Well today we are welcoming "Mother Russia" to the show! Well, sort of. Kievan Rus' is not technically Russia yet, but at the very least it is Russia in its embryonic stage. The conversion of the Slavs to Orthodox Christianity was one of the formative steps in the development of Slavic civilization, as the Orthodox Church assumed a major role in the transmission and assimilation of Byzantine culture into Eastern Europe. Byzantine emperors employed sensible diplomacy, international trade, and the church to transform their hostile and barbaric neighbors into cultural satellites. Kievan Russia, following King Vladimir's conversion to Orthodox Christianity in the late 10th century CE, proved especially receptive to Byzantine culture and used the empire as a prototype in evolving its own governmental institutions. Provided with a modified Greek alphabet (Glagolithic or Cyrillic), created expressly in about 863 for the translation of biblical and liturgical works into Slavic by Saint Cyril (also known as Constantine), Russian scholars began to record their history and to produce a remarkable native literature. Having no need to master the Greek and Latin languages, which proved essential for full reception of Byzantium's classical heritage, Russian scholars remained somewhat outside the mainstream of traditional classical thought.The document excerpts I would like you to read come from the Russian Primary Chronicle, our principal historical source for the history of Kievan Russia during the 10th to 12th centuries. Originally compiled in about 1110, the earliest surviving copy is a 1377 version. The account of the conversion of the Slavs by Saints Cyril and Methodius in the 9th century is probably of Moravian origin and may be dependent on old text and the oral tradition. The account of Vladimir's conversion and baptism in 988 is undoubtedly a Russian legend.
Although the conversion to Christianity was certainly a major step in the Slavic civilization, it also raises questions: Why, according to the Chronicle account, did most Slavs pick Orthodox Christianity? Why did they bother to convert to a new religion at all, and what impact would this new religion have on their culture? You can read excerpts from this document by clicking on the following link (Russian Primary Chronicle).
As you are reading, I would like you all to think about and discuss the following: What kinds of causes for historical change does this account emphasize? How is Vladimir's conversion explained? What relationship is suggested between king and nobles? Between king and ordinary subjects? What What church-state relationship is implied by this account? Given obvious distortions and simplifications in this account, what is its value as a historical source? What does it say about Russian politics, religion, and society at this time? Your thoughts...
16 comments:
It seems to me like the prince changed religion for his wife and because he was uncertain of his own. and the prince seemed to trust his nobles alot and he took into consideration what they had to say.
It seems that Vladimir trusted and greatly valued the opinions of the boyers, but the people did not matter because they were subserviant to him so what he would say is what they would follow not the other way around. He converted I think not only to marry but also to forge an alliance with the Byzantines to establish a trading partner similiar to the Indian ocean network where a vast majority of merchants converted to Islam because it was good for business.
valdimirs' conversion is kind of explained by like how he told his people what the jews germans greeks and the bulgars. said this is our religion accept it. his 10 wise men went to all of the places and said they were garabage execpt for greece. so there for he decided to be baptized to have his wife......between Vladimir and his nobels it seemed like there was great trust he believed what they said he took what they said to mind.
russias gov't was pretty much the same as the salvic's like they were the same... i guess?!?!?!?!
It seems that this document reinforces a strong and reoccuring theme in world history of religioous conversion to meet political or economic needs. It also seems to me like the peasants of Russia had a lot more trust in their ruler than many peasants in othet post-classical societies did. But then again the point of view of the author has to be taken into account because this could have been written just to glorify the rulers.
I think that he changed religions to marry his wife. He also wanted to prove how faithful he was to his religions by making everyone convert too.
it seems like the prince didnt really know what to believe or what he did believe so he went with what the nobles told him to do and probably figured that it would help gain peace with them if they shared the same religion. why he chose that religion is most likely because he didnt know what to do so even though he had to learn a completely new language and religion it was better than not knowing.
russians are slavic mr. watkins.
o... okay thanks mr prill
in some way i think that his conversion and making his followers convert was somehow intertwined with something political. Maybe because the Russia place was made on the trade routes that connected them with the orthodox christians....in order to make transactions easier. Valdimir could have been looking out for his people by telling them to convert or die. Looking out for their welbeing but not exactly their happiness. There were alot of holy wars that involved christianity and he probably figured that out and decided that being in allience with his neighbors would be smart.
I think the king had powerful authority over his lands. This is pretty much biased that he converted to Christainity and made people were eager to accept Christianity. This is more like a fairy tale than real facts because the document was writen in nobles' view
It seemed that Vladimir converted becuase of his wife. And possibly even his trusty peasents. To me, it doesn't sound like it was his full idea with the "Mass Conversion". Just me talking.
yeah...so it states that Vlad's people converted with their own will (my interpretation), but seeing the POV of the writer...i would say that they were converted by Sword. that seemed to be the overall gist of this doc.
i think that the prince changed the religion to christianity and all of citizens converted to chridtianity because they tought that they would be killed.
first of all, i dont think vladmir was a very confident man, almost lazy. he sent out his ten wise men to reserach other religions for him. now how can you decide what religion to be if you dont experience it firsthand? Just getting an explanation of it from one source is not enough. and second, he forced everyone to convert to somthing he merely only knew the basic concept of. this may start som confusion but also you can see how easily religin can be changed. Vladmir was easily influenced by the boyars just saying the grandmother olga had adopted the christian faith. agiain, if somone is unfamiliar with a certain subject, you can get them to believe almost anything about it.
Well this was highly interesting.
It was very nice of Michael to send missionaries to translate the bibile. Nowadays the other cultures have to learn the previous languages used.
The conversion was for political gain and power.
I hate how they spoke of the pagans! What Vladimir said about Christianity being more appealing than his pagan beliefs was similar to what Mr. Prill said about cake today. lol. ...and I feel the same way but flipped. I hate that he forced all the people to convert! I assume this is one of the occurances in which many pagan beliefs were transformed into "Christian" ones, like St. Brigid or Halloween or Christmas, etc. and all the breakdown of ceremonies and symbols in them.
I think forced conversion is terrible! I would form a rebellion party and get that leader OUT!
i think that what vladimr did was for support from others and the need of more power and strictness in his land. i really doubt he converted for his wife, but he makes it seem like he did..it had to be for something political.
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