslav planted his eldest son, Yaropolk, in Kyiv and the second, Oleg, among the Drevlyans, the youngest, Vladimir, remained without appointment. Once Novgorod people came to Kyiv to ask for a prince and directly declared to Svyatoslav: "If none of you come to us, we will find a prince on the side." Yaropolk and Oleg did not want to go to Novgorod. Then Dobrynya taught the Novgorodians: "Ask for Vladimir." Dobrynya was Vladimir's uncle, the brother of his mother, Malusha. She served as a housekeeper for the late Princess Olga. Novgorodians said to the prince: "Give us Vladimir." Svyatoslav agreed. So there were three princes in Russia, and Svyatoslav went to the Danube Bulgaria, where he died in battle with the Pechenegs. ( Karamzin. History of Russian Goverment)

Reasons for the baptism of Russia

• The desire of the Kiev princes to be equal to European monarchs
• The desire to strengthen the state: one monarch - one faith
• Many noble people of Kiev were already Christians in the Byzantine way.

  Archeological data confirm the beginning of the spread of Christianity before the official act of the baptism of Russia. From the middle of the 10th century, the first pectoral crosses were found in the burials of the nobility. Princes Askold and Dir, with the boyars and a certain number of people, were baptized, because during the campaign against Constantinople they were frightened by the power of the Patriarch of Constantinople, who, according to legend, lowered the holy relics into the water, and most of the fleet immediately sank during the storm that rose in the same second

• Vladimir's desire to marry Princess Anna, sister of the Emperors of Byzantium Basil and Constantine
• Vladimir was captivated by the beauty of Byzantine temples and rituals
• Vladimir was. He cared little for the beliefs of the Russian people

  Until the middle of the 10th century, paganism dominated Russia. It was based on the idea of ​​equivalence and eternity of opposite principles (“good” and “evil”). And the world was perceived by them on the basis of these paired concepts. The circle was considered a symbol of protection from evil forces. Hence the appearance of such ornaments as wreaths, chains, rings

A Brief History of the Baptism of Russia

• 882 - Varangian Oleg becomes prince of Kiev. Takes the title "Great", unites the Slavic lands as part of the state
• 912-945 - reign of Igor, son of Rurik
• 945-969 - reign of Olga, Igor's widow. Strengthening the state, Accepted Christianity under the name of Elena
• 964-972 - The reign of Svyatoslav, the son of Igor and Olga, the continuation of the construction of the state of Kievan Rus
• 980-1015 - Reign of Vladimir the Red Sun
• 980 - Religious reform, the creation of the pantheon of the gods of Slavic paganism (Perun, Khors, Dazhdbog, Stribog, Semargl and Mokosh)
• 987 - Boyar Council, convened by Vladimir to discuss the adoption of a new faith
• 987 - Rebellion of Vardas Phokas the Younger against the emperor of Byzantium Basil II
• 988 - Vladimir's campaign in, the siege of Korsun (Chersonesos)
• 988 - Treaty of Vladimir and Vasily II on providing assistance in suppressing the uprising of Varda Foki and the marriage of Vladimir to Princess Anna
• 988 - Marriage of Vladimir, baptism of Vladimir, squad and people (some historians indicate the year of baptism 987)
• 989 - The Russian detachment defeated the army of Varda Foki. Capture and annexation of Chersonese (Korsun) to Russia

The baptism of Russia was not always voluntary and the process of Christianization of the country dragged on for a long time. Many annals have preserved meager information about the forced baptism of Russia. Novgorod actively resisted the introduction of Christianity: he was baptized in 990. In Rostov and Murom, resistance to the introduction of Christianity continued until the 12th century. Polotsk was baptized around 1000

The consequences of the baptism of Russia

• The Baptism of Russia had a significant impact on the fate of Christianity: its split into Orthodoxy and Catholicism
• Baptism contributed to the acceptance of Russians into the family of European peoples, the flourishing of culture in Kievan Rus
• Kievan Rus became a fully centralized state
• Russia, and then Russia, turned into one of the religious centers of the world along with Rome
• became the backbone of power
• The Orthodox Church performed functions that united the people during the period of unrest, fragmentation, the Mongol-Tatar yoke
• The Orthodox Church has become a symbol of the Russian people, its cementing force

Baptism in Russia is a phrase under which modern historical science means the introduction of Christian teaching into the territory of the fatherland as the state religion. This significant event took place at the end of the 10th century under the leadership of Grand Duke Vladimir.

Historical sources give conflicting information about the exact date of the adoption of Christianity with a difference of two to three years. Traditionally, the event is attributed to 988 and is considered the beginning of the formation of the Russian Church.

Baptism of Russia in 988

The emergence of Christianity in Russia

Some researchers of history argue that the Christian religion penetrated the territory of Russia long before baptism. According to them, there is indisputable evidence of the advent of religion even under the Kiev prince Askold. The Patriarch of Constantinople sent an archbishop to create a church structure here, but the full-fledged establishment of Christianity in our ancient homeland was prevented by intense clashes between the Savior's adherents and pagans.

Read about Saint Prince Vladimir:

Kyiv's orientation towards the Eastern Christian world was determined by its connections with the magnificent and wisely ruled Constantinople, as well as cooperation with the Slavic tribes of Central Europe and the Balkan Peninsula. Russian princes had a wide choice in the list of religions, and those states that glorified their own church, fixed their eyes on the riches of their native lands.

On a note! Princess Olga was the first Russian ruler to undergo the ritual of Baptism.

The circumstances and dates of this event remain hidden. The most popular version tells of her official visit to Constantinople, where the princess got acquainted with the rituals of the Eastern Christian Church and decided to establish herself in the faith. At baptism, the Grand Duchess received the Greek name Elena. She sought equality between Byzantium and Russia.

The formation of the Church in Russia

Our Slavic state had a peculiar color, therefore the faith of Christ in our native land acquired a special characteristic. The light of Russian Orthodoxy, refracted through the prism of national property, has become a significant phenomenon of the entire Christian teaching. Specificity developed in the process of maturation of the state and the cultural growth of national thought. Holy Russia eventually acquired the glory of the center of the Eastern Christian direction of the Ecumenical Church.

The spread of Christianity instilled in the souls of the Slavs a sense of the closeness of the Lord

The pagan life of the Russian Slavs was based on mother nature. The peasants were completely dependent on the cultivated land and the raging elements. The rejection of paganism for the people meant that the existence of the former idols was placed in enormous doubt. However, the pagan faith was rather primitive in structure and failed to penetrate to the very depths of the national consciousness. Therefore, the replacement of Perun with the prophet Elijah was painless, but not fully realized. A large number of beliefs and superstitions remain among the people, including those within the Church.

In Russia, more attention was paid to the splendor of rituals than to the true essence of Christianity.. The positive aspects of paganism include the fact that it nurtured in the souls of the Slavs a sense of the nearness of the Lord, who is present everywhere and in everything. The basis of national holiness was the knowledge of the descent of Christ, devoid of passion and emotional outbursts.

The Kievan people were distinguished by their militancy and exorbitant cruelty towards their enemies, but by adopting Orthodoxy, they introduced the ethical aspects of the Gospel into the traditions. Unlike the Western states, which considered Jesus the leader of the righteous army, Russia accepted the Savior as the "Merciful".

However, Christian morality did not fully reign in the people's consciousness, pagan customs still existed and acted, giving rise to the problem of dual faith. This aspect of Russian history remains in the minds of the people to this day.

Interesting! The first spiritual heroes and great martyrs of the war of cruel idolatry and Christianity full of love and mercy in Russia were the sons of Vladimir - Boris and Gleb.

The struggle for the inheritance of Prince Vladimir gave rise to kindred hatred. Svyatopolk decided to forcibly eliminate his rival brothers. Boris refused to respond to aggression with aggression, which provoked the departure of his squad from this prince, who considered the manifestation of love a weakness. The servants cried over the body and praised the name of Christ, and soon the killers got to the young Gleb.

Holy Martyrs Boris and Gleb

Spreading knowledge about religion

The throne of Kyiv passed into the possession of Yaroslav the Wise, who was also the son of Vladimir. The new prince sought to enlighten the Russian people and strengthen the Christian faith. Yaroslav had great authority in his homeland and in European states, he wanted to raise the status of Russia to the level of brilliant Byzantium.

The educational mission was extremely important for the young culture of the Russian people.. Knowing that a country could become morally isolated and run wild if it continued to stay far from spiritual centers, Yaroslav the Wise established relations with states that had a rich experience of religiosity.

Religious culture in Russia

Soon after baptism, a structure of church metropolises was created, headed by a bishop sent from Constantinople. Bishoprics were organized in the largest cities of Russia.

For a whole century, the spiritual life of Russia was under the command of the Greek metropolises. This fact played a positive role, because it excluded competition between church structures within the state. However, in 1051 Yaroslav made the famous Russian thinker and writer Hilarion metropolitan. This outstanding pastor in his essays noted the religious upsurge in the heart of the population.

In traditional chronicles, one could see the desire to understand what was happening through an appeal to past events. The authors of these literary monuments glorified not only the great ascetics, but were also interested in the biographies of pagan princes.

Chronicles were based on historical documentation, oral traditions and national folklore. The authors used direct speech, as well as proverbs and peculiar sayings. In the 12th century, a monk named Nestor collected all the chronicles into one and entitled it "The Tale of Bygone Years." This book is the main source of information on the history of Ancient Russia.

The author of The Tale of Bygone Years saw Russia from a great height

In the rapidly expanding monastic complexes, there was an increase in scientists, architects, writers and icon painters. Professionals came from Byzantium and shared their knowledge with the Russian people. Domestic masters soon built temples on their own, decorated the walls, amazing their Constantinople teachers.

Yaroslav, having decided to glorify the capital, built a magnificent temple in honor of St. Sophia and the Golden Gate in Kyiv. These works of art were created by Russian masters who rethought the Byzantine tradition in their own way.

On a note! The first celebration of Epiphany in Russia took place in 1888. The events, the idea of ​​which belonged to K. Pobedonostsev, were held in Kyiv. Before the celebrations, the foundation of the Vladimir Cathedral was laid.

Read about churches in honor of St. Prince Vladimir:

• Cathedral of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir in Sevastopol

The adoption of Christianity in Russia is the most important step that radically changed the internal way of life and the moral side of the life of our fatherland. The church vision allowed the people to rally around the one God and gain knowledge of His power. Wise rulers saw in baptism an opportunity to improve the position of the state, to learn how to create the most beautiful temples and icons.

Documentary film about the baptism of Russia

Baptism of Russia This is the event that marked the adoption of Christianity as the state religion. This decision was made by Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavovich at the end of the 10th century. Modern official sources indicate that the establishment of a new religion in Ancient Russia took place in 988. But there are separate studies in which the event is attributed to 990 and even 991.

The mention of the baptism of Russia in the annals

The introduction of Christianity was called the baptism of the Russian land in the oldest known chronicle - The Tale of Bygone Years. Based on this source, the researchers established the year of the baptism of Russia. The date of the significant event was recorded in the Tale as 6496 from the creation of the world. According to the currently accepted calendar from the Nativity of Christ, this year corresponds to the 988th.

Various terms are used to refer to the event, for example, "Enlightenment of Russia" or "the second religious reform of Vladimir", but the most commonly used is precisely "baptism", as it was indicated first in the annals, and then by famous historians V. N. Tatishchev and N M. Karamzin.

Byzantine sources covered little of the events that took place in Russia at the end of the 10th century. According to the ideas of this state, Christianization there began in the 9th century. Only the Vatican Chronicle indicates the year 988 as the date of Vladimir's baptism, but perhaps these data are taken from the reverse translation of the Tale of Bygone Years.

You can learn about the prerequisites, significance and consequences of the most important stage in the history of the motherland from the corresponding tables compiled by various authors. But in this form, the data is not always very informative. A summary of the events that took place during the baptism of Russia or preceded it will help you learn more about the process of Christianization.

Prerequisites

Byzantium, which adopted Christianity long before the 10th century, sought to convert the pagans to their faith. This was necessary to reduce the risk of military conflicts with foreign states.

In the 9th century, attempts to influence the rulers through religion were made in relation to Moravia and Bulgaria, as well as Kievan Rus after its attack on Constantinople. The result of the campaign of the Rus was a retreat, but Byzantium, which did not want new conflicts, sent missionaries to Kyiv who preached Christianity. This enterprise brought the first success - "Askold's baptism", that is, the adoption of Christianity by a certain number of people and boyars, led by princes Dir and Askold.

This was the state's first step towards the adoption of Christianity. After that, in the middle of the 10th century, Princess Olga was baptized, while receiving a new name - Elena. In 957, she, together with the priest Gregory, went to Constantinople to the Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenic. The purpose of the visit was the official adoption by the ruler of Christianity according to the rite of Constantinople, so that Russia could be considered an empire equal to Byzantium. Baptism took place, but allied relations were not established immediately.

Two years later, Olga refused military assistance to Byzantium and began to establish ties with Germany. Constantinople saw a threat in the actions of the ruler and hastened to conclude an agreement on favorable terms for both parties. The German embassy that arrived afterwards was forced to return to no avail.

In this way, Christianization in Russia began long before 988. Some rulers accepted this religion (Dir and Askold, Olga) or showed sympathy for it (Yaropolk Svyatoslavovich). During archaeological excavations, ancient burials of the beginning of the 10th century were found, in which pectoral crosses were found, as well as elements of funeral rites adopted in Christianity.

Reasons for adopting a new religion

Nevertheless, individual representatives of the nobility who adopted Christianity, and the rest of the population with their pagan beliefs, could not form a strong state with a single religion. Vladimir continued Olga's undertakings and became the prince who baptized Russia in 988.

However, the adoption of Christianity was not the only way to implement the plan. The prince had to make a serious choice, in connection with which the so-called test of faith was held, during which Vladimir considered the following options.

1. Islam was proposed by the Volga Bulgars, but Vladimir rejected it because of the need to comply with the ban on alcoholic beverages, which could not be voluntarily accepted by the people.
2. Then the Germans went to the trick, declaring that by adopting Catholicism, it would be possible to eat and drink plenty, but the prince also refused their offer, since the services were required to be conducted in Latin.
3. Then the Khazars, who preached Judaism, came to the prince, but the lack of their own land forced Vladimir to abandon this option as well.
4. The best impression on Vladimir was made by the Byzantine, who told him about the Christian faith. But doubts still did not leave the prince, and he continued to consult with his closest subjects.

In order to finally choose a religion, it was decided to attend worship services of Muslims and Christians. The envoys who carried out the order of the prince were delighted with the rites of the Church of Constantinople, which allowed Vladimir to make the final choice in favor of Christianity.

In this way many factors influenced the final decision. The reasons for the adoption of Christianity in Russia point by point are as follows.

The adoption of Christianity at that time was the most profitable choice both for the development of Ancient Russia itself, and for Byzantium, which helped her in introducing the religion.

Baptism of Kyiv and the foundation of the church

The decision to adopt Christianity was made and implemented in 988. The baptism of Russia by Prince Vladimir began from Kyiv, and the Patriarch of Constantinople sent his clergy there to conduct the ceremony. While baptism was taking place in the waters of the Dnieper River, Vladimir prayed to God to send down faith to his people and strength to fight enemies.

Despite the help of the Byzantine priests, Kiev needed to establish its own church. A number of historians support the version that the first Russian Church was dependent on the Bulgarian one, however, this version is poorly supported by documents.

And also the opinions of researchers regarding the first clergy were divided. It is traditionally considered to be the first Metropolitan Michael the Syrian, who founded several of the first monasteries. But other names are mentioned in ancient chronicles.

Baptism of Vladimir

Failed to find out, whether the prince was baptized along with all of Kiev, or whether this happened a year earlier. The reason for assuming that Vladimir himself was baptized in 987 was the events accompanying the suppression of the rebellion of the Byzantine commander Varda Foki. The ruler of Russia offered his help to Constantinople for a reward in the form of the hand of Princess Anna, but the emperors rejected the humiliating demand. Then Vladimir took advantage of the weakness of Byzantium, busy suppressing the rebellion in his own country, and captured Korsun, threatening Constantinople in the future.

The emperors had to make concessions and agree to Anna's marriage with the Russian prince. But in response, they put forward their demands:

• Vladimir must be baptized with the name Vasily.
• Korsun must be released as a bride price.

The spread of Christianity to other Russian lands

After Kyiv, baptismal rites began to take place in Novgorod, Chernigov, Vladimir and Polotsk. But far from everywhere the people dutifully accepted the new religion. The resistance was caused not only by the unwillingness to abandon the old beliefs, but also by fears that Kyiv was trying to take full control over other lands by this method.

Novgorod resisted the introduction of Christianity for about two years, while Rostov and Murom had to be forced for almost two centuries. At the same time, repressions took place, pagan idols were destroyed, bishops were expelled, the most staunch opponents of baptism moved to the north. Only through military assistance was it possible to achieve the complete baptism of Russia. This is briefly mentioned in ancient chronicles.

Consequences

Whatever the motives of the Grand Duke when choosing a religion (strengthening the state, marrying Anna, the dictates of the heart), but this decision was of great historical significance for the further development of Kyiv and other Russian lands.

Significance for Russian civilization

Baptism is one of the most significant events in the history of the state. It made it possible to unite the entire territory of Ancient Russia with the help of religion and to conclude profitable alliances with other Christian countries. The moral image of the people has risen to a new level. No longer were human sacrifices and cruel rites characteristic of paganism possible. Subsequently, Russian missionaries played a significant role in the ongoing process of Christianization of the rest of the world and helped bring many other peoples to God.

Political significance

The baptism of Russia took place shortly before the split of the Christian Church into Catholic and Orthodox. Therefore, the fact that the new religion was adopted from Constantinople had a huge impact on subsequent history. At the same time, the Byzantine emperor was considered the religious head of all Orthodox lands, including Kievan Rus. The ruler had the right to honor representatives of the authorities of foreign countries with titles, so baptized Russian princes were called stolniks at the court of the emperor. This title was very modest, and the metropolis in Russia was listed in the last places in the lists of Constantinople.

The adoption of Orthodoxy, and not Catholicism from Rome, was called the absolutely right choice by representatives of the clergy. Metropolitan Platon argued that subordination to the Pope of Rome would entail the development of the state along the path of total control not only of spiritual life, but also of worldly affairs.

cultural significance

After the adoption of the religion of Constantinople, Byzantine culture began to influence painting and architecture.. It was then that writing began. However, the emergence of new cultural monuments was accompanied by the destruction of ancient pagan structures. Thus, the authorities struggled with the continued observance of pagan traditions and rituals. It was forbidden not only to worship statues and gods, but also to perform various superstitious actions, for example, rubbing such sculptures for good luck. As a result of the bans, riots and conflicts sometimes broke out, accompanied by ritual killings..

If not for the event of 988, modern Russia could now have a completely different look.. The wisdom and care of the princes about the fate of their homeland allowed Russia to follow the path of enlightenment and become one of the most influential and powerful empires. All cultural heritage that has come down to our times is somehow connected with Orthodoxy. And now the baptism of Russia is celebrated by the church on August 14, and in the previous month, on July 28, the memory of St. Vladimir is venerated.

1020 years ago, on May 12, 996, the Church of the Tithes was consecrated in Kyiv. The first stone temple of Ancient Russia, erected Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir. The date is respectable and uplifting - on this occasion, we should probably expect wide festivities. Or not?

Probably not. And the reason is simple. The very existence of the Church of the Tithes is extremely inconvenient for many, many. First of all, for those who still share the established version of the baptism of Russia. She is probably known to everyone and everyone. Here, Prince Vladimir, choosing a new faith, receives ambassadors from the Byzantine Orthodox, from Roman Catholics, from Muslims and from Jews. Here he is leaning towards the Greek version. However, he does not want to change his faith just like that and gets baptism, sort of like a trophy. To begin with, he takes one of the most important cities of Byzantium, Korsun (Chersonese). Then he forces the brother-emperors, Vasily And Constantine impersonate their sister Anna, threatening otherwise to take Constantinople itself. Gets consent. Only then is he baptized. Of course, from the hands of the Greek clergy. And he inclines all Russia to baptism. It happened in 988.

"First Christians in Kyiv". V. G. Perov, 1880. The painting illustrates the secret meetings of Christians in pagan Kyiv. Source: Public Domain

Words from the wrong system

A solid, interesting, beautiful story. That's just, unfortunately, not confirmed. In any case, the act of the baptism of Russia under Vladimir was not noted in any way by Byzantine sources. At all. As if he didn't exist at all.

There is a curious observation, which has been repeatedly noticed by both scientists and those who are simply interested in the history of the Church. Theoretically, the adoption of Christianity from the hands of the Greek clergy should have been a complete package. It includes canon, rites and terminology. And with the latter we have obvious problems. A solid part of domestic church terms, and the basic ones, is extremely far from Greek. But it is very close to the Western tradition. For those who doubt, a number of the most obvious examples can be cited. Offhand:

Church

• Russia - Churches
• Greeks - Ekklesia
• West - Cyrica

"Baptism of Prince Vladimir". Fresco by V. M. Vasnetsov in Kiev Vladimir Cathedral. Late 1880s. Source: Public Domain

Cross

• Russia - Cross
• Greeks - Stavros
• West - Crux

Priest

• Rus - Pop
• Greeks - Hiereus
• West - Pope

Altar

• Russia - Altar
• Greeks - Bomos
• West - Altarium

pagan

• Rus - Pogany
• Greeks - Ethnikos
• West - Paganus

Wrong baptism?

Basically, it's just flowers. Berries begin when you understand what was going on in the church affairs of Russia half a century after such a familiar date of baptism - 988.

Arrives in Russia Metropolitan Theopempt. A Greek, placed at the head of the Russian metropolis by the Patriarch of Constantinople. 1037 year. The first thing Theopempt does is re-consecrate that same Tithe church. The main temple of Russia. Cathedral. Vladimir himself and his wife Anna were buried there. The relics were transferred there Princess Olga- the first of the Russian rulers who was baptized. In other words, the Church of the Tithes is the center of the holiness of the entire Russian land.

And suddenly the Greek metropolitan consecrates it anew. This is allowed only in two cases. Either the temple was defiled, or it was originally consecrated somehow incorrectly. However, nothing is known about defilement.

By the way, the Greek Church throughout its more than rich church history did not know the church tithe as a legally approved practice. And in Russia - all of a sudden - a whole cathedral, living on the principles of tithing. And these principles were established by Prince Vladimir himself.

More to the word. The canonization of Prince Vladimir took place rather late. 400 years after he baptized Russia. Constantinople opposed most fiercely the glorification of Vladimir in the face of saints.

Arrival in Kyiv of the bishop. Engraving by F. A. Bruni, 1839. Source: Public Domain

Rome - no!

However, those who decide that Roman missionaries originally baptized Russia should not rejoice at all. Firstly, the Roman chronicles also do not say anything and do not know that this very baptism took place under Vladimir. The only mission of papal preachers to Russia took place in 961-962, under Vladimir's grandmother, Princess Olga. And it ended badly. Bishop Adalbert I spent nothing in Kyiv. He left disgraced: “Adalbert, consecrated as a bishop for the Russians, did not succeed in anything for which he was sent, and, seeing his work in vain, returned back. Some of his companions were killed, and he himself barely escaped."

And here a paradox arises. Prince Vladimir was baptized. It is a fact. He forced his subjects to do the same. This is another fact. Neither Rome nor Constantinople know or say anything about this. This is also a fact.

Nevertheless, the Church of the Tithes is being built and consecrated. Services are coming. In worship and church life, the terms are partly Greek, partly Germano-Roman, Western. The wife of Prince Vladimir, the Greek princess Anna, in general, does not see anything shameful in this. As well as the clergy. But half a century later, this whole well-established system begins to stagger. The tithe church is re-consecrated. And as an alternative, they are building the St. Sophia Cathedral. Two centers of holiness begin an exciting game of "who is in charge here." Sons of Prince Vladimir, martyrs Boris And Gleb, albeit with a creak, but canonize. And the baptist of Russia himself has not yet received this honor. What did he do wrong? Why are the new Greek metropolitans correcting the system he built in their own way?

The ruins of the Church of the Tithes in the drawing of 1826 (sometimes described as a copy of the work of A. van Westerfeld, which is questioned by historians).