In the Baptism of Rus', Princess Anna, an Armenian by origin, played a key role. Byzantine princess Anna Romanovna

Anna of Byzantium (Greek Άννα, March 13, 963 - 1011/1012) - Byzantine princess, wife of the Grand Duke of Kyiv Vladimir Svyatoslavich, Baptist of Rus'. The first queen in Rus'.

After the Russians captured the Greek city of Korsun in Crimea, the sister of the Byzantine Emperor Vasily II was sent as a wife to Prince Vladimir in order to fulfill the terms of the agreement on Russian military assistance to Byzantium. The circumstances preceding the dynastic marriage are set out in the articles: Vladimir I Svyatoslavich and the Russian-Byzantine War of 988.

Byzantine princess
Anna was the only sister of the reigning Emperor Basil II (ruled 976-1025) and his co-ruler brother Constantine VIII (976-1028). She was born just 2 days before the death of her father, Emperor Romanus II, which was noted by the Byzantine historian John Skylitzes, and thanks to which the date of her birth became known: March 13, 963.

According to Skylitzes, the death of 24-year-old Romanos II was caused by “exhaustion of the flesh by the most shameful and voluptuous acts,” or, according to rumors, he was poisoned. In the same year, the Domestic Schol of the East, the famous commander Nicephorus Phokas, became emperor, immediately after marrying Anna’s mother, Queen Theophano.

Anna’s grandfather, Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus, wrote for his son in 949 a treatise “On the Administration of the Empire,” in which he expressed the attitude of the rulers of Byzantium to dynastic marriages with the barbarian northern peoples, among whom he indicated the Rus:
“If ever the people of any of these unfaithful and wicked northern tribes ask for kinship through marriage with the basileus of the Romans, that is, either to receive his daughter as a wife, or to give his daughter, either to the basileus as a wife or to the son of the basileus, you should refuse and this unreasonable request of theirs [...] Since each nation has different customs, different laws and regulations, it must adhere to its own orders and enter into and create alliances for mixing lives within the same people.”

Constantine Porphyrogenitus made an exception for the ruling houses of Western Europe, the “Franks”. Despite the reverent attitude to the dignity of the imperial family, circumstances forced the Byzantine rulers to enter into kinship with neighboring peoples. So Emperor Nicephorus Foka wanted to marry his stepsons Vasily and Constantine to Bulgarian brides of royal blood, but the coup, in which his wife Theophano took an active part, brought the new emperor John Tzimisces to power.

Only after the death of Tzimiskes in 976 did the matured Basil and Constantine become the ruling emperors, and the purple-born Anna became a marriageable girl, whose royal hand was sought by the rulers of neighboring countries.

Matchmaking of Germans, Franks and Bulgarians
The chronicler of the 11th century, Titmar of Merseburg, mentioned that Anna was betrothed to Otto, the heir to the Holy Roman Empire: According to her conviction, he accepted the holy Christian faith.” Otto was born in 980 and became Emperor Otto III in 983, Anna was 17 years older than him. Perhaps Titmar confused not only her name, but also the groom. Otto's father, Emperor Otto II, really wanted to marry a Byzantine princess of imperial blood, but as a result, in 972 he married the 12-year-old Theophano, the niece of the Byzantine emperor John Tzimisces.

In 988, the French king Hugo Capet sent a letter to the Byzantine emperors, wanting to find for his son Robert "a bride equal to him." Robert's father crowned Robert in December 987, the marriage was supposed to strengthen the position of the new ruling Capet dynasty in France. Hugh Capet did not name the bride, 16-year-old Robert was more likely to marry Eudoxia, the daughter of Emperor Constantine VIII (the other daughters of Zoya and Theodore were younger) than Anna, but age did not play a role in dynastic marriages. For unknown reasons, the consanguineous union did not take place. The Queen of France in 1051 was another Anna, the daughter of the Kyiv prince Yaroslav, who married the son of Robert, King Henry I.

An even more complicated story is told by the Armenian historian Stefan Taronsky (Asohik) about the courtship of Anna in 986 by one of the Bulgarian princes:
“In the same year, Tsar Vasily sent him [Metropolitan Sebastia] to the country of the Bulkhars to establish peace. Bulkharia asked Tsar Vasily to give his sister in marriage to her Tsar. The emperor, accompanied by the metropolitan, sent some woman from his subjects who looked like his sister. Upon the arrival of that woman in the country of the Bulkhars, they found out who she was, and therefore they condemned the metropolitan as an adulterer and a deceiver; The Bulkharian kings burned it, covering it with brushwood and straw.”

Asohik reported this incident primarily with the aim of depicting retribution to the Sebastian metropolitan for the oppression of the Armenian clergy; he was of little interest in Bulgarian affairs. Historians doubt the consent of Vasily II to become related through marriage with one of the leaders in a country that had only recently rebelled against Byzantine rule. The dynastic marriage looks even more strange against the background of Vasily’s unsuccessful military campaign in Bulgaria in the same year (986).

A.V. Nazarenko suggests that in fact Asohik was talking about replacing a bride for the Kyiv prince Vladimir, who, according to the Life of the monk Jacob, went to the Dnieper rapids in 988, perhaps just to meet Anna. If indeed a substitution took place, this served as the basis for the prince to move to Korsun and capture it the next year.

Russian queen
According to the Tale of Bygone Years, Vladimir, having captured Korsun, demanded his sister from the Byzantine emperors as a wife, threatening to go to Constantinople. They agreed only if the prince was baptized. When Vladimir accepted this condition, the emperors persuaded Anna to go to the “Tavro-Scythians,” as the Byzantine authors of that era called the Russians. With tears, the princess said goodbye to her loved ones, saying: “I’m walking like crazy, it would be better for me to die here.”

The 11th century Arab historian Abu Shoja ar-Rudraweri supports the version of the chronicle about the decisive role of Anna in the baptism of Prince Vladimir:
“The woman refused to give herself to someone who disagreed with her in faith. Negotiations began about this, which ended with the entry of the Russian Tsar into Christianity.”

At the meeting, Anna convinced Vladimir to accept Christianity as soon as possible. After the baptism, they immediately performed a Christian wedding. Having returned Korsun to Byzantium, Prince Vladimir and Anna returned to Kyiv, where he proceeded to baptize the people. The Syrian historian of the 11th century, Yahya of Antioch, noted that Anna actively participated in the spread of Orthodoxy in Rus', "having built many churches." The church charter of Vladimir says that the prince consulted with his wife in church affairs: "having guessed with my princess Anna."

Anna in the annals was called not as usual - the princess, but the queen, retaining her dignity as a member of the imperial family. Chronicles do not report anything about her children, listing in detail the sons of Vladimir and their mothers. She may have had a daughter, but there is no exact evidence.

Anna died in the year 6519 according to the Byzantine calendar from the creation of the world, which corresponds to 1011/1012 (the new year in Rus' began on September 1), 4 years before the death of Prince Vladimir. As Thietmar of Merseburg reported, her tomb stood in the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Kyiv next to the tomb of Vladimir the Baptist.

About 35 years later, another queen appeared in Rus', the daughter of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine Monomakh, the wife of Prince Vsevolod Yaroslavich and the mother of the famous Prince Vladimir Monomakh. She was not of purplish descent, that is, she was born before Constantine Monomakh came to power in one of his marriages. Her story remains unknown, and even her name is known only tentatively: Maria, or according to other sources Anastasia. In literature, she is often also called Anna, confused with a daughter or the Christian name of a mother-in-law.

Information flashed in the media that a twelve-episode film about Anna of Byzantium, the wife of Vladimir, the Grand Duke of Kyiv, was being filmed in Russia together with one of the American film studios. The topic aroused interest, especially since Armenian blood flowed in Anna’s veins.

BYZANTIUM WAS A MULTINATIONAL STATE, ON whose TERRITORY Greeks, Slavs, Armenians, Georgians, and descendants of the ancient Thracians lived. The ethnographic mixture was cemented by Orthodoxy, and the international language was Greek.

The Greeks inhabited the lands of the Peloponnese and Hellas, and the other part (the Balkans) was inhabited by the Slavs, and part of the Balkans and Asia Minor by the Armenians. And because The Armenian population of the Asian themes (the military-administrative district of the Byzantine Empire) was imbued with the Greek spirit, they were called Romans (the self-name of the inhabitants of the Byzantine Empire). Each of these peoples contributed to the development of the empire, and the Armenians, of course, were not the last among them. There are many factual examples of this.

But let's return to Anna of Byzantium.

In Russian chronicles she is called a Greek princess, referring to her Byzantine origins. Meanwhile, Anna and her brothers, Emperors Vasily II and Constantine VIII, are of Armenian origin. As is known, Byzantium was most powerful during the reign of the Macedonian (Armenian) dynasty, the founder of which was Basil I (Barseg I), who came from a family of Armenian peasants in Thrace or Macedonia.

Anna was porphyritic or purpuric. According to the ideas of the Middle Ages, this made her almost a celestial being. The emperor's children, born in scarlet swaddling clothes, were called purple-born, and this color was considered imperial; their children had an undoubted right to the imperial throne. Empress mothers gave birth to children in a special Crimson (Porphyry) hall of the palace, the walls of which were made of porphyry stone brought from Africa. They were swaddled in crimson swaddling clothes, which cost a lot of money, because... dye. purple shades were obtained from needle shellfish, and to dye 1 kg of thread you needed 10 thousand of them.

Anna Romanovna was distinguished not only by her nobility and wealth, but also by her beauty. Contemporaries called her Rufa (Redhead). The princess was fair-haired, beautiful, smart, educated. She inherited her natural intelligence from her grandfather Constantine VII, who left behind a number of treatises on medicine, history, astrology, and other sciences.

AT THAT PERIOD, BYZANTIUM WAS A CENTER OF EDUCATION AND CULTURE. By the way, in the middle of the 9th century. Empress Theodora Mamikonyan donated the Magnavra Palace for the university building. Her brother Vard Mamikonyan founded Magnavra University, which was considered the first university in Europe. Lev (Levon) Mathematician (or Philosopher, as he was called) - an Armenian by birth - was appointed rector. Levon's grandfather was a gifted military leader in Armenia.

Lev the Mathematician was an inventive person, and the authorship of the “light telegraph” (in modern language) belongs to him. He came up with a system of mirrors, stations and beacons that made it possible to transmit a light signal warning of an alarm from Constantinople itself to the borders of the Caliphate in less than an hour. And if we take into account the threat that the fast-moving Arab cavalry continued to pose to the Romans (the inhabitants of Byzantium), it is difficult to overestimate the invention of Leo the Mathematician. He also designed a throne with golden roaring lions and singing birds, and at the press of a button, the throne would rise to the ceiling, leaving the guests in amazement and bewilderment.

The university also taught the scientist John the Grammar (Hovhannes Kerakan), who contributed to the opening of the University of Magnavra, as well as the astronomer Bagrat (Pankratos) - also of Armenian origin, etc...

Let's return to the reigns of Basil II and Constantine VIII. In 987, unexpectedly, the military leader Bardas Phocas proclaimed himself emperor and took possession of Antioch. The threat of the capture of Constantinople was imminent. Vasily II turned to Prince Vladimir for help. He promised his support on the condition that Vasily II and Constantine VIII give him his sister Anna Romanovna as his wife. But Vasily II and his brother were in no hurry to marry their sister to a pagan. Then Vladimir besieged the city of Korsun (ancient Greek Chersonesos). The city surrendered, and the prince threatened to besiege Tsargorod (Constantinople) if Anna was not given in marriage to him. The brothers, after thinking, gave their blessing, but only if the prince accepted baptism and married her according to the Christian rite.

The prince agreed to convert to Orthodoxy, saying that this faith was to his heart. Anna's brothers persuaded her, saying that by becoming a Christian, Vladimir would turn Rus' to repentance, and Byzantium would get rid of the terrible war. Wishing peace, Anna resigned herself to fate.

In the wedding cortege, Anna was accompanied by Armenian clergy, teachers to quickly master a foreign language, healers, spinners and musicians, clerks, librarians, several thousand security guards... Engineers, stonemasons, graphic designers, tilers went with her from Byzantium and Armenia to Kiev , bell casters, architects and other builders.

SOON IT WAS DECIDED TO BUILD A TITHE CHURCH IN Kyiv (now the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary). It was called that way because tithes of the prince's income were used for its maintenance. Anna allocated a large donation for its construction, which Vladimir proudly mentions in his Church Charter. By the way, he always consulted with Anna in all important matters. Well educated, she invariably commanded respect from her husband. Anna could even personally receive foreign ambassadors and draw up state documents together with Vladimir. She and her husband adopted the Church Charter - the first legislative code of the Kyiv state.

The church built by Anna Romanovna and Prince Vladimir was similar in image to the Pharos Church at the Great Imperial Palace in Constantinople, to which Anna loved to go to prayer services.

The Tithe Church began to be built in 989 and was built for many years, but during the invasion of Batu Khan in 1240 it was burned and destroyed. Surviving fragments and descriptions from contemporaries indicate an elegant and beautiful structure with five large domes 27 m long and 18 m wide with multi-colored frescoes and mosaics made of glass and jasper. By the time of the construction of the Tithe Church, Armenian architects had already built such masterpieces of world architecture as domed churches and the basilica of the Armenian monasteries of Hripsime, Astvatsatsin in Armenian Talin, the Cathedral of St. Hovhannes (Bagavan), Zvartnots and others.

The church was decorated with beautiful icons and frescoes on the dome and in the upper part. By order of Anna, icons and church utensils, as well as the Lives of the Saints, were delivered to Kyiv. At the same time, special institutions for training clergy were opened. Anna also cared about the establishment of hospitals and almshouses, taking care of the food of the poor people of Kiev.

The beauty of the Church of the Tithes can be judged by the Cathedral of St. Sophia of Kyiv, which Prince Vladimir began to build and was completed by Yaroslav the Wise. There are 22 graffiti in Armenian preserved on the walls of St. Sophia of Kyiv. The sarcophagus of Yaroslav the Wise (XI-XII centuries), made of white marble, is a unique monument of the St. Sophia Cathedral. There are floral and geometric images carved on it, which are found on some monuments of Armenian architecture (Zvartnots, Makenotsats, Talin monasteries). A careful study of the geometric signs of the sarcophagus shows that some of them are similar to Armenian letters and are probably the signs or initials of Armenian craftsmen.

Later Anna built many churches. And, of course, the cultural contribution of Anna Armenian is truly invaluable. She also gave birth to the fashion of wearing jewelry made of multi-colored glass. Craftsmen who melted glass for stained glass windows gave the waste to craftsmen who turned it into jewelry.

DURING THE RULE OF THE MACEDONIAN (ARMENIAN) DYNASTY, THE strong influence of Armenian art on Byzantium was noted. According to Joseph Strzygowski (Polish and Austrian art critic, specialist in the field of Byzantine art), during the reign of the Macedonian (Armenian) dynasty, the direct influence of Armenian art on the art of Byzantium can be traced. A huge number of architects and artists created their masterpieces in Byzantium (the new church in Constantinople, the Church of Santa Maria antika in Rome, and the best work of the Macedonian Armenian Revival, according to Strzygovsky, Hagia Sophia in Kiev...). Many other Russian churches belong to the "Byzantine" tradition of the era of the Macedonian (Armenian) emperors.

The role of Anna of Byzantium from the Armenian dynasty was very important for Kievan Rus. By marrying Prince Vladimir, Anna of Armenia not only contributed to the spread of Christianity in Rus'. The adoption of Christianity consolidated Rus' and contributed to the transition of appanage principalities to the Russian Empire. Anna also brought with her many Armenian-Chalcedonian nobility (relatives of the princess herself), monastic scribes, astronomers, cartographers, artists, architects, and doctors. Maps of the world order (ashkharatsuyts), rare for that time, calendar systems, and rare medical literature—medicines—began to be used.

But, unfortunately, while Prince Vladimir and his sons (Gleb and Boris) were elevated to the rank of saints, Anna was undeservedly forgotten (she was not canonized). Anna died at the age of 48. Perhaps the cause of her death was an epidemic. Prince Vladimir ordered a luxurious, exquisitely carved marble sarcophagus for her from Armenian stone-cutters from Byzantium and installed it within the Tithe Church. Later, in the same Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, another sarcophagus appeared - that of Prince Vladimir. Then even the Byzantine emperors were not awarded such an honor...

After Prince Vladimir, some Russian princes married Byzantine princesses (of Armenian origin). Thus, the mother of Vladimir Monomakh, the wife of Vsevolod Maria (Maryam) was the daughter of the Byzantine emperor from the Macedonian (Armenian) dynasty (Constantine IX Monomakh). Born in 1053, Vladimir (father of Yuri Dolgoruky, the founder of Moscow) received the nickname Monomakh from his parents.

After the adoption of Christianity in Rus' at the end of the 12th - beginning of the 13th centuries. a commonality of views among Armenian and Russian artists, architects, and artists gradually formed. These traditions were subsequently developed by new generations.

Theophano and her emperors

Anna, the daughter of the Byzantine Emperor Roman II, was born on March 13, 963. Anna's mother came from a family that was by no means noble, and her name was Feofano.

Leo Deacon, a Byzantine priest and historian of Armenian blood, described Theophano as “the most beautiful, seductive and refined woman of her time, equally distinguished by her beauty, abilities, ambition and depravity.”

The daughter of the Constantinople tavern owner Krotir, a native of Armenia, she was named Anastasia in childhood. Captivating the charm and grace of her figure, as well as the whiteness of her skin, intelligence and grace of Roman, the young heir to the throne, she fell in love with him and captured the heart of her ardent lover. Blinded by his passion for her charms, he completely forgot about his legal child wife Bertha, the illegitimate daughter of the King of Italy.

Since the appearance of Feofano among the high-born brides of the empire remains a mystery, it can be assumed that Roman met her long before courting Bertha (she died a virgin) and entered into a love affair with her.

Having learned about his son's attraction, the noble father Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus did not want to offend the feelings of his heir. In addition, the future daughter-in-law managed to charm with her beauty not only the Emperor Basileus himself, but also the Empress Helen.

After the death of Constantine VII, 18-year-old Feofano, the newly-minted empress, forced her husband to expel five sisters from the palace, who shone with education and good manners, and imprison them within the monastery walls. The unseemly act of Roman, who lost his head from ardent feelings, soon brought Queen Helen to the grave, with whom Feofano did not want to share the position of Augusta-ruler.

The chronicler describes the young basileus as a stately handsome man with a shock of light wheat hair, a “Roman nose” and expressive eyes. Pleasant in conversation, calm and rosy-cheeked, he aroused love among his subjects and admiration among women.

Having adopted learning from his father, Roman II had excellent command of words and writing. However, even during state affairs, he did not forget to please his flesh with amorous amusements. Over time, hunting, ball games, competitions at the hippodrome and feasts pushed his studies into the background.

A lover of mad racing on thoroughbred trotters and irrepressible carnal pleasures, Roman II, on March 15, 963, returning from a hunt, fell ill: fatal spasms choked him. It was rumored that Roman, who reigned for only four years, was poisoned.

But even in the short period of marriage, Feofano managed to give birth to two sons, Vasily and Konstantin, and a daughter, Feofano. And literally two days before Roman’s sudden death, the young queen gave birth to Anna.

The Patriarch of Constantinople reluctantly elevated Theophano to the rank of regent over her young sons. As a result of palace intrigues, the noble commander Nikifor Phokas took possession of the throne, immediately marrying Theophano. One can only think that it was she who exalted Foka in order to protect her children and herself from attacks.

Most likely, Feofano entered into a close relationship with Foka while her husband was still alive: the old warrior could not resist her charms. For her sake, he defeated the Baghdad Caliphate, captured Crete and invaded Syria...

In front of the growing Anna, swimming in wealth and luxury, her mother replaced the unpretentious Phokas with his daring and stately associate, the handsome John Tzimiskes, a born warrior of Armenian origin.

A conspiracy was brewing within the walls of the palace. Not without the help of the empress, the bribed killers entered the chambers and mercilessly dealt with the emperor in his own bed. So in 969, John I Tzimiskes declared himself emperor.

However, having barely established himself in his omnipotence, John not only did not want to marry the dissolute Theophano, but also expelled her from the capital, exiling her with six-year-old Anna to a deserted island in the Aegean Sea, to a cold cell.

In indescribable sadness, Feofano looked from this harsh shore at her former palaces, cherishing the hope of returning there again. She even managed to escape from the island and hide behind the walls of Hagia Sophia, but Tzimiskes was informed about the escape, and he ordered Theophano and his daughter to be sent to a remote Armenian monastery.

After the death of 50-year-old Tzimiskes in 976 (according to one version, he contracted some kind of disease in the East, others believed that he was poisoned), power passed to Theophano’s eldest son, Vasily II, which allowed the disgraced mother and sister to return to imperial palace.

Anna, granddaughter of Porphyrogenitus

Basil I, the founder of the dynasty, came from Armenians who settled in Macedonia, which is why in historiography this Byzantine dynasty is often called “Macedonian”, and the emperor himself is called Basil I the Macedonian.

Authoritative historians tend to call this dynasty “Armenian”, since during its two centuries in power (867-1056), most of the Byzantine emperors, military leaders and bureaucrats had Armenian roots. In the history of Byzantium, the Armenian dynasty remained perhaps the greatest.

The genealogy of Vasily (Barseg) is mentioned in one of the chronicles. Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (according to the Byzantine chronicler Michael Psellus, “Porphyrogenitus” meant born in scarlet swaddling clothes), the author of the chapter on Basil the Macedonian, writes that the ancestors of his grandfather Basil fled from Armenia to Byzantium in the second half of the 5th century and settled in in the vicinity of Andriapolis, in Macedonia. The same chronicle contains information about the origin of the ancestors of Basil I from the Armenian king Tiridates from the Arsacid dynasty.

Familiar with hard peasant labor from an early age, Barseg-Vasily grew up handsome, energetic and unusually strong. As a child, with his family and many other Armenians, he was captured by the Bulgarian Khan Krum. He lived for several years among the wild pagan Bulgarians, and upon returning to Macedonia, he went to serve the local aristocrat.

He set foot on the soil of Constantinople as an unknown young man who only knew how to tame wild horses. Rumors about the tall and stately hero reached Emperor Michael III, and he called him into his service. The crown bearer liked Vasily so much that he declared his favorite his co-ruler and even crowned him with the imperial crown in the Hagia Sophia...

Vasily I ruled single-handedly from 867. On August 29, 886, the already advanced basileus died of bleeding caused by bruises while hunting, having managed to appoint the Armenian Zautz, also a native of Macedonia, as the guardian of his sons Leo and Alexander.

Shortly before his death, the emperor recognized the independence of the Armenian state of the Bagratids, and Patriarch Photius I of Constantinople (877-886), an ethnic Armenian (his family was distinguished by nobility, piety and education), was the first to canonize Gregory of Armenia in Byzantium (Gregory the Illuminator, who converted Armenia in 301 to Christianity).

Growing up, Anna became interested in the writings of her great-great-grandfather Vasily I, addressed to his son Leo, the future Emperor Leo VI the Philosopher, or the Wise (886-912), an educated man with a wide range of interests, including theology. In these treatises - “Instructive Chapters to the Son Leo” and “Another Instruction to the Son, Emperor Leo” - Anna drew lessons in practical morality.

Leo the Philosopher's co-ruler was Alexander, who outlived his brother by only a year. The son of Leo VI, Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, or Porphyrogenet (born in the Porphyry Chamber of the Great Imperial Palace, where only empresses were allowed to give birth), the only legitimate heir to power in Byzantium, sat on the throne for 46 years.

The grandfather of Anna of Byzantium, Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, a passionate book lover, also endowed with a literary gift, left a number of treatises on medicine, history, agronomy and other sciences.

Neither before nor after Byzantium had such a great champion and patron of the sciences. Anna grew up on his works - “On the management of the empire”, “On themes (theme is a military administrative district in Byzantium. - M. and G.M.)”, “On the ceremonies of the Byzantine court”, on the lives of saints, lovingly collected together and processed by her glorious grandfather.

Under Porphyrogenitus, a scriptorium was also opened for making copies of manuscripts of ancient authors. Anna was particularly admired by the amazingly beautiful execution of miniatures from the so-called Parisian Psalter, which she inherited.

The figure of Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus literally grew out of the chronicles. So Anna learned that her crowned grandfather enjoyed the love of not only his close associates, but also the common people, for whom he built hospitals and shelters, and established a system of distributing alms.

The emperor was also keenly interested in the fates of the inmates of his prisons and prisons, trying to personally understand the case of each condemned person. Many, thanks to his insight, were released.

Whenever possible, Porphyrogenitus stopped all kinds of abuses by officials, trying to appoint honest and incorruptible people to positions. And he also had a habit of not losing sight of them.

Pagan Olga goddaughter of Constantine VII

In the summer of 955, Princess Olga arrived in Constantinople, called Constantinople by the Russians, from Kievan Rus, where pagan gods were worshiped. After the death of her husband, Prince Igor, the son of the chronicle founder of the statehood of Rus' - Rurik, in 945, she took the reins of power into her own hands.

“Olga headed to the Greek land and came to Constantinople,” the chronicle says. - And then Caesar Constantine reigned. And Olga came to him. And the king saw that she was beautiful in face and intelligent. He was surprised at the liveliness of her mind and said to her: “You are worthy to reign with us in our capital.”

She, having understood the meaning of what was said, answered the king: “I am a pagan. If you want to baptize me, then baptize me yourself. Otherwise I won’t be baptized.” And the king and the patriarch baptized her. Having been enlightened, she rejoiced in soul and body. And the patriarch instructed her in the faith and said to her: “Blessed are you among the Russian women, because you loved the light and left the darkness. Russian sons and your descendants will bless you.”

The Russian princess received Holy Baptism under the arches of the Hagia Sophia. Her successor was Anna’s grandfather, Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus. Together with Princess Olga (baptized Helen), she accepted the Holy Cross and her entire retinue - boyars, merchants, guards and their wives, which did not fail to affect the nature of relations between Kievan Rus and Byzantium.

And here is how this event was presented by the historian S.M. Soloviev:

“Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus,” says legend, “offered his hand to Olga; she did not renounce, but first demanded that he be her successor; the emperor agreed, but when after the sacrament he repeated his proposal, Olga reminded him that, according to Christian law, the successor cannot marry his goddaughter.

“Olga, you outsmarted me!” - the amazed emperor exclaimed and sent her away with rich gifts... Upon returning to Kiev, Olga began to persuade her son Svyatoslav (father of the Baptist of Rus' Vladimir. - M. and G.M.) to accept Christianity, but he did not want to hear about it; However, whoever wanted to be baptized was not forbidden, but only laughed at him...”

However, another historian, N.M. Karamzin, expressed doubt about the reliability of the chronicler’s message:

“Firstly, Constantine had a wife; secondly, Olga was then at least sixty years old. She could captivate him with her intelligence, not her beauty.”

The ruler of Kyiv, Olga, passed away in 969. There was crying for the princess throughout Kyiv. After her death, not only the pagans were killed, but also the Mohammedans, whom she warmed and looked after.

And the fact that she accepted a different faith was her princely business. But most of all, Christians grieved for her, losing their support in life. The princess bequeathed that funeral feasts should not be celebrated for her and that no burial mound should be built over her. She sent money in advance to the Patriarch of Constantinople to commemorate her soul.

The funeral service for Olga, the first person of princely blood to kiss the Cross, was performed by a Christian priest. Canonized as a saint.

Prince Vladimir, “parade” of religions

The son of Princess Olga, Svyatoslav, like a true pagan, was a polygamist. From different women he fathered three sons - Yaropolk, Oleg and Vladimir. The mothers of the first two were his legal wives, and Vladimir was born from the concubine Malusha, the housekeeper of Princess Olga.

With the death of Svyatoslav, power in Kyiv passed to Yaropolk. His craving for Christianity irritated the pagan Drevlyans, and he went to war against them. And he beat them. Oleg, his brother, who defected to the Drevlyans, fell in battle. Having learned about Oleg’s death, Vladimir left Novgorod “overseas” to the Varangians. Yaropolk appointed his governor to rule in Novgorod. So Rus' united its lands for a time.

Meanwhile, having matured, Vladimir, leading a strong Varangian squad, took possession of Novgorod. Meanwhile, Yaropolk's position in Kyiv became increasingly precarious. Yes, it reached his ears that a conspiracy was brewing against him. And he left the capital city. Vladimir's people advised Yaropolk to go to his brother and make peace with him. But as soon as he crossed the threshold of Vladimir’s chambers, the prince’s guards pierced Yaropolk with swords.

Vladimir began to rule Rus' single-handedly in 980.

Having gained power, the first thing the prince did was pay homage to the main pagan god Perun by placing his statue on a hill near the tower palace. Perun was carved from wood, his head was made of silver, and his mustache was gold. For the first time in many years, living people were sacrificed to Perun, among them several Christians.

Wanting to expand the borders of his principality, Vladimir went to war against the Poles, taking away their cities, suppressed the rebellious Vyatichi, and defeated the Yatvingians, cutting their lands into his own. Afterwards the Radimichi and the Volga Bulgars submitted to him...

In 986, Vladimir organized a “parade” of religions in Kyiv. The prince liked Mohammed's permission to have many wives. But, having learned about the ritual of circumcision, the ban on eating pork and not drinking wine, he was painfully upset.

“Drinking is the joy of Rus',” he said and ordered the Mohammedans to leave.

The Khazar Jews fell at his feet, saying that in their faith they keep the Sabbath, do not eat pork or hare, and perform the rite of circumcision.

-Where is your land? - asked the prince.

“In Jerusalem, but God was angry with our fathers for their sins and scattered them throughout the world,” answered the Jews.

To which Vladimir reproached them:

“You teach others, but you yourself are rejected by God and scattered throughout the earth.” If your law were right, you would be sitting on your own land.

The Catholic Germans, envoys of the Pope, also told him about their faith. They said that it is customary for them to “fast according to one’s strength, and if anyone eats or drinks, it is all for the glory of God.”

And Vladimir said to them:

“Go where you came from, for even our fathers did not accept you!”

And then the Greek philosopher-preacher came forward. He refuted the errors of everyone who seduced the prince with their faith. Vladimir liked the attitude of Christian Orthodoxy: “If someone converts to our faith, then, having died, he will rise again, and he will not die forever; if it is in a different law, then in the next world he will burn in fire.”

And Vladimir sent his elders around the countries to observe different religions.

Returning, they confessed to the prince:

“Your grandmother, the wisest Olga, would not have accepted the Greek law if it were bad.” Byzantium knows to whom it prays.

The name of Olga, who converted to Orthodoxy, and the desire to stand on a par with the Byzantine emperors prevailed in Vladimir and took over...

Crowned brothers of Anna

The death of the childless John I Tzimiskes opened the way to the throne for the sons of Romanos II - Vasily and Constantine. The eldest of the heirs will go down in history as Vasily II the Bulgarian Slayer (976-1025), and the youngest as Constantine VIII (976-1028).

Blue-eyed, with slightly arched eyebrows, of short stature, Vasily II was distinguished by his upright posture, physical strength, and the ability to ride a horse and wield a weapon.

The ancestral instinct inherent in the offspring of the Armenian-Macedonian dynasty obliged the 18-year-old king to remind his entourage who was the ruler in Byzantium. Having returned his mother to the palace, he nevertheless did not let her come close to the affairs of the empire.

The reign of Vasily II the Bulgaroboytsy (nicknamed Bulgarokton or the Bulgaroboytsy for the ferocity shown in the wars with Bulgaria) was marked by grueling wars and rebellions.

In the year of his accession to the throne, the first to rise up was the military leader Vardas Sklir, a relative of Tzimiskes, having crushed all Asian themes under himself. Basileus sent another Varda, Phocas, the nephew of Nicephorus II Phocas, to attack him. In 978, he pacified the rebel Skleros, who fled to the Arabs. But Sklir, 9 years later, already a very old man, reappeared within the Byzantine state.

Having moved his troops against Bardas Skleros, Vardas Phocas unexpectedly proclaimed himself emperor in August 987, captured him by cunning and, uniting both troops, went to Antioch, which he captured by the end of the year.

When the rebels approached the walls of Chrysopolis, which separated the Bosphorus Strait from Constantinople, when the threat of capturing the capital arose, Vasily II turned his gaze to the north, seeking help from the “barbarian” Vladimir Svyatoslavovich, the Grand Duke of Kiev.

The Emperor reminded Vladimir of the Greek-Russian treaty of Prince Igor in 954 with Byzantium, which stipulated a clause on mutual assistance. “And his (Vasily’s) wealth was exhausted, and the need prompted him to enter into correspondence with the Tsar of the Rus.

They were his enemies, but he asked them for help,” the Arab historian Yahya of Antioch writes about the events of the 980s. Vladimir promised support, but on the condition that Vasily II and Constantine VIII would give him their sister Anna as his wife.

The insolence was unheard of at that time. It was not customary for Byzantine princesses to marry “despicable” foreigners. There was one more obstacle to this: Vladimir was a pagan. However, the hopelessness of the situation forced the emperors to reconcile. The crown bearers agreed to the marriage if the Russian prince accepted baptism and married her according to the Christian rite.

A Russian squad of six thousand soldiers stood up to defend Constantinople. In April 988, she, together with forces loyal to Vasily II, defeated the army of Varda Phokas. The rebel Varda Sklir bowed his head before the emperors and obeyed.

Baptism of Vladimir

Having accepted help from the Kyiv prince, the brother emperors were nevertheless in no hurry. They dreamed of finding a better place for their sister. And they wooed the Byzantine princess - a blue-eyed and well-built beauty - from everywhere.

In his treatise “On the Administration of the Empire,” Anna’s grandfather, Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, expressed the attitude of the rulers of Byzantium to dynastic marriages with the barbarian northern peoples, including the Rus, as follows:

“If ever the people of any of these unfaithful and wicked northern tribes ask for kinship through marriage with the basileus of the Romans, that is, either to receive his daughter as a wife, or to give his daughter, either to the basileus as a wife or to the son of the basileus, you should refuse and this unreasonable request of theirs...

Since each nation has different customs, different laws and regulations, it must adhere to its own orders, and enter into and create alliances for the mixing of lives within the same people.”

At the same time, Porphyrogenitus made an exception for the ruling houses of Western Europe, the “Franks”.

At the turn of the 10th-11th centuries, the Armenian historian nicknamed Asohik (Stepanos Taronatsi) writes about the forced tricks of the basileus associated with the matchmaking of Anna, whose hand was asked by one of the Bulgarian princes:

“...Tsar Vasily sent the Metropolitan of Sebastia to the country of the Bulgars to establish peace. Bulgaria asked Tsar Vasily to give his sister in marriage to her Tsar. The emperor, accompanied by the metropolitan, sent some woman from his subjects who looked like his sister.

Upon the arrival of that woman in the country of the Bulgars, they found out who she was, and therefore they condemned the Metropolitan as an adulterer and a deceiver; The Bulgarian kings burned it, covering it with brushwood and straw.”

Having suspected Vasily II and his brother of not wanting to marry Anna to him, outraged by the cunning of the emperors, Vladimir, wanting to spur them on, set out on a campaign against the “Greek city”, ancient Chersonesus, called by the Russians Korsun (today it is part of the city of Sevastopol). During the siege of Chersonesus, as the chronicle says, “you cannot take it: for the city is strong, and the Greek army in it is courageous.”

But someone shot an arrow into the Russian camp with a note on parchment: “Prince! Dig up and take water from the well that lies to the east of you. There are no other wells in Korsun except this one.” The prince left the city without water and a couple of days later it opened the gates.

From Chersonese, Vladimir sent envoys to the Basileus brothers with a threatening letter: “If you do not give Anna up for me, then I will do to your capital the same as to this city.” And the answer came to the prince: “If you accept the cross and become a fellow believer with us, we will give you your sister. But if you remain a pagan, it’s better for us all to die in battle than for our souls to be doomed to eternal torment.”

“Your Orthodox faith has come to my heart,” Vladimir wrote to Constantinople, “and I will accept the service, and may your priests who come with Anna baptize me and my people.”

The decisive argument for Anna was the words put into the mouths of the brothers by the chroniclers: “Perhaps through you God will turn the Russian land to repentance, and save the Greek land from a terrible war. Do you see how much evil Rus' has done to the Greeks?

Remembering the raids of the Russians, Anna, “wishing peace for the Greek kingdom,” exclaimed: “May the will of the Lord be done.” And she resigned herself to fate.

The wedding flotilla arrived in Chersonesos. Anna sailed on two galleys with Armenian priests, an icon of the Mother of God in Greek writing, many holy relics and other shrines. They also brought gold cups. On the third, which never reached the shore, there was wine poisoned by the brothers so that the wedding turned into an orgy of death. The Byzantine princess lamented that she was not on board the missing ship. She really didn’t want to be in a foreign land.

Prince Vladimir came ashore to meet the bride in an embroidered golden robe and with a crown on his head. He immediately liked her, and he pleasantly impressed Anna.

Anna's arrival in Chersonesos is described differently in another chronicle. Having gone ashore, the Byzantine princess learned that Vladimir had fallen ill with his eyes, and so badly that he could barely see. And Anna sent to her groom to say: “If you are not baptized, you will not escape your illness.”

Soon, in the main temple of Chersonese - in the Church of St. Basil - Armenian priests from Constantinople, after the announcement, baptized the Grand Duke of Kyiv and gave him the Christian name - Vasily. Perhaps Anna persuaded the holy fathers to extend this courtesy to her by naming the groom after the eldest of her brothers.

And then, oh, miracle! Vladimir saw the light. He regained his sight and hugged Anna. Having seen the grace of God, the prince ordered his squad and the boyars accompanying him to accept the Cross. And, as Karamzin accurately noted, “he decided... to conquer the Christian faith and accept its shrine with the hand of the winner.”

The wedding of Vladimir and Anna

The chronicle reads: “After Vladimir’s baptism, the queen was brought in for the marriage.” Having accepted the Holy Cross, 33-year-old Vladimir took Anna, 25 years old, as his wife.

Vladimir ordered all their wedding gifts to be sent back to the brothers-emperors, asking them to tell the basileus that the most valuable of the gifts - the beautiful Anna - would be enough for him.

The chronicler mentions that after the baptism and wedding “the prince did not recognize himself”: with a light heart he returned Chersonese to Vasily and Constantine as a “veno”, or bride price. Moreover, it was the custom of the Russians to pay such a ransom. And in memory of his baptism, the prince founded a temple in Chersonesos in the name of St. John the Baptist. This marriage ensured Vladimir power over the Russian Church and independence from Constantinople.

“And after,” the chronicle says, “Vladimir took the queen... the priests... the relics of the saints,” taking with him church vessels and “icons for his blessing,” and, accompanied by his squad, boyars and clergy, he moved towards Kiev.

Baptism of Rus'

Returning to Kyiv, “the mother of Russian cities,” the Grand Duke first of all gathered his sons and baptized them in a spring called Khreshchatyk.

Vladimir appointed the day of the general baptism of the people of Kiev and, it is believed, this event fell on August 1, 988. A decree was announced throughout the city: “If anyone does not come to the river tomorrow - rich or poor, beggar or slave - he will be my enemy!”

“The next day Vladimir went out... to the Dnieper,” the chronicler describes the prince’s arrangement of the baptism of the Kievites, “and countless people gathered there. They entered the water and stood there, some up to their necks, others up to their chests... but the priests performed prayers while standing still.”

Mikhailo Lomonosov described this action as follows:

“An innumerable multitude of people gathered on the specified day and place. And the great autocrat himself, with the entire synclite and consecrated cathedral, graced the presence of this great action and wonderful disgrace.

Along the shore, vested priests and deacons stand on rafts, the river is filled with naked people of all ages and genders: some are knee-deep in water, others waist-deep, others neck-deep - washing, bathing, swimming. Meanwhile, baptismal prayers are read; each with a special immersion receives a name in baptism and anointing with the world.

And the prince commanded that pagan idols be destroyed everywhere: some were burned, others were chopped into chips. He ordered the main idol - Perun - to be tied to the tail of a horse, dragged to the Dnieper, beating with sticks along the way for public desecration, and then, having tied a stone around his neck, drowned in the river.

So it sank into the water - Russian paganism. Perun was seen off with tears and cries by those to whom the light of true faith had not yet been revealed. Seeing how pagan idols were being overthrown, the Metropolitan of Kiev exclaimed: “Temples are destroyed and churches are erected, idols and icons of saints appear, demons run away. The cross sanctifies the city."

In addition to Kyiv, Chernigov was also baptized under Vladimir - in 992 - and Smolensk - in 1012. Under Vladimir, the question of the inadmissibility of the death penalty was raised. The prince called her a sin before God.

Vladimir Svyatoslavovich laid the foundation for the concept of "Grand Duke of Rus'". “Vladimir... soon proved that he was born to be a great sovereign... This prince, called Equal to the Apostles by the church, has earned the name of the Great in history,” noted Karamzin.

In Byzantine sources the name was assigned to him - “mighty basileus.” Vladimir began minting coins with signs of imperial power - in royal clothes with a crown on his head and a scepter with a cross in his right hand.

Having converted to the faith of Christ and realizing that he had one wife, Anna, given by God, Vladimir renounced three hundred wives, eight hundred concubines (300 of them were in Vyshgorod, 300 in Belgorod and 200 in the village of Berestovo) and five legal wives.

“Every lovely wife and maiden was afraid of his lustful gaze,” wrote Karamzin. He set all his wives and concubines free, passing some off as his confidants.

The first of the legitimate wives - Rogneda, Norwegian by birth, was from the Varangians, the daughter of the Polish king Boleslav the Brave. Following her were Ragnvalda, the daughter of the Scandinavian prince of Polotsk killed by Vladimir, renamed Gorislava by her husband; "Greek" Julia, a former Greek nun; "Czech" Malfrida, sister of Duke Vladivoy of Bohemia; “Bulgarian” Milolika, daughter of the ruler of Tarnov, the capital of Bulgaria.

"Prince Volodimir with his princess Anna..."

From Orthodox Byzantium, Anna brought the Greek church charter “Nomocanon”, which in Rus' began to be called “The Helmsman’s Book”. It formed the basis of the Charter of the Russian Church, created by Vladimir and Anna, consisting of three parts. This fact is confirmed by the phrase of the Charter of Vladimir: “Behold, Prince Volodymyr, having told me with my princess Anna and with my children...”

The first part of the Charter spoke about the tithe granted by the Grand Duke in favor of the church. The Church of the Most Holy Theotokos in Kyiv, founded by Anna, destined to become the place of service of the Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Rus', was called Tithes. And on the “Perunov Hill” stood the Church of St. Basil.

The Tithe Church was most likely built on the model of the Pharos Church at the Great Imperial Palace in Constantinople, where Anna loved to go to prayer services.

And although neither the Faros nor the Tithe churches have survived, archaeologists managed to recreate their appearance. The church, 27 meters long and 18 wide, was crowned with five large domes.

It was decorated with frescoes and mosaics made of multi-colored glass, as well as jasper. Due to the abundance of marble on the floor and soaring columns with carved capitals, contemporaries called the Tithe Church “marble”.

The parapets near the choir, the altar barrier and the cornices at the main windows were decorated with marble. The floor of the altar, in addition to multi-colored marble tiles, was made of tiled tiles. The building itself was made of flat thin bricks covered with white plaster.

The church was built by masters from Byzantium and, possibly, from Transcaucasia. This is indicated by logs dug into the foundation and filled with cement mortar. It was they who did not allow the church to slide down the clay slope towards the Dnieper.

Princess Anna introduced the annual celebration of the Day of the Dormition of the Virgin into church life - immediately after the completion of the construction of the Tithe Church in the fall of 996. At the insistence of the princess, Vladimir acquired a monastery for Russian monks on the holy Mount Athos. She also took care of setting up hospitals and almshouses, taking care of feeding the poor people of Kiev.

From Anna the fashion for glass jewelry came to Rus'. Byzantine craftsmen, who were engaged in melting glass for the stained glass windows of the Church of the Tithes, gave the waste in the form of drops of multi-colored various shapes and sizes to local craftsmen, who, having given them a frame, turned them into jewelry.

As for Anna’s main mission, she fulfilled the behest of her brother-emperors in full and became the first educator in Rus'. Through her efforts, special schools were created to train Russian priests. The icons and church utensils brought by Anna from Byzantium became the standard for copying by Russian painters and artisans.

Anna was also involved in enlightenment in the grand-ducal family: all of Vladimir’s sons willingly accepted Christianity and began to spread it in their domains.

Even Rogneda, one of the former wives of the Kyiv ruler, turned into a zealous Christian and, following the example of Anna, brought a new faith to the Polotsk land. Later, Rogneda will open the first convent in Rus' and will be the first to take monastic vows.

Boris and Gleb

Anna's angelic soul flew to the Lord in the year 6519 from the creation of the world according to the Byzantine calendar, which corresponds to the year 1011/1012 (the new year began on September 1). And she was 48 years old. Perhaps the cause of her death was an epidemic.

Vladimir Svyatoslavovich, her beloved husband, ordered a luxurious marble sarcophagus with elegant carvings for her from Armenian stone cutters from Byzantium. And he installed it in the chapel of the Tithe Church. Afterwards, another sarcophagus appeared in the same Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary - that of Prince Vladimir.

Even the Byzantine emperors, God's viceroys on earth, were not given such an honor. They were buried outside the church walls. Anna and Vladimir were equated with saints with similar honors, for the couple together baptized and enlightened the Russian people.

Prince Vladimir, popularly nicknamed Vladimir Krasno Solnyshko, had 12 sons. But not everyone went down in history. Yaroslav, the son of Vladimir from Rogneda, was appointed by his father to reign in Novgorod, and his brother Mstislav - in Tmutarakan. But most of all, Vladimir favored Boris and Gleb, whom Anna gave to the prince.

The names and lives of Boris and Gleb (in the baptism of Roman and David), the first canonized Russian saints, are known to almost everyone. The first-born Boris most likely received his baptismal name from Anna's father, Emperor Roman II, while the princely name Boris was given to him in honor of the baptist of Bulgaria, Boris-Michael.

Boris-Roman was born around the year 990, when his mother's brother, Vasily II the Bulgar Slayer, went to Bulgaria with a Russian squad. Anna and Vladimir thought of placing their eldest son on the Bulgarian throne. Gleb, born around the year 1000, received his baptismal name from the biblical king David, revered as a model of a Christian ruler.

As for Svyatopolk, the eldest of the sons, referred to in the chronicles as “the son of two fathers,” Vladimir could not stand him, for he took his Greek mother already pregnant from his brother Yaropolk, who was also killed by him. Svyatopolk responded to him with the same hostility. For his connection with a Catholic German, Vladimir even imprisoned Svyatopolk in a dungeon, from where he was rescued by Yaropolk's faithful servants.

In the summer of 1015, having escorted his main women to the Kingdom of God, Vladimir, the great polygamist, was slowly fading away in sad loneliness. On July 15, the Grand Duke of Kyiv passed away. At that moment, only Svyatopolk, who had galloped from Vyshgorod, was at his bedside. The “son of two fathers” considered himself a twice worthy heir to the Kyiv throne. The hour has struck for revenge on stepfather Vladimir for his murdered father, humiliated mother and his ordeals.

Having wrapped the body of the Grand Duke of Rus' in a carpet, he secretly carried him out of the chambers and took him to the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos, as if hiding something base and shameful. Who knows if it was he who “helped” Vladimir move to another world?!

On the same day, having ascended the throne, Svyatopolk began to appease the people of Kiev with gifts. But they repeated with one voice:

– We want Boris, the son of Princess Anna.

Then Svyatopolk sent murderers to his half-brothers - Boris and Gleb. Having learned about the crime, the people called Svyatopolk the Accursed.

...Before his death, Vladimir the Baptist had a prophetic dream. Grandmother Olga appeared to him and said: “The accursed baby,“ the son of two fathers ”, will come and destroy the settled world of our princely house.”

Prayers in memory of the murdered brothers began on July 24, shortly after the construction of the first church in the name of Boris and Gleb in Vyshgorod in 1021.

Grand Duke Yaroslav the Wise, having expelled his monster brother Svyatopolk from Kyiv in 1019, named his goldilocks daughter Anna. Thus he paid tribute to the Baptist of Rus'.

The well-educated beauty Anna Yaroslavna, who spoke Greek and Latin, would marry King Henry I and leave a noticeable mark on the political life of France. Anne, Queen of France, corresponded with Pope Nicholas II.

“Rumors of your virtue, charming maiden, have reached our ears,” the Pope wrote to her, “we learn with great joy with what commendable conscientiousness and remarkable tact you perform your royal duties in this very Christian country.”

On June 1, 2010, President of the Russian Federation D.A. Medvedev signed the Federal Law, according to which Russia celebrates the Day of the Baptism of Rus' on July 28.

The future princess of Kievan Rus was born two days before the death of her father, the Byzantine Emperor Roman II, thanks to which the exact date of her birth became known.

Her mother Feofano was born into a simple family of a tavern owner, of Armenian origin, and was distinguished by an amazing combination of divine beauty, extraordinary intelligence and depravity. Thanks to these qualities, she managed not only to win the heart of the heir to the Byzantine throne, Roman, but also to gain the trust of Emperor Constantine VII and his wife, Empress Helena.

After the death of Constantine VII, Theophano forced her husband to hide five of her sisters in a monastery, and soon she brought Elena to the grave with her intrigues.

Emperor Roman II, Anna's father, was distinguished by his pleasant appearance, education, and also a penchant for horse racing and excessive carnal pleasures. What exactly killed him is not known for certain, but, having been on the throne for only four years, he unexpectedly died at the age of 24. There were even rumors that the emperor was poisoned.

Feofano managed to give birth to her husband four children, the last of them, Anna, was born two days before his death.

Childhood

After the death of Emperor Roman, as a result of palace intrigues, the commander Nikephoros II Phocas took possession of the throne, having married Theophano. Thus, Anna's mother, who became regent over her sons, tried to protect herself and her children from the attacks of the insidious nobility. But six years later she again organized a conspiracy, this time against Nicephorus, with the help of her next lover, John Tzimiskes, an associate of her gullible husband. The emperor was treacherously killed in his bed, and Tzimiskes became the new ruler. However, he did not marry Feofano, but treacherously sent her to a remote island lost in the Aegean Sea. Young Anna also went there with her mother.

While in exile, the young princess became interested in studying the rich heritage of her paternal ancestors. Her grandfather, Emperor Constantine VII, left to his descendants a huge number of works on medicine, history and other sciences. She carefully studied his descriptions of the lives of saints, illustrated with artistic miniatures of amazing beauty and grace. From the chronicles, Anna learned that her grandfather was not alien to the interests of the common people. During his reign, he built hospitals and shelters for the needy, organized the distribution of alms, took an interest in the fate of the convicted, and suppressed the abuses of officials.

Anna also studied the treatises of her great-great-grandfather Vasily I, intended for his son Emperor Leo I the Wise, from which she also learned a lot of interesting and useful things.

After the death of Tzimiskes in 976, power passed to Theophano’s sons Vasily and Constantine, who allowed Anna and her mother to return to the palace, however, the empress was not allowed to take power and wanted to rule themselves. Their reign was remembered for incessant wars and rebellions. In addition to the strife within the country, Constantinople itself was faced with an external threat. The Russian prince threatened to take possession of the Byzantine capital, and the forces of the emperors were running out. As a result, the brothers promised to give him Princess Anna as his wife, provided that Vladimir would provide them with military assistance and accept Christianity.

Anna by that time had turned into an enviable bride and a real beauty, her hands were sought by the heir of the Roman Empire, the son of the French king and the Bulgarian prince. Marriage with a foreigner and a barbarian was an unheard of humiliation for a girl, but the brothers managed to persuade her.

Wedding

A wedding flotilla of three ships was sent to Korsun (now Chersonesus in the territory of modern Sevastopol). On board, in addition to Anna, there were priests who were supposed to perform the baptismal ceremony. Prince Vladimir personally met the bride and was amazed by her beauty. The groom, in turn, also made a pleasant impression on the princess.

In the main temple of Korsun, Byzantine priests baptized the Grand Duke and gave him a new name, Vasily, in honor of one of the bride’s brothers. There is a legend that Vladimir, who had previously suffered from an eye disease and could see almost nothing, immediately after the baptismal ceremony received his sight and, inspired by God’s grace, ordered his squad and the boyars accompanying him to be baptized immediately.

The wedding of 33-year-old Vladimir and 25-year-old Anna also took place there. The prince ordered all the gifts sent to be returned to the bride's brothers and he himself gave them the previously conquered Korsun as a ransom according to Russian custom. This marriage helped Prince Vladimir gain independence from Constantinople and unlimited power over the Russian Church.

Merits

Returning with his young wife to Kyiv, Vladimir immediately baptized his sons in the spring, which later received the name Khreshchatyk. On August 1, the prince baptized the people of Kiev, calling all the inhabitants of the city to the banks of the Dnieper, and ordered the destruction of all pagan symbols.

Having converted to the Christian faith, Prince Vladimir renounced all his numerous previous wives and concubines and proclaimed Anna the only wife given to him by God.

Having become the Grand Duchess of Kyiv, Anna began to spread Christianity and build churches in Rus'. The first temple she founded was the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Kyiv (Church of the Tithes), created in the image and likeness of her beloved Pharos Church of Anna in Constantinople. She brought into fashion elements of stained glass, which Byzantine masters used to decorate churches.

Thanks to her, the annual magnificent celebration of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary was introduced into church life. On the recommendation of his wife, Prince Vladimir purchased a monastery for Russian Orthodox monks on Mount Athos.

Anna did not forget about educational activities, guided by the legacy of her great ancestors. The Greek church charter “Nomocanon” brought by her was laid as the basis of the Russian Church, and icons and church utensils became a model for copying by Russian icon painters and artisans. She created special educational institutions to train local clergy.

Thanks to Anna, Vladimir’s sons became imbued with the spirit of Christianity and began to actively introduce it among their subjects. Even the ex-wife of Prince Rogneda became a zealous Christian and founded the first convent in Rus', taking monastic vows there.

Death

Did Anna have children from Prince Vladimir? Historians are still arguing about this topic. According to one of the existing versions, the princess gave birth to her wife, sons Boris and Gleb. Of all the twelve sons of the prince from different wives, these were the most beloved. Their life was tragic. Vladimir predicted a great future for his sons, and dreamed of placing Boris on the Bulgarian throne.

But fate decreed otherwise, and the eldest unloved son of the prince, Svyatopolk, was to blame. People called him “the son of two fathers,” so Vladimir inherited his mother, already pregnant, from his brother Yaropolk, who was also killed by him. It so happened that it was Svyatopolk who found himself next to his father in the last minutes of his life. Historians still doubt his innocence in his father’s death.

However, the people of Kiev opposed his ascension to the throne and began to demand Boris to rule. Then Svyatopolk decided to get rid of his half-brothers and sent assassins to them. For this, the people nicknamed him Svyatopolk the Accursed, and in honor of the Great Martyrs Boris and Gleb, a church was built in Vyshgorod in 1021.

Anna did not live to see these tragic events. She died four years earlier at the age of 48. Vladimir ordered a marble sarcophagus made by the best Byzantine craftsmen and placed it in the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Later, his sarcophagus took pride of place next to his beloved wife.

Movies

At the end of 2016, the large-scale film “Viking” was released on Russian screens, the central character of which was Prince Vladimir, performed by. The film is based on real historical events and tells about the bloody struggle of three brothers Vladimir, Oleg and Yaropolk, who despised family ties and were forced to turn weapons against each other. Work on the painting lasted about six years. The unique combination of the latest computer technology and the masterful acting of the actors made this film the main cinematic event of the year.

The film features a whole constellation of popular Russian actors:, and many others. To achieve a perfect resemblance to historical characters, costumes, jewelry and weapons were made by hand. To do this, costume designers and prop designers used authentic descriptions of the characters' appearances, taken from historical sources. Unfortunately, the authors undeservedly ignored Princess Anna in this film.

Another high-profile premiere is expected in 2017, this time entirely dedicated to the life of this great woman. A 12-episode film “Anna of Byzantium” will be released. This is a new project by Star Media, which is the result of joint activities with American colleagues. An English version of the series is also planned.