Vladimir the Great, Saint

VLADIMIR THE GREAT, Saint. - Son of the Norman-Russian prince Sviatoslav and of Malfreda, a woman in the retinue of his wife; in opposition to his brother Yaropolk he was educated as a pagan, as was also his father; d. in 1015.

After the latter's death (972), which occurred in Bulgaria during a war, V. was forced to flee from Novgorod, where he was staying with his uncle Dobrynya, to Scandinavia. Having returned to his native country, he defeated his brother Yaropolk and installed himself at Kiev. For a long time he lived as a pagan: he had several wives, among whom some were Christian, and he venerated his gods even with human sacrifices. Waging war against the Bohemians and the Byzantines, he became very famous. Therefore the Byzantine emperors Basil II and Constantine VIII requested his help when they found themselves facing an insurrection that certain generals had raised against them. V. asked as recompense the hand of their sister Anna. Seeing no way of escape, the two emperors consented on condition that he become a Christian. After some hesitation on the part of the Emperors and after an energetic gesture by V. against the city of Cherson, the marriage was celebrated, and V. became a Christian, taking the name Basil. Having returned to Kiev, the new Christian had the entire population of his Kingdom baptized, and for the liturgy the Byzantine rite in the Slavic language was adopted. Of the new Church scarcely the name of one or two bishops is known. Probably V. wished to keep himself free from subjugation, even merely ecclesiastical, to the Byzantine authorities. He also kept himself free from the political-religious influence of the German Empire of Otto. With the popes he had the normal relations that at that time were usual for a prince of his condition; he exchanged legations with them and recognized those whom his Byzantine brothers-in-law recognized. He built at Kiev a church in honor of the Madonna, the cult of which he left as an inheritance to his people.

V. was certainly one of the most important figures in the history of the lands that today form the Republic of Ukraine. He belongs to it for geographical reasons, and for dynastic reasons as the progenitor of the family that for centuries reigned there. But above all he belongs to all the lands where Eastern Slavs dwell, as the prince who brought Christianity there in union with the Roman see.

Alberto M. Ammann