approved by his drujina; "if the Greek
religion had not been the best, your grandmother Olga, the wisest of
mortals, would not have adopted it," said they. Thus Vladimir became a
convert; but his method of showing it was rather peculiar.

He might have been baptized by the bishop of Kief; or, if he had
applied at Constantinople, the emperor would gladly have sent him a
high prelate to perform the service. Instead of this, Vladimir
collected an army and marched against Kherson,--the last city in
Russia held by the Byzantine. It was taken by means of treachery, and
from this city Vladimir sent to Constantinople to demand in marriage
the sister of the two emperors Basil and Constantine. Although the
emperors did not like the proposed connection, they consented because
they feared an invasion, but made it a condition that Vladimir should
be baptized. The ceremony was performed at Kherson; soon after the
bride arrived and the marriage took place in the same city. When he
returned to Kief, he carried with him the priests and sacred ornaments
taken from the churches of Kherson.

Upon his return to Kief, he began missionary work by his own peculiar
methods. His first orders were to pull down the idols; during the
execution the people wept, moaned, and wrung their hands. Perun's
image was handsomely flogged and thrown into the Dnieper. Since it (p. 043)
was made of wood, it soon came to the surface, which was looked upon
as a miracle by the people who rushed down to worship it. But
Vladimir's soldiers gave it another bath, and this time it was caught
by the current and drifted away. The cliff where it stood is still
known at Kief as "the devil's leap," and the spot where Perun floated
ashore, is shown to visitors.

After thus getting rid of the idols, Vladimir commanded the people of
Kief, men, women, and children, to plunge into the Dnieper, which had
been consecrated for the occasion, that they might be baptized. When
they had obeyed his order, the priests read the service, so that after
entering into the river as heathen, they left it as Christians. The
people of Novgorod were converted in the same swift and practical
manner, since no attention was paid to their objections.

Heathen temples were next converted into churches, which were
decorated by Greek artists. Vladimir erected at Kief the church of St.
Basil, on the place where Perun's image had stood. Numerous other
churches were built; he also founded schools where