HARVARD UKRAINIAN STUDIES - See also - Harvard University

THE CONVERSION OF RUS' 295Byzantine participation did not result from confessional motives, but wasconnected with the rise of a new political situation in Eastern and SoutheastEurope.Outside Kievan Rus' itself, the Rus' conversion to Christianity wasrecorded by near and distant neighbors, mostly Christian, as a trivial event,a component of a political deal and the vehicle for a better position in thefamily of rulers. Even the intellectual and Christian philosopher Pselloswas not imaginative enough to see the future significance of the event.* *How was "the grace and truth brought to earth by Jesus Christ" understood,realized, and felt by the Rus' nation when it was baptized? The earliestnative record of the baptism of Rus' known to us was written in Kiev inthe year 1049 or 1050. This "Sermon on Law and Grace and the Eulogy ofour prince Volodimer who baptized us" is more than a homiletic work: it isa philosophical and religious treatise composed by Ilarion, a native priestmonkwho had a Byzantine cultural background. 18 Shortly after its deliverance,in 1051, Ilarion was elevated to the metropolitan see of Kiev. Hiswork is widely known, so here we will deal only with its relevance to thetopic at hand. 19 Ilarion's sermon was never considered a primary source ontinerin Theophano," Braunschweigisches Jahrbuch 54 (1973): 24-60. For earlier literature,see J. Strzelczyk, "Teofano," Siownik Starozytnosci Stowiaiiskich (hereafter SSS) 6(1977): 57f.18Recently edited anew by A. M. Moldovan is Slovo o zakone i blagodati llariona (Kiev,1984); still indispensable as an excellent commentary is the edition of L. Miiller, Des MetropolitenIlarion Lobrede auf Vladimir den Heiligen und Glaugensbekenntnis, nach der Erstausgabevon 1844 neu herausgegeben, eingeleitet und erlautert (Wiesbaden, 1962). Moldovan'sdating of the Slovo between 1037-1050 (after A. Gorski, 1844) does not take into account thearguments brought up in the 1960s. The terminus ante quern is the mention of Jaroslav's wifeIrene-Ingigerd, who died on 10 February 1051. The terminus post quern is the mention of theChurches of Sophia and of the Annunciation and a ' 'wreath" of fortifications around Kiev builtby Jaroslav; all of these were begun after 1036 and were completed near 1046. Present inchurch during Ilarion's speech were the grandchildren of Jaroslav (the eldest sons married in1043/44). The sermon was probably recited in capella palatina—the Tithes Church—in frontof Volodimer's tomb on the Sunday anniversary of his death, 15 July 1050. Cf. A. Soloviev,"Zur Lobrede des Metropoliten Hilarion," Das heidnische und christliche Slaventum. Ada IIcongressus internationalis historiae Slavicae Salisburgo-Ratisbonensis 1967 (Wiesbaden,1970), pp. 58-63; reprinted in idem, Byzance et la formation de VEtat russe (London, 1979);A. Poppe, Panstwo i Koscidi na Rusi w XI w. (Warsaw, 1968), pp. 56-58; idem, "The Buildingof the Church of St. Sophia in Kiev," Journal of Medieval History 7 (1981): 15-66(reprinted in idem, The Rise of Christian Russia [London, 1982]).19For the literature, see Podskalsky, Christentum, pp. 84-86; N. Rozov, "Ilarion," in Slovar'kniznikov i kniznosti Drevnej Rusi, Xl-pervaja polovina XIV v. (Leningrad, 1987), pp.198-204. A clear treatment in English is J. Fennell and A. Stokes, Early Russian Literature(London, 1974), pp. 40-60, with many quotations from the sermon. As far as I know, only ashort part of the sermon has been translated into English, in S. A. Zenkovsky, Medieval