East Slavic tribes and the formation of the ancient Russian people. Education of the Old Russian people and the Old Russian language
The question of what the East Slavic tribes of the Tale of Bygone Years were like has been raised more than once in historical literature. In Russian pre-revolutionary historiography, the idea was widespread that the Slavic population in the territory of Eastern Europe appeared literally on the eve of the formation of the Kievan state as a result of migration from the ancestral home in relatively small groups. Such resettlement over a vast territory disrupted their former tribal ties. In new places of residence between scattered Slavic groups, new territorial ties were formed, which, due to the constant mobility of the Slavs, were not strong and could be lost again.
Consequently, the annalistic tribes of the Eastern Slavs were exclusively territorial associations. Another group of researchers, including most linguists and archaeologists, considered the annalistic tribes of the Eastern Slavs as ethnic groups. Certain places in the Tale of Bygone Years definitely speak in favor of this opinion. So, the chronicler reports about the tribes that “I live each with my kind and in my place, owning each with my own kind”, and further: “For the names of their customs, and the law of their fathers and traditions, each to their own disposition”. The same impression is formed when reading other places in the annals. So, for example, it is reported that the first settlers in Novgorod were Slovenes, in Polotsk - Krivichi, in Rostov - Merya, in Beloozero - all, in Murom - Muroma.
Here it is obvious that the Krivichi and Slovenes are equated with such indisputably ethnic formations as the whole, Merya, Muroma. Proceeding from this, many representatives of linguistics tried to find a correspondence between the modern and early medieval dialect divisions of the Eastern Slavs, believing that the origins of the current division date back to the tribal era. There is also a third point of view about the essence of the East Slavic tribes. The founder of Russian historical geography N.P. Barsov saw political and geographical formations in chronicle tribes. This opinion was analyzed by B. A. Rybakov, who believes that the glade, Drevlyans, Radimichi, etc. named in the annals. were unions that united several separate tribes.
During the crisis of the tribal society, “tribal communities united around the graveyards into “worlds” (perhaps “vervi”); the totality of several "worlds" was a tribe, and tribes were increasingly united in temporary or permanent alliances. The cultural community within the stable tribal unions was sometimes felt for quite a long time after the entry of such a union into the Russian state and can be traced from the burial mounds of the 12th-13th centuries. and according to even later data of dialectology. On the initiative of B.A. Rybakov, an attempt was made to single out, according to archaeological data, the primary tribes that formed large tribal unions, called chronicles. The materials considered above do not allow to solve the question raised unambiguously, joining one of the three points of view.
However, undoubtedly, B.A. Rybakov is right that the tribes of the Tale of Bygone Years before the formation of the territory of the ancient Russian state were also political entities, i.e. tribal unions. It seems obvious that the Volynians, Drevlyans, Dregovichi and Polans in the process of their formation were primarily territorial new formations (Map 38). As a result of the collapse of the Proto-Slavic Duleb tribal union, in the course of settlement, territorial isolation of individual groups of Dulebs occurs. Over time, each local group develops its own way of life, some ethnographic features begin to form, which is reflected in the details of the funeral rituals. This is how the Volhynians, Drevlyans, Polans and Dregovichi appear, named according to geographical features.
The formation of these tribal groups, no doubt, contributed to the political unification of each of them. The chronicle reports: “And still the brothers [Kiya, Shcheka and Khoriv] keep more often their princes in the fields, and in their trees, and their Dregovichi ...”. It is obvious that the Slavic population of each of the territorial groups, close in economic system and living in similar conditions, gradually united for a number of joint affairs - they arranged a common veche, general meetings of governors, created a common tribal squad. Tribal unions of the Drevlyans, Polyans, Dregovichi and, obviously, the Volhynians were formed, preparing the future feudal states. It is possible that the formation of the northerners was to some extent due to the interaction of the remnants of the local population with the Slavs who settled in its area.
The name of the tribe, obviously, remained from the natives. It is difficult to say whether the northerners created their own tribal organization. In any case, the chronicles do not say anything about such. Similar conditions existed during the formation of the Krivichi. The Slavic population, originally settled in the basins of the river. Velikaya and Lake Pskovskoe, did not stand out with any specific features. The formation of the Krivichi and their ethnographic features began in the conditions of stationary life already in the annalistic area. The custom to build long mounds originated already in the Pskov region, some of the details of the Krivichi funeral rite were inherited by the Krivichi from the local population, bracelet-shaped knotted rings are distributed exclusively in the area of the Dnieper-Dvina Balts. Apparently, the formation of the Krivichi as a separate ethnographic unit of the Slavs began in the third quarter of the 1st millennium AD. in the Pskov region.
In addition to the Slavs, they also included the local Finnish population. The subsequent resettlement of the Krivichi in the Vitebsk-Polotsk Dvina and the Smolensk Dnieper region, on the territory of the Dnieper Balts, led to their division into the Pskov Krivichi and the Smolensk-Polotsk Krivichi. As a result, on the eve of the formation of the ancient Russian state, the Krivichi did not form a single tribal union. The chronicle reports on separate reigns among the Polochans and the Smolensk Krivichi. The Pskov Krivichi apparently had their own tribal organization. Judging by the message of the annals about the calling of the princes, it is likely that the Novgorod Slovenes, the Pskov Krivichi and the whole united into a single political union.
Its centers were Slovenian Novgorod, Krivichi Izborsk and Vesskoe Beloozero. It is likely that the formation of Vyatichi is largely due to the substrate. A group of Slavs led by Vyatka, who came to the upper Oka, did not stand out for their own ethnographic features. They were formed on the spot and partly as a result of the influence of the local population. The range of the early Vyatichi basically coincides with the territory of the Moshchin culture. The Slavicized descendants of the carriers of this culture, together with the newcomer Slavs, constituted a separate ethnographic group of the Vyatichi. The Radimichi region does not correspond to any substrate territory. Apparently, the descendants of that group of Slavs who settled on the Sozh were called Radimichi.
It is quite clear that these Slavs included the local population as a result of miscegenation and assimilation. The Radimichs, like the Vyatichi, had their own tribal organization. Thus, both were ethnographic communities and tribal unions at the same time. The formation of the ethnographic features of Novgorod Slovenes began only after the settlement of their ancestors in the Ilmen region. This is evidenced not only by archaeological materials, but also by the absence of their own ethnonym for this group of Slavs. Here, in Priilmenye, the Slovenes created a political organization - a tribal union. The meager materials about Croats, Tivertsy and Ulichi make it impossible to reveal the essence of these tribes. East Slavic Croats, apparently, were part of a large Proto-Slavic tribe. By the beginning of the ancient Russian state, all these tribes were, obviously, tribal unions.
In 1132, Kievan Rus broke up into a dozen and a half principalities. This was prepared by historical conditions - the growth and strengthening of urban centers, the development of crafts and trading activities, the strengthening of the political power of the townspeople and the local boyars. There was a need to create a strong local government that would take into account all aspects of the internal life of individual regions ancient Rus'. Boyars of the XII century. needed a local government that could quickly comply with the norms feudal relations. Territorial fragmentation of the ancient Russian state in the XII century. largely corresponds to the areas of chronicle tribes. B.A. Rybakov notes that the capitals of many major principalities were at one time the centers of tribal unions: Kyiv at the Polyany, Smolensk at the Krivichi, Polotsk at the Polochans, Veliky Novgorod at the Slovenians, Novgorod Seversky at the Severians.
As evidenced by archaeological materials, chronicle tribes in the XI-XII centuries. were still stable ethnographic units. Their tribal and tribal nobility in the process of the emergence of feudal relations turned into boyars. Obviously, the geographical boundaries of the individual principalities that were formed in the 12th century were determined by life itself and the former tribal structure of the Eastern Slavs. In some cases, tribal areas have proven to be quite stable. So, the territory of the Smolensk Krivichi during the XII-XIII centuries. was the core of the Smolensk land, the boundaries of which largely coincide with the boundaries of the core region of the stratification of this group of Krivichi.
The Slavic tribes, which occupied the vast territories of Eastern Europe, are undergoing a process of consolidation in the 8th-9th centuries. form the Old Russian or East Slavic people. Modern East Slavic languages, i.e. Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian, preserved in their phonetics, grammatical structure and a dictionary row common features, indicating that after the collapse of the common Slavic language, they constituted one language - the language of the Old Russian people. Such monuments as the Tale of Bygone Years, the ancient code of laws Russian Truth, the poetic work The Word about Igor's Campaign, numerous letters, etc. were written in the Old Russian, or East Slavic language. Over the following centuries, a number of processes took place in the Old Russian language, which are characteristic only for the East Slavic territory. The problem of the formation of the Old Russian language and nationality was considered in the works of A.A. Shakhmatov.
According to the ideas of this researcher, all-Russian unity presupposes the presence of a limited territory on which an ethnographic and linguistic community of Eastern Slavs could develop. A.A. Shakhmatov assumed that the Antes were part of the Proto-Slavs, fleeing from the Avars, in the 6th century. settled in Volhynia and Kiev region. This area became "the cradle of the Russian tribe, the Russian ancestral home." From here East Slavs and began settling other Eastern European lands. The settlement of the Eastern Slavs over a vast territory led to their fragmentation into three branches - northern, eastern and southern. In the first decades of our century, A.A. Shakhmatov enjoyed wide recognition, and at present they are of purely historiographical interest. Later, many Soviet linguists studied the history of the Old Russian language.
The last generalizing work on this topic is F.P. Filin’s book “The Formation of the Language of the Eastern Slavs”, which focuses on the analysis of individual linguistic phenomena. The researcher comes to the conclusion that the formation of the East Slavic language took place in the VIII-IX centuries. over the vast territory of Eastern Europe. The historical conditions for the formation of a separate Slavic nation remained unexplained in this book, since they are more connected not with the history of linguistic phenomena, but with the history of native speakers. On the basis of historical materials, B.A. Rybakov showed, first of all, that the consciousness of the unity of the Russian land was preserved both in the era of the Kievan state and in the period feudal fragmentation.
The concept of "Russian land" covered all the Eastern Slavic regions from Ladoga in the north to the Black Sea in the south and from the Bug in the west to the Volga-Oka interfluve inclusive in the east. This "Russian land" was the territory of the East Slavic people. At the same time, B.A. Rybakov notes that there was still a narrow meaning of the term "Rus", corresponding to the Middle Dnieper (Kiev, Chernigov and Seversk lands). This narrow meaning of "Rus" has been preserved from the epoch of the 6th - 7th centuries, when in the Middle Dnieper there was a tribal union under the leadership of one of the Slavic tribes - the Rus. The population of the Russian tribal union in the IX-X centuries. served as the core for the formation of the Old Russian people, which included the Slavic tribes of Eastern Europe and part of the Slavic Finnish tribes.
A new original hypothesis about the prerequisites for the formation of the ancient Russian nationality was presented by P.N. Tretyakov. According to this researcher, geographically eastern groups of Slavs have long occupied the forest-steppe regions between the upper Dniester and the middle Dnieper. At the turn and at the beginning of our era, they settled to the north, in areas belonging to the Eastern Baltic tribes. The miscegenation of the Slavs with the Eastern Balts led to the formation of the Eastern Slavs. “During the subsequent resettlement of the Eastern Slavs, which culminated in the creation of an ethno-geographical picture known from the Tale of Bygone Years, from the Upper Dnieper in the northern, northeastern and southern directions, in particular in the middle Dnieper river, the “pure” Slavs moved by no means, and the population that had assimilated Eastern Baltic groups in its composition.
Tretyakov's constructions about the formation of the Old Russian people under the influence of the Baltic substrate on the Eastern Slavic grouping do not find justification either in archaeological or linguistic materials. East Slavic does not show any common Baltic substratum elements. What united all the Eastern Slavs linguistically and at the same time separated them from other Slavic groups cannot be the product of Baltic influence. How do the materials discussed in this book allow us to resolve the issue of the prerequisites for the formation of the East Slavic people?
The widespread settlement of the Slavs in Eastern Europe falls mainly on the VI-VIII centuries. It was still the Proto-Slavic period, and the settled Slavs were united linguistically. Migration did not come from one region, but from different dialect areas of the Proto-Slavic area. Consequently, any assumptions about the "Russian ancestral home" or about the beginnings of the East Slavic people within the Proto-Slavic world are not justified in any way. The Old Russian nationality was formed over vast expanses and was based on the Slavic population, united not on ethno-dialect, but on territorial soil. The linguistic expression of at least two sources of Slavic settlement in Eastern Europe is opposition.
Of all the East Slavic dialect differences, this feature is the most ancient, and it differentiates the Slavs of Eastern Europe into two zones - northern and southern. Settlement of Slavic tribes in the VI-VII centuries. over the vast expanses of Central and Eastern Europe led to disunity in the evolution of various linguistic trends. This evolution began to be not universal, but local. As a result, "in the VIII-IX centuries. and later reflexes of combinations such as denasalization o and p and a number of other changes in the phonetic system, some grammatical innovations, shifts in the field of vocabulary formed special zone in the east of the Slavic world with more or less coinciding borders. This zone constituted the language of the Eastern Slavs, or Old Russian. The leading role in the formation of this nationality belongs to the ancient Russian state.
After all, it is not for nothing that the beginning of the formation of the ancient Russian nationality coincides in time with the process of the formation of the Russian state. The territory of the Old Russian state also coincides with the area of the East Slavic people. Emergence early feudal state with its center in Kyiv, actively contributed to the consolidation of the Slavic tribes that made up the ancient Russian nationality. The Russian land, or Rus, began to be called the territory of the ancient Russian state. In this sense, the term Rus' is mentioned in the Tale of Bygone Years as early as the 10th century. There was a need for a common self-name of the entire East Slavic population. Previously, this population called themselves Slavs. Now Rus' became the self-name of the Eastern Slavs.
When listing the peoples, the Tale of Bygone Years notes: “In Afetov, parts of Rus, people and all languages are gray: Merya, Muroma, all, Mordva”. Under 852, the same source reports: "... Rus came to Tsargorod." Here, under Russia is meant all the Eastern Slavs - the population of the ancient Russian state. Rus' - the ancient Russian nationality is gaining fame in other countries of Europe and Asia. Byzantine authors write about Rus' and mention Western European sources. In the IX-XII centuries. the term "Rus" in both Slavic and other sources is used in a double sense - in the ethnic sense and in the sense of the state. This can only be explained by the fact that the ancient Russian nationality developed in close connection with the emerging state territory.
The term "Rus" was originally used only for the Kyiv glades, but in the process of creating the Old Russian statehood, it quickly spread to the entire territory of ancient Rus'. The Old Russian state united all the Eastern Slavs into a single organism, connected them with a common political life, and, of course, contributed to strengthening the concept of the unity of Rus'. State power, organizing campaigns of the population from various lands or resettlement, the expansion of princely and patrimonial administration, the development of new spaces, the expansion of tribute collection and judicial power contributed to closer ties and relations between the population of various Russian lands.
The formation of ancient Russian statehood and nationality was accompanied by the rapid development of culture and economy. The construction of ancient Russian cities, the rise of handicraft production, the development of trade relations favored the consolidation of the Slavs of Eastern Europe into a single nationality. As a result, a single material and spiritual culture is being formed, which is manifested in almost everything - from women's jewelry to architecture. In the formation of the Old Russian language and nationalities, an essential role belonged to the spread of Christianity and writing. Very soon, the concepts of "Russian" and "Christian" began to be identified.
The Church played a multifaceted role in the history of Rus'. It was an organization that contributed to the strengthening of Russian statehood and played a positive role in the formation and development of the culture of the Eastern Slavs, in the development of education and in the creation of the most important literary values and works of art. “The relative unity of the Old Russian language ... was supported by various extralinguistic circumstances: the lack of territorial disunity among the East Slavic tribes, and later the lack of stable borders between feudal possessions; the development of the supra-tribal language of oral folk poetry, closely related to the language of religious cults, common throughout the East Slavic territory; the emergence of the beginnings of public speech, which sounded during the conclusion of intertribal agreements and legal proceedings according to the laws of customary law (which were partially reflected in Russian Pravda), etc.”
Materials of linguistics do not contradict the proposed conclusions. Linguistics testifies that the East Slavic linguistic unity took shape from components that were heterogeneous in origin. The heterogeneity of tribal associations in Eastern Europe is due to their settlement from different Proto-Slavic groups, and interaction with various tribes of the autochthonous population. Thus, the formation of the Old Russian linguistic unity is the result of the leveling and integration of the dialects of the East Slavic tribal groups. This was due to the process of addition of the ancient Russian people. Archeology and history know many cases of the formation of medieval peoples in the conditions of the formation and consolidation of statehood.
How was the ancient Russian people formed? The development of feudal relations takes place in the process of transforming tribal unions into principalities, that is, separate state associations. The history of the ancient Russian state and the formation of the ancient Russian nationality begin with this process - processes are interconnected.
What preceded the foundation of Kievan Rus? What factors contributed to the formation of the Old Russian people?
Founding of the state
In the ninth century, Slavic society reached a level where it was necessary to create a legal framework that would regulate conflicts. Civil strife arose as a result of inequality. The state is the legal field that can solve many conflict situations. Without it, such a historical phenomenon as the ancient Russian nationality could not exist. In addition, the unification of the tribes was necessary, because the state is always stronger than unrelated principalities.
About when the state arose that united historians argue to this day. At the beginning of the 9th century, the Ilmen Slovenes and Finno-Ugric tribes started such a feud that the local leaders decided on a desperate step: to invite experienced rulers, preferably from Scandinavia.
Varangian rulers
According to the chronicle, the wise leaders sent a message to Rurik and his brothers, which said that their land was rich, fruitful, but there was no peace on it, only strife and civil strife. The authors of the letter invited the Scandinavians to reign and restore order. There was nothing shameful in this proposal for local rulers. Notable foreigners were often invited for this purpose.
The foundation of Kievan Rus contributed to the unification of almost all the East Slavic tribes mentioned in the annals. Belarusians, Russians and Ukrainians are the descendants of the inhabitants of feudal principalities, united in a state that has become one of the most powerful in the Middle Ages.
Legend
This city was the capital of the Slavic tribe of the Polans. They were once led, according to legend, by Kiy. Helped him manage Shchek and Khoriv. Kyiv stood at the crossroads, in a very convenient location. Here they exchanged and bought grain, weapons, livestock, jewelry, fabrics. Over time, Kiy, Khoriv and Shchek disappeared somewhere. The Slavs paid tribute to the Khazars. The Varangians passing by occupied the "homeless" city. The origin of Kyiv is shrouded in secrets. But the creation of the city is one of the prerequisites for the formation of the Old Russian people.
However, the version that Shchek was the founder of Kyiv is subject to great doubts. Rather, it is a myth, part of the folk epic.
Why exactly Kyiv?
This city arose in the center of the territory inhabited by the Eastern Slavs. The location of Kyiv, as already mentioned, is very convenient. wide steppes, fertile lands and dense forests. The cities had all the conditions for cattle breeding, agriculture, hunting, and most importantly - for the defense of an enemy invasion.
What historical sources speak about the birth of Kievan Rus? About the emergence of the East Slavic state, and therefore - the ancient Russian people, reports the "Tale of Bygone Years". After Rurik, who came to power at the invitation of local leaders, Oleg began to rule Novgorod. Igor could not manage due to his young age.
Oleg managed to concentrate power over Kiev and Novgorod.
Historical concepts
Old Russian nationality - an ethnic community, which united with the formation of the early feudal state. A few words should be said about what is hidden under this historical term.
Nationality is a historical phenomenon characteristic of the early feudal period. This is a community of people who are not members of the tribe. But they are not yet residents of a state with strong economic ties. How is a people different from a nation? Modern historians today have not come to a consensus. There are still discussions regarding this issue. But we can say with confidence that nationality is what unites people who have a common territory, culture, customs and traditions.
periodization
The topic of the article is the Old Russian nationality. Therefore, it is worth giving a periodization of the development of Kievan Rus:
- Emergence.
- Rise.
- feudal division.
The first period refers to the ninth to tenth centuries. And it was then that the East Slavic tribes began to transform into a single community. Of course, the differences between them disappeared gradually. As a result of active communication and rapprochement, the Old Russian language was formed from many dialects. An original material and spiritual culture was created.
Rapprochement of tribes
East Slavic tribes lived in the territory, which was subject to a single authority. Except for the constant feuds that took place on last step development of Kievan Rus. But they led to the emergence of common traditions and customs.
Old Russian nationality is a definition that implies not only a common economic life, language, culture and territory. This concept means a community consisting of the main, but irreconcilable classes - feudal lords and peasants.
The formation of the ancient Russian nationality was a long process. Features in the culture and language of the people inhabiting different areas of the state have been preserved. Differences have not been erased, despite the rapprochement. Later, this served as the basis for the formation of the Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian nationalities.
The concept of "Old Russian nationality" does not lose its relevance, because this community is the single root of the fraternal peoples. The inhabitants of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus carried through the centuries an understanding of the proximity of culture and language. Historical meaning Old Russian nationality is great, regardless of the current political and economic situation. In order to verify this, it is worth considering the components of this community, namely: language, customs, culture.
History of the Old Russian language
Representatives of the East Slavic tribes understood each other even before the founding of Kievan Rus.
The Old Russian language is the speech of the inhabitants who inhabited the territory of this feudal state from the sixth to the fourteenth century. A huge role in the development of culture is played by the emergence of writing. If, speaking of the time of the birth of the Old Russian language, historians call the seventh century, then the appearance of the first literary monuments can be attributed to the tenth century. With the creation of the Cyrillic alphabet, the development of writing begins. So-called chronicles appear, which are also important historical documents.
The Old Russian ethnos began its development in the seventh century, but by the fourteenth, due to severe feudal fragmentation, changes in the speech of the inhabitants inhabiting the west, south, east of Kievan Rus began to be observed. It was then that dialects appeared, later formed into separate languages: Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian.
culture
Reflection of the life experience of the people - oral creativity. In the festive rituals of the inhabitants of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, and today there are many similarities. How did oral poetry appear?
Street musicians, itinerant actors and singers roamed the streets of the ancient Russian state. All of them had a common name - buffoons. The motives of folk art formed the basis of many literary and musical works created much later.
The epic epic received special development. Folk singers idealized the unity of Kievan Rus. The characters of epics (for example, the hero Mikula Selyanovich) are depicted in epic works as rich, strong and independent. Despite the fact that this hero was a peasant.
Folk art influenced the legends and tales that have developed in the church and secular environment. And this influence is noticeable in the culture of later periods. Another source for the creation of literary works for the authors of Kievan Rus was military stories.
Economy development
With the formation of the ancient Russian people, representatives of the East Slavic tribes began to improve tools. The economy, however, remained natural. In the main industry - agriculture - widely used rales, spades, hoes, scythes, wheeled plows.
Craftsmen achieved significant success with the formation of the Old Russian state. Blacksmiths learned to harden, grind, polish. Representatives of this ancient craft made about one hundred and fifty types of iron products. The swords of ancient Russian blacksmiths were especially famous. Pottery and woodworking were also actively developed. Products old Russian masters were known far beyond the borders of the state.
The formation of the nationality contributed to the development of crafts and agriculture, which subsequently led to an increase in the development of trade relations. Kievan Rus developed economic relations With foreign countries. The trade route "from the Varangians to the Greeks" passed through the ancient Russian state.
Feudal relations
The formation of the Old Russian nationality took place during the period of the establishment of feudalism. What was this system of social relations? The feudal lords, about whose cruelty Soviet historians spoke so much, indeed, concentrated power and wealth in their hands. They used the labor of urban artisans and dependent peasants. Feudalism contributed to the formation of complex vassal relations, known from the history of the Middle Ages. personified the same state power great Kievan prince.
class strife
Smerdy peasants cultivated the estates of the feudal lords. Artisans paid tribute. The hardest life was for serfs and servants. As in other medieval states, feudal exploitation in Kievan Rus eventually became so aggravated that uprisings began. The first took place in 994. The story of the death of Igor, who, together with his squad, once decided to collect tribute for the second time, is known to everyone. Popular anger is a terrible phenomenon in history, entailing inciting strife, excesses, and sometimes even war.
Fight with aliens
The Norman Scandinavian tribes continued their predatory attacks even when the East Slavic tribes already constituted an ethnic community. In addition, Kievan Rus waged an uninterrupted struggle against the hordes. The inhabitants of the ancient Russian state bravely repelled enemy invasions. And they themselves did not wait for the next attack from the enemy, but, without thinking twice, set off. Old Russian troops often equipped campaigns in enemy states. Their glorious deeds are reflected in chronicles, epics.
Paganism
Territorial unity was significantly strengthened during the reign of Vladimir Svyatoslavovich. Kievan Rus achieved significant development, waged a fairly successful struggle against the aggressive actions of the Lithuanian and Polish princes.
Paganism had a negative impact on the formation of ethnic unity. There was a need for a new religion, which, of course, was to be Christianity. Askold began to distribute it on the territory of Rus'. But then Kyiv was captured by the Novgorod prince and destroyed not so long ago built Christian churches.
Introduction of a new faith
Vladimir took over the mission of introducing a new religion. However, there were many fans of paganism in Rus'. They have been fighting for many years. Even before the adoption of Christianity, attempts were made to renew the pagan religion. Vladimir Svyatoslavovich, for example, in 980 approved the existence of a group of gods headed by Perun. What was needed was an idea common to the entire state. And its center was bound to be in Kyiv.
Paganism, nevertheless, has become obsolete. And therefore, Vladimir, after lengthy deliberation, chose Orthodoxy. In his choice, he was guided, first of all, by practical interests.
Tough choice
According to one version, the prince listened to the opinion of several priests before making a choice. Everyone, as you know, has his own truth. The Muslim world attracted Vladimir, but he was frightened by circumcision. In addition, the Russian table cannot be without pork and wine. The faith of the Jews in the prince did not at all inspire confidence. Greek was colorful, spectacular. And political interests finally predetermined the choice of Vladimir.
Religion, traditions, culture - all this unites the population of the countries where the tribes once lived, united in the ancient Russian ethnic union. And even after centuries, the connection between such peoples as Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian is inseparable.
According to the views shared by most researchers of the history of Ancient Rus', this is an East Slavic ethnic community (ethnos), formed in X- XIII centuries as a result of the merger of 12 East Slavic tribal unions - Slovenes (Ilmen), Krivichi (including Polochan), Vyatichi, Radimichi, Dregovichi, Northerners, Polyans, Drevlyans, Volynians, Tivertsy, Ulichs and White Croats - and was a common ancestor of those formed in XIV - XVI centuries three modern East Slavic ethnic groups - Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians. The above theses turned into a coherent concept in the 1940s. thanks to the works of the Leningrad historian V.V. Mavrodina.
It is believed that the formation of a single Old Russian nationality was facilitated by:
The linguistic unity of the then Eastern Slavs (the formation on the basis of the Kyiv Koine of a single, all-Russian spoken language and a single literary language, called Old Russian in science);
The unity of the material culture of the Eastern Slavs;
Unity of traditions, customs, spiritual culture;
Achieved at the end of IX - X centuries. political unity of the Eastern Slavs (unification of all East Slavic tribal unions within the boundaries of the Old Russian state);
Appearance at the end of the tenth century. the Eastern Slavs have a single religion - Christianity in its Eastern version(Orthodoxy);
The presence of trade links between different areas.
All this led to the formation of a single, all-Russian ethnic identity among the Eastern Slavs. The formation of such self-consciousness is indicated by:
Gradual replacement of tribal ethnonyms by the common ethnonym "Rus" (for example, for the Polyans, the fact of this replacement was recorded in the annals under 1043, for the Ilmen Slovenes - under 1061);
The presence in the XII - early XIII centuries. unified (Russian) ethnic identity among princes, boyars, clergy and townspeople. So, the Chernigov abbot Daniel, who arrived in Palestine in 1106, positions himself as a representative not of Chernigov, but of "the entire Russian land." At the princely congress of 1167, the princes - heads of sovereign states formed after the collapse of the Old Russian state, proclaim their goal to protect "the entire Russian land." The Novgorod chronicler, when describing the events of 1234, proceeds from the fact that Novgorod is part of the "Russian land".
A sharp decline after Mongol invasion to Rus', links between the northwestern and northeastern lands of Ancient Rus', on the one hand, and the southern and southwestern, on the other, as well as that began in the second half of the 13th century. the inclusion first of the western, and then the southwestern and southern lands of Ancient Rus' into the state of Lithuania - all this led to the disintegration of the Old Russian people and the beginning of the formation of three modern East Slavic ethnic groups on the basis of the Old Russian people.
Literature
- Lebedinsky M.Yu. On the question of the history of the ancient Russian people. M., 1997.
- Mavrodin V.V. The formation of the Old Russian state and the formation of the Old Russian people. M., 1971.
- Sedov V.V. Ancient Russian people. Historical and archaeological research. M., 1999.
- Tolochko P.P. Old Russian nationality: imaginary or real? SPb., 2005.
§ 31. In the IX-X centuries. the Eastern Slavs had city centers - Kiev and Novgorod. The struggle between these largest political, economic and cultural centers eventually led to the formation of a single Old Russian state headed by Kiev and to the emergence of the Old Russian nationality.
The linguistic community of this nationality was inherited from the linguistic community of the East Slavic tribes (or tribal unions). The presence of such a linguistic community in past eras was one of the
factors that contributed to the unification of the former tribes of the Eastern Slavs into a single ancient Russian people.
The formation of the Old Russian nationality was expressed, among other things, in the fact that the stability of the language unit - the dialect of a certain territory - increased. In the era of tribal formations, such stability of a linguistic unit could not be, because the tribes constantly moved, occupying vast territories.
Attachment of certain groups of the population to certain
territories was reflected in the gradual withering away of old tribal names and in the appearance of the names of the inhabitants of certain areas. So, Slovenes began to be called Novgorodians, Polanekians (from Kiev), Vyatichiryazans, etc.
Such a fixation of the population in a certain territory led to the formation of new territorial units - lands and principalities - united under the rule of Kyiv. At the same time, the borders of new formations did not always coincide with the old tribal borders. So, on the one hand, if the territory of the Novgorod land generally coincided with the former territory of the Slovenes, then on the other hand, on the former territory of one Krivichi tribe, the Smolensk and Polotsk principalities with close dialects and Pskov - with a different dialect are formed. On the territory of one Rostov-Suzdal principality, there were descendants of Slovenes, Krivichi and partly Vyatichi.
All this could not but lead to a redistribution of dialect features, to the formation of new dialect groups, and, consequently, to the loss of the former dialect division of the language and to the creation of a new such division. However, the unification of all the principalities under the rule of Kiev, the creation of the Kievan state led to the fact that the commonality of linguistic experiences of the Eastern Slavs, which was somewhat violated during the existence of separate tribal groups, became possible again after the 9th century. (this, for example, was reflected in the same fate of those reduced in the 12th century in all East Slavic dialects), although, of course, dialectal differences could not only be preserved, but also developed further.
V.X-XI centuries. dialectal differences gradually accumulated in the language of the ancient Russian people. In the East Slavic south, a change [r] to [y] developed, in contrast to the north, northwest and northeast. In the East Slavic north and northwest, clatter appeared, apparently as a result of influence from the Finnish languages. In the narrow western territory, ancient combinations [*tl], [*dl] may have been preserved. All these features affected individual elements of the phonetic system of dialects, but did not deeply affect grammatical structure, as a result of which the unity of the national language was preserved.
§ 32. The development of the so-called Kievan Koine played a role in strengthening the unity of the Old Russian language.
Kyiv arose on the land of the glades, and its population was originally Polyansky. About the tribal dialect of the glades, which were occupied in the IX-X centuries. Very small area, and by the 11th century, they probably disappeared completely, there is no information. However, the very history of the Kiev land, as evidenced by archeology, was characterized by the fact that this territory, even before the formation of the Kiev state, was populated from the north. By summer
written legends, the Kievan state began with the capture of Kyiv by the northern princes. Therefore, apparently, the population of Kyiv has been ethnically mixed since ancient times: it included representatives of both northern and southern tribes.
This mixing intensified and increased due to the replenishment of the population of Kiev with newcomers from different ancient Russian regions. It can be thought, therefore, that the spoken language of Kyiv was originally distinguished by great diversity. However, a peculiar fusion of dialect features gradually emerges - Koine, in which some features were southern in origin, while others were northern. For example, in this Koine there were such typically South Russian words as vol, brehati, lepy ("beautiful"), and such North Russian words as horse, vѣksha, istba (> hut). In Old Kievan Koine, especially sharp dialectal features were leveled, as a result that it could become a language that satisfies the needs of Kiev in its relations with all of Russia, which, no doubt, strengthened the unity of the Russian people.
Of course, local dialects could not be leveled during this period, because then there were not yet those historical conditions that arise in the era of the formation of a national language and which lead to the dissolution of dialects into a single language. national language. That is why dialectal features continued to develop, and this was most clearly found in territories far removed from Kiev. However, despite this, the Kievan Koine played a certain role in strengthening the linguistic unity of the Old Russian people.
§ 33. The question of the development of the Old Russian language in the Kievan era is connected, in addition, with the question of the origin of writing and the beginning of the development of the Russian literary language.
The question of the origin of writing in Rus' has not yet been fully resolved.
Previously, it was assumed that writing in Rus' arose along with the adoption of Christianity, that is, at the end of 988. Until that time, the Eastern Slavs allegedly did not know writing, they could not write. After baptism, handwritten books appeared in Rus', first in Old Church Slavonic, written in the alphabet that Konstantin (Cyril) the Philosopher invented, and brought here from Byzantium and Bulgaria. Then they began to create their own - Old Russian - books written according to Old Slavonic patterns, and later Russian people began to use the alphabet adopted from the southern Slavs in business correspondence.
However, this view is contrary to many scientific and historical facts, which were known before, but, in essence, were not taken into account.
There is reason to believe that the Eastern Slavs knew the letter even before the baptism of Russia. It is known that in the "Life of Constantine the Philosopher" there is an indication that Constantine (Cyril),
having got to Korsun (Chersonese) in 860, “I found the gospel written in Russian letters.” The opinions of scientists differ about what kind of writing they were, and the issue has not been finally resolved. However, this circumstance does not deny the existence of writing in Russia already in the ninth century The same is indicated by the indications of the chronicle about the treaties between the Russians and the Greeks dating back to the beginning of the tenth century (907) Without any doubt, these treaties had to be written somehow, i.e. in Russia in At that time there should have already been writing.Finally, such facts as the Gnezdovo inscription of the 10th century, birch bark Novgorod letters of the 11th-12th centuries, various inscriptions of the 11th century, represent ancient Russian everyday writing, the appearance of which cannot be connected with Old Church Slavonic.
Thus, all these facts may indicate that the writing of the Eastern Slavs originated long before the baptism of Rus' and the ancient Russian letter was alphabetic.
With the emergence, development and strengthening of the Kievan state, the written language needed for state correspondence, for developing trade and culture develops and improves.
During this period, the history of the Russian literary language begins, the problems of which are the subject of special study.
Associated with X-XIII centuries new period ethnic history of the Eastern Slavs.
Its interpretation laid the foundation for differences between researchers in understanding the process of formation of the Belarusian ethnic community. These discrepancies are due not only to cognitive difficulties, but also, as already noted, to the social and worldview positions of the scientists themselves. The subject of disagreement is the problem of the Old Russian people. Its decision also predetermines the essence of the proposed concepts for the emergence of the Belarusian, as well as Russian and Ukrainian, community.
The essence of this problem lies in the answer to the question: did such a historical community of people as the ancient Russian people really exist, or is it just a figment of the imagination of researchers? Depending on the content of the answer, interpretations of the process of formation of the Belarusian, Russian and Ukrainian ethnic communities are also given. If it existed, then the formation of these three communities occurred as a result of the process of differentiation of the ancient Russian people; if it is a figment of the imagination of scientists, then the formation of the Belarusian, Russian and Ukrainian communities is derived from the process of direct consolidation of various groups of chronicle tribes.
We note right away that the concept of the Belarusian statehood, which is the basis of official publications on the history of Belarus, comes from the fact of the existence of the ancient Russian nationality in the past. Further, the relevant arguments will be given, but first we will consider the meaning of the concept of "nationality".
There are no special differences between domestic researchers regarding what a nationality is and what features it has. Almost all of them agree that this is a territorial community of people, which, in terms of the level of sociocultural development, occupies an intermediate position between the union of tribes and the nation, and which is characteristic of early class societies. Among the signs of nationality, state and territorial unity, the presence of a common name (or self-name), common language, culture, religion, and legislation are usually indicated.
The term "Old Russian nationality" came into use in the middle of the 20th century. and is used to denote the ethnic unity of the Eastern Slavs of the times of Kievan Rus. At the same time, it is used to distinguish the inhabitants of ancient Rus', who called themselves Russians or Russians, from modern Russians. Prior to that, the terms "Russian nationality", "Russian people", "Russian Slavs", "Eastern Slavs", "Slavic nationality" were used with the same meaning. At present, the term “Old Russian nationality” is the most commonly used in the literature, although others are also used depending on the context of the presentation in relation to the population of ancient Russia. Let us return to that period of the ethnic history of the Eastern Slavs, the starting point of which dates back to the end of the 9th - beginning of the 10th centuries. and ends in the middle of the thirteenth century. It was the era of Kievan Rus - the time of the emergence and existence of the largest medieval state Of Eastern Europe. As for the ethnogenetic processes that took place on its territory, the famous Ukrainian historian and archaeologist P.P. Tolochko said about them this way: “If you do the arithmetic addition of the thoughts expressed over the course of more than 200 years of research, the vast majority will be what one way or another affirmed the ethnic unity of the Eastern Slavs of Kievan times.” Historians, on the other hand, who claimed that already in the era of Kievan Rus, three East Slavic peoples were actually defined - Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians - constitute an insignificant minority. True, in the post-Soviet period, when these peoples gained their state sovereignty, some historians again began to revive this idea. These are the researchers who perceived the new realities as a kind of social order for the ideological justification of the current political and ethno-cultural situation by historical traditions.
Almost all the huge factual material relating to the Kievan era of the history of the ethnic development of the Eastern Slavs irrefutably testifies to the existence of a special ethno-territorial community - the Old Russian people. Its emergence was the result of a process of smoothing out the tribal differences of the Eastern Slavs, which was due to the needs of their political, economic and cultural development.
According to modern concepts of ethnogenesis, the formation of a nation and a state are interdependent historical processes. IN this case first in the Middle Dnieper at the turn of the IX-GX centuries. the state formation of Rus is formed with the center in Kiev, which then assumes the function of protecting all the East Slavic lands from external conquerors. So in the last quarter of the ninth century. the state of the Eastern Slavs Rus arose, the book name of which is the Old Russian state, or Kievan Rus. This huge state formation by medieval standards was ruled by the Russian princes of the Rurik dynasty. At the same time, the process of consolidation of the Eastern Slavs into a single ethno-cultural community took place. In this state, there was a single language, culture and legislation, and from 988 Christianity began to assert itself in its Greek-Byzantine variety - Orthodoxy. Gradually, the population of the Old Russian state abandoned tribal self-names and began to realize their belonging to Russia. For example, the last mention in the annals of the glades dates back to 944, the northerners - 1024, the Drevlyans - 1136, the Dregovichi - 1149, the Krivichi - 1162, the Radimichi - 1169 [13]. At the same time, in the annals of the XII-XIII centuries. "Rus", "Rusichs", "Rusyns", "Russians" were called the population of almost all major cities this state, including Polotsk, Vitebsk, Turov, Pinsk, Mensk, Berestye, Gorodnya, etc.
It should be noted that already in the "Sermon on Law and Grace" of the Kyiv Metropolitan Hilarion, literary monument 1049., the concept of "Russian people" is used. Consequently, the famous Russian historian V.O. Klyuchevsky admits, at least, inaccuracy, arguing that "nowhere, in any monument we will meet the expression of the Russian people," and even more so he is wrong in his judgment that in the middle of the 11th century. "this people itself did not yet exist." On these provisions V.Oh. Klyuchevsky is certainly referred to by those domestic researchers who question or completely deny the existence of the Old Russian people and the Old Russian state itself. This is despite the fact that V.O. Klyuchevsky did not deny the existence of the Russian people, but believed that “by the middle of the 11th century. only ethnographic elements were ready, from which the Russian nationality is then worked out by a long and difficult process.
The most convincing evidence of the existence already in the XI century. of the ancient Russian people and its statehood is the self-consciousness of the Eastern Slavs at the indicated time, which received its consolidation in their self-name - the Russian people (language), as well as in the name of the territory belonging to them or, if we use the modern term, the country of their residence - the Russian land, or simply Russia.
Name "Rus"
The word "Rus" originally referred to the East Slavic principality with its center in Kiev and its population; subsequently, the name "Rus" began to be applied to all the Eastern Slavs and their statehood. The ancestors of modern Belarusians were also aware of their belonging to Rus'. There are several versions regarding the origin of this name. According to one chronicle, the name Rus goes back to the name of the Scandinavian (Norman) Viking Vikings from the Rus tribe that appeared on the Slavic lands. According to another version, also based on a chronicle report (its author is the historian B.A. Rybakov) - this was the name of a tribe neighboring the glades, which was located on the Ros River, a tributary of the Dnieper, and the name of this river is associated with the name of the tribe. Subsequently, these two tribes - Ros and Polyana - merged into one, which was assigned the name Rus. The fact of their merger, Rybakov believes, is reflected in the chronicle phrase: "Glade, even now calling Rus." According to the third assumption, which is shared by a number of researchers, the term "Rus" has deep roots in the eternal Slavic world, and the Slavs in the original area of their formation, who then spread it throughout the space of their settlement, could have had such a name. Therefore, it was not the meadows that eventually began to be called Rus, but part of Rus-si began to be called glades after the settlement of the Eastern Slavs, just as others received the complementary names of Drevlyans, Dregovichi, Radimichi, Severyans, Vyatichi, Krivichi, etc. The question of the origin of the name "Rus" remains open to this day.
Sources: Belarusian encyclopedia: at 18v. Minsk, 2001, vol. 13, pp. 422-473; Rybakov, B.A. Birth of Rus' / B.A. Rybakov. M., 2003. S. 46; Zagarulski, E.M. Western Rus': IX-XIII centuries. /EM. Zagarulski. Minsk, 1998, pp. 52-58.
Thus, in the IX-XI centuries. as a result of the consolidation of various East Slavic communities - Polyans, Drevlyans, Northerners, Volynians, Croats, Dregovichi, Radimichi, Vyatichi, Krivichi, Slovenes and others - a new, East Slavic ethnic community was formed - the Old Russian nationality. Its unity turned out to be so strong that in the era of the feudal fragmentation of Rus', the nationality itself not only did not disintegrate, but even more consolidated. According to B.A. Rybakov, up to the XIV century. - the time of the Battle of Kulikovo - the Eastern Slavs continued to consider themselves as one. The strength of the ancient Russian nationality is also evidenced by the fact that after the rupture of ties between the Russian lands under the blows of the Mongols, not 15 territorial communities arose, as was the case during the period of fragmentation of Kievan Rus [18], but three East Slavic peoples - Belarusians, Russians and Ukrainians.
