Introduction
The Christianity that spread across England in the 7th century spread to Kiev in the 10th, but there it had to compete not just with paganism but with Islam, Judaism, and other flavours of Christianity — and also with Vladimir, Grand Prince of Kiev (r. 980-1015), who liked his religion spicy.
PRINCE Vladimir of Kiev was a superb general, but not without faults.* He was given to drink, kept several wives and hundreds of sex slaves, and encouraged the people to sacrifice their sons and daughters to his idol gods. And all this despite having a Christian grandmother, Olga.
The Muslims of Volga Bulgaria were the first to try to tame him.* Vladimir liked the idea of Allah supplying him with seventy fair women, but circumcision and abstaining from alcohol were deal-breakers. Next came emissaries from the Pope, but they reduced Christianity to mild fasting, hardly Vladimir’s idea of red-blooded religion. The Jews fared no better: the warlike Prince had little time for a religion whose homeland had been conquered.*
Only one man aroused any curiosity: a learned Greek from Constantinople,* who took Vladimir step-by-step through the Bible’s gripping tale of redemption. But still he wavered, so in 987 his noblemen suggested sending emissaries to each place, to observe these competing religions at first hand.*
Vladimir ruled Kiev from 980 to 1015, making him a contemporary of King Ethelred the Unready. Indeed, some ancient sources say that after Cnut seized the English crown in 1016 Ethelred’s grandson Edward the Exile found refuge in Kiev under Vladimir’s son Yaroslav the Wise, and married Yaroslav’s youngest daughter, Agatha — making Queen Margaret of Scotland (r. 1070-1093) Vladimir’s great-granddaughter. See Edward the Exile.
Not Bulgaria, but Volga Bulgaria or Volga–Kama Bulghar, an Islamic Bulgar state at the confluence of the Volga and Kama Rivers, near modern-day Kazan. Over in Bulgaria itself, Prince Boris I had been baptised a Christian back in 864, under the influence (according to the Byzantine chronicler John Skylitzes) of St Methodius, teacher of the Slavs. See The Beautiful Side of the Picture.
By the Muslim caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab in 638. Islam was at that time a new religion, devised by Muhammad ibn Abdullah (?570-632).
Modern-day Istanbul in the northwest corner of Turkey. Since 330, it had been the capital of the Roman Empire; imperial rule was withdrawn from Britannia in 410. The city fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453.
The tale of Vladimir’s hesitation to commit to the Christian religion has echoes of the conversion of King Edwin of Northumbria. See King Edwin and the Hand of Destiny.
Précis
The 10th century Prince of Kiev, Vladimir, was a brutal pagan general with blood on his hands. Neighbouring nations sought to rein him in with religion — the Muslims, the Jews, and Christians from Rome and Constantinople. Of these, only the last made any favourable impression, so Vladimir’s counsellors suggested sending emissaries to see these religions in their home environment. (59 / 60 words)
The 10th century Prince of Kiev, Vladimir, was a brutal pagan general with blood on his hands. Neighbouring nations sought to rein him in with religion — the Muslims, the Jews, and Christians from Rome and Constantinople. Of these, only the last made any favourable impression, so Vladimir’s counsellors suggested sending emissaries to see these religions in their home environment.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 65 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 55 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: about, although, besides, not, or, otherwise, ought, whether.
Word Games
Sevens Based on this passage
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Variations: 1.expand your answer to exactly fourteen words. 2.expand your answer further, to exactly twenty-one words. 3.include one of the following words in your answer: if, but, despite, because, (al)though, unless.
Jigsaws Based on this passage
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
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