16b: The People Known as the Rus

In the sixth century AD - as the Byzantine emperor Justinian fought to reconquer Italy and Africa - a people known as the Slavs first appeared in Eastern Europe. The origin of the Slavic peoples remains controversial. In fact, there is no real agreement on what the term "Slav" originally meant. But we can safely say that Slavic culture eventually divided into three groups. The "West" Slavs eventually settled in modern-day Poland and Czechoslovakia, and came under Western European cultural influence, including the Roman Catholic faith and the Latin alphabet. The "South" Slavs settled in the Balkans; they came under the rule and the direct cultural influence of the Eastern Roman (or Byzantine) Empire. The "Eastern" Slavs settled in modern-day Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. Unlike the West Slavs and South Slavs, the East Slavs were little influenced by either the Eastern or Western Roman Empire. Instead, the West Slavs developed the unique culture known first as the "Rus" culture, and then as Russian. Originally hunters and traders, the West Slavs benefited from their closeness to a network of rivers which knit them together like a natural highway system. Eventually, this river network was also used for trade between Byzantium and the peoples of the Baltic Sea. Paradoxically, the story of Rus begins not in modern-day Russia but in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine.

We have already learned that a group of Norsemen - best known as the Vikings - had reached the northeast coast of modern Canada around 1000 AD. But the Vikings didn't just sail the West looking for a few good cities to pillage. A Viking group known as the Varangians had already been looking at cities and peoples located toward the southeast. Thus the Varangians came into contact with the East Slavs of modern Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. They also traveled south down the rivers Volga and Dneiper to the lands of the Byzantines. Not being traders, the Varangians' relationship with the Byzantines was simple: sometimes they fought against the Byzantines; sometimes they alongside the Byzantines. For example, the Byzantines recorded that in 839 AD the emperor Theophilos hired a few Varangians known as the "Rhos" to fight for him. The arrangement was not unusual, but interesting in that it provides one (but just one) derivation of the term Rus. As with the term "Slav," the meaning of "Rus" remains highly controversial. Unlike the Romans, who took their name from a village on the Tiber River,  and the Americans, who got their name from a third-rate Italian explorer, the Russians have no clue what their civilization's name really means. In any case, the influence of the Varangians upon Russian culture is undeniable. The main centers of Varangian influence were the cities of Novgorod and Kiev.

The "Rus" culture did not have an extended foundation legend to match the Roman legend of Romulus and Remus. The oldest reliable Russian source is the 12th century "Russian Primary Chronicle." According to the "Primary Chronicle,"  the Rus culture started in 862 AD when Slavic tribesmen lfrom Novgorod invited the Varangian prince Rurik to become their ruler. Whether Rurik was in fact invited, or whether Rurik even existed, is again open to question. But just as the Romans considered Romulus their founder, so the Russians have looked on Rurik as the founder of their culture. Just as Augustus Caesar traced his ancestry back to Romulus, so for centuries Russian rulers claimed descent from Rurik. We don't know much more about Rurik, but supposedly his successor Oleg (who was either Rurik's actual son, or not) captured the city of Kiev, on the Dnieper river, in 882 AD and moved his capital there. To this day, the cities of Novgorod and Kiev proudly claim to be the cradle of Russian civilization. But it's worth noting that the earliest stage of Russian civilization is known as Kievan Rus, and for good reason: Kiev, and not Novgorod, remained the center of the Russian state for nearly three centuries afterward. When the capital finally was moved from Kiev in 1169, it marked a fracture in the Kievan Rus state. This fracture, in turn, left the Kievan Rus state fatally open to the onrushing Golden Horde.

Oleg ruled from 879 to 912 AD. Although Oleg's relationship to Rurik is unclear, he was likely a Varangian because his name is related to the Viking masculine name Helgi and feminine name Helga. He may also have been Rurik's brother-in law, serving as regent for Rurik's son Igor (912-945). Besides moving his capital to Kiev, Oleg established a beneficial - if not always friendly  - relationship with Byzantium, signing a treaty in 911. Igor (who was either Rurik's actual son, or not) does not figure prominently in the Primary Chronicles.  We do know, however, that Igor attacked Byzantium twice (941 and 944) and was about to subdue the neighboring Drevlyanin tribe - until the Drevlyanins killed him in 945. His wife Olga (Helga; 945-963) served as regent until their son Sviatoslav - first Kievan Rus ruler to bear a Russian name - was old enough to rule on his own. She got even with the Drevlyanins, thereby making herself the first but not last strong female ruler, and converted to Christianity later in life (945 or 957), taking the name Yelena. She later became a saint of the Russian Orthodox Church. Even so, her son Svyatoslav remained a cheerful pagan.

Svyatoslav died in battle in 972, leaving the throne to Yaropolk. According to the Primary Chronicle, Yaropolk was in fact Svyatoslav's legitimate son. Yet Svyatoslav's illegitimate son Vladimir wound up with the throne. In a legend that would do Romulus and Remus proud, Vladimir first fled to Scandinavia, where he hired some Varangian mercenaries. Returning with his mercenaries in 980, Vladimir tricked Yaropolk into a meeting and murdered him. Not a promising beginning for a future saint of the Russian Orthodox Church. Not a promising development, either, at a crucial time in world history. Far to the west, the Roman Catholic Church and the Holy Roman Empire were increasing their influence  To the immediate west of Kievan Rus, the Catholic nations Hungary and Poland were on the rise. To the immediate northwest were Prussians and other Baltic tribes. To the south of Kievan Rus were Bulgarians and then Byzantines, with various khanates out in the wilds to the west.  At the time that Vladimir became ruler, Kievan Rus was a mere blip on the world map. By the time he died, he had made it a genuine power.