In what century was Kievan Rus formed? The emergence of statehood among the Slavs

Kievan Rus- a state that developed in the 9th-10th centuries. on the East European Plain and was called at that time Rus or Russian land.

Kievan Rus in the 9th - early 12th centuries.

In the V-VIII centuries. Slavic tribes, who previously lived in the territory approximately from the Vistula to the middle reaches of the Dnieper, were drawn into the pan-European process of the great migration of peoples. During their settlement, they occupied vast territories in Central, South-Eastern and Eastern Europe and divided into three branches - Western, Southern and Eastern Slavs. The resettlement accelerated the decomposition of the tribal system, and after the completion of the movement, the Slavs formed new societies - tribal principalities, united in unions. These formations were no longer tribal, but territorial-political, although they were not yet states.

In the IX-X centuries. the territories of the Slavic pre-state communities - the Drevlyans, Northerners, Dregovichi, Krivichi, Radimichi, Slovenians, Volynians, Croats, Ulichs, Tivertsi, Vyatichi - were united under the rule of the princes of the most powerful East Slavic political entity, which developed on the basis of the commonality of the Polans and received a political-geographical name Rus'. The original territory of Rus' was located in the middle Dnieper region. Kyiv became its capital. In the 10th century In Kyiv, a princely dynasty was established, which, according to legend, descended from Rurik, a native of Scandinavia (see Vikings).

The borders of Kievan Rus were formed mainly by the end of the 10th century. and remained stable over time (see map). They corresponded to the territory of settlement of the East Slavic ethnic group, which by this time had formed into the so-called Old Russian nationality - an ethnic community called Rus. The state of Rus' also included several non-Slavic (Finnish-speaking) peoples who lived in the Volga-Oka interfluve and near the coast of the Gulf of Finland; they were gradually assimilated. In addition, about 20 Finnish- and Baltic-speaking tribes, not directly entering the territory of the Old Russian state, were dependent on the Russian princes and were obliged to pay them tribute.

Rus' became the largest and strongest power in Eastern Europe. In the 9th century. its most dangerous opponent was the Khazar Kaganate - a Turkic state that occupied in the 7th century. interfluve of the Lower Don and Volga. Some East Slavic communities were at one time dependent on him. In 965, the Kiev prince Svyatoslav (c. 945-972) dealt a decisive blow to the Khazar Khaganate and put an end to its existence.

Relations with Byzantium became an important direction of Russian foreign policy. Periods of peace, during which trade relations flourished, were followed by military conflicts. Three times - in 860, 907 and 941. - Russian troops approached the capital of Byzantium - Constantinople; fought a fierce war with Byzantium in the Balkans in 970-971. Prince Svyatoslav. The wars resulted in Russian-Byzantine treaties in 907, 911, 944 and 971; their texts have survived to this day.

A serious danger to the southern borders of Rus' was posed by the raids of the Turkic nomadic tribes that lived in the steppe zone of the Northern Black Sea region - the Pechenegs (in the 10th - first half of the 11th century) and who replaced them in the middle of the 11th century. Polovtsians (Kipchaks). Relations here were not straightforward either - the Russian princes not only fought with the Polovtsians, but also often entered into political alliances.

Rus' also maintained extensive ties with the countries of Central and Western Europe. In particular, Russian princes entered into dynastic marriages with the rulers of Germany, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, France, England, Poland, Hungary, and Byzantium. Thus, the Kiev prince Yaroslav the Wise (1019-1054) was married to the daughter of the Swedish king - Ingigerd, his daughters were married: Anastasia - to the Hungarian king Andrew, Elizabeth - to the Norwegian king Harald, and after his death - to the Danish king Svein, Anna - for the King of France Henry I. The son of Yaroslav the Wise - Vsevolod was married to the daughter of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine Monomakh, and his son Vladimir - to Gita, the daughter of the last Anglo-Saxon king Harold II, who died in 1066 at the Battle of Hastings. Mstislav Vladimirovich's wife was the daughter of the Swedish king Christina (see International relations).

The social system in Kievan Rus, as in other medieval European states, was formed as a feudal system, based on the combination of large land ownership with dependent small peasant farming (see Feudalism). Initially, state forms of feudal relations prevailed in Rus'. The ruling class was represented by the military-serving nobility of the Russian princes - the druzhina. The squad collected tribute from the agricultural population: the income received was distributed by the prince among the squads. The tribute collection system developed already in the 9th century. In the 10th century an individual form of feudal land ownership appears - votchina. The first patrimonial owners were the princes; in the 11th century land ownership of the warriors (primarily the top of the squad - the boyars) and the church develops. Some peasants moved from the category of state tributaries to dependence on private landowners. The votchinniki also used the labor of slaves - serfs - on their farms. But the leading role continued to be played by state-tribute forms of feudal relations. This was the peculiarity of Rus' in comparison with Western Europe, where patrimonial (seignorial) land ownership quickly took a predominant position.

In the social structure of ancient Russian society, the top rung was occupied by the Rurik princes. Next stood the “oldest squad” - the boyars, then came the “young squad” - children and youths. The bulk of the rural and urban population, who did not belong to the ruling class and bore duties in favor of the state or private landowners, were called “people.” There was a special category of semi-military, semi-peasant population dependent on the prince - the smerda. In the 2nd half of the 11th century. “purchases” appeared - that’s what they called those who got into debt. The lowest rung of the social hierarchy was occupied by slaves - “slaves”, “servants”.

From the end of the 10th century. (the time of the final formation of the territory of the Old Russian state) and until the middle of the 12th century. Rus' was a relatively unified state. Its components were volosts - territories in which relatives of the Kyiv prince, the supreme ruler of Rus', reigned. Gradually, the independence of the volosts increased. They were assigned to certain branches of the expanding princely family of the Rurikovichs. In each volost, patrimonial land ownership of one or another princely branch was formed. This process began already in the second half of the 11th century. In the first third of the 12th century. Prince Vladimir Vsevolodovich Monomakh (1113-1125) and his son Mstislav (1125-1132) still managed to maintain the state unity of Rus'. But after the death of Mstislav Vladimirovich, the crushing process became irreversible. As a result, by the middle of the 12th century. a number of virtually independent principalities were finally formed. These are the principalities of Kiev (nominally the Kiev prince continued to be considered the “oldest” in Rus'), Chernigov, Smolensk, Volyn, Galician, Vladimir-Suzdal, Polotsk, Pereyaslavl, Murom, Ryazan, Turovo-Pinsk, as well as Novgorod land, where there was a special form of government , in which the princes were invited at the will of the local boyars. Independent principalities began to be called lands. A period of feudal fragmentation began. The lands, each of which was larger than a European state, began to lead independent foreign policy, conclude agreements with foreign states and among themselves. As the principalities became isolated, the internecine struggle, which had previously flared up periodically within the framework of a single state, turned into an almost continuous war. The princes waged a fierce struggle to expand the territories under their control. Most of all they were attracted by the reign of Kiev. The Kiev prince nominally continued to be considered the “eldest” in Rus', and at the same time the Kiev principality did not become the “fatherland” (hereditary possession) of any princely branch: the majority of Russian princes retained the right to claim it. Novgorod also attracted princes in their struggle, and from the beginning of the 13th century. - Galician reign.

The formation of feudal relations and the feudal state was accompanied by the formation of a legal system. The Code of Laws of Ancient Rus', called “Russian Pravda,” originally existed in oral form. In the 10th century some of its norms were included in the treaties between Rus' and Byzantium in 911 and 944. In the first half of the 11th century, during the reign of Yaroslav the Wise, two legislative codes were approved - “The Truth of Yaroslav” and “The Truth of the Yaroslavichs”, which together constituted the so-called Brief Edition of the “Russian Truth”. At the beginning of the 12th century. on the initiative of Vladimir Monomakh, a lengthy edition of “Russian Truth” was created, which, in addition to the norms dating back to the era of Yaroslav the Wise, included the “Charter” of Vladimir Monomakh, which established new forms of social relations (the emergence of boyar land ownership, categories of population personally dependent on the feudal lords, etc.) .

At the end of the 10th century, under Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich (c. 980-1015), Christianity in its Orthodox (Byzantine) version was introduced in Rus' (individual representatives of the Russian nobility were baptized starting from the second half of the 9th century, Vladimir’s grandmother, the princess, was a Christian Olga). The act of state adoption of Christianity took place in the late 80s. X century In fact, the spread and establishment of the new religion among the people lasted for many decades and even centuries. The adoption of Christianity marked a certain milestone. By this time, the territory of Kievan Rus was finally formed, local reigns in the East Slavic pre-state communities were liquidated: all their lands came under the rule of princes from the Rurik family.

By the time of the adoption of Christianity, Rus' had entered its heyday, its international authority had grown, and a distinctive culture had emerged. Crafts and wood construction techniques have reached a high level; an epic was taking shape; its plots were preserved in epics written down many centuries later. No later than the end of the 9th - beginning of the 10th century. Slavic alphabets appeared in Rus' - Cyrillic and Glagolitic (see Writing).

The synthesis of Slavic pre-Christian culture with the cultural layer that came to Rus' with the adoption of Christianity from Byzantium, as well as Bulgaria (which had already been a Christian state for a century by this time), introduced the country to the Byzantine and Slavic Christian cultures, and through them to the cultures ancient and Middle Eastern, created the phenomenon of Russian medieval culture. Its originality and high level were largely due to its existence as a language of church service and, as a result, its emergence as a literary Slavic language, understandable to the entire population (unlike Western Europe and Slavic countries that adopted Catholicism, where the language of church service was Latin, the language , unfamiliar to the majority of the population, and as a result of this, early medieval literature was predominantly Latin).

Already in the 11th century. original ancient Russian literature appears. It became the most significant in its achievements in Russian medieval culture. Outstanding literary monuments of the world Middle Ages include such works as “The Sermon on Law and Grace” by Metropolitan Hilarion (mid-11th century), “Teaching” by Vladimir Monomakh (beginning of the 12th century), “The Tale of Bygone Years” (beginning of the 12th century) , “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” (end of the 12th century), “The Tale of Daniil the Sharper” (end of the 12th century), “The Tale of the Destruction of the Russian Land” (mid-13th century).

Ancient Russian architecture reached a high level. Among its most outstanding monuments that have survived to this day are the Cathedrals of St. Sophia in Kyiv and Novgorod (mid-11th century), St. George's Cathedral of the Yuryev Monastery (first half of the 12th century) and the Church of the Savior on Nereditsa (late 12th century) near Novgorod , Assumption and Demetrius Cathedrals in Vladimir (second half of the 12th century), Church of the Intercession on the Nerl (second half of the 12th century), St. George's Cathedral in Yuryev-Polsky (first half of the 13th century).

In the middle of the 13th century. Russian lands were attacked by the Mongol Empire, a Central Asian state that extended its conquests from the Pacific Ocean to Central Europe (see Empire of Genghis Khan). Strengthening the isolation of the Russian principalities, internecine wars, which escalated in the 30s. XIII century, did not allow organizing a serious resistance, the princes were defeated one by one. For 240 long years, the Golden Horde yoke was established in Rus'. One of the political consequences of these events was the divergence of development paths for Russian lands. In the territories of North-Eastern Rus' (former Vladimir-Suzdal principality) and Novgorod land in the XIV-XV centuries. The Russian state is formed with its capital in Moscow, the Russian (Great Russian) nationality is formed. Western and southern Russian lands at the end of the 13th - beginning of the 15th century. included in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland. Ukrainian and Belarusian nationalities begin to form on their territories.

The East Slavic medieval civilization that developed in Kievan Rus left a bright mark on history. It was formed in a region where mutual influences intertwined - Byzantine, Western European, Eastern, Scandinavian. The perception and processing of these various social, political and cultural elements largely determined the identity of ancient Russian civilization.

Despite severe consequences foreign invasion of the 13th century, the legacy of Kievan Rus played a fundamental role in the formation of the currently existing East Slavic peoples.

Everyone is primarily interested in the question, where did this beautiful and powerful power called Kievan Rus come from? Where did the Russians come from? Who are they and whose descendants are we? There are many theories on this topic, some popular and some not so popular. After all, the name "" appears in foreign chronicles only in the 8th century. This is why the question arises about the origin of the name of the state... The first theory is called Varangian. She tells us that Rus' came from a tribe of Norman conquerors who incredibly often attacked European countries, traveling inland thanks to boats and the presence of rivers. They were extremely cruel and this cruelty was in their souls, they were real Viking warriors...

Researchers believe that the name “Rus” came from then. This theory was put forward by German scientists Bayer and Miller, who really believed that Kievan Rus was founded by the Normans (immigrants from Sweden). They refer to the fact that it was the Norman princes who helped the Russian people master the art of war. No matter what anyone says, the Normans played an incredible role in the creation of the state and gave rise to the Rurik dynasty.
The second most important theory of the origin of the name of the state and the Russians themselves is a theory that claims that the name comes from a river, a tributary of the Dnieper, called Ros. The tributary of the Rosi is in turn called the Rosava. On the territory of Volyn in Ukraine there is a river Roska... Therefore, Rus' could actually be named after rivers, although some believe that these rivers are named after the state...
It is worth mentioning that there is another theory of the origin of the state. A scientist from the United States named Pritsak put forward the theory that Kievan Rus was founded by the Khazars. But why then was it necessary to separate from the Russians? After all, the Khazar state was as big as Rus'. Moreover, in my opinion, the traditions of the Khazars and Russians are very different to enable us to call them one people with common roots. So, it is extremely saturated even at the beginning, not to mention in its further development...
The history of Kievan Rus has many facts that simply forced the Russians to create their own state. First of all, historians believe that it was the emergence of feudal relations that contributed to the creation of the state, as in all other European states. Then it should be said that our ancestors needed to defend themselves from enemies, the main of which were Byzantium. Their common ethnic origin only united the Russians even more. The development of trade also forced the Russians to create a state. As for Kyiv, thanks to its economic and geographical location began to play a huge role in relations with other states.
Scientists say that Kievan Rus was formed around the 9th century AD. It was then that a state appeared with its center in Kyiv. The heyday of Rus' occurred in the period 978-1054, when Rus' significantly expanded its territories and achieved both political and cultural development. The third period is characterized by the disintegration of the state into separate principalities. We can say with all confidence that I would never have divided the land between my sons if I had known what it would lead to...
It is worth remembering that Rus' was also developed in a cultural sense. It’s no joke to say that the children of the Kyiv prince knew several languages ​​and were extremely educated, which cannot be said about the dynasty of other European states.
Militarily, Kievan Rus was a huge force. The best of the best of Russian warriors served with the Byzantine legions thousands of miles away from their own. Just look at the well-known example of the defense of Sicily from the Arabs in 1038-1041. Thanks to the Russian corps, Byzantium was able to leave the island behind.
The authority of Kievan Rus in Europe was unconditional. Therefore, we can really be proud of our ancestors, who even stopped the Mongol-Tatar invasion and saved all of Europe, weakened from ruin.

Kievan Rus or Old Russian state - medieval state in Eastern Europe, which arose in the 9th century as a result of the unification of East Slavic tribes under the rule of the princes of the Rurik dynasty.

At its peak, it occupied the territory from the Taman Peninsula in the south, the Dniester and the headwaters of the Vistula in the west to the headwaters of the Northern Dvina in the north.

By the middle of the 12th century, it entered into a state of fragmentation and actually broke up into one and a half dozen separate principalities, ruled by different branches of the Rurikovichs. Political ties were maintained between the principalities, Kyiv continued to formally remain the main table of Rus', and the Principality of Kiev was considered as the collective possession of all the Rurikovichs. The end of Kievan Rus is considered to be the Mongol invasion (1237-1240), after which the Russian lands ceased to form a single political whole, and Kyiv fell into decline for a long time and finally lost its nominal capital functions.

In chronicle sources the state is called “Rus” or “Russian Land”, in Byzantine sources - “Russia”.

Term

The definition of “Old Russian” is not connected with the division of antiquity and the Middle Ages in Europe generally accepted in historiography in the middle of the 1st millennium AD. e. In relation to Rus', it is usually used to refer to the so-called. the “pre-Mongol” period of the 9th - mid-13th centuries, in order to distinguish this era from the following periods of Russian history.

The term “Kievan Rus” arose at the end of the 18th century. In modern historiography, it is used both to designate a single state that existed until the middle of the 12th century, and for the broader period of the mid-12th - mid-13th centuries, when Kyiv remained the center of the country and the administration of Russia was carried out by a single princely family on the principles of “collective suzerainty”.

Pre-revolutionary historians, starting with N.M. Karamzin, adhered to the idea of ​​​​transferring the political center of Rus' in 1169 from Kyiv to Vladimir, going back to the works of Moscow scribes, or to Vladimir and Galich. However, in modern historiography these points of view are not popular, since they are not confirmed in the sources.

The problem of the emergence of statehood

There are two main hypotheses for the formation of the Old Russian state. According to the Norman theory, based on the Tale of Bygone Years of the 12th century and numerous Western European and Byzantine sources, statehood in Rus' was brought from outside by the Varangians - the brothers Rurik, Sineus and Truvor in 862. The founders of the Norman theory are considered to be those who worked in Russian Academy sciences, German historians Bayer, Miller, Schlözer. The point of view on the external origin of the Russian monarchy was generally held by Nikolai Karamzin, who followed the versions of The Tale of Bygone Years.

The anti-Norman theory is based on the concept of the impossibility of introducing statehood from the outside, on the idea of ​​the emergence of the state as a stage in the internal development of society. The founder of this theory in Russian historiography was considered to be Mikhail Lomonosov. In addition, there are different points of view on the origin of the Varangians themselves. Scientists classified as Normanists considered them to be Scandinavians (usually Swedes); some anti-Normanists, starting with Lomonosov, suggest their origin from West Slavic lands. There are also intermediate versions of localization - in Finland, Prussia, and other parts of the Baltic states. The problem of the ethnicity of the Varangians is independent of the issue of the emergence of statehood.

IN modern science The prevailing point of view is that the strict opposition between “Normanism” and “anti-Normanism” is largely politicized. The prerequisites for primordial statehood among the Eastern Slavs were not seriously denied by either Miller, Schlözer, or Karamzin, and the external (Scandinavian or other) origin of the ruling dynasty was a fairly common phenomenon in the Middle Ages, which in no way proves the inability of the people to create a state or, more specifically, the institution of monarchy. Questions about whether Rurik was a real historical person, what the origin of the chronicled Varangians is, whether the ethnonym (and then the name of the state) is associated with them Rus, continue to remain controversial in modern Russian historical science. Western historians generally follow the concept of Normanism.

Story

Education of Kievan Rus

Kievan Rus arose on the trade route “from the Varangians to the Greeks” on the lands of the East Slavic tribes - the Ilmen Slovenes, Krivichi, Polyans, then covering the Drevlyans, Dregovichs, Polotsk, Radimichi, Severians, Vyatichi.

The chronicle legend considers the founders of Kyiv to be the rulers of the Polyan tribe - the brothers Kiya, Shchek and Khoriv. According to archaeological excavations carried out in Kyiv in the 19th-20th centuries, already in the middle of the 1st millennium AD. e. there was a settlement on the site of Kyiv. Arab writers of the 10th century (al-Istarhi, Ibn Khordadbeh, Ibn-Haukal) later speak of Kuyab as big city. Ibn Haukal wrote: “The king lives in a city called Cuyaba, which is larger than Bolgar... The Rus constantly trade with the Khozar and Rum (Byzantium).”

The first information about the state of the Rus dates back to the first third of the 9th century: in 839, the ambassadors of the Kagan of the people of Rus were mentioned, who arrived first in Constantinople, and from there to the court of the Frankish emperor Louis the Pious. From this time on, the ethnonym “Rus” also became known. The term “Kievan Rus” appears for the first time in historical studies of the 18th–19th centuries.

In 860 (The Tale of Bygone Years erroneously dates it to 866), Rus' makes its first campaign against Constantinople. Greek sources connect it with the so-called first baptism of Rus', after which a diocese may have arisen in Rus', and the ruling elite (possibly led by Askold) adopted Christianity.

In 862, according to the Tale of Bygone Years, the Slavic and Finno-Ugric tribes called the Varangians to reign.

In 862 (the date is approximate, like the entire early chronology of the Chronicle), the Varangians, Rurik’s warriors Askold and Dir, sailing to Constantinople, seeking to establish complete control over the most important trade route “from the Varangians to the Greeks,” established their power over Kiev.

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

Reign of Oleg the Prophet

In 882, according to chronicle chronology, Prince Oleg, a relative of Rurik, set off on a campaign from Novgorod to the south. Along the way, he captured Smolensk and Lyubech, establishing his power there and putting his people under reign. Then Oleg, with the Novgorod army and a hired Varangian squad, under the guise of merchants, captured Kyiv, killed Askold and Dir, who ruled there, and declared Kyiv the capital of his state (“And Oleg, the prince, sat down in Kyiv, and Oleg said: “Let this be the mother of Russian cities.” “.”); the dominant religion was paganism, although there was also a Christian minority in Kyiv.

Oleg conquered the Drevlyans, northerners and Radimichi; the last two alliances had previously paid tribute to the Khazars.

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

Igor Rurikovich

Igor made two military campaigns against Byzantium. The first, in 941, ended unsuccessfully. It was also preceded by an unsuccessful military campaign against Khazaria, during which Rus', acting at the request of Byzantium, attacked the Khazar city of Samkerts on the Taman Peninsula, but was defeated by the Khazar commander Pesach, and then turned its arms against Byzantium. The second campaign against Byzantium took place in 944. It ended with a treaty that confirmed many of the provisions of the previous treaties of 907 and 911, but abolished duty-free trade. In 943 or 944, a campaign was made against Berdaa. In 945, Igor was killed while collecting tribute from the Drevlyans. After Igor's death, due to the minority of his son Svyatoslav, real power was in the hands of Igor's widow, Princess Olga. She became the first ruler of the Old Russian state to officially accept Christianity of the Byzantine rite (according to the most reasoned version, in 957, although other dates are also proposed). However, around 959 Olga invited the German bishop Adalbert and priests of the Latin rite to Rus' (after the failure of their mission they were forced to leave Kyiv).

Svyatoslav Igorevich

Around 962, the matured Svyatoslav took power into his own hands. His first action was the subjugation of the Vyatichi (964), who were the last of all the East Slavic tribes to pay tribute to the Khazars. In 965, Svyatoslav made a campaign against the Khazar Kaganate, taking its main cities by storm: Sarkel, Semender and the capital Itil. On the site of the city of Sarkela, he built the Belaya Vezha fortress. Svyatoslav also made two trips to Bulgaria, where he intended to create his own state with its capital in the Danube region. He was killed in a battle with the Pechenegs while returning to Kyiv from an unsuccessful campaign in 972.

After the death of Svyatoslav, civil strife broke out for the right to the throne (972-978 or 980). The eldest son Yaropolk became the great prince of Kyiv, Oleg received the Drevlyan lands, Vladimir received Novgorod. In 977, Yaropolk defeated Oleg’s squad, Oleg died. Vladimir fled “overseas”, but returned 2 years later with a Varangian squad. During the civil strife, Svyatoslav's son Vladimir Svyatoslavich (reigned 980-1015) defended his rights to the throne. Under him, the formation of the state territory of Ancient Rus' was completed, the Cherven cities and Carpathian Rus' were annexed.

Characteristics of the state in the 9th-10th centuries.

Kievan Rus united under its rule vast territories inhabited by East Slavic, Finno-Ugric and Baltic tribes. In the chronicles the state was called Rus; the word “Russian” in combination with other words was found in various spellings: both with one “s” and with a double one; both with and without “b”. In a narrow sense, “Rus” meant the territory of Kyiv (with the exception of the Drevlyan and Dregovichi lands), Chernigov-Seversk (with the exception of the Radimich and Vyatichi lands) and Pereyaslavl lands; It is in this meaning that the term “Rus” is used, for example, in Novgorod sources up to the 13th century.

The head of state bore the title of Grand Duke, Russian Prince. Unofficially, other prestigious titles could sometimes be attached to it, including Turkic kagan and Byzantine king. Princely power was hereditary. In addition to the princes, grand-ducal boyars and “men” participated in the administration of the territories. These were warriors appointed by the prince. The boyars commanded special squads, territorial garrisons (for example, Pretich commanded the Chernigov squad), which, if necessary, were united into a single army. Under the prince, one of the boyar-voevodas also stood out, who often performed the functions of real government of the state; such governors under the young princes were Oleg under Igor, Sveneld under Olga, Svyatoslav and Yaropolk, Dobrynya under Vladimir. At the local level, the princely government dealt with tribal self-government in the form of the veche and “city elders.”

Druzhina

Druzhina during the 9th-10th centuries. was hired. A significant part of it were newcomer Varangians. It was also replenished by people from the Baltic lands and local tribes. The size of the annual payment of a mercenary is estimated by historians differently. Salaries were paid in silver, gold and furs. Typically, a warrior received about 8-9 Kyiv hryvnia (more than 200 silver dirhams) per year, but by the beginning of the 11th century, the pay of a private soldier was 1 northern hryvnia, which is much less. Ship helmsmen, elders and townspeople received more (10 hryvnia). In addition, the squad was fed at the expense of the prince. Initially, this was expressed in the form of canteen, and then turned into one of the forms of taxes in kind, “feeding”, the maintenance of the squad by the tax-paying population during polyudye. Among the squads subordinate to the Grand Duke, his personal “small”, or junior, squad, which included 400 warriors, stands out. The Old Russian army also included a tribal militia, which could reach several thousand in each tribe. The total number of the ancient Russian army reached from 30 to 80 thousand people.

Taxes (tribute)

The form of taxes in Ancient Rus' was tribute, which was paid by subject tribes. Most often, the unit of taxation was “smoke,” that is, a house or family hearth. The tax amount was traditionally one skin per smoke. In some cases, from the Vyatichi tribe, a coin was taken from the ral (plough). The form of collecting tribute was polyudye, when the prince and his retinue visited his subjects from November to April. Rus' was divided into several tax districts; Polyudye in the Kiev district passed through the lands of the Drevlyans, Dregovichs, Krivichis, Radimichis and Northerners. A special district was Novgorod, paying about 3,000 hryvnia. The maximum amount of tribute according to late Hungarian legend in the 10th century was 10 thousand marks (30 thousand or more hryvnia). The collection of tribute was carried out by squads of several hundred soldiers. The dominant ethno-class group of the population, which was called “Rus”, paid the prince a tenth of their annual income.

In 946, after the suppression of the Drevlyan uprising, Princess Olga carried out a tax reform, streamlining the collection of tribute. She established “lessons”, that is, the size of the tribute, and created “cemeteries”, fortresses on the route of Polyudya, in which the princely administrators lived and where the tribute was brought. This form of collecting tribute and the tribute itself was called a “cart.” When paying the tax, subjects received clay seals with a princely sign, which insured them against repeated collection. The reform contributed to the centralization of grand-ducal power and the weakening of the power of tribal princes.

Right

In the 10th century, customary law was in force in Rus', which in sources is called “Russian Law”. Its norms are reflected in the treaties of Rus' and Byzantium, in the Scandinavian sagas and in “The Truth of Yaroslav”. They concerned the relationship between equal people, Russia, one of the institutions was “vira” - a fine for murder. Laws guaranteed property relations, including ownership of slaves (“servants”).

The principle of inheritance of power in IX-X centuries unknown The heirs were often minors (Igor Rurikovich, Svyatoslav Igorevich). In the 11th century, princely power in Rus' was transferred along the “ladder”, that is, not necessarily to the son, but to the eldest in the family (the uncle had precedence over his nephews). At the turn of the 11th-12th centuries, two principles collided, and a struggle broke out between direct heirs and collateral lines.

Monetary system

In the 10th century, a more or less unified monetary system developed, focused on the Byzantine liter and the Arab dirham. The main monetary units were the hryvnia (the monetary and weight unit of Ancient Rus'), kuna, nogata and rezana. They had a silver and fur expression.

State type

Historians have different assessments of the nature of the state of a given period: “barbarian state”, “military democracy”, “druzhina period”, “Norman period”, “military-commercial state”, “the formation of the early feudal monarchy”.

The Baptism of Rus' and its heyday

Under Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich in 988, Christianity became the official religion of Rus'. Having become the prince of Kyiv, Vladimir faced an increased Pecheneg threat. To protect against nomads, he builds a line of fortresses on the border. It was during the time of Vladimir that many Russian epics took place, telling about the exploits of heroes.

Crafts and trade. Monuments of writing (The Tale of Bygone Years, the Novgorod Codex, the Ostromirovo Gospel, Lives) and architecture (Tithe Church, Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv and cathedrals of the same name in Novgorod and Polotsk). The high level of literacy of the inhabitants of Rus' is evidenced by numerous birch bark letters that have survived to this day). Rus' traded with the southern and western Slavs, Scandinavia, Byzantium, Western Europe, the peoples of the Caucasus and Central Asia.

After the death of Vladimir, a new civil strife occurs in Rus'. Svyatopolk the Accursed in 1015 kills his brothers Boris (according to another version, Boris was killed by Scandinavian mercenaries of Yaroslav), Gleb and Svyatoslav. Boris and Gleb were canonized as saints in 1071. Svyatopolk himself is defeated by Yaroslav and dies in exile.

The reign of Yaroslav the Wise (1019 - 1054) was the time of the highest prosperity of the state. Social relations were regulated by the collection of laws “Russian Truth” and princely statutes. Yaroslav the Wise pursued an active foreign policy. He became related to many ruling dynasties of Europe, which testified to the wide international recognition of Rus' in the European Christian world. Intensive stone construction is underway. In 1036, Yaroslav defeated the Pechenegs near Kiev and their raids on Rus' ceased.

Changes in public administration at the end of the 10th - beginning of the 12th centuries.

During the baptism of Rus', the power of the sons of Vladimir I and the power of Orthodox bishops, subordinate to the Kyiv Metropolitan, were established in all its lands. Now all the princes who acted as vassals of the Kyiv Grand Duke were only from the Rurik family. Scandinavian sagas mention the fiefs of the Vikings, but they were located on the outskirts of Rus' and on newly annexed lands, so at the time of writing “The Tale of Bygone Years” they already seemed like a relic. The Rurik princes waged a fierce struggle with the remaining tribal princes (Vladimir Monomakh mentions the Vyatichi prince Khodota and his son). This contributed to the centralization of power.

The power of the Grand Duke reached its highest strength under Vladimir, Yaroslav the Wise and later under Vladimir Monomakh. Attempts to strengthen it, but less successfully, were also made by Izyaslav Yaroslavich. The position of the dynasty was strengthened by numerous international dynastic marriages: Anna Yaroslavna and the French king, Vsevolod Yaroslavich and the Byzantine princess, etc.

Since the time of Vladimir or, according to some information, Yaropolk Svyatoslavich, the prince began to distribute lands to the warriors instead of monetary salaries. If initially these were cities for feeding, then in the 11th century villages received warriors. Along with the villages, which became fiefdoms, the boyar title was also granted. The boyars began to form the senior squad, which was a feudal militia in type. The younger squad (“youths”, “children”, “gridi”), who were with the prince, lived off feeding from the princely villages and the war. To protect the southern borders, a policy was pursued of relocating the “best men” of the northern tribes to the south, and agreements were also concluded with the allied nomads, the “black hoods” (Torks, Berendeys and Pechenegs). The services of the hired Varangian squad were largely abandoned during the reign of Yaroslav the Wise.

After Yaroslav the Wise, the “ladder” principle of land inheritance in the Rurik family was finally established. The eldest in the clan (not by age, but by line of kinship) received Kyiv and became the Grand Duke, all other lands were divided between members of the clan and distributed according to seniority. Power passed from brother to brother, from uncle to nephew. Chernigov occupied second place in the hierarchy of tables. When one of the members of the clan died, all the Rurikovichs younger in relation to him moved to lands corresponding to their seniority. When new members of the clan appeared, their destiny was determined - a city with land (volost). In 1097, the principle of mandatory allocation of inheritance to princes was established.

Over time, the church began to own a significant part of the land (“monastery estates”). Since 996, the population has paid tithes to the church. The number of dioceses, starting from 4, grew. The department of the metropolitan, appointed by the Patriarch of Constantinople, began to be located in Kyiv, and under Yaroslav the Wise, the metropolitan was first elected from among the Russian priests; in 1051, Hilarion, who was close to Vladimir and his son, became him. Monasteries and their elected heads, abbots, began to have great influence. The Kiev-Pechersk Monastery becomes the center of Orthodoxy.

The boyars and squad formed special councils under the prince. The prince also consulted with the metropolitan, bishops and abbots who made up the church council. With the complication of the princely hierarchy, by the end of the 11th century, princely congresses (“snems”) began to gather. There were veches in the cities, which the boyars often relied on to support their own political demands (uprisings in Kyiv in 1068 and 1113).

In the 11th - early 12th centuries, the first written set of laws was formed - “Russian Truth”, which was successively replenished with articles from “The Truth of Yaroslav” (c. 1015-1016), “The Truth of the Yaroslavichs” (c. 1072) and the “Charter of Vladimir” Vsevolodovich" (c. 1113). The “Russian Truth” reflected the increasing differentiation of the population (now the size of the vira depended on the social status of the person killed), and regulated the position of such categories of the population as servants, serfs, smerdas, purchases and rank and file.

“Pravda Yaroslava” equalized the rights of “Rusyns” and “Slovenians”. This, along with Christianization and other factors, contributed to the formation of a new ethnic community that was aware of its unity and historical origin.
Since the end of the 10th century, Rus' has known its own coin production - silver and gold coins of Vladimir I, Svyatopolk, Yaroslav the Wise and other princes.

Decay

Principality of Polotsk first separated from Kyiv at the beginning of the 11th century. Having concentrated all the other Russian lands under his rule only 21 years after the death of his father, Yaroslav the Wise, dying in 1054, divided them between the five sons who survived him. After the death of the two youngest of them, all lands were concentrated in the hands of the three elders: Izyaslav of Kyiv, Svyatoslav of Chernigov and Vsevolod of Pereyaslav (the “Yaroslavich triumvirate”). After the death of Svyatoslav in 1076, the Kyiv princes attempted to deprive his sons of the Chernigov inheritance, and they resorted to the help of the Polovtsians, whose raids began in 1061 (immediately after the defeat of the Torks by the Russian princes in the steppes), although for the first time the Polovtsians were used in strife by Vladimir Monomakh (against Vseslav of Polotsk). In this struggle, Izyaslav of Kiev (1078) and the son of Vladimir Monomakh Izyaslav (1096) died. At the Lyubech Congress (1097), designed to stop civil strife and unite the princes for protection from the Polovtsians, the principle was proclaimed: “Let everyone keep his fatherland.” Thus, while preserving the right of ladder, in the event of the death of one of the princes, the movement of the heirs was limited to their patrimony. This made it possible to stop the strife and join forces to fight the Polovtsians, which was moved deep into the steppes. However, this also opened the way to political fragmentation, since a separate dynasty was established in each land, and the Grand Duke of Kiev became first among equals, losing the role of overlord.

In the second quarter of the 12th century, Kievan Rus actually disintegrated into independent principalities. The modern historiographic tradition considers the chronological beginning of the period of fragmentation to be 1132, when, after the death of Mstislav the Great, the son of Vladimir Monomakh, the power of the Kyiv prince was no longer recognized by Polotsk (1132) and Novgorod (1136), and the title itself became the object of struggle between various dynastic and territorial associations of the Rurikovichs. In 1134, the chronicler, in connection with a schism among the Monomakhovichs, wrote “the whole Russian land was torn apart.”

In 1169, the grandson of Vladimir Monomakh, Andrei Bogolyubsky, having captured Kyiv, for the first time in the practice of inter-princely strife, he did not reign in it, but gave it as an appanage. From that moment on, Kyiv began to gradually lose the political and then cultural attributes of an all-Russian center. Political center under Andrei Bogolyubsky and Vsevolod Big Nest moved to Vladimir, whose prince also began to bear the title of great.

Kyiv, unlike other principalities, did not become the property of any one dynasty, but served as a constant bone of contention for all powerful princes. In 1203, it was plundered for the second time by the Smolensk prince Rurik Rostislavich, who fought against the Galician-Volyn prince Roman Mstislavich. The first clash between Rus' and the Mongols took place in the Battle of the Kalka River (1223), in which almost all the southern Russian princes took part. The weakening of the southern Russian principalities increased the pressure from the Hungarian and Lithuanian feudal lords, but at the same time contributed to the strengthening of the influence of the Vladimir princes in Chernigov (1226), Novgorod (1231), Kyiv (in 1236 Yaroslav Vsevolodovich occupied Kyiv for two years, while his elder brother Yuri remained reign in Vladimir) and Smolensk (1236-1239). During the Mongol invasion of Rus', which began in 1237, Kyiv was reduced to ruins in December 1240. Got it Vladimir princes Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, recognized by the Mongols as the oldest in Rus', and later his son Alexander Nevsky. However, they did not move to Kyiv, remaining in their ancestral Vladimir. In 1299, the Kiev Metropolitan moved his residence there. In some church and literary sources, for example, in the statements of the Patriarch of Constantinople and Vytautas at the end of the 14th century, Kyiv continued to be considered the capital at a later time, but by this time it was already a provincial city of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. From the beginning of the 14th century, the Vladimir princes began to bear the title of “Grand Dukes of All Rus'”.

The nature of statehood of Russian lands

At the beginning of the 13th century, on the eve of the Mongol invasion, there were about 15 relatively territorially stable principalities in Rus' (in turn divided into fiefs), three of which: Kiev, Novgorod and Galicia were objects of all-Russian struggle, and the rest were ruled by the Rurikovich’s own branches. The most powerful princely dynasties were the Chernigov Olgovichs, the Smolensk Rostislavichs, the Volyn Izyaslavichs and the Suzdal Yuryevichs. After the invasion, almost all Russian lands entered a new round of fragmentation and in the XIV century the number of great and appanage principalities reached approximately 250.

The only all-Russian political body remained the Congress of Princes, which mainly decided on issues of the fight against the Polovtsians. The church also maintained its relative unity (excluding the emergence of local cults of saints and veneration of the cult of local relics) headed by the metropolitan and fought against various kinds of regional “heresies” by convening councils. However, the position of the church was weakened by the strengthening of tribal pagan beliefs in the 12th-13th centuries. Religious authority and "zabozhni" (repression) were weakened. The candidacy of the Archbishop of Veliky Novgorod was proposed by the Novgorod Council, and cases of expulsion of the ruler (archbishop) are also known.

During the period of fragmentation of Kievan Rus, political power passed from the hands of the prince and the younger squad to the strengthened boyars. If earlier the boyars had business, political and economic relations with the whole Rurik family, headed by the Grand Duke, now - with individual families of appanage princes.

In the Principality of Kiev, the boyars, in order to ease the intensity of the struggle between the princely dynasties, in a number of cases supported the duumvirate (government) of the princes and even resorted to the physical elimination of the alien princes (Yuri Dolgoruky was poisoned). The Kiev boyars sympathized with the power of the senior branch of the descendants of Mstislav the Great, but external pressure was too strong for the position of the local nobility to become decisive in the choice of princes. In the Novgorod land, which, like Kyiv, did not become the fiefdom of the appanage princely branch of the Rurik family, retaining all-Russian significance, and during the anti-princely uprising a republican system was established - from now on the prince was invited and expelled by the veche. In the Vladimir-Suzdal land, princely power was traditionally strong and sometimes even prone to despotism. There is a known case when the boyars (Kuchkovichi) and the younger squad physically eliminated the “autocratic” prince Andrei Bogolyubsky. In the southern Russian lands, city councils played a huge role in the political struggle; there were councils in the Vladimir-Suzdal land (mentions of them are found until the 14th century). In the Galician land there was a unique case of electing a prince from among the boyars.

The main type of army became the feudal militia; the senior squad received personal inheritable land rights. The city militia was used to defend the city, urban area and settlements. In Veliky Novgorod, the princely squad was actually hired in relation to the republican authorities, the ruler had a special regiment, the townspeople made up the “thousand” (militia led by the thousand), there was also a boyar militia formed from the inhabitants of “Pyatin” (five dependent on the Novgorod boyars families of districts of Novgorod land). The army of a separate principality did not exceed 8,000 people. The total number of squads and city militia by 1237, according to historians, was about 100 thousand people.

During the period of fragmentation, several monetary systems emerged: Novgorod, Kyiv and “Chernigov” hryvnias are distinguished. These were silver bars of various sizes and weights. The northern (Novgorod) hryvnia was oriented towards the northern mark, and the southern one - towards the Byzantine liter. Kuna had a silver and fur expression, the former being to the latter as one to four. Old skins sealed with a princely seal (the so-called “leather money”) were also used as a monetary unit.

The name Rus was retained during this period for the lands in the Middle Dnieper region. Residents of different lands usually called themselves after the capital cities of appanage principalities: Novgorodians, Suzdalians, Kurians, etc. Until the 13th century, according to archeology, tribal differences in material culture persisted; the spoken Old Russian language was also not unified, maintaining regional tribal dialects.

Trade

The most important trade routes of Ancient Rus' were:

• the path “from the Varangians to the Greeks”, starting from the Varangian Sea, along Lake Nevo, along the Volkhov and Dnieper rivers leading to the Black Sea, Balkan Bulgaria and Byzantium (by the same route, entering the Danube from the Black Sea, one could get to Great Moravia) ;
• the Volga trade route (“the path from the Varangians to the Persians”), which went from the city of Ladoga to the Caspian Sea and further to Khorezm and Central Asia, Persia and Transcaucasia;
• a land route that began in Prague and through Kyiv went to the Volga and further to Asia.

Brief history of Kievan Rus

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The very first official historical document confirming the existence of Ancient Rus' is considered to be the “Annals of Bertin” - the chronicle of the Saint-Bertin Monastery. It contains a record dated 839 about the ambassadors of the people of Ros, who, as part of the Byzantine delegation, arrived at the headquarters of the Frankish emperor Louis the Pious.

Louis, becoming interested in the representatives of a hitherto unknown people, found out that they belonged to the Svei tribe, one of the ancestors of modern Swedes. But the Svei embassy visited Louis’s headquarters back in 829; this circumstance confirmed the emperor’s suspicions that the arrivals were ambassadors of an unknown people.

The “Annals of Bertin” are considered among historians to be an official reliable written source, which was compiled almost in the wake of current events. Therefore, this evidence looks much more convincing than later sources about the state of Rurik, which were written from oral traditions 200 years after the events.

In addition, in the list of peoples and tribes called “Bavarian,” which, according to recent research, was compiled in the first quarter of the 11th century, long before the emergence of the state of Rurik, Rus' is mentioned as the northern neighbor of the Khazars. All this evidence suggests that in addition to the State of Rurik and Kievan Rus, there was another, more ancient Russian state that had a ruler who sent ambassadors.

The Tale of Bygone Years

According to other official historical sources, such as, for example, the most ancient Russian code “The Tale of Bygone Years,” the year 862 is considered to be the year of formation of Ancient Rus'. According to this code, this year the union northern peoples, which included Finno-Ugric and Slavic tribes, invited the Varangians from overseas to reign. This was done in order to stop internal internecine wars and strife. Rurik came to reign, who first settled in Ladoga, and after the death of his brothers, he cut down the city of Novgorod and founded the Novgorod principality.

In modern historiography, there is an opinion that what is described in the “Tale of Bygone Years” about the calling of the Varangians is not completely reliable. Many historians believe that power was most likely seized by Rurik as a result of the overthrow of the Novgorod prince, and the chronicler Nestor, despite this, decided to present the Varangians as the mystical founders of Novgorod, like Kiy, Shchek and Horeb for Kyiv. Nevertheless, the year 862 is considered to be the practically generally accepted date for the formation of Ancient Rus' as a state.