View source for Place:Kievan Rus'

{{Short description|State in Europe, c. 880 to 1240}}
{{Pp-semi-indef}}
{{Infobox former country
| native_name            = 
| conventional_long_name = Kievan Rus'
| common_name            = Rus'
| p1                     = Novgorod Slavs{{!}}Ilmen Slavs
| p2                     = Krivichs
| p3                     = Chud
| p4                     = Volga Finns
| p5                     = Dregoviches
| p6                     = Radimichs
| p7                     = Polans (eastern){{!}}Eastern Polans
| p8                     = Severians
| p9                     = Drevlians
| p10                    = Vyatichi
| p11                    = Volhynians
| p12                    = White Croatia
| p13                    = Tivertsi
| p14                    = Ulichs
| s1                     = Principality of Kiev
| s2                     = Novgorod Republic
| s3                     = Principality of Chernigov
| s4                     = Principality of Pereyaslavl
| s5                     = Vladimir-Suzdal
| s6                     = Principality of Volhynia
| s7                     = Principality of Halych
| s8                     = Principality of Polotsk
| s9                     = Principality of Smolensk
| s10                    = Principality of Ryazan
| s11                    = Mongol Empire
| image_coat             = [[File:Coin of Vladimir the Great (reverse).svg|90px]]&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;[[File:Coin of Yaroslav the Wise (reverse).svg|90px]]
| symbol_type            = [[Symbols of the Rurikids|Rurikid princely emblems]] depicted on coins:<br />Left: Vladimir the Great (10–11th century)<br />Right: Yaroslav the Wise (11th century)
| coa_size               = 60px
| image_flag             = 
| flag_border            = no
| flag_type              = 
| image_map              = Location of Kyivan Rus.png
| image_map_caption      = A map of Kievan Rus' after the death of Yaroslav I in 1054
| government_type        = [[Social:Monarchy|Monarchy]]
| demonym                = Rus'
| event_start            = 
| year_start             = {{circa}} 880
| event1                 = Conquest of Khazar Khaganate
| date_event1            = 965–969
| event2                 = Christianization
| date_event2            = {{circa}} 988
| event3                 = ''Russkaya Pravda''
| date_event3            = 1050s{{sfn|Bushkovitch|2011|p=11}}
| event4                 = Mongol invasion
| date_event4            = 1237–1241
| event_end              = Siege of Kiev
| year_end               = 1240
| capital                = {{nowrap|[[Place:Kyiv|Kiev]] {{small|(882–1240)}}}}
| legislature            = Veche
| title_leader           = Prince
| leader1                = Oleg the Wise
| year_leader1           = {{circa}} 882–912 (first)
| religion               = {{Plainlist}}
*Slavic paganism {{small|(native faith of Slavs)}}
*Reformed state paganism {{small|(official until 10th century)}}
*[[Religion:Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox Christianity]] {{small|(official since 10th cent.)}}
*Norse paganism {{small|(locally practiced)}}
*Finnish paganism {{small|(native faith of Finnic peoples)}}
| common_languages       = {{Plainlist}}
*Old East Slavic
*[[Social:Old Church Slavonic|Old Church Slavonic]] (literary)<ref>{{cite book |title=CALIFORNIA SLAVIC STUDIES, VOLUME XVI : slavic culture in the middle ages. |date=2021 |publisher=UNIV OF CALIFORNIA PRESS |location=[S.l.] |isbn=9780520309180 |pages=141}}</ref>
*[[Social:Old Norse|Old Norse]]
*Finnic languages
| currency               = [[Grivna]]
| stat_year1             = 1000<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/knigi/urlanis/urlanis.pdf |page=89 |author=Б.Ц.Урланис |script-title=ru:Рост населения в Европе |language=ru|access-date=17 November 2016 |archive-date=23 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923223243/http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/knigi/urlanis/urlanis.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref>
| stat_area1             = 1330000
| stat_pop1              = 5.4 million
| area_km2               = 
| area_rank              = 
| GDP_PPP                = 
| GDP_PPP_year           = 
| HDI                    = 
| HDI_year               = 
| today                  = 
| iso3166code            = omit
}}
<!-- If you are editing this page only to change Kiev to Kyiv — there is a longstanding consensus that in unambiguously historical topics "Kiev" is retained. (WP:KIEV) -->

'''Kievan Rus'''',{{efn|"The Rise of Kievan Rus’"{{sfn|Magocsi|2010|p=55}}}}{{efn|"In these early centuries East Slavic tribes and their neighbours coalesced into the Christian state of Kievan Rus."{{sfn|Martin|2009b|p=1}}}} also known as '''Kyivan Rus&apos;'''{{efn|"The history of Kyivan (Kievan) Rus′, the medieval East Slavic state..."{{sfn|Plokhy|2006|p=10}}}}<ref name=":0">{{cite book |last1=Rubin |first1=Barnett R. |last2=Snyder |first2=Jack L. |title=Post-Soviet Political Order: Conflict and State Building |date=1998 |publisher=Routledge |location=London |page=93 |quote=As the capital of Kyivan Rus ...}}. {{Cite web |title=The Golden Age of Kyivan Rus´ |url=https://gis.huri.harvard.edu/golden-age-kyivan-rus |access-date=30 October 2022 |website=gis.huri.harvard.edu |language=en |archive-date=30 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221030190556/https://gis.huri.harvard.edu/golden-age-kyivan-rus |url-status=live}} {{Cite web |date=5 March 2020 |title=Ukraine – History, section "Kyivan (Kievan) Rus" |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Ukraine/History#ref404367 |access-date=2 July 2020 |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en |archive-date=6 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906050708/http://www.britannica.com/place/Ukraine/History#ref404367 |url-status=live}}
* {{Cite web |last=Zhdan |first=Mykhailo |date=1988 |title=Kyivan Rus' |url=http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CK%5CY%5CKyivanRushDA.htm |access-date=2 July 2020 |website=Encyclopedia of Ukraine |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326031245/http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CK%5CY%5CKyivanRushDA.htm |url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Katchanovski|Kohut|Nesebio|Yurkevich|2013|p=196}} was a state and later an amalgam of principalities{{sfn|Martin|2009b|p=1–5}} in [[Place:Eastern Europe|Eastern]] and [[Place:Northern Europe|Northern Europe]] from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.<ref name="channon">John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical Atlas of Russia'' (Penguin, 1995), p.14–16.</ref> The name was coined by Russian historians in the 19th century. Encompassing a variety of polities and peoples, including East Slavic, Norse,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rus {{!}} people {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Rus |access-date=1 April 2022 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en |archive-date=24 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220324025811/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Rus |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Little |first=Becky |title=When Viking Kings and Queens Ruled Medieval Russia |url=https://www.history.com/news/vikings-in-russia-kiev-rus-varangians-prince-oleg |access-date=1 April 2022 |website=HISTORY |date=4 December 2019 |language=en |archive-date=6 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220406145926/https://www.history.com/news/vikings-in-russia-kiev-rus-varangians-prince-oleg |url-status=live}}</ref> and Finnic, it was ruled by the Rurik dynasty, founded by the Varangian prince Rurik.<ref name="Kievan">[https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/317574/Kievan-Rus Kievan Rus] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518074730/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/317574/Kievan-Rus/ |date=18 May 2015 }}, Encyclopædia Britannica Online.</ref> The modern nations of {{wipe|Belarus}}, {{wipe|Russia}}, and {{wipe|Ukraine}} all claim Kievan Rus' as their cultural ancestor,{{efn|'For all the salient differences between these three post-Soviet nations, they have much in common when it comes to their culture and history, which goes back to Kievan Rus', the medieval East Slavic state based in the capital of present-day Ukraine,'{{sfn|Plokhy|2006|p=10–15}}}} with Belarus and Russia deriving their names from it, and the name Kievan Rus' derived from what is now the capital of Ukraine.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":0" /> At its greatest extent in the mid-11th century, Kievan Rus' stretched from the White Sea in the north to the Black Sea in the south and from the [[Earth:River source|headwaters]] of the Vistula in the west to the Taman Peninsula in the east,<ref>[http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages\K\Y\KyivanRushDA.htm Kyivan Rus’] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326031245/http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CK%5CY%5CKyivanRushDA.htm |date=26 March 2023 }}, Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 2 (1988), Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies.</ref><ref>''See'' [http://izbornyk.org.ua/litop/map_980_1054.htm Historical map of Kievan Rus' from 980 to 1054] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511144541/http://izbornyk.org.ua/litop/map_980_1054.htm |date=11 May 2021 }}.</ref> uniting the East Slavic tribes.<ref name=channon/>

According to the ''Primary Chronicle'', the first ruler to unite East Slavic lands into what would become Kievan Rus' was Oleg the Wise ({{Reign|879|912}}). He extended his control from Novgorod south along the Dnieper river valley to protect trade from Khazar incursions from the east,<ref name=channon/> and took control of the city of Kiev ([[Place:Kyiv|Kyiv]]). Sviatoslav I ({{Reign|943|972}}) achieved the first major territorial expansion of the state, fighting a war of conquest against the Khazars. Vladimir the Great ({{Reign|980|1015}}) spread Christianity with his own baptism and, by decree, extended it to all inhabitants of Kiev and beyond. Kievan Rus' reached its greatest extent under Yaroslav the Wise ({{Reign|1019|1054}}); his sons assembled and issued its first written legal code, the ''Russkaya Pravda'', shortly after his death.{{sfn|Bushkovitch|2011|p=11}}

The state began to decline in the late 11th century, gradually disintegrating into various rival regional powers throughout the 12th century.<ref>Paul Robert Magocsi, Historical Atlas of East Central Europe (1993), p.15.</ref> It was further weakened by external factors, such as the decline of the Byzantine Empire, its major economic partner, and the accompanying diminution of trade routes through its territory.<ref name="occawlonline.pearsoned.com">{{cite web |url=http://occawlonline.pearsoned.com/bookbind/pubbooks/stearns_awl/chapter15/objectives/deluxe-content.html |title=Civilization in Eastern Europe Byzantium and Orthodox Europe |publisher=occawlonline.pearsoned.com |date=2000 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100122074001/http://occawlonline.pearsoned.com/bookbind/pubbooks/stearns_awl/chapter15/objectives/deluxe-content.html |archive-date=22 January 2010}}</ref> It finally fell to the Mongol invasion in the mid-13th century, though the Rurik dynasty would continue to rule until the death of Feodor I of Russia in 1598.<ref>Picková, Dana, O počátcích státu Rusů, in: Historický obzor 18, 2007, č.11/12, s. 253–261</ref>

== Names ==
[[File:Laurentian Codex 01 Rus land.jpg|left|thumb|"Rus' land" from the ''Primary Chronicle'', a copy of the Laurentian Codex]]
During its existence, Kievan Rus' was known as "Rus' land" ({{lang-orv|ро́усьскаѧ землѧ́ |translit=rusĭskaę zemlę}}, from the ethnonym {{lang-orv|{{Slavonic|orv|Роусь}} |translit=Rusĭ|label=none}}; {{Lang-grc|Ῥῶς |translit=Rhos|label=Medieval Greek}}; {{lang-ar|الروس|rtl=yes |translit=ar-Rūs}}), in Greek as {{Lang-grc|Ῥωσία |translit=Rhosia|label=none}}, in Old French as {{lang|fro|Russie, Rossie}}, in Latin as {{Lang|la|Rusia}} or {{lang|la|Russia}} (with local German spelling variants ''Ruscia'' and ''Ruzzia''), and from the 12th century also as {{lang|la|[[Place:Ruthenia|Ruthenia]]}} or {{Lang|la|Rutenia}}.<ref name="Nazarenko">{{in lang|ru}} ''Назаренко А. В.'' [http://dgve.csu.ru/download/Nazarenko_2001_01.djvu Глава I] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304030958/http://dgve.csu.ru/download/Nazarenko_2001_01.djvu |date=4 March 2016 }} // [http://dgve.csu.ru/bibl/Nazarenko_2001.shtml Древняя Русь на международных путях: Междисциплинарные очерки культурных, торговых, политических связей IX—XII вв.] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120131082057/http://dgve.csu.ru/bibl/Nazarenko_2001.shtml |date=31 January 2012 }} — М.: Языки русской культуры, 2001. — c. 40, 42—45, 49—50. — {{ISBN|5-7859-0085-8}}.</ref>{{sfn|Magocsi|2010|p=72–73}} Various etymologies have been proposed, including {{lang|fi|Ruotsi}}, the [[Social:Finnish language|Finnish]] designation for Sweden or ''Ros'', a tribe from the middle Dnieper valley region.{{sfn|Magocsi|2010|p=56–57}}

According to the prevalent theory, the name ''Rus&apos;'', like the [[Social:Proto-Finnic|Proto-Finnic]] name for Sweden (''*rootsi''), is derived from an [[Social:Old Norse|Old Norse]] term for 'men who row' (''rods-'') because rowing was the main method of navigating the rivers of Eastern Europe, and could be linked to the Swedish coastal area of Roslagen (''Rus-law'') or ''Roden'', as it was known in earlier times.<ref name="Blöndal2007">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vFRug14ui7gC&pg=PA1 |title=The Varangians of Byzantium |last=Blöndal |first=Sigfús |date=1978 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-03552-1 |page=1 |access-date=2 February 2014 |archive-date=14 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414031004/https://books.google.com/books?id=vFRug14ui7gC&pg=PA1 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="auto">Stefan Brink, 'Who were the Vikings?', in ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=wuN-AgAAQBAJ The Viking World] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414030955/https://books.google.com/books?id=wuN-AgAAQBAJ |date=14 April 2023 }}'', ed. by Stefan Brink and Neil Price (Abingdon: Routledge, 2008), pp. 4–10 (pp. 6–7).</ref> The name ''Rus&apos;'' would then have the same origin as the Finnish and [[Social:Estonian language|Estonian]] names for Sweden: ''Ruotsi'' and ''Rootsi''.<ref name="auto"/><ref name="etymonline.com">"Russ, adj. and n." OED Online, Oxford University Press, June 2018, www.oed.com/view/Entry/169069. Accessed 12 January 2021.</ref>
[[File:Historic core of Rus'.png|thumb|''Rus' land'' in the narrow sense.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Motsia |first=Oleksandr |date=2009 |title=|script-title=uk:«Руська» термінологія в Київському та Галицько-Волинському літописних зводах |trans-title="Ruthenian" question in Kyiv and Halych-Volyn annalistic codes |url=http://dspace.nbuv.gov.ua/bitstream/handle/123456789/5284/02-Motsya.pdf |journal=Arkheolohiia |issue=1 |pages= |doi=10.6084/M9.FIGSHARE.1492467.V1 |issn=0235-3490 |access-date=25 January 2023 |archive-date=2 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202101523/http://dspace.nbuv.gov.ua/bitstream/handle/123456789/5284/02-Motsya.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref>
{{legend|LightSalmon|1. After Petro Tolochko}}
{{legend|Yellow|2. After A.&nbsp;M. Nasonov}}
{{legend|LimeGreen|3. After Boris Rybakov}}]]
When the Varangian princes arrived, the name Rus' was associated with them, and the territories they controlled were called Rus' land ({{Transliteration|orv|rusĭskaę zemlę}}): initially the cities of [[Place:Kyiv|Kyiv]], Chernihiv, and Pereiaslav and their surroundings.{{sfn|Magocsi|2010|p=72}}<ref>{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1077080265 |title= |publisher=Ladomir |year=2014 |editor-last=Melnikova |editor-first=E. A. |location=Moscow |script-title=ru:Древняя Русь в средневековом мире: энциклопедия |trans-title=Early Rus in the medieval world: encyclopedia |oclc=1077080265 |editor-last2=Petrukhin |editor-first2=V. Ya. |editor-last3=Institute of World History of the Russian Academy of Sciences}}</ref>{{Rp|page=697}} From the late tenth century, Vladimir the Great and Yaroslav the Wise tried to associate the name with all of the extended princely domains. Both meanings persisted in sources until the Mongol conquest: the narrower one, referring to the triangular territory east of the middle Dnieper, and the broader one, encompassing all the lands under the hegemony of Kiev’s grand princes.{{sfn|Magocsi|2010|p=72}}<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Флоря |first1=Борис Николаевич |title=Исторические судьбы Руси и этническое самосознание восточных славян в XII—XV веках |journal=Славяноведение |date=1993 |volume=2 |page=12-15 |url=https://shron1.chtyvo.org.ua/Floria_Borys/Ystorycheskye_sudb_Rusy_y_tnycheskoe_samosoznanye_vostochnkh_slavian_v_XII-XV_vekakh_k_voprosu_o_zar.pdf |access-date=21 December 2023 |language=ru}}</ref>


In English, the term was introduced in the early 20th century, when it was found in the 1913 English translation of Vasily Klyuchevsky's ''A History of Russia'',<ref>Vasily Klyuchevsky, ''[https://archive.org/stream/historyofrussia03kliu#page/n5/mode/2up A History of Russia]'', vol. 3, pp. 98, 104</ref> to distinguish the early polity from successor states, which were also named ''Rus&apos;''. The variant ''Kyivan Rus&apos;'' appeared in English-language scholarship by the 1950s.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Oreletsky |first1=Vasyl |title=The Leading Feature of Ukrainian Law |journal=The Ukrainian Review |date=1957 |volume=4 |issue=3 |page=49 |url=http://diasporiana.org.ua/wp-content/uploads/books/13984/file.pdf |access-date=5 April 2022 |archive-date=10 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220310134336/https://diasporiana.org.ua/wp-content/uploads/books/13984/file.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref>

A rare spelling ''Kyevan Rus&apos;'', based on Old East Slavic {{Transliteration|orv|Kyjevŭ}} ({{Lang-orv|Kыѥвъ|label=none}}){{dubious|date=November 2023}} 'Kyiv', is also occasionally seen.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sempruch |first1=Justyna |last2=Willems |first2=Katharina |last3=Shook |first3=Laura |title=Multiple Marginalities: An Intercultural Dialogue on Gender in Education Across Europe and Africa |date=2006 |publisher=Helmer |location=Königstein |quote=the territory of Kyevan Rus}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Crawford |first1=Ross |title=Joy as Coventry's Ukrainian Community Marks the Founding of the Church of St Volodymyr |url=https://coventryobserver.co.uk/news/joy-as-coventrys-ukrainian-community-marks-the-founding-of-the-church-of-st-volodymyr/ |access-date=28 October 2022 |work=Coventry Observer |date=30 July 2021 |quote=the Christianisation of 'Kyevan Rus' |archive-date=28 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221028064255/https://coventryobserver.co.uk/news/joy-as-coventrys-ukrainian-community-marks-the-founding-of-the-church-of-st-volodymyr/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

The Varangian Rus' from Scandinavia used the [[Social:Old Norse|Old Norse]] name {{Lang-non|Garðaríki|label=none}}, which, according to a common interpretation, means "land of towns".

==History==
===Origin===
Prior to the emergence of Kievan Rus' in the 9th century, most of the area north of the Black Sea was primarily populated by eastern Slavic tribes.{{sfn|Martin|2004|p=2–4}} In the northern region around Novgorod were the Ilmen Slavs<ref>Carl Waldman & Catherine Mason, [https://books.google.com/books?id=kfv6HKXErqAC&pg=PA415 Encyclopedia of European Peoples (2006)] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230322092832/https://books.google.com/books?id=kfv6HKXErqAC&pg=PA415 |date=22 March 2023 }}, p.415.</ref> and neighboring Krivichi, who occupied territories surrounding the headwaters of the West Dvina, Dnieper and Volga rivers. To their north, in the Ladoga and [[Place:Karelia|Karelia]] regions, were the Finnic Chud tribe. In the south, in the area around Kiev, were the Poliane,<ref>{{cite book |last= Freeze |first= Gregory L. |date= 2009 |title= Russia: A History |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=_xBkabfpfXwC |location= New York |publisher= Oxford University Press |page= 3|isbn= 978-0-19-956041-7}}
*{{cite book |last= Chadwick |first= Nora K. |date= 2013 |title= The Beginnings of Russian History: An Enquiry Into Sources |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=RyrFvw39YrgC |location= New York |publisher= Cambridge University Press |page= 17|isbn= 978-1-107-65256-9}}</ref> the Drevliane to the west of the Dnieper, and the Severiane to the east. To their north and east were the Vyatichi, and to their south was forested land settled by Slav farmers, giving way to [[Earth:Steppe|steppelands]] populated by nomadic herdsmen.{{sfn|Martin|2004|p=4}}

There was once controversy over whether the Rus' were Varangians or Slavs, however, more recently scholarly attention has focused more on debating how quickly an ancestrally Norse people assimilated into Slavic culture.{{efn|"The controversies over the nature of the Rus and the origins of the Russian state have bedevilled Viking studies, and indeed Russian history, for well over a century. It is historically certain that the Rus were Swedes. The evidence is incontrovertible, and that a debate still lingers at some levels of historical writing is clear evidence of the holding power of received notions. The debate over this issue – futile, embittered, tendentious, doctrinaire – served to obscure the most serious and genuine historical problem which remains: the assimilation of these Viking Rus into the Slavic people among whom they lived. The principal historical question is not whether the Rus were Scandinavians or Slavs, but, rather, how quickly these Scandinavian Rus became absorbed into Slavic life and culture."{{sfn|Logan|2005|p=184}}}} This uncertainty is due largely to a paucity of contemporary sources. Attempts to address this question instead rely on archaeological evidence, the accounts of foreign observers, and legends and literature from centuries later.{{sfn|Martin|2009b|p=2}} To some extent the controversy is related to the [[Astronomy:Origin myth|foundation myths]] of modern states in the region.{{sfn|Magocsi|2010|p=55}} This often unfruitful debate over origins has periodically devolved into competing nationalist narratives of dubious scholarly value being promoted directly by various government bodies in a number of states. This was seen in the [[Social:Stalinism|Stalinist]] period, when Soviet historiography sought to distance the Rus' from any connection to Germanic tribes, in an effort to dispel Nazi propaganda claiming the Russian state owed its existence and origins to the supposedly racially superior Norse tribes.<ref>Elena Melnikova, 'The "Varangian Problem": Science in the Grip of Ideology and Politics', in ''Russia's Identity in International Relations: Images, Perceptions, Misperceptions'', ed. by Ray Taras (Abingdon: Routledge, 2013), pp. 42–52.</ref> More recently, in the context of resurgent nationalism in post-Soviet states, Anglophone scholarship has analyzed renewed efforts to use this debate to create ethno-nationalist foundation stories, with governments sometimes directly involved in the project.<ref>Jonathan Shepard, "Review Article: Back in Old Rus and the USSR: Archaeology, History and Politics", ''English Historical Review'', vol. 131 (no. 549) (2016), 384–405 {{doi|10.1093/ehr/cew104}} (p. 387), citing Leo S. Klejn, ''Soviet Archaeology: Trends, Schools, and History'', trans. by Rosh Ireland and Kevin Windle (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012), p. 119.</ref> Conferences and publications questioning the Norse origins of the Rus' have been supported directly by state policy in some cases, and the resultant foundation myths have been included in some school textbooks in Russia.<ref>Artem Istranin and Alexander Drono, "Competing historical Narratives in Russian Textbooks", in ''Mutual Images: Textbook Representations of Historical Neighbours in the East of Europe'', ed. by János M. Bak and Robert Maier, Eckert. Dossiers, 10 ([Braunschweig]: Georg Eckert Institute for International Textbook Research, 2017), 31–43 (pp. 35–36).</ref>

While Varangians were Norse traders and [[History:Vikings|Vikings]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Kievan_Rus/ |title=Kievan Rus |website=[[Organization:World History Encyclopedia|World History Encyclopedia]] |access-date=24 May 2020 |archive-date=14 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414072503/https://www.worldhistory.org/Kievan_Rus/ |url-status=live}}
*{{Cite book |author=Nikolay Karamzin |title=History of the Russian State |publisher=Steiner |location=Stuttgart |date=1818 |url=http://www.zdravrussia.ru/monarchs/ixxivek/?pag=1 |access-date=2 August 2020 |archive-date=27 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027215233/http://www.zdravrussia.ru/monarchs/ixxivek/?pag=1 |url-status=live}}
*{{Cite book |author=Sergey Solovyov |title=History of Russia from the Earliest Times |publisher=Steiner |location=Stuttgart |date=1851 |url=https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Sergej_Solovev/istorija-rossii-s-drevnejshih-vremen/ |access-date=2 August 2020 |archive-date=11 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511093545/https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Sergej_Solovev/istorija-rossii-s-drevnejshih-vremen/ |url-status=live}}</ref> some Russian and Ukrainian nationalist historians argue that the Rus' were themselves Slavs (see [[Unsolved:Anti-Normanism|Anti-Normanism]]).{{sfn|Magocsi|2010|p=56}}<ref>Nicholas V. Riasanovsky, A History of Russia, pp. 23–28 (Oxford Press, 1984).</ref><ref>[http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages\N\O\Normanisttheory.htm Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180907221348/http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CN%5CO%5CNormanisttheory.htm |date=7 September 2018 }} Normanist theory</ref> Normanist theories focus on the earliest written source for the East Slavs, the ''Primary Chronicle'',<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/513866/The-Russian-Primary-Chronicle The Russian Primary Chronicle] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150430144219/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/513866/The-Russian-Primary-Chronicle |date=30 April 2015 }}, Encyclopædia Britannica Online.</ref>{{fv|date=January 2023|reason=Says nothing about Normanist theories.}} which was produced in the 12th century.<ref>Riasanovsky, p. 25.</ref> Nationalist accounts on the other hand have suggested that the Rus' were present before the arrival of the Varangians,<ref>Riasanovsky, pp. 25–27.</ref> noting that only a handful of Scandinavian words can be found in Russian and that Scandinavian names in the early chronicles were soon replaced by Slavic names.<ref name=stone>David R. Stone, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=ok7iVsgiNmAC&pg=PA2 A Military History of Russia: From Ivan the Terrible to the war in Chechnya]'' (2006), pp. 2–3.</ref>

Nevertheless, the close connection between the Rus' and the Norse is confirmed both by extensive Scandinavian settlement in Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine and by Slavic influences in the Swedish language.<ref>{{cite web |last=Williams |first=Tom |date=28 February 2014 |title=Vikings in Russia |url=https://blog.britishmuseum.org/vikings-in-russia/ |access-date=15 January 2021 |website=blog.britishmuseum.org |publisher=The British Museum |quote=Objects now on loan to the British Museum for the BP exhibition Vikings: life and legend indicate the extent of Scandinavian settlement from the Baltic to the Black Sea .&nbsp;.&nbsp;. |archive-date=21 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210121221006/https://blog.britishmuseum.org/vikings-in-russia/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Franklin |first1=Simon |title=The Emergence of Rus: 750–1200 |last2=Shepard |first2=Jonathan |publisher=Harlow |year=1996 |isbn=0-582-49090-1 |series=Longman History of Russia |location=Essex}}</ref> Though the debate over the origin of the Rus' remains politically charged, there is broad agreement that if the proto-Rus' were indeed originally Norse, they were quickly nativized, adopting Slavic languages and other cultural practices. This position, roughly representing a scholarly consensus (at least outside of nationalist historiography), was summarized by the historian, F. Donald Logan, "in 839, the Rus were Swedes; in 1043 the Rus were Slavs".{{sfn|Logan|2005|p=184}}

Ahmad ibn Fadlan, an Arab traveler during the 10th century, provided one of the earliest written descriptions of the Rus': "They are as tall as a [[Biology:Date palm|date palm]], blond and ruddy, so that they do not need to wear a tunic nor a cloak; rather the men among them wear garments that only cover half of his body and leaves one of his hands free."<ref>{{cite book |last=Fadlan |first=Ibn |title=(Richard Frey) Ibn Fadlan's Journey to Russia |year=2005 |publisher=Markus Wiener Publishers |location=Princeton, NJ}}</ref> Liutprand of Cremona, who was twice an envoy to the Byzantine court (949 and 968), identifies the "Russi" with the Norse ("the Russi, whom we call Norsemen by another name")<ref>''Rusios, quos alio nos nomine Nordmannos apellamus''. {{in lang|pl}} Henryk Paszkiewicz (2000). ''Wzrost potęgi Moskwy'', s.13, Kraków. {{ISBN|83-86956-93-3}}</ref> but explains the name as a Greek term referring to their physical traits ("A certain people made up of a part of the Norse, whom the Greeks call [...] the Russi on account of their physical features, we designate as Norsemen because of the location of their origin.").<ref>''Gens quaedam est sub aquilonis parte constituta, quam a qualitate corporis Graeci vocant [...] Rusios, nos vero a positione loci nominamus Nordmannos''. James Lea Cate. [https://books.google.com/books?id=ya9g9pmju8gC&pg=RA1-PA482 ''Medieval and Historiographical Essays in Honor of James Westfall Thompson''. p.482.] The University of Chicago Press, 1938</ref> Leo the Deacon, a 10th-century Byzantine historian and chronicler, refers to the Rus' as "[[History:Scythians|Scythians]]" and notes that they tended to adopt Greek rituals and customs.<ref>Leo the Deacon, The History of Leo the Deacon: Byzantine Military Expansion in the Tenth Century (Alice-Mary Talbot & Denis Sullivan, eds., 2005), [https://books.google.com/books?id=RCDsV41k8A0C&pg=PA193 pp. 193–94] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230322092823/https://books.google.com/books?id=RCDsV41k8A0C&pg=PA193 |date=22 March 2023 }}.</ref>

=== Calling of the Varangians===
[[File:Варяги.jpg|thumb|''The Invitation of the Varangians'' by Viktor Vasnetsov: Rurik and his brothers Sineus and Truvor arrive at the lands of the Ilmen Slavs.]]

According to the ''Primary Chronicle'', the territories of the East Slavs in the 9th century were divided between the Varangians and the Khazars.{{sfn|Magocsi|2010|p=59}} The Varangians are first mentioned imposing tribute from Slavic and Finnic tribes in 859.{{sfn|Cross|Sherbowitz-Wetzor|1930|p=6}}{{npsn|date=January 2023}} In 862, various tribes rebelled against the Varangians, driving them "back beyond the sea and, refusing them further tribute, set out to govern themselves."{{sfn|Cross|Sherbowitz-Wetzor|1930|p=6}}

{{bquote|They said to themselves, "Let us seek a prince who may rule over us, and judge us according to the Law." They accordingly went overseas to the Varangian Rus'. … The Chuds, the Slavs, the Krivichs and the Ves then said to the Rus', "Our land is great and rich, but there is no order in it. Come to rule and reign over us". They thus selected three brothers with their kinfolk, who took with them all the Rus' and migrated.{{sfn|Cross|Sherbowitz-Wetzor|1953|p=7}}}}

Modern scholars find this an unlikely series of events, probably made up by the 12th-century Orthodox priests who authored the ''Chronicle'' as an explanation how the Vikings managed to conquer the lands along the Varangian route so easily, as well as to support the legitimacy of the Rurikid dynasty.<ref name="Konstam">{{Cite book |last=Konstam |first=Angus |date=2005 |title=Historical Atlas of the Viking World |location=London |publisher=Mercury Books London |pages=165 |isbn=1904668127 |quote=This unlikely invitation was clearly a vehicle to explain the annexation of these territories by the Vikings, and to lend authority to a later generation of Rus rulers.}}</ref> The three brothers—Rurik, Sineus and Truvor—supposedly established themselves in Novgorod, Beloozero and Izborsk, respectively.{{sfn|Magocsi|2010|p=55, 59–60}} Two of the brothers died, and Rurik became the sole ruler of the territory and progenitor of the Rurik dynasty.<ref>Thomas McCray, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=edfEV-KIt18C&pg=PA26 Russia and the Former Soviet Republics]'' (2006), p. 26</ref> A short time later, two of Rurik's men, Askold and Dir, asked him for permission to go to Tsargrad (Constantinople). On their way south, they came upon "a small city on a hill," Kiev, which was a tributary of the Khazars at the time, stayed there and "established their dominion over the country of the Polyanians."{{sfn|Martin|2009a|p=37}}{{sfn|Cross|Sherbowitz-Wetzor|1953|p=7}}<ref name="Konstam"/>

The ''Primary Chronicle'' reports that Askold and Dir continued to Constantinople with a navy to attack the city in 863–66, catching the Byzantines by surprise and ravaging the surrounding area,{{sfn|Cross|Sherbowitz-Wetzor|1953|p=8}}{{npsn|date=January 2023}} though other accounts date the attack in 860.{{sfn|Ostrogorsky|1969|p=228}}{{sfn|Majeska|2009|p=51}} [[Biography:Photios I of Constantinople|Patriarch Photius]] vividly describes the "universal" devastation of the suburbs and nearby islands,{{sfn|Logan|2005|p=172–73}} and another account further details the destruction and slaughter of the invasion.<ref>''The Life of St. George of Amastris'' describes the Rus' as a barbaric people "who are brutal and crude and bear no remnant of love for humankind." David Jenkins, [http://www.library.nd.edu/byzantine_studies/documents/Amastris.pdf ''The Life of St. George of Amastris''] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190805182832/https://library.nd.edu/byzantine_studies/documents/Amastris.pdf |date=5 August 2019 }} (University of Notre Dame Press, 2001), p.18.</ref> The Rus' turned back before attacking the city itself, due either to a storm dispersing their boats, the return of the Emperor, or in a later account, due to a miracle after a ceremonial appeal by the Patriarch and the Emperor to the Virgin.{{sfn|Ostrogorsky|1969|p=228}}{{sfn|Majeska|2009|p=51}} The attack was the first encounter between the Rus' and Byzantines and led the Patriarch to send missionaries north to engage and attempt to convert the Rus' and the Slavs.{{sfn|Majeska|2009|p=52}}<ref name=Obolensky245>Dimitri Obolensky, ''Byzantium and the Slavs'' (1994), [https://books.google.com/books?id=jv6jcwjW9WUC&dq=saints+cyril+and+methodius&pg=PA245 p.245] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230322092835/https://books.google.com/books?id=jv6jcwjW9WUC&dq=saints+cyril+and+methodius&pg=PA245 |date=22 March 2023 }}.</ref>

===Foundation of the Kievan state===
[[File:East Slavic tribes peoples 8th 9th century.jpg|thumb|East-Slavic tribes and peoples, 8th–9th centuries]]

Rurik led the Rus' until his death in about 879 or 882, bequeathing his kingdom to his kinsman, Prince Oleg, as regent for his young son, Igor.{{sfn|Martin|2009b|p=3}} According to the ''Primary Chronicle'', in 880–82, Oleg led a military force south along the Dnieper river, capturing Smolensk and Lyubech before reaching Kiev, where he deposed and killed Askold and Dir: "Oleg set himself up as prince in Kyiv, and declared that it should be the "mother of Rus' cities."{{sfn|Cross|Sherbowitz-Wetzor|1953|p=7–8}}{{efn|Normanist scholars accept this moment as the foundation of the Kievan Rus' state, while anti-Normanists point to other ''Chronicle'' entries to argue that the East Slav Polianes were already in the process of forming a state independently.{{sfn|Martin|2009a|p=37–40}}}} Oleg set about consolidating his power over the surrounding region and the riverways north to Novgorod, imposing tribute on the East Slav tribes.{{sfn|Martin|2009a|p=37}}

In 883, he conquered the Drevlians, imposing a fur tribute on them. By 885 he had subjugated the Poliane, Severiane, Vyatichi, and Radimichs, forbidding them to pay further tribute to the Khazars. Oleg continued to develop and expand a network of Rus' forts in Slav lands, begun by Rurik in the north.{{sfn|Vernadsky|1973|p=23}}

The new Kievan state prospered due to its abundant supply of furs, beeswax, honey and slaves for export,<ref name=Moss37>Walter Moss, A History of Russia: To 1917 (2005), [https://books.google.com/books?id=BXgNSFIEJ2QC&dq=russian+history&pg=PA37 p.&nbsp;37] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230322092830/https://books.google.com/books?id=BXgNSFIEJ2QC&dq=russian+history&pg=PA37 |date=22 March 2023 }}.</ref> and because it controlled three main trade routes of [[Place:Eastern Europe|Eastern Europe]]. In the north, Novgorod served as a commercial link between the Baltic Sea and the Volga trade route to the lands of the Volga Bulgars, the Khazars, and across the Caspian Sea as far as [[Place:Baghdad|Baghdad]], providing access to markets and products from Central Asia and the Middle East.{{sfn|Magocsi|2010|p=96}}{{sfn|Martin|2009a|p=47}} Trade from the Baltic also moved south on a network of rivers and short portages along the Dnieper known as the "route from the Varangians to the Greeks," continuing to the Black Sea and on to Constantinople.{{sfn|Martin|2009a|p=40, 47}}

Kiev was a central outpost along the Dnieper route and a hub with the east–west overland trade route between the Khazars and the Germanic lands of Central Europe.{{sfn|Martin|2009a|p=40, 47}} and may have been a staging post for Radhanite Jewish traders between Western Europe, Itil and China.<ref name=Perrie06>{{Cite book |last1=Perrie |first1=Maureen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GQcviLmjNm0C&q=13+978-0-521-81227-6 |title=The Cambridge History of Russia: Volume 1, From Early Rus' to 1689 |last2=Lieven |first2=D. C. B. |last3=Suny |first3=Ronald Grigor |date=2006 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-81227-6 |language=en |access-date=28 July 2022 |archive-date=22 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230322092821/https://books.google.com/books?id=GQcviLmjNm0C&q=13+978-0-521-81227-6 |url-status=live}}</ref> These commercial connections enriched Rus' merchants and princes, funding military forces and the construction of churches, palaces, fortifications, and further towns.{{sfn|Martin|2009a|p=47}} Demand for luxury goods fostered production of expensive jewelry and religious wares, allowing their export, and an advanced credit and money-lending system may have also been in place.<ref name=Moss37/>

=== Early foreign relations ===
==== Volatile steppe politics ====
The rapid expansion of the Rus' to the south led to conflict and volatile relationships with the Khazars and other neighbors on the Pontic steppe.{{sfn|Magocsi|2010|p=62, 66}}{{sfn|Martin|2004|p=16–19}} The Khazars dominated trade from the Volga-Don steppes to eastern Crimea and the northern [[Earth:Caucasus|Caucasus]] during the 8th century, an era historians call the '[[Biology:Pax Khazarica|Pax Khazarica]]',<ref>Victor Spinei, ''The Romanians and the Turkic Nomads North of the Danube Delta from the Tenth to the Mid-Thirteenth Century'' (2009), [https://books.google.com/books?id=2vl538CMBsAC&pg=PA47 pp.&nbsp;47–49] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230322092829/https://books.google.com/books?id=2vl538CMBsAC&pg=PA47 |date=22 March 2023 }}</ref> trading and frequently allying with the [[Place:Byzantine Empire|Byzantine Empire]] against Persians and Arabs. In the late 8th century, the collapse of the [[Place:Göktürks|Göktürk Khaganate]] led the Magyars and the Pechenegs, Ugrians and Turkic peoples from Central Asia, to migrate west into the [[Earth:Steppe|steppe]] region,<ref>Peter B. Golden, ''Central Asia in World History'' (2011), [https://books.google.com/books?id=PtT5p-6V5FcC&pg=PA63 p.&nbsp;63] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230322092827/https://books.google.com/books?id=PtT5p-6V5FcC&pg=PA63 |date=22 March 2023 }}.</ref> leading to military conflict, disruption of trade, and instability within the Khazar Khaganate.{{sfn|Magocsi|2010|p=62–63}} The Rus' and Slavs had earlier allied with the Khazars against Arab raids on the Caucasus, but they increasingly worked against them to secure control of the trade routes.{{sfn|Vernadsky|1973|p=20}}

[[File:Varangian routes.png|thumb|upright=1.6|The Volga trade route (red), the "route from the Varangians to the Greeks" (purple) and other trade routes of the 8th–11th centuries (orange)]]

The Byzantine Empire was able to take advantage of the turmoil to expand its political influence and commercial relationships, first with the Khazars and later with the Rus' and other steppe groups.{{sfn|Magocsi|2010|p=62}} The Byzantines established the Theme of Cherson, formally known as Klimata, in the Crimea in the 830s to defend against raids by the Rus' and to protect vital grain shipments supplying Constantinople.{{sfn|Majeska|2009|p=51}} Cherson also served as a key diplomatic link with the Khazars and others on the steppe, and it became the centre of Black Sea commerce.<ref>Angeliki Papageorgiou, [http://blacksea.ehw.gr/forms/fLemmaBodyExtended.aspx?lemmaID=11973 "Theme of Cherson (Klimata)"] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129050835/http://blacksea.ehw.gr/forms/fLemmaBodyExtended.aspx?lemmaID=11973 |date=29 November 2014 }}, ''Encyclopaedia of the Hellenic World'' (Foundation of the Hellenic World, 2008).</ref> The Byzantines also helped the Khazars build a fortress at Sarkel on the Don river to protect their northwest frontier against incursions by the Turkic migrants and the Rus', and to control caravan trade routes and the portage between the Don and Volga rivers.<ref>Kevin Alan Brook, The Jews of Khazaria (2006), [https://books.google.com/books?id=hEuIveNl9kcC&pg=PA31 pp.&nbsp;31–32] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230322092826/https://books.google.com/books?id=hEuIveNl9kcC&pg=PA31 |date=22 March 2023 }}.</ref>

The expansion of the Rus' put further military and economic pressure on the Khazars, depriving them of territory, tributaries and trade.{{sfn|Martin|2004|p=15–16}} In around 890, Oleg waged an indecisive war in the lands of the lower Dniester and Dnieper rivers with the Tivertsi and the Ulichs, who were likely acting as vassals of the Magyars, blocking Rus' access to the Black Sea.{{sfn|Vernadsky|1973|p=62}} In 894, the Magyars and Pechenegs were drawn into the wars between the Byzantines and the [[Place:First Bulgarian Empire|Bulgarian Empire]]. The Byzantines arranged for the Magyars to attack Bulgarian territory from the north, and Bulgaria in turn persuaded the Pechenegs to attack the Magyars from their rear.<ref name=":1">John V. A. Fine, ''The Early Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Sixth to the Late Twelfth Century'' (1991), [https://books.google.com/books?id=Y0NBxG9Id58C&pg=PA137 pp.&nbsp;138–139] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230322092840/https://books.google.com/books?id=Y0NBxG9Id58C&pg=PA137 |date=22 March 2023 }}.</ref><ref name=":2">Spanei (2009), [https://books.google.com/books?id=2vl538CMBsAC&pg=PA66 pp.&nbsp;66,&nbsp;70].</ref>

Boxed in, the Magyars were forced to migrate further west across the [[Place:Carpathian Mountains|Carpathian Mountains]] into the Hungarian plain, depriving the Khazars of an important ally and a buffer from the Rus'.<ref name=":1"/><ref name=":2"/> The migration of the Magyars allowed Rus' access to the Black Sea,{{sfn|Vernadsky|1973|p=28}} and they soon launched excursions into Khazar territory along the sea coast, up the Don river, and into the lower Volga region. The Rus' were raiding and plundering into the Caspian Sea region from 864,{{efn|Abaskun, first recorded by [[Biography:Ptolemy|Ptolemy]] as ''Socanaa'', was documented in Arab sources as "the most famous port of the Khazarian Sea". It was situated within three days' journey from [[Place:Gorgan|Gorgan]]. The southern part of the Caspian Sea was known as the "Sea of Abaskun".<ref>B. N. Zakhoder (1898–1960). ''The Caspian Compilation of Records about Eastern Europe'' ([http://gumilevica.kulichki.net/Rest/index.html online version] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210501171821/http://gumilevica.kulichki.net/Rest/index.html |date=1 May 2021 }}) (in Russian).</ref>}} with the first large-scale expedition in 913, when they extensively raided Baku, Gilan, Mazandaran and penetrated into the Caucasus.{{Explanatory footnote|The Khazar khagan initially granted the Rus' safe passage in exchange for a share of the booty but attacked them on their return voyage, killing most of the raiders and seizing their haul.}}{{sfn|Vernadsky|1973|p=32–33}}<ref>Gunilla Larsson. [https://books.google.com/books?id=fOoiAQAAIAAJ&q=kievan+rus+raid+gilan ''Ship and society: maritime ideology in Late Iron Age Sweden''] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230423152901/https://books.google.com/books?id=fOoiAQAAIAAJ&q=kievan+rus+raid+gilan |date=23 April 2023 }} Uppsala Universitet, Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, 2007. {{ISBN|91-506-1915-2}}. p.&nbsp;208.</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=nnApAQAAIAAJ&q=kievan+rus+raid+gilan+shirvan ''Cahiers du monde russe et soviétique, Volume 35, Number 4''] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230322092842/https://books.google.com/books?id=nnApAQAAIAAJ&q=kievan+rus+raid+gilan+shirvan |date=22 March 2023 }}. Mouton, 1994. (originally from the [[Organization:University of California|University of California]], digitalised on 9 March 2010)</ref>

As the 10th century progressed, the Khazars were no longer able to command tribute from the Volga Bulgars, and their relationship with the Byzantines deteriorated, as Byzantium increasingly allied with the Pechenegs against them.<ref>Moss (2005), [https://books.google.com/books?id=BXgNSFIEJ2QC&q=Pechenegs&pg=PA29 p.&nbsp;29] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230322092824/https://books.google.com/books?id=BXgNSFIEJ2QC&q=Pechenegs&pg=PA29 |date=22 March 2023 }}.</ref> The Pechenegs were thus secure to raid the lands of the Khazars from their base between the Volga and Don rivers, allowing them to expand to the west.{{sfn|Magocsi|2010|p=66}} Rus' relations with the Pechenegs were complex, as the groups alternately formed alliances with and against one another. The Pechenegs were nomads roaming the steppe raising livestock which they traded with the Rus' for agricultural goods and other products.{{sfn|Martin|2004|p=17}}

The lucrative Rus' trade with the Byzantine Empire had to pass through Pecheneg-controlled territory, so the need for generally peaceful relations was essential. Nevertheless, while the ''Primary Chronicle'' reports the Pechenegs entering Rus' territory in 915 and then making peace, they were waging war with one another again in 920.{{sfn|Magocsi|2010|p=67}}{{sfn|Cross|Sherbowitz-Wetzor|1930|p=71}}{{npsn|date=January 2023}} Pechenegs are reported assisting the Rus' in later campaigns against the Byzantines, yet allied with the Byzantines against the Rus' at other times.<ref>Moss (2005), [https://books.google.com/books?id=BXgNSFIEJ2QC&q=Pechenegs&pg=PA29 pp.29–30] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230322092824/https://books.google.com/books?id=BXgNSFIEJ2QC&q=Pechenegs&pg=PA29 |date=22 March 2023 }}.</ref>

====Rus'–Byzantine relations====
[[File:10 1 List of Radzivill Chron.jpg|thumb|{{center|Rus' under the walls of Constantinople (860), the ''Radziwiłł Chronicle''}}]]

After the Rus' attack on Constantinople in 860, the Byzantine [[Biography:Photios I of Constantinople|Patriarch Photius]] sent missionaries north to convert the Rus' and the Slavs to Christianity. Prince Rastislav of Moravia had requested the Emperor to provide teachers to interpret the holy scriptures, so in 863 the brothers Cyril and Methodius were sent as missionaries, due to their knowledge of the Slavonic language.<ref name=Obolensky245/><ref>Saints Cyril and Methodius, [https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1345803/Saints-Cyril-and-Methodius] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150505010631/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1345803/Saints-Cyril-and-Methodius|date=5 May 2015}} ''Encyclopædia Britannica''.</ref>{{fv|date=January 2023|reason=Doesn't mention "Rus'" anywhere. 'They started their work among the Slavs in 863', that's all. WP:SYNTH.}}{{sfn|Cross|Sherbowitz-Wetzor|1930|p=62–63}}{{npsn|date=January 2023}} The Slavs had no written language, so the brothers devised the Glagolitic alphabet, later replaced by Cyrillic (developed in the [[Place:First Bulgarian Empire|First Bulgarian Empire]]) and standardized the language of the Slavs, later known as [[Social:Old Church Slavonic|Old Church Slavonic]]. They translated portions of the Bible and drafted the first Slavic civil code and other documents, and the language and texts spread throughout Slavic territories, including Kievan Rus'.{{cn|date=January 2023}} The mission of Cyril and Methodius served both evangelical and diplomatic purposes, spreading Byzantine cultural influence in support of imperial foreign policy.<ref>Obolensky (1994), [https://books.google.com/books?id=jv6jcwjW9WUC&dq=saints+cyril+and+methodius&pg=PA244 pp..244–246] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230322092837/https://books.google.com/books?id=jv6jcwjW9WUC&dq=saints+cyril+and+methodius&pg=PA244 |date=22 March 2023 }}.</ref>{{deadlink|date=January 2023}} In 867 the Patriarch announced that the Rus' had accepted a bishop, and in 874 he speaks of an "Archbishop of the Rus'."{{sfn|Majeska|2009|p=52}}

Relations between the Rus' and Byzantines became more complex after Oleg took control over Kiev, reflecting commercial, cultural, and military concerns.{{sfn|Magocsi|2010|p=66–67}} The wealth and income of the Rus' depended heavily upon trade with Byzantium. Constantine Porphyrogenitus described the annual course of the princes of Kiev, collecting tribute from client tribes, assembling the product into a flotilla of hundreds of boats, conducting them down the Dnieper to the Black Sea, and sailing to the estuary of the Dniester, the Danube delta, and on to Constantinople.{{sfn|Martin|2004|p=17}}{{sfn|Vernadsky|1973|p=28–31}} On their return trip they would carry silk fabrics, spices, wine, and fruit.{{sfn|Majeska|2009|p=52}}{{sfn|Vernadsky|1973|p=22}}

The importance of this trade relationship led to military action when disputes arose. The ''Primary Chronicle'' reports that the Rus' attacked Constantinople again in 907, probably to secure trade access. The Chronicle glorifies the military prowess and shrewdness of Oleg, an account imbued with legendary detail.{{sfn|Majeska|2009|p=52}}{{sfn|Vernadsky|1973|p=22}} Byzantine sources do not mention the attack, but a pair of treaties in 907 and 911 set forth a trade agreement with the Rus',{{sfn|Magocsi|2010|p=67}}<ref>John Lind, Varangians in Europe's Eastern and Northern Periphery, Ennen & nyt (2004:4).</ref> the terms suggesting pressure on the Byzantines, who granted the Rus' quarters and supplies for their merchants and tax-free trading privileges in Constantinople.{{sfn|Majeska|2009|p=52}}{{sfn|Logan|2005|p=192}}

The ''Chronicle'' provides a mythic tale of Oleg's death. A sorcerer prophesies that the death of the prince would be associated with a certain horse. Oleg has the horse sequestered, and it later dies. Oleg goes to visit the horse and stands over the carcass, gloating that he had outlived the threat, when a snake strikes him from among the bones, and he soon becomes ill and dies.{{sfn|Vernadsky|1973|p=22–23}}{{sfn|Cross|Sherbowitz-Wetzor|1930|p=69}}{{npsn|date=January 2023}} The ''Chronicle'' reports that Prince Igor succeeded Oleg in 913, and after some brief conflicts with the Drevlians and the Pechenegs, a period of peace ensued for over twenty years.{{cn|date=January 2023}}

[[File:Radzivill Olga-Avenge-to-Drevlians.jpg|thumb|Princess Olga's avenge to the Drevlians, ''Radziwiłł Chronicle'']]

In 941, Igor led another major Rus' attack on Constantinople, probably over trading rights again.{{sfn|Majeska|2009|p=52}} A navy of 10,000 vessels, including Pecheneg allies, landed on the [[Earth:Bithynia|Bithynia]]n coast and devastated the Asiatic shore of the Bosphorus.{{sfn|Ostrogorsky|1969|p=277}} The attack was well timed, perhaps due to intelligence, as the Byzantine fleet was occupied with the Arabs in the Mediterranean, and the bulk of its army was stationed in the east. The Rus' burned towns, churches and monasteries, butchering the people and amassing booty. The emperor arranged for a small group of retired ships to be outfitted with [[Engineering:Greek fire|Greek fire]] throwers and sent them out to meet the Rus', luring them into surrounding the contingent before unleashing the Greek fire.{{sfn|Logan|2005|p=193}}

Liutprand of Cremona wrote that "the Rus', seeing the flames, jumped overboard, preferring water to fire. Some sank, weighed down by the weight of their breastplates and helmets; others caught fire." Those captured were beheaded. The ploy dispelled the Rus' fleet, but their attacks continued into the hinterland as far as [[Place:Nicomedia|Nicomedia]], with many atrocities reported as victims were crucified and set up for use as targets. At last a Byzantine army arrived from the Balkans to drive the Rus' back, and a naval contingent reportedly destroyed much of the Rus' fleet on its return voyage (possibly an exaggeration since the Rus' soon mounted another attack). The outcome indicates increased military might by Byzantium since 911, suggesting a shift in the balance of power.{{sfn|Ostrogorsky|1969|p=277}}

Igor returned to Kiev keen for revenge. He assembled a large force of warriors from among neighboring Slavs and Pecheneg allies, and sent for reinforcements of Varangians from "beyond the sea."{{sfn|Logan|2005|p=193}}{{sfn|Cross|Sherbowitz-Wetzor|1930|p=72}} In 944 the Rus' force advanced again on the Greeks, by land and sea, and a Byzantine force from Cherson responded. The Emperor sent gifts and offered tribute in lieu of war, and the Rus' accepted. Envoys were sent between the Rus', the Byzantines, and the Bulgarians in 945, and a peace treaty was completed. The agreement again focused on trade, but this time with terms less favorable to the Rus', including stringent regulations on the conduct of Rus' merchants in Cherson and Constantinople and specific punishments for violations of the law.{{sfn|Cross|Sherbowitz-Wetzor|1930|p=73–78}}{{npsn|date=January 2023}} The Byzantines may have been motivated to enter the treaty out of concern of a prolonged alliance of the Rus', Pechenegs, and Bulgarians against them,<ref>Spinei, p.93.</ref> though the more favorable terms further suggest a shift in power.{{sfn|Ostrogorsky|1969|p=277}}

====Sviatoslav====
[[File:Svyatoslav2.jpg|thumb|''Madrid Skylitzes'', meeting between John Tzimiskes and Sviatoslav]]

Following the death of Igor in 945, his wife Olga ruled as regent in Kiev until their son Sviatoslav reached maturity (c. 963).{{efn|If Olga was indeed born in 879, as the ''Primary Chronicle'' seems to imply, she would have been about 65 at the time of Sviatoslav's birth. There are clearly some problems with chronology.{{sfn|Ostrowski|2018|p=41–42}}}} His decade-long reign over Rus' was marked by rapid expansion through the conquest of the Khazars of the [[Place:Pontic–Caspian steppe|Pontic steppe]] and the invasion of the Balkans. By the end of his short life, Sviatoslav carved out for himself the largest state in Europe, eventually moving his capital from Kiev to Pereyaslavets on the [[Place:Danube|Danube]] in 969.{{citation needed|date=January 2023}}

In contrast with his mother's conversion to Christianity, Sviatoslav, like his druzhina, remained a staunch [[Religion:Paganism|pagan]]. Due to his abrupt death in an ambush in 972, Sviatoslav's conquests, for the most part, were not consolidated into a functioning empire, while his failure to establish a stable succession led to a fratricidal feud among his sons, which resulted in two of his three sons being killed.{{citation needed|date=January 2023}}

===Reign of Vladimir and Christianisation===
[[File:Iziasłaŭ, Rahnieda, Volodymyr. Ізяслаў, Рагнеда, Володимир.jpg|thumb|Rogneda of Polotsk, Vladimir I of Kiev and Izyaslav of Polotsk]]
[[File:Vasnetsov Bapt Vladimir fresco in Kiev.jpg|thumb|''Baptism of Saint Prince Vladimir'', by Viktor Vasnetsov, in St Volodymyr's Cathedral]]

It is not clearly documented when the title of the Grand Duke was first introduced, but the importance of the Kiev principality was recognized after the death of Sviatoslav I in 972 and the ensuing struggle between Vladimir/Volodymyr the Great and Yaropolk I. The region of Kiev dominated the state of Kievan Rus' for the next two centuries. The grand prince or grand duke ({{lang-be|вялікі князь |translit=vyaliki knyaz’ |translit-std=bgn/pcgn}} or {{transliteration|be|vialiki kniaź |translit-std=ungegn}}, {{lang-ru|великий князь |translit=velikiy kniaz}}, {{lang-rue|великый князь |translit=velykŷĭ kni͡az′ |translit-std=ala-lc}}, {{lang-uk|великий князь |translit=velykyi kniaz |translit-std=ungegn}}) of Kiev controlled the lands around the city, and his formally subordinate relatives ruled the other cities and paid him tribute. The zenith of the state's power came during the reigns of Vladimir the Great ({{Reign|980|1015}}) and Prince Yaroslav I the Wise ({{Reign|1019|1054}}). Both rulers continued the steady expansion of Kievan Rus' that had begun under Oleg.{{citation needed|date=January 2023}}

Vladimir had been prince of Novgorod when his father Sviatoslav I died in 972. He was forced to flee to [[Place:Scandinavia|Scandinavia]] in shortly after. In Scandinavia, with the help of his uncle Earl Håkon Sigurdsson, ruler of Norway,{{fact|date=June 2023}}{{fv|date=January 2023|reason=Britannica doesn't say a lot of these things. 'He was made prince of Novgorod in 970. On the death of his father in 972, he was forced to flee to Scandinavia, where he enlisted help from an uncle and overcame Yaropolk, another son of Svyatoslav, who attempted to seize the duchy of Novgorod as well as Kyiv. By 980 Vladimir had consolidated the Kievan realm from Ukraine to the Baltic Sea (...)' That's it. No 'fleeing in 976', no half-brother', no 'murdered his other brother Oleg', no 'Earl Håkon Sigurdsson, ruler of Norway', etc. Britannica even claims Yaropolk didn't succeed in seizing Novgorod and Kyiv ''yet'', so 'taken control of Rus' and 'reconquered Novgorod and Kiev from Yaropolk' cannot be based on Britannica. Either the contents of Britannica are constantly changing, or whoever keeps quoting Britannica keeps getting it wrong!}} Vladimir assembled a Viking army and reconquered Novgorod and Kiev from Yaropolk, his half-brother who had attempted to seize Novgorod and Kyiv.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/631547/Vladimir-I |title=Vladimir I (grand prince of Kiev) – Encyclopædia Britannica |publisher=Britannica.com |date=28 March 2014 |access-date=7 August 2014 |archive-date=17 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141017153756/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/631547/Vladimir-I |url-status=live}}</ref>

Although sometimes solely attributed to Vladimir/Volodymyr, the Christianization of Kievan Rus' was a long and complicated process that began before the state's formation.{{sfn|Katchanovski|Kohut|Nesebio|Yurkevich|2013|p=74}} As early as the 1st century AD, Greeks in the Black Sea Colonies converted to Christianity, and the ''Primary Chronicle'' even records the legend of Andrew the Apostle's mission to these coastal settlements, as well as blessing the site of present-day Kyiv.{{sfn|Katchanovski|Kohut|Nesebio|Yurkevich|2013|p=74}} The Goths migrated to through the region in the 3rd century, adopting Arian Christianity in the 4th century, leaving behind 4th- and 5th-century churches excavated in Crimea, although the [[Social:Huns|Hunnic]] invasion of the 370s halted Christianisation for several centuries.{{sfn|Katchanovski|Kohut|Nesebio|Yurkevich|2013|p=74}} Some of the earliest Kyivan princes and princesses such as Askold and Dir and Olha of Kyiv reportedly converted to Christianity, but Oleh the Wise, Ihor of Kyiv and Svyatoslav remained pagans.{{sfn|Katchanovski|Kohut|Nesebio|Yurkevich|2013|p=74–75}}

[[File:Eggink VelKnVladimir.jpg|thumb|Ivan Eggink's painting represents Vladimir listening to the Orthodox priests, while the papal envoy stands aside in discontent.]]
The ''Primary Chronicle'' records the legend that when Vladimir/Volodymyr had decided to accept a new faith instead of traditional Slavic paganism, he sent out some of his most valued advisors and warriors as emissaries to different parts of Europe. They visited the Christians of the Latin Church, the Jews, and the [[Religion:Muslims|Muslims]] before finally arriving in Constantinople. They rejected Islam because, among other things, it prohibited the consumption of alcohol, and Judaism because the god of the Jews had permitted his [[Religion:Chosen people|chosen people]] to be deprived of their country.{{sfn|Martin|2004|p=6–7}} They found the ceremonies in the Roman church to be dull. But at Constantinople, they were so astounded by the beauty of the cathedral of Hagia Sophia and the liturgical service held there that they made up their minds there and then about the faith they would like to follow. Upon their arrival home, they convinced Vladimir that the faith of the [[Religion:Byzantine Rite|Byzantine Rite]] was the best choice of all, upon which Vladimir made a journey to Constantinople and arranged to marry Princess Anna, the sister of Byzantine emperor Basil II.{{sfn|Martin|2004|p=6–7}} Historically, it is more likely that he adopted Byzantine Christianity in order to strengthen his diplomatic relations with Constantinople.{{sfn|Katchanovski|Kohut|Nesebio|Yurkevich|2013|p=75}} Vladimir's choice of Eastern Christianity may have reflected his close personal ties with Constantinople, which dominated the Black Sea and hence trade on Kiev's most vital commercial route, the Dnieper River.<ref name="Franklin"/> According to the ''Primary Chronicle'', Volodymyr was baptised in {{circa}} 987, and ordered the population of Kyiv to be baptised in August 988.{{sfn|Katchanovski|Kohut|Nesebio|Yurkevich|2013|p=75}} The greatest resistance against Christianisation appears to have occurred in northern towns including Novgorod, Suzdal, and Belozersk.{{sfn|Katchanovski|Kohut|Nesebio|Yurkevich|2013|p=75}}

Adherence to the Eastern Church had long-range political, cultural, and religious consequences.<ref name="Franklin"/> The church had a liturgy written in Cyrillic and a corpus of translations from Greek that had been produced for the Slavic peoples. This literature facilitated the conversion to Christianity of the Eastern Slavs and introduced them to rudimentary Greek philosophy, science, and [[History:Historiography|historiography]] without the necessity of learning [[Social:Ancient Greek|Greek]] (there were some merchants who did business with Greeks and likely had an understanding of contemporary business Greek).<ref name="Franklin">{{cite journal |last=Franklin |first=Simon |title=Greek in Kievan Rus' |journal=Dumbarton Oaks Papers |year=1992 |volume=46 |pages=69–81 |doi=10.2307/1291640 |jstor=1291640}}</ref> Following the [[Religion:East–West Schism|Great Schism]] of 1054, the Rus' church maintained communion with both Rome and Constantinople for some time, but along with most of the Eastern churches it eventually split to follow the Eastern Orthodox. That being said, unlike other parts of the Greek world, Kievan Rus' did not have a strong hostility to the Western world.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Colucci |first=Michele |title=The Image of Western Christianity in the Culture of Kievan Rus' |journal=Harvard Ukrainian Studies |year=1989 |volume=12/13 |pages=576–586}}</ref>

=== Reign of Yaroslav ===
[[File:Golden Gate Kiev 2018 G1.jpg|thumb|The Golden Gate, Kyiv]]

Yaroslav, known as "the Wise", struggled for power with his brothers. A son of Vladimir the Great, he was prince of Novgorod at the time of his father's death in 1015. Subsequently, his eldest surviving brother, Svyatopolk the Accursed, according to domestic but not foreign sources,{{fv|date=January 2023|reason=Britannica doesn't say that.}} killed three of his other brothers and seized power in Kiev. Yaroslav, with the active support of the Novgorodians and the help of Viking mercenaries, defeated Svyatopolk and became the grand prince of Kiev in 1019.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/652106/Yaroslav-I |title=Yaroslav I (prince of Kiev) – Encyclopædia Britannica |publisher=Britannica.com |date=22 May 2014 |access-date=7 August 2014 |archive-date=17 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141017153710/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/652106/Yaroslav-I |url-status=live}}</ref>{{Copyright violation|date=January 2023|sure=yes}}

Although he first established his rule over Kiev in 1019, he did not have uncontested rule of all of Kievan Rus' until 1036. Like Vladimir, Yaroslav was eager to improve relations with the rest of Europe, especially the Byzantine Empire. Yaroslav's granddaughter, Eupraxia, the daughter of his son Vsevolod I, Prince of Kiev, was married to Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor. Yaroslav also arranged marriages for his sister and three daughters to the kings of Poland, France, Hungary and Norway.{{citation needed|date=January 2023}}

Yaroslav promulgated the first East Slavic law code, ''Russkaya Pravda''; built Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kiev and Saint Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod; patronized local clergy and [[Philosophy:Monasticism|monasticism]]; and is said to have founded a school system. Yaroslav's sons developed the great Kiev Pechersk Lavra (monastery).{{citation needed|date=January 2023}}

=== Succession issues ===
[[File:Principalities of Kievan Rus' (1054-1132).jpg|thumb|The principalities of later Kievan Rus' ({{circa}}1054–1132)]]
In the centuries that followed the state's foundation, Rurik's descendants shared power over Kievan Rus'. The means by which royal power was transferred from one Rurikid ruler to the next is unclear, however, with Magocsi (2010) saying: 'Scholars have debated what the actual system of succession was or whether there was any system at all.'{{sfn|Magocsi|2010|p=82}} According to Kollmann (1990), the rota system was used with the princely succession moving from elder to younger brother and from uncle to nephew, as well as from father to son. Junior members of the dynasty usually began their official careers as rulers of a minor district, progressed to more lucrative principalities, and then competed for the coveted throne of Kiev.<ref>Nancy Shields Kollmann, “Collateral Succession in Kievan Rus’.” ''Harvard Ukrainian Studies'' 14 (1990): 377–87.</ref> Whatever the case, according to Katchanovski et al. (2013), 'no adequate system of succession to the Kyivan throne was developed' after the death of Yaroslav the Wise ({{Reign|1019|1054}}), commencing a process of gradual disintegration.{{sfn|Katchanovski|Kohut|Nesebio|Yurkevich|2013|p=1}}

The unconventional power succession system fomented constant hatred and rivalry within the royal family.{{Citation needed|date=September 2013}} [[Social:Familicide|Familicide]] was frequently deployed to obtain power and can be traced particularly during the time of the Yaroslavichi (sons of Yaroslav), when the established system was skipped in the establishment of Vladimir II Monomakh as the Grand Prince of Kiev,{{Clarify|date=September 2013}}<!--Why was the established rota system 'skipped'?--> in turn creating major squabbles between Olegovichi from Chernigov, Monomakhs from Pereyaslav, Izyaslavichi from Turov/[[Place:Volhynia|Volhynia]], and Polotsk Princes.{{Citation needed|date=September 2013}}<!--This and following paragraph need to be amalgamated as they're both dealing with same subject matter.--> The position of the Grand Prince of Kiev was weakened by the growing influence of regional clans.{{citation needed|date=January 2023}}

===Fragmentation and decline===
[[File:Kievan Nativity.jpg|thumb|''The Nativity'', a Kievan (possibly Galician) illumination from the Gertrude Psalter]]

The rival Principality of Polotsk was contesting the power of the Grand Prince by occupying Novgorod, while Rostislav Vladimirovich was fighting for the Black Sea port of Tmutarakan belonging to Chernigov.{{Citation needed|date=September 2013}} Three of Yaroslav's sons that first allied together found themselves fighting each other especially after their defeat to the Cuman forces in 1068 at the Battle of the Alta River.{{Citation needed|date=September 2013}}

The ruling Grand Prince Iziaslav fled to Poland asking for support and in a couple of years returned to establish the order.{{Citation needed|date=September 2013}} The affairs became even more complicated by the end of the 11th century driving the state into chaos and constant warfare. On the initiative of Vladimir II Monomakh in 1097 the Council of Liubech of Kievan Rus' took place near Chernigov with the main intention to find an understanding among the fighting sides.{{Citation needed|date=September 2013}}

By 1130, all descendants of Vseslav the Seer had been exiled to the Byzantine Empire by Mstislav the Great. The most fierce resistance to the Monomakhs was posed by the Olegovichi when the izgoi Vsevolod II managed to become the Grand Prince of Kiev. The Rostislavichi who had initially established in Halych lands by 1189 were defeated by the Monomakh-Piast descendant Roman the Great.{{Citation needed|date=September 2013}}

The decline of Constantinople—a main trading partner of Kievan Rus'—played a significant role in the decline of the Kievan Rus'. The trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks, along which the goods were moving from the Black Sea (mainly Byzantine) through [[Place:Eastern Europe|eastern Europe]] to the Baltic, was a cornerstone of Kievan wealth and prosperity. These trading routes became less important as the Byzantine Empire declined in power and Western Europe created new trade routes to Asia and the Near East. As people relied less on passing through Kievan Rus' territories for trade, the Kievan Rus' economy suffered.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Russia : a historical introduction from Kievan Rus' to the present |last=Thompson, John M. (John Means) |others=Ward, Christopher J., 1972– |isbn=978-0-8133-4985-5 |edition=Eighth |location=New York, NY |pages=20 |oclc=987591571 |date=25 July 2017}}</ref>

[[File:Rider armor and horse equipment Iron. 12th-13th centuries S. Lipovets, Kiev province, mound 264, military burial. State Hermitage, inv. No. 904-1, 2, 6-8, 10, 12.jpg|thumb|Rider armor and horse equipment. Iron, 12th–13th centuries, S. Lipovets, Kiev province, mound 264, military burial. State Hermitage Museum.]]
The last ruler to maintain a united state was Mstislav the Great. After his death in 1132, the Kievan Rus' fell into recession and a rapid decline, and Mstislav's successor Yaropolk II of Kiev, instead of focusing on the external threat of the Cumans, was embroiled in conflicts with the growing power of the Novgorod Republic. In March 1169, a coalition of native princes led by Andrei Bogolyubsky of Vladimir sacked Kiev.<ref>{{citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mMoFBAAAQBAJ&q=The+Sack+of+Kiev+of+1169%3A+Its+Significance+for+the+Succession+to+Kievan+Rus%27&pg=PA323 |title=The Emergence of Russia 750–1200 |first1=Simon |last1=Franklin |first2=Jonathan |last2=Shepard |pages=323–4 |publisher=Routledge |date=1996 |isbn=978-1-317-87224-5 |access-date=14 November 2020 |archive-date=23 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230423152840/https://books.google.com/books?id=mMoFBAAAQBAJ&q=The+Sack+of+Kiev+of+1169%3A+Its+Significance+for+the+Succession+to+Kievan+Rus%27&pg=PA323 |url-status=live}}</ref> This changed the perception of Kiev and was evidence of the fragmentation of the Kievan Rus'.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Pelenski |first=Jaroslaw |title=The Sack of Kiev of 1169: Its Significance for the Succession to Kievan Rus' |journal=Harvard Ukrainian Studies |year=1987 |volume=11 |pages=303–316}}</ref> By the end of the 12th century, the Kievan state fragmented even further, into roughly twelve different principalities.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Kollmann |first=Nancy |title=Collateral Succession in Kievan Rus |journal=Harvard Ukrainian Studies |year=1990 |volume=14 |pages=377–387}}</ref>

The [[Religion:Crusades|Crusades]] brought a shift in European trade routes that accelerated the decline of Kievan Rus'. In 1204, the forces of the Fourth Crusade sacked Constantinople, making the Dnieper trade route marginal.<ref name="occawlonline.pearsoned.com"/> At the same time, the Livonian Brothers of the Sword (of the [[Religion:Northern Crusades|Northern Crusades]]) were conquering the [[Place:Baltic region|Baltic]] region and threatening the Lands of Novgorod.{{citation needed|date=January 2023}}

====Novgorod Republic====

In the north, the Novgorod Republic prospered because it controlled trade routes from the River Volga to the Baltic Sea. As Kievan Rus' declined, Novgorod became more independent. A local [[Philosophy:Oligarchy|oligarchy]] ruled Novgorod; major government decisions were made by a town assembly, which also elected a prince as the city's military leader. In 1136, Novgorod revolted against Kiev, and became independent.{{sfn|Magocsi|2010|page=85}}

Now an independent [[Earth:City-state|city republic]], and referred to as "Lord Novgorod the Great" it would spread its "mercantile interest" to the west and the north; to the Baltic Sea and the low-populated forest regions, respectively.{{sfn|Magocsi|2010|page=85}}

[[File:Europe-1139.jpg|thumb|Map of the Grand Duchy of Kiev in 1139, where northeastern territories are identified as the trans-forest colonies (Zalesie) by Joachim Lelewel]]
In 1199, Prince Roman Mstislavych united the two previously separate principalities of Halych and Volhynia.{{sfn|Magocsi|2010|p=124}}

His son Danylo ({{Reign|1238|1264}}) looked for support from the West.{{sfn|Magocsi|2010|p=126}} He accepted a crown from the Roman papacy.{{sfn|Magocsi|2010|p=126}}

===Final disintegration===
[[File:Kingdom of Galicia Volhynia Rus' Ukraine 1245 1349.jpg|thumb|Lilac borders: Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia, one of the successor states of Kievan Rus']]

Following the Mongol invasion of [[Place:Cumania|Cumania]] (or the Kipchaks), in which case many Cuman rulers fled to Rus', such as Köten, the state finally disintegrated under the pressure of the Mongol invasion of Rus', fragmenting it into successor principalities who paid tribute to the [[Place:Golden Horde|Golden Horde]] (the so-called Tatar Yoke). Just prior to the Mongol invasion, Kievan Rus had been a relatively prosperous region. International trade as well as skilled artisans flourished, while its farms produced enough to feed the urban population. After the invasion of the late 1230s, the economy shattered, and its population were either slaughtered or sold into slavery; while skilled laborers and artisans were sent to the Mongol's steppe regions.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Halperin |first=Charles J. |url=http://archive.org/details/russiagoldenhord0000halp |title=Russia and the Golden Horde : the Mongol Impact on Medieval Russian History |publisher=Indiana University Press |year=1985 |isbn=978-0-253-35033-6 |location=Bloomington |pages=75–77 |language=en}}</ref>

On the southwestern periphery, Kievan Rus' was succeeded by the Principality of Galicia-Volhynia. Later, as these territories, now part of modern central {{wipe|Ukraine}} and {{wipe|Belarus}}, fell to the Gediminids, the powerful, largely Ruthenized [[Place:Grand Duchy of Lithuania|Grand Duchy of Lithuania]] drew heavily on Rus' cultural and legal traditions. From 1398 until the Union of Lublin in 1569 its full name was the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Ruthenia and Samogitia.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.history.org.ua/?termin=Velyke_Kniazivstvo_Lytovske |title=Русина О.В. ВЕЛИКЕ КНЯЗІВСТВО ЛИТОВСЬКЕ // Енциклопедія історії України: Т. 1: А-В / Редкол.: В. А. Смолій (голова) та ін. НАН України. Інститут історії України. – К.: В-во "Наукова думка", 2003. – 688 с.: іл. |access-date=21 December 2019 |archive-date=21 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160421035233/http://history.org.ua/?termin=Velyke_Kniazivstvo_Lytovske |url-status=live}}</ref>

On the north-eastern periphery of Kievan Rus', traditions were adapted in the Vladimir-Suzdal Principality that gradually gravitated towards Moscow. To the very north, the Novgorod and Pskov Feudal Republics were less autocratic than Vladimir-Suzdal-Moscow until they were absorbed by the Grand Duchy of Moscow. Modern historians from Belarus, Russia and Ukraine alike consider Kievan Rus' the first period of their modern countries' histories.{{sfn|Katchanovski|Kohut|Nesebio|Yurkevich|2013|p=1}}{{sfn|Plokhy|2006|p=10–15}}

==Economy==
[[Image:Russian prince takes tribute by Roerich.jpg|thumb|300px|''Gathering tribute'', by [[Biography:Nicholas Roerich|Nicholas Roerich]].]]
In the early 10th century, Kievan Rus' mainly traded with other tribes in [[Place:Eastern Europe|Eastern Europe]] and [[Place:Scandinavia|Scandinavia]]. "There was little need for complex social structures to carry out these exchanges in the forests north of the steppes. So long as the entrepreneurs operated in small numbers and kept to the north, they did not catch the attention of observers or writers." The Rus' also had strong trading ties to Byzantium, particularly in the early 900s, as treaties in 911 and 944 indicate. These treaties deal with the treatment of runaway Byzantine slaves and limitations on the amounts of certain commodities such as [[Chemistry:Silk|silk]] that could be bought from Byzantium. The Rus' used log rafts floated down the Dnieper River by Slavic tribes for the transport of goods, particularly slaves to Byzantium.<ref>Franklin, Simon, and Jonathan Shepard (1996). ''The Emergence of Rus 750–1200''. Harlow, Essex: Longman Group, Ltd., pp. 27–28, 127.</ref>

During the Kievan era, trade and transport depended largely on networks of rivers and portages.<ref name="Cuisenier1979">{{cite book |author=William H. McNeill |editor=Jean Cuisenier |title=Europe as a Cultural Area |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xbjbroz9hQQC&pg=PA32 |access-date=8 February 2016 |series=World Anthropology |date=1 January 1979 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-080070-8 |pages=32–33 |quote=For a while, it looked as if the Scandinavian thrust toward monarchy and centralization might succeed in building two impressive and imperial structures: a Danish empire of the northern seas, and a Varangian empire of the Russian rivers, headquartered at Kiev.... In the east, new hordes of steppe nomads, fresh from central Asia, intruded upon the river-based empire of the Varangians by taking over its southern portion.}}</ref> By this period, trade networks had expanded to cater to more than just local demand. This is evidenced by a survey of glassware found in over 30 sites ranging from Suzdal, Drutsk and Belozeroo, which found that a substantial majority was manufactured in Kiev. Kiev was the main depot and transit point for trade between itself, Byzantium and the Black Sea region. Even though this trade network had already been existent, the volume of which had expanded rapidly in the 11th century. Kiev was also dominant in internal trade between the Rus towns; it held a monopoly on glassware products (glass vessels, glazed pottery and window glass) up until the early- to mid-12th century until which it lost its monopoly to the other Rus towns. Inlaid [[Engineering:Enamelled glass|enamel]] production techniques was borrowed from Byzantine. Byzantine amphorae, wine and olive oil have been found along the middle Dnieper, suggesting trade between Kiev, along trade towns to Byzantium.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Simon |first=Frank |url=https://archive.org/details/emergenceofrus750000fran/page/280/mode/2up?q=beloozero |title=The Emergence of Rus, 750–1200 |publisher=Longman |year=1996 |pages=281 |isbn=978-0-582-49091-8}}</ref>

In winter, the ruler of Kiev went out on rounds, visiting Dregovichs, Krivichs, Drevlians, Severians, and other subordinated tribes. Some paid tribute in money, some in furs or other commodities, and some in slaves. This system was called poliudie.{{sfn|Martin|2004|p=12–13}}<ref>История Европы с древнейших времен до наших дней. Т. 2. М.: Наука, 1988. {{ISBN|978-5-02-009036-1}}. С. 201.</ref>

==Society==
[[File:Bilibin justice.jpg|thumb|''Administering justice in Kievan Rus&apos;'', by Ivan Bilibin]]
[[File:Funeral of ruthenian noble by Siemiradzki.jpg|thumb|Ship burial of a Rus' chieftain as described by the Arab traveler Ahmad ibn Fadlan, who visited north-eastern Europe in the 10th century.<br>Henryk Siemiradzki (1883)]]
The lands of Kievan Rus' were mostly made up of forests and steppes (see East European forest steppe and Central European mixed forests), while its main rivers all originated in the [[Earth:Valdai Hills|Valdai Hills]]: the Dnieper ({{lang-be|Дняпро|tr=Dnyapro}}, {{lang-uk|Дніпро|tr=Dnipro}}, {{lang-ru|Днепр|tr=Dnepr}}), and primarily populated by [[Social:Slavic languages|Slavic]] and Finnic tribes.{{sfn|Martin|2009b|p=1–2}} All tribes were [[Biology:Hunter-gatherer|hunter-gatherer]]s to a certain degree, but the Slavs were primarily agriculturalists, growing cereal grains and crops, as well as raising livestock.{{sfn|Martin|2009b|p=2}} Before the emergence of the Kievan state, these tribes had their own leaders and gods, and interaction between tribes was occasionally marked either by trading goods or fighting battles.{{sfn|Martin|2009b|p=2}} The most valuable commodities traded were captive slaves and fur pelts (usually in exchange for silver coins or oriental finery), and common trade partners were Volga Bolghar, Khazar Itil and [[Place:Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] Chersonesus.{{sfn|Martin|2009b|p=2}} By the early 9th century, bands of Scandinavian adventurers known as Varangians and later Rus' started plundering various (Slavic) villages in the region, later extracting tribute in exchange for protection against pillaging by other Varangians.{{sfn|Martin|2009b|p=2}} Over time, these relationships of tribute for protection evolved into more permanent political structures: the Rus' lords became princes and the Slavic populace their subjects.{{sfn|Martin|2009b|p=2, 5}}

== Religion ==
[[File:Maket Sofii.JPG|thumb|upright=0.9|Model of the original Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv; used on modern 2 hryvni of Ukraine]]
{{multiple image
 | width = 120px
 | image1 = St. Sophia Cathedral in Polotsk - Miniature.JPG
 | alt1 = 
 | caption1 = Saint Sophia Cathedral in Polotsk (rebuilt in the mid-18th century after destruction by the Russian army)
 | image2 = DSC00281 2009 Великий Новгород, Кремль, Софийский собор.jpg
 | alt2 = 
 | caption2 = Cathedral of St. Sophia, Novgorod, mid-11th century
 | image3 = Владимир Успенский собор 2008.JPG
 | alt3 = 
 | caption3 = Dormition Cathedral, Vladimir, 1160
}}
According to Martin (2009), 'Christianity, Judaism, and Islam had long been known in these lands, and Olga personally converted to Christianity. When Vladimir assumed the throne, however, he set idols of Norse, Slav, Finn, and Iranian gods, worshipped by the disparate elements of his society, on a hilltop in Kiev in an attempt to create a single pantheon for his people. But for reasons that remain unclear he soon abandoned this attempt in favour of Christianity.'{{sfn|Martin|2009b|p=6}}

==Foreign relations==

===Military history===
{{excerpt|Military of Kievan Rus'}}

===Turkic peoples===
From the 9th century on, the Pecheneg nomads had an uneasy relationship with Kievan Rus'. For over two centuries they launched sporadic raids into Rus', which sometimes escalated into full-scale wars, such as the 920 war on the Pechenegs by Igor of Kiev, reported in the ''Primary Chronicle'', but there were also temporary military alliances e.g., the 943 Byzantine campaign by Igor.{{efn|Ibn Haukal describes the Pechenegs as long-standing allies of the Rus' people, whom they invariably accompanied during the 10th-century Caspian expeditions.{{cn|date=January 2023}}}} In 968, the Pechenegs attacked and besieged the city of Kiev.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Steven |last1=Lowe |first2=Dmitriy V. |last2=Ryaboy |title=The Pechenegs, History and Warfare}}</ref>

Boniak was a Cuman khan who led a series of invasions on Kievan Rus'. In 1096, Boniak attacked Kiev, plundered the Kiev Monastery of the Caves, and burned down the prince's palace in Berestovo. He was defeated in 1107 by Vladimir Monomakh, Oleg, Sviatopolk and other Rus' princes.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |script-title=ru:Боняк |trans-title=Boniak |language=ru |encyclopedia=[[Great Soviet Encyclopedia]] |url=http://slovari.yandex.ru/%D0%B1%D0%BE%D0%BD%D1%8F%D0%BA/%D0%91%D0%A1%D0%AD/%D0%91%D0%BE%D0%BD%D1%8F%D0%BA/ |year=1969–1978 |access-date=10 January 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130706115500/http://slovari.yandex.ru/%D0%B1%D0%BE%D0%BD%D1%8F%D0%BA/%D0%91%D0%A1%D0%AD/%D0%91%D0%BE%D0%BD%D1%8F%D0%BA/ |archive-date=6 July 2013}}</ref>

===Mongols===
[[File:Sacking of Suzdal by Batu Khan.jpg|thumb|''The sacking of Suzdal by Batu Khan'']]
The Mongol Empire invaded Kievan Rus' in the 13th century, destroying numerous cities, including Ryazan, Kolomna, [[Place:Moscow|Moscow]], Vladimir and Kiev. Giovanni de Plano Carpini, the Pope's envoy to the Mongol Great Khan, traveled through Kiev in February 1246 and wrote:<ref>{{Cite book |last=Giovanni. |first=Pian del Carpine |url=https://archive.org/details/textsversionsofj00hakluoft/page/87/mode/2up |title=The texts and versions of John De Plano Carpini and William De Rubruquis |date=1903 |publisher=Hakluyt Society |editor-last=Beazley |editor-first=C. Raymond |location=London |pages=87–88 |language=en |oclc=733080786 |quote=Quo facto, contra Russia perrexerunt, & mag nam stragem in ea fecerunt, ciuitates & castra destruxerunt, & homines occiderunt. Kiouiam, Russiæ metropolin, diu obsederunt, & tandem ceperunt, ac ciues interfecerunt. Vnde quando per illam terram ibamus, innumerabilia capita & ossa hominum mortuorum, iacentia super compum, inueniebamus. Fuerat enim vrbs valdè magna & populosa, nunc quasi ad nihilum est redacta&nbsp;: vix enim domus ibi remanserunt ducente, quarum etiam habitatores tenantur in maxima seruitute.}}</ref>

<blockquote>When this was done, they [the Mongols, "''Tartari''")] marched against Rus', and made great havoc in it, destroyed cities and forts, and killed people. They besieged Kiev, the metropolis of Rus', for a long time, and finally took it and killed its citizens. From there, while passing through that land, we found innumerable skulls and bones of dead men, lying on the ground. For the city had been very large and populous, but now it seems reduced to nothing: for hardly more than two hundred houses remain, whose inhabitants are also held in absolute servitude.</blockquote>Besides the looting and loss of lives, the Mongol invasions led to demands of tribute (''vykhod''), while expropriations caused villages to be abandoned. The Russians had to provide sustenance and lodgings for Mongol envoys, although tax exemptions were awarded to villages that had to bear the brunt of these costs.<ref name=":5" />

===Byzantine Empire===
{{See also|Rus'–Byzantine War (disambiguation){{!}}Rus'–Byzantine War}}

Byzantium quickly became the main trading and cultural partner for Kiev, but relations were not always friendly. One of the largest military accomplishments of the Rurikid dynasty was the attack on Byzantium in 960. Pilgrims of the Rus' had been making the journey from [[Place:Kiev|Kiev]] to Constantinople for many years, and Constantine Porphyrogenitus, the Emperor of the [[Place:Byzantine Empire|Byzantine Empire]], believed that this gave them significant information about the arduous parts of the journey and where travelers were most at risk, as would be pertinent for an invasion. This route took travelers through domain of the Pechenegs, journeying mostly by river. In June 941, the Rus' staged a naval ambush on Byzantine forces, making up for their smaller numbers with small, maneuverable boats. These boats were ill-equipped for the transportation of large quantities of treasure, suggesting that looting was not the goal. The raid was led, according to the Primary Chronicle, by a king called Igor. Three years later, the treaty of 944 stated that all ships approaching Byzantium must be preceded by a letter from the Rurikid prince stating the number of ships and assuring their peaceful intent. This not only indicates fear of another surprise attack, but an increased Kievan presence in the Black Sea.<ref>Franklin, Simon, and Jonathan Shepard (1996). ''The Emergence of Rus 750–1200''. Harlow, Essex: Longman Group, Ltd. pp. 112–119</ref>

==Administrative divisions==
=== Principalities and volosts ===
[[File:Kievan-rus-1015-1113-(en).png|thumb|Rus', 1015–1113]]
The East Slavic lands were originally divided into princely domains called ''zemlias'', "lands", or ''volosts'' (from a term meaning "power" or "government").<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |last=Zhukovsky |first=Arkadii |date=1993 |title=Volost |url=http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CV%5CO%5CVolostIT.htm |access-date=2023-01-24 |website=Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine |archive-date=5 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221205104201/http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CV%5CO%5CVolostIT.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> A smaller clan-sized unit was called a ''verv'', or ''pogost'', headed by a ''kopa'' or ''viche''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Verv |url=http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CV%5CE%5CVervIT.htm |access-date=2023-01-24 |website=Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine |archive-date=1 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230101151555/http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CV%5CE%5CVervIT.htm |url-status=live}}</ref>

From the 11th to 13th centuries the principalities were divided into ''volosts'', from its centre usually called a ''pryhorod'' (a lesser ''gorod'' or ''grad'', "fortified settlement").{{sfn|Katchanovski|Kohut|Nesebio|Yurkevich|2013|p=11}}<ref name=":6" /> A volost consisted of several ''vervs'' or ''hromadas'' (commune or community).<ref name=":6" /> A local official was called a ''volostel'' or ''starosta''.<ref name=":6" />

Yaroslav the Wise assigned a priority to the major principalities to reduce familial conflict over [[Social:Order of succession|succession]].{{sfn|Magocsi|2010|p=82}}

# Kyiv and Novgorod, for the eldest son (Iziaslav in his case), who became grand prince (''velykyi kniaz'')
# Chernihiv and Tmutorokan (Sviatoslav)
# Pereiaslav and Rostov-Suzdal (Vsevolod)
# Smolensk (Viacheslav)
# Volhynia (Ihor)

Not mentioned by Yaroslav were Polatsk, ruled by Yaroslav's older brother Iziaslav that was to remain under his descendants, and Galicia, eventually taken by the dynasty of his grandson Rostyslav.{{sfn|Magocsi|2010|p=82}}

Other principalities included Siversk, and smaller territories like the lands of the Polianians (also called Rus'), Drevlian and Turiv-Pynsk (Turaŭ-Pinsk) lands.{{sfn|Katchanovski|Kohut|Nesebio|Yurkevich|2013|p=11}}

; 11th century
*Novgorod Land 862–1478 the allied territory of Kievan Rus'; from 1136 the Novgorod Republic
*Rostov Principality until 1125; became Vladimir-Suzdal Principality in 1155
*9th century – 14th century (separatist territory, partial suzerainty under Kievan Rus')
**Principality of Minsk
*from 1054
*Principality of Pereyaslavl
*Principality of Volhynia
*Principality of Kiev from 1132 to 1399
**Principality of Galicia
**Principality of Turov and Pinsk
*Principality of Chernigov
**Murom-Ryazan Principality until 1078
**Principality of Novgorod-Seversk
*City of Tmutarakan from 988 until some time in the 12th century
*Belaya Vezha from 965 until some time in the 12th century
*'''Southern dependencies''' Oleshky, New Galich, Peresechen'
*Drevlian territories annexed to Rus' by Oleg ?–884; 912–946 (vassal of Rus' from 914, Drevlians Uprising in 945)

== Historical assessment ==
[[File:Igorsvyat.jpg|thumb|''The field of Igor Svyatoslavich's battle with the Polovtsy'', by Viktor Vasnetsov]]

Kievan Rus', although sparsely populated compared to Western Europe,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/pop-in-eur.html |title=Medieval Sourcebook: Tables on Population in Medieval Europe |publisher=Fordham University |access-date=30 July 2021 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100110054310/http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/pop-in-eur.html |archive-date=10 January 2010}}</ref> was not only the largest contemporary European state in terms of area but also culturally advanced.<ref name="Sherman">{{cite book |last=Sherman |first=Charles Phineas |title=Roman Law in the Modern World |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zh6ksO3bn0YC&q=%22Roman+Law+in+the+Modern+World%22&pg=PP7 |year=1917 |publisher=The Boston Book Company |location=Boston |page=191 |chapter=Russia | chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=zh6ksO3bn0YC&q=advanced+culture+OR+cultural+Kiev+novgorod&pg=PA191 |quote="The adoption of Christianity by Vladimir... was followed by commerce with the [[Place:Byzantine Empire|Byzantine Empire]]. In its wake came Byzantine art and culture. And in the course of the next century, what is now Southeastern Russia became ''more advanced in civilization than any western European State of the period'', for Russia came in for a share of Byzantine culture, then vastly superior to the rudeness of Western nations." | access-date = 14 November 2020 | archive-date = 23 April 2023 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230423152844/https://books.google.com/books?id=zh6ksO3bn0YC&q=%22Roman+Law+in+the+Modern+World%22&pg=PP7 | url-status = live}}</ref> Literacy in Kiev, Novgorod and other large cities was high.<ref name="TikhomirovGorodaLit">{{cite book |last=Tikhomirov |first=Mikhail Nikolaevich |title=Drevnerusskie goroda (Cities of Ancient Rus) |url=http://www.archeologia.ru/Library/Book/3bcf6c93aa36/Info |year=1956 |location=Moscow |language=ru |page=261 |chapter=Literacy among the citi dwellers | chapter-url = http://www.archeologia.ru/Library/Book/3bcf6c93aa36/page261 | access-date = 18 March 2006 | archive-date = 25 April 2010 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100425045655/http://www.archeologia.ru/Library/Book/3bcf6c93aa36/Info | url-status = dead}}</ref>{{efn|"It is to the credit of Vladimir and his advisors they built not only churches but schools as well. This compulsory baptism was followed by compulsory education... Schools were thus founded not only in Kiev but also in provincial cities. From the "Life of St. Feodosi" we know that a school existed in Kursk around the year of 1023. By the time of Yaroslav's reign (1019–54), education had struck roots and its benefits were apparent. Around 1030, Iaroslav founded a divinity school in Novgorod for 300 children of both laymen and clergy to be instructed in "book-learning". As a general measure, he made the parish priests "teach the people"."{{sfn|Vernadsky|1973|p=277}}}} Novgorod had a sewage system and [[Engineering:Road surface|wood pavement]] not often found in other cities at the time.<ref name="Mikla">{{cite book |last=Miklashevsky |first=N. | display-authors = etal | script-title = ru:ИСТОРИЯ ВОДОПРОВОДА В РОССИИ | trans-title = History of water-supply in Russia | chapter-url = http://ecoflash.narod.ru/likbez_8.htm |year=2000 |publisher=? |location=Saint Petersburg, Russia |language=ru |isbn=978-5-8206-0114-9 |page=240 |chapter=Istoriya vodoprovoda v Rossii | access-date = 18 March 2006 | archive-date = 10 March 2006 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060310120423/http://ecoflash.narod.ru/likbez_8.htm | url-status = live}}</ref> The ''Russkaya Pravda'' confined punishments to fines and generally did not use [[Social:Capital punishment|capital punishment]].{{efn|"The most notable aspect of the criminal provisions was that punishments took the form of seizure of property, banishment, or, more often, payment of a fine. Even murder and other severe crimes ([[Social:Arson|arson]], organised horse thieving, and robbery) were settled by monetary fines. Although the death penalty had been introduced by Vladimir the Great, it too was soon replaced by fines."{{sfn|Magocsi|2010|p=95}}}} Certain [[Philosophy:Rights|rights]] were accorded to women, such as property and [[Social:Inheritance|inheritance]] rights.<ref name="TikhomirovRP">{{cite book |last=Tikhomirov |first=Mikhail Nikolaevich |authorlink=Mikhail Tikhomirov | script-title = ru:Пособие для изучения Русской Правды |url=http://www.hist.msu.ru/ER/Etext/RP/ |edition=2nd |year=1953 |publisher=Издание Московского университета |location=Moscow |language=ru |page=190 | access-date = 18 March 2006 | archive-date = 14 June 2006 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060614003824/http://www.hist.msu.ru/ER/Etext/RP/ | url-status = live}}</ref>{{sfn|Martin|2004|p=72}}{{sfn|Vernadsky|1973|p=154}}

The economic development of Kievan Rus may be reflected in its demographics. Scholarly estimates of Kiev's population around 1200 range from 36,000 to 50,000 (at the time, Paris had about 50,000, and London 30,000).{{sfn|Martin|2004|p=61}} Novgorod had about 10,000 to 15,000 inhabitants in 1000, and about double that number by 1200, while Chernigov had a larger land area than both Kiev and Novgorod at the time, and is therefore estimated have had even more inhabitants.{{sfn|Martin|2004|p=61}} Constantinople, then one of the largest cities in the world, had a population of about 400,000 around 1180.<ref name="popu">J. Phillips, ''The Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople'' page 144</ref> Soviet scholar Mikhail Tikhomirov calculated that Kievan Rus' had around 300 urban centres on the eve of the Mongol invasion.<ref name="TikhomirovGorodaPop">{{cite book |last=Tikhomirov |first=Mikhail Nikolaevich |title=Drevnerusskie goroda (Cities of Ancient Rus) |url=http://www.archeologia.ru/Library/Book/3bcf6c93aa36/Info |year=1956 |location=Moscow |language=ru |pages=36, 39, 43 |chapter=The origin of Russian cities | chapter-url = http://www.archeologia.ru/Library/Book/3bcf6c93aa36/page9 | access-date = 18 March 2006 | archive-date = 25 April 2010 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100425045655/http://www.archeologia.ru/Library/Book/3bcf6c93aa36/Info | url-status = dead}}</ref>

Kievan Rus' also played an important genealogical role in European politics. Yaroslav the Wise, whose stepmother belonged to the Macedonian dynasty that ruled the Byzantine Empire from 867 to 1056, married the only legitimate daughter of the king who Christianized Sweden. His daughters became queens of Hungary, France and Norway; his sons married the daughters of a Polish king and Byzantine emperor, and a niece of the Pope; and his granddaughters were a German empress and (according to one theory) the queen of [[History:Kingdom of Scotland|Scotland]]. A grandson married the only daughter of the last Anglo-Saxon king of England. Thus the Rurikids were a well-connected royal family of the time.{{efn|"In medieval Europe, a mark of a dynasty's prestige and power was the willingness with which other leading dynasties entered into matrimonial relations with it. Measured by this standard, Yaroslav's prestige must have been great indeed... . Little wonder that Iaroslav is often dubbed by historians as 'the father-in-law of Europe.'"<ref>{{cite book |first=Orest |last=Subtelny |title=Ukraine: A History |location=Toronto |publisher=University of Toronto Press |year=1988 |isbn=0-8020-5808-6 |page=35 |authorlink=Orest Subtelny}})</ref>}}{{efn|"By means of these marital ties, Kievan Rus' became well known throughout Europe."{{sfn|Magocsi|2010|p=81}}}}

Serhii Plokhy (2006) proposed to "denationalize" Kievan Rus': contrary to what modern nationalist interpretations had been doing, he argued for 'separating Kyivan Rus' as a multi-ethnic state from the national histories of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. This applies to the word Rus' and to the concept of the Rus' Land.'{{sfn|Halperin|2010|p=2}} According to Halperin (2010), 'Plokhy's approach does not invalidate analysis of rival claims
by Muscovy, Lithuania or Ukraine to the Kyivan inheritance; it merely relegates such pretensions entirely to the realm of ideology.'{{sfn|Halperin|2010|p=3}}

== In popular culture ==
*Finnish folk metal band Turisas has produced various songs on its albums ''The Varangian Way'' (2007) and ''Stand Up and Fight'' (2011) which feature Scandinavian names (''Jarisleif'' in "In the Court of Jarisleif" for Grand Prince Yaroslav) and Old Norse exonyms for toponyms (such as ''Holmgard'' in "To Holmgard and Beyond" for Veliky Novgorod, and ''Miklagard'' in "Miklagard Overture" for Constantinople) connected to Kievan Rus'. According to Bosselmann (2018) and DiGioia (2020), Scandinavian names are used by Turisas 'as a way to convey the historical context of the songs' subject matter', namely 'the stories of the Scandinavian pre-Christian populations and their travels eastwards along the way known as the Way of the Varangians to the Greek to Constantinople'.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=DiGioia |first1=Amanda |date=2020 |title=Multilingual Metal Music: Sociocultural, Linguistic and Literary Perspectives on Heavy Metal Lyrics |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=USYNEAAAQBAJ |location=Bingley |publisher=Emerald Group Publishing |pages=85 |isbn=9781839099489 |access-date=27 January 2023 |archive-date=27 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230127120306/https://books.google.com/books?id=USYNEAAAQBAJ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Velasco Laguna |first1=Manuel |date=2012 |title=Breve historia de los vikingos (versión extendida) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eq1vEAAAQBAJ |location=Madrid |publisher=Nowtilus |pages=168 |isbn=9788499673479 |access-date=27 January 2023 |language=es |archive-date=27 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230127121143/https://books.google.com/books?id=eq1vEAAAQBAJ |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Collection of maps==
<gallery>
File:CHODZKO(1861) CARTE DES PAYS SLAVO-POLONAIS AUX VIII ET IX SIECLE.jpg|Map of 8th- to 9th-century Rus' by Leonard Chodzko (1861)
File:Polska Rosja Skandynawia w IX w.jpg|Map of 9th-century Rus' by Antoine Philippe Houze (1844)
File:LEROY-BEAULIEU(1893) p1.097 RUSSIA IN THE 9th CENTURY.jpg|Map of 9th-century Rus' by F. S. Weller (1893)
File:Europe 1000.jpg|Map of Rus' in Europe in 1000 (1911)
File:Shepherd-c-066-067.jpg|Map of Rus' in 1097 (1911)
File:Europe-1139.jpg|Map of 1139 by Joachim Lelewel (1865)
File:Центры Руси по Идриси.jpg|Fragment of the 1154 {{lang|la|Tabula Rogeriana}} by Muhammad al-Idrisi
</gallery>

==See also==
*''De Administrando Imperio'' – 10th-century Byzantine source written by emperor Constantine VII
*History of Belarus
*History of Russia
*History of Ukraine
*Kyivan Rus' Park – park in modern Kyiv
*Rus' chronicle – genre of Old East Slavic literature
*[[Social:Slavic studies|Slavic studies]]
*European Russia

== Explanatory notes ==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Primary sources ===
*{{Cite book |last1=Cross |first1=Samuel Hazzard |last2=Sherbowitz-Wetzor |first2=Olgerd P. |date=1930 |title=The Russian Primary Chronicle, Laurentian Text. Translated and edited by Samuel Hazzard Cross and Olgerd P. Sherbowitz-Wetzor (1930) |url=https://www.mgh-bibliothek.de/dokumente/a/a011458.pdf |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |publisher=The Mediaeval Academy of America |pages=325 |isbn=|access-date=26 January 2023}}
**{{Cite book |last1=Cross |first1=Samuel Hazzard |last2=Sherbowitz-Wetzor |first2=Olgerd P. |orig-year=1953 |title=SLA 218. Ukrainian Literature and Culture. Excerpts from The Rus' Primary Chronicle (Povest vremennykh let, PVL) |publisher=Electronic Library of Ukrainian Literature, University of Toronto |date=2013 |url=http://sites.utoronto.ca/elul/English/218/PVL-selections.pdf |location=Toronto |pages=16 |access-date=26 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140530225833/http://www.utoronto.ca/elul/English/218/PVL-selections.pdf |archive-date=30 May 2014 |ref={{sfnref|Cross|Sherbowitz-Wetzor|1953}} }}

=== Secondary sources ===
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite book |last1=Bushkovitch |first1=Paul |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Le-n7ZYjGWkC |title=A Concise History of Russia |date=2011 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=New York |isbn=9781139504447 |pages=491 |access-date=26 January 2023 |archive-date=23 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230423152841/https://books.google.com/books?id=Le-n7ZYjGWkC |url-status=live}}
*{{Cite book |last1=Gleason |first1=Abbott |date=2009 |title=A Companion to Russian History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JyN0hlKcfTcC |location=Chichester |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |pages=566 |isbn=9781444308426 |access-date=26 January 2023}}
**{{Cite book |last1=Martin |first1=Janet |date=2009a |title=A Companion to Russian History |chapter=Chapter Three: The First East Slavic State |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JyN0hlKcfTcC |location=Chichester |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |pages=34–50 |isbn=9781444308426 |access-date=26 January 2023}}
**{{Cite book |last1=Majeska |first1=George |date=2009 |title=A Companion to Russian History |chapter=Chapter Four: Rus' and the Byzantine Empire |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JyN0hlKcfTcC |location=Chichester |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |pages=51–65 |isbn=9781444308426 |access-date=26 January 2023}}
*{{Cite book |last1=Katchanovski |first1=Ivan |last2=Kohut |first2=Zenon E. |last3=Nesebio |first3=Bohdan Y. |last4=Yurkevich |first4=Myroslav |date=2013 |title=Historical Dictionary of Ukraine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-h6r57lDC4QC |location=Lanham, Maryland; Toronto; Plymouth |publisher=Scarecrow Press |pages=992 |isbn=9780810878471 |access-date=22 January 2023 |archive-date=23 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230423152841/https://books.google.com/books?id=-h6r57lDC4QC |url-status=live}}
*{{Cite book |last1=Logan |first1=F. Donald |date=2005 |title=The Vikings in History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7K2ywwGox6IC |location=New York |publisher=Routledge (Taylor & Francis) |pages=205 |isbn=9780415327565 |access-date=26 January 2023 |archive-date=23 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230423152845/https://books.google.com/books?id=7K2ywwGox6IC |url-status=live}} (third edition)
*{{cite book |last=Magocsi |first=Paul R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z0mKRsElYNkC |title=A History of Ukraine: The Land and Its Peoples |year=2010 |pages=896 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |location=Toronto |isbn=978-1-4426-1021-7 |access-date = 26 January 2023 |archive-date = 23 April 2023 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230423152843/https://books.google.com/books?id=Z0mKRsElYNkC |url-status = live}}
*{{cite book |title=Medieval Russia: 980–1584 |last=Martin |first=Janet |url= |year=1993 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=0521368324}} (original). Later editions cited in this article:
**{{cite book |title=Medieval Russia: 980–1584 |last=Martin |first=Janet |url= |year=1995 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=New York |isbn=0521362768}} (first published)
**{{cite book |title=Medieval Russia: 980–1584 |last=Martin |first=Janet |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sRCc3TtL9bIC |year=2004 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=9780521368322 |access-date=11 October 2015 |archive-date=23 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230423152842/https://books.google.com/books?id=sRCc3TtL9bIC |url-status=live}} (digital printing 2004)
*{{cite book |last=Martin |first=Janet |editor-last=Freeze |editor-first=Gregory |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GNeFDyRSp0wC |title=Russia: A History |chapter=From Kiev to Muscovy: The Beginnings to 1450 |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=2009b |pages=1–30 |isbn=978-0-19-150121-0 |access-date=27 January 2023 |archive-date=27 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230127141118/https://books.google.com/books?id=GNeFDyRSp0wC |url-status=live}} (third edition)
*{{Cite book |last1=Ostrogorsky |first1=George |date=1969 |title=History of the Byzantine State |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofbyzanti00ostr/page/228/mode/2up |location=New Brunswick, New Jersey |publisher=Rutgers University Press |pages=760 |isbn=|access-date=26 January 2023}}
*{{cite book |title=The Origins of the Slavic Nations: Premodern Identities in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus |last=Plokhy |first=Serhii |year=2006 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-521-86403-9 |pages=10–15 |url=http://assets.cambridge.org/97805218/64039/excerpt/9780521864039_excerpt.pdf |access-date=27 April 2010 |archive-date=6 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606203420/http://assets.cambridge.org/97805218/64039/excerpt/9780521864039_excerpt.pdf |url-status=live}}
**{{Cite journal |last1=Halperin |first1=Charles J. |date=2010 |title=Review Article. "National Identity in Premodern Rus'" |url=https://brill.com/view/journals/ruhi/37/3/article-p275_5.xml |journal=Russian History (Brill journal) |publisher=Brill Publishers |volume=37 |issue=3 |pages=275–294 |doi=10.1163/187633110X510446 |access-date=2 February 2023 |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326162800/https://brill.com/view/journals/ruhi/37/3/article-p275_5.xml |url-status=live}}
* {{Cite journal |last1=Ostrowski |first1=Donald |date=2018 |title=Was There a Riurikid Dynasty in Early Rus'? |url=https://brill.com/view/journals/css/52/1/article-p30_2.xml |journal=Canadian-American Slavic Studies |volume=52 |issue=1 |pages=30–49 |doi=10.1163/22102396-05201009}}
*{{cite book |last=Vernadsky |first=George |title=Kievan Russia |year=1973 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=0-300-01647-6 |page=412 |chapter=Russian Civilization in the Kievan Period: Education |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1HEdAP9N6ikC}}
*{{Country study}} – [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/rutoc.html Russia] {{Webarchive |url=https://archive.today/20120711211231/lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/rutoc.html |date=11 July 2012 }}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
*Christian, David. ''A History of Russia, Mongolia and Central Asia''. Blackwell, 1999.
*Franklin, Simon and Shepard, Jonathan, ''The Emergence of Rus, 750–1200''. (Longman History of Russia, general editor Harold Shukman.) Longman, London, 1996. {{ISBN|0-582-49091-X}}
*Fennell, John, ''The Crisis of Medieval Russia, 1200–1304''. (Longman History of Russia, general editor Harold Shukman.) Longman, London, 1983. {{ISBN|0-582-48150-3}}
*Jones, Gwyn. ''A History of the Vikings''. 2nd ed. London: Oxford Univ. Press, 1984.
*{{Cite book |last=Obolensky |first=Dimitri |title=The Byzantine Commonwealth: Eastern Europe, 500–1453 |year=1974 |orig-year=1971 |location=London |publisher=Cardinal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RlBoAAAAMAAJ |isbn=978-0-351-17644-9}}
*Pritsak, Omeljan. ''The Origin of Rus"''. Cambridge Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1991.
*Stang, Håkon. ''The Naming of Russia''. Meddelelser, Nr. 77. Oslo: University of Oslo Slavisk-baltisk Avelding, 1996.
*Alexander F. Tsvirkun E-learning course. History of Ukraine. Journal Auditorium, Kyiv, 2010.
*Velychenko, Stephen, ''National history as cultural process: a survey of the interpretations of Ukraine's past in Polish, Russian, and Ukrainian historical writing from the earliest times to 1914''. Edmonton, 1992.
*Velychenko, Stephen, "Nationalizing and Denationalizing the Past. Ukraine and Russia in Comparative Context", Ab Imperio 1 (2007).
*Velychenko, Stephen "New wine old bottle. Ukrainian history Muscovite-Russian Imperial myths and the Cambridge-History of Russia," [http://historians.in.ua/index.php/dyskusiya/853-stephen-velychenko-new-wine-old-bottle-ukrainian-history-muscovite-russian-imperial-myths-and-the-cambridge-history-of-russia Stephen Velychenko. New Wine Old Bottle. Ukrainian History, Muscovite /Russian Imperial Myths and the Cambridge History of Russia]

==External links==
*[http://izbornyk.org.ua/litop/map_980_1054.htm Historical map of Kiev Rus' from 980. to 1054.]
*[http://izbornyk.org.ua/litop/map_1240.htm Historical map of Rus'-Ukraine from 1220. to 1240.]
*{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109080307/http://www.angelfire.com/or3/kievan_rus/ |date=9 November 2013 |title=Graphic History of Kievan Rus from c. 800 to 988 }}
*[http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?AddButton=pages\R\U\RushDA.htm Rus'] – ''[[Encyclopedia of Ukraine]]''
*[http://www.russia-ic.com/business_law/trade_and_crafts/331/ Ancient Rus: trade and crafts]
*[http://www.bucknell.edu/x20137.xml Chronology of Kievan Rus' 859–1240.]

{{Middle Ages}}

{{Coord|50.450|N|30.525|E|type:country|display=title}}

[[Category:Former countries in Europe]]
[[Category:Historical regions]]

{{Sourceattribution|Kievan Rus'}}