1. Formation of the Old Russian state - Kievan Rus

The state of Kievan Rus was created at the end of the 9th century.

The emergence of a state among the Eastern Slavs is reported in the chronicle “The Tale of Bygone Years” (XIIV.). It tells that the Slavs paid tribute to the Varangians. Then they drove the Varangians overseas and the question arose: who will rule in Novgorod? None of the tribes wanted to establish the power of a representative of a neighboring tribe. Then they decided to invite a stranger and turned to the Varangians. Three brothers responded to the invitation: Rurik, Truvor and Sineus. Rurik began to reign in Novgorod, Sineus in Beloozero, and Truvor in the city of Izborsk. Two years later, Sineus and Truvor died, and all power passed to Rurik. Two of Rurik’s squad, Askold and Dir, went south and began to reign in Kyiv. They killed the rulers there, Kiya, Shchek, Khoriv and their sister Lybid. In 879 Rurik died. His relative Oleg began to rule, since Rurik’s son Igor was still a minor. After 3 years (in 882), Oleg and his squad seized power in Kyiv. Thus, Kyiv and Novgorod united under the rule of one prince. This is what the chronicle says. Were there really two brothers - Sineus and Truvor? Today historians believe that there were none. “Rurik sine hus truvor” means, translated from ancient Swedish, “Rurik with house and squad.” The chronicler mistook the incomprehensible-sounding words for personal names, and wrote that Rurik arrived with two brothers.

Exists two theories of the origin of the ancient Russian state: Norman and anti-Norman. Both of these theories appeared in the XYIII century, 900 years after the formation of Kievan Rus. The fact is that Peter I - from the Romanov dynasty, was very interested in where the previous dynasty - the Rurikovichs - came from, who created the state of Kievan Rus and where this name came from. Peter I signed a decree establishing the Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg. German scientists were invited to work at the Academy of Sciences.

Norman theory . Its founders were the German scientists Bayer, Miller, Schletser, who were invited back under Peter I to work at the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. They confirmed the calling of the Varangians and made the assumption that the name of the Russian Empire was of Scandinavian origin, and that the state of Kievan Rus itself was created by the Varangians. “Rus” is translated from ancient Swedish as the verb “to row”; the Rus are rowers. Perhaps “Rus” is the name of the Varangian tribe from which Rurik came. At first, the Varangian warriors were called Rus, and then this word gradually passed on to the Slavs.

The calling of the Varangians was confirmed at a later time by data from archaeological excavations of mounds near Yaroslavl, near Smolensk. Scandinavian burials in a boat were discovered there. Many Scandinavian objects were clearly made by local – Slavic craftsmen. This means that the Varangians lived among the local residents.

But German scientists exaggerated the role of the Varangians in the formation of the ancient Russian state. As a result, these scientists agreed to such an extent that supposedly the Varangians were immigrants from the West, which means that it was they - the Germans - who created the state of Kievan Rus.

Anti-Norman theory. It also appeared in the 18th century, under the daughter of Peter I, Elizaveta Petrovna. She did not like the statement of German scientists that the Russian state was created by Westerners. In addition, during her reign there was a 7-year war with Prussia. She asked Lomonosov to look into this issue. Lomonosov M.V. did not deny the fact of the existence of Rurik, but began to deny his Scandinavian origin.

The anti-Norman theory intensified in the 30s of the twentieth century. When the Nazis came to power in Germany in 1933, they tried to prove the inferiority of the Eastern Slavs (Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Poles, Czechs, Slovaks), that they were not able to create states, that the Varangians were Germans. Stalin gave the task to refute the Norman theory. This is how a theory emerged according to which the Ros (Ross) tribe lived south of Kyiv on the Ros River. The Ros River flows into the Dnieper and this is where the name of Rus' comes from, since the Russians supposedly occupied a leading place among the Slavic tribes. The possibility of a Scandinavian origin for the name of Rus' was completely rejected. The anti-Norman theory tries to prove that the state of Kievan Rus was created by the Slavs themselves. This theory penetrated into textbooks on the history of the USSR, and was prevalent there until the end of “perestroika.”

The state appears there and then when opposing interests and classes appear in society, hostile to each other. The state regulates relations between people, relying on armed force. The Varangians were invited to reign, therefore, this form of power (princeship) was already known to the Slavs. It was not the Varangians who brought property inequality and the division of society into classes to Rus'. The ancient Russian state - Kievan Rus - arose as a result of the long, independent development of Slavic society, not thanks to the Varangians, but with their active participation. The Varangians themselves quickly became glorified and did not impose their language. The son of Igor, the grandson of Rurik, already bore the Slavic name - Svyatoslav. Today, some historians believe that the name of the Russian Empire is of Scandinavian origin and the princely dynasty begins with Rurik, and was called the Rurikovichs.

The ancient Russian state was called Kievan Rus.

2 . Socio-economic and political system of Kievan Rus

Kievan Rus was an early feudal state. It existed from the end of the 9th to the beginning of the 12th century (approximately 250 years).

The head of state was the Grand Duke. He was the highest military leader, judge, legislator, and recipient of tribute. He led foreign policy, declared war, made peace. Appointed officials. The power of the Grand Duke was limited:

Council under the prince, which included military nobility, city elders, clergy (since 988)

Veche - a national assembly in which all free people could take part. The veche could discuss and resolve any issue that interested it.

Appanage princes - local tribal nobility.

The first rulers of Kievan Rus were: Oleg (882-912), Igor (913-945), Olga - Igor’s wife (945-964).

The unification of all East Slavic and part of the Finnish tribes under the rule of the Grand Duke of Kyiv.

Acquisition of overseas markets for Russian trade and protection of trade routes that led to these markets.

Protection of the borders of the Russian land from attacks by steppe nomads (Khazars, Pechenegs, Polovtsians).

The most important source of income for the prince and his squad was the tribute paid by the conquered tribes. Olga organized the collection of tribute and established its size.

The son of Igor and Olga, Prince Svyatoslav (964-972), made campaigns against Danube Bulgaria and Byzantium, and also defeated the Khazar Khaganate.

Under Svyatoslav’s son, Vladimir the Saint (980-1015), Christianity was adopted in Rus' in 988.

Socio-economic system:

The main branch of the economy is arable farming and cattle breeding. Additional industries: fishing, hunting. Rus' was a country of cities (more than 300) - in the 12th century.

Kievan Rus reached its peak under Yaroslav the Wise (1019-1054). He became related and became friends with the most prominent states of Europe. In 1036, he defeated the Pechenegs near Kiev and ensured the security of the eastern and southern borders of the state for a long time. In the Baltic states, he founded the city of Yuryev (Tartu) and established the position of Rus' there. Under him, writing and literacy spread in Rus', schools were opened for the children of the boyars. The higher school was located in the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery. The largest library was in St. Sophia Cathedral, also built under Yaroslav the Wise.

Under Yaroslav the Wise appeared the first set of laws in Rus' - “Russian Truth”, which operated throughout the XI-XIII centuries. There are 3 known editions of Russian Pravda:

1. Brief truth of Yaroslav the Wise

2. Extensive (grandchildren of Yar. the Wise - Vl. Monomakh)

3. Abbreviated

“Russian Truth” consolidated the feudal property that was emerging in Rus', established harsh punishments for attempts to encroach on it, and defended the lives and privileges of members of the ruling class. According to “Russian Truth” one can trace the contradictions in society and the class struggle. “Russian Truth” of Yaroslav the Wise allowed blood feud, but the article on blood feud was limited to defining the exact circle of close relatives who have the right to take revenge: father, son, brother, cousin, nephew. This put an end to the endless chain of murders exterminating entire families.

In the Pravda of the Yaroslavichs (under the children of Yar. the Wise), blood feud is already prohibited, and instead a fine for murder has been introduced, depending on the social status of the murdered person from 5 to 80 hryvnia.

Kievan Rus or Old Russian state- a medieval state in Eastern Europe that 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 disintegrated 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 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 mid-12th century, and for the broader period of the mid-12th - mid-13th centuries, when Kyiv remained the center of the country and the governance 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 the German historians Bayer, Miller, and Schlözer who worked at the Russian Academy of Sciences. 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. Mikhail Lomonosov was considered the founder of this theory in Russian historiography. 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 Cuyaba as a large 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 the 9th-10th centuries is 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 take 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, St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv and the cathedrals of the same name in Novgorod and Polotsk) were created. 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 greatest 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 among 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. Upon the death of one of the members of the clan, 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 the latter. 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 killed), and regulated the position of such categories of the population as servants, serfs, smerdas, purchases and ryadovichi.

“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

The 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 back in 1061 (immediately after the defeat of the Torks by the Russian princes in the steppes), although the Polovtsians were first 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 Cumans, 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 the 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. The political center under Andrei Bogolyubsky and Vsevolod the 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 older 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. It was received by the Vladimir princes Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, recognized by the Mongols as the oldest in Rus', and later by 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 14th 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.

During the VI-IX centuries. among the Eastern Slavs there was a process of class formation and the creation of the preconditions for feudalism. The territory where ancient Russian statehood began to take shape was located at the intersection of routes along which the migration of peoples and tribes took place, and nomadic routes ran. The South Russian steppes were the scene of endless struggle among moving tribes and peoples. Often Slavic tribes attacked the border regions of the Byzantine Empire.

In the 7th century In the steppes between the Lower Volga, Don and North Caucasus, a Khazar state was formed. The Slavic tribes in the regions of the Lower Don and Azov came under his rule, retaining, however, a certain autonomy. The territory of the Khazar kingdom extended to the Dnieper and the Black Sea. At the beginning of the 8th century. The Arabs inflicted a crushing defeat on the Khazars, and through the North Caucasus they deeply invaded the north, reaching the Don. A large number of Slavs - allies of the Khazars - were captured.

The Varangians (Normans, Vikings) penetrate into Russian lands from the north. At the beginning of the 8th century. they settled around Yaroslavl, Rostov and Suzdal, establishing control over the territory from Novgorod to Smolensk. Some of the northern colonists penetrated into southern Russia, where they mixed with the Rus, adopting their name. The capital of the Russian-Varangian Kaganate, which ousted the Khazar rulers, was formed in Tmutarakan. In their struggle, the opponents turned to the Emperor of Constantinople for an alliance.

In such a complex environment, the consolidation of Slavic tribes into political unions took place, which became the embryo of the formation of a unified East Slavic statehood.

Photo active tours

In the 9th century. As a result of the centuries-long development of East Slavic society, the early feudal state of Rus' was formed with its center in Kyiv. Gradually, all the East Slavic tribes united in Kievan Rus.

The topic of the history of Kievan Rus considered in the work seems not only interesting, but also very relevant. Recent years have been marked by changes in many areas of Russian life. The lifestyle of many people has changed, the system of life values ​​has changed. Knowledge of the history of Russia, the spiritual traditions of the Russian people, is very important for increasing the national self-awareness of Russians. A sign of the revival of the nation is the ever-increasing interest in the historical past of the Russian people, in their spiritual values.

FORMATION OF THE ANCIENT RUSSIAN STATE IN THE 9th century

The time from the 6th to the 9th centuries is still the last stage of the primitive communal system, the time of the formation of classes and the imperceptible, at first glance, but steady growth of the preconditions of feudalism. The most valuable monument containing information about the beginning of the Russian state is the chronicle “The Tale of Bygone Years, where the Russian land came from, and who first began to reign in Kyiv and where the Russian land came from,” compiled by the Kyiv monk Nestor around 1113.

Having begun his story, like all medieval historians, with the Flood, Nestor talks about the settlement of Western and Eastern Slavs in Europe in ancient times. He divides the East Slavic tribes into two groups, the level of development of which, according to his description, was not the same. Some of them lived, as he put it, in a “beastly manner,” preserving the features of the tribal system: blood feud, remnants of matriarchy, the absence of marriage prohibitions, “kidnapping” (kidnapping) of wives, etc. Nestor contrasts these tribes with the glades, in whose land Kyiv was built. The Polyans are “sensible men”; they have already established a patriarchal monogamous family and, obviously, have overcome blood feud (they are “distinguished by their meek and quiet disposition”).

Next, Nestor talks about how the city of Kyiv was created. Prince Kiy, who reigned there, according to Nestor’s story, came to Constantinople to visit the Emperor of Byzantium, who received him with great honors. Returning from Constantinople, Kiy built a city on the banks of the Danube, intending to settle here for a long time. But the local residents were hostile to him, and Kiy returned to the banks of the Dnieper.

Nestor considered the formation of the principality of Polans in the Middle Dnieper region to be the first historical event on the path to the creation of the Old Russian states. The legend about Kiy and his two brothers spread far to the south, and was even brought to Armenia.

Byzantine writers of the 6th century paint the same picture. During the reign of Justinian, huge masses of Slavs advanced to the northern borders of the Byzantine Empire. Byzantine historians colorfully describe the invasion of the empire by Slavic troops, who took away prisoners and rich booty, and the settlement of the empire by Slavic colonists. The appearance on the territory of Byzantium of the Slavs, who dominated communal relations, contributed to the eradication of slave-owning orders here and the development of Byzantium along the path from the slave-owning system to feudalism.

The successes of the Slavs in the fight against the powerful Byzantium indicate a relatively high level of development of Slavic society for that time: the material prerequisites had already appeared for equipping significant military expeditions, and the system of military democracy made it possible to unite large masses of Slavs. Long-distance campaigns contributed to the strengthening of the power of the princes in the indigenous Slavic lands, where tribal principalities were created.

Archaeological data fully confirms the words of Nestor that the core of the future Kievan Rus began to take shape on the banks of the Dnieper when the Slavic princes made campaigns in Byzantium and the Danube, in the times preceding the attacks of the Khazars (7th century).

The creation of a significant tribal union in the southern forest-steppe regions facilitated the advance of Slavic colonists not only in the southwest (to the Balkans), but also in the southeast direction. True, the steppes were occupied by various nomads: Bulgarians, Avars, Khazars, but the Slavs of the Middle Dnieper region (Russian land) were obviously able to protect their possessions from their invasions and penetrate deep into the fertile black earth steppes. In the VII-IX centuries. The Slavs also lived in the eastern part of the Khazar lands, somewhere in the Azov region, participated together with the Khazars in military campaigns, and were hired to serve the Kagan (Khazar ruler). In the south, the Slavs apparently lived in islands among other tribes, gradually assimilating them, but at the same time absorbing elements of their culture.

During the VI-IX centuries. Productive forces grew, tribal institutions changed, and the process of class formation began. As the most important phenomena in the life of the Eastern Slavs during the VI-IX centuries. The development of arable farming and the development of crafts should be noted; the collapse of the clan community as a labor collective and the separation from it of individual peasant farms, forming a neighboring community; the growth of private land ownership and the formation of classes; the transformation of the tribal army with its defensive functions into a squad that dominates its fellow tribesmen; seizure by princes and nobles of tribal land into personal hereditary property.

By the 9th century. Everywhere in the territory of settlement of the Eastern Slavs, a significant area of ​​arable land cleared from forest was formed, indicating the further development of productive forces under feudalism. An association of small clan communities, characterized by a certain unity of culture, was the ancient Slavic tribe. Each of these tribes assembled a national assembly (veche). The power of the tribal princes gradually increased. The development of intertribal ties, defensive and offensive alliances, the organization of joint campaigns and, finally, the subjugation of their weaker neighbors by strong tribes - all this led to the consolidation of tribes, to their unification into larger groups.

Describing the time when the transition from tribal relations to the state took place, Nestor notes that various East Slavic regions had “their own reigns.” This is confirmed by archaeological data.

The formation of an early feudal state, which gradually subjugated all the East Slavic tribes, became possible only when the differences between the south and the north in terms of agricultural conditions were somewhat smoothed out, when in the north there was a sufficient amount of plowed land and the need for hard collective labor in cutting and forest uprooting has decreased significantly. As a result, the peasant family emerged as a new production team from the patriarchal community.

The decomposition of the primitive communal system among the Eastern Slavs occurred at a time when the slave system had already outlived its usefulness on a world-historical scale. In the process of class formation, Rus' came to feudalism, bypassing the slave-owning formation.

In the 9th-10th centuries. antagonistic classes of feudal society are formed. The number of vigilantes is increasing everywhere, their differentiation is increasing, and the nobility - the boyars and princes - are being separated from their midst.

An important question in the history of the emergence of feudalism is the question of the time of the appearance of cities in Rus'. In the conditions of the tribal system, there were certain centers where tribal councils met, a prince was chosen, trade was carried out, fortune telling was carried out, court cases were decided, sacrifices were made to the gods and the most important dates of the year were celebrated. Sometimes such a center became the focus of the most important types of production. Most of these ancient centers later turned into medieval cities.

In the 9th-10th centuries. feudal lords created a number of new cities that served both the purposes of defense against nomads and the purposes of domination over the enslaved population. Craft production was also concentrated in cities. The old name “grad”, “city”, denoting a fortification, began to be applied to a real feudal city with a detinets-kremlin (fortress) in the center and an extensive craft and trading area.

Despite the gradual and slow process of feudalization, one can still indicate a certain line, starting from which there is reason to talk about feudal relations in Rus'. This line is the 9th century, when the Eastern Slavs had already formed a feudal state.

The lands of the East Slavic tribes united into a single state received the name Rus. The arguments of “Normanist” historians who tried to declare the Normans, who were then called Varangians in Rus', the creators of the Old Russian state, are unconvincing. These historians stated that the chronicles meant the Varangians by Rus. But as has already been shown, the prerequisites for the formation of states among the Slavs developed over many centuries and by the 9th century. gave noticeable results not only in the West Slavic lands, where the Normans never penetrated and where the Great Moravian Empire arose, but also in the East Slavic lands (in Kievan Rus), where the Normans appeared, robbed, destroyed representatives of local princely dynasties and sometimes became princes themselves. It is obvious that the Normans could neither promote nor seriously hinder the process of feudalization. The name Rus' began to be used in sources in relation to part of the Slavs 300 years before the appearance of the Varangians.

The first mention of the Ros people was found in the middle of the 6th century, when information about them had already reached Syria. The glades, called, according to the chronicler, Russia, become the basis of the future ancient Russian nation, and their land - the core of the territory of the future state - Kievan Rus.

Among the news belonging to Nestor, one passage has survived, which describes Rus' before the Varangians appeared there. “These are the Slavic regions,” writes Nestor, “that are part of Rus' - the Polyans, the Drevlyans, the Dregovichi, the Polochans, the Novgorod Slovenes, the Northerners...”2. This list includes only half of the East Slavic regions. Consequently, Rus' at that time did not yet include the Krivichi, Radimichi, Vyatichi, Croats, Ulichs and Tivertsy. At the center of the new state formation was the Polyan tribe. The Old Russian state became a kind of federation of tribes; in its form it was an early feudal monarchy

ANCIENT Rus' OF THE END OF THE IX – BEGINNING OF THE 12TH CENTURY.

In the second half of the 9th century. Novgorod prince Oleg united power over Kiev and Novgorod in his hands. The chronicle dates this event to 882. The formation of the early feudal Old Russian state (Kievan Rus) as a result of the emergence of antagonistic classes was a turning point in the history of the Eastern Slavs.

The process of uniting the East Slavic lands as part of the Old Russian state was complex. In a number of lands, the Kyiv princes encountered serious resistance from local feudal and tribal princes and their “husbands.” This resistance was suppressed by force of arms. During the reign of Oleg (late 9th - early 10th centuries), a constant tribute was already levied from Novgorod and from the lands of the North Russian (Novgorod or Ilmen Slavs), Western Russian (Krivichi) and North-Eastern lands. The Kiev prince Igor (beginning of the 10th century), as a result of a stubborn struggle, subjugated the lands of the Ulitches and Tiverts. Thus, the border of Kievan Rus was advanced beyond the Dniester. A long struggle continued with the population of the Drevlyansky land. Igor increased the amount of tribute collected from the Drevlyans. During one of Igor’s campaigns in the Drevlyan land, when he decided to collect a double tribute, the Drevlyans defeated the princely squad and killed Igor. During the reign of Olga (945-969), Igor's wife, the land of the Drevlyans was finally subordinated to Kyiv.

The territorial growth and strengthening of Rus' continued under Svyatoslav Igorevich (969-972) and Vladimir Svyatoslavich (980-1015). The Old Russian state included the lands of the Vyatichi. The power of Rus' extended to the North Caucasus. The territory of the Old Russian state expanded in a western direction, including the Cherven cities and Carpathian Rus'.

With the formation of the early feudal state, more favorable conditions were created for maintaining the security of the country and its economic growth. But the strengthening of this state was associated with the development of feudal property and the further enslavement of the previously free peasantry.

The supreme power in the Old Russian state belonged to the Grand Duke of Kyiv. At the princely court there lived a squad, divided into “senior” and “junior”. The boyars from the prince's military comrades turn into landowners, his vassals, patrimonial fiefs. In the XI-XII centuries. the boyars are formalized as a special class and their legal status is consolidated. Vassalage is formed as a system of relations with the prince-suzerain; its characteristic features are the specialization of the vassal service, the contractual nature of the relationship and the economic independence of the vassal4.

Princely warriors took part in government. Thus, Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich, together with the boyars, discussed the issue of introducing Christianity, measures to combat “robberies” and decided on other matters. Certain parts of Rus' were ruled by their own princes. But the Grand Duke of Kiev sought to replace the local rulers with his proteges.

The state helped strengthen the rule of feudal lords in Rus'. The apparatus of power ensured the flow of tribute, collected in money and in kind. The working population also performed a number of other duties - military, underwater, participated in the construction of fortresses, roads, bridges, etc. Individual princely warriors received control over entire regions with the right to collect tribute.

In the middle of the 10th century. under Princess Olga, the size of duties (tributes and quitrents) was determined and temporary and permanent camps and graveyards were established in which tribute was collected.

The norms of customary law have developed among the Slavs since ancient times. With the emergence and development of class society and the state, along with customary law and gradually replacing it, written laws appeared and developed to protect the interests of the feudal lords. Already in Oleg’s treaty with Byzantium (911) the “Russian law” was mentioned. The collection of written laws is “Russian Truth” of the so-called “Short Edition” (late 11th - early 12th centuries). In its composition, the “Most Ancient Truth” was preserved, apparently written down at the beginning of the 11th century, but reflecting some norms of customary law. It also talks about the remnants of primitive communal relations, for example, about blood feud. The law considers cases of replacing revenge with a fine in favor of the relatives of the victim (later in favor of the state).

The armed forces of the Old Russian state consisted of the squad of the Grand Duke, the squads that were brought by the princes and boyars subordinate to him, and the people's militia (warriors). The number of troops with which the princes went on campaigns sometimes reached 60-80 thousand. Foot militia continued to play an important role in the armed forces. Detachments of mercenaries were also used in Rus' - nomads of the steppes (Pechenegs), as well as Cumans, Hungarians, Lithuanians, Czechs, Poles, and Norman Varangians, but their role in the armed forces was insignificant. The Old Russian fleet consisted of ships hollowed out of trees and lined with boards along the sides. Russian ships sailed in the Black, Azov, Caspian and Baltic seas.

The foreign policy of the Old Russian state expressed the interests of the growing class of feudal lords, who expanded their possessions, political influence and trade relations. Striving to conquer individual East Slavic lands, the Kyiv princes came into conflict with the Khazars. Advancement to the Danube, the desire to seize the trade route along the Black Sea and the Crimean coast led to the struggle of the Russian princes with Byzantium, which tried to limit the influence of Rus' in the Black Sea region. In 907, Prince Oleg organized a campaign by sea against Constantinople. The Byzantines were forced to ask the Russians to conclude peace and pay an indemnity. According to the peace treaty of 911. Rus' received the right to duty-free trade in Constantinople.

The Kyiv princes also undertook campaigns to more distant lands - beyond the Caucasus ridge, to the western and southern coasts of the Caspian Sea (campaigns of 880, 909, 910, 913-914). The expansion of the territory of the Kyiv state began to be especially active during the reign of Princess Olga's son, Svyatoslav (Svyatoslav's campaigns - 964-972). He dealt the first blow to the Khazar empire. Their main cities on the Don and Volga were captured. Svyatoslav even planned to settle in this region, becoming the successor to the empire he destroyed6.

Then the Russian squads marched to the Danube, where they captured the city of Pereyaslavets (previously owned by the Bulgarians), which Svyatoslav decided to make his capital. Such political ambitions show that the Kyiv princes had not yet connected the idea of ​​the political center of their empire with Kiev.

The danger that came from the East - the invasion of the Pechenegs - forced the Kyiv princes to pay more attention to the internal structure of their own state.

ADOPTION OF CHRISTIANITY IN Rus'

At the end of the 10th century. Christianity was officially introduced in Rus'. The development of feudal relations prepared the way for the replacement of pagan cults with a new religion.

The Eastern Slavs deified the forces of nature. Among the gods they revered, the first place was occupied by Perun, the god of thunder and lightning. Dazhd-bog was the god of the sun and fertility, Stribog was the god of thunderstorms and bad weather. Volos was considered the god of wealth and trade, and the blacksmith god Svarog was considered the creator of all human culture.

Christianity began to penetrate early into Rus' among the nobility. Back in the 9th century. Patriarch Photius of Constantinople noted that Rus' changed “pagan superstition” to “Christian faith”7. Christians were among Igor's warriors. Princess Olga converted to Christianity.

Vladimir Svyatoslavich, having been baptized in 988 and appreciating the political role of Christianity, decided to make it the state religion in Rus'. Russia's adoption of Christianity occurred in a difficult foreign policy situation. In the 80s of the 10th century. The Byzantine government turned to the prince of Kyiv with a request for military assistance to suppress uprisings in the lands under its control. In response, Vladimir demanded an alliance with Russia from Byzantium, offering to seal it with his marriage to Anna, the sister of Emperor Vasily II. The Byzantine government was forced to agree to this. After the marriage of Vladimir and Anna, Christianity was officially recognized as the religion of the Old Russian state.

Church institutions in Rus' received large land grants and tithes from state revenues. Throughout the 11th century. bishoprics were founded in Yuryev and Belgorod (in the Kyiv land), Novgorod, Rostov, Chernigov, Pereyaslavl-Yuzhny, Vladimir-Volynsky, Polotsk and Turov. Several large monasteries arose in Kyiv.

The people met the new faith and its ministers with hostility. Christianity was imposed by force, and the Christianization of the country dragged on for several centuries. Pre-Christian (“pagan”) cults continued to live among the people for a long time.

The introduction of Christianity was a progress compared to paganism. Together with Christianity, the Russians received some elements of a higher Byzantine culture and, like other European peoples, joined the heritage of antiquity. The introduction of a new religion increased the international significance of ancient Rus'.

DEVELOPMENT OF FEUDAL RELATIONS IN Rus'

Time from the end of the X to the beginning of the XII century. is an important stage in the development of feudal relations in Rus'. This time is characterized by the gradual victory of the feudal mode of production over a large territory of the country.

Sustainable field farming dominated Russian agriculture. Cattle breeding developed more slowly than agriculture. Despite the relative increase in agricultural production, harvests were low. Frequent phenomena were shortages and famines, which undermined the Kresgyap economy and contributed to the enslavement of the peasants. Hunting, fishing, and beekeeping remained of great importance in the economy. The furs of squirrels, martens, otters, beavers, sables, foxes, as well as honey and wax went to the foreign market. The best hunting and fishing areas, forests and lands were seized by the feudal lords.

In the XI and early XII centuries. part of the land was exploited by the state by collecting tribute from the population, part of the land area was in the hands of individual feudal lords as estates that could be inherited (later they became known as estates), and possessions received from princes for temporary conditional holding.

The ruling class of feudal lords was formed from local princes and boyars, who became dependent on Kyiv, and from the husbands (combatants) of the Kyiv princes, who received control, holding or patrimony of the lands “tortured” by them and the princes. The Kyiv Grand Dukes themselves had large land holdings. The distribution of land by princes to warriors, strengthening feudal production relations, was at the same time one of the means used by the state to subjugate the local population to its power.

Land ownership was protected by law. The growth of boyar and church land ownership was closely related to the development of immunity. The land, which was previously peasant property, became the property of the feudal lord “with tribute, virami and sales,” that is, with the right to collect taxes and court fines from the population for murder and other crimes, and, consequently, with the right of trial.

With the transfer of lands into the ownership of individual feudal lords, peasants in different ways became dependent on them. Some peasants, deprived of the means of production, were enslaved by landowners, taking advantage of their need for tools, equipment, seeds, etc. Other peasants, sitting on land subject to tribute, who owned their own tools of production, were forced by the state to transfer the land under the patrimonial power of the feudal lords. As the estates expanded and the smerds became enslaved, the term servants, which previously meant slaves, began to apply to the entire mass of the peasantry dependent on the landowner.

Peasants who fell into bondage to the feudal lord, legally formalized by a special agreement - nearby, were called purchases. They received from the landowner a plot of land and a loan, which they worked off on the feudal lord's farm with the master's equipment. For escaping from the master, the zakuns turned into serfs - slaves deprived of all rights. Labor rent - corvée, field and castle (construction of fortifications, bridges, roads, etc.), was combined with nagural quitrent.

The forms of social protest of the masses against the feudal system were varied: from flight from their owner to armed “robbery”, from violating the boundaries of feudal estates, setting fire to the trees belonging to the princes to open uprising. The peasants fought against the feudal lords with weapons in their hands. Under Vladimir Svyatoslavich, “robberies” (as armed uprisings of peasants were often called at that time) became a common phenomenon. In 996, Vladimir, on the advice of the clergy, decided to apply the death penalty against “robbers”, but then, having strengthened the apparatus of power and, needing new sources of income to support the squad, he replaced the execution with a fine - vira. The princes paid even more attention to the fight against popular movements in the 11th century.

At the beginning of the 12th century. further development of the craft took place. In the village, under the conditions of state dominance of the natural economy, the production of clothing, shoes, utensils, agricultural implements, etc. was home production, not yet separated from agriculture. With the development of the feudal system, some of the community artisans became dependent on the feudal lords, others left the village and went under the walls of princely castles and fortresses, where craft settlements were created. The possibility of a break between the artisan and the village was due to the development of agriculture, which could provide the urban population with food and the beginning of the separation of crafts from agriculture.

Cities became centers for the development of crafts. In them by the 12th century. there were over 60 craft specialties. Russian artisans of the 11th-12th centuries. produced more than 150 types of iron and steel products, their products played an important role in the development of trade relations between the city and the countryside. Old Russian jewelers knew the art of minting non-ferrous metals. Tools, weapons, household items, and jewelry were made in craft workshops.

With its products, Rus' gained fame in Europe at that time. However, the social division of labor in the country as a whole was weak. The village lived on subsistence farming. The penetration of small retail traders into the village from the city did not disrupt the natural nature of the rural economy. Cities were centers of internal trade. But urban commodity production did not change the natural economic basis of the country’s economy.

Rus''s foreign trade was more developed. Russian merchants traded in the possessions of the Arab Caliphate. The Dnieper route connected Rus' with Byzantium. Russian merchants traveled from Kyiv to Moravia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Southern Germany, from Novgorod and Polotsk - along the Baltic Sea to Scandinavia, Polish Pomerania and further to the west. With the development of crafts, the export of handicraft products increased.

Silver bars and foreign coins were used as money. Princes Vladimir Svyatoslavich and his son Yaroslav Vladimirovich issued (albeit in small quantities) minted silver coins. However, foreign trade did not change the natural nature of the Russian economy.

With the growth of the social division of labor, cities developed. They arose from castle fortresses, which were gradually overgrown with settlements, and from trade and craft settlements, around which fortifications were erected. The city was connected with the nearest rural district, from whose products it lived and whose population it served with handicrafts. In the chronicles of the 9th-10th centuries. 25 cities are mentioned in the news of the 11th century - 89. The heyday of ancient Russian cities fell in the 11th-12th centuries.

Craft and merchant associations arose in the cities, although a guild system did not develop here. In addition to free artisans, patrimonial artisans also lived in cities, who were slaves of princes and boyars. The city nobility consisted of the boyars. The large cities of Rus' (Kyiv, Chernigov, Polotsk, Novgorod, Smolensk, etc.) were administrative, judicial and military centers. At the same time, having grown stronger, the cities contributed to the process of political fragmentation. This was a natural phenomenon under conditions of the dominance of subsistence farming and the weak economic ties between individual lands.

PROBLEMS OF STATE UNITY OF Rus'

The state unity of Rus' was not strong. The development of feudal relations and the strengthening of the power of the feudal lords, as well as the growth of cities as centers of local principalities, led to changes in the political superstructure. In the 11th century the head of the state was still headed by the Grand Duke, but the princes and boyars dependent on him acquired large land holdings in different parts of Rus' (in Novgorod, Polotsk, Chernigov, Volyn, etc.). The princes of individual feudal centers strengthened their own apparatus of power and, relying on local feudal lords, began to consider their reigns as paternal, that is, hereditary possessions. Economically, they were almost no longer dependent on Kyiv; on the contrary, the Kiev prince was interested in their support. Political dependence on Kyiv weighed heavily on local feudal lords and princes who ruled in certain parts of the country.

After the death of Vladimir, his son Svyatopolk became prince in Kyiv, who killed his brothers Boris and Gleb and began a stubborn struggle with Yaroslav. In this struggle, Svyatopolk used the military assistance of Polish feudal lords. Then a massive popular movement against the Polish invaders began in the Kyiv land. Yaroslav, supported by the Novgorod townspeople, defeated Svyatopolk and occupied Kyiv.

During the reign of Yaroslav Vladimirovich, nicknamed the Wise (1019-1054), around 1024, a large uprising of the Smerds broke out in the northeast, in the Suzdal land. The reason for it was severe hunger. Many participants in the suppressed uprising were imprisoned or executed. However, the movement continued until 1026.

During the reign of Yaroslav, the strengthening and further expansion of the borders of the Old Russian state continued. However, signs of feudal fragmentation of the state appeared more and more clearly.

After the death of Yaroslav, state power passed to his three sons. Seniority belonged to Izyaslav, who owned Kiev, Novgorod and other cities. His co-rulers were Svyatoslav (who ruled in Chernigov and Tmutarakan) and Vsevolod (who reigned in Rostov, Suzdal and Pereyaslavl). In 1068, nomadic Cumans attacked Rus'. Russian troops were defeated on the Alta River. Izyaslav and Vsevolod fled to Kyiv. This accelerated the anti-feudal uprising in Kyiv, which had been brewing for a long time. The rebels destroyed the princely court, released Vseslav of Polotsk, who had previously been imprisoned by his brothers during an inter-princely strife, and was released from prison and elevated to reign. However, he soon left Kyiv, and a few months later Izyaslav, with the help of Polish troops, resorting to deception, again occupied the city (1069) and committed a bloody massacre.

Urban uprisings were associated with the peasant movement. Since the anti-feudal movements were also directed against the Christian Church, the rebellious peasants and townspeople were sometimes led by the Magi. In the 70s of the 11th century. There was a major popular movement in the Rostov land. Popular movements took place in other places in Rus'. In Novgorod, for example, the masses of the urban population, led by the Magi, opposed the nobility, headed by the prince and bishop. Prince Gleb, with the help of military force, dealt with the rebels.

The development of the feudal mode of production inevitably led to the political fragmentation of the country. Class contradictions intensified noticeably. The devastation from exploitation and princely strife was aggravated by the consequences of crop failures and famine. After the death of Svyatopolk in Kyiv, there was an uprising of the urban population and peasants from the surrounding villages. The frightened nobility and merchants invited Vladimir Vsevolodovich Monomakh (1113-1125), Prince of Pereyaslavl, to reign in Kyiv. The new prince was forced to make some concessions to suppress the uprising.

Vladimir Monomakh pursued a policy of strengthening the grand ducal power. Owning, in addition to Kyiv, Pereyaslavl, Suzdal, Rostov, ruling Novgorod and part of South-Western Rus', he simultaneously tried to subjugate other lands (Minsk, Volyn, etc.). However, contrary to Monomakh’s policy, the process of fragmentation of Rus', caused by economic reasons, continued. By the second quarter of the 12th century. Rus' was finally fragmented into many principalities.

CULTURE OF ANCIENT Rus'

The culture of ancient Rus' is the culture of early feudal society. Oral poetic creativity reflected the life experience of the people, captured in proverbs and sayings, in the rituals of agricultural and family holidays, from which the cult pagan principle gradually disappeared, and the rituals turned into folk games. Buffoons - traveling actors, singers and musicians, who came from a popular background, were bearers of democratic tendencies in art. Folk motifs formed the basis for the remarkable song and musical creativity of the “prophetic Boyan,” whom the author of “The Lay of Igor’s Campaign” calls “the nightingale of the old time.”

The growth of national self-awareness found particularly vivid expression in the historical epic. In it, the people idealized the time of political unity of Rus', although still very fragile, when the peasants were not yet dependent. The image of the “peasant son” Ilya Muromets, a fighter for the independence of his homeland, embodies the deep patriotism of the people. Folk art influenced the traditions and legends that developed in the feudal secular and church environment, and helped the formation of ancient Russian literature.

The emergence of writing was of enormous importance for the development of ancient Russian literature. In Rus', writing apparently arose quite early. The news has been preserved that the Slavic educator of the 9th century. Konstantin (Kirill) saw books in Chersonesos written in “Russian characters.” Evidence of the presence of writing among the Eastern Slavs even before the adoption of Christianity is an early 10th-century clay vessel discovered in one of the Smolensk mounds. with an inscription. Writing became widespread after the adoption of Christianity.

The history of the emergence of the state uniting the tribes of the Eastern Slavs still causes a lot of controversy. There are two theories of the formation of the Old Russian state: Norman and anti-Roman. We will talk about them, as well as the reasons for the emergence and development of the state in Rus' today.

Two theories

The date of formation of the Old Russian state is considered to be 862, when the Slavs, due to strife between tribes, invited a “third” party - the Scandinavian princes Rurik to restore order. However, in historical science there are discrepancies regarding the origin of the first state in Rus'. There are two main theories:

• Norman theory(G. Miller, G. Bayer, M. M. Shcherbatov, N. M. Karamzin): referring to the chronicle “The Tale of Bygone Years,” the creation of which belongs to the monk of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery Nestor, scientists came to the conclusion that statehood in Rus' - the work of the Normans Rurik and his brothers;
• Anti-Norman theory(M.V. Lomonosov, M.S. Grushevsky, I.E. Zabelin): followers of this concept do not deny the participation of the invited Varangian princes in the formation of the state, but believe that the Ruriks did not come to an “empty” place and this form of government has already existed among the ancient Slavs long before the events described in the chronicle.

Once, at a meeting of the Academy of Sciences, Mikhailo Vasilyevich Lomonosov beat Miller for a “false” interpretation of the history of Rus'. After the death of the great Russian scientist, his research in the field of the history of the Old Russian state mysteriously disappeared. After some time, they were discovered and were published under the editorship of the same Miller. It is interesting to note that modern research has shown that the published works do not belong to the hand of Lomonosov.

Rice. 1. Collection of tribute from Slavic tribes

Reasons for the formation of the Old Russian state

Nothing in this world happens for nothing. For this or that event to happen, reasons are needed. There were prerequisites for the formation of a state among the Slavs:

• Uniting Slavic tribes to confront more powerful neighbors: At the beginning of the 9th century, the Slavic tribes were surrounded by stronger states. In the south there was a large medieval state - the Khazar Khaganate, to which the northerners, Polans and Vyatichi were forced to pay tribute. In the north, the hardy and warlike Normans demanded ransom from the Krivichi, Ilmen Slovenes, Chud and Merya. Only the unification of the tribes could change the existing injustice.
• Destruction of the clan system and clan ties: Military campaigns, the development of new lands and trade led to the fact that in clan communities based on property equality and joint farming, stronger and richer families appeared - clan nobility;
• Social stratification: The destruction of the tribal and communal system among the Slavs led to the emergence of new layers of the population. This is how a layer of tribal nobility and warriors was formed. The first included the descendants of the elders who managed to accumulate more wealth. The second, the warriors, were young warriors who, after military campaigns, did not return to agriculture, but became professional warriors who defended the rulers and the community. A layer of ordinary community members, as a sign of gratitude for the protection of the soldiers and princes, presented gifts, which later turned into obligatory tribute. In addition, a layer of artisans emerged who moved away from agriculture and exchanged their “fruits” of labor for products. There were also people who lived exclusively through trade - a layer of merchants.
• Urban development: In the 9th century, trade routes (land and river) played a major role in the development of society. All new layers of population - nobility, warriors, artisans, merchants and farmers sought to settle in villages located on trade routes. Thus, the number of residents increased, the social system changed, new orders emerged: the power of princes turned into state power, tribute into a mandatory state tax, small cities into large centers.

Rice. 2. Gifts to vigilantes for protection from enemies

Two centers

All of the above main stages in the development of statehood in Rus' naturally led in the first half of the 9th century to the formation of two centers on the map of modern Russia - two early ancient Russian states:

• in the north- Novgorod Union of Tribes;
• in the south- merger with the center in Kyiv.

By the middle of the 9th century, the princes of the Kyiv Union - Askold and Dir achieved the liberation of their tribes from the “offerings” of tribute to the Khazar Kaganate. Events in Novgorod developed differently: in 862, due to strife, the residents of the city invited the Norman prince Rurik to reign and own the lands. He accepted the offer and settled in the Slavic lands. After his death, his close associate Oleg took control into his own hands. It was he who went on a campaign against Kyiv in 882. Thus, he united the two centers into one state - Rus or Kievan Rus.

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After Oleg’s death, the title “Grand Duke” was taken by Igor (912 -945), the son of Rurik. For excessive extortions, he was killed by people from the Drevlyan tribe.

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Ivan Nekrasov is with you, and today I have prepared for you an analysis of the next topic on Russian history. In the last article, we covered the topic “Eastern Slavs” in full, as much as possible, that is, the base of the first lesson will be enough for you to write even some complicated Olympiad, and if you have not yet studied that material, do not start this, because they are a logical complement to each other =) At the end of the article you will find a summary for study and homework to consolidate this topic. And also, dear friends, let's be more active, judging by the likes and reposts of these lessons, you exist and visit this site

Prerequisites for the formation of the state

So, the prerequisites for the formation of the Old Russian state, in general in the 6th–9th centuries. the prerequisites for the formation of the state of the Eastern Slavs were formed. The economic prerequisites for this process were the transition to arable farming, the separation of crafts from agriculture, the concentration of crafts in cities, the emergence of exchange relations, and the predominance of free labor over slave labor.

Political prerequisites were taking shape: the need of the tribal nobility for an apparatus to protect their privileges and seize new lands, the formation of tribal unions of the Slavs, the threat of attack by enemies, a sufficient level of military organization. The social prerequisites were the change of the clan community to a neighboring one, the emergence of social inequality, the presence of patriarchal forms of slavery, and the formation of the Old Russian nationality.

A common pagan religion, similar customs, rituals, and social psychology created the spiritual prerequisites for the formation of statehood.

Rus' was located between Europe and Asia within the plains, so the need for constant protection from enemies forced the Eastern Slavs to rally to create a strong state power.

State formation

According to the Tale of Bygone Years (hereinafter referred to as PVL), the oldest chronicle of Rus', in 862 the Varangians, who had previously imposed tribute on the tribes of the Ilmen Slovenes and Chuds, were expelled overseas. After which, civil strife began on the lands of the tribal union of the Ilmen Slovenes. Unable to resolve conflicts on their own, local tribes decided to call upon a ruler not associated with any of the clans:

“Let us look for a prince who would rule over us and judge us by right.” And they went overseas to the Varangians, to Rus'. Those Varangians were called Rus, just as others are called Swedes, and some Normans and Angles, and still others Gotlanders, and so are these. The Chud, the Slovenians, the Krivichi and all said to the Russians: “Our land is great and abundant, but there is no order in it. Come reign and rule over us." And three brothers were chosen with their clans, and they took all of Rus' with them, and they came and the eldest, Rurik, sat in Novgorod, and the other, Sineus, in Beloozero, and the third, Truvor, in Izborsk. And from those Varangians the Russian land was nicknamed. Novgorodians are people from the Varangian family, but before that they were Slovenians.”

V. Vasnetsov. Calling of the Varangians

The semi-legendary calling of Rurik to reign in Novgorod in 862 (his brothers are completely fictional characters) is traditionally considered the beginning of the history of the Russian state.

The same year the chronicler dates the formation of the second center of Russian statehood - the Kyiv principality of Askold and Dir. According to the PVL, Askold and Dir, Rurik’s warriors, left their prince and occupied Kyiv, the tribal center of the glades that had previously paid tribute to the Khazars. Now the legend about the exodus of Askold and Dir from Rurik is considered unhistorical. Most likely, these princes had no relation to the Varangian ruler of Novgorod and were representatives of the local dynasty.

In any case, in the second half of the 8th century. On the lands of the Eastern Slavs, two centers of statehood were formed.

Norman question

There are two main hypotheses for the formation of the Old Russian state. According to the classical Norman theory, it was brought from outside by the Varangians - the brothers Rurik, Sineus and Truvor in 862. The authors of the Norman theory were G. F. Miller, A. L. Schlötzer, G. Z. Bayer, German historians who worked in the first half XVIII century at the Russian Academy of Sciences. The anti-Norman theory, the founder of which was M.V. Lomonosov, is based on the concepts of the impossibility of “teaching statehood” and the formation of the state as a natural stage in the internal development of society.

The problem of the ethnicity of the Varangians is directly related to the Norman question. Normanists consider them Scandinavians; some anti-Normanists, starting with Lomonosov, suggest their West Slavic, Finno-Ugric or Baltic origin.

At this stage of the development of historical science, the concept of the Scandinavian origin of the Varangians is adhered to by most historians; at the same time, the fact is recognized that the Scandinavians, who were at a similar or even lower level of development of social relations than the Eastern Slavs, could not bring statehood to the lands of Eastern Europe. Thus, the emergence of the Old Russian state was the logical conclusion of the process of internal development of East Slavic society; the ethnicity of the princely dynasty did not play a primary role in the formation of Rus'.

N. Roerich. Overseas guests

The first Kyiv princes

Oleg the Prophet (879–912)

In 879 Rurik died in Novgorod. Since Rurik’s son, Igor, was a child. power passed to his “relative” Oleg, nicknamed the Prophetic in ancient Russian chronicles. Little is known about Oleg’s relationship with Rurik. V.N. Tatishchev, with reference to the Joachim Chronicle, called Oleg a brother-in-law (brother of Rurik’s wife, Efanda).

In 882, Oleg went on a campaign from Novgorod to the south along the Dnieper. He conquered Smolensk and Lyubech, captured Kyiv. According to the chronicle. Oleg cunningly lured the rulers of Kyiv, Askold and Dir, out of the city and killed them under the pretext of their “non-princely origin.” Kyiv became the capital of the new state - “the mother of Russian cities.” Thus, Oleg united under his rule the two original centers of ancient Russian statehood - Novgorod and Kyiv, and gained control over the entire length of the great trade route “from the Varangians to the Greeks.”

Oleg kills Askold and Dir

Within a few years after the capture of Kyiv, Oleg extended his power to the tribes of the Drevlians, Northerners and Radimichi, who had previously paid tribute to the Khazar Khaganate. The prince's control over the subordinate tribes was carried out through polyudya - an annual tour of the prince with a retinue of subordinate tribes in order to collect tribute (usually furs). Subsequently, the furs, which were extremely highly valued, were sold on the markets of the Byzantine Empire.

In order to improve the situation of Russian merchants and robbery, in 907 Oleg, at the head of a militia of the tribes under his control, made a grandiose campaign against the Byzantine Empire and, reaching the walls of Constantinople, took a huge ransom from Emperor Leo VI the Philosopher. As a sign of victory, Oleg nailed his shield to the city gates. The result of the campaign was the conclusion of a peace treaty between the Byzantine Empire and the Old Russian state (907), which granted Russian merchants the right to duty-free trade in Constantinople.

After the campaign against Byzantium in 907, Oleg received the nickname Prophetic, that is, one who knows the future. Some historians have expressed doubts about the campaign of 907, which is not mentioned by Byzantine authors. In 911, Oleg sent an embassy to Constantinople, which confirmed peace and concluded a new treaty, from which references to duty-free trade disappeared. Linguistic analysis eliminated doubts about the authenticity of the 911 treaty. Byzantine authors have information about it. In 912, Oleg, according to legend, died from a snake bite.

Igor Rurikovich the Old (912–945)

Igor Rurikovich entered Russian history with the nickname “Old”, i.e. the oldest. The beginning of his reign was marked by the uprising of the Drevlyan tribe, who tried to free themselves from dependence on Kyiv. The uprising was brutally suppressed, the Drevlyans were subject to heavy tribute.

K. V. Lebedev. Polyudye

In 941, Igor made an unsuccessful campaign against Constantinople. The Russian fleet was burned by “Greek fire.” The repeated campaign in 944 was more successful. The Byzantine Empire, without waiting for troops to arrive on its lands, agreed to pay tribute to Igor, as before to Oleg, and concluded a new trade agreement with the Kyiv prince. The treaty of 944 was less beneficial for Russian merchants than the previous one, since it deprived them of the right to duty-free trade. In the same year, the Russian fleet, allowed by the Khazar Khagan into the Caspian Sea, devastated the city of Berdaa.

In 945, Igor was killed during Polyudye by the newly rebelling Drevlyans (according to PVL, he was torn apart by two trees) after an attempt to collect tribute again. Of Igor’s wives, only Olga is known, whom he revered more than others because of “her wisdom.”

Olga (945–960)

According to legend, Igor's widow, Princess Olga, who assumed power due to the childhood of her son Igor Svyatoslavich, took cruel revenge on the Drevlyans. She cunningly destroyed their elders and Prince Mal, killed many common people, burned the tribal center of the Drevlyans - the city of Iskorosten - and imposed a heavy tribute on them.

V. Surikov. Princess Olga meets the body of Prince Igor

To prevent uprisings like the Drevlyan one, Olga completely changed the system of collecting tribute. On the territory of each tribal union, a graveyard was established - a place for collecting tribute, and a lesson was established for each tribe - the exact amount of tribute.

Tiuns, representatives of the princely authorities responsible for collecting tribute, were sent to the lands subject to Kyiv. In fact, Olga's reform contributed to the transformation of Rus' from a loose union of tribes, united only by princely power, into a state with administrative divisions and a permanent bureaucratic apparatus.

Under Olga, the connection between Kievan Rus and the Byzantine Empire, the richest and most developed state of the early Middle Ages, strengthened. In 956 (or 957) Olga visited Constantinople and was baptized there, thus becoming the first Christian ruler of the Old Russian state.

S. A. Kirillov. Princess Olga (Epiphany)

At the same time, Olga’s adoption of Christianity was not followed by the conversion of either her son Svyatoslav, who was a zealous pagan, or his squad.

Svyatoslav Igorevich (960–972)

Svyatoslav spent almost his entire short reign on military campaigns, weakly dealing with the internal affairs of the state, which his mother actually continued to head.

In 965, Svyatoslav made a campaign against the Khazar Kaganate and, having defeated the Kagan’s army, took the city of Sarkel. In place of Sarkel, a Russian outpost arose in the steppe - the Belaya Vezha fortress. After this, he devastated the Khazar possessions in the North Caucasus. Probably, this campaign is associated with the assertion of the power of the Kyiv prince over the Taman Peninsula, where the Tmutarakan principality later arose. In fact, Svyatoslav’s campaign put an end to the power of Khazaria.

V. Kireev. Prince Svyatoslav

In 966, Svyatoslav subjugated the Vyatichi tribal union, who had previously paid tribute to the Khazars.

In 967, Svyatoslav accepted the Byzantine Empire’s proposal for joint military action against Danube Bulgaria. By drawing Svyatoslav into the anti-Bulgar coalition, Byzantium tried, on the one hand, to crush its Danube rival, and on the other, to weaken Rus', which had sharply strengthened after the fall of the Khazar Kaganate. On the Danube, Svyatoslav over the course of several months broke the resistance of the Bulgars “and took 80 of their cities along the Danube, and sat down to reign there in Pereyaslavets, taking tribute from the Greeks.”

Svyatoslav VS Khazar Khaganate

The Kiev prince did not have time to gain a foothold in his new Danube possessions. In 968, a horde of Pechenegs, Turkic-speaking nomads who had previously been dependent on the Khazar Kaganate, approached Kyiv. Svyatoslav was forced to curtail the conquest of Bulgaria and rush to the aid of the capital. Despite the fact that the Pechenegs retreated from Kyiv even before Svyatoslav’s return, the arrangement of affairs in their state delayed the prince. Only in 969 was he able to return to Pereyaslavets on the Danube, which he hoped to make his new capital.

The desire of the Kyiv prince to gain a foothold on the Danube caused complications in relations with the Byzantine Empire. In 970, war broke out between Svyatoslav and Byzantium. Despite the initial successes of Svyatoslav and his allies, the Bulgars and Hungarians, his army was defeated in the Battle of Arcadiopolis (PVL speaks of the victory of the Russian army, but data from Byzantine sources, as well as the entire subsequent course of the war, suggest the opposite).

The campaign of 971 was personally led by Emperor John Tzimiskes, an exceptionally experienced and talented commander. He managed to transfer the war to the territory of Danube Bulgaria and besiege Svyatoslav in the Dorostol fortress. The fortress was heroically defended for several months. The huge losses of the Byzantine army and the hopelessness of Svyatoslav’s situation forced the parties to enter into peace negotiations. Under the terms of the concluded peace, Svyatoslav left all his Danube possessions, which came under the rule of Byzantium, but retained the army.

K. Lebedev. Meeting of Svyatoslav with John Tzimiskes

In 972, on the way to Kyiv, Svyatoslav, passing the Dnieper rapids, was ambushed by the Pecheneg Khan Kurei. In a battle with the Pechenegs, the Kiev prince met his death.

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