Medieval Rus: Origins, Early Christianity, Folk

Belief

Geography
Russian Empire (Soviet Union) 1/6th of the
total land surface of the earth
North Eurasia Plain is the largest flat plain
on the globe
Mountains on the periphery (Carpathian,
Caucasian, Altai, Khingan)

Terrain
Tundra
Forest
Steppe
Desert

In Europe:
Europe's geography favored division into
smaller, closer nation-states, as its many
natural barriers (esp. mountains) provide
defensible borders.
As a result, governments that suppressed
economic and technological progress
soon corrected their mistakes or were outcompeted relatively quickly

Territorial Expansion
Flat surfaces: No natural boundaries
Rivers facilitate movements (but run north-south, run into foreign
ports or frozen waters)
Steppe and desert nomadic territories

Historical Maps

Environment Society

Length of winter: economic consequences / mental

consequences
Forest wooden culture. Forest as an abode of evil
spirits in folklore.
Steppes on the one hand, wide, no boundaries, no
limits; on the other hand, where the nomads come
from (i.e., danger)
River trade routes.

Russian wooden churches: Kizhi

Russian Wooden Hut (Izba)

Way of Life

Settled, but partly nomadic because of permanent

military conflict. Thats why less glued to home/house
values. Not my home = my fortress.
Space more important than time? Lack of historical
consciousness (myth of a nation without history,
geography serving as history)
World: mir peasant commune.

Russian Stove

Red Corner

Communality

Communal spirit: sobornost collectivism from

early peasant communities to the socialist kolkhozy
(collective farms).

Svoi (ours) and chuzhoi (theirs; alien; foreign):

operates on the micro level of the village and extends
outward to macro level of nation: insiders help one
another. Outsiders are a perceived threat.

Caution and status quo

In economic / social life

Winters Incapacity for steady / regular
work, capacity for extraordinary work /
intensity
Community solidarity / joint responsibility
Protected space vs. Wildness

The Slavs

 Russian is an Eastern Slavic

Language
Part of the Slavic group
Slavic Group belongs to IndoEuropean languages

Saints Cyril and Methodius

9th century Christian missionaries
among the Slavs
Creators of the Glagolitic alphabet
(later superseded by Cyrillic)
Old Church Slavonic (first Slavic
literary language used to translate
the Bible)

Before the Rise of Kiev

Cimmerians (10th B.C. 8th B.C.)
Scythians (7th B.C. 3rd B.C.)
Sarmatian (4th B.C. 3rd A.D.)
Goths (3rd 4th A.D.)
Huns (5th A.D.)
Avars (6th A.D.)
Khazar (7 9th A.D.)

Russian History:
Tale of three cities
Kiev: early medieval, Kievan Rus
Moscow: late medieval, Moscow
principality, tsardom
St. Petersburg: 1719 century, Russian
Empire
Moscow again: Soviet (USSR), postSoviet

Earl iest Hi story

East Slavic tribes around at least since

6th century A.D. on the Russian plain
Settlements on the Road from
Varangians (= vikings = Baltic sea) to
the Greeks (= Byzantium= Black
Sea/Mediterranean) esp. rivers,
Volkhov, Dnieper
862: Varangians (Vikings) are invited to
found the state

Varangian Ryurik, Novgorodian Prince, founder of a dynasty of

princes and tsars, annalistic establisher of Russian nationhood

In politics:
Extreme autocracy interrupted by short
periods of lawlessness/chaos
Absence of inherent structure, order
comes from outside had to invite
Vikings to found the state

Kievan State
980 1054: Kiev Russia thrives under
Vladimir and Yaroslav the Wise, becomes
the largest European state
1054 1237: disunity, competing
principalities, internecine wars
1237: Tatar/Mongol Yoke begins

Holy Vladimir the Red Sun, Prince of Kiev, The Baptist of Rus

Christianization of Rus
Between Islam, Western Christianity,
Eastern Christianity, and Judaism
Beautiful Rituals
Churches Built Where Pagan Idols
Stood

In philosophy/religion
Aesthetic approach to ethics.

Beauty is the main criterion to choose

religion. (Christianization, Dostoevsky:
The beauty will save the world)

Dvoeverie or Double Faith

The "double faith" of Christians who believe in
pagan rites and superstitions
Mat-syra-zemlya (Mother Moist Earth)
Nechistaya sila (unclean force)

Peasant Calendar / Church Calendar

Yuletide (Sviatki, Koliada)

Shrovetide (Maslenitsa)
Trinity (Rusal'naia)
Ivan Kupalo
Harvest

Christmas to Epiphany
Eighth week before Easter
Week before Trinity
Sunday
John the Baptist (Jun 24)

Ghengis Khan - the founder and

Great Khan of the Mongol Empire

Mongol yoke
The Mongols settled on
the conquered territories
(the Golden Horde)
All of Russian cities
submitted to the Mongol
rule
Only two major Russian
cities, Novgorod and
Pskov, escaped
destruction
Occasional raids which
caused destruction and
deaths
Fixed tribute

Religious tolerance
Little interference in the
daily lives of the
conquered lands
Moscow principality
started to grow and
flourish
Muscovite prince became
the Chief intermediary
between the Horde and
Rus
Novgorod flourished

Arguably, one of the main effects was:

The East-West Gap 200 year delay in
introducing major social, political, and
economic reforms and scientific
innovations
Isolation from the West may have caused
Russia's later non-involvement in the
Renaissance, Protestant Reformation,
Enlightenment, failure to develop middle
class