CHAPTER II.
THE ANCIENT PERIOD, FROM THE INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY TO THE TATAR DOMINION, 988-1224.
As soon as Prince Saint Vladimir introduced Christianity into Russia, he and his sons began to busy themselves with the problem of general education.

Priests came from Greece and Bulgaria to spread the Gospel in Russia; but they thought only of disseminating Christianity, and were, moreover, not sufficiently numerous to grapple with educational problems.

Accordingly, Vladimir founded schools in Kieff, and ordered that the children of the best citizens should be taken from their unwilling parents, and handed over to these schools for instruction.

His son, Yaroslaff I.( "the wise"), pursued the same policy, in Kieff and elsewhere--the schools being attached to the churches, and having for their chief object the preparation of ecclesiastics.

The natural result was, that in ancient Russia, most people who could read and write were ecclesiastics or monks, and religious literature was that most highly prized.