It is only in the middle of the tenth century that a new rise of Christian activities begins to be attested in the sources. The next treaty with Byzantium concluded by Kievan prince Igor’ (<Yngvarr) in 944 witnesses that there appeared Christians among the Rus’ warriors and their number grew so large that two forms of oaths became required. «Those of us (i. e. the Rus’. – E. M.) who are baptized have sworn in the Cathedral, by the church of St. Elias, upon the Holy Cross set before us…». The rest of the Rus’ took oaths upon «their shields, their naked swords, their armlets, and their other weapons..»[1406].
The Rus’ that participated in the conclusion of the treaty belonged to the elite of the Old Russian state. It was a new warrior elite that emerged less than a century earlier after Oleg’s seizure of Kiev. By the 940ies the Rus’ comprised both Norsemen and Slavs – according to the names of the members of the princely family, emissaries and witnesses mentioned in the treaty – though the proportion of non-Scandinavians was still very small[1407]. The spread of Christianity among the warrior elite seems very rapid and so substantial that the Christians had to be taken special account of.
A rather wide spread of Christianity in the 940ies is further substantiated by other clauses of the treaty that make provisions for both Christians and heathens among the Rus’:
If any inhabitant of the land of Rus’ thinks to violate this amity, may such of these transgressors as have adopted the Christian faith incur condign punishment from Almighty God in the shape of damnation and destruction forevermore;
May whosoever of our compatriots, Prince or common, baptized or unbaptized, who does so violate them (the oaths. – E. M), have no succor from God, but may he be slave in this life and in the life to come, and may he perish by his own arms…;
If any of the princes or any Russian subject, whether Christian or non-Christian, violates the terms of this instrument, he shall merit death by his own weapons, and be accursed of God and of Perun because he violated his oath…[1408].
The compilers of the treaty took pains to assure accurate maintenance of the terms by both pagans and Christians. They formulated oaths and specified punishments for breaking the oaths in details. The provisions for Christians and non-Christians are well balanced with probably a somewhat slight stress on the Christian beliefs, which can be due to the Christianity of the compilers of the treaty.
The treaty also mentions the church dedicated to St. Elias where the Christian Rus’ was to take the oath. That is the earliest evidence of churches in Rus’. The church is usually supposed to have been located in Kiev in the trade and artisan quarters outside the fortified part on the Kievan hills[1409]. In Old Russian the church is defined by the term sobornaja that much later, with the establishment of the church organization, would designate a cathedral. The English translation «the Cathedral» bases on this meaning of the word. It seems, however, highly problematic if there could have been a cathedral proprio nomine in Kiev at that time which presupposes the existence of other (parish) churches subordinated to the cathedral. It is much more probable that it was the only church existing in Kiev at that moment and it was perceived as the main church, i. e. the Cathedral from the point of view of the translator of the treaties in the late eleventh century[1410]. If this was the case, its location in the commercial quarters of the city was only natural. On the one hand, merchants were most liable to accept new cultural impulses, and the first appearance of a church in a heathen country is often connected with trade centers[1411]. On the other hand, merchants played an important role in the conclusion of the treaty of 944 – twenty six of them are named in the preamble to the treaty as probable witnesses and some of them must have been Christians.
Igor’s reign (ca. 912–945) was notable for various and regular connections with Byzantium. Though attacks on Byzantine territories continued (the «Primary Chronicle» tells about two raids launched by Igor’ in 941 and 944), trade seems to become the main form of Rus’ and Byzantine relations. Its maintenance was regulated by Oleg’s treaty and new rules were introduced in the treaty concluded by Igor’. Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus provides a vivid picture of the «manner of life» of the Kievan warrior elite whom he calls Rhos in the ninth chapter of his treatise «De ad-ministrando imperio». He depicts them collecting tributes on Slavic tribes in autumn and then selling collected goods, including slaves, at the markets of Constantinople in the summer time[1412]. According to Constantine, it was a stable system accounting for the enrichment of the Kievan elite and the growth of the Old Russian state. At the same time it promoted the absorbtion of new cultural ideas, including Christianity by those participating in the trade with Byzantium. Thus, in the interval between Oleg’s seizure of Kiev in 882 and Igor’s treaty of 944 the new warrior elite of the early Russian state turned to Christianity. It still consisted mostly of Scandinavians as the names of the Rus’ participants of the conclusion of the treaty show. Among 25 principles on whose behalf the treaty was contracted 18 have Old Norse personal names. The same number of persons with Norse names belonged to the group of the representatives (envoys) who totally amounted to 26. The percentage of merchants with Scandinavian names was even higher– 21 out of 26. Other names include Slavic (Svjatoslav, Predslava, and Volodislav among the principals; Sinko and Borich among the merchants) and Finnish ones (Pubskar, Kanitsar, etc.) and probably ethnic names used as bynames (envoys Libi and Jatvjag). Thus, though the ethnic content of the upper stratum of the society started to change and the Rus’ princes began to give Slavic names to their children, the nobility of the mid-tenth century still consisted mostly of Norsemen. And it was they who turned to Christianity first and foremost.
The highest nobility of the Rus’ was, however, still pagan. Neither Igor’ nor his wife Ol’ga (<Helga) was Christian at the time of the conclusion of the treaty. According to the Primary Chronicle, Igor’ ratified the treaty in Kiev in the presence of Byzantine envoys and the procedure was performed in accordance with pagan rites:
In the morning, Igor’ summoned the envoys, and went to a hill on which there was a statue of Perun. The Russes laid down their weapons, their shields, and their gold ornaments, and Igor’ and his people took oath (at least, such as were pagans), while the Christian Russes took oath in the Church of St Elias[1413].
Igor’ remained a heathen until his death that is reported to have taken place a year after the ratification of the treaty. When Igor’ was killed by the Drevljane (in the autumn of 945 according to the «Primary Chronicle» or more probably in 946) Ol’ga avenged her husband and performed pagan burial rituals[1414]:
She bade her followers pile up a great mound and when they piled it up, she also gave command that a funeral feast should be held[1415].
When the representatives of the Drevljane became drunk she odered to massacre them. The annalist interpreted the event as the third stage of Ol’ga’s revenge on Drevljane. The action, however, makes one think of funeral sacrifices still practiced by Scandinavians in the tenth century[1416]. Whatever the interpretation of the massacre of the Drevljane may be, there can be no doubt that at that moment Ol’ga adhered to pagan beliefs and practiced pagan rituals.
Thus, in the mid-tenth century the conversion to Christianity was not at all universal even among the Kievan elite. Especially important was that the princely family still abstained from the new faith thus making the conversion a personal act neither promoted nor supported by the state. The mid-tenth century looks like the time of a new advance of the Christian faith but its first steps were slow.
IV
It is only some time after Igor’s death that his widow Ol’ga showed interest in the new faith. Under the year 6463 from the Creation which corresponds to 954/5 AD the «Primary Chronicle» tells that she undertook a voyage to Constantinople where she is said to be baptized by Emperor Constantine VII who became her godfather[1417]. She received a Christian name of Helena «after the ancient Empress, mother of Constantine the Great» and, probably, after the Empress Helena Lakapina.
The narration about Ol’ga’s baptism is greatly influenced by the annalist’s unreserved admiration of her deed. He stresses that she was the first Russian ruler to adopt the true faith and thus anticipated the Christianization of the whole country by her grandson Vladimir. The annalist puts a laudation of Ol’ga into the mouth of the Patriarch:
Blessed art thou among the women of Rus’. For thou hast loved the light, and quit the darkness. The sons of Rus’ shall bless thee to the last generation of thy descendents.