?
The Cross of St. Stephen in Rusian Lands: A Commentary on the Kyivan Chronicle Entry of 1152
It is widely known that the Great Schism of 1054 did not lead to immediate termination of political and economical contacts between Rus’ and its Western neighbours — Poland, Czechia and Hungary. Despite of being regarded as “Latinizers” (latinniki) of Central Europe remained the key partners for Ryurikids dynasty, and the countries of the region were still one of the basic markets for Rusian merchants. Less discussed is the fact that mutual excommunication of Michael Cerularius and Humbert of Silva Candida could not halt neither cultural exchange, nor even ecclesiastical contacts between neighbouring peoples. “Orthodox” Rusians visited “Latin” churches, took part in “Latin” ceremonies and worshipped “Latin” relics notwithstanding all the effort to explain the “impiety” of such practices put by the local church hierarchy controlled from Constantinople. In the article we concentrate on the circumstances of the peace treaty between Iziaslav Mstislavich of Kyiv and Volodymyr Volodarevich of Halych signed in 1152. The treaty was backed up by kissing of the cross provided by Iziaslav’s ally king Géza II of Hungary. Hence Volodymyr’s death of a heart attack on the same day when he refused to fulfil the agreement was thought to be a sign demonstrating the power of the Holy Cross. Some researchers maintain that the cross used to seal the treaty though belonged to the king of Hungary was of a Byzantine origin. It is much more likely however that it was the Apostolic Cross, one of the royal insignia allegedly granted to St. Stephen of Hungary by the Pope Sylvester II in 1000. In other words, Rusian princes of the mid-12th century could have sworn their oath on the “Latin” relic, and local society would accept this swear as valid blaming its violator for both deception and blasphemy. Thus the events of 1152–1153 demonstrate quite clearly how permeable were the inter-confessional borders in medieval Eastern Europe.