Vladimir – Main implications of
the official conversion to
Christianity. Christianity’s
institutional foundation
Church and Monasteries –
provided.
Church in Rus – Headed by a
metropolitan – properly of
“Rhosia”, or “of Rus”.
Ilaron (c. 1051-4) – a native of Rus
and the Head of that period.
Bishops - in charge of church
organization in the sub-districts.
The time of Vladimir Monomakh,
bishoprics were well established
in the middle Dnieper region:
Chernigov, Pereiaslavl, Belgorod,
and Iur’ev close to Kiev.
Northward – Turok, Polotsk, and
Novgorod
Christianity – followed a certain
time – lag. The political fortune of
dynasty.
First Bishops – must have come
from Byzantium or from Bulgaria.
Monks and Bishops – had to be
celibate.
Parish Clergy – had to be married.
Vladimir’s “Tithe Church” of the
mother of God – was the first of
the monumental masonry
churches.
Mstislav Vladimirovich – initiated
a building program in Chernigov.
Iaroslav Vladimirovich - worked to
make Kiev the most splendid city
in Rus', unmatched by any other.
The important churches from the
late 11th and early 12th centuries
include:
- The Dormition of the Mother of
God Church at the Caves
Monastery
- St. Michael's Church at the
Vydubichi Monastery (both from
the 1070s, just outside the city)
- The 'Golden-Domed' St.
Michael's Church (around 1108)
- The Church of the Saviour at the
Berestovo princely residence
(1115–19).
In the 1090s and 1100s,
Pereiaslavl’ saw a lot of
construction activity, including the
main churches in Novgorodian
monasteries like St. George and
St. Anthony, which were built in
the 1110s. Also, during the first 20
years of the 12th century, the
construction of the earliest stone
churches began in Suzdal',
Smolensk, and Peremyshl’.
Churches and large monasteries -
cost money to build and run.
Monks - also worked on the land
and engaged in small-scale crafts
and trade.
Metropolitans and bishops -
relied on support from others,
monasteries could sustain
themselves through their
endowments and their own
income-generating activities.
We don't have much information
about how lower clergy were
supported, but it's likely they
relied on local donations.
In the mid-11th century, there
were patrons and artists who
created remarkable works like the
stunning mosaics on the upper
walls of St. Sophia in Kiev, the
eloquent Sermon on Law and
Grace by Ilarion, and the lavish
Ostromir Gospel (dated to 1056–
7), the oldest surviving Slavic book
in a format that was the grandest
of its time. These three
monuments also represent
different ways cultural ideas were
transmitted. The St. Sophia
mosaics are essentially Byzantine
art commissioned in Kiev,
including their Greek inscriptions.
The Rus' embraced Byzantine
culture in three main ways:
- by bringing in Byzantine things
or people directly
- by making local copies in
Slavonic style
- by adjusting Byzantine
influences for their own needs.
Prince Boris and Prince Gleb – are
the two saints who formally
recognized in the eleventh
century.
- murdered in 1015
- members of the ruling dynasty
Monks of the Caves and Nestor –
are responsible for the main job of
devising and shaping and
compiling the Primary Chronicle.
Patericon or Paterikon - a short
form for ("father's book",
usually Lives of the Fathers in
English), is a genre of Byzantine
literature of religious character,
which were collections
of sayings of saints, martyrs and
hierarchs, and tales about them.