Vladimir’s Birth & Early Life

Vladimir was born around 962 AD. He was the son of the Kiev prince Sviatoslav Igorevich and Malusha, a maidservant of Sviatoslav’s mother, Princess Olga. The chronicles recount that, after becoming angry with her slave, Olga exiled the girl to the remote settlement of Budutina. It was there that the future great saint was born. Soon after, Vladimir was taken away from his mother. He was raised in Kiev, at the court of his grandmother, Princess Olga. Yet for a long time he was haunted by the contemptuous nickname “robichich,” meaning “son of a slavewoman.”

Early Political Turmoil & the Novgorod Episode

In the summer of 969, shortly before his final departure for the Danube, Prince Sviatoslav divided the Rus’ lands among his sons. The eldest, Yaropolk, received Kiev; Oleg got the Drevlyan territory. At that time, merchants from Novgorod arrived in Kiev asking for a prince of their own. “If anyone comes to you, who will it be?” Sviatoslav mockingly asked them. Acting on the advice of Vladimir’s maternal uncle, Dobrynya, the Novgorodians requested that Sviatoslav appoint Malusha’s son (Vladimir) as their ruler. Sviatoslav agreed, and thus Vladimir, still a child, became the prince of Novgorod.

War with Brother Yaropolk & Beginning of Reign

Soon after, Sviatoslav died in the spring of 972, and his sons began to rule their lands completely independently. Around 977 a war broke out between Yaropolk and Oleg, which ended with Oleg’s death. Frightened by his brother’s demise, Vladimir, together with Dobrynya, fled from Novgorod “beyond the sea,” presumably to the Varangians—in the Scandinavian lands or the Baltic region. After some time, leading a hired Varangian army, they returned to Novgorod (which by then had been seized by Yaropolk’s deputies). Thus began the war between Vladimir and his brother. Victory favored Vladimir. In the summer of 978 he laid siege to Kiev. Yaropolk fled to the town of Rodnya (at the mouth of the Ros River, a tributary of the Dnieper), which was also besieged by Vladimir’s forces. Within Yaropolk’s encirclement a traitor appeared—a certain Blud. Vladimir entered into negotiations with him, and Blud persuaded Yaropolk to cease resistance and submit to his brother’s mercy. “Your dream has come true. I am bringing Yaropolk to you. Prepare to kill him,” Blud relayed these words to Vladimir.

And Vladimir resolved to commit fratricide. When Yaropolk entered Vladimir’s chambers, two Varangians standing at the doorway lifted him on their swords “under the breast.” Blud, who followed the prince, swiftly shut the doors, preventing Yaropolk’s servants from rushing to his aid. From this treacherous killing onward began Vladimir’s reign over Kiev, which lasted a lengthy thirty‑seven years.

Vladimir Before Conversion

The chroniclers do not spare dark colors when depicting Vladimir before his conversion to Christianity. He was cruel, vindictive, and generally possessed a variety of vices, foremost among them an excessive love of pleasure. At that time Vladimir had five legitimate wives. One of them, the Polotsk princess Rogneda, he forced to become his wife, starting a war with her father, the Polotsk prince Rogvolod, after Rogneda proudly rejected his proposal of marriage. After capturing Polotsk in the spring of 978, Vladimir dishonored Rogneda in front of her father and mother, and then killed both parents. Another of Vladimir’s wives was the widow of the slain Yaropolk—a Greek woman who had previously been a nun and was brought to Kiev by Prince Sviatoslav, who was struck by her beauty. In addition, according to the chronicle, Vladimir’s harem contained two Czech women and a Bulgar (most likely from Volga Bulgaria).

Beyond his legal wives, the prince had hundreds of concubines: “300 in Vyshgorod, 300 in Belgorod, and 200 in Berestovo, in the village.” Yet the concubines could not satisfy him. “He was insatiable in lust, taking married women and girls for himself, ravaging them,” the chronicler wrote of Vladimir with condemnation.

Early Paganism & the Creation of a Pagan Pantheon

At the beginning of his rule over Kiev, Vladimir was a staunch pagan and a fierce opponent of Christianity. Shortly after entering Kiev, he set up a genuine pagan pantheon on a hill near his palace, installing statues of the pagan gods — Perun, Khors, Dazhbog, Stribog, Simargl, and Mokosh. The statue of Perun, whom Vladimir elevated by his will to the chief deity of ancient Rus’, was also erected in other Old‑Russian towns.

State‑Building & Military Campaigns

Nevertheless, during those years Vladimir showed every possible concern for strengthening the state. He carried out several successful campaigns to the west and east (against the Poles, Yatviags, Volga Bulgars, and Khazars), brought under Kiev’s authority a number of East Slavic tribes (the Radimichi and Vyatichi), and annexed to Rus’ the so‑called “Red Cities” (Volhynia). Various regions of the Russian realm were bound together by stronger ties than before.

Vladimir’s pagan reform (the establishment of a pagan pantheon) demonstrates that the prince sought to introduce something new into the existing beliefs. The pantheon included deities representing the different ethnic groups of the Russian lands—Slavic, Finno‑Ugric, Baltic tribes, and remnants of the earlier Iranian population— all subordinated to the princely god Perun, and the introduction of a single, state‑wide cult of Perun for the whole country. This was intended to embody the unity of the Old‑Russian state, the supremacy of Kiev, and the authority of the Kiev prince.

Search for Faith & Diplomatic Envoys

However, this pagan reform, which only altered the outward appearance of the old gods, could not satisfy Vladimir. His personal quest for faith coincided with the demands of the age. Rus’ was gradually losing the characteristics of its former military federation of separate tribes and was turning into a unified state that was playing an increasingly important role in European and world politics. All of this strongly called for changes in the ideological sphere.

The chronicles and the Life of Saint Vladimir contain a detailed and vivid account of the baptism of the Kiev prince. Vladimir did not come to his faith immediately. The chronicle tells that first the prince received envoys from the Volga Bulgars (Muslims), the Latins, and the Khazar Jews, who offered him to adopt their law. Then a Greek philosopher came to Kiev, persuading Vladimir of the advantages of the Orthodox doctrine.

Vladimir chose “good and sensible men” and sent them to various countries so that they could compare, in practice, how different peoples worshiped God. Upon their return to Kiev, the “men” reported the beauty of Byzantine worship: “We did not know whether we were in heaven or on earth, for there is no such beauty on earth, and we cannot describe it. We only know that God dwells there with people, and their liturgy is better than in all other lands.” After consulting with the boyars and the “city elders” (representatives of municipal self‑government), Vladimir agreed that the Byzantine faith was superior to all others.

For a long time the story of Vladimir’s “testing of faith” was regarded as a fabrication, a kind of “fairy tale.” That is not the case. Rus’ was indeed surrounded by countries and peoples adhering to different confessions, and adherents of those confessions tried to attract the Kiev prince to their faith. The chronicle tradition is corroborated by foreign sources that record such embassies to Vladimir. (For example, there is evidence of an embassy of “King Buladmir” (Vladimir) to Khwarezm to discuss the possibility of the Rus adopting Islam.) Vladimir truly contemplated seriously the merits of various religions. But the fact that he ultimately chose Christianity—specifically its Eastern, Orthodox form—was certainly not accidental.

By the time of Vladimir’s reign, Rus’ had long known Christianity well. The nearest neighbors and kin of the Eastern Slavs—Poles, Czechs, Bulgarians—were already Christians. The crucial point was that, as with other Slavic peoples, the Russians had, a hundred years before Vladimir, gained the ability to encounter the Word of God in their native tongue. The Slavic liturgy, the sacred and liturgical books translated into Slavonic by the saints Cyril and Methodius—the pioneers of the Slavs—and their disciples, made it possible for Christianity to take root in Rus’, eventually becoming truly native to the people.

Chronicle Accounts of Vladimir’s Baptism

We do not know enough about the very baptism of Prince Vladimir – undoubtedly the pivotal event of his life – because the testimonies of the sources are highly contradictory. The chronicles report that Vladimir was baptized around 988 and link it to the capture by Russian troops of Korsun (Chersonesus), a Byzantine city in Crimea. According to the chronicle, Vladimir besieged the city for a long time but could not take it until one of its defenders, a certain Anastasius (later a close associate of Vladimir and the rector of the Kiev Ten‑Thousand Church), came to his aid and suggested digging up the water‑conduits that supplied the besieged city. Upon receiving this news, the prince swore an oath: he would be baptized if the city were taken. Korsun indeed fell, but Vladimir did not yet hurry to be baptized. He sent envoys to Constantinople, to the Byzantine emperors Basil and Constantine, demanding that they give him in marriage their porphyry‑born princess Anna. The emperors agreed, but on the strict condition that Vladimir first accept Christianity.

“Tell the kings this,” Vladimir addressed the emissaries of the emperors, “I will be baptized, for I have first tested your law, and I love your faith and the worship that the men we sent to you described to me.”

Princess Anna, accompanied by her retinue and priests, arrived in Korsun, where the inhabitants gave her a solemn welcome. Suddenly Vladimir was struck by a severe illness: “by Divine providence at that time Vladimir’s eyes became inflamed, so that he saw nothing, was greatly distressed, and did not know what to do.” Anna sent a messenger with these words: “If you wish to be rid of this disease, be baptized at once; otherwise you will not recover.” The prince ordered the bishop of Korsun and the priests who had come with the princess to baptize him. “And when the bishop laid his hand upon him, Vladimir instantly regained his sight.”

This is how the chronicle tells the story. Modern scholars, however, doubt this account, believing that the chronicle narrative combines several, sometimes contradictory, sources that presented the story of Vladimir’s conversion differently. Using data from other Russian sources (in particular the so‑called Memory and Praise of Prince Vladimir, compiled by Jacob Mnih and being the earliest known Life of Prince Vladimir) as well as foreign testimonies, researchers place the events surrounding the prince’s adoption of Christianity within the broader foreign‑policy context of the time and reconstruct the actual sequence of events as follows.

By the late 880s AD the Byzantine Empire was on the brink of a national catastrophe. A crushing defeat in the war with the Bulgarians (986) and, especially, the rebellion led by the famed Byzantine commander Bardas Skleros, who proclaimed himself emperor (987), forced the co‑emperors Basil II (the future “Bulgar‑slayer”) and Constantine VIII to seek military assistance from the Russian prince Vladimir. (This corresponded to the terms of the Russo‑Byzantine treaty concluded earlier by Vladimir’s father, Sviatoslav.) Vladimir promised to provide aid but, in return, demanded the hand of their porphyry‑born sister. The proud rulers of the Roman (Byzantine) empire were compelled to accept this unprecedented and humiliating demand, of course on the condition that Vladimir be baptized. In 987 or at the very beginning of 988, probably in Kiev, Vladimir underwent baptism. He received a new name—Basil, likely given in honor of the Byzantine Emperor Basil II. A six‑thousand‑strong Russian corps arrived in Constantinople and played the most active role in suppressing the rebellion; the Rus were decisive in defeating the forces of Bardas Skleros (who himself died in April 989). However, the emperors were slow to fulfill their promise regarding Vladimir’s marriage to Anna. Angered, Vladimir marched his army on Korsun and, after seizing the city, forced the Byzantines to submit. In Korsun the marriage of Vladimir to the Byzantine princess took place. Here, probably, many of the prince’s boyars and druzhinniki were also baptized. Leaving the city, Vladimir took with him many holy objects—church vessels, icons, the relics of Saint Clement of Rome and his disciple Phiva. He also seized antique statues and a quadriga of copper horses, later installed in Kiev near the Ten‑Thousand Church. The clergy of this Kiev church consisted of priests from Korsun, also taken by the prince from the conquered city. It is likely that the outstanding role of Korsun in the Christianisation of Rus contributed to the legend that Prince Vladimir was baptized specifically in that city. Howerver, this reconstruction of the events surrounding Vladimir’s conversion is not the only one.

Christinization of Rus'

After Vladimir’s return to Kiev in 989, the baptism of the people began. The chronicle recounts how Vladimir toppled the pagan idols he himself had set up a few years earlier.

“When he came to Kiev, Vladimir ordered the idols to be destroyed: some he cut down, others he cast into fire. As for Perun, he had him tied to a horse’s tail and dragged from the hill, and he placed twelve men to beat him with a staff. When they dragged him toward the Dnieper, the unbelieving people mourned him because they had not yet accepted the holy baptism.”

The prince commanded the idol to be melted and carried downstream, ensuring that it would not touch the shore until it passed the Dnieper rapids. Thus Rus’ bid farewell to its chief pagan god. After this, the Kievans were baptized. The chronicle records the words Vladimir addressed to his subjects: “If anyone does not come tomorrow to the river—whether rich, poor, beggar, or slave—let him be my opponent.”

The baptism of the Kievans took place in the waters of the Pochayna River, a tributary of the Dnieper (according to the Life of Prince Vladimir; the chronicle mentions baptism in the Dnieper). The sacrament was administered by priests “of the tsaritsa” (i.e., those who came to Rus’ with Princess Anna) and “of Korsun” (those brought by the prince from Korsun). On the site of the former pagan sanctuary a church of Saint Basil—heavenly patron of the prince—was erected. Later, Greek craftsmen built in Kiev the Church of the Holy Mother of God, known as the Ten‑Thousand Church, the principal temple of Kievan Rus’ in Vladimir’s era (the church was consecrated on 12 May 996). This church is linked to Vladimir’s most important ecclesiastical‑administrative reform: the establishment of the church tithe.

The Christianisation of Rus’ unfolded over several decades. Initially the new faith took root in the Dnieper basin and in certain princely cities. The process was not always peaceful. In Novgorod, according to later sources, violent clashes occurred between representatives of the princely administration and the local populace. In the northeastern part of Rus’, preaching of the Word of God apparently did not appear until the 11th century.

Vladimir in Folk Memory & Legendary Status

The adoption of Christianity completely transformed Prince Vladimir. There is no doubt that he embraced the new faith sincerely and with his whole heart. The chronicle and the princely Life most prominently highlight his extraordinary mercy and love for the poor. Having heard the Scripture passage “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy” (Matt. 5:7), Vladimir began to perform countless good deeds. He ordered that every poor and destitute person be allowed to come to the princely court and receive whatever they needed—food, drink, or money. Moreover, learning that the sick and infirm could not reach his court, the prince commanded that provisions be distributed to them throughout the city. “He ordered carts to be equipped and, loading them with breads, meat, fish, various vegetables, honey in barrels, and elsewhere kvass, to go around the city asking, ‘Where is the sick or the poor who cannot walk?’ and to give them everything they required,” the chronicler writes.

“Not only in Kiev but throughout the whole Rus’ land—both in towns and villages—he performed almsgiving, clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, gifting mercy to travelers, honoring and loving the clergy, and caring for the needy, orphans, widows, the blind, the crippled, and the ill—showing mercy, clothing, feeding, and giving drink to all. Thus Prince Vladimir lived in good works.” These are the words of Jacob Mnih, author of Memory and Praise of Prince Vladimir.

In the historical memory of the people, the Kiev prince entered not only as Vladimir the Saint but also as Vladimir the Red Sun—the legendary hero of Russian byliny (epic tales), served by all the heroic warriors of the sagas. The people loved him not only for his Christian virtues but also for his tireless dedication to defending the Russian lands. Vladimir faced the most arduous task of combating the Pechenegs, the chief enemies of Rus’ at the end of the 10th and the beginning of the 11th centuries. He constructed a kind of “frontier line” along the southern borders of his state, establishing fortified towns along the Desna, Oster, Trubezh, Sula, and Stuhna rivers. The forts were linked by a massive earthen rampart. The most famous of the forts he built was Belhorod on the Irpin River, deep within the Stugna defensive line. Vladimir populated these southern border forts with “the best people” from other parts of the country—people from the Novgorodian lands of the Slovenes, Krivichs, Chuds, and Vyatiches. The defense of Rus’ thus became a truly state‑wide affair, common to all the Slavic and non‑Slavic peoples inhabiting Rus’. In addition, this measure dealt a serious blow to the former tribal structure of the Russian state.

Vladimir's Sons, Continued Wars with Pechenegs, & Western Campaigns

In all the most important centers of Rus’, Vladimir’s sons were placed on the throne. In Novgorod the elder son Vysheslav ruled; in Polotsk – Iziaslav; in Turaŭ on the Prypiat River – Sviatopolk (the son of Prince Yaropolk Sviatoslavich, adopted by Vladimir); in Rostov – Yaroslav. After Vysheslav’s death (presumably around 1010), Yaroslav received Novgorod, and in his place Boris was transferred to Rostov. Gleb was settled in Murom, Vsevolod in Vladimir‑na‑Volyni, Sviatoslav in the Drevlya lands, Mstislav in Tmutorokani, Stanislav in Smolensk, and Sudislav in Pskov. (Prince Vladimir had a total of twelve sons.) Most of the named towns were old tribal centers that, thanks to Vladimir’s reforms, now were governed directly by the sons of the Kiev prince.

The wars with the Pechenegs continued with varying success almost uninterrupted throughout Vladimir’s reign. Vladimir suffered defeats many times. Once he narrowly avoided capture by hiding under a bridge near the town of Vasilyev (Vasyliv). The Pechenegs then withdrew without finding the prince and without causing significant damage to the Rus’ lands. This miraculous escape occurred on the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, 6 August 996. Vladimir then vowed to build the Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior in Vasilyev, and the vow was soon fulfilled.

The Primary Chronicle (the oldest surviving chronicle compilation) records several folk legends about the Pecheneg wars. One tells of a young “skin‑spear” warrior who defeated a “very terrible” Pecheneg hero in battle on the Trubezh River; in honor of this event, according to the chronicle, the town of Pereyaslav‑Yuzhny was founded. Another legend concerns the siege of the town of Belhorod (the tale of the “Belhorod jelly”). Thanks to the ingenuity of an elderly resident of Belhorod, the townspeople outwitted their attackers and forced them to lift the siege. Vladimir, who at the time was in Novgorod, was unable (or did not have time) to help the town’s inhabitants. Around 1007/08 a German missionary, Bruno of Quervort, visited Rus’ and attempted—though with little success—to preach Christianity among the Pechenegs. Through his mediation Vladimir managed to conclude peace with the nomads, sending one of his own sons to them as a hostage. Later chronicles recount that Vladimir himself baptized several Pecheneg princes who entered his service.

Vladimir also strengthened the western borders of his state. In 992 he led a campaign into the lands of the eastern‑Slavic tribe of the Croats and brought them under his rule. The chronicle mentions peaceful treaties that he concluded with the rulers of neighboring states—Poland, Bohemia, and Hungary. However, peace with Poland was short‑lived. In 1013 the Polish prince Bolesław attacked Rus’ in alliance with the Pechenegs; this time Vladimir succeeded in repelling the invaders. It is believed that the result of the peace concluded thereafter was the marriage of Vladimir’s stepson Sviatopolk to the daughter of Bolesław of Poland.

Final Years, Death, & Succession Crisis

In the last years of his life Vladimir was plagued by many worries concerning his sons. Soon after his marriage to Boleslava, Sviatopolk organized a conspiracy against his adoptive father. Foreign sources attest that the conspirators were the Polish prince Boleslav and Bishop Reinbern, the spiritual advisor of Sviatopolk’s wife. The plot was uncovered; Sviatopolk, his wife, and Reinbern were arrested. The Polish bishop died in captivity, while Sviatopolk and his spouse remained imprisoned until Vladimir’s own death. In 1014 another of Vladimir’s sons—Yaroslav of Novgorod (the future Yaroslav the Wise)—raised a rebellion. He refused to pay the annual tribute of 2,000 grivnas to Kiev. This provoked Vladimir’s fierce anger, and he announced a campaign against Novgorod.

However, God prevented a war between father and son. By then Vladimir was already old, frail, and afflicted with illnesses. One of those ailments kept him from leading a campaign against Yaroslav. Contemplating whom to name heir, Vladimir summoned his beloved son Boris to Kiev. At that time the Pechenegs again invaded Rus’. Vladimir was in great distress because he could not personally confront them; he handed his troops over to Boris. Boris went out against the Pechenegs, but found none: the nomads, hearing of the approaching army, withdrew back to the steppes. Vladimir, however, would not live to learn the outcome of this final Pecheneg war. On 15 July 1015 he died in the village of Berestove near Kiev. In Vladimir’s absence, with Boris gone, power in Kiev was seized by Sviatopolk, who had just been released from captivity. He tried to conceal his father’s death: “Vladimir died at Berestove, and his death was hidden because Sviatopolk was then in Kiev,” the chronicler reports. Yet the death of the great prince, who had done so much for his country and glorified his city, could not go unnoticed. Vladimir was buried in Kiev, in the Ten‑Thousand Church he had built, amid a massive gathering of the people, mourned by all Kievans—both boyars and the poor, the great and the humble. “The boyars wept for him as a defender of the land, and the poor wept for him as their protector and provider

Canonization & Posthumous Veneration

Russian people began venerating the memory of their Baptizer already in the 11th century. However, for reasons that are not entirely clear, the official canonization of Prince Vladimir was delayed by two centuries.

Only in the 13th century did the universal church begin to read the commemoration of Prince Vladimir into the calendar of saints. This was probably helped by the circumstance that on the feast day of Saint Vladimir (15 July) one of the glorious victories of Russian arms was achieved—the victory on the Neva, in which the retinue of the Novgorod prince, a descendant of Saint Vladimir, Alexander Yaroslavich (Alexander Nevsky), defeated the Swedish army.

The relics of Saint Prince Vladimir, like those of the blessed Princess Olga, shared the tragic fate of Kiev’s Ten‑Thousand Church, which was destroyed by the Tatars in 1240. For many centuries the saint’s tomb lay buried beneath the ruins of the church. In 1635 the Kiev Metropolitan Petro Mohyla seemed to have discovered the precious relics—two sarcophagi, one of which, in his opinion, contained the relics of Saint Vladimir. “For the remembrance of future generations,” the saint extracted from the tomb the head and the right‑hand fingers. Later the head was placed in the main church of Kiev’s Pechersk Lavra dedicated to the Assumption of the Most Holy Mother of God, and the fingers in Kiev’s Saint Sophia Cathedral. Part of the relics ended up in Moscow, in the Assumption Cathedral. Modern scholars, however, question the authenticity of this discovery.

The church commemorates the memory of the equal‑to‑the‑apostles Prince Vladimir on the day of his death—15 July (28 July in the New Style).