Ukraine’s Varangian Princes, its Primary Chronicle, the Russkaya Pravda …

23 Saturday Apr 2022

Posted by michelinewalker in Ukraine, Ukraine War

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Byzantine Emperors, East Slavic population, Hetmans, House of Romanov, Kievan Rus, Mongol Invasion, Rurik Dynasty, Russkaya Pravda, the Primary Chronicle, Varangian Princes

Viktor Vasnetsov, *The Invitation of the Varangians*: Rurik and his brothers arrive in Staraya Ladoga.

Kievan Rus’ dates to the Rurik dynasty. Prince Rurik was a Varangian Viking who entered an East Slavic territory. He and his two brothers were asked to rule future Ukraine because of political strife. Prince Rurik’s brothers died, so Rurik alone founded Kievan Rus’, “a loose federation in Eastern Europe and Northern Europe” (see Kievan Rus’, Wikipedia).

The Primary Chronicle and the Russkaya Pravda

The Primary Chronicle or Tale of Bygone Years (12^th century) is a written history. Although it is not altogether accurate, it remains a precious document. For instance, it provides the name of a few Varangian Princes who ruled Kievan Rus’, an independent state. The first Varangian Prince is Prince Oleg (879–912), who protected Varangian traders from Khazar incursions.

Sviatoslav I (943–972), Grand Prince of Kiev was given a Slavic name. Prince Sviatoslav’s father, Igor of Kiev, was assassinated when Sviatoslav was a child. His mother, Olga of Kiev, avenged Igor’s death by burying Drevlians alive. They had come to fetch her believing she would marry a Drevlian ruler. Olga reigned until her son grew of age. Prince Sviatoslav moved his capital from Kiev to Pereyaslavets in current-day Romania. Prince Sviatoslav was a conqueror. Under his rule, Ukraine would grow to be the largest country in Europe.

Prince Vladimir the Great (980–1015) introduced Christianity in Kievan Rus’ and imposed it by decree on the people of the state of Kievan Rus. His sons, one of whom is Yaroslav the Wise (1019–1054) “assembled and issued its first written legal code, the Russkaya Pravda, shortly after his death.” The “absence of capital and corporal punishment” in the Russkaya Pravda “reflects Norse jurisprudence.” (See Russkaya Pravda, Wikipedia.)

Varangians were the bodyguards of Byzantine emperors, but Kievan Rus’ was sacked by Mongols in the 1240s (See Mongol invasion, Wikipedia). It was a devastating loss. Constantinople, the former Byzantine Empire, did not fall to the Ottoman Empire until 1453. Kievan Rus’, an independent state, was never reborn. However, as we have noted in earlier posts, in 1648, Cossack Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky “led an uprising against the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth which led to the creation of an independent Ukrainian Cossack state.” In 1654, he “allied the Cossack Hetmanate with Tsardom of Russia thus placing central Ukraine under Russian control.” (See Bohdan Khmelnytsky, Wikipedia). Ukrainians will nevertheless enjoy a degree of independence until Ivan Mazepa, a Cossack Hetman, and Swedish King Charles XII are defeated by Peter I, Peter the Great of Russia, at the Battle of Poltava on 8 July 1709. Catherine the Great ended Cossack Hetmenates in 1764.

Yet, although Ukraine did not gain its independence until the collapse of the USSR, the former Soviet Union, Ukraine is pushing back Vladimir Putin‘s forces so energetically that one expects Ukraine to survive. Nationhood is not always defined by borders. Ukraine is an ancient culture.

A Timeline

862, Kievan Rus’ is founded by the Varangian (Viking) prince Rurik
in the 1240s, Kievan Rus’ is sacked by Mongols (the Mongol invasion)
1354, the fall of Constantinople (the Byzantine Empire falls to the Ottoman Empire)
1547-1917, the Tsardom of Russia
1547, Ivan IV (the Terrible) (b. 1530) declares himself Tsar but is recognised as Tsar of Russia
1613, Michael of Russia (b. 1596) is the first Romanov to be elected to the Tsardom of Russia by the Zemskiy Sobor of 1613
1648, Hetmans (Cossack Hetmanates) (1648-1709)
1721, the birth of the Russian Empire (Peter the Great)
1917, the Russian Revolution
1917, the fall of the House of Romanov
1991, the fall of the USSR, or the Soviet Union

Conclusion

On Good Friday, I remembered the sayings of Jesus on the Cross. Regarding the objectionable invasion of Ukraine, the first saying would be the most important, but forgiving would be difficult: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do ( Luke 23:34).” One would like a multinational army to fight alongside Ukrainians and push out the Russians. Providing weapons seems insufficient. But would Vladimir Putin see intervention as other than humanitarian? At any rate, Putin is not at liberty to destroy a country. Will autocracies replace democracy?

RELATED ARTICLES

Bodan Khmelnytsky, a Cossack Hetman (16 April 2022)
Ruthenia vs Ukraine (14 April 2022)
Ukraine: … a Genocide? (8 April 2022)
A Brief Disappearance (6 April 2022)
Ukraine: the Battle of Potlava (5 April 2022)
The War in Ukraine: la petite Russie (1 April 2022)
The Great Gate of Kiev (Kyiv) (21 March 2022)

Sources and Resources

Wikipedia, abundantly
Bohdan Chmelnyskyj or Hetmanat (German)
Armed Forces of Ukraine, Wikipedia
The Cossacks of Ukraine, Britannica
Photo credit: Wikipedia, all images

Love to everyone 💕

Vikings of the East: the Kievan Rus’

Ruthenia vs Ukraine

14 Thursday Apr 2022

Posted by michelinewalker in Ukraine, Ukraine War

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Cossack Hetmanate, Endonyms, Exonyms, Foreign domination of Ukraine, Ivan Mazepa, Kievan Rus', Little Russia, Mongol Invasion

Ruthenia or Ukraine

Outsiders have often given Ukraine the name Ruthenia, which is confusing. Ruthenia is an exonym, a name for a place that is only used outside that place. But Ukraine, an endonym, is the name Ukrainians give their country.

Exonyms and Endonyms

There are exonyms and endonyms. According to Lexico, “many exonyms can be considered insensitive and preference is given to the endonym.” (See Exonym [other examples], in Lexico). Ruthenia, an exonym, would mean a small Ukraine, which is insensitive. However, it has often been the meaning of the exonym Ruthenia, since the state of Kievan Rus’, today’s Ukraine, was founded in the 9^th century by Varangians, Vikings from Sweden mainly. Kievan Rus’, was vandalized by Mongols in the 13^th century. (See Mongol Invasion of Kievan Rus’, Wikipedia.) Since the Mongol Invasion, Ukraine has been under external control except for the years when it was a Cossack Hetmanate, from 1648 to 1764. Ivan Mazepa was the Cossack Hetman of Zaporizhian Host in 1687–1708. He died in Turkey, where he and Charles XII of Sweden had fled after their defeat at the Battle of Poltava (8 July 1709).

In 1764, the Cossack Hetmanate was incorporated by Russia as the Little Russia Governorate headed by Pyotr Rumyantsev, “with the last remnants of the Hetmanate’s administrative system abolished in 1781.” So, there was a Little Russia Governorate, or Little Russia, la petite Russie.

However, despite the Cossack Hetmanate, Ukraine was under foreign domination for 600 years. The Cossack Hetmanate fell to Peter I at the Battle of Poltava.

After the Russian Revolution of 1917, Ukraine rose for a few years and would rise again after the dissolution of the USSR, the Soviet Union.

Ukraine has been independent since 1991, but Crimea was annexed by Russia in 2014. The current war is a continuation of the annexation of Crimea.

In short, the Latin word Ruthenia reflects the foreign domination of Ukraine. The Russian army entered Ukraine in February 2022, when it was directed to do so by Vladimir Putin. President Putin may think that Russia will defeat Ukraine, but Ukraine will probably survive.

At a NATO-Russia summit in 2008, Vladimir Putin “told US President George W. Bush that ‘Ukraine is not even a state!'” while the following year Putin referred to Ukraine as “Little Russia.” (See Vladimir Putin, Wikipedia.)

Love to everyone 💕