Yes, - the main thing that speaks against their literal reliability is the fact that the relations of the papacy with the European peoples in general were not as developed as it seems according to the legends of our chronicles. The tenth century was an era of extreme decline of the papacy. Moral depravity and inability to share, internal unrest in Italy and the papal curia led to a decline in the authority of the papacy and to a weakening of its church-political relations. And peoples closer to the interests of the Roman Church at that time rarely had direct relations with the popes. So it is hardly possible to accept the evidence of our chronicles in the literal sense. Nevertheless, it would be unfair to deny the attempts of the Western Church to convert Vladimir to Catholicism. Our chronicles represent Vladimir, still a pagan, in fairly close relations with the Czech Republic; one of his wives is called a Czech ■ they mention the ambassadors of the Czech prince Oldrich. Then, having taken possession of Gapshtiya, Vladimir expanded his possessions to the very borders of the Czech Republic and maintained peace and friendship with it. This is the main way in which Catholic propaganda could penetrate into Rus'. The Czech Republic, where even under Vyacheslav the Latin-German clergy flocked from all sides, like “bees into a hive,” in the words of the biographer of St. Vyacheslav, the Czech Republic, which soon spread the influence of the German-Latin ours to Poland, and in Boleslav II had the most zealous supporter of Western Christianity, could send missionaries to Rus', then its prince began to waver in his pagan beliefs. Therefore, while denying the literal meaning of our chronicles about the embassies to Vladimir from the Latin Church, one cannot deny the private attempts of neighboring princes or bishops of Czech and even Polish, attempts aimed at persuading St. Vladimir in accepting Catholicism. Family ties with the Czech Republic and the influence of clergy, who undoubtedly accompanied Christians to Rus', could especially serve as conductors of Catholic propaganda: let us remember that in this way two other Slavic women, Dobrovka and Sarolta, served as the main instruments of Western Christianity during its introduction in Poland and Hungary. The story in your chronicles about Vladimir’s conversation with the pope’s ambassadors, although of course, like the symbol of Vladimir, is a later work and has strictly historical significance, it is nevertheless true
A. I - “OGONOV,
outlines some features of Latin missionary preaching. The pope's ambassadors begin their sermon to the pagan Vladimir not with the doctrine of God, but with the dogma of the papacy: “the great pope says.” The doctrine of the primacy of the pope, of subordination to the vicar of St. Peter has been in first place among Western preachers since the time of Boniface. Another feature is also characteristic: “Volodimer said: “What is your commandment?” And they decided: “Gladness according to strength; if anyone eats or eats, then everything is to the glory of God,” said our teacher Paul.” Here the usual indulgence in Catholicism is reflected, excessive condescension in human weaknesses, which was noticed in the Latin preachers and in Moravia, about which in the life of St. Methodius says that they are “God’s servants, who are doing what is happening, who corrupt people, caressingly.” These and other weak sides of Latinism did not escape the insightful mind of Vladimir: and this sermon of the Latin missionaries was accepted with the same indifference as the sermon of Adalbert under St. Olga. “Volodimer’s speech to the Germans: go yourselves: our fathers did not accept the essence of this.” All previous centuries-old connections pointed Vladimir to seek a higher spiritual union not with the Napian and imperial west, which merged religion with politics, but with the Orthodox east, from where “a good law always comes to the whole country” and from where the wise Olga accepted it.