The capital of the ancient Russian state in the period of its formation. Formation of the state of Kievan Rus in the ninth century

The formation of the state among the Eastern Slavs was a logical result of a long process of decomposition of the tribal system and the transition to a class society.

The process of property and social stratification among the community members led to the separation of the most prosperous part from their midst. The tribal nobility and the prosperous part of the community, subjugating the mass of ordinary community members, needs to maintain their dominance in state structures.

The embryonic form of statehood was represented by the East Slavic unions of tribes, which united in superunions, however, fragile ones. One of these associations was, apparently, the union of tribes headed by Prince Kiy (VI century). There is information about a certain Russian prince Bravlin, who fought in the Khazar-Byzantine Crimea in the VIII - IX centuries. passing from Surozh to Korchevo (from Sudak to Kerch). Eastern historians talk about the existence on the eve of the formation of the Old Russian state of three large associations of Slavic tribes: Kuyaba, Slavia and Artania. Kuyaba, or Kuyava, then called the area around Kyiv. Slavia occupied the territory in the area of ​​Lake Ilmen. Its center was Novgorod. The location of Artania - the third major association of Slavs - has not been precisely established.

According to The Tale of Bygone Years, the Russian princely dynasty originates in Novgorod. In 859, the northern Slavic tribes, who then paid tribute to the Varangians, or Normans (according to most historians, immigrants from Scandinavia), drove them across the sea. However, soon after these events, internecine struggle began in Novgorod. To

to stop the clashes, the Novgorodians decided to invite the Varangian princes as a force standing above the opposing factions. In 862, Prince Rurik and his two brothers were called to Russia by the Novgorodians, laying the foundation for the Russian princely dynasty.

Norman theory

The legend about the calling of the Varangian princes served as the basis for the creation of the so-called Norman theory of the emergence of the Old Russian state. Its authors were invited in the XVIII century. to Russia, German scientists G. Bayer, G. Miller and A. Schlozer. The authors of this theory emphasized the complete absence of prerequisites for the formation of a state among the Eastern Slavs. The scientific inconsistency of the Norman theory is obvious, since the determining factor in the process of state formation is the presence of internal prerequisites, and not the actions of individual, even outstanding, personalities.

If the Varangian legend is not fiction (as most historians believe), the story of the calling of the Varangians only testifies to the Norman origin of the princely dynasty. The version about the foreign origin of power was quite typical for the Middle Ages.

The date of formation of the Old Russian state is conditionally considered to be 882, when Prince Oleg, who seized power in Novgorod after the death of Rurik (some chroniclers call him the governor of Rurik), undertook a campaign against Kyiv. Having killed Askold and Dir, who reigned there, for the first time he united the northern and southern lands as part of a single state. Since the capital was moved from Novgorod to Kyiv, this state is often called Kievan Rus.

2. Socio-economic development

Agriculture

The basis of the economy was arable farming. In the south, they plowed mainly with a plow, or ral, with a double team of oxen. In the north - a plow with an iron plowshare, drawn by horses. They grew mainly grain crops: rye, wheat, barley, spelt, oats. Millet, peas, lentils, and turnips were also common.

Two-field and three-field crop rotations were known. The double field consisted in the fact that the entire mass of cultivated land was divided into two parts. One of them was used for growing bread, the second "rested" - was under fallow. With a three-field crop rotation, in addition to the fallow and winter field, a spring field also stood out. In the forest north, the amount of old arable land was not so significant, slash-and-burn agriculture remained the leading form of agriculture.

The Slavs kept a stable set of domestic animals. Raised cows, horses, sheep, pigs, goats, poultry. Crafts played a rather significant role in the economy: hunting, fishing, beekeeping. With the development of foreign trade, the demand for furs increased.

Craft

Trades and handicrafts, developing, are more and more separated from agriculture. Even in conditions of subsistence farming, home craft techniques are being improved - the processing of flax, hemp, wood, and iron. Actually, handicraft production already numbered more than a dozen types: weapons, jewelry, blacksmithing, pottery, weaving, leather. Russian craft in its technical and artistic level was not inferior to the craft of the advanced European countries. Jewelry, chain mail, blades, locks were especially famous.

Trade

Internal trade in the Old Russian state was poorly developed, since subsistence farming dominated the economy. The expansion of foreign trade was associated with the formation of a state that provided Russian merchants with safer trade routes and supported them with its authority in international markets. In Byzantium and the countries of the East, a significant part of the tribute collected by the Russian princes was realized. Products of crafts were exported from Russia: furs, honey, wax, products of artisans - gunsmiths and gold smiths, slaves. Mostly luxury items were imported: grape wines, silk fabrics, fragrant resins and spices, expensive weapons.

Craft and trade were concentrated in cities, the number of which grew. The Scandinavians who often visited Russia called our country Gardarika - the country of cities. In Russian chronicles at the beginning of the XIII century. more than 200 cities are mentioned. However, urban residents still retained close ties with agriculture and engaged in agriculture and cattle breeding.

social order

The process of formation in Kievan Rus of the main classes of feudal society is poorly reflected in the sources. This is one of the reasons why the question of the nature and class basis of the Old Russian state is debatable. The presence of various economic structures in the economy gives reason to a number of specialists to evaluate the Old Russian state as an early class state, in which the feudal structure existed along with the slave-owning and patriarchal.

Most scholars support the idea of ​​academician B. D. Grekov about the feudal nature of the Old Russian state, since the development of feudal relations began from the 9th century. leading trend in the socio-economic development of ancient Russia.

Feudalism characterized by the complete ownership of the feudal land and incomplete ownership of the peasants, in relation to whom he applies various forms of economic and non-economic coercion. The dependent peasant cultivates not only the land of the feudal lord, but also his own plot of land, which he received from the feudal lord or the feudal state, and is the owner of the tools of labor, housing, etc.

The beginning process of the transformation of tribal nobility into owners of the land in the first two centuries of the existence of the state in Russia can be traced, mainly, only on archaeological material. These are rich burials of boyars and combatants, the remains of fortified suburban estates (patrimonies) that belonged to senior combatants and boyars. The class of feudal lords also arose by singling out the most prosperous members of the community, who turned part of the communal arable land into property. The expansion of feudal landownership was also facilitated by direct seizures of communal lands by the tribal nobility. The growth of the economic and political power of landowners led to the establishment of various forms of dependence of ordinary community members on landowners.

However, in the Kyiv period, there remained a fairly significant number of free peasants, dependent only on the state. The term "peasants" itself appeared in the sources only in the XIV century. Sources of the period of Kievan Rus call the community members dependent on the state and the Grand Duke people or stinks.

The main social unit of the agricultural population continued to be the neighboring community - verv. It could consist of one large village or several small settlements. The members of the vervi were bound by collective responsibility for paying tribute, for crimes committed on the territory of the vervi, by mutual responsibility. The community (vervi) included not only smerds-farmers, but also smerds-artisans (blacksmiths, potters, tanners), who provided the needs of the community in handicrafts and worked mainly to order. A person who broke ties with the community and did not enjoy its patronage was called outcast.

With With the development of feudal landownership, various forms of dependence of the agricultural population on the landowner appear. A common name for a temporarily dependent peasant was purchase This was the name of a person who received a kupa from the landowner - assistance in the form of a plot of land, a cash loan, seeds, tools or draft power and was obliged to return or work out the kupa with interest. Another term referring to dependent people is ryadovich, i.e., a person who has concluded a certain agreement with the feudal lord - a series and is obliged to perform various works according to this series.

In Kievan Rus, along with feudal relations, there was patriarchal slavery, which, however, did not play a significant role in the country's economy. Slaves were called serfs or servants. First of all, captives fell into slavery, but temporary debt bondage, which ceased after payment of the debt, became widespread. Kholops were commonly used as household servants. In some estates there were also so-called plowed serfs, planted on the ground and having their own

economy.

Votchina

The main cell of the feudal economy was the estate. It consisted of a princely or boyar estate and dependent communities-verveys. In the estate there was a courtyard and mansions of the owner, bins and barns with "abundance", i.e. supplies, dwellings of servants and other buildings. Special managers were in charge of various sectors of the economy - tiunas and key keeper, at the head of the entire patrimonial administration was fireman. As a rule, artisans serving the lordly household worked in the boyar or princely patrimony. Craftsmen could be serfs or be in some other form of dependence on the votchinnik. The patrimonial economy had a natural character and was focused on the internal consumption of the feudal lord himself and his servants. The sources do not allow us to unequivocally judge the dominant form of feudal exploitation in the patrimony. It is possible that some part of the dependent peasants cultivated corvee, another paid the landowner in kind.

The urban population also fell into dependence on the princely administration or the feudal elite. Near cities, large feudal lords often founded special settlements for artisans. In order to attract the population, the owners of the villages provided certain benefits, temporary tax exemptions, etc. As a result, such craft settlements were called freedoms or settlements.

The spread of economic dependence, increased exploitation caused resistance from the dependent population. The most common form was shoots dependent people. This is also evidenced by the severity of the punishment provided for such an escape - turning into a complete, "whitewashed" serf. Data on various manifestations of the class struggle are contained in Russkaya Pravda. It refers to violations of the boundaries of land holdings, arson of side trees, murders of representatives of the patrimonial administration, and theft of property.

3. Politics of the first Kyiv princes

10th century

After Oleg (879-912), Igor reigned, who is called Igor the Old (912-945) and is considered the son of Rurik. After his death during the collection of tribute in the land of the Drevlyans in 945, his son Svyatoslav remained, who at that time was four years old. Igor's widow, Princess Olga, became regent under him. Chronicles characterize Princess Olga as a wise and energetic ruler.

Around 955, Olga traveled to Constantinople, where she converted to Christianity. This visit was also of great political significance. Returning from Constantinople, Olga officially transferred power to her son Svyatoslav (957-972).

Svyatoslav, first of all, was a warrior prince who sought to bring Russia closer to the largest powers of the then world. His whole short life was spent in almost continuous campaigns and battles: he defeated the Khazar Khaganate, inflicted a crushing defeat on the Pechenegs near Kyiv, made two trips to the Balkans.

After the death of Svyatoslav, his son Yaropolk (972-980) became the Grand Duke. In 977, Yaropolk quarreled with his brother, the Drevlyansk prince Oleg, and began hostilities against him. The Drevlyansk squads of Prince Oleg were defeated, and he himself died in battle. Drevlyane lands were annexed to Kyiv.

After the death of Oleg, the third son of Svyatoslav Vladimir, who reigned in Novgorod, fled to the Varangians. Yaropolk sent his deputies to Novgorod and thus became the sole ruler of the entire Old Russian state.

Returning two years later to Novgorod, Prince Vladimir expelled the Kyiv governors from the city and entered the war with Yaropolk. The main core of Vladimir's army was a mercenary Varangian squad, which came with him.

A fierce clash between the troops of Vladimir and Yaropolk took place in 980 on the Dnieper near the city of Lyubech. The victory was won by the squad of Vladimir, and the Grand Duke Yaropolk was soon killed. Power throughout the state passed into the hands of Grand Duke Vladimir Svyatoslavich (980-1015).

The heyday of the Old Russian state

During the reign of Vladimir Svyatoslavich, Cherven cities were annexed to the Old Russian state - East Slavic lands on both sides of the Carpathians, the land of the Vyatichi. The line of fortresses created in the south of the country provided more effective protection of the country from the Pecheneg nomads.

Vladimir sought not only the political unification of the East Slavic lands. He wanted to reinforce this association with religious unity, unifying the traditional pagan beliefs. Of the numerous pagan gods, he chose six, which he proclaimed the supreme deities on the territory of his state. The figures of these gods (Dazhd-bog, Khors, Stribog, Semargl and Mokosh) he ordered to be placed next to his tower on a high Kiev hill. The pantheon was headed by Perun, the god of thunder, the patron of princes and combatants. The worship of other gods was severely persecuted.

However, the pagan reform, called first religious reform did not satisfy Prince Vladimir. Carried out in a violent way and in the shortest possible time, it could not be successful. In addition, it had no effect on the international prestige of the Old Russian state. The Christian powers perceived pagan Russia as a barbarian state.

The long and strong ties between Russia and Byzantium ultimately led to the fact that in 988 Vladimir adopted Christianity in its Orthodox version. The penetration of Christianity into Russia began long before it was recognized as the official state religion. Princess Olga and Prince Yaropolk were Christians. The adoption of Christianity equated Kievan Rus with neighboring states, Christianity had a huge impact on the life and customs of Ancient Russia, political and legal relations. Christianity, with its more developed theological and philosophical system compared to paganism, and its more complex and magnificent cult, gave a huge impetus to the development of Russian culture and art.

In order to strengthen his power in various parts of the vast state, Vladimir appointed his sons as governors in various cities and lands of Russia. After the death of Vladimir, a fierce struggle for power began between his sons.

One of the sons of Vladimir, Svyatopolk (1015-1019), seized power in Kyiv and declared himself a Grand Duke. By order of Svyatopolk, three of his brothers were killed - Boris of Rostov, Gleb of Murom and Svyatoslav Drevlyansky.

Yaroslav Vladimirovich, who occupied the throne in Novgorod, understood that he was also in danger. He decided to oppose Svyatopolk, who called on the help of the Pechenegs. Yaroslav's army consisted of Novgorodians and Varangian mercenaries. The internecine war between the brothers ended with the flight of Svyatopolk to Poland, where he soon died. Yaroslav Vladimirovich established himself as the Grand Duke of Kyiv (1019-1054).

In 1024, Yaroslav was opposed by his brother Mstislav Tmutarakansky. As a result of this strife, the brothers divided the state into two parts: the area east of the Dnieper passed to Mstislav, and the territory west of the Dnieper remained with Yaroslav. After the death of Mstislav in 1035, Yaroslav became the sovereign prince of Kievan Rus.

The time of Yaroslav is the heyday of Kievan Rus, which has become one of the strongest states in Europe. The most powerful sovereigns at that time sought an alliance with Russia.

The bearer of supreme power in

The first signs of fragmentation

The whole princely family was considered to be the Kyiv state, and each individual prince was considered only a temporary owner of the principality, which he got in turn of seniority. After the death of the Grand Duke, it was not his eldest son who “sat down” in his place, but the eldest in the family between the princes. His vacated inheritance also went to the next in seniority among the rest of the princes. Thus, the princes moved from one area to another, from less to more rich and prestigious. As the princely family increased, the calculation of seniority became more and more difficult. The boyars of individual cities and lands intervened in the relations of the princes. Capable and gifted princes sought to rise above their elder relatives.

After the death of Yaroslav the Wise, Russia entered a period of princely strife. However, it is still impossible to speak of feudal fragmentation at this time. It comes when separate principalities are finally formed - lands with their capitals, and their princely dynasties are fixed on these lands. The struggle between the sons and grandsons of Yaroslav the Wise was still a struggle aimed at maintaining the principle of tribal ownership of Russia.

Yaroslav the Wise before his death divided the Russian land between his sons - Izyaslav (1054-1073, 1076-1078), Svyatoslav (1073-1076) and Vsevolod (1078-1093). The reign of the last of the sons of Yaroslav, Vsevolod, was especially restless: the younger princes were fiercely at enmity over the destinies, the Polovtsy often attacked the Russian lands. The son of Svyatoslav, Prince Oleg, entered into allied relations with the Polovtsy and repeatedly brought them to Russia.

Vladimir Monomakh

After the death of Prince Vsevolod, his son Vladimir Monomakh had real chances to take the princely throne. But the presence in Kyiv of a rather powerful boyar group, opposed to the descendants of Vsevolod in favor of the children of Prince Izyaslav, who had more rights to the princely table, forced Vladimir Monomakh to abandon the struggle for the Kyiv table.

The new Grand Duke Svyatopolk II Izyaslavich (1093-1113) turned out to be a weak and indecisive commander and a poor diplomat. His speculation in bread and salt during the famine, patronage of usurers caused bitterness among the people of Kiev. The death of this prince served as a signal for a popular uprising. The townspeople defeated the yard of the Kyiv thousand, the yards of usurers. The Boyar Duma invited Prince Vladimir Vsevolodovich Monomakh (1113-1125), popular among the people, to the Kyiv table. Chronicles for the most part give an enthusiastic assessment of the reign and personality of Vladimir Monomakh, calling him an exemplary prince. Vladimir Monomakh managed to keep the entire Russian land under his rule.

After his death, the unity of Russia was still maintained under his son Mstislav the Great (1125-1132), after which Russia finally disintegrated into separate independent lands-principalities.

4. Early feudal monarchy

Control

The Old Russian state was an early feudal monarchy. Kyiv was at the head of the state Grand Duke.

The relatives of the Grand Duke were in charge of certain lands of the country - appanage princes or his posadniki. In governing the country, the Grand Duke was assisted by a special council - boyar thought, which included junior princes, representatives of the tribal nobility - boyars, combatants.

The princely squad occupied an important place in the leadership of the country. The senior squad actually coincided in composition with the boyar thought. From the senior warriors, princely governors were usually appointed to the largest cities. The younger warriors (youths, gridi, children) performed the duties of petty stewards and servants in peacetime, and in the military they were warriors. They usually enjoyed part of the princely income, such as court fees. The prince shared with the younger squad the collected tribute and military booty. The senior squad had other sources of income. In the early stages of the existence of the Old Russian state, senior combatants received from the prince the right to tribute from a certain territory. With the development of feudal relations, they became owners of land, owners of estates. Local princes, senior combatants had their own squads and boyar thoughts.

The military forces of the Old Russian state consisted of detachments of professional soldiers - princely and boyar combatants and the people's militia, which gathered on especially important occasions. A large role in the army was played by cavalry, suitable for fighting the southern nomads and for long-distance campaigns. The cavalry was made up mainly of vigilantes. The Kyiv princes also had a significant rook fleet and made long-range military and commercial expeditions.

In addition to the prince and the squad, a significant role in the life of the Old Russian state was played by veche. In some cities, for example, in Novgorod, it acted constantly, in others it was collected only in emergency cases.

Collection of tribute

The population of the Old Russian state was subject to tribute. The collection of tribute was called polyudie. Every year in November, the prince with his retinue began to detour the territories subject to him. While collecting tribute, he carried out judicial functions. The size of state duties under the first Kyiv princes was not fixed and was regulated by custom. The attempts of the princes to increase the tribute provoked resistance from the population. In 945, Prince Igor of Kyiv, who tried to arbitrarily increase the amount of tribute, was killed by the rebellious Drevlyans.

After the murder of Igor, his widow, Princess Olga, traveled around some parts of Russia and, according to the chronicle, “established statutes and lessons”, “dues and tributes”, that is, established a fixed amount of duties. She also determined the places of collection of taxes: "camps and churchyards." Polyudyu is gradually being replaced new form receiving tribute - cart- delivery of tribute by the taxable population to specially designated places. As a unit of taxation, a peasant agricultural economy was defined (tribute from the ral, plow). In some cases, tribute was taken from smoke, that is, from every house with a hearth.

Almost all the tribute collected by the princes was an export item. In early spring, along the high hollow water, tribute was sent for sale to Constantinople, where it was exchanged for gold coins, expensive fabrics and vegetables, wine, and luxury items. Almost all the military campaigns of the Russian princes against Byzantium were connected with the provision of the most favorable conditions for security on trade routes for this interstate trade.

"Russian Truth"

The first information about the system of law that existed in Russia is contained in the treaties of the Kievan princes with the Greeks, where the so-called “Russian law” is reported, the text of which we do not

The earliest legal monument that has come down to us is Russkaya Pravda. The most ancient part of this monument is called the “Ancient Truth”, or “The Truth of Yaroslav”. Perhaps it is a charter issued by Yaroslav the Wise in 1016 and regulating the relationship of the prince's warriors among themselves and with the inhabitants of Novgorod. In addition to the "Ancient Truth", the "Russian Truth" includes the legal regulations of the sons of Yaroslav the Wise - "The Truth of the Yaroslavichs" (adopted around 1072). "The Charter of Vladimir Monomakh" (adopted in 1113) and some other legal monuments.

The Pravda Yaroslav speaks of such a relic of patriarchal-communal relations as blood feud. True, this custom is already dying out, since it is allowed to replace blood feud with a fine (vira) in favor of the family of the murdered. The "Ancient Truth" also provides for punishments for beatings, mutilations, blows with sticks, bowls, drinking horns, harboring a runaway slave, damage to weapons and clothes.

For criminal offenses, Russkaya Pravda provides for a fine in favor of the prince and a reward in favor of the victim. For the most serious criminal offenses, the loss of all property and expulsion from the community or imprisonment were provided. Robbery, arson, horse theft were considered such serious crimes.

Church

In addition to civil law in Kievan Rus, there was also ecclesiastical law, which regulated the share of the church in princely income, the range of crimes subject to ecclesiastical court. These are the church statutes of princes Vladimir and Yaroslav. Family crimes, witchcraft, blasphemy and the trial of people belonging to the church were subject to church court.

After the adoption of Christianity in Russia, a church organization arises. The Russian Church was considered part of the universal Patriarchate of Constantinople. Her head is metropolitan- Appointed by the Patriarch of Constantinople. In 1051, the Metropolitan of Kyiv was elected for the first time not in Constantinople, but in Kyiv by a council of Russian bishops. It was Metropolitan Hilarion, an outstanding writer and church leader. However, subsequent Kievan metropolitans were still appointed by Constantinople.

In large cities, episcopal sees were established, which were the centers of large church districts - dioceses. Bishops appointed by the Metropolitan of Kyiv were at the head of the dioceses. All churches and monasteries located on the territory of his diocese were subordinate to the bishops. The princes gave a tenth of the tributes and dues received for the maintenance of the church - tithe.

Monasteries occupied a special place in the church organization. Monasteries were created as voluntary communities of people who abandoned family and ordinary worldly life and devoted themselves to serving God. The most famous Russian monastery of this period was founded in the middle of the XI century. Kiev-Pechersky monastery. Just like the highest church hierarchs - the metropolitan and bishops, the monasteries owned land and villages, and were engaged in trade. The wealth accumulated in them was spent on the construction of temples, decorating them with icons, and copying books. Monasteries played a very important role in the life medieval society. The presence of a monastery in a city or principality, according to the ideas of the people of that time, contributed to stability and prosperity, since it was believed that “the prayers of the monks (monks) save the world.”

The church had great importance for the Russian state. It contributed to the strengthening of statehood, the unification of individual lands into a single state. It is also impossible to overestimate the influence of the church on the development of culture. Through the Church, Russia joined the Byzantine cultural tradition, continuing and developing it.

5. Foreign policy

The main tasks facing foreign policy The ancient Russian state was the fight against the steppe nomads, the protection of trade routes and the provision of the most favorable trade relations with the Byzantine Empire.

Russian-Byzantine relations

The trade of Russia and Byzantium had a state character. In the markets of Constantinople, a significant part of the tribute collected by the Kievan princes was sold. The princes sought to ensure the most favorable conditions for themselves in this trade, tried to strengthen their positions in the Crimea and the Black Sea region. Attempts by Byzantium to limit Russian influence or violate the terms of trade led to military clashes.

Under Prince Oleg, the combined forces of the Kievan state besieged the capital of Byzantium, Constantinople (the Russian name is Tsargrad) and forced the Byzantine emperor to sign a trade agreement beneficial for Russia (911). Another treaty with Byzantium has come down to us, concluded after Prince Igor's less successful campaign against Constantinople in 944.

In accordance with the agreements, Russian merchants came to Constantinople every summer for the trading season and lived there for six months. A certain place on the outskirts of the city was allocated for their residence. According to Oleg's agreement, Russian merchants did not pay any duty, trade was predominantly barter.

The Byzantine Empire sought to draw neighboring states into a struggle among themselves in order to weaken them and subject them to its influence. Thus, the Byzantine emperor Nicephorus Foka tried to use the Russian troops to weaken Danube Bulgaria, with which Byzantium waged a long and exhausting war. In 968, the Russian troops of Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich invaded Bulgaria and occupied a number of cities along the Danube, of which the most important was Pereyaslavets, a large commercial and political center in the lower reaches of the Danube. The successful offensive of Svyatoslav was regarded as a threat to the security of the Byzantine Empire and its influence in the Balkans. Probably under the influence of Greek diplomacy, the Pechenegs attacked militarily weakened Kyiv in 969. Svyatoslav was forced to return to Russia. After the liberation of Kyiv, he made a second trip to Bulgaria, already acting in alliance with the Bulgarian Tsar Boris against Byzantium.

The fight against Svyatoslav was led by the new Byzantine emperor John Tzimiskes, one of the prominent commanders of the empire. In the first battle, the Russian and Bulgarian squads defeated the Byzantines and put them to flight. Pursuing the retreating army, Svyatoslav's troops captured a number of large cities and reached Adrianople. Near Adrianople, peace was concluded between Svyatoslav and Tzimiskes. The bulk of the Russian squads returned to Pereyaslavets. This peace was concluded in the fall, and in the spring Byzantium launched a new offensive. The Bulgarian king went over to the side of Byzantium.

The army of Svyatoslav from Pereyaslavets moved to the Dorostol fortress and prepared for defense. After a two-month siege, John Tzimisces offered Svyatoslav to make peace. According to this agreement, Russian troops left Bulgaria. Trade relations were restored. Russia and Byzantium became allies.

The last major campaign against Byzantium was made in 1043. The reason for it was the murder of a Russian merchant in Constantinople. Having not received worthy satisfaction for the insult, Prince Yaroslav the Wise sent a fleet to the Byzantine shores, headed by his son Vladimir and the governor Vyshata. Despite the fact that the storm scattered the Russian fleet, the ships under the command of Vladimir managed to inflict significant damage on the Greek fleet. In 1046, peace was concluded between Russia and Byzantium, which, according to the tradition of that time, was secured by a dynastic union - the marriage of the son of Yaroslav Vsevolodovich to the daughter of Emperor Constantine Monomakh.

The defeat of the Khazar Khaganate

The neighbor of the Old Russian state was the Khazar Khaganate, located on the Lower Volga and in the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov. The Khazars were a semi-nomadic people of Turkic origin. Their capital Itil, located in the Volga delta, became a major shopping center. During the heyday of the Khazar state, some Slavic tribes paid tribute to the Khazars.

The Khazar Khaganate held in its hands key points on the most important trade routes: the mouths of the Volga and Don, the Kerch Strait, the crossing between the Volga and the Don. The customs posts established there collected significant trade duties. High customs payments had a negative impact on the development of trade in Ancient Russia. Sometimes the Khazar Khagans (rulers of the state) were not content with trade fees, they detained and robbed Russian merchant caravans returning from the Caspian Sea.

In the second half of the X century. the systematic struggle of the Russian squads with the Khazar Khaganate began. In 965, the Kyiv prince Svyatoslav defeated the Khazar state. After that, the Lower Don was again settled by the Slavs, and the former Khazar fortress Sarkel (Russian name Belaya Vezha) became the center of this territory. On the shores of the Kerch Strait, a Russian principality was formed with its center in Tmutarakan. This city with a large seaport became an outpost of Russia on the Black Sea. At the end of the tenth century Russian squads made a number of campaigns on the Caspian coast and in the steppe regions of the Caucasus.

Fight against nomads

In the X and early XI centuries. nomadic tribes of the Pechenegs lived on the right and left banks of the Lower Dnieper, who made quick and decisive attacks on Russian lands and cities. To protect against the Pechenegs, the Russian princes built belts of defensive structures of fortified cities, ramparts, etc. The first information about such fortified cities around Kyiv dates back to the time of Prince Oleg.

In 969, the Pechenegs, led by Prince Kurei, besieged Kyiv. Prince Svyatoslav at that time was in Bulgaria. At the head of the defense of the city stood his mother, Princess Olga. Despite the difficult situation (lack of people, lack of water, fires), the people of Kiev managed to hold out until the arrival of the princely squad. South of Kyiv, near the city of Rodnya, Svyatoslav utterly defeated the Pechenegs and even captured Prince Kurya. And three years later, during a clash with the Pechenegs in the area of ​​​​the Dnieper rapids, Prince Svyatoslav was killed.

A powerful defensive line on the southern borders was built under Prince Vladimir the Holy. Fortresses were built on the rivers Stugna, Sula, Desna and others. The largest were Pereyaslavl and Belgorod. These fortresses had permanent military garrisons recruited from combatants ("the best people") of various Slavic tribes. Wishing to attract all the forces to the defense of the state, Prince Vladimir recruited into these garrisons mainly representatives of the northern tribes: Slovenes, Krivichi, Vyatichi.

After 1136, the Pechenegs ceased to pose a serious threat to the Kievan state. According to legend, in honor of the decisive victory over the Pechenegs, Prince Yaroslav the Wise built the St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv.

In the middle of the XI century. The Pechenegs were forced out of the southern Russian steppes to the Danube by the Turkic-speaking tribes of the Kipchaks who came from Asia. In Russia they were called Polovtsy, they occupied the North Caucasus, part of the Crimea, all the southern Russian steppes. The Polovtsians were a very strong and serious opponent, often making campaigns against Byzantium and Russia. The position of the Old Russian state was further complicated by the fact that the princely strife that began at that time crushed its forces, and some princes, trying to use the Polovtsian detachments to seize power, themselves brought enemies to Russia. The Polovtsian expansion was especially significant in the 90s. 11th century when the Polovtsian khans even tried to take Kyiv. At the end of the XI century. attempts were made to organize all-Russian campaigns against the Polovtsians. At the head of these campaigns was Prince Vladimir Vsevolodovich Monomakh. The Russian squads managed not only to recapture the captured Russian cities, but also to strike at the Polovtsy on their territory. In 1111, the capital of one of the Polovtsian tribal formations, the city of Sharukan (not far from modern Kharkov), was taken by Russian troops. After that, part of the Polovtsy migrated to the North Caucasus. However, the Polovtsian danger was not eliminated. Throughout the XII century. there were military clashes between the Russian princes and the Polovtsian khans.

International significance of the Old Russian state

The ancient Russian power in its geographical position occupied an important place in the system of European and Asian countries and was one of the strongest in Europe.

The constant struggle against the nomads protected a higher agricultural culture from ruin and contributed to the security of trade. Trade Western Europe with the countries of the Near and Middle East, with the Byzantine Empire, it largely depended on the military successes of the Russian squads.

The marriage ties of the Kyiv princes testify to the international significance of Russia. Vladimir the Holy was married to the sister of the Byzantine emperors, Anna. Yaroslav the Wise, his sons and daughters became related to the kings of Norway, France, Hungary, Poland, Byzantine emperors. Daughter Anna was the wife of the French king Henry I. son Vsevolod is married to the daughter of the Byzantine emperor, and his grandson Vladimir - the son of the Byzantine princess - married the daughter of the last Anglo-Saxon king Harald.

6. Culture

epics

The heroic pages of the history of the Old Russian state, connected with its defense from external dangers, were reflected in Russian epics. Epics are a new epic genre that arose in the 10th century. The most extensive epic cycle is dedicated to Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich, who actively defended Russia from the Pechenegs. In epics, the people called him the Red Sun. One of the main characters of this cycle was the peasant son, the hero Ilya Muromets, the defender of all the offended and unfortunate.

In the image of Prince Vladimir the Red Sun, scientists see another prince - Vladimir Monomakh. The people created in the epics a collective image of the prince - the defender of Russia. It should be noted that the events, although heroic, but of lesser importance for the people's life - such as the campaigns of Svyatoslav - were not reflected in the folk epic poetry.

Writing

Treaty of Prince Oleg with the Greeks in 911. compiled in Greek and Russian, is one of the first monuments of Russian writing. The adoption of Christianity by Russia significantly accelerated the spread of education. It contributed to the widespread penetration of Byzantine literature and art into Russia. The achievements of Byzantine culture initially came to Russia through Bulgaria, where by this time there was already a significant supply of both translated and original literature in an understandable Slavic language in Russia. Creators Slavic alphabet Bulgarian missionary monks Cyril and Methodius are considered, who lived in the 9th century.

With the adoption of Christianity, the emergence of the first educational institutions is associated. According to the chronicle, immediately after the baptism of the people of Kiev, St. Vladimir arranged a school in which the children of the “best people” were to study. During the time of Yaroslav the Wise, more than 300 children studied at the school at St. Sophia Cathedral. Monasteries were also original schools. They copied church books and studied the Greek language. As a rule, monasteries also had schools for the laity.

Literacy was quite widespread among the urban population. This is evidenced by graffiti inscriptions on the things and walls of ancient buildings, as well as birch bark letters found in Novgorod and some other cities.

Literature

In addition to translated Greek and Byzantine works, in Russia there are literary works of their own. In the Old Russian state, a special kind of historical composition arose - an annals. On the basis of weather records of the most important events, chronicles were compiled. The most famous ancient Russian chronicle is The Tale of Bygone Years, which tells the history of the Russian land, starting with the settlement of the Slavs and the legendary princes Kyi, Shchek and Khoriv.

Prince Vladimir Monomakh was not only an outstanding statesman, but also a writer. He was the author of Teachings to Children, the first memoir in the history of Russian literature. In the "Instruction" Vladimir Monomakh draws the image of an ideal prince: a good Christian, a wise statesman and a brave warrior.

The first Russian metropolitan, Hilarion, wrote the "Sermon on Law and Grace" - a historical and philosophical work that shows deep assimilation and comprehension Christian view on history by a Russian scribe. The author affirms the equal position of the Russian people among other Christian peoples. The "Word" of Hilarion also contains praise for Prince Vladimir, who enlightened Russia with baptism.

Russian people made long journeys to various countries. Some of them left travel notes and descriptions of their campaigns. These descriptions constituted a special genre - walking. The oldest walk was compiled at the beginning of the 11th century. Chernigov hegumen Daniel. This is a description of a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and other holy places. Daniel's information is so detailed and accurate that his "Journey" for a long time remained the most popular description of the Holy Land in Russia and a guide for Russian pilgrims.

Architecture and fine arts

Under Prince Vladimir, the Church of the Tithes was built in Kyiv, under Yaroslav the Wise - the famous St. Sophia Cathedral, the Golden Gate and other buildings. The first stone churches in Russia were built by Byzantine masters. The best Byzantine artists decorated the new Kyiv churches with mosaics and frescoes. Thanks to the cares of the Russian princes, Kyiv was called a rival of Constantinople. Russian craftsmen studied with visiting Byzantine architects and artists. Their works combined the highest achievements of Byzantine culture with national aesthetic ideas.

RUSSIA IN XII - EARLY 17th century

SOURCES

Chronicles remain the most important sources for the history of medieval Russia. From the end of the XII century. their circle is expanding considerably. With the development of individual lands and principalities, regional chronicles spread. In the process of unification of Russian lands around Moscow in the XIV - XV centuries. a common Russian chronicle appears. The most famous all-Russian chronicles are the Troitskaya (beginning of the 15th century), Nikonovskaya (mid-16th century) chronicles.

The largest body of sources is made up of act materials-letters written on a variety of occasions. Letters were granted, deposit, in-line, bill of sale, spiritual, truce, statutory and others, depending on the purpose. With the strengthening of the centralization of state power and the development of the feudal-local system, the number of current clerical documentation (scribe, sentinel, bit, genealogical books, formal replies, petitions, memory, court lists) increases. Actual and office materials are the most valuable sources on the socio-economic history of Russia. From the 14th century in Russia they begin to use paper, but for household and household records they continue to use parchment and even birch bark.

In historical research, scholars often use works fiction. The most common genres in ancient Russian literature were stories, words, teachings, journeys, lives. “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” (end of the 12th century), “The Prayer of Daniel the Sharpener” (beginning of the 13th century), “Zadonshchina” (end of the 14th century), “The Tale of Mama’s Battle” (the turn of the 14th - 15th centuries. ), “Walking (walking) over the three seas” (end of the 15th century) enriched the treasury of world literature.

The end of the XV - XVI centuries. became the heyday of journalism. The most famous authors were Iosif Sanin (“The Enlightener”), Nil Sorsky (“Tradition by a Disciple”), Maxim Grek (Messages, Words), Ivan Peresvetov (Big and Small Upholstered People, “The Tale of the Fall of Tsar-Grad”, “The Legend of Magmete-saltane").

In the middle of the XV century. The Chronograph was compiled - a historical work that examined not only Russian, but also world history.

The first Earth Hour action was held in 2007 in Sydney (Australia), and since then every year the number of countries and cities participating in the environmental event has only increased.

More than 7,000 cities and towns (with a population of more than 2 billion people) located in 188 countries of the world are planning to take part in the Earth Hour 2019 campaign. Of course, Russian cities, including Moscow and St. Petersburg, will be among them.

If you are not indifferent to the fate of the planet and you decide to join this action, then at the specified time you should turn off the lights in accessible rooms and disconnect electrical appliances that are not related to life support from the mains.

What date and time will Earth Hour 2019 be held:

Earth Hour 2019 scheduled for Saturday March 30, 2019. Promotion starts at 20:30 local time and lasts for an hour, until 21:30.

That is, the action Earth Hour 2019:
* Date - March 30, 2019
* The time of the event is from 20:30 to 21:30.

March 18 in Crimea is a day off or a working day:

I.e:
* March 18 in the Crimea and the city of Sevastopol is a day off.

If March 18 falls on a holiday (as happens in 2023, for example), the holiday is moved to the next business day.

If the holiday date coincides with the annual paid vacation, March 18 is not included in the number of calendar days of vacation, but extends it.

Is March 17 a shortened working day:

This norm is established in the 95th article of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation and applies to working days preceding, among other things, regional holidays.

When the closing of the Universiade 2019 in Krasnoyarsk:

Sports event ends on Tuesday 12 March 2019 colorful Closing Ceremony directed by Ilya Averbukh, which will last more than three hours.

What time will the Closing Ceremony of the Universiade 2019 start, where to watch:

Live show will show federal TV channel "Match!" . The start of the live television broadcast is 15:55 Moscow time.

Also live broadcast will be available on the channel "Match! Country".

On the Internet, a live online broadcast of the event can be launched on the Sportbox portal.

On the first calendar day of Spring.

That is, Maslenitsa in 2020:
* Begins - March 24, 2020
*Ends - March 1, 2020

The first day of Maslenitsa (Monday - "Meeting") in the 20th year is located after the Russian public holiday - Defender of the Fatherland Day, and in the case of a standard transfer, it will be a day off.

It is symbolic that the final day of Pancake week (in 2020 - March 1, 2020) falls on the first day of Spring. After all, it is on the seventh day of the celebration, on Sunday, at sunset, that a straw effigy of Maslenitsa is burned, which in folk tradition symbolizes the transformation of an obsolete winter into a beautiful Spring.

Old Russian state Old Russian state

a state in Eastern Europe that arose in the last quarter of the 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 - Novgorod and Kyiv, as well as lands located along the route "from the Varangians to the Greeks" (settlements in the area of ​​Staraya Ladoga, Gnezdova, etc.). In 882 Prince Oleg captured Kyiv and made it the capital of the state. In 988-89 Vladimir I Svyatoslavich introduced Christianity as the state religion (see Baptism of Russia). In the cities (Kyiv, Novgorod, Ladoga, Beloozero, Rostov, Suzdal, Pskov, Polotsk, etc.), handicrafts, trade, and education developed. Relations were established and deepened with the southern and western Slavs, Byzantium, Western and Northern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. Old Russian princes repulsed the raids of nomads (Pechenegs, Torks, Polovtsians). The reign of Yaroslav the Wise (1019-54) is the period of the greatest prosperity of the state. Public relations were regulated by the Russian Truth and other legal acts. In the second half of the XI century. princely civil strife and raids of the Polovtsy led to a weakening of the state. Attempts to preserve the unity of the ancient Russian state were made by Prince Vladimir II Monomakh (ruled 1113-25) and his son Mstislav (ruled 1125-32). In the second quarter of the XII century. the state entered the final phase of disintegration into independent principalities, the Novgorod and Pskov republics.

OLD RUSSIAN STATE (Kievan Rus), a state of the 9th - early 12th centuries. in Eastern Europe, which arose in the last quarter of the 9th century. as a result of unification under the rule of the princes of the Rurik dynasty (cm. RURIKOVICH) two main centers of the Eastern Slavs - Novgorod and Kyiv, as well as lands (settlements in the area of ​​Staraya Ladoga, Gnezdov) located along the path "from the Varangians to the Greeks" (cm. THE WAY FROM THE VARANGIANS TO THE GREEKS). During its heyday, the Old Russian state covered the territory from the Taman Peninsula in the south, the Dniester and the upper reaches of the Vistula in the west, to the upper reaches of the Northern Dvina in the north. The formation of the state was preceded by a long period (from the 6th century) of the maturation of its prerequisites in the depths of military democracy. (cm. MILITARY DEMOCRACY). During the existence of the Old Russian state, the East Slavic tribes formed into the Old Russian people.
Socio-political system
Power in Russia belonged to the prince of Kyiv, who was surrounded by a retinue (cm. DRUZHINA), dependent on him and fed mainly at the expense of his campaigns. Veche also played a certain role (cm. VECHE). The administration of the state was carried out with the help of thousands and sots, that is, on the basis of a military organization. The prince's income came from various sources. In the 10th - early 11th centuries. this is basically "polyudye", "lessons" (tribute), received annually from the field.
In the 11th - early 12th centuries. due to the emergence of large landownership with various types the annuities of the prince's function expanded. Owning his own large domain, the prince was forced to manage a complex economy, appoint posadniks, volostels, tiuns, and manage a numerous administration. He was a military leader, now he had to organize not so much a squad as a militia, led by vassals, to hire foreign troops. Measures to strengthen and protect external borders have become more complicated. The power of the prince was unlimited, but he had to reckon with the opinion of the boyars. The role of the veche declined. The princely court became the administrative center, where all the threads of government converged. Palace officials arose who were in charge of individual branches of government. At the head of the cities was the city patriciate, which was formed in the 11th century. from large local landowners - "elders" and combatants. Noble families played a big role in the history of cities (for example, the family of Jan Vyshatich, Ratibor, Chudin - in Kyiv, Dmitry Zavidich - in Novgorod). Merchants enjoyed great influence in the city. The need to protect goods during transportation led to the emergence of armed merchant guards; among the city militia, merchants occupied the first place. The largest part of the urban population were artisans, both free and dependent. A special place was occupied by the clergy, divided into black (monastic) and white (secular). The head of the Russian Church was usually appointed by the Patriarch of Constantinople, the Metropolitan, to whom the bishops were subordinate. Monasteries headed by abbots were subject to bishops and the metropolitan.
The rural population consisted of free communal peasants (their number was decreasing), and already enslaved peasants. There was a group of peasants who were cut off from the community, deprived of the means of production and who were the labor force within the patrimony. The growth of large landownership, the enslavement of free community members and the growth of their exploitation led to an intensification of the class struggle in the 11th-12th centuries. (uprisings in Suzdal in 1024; in Kyiv in 1068-1069; on Beloozero about 1071; in Kyiv in 1113). The uprisings in most cases were disunited, they were attended by pagan sorcerers, who used disgruntled peasants to fight the new religion - Christianity. A particularly strong wave of popular uprisings swept through Russia in the 1060s-1070s. in connection with the famine and the invasion of the Polovtsians. During these years, a collection of laws "The Truth of the Yaroslavichs" was created, a number of articles of which provided for punishment for the murder of employees of the patrimony. Public relations were regulated by Russian Truth (cm. RUSSIAN PRAVDA (code of law)) and other legal acts.
Political history
The course of historical events in the Old Russian state is known from the annals (cm. CHRONICLES) compiled in Kyiv and Novgorod by monks. According to The Tale of Bygone Years (cm. THE TALE OF TIME YEARS)”, the first prince of Kyiv was the legendary Kiy. The dating of the facts begins with 852 AD. e. The chronicle includes a legend about the calling of the Varangians (862) headed by Rurik, which became in the 18th century. the basis of the Norman theory of the creation of the Old Russian state by the Vikings. Two associates of Rurik - Askold and Dir moved to Tsargrad along the Dnieper, subjugating Kyiv along the way. After the death of Rurik, power in Novgorod passed to the Varangian Oleg (d. 912), who, having dealt with Askold and Dir, captured Kyiv (882), and in 883-885. conquered the Drevlyans, northerners, Radimichi and in 907 and 911. made campaigns against Byzantium.
Oleg's successor Prince Igor continued his active foreign policy. In 913, through Itil, he made a trip to the western coast of the Caspian Sea, twice (941, 944) attacked Byzantium. Tribute demands from the Drevlyans caused their uprising and the murder of Igor (945). His wife Olga was one of the first in Russia to adopt Christianity, streamlined local government and established tribute standards (“lessons”). The son of Igor and Olga, Svyatoslav Igorevich (ruled 964-972), ensured the freedom of trade routes to the east, through the lands of the Volga Bulgars and the Khazars, and strengthened the international position of Russia. Russia under Svyatoslav settled on the Black Sea and on the Danube (Tmutarakan, Belgorod, Pereyaslavets on the Danube), but after an unsuccessful war with Byzantium, Svyatoslav was forced to abandon his conquests in the Balkans. Upon returning to Russia, he was killed by the Pechenegs.
Svyatoslav was succeeded by his son Yaropolk, who killed a competitor - Oleg's brother, the Drevlyansk prince (977). The younger brother of Yaropolk, Vladimir Svyatoslavich, with the help of the Varangians, captured Kyiv. Yaropolk was killed, and Vladimir became the Grand Duke (reigned 980-1015). The need to replace the old ideology of the tribal system with the ideology of the nascent state prompted Vladimir to introduce in Russia in 988-989. Christianity in the form of Byzantine Orthodoxy. The first to accept the Christian religion were the social elites, the masses of the people held on to pagan beliefs for a long time. The reign of Vladimir accounts for the heyday of the Old Russian state, whose lands stretched from the Baltic and the Carpathians to the Black Sea steppes. After the death of Vladimir (1015), a strife arose between his sons, in which two of them were killed - Boris and Gleb, who were canonized by the church. Svyatopolk, the murderer of the brothers, fled after fighting with his brother Yaroslav the Wise, who became the prince of Kyiv (1019-1054). In 1021 Yaroslav was opposed by Prince Bryachislav of Polotsk (reigned in 1001-1044), with whom peace was bought at the price of ceding to Bryachislav key points on the trade route "from the Varangians to the Greeks" - Usvyatsky portage and Vitebsk. Three years later, Yaroslav was opposed by his brother, Prince Mstislav of Tmutarakan. After the battle at Listven (1024), the Old Russian state was divided along the Dnieper: the right bank with Kyiv went to Yaroslav, the left bank - to Mstislav. After the death of Mstislav (1036), the unity of Russia was restored. Yaroslav the Wise led energetic activities to strengthen the state, eliminate church dependence on Byzantium (the formation of an independent metropolis in 1037) and expand urban planning. Under Yaroslav the Wise, the political ties of Ancient Russia with the states of Western Europe were strengthened. The Old Russian state had dynastic ties with Germany, France, Hungary, Byzantium, Poland, and Norway.
The sons who inherited Yaroslav divided their father's possessions: Izyaslav Yaroslavich received Kyiv, Svyatoslav Yaroslavich - Chernigov, Vsevolod Yaroslavich - Pereyaslavl South. The Yaroslavichi tried to preserve the unity of the Old Russian state, tried to act in concert, but they could not prevent the process of state disintegration. The situation was complicated by the onslaught of the Polovtsy, in a battle with which the Yaroslavichs were defeated. The people's militia demanded weapons to resist the enemy. The refusal led to an uprising in Kyiv (1068), the flight of Izyaslav and the reign of Polotsk Vseslav Bryachislavich in Kyiv, who was expelled in 1069 by the combined forces of Izyaslav and Polish troops. Soon feuds arose among the Yaroslavichs, which led to the exile of Izyaslav to Poland (1073). After the death of Svyatoslav (1076), Izyaslav returned to Kyiv again, but was soon killed in battle (1078). Vsevolod Yaroslavich, who became the prince of Kyiv (reigned in 1078-1093), could not restrain the process of disintegration of the unified state. Only after the invasions of the Polovtsy (1093-1096 and 1101-1103) did the ancient Russian princes unite around the Kyiv prince to repel the common danger.
At the turn of the 11th-12th centuries. in the largest centers of Russia reigned: Svyatopolk Izyaslavich (1093-1113) in Kyiv, Oleg Svyatoslavich in Chernigov, Vladimir Monomakh in Pereyaslavl. Vladimir Monomakh was a subtle politician, he urged the princes to unite more closely in the fight against the Polovtsy. The congresses of princes convened for this purpose did not justify themselves (Lyubechsky congress, Dolobsky congress). After the death of Svyatopolk (1113), a city uprising broke out in Kyiv. Monomakh, invited to reign in Kiev, issued a compromise law that eased the position of debtors. Gradually, he strengthened his position as the supreme ruler of Russia. Having pacified the Novgorodians, Vladimir put his sons in Pereyaslavl, Smolensk and Novgorod. He almost unilaterally disposed of all the military forces of Ancient Russia, directed them not only against the Polovtsians, but also against recalcitrant vassals and neighbors. As a result of campaigns deep into the steppe, the Polovtsian danger was eliminated. But, despite the efforts of Monomakh, it was not possible to prevent the collapse of the Old Russian state. objective historical processes continued to develop, which was expressed primarily in the rapid growth of local centers - Chernigov, Galich, Smolensk, reaching for independence. The son of Monomakh, Mstislav Vladimirovich (who reigned in 1125-1132), managed to inflict a new defeat on the Polovtsy and send their princes to Byzantium (1129). After the death of Mstislav (1132), the Old Russian state broke up into a number of independent principalities. The period of fragmentation of Russia began.
Fight against nomads. Ancient Russia waged a constant struggle with the nomadic hordes, who alternately lived in the Black Sea steppes: Khazars, Ugrians, Pechenegs, Torks, Polovtsians. Nomads of the Pechenegs at the end of the 9th century. occupied the steppes from Sarkel on the Don to the Danube. Their raids forced Vladimir Svyatoslavich to strengthen the southern borders (“set up cities”). Yaroslav the Wise in 1036 actually destroyed the western unification of the Pechenegs. But then Torks appeared in the Black Sea steppes, which in 1060 were defeated by the combined forces of the ancient Russian princes. From the second half of the 11th c. the steppes from the Volga to the Danube began to be occupied by the Polovtsy, who mastered the most important trade routes between Europe and the countries of the East. The Polovtsy won a major victory over the Russians in 1068. Russia withstood a strong onslaught of the Polovtsy in 1093-1096, which required the unification of all its princes. In 1101 relations with the Polovtsy improved, but already in 1103 the Polovtsy violated the peace treaty. It took a series of campaigns by Vladimir Monomakh against the Polovtsian winter quarters in the depths of the steppes, which ended in 1117 with their migration to the south, to the North Caucasus. The son of Vladimir Monomakh, Mstislav, pushed the Polovtsy beyond the Don, Volga and Yaik.
economy
In the era of the formation of the Old Russian state, arable farming with draft tillage tools gradually replaced hoe tillage everywhere (in the north somewhat later). A three-field system of agriculture appeared; wheat, oats, millet, rye, barley were grown. Chronicles mention spring and winter bread. The population was also engaged in cattle breeding, hunting, fishing and beekeeping. The village craft was of secondary importance. Iron-making production, based on local swamp ore, stood out the earliest. The metal was obtained by raw-blowing method. Written sources give several terms for designating a rural settlement: “pogost” (“peace”), “freedom” (“sloboda”), “village”, “village”. The study of the ancient Russian village by archaeologists made it possible to identify various types of settlements, to establish their size and the nature of development.
The main trend in the development of the social system of Ancient Russia was the formation of feudal ownership of land, with the gradual enslavement of free community members. The result of the enslavement of the village was its inclusion in the system of feudal economy based on labor and food rent. Along with this, there were elements of slavery (servility).
In the 6th-7th centuries. in the forest zone, the places of settlements of a clan or a small family (fortifications) disappear, and they are replaced by unfortified village settlements and fortified estates of the nobility. The patrimonial economy begins to take shape. The center of the patrimony is the "princeyard", in which the prince lived at times, where, in addition to his choir, there were houses of his servants - boyars-druzhins, dwellings of smerds, serfs. The patrimony was ruled by a boyar - an ognischanin, who disposed of princely tiuns (cm. TIUN). Representatives of the patrimonial administration had both economic and political functions. Crafts developed in the patrimonial economy. With the complication of the patrimonial system, the seclusion of the private artisans began to disappear, and there was a connection with the market and competition with urban crafts.
The development of crafts and trade led to the emergence of cities. The most ancient of them are Kyiv, Chernigov, Pereyaslavl, Smolensk, Rostov, Ladoga, Pskov, Polotsk. The center of the city was a trade where handicraft products were sold. Various types of crafts developed in the city: blacksmithing, weapons, jewelry (forging and embossing, embossing and stamping of silver and gold, filigree, granulation), pottery, leather, tailoring. In the second half of the 10th c. master marks appeared. Under Byzantine influence at the end of the 10th century. enamel production began. In large cities there were trading farmsteads for visiting merchants - "guests".
The trade route from Russia to the eastern countries passed along the Volga and the Caspian Sea. The path to Byzantium and Scandinavia (the path "from the Varangians to the Greeks"), in addition to the main direction (Dnepr - Lovat), had a branch to the Western Dvina. There were two routes to the west: from Kyiv to Central Europe (Moravia, Czech Republic, Poland, Southern Germany) and from Novgorod and Polotsk across the Baltic Sea to Scandinavia and the Southern Baltic. In the 9th - mid-11th centuries. in Russia, the influence of Arab merchants was great, trade ties with Byzantium and Khazaria were strengthened. Ancient Russia exported furs, wax, linen, linen, silverware to Western Europe. Expensive fabrics (Byzantine curtains, brocade, oriental silks), silver and copper in dirhems, tin, lead, copper, spices, incense, medicinal plants, dyes, Byzantine church utensils were imported. Later, in the middle of the 11th-12th centuries. In connection with the change in the international situation (the collapse of the Arab Caliphate, the dominance of the Polovtsy in the southern Russian steppes, the beginning of the Crusades), many traditional trade routes were disrupted. The penetration of Western European merchants into the Black Sea, the competition of the Genoese and Venetians paralyzed the trade of Ancient Russia in the south, and by the end of the 12th century. it was mainly moved to the north - to Novgorod, Smolensk and Polotsk.
culture
The culture of Ancient Russia is rooted in the depths of the culture of the Slavic tribes. During the formation and development of the state, it reached a high level and was enriched by the influence of Byzantine culture. As a result, Kievan Rus was among the culturally advanced states of its time. The center of culture was the city. Literacy in the Old Russian state was relatively widespread among the people, as evidenced by birch bark letters and inscriptions on household items (whirlwinds, barrels, vessels). There is information about the existence of schools in Russia at that time (even for women).
The parchment books of Ancient Russia have survived to this day: translated literature, collections, liturgical books; among them the oldest - "Ostromir Gospel (cm. OSTROMIROVO GOSPEL)". The most educated in Russia were the monks. Prominent cultural figures were Metropolitan Hilarion of Kyiv (cm. HILARION (metropolitan)), Bishop of Novgorod Luka Zhidyata (cm. LUKA Zhidyata), Theodosius Pechersky (cm. THEODOSIY Pechersky), chroniclers Nikon (cm. NIKON (chronicler)), Nestor (cm. NESTOR (chronicler)), Sylvester (cm. Sylvester Pechersky). The assimilation of Church Slavonic writing was accompanied by the transfer to Russia of the main monuments of early Christian and Byzantine literature: biblical books, the writings of the church fathers, the lives of saints, the apocrypha (“The Virgin’s Passage through the Torments”), historiography (“The Chronicle” of John Malala), as well as works of Bulgarian literature (“ Shestodnev" by John), Chekhomoravian (lives of Vyacheslav and Lyudmila). In Russia they were translated from Greek Byzantine chronicles (George Amartol, Sinkella), epic (“Deed of Devgen”), “Alexandria”, “History of the Jewish War” by Josephus Flavius, from Hebrew - the book “Esther”, from Syriac - the story of Akira the Wise. From the second quarter of the 11th c. original literature develops (chronicles, lives of saints, sermons). In the Sermon on Law and Grace, Metropolitan Hilarion treated with rhetorical art the problems of the superiority of Christianity over paganism, the greatness of Russia among other peoples. The Kievan and Novgorod chronicles were imbued with the ideas of state building. The chroniclers turned to the poetic traditions of pagan folklore. Nestor came to realize the kinship of the East Slavic tribes with all the Slavs. His "Tale of Bygone Years" acquired the significance of an outstanding chronicle of the European Middle Ages. Hagiographic literature was saturated with topical political issues, and its heroes were the princes-saints (“The Lives of Boris and Gleb”), and then the ascetics of the church (“The Life of Theodosius of the Caves”, “The Kiev-Pechersk Patericon”). In the lives for the first time, although in a schematic form, human experiences were depicted. Patriotic ideas were expressed in the genre of pilgrimage (The Journey by Abbot Daniel). In the "Instruction" to the sons, Vladimir Monomakh created the image of a just ruler, a zealous owner, an exemplary family man. Old Russian literary traditions and the richest oral epic prepared the emergence of the "Tale of Igor's Campaign (cm. A WORD ABOUT IGOREV'S POLIC)».
The experience of the East Slavic tribes in wooden architecture and construction of fortified settlements, dwellings, sanctuaries, their handicraft skills and traditions of artistic creativity were assimilated by the art of Ancient Russia. In its formation, a huge role was played by the trends coming from abroad (from Byzantium, the Balkan and Scandinavian countries, Transcaucasia and the Middle East). In a relatively short period of the heyday of Ancient Russia, Russian masters mastered new methods of stone architecture, the art of mosaics, frescoes, icon painting, and book miniatures.
The types of ordinary settlements and dwellings, the technique of erecting wooden buildings from horizontally laid logs for a long time remained the same as that of the ancient Slavs. But already in the 9th - early 10th centuries. extensive yards of estates appeared, and in princely possessions - wooden castles (Lyubech). From the fortified settlements, fortress cities developed with residential buildings inside and with outbuildings adjacent to the defensive rampart (Kolodyazhnensky and Raykovetsky settlements, both in the Zhytomyr region; destroyed in 1241).
On trade routes at the confluence of rivers or at river bends, cities grew from large settlements of the Slavs and new ones were founded. They were composed of a fortress on a hill (detinets, the kremlin - the residence of the prince and a refuge for the townspeople in case of attack by enemies) with a defensive earthen rampart, a chopped wall on it and with a moat from the outside, and from the settlement (sometimes fortified). The streets of the settlement went to the Kremlin (Kyiv, Pskov) or parallel to the river (Novgorod), in some places they had wooden pavements and were built up in treeless areas with huts (Kyiv, Suzdal), and in forest areas - with log houses in one or two log cabins with canopies (Novgorod, Staraya Ladoga). The dwellings of wealthy citizens consisted of several interconnected log cabins. different heights on the basements, had a tower ("polusha"), external porches and were located in the depths of the yard (Novgorod). Mansions in the Kremlin from the middle of the 10th century. had two-story stone parts, either tower-like (Chernigov), or with towers along the edges or in the middle (Kyiv). Sometimes mansions contained halls with an area of ​​more than 200 square meters (Kyiv). Common to the ancient Russian cities were the picturesque silhouette, dominated by the Kremlin with its colorful mansions and temples, shone with gilded roofs and crosses, and an organic connection with the landscape, which arose due to the use of the terrain not only for strategic, but also for artistic purposes.
From the second half of the 9th c. chronicles mention wooden Christian churches (Kyiv), the number and size of which increase after the baptism of Russia. These were (judging by the conditional images in the manuscripts) rectangular, octagonal or cruciform in terms of construction with a steep roof and a cupola. Later they were crowned with five (the Church of Boris and Gleb in Vyshgorod near Kyiv, 1020-1026, the architect Mironeg) and even thirteen domes (the wooden St. Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod, 989). The first stone Church of the Tithes in Kyiv (989-996, destroyed in 1240) was built of alternating rows of stone and flat square plinth bricks on mortar from a mixture of crushed bricks with lime (zemyanka). In the same technique, masonry was erected that appeared in the 11th century. stone travel towers in city fortifications (Golden Gate in Kyiv), stone fortress walls (Pereyaslav Yuzhny, Kiev-Pechersky Monastery, Staraya Ladoga; all late 11th - early 12th centuries) and majestic three-aisled ones (Savior Transfiguration Cathedral in Chernigov, begun before 1036) and five-nave (Sophia Cathedrals in Kyiv, 1037, Novgorod, 1045-1050, Polotsk, 1044-1066) churches with choirs along three walls for the princes and their entourage. The type of cross-domed church, universal for Byzantine religious construction, is interpreted by ancient Russian architects in its own way - domes on high light drums, flat niches (possibly with frescoes) on the facades, brick patterns in the form of crosses, a meander. Old Russian architecture is similar to the architecture of Byzantium, the southern Slavs and Transcaucasia. At the same time, peculiar features are also manifested in ancient Russian churches: many domes (13 domes of St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv), a stepped arrangement of vaults and rows of semicircles-zakomars corresponding to them on the facades, porch galleries on three sides. The stepped-pyramidal composition, majestic proportions and tensely slow rhythm, balance of space and mass make the architecture of these significant buildings solemn and full of restrained dynamics. Their interiors, with a contrasting transition from the low side aisles shaded by the choirs to the spacious and brighter domed part of the middle nave leading to the main apse, amaze with emotional intensity and evoke a wealth of impressions that are generated by spatial divisions and a variety of viewpoints.
The best-preserved mosaics and frescoes in the St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv (mid-11th century) were executed mainly by Byzantine masters. The murals in the towers are secular scenes of dances, hunts, and stadiums full of dynamics. In the images of saints, members of the grand-ducal family, the movement is sometimes only indicated, the poses are frontal, the faces are strict. Spiritual life is conveyed through a stingy gesture and wide-open large eyes, whose gaze is fixed directly on the parishioner. This imparts tension and strength to images imbued with high spirituality. By the monumental character of execution and composition they are organically connected with the architecture of the cathedral. The miniature of Ancient Russia (“Ostromir Gospel” 1056-1057) and the colorful initials of handwritten books are distinguished by color richness and subtlety of execution. They resemble contemporary cloisonné enamel, which adorned the grand ducal crowns, pendants-colts, for which the Kyiv craftsmen were famous. In these products and in slate monumental reliefs, the motifs of Slavic and ancient mythology are combined with Christian symbols and iconography, reflecting the dual faith typical of the Middle Ages, which had long been retained among the people.
In the 11th century receives development and iconography. The works of Kyiv masters were widely recognized, especially the icons of the work of Alympius (cm. ALIMPIUS), which until the Mongol-Tatar invasion served as models for icon painters of all ancient Russian principalities. However, icons unconditionally related to the art of Kievan Rus have not been preserved.
In the second half of the 11th c. the princely construction of temples is being replaced by monastic construction. In fortresses and country castles, the princes built only small churches (Mikhailovskaya Goddess in Ostra, 1098, was preserved in ruins; the Church of the Savior on Berestov in Kyiv, between 1113 and 1125), and the three-nave, six-pillar monastery cathedral, more modest in size than urban, often without galleries and with choirs only along the western wall. Its static, closed volume, massive walls, divided into narrow parts by flat ledges-blades, create the impression of power and ascetic simplicity. Single-dome cathedrals are being built in Kyiv, sometimes without stair towers (the Assumption Cathedral of the Kiev Caves Monastery, 1073-1078, destroyed in 1941). Novgorod churches of the early 12th century. crowned with three domes, one of which is above the stair tower (the cathedrals of Antoniev, founded in 1117, and St. George's, begun in 1119, monasteries), or five domes (Nikolo-Dvorishchensky Cathedral, founded in 1113). The simplicity and power of architecture, the organic fusion of the tower with the main volume of the cathedral of the St. George's Monastery (architect Peter), giving integrity to its composition, distinguish this temple as one of the highest achievements of ancient Russian architecture of the 12th century.
At the same time, the style of painting also changed. In the mosaics and frescoes of the St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery in Kyiv (circa 1108, the cathedral was not preserved, restored anew) made by Byzantine and Old Russian artists, the composition becomes freer, the refined psychologism of images is enhanced by the liveliness of movements and the individualization of characteristics. At the same time, as the mosaic is replaced by a cheaper and more accessible fresco, the role of local masters increases, who in their works depart from the canons of Byzantine art and at the same time flatten the image, strengthen the contour principle. In the murals of the baptismal of the St. Sophia Cathedral and the Cathedral of the St. Cyril Monastery (both in Kyiv, 12th century), Slavic features prevail in the types of faces, costumes, the figures become squat, their color modeling is replaced by a linear elaboration, the colors brighten, halftones disappear; images of saints become closer to folklore ideas.
The artistic culture of the Old Russian state was further developed during the period of fragmentation in various ancient Russian principalities, due to the peculiarities of their economic and political life. A number of local schools arose (Vladimir-Suzdal, Novgorod), retaining a genetic commonality with the art of Kievan Rus and some similarities in artistic and stylistic evolution. In the local currents of the Dnieper and western principalities, the northeastern and northwestern lands, folk poetic ideas make themselves felt more strongly. The expressive possibilities of art are expanding, but the pathos of form is weakening.
A variety of sources (folk songs, epics, annals, works ancient Russian literature, monuments of fine arts) testify to the high development of ancient Russian music. Along with various types of folk art, military and solemn-ceremonial music played an important role. Trumpeters and performers on "tambourines" (percussion instruments such as drums or timpani) took part in military campaigns. At the court of the princes and the retinue nobility, singers and instrumentalists, both local and from Byzantium, were in the service. The singers sang the feats of arms of their contemporaries and legendary heroes in songs and tales that they themselves composed and performed to the accompaniment of the harp. Music sounded during official receptions, festivities, at the feasts of princes and eminent people. In folk life, a prominent place was occupied by the art of buffoons, in which singing and instrumental music were presented. Buffoons often appeared in princely palaces. After the adoption and spread of Christianity, church music was widely developed. The early written monuments of the Russian language are associated with it. musical art- hand-written liturgical books with a conditional ideographic record of tunes. The basics of ancient Russian church singing art were borrowed from Byzantium, but their further gradual transformation led to the formation of an independent singing style - Znamenny chant, along with which there was a special kind of kondakar singing.

ancient Russian state. The state that existed in the East Slavic lands from the end of the 9th century. to the second third (according to another point of view, to the middle) of the XII century. and uniting a significant part of the East Slavic lands (and at the end of the 10th - beginning of the 11th centuries - almost all of them).

Emergence. The Old Russian state was formed around 882 as a result of the unification of the Novgorod prince Oleg the Prophetic states, conventionally referred to in science as "Novgorod" and "Kyiv".

Capital: Kyiv.

Self names: Russia, Russian land; "Old Russian state" (or "Kievan Rus") it is called in historical science.

Head of State: Grand Duke Russian; until the middle of the 11th century. he was called the title “kagan” borrowed from the Khazars (in historical science, the head of the Old Russian state is called the Grand Duke of Kyiv).

Coat of arms. For the period from 960s. until 1054, the coat of arms of the Grand Duke of Russia (Kagan) is known. Under Svyatoslav Igorevich (964 - 972) and Svyatopolk the Accursed (1015 - 1016 and 1018 - 1019) it was a bident, under Vladimir Svyatoslavich (978 - 1015) and Yaroslav the Wise (1016 - 1018 and 1019 - 1054) .) - a trident.

Legislation Old Russian state at the end of IX - X centuries. was oral ("Law Russian"). During the XI - early XII centuries. a set of written laws is being formed - Russian Pravda (formed by such legislative monuments as Yaroslav's Pravda, Pokonvirny, Lesson to bridgemen, Yaroslavich's Pravda and Vladimir Monomakh's Charter).

Functions state apparatus at the end of the ninth - the end of the tenth century. performed by the warriors of the Grand Duke (Kagan); from the end of the tenth century such officials as virniki, mytniki, swordsmen are known.

Social system. In Soviet historiography, the Old Russian state was considered early feudal - i.e. one whose character was determined by the formation of feudal relations at that time. According to the scientists of the Leningrad school I.Ya. Froyanov, the feudal system in the Old Russian state was by no means a backbone.

Periods of the history of the state. Four major periods can be distinguished in the history of the Old Russian state.

1) Around 882 - early 990s. The state is federal in nature; the territories of the East Slavic tribal unions included in it enjoy wide autonomy and are generally poorly connected with the center. Therefore, the Old Russian state of this period is often characterized as a "union of unions of tribes." After the death in 972 of Svyatoslav Igorevich, the state generally breaks up into three independent "volosts" (Kyiv, Novgorod and Drevlyansk, reunited by Yaropolk Svyatoslavich only around 977).

2) Early 990s - 1054 As a result of the liquidation by Vladimir Svyatoslavich of most of the tribal principalities and the replacement of tribal princes by deputies (sons) of the Grand Duke of Russia (Kagan), the state acquires the features of a unitary state. However, as a result of the strife between Yaroslav the Wise and his brother Mstislav Vladimirovich (Fierce), in 1026 it again splits - into two halves (with a border between them along the Dnieper), - and only after the death in 1036 Mstislav Yaroslav restores the unity of the state .

3) 1054 - 1113 According to the will of Yaroslav the Wise, the state again takes on the features of a federation. It is considered the common property of the princely family of Rurikovich, each of which has the right to reign in a particular area ("volost"), but must obey the eldest in the family - the Grand Duke of Russia. However, as a result of the beginning in the XI century. rapid growth of cities (potential regional centers) and the decline in the importance of the Dnieper trade route (now and then blocked by the Polovtsy), the role of Kyiv as a single center that controls the Dnieper route begins to decline, and the federation tends to turn into a confederation (i.e., to the collapse of a single states).

4) 1113 - 1132 Vladimir Monomakh (1113 - 1125) and his eldest son Mstislav the Great (1125 - 1132) manage to stop the disintegration of the Old Russian state that had begun and again give it the features of a federation (rather than a confederation).

Since the objective reasons for the growth of centrifugal tendencies (and, in addition to those listed above, were the weak controllability of a huge state with the then means of communication and communication), neither Vladimir Monomakh nor Mstislav the Great could eliminate, after the death of the latter in 1132, these tendencies triumphed again . City "volosts" one after another began to come out of subordination to the Russian Grand Duke. The last of them did so in the 1150s. (why the time of the final collapse of the Old Russian state is sometimes attributed to the middle of the 12th century), but usually the turn of the first and second thirds of the 12th century is considered the end of the existence of the Old Russian state.

Literature

1. Karpov A.Yu. Vladimir Saint. M., 1997.
2. Karpov A.Yu. Duchess Olga. M., 2012.
3. Karpov A.Yu. Yaroslav the Wise. M., 2001.
4. Kotlyar N.F. Old Russian statehood. SPb., 1998.
5. Petrukhin V.Ya. Russia in the IX - X centuries. From the calling of the Varangians to the choice of faith. M., 2013.
6. Sverdlov M.B. Genesis and structure of feudal society in ancient Russia. M., 1983.
7. Froyanov I.Ya., Dvornichenko A.Yu. City-states of Ancient Russia. L., 1988.

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"Ancient Russia" opens a new book series "Russia - the way through the ages". The 24-series editions will present the entire history of Russia - from the Eastern Slavs to the present day. This book is dedicated to the reader ancient history Russia. It tells about the tribes that inhabited the territory of our country even before the appearance of the first Old Russian state, about how Kievan Rus was formed, about the princes and principalities of the 9th - 12th centuries, about the events of those ancient times. You will learn why pagan Russia became an Orthodox country, what role it played in the outside world, with whom it traded and fought. We will introduce you to the ancient Russian culture, which even then created masterpieces of architecture and folk art. The origins of Russian beauty and the Russian spirit lie in distant antiquity. We bring you back to basics.

A series: Russia - the way through the centuries

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by the LitRes company.

Old Russian state

In the distant past, the ancestors of Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians were one people. They came from related tribes who called themselves "Slavs" or "Slovenes" and belonged to a branch of the Eastern Slavs.

They had a single - Old Russian - language. The territories in which different tribes settled, then expanded, then contracted. Tribes migrated, others replaced them.

Tribes and peoples

What tribes inhabited the East European Plain even before the formation of the Old Russian state?

At the turn of the old and new era

SCYTHIANS ( lat. Scythi, Scythae; Greek Skithai) is the collective name of numerous Iranian-speaking tribes related to the Savromats, Massagets and Sakas and inhabiting the Northern Black Sea region in the 7th-3rd centuries. BC e. They were located in the regions of Central Asia, then they began to advance to the North Caucasus and from there to the territory of the Northern Black Sea region.

In the 7th century BC e. the Scythians fought with the Cimmerians and drove them out of the Black Sea region. Pursuing the Cimmerians, the Scythians in the 70s. 7th c. BC e. invaded Asia Minor and conquered Syria, Media and Palestine. But after 30 years they were expelled by the Medes.

The main territory of the settlement of the Scythians was the steppe from the Danube to the Don, including the Crimea.

The most complete information about the Scythians is contained in the writings of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus (5th century BC), who for a long time lived in Olbia surrounded by the Scythians and was well acquainted with them. According to Herodotus, the Scythians claimed to be descended from the first person - Targitai, the son of Zeus and the daughter of a river stream, and his sons: Lipoksai, Arpoksai and the younger - Koloksai. Each of the brothers became the ancestor of one of the Scythian tribal associations: 1) the "royal" Scythians (from Koloksai) dominated the rest, they lived in the steppes between the Don and the Dnieper;

2) nomadic Scythians lived on the right bank of the Lower Dnieper and in the steppe Crimea; 3) Scythians-plowmen - between the Ingul and the Dnieper (some scholars classify these tribes as Slavic). In addition to them, Herodotus singles out the Hellenic-Scythians in the Crimea and the Scythian farmers, not mixing them with "plowmen". In another fragment of his History, Herodotus notes that the Greeks incorrectly call all those living in the Northern Black Sea region Scythians. On Borisfen (Dnepr), according to Herodotus, lived Borysfenites, who called themselves Skolots.

But the entire territory from the lower reaches of the Danube to the Don, the Sea of ​​Azov and the Kerch Strait, in archaeological terms, is one cultural and historical community. Its main feature is the “Scythian triad”: weapons, horse equipment and “animal style” (that is, the predominance of realistic images of animals in the works of the craft; images of a deer are most common, later a lion and a panther were added).

The first Scythian mounds were excavated as early as 1830. Of the archaeological sites, the most famous mounds of the "royal" Scythians in the Northern Black Sea region are huge, rich in gold items. The "royal" Scythians, apparently, worshiped the horse. Every year, at the wake of the deceased king, 50 horsemen and many horses were sacrificed. Up to 300 bones of horses were found in some barrows.

Rich burial mounds indicate the existence of a slave-owning nobility. The ancient Greeks knew about the existence of the "Scythian kingdom", which until the 3rd century. BC e. was located in the Black Sea steppes, and after the invasion of the Sarmatians moved to the Crimea. Their capital was moved from the site of the modern Kamensky settlement (near Nikopol). In con. 2 in. Don. e. a kind of Scythian state in the Crimea became part of the Pontic kingdom.

From con. 1 in. BC e. More than once, the Scythians, defeated by the Sarmatians, did not represent a serious political force. They were also weakened by constant conflicts with the Greek colonial cities in the Crimea. The name "Scythians" later passed to the tribes of the Sarmatians and most other nomads who inhabited the Black Sea regions. Later, the Scythians dissolved among other tribes of the Northern Black Sea region. The Scythians in the Crimea existed until the invasion of the Goths in the 3rd century BC. n. e.

AT Early Middle Ages Scythians were called the northern Black Sea barbarians. E. G.

SKOLOT - the self-name of a group of Scythian tribes that lived in the 2nd floor. 1st millennium BC e. in the Northern Black Sea region.

The mention of cleaves is found in the writings of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus (5th century BC): “All the Scythians are in common - the name is cleaved.”

The modern historian B. A. Rybakov refers the skolots to the Scythian plowmen - the ancestors of the Slavs, and considers the term "cleaved" to be derived from the Slavic "kolo" (circle). According to Rybakov, the ancient Greeks called the Skolots who lived along the banks of the Borisfen (the Greek name for the Dnieper) borisfenites.

Herodotus cites a legend about the forefather of the Scythians - Targitai and his descendants Arpoksai, Lipoksai and Koloksai, according to which the chipped people got their name from the latter. The legend contains a story about the fall of sacred objects on the Scythian land - a plow, a yoke, an ax and a bowl. The plow and yoke are the tools of labor not of nomads, but of farmers. Archaeologists find cult bowls in Scythian burials. These bowls are similar to those common in pre-Scythian times in the forest-steppe archaeological cultures - Belogrudovskaya and Chernolesskaya (12-8 centuries BC), which many scientists associate with the Proto-Slavs. E. G.

SAVROMATS ( lat. Sauromatae) - nomadic Iranian tribes who lived in the 7th-4th centuries. BC e. in the steppes of the Volga and Ural regions.

By origin, culture and language, the Savromats are related to the Scythians. Ancient Greek writers (Herodotus and others) emphasized the special role that women played among the Savromats.

Archaeologists have found burials of wealthy women with weapons and horse equipment. Some Sauromatian women were priestesses - stone altars were found in the graves next to them. In con. 5th–4th centuries BC e. Sauromatian tribes pressed the Scythians and crossed the Don. In the 4th–3rd centuries BC e. they developed strong tribal alliances. The descendants of the Savromats are the Sarmatians (3rd century BC - 4th century AD). E. G.

Sarmatians - common name Iranian-speaking tribes, nomadic in the 3rd century. BC e. - 4 in. n. e. in the steppes from the Tobol to the Danube.

Women played an important role in the social organization of the Sarmatians. They were excellent horsewomen and shooters, they participated in battles along with men. They were buried in mounds as warriors - along with a horse and weapons. A number of historians believe that even the Greeks and Romans knew about the Sarmatian tribes; perhaps it was the information about the Sarmatians that became the source of ancient legends about the Amazons.

In con. 2 in. BC e. Sarmatians became an important political force in the life of the Northern Black Sea region. In alliance with the Scythians, they participated in campaigns against the Greeks, and in the 1st century. BC e. ousted the remnants of the Scythian tribes from the shores of the Black Sea. Since then, on ancient maps, the Black Sea steppes - "Scythia" - began to be called "Sarmatia".

In the first centuries A.D. e. among the Sarmatian tribes, tribal unions of Roxolans and Alans stood out. In the 3rd century n. e. the Goths invading the Black Sea region undermined the influence of the Sarmatians, and in the 4th century. Goths and Sarmatians were defeated by the Huns. After that, part of the Sarmatian tribes joined the Huns and participated in the Great Migration of Peoples. Alans and Roxolans remained in the Northern Black Sea region. E. G.

ROKSOLANS ( lat. Roxolani; Iran.- "bright Alans") - a Sarmatian-Alanian nomadic tribe that led a large union of tribes that roamed in the Northern Black Sea and Azov regions.

The ancestors of the Roxolans are the Sarmatians of the Volga and Ural regions. In the 2nd–1st centuries BC e. Roxolans conquered the steppes between the Don and the Dnieper from the Scythians. According to the ancient geographer Strabo, “Roxolans follow their herds, always choosing areas with good pastures, in winter - in the swamps near Meotida (Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov. - E. G.), and in the summer - on the plains.

In the 1st century n. e. warlike Roksolani occupied the steppes and west of the Dnieper. During the Great Migration of Nations in the 4th-5th centuries. some of these tribes migrated along with the Huns. E. G.

ANTI ( Greek Antai, Antes) - an association of Slavic tribes or a tribal union related to them. In the 3rd–7th centuries inhabited the forest-steppes between the Dnieper and the Dniester and east of the Dnieper.

Usually, researchers see the Turkic or Indo-Iranian designation of the union of tribes of Slavic origin in the name "Antes".

The Antes are mentioned in the works of Byzantine and Gothic writers Procopius of Caesarea, Jordanes and others. According to these authors, the Antes used a common language with other Slavic tribes, they had the same customs and beliefs. Presumably, earlier Antes and Slavins had the same name.

The Ants fought with Byzantium, the Goths and Avars, together with the Slavs and the Huns, ravaged the regions between the Adriatic and the Black Seas. The leaders of the Antes - "archons" - equipped embassies to the Avars, received ambassadors from the Byzantine emperors, in particular from Justinian (546). In 550-562 the possessions of the Ants were devastated by the Avars. From the 7th c. Antes are not mentioned in written sources.

According to the archaeologist V.V. Sedov, 5 tribal unions of the Ants laid the foundation for the Slavic tribes - Croats, Serbs, streets, Tivertsy and Polans. Archaeologists attribute to the Ants the tribes of the Penkovo ​​culture, whose main occupations were arable farming, settled cattle breeding, crafts and trade. Most of the settlements of this culture are of the Slavic type: small semi-dugouts. During the burial, cremation was used. But some finds cast doubt on the Slavic nature of the Antes. Two large craft centers of the Penkovo ​​culture have also been opened - Pastyrskoye Settlement and Kantserka. The life of the artisans of these settlements was unlike the Slavic one. E. G.

VENEDS, Venets - Indo-European tribes.

In the 1st century BC e. - 1 in. n. e. in Europe there were three groups of tribes with this name: Veneti on the peninsula of Brittany in Gaul, Veneti in the valley of the river. Po (some researchers associate the name of the city of Venice with them), as well as the Wends on the southeastern coast of the Baltic Sea. Up to the 16th c. the modern Gulf of Riga was called the Venedsky Gulf.

From the 6th century, as the southeastern coast of the Baltic Sea was settled by Slavic tribes, the Wends assimilated with new settlers. But since then, the Slavs themselves have sometimes been called Wends or Wends. Author of the 6th c. Jordan believed that the Slavs used to be called "Vendi", "Vendi", "Vindi". Many Germanic sources call the Baltic and Polabian Slavs "Wends". The term "Vendi" remained the self-name of a part of the Baltic Slavs until the 18th century. Yu. K.

SCLAVINS ( lat. Sclavini, Sclaveni, Sclavi; Greek Sklabinoi) is the common name for all Slavs, known both from Western early medieval and early Byzantine authors. Later it switched to one of the groups of Slavic tribes.

The origin of this ethnonym remains controversial. Some researchers believe that “Slavins” is a modified word “Slovene” in the Byzantine environment.

In con. 5 - beginning. 6th century the Gothic historian Jordanes called the Sclavinians and Antes Venets. “They live from the city of Novietun (a city on the Sava River) and the lake called Mursiansky (apparently, Lake Balaton is meant), to Danastra, and to the north - to Viskla; instead of cities, they have swamps and forests. The Byzantine historian Procopius of Caesarea defines the lands of the Slavs as located “on the other side of the Danube River not far from its bank”, that is, mainly in the territory of the former Roman province of Pannonia, which the Tale of Bygone Years connects with the ancestral home of the Slavs.

Actually, the word "Slavs" in various forms became known from the 6th century, when the Slavs, together with the Antes tribes, began to threaten Byzantium. Yu. K.

SLAVES - an extensive group of tribes and peoples belonging to the Indo-European language family.

The Slavic language "tree" has three main branches: East Slavic languages ​​(Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian), West Slavic (Polish, Czech, Slovak, Upper and Lower Lusatian-Serbian, Polabian, Pomeranian dialects), South Slavic (Old Church Slavonic, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Serbo-Croatian , Slovenian). All of them originated from a single Proto-Slavic language.

One of the most controversial issues among historians is the problem of the origin of the Slavs. Slavs have been known in written sources since the 6th century. Linguists have established that the Slavic language retained the archaic features of the once common Indo-European language. And this means that the Slavs are already in ancient times could separate from the common family of Indo-European peoples. Therefore, the opinions of scientists about the time of the birth of the Slavs differ - from the 13th century. BC e. up to 6 c. n. e. Equally different opinions about the ancestral home of the Slavs.

In the 2nd–4th centuries the Slavs were part of the tribes-carriers of the Chernyakhov culture (some scholars identify its distribution area with the Gothic state of Germanarich).

In the 6th–7th centuries Slavs settled in the Baltics, the Balkans, the Mediterranean, and the Dnieper region. For a century, about three-quarters of the Balkan Peninsula were conquered by the Slavs. The whole region of Macedonia adjoining Thessalonica was called "Sklavenia". By the turn of the 6th–7th centuries. include information about Slavic fleets that sailed around Thessaly, Achaia, Epirus and even reached southern Italy and Crete. Almost everywhere the Slavs assimilated the local population.

Apparently, the Slavs had a neighboring (territorial) community. The Byzantine Mauritius Strategist (6th century) noted that the Slavs did not have slavery, and the captives were offered either to ransom for a small amount, or to remain in the community as an equal. Byzantine historian, 6th c. Procopius of Caesarea noted that the tribes of the Slavs "are not ruled by one person, but since ancient times they live in the rule of the people, and therefore they consider happiness and unhappiness in life to be a common cause."

Archaeologists have discovered monuments of the material culture of the Slavs and Antes. The territory of the Prague-Korchak archaeological culture, which spread to the southwest of the Dniester, corresponds to the Sklavins, and the Penkovskaya culture to the east of the Dnieper corresponds to the Antams.

Using the data of archaeological excavations, one can quite accurately describe the lifestyle of the ancient Slavs. They were a settled people and were engaged in arable farming - archaeologists find plows, openers, rales, plow knives and other tools. Until the 10th c. The Slavs did not know the potter's wheel. hallmark Slavic culture was rough stucco ceramics. The settlements of the Slavs were located on the low banks of the rivers, were small in area and consisted of 15–20 small semi-dugouts, in each of which a small family lived (husband, wife, children). characteristic feature Slavic dwelling was a stone stove, which was located in the corner of a semi-dugout. Many Slavic tribes practiced polygamy (polygamy). The pagan Slavs burned the dead. Slavic beliefs are associated with agricultural cults, the cult of fertility (Veles, Dazhdbog, Svarog, Mokosh), higher gods are associated with the earth. There were no human sacrifices.

In the 7th century the first Slavic states arose: in 681, after the arrival of nomadic Bulgarians in the Danube region, who quickly mixed with the Slavs, the First Bulgarian Kingdom was formed, in the 8th–9th centuries. – The Great Moravian state, the first Serbian principalities and the Croatian state appeared.

At 6 - beg. 7th century the territory from the Carpathian Mountains in the west to the Dnieper and Don in the east and to Lake Ilmen in the north was settled by East Slavic tribes. At the head of the tribal unions of the Eastern Slavs - the northerners, the Drevlyans, the Krivichi, the Vyatichi, the Radimichi, the glades, the Dregovichi, the Polochans, etc. - were the princes. On the territory of the future Old Russian state, the Slavs assimilated the Baltic, Finno-Ugric, Iranian and many other tribes. Thus, the ancient Russian nationality was formed.

There are currently three branches of the Slavic peoples. The southern Slavs include Serbs, Croats, Montenegrins, Macedonians, Bulgarians. To the Western Slavs - Slovaks, Czechs, Poles, as well as Lusatian Serbs (or Sorbs) living in Germany. Eastern Slavs include Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians.

E. G., Yu. K., S. P.

East Slavic tribes

BUZHANE - an East Slavic tribe that lived on the river. Bug.

Most researchers believe that Buzhans are another name for Volynians. On the territory inhabited by Buzhans and Volynians, a single archaeological culture was discovered. "The Tale of Bygone Years" reports: "The Buzhans, who were sitting along the Bug, later began to be called Volhynians." According to the archaeologist V.V. Sedov, part of the Dulebs that lived in the Bug basin were first called Buzhans, then Volhynians. Perhaps Buzhan is the name of only a part of the tribal union of the Volhynians. E. G.

VOLYNYANS, Velynyans - an East Slavic union of tribes that inhabited the territory on both banks of the Western Bug and at the source of the river. Pripyat.

The ancestors of the Volynians, presumably, were dulebs, and their earlier name was Buzhans. According to another point of view, "Volynians" and "Buzhans" are the names of two different tribes or tribal unions. The anonymous author of The Bavarian Geographer (1st half of the 9th century) counts 70 cities among the Volynians, and 231 cities among the Buzhans. Arab geographer 10th c. al-Masudi distinguishes between the Volhynians and the Dulebs, although, perhaps, his information refers to an earlier period.

In the Russian chronicles, the Volhynians are first mentioned in 907: they participated in the campaign of Prince Oleg against Byzantium as "interpreters" - translators. In 981 Kyiv Prince Vladimir I Svyatoslavich subjugated the Przemysl and Cherven lands where the Volhynians lived. Volynsky

The city of Cherven has since become known as Vladimir-Volynsky. In the 2nd floor. 10th c. on the lands of the Volynians, the Vladimir-Volyn principality was formed. E. G.

VYATICHI - East Slavic union of tribes that lived in the basin of the upper and middle reaches of the Oka and along the river. Moscow.

According to The Tale of Bygone Years, the ancestor of the Vyatichi was Vyatko, who came “from the Poles” (Poles) together with his brother Radim, the ancestor of the Radimichi tribe. Modern archaeologists do not find confirmation of the West Slavic origin of the Vyatichi.

In the 2nd floor. 9th–10th centuries Vyatichi paid tribute to the Khazar Khaganate. For a long time they maintained their independence from the Kievan princes. As allies, the Vyatichi participated in the campaign of the Kyiv prince Oleg against Byzantium in 911. In 968, the Vyatichi were defeated by the Kyiv prince Svyatoslav. In the beginning. 12th c. Vladimir Monomakh fought with the Vyatichi prince Khodota. In con. 11–beginning 12th century Christianity was planted among the Vyatichi. Despite this, they retained pagan beliefs for a long time. The Tale of Bygone Years describes the funeral rite of the Vyatichi (the Radimichi had a similar rite): “When someone died, they arranged a feast for him, and then laid out a large fire, laid the deceased on it and burned it, after which, having collected the bones, they put them in a small vessel and placed them on pillars along the roads. This rite was preserved until the end. 13th century, and the "pillars" themselves in some areas of Russia met up to the beginning. 20th century

By the 12th century the territory of the Vyatichi was in the Chernigov, Rostov-Suzdal and Ryazan principalities. E. G.

DREVLYANES - East Slavic tribal union, which occupied in the 6th-10th centuries. the territory of Polissya, the Right Bank of the Dnieper, west of the meadows, along the course of the Teterev, Uzh, Ubort, Stviga rivers.

According to The Tale of Bygone Years, the Drevlyans "descended from the same Slavs" as the glade. But unlike the glades, "the Drevlyans lived in a bestial way, lived like cattle, killed each other, ate everything unclean, and they did not have marriage, but they kidnapped the girls by the water."

In the west, the Drevlyans bordered on the Volynians and Buzhans, in the north - on the Dregovichi. Archaeologists have discovered on the lands of the Drevlyans burials with cremations in urns in non-kurgan burial grounds. In the 6th–8th centuries burials in mounds spread, in the 8th–10th centuries. - urnless burials, and in the 10th-13th centuries. - corpses in burial mounds.

In 883, Prince Oleg of Kyiv "began to fight against the Drevlyans and, having conquered them, laid tribute on them for black marten (sable)", and in 911, the Drevlyans participated in Oleg's campaign against Byzantium. In 945, Prince Igor, on the advice of his squad, went “to the Drevlyans for tribute and added a new tribute to the previous one, and his men did violence to them,” but was not satisfied with what he had collected and decided to “collect more.” The Drevlyans, after conferring with their prince Mal, decided to kill Igor: "if we do not kill him, then he will destroy us all." Igor's widow, Olga, in 946 cruelly took revenge on the Drevlyans, setting fire to their capital, the city of Iskorosten, "she took the city elders prisoner, and killed other people, gave the third into slavery to her husbands, and left the rest to pay tribute," and all the land of the Drevlyans was attached to the Kyiv inheritance with the center in the city of Vruchiy (Ovruch). Yu. K.

DREGOVICHI - tribal union of Eastern Slavs.

The exact boundaries of the Dregovichi habitat have not yet been established. According to a number of researchers (V.V. Sedov and others), in the 6th–9th centuries. Dregovichi occupied the territory in the middle part of the river basin. Pripyat, in the 11th-12th centuries. the southern border of their settlement passed south of Pripyat, the northwestern - in the watershed of the Drut and Berezina rivers, the western - in the upper reaches of the river. Neman. The neighbors of the Dregovichi were the Drevlyans, Radimichi and Krivichi. The Tale of Bygone Years mentions the Dregoviches up to the middle. 12th c. According to archaeological research, the Dregovichi are characterized by agricultural settlements, mounds with cremations. In the 10th century the lands inhabited by the Dregovichi became part of Kievan Rus, and later became part of the Turov and Polotsk principalities. Vl. TO.

DULEBY - a tribal union of the Eastern Slavs.

They lived in the basin of the Bug and the right tributaries of the Pripyat from the 6th century. Researchers attribute the Dulebs to one of the earliest ethnic groups of the Eastern Slavs, from which some other tribal unions later formed, including the Volhynians (Buzhans) and the Drevlyans. Archaeological monuments of the Dulebs are represented by the remains of agricultural settlements and burial mounds with cremations.

According to chronicles, in the 7th c. Dulebs were invaded by the Avars. In 907, the duleb squad took part in the campaign of Prince Oleg against Constantinople. According to historians, in the 10th c. Duleb union broke up, and their lands became part of Kievan Rus. Vl. TO.

KRIVICHI - a tribal union of the Eastern Slavs of the 6th-11th centuries.

They occupied the territory in the upper reaches of the Dnieper, Volga, Western Dvina, as well as in the area of ​​Lake Peipus, Pskov and Lake. Ilmen. The Tale of Bygone Years reports that the cities of the Krivichi were Smolensk and Polotsk. According to the same chronicle, in 859 the Krivichi paid tribute to the Varangians "from overseas", and in 862, together with the Slovenes of Ilmen and the Chud, Rurik was invited to reign with the brothers Sineus and Truvor. Under 882, the Tale of Bygone Years contains a story about how Oleg went to Smolensk, to the Krivichi, and, having taken the city, "planted his husband in it." Like other Slavic tribes, the Krivichi paid tribute to the Varangians, went along with Oleg and Igor on campaigns against Byzantium. In the 11th-12th centuries. Polotsk and Smolensk principalities arose on the lands of the Krivichi.

Probably, the remnants of the local Finno-Ugric and Baltic (Ests, Livs, Latgals) tribes, who mixed with the numerous alien Slavic population, participated in the ethnogenesis of the Krivichi.

Archaeological excavations have shown that initially the specific burials of the Krivichi were long barrows: low rampart-like mounds from 12–15 m to 40 m long. By the nature of the burial grounds, archaeologists distinguish two ethnographic groups of Krivichi - Smolensk-Polotsk and Pskov Krivichi. In the 9th century long mounds were replaced by round (hemispherical). The dead were burned on the side, and most of the things burned on the funeral pyre along with the deceased, and only heavily damaged things and jewelry fell into the burials: beads (blue, green, yellow), buckles, pendants. In the 10th-11th centuries. among the Krivichi, a corpse appears, although up to the 12th century. the features of the former rite are preserved - a ritual fire under the burial and a barrow. The inventory of burials of this period is quite diverse: women's jewelry - bracelet-like knotted rings, neck necklaces made of beads, pendants to necklaces in the form of skates. There are items of clothing - buckles, belt rings (they were worn by men). Often in the mounds of the Krivichi there are decorations of the Baltic types, as well as the actual Baltic burials, which indicates a close connection between the Krivichi and the Baltic tribes. Yu. K.

POLOCHAN - Slavic tribe, part of the tribal union of the Krivichi; lived along the banks of the river. Dvina and its tributary Polot, from which they got their name.

The center of the Polotsk land was the city of Polotsk. In The Tale of Bygone Years, the Polotsk people are mentioned several times along with such large tribal unions as the Ilmen Slovenes, Drevlyans, Dregovichi, and Polans.

However, a number of historians question the existence of the Polochans as a separate tribe. Arguing their point of view, they draw attention to the fact that The Tale of Bygone Years does not in any way connect the Polochans with the Krivichi, whose possessions included their lands. Historian A. G. Kuzmin suggested that a fragment about the Polotsk tribe appeared in the Tale c. 1068, when the people of Kiev expelled Prince Izyaslav Yaroslavich and placed Prince Vseslav of Polotsk on the princely table.

All R. 10 - beginning. 11th century On the territory of Polotsk, the Polotsk principality was formed. E. G.

POLYANE - a tribal union of Eastern Slavs, who lived on the Dnieper, in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bmodern Kyiv.

One of the versions of the origin of Russia, mentioned in the Tale of Bygone Years, is associated with the glades. Scientists consider the "glade-Russian" version to be more ancient than the "Varangian legend", and attribute it to the con. 10th c.

The Old Russian author of this version considered the glades to be Slavs who came from Norik (a territory on the Danube), who were the first to be called the name "Rus": "The glade is now called Rus." In the annals, the customs of the Polyans and other East Slavic tribes, united under the name of the Drevlyans, are sharply contrasted.

In the Middle Dnieper near Kyiv, archaeologists discovered a culture of the 2nd Quarter. 10th c. with a characteristic Slavic funeral rite: clay soil was characteristic of the burial mounds, on which a fire was lit and the dead were burned. The boundaries of culture extended in the west to the river. Black grouse, in the north - to the city of Lyubech, in the south - to the river. Ros. This was, obviously, the Slavic tribe of the Polyans.

In the 2nd quarter 10th c. other people appear on the same lands. A number of scientists consider the Middle Danube to be the place of its initial settlement. Others identify him with Rugs-Rus from Great Moravia. These people were familiar with the potter's wheel. The dead were buried according to the rite of burial in burial mounds. Pectoral crosses were often found in barrows. Glade and Russ eventually mixed up, the Rus began to speak the Slavic language, and the tribal union received a double name - glade-Rus. E. G.

RADIMICHI - East Slavic union of tribes, who lived in the eastern part of the Upper Dnieper, along the river. Sozh and its tributaries in the 8th–9th centuries.

Convenient river routes passed through the lands of the Radimichi, connecting them with Kyiv. According to The Tale of Bygone Years, the founder of the tribe was Radim, who came "from the Poles", that is, of Polish origin, together with his brother Vyatko. Radimichi and Vyatichi had a similar burial rite - the ashes were buried in a log house - and similar temporal female jewelry (temporal rings) - seven-rayed (for Vyatichi - seven-lobed). Archaeologists and linguists suggest that the Balts, who lived in the upper reaches of the Dnieper, also participated in the creation of the material culture of the Radimichi. In the 9th century radimichi paid tribute to the Khazar Khaganate. In 885, these tribes were subordinated to the Kyiv prince Oleg Veshchim. In 984, the Radimichi army was defeated on the river. Pishchane governor of the Kyiv prince Vladimir

Svyatoslavich. The last time they were mentioned in the annals was in 1169. Then the territory of the Radimichi entered the Chernigov and Smolensk principalities. E. G.

RUSSIANS - in the sources of the 8th-10th centuries. the name of the people who participated in the formation of the Old Russian state.

In historical science, discussions about the ethnic origin of the Rus are still ongoing. According to the testimony of Arab geographers in the 9th-10th centuries. and the Byzantine emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus (10th century), the Rus were the social elite of Kievan Rus and dominated the Slavs.

The German historian G.Z. Bayer, invited to Russia in 1725 to work at the Academy of Sciences, believed that the Rus and the Varangians were one Norman (i.e., Scandinavian) tribe that brought statehood to the Slavic peoples. Bayer's followers in the 18th century. were G. Miller and L. Schlozer. Thus arose the Norman theory of the origin of the Rus, which is still shared by many historians.

Based on the data of The Tale of Bygone Years, some historians believe that the chronicler identified the "Rus" with the Glade tribe and led them, along with other Slavs, from the upper Danube, from Norik. Others believe that the Rus are a Varangian tribe, "called" to reign in Novgorod under Prince Oleg Veshchem, who gave the name "Rus" to the Kievan land. Still others prove that the author of The Tale of Igor's Campaign connected the origin of the Rus with the Northern Black Sea region and the Don basin.

Scientists note that in ancient documents the name of the people "Rus" was different - rugs, horns, rutens, ruyi, ruyans, wounds, rens, rus, ruses, dews. This word is translated as “red”, “red” (from the Celtic languages), “light” (from the Iranian languages), “rots” (from Swedish - “rowers on oared boats”).

Some researchers consider the Rus to be Slavs. Those historians who consider the Rus to be Baltic Slavs argue that the word "Rus" is close to the names "Rügen", "Ruyan", "rugi". Scientists who consider the Rus to be residents of the Middle Dnieper region notice that the word “ros” (r. Ros) is found in the Dnieper region, and the name “Russian land” in the annals originally denoted the territory of the glades and northerners (Kyiv, Chernihiv, Pereyaslavl).

There is a point of view according to which the Rus are the Sarmatian-Alanian people, the descendants of the Roxolans. The word "rus" ("ruhs") in Iranian languages ​​means "light", "white", "royal".

Another group of historians suggests that the Rus are Rugs who lived in the 3rd-5th centuries. along the river Danube of the Roman province of Noricum and c. 7th c. moved together with the Slavs in the Dnieper region. The mystery of the origin of the people "Rus" has not been solved so far. E. G., S. P.

SEVERYANES - East Slavic union of tribes that lived in the 9th-10th centuries. by rr. Desna, Seim, Sula.

The western neighbors of the northerners were the meadows and the Dregovichi, the northern neighbors were the Radimichi and the Vyatichi.

The origin of the name "northerners" is not clear. Some researchers associate it with the Iranian sev, sew - "black". In the annals, the northerners are also called "sever", "north". The territory near the Desna and the Seim has been preserved in Russian chronicles of the 16th–17th centuries. and Ukrainian sources of the 17th century. the name "North".

Archaeologists correlate the northerners with the carriers of the Volintsevo archaeological culture, who lived on the left bank of the Dnieper, along the Desna and the Seim in the 7th–9th centuries. The Volintsevo tribes were Slavic, but their territory was in contact with the lands inhabited by the bearers of the Saltov-Mayak archaeological culture.

The main occupation of the northerners was agriculture. In con. 8th c. they were under the rule of the Khazar Khaganate. In con. 9th c. the territories of the northerners became part of Kievan Rus. According to The Tale of Bygone Years, the Kyiv prince Oleg the Prophet freed them from tribute to the Khazars and laid a light tribute on them, saying: "I am an enemy to them [Khazars], but you have no need."

The centers of craft and trade of the northerners were the years. Novgorod-Seversky, Chernigov, Putivl, which later became the centers of the principalities. With the accession to the Russian state, these lands were still called "Seversk land" or "Seversk Ukraine". E. G.

SLOVENI ILMENSKY - a tribal union of the Eastern Slavs on the territory of Novgorod land, mainly in the lands near the lake. Ilmen, next to the Krivichi.

According to The Tale of Bygone Years, the Slovenes of Ilmen, together with the Krivichi, Chud and Mery, participated in the calling of the Varangians, who were related to the Slovenes - immigrants from the Baltic Pomerania. Slovenian soldiers were part of the squad of Prince Oleg, participated in the campaign of Vladimir I Svyatoslavich against the Polotsk prince Rogvold in 980.

A number of historians consider the Slovene Podneprovye to be the "ancestral home", others deduce the ancestors of the Ilmen Slovenes from the Baltic Pomerania, since the traditions, beliefs and customs, the type of dwellings of the Novgorodians and Polabian Slavs are very close. E. G.

TIVERTSY - an East Slavic union of tribes that lived in the 9th - early. 12th century on the river Dniester and at the mouth of the Danube. The name of the tribal union probably comes from the ancient Greek name of the Dniester - "Tiras", which, in turn, goes back to the Iranian word turas - fast.

In 885, Prince Oleg the Prophetic, who had conquered the tribes of the Polyans, Drevlyans, Severyans, tried to subjugate the Tivertsy to his power. Later, the Tivertsy participated in Oleg's campaign against Tsargrad (Constantinople) as "interpreters" - that is, translators, because they knew the languages ​​​​and customs of the peoples who lived near the Black Sea well. In 944, the Tivertsy, as part of the troops of the Kyiv prince Igor, again besieged Constantinople, and in the middle. 10th c. became part of Kievan Rus. In the beginning. 12th c. under the blows of the Pechenegs and Polovtsy, the Tivertsy retreated to the north, where they mixed with other Slavic tribes. The remains of settlements and settlements, which, according to archaeologists, belonged to the Tivertsy, have been preserved in the interfluve of the Dniester and Prut. Burial mounds with cremations in urns were found; among the archaeological finds in the territories occupied by the Tivertsy, there are no female temporal rings. E. G.

STREETS - East Slavic union of tribes that existed in 9 - ser. 10th century

According to The Tale of Bygone Years, the streets lived in the lower reaches of the Dnieper, the Bug and on the Black Sea coast. The center of the tribal union was the city of Peresechen. According to the historian of the 18th century. V. N. Tatishchev, the ethnonym "street" comes from the old Russian word "corner". The modern historian B. A. Rybakov drew attention to the testimony of the Novgorod First Chronicle: “Earlier, the streets were in the lower reaches of the Dnieper, but then they moved to the Bug and Dniester” - and concluded that Peresechen was on the Dnieper south of Kyiv. The city on the Dnieper under this name is mentioned in the Laurentian Chronicle under 1154 and in the "List of Russian cities" (14th century). In the 1960s archaeologists discovered street settlements in the area of ​​the river. Tyasmin (a tributary of the Dnieper), which confirms the conclusion of Rybakov.

The tribes for a long time resisted the attempts of the Kyiv princes to subjugate them to their power. In 885, Oleg the Prophet fought with the streets, already collecting tribute from the glades, Drevlyans, northerners and Tivertsy. Unlike most East Slavic tribes, the streets did not participate in Prince Oleg's campaign against Constantinople in 907. At the turn of the 40s. 10th c. Kyiv governor Sveneld kept the city of Peresechen under siege for three years. All R. 10th c. under the onslaught of nomadic tribes, the streets retreated to the north and were included in Kievan Rus. E. G.

On the borderlands

A variety of tribes and peoples lived around the territories inhabited by the Eastern Slavs. Neighbors from the north were Finno-Ugric tribes: Cheremis, Chud (Izhora), Merya, All, Korela. The Balto-Slavic tribes lived in the north-west: Zemigola, Zhmud, Yatvingians and Prussians. In the west - Poles and Hungarians, in the southwest - Volokhi (ancestors of Romanians and Moldavians), in the east - Mari, Mordovians, Muroma, Volga-Kama Bulgars. Let's get acquainted with some of the unions of tribes known from antiquity.

BALTS - the common name of the tribes that inhabited in the 1st - early. 2nd thousand territory from the south-west of the Baltic to the Upper Dnieper.

The Prussians (Estians), Yotvingians, Galinds (shank) made up a group of western Balts. The Central Balts included Curonians, Semigallians, Latgalians, Samogitians, Aukshtaites. The Prussian tribe has been known to Western and Northern writers since the 6th century.

From the first centuries of our era, the Balts were engaged in arable farming and cattle breeding. From the 7th–8th centuries known fortified settlements. The dwellings of the Balts were ground rectangular houses, surrounded by stones at the base.

A number of Baltic tribes are mentioned in the Tale of Bygone Years: Letgola (Latgalians), Zemigola (Semgallians), Kors (Curshians), Lithuanians. All of them, excluding the Latgalians, paid tribute to Russia.

At the turn of 1-2 thousand, the Baltic tribes of the Upper Dnieper region were assimilated by the Eastern Slavs and became part of the Old Russian people. Another part of the Balts formed the Lithuanian (Aukstaits, Samogitians, Skalvs) and Latvian (Curshians, Latgalians, Semigallians, villages) nationalities. Yu. K.

VARYAGI - the Slavic name of the population of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea (in the 9th-10th centuries), as well as the Scandinavian Vikings who served the Kyiv princes (in the 1st half of the 11th century).

The Tale of Bygone Years states that the Varangians lived along the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which in the annals is called the Varangian Sea, "to the land of Agnyanskaya and Voloshskaya." At that time, Danes were called Angles, and Italians were called Volohs. In the east, the boundaries of the settlement of the Varangians are indicated more vaguely - "up to the limit of Simov." According to some researchers, in this case it means

Volga-Kama Bulgaria (Varangians controlled the northwestern part of the Volga-Baltic route up to Volga Bulgaria).

The study of other written sources showed that on the southern coast near the Danes of the Baltic Sea lived "vagrs" ("varins", "vars") - a tribe that belonged to the Vandal group and by the 9th century. already glorified. In the East Slavic voicing, "Vagry" began to be called "Varangians".

In con. 8 - beginning. 9th century Franks began to advance on the lands of the Vagri-Varins. This prompted them to look for new places of settlement. In the 8th c. “Varangeville” (Varangian city) appears in France, in 915 the city of Varingvik (Varangian Bay) arose in England, the name Varangerfjord (Varangian Bay) in the north of Scandinavia is still preserved.

The eastern coast of the Baltic became the main direction of the Vagri-Varin migrations. To the east, they moved along with separate groups of Russ who lived along the shores of the Baltic Sea (on the island of Rügen, in the Baltic states, etc.). Hence, in The Tale of Bygone Years, the double naming of the settlers arose - Varangians-Rus: "And they went across the sea to the Varangians, to Russia, for that was the name of those Varangians - Rus." At the same time, the chronicler specifically stipulates that the Varangians-Rus are not Swedes, nor Norwegians, nor Danes.

In Eastern Europe, the Vikings appear in con. 9th c. The Varangians-Rus first came to the northwestern lands to the Ilmen Slovenes, and then descended to the Middle Dnieper. According to various sources and according to some scientists, at the head of the Varangians-Rus, who came to the Ilmen Slovenes from the shores of the South Baltic, was Prince Rurik. Names founded by him in the 9th century. cities (Ladoga, White Lake, Novgorod) say that the Varangians-Rus at that time spoke the Slavic language. The main god of the Varangian Rus was Perun. In the agreement between Russia and the Greeks in 911, which was concluded by Oleg the Prophet, it says: “But Oleg and his husbands were forced to swear allegiance according to Russian law: they swore by their weapons and by Perun, their god.”

In con. 9th–10th centuries The Varangians played a significant role in the northwestern Slavic lands. The chronicle states that Novgorodians descended from the Varangian clan. Kyiv princes constantly resorted to the help of hired Varangian squads in the struggle for power. Under Yaroslav the Wise, who was married to the Swedish princess Ingigerd, the Swedes appeared in the Varangian squads. Therefore, from the beginning 11th c. in Russia, people from Scandinavia were also called Varangians. However, in Novgorod the Swedes were not called Varangians until the 13th century. After the death of Yaroslav, the Russian princes stopped recruiting hired squads from the Varangians. The very name of the Varangians was rethought and gradually spread to all immigrants from the Catholic West. Yu. K., S. P.

NORMANNY (from scand. Northman - northern man) - in European sources of the 8th-10th centuries. the general name of the peoples who lived north of the Frankish state.

Normans in Western Europe were also called the inhabitants of Kievan Rus, which, according to the ideas of the German chroniclers, was in the northeast. Writer and diplomat of the 10th century Bishop Liutprand of Cremona, speaking about the campaign of Prince Igor of Kyiv in 941 against Constantinople, wrote: “Closer to the north, a certain people lives, which the Greeks ... call dews, but we call them Normans according to their location. Indeed, in German, nord means north, and man means a person; therefore, northern people can be called Normans.

In the 9th-11th centuries. the term "Norman" began to denote only the Scandinavian Vikings who raided the maritime borders of European states. In this meaning, the name "urmane" is found in the "Tale of Bygone Years". Many modern historians identify the Varangians, Normans and Vikings. E. G.

PECHENEGI - a union of Turkic nomadic tribes, formed in the 8th-9th centuries. in the steppes between the Aral Sea and the Volga.

In con. 9th c. The Pecheneg tribes crossed the Volga, pushed back the Ugric tribes roaming between the Don and the Dnieper to the west, and occupied a vast area from the Volga to the Danube.

In the 10th century The Pechenegs were divided into 8 tribes (“tribes”), each of which consisted of 5 clans. At the head of the tribes were the "great princes", and the clans were headed by the "small princes". The Pechenegs were engaged in nomadic cattle breeding, and also made predatory raids on Russia,

Byzantium, Hungary. Byzantine emperors often used the Pechenegs to fight against Russia. In turn, during the strife, the Russian princes attracted detachments of the Pechenegs to fight with their rivals.

According to The Tale of Bygone Years, the Pechenegs first came to Russia in 915. Having concluded a peace agreement with Prince Igor, they went to the Danube. In 968, the Pechenegs besieged Kyiv. The Kyiv prince Svyatoslav lived at that time in Pereyaslavets on the Danube, and Olga remained in Kyiv with her grandchildren. Only the cunning of the youth, who managed to call for help, allowed the siege to be lifted from Kyiv. In 972, Svyatoslav was killed in a battle with the Pecheneg Khan Kurei. The raids of the Pechenegs were repeatedly repulsed by Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich. In 1036, the Pechenegs again besieged Kyiv, but were defeated by Prince Yaroslav Vladimirovich the Wise and left Russia forever.

In the 11th century the Pechenegs were pushed back to the Carpathians and the Danube by the Polovtsians and Torks. Part of the Pechenegs went to Hungary and Bulgaria and mixed with the local population. Other Pecheneg tribes submitted to the Polovtsy. The rest settled on the southern borders of Russia and merged with the Slavs. E. G.

PO LOVETSY (self-name - Kypchaks, Cumans) - a medieval Turkic people.

In the 10th century Polovtsy lived on the territory of modern North-Western Kazakhstan, in the west they bordered on the Khazars, in the middle. 10th c. have crossed

Volga and moved to the steppes of the Black Sea and the Caucasus. Polovtsian nomad camps in the 11th–15th centuries occupied a vast territory - from the west of the Tien Shan to the mouth of the Danube, which was called Desht-i-Kipchak - "Polovtsian land".

In the 11th-13th centuries. the Polovtsy had separate unions of tribes headed by khans. The main occupation was cattle breeding. From the 12th century in the Polovtsian land there were cities that were inhabited, in addition to the Polovtsy, by the Bulgars, Alans and Slavs.

In Russian chronicles, the Polovtsians were first mentioned in 1054, when the Polovtsian Khan Bolush led the campaign against Russia. Pereyaslavl Prince Vsevolod Yaroslavich made peace with the Polovtsy, and they returned back, "where they came from." Constant Polovtsian raids on the Russian land began in 1061. During the strife, the Russian princes entered into alliances with them against their own brothers who ruled in neighboring principalities. In 1103, the earlier warring princes Svyatopolk and Vladimir Monomakh organized a joint campaign against the Polovtsians. On April 4, 1103, the combined Russian forces defeated the Polovtsy, and they left for the Transcaucasus with heavy losses.

From the 2nd floor. 12th c. Polovtsy raids devastated the Russian border lands. At the same time, many princes of South and North-Eastern Russia were married to Polovtsy women. The struggle of the Russian princes with the Polovtsy is reflected in the monument of ancient Russian literature "The Tale of Igor's Campaign". E. G.

State formation

Gradually, the scattered tribes of the Eastern Slavs unite. The Old Russian state appears, which went down in history under the names "Rus", "Kievan Rus".

OLD RUSSIAN STATE - common in historical literature the name of the state that has developed in con. 9th c. as a result of the unification under the rule of the princes from the Rurik dynasty of the East Slavic lands with the main centers in Novgorod and Kyiv. In the 2nd quarter 12th c. disintegrated into separate principalities and lands. The term "Old Russian state" is used along with other terms - "Russian land", "Rus", "Kievan Rus". Vl. TO.

RUSSIA, Russian land - the name of the association of the lands of the Eastern Slavs with the center in Kyiv, which arose in the end. 9th century; to con. 17th century the name extended to the territory of the entire Russian state, with the center in Moscow.

In the 9th-10th centuries. the name Rus is assigned to the territory of the future Old Russian state. At first, it covered the lands of the East Slavic tribe of Polyan-Rus from the years. Kyiv, Chernigov and Pereyaslavl. At 11 am. 12th century Rus began to be called the lands and principalities subordinate to the Kievan prince (Kievan Rus). In the 12th-14th centuries. Rus - the general name of the territory on which the Russian principalities were located, which arose as a result of the fragmentation of Kievan Rus. During this period, the names Great Russia, White Russia, Little Russia, Black Russia, Red Russia, etc. arose, as designations for various parts of the common Russian land.

In the 14th–17th centuries Russia is the name of the lands included in the Russian state, the center of which is from the 2nd floor. 14th c. became Moscow. S. P.

Kievan Rus, Old Russian state - a state in Eastern Europe, which arose as a result of the unification of lands under the rule of princes from the Rurik dynasty (9th-2nd quarter of the 12th centuries).

The first news about the existence of the state among the Eastern Slavs are legendary. The Tale of Bygone Years reports that among the northern East Slavic tribes (Novgorod Slovenes and Krivichi), as well as the Finno-Ugric Chuds, Meri and Vesi, strife began. It ended with the fact that its participants decided to find themselves a prince who would "rule them and judge by right." At their request, three Varangian brothers came to Russia: Rurik, Truvor and Sineus (862). Rurik began to reign in Novgorod, Sineus - in Beloozero, and Truvor - in Izborsk.

Sometimes, from the chronicle message about the invitation of Rurik and his brothers, it is concluded that statehood was brought to Russia from outside. It is enough, however, to pay attention to the fact that Rurik, Truvor and Sineus are invited to perform functions that are already well known to the inhabitants of the Novgorod land. So this story is only the first mention of public institutions that have already been operating (and apparently for a long time) on the territory of North-Western Russia.

The prince was the leader of an armed detachment and served as the supreme ruler, and initially not only secular, but also spiritual. Most likely, the prince led the army and was the high priest.

The squad consisted of professional soldiers. Some of them passed to the prince from his father (the "senior", or "large" squad). The younger warriors grew up and were brought up together with the prince from the age of 13-14. They were apparently bound by friendly ties, which were reinforced by mutual personal obligations.

The personal loyalty of the combatants was not secured by temporary land holdings. Old Russian warriors are completely at the expense of the prince. The warriors lived separately, in the princely "yard" (in the princely residence). The prince was considered in the retinue environment the first among equals. The squad was obliged to support and protect their prince. She performed both police and "foreign policy" functions to protect the tribes that invited this prince from violence from their neighbors. In addition, with her support, the prince controlled the most important trade routes (collected taxes and protected merchants in the territory subject to him).

Another way of forming the first state institutions could be the direct conquest of a given territory. An example of such a path among the Eastern Slavs is the legend about the founders of Kyiv. It is generally accepted that Kyi, Shchek and Khoriv are representatives of the local Polyana nobility. The name of the eldest of them was allegedly associated with the beginning of the Russian land as a proto-state association of the Polyan tribe. Subsequently, Kyiv was occupied by the legendary Askold and Dir (according to The Tale of Bygone Years - Rurik's warriors). A little later, power in Kyiv passed to Oleg, the regent of Igor, the young son of Rurik. Oleg deceived Askold and Dir and killed them. To justify his claims to power, Oleg refers to the fact that Igor is the son of Rurik. If before the source of power was an invitation to rule or capture, now the decisive factor for recognizing the power as legitimate is the origin of the new ruler.

The capture of Kyiv by the legendary Oleg (882) is usually associated with the beginning of the formation of the Old Russian state. From this event, the existence of a kind of "association" of the Novgorod, Smolensk and Kyiv lands begins, to which the lands of the Drevlyans, Northerners and Radimichi were later attached. The foundation was laid for an intertribal union of East Slavic, as well as a number of Finno-Ugric tribes inhabiting the forest and forest-steppe zones. of Eastern Europe. This association is usually called the Old Russian state, as well as

Ancient, or Kievan Rus. An external indicator of the recognition of the power of the Kyiv prince was the regular payment of tribute to him. The collection of tribute took place annually during the so-called polyudya.

Like any state, Kievan Rus uses force to achieve submission to its bodies. The main power structure was the princely squad. However, the inhabitants of Ancient Russia obey the prince not only and even not so much under the threat of the use of weapons, but voluntarily. Thus, the actions of the prince and the squad (in particular, the collection of tribute) by the subjects are recognized as legal. This, in fact, provides the prince with the opportunity to manage a huge state with a small squad. Otherwise, the free inhabitants of Ancient Russia, who were most often quite well armed, could well defend their right not to obey illegal (in their opinion) demands.

An example of this is the murder of the Kyiv prince Igor by the Drevlyans (945). Igor, going for a second tribute, obviously could not imagine that his right to receive tribute - even if it exceeded the usual amount - would be challenged by anyone. Therefore, the prince took with him only a "small" squad.

An event that is extremely important in the life of the young state is connected with the uprising of the Drevlyans: Olga, having cruelly avenged the death of her husband, is forced to establish lessons and graveyards (sizes and places of tribute collection). Thus, for the first time, one of the most important political functions of the state was realized: the right to legislate.

The first monument of written law that has come down to our time is Russkaya Pravda. Its appearance is associated with the name of Yaroslav the Wise (1016-1054), so the oldest part is sometimes called the Truth of Yaroslav. It is a collection of court decisions on specific issues, which subsequently became binding on similar cases.

A new phenomenon in political life was the division of the entire territory of the Old Russian state between the sons of the Kyiv prince. In 970, setting out on a military campaign in the Balkans, the Kyiv prince Svyatoslav Igorevich "planted" his eldest son Yaropolk to reign in Kyiv, Vladimir - in Novgorod, and Oleg - in the land of the Drevlyans, neighboring Kyiv. Obviously, they were also given the right to collect tribute for the Kyiv prince, that is, from that time on, the prince ceases to go to the crowd. A certain prototype of the state apparatus in the localities is beginning to take shape. Control over it continues to remain in the hands of the Kyiv prince.

Finally, this type of government takes shape during the reign of the Kyiv prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich (980-1015). Vladimir, leaving the throne of Kyiv behind him, planted his eldest sons in the largest Russian cities. All power in the localities passed into the hands of the Vladimirovichs. Their subordination to the Grand Duke-Father was expressed in the regular transfer to him of part of the tribute collected from the lands in which the Grand Duke's sons-deputies were sitting. At the same time, the hereditary right of power was preserved. At the same time, when determining the order of succession of power, the priority right of seniority is gradually being fixed.

This principle was also observed in the case of the redistribution of principalities among the sons of the Grand Duke of Kyiv after the death of one of the brothers. If the eldest of them died (usually sitting on the Novgorod “table”), his place was taken by the next oldest brother, and all the other brothers moved up the “ladder” of power one “step” up, moving to more and more prestigious reigns. Such a system of organizing the transfer of power is usually called the "ladder" system of the ascension of princes to thrones.

However, the "ladder" system operated only during the lifetime of the head of the princely family. After the death of his father, as a rule, an active struggle began between the brothers for the right to own Kyiv. Accordingly, the winner distributed all other reigns to his children.

So, after the throne of Kyiv passed to him, Yaroslav Vladimirovich managed to get rid of almost all his brothers who had any serious claims to power. Their places were taken by Yaroslavichi. Before his death, Yaroslav bequeathed Kyiv to his eldest son Izyaslav, who, moreover, remained the prince of Novgorod. Yaroslav divided the rest of the cities according to

seniority between sons. Izyaslav, as the eldest in the family, had to maintain the established order. Thus, the political priority of the Kyiv prince was formally fixed.

However, by the end. 11th c. the power of the Kyiv princes is significantly weakened. A significant role in the life of not only the city, but also the state as a whole begins to play the Kiev veche. They expelled or invited princes to the throne. In 1068, the people of Kiev overthrew Izyaslav, the Grand Duke of Kyiv (1054–1068, 1069–1073, 1077–1078), who lost the battle with the Polovtsy, and installed Vseslav Bryachislavich of Polotsk in his place. Six months later, after Vseslav's flight to Polotsk, the Kiev Veche asked Izyaslav to return to the throne.

Since 1072, a number of princely congresses took place, at which the Yaroslavichs tried to agree on the basic principles of the division of power and on interaction in the fight against common opponents. Since 1074, a fierce struggle for the throne of Kyiv unfolded between the brothers. At the same time, Polovtsian detachments were increasingly used in the political struggle.

The increased strife seriously worsened the internal and especially the foreign political situation of the Russian lands. In 1097, a princely congress took place in the city of Lyubech, at which the grandchildren of Yaroslav established a new principle of relations between the rulers of the Russian lands: "Everyone should keep his fatherland." Now the "homeland" (the land in which the father reigned) was inherited by the son. The "ladder" system of ascension of princes to thrones was replaced by dynastic rule.

Although neither Lyubech nor subsequent princely congresses (1100, 1101, 1103, 1110) could prevent civil strife, the significance of the first of them is extremely great. It was on it that the foundations for the existence of independent states on the territory of the former united Kievan Rus were laid. The final collapse of the Old Russian state is usually associated with the events that followed the death of the eldest of the sons of the Kyiv prince Vladimir Monomakh, Mstislav (1132). A.K.

On the distant frontier

On the distant frontiers of Kievan Rus, there were other ancient states with which the Slavs developed certain relations. Among them, the Khazar Khaganate and the Volga Bulgaria should be singled out.

KHAZAR KAGANATE, Khazaria - a state that existed in the 7th-10th centuries. in the North Caucasus, between the Volga and Don.

It developed on the territory inhabited by the Turkic Caspian nomadic tribes, which in the 6th century. invaded the Eastern Ciscaucasia. Perhaps the name "Khazars" goes back to the Turkic basis "kaz" - to roam.

At first, the Khazars roamed in the Eastern Ciscaucasia, from the Caspian Sea to Derbent, and in the 7th century. entrenched on the Lower Volga and on part of the Crimean Peninsula, were dependent on the Turkic Khaganate, which by the 7th century. weakened. In the 1st quarter 7th c. an independent Khazar state was formed.

In the 660s. The Khazars, in alliance with the North Caucasian Alans, defeated Great Bulgaria and formed a Khaganate. Under the rule of the supreme ruler - the kagan - there were many tribes, and the title itself was equated to the imperial one. The Khazar Khaganate was an influential force in Eastern Europe, and therefore a lot of written evidence has been preserved about it in Arabic, Persian and Byzantine literature. The Khazars are also mentioned in Russian chronicles. Important information about the history of the Khazar Khaganate is contained in the 10th c. a letter from the Khazar king Joseph to the head of the Spanish Jewish community, Hasdai ibn Shafrut.

The Khazars made constant raids on the lands of the Arab Caliphate in Transcaucasia. Already since the 20s. 7th c. Periodic invasions of the Khazars and their allied tribes of the Caucasian Alans began in the Derbent region. In 737, the Arab commander Mervan ibn Mohammed took the capital of Khazaria - Semender, and the kagan, saving his life, swore an oath to convert to Islam, but did not keep his word. As the Khazar legend says, after Jewish merchants arrived in Khazaria from Khorezm and Byzantium, a certain Khazar prince Bulan converted to Judaism.

His example was followed by part of the Khazars who lived on the territory of modern Dagestan.

The Khazar Khaganate was inhabited by nomadic tribes. The territory of Khazaria itself is the Western Caspian steppes between the rivers. Sulak in Northern Dagestan and the Lower Volga. Here, archaeologists found burial mounds of the Khazar warriors. Academician B. A. Rybakov suggested that the Khazar Khaganate was a small state in the lower reaches of the Volga, and gained its fame due to its very advantageous position on the Volga-Baltic trade route. His point of view is based on the testimonies of Arab travelers who reported that the Khazars themselves did not produce anything and lived off goods brought from neighboring countries.

Most scholars believe that the Khazar Khaganate was a huge state that ruled over half of Eastern Europe for more than two centuries, including many Slavic tribes, and associate it with the area of ​​the Saltov-Mayak archaeological culture. The Khazar king Joseph called the Sarkel fortress on the Lower Don the western border of his state. In addition to it, the Khazar years are known. Balanjar and Semender, which were located on the river. Terek and Sulak, and Atil (Itil) at the mouth of the Volga, but these cities have not been found by archaeologists.

The main occupation of the population of Khazaria is cattle breeding. The system of social organization was called "eternal ale", its center was the horde - the headquarters of the kagan, who "held the ale", that is, headed the union of tribes and clans. The upper class was made up of the Tarkhans - the tribal aristocracy, the noblest among them were considered to be people from the clan of the kagan. The hired guards guarding the rulers of Khazaria consisted of 30 thousand Muslims and "Rus".

Initially, the state was ruled by a kagan, but gradually the situation changed. The “deputy” of the kagan, the shad, who commanded the army and was in charge of collecting taxes, became a co-ruler with the title of kagan-bek. To the beginning 9th c. the power of the kagan became nominal, and he himself was considered a sacred person. He was appointed kagan-bek from representatives of a noble family. A candidate for kagan was strangled with a silk rope, and when he began to choke, they asked how long he wanted to rule. If the kagan died before the time he named, it was considered normal, otherwise he was killed. The kagan had the right to see only the kagan-bek. If there was a famine or an epidemic in the country, the kagan was killed, as it was believed that he had lost his magical power.

The 9th century was the heyday of Khazaria. In con. 8 - beginning. 9th century a descendant of Prince Bulan Obadiy, having become the head of the kaganate, carried out a religious reform and declared Judaism the state religion. Despite opposition, Obadiah managed to unite part of the Khazar nobility around him. So Khazaria became the only state of the Middle Ages, where, at least, its head and the highest nobility professed Judaism. The Khazars, with the help of the allied nomadic tribes of the Hungarians, were able to briefly subjugate the Volga Bulgars, Burtases, impose tribute on the Slavic tribes of the Polyans, Severians, Vyatichi and Radimichi.

But the domination of the Khazars was short-lived. Soon the clearing was freed from dependence; saved northerners and radimichi from tribute to the Khazars Prophetic Oleg. In con. 9th c. the Pechenegs broke into the Northern Black Sea region, weakening Khazaria with constant raids. The Khazar Khaganate was finally defeated in 964–965. Kyiv prince Svyatoslav. To con. 10th c. Khazaria fell into decay. The remnants of the Khazar tribes settled in the Crimea, where they subsequently mixed with the local population. E. G.

ITIL - the capital of the Khazar Khaganate in the 8th-10th centuries.

The city was located on both banks of the river. Itil (Volga; higher than modern Astrakhan) and on a small island where the kagan's palace was located. Itil was a major center of caravan trade. The population of the city was Khazars, Khorezmians, Turks, Slavs, Jews. Merchants and artisans lived in the eastern part of the city, government offices were located in the western part. According to Arab travelers, there were many mosques, schools, baths, and markets in Itil. Housing buildings were wooden tents, felt yurts and dugouts.

In 985 Itil was destroyed by the prince of Kyiv Svyatoslav Igorevich. E.K.

BULGARIA VOLGA-KAMA, Bulgaria Volga - a state that existed in the Middle Volga and Kama region.

Volga Bulgaria was inhabited by Finno-Ugric tribes and Bulgars, who came here after the defeat of Great Bulgaria. In the 9th-10th centuries. the inhabitants of the Volga Bulgaria switched from nomadism to settled agriculture.

Some time in the 9th-10th centuries. Volga Bulgaria was under the rule of the Khazar Khaganate. In the beginning. 10th c. Khan Almas began the unification of the Bulgar tribes. In the 10th century the Bulgars converted to Islam and formally recognized the Arab caliph as the supreme ruler - the head of the Muslims. In 965, the Volga Bulgaria gained independence from the Khazar Khaganate.

The location of Bulgaria on the Volga-Baltic trade route, which connected Eastern and Northern Europe with the East, ensured the flow of goods into the country from the countries of the Arab East, the Caucasus, India and China, Byzantium, Western Europe, and Kievan Rus.

In the 10th-11th centuries. the capital of the Volga Bulgaria was the city of Bulgar, located 5 km from the left bank of the Volga, below the mouth of the river. Kama. Bulgar quickly turned into a major center of crafts and transit trade. This is where they minted their coins.

The city has been around since the 10th century. was well fortified, and from the west it adjoined the settlement. To the west of Bulgar there was an Armenian settlement with a Christian church and a cemetery. Archaeologists have discovered the ruins of Bulgar - the Bolgar settlement, where stone buildings of the 14th century, mausoleums, a cathedral mosque, public baths have been preserved.

In the 10th-12th centuries. Russian princes made more than once campaigns against the Volga Bulgars. He was the first to try to impose tribute on the Volga Bulgaria

Vladimir I Svyatoslavich, but in 985 was forced to conclude a peace treaty. “The Tale of Bygone Years” tells the following legend: “Vladimir went to the Bulgarians with his uncle Dobrynya ... And the Bulgarians defeated. And Dobrynya said to Vladimir: “I examined the convicts - they were all in boots. These tributes will not be given to us, we will look for ourselves bastards.

Then the Volga-Kama Bulgaria was threatened by the Vladimir principality. In the 12th century the Bulgars moved the capital inland.

Bilyar, a city on the left bank of the river, became the new capital of the state. Cheremshan. It arose in the 10th century, and was first mentioned in written sources in 1164. Crafts developed significantly: iron smelting, bone carving, leather, blacksmithing, and pottery. Items were found taken from the cities of Kievan Rus, Syria, Byzantium, Iran, and China.

In the 13th century The Volga-Kama Bulgaria was conquered by the Mongol-Tatars and became part of the Golden Horde. In 1236, Bulgar and Bilyar were ravaged and burned by the Mongol-Tatars, but soon rebuilt again. Until con. 13th c. Bulgar was the capital of the Golden Horde, 14th century. - the time of its heyday: active construction was carried out in the city, coins were minted, crafts developed. The power of Bulgar was struck by the campaigns of the Golden Horde ruler Bulak-Timur in 1361. In 1431, Bulgar was captured by Russian troops under the command of Prince Fyodor Motley and finally fell into decay. In 1438, the Kazan Khanate was formed on the territory of the Volga Bulgaria. E. G.

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The following excerpt from the book Ancient Russia. 4th–12th centuries (Authors team, 2010) provided by our book partner -