Features of the reign of the first Russian princes. Grand Dukes of Ancient Rus'

Characteristic: the leader of the Varangians came with his retinue to Rus'. He became the very first prince in Rus'.

Years of reign: around 860s – 879

Politics, activities: ruled Novgorod and founded it. Expanded the borders of his possessions (after the death of his brothers he annexed Rostov the Great, Polotsk and Murom)

Military campaigns: unknown. In general, little is known about Rurik at all.

Name: Askold and Dir

Characteristic: Varangians, companions of Rurik. Converted to Christianity.

Years of reign: from 860s to 882 (killed by Oleg, who seized power)

Politics, activities: ruled Kyiv, were in conflict with Rurik. They spread Christianity and strengthened Kievan Rus as a state.

Military campaigns: the first Russian campaign in history against Byzantium, a campaign against the Pechenegs.

Name: Oleg

Characteristic: Varangian, king (comrade-in-arms of Rurik). He ruled as the guardian of Rurik's son Igor.

Years of reign: from 879 Novgorod after Rurik, from 882 - also Kiev (killed princes Dir and Askold). The exact dates are unknown

Politics, activities: Expanded the territory of the principality, collected tribute from tribes

Military campaigns: to Byzantium (907) - “the shield was nailed to the gates of Constantinople”, to the tribes of the Drevlyans, northerners, Radimichi

Name: Igor (Inger)

Characteristic: son of Rurik

Years of reign: 912 – 945 (dates are very doubtful)

Politics, activities: strengthened power over Kyiv, Novgorod and Slavic tribes. First Kyiv prince, officially recognized by the Byzantine emperor.

Military campaigns: against Byzantium (941-44), against the Pechenegs, conquered the principality of the Drevlyans. Died while trying to collect tribute from the Drevlyans twice

Name: Olga

Characteristic: Igor's widow

Years of reign: 945 - 960

Politics, activities: accepted and spread Christianity in Rus'. She streamlined the collection and amount of taxes, because of which Igor died. For the first time she introduced stone houses in Rus'.

Military campaigns: she brutally took revenge on the Drevlyans on the death of her husband, burning the center of the Drevlyan land - the city of Iskorosten. In the absence of her son Svyatoslav, she led the defense of Kyiv from the Pecheneg raid.

Name: Svyatoslav

Characteristic: son of Igor and Olga. The first prince in Rus' who had not a Varangian, but a Slavic name.

Years of reign: 960-972

Politics, activities: Expanding the borders of the state. Warrior Prince

Military campaigns: defeated the Khazar Kaganate, the main rival of Rus' in the international arena. Took the capital of the Khazars - Itil. He fought with the Pechenegs, and very successfully - with Bulgaria and Byzantium. After another campaign against Byzantium, which this time ended in failure, he was killed by the Pechenegs on the way back to Kyiv.

Name: Vladimir

Characteristic: third son of Svyatoslav

Years of reign: from 970 - Novgorod, from 978 - Kiev (killed his older brother Yaropolk, who was the prince of Kyiv after the death of his father, Prince Svyatoslav). Died in 1015.

Politics, activities: baptized Rus' in 988, thereby uniting tribes scattered by various pagan cults. Conducted diplomatic relations with neighboring powers.

Military campaigns: to Kyiv - against Yaropolk (however, it was Yaropolk who started the internecine war between the brothers), provided military assistance to the Emperor of Byzantium. Campaigns against the Croats, Bulgarians, Poles, Radimichi, Yatvingians and Vyatichi tribes. Created a powerful system of border defense against the Pechenegs.

Name: Yaroslav the Wise

Characteristic: son of Vladimir

Years of reign: Prince of Rostov from 987, Prince of Novgorod - from 1010, Grand Duke Kyiv - since 1016.

Politics, activities: He founded the St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv. Under Yaroslav, Kyiv strengthened and expanded, the first monasteries appeared in Rus' as the only centers for the spread of literacy and book publishing at that time. Founded the city of Yaroslavl (modern Russia)

He strengthened diplomatic ties of Kievan Rus, including through political marriages. For example, Yaroslav married one of his daughters, Anna, to the King of France, another, Anastasia, to the Hungarian King, and the third, Elizabeth, to the King of Norway. Yaroslav himself married a Swedish princess.

Military campaigns: He killed his brother Svyatopolk in the struggle for the Kyiv throne. He helped the Polish king with military actions, conquered the Chud, Yam, and Yatvingian tribes. Trip to Lithuania.

In 862, Prince Rurik was invited to reign in northwestern Rus', who became the founder of the new state. What was the activity of the first Kyiv princes - we learn from an article on history for the 10th grade.

Domestic and foreign policy of the first Russian princes

Let's create a table of the First Kyiv Princes.

Starting in order, we should mention not Rurik as the first Russian prince, but his boyars Askold and Dir as the first princes of Kyiv. Having not received cities in Northern Rus' to govern, they went south to Constantinople, but, moving along the Dnieper, they landed at a small town that had a convenient geographical and strategic position.

In 879, Rurik died and Oleg became his successor until his son Igor came of age. In 882, Oleg launched a campaign of conquest against Kyiv. Fearing major battle with a large army of co-rulers. Oleg lured them out of the city by cunning, and then killed them.

Rice. 1. Borders of Rus' in the 9th century.

The names Askold and Dir are familiar to every resident of Kyiv. These are the first martyrs of the Russian land. In 2013, Ukrainian Orthodox Church The Kyiv Patriarchate canonized them as saints.

Having also captured Smolensk and Lyubech, Oleg established control over the trade route “From the Varangians to the Greeks”, moved the capital of Rus' from Novgorod to Kyiv, creating Kievan Rus - a single principality Eastern Slavs. He built cities, determined the amount of taxes from the subordinate southern tribes, and successfully fought with the Khazars.

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Rice. 2. Map of the route from the Varangians to the Greeks.

In 907, Oleg made a campaign against Constantinople, according to which he was able to conclude a trade agreement beneficial for Rus' with the Romans.

Igor's reign

After Oleg's death, Igor took over the reins. He made two campaigns against Byzantium - in 941 and 944, but neither was successful great success. The Russian fleet was completely burned by Greek fire. In 913 and 943, he made two trips to the Caspian lands.

In 945, while collecting tribute from subordinate tribes, Igor succumbed to pressure from his squad and decided to collect tribute in larger size. Returning to the lands of the Drevlyans for the second time, but with a small detachment, Igor was killed in the capital of the Drevlyan land, the city of Iskorosten.

Olga and Svyatoslav

The regent for Igor's two-year-old son Svyatoslav was his mother, Olga. The princess avenged the murder of Igor by plundering the Drevlyan land and burning Iskorosten.

Olga was responsible for the first economic reform in Rus'. She established lessons and graveyards - the size of the tribute and the places where they were collected. In 955, she converted to Christianity, becoming the first Russian princess of the Orthodox faith.

Svyatoslav, having matured, spent all his time on campaigns, dreaming of military glory. In 965, he destroyed the Khazar Khaganate, and two years later, at the request of the Byzantines, he invaded Bulgaria. He did not fulfill the terms of the agreement with the Romans, capturing 80 Bulgarian cities and beginning to reign in the occupied lands. This gave rise to the Byzantine-Russian war of 970-971, as a result of which Svyatoslav was forced to leave Bulgaria, but was killed by the Pechenegs on the way home.

Vladimir Red Sun

An internecine war broke out between the three sons of Svyatoslav, in which Vladimir emerged victorious. Under him, extensive urban planning began in Rus', but his most important achievement lay elsewhere. In 988, Vladimir baptized Rus', moving from paganism to Orthodox Christianity, announcing that Rus' now has to younger sister great Byzantium.

Rice. 3. Baptism of Rus'.

Using the prepared soil for the development of the young state, Vladimir's son, Yaroslav the Wise, will make Rus' a leading state in Europe, which will experience its heyday during his reign.

What have we learned?

The first Kyiv princes were mainly concerned with the expansion and strengthening of the young Russian state. Their task was to secure the borders of Kievan Rus from external aggression and make allies, primarily in the person of Byzantium. The adoption of Christianity and the destruction of the Khazars partially resolved these issues.

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Prince Rurik. Since 862, Rurik, according to the Tale of Bygone Years, established himself in Novgorod. According to tradition, the beginning of Russian statehood dates back to this time. (In 1862, a monument to the millennium of Russia was erected in the Novgorod Kremlin, sculptor M.O. Mikeshin.) Some historians believe that Rurik was real historical figure, identifying him with Rurik of Friesland, who, at the head of his squad, repeatedly made campaigns against Western Europe. Rurik settled in Novgorod, one of his brothers, Sineus, on White Lake (now Belozersk, Vologda region), the other, Truvor, in Izborsk (near Pskov). Historians consider the names of the “brothers” to be a distortion of ancient Swedish words: “sineus” “with their clans”, “truvor” - a faithful squad. This usually serves as one of the arguments against the reliability of the Varangian legend. Two years later, according to chronicles, the brothers died, and Rurik handed over the management of the most important cities to his husbands. Two of them, Askold and Dir, who made an unsuccessful campaign against Byzantium, occupied Kyiv and freed the Kyivans from Khazar tribute.

After the death of Rurik in 879, who left no heir (according to another version, he was Igor, which later gave rise to historical literature to call the dynasty of Kyiv princes “Rurikovichs”, and Kievan Rus “the power of Rurikovichs”), power in Novgorod was seized by the leader of one of the Varangian detachments Oleg (879-911).

Prince Oleg. Oleg undertook a campaign against Kyiv, where at that time Askold and Dir reigned (some historians consider these princes the last representatives genus Kiya). Posing themselves as merchants, Oleg's warriors, using deception, killed Askold and Dir and captured the city. Kyiv became the center of the united state.

Rus''s trading partner was the powerful Byzantine Empire. The Kyiv princes repeatedly made campaigns against their southern neighbor. So, back in 860, Askold and Dir undertook a successful campaign against Byzantium. (More great fame received the agreement between Rus' and Byzantium, concluded by Oleg.

In 907 and 911, Oleg and his army successfully fought twice under the walls of Constantinople (Constantinople). As a result of these campaigns, treaties were concluded with the Greeks, drawn up, as the chronicler wrote, “for two haratiyas,” i.e. in duplicate in Russian and Greek. This confirms that Russian writing appeared long before the adoption of Christianity. Before the advent of “Russian Truth”, legislation was also taking shape (in the agreement with the Greeks, the “Russian Law” was mentioned, with which the inhabitants of Kievan Rus were judged).

According to the agreements, Russian merchants had the right to live for a month at the expense of the Greeks in Constantinople, but were obliged to walk around the city without weapons. At the same time, merchants had to have written documents with them and warn the Byzantine emperor about their arrival in advance. Oleg's agreement with the Greeks provided the possibility of exporting the tribute collected in Rus' and selling it in the markets of Byzantium.

Under Oleg, the Drevlyans, northerners, and Radimichi were included in his state and began to pay tribute to Kyiv. However, the process of incorporating various tribal unions into Kievan Rus was not a one-time event.

Prince Igor. After the death of Oleg, Igor began to reign in Kyiv (912-945). During his reign in 944, an agreement with Byzantium was confirmed on less favorable terms. Under Igor, the first popular disturbance described in the chronicle took place - the uprising of the Drevlyans in 945. The collection of tribute in the conquered lands was carried out by the Varangian Sveneld with his detachment. Their enrichment caused a murmur in Igor’s squad. “Prince,” said Igor’s warriors, Sveneld’s warriors were richly equipped with weapons and ports, and we became poor. Let’s go collect tribute, and you and we will receive a lot.”

Having collected tribute and sent carts to Kyiv, Igor returned with a small detachment, “wanting more estates.” The Drevlyans gathered at the veche (the presence of their own principalities in individual Slavic lands, as well as veche gatherings, indicates that the formation of statehood continued in Kievan Rus). The Veche decided: “If a wolf gets into the habit of getting close to the sheep, he will drag everything away if you don’t kill him.” Igor's squad was killed, and the prince was executed.

Duchess Olga. After Igor's death, his wife Olga (945-964) brutally took revenge on the Drevlyans for the murder of her husband. The first embassy of the Drevlyans, offering Olga in return for Igor as the husband of their prince Mal, was buried alive in the ground, the second was burned. At the funeral feast (funeral), on Olga’s orders, the tipsy Drevlyans were killed. As the chronicle reports, Olga suggested that the Drevlyans give three doves and three sparrows from each yard as tribute. Lighted tow with sulfur was tied to the pigeons' feet; when they flew to their old nests, a fire broke out in the Drevlyan capital. As a result, the capital of the Drevlyans, Iskorosten (now the city of Korosten), burned down. According to the chronicles, about 5 thousand people died in the fire.

Having cruelly taken revenge on the Drevlyans, Olga was forced to streamline the collection of tribute. She established “lessons” for the size of the tribute and “cemeteries” for the places where the tribute was collected. Along with the camps (places where there was shelter and the necessary food supplies were stored and where the princely squad stopped during the collection of tribute, graveyards appeared, apparently fortified courtyards of the princely rulers, where the tribute was brought. These graveyards then became the strongholds of princely power.

During the reign of Igor and Olga, the lands of the Tivertsy, Ulichs and finally the Drevlyans were annexed to Kyiv.

Prince Svyatoslav. Some historians consider Svyatoslav (964-972), the son of Olga and Igor, a talented commander and statesman, others argue that he was an adventurer prince who saw the goal of his life in war. Svyatoslav was faced with the task of protecting Rus' from raids by nomads and clearing trade routes to other countries. Svyatoslav coped with this task successfully, which confirms the validity of the first point of view.

Svyatoslav, in the course of his numerous campaigns, began annexing the lands of the Vyatichi, defeated Volga Bulgaria, conquered the Mordovian tribes, defeated the Khazar Khaganate, successfully fought in the North Caucasus and the Azov coast, captured Tmutarakan on the Taman Peninsula, and repelled the onslaught of the Pechenegs. He tried to bring the borders of Rus' closer to Byzantium and became involved in the Bulgarian-Byzantine conflict, and then waged a stubborn struggle with the Emperor of Constantinople for the Balkan Peninsula. During the period of successful military operations, Svyatoslav even thought about moving the capital of his state on the Danube to the city of Pereyaslavets, where, as he believed, the benefits from different countries"; silk, gold, Byzantine utensils, silver and horses from Hungary and the Czech Republic, wax, honey, furs and captive slaves from Rus'. However, the fight with Byzantium ended unsuccessfully, Svyatoslav was surrounded by a hundred thousand Greek army. With with great difficulty he managed to escape to Rus'. A non-aggression treaty was concluded with Byzantium, but the Danube lands had to be returned.

On the way to Kyiv, Svyatoslav in 972 was ambushed by the Pechenegs at the Dnieper rapids and was killed. The Pechenezh Khan ordered a cup bound in gold to be made from Svyatoslav’s skull and drank from it at feasts, believing that the glory of the murdered man would pass to him. (In the 30s of the 20th century, during the construction of the Dnieper Hydroelectric Station, steel swords were discovered at the bottom of the Dnieper, which, presumably, belonged to Svyatoslav and his warriors.)

Prince Vladimir I (Red Sun). Vladimir I. After the death of Svyatoslav, his eldest son Yaropolk (972-980) became the Grand Duke of Kyiv. His brother Oleg received the Drevlyansky land. Svyatoslav's third son Vladimir, born from his slave Malusha, housekeeper of Princess Olga (Dobrynya's sister), received Novgorod. In the civil strife that began between the brothers five years later, Yaropolk defeated Oleg’s Drevlyan squads. Oleg himself died in battle.

Vladimir, together with Dobrynya, fled “overseas”, from where two years later he returned with a hired Varangian squad. Yaropolk was killed. Vladimir took the grand-ducal throne.

Under Vladimir I (980-1015), all the lands of the Eastern Slavs were united as part of Kievan Rus. The Vyatichi, the lands on both sides of the Carpathians, and the Chervlensk cities were finally annexed. The state apparatus was further strengthened. Princely sons and senior warriors received control of the largest centers. One of the most important tasks of that time was solved: ensuring the protection of Russian lands from the raids of numerous Pecheneg tribes. For this purpose, a number of fortresses were built along the Desna, Osetr, Suda, and Stugna rivers. Apparently, here, on the border with the steppe, there were “heroic outposts” that protected Rus' from raids, where they stood for native land the legendary Ilya Muromets and other epic heroes.

In 988, under Vladimir I, Orthodox Christianity was adopted as the state religion.

Prince Yaroslav the Wise. Twelve sons of Vladimir I from several marriages ruled the largest volosts of Rus'. After his death, the Kiev throne passed to the eldest in the family, Svyatopolk (1015-1019). In the civil strife that broke out, on the orders of the new Grand Duke, the favorite brothers of Vladimir and his squad, Boris Rostovsky and Gleb Muromsky, were innocently killed. Boris and Gleb were canonized by the Russian Church. Svyatopolk received the nickname Damned for his crime.

His brother Yaroslav, who reigned in Novgorod the Great, spoke out against Svyatopolk the Accursed. Shortly before his father’s death, Yaroslav made an attempt to disobey Kyiv, which indicates the emergence of tendencies towards fragmentation of the state. Relying on the help of the Novgorodians and Varangians, Yaroslav, in the most severe strife, managed to expel the “Holy Accursed” son-in-law of the Polish king Boleslav the Brave from Kyiv to Poland, where Svyatopolk went missing.

Under Yaroslav the Wise (1019-1054) Kievan Rus reached its greatest power. He, like Vladimir I, managed to secure Rus' from Pecheneg raids. In 1030, after a successful campaign against the Baltic Chud, Yaroslav founded not far from Lake Peipsi Yuriev (now Tartu in Estonia), establishing Russian positions in the Baltic states. After the death of his brother Mstislav of Tmutarakan in 1035, who had owned the lands east of the Dnieper since 1024, Yaroslav finally became the sovereign prince of Kievan Rus.

Under Yaroslav Murom, Kyiv turned into one of largest cities Europe, competing with Constantinople. According to surviving evidence, there were about four hundred churches and eight markets in the city. According to legend, in 1037, on the site where Yaroslav had previously defeated the Pechenegs, the St. Sophia Cathedral, a temple dedicated to wisdom, divine reason, ruler of the world. At the same time, under Yaroslav, the Golden Gate, the main entrance to the capital of Ancient Rus', was built in Kyiv. Work was carried out extensively on correspondence and translation of books into Russian, and teaching literacy.

The growth of power and authority of Rus' allowed Yaroslav to be appointed Metropolitan of Kyiv for the first time statesman and the writer Illarion, Russian by origin. The prince himself was called, like the Byzantine rulers, king, as evidenced by the inscription of the 11th century. on the wall St. Sophia Cathedral. Above the sarcophagus, made of a whole piece of marble, in which Yaroslav was buried, you can read the solemn record “about the dormition (death. - Author) of our king.” 32

Under Yaroslav the Wise, Rus' achieved wide international "recognition. The largest royal courts of Europe sought to become related to the family of the Kiev prince. Yaroslav himself was married to a Swedish princess. His daughters were married to the French, Hungarian and Norwegian kings. The Polish king married the sister of the Grand Duke, and Yaroslav's granddaughter married the German emperor. Yaroslav's son Vsevolod married the daughter of the Byzantine emperor Constantine Monomakh. Hence the nickname that Vsevolod's son received, Metropolitan Hilarion rightly wrote about the Kyiv princes: “They were not rulers in a bad country, but in a Russian one. which is known and heard to all ends of the earth."

Socio-economic system of Kievan Rus. In those days, land was the main wealth, the main means of production.

A common form of organization of production has become the feudal estate, or fatherland, i.e. paternal possession, passed from father to son by inheritance. The owner of the estate was a prince or boyar. In Kievan Rus, along with princely and boyar estates, there were a significant number of communal peasants who were not yet subject to private feudal lords. Such peasant communities, independent of the boyars, paid tribute in favor of the state to the Grand Duke.

The entire free population of Kievan Rus was called “people”. Hence the term meaning collection of tribute, “polyudye”. The bulk of the rural population, dependent on the prince, were called “smerds”. They could live both in peasant communities, which bore duties in favor of the state, and in estates. Those smerdas who lived in estates were in a more severe form of dependence and lost personal freedom. One of the ways to enslave the free population was procurement. Ruined or impoverished peasants borrowed a “kupa” from the feudal lords for part of the harvest, livestock, and money. Hence the name of this category of the population - purchases. The purchase had to work for his creditor and obey him until he repaid the debt.

In addition to smerds and purchases, in the princely and boyar estates there were slaves, called serfs or servants, who were replenished both from among the captives and from among the ruined fellow tribesmen. Slave-owning way of life, as well as remnants primitive system, were quite widespread in Kievan Rus. However, the dominant system of industrial relations was feudalism.

The process of economic life of Kievan Rus is poorly reflected in historical sources. The differences between the feudal system of Rus' and the “classical” Western European models are obvious. They lie in the enormous role of the public sector in the country's economy and the presence of a significant number of free peasant communities that were feudally dependent on the grand ducal power.

As noted above, in the economy of Ancient Rus', the feudal structure existed along with slavery and primitive patriarchal relations. A number of historians call the state of Rus' a country with a multi-structured, transitional economy. Such historians emphasize the early class character of the Kyiv state, close to the barbarian states of Europe.

"Russian Truth". Tradition connects the composition of "Russian Truth" with the name of Yaroslav the Wise. This is a complex legal monument, based on customary law and on previous legislation. For that time the most important feature The powers of the document were a legal precedent and a reference to antiquity. Although "Russian Truth" is attributed to Yaroslav the Wise, many of its articles and sections were adopted later, after his death. Yaroslav owns only the first 17 articles of "Russian Truth" ("The Most Ancient Truth" or "The Truth of Yaroslav"),

"Yaroslav's Truth" limited blood feud to the circle of immediate relatives. This suggests that the norms of the primitive system already existed under Yaroslav the Wise as relics. Yaroslav's laws resolved disputes between free people, primarily among the princely squad. Novgorod men began to enjoy the same rights as those from Kyiv.

Popular uprisings in the 60-70s. XI century Massive popular protests swept across Kievan Rus in 1068-1072. The most powerful was the uprising in Kyiv in 1068. It broke out as a result of the defeat suffered by the sons of Yaroslav (Yaroslavichs) - Izyaslav (d. 1078), Svyatoslav (d. 1076) and Vsevolod (d. 1093) from the Polovtsy.

In Kyiv on Podol, in the craft part of the city, a meeting took place. The people of Kiev asked the princes to issue weapons in order to fight the Polovtsians again. The Yaroslavichs refused to hand over weapons, fearing that the people would turn them against them. Then the people destroyed the courts of the rich boyars. Grand Duke Izyaslav fled to Poland and only with the help of Polish feudal lords returned to the Kiev throne in 1069. Massive popular uprisings took place in Novgorod, in the Rostov-Suzdal land.

"Pravda Yaroslavich" abolished blood feud and increased the difference in payment for the murder of various categories of the population, reflecting the state's concern for protecting the property, life and property of feudal lords. The largest fine was paid for the murder of senior warriors, firemen, and princely servants, whose lives were valued at 80 hryvnia. The life of the free population - people (husbands) - was estimated at 40 hryvnia; the life of village and military elders, as well as artisans, was estimated at 12 hryvnia; the life of smerds who lived in estates, and slaves for 5 hryvnia.

The most popular in Rus' at that time was Vladimir Vsevolodovich Monomakh. On his initiative, the Lyubech Congress of Princes took place in 1097. It was decided to stop the strife and the principle “Let everyone keep his fatherland” was proclaimed. However, strife continued after the Lyubech Congress.

External factor, namely the need for otior, which appeared by the middle of the 11th century. in the southern Russian steppes to the nomadic Polovtsians, still kept Kievan Rus for some time from disintegrating into separate principalities. The fight was not easy. Historians count about 50 Polovtsian invasions from the mid-11th to the beginning of the 13th century.

Prince Vladimir Monomakh. After the death of Svyatopolk in 1113, an uprising broke out in Kyiv. The people destroyed the courts of princely rulers, large feudal lords and moneylenders. The uprising raged for four days. The Kyiv boyars called Vladimir Monomakh (1113-1125) to the grand-ducal throne.

Vladimir Monomakh was forced to make certain concessions by issuing the so-called “Charter of Vladimir Monomakh,” which became another part of “Russian Pravda.” The Charter streamlined the collection of interest by moneylenders, improved the legal status of merchants, and regulated the transition to servitude. Great place in this legislation Monomakh devoted legal status procurement, which suggests that procurement has become a very widespread institution and the enslavement of stinkers was proceeding at a more decisive pace.

Vladimir Monomakh managed to keep the entire Russian land under his rule, despite the fact that signs of fragmentation intensified, which was facilitated by the lull in the fight against the Polovtsians. Under Monomakh, the international authority of Rus' strengthened. The prince himself was the grandson of the Byzantine emperor Constantine Monomakh. His wife was an English princess. It is no coincidence that Ivan III, the Grand Duke of Moscow, who loved to “disturb the chroniclers,” often turned to the reign of Vladimir Monomakh. The appearance of the crown of the Russian tsars, the Monomakh cap, and the continuity of power of the Russian tsars from the emperors of Constantinople were associated with his name. Under Vladimir Monomakh, the initial Russian chronicle “The Tale of Bygone Years” was compiled. He went down in our history as a major political figure, commander and writer.

The son of Vladimir Monomakh, Mstislav I the Great (1125-1132), managed to maintain the unity of the Russian lands for some time. After the death of Mstislav, Kievan Rus finally disintegrated into one and a half dozen principalities-states. A period has begun, which in history is called the period of fragmentation or the specific period.

The princely family is traditionally considered to be in the direct male line, therefore for the first Russian princes family tree will look like this:

Activities of the first Russian princes: domestic and foreign policy.

Rurik.

The first of the Russian princes who laid the foundation for the dynasty. He came to Rus' at the call of the Novgorod elders together with his brothers, Truvor and Sineus, and after their death he ruled all the lands around Novgorod. Unfortunately, almost nothing is known about Rurik’s accomplishments - no chronicles of that time have survived.

Oleg.

After Rurik's death in 879, the reign passed to one of his military leaders, Oleg, since Rurik's son was still too young. Prince Oleg contributed huge contribution in the creation of the Russian state: under him, Kyiv was annexed in 882, then Smolensk, the path “from the Varangians to the Greeks” was opened, the Drevlyan and some other tribes were annexed.

Oleg was also involved in the development of economic relations - his campaign against Constantinople, or Constantinople, ended with the signing of a peace trade treaty. For his wisdom and insight, Prince Oleg was nicknamed “the prophetic.”

Igor.

The son of Rurik, who came to reign in 912 after the death of Oleg. The most famous story of his death is that after trying to collect tribute from the Drevlyans for the second time, Igor paid for his greed and was killed. However, the reign of this prince also included new campaigns against Byzantium - in 941 and 944 - another peace treaty with this power, the annexation of the Uglich tribes, and the successful defense of the borders from Pecheneg raids.

Olga.

The widow of Prince Igor became the first female princess in Rus'. Having cruelly taken revenge on the Drevlyans for the death of her husband, she nevertheless established a clear amount of tribute and places for its collection. She was the first to try to bring Christianity to Rus', but Svyatoslav and his squad opposed the new faith. Christianity was accepted only under Prince Vladimir, Olga’s grandson.

Svyatoslav.

The son of Igor and Olga, Prince Svyatoslav, went down in history as a ruler-warrior, ruler-soldier. His entire reign consisted of continuous military campaigns - against the Vyatichi, the Khazars, Byzantium, and the Pechenegs. The military power of Rus' strengthened under him, and then Byzantium, united with the Pechenegs, attacked the prince’s army on the Dnieper when Svyatoslav was returning home from another campaign. The prince was killed, and the leader of the Pechenegs made a cup from his skull.

Results of the reign of the first princes.

All the first rulers of Rus' have one thing in common - one way or another they were engaged in expanding and strengthening the young state. The borders changed, economic unions, the princes tried to restore order within the country by establishing the first laws.

The process of property and social stratification among the community members led to the separation of the most prosperous part from among them. The tribal nobility and the wealthy part of the community, subjugating the mass of ordinary community members, need to maintain their dominance in state structures.

The embryonic form of statehood was represented by East Slavic tribal unions, which united into super-unions, albeit fragile ones. Eastern historians talk about the existence on the eve of the formation Old Russian state three large associations of Slavic tribes: Cuiaba, Slavia and Artania. Kuyaba, or Kuyava, was then called the area around Kyiv. Slavia occupied territory in the area of ​​Lake Ilmen. Its center was Novgorod. The location of Artania - the third major association of the Slavs - has not been precisely established.

1) 941 - ended in failure;

2) 944 - conclusion of a mutually beneficial agreement.

Killed by the Drevlyans while collecting tribute in 945.

YAROSLAV THE WISE(1019 - 1054)

He established himself on the Kiev throne after long strife with Svyatopolk the Accursed (he received his nickname after the murder of his brothers Boris and Gleb, who were later canonized as saints) and Mstislav of Tmutarakan.

He contributed to the flourishing of the Old Russian state, patronized education and construction. Contributed to the rise of the international authority of Rus'. Established broad dynastic ties with European and Byzantine courts.

Conducted military campaigns:

To the Baltics;

To the Polish-Lithuanian lands;

To Byzantium.

Finally defeated the Pechenegs.

Prince Yaroslav the Wise is the founder of written Russian legislation (" Russian Truth", "The Truth of Yaroslav").

VLADIMIR THE SECOND MONOMACH(1113 - 1125)

Son of Mary, daughter of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine the Ninth Monomakh. Prince of Smolensk (from 1067), Chernigov (from 1078), Pereyaslavl (from 1093), Grand Prince of Kiev (from 1113).

Prince Vladimir Monomakh - organizer of successful campaigns against the Polovtsians (1103, 1109, 1111)

He advocated the unity of Rus'. Congress participant ancient Russian princes in Lyubech (1097), which discussed the harmfulness of civil strife, the principles of ownership and inheritance of princely lands.

He was called to reign in Kyiv during the popular uprising of 1113, which followed the death of Svyatopolk II. Reigned until 1125

He put into effect the “Charter of Vladimir Monomakh”, where interest on loans was legally limited and it was forbidden to enslave dependent people working off their debt.

Stopped the collapse of the Old Russian state. Wrote " Teaching", in which he condemned the strife and called for the unity of the Russian land.
He continued the policy of strengthening dynastic ties with Europe. He was married to the daughter of the English king Harold the Second - Gita.

Mstislav the Great(1125 - 1132)

Son of Vladimir Monomakh. Prince of Novgorod (1088 - 1093 and 1095 - 1117), Rostov and Smolensk (1093 - 1095), Belgorod and co-ruler of Vladimir Monomakh in Kyiv (1117 - 1125). From 1125 to 1132 - autocratic ruler of Kyiv.

Continued the policy of Vladimir Monomakh and managed to maintain a unified Old Russian state. Annexed the Principality of Polotsk to Kyiv in 1127.
Organized successful campaigns against the Polovtsians, Lithuania, and the Chernigov prince Oleg Svyatoslavovich. After his death, almost all the principalities came out of obedience to Kyiv. A specific period begins - feudal fragmentation.