East Slavs

The East Slavs are a Slavic ethnic group, the speakers of East Slavic languages. Formerly the main population of the medieval state of Kievan Rus, by the seventeenth century they evolved into the Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian peoples.

Relatively little is known about the East Slavs prior to approximately 859 AD, the date from which the account in the Primary Chronicle starts. The reasons are the apparent absence of a written language and the remoteness of East Slavic lands. What little is known comes from archaeological digs, foreign traveler accounts of the Rus land, and linguistic comparative analyses of Slavic languages.

Except for the apocryphal Book of Veles, very few native Russian documents, dating before the 11th century have been discovered. The earliest major manuscript with information on Rus' history is the Primary Chronicle, written in the late 11th and early 12th centuries. It lists the twelve Slavic tribal unions who, by the 9th century settled between the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea. These tribal unions were Polans, Drevlyans, Dregovichs, Radimichs, Vyatichs, Krivichs, Slovens, Dulebes (later known as Volhynians and Buzhans), White Khorvats, Severians, Ulichs, Tivertsi.

In the first millennium AD, Slavic settlers are likely to have been in contact with other ethnic groups who moved across the East European Plain during the Migration Period. Between the first and ninth centuries, the Sarmatians, Goths, nomadic Huns, Alans, Avars, Bulgars, and Magyars passed through the Pontic steppe in their westward migrations. Although some of them could have subjugated the region's Slavs, these foreign tribes left little trace in the Slavic lands. The Early Middle Ages also saw Slavic expansion as an agriculturist and beekeeper, hunter, fisher, herder, and trapper people. By the 8th century, the Slavs were the dominant ethnic group on the East European Plain.

By 600 AD, the Slavs had split linguistically into southern, western, and eastern branches. The East Slavs flooded Eastern Europe in two streams. One group of tribes settled along the Dnieper river in what is now Ukraine; they then spread northward to the northern Volga valley, east of modern-day Moscow and westward to the basins of the northern Dniester and the Southern Buh rivers in present-day Moldova and southern Ukraine.

Another group of East Slavs moved from Pomerania to the northeast, where they encountered the Varangians of the Rus' Khaganate and established an important regional centre of Novgorod. The same Slavic population also settled the present-day Tver Oblast and the region of Beloozero. Having reached the lands of the Merya near Rostov, they linked up with the Dnieper group of Slavic migrants.

In the eighth and ninth centuries, the south branches of East Slavic tribes had to pay tribute to the Khazars, a Turkic-speaking people who adopted Judaism in the late eighth or ninth century and lived in the southern Volga and Caucasus regions. Roughly in the same period, the Ilmen Slavs and Krivichs were dominated by the Varangians of the Rus' Khaganate, who controlled the trade route between the Baltic Sea and the Byzantine Empire.

The earliest tribal centers of the East Slavs included Novgorod, Izborsk, Polotsk, Gnezdovo, Sarskoe Gorodishche, and Kyiv. Archaeology indicates that they appeared at the turn of the tenth century, soon after the Slavs and Finns of Novgorod had rebelled against the Norsemen and forced them to withdraw to Scandinavia. The reign of Oleg of Novgorod in the early tenth century witnessed the return of the Varangians to Novgorod and relocation of their capital to Kyiv on the Dnieper. From this base, the mixed Varangian-Slavic population (known as the Rus) launched several expeditions against Constantinople.

At first the ruling elite was primarily Norse, but it was rapidly Slavicized by the mid-century. Sviatoslav I of Kyiv (who reigned in the 960s) was the first Rus ruler with a Slavonic name.

Anna Reid

“Kyiv culture”

London, Orion Books, 1998

The Kyiv culture is an archaeological culture dating from about the third to fifth centuries AD, named after Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. It is widely considered to be the first identifiable Slavic archaeological culture. It is contemporaneous to (and located mostly just to the north of) the Chernyakhov culture, which corresponds to the multi-ethnic Gothic kingdom, Oium, that was established in south-western Ukraine in the second century and ended by the invasion of the Huns in late fourth century. The Gothic historian Jordanes mentions the subjugation of the Slavic people by the Goths in the origin and deeds of the Goths: the location of the Kyiv culture (which in places overlaps with the Chernyakhovo culture) matches his text well.

Settlements are found mostly along river banks, frequently either on high cliffs or right by the edge of rivers. The dwellings are overwhelmingly of the semi-subterranean type (common also in later Slavic cultures and similar to earlier Germanic and Celtic types of dwellings), often square (about four by four meters), with an open hearth in a corner. Most villages consist of just a handful of dwellings. There is very little evidence of the division of labor, although in one case a village belonging to the Kyiv culture was preparing thin strips of antlers to be further reworked into the well-known Gothic antler combs, in a nearby Chernyakhov culture village.

The Kyiv culture ends its existence with the invasion of the Huns, and after a turbulent period in European history, its descendants—the Slavic Prague-Korchak, Penkovo and Kolochino cultures—are re-established in the sixth century in Eastern Europe. There is, however, a substantial disagreement in the scientific community over the identity of the Kyiv culture's predecessors, with some historians and archaeologists tracing it directly from the Milograd culture, others, from the Chernoles culture (the Scythian farmers of Herodotus) through the Zarubintsy culture, still others (mostly Polish) through both the Przeworsk culture and the Zarubintsy culture.

Samuel Hazzard Cross

“The Russian Primary Chronicle”

Cambridge: Mediaeval Academy, 1953

The Primary Chronicle (Повѣсть времяньныхъ лѣтъ, often translated into English as Tale of Bygone Years), is a history of the Kyivan Rus' from around 850 to 1110 originally compiled in Kyiv about 1113.

The original compilation was long considered to be the work of a monk named Nestor, and hence it was formerly referred to as Nestor's Chronicle, or Nestor's manuscript. Among many sources he used were earlier (now lost) Slavonic chronicles, Byzantine annals, native legends and Norse sagas, several Greek religious texts, Rus-Byzantine treaties, oral accounts and other military leaders. Nestor worked at the court of Sviatopolk II of Kyiv and probably shared his pro-Scandinavian policies.

The early part is rich in anecdotal stories, among which are the arrival of the three Varangian brothers, the founding of Kiev, the murder of Askold and Dir, the death of Oleg, who was killed by a serpent concealed in the skeleton of his horse, and the vengeance taken by Olga, the wife of Igor, on the Drevlians, who had murdered her husband. The account of the labors of Saints Cyril and Methodius among the Slavic peoples is also very interesting, and to Nestor we owe the tale of the summary way in which Vladimir the Great suppressed the worship of Perun and other idols at Kyiv.

In the year 1116, Nestor's text was extensively edited by hegumen Sylvester who appended his name at the end of the chronicle. As Vladimir Monomakh was the patron of the village of Vydubychi where his monastery is situated, the new edition glorified that prince and made him the central figure of later narrative. This second version of Nestor's work is preserved in the Laurentian codex.

The third edition followed two years later and centered on the person of Vladimir's son and heir, Mstislav the Great. The author of this revision could have been Greek, for he corrected and updated much data on Byzantine affairs. This latest revision of Nestor's work is preserved in the Hypatian codex.

Because the original of the chronicle as well as the earliest known copies (the Laurentian codex and the Hypatian codex) are lost, it is difficult to establish the original content of the chronicle, word by word.

The Laurentian codex was copied by the Nizhegorod monk Laurentius for the Prince Dmitry Konstantinovich in 1377. The original text he used was a lost codex compiled for the Grand Duke Mikhail of Tver in 1305. The account continues until 1305, but the years 898-922, 1263-83 and 1288-94 are missing for reasons unknown. The manuscript was acquired by the famous Count Musin-Pushkin in 1792 and subsequently presented to the Russian National Library in St Petersburg.

The Hypatian codex was discovered at the Ipatiev Monastery of Kostroma by the Russian historian Nikolay Karamzin. The Hypatian manuscript dates to the 15th century, and incorporates much information from the lost 12th-century Kyivan and 13th-century Halychian chronicles. The language of this work is the East Slavic version of Church Slavonic language with many additional irregular east-slavisms.

Unlike many other medieval chronicles written by European monks, the Tale of Bygone Years is unique as the only written testimony on the earliest history of East Slavic peoples. Its comprehensive account of the history of Kyivan Rus is unmatched in other sources, although important correctives are provided by the Novgorod First Chronicle. It is also valuable as a prime example of the Old East Slavonic literature.

Anna Reid

“Vladimir's baptism of Kyiv”

London, Orion Books, 1998

During the first decade of Vladimir's reign, pagan reaction set in. Perun was chosen as the supreme deity of the Slavic pantheon and his idol was placed on the hill by the royal palace. This revival of paganism was contemporaneous with similar attempts undertaken by Jarl Haakon in Norway and (possibly) Svein Forkbeard in Denmark. Although Vladimir seems to have gone further than both Scandinavian konungs (even human sacrifices were reported in Kyiv), his religious reform failed. By the late 980s he had found it necessary to adopt monotheism from abroad.

The Primary Chronicle reports that in the year 987, as the result of a consultation with his boyars, Vladimir sent envoys to study the religions of the various neighboring nations whose representatives had been urging him to embrace their respective faiths. The result is amusingly described in the following apocryphal anecdote. Of the Muslim Bulgarians of the Volga the envoys reported there is no gladness among them; only sorrow and a great stench, and that their religion was undesirable due to its taboo against alcoholic beverages and pork; supposedly, Vladimir said on that occasion: "Drinking is the joy of the Rus'."

Russian sources also describe Vladimir consulting with Jewish envoys (who may or may not have been Khazars), and questioning them about their religion but ultimately rejecting it, saying that their loss of Jerusalem was evidence of their having been abandoned by God.

Ultimately Vladimir settled on Christianity. In the gloomy churches of the Germans his emissaries saw no beauty; but at Hagia Sophia, where the full festival ritual of the Byzantine Church was set in motion to impress them, they found their ideal: "We no longer knew whether we were in heaven or on earth," they reported, "nor such beauty, and we know not how to tell of it." If Vladimir was impressed by this account of his envoys, he was yet more so by political gains of the Byzantine alliance.

Foreign sources, very few in number, present the following story of Vladimir's conversion. Yahya of Antioch and his followers give essentially the same account. In 987, the generals Bardas Sclerus and Bardas Phocas revolted against the Byzantine emperor Basil II. Both rebels briefly joined forces and advanced on Constantinople. On September 14, 987, Bardas Phocas proclaimed himself emperor. Anxious to avoid the siege of his capital, Basil II turned to the Rus for assistance, even though they were considered enemies at that time. Vladimir agreed, in exchange for a marital tie; he also agreed to accept Orthodox Christianity as his religion and bring his people to the new faith. When the wedding arrangements were settled, Vladimir dispatched 6,000 troops to the Byzantine Empire and they helped to put down the revolt.

In the Primary Chronicle, the account of Vladimir's baptism is preceded by the so-called Korsun' Legend. According to this apocryphal story, in 988 Vladimir captured the Greek town of Korsun' (Chersonesos) in Crimea, highly important commercially and politically. This campaign may have been dictated by his wish to secure the benefits promised to him by Basil II, when he had asked for the Rus' assistance against Phocas. In recompense for the evacuation of Chersonesos, Vladimir was promised the hand of the emperor's sister, Anna. Prior to the wedding, Vladimir was baptized, taking the Christian name of Basil out of compliment to his imperial brother-in-law. The sacrament was followed by his marriage with the Greek princess.

Returning to Kyiv in triumph, Vladimir exhorted the residents of his capital to the Dnieper River for baptism. This mass baptism became the iconic inaugural event in the Christianization of the state of Kievan Rus.

At first Vladimir baptized his 12 sons and many boyars. He destroyed the wooden statues of Slavic pagan gods (which he had himself raised just eight years earlier). They were either burnt or hacked into pieces, and the statue of Perun — the supreme god — was thrown into the Dnieper. Then he sent a message to all residents of Kyiv, "rich, and poor, and beggars, and slaves", to come to the river on the following day, lest they risk becoming the "prince's enemies". Large number of people came; some even brought infants with them. They were sent into the water while Orthodox priests, who came from Chersonesos for the occasion, prayed.

To commemorate the event, Vladimir built the first stone church of Kyivan Rus, called the Church of the Tithes, where his body and the body of his new wife were to repose. Another church was built on top of the hill where pagan statues stood before.

Mikhail Tikhomirov

“The Russkaya Pravda and its textual History”

Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture, 1997

Russkaya Pravda was the legal code of Kyivan Rus and the subsequent Rus' principalities during the times of feudal division. While it shares a number of features with contemporary Germanic codifications, it is also distinguished by many peculiarities, such as the absence of capital punishment.

Three editions of "RP" are known: the Short Edition (Kratkaya), the Vast Edition (Prostrannaya), and the Abridged Edition (Sokrashchennaya). Over 110 extant copies dating from the thirteenth to the eighteenth centuries are preserved, included in various manuscripts: chronicles and compilations. Of these, over 100 copies, including the oldest preserved, are of the Vast Edition.

The code was discovered by the historian Vasily Tatischev in the text of one of Novgorod chronicles and brought to the attention of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 1738.

Russkaya Pravda’s legal regulations reflected the evolution of the social relations in the Rus' of the 11th-13th centuries. Common law, Knyaz legislation, and legal proceedings represented the basis of "RP".

The Short Edition of "RP" contains two apparently distinct parts, called by researchers "Pravda Yaroslava" (Yaroslav’s Truth, ca. 1017), otherwise known as "Drevneyshaya Pravda" (the Oldest Justice) of Yaroslav the Wise, and "Pravda Yaroslavichey" (Justice by Yaroslav’s sons, ca. 1054). Some indicate other distinct components of the text, possibly added later.

"Pravda Yaroslava" comprised legal regulations of feudal law along with the archaic regulations that could be traced back to the primitive communal system. According to a popular theory, it was promulgated in order to settle a conflict between Konstantin Dobrynich, a posadnik of Novgorod, and the Varangian population of the city.

Subsequent development and improvement of "RP" took place in times of Yaroslav’s sons and his grandson Vladimir Monomakh. New provisions are believed to have been added to "Russkaya Pravda" after the revolts in Kyiv, Novgorod, and Rostov-Suzdal province in 1068-1071.

On the territory of present-day Russia, the "RP" was replaced in 1497 by the "Sudebnik", the Code of Law. Several centuries earlier, new legal codes were promulgated in Pskov and Novgorod.

"Pravda Yaroslavichey" increased responsibility of a given community for killing knyaz’es soldiers, tiuns ("tiun", a privileged servant of knyazs or boyars), starostas ("starosta", a representative from the low-ranking administration of a knyaz), otroks ("otrok", a low-ranking soldier in the army of a knyaz) and other servants on their own territory. "Pravda Yaroslavichey" provided severe punishment for arson, deliberate cattle mutilation, and collective encroachment on rich people’s property. After the 1113 Riot in Kyiv, an exorbitant interest law was introduced that limited financial operations of moneylenders.

"Russkaya Pravda" stabilized the system of feudal relations and social inequality. During 11th-13th centuries "RP" served the strengthening of feudal dependency of smerds ("smerd" – a feudal-dependent peasant), zakups ("zakup" - a feudal-dependent peasant, who could become free after paying off his "zakup", a feudal loan), kholops ("kholop" – a feudal-dependent peasant, who could be killed or sold like a slave), etc. The Vast Edition of "RP" contains special regulations with regards to the status of zakups and kholops. "RP" also reflects the role of the court of knyaz’, a trend towards increasing differentiation of punishments and penalties, bigger fines for the benefit of knyaz’ or his administration with correspondingly decreasing compensation to the victims.

Trying to abolish blood feud (that was quite common at that time), "RP" narrowed its "usage" and limited the number of avengers to the closest relatives of the dead. If there were no avengers on the victim’s side, the killer had to pay a fine (called "vira") in favor of the knyaz’ and partial compensation to the relatives of the victim (the killer’s community had to help him pay his fine). If a woman were killed, one would have to pay half of the regular fine (called "poluvir’ye", half of "vira").

"RP" also defended health and honor of the free members of the feudal society and had provisions about financial compensations for mutilation or an insult by word or deed. "RP" had a detailed system of punishments and penalties for larceny in a city or countryside, deliberate damage to forests, hunting grounds or lands, trespassing etc. It also regulated debt relations between individuals and contained articles of liability and hereditary law. Under "RP", legal proceedings included witnesses, use of oaths or "ordaliy" (lat. ordalium, or "ordeal" in English, a kind of a last-resort test used to prove defendant’s innocence or guilt). The search for culprits included listening to witnesses, collecting evidence, or hot pursuit. Investigators had to check for false accusations, as well. These were the first steps towards forensic science.

Ohloblyn, A.

“Treaty of Pereyaslav, 1654”

(Toronto and New York 1954)

The Treaty of Pereyaslav was concluded in 1654 in the Ukrainian city of Pereiaslav-Khmelnytskyi during the meeting, between the Cossacks of the Zaporizhian Host and Tsar Alexey I of Muscovy, following the Khmelnytsky rebellion. Known as the Pereyaslav Council (Pereyaslavs'ka Rada), the treaty provided for the protection of the Ukrainian Cossack state by the tsar. Participants in the preparation of the treaty at Pereyaslav included the Cossack Hetman, Bohdan Khmelnytsky, numerous Cossacks, and a large visiting contingent from Russia and their translators. The original copies of the treaty have perished, and the exact nature of the relationship stipulated by this treaty between Ukraine and Russia is a matter of scholarly controversy. The treaty led to the establishment of the Cossack Hetmanate in left-bank Ukraine, under the Russian Empire, and to the outbreak of the Russo-Polish War (1654-1667).

Whatever the nature of the treaty, the consequences were clearer over time. Major consequences of the treaty included the separation of Ukraine from formerly dominant Catholic Poland, the re-strengthening of Orthodoxy in the historic center of Ukraine, and the eventual domination of Ukraine by neighboring Orthodox Russia.

In the long run, the consequences for Ukraine were pivotal. Polish colonization and Polonization of the upper class soon became replaced by a systematic process of Russification, culminating in the ban of the Ukrainian language. Also suppressed was the distinct identity of the Kievan Church of Rus': both branches of the Ukrainian Church resulting from the Union of Brest were suppressed.

For Poland, the treaty marked a beginning of a process of dismemberment leading to its complete loss of independence (1795).

For Russia, the treaty eventually led to the acquisition of Ukraine, providing a justification for the ambitious title of the Muscovite, and later Russian tsars and emperors, The Ruler of All Rus’. Russia, being at that time the only part of the former Kievan Rus which was not occupied by a foreign power, considered herself as legitimate successor and reunificator of former Rus lands.

This treaty is seen by Ukrainian nationalists as a sad occasion of the lost chance for Ukrainian independence. The "Rainbow" monument in Kyiv, Ukraine being colloquially referred to as "Yoke of the Peoples" further demonstrates the controversial nature of the treaty. Pro-Russian Ukrainian parties, on the other hand, celebrate the date of this event and renew calls for the re-unification of the three Eastern Slavic nations: Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.

In 2004, after the celebration of the 350th anniversary of the event, the administration of president Leonid Kuchma of Ukraine established January 18 as the official date to commemorate the event, a move which created controversy. Previously, in 1954, the anniversary celebrations included the controversial transfer of Crimea from the Russian Republic to the Ukrainian Republic of the Soviet Union.