Who were the princes of Ancient Rus'?

In the ninth century, the powerful state of Kievan Rus was created on the territory of Eastern Europe - a significant political and military force until the Mongol invasion in the thirteenth century. The rulers of Ancient Rus' were princes, and they soon began to call themselves grand princes.
Grand Duke is the title that was borne by the monarchs, the rulers of the Old Russian state, and then of Kievan Rus.
The prince combined the following functions as head of state:
– judicial (he held court over the population, over his subordinates);
– military (the prince had to vigilantly defend the borders of his state, organize defense, gather troops and, of course, prepare for an attack when necessary; the Russian people especially appreciated the military courage of the princes);
– religious (in the pagan era of Rus', the Grand Duke was the organizer of sacrifices in favor of the pagan gods);
At first, the princely power was elective, but gradually began to gain hereditary status.
The Grand Duke was the main figure in the state; the appanage Russian princes were subordinate to him. The Grand Duke had the right to collect tribute from the princes subordinate to him.

The first prince of Ancient Rus'

Rurik is considered to be the first prince of Ancient Rus', who laid the foundation for the Rurik dynasty. By origin, Rurik was a Varangian, therefore, he could be a Norman or a Swede.
There is no information about the exact origin of the first Russian prince, just as there is little information about his activities. As the chronicles say, he became the sole ruler of Novgorod and Kyiv, then created a united Rus'.
Chronicles say that he had only one son, who was named Igor, who later became the Grand Duke. Rurik had several wives, but Igor himself was born to the Norwegian princess Efanda.

Russian princes of Ancient Rus'

Oleg

Igor

After Oleg’s sudden death, Rurik’s son, Igor, began to rule the country. Igor took as his wife the legendary Princess Olga, whom he brought from Pskov. She was twelve years younger than Igor when they got engaged. Igor was 25 years old, she was only 13.
Like Oleg, Igor pursued an active foreign policy; it was aimed at conquering nearby lands. Already in 914, after two years of his establishment on the throne, Igor subjugated the Drevlyans and imposed tribute on them. In 920, he first attacked the Pecheneg tribes. The next thing mentioned in the chronicles was his campaign against Constantinople in 941-944, which was crowned with success.
After the campaign against Byzantium, in 945, Prince Igor was killed by the Drevlyans while collecting tribute.
After his death, his wife Princess Olga began to rule. Igor left behind his young son Svyatoslav.

Svyatoslav

Until Igor’s son Svyatoslav came of age, Kievan Rus was ruled by his mother, Princess Olga, who was the regent. Svyatoslav began to rule independently only in 964.
Svyatoslav, unlike his mother, remained a pagan and was against conversion to Christianity.
Svyatoslav became famous primarily as a successful commander. Having ascended the throne, the prince immediately set off on a campaign against the Khazar Khaganate in 965. In the same year, he managed to completely conquer it and annex it to the territory of Ancient Rus'. He then defeated the Vyatichi and imposed tribute on them in 966.
The prince also waged an active struggle against the Bulgarian kingdom and Byzantium, where he was successful. After returning from the Byzantine campaign in 972, Prince Svyatoslav was ambushed by the Pechenegs on the rapids of the Dnieper. In this unequal battle he met his death.

Yaropolk

After the murder of Svyatoslav, his son Yaropolk began to rule. It should be said that Yaropolk ruled only in Kyiv, his brothers ruled Novgorod and the Drevlyans. Yaropolk began a war for power and defeated his brother Oleg in 977. The very next year he was killed by his brother Vladimir.
Yaropolk is not remembered as a great commander, but had some success in politics. Thus, under him, negotiations were conducted with Emperor Otto II. Chronicles indicate that ambassadors from the Pope came to his court. Yaropolk was an obvious admirer of the Christian church, but he did not have time to make this religion a state religion.

Ancient Rus': Prince Vladimir

Vladimir was the son of Svyatoslav and seized power in Rus' by killing his brother Yaropolk in 978, becoming the sole prince of Ancient Rus'.
Vladimir became famous primarily for making Rus' a Christian state in 988. However, Vladimir is also known as an excellent commander.
Already in 981-982. Vladimir went on a campaign against the Vyatichi, already subject to tribute, and seized their land, making it Russian. In 983, he opened the way to the Baltic for Rus', conquering the Yatvingian tribe. Later he managed to conquer the Radimichi and, for the first time, the White Croats, and he annexed their lands to Rus'.
In addition to military successes, Vladimir managed to conclude profitable agreements with many European states (Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Byzantium and the Papal States).
Under him, coinage began to be minted, which strengthened the Russian economy. These were the first coins issued on the territory of Kievan Rus. The reason for minting the coin was the desire to prove the sovereignty of the young Christian state. There were no economic reasons; Rus' got along just fine with Byzantine coins.
Prince Vladimir the Great died in 1015. After his death, the throne was seized by his son Svyatopolk, but he was soon overthrown by Yaroslav the Wise.

About the first Russian princes for primary school students

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

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

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

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

Oleg Veschy (882 –912)

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

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

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

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

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

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

Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich (957 – 972)

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

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

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

Test yourself: “The first Russian princes”

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

To unite again under the protection of the Orthodox Church, calls to build and strengthen Holy Rus'.

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

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

Princes of Ancient Rus'

Princes of Ancient Rus'

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

First the founder of the family Rurik.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And this is where the real detective story begins.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This concerns trade routes. Now about the neighbors.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But let's return to fellow monk Nestor.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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