Chersonesus
Greek city on the south-west coast of the Crimea, a Byzantine outpost on the Black Sea. The Primary Chronicle places Vladimir’s siege, baptism and marriage here; Leo the Deacon records its capture by the Rus’.
The Rus’ called the city Korsun’. The Primary Chronicle says that Vladimir the Great besieged it, took it by cutting its water pipes, was baptized in its church of St Basil and married the emperor’s sister there, and that he gave the city back to the Greeks as a wedding gift (Primary Chronicle, year 988). Leo the Deacon, who lived through these years, mentions its capture by the Rus’ as one of the disasters foretold by signs in the sky (Leo the Deacon, History 10.10). See the Baptism of Rus’.
What happened here
- 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, year 988mgh-bibliothek.de
History
- Leo the Deacon, History 10.10archive.org