The year 1015 A.D. was a year of mourning for the entire Russian land. And not only because the beloved Prince Vladimir Krasnoe Solnyshko passed away. Russia, which barely understood the meaning of the Gospel word, was shocked by an unheard-of sacrilege: a brother raised his hand against his brothers, shed the blood of innocent people who believed in him and trusted him. After experiencing all this, the consciousness of the Russian people has changed significantly. It cursed the murderer forever, calling him Cursed. It also glorified the two brothers who had suffered innocently for the Truth and Faith, and who had made their way to the end of the cross, and canonized them as saints. This happened fifty years after the adoption of Christianity. This fact is another explanation for why Christian ideals so quickly captured the hearts of Russians... After the death of Prince Vladimir, his sons remained. Vladimir's favorite characters were Boris and little Gleb. His eldest son and legitimate heir Svyatopolk, he could not stand. Svyatopolk was called " the son of two fathers." Vladimir captured and married his Greek mother, who was pregnant by another prince. Svyatopolk actively established contacts with both the Pechenegs and the Poles. Perhaps this was the first Russian "zapadnik". Being married to the daughter of the Polish King Boleslaw the Brave, Svyatopolk chose Bishop Reinbern of Koloberezha as his spiritual father, which ended badly for both of them. Vladimir put both the German and the prince in prison, suspecting them of helping the Polish crown and seeking to make a split in the affairs of the faith. It should be clarified that at this time the divergence between the two branches of Christianity - the Latin West and the Orthodox East-reached its apogee. The struggle between Orthodoxy and Catholicism was beginning to shift from the realm of theological differences to the realm of politics. The German emperor Otto II at the imperial diet of 983 in Verona even ... Read more