The founding and medieval history of Russia

The early history of Russia, from the state formation of 9th century to the rise of Moscow in the 14th century.

No comments | 862 - 1328

Play 20 events 1238 views

Zooming out would make some of the events flow below the lower edge of the timeline and was thus cancelled.

Zoom out Zoom in

No comments

Loading comments..

Hey, log in or sign up to comment! :)

Authors

Kristjan (Histrodamus editor)

other stories from Kristjan

Facebook

Export

CSV KML PDF

Tags

Additional information

View story summary

Created:
2012-10-03 12:44:49 by Kristjan (Histrodamus editor)

Last modified 2012-10-19 07:55:09

Embed story

Play embedded story automatically:

You can add the timeline and map to another page, just copy and paste the story embed code above.

Customize dimensions

Here you can specify desired dimensions for embedded story to make it fit in your blog etc.

Custom Width & Height

x px

FAQ \| About \| privacy \| terms \| jobs \| blog \|
	Follow us on: facebook twitter

myHistro ekspordi arendamist toetavad EAS ja Euroopa Regionaalarengu Fond. Projekti kestvus 01.09.11 - 31.08.12.

OK Yes No

The founding and medieval history of Russia

862

The origins of Rus’

The lands that made up the area where the Rus´ state – the area that later came known as Russia – was formed in the early middle ages, were located in the forest zone of Eastern Europe. Land there was criss-crossed by great rivers: the Dnieper, the...

862

882

The political formation of Rus’

There had been political hierarchy north of the middle Dnieper long before the turn of the 9th century, but it is hard to reconstruct even its barest outlines. The theories how the Rus´state was formed, depend on assumptions on overall conditions...

882

912

Emergence of Kiev

Of the Varagian principalities, that of Novgorod was probably the largest and most powerful. The vicinity of Scandinavia bolstered it’s military might and made possible the southwards expansion...

912

962

Prominence of the Grand Prince of Kiev

The Rus´ state that was ruled from Kiev in the 10th century was not inferior in its great territory to the Frankish empire in Western Europe nor even Byzantium itself, but despite its massive span, many of its regions were very sparsely populated...

962

988

The christianization of Rus´

The Riurikid dynasty also converted Kievan Rus´ to Christianity and thereby provided it with a uniform religious and cultural framework. Christianity, Judaism and Islam had long been known in these lands and Olga had personally converted to...

988

1015

Christianized Rus'

On the brink of the 11th century, Rus´ was without doubt one of the most powerful states in Eastern Europe. By that time, various Slavic, Finno-Ugric, Baltic and Turgic tribes had been united under the rule of the Grand Prince of Kiev...

1015

1054

Reign of Iaroslav the Wise

Vladimir’s adoption of Christianity was a political act, designed to integrate diverse peoples into a single society and to help legitimize his own reign. The violence that erupted between Vladimir’s sons at the time of his death in 1015 nevertheless...

1054

1070

Political system of Kievan Rus´

The chief Kievan political institution were the office of the prince, the duma, or council of boyars, and the veche, or town assembly, which have been linked, respectively, to the monarchic, aristocratic and democratic aspects of the state...

1070

1080

Society of Kievan Rus´

The bulk of the population of Rus´ were agricultural and rural. The majority of the peasants of Rus´ seem to have been personally free at the dawn of Kievan history and the free peasantry remained an important element throughout the evolution of the...

1080

1093

Period of dynastic strife

Before his death, Iaroslav assigned a separate princedom to each of his sons, who were expected to cooperate and to hold Kievan Rus´ together. Moreover, it would seem that when a vacancy occurred, they were to move up step by step with the position of...

1093

1125

Decline of Kievan Rus´

The period between the deaths of Vladimir I and Vladimir Monomakh may be considered politically as an era of expansion and consolidation for Kiev and the southern Rus´ lands. At the end of Monomakh’s reign the Riurikids were the exclusive rulers of a...

1125

1169

The appanage period

Throughout the complex transistion age, known as the appanage period, Kiev still remained important in the Rus´ state. The metropolitan in Kiev headed the church of the entire realm and the Grand Prince occupied the seat of the temporal power...

1169

1190

The success of Novgorod

Novgorod, or to use its formal name, Lord Novgorod the Great, stands out as one of the most impressive and important states of appanage Rus´. When Kievan might and authority declined and political weight shifted, Novgorod rose as the capital of...

1190

1221

The southwestern frontier

The territory directly west and southwest of Kiev was divided between Volynia and Galicia that bordered Poland and Hungary, representing the furthest southwestern expansion of the Kiev state. During the Kievan period, this region attracted attention...

1221

1237

The Mongol invasion

On the eve of the Mongol invasion two institutions had given definition to the Rus´ – the ruling Riurikid dynasty and the Orthodox Christian Church. Although the component principalities of Kievan Rus’ had multiplied and become heridatary domains of...

1237

1242

Novgorod and the West

In the second half of the 12th century, German merchants were moving into the eastern Baltic region and becoming more prominent in Novgorod’s trade. They were followed by missionaries, attempting to convert the pagan Livonian tribes to Christianity, by...

1242

1260

Rus' under Mongol domination

Once the great 1237-1242 military campaign of the Mongols was concluded, they largely continued their nomadic and pastoral life, but the rule over a vast conquered land led to the establishment of new Mongol cities and the rebuilding of many Russian...

1260

1277

Political struggles under Mongol rule

Initially, the khans of the Golden Horde did not radically alter the political framework of the Rus´ lands. The Riurikid dynasty remained in power and during the second half of the 13th century dynastic tradition continued to determine seniority...

1277

1300

Northeastern Russia

The northeast formed an integral part of the Kievan state, and its leading towns, such as Rostov or Suzdal were some of the oldest in Russia. Its princes, deriving from Vladimir Monomakh, had effectively participated in 12th-century Kievan politics...

1300

1328

The rise of Moscow

Moscow originated as a princely settlement and became a walled center, that is, a town, in the middle of the 12th century. Still, even by the 14th century it only possessed a modest wooden fortress (kremlin) flanked by a commercial and artisan...

1328

Thinking..