Table of contents:
- Why a new religion was needed
- What religions were considered by the prince
- The coexistence of Christianity and paganism
- Measures to combat the pagans
Video: How Vladimir chose faith for Russia, and Why Kiev could become Muslim
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
Epiphany became one of the most significant cultural and political events in Russia. The Kiev prince Vladimir Svyatoslavovich in the 10th century decided to baptize Russia. But the process of Christianization with a gradual departure from the pagan religion was initiated earlier by Princess Olga. By the decision of one ruler, the direction of the development of a large state was determined for thousands of years ahead. It should be noted that the prince did not immediately decide on the transition to Christianity. He spent a lot of time analyzing all the "world" religions available at that time. Historians, relying on information from the chronicles, argue that Kiev was even one step away from Islam.
Why a new religion was needed
During the reign of Vladimir, the state of Kievan Rus reached its dawn, covering vast territories and practically having no powerful enemies-neighbors. Russia turned into an authoritative force in the east of Europe, and the prince intended to rally the population entrusted to him. One faith could help him in this. The historian B. Grekov speaks about the initial attempts of Vladimir Svyatoslavich to create a new religion on the basis of the pagan pantheon of gods. After all, obsolete paganism with a unifying principle could not cope and did not help prevent the collapse of a massive tribal alliance with Kiev at its head. Then Vladimir made a bet on monotheistic religions.
In addition to sacred motives, such a decision, of course, was determined by purely political tasks. The prince counted on friendly allied relations with Byzantium prevailing in the then world, which was possible with the adoption of Christianity by the Old Russian state. An important role in the baptism of Rus, according to the historian M. Pokrovsky, was played by the upper layer of ancient Russian society - princes and boyars. Representatives of the elite disdained Old Slavonic rituals, in the spirit of fashionable overseas trends, prescribing Greek rituals and even Greek priests with Greek silk fabrics.
What religions were considered by the prince
Vladimir was in no hurry to make a final decision in choosing a particular religion for his state. These searches are called in history "the choice of faith." The prince had a rich choice. It was possible to join Khazar Judaism, Islam from the Volga Bulgaria, Roman Christianity and its Byzantine version were studied. If we rely on the "Tale of Bygone Years", then in the process of analyzing the peculiarities of beliefs, Vladimir sent proxies to study the structure of worship in each of these religions.
At the same time, representatives of various religions came to the prince, trying to "lure" him into their camp. Judaism pushed Vladimir away with fears of losing Russian traditions. But the prince studied Islam as thoroughly and in detail as possible, at some point leaning towards this choice. But according to legend, he rejected the Muslim future because of the ban on the use of wine. "Russia is joyfulness piti", - Vladimir Svyatoslavovich uttered and forever erased Islam from the perspectives.
The coexistence of Christianity and paganism
988, according to today's historians, can only conditionally be considered the date of the baptism of the Old Russian state. Religious scholar N. Gordienko ascribes to this time period the conversion to Christianity only of the people of Kiev. This became the starting point for the process of adherence to the new faith of all the inhabitants of Rus, which lasted for years and rather painful. The new religion took root for a long time and was unstable. Christianity rather coexisted with paganism in Kievan Rus after baptism. For this reason, some historians use the term "dual faith." This is exactly what the current situation looked like when Christianity had already been accepted, and paganism remained close and familiar.
There was even a certain consolidation, a merger of neighboring religions. By the 13th century, having been baptized for several generations, people continued to observe the old pagan rites. It was common practice to believe in brownies, to turn to pagan gods during periods of poor harvest. The Tale of Bygone Years, describing the events of that period, testified that Russian people are Christians only in words.
Measures to combat the pagans
Fighting to strengthen Christianity among the people, the government and the clergy took a whole range of practical measures. All new churches were built on the sites of destroyed temples, clearly replacing the old faith with Christianity. It was important for people to come to their usual places of worship, and the sight of a monumental church was subconsciously perceived as an indisputable power of the Christian faith.
There was also the fact that the pagans believed in the ability of this or that deity to defend itself. At the sight of a peacefully rising church in the place of destroyed idols, yesterday's confidence was involuntarily undermined by doubts. The next step was the elimination of the Magi with the priests. They were simply caught and sometimes even executed. The rulers of the Christian church in Russia often suppressed by force attempts of undesirable religious self-organization, relying on the support of the squad.
But it turned out to be impossible to roughly defeat paganism, since faith was difficult to separate from traditions and folk life. The wise clergy decided to impose a new faith on their usual way of life. The calendar was adjusted to the old holidays, explanations were made available, there are even cases of substitution of saints. Educated clergy collaborated with each other for a unifying goal and went to some tricks, which is reflected in the correspondence of the clergy.
Children from noble families were accepted for literacy training at Christian churches, where, of course, they taught the law of God in parallel. In addition, at that time, the squad was something like the idols of pop culture. The youth strove to match their example and readily joined the Christian ranks. And the new conquests of the Christian rulers progressively spread Christianity in the territory of neighboring tribes. So the consolidation of the positions of the new religion was only a matter of time.
Faith issues are serious enough. Sometimes because of them the person gave up the name given at birth and adopted a new one.
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