Scholars believe that the main reasons for Vladimir's
choice were not really religious. Instead, his reasons are said to be related to
economics and power. There were reasons that pushed Vladimir towards the Orthodox
Church and reasons that pushed him away from Roman
Catholicism.
Kievan Rus had a lot of contact with the
Byzantine Empire. They traded with one another and were in relatively close
geographical proximity. Because of this, it made sense to Vladimir to maintain close
ties with Constantinople. For this purpose, he wanted to marry the sister of the
Byzantine emperor. He would only be allowed to do this if he converted to Orthodoxy.
Vladimir did so as a way of tying his kingdom closer to the
Byzantines.
The other factor was Vladimir's desire to
remain free of Roman dominance. He feared that the Roman Catholic Church would try to
have too much influence over what happened in Rus. Because of this, he was also pushed
away from Rome (in addition to being pulled towards Orthodoxy).
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