Vladimir the Great
Prince of Kyiv who was baptized in alliance with the Byzantine emperor Basil II, married the emperor’s sister Anna and had the people of Kyiv baptized. The chronicle of Kyiv, written a century later, is the main account.
The Primary Chronicle presents Vladimir as a pagan ruler who weighed the faiths of his neighbours, sent envoys to see their worship and chose that of the Greeks (Primary Chronicle, years 986–987). It places his baptism at Chersonesus, after he had taken the city and demanded the emperors’ sister in marriage, while admitting that others placed it elsewhere (Primary Chronicle, year 988). Yahya of Antioch, writing nearer the time, says simply that the king of the Rus’ married the sister of Basil II on condition of being baptized with his people, and sent troops to help the emperor against a rebel (Yahya of Antioch, History, pp. 423–424).
At Kyiv, the chronicle says, he threw down the idols, had the people baptized in the Dnieper and built a church of the Mother of God with craftsmen from Greece (Primary Chronicle, years 988–989). It records his death on 15 July in the year 6523, AD 1015 (Primary Chronicle, year 1015). See the Baptism of Rus’.
In the timeline
- AD 988/989, estimated dateThe Baptism of Rus’
Vladimir, prince of Kyiv, accepts baptism from Constantinople and marries the emperor’s sister. The chronicle of Kyiv tells of a choice among faiths and of his people baptized in the Dnieper; Greek and Arabic writers tell of an alliance.
Primary sources
Primary Chronicle (Tale of Bygone Years)
- Primary Chronicle, years 986–987mgh-bibliothek.de
- Primary Chronicle, year 988mgh-bibliothek.de
- Primary Chronicle, years 988–989mgh-bibliothek.de
- Primary Chronicle, year 1015mgh-bibliothek.de