It takes extraordinary talent to write about history in a way that is both engaging and instructive. Samuel Marshak was right: “You need to write for children as for adults, only better.” This also applies to historians. We remembered ten bright books that children read at different times. From these books we received our first knowledge about Russia's past. Some of them are associated with ideological tendencies - without ideology, as we know, not a single gun will fire. Sometimes I wanted to argue with the authors, but they were the ones who showed us that it was possible to make discoveries in the past.

Alexandra Ishimova
“The history of Russia in stories for children”

Before the last duel, Alexander Pushkin read precisely to Ishimova. She discovered the genre of children's historical chronicles for Russia. It is important that this is not fiction, but a kind of entertaining textbook. Of course, historical truth is mixed with legends; many episodes are interpreted in a sentimental spirit. It's immediately clear that the book is not just for boys. Although Ishimova’s ability to tell children about political decisions and general battles in a lively, lively style is amazing. In literary terms, Alexandra Ishimova’s book does not look like a dinosaur even today. It’s as if two hundred years never happened.

Yuri German
"Stories about Dzerzhinsky"

Iron Felix was one of the favorite heroes of Soviet boys - a kind of our Sherlock Holmes, insightful and tireless. The talented pen of the writer Yuri German brought to life the country's first security officer. In addition to adventure, there is also the flavor of the era. You can taste the stale bread of the Civil War. The children received a noble hero and several dozen action-packed adventures with a KGB touch.

Evgeny Osetrov

"Your Kremlin"

A real children's encyclopedia of patriotism. Conversation with the Kremlin towers, including Taynitskaya, the most mysterious. Evgeny Osetrov wrote many educational books about Russian antiquity, which lives in traditions and culture. In this book, he talked about the history of our state, about its symbols, about the architect Aristotle Fioravanti, about Russian masters, about two parades that took place on Red Square in 1941 and 1945. Sturgeon showed the beauty, strength and power of Russia. I came across this book at a very early age - and it greatly influenced me. Since then, I love the Kremlin and do not accept the snobbish attitude towards our country. The Taynitskaya Tower is built in the hearts of Osetrova’s readers. And a spring flows in it.

Natalia Konchalovskaya
"Our Ancient Capital"

Children's poets often turned to historical themes - both Samuil Marshak and Sergei Mikhalkov. But the most thorough poem about the past of our country was written by Mikhalkov’s wife Natalya Konchalovskaya. It turned out sincere, exciting, witty. Through the history of Moscow, the history of the Russian people is revealed. Checked: children like Konchalovskaya’s poems. But she wrote not only about famous, ceremonial episodes of our history. Many of us learned about Vasily Shuisky, for example, from Konchalovskaya.

Maria Prilezhaeva
"Life of Lenin"

They wrote a lot about Lenin in the USSR and pompously, including for children. You can also recall the stories of Mikhail Zoshchenko - elegant, witty. But Prilezhaeva covered Lenin’s life “from start to finish” and wrote a real “children’s detective story” with the adventures of conspirators. To a modern reader, many pages of this book will probably seem immensely sweet, but at that time Lenin was treated as a kind of ideal of “the most humane person,” and the historical canvas offered by Prilezhaeva became for many the first step in understanding the contradictory, tortuous history of the twentieth century.

Mikhail Bragin
"In a terrible time"

Pravdist, war correspondent and historian, Mikhail Bragin was in love with the Russian heroes of 1812. He wrote several popular science books about Mikhail Kutuzov and his contemporaries, but perhaps his most famous book is “In a Terrible Time.” Children's entertaining (and slightly moralizing) chronicle of the Patriotic War. Smolensk, Borodino, the death of Peter Bagration, the struggle of strategies, the burning of Moscow, finally, the victories of late autumn and December 1812... It was written in such a way that the boys could not put it down - they read day and night, read instead of lessons and while sipping soup. The book has not died in the 21st century; it is being republished and will be republished.

Sergey Alekseev
"One Hundred Stories from Russian History"

Alekseev started with an educational book, and then developed his own fantastic intonation, by which it is easy to recognize any of his miniatures. The first of his unforgettable books is “The Unprecedented Happens.” Stories about Peter's time. And then they went like soldiers in the ranks: “The History of a Serf Boy”, “Stories about Suvorov and Russian Soldiers”, “The Glory Bird” (about the War of 1812), “The Terrible Horseman” (about Stepan Razin!)... These books are read avidly , many of today's venerable historians grew up from Alekseev's readers. And in every children's library, Alekseev's books are among the most well-read and shabby. Well-deserved books!

Anatoly Mityaev
"The Book of Future Commanders"

Anatoly Mityaev is a true classic of the genre. You can recall his other books: “The Winds of the Kulikovo Field”, “The Book of Future Admirals”, “Stories about the Russian Fleet”, “One Thousand Four Hundred and Eighteen Days: Heroes and Battles of the Great Patriotic War”... But still, what comes to mind first of all is “The Book of Future Commanders,” which is treasured in many families as a treasure. Mityaev equips us with knowledge, quietly teaches us to love the army, to value courage and prudence. Prince Svyatoslav and Alexander Suvorov become our good friends, heroes of children's games and dreams. How important it is not to pass by Mityaev’s books. Without them, childhood is not a joy.

Alexander Degtyarev, Igor Dubov
"From Kalka to Ugra"

A special genre is popular science literature for children. Yes, yes, this happens too. Of course, this book is not for younger people, but teenagers read it with enthusiasm, and for many it has become the “gateway to learning.” The story of the heroic struggle of Rus' against the Mongol hordes not only fills you with a patriotic spirit, but also teaches you to analyze facts, compare causes and effects, and reflect.

Alexander Toroptsev
"World history of fortresses and castles"

Contemporary writer Alexander Toroptsev opens up the world of history to children. He wrote a dozen books in the entertaining encyclopedia genre. Heroes, wars, civilizations, crafts... Everything is written about with excitement, history floats before the children like in a movie. Such books introduce historical knowledge more than textbooks.

About the first Russian princes for primary school students

Alla Alekseevna Kondratyeva, primary school teacher, Zolotukhinsk Secondary School, Zolotukhino village, Kursk region
Description of material: I offer you literary material - a reference book about the first Russian princes. The material can be used in a wide variety of forms: conversation, class hour, quiz, game hour, extracurricular event, virtual trip, etc. The material is designed to help any student answer such important questions as:
1) How did the Slavs live in ancient times?
2) When was the first Russian state formed?
3) Who controlled it?
4) What did the first princes do to strengthen the state and increase its wealth?
5) In what year did the Baptism of Rus' take place?
Tsed: creation of a short, colorful, interesting reference book about the first Russian princes.
Tasks:
1. Contribute to the formation of ideas about the role of the first Russian princes in the domestic and foreign policy of Ancient Rus'.
2. To arouse students’ interest in the history of Russia, literature, expand their understanding of the history of Russia, develop a cognitive interest in reading, and instill a strong interest in books.
3. To form general cultural literary competence through the perception of literature as an integral part of national culture, to form the communicative competence of students.
Equipment:
Exhibition of children's books on Russian history:
1. Bunakov N. Living Word. S-P., 1863.
2.Vakhterovs V. and E. The world in stories for children. M., 1993.
3. Golovin N. My first Russian story in stories for children. M., 1923.
4. Ishimova A. History of Russia in stories for children. M., 1990.
5. Petrushevsky. Stories about old times in Rus'. Kursk, 1996.
6.What is it? Who is this? M., 1990.
7. Chutko N.Ya., Rodionova L.E. Your Russia: Textbook-reader for the beginning of school Obninsk. 2000.
8. Tenilin S.A. Romanov Dynasty. Brief historical reference book, N. Novgorod, 1990.
9. Encyclopedia. I explore the world. Russian history. Astrel, 2000.
10..Encyclopedia for children. History of Russia. M., 1995.
Progress of the event:
Teacher's story.
It is known that the main written source about the distant times of our homeland are chronicles, including the famous “Tale of Bygone Years,” compiled in the 12th century by the monk of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery Nestor.

Today we will take another virtual trip to Ancient Rus' and find out how they lived and who ruled our people in ancient times. We will collect with you basic information about the life of the first Russian princes and compile our own written source for all inquisitive schoolchildren, which we will call "A brief historical reference book about the first Russian princes."
More than a thousand years have passed since Rus' received Holy Baptism. This happened under Prince Vladimir, who was popularly nicknamed the Red Sun, the Baptist of Rus' in 988.

Today we celebrate the 1000th anniversary of the repose of the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir.

Prince Vladimir is the beloved grandson of Princess Olga, who did a lot to spread the faith of Christ in Rus'. Our distant past - Russians, Russians, Russians - is connected with the tribes of the ancient Slavs. The Slavic tribes (Krivichi, Northerners, Vyatichi, Radimichi, Polyans, Drevlyans...) were constantly afraid that enemies would attack them, destroy settlements, and take away everything that had been accumulated by the labor of people. Fear forced the Slavs to unite to defend their lands together. At the head of such an association was an elder, a leader (they called him a prince). But the princes could not live together in peace: they did not want to share wealth and power. These discords continued for a long time.
And then the Slavic people decided:“Let’s look for a prince who would bring order to our land, who would be fair and smart.” This is what the chronicle says.
The Slavs turned to the Varangians for help (the Varangians lived in the northern country of Scandinavia). The Varangians were famous for their intelligence, patience and military valor.
In 862, the first Rulers in the Ancient Fatherland were the brothers Rurik, Sineus and Truvor.

The first Russian prince Rurik led his army (squad) to Novgorod and began to reign there.

The country in which they settled began to be called Rus'.
From that time on, Russia began to be called the lands on which Rurik ruled and after him other Varangian princes: Oleg, Igor, Olga, Svyatoslav. The princes strengthened Rus', maintained order within the country, and took care of its security.

Rurik (d. 879) - Varangian, Novgorod prince and ancestor of the princely, which later became the royal, Rurik dynasty.

In one of the campaigns to foreign lands, Rurik died. Instead, his relative, Prince Oleg, began to reign.

Oleg Veschy (882 –912)

“Let this city be the mother of Russian cities!”- this is what Prince Oleg said about Kyiv-grad. Oleg really liked the city of Kyiv and he remained to reign there (as the chronicle tells, in 911, at the very beginning of the 10th century).

The city was surrounded by a moat and strong log walls.

Under Oleg, Kyiv not only grew richer, but also greatly strengthened. The prince strengthened his power with the help of military campaigns, which brought great wealth. Oleg received the nickname “prophetic” among the people, that is, omniscient, knowing what others are not given to know. This nickname reflects his insight and wisdom.
There is a legend about the death of Prince Oleg. They say that a sorcerer (fortune teller) told him that he would die from his beloved horse. Since then, Oleg has not mounted this horse.

Once, many years later, the prince remembered his favorite, but found out that he was dead.
Oleg laughed at the magician’s prediction and decided to look at the horse’s bones. The prince stepped on the horse’s skull and laughed: “Isn’t it possible for me to die from this bone?”
Suddenly a snake crawled out of the skull and bit Oleg. He died from this bite.

Reproduction of the painting by V.M. Vasnetsov “Oleg’s Farewell to the Horse”
Vasnetsov wrote these paintings for the work of A.S. Pushkin's "Song of the Prophetic Oleg"

(Demonstration of the book. An excerpt is read.)
Student:
The prince quietly stepped on the horse's skull
And he said: “Sleep, lonely friend!
Your old master outlived you:
At the funeral feast, already nearby,
It’s not you who will stain the feather grass under the ax
And feed my ashes with hot blood!

So this is where my destruction was hidden!
The bone threatened me with death!”
From the dead head of the grave serpent
Meanwhile, hissing crawled out;
Like a black ribbon wrapped around my legs:
And the suddenly stung prince cried out.
Oleg was a brave prince, the people loved him and pitied him when he died. Oleg was not only brave, but also smart, he defeated many neighboring peoples, and ruled the state for 33 years.

Igor is the son of Rurik. (912-945)

Igor took power over Russia after Oleg's death. When Rurik died, Igor was a very young child and could not govern the people himself. His uncle, Oleg, reigned for him, who loved his nephew very much and took care of him. Igor's reign was marked by several major military campaigns of Russian troops. In addition to Byzantium, the Russians were attracted by the shores of the Caspian Sea, which attracted with their riches, because along the Volga across the sea there was a famous trade route (“from the Varangians to the Greeks”), which connected Rus' with the countries of the Arab East.

Prince Igor was distinguished by his greed. He collected tribute from the Slavic tribe of the Drevlyans, who lived in dense forests. Igor’s warriors took away their honey, leather, furs, dried meat and fish. But everything was not enough for the prince. Then the Drevlyans decided to kill Igor in order to free themselves from the unbearable tribute and punish the prince for greed. And so they did.

Olga the Saint (945 - ca. 965) - Grand Duchess, widow of Prince Igor.

Princess Olga is one of the most interesting persons of ancient Russian history. The uniqueness of her position lies in the fact that of all the rulers of the “Rurikovich empire” she is the only woman. Its origin is unknown. She was probably “from the family of neither a prince nor a nobleman, but from ordinary people.”
During her reign, Rus' did not fight with any of the neighboring states.
Saint Olga, Equal to the Apostles, became the spiritual mother of the Russian people, through her their enlightenment with the light of the Christian faith began. 957 – baptism of Princess Olga in Constantinople in the Church of Hagia Sophia. High moral ideals of Christianity, the main commandments of God – “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and your neighbor as yourself,” - became close to the heart of Princess Olga. Olga became famous in Rus' for her deeds of piety and built one of the first Russian Christian churches - wooden church of Hagia Sophia in Kyiv.

The chronicle calls Olga “the wisest of all people” and talks about the princess’s tireless efforts to “organize the earth.” The baptism of all Rus' took place only under Olga’s grandson, Prince Vladimir. Olga lived for a very long time and left the kindest memory of herself.

Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich (957 – 972)

From an early age Svyatoslav was distinguished by his will, nobility and courage. He constantly practiced horse riding, learned to wield a spear, shot a bow and grew into a mighty hero. Svyatoslav dressed not like a prince, in expensive clothes, but like a simple warrior. Svyatoslav was the living embodiment of a mighty force. The warrior prince lived only 27 years, but he managed to make six victorious campaigns and remained young and brave in the memory of the Russians. On campaigns he did not carry carts or boilers with him, did not cook meat, but, cutting horse meat, or “animal” (game), or beef into thin slices, fried it over coals and ate it. He did not have tents either, but slept on the ground. Gloomy and ferocious, he disdained any comfort, slept in the open air and put a saddle under his head instead of a pillow.
When going on a campaign, he first sent messengers to say: “I’m coming to you.”

Grand Duke Vladimir is the grandson of St. Olga, son of Svyatoslav.

Student:
The choice of faith is a ray in the window,
Like the turn of the sun.
In the simplicity of the heart by the Sun
People called Vladimir.
The grace of the Lord has descended.
The light of Christ shone.
The light of faith is burning today,
Becoming the foundation of the foundations.
Princess Olga, often talking with her grandson, talked about her journey to Constantinople, about foreign, unknown lands, about peoples. And more and more about our God - Christ and His Mother, the Virgin Mary. Naturally wise, enterprising, courageous and warlike, he ascended the throne in 980.
Being a pagan, Vladimir was power-hungry and a zealous adherent of idolatry.
Pagan gods of the Slavs

The pagan Slavs erected idols, around which they not only made sacrifices, but took oaths and held ritual feasts.

Nestor the Chronicler lists the names of the pagan idols that Prince Vladimir, while still a pagan, placed on the hill behind the Grand Duke's tower: “a wooden Perun with a silver head and a golden mustache, Khors, Dazhbog, Stribog, Simargl and Mokosh.

And they made sacrifices to them, calling them gods, and brought their sons and daughters to them.”
The most ancient supreme male deity among the Slavs was Genus. Already in Christian teachings against paganism in the 12th-13th centuries. they write about Rod as a god who was worshiped by all peoples. Rod was the god of the sky, thunderstorms, and fertility. They said about him that he rides on a cloud, throws rain on the ground, and from this children are born. He was the ruler of the earth and all living things, and was a pagan creator god.

This is how Rus' was on the eve of Epiphany...
In his young years, Prince Vladimir knew that he could unite people, make one big people into a great power. This is a single faith, the faith by which the soul lives. That faith that is not bought or sold, but for which you are not sorry to give your life.
Who and how suggested that Prince Vladimir choose a faith?
The Volga Bulgars - the Mohammedan faith, the Germans - Catholicism, the Khazars - the Jewish faith, the Byzantines - the Christian faith. Prince Vladimir learned the Christian faith from a Greek philosopher.
In 988 He was baptized in the city of Korsun and was named Vasily. Before this event, the prince was struck by blindness, from which he suddenly received healing during the sacrament of baptism performed on him. Returning to Kyiv, the Grand Duke baptized, first of all, his children on the Pochaina River, which flows into the Dnieper. The place where they were baptized is still called Khreshchatyk. Then, having destroyed idols in the city, he converted the people of Kiev to the Orthodox faith and thereby laid the foundation for the spread of the Christian faith in Rus'.

Baptism of Rus'
1 student:
Midday, warmed by the heat,
The earth is burning with heat.
Waves of warm light
The fields are flooded.
Over the green expanse
Where the river meanders
Like snowy mountains
Clouds float into the distance.
I'm standing over a cliff
I see a golden reach,
The wind flutters lazily
Strands of white birch trees.
The current is silvering,
Jets like glass
Here is Holy Epiphany
Our Rus' accepted.
White birds circling
High above the Dnieper,
And the words of the chronicler
Suddenly they came to my mind.
2nd student:
Nestor accurately and vividly
The saint's day was described:
Everyone was in a hurry to the cliff,
Old and small walked towards the Dnieper.
Nature rejoiced
The distance is transparently light!
And people gathered
There are no numbers on the Dnieper.
The sun was just rising
The sky turned pink.
With images, with censer
There was a religious procession heading towards the river.
The vestments sparkled brightly,
Decorated with crosses
Pearls, stones, enamels
Unearthly beauty.
The priests walked singing
And they carried the holy cross,
Loaded with prayer
A golden cross into the water.
3rd student:
Above the Dnieper steep
Watched the baptism
Prince Vladimir the mighty
In expensive attire.
The people of Kiev went into the water
And they entered up to their chests.
And from now on the Slavs
A new path has been chosen.
Angels sang from heaven,
The river turned silver
The one that became the font
For Rus' for centuries.
Opened up in the sky
Golden window:
At the prayer service of grace
Many souls saved!

Prince Vladimir ordered to baptize people everywhere and build wooden churches, placing them in the very places where idols had previously stood. Beautiful works of Greek architecture appeared in Russia. Temples were decorated with paintings, silver, and gold. And from that time on, the faith of Christ began to spread throughout the Russian land and penetrate into its most remote outskirts.

Saint Vladimir took care of his people, opened and improved schools, hospitals and almshouses. The poor, poor and weak found fatherly protection and patronage in him.
This is how Prince Vladimir lived until his death and died in his beloved village of Berestovo,
near Kyiv, July 15, 1015. The Russian Church appreciated the great feat of Prince Vladimir and canonized him, calling him Equal to the Apostles. His memory is honored by the Church on the day of his death.
This year 2015 we commemorate the 1000th anniversary of the repose of the Great Saint.

Test yourself: “The first Russian princes”

1. Establish the chronological sequence of the reign of the first Russian princes
(Rurik, Oleg. Igor, Olga, Svyatoslav, Vladimir...)
2. Name the prince who proclaimed Kyiv the capital of the ancient Russian state.
(Oleg. In 882, Prince Oleg captured Kyiv and made it the capital of the state.)
3.Indicate the name of the prince who always warned his enemy about the attack with the phrase “I’m coming to you”(Prince Svyatoslav is the son of Igor and Olga)
4. The ancient Slavs worshiped the elements, believed in the kinship of people with various animals, and made sacrifices to deities. This faith got its name from the word “people”. What was the name of this belief?
(Paganism. “People” is one of the meanings of the ancient Slavic word “language.”)
5. Because he did such a great and holy deed - he baptized his people into the true faith - after death he became holy and pleasing to God. Now they call him that - the holy prince. Which prince baptized Rus'? (Holy Prince Vladimir is the grandson of Princess Olga).
6. On what river did the Baptism of Rus' take place?(On the Pochaina River, which flows into the Dnieper)
7.Where did Grand Duchess Olga receive her Baptism of Christ?

The most ancient homeland of the Slavs is Central Europe, where the Danube, Elbe and Vistula have their sources. From here the Slavs moved further east, to the banks of the Dnieper, Pripyat, and Desna. These were the tribes of the Polyans, Drevlyans, and Northerners. Another stream of settlers moved northwest to the shores of Volkhov and Lake Ilmen. These tribes were called Ilmen Slovenes. Some of the settlers (Krivichi) settled on the hills from where the Dnieper, Moscow River, and Oka flow. This resettlement took place no earlier than the 7th century. As they explored new lands, the Slavs pushed out and subjugated the Finno-Ugric tribes, who were pagans just like the Slavs.

Foundation of the Russian state

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

According to legend, civil strife began in the land of the Ilmen Slovenes and Finno-Ugric peoples (Chud, Merya) - “generation after generation rose up.” Tired of strife, local leaders decided to invite King Rurik and his brothers from Denmark: Sineus and Truvor. Rurik willingly responded to the tempting offer of the ambassadors. The custom of inviting a ruler from overseas was generally accepted in Europe. People hoped that such a prince would rise above the unfriendly local leaders and thereby ensure peace and quiet in the country. Having built Ladoga (now Staraya Ladoga), Rurik then climbed the Volkhov to Ilmen and settled there in a place called “Rurik’s settlement”. Then Rurik built the city of Novgorod nearby and took possession of all the surrounding lands. Sineus settled in Beloozero, and Truvor in Izborsk. Then the younger brothers died, and Rurik began to rule alone. Together with Rurik and the Varangians, the word “Rus” came to the Slavs. This was the name of the warrior-oarsman on a Scandinavian boat. Then the Varangian warriors who served with the princes were called Rus, then the name “Rus” was transferred to all the Eastern Slavs, their land, and state.

The ease with which the Varangians took power in the lands of the Slavs is explained not only by the invitation, but also by the similarity of faith - both the Slavs and the Varangians were pagan polytheists. They revered the spirits of water, forests, brownies, and goblins, and had extensive pantheons of “main” and minor gods and goddesses. One of the most revered Slavic gods, the lord of thunder and lightning Perun, was similar to the Scandinavian supreme god Thor, whose symbols - archaeologists' hammers - are also found in Slavic burials. The Slavs worshiped Svarog - the master of the Universe, the sun god Dazhbog and the god of the earth Svarozhich. They respected the god of cattle, Veles, and the goddess of handicraft, Mokosh. Sculptural images of gods were placed on hills, and sacred temples were surrounded by high fences. The gods of the Slavs were very harsh, even ferocious. They demanded veneration and frequent offerings from people. Gifts rose upward to the gods in the form of smoke from burning sacrifices: food, killed animals and even people.

The first princes - Rurikovich

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

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

Oleg's successor Igor (Ingvar), nicknamed "Old", son of Rurik, ruled for 33 years. He lived in Kyiv, which became his home. We know little about Igor's personality. He was a warrior, a stern Varangian, who almost continuously conquered the Slavic tribes and imposed tribute on them. Like Oleg, Igor raided Byzantium. In those days, the name of the country of the Rus appeared in the treaty with Byzantium - “Russian Land”. At home, Igor was forced to repel the raids of nomads - the Pechenegs. Since then, the danger of attack by nomads has never subsided. Rus' was a loose, unstable state, stretching for a thousand miles from north to south. The strength of a single princely power was what held the lands distant from each other.

Every winter, as soon as the rivers and swamps froze, the prince went to Polyudye - he traveled around his lands, judged, settled disputes, collected tribute (“lesson”) and punished the tribes that had “deferred” during the summer. During the Polyudia of 945 in the land of the Drevlyans, it seemed to Igor that the tribute of the Drevlyans was small, and he returned for more. The Drevlyans were outraged by this lawlessness, grabbed the prince, tied his legs to two bent mighty trees and released them. This is how Igor died ingloriously.

The unexpected death of Igor forced his wife Olga to take power into her own hands - after all, their son Svyatoslav was only 4 years old. According to legend, Olga (Helga) herself was a Scandinavian. The terrible death of her husband became the reason for the no less terrible revenge of Olga, who brutally dealt with the Drevlyans. The chronicler tells us exactly how Olga killed the Drevlyan ambassadors by deception. She suggested that they take a bath in the bathhouse before starting negotiations. While the ambassadors were enjoying the steam room, Olga ordered her soldiers to block the doors of the bathhouse and set it on fire. There the enemies burned. This is not the first mention of a bathhouse in Russian chronicles. The Nikon Chronicle contains a legend about the visit to Rus' by the Holy Apostle Andrei. Then, returning to Rome, he spoke with surprise about a strange action in the Russian land: “I saw wooden bathhouses, and they would heat them up very much, and they would undress and be naked, and they would douse themselves with leather kvass, and they would lift up young rods and beat themselves, and They will finish themselves off to such an extent that they will hardly crawl out, barely alive, and will douse themselves with cold water, and that’s the only way they will come to life. And they do this constantly, not being tormented by anyone, but torturing themselves, and then they perform ablution for themselves, and not torment.” After this, the sensational theme of the extraordinary Russian bathhouse with a birch broom for many centuries will become an indispensable attribute of many travel accounts of foreigners from medieval times to the present day.

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

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

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

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

Even before the campaign to Bulgaria, Svyatoslav distributed lands (allotments) among his sons. He left the eldest Yaropolk in Kyiv, the middle one, Oleg, sent to the land of the Drevlyans, and the youngest, Vladimir, was planted in Novgorod. After the death of Svyatoslav, Yaropolk attacked Oleg, and he died in battle. Vladimir, having learned about this, fled to Scandinavia. He was the son of Svyatoslav and his concubine, the slave Malusha, Olga’s housekeeper. This made him unequal to his brothers - after all, they came from noble mothers. The consciousness of his inferiority aroused in the young man the desire to establish himself in the eyes of people with strength, intelligence, and actions that would be remembered by everyone.

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

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

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

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

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

But gradually Christianity established itself in Rus'. This was largely facilitated by the Bulgarians, the Slavs who had previously converted to Christianity. Bulgarian priests and scribes came to Rus' and brought Christianity with them in an understandable Slavic language. Bulgaria became a kind of bridge between Greek, Byzantine and Russian-Slavic cultures.
Despite the harsh measures of Vladimir's rule, the people loved him and called him the Red Sun. He was generous, unforgiving, flexible, ruled non-cruelly, and skillfully defended the country from enemies. The prince also loved his retinue, with whom he made it a custom to consult (duma) at frequent and plentiful feasts. Vladimir died in 1015, and upon learning of this, crowds rushed to the church to weep and pray for him as their intercessor. People were alarmed - after Vladimir there were 12 of his sons left, and the struggle between them seemed inevitable.

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

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

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

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

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

Yaroslavichy. Strife and crucifications

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

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

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

The grandson of Yaroslav, and on his mother’s side of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine Monomakh, he adopted the nickname of his Greek grandfather and became one of the few Russian princes who thought about the unity of Rus', the fight against the Polovtsians and peace among their relatives. Monomakh entered the Kiev gold table in 1113 after the death of the Grand Duke Svyatopolk and the uprising that began in the city against rich moneylenders. Monomakh was invited by the Kyiv elders with the approval of the people - “the people”. In the cities of pre-Mongol Rus', the influence of the city assembly - the veche - was significant. The prince, for all his power, was not an autocrat of the later era and, when making decisions, usually consulted with the veche or boyars.

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

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

Monomakh thought a lot about the futility of human life: “What are we, sinful and bad people? “he wrote to Oleg Gorislavich, “today we are alive, and tomorrow we are dead, today in glory and honor, and tomorrow in a grave and forgotten.” The prince took care that the experience of his long and difficult life would not be wasted, so that his sons and descendants would remember his good deeds. He wrote a “Teaching,” which contains memories of his past years, stories about the prince’s eternal travels, about the dangers in battle and hunting: “Two rounds (wild bulls - author) threw me with their horns along with the horse, a deer gored me, and of the two moose, one trampled with his feet, the other butted with his horns; the boar tore off the sword on my thigh, the bear bit my sweatshirt at my knee, the fierce beast jumped on my hips and overturned the horse with me. And God kept me safe. And he fell from his horse a lot, broke his head twice, and damaged his arms and legs,” And here are Monomakh’s advice: “What my youth should do, he did it himself - in war and on hunts, night and day, in heat and cold , without giving yourself peace. Without relying on mayors or privet, he did what was necessary himself.” Only an experienced warrior can say this:

“When you go to war, do not be lazy, do not rely on the commander; do not indulge in drinking, eating, or sleeping; Dress up the guards yourself and at night, placing guards on all sides, lie down next to the soldiers, and get up early; and do not take off your weapons in a hurry, without looking around out of laziness.” And then follow the words that everyone will subscribe to: “A person dies suddenly.” But these words are addressed to many of us: “Learn, O believer, to control your eyes, to control your tongue, to humble your mind, to subdue your body, to suppress your anger, to have pure thoughts, motivating yourself to do good deeds.”

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

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

Vladimir-Suzdal Rus'

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

Yuri's eldest son, Andrei, was an intelligent and powerful man. He wanted to live in Zalesye and even went against the will of his father - he left Kyiv for Suzdal without permission. Dissuaded from his father, Prince Andrei Yuryevich decided to secretly take with him from the monastery the miraculous icon of the Mother of God from the late 11th - early 12th centuries, painted by a Byzantine icon painter. According to legend, it was written by the Evangelist Luke. The theft to Andrey was a success, but already on the way to Suzdal miracles began: the Mother of God appeared to the prince in a dream and ordered him to take the image to Vladimir. He obeyed, and in the place where he saw the wonderful dream, he then built a church and founded the village of Bogolyubovo. Here, in a specially built stone castle adjacent to the church, he lived quite often, which is why he received his nickname “Bogolyubsky”. The icon of the Mother of God of Vladimir (also called “Our Lady of Tenderness” - the Virgin Mary tenderly presses her cheek to the infant Christ) - has become one of the shrines of Russia.

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

Andrei immediately began to decorate his new capital, Vladimir, with wondrously beautiful churches. They were built from white stone. This soft stone served as a material for carved decorations on the walls of buildings. Andrei wanted to create a city superior to Kyiv in beauty and wealth. It had its own Golden Gate, the Church of the Tithes, and the main temple - the Assumption Cathedral was higher than St. Sophia of Kyiv. Foreign craftsmen built it in just three years.

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

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

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

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

Galicia-Volyn and Chernigov principalities

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

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

The veche existed in many cities of Rus', but gradually died out. And only in Novgorod did it, consisting of free citizens, on the contrary, intensify. The Veche decided issues of peace and war, invited and expelled princes, and tried criminals. At the veche, deeds for land were given, mayors and archbishops were elected. The speakers spoke from a raised platform—the veche stage. The decision was made only unanimously, although the disputes did not subside - disagreements were the essence of the political struggle at the veche.

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

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

In the middle of the 12th century. Novgorod suddenly had a serious competitor in the northeast - the Vladimir-Suzdal land. Under Andrei Bogolyubsky, a war even began: the people of Vladimir unsuccessfully besieged the city. Since then, the fight with Vladimir, and then with Moscow, has become the main problem of Novgorod. And he ultimately lost this fight.
In the 12th century Pskov was considered a suburb (border point) of Novgorod and followed its policies in everything. But after 1136, the Pskov veche decided to separate from Novgorod. The Novgorodians, reluctantly, agreed to this: Novgorod needed an ally in the fight against the Germans - after all, Pskov was the first to meet an attack from the west and thereby covered Novgorod. But there was never any friendship between the cities - in all internal Russian conflicts, Pskov found itself on the side of Novgorod’s enemies.

Invasion of the Mongol-Tatars in Rus'

In Rus', they learned about the appearance of the Mongol-Tatars, which sharply increased under Genghis Khan, in the early 1220s, when this new enemy burst into the Black Sea steppes and drove the Polovtsians out of them. They called for help from the Russian princes, who came out to meet the enemy. The arrival of conquerors from unknown steppes, their life in yurts, strange customs, extraordinary cruelty - all this seemed to Christians the beginning of the end of the world. In the battle on the river. In Kalka on May 31, 1223, the Russians and Polovtsians were defeated. Rus' had never known such an “evil slaughter”, shameful flight and cruel massacre - the Tatars, having executed prisoners, moved towards Kyiv and mercilessly killed everyone who caught their eye. But then they turned back to the steppe. “We don’t know where they came from, and we don’t know where they went,” the chronicler wrote.

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

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

Those who fled from Rus' brought terrible news to Europe about the horrors of the invasion. They said that during the siege of cities, the Tatars threw the fat of the people they killed on the roofs of houses, and then released Greek fire (oil), which burned better because of this. In 1241, the Tatars rushed to Poland and Hungary, which were ruined to the ground. After this, the Tatars suddenly left Europe. Batu decided to found his own state in the lower reaches of the Volga. This is how the Golden Horde appeared.

What remains for us from this terrible era is “The Tale of the Destruction of the Russian Land.” It was written in the middle of the 13th century, immediately after the Mongol-Tatar invasion of Rus'. It seems that the author wrote it with his own tears and blood - he suffered so much from the thought of the misfortune of his homeland, he felt so sorry for the Russian people, for Rus', which had fallen into a terrible “roundup” of unknown enemies. The past, pre-Mongol time seems sweet and kind to him, and the country is remembered only as prosperous and happy. The reader’s heart should clench with sadness and love at the words: “Oh, the Russian land is bright and beautifully decorated! And you are surprised by many beauties: many lakes, rivers and deposits (sources - the author), steep mountains, high hills, clean oak groves, wondrous fields, various animals, countless birds, great cities, wondrous villages, abundant grapes (gardens - author), church houses, and formidable princes, honest boyars, many nobles. The Russian land is filled with everything, O faithful Christian faith!”

After the death of Prince Yuri, his younger brother Yaroslav, who was in Kyiv these days, moved to devastated Vladimir and began to adapt to “living under the khan.” He went to pay his respects to the khan in Mongolia and in 1246 he was poisoned there. Yaroslav’s sons, Alexander (Nevsky) and Yaroslav Tverskoy, were to continue their father’s difficult and humiliating work.

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

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

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

At the beginning of the 13th century. In the Eastern Baltic, the crusader movement of the German Teutonic Order and the Order of the Sword intensified. They attacked Rus' from Pskov. In 1240 they even captured Pskov and threatened Novgorod. Alexander and his retinue liberated Pskov and on April 5, 1242, on the ice of Lake Pskov in the so-called “Battle of the Ice” completely defeated the knights. The attempts of the crusaders and Rome, standing behind them, to find a common language with Alexander failed - as soft and compliant as he was in relations with the Tatars, he was so harsh and irreconcilable towards the West and its influence.

Moscow Rus'. Mid-XIII - mid-XVI centuries.

After the death of Alexander Nevsky, strife broke out again in Rus'. His heirs - brother Yaroslav and Alexander's own children - Dmitry and Andrey, never became worthy successors to Nevsky. They quarreled and, “running... to the Horde,” led the Tatars to Rus'. In 1293, Andrei brought “Dudenev’s army” against his brother Dmitry, which burned and plundered 14 Russian cities. The true masters of the country were the Baskaks - tribute collectors who mercilessly robbed their subjects, the pitiful heirs of Alexander.

Alexander's youngest son Daniel tried to maneuver between his brother princes. Poverty was the reason. After all, he inherited the worst of the appanage principalities - Moscow. Carefully and gradually, he expanded his principality and acted with certainty. Thus began the rise of Moscow. Daniil died in 1303 and was buried in the Danilovsky Monastery, the first in Moscow, which he founded.

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

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

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

These cathedrals were built under Metropolitan Peter, who moved from Vladimir to Moscow. He had been working towards this for a long time, constantly living there under the caring supervision of Kalita. Thus Moscow became the ecclesiastical center of Rus'. Peter died in 1326 and became the first Moscow saint.

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

Ivan Kalita ruled Moscow for 12 years, his reign and his bright personality were remembered for a long time by his contemporaries and descendants. In the legendary history of Moscow, Kalita appears as the founder of a new dynasty, a kind of Moscow “Forefather Adam,” a wise sovereign, whose policy of “pacifying” the ferocious Horde was so necessary for Rus', tormented by the enemy and strife.

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

Under Ivan II the Red, “Christ-loving, quiet, and merciful” (chronicle), politics remained bloody. The prince brutally dealt with people he disliked. Metropolitan Alexy had a great influence on Ivan. It was to him that Ivan II, who died in 1359, entrusted his nine-year-old son Dmitry, the future great commander.

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

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

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

The victory was not celebrated for long. Khan Tokhtamysh overthrew Mamai and in 1382 he himself moved to Rus', captured Moscow by cunning and burned it. “There was a great heavy tribute imposed on Rus' throughout the entire Grand Duchy.” Dmitry humiliatedly recognized the power of the Horde.

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

In the 60s XIV century In Central Asia, Timur (Tamerlane), an outstanding ruler, became famous for his incredible, seemingly savage cruelty even then, strengthened. Having defeated Turkey, he destroyed the army of Tokhtamysh, and then invaded the Ryazan lands. Horror gripped Rus', which remembered Batu’s invasion. Having captured Yelets, Timur moved towards Moscow, but on August 26 he stopped and turned south. In Moscow it was believed that Rus' was saved by the icon of the Mother of God of Vladimir, which, at the request of the people, averted the coming of the “iron lame man.”

Those who have seen Andrei Tarkovsky’s great film “Andrei Rublev” remember the terrible scene of the capture of the city by Russian-Tatar troops, the destruction of churches and the torture of a priest who refused to show the robbers where the church treasures were hidden. This whole story has a genuine documentary basis. In 1410, the Nizhny Novgorod prince Daniil Borisovich, together with the Tatar prince Talych, secretly approached Vladimir and suddenly, during the afternoon rest of the guards, burst into the city. The priest of the Assumption Cathedral, Patrikey, managed to lock himself in the church, hid the vessels and part of the clergy in a special light, and while the gates were being broken down, he knelt down and began to pray. The Russian and Tatar villains burst in and grabbed the priest and began to find out where the treasure was. They burned him with fire, drove wood chips under his nails, but he was silent. Then, tying him to a horse, the enemies dragged the priest’s body along the ground, and then killed him. But the people and treasures of the church were saved.

In 1408, the new Khan Edigei attacked Moscow, which had not paid the “exit” for more than 10 years. However, the Kremlin's cannons and its high walls forced the Tatars to abandon the assault. Having received the ransom, Edigei and many prisoners migrated to the steppe.

Having fled to Rus' from the Horde through Podolia in 1386, young Vasily met the Lithuanian prince Vitovt. Vitovt liked the brave prince, who promised him his daughter Sophia as a wife. The wedding took place in 1391. Soon Vytautas became the Grand Duke of Lithuania. Moscow and Lithuania fiercely competed in the matter of “gathering” Rus', but more recently Sophia turned out to be a good wife and a grateful daughter - she did everything to prevent her son-in-law and father-in-law from becoming sworn enemies. Sofya Vitovtovna was a strong-willed, stubborn and decisive woman. After her husband's death from the plague in 1425, she fiercely defended the rights of her son Vasily II during the strife that again swept Rus'.

Vasily II the Dark. Civil War

The reign of Vasily II Vasilyevich was a time of 25 years of civil war, “dislike” of Kalita’s descendants. Dying, Vasily I bequeathed the throne to his young son Vasily, but this did not suit Vasily II’s uncle, Prince Yuri Dmitrievich - he himself dreamed of power. In the dispute between uncle and nephew, the Horde supported Vasily II, but in 1432 the peace was broken. The reason was a quarrel at the wedding feast of Vasily II, when Sofya Vitovtovna, accusing Yuri’s son, Prince Vasily Kosoy, of illegally appropriating the golden belt of Dmitry Donskoy, took away this symbol of power from Kosoy and thereby terribly insulted him. Victory in the ensuing strife went to Yuri II, but he ruled for only two months and died in the summer of 1434, bequeathing Moscow to his son Vasily Kosoy. Under Yuri, for the first time, an image of St. George the Victorious slaying a serpent with a spear appeared on a coin. This is where the name “kopek” came from, as well as the coat of arms of Moscow, which was later included in the coat of arms of Russia.

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

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

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

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

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

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

From an early age, Prince Ivan experienced the horrors of civil strife - he was with his father on the very day when Shemyaka’s people dragged Vasily II out to blind him. Then Ivan managed to escape. He did not have a childhood - already at the age of 10 he became co-ruler with his blind father. In total, he was in power for 55 years! According to the foreigner who saw him, he was a tall, handsome, thin man. He also had two nicknames: “Humpbacked” - it’s clear that Ivan was stooped - and “Terrible”. The last nickname was later forgotten - his grandson Ivan IV turned out to be even more formidable. Ivan III was power-hungry, cruel, and treacherous. He was also harsh towards his family: he starved his brother Andrei to death in prison.

Ivan had outstanding gifts as a politician and diplomat. He could wait for years, slowly move towards his goal and achieve it without serious losses. He was a real “gatherer” of lands: Ivan annexed some lands quietly and peacefully, and conquered others by force. In short, by the end of his reign, the territory of Muscovy grew sixfold!

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

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

Under Ivan, an all-Russian code of laws also arose - the Code of Laws of 1497. It regulated legal proceedings and the size of feedings. The code of law established a single period for the peasants to leave the landowners - a week before and a week after St. George's Day (November 26). From this moment we can talk about the beginning of Rus''s movement towards serfdom.

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

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

Ivan devoted a lot of effort to the construction of Moscow, or more precisely, the Kremlin - after all, the city was entirely wooden, and fires did not spare it, just like the Kremlin, whose stone walls did not protect from fire. Meanwhile, stone work worried the prince - Russian craftsmen had no practice in constructing large buildings. The destruction of the almost completed cathedral in the Kremlin in 1474 made a particularly difficult impression on Muscovites. And then, by the will of Ivan, the engineer Aristotle Fioravanti was invited from Venice, who “for the sake of the cunning of his art” was hired for a huge amount of money - 10 rubles a month. It was he who built the white-stone Assumption Cathedral in the Kremlin - the main temple of Russia. The chronicler was in admiration: the church “is wonderful with its great majesty, and height, and lightness, and ringing, and space, such has never happened in Rus'.”

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

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

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

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

As a contemporary wrote, Ivan III sat still, but his state grew. Under Vasily this growth continued. He completed his father's work and annexed Pskov. There Vasily behaved like a true Asian conqueror, destroying the liberties of Pskov and evicting wealthy citizens to Muscovy. The Pskovites could only “cry for their antiquity and according to their own will.”

After the annexation of Pskov, Vasily III received a message from the elder of the Pskov Eliazar Monastery, Philotheus, who argued that the former centers of the world (Rome and Constantinople) had been replaced by a third - Moscow, which had accepted holiness from the fallen capitals. And then the conclusion followed: “Two Romes have fallen, and the third stands, but there will not be a fourth.” Filofei's thoughts became the basis of the ideological doctrine of imperial Russia. Thus, the Russian rulers were included in a single series of rulers of world centers.

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

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

The young widow of Vasily III, Elena, became regent under the three-year-old Ivan IV. Under Elena, some of her husband’s undertakings were completed: a unified system of weights and measures was introduced, as well as a unified coinage system throughout the country. Elena immediately showed herself to be a powerful and ambitious ruler and brought her husband’s brothers Yuri and Andrei into disgrace. They were killed in prison, and Andrei died of starvation in a blank iron cap placed on his head. But in 1538, death overtook Elena herself. The ruler died at the hands of poisoners, leaving the country in a difficult situation - continuous raids by the Tatars, squabbling among the boyars for power.

Reign of Ivan the Terrible

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

Having reached adulthood - 16 years old, Ivan amazed those around him with his determination and will. In December 1546, he announced that he wanted to have a “royal rank” and be called a king. Ivan's crowning ceremony took place in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin. The Metropolitan placed the Monomakh's Cap on Ivan's head. According to legend, this hat was made in the 12th century. inherited from Byzantium Prince Vladimir Monomakh. In fact, this is a gold skullcap, trimmed with sables, decorated with stones, made in Central Asia in the 14th century. It became the main attribute of royal power.
After a terrible fire that happened in Moscow in 1547, the townspeople rebelled against the boyars who abused their power. The young king was shocked by these events and decided to begin reforms. A circle of reformers, the “Chosen Rada,” arose around the tsar. The priest Sylvester and the nobleman Alexei Adashev became his soul. Both of them remained Ivan's main advisers for 13 years. The activities of the circle led to reforms that strengthened the state and autocracy. Orders were created - central authorities; in the localities, power transferred from the previous governors appointed from above to elected local elders. The Tsar's Code of Law, a new set of laws, was also adopted. It was approved by the Zemsky Sobor, a frequently convened general meeting of elected officials from different “ranks.”

In the first years of his reign, Ivan’s cruelty was softened by his advisers and his young wife Anastasia. Ivan chose her, the daughter of the devious Roman Zakharyin-Yuryev, as his wife in 1547. The Tsar loved Anastasia and was under her truly beneficial influence. Therefore, the death of his wife in 1560 was a terrible blow for Ivan, and after that his character completely deteriorated. He abruptly changed his policy, refused the help of his advisers and put them in disgrace.

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

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

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

The terrible time of the oprichnina has arrived in Russia. On December 3, 1564, Ivan unexpectedly left Moscow, and a month later he sent a letter to the capital from Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda, in which he declared his anger at his subjects. In response to the humiliated requests of his subjects to return and rule as before, Ivan declared that he was creating an oprichnina. This is how (from the word “oprich”, that is, “except”) this state arose within a state. The remaining lands were called "zemshchina". The oprichnina arbitrarily took the lands of the “zemshchina”, local nobles were exiled, and their property was confiscated. The oprichnina led to a sharp strengthening of autocracy not through reforms, but through arbitrariness, a gross violation of the traditions and norms accepted in society.
Mass murders, brutal executions, and robberies were carried out by the hands of guardsmen dressed in black clothes. They were part of a kind of military monastic order, and the king was its “abbot.” Intoxicated with wine and blood, the guardsmen terrified the country. There was no government or court to be found on them - the guardsmen hid behind the name of the sovereign.

Those who saw Ivan after the beginning of the oprichnina were amazed at the changes in his appearance. It was as if a terrible internal corruption had struck the king’s soul and body. The once blooming 35-year-old man looked like a wrinkled, balding old man with eyes glowing with a dark fire. Since then, riotous feasts in the company of guardsmen alternated in Ivan’s life with executions, debauchery with deep repentance for the crimes committed.

The tsar treated independent, honest, and open people with particular distrust. He executed some of them with his own hand. Ivan did not tolerate protests against his atrocities. So, he dealt with Metropolitan Philip, who called on the king to stop extrajudicial executions. Philip was exiled to a monastery, and then Malyuta Skuratov strangled the metropolitan.
Malyuta especially stood out among the oprichniki murderers, blindly loyal to the tsar. This first executioner of Ivan, a cruel and narrow-minded man, aroused the horror of his contemporaries. He was the tsar's confidant in debauchery and drunkenness, and then, when Ivan atone for his sins in church, Malyuta rang the bell like a sexton. The executioner was killed in the Livonian War
In 1570, Ivan organized the defeat of Veliky Novgorod. Monasteries, churches, houses and shops were robbed, Novgorodians were tortured for five weeks, the living were thrown into the Volkhov, and those who floated out were finished off with spears and axes. Ivan robbed the shrine of Novgorod - St. Sophia Cathedral and took away its wealth. Returning to Moscow, Ivan executed dozens of people with the most brutal executions. After that, he brought executions down on those who created the oprichnina. The blood dragon was devouring its tail. In 1572, Ivan abolished the oprichnina, and forbade the use of the word “oprichnina” on pain of death.

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

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

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

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

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

After Ivan the Terrible, his son Fyodor took the throne. Contemporaries considered him weak-minded, almost an idiot, seeing him sitting on the throne with a blissful smile on his lips. For 13 years of his reign, power was in the hands of his brother-in-law (brother of his wife Irina) Boris Godunov. Fyodor was a puppet under him, obediently playing the role of autocrat. Once, at a ceremony in the Kremlin, Boris carefully straightened the Monomakh Cap on Fyodor’s head, which supposedly sat crookedly. So, in front of the amazed crowd, Boris boldly demonstrated his omnipotence.

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

In 1591, stone craftsman Fyodor Kon built walls of white limestone around Moscow (“White City”), and cannon maker Andrei Chokhov cast a gigantic cannon weighing 39,312 kg (“Tsar Cannon”) - In 1590 it came in handy: The Crimean Tatars, having crossed the Oka River, broke through to Moscow. On the evening of July 4, from the Sparrow Hills, Khan Kazy-Girey looked at the city, from whose powerful walls guns roared and bells rang in hundreds of churches. Shocked by what he saw, the khan gave the army the order to retreat. That evening was the last time in history that the formidable Tatar warriors saw the Russian capital.

Tsar Boris built a lot, attracting many people to this work to provide them with food. Boris personally founded a new fortress in Smolensk, and the architect Fyodor Kon erected its stone walls. In the Moscow Kremlin, the bell tower, built in 1600, sparkled with a dome, called “Ivan the Great”.

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

For about eight hundred years, Russia was ruled by the Rurik dynasty - descendants of the Varangian Rurik. Over these centuries, Russia became a European state, adopted Christianity, and created a unique culture. Different people sat on the Russian throne. Among them were outstanding rulers who thought about the good of the people, but there were also many nonentities. Because of them, by the 13th century, Rus' disintegrated as a single state into many principalities and became a victim of the Mongol-Tatar invasion. Only with great difficulty did Moscow, which had risen to prominence by the 16th century, manage to create a new state. It was a harsh kingdom with a despotic autocrat and silent people. But it also fell at the beginning of the 17th century...

History of Russia in stories for children Alexandra Osipovna Ishimova

Old Russian state *VI–XII centuries*

Slavs before 862

You, children, love to listen to wonderful stories about brave heroes and beautiful princesses. Fairy tales about good and evil wizards amuse you. But, probably, it will be even more pleasant for you to hear not a fairy tale, but a true story, that is, the real truth? Listen, I will tell you about the deeds of our ancestors.

In the old days, in our Fatherland, Russia, there were no such beautiful cities as St. Petersburg and Moscow. In those places where you now admire beautiful buildings, where you run so merrily in the shade of cool gardens, there were once impenetrable forests, swampy swamps and smoky huts; In some places there were also cities, but not at all as large as in our time: people lived in them, beautiful in face and figure, proud of the glorious deeds of their ancestors, honest, kind and affectionate at home, but terrible and irreconcilable in war. They were called Slavs.

V. M. Vasnetsov. Battle of the Scythians with the Slavs. 1881

The Slavs were strong and brave warriors. They constantly fought with neighboring peoples. Most of the Slavs went into battle, armed with darts and shields. It was during battles that the true character of the Slavs was best revealed.

They were so honest that in their promises, instead of oaths, they only said: “If I do not keep my word, then let me be ashamed!” - and always kept their promises. They were so brave that even distant peoples feared them; so affectionate and hospitable that they punished the owner whose guest was offended in some way. The only pity is that they did not know the true God and prayed not to Him, but to different idols Idol means a statue made of wood or some metal and representing a man or beast.

The Slavs were divided into different tribes; The Northern or Novgorod Slavs did not have a Sovereign, which happens among many uneducated peoples: they considered as their leader the one who distinguished himself most in the war. On the field where they fought and then celebrated victory or glorified their fallen comrades, one could best see the true character of the Slavs. It is a pity that the songs that were usually sung at that time by their singers have not reached us. We would then get to know them well, because folk songs express the people. But I can offer you a few lines, from which you will still get a better and more detailed idea of ​​​​the Slavs than our short story can give you. This is an excerpt from the poem “Song Barda over the tomb of the victorious Slavs" by the famous Russian poet Vasily Zhukovsky:

“Hit the ringing shield! Flock militias!

The fighting has fallen silent - the enemies have subsided, squandered,

Only the steam settled thick over the ashes;

Only a wolf, hidden in the darkness of the night,

With sparkling eyes, he runs for abundant fishing.

Let's light an oak fire; dig a grave ditch!

Place those who have been cast into dust on their shields.

Yes, the hill here speaks to the centuries about the days of war,

Yes, the stone here keeps the sacred trace of the mighty!

It's thundering... there was a roar in the awakened oak grove!

Leaders and hosts of warriors flocked;

Deaf fullness of darkness all around;

Before him is the prophetic Bard, crowned with gray hair,

And a terrible row of fallen, stretched out on shields.

Engulfed in thought with a bowed head;

There is blood and dust on the menacing faces;

They leaned on their swords: among them the fire was burning

And with a whistle the mountain wind lifts their curls.

And behold! the hill was raised and the stone was set in place,

And oak, the beauty of the fields, nurtured over centuries,

He bowed his head on the turf and was showered with electricity;

And behold! powerful fingers

The singer struck the strings -

Animated rattled!

He sang - the oak groves groaned,

And the roar rushed through the mountains.”

This picture from the life of the ancient Slavs is presented beautifully and truly. Looking at her, it seems that you see our proud, warlike ancestors.

But this very belligerence, while protecting their land, was also the cause of great evil for it. You have already heard that, having no sovereigns, they considered as their superior the one who distinguished himself more than others in war; and since they were all brave, it sometimes happened that there were many such leaders. Each of them wanted to order in his own way; the people did not know whom to listen to, and that is why they had endless disputes and disagreements. But do you know how terrible quarrels are? And you, in your small affairs, have probably already experienced their unpleasant consequences and the difference in feelings and your position, when everyone around you is happy with you, and you are happy with them.

And the Slavs also saw that during disagreements all their affairs went badly, and they even stopped defeating their enemies. For a long time they did not know what to do. Finally, we figured out how to put everything in order. On the shores of the Baltic Sea, therefore, not very far from our Fatherland, lived a people named Varangians-Rus, descended from the great conquerors in Europe - Normannov.

These Varangians-Rus were considered by their neighbors to be smart people: they had long had good sovereigns, there were laws by which these sovereigns ruled them, and therefore the Varangians lived happily, and they even sometimes managed to defeat the Slavs - however, this only happened then how they attacked them during their disputes and disagreements.

V. M. Vasnetsov. Trizna for Oleg. Illustration for the book “Song of the Prophetic Oleg” by A.S. Pushkin. 1899

After the death of a prince or warrior, in memory of him the Slavs organized a solemn feast. All the relatives and all the warriors gathered for this feast. The guslar singer came. Picking the strings, he sang the deeds and exploits of the deceased, giving him glory.

So the Slavic old men, seeing the happiness of the Varangians and wishing the same for their Motherland, persuaded all the Slavs to send ambassadors to this brave and enterprising people to ask their princes to rule them. The ambassadors said to the Varangian princes: “Our land is great and rich, but there is no order in it: come reign and rule over us.”

From the book History of Russia. From ancient times to the 16th century. 6th grade author

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From the book Ancient Rus'. IV–XII centuries author Team of authors

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Chapter VIII THE ANCIENT RUSSIAN STATE FORMATION OF THE ANCIENT RUSSIAN STATEOne of the largest states of early medieval Europe was the Old Russian State, or Kievan Rus. Arose in the vastness of Eastern Europe as a result of the unification of a number of

The period of ancient Rus' dates back to ancient times, with the appearance of the first Slavic tribes. But the most important event is the calling of Prince Rurik to reign in Novgorod in 862. Rurik came not alone, but with his brothers, Truvor ruled in Izborsk, and Sineus ruled in Beloozero.

In 879, Rurik dies, leaving behind his son Igor, who, due to his age, cannot rule the state. Power passes into the hands of Rurik's comrade Oleg. Oleg united Novgorod and Kyiv in 882, thereby founding Rus'. In 907 and 911, Prince Oleg’s campaigns against Constantinople (the capital of Byzantium) took place. These campaigns were successful and raised the authority of the state.

In 912, power passed to Prince Igor (son of Rurik). Igor's reign symbolizes the successful activities of the state in the international arena. In 944, Igor concluded an agreement with Byzantium. However, success in domestic policy was not achieved. Therefore, Igor was killed by the Drevlyans in 945 after trying to collect tribute again (this version is most popular among modern historians).

The next period in the history of Rus' is the period of the reign of Princess Olga, who wants to take revenge for the murder of her husband. She ruled until approximately 960. In 957 she visited Byzantium, where, according to legend, she converted to Christianity. Then her son Svyatoslav took power. He is famous for his campaigns, which began in 964 and ended in 972. After Svyatoslav, power in Rus' passed into the hands of Vladimir, who ruled from 980 to 1015.

Vladimir's reign is most famous for the fact that it was he who baptized Rus' in 988. Most likely, this is the most significant event of the periods of the ancient Russian state. The establishment of an official religion was necessary to a greater extent to unite Rus' under one faith, strengthening the princely authority and the authority of the state in the international arena.

After Vladimir there was a period of civil strife, in which Yaroslav, who received the nickname Wise, won. He reigned from 1019 to 1054. The period of his reign is characterized by more developed culture, art, architecture and science. Under Yaroslav the Wise, the first set of laws appeared, which was called “Russian Truth”. Thus he founded the legislation of Rus'.

Then the main event in the history of our state was the Lyubech Congress of Russian princes, which took place in 1097. Its goal was to maintain stability, integrity and unity of the state, a joint struggle against enemies and ill-wishers.

In 1113, Vladimir Monomakh came to power. His main work was “Instructions for Children,” where he described how to live. In general, the period of the reign of Vladimir Monomakh marked the end of the period of the Old Russian state and marked the emergence of a period of feudal fragmentation of Rus', which began at the beginning of the 12th century and ended at the end of the 15th century.

The period of the Old Russian state laid the foundation for the entire history of Russia, founded the first centralized state on the territory of the East European Plain. It was during this period that Rus' received a single religion, which is one of the leading religions in our country today. In general, the period, despite its cruelty, brought a lot for the development of further social relations in the state, laid the foundations for the legislation and culture of our state.

But the most important event of the ancient Russian state was the formation of a single princely dynasty, which served and ruled the state for several centuries, thereby power in Rus' became permanent, based on the will of the prince, and then the tsar.

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