AH Challenge: Catholic Russia

[Rekjavik]

Your challenge, should you accept it, is to have Russia convert to Catholicism instead of Orthodoxy. I am aware this is a very difficult challenge, but then if it wasn't it wouldn't be a challenge at all.

For the first part somehow you must prevent the Greek Orthodox faith from being accepted by the Russians in 988, difficult because of the close contact between them and the Byzantine. The second hurdle is for them to accept Catholicism, despite the fact that Lithuania, their close neighbour to the west, only converted in 1387, before Orthodoxy entrenches itself.

Is a two Russia solution possible, with an Orthodox southern Russia and a Catholic northern Russia? What do you think?

 

[Workable Goblin]

Well, the easiest solution is to just never have the Great Schism occur (in 1054). Then no matter which rites the Russians adopt they will be members of the Catholic church just like France or Spain.

 

[jkay]

Just have the Byzantines call off the accompanying marriage of their princess to a Kievan king (given how uncivilized the Kievan court was seen as being, that doesn't seem atall unlikely), and Kiev's likely to get miffed and call off their conversion.

 

[The Kiat]

If the Rus were impressed by the catholics instead of the orthedox, then pow. There you have it.

 

[HistorianofAlt]

Have the Hagia Sophia catch on fire before the Rus ambassadors get to Constantinople. That church impressed the Rus as a spiritual center making the plainer Catholic churches seem dull.

Another solution is to have a Greek priest from the Byzantine Court insult the Rus over some minor detail. This is not that hard to see given that the Byzantines would look down on the Rus. This insult, if combinded with a friendlier Catholic priest during the ambassadors tour, could convince the Rus that the Catholic church was more 'true' to its faith then the Eastern church.

 

[Skokie]

Catholic Bulgaria maybe?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianization_of_bulgaria

Pope appoints Formosa of Portua Archbishop of Bulgaria, as Knyaz Boris had asked him.

Catholicism gets a back door on the Black Sea and Kiev. It'd be quicker than going through Lithuania, God knows.

 

[abas]

Your challenge, should you accept it, is to have Russia convert to Catholicism instead of Orthodoxy. I am aware this is a very difficult challenge, but then if it wasn't it wouldn't be a challenge at all.

For the first part somehow you must prevent the Greek Orthodox faith from being accepted by the Russians in 988, difficult because of the close contact between them and the Byzantine. The second hurdle is for them to accept Catholicism, despite the fact that Lithuania, their close neighbour to the west, only converted in 1387, before Orthodoxy entrenches itself.

Is a two Russia solution possible, with an Orthodox southern Russia and a Catholic northern Russia? What do you think?

You can make them to accept the Union, thus making them the Eastern Catholics.

 

[abas]

Just have the Byzantines call off the accompanying marriage of their princess to a Kievan king (given how uncivilized the Kievan court was seen as being, that doesn't seem atall unlikely), and Kiev's likely to get miffed and call off their conversion.

Then the Prince of Kiev would find some back-door if the giving back the conquered city wasn't enough.

If the Rus were impressed by the catholics instead of the orthedox, then pow. There you have it.

Have the Hagia Sophia catch on fire before the Rus ambassadors get to Constantinople. That church impressed the Rus as a spiritual center making the plainer Catholic churches seem dull.

Another solution is to have a Greek priest from the Byzantine Court insult the Rus over some minor detail. This is not that hard to see given that the Byzantines would look down on the Rus. This insult, if combinded with a friendlier Catholic priest during the ambassadors tour, could convince the Rus that the Catholic church was more 'true' to its faith then the Eastern church.

The initiative for converting was fully in Russian hands. Kievan Rus was located on trade route between Scandinavia and Constantinople, while had minor interest in the West (in the case they didn't accept conversion from Greeks it is more likely to adopt Islam or Judaism than Catholicism by them, since contacts with Volga Bulgaria and Chazars were more significant than with the West)

 

[Stalker]

Then the Prince of Kiev would find some back-door if the giving back the conquered city wasn't enough.

The initiative for converting was fully in Russian hands. Kievan Rus was located on trade route between Scandinavia and Constantinople, while had minor interest in the West (in the case they didn't accept conversion from Greeks it is more likely to adopt Islam or Judaism than Catholicism by them, since contacts with Volga Bulgaria and Chazars were more significant than with the West)

I shall only add that Khazars by 988 were not a force to be seriously taken into account. The Kaghanate fell at Svyatoslav's hand and had no chances to rise again. But, of course, the connections of the Rus with the Caucasus, Byzantines and Central Asia were even tighter than ones with the West. Only Novgorod was really mainly included into the trade in the Baltic Sea.