The ancient homeland of the Slavs is Central Europe, where the Danube, Elbe and Vistula take their sources. From here, the Slavs moved further to the east, to the banks of the Dnieper, Pripyat, Desna. These were the tribes of glades, drevlyans, northerners. Another stream of settlers moved northwest to the banks of the Volkhov and Lake Ilmen. These tribes were called Ilmen Slovenes. Part of the settlers (Krivichi) settled on a hill, from where the Dnieper, the Moscow River, the Oka flow. This migration took place not earlier than the 7th century. In the course of the development of new lands, the Slavs ousted and subjugated the Finno-Ugric tribes, who were the same as the Slavs, pagans.

Foundation of the Russian state

In the center of the possessions of the glades on the Dnieper in the 9th century. a city was built, which received the name of the leader Kiy, who ruled in it with the brothers Shchek and Khoriv. Kyiv stood in a very convenient place at the crossroads and grew rapidly as shopping center. In 864, two Scandinavian Varangians Askold and Dir captured Kyiv and began to rule there. They went on a raid on Byzantium, but returned, badly battered by the Greeks. It was no coincidence that the Varangians ended up on the Dnieper - it was part of a single waterway from the Baltic to the Black Sea (“from the Varangians to the Greeks”). In some places the waterway was interrupted by hills. There the Varangians dragged their light boats on their backs or dragged.

According to legend, civil strife began in the land of the Ilmen Slovenes and the Finno-Ugric peoples (Chud, Merya) - “family against clan arose”. Tired of the strife, the local leaders decided to invite King Rurik and his brothers, Sineus and Truvor, from Denmark. Rurik readily responded to the tempting offer of the ambassadors. The custom of inviting a ruler from across the sea was generally accepted in Europe. People hoped that such a prince would rise above the unfriendly local leaders and thereby ensure peace and tranquility in the country. Having built Ladoga (now Staraya Ladoga), Rurik then went up the Volkhov to Ilmen and settled there at a place called "Rurik's settlement". Then Rurik built the city of Novgorod nearby and took possession of all the surrounding lands. Sineus settled in Beloozero, and Truvor - in Izborsk. Then the younger brothers died, and Rurik began to rule alone. Together with Rurik and the Vikings, the word "Rus" came to the Slavs. That was the name of the warrior-rower on the Scandinavian boat. Then Rus was called the Viking warriors who served with the princes, then the name "Rus" was transferred to all the Eastern Slavs, their land, state.

The ease with which the Varangians took power in the lands of the Slavs is explained not only by the invitation, but also by the similarity of faith - both the Slavs and the Varangians were pagan polytheists. They revered the spirits of water, forests, brownies, goblin, had extensive pantheons of "major" and minor gods and goddesses. One of the most revered Slavic gods, the lord of thunder and lightning Perun, looked like the Scandinavian supreme god Thor, whose symbols - hammers of archaeologists are also found in Slavic burials. The Slavs worshiped Svarog - the master of the universe, the god of the sun Dazhbog and the god of the earth Svarozhich. They respected the god of cattle - Veles and the goddess of needlework - Mokosh. The sculptural images of the gods were placed on the hills, the sacred temples were surrounded by a high fence. The gods of the Slavs were very severe, even ferocious. They demanded reverence from people, frequent offerings. Upstairs, to the gods, gifts rose in the form of smoke from the burnt sacrifices: food, dead animals and even people.

The first princes - Rurikovich

After the death of Rurik, power in Novgorod passed not to his young son Igor, but to Rurik's relative Oleg, who had previously lived in Ladoga. In 882, Oleg approached Kiev with his retinue. Under the guise of a Varangian merchant, he appeared before Askold and Dir. Suddenly, Oleg's warriors jumped out of the boats and killed the Kiev rulers. Kyiv obeyed Oleg. So for the first time the lands of the Eastern Slavs from Ladoga to Kyiv were united under the rule of one prince.

Prince Oleg largely followed the policy of Rurik and annexed more and more new lands to the new state, called Kievan Rus by historians. In all the lands, Oleg immediately "began to set up cities" - wooden fortresses. The famous act of Oleg was the 907 campaign against Tsargrad (Constantinople). His large squad of Varangians and Slavs on light ships suddenly appeared at the walls of the city. The Greeks were not ready for defense. Seeing how the barbarians who came from the north were robbing and burning in the vicinity of the city, they went to negotiate with Oleg, made peace and paid tribute to him. In 911 Oleg's ambassadors Karl, Farlof, Velmud and others signed a new treaty with the Greeks. Before leaving Constantinople, Oleg, as a sign of victory, hung his shield on the gates of the city. At home, in Kyiv, people were amazed at the rich booty with which Oleg returned, and gave the prince the nickname "Prophetic", that is, a wizard, a magician.

Oleg's successor Igor (Ingvar), nicknamed "Old", the son of Rurik, ruled for 33 years. He lived in Kyiv, which became his home. Little is known about Igor's personality. It was a warrior, a stern Varangian, who almost continuously conquered the tribes of the Slavs, imposed tribute on them. Like Oleg, Igor raided Byzantium. In those days, in an agreement with Byzantium, the name of the country of the Rus appeared - "Russian Land". At home, Igor was forced to repel the raids of the nomads - the Pechenegs. Since that time, the danger of nomadic attacks has never weakened. Russia was a loose, unstable state, stretching for a thousand miles from north to south. The strength of a single princely power - that's what kept the lands distant from each other.

Every winter, as soon as the rivers and swamps froze, the prince went to the polyudye - he traveled around his lands, judged, sorted out disputes, collected tribute (“lesson”) and punished the tribes “deposited” over the summer. During the polyudya of 945 in the land of the Drevlyans, it seemed to Igor that the tribute of the Drevlyans was small, and he returned for more. The Drevlyans were indignant at this lawlessness, seized the prince, tied him by the legs to two bent mighty trees and let them go. So ingloriously died Igor.

The unexpected death of Igor forced his wife Olga to take power into her own hands - after all, their son Svyatoslav was only 4 years old. According to legend, Olga (Helga) herself was a Scandinavian. The terrible death of her husband became the cause of Olga's no less terrible revenge, who brutally dealt with the Drevlyans. The chronicler tells us exactly how Olga deceived the Drevlyansk ambassadors. She suggested that they take a bath before starting negotiations. While the ambassadors were enjoying the steam room, Olga ordered her soldiers to close the doors of the bathhouse and set it on fire. There, the enemies burned down. This is not the first mention of the bath in the Russian chronicle. In the Nikon chronicle there is a legend about the visit of the Holy Apostle Andrew to Russia. Then, returning to Rome, he spoke with surprise about a strange action in Russian land: “I saw wooden baths, and they would heat them up strongly, and they would undress and be naked, and pour leather kvass on themselves, and the young would lift up the rods and beat themselves, and they will finish themselves to such an extent that they will barely get out, barely alive, and will douse themselves with icy water, and only in this way will they come to life. And they do this all the time, they are not tormented by anyone, but they torment themselves, and then they make ablution for themselves, and not torment. After that, the sensational theme of an unusual Russian bath with a birch broom for many centuries will become an indispensable attribute of many travel notes of foreigners from medieval times to the present day.

Princess Olga rode through her possessions and set clear dimensions for the lesson there. In the legends, Olga became famous for her wisdom, cunning, and energy. It is known about Olga that she was the first of the Russian rulers to receive foreign ambassadors in Kyiv from the German Emperor Otto I. Twice Olga was in Constantinople. The second time, in 957, Olga was received by Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus. And after that, she decided to be baptized, and the emperor himself became her godfather.

By this time, Svyatoslav had grown up and began to rule Russia. He fought almost continuously, raiding his neighbors with his retinue, and very distant ones - the Vyatichi, Volga Bulgars, defeated the Khazar Khaganate. Contemporaries compared these campaigns of Svyatoslav with the jumps of a leopard, swift, silent and powerful.

Svyatoslav was a blue-eyed, lush mustache man of medium height, he cut his head bald, leaving a long tuft at the top of his head. An earring with precious stones hung in his ear. Dense, strong, he was tireless in campaigns, his army did not have a wagon train, and the prince made do with the food of nomads - dried meat. All his life he remained a pagan and a polygamist. At the end of the 960s. Svyatoslav moved to the Balkans. His army was hired by Byzantium to conquer the Bulgarians. Svyatoslav defeated the Bulgarians, and then settled in Pereslavets on the Danube and did not want to leave these lands. Byzantium started a war against a disobedient mercenary. At first, the prince defeated the Byzantines, but then his army became very thin, and Svyatoslav agreed to leave Bulgaria forever.

Without joy, the prince sailed on boats up the Dnieper. Even earlier, he told his mother: “I don’t like Kyiv, I want to live in Pereyaslavets on the Danube - there is the middle of my land.” He had a small squad with him - the rest of the Varangians went to rob neighboring countries. On the Dnieper rapids, the squad was ambushed by the Pechenegs, and Svyatoslav died in a battle with the nomads at the threshold of Nenasytninsky. From his skull, the enemies made a goblet decorated with gold for wine.

Even before going to Bulgaria, Svyatoslav distributed the lands (destinies) between his sons. He left the elder Yaropolk in Kyiv, sent the middle one Oleg to the land of the Drevlyans, and planted the younger one Vladimir in Novgorod. After the death of Svyatoslav, Yaropolk attacked Oleg, and he died in battle. Vladimir, learning about this, fled to Scandinavia. He was the son of Svyatoslav and a concubine - a slave Malusha, Olga's housekeeper. This made him not equal to his brothers - after all, they came from noble mothers. The consciousness of his inferiority aroused in the young man the desire to establish himself in the eyes of people with strength, intelligence, deeds that would be remembered by everyone.

Two years later, with a detachment of the Varangians, he returned to Novgorod and moved through Polotsk to Kyiv. Yaropolk, not having much strength, locked himself in the fortress. Vladimir managed to persuade Yaropolk's close adviser Blud to treason, and as a result of the conspiracy, Yaropolk was killed. So Vladimir captured Kyiv. Since then, the history of fratricides in Russia begins, when the thirst for power and ambition drowned out the voice of native blood and mercy.

The fight against the Pechenegs became a headache for the new Kiev prince. These wild nomads, who were called "the most cruel of all pagans", aroused general fear. A story is known about the confrontation with them on the Trubezh River in 992, when for two days Vladimir could not find a fighter among his troops who would go out to duel with the Pechenegs. The honor of the Russians was saved by the mighty Nikita Kozhemyak, who simply lifted into the air and strangled his opponent. The city of Pereyaslavl was placed on the site of Nikita's victory. Fighting the nomads, making campaigns against different tribes, Vladimir himself did not differ in daring and militancy, like his ancestors. It is known that during one of the battles with the Pechenegs, Vladimir fled from the battlefield and, saving his life, climbed under the bridge. It is difficult to imagine in such a humiliating form his grandfather, the conqueror of Constantinople, Prince Igor, or his father, Svyatoslav-Bars. In the construction of cities in key places, the prince saw a means of protection against nomads. Here he invited daredevils from the north like the legendary Ilya Muromets, who were interested in the dangerous life on the border.

Vladimir understood the need for change in matters of faith. He tried to unite all pagan cults, to make Perun the only god. But the reform failed. Here it is appropriate to tell the legend about the birdie. At first, faith in Christ and his atoning sacrifice made its way with difficulty into the harsh world of the Slavs and Scandinavians who came to rule them. How could it be otherwise: hearing the peals of thunder, could there be any doubt that this terrible god of 6 dins on a black horse, surrounded by valkyries - magical horsewomen, is galloping to hunt for people! And how happy a warrior dying in battle, knowing that he will immediately fall into Valhalla - a giant chamber for the chosen heroes. Here, in the paradise of the Vikings, he will be blissful, his terrible wounds will instantly heal, and the wine that the beautiful Valkyries will bring to him will be fine ... But the Vikings were sharpened by one thought: the feast in Valhalla will not last forever, the terrible day of Ragnarok will come - the end of the world, when the bdin's army fights the giants and monsters of the abyss. And all of them will die - heroes, wizards, gods with Odin at the head in an unequal battle with the gigantic serpent Jörmungand... Listening to the saga about the inevitable death of the world, the king-king was sad. Outside the wall of his long, low house, a blizzard howled, shaking the hide-covered entrance. And then the old Viking raised his head, who had converted to Christianity during the campaign against Byzantium. He said to the king: “Look at the entrance, you see: when the wind lifts the skin, a small bird flies in to us, and that brief moment, until the skin closes the entrance again, the bird hangs in the air, it enjoys our warmth and comfort, so that in the next moment jump out again into the wind and cold. After all, we live in this world only one moment between two eternities of cold and fear. And Christ gives hope for the salvation of our souls from eternal death. Let's follow him!" And the king agreed...

The great world religions convinced the pagans that there is eternal life and even eternal bliss in heaven, you just need to accept their faith. According to legend, Vladimir listened to various priests: Jews, Catholics, Orthodox Greeks, Muslims. In the end, he chose Orthodoxy, but he was in no hurry to be baptized. He did this in 988 in the Crimea - and not without political benefits - in exchange for the support of Byzantium and consent to marriage with the sister of the Byzantine emperor Anna. Returning to Kyiv with his wife and Metropolitan Michael appointed from Constantinople, Vladimir first baptized his sons, relatives and servants. Then he took on the people. All the idols were thrown from the temples, burned, chopped. The prince issued an order for all pagans to come to the river bank for baptism. There, the people of Kiev were driven into the water and baptized en masse. To justify their weakness, people said that the prince and the boyars would hardly have accepted a worthless faith - after all, they would never wish anything bad for themselves! However, later an uprising broke out in the city dissatisfied with the new faith.

On the site of the ruined temples, churches immediately began to be built. The church of St. Basil was erected on the sanctuary of Perun. All churches were wooden, only the main temple - the Cathedral of the Assumption (Church of the Tithes) was built by the Greeks from stone. Baptism in other cities and lands was also not voluntary. A rebellion even began in Novgorod, but the threat of those sent from Vladimir to burn the city made the Novgorodians change their minds, and they climbed into the Volkhov to be baptized. The stubborn ones were dragged into the water by force and then checked to see if they were wearing crosses. Stone Perun was drowned in Volkhov, but faith in the power of the old gods was not destroyed by that. They secretly prayed to them even many centuries after the Kiev "baptists": getting into the boat, the Novgorodian threw a coin into the water - a sacrifice to Perun, so that he would not drown for an hour.

But gradually Christianity was established in Russia. This was largely facilitated by the Bulgarians - the Slavs who had previously converted to Christianity. Bulgarian priests and scribes came to Russia and carried with them Christianity in an understandable Slavic language. Bulgaria has become a kind of bridge between Greek, Byzantine and Russian-Slavic cultures.
Despite the harsh measures of Vladimir's rule, the people loved him, called him the Red Sun. He was generous, unforgiving, complaisant, ruled not cruelly, skillfully defended the country from enemies. The prince also loved his squad, advice (thought) with which he introduced it into custom at frequent and plentiful feasts. Vladimir died in 1015, and, having learned about this, the crowds rushed to the church to weep and pray for him as their intercessor. People were alarmed - after Vladimir there were 12 of his sons, and the struggle between them seemed inevitable.

Already during the life of Vladimir, the brothers, planted by their father on the main lands, lived unfriendly, and even during the life of Vladimir, his son Yaroslav, who was sitting in Novgorod, refused to carry the usual tribute to Kyiv. The father wanted to punish his son, but did not have time - he died. After his death, Svyatopolk, the eldest son of Vladimir, came to power in Kyiv. He received the nickname "Cursed", given to him for the murder of his brothers Gleb and Boris. The latter was especially loved in Kyiv, but, having sat on the Kyiv "golden table", Svyatopolk decided to get rid of his opponent. He sent assassins who stabbed Boris, and then killed another brother, Gleb. The struggle between Yaroslav and Svyatopolk was hard. Only in 1019 Yaroslav finally defeated Svyatopolk and fortified himself in Kyiv. Under Yaroslav, a code of laws (“Russian Truth”) was adopted, which limited blood feud, replaced it with a fine (vira). The judicial customs and traditions of Russia were also recorded there.

Yaroslav is known as "Wise", that is, a scientist, smart, educated. He, sickly by nature, loved and collected books. Yaroslav built a lot: he founded Yaroslavl on the Volga, Yuryev (now Tartu) in the Baltic states. But Yaroslav became especially famous for the construction of St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv. The cathedral was huge, had many domes and galleries, and was decorated with rich frescoes and mosaics. Among these magnificent Byzantine mosaics of St. Sophia Cathedral, in the altar of the temple, the famous mosaic “Indestructible Wall”, or “Oranta” - the Mother of God with raised hands has been preserved. This piece will amaze everyone who sees it. It seems to believers that since the time of Yaroslav, for almost a thousand years now, the Mother of God, like a wall, has stood unbreakably to her full height in the golden radiance of the sky, raising her hands, praying and shielding Russia with herself. People were surprised by the mosaic floor with patterns, the marble altar. Byzantine artists, in addition to the image of the Virgin and other saints, created a mosaic on the wall depicting the family of Yaroslav.
In 1051 the Caves Monastery was founded. A little later, hermit monks, who lived in caves (pechers) dug in the sandy mountain near the Dnieper, united in a monastic community headed by Abbot Anthony.

With Christianity, the Slavic alphabet came to Russia, which was invented in the middle of the 9th century by brothers from the Byzantine city of Thessalonica Cyril and Methodius. They adapted the Greek alphabet to the Slavic sounds, creating the "Cyrillic alphabet", translated the Holy Scripture into the Slavic language. Here, in Russia, the first book was the Ostromir Gospel. It was created in 1057 on the instructions of the Novgorod posadnik Ostromir. The first Russian book was of extraordinary beauty with miniatures and colored headpieces, as well as a postscript stating that the book was written in seven months and that the scribe asks the reader not to scold him for mistakes, but to correct them. Let us note in passing that in another similar work, the Arkhangelsk Gospel of 1092, a scribe named Mitka admits why he made so many mistakes: “voluptuousness, lust, slander, quarrels, drunkenness, simply speaking, everything evil!” Another ancient book - "Izbornik Svyatoslav" in 1073 - one of the first Russian encyclopedias, contained articles on various sciences. "Izbornik" is a copy from a Bulgarian book, rewritten for the prince's library. In Izbornik, praise is sung to knowledge, it is recommended to read each chapter of the book three times and remember that "beauty is a weapon for a warrior, and a sail for a ship, and tacos for a righteous man - book reverence."

Chronicles began to be written in Kyiv in the times of Olga and Svyatoslav. Under Yaroslav in 1037-1039. St. Sophia Cathedral became the center of the work of chroniclers. They took old chronicles and reduced them to a new edition, which they supplemented with new entries. Then the monks of the Caves Monastery began to keep the chronicle. In 1072-1073. there was another edition of the annalistic code. Abbot of the monastery Nikon collected and included new sources in it, checked the chronology, corrected the style. Finally, in 1113, the chronicler Nestor, a monk of the same monastery, created the famous compendium The Tale of Bygone Years. It remains the main source on the history of Ancient Russia. The imperishable body of the great chronicler Nestor rests in the dungeon of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, and behind the glass of his coffin you can still see the fingers of his right hand folded on his chest - the same one that wrote for us the ancient history of Russia.

Yaroslav's Russia was open to Europe. It was connected with the Christian world by the family relations of the rulers. Yaroslav married Ingigerd, daughter of the Swedish king Olaf, son of Vsevolod, he married the daughter of Emperor Constantine Monomakh. Three of his daughters immediately became queens: Elizabeth - Norwegian, Anastasia - Hungarian, and daughter Anna became the French queen, having married Henry I.

Yaroslavichi. Strife and crucify

As the historian N. M. Karamzin wrote, “Ancient Russia buried its power and prosperity with Yaroslav.” After the death of Yaroslav, discord and strife reigned among his descendants. Three of his sons entered into a dispute for power, and the younger Yaroslavichi, the grandchildren of Yaroslav, also mired in strife. All this happened at a time when for the first time a new enemy came to Russia from the steppes - the Polovtsians (Turks), who expelled the Pechenegs and themselves began to attack Russia frequently. The princes, warring with each other, for the sake of power and rich destinies, entered into an agreement with the Polovtsians and brought their hordes to Russia.

Of the sons of Yaroslav, Rus was ruled the longest by his youngest son Vsevolod (1078-1093). He was reputed to be an educated man, but he ruled the country poorly, unable to cope either with the Polovtsy, or with hunger, or with the pestilence that devastated his lands. He also failed to reconcile the Yaroslavichs. His only hope was his son Vladimir, the future Monomakh.
Vsevolod was especially annoyed by the Chernigov prince Svyatoslav, who lived a life full of adventures and adventures. Among the Rurikovichs, he was a black sheep: he, who brought misfortune and grief to everyone, was called "Gorislavich". For a long time he did not want peace with his relatives, in 1096, in the struggle for destinies, he killed the son of Monomakh Izyaslav, but then he himself was defeated. After that, the rebellious prince agreed to come to the Lubech Congress of Princes.

This congress was organized by the then specific Prince Vladimir Monomakh, who understood better than others the disastrous strife for Russia. In 1097, close relatives met on the banks of the Dnieper - Russian princes, they divided the lands, kissed the cross as a sign of fidelity to this agreement: “Let the Russian land be a common ... fatherland, and whoever rises against his brother, we will all rise against him ". But immediately after Lyubech, one of the princes Vasilko was blinded by another prince - Svyatopolk. Distrust and anger reigned again in the family of princes.

The grandson of Yaroslav, and by his mother - the Byzantine emperor Konstantin Monomakh, he adopted the nickname of the Greek grandfather and became one of the few Russian princes who thought about the unity of Russia, the fight against the Polovtsians and peace among relatives. Monomakh entered the Kyiv gold table in 1113 after the death of the Grand Duke Svyatopolk and an uprising against wealthy usurers that began in the city. Monomakh was invited by the Kiev elders with the approval of the people - "people". In the cities of pre-Mongol Russia, the influence of the city assembly - vecha - was significant. The prince, with all his might, was not an autocrat of a later era and, when making decisions, usually consulted with the veche or the boyars.

Monomakh was an educated man, had the mind of a philosopher, had the gift of a writer. He was a red-haired, curly-haired man of medium height. A strong, brave warrior, he made dozens of campaigns, more than once looked into the eyes of death in battle and hunting. Under him, peace was established in Russia. Where by authority, where by weapons he forced the appanage princes to quiet down. His victories over the Polovtsians removed the threat from the southern borders. Monomakh was also happy in his family life. His wife Gita, the daughter of the Anglo-Saxon King Harold, bore him several sons, among whom stood out Mstislav, who became Monomakh's successor.

Monomakh sought the glory of a warrior on the battlefield with the Polovtsians. He organized several campaigns of Russian princes against the Polovtsians. However, Monomakh was a flexible politician: suppressing the warlike khans by force, he was friends with the peace-loving ones and even married his son Yuri (Dolgoruky) to the daughter of the allied Polovtsian khan.

Monomakh thought a lot about the futility of human life: “What are we, sinful and thin people? - he wrote to Oleg Gorislavich, - today they are alive, and tomorrow they are dead, today in glory and honor, and tomorrow they are forgotten in the coffin. The prince took care that the experience of his long and difficult life was not wasted, that his sons and descendants would remember his good deeds. He wrote the "Instruction", which contains memories of past years, stories about the prince's eternal travels, about dangers in battle and hunting: of two moose, one trampled with his feet, the other gored with his horns; a boar tore off my sword on my hip, a bear bit my sweatshirt at my knee, a fierce beast jumped on my hips and overturned my horse with me. And God kept me safe. And he fell a lot from his horse, broke his head twice, and injured his arms and legs, ”But Monomakh’s advice:“ What my boy should do, he did it himself - in war and hunting, night and day, in heat and cold without giving yourself rest. Not relying on the posadniks, nor on the privet, he himself did what was necessary. Only an experienced warrior can say this:

“When you go to war, do not be lazy, do not rely on the governor; indulge neither in drink nor in food, nor in sleep; dress up the watchmen yourself and at night, placing guards on all sides, lie down near the soldiers, and get up early; and do not take off your weapons in a hurry, without looking around out of laziness. And then follow the words, under which everyone will sign: "A man dies suddenly." But these words are addressed to many of us: “Learn, believer, to control the eyes, the language of abstinence, the mind to humility, the body to submit, anger to suppress, to have pure thoughts, prompting yourself to good deeds.”

Monomakh died in 1125, and the chronicler said of him: “Decorated with a good disposition, glorious with victories, he did not exalt himself, did not magnify himself.” Vladimir's son Mstislav sat on the Kiev golden table. Mstislav was married to the daughter of the Swedish king Christina, he enjoyed authority among the princes, he had a reflection of the great glory of Monomakh. However, he ruled Russia for only seven years, and after his death, as the chronicler wrote, "the whole Russian land was inflamed" - a long period of fragmentation began.

By this time, Kyiv had already ceased to be the capital of Russia. Power passed to the specific princes, many of whom did not even dream of a Kiev golden table, but lived in their small inheritance, judged subjects and feasted at the weddings of their sons.

Vladimir-Suzdal Rus

The first mention of Moscow dates back to the time of Yuri, where in 1147 Dolgoruky invited his ally Prince Svyatoslav: “Come to me, brother, to Moe-kov.” The very same city of Moscow on a hill among the forests, Yuri ordered to build in 1156, when he had already become the Grand Duke. For a long time he “pulled his hand” from his Zalesye to the Kiev table, for which he received his nickname. In 1155 he captured Kyiv. But Yuri ruled there for only 2 years - he was poisoned at a feast. Chroniclers wrote about Yuri that he was a tall, fat man with small eyes, a crooked nose, "a great lover of wives, sweet food and drink."

The eldest son of Yuri, Andrei was a smart and powerful man. He wanted to live in Zalesye and even went against the will of his father - he arbitrarily left Kyiv for Suzdal. Leaving his father, Prince Andrei Yuryevich decided to secretly take with him from the monastery a miraculous icon of the Mother of God of the late 11th - early 12th centuries, painted by a Byzantine icon painter. According to legend, the Evangelist Luke wrote it. Andrei succeeded in stealing, but already on the way to Suzdal, miracles began: the Mother of God appeared to the prince in a dream and ordered that the image be taken to Vladimir. He obeyed, and on the spot where he saw a wonderful dream, he then built a church and founded the village of Bogolyubovo. Here, in a specially built stone castle adjoining the church, he lived quite often, which is why he got his nickname "Bogolyubsky". The icon of the Mother of God of Vladimir (it is also called “Our Lady of Tenderness” - the Virgin Mary gently presses her cheek to the baby Christ) - has become one of the shrines of Russia.

Andrei was a new type of politician. Like his fellow princes, he wanted to take possession of Kiev, but at the same time he wanted to rule all of Russia from Vladimir, his new capital. This became the main goal of his campaigns against Kyiv, which he subjected to a terrible defeat. In general, Andrei was a stern and cruel prince, he did not tolerate objections and advice, he conducted affairs of his own free will - "autocratically." In those pre-Moscow times it was new, unusual.

Andrei immediately began to decorate his new capital, Vladimir, with temples of marvelous beauty. They were built of white stone. This soft stone served as a material for carvings on the walls of buildings. Andrei wanted to create a city that would surpass Kyiv in beauty and wealth. It had its own Golden Gates, Church of the Tithes, and the main temple - the Assumption Cathedral was higher than St. Sophia of Kiev. Foreign craftsmen built it in just three years.

Prince Andrei was especially glorified by the Church of the Intercession built under him on the Nerl. This temple, still standing among the fields under the bottomless dome of the sky, causes admiration and joy for everyone who goes to him from afar along the path. It was this impression that the master sought, who in 1165 erected this slender, elegant white-stone church on an artificial hill above the quiet Nerl River, which immediately flows into the Klyazma. The hill itself was covered with white stone, and wide steps went from the water itself to the gates of the temple. During the flood - the time of intensive shipping - the church appeared on the island, served as a noticeable landmark and sign for those who sailed, crossing the border of the Suzdal land. Perhaps here the guests and ambassadors who came from the Oka, the Volga, from distant lands, disembarked from the ships, climbed up the white stone stairs, prayed in the temple, rested on its gallery and then sailed on - to where the prince's palace shone with whiteness in Bogolyubovo, built in 1158-1165. And even further, on the high bank of the Klyazma, like heroic helmets, the golden domes of Vladimir's cathedrals sparkled in the sun.

In the palace in Bogolyubovo at night in 1174, conspirators from the prince's entourage killed Andrei. Then the crowd began to rob the palace - everyone hated the prince for his cruelty. The murderers drank in joy, and the naked, bloodied corpse of the formidable prince lay for a long time in the garden.

The most famous successor of Andrei Bogolyubsky was his brother Vsevolod. In 1176, the people of Vladimir elected him to the princes. The 36-year reign of Vsevolod turned out to be a boon for Zalesye. Continuing Andrei's policy of raising Vladimir, Vsevolod avoided extremes, reckoned with the squad, ruled humanely, and was loved by the people.
Vsevolod was an experienced and successful military leader. Under him, the principality expanded to the north and northeast. The prince received the nickname "Big Nest". He had ten sons and managed to “attach” them to different destinies (small nests), where the number of Ruriks multiplied, from where whole dynasties subsequently went. So, from his eldest son Konstantin came the dynasty of the Suzdal princes, and from Yaroslav - the Moscow and Tver grand dukes.

Yes, and his own "nest" - Vladimir Vsevolod decorated the city, sparing no effort and money. The white-stone Dmitrovsky Cathedral built by him is decorated inside with frescoes by Byzantine artists, and on the outside with intricate stone carvings with figures of saints, lions, and floral ornaments. Ancient Russia did not know such beauty.

Galicia-Volyn and Chernihiv principalities

But the Chernigov-Seversky princes in Russia were not loved: neither Oleg Gorislavich, nor his sons and grandchildren - after all, they constantly brought the Polovtsians to Russia, with whom they were either friends or quarreled. In 1185, the grandson of Gorislavich, Igor Seversky, along with other princes on the Kayala River, was defeated by the Polovtsians. The story of the campaign of Igor and other Russian princes against the Polovtsy, the battle during an eclipse of the sun, a cruel defeat, the weeping of Igor's wife Yaroslavna, the strife of the princes and the weakness of disunited Russia - the plot of the Lay. The history of its emergence from oblivion at the beginning of the 19th century is shrouded in mystery. The original manuscript, found by Count A. I. Musin-Pushkin, disappeared during the fire of 1812, leaving only the publication in the journal, and a copy made for Empress Catherine II. Some scholars are convinced that we are dealing with a talented forgery of later times ... Others believe that we have an Old Russian original. But all the same, every time you leave Russia, you involuntarily recall Igor's famous farewell words: “O Russian land! You are already behind the Shelomyan (you have already disappeared behind the hill - the author!) ”

Novgorod was "cut down" in the 9th century. on the border of forests inhabited by Finno-Ugric peoples, at the crossroads of trade routes. From here, Novgorodians penetrated to the northeast in search of furs, founding colonies with centers - graveyards. The power of Novgorod was determined by trade and crafts. Furs, honey, wax were eagerly bought in Western Europe, and from there they brought gold, wine, cloth, and weapons. A lot of wealth brought trade with the East. Novgorod boats reached the Crimea and Byzantium. The political weight of Novgorod, the second center of Russia, was also great. The close ties between Novgorod and Kiev began to weaken in the 1130s, when strife began there. At this time, the power of the veche increased in Novgorod, which in 1136 expelled the prince, and from that time Novgorod turned into a republic. From now on, all the princes invited to Novgorod commanded only the army, and they were driven off the table at the slightest attempt to encroach on the power of the veche.

Veche was in many cities of Russia, but gradually faded. And only in Novgorod did it, consisting of free citizens, on the contrary, intensify. The veche resolved issues of peace and war, invited and expelled princes, tried criminals. At the veche, letters of lands were given, posadniks and archbishops were elected. The orators spoke from the dais, the veche level. The decision was taken only unanimously, although the disputes did not subside - disagreements were the essence of the political struggle at the veche.

Many monuments came from ancient Novgorod, but Sophia of Novgorod is especially famous - the main temple of Novgorod and two monasteries - Yuryev and Antoniev. According to legend, St. George's Monastery was founded by Yaroslav the Wise in 1030. In its center is the grandiose St. George's Cathedral, which was built by master Peter. The monastery was rich and influential. Novgorod princes and posadniks were buried in the tomb of St. George's Cathedral. But still, the Anthony Monastery was surrounded by special holiness. The legend of Anthony, the son of a wealthy Greek, who lived in the 12th century, is associated with him. in Rome. He became a hermit, settled on a stone, on the very shore of the sea. On September 5, 1106, a terrible storm began, and when it subsided, Antony, looking around, saw that, together with the stone, he found himself in an unknown northern country. It was Novgorod. God gave Anthony an understanding of Slavic speech, and church authorities helped the young man to found a monastery on the banks of the Volkhov with the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin (1119). Princes and kings made rich contributions to this miraculously arose monastery. This shrine has seen a lot in its lifetime. Ivan the Terrible in 1571 staged a monstrous rout of the monastery, slaughtered all the monks. The post-revolutionary years of the 20th century turned out to be no less terrible. But the monastery survived, and scientists, examining the stone on which Saint Anthony was supposedly transported to the banks of the Volkhov, established that it was the ballast stone of an ancient ship, standing on the deck of which the righteous Roman youth could completely get from the shores of the Mediterranean Sea to Novgorod.

On Mount Nereditsa, not far from Gorodishche - the site of the oldest settlement of the Slavs - stood the Church of the Savior-Nereditsa - the greatest monument of Russian culture. The single-domed, cubic-shaped church was built in one summer of 1198 and outwardly resembled many Novgorod churches of that era. But as soon as they entered it, people experienced an extraordinary feeling of delight and admiration, as if they were entering another beautiful world. The entire inner surface of the church from the floor to the dome was covered with magnificent frescoes. Scenes of the Last Judgment, images of saints, portraits of local princes - Novgorod masters made this work in just one year 1199 .., and for almost a millennium until the 20th century, the frescoes retained their brightness, liveliness and emotionality. However, during the war, in 1943, the church with all its frescoes perished, it was shot from cannons, and the divine frescoes disappeared forever. In terms of significance, among the most bitter irreparable losses of Russia in the 20th century, the death of Spas-Nereditsa is on a par with Peterhof destroyed during the war, Tsarskoye Selo demolished by Moscow churches and monasteries.

In the middle of the XII century. Novgorod suddenly had a serious competitor in the northeast - the Vladimir-Suzdal land. Under Andrei Bogolyubsky, a war even began: the people of Vladimir unsuccessfully besieged the city. Since then, the struggle with Vladimir, and then with Moscow, has become the main problem of Novgorod. And in the end he lost this fight.
In the XII century. Pskov was considered a suburb (border point) of Novgorod and followed its policy in everything. But after 1136, the Veche of Pskov decided to secede from Novgorod. Novgorodians, reluctantly, agreed to this: Novgorod needed an ally in the fight against the Germans - after all, Pskov was the first to meet a blow from the west and thereby covered Novgorod. But there has never been friendship between the cities - in all internal Russian conflicts, Pskov turned out to be on the side of the enemies of Novgorod.

Mongol-Tatar invasion of Russia

In Russia, the appearance of the Mongol-Tatars, who sharply intensified under Genghis Khan, was learned in the early 1220s, when this new enemy broke into the Black Sea steppes and drove the Polovtsians out of them. They called for help from the Russian princes, who came out to meet the enemy. The arrival of conquerors from the unknown steppes, their life in yurts, strange customs, extraordinary cruelty - all this seemed to Christians the beginning of the end of the world. In the battle on the river Kalka On May 31, 1223, the Russians and Polovtsy were defeated. Russia did not yet know such an “evil battle”, a shameful flight and a cruel massacre - the Tatars, having executed the prisoners, moved to Kiev and ruthlessly killed everyone who caught their eye. But then they turned back to the steppe. “Where they came from, we don’t know, and where they went, we don’t know,” the chronicler wrote.

The terrible lesson did not benefit Russia - the princes were still at enmity with each other. It's been 12 years. In 1236, the Mongol-Tatars of Khan Batu defeated the Volga Bulgaria, and in the spring of 1237 they defeated the Polovtsy. And then came the turn of Russia. On December 21, 1237, Batu's troops stormed Ryazan, then Kolomna, Moscow fell. On February 7, Vladimir was taken and burned, and then almost all the cities of the North-East were defeated. The princes failed to organize the defense of Russia, and each of them courageously died alone. In March 1238, in a battle on the river. Sit died and the last independent Grand Duke of Vladimir - Yuri. The enemies took his severed head with them. Then Batu moved, "slashing people like grass," to Novgorod. But not reaching a hundred miles, the Tatars suddenly turned south. It was a miracle that saved the republic - contemporaries believed that the "filthy" Batu was stopped by the vision of the cross in the sky.

In the spring of 1239, Batu rushed to southern Russia. When the detachments of the Tatars approached Kiev, the beauty of the great city struck them, and they offered the Kiev prince Michael to surrender without a fight. He sent a refusal, but he did not strengthen the city, but on the contrary, he himself fled from Kyiv. When the Tatars came again in the autumn of 1240, there were no princes with retinues. But still the townspeople desperately resisted the enemy. Archaeologists have found traces of the tragedy and the feat of the people of Kiev - the remains of a city dweller literally studded with Tatar arrows, as well as another person who, covering himself with a child, died with him.

Those who fled from Russia carried terrible news to Europe about the horrors of the invasion. It was said that during the siege of cities, the Tatars throw the roofs of houses with the fat of the people they killed, and then start up Greek fire (oil), which burns better from this. In 1241, the Tatars rushed to Poland and Hungary, which were ravaged to the ground. After that, the Tatars suddenly left Europe. Batu decided to establish his own state in the lower reaches of the Volga. This is how the Golden Horde appeared.

From this terrible era, the “Word about the destruction of the Russian land” has remained for us. It was written in the middle of the 13th century, immediately after the Mongol-Tatar invasion of Russia. It seems that the author wrote it with his own tears and blood - he suffered so much from the thought of the misfortune of his homeland, he felt so sorry for the Russian people, Russia, who fell into a terrible "raid" of unknown enemies. The past, pre-Mongolian time seems to him sweet and kind, and the country is remembered only as flourishing and happy. The reader's heart should shrink from sadness and love at the words: “Oh, the Russian land is bright and beautifully decorated! And you are surprised by many beauties: many lakes, rivers and wells (sources - the author), steep mountains, high hills, clean oak forests, marvelous fields, various animals, countless birds, great cities, marvelous villages, vineyards (gardens - author) monastic, church houses, and formidable princes, honest boyars, many nobles. Thou art full of the Russian land, O orthodox Christian faith!

After the death of Prince Yuri, his younger brother Yaroslav, who was in Kyiv these days, moved to the devastated Vladimir and began to adjust to "living under the khan." He went to bow to the khan in Mongolia and in 1246 was poisoned there. The sons of Yaroslav - Alexander (Nevsky) and Yaroslav Tverskoy had to continue the heavy and humiliating work of their father.

Alexander at the age of 15 became the Prince of Novgorod and from an early age did not let go of the sword from his hands. In 1240, as a young man, he defeated the Swedes in the battle on the Neva, for which he received the nickname Nevsky. The prince was handsome, tall, his voice, according to the chronicler, "thundered before the people like a trumpet." In difficult times, this great prince of the North ruled Russia: a depopulated country, general decline and despondency, the heavy oppression of a foreign conqueror. But smart Alexander, having dealt with the Tatars for years and living in the Horde, comprehended the art of servile worship, he knew how to crawl on his knees in the khan's yurt, knew what gifts to give to influential khans and murzas, comprehended the skill of court intrigue. And all this in order to survive and save their table, the people, Russia, so that, using the power given by the “tsar” (as the Khan was called in Russia), to subjugate other princes, to suppress the freedom of the people's council.

Alexander's whole life was connected with Novgorod. Honorably defending the lands of Novgorod from the Swedes and Germans, he obediently carried out the will of Vatu Khan, his brother, and punished Novgorodians dissatisfied with the Tatar oppression. With them, Alexander, the prince who adopted the Tatar style of ruling, had a difficult relationship: he often quarreled with the veche and, offended, left for Zalesye - for Pereslavl.

Under Alexander (since 1240), the Golden Horde completely dominated (yoke) over Russia. The Grand Duke was recognized as a slave, tributary of the Khan and received from the hands of the Khan a golden label for a great reign. At the same time, the khans could at any time take it away from the Grand Duke and give it to another. The Tatars deliberately pitted the princes in the struggle for the golden label, trying to prevent the strengthening of Russia. From all Russian subjects, the khan's collectors (and then the grand dukes) charged a tenth of all income - the so-called "Horde exit". This tax was a heavy burden for Russia. Disobedience to the will of the Khan led to Horde raids on Russian cities, which were subjected to terrible defeat. In 1246, Batu summoned Alexander for the first time to the Golden Horde, from there, at the behest of the Khan, the prince went to Mongolia, to Karakorum. In 1252, he knelt before Khan Mongke, who handed him a label - a gilded plate with a hole, which allowed him to hang it around his neck. This was a sign of power over Russia.

At the beginning of the XIII century. in the Eastern Baltic, the crusading movement of the German Teutonic Order and the Order of the Sword-bearers intensified. They attacked Russia from Pskov. In 1240 they even captured Pskov and threatened Novgorod. Alexander and his retinue liberated Pskov and on April 5, 1242, on the ice of Lake Pskov, in the so-called “Battle on the Ice”, he utterly defeated the knights. The attempts of the Crusaders and Rome standing behind them to find a common language with Alexander failed - as soft and compliant he was in relations with the Tatars, so severe and implacable he was towards the West and its influence.

Moscow Russia. The middle of the XIII - the middle of the XVI centuries.

After the death of Alexander Nevsky, strife broke out again in Russia. His heirs - brother Yaroslav and Alexander's own children - Dmitry and Andrei, never became worthy successors to Nevsky. They quarreled and, "running ... to the Horde", directed the Tatars to Russia. In 1293, Andrei brought "Dyudenev's army" to his brother Dmitry, which burned and plundered 14 Russian cities. The real masters of the country were the Baskaks, the tribute collectors who mercilessly robbed their subjects, the miserable heirs of Alexander.

The youngest son of Alexander, Daniel, tried to maneuver between the brothers-princes. Poverty was the reason. After all, he got the worst of the specific principalities - Moscow. Carefully and gradually, he expanded his principality, acted for sure. Thus began the rise of Moscow. Daniel died in 1303 and was buried in the Danilovsky Monastery founded by him, the first in Moscow.

The heir and eldest son of Daniel, Yuri, had to defend his inheritance in the fight against the princes of Tver, who had grown stronger by the end of the 13th century. Tver, which stood on the Volga, was a rich city at that time - for the first time in Russia after the arrival of Batu, a stone church was built in it. In Tver, a rare bell rang in those days. In 1304, Mikhail of Tverskoy managed to get a golden label for the reign of Vladimir from Khan Tokhta, although Yuri of Moscow tried to challenge this decision. Since then, Moscow and Tver have become sworn enemies, began a stubborn struggle. In the end, Yuri managed to get a label and discredit the prince of Tver in the eyes of the khan. Mikhail was summoned to the Horde, brutally beaten, and in the end, Yuri's henchmen cut out his heart. The prince courageously met a terrible death. Later he was declared a holy martyr. And Yuri, seeking the obedience of Tver, for a long time did not give the body of the martyr to his son Dmitry Terrible Eyes. In 1325, Dmitry and Yuri accidentally collided in the Horde, and in a quarrel Dmitry killed Yuri, for which he was executed there.

In a stubborn struggle with Tver, Yuri's brother, Ivan Kalita, managed to get a gold label. During the reign of the first princes, Moscow grew. Even after becoming grand dukes, the princes of Moscow did not move from Moscow. They preferred the convenience and security of their father's house on a fortified hill near the Moskva River to the glory and anxiety of metropolitan life in golden-domed Vladimir.

Having become the Grand Duke in 1332, Ivan managed, with the help of the Horde, not only to deal with Tver, but also to annex Suzdal and part of the Rostov Principality to Moscow. Ivan carefully paid tribute - "exit", and achieved in the Horde the right to collect tribute from the Russian lands on his own, without the Baskaks. Of course, part of the money "stuck" to the hands of the prince, who received the nickname "Kalita" - a belt pouch. Outside the walls of the wooden Moscow Kremlin, built of oak logs, Ivan founded several stone churches, including the Assumption and Archangel Cathedrals.

These cathedrals were built under Metropolitan Peter, who moved from Vladimir to Moscow. He went to this for a long time, constantly living there under the caring supervision of Kalita. So Moscow became the church center of Russia. Peter died in 1326 and became the first Moscow saint.

Ivan continued to fight with Tver. He managed to skillfully discredit in the eyes of the Khan of Tver, Prince Alexander and his son Fyodor. They were summoned to the Horde and brutally killed there - quartered. These atrocities cast a gloomy reflection on the initial rise of Moscow. For Tver, all this became a tragedy: the Tatars exterminated five generations of its princes! Then Ivan Kalita robbed Tver, evicted the boyars from the city, taking away the only bell from the Tverchi people - the symbol and pride of the city.

Ivan Kalita ruled Moscow for 12 years, his reign, his bright personality was remembered for a long time by his contemporaries and descendants. In the legendary history of Moscow, Kalita appears as the founder of a new dynasty, a kind of Moscow "forefather Adam", a wise sovereign, whose policy of "calming down" the ferocious Horde was so necessary for Russia, tormented by the enemy and strife.

Dying in 1340, Kalita handed over the throne to his son Semyon and was calm - Moscow was growing stronger. But in the mid-1350s. a terrible misfortune approached Russia. It was the plague, the Black Death. In the spring of 1353, two sons of Semyon died one after another, and then the Grand Duke himself, as well as his heir and brother Andrei. Of all the survivors, only brother Ivan survived, who went to the Horde, where he received a label from Khan Bedibek.

Under Ivan II the Red, "Christ-loving, and quiet, and merciful" (chronicle), the policy remained bloody as before. The prince brutally cracked down on people who were objectionable to him. Metropolitan Alexy had a great influence on Ivan. It was he who was entrusted by Ivan II, who died in 1359, to the nine-year-old son Dmitry, the future great commander.

The beginning of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery dates back to the time of Ivan II. It was founded by Sergius (in the world Bartholomew from the town of Radonezh) in a forest tract. Sergius introduced a new principle of communal life in monasticism - a poor brotherhood with common property. He was a true righteous man. Seeing that the monastery grew rich, and the monks began to live in contentment, Sergius founded a new monastery in the forest. This, according to the chronicler, "the holy elder, wonderful, and kind, and quiet, meek, humble," was revered as a saint in Russia even before his death in 1392.

Dmitry Ivanovich received the golden label at the age of 10 - this has never happened in the history of Russia. It can be seen that the gold accumulated by his stingy ancestors helped, and the intrigues of loyal people in the Horde. The reign of Dmitry turned out to be unusually difficult for Russia: wars, terrible fires, epidemics went on in a continuous series. The drought destroyed the seedlings in the fields of Russia, depopulated from the plague. But the descendants forgot Dmitry's failures: in the memory of the people, he remained, first of all, a great commander, who for the first time defeated not only the Mongol-Tatars, but also the fear of the previously invincible power of the Horde.

Metropolitan Alexy was the ruler under the young prince for a long time. A wise old man, he protected the young man from dangers, enjoyed the respect and support of the Moscow boyars. He was also respected in the Horde, where by that time unrest had begun, Moscow, taking advantage of this, stopped paying the exit, and then Dmitry generally refused to obey Emir Mamai, who had seized power in the Horde. In 1380, he decided to punish the rebel himself. Dmitry understood what a desperate task he undertook - to challenge the Horde, which had been invincible for 150 years! According to legend, Sergius of Radonezh blessed him for his feat. A huge army for Russia - 100 thousand people - set off on a campaign. On August 26, 1380, the news spread that the Russian army had crossed the Oka and “there was great sadness in the city of Moscow, and bitter weeping and cries and sobs arose in all parts of the city” - everyone knew that the crossing of the army across the Oka cut off her way back and made the battle and the death of loved ones is inevitable. On September 8, a duel between the monk Peresvet and the Tatar hero on the Kulikovo field began a battle that ended in victory for the Russians. The losses were horrendous, but this time God was really for us!

The victory was not celebrated for long. Khan Tokhtamysh overthrew Mamai and in 1382 he himself moved to Russia, seized Moscow by cunning and burned it down. On Russia imposed "there was a great heavy tribute throughout the great principality." Dmitry humiliatedly recognized the power of the Horde.

The great victory and the great humiliation cost Donskoy dearly. He fell seriously ill and died in 1389. At the conclusion of peace with the Horde, his son and heir, 11-year-old Vasily, was taken away as a hostage by the Tatars. After 4 years, he managed to escape to Russia. He became the Grand Duke according to his father's will, which had never happened before, and this spoke of the power of the Moscow prince. True, Khan Tokhtamysh also approved the choice - the Khan was afraid of the terrible Tamerlane coming from Asia and therefore appeased his tributary. Vasily ruled Moscow cautiously and prudently for 36 long years. Under him, petty princes began to turn into grand ducal servants, and minting of coins began. Although Vasily I was not a warrior, he showed firmness in relations with Novgorod, annexed his northern possessions to Moscow. For the first time, the hand of Moscow reached out to Bulgaria on the Volga, and once its squads burned down Kazan.

In the 60s. 14th century in Central Asia, Timur (Tamerlane), an outstanding ruler, became famous for his incredible cruelty, which even then seemed wild. Having defeated Turkey, he destroyed the army of Tokhtamysh, and then invaded the Ryazan lands. Horror gripped Russia, which remembered Batu's invasion. Having captured Yelets, Timur moved to Moscow, but on August 26 he stopped and turned south. In Moscow, it was believed that Russia was saved by the icon of Our Lady of Vladimir, which, at the request of the people, averted the arrival of the “iron lame”.

Those who have seen Andrei Tarkovsky's great film "Andrey Rublev" remember the terrible scene of the capture of the city by Russian-Tatar troops, the destruction of churches and the torture of a priest who refused to show the robbers where the church treasures were hidden. This whole story has a genuine documentary basis. In 1410, Nizhny Novgorod prince Daniil Borisovich, together with the Tatar prince Talych, secretly approached Vladimir and suddenly, at the hour of the afternoon rest, the guards burst into the city. The priest of the Assumption Cathedral, Patrikey, managed to lock himself in the church, hid the vessels and part of the clerks in a special room, and himself, while they were breaking the gate, knelt down and began to pray. The intruding Russian and Tatar villains seized the priest and began to inquire where the treasures were. They burned him with fire, drove chips under their nails, but he was silent. Then, tied to a horse, the enemies dragged the body of the priest along the ground, and then killed him. But the people and treasures of the church were saved.

In 1408, the new khan Edigei attacked Moscow, which had not paid a "way out" for more than 10 years. However, the cannons of the Kremlin and its high walls forced the Tatars to abandon the assault. Having received a ransom, Edigey with many prisoners migrated to the steppe.

Having fled to Russia from the Horde through Podolia in 1386, young Vasily met the Lithuanian prince Vitovt. The brave prince liked Vitovt, who promised him his daughter Sophia in marriage. The wedding took place in 1391. Soon Vytautas also became the Grand Duke of Lithuania. Moscow and Lithuania competed sharply in the matter of "gathering" Russia, but more recently, Sophia turned out to be a good wife and a grateful daughter - she did everything so that her son-in-law and father-in-law did not become sworn enemies. Sofya Vitovtovna was a strong-willed, stubborn and determined woman. After the death of her husband from the plague in 1425, she fiercely defended the rights of her son Vasily II during the strife that again swept over Russia.

Basil II the Dark. Civil War

The reign of Vasily II Vasilyevich is the time of a 25-year civil war, the "dislike" of the descendants of Kalita. Dying, Vasily I bequeathed the throne to his young son Vasily, but this did not suit the uncle of Vasily II, Prince Yuri Dmitrievich - he himself dreamed of power. In a dispute between uncle and nephew, the Horde supported Vasily II, but in 1432 the peace was broken. The reason was a quarrel at the wedding feast of Vasily II, when Sofia Vitovtovna, accusing Yuri's son, Prince Vasily Kosoy, of misappropriating Dmitry Donskoy's golden belt, took this symbol of power from Kosoy and thereby terribly offended him. Victory in the ensuing strife went to Yuri II, but he ruled for only two months and died in the summer of 1434, having bequeathed Moscow to his son Vasily Kosoy. Under Yuri, for the first time, an image of George the Victorious appeared on a coin, striking a snake with a spear. From here came the name "penny", as well as the coat of arms of Moscow, which was then included in the coat of arms of Russia.

After the death of Yuri, Vasily P. again took over in the struggle for power. He captured the sons of Yuri Dmitry Shemyaka and Vasily Kosoy, who became the Grand Duke after his father, and then ordered Kosoy to be blinded. Shemyaka himself submitted to Vasily II, but only feignedly. In February 1446, he arrested Vasily and ordered him to "take out his eyes." So Vasily II became "Dark", and Shemyaka Grand Duke Dmitry II Yuryevich.

Shemyaka did not rule for long, and soon Vasily the Dark returned power. The struggle went on for a long time, only in 1450, in the battle near Galich, Shemyaka's army was defeated, and he fled to Novgorod. Chef Poganka, bribed by Moscow, poisoned Shemyaka - "gave him a potion in the smoke." As N. M. Karamzin writes, Vasily II, having received the news of Shemyaka's death, "expressed immodest joy."
No portraits of Shemyaka have been preserved; his worst enemies tried to denigrate the appearance of the prince. In the Moscow chronicles, Shemyaka looks like a monster, and Vasily is a bearer of good. Perhaps if Shemyaka had won, then everything would have been the other way around: both of them, cousins, were similar in habits.

The cathedrals built in the Kremlin were painted by Theophanes the Greek, who arrived from Byzantium, first to Novgorod, and then to Moscow. Under him, a type of Russian high iconostasis was formed, the main decoration of which was the "Deesis" - a number of the largest and most revered icons of Jesus, the Virgin Mary, John the Baptist and the archangels. The visual space of the Greek deesis series was unified and harmonious, and the painting (like the frescoes) of the Greek is full of feeling and inner movement.

In those days, the influence of Byzantium on the spiritual life of Russia was enormous. Russian culture was nourished by juices from the Greek soil. At the same time, Moscow resisted the attempts of Byzantium to determine the church life of Russia, the choice of its metropolitans. In 1441, a scandal broke out: Vasily II rejected the church union of the Catholic and Orthodox churches concluded in Florence. He arrested the Greek Metropolitan Isidore, who represented Russia at the cathedral. And yet, the fall of Constantinople in 1453 caused sadness and horror in Russia. Henceforth, it was doomed to ecclesiastical and cultural loneliness among Catholics and Muslims.

Theophanes the Greek was surrounded by talented students. The best of them was the monk Andrei Rublev, who worked with a teacher in Moscow, and then, together with his friend Daniil Cherny, in Vladimir, the Trinity-Sergius and Andronikov monasteries. Andrew wrote differently than Feofan. Andrei does not have the severity of images characteristic of Theophan: the main thing in his painting is compassion, love and forgiveness. The wall paintings and icons of Rublev already amazed contemporaries with their spirituality, who came to watch the artist work on the scaffolding. Andrei Rublev's most famous icon is the Trinity, which he made for the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. The plot is from the Bible: the son of Jacob is to be born to the elderly Abraham and Sarah, and three angels came to inform them about this. They are patiently waiting for the return of the hosts from the field. It is believed that these are the incarnations of the triune God: on the left is God the Father, in the center is Jesus Christ ready for sacrifice in the name of people, on the right is the Holy Spirit. The figures are inscribed by the artist in a circle - a symbol of eternity. This great creation of the 15th century is imbued with peace, harmony, light and goodness.

After the death of Shemyaka, Vasily II dealt with all his allies. Dissatisfied with the fact that Novgorod supported Shemyaka, Vasily went on a campaign in 1456 and forced the Novgorodians to curtail their rights in favor of Moscow. In general, Vasily II was a “lucky loser” on the throne. On the battlefield, he suffered only defeats, he was humiliated and captured by enemies. Like his opponents, Basil was a perjurer and a fratricide. However, every time Vasily was saved by a miracle, and his rivals made even more gross mistakes than he himself made. As a result, Vasily managed to stay in power for more than 30 years and easily pass it on to his son Ivan III, whom he had previously made co-ruler.

From an early age, Prince Ivan experienced the horrors of civil strife - he was with his father on the very day when the people of Shemyaka dragged Vasily II out to blind him. Then Ivan managed to escape. He had no childhood - at the age of 10 he became co-ruler of his blind father. In total, he was in power for 55 years! According to the foreigner who saw him, he was a tall, handsome, thin man. He also had two nicknames: "Humpbacked" - it is clear that Ivan was stooping - and "Terrible". The last nickname was later forgotten - his grandson Ivan IV turned out to be even more formidable. Ivan III was power-hungry, cruel, cunning. He was also stern towards his family: he starved his brother Andrei to death in prison.

Ivan had an outstanding gift as a politician and diplomat. He could wait for years, slowly move towards his goal and achieve it without serious losses. He was a real "collector" of lands: Ivan annexed some lands quietly and peacefully, conquered others by force. In a word, by the end of his reign, the territory of Muscovy had grown six times!

The annexation of Novgorod in 1478 was an important victory for the emerging autocracy over the ancient republican democracy, which was in crisis. The Novgorod veche bell was removed and taken to Moscow, many boyars were arrested, their lands were confiscated, and thousands of Novgorodians were “brought out” (evicted) to other counties. In 1485, Ivan annexed another old rival of Moscow - Tver. The last prince of Tver, Mikhail, fled to Lithuania, where he remained forever.

Under Ivan, a new system of government developed, in which they began to use governors - Moscow service people who were replaced from Moscow. The Boyar Duma also appears - the council of the highest nobility. Under Ivan, the local system began to develop. Service people began to receive plots of land - estates, that is, temporary (for the duration of their service) holdings in which they were placed.

Arose under Ivan and the all-Russian code of laws - the Sudebnik of 1497. It regulated legal proceedings, the size of feedings. The Sudebnik established a single deadline for the departure of peasants from the landlords - a week before and a week after St. George's Day (November 26). From that moment on, we can talk about the beginning of the movement of Russia towards serfdom.

The power of Ivan III was great. He was already an "autocrat", that is, he did not receive power from the hands of the khanatsar. In treaties, he is called the "sovereign of all Russia", that is, the sovereign, the only master, and the two-headed Byzantine eagle becomes the coat of arms. A magnificent Byzantine ceremonial reigns at the court, on the head of Ivan III is the “cap of Monomakh”, he sits on the throne, holding in his hands the symbols of power - the scepter and the “power” - a golden apple.

For three years, the widowed Ivan married the niece of the last Byzantine emperor Constantine Palaiologos - Zoe (Sophia). She was an educated woman, strong-willed and, according to sources, obese, which in those days was not considered a disadvantage. With the arrival of Sophia, the Moscow court acquired the features of Byzantine splendor, which was a clear merit of the princess and her entourage, although the Russians did not like the “Roman woman”. The Russia of Ivan is gradually becoming an empire, adopting the traditions of Byzantium, and Moscow is turning from a modest city into the “Third Rome”.

Ivan devoted a lot of effort to the construction of Moscow, more precisely, the Kremlin - after all, the city was entirely wooden, and fires did not spare him, however, like the Kremlin, whose stone walls did not save from fire. Meanwhile, the prince was worried about stone work - the Russian masters did not have the practice of building large buildings. The destruction in 1474 of the almost completed cathedral in the Kremlin made a particularly heavy impression on the Muscovites. And then, at the behest of Ivan, the engineer Aristotle Fioravanti was invited from Venice, who “for the sake of the cunning of his art” was hired for huge money - 10 rubles a month. It was he who built the white-stone Assumption Cathedral in the Kremlin - the main temple of Russia. The chronicler was in admiration: the church "wonderful majesty, and height, and lordship, and ringing, and space, such did not happen in Russia."

The skill of Fioravanti delighted Ivan, and he hired more craftsmen in Italy. Since 1485, Anton and Mark Fryazin, Pietro Antonio Solari and Aleviz began to build (instead of dilapidated from the time of Dmitry Donskoy) new walls of the Moscow Kremlin with 18 towers that have already come down to us. The Italians built the walls for a long time - more than 10 years, but now it is clear that they were building for centuries. Built of faceted white stone blocks, the Faceted Chamber for receiving foreign embassies was distinguished by its extraordinary beauty. It was built by Mark Fryazin and Solari. Aleviz erected next to the Assumption Cathedral the Archangel Cathedral - the tomb of Russian princes and tsars. Cathedral Square - the place of solemn state and church ceremonies - was completed by the bell tower of Ivan the Great and the Cathedral of the Annunciation built by Pskov masters - the house church of Ivan III.

But still, the main event of Ivan's reign was the overthrow of the Tatar yoke. In a stubborn struggle, Akhmatkhan managed for some time to revive the former power of the Great Horde, and in 1480 he decided to subjugate Russia again. The Horde and Ivan's troops converged on the Ugra River, a tributary of the Oka. In this position, positional battles and skirmishes began. The general battle never happened, Ivan was an experienced, cautious ruler, he hesitated for a long time - whether to enter into a mortal battle or submit to Akhmat. Having stood until November 11, Akhmat went to the steppes and was soon killed by enemies.

By the end of his life, Ivan III became intolerant of others, unpredictable, unjustifiably cruel, almost continuously executing his friends and enemies. His capricious will became law. When the envoy of the Crimean Khan asked why the prince killed his grandson Dmitry, whom he had initially appointed as heir, Ivan answered like a real autocrat: “Am I not free, the great prince, in my children and in my reign? To whom I want, I will give reign! According to the will of Ivan III, power after him passed to his son Vasily III.

Vasily III turned out to be the true heir of his father: his power was, in essence, unlimited and despotic. As the foreigner wrote, "he oppresses everyone equally with cruel slavery." However, unlike his father, Vasily was a lively, active person, traveled a lot, and was very fond of hunting in the forests near Moscow. He was a pious man, and pilgrimages were an important part of his life. Under him, derogatory forms of address to the nobles appear, who do not spare themselves either, submitting petitions to the sovereign: “Your servant, Ivashka, beats with his forehead ...”, which emphasized the system of autocratic power in which one person was the master, and slaves, slaves - other.

As a contemporary wrote, Ivan III was sitting still, but his state was growing. Under Basil, this growth continued. He completed his father's work and annexed Pskov. There, Vasily behaved like a true Asian conqueror, destroying the liberties of Pskov and deporting wealthy citizens to Muscovy. The only thing left for the Pskovites was to “weep in their old ways and according to their own will.”

After the annexation of Pskov, Vasily III received a message from the Elder of the Pskov Eliazar Monastery Philotheus, who argued that the former centers of the world (Rome and Constantinople) had been replaced by a third one - Moscow, which had accepted holiness from the dead capitals. And then the conclusion followed: "Two Romes fell, and the third stands, and the fourth does not happen." Filofey's thoughts became the basis of the ideological doctrine of imperial Russia. So the Russian rulers were inscribed in a single row of rulers of the world centers.

In 1525, Vasily III divorced his wife Solomonia, with whom he lived for 20 years. The reason for the divorce and forced tonsure of Solomonia was the absence of her children. After that, 47-year-old Vasily married 17-year-old Elena Glinskaya. Many considered this marriage illegal, "not in the old days." But he transformed the Grand Duke - to the horror of his subjects, Vasily "fell under the heel" of young Elena: he began to dress in fashionable Lithuanian clothes and shaved his beard. The newlyweds did not have children for a long time. Only on August 25, 1530, Elena gave birth to a son, who was named Ivan. “And there was,” wrote the chronicler, “great joy in the city of Moscow...” If they knew that Ivan the Terrible, the greatest tyrant of the Russian land, was born on that day! The Church of the Ascension in Kolomenskoye became a monument to this event. Placed on a picturesque bend of the Moyek river bank, it is beautiful, light and graceful. I can’t even believe that it was erected in honor of the birth of the greatest tyrant in Russian history - there is so much joy in it, aspiration upward to heaven. Before us is a majestic melody truly frozen in stone, beautiful and sublime.

Fate prepared for Vasily a difficult death - a small sore on his leg suddenly grew into a terrible rotten wound, general blood poisoning began, and Vasily died. As the chronicler reports, those who stood at the bedside of the dying prince saw "that when they put the Gospel on their chest, his spirit departed like a small smoke."

The young widow of Vasily III, Elena, became regent under the three-year-old Ivan IV. Under Elena, some of her husband's undertakings were completed: they introduced a unified system of measures and weights, as well as a single monetary system throughout the country. Immediately, Elena showed herself as an imperious and ambitious ruler, disgraced her husband's brothers Yuri and Andrei. They were killed in prison, and Andrei died of starvation in a deaf iron cap put on his head. But in 1538, death overtook Elena herself. The ruler died at the hands of poisoners, leaving the country in a difficult situation - continuous raids of the Tatars, squabbling boyars for power.

Reign of Ivan the Terrible

After the death of Elena, a desperate struggle of the boyar clans for power began. One won, then the other. The boyars pushed around the young Ivan IV in front of his eyes, and in his name they carried out reprisals against people they did not like. Young Ivan was unlucky - from an early age, left an orphan, he lived without a close and kind teacher, he saw only cruelty, lies, intrigues, duplicity. All this was absorbed by his receptive, passionate soul. From childhood, Ivan was accustomed to executions, murders, and the innocent blood shed before his eyes did not excite him. The boyars catered to the young sovereign, inflaming his vices and whims. He killed cats and dogs, rushed on horseback through the streets of Moscow, mercilessly crushing the people.

Having reached the age of majority - 16 years old, Ivan struck those around him with determination and will. In December 1546, he announced that he wanted to have a "royal rank", to be called a king. The wedding of Ivan to the kingdom took place in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin. The Metropolitan placed the Cap of Monomakh on Ivan's head. According to legend, this hat in the XII century. Prince Vladimir Monomakh inherited from Byzantium. In fact, this is a gold, sable-trimmed, gem-decorated skullcap of Central Asian work of the 14th century. It became the main attribute of royal power.
After a terrible fire that occurred in Moscow in 1547, the townspeople rebelled against the boyars who abused their power. The young king was shocked by these events and decided to start reforms. A circle of reformers arose around the tsar - the Chosen Rada. The priest Sylvester and the nobleman Alexei Adashev became his soul. Both of them remained Ivan's chief advisers for 13 years. The activities of the circle led to reforms that strengthened the state and autocracy. Orders were created - the central authorities, in the localities the power passed from the former governors appointed from above to elected local elders. The Tsar's Code of Laws, a new set of laws, was also adopted. It was approved by the Zemsky Sobor - a frequently convened general meeting elected from various "ranks".

In the first years of his reign, Ivan's cruelty was softened by his advisers and his young wife Anastasia. She, the daughter of the okolnichi Roman Zakharyin-Yuriev, was chosen by Ivan as his wife in 1547. The Tsar loved Anastasia and was under her truly beneficial influence. That is why the death of his wife in 1560 was a terrible blow for Ivan, and after that his character deteriorated completely. He abruptly changed policy, refused the help of his advisers and placed them in disgrace.

The long struggle of the Kazan Khanate and Moscow on the Upper Volga ended in 1552 with the capture of Kazan. By this time, Ivan's army had been reformed: the core of it was made up of mounted noble militia and infantry - archers, armed with firearms - squeakers. The fortifications of Kazan were taken by storm, the city was destroyed, and the inhabitants were destroyed or enslaved. Later, Astrakhan, the capital of another Tatar khanate, was also taken. Soon the Volga region became a place of exile for Russian nobles.

In Moscow, not far from the Kremlin, in honor of the capture of Kazan by the masters Barma and Postnik, St. Basil's Cathedral, or Pokrovsky Cathedral, was built (Kazan was taken on the eve of the Feast of the Intercession). The building of the cathedral, which still amazes the viewer with its extraordinary brightness, consists of nine churches connected to each other, a kind of “bouquet” of domes. The unusual appearance of this temple is an example of the bizarre fantasy of Ivan the Terrible. The people associated its name with the name of the holy fool - the soothsayer Basil the Blessed, who boldly told Tsar Ivan the truth to his face. According to the legend, by order of the king, Barma and Postnik were blinded so that they could never create such beauty again. However, it is known that the "church and city master" Postnik (Yakovlev) also successfully built stone fortifications of the recently conquered Kazan.

The first printed book in Russia (Gospel) was created in the printing house founded in 1553 by master Marusha Nefediev and his comrades. Among them were Ivan Fedorov and Pyotr Mstislavets. For a long time, it was Fedorov who was mistakenly considered the first printer. However, the merits of Fedorov and Mstislavets are already enormous. In 1563 in Moscow, in a newly opened printing house, the building of which has survived to this day, in the presence of Tsar Ivan the Terrible, Fedorov and Mstislavets began to print the liturgical book "Apostle". In 1567 the craftsmen fled to Lithuania and continued printing books. In 1574, in Lvov, Ivan Fedorov published the first Russian ABC "for the sake of quick infant learning." It was a textbook that included the beginnings of reading, writing and counting.

The terrible time of the oprichnina has come in Russia. On December 3, 1564, Ivan unexpectedly left Moscow, and a month later he sent a letter from Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda to the capital, in which he declared his anger at his subjects. In response to the humiliated requests of his subjects to return and rule in the old way, Ivan announced that he was creating an oprichnina. So (from the word “oprich”, that is, “except”) this state arose in the state. The rest of the lands were called "zemshchina". The lands of the “zemshchina” were arbitrarily taken to the oprichnina, local nobles were exiled, and their property was taken away. The oprichnina led to a sharp increase in autocracy not through reforms, but through arbitrariness, a gross violation of traditions and norms accepted in society.
Massacres, brutal executions, robberies were carried out by the hands of guardsmen dressed in black clothes. They were part of a kind of military-monastic order, and the king was his "abbot". Intoxicated with wine and blood, the guardsmen terrified the country. Councils or courts could not be found for them - the guardsmen covered themselves with the name of the sovereign.

Those who saw Ivan after the beginning of the oprichnina were amazed at the changes in his appearance. As if a terrible internal corruption struck the soul and body of the king. The once blooming 35-year-old man looked like a wrinkled, bald old man with eyes burning with a gloomy fire. Since then, rampant feasts in the company of guardsmen alternated in Ivan's life with executions, debauchery - with deep repentance for the crimes committed.

The tsar treated independent, honest, open people with special distrust. Some of them he executed with his own hand. Ivan did not tolerate protests against his atrocities either. So, he dealt with Metropolitan Philip, who called on the king to stop extrajudicial executions. Philip was exiled to a monastery, and then Malyuta Skuratov strangled the metropolitan.
Malyuta especially stood out among the oprichniki killers, who were blindly devoted to the tsar. This first executioner of Ivan, a cruel and limited person, evoked the horror of his contemporaries. He was the king's confidante in debauchery and drunkenness, and then, when Ivan atoned for his sins in the church, Malyuta rang the bell like a sexton. The executioner was killed in the Livonian War
In 1570 Ivan staged a rout of Veliky Novgorod. Monasteries, churches, houses and shops were robbed, Novgorodians were tortured for five weeks, the living were thrown into the Volkhov, and those who came out were finished off with spears and axes. Ivan robbed the shrine of Novgorod - St. Sophia Cathedral and took out his wealth. Returning to Moscow, Ivan executed dozens of people with the most cruel executions. After that, he brought down the executions already on those who created the oprichnina. The blood dragon was eating its own tail. In 1572, Ivan abolished the oprichnina, and the very word "oprichnina" was forbidden to be pronounced under pain of death.

After Kazan, Ivan turned to the western borders and decided to conquer the lands of the already weakened Livonian Order in the Baltic states. The first victories in the Livonian War, which began in 1558, turned out to be easy - Russia reached the shores of the Baltic. The tsar solemnly drank Baltic water from a golden goblet in the Kremlin. But soon defeat began, the war became protracted. Poland and Sweden joined Ivan's enemies. In this situation, Ivan failed to show the talent of a commander and diplomat, he made erroneous decisions that led to the death of the troops. The king, with painful persistence, looked everywhere for traitors. The Livonian War ruined Russia.

The most serious opponent of Ivan was the Polish king Stefan Batory. In 1581 he laid siege to Pskov, but the Pskovians defended their city. By this time, the Russian army was bled dry by heavy losses, repressions of prominent commanders. Ivan could no longer resist the simultaneous onslaught of the Poles, Lithuanians, Swedes, and also the Crimean Tatars, who, even after a heavy defeat inflicted on them by the Russians in 1572 near the village of Molodi, constantly threatened the southern borders of Russia. The Livonian War ended in 1582 with a truce, but in essence with the defeat of Russia. She was cut off from the Baltic. Ivan, as a politician, suffered a heavy defeat, which affected the position of the country and the psyche of its ruler.

The only success was the conquest of the Siberian Khanate. The merchants Stroganovs, who had mastered the Permian lands, hired the dashing Volga ataman Ermak Timofeev, who, with his gang, defeated Khan Kuchum and captured his capital, Kashlyk. Yermak's associate Ataman Ivan Koltso brought the Tsar a letter of conquest of Siberia.
Ivan, upset by the defeat in the Livonian War, joyfully received this news and encouraged the Cossacks and the Stroganovs.

“The body is exhausted, the spirit is sick,” Ivan the Terrible wrote in his will, “the scabs of the soul and body have multiplied, and there is no doctor who would heal me.” There was no sin that the king did not commit. The fate of his wives (and there were five of them after Anastasia) was terrible - they were killed or imprisoned in a monastery. In November 1581, in a fit of rage, the tsar killed his eldest son and heir Ivan, a murderer and tyrant to match his father, with a staff. Until the end of his life, the king did not give up his habits of torturing and killing people, debauchery, sorting out precious stones for hours and praying for a long time with tears. Embraced by some terrible disease, he rotted alive, emitting an incredible stench.

The day of his death (March 17, 1584) was predicted to the king by the magi. On the morning of that day, the cheerful king sent word to the magi that he would execute them for false prophecy, but they asked them to wait until evening, because the day had not yet ended. At three o'clock in the afternoon, Ivan suddenly died. Perhaps his closest associates Bogdan Velsky and Boris Godunov, who were alone with him that day, helped him go to hell.

After Ivan the Terrible, his son Fyodor came to the throne. Contemporaries considered him weak-minded, almost an idiot, seeing how he sits on the throne with a blissful smile on his lips. For 13 years of his reign, power was in the hands of his brother-in-law (brother of Irina's wife) Boris Godunov. Fedor, with him, was a puppet, obediently played the role of an autocrat. Once, at a ceremony in the Kremlin, Boris carefully adjusted the Cap of Monomakh on Fyodor's head, which allegedly sat crookedly. So, in front of the eyes of the amazed crowd, Boris boldly demonstrated his omnipotence.

Before 1589 Russian Orthodox Church was subordinate to the Patriarch of Constantinople, although in fact it was independent of him. When Patriarch Jeremiah arrived in Moscow, Godunov persuaded him to agree to the election of the first Russian patriarch, which was Metropolitan Job. Boris, understanding the importance of the church in the life of Russia, never lost control over it.

In 1591, the stone master Fyodor Kon built walls of white limestone around Moscow (“White City”), and the cannon master Andrei Chokhov cast a giant cannon weighing 39312 kg (“Tsar Cannon”) - In 1590 it came in handy: Crimean Tatars, crossing the Oka, broke through to Moscow. On the evening of July 4, from the Sparrow Hills, Khan Kazy-Girey looked at the city, from the powerful walls of which cannons rumbled and bells rang in hundreds of churches. Shocked by what he saw, the khan ordered the army to retreat. That evening, for the last time in history, the formidable Tatar warriors saw the Russian capital.

Tsar Boris built a lot, involving many people in these works in order to provide them with food. Boris personally laid a new fortress in Smolensk, and the architect Fyodor Kon erected its stone walls. In the Moscow Kremlin, the bell tower built in 1600, called "Ivan the Great", sparkled with a dome.

Back in 1582, the last wife of Ivan the Terrible, Maria Nagaya, gave birth to a son, Dmitry. Under Fyodor, because of the intrigues of Godunov, Tsarevich Dmitry and his relatives were exiled to Uglich. May 15, 1591 The 8-year-old prince was found in the yard with his throat cut. An investigation by the boyar Vasily Shuisky established that Dmitry himself stumbled upon the knife he was playing with. But many did not believe this, believing that the true killer was Godunov, for whom the son of the Terrible was a rival on the path to power. With the death of Dmitry, the Rurik dynasty was cut short. Soon the childless Tsar Fedor also died. Boris Godunov came to the throne, he ruled until 1605, and then Russia collapsed into the abyss of Troubles.

For about eight hundred years, Russia was ruled by the Rurik dynasty, the descendants of the Varangian Rurik. Over these centuries, Russia has become a European state, adopted Christianity, and created an original culture. Different people sat on the Russian throne. Among them were outstanding rulers who thought about the welfare of the peoples, but there were also many nonentities. Because of them to XIII century Russia broke up as a single state into many principalities, became a victim of the Mongol-Tatar invasion. It was only with great difficulty that Moscow, which had risen up by the 16th century, managed to create a state anew. It was a harsh kingdom with a despotic autocrat and a silent people. But it also fell at the beginning of the 17th century ...

I understand that such an article can break the fan, so I will try to avoid sharp corners. I write more for my own pleasure, most of the facts will be from the category taught in school, but nevertheless I will gladly accept criticism and corrections, if there are facts. So:

Ancient Russia.

It is assumed that Russia appeared as a result of the merger of a number of East Slavic, Finno-Ugric and Baltic tribes. The first mentions of us are found in the 830s. First, in the region of 813g. (very controversial dating) some Rosas successfully ran into the city of Amastrida (modern Amasra, Turkey) in Byzantine Palfagonia. Secondly, the ambassadors of the "Kagan Rosov" as part of the Byzantine embassy came to the last emperor of the Frankish state, Louis I the Pious (a good question, however, who they really were). Thirdly, the same Dews ran into Constantinople in 860, without much success (there is an assumption that the famous Askold and Dir commanded the parade).

The history of serious Russian statehood begins, according to the most official version, in 862, when a certain Rurik appears on the scene.

Rurik.

In fact, we have a rather poor idea of ​​who he was and whether he was at all. The official version is based on the "Tale of Bygone Years" by Nestor, who, in turn, used the sources available to him. There is a theory (quite similar to the truth) that Rurik was known as Rorik of Jutland, from the Skjoldung dynasty (a descendant of Skjold, King of the Danes, mentioned already in Beowulf). I repeat that the theory is not the only one.

Where did this character come from in Russia (specifically, in Novgorod), is also an interesting question, I personally am closest to the theory that he was originally a hired military administrator, moreover, in Ladoga, and he brought the idea of ​​\u200b\u200ba hereditary transfer of power with him from Scandinavia, where it just came into fashion. And he came to power completely by himself by seizing it during a conflict with another military leader of the same kind.

However, in the PVL it is written that the Varangians were still called upon by three tribes of Slavs, unable to resolve the disputed issues themselves. Where did it come from?

Option one- from the source that Nestor read (well, you yourself understand, it would be enough for those who wanted to do fascinating editing from among the Rurikovichs at their leisure. Princess Olga could also do this, in the midst of a conflict with the Drevlyans, who for some reason still did not understand what to break the prince in half and offer a replacement, as always in their memory and done in such cases - a bad idea).

Option two- Nestor could be asked to write this by Vladimir Monomakh, who was just called by the people of Kiev, and who really did not want to prove the legitimacy of his reign to everyone who was older than him in the family. In any case, somewhere from Rurik appears reliably famous idea Slavic state. "Somewhere" because it was not Rurik who took real steps in building such a state, but his successor, Oleg.

Oleg.

Called "prophetic", Oleg took over the reins of Novgorod Rus in 879. Probably (according to PVL), he was a relative of Rurik (possibly brother-in-law). Some identify Oleg with Odd Orvar (Arrow), the hero of several Scandinavian sagas.

All the same PVL claims that Oleg was the guardian of the real heir, the son of Rurik Igor, something like a regent. In general, in a good way, the power of the Rurikovichs for a very long time was transferred to the "eldest in the family", so that Oleg could be a full-fledged ruler not only in practice, but also formally.

Actually, what Oleg did during his reign - he made Russia. In 882 he gathered an army and in turn subjugated Smolensk, Lyubech and Kyiv. According to the history of the capture of Kyiv, we, as a rule, remember Askold and Dir (I won’t speak for Dir, but the name “Askold” seems to me very Scandinavian. I won’t lie). PVL believes that they were Varangians, but had nothing to do with Rurik (I think because I heard somewhere that not only did they have - Rurik sent them along the Dnieper with the task "capture everything that is badly worth "). The annals also describe how Oleg defeated his compatriots - he hid military paraphernalia from the boats, so that they looked like trade ones, and somehow lured both governors there (according to the official version from the Nikon Chronicle, he let them know that he was there . but he said he was sick, and on the ships he showed them the young Igor and killed them. But, perhaps, they simply inspected the incoming merchants, not suspecting that an ambush was waiting for them on board).

Having seized power in Kyiv, Oleg appreciated the convenience of its location in relation to the eastern and southern (as far as I understand) lands compared to Novgorod and Ladoga, and said that his capital would be here. He spent the next 25 years "swearing in" the surrounding Slavic tribes, repelling some of them (Northerners and Radimichi) from the Khazars.

In 907 Oleg undertakes a military campaign in Byzantium. When 200 (according to PVL) boats with 40 soldiers on board each appeared in sight of Constantinople, Emperor Leo IV the Philosopher ordered to block the harbor of the city with stretched chains - perhaps in the expectation that the savages would be satisfied with the robbery of the suburbs and go home. "Savage" Oleg showed ingenuity and put the ships on wheels. The infantry, under the cover of sailing tanks, caused confusion in the walls of the city, and Leo IV hastily paid off. According to the legend, along the way, an attempt was made to slip wine and hemlock into the prince during the negotiations, but Oleg somehow felt the moment and pretended to be a teetotaler (for which, in fact, he was called "Prophetic" upon his return). The ransom was a lot of money, tribute and an agreement under which our merchants were exempt from taxes and had the right to live in Constantinople for up to a year at the expense of the crown. In 911, however, the agreement was renegotiated without exempting merchants from duties.

Some historians, not finding a description of the campaign in Byzantine sources, consider it a legend, but recognize the existence of the treaty of 911 (perhaps there was a campaign, otherwise why would the Eastern Romans bend like that, but without the episode with "tanks" and Constantinople).

Oleg leaves the stage in connection with his death in 912. Why and where exactly is a very good question, the legend tells about the skull of a horse and a poisonous snake (interestingly, the same happened with the legendary Odd Orvar). The circular buckets, foaming, hissed, Oleg left, but Russia remained.

Generally speaking, this article should be brief, so I will try to summarize my thoughts further.

Igor (r. 912-945). The son of Rurik, took over the reign of Kiev after Oleg (Igor was governor in Kyiv during the war with Byzantium in 907). He conquered the Drevlyans, tried to fight with Byzantium (however, the memory of Oleg was enough, the war did not work out), concluded an agreement with her in 943 or 944 similar to that concluded by Oleg (but less profitable), and in 945 unsuccessfully went for the second time to take tribute all from the same Drevlyans (it is believed that Igor perfectly understood how all this could end, but could not cope with his own squad, which at that time was not particularly surprising). Husband of Princess Olga, father of the future Prince Svyatoslav.

Olga (r. 945-964)- Igor's widow. She burned the Drevlyansky Iskorosten, thereby demonstrating the sacralization of the figure of the prince (the Drevlyans offered her to marry their own prince Mal, and 50 years before that this could seriously work). She carried out the first positive tax reform in the history of Russia, setting specific deadlines for collecting tribute (lessons) and creating fortified yards for receiving it and standing collectors (graveyards). She laid the foundation for stone construction in Russia.

Interestingly, from the point of view of our chronicles, Olga never officially ruled, since the death of Igor, his son, Svyatoslav, ruled.

The Byzantines were not allowed such subtleties, and in their sources Olga is mentioned as the archontissa (ruler) of Russia.

Svyatoslav (964 - 972) Igorevich. Generally speaking, 964 is rather the year of the beginning of his independent reign, since formally he was considered the prince of Kiev from 945. But in practice, until 969, his mother, Princess Olga, ruled for him, until the prince got out of the saddle. From PVL "When Svyatoslav grew up and matured, he began to gather many brave warriors, and he was fast, like a pardus, and fought a lot. On campaigns, he did not carry carts or boilers, did not cook meat, but, thinly slicing horse meat, or beast, or beef, and roasted on coals, so he ate, he did not have a tent, but slept, spreading a sweatshirt with a saddle in his head, - all the rest of his soldiers were the same. .. I'm going to you!" In fact, he destroyed the Khazar Khaganate (to the joy of Byzantium), imposed a tribute to the Vyatichi (to his own joy), conquered the First Bulgarian Kingdom on the Danube, built Pereyaslavets on the Danube (where he wanted to move the capital), frightened the Pechenegs and, on the basis of the Bulgarians, quarreled with Byzantium, the Bulgarians fought against she is on the side of Russia - the vicissitudes of wars are vicissitudes). Against Byzantium, in the spring of 970, he put up a free army of his own, Bulgarians, Pechenegs and Hungarians in 30,000 people, but lost (possibly) the battle of Arcadiopol, and, taking a retreat, left the territory of Byzantium. In 971, the Byzantines already besieged Dorostol, where Svyatoslav organized his headquarters, and after a three-month siege and another battle, they convinced Svyatoslav to take another retreat and go home. Svyatoslav did not get back home - first he got stuck in the winter at the mouth of the Dnieper, and then ran into the Pecheneg prince Kurya, in a battle with whom he died. Byzantium received Bulgaria as a province and minus one dangerous rival, so it seems to me that Kurya was stuck on the doorsteps all winter for a reason. However, there is no evidence for this.

By the way. Svyatoslav was never baptized, despite repeated proposals and the possible breakdown of the engagement with the Byzantine princess - he himself explained this by the fact that the squad would not specifically understand such a maneuver, which he could not allow.

The first prince who gave reigns to more than one son. Perhaps this led to the first strife in Russia, when, after the death of their father, the sons fought for the throne of Kyiv.

Yaropolk (972-978) and Oleg (prince of the Drevlyans 970-977) Svyatoslavichi- two of the three sons of Svyatoslav. Legitimate sons, unlike Vladimir, the son of Svyatoslav and the housekeeper Malusha (although it’s still a good question how much such a trifle played a role in Russia in the middle of the 10th century. There is also an opinion that Malusha is the daughter of the same Drevlyansky prince Mal, who executed Igor) .

Yaropolk had diplomatic relations with the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation. In 977, during the strife, opposing the brothers, he attacked Oleg's possessions in the land of the Drevlyans. Oleg died during the retreat (according to the chronicle - Yaropolk lamented). In fact, after the death of Oleg and the flight of Vladimir, he became the sole ruler of Russia somewhere "over the sea". In 980 Vladimir returned with a squad of Varangians, began to take the city, Yaropolk left Kyiv with a better fortified Roden, Vladimir laid siege to it, famine began in the city and Yaropolk was forced to negotiate. In place, instead of or in addition to Vladimir, there were two Varangians who did their job.

In fact, three stages can be distinguished in the history of the Old Russian state of Kievan Rus.

At the first stage (the first half of the 9th century - 980) the first Russian statehood was formed and defined in its main features. [Rurik, Oleg (882 – 912), Igor (912 – 945), Olga, Svyatoslav (964 – 972)]

Its economic base of the state was determined - foreign trade based on natural exchange. The first princes by means of military campaigns forced out competitors and provided Russia with the status of one of the leaders in world trade and politics.

Slavic lands and foreign tribes were united under the rule of Kyiv. The structure of the ancient Russian state was formed- from the dominance of the Polyana tribal center at the beginning of the stage to federations city ​​parishes or vicegerent principalities by the end of the specified period.

The system of contractual relations between self-governing tenants-zemstvos and hired managers was determined

Second stage (980 - 1054) includes the reigns of Vladimir I (980 - 1015) and Yaroslav the Wise (1019 - 1054) and is characterized as the heyday of Kievan Rus.

The construction of the nation and state was completed and ideologically shaped by the adoption of Christianity (the date of Baptism, in the presence of discrepancies, is considered to be 988 G.).

The institutions of state administration created at the first stage worked with maximum efficiency, an administrative and legal system was formed, reflected in the acts of princely lawmaking - Pravda, church and princely charters.

On the southern and eastern borders, Russia effectively opposed the nomads.

Kyiv's international prestige reached its apogee. European courts sought to conclude dynastic marriage ties with the house of the Kiev prince. (Vladimir married a Byzantine princess, Yaroslav was married to the daughter of the Swedish king. His sons became related to the kings of France, England, Sweden, Poland, Hungary, the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and the emperor of Byzantium. The daughters of Yaroslav the Wise became queens of France, Hungary, Norway, Denmark.)

This period is characterized by the active development of literacy and education, architecture, art, the flourishing and decoration of cities. Under Yaroslav, systematic chronicling began.

Third stage (1054 - 1132) - this is a harbinger of the decline and collapse of the Kiev statehood.

Troubles alternated with periods of political stabilization. The Yaroslavichi peacefully co-ruled in the Russian lands from 1054 to 1072. From 1078 to 1093, all of Russia was in the hands of the house of Vsevolod, the third son of Yaroslav. Vladimir Vselodovich Monomakh reigned supreme in Kyiv from 1113 to 1125, all Russian princes obeyed him. Autocracy and stability were maintained under Monomakh's son Mstislav until 1132.

The reign of Vladimir Monomakh in Kyiv -"swan song" of the Kiev state. He managed to restore it in all its splendor and strength. Monomakh successfully coped with rebellious lands (Vyatichi in the 80s) and princes who violated oaths and treaties. He showed himself to be a true patriot, an outstanding commander and a brave warrior in the fight against the Polovtsy, secured the northwestern borders from the raids of the Lithuanians and Chuds. He voluntarily refused to fight for the Kyiv table in order to avoid strife. In 1113, he was forced to respond to the call of the people of Kiev in order to prevent bloodshed.

Monomakh earned respect as a wise and just ruler, who legally limited the excesses of usurers, debt slavery, and eased the situation of dependent categories of the population. Much attention was paid to construction, development of education and culture. Finally, as a legacy to his sons, Monomakh left a kind of philosophical and political testament "Instruction", in which he insisted on the need to follow Christian laws in order to save the soul and reflected on the Christian duties of princes. Mstislav was a worthy son of his father, but after his death the country began to disintegrate into destinies. Russia entered a new period of its development - the era of political fragmentation.

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

A series: Russia - the way through the centuries

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by the LitRes company.

Old Russian state

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

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

Tribes and peoples

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

At the turn of the old and new era

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

VENEDS, Venets - Indo-European tribes.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

East Slavic tribes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

DREGOVICHI - tribal union of Eastern Slavs.

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

DULEBY - a tribal union of the Eastern Slavs.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Svyatoslavich. Last time they are mentioned in the annals under 1169. Then the territory of the Radimichi entered the Chernigov and Smolensk principalities. E. G.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

On the borderlands

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

State formation

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

On the distant frontier

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Course "National History"

Topic 1. Ancient Russia (IX-XIII centuries).

Kievan Rus.

"Special period".

3. Fight against foreign invaders.

1 . Kievan Rus emerged at the end of the first millennium AD. e. within the East European Plain.

Origin of the Slavs. Slavic tribes separated from the Indo-European community of peoples in the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. e. in the area south of the Baltic coast.

Slavic colonization of the East European Plain. The Slavs participated in the "Great Migration of Nations" (III-YI centuries AD). Part of the tribes moved east - in the direction of the lake. Ilmen and the middle reaches of the Dnieper. An East Slavic ethnic community was formed. The twelfth century became the "Slavic age": the Eastern Slavs begin to dominate the space from the Carpathians to the upper reaches of the Volga and from the Gulf of Finland to the middle reaches of the Dnieper. The autochthons (indigenous inhabitants) of the forest zone (Baltic and Finno-Ugric tribes) led an "appropriating economy" (hunting, fishing), the inhabitants of the southern steppes (Iranian-speaking nomads) - primitive cattle breeding. The Slavs - arable farmers - brought the culture of the producing economy to the East of Europe.

The social system of the Eastern Slavs. The Eastern Slavs were at the stage of decomposition of the primitive communal system. Communities based on blood ties and collective property are being replaced by “neighboring” communities based on territorial and economic unity. Tribal associations develop into territorial and political tribal unions: glades, drevlyans, Ilmen Slovenes, etc. Economic and general cultural progress has led to the isolation of the ruling layer - princes (from military leaders), military service (team) and tribal nobility ("best men") . The formation of social differentiation served as the basis for the formation of ancient Russian statehood.

The emergence of Kievan Rus. The scientific development of ancient Russian history (since the middle of the 18th century) is associated with the formation of "Norman" and "anti-Norman" theories. The first was based on the assumption of the Norman (Normans, Varangians - immigrants from Scandinavia) origin of Kiev statehood. The second denied the foreign origin of the state, considering the Varangian leader Rurik a mythical figure or a Slavic leader. The weakness of both theories is the identification of the question of the emergence of the state with the problem of the origin of the dynasty. The emergence of the Old Russian state could not be the result of a single act. The Slavic fundamental principle of ancient Russian statehood seems obvious. The Varangian element played an active role in the formation of the state institutions of ancient Russia (the Varangian origin of the ruling dynasty, which relied on the ancient Russian nobility - the boyars, formed as a result of the merger of the Varangians with the Slavic tribal elite).

Origin of the term "Rus". The version of Scandinavian origin dominates ("Rus": warrior - rower, squad). Arguments in favor of Slavic, Baltic or Iranian etymology persist. "Kievan Rus" is a term accepted in scientific literature.

Periodization of the history of Kievan Rus. The first princes (from Rurik, 862 - 979, to the reign of Vladimir I the Holy in 980) - the formation of the Old Russian state, the reign of Vladimir (980 - 1015) and Yaroslav the Wise (1019 - 1054) - heyday, the period up to death of Mstislav the Great (1132) - the collapse of Kievan Rus.

Socio-economic structure. Ancient Russian society was of an agrarian nature: the rural way (way - a system of social relations of a certain type), subordinate to the natural cycle and based on a collective (communal) hostel, was the basis of society, mentality (attitude).

Socio-political system. The opinion about Kievan Rus as an early feudal society prevails. Feudalism is a type of social structure characterized by agrarianism, class division of society (estate is a community with fixed inherited rights and obligations), the presence of large ("feudal") land property (feud - land granted to hereditary possession for service), peasant property dependent on it , the dominance of religion in the spiritual sphere, as a rule, a monarchical form of government.

The social structure of Kievan Rus(fragmentarily recorded in the ancient code of laws "Russian Truth") is characterized by division according to the class principle into layers of personally free (privileged nobility and unprivileged people) and personally dependent (completely - slaves, partially - smerds, purchases, ryadovichi). The main productive force of ancient Russian society was "people" - free peasants who ran a family economy on communal land, and urban people associated with craft and trade.

In Ancient Russia, the key institutions of developed feudalism did not develop: seigneurial (private) ownership of land (princely domains begin to form from the 10th century, boyar estates - from the 11th century); serfdom (legally registered attachment of peasants to the land and personally to the owner of the land, forming "patrimonial jurisdiction" - the right of the feudal lord to non-economic coercion of the serf); rent relations (redistribution of the surplus product from the producer to the owner of the land).

Within the privileged layer, relations of suzerainty - vassalage developed (a vassal - a servant with inalienable rights - immunities, serving the overlord for awards): the Kyiv prince - "first among equals" - acted as overlord in relation to the younger Ruriks and to combatants. With the development of private property relations in late Kievan Rus, the formation of a service layer began on the "classical" basis of land grants.

Under the dominance of collective feudal land ownership, the privileged class had three main sources of existence: trade, spoils of war, and "polyudye". The elite "walked among the people" who supplied the products of production and crafts. In the middle of the X century. Princess Olga, the order of collection was fixed in place ("graveyards"), timing, size. "Polyudye" was transformed from a tribute into a tax that went to the maintenance of the court, the provision of state needs. "Polyudye" became an early form of feudal rent, which was collected from personally free peasants by the feudal nobility in general, the authorities.

A feature of ancient Russian (Eastern European), “synthetic” feudalism (in contrast to the “synthesis” of Western European, which adopted the Roman tradition) was the slow formation of private property, the preservation of an array of state lands, which created the prospect of a long-term growth of feudalism “in breadth”. Early Russian feudalism is “state feudalism”, which demonstrates etatism (the increased role of the state) already at an early stage in the formation of statehood.

Formation of territorial unity. In 882 Rurik's successor Oleg captures Kyiv, which became the capital, putting an end to the confrontation between the northern and southern centers of the formation of ancient Russian statehood. During the IX - X centuries. Kiev princes subjugate the tribal principalities. During the reign of St. Vladimir, the replacement of "native" principalities by serving princes - governors from the house of Rurikovich is completed. By the end of the X century. Kievan Rus was divided into volosts headed by princes - vassals of the Grand Duke. Local government (representatives of the prince, garrisons led by thousands, centurions, tenths - in accordance with the "tithe" management system) was supported by feeding - dues from the population.

The system of palace and patrimonial administration begins to take shape, in which the power belongs to the votchinnik. Employees of the princely palace economy (tiuns, elders) become managers of the relevant branches of the state.

Cities. With the exception of Novgorod, the ancient Russian cities, which were formed mainly as transshipment points for foreign trade, did not have self-government, being the seat of local authorities - the backbone of princely power, and in this capacity playing an outstanding role in the formation of the state.

Political system. The Kyiv prince, who received the throne by right of dynastic inheritance, was the personification of the state, the supreme ruler, judge, head of diplomacy, the armed forces, and the manager of the treasury.

Limiters of princely power: Russia was considered the possession of the entire family of Rurikovich, the Kyiv prince was bound by relations of suzerainty - vassalage with serving princes; boyar council; “ordinary” (“row” - contract) agreements concluded with a number of territories; veche system; the traditional order of succession of the princely table, which was supposed to pass to the eldest in the Rurik family; the institution of feudal "snem" - congresses that resolve issues of dynastic and vassal relations.

Kievan Rus is an early limited monarchy (the institution of monarchical government is the source of power).

Foreign policy. Kievan Rus, the eastern outpost of Christian Europe, was an active participant in international relations.

Khazar direction: in 964 - 965 Prince Svyatoslav crushes the Khazar Khaganate, the most dangerous rival during the 9th - 10th centuries.

Byzantine direction: peaceful trade and cultural ties were interspersed with armed conflicts (the campaigns of the Russians at the turn of the 9th - 10th centuries, relations of alliance and confrontation during the time of Svyatoslav, the development of relations based on a religious community by the end of the 10th century).

Southern direction: relations of alliance and armed struggle with the Pechenegs, who threatened the south of Russia, especially since the end of the 10th century; from the 11th century in a similar way - with the nomadic Turks - Polovtsy.

Western direction: dynastic ties (beginning with Yaroslav the Wise, married to the daughter of the Swedish king) were a reflection of diverse relations.

Christianization of Russia. During the period of the formation of statehood, the Eastern Slavs (like the Varangians) professed paganism.

From the middle of the X century. Christianity enters Russia. In 988, Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavovich carried out a mass baptism of the people of Kiev. Gradually, Christianity becomes the religion of the majority of the population of Russia. The adoption of the monotheistic faith played an exceptional role in the formation of a unified ancient Russian statehood, language and culture. The differences between the Western (Roman Catholic) and Eastern (Byzantine-Orthodox) branches of Christianity left an imprint of originality on the subsequent course of Russian history.

The collapse of Kievan Rus. After the death of Yaroslav the Wise, civil strife began, which led to the fragmentation of Russia. The process became irreversible after the Lyubech (near Kiev, 1097) congress of the Rurikovichs, who decided that Russia was a set of independent "fatherlands".

Reasons for fragmentation:

External factors - the decline in the role of the trade route "from the Varangians to the Greeks", previously "pulling" the Russian lands; absence of a serious external threat;

Internal factors - the process of development of feudal society, entering the stage of maturity (the collapse of early feudal states in Western Europe occurs in the X-XII centuries).

The unstable unity of Russia was based on the underdevelopment of social relations, which prevented the independent existence of volosts and allowed the central government to manage with a limited set of administrative functions. Economic growth under the dominance of a natural (self-supporting) economy contributed to the formation of self-sufficiency of volosts; the growth of private land ownership weakened the dependence of vassals on overlords; the complication of power functions revealed the impossibility of managing a gigantic territory from a single center.

The collapse of Kievan Rus showed a rational form of statehood for the prevailing conditions.

2. The fragmentation of Russia meant the formation of independent states, which were formed, as a rule, within the limits of destinies - volosts (“specific period of Russian history”).

dominant centers. Southwestern Russia was characterized by a confrontation between princely power and the dominant boyars (the so-called "prince-boyar model"). Northeastern Russia was characterized by a strong monarchical rule ("unipolar princely model"). The experience of state structure, unique for medieval Russia, developed in the north-west, in the Novgorod land (“single-pole veche model”).

Novgorod "boyar" republic(the source of power is the will of the people) gradually developed towards the end of the 12th century and lasted until the second half of the 10th century.

Reasons for the formation of the republican system:

Rootless princely power (in Kievan Rus, the Novgorod table could become a stepping stone to Kiev);

Consolidation of the Novgorod boyars on a basis independent of the princely power.

State power in Novgorod was built on the basis of self-government principles: "street", "Konchan" - district veche assemblies elected the local administration. The city council was the supreme authority. The veche meeting elected the highest officials of the republic (posadnik, thousand, archbishop, prince, who was called mainly as a military leader). The Konchansk authorities ruled the provinces - the "pyatinas" of the Novgorod land. In the structure of Novgorod, elements of electivity and separation of powers are visible. However, the fullness of power in the "oligarchic republic" belonged to the boyars ("golden belts"). In the Moscow tradition, the Novgorod "freemen" is represented as a period of endless unrest. Reality - Novgorod was the most economically and culturally developed Russian land - refutes the "slanderous" scheme.

Culture of the pre-Mongolian period. Old Russian culture is a synthesis of paganism with Christian culture based on Slavic writing, created in the second half of the 9th century. Byzantine monks Cyril and Methodius.

Literacy is spreading. In the XI century. Russian literature and annals are born. The Tale of Igor's Campaign is recognized as an outstanding monument of pre-Mongolian culture. High level of architecture (Kyiv and Novgorod St. Sophia Cathedrals) icon painting.

3. In the specific period in the northwest and southeast, centers of aggression against Russia were formed.

The emergence of the Mongol-Tatar empire. In 1206, one of the noyons - princes Temujin was elected under the name of Genghis Khan (1206 - 1227) as the great khan of all the Mongols (Tatars are one of the Mongol tribes) who lived south of Lake Baikal - to the Gobi and the Great Wall of China. The nomadic tribes were at the stage of social differentiation (nobles, nukers - combatants, community members - cattle breeders, slaves) and the formation of statehood. Population growth, depletion of pastures due to increased aridity, the desire for enrichment pushed the Mongols onto the path of aggression. Starting from 1211, an empire was created, which included the territory of the south and west of Siberia, the north of China, Korea, Central Asia, Iran, Transcaucasia, and the North Caucasus.

Reasons: the internal disorder of the neighbors, who were experiencing a period of fragmentation, the superiority of the Mongol army (the primitiveness of social relations made it possible to include the entire male population accustomed to military affairs in the troops), the effective use of resources and experience of the occupied countries.

The world significance of the empire. The integrity of the empire was fleeting. After the death of the founder, the state broke up into uluses, nominally remaining united and drawn into civil strife. A long-term consequence of the Mongol expansion was the acceleration of the formation of world history as a real interaction of mankind.

Campaign to Russia. During the campaign to the West, the Mongols, led by Genghis Khan's grandson Batu (Batu) in 1237-1238. and in 1239 - 1241. attacked the Russian lands. Despite fierce resistance, Russia was subdued.

Formation of the Golden Horde. After an unsuccessful campaign to the west, Batu founded the state of the Golden Horde, with the capital Sarai on the Volga, covering the territory from the Irtysh to the Danube.

Reasons for the defeat of Russia. Fragmented Russia was not able to repel the blow for the same reasons that the Mongols succeeded in their previous victories.

Aggression from the West. The situation was aggravated by the onslaught of the Swedes and German orders of chivalry. In 1240 at the mouth of the river Neva, the Swedish army was defeated by the Novgorod prince Alexander Yaroslavich, nicknamed Nevsky. In 1242, Alexander Nevsky defeated the Livonian Order in the battle on the lake. Chudskoye ("Battle on the Ice"). These victories averted the threat from the West and allowed Alexander, who became the great prince of Vladimir, to establish that order of dependence on the Horde, which was held for a longer period of the "yoke" as a "lesser evil."

Horde yoke. The invasion threw Russia back: numerous human losses, economic and cultural decline. However, the Horde did not occupy Russian territory and was not interested in the extermination of the Russian population, which would deprive it of income. Punitive actions were carried out in order to keep the Russian lands in obedience.

The status of Russia in relation to the Horde. Russia, which retained the social system, forms of statehood, religion, became a "non-contractual" vassal of the Horde. The Great Khan (Tsar) was the overlord of the princes, through whom the Horde "exit" - tributes - was carried out.

Influence of the Horde on Russia. The profound influence of the Horde on Russia was reflected in the sphere of power relations. Khan's omnipotence, superimposed on the monarchical institutions of northeastern Russia, gave rise to the "Muscovite-Horde" tradition: despotic power builds relations with the subject population, as conquered, obliged to unquestioning obedience.

In the pre-Mongolian period, Russia evolved in some semblance of a pan-European scheme: from state-feudal forms, the basis of political unity, to seignioral (private-ownership), the basis of fragmentation. The Horde invasion prompted the processes of folding a special type of feudalism, which took shape in the XYI-XYII centuries.

Place of the Golden Horde in Russian history. Long-term ties, the subsequent annexation of the Horde lands to Russia give reason to consider the history of the Golden Horde as part of Russian history.

The main events of the history of Russia IX -per. thirds XIII centuries

Kievan Rus

862 - calling Novgorodians Rurik.

879 - 912 (or 921) - the reign of Oleg, 882 - the capture of Kyiv by Oleg, the unification of the Novgorod and Kiev lands, 911 - a campaign against Byzantium, an agreement with the Greeks.

912-945 - the reign of Igor, campaigns on the western coast of the Caspian Sea, on Byzantium, an agreement with the Greeks, the death of Igor in the Drevlyane land during the collection of tribute.

945-972 - the reign of Olga Svyatoslav Igorevich, Olga's trip to Constantinople, 964-972 - Svyatoslav's campaigns against the Vyatichi, Volga Bulgars, the defeat of Khazaria, the defeat of Byzantium in the struggle for Danube Bulgaria.

972-978 - the struggle for power between the sons of Svyatoslav (Yaropolk, Oleg, Vladimir).

980- 1015 - the reign of Vladimir Svyatoslavich, campaigns in Western Russia in Poland, an alliance agreement with Byzantium, 988 - the baptism of Russia.

1015-1019 - the struggle for power between the sons of Vladimir (Svyatopolk, Boris, Gleb, Yaroslav, Mstislav).

OK. 1016 - approx. 1113 - the gradual creation by Yaroslav, Yaroslavichi and Vladimir Monomakh of the articles of "Russian Truth".

1019-1054 - the reign of Yaroslav the Wise - the heyday of Kievan Rus, campaigns against Poland, Yotvingians, Radimichi, Vyatichi, Croats, Kama Bulgarians, Byzantium, the struggle against the Pechenegs, Polovtsy, the formation of the Kiev Metropolis, an attempt to install a metropolitan independent of Constantinople.

1054-1068 - joint reign of the sons of Yaroslav (Izyaslav, Svyatoslav, Vsevolod).

1068-1076 - strife of the Yaroslavichs, accompanied by the invasion of the Polovtsy, popular riots, the involvement of the Pole in the Russian political struggle

1078-1093 - reign of Vsevolod in Kyiv.

1093 - 1113 - the reign of Svyatopolk Izyaslavich.

1095-1111 - successful campaigns of princes against the Polovtsy.

1097, 1100, 1103 - congresses and treaties of princes in Lyubech, Vitichev, on Lake Dolobsky - attempts to streamline the system of principalities, stop strife, maintain military unity in the fight against the Polovtsy.

1113-1125 - reign of Vladimir Vsevolodovich Monomakh.

1125-1132 - reign of Mstislav Vladimirovich.

after 1132 - the collapse of Kievan Rus.