Korsun legend (Praise to Vladimir). The story of the baptism of Vladimir (Korsun legend) "Broad Russian nature"

Blessed Prince Vladimir was the son of Svyatoslav, from the Varangian tribe, and at first he worshiped idols with care; he, as was typical of his ancestors, had seven beautiful-faced wives, and then took three more, and after that Satan put into his mind the thought that he needed - and twelve wives! Then he sent his governor Oleg to the ruler of the city of Korsun to ask his daughter for himself. The prince of Korsun, having laughed a lot at this, said: “And what does this barbarian think of himself?” And then Prince Vladimir quickly gathered his warriors from among the Varangians and Slavs, from the Krivichi and Black Bulgarians, and went to Korsun, the Greek city, and the inhabitants of Korsun locked themselves in their fortress.
And Vladimir stood on the other side of the bay, from the city to the flight of an arrow, but the townspeople firmly defended themselves. And Vladimir said to them:
“Don't give me her as a wife - I will stand here for three years,” but they did not listen to him. So Vladimir stood for 6 months, but the inhabitants did not suffer from hunger.
And there was a husband in this city, a Varangian by the name of Zhedbern, and once he shot an arrow in the direction where the Varangian regiment was, and shouted: “Take this arrow to Prince Vladimir!” On the arrow it is written: “Prince Vladimir, your friend Zhedbern swears allegiance to you and this is what I tell you: you stand with your army under the city for at least a year, or two, or three, you will not subdue the city of Korsun with hunger, for boats to the city with drink and food pass by an underground stream, and the beginning of that path is to the east of your army.
Prince Vladimir, having learned about this from the Varangian, ordered to find this path and immediately dig it. And the people in the city were exhausted from thirst and hunger, and after three months they surrendered.
And Vladimir entered the city, his squad also entered, the prince of Korsun, together with the princess, was captured, and their daughter was taken into his tent; he tied the prince and princess to a stake by the tent, and committed iniquity with their daughter before them. Three days later, he ordered the prince and princess to be put to death, and gave their daughter for the said Zhedburn with many property, placing him governor of the city of Korsun.
And while the prince of his regiments had not yet disbanded, he sent the governor Oleg and Zhedbern to Tsargrad, to the kings Konstantin and Vasily, to ask for their sister Anna, saying so: “Here, I took your glorious city, and I hear that both of you have your sister, a girl, so if you don’t want to give her to me, I’ll do the same with your city as with this one. Hearing all this, the kings fell into sorrow and gathered the patriarch, archbishops, bishops, abbots and the entire priestly rank, all ecumenical council, and, having discussed everything with them, they sent a message to Vladimir, saying this: “Christians should not be given for a barbarian, but if you are baptized in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, then you will receive not only our sister, but also the kingdom of heaven you will accept what is better than this kingdom, and you will remain with us in the same faith; if you don’t do this, we won’t be able to give our sister for you.”
Hearing this, Prince Vladimir sent to all languages ​​and countries to test their law, as they believe. And the messengers came to Constantinople and saw the church decorations, and the order of the divine service, and the fair beauty of the bishops, singing and choirs, and prayers, and questions of the deacons - and stayed here for eight days. And the kings Constantine and Basil called them, gave them great honors, let them go with great gifts and with much honor; and they returned to Vladimir.
And he called his boyars and all the nobles, and put those sent before him, and questioned them; and they told what they saw. So Vladimir chose from faiths - the beautiful Greek, Orthodox faith, and sent them to the kings, saying: “My soul passionately desires baptism, for I have known your law and I love your faith and your services, as the men sent by us described them to me.” And when they heard this, the kings rejoiced and sent to their sister, saying: "Vladimir the prince asks you - go for him." And she answered: “I don’t want to marry a barbarian,” and then the brothers said to her: “Our dear sister Anno! Yes, for your sake God the Lord will convert him and enlighten both him and his land, and even us, and our city you will deliver from captivity, having accepted an eternal crown from the Lord. So they begged their sister and sent to Vladimir, saying: "Be baptized - and we will send you our sister." Vladimir answered: "Let them come with your sister and baptize me [priests]."
Tsars Konstantin and Basil, having called the patriarch and the entire ecumenical council, brought their sister Anna into the church of the Holy Mother of God and began to sing prayers. And the kings, Konstantin and Basil, seeing their sister in sorrow and sorrow, both prayed in tears, saying this: “Lady Holy Mother of God! through you we know true God our Jesus Christ, incarnate and begotten by you; do not let, Lady, your servant, and our sister, this barbarian defile her, but bring him. Madam, in holy baptism so that he also may know your Son and our God.” She, turning her face to Saint Sophia, began to cry, whispering a prayer: “O Vladyka Lover of mankind, high King of glory, wisdom of the father, that from a pure maiden he created his temple, the Son and the right hand of the Most High! Stretch out, O Almighty Father, your right hand from the depths of your heart and destroy the enemies of your Christ. For it is Your enemies who have risen up and Your haters have raised their heads, they have thought of Your people with an evil will and conspired against the saints, saying: Let us destroy them all, so that no one dares to turn to You. But, Lord, Lord, do not reject my tears, but tame them, O God, and from those who resist Your right hand, save me, Lord, like the apple of an eye, and protect me with the cover of Your wings: for everything is possible for You, and Your glory forever and ever. , amen.”
And, wiping away her tears, she boarded the boat and, saying goodbye to her brothers and relatives, to the whole city, went by sea to Korsun. Tsars Constantine and Basil began to rejoice and rejoice at the great mercy of God for bringing a pagan to faith, and they sent with the patriarch and with the whole council to meet her to Prince Vladimir in Korsun certain dignitaries, bishops, priests and deacons, and the whole clergy of the church, commanding them to build a holy font.
When she came to Korsun, the archbishop met her with the whole cathedral, and the Korsunians came out of the city, and came to the shore, and bowed to the queen, and brought her into the city, and seated her in the chamber; she has only one consolation - prayer to Christ.
And since Prince Vladimir wished to create lawlessness here, too, for his unbelief, blindness immediately attacked him, showered with festering ulcers, and the prince grieved, not knowing what to do. And the townspeople told Anna that Vladimir did not see the light; then the queen called on the name of the Lord, thus saying: “Lord, who said in the words of David: He who lives with the help of the Most High in the heavenly blood of God will dwell, and now You are my intercessor, Lord, and my protection, my God and my helper, I trust in You.” Having said this, she sent to Vladimir, thus saying:
“Tsar Vladimir, if you want to get rid of this disease, be baptized as soon as possible, if you don’t get baptized, then you won’t get rid of the disease.” Hearing this, Vladimir answered: “If this is true, then truly the Christian God is great,” and ordered him to be baptized, claiming that God had called him to this.
The Bishop of Korsun and the bishops and deacons who came with Anna, having announced, baptized Vladimir in the Basilica of St. James and gave him the name in holy baptism Basil. And a glorious miracle happened: when the time came to enter the holy font, he plunged three times, and as soon as the bishop laid his hand on him, he immediately received his sight, and the scabs fell away from the body, like fish scales, and his face lit up like the sun, and both the power and the grace of God overshadowed him, and he became like that, as if he had never had any illness, and he glorified God, saying: “Now I have come to know the true God.”
Then he clearly saw the face of the queen, kissed her, and accepted the crown, and loved her beyond measure, for God also loved her.
Seeing this speedy healing, many of his nobles were baptized in the church of the Holy Mother of God, and that church stood in Korsuni-grad on a place in the middle of the city where the Korsunians had bargaining; Vladimir's palace stands near the church to this day, while the tsarina's chamber behind the altar still stands today.
And Vladimir, having regained his sight, rejoiced in soul and body and built the church of St. Basil in the middle of the city, on a mountain called Lykofros, and that church stands to this day.
And when the hour of the marriage of Vladimir with Anna the Queen came, the kings Constantine and Vasily with Photius the Patriarch sent them many gifts and gave them the relics of the saints, and they were given Michael as metropolitan. And a great rejoicing began in that city about the inexpressible love of God for mankind, because he did not allow the kingdom to be destroyed, but preserved, established and saved, and introduced the barbarian into the faith with his mercy, and delivered a great many others from the bitter and pernicious darkness, giving the Divine light.
And then Vladimir took his queen and Metropolitan Michael, Bishop Anastas, priests of Korsun, deacons and a church clergy with the relics of St. Clement and Thebes, his disciple; he took both church vessels, and icons given as a blessing of marriage, and cathedral books; he also took two copper altars and four horses, also of copper: even now they stand behind the temple of the Holy Mother of God, some ignoramuses revere them for being marble; and returned the city of Korsun back to the kings Constantine and Basil as his vein for the queen, and he himself went to Kyiv.
And when he returned to his city of Kiev, he ordered the idols to be destroyed, those to be chopped up, and others to be burned, and Veles the idol, who was also called the cattle god, he ordered to be thrown into the Pochayna River. The idol of Perun ordered to be tied to horse tails and dragged from the mountain along Borichev to the stream, setting 12 men to beat the idol with clubs. And this is not because to punish the tree, but to mock the demon, who in this way seduced people - so let the retribution be from the people. Great are You, O Lord, and marvelous are Your works! The cursed demon, honored by people yesterday, is already insulted today! All the time while they were dragging him along the stream to the Dnieper, the unconverted people mourned him, for they had not yet received holy baptism. And having dragged the idol of Perun, they threw him into the Dnieper. And Vladimir commanded to follow, saying: "If he landed on the shore where, drive him away until he reaches the rapids, and then leave him." And they fulfilled that command. When Perun was thrown, then, having passed the rapids, he was brought by the wind to the sandbank, which he has been calling since then Perunova sandbank (and so it is today).
After that, Vladimir called together a multitude of all people and commanded the whole city - he ordered them to be baptized, appointing a day and saying this:
“Let the rich and the poor, free and slave, male and female, old and young, virgins and young men, old men with children, but also beggars, be on the Pochayne River in the morning - and if I don’t meet anyone there, he will be mine. personal enemy.
Hearing all this, the people set off with their wives and children, rejoicing and exclaiming: “But it wouldn’t be good deed, the prince and his nobles would not accept this!
The next morning, Vladimir went out with his Metropolitan Mikhail, with the bishops of Korsun, with the choir of all the church on the river to Pochaina, and converged without a number of people, or, more simply, the whole city, from small to large, and they all entered the river, and stood - those up to the neck, and others up to the chest, children up to the chest near the shore, while others kept babies, and those who were older wandered in the water; priests and deacons stood on the shore, making prayers, which are supposed to be sung over the baptized. And since then they call that place holy.
And it was joyful to see on earth and in heaven such a number of souls being saved, and the devil wailed with a groan: “Alas for me, alas! and from here I am expelled! Here I thought to find a dwelling for myself, for there was neither the sermons of the apostles, nor the knowledge of God, and I rejoiced at their services, which served me! And now they are defeating me - and who? not apostles and not martyrs, no, but pagans, and now I can’t reign in these countries!”
And when they were all baptized, each returned to his house, rejoicing in spirit.
Vladimir, joyful that he himself and his people knew God, looking at the sky, said: “God, who created heaven and earth, and everything that is in them! Save your new people and give them, Lord, to know You, the true God, as all Christian countries have already known about it, and confirm, Lord, in them the right faith unchanged, and help me, Lord, against a hostile adversary, so that, hoping on you and on your power, to defeat his machinations. And having said this, he commanded to cut down the churches and put them in the places where the idols used to stand. So they put the church of St. Basil on the hill, where their idol Perun and others stood, where the prince and his people made sacrifices. He also commanded in all cities and villages to bring people to baptism and set up churches, gather priests and deacons and build a church rank. And, having sent people away, he began to take children from noble nobles for book teaching; and the mothers of these children mourned them, for they were not yet established in faith, so they wept as if for the dead.
Vladimir himself began to live according to Christian law. And as the years passed, he thought to build a church of stone Holy Mother of God and the Ever-Virgin Mary of her honest and glorious Assumption in the midst of the city of Kyiv, and sent for the masters to the Greeks. And they began to build it with the blessing of the metropolitan, with the help of God and his Most Pure Mother, and soon they finished it, decorating it with honest icons and other church attire; and entrusted this church to Bishop Anastas the Korsunian, and appointed the priests of Korsun to serve in it, giving her everything that he brought from Korsun: icons, books, church vessels and honest crosses with a gem.
Seeing his church completed, he entered it, praying to God, and said: “Lord God! Look from heaven and look, having visited your garden, and complete it, and protect Your new people, to whom You have already turned your heart, giving your mind to know You, the true God, protect this Church, which I, Your unworthy servant, created in the name of the Ever-Virgin Mary of the Theotokos who gave birth to you; if anyone prays in this church, Lord, hear then, Lord, his prayer and forgive all his sins through prayer to Your most pure Mother of God.
And after the prayer, he said this: “I give the church of the Holy Mother of God a tithe from all my reign, and also throughout the Russian land and from the princely court, the tenth veksha, from the market - a tenth week, from houses - for every summer, the tenth of every herd and every living wonderful Mother of God and wonderful Savior. Having decided so, he wrote down his will in the church, said: “If anyone cancels, let him be damned,” and gave a tithe from every citizen and from himself to Anastas-Korsunian, and arranged a great holiday on that day for the boyars and elders of the city, distributing to the poor and poor his estate.
And Vladimir was merciful according to the word of the Lord, who said:
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy,” and further:
“Sell your possessions and give to the poor,” and further: “do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, here the rust smolders and thieves dig, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither rust smolders, nor thieves, digging, do not steal”, - and heard David say: "Blessed is the man who gives and is merciful," - and Solomon heard him say:
"He who gives to the poor, lends to God." Hearing all this, Vladimir ordered all the poor and poor to come to the princely court and take everything they need - food and drink, and money from the treasury. And, having done so, he said: “After all, the weak and sick cannot reach my courtyard,” and ordered carts to be brought, putting bread and meat, fish and various vegetables there, honey in barrels, and kvass in others, and to carry all around the city, asking: "Where are the sick and the poor, who cannot walk?" - and distribute as needed.
And Prince Vladimir lived after holy baptism for 28 years, doing many good deeds, and then Vladimir fell ill and in this illness he reposed to God in the month of July on the 15th day, in memory of the martyrs of Saints Kirik and his mother Julitta. And all the people with the boyars mourned him - as the protector of their land, the poor and the poor - as a sad man and feeder, and put him in a marble cancer, and buried the body of the blessed Prince Vladimir with great lamentation.
For he is like the new Constantine of the great city of Rome, who was baptized himself and baptized people, and he did the same, like him. For Solomon said: “When a righteous husband dies, hope does not perish,” and so the Russian people and princes keep him in their memory, commemorating holy baptism, as he received it, and glorifying it in prayers and singing psalms: singing the Lord, new people , enlightened by the Holy Spirit in holy baptism, hope in the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ - to each according to his labors to give unspeakable joy, which we wish all Christians.

Korsun campaign

The crown of each human life have a memory

about her, - the highest that they promise a person over his

coffin, this is an eternal memory. And there is no soul

who would not secretly languish in the dream of this crown.

The origin of Christianity in Rus' is shrouded in many mysteries, and one of them is the mystery of the Chersonese campaign of Prince Vladimir.

It has long become a legend to go to the northern limits of St. Andrew the First-Called, other missionaries took over his baton, but paganism still dominated Slavic world, collecting bloody sacrifices for the glory of the bloodthirsty Perun. Christianization proceeded with great difficulty, because even the almighty Princess Olga was never able to convert her son Svyatoslav and grandson Vladimir to the new faith. But she, like no one else, understood what it meant to deprive the people closest to her eternal life and salvation. It is known how long Vladimir himself went to Christianity. But the moment came when the great Russian prince nevertheless felt cramped within the framework of tribal-clan paganism with its wooden idols-idols. According to the chronicle, Vladimir chose the faith during the famous “dispute about faith”, when, after listening to representatives of the Catholic, Muslim, Jewish and Orthodox churches, he opted for the latter.

Grand Duke Vladimir Svyatoslavich. Titular. 17th century

However, not much is known about the dispute itself. Simplifying the essence of what happened, Nestor in his "Tale of Bygone Years" all boils down to the fact that Catholicism seemed gloomy to Vladimir, while in Judaism and Islam, the Russian prince did not like the alleged fact that these faiths forbade drinking wine and eating pork. Even his exclamation on this occasion is cited: “The joy of Rus' is drinking, it cannot be without it!”

The prince of Kyiv unequivocally leaned towards Greek Orthodoxy. He made no secret of this, and soon Vladimir's plans become known in Constantinople. Alas, contrary to the expectations of the Russian prince, Byzantium did not express enthusiasm for his intentions. Why this happened is not exactly known. Most likely, this was the result of some regular zigzag of political intrigues. After all, such a line ran counter to the policy pursued by Patriarch Photius for many years. Perhaps, according to Constantinople, the aspirations of Vladimir violated the then equilibrium in the world, or perhaps the Byzantine emperors simply did not believe in the sincerity of the Russian prince. Be that as it may, Constantinople reacted to the intentions of Vladimir more than cool.

And then the proud Russian prince, "gathering his own howling in the battlefield," moved the squad to the walls of Chersonesos. The composition of Vladimir's army, quite possibly, is simply borrowed from the annalistic story about Vladimir's campaign in Polotsk and his courtship with Rogneda. The attention of researchers was attracted by the mysterious mention of "Bulgarians with black people." Some researchers see here a distorted name "black Bulgarians" (this people of Turkic origin lived somewhere in the Northern Black Sea region); others are a corrupted stencil of a later time: "boyars with black people". Or maybe that was the name of those very Chersonesites who once went to Rus' to Svyatoslav with Kalokir?

It is known that Russian sources explained the reasons for the Korsun campaign in different ways. “I thought of going to the Greek city of Korsun,” we read, for example, from Jacob Mnich, “and so Prince Vladimir began to pray to God:“ Lord God, Lord of all, I ask you: give me the city to take, so that I can bring Christian people and priests to their own land, so that they teach the people the Christian law.

However, there are several versions about the reasons for Vladimir's campaign against Korsun.

Version one. During the reign of Emperor Basil II (the second half of the 80s of the 10th century), a fierce struggle for the throne flared up in Byzantium between him and the pretenders Varda Skliros and Varda Foka. With the beginning of the turmoil, the emperor, not confident in the stamina of his own army, concludes an agreement with Prince Vladimir that he sends a six thousandth selective corps to Byzantium. In exchange for this service, Vasily gives his sister to the Russian prince. Then, allegedly when the Russian troops helped the emperor to keep the throne, he refused his promise. It was then that Vladimir went on a campaign against Korsun-Chersonesos in order to force Vasily, who had deceived him, to fulfill his promise. It is known that Russian princes often met at the Dnieper rapids brides who came to them from afar. This place was considered especially dangerous because of the possible attack of the Pechenegs (later the Cumans); in addition, when traveling to the extreme borders of his country, the prince showed special honor to the guest and those accompanying her.

So, perhaps, Vladimir went to the doorsteps to meet the Byzantine princess Anna, who, according to an agreement with Emperor Basil, was supposed to arrive in Rus'. However, the prince did not wait for Anna. If we believe the message of the Byzantine historian Asohik that another woman was sent to the “King of the Bulkharovs” (Vladimir?) instead of the princess, then here, on the Dnieper, he met with the “False Anna”. Whether the prince immediately recognized the forgery, or later, in Kyiv, it makes no sense to guess. However, if this happened, it can be unmistakably assumed that Vladimir was angry. The prince could wash away such an insult only with blood.

Let us recall the well-known epic story about the matchmaking of the “affectionate prince” Vladimir, which is reflected in real facts biographies of the Kyiv prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich, including his courtship in Polotsk and Constantinople, as well as the capture of Korsun - the continuation of the Constantinople courtship. The hero of this epic "Dunayushka Ivanovich", offended by the refusal of the "Lithuanian king" to marry his daughter to Vladimir, kills "Tatars to the last, he will not leave the Tatars for seeds."

Most likely, we have before us one of the variants of the folklore story about the matchmaking of Prince Vladimir, in turn, based on real events - Vladimir's matchmaking with Rogneda and his matchmaking with Anna. But - who knows - maybe a later source contains some hints about the mediating role of Chersonesus in the negotiations between Vladimir and Emperor Basil (as it was twenty years earlier, during the negotiations between Emperor Nikephoros Phocas and Prince Svyatoslav)? Maybe the "prince" (ruler) of Chersonesus, as well as his daughter, were somehow involved in the scam with the substitution of the bride? Of course, all these questions remain unanswered to this day. And it would be so tempting to explain the choice of Korsun as a victim of Vladimir and the exceptional (even by the standards of Vladimir) persistence of the Russians in capturing the city precisely by these circumstances. Let us turn to Professor Sergei Alekseevich Belyaev, a generally recognized specialist in the history of medieval Chersonese and the formation of Christianity in Rus', for a commentary on this version. Here is the opinion of S. A. Belyaev: “Regarding such a construction, largely artificial, you can see that the events mentioned are really interconnected, the main source of information about them - Yahya of Antioch - really writes about an agreement on military assistance and the marriage of Anna for Prince Vladimir. Judging by the context of Yahya's story, the sacraments of baptism and marriage were first performed, and only after becoming a Christian and receiving Anna did Vladimir send military assistance to the emperor. The perception of the campaign against Korsun as an attempt by Prince Vladimir to force Emperor Basil to fulfill his part of the contract after the victories won is the conclusion of modern researchers and is not based on these sources. In addition, dear reader, imagine how an Orthodox emperor could promise to marry his sister to a pagan prince, who, according to chronicles, had a harem of three hundred wives. After such an anti-Christian act, he would have definitely lost the throne. It is a completely different matter if Vladimir was already a Christian before his marriage! And finally, here is the primary source itself - the chronicle of Yahya of Antioch: “And his work became dangerous, and Tsar Basil was concerned about him because of the strength of his troops and his victory over him. And his riches were depleted and his need prompted him to send the Russians to the king - and they are his enemies - to ask them to help him in his present position. And he agreed to it. And they concluded an agreement among themselves on the property and the tsar of the Rus married the sister of Tsar Vasily, after he set him the condition that he and all the people of his country be baptized, and they are a great people. And then the Russians did not reckon themselves to any law, and did not recognize any faith. And later Tsar Vasily sent metropolitans and bishops to him, and they baptized the tsar and all those who embraced his lands, and sent his sister to him, and she built many churches in the country of the Rus. And when the matter of marriage was decided between them, the troops of the Rus also arrived and united with the troops of the Greeks, who were with Tsar Basil, and went all together to fight Varda Foka by sea and land, to Christopol. And they defeated Phocas, and Tsar Basil took possession of the coastal region and captured all the ships that were in the hands of Phocas.

The second version of the appearance of the Russians near the walls of Chersonesos is that Chersonese-Korsun, due to supposedly traditional opposition to the central government, turned out to be on the side of the rebels, and the campaign of Prince Vladimir against Korsun in this context is part of the agreement between the Byzantine emperor and the Kiev Grand Duke - Prince was supposed to punish the rebels and bring them into submission to the legitimate emperor. And again, let us turn to the opinion of S. A. Belyaev: “... Such an explanation of the reasons for the campaign is even less based on these sources than the first. Among the proofs of this version, such an argument as the allegedly strong destruction of the city, carried out by Prince Vladimir during its siege, is also used. The groundlessness of this statement, which first appeared in Soviet archaeological literature in the 1940s and 1950s and has recently been used quite often in Western historical literature, can be considered proven. The thing is that there were no destructions of Chersonesos, moreover, after the capture of the city there were no robberies either, which in general should be considered an exceptional phenomenon even for later times. So, why did Vladimir go to Chersonese? I think it's time to get acquainted with the point of view on this issue and the author of The Tale of Bygone Years.

“The next (988) year,” the chronicler narrates, “Vladimir gathered an army and undertook a campaign against Kherson. For a long time he could not take the fortified city, despite all his efforts. In vain he threatened the Khersonians to keep them under siege for three whole years if they did not surrender - the besieged did not agree. Finally, a certain Korsun man named Anastas shot a Russian arrow from the city into the camp with the inscription: “Behind you, to the east, there are wells, from where the Kherson people receive water through pipes; dig up the plumbing." Hearing about this, Vladimir looked up to heaven and exclaimed: “If this comes true, I will certainly be baptized.” Indeed, this remedy proved to be quite successful. Vladimir took possession of Kherson and, having entered it with a retinue, sent a message to the Greek emperors Basil and Constantine: “I have taken your glorious city; I will do the same with your capital, if you do not give me your sister, still unmarried, who, as you hear, you have. The emperors, for their part, demanded that he be baptized, agreeing only under this condition to fulfill his desire. “Tell your kings,” Vladimir answered the Greek ambassadors, “that I am being baptized, that I have already tested your law through my deliberate husbands and loved your faith and your worship.” The emperors rejoiced and began to beg their sister Anna to go to the Russian prince. She did not agree and said: “It would be better for me to die than to go into this captivity.” But the brothers represented to her that in this way she would become the culprit of the conversion to Christ of the whole Russian people and save her fatherland Greece from the terrible weapons of the Rus. And the woeful princess, accompanied by many dignitaries and presbyters, set off on a ship to Cherson, where she was met by the overjoyed inhabitants with all signs of honor and zeal. In the meantime, according to God's dispensation, Vladimir fell ill with his eyes, so that he could not see anything, and was greatly distressed by this. “If you want to be healed of your illness,” Anna told him to tell him, “be baptized quickly, otherwise you will not receive healing.” Vladimir agreed. Then the Korsun primate with the presbyters who arrived from Constantinople, having announced the Grand Duke, performed the holy sacrament over him, and at that moment, as soon as he laid his hand on the baptized, Vladimir instantly received his sight and exclaimed, leaving the holy font: “Now, for the first time, I saw True God!“. Many of the squad, seeing the miracle happened, immediately followed the example of their prince. Baptism took place in the Church of St. Basil, which stood in the middle of Kherson on the city square. The archpastor who baptized Vladimir gave him the most detailed Creed as an image of the healthy... Soon after, Vladimir's marriage to the Greek princess followed. In memory of all this, he created a church in Kherson and, having returned the conquered city to the Greek kings as a vein by the hand of their sister Anna, he went to his capital.

Shortly before Vladimir's campaign against Chersonese, the Byzantine Empire was struck by an unusual celestial phenomenon: a tailed star appeared in the sky - "something divine, unprecedented and beyond human understanding." “Appearing in the northeast, the comet rose in the form of a giant cypress tree to a great height, then gradually decreased in size and leaned towards the south, blazing with great fire and spreading dazzling bright rays. People looked at her, filled with fear and horror. This sign continued for a very long time - 80 days - until mid-October.

The comet observed by Leo the Deacon, already known to us, and which anticipated a devastating earthquake, was nothing more than the famous comet of Halley, which actually passed near the Earth in the summer of 989, according to the calculations of modern astronomy.

Literally immediately after the comet, a strong earthquake occurred in Constantinople, during which the main shrine of the Byzantine Empire, the Church of Hagia Sophia, was destroyed.

Both Halley's comet and the earthquake were, according to the Byzantines, only an omen of something terrible that was about to happen in the political life of the country. And this happened - Chersonese fell. Of course, it is quite difficult to look for some connection between the comet and the capture of Chersonese by the Russian army. And yet, let us remember once again both the constellation Virgo and the cosmic “pillar” on Chersonesos land…

It is interesting that Russian poets and writers at all times were especially interested in the Korsun campaign of Vladimir. Moreover, if the Decembrist Kondraty Ryleev wrote sublimely about this:

Baptize me, O marvelous one! -

The wise prince exclaimed in fiery delight...

The next morning the sound of the trumpet is calling -

And Vladimir's army rushed to Kherson ... -

then Count Alexei Tolstoy described this event in a somewhat ironic manner characteristic of him:

Planes are ready, sails are raised,

The Varangians are sailing to Chersonese,

Pomorie, where southern flowers bloom,

The scarlet soon covered the shields

And banners with Russian crows.

And the prince tells the Korsun people: “I am here!

Give up, I beg you humbly

Not that, do not seek, I will bring down your arrogance,

I want to be baptized!”

The Greeks saw in the bay of judgment,

At the walls, the squad is already crowding.

Went to interpret here and there -

The trouble has come, as it is, for Christians,

Vladimir came to be baptized!

There is also an epic in the Russian epic about Prince Gleb Volodyevich and the capture of Korsun-grad (in this epic, as researchers believe, the legends about the Korsun campaign of Vladimir Svyatoslavich were also reflected) - the prince calls on his squad with these words:

Go to the city to Korsun,

And you jump over the city wall,

Already you hit the city old and small,

Don't leave a single one for seed.

Bylinny Gleb Volodyevich took revenge on a certain ruler of Korsun-city, an evil atheist and heretic "Marinka Kaydalovna's daughter." Although, it is quite possible that we are faced with some unknown episode from the time of the ancient Russian Orsa-Korsun and the mention of the same goddess Virgo.

Here is an approximate sequence of a campaign against Korsun and the siege itself, proposed by historians.

So, the Russians went down the Dnieper and, probably, at the very end of summer or at the beginning of autumn of the same 988, they appeared near Chersonesos. Vladimir's army numbered several thousand people (no more than five to six thousand on 150-200 boats, according to the calculations of military engineer and archaeologist Alexander Lvovich Berthier-Delagard, who devoted a thorough study of Vladimir's Korsun campaign). The Chersonites, of course, knew in advance about the approach of the Russian fleet (because their patrol ships and ordinary fishing boats constantly cruised near the mouth of the Dnieper) and managed to prepare for the siege: they “shut themselves in the city”, in the words of the chronicler.

Russ were strong onslaught, pressure in the first battle. Skillful siege of fortresses was not among their virtues. Vladimir's army had neither wall-beating machines, nor stone throwers or flamethrowers capable of throwing Molotov pots and heavy stones into the besieged city. Unable to lure the enemy out of the fortress and take the city with a direct frontal blow, the Rus were forced to begin the siege, hoping for time and, as it seemed, inevitable famine. But the siege dragged on and laid a heavy burden not only on the besieged, but also on the besiegers. According to medieval Russian sources (various editions of the Life of Prince Vladimir), the Russians stood near the city from six to nine months, that is, autumn, winter and part of spring.

Chersonese was well fortified and was considered almost impregnable. The city was located on a peninsula connected to the mainland only by a narrow isthmus in the west. From the north, it was washed by the waves of the Black Sea, from the east, a bay ran deep into the coast line - the current Quarantine Bay of Sevastopol. In ancient times, a deep and narrow beam stretched to it, protecting the fortress from the south. The western part of the city was limited to the current Streletskaya Bay - not very deep, but vast bay. The stone walls of the city reached 15 meters in height and three (and in some places - even six - ten) meters in thickness. In the most dangerous areas, the fortress was surrounded by a second, additional battle wall.

Two stories about the siege of Korsun by Prince Vladimir have come down to us. One of them is read in the annals and, with various additions, in the main editions of the Life of Prince Vladimir. The second - in the above-mentioned "Life of Vladimir of a special composition." Both stories are filled with real details, vividly depicting the events taking place. First of all, this refers to the chronicle narrative, the author of which, perhaps, was himself a Korsunian. He reveals an exceptional knowledge of the area and, apparently, uses the local Korsun legends and memories of Vladimir's stay in the city. The siege of Korsun is described not so much through the eyes of the attacking Rus, but through the eyes of the Korsunians themselves. The connection of the author of the chronicle story with Korsun should not be surprising: it is known that after the capture of the city, Prince Vladimir took many of its inhabitants to Kyiv, primarily priests. Of these, in particular, the clergy of the main Kyiv church of the time of Vladimir - the Most Holy Theotokos, - known as the Church of the Tithes, was formed. Korsunian Anastas, one of the main characters of the chronicle legend, later became the closest associate of Prince Vladimir; The tithe church is one of the centers of the original Russian chronicle writing. Probably, in the 70-80s of the XI century, the chronicle story was revised again; then he received the form in which it is now read in The Tale of Bygone Years. The editor of the chronicle text also knew Korsun well and also belonged to the clergy of the Church of the Tithes. He made some additions to the text, devoted mainly to the topography of contemporary Korsun - these additions are also the most valuable source on the history of the Korsun campaign.

The troops of Prince Vladimir besiege Korsun. Radzivilov Chronicle. 15th century

The chronicler accurately names the parking lot of the Russian troops: “Vladimir stood up about half the city, in the estuary, then there was one shooting range beyond the city.” "The arrow is one" - this is the distance of the arrow flight. “About it is half a city, in an estuary” - it means, in an estuary (bay), “on the other side of the city.” This could be said about one of the two bays near Chersonesos - either about the current Karantinnaya Bay, or about Streletskaya. Both of these options are possible. Some researchers, based mainly on the characteristics of the area (the convenience of Karantinnaya Bay as the main harbor of Chersonesos, the availability of fresh water, etc.), believed that Vladimir’s boats entered Karantinnaya Bay, passed the city and stopped in the very depths of the bay, on the other side from the city. But the term “in the shooting range” does not quite fit this supposed parking place: it was separated from the city by a high hill, and the arrows fired from the bow could not reach the city directly. Other researchers believed that Vladimir stopped near Streletskaya Bay. It was less convenient for Byzantine ships, but it was quite suitable for light canoes of the Rus. It was her, most likely, that the Korsunians called not the “city” bay (“estuary”), but located “about half a city”. Archaeologists drew attention to the surviving traces of hostilities in the western part of the city, adjacent to the Streletskaya Bay, which also seems to indicate the location of the Rus' camp near it. However, no traces of Vladimir's site were found, so the question of its location remains open.

The siege of the city was exhausting. The Korsunians, according to the chronicle, desperately defended themselves (“I fight hard from the city”). “Vladimir surrounded the city. The people in the city were exhausted, and Vladimir said to the townspeople: “If you don’t give up, I will stand for three years.” They didn't listen to it."

Twenty years before the Korsun War, Emperor Nicephorus Foka wrote a treatise known under the title "On Collisions with the Enemy." In it, the emperor-commander pointed out that in every city that was even threatened by a siege, each inhabitant should stock up on food for at least four months. The requirement of Nicephorus, apparently, was fulfilled - especially in Chersonese, a border fortress that withstood many sieges over its long history. In addition, Vladimir could hardly ensure a complete blockade of the city both from the sea and from land. According to the later “Life of Prince Vladimir of a Special Composition,” a well-wisher of the Russian prince from Chersonesites, a Varangian named Zhedbern (in other words, Zhbern, or Izhbern), conveyed this to Vladimir from the besieged city: “If you stand with strength under the city for a year or two, or three, you won't take Korsun. The shipbuilders come by the earthen way with drink and food to the city. This news could be considered a later speculation, if it did not find unexpected confirmation in the archaeological research of medieval Chersonese. It turns out that a certain "earthen way", familiar to the Byzantine "shipmen", but completely unknown to the Russians, really existed. To the south of one of the gates of the Chersonese fortress, in a swampy lowland adjacent to the beam mentioned above, archaeologists discovered an ancient road, secretly laid along a special embankment. In winter and spring, when the water level in the gully rose, the road completely went under water; it was possible to use it, but only to a person who knew the area well. It is known that Vladimir, at the prompt of Zhedburn, led to "dig up" the "earth way". Whether this was done in reality, or whether the narrator connected the legend about the "earthly path" with another news - about the Chersonesos water pipe "dug" by Vladimir, is difficult to say.

The news of the "earthly path" leading to Korsun-grad was also included in the well-known epic about Prince Gleb Volodyevich. This epic, according to researchers, reflected various events in Russian history - in particular, the campaign of princes Gleb Svyatoslavich and Vladimir Monomakh against Korsun in 1077 and the siege of Korsun by Vladimir Svyatoslavich. The siege of the city by Russian troops is described here in full accordance with the "Life of Prince Vladimir of a Special Composition":

They stand under the city for a year,

Standing under the city of another time...

There are underground passages

After all, there are grain reserves there.

Another confirmation of the folklore origin of the Life of a special composition, which nevertheless reflected the historical realities of the Korsun campaign of Vladimir.

Vladimir's army, of course, was not idle during the long months of the siege. Based on indirect evidence from later Russian sources, it can be assumed that by the time the siege ended, Vladimir controlled the entire south of the Crimean peninsula - from Chersonesos at its western tip to Kerch at its eastern one. Probably, these lands were supposed to provide food for the numerous Russian army.

Later Russian sources (in particular, the Nikon Chronicle) tell about Vladimir's active foreign policy activities during his stay in the Crimea. In addition to the ambassadors "from the Greeks," Vladimir received in Korsun (or near Korsun?) an embassy "from Rome, from the pope." “Then the Pecheneg prince Metigai came to Vladimir and, believing, was baptized into the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” An alliance with any of the Pecheneg tribes during the Korsun siege was highly desirable for Vladimir. However, we do not know how reliable these reports of the chronicler of the 16th century are.

Prologue Life of Prince Vladimir in a manuscript of the 1st half of the 14th century.

Probably, during his stay near Korsun, Vladimir did not interrupt his ties with Kiev and Russia as a whole for a minute. Let me remind you that at least two territories that had a permanent Russian population and established ties with Kiev were in the neighborhood of Crimea: Beloberezhye (somewhere not far from the mouth of the Dnieper) and Tmutarakan on Taman.

The main goal of Vladimir, of course, remained Chersonese. But the military actions taken by the Russians have not yet yielded any results.

“Vladimir dressed up his soldiers,” we read in the annals, “and led them to fall asleep to the hail. The same ones poured, and the Korsunians, having dug up the city wall, stole the earth being poured and carried it to their city, pouring it in the middle of the city. Warriors sprinkled even more, and Vladimir stood.

The meaning of Vladimir's action was clarified by A.L. Berthier-Delagard. Vladimir, in his opinion, ordered to make the so-called powder - that is, to sprinkle earth on the city walls in order to then climb it onto the wall itself and thus break into the city. This technique is known in military history, but in the practice of Russians it was rare (if met at all): it is no coincidence that all the scribes of the chronicle text could not understand what exactly Vladimir was up to, and replaced what they did not understand ““sprinkle” with the usual “proceed” to the hail ". The Korsunians assessed the danger in time. According to the chronicle, they undermined the wall, and, most likely, made a hole in the lower part of the city wall - and through it they brought the poured earth into the city.

Archaeologists seem to have found the remains of this mound. In the western part of Chersonese, in the free space, a layer of bulk earth about a meter thick was found; the time of its formation is dated very approximately - IX-X centuries, which seems to make it possible to explain its occurrence by the military actions of Prince Vladimir. Later, near the hill filled by the Korsunians, Vladimir will erect a church - a monument to his victory.

Undoubtedly, Vladimir experienced heavy feelings during the months-long siege of Korsun. Time passed - and he remained in place, unable to return to Kyiv with a victory. The insult inflicted on him remained unwashed. Hopes that Chersonese would be starved out, of course, could still be justified. But it was necessary to somehow speed things up. Again, as ten years ago during the siege of Kyiv, Vladimir decided to stake on a split in the hostile camp, on the search for an ally in the besieged city itself. Once again, his attempt was successful.

It would seem that now everything is clear with the Chersonesus campaign of Vladimir, but it only seems that Chersonesos has not yet discovered all the secrets of 988! To try to answer them, let's go back a little. So, having surrounded the city, the Russian warriors began to lay siege to it. Because of the high walls and strong garrison, an immediate assault was impossible. As you know, Vladimir pulled his boats onto the sandbank of the current Pesochnaya Bay, not far from the city walls. Whether the prince managed to securely block the city from the sea is unknown. It is likely that the most frequent skirmishes between the besiegers and the besieged broke out precisely at sea, when the Byzantines tried to supply reinforcements and supplies to Chersonesus. However, the siege dragged on. How it would all end - it is not known if the notorious arrow with a note. Who was the man who decided to betray his fellow citizens and his city? It may seem incredible, but he was not a Viking mercenary at all, but ... a priest! But how could the Orthodox priest Anastassy hand over his flock into the hands of the pagans, despite the fact that the outcome of the struggle was still far from clear. After all, in its long history, Chersonesos has withstood not such attacks. In addition, in the event of the capture of the city, Anastasius, as a priest, was also not particularly threatened. But that's not all! Already after the capture of Chersonesus by Vladimir, Anastassy was not at all desecrated by the inhabitants of the city, and we, who live now, should remember with gratitude this brave and courageous man, one who, many times before others, managed to understand and realize the whole necessity of his act, and, realizing, decided to bring it to life. And one more fact. The bishop in Chersonese at that time was the future famous saint of Rus', Joachim of Korsun - a personality of world significance. Quite a bit of time will pass, and Joachim will become a friend and colleague of Prince Vladimir.

It is quite obvious that Anastassy's act could not be immediately correctly understood by all contemporaries. Perhaps that is why in a number of sources his name was simply hushed up. Still would! How could an Orthodox priest simply hand over his flock into the hands of despicable pagans! Well, in the Life of Vladimir, Anastassy was completely replaced by a certain Zhedburn. The text of the “Life” reads: “And there was a husband in this city, a Varangian by the name of Zhedburn, and once he shot an arrow in the direction where the Varangian regiment was, and shouted:“ Take this arrow to Prince Vladimir! ". On the arrow it is written: “Prince Vladimir, your friend Zhedbern swears allegiance to you and this is what I tell you: you stand with your army under the city for at least a year, or two, or three, you will not conquer the city of Korsun with hunger, for boats to the city with drink and eating they pass by an underground stream, and the beginning of that path is to the east of your army.

Prince Vladimir, having learned about this from the Varangian, ordered to find this path and immediately dig it. And the people in the city were exhausted from thirst and hunger, and after three months they surrendered. And Vladimir entered the city, his squad also entered, took the prince of Korsun together with the princess captive, and their daughter - to his tent, tied the prince and princess to a stake at the tent and committed lawlessness with their daughter before them. Three days later, he ordered the prince and princess to be put to death, and gave their daughter for the said Zhedburn with many property, placing him governor of the city of Korsun ... "

Even a cursory analysis of the "Life" shows that its author has absolutely no idea of ​​the subject of his presentation. Most likely, the "Life" simply embodied all the abundance of rumors and speculation that went at a later time in Rus' about the Korsun campaign. First of all, where did the underground channels in Chersonese come from, through which boats float freely? After all, anyone who has ever visited Sevastopol will understand the complete absurdity of such a statement. To cut down many miles of underground tunnels in solid rocky soil - it looks fantastic even today, with the current development of technology. Could it be possible for twenty thousand citizens of Chersonesos to do this? In addition, no one has ever heard of such structures in these parts. Even more absurd is the assertion that the canals approached Chersonese from the east. Was it not from the Crimean mountains that mysterious boats sailed to Chersonesos? After all, it is well known that in Anastasy's note it was only about the most ordinary tiled water supply.

Secondly, all the tortures of the family of the Korsun "prince" also look very, very far-fetched. Indeed, after such wild antics, it would be very difficult for Vladimir to negotiate with the Byzantine emperors, especially to ask for the hand of their beloved sister. Why, moreover, should he appoint a Varangian traitor as the ruler of Chersonesos, when from the very beginning of the campaign it was absolutely clear to everyone that Vladimir was not at all going to annex the city to his state. As the living is mentioned in the text of the "Life" and long dead by this time, Patriarch Photius. The list of such nonsense could go on and on.

So, until recently, science was dominated by the opinion that Chersonese was completely destroyed by Prince Vladimir; it seemed that this was evidenced by the data of the archaeological excavations of the city - traces of fires, devastation, a thick layer of garbage that covered individual city blocks.

Archaeologists find traces of hostilities elsewhere. So, treasures of coins were unearthed in the city, buried by the inhabitants at the end of the 10th century (obviously, shortly before the capture of the city by the Rus). There was, perhaps, no one to dig up hidden treasures.

In the western part of the city, near the so-called basilica on the hill, a whole cemetery was discovered and explored, including a complex of mass graves with mass graves (only about ten graves of 30-40 people each). The researcher of this burial complex, S. A. Belyaev, believes that those who died during military operations were buried in the graves, probably the victims of the siege of Korsun by Vladimir in the 80s of the 10th century. Note the detail: one of the excavated graves is filled mainly with skulls. If the assumption of archaeologists about the connection of this necropolis with the Korsun campaign of Vladimir is correct, then we have traces of a brutal massacre perpetrated by the soldiers of Vladimir on the inhabitants of the city: the pagan Rus dumped the heads of the executed Chersonesites into the grave.

Archaeologists identify another group of graves in the same complex of burials. These are graves with burials that differ sharply from others common in the Crimea: those buried in them lie on their backs with their hands folded on their shoulders. This type of burial is close to the so-called Varangian burials in Kyiv, in the necropolis under the Church of the Tithes. Presumably, Varangians who were in the service of Prince Vladimir and died during the siege of Korsun are buried here.

It would seem that even here everything is clear - Vladimir still managed to rob the Chersonesites and even partially destroy the city. But not everything is so simple! Recent studies in Chersonesos have proved that there were no destructions in the city in the 10th century, and what was previously "attributed" to Vladimir belongs to the 11th century and even later times. So, then, the occupation of Chersonesus was still peaceful?

The chronicle story about the dug-up water pipeline has recently received full confirmation during archaeological excavations carried out in Chersonese in the last century. Archaeologists discovered a water pipe, which the Chersonesites used for several centuries. During the time of Vladimir, ceramic pipes led along gutters to a source located south of the city. In the city itself, pipes approached a cistern that could hold about 4-5 thousand buckets of water. After the water supply to the city was cut off, the cistern could only last a few days.

As for Zhedburn, his name, however, is mentioned in the annals, but only as Vladimir's envoy to Constantinople. Why would it be for a Russian prince to entrust such an important and delicate matter to an ordinary traitor mercenary. Apparently, Zhedburn was still one of the commanders of the same Varangian regiment, and his name was used only to replace the "uncomfortable" Anastasius.

So what actually happened in Chersonese on the eve of its fall? Most likely, Joachim of Korsun understood the situation of Vladimir's arrival to the walls of Chersonesos better than the brothers-emperors. Both Joachim and Anastasius were well aware of the famous "dispute about faith" and the sincerity of Vladimir's desire to accept the Greek faith. They also understood how important it was for Byzantium to acquire such a powerful ally as Kievan Rus. It was then, apparently, that Joachim and Anastasius made the decision to let the Russian squad into the city and thereby put the intractable Constantinople in front of a fait accompli, while simultaneously shaking hands with the Russians in their desire to gain Orthodoxy. The presence of former Christian Chersonesites in the ranks of Vladimir’s squad could well be a guarantee of the loyal attitude of Russian soldiers towards the townspeople. Among other things, the "Russian Chersonisites" at some stage could also act as intermediaries in Vladimir's secret negotiations with representatives of the Chersonesos diocese, if such preceded the actions of Anastasius. In addition, it is quite possible that Joachim and Anastasius had a connection with the Chersonesites in the army of Vladimir. This could facilitate both the determination of the priests for their feat and its fulfillment.

And one more phenomenal fact, for some reason betrayed today to complete oblivion. The fact is that as soon as Vladimir took possession of Chersonesos, as the envoys of the Pope arrived there. It was a throw of despair of the Western Church in its last attempt to reverse the already determined course of events and at any cost to try to persuade Rus' to the pope. The emissaries of the pope hoped that Constantinople, having already agreed on the whole to the Christianization of Rus', still did not express a desire to make any concessions in the matter of its autonomy. This, of course, irritated Vladimir, who, as a winner, did not expect such obstacles. We will never know how the negotiations with the papal legates went, what promises the Roman Church promised to the Russian prince...

Be that as it may, but it was on the shores of the Sevastopol Bay that the final chord of the famous dispute about faith sounded. And the moment was quite critical: suddenly, offended by Byzantine intractability, the prince would take it to the evil of everyone and take the side of the pope! Fortunately, this did not happen. Vladimir once again demonstrated to everyone his firmness in the choice made once and for all and his enviable political foresight. All the promises of the Roman hierarch were resolutely rejected, and his nuncios had to get out of Chersonesos with nothing. And how could Vladimir give up the main thing of his life, having already entered the sacred land of ancient Ors!

Then, as you know, there were long negotiations between the Russian prince and the Byzantine brother-emperors. But the situation has since changed significantly. Now Vladimir spoke no longer as a poor petitioner, but as a conqueror of one of the richest cities in the empire, and therefore the conversation from now on was already on an equal footing. While the negotiations were going on, the Russian prince accepts Orthodoxy, and he accepts it from the hands of the vanquished as the winner who “let himself be persuaded”.

Baptism of the squad of Prince Vladimir in Korsun. Radziwill Chronicle. 15th century

Professor S. A. Belyaev, already familiar to us, who had been excavating Chersonese for many years, also established the approximate place of this, no doubt, a great event. Here is what he writes: “Thanks to the extensive excavations carried out in Chersonese in the second half of the 19th century, it became possible to concretize the chronicle description of the baptism of Prince Vladimir. By the 30s of the 19th century, only three Byzantine churches had been excavated in Chersonese. Based on the chronicle report that the temple in which Vladimir was baptized was located “in the middle of the city”, one of the three temples known at that time, located more or less in the center ancient city, and was recognized for the temple in which Prince Vladimir received holy baptism. At the same time, in memory of this event, a large new two-story cathedral was built over it, where the service was performed on the second floor, and on the first there was ancient temple. Later, a baptistery (baptistery) was excavated in Chersonese cathedral church city ​​- the Church of the Holy Apostles. After the opening of the baptismal, taking into account the peculiarities of the liturgical life of the 10th century, in particular, the peculiarities of the celebration of the sacrament of baptism, we can rightly assert that Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duke Vladimir could receive the sacrament of holy baptism only in this baptismal - the only one in the whole city - and only through the bishop in full accordance with the testimony of the annals.

Historian A. Karpov, who studied in detail the question: where could Vladimir still be baptized, sets out the essence of his reasoning as follows: “He was baptized (Vladimir. - V. Sh.) in the church of St. , in a place in the middle of the city, where the Korsun people make bargaining; Vladimirov’s chamber stands on the edge of the church to this day, and the tsarina’s (?) chamber is behind the altar.”

Vladimir's baptism was followed by his marriage to Anna. The text of the Laurentian Chronicle (or, in other words, the Laurentian list of the Tale of Bygone Years) is quoted above. Surprisingly, other chronicles, including those very close to Lavrentiev's, in this part of the Tale of Bygone Years sharply diverge from it and from each other in the name of the Korsun church in which Prince Vladimir was baptized. So, according to the Radzivilovskaya and Academic Chronicles, Vladimir was baptized in the Church of the Holy Mother of God; according to Ipatiev - Hagia Sophia; according to the Novgorod First junior edition - in the church of St. Basilisk. And this despite the fact that the rest of the text of these chronicles in the description of this event almost does not differ: the church, for example, is equally said to be “in the middle of the city, where the Korsunians are bargaining,” and so on. Other sources further increase the disparity. The usual "Life of Vladimir" calls the church in which the prince was baptized the Church of St. James (without indicating its location in the city); from the "Life" this name fell into some annals, in particular, into the "Sofia First", "Novgorod Fourth", "Tverskaya". Separate lists of the chronicle legend offer two more options for the name of the Korsun church - St. Spas and St. Clement. “The Life of Vladimir of a Special Composition” generally reports that Vladimir was baptized (or baptized his squad?) “in the river”. According to researchers, this is a distortion of the original "in the church", without specifying the name.

So at least seven different versions. But in this church, so differently named, a most important event for the fate of Rus' took place!

The words of the chronicler “in the middle of the city” do not at all mean a certain central point of ancient Chersonesos, but only indicate that the church was located inside the city walls. Its name is again given in different ways by various written sources. Of the chronicles containing the oldest text of The Tale of Bygone Years, only Ipatievskaya names the church - St. John the Baptist. "The Life of Vladimir" calls the church the church of St. Basil. Perhaps this name was also reflected in the "Laurentian Chronicle" - in the name of another Korsun church, also standing "in the middle of the city", the one in which the prince or his squad were baptized.

Anna sails from Constantinople to Korsun. Radzivilov Chronicle. 15th century

Archaeologists, it seems, managed to find the remains of this temple, identifying Vladimirov's "church on the mountain" with the "basilica on the hill" discovered in the 19th century in the western part of the city. As it turned out, this basilica - simple in form and not very large in size - was put on the site of a previously destroyed temple. By whom and when this last one was destroyed is unknown. Perhaps the soldiers of Vladimir himself after the capture of the city. In any case, the new basilica was built from the ruins of the former temple, which the builders had at hand. About communication newly built temple military operations are evidenced by finds among its ruins of triangular-shaped stone battlements that once towered over the walls of the city; they were apparently also used in construction. Throwing battlements from the wall after the end of hostilities had symbolic meaning- it marked the fall of the city in the literal sense of the word.

In historiography, the opinion was established that in the original version of the Korsun legend, the church in which Vladimir was baptized was not named by name, but was denoted by the Greek word "vasilika": it was this that turned under the pen of the scribe into the Church of St. Basilisk, and then Basil . I don't think so. The fact is that the researchers did not conduct a detailed textual analysis of the annalistic story, taking into account various (including non-annalistic) texts containing the Korsun legend. But such an analysis leads to a completely different conclusion.

We have already talked about an extra-chronicle monument containing a text close to the annals - the so-called "Word about how Vladimir was baptized, having taken Korsun." It presents an earlier version of the "Korsun Tale" than those that have been preserved in the annalistic vaults - in particular, there are no obvious inserts in the annalistic text that break a coherent narrative. Some of these inserts are contained in the chronicle fragment in which the church of interest to us is mentioned. For clarity, let's compare the text of the "Laurentian Chronicle" and "Words about the baptism of Vladimir." (As an exception, we will have to compare the Old Russian text; however, its translation into modern Russian has just been given, so the reader should not have any special difficulties.)

“Laurentian Chronicle”: “Seeing her, Volodymyr was in vain healing and glorified God, rivers:“ This is the first time I saw the true God! ”Behold, seeing his squad, many were baptized. Be baptized in the church of St. Basil, and there are churches that stand in Korsun city and in a place in the middle of the city, where the Korsun people are bargaining. Volodymyr's coat stands from the edge of the church to this day, and the queen's coat is behind the altar. After baptism, bring the queen to the marriage ... "

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Part Two The first Kuban campaign ("Ice Campaign") ... We are leaving for the steppes. We can only return if there is the grace of God. But you need to light a torch so that there is at least one bright point among the darkness that has engulfed Russia. From a letter to M.V.

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FRAGMENT 1. "Korsun legend" (Choice of faith). They chose ten glorious and wise men, and said to them: "Go to the Bulgarians, Germans and Greeks, test their faith." Russian ambassadors went to the Bulgarians, to the Germans and Greeks. When they returned, Prince Vladimir summoned his boyars and elders and said to them: “The men sent by us have come, let us listen to everything that happened to them.” They said: “We went to the Bulgarians, watched how they pray in the mosque, and there is no fun in them, only great sadness. Their law is not good. And we came to the Germans and saw their various services in the temples, but we did not see any beauty. And we came to the Greeks, led us to where they serve their God and did not know whether we were in heaven or on earth: for there is no such sight and beauty on earth, and we do not know how best to tell about it. We only know. That their service is better than in all other countries. We cannot forget that beauty, for every person, if he tastes the sweet, will not take the bitter later: so we can no longer be in paganism. The boyars said: “If the Greek law was bad, then your grandmother, Olga, would not have accepted it, but he was the wisest of all people.” And Vladimir asked: “Where shall we be baptized?” They said: "Where you like." According to the chronicler, it was after this test of faith that Vladimir made his final decision. The chronicle story about the baptism of Vladimir is usually called the Korsun legend. Then Vladimir decided to force Byzantium to fulfill these obligations by force, capturing the city of Chersonesos (Korsun) in the Crimea. Anna was urgently sent to Korsun. Vladimir was baptized. “The bishop of Korsun with the tsarina’s priests baptized Vladimir. Many warriors, seeing this, were baptized,” the chronicle narrates. Combining marriage with Anna, Vladimir returned to Kyiv with priests and icons. Upon his return, he baptized all his sons. Following the example of the prince, many noble boyars were baptized, then Vladimir proceeded to baptize the inhabitants of Kyiv. The circumstances of the baptism of the people of Kiev are also described in the "Tale of Bygone Years". FRAGMENT 2. (Circumstances of the baptism of the people of Kiev). Vladimir ... ordered to overturn the idols - to chop some and burn others. Peruna also ordered to tie a horse to the tail and drag him from the mountain along the Borichev vozvoz to the Creek and ordered 12 men to beat him with glands. This was done not because the tree feels anything, but to desecrate the demon, who deceived people in this image, so that he would accept retribution from people. Great are you, O Lord, and marvelous are your works! Yesterday he was still honored by people, but today we will scold him. When Perun was dragged along the Creek to the Dnieper, the unfaithful mourned him, since they did not accept holy baptism. And having dragged him, they threw him into the Dnieper. And put Vladimir people to him, saying to them: “If he sticks to the shore somewhere, push him away. And when the rapids pass, only then leave it.” They did what they were ordered to do. And when they let Perun in and he passed the rapids, he was thrown by the wind onto the shallows, and that is why the place was known as Perunya shallows, as it is still called. Then Vladimir sent throughout the city to say: "If someone does not come tomorrow to the river - whether it be rich, or poor, or a beggar, or a slave will be my enemy." Hearing this, the people went with joy, rejoicing and saying: “If it weren’t for this good, our prince and boyars would not have accepted it.” The very next day, Vladimir went out with the Tsaritsyn and Korsun priests to the Dnieper, and an innumerable people converged there. They entered the water and stood there, some up to their necks, others up to their chests ... some held babies, and already adults wandered, priests prayed, standing still. And joy was seen in heaven and on earth, everywhere so many saved souls. FRAGMENT 3. (What's new?) Vladimir ordered the churches to be cut down and placed in the places where the idols used to stand. And he set up a church in the name of St. Basil on the hill where the idol of Perun and others stood ... And in other cities they began to set up churches and identify priests in them and bring people to baptism in all cities and villages. He sent to collect the best people children and send them to book education ... When they were given, they were bookish, thus the prophecy came true in Rus', which said: “In those days they will hear the deaf words of the book, and the language of the tongue-tied will be clear.” They had not heard the teachings of the book before, but according to God's dispensation and by His mercy, God had mercy on them. As the prophet said: "I will have mercy on whom I want."

Stage writers and stage directors: Honored Artist of the Russian Federation Nikita Astakhov and Honored Artist of the Russian Federation Tatyana Belevich
Scenography: Honored Artist of the Russian Federation Tatyana Belevich
costume designer: Marina Filatova
Choreographer: Gia Berdzenishvili

cast:
honored activity claim. RF Nikita Astakhov
honored art. RF Tatyana Belevich
honored art. Chuvashia Nikolai Kalenov
Victor Zolotonog
Mikhail Leontsev
Anna Hapkina
Victoria Fateeva
Larisa Khoroshilova
Asya Kulikova
Dmitry Shvetsov
Mikhail Panyukov
and etc.

On the occasion of the 1000th anniversary of the repose of the Great Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir, the Glas Theater released a premiere - The Korsun Legend (Praise to Vladimir). Stage directors Nikita Astakhov and Tatyana Belevich turned to the main monuments of ancient Russian literature - The Tale of Bygone Years by the chronicler Nestor and The Tale of Law and Grace by Metropolitan Hilarion - translating them into stage language, but not adapting them to modern linguistic realities. For almost two hours, the actors immerse the audience in the atmosphere of ancient Rus', where the characters speak in a melodious and eloquent Old Russian language that is absolutely understandable even to those who have never heard it before.

The performance is dedicated to the important topic of the formation of Orthodoxy in Rus': through the revival of history, the audience is offered a journey to the origins, to the moment from which it all began. You can trace the milestones of the life of a saint Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga, her husband Prince Igor, son - Prince Svyatoslav and grandson - Prince Vladimir, the Baptist of Rus'. The action is framed by musical and dance numbers, beautiful vocal parts. In addition, the production includes a video sequence containing historical information, excerpts from primary sources and a chronicle.

"Cases of Bygone Days" echoes the present - the performance contains a pronounced patriotic orientation, the authors are trying to show how important it is to preserve spiritual heritage, traditions and culture of a country that has always been strong and united by its true faith, hope and love.

Premiered in July 2015
Performance duration: 2 hours (no intermission)

"Korsun legend". The chronicle story about the baptism of Vladimir is usually called the Korsun legend. At that time, Vladimir fell ill with his eyes and did not see anything. And the queen sent to him to say: “If you want to overcome this illness, then be baptized quickly.” Hearing this, Vladimir said: “If this really comes true, then the God of the Christians is truly great.” And he ordered to be baptized. The bishop of Korsun with the priests of the queen ... baptized Vladimir. And as soon as they laid a hand on him, Vladimir immediately received his sight. Realizing the same sudden healing, Vladimir glorified God: "Now I know the true God." The circumstances of the baptism of the people of Kiev are also described in the Tale of Bygone Years. Vladimir baptized 12 of his sons and many boyars. The baptistery font where Prince Vladimir was baptized. Excavations in Chersonese (Korsun).

slide 13 from the presentation ""Baptism of Rus'" 4th grade". The size of the archive with the presentation is 1928 KB.

World around 4th grade

summary other presentations

"Questions on natural areas" - Question. The Black Sea coast of the Caucasus is located in the subtropical zone. Name the plants and animals of the steppe zone, listed in the Red Book. The Wrangel Island Nature Reserve is located in the Arctic. Continuous herbaceous vegetation cover. Forest zone. The desert reserve of Russia is called the Black Earth. Desert zone. By the Black Sea. Name the plants of the ice zone. Long-lived tree. The desert has hot, long summers and cool, short winters.

"Birds of settlements" - Swift at the nest. Starling. Hoodie. World of birds. City swallows. Village swallows. House sparrow. Great tit. Orca. Blue dove. White wagtail. Spring messenger. Take care of the birds. Man's neighbors. Ordinary bird. Ice breaking bird. Long-winged swifts. Talented imitator.

"The life of the ancient Slavs" - Brownie. At home. The day of Ivan. Dwellings of the ancient Slavs. Ancient Slavs. Holiday of seeing off winter. Places. Maslenitsa. Water. Trinity. The origin of the ancient Slavs. Slavic Thunderer. Perun. The settlement of the ancient Slavs. Appearance ancient Slavs. History wheel. The world. Goblin. Slavs. Life of the ancient Slavs. Sun God. Black clouds. Holidays. Religion. Ivan Kupala. Sacred tree of Lada.

"Prince Yaroslav the Wise" - Death of Yaroslav. Kyiv under Yaroslav. Merits of Yaroslav the Wise. Grand Duke of Kyiv. Encyclopedia of Cyril and Methodius. Domestic policy of Yaroslav. Monument to Yaroslav. Enlightener of Rus'. Yaroslav the Wise. Pechenegs attacked Rus'. Kyiv throne. City of Aldeiburg. Yaroslav. Judgment in the time of Russian truth. Brothers Yaroslav and Mstislav. Creation of the first set of laws. Yaroslav Vladimirovich the Wise. Reading to the people of Russian Truth.

"Protection of nature and the environment" - Sobol. Type of work. Maral. Lynx. Protection of Nature. Spindle. Cheglok. Western slopes. Reptiles. Kandalaksha reserve. Don't pick flowers. Don't break trees. Don't trample the grass. Osprey. Habitats of musk deer. Central Black Earth Reserve. protected species. Elk with a calf. Prohibition signs. Birds.

"Minerals of the Kuban" - Sand. What is called a mineral. Peat. Marl deposits. Minerals. Metals. Deposits of minerals. Natural resources. Gold mining. Non-metallic minerals. Natural gas. Graphite. Hydrocarbon and energy raw materials. Extraction of oil, gas, peat. underground treasures Kuban. Mineral springs. Thermal springs. Healing mud. Selenite. The idea of ​​minerals.

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11.07.2021

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