Principalities of the later Kievan Rus (after the death of Yaroslav I in 1054). (the background map is a modern map of Europe showing current national boundaries, and modern artificial waterways and reservoirs in Russia)
Grand Prince Vladimir approached the matter methodically. He
sent envoys to inquire into Islam, Judaism, and Eastern and Roman Christianity.
He studied their reports and listened to preachers expounding the virtues of
each faith. According to the Primary Chronicle, however, he was impressed most
of all by the fervent description of Orthodox worship given by his envoys on their
return from Constantinople. They had attended divine service in the Cathedral
of St. Sofia and had been so transported by its magnificence that, so they
said, “We knew not whether we were in heaven or on Earth.” A further reason for
embracing Orthodox Christianity, advanced by Vladimir’s advisers, was: “If the
Greek faith were evil, it would not have been adopted by your grandmother Olga
who was wiser than all men.”
The cultural, commercial, and military prestige of Byzantium
stood so high among the Russians that it was perhaps inevitable that they
should have taken their religion from Constantinople. To them, the imperial
city was the bastion of civilization. Immediate political considerations also
played an important part. At this time, the young Byzantine Emperor Basil II
was eager for friendly relations with the Kievan grand prince. He urgently
needed Russian support to defend Constantinople against a provincial uprising
in Anatolia. Early in 988, Basil’s envoys reached Kiev, bringing the offer of marriage
with his sister, Princess Anna, in return for a detachment of Varangian troops
in Kiev’s service. His proposal, of course, involved Vladimir’s conversion.
Members of the imperial family were called Porphyrogenetes,
or “born in the purple.” They did not marry foreigners, and proposals of
marriage from European royal families were loftily rejected. Vladimir was
keenly aware of the honor and the great prestige that he would gain for himself
and the Rurikide dynasty by this marriage. He accepted without delay and was
baptized in Kiev in February 988. Moreover, he promptly fulfilled his part of
the bargain by sending a force of 6,000 Varangians, who were to play a leading
part in the defeat of Byzantium’s enemies. (Some years earlier, Vladimir, in a
less generous mood, had reportedly sent a retinue to Greece in an effort to
cleanse Kiev of the most unruly of these adventurers. He had recommended to the
Greek emperor: “Do not keep many of them in your city, or else they will cause
you such harm as they have done here. Scatter them, therefore, in various
localities, and do not let a single one return this way.”)
Basil appeared reluctant, however, to send his sister to
Kiev. Negotiations regarding the degree of autonomy to be accorded the Russian
Church further complicated matters; Vladimir was not prepared to accept the
political control that could follow upon conversion. Finally, in 989, angered
by the slowness of the Greeks to honor the marriage arrangement, Vladimir
launched a campaign against the Crimea, then part of the Byzantine Empire. He
intended to pressure the emperor and also to gain control over the episcopal
sees in the peninsula. In July, his troops captured the important town of
Kherson, apparently convincing the emperor he could no longer evade the
marriage. Princess Anna was dispatched to Kherson, where she was at once
married to Vladimir, and he then returned the captured town to the emperor as
“the bridegroom’s gift.” In the spring of 990, Vladimir arrived with his bride
in Kiev, bringing with him several priests from the Crimea, as well as icons,
sacred vessels, and relics of saints captured during his peninsular campaign.
Vladimir next sent instructions to Novgorod and other towns
that all people must be baptized without delay. He ordered the destruction of
pagan temples and idols, and forbade the heathen priests and magicians to
practice their arcane ceremonies. In Kiev, the statue of Perun, the god of
thunder and lightning who had been the chief deity, was tied to the tail of a
horse and dragged ignominiously into the Dnieper. Other idols, raised in
worship of the forces of nature, suffered a similar fate. The people were
bewildered; their familiar gods were being destroyed, but they understood
nothing of the new faith that they were ordered to embrace. In many places,
they rebelled against the destruction of their idols, but their rebellions were
put down. Christian churches were hastily built. In 990, the erection of Kiev’s
Cathedral of the Dormition of the Holy Virgin was begun in stone, and six years
later, it was completed. Such churches, giving solid physical form to the new
religion, made acceptance easier, although the old pagan rites persisted.
Vladimir took his new faith very seriously. Practical
considerations aside, his conversion was evidently sincere, as his works
demonstrated. The chronicler recorded:
He invited each beggar and poor man to come to the
Prince’s palace, and receive whatever he needed, both food and drink, and money
from the treasury. With the thought that the weak and the sick could not easily
reach his palace, he arranged that wagons should be brought in, and after having
them loaded with bread, meat, fish, various vegetables, mead in casks, and
kvas, he ordered them driven out through the city. The drivers were under
instruction to call out, ‘Where is there a poor man or a beggar who cannot
walk?’ To such they distributed according to their necessities.
Vladimir had been noted for his love of war, his
ruthlessness, and his pleasure in women. Before his conversion, he was said to
have had 800 concubines living in three large harems, and also seven wives. The
monks who compiled the Primary Chronicle were undoubtedly eager to portray him
as a sinful man who changed his ways completely after conversion. To promote
veneration of their first Christian ruler, they may well have exaggerated the
transformation. Vladimir nevertheless appeared to undergo a complete change of
heart: The warlike, sensual heathen was in his later years judged a saintly
ruler; in the thirteenth century, he was canonized.
The conversion of the Russian people to the Christianity of
the Eastern Church was one of the most significant events in Russian history.
Although imposed upon the people, who clung for many years to their heathen
creeds, the Orthodox faith was to sink deep roots in Russian society. It
gradually permeated their lives and helped to shape their history, their
culture, and their national character. The immediate result was to bring closer
relations with Christian Europe. The dynasty of Rurik would be linked by the
end of the eleventh century with the ruling families of France, England, Hungary,
Poland, Bohemia, and the Scandinavian countries. Kievan Rus belonged to the
European comity of nations, and no one questioned its membership. But in later
centuries, the fact that the Russians had embraced Eastern Christianity was to
be one of the factors alienating them from the Roman Catholic West. It would
contribute to their isolation from the mainstream of Western development and to
the division of Europe into east and west.
The death of Vladimir in 1015 was followed by more savage
fratricidal struggles for power. He had evidently intended that Boris, his son
by his Byzantine wife Anna, succeed him as grand prince. Boris was returning
from a campaign against the rebellious Pechenegs when he learned of his
father’s death and also of the seizure of Kiev by Svyatopolk, his half-brother.
As an earnest Christian, however, he refused to fight against his own brother.
He sent away his army and retinue, and quietly awaited assassins sent by
Svyatopolk, who killed him and also his brother, Gleb.
Yaroslav of Novgorod alone among Vladimir’s sons was ready
to stand against the treacherous Svyatopolk. He had the full support of the
Novgorodtsi, who had long resented the primacy of Kiev. Indeed, the war between
the two brothers, lasting four years (1015 to 1019), was a struggle between the
two cities. Yaroslav finally defeated Svyatopolk, but then found himself
challenged by yet another brother, Mstislav. Their struggle ended in an
agreement to divide the country into two parts; Yaroslav took the lands west of
the Dnieper, and although Kiev was in his territory, he continued to reside in
Novgorod; Mstislav, ruling over the lands east of the Dnieper, made Chernigov,
130 miles northeast of Kiev, his capital. In 1036, while on a hunting
expedition, Mstislav died. As he left no heir, Yaroslav became grand prince,
moving to Kiev – whence he ruled over the whole of Russia, save the small
eastern enclave of Polotsk.
The reign of Yaroslav the Wise (called the Lawgiver), from
1036 to 1054, carried Kiev to the zenith of its power and prestige. He
established that the patriarchate of Constantinople would ordain the
metropolitan of Kiev as the head of the Russian Church, thus making Kiev the
ecclesiastical as well as the political capital of Russia. Byzantine influence
remained strong, and taking Constantinople as the paragon, he was active in
developing Kiev as an imperial city. He engaged Greek masters to build a
cathedral, dedicated to Saint Sofia, and also a new citadel, known as the
Golden Gate. He was tireless in erecting new buildings. By the end of his
reign, Kiev had become a beautiful city, and in size and wealth, one of the
greatest in Europe. It had advanced as a center of civilization and trade far
beyond most of the cities in the West. Foreign visitors reported that it
rivaled Constantinople.
Kiev also developed as a center of learning. This was
closely connected with the founding of new monasteries, including the Monastery
of the Caves, which became renowned for the sanctity and the learning of its
monks. But Yaroslav himself contributed directly to this interest in learning.
He “applied himself to books and read them continually day and night. He
assembled many scribes to translate from the Greek into Slavic. He caused many
books to be written and collected. . . . Thus Yaroslav . . . was a lover of
books and, as he had many written, he deposited them in the Church of St.
Sofia.” Historians have disputed his authorship of even part of the Pravda
Russkaya (“Russian truth”), the code of laws, but the legend reflects the
spirit of learning and justice that evidently marked his reign.
It is certain that this first Russian code of laws was
compiled under his sponsorship and that its rules derived in part from the
tribal common law of the day, and in part from Byzantine law – itself evolved
out of Roman law. Only two peace treaties concluded between the Russians and
the Byzantines in the tenth century predate the Pravda Russkaya as written
Russian law.
Yaroslav’s eighteen decrees tell much about the nature of
life in the Kievan Rus of his day; blood revenge was customary, though the
grand prince reserved the right to limit those permitted to take it. Article
One of Yaroslav’s Pravda declares: “If a man kills a man [the following
relatives of the murdered man may avenge him]: the brother is to avenge his
brother; the son, his father; or the father, his son; and the son of the
brother [of the murdered man] or the son of his sister, [their respective
uncle]. If there is no avenger, [the murderer pays] 40 grivna. . . .” Lesser
offenses were generally dealt with by fining the guilty. A number of articles
deal with payment for physical injury: “If anyone hits another with a club, or
a rod, or a fist, or a bowl, or a [drinking] horn, or the butt [of a tool or of
a vessel], and [the offender] evades being hit . . . he has to pay 12 grivna. .
. . If a finger is cut off, 3 grivna. . . . And for the mustache, 12 grivna:
and for the beard, 12 grivna.” Eight articles deal with crimes against
property. “If a slave runs away . . . and [the man who conceals that slave]
does not declare him for three days, and [the owner] discovers him on the third
day, he . . . receives his slave back and 3 grivna for the offense. . . . If
anyone rides another’s horse without asking the owner’s permission, he has to
pay 3 grivna.” From these simple, sometimes harsh, beginnings would evolve
Russia’s legal code. Evidence that the state was growing quickly is suggested
by the fact that Yaroslav’s sons would soon find it necessary to greatly
enlarge its jurisdictions.
Sensing the approach of his own death, Yaroslav called his
five sons together to proclaim his will, saying, according to the Primary
Chronicle:
My sons, I am about to quit this world. Love one another,
since ye are brothers by one father and mother. If ye abide in amity with one
another, God will dwell among you, and will subject your enemies to you, and ye
will live at peace. But if ye dwell in envy and dissension, quarreling with one
another, then ye will perish. . . . The throne of Kiev I bequeath to my eldest
son, your brother Izyaslav. Heed him as ye have heeded me, that he may take my
place among you. To Svyatoslav I give Chernigov, to Vsevolod Pereyaslav, to
Igor the city of Vladimir, and to Vyacheslav Smolensk.
However fanciful, this account is used by most historians to
explain the ranking of city-states that were affected at this time. Kiev was to
continue as the great principality; with the death of its prince, lesser
princes would move up one step, the prince of Chernigov occupying Kiev and so
on. The system was generally observed in the breach. Bitter dissensions soon
broke out. The three elder sons formed a triumvirate, but they were unable to
impose order. Meanwhile, the Pechenegs had ceased to be a danger. The Turkic
Cumans had taken their place and were now harassing the Russians, shutting off
their trade routes to the south. Their rise marked the beginning of a time of
hardships for Kievan Rus. Of the year 1093, the chronicler reported: “Our own
native land has fallen prey to torment; some of our compatriots are led into
servitude, others are slain, and some are even delivered up to vengeance and
endure a bitter death. Some tremble as they cast their eyes upon the slain, and
others perish of hunger and thirst.” They sacked Kiev, leading away slaves who
“made their painful way naked and barefoot, upon feet torn with thorns, toward
an unknown land and barbarous races.”
Rivalries over the succession caused discontent to grow. The
period of stability and good government the Russians had known under the wise
rule of Yaroslav made them all the more impatient of the conflicts between his
sons. The Grand Prince Izyaslav fled to Poland following the second conflict
with his brothers, leaving Kiev to Svyatoslav, but not before the city had
twice been victim to fratricidal strife. The princely system, as it had
developed in Kievan Rus, provided that the first duty of the grand prince was
to maintain order and defend the country. But the struggles for power were now
promoting internal disorder and weakening the defenses of the country against
their Asiatic enemies. In an attempt to regulate the succession and to avoid
further rivalries, the numerous princes of the Rurikide dynasty met together at
Lyubech in 1097. But they merely agreed that the system of patrimonial
succession should be confirmed. This agreement not only failed to ensure that
struggles for power would be avoided in future, but it also encouraged the
trend toward princes asserting their independence as rulers in their own
principalities, and thus promoted the dismemberment of Kievan Rus.
The death of Svyatopolk II in 1113 spurred the people of
Kiev to action. The veche, medieval Russia’s traditional citizen parliament,
held an emergency meeting and agreed to offer the throne to Vladimir Monomakh,
prince of the southern city of Pereyaslavl and a son of Vsevolod by his Greek
wife (hence the surname Monomakh). This was contrary to the Lyubech agreement,
in accordance with which the son of Svyatopolk should succeed. In making the
decision, the citizens of Kiev had not consulted the metropolitan or the
leading men of the deceased grand prince’s retinue. To select the ruler in this
way was unprecedented, and Yaroslav’s grandson, fearing the armed opposition of
the other princes of the Rurikide dynasty, refused to go to Kiev. On learning
of his decision, the people began rioting in the city. The Church leaders and
the upper class generally became alarmed and sent an urgent message to
Vladimir: “Come, O Prince, to Kiev; and if you do not come, know that much evil
will befall. . . .” Recognizing the danger that revolution would overtake Kiev
and the whole country if he did not accept the throne, Vladimir went to the
city, where he was acclaimed by the metropolitan and the people.
Vladimir Monomakh was a remarkable man. Generous, kind, and
just, he has been called the exemplar of the old Russian prince. The ideals he
pursued were love of God and of fellow man. He cared for the poor, promoted
education, and by all accounts led a blameless life. His “Instruction to his
Children” is a model for liberal, responsible leadership. He directs, in part:
Whenever you speak, whether it be a bad or a good word,
swear not by the Lord, nor make the sign of the cross, for there is no need. If
you have occasion to kiss the cross with your brothers or with anyone else,
first inquire your heart whether you will keep the promise, then kiss it. . . .
Honor the elders as your father, and the younger ones as your brothers. . . .
If you start out to a war, be not slack, depend not upon your generals, nor
abandon yourselves to drinking and eating and sleeping. . . . Whenever you
travel over your lands, permit not the servants, neither your own, nor a
stranger’s, to do any damage in the villages, or in the fields, that they may
not curse you. Whencesoever you go, and wherever you stay, give the destitute
to eat and to drink. Above all honor the stranger, whensoever he may come,
whether he be a commoner, a nobleman or an ambassador. . . . Call on the sick,
go to funerals, for we are all mortal, and pass not by a man without greeting
him. . . . But the main thing is that you should keep the fear of the Lord higher
than anything else. . . . Whatever good you know, do not forget it, and what
you do not know, learn it. . . . Let not the sun find you in bed. . . .”
Vladimir contributed much to the glorification of Kiev. He
also sought to ensure stability within the state, organizing effective defenses
against nomadic invaders from the east, but he was unable to arrest Kiev’s
decline.
Kievan Rus had become vast in
extent, stretching from a frontier about 100 miles south of the city to the
Arctic Ocean. But it had never been more than a loose federation of
principalities. The family of Rurik had grown numerous. As many as sixty-four
principalities could be counted at one stage in the twelfth century. Singly and
in groups, they struggled for power. The rule of Kiev, far to the south, had
depended on the trade with Byzantium and the strength of individual grand
princes. Increasingly the princes to the north had shown reluctance to
acknowledge the supremacy of Kiev. But throughout the country, the practice of
dividing and subdividing principalities to provide an independent udel, or
estate, for each son of each prince had led to fragmentation of principalities
and the creation of countless petty princes who could survive only by expanding
their lands at the expense of their neighbors. Rivalries among the numerous
members of the Monomakh clan over the succession and the control of the great
trade routes had further intensified the princely anarchy, inhibiting the
growth of a sense of nationhood among the Russians. They could not put aside
their rivalries even for the purpose of common defense. The great empire of the
Khazars had long ceased to serve as an eastern shield, and sweeping across the
Eurasian plain, the Pechenegs, the Cumans, and other nomadic tribes came in
increasingly frequent waves. While united under a strong prince, the Russians
had managed to defend their lands, but now they were unable to beat off those
invasions. Moreover, the Germanic tribes were beginning to move eastward,
driving the Lithuanians and Letts before them and presenting another challenge.
Migration to the north had already begun to drain the
strength of Kiev. Novgorod had built up a great commercial empire, extending to
the Arctic Ocean and east to the Urals. It offered security and opportunity to
the Russians, weary of the princely feuds and nomadic attacks in the south.
Many Russians made their way into Galicia and to Belorussia, which were later
to come under the rule of Poland-Lithuania. But the most important wave of
migration was to the northeast, the dense forest lands of the upper Volga and
its tributaries. Here, in the second half of the twelfth century, the foremost
prince was Monomakh’s grandson, Andrei Bogolyubsky of the central Russian
principality of Rostov-Suzdal. An able and energetic ruler, he expanded his
lands and built as his capital the city of Vladimir on the Klyazma River, some
120 miles east of the site that would later become Moscow. In March 1169, his
army captured Kiev and laid waste to the proud city, which never recovered from
this savage blow. The center of the Russian state had moved to the forests of
the northeast, but before the Russians could develop further toward nationhood,
they were overwhelmed by the calamitous Mongol invasion.
