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Longman History of Russia
The Emergence of Rus 750-1200
This eagerly awaited volume, the first of its kind by western scholars, describes the development amongst the diverse inhabitants of the immense landmass between the Carpathians and Urals of a political, economic and social nexus (underpinned by a common culture and, eventually, a common faith), out of which would emerge the future Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. The authors explore every aspect of life in Rus, using evidence and the fruits of post-Soviet historiography. They describe the rise of a polity centred on Kiev, the coming of Christianity, and the increasing prosperity of the region even as, with the proliferation of new dynastic centres, the balance of power shifted northwards and westwards. Fractured, violent and transitory though it often is, this is a story of growth and achievement - and a masterly piece of historical synthesis.
450 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1996
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About the author
Simon Franklin
15 books4 followers"Simon Franklin is Professor of Slavonic Studies at the University of Cambridge, UK. He is a Fellow of Clare College.
In 2007 he was awarded the Lomonosov Gold Medal by the Russian Academy of Sciences for outstanding achievements in research in Russian history and culture."
In 2007 he was awarded the Lomonosov Gold Medal by the Russian Academy of Sciences for outstanding achievements in research in Russian history and culture."
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July 21, 2019This book is a journey through time and space. We are guided by the authors up and down rivers, we make portages , observe the changing settlements of Balts and Slavs and transient Swedes, slowing sensing the emergence of a common society in the western parts of present day Russia.
Origins
But to take a step backwards the account begins with people, as it will turn out, mostly from central Sweden (this is presumed because bear paw pendants are only found there and at a few sites in Russia), drawn into the landmass of present day Russia osmosis-like by the desire for silver from the Islamic world. The land is not empty, but is thinly settled in the northern parts by Finno-Ugric peoples. Nor is it static. People from the Baltic were moving eastward, Slavic tribes were moving east and northwards, while during the eighth century people from Scandinavia were moving in and out, possibly shuttling between sites near the future cities of Novgorod and Yaroslavl, and the Viking world. These Scandinavians will later be known as the Rus, a name which will come to be applied to the region and most of its inhabitants. The early sites are generally unfortified and don't seem to have many if any year round inhabitants, perhaps they relied on the obscurity of their location to keep their trade goods safe. The country around Novgorod in particular is boggy, and where it isn't boggy, it is soggy or even marshy with only the occasional spot laconically called in Finnish 'higher ground', those of us from other parts of the world would regard it all as mostly flat.
Those silver coins from the Islamic world however had to be acquired in exchange for trade goods. This meant the things that could be extracted from the country: honey, wax, slaves and furs. These things in turn needed to be bought with glass beads and other simple jewellery or tools. The processes of trade thickened networks of settlement along the rivers all of which leads to the first problem of book. The trade routes led mostly down the Volga to the Islamic world, however the political centre that emerges during the ninth century is down south, at Kiev on the river Dnieper.
Organise or Die
One problem seems to have been that opportunities for enrichment were drying up. There was less silver coming out of the Islamic world and what there was of lower quality. The newly formed Muslim state of Bulgar on the Volga, not far from the the future site of Kazan monopolised trade to Central Asia and the Islamic world (fans of the Longue durée will enjoy noticing that well into the eighteenth century merchants from Kazan specialised in and dominated trade from the region with Central Asia) so what was a bunch of sword wielding raider traders to do?
What is nice about Franklin and Shepard's account is that the creation of a trading centre at Kiev isn't an inevitable or even a natural development but is put in a double context. First of a gusty, even desperate move, to create a trade route to Byzantium which hadn't existed previously for the perfectly good reason that a series of rapids on the Dnieper blocked river traffic while the nearby Steppe region was under the control of semi-nomadic Khazars and Pechenegs who already had an established east-west trade route. Second of state formation in the wider region (Bohemia, Hungary, Poland, Khazaria) squeezing the Rus into a situation in which they had to organise themselves or disappear into one of their expanding neighbours. State formation is too grand a term when the reality was more like a protection racket. Armed groups travelled round the tribes collecting slightly less tribute (this is tribute in kind rather than cash) than their rivals. Trade goods were sent down the Dnieper to Kiev and exchanged for wine, silks and the like.
From legend to almost history
At this stage, the 920s, named people appear in the narrative as leading figures among the Rus. Some like Olga (Helga) widow of Igor are more folktale than historical - she escapes the lecherous intent of the Byzantine Emperor by getting him to be her Godfather and revenges herself on her husbands murderers, the Derevlians, through a kind of riddle; she invites their envoys to visit her by boat and has the men buried alive in the boat, then calls for more envoys to escort her to the Derevlian land once they arrive she insists they have a bath locks them into the bathhouse and has it burnt to the ground, she travels to the Derevlian land and organises a great feast, once the (remaining) Derevlians are thoroughly drunk Olga's men murder them. Each stage represents part of a funeral rite; ship burial, washing the corpse, feast for the dead, with the Derevlians as unwitting participants in their own funerals. It is the stuff of sagas.
Her son, who refused Christian baptism because he feared his men would laugh at him, was the Sviatoslav who defeated the enigmatic Khazars , he allied with Steppe tribes and conducted a war of conquest in Bulgaria until defeated by the Byzantines and then killed on his way back to Kiev.
Conversion and creation
Janet Martin begins her book Medieval Russia with Vladimir in the 950s. There is a logic to this in that Vladimir, unlike his adventuring father, was committed to building a modern tenth century state with Kiev as its heart. Christianity brought with it a statehood kit - literacy, stone buildings, a unitary cult and put Vladimir and his still disparate peoples on a level footing as co-religionists with their neighbours to the west and south. The spread of Christianity can be approximately traced in ornaments, building projects and graves. Prestigious stone churches appeared in one town after another. In the towns Christian forms of burial become more frequent, over time stone churches are being built concurrently (ie there are more gangs of builders) and over centuries Christian burial becomes the rule in the countryside too. In turn Kiev becomes a model town. As the descendants of Vladimir become princes over their own new towns they too seek to have a central Cathedral and a monastery just like Kiev did. In the meantime however Volkhvy - Sorcerers, perhaps Shaman of sorts, are active only slowly fading from the written sources.
How we know, what we know
The first important witness in Franklin and Shepard's work is archaeological, but this itself encompasses a wide range. The traditional Churches, cemeteries and cities but also huge earthworks, over five hundred kilometres of them with lowish ramparts four metres high, fronted with ditches twelve metres wide to protect the approaches towards Kiev from Steppe peoples with hostile intent. At the other extreme are the letters written on birch bark, hundreds have been found at Novgorod since the 1950s and a few dozens each at some other similarly waterlogged sites. Like the Vindolanda Letters these reveal a very commercial world with people conducting wide ranging business; borrowing, lending, buying and selling conducted in part by letter.
Then there are written sources. Both those from round the edges of the Rus - Scandinavian Sagas, French and German Chronicles, Byzantine works and one Khazar letter written in Hebrew and discovered in Cairo; and Russian sources. Russian sources like the Primary Chronicle as Franklin and Shepard make clear were written in Kiev, from a southern perspective and by monks. Women are only rarely even named, Saint Vladimir in his pre-Christian days was an admirer of the fairer sex to the point of having hundreds of wives (according to the Primary Chronicle which may have been simply trying to emphasise the before and after affects of baptism) yet only the names of two of them were recorded even though Vladimir was survived by a number of sons by different mothers (but not as far as anyone can tell from his fancy Byzantine bride) who quickly fell to killing each other - ie the kind of circumstance in which you might expect the mothers' names to be remembered.
There is a law code (the Russkaia Pravda), but while it is generally accepted that parts of it date back before 1200 there is disagreement over the details. Like other early European law codes it is mostly a schedule of tariffs, mostly aimed at settling disputes between a male urban freemen concerned with social status. The murder of a Prince's slave-girl would set you back six grivnas, one of his craftsmen twelve grivnas (the same amount was the compensation due for cutting a freeman's beard or moustache, as in the Burgundian Code the integrity of a freeman's hairstyle was respected in law), a junior retainer of the Prince was worth forty grivnas (or three beards and some change). Communities were largely expected to keep peace amongst themselves, it is insult to the Princes and other powerful people which might otherwise be revenged by sword wielding retainers that has to be guarded against.
The Kievan (and monastic) perspective of the Primary Chronicle possibly contributes to the argument that the succession to the throne of Kiev was strictly lateral following generally agreed principles which was a strong feature of Martin's argument in the early chapters of Medieval Russia. Franklin and Shepard's view is more relaxed. While succession remained in the family, ie those who claimed descent (ultimately) from the potentially mythical Riurik via the certainly historical Saint Vladimir (reigned 980-1015) competition over it became more frequent and wide ranging. From 1000 to 1150 the average continuous reign of a prince was seven and a half years, while from 1150 to 1200 this fell to less than two years. This for Franklin and Shepard illustrates the development of Rus. The end of the period doesn't show the realm in overall decline, rather there are many more towns and patrimonies that a Prince could use to launch a take over bid on Kiev from. The political upheaval was only possible because of the growing development of the whole region. The chronicler was outraged that Princes whose fathers had not sat on the throne of Kiev were taking power there, but plainly enough people in and outside Kiev were prepared to support this to make it possible.
Glancing forward
Franklin and Shepard's book is the first in the multi-volume Longman History of Russia series, the only problem with it that it overshadows the following few volumes which don't rise close to its standard.
Since my childhood favourites included Swords from the North and Blood Feud I'm a ready and enthusiastic reader for a book that doesn't so much explore as seep over the territory of early Russia, through the evidence and the changing debate that lies behind some of my earliest reading.
Perhaps the Church of the Intercession on the Nerl best illustrates Franklin and Shepard's approach to the subject of the emergence of Rus. This looks like an attractive building, placed by happy accident on a high river bank allowing the white stone to be reflected back in the blue waters, but it is highly artificial. The bank was built up with rows of limestone and then turfed over to create a flood proof high point for a church built to commemorate a victory in war over the downstream Volga Bulgars who controlled the trade routes to Central Asia and Persia. The building is an act of dominance over the environment and memorialises war, commerce and the centrality of water ways in the human geography of the region. Yet also the church is dedicated to the intercession of the Virgin Mary, not just an Orthodox feast but one particularly popular in the lands of the Rus. This is no longer a foreign religion but a naturalised one taking on particular meanings in its local contexts.
Origins
But to take a step backwards the account begins with people, as it will turn out, mostly from central Sweden (this is presumed because bear paw pendants are only found there and at a few sites in Russia), drawn into the landmass of present day Russia osmosis-like by the desire for silver from the Islamic world. The land is not empty, but is thinly settled in the northern parts by Finno-Ugric peoples. Nor is it static. People from the Baltic were moving eastward, Slavic tribes were moving east and northwards, while during the eighth century people from Scandinavia were moving in and out, possibly shuttling between sites near the future cities of Novgorod and Yaroslavl, and the Viking world. These Scandinavians will later be known as the Rus, a name which will come to be applied to the region and most of its inhabitants. The early sites are generally unfortified and don't seem to have many if any year round inhabitants, perhaps they relied on the obscurity of their location to keep their trade goods safe. The country around Novgorod in particular is boggy, and where it isn't boggy, it is soggy or even marshy with only the occasional spot laconically called in Finnish 'higher ground', those of us from other parts of the world would regard it all as mostly flat.
Those silver coins from the Islamic world however had to be acquired in exchange for trade goods. This meant the things that could be extracted from the country: honey, wax, slaves and furs. These things in turn needed to be bought with glass beads and other simple jewellery or tools. The processes of trade thickened networks of settlement along the rivers all of which leads to the first problem of book. The trade routes led mostly down the Volga to the Islamic world, however the political centre that emerges during the ninth century is down south, at Kiev on the river Dnieper.
Organise or Die
One problem seems to have been that opportunities for enrichment were drying up. There was less silver coming out of the Islamic world and what there was of lower quality. The newly formed Muslim state of Bulgar on the Volga, not far from the the future site of Kazan monopolised trade to Central Asia and the Islamic world (fans of the Longue durée will enjoy noticing that well into the eighteenth century merchants from Kazan specialised in and dominated trade from the region with Central Asia) so what was a bunch of sword wielding raider traders to do?
What is nice about Franklin and Shepard's account is that the creation of a trading centre at Kiev isn't an inevitable or even a natural development but is put in a double context. First of a gusty, even desperate move, to create a trade route to Byzantium which hadn't existed previously for the perfectly good reason that a series of rapids on the Dnieper blocked river traffic while the nearby Steppe region was under the control of semi-nomadic Khazars and Pechenegs who already had an established east-west trade route. Second of state formation in the wider region (Bohemia, Hungary, Poland, Khazaria) squeezing the Rus into a situation in which they had to organise themselves or disappear into one of their expanding neighbours. State formation is too grand a term when the reality was more like a protection racket. Armed groups travelled round the tribes collecting slightly less tribute (this is tribute in kind rather than cash) than their rivals. Trade goods were sent down the Dnieper to Kiev and exchanged for wine, silks and the like.
From legend to almost history
At this stage, the 920s, named people appear in the narrative as leading figures among the Rus. Some like Olga (Helga) widow of Igor are more folktale than historical - she escapes the lecherous intent of the Byzantine Emperor by getting him to be her Godfather and revenges herself on her husbands murderers, the Derevlians, through a kind of riddle; she invites their envoys to visit her by boat and has the men buried alive in the boat, then calls for more envoys to escort her to the Derevlian land once they arrive she insists they have a bath locks them into the bathhouse and has it burnt to the ground, she travels to the Derevlian land and organises a great feast, once the (remaining) Derevlians are thoroughly drunk Olga's men murder them. Each stage represents part of a funeral rite; ship burial, washing the corpse, feast for the dead, with the Derevlians as unwitting participants in their own funerals. It is the stuff of sagas.
Her son, who refused Christian baptism because he feared his men would laugh at him, was the Sviatoslav who defeated the enigmatic Khazars , he allied with Steppe tribes and conducted a war of conquest in Bulgaria until defeated by the Byzantines and then killed on his way back to Kiev.
Conversion and creation
Janet Martin begins her book Medieval Russia with Vladimir in the 950s. There is a logic to this in that Vladimir, unlike his adventuring father, was committed to building a modern tenth century state with Kiev as its heart. Christianity brought with it a statehood kit - literacy, stone buildings, a unitary cult and put Vladimir and his still disparate peoples on a level footing as co-religionists with their neighbours to the west and south. The spread of Christianity can be approximately traced in ornaments, building projects and graves. Prestigious stone churches appeared in one town after another. In the towns Christian forms of burial become more frequent, over time stone churches are being built concurrently (ie there are more gangs of builders) and over centuries Christian burial becomes the rule in the countryside too. In turn Kiev becomes a model town. As the descendants of Vladimir become princes over their own new towns they too seek to have a central Cathedral and a monastery just like Kiev did. In the meantime however Volkhvy - Sorcerers, perhaps Shaman of sorts, are active only slowly fading from the written sources.
How we know, what we know
The first important witness in Franklin and Shepard's work is archaeological, but this itself encompasses a wide range. The traditional Churches, cemeteries and cities but also huge earthworks, over five hundred kilometres of them with lowish ramparts four metres high, fronted with ditches twelve metres wide to protect the approaches towards Kiev from Steppe peoples with hostile intent. At the other extreme are the letters written on birch bark, hundreds have been found at Novgorod since the 1950s and a few dozens each at some other similarly waterlogged sites. Like the Vindolanda Letters these reveal a very commercial world with people conducting wide ranging business; borrowing, lending, buying and selling conducted in part by letter.
Then there are written sources. Both those from round the edges of the Rus - Scandinavian Sagas, French and German Chronicles, Byzantine works and one Khazar letter written in Hebrew and discovered in Cairo; and Russian sources. Russian sources like the Primary Chronicle as Franklin and Shepard make clear were written in Kiev, from a southern perspective and by monks. Women are only rarely even named, Saint Vladimir in his pre-Christian days was an admirer of the fairer sex to the point of having hundreds of wives (according to the Primary Chronicle which may have been simply trying to emphasise the before and after affects of baptism) yet only the names of two of them were recorded even though Vladimir was survived by a number of sons by different mothers (but not as far as anyone can tell from his fancy Byzantine bride) who quickly fell to killing each other - ie the kind of circumstance in which you might expect the mothers' names to be remembered.
There is a law code (the Russkaia Pravda), but while it is generally accepted that parts of it date back before 1200 there is disagreement over the details. Like other early European law codes it is mostly a schedule of tariffs, mostly aimed at settling disputes between a male urban freemen concerned with social status. The murder of a Prince's slave-girl would set you back six grivnas, one of his craftsmen twelve grivnas (the same amount was the compensation due for cutting a freeman's beard or moustache, as in the Burgundian Code the integrity of a freeman's hairstyle was respected in law), a junior retainer of the Prince was worth forty grivnas (or three beards and some change). Communities were largely expected to keep peace amongst themselves, it is insult to the Princes and other powerful people which might otherwise be revenged by sword wielding retainers that has to be guarded against.
The Kievan (and monastic) perspective of the Primary Chronicle possibly contributes to the argument that the succession to the throne of Kiev was strictly lateral following generally agreed principles which was a strong feature of Martin's argument in the early chapters of Medieval Russia. Franklin and Shepard's view is more relaxed. While succession remained in the family, ie those who claimed descent (ultimately) from the potentially mythical Riurik via the certainly historical Saint Vladimir (reigned 980-1015) competition over it became more frequent and wide ranging. From 1000 to 1150 the average continuous reign of a prince was seven and a half years, while from 1150 to 1200 this fell to less than two years. This for Franklin and Shepard illustrates the development of Rus. The end of the period doesn't show the realm in overall decline, rather there are many more towns and patrimonies that a Prince could use to launch a take over bid on Kiev from. The political upheaval was only possible because of the growing development of the whole region. The chronicler was outraged that Princes whose fathers had not sat on the throne of Kiev were taking power there, but plainly enough people in and outside Kiev were prepared to support this to make it possible.
Glancing forward
Franklin and Shepard's book is the first in the multi-volume Longman History of Russia series, the only problem with it that it overshadows the following few volumes which don't rise close to its standard.
Since my childhood favourites included Swords from the North and Blood Feud I'm a ready and enthusiastic reader for a book that doesn't so much explore as seep over the territory of early Russia, through the evidence and the changing debate that lies behind some of my earliest reading.
Perhaps the Church of the Intercession on the Nerl best illustrates Franklin and Shepard's approach to the subject of the emergence of Rus. This looks like an attractive building, placed by happy accident on a high river bank allowing the white stone to be reflected back in the blue waters, but it is highly artificial. The bank was built up with rows of limestone and then turfed over to create a flood proof high point for a church built to commemorate a victory in war over the downstream Volga Bulgars who controlled the trade routes to Central Asia and Persia. The building is an act of dominance over the environment and memorialises war, commerce and the centrality of water ways in the human geography of the region. Yet also the church is dedicated to the intercession of the Virgin Mary, not just an Orthodox feast but one particularly popular in the lands of the Rus. This is no longer a foreign religion but a naturalised one taking on particular meanings in its local contexts.
May 27, 2016
This book is an useful reference on the presence of Norsemen in Eastern Europe and early and high medieval Rus that integrates literary and archaeological evidence very well and dispels many myths, namely those caused by the Kievocentric perspective of chroniclers and church writers such as the author of the Primary Chronicle of Kiev. I especially love the way how the reader is introduced to an alien world (at least from a western European or Mediterranic perspective) of riverways, conifer forests, steppes and the development of a distinctive cultural synthesis and polities which are the basis from which Russia, Ukraine and Belarus later rose. I just have a few minor quibbles regarding the relationship between the Volga Rus and the Khazars, but it is nothing major. Five stars for a generally wonderful work.
July 25, 2011
This type of forensic history isn't going to interest most people, but if you have an interest in how Russia was formed, and the base upon which she now stands, then this is the book for you. Painstakingly researched and rich in the minutiae of early tribal life in the lands between the Baltic and the Black Sea, it's great to skip through as an overview or dive into as an attempt to reconnect lost lost tales and chronicles to discover the origins of the Russian state and people.
February 1, 2017
This is a very detailed account of the Rus, the people/place that became Russia. It's often called Kievan Russia, but Franklin doesn't like that term as it glosses over the fact that Kiev itself declined while the culture of the Rus expanded. The Rus were more flexible than a group dominated by one city.
Early on, there was a silver trade in the north. Scandinavia was likely a prime mover for this long range trade across northern Eurasia. The Rus make a grand entrance into European history when they attack Constantinople in 860. So... who were the Rus back then? They had some Scandinavian characteristics, and thus they've often been casually referred to as a Viking outgrowth. Some Rus had met Emperor Louis in the west in 839, and these guys were likely Swedes. There clearly was some structure in place based on the size of the 860 raid, and it could've been based out of Sweden. Or out of Stargia Ladoga. Or Goradishche. Or the Upper Volga. The last two were the most likely, with Goradishche getting Franklin's vote as the most likely center. The impression of the early Rus was diversity and fluidity. They were in pursuit of furs, silver, and slaves. The Rus didn't establish themselves in existing population centers. By the mid-9th century, they'd formed a social/political order. Maybe there wasn't enough silver going north, sparking the raids. It could be either less silver going north or a greater demand for more silver in the north. There is some evidence of political formation along the central Volga at this time and the Volga Bulgars emerge.
The Volga Bulgars blocked the Rus by the end of the 9th century. There were Slavs by the Dnieper and a long memory of Khazar dominion over them. Rus traders encounter the Slavs as they started to merge with semi-nomads from the area. The Rus also do business in the mid-Danube area. There is evidence of everyday trade between the Rus and Constantinople by the early 10th century. Some Rus were established by Kiev, perhaps acting on their own. The Rus were shifting to the mid-Dnieper. A sea link opens up between that region and Constantinople. This required plenty of organization and ships from the Dnieper weren't necessarily seaworthy on the Black Sea.
The Rus's control of the mid-Dnieper and its trade ties to the Byzantines endured. They also launched a new raid on the city in 941 that was much bigger than the 860 raid. This led to a 944 treaty. Communities start to develop in other places. Their location had the advantages of Byzantine contacts, and others in the area farmed for the Rus. A political structure of a sort emerges. Olga is baptized with the hope of future trade benefits.
There is no archeology from Olga's era with regard to churches or trade. Economic dynamism and population growth in Russian lands occurred. By the mid-960s, they attack the Khazars and break their power. They also attacked (with Byzantine encouragement) the Volga Bulgars and the Danube Bulgars. The Rus sought control of the Caucaus trade centers. Vladimir came to tpower in the Gorodishche-Novogorod region, then went to Kiev. He attacked the Volga Bulgars in 985. He picked Christianity over Judaism and Islam. He was secure in Kiev but his overall legitimacy was still in doubt. He links himself to the new religion to help himself politically. The slave trade was big in the area, with young female slaves especially prized. Kiev was improving, so Vladimir expanded to the north and west in the 980s. He destroyed pagan shrines in Kiev and compelled the people to mass baptism. Burial practices gradually became more Christian.
There was a nasty civil war after Vladimir's death that lasted about 30 years. The problem signs were there late in his life. The civil war showed there was a lack of an accepted framework of political legitimacy (or if there had been one, it had broken down). There was no automatic, peaceful succession. Vladimir's sons weren't content to just control their own regional bases. They wanted central power. In a weird sense then, that means Vladimir had succeeded in creating more centralized power than before.
From 1036-1054, Iaroslav dominated his land. He had big public patronage construction projects. He modeled his cultural patronage on the Byzantines. He built a Kievan church like Hagia Sophia - St. Sophia, which was a Byzantine church in all but location. He attacked Constantinople in 1043, which would be the last such major raid by the Rus there. Iaroslav issued the first Rus law code - or least it was credited to him later. This code derived from Byzantine practices to some extent. Christianity kept spreading, and was strongest in centers of power. Church law was forming. Greek sermons were translated into Slavic. Native Christian literature began by the mid-11th century.
After Iaroslav, the rise of princelings occurred. This was partially his own doing to prevent discord among his sons. (Five survived him). There wasn't a fixed political system in place, so you can't really say one fell apart. Novogorod was burnt and a prince of Novogorod was appointed by someone from outside of Kiev in 1069. The next generation of leaders (Iaroslav's grandkids) started to emerge. Some counter-offensives in the steppes began in the early 12th century. A fixed political system wasn't emerging, but a political culture was. The 20 year reign of Sviatopolk was a coming of age for the political culture. This was be an era for the future Rus to model itself on.
By the late 11th and early 12th centuries, the Kiev economy experience boom years. Kiev dominated the internal trade. They had money, but not coinage. The city was largely self-regulating. Women were involved in the cultural and economic life, especially elite women (most especially princesses). It's hard to find the start of effective native monasticism, but it happened before 1054. But after 1054, it gained steam, especially around Kiev. Some monasteries focused mostly around peasants. The monks were to focus on obedience, worship, and manual labor. Mostly, the age of cultural borrowing from the Byzantines was coming to a close. They were going to developing their own culture (this sub-section of the chapter is titled, "Going native"). The Rus began to settle into self-sufficiency instead of looking to Greek culture.
Native princes sacked Kiev in 1149. A period of economic expansion created new strains, but mostly if was an era of growth and sustained success. Novogorod benefited from contact with western Europe's rising demand for furs - and Novogorod had access to the mid-Volga region of furs. Smolenks was a rising city at the intersection of trade routes. Peripheral towns were aided by the overall regional prosperity. The economic and dynastic growth helped spread Christianity. More churches were built. One sign of cultural confidence was internal debate within the culture.
By 1200, there was laments of a declining dynastic ethos - but this nostalgia was based on an illusion. The Rus was linked by kinship, language, faith, and the legitimacy of a single political dynasty.
Early on, there was a silver trade in the north. Scandinavia was likely a prime mover for this long range trade across northern Eurasia. The Rus make a grand entrance into European history when they attack Constantinople in 860. So... who were the Rus back then? They had some Scandinavian characteristics, and thus they've often been casually referred to as a Viking outgrowth. Some Rus had met Emperor Louis in the west in 839, and these guys were likely Swedes. There clearly was some structure in place based on the size of the 860 raid, and it could've been based out of Sweden. Or out of Stargia Ladoga. Or Goradishche. Or the Upper Volga. The last two were the most likely, with Goradishche getting Franklin's vote as the most likely center. The impression of the early Rus was diversity and fluidity. They were in pursuit of furs, silver, and slaves. The Rus didn't establish themselves in existing population centers. By the mid-9th century, they'd formed a social/political order. Maybe there wasn't enough silver going north, sparking the raids. It could be either less silver going north or a greater demand for more silver in the north. There is some evidence of political formation along the central Volga at this time and the Volga Bulgars emerge.
The Volga Bulgars blocked the Rus by the end of the 9th century. There were Slavs by the Dnieper and a long memory of Khazar dominion over them. Rus traders encounter the Slavs as they started to merge with semi-nomads from the area. The Rus also do business in the mid-Danube area. There is evidence of everyday trade between the Rus and Constantinople by the early 10th century. Some Rus were established by Kiev, perhaps acting on their own. The Rus were shifting to the mid-Dnieper. A sea link opens up between that region and Constantinople. This required plenty of organization and ships from the Dnieper weren't necessarily seaworthy on the Black Sea.
The Rus's control of the mid-Dnieper and its trade ties to the Byzantines endured. They also launched a new raid on the city in 941 that was much bigger than the 860 raid. This led to a 944 treaty. Communities start to develop in other places. Their location had the advantages of Byzantine contacts, and others in the area farmed for the Rus. A political structure of a sort emerges. Olga is baptized with the hope of future trade benefits.
There is no archeology from Olga's era with regard to churches or trade. Economic dynamism and population growth in Russian lands occurred. By the mid-960s, they attack the Khazars and break their power. They also attacked (with Byzantine encouragement) the Volga Bulgars and the Danube Bulgars. The Rus sought control of the Caucaus trade centers. Vladimir came to tpower in the Gorodishche-Novogorod region, then went to Kiev. He attacked the Volga Bulgars in 985. He picked Christianity over Judaism and Islam. He was secure in Kiev but his overall legitimacy was still in doubt. He links himself to the new religion to help himself politically. The slave trade was big in the area, with young female slaves especially prized. Kiev was improving, so Vladimir expanded to the north and west in the 980s. He destroyed pagan shrines in Kiev and compelled the people to mass baptism. Burial practices gradually became more Christian.
There was a nasty civil war after Vladimir's death that lasted about 30 years. The problem signs were there late in his life. The civil war showed there was a lack of an accepted framework of political legitimacy (or if there had been one, it had broken down). There was no automatic, peaceful succession. Vladimir's sons weren't content to just control their own regional bases. They wanted central power. In a weird sense then, that means Vladimir had succeeded in creating more centralized power than before.
From 1036-1054, Iaroslav dominated his land. He had big public patronage construction projects. He modeled his cultural patronage on the Byzantines. He built a Kievan church like Hagia Sophia - St. Sophia, which was a Byzantine church in all but location. He attacked Constantinople in 1043, which would be the last such major raid by the Rus there. Iaroslav issued the first Rus law code - or least it was credited to him later. This code derived from Byzantine practices to some extent. Christianity kept spreading, and was strongest in centers of power. Church law was forming. Greek sermons were translated into Slavic. Native Christian literature began by the mid-11th century.
After Iaroslav, the rise of princelings occurred. This was partially his own doing to prevent discord among his sons. (Five survived him). There wasn't a fixed political system in place, so you can't really say one fell apart. Novogorod was burnt and a prince of Novogorod was appointed by someone from outside of Kiev in 1069. The next generation of leaders (Iaroslav's grandkids) started to emerge. Some counter-offensives in the steppes began in the early 12th century. A fixed political system wasn't emerging, but a political culture was. The 20 year reign of Sviatopolk was a coming of age for the political culture. This was be an era for the future Rus to model itself on.
By the late 11th and early 12th centuries, the Kiev economy experience boom years. Kiev dominated the internal trade. They had money, but not coinage. The city was largely self-regulating. Women were involved in the cultural and economic life, especially elite women (most especially princesses). It's hard to find the start of effective native monasticism, but it happened before 1054. But after 1054, it gained steam, especially around Kiev. Some monasteries focused mostly around peasants. The monks were to focus on obedience, worship, and manual labor. Mostly, the age of cultural borrowing from the Byzantines was coming to a close. They were going to developing their own culture (this sub-section of the chapter is titled, "Going native"). The Rus began to settle into self-sufficiency instead of looking to Greek culture.
Native princes sacked Kiev in 1149. A period of economic expansion created new strains, but mostly if was an era of growth and sustained success. Novogorod benefited from contact with western Europe's rising demand for furs - and Novogorod had access to the mid-Volga region of furs. Smolenks was a rising city at the intersection of trade routes. Peripheral towns were aided by the overall regional prosperity. The economic and dynastic growth helped spread Christianity. More churches were built. One sign of cultural confidence was internal debate within the culture.
By 1200, there was laments of a declining dynastic ethos - but this nostalgia was based on an illusion. The Rus was linked by kinship, language, faith, and the legitimacy of a single political dynasty.
July 13, 2025
"The Emergence of Rus" is a nearly 30 years old book and will undoubtedly be outdated in places, but it remains an eminently worthwhile and enjoyable read - and one of the few out there that cover this period of history in some overall coverage and depth. The book starts with the Scandinavian origins of the Rus (the name Rus likely coming from a Swedish word, with the Frankish annals explicitly equating the name to the Swedes), as Scandinavian elites and traders merged and interacted with Slavs, Balts, and other people to create a new culture whose great towns and trading networks were organized next to and through the Dnieper and Volga rivers.
The book then covers the relationship of the Rus to its neighbors. The raids on Constantinople in 860 and 941 are described (a later 1043 attack on Constantinople under Yaroslav the Wise sums up the triad), and the level of East Roman (Byzantine) influence discussed, as is the relationship to neighboring Slavic, Khazar, Bulgar, Hungarian, Pecheneg, and Polovtsy/Cuman people. North-south/south-north (and to a more limited extent, west-east) trade in silver, enslaved people, and other wares was an important reason for both the emergence and the growth of the Rus.
The reigns of the princes of Kyiv are then covered in detail, starting with Igor, Olga, and Sviatoslav I. Sviatoslav successfully fought the Khazars and the Bulgarians, resulting in the collapse of their respective empires, hitherto more powerful than the Rus. Victory against the Khazars led to Rus dominance of the Volga trade including opening up the path to trade through the Black Sea. These battles succeeded in part through alliances with Pechenegs and Hungarians - with the East Romans joining in against the Bulgarians (though there were also some skirmishes between the Rus and East Romans). Sviatoslav and his retinue were, however, killed by Pechenegs on the way back to Rus, with Sviatoslav's skull supposedly made into a chalice for use by the Pecheneg khan.
A brief succession war followed between the two illegitimate sons, Oleg and Yaropolk, in 976, leading to Oleg's death until Vladimir (later Vladimir the Great), an illegitimate son, raised an army of Varangians and killed Yaropolk. At a time when multiple other monarchs (including the Polish and the Danish) converted to Christianity, Vladimir chose to do the same, getting baptized in 988. Marriage ties were arranged with Poland, Hungary, and Sweden. Vladimir also expanded Rus territory to the north and west and scaled up building efforts in Kyiv proper, as well as in some of the other Rus cities.
Vladimir's death resulted in a multi-phase 20-year succession war, which caused the death or imprisonment of 11 brothers before Yaroslav the Wise took the throne. The war between Yaroslav and his brother Sviatopolk, in particular, was a multinational event, bringing in armies of Poles, Germans, Hungarians, Pechenegs, and Khazars. As the authors note, Mstislav recruited by conquest, Sviatipolk by alliance, and Yaroslav mostly by hiring mercenaries.
Yaroslav was the last great patron of the Varangians (Scandinavians) among the Rus, following in his father's example. He married Ingegerd Olofsdotter, the daughter of Olof Skötkonung, King of Sweden (who was the son of Eric the Victorious, apparently the first Swedish king to be accepted as king by both the Swedes and the Geats). Olaf II of Norway and his son Magnus visited Yaroslav when they fleed from Canute in 1028/29, with Magnus brought up among Yaroslav's retainers - Magnus, known as Magnus the Good, later became King of Norway 1035-1047 and King of Denmark from 1042-1047. Likewise, Harald Hardrada served in exile as a mercenary commander under both Yaroslav in Rus and as commander of the Byzantine Varangian Guard - and married Elisiv, one of Yaroslav's daughters. Harald then returned to Scandinavia to join forces with Sweyn Estridsson against Norway, resulting in Magnus and Harald agreeing to co-rule Norway, until at Magnus' death Harald became sole ruler of Norway - before unsuccessfully attempting to conquer both Denmark and England. The latter attempt happened in 1066, when English King Harold Godwinson's brother Tostig pledged his allegiance to Harald and invited him to claim the English throne, leading to a 10,000 troop invasion that initially defeated the English but then resulted in his death. Three days later, William the Conqueror's landed in southern England.
But I digress (parts of the above aren't even in the book, but given my Scandinavian background, I wanted to highlight those parts that connect to that part of the world - and there are many!). The authors describe cultural, religious, architectural, and literary developments among the Rus, noting in particular that the Rus did not copy the East Roman appetite for Greek and Roman literature. They then describe the history of the Rus after Yaroslav the wise as one of fractured familial feuds that are difficult to follow but which show the importance of family relationships and divisions, with individual members of the family sometimes being attached to different parts of Rus, presaging the later development of Rus into a more regional polity. The Cumans/Polvtsky were peripheral players in some of these events in the 1000s and 1100s. The authors note that the more decentralized nature of the Rus polity did not mean the decline of Kyiv but that rather regionalization and continued cultural and economic growth went hand in hand. There was quite a lot of turnover of power, however: between 1000 and 1150 the average continuous reign of a prince was 7.5 years, while between 1150 and 1200 the average continuous reign was less than two years! While political and economic authority fractured, however, the authors argue that a single dominant culture created more of a common identity than had been the case in earlier times.
The book ends a few decades before the Mongols. I look forward to picking up subsequent history at a later point - starting with the Golden Horde and then the Muscovy that followed.
The book then covers the relationship of the Rus to its neighbors. The raids on Constantinople in 860 and 941 are described (a later 1043 attack on Constantinople under Yaroslav the Wise sums up the triad), and the level of East Roman (Byzantine) influence discussed, as is the relationship to neighboring Slavic, Khazar, Bulgar, Hungarian, Pecheneg, and Polovtsy/Cuman people. North-south/south-north (and to a more limited extent, west-east) trade in silver, enslaved people, and other wares was an important reason for both the emergence and the growth of the Rus.
The reigns of the princes of Kyiv are then covered in detail, starting with Igor, Olga, and Sviatoslav I. Sviatoslav successfully fought the Khazars and the Bulgarians, resulting in the collapse of their respective empires, hitherto more powerful than the Rus. Victory against the Khazars led to Rus dominance of the Volga trade including opening up the path to trade through the Black Sea. These battles succeeded in part through alliances with Pechenegs and Hungarians - with the East Romans joining in against the Bulgarians (though there were also some skirmishes between the Rus and East Romans). Sviatoslav and his retinue were, however, killed by Pechenegs on the way back to Rus, with Sviatoslav's skull supposedly made into a chalice for use by the Pecheneg khan.
A brief succession war followed between the two illegitimate sons, Oleg and Yaropolk, in 976, leading to Oleg's death until Vladimir (later Vladimir the Great), an illegitimate son, raised an army of Varangians and killed Yaropolk. At a time when multiple other monarchs (including the Polish and the Danish) converted to Christianity, Vladimir chose to do the same, getting baptized in 988. Marriage ties were arranged with Poland, Hungary, and Sweden. Vladimir also expanded Rus territory to the north and west and scaled up building efforts in Kyiv proper, as well as in some of the other Rus cities.
Vladimir's death resulted in a multi-phase 20-year succession war, which caused the death or imprisonment of 11 brothers before Yaroslav the Wise took the throne. The war between Yaroslav and his brother Sviatopolk, in particular, was a multinational event, bringing in armies of Poles, Germans, Hungarians, Pechenegs, and Khazars. As the authors note, Mstislav recruited by conquest, Sviatipolk by alliance, and Yaroslav mostly by hiring mercenaries.
Yaroslav was the last great patron of the Varangians (Scandinavians) among the Rus, following in his father's example. He married Ingegerd Olofsdotter, the daughter of Olof Skötkonung, King of Sweden (who was the son of Eric the Victorious, apparently the first Swedish king to be accepted as king by both the Swedes and the Geats). Olaf II of Norway and his son Magnus visited Yaroslav when they fleed from Canute in 1028/29, with Magnus brought up among Yaroslav's retainers - Magnus, known as Magnus the Good, later became King of Norway 1035-1047 and King of Denmark from 1042-1047. Likewise, Harald Hardrada served in exile as a mercenary commander under both Yaroslav in Rus and as commander of the Byzantine Varangian Guard - and married Elisiv, one of Yaroslav's daughters. Harald then returned to Scandinavia to join forces with Sweyn Estridsson against Norway, resulting in Magnus and Harald agreeing to co-rule Norway, until at Magnus' death Harald became sole ruler of Norway - before unsuccessfully attempting to conquer both Denmark and England. The latter attempt happened in 1066, when English King Harold Godwinson's brother Tostig pledged his allegiance to Harald and invited him to claim the English throne, leading to a 10,000 troop invasion that initially defeated the English but then resulted in his death. Three days later, William the Conqueror's landed in southern England.
But I digress (parts of the above aren't even in the book, but given my Scandinavian background, I wanted to highlight those parts that connect to that part of the world - and there are many!). The authors describe cultural, religious, architectural, and literary developments among the Rus, noting in particular that the Rus did not copy the East Roman appetite for Greek and Roman literature. They then describe the history of the Rus after Yaroslav the wise as one of fractured familial feuds that are difficult to follow but which show the importance of family relationships and divisions, with individual members of the family sometimes being attached to different parts of Rus, presaging the later development of Rus into a more regional polity. The Cumans/Polvtsky were peripheral players in some of these events in the 1000s and 1100s. The authors note that the more decentralized nature of the Rus polity did not mean the decline of Kyiv but that rather regionalization and continued cultural and economic growth went hand in hand. There was quite a lot of turnover of power, however: between 1000 and 1150 the average continuous reign of a prince was 7.5 years, while between 1150 and 1200 the average continuous reign was less than two years! While political and economic authority fractured, however, the authors argue that a single dominant culture created more of a common identity than had been the case in earlier times.
The book ends a few decades before the Mongols. I look forward to picking up subsequent history at a later point - starting with the Golden Horde and then the Muscovy that followed.
November 4, 2015
I mainly read this book to get an in-depth look at the very earliest history and evidence of the Rus, and for that the book is magnificent. It includes a lot of rich and fascinating hypotheses concerning their Scandinavian roots, Volga trade with the Abbasid Caliphate, and the development of the centrality of Kiev and the middle Dnieper in trade and politics.
A masterful account!
A masterful account!
October 28, 2022
This is a dense book, filled with a lot of excellent detail but not what I would consider riveting reading. It will likely take you awhile to get through it, and you're going to be met with a confusing set names, places, and events, but if you're interested in the subject it is a very thorough look at the foundations of Kiev and the empire that expanded out of it.
June 30, 2024
Simon Franklin & John Shepherd have done a very impressive job of weaving such a cohesive picture out of such nebulous documentary and archeological evidence. Impressively readable despite its purely scholarly intended audience. A fantastic start to the Longman series though I am sad that this nearly 30 year old book is the most contemporary work on this period.
February 2, 2025
An excellent review of early Russian history. Understanding why this area achieved such a fast rate of urbanisation and growth from 1000-1200 with a political and cultural unity maintained over such a vast area. Trade seems key but why did external elites provide such a glue? And why Constantinople rather than Baghdad?
April 10, 2018
This book is a survey of how Rus’ came to be as a polity and a distinct culture, from its hazy origins in the mid eighth century when some Scandinavians began to settle in the eastern Baltic region to pursue the silver trade with the Middle East, to the wide network of principalities across Eastern Europe just before the Mongol invasion. It is written for a fairly wide audience. The authors cite specialist literature in footnotes for each of their claims, but they attempt to distill the insights of archaeology and critical study of early writings into a book that non-specialists can enjoy.
The authors chose the simple label “Rus’” – and not Kievan Rus’ – intentionally, noting that Rus’ only grew vaster as the importance of Kyiv declined. Rus’ was to some degree a political phenomenon, and due to chronicles so much of the direct testimony of its history involves squabbles over succession and wars both civil and foreign. However, the authors avoid making this dull history of who succeeded who. We get as much information about the simple, everyday daily life of Rus’ inhabitants as the archaeological record and the Novgorod birchbark letters tell us.
Two decades after its publication, there is a need for an updated edition of this book to reflect more recent discoveries, so I have docked a star, but this book makes a convenient starting point for anyone interested in the phenomenon of Rus’.
The authors chose the simple label “Rus’” – and not Kievan Rus’ – intentionally, noting that Rus’ only grew vaster as the importance of Kyiv declined. Rus’ was to some degree a political phenomenon, and due to chronicles so much of the direct testimony of its history involves squabbles over succession and wars both civil and foreign. However, the authors avoid making this dull history of who succeeded who. We get as much information about the simple, everyday daily life of Rus’ inhabitants as the archaeological record and the Novgorod birchbark letters tell us.
Two decades after its publication, there is a need for an updated edition of this book to reflect more recent discoveries, so I have docked a star, but this book makes a convenient starting point for anyone interested in the phenomenon of Rus’.
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