On the question of Prince Vladimir’s involvement into a large-scale catastrophe in the city of Chersonesos in the late X century

The main goal of this study is to determine whether the hypothesis of the involvement of Prince Vladimir and his squad in the large-scale catastrophe that occurred in Chersonesus at the end of the 10th century still retains its scientific significance. The materials of archaeological excavations in Chersonesos of the late X - early XI centuries as well as Old Russian chronicles were the main source used while working on this study. An important role in the study was also played by various foreign sources: the Scandinavian, Germanic and Byzantine chronicles, and the reports of Arab authors. Two currently dominant hypotheses in modern historical science related to the involvement of Prince Vladimir and his squad in the large-scale catastrophe that had occurred in Chersonesos at the end of X century are revealed in this article. According to the first of them, mass graves in the city and a great fire had been caused by repressions of Vladimir’s squad against the locals. According to the other scientists, the Korsun campaign was insignificant for the inhabitants of Chersonesos, and the large-scale disaster had been related to a terrible earthquake at the beginning of the XI century. Having analyzed the Old Russian written texts, foreign authors’ reports and archaeological research data, the author managed to refute the theory of large-scale extermination of Chersonesos citizens by the soldiers of Vladimir’s squad, which has been dominating in Russian science. The study also presents arguments against the opposite point of view, according to which the influence of Vladimir’s campaign on Chersonesos was insignificant, and the multiple death of most Chersonesos citizens had been caused by large-scale earthquake. Based on the reports of the German chroniclers and Leo the Deacon about a terrible plague epidemic in Europe at the end of the X century, the author suggests that a large-scale disaster in one of the main Black Sea ports at that time had been caused by a plague epidemic. The author comes to the conclusion that the scientific hypothesis about the involvement of Prince Vladimir and his force in a large-scale catastrophe that occurred in Chersonesos at the end of the X century only partly reliable. Part of the inhabitants of the city perished during the siege or repression caused by the Russians. The siege and military actions weakened the people of Chersonesos and provoked an epidemic of plague that occurred at the end of the 10th century and led to extinction of most of the city’s population.

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