Equal-to-the-Apostles, Grand Prince Vladimir, Equal-to-the-Apostles, Grand Prince of Kiev, in Baptism Basil

Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir was born around 958, the son of Grand Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich and the housekeeper Malusha. In 970 he became Prince of Novgorod, and in 978, after a struggle for power with his brothers, he took the throne of Kiev. During the pagan period of his rule, he was known for his warlike nature, polygamy, and cruelty, participating in the establishment of pagan shrines and human sacrifices. Seeking to strengthen the state spiritually, Prince Vladimir, according to chronicle tradition, sent envoys to study different faiths, and then was himself baptized — according to some sources, in Chersonesus (Korsun) in Crimea, which he had taken from Byzantium, according to others, already in Kiev. In baptism he received the name Basil. In 988, Prince Vladimir ordered the inhabitants of Kiev to appear on the banks of the Dnieper for baptism; there a mass baptism of the people of Kiev took place, which became the symbolic beginning of the Baptism of Rus. After accepting Christianity, the prince's way of life changed dramatically: he renounced his former cruelty, began to care for the poor and destitute, established hospitals and meals for those in need, and abolished the death penalty under the influence of the Greek clergy. Under him, widespread church construction began in Rus, including the Church of the Tithes in Kiev, along with the spread of book learning. Holy Prince Vladimir died on July 15, 1015. Because the deed he accomplished — the conversion of an entire people to Christ — is comparable to the labors of the apostles, he is called Equal-to-the-Apostles. His memory is kept on July 15/28.