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Kievan Rus' Information

Kievan Rus' or Rus' was a medieval polity in Eastern Europe, from the late 9th to the mid 13th century, when it disintegrated under the pressure of the Mongol invasion of 1237–1240.

Contemporarily, the state was known as "land of the Rus'" (Old East Slavic рускаӕ землѧ, from the ethnonym Рѹ́сь, Greek Ῥώς, Arabic الروس ar-Rūs), in Greek as Ῥωσία, latinized Ruscia, Russia, later also Ruthenia.[1][2] The name "Kievan Rus'" (Russian: Ки́евская Русь Kievskaya Rus’) was coined much later in the 19th century in Russian historiography[3] to distinguish the early polity from successor states, which also called Rus in their title. Also in the 20th century, the Russian term was rendered in Belarusian and Ukrainian as Кіеўская Русь and Ки́ївська Русь Kyivs'ka Rus’, respectively. [4]

The polity originates with the conquest of the East Slavic town of Kiev by Varangians, who were referred to as "Rus'", in 864. The early phase of the state is sometimes known as the "Rus Khaganate", while the history of Rus' proper begins in 882, when the capital was moved to Kiev from Veliky Novgorod. The state reaches its zenith in the mid 11th century, when it encompassed territories stretching south to the Black Sea, east to Volga, and west to the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.[5] The reigns of Vladimir the Great (980–1015) and his son Yaroslav I the Wise (1019–1054) constitute the "Golden Age" of Kiev, which saw the acceptance of Christianity and the creation of the first East Slavic written legal code, the Russkaya Pravda ("Justice of Rus").

The state declined beginning in the later 11th and during the 12th century, disintegrating into various rival regional powers. [6] It was further weakened by economic factors such as the collapse of Rus' commercial ties to Byzantium due to the decline of Constantinople[7] and the falling off of trade routes, and it finally fell to the Mongol invasion of the 1230s.

After its disintegration, the various East Slavic principalities were united within the Russian Empire in the 18th century. In modern scholars consider that the East Slavic states of Belarus, Ukraine and Russia all derive their identity from the early medieval state.[8]

Contents

History

The Invitation of the Varangians by Viktor Vasnetsov: Rurik and his brothers Sineus and Truvor arrive to the lands of Ilmen Slavs.

In the early 9th century, the northern tribes of Rus' people became loosely organized under the Rus' Khaganate, that some scholars consider as a predecessor state to the Kievan Rus'.[9] The early leaders of Rus' were most likely a Scandinavian elite that ruled a majority of Slavic subjects.[10] Scandinavians gradually intermarried and merged with the Slavic population — the third known ruler of Rus', Sviatoslav I, Rurik's grandson, already has a Slavic name.

According to the Primary Chronicle, the earliest chronicle of Kievan Rus', the territory of the future Kievan state was divided between some Varangian state and Khazaria. Laurentian Codex states that since 859 Chud, Slovene, Merya, and Krivichi were giving tribute to the Varangians, while the Khazars were taxing Polians, Sieverians, and Vyatichs. In 862 there was a great revolt when Chud, Ilmen Slavs, Merya, and Krivichi sent the Varangians beyond the sea without giving them tribute. After that they started to go at each other. Some of the tribes (unknown who exactly) decided to invite the Rus Varangians to rule over them. Then the three Varangian (Viking) brothers named Rurik (the oldest), Sineus, and Truvor established themselves in Novgorod, Beloozero and Izborsk, respectively. After two years, two of Riurik's brothers died leaving Riurik the sole ruler. He in turn installed his nakhodniks to assist him in governing the land. The principals' cities became Novgorod (capital) ruling over Ilmen Slavs, Polotsk – Krivichi, Rostov – Merya, Beloozero – Veps, and Murom – Muroma. The chronicle names him as the progenitor of the Rurik Dynasty. The Primary Chronicle says:[11]

In the year 6367 (859): Varangians from over the sea had tribute paid from Chuds, Slavs, Merias, Veses, Krivichs...

In the year 6370 (862): [They] [d]rove the Varangians back beyond the sea, refused to pay them tribute, and set out to govern themselves. But there was no law among them, and a tribe rose against a tribe. Discord thus ensued among them, and they began to war one against the other. They said to themselves, "Let us seek a prince who may rule over us, and judge us according to custom." Thus they went overseas to the Varangians, to the Rus. These particular Varangians were called Rus, just as some are called Swedes, and others Normans and Angles, and still others Goths [Gotlanders], for they were thus named. The Chuds, the Slavs, the Krivichs and the Ves then said to the Rus, "Our land is great and rich, but there is no order in it. Come reign as princes, rule over us". Three brothers, with their kinfolk, volunteered. They took with them all the Rus and came.

Two of Riurik's boyars, Askold and Dir who were not blood-related to Riurik, asked him to go with their families to Tsargrad. Going down the Dnieper River they noticed settlement named Kiev which they liberated from the Khazars' tribute and settled there, eventually conquering the rest of the Polians' land.

Foundation of the Kievan state

The kingdom of the Kievan Rus' was officially founded by Prince Oleg (Helgu in Khazarian records) about 880. The territory of his state was much smaller, compared to the state of Yaroslav the Wise. During the next 35 years, Oleg and his warriors subdued the various Eastern Slavic (Smolensk and Liubech) and Finnic tribes. In 882, Oleg deposed Askold and Dir subordinating Kiev directly to himself and choosing it as the capital city.[12] In 883, Oleg conquered the Drevlians imposing a fur tribute on them. By 884 he managed to subjugate the Polians, Drevlians, Severians, Vyatichs, and Radimichs while at war with the Tivertsi and the Ulichs. The latter were located in the area known among the Greek historians as the Great Scythia (lands of lower Dniester and Dnieper rivers). In 907, Oleg led an attack against Constantinople with 80,000 warriors transported by 2,000 ships, leaving Igor, son of Rurik in Kiev. Oleg managed to impose a tribute upon Greeks of no less than one million grivna. In 912, he signed a commercial treaty with the Byzantine Empire as an equal partner. After the death of Oleg later in 912, the Drevlians managed to break away, but were conquered again by Igor. In 914, Igor concluded a peace treaty with the Pechenegs, a nomadic tribe that was passing through Rus' towards the Danube River in order to attack the Byzantine Empire.

The new Kievan state prospered because it had an abundant supply of furs, beeswax and honey for export and because it controlled three main trade routes of Eastern Europe: the Volga trade route from the Baltic Sea to the Orient, the Dnieper trade route from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea, and the trade route from the Khazars to the Germans (see Raffelstetten Customs Regulations).

The ruler of the Rhos/Rus (people of Swedish origin) was called chaganus (i.e. khaqan), at least in 839.[13][14][15]

Liutprand of Cremona, who was twice (949 and 968) an envoy to the Byzantine court, identifies the "Russi" with the Norse (Rusios, quos alio nos nomine Nordmannos apellamus),[16] but explains the name as a Greek term referring to their physical traits (Gens quaedam est sub aquilonis parte constituta, quam a qualitate corporis Graeci vocant [...] Rusios, nos vero a positione loci nominamus Nordmannos).[17]

Following the death of Grand Prince Igor on behalf of the East Slavic Drevlians in 945, Olga, Igor's Varangian wife, ruled as regent in Kiev until their son Sviatoslav's reached maturity (ca. 963).[18] His decade-long reign over Rus' was marked by rapid expansion into the Volga River valley, the Pontic steppe and the Balkans. By the end of his short life, Sviatoslav carved out for himself the largest state in Europe, eventually moving his capital from Kiev to Pereyaslavets on the Danube in 969. In contrast with his mother's conversion to Christianity, Sviatoslav remained a staunch pagan all of his life. Due to his abrupt death in ambush, Sviatoslav's conquests, for the most part, were not consolidated into a functioning empire, while his failure to establish a stable succession led to fratricidal feud among his sons, resulted in two of his three sons were killed.

Reign of Vladimir and Christianisation

Baptism of Saint Prince Vladimir, by Viktor Vasnetsov.

It is not clearly documented when the title of the Grand Duke was first introduced, but the importance of the Kiev principality was recognized after the death of Sviatoslav I (Sviatoslav the Brave; r. 945–972) and the struggle between Vladimir the Great and Yaropolk I. The region of Kiev dominated the state of Kievan Rus' for the next two centuries. The Grand Prince (velikiy kniaz') of Kiev controlled the lands around the city, and his formally subordinate relatives ruled the other cities and paid him tribute. The zenith of the state's power came during the reigns of Prince Vladimir (Vladimir the Great, r. 980–1015) and Prince Yaroslav (the Wise; r. 1019–1054). Both rulers continued the steady expansion of Kievan Rus' that had begun under Oleg.

Vladimir rose to power in Kiev after the death of his father Sviatoslav I in 972 and after defeating his half-brother Yaropolk in 980. As Prince of Kiev, Vladimir's most notable achievement was the Christianization of Kievan Rus', a process that began in 988. The Primary Chronicle states that when Vladimir had decided to accept a new faith instead of the traditional idol-worship (paganism) of the Slavs, he sent out some of his most valued advisors and warriors as emissaries to different parts of Europe. The emissaries visited the Christians of the Latin Rite, the Jews and the Muslims, they finally arrived in Constantinople. They rejected Islam because, among other things, it prohibited the consumption of alcohol, and Judaism because the god of the Jews had permitted his chosen people to be deprived of their country. They found the ceremonies in the Roman church to be dull. But, at Constantinople, they were so astounded by the beauty of the cathedral of Hagia Sophia and the liturgical service held there, that they made up their minds there and then about the faith they would like to follow. Upon their arrival home, they convinced Vladimir that the faith of the Byzantine Rite was the best choice of all, upon which Vladimir made a journey to Constantinople and arranged to marry with Princess Anna, the sister of the Byzantine emperor, Basil II.[19]

Vladimir's choice of Eastern Christianity may also have reflected his close personal ties with Constantinople, which dominated the Black Sea and hence trade on Kiev's most vital commercial route, the River Dnieper. Adherence to the Eastern Church had long-range political, cultural, and religious consequences. The church had a liturgy written in Cyrillic and a corpus of translations from Greek that had been produced for the Slavic peoples. The existence of this literature facilitated the conversion to Christianity of the Eastern Slavs and introduced them to rudimentary Greek philosophy, science, and historiography without the necessity of learning Greek.[citation needed] In contrast, educated people in medieval Western and Central Europe learned Latin. Enjoying independence from the Roman authority and free from tenets of Latin learning, the East Slavs developed their own literature and fine arts, quite distinct from those of other Eastern Orthodox countries.[citation needed] See Old East Slavic language and Architecture of Kievan Rus for details. Following the Great Schism of 1054, the Rus' church maintained communion with both Rome and Constantinople for some time, but along with most of the Eastern churches eventually split to go with the Eastern Orthodox[citation needed].

Reign of Yaroslav

Model of the original Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kiev Saint Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod, mid-11th century. Administering justice in Kievan Rus, by Ivan Bilibin. The Nativity, a Kievan (possibly Galician) illumination from the Gertrude Psalter.

Yaroslav, known as "the Wise", struggled for power with his brothers. Although he first established his rule over Kiev in 1019, he did not have uncontested rule of all of Kievan Rus' until 1036 at one time sharing it with Mstislav Vladimirovich from 1024. Like Vladimir, Yaroslav was eager to improve relations with the rest of Europe, especially the Byzantine Empire. Yaroslav's granddaughter, Eupraxia the daughter of his son Vsevolod I, Prince of Kiev, was married to Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor. Yaroslav also arranged marriages for his sister and three daughters to the kings of Poland, France, Hungary and Norway. Yaroslav promulgated the first East Slavic law code, Russkaya Pravda; built Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kiev and Saint Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod; patronized local clergy and monasticism; and is said to have founded a school system. Yaroslav's sons developed the great Kiev Pechersk Lavra (monastery), which functioned in Kievan Rus' as an ecclesiastical academy.

In the centuries that followed the state's foundation, Rurik's descendants shared power over Kievan Rus'. Princely succession moved from elder to younger brother and from uncle to nephew, as well as from father to son. Junior members of the dynasty usually began their official careers as rulers of a minor district, progressed to more lucrative principalities, and then competed for the coveted throne of Kiev. In the 11th century and the 12th century, the princes and their retinues, which were a mixture of Slavic and Scandinavian elites, dominated the society of Kievan Rus'. Leading soldiers and officials received income and land from the princes in return for their political and military services. Kievan society lacked the class institutions and autonomous towns that were typical of Western European feudalism. Nevertheless, urban merchants, artisans and labourers sometimes exercised political influence through a city assembly, the veche (council), which included all the adult males in the population. In some cases, the veche either made agreements with their rulers or expelled them and invited others to take their place. At the bottom of society was a stratum of slaves. More important was a class of tribute-paying peasants, who owed labour duty to the princes. The widespread personal serfdom characteristic of Western Europe did not exist in Kievan Rus'.

Fragmentation and decline

The gradual disintegration of the Kievan Rus' began in the 11th century, after the death of Yaroslav the Wise. The position of the Grand Prince of Kiev was weakened by the growing influence of regional clans.

Unconventional power succession system where the power was transferred not from father to son, but to the eldest member of the ruling dynasty, i.e. in most cases to the eldest brother of the ruler, bred constant hatred and rivalry within the royal family. Familicide was a rather common way to obtain power. That particularly could be traced during the time of Yaroslavichi rule (sons of Yaroslav the Wise) when the established rota system was skipped with establishing of Vladimir II Monomakh as the Grand Prince of Kiev in turn creating big squabbles between Olegovichi from Chernihiv, Monomakhs from Pereyaslav, Izyaslavichi from Turov/Volhynia, and Polotsk Princes.

By 1130 all descendants of Vseslav the Seer were exiled to the Byzantine Empire by Vladimir Monomakh. The most fierce resistance to Monomakhs posed Olegovichi when the izgoi Vsevolod II managed to become the Grand Prince of Kiev. Rostislavichi who have initially established in Halych lands by 1189 were defeated by the Monomakh-Piast descendant Roman the Great.

The decline of Constantinople — a main trading partner of Kievan Rus', played a significant role in the decline of the Kievan Rus'. The trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks, along which the goods were moving from the Black Sea (mainly Byzantine) through Eastern Europe to the Baltic, was a cornerstone of Kiev wealth and prosperity. Kiev was the main power and initiator in this relationship, once the Byzantine Empire fell into turmoil and the supplies became erratic, profits dried out, and Kiev lost its appeal.

The most prominent struggle for power was the conflict that erupted after the death of Yaroslav the Wise. The rivaling Principality of Polotsk was contesting the power of the Grand Prince by occupying Novgorod, while Rostislav Vladimirovich was fighting for the Black Sea port of Tmutarakan belonging to Chernigov. Three of Yaroslav's sons that first allied together found themselves fighting each other especially after their defeat to the Cuman forces in 1068 at the Battle of the Alta River. At the same time an uprising took place in Kiev, bringing to power Vseslav of Polotsk who supported the traditional Slavic paganism. The ruling Grand Prince Iziaslav fled to Poland asking for support and in couple of years returned to establish the order. The affairs became even more complicated by the end of the 11th century driving the state into chaos and constant warfare. On the initiative of Vladimir II Monomakh in 1097 the first federal council of Kievan Rus took place near Chernigov in the city of Liubech with the main intention to find an understanding among the fighting sides. However even though that did not really stopped the fighting, it certainly cooled things off.

The last ruler to maintain some sort of united state was Mstislav the Great. After his death in 1132, the Kievan Rus fell into recession and a rapid decline, and Mstislav's successor Yaropolk II of Kiev instead of focussing on the external threat of the Cumans was embroiled in conflicts with the growing power of the Novgorod Republic.

The Crusades brought a shift in European trade routes that accelerated the decline of Kievan Rus'. In 1204 the forces of the Fourth Crusade sacked Constantinople, making the Dnieper trade route marginal.[7] At the same time the Teutonic Knights of Northern Crusades were conquering the Baltic region and threatening the Lands of Novgorod. Concurrently with it the Ruthenian Federation of Kievan Rus started to disintegrate into smaller principalities[6] as the Rurik dynasty grew. The local Orthodox Christianity of Kievan Rus, while struggling to establish itself in the predominantly pagan state and losing its main base in Constantinopol was on the brink of extinction. Some of the main regional centers that later have developed were Novgorod, Chernihiv, Halych, Kiev, Ryazan, Vladimir-upon-Klyazma, Vladimir of Volyn, Polotsk, and others.

Novgorod Republic

Main article: Republic of Novgorod

In the north, the Republic of Novgorod prospered because it controlled trade routes from the River Volga to the Baltic Sea. As Kievan Rus' declined, Novgorod became more independent. A local oligarchy ruled Novgorod; major government decisions were made by a town assembly, which also elected a prince as the city's military leader. In the 12th century, Novgorod acquired its own archbishop Ilya in 1169, a sign of increased importance and political independence, while about 30 years prior to that in 1136 in Novgorod was established a republican form of government - elective monarchy. Since then Novgorod enjoyed a wide degree of autonomy although being closely associated with the Kievan Rus.

Northeast

Main article: Vladimir-Suzdal

In the northeast, Slavs colonized the territory that eventually became the Grand Duchy of Moscow by subjugating and merging with the Finnic tribes already occupying the area. The city of Rostov the oldest centre of the northeast, was supplanted first by Suzdal and then by the city of Vladimir, which become the capital of Vladimir-Suzdal'. A large wave of migrations from Kiev region northward was recorded[citation needed], to escape continuing excursions of the Turkic nomads from the "Wild Steppe". As the southern lands were being depopulated and more boyars, nobles, artisans arrived to the court at Vladimir, the combined principality of Vladimir-Suzdal asserted itself as a major power in Kievan Rus'. In 1169 Prince Andrey Bogolyubskiy of Vladimir-Suzdal dealt a severe blow to the waning power of Kievan Rus' when his armies sacked the city of Kiev. Prince Andrey then installed his younger brother, who ruled briefly in Kiev while Andrey continued to rule his realm from Suzdal. Thus, political power began to drift away from Kiev in the second half of the 12th century. In 1299, in the wake of the Mongol invasion, the metropolitan moved from Kiev to the city of Vladimir and Vladimir-Suzdal replaced Kiev as a religious centre for the northern regions.

Southwest

Main article: Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia

To the southwest, the principality of Halych had developed trade relations with its Polish, Hungarian and Lithuanian neighbours and emerged as the local successor to Kievan Rus'. In the early 13th century, Prince Roman Mstislavich united the two previously separate principalities, conquered Kiev, and assumed the title of Grand Duke of Kievan Rus'. His son, Prince Daniil (r. 1238–1264) was the first ruler of Kievan Rus' to accept a crown from the Roman papacy, apparently doing so without breaking with Constantinople. Early in the 14th century, the patriarch of the Eastern Orthodox Church in Constantinople granted the rulers of Galicia-Volhynia a metropolitan to compensate for the move of the Kievan metropolitan to Vladimir. Lithuanian rulers also requested and received a metropolitan for Novagrudok shortly afterwards. Early in the 15th century, these Metropolia were ruled again from Kiev by the "Metropolitan of Kiev, Galich and all Rus'".

However, a long and unsuccessful struggle against the Mongols combined with internal opposition to the prince and foreign intervention weakened Galicia-Volhynia. With the end of the Mstislavich branch of the Rurikids in the mid-14th century, Galicia-Volhynia ceased to exist; Poland conquered Galich; Lithuania took Volhynia, including Kiev, conquered by Gediminas in 1321 ending the rule of Rurikids in the city. Lithuanian rulers then assumed the title over Ruthenia.

Final disintegration

The state finally disintegrated under the pressure of the Mongol invasion of Rus'. The state fragmented into successor principalities, tributary to the Golden Horde (the so-called Tatar Yoke). It was only in the late 15th century that the East Slavic territories were gradually re-united under the rule of the Grand Duchy of Moscow.

In the western periphery, the Kievan Rus' was succeeded by the Principality of Galicia-Volhynia. Later, as these lands along with the territories of modern central Ukraine and Belarus fell to the Gediminids, the powerful, largely Ruthenized Grand Duchy of Lithuania, drew heavily on Rus' cultural and legal traditions. Due to the fact that the economical and cultural core of Rus' was located on the territory of modern Ukraine some Ukrainian historians and scholars consider Kievan Rus' to be a founding Ukrainian state.[8]

On the northeastern periphery of Kievan Rus' traditions were adapted in the Vladimir-Suzdal Principality that gradually gravitated towards Moscow. In the very north, the Novgorod and Pskov Feudal Republics carried on a separate and less autocratic version of Rus' legacy into the 16th century until they were absorbed by the Grand Duchy of Moscow.

Economy and social structure

During this Kievian period the Rus' experienced a period of great economic expansion. The people began to open trade routes with the Vikings to the north and west and the Byzantine Greeks to the south and west; traders also began to travel south and east eventually making contact with Persia and the peoples of Central Asia.

Due to the expansion of trade and its geographical proximity, Kiev became the most important trade center and chief among the communes; therefore the leader of Kiev gained political "control" over the surrounding areas. This princedom emerged from a coalition of traditional patriarchic family communes banded together in an effort to increase the applicable workforce and expand the productivity of the land. This union developed the first major cities in the Rus' and was the first notable form of self government. As these communes became larger, the emphasis was taken off the family holdings and placed on the territory that surrounded. This shift in ideology became known as the verv'.

The change in political structure led to the inevitable development of the peasant class or smerdy. The smerdy were free un-landed peoples that found work by laboring for wages on the manors which began to develop around 1031 as the verv' began to dominate socio-political structure. The smerdy were initially given equality in the Kievian law code, they were theoretically equal to the prince, so they enjoyed as much freedom as can be expected of manual laborers. However in the 13th century they began to slowly lose their rights and became less equal in the eyes of the law.

Historical assessment

This article or section may contain previously unpublished synthesis of published material that conveys ideas not attributable to the original sources. See the talk page for details. (April 2011)

Kievan Rus', although sparsely populated compared to Western Europe,[20] was not only the largest contemporary European state in terms of area but also culturally advanced.[21] Literacy in Kiev, Novgorod and other large cities was high.[22][23] As birch bark documents attest, they exchanged love letters and prepared cheat sheets for schools. Novgorod had a sewage system[24] and wood paving not often found in other cities at the time. The Russkaya Pravda confined punishments to fines and generally did not use capital punishment.[25] Certain inalienable rights were accorded to women, such as property and inheritance rights.[26][27][28]

The field of Igor Svyatoslavich's battle with the Polovtsy, by Viktor Vasnetsov.

The economic development of Kievan Rus may be translated into demographic statistics. Around 1200, Kiev had a population of 50,000, Novgorod and Chernigov both had around 30,000.[29] Constantinople had population of about 400,000 around 1180.[30] The Soviet scholar Mikhail Tikhomirov calculated that Kievan Rus' on the eve of the Mongol invasion had around 300 urban centers.[31]

Kievan Rus' also played an important genealogical role in European politics. Yaroslav I the Wise, whose stepmother]] belonged to the greatest dynasty to rule Byzantium, married the only legitimate daughter of the king who Christianized Sweden. His daughters became queens of Hungary, France and Norway, his sons married the daughters of a Polish king and a Byzantine emperor (not to mention a niece of the Pope), while his granddaughters were a German Empress and (according to one theory) the queen of Scotland. A grandson married the only daughter of the last Anglo-Saxon king of England. Thus the Rurikids were the most well-connected royal family of the time.[32][33] The Rurik Dynasty were the ruling the Kievan Rus' successor principalities of Galicia-Volhynia (after 1199), Chernigov, Vladimir-Suzdal, and the Grand Duchy of Moscow, as well as the early Tsardom of Russia (after 1168).

Foreign relations

See also: Varangians and Grand Prince of Kiev

Turco-Mongols

See also: Schechter Letter

From the 9th century, the Pecheneg nomads began an uneasy relationship with Kievan Rus. For more than two centuries they launched random raids into the lands of Rus, which sometimes escalated into full-scale wars (such as the 920 war on the Pechenegs by Igor of Kiev reported in the Primary Chronicle), but there were also temporary military alliances (e.g. the 943 Byzantine campaign by Igor).[34] In 968, the Pechenegs attacked and then besieged the city of Kiev.[35] There exist some speculations that the Pechenegs drove away the Tivertsi and the Ulichs to the regions of the upper Dniester river in Bukovina. The Byzantine Empire was known to support the Pechenegs in their military campaigns against the Eastern Slavic states.[citation needed]

Boniak was a Cuman khan who led an invasions on Kievan Rus'. In 1096 Boniak attacked Kiev, plundered the Kiev Monastery of the Caves, and burned down the prince's palace in Berestovo. He was defeated in 1107 by Vladimir Monomakh, Oleg, Sviatopolk and other Rus princes.

Byzantine Empire

See also: Rus'–Byzantine War Kievan Rus' under the walls of Constantinople (860).

Between 850 and 1100, the Empire developed a mixed relationship with a new state that emerged to the north across the Black Sea, that of the Rus'. This relationship would have long-lasting repercussions in the history of East Slavs. Byzantium quickly became the main trading and cultural partner for Kiev, but relations were not always friendly. The most serious conflict between the two powers was the war of 968–971 in Bulgaria, but several Rus' raiding expeditions against the Byzantine cities of the Black Sea coast and Constantinople itself are also recorded. Although most were repulsed, they were concluded by trade treaties that were generally favourable to the Rus'.

Rus'-Byzantine relations became closer following the marriage of the porphyrogenita Anna to Vladimir the Great, and the subsequent Christianization of the Rus': Byzantine priests, architects and artists were invited to work on numerous cathedrals and churches around Rus', expanding Byzantine cultural influence even further. Numerous Rus' served in the Byzantine army as mercenaries, most notably as the famous Varangian Guard.

Administrative divisions of Rus

Principalities of Kievan Rus' (1054-1132). See also: List of early East Slavic states
11th century

Principal cities

Religion

Before the establishment of Rus' a variety of religious practices were in common use.

Eastern Orthodox Church

In 988 the Christian Church in Rus' territorially fell under the jurisdiction of the Constantinople Patriarchate after it was officially adopted as the state religion. According to several chronicles after that date the predominant cult of Slavic paganism was persecuted.

It is uncertain the exact date of creation the Kiev Metropolitan as well as who was the first leader of the church. Predominantly it is considered that the first head was Michael I of Kiev, however some sources also claim Leontiy who is often placed after Michael or Anastas Chersonesos, became the first bishop of the Church of the Tithes. The first metropolitan to be confirmed by historical sources is Theopemp, who was appointed by Patriarch Alexius of Constantinople in 1038. Before 1015 there were five dioceses: Kiev, Chernihiv, Bilhorod, Volodymyr, Novgorod, and soon thereafter Yuriy-upon-Ros. The Kiev Metropolitan sent its own delegation to the Council of Bari in 1089.

After the sacking of Kiev in 1169, part of the Kiev metropolitan started to move to Vladimir-upon-Klyazma, concluding the move sometime after 1240 when Kiev was taken by Batu Khan. Metropolitan Maxim was the first metropolitan who chose Vladimir-upon-Klyazma as his official residence in 1299. As a result, in 1303 Lev I of Galicia petitioned Patriarch Athanasius I of Constantinople for the creation of a new Halych metropolitan, however it only existed until 1347.

The first Cathedral Temple was chosen the Church of the Tithes. In 1037 the cathedral was transferred to the newly built Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kiev. Upon the transferring of the metropolitan seat in 1299, the new cathedral was chosen the Dormition Cathedral, Vladimir.

By the mid 13th century there were following dioceses of Kiev Metropolitan (988): Kiev (988), Pereyaslav, Chernihiv (991), Volodymyr-Volynsky (992), Turov (1005), Polotsk (1104), Novgorod (~990s), Smolensk (1137), Murom (1198), Peremyshl (1120), Halych (1134), Vladimir-upon-Klyazma (1215), Rostov (991), Bilhorod, Yuriy (1032), Chelm (1235), Tver (1271). There also were dioceses in Zakarpattia and Tmutarakan. In 1261 there was established Sarai-Batu diocese.

See also

Notes

References

  1. ^ Назаренко А. В. Древняя Русь на международных путях: Междисциплинарные очерки культурных, торговых, политических связей IX—XII вв. — М.: Языки русской культуры, 2001. ISBN 5-7859-0085-8. С.49–50
  2. ^ Российский и русский — Грамота.ру
  3. ^ A. P. Tolochko, Химера «Киевской Руси» in: Родина № 8 (1999), pp. 29-33. In English usage, the term is introduced in the early 20th century, attested in the 1913 English translation of Vasily Klyuchevsky's A History of Russia.
  4. ^ considered a plurality of "Russias" or "Rus'es", so that the Russian tsars beginning with Ivan IV styled themselves ""Tsar and Grand Duke of all the Rus'es" (Царь и Великий князь всея Руси)
  5. ^ "The Russian Primary Chronicle". http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9064486/The-Russian-Primary-Chronicle. ; see also [1] and [2]
  6. ^ a b "Kievan Rus' and Mongol Periods". http://www.shsu.edu/~his_ncp/Kievan.html.
  7. ^ a b "Civilization in Eastern Europe Byzantium and Orthodox Europe". http://occawlonline.pearsoned.com/bookbind/pubbooks/stearns_awl/chapter15/objectives/deluxe-content.html.
  8. ^ a b Plokhy, Serhii (2006). The Origins of the Slavic Nations: Premodern Identities in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. New York: Cambridge University Press. pp. 10–15. ISBN 9780521864039. http://assets.cambridge.org/97805218/64039/excerpt/9780521864039_excerpt.pdf. Retrieved 2010-04-27. "For all the salient differences between these three post-Soviet nations, they have much in common when it comes to their culture and history, which goes back to Kievan Rus', the medieval East Slavic state based in the capital of present-day Ukraine."
  9. ^ See, e.g., Franklin and Shepard 33–36; Jones 249–250; Christian 340–341 Pritsak passim for additional sources, see Rus' Khaganate.
  10. ^ Robin Milner-Gulland, The Russians, Blackwell Publishing, 1999, ISBN 0-631-21849-1, 9780631218494, p. 45
  11. ^ "Excerpts from the Russian Primary Chronicles". http://pages.uoregon.edu/kimball/chronicle.htm.
  12. ^ "The Russian Primary Chronicle". http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9064486/The-Russian-Primary-Chronicle. ; see also [3] and [4]
  13. ^ Golden, Peter Benjamin. The Question of the Rus' Qaganate. Archivum Eurasiae Medii Aevi, 1982. pp. 77–92
  14. ^ Noonan, Thomas. The Khazar Qaghanate and Its Impact On the Early Rus' State: The translatio imperii from Itil to Kiev. Nomads in the Sedentary World, Anatoly Mikhailovich Khazanov and Andre Wink, eds. p. 76-102. Richmond, England: Curzon, 2001. ISBN 0-7007-1370-0
  15. ^ Duczko, Wladyslaw. Viking Rus: Studies on the Presence of Scandinavians in Eastern Europe. Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands, 2004. ISBN 90-04-13874-9
  16. ^ (Polish) Henryk Paszkiewicz (2000). Wzrost potęgi Moskwy, s.13, Kraków. ISBN 83-86956-93-3
  17. ^ James Lea Cate. Medieval and Historiographical Essays in Honor of James Westfall Thompson. p.482. The University of Chicago Press, 1938
  18. ^ If Olga was indeed born in 879, as the Primary Chronicle seems to imply, she should have been about 65 at the time of Sviatoslav's birth. There are clearly some problems with chronology.
  19. ^ Janet Martin, Medieval Russia, 980–1584, (Cambridge, 1995), p. 6-7
  20. ^ [5]
  21. ^ Sherman, Charles Phineas (1917). "Russia". Roman Law in the Modern World. Boston: The Boston Book Company,. pp. 191. http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&vid=OCLC00824429&id=zh6ksO3bn0YC&pg=PA191&lpg=PA191&dq=advanced+culture+OR+cultural+Kiev+novgorod&vq=%22Russia+became+more+advanced++in+civilization+than+any+western+European+State+of+the+period%22. ""The adoption of Christianity by Vladimir... was followed by commerce with the Eastern Empire. In its wake came Byzantine art and culture. And in the course of the next century what is now Southeastern Russia became more advanced in civilization than any western European State of the period, for Russia came in for a share of Byzantine culture, then vastly superior to the rudeness of Western nations.""
  22. ^ Tikhomirov, Mikhail Nikolaevich (1956). "Literacy among the citi dwellers" (in Russian). Drevnerusskie goroda (Cities of Ancient Rus). Moscow. pp. 261. http://www.archeologia.ru/Library/Book/3bcf6c93aa36/page261.
  23. ^ Vernadsky, George (1973). "Russian Civilization in the Kievan Period: Education". Kievan Russia. Yale University Press. pp. 426. ISBN 0300016476. http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&visbn=0300016476&id=1HEdAP9N6ikC&pg=PA277&lpg=PA277&dq=george+vernadsky&vq=education&sig=5qLzu9sfZQ2JdQ3jiM-nb3Ycm8Y. "It is to the credit of Vladimir and his advisors they built not only churches but schools as well. This compulsory baptism was followed by compulsory education... Schools were thus founded not only in Kiev but also in provincial cities. From the "Life of St. Feodosi" we know that a school existed in Kursk around the year of 1023. By the time of Yaroslav's reign (1019–54), education had struck roots and its benefits were apparent. Around 1030 Iaroslav founded a divinity school in Novgorod for three hundred children of both laymen and clergy to be instructed in "book-learning". As a general measure he made the parish priests to "teach the people.""
  24. ^ Miklashevsky, N.; and others (2000). "Istoriya vodoprovoda v Rossii" (in Russian). History of water-supply in Russia. Saint Petersburg, Russia: ?. pp. 240. ISBN 5-8206-0114-0. http://ecoflash.narod.ru/likbez_8.htm.
  25. ^ "The most notable aspect of the criminal provisions was that punishments took the form of seizure of property, banishment, or, more often, payment of a fine. Even murder and other severe crimes (arson, organised horse thieving, robbery) were settled by monetary fines. Although the death penalty had been introduced by Vladimir the Great, it too was soon replaced by fines." Magocsi, Paul Robert (1996). A History of Ukraine, p. 90, Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0-8020-0830-5.
  26. ^ (Russian) Tikhomirov, Mikhail Nikolaevich (1953) (in Russian). Пособие для изучения Русской Правды (2nd ed.). Moscow: Издание Московского университета. pp. 190. http://www.hist.msu.ru/ER/Etext/RP/.
  27. ^ Janet Martin, Medieval Russia, 980–1584, (Cambridge, 1995), p. 72
  28. ^ Vernadsky, George (1973). "Social organization: Woman". Kievan Russia. Yale University Press. pp. 426. ISBN 0300016476. http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&visbn=0300016476&id=1HEdAP9N6ikC&pg=PA154&lpg=PA154&dq=george+vernadsky&vq=woman&sig=orLBptS63b4rGG_0QIUaFeCtp5o.
  29. ^ Janet Martin, Medieval Russia, 980–1584, (Cambridge, 1995), p. 61
  30. ^ J. Phillips, The Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople page 144
  31. ^ (Russian) Tikhomirov, Mikhail Nikolaevich (1956). "The origin of Russian cities" (in Russian). Drevnerusskie goroda (Cities of Ancient Rus). Moscow. pp. 36, 39, 43. http://www.archeologia.ru/Library/Book/3bcf6c93aa36/page9.
  32. ^ "In medieval Europe, a mark of a dynasty's prestige and power was the willingness with which other leading dynasties entered into matrimonial relations with it. Measured by this standard, Yaroslav's prestige must have been great indeed... . Little wonder that Iaroslav is often dubbed by historians as 'the father-in-law of Europe.'" -(Subtelny, Orest (1988). Ukraine: A History. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. pp. 35. ISBN 0-8020-5808-6. )
  33. ^ "By means of these marital ties, Kievan Rus’ became well known throughout Europe." —Magocsi, Paul Robert (1996). A History of Ukraine, p. 76, Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0-8020-0830-5.
  34. ^ Ibn Haukal describes the Pechenegs as the long-standing allies of the Rus, whom they invariably accompanied during the 10th century Caspian expeditions.
  35. ^ Steven Lowe and Dmitriy V. Ryaboy The Pechenegs, History and Warfare.

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Coordinates: 50°27′N 30°31′E / 50.45°N 30.517°E

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