CREATION OF THE CHURCH EPISCOPAL STRUCTURE IN ANCIENT RUSSIA DURING THE ACTIVE POLITOGENESIS ERA AT THE LATE 10th - FIRST HALF OF THE 11th CENTURIES

Abstract

The relationship between the Christianization of Ancient Rus’ and the initial stage of its political genesis has been studied for a long time, even though the direct formulation of the question does not appear often. One of the elements of this process is the formation of the church episcopal structure. More and more often historians come to the conclusion that its instant appearance was impossible (as historians of the pre-revolutionary era thought), and that its creation should have taken more or less long time (up to several decades), which gave rise to a number of concepts explaining the ways of creating the Russian church hierarchy. In 2015, the concept of a plurality of initial hierarchical structures (jurisdictions) after the baptism of St. Vladimir appeared. This article analyzes the opinions of historians who supported or criticized this provision and also provides additional conclusions about the nature of the relationship between the church structure formation and the political genesis of Ancient Rus’ in the era of St. Vladimir.