1 00:00:01,040 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you missed in History Class from house 2 00:00:04,320 --> 00:00:13,480 Speaker 1: stop works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,680 --> 00:00:17,200 Speaker 1: I'm Holly and I am Tracy V. Wilson, and today 4 00:00:17,239 --> 00:00:20,119 Speaker 1: we're going back in the way back machine to the 5 00:00:21,079 --> 00:00:24,680 Speaker 1: advent of Christianity in Russia, which is kind of fascinating 6 00:00:24,680 --> 00:00:27,600 Speaker 1: and it's quite a ways back, and it's an interesting story, 7 00:00:27,720 --> 00:00:31,640 Speaker 1: and it's centers around Vladimir the First, who sometimes called 8 00:00:31,680 --> 00:00:35,040 Speaker 1: Vladimir the Great and sometimes Vladimir the Red Son and 9 00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:39,600 Speaker 1: sometimes St. Vladimir because he is credited with bringing Christianity 10 00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:43,920 Speaker 1: to Russia. So, Vladimir was born around and his father 11 00:00:44,080 --> 00:00:47,479 Speaker 1: was Fiatislav the First, who was Grand Prince of Kiev 12 00:00:48,080 --> 00:00:50,479 Speaker 1: and at this point Kiev was the capital of Kievan 13 00:00:50,600 --> 00:00:54,760 Speaker 1: russ which was the first Eastern Slavic state. His mother, 14 00:00:56,000 --> 00:00:59,920 Speaker 1: according to legend, was actually a slave Milusha, his grand 15 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:05,760 Speaker 1: other Olga's housekeeper. Yeah, so there's some um that it 16 00:01:05,880 --> 00:01:09,440 Speaker 1: would sound a little bit weird for someone who's born 17 00:01:09,480 --> 00:01:13,240 Speaker 1: to like the Staff, who was kind of slavery Staff, 18 00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:17,119 Speaker 1: to be considered a royal. But despite having a non 19 00:01:17,120 --> 00:01:21,560 Speaker 1: noble mother, as the natural son of Siatislav, Vladimir's was 20 00:01:21,600 --> 00:01:25,880 Speaker 1: still considered an air as a child, his grandmother Olga 21 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:29,440 Speaker 1: was a huge part of his life. Grand Prince Fiatislav 22 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:33,160 Speaker 1: spent a great deal of time away from Kiev on campaigns, 23 00:01:33,240 --> 00:01:36,800 Speaker 1: and because Olga had proved to be a capable regent 24 00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:39,720 Speaker 1: when she ruled while he was a child, she filled 25 00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:41,200 Speaker 1: in as the head of state and the head of 26 00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:45,560 Speaker 1: the family. And Olga's involvement in Vladimir's early life is 27 00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:49,280 Speaker 1: really noteworthy because she was a really early adopter of 28 00:01:49,360 --> 00:01:53,600 Speaker 1: Greek Orthodox Christianity in Kievan Rush. She had traveled to 29 00:01:53,640 --> 00:01:57,400 Speaker 1: Constantinople to be baptized into the religion right around about 30 00:01:57,440 --> 00:02:00,919 Speaker 1: the same time that Vladimir was born, probably a little before, 31 00:02:00,960 --> 00:02:03,400 Speaker 1: depending on which account you're reading, and that was really 32 00:02:03,480 --> 00:02:05,840 Speaker 1: unusual at the time. There were not many people baptized 33 00:02:05,840 --> 00:02:10,280 Speaker 1: into Christianity living in Kievan Ruce then it was primarily pagan, 34 00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:16,640 Speaker 1: so Grand Prince Sviatoslav died in nine Two before his death, 35 00:02:16,720 --> 00:02:19,760 Speaker 1: he had divided up Kevin Ruce among his three sons, 36 00:02:20,320 --> 00:02:23,960 Speaker 1: so Vladimir had two older brothers. Yara Polk was the 37 00:02:23,960 --> 00:02:28,720 Speaker 1: oldest and Oleg was the middle. Sviatoslav's death started just 38 00:02:28,919 --> 00:02:31,720 Speaker 1: really a lot of infighting among the three brothers about 39 00:02:31,760 --> 00:02:35,360 Speaker 1: who should be his successor, and at the time euro 40 00:02:35,440 --> 00:02:38,840 Speaker 1: Polk was Prince of Kiev and Vladimir was Prince of 41 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:43,000 Speaker 1: Novogrod to the north and nearro. Polk is said to 42 00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:46,320 Speaker 1: have been really ambitious and quite pushy, and those are 43 00:02:46,320 --> 00:02:50,160 Speaker 1: traits that played out very clearly when he ousted Vladimir 44 00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:52,920 Speaker 1: from his position in Novogrod. So he perceived him as 45 00:02:52,919 --> 00:02:55,400 Speaker 1: a threat and used his power to get rid of 46 00:02:55,440 --> 00:02:58,919 Speaker 1: one of the potential um people who would compete with 47 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:03,239 Speaker 1: him for the leadership of Kievan rus And. So Vladimir 48 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:07,520 Speaker 1: fled to Scandinavia with the plan to gather an army. 49 00:03:07,520 --> 00:03:11,280 Speaker 1: While he was away, Yuropolk also fought his brother Oleg 50 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:14,360 Speaker 1: of the Drevelyans, and Oleg was killed in battle in 51 00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:19,000 Speaker 1: nine seventy seven, and in nine seventy nine, Vladimir, who 52 00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:21,080 Speaker 1: at that point would have been around twenty three years old, 53 00:03:21,480 --> 00:03:23,720 Speaker 1: returned to Russia with an army of his own and 54 00:03:24,200 --> 00:03:28,400 Speaker 1: openly declared war on Europolk. Vladimir launched a seed on 55 00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:32,440 Speaker 1: Kiev in nine eight. He duked euro Polk into a 56 00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:36,279 Speaker 1: negotiation meeting and then killed him while he was unprotected. 57 00:03:36,640 --> 00:03:38,680 Speaker 1: So for all of that army raising. It was kind 58 00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:42,600 Speaker 1: of just uh wit and sneakery that got rid of 59 00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:46,640 Speaker 1: the competition in that case. And so with Europolk out 60 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:50,080 Speaker 1: of the picture and Oleg already died in his dealings 61 00:03:50,080 --> 00:03:53,600 Speaker 1: with Europolk, Vladimir the First became the sole ruler of 62 00:03:53,720 --> 00:03:58,000 Speaker 1: Kievan russ So, since he's often referred to as St. 63 00:03:58,080 --> 00:04:01,640 Speaker 1: Vladimir and he's associated with Christianity, it may come as 64 00:04:01,640 --> 00:04:05,160 Speaker 1: a surprise to some people that once he took over 65 00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:08,120 Speaker 1: as Grand Prince of Kiev, he made a conscious effort 66 00:04:08,440 --> 00:04:13,360 Speaker 1: to embrace paganism and to bolster its presence in Kevin Rys. 67 00:04:14,040 --> 00:04:17,240 Speaker 1: Vladimir is also characterized as being kind of brutal and 68 00:04:17,279 --> 00:04:20,600 Speaker 1: bloodthirsty at this point in his life, and some of 69 00:04:20,640 --> 00:04:24,359 Speaker 1: his early acts as grand prints include he built a 70 00:04:24,360 --> 00:04:28,000 Speaker 1: pagan temple in the capitol and he actually began thanking 71 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:32,320 Speaker 1: the gods for good fortune with human sacrifice. Uh And 72 00:04:32,440 --> 00:04:35,400 Speaker 1: some attribute his leader shift to Christianity as having been 73 00:04:35,400 --> 00:04:40,599 Speaker 1: catalyzed actually by part of an early sacrifice where his 74 00:04:40,760 --> 00:04:43,960 Speaker 1: chosen victim was a Christian and he came to view 75 00:04:44,240 --> 00:04:47,120 Speaker 1: that victim, who was a young boy, and that victim's 76 00:04:47,160 --> 00:04:50,080 Speaker 1: father who was killed by an angry mob while he 77 00:04:50,120 --> 00:04:52,320 Speaker 1: was trying to refuse to give up his son for 78 00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:57,000 Speaker 1: a religion he didn't believe in. Uh as kind of 79 00:04:57,040 --> 00:05:01,400 Speaker 1: the thing that really got Vladimir thinking about the different 80 00:05:01,440 --> 00:05:05,600 Speaker 1: aspects of religion and how different people view um spirituality 81 00:05:05,800 --> 00:05:10,560 Speaker 1: and you know, to clearly very strongly held beliefs that 82 00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:13,760 Speaker 1: were at odds with one another, and some historians really 83 00:05:14,040 --> 00:05:16,680 Speaker 1: pinpoint that moment as what catalyzed him to kind of 84 00:05:16,720 --> 00:05:19,080 Speaker 1: become a little bit of a religious scholar and a 85 00:05:19,120 --> 00:05:25,200 Speaker 1: religious analyst going forward. He also had five wives and 86 00:05:25,240 --> 00:05:31,200 Speaker 1: an alleged eight hundred concubines, which seems excessive. Yeah, I mean, 87 00:05:31,200 --> 00:05:33,240 Speaker 1: I'm presuming some of those people never even met him 88 00:05:33,279 --> 00:05:35,280 Speaker 1: at that point. It's just kind of like a show 89 00:05:35,279 --> 00:05:38,000 Speaker 1: of power, well and a show of wealth too, because 90 00:05:38,080 --> 00:05:40,640 Speaker 1: he would need to house and feed and exclude all 91 00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:44,800 Speaker 1: of those concubines. And he also, uh was pretty popular 92 00:05:44,839 --> 00:05:48,640 Speaker 1: at this point because he expanded kievan Ruth's borders pretty significantly, 93 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:52,760 Speaker 1: So UH he kind of really instituted the paganism thing. 94 00:05:53,080 --> 00:05:57,120 Speaker 1: But he was doing a lot of um, really good 95 00:05:57,160 --> 00:06:00,640 Speaker 1: things for the country in terms of expanding its power base. 96 00:06:01,839 --> 00:06:03,719 Speaker 1: So it's kind of you know that that was his 97 00:06:03,800 --> 00:06:06,080 Speaker 1: early stage. He really kind of got in there and 98 00:06:06,240 --> 00:06:09,560 Speaker 1: made some reforms really quickly and really kind of established 99 00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:13,919 Speaker 1: his position. Having been exposed to different ideologies during his 100 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:18,560 Speaker 1: campaigns and feeling pretty unsatisfied as a pagan, he's said 101 00:06:18,600 --> 00:06:21,760 Speaker 1: to have started thinking about religion and faith more and more, 102 00:06:22,279 --> 00:06:24,760 Speaker 1: and he also started to think about uniting all of 103 00:06:24,800 --> 00:06:29,040 Speaker 1: the various factions within his rule under one religion. So 104 00:06:29,640 --> 00:06:32,560 Speaker 1: once words spread that the Grand Prince was sort of 105 00:06:32,560 --> 00:06:36,440 Speaker 1: shopping for a faith and really turning over concepts of 106 00:06:36,640 --> 00:06:39,880 Speaker 1: spirituality and faith in his mind. Uh, it said that 107 00:06:39,920 --> 00:06:42,919 Speaker 1: holy men from all over traveled to Kievan Ruth to 108 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:47,760 Speaker 1: kind of pitch their ideologies to Vladimir. Some histories suggests 109 00:06:47,760 --> 00:06:50,599 Speaker 1: that he actually called them there, although he does have 110 00:06:50,960 --> 00:06:53,800 Speaker 1: a different directive leader where he does ask for information 111 00:06:53,839 --> 00:06:56,640 Speaker 1: about religions, but others say that these people just kind 112 00:06:56,680 --> 00:06:59,040 Speaker 1: of took the initiative to go tell him about their 113 00:06:59,040 --> 00:07:01,360 Speaker 1: religion when they found out he was ready to hear 114 00:07:01,400 --> 00:07:05,799 Speaker 1: about how other people worshiped. According to the Chronicle of Nestor, 115 00:07:06,279 --> 00:07:10,680 Speaker 1: in seven he gathered advisors and Kiev city elders and 116 00:07:11,840 --> 00:07:16,160 Speaker 1: he had the following query. There have come to me Bulgarians, 117 00:07:16,200 --> 00:07:19,680 Speaker 1: who said, except our religion. Then came the Germans, and 118 00:07:19,720 --> 00:07:23,120 Speaker 1: they praised their religion. After them came the Jews, But 119 00:07:23,200 --> 00:07:26,160 Speaker 1: after them came the Greeks, who spoke slightingly of all 120 00:07:26,360 --> 00:07:29,960 Speaker 1: the other religions, but praised their own. They spoke much 121 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:33,200 Speaker 1: about the beginning of the universe and the existence of 122 00:07:33,240 --> 00:07:36,400 Speaker 1: the whole world, their cunning of speech, and talk so 123 00:07:36,480 --> 00:07:39,600 Speaker 1: pleasantly that it is a pleasure to hear them. They 124 00:07:39,640 --> 00:07:42,000 Speaker 1: say that there is another world, and that if anyone 125 00:07:42,160 --> 00:07:44,800 Speaker 1: enters into their faith, he would live after his death 126 00:07:44,960 --> 00:07:48,440 Speaker 1: and would not die for eternity, but if he accepts 127 00:07:48,480 --> 00:07:51,840 Speaker 1: any other faith, he would burn in the other world. Now, 128 00:07:52,000 --> 00:07:54,840 Speaker 1: what council do you give me? What is your answer? 129 00:07:55,680 --> 00:08:02,280 Speaker 1: And his advisors uh gave a pretty interesting, I think response, 130 00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:04,040 Speaker 1: which is that they were like, hey, you know what 131 00:08:04,200 --> 00:08:06,560 Speaker 1: everybody is going to say their religion is the best. 132 00:08:07,280 --> 00:08:10,440 Speaker 1: Of course, you know there will be those who uh 133 00:08:10,520 --> 00:08:14,080 Speaker 1: downplay the benefits or the validity of another religion, and 134 00:08:14,160 --> 00:08:15,880 Speaker 1: they're all going to tell you that there's is the 135 00:08:15,920 --> 00:08:19,520 Speaker 1: one uh. And they said, you know, the only way 136 00:08:19,560 --> 00:08:21,160 Speaker 1: you're really going to get a real sense of this 137 00:08:21,920 --> 00:08:25,040 Speaker 1: is if you witness them, and so the elders suggested 138 00:08:25,080 --> 00:08:28,120 Speaker 1: that he may make use of his resources and send 139 00:08:28,480 --> 00:08:30,640 Speaker 1: you know, trusted men to go visit the places where 140 00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:33,240 Speaker 1: all of these faiths were practiced. And Vladimir thought this 141 00:08:33,280 --> 00:08:37,520 Speaker 1: was a great plan, and so uh he sent ambassadors 142 00:08:37,520 --> 00:08:39,600 Speaker 1: out to all these religions, and they worshiped with other 143 00:08:39,640 --> 00:08:43,320 Speaker 1: people and saw their their behaviors and their rituals. And 144 00:08:43,360 --> 00:08:46,600 Speaker 1: then they came and reported back to him. I feel 145 00:08:46,600 --> 00:08:48,720 Speaker 1: like we should call this are you there, God, it's 146 00:08:48,720 --> 00:08:54,640 Speaker 1: me Vladimir. I also call it choosing my religions. So, 147 00:08:54,720 --> 00:08:57,040 Speaker 1: based on all these reports and the information that he 148 00:08:57,120 --> 00:08:59,360 Speaker 1: gathered while listening to the holy men who came to 149 00:08:59,440 --> 00:09:05,560 Speaker 1: give Grand Prince Vladimir the First determined the following Islam 150 00:09:05,880 --> 00:09:10,640 Speaker 1: was too restrictive for Russians. Western Catholic Christianity had already 151 00:09:10,640 --> 00:09:14,679 Speaker 1: been rejected by his ancestors, and his research ambassadors found 152 00:09:14,679 --> 00:09:19,600 Speaker 1: it lacking in beauty. He rejected Judaism as weak, having 153 00:09:19,640 --> 00:09:22,240 Speaker 1: been of no benefit and helping the Jews keep their 154 00:09:22,240 --> 00:09:27,400 Speaker 1: own territory, and Eastern Byzantine Christianity also known as Eastern 155 00:09:27,520 --> 00:09:32,000 Speaker 1: Orthodox Christianity, was really the most appealing to Vladimir his envoys, 156 00:09:32,080 --> 00:09:34,800 Speaker 1: saying it's praises when they came back, and they rather 157 00:09:34,840 --> 00:09:38,760 Speaker 1: repsodically talked about the services that they attended. His advisers 158 00:09:38,880 --> 00:09:42,120 Speaker 1: invoked his grandmother Olga's name when they were talking to him, saying, 159 00:09:42,320 --> 00:09:44,920 Speaker 1: if the Greek religion were not the best, your wise 160 00:09:44,960 --> 00:09:49,199 Speaker 1: grandmother would not have adopted it. However, even though at 161 00:09:49,200 --> 00:09:51,800 Speaker 1: this point he seemed pretty convinced and he had settled 162 00:09:51,800 --> 00:09:54,840 Speaker 1: on the Greek Orthodox religion, he didn't convert right away. 163 00:09:55,400 --> 00:09:57,000 Speaker 1: He was kind of like, yeah, that's the best one. 164 00:09:57,120 --> 00:09:58,600 Speaker 1: I'm going to come back to this. I got some 165 00:09:58,600 --> 00:10:02,160 Speaker 1: other stuff to do. But his final the final tipping 166 00:10:02,160 --> 00:10:06,040 Speaker 1: point in his conversion, actually happened during a military campaign. 167 00:10:07,440 --> 00:10:11,280 Speaker 1: It's possible that his pride kept him from asking for 168 00:10:11,400 --> 00:10:16,680 Speaker 1: instruction on baptism into the religion. So his next step 169 00:10:16,800 --> 00:10:20,040 Speaker 1: was to march into Byzantine, the home of the Greek 170 00:10:20,160 --> 00:10:23,959 Speaker 1: Orthodox religion and a friend of kevin Us, and take 171 00:10:24,080 --> 00:10:27,559 Speaker 1: the city of Courson. He then demanded a marriage to 172 00:10:27,679 --> 00:10:32,840 Speaker 1: Byzantine Emperor's Basil the second and Constantine the eight sister Anna, 173 00:10:33,160 --> 00:10:36,600 Speaker 1: saying that he would attack Constantinople if they did not agree, 174 00:10:37,280 --> 00:10:39,800 Speaker 1: and the marriage to Anna was approved, but on the 175 00:10:39,800 --> 00:10:43,000 Speaker 1: condition that Grand Prince Vladimir would convert and be baptized 176 00:10:43,000 --> 00:10:46,079 Speaker 1: prior to the wedding. So there have been some theorists 177 00:10:46,080 --> 00:10:48,480 Speaker 1: that say, like he kind of orchestrated this whole thing 178 00:10:48,559 --> 00:10:51,120 Speaker 1: knowing that they would force him to be baptized, which 179 00:10:51,120 --> 00:10:54,200 Speaker 1: he wanted to do anyway. So in kind of a 180 00:10:54,280 --> 00:10:57,359 Speaker 1: magical case of I was totally going to do that anyway, 181 00:10:57,679 --> 00:11:02,360 Speaker 1: Vladimir agreed to this whole arrangement. UH, several priests traveled 182 00:11:02,360 --> 00:11:07,440 Speaker 1: with Anna to Courson and to perform the baptism and ceremony, 183 00:11:07,720 --> 00:11:12,560 Speaker 1: and there is an additional mystical element link to this event. Allegedly, 184 00:11:12,679 --> 00:11:15,600 Speaker 1: Vladimir had been having vision problems and in the moment 185 00:11:15,600 --> 00:11:18,920 Speaker 1: of his baptism, he was instantly cured of them, and 186 00:11:18,960 --> 00:11:22,760 Speaker 1: it cemented his new faith. So Vladimir at the first 187 00:11:22,800 --> 00:11:25,600 Speaker 1: returned to Kiv with his new Christian bride and a 188 00:11:25,679 --> 00:11:29,480 Speaker 1: handful of priests and immediately tore down the pagan temple 189 00:11:29,760 --> 00:11:34,040 Speaker 1: and started instituting Christianity in his country. There's even a 190 00:11:34,120 --> 00:11:37,480 Speaker 1: dramatic story of Vladimir ordering his men to drag a 191 00:11:37,520 --> 00:11:40,480 Speaker 1: particular wooden statue to a river and beat it with 192 00:11:40,640 --> 00:11:43,680 Speaker 1: rods and disdain for the devil, and in punishment of 193 00:11:43,800 --> 00:11:48,640 Speaker 1: him for seducing the people with false idolatry. And Vladimir 194 00:11:48,720 --> 00:11:52,320 Speaker 1: decreed shortly thereafter that all of Russia must be baptized, 195 00:11:52,800 --> 00:11:55,800 Speaker 1: and again from the chronicle of Nestor, those who day 196 00:11:55,840 --> 00:11:57,920 Speaker 1: after tomorrow do not appear on the bank of the 197 00:11:58,000 --> 00:12:01,520 Speaker 1: river rich or poor will be considered as rebels and traders. 198 00:12:01,880 --> 00:12:05,560 Speaker 1: The day following, Vladimir, accompanied by priests, those of the 199 00:12:05,600 --> 00:12:09,520 Speaker 1: Empress and those of Kerstone, went to Naper which there 200 00:12:09,640 --> 00:12:12,520 Speaker 1: was gathered an innumerable crowd of men who entered into 201 00:12:12,520 --> 00:12:15,280 Speaker 1: the water, some up to the neck, others only to 202 00:12:15,320 --> 00:12:18,080 Speaker 1: the chest. The children stayed on the bank and were 203 00:12:18,080 --> 00:12:22,040 Speaker 1: covered with water. Some plunged into the river, others swam 204 00:12:22,080 --> 00:12:24,680 Speaker 1: here and there while the priests read their prayers, and 205 00:12:24,720 --> 00:12:28,160 Speaker 1: this formed a spectacle tremendously curious and beautiful to see. 206 00:12:28,559 --> 00:12:31,120 Speaker 1: At last, when all of the people were baptized, each 207 00:12:31,160 --> 00:12:34,880 Speaker 1: returned to his home. So that entry in the chronicle 208 00:12:34,960 --> 00:12:38,760 Speaker 1: is about the mass baptism at Kiev. However, in Novgora 209 00:12:38,960 --> 00:12:41,520 Speaker 1: and some of the other smaller cities, things really did 210 00:12:41,559 --> 00:12:44,280 Speaker 1: not go nearly that smoothly. There was a lot of 211 00:12:44,320 --> 00:12:48,200 Speaker 1: resistance to the baptism order. Military troops kept crowds in order, 212 00:12:48,200 --> 00:12:51,120 Speaker 1: and the baptism went on, but paganism was still practiced 213 00:12:51,120 --> 00:12:54,440 Speaker 1: in secret in many areas for quite some time, and 214 00:12:54,520 --> 00:12:57,440 Speaker 1: it as an interesting aside. The date of the what's 215 00:12:57,480 --> 00:13:00,120 Speaker 1: called quote the Baptism of Russia is a matter or 216 00:13:00,120 --> 00:13:04,480 Speaker 1: of some debate. It's sometimes listed as September one, sometimes 217 00:13:04,520 --> 00:13:07,760 Speaker 1: of August one of that year. Other accounts listed as 218 00:13:07,800 --> 00:13:11,880 Speaker 1: happening the following year in and many virsions have it 219 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:15,480 Speaker 1: taking place not just on one momentous day, but actually 220 00:13:15,480 --> 00:13:17,719 Speaker 1: over the course of time as officials travel from one 221 00:13:17,720 --> 00:13:20,880 Speaker 1: city to another. And apparently scholars are still kind of 222 00:13:20,920 --> 00:13:23,640 Speaker 1: deeply debating this, and there has not been a consensus 223 00:13:23,679 --> 00:13:29,880 Speaker 1: about it. So although Vladimir is most famous for converting 224 00:13:29,960 --> 00:13:34,000 Speaker 1: Russia's official religion, he had many other achievements during the 225 00:13:34,000 --> 00:13:36,560 Speaker 1: time that he ran in the country. It said that 226 00:13:36,920 --> 00:13:40,120 Speaker 1: his bloodthirst, which had been evident earlier in his time, 227 00:13:40,800 --> 00:13:45,600 Speaker 1: had vanished, and he became a thoughtful politician. He fostered 228 00:13:45,640 --> 00:13:48,839 Speaker 1: literacy in Russia and established schools where children from all 229 00:13:48,880 --> 00:13:51,520 Speaker 1: walks of life were welcome to learn uh and they 230 00:13:51,559 --> 00:13:54,600 Speaker 1: primarily were taught about religion and trained for religious service. 231 00:13:55,200 --> 00:13:57,880 Speaker 1: And allegedly he even nused some of the scholars that 232 00:13:57,960 --> 00:14:00,960 Speaker 1: he had counted on when he was making his decisions 233 00:14:00,960 --> 00:14:05,440 Speaker 1: about transitioning Russia over to Christianity as teachers there at 234 00:14:05,440 --> 00:14:08,559 Speaker 1: the school. So they were kids from all walks of life. 235 00:14:08,559 --> 00:14:11,440 Speaker 1: We're getting an education from pretty highly educated men, which 236 00:14:11,440 --> 00:14:16,000 Speaker 1: is pretty unusual at time. He started multiple outreach programs 237 00:14:16,040 --> 00:14:19,920 Speaker 1: for the poor, even establishing a tradition of delivering food 238 00:14:19,960 --> 00:14:22,680 Speaker 1: to the needy, and he also held a feast every 239 00:14:22,720 --> 00:14:26,240 Speaker 1: Sunday for Kiev citizens. And he's also said to have 240 00:14:26,320 --> 00:14:29,360 Speaker 1: sown the seeds for religious art and architecture in Russia. 241 00:14:29,760 --> 00:14:33,680 Speaker 1: So whenever you see that amazing Russian iconography that has 242 00:14:33,720 --> 00:14:36,240 Speaker 1: become so famous, a lot of that can be traced 243 00:14:36,240 --> 00:14:40,320 Speaker 1: back to the roots that Vladimir swed. Vladimir's Christian wife, 244 00:14:40,320 --> 00:14:43,640 Speaker 1: Anna died in ten eleven. We should note that he 245 00:14:43,680 --> 00:14:46,880 Speaker 1: did have other wives and lots and lots and lives 246 00:14:46,920 --> 00:14:51,080 Speaker 1: of children. And then in ten twenty four, Vladimir's two 247 00:14:51,120 --> 00:14:56,920 Speaker 1: oldest sons, Swiatta polk Tarovsky and Yaroslav of Novgorod, revolted 248 00:14:56,960 --> 00:15:00,440 Speaker 1: against their father. Uh Seattle, Polk was put in prison 249 00:15:00,880 --> 00:15:03,520 Speaker 1: and Vladimir made preparations to go to war with the 250 00:15:03,520 --> 00:15:07,920 Speaker 1: Aaroslav But Vladimir actually died before battle ever began, on 251 00:15:08,040 --> 00:15:12,000 Speaker 1: July fifteen, at the age of fifty nine, and he 252 00:15:12,040 --> 00:15:14,200 Speaker 1: had ruled at that point for thirty five years and 253 00:15:14,240 --> 00:15:20,840 Speaker 1: had completely changed Russian culture, which is pretty astonishing and 254 00:15:20,880 --> 00:15:23,240 Speaker 1: it is very bizarre to me. I think what drew 255 00:15:23,280 --> 00:15:28,080 Speaker 1: me to this particular subject is the reversal that he has, 256 00:15:28,120 --> 00:15:29,960 Speaker 1: like that he kind of has this moment where he 257 00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:32,680 Speaker 1: decides he needs to become a scholar and make a 258 00:15:32,680 --> 00:15:35,360 Speaker 1: really informed decision about how to go forward and unite 259 00:15:35,400 --> 00:15:38,440 Speaker 1: his country. And you don't hear about that happening all 260 00:15:38,440 --> 00:15:41,040 Speaker 1: that often where someone completely renounces their early way of 261 00:15:41,080 --> 00:15:44,600 Speaker 1: life and changes their country and then does a lot 262 00:15:44,600 --> 00:15:47,560 Speaker 1: of other good works in the process. So it's pretty neat. 263 00:15:47,760 --> 00:15:49,960 Speaker 1: Well see why they call him St. Vladimir? Yeah, And 264 00:15:49,960 --> 00:15:53,320 Speaker 1: well and I was because you you did the research 265 00:15:53,400 --> 00:15:56,280 Speaker 1: legwork on this one, um. And what really struck me 266 00:15:56,440 --> 00:15:59,920 Speaker 1: was that sort of how tied to the Russian or 267 00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:04,720 Speaker 1: the docs religion. A lot of what we think of 268 00:16:04,760 --> 00:16:07,520 Speaker 1: as Russian culture still is, like you see all that 269 00:16:07,560 --> 00:16:13,640 Speaker 1: are really dramatic architecture, really dramatic artwork. Um My dad 270 00:16:13,680 --> 00:16:15,880 Speaker 1: tells a story about when he was in the Army 271 00:16:16,400 --> 00:16:19,840 Speaker 1: having the duty of going to a Russian Orthodox funeral 272 00:16:20,160 --> 00:16:24,280 Speaker 1: for one of the people in his unit. Um, and 273 00:16:24,360 --> 00:16:29,560 Speaker 1: just how really stunningly amazing it the whole, like the 274 00:16:29,680 --> 00:16:32,520 Speaker 1: church and the ceremony and the artwork and all of 275 00:16:32,560 --> 00:16:35,480 Speaker 1: that stuff was just like sort of an assault on 276 00:16:35,520 --> 00:16:42,000 Speaker 1: your senses. Just very dramatic, very Russian artwork and architecture 277 00:16:42,160 --> 00:16:45,760 Speaker 1: and spirituality all together. And it all has its roots here, 278 00:16:46,640 --> 00:16:49,160 Speaker 1: which is really neat. I also have a little bit 279 00:16:49,160 --> 00:16:51,720 Speaker 1: of male I normally ask you that, and I was 280 00:16:51,760 --> 00:16:54,440 Speaker 1: busy listening you were thinking about them, I was thinking 281 00:16:54,480 --> 00:16:58,720 Speaker 1: about damp And we're going to them the real space 282 00:16:58,800 --> 00:17:00,880 Speaker 1: mail today because we have done a lot of email 283 00:17:00,920 --> 00:17:03,560 Speaker 1: and Facebook stuff, but we continue to get wonderful postcards 284 00:17:03,560 --> 00:17:06,720 Speaker 1: from people and letters. First, all go to a letter 285 00:17:06,720 --> 00:17:12,040 Speaker 1: that we got from our listener, Chaplain Rick. He is 286 00:17:12,320 --> 00:17:14,879 Speaker 1: a U. S Army chaplain who has stationed in Europe. 287 00:17:14,880 --> 00:17:17,320 Speaker 1: So first, thank you for your service, Rick, uh. And 288 00:17:17,359 --> 00:17:20,040 Speaker 1: he shares with us some really interesting travels. He's gotten 289 00:17:20,040 --> 00:17:23,600 Speaker 1: to do some really interesting things. Um. He has led 290 00:17:23,640 --> 00:17:26,639 Speaker 1: retreats for soldiers in Rome working in cooperation with the 291 00:17:26,720 --> 00:17:30,200 Speaker 1: Vatican and staying at the Vatican priest House. He has 292 00:17:30,240 --> 00:17:34,040 Speaker 1: really traveled all over. He drives around to do his 293 00:17:34,280 --> 00:17:37,520 Speaker 1: work with different soldiers all over Europe, and so that's 294 00:17:37,520 --> 00:17:39,479 Speaker 1: when he's listening to the podcast, is when he's driving 295 00:17:39,640 --> 00:17:42,439 Speaker 1: and taking care of his assignments, which is awesome. And 296 00:17:42,480 --> 00:17:47,320 Speaker 1: he also sent us a beautiful um magnet with an 297 00:17:47,359 --> 00:17:51,520 Speaker 1: image of chest of schlash nuche Fonstein, which I love. 298 00:17:51,840 --> 00:17:56,800 Speaker 1: It's gorgeous, so thank you. And we also got a 299 00:17:56,840 --> 00:18:00,800 Speaker 1: beautiful postcard from our listener Andrew of the Inn Area Islands, 300 00:18:00,840 --> 00:18:03,439 Speaker 1: which is where he is at, and he mentions, uh, 301 00:18:03,480 --> 00:18:06,800 Speaker 1: the really interesting aboriginal history there and it would make 302 00:18:06,840 --> 00:18:09,439 Speaker 1: an excellent podcast topic and it is absolutely beautiful, So 303 00:18:09,520 --> 00:18:12,160 Speaker 1: thank you for that, Andrew. Uh. And then we also 304 00:18:12,200 --> 00:18:15,800 Speaker 1: got a postcard from our listener Christina the Traveler, who 305 00:18:15,880 --> 00:18:20,439 Speaker 1: has been in Romania for holiday, and she mentions that 306 00:18:20,480 --> 00:18:25,160 Speaker 1: she visited brand Castle, which is most often associated with Dracula, 307 00:18:25,200 --> 00:18:26,919 Speaker 1: and she says, did you know that the brand Castle 308 00:18:27,000 --> 00:18:31,560 Speaker 1: is not about Dracula, nor is it about lad Trepis trepsick. 309 00:18:31,800 --> 00:18:34,200 Speaker 1: I'm so sorry. I probably mispronounced that. Uh, it's about 310 00:18:34,280 --> 00:18:37,080 Speaker 1: Lad's wife, Queen Marie. His castle that he spent more 311 00:18:37,119 --> 00:18:39,919 Speaker 1: time at is on the other side of the mountains. Uh. 312 00:18:40,119 --> 00:18:42,080 Speaker 1: But I still have Romania, she says, And she sent 313 00:18:42,160 --> 00:18:45,240 Speaker 1: us a beautiful picture with a bunch of different Romanian 314 00:18:45,240 --> 00:18:49,120 Speaker 1: castles on it, including brand And We've gotten so many 315 00:18:49,119 --> 00:18:51,280 Speaker 1: postcards and I'm hoping to work my way through those 316 00:18:51,359 --> 00:18:55,120 Speaker 1: and also do um another edition of Listen While, where 317 00:18:55,160 --> 00:18:57,359 Speaker 1: we co laid all of the different things people do 318 00:18:57,400 --> 00:18:59,920 Speaker 1: while they listen to the podcast. So thank you to 319 00:19:00,080 --> 00:19:02,439 Speaker 1: all of you for writing those. I love getting a 320 00:19:02,480 --> 00:19:06,600 Speaker 1: gorgeous postcard, so I appreciate those a bunch. Uh. If 321 00:19:06,640 --> 00:19:08,360 Speaker 1: you would like to write us, you may do so 322 00:19:09,040 --> 00:19:12,200 Speaker 1: at History Podcast at Discovery dot com. You can also 323 00:19:12,280 --> 00:19:14,919 Speaker 1: connect with us on Twitter at missed in History and 324 00:19:15,119 --> 00:19:18,920 Speaker 1: on Facebook dot com slash history class Stuff are tumbler 325 00:19:19,040 --> 00:19:21,240 Speaker 1: is at missed in History dot tumbler dot com, and 326 00:19:21,240 --> 00:19:23,800 Speaker 1: we're also on Pinterest. If you would like to learn 327 00:19:23,800 --> 00:19:26,680 Speaker 1: a little bit about the topic we've discussed today, or 328 00:19:26,720 --> 00:19:28,720 Speaker 1: an angle of it, you can go to our website 329 00:19:28,760 --> 00:19:30,800 Speaker 1: and type in the word religion in the search bar 330 00:19:30,880 --> 00:19:32,760 Speaker 1: and you will get an interesting article called is the 331 00:19:32,800 --> 00:19:37,840 Speaker 1: Brain Hardwired for Religion? About humanity's need for spiritual order? UH. 332 00:19:37,960 --> 00:19:40,560 Speaker 1: You can research that and many other things at our website, 333 00:19:40,560 --> 00:19:46,679 Speaker 1: which is how stuff Works dot com for more on 334 00:19:46,760 --> 00:19:49,200 Speaker 1: this and bousands of other topics because it how stuff 335 00:19:49,200 --> 00:20:02,320 Speaker 1: works dot com. 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