What nearly was known as the original 'Christian faith'?
It is also interesting that in time the term "крестьяне" acquired the meaning "peasants of Christian faith" and later "peasants" (the main part of the population of the region), while the term "христиане" retained its religious meaning and the term "русские" began to mean representatives of the heterogeneous Russian nation formed on the basis of common Christian faith and language,[citation needed] which strongly influenced the history and development of the region.