Kievan Rus at Its Peak

Kievan state reached its prominence in the 10^th and 11^th centuries, especially during the reigns of Vladimir the Great (980-1015) and Yaroslav the Wise⁶ (1019-1054). It was the largest state in Europe from the mid-9^th till the mid-13^th centuries. Vladimir’s greatest achievement was Christianization of his vast empire (in AD 988). Christianity existed in Kievan Rus before the reign of Vladimir. His famous grandmother princess Olga was a Christian and she established the Church of St. Irene in Kiev. Princes Askold and Dir were also Christians. Vladimir’s “merit” was that he compulsory imposed Christianity on all his subjects. According to the Chronicle of Bygone Years he baptized his people “with fire and a sword”. The introduction of Christianity was motivated first of all by considerations of prestige. All major countries had stopped to be pagan by this time. It was shameful for Vladimir to remain a backward pagan among civilized Christian rulers. Besides, a single religion could also stimulate the unification of various peoples, who worshiped different gods before.

Of the two types of Christianity (Byzantine Orthodox and Roman Catholic) Vladimir chose the Byzantine one. The decision is partly explained by the fact that the Byzantine model gave priority to civil power over spiritual power (the power of the church).⁷ Another important reason was the close economic connections between the two countries. And the last but not least, the Byzantine Empire at the time was the most powerful of all the states known to Vladimir. Thus, it looks quite naturally that Vladimir chose Orthodox faith.⁸

The adoption of Christianity opened the way for Byzantine cultural influences in all fields of life. One of the major results was the spreading of literacy since it was necessary for conducting church services and reading religious books. Two Byzantine monks Cyril and Methodious worked out a special alphabet Kirillitsa (Cyrillic) for the Slavic peoples.⁹ Ukrainian is still written in the Cyrillic alphabet, named in honor of one of those monks. Many Byzantine architects and craftsmen arrived to create and decorate churches and other major buildings. Byzantine artists taught the East Slavs the arts of painting icons¹⁰, frescos¹¹, and making mosaics¹². The church music of Kievan Rus was also based on Byzantine samples. The Kievan Rus clergy was divided into two categories according to the Byzantine model: the “white” clergy or batyushkas, who were allowed to have families, and the “black” clergy, who were monks and from whom high church officials were chosen. (In contrast, the Roman Catholic clergy is celibate).

Christianity improved the attitude to the poor, especially slaves. It also led to the disappearance of polygamy and blood revenge. Polygamy was widespread before Christianity; for example Vladimir the Great had five official wives and 300 concubines.

The major enemy of the church was the pagan beliefs of the people. The clergy fought against them for a long time but failed to eradicate them completely. As a result many pagan practices were adopted by the church and the religion became half-pagan and half-Christian at the same time. This phenomenon came to be known as dvovirya (religious dualism) and still exists. For example the Ivan Kupala festival means a combination of a Christian (St. Ivan) and a pagan (god Kupala) beliefs. Christian saints took over the functions of former pagan gods. St. Vlasii, for instance, became responsible for cattle’s health. People started praying to him (instead of pagan god Veles) when their cattle was sick. Illya the Prophet replaced the ancient god Perun, St. Paraskeva replaced goddess Moksha, etc.

After the adoption of Christianity Kievan Rus was not considered a barbaric country anymore and was accepted into the civilized world as equal partner. Numerous intermarriages between Kievan Rus princes and the royalty of Western Europe and Byzantine Empire testify to that. For example, Yaroslav the Wise was married to a Swedish princess; one of his sisters married a Polish king and another – a Byzantine prince; three of his sons acquired European princesses as wives (from Byzantine, Poland, and Germany), while three of his daughters were married to the kings of France, Norway, and Hungary respectively. No wonder the nickname of Prince Yaroslav the Wise was the father-in-law of Europe.

Education, scholarship, art, architecture, and music were predominantly religious. Naturally all these aspects of cultural life followed Byzantine models. The church was the center of culture. It opened schools and created libraries, many chronicles were written by monks. A major center of cultural life was the St. Sophia Cathedral in Kiev, built in Byzantine style and named after the main church in Constantinople. (“Sofia” means “wisdom” in Greek). It served as metropolitan residence and possessed the largest library in the country. The Cathedral was founded by Yaroslav the Wise in 1037 in commemoration of the victory over Pechenegs. (The Pechenegs suffered a very serious defeat near Kiev in 1036 after which they stopped to play any significant role in history). That victory led to a quarter-century of relative peace on the steppe frontier, until the arrival from the east of new enemies, the Polovtsians. They attacked Kievan territory for the first time in 1061. From this time until the Mongol invasion in the late 1230s they constantly threatened the security of Kievan Rus.

Kiev could also boast of the largest monastery in the country - Kievo-Pecherska Lavra (“lavra” means “large monastery” in Greek), founded by monk Antonii in 1051, during the reign of Yaroslav. Another impressive Kievan architectural structure of the Yaroslav times is the Golden Gate (located near a metro station with the same name).

Literacy was quite spread even among ordinary people in Kievan Rus. Archeologists found many artifacts which bear names of common people (for example various inscriptions on pottery). In comparison, the level of literacy in Western Europe in X-XI centuries was lower than in Kievan Rus. For example, King of France Henri I put a cross while signing official documents; his wife Queen Anna, who came to France from Kievan Rus, put her signature. She could read and write since literacy was widespread among Kievan Rus noble girls.¹³ There was even a special school for noble girls in Kiev. Bishop Gautier Saveraux, Henri I’s envoy to Kiev, reported home about Kievan Rus: “This land is more unified, happier, stronger and more civilized than France herself.”

The Rus also had a common system of customary law, codified in the eleventh-century by Yaroslav the Wise and his sons. It was called Rus’ka Pravda (The Rus Justice). The large number of surviving copies suggests that it was in wide use. The code was notable for its relative humanity, with fines more common than capital or corporal punishment. This code also replaced wide-spread blood revenge with monetary payments. The code also indicates to a social inequality in Kievan Rus society. For example, the fine for raping an ordinary girl was 5 silver hrivnas while for raping a noble girl – 5 golden hrivnas. The law code stimulated the growth of law culture among the Rus people and contributed to the development of civilized thinking.

Many historians (Ukrainian and foreign) suppose that Kievan Rus’ culture and civilization at the 1000s was at a higher level than Western European civilization at the same time. The Mongol invasion in the 1240s was a heavy blow for Kievan civilization. Most cities were completely destroyed and their population either killed or taken into captivity.