I n 988, Prince Vladimir of Rus underwent his celebrated religious conversion, a decision that initiated the Christianization of what later became Russia and Ukraine. About 125 years later, a charming account of that event appeared in the Russian Primary Chronicle, a major source of information about early Russian history. In that account, the prince essentially went shopping for a religion, sending emissaries to investigate the faiths of Judaism, Islam, Roman Catholicism, and Eastern Orthodoxy. Based on these reports, Vladimir rejected Islam, for it prohibited eating pork and drinking alcohol, and “drinking is the joy of the Russes.” Circumcision and the dispersal of the Jews from their homeland counted against Judaism, while the emissaries reported that they “beheld no glory” among the Catholics. It was a different story when they described Eastern Orthodox Christianity and the great church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. There, they declared, “we knew not whether we were in heaven or on earth.” And so Vladimir was baptized; married a sister of the Byzantine emperor; threw an idol of Perun, the god of thunder, into the river; and ordered the inhabitants of Kiev to take part in a mass baptism. “There was joy in heaven and on earth,” the Chronicle concludes, “to behold so many souls saved.”12

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Most historians are highly skeptical that any such systematic search for a new religion actually occurred. But the story reflects several historical realities of the time. Through trade and warfare, the emerging kingdom of Kievan Rus was becoming aware of its neighbors, especially the towering Byzantine Empire but also nearby Jewish, Catholic, and Muslim peoples. Nor is it hard to imagine that ruling elites sought ways to integrate the diverse peoples and cultures of their state. But the coming of Christianity to Rus was not nearly so abrupt as the Chronicle suggests. And the motives for this process were not quite so spiritual or religious as portrayed in this account.

In fact, the story began in 860, when the Byzantine Empire, subjected to fearsome raids by wild and ferocious warriors from Rus, sought to tame these “barbarians” by converting them to Christianity, a common practice among threatened Christian rulers all across Europe. A Byzantine mission to the lands of Rus resulted in a church or two and a small number of individual converts, but no wholesale religious change. Then, in 911, a treaty between Rus and Byzantium was signed in Constantinople, where the delegates from Rus were shown “the beauties of the churches, the golden palace, and the riches contained therein.” Furthermore, Byzantine clerics “instructed the Russes in their faith and expounded to them the true belief.” By 957, some among the royal court in Rus had become interested in the new faith. A princess named Olga visited Constantinople and was baptized a Christian. But she was unable to persuade others in ruling circles to follow her example. Even her son spurned Christianity, fearing that his warrior followers would mock him if he converted. During this time, however, a brisk trade had developed between Rus and Byzantium; some warriors from Rus had served as mercenaries in Byzantine armies; and the notables of Rus had become aware of the cultural splendor and material riches of the Byzantine Empire.

And so it is perhaps not surprising that when Vladimir had consolidated his own power by 980, he moved decisively toward the Byzantine Empire and Orthodox Christianity. The occasion was a request in 987 for military assistance from a Byzantine emperor threatened by an internal rebellion. In the negotiations that followed, Vladimir agreed to supply 6,000 soldiers and to convert to Christianity. In return, he gained a new wife, Anna, the sister of the emperor, together with numerous priests and advisers. Perhaps most importantly, Vladimir gained recognition as an equal Christian ruler from the dominant civilization in the region. Here was a turning point in the century-long interaction of Rus and Byzantium and the beginning of an extended process, born of political need on both sides, by which Rus — and later Russia and Ukraine — became thoroughly Christian lands.

A thousand years after Vladimir’s conversion, in 1988, the millennial anniversary of that event was celebrated in a Soviet Union still ruled by a Communist Party that had spared little effort to destroy the Russian Orthodox Church. As the Soviet Union disintegrated in the several years that followed, many closed churches, seminaries, and monasteries reopened, returning to the control of the faithful, who flooded into them. The Church has again become an important bulwark of the new Russian and Ukrainian states. And in the memory of many Russians, 988 still remains a major turning point in their country’s history.

Questions: How did the Russian Primary Chronicle simplify the conversion story? What aspects of the conversion process are emphasized in the Chronicle?