Древняя Русь и Скандинавия: Избранные труды

Secondly, Photius mentioned a bishop and a preacher who came to Rus’ and were hospitably accepted there. Photius was, however, not the only one to tell about the Byzantine mission to the Northern barbarians. In the mid-tenth century Byzantine Emperor and writer Constantine VII Porphirogenitos compiled a biography of Emperor Basileos I Macedonian (867–881) that is preserved as Book V of the so-called Theophanes Continuator[1379]. Among pious deeds of his grandfarther Constantine mentions the Christianization of the Rhos people attributing the initiative of sending the mission to the Rhos to the Emperor and Patriarch Ignatius who replaced Photius[1380]. Constantine tells that the Emperor induced the people of Rhos to make an agreement with the help of ample gifts in gold, silver and silk vestments. He concluded a peace treaty with them and made them agree to be baptized by an archbishop consecrated by Patriarch Ignatius[1381]. The mission was received benevolently by the Rhos. When the prince[1382], however, discussed the advantages of the new faith with his elders they asked the archbishop to tell them more about his religion. The latter showed the Gospel and told about some of the miracles from New and Old Testament. The Rhos got very interested in the miracles and demanded that the archbishop should work a miracle himself. They insisted that if they did not see something like the story about the three young men in the stove, they would not believe him, say nothing about the baptism. With a pray the archbishop threw the Book into the fire set by his listeners. After some time the fire stopped burning and the Book appeared unspoiled and untouched by fire. The barbarians were fascinated by the magnitude of the miracle and became baptized without further hesitations.

The story about the inflamable Gospel book belongs to the topoi of hagiographic literature[1383]. The short mentions about the peace treaty[1384] and the mission, on the contrary, reflected the realities of the situation.

The information of Photius supported by Constantine and. other Byzantine sources[1385] throws important light on the penetration of Christianity among the Rus’. Photius’s phraseology in the homilies and his direct designation of the attackers as Rhos in the encyclic letter leaves no doubt that the fleet at the walls of Constantinople was a Viking band. Its starting point could have been in most probability Kiev ruled at that time, according to the «Primary Chronicle», by Scandinavian konungs, presumably Askold and Dir. Photius does not state that the bishop was sent at the request of the Rhos leaders[1386] but he emphasizes their wish to get baptized and their willingness to accept a bishop. Constantine on the contrary stresses the difficulties the Emperor had to make the Rhos Christians. He writes that the Emperor «convinced them to join in the saving baptizm and talked them into the acception of an archbishop who had been consecrated by Patriarch Ignatius».

The discrepancies in presenting the circumstances of the Christianization of the Rhos promoted a hypothesis that there might have been two missions to the Rhos sent at the interval of about two years[1387], which is hardly probable. It is much more plausible that the two records present the situation from different viewpoints and stress or exagerate its various aspects. Photius was inspired by the success of his mission and the most important thing for him was the transformation – almost miraculous – of cruel barbarians into obedient Christians. In his turn Constantine was anxious to underline the achievements of his grandfather and his personal contribution into the matter of Christianization of barbarians. The more efforts needed the task, the more glorious was the result. In spite of possible exagerations in both cases, however, there can be no doubt that the Rus’ or at least their rulers not only had nothing against but were ready, if not willing, to adopt Christianity soon after the raid of 860.