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Key dates. History of Kievan Rus

Over the course of several centuries, Rus' experienced ups and downs, but eventually became a kingdom with its capital in Moscow.

Brief periodization

The history of Rus' began in 862, when the Viking Rurik arrived in Novgorod, proclaimed prince in this city. Under his successor, the political center moved to Kyiv. With the onset of fragmentation in Rus', several cities immediately began to argue with each other for the right to become the main one in the East Slavic lands.

This feudal period was interrupted by the invasion of the Mongol hordes and the established yoke. In extremely difficult conditions of devastation and constant wars, Moscow became the main Russian city, which finally united Rus' and made it independent. In the XV - XVI centuries this name became a thing of the past. It was replaced by the word “Russia”, adopted in the Byzantine manner.

In modern historiography, there are several points of view on the question of when feudal Rus' became a thing of the past. Most often, researchers believe that this happened in 1547, when Prince Ivan Vasilyevich took the title of Tsar.

The emergence of Rus'

The ancient united Rus', whose history began in the 9th century, appeared after Novgorod captured Kyiv in 882 and made this city his capital. During this era, the East Slavic tribes were divided into several tribal unions (Polyans, Dregovichi, Krivichi, etc.). Some of them were at enmity with each other. The inhabitants of the steppes also paid tribute to the hostile foreigners, the Khazars.

Unification of Rus'

Northeastern or Great Rus' became the center of the struggle against the Mongols. This confrontation was led by the princes of small Moscow. At first they were able to obtain the right to collect taxes from all Russian lands. Thus, part of the money ended up in the Moscow treasury. When he gained enough strength, Dmitry Donskoy found himself in open confrontation with the Golden Horde khans. In 1380, his army defeated Mamai.

But even despite this success, Moscow rulers periodically paid tribute for another century. Only after 1480 was the yoke finally thrown off. At the same time, under Ivan III, almost all Russian lands, including Novgorod, were united around Moscow. In 1547, his grandson Ivan the Terrible took the title of Tsar, which marked the end of the history of princely Rus' and the beginning of a new Tsarist Russia.

Dates		Events
862		Calling of the Varangians
862–879		Reign of Rurik
879–912		Reign of Oleg
882		Consolidation of two centers: Kyiv and Novgorod. Formation of the state of Kievan Rus
907		Prince Oleg's campaign against Constantinople
911		Signing of an agreement between Russia and Byzantium on duty-free trade, six-month life in Constantinople at the expense of the capital of Byzantium, the obligation to equip Russian ships with the Byzantine side
912–945		Reign of Igor
941 and 944		Prince Igor's campaigns against Constantinople
945		Revolt of the Drevlyans and the murder of Prince Igor
945–957		Reign of Princess Olga
964–972		Reign of Svyatoslav
964–966		Svyatoslav's campaign against the Khazar Kaganate. Defeat of the Kaganate
971		Battle of Svyatoslav at Dorostol against Byzantium
980–1015		Reign of Vladimir I the Saint
981 and 982		Campaign of Vladimir I against the Vyatichi
980–981		Campaign of Vladimir I to Polish lands
983		Defeat of the Yatvingians by Vladimir I
985		Peace signed with Volga Bulgaria by Prince Vladimir I
980		First pagan reform
988		Baptism of Rus'
988		Vladimir's campaign against Korsun
1019–1054		Reign of Yaroslav the Wise
1036		Defeat of the Pechenegs under Yaroslav the Wise
1043		March on Constantinople (failure0
1051		Election of the first Metropolitan Hilarion
1068		Defeat on the river Alte against the Cumans
1097		Congress of Princes “Each defends his fatherland”
113–1125		Reign of Vladimir Monomakh
1125–1132		Reign of Mstislav the Great
1103–1111		Campaigns against the Cumans

3. Basic concepts

Boyars - the highest, along with the great and appanage princes, layer of society in Russia from the 10th to the 18th centuries.

Bylina -an epic song dedicated to actual historical events.

Vira - money penalty.

Virniki -those who collected fines.

Vladimir-Suzdal architecture – openwork stone carving.

Patrimony - an allotment of land passed on by inheritance.

"Guests" - foreign merchants.

Smoke – taxes from a small family.

Life (apography) – biographies of clergy and secular persons canonized by the Christian Church.

Outcasts – people who have lost touch with their social environment.

Cabal – a form of personal dependence of one person on another associated with a loan.

Princely congresses –meetings of the princes of Kievan Rus for the purpose of making joint decisions on certain issues.

Konung - prince of the Varangians.

Feeding – cash support in kind for service.

Koopa -duty.

Ladder law -according to this principle, each prince during his life could repeatedly move from less significant “tables” to more significant ones.

Chronicle –chronological records with main dates, events, characters.

People - the bulk of the free population.

Swordsman - a princely servant from the warriors, armed with a sword, as well as a servant of the princely court - a holder of a sword as a symbol of justice.

Miniature – colorful illustrations.

Mosaic – paintings made of glassy material smalt.

Novgorod and Pskov architecture – rigor and simplicity of forms.

Norman theory - a direction in historiography, whose supporters consider the Normans to be the founders of the Slavic state.

Ognishchanin - from the word fireplace - hearth, yard. Initially, the junior warrior of the ancient Russian prince, who stood at the head of the princely household.

Youths, children, gridneys - junior warriors.

"Pavoloki" – brocade, oriental fabrics.

Parchment – tanned calfskin.

Carriage - a form of collecting tribute in Kievan Rus.

Pogost – a place for collecting monetary and in-kind tribute.

Driveways - tax collectors.

Polycentricity of the state structure -multiple options for further political development.

Polyudye -winter tour of the prince with his warriors for the purpose of collecting tribute.

Posadnik -princely governor in Ancient Rus'. In Novgorod and Pskov - the highest government position, elected at the veche from the most noble and wealthy boyar families. The mayor convened and opened meetings of the veche and carried out its decisions. He directed foreign relations, controlled the actions of the prince, and carried out judicial functions.

Row -agreement.

Ryadovichi -temporarily obliged, semi-free smerds, who fell into temporary dependence due to the “row” - an agreement on the basis of which they worked for the owner.

Buffoons - the first actors who combined singers, musicians, dancers, and acrobats.

Word (teaching) -works related to the genre of eloquence.

Smerda - the mass of the rural population, which gradually turned from a free peasantry into a dependent one.

Tiun -princely or boyar servants who managed the feudal economy in Ancient Rus' and Russian principalities. In some cases, grand ducal tiuns ruled individual volosts and cities and administered justice in the name of the prince.

Tysyatsky -military leader of the city militia in Rus' until the mid-15th century. In the Novgorod Republic, he was elected at the assembly from the non-boyar settlement (black people and townspeople), because they constituted the main force of the militia for a period of one year.

Lesson - the norm for collecting tribute.

Destiny - hereditary possession of the prince.

Frescoes – technique of painting with paint on fresh, damp plaster.

Walking – a description of travel about Christian shrines, attractions, nature, customs of other countries.

Serfs -slaves.

Chelyadin -slave.

Denial of the greatness of Russia is a terrible robbery of humanity.
Berdyaev Nikolay Alexandrovich

The origin of the ancient Russian state of Kievan Rus is one of the biggest mysteries in history. Of course, there is an official version that gives many answers, but it has one drawback - it completely rejects everything that happened to the Slavs before 862. Are things really as bad as they write in Western books, when the Slavs are compared to semi-wild people who are not able to govern themselves and for this they were forced to turn to a stranger, a Varangian, so that he could teach them reason? Of course, this is an exaggeration, since such a people cannot take Byzantium by storm twice before this time, but our ancestors did it!

In this material we will adhere to the basic policy of our site - presentation of facts that are known for certain. Also on these pages we will point out the main points that historians use under various pretexts, but in our opinion they can shed light on what happened on our lands in that distant time.

Formation of the state of Kievan Rus

Modern history puts forward two main versions according to which the formation of the state of Kievan Rus occurred:

Norman. This theory is based on a rather dubious historical document - “The Tale of Bygone Years”. Also, supporters of the Norman version talk about various records from European scientists. This version is basic and accepted by history. According to it, the ancient tribes of the eastern communities could not govern themselves and called upon three Varangians - the brothers Rurik, Sineus and Truvor.
anti-Norman (Russian). The Norman theory, despite its general acceptance, looks quite controversial. After all, it does not answer even a simple question: who are the Varangians? Anti-Norman statements were first formulated by the great scientist Mikhail Lomonosov. This man was distinguished by the fact that he actively defended the interests of his Motherland and publicly declared that the history of the ancient Russian state was written by the Germans and had no basis in logic. The Germans in this case are not a nation as such, but a collective image that was used to call all foreigners who did not speak Russian. They were called dumb, hence the Germans.

In fact, until the end of the 9th century, not a single mention of the Slavs remained in the chronicles. This is quite strange, since quite civilized people lived here. This question is discussed in great detail in the material about the Huns, who, according to numerous versions, were none other than Russians. Now I would like to note that when Rurik came to the ancient Russian state, there were cities, ships, their own culture, their own language, their own traditions and customs. And the cities were quite well fortified from a military point of view. This somehow loosely connects with the generally accepted version that our ancestors at that time ran around with a digging stick.

The ancient Russian state of Kievan Rus was formed in 862, when the Varangian Rurik came to rule in Novgorod. An interesting point is that this prince carried out his rule of the country from Ladoga. In 864, the associates of the Novgorod prince Askold and Dir went down the Dnieper and discovered the city of Kyiv, in which they began to rule. After the death of Rurik, Oleg took custody of his young son, who went on a campaign against Kyiv, killed Askold and Dir and took possession of the future capital of the country. This happened in 882. Therefore, the formation of Kievan Rus can be attributed to this date. During Oleg's reign, the country's possessions expanded through the conquest of new cities, and international power also strengthened as a result of wars with external enemies, such as Byzantium. There were good relations between the Novgorod and Kyiv princes, and their minor conflicts did not lead to major wars. Reliable information on this matter has not survived, but many historians say that these people were brothers and only blood ties restrained bloodshed.

Formation of statehood

Kievan Russia was a truly powerful state, respected in other countries. Its political center was Kyiv. It was a capital that had no equal in its beauty and wealth. The impregnable fortress city of Kyiv on the banks of the Dnieper has long been a stronghold of Rus'. This order was disrupted as a result of the first fragmentations, which damaged the power of the state. It all ended with the invasion of the Tatar-Mongol troops, who literally razed the “mother of Russian cities” to the ground. According to the surviving records of contemporaries of that terrible event, Kyiv was destroyed to the ground and lost forever its beauty, significance and wealth. Since then, the status of the first city did not belong to it.

An interesting expression is “mother of Russian cities,” which is still actively used by people from different countries. Here we are faced with another attempt to falsify history, since at the moment when Oleg captured Kyiv, Rus' already existed, and its capital was Novgorod. And the princes got to the capital city of Kyiv itself, descending along the Dnieper from Novgorod.

Internecine wars and the reasons for the collapse of the ancient Russian state

Internecine war is that terrible nightmare that tormented the Russian lands for many decades. The reason for these events was the lack of a clear system of succession to the throne. In the ancient Russian state, a situation arose when after one ruler there remained a huge number of contenders for the throne - sons, brothers, nephews, etc. And each of them sought to realize their right to rule Russia. This inevitably led to wars, when supreme power was asserted with weapons.

In the struggle for power, individual contenders did not shy away from anything, even fratricide. The story of Svyatopolk the Accursed, who killed his brothers, is widely known, for which he received this nickname. Despite the contradictions that reigned within the Rurikovichs, Kievan Rus was ruled by the Grand Duke.

In many ways, it was the internecine wars that led the ancient Russian state to a state close to collapse. This happened in 1237, when the ancient Russian lands first heard about the Tatar-Mongols. They brought terrible troubles to our ancestors, but internal problems, disunity and the unwillingness of princes to defend the interests of other lands led to a great tragedy, and for 2 long centuries Rus' became completely dependent on the Golden Horde.

All these events led to a completely predictable result - the ancient Russian lands began to disintegrate. The date of the beginning of this process is considered to be 1132, which was marked by the death of Prince Mstislav, popularly nicknamed the Great. This led to the fact that the two cities of Polotsk and Novgorod refused to recognize the authority of his successor.

All these events led to the collapse of the state into small fiefs, which were controlled by individual rulers. Of course, the leading role of the Grand Duke remained, but this title was more like a crown, which was used only by the strongest as a result of regular civil strife.

Key events

Kievan Rus is the first form of Russian statehood, which had many great pages in its history. The main events of the era of Kyiv's rise include the following:

862 - the arrival of the Varangian Rurik in Novgorod to reign
882 – Prophetic Oleg captured Kyiv
907 – campaign against Constantinople
988 – Baptism of Rus'
1097 – Lyubech Congress of Princes
1125-1132 - reign of Mstislav the Great

Kievan Rus is an ancient Russian state in the west, southwest, and partly in the south of the East European Plain. Existed from the ninth to the early twelfth centuries AD. The capital was Kyiv. It arose by a union of Slavic tribes: Ilmen Slovenes, Krivichi, Polyans, Drevlyans, Dregovichs, Polotsk, Radimichi, Northerners, Vyatichi.

The year 862 is considered fundamental in the history of Kievan Rus, when, as the ancient written source “The Tale of Bygone Years” indicates, the Slavic tribes called the Varangians to reign. The first head of Kievan Rus was Rurik, who took the throne in Novgorod.

Princes of Kievan Rus

864 - Varangians Askold and Dir seized princely power in Kyiv
882 - Varyag Oleg, who reigned in Novgorod, killed Askold and Dir, sat down to reign in Kyiv, united the northern and southern Slavic lands and took the title of Grand Duke
912 - Death of Oleg. Elevation Igor, son of Rurik
945 - Death of Igor. His wife is on the throne Olga
957 - Olga transferred power to her son Svyatoslav
972 - Death of Svyatoslav at the hands of the Pechenegs. The Kyiv throne took Yaropolk
980 - Death of Yaropolk in a civil strife with his brother Vladimir. Vladimir- Kyiv prince
1015 - Death of Vladimir. His son seized power in Kyiv Svyatopolk
1016 - Three-year struggle for supremacy in Rus' between Svyatopolk and Novgorod prince Yaroslav
1019 - Death of Svyatopolk. Yaroslav, nicknamed wise - prince in Kyiv
1054 - After the death of Yaroslav, his son took the throne Izyaslav
1068 - Uprising of the Kyiv people, their proclamation of the Prince of Polotsk Vseslav Grand Duke, Return Izyaslav.
1073 - Expulsion of Izyaslav by his brothers Svyatoslav and Vsevolod. Prince - Svyatoslav Yaroslavich
1076 - Death of Svyatoslav. Return Izyaslav.
1078 - Death of Izyaslav at the hands of the nephew of Oleg Svyatoslavich, Prince of Chernigov. The Kyiv throne took Vsevolod Yaroslavich
1099 - Prince Svyatopolk, son of Izyaslav
1113 - Prince Vladimir Monomakh
1125 - Death of Vladimir Monomakh. His son ascended the throne Mstislav
1132 - Death of Mstislav. Disintegration of Novgorod-Kievan Rus.

Brief history of Kievan Rus

Kyiv remained the center of Kievan Rus until 1169, when it was captured and plundered by troops of Prince of Rostov-Suzdal Andrei Bogolyubsky

Cities of Kievan Rus

Novgorod (until 1136)
Pskov
Chernigov
Polotsk
Smolensk
Lyubech
Zhytomyr
Iskorosten
Vyshgorod
Crossed
Pereyaslavl
Tmutarakan

Until the Mongol-Tatar invasion in the middle of the 13th century, Kyiv continued to be formally considered the center of Rus', but in fact lost its significance. The time of feudal fragmentation has come in Rus'. Kievan Rus split into 14 principalities, ruled by the descendants of different branches of the Rurik tree, and the free city of Novgorod

Kievan Rus was formed in the last quarter of the 9th century. In fact, this medieval state was formed by combining different cultures. During the reign of the Rurik dynasty, Finno-Ugric tribes joined a number of East Slavic tribes. During its peak period, the Kiev state extended over 800 thousand square meters. km, from the Taman Peninsula to the Northern Dvina.

At different times, Kievan Rus was called differently. From the very beginning of its appearance, it was an Old Russian state that arose on the trade route “from the Varangians to the Greeks.” The first information about this state is associated with the 9th century. According to some sources, the baptism of Rus' took place precisely in 860 -x, immediately after the campaign against Constantinople. This event is mentioned in the Tale of Bygone Years. During the same period, the boyars Askold and Dir, sent by Rurik, took Kyiv into submission, thereby occupying the most important trade route. There is a version that Askold and Dir were not connected with Rurik in any way, but were descendants of the semi-legendary Kiy.

Thus, the first Slavic princes were considered Kiy (founder of Kyiv), Rurik (founder of the Novgorod principality), Askold and Dir (conquerors of Kiev in the 9th century) and Prophetic Oleg (regent of Rurik’s little son). IN 882 year, on Oleg's orders, Askold and Dir were killed in Kyiv, after which the throne passed to the Rurikovich dynasty. Many historians consider Oleg to be the actual founder of the Kyiv state.

At that time, the dominant religion was paganism, but there was also a Christian community in Kyiv. Prophetic Oleg quickly extended his power to the lands of the Drevlyans and Northerners through a military invasion. With his campaign against Byzantium, he provided Russian merchants with preferential trading conditions, that is, without duties and tributes. For more than 30 years he bore the title of Grand Duke, and after his death in 912 year, the throne was transferred to Igor, the grown-up son of Rurik.

During the reign of Igor Rurikovich there were two campaigns against Byzantium. First ( 941 year) was unsuccessful, and the second ( 944 year) ended with a treaty abolishing duty-free trade. IN 945 year the prince would have been killed. After his death, Princess Olga became the de facto ruler, since Svyatoslav Igorevich was still small. She was the first ruler of the Kyiv state to convert to Christianity. IN 960 year, power passed to the matured Svyatoslav. This ruler, first of all, took up the Khazar Kaganate and the eradication of its power. Death overtook the prince in 972 year in the battle with the Pechenegs.

After the death of Svyatoslav, power was divided between his sons: Yaropolk, Oleg and Vladimir. IN 980 Prince of Novgorod Vladimir Svyatoslavovich defended his right to the throne. During his reign, Christianity became the official religion in Rus', and writing, architecture and crafts developed. After his death, civil strife began in the state. WITH 1019 Grand Duke Yaroslav the Wise became ruler. This was the time of the greatest prosperity of Rus'. He managed to build relationships with many ruling European dynasties, defeated and forever expelled the Pechenegs, and returned the Principality of Chernigov.

IN 1054 The year before his death, Yaroslav the Wise divided the Russian lands between his five sons. Soon the two youngest of them died, and the three survivors formed the “Yaroslavich triumvirate.” The Principality of Polotsk was the first to separate from Kyiv, and in the first half of the 12th century the entire state broke up into separate principalities. The year of the collapse of Kievan Rus is considered to be 1132 th. This year, the grandson of Vsevolod Yaroslavovich Mstislav the Great died, after which some cities ceased to recognize the Kyiv government.