BAPTISM OF RUSSIA

ABSTRACT

This article examines the problem of baptism of Russia by Vladimir Svyatoslavovich. The process of baptism is revealed, and the prerequisites, as well as the consequences of the adoption of Christianity, are studied. Historical sources are analyzed, and the statement about the forcible imposition of the Christian faith is considered. As a result, conclusions are drawn about the enormous influence of Orthodoxy for Russian culture.

Keywords: Christianity, Prince Vladimir, baptism, Russia culture, adoption of Christianity, Christian faith.

Despite the popular belief that before baptism in 988, there was practically no Christianity in Russia, many archaeological finds and historical sources suggest otherwise. The baptism of Russia by Vladimir Svyatoslavovich is a significant, but not the final, point of the large process of Christianization of the Slavs, which lasted for several centuries. No one will deny that it was Prince Vladimir who brought Russia to a higher cultural, political and social level. But even before baptism, Christianity was known in Russia, but not very widespread among the Slavs. The purpose of my work is to show how important the process of baptism was for Russia, and how this strengthened the position not only of Vladimir himself, but also of the entire Old Russian state at the international level. Do not forget that for the inhabitants of Russia themselves, this process was no less important, since a single faith helped to unite the entire Slavic people, therefore this topic is very relevant in the modern world.

According to ancient tradition, the first Christian missionary in Russia was the Apostle Andrew the First-Called. Thanks to Origen, an outstanding church historian, we know that after the resurrection, Jesus Christ instructed the apostles to travel to other lands to spread the Christian faith. To determine which country to go to the apostles drew lots - the Apostle Andrew had to preach in Scythia. According to the "Tale of Bygone Years", postol Andrey visited the territory of the future Kiev, where, according to legend, he erected a wooden cross in the ground, blessing this place.

Continuing to consider the path of Christianity in Russia, it should be noted that the Rus campaign against Constantinople in 866. The Kiev princes Askold and Dir headed the campaign. For the Byzantines, the attack of the Rus was a complete surprise, so there was practically no chance of repelling the attack. Then the Patriarch of Constantinople Photius proposed to wet the robe of the Most Holy Theotokos in the sea and pray for protection. After that, a storm arose at sea, which destroyed the entire fleet, and the surviving Russians had to retreat. Affected by such a miracle, the princes Askold and Dir decided to accept the Christian faith, and in 867 Patriarch Photius sent a bishop to Russia to convert to Christianity. This event went down in history as the "Baptism of Fotie". We can say that at this time the first Christian communities were formed on the territory of Russia.

The next important step in the history of the Christianization of Russia was made by Princess Olga. According to the chronicle, in 945, her husband, Prince Igor, was killed by the Drevlyans. Olga began to rule in Russia, since her son, the future prince Svyatoslav, was only three years old. The princely squad accepted her as a new ruler. During her reign, Olga actively developed foreign policy, but not through conquests, but as a diplomat - she strengthened the external ties of Russia, especially with Byzantium.

The annals say that in 954 Olga went to Constantinople on a diplomatic mission, where she was received with all honors by the Byzantine emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus[1; p.328]. In Constantinople, Olga looked closely at Christianity for a long time - she went to services in St. Sophia Cathedral and asked Constantine himself about the rituals. Olga was baptized in 955, receiving the name Elena, while in the "Tale of Bygone Years" it is said that Emperor Constantine became her successor, and Patriarch Theophylact baptized her. Princess Olga became the first ruler of Russia to adopt Christianity. Returning to Russia, Olga, unfortunately, did not succeed in spreading the Byzantine religion among the Slavs. Thus, it can be clearly seen that in Russia the ground was already prepared for the adoption of Christianity.

Vladimir Svyatoslavovich went down in the history of the Old Russian state as an Equal-to-the-Apostles prince who brought the Christian faith to the Russian land. We know about the process of the baptism of Russia thanks to the "Tale of Bygone Years", it also contains a story about the life of Vladimir before the adoption of Christianity. The future Prince Vladimir was born as the housekeeper of Princess Olga, Malusha from Prince Svyatoslav. Vladimir reigned in Novgorod for a long time, and then, due to the internecine wars of the brothers, he was forced to hide in the Varangian lands. Returning already with an army, he first of all regained Novgorod for himself, and then captured Polotsk. At the same time, he killed the ruler Rogvold, the prince of the captured city, and forcibly took his daughter Rogneda as his wife. His next goal was the capture of Kiev, in which his brother Yaropolk was sitting. Vladimir cunningly lured his brother "into negotiations", and killed by ordering two Varangians from his army to raise his brother "with swords under his bosoms." Yaropolk had a pregnant wife, a Greek nun, whom Vladimir took as his concubine.

It would seem how such a cruel ruler could be inscribed in the face of the saints?

The answer to this question lies in the prince's entourage. Vladimir Svyatoslavovich grew up among the pagans - all his actions were shaped precisely by the pagan worldview. In The Tale of Bygone Years, Nestor does not hide the prince's atrocities, but on the contrary only emphasizes them in order to play a contrast in the future - after spiritual rebirth, Prince Vladimir will indeed become the very person who entered the history of the Church.

After defeating his brother and conquering Kiev, Vladimir continued to strengthen his power. To do this, he decided on a pagan reform - in Kiev he erected temples of all significant Slavic gods at that time, and waged an active struggle with other religions on the territory of his state. Perun was placed at the head of the pantheon, as the main one among the other gods. Vladimir strove to unite all Slavs through a single faith, but the problem turned out to be that it was impossible to achieve this with the help of the pagan pantheon.

Then Prince Vladimir decided to take radical measures - to choose a new faith for his people. This faith was supposed not only to strengthen the status of Vladimir, but also to unite the entire scattered Slavic people. The "Tale of Bygone Years" speaks of such a so-called "test of faith"[2; p. 26], which Vladimir conducted in 986 to select a new spiritual aspiration of Russia. The first to arrive were the ambassadors from the Volga Bulgars - they told about Islam, about all the rituals and prohibitions that they observed. The prince was not satisfied with such a number of prohibitions, so he rejected this belief. The next were foreigners from Rome, they offered the Catholic faith, but Vladimir rejected it with the words: "Go where you came from, for our fathers did not accept this"[3; p. 90 ] - Vladimir did not want to be religiously dependent on the Pope. Then the Khazar Jews came to him, but Vladimir rejected them, explaining that the Jewish people did not have their own land and were divided into many countries, which they did not want for their own people.

Finally, a messenger came from Byzantium. In The Tale of Bygone Years, he was nicknamed the Philosopher. First of all, he spoke about the creation of the world and the Christian faith, Prince Vladimir attentively listened to the story of the Byzantine, but did not express his decision on the choice of religion. Vladimir pondered for a long time which faith to choose and after consulting with the boyars, he decided to send an embassy, consisting of ten people, to other countries to study faiths.

In Constantinople they knew about Vladimir's plans. Emperors Basil and Constantine understood how important this embassy was. The Russian ambassadors were pleasant with all the honors, and in order to leave a particularly vivid impression, they were invited to the divine liturgy in the St. Sophia Cathedral. The service was conducted with all solemnity by the Patriarch of Constantinople himself. The emperors managed to achieve their goal - the ambassadors were greatly impressed by the Greek faith. Returning to Kiev, they colorfully painted the services, saying: “We did not know whether we were in heaven or on earth; for there is no such spectacle and such beauty on earth, and we do not know how to tell you about it; we only know that God dwells there with people, and their service is better than in all other countries. " Thus, the question of the choice of faith was resolved - the choice of Vladimir fell on Orthodox Christianity. This decision also had political reasons - Christianity would allow the prince to appeal to the divine origin of the head of state, while paganism spoke of equal kinship to the gods among all representatives of the people.

It is known that in 988, Prince Vladimir captured one of the Byzantine cities - Korsun, threatening, if Princess Anna was not given to him, with an attack on Constantinople. It was then that the Byzantine princes sent a response to Vladimir - he had to be baptized himself and baptized his entire squad in the Orthodox faith. The prince agreed to this condition.

The priests and Princess Anna were sent to the captured city. Vladimir was baptized together with his retinue, having received the name - Vasily. This name was chosen in honor of his successor, Emperor Basil II. Immediately after baptism, at the request of Prince Vladimir, a wedding was held, after which, in a new faith, he returned to Russia, together with Greek missionaries.

According to sources, after the adoption of Christianity, Vladimir freed all his pagan wives from marital duties, of whom, according to the Tale of Bygone Years, he had more than five hundred. He offered Rogneda complete freedom in choosing a new husband, but she refused, choosing the monastic tonsure.

Returning to Kiev, Vladimir, first of all, decided to destroy the temple of Perun. According to the chronicle, he ordered to dump the statue of Perun, and then throw it into the Dnieper, subjecting it to desecration before that. His order was carried out exactly - the statue was knocked down and thrown into the river, and so that it could not approach the ground again, several people with long poles were at the ready, which, when it approached, pushed it back into the river. Later, Vladimir ordered to destroy the rest of the pagan temples. Soon, on the spot where Perun stood, a church was built.

In Kiev, the prince baptized his sons and sent missionaries to convert people to Christianity. Part of the population of Kiev agreed to be baptized, but the majority still hesitated, and some did not want to accept the new religion at all. Then the prince, having enlisted the help of noble people, issued a decree according to which all residents of Kiev, be they rich or poor, were to be baptized in the Dnieper. According to the Laurentian Chronicle, a large part of the population of Kiev appeared.

Having baptized Kiev, Prince Vladimir set to work on other lands. In this regard, it was believed that baptism was very difficult, because the Slavs actively resisted the new religion. But it must be said that this resistance was of a purely anti-Kiev character, while the religious aspect did not play an important role at all. The same can be said about the baptism of Novgorod. According to the Joachim Chronicle, Vladimir had to send a detachment led by his uncle Dobrynya, but again the resistance of the city residents was manifested in relation to Prince Vladimir, and not only to Christianity. In the same Joachim Chronicle, it is said that by the time of baptism there was already a Transfiguration Church on the territory of Novgorod and a Christian community existed on the territory of the city. The inhabitants of Novgorod did not intend to live under the control of Kiev, therefore, talking about the anti-Christian struggle of the Novgorodians is erroneous and this point of view, supported by archaeological finds, is supported by most scientists. Nevertheless, the process of Christianization of Novgorod was a great victory for Vladimir - having returned the city to the subordination of Kiev, new lands of Ancient Rus were opened for him to consolidate a new religion.

The adoption of Christianity played an important role in the life of the entire Old Russian state. The disunited Slavs were united by a single faith, Christian culture flourished in Russia - churches were erected and painted, values ​​such as humility and repentance, love for one's neighbor and a virtuous life were forbidden to replace the pagan worldview, and bloody sacrifices were prohibited [4; p. 3] Christianity played an especially important role in the book tradition - the Cyrillic tradition spread, which led to an increase in literacy and the appearance of monuments of written culture. Christianity also changed the foreign policy significance of Russia. The new religion allowed Vladimir to consolidate the status of Russia at the international level. The Christian faith helped to establish and strengthen trade relations, which led to the improvement of the economy.

It must be concluded that the adoption of Christianity in Russia was an important political and cultural step. Prince Vladimir not only strengthened the princely power, but also raised the status of Russia in the global arena. Christianity allowed the rulers of Russia to enter into dynastic marriages, which was beneficial in diplomatic relations. Christianity played a huge role for the entire Old Russian state.

References:

1. Rybakov B. A. Kievan Rus and the Russian principalities of the XII-XIII centuries. - M .: Nauka, 1982 .-- P. 368
2. Kuzmin, A.G. The fall of Perun. Formation of Christianity in Russia. Publisher: M .: Young Guard, 1988. P. 25-30
3. The Tale of Bygone Years, Ipatiev List. // PSRL. - T. 2. The Ipatiev Chronicle. - SPb., 1908. - Stlb. P. 89-112.
4. Toporov V.N. Language and culture: about one word-symbol // Balto-Slavic studies. 1986 .-- M .: Nauka, 1988 .-- P. 3.