Vladimir’s pagan pantheon
Having taken Kyiv, Vladimir set up on the hill outside his palace idols of Perun — wooden, with a silver head and a golden moustache — Khors, Dazhbog, Stribog, Simargl and Mokosh, trying to create a common pagan cult for his realm.
- Date
- between 978 and 980exact date unknown: an interval is given
- Place
- Hill outside the palace courtyard, Kyivtoday: Starokyivska Hill, Kyiv, Ukraine · Eastern Europe
- Participants
- Vladimir the Great, Kievan Rus’
- Threads
- Eastern Europe and Rus’ before the Baptism (1st–10th c.)
- Also known as
- Pagan reform of Vladimir; Perun; Kyiv pantheon; Перун; Киевский пантеон
The Primary Chronicle places the pantheon under 980, immediately after Vladimir’s accession, and adds that his uncle Dobrynya set up an idol of Perun in Novgorod; it also speaks of human sacrifices. Veles, the god of cattle and wealth invoked in the treaties with Byzantium, is absent from the list, perhaps because his idol stood below, on the Podil.
Historians call the act a “pagan reform”: an attempt to raise Perun, god of thunder and of the prince’s retinue, to the head of a state cult uniting gods of different origin, perhaps also a reaction against the Christian sympathies attributed to Yaropolk. Some scholars (Aleksey Shakhmatov among them) thought that only Perun was named in the original text. Within a decade Vladimir had the same idols thrown into the Dnieper. The date follows that of his accession (978 or 980).
Connections
Causes and preconditions
- Feud of the Sviatoslavichi977 – between 978 and 980 · Eastern Europe
Consequences
- Vladimir’s choice of faith986–987 · Eastern Europethe pagan reform failed, and Vladimir turned to a world religion
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
- First Christianization of the Rus’between 860 and 867 · 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
- Constantine VII describes the Rus’ route to Constantinoplebetween 948 and 952 · Eastern Europe
- Pecheneg siege of Kyiv968 · Eastern Europe
- Baptism of Rus’988 · Eastern Europe
- Building of the Church of the Tithes989–996 · Eastern Europe
- The first Rus’ coinsbetween 988 and 1000 – 1015 · 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
- Baptism of Poland14 April 966
- Imperial coronation of Otto I2 February 962
- Christianization of Icelandbetween 999 and 1000
- Coronation of Stephen I of Hungarybetween 25 December 1000 and 1 January 1001
+ 1 event
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
- Olga’s visit to Constantinople and her baptism9 September – 18 October 957
North America
- Leif Erikson reaches Vinlandc. 1000
The same period
Sources
- Wikipedia (English): Perun
- Wikipedia (Russian): Языческая реформа Владимира Святославича
- Wikipedia (Russian): Перун
- Рыбаков Б. А. Язычество Древней Руси. — М.: Наука, 1987.
- Иванов В. В., Топоров В. Н. Исследования в области славянских древностей. — М.: Наука, 1974.
- Wikidata: Q20428325