All societies are an attempt to form order and harmony out of chaos. As such, writings or texts are often used as a means of recording what is “defined” as significant by the writer(s) of them and/or the culture during which they write. So it is with the texts provided for analysis herein. For while each of them deals with a specific issue such as religion, military pursuits, or commerce, all of them reveal much more about the societies which produced them than just these areas of focus.
In Vladimir Christianizes Russia, we are treated to the description of Vladimir’s process of choosing a religion for his state. We see him choose the Christianity of the East, a religion that would be significant to the Russian citizenry centuries later because no attempt by communist dictators in the 20th century was enough to quash it. However, we also see the significance of trade because without mercantilism and trade during this era, religious ideology would not have spread from culture to culture “Lively trade relations between Kiev and Constantinople had been maintained for centuries,” (Vladimir 66).
In Nestor: The Martyrdom of Boris and Gleb, we see the struggles of religion, power, and leadership that would plague Russia long after the end of the Middle Ages. Yet, we also see how meaning and values change over time in the story of the struggle for power among the sons of Vladimir. Sviatopolk was intent on assuming power after the death of his father, at any cost even if it included the death of his brothers Boris and Gleb. Boris and Gleb, however, more closely adhered to their father’s religious ambitions over his political ones. They adopted a humble and passive role in the face of Sviatopolk’s blatant grab for power. In so doing, they met their death but they also represented “the earliest imitation in the Middle Ages of Christ as a humble martyr dying for the sins of man…at that time, Christ’s
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