Byzantine Empire and Russia
Timeline
Rurik takes control of Novgorod
700s-800s
- Vikings steered their long ships out of Scandinavia
- Rurik was the prince of the Rus, (a Varangian tribe)
- He begain his rule of Novgorod in the North
- After he died, Rus lands expanded to include Kiev, which later became their capital
Vladimir I converts to Christianity
957
- Princess Ogla of Kiev converted Byzantine Christianity
- Her grandson, Vladimir spread the new religion widely
- He married the sister of a Byzantine emperor
- Also, made Ortohdox Christinaty the religion of the Rus
- This caused the Russians to adopt Byzantine art, music, and architecture
- He began to align the kingdom culturally
Reign of Yaroslav the Wise and introduction of the Pravada Russkia
1016-1054
- He won military victories and spread Christianity like his father, Vlamimir
- He set up close ties between church and state
- He also gave legal status to the Church
- He had many religious texts translated into the Slavic language
- He made imrpovements to the city and issued a written law code
Invastion of Polovtsy
1054
- The Polovtsy repeatedly attacked Russian territory
- The first clash between the Polovtsy and the Russians was in 1054
- They believed in the existence of good and evil spirits and erected stones, statues in memories of their dead
- The polovtsy in twelfth century turned into various crafts such as: blacksmithing, furrieiy, shoemaking, saddlemaking, bow clothes
Invasion of Mongols
1236-1241
- Batu, the grandson of Genghis, led Mongol armies into Russia
- They tolerated the Russian Orthodox Church
- It brought peace to the land between China and Eastern Europe.
- The invaders were known in Russia as the Tatars
- The Golden Horde was founded and became virtually independent of the Mongol Empire
Moscow becomes the most powerful Russian principality
1380
- The princess of Moscow increased their power
- The city was loated near important river trade routes
- It became Russia's political center and religious center when it became the capital
- They defeated the Golden Horse at the battle of Kulikovo
- This caused the Mongols strength to reduce
Reign of Ivan the Great
1462-1505
- Ivan the Great brought much of northern Russia under his rule
- He recovered Russian territory that had fallen into the hands of neighboring Lithuania
- He built the framework for absolute rule and tried to limit the power of the great landowning nobles (boyars)
- He referred to himself as tsar, or Caesar
Reign of Ivan the Terrible
1547
- The first Russian ruler officially crowned tsar
- He limited the privileges of the old boyar families and granted land to noble in exchange for military or other services
- He introduced new laws that tied Russian serfs to the land
- He killed his own son and organized the oprichniki (agents of terror who enforced the tsar's will)
- The oprichniki slaughtered rebellious boyars and sacked towns where people were suspected of disloyalty
- He introduced Russia to a tradition of extreme absolute power that would shape Russian history
Positive Effects of Byzantine culture
- Cyril and Methodius adapted the Greek alphabet so they could translate the Bible into Slavic tongue
- This Cyrllic alphabet became the written script that is used today in Russia, Ukraine, Serbia, and Bulgaria
- They adopted the onion-looking domes
- They gave them a way to communicate with the rest of the world and within the empire
Negative Effects
- The Russians converted all of the Slavs to Christianity