Boris and Gleb

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Saints Boris and Hlib
Medieval Russian icon of Ss. Boris and Gleb (14th century, State Russian Museum)
Passion-bearers
Died	1015-1019
Venerated in	Eastern Orthodox Church Eastern Catholic Churches
Canonized	1071
Major shrine	Vyshhorod
Feast	July 24 (Martyrdom) May 3 (Translation of Relics)
Attributes	Two young princes, holding swords or spears, or the cross of martyrs
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There are other people known as Saint Roman and Saint David.

Boris and Gleb (Russian: Борис и Глеб; Ukrainian: Борис і Гліб, Borys and Hlib), Christian names Roman and David, were the first saints of Kievan Rus' after the Baptism of Rus' by Saint Vladimir. According to 11th century Lives of Boris and Gleb (ascribed to Nestor the Chronicler and Jacob the Monk), they were children of Vladimir the Great, who liked them more than his other children. Both were murdered during the internecine wars of 1015-1019 and glorified (canonized) by the Orthodox church in Rus' in 1071. They were interred at the Vyshhorod Cathedral, which was reconsecrated in their name; many other Ukrainian and Russian churches were later named after them. Their feast day is observed on July 24 (August 6).

The Primary Chronicle says that their mother was a Bulgarian woman. Most modern scholars, however, argue that Boris and Gleb had different mothers, and were of different age. Boris, who had been already married and ruled the town of Rostov, was probably regarded as heir apparent to the Kievan throne. Gleb, who was still a minor, ruled the easternmost town of Murom.

Icon of Saints Boris and Gleb on horseback. Moscow, mid 14th century (Tretyakov Gallery).

The Primary Chronicle blamed Sviatopolk the Accursed for plotting their assassination. Boris and his manservant were stabbed to death when sleeping in a tent. The prince was discovered still breathing when his body was being transported in a bag to Kiev, but the Varangians put him from his misery with the thrust of a lance.

Gleb was assassinated, on the way to see his dying father, by his own cook who cut his throat with a kitchen knife and concealed his body in a brushwood. The Life contains many picturesque details of Boris and Gleb's last hours, such as their sister's warning about the murderous plans of Sviatopolk.

The Life's narrative is a masterpiece of hagiography, which unites numerous literary traditions. Actual circumstances of Boris and Gleb's life and death cannot be extrapolated from their hagiography. Perhaps the crucial evidence comes from several unbiased foreign sources which mention that Boris succeeded his father in Kiev, and was not lurking in Rostov as the Russian Primary Chronicle seems to imply.

Moreover, the Norse Eymund's saga tells a story of the Varangian warriors who were hired by Yaroslav I the Wise to kill his brother Burizleif. Some historians trusted the saga more than sources from Rus', claiming that it was Yaroslav (and not Sviatopolk) who was interested in removing his political rivals and was therefore guilty of his brothers' murder. Others consider "Burizleif" a misreading of Boleslaw, the Polish ruler allied to Sviatopolk.

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[edit] Boris and Gleb in Ancient Literature

The story of the deaths and glorifications of Boris and Gleb is told in The Tale and Passion and Glorification of the Holy Martyrs Borys and Hlib, which is one of the oldest surviving texts of Rus. It places the blame for the deaths at the hands of Sviatopolk the Accursed^[1].