The Establishment of Christianity as a State Religion by Prince Volodymyr as a Means of Enlightenment and Europeanization of Rus

Abstract

The paper examines how the scholarly elite of the late nineteenth century interpreted the introduction of Christianity in Kyivan Rus. On the eve of the celebrations marking the 900^th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus by the Kyivan prince Volodymyr Sviatoslavych, more than ten articles dedicated to this jubilee were published in ‘Trudy Kievskoi Dukhovnoi Akademii’ in 1886-1888. Their authors — professors and scholars of the Kyiv Theological Academy, including Mykola Petrov, Ivan Linnychenko, Volodymyr Zavitnevych, Vasyl Malinin, Ivan Malyshevskyi, and Vasyl Pevnytskyi — reconstructed the life of the Kyivan prince, clarified the reasons for the Christianization of Rus, investigated the place and time of Volodymyr’s baptism, examined the Byzantine influence on the cultural development of the Eastern Slavs, analyzed the internal motivations behind Volodymyr’s cultural and spiritual transformation, and emphasized his role as an enlightener while evaluating the historical significance of the introduction of Christianity. Despite the somewhat rhetorical and laudatory tone in their characterization of Prince Volodymyr — largely due to the ‘jubilee’ context of the publications — the authors carefully employed primary sources, analyzed them critically, and formulated conclusions that largely correspond with modern scholarly assessments of the Christianization of the Old Rus state.

The analysis of the materials published in ‘Trudy Kievskoi Dukhovnoi Akademii’ in 1886-1888 devoted to events that had occurred nine centuries earlier made it possible to identify the aspects that attracted the greatest attention of scholars and the nature of their interpretations. In evaluating the establishment of Christianity by Prince Volodymyr in the state of Kyivan Rus, historians emphasized primarily its political and educational consequences. The causes of the Baptism were seen in the vitality of Christianity itself, which was spreading across Europe and approaching the borders of Rus, in the cultural and educational potential of Byzantium, and in the political relations between the Old Rus state and other Christian polities. The establishment of Christianity as a state religion meant entry into the European cultural sphere, since European culture had developed on the foundation of Christianity. The introduction of Christianity was interpreted as a historically conditioned event, and Volodymyr’s greatness was associated with his adoption of the very foundation of European learning — Christianity — and with the manner in which he implemented it without compromising his honor and dignity. The authors were unequivocal in their understanding of the European character of the Kyivan Rus state and emphasized that Christianity became a powerful instrument of its Europeanization.

A recurring theme in the published materials was the assessment of Byzantine influence on Old Rus culture, which contributed to its elevation to the level of European Christian culture. Prince Volodymyr Sviatoslavych himself was portrayed as a far-sighted statesman who understood the demands of his time and used every opportunity to integrate Rus into the European cultural space.