www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Vikings and the Russia

Hello:

I have found some web sights that give some history of the Vikings in Russia and how they bought Christianity to that country but what I really need are some books that cover the history of Russia and the Vikings. Does anyone have any suggestions?

In Christ:
Einar

Not all Norse were Vikings and not all Vikings were Christian. Do you mean to be speaking of the Kievan Rus and the conversion of Vladimir I of Kiev?

Terry

Is there evidence that any of the Norsemen
who colonized what became Russia were Christians?

"The Russia"? Shades of "the Ukraine". Next will come "the Poland", no doubt.

Fr. Serge

Following up on the discussion, those who have studied foreign languages may have empathy with a brother in Christ. I certainly do.

Einer, maybe you are asking about those ancient travelers and settlers coming into what is now Ukraine and Russia from areas we now know as Scandinavia and Finland. I would wonder too, if to some extent Christianity was brought into this region from the northern route - not just from the south... maybe in a different epoch from the missions to Kievan Rus. Seems like a legitimate question. Maybe a brother or sister in the forum will address it. Maybe Fr. Serge has some insights on this.

May God bless you, Einer.

In Christ,

-Pustinik
-----------------
"Acquire a peaceful spirit, and thousands around you will be saved." –St. Serafim of Sarov

There's a book at my library called "Vladimir The Russian Viking" by Vladimir Volkoff. I leafed through it a few months ago but have not read it. I believe it's around 400 pages and it has gotten some good reviews.

I assure you that I do not lack empathy for those learning foreign languages - what prompted that?

As for Christianity coming to Russia from the North - doesn't seem utterly likely that this happened in the first millennium. However, there are a few Saints in Northern Russia who seem to have come from Finland.

Fr. Serge

Hello Everyone:

I have found a few things on the web about Vladimir I of Kiev who seems to have been a Viking. But I am wondering what role the Vikings as a group had to play.

In Christ:
Einar

See the note below.

Vladimir I, 'The Great' Grand Duke Of Kiev won fame for establishing Christianity as Russia's official religion. In 972, he became ruler of Novgorod in Russia, but had to flee for his life to Scandinavia. Later he returned, defeated and killed his brother, who was ruling in Kiev, and became grand duke in Kiev.

Vladimir was born a pagan of Viking origin. In 988, he was converted to Christianity. He married Anna, the sister of the Byzantine emperor Basil II. Vladimir I founded cities and built churches, schools, and libraries. He promoted trade, established relations with the pope and European rulers, and ably defended Russia against its eastern neighbors.

Buried in Church Of The Tithes, Kiev, Kiev, Ukraine, and was later declared a saint.

Source: 'The World Book Encyclopedia', 1968, UV337.

Слава Ісусу Христу!

1968. The 60’s were a time of smokescreens.

Dear Converted Viking,

In fact the Vikings conquered the Rus people (not the same as Russia) who had their center in Kyiv. At the time of the conquest, the Vikings were pagans who later converted to Orthodox Christianity. Grand Prince Volodymyr the Great baptized 'Rus" (not the same as Russia) in 988 officially making Orthdox Christianity the official religion of 'Rus' (remember it's not the same as Russia). His grandmother, Grand Princes Olha, was the first of the Royal to publicly convert to Christianity and had an immense impact on the decision of her grandson Volodymyr the Great to convert both himself and his Kingdom to Orthodox Christianity.

The Roman Catholic Church considers Volodymyr to be an 'Equal to the Apostles' and in fact has mosaics of both him and St-Olha (St-Helga in Scandinavian, St-Olga in Russian) on a wall of St-Peter's Basilica in Rome. Please do me a favor and ask Fr Serge (Keleher) if he could help you locate a picture of those mosaics (two separate) in St-Peters.

Here is a good synopsis from the Ukrainian Encyclopedia. I use to know the author of this text quite well. Dr Zhukovsky lived just outside of Paris at Sarcelles. I'm not sure if he is still alive.

Jean Francois

Volodymyr the Great (Valdamar, Volodimer, Vladimir), b ca 956, d 15 July 1015 in Vyshhorod, near Kyiv. Grand prince of Kyiv from 980; son of Sviatoslav I Ihorovych and Malusha; half-brother of Yaropolk I Sviatoslavych and Oleh Sviatoslavych; and father of 11 princes by five wives, including Sviatopolk I, Yaroslav the Wise, Mstyslav Volodymyrovych, and Saints Borys and Hlib. In 969 Grand Prince Sviatoslav I named his son Volodymyr the prince of Novgorod the Great, where the latter ruled under the guidance of his uncle, Dobrynia. In 977 a struggle for power broke out among Sviatoslav's sons. Yaropolk I, who was then the grand prince of Kyiv, seized the Derevlianian land and Novgorod, thereby forcing Volodymyr to flee to Scandinavia. In 980 Volodymyr returned to Rus’ with a Varangian force, expelled Yaropolk's governors from Novgorod, and took Polatsk after a battle in which Prince Rogvolod of Polatsk was slain. Volodymyr took Rogvolod's daughter, Rohnida, as his wife. Later that year he captured Kyiv and had Yaropolk murdered, thereby becoming the grand prince , and married Yaropolk's Greek widow.

Over the next 35 years Volodymyr expanded the borders of Kyivan Rus’ and turned it into one of the most powerful states in Eastern Europe. After taking the Cherven towns and Peremyshl from Poland (981) and waging successful wars against the Viatichians (981–2) and Radimichians (984) he united the remaining East Slavic tribes, divided his realm into lands, and installed his sons or viceroys to govern them, dispense princely justice, and collect tribute. In 983 Volodymyr waged war against the Yatvingians and thereby gained access to the Baltic Sea. In 985 he defeated the Khazars and Volga Bulgars and secured his state's eastern frontier. Volodymyr devoted considerable attention to defending his southern borders against the nomadic Pechenegs and Chorni Klobuky. He had lines of fortifications built along the Irpin River, the Stuhna River, the Trubizh River, and the Sula River and founded fortified towns (eg, Vasylkiv, Voin, and Bilhorod) that were joined by earthen ramparts.

Volodymyr attributed his victory over Yaropolk I Sviatoslavych to the support he received from pagan forces, and had idols of the deities Perun, Khors, Dazhboh, Stryboh, Symarhl, and Mokosh erected on a hill overlooking his palace in Kyiv. Later he became convinced that a monotheistic religion would consolidate his power, as Christianity and Islam had done for neighboring rulers. His choice was determined after the Byzantine emperor Basil II turned to him for help in defeating his rival, Bardas Phocas. Volodymyr offered military aid only if he was allowed to marry Basil's sister, Anna, and Basil agreed to the marriage only after Volodymyr promised to convert himself and his subjects to Christianity. Volodymyr, his family, and his closest associates were baptized in December 987, when he took the Christian name Vasylii (Basil). Soon afterward he ordered the destruction of all pagan idols. The mass baptism of the citizens of Kyiv took place on 1 August 988 (see Christianization of Ukraine), and the remaining population of Rus’ was slowly converted, sometimes by force. In 988 Volodymyr sent several thousand warriors to help Basil regain power and married Anna, and in 989 he besieged Chersonese Taurica, took it from Bardas Phocas, and returned it to Basil.

The Christianization of Rus’ was essentially engineered by Byzantium. Byzantium supplied the first hierarchs and other missionary clergy in Rus’ and introduced Byzantine art, education, and literature there. During Volodymyr's reign the first schools and churches were built, notably the Church of the Tithes in Kyiv. The adoption of Christianity as the official religion facilitated the unification of the Rus’ tribes and the establishment of foreign dynastic, political, cultural, religious, and commercial relations, particularly with the Byzantine Empire, Bulgaria, and Germany. Relations with Poland improved after Volodymyr's son Sviatopolk I married the daughter of Prince Bolesław I the Brave in 992. Volodymyr received papal emissaries in 986, 988, 991, 992, and 1000 and sent his own envoys to Rome in 993 and 1001.

After Anna's death in 1011, Volodymyr married the daughter of Count Kuno von Enningen. Toward the end of his life his sons Sviatopolk of Turiv and Yaroslav the Wise of Novgorod challenged his rule. Having defeated Sviatopolk, Volodymyr died while preparing a campaign against Yaroslav and was buried in the Church of the Tithes. He was succeeded briefly by Sviatopolk.

The Rus’ clergy venerated Volodymyr because of his support of the church, but he was canonized only after 1240. Thereafter he was referred to as ‘the holy, equal to the Apostles, grand prince of Kyiv.’ The oldest extant mention of him as Saint Volodymyr is found in the Hypatian Chronicle under the year 1254, and his feast day, 28 July (15 July OS), was first celebrated in 1263.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Zavitnevich, V. Vladimir Sviatoi kak politicheskii deiatel’ (Kyiv 1888)
Nazarko, I. Sviatyi Volodymyr Velykyi, Volodar i Khrystytel’ Rusy-Ukraïny (960–1015) (Rome 1954)
Poppe, A. ‘The Political Background to the Baptism of Rus’: Byzantine-Russian Relations between 986 and 989,’ Dumbarton Oaks Papers, no. 30 (1976); repr in his Rise of Christian Russia (London 1982)
Volkoff, V. Vladimir the Russian Viking ([London] 1984)
Tolochko, Petro. Sviatyi Volodymyr; Iaroslav Mudryi (Kyiv 1996)

By: Arkadii Zhukovsky

This topic of Vikings and Rus brings to mind a fascinating piece of Christian history, regarding St. Andrew, the first-called.

St. Andrew is known as the founder of the Church at Byzantium, as well as other places, and reportedly traveled to what later became Ukraine.

According to legend, he prophesied the rise of a great city on the hills of Kyiv, although there was no town there at the time.

He also is notable as a patron Saint of Scotland. Can it be that the Vikings carried Christianity from eastern Europe to Scotland long before St. Volodymyr? Or did St. Andrew himself travel all the way to Scotland?

"He also is notable as a patron Saint of Scotland. Can it be that the Vikings carried Christianity from eastern Europe to Scotland long before St. Volodymyr? Or did St. Andrew himself travel all the way to Scotland? "

Well, No and No.
There seems to be a thousand year gap between the two suggestions.
If you're interested, the peoples who went into the make up of Scotland became Christian centuries before the Scandinavians,
The Britons in Southern Scotland were christianised by St Ninian around 400 AD. He also converted the Southern Picts.
St Columba landed in Iona in 563 and ministered to the "Scots" - the Gaelic-speaking settlers. He also established Christianity among the Northern Picts.
The Viking raids began in the early ninth century and destroyed the Picts, allowing the Scots to dominate. Iona suffered badly, leading the community there to give up and retreat to Ireland.
The Norsemen settled in the Northern and Western Isles, and the tip of the Scottish mainland.
Earl Magnus of Orkney became a Christian and was martyred for his pains in 1117. His bones were buried in the Cathedral at Kirkwall which is dedicated to him.

Vikings Christians? For several centuries one of the Vikings'
favorite sports was destroying monasteries and killing monks,
not only in Scotland, but in England, Ireland, Wales,France
and wherever else their long-ships would take them. Read
a wee bit of history, eh?

Being partly of West Highland blood,I am undoubtedly
descended from a whole lot of these bloody savages and not
at all happy about it.

Edmac

This is what I thought was the case.

Maybe I didn't phrase things very well. I'm curious as to how St. Andrew came to be a patron saint of Scotland.

Dear Edmac,

There, there. None of us is responsible for his ancestors - we are all descended from Adam and Eve, which is pride enough for a beggar and shame enough for an Emperor!

Fr. Serge