Kyivan Rus · 957-1054

988: Kyiv chooses a faith

Around 988 Prince Vladimir of Kyiv is baptized and orders his people into the waters of the Dnieper. Students explore why he chose the Christianity of Constantinople and how that choice shaped Kyivan Rus under his son Yaroslav the Wise.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
50 minutes
Ages
12–15
On the map
3 steps, AD 1000 to AD 1100
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

Around 988 Prince Vladimir of Kyiv is baptized and orders his people into the waters of the Dnieper. Students explore why he chose the Christianity of Constantinople and how that choice shaped Kyivan Rus under his son Yaroslav the Wise.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Locate Kyivan Rus on the map of 1000 and name its main cities and rivers.
  • Explain the political and religious reasons behind Vladimir's choice of Byzantine Christianity.
  • Describe the achievements of Yaroslav the Wise in law, building and diplomacy.
2

Explore the map

15 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1000

Kyivan Rus in 1000

Open the map in 1000 and find Kyivan Rus. How far does it stretch from north to south? Which rivers connect its cities?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1000

The road to Constantinople

Follow the Dnieper south from Kyiv to the Black Sea and across to Constantinople. Why might the rulers of Kyiv look to Byzantium rather than to Rome?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1100

Royal marriages

Set the year to 1100 and zoom out over Europe. Yaroslav's daughters married kings of France, Norway and Hungary. Find all three kingdoms. What does that say about Kyiv's standing?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

15 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. The Primary Chronicle says Vladimir sent envoys to study the faiths of his neighbors. Why might a chronicler tell this story?
  2. Vladimir married Anna, the sister of the Byzantine emperor. Why was that marriage such a prize for a prince of the Rus?
  3. Many people in Kyiv were baptized at once in the river. How might ordinary people have felt about a religion chosen by their prince?
  4. Church books came in Old Church Slavonic, written in Cyrillic. How did that help reading and writing spread among the Rus?
  5. Ukrainians, Belarusians and Russians all see Kyivan Rus as part of their history. Why can one medieval state matter to several modern nations?
4

Game round

10 min

Play Rule History as Justinian I, who built Hagia Sophia, the church whose splendor Vladimir's envoys are said to have admired. Afterwards, discuss: how did Byzantium win friends through faith, marriage and beauty instead of war?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.