Rainburn

The first mention of Rayburn dates back to 1000 . This year, the German emperor Otton III agreed with the Polish king Boleslav I the Brave at the Congress in Gniezno on the creation of the Gniezno archdiocese , of which the Kolobrzeg bishopric became part ^[3] . The first bishop was Rayburn, who at that time was in the retinue of the daughter of Boleslav the Brave. It was planned that the forces of the bishopric would be directed to the baptism of the Gentiles in Pomerania . It is known that Rayburn performed the “baptism” of the Baltic Sea , pouring peace and holy water into the sea, and also destroyed the crypts of Pomeranian pagan gods ^[4] . Around 1007, a pagan revolt broke out in Kolobrzeg, and Rayburn returned to Krakow to the court of Boleslav.

In 1013, in a sign of truce with Russia, Boleslav the Brave agreed to the marriage of his daughter with the Turov prince Svyatopolk, the future Svyatopolk the Cursed. Rainburn accompanied the Polish princess at marriage, and then arrived with her in Turov. However, here he began to try to preach Latin customs. Sources say that, together with Svyatopolk, Rainburn was plotting to avert Russia from the “Byzantine rite”, but the plot was uncovered (in particular, Anastas Korsunsky ), after which Grand Duke Vladimir sent Svyatopolk with his wife and confessor to prison. Here, according to the official version, Rainburn died in 1013. However, it is also possible that Rainburn died already in 1015, or after Svyatopolk’s flight to Poland in 1016/1017. (that is, after the death of Vladimir).