Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you missed in History Class from house
Speaker 1: stop works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 1: I'm Holly and I am Tracy V. Wilson, and today
Speaker 1: we're going back in the way back machine to the
Speaker 1: advent of Christianity in Russia, which is kind of fascinating
Speaker 1: and it's quite a ways back, and it's an interesting story,
Speaker 1: and it's centers around Vladimir the First, who sometimes called
Speaker 1: Vladimir the Great and sometimes Vladimir the Red Son and
Speaker 1: sometimes St. Vladimir because he is credited with bringing Christianity
Speaker 1: to Russia. So, Vladimir was born around and his father
Speaker 1: was Fiatislav the First, who was Grand Prince of Kiev
Speaker 1: and at this point Kiev was the capital of Kievan
Speaker 1: russ which was the first Eastern Slavic state. His mother,
Speaker 1: according to legend, was actually a slave Milusha, his grand
Speaker 1: other Olga's housekeeper. Yeah, so there's some um that it
Speaker 1: would sound a little bit weird for someone who's born
Speaker 1: to like the Staff, who was kind of slavery Staff,
Speaker 1: to be considered a royal. But despite having a non
Speaker 1: noble mother, as the natural son of Siatislav, Vladimir's was
Speaker 1: still considered an air as a child, his grandmother Olga
Speaker 1: was a huge part of his life. Grand Prince Fiatislav
Speaker 1: spent a great deal of time away from Kiev on campaigns,
Speaker 1: and because Olga had proved to be a capable regent
Speaker 1: when she ruled while he was a child, she filled
Speaker 1: in as the head of state and the head of
Speaker 1: the family. And Olga's involvement in Vladimir's early life is
Speaker 1: really noteworthy because she was a really early adopter of
Speaker 1: Greek Orthodox Christianity in Kievan Rush. She had traveled to
Speaker 1: Constantinople to be baptized into the religion right around about
Speaker 1: the same time that Vladimir was born, probably a little before,
Speaker 1: depending on which account you're reading, and that was really
Speaker 1: unusual at the time. There were not many people baptized
Speaker 1: into Christianity living in Kievan Ruce then it was primarily pagan,
Speaker 1: so Grand Prince Sviatoslav died in nine Two before his death,
Speaker 1: he had divided up Kevin Ruce among his three sons,
Speaker 1: so Vladimir had two older brothers. Yara Polk was the
Speaker 1: oldest and Oleg was the middle. Sviatoslav's death started just
Speaker 1: really a lot of infighting among the three brothers about
Speaker 1: who should be his successor, and at the time euro
Speaker 1: Polk was Prince of Kiev and Vladimir was Prince of
Speaker 1: Novogrod to the north and nearro. Polk is said to
Speaker 1: have been really ambitious and quite pushy, and those are
Speaker 1: traits that played out very clearly when he ousted Vladimir
Speaker 1: from his position in Novogrod. So he perceived him as
Speaker 1: a threat and used his power to get rid of
Speaker 1: one of the potential um people who would compete with
Speaker 1: him for the leadership of Kievan rus And. So Vladimir
Speaker 1: fled to Scandinavia with the plan to gather an army.
Speaker 1: While he was away, Yuropolk also fought his brother Oleg
Speaker 1: of the Drevelyans, and Oleg was killed in battle in
Speaker 1: nine seventy seven, and in nine seventy nine, Vladimir, who
Speaker 1: at that point would have been around twenty three years old,
Speaker 1: returned to Russia with an army of his own and
Speaker 1: openly declared war on Europolk. Vladimir launched a seed on
Speaker 1: Kiev in nine eight. He duked euro Polk into a
Speaker 1: negotiation meeting and then killed him while he was unprotected.
Speaker 1: So for all of that army raising. It was kind
Speaker 1: of just uh wit and sneakery that got rid of
Speaker 1: the competition in that case. And so with Europolk out
Speaker 1: of the picture and Oleg already died in his dealings
Speaker 1: with Europolk, Vladimir the First became the sole ruler of
Speaker 1: Kievan russ So, since he's often referred to as St.
Speaker 1: Vladimir and he's associated with Christianity, it may come as
Speaker 1: a surprise to some people that once he took over
Speaker 1: as Grand Prince of Kiev, he made a conscious effort
Speaker 1: to embrace paganism and to bolster its presence in Kevin Rys.
Speaker 1: Vladimir is also characterized as being kind of brutal and
Speaker 1: bloodthirsty at this point in his life, and some of
Speaker 1: his early acts as grand prints include he built a
Speaker 1: pagan temple in the capitol and he actually began thanking
Speaker 1: the gods for good fortune with human sacrifice. Uh And
Speaker 1: some attribute his leader shift to Christianity as having been
Speaker 1: catalyzed actually by part of an early sacrifice where his
Speaker 1: chosen victim was a Christian and he came to view
Speaker 1: that victim, who was a young boy, and that victim's
Speaker 1: father who was killed by an angry mob while he
Speaker 1: was trying to refuse to give up his son for
Speaker 1: a religion he didn't believe in. Uh as kind of
Speaker 1: the thing that really got Vladimir thinking about the different
Speaker 1: aspects of religion and how different people view um spirituality
Speaker 1: and you know, to clearly very strongly held beliefs that
Speaker 1: were at odds with one another, and some historians really
Speaker 1: pinpoint that moment as what catalyzed him to kind of
Speaker 1: become a little bit of a religious scholar and a
Speaker 1: religious analyst going forward. He also had five wives and
Speaker 1: an alleged eight hundred concubines, which seems excessive. Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: I'm presuming some of those people never even met him
Speaker 1: at that point. It's just kind of like a show
Speaker 1: of power, well and a show of wealth too, because
Speaker 1: he would need to house and feed and exclude all
Speaker 1: of those concubines. And he also, uh was pretty popular
Speaker 1: at this point because he expanded kievan Ruth's borders pretty significantly,
Speaker 1: So UH he kind of really instituted the paganism thing.
Speaker 1: But he was doing a lot of um, really good
Speaker 1: things for the country in terms of expanding its power base.
Speaker 1: So it's kind of you know that that was his
Speaker 1: early stage. He really kind of got in there and
Speaker 1: made some reforms really quickly and really kind of established
Speaker 1: his position. Having been exposed to different ideologies during his
Speaker 1: campaigns and feeling pretty unsatisfied as a pagan, he's said
Speaker 1: to have started thinking about religion and faith more and more,
Speaker 1: and he also started to think about uniting all of
Speaker 1: the various factions within his rule under one religion. So
Speaker 1: once words spread that the Grand Prince was sort of
Speaker 1: shopping for a faith and really turning over concepts of
Speaker 1: spirituality and faith in his mind. Uh, it said that
Speaker 1: holy men from all over traveled to Kievan Ruth to
Speaker 1: kind of pitch their ideologies to Vladimir. Some histories suggests
Speaker 1: that he actually called them there, although he does have
Speaker 1: a different directive leader where he does ask for information
Speaker 1: about religions, but others say that these people just kind
Speaker 1: of took the initiative to go tell him about their
Speaker 1: religion when they found out he was ready to hear
Speaker 1: about how other people worshiped. According to the Chronicle of Nestor,
Speaker 1: in seven he gathered advisors and Kiev city elders and
Speaker 1: he had the following query. There have come to me Bulgarians,
Speaker 1: who said, except our religion. Then came the Germans, and
Speaker 1: they praised their religion. After them came the Jews, But
Speaker 1: after them came the Greeks, who spoke slightingly of all
Speaker 1: the other religions, but praised their own. They spoke much
Speaker 1: about the beginning of the universe and the existence of
Speaker 1: the whole world, their cunning of speech, and talk so
Speaker 1: pleasantly that it is a pleasure to hear them. They
Speaker 1: say that there is another world, and that if anyone
Speaker 1: enters into their faith, he would live after his death
Speaker 1: and would not die for eternity, but if he accepts
Speaker 1: any other faith, he would burn in the other world. Now,
Speaker 1: what council do you give me? What is your answer?
Speaker 1: And his advisors uh gave a pretty interesting, I think response,
Speaker 1: which is that they were like, hey, you know what
Speaker 1: everybody is going to say their religion is the best.
Speaker 1: Of course, you know there will be those who uh
Speaker 1: downplay the benefits or the validity of another religion, and
Speaker 1: they're all going to tell you that there's is the
Speaker 1: one uh. And they said, you know, the only way
Speaker 1: you're really going to get a real sense of this
Speaker 1: is if you witness them, and so the elders suggested
Speaker 1: that he may make use of his resources and send
Speaker 1: you know, trusted men to go visit the places where
Speaker 1: all of these faiths were practiced. And Vladimir thought this
Speaker 1: was a great plan, and so uh he sent ambassadors
Speaker 1: out to all these religions, and they worshiped with other
Speaker 1: people and saw their their behaviors and their rituals. And
Speaker 1: then they came and reported back to him. I feel
Speaker 1: like we should call this are you there, God, it's
Speaker 1: me Vladimir. I also call it choosing my religions. So,
Speaker 1: based on all these reports and the information that he
Speaker 1: gathered while listening to the holy men who came to
Speaker 1: give Grand Prince Vladimir the First determined the following Islam
Speaker 1: was too restrictive for Russians. Western Catholic Christianity had already
Speaker 1: been rejected by his ancestors, and his research ambassadors found
Speaker 1: it lacking in beauty. He rejected Judaism as weak, having
Speaker 1: been of no benefit and helping the Jews keep their
Speaker 1: own territory, and Eastern Byzantine Christianity also known as Eastern
Speaker 1: Orthodox Christianity, was really the most appealing to Vladimir his envoys,
Speaker 1: saying it's praises when they came back, and they rather
Speaker 1: repsodically talked about the services that they attended. His advisers
Speaker 1: invoked his grandmother Olga's name when they were talking to him, saying,
Speaker 1: if the Greek religion were not the best, your wise
Speaker 1: grandmother would not have adopted it. However, even though at
Speaker 1: this point he seemed pretty convinced and he had settled
Speaker 1: on the Greek Orthodox religion, he didn't convert right away.
Speaker 1: He was kind of like, yeah, that's the best one.
Speaker 1: I'm going to come back to this. I got some
Speaker 1: other stuff to do. But his final the final tipping
Speaker 1: point in his conversion, actually happened during a military campaign.
Speaker 1: It's possible that his pride kept him from asking for
Speaker 1: instruction on baptism into the religion. So his next step
Speaker 1: was to march into Byzantine, the home of the Greek
Speaker 1: Orthodox religion and a friend of kevin Us, and take
Speaker 1: the city of Courson. He then demanded a marriage to
Speaker 1: Byzantine Emperor's Basil the second and Constantine the eight sister Anna,
Speaker 1: saying that he would attack Constantinople if they did not agree,
Speaker 1: and the marriage to Anna was approved, but on the
Speaker 1: condition that Grand Prince Vladimir would convert and be baptized
Speaker 1: prior to the wedding. So there have been some theorists
Speaker 1: that say, like he kind of orchestrated this whole thing
Speaker 1: knowing that they would force him to be baptized, which
Speaker 1: he wanted to do anyway. So in kind of a
Speaker 1: magical case of I was totally going to do that anyway,
Speaker 1: Vladimir agreed to this whole arrangement. UH, several priests traveled
Speaker 1: with Anna to Courson and to perform the baptism and ceremony,
Speaker 1: and there is an additional mystical element link to this event. Allegedly,
Speaker 1: Vladimir had been having vision problems and in the moment
Speaker 1: of his baptism, he was instantly cured of them, and
Speaker 1: it cemented his new faith. So Vladimir at the first
Speaker 1: returned to Kiv with his new Christian bride and a
Speaker 1: handful of priests and immediately tore down the pagan temple
Speaker 1: and started instituting Christianity in his country. There's even a
Speaker 1: dramatic story of Vladimir ordering his men to drag a
Speaker 1: particular wooden statue to a river and beat it with
Speaker 1: rods and disdain for the devil, and in punishment of
Speaker 1: him for seducing the people with false idolatry. And Vladimir
Speaker 1: decreed shortly thereafter that all of Russia must be baptized,
Speaker 1: and again from the chronicle of Nestor, those who day
Speaker 1: after tomorrow do not appear on the bank of the
Speaker 1: river rich or poor will be considered as rebels and traders.
Speaker 1: The day following, Vladimir, accompanied by priests, those of the
Speaker 1: Empress and those of Kerstone, went to Naper which there
Speaker 1: was gathered an innumerable crowd of men who entered into
Speaker 1: the water, some up to the neck, others only to
Speaker 1: the chest. The children stayed on the bank and were
Speaker 1: covered with water. Some plunged into the river, others swam
Speaker 1: here and there while the priests read their prayers, and
Speaker 1: this formed a spectacle tremendously curious and beautiful to see.
Speaker 1: At last, when all of the people were baptized, each
Speaker 1: returned to his home. So that entry in the chronicle
Speaker 1: is about the mass baptism at Kiev. However, in Novgora
Speaker 1: and some of the other smaller cities, things really did
Speaker 1: not go nearly that smoothly. There was a lot of
Speaker 1: resistance to the baptism order. Military troops kept crowds in order,
Speaker 1: and the baptism went on, but paganism was still practiced
Speaker 1: in secret in many areas for quite some time, and
Speaker 1: it as an interesting aside. The date of the what's
Speaker 1: called quote the Baptism of Russia is a matter or
Speaker 1: of some debate. It's sometimes listed as September one, sometimes
Speaker 1: of August one of that year. Other accounts listed as
Speaker 1: happening the following year in and many virsions have it
Speaker 1: taking place not just on one momentous day, but actually
Speaker 1: over the course of time as officials travel from one
Speaker 1: city to another. And apparently scholars are still kind of
Speaker 1: deeply debating this, and there has not been a consensus
Speaker 1: about it. So although Vladimir is most famous for converting
Speaker 1: Russia's official religion, he had many other achievements during the
Speaker 1: time that he ran in the country. It said that
Speaker 1: his bloodthirst, which had been evident earlier in his time,
Speaker 1: had vanished, and he became a thoughtful politician. He fostered
Speaker 1: literacy in Russia and established schools where children from all
Speaker 1: walks of life were welcome to learn uh and they
Speaker 1: primarily were taught about religion and trained for religious service.
Speaker 1: And allegedly he even nused some of the scholars that
Speaker 1: he had counted on when he was making his decisions
Speaker 1: about transitioning Russia over to Christianity as teachers there at
Speaker 1: the school. So they were kids from all walks of life.
Speaker 1: We're getting an education from pretty highly educated men, which
Speaker 1: is pretty unusual at time. He started multiple outreach programs
Speaker 1: for the poor, even establishing a tradition of delivering food
Speaker 1: to the needy, and he also held a feast every
Speaker 1: Sunday for Kiev citizens. And he's also said to have
Speaker 1: sown the seeds for religious art and architecture in Russia.
Speaker 1: So whenever you see that amazing Russian iconography that has
Speaker 1: become so famous, a lot of that can be traced
Speaker 1: back to the roots that Vladimir swed. Vladimir's Christian wife,
Speaker 1: Anna died in ten eleven. We should note that he
Speaker 1: did have other wives and lots and lots and lives
Speaker 1: of children. And then in ten twenty four, Vladimir's two
Speaker 1: oldest sons, Swiatta polk Tarovsky and Yaroslav of Novgorod, revolted
Speaker 1: against their father. Uh Seattle, Polk was put in prison
Speaker 1: and Vladimir made preparations to go to war with the
Speaker 1: Aaroslav But Vladimir actually died before battle ever began, on
Speaker 1: July fifteen, at the age of fifty nine, and he
Speaker 1: had ruled at that point for thirty five years and
Speaker 1: had completely changed Russian culture, which is pretty astonishing and
Speaker 1: it is very bizarre to me. I think what drew
Speaker 1: me to this particular subject is the reversal that he has,
Speaker 1: like that he kind of has this moment where he
Speaker 1: decides he needs to become a scholar and make a
Speaker 1: really informed decision about how to go forward and unite
Speaker 1: his country. And you don't hear about that happening all
Speaker 1: that often where someone completely renounces their early way of
Speaker 1: life and changes their country and then does a lot
Speaker 1: of other good works in the process. So it's pretty neat.
Speaker 1: Well see why they call him St. Vladimir? Yeah, And
Speaker 1: well and I was because you you did the research
Speaker 1: legwork on this one, um. And what really struck me
Speaker 1: was that sort of how tied to the Russian or
Speaker 1: the docs religion. A lot of what we think of
Speaker 1: as Russian culture still is, like you see all that
Speaker 1: are really dramatic architecture, really dramatic artwork. Um My dad
Speaker 1: tells a story about when he was in the Army
Speaker 1: having the duty of going to a Russian Orthodox funeral
Speaker 1: for one of the people in his unit. Um, and
Speaker 1: just how really stunningly amazing it the whole, like the
Speaker 1: church and the ceremony and the artwork and all of
Speaker 1: that stuff was just like sort of an assault on
Speaker 1: your senses. Just very dramatic, very Russian artwork and architecture
Speaker 1: and spirituality all together. And it all has its roots here,
Speaker 1: which is really neat. I also have a little bit
Speaker 1: of male I normally ask you that, and I was
Speaker 1: busy listening you were thinking about them, I was thinking
Speaker 1: about damp And we're going to them the real space
Speaker 1: mail today because we have done a lot of email
Speaker 1: and Facebook stuff, but we continue to get wonderful postcards
Speaker 1: from people and letters. First, all go to a letter
Speaker 1: that we got from our listener, Chaplain Rick. He is
Speaker 1: a U. S Army chaplain who has stationed in Europe.
Speaker 1: So first, thank you for your service, Rick, uh. And
Speaker 1: he shares with us some really interesting travels. He's gotten
Speaker 1: to do some really interesting things. Um. He has led
Speaker 1: retreats for soldiers in Rome working in cooperation with the
Speaker 1: Vatican and staying at the Vatican priest House. He has
Speaker 1: really traveled all over. He drives around to do his
Speaker 1: work with different soldiers all over Europe, and so that's
Speaker 1: when he's listening to the podcast, is when he's driving
Speaker 1: and taking care of his assignments, which is awesome. And
Speaker 1: he also sent us a beautiful um magnet with an
Speaker 1: image of chest of schlash nuche Fonstein, which I love.
Speaker 1: It's gorgeous, so thank you. And we also got a
Speaker 1: beautiful postcard from our listener Andrew of the Inn Area Islands,
Speaker 1: which is where he is at, and he mentions, uh,
Speaker 1: the really interesting aboriginal history there and it would make
Speaker 1: an excellent podcast topic and it is absolutely beautiful, So
Speaker 1: thank you for that, Andrew. Uh. And then we also
Speaker 1: got a postcard from our listener Christina the Traveler, who
Speaker 1: has been in Romania for holiday, and she mentions that
Speaker 1: she visited brand Castle, which is most often associated with Dracula,
Speaker 1: and she says, did you know that the brand Castle
Speaker 1: is not about Dracula, nor is it about lad Trepis trepsick.
Speaker 1: I'm so sorry. I probably mispronounced that. Uh, it's about
Speaker 1: Lad's wife, Queen Marie. His castle that he spent more
Speaker 1: time at is on the other side of the mountains. Uh.
Speaker 1: But I still have Romania, she says, And she sent
Speaker 1: us a beautiful picture with a bunch of different Romanian
Speaker 1: castles on it, including brand And We've gotten so many
Speaker 1: postcards and I'm hoping to work my way through those
Speaker 1: and also do um another edition of Listen While, where
Speaker 1: we co laid all of the different things people do
Speaker 1: while they listen to the podcast. So thank you to
Speaker 1: all of you for writing those. I love getting a
Speaker 1: gorgeous postcard, so I appreciate those a bunch. Uh. If
Speaker 1: you would like to write us, you may do so
Speaker 1: at History Podcast at Discovery dot com. You can also
Speaker 1: connect with us on Twitter at missed in History and
Speaker 1: on Facebook dot com slash history class Stuff are tumbler
Speaker 1: is at missed in History dot tumbler dot com, and
Speaker 1: we're also on Pinterest. If you would like to learn
Speaker 1: a little bit about the topic we've discussed today, or
Speaker 1: an angle of it, you can go to our website
Speaker 1: and type in the word religion in the search bar
Speaker 1: and you will get an interesting article called is the
Speaker 1: Brain Hardwired for Religion? About humanity's need for spiritual order? UH.
Speaker 1: You can research that and many other things at our website,
Speaker 1: which is how stuff Works dot com for more on
Speaker 1: this and bousands of other topics because it how stuff
Speaker 1: works dot com. Audible dot com is the leading provider
Speaker 1: of downloadable digital audio books and spoken word entertainment. Audible
Speaker 1: has more than one hundred thousand titles to choose from
Speaker 1: to be downloaded to your iPod or MP three player.
Speaker 1: Go to audible podcast dot com slash history to get
Speaker 1: a free audio book download of your choice when you
Speaker 1: sign up today.