Christianity was apparently introduced into the East Slavic state of Kievan Rus by Greek missionaries from Byzantium in the 9th century. This act was followed by the acceptance of Christianity as the state religion after the baptism of Olga’s grandson Vladimir I, prince of Kiev, in 988.

How was Orthodox Christianity spread to Eastern Europe and Russia? Who were the two most famous orthodox missionaries? Why? Cyril and Methodius went to spread the Orthodox religion to southern Russia, where their knowledge of the Slavic language greatly helped them.

Beginning in the Middle East, Christianity began its spread north and west into Europe, carried by merchants, missionaries, and soldiers. As a result, in 313, the Edict of Milan was passed, which guaranteed freedom of religion throughout the Roman Empire, ending the persecution of Christians.

portentous /por-TEN-tuss/ adjective. 1 : of, relating to, or constituting a portent. 2 : eliciting amazement or wonder : prodigious. 3 a : being a grave or serious matter. b : self-consciously solemn or important : pompous.

After earning his degree, my brother has been so pretentious towards his old friends. There is a myriad of pretentious students at this Ivy League school. Dressed in a ball gown, she made an overly pretentious appearance at the simple high school dance.

The words fateful and ominous are common synonyms of portentous.

antonyms for prodigious

• little.
• miniature.
• small.
• teeny.
• unimportant.
• common.
• ordinary.
• unremarkable.

quarrel. an angry dispute; The quarrel is between our masters and us their men. brawl. a noisy fight in a crowd; Three civil brawls, bred of an airy word, By thee, old Capulet, and Montague, Have thrice disturb’d the quiet of our streets. disturb.

Lord Capulet is initially reluctant to accept Paris’s proposal that he marry Juliet because he feels his daughter is too young to marry. Capulet suggests the proposal of marriage be delayed for two years so Juliet has more time before she becomes a bride.

spleen. a feeling of resentful anger. All this — uttered. With gentle breath, calm look, knees humbly bow’d — Could not take truce with the unruly spleen.

Among the words common in Shakespeare’s time that modern readers may not always recognize is the word ”thrice”. It means ”three times”.

blessed three times

adjective. being on this or the closer side; nearer: the hither side of the meadow.

Hither is a fancy or old-fashioned way to say “here.” Your grandmother might jokingly call everyone for dinner by saying, “Come hither! Soup’s on!”

To hie is to move in a hurried or hasty way. It’s the kind of word you are more likely hear in a Shakespeare play, like when a character demands, “Hie thee hither!”

Hei is the Norwegian word for “Hi” or “Hello”.

in truth