Vasilief, A History of the Byzantine Empire

The Macedonian epoch (867-1081)

The Byzantine Empire and Russia. The Patzinak problem 

Page 4

Vladimir was baptized and married the Byzantine princess, Anna. It is not known exactly whether Russia's conversion to Christianity took place in 988 or in 989. Some scholars accept the former date; others, the latter. Peaceful and friendly relations were established between Russia and the Byzantine Empire, and they lasted for a considerable length of time. Both countries engaged freely in extensive trade with one another.

According to one source, during the reign of Constantine Monomachus, in 1043, the Scythian merchants (i.e., Russians) in Constantinople and the Greeks had a quarrel, during which a Russian nobleman was killed. It is very probable that this incident was used by Russia as a sufficient motive for a new campaign against the Byzantine Empire. The Russian Great Prince Iaroslav the Wise sent his older son, Vladimir, with a large army on numerous vessels to Byzantine shores. This Russian fleet was almost demolished by the imperial forces through the use of Greek fire. The remnants of the Russian army of Vladimir hastened to retreat. This expedition was the last undertaken by the Russians against Constantinople in the Middle Ages. The ethnographic changes which occurred in the steppes of present-day southern Russia in the middle of the eleventh century because of the appearance of the Turkish tribe of the Polovtzi removed all possibilities of direct relations between Russia and the Byzantine Empire.

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