Who baptized Rus? Find out the correct answer right now.

The fact that the adoption of Christianity has become a cornerstone in the further political, administrative and even scientific development of the Russian state has long been beyond doubt. Who baptized Rus and when it was, knows, perhaps, any schoolboy. But the very history of the penetration of the Christian religion into Russia is covered with so many myths, secrets and legends that it is sometimes difficult to understand where the truth is, and where lies are.

First of all, many people are embarrassed by the fact that there were many Christians in Russia before the birth of Prince Vladimir. In light of this, a reasonable question arises: do we know exactly which prince baptized Rus? In fact, the real baptizer of the Russian people was really Vladimir Yasnoe Solnyshko, but Christianity came to the territory of Russia with his grandmother, Princess Olga, the mother of his father, Prince Svyatoslav. It was she who adopted this religion at a time when most of the Rusichs were convinced admirers of Veles, Perun and Dazhbog. Together with her wise lady, a new believer was also accepted by some servants close to her, who began spreading their faith in Jesus in the Slavic land. But to say that by 988 in Russia there was a significant number of followers of this religion, it would be fundamentally wrong.

It is even darker, many historians, answering the question who baptized Rus and, most importantly, what caused such a sharp change in the theological views of the ancient Slavs, tell the following story. Vladimir received the prince's throne and became the sole ruler of Kievan Rus for two reasons. First, he deceived and then killed his brother Yaropolk, and secondly, shortly before that, another candidate for reign, the third son of Svyatoslav, Oleg, died in battle under rather strange circumstances. Realizing that such a shaky power must be strengthened in the eyes of the people, he orders to honor the god Perun, who was considered the patron of all the princes of the Russians, as the supreme deity. In support of his faith, he erected on the high bank of the Dnieper a huge statue of Perun, with a silver and gold head.

According to the pagan rite, in order to appease the god, he needs to make a sacrifice. And the prince, who in a few years will become a convinced Christian, and who baptized Rus, believes that this sacrifice must be human. According to the cast lot, a young man from a Christian family was to be sacrificed. His father refused to extradite his son to death and called the prince's god a simple piece of wood. An angry squad killed both - father and son, but Vladimir, faced with such obvious disobedience, began to doubt the loyalty of his chosen path.

This was the first step to thinking of Prince Vladimir. Since that time, the baptism of Rus has become a matter of time. Having studied the distinctive features of several popular world religions, he decided without hesitation to adopt the religion from Byzantium. Having accepted the baptism directly from the fathers of the church, the prince returned to Kiev and began a merciless struggle against paganism. The statues and idols that stood along the banks of the Dnieper were thrown into the river, and all Kievites were told to gather on the shore to accept a new faith.

Vladimir himself, becoming one who baptized Rus, perfectly understood that this way will not be easy. Not all Slavs easily obeyed him and abandoned the faith of their fathers and grandfathers. A lot of blood was spilled before Kievan Rus became a country of Christian religion and morals, but purposeful Vladimir brought his work to the end and managed to unite all the Rusics under the banner of the new faith. The business of the Slavs' appeal, which he started, took enormous proportions and helped Kievan Rus to become a united power, which in time gained the title of one of the main strongholds of Christianity.