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History of the Church of Russia

A. N. Mouravieff, tr. Blackmore, 1842

Introduction of Christianity into Russia, A.D. 866 to A.D. 1015

The Russian Church, like the other Orthodox Churches of the East, had an Apostle for its founder. St. Andrew, the first called of the Twelve, hailed with his blessing long beforehand the destined introduction of Christianity into our country. Ascending up and penetrating by the Dnieper into the deserts of Scythia, he planted the first cross on the hills of Kieff, and “See you,” said he to his disciples, “these hills? On these hills shall shine the light of Divine grace. There shall be here a great city, and God shall have in it many Churches to His Name.” Such are the words of the holy Nestor the Monk and Annalist of the Pechersky monastery, that point from whence Christian Russia has sprung.

But it was only after an interval of nine centuries that the rays of Divine light beamed upon Russia from the walls of Byzantium, in which city the same Apostle St. Andrew had appointed Stachys to be the first Bishop, and so committed as it were to him and to his successors, in the spirit of prescience, the charge of that wide region in which he had himself preached Christ. Hence the indissoluble connection of the Russian with the Greek Church, and the dependence of her Metropolitans during six centuries upon the Patriarchal throne of Constantinople, until, with its consent, she obtained her own equality and independence in that which was accorded to her native Primates.

The Bulgarians of the Danube, the Moravians, and the Slavonians of Illyria, had been already enlightened by holy Baptism about the middle of the ninth century, during the reign of the Greek Emperor Michael, and the Patriarchate of the illustrious Photius. ¹St. Cyrill and St. Methodius, two learned Greek brothers, translated into the Slavonic the New Testament and the books used in Divine service, and according to some accounts even the whole Bible. This translation of the word of God became afterwards a most blessed instrument for the conversion of the Russians, for the missionaries were by it enabled to expound the truths of the gospel to the heathens in their native dialect, and so win for them a readier entrance to their hearts.

So far as we know, it appears that Oskold and Dir, two princes of Kieff and of the companions of Ruric, were the first of the Russians who embraced Christianity. In the year 866 they made their appearance in armed vessels before the walls of Constantinople, when the Emperor was absent, and threw the Greek capital into no little alarm and confusion. Tradition reports that the Patriarch Photius took the virginal robe of the Mother of God from the² Blachern Church, and plunged it beneath the waves of the strait, when the sea immediately boiled up from underneath and wrecked the vessels of the heathen. Struck with awe, they believed in that God who had smitten them, and became the first-fruits of their people to the Lord. The hymn of victory of the Greek Church “³ To the protecting Conductress” in honour of the most holy Virgin has remained a memorial of this triumph, and even now among ourselves concludes the Office for the First Hour in the daily Mattins, for that was indeed the first hour of salvation to the land of Russia.

It is probable that on their return to their own country the Princes of Kieff sowed there the seeds of Christianity; for, eighty years afterwards, on occasion of a conference for peace between the Prince Igor⁴ and certain Byzantine ambassadors, we find mention already of a Church of the Prophet Elias in Kieff where the Christian Varagians swore to the observance of the treaty. Constantine Porphyrogenitus and other Greek annalists even relate that in the lifetime of Oskold there was a Bishop sent to the Russians by the Emperor Basil the Macedonian, and the Patriarch St. Ignatius, and that he made many converts, chiefly in consequence of the ⁵miraculous preservation of a volume of the Gospels, which was thrown publicly into the flames and taken out after some time unconsumed. Also in Codinus’ Catalogue of Sees subject to the Patriarch of Constantinople, the Metropolitical See of Russia appears as early as the year 891.

Lastly, it is certain that many of the Varagians who served in the Imperial body-guard were Christians, and that the Greek sovereigns never lost sight of any opportunity of converting them to their own faith, by which they hoped to soften their savage manners. When the Emperor Leo was concluding a peace with Oleg he shewed not only his own treasures to the ambassadors of the Russian Prince, but also the splendour of the churches, the holy Relics, the precious Icons, and the Instruments of the Passion of our Lord, if by any means they might catch from them the spirit of the true Faith.

Some such influences as these, while Christianity as yet was only struggling for an uncertain existence at Kieff, produced in good time their effect on the wisest of the daughters of the Slavonians, the widowed Princess Olga, who governed Russia during the minority of her son Sviatoslaff⁶. She undertook a voyage to Constantinople for no other end than to obtain a knowledge of the true God, and there she received Baptism at the hands of the Patriarch Polyeuctes, the Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus himself, who admired her wisdom, being her godfather. Nestor draws an affecting picture of the Patriarch foretelling to the newly illumined Princess the blessings which were to descend by her means on future generations of the Russians, while Olga now become Helena by Baptism, that she might resemble both in name and deed the mother of Constantine the Great, stood meekly bowing down her head and drinking in, as a sponge that is thirsty of moisture, the instructions of the Prelate concerning the canons of the Church, fasting, prayer, almsgiving, and continence, all which she observed with holy exactness on her return to her own country.

There, although in spite of all her entreaties the fierce and warlike Prince Sviatoslaff persisted in refusing to humble his proud heart under the meek yoke of Christ, he had still so much affection for his mother as not only not to persecute such as agreed with her in religion, but even to allow them freely to make open profession of their Faith under the protection of that Princess. He confided his children to her care during his incessant military expeditions, and so enabled her to confirm the saving impressions of Christianity among the people who respected her, and to instil them into the mind of her young grandson Vladimir: for nothing sinks so deep into the heart as the simple and affectionate words of a mother. The Princess had with her a Priest named Gregory, whom she had brought from Constantinople, and by him she was buried after her death in the spot which she had herself appointed, without any of the usual Pagan ceremonies⁷. The people by whom she had been surnamed The Wise during life, began to bless her for a Saint after her death, when they came themselves to follow the example of this Morning-Star which had risen and gone before to lead Russia into the path of salvation.

Nowhere has Christianity ever been less persecuted at its first introduction, than in our own country. The Chronicle speaks of only two Christian Martyrs, the Varagians Theodore and John, who were put to death by the fury of the people, because one of them from natural affection had refused to give up his son, when he had been devoted by the Prince Vladimir to be offered as a sacrifice to Peroun⁸.

Probably the very zeal of this Prince for the heathen deities, to whom he set up statues, and multiplied altars, may have inspired the neighbouring nations with the desire of converting so powerful a ruler to their respective creeds; and thus his blind impulse towards the Deity which was unknown to him, received a true direction. The Mahometan Bulgarians were the first to send ambassadors to him, with the offer of their faith; but the mercy of Providence, for so it plainly was, inspired him to give them a decided refusal, on the ground that he did not choose to comply with some of their regulations; though else a sensual religion might well have enticed a man who was given up to the indulgence of his passions.

The Chazarian Jews flattered themselves with the hope of attracting the Prince by boasting of their religion, and the ancient glory of Jerusalem. “But where,” demanded the wise grandson of Olga, “is your country?” “It is ruined by the wrath of God for the sins of our fathers,” was their answer. Vladimir then said that he had no mind to embrace the Law of a people whom God had abandoned. There came also Western Doctors, from Germany, who would have persuaded Vladimir to embrace Christianity; but their Christianity seemed strange to him, for Russia had hitherto no acquaintance but with Byzantium. “Return home,” he said, “our ancestors did not receive this religion from you.”

A Greek embassy had the best success of them all. A certain philosopher, a Monk named Constantine, after having exposed the insufficiency of other religions, eloquently set before the Prince those judgments of God which are in all the world, the redemption of the human race by the blood of Christ⁹, and the retribution of the life to come; his discourse powerfully affected the heathen monarch, who was burdened with the heavy sins of a tumultuous youth; and this was particularly the case when the Monk pointed out to him on an Ikon, which represented the last judgment, the different lot of the just and of the wicked. “Good to these on the right hand, but woe to those on the left,” exclaimed Vladimir, deeply affected: but sensual nature still struggled in him against heavenly truth. Having dismissed the missionary, or ambassador, with presents, he still hesitated to decide; and wished first to examine further concerning the faith, in concert with the elders of his Council, that all Russia might have a share in his conversion. The Council of the Prince decided to send chosen men to make their observations on each religion on the spot where it was professed; and this public agreement explains in some degree the sudden and general acceptance of Christianity which shortly after followed in Russia. It is probable that not only the Chiefs, but the common people also, were expecting and ready for the change¹⁰.

The Greek Emperors did not fail to profit by this favourable opportunity; and the Patriarch himself in person celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the church of St. Sophia, with the utmost possible magnificence, before the astonished ambassadors of Vladimir. The sublimity and splendour of the service forcibly struck them; but we may not ascribe to the mere external impression that softening of the hearts of these heathens, on which depended the conversion of a whole nation. From the very earliest times of the Church, extraordinary signs of God’s power have constantly gone hand in hand with that apparent weakness of man by which the Gospel was preached: and so also the Byzantine Chronicle relates of the Russian ambassadors, “That during the Divine Liturgy, at the time of carrying the Holy Gifts in procession to the Throne or altar and singing the Cherubic hymn, the eyes of their spirits were opened, and they saw, as in an ecstacy, Glittering youths who joined in singing the Hymn of the Thrice Holy. Being thus fully persuaded of the truth of the orthodox faith, they returned to their own country already Christians in heart; and without saying a word before the Prince in favour of the other religions, they declared thus concerning the Greek: — “When we stood in the temple we did not know where we were, for there is nothing else like it upon earth: there in truth God has His dwelling with men; and we can never forget the beauty we saw there. No one who has once tasted sweets, will afterwards take that which is bitter: nor can we now any longer abide in heathenism.” Then the Boyars said to Vladimir, If the religion of the Greeks had not been good, your grandmother Olga, who was the wisest of women, would not have embraced it. The weight of the name of Olga decided her grandson, and he said no more in answer than these words, “Where shall we be baptized¹¹?”

But Vladimir, led by a sense which had not yet been purged by Grace, thought it best to follow the custom of his ancestors, who made warlike descents upon Constantinople, and so win to himself, sword in hand, his new religion. He embarked his warriors on board their vessels, and attacked Cherson¹² in the Tauride, a city which was subject to the Emperors. After a long and unsuccessful siege, a certain priest, named Anastasius, by means of an arrow shot from the town, informed the Prince that the fate of the besieged depended upon his cutting off the aqueducts, which supplied them with water. Vladimir in great joy made a vow that he would be baptized if he gained possession of the town: and he did gain possession of it. Then he sent to demand from the Greek Emperors the hand of their sister Anna, and they in answer proposed as a condition that he should embrace Christianity; for though they themselves desired an alliance with so powerful a prince, they at the same time took care to follow the prudent and pious policy of their predecessors, who had ever sought to bring their fierce neighbours under the humanizing influence of the Faith. The Prince declared his consent; because, in his own words, “He had long since examined, and conceived a love for the Greek Law.”

It was her faith alone which influenced the Princess to sacrifice herself at once for the temporal interests of her own country, and for the eternal welfare of a strange people. Accompanied by a venerable body of clergy, she sailed for Cherson, and on her arrival induced the Prince to hasten his baptism; for it was so ordered, says the pious Annalist, by the wisdom of God, that the sight of the Prince was at that time much affected by a complaint of the eyes: but at the moment that the Bishop of Cherson laid his hands upon him, when he had risen up out of the bath of regeneration, Vladimir suddenly received not only spiritual illumination, but also the bodily sight of his eyes, and cried out, “Now I have seen the true God¹³.”

Many of the Prince’s suite were so struck by his miraculous recovery, that they followed his example, and were baptized in like manner; and these were doubtless afterwards zealous for the introduction of Christianity into their country. The baptism and marriage of Vladimir were both celebrated in the church of the Most Holy Mother of God; and hence no doubt arose his peculiar zeal for the most pure Virgin, to whose honour he afterwards erected a cathedral church in his own city of Kieff. In Cherson itself he built a church, in the name of his angel or patron St. Basil; and taking with him the relics of St. Clement, Bishop of Rome, and his disciple Thebas¹⁴, with church vessels and ornaments, and Ikons, he restored the city to be again under the power of the Emperors, and returned to Kieff, accompanied by the Princess their daughter, and her Greek Ecclesiastics.

Nestor makes no mention of any of the Bishops and Priests from Constantinople and Cherson who followed in the train of the Prince, excepting only of one, Anastasius, the Priest who had rendered him such good service during the siege; but the Books of the Genealogies give the name of Michael, a Syrian by birth, and of six other Bishops who were sent together with him to Cherson by the Patriarch Nicholas Chrysoberges. Some have ventured to suppose that Michael was the name of the Bishop of the times of Oskold; but Nestor says nothing about him: and thus much only is certain, that he stands the first in the list of the Metropolitans of Russia.

After his return to Kieff the Great Prince¹⁵ caused his twelve sons to be baptized, and proceeded to destroy the monuments of heathenism. He ordered Peroun to be thrown into the Dnieper. The people at first followed their idol, as it was borne down the stream, but were soon quieted when they saw that the statue had no power to help itself. And now Vladimir being surrounded and supported by believers in his own domestic circle, and encouraged by seeing that his Boyars and Suite were prepared and ready to embrace the faith, made a proclamation to the people, “That whoever, on the morrow, should not repair to the river, whether rich or poor, he should hold him for his enemy.” At the call of their respected Lord¹⁶ all the multitude of the citizens in troops, with their wives and children, flocked to the Dnieper; and without any manner of opposition received holy Baptism as a nation, from the Greek Bishops and Priests. Nestor draws a touching picture of this baptism of a whole people at once. “Some stood in the water up to their necks, others up to their breasts, holding their young children in their arms; the Priests read the prayers from the shore, naming at once whole companies by the same name.” He who was the means of thus bringing them to salvation, filled with a transport of joy at the affecting sight, cried out to the Lord, offering and commending into His hands himself and his people; “O great God! who hast made Heaven and Earth, look down upon these Thy new people. Grant them, O Lord, to know Thee the true God, as Thou hast been made known to Christian lands, and confirm in them a true and unfailing faith; and assist me, O Lord, against my enemy that opposes me, that trusting in Thee, and in Thy power, I may overcome all his wiles.” Vladimir erected the first church, that of St. Basil, after whom he was named, on the very mount which had formerly been sacred to Peroun, adjoining his own palace. Thus was Russia Enlightened.

So sudden and ready a conversion of the inhabitants of Kieff might well seem improbable, that is, unless effected by violence, did we not attend to the fact that the Russians had been gradually becoming enlightened ever since the times of Oskold, for more than a hundred years, by means of commerce, treaties of peace, and relations of every kind with the Greeks, as well as with the Bulgarians and Slavonians of kindred origin with ourselves, who had already been long in possession of the holy Scriptures in their own language. The constant endeavours of the Greek Emperors for the conversion of the Russians by means of their ambassadors and preachers, the tolerance of the Princes, the example and protection of Olga, and the very delay and hesitation of Vladimir in selecting his religion, must have favourably disposed the minds of the people towards it; especially if it be true, as has been asserted, that Russia had already had a Bishop in the time of Oskold. In a similar way, though under different circumstances, in the vast Roman empire, the conversion of Constantine the Great suddenly rendered Christianity the dominant religion, because, in fact, it had long before penetrated among all ranks of his subjects.

Vladimir engaged zealously in building churches throughout the towns and villages of his dominions, and sent Priests to preach in them. He also founded many towns all around Kieff, and so propagated and confirmed the Christian religion in the neighbourhood of the capital, from whence the new colonies were sent forth. Neither was he slow in establishing schools, into which he brought together the children of the Boyars, sometimes even in spite of the unwillingness of their rude parents. In the mean time the Metropolitan, with his Bishops, made progresses into the interior of Russia, to the cities of Rostoff and Novogorod, everywhere baptizing and instructing the people. Vladimir himself, for the same good end, went in company with other Bishops to the district of Souzdal and to Volhynia. The Boyars¹⁷ on the Volga and some of the Pechenegian¹⁸ Princes embraced the gospel of salvation together with his subjects, and rejoiced to be admitted to holy Baptism.

The pious Prince wished to see in his own capital a magnificent temple in honour of the Birth of the most holy Virgin, to be a likeness and memorial of that at Cherson, in which he himself had been baptized; and the year after his conversion he sent to Greece for builders, and laid the foundation of the first stone¹⁹ cathedral in Russia, on the very same spot where the Varagian²⁰ martyrs had suffered. But the first metropolitan was not to live to its completion; only his holy remains were buried in it, and were thence translated afterwards to the Pecherskay²¹ Lavra. Another metropolitan, Leontius, a Greek by birth, sent by the same patriarch Nicholas, consecrated the new temple, to the great satisfaction of Vladimir, who made a vow to endow it with the tenth²² part of all his revenues; and from hence it was called The Cathedral of the Tithes.

These tithes, according to the ordinance²³ ascribed to Prince Vladimir, consisted of the fixed quota of corn, cattle, and the profits of trade, for the support of the clergy and the poor; and besides this there was a further tithe collected from every cause which was tried; for the right of judging causes was granted to the bishops and the metropolitan, and they judged according to the Nomocanon²⁴. The canons of the holy councils and the Greek ecclesiastical laws, together with the holy Scriptures, were taken from the very first as the basis of all ecclesiastical administration in Russia; and together with them there came into use some portions also of the civil law of the Greeks, through the influence of the Church. The care of the new temple and the collection of the tithes for its support was entrusted to a native of Cherson named Anastasius, who enjoyed the confidence of Vladimir and his successors.

The light of Christianity had now been diffused throughout the whole of Russia; but still the faith was nowhere as yet firmly established, because there were no bishops regularly settled in the towns. The Metropolitan Leontius formed the first five dioceses²⁵, and appointed Joachim of Cherson to be bishop of Novogorod, Theodorus of Rostoff, Neophytus of Chernigoff, Stephen the Volhynian of Vladimir, and Nicetas of Belgorod. Assisted by Dobrina, the uncle of the Great Prince, who had long governed in Novogorod, the new Bishop Joachim threw the statue²⁶ of Peroun into the Volkoff, and broke down the idolatrous²⁷ altars without any opposition on the part of the citizens; for they too, like the inhabitants of Kieff, from their comparative degree of civilization and from their relations of intercourse with the Greeks were in all probability already favourably disposed for the reception of Christianity. Tradition asserts, that even as far back as the time of St. Olga the Hermits Sergius and Germanus lived upon the desolate island of Balaam in the lake Ladoga, and that from thence St. Abramius went forth to preach Christ to the savage inhabitants of Rostoff.

The attempt to found a diocese at Rostoff was less successful. The first two bishops, Theodore and Hilarion, were driven away by the fierce tribes of the forest district of Meri, who held obstinately to their idols in spite of the zeal of Abramius. It cost the two succeeding bishops, St. Leontius and St. Isaiah, many years of extraordinary labour and exertion, attended frequently by persecutions, before they at length succeeded in establishing Christianity in that savage region, from whence it spread itself by degrees into all the surrounding districts.

Thus Vladimir²⁸, having piously observed the commandments of Christ during the course of his long reign, had the consolation of seeing before his death the fruits of his own conversion in all the wide extent of his dominions. He departed this life in peace at Kieff²⁹, and was soon reckoned with his grandmother Olga amongst the guardian saints of Russia. John, the third metropolitan, who had been sent from Constantinople upon the death of Leontius, buried the prince in the Church of the Tithes which he had built, near the tomb of the Grecian princess his wife, and the uncorrupted relics of St. Olga were translated to the same spot³⁰.

Notes

Constantine or Cyrill was the first who wrote the Slavonic language, using for that purpose the Greek letters, with the addition of certain other characters, partly Armenian or Hebrew, and partly of his own invention. The Slavonic alphabet thus formed consisted of forty letters, and received the name of the Cyrillic. It is still used with some alterations in Russia, Wallachia, Moldavia, Bulgaria, and Servia. The Poles and the Latins of Moldavia make use of the Roman characters, having been obliged to abandon the Slavonic by an order of Pope John XIII. The characters now used in Russia for printing books not of an ecclesiastical nature were introduced by Peter the First, who wished to make the Slavonic character approximate in appearance to the printing of the West.
Blachernæ is a harbour at Constantinople, so called from the name of a Scythian prince killed there.
The words of the anthem alluded to are as follows: — Τῇ ὑπερμάχῳ στρατήγῳ τὰ νικητήρια, ὡς λυτρωθέντες τῶν δεινῶν, εὐχαριστήρια ἀναγράφομεν οἱ δοῦλοι σου Θεοτόκε. Ἀλλ᾽ ὡς ἔχουσα τὸ κράτος ἀπροσμάχητον, ἐκ παντοίων ἡμᾶς κινδύνων ἐλευθέρωσον, ἵνα κράξωμέν σοι· χαῖρε νύμφη ἀνύμφευτε. Δόξα, καὶ νῦν.
Ruric, the founder of the Russian monarchy, was the son of the Swedish or Flemish monarch Ludbrat and his consort Oumila, who was the daughter of Prince Gostomuisla, the last prince of the republic of Novogorod. He was born at Upsal A.D. 830, and in obedience to the dying advice of his grandfather to the inhabitants of Novogorod, was invited by them to assume the reins of government A.D. 862. Partly by conquest of the neighbouring tribes, and partly by their voluntary union, he succeeded in establishing the first monarchical government in Russia. He died A.D. 879, and left his brother-in-law, Oleg, the guardian of his infant son Igor, and regent of the kingdom, which he governed till his death, A.D. 912.
Igor, son of Ruric, was born in Great Novogorod A.D. 877, and ascended his father’s throne A.D. 912. He was killed in battle by the Drevlians A.D. 945, and buried in the wood where he fell. He married the celebrated Olga, by some said to have been a princess, by others the daughter of a ferryman, who governed the kingdom for ten years during the minority of her son Sviatoslaff. She died A.D. 967, at the advanced age of 85.
The system of government introduced into Russia by Ruric and his Norman followers was a modification or rather an imitation of their own national customs, the principal characteristics of which were that only one family among them possessed the power of ruling over the rest of the nation in peace, and leading them in war; this privilege was not exclusively enjoyed by any one member of that family, but was divided among them all. They each inherited the title of Conung, and had each their own separate principality, their own little court and army, and ruled them independently of the rest. And if, in consequence of this constant subdivision, any member of the reigning family was left without an appanage, he was assisted by the others in winning one either at home or abroad by the edge of his sword. In other countries which the Normans conquered, such as Normandy and Naples, this system of government was modified by the opposition of the natives in support of former rights, and thus became either allodial or feudal; but in Russia, from the extent and uncultivated state of the country, from the paucity of inhabitants and large towns, they met with no opposition, and thus introduced their own laws and customs with very little alteration, the chief of which were the following:
1. Every descendant of Vladimir, as a member of the reigning family, bore the title of Prince, and had a right to an appanage, and a certain district or portion of country. 2. The appanaged prince was the complete and independent ruler of his own portion of territory, had his own capital, his own company of followers, or army, his own boyars, nominated perhaps the bishop, erected his own towns and fortresses, issued ordinances, had his own courts of judicature, rewarded and punished according to his own discretion, and made war or peace with whom he pleased. 3. The title of Great Prince belonged to the eldest son of the eldest branch (the senior according to the rights of primogeniture) of the appanaged princes. In the event of quarrels between the other princes he possessed the right (a very undefined one) of compelling them to peace; in the event of war with foreign countries, to require their assistance against the common enemy; and to be their chief, or head of the confederacy. He however possessed absolute authority only in his own appanage; he had no right to interfere with the internal government of the other princes, nor to require any tribute from them; but on the other hand he was obliged to give an account of the manner in which he had expended the sums collected for the common weal to these very princes, who did not reckon themselves his vassals, but sovereigns equally independent with himself, who were however bound to have recourse to him when any thing occurred which affected the general interests of Russia. 4. The dignity of prince was hereditary in the male line only. The result of this system was a loose kind of league, under one feeble head, of many independent princes, who were continually fighting with each other for their own selfish ends, for the attainment of objects in which neither the nobility, nor the clergy, nor the communities of the towns were interested. There was no war of principles waged as in other countries, where the feudal laws had been established by the Norman conquerors. The princes did not attempt to oppress or deprive their subjects of any of their rights or privileges, nor did they on the other hand rebel against their rulers, or attempt to weaken or lessen their authority. Hence it was that these constant quarrels, which continued upwards of two centuries, led to no other result than that of enfeebling their general power of defence against a foreign enemy, and thus involving them with their subjects in one general ruin when they were attacked by the Mongols. It is reasonable to conclude, that had Ruric and Vladimir instituted a different form of government, something like that which afterwards prevailed under John III., when all the appanaged princes became completely subjected to the Great Prince, they would have been enabled successfully to resist the incursions of the Tartars, and would thus have preserved their ancient boundaries on their western frontiers. And from the advantage they possessed of having a perfect and uniform language, used equally by the peasant and the prince, by clergy and laity, formed after the model of the Greek, (whilst those of the other nations of Europe were either barbarous dialects, or still in a state of transition,) from their having constant communication with the capital and provinces of the Greek empire through their clergy, nobles, and merchants, — (while many of those nations which have since preceded them in the career of civilization were living in a state scarcely above that of savages,) — had not all these advantages, I say, been destroyed by the irruption of the Mongols, it is probable that the Russians, instead of being nearly the last of the European nations in learning and the arts of civilized life, might have been among the first, and, instead of following, have set an example to others.
Orloff says, that in the battle fought between Demetrius Donskoi and the Tartar Khan Mamai, 513 Russian princes lost their lives. — Orloff’s Remarkable Events of the Church and Country. Moscow, 1818, vol. ii. p. 67. This gives some idea of the number of these princes, and into how many petty appanages the country must have been subdivided.
I here give an extract of a passage from a book published at Rome in 1826, entitled, Dissertatio de Origine Christianæ Religionis in Russiâ, page 17, &c. descriptive of this event: —
“Eo (Episcopo) Sacrum Divini Evangelii librum protendente, ac quædam Salvatoris Nostri miracula Deique in veteri testamento prodigia exponente, statim Russi subdiderunt, Nisi nos etiam ejusmodi aliquid viderimus, ac potissimùm quale in trium puerorum Camino accidisse dicis, nullam prorsus tibi fidem habebimus, nec tuis verbis animum auresque nostras ultrà accommodabimus. Præsul vero de illius promissionis veritate fretus, qui ait, “Si quid petieritis in nomine meo, accipietis. Qui credet in me opera quæ ego facio et ille faciet, et majora his faciet,” tum nimirum cum non ostentationis causâ sed ad salutem animarum hæc quæ fiunt sunt futura, ait ad eos, Etsi non licet dominum tentare, si tamen ex animo statuistis ad Deum accedere, quod libuerit hoc et petite; omniaque Deus præstabit propter fidem vestram, etsi nos despicabiles et minimi sumus. Petiere ipsum fidei Christianæ librum (Divinum scilicet sacrumque Evangelium) in rogum injici ab eis accensum, ac siquidem librum nihil flamma læserit aut exusserit ad Deum accessuros. Quibus sic dictis, ac Sacerdote oculos ac manus ad Deum levante atque dicente, “Clarifica tuum sanctum nomen Jesu Christe, Deus noster, etiam nunc in oculis gentis hujus universæ,” Sancti Evangelii liber in rogum ignis conjectus est. Nec paucis decursis horis, ac rogo exinde extincto, inventum est sacrum volumen illæsum, nec edacis flammæ vi ullâ violatum, nullâ ejus ab igne noxâ aut diminutione, ut ne fimbriæ quidem librum claudentes ullam aut corruptionem aut labem senserint.” (Demum sic narrationem suam terminat) “Quo viso Barbari ac miraculi magnitudine in stuporem acti, omni sublatâ hesitatione, baptismo intingi cœpêrunt.” — Vita Basil. Maced. num. XCVI. p. 211, et seq. — inter Hist. Byzant. Script. post Theophan. Edit. Paris, 1685.
Sviatoslaff I., son of Igor, was born A.D. 920, and ascended his father’s throne A.D. 955. He was killed A.D. 972, in a battle with the Pechenegians, who it is said made a drinking-cup of his skull, and inscribed on it a sentence to this effect, “In seeking for that which belonged to others he lost his own.”
Yaropolk I., eldest son of Sviatoslaff, was born in 945; succeeded to his father’s throne A.D. 973; and after having killed his second brother, Oleg Prince of the Drevlians, in battle, he was himself, in his turn, assassinated by order of his youngest brother, Vladimir Prince of Novogorod, A.D. 980.
“Trezni.” These consisted of pugilistic and athletic games resembling those described by Homer and Virgil, which were held in honour of the dead. They were always celebrated at the funeral of persons of distinction; but from their having been mixed up with many heathen rites and ceremonies, they were piously abhorred by the princess.
Peroun was one of the principal of the ancient heathen deities of the Russians. He was the god of thunder, and answered in many respects to the Jupiter of the Greeks and Romans.
Nestor represents Vladimir as speaking thus of the preaching of the Greek mission in a public meeting of his state, called by him in consequence, A.D. 987. “They recounted to us with much eloquence what had taken place from the beginning of the world. It was wonderful to hear, and excited the admiration of all. They assured us that there is another world beyond this, and that if any one by Baptism makes a confession of that faith which they have embraced, and die in this faith, he shall rise again after death, and never die more throughout eternity; but that he who will not believe, shall in that world be burned with everlasting fire.”
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A detailed account of the attack upon Constantinople in 866 by Oskold and Dir, is given by the Byzantine annalists, Zonaras, Cedrenus, Constantine Porphyrogenitus, &c. &c., as also by the Patriarch Photius and his biographer Ignatius, both of them contemporaries and eye-witnesses. Photius in his Circular Letter says, that “not only have the Bulgarians come over to the Christian faith, but also the nation of the Russians, who, proud of their successes, lately even exalted themselves against the Greek empire, are beginning to exchange the impurities of heathenism for the pure and Orthodox doctrines of Christianity.” The Russian Chronicles repeat the same, and mention in addition that the Emperor Basil, under whose reign the first attack took place, had persuaded them after the conclusion of peace to become Christians; and that the Patriarch Photius had sent them priests and a bishop: the effect of which no doubt is to be traced in what is mentioned by our author as occurring “eighty years afterwards,” (i. e. A. D. 945,) in the time of Igor; and it is remarkable that the Chronicles speak of native bishops by the name of “Photian” bishops, as acting in concert with the Greek metropolitan sent from Constantinople for the conversion of the Russians in the time of Vladimir.
“After the ambassadors of Vladimir had been with the Niemtzi, (i. e. Germans,) and had seen their religious worship, they went to Constantinople, and came to the Emperor. The Emperor demanded for what reason they were come, and when he was informed of the cause, he was rejoiced, and treated them with great honour during the day, and on the following morning sent to the patriarch, and informed him, saying — ‘There are certain Russians arrived here for the purpose of enquiring into our faith; wherefore prepare the church, and let the clergy be in readiness, and clothe thyself in thy priestly robes, in order that they may see the glorious magnificence of our God.’
“When the patriarch had received this intelligence, he ordered the clergy to be called together; and they celebrated a festival according to the ceremonial of their Church, and lit up the tapers, singing in chorus with all due solemnity. And the Tsar conducted Vladimir’s ambassadors into the church, to a convenient place, from whence they could see the entire beauty and wonderful arrangement of God’s Church, and the devout order observed by the patriarch, the priests, and deacons in their celebration of divine worship.
“The ambassadors were utterly transported with astonishment, and applauded the religious service of the Greeks with heartfelt rapture. The Emperors Basil and Constantine dismissed them with many marks of honour. They delivered their report to the prince before the assembled boyars and elders in the following manner; ‘We know not whether we were not in Heaven, for there is no such sight to be seen upon earth, &c.’ Whereupon the boyars said to Vladimir, ‘If the Greek religion had been a bad one, thy grandmother, who was the wisest of mortals, would not have embraced it.’ And Vladimir answered and said, ‘Where shall we be baptized?’ The boyars replied, ‘Wheresoever it pleaseth thee.’” — Russian Chronicle.
Cherson has been very recently re-erected into a (Russian) bishopric.
The Metropolitan Platon says nothing of Vladimir’s recovery from bodily blindness; he makes him to say, “To-day I have become acquainted with the true God.”
This name does not appear any where, either in the Russian Calendar or the Lives of the Saints.
The same title “Veliki Kniaz” is now used to designate the younger male branches of the imperial family, and is usually translated by English writers after the Germans, Grand Duke, though the word and title “Kniaz” when used of any but the reigning family is always rendered by our word Prince.
The archdeacon who accompanied Macarius patriarch of Jerusalem into Antioch, in the time of Nikon, gives a very similar description of the baptism of a whole tribe at once, of which he himself and the patriarch were eye-witnesses. — Travels of Macarius.
The boyars were nobles of the first class: in peace they were governors of towns and districts, in which they administered justice; also they attended the court, and formed the privy council of the sovereign. In war they led their retainers to the field, and exercised nearly the same authority over them as the feudal nobility of France and England did over their vassals.
… But having been expelled from thence by another more powerful horde the Poloftsi (whom we shall frequently meet with in the course of this history) they advanced nearer to the Russians, and occupied the country between the Don and the Northern coasts of the Black sea.
Even at present there are very many of the Russian churches which are built of wood.
It is stated in the Chronicle of Nestor that in the year 6491, (or A.D. 983 according to our computation) “Vladimir went against the Yatvagers (a Finnish tribe, up to that period still unconquered) and gained a victory over them, and took possession of all their country. On his return to Kieff he and his attendants and all the people celebrated their victory by a religious festival in honour of their gods. And the elders of the land and the boyars said unto him, ‘Let us cast lots upon our sons and daughters, and on whomsoever the lot shall fall, him will we sacrifice with the sword unto our gods.’
“And there was a Varagian, whose residence stood on the spot now occupied by the church of the Holy Mother of God, which Vladimir built. This Varagian had come from Greece from the Imperial city, together with his son, whose name was John. He dwelt in Kieff, and was firmly attached to the Christian faith. His son was still young, and endowed with personal and mental charms. Upon this man fell the lot through envy of the devil. And the people who were sent to him declared as follows, — ‘Behold, the lot has fallen upon thy son, and it is resolved to offer him up as a sacrifice to the gods.’ And the Varagian answered them, and said, ‘Yours are no gods, but lifeless idols; they remain for a day, and then become rotten; they are the works of men’s hands, formed with the axe and knife. But God is one only, who dwelleth in heaven; Him the Greeks serve and worship as the Creator of the heaven and the earth, who has made the stars, the sun, and the moon, the Creator of man and of all creatures, whose lives are in His hands. But as for your gods, what have they created? they who are themselves the work of men, and will soon perish and be forgotten? I will not give up my son to such an infatuated people.’ — The persons who were sent to him returned and related this to the assembly; upon which the people came armed and destroyed every thing that was round the house. He stood on a covered balcony with his son, and the people said to him, ‘Give us your son, that we may offer him up to the gods.’ But he replied to them, ‘If they be really gods, let them send one of their number to seize upon my son, but why should you wish to offer up a sacrifice to them?’ Upon this the people cried out, and hewed in pieces the beams which supported the balcony, and in this manner destroyed both the Varagians.” —From MS. of the late Baron Rosenkampf.
“The Pecherskay,” i. e. The Monastery of the Caves or Catacombs. Leontius is called a Photian bishop in the Chronicles.
“In the year 6498 (i. e. A.D. 990.) four of the Bulgarian chief princes came to Kieff, and embraced the Christian faith. In the same year Michael the metropolitan of Kieff and All Russia, repaired to Novogorod, with certain bishops selected from the clergy who had continued in Russia from the time of the Patriarch Photius. The patriarch likewise sent six bishops to his assistance. They accompanied Dobrina (Vladimir’s uncle) and Anastasius to Novogorod, and there destroyed the idols. Many of the people received baptism, churches were erected, and priests were ordained in the towns.” The annalist concludes his account by saying that “there was an abundance of fruits and provisions, and peace and quiet every where prevailed. Ambassadors likewise arrived from the Greek emperors for the purpose of strengthening the good understanding which prevailed. The next year the metropolitan repaired into the interior of Russia as far as Rostoff, accompanied by Dobrina and Anastasius, together with four ‘Photian’ bishops. The other ‘Photian’ bishops remained in Kieff. And an innumerable company of people were baptized.” We find that conversion proceeded with rapid strides, and that the clergy who were already in the country, and well acquainted with the language and manners of the people, were most active in forwarding the good work. “There came also Greek architects to Kieff, who erected large stone buildings for the supreme courts of justice. A Petchenegian prince also, Kutchug by name, a disciple of Mahomet, came to Kieff for the purpose of embracing the faith of the Greek Church, and after receiving baptism became a vassal of Vladimir, who was sincerely attached to him, and he was highly esteemed by the metropolitan, as well as by all the princes and boyars. In the same year the Chronicle again makes mention of an embassy from Rome sent by the Pope to Vladimir in order to assure him of his love and regard.
“In the following year (6499, or A.D. 991,) all the inhabitants of the Souzdal country were baptized. Vladimir himself went there with two Photian bishops, and founded on the banks of the river Kliazma a city to which he gave his own name. He built there a church dedicated to the Holy Mother of God, and caused the people to be instructed by the Photian bishops. Thus did Christianity diffuse her light over Russia, like the rising sun, with progressively increasing splendour, and Vladimir rejoiced thereat, and was liberal towards the poor and afflicted, and distributed his gifts among all the people.
“An army was despatched against the Petchenegians, and returned with victory. Ambassadors arrived also from Boleslaff the king of the Poles.” —Russian Chronicle, from Rf. MS.
“On occasion of the solemn consecration of the church in the year 993, Vladimir, with the benediction of his ghostly father the Metropolitan Leontius, made a grant to the Church of the tenth of all dues and fines, of the production of the earth, as well as of the customs and taxes of his towns, as also the tenth of the cattle, and of every produce, all for the glory of God and of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Virgin Mary His Immaculate Mother, and to the honour of his ghostly father, the metropolitan of Kieff, and of All Russia.
“This solemn act, well pleasing unto God, was completed in the presence of all the bishops and chief officers in the Russian dominions; and Vladimir upon this occasion bestowed upon the clergy, in compliance with the precepts of the old Greek Nomocanon, all that jurisdiction, without reserve, which belonged to them in conformity with the said precepts.”
At the same time he proclaimed it as a law that no one of his successors, nor of the boyars, nor any other person, even unto the end of the world should venture to encroach upon the jurisdiction of the clergy; and he confirmed this ordinance, which was deposited in writing in the church of the Holy Mother of God, by imprecating a curse against any one who should dare to circumscribe these privileges.
“There were present on this occasion the metropolitan of Kieff and of All Russia, Leontius, and the Photian bishops, and the Russian bishops, together with their presbyters and monks, as also the princes and boyars: and Vladimir said, — ‘If any one shall transgress this my ordinance, which I have enacted in conformity with the ancient Greek Nomocanon, may the curse light upon him!’ And upon this, Vladimir celebrated a great festival with the metropolitan, and the bishops, and the boyars, and many of his grandees, and dispensed many charitable gifts among the needy and afflicted.” — R. Chronicle from MS. of Baron Rf.
The following is an exact and verbal copy of the edict in question according to the text of the most ancient codex of the 13th century. “In the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; — I, Prince Basil, called also Vladimir, son of Sviatoslaff, grandson of Igor and of the holy Princess Olga, have received the saving rite of Baptism from the Tsars of Greece, and from Photius the patriarch of Constantinople, and have brought to Kieff the first Metropolitan Leontius, who thereupon has baptized the whole country of the Russians. Some years after that, I built to the honour of the Holy Mother of God the church called The Church of the Tenths (Dessatinaya) and endowed this church as the Cathedral with the right of receiving tithe from the whole country of the Russians, so far as my dominion extends, with this proviso, that to this house of the Saviour and of His Holy Mother belongs the tenth mite (squirrel skin) of the judicial dues in the districts of the princedom, and from commercial imposts the produce of the tenth week; moreover, from every house and family, from cattle and from reaped corn the tenth must be paid. And since upon reading the Greek Nomocanon I have discovered that, according to a precept therein contained, there are certain matters of dispute which it does not belong to the prince and his boyars and judges to take cognizance of and to decide upon, therefore have I, after due deliberation with my consort the Princess Anna, and with my children, resolved to concede the administration of justice in certain fixed cases to the Church, that is, to the metropolitan and collective bishops of the Russian territory. Accordingly, neither shall my children, nor grand-children, nor my latest descendants either cite before their tribunals Ecclesiastical Persons, or usurp that judicial power which has been conceded to the Church; for this exclusively belongs to her according to my grant, and is given by us in all towns, districts, and circles (Pogossen), in all communities adjoining the towns (Sloboden), and in all villages; and I have commanded my judges and officers (tiouns) to do no injury to the jurisdiction of the Church, and to meddle with no cases belonging to her office, without consulting with the episcopal representative or deputy.
“The matters which appertain unto ecclesiastical jurisdiction are as follows: divorce, adultery, contests between married persons on the subject of property, rape, incest, magic, poisoning, witchcraft, incantations; accusations of three kinds — of fornication, poisoning, and heresy; the investigation of the following transgressions and offences, biting, striking of parents, disputes between children, and brothers and sisters-in-law, on the subject of the property of any person deceased, and legacies, sacrilege, robbing of the dead, mutilation of the cross, doing injury to the walls in the church, polluting the church by the introduction of cattle, dogs, and birds, and other unbecoming actions in the church; the mutilation of a man by the wife of his adversary, sodomy, worship of heathen gods in retired places, in groves, and by streams, and lastly, child-murder. In all these cases the Church is to pass judgment; but the prince and his boyars and judges shall not take cognizance of such judicial matters. These ecclesiastical privileges I have accorded to the holy bishops, in compliance with the decisions of the primitive Church, and the seven Œcumenical councils. And if any person shall infringe this decree, he is incapable of making any compensation, according to the Word of God, and he goes to destruction. I command all my officers, and judges, and lieutenants in no wise to prejudice the jurisdiction of the Church; and of the judicial fines to pay nine portions to the prince, and the tenth to the Holy Church. Shall any one, however, detract from these privileges of the Church, he shall be fined with the loss of his goods, and in addition, he will have to answer for it before God and the assembled angels on the last day, where no action of man, be it good or evil, escapes judgment, where no intercession is of any avail, and righteousness alone saves man from the second death, from everlasting torment, from the laver of the condemned; that is, from the unquenchable fire of hell. On that day, so saith the Lord, I will recompense the unrighteous; in his soul the fire shall not be quenched, and the worm shall not die. The good inheriteth life and unspeakable blessedness, and the wicked is exposed to inexorable judgment. It is also among the ancient regulations, that the bishops should have the supervision of the measures, weights, scales, and balances of the town and of the market. Over these matters must the bishops watch, neither increasing nor diminishing them; and on the universal day of judgment they shall answer for this, and for the salvation of souls. Now these are the persons who belong to the Church: the stewards (tiouns) of their estates, the priests, (popes,) deacons, and their children, the wife of a priest, and the whole body of clerks; moreover, the monk, the nun, the woman who bakes the holy bread, the cloistered pilgrim, the physician, the man who by a holy miracle is restored to health, the slave whom his master releases for the good of his soul, the stranger, the blind, and the lame; especially the monasteries, the hospitals, and establishments for the care of guests and strangers. All these are the people who, for the sake of God, belong to the Church. Between these parties, the metropolitan or the bishop is to act as judge, and to arrange the offences, disputes, and contentions which take place among them, as also the succession of property. Notwithstanding, when any judicial matter arises between a person belonging to the Church and another man, the tribunal appointed to judge the cause shall be partly civil and partly ecclesiastical.
“In case that any one, either of my children or descendants, shall act contrary to this decree, made in conformity with the regulations of the Holy Fathers and of the first Tsars, or shall any lieutenant, or tioun, or judge, or any other person infringe these privileges of the Church, may the curse light upon him both in this and the life to come, according to the judgment of the Holy Fathers and of the seven general councils.” — Baron R. MS.
The canons of the Church had already been formed into a collection before the third general council, and the whole of that earliest collection was referred to and confirmed in the acts of the fourth, held at Chalcedon A.D. 451. Justinian, in the sixth century, (Novell. 131,) gave the force of law to all the ecclesiastical canons made or confirmed by the four general councils; and John, surnamed the Scholastic, in his reign made a digest, under fifty titles, of all the canons then received by the Greek Church, and prefixed an index of reference to all the canons which are contained under the same fifty titles. This was the first Nomocanon. In the seventh century, the Council of Constantinople in Trullo confirmed this code as augmented since the time of Scholasticus by several additions, and made 102 fresh canons of its own, which the second Nicene Council, about the end of the eighth century, divided between the fifth and sixth general councils, neither of which had made any canons of their own, and so confirmed the whole body of canons made or confirmed “by the six Œcumenical councils;” and this is the code which, together with the canon of the Nicene Council itself, is invested with the authority of law by the Basilica. Lib. v., tit. iii., cap. ii.
The Nomocanon was afterwards re-edited by Photius, who appended the canons of two synods held in his own time at Constantinople; and these were the last additions. In the twelfth century, the Scholia of Zonaras, Austin, and Balsamon were successively appended. — See Preface to Beverege’s Synodicon.
The Russian bishops were usually selected by the prince of the district to which their diocese belonged, with the consent of the superior clergy and the chief of the citizens, and were then presented for consecration to the metropolitan. Each bishop was absolute in his own diocese, the limits of which were accurately defined. Every bishop possessed the right of appointing all the priests, deacons, and inferior servants of the Church to their respective parishes, and if they were guilty of any fault to suspend them, and after trial to eject them. He had also the right of appointing all the archimandrites, or abbots, and abbesses to the religious houses in his diocese, of raising them to higher rank, or depriving them of it. The metropolitan had no right to interfere in the diocese, and the only power he had over a bishop was to try him if any accusation were brought against him, and if he were found guilty to degrade him.
It may be useful to observe how broad a distinction seems to have been taught by the Greek clergy and felt by their converts to exist between the use and veneration of Christian Icons, whether pictures or statues, as established by the second Nicene Council, and received, together with the faith of Christ, (see note on P. 11, 9. at p. 353.) by the Russians, and the Pagan idolatry, which had formerly prevailed among them. Some of our own countrymen are very much given to confound the two things together in speaking of “unreformed Churches,” while it is commonly reported that conformity on a large scale with Pagan idolatry has been required and yielded in India without any man’s so much as having an idea that such enforcement on the part of the rulers, or compliance on the part of their servants, subjects them to any excommunication from the spiritual authority of their Church.
Platon, in the beginning of his History, seems to succeed in proving that the ancient Slavonians had neither temples nor priests; and he shews, by many examples, that the word Trebischa, usually rendered ‘temple,’ means merely an altar of sacrifice, generally raised in the open air in the midst of the forest; and that the Jretsi or Sacrificers were not priests by profession, but the elders of the tribe or nation, whose duty it was to preside and officiate when any solemn sacrifice was made to the gods.
Vladimir I., son of Sviatoslaff, was born in Kieff A.D. 948; received the city and district of Great Novogorod as his appanage A.D. 970; got possession of the whole Russian monarchy on the death of his brother Yaropolk A.D. 980; embraced the Christian religion in 988; died July 15, A.D. 1015; and was buried in a marble coffin in the church of the Tithes, in Kieff, near his wife, the Greek Princess Anna.
The contrast between the cruelty and vices of this prince when a heathen, and the mildness of his disposition and the purity of his morals after his conversion, are very properly adduced by the annalists as strong proofs of the Divine character of the religion he had embraced.
… The phrase, “his uncorrupted relics were found,” in the Greek Church, is nearly equivalent to saying “He was canonized,” in the Latin.