ABSTRACT
In 980, the ruler of Novgorod, Vladimir I (r. 980-1015), conquered Kievan Rus and established it as one of the leading empires in Europe. Vladimir’s conversion to Christianity in 988 made the Eastern Orthodox Church an institutional power in Kievan Rus, and his son and successor, Yaroslav I, also known as Yaroslav the Wise (r. 1019-1054), brought the empire to its peak of political power and cultural activity. Yaroslav extended the boundaries of his territory from the Gulf of Finland almost to the Black Sea, stretching from modern-day Poland to Bulgaria.
