Hi folks, next Wednesday (Feb. 26)  we will begin our journey of Orthodoxy in Russia by focusing on the first two sections of Chapter 15: “A New Threat to Christendom: Norsemen, Rus’ and Kiev (900 – 1240)” and “Tartars, Lithuania and Muscovy (1240 – 1448)”.

Cathedral of the Dormition, Kiev, Ukraine

Studying Russia’s Orthodox Church history seems appropriate with all that is happening in Russia currently with the Sochi Winter Olympics and the political unrest that is happening in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine.

For next week, please write a summary of one of the following topics:

1. Discuss the impact the Vikings (or what the Constantinople called them, the Rus’ ) had with the Byzantine Empire.
2. Describe the Rurikid contact with the Byzantines starting in 957 with the Princess Olga, her son Sviatoslav, and later her grandson Vladimir.  Discuss the importance of the city of Kiev at this point and how Prince Vladimir’s marriage to the Byzantine Princess Anna changed the culture and beliefs of the Rus’.  Discuss the how Byzantine culture changed the Russian landscape with this union.
3. Discuss the impact the Mongols (specifically the Kipchak Khanate) and the Tartars had upon the Rus’
4. Discuss the rise of Moscow or the Muscovite and their rivalry with Lithuania.   What circumstances led to Byzantine supporting Moscow rather than Lithuania?
5. How did the marriage of the Lithuanian Grand Prince Jogaila to the eleven year-old Queen Jadwiga of Poland in 1386 turn out to be a significant turning point for Orthodoxy and the future of Rus’?
6. Describe how Orthodoxy in Russia developed their own unique style of worship compared to the Byzantine Church in Constantinople.  What was unique about Orthodoxy in Russia?
7. Discuss the impact two Russian monks, Stefan (Stephen) Khrap and Sergei of Radonezh, during the 14th century had on the Church of Rus’.

Essays will be posted next Wednesday, Feb. 26.