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Reasons for Vladimir I's Conversion to Christianity and How It Changed the Culture of Eastern Slavs

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What Motivated Vladimir I to convert to Christianity and how did the new religion change the culture of Eastern Slavs?

Paganism was a mental mindset of the Eastern Slavs living in a world where a majority of the European countries surrounding them had already converted to a monastic religion. Vladimir I, a great prince of Kiev, reigned from 980 till 1015 and succeeded in the mass conversion of the Eastern Slavs.1 Throughout his reign Vladimir’s agenda had always been to strengthen his empire, in order to be considered valuable among the dominate nations of the European family.2 The traditional view of Vladimir’s motivation for the conversion is that only after considering all monastic faiths, did he finally reach the decision of Eastern …show more content…

onfirming that Vladimir sent envoys to make personal enquires about their religious practices.15 Converting to a monastic religion was Kievan Rus’ chance to be adopted into the powerful European family, gain new allies and better trading opportunities.16 With the history of Eastern Orthodox Christianity in Russia, it was probably the most logical choice for Vladimir.17 Throughout Vladimir’s reign he campaigned against many surrounding tribes.18 His campaigns were carefully structured and executed accordingly.19 This is illustrated with the Varagians in Kiev itself, and then towards Slavonic and Lithuanian tribes in the north, who he overcame without any difficulty.20 These political elements of Vladimir correlate with his capture of Chersoneus, belonging to Byzantium, the most powerful and wealthy empire at the time.21 With this bold move he was able to negotiate with Emperor Basil II, exchanging Basil’s sister Anna for his cooperation and assistance.22 This illustrates that Vladimir realized if he constructed a scheme, rather than simply just being baptized in Constantinople, he could convert and gain a Byzantium Bride for Kievan Rus at the same time.23 It also shows how Vladimir understood than Byzantium would never allow such a highly prized object to be married to a pagan, and converting after receiving his bride would not be sufficient.24 Vladimir first gave proof of his good faith by being baptized, however Basil became reluctant to fill his side of the bargain, and

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