Baptism of Rus’
Returning from Chersonesus with Anna and Greek clergy, Vladimir had the idols cast down — Perun was dragged to the Dnieper and thrown in — and ordered all the people of Kyiv to be baptised in the river. Christianity from Byzantium became the religion of the Rus’ state.
- Date
- 988year known
- Place
- Kyivtoday: Kyiv, Ukraine · Eastern Europe
- Participants
- Vladimir the Great, Anna Porphyrogenita, Kievan Rus’, Byzantine Empire, East Slavs
- Threads
- Eastern Europe and Rus’ before the Baptism (1st–10th c.)
- Also known as
- Christianization of Kievan Rus'; Baptism of Kyiv; Baptism of Kievan Rus'; Крещение Киева; Хрещення Русі
“Whoever does not come to the river tomorrow, be he rich or poor, beggar or slave, shall be my enemy,” the prince proclaimed, according to the chronicle; the next day the people went into the water while priests read the prayers. Other towns, Novgorod among them, were baptised in the following years; later sources speak of resistance there. A metropolitan see of Kyiv was set up under the Patriarchate of Constantinople, churches were built where idols had stood, and children of the nobility were taken to be taught to read.
The traditional date, 988, is that of the Primary Chronicle; the millennium was celebrated in 1988. The sources are not in full agreement: Vladimir’s own baptism is placed by some historians in 987, and the mass baptism of the Kyivans may have followed his return from Chersonesus in 989. The Christianization of the countryside took centuries.
Connections
Causes and preconditions
- Vladimir’s choice of faith986–987 · Eastern Europe
Consequences
- Building of the Church of the Tithes989–996 · Eastern Europe
Related events
- First Christianization of the Rus’between 860 and 867 · Eastern Europethe first and the definitive conversion of the Rus’
- Mission of Cyril and Methodius to Great Moravia863 – 6 April 885 · Western and Central EuropeThe Slavonic liturgy and letters created for Moravia reached Rus’ through Bulgaria
- Olga’s visit to Constantinople and her baptism9 September – 18 October 957 · Balkans and AnatoliaOlga’s example is cited by the boyars when Vladimir chooses a faith
- Baptism of Poland14 April 966 · Western and Central EuropeWithin a generation Poland (966) and Rus’ (988) became Christian — from Rome and from Constantinople
- Battle of the Gates of Trajan17 August 986 · Balkans and AnatoliaWeakened by defeat and revolts, Basil II allied with Vladimir of Kiev, who was baptized and married Basil’s sister Anna
- Vladimir’s siege of Chersonesus (Korsun)between 988 and 989 · Eastern Europeaccording to the chronicle Vladimir was baptised in Korsun
- The first Rus’ coinsbetween 988 and 1000 – 1015 · Eastern Europethe first coins show Christ and the prince enthroned
Same participants
- Constantine VII describes the Rus’ route to Constantinoplebetween 948 and 952 · Eastern Europevia East Slavs
Same place
- Kyiv culturec. 200 – between 400 and 430 · Eastern Europe
- Kyi, Shchek and Khoryv: the legendary founding of Kyivbetween 500 and 700 · Eastern Europe
- Askold and Dir rule in Kyiv862–882 · Eastern Europe
- Oleg takes Kyiv882 · Eastern Europe
- The Pechenegs first come to the Rus’ land915 · Eastern Europe
- Pecheneg siege of Kyiv968 · Eastern Europe
- Feud of the Sviatoslavichi977 – between 978 and 980 · Eastern Europe
- Vladimir’s pagan pantheonbetween 978 and 980 · Eastern Europe
- Siege of Kyiv5 September – between 19 November and 6 December 1240 · Eastern Europe
Meanwhile in the world
Other regions, within 25 years of this event
Western and Central Europe
- Hugh Capet becomes King of the FranksMay 987 – 3 July 987
- Christianization of Icelandbetween 999 and 1000
- Coronation of Stephen I of Hungarybetween 25 December 1000 and 1 January 1001
- Baptism of Poland14 April 966
Balkans and Anatolia
- Battle of the Gates of Trajan17 August 986
- Siege of Dorostolon23 April 971 – July 971
- Sviatoslav’s invasion of Bulgariabetween 967 and 968 – July 971
North America
- Leif Erikson reaches Vinlandc. 1000
The same period
Sources
- Wikipedia (English): Christianization of Kievan Rus'
- Wikipedia (English): Vladimir the Great
- Wikipedia (Russian): Крещение Руси
- Wikipedia (Russian): Владимир Святославич
- Poppe A. The Political Background to the Baptism of Rus’: Byzantine–Russian Relations between 986–89 // Dumbarton Oaks Papers. — 1976. — Vol. 30. — P. 195–244.
- Карпов А. Ю. Владимир Святой. — М.: Молодая гвардия, 1997. — (Жизнь замечательных людей).
- Franklin S., Shepard J. The Emergence of Rus, 750–1200. — London; New York: Longman, 1996.
- Wikidata: Q573211