Prince Rurik. (reign dates 862-879). The chronicle founder of the statehood of Rus', the Varangian, the Novgorod prince and the ancestor of the princely, which later became the royal, Rurik dynasty.

Rurik is sometimes identified with King Rorik from Jutland's Hedeby (Denmark). According to another version, Rurik is a representative of the princely family of the Obodrites, and his name is a Slavic family nickname associated with the falcon, which in Slavic languages ​​was also called rarog. There are also attempts to prove the legendary status of Rurik.

It was under this prince that tribal formations became part of the Ancient Rus'. The Ilmen Slovenes, the Pskov Krivichi, the Chud and all retained relations under the treaty with Rurik. The Smolensk Krivichi and Merya were annexed by Rurik, who established his “husbands” - governors - in their lands. The chronicle reports the annexation of the tribes of the Northerners, who had previously paid tribute to the Khazars, in 884, the Radimichi in 885, and the subjugation of the Drevlyans in 883. The Croats, Dulebs (Buzhans) and Tivertsy probably took part in the campaign against Byzantium in 906 as allies.

At the same time - in 862 (the date is approximate, according to the early chronology of the Chronicle) the Varangians, Rurik’s warriors Askold and Dir, sailing to Constantinople, seeking to establish complete control over the most important trade route “from the Varangians to the Greeks”, established their power over Kiev. In the future, the center of the future will be formed Kievan Rus.

In 879 Rurik died in Novgorod. The reign was transferred to Oleg, regent for Rurik’s young son Igor.

Oleg (Prophetic Oleg) (reign: 879-912) - Prince of Novgorod (from 879) and Grand Duke Kyiv (from 882). Often considered as the founder of the Old Russian state. The chronicle gives his nickname Prophetic, that is, one who knows the future, who sees the future.

In 882, according to chronicle chronology, Prince Oleg, a relative of Rurik, set off on a campaign from Novgorod to the south. Actually, the beginning of education is uniform for all Eastern Slavs state is the unification by Prince Oleg in 882 of two centers of nascent statehood - northern and southern, with a common center state power in Kyiv, the capture of Smolensk and Lyubech. It was not for nothing that the Old Russian chronicler described Prince Oleg as “prophetic.” He united in his hands the priestly functions of the most revered pagan cults of the Ilmen Slovenes and the Dnieper Rus. The names of Perun and Veles were sworn by Oleg's ambassadors when concluding a treaty with the Greeks in 911. Having seized power in Kiev, Oleg declared himself a prince from the Russian family, thereby confirming his continuity from the power that preceded him and establishing the legitimacy of his reign as a Russian and not a foreign prince .

Another important political step of Oleg was the campaign against Constantinople. According to the chronicle source, in 907, having equipped 2000 rooks with 40 warriors each, Oleg set out on a campaign against Constantinople. The Byzantine Emperor Leo VI the Philosopher ordered the gates of the city to be closed and the harbor blocked with chains, thus giving the Varangians the opportunity to rob and plunder the suburbs of Constantinople. However, Oleg launched an unusual assault: “And Oleg ordered his soldiers to make wheels and put ships on wheels. And when a fair wind blew, they raised sails in the field and went to the city.” The frightened Greeks offered Oleg peace and tribute. According to the agreement, Oleg received 12 hryvnia for each rowlock, and Byzantium promised to pay tribute to Russian cities. As a sign of victory, Oleg nailed his shield on the gates of Constantinople. The main result of the campaign was a trade agreement on duty-free trade between Rus' and Byzantium.

In 911, Oleg sent an embassy to Constantinople, which confirmed the “many years” of peace and concluded a new treaty. Compared to the “treaty” of 907, the mention of duty-free trade disappears from it. Oleg is referred to in the treaty as the “Grand Duke of Russia.”

As a result of the victorious campaign against Byzantium, the first written agreements were concluded in 907 and 911, which provided for preferential terms of trade for Russian merchants (trade duties were abolished, ship repairs and overnight accommodation were provided), and resolution of legal and military issues. The tribes of the Radimichi, Northerners, Drevlyans, and Krivichi were subject to tribute. According to the chronicle version, Oleg, who bore the title of Grand Duke, reigned for more than 30 years. Rurik's own son Igor took the throne after the death of Oleg (according to legend, Oleg died from a snake bite) around 912 and ruled until 945.

About the first Russian princes for students primary classes

Kondratyeva Alla Alekseevna, primary school teacher at Zolotukhinskaya Secondary Educational Institution comprehensive school» Zolotukhino village, Kursk region
Description of material: I offer you literary material - a reference book about the first Russian princes. The material can be used in the most various forms: conversation, Classroom hour, quiz, game hour, extracurricular activity, virtual travel, etc. The material is designed to help any student answer such important questions as:
1) How did the Slavs live in ancient times?
2) When was the first formed Russian state?
3) Who controlled it?
4) What did the first princes do to strengthen the state and increase its wealth?
5) In what year did the Baptism of Rus' take place?
Tsed: creation of a short, colorful, interesting reference book about the first Russian princes.
Tasks:
1. Contribute to the formation of ideas about the role of the first Russian princes in the internal and foreign policy Ancient Rus'.
2. To arouse students’ interest in the history of Russia, literature, expand their understanding of the history of Russia, develop a cognitive interest in reading, and instill a strong interest in books.
3. To form general cultural literary competence through the perception of literature as an integral part of national culture, to form the communicative competence of students.
Equipment:
Exhibition of children's books on Russian history:
1. Bunakov N. Living Word. S-P., 1863.
2.Vakhterovs V. and E. The world in stories for children. M., 1993.
3. Golovin N. My first Russian story in stories for children. M., 1923.
4. Ishimova A. History of Russia in stories for children. M., 1990.
5. Petrushevsky. Stories about old times in Rus'. Kursk, 1996.
6.What is it? Who is this? M., 1990.
7. Chutko N.Ya., Rodionova L.E. Your Russia: Textbook-reader for the beginning of school Obninsk. 2000.
8. Tenilin S.A. Romanov Dynasty. Brief historical reference book, N. Novgorod, 1990.
9. Encyclopedia. I explore the world. Russian history. Astrel, 2000.
10..Encyclopedia for children. History of Russia. M., 1995.
Progress of the event:
Teacher's story.
It is known that the main written source about the distant times of our homeland are chronicles, including the famous “Tale of Bygone Years,” compiled in the 12th century by the monk of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery Nestor.

Today we will take another virtual trip to Ancient Rus' and find out how they lived and who ruled our people in ancient times. We will collect with you basic information about the life of the first Russian princes and compile our own written source for all inquisitive schoolchildren, which we will call "A brief historical reference book about the first Russian princes."
More than a thousand years have passed since Rus' received Holy Baptism. This happened under Prince Vladimir, who was popularly nicknamed the Red Sun, the Baptist of Rus' in 988.

Today we celebrate the 1000th anniversary of the repose of the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir.

Prince Vladimir is the beloved grandson of Princess Olga, who did a lot to spread the faith of Christ in Rus'. Our distant past - Russians, Russians, Russians - is connected with the tribes of the ancient Slavs. The Slavic tribes (Krivichi, Northerners, Vyatichi, Radimichi, Polyans, Drevlyans...) were constantly afraid that enemies would attack them, destroy settlements, and take away everything that had been accumulated by the labor of people. Fear forced the Slavs to unite to defend their lands together. At the head of such an association was an elder, a leader (they called him a prince). But the princes could not live together in peace: they did not want to share wealth and power. These discords continued for a long time.
And then Slavic people decided:“Let’s look for a prince who would bring order to our land, who would be fair and smart.” This is what the chronicle says.
The Slavs turned to the Varangians for help (the Varangians lived in the northern country of Scandinavia). The Varangians were famous for their intelligence, patience and military valor.
In 862, the first Rulers in the Ancient Fatherland were the brothers Rurik, Sineus and Truvor.

The first Russian prince Rurik led his army (squad) to Novgorod and began to reign there.

The country in which they settled began to be called Rus'.
From that time on, Russia began to be called the lands on which Rurik ruled and after him other Varangian princes: Oleg, Igor, Olga, Svyatoslav. The princes strengthened Rus', maintained order within the country, and took care of its security.

Rurik (d. 879) - Varangian, Novgorod prince and ancestor of the princely, which later became the royal, Rurik dynasty.

In one of the campaigns to foreign lands, Rurik died. Instead, his relative, Prince Oleg, began to reign.

Oleg Veschy (882 –912)

“Let this city be the mother of Russian cities!”- this is what Prince Oleg said about Kyiv-grad. Oleg really liked the city of Kyiv and he remained to reign there (as the chronicle tells, in 911, at the very beginning of the 10th century).

The city was surrounded by a moat and strong log walls.

Under Oleg, Kyiv not only grew richer, but also greatly strengthened. The prince strengthened his power with the help of military campaigns, which brought great wealth. Oleg received the nickname “prophetic” among the people, that is, omniscient, knowing what others are not given to know. This nickname reflects his insight and wisdom.
There is a legend about the death of Prince Oleg. They say that a sorcerer (fortune teller) told him that he would die from his beloved horse. Since then, Oleg has not mounted this horse.

Once, many years later, the prince remembered his favorite, but found out that he was dead.
Oleg laughed at the magician’s prediction and decided to look at the horse’s bones. The prince stepped on the horse’s skull and laughed: “Isn’t it possible for me to die from this bone?”
Suddenly a snake crawled out of the skull and bit Oleg. He died from this bite.

Reproduction of the painting by V.M. Vasnetsov “Oleg’s Farewell to the Horse”
Vasnetsov wrote these paintings for the work of A.S. Pushkin's "Song of the Prophetic Oleg"

(Demonstration of the book. An excerpt is read.)
Student:
The prince quietly stepped on the horse's skull
And he said: “Sleep, lonely friend!
Your old master outlived you:
At the funeral feast, already nearby,
It’s not you who will stain the feather grass under the ax
And feed my ashes with hot blood!

So this is where my destruction was hidden!
The bone threatened me with death!”
From the dead head of the grave serpent
Meanwhile, hissing crawled out;
Like a black ribbon wrapped around my legs:
And the suddenly stung prince cried out.
Oleg was a brave prince, the people loved him and pitied him when he died. Oleg was not only brave, but also smart, he defeated many neighboring peoples, and ruled the state for 33 years.

Igor is the son of Rurik. (912-945)

Igor took power over Russia after Oleg's death. When Rurik died, Igor was a very small child and could not govern the people himself. His uncle, Oleg, reigned for him, who loved his nephew very much and took care of him. Igor's reign was marked by several major military campaigns of Russian troops. In addition to Byzantium, the Russians were attracted by the shores of the Caspian Sea, which attracted with their riches, because along the Volga across the sea there was a famous trade route (“from the Varangians to the Greeks”), which connected Rus' with the countries of the Arab East.

Prince Igor was distinguished by his greed. He collected tribute from the Slavic tribe of the Drevlyans, who lived in dense forests. Igor’s warriors took away their honey, leather, furs, dried meat and fish. But everything was not enough for the prince. Then the Drevlyans decided to kill Igor in order to free themselves from the unbearable tribute and punish the prince for greed. And so they did.

Olga the Holy (945 - ca. 965) - Grand Duchess, widow of Prince Igor.

Princess Olga is one of the most interesting persons of ancient Russian history. The uniqueness of her position lies in the fact that of all the rulers of the “Rurikovich empire” she is the only woman. Its origin is unknown. She was probably “from the family of neither a prince nor a nobleman, but from ordinary people.”
During her reign, Rus' did not fight with any of the neighboring states.
Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Olga became the spiritual mother of the Russian people, through her their enlightenment with the light of the Christian faith began. 957 – baptism of Princess Olga in Constantinople in the Church of Hagia Sophia. High moral ideals Christianity, the main commandments of God – “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and your neighbor as yourself,” - became close to the heart of Princess Olga. Olga became famous in Rus' for her deeds of piety and built one of the first Russian Christian churches –wooden church of Hagia Sophia in Kyiv.

The chronicle calls Olga “the wisest of all people” and talks about the princess’s tireless efforts to “organize the earth.” The baptism of all Rus' took place only under Olga’s grandson, Prince Vladimir. Olga lived for a very long time and left the kindest memory of herself.

Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich (957 – 972)

From an early age Svyatoslav was distinguished by his will, nobility and courage. He constantly practiced horse riding, learned to wield a spear, shot a bow, and grew into a mighty hero. Svyatoslav dressed not like a prince, in expensive clothes, but like a simple warrior. Svyatoslav was the living embodiment of a mighty force. The warrior prince lived only 27 years, but he managed to make six victorious campaigns and remained young and brave in the memory of the Russians. On campaigns he did not carry carts or boilers with him, did not cook meat, but, cutting horse meat, or “animal” (game), or beef into thin slices, fried it over coals and ate it. He did not have tents either, but slept on the ground. Gloomy and ferocious, he disdained any comfort, slept in the open air and put a saddle under his head instead of a pillow.
When going on a campaign, he first sent messengers to say: “I’m coming to you.”

Grand Duke Vladimir is the grandson of St. Olga, son of Svyatoslav.

Student:
The choice of faith is a ray in the window,
Like the turn of the sun.
In the simplicity of the heart by the Sun
People called Vladimir.
The grace of the Lord has descended.
The light of Christ shone.
The light of faith is burning today,
Becoming the foundation of the foundations.
Princess Olga, often talking with her grandson, talked about her journey to Constantinople, about foreign, unknown lands, about peoples. And more and more about our God - Christ and His Mother, the Virgin Mary. Naturally wise, enterprising, courageous and warlike, he ascended the throne in 980.
Being a pagan, Vladimir was power-hungry and a zealous adherent of idolatry.
Pagan gods of the Slavs

The pagan Slavs erected idols, around which they not only made sacrifices, but took oaths and held ritual feasts.

Nestor the Chronicler lists the names of the pagan idols that Prince Vladimir, while still a pagan, placed on the hill behind the Grand Duke's mansion: “a wooden Perun with a silver head and a golden mustache, Khors, Dazhbog, Stribog, Simargl and Mokosh.

And they made sacrifices to them, calling them gods, and brought their sons and daughters to them.”
The most ancient supreme male deity among the Slavs was Genus. Already in Christian teachings against paganism in the 12th-13th centuries. they write about Rod as a god who was worshiped by all peoples. Rod was the god of the sky, thunderstorms, and fertility. They said about him that he rides on a cloud, throws rain on the ground, and from this children are born. He was the ruler of the earth and all living things, and was a pagan creator god.

This is how Rus' was on the eve of Epiphany...
In his young years, Prince Vladimir knew that he could unite people, make one big people into a great power. This is a single faith, the faith by which the soul lives. That faith that is not bought or sold, but for which you are not sorry to give your life.
Who and how suggested that Prince Vladimir choose a faith?
The Volga Bulgars - the Mohammedan faith, the Germans - Catholicism, the Khazars - the Jewish faith, the Byzantines - Christian faith.Prince Vladimir learned the Christian faith from a Greek philosopher.
In 988 He was baptized in the city of Korsun and was named Vasily. Before this event, the prince was struck by blindness, from which he suddenly received healing during the sacrament of baptism performed on him. Returning to Kyiv, the Grand Duke baptized, first of all, his children on the Pochaina River, which flows into the Dnieper. The place where they were baptized is still called Khreshchatyk. Then, having destroyed idols in the city, he converted the people of Kiev to the Orthodox faith and thereby laid the foundation for the spread of the Christian faith in Rus'.

Baptism of Rus'
1 student:
Midday, warmed by the heat,
The earth is burning with heat.
Waves warm light
The fields are flooded.
Over the green expanse
Where the river meanders
Like snowy mountains
Clouds float into the distance.
I'm standing over a cliff
I see a golden reach,
The wind flutters lazily
Strands of white birch trees.
The current is silvering,
Jets like glass
Here Holy Epiphany
Our Rus' accepted.
White birds circling
High above the Dnieper,
And the words of the chronicler
Suddenly they came to my mind.
2nd student:
Nestor accurately and vividly
The saint's day was described:
Everyone was in a hurry to the cliff,
Old and small walked towards the Dnieper.
Nature rejoiced
The distance is transparently light!
And people gathered
There are no numbers on the Dnieper.
The sun was just rising
The sky turned pink.
With images, with censer
Walked to the river procession.
The vestments sparkled brightly,
Decorated with crosses
Pearls, stones, enamels
Unearthly beauty.
The priests walked singing
And they carried the holy cross,
Loaded with prayer
A golden cross into the water.
3rd student:
Above the Dnieper steep
Watched the baptism
Prince Vladimir the mighty
In expensive attire.
The people of Kiev went into the water
And they entered up to their chests.
And from now on the Slavs
A new path has been chosen.
Angels sang from heaven,
The river turned silver
The one that became the font
For Rus' for centuries.
Opened up in the sky
Golden window:
At the prayer service of grace
Many souls saved!

Prince Vladimir ordered to baptize people everywhere and build wooden churches, placing them in the very places where idols had previously stood. Beautiful works of Greek architecture appeared in Russia. Temples were decorated with paintings, silver, and gold. And from that time on, the faith of Christ began to spread throughout the Russian land and penetrate into its most remote outskirts.

Saint Vladimir took care of his people, opened and improved schools, hospitals and almshouses. The poor, poor and weak found fatherly protection and patronage in him.
This is how Prince Vladimir lived until his death and died in his beloved village of Berestovo,
near Kyiv, July 15, 1015. The Russian Church appreciated the great feat of Prince Vladimir and canonized him, calling him Equal to the Apostles. His memory is honored by the Church on the day of his death.
This year 2015 we commemorate the 1000th anniversary of the repose of the Great Saint.

Test yourself: “The first Russian princes”

1. Establish the chronological sequence of the reign of the first Russian princes
(Rurik, Oleg. Igor, Olga, Svyatoslav, Vladimir...)
2. Name the prince who proclaimed Kyiv the capital of the ancient Russian state.
(Oleg. In 882, Prince Oleg captured Kyiv and made it the capital of the state.)
3.Indicate the name of the prince who always warned his enemy about the attack with the phrase “I’m coming to you”(Prince Svyatoslav is the son of Igor and Olga)
4. The ancient Slavs worshiped the elements, believed in the kinship of people with various animals, and made sacrifices to deities. This faith got its name from the word “people”. What was the name of this belief?
(Paganism. “People” is one of the meanings of the ancient Slavic word “language.”)
5. Because he did such a great and holy deed - he baptized his people into the true faith - after death he became holy and pleasing to God. Now they call him that - the holy prince. Which prince baptized Rus'? (Holy Prince Vladimir is the grandson of Princess Olga).
6. On what river did the Baptism of Rus' take place?(On the Pochaina River, which flows into the Dnieper)
7.Where she received her Baptism of Christ Grand Duchess Olga? (In Constantinople, in 957)
8. In what century was the 1000th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus' celebrated?(In the 20th, or more precisely in 1998.)

Teacher:
What do you think, children, what does the image of the holy Prince Vladimir of the once united Rus' call the peoples to?

Unite again under cover Orthodox Church, calls for building and strengthening Holy Rus'.

Our age will pass. The archives will open,
And everything that has been hidden until now
All the secret stories are twisted
They will show the world glory and shame.

Then the faces of other gods will darken,
And every misfortune will be revealed,
But what was truly great
Will remain great forever.
N. Tikhonov

More than 200 years have passed since the moment when Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin taught us to begin the history of the Russian state in 862. He wrote about this with the conviction that Nestor’s chronicle “we can absolutely neither refute nor correct it, nor can we replace it with another most faithful." N.M. Karamzin presented the era of the birth of Russian statehood so colorfully that even today, in different variations, that ancient time is depicted in many historical publications in his words.

To support his conclusions N.M. Karamzin took the “newest chronicles” of the 16th century. - Degree Book, Trinity and Radzivilov Chronicles and many others. As well as Icelandic stories, the story of Tacitus, who lived in the first century AD, Greek writings, etc.

“The Chronicle of Nestor” is the initial part of the Laurentian Chronicle, which came to us in the edition of 1377. It is today that it is one of the oldest written sources, which describes in detail where the Russian land came from. This chronicle is pointed to when someone has doubts about the authenticity of oral legends and tales that have existed since ancient times. This chronicle is always referred to with one phrase: “so it is written in the chronicle,” if someone tries to object to the veracity of certain phrases, to call for a reasonable reading with a more critical look of the article with obvious reservations, with a patriotic attitude where the Russian chronicler talks about the greatness of Rus'.

It cannot be said that little has been written about the chronicle. On the contrary, many research papers, monographs, abstracts, and literary works are devoted to it. Only in them all the messages of the chronicle are perceived as established historical fact, for something undeniable, immutable. And the cry “so it is written in the chronicle!” becomes louder if it concerns the so-called Norman theory of the origin of the Russian state. That is, any discussion is allowed only within the framework of recognizing the Varangians as the conquerors of Rus' in the middle of the 9th century, and the Varangian Rurik as the ancestor of the first Russian ruling dynasty. To see this, just look at the all-knowing Wikipedia website. There is plenty of material on this topic in printed publications - and all with one goal, so that no one has any doubts about the authenticity of what is written in the chronicle. However, the more you read, the more suspicions arise about the sincerity of their authors, about the premeditation and far-fetched nature of what was said. There is always a residue of some kind of predetermination. It feels like they want to convince you before you start to doubt. It disgusts you and insults your dignity, but they tell you: no, there is nothing shameful in that. There is an underlying feeling that something is wrong here.

Interest in the Laurentian Chronicle and the Varangian theme is also increasing today due to well-known events in Ukraine. The ideological fuss around the concept of “Kievan Rus” is acquiring special significance for Ukrainian nationalists. In some words, Kyiv and Rus' are already two different states. In others, Kievan Rus is the real Slavic Rus, while Novgorod and then Moscow are a mixture of Slavs, Varangians and Finno-Ugrians. According to them, the “Muscovites” have no Russian blood left. Turning to the Laurentian Chronicle, whether we like it or not, this wormhole gets stuck somewhere in the brain and we want to understand where the truth is buried.

Before turning directly to the chronicle, it is necessary to make small digressions. Say a little about the Laurentian Chronicle itself and recall the version of the Varangian advent to Rus' as presented by N.M. Karamzin. Let's start with the last one.

According to N.M. Karamzin's chronicler truthfully retells ancient legends. From them we learn about the life of our ancestors, their traditions, beliefs, and trade relations with their neighbors. The great happiness of the introduction of monarchical power, writes N.M. Karamzin, we owe to the Varangians - the Normans from Scandinavia. They were more educated than the Slavs, while the latter, imprisoned in the wild reaches of the north, lived in barbarism: they had cruel customs, worshiped idols, and sacrificed people to pagan gods. If St. Columbanus, writes N.M. Karamzin, in 613 converted many German pagans to the true Christian faith, then he returned from the Slavic lands without success, frightened by their savagery. Weak and divided into small regions, the Slavs could not unite our fatherland. Nestor's Varangians lived in the Kingdom of Sweden. The Finns called them Rosses, Rots, Rots. These brave and courageous conquerors in 859 imposed tribute on the Chud, Slovenians of the Ilmen, Krivichi, and Meryu. And two years later, the Slovenian boyars outraged the frivolous people, armed them and drove out the Normans. But strife turned freedom into misfortune and plunged the fatherland into the abyss of civil strife. And only, having established friendly relations, the Slovenians of Novgorod and the Krivichi with the Finnish tribes were able to come to an agreement with all their might. They sent an embassy overseas to the Varangians-Rus. And they said to them: “Our land is great and abundant, but there is no order in it: come reign and rule over us.” And three brothers were elected, surrounded by a large Scandinavian squad, ready to assert with the sword the rights of the elected sovereigns - Rurik, Sineus and Truvor. So in 862, these ambitious brothers left their fatherland forever and arrived in Novgorod. Some legends say that the Varangians oppressed the Slavs and soon they were indignant at slavery, accustomed to freedom from anarchy. But these ancient legends of Nestor seem to be mere guesswork and fiction. Soon Truvor and Sineus died and Rurik began to rule alone. And he had two fellow-countrymen named Askold and Dir. They asked to go to Constantinople to seek their fortune. On the way we saw a small town. This city was Kyiv. And Askold and Dir took possession of Kiev, called many Varangians to themselves and began to rule. So the Varangians founded two autocratic regions in Russia: Rurik in the north, Askol and Dir in the south. And only after the death of Rurik in 879, his relative, and therefore Varangian, Oleg was able to unite these two regions of ancient Rus'. This happened in 882. Then Kyiv was declared the mother of Russian cities. That relative Oleg began to rule due to the early childhood of Igor, the son of the Varangian Rurik, for, as stated in Nestorova’s chronicle, Igor was still very young that year. But Oleg ruled for a long time: as much as 33 years. Oleg, power-hungry, surrounded by the splendor of victories, stained with the blood of the innocent Varangian princes Askold and Dir, taught Igor to obey. So he did not dare to demand his inheritance. In 903, he chose his wife, Olga, famous for her feminine charms and good behavior. As it is said in the latest (!) historical books of a simple Varangian family from Pskov. According to legend, Oleg the Prophet died from his horse in 912.

Such is the general outline the concept of the formation of a monarchical system in ancient Rus'. And the credit for this belongs to the Varangians and Rurik personally, concludes N.M. Karamzin. In 1862, the millennium of Rus' was solemnly celebrated in Novgorod, and a monument dedicated to this historical event was erected. In the foreground of one of the scenes of the monument, Rurik holds a shield with the engraved letters STO, indicating 6730 from the creation of the world or 862 from the Nativity of Christ. This is how the Varangians are officially established in Russian history.

Now let’s read the currently known information about the Laurentian Chronicle. First, along with the Laurentian one, two more similar lists of chronicles are called - the Radzivilovskaya and the Moscow Academician and less similar, i.e., with a greater tolerance for inaccuracies and discrepancies, the Ipatievskaya and Khlebnikovsky lists. Second, the Laurentian Chronicle was rewritten by two scribes with minor participation of a third. At the end of the predominantly news about the Vladimir-Suzdal land, it is concluded that the chronicle was rewritten in Suzdal or Nizhny Novgorod. Levrentiy conscientiously rewrote what had been written before him by Abbot Silivester up to page 96. Third, philologists, in turn, declare that the linguistic personality of the author is difficult to discern, since the chronicles that have reached us have been preserved in the edition of the 14th - 15th centuries. They contain lexical and semantic changes, a mixture of Church Slavonic (or, according to A.A. Shakhmatov, Old Bulgarian) and Old Russian languages. This explains the discrepancy in the use of grammatical systems in the construction of sentences, for example: sitsa bo xia zvahut ti Varangians Rus, as all the friends are called Svei. But at the same time, their conclusions easily fit into the same Varangian scheme - they do not retreat and do not consider the authenticity of the writing of the legend itself.

Now let's look at the chronicle. Let's start with where did 862 come from in our historiography? It is not in the Nestor Chronicle! N.M. Karamzin refers to the “newest” chronicles, i.e., other lists from the Laurentian Chronicle. But can they be considered sources? Medieval scribes acted exactly the same as those who followed; when they didn’t understand something, they tried to explain everything in their own way. On the last page of the Laurentian Chronicle, the copyist confesses: “Sorry, fathers and brothers, if I described or rewrote something wrong somewhere. Honor the corrections and do not curse, for those books are old, and my young mind has not grasped everything.” According to the same principle, in the chronicle of the 16th century. missed 862 and fits in. But these are chronicles of the sixteenth century, not the twelfth. Consciously or not, the chronicler missed 862, but the fact remains: it is not there. In addition, the Latin S in the letter designation of years, which is engraved on the monument, is found in the chronicle only on pages 42-44. In all other cases, the Cyrillic capital G was used, mirroring the Latin letter. Maybe there was some meaning behind this? Proximity to Western culture, for example? But even in this case, there is a distortion of the vision of our history.

And further. If the last chronicler calls himself the “mich” Lavrentiy, who rewrote the chronicle at the behest of the Suzdal prince Dmitry Konstantinovich and with the blessing of the bishop of “Suzhdal, Novgorod and Gorod” Dionysius, then why does he not know the exact name of the neighboring city of Murom? He writes it without last letter, then with a soft sign - Muro (Murosky), Murom (Muromsky). Although he names his “native” cities incorrectly: Suzhdal, Novgorod, Gorodsk. The question arises: maybe the census taker is not local? Why do letters miraculously begin to fall out of some words? From the word prince the letter z (prince), from the word brother - t (sconce). Even from such a familiar word for him as cross, the letter s (kret). And this is in no way connected with the use of some words as abbreviations without vowels. The thought creeps in: maybe the census taker is not Russian? And the names of Prince Oleg and Princess Olga are not written in any way: both through the Latin W and through the Cyrillic B - Wlzya, Wlga, Volga, Volga; Wleg, Wlg, Wlgovi. And many more questions. Well, for example, why do all the great princes become Gyurgys in the second half of the chronicle? No matter how he calls them by name, in the end they are still Gyurgi, Yurgi. Where did the Rurikids come from in 1086, although not a word was said about them before? And where do they disappear again for 100 years? Why does the chronicler in an unimaginable way connect two dynastic branches with one awkward phrase: “Yurgi married the son of his eldest Vsevolod Volodymernaya Rurikovich”?

Of course, the most significant for us are the first sheets of the chronicle, where the legend of the Varangians is given. And there are also a lot of questions here. Why is the text on sheets 11-19 lined on 31 lines, and on sheets 1-10 on 32 lines? Where did the word which come from on sheet 4 in line 16? In all other cases, izhe, yazhe, yuzhe is used as a relative pronoun. Why is the letter b, indicating the notebook number, placed on sheet 10? It is believed that the previous six sheets are lost. But why then is the number letter a missing on the eighth sheet? Why are three systems of morphological formation of verb forms visible “at a short distance” in four sheets of paper? For example, the past tense singular verb to be is written sometimes with the suffix x, sometimes with the suffix w, and sometimes with the suffix st: “byahu muzhi wise”, “transport byashe then”, “and byasta he has two husbands”. Can this only be explained by a mixture of languages ​​or linguistic substitution? Why are there only large letters drawn in cinnabar, some symbols, marks, etc. on these sheets? All this distinguishes the text of the first nine sheets, so to speak, on formal grounds.

Now let's turn to the content side of the chronicle. Let's try to simulate the situation with the exclusion of the Varangians and Rurik from the text. (Let me remind you that the legend about the calling of the Varangians appears in the chronicle on page 7.) So, on page 6, the chronology of the reign of the Russian princes from the first to Yaroslav the Wise is given. We read: “In the year 6360 (852), indictment 15, when Michael began to reign, the Russian land began to be called... And from the first year of the reign of Michael to the first year of the reign of Oleg, the Russian prince, 29 years, and from the first year of the reign of Oleg, because he sat down in Kiev, 31 years before the first year of Igor’s reign, and 13 years from the first year of Igor’s reign to the first year of Svyatoslav...”, etc. It turns out that the next article should begin from 882, i.e. . from the legend about the formation of the town of Kyiv by the three brothers Kiy, Shchek and Khorev and the reign of Oleg in Kyiv.

What’s interesting: with this approach, the very idea of ​​the beginning of Rus' changes.

If according to N.M. Karamzin, the main thing in the initial part of the chronicle is the establishment of a monarchy in the person of the Varangian Rurik, the founding of the Rurik dynasty, then according to another version, we must think according to the plan of the monk Nestor, the main thing is the spiritual origins of Rus', the choice of the right faith.

In the chronicle it looks like this. “Every nation has either a written law or a custom, which people, not knowledgeable of the law, accepted as the tradition of the fathers." The glades have such a law. The chronicler then successively conveys with condemnation the customs of the tribes of other peoples and neighboring Slavic tribes, and each time repeats: “We, Christians of all countries where they believe in the Holy Trinity and in one baptism and profess one faith, have one law, since we were baptized in Christ and have put on Christ.” We, the Slavs, and one of their tribes - the glades, living on the Dnieper mountains, a freedom-loving people with connections with many neighboring countries, received the grace of God from Saint Andrew. “And it happened that he came and stood under the mountains on the shore. And in the morning he got up and said to the disciples who were with him: “Do you see these mountains? The grace of God will shine on these mountains, there will be a great city, and God will erect many churches.” And he ascended these mountains, blessed them, and put up a cross, and prayed to God, and came down from this mountain, where Kyiv later arose...” The glades were oppressed by the Bulgarians and the Drevlyans, but by no one else. One day, the story goes, the Khazars demanded tribute from them. The glades brought them a sword. The Khazars looked and were upset: the glades have a double-edged weapon, “they will someday collect tribute from us and from other lands.” These lines are recorded in the chronicle on sheet 6. And on the next page, for no apparent reason, the Slavs turn out to be tribute payers to both the Varangians and the Khazars. In addition, on these first pages there is not a single hint of the savagery and barbarism of the Slavs, as N.M. presents them in his “History”. Karamzin. Moreover, no strife, enmity, or struggle for the princely table is described. The chronicler's idea from these first pages of the chronicle is to show the confession of a single faith, and not the coming of the Varangians. The fact that the land of Kiev - the mother of Rus' - is blessed, that the Apostle Andrew clothed the glades in the true Christian faith with the correct laws.

What conclusions arise? The Laurentian Chronicle provides two chronological schemes of the reign from the first prince to Yaroslav the Wise: from Oleg and from Rurik. The first lists all the princes with an exact indication of the years of their reign in direct and reverse order. Rusich Oleg is called the first prince with his place of reign in Kyiv. Rurik is not on this list. According to the second, Rurik appears before Oleg and in Novgorod, shifting all the other dates of his reign proposed by the first version. Adapting the legend to the text of the main chronicle, the scribes each time added their own understanding, their own explanation of certain versions of ancient legends. Moreover, while meticulously examining in one place something necessary to reinforce the Varangian legend, they did not pay attention to the absurd inconsistencies in another place. So, based on the records in the “newest” chronicles (the Laurentian Chronicle does not say this), N.M. Karamzin marries Igor to Olga in 903. And in article 955, Olga goes to the Greeks. Meets with King Tzimiskes. He marvels at her beauty and intelligence. He says: “I want to drink you to my wife.” A legend is a legend. But the details are still awkward. If we add to this date 17 years from her marriage, it turns out that at that time she was already more than 70 years old. Or take other “newest” chronicles, where suddenly Rurik has a wife named Efanda. Well, etc.

What can we say here? The chronology of Oleg's reign, which is given on page 6, has an equal right to exist as the legend about the calling of the Varangians. But for some reason no one pays attention to her? She is not quoted in any of the Normanist materials. N.M. Karamzin is not considered at all. This suggests the directional selectivity of supporters of Normanism on the Varangian theme in favor of certain interests.

Meanwhile, it is precisely this that is key and, perhaps, truly preserved from the first storyteller, untouched by copyists. And here it is up to us which one to recognize as correct. N.M. Karamzin proceeded from the idea of ​​preserving the unity of Rus' by establishing a monarchy. But he contradicted himself. Exalting the Varangians, recognizing the legend of the Varangians, he created another legend - about the two centers of ancient Rus'. And it is not only not historical, but also harmful no less than the first.

If we judge the editing of the Laurentian Chronicle for the Varangians, then based on the formal features discussed above, we can conclude: the legend about the Varangians was inserted into the chronicle much later than the 12th century. Then it turned out to be profitable and was artificially supported. There were reasons for this. Still, they have always tried to interfere in our Russian history. Even today, entire institutes of foreign Sovietologists are engaged in rewriting history textbooks. And the chronicle is, by and large, the same history textbook, only medieval. But this is already separate topic.

In conclusion, I would like to say: today a unique situation is emerging when, in the wake of healthy patriotic sentiments, it is possible to understand the origins of our early Rus' without prejudice. But we must start not with self-abasement, but with the way, as Lomonosov said, where other peoples seek honor and glory for themselves. Finally, with the restoration of historical truth.

The prophetic Oleg went down in history as the winner of Constantinople, who nailed his shield to one of the city gates.

Forbidden Rus'. 10 thousand years of our history - from the Flood to Rurik Pavlishcheva Natalya Pavlovna

Princes of Ancient Rus'

Princes of Ancient Rus'

Let me make a reservation once again: in Rus' there have been princes, as they say, from time immemorial, but these were the heads of individual tribes and tribal unions. Often the size of their territories and population, these unions exceeded the states of Europe, only they lived in inaccessible forests. What historians would later call Kievan Rus was a super-union of tribal alliances. And now the princes of the Rurikovich family, who were first invited and then received power by inheritance, appeared in it.

First the founder of the clan Rurik.

Historians have found only one prince with this nickname (this is not a name, Rurik means Falcon). And his mother’s name was Umila, and she was the daughter of the Obodritsky prince Gostomysl. Everything seems to fit, but the debate continues. Let's try to figure it out. First, about Rurik’s grandfather.

Gostomysl More than once he is called the Prince of Bodrite. What would that mean? After all, Ilmen lived with Slovenes, Chud, Merya, Vse, Krivichi, but no Obodrits. Sound familiar? “Tea, suitcase, cheburek, Cheboksary... There are no Cheburashki...” But there were. Just not near Novgorod, but where would you think? That's right, on the territory of what is now Germany! German annals of 844 tell about the campaign of King Louis the German (quite historical figure, and the campaign was) to the lands of the Obodrites, that is, the Baltic Slavs, one of whom was Gostimusl. Most of the Obodrite princes turned out to be cunning; they swore allegiance to Louis, and as soon as the danger had passed, they broke the oath without hesitation. This is not “our” Gostimusl! He died, but did not give up! Do you like this ancestor? Then read on.

If we accept that same inflexible Gostimusl as the Novgorod Gostomysl, then I wonder how he could manage to punish his fellow tribesmen about his grandson in the middle of a battle, and even before that consult with the wise men? During lunch break? But perhaps he did not die directly on the battlefield and still managed to punish. Then what does Novgorod have to do with it, which generally appeared much later than this most tragic incident? And yet there is a rational grain in everything (maybe the ancient Russian chroniclers saw it?). It is mentioned in passing in the manuscripts that Gostomysl’s grandson (not the one who had to be called, but the other, older one) Vadim, nicknamed the Brave, fled (apparently with the remnants of the undead tribe) to Ilmen and sat down there. This is where it once stood ancient city Slovenesk and Novgorod stood up.

But there is another opinion that Vadim is not connected with Gostomysl in any way, and Rurik was really called to encourage him, and he came to Ilmen not only without an invitation, but quite the opposite, as an invader. Maybe too. Who needed to make Gostomysl a Novgorod elder? Probably, I wanted to rehabilitate Rurik.

But let's return to the first, which was the official version for a long time.

So, Gostomysl had four sons, some who died in battle, some while hunting, and three daughters. The son of the eldest of them, Beautiful, Vadim, although he was Brave, for some reason his fellow tribesmen did not really like him (“because he was worthless”). The middle daughter Umila married, according to some sources, King Ludbrant Bjorn from the Scandinavian family of Skjeldungs. She had two sons (although in general Ludbrant had much more), one of whom was the same Gerraud, nicknamed Rurik.

Does everything fit? It seems, but there is one “but” (ancient Russian history is full of these “buts”). The Obodrites were Western Slavs and lived along the Oder and Elbe (Laba) rivers, so they are also called Polabian Slavs, later the Germans came to these lands, and Slavic history ended here (to continue at Ilmen?). One of the Obodrite cities was the city of Rerik. Historians agree that the city is large and rich, but there’s just one catch: they can’t find where it stood. Now they believe that this is Mecklenburg.

After visiting the glorious city of Rerik Tatiami, under the wise leadership of the Danish king Gottrick, merchants from this shopping center moved to another nice city Hedeby (before that he was called Slisthorp). They crossed on their own or under escort - history is silent about this, only Rerik began to wither after such injustice, until in 844 he was captured and ruined by another well-wisher, Louis. It is called "obodritskaya" theory.

By the way, in Mecklenburg there was a legend that the prince of the Obodrits, Godolub, had three sons: Rurik, Sivar and Truvar. They came to Russia and began to rule - Rurik in Novgorod, Sivar in Pskov, and Truvar in Beloozero. If you remember from school history textbooks, Rurik settled in Novgorod, and his brothers Truvor and Sineus in Izborsk (near Pskov) and Beloozero (on Onega). I just wonder if the legend was copied from our chronicles, does the chronicle repeat the legend, or are they really talking about the same event?

German chronicles report that King Ludbrant Bjorn from the Scandinavian family of Skjeldungs ​​was married to the daughter of the Obodritic prince (or governor?) Gostomysl (probably not only her, but this is no longer relevant) Umila and had two sons from her - Harald and Guerrauda.

If you delve thoroughly into the Scandinavian sagas, then in the ancestors of Ludbrant Bjorn you can quite easily find not only legendary personalities from the history of the Scans (and the Skjeldungs ​​are one of the oldest and most glorious families), but also the god Odin himself (!). There is nothing to be surprised here, we went through this (and are going through it now). How long ago was it that every horse (except perhaps zebras) in our stables certainly traced its ancestry back to Budyonny’s First Horse, and its owner was a hereditary farm laborer (read: “labor peasantry”) or a worker of the Kirov plant (read: “hegemon”). The wind of history changed, and the horses turned out to be descendants of the handsome men of the ceremonial dressage of the court of His Imperial Majesty, and the owners suddenly discovered their noble roots and began to attend balls in the Assembly of the Nobility. It all depends on desire. “Do you want to be happy? Be it!” – this is what the unforgettable Kozma Prutkov used to say. The same can be said about the pedigree, if you really want to, you can find any roots. But that's not what we're talking about.

So, somewhere in 780, a distant descendant of Odin, Ludbrant Bjorn from the Skjeldung family, was expelled from his native Jutland (for those who skipped geography at school, let me remind you: this is the peninsula on which Denmark is now, and not only it) was expelled, presumably , not for smoking in public places, and became a vassal of Charlemagne, the one who gathered almost all of Europe into one big pile. The Great One also needs dashing people in his service, Vikings in the sense, so Ludbrant received from him in 782 a fief, that is, for external administration (read: “robbery”), Friesland. The land is rich, Umila’s husband lived with his large family, not so much in poverty, until 826, when he went to his god Odin, being called. The fief passed to the eldest son Harald.

This eldest was baptized that same year with his entire family (most likely, his younger brother with him) in Ingelheim and came under the protection of the heir of the Great Charles, Louis the Pious. For which, apparently, he received a richer fief - Rustingen in Friesland. Not surprisingly, the Vikings were baptized a dozen times, or even more, for the sake of rich gifts, while remaining pagans at heart. After his death, the flax went to the younger Gerraud, but in 843 it went to Lothair, another heir to Father Charles.

What did the Vikings do if they were deprived of feeding places? That's right, they went out for free robbery! Gerraud from the Skjeldung family, presumably, showed Lothair what he was capable of, since he backed down and returned Friesland to him on the terms of protecting the lands from the rest of the raiders. But either it became boring to stay at home, or flax gave little wealth, only in 850 Gerraud, whose nickname was Rurik, which means Falcon, moved his longships to the east of the Varangian Sea, that is, to Lake Nevo, where he plundered the ancient city Ladoga and took a good tribute from it. A Viking named Rolf also took part in this campaign, who was nicknamed the Pedestrian due to his heavy weight by his colleagues in the robbery (not a single horse could stand it, he had to move on his own two feet). Allegedly, this same Rolf nailed a white shield to the gates of Ladoga as a sign that the city surrendered without a fight. The case, in general, was ordinary, only Ladoga did not have any gates, since it was not a city. A city is, first of all, a fortress, and Ladoga at that time did not have a fortress.

We will talk about Ladoga itself later, but remember the name Rolf Pedestrian, this man may have played a huge role in the history of Rus'. After such a feat as nailing down a shield, Rolf became a friend of Gerraud-Rurik, this led to their kinship. It is believed that Rurik himself (for the umpteenth time!) married Rolf’s half-sister Efande, and Rolf did not spare his daughter Silkizif as his wife (why should we spare them?).

Apparently, for some reason Lothair did not like the behavior of Rurik, who suddenly in 854 replaced Friesland, dear to Falcon’s heart, with Jutland.

This “free Cossack” » Gerraud-Sokol Ludbrantovich Victorious Trustworthy and called Ladoga, “without remembering the insults,” to her (as a defender from other raids, one must think?) in 862 (870?), according to fellow monk Nestor, ruled by fellow abbot Sylvester. It’s not surprising, many did the same, but here it turns out that they even clicked on their prince’s grandson. Who else, if not him, would build fortresses and improve life so that trading boats could safely sail not only along the Volkhov, but also along the Varangian Sea? And he did! I staged it in Ladoga and Novo Grad. He strengthened, so to speak, the borders of the Slavic land.

One note. The chronicles say that Rurik settled first in Ladoga, and then in Novgorod, and his name was from Novgorod. If you remember, Veliky Novgorod stands in the place where the ancient Volkhov flows out of Lake Ilmen, heading towards Lake Ladoga (formerly Nevo). But archaeologists, no matter how much they look for traces Togo They cannot find Novgorod before the 11th century. And they cannot decide in relation to which city they called it new. To ancient Slovenesku? But it is unlikely that Rurik could remember this. To Ladoga? But it was not a city.

But in one of the chronicles Novgorod is named differently - Nevogorod, that is, a city standing on the Nevo (a lake, not a river). In the time of Rurik, the Neva River did not yet exist, I have already mentioned this, but on Lake Nevo (Lake Ladoga) there supposedly stood a large city in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bpresent-day Priozersk, exactly where ancient lake poured into the Varangian (Baltic) Sea.

So, maybe, the name of Rurik from Nevogorod was called and Novgorod was called new in relation to him? Or was Nevogorod the name of ancient Ladoga, and in relation to it Novgorod was called “new”? History is waiting to be solved. Maybe it will be possible to unearth traces of ancient Nevogorod, this will explain a lot. One can also recall the testimony of the ancient Arabs that the capital, and indeed the entire land of the Rus, stands on a huge island with very wet soil and a damp climate. By the way, it is quite similar to the Karelian Isthmus. Now it is an isthmus, but before, in fact, it was a huge island. How do you like this mystery? The places, by the way, are the most beautiful and rich, although they are indeed damp.

And one more version on the topic of why King Rurik practically did not poke his nose further than Ladoga for some time and why Ladoga itself, which did not have protection in the form of a fortress, was rarely subjected to ruin by its northwestern neighbors who were eager for other people’s goods.

Not so long ago, scientists suddenly remembered that the Volkhov River, on which Ladoga stands, was not always quiet and calm. The fact is that the ancient Volkhov has rapids slightly higher and lower downstream than Ladoga. Now most of them are hidden under the waters of the reservoir for the Volkhov hydroelectric power station, but in the time of Rurik they looked very intimidating: a narrow passage between steep banks, a strong oncoming current and the impossibility of going around along the shore. In such places, even the strongest squad inevitably found itself under targeted fire from the aborigines. So, maybe the famous king sat in Ladoga for a long time until he reached an agreement with the Ilmen elders? Then his calling is really more like simple hiring.

The main objection of those who do not believe in the calling of this particular Rurik (although they do not know others) still remains that Gerraud-Rurik appeared every now and then in Skiringssal - the main city of the Vikings, where they quite successfully traded in looted goods and collected tribute . Even, they say, he went to Lothair and later, in 873, received a new flax from another Charles - the Bald (he was also called Tolstoy, this apparently depended on the height of the caller himself, whoever was taller saw a bald spot, whoever was shorter saw a belly), and or rather, the old one - Friesland. I begged for it!

So what? Why can you go on raids for a year or two and then return as master, but not from Ladoga? From Friesland it is much more dangerous, there are many rivals, and they are looking to grab it for themselves, and Ladoga is already beyond the Nevo and, again, under the supervision of Rolf, who received a new nickname in return for the Pedestrian. They began to call him Helgi, that is, the Wise Leader. Who said that this same Wise Leader ruled worse than the Falcon himself? We know that it’s better, much better, because this Helga Slavs Olga(and we are in Oleg) were remade and over time they gave their nickname - Prophetic!

And it is also clear that the German chronicles say nothing about his, Rurik’s, valiant deeds on the land of Ilmen. Maybe he didn’t shout in the squares about his conquests, so why reveal his secrets? Firstly, the places are rich, who knows? Secondly, maybe he was called up under an employment agreement, so to speak, and therefore is not the owner, which is also not appropriate to inform everyone about. Who will figure it out after so many years? In short, this Rurik was silent in his mustache and tried to sit on two chairs - not to miss the Slavs, and his Friesland too. It seems that we succeeded.

And the system of government with an invited prince, who could be turned away by the veche at any moment, took root in Novgorod; there were only such princes there. In general, our Rurik is even in some sense a pioneer. Know-how, so to speak.

Another note: the chronicler links the emergence of Rurik as a prince to the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Michael (who, by the way, had a fairly understandable nickname for us: “The Drunkard”). This is all because the Byzantine chronicles first mention the Rus in connection with their raid on Constantinople in 864–865. So, Emperor Michael III really reigned from 842 to 867, but the chronicler calls the first year of his reign 852, thus pushing back all dates by ten years. “And from the first summer of Mikhailov to the first summer of Olgov, Prince of Russia, 29 years; and from the first summer of Olgov, who was still gray in Kyiv, to the first summer of Igor, 31 years old; and from the first summer of Igor to the first summer of Svyatoslavl is 33 years,” etc. This is where all the official dates are taken: respectively, 852–881-912-945. By the way, not a word about Rurik here! It’s a strange forgetfulness, but it would be a sin not to mention the founder of the dynasty.

But if we start from the real beginning of the reign of Emperor Michael - 842, then we get real nonsense: 842-871-902-935. Later readers will understand why. I wonder if the chronicler got it wrong or deliberately distorted the dates? By the way, this gave rise to a great many hypotheses: about the existence of two princes Olegs, one of whom was connected with Rurik, and the second was not, about who Prince Igor was and what relation he had to everyone else...

It seems clear about Rurik Lyudbrantovich the Victorious, but what next? Well, he came, well, he corrected it with the help of a relative, well, he left... Either he sailed back to Friesland, or he died (or even died) - historians have not yet decided. The fact is that they cannot find graves with a golden coffin, like the prince apparently had. But that's not what we're interested in. By the way, in addition to the “Tale” itself, the mention of Rurik nowhere, it really seems that the news about it is simply far-fetched. According to Nestor, edited by Sylvester, Rurik left behind a son Igor under the supervision of that same Rolf-Oleg, who is the Prophet.

And this is where the real detective story begins.

The next ruler according to the official version is Prince Oleg. He ruled first Novgorod, and then Kiev as regent of the young Prince Igor, but essentially for himself. About this prince, too, countless copies have been broken; according to the chronicle, he was all positive (how could it be otherwise, after all, they entrusted an heir!), with one drawback - he was a pagan. For which he paid with death, predicted by his own wise men, from a snake bite. First, objections, and then about the real merits of the Grand Duke.

The chronicle says that he was simply a mentor to the prince because of his youth. Other historians object, they say, Rurik has nothing to do with it at all, Prince Oleg was on his own, and did not come to Kiev from Novgorod, but quite the opposite, from Kiev he subjugated a free city on the banks of the Volkhov (having established it first?). Regarding the uncle-mentor: it took a long time to instruct, because in the year of Prince Oleg’s death, “baby” Igor was at least 37 years old! And Rurik bequeathed Novgorod to his son, and Prince Oleg took Kyiv on his own initiative, he could have left his ward to be devoured by the Novgorod boyars, why take him with him? They would have reminded the prince of Rurik’s murder of Vadim the Brave. Once upon a time, the outstanding Russian historian Tatishchev noticed that the chronicler who wrote “The Tale” was not very knowledgeable in the history of the first princes of Kievan Rus. Well, it looks a lot like it...

But the Lord is with him, with where he came from, the main thing is that he captured Kyiv by deception: according to the chronicle, he sailed, masquerading as a merchant caravan, lured the Kyiv princes Askold and Dir to his shore and killed them. In Kyiv they still remember Askold’s grave. And it’s nothing that Dir, apparently, lived many years before Askold, was far-fetched - and that’s all. There is an opinion that Askold also lived long before the Rurikovichs, about a hundred years ago. Let’s not touch the story about Askold and Dir now, let’s return to Prince Oleg.

Oleg took Kyiv with a firm hand, it was not very difficult, the glades were distinguished by a calm and flexible disposition, they probably didn’t care whether Askold or Oleg. All one thing is that tribute was paid to the Khazars (Askold was a Khazar tadun - a tribute collector). They did not forget about the ruined prince, but perhaps only those who, ten years earlier, fled from Novgorod to Kyiv from Rurik, resisted. But the prince consistently tortured the surrounding tribes of the Drevlyans, Northerners, Ulichs, Tiverts, Radimichis and others. Some with fighting, like the Drevlyans (they never missed a chance for a century without kicking), and some almost peacefully. He imposed tribute, also not the same, whoever obeyed himself, reasoning that the Khazars were far away, and the prince and his retinue were nearby, the easier it was, and those like the Drevlyans, the heavier.

The poet noticed one thing correctly: the death of the prince was predicted by a magician. It is a magician, not a sorcerer. Is there a big difference? There are a few, the magicians are the priests of the Finno-Ugric tribes, they could not treat the invader prince with ardent love, they were the first to suffer from the rule of the Varangian squads on the Novgorod land. Could they have slipped the prince an asp? Quite, but something else is more likely. Prince Oleg was sick before his death, maybe they bullied him first, and then blamed everything on the poor snake?

This is about death. But the prince is famous for his deeds.

It was he who called Kyiv the future mother of Russian cities (practically declared it the capital); under him, for the first time, the words were uttered in an interstate agreement “We are from the Russian family...” The contract needs to be discussed separately.

As already said, the prince himself did not fight the Khazars, but he went to Constantinople, that is, Byzantium, and with great success.

A little “alien” history. The life of Rus' cannot be considered separately from its neighbors. No matter how some tribes were cut off by forests and swamps from the rest of the world, they still had to trade, and therefore enter into relationships with other peoples. Especially those who sat on navigable rivers.

The most famous chronicle, The Tale of Bygone Years, tells us about several trade routes. First of all, about the path "from Greek to Varangians." Exactly: from Greek, emphasizing that the Varangians went their own way to the Greeks. What is the difference? The Greeks sailed to the Varangians, that is, to the Varangian (and now Baltic) Sea, through Rus'. To do this, it was necessary to go from Constantinople (now Istanbul), which the Russians called Tsar-grad, the Black Sea to the mouth of the Dnieper, rise against the current to the portages to Lovat, sail along it to Lake Ilmen (this is all to the north, to the north), from Ilmen to Volkhov, along it through the rapids to Lake Nevo (Ladoga), and then to the Varangian Sea. The Neva River, which now connects Lake Ladoga with the Baltic Sea and on which Tsar Peter later cut his window to Europe - the city of St. Petersburg - did not exist then, the lake simply merged in a wide stream into the sea much further north, where there are now many small channels Vuoksa River. The Neva River is the youngest river in Europe, the bottom of Lake Nevo (Ladoga) simply rose, its waters remained locked for some time, but then they broke through a new channel and turned into a river.

And here Varangians to the Greeks they walked a different route - by sea around Europe, which they had tormented. Why? There were quite a lot of difficulties on the waterway from the Greeks to the Varangians. First of all, these were heavy portages, when the ships had to be placed on rollers and dragged along clearings, at the risk of being turned into a pile of firewood for the stove during this time. Secondly, the Dnieper rapids, the names can tell about the difficulty of their passage - Issupi, which means “don’t sleep”, Leandi - “boiling water”... And the rapids near Ladoga left little chance of getting out dry, or rather, alive.

The Russians went to the Greeks on one-tree boats, which the Byzantines called monoxyls. They were single-shafted not because they were shuttles, but because the keel was cut out of one huge tree, so it was stronger, and the sides of the boat were sewn with boards, they could be quickly disassembled and reassembled after passing the rapids. For Varangian heavy longships with a deep sea landing, such a journey is like death. It’s easier to go around Europe by sea.

True, the Scandinavians still sailed both Volkhov and Ilmen, and dragged ships, but only to the east, along the Volga to the Khvalynsky (Caspian) Sea and to the Arab Caliphate. It was difficult to get there through the Greeks; Byzantium always fought with the Arabs, just as the Arabs did with it.

This concerns trade routes. Now about the neighbors.

Word Khazars everyone heard. Who is this, what kind of country is Khazaria? Why does this name sound like a curse even to us, the distant descendants of those Russians who neighbored it in the 8th–10th centuries? Genetic memory, no less. By the time described, the Khazar Kaganate, with its capital city of Itil, located on the Volga, was one of the strongest in its region, its power extended to the entire Black Sea region from the Volga to the Dnieper (by the way, Scythian territories!). Hundreds of thousands of Slavic captives were sold in the slave markets of Khazaria. The Khazars were able to escape from power by moving to other lands, the Bulgarians, who created Danube Bulgaria, and the Ugrians (Hungarians), who fled beyond the Carpathians.

Khazaria waged constant wars with the Arab Caliphate for Transcaucasia and with Byzantium for the Crimea region. By the 8th century, a somewhat strange situation had developed in the state; Khazaria was clearly divided in two: the bulk of the population were Muslims, and the ruling elite were Jews. In the capital Itil, areas were not simply populated by religion, there were even courts, cemeteries, and markets separately for Muslims and separately for Jews (Karaites).

The heyday of Khazaria was the 8th century, when East Slavic tribes, rich in fast (furs), fish, honey, wax, timber, and most importantly, servants (slaves), paid tribute to it. In the 9th century Kyiv prince Oleg, having tortured some of these tribes, forced them to pay tribute to themselves, and not to the Khazars. The Russians began to actively fight back against the weakening Khazaria, and in the 10th century, Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich completely defeated the Khazars, destroying the Khazar Khaganate as a state.

Khazaria either fought or went hand in hand with another neighbor of Rus' - Byzantium. Rus' did not border directly with Byzantium, but the tribute collected from Lake Nevo to the Dnieper rapids was sold primarily in the markets of Constantinople (Constantinople). And the Greeks themselves actively traded in Kyiv, Podol, in the markets in Novgorod, in Gnezdovo and along the entire waterway. Peace in Rus' largely depended on the change of power in Byzantium and on the ability of the Greeks to negotiate (simply bribe) with their neighbors.

By the time Prince Oleg came to power in Kyiv, the Slavs’ relations with Byzantium were not the best, that is, they did not exist. In 860, one of the Slavic princes made an exceptionally successful raid on Constantinople, taking a large tribute and leaving the Greeks with a souvenir of trembling knees at the mention of the word “Rus”. Historians cannot decide which of the princes it was. The chronicle states that Askold and Dir, but places the raid in 860, and the Greeks describe their horror at the appearance of Slavic rooks under their walls in 866.

Byzantium was able to simply buy itself off with gold, expensive gifts, and even baptize the prince of the Rus for money. Note that in those days baptism itself was not something out of the ordinary; for the majority it did not really mean anything. The Varangians were often baptized more than a dozen times in order to receive rich gifts, and after that they held funeral feasts for the dead, like ordinary pagans. In any case, information about the priests who were sent with the baptized prince to Rus' has not been preserved; no one knows where they went. Pagan Rus' was capable of grinding down even a smaller landing force to convert to a new faith.

Byzantium itself was famous not so much for its strength as for its wealth and ability to bribe everyone and everything. The Byzantine emperors manipulated neighboring countries according to the “bribe and conquer” principle. More than once they sent the same Khazars or Pechenegs against the Rus, pitted the Bulgarians against the Ugrians...

From time to time we will make small excursions into the history of Byzantium to try to explain certain events.

But let us return to Prince Oleg, who was not yet called the Prophetic. Let us recall that, according to the chronicle, he appeared in Kiev with little Igor in his arms, deceived the Kiev princes (or prince) onto the banks of the Dnieper, killed them and declared Kiev the mother of Russian cities (by the way, in Greek “demetria”, which is literally translated simply means capital). Apparently, the people of Kiev liked the prospect of becoming metropolitan things, they did not particularly resist.

Prince Oleg placed his governors in the Dnieper fortresses and took care of the surrounding tribes. Those who did not immediately recognize him as their superiors were subject to a large tribute, and those who did not seem to mind were subject to a small tribute. In addition, he began to pay tribute... to the Varangians, or rather, he instructed the Novgorodians to do this. The Ilmen people didn’t like this arrangement much, but, apparently, they had already experienced the heavy hand of the prince, so they agreed so that it wouldn’t get any worse.

Why did Prince Oleg pay (even from the pockets of the Novgorodians) tribute to the Varangians, with whom there seemed to be no war, as the prince himself said, “dividing peace”? The calculation is correct, it is easier to pay off the raiders so that others are not allowed in, than to scour the entire coast after them or keep a large squad in Novgorod for protection. This was a common practice of a strong state that did not want to waste precious forces on repelling small attacks. Rus' acted as a strong state.

But almost at the same time, Rus' was paying another tribute, as a defeated side asking for peace. Under the year 898, the “Tale” modestly mentions that, almost by accident, people suddenly found themselves under the walls of Kyiv Ugrians (Hungarians), standing up. And then they suddenly took it and left to the west to fight the Slavs, the Volokhs, sitting there, to push back the Greeks, Moravians, and Czechs. Why would it be necessary to leave from under the walls of an already rich city?

The enemies, roaming in a huge camp, stood in circles around the capital city. This was a mortal danger for Kyiv! And the Russian chronicler seems to accidentally miss the essence of the matter, did he not know or did he deliberately hide it? And what's the catch? The answer was found from a Hungarian chronicler. He paints the usual picture for such “courtesy visits”: the Hungarians went around the area, taking “estates”, plundered towns and villages, and finally stood near Kyiv. That's when a Russian embassy appeared in the camp of the Hungarian leader Almos. As a result of negotiations, the Rus sent hostages to the Ugrians, provided food, clothing, fodder and other supplies for the road, and also pledged to pay an annual tribute of 10 thousand marks. Almos and his nobles, having accepted the advice of the Rus, concluded a “strong peace” with them. Somewhat strange behavior - to leave on the advice of the besieged. And what kind of strong peace is this between the nomads (at that time the Ugric-Hungarians were still nomads) and the Russians?

If you trace the further history of the development of their relationship, it becomes clear what the ambassadors of Prince Oleg were talking about in the Almosh camp. The Hungarians and Russians acted almost simultaneously against Byzantium for many decades of the 10th century, sometimes even waiting for each other. It is not for nothing that the Emperor of Constantinople, Constantine Porphyrogenitus, in his works more than once put the enemies of the empire - the Ugrians and Russ - next to each other. We will also remember as the story progresses about their union.

Judging by the events of the following years, Prince Oleg concluded such an agreement not only with the Ugrians, but also with the Bulgarians. About Bulgaria It’s worth telling in more detail.

The Byzantine emperors, in pursuit of spiritual power over everyone, warmed this asp on their chests. In Constantinople, the youngest son of the Bulgarian prince Boris studied at the Magnavra school for ten years. Simeon(future Great). Bulgaria in those years was a serious friend-enemy of Byzantium and a very strong state. In Constantinople they hoped that, having learned to read and write in Greek, having gained intelligence there, Simeon would not forget his alma mater and, on occasion, would put in a word about it. I didn’t forget to say my word.

Simeon did not immediately become king. His father, Prince Boris I, under pressure from Byzantium, he baptized the Bulgarians in 864, and in 889 he voluntarily entered a monastery, leaving power to his eldest son Vladimir (not to be confused with ours, they had their own Vladimirs!). But unlike our Vladimirs, who are famous Christians, theirs turned out to be a pagan and tried to return everything to normal. The father did not watch this disgrace for a long time, took time off from the monastery, ran to Preslava (this is their capital), quickly blinded his son, declared his third son heir and returned back. Whether his absence was noted or not in the monastery, we don’t know, but Simeon became a Bulgarian prince, having escaped from the Byzantine capital for the sake of such a social burden and replacing the monastic schema with chain mail. Ten years later, in 903, Simeon was tired of being called a prince, he declared himself king.

But regardless of who he was called, having received power, he immediately began to fight with his teachers (they taught him well). Considering that Simeon knew well the weaknesses of the empire and its strengths, he fought successfully, the Bulgarians several times approached the very walls of Constantinople. And apparently, Prince Oleg had an agreement similar to the Ugric one with the Bulgarians.

Under 907, the Tale reports that the Kiev prince Oleg, leaving Igor in Kyiv, undertook a campaign against Constantinople. And not just a campaign, but the so-called Great Skuf, that is, he assembled a whole army of Varangians, Novgorod Slovenes, Krivichi, Drevlyans, Radimichi, Polyans, Northerners, Vyatichi, Croats, Dulebs, Tiverts, Chuds, Meris...

The Greeks, having learned about the approach of the Russian army, closed their harbor with a chain (they had such a technique) and locked themselves in Constantinople. The Russians, coming ashore, thoroughly plundered the area, and then put their ships on wheels and moved on dry land under sails to the walls of the city! Ours are no strangers to normal dragging, but the Byzantines were horrified. In addition, cavalry detachments joined the ships from land. They could only appear by passing through the territory of Bulgaria. Here the Greeks fully realized the treachery of the Bulgarian prince Simeon! If he had caught the eye of the Byzantine Emperor Leo and his co-ruler Alexander, he would have been incinerated by one glance from the monarchs, but the Bulgarian was far away, and the Russians stood under the walls. Panic reigned in the city.

The Greeks tried to resort to their favorite method - to poison the prince-invader, but Oleg, the Prophet, guessed about their treachery, did not eat the poison, which plunged the unfortunate Greeks into complete despondency. The poor fellows had to sprinkle the ashes of their hopes on their heads, that is, ask for peace and promise to pay tribute.

The Russians at first simply demanded a huge indemnity, which threatened to ruin the unfortunate Constantinople, but when the Greeks were ready for this, they suddenly changed their requests. The tribute remained large, but not so huge, but the Greeks undertook to pay it annually and to all Russian cities that took part in the skufi, Russian merchants received unprecedented privileges - they could trade in Constantinople duty free, they received “slebnoe”, that is, maintenance for the entire time stay, provisions and ship equipment for the return journey and the right to wash for free in the baths of Constantinople...

The Greeks breathed a sigh of relief, tomorrow is not today, the main thing is to fight back now, and we will see. They understood what they were doing, it was the Russians who swore before their gods Perun and Veles “by company,” their oath had no statute of limitations, but the Byzantine emperors habitually swore by kissing the cross. And for them, the oath was valid only as long as there was no new threat of attack; later Byzantium demonstrated this more than once; in addition, the death or death of one of the monarchs who entered into the treaty automatically meant its termination, and monarchs in Byzantium were often overthrown.

But at that moment the Greeks were ready to do anything just to send these unheard-of impudents away from their fortress walls. There is a legend that Prince Oleg nailed a shield to the gates of Constantinople as a sign that the city was taken without a fight. Nothing surprising, by the way, it seems that the Varangians did the same. Such information, like ships moving on land, caused a hysteria of denial among Western historians according to the principle “this cannot be, because it cannot be!” Moreover, the Greeks strictly forbade their chroniclers to record such an unsightly event for posterity. Nothing surprising either, remember the Ugrians under the walls of Kyiv, about whom the Russian chroniclers modestly kept silent. True, a renegade was found, he wrote, but the ancient censorship did not notice, they are far from Comrade Beria!

Since the time of the Prophetic Prince, historians have made countless copies about the likelihood and improbability of this campaign. There are tons of those who, in a brilliant demonstration by the Russians to the Byzantines own strength firmly believes, but no less than those who insist on the chronicler’s invention. What is in doubt, well, except for damaged gates and ships under sail on the bare shore?

First of all, the Byzantines themselves lack records of the event (one literate traitor does not count). Secondly, the absence of the text of the treaty of 907, because only a translation was found from the Greek treaty of 911, which contains references to the previous one. In fact, it’s strange to refer to something that never happened, but this doesn’t bother opponents. But when a single record was discovered of an attempt to attack Constantinople in 904 by the Arab naval owner Leo of Tripoli, this information was immediately declared absolutely reliable, and the defeat that the above-mentioned unfortunate hero suffered from the Byzantine admiral of the Empire was attributed to the Kyiv prince Oleg. They say that a little later the Ross-Dromites (Slavic-Varangian freemen who lived at the mouth of the Dnieper and along the Black Sea coast) also tried to attack Constantinople, but were saved only thanks to the supernatural abilities of their leader Ross, otherwise they would have been destroyed by another Byzantine naval commander - John Radin . This is what Nestor supposedly merged all together in his chronicle, only with the opposite result. What to believe?

But let's return to fellow monk Nestor.

An agreement was concluded with Byzantium according to all the rules, and it was in it that the phrase was first heard "We are from the Russian family." Somewhat later, the Russians noticed a flaw in the agreement, the Greeks granted them “chrisovul”, that is, they seemed to show mercy to the winners. Prince Oleg did not like this much, and he pretended that he was going to Constantinople again, the Greeks believed and the treaty was re-concluded in 911 without any chrisovuls, Rus' was recognized as equal to the arrogant Byzantium. True, so far only on paper, that is, parchment, real equality has not come soon!

Question. Usually, the Byzantines, when concluding an agreement with someone, wrote it in two copies in two languages ​​- Greek proper and the language of the second party. Then a copy was made from the “stranger”, which was given to the contracting parties as a souvenir, so to speak... In what language was the second copy of the agreement with Oleg the Prophet written? In Russian, what else (naturally, Old Russian)!

This is understandable, but how did they write it? Cyrillic? Glagolitic? Or even runes? The prophetic Oleg was a tough prince and did not accept any Byzantine tricks; if his conditions were not met, he could again show such a “Kuzka mother” that the Byzantines would quickly learn runes too. He did not allow into Rus' either preachers of foreign faiths or those wishing to teach literacy invented by the holy brothers; perhaps this explains the absence for a long time in Rus' of books written in Cyrillic.

So how were the agreements with the formidable prince written? Isn’t this the secret of the absence of their copies among Byzantine rarities, because the arrogant Romans more than once declared that the Rus had no written language (we didn’t have sex in the Soviet Union, but for some reason children were born). Or rather, it was not until they (these stupid Rus) were made happy by the intelligent Byzantines. How then to explain to the world community the presence of some runes and signatures of Byzantine emperors under them?

And their own Russian princes, who also considered literacy exclusively a gift from Byzantium, were probably also not very keen to preserve such seditious evidence to the contrary. How else can we explain the fact that the text of such an important treaty was not found in Rus'? Did they let you light the stove?

It should be noted how well the moment of the campaign was chosen, as in 860. When, at the beginning of 907, Byzantine troops moved against the advancing Arabs, the head of the provincial Byzantine nobility Andronikos Dukas, who secretly contacted the same Arabs, rebelled. He was supported by the Patriarch of Constantinople, Nicholas the Mystic. In the city, as in the empire itself, discord reigned. Relations with Bulgaria were also turbulent (remember Tsar Simeon?). It's time to demand what's due from the proud empire, which is in a difficult situation; the Russians knew what they were doing. But this speaks of well-organized intelligence activities of the Russians and the ability to negotiate.

One interesting note. In the treaty(s) the Byzantines are called Greeks. We will not argue about the first treaty, but the second one, supposedly rewritten from Byzantine sources, sins in the same way. Why does he sin? The fact is that the Byzantines themselves called themselves Romans and “Greeks” was an offensive word for them, something like “Jew”, “Khokhol” or “chock”. What is this? Were the Russians so frightened that they even agreed to be called Greeks, just so that they would get out of sight? Or was it a later copyist who screwed it up? What then is the path from the Greeks to the Varangians? If you remember a little geography, you will inevitably agree that the Greeks themselves lived only in a small part of the huge Eastern Roman Empire, and this hardly gave reason to call them after the Byzantine rulers. By the way, the Slavs clearly called “theirs” and “theirs” with unequal respect; they had Polyans, Drevlyans, Vyatichi, Krivichi, Radimichi, etc., but the Finno-Ugric tribes were called Chud, Merya, all... A thousand years later we Following the chronicler, we do not hesitate to call the Byzantines Greeks.

According to the agreement with Byzantium, the Rus were supposed to help it with military force if necessary, and the Greeks always had that. They loved to fight with someone else's hands! But even here, Prince Oleg managed to preserve his, or rather, Russian interests. How? Let's return to our friends the Khazars. Yes, yes, I didn’t make a reservation, which doesn’t happen in life for money, especially Greek money! The fact is that the Rus helped the Byzantines with military force, but in their own interests. The Greeks, as already mentioned, were at war with the Arabs, and one type of help could be to divert the forces of the Arab Caliphate away from the Byzantine shores. But Rus' did not border anywhere with the Arabs! But she nevertheless made a raid on the lands subject to the caliphate, passing through the territory of... Khazaria! This was in 909-910.

A little bit of geography. To get to the coast of the Caspian Sea from Kiev, you need to either fly by plane, as now, or, as in the times of Rus', sail along the Dnieper to its mouth, then go by sea around the Crimea to the mouth of the Don, climb along the Don to the portages to the Volga (Itil), go down it to the Caspian Sea and only there sail to the desired cities. The most difficult and dangerous path, running through the lands of Khazaria, with portages on the site of the current Volga-Don Canal past the famous Sarkel (White Vezha) fortress, which the Khazars built with the help of the ubiquitous Greeks to protect against Russian squads...

And yet the Russians passed it by agreement with Byzantium, with the full support of the Khazars. With what pleasure would the Khazars destroy these new allies of their allies! But they were forced, gritting their teeth, to watch the Russian boats. The Russes attacked the Caspian coast as snow avalanche in the middle of summer! Well, who could wait for the sworn enemies of Khazaria beyond the mouth of the Volga?! Russian boats in the Caspian Sea - then it seemed like something out of science fiction. The cities of the Caspian region were plundered and burned. Tabaristan, lying on the southern shore of the Caspian Sea, long remembered the Russian raid. On the way back, the Rus, by agreement, shared their booty with the Khazars. Both liked it, and the next year the expedition was repeated. And Abesgun and Berdaa shuddered again, and the inhabitants of Tabaristan were horrified.

The Russians took a very large tribute, but they did not just go for tribute; the Caspian coast had to be developed, not destroyed, there were trade routes to the east, to the Arabs. That is why the boats from Kyiv did not go to Asia Minor, where the Byzantine allies fought, and in Transcaucasia. A little later, Kyiv will undertake a new campaign against Tabaristan, but Prince Igor will make a lot of mistakes, and the attempt will end in failure. The story about this is ahead.

And then Russian ambassadors sailed to Constantinople again and again, straightening out the points of the agreement. Finally in 911 it was signed in Byzantium. The Greeks decided to show the ambassadors what Constantinople was. The embassy, ​​which, by the way, consisted of 15 people, unlike the first small one (only five), was received by Emperor Leo VI in his magnificent Great Palace, then the ambassadors were shown the luxurious temples of Constantinople, the richest church utensils, masterpieces of art and luxury goods. Everything had to convince the ambassadors that they needed to be friends with the rich Byzantium, and even better, obey it. It is not known what the ambassadors were thinking, but they didn’t say anything out loud. Upon their return to their homeland, Prince Oleg also organized a large reception in honor of the heroes of the negotiation genre. Surely he was far from Byzantine splendor, but it was a reception for native land, where the water is tastier than expensive wines, and the bread is sweeter than overseas dishes.

But the life of Prophetic Oleg was declining. Not only because he was old, because he probably came with Rurik to Ladoga not as a youth, and the prince ruled after Rurik for thirty years and three years. According to legend, Oleg died in 912 precisely from a bite in the leg of a snake hiding in the skull of a horse that had been slaughtered a long time ago, remember Pushkin? There were three graves of the Prophetic Oleg in Rus' - two in Kyiv and one in Ladoga. We must remember that the pagans burned their dead, and a grave was considered not so much the place where the remains were buried, but rather the place where they celebrated a funeral feast for the deceased. There could be several of these. These are necessarily mounds, but not always exactly burials. The prince was a real pagan, he practically did not allow preachers of other faiths into Rus', and under him even the new writing system, which the brothers Cyril and Methodius allegedly invented, did not become widespread.

After the death of Prince Oleg, the son of Rurik finally received power (according to the chronicles) Prince Igor. If we remember that in the year of his father’s death, in 879, he was four years old, then by the time of his mentor’s death he was already 37! Too much for the person under care. The prince was married (and, apparently, more than once, he was a pagan). Having taken power into his own hands, Igor tried to continue Oleg’s work, but you cannot step into the same river twice, the prince’s entire reign was marked by ups and downs.

The first failure was the new campaign against Tabaristan. Historians often and with pleasure accuse Prince Igor of short-sightedness, of greed, of all sins. Perhaps he was both short-sighted and greedy, but the failure of the campaign was not only his fault, but also a coincidence of circumstances. Here again you will have to make an excursion into the history of Rus''s neighbors.

If you trace the history of Byzantium and Rus' year by year, you get the impression that these two countries are strangely connected by the same fate. In Constantinople and Kyiv, power changed almost simultaneously! Judge for yourself, Oleg took Kyiv in 882, the Byzantine Leo VI became emperor in 886; Oleg died in 912, Lev in the same year; Prince Igor began to rule in 912, in Constantinople, Constantine Porphyrogenitus formally began in 913; Igor was killed by the Drevlyans in 944, Roman Lekapin, who seized power from his son-in-law Constantine, was overthrown in 944; Princess Olga, who ruled after her husband, gave power to her son Svyatoslav in 964, at the same time the new usurper Nikifor Phokas came to power to replace Constantine’s son Roman II; Olga died in 969, Phocas was killed in the same year by John Tzimiskes, who ruled until 976, in which the fratricidal war began in Rus' between the sons of Svyatoslav... And so on...

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Fratricide in Ancient Rus' In 1015, the famous baptist prince Vladimir I, the youngest son of Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich, popularly nicknamed the Red Sun, died. His wise reign contributed to the flourishing of the Old Russian state, the growth of cities, crafts and level

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3. Ancient Rus' in the period of the X – beginning of the XII centuries. Adoption of Christianity in Rus'. The role of the Church in the life of Ancient Rus' Olga’s grandson Vladimir Svyatoslavovich was initially a zealous pagan. He even placed idols of pagan gods near the princely court, to whom the Kievans brought

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The beginning of Ancient Rus' 862 Chronicle news about the calling of the Varangians. Arrival of Rurik in Ladoga There is still debate about where and when the ancient Russian state arose. According to legend, in the middle of the 9th century. in the land of the Ilmen Slovenes and Finno-Ugric tribes (Chud, Merya, etc.)

From the book Chronology of Russian history. Russia and the world author Anisimov Evgeniy Viktorovich

The heyday of Ancient Rus' 1019–1054 The reign of Yaroslav the Wise The struggle between Yaroslav and Svyatopolk lasted several years, and Svyatopolk used the help of his father-in-law, the Polish king Boleslav the Brave, who himself was not averse to capturing Kyiv. Only in 1019 Yaroslav

From the book All the Rulers of Russia author Vostryshev Mikhail Ivanovich

THE FIRST PRINCE OF KIEVAN Rus' The Old Russian state was formed in Eastern Europe in last decades 9th century as a result of the unification under the rule of the princes of the Rurik dynasty of the two main centers of the Eastern Slavs - Kyiv and Novgorod, as well as lands

From book National history: Cheat sheet author author unknown

8. ACCEPTANCE OF CHRISTIANITY AND BAPTISM OF Rus'. CULTURE OF ANCIENT Rus' One of the largest events of long-term significance for Rus' was the adoption of Christianity as a state religion. The main reason for the introduction of Christianity in its Byzantine version was

From the book History author Plavinsky Nikolay Alexandrovich

In modern historiography, the title “Kyiv princes” is usually used to designate a number of rulers of the Kyiv principality and the Old Russian state. The classical period of their reign began in 912 under the reign of Igor Rurikovich, the first to bear the title of “Grand Duke of Kyiv,” and lasted until approximately the middle of the 12th century, when the collapse of the Old Russian state began. Let's briefly look at the most prominent rulers during this period.

Oleg Veschy (882-912)

Igor Rurikovich (912-945) – the first ruler of Kyiv, called the “Grand Duke of Kyiv.” During his reign, he conducted a number of military campaigns, both against neighboring tribes (Pechenegs and Drevlyans) and against the Byzantine kingdom. The Pechenegs and Drevlyans recognized the supremacy of Igor, but the Byzantines, better equipped militarily, put up stubborn resistance. In 944, Igor was forced to sign a peace treaty with Byzantium. At the same time, the terms of the agreement were beneficial for Igor, since Byzantium paid significant tribute. A year later, he decided to attack the Drevlyans again, despite the fact that they had already recognized his power and paid him tribute. Igor’s vigilantes, in turn, had the opportunity to profit from the robberies of the local population. The Drevlyans set up an ambush in 945 and, having captured Igor, executed him.

Olga (945-964)– Widow of Prince Rurik, killed in 945 by the Drevlyan tribe. She headed the state until her son, Svyatoslav Igorevich, became an adult. It is unknown when exactly she transferred power to her son. Olga was the first of the rulers of Rus' to convert to Christianity, while the entire country, the army, and even her son still remained pagans. Important facts of her reign were the submission of the Drevlyans, who killed her husband Igor Rurikovich. Olga established the exact amounts of taxes that the lands subject to Kyiv had to pay, and systematized the frequency of their payment and deadlines. An administrative reform was carried out, dividing the lands subordinate to Kyiv into clearly defined units, at the head of each of which a princely official “tiun” was installed. Under Olga, the first stone buildings appeared in Kyiv, Olga's tower and the city palace.

Svyatoslav (964-972)- son of Igor Rurikovich and Princess Olga. Characteristic feature reign was that most of his time was actually ruled by Olga, first due to Svyatoslav’s minority, and then due to his constant military campaigns and absence in Kyiv. Took power around 950. He did not follow his mother’s example and did not accept Christianity, which was then unpopular among the secular and military nobility. The reign of Svyatoslav Igorevich was marked by a series of continuous campaigns of conquest that he carried out against neighboring tribes and state entities. The Khazars, Vyatichi, the Bulgarian Kingdom (968-969) and Byzantium (970-971) were attacked. The war with Byzantium brought heavy losses to both sides, and ended, in fact, in a draw. Returning from this campaign, Svyatoslav was ambushed by the Pechenegs and was killed.

Yaropolk (972-978)

Vladimir the Holy (978-1015)- Kyiv prince, most famous for baptism Rus'. He was the prince of Novgorod from 970 to 978, when he seized the Kiev throne. During his reign, he continuously carried out campaigns against neighboring tribes and states. He conquered and annexed to his power the tribes of the Vyatichi, Yatvingians, Radimichi and Pechenegs. He carried out a number of government reforms aimed at strengthening the power of the prince. In particular, he began minting a single state coin, replacing the previously used Arab and Byzantine money. With the help of invited Bulgarian and Byzantine teachers, he began to spread literacy in Rus', forcibly sending children to study. Founded the cities of Pereyaslavl and Belgorod. The main achievement is considered to be the baptism of Rus', carried out in 988. The introduction of Christianity as a state religion also contributed to the centralization of the Old Russian state. The resistance of various pagan cults, then widespread in Rus', weakened the power of the Kyiv throne and was brutally suppressed. Prince Vladimir died in 1015 during another military campaign against the Pechenegs.

SvyatopolkDamned (1015-1016)

Yaroslav the Wise (1016-1054)- son of Vladimir. He feuded with his father and seized power in Kyiv in 1016, driving out his brother Svyatopolk. The reign of Yaroslav is represented in history by traditional raids on neighboring states and internecine wars with numerous relatives laying claim to the throne. For this reason, Yaroslav was forced to temporarily leave the Kiev throne. He built the churches of St. Sophia in Novgorod and Kyiv. The main temple in Constantinople is dedicated to her, so the fact of such construction spoke of the equality of the Russian church with the Byzantine one. As part of the confrontation with the Byzantine Church, he independently appointed the first Russian Metropolitan Hilarion in 1051. Yaroslav also founded the first Russian monasteries: the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery in Kyiv and the Yuriev Monastery in Novgorod. For the first time he codified feudal law, publishing a code of laws “Russian Truth” and a church charter. He did a lot of work translating Greek and Byzantine books into Old Russian and Church Slavonic languages, and constantly spent large sums on rewriting new books. He founded a large school in Novgorod, in which the children of elders and priests learned to read and write. He strengthened diplomatic and military ties with the Varangians, thus securing the northern borders of the state. He died in Vyshgorod in February 1054.

SvyatopolkDamned (1018-1019)– secondary temporary government

Izyaslav (1054-1068)- son of Yaroslav the Wise. According to his father's will, he sat on the throne of Kyiv in 1054. Throughout almost his entire reign, he was at odds with his younger brothers Svyatoslav and Vsevolod, who sought to seize the prestigious Kiev throne. In 1068, the Izyaslav troops were defeated by the Polovtsians in the battle on the Alta River. This led to the Kyiv Uprising of 1068. At the veche meeting, the remnants of the defeated militia demanded that they be given weapons in order to continue the fight against the Polovtsians, but Izyaslav refused to do this, which forced the Kievites to revolt. Izyaslav was forced to flee to the Polish king, his nephew. With the military help of the Poles, Izyaslav regained the throne for the period 1069-1073, was again overthrown, and ruled for the last time from 1077 to 1078.

Vseslav the Magician (1068-1069)

Svyatoslav (1073-1076)

Vsevolod (1076-1077)

Svyatopolk (1093-1113)- son of Izyaslav Yaroslavich, before occupying the Kyiv throne, he periodically headed the Novgorod and Turov principalities. The beginning of the Kyiv principality of Svyatopolk was marked by the invasion of the Cumans, who inflicted a serious defeat on Svyatopolk’s troops in the battle of the Stugna River. After this, several more battles followed, the outcome of which is not known for certain, but ultimately peace was concluded with the Cumans, and Svyatopolk took the daughter of Khan Tugorkan as his wife. The subsequent reign of Svyatopolk was overshadowed by the continuous struggle between Vladimir Monomakh and Oleg Svyatoslavich, in which Svyatopolk usually supported Monomakh. Svyatopolk also repelled the constant raids of the Polovtsy under the leadership of the khans Tugorkan and Bonyak. He died suddenly in the spring of 1113, possibly poisoned.

Vladimir Monomakh (1113-1125) was the prince of Chernigov when his father died. He had the right to the Kiev throne, but lost it to his cousin Svyatopolk, because he did not want war at that time. In 1113, the people of Kiev rebelled and, having overthrown Svyatopolk, invited Vladimir to the kingdom. For this reason, he was forced to accept the so-called “Charter of Vladimir Monomakh”, which alleviated the situation of the urban lower classes. The law did not affect the foundations of the feudal system, but regulated the conditions of enslavement and limited the profits of moneylenders. Under Monomakh, Rus' reached the peak of its power. The Principality of Minsk was conquered, and the Polovtsians were forced to migrate east from the Russian borders. With the help of an impostor who posed as the son of a previously murdered Byzantine emperor, Monomakh organized an adventure aimed at placing him on the Byzantine throne. Several Danube cities were conquered, but it was not possible to further develop the success. The campaign ended in 1123 with the signing of peace. Monomakh organized the publication of improved editions of The Tale of Bygone Years, which have survived in this form to this day. Monomakh also independently created several works: the autobiographical “Ways and Fishing”, a set of laws “The Charter of Vladimir Vsevolodovich” and “The Teachings of Vladimir Monomakh”.

Mstislav the Great (1125-1132)- son of Monomakh, formerly the prince of Belgorod. He ascended the throne of Kyiv in 1125 without resistance from the other brothers. Among the most outstanding acts of Mstislav, one can name the campaign against the Polovtsians in 1127 and the plunder of the cities of Izyaslav, Strezhev and Lagozhsk. After a similar campaign in 1129, the Principality of Polotsk was finally annexed to the possessions of Mstislav. In order to collect tribute, several campaigns were made in the Baltic states against the Chud tribe, but they ended in failure. In April 1132, Mstislav died suddenly, but managed to transfer the throne to Yaropolk, his brother.

Yaropolk (1132-1139)- being the son of Monomakh, inherited the throne when his brother Mstislav died. At the time of coming to power he was 49 years old. In fact, he only controlled Kyiv and its environs. By his natural inclinations he was a good warrior, but did not have diplomatic and political abilities. Immediately after taking the throne, traditional civil strife began related to the inheritance of the throne in the Pereyaslav Principality. Yuri and Andrei Vladimirovich expelled Vsevolod Mstislavich, who had been placed there by Yaropolk, from Pereyaslavl. Also, the situation in the country was complicated by the increasingly frequent raids of the Polovtsians, who, together with the allied Chernigovites, plundered the outskirts of Kyiv. Yaropolk's indecisive policy led to military defeat in the battle on the Supoya River with the troops of Vsevolod Olgovich. The cities of Kursk and Posemye were also lost during the reign of Yaropolk. This development of events further weakened his authority, which the Novgorodians took advantage of, announcing their secession in 1136. The result of Yaropolk's reign was the virtual collapse of the Old Russian state. Formally, only the Principality of Rostov-Suzdal retained its subordination to Kyiv.

Vyacheslav (1139, 1150, 1151-1154)