The Conversion Of Christianity In Rus

THE CONVERSION OF CHRISTIANITY IN RUS Name Course Date The Christianization of Rus’ is widely accepted to have happened in the latter half of the 9th century with various Russian chroniclers and Byzantine sources attesting to the onset of Christianization of Rus’ between 860 and 867. Prior to the onset of Christianity, pagan beliefs and traditions were prevalent in the region with numerous pagan shrines existing in the region. It was during the reign of Vladimir I that Rus’ embraced Christianity. Vladimir I elected the first Orthodox Church in Kiev and ordered destruction of the pagan shrines. Vladimir I baptized his 12 sons and ordered the Kievan Rus residents to be baptized by the Orthodox priests from Constantinople. Despite the order, the conversion was strictly voluntary. Nonetheless, there was opposition from locals who wanted to preserve their traditional beliefs. Language barrier was another eminent challenge facing Christianization endeavors due to illiteracy. Further, the death of Vladimir I was a setback to the Christian Orthodox community, and Rus’ was exposed to invasion threats from their enemies. While multiple challenges were experienced in the earlier Christianization attempts, Rus’ conversion to Christianity was largely a success attributable mostly to the growth of the Christian Orthodox faith led Vladimir I, and the subsequent rulers. Little information is known regarding the political prehistory and the origin of both the Rus and the Kievan state. The Russian primary chronicles reveal that Rus was established in 879 by Viking Oleg, the leader of Novgorod. Due to its strategic location along river Dnieper, Kiev became the capital city of the Kievan Rus. Therefore, Viking Oleg extended his territory by uniting with the Finnish and the Slavic. He also made trade agreements with the constantanapoles, thus positioning the Kievan Rus as a compelling and influential state in the region. Now, long after the death of Viking Oleg, there emerged rise to the throne of Vladimir I. He was a Slavic ruler who ascended to the throne of the power of Kievan Rus in 980.[Sarah C. Simmons, “13 Rus’ Dynastic Ideology in the Frescoes of the South Chapels in St. Sophia, Kiev,” in From Constantinople to the Frontier: The City and the Cities (BRILL, 2016), 207–225.] Prior to the onset of Christianity, the residents of Kievan Rus had their own pagan beliefs and traditions. Before his rise as the leader of the Kievan Rus, the original Rus territory was inhabited by people that resided in small regions and towns. Each of these regions had their own beliefs on religious matters. However, the majority of the religious practices were based on localized traditions and the rule of the pagans. Christianity was first mentioned in Rus in the year 860 after the Byzantine war of 860. The people were delighted and enthusiastic to learn about the new religion in the kingdom of Rus. Therefore, a bishop was sent to convert the population from the pagan beliefs to Christianity voluntarily. However, the bishop did not make a successful transformation to turn the inhabitants of Rus to Christianity.[Matthew Young, “Folk Epics and the Role of Gender in Medieval Kievan Rus’” (PhD Thesis, Simmons College, 2016).] The change of leade...