Baptism of Kievan Rus’: Why Did It Happen?
Ever since the onset of Christianity on the European continent, the efforts to spread the Christian faith by the believers in Christ were resisted by the followers of the various pagan faiths. Despite the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Christianity continued to spread further and further beyond the previous frontiers. One of these frontiers was a state called Kievan Rus’. With the capital at the city of Kiev, it was ruled by descendants of Rurik (830–879) – a Varangian and the founder of the Rurikid dynasty, which would rule the future Kievan Rus’. Despite proximity and trade with different Christian nations the Kievan Rus’ has remained officially pagan until the year 988, when Vladimir the Great (958–1015) was baptized. Soon after, he converted his family and many citizens of Kiev to Easter Orthodox Christianity in an event called the Baptism of Rus’ (988). What led the previously pagan ruler to adopt a new foreign faith for himself and his followers? The Baptism of Rus’ was not a spontaneous decision on behalf of Vladimir the Great, but an event directly influenced by both the Byzantine Empire and the changes in the religious culture of Kievan Rus’. In order to fully understand why the Baptism of Rus’ occurred, it is crucial to investigate cultural factors of Kievan Rus’ and the political relationship between Vladimir the Great and the Byzantine Empire.
Christianity first entered the lands of Kievan Rus’ through the work of Greek missionaries. Due to various political reasons discussed later in the essay the Byzantines considered the Rus’ Christianized more than one hundred years before the Baptism of Rus’ took place. In the Byzantine accounts the Baptism of Rus’ went largely unnoticed, and the land was considered converted in the middle of the 9th century by Patriarch Photios I. The Byzantine documents make it clear that Kievan Rus’ was subject to missionary work long before the Baptism of Rus’. Despite the fact that the results of the missionary work were overstated by the Byzantine historians, they have laid a foundation for the future of Christianity in Kievan Rus’. Eventually the Christian beliefs would spread through both social classes and geographic areas, even reaching the ruling class of Kievan Rus’.
While Vladimir might be the most important convert to Christianity from the Rurikid dynasty, he certainly was not the first. The grandmother of Vladimir – Olga of Kiev (? — 969) was the first Rurikid to convert to Christianity. Despite the conversion of Olga, Kievan Rus’ and the Rurikid dynasty remained pagan. Her efforts to spread Christianity among her subjects were in vain, and the people of Kievan Rus’, for the most part, continued to practice their own beliefs. Vladimir himself was a devoted follower of the Pagan faith, and several years before his baptism erected statues depicting Slavic Pagan gods. Despite this, Christianity gained a foothold in the upper echelons of society. As evident in the Primary Chronicle, Olga was held in high regard in the Kievan population. Olga was known as a strong and vengeful ruler following her revenge on her husband’s killers. Due to Olga’s prestige as a ruler, her conversion made it easier for Christianity to be accepted across the various classes in society following the Baptism of Rus’.
One of the most important historical sources regarding the events surrounding the Baptism of Rus’ is called Tales of the Years Past (also known as Primary Chronicle). The source is a history document of the early Kievan Rus’ and was written by a monk named Nestor the Chronicler in c. 1113. The Primary Chronicle addresses the events of the Baptism of Rus’ in much detail, but many of the details have little factual proof and often seem exaggerated for a narrative purpose. The Chronicle gives account of how Vladimir was visited by the followers of four prominent religions: Judaism, Islam, Catholicism, and Greek Christianity. After such visits, Vladimir decided to dedicate emissaries who would embark on a mission to visit all of the religions and return with their account of them to him. In Constantinople, the emissaries were met with a ceremony and thus were impressed by the Byzantine way of life. Being impressed by the stories told by his emissaries, Vladimir came to a great liking of Greek Christianity. While dealing with a historical source such as the Primary Chronicle, it is important to be able to distinguish important information from fiction. Living in Kiev, Vladimir most likely had contact and awareness of other religions outside of Slavic Paganism. Such contact would also result in many other people in the Kievan Rus’ to become aware of the different religious beliefs. The Primary Chronicle presents a very important view of the events surrounding the Baptism of Rus’. It makes it clear that despite previous attempts at Christianization, Kievan Rus’ remained largely Pagan until the Baptism of Rus’ took place. From the Primary Chronicle, it is possible to see that Vladimir was influenced by both the increasing interest in Christianity by his subjects and the visits from abroad by Christians. The Primary Chronicle also introduces a political side to the events of the Baptism of Rus’. While the general outline that Vladimir was baptized as a result of a pact made with the Byzantine Emperor is true, a more thorough analysis of events reveals details omitted in the Primary Chronicle.
At the time of Vladimir’s reign, the Byzantine Empire was led by co-emperor Basil II. In September 987, a rebellious general Bardas Phocas has proclaimed himself emperor. Being supported by many in Asia Minor, the usurper and his army was planning on attacking the capital of the Byzantine Empire: Constantinople. Basil, sensing the urgency of the situation, had called to Vladimir for help. In exchange for military support and conversion to Christianity, Vladimir was to marry the emperor’s sister. The fact that Basil asked a barbarian pagan for help is one of the reasons why the Byzantine historians would downplay the significance of the baptism, instead preferring to think that the Rus’ were Christianized more than a century earlier. Grand Prince has accepted the proposal and arrived at Constantinople in 988 with a Varangian army. Vladimir and Basil faced the usurper at the Battle of Abydos on April 13, 989. According to the Byzantine narrative, when the two armies faced each other, Phocas sought personal combat with Basil. When the two men were charging at each other, Phocas had a seizure, fell from his horse and died. In the aftermath of the battle, Basil remained the emperor, the famous Varangian guard was formed from the Kievan army, and Vladimir secured his marriage to the emperor’s sister. This marriage was one of the most important reasons for Vladimir’s conversion. Vladimir was already previously married and even had concubines, thus it is evident that his arranged marriage to Anna Porphyrogenita was purely strategic. The marriage was a very alluring proposition for Vladimir as it ensured closer ties to the Byzantines and a higher recognition from other nations. The marriage would make him the brother-in-law of the emperor and therefore secure a more favorable geopolitical outcome. Not only did this alliance foster the spread of knowledge and culture, but it also provided unrestricted access to the Black Sea. In the late 10th century, Kievan Rus’ was heavily dependent on trade between the Vikings from Scandinavia and the Byzantines. With the material wellbeing of the state being closely linked to the trade, it was important for Vladimir to have strong political ties with the Byzantine empire, the most valuable trading partner. These strong ties could be established in two ways: Through marriage, and by sharing the same religion. Conversion to Christianity brought Kievan Rus’ into the Byzantine sphere of influence. The marriage to emperor’s sister and conversion to Christianity has heightened Vladimir’s reputation and renown. At the time when many nations in Europe were becoming Christian, the conversion made it easier to forge closer political ties with other Christian rulers of eastern Europe and Scandinavia. Thus, it is clear that the Baptism of Rus’ had geopolitical reasons alongside subtler, cultural ones.
Through the research and study of both historical and scholarly sources, it is hard to say what played the biggest role in the decision of Vladimir the Great to baptize Kievan Rus’. Regardless, the Baptism of Rus’ was an important event culminating the Christianization of the Kievan state. It changed the cultural direction of Kievan Rus’ by bringing it closer to the Byzantine Empire. While the Baptism of Rus’ took a relatively short time, it was more than a century in the making. It was a result of a gradual spread of Christianity in the ruling class, cultural changes in the general population, and the political relationship with the Byzantine Empire. While the Baptism of Rus’ was seemingly insignificant to the Byzantines at the time, after the fall of Constantinople, it would be the successor state of Kievan Rus’ that will continue the Byzantine religious traditions and practices.
