Equal-to-the-Apostles Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Great Prince Vladimir of Kiev

CRITICAL: category corrected from "right-believing" to "equal-to-the-apostles" — no authoritative source calls St. Vladimir "right-believing"; this is the standard, unambiguous designation of his church rank as the baptizer of an entire nation.

St. Vladimir, son of Kievan Prince Svyatoslav and his housekeeper Malusha, was born around 960. During his pagan youth he seized the Kiev throne by force from his half-brother Yaropolk and was notorious for polygamy, keeping hundreds of concubines across several cities. Troubled in his search for true faith, he sent envoys to examine the religions of neighboring peoples and was drawn to Byzantine Orthodoxy.

In 987–988 he besieged and captured the Byzantine city of Chersonesus (Korsun) in Crimea, then demanded the hand of Princess Anna, sister of Emperors Basil II and Constantine VIII, as a condition of alliance; his baptism was the price of the marriage. Struck blind before his baptism, Vladimir miraculously regained his sight the moment he was baptized, taking the name Basil. Returning to Kiev, he threw down the pagan idols and had the people of Kiev baptized in the Dnieper River (988) — the founding act of Christian Rus.

Vladimir was transformed by his conversion: he briefly abolished capital punishment out of fear of sin, gave lavish alms, ordered that any beggar could come to his court for food and money, and built churches and schools. He died on July 15, 1015, at Berestovo, and was buried in the Church of the Tithes in Kiev. He is venerated as Equal-to-the-Apostles, Baptizer of Rus.