Eastern Slavs and the ethnic composition of the ancient population of Eastern Europe. Eastern Slavs and the formation of the Old Russian state

Theory of the origin of the Slavs.

There are many hypotheses about the origin of the Slavs. One of the migration theories was called "Danubian", or "Balkan". It appeared in the Middle Ages, and for a long time it was shared by historians of the 18th - early 20th centuries. The Danubian ancestral home of the Slavs was recognized by S.M. Solovyov, V.O. Klyuchevsky and other historians. According to V.O. Klyuchevsky, the Slavs moved from the Danube to the Carpathians. He argued that "the history of Russia began in the VI century. on the northeastern foothills of the Carpathians. From here, part of the Slavs settled to the east and northeast to Ilmen Lake in the 7th-8th centuries.

The emergence of another migration theory of the origin of the Slavs, called the "Scythian-Sarmatian", belongs to the era of the Middle Ages. Her followers claimed that the ancestors of the Slavs moved from Western Asia along the Black Sea coast to the north and became known as the "Scythians", "Sarmatians", "Alans", "Roksolans". Gradually, the ancestors of the Slavs settled from the Northern Black Sea region to the west and southwest.

The original theory of the origin of the Slavs was put forward by a prominent historian and linguist academician A.A. Chess. In his opinion, the first ancestral home of the Slavs was the basin of the rivers of the Western Dvina and the Lower Neman in the Baltic. From here at the turn of II-III centuries. Slavs under the name of the Wends advanced to the Lower Vistula. Shakhmatov considered the Lower Vistula to be the second ancestral home of the Slavs.

In contrast to theories of the migration nature of the origin of the Slavs, there are points of view according to which the Slavs were the indigenous inhabitants of the places where they lived from ancient times. Domestic historians, pointing out the complexity of the process of the emergence of a particular ethnic group, including the Slavic, emphasized that this process is based on the interaction of many tribes with their subsequent unification. It is associated with various stages of gradual cultural and linguistic development. The role of migrations in this development, according to these historians, is secondary.

Early political associations of the Eastern Slavs of the 5th-8th centuries.

The Slavs were part of the ancient Indo-European unity, which included the ancestors of the Germans, Balts, Slavs and Indo-Iranians. Over time, communities with related language, economy and culture began to stand out from the mass of Indo-European tribes. One of these associations was the Slavs.

From about the 4th century, along with other tribes of Eastern Europe, the Slavs found themselves in the center of large-scale migration processes, known in history as the Great Migration of Peoples. During the 4th-8th centuries. they occupied vast new territories.

Within the Slavic community, alliances of tribes began to take shape - prototypes of future states.

In the future, three branches stand out from the common Slavic unity: southern, western and eastern Slavs. By this time, the Slavs are mentioned in Byzantine sources as Antes.

The South Slavic peoples (Serbs, Montenegrins, etc.) were formed from the Slavs who settled within the Byzantine Empire.

The Western Slavs include tribes that settled in the territory of modern Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

The Eastern Slavs occupied a huge space between the Black, White and Baltic Seas. Their descendants are modern Russians, Belarusians and Ukrainians.

The geography of the settlement of the East Slavic tribes in the second half of the 1st millennium is described in the Tale of Bygone Years.

In the 4th-8th centuries. eastern Slavs united in 12 territorial unions of tribes to protect themselves from external attacks: glades (middle and upper Dnieper), drevlyans (south of Pripyat), Croats (upper Dniester), Tivertsy (lower Dniester), streets (southern Dniester), northerners (Desna rivers and the Seim), Radimichi (Sozh River), Vyatichi (Upper Oka), Dregovichi (between Pripyat and Dvina), Krivichi (upper reaches of the Dvina, Dnieper and Volga, Duleby (Volyn), Slovene (Lake Ilmen).

The tribes of the Slavs were formed on the basis of ethnic and social homogeneity. The association was based on blood, linguistic, territorial and religious-cult kinship.

Eastern Slavs lived in small settlements. Their houses were semi-dugouts equipped with stoves. The Slavs settled, if possible, in hard-to-reach places, enclosing the settlements with an earthen rampart.

The basis of their economic activity is arable farming: in the eastern part - slash-and-burn, in the forest-steppe - shifting. The main arable implements were the plow (in the north) and the ralo (in the south), which had iron working parts.

Main agricultural crops: rye, wheat, barley, millet, oats, buckwheat, beans. The most important branches of economic activity were: cattle breeding, hunting, fishing, beekeeping (gathering honey).

The development of agriculture and cattle breeding led to the appearance of an excess product, and, as a result, made it possible for individual families to exist independently. In the 6th-8th centuries. this accelerated the process of disintegration of tribal associations.

Economic ties began to play a leading role in the relations of fellow tribesmen. The neighboring, or territorial community was called vervi. Within this formation, there was family ownership of land, and forest, water and hayfields were common.

The professional occupations of the Eastern Slavs were trade and craft. These occupations began to be cultivated in cities, fortified settlements that arose in tribal centers or along water trade routes (for example, “from the Varangians to the Greeks”).

Gradually, self-government began to take shape in the tribes from the tribal council, military and civil leaders. The resulting alliances led to the emergence of larger communities.

In the 2nd half of the 1st millennium, the Russian nationality was formed, the basis of which was the Eastern Slavs.

1. Formation of the Old Russian state

The prerequisites for the formation of the Old Russian state were the disintegration of tribal ties and the development of a new mode of production. The Old Russian state took shape in the process of development of feudal relations, the emergence of class contradictions and coercion.

Among the Slavs, a dominant layer was gradually formed, the basis of which was the military Nobility of the Kyiv princes - the squad. Already in the 9th century, strengthening the position of their princes, the combatants firmly occupied leading positions in society.

It was in the 9th century. in Eastern Europe, two ethno-political associations were formed, which eventually became the basis of the state. It was formed as a result of the association of glades with the center in Kyiv.

Slavs, Krivichi and Finnish-speaking tribes united in the area of ​​​​Lake Ilmen (the center is in Novgorod). In the middle of the 9th c. Rurik (862-879), a native of Scandinavia, began to rule this association. Therefore, the year 862 is considered the year of formation of the ancient Russian state.

The first mention of Russia is attested in the "Bavarian Chronograph" and refers to the period 811-821. In it, the Russians are mentioned as a people within the Khazars, inhabiting Eastern Europe. In the 9th century Russia was perceived as an ethno-political formation on the territory of the glades and northerners.

Rurik, who took over the administration of Novgorod, sent his squad led by Askold and Dir to rule Kyiv. Rurik's successor, the Varangian prince Oleg (879-912), who took possession of Smolensk and Lyubech, subjugated all the Krivichi to his power, in 882 he fraudulently lured Askold and Dir out of Kyiv and killed him. Having captured Kyiv, he managed to unite the two most important centers of the Eastern Slavs - Kyiv and Novgorod, by the power of his power. Oleg subjugated the Drevlyans, Northerners and Radimichi.

In 907, Oleg, having gathered a huge army of Slavs and Finns, undertook a campaign against Tsargrad (Constantinople), the capital of the Byzantine Empire. The Russian squad devastated the surroundings, forced the Greeks to ask Oleg for peace and pay a huge tribute. The result of this campaign was very beneficial for Russia peace treaties with Byzantium, concluded in 907 and 911.

Oleg died in 912, and Igor (912-945), the son of Rurik, became his successor. In 941, he attacked Byzantium, which violated the previous agreement. Igor's army plundered the shores of Asia Minor, but was defeated in a naval battle. Then in 945, in alliance with the Pechenegs, he undertook a new campaign against Constantinople and forced the Greeks to conclude a peace treaty again. In 945, while trying to collect a second tribute from the Drevlyans, Igor was killed.

Igor's widow Princess Olga (945-957) ruled for the infancy of her son Svyatoslav. She brutally avenged the murder of her husband by devastating the lands of the Drevlyans. Olga streamlined the size and places of tribute collection. In 955 she visited Constantinople and was baptized into Orthodoxy.

Svyatoslav (957-972) - the bravest and most influential of the princes, who subjugated the Vyatichi to his power. In 965, he inflicted a series of heavy defeats on the Khazars. Svyatoslav defeated the North Caucasian tribes, as well as the Volga Bulgarians, and plundered their capital Bulgar. The Byzantine government sought an alliance with him to fight external enemies.

Kyiv and Novgorod became the center of formation of the ancient Russian state, East Slavic tribes, northern and southern, united around them. In the 9th century both of these groups united into a single ancient Russian state, which went down in history as Russia.

1. Political and socio-economic structure of Kievan Rus.

In historical science, opinions were divided about the nature of the political system of Ancient Russia. It is generally accepted that Ancient Russia (9th-11th centuries) was an early feudal state that preserved the remnants of tribal relations.

The grand dukes gradually lost the features of military leaders (inherent to them in the 4th-7th centuries) and, becoming secular rulers, took part in the development of laws, the organization of courts, and trade. The duties of the prince included the functions of state defense, tax collection, legal proceedings, organizing military campaigns, concluding international treaties.

The prince ruled with the help of a squad, the backbone of which was a guard of mercenaries (at first the Varangians, in the Kievan period - nomads). Relations between the prince and combatants were of a vassal nature. The prince was considered the first among equals. The combatants were fully supported and lived in the princely court. They were divided into seniors and juniors. The senior warriors were called boyars, and representatives of the highest ranks of the princely administration were appointed from among them. The boyars closest to the prince made up the princely council, which made the most important decisions.

By the 10th c. in the hands of the Grand Duke was concentrated all the fullness of legislative, executive, judicial and military power. The Grand Duke was a representative of the Kyiv dynasty, which owned the supreme right to power. He ruled in Kyiv, and his children and relatives were governors in the lands subject to him. After the death of the Grand Duke, power was transferred by seniority from brother to brother. This led to strife, since often the Grand Duke tried to transfer power not to his brother, but to his son. In the second half of the 11th c. the most important issues of domestic and foreign policy were decided at the princely congresses.

Gradually, tribal gatherings turned into veche meetings. For a long time their role was insignificant, but in the ninth century. with the onset of fragmentation, it increased sharply.

Russia 9-12 centuries was a federation of city-states headed by the great prince of Kyiv.

A significant political role was played by veche meetings, at which city residents resolved issues of war and peace, legislation, land management, finance, etc. They were led by representatives of the nobility.

Veche meetings, which were an element of people's self-government, testify to the presence of democracy in the ancient Russian state. 14 great princes of Kyiv (out of 50) were elected at the veche. As the princely power strengthened, the role of the latter decreased. By the middle of the 12th century. for the veche, only the function of recruiting the people's militia was preserved.

In the ancient Russian state there was no division between administrative, police, financial and other types of self-government. In the practice of governing the state, the princes relied on their own right.

The court was dominated by the accusatory process used in both civil and criminal cases. Each side proved its case. Witness testimony played a major role. The princes and their posadniks acted as intermediaries between the parties, charging a fee for this.

Old Russian legislation was formed as the statehood was strengthened. The first code of laws that has come down to our days is "Russian Truth", compiled during the reign of Yaroslav the Wise on the basis of an even more ancient code of laws.

The document included a set of criminal and civil laws. In civil cases, Russkaya Pravda established a court of twelve electives.

The law did not recognize corporal punishment and torture, and the death penalty was imposed in exceptional cases. The practice of monetary fines was applied. Russkaya Pravda was replenished with new articles during the reign of the Yaroslavichs (second half of the 11th century) and Vladimir Monomakh (1113-1125).

1. The introduction of Christianity and its historical significance.

Paganism dominated Russia until the middle of the 10th century. The basis of the mentality of the pagan Slavs was the ideas of eternity and the equivalence of good and evil as two independent forms of being. Their ideas were inextricably linked with natural phenomena. The struggle with the "evil" forces of nature led to the belief in the possibility of uniting the forces of "good" against the forces of "evil".

The Eastern Slavs perceived the world on the basis of paired concepts - favorable and hostile. Space - order was opposed to chaos - disorder. The circle served as a symbol of protection from everything hostile. Magical properties were attributed to this geometric form. The Slavs wore rings, chains, wreaths, surrounded housing with a circular shaft.

The pagan mentality permeated the entire cultural system of the Eastern Slavs. This manifested itself in ritual dances, games, sacrifices, and the specifics of handicrafts. The imprint of the pagan vision of the universe is also manifested in the structure of cities. The best people lived in the upper part of the city, the common people lived in the lower part.

The Eastern Slavs created a single pantheon of pagan gods - Stribog corresponded to the father god, Dazhdbog to the son god, Mokosh to the Mother of God. The main deities were Perun and the winged Semargl, who were mediators between heaven and earth.

In the conditions of "polytheism" there was a need to choose a single faith. The adoption of a common religion for Russia was required by the interests of the unity of the state, since other countries perceived pagan Russia as a barbarian state. The Tale of Bygone Years contains a detailed description of this event, in which princes and boyars took part.

Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavovich had numerous conversations with preachers of many religions. Prince Vladimir rejected the faith of the Jews because of the loss of their land, and Islam - for strict restrictions on food and drink.

Vladimir preferred Eastern Christianity for the beauty of its churches and rituals according to the Byzantine canon, which made a deep impression on him. The final choice was also influenced by long-standing ties with Byzantium.

Orthodoxy, to a greater extent than other religions, corresponded to the cultural type of the Slavs. Unlike Catholicism, which was oriented toward a rational knowledge of the world, Orthodoxy understood the meaning of life as the achievement of inner perfection and unity, a collective desire for a better future and social justice.

In 988 Vladimir (popularly Krasno Solnyshko) adopted Christianity in its Orthodox version.

The preference for Orthodoxy is also explained by the fact that the Roman Catholic Church limited worship services only to Latin, and the Orthodox Church of Constantinople made it possible to use the Slavic language in services.

One of the reasons for choosing Orthodoxy was the political pretensions of the Roman Church and its rise above secular power, which the Russian princes feared. The Eastern Church built its religion on the interaction of religious and secular authorities, supporting the secular authorities with its authority.

Christianity was spread in Russia long before its official adoption. The first Orthodox were Princess Olga and Prince Yaropolk. However, the process of Christianization was long, as the population was reluctant to part with paganism. Even the son of Princess Olga refused to accept Christianity. Pagan beliefs and customs were preserved among the Eastern Slavs for a long time, they were intertwined with Christian holidays for many centuries.

The adoption of Orthodoxy determined the new historical destiny of the Russian state, put an end to pagan barbarism and allowed Russian society to join the family of Christian peoples of Europe on an equal footing. This event was of epochal significance for the development of culture, the strengthening of the state and the development of international relations of Ancient Russia.

1. Old Russian culture of the 10th-13th centuries

Culture is a set of material and spiritual values ​​created by man in the course of his socio-historical labor practice.

The basis of the culture of Kievan Rus is the Slavic pre-Christian culture, which, with the adoption of Christianity, was influenced by Byzantium, Bulgaria, and through them the ancient and Middle Eastern cultural traditions.

One of the main indicators of the cultural level is the presence of writing. The first evidence of writing among the Slavs was found near Smolensk and speaks of its presence as early as the 10th century. (before the adoption of Christianity).

There is evidence of the adoption of the Glagolitic alphabet in Russia in the second half of the 9th century, attempts to write in the Greek alphabet. Missionaries Cyril and Methodius in the 60s of the 9th century. saw the Gospel written in Slavic script.

Examples of the presence of writing and the spread of literacy in Russia are birch bark letters discovered during archaeological excavations of ancient Russian cities.

In the second half of the 9th c. The monk brothers Cyril and Methodius created the Glagolitic alphabet, which was later converted to Cyrillic.

The years of the reign of Yaroslav the Wise (1019-1054) became the time of the political and cultural flourishing of Kievan Rus.

In 1036, near the walls of Kyiv, Yaroslav finally defeated the Pechenegs, and this event was the beginning of the prosperity of the great city. In honor of the victory, the Cathedral of Hagia Sophia was erected, which, in beauty and grandeur, was not inferior to a similar cathedral in Constantinople.

Kyiv of the time of Yaroslav turned into one of the largest urban centers of the entire Christian world. “There were 400 churches in the city, the entrance to it was decorated with golden gates, there were eight markets. In order to strengthen the power of Russia, Yaroslav, without the permission of Constantinople, appointed the head of the church with his authority. Hilarion Berestov became the first Russian metropolitan.

During the reign of Yaroslav great attention was paid to education. Schools for clergy were opened in Kyiv and Novgorod. Under Yaroslav in Kyiv, the beginning of Russian chronicle writing was laid.

The first chronicle code, dating back to the end of the 11th century, reached contemporaries as part of the Novgorod Chronicle.

Metropolitan Hilarion, an associate of Yaroslav, created a monument of Russian theology, philosophy and history - "The Sermon on Law and Grace".

Russia owes the success of the enlightenment of this period to the personal merits of Yaroslav. Being a convinced Christian and an enlightened person, he gathered translators and scribes in Kyiv and started publishing Greek books brought to Russia from Byzantium.

Thus was the process of familiarization with the culture of the ancient world and Byzantium. During this period, a national epic epic developed, which reflected the events of the reigns of Yaroslav the Wise (“Nightingale Budimirovich”) and Vladimir Monomakh (epics about Alyosha Popovich, “Stavr I Odinovich”).

An outstanding cultural achievement was the compilation of a set of written laws, which was called "Russian Truth" or "Yaroslav's Truth". The document included criminal and civil laws, established legal proceedings, determined punishments for committed offenses or crimes.

Based on this, it was possible to judge the social structure, mores and customs of the Russian society of that time.

In civil cases, Russkaya Pravda established a court of twelve electives (torture and the death penalty were absent).

Under Yaroslav, the foreign policy relations of Russia successfully developed. The powerful monarchs of the Christian world considered it an honor to intermarry with the Rurik family.

Yaroslav's son Vsevolod became the son-in-law of the emperor of Byzantium, his daughters Anna, Anastasia and Elizabeth married the kings of France, Hungary and Norway.

Settlement: occupied the territory from the Carpathian Mountains to the middle Oka. They mastered the East European Plain, came into contact with the Finno-Ugric and Baltic tribes. At this time, the Slavs are united in tribal unions, each tribe consisted of clans. The glades lived along the middle reaches of the Dnieper, northeast of them settled the northerners, in the region of the upper Volga lived the Krivichi, near Lake Ilmen - the Ilmen Slovenes, along the Pripyat River, the Dregovichi, the Drevlyans. To the south of the river Bug - Buzhan and Volhynians. Between the Dnieper and the Southern Bug, the Tivertsy. On the river Sozh - radimichi.

Economy: the main occupation of the Eastern Slavs was agriculture (slash-and-burn, fallow). The main tools of labor were a plow, a wooden plow, an ax, a hoe. They harvested with sickles, threshed with flails, ground grain with stone grain grinders. Cattle breeding is closely connected with agriculture. Bred cows, pigs, small cattle. Draft power - oxen, horses. Crafts: fishing, hunting, gathering, beekeeping (gathering honey from wild bees).

The Slavs lived in communities, first tribal, then neighboring. This determined the way and characteristic features of life. The farms had a natural character (they produced everything for their own consumption). With the appearance of surpluses, exchange develops (agricultural products for handicraft goods).

Cities appear as centers of crafts, trade, exchange, strongholds of power, defense. Cities were built on trade routes. Historians believe that in the 9th century there were at least 24 large cities in Russia (Kyiv, Novgorod, Suzdal, Smolensk, Murom ...) The princes were at the head of the East Slavic tribal unions. The most important issues were resolved at public meetings - veche gatherings (veche). There was a militia, a squad. They collected polyudye (collection of tribute from subject tribes).

Beliefs - the ancient Slavs were pagans. Slavic gods personified the forces of nature and reflected social relations. Perun is the god of thunder and war. Svarog is the god of fire. Veles is the patron saint of cattle. Mokosh - protected the female part of the economy. They believed in spirits - goblin, mermaids, brownies. Ceremonies and holidays are connected with agriculture. Celebrated births and weddings. Honored ancestors. Worshiped the phenomena of nature.

Formation of the ancient Russian state. The problem of "Norman influence". By the ninth century the Eastern Slavs developed a set of socio-economic and political prerequisites for the formation of a state.

Socio-economic - the tribal community ceased to be an economic necessity and disintegrated, giving way to a territorial, "neighboring" community. There was a separation of the craft from other types of economic activity, the growth of cities and foreign trade. There was a process of formation of social groups, the nobility and the squad stood out.

Political - large tribal unions appeared, which began to conclude temporary political unions among themselves. From the end of the VI century. the union of tribes headed by Kiy is known; Arab and Byzantine sources report that in the VI-VII centuries. there was a "Power of Volhynia"; Novgorod chronicles report that in the ninth century. around Novgorod there was a Slavic association headed by Gostomysl. Arab sources claim that on the eve of the formation of the state there were unions of large Slavic tribes: Kuyaba - around Kyiv, Slavia - around Novgorod, Artania - around Ryazan or Chernigov.

Foreign policy - the most important for the formation and strengthening of states for all peoples was the presence of external danger. The problem of repelling external danger among the Eastern Slavs was very acute from the very appearance of the Slavs on the East European Plain. From the 6th century the Slavs fought against the numerous nomadic tribes of the Turks (Scythians, Sarmatians, Huns, Avars, Khazars, Pechenegs, Polovtsy, etc.).

So, by the ninth century. the Eastern Slavs, with their internal development, were ready for the formation of a state. But the final fact of the formation of the state of the Eastern Slavs is associated with their northern neighbors - the inhabitants of Scandinavia (modern Denmark, Norway, Sweden). In Western Europe, the inhabitants of Scandinavia were called Normans, Vikings, and in Russia - Vikings. In Europe, the Vikings were engaged in robbery and trade. All Europe trembled before their raids. In Russia, there were no conditions for sea robbery, so the Varangians mainly traded and were hired by the Slavs in military squads. The Slavs and the Varangians were at approximately the same stage of social development - the Varangians also saw the decomposition of the tribal system and the folding of the prerequisites for the formation of the state.

As the chronicler Nestor testifies in The Tale of Bygone Years, by the ninth century. Novgorodians and some northern tribes of the Slavs became dependent on the Varangians and paid tribute to them, and the southern tribes of the Slavs paid tribute to the Khazars. In 859 the Novgorodians drove out the Varangians and stopped paying tribute. After that, civil strife began among the Slavs: they could not come to an agreement on who should rule them. Then, in 862, the Novgorod elders turned to the Varangians with a request: to send them one of the Varangian leaders to reign. The Varangian king (leader) Rurik responded to the call of the Novgorodians. Thus, in 862, power over Novgorod and its environs passed to the Varangian leader Rurik. It so happened that the descendants of Rurik were able to gain a foothold among the Eastern Slavs as leaders.

The role of the Varangian leader Rurik in Russian history is that he became the founder of the first ruling dynasty in Russia. All his descendants began to be called Rurikovich.

After his death, Rurik had a young son, Igor. Therefore, another Varangian, Oleg, began to rule in Novgorod. Soon Oleg decided to establish his control over the entire course of the Dnieper. The southern section of the trade route "from the Varangians to the Greeks" was owned by the people of Kiev.

In 882, Oleg went on a campaign against Kyiv. Rurik's combatants Askold and Dir ruled there at that time. Oleg tricked them out of the city gates and killed them. After that, he was able to gain a foothold in Kyiv. The two largest East Slavic cities were united under the rule of one prince. Further, Oleg established the boundaries of his possessions, imposed tribute on the entire population, began to keep order in the territory subject to him and ensure the protection of these territories from enemy attacks.

So the first state of the Eastern Slavs was formed.

Later, the chroniclers will begin counting time "from the summer of Oleg", i.e. from the time when Oleg began to rule in Kyiv.

The problem of Slavic ethnogenesis

The resettlement of the Eastern Slavs

Location of tribal unions

Neighbors of the Eastern Slavs

Occupations of the Slavs

pagan beliefs

Main Slavic gods

Social system. Family and neighborhood communities

Military democracy

The problem of Slavic ethnogenesis. The question of the time of the appearance of the Slavs in Europe is debatable. Linguistic scientists believe that 2-1.5 thousand years BC. Proto-Slavic language emerged from Indo-European. The Indo-European group of peoples also includes the British, Germans, Scythians, Balts, French, Greeks, Iranians, Armenians, and others. The ancestral home of the Indo-European community is located in Asia Minor (modern Turkey). From there, the ancestors of modern Europeans, including the Slavs, moved to Europe in the III-II millennium BC. e.

Settlement of the Eastern Slavs. There are two points of view:

1. Eastern Slavs - indigenous ( autochthonous) population of Eastern Europe. They come from the creators zarubiné tskoy and Chernyakhovsk archaeological cultures. Chernyakhov culture was destroyed during Great Migration III-VII centuries, when nomadic tribes of Goths and Huns migrated from Central Asia to the west.

2. The ancestral home of the Slavs - the interfluve of the river. Vistula and Odra. In the II millennium BC. Proto-Slavs settled the banks of the river. Vistula. Then they moved to the Dniester, Dnieper, Oka, Upper Volga. This point of view is the most correct.

Modern branches of Slavism - eastern, western and southern - arose in the VI-VII centuries. Gothic scholar of the 6th century. Jordan divided the Slavs into three groups - Wends, Antes and sklavins. Jordanes wrote that the Wends were “a numerous tribe” that lived “from the origins of the Vistula (the ancient name of the Vistula river) ... they are called Sklavins and Antes.”

Archaeologists have identified 3 areas of settlement Proto-Slavs (Proto-Slavs):

Poland and r. Pripyat - sklavins;

R. Dniester and r. Dnipro - antes;

Pomorie and lower reaches of the river. Vistula - Wends.

By the 9th century Eastern Slavs occupied the territory from the Onega and Ladoga lakes in the north to the mouths of the Prut and Dniester rivers in the south, from the Carpathians in the west to the river. Oka and Volga in the east. A dozen and a half were settled here. tribal unions. Chronicler Nestor calls them tribal principalities. Tribal unions were formed by uniting small tribes around a strong tribe. Tribes were made up of clans.

Location of tribal unions :

-meadow- the middle course of the river. Dnieper (center - Kyiv);

-Drevlyans(from the word "tree") and Dregovichi(from the word "dryagva" - a swamp) – along the river Pripyat (center - Iskorosten);

-radimichi- upper reaches of the river Dnieper and r. Gum;

-northerners- along the river Desna, Sula, Seim (center - Chernihiv and Novgorod-Seversky);

-Volynians, Dulebs, Buzhans- R. Western Bug;

-krivichi- upper reaches of the river Western Dvina, Dnieper (center - Smolensk);

-Polotsk- in the middle reaches of the river. Western Dvina and along its tributary - r. Polota (center - Polotsk);

-Ilmen Slovenes- on the lake. Ilmen and r. Volkhov (center - Novgorod);

-Vyatichi- along the river Oka, Moscow;

-convict- in the interfluve Southern Bug and r. Dniester, on the Black Sea;

-Tivertsy- between the river Dniester and r. Prut, the mouth of the Danube;

-white croats- in the Carpathian mountains.

At first, historians did not trust the settlement scheme of Nestor's tribes, but archaeologists confirmed it by women's jewelry - temporal rings. Their varieties coincide with the area of ​​​​settlement of tribes.

There are a number of points of view on the origin of the term "Rus":

1. Russia - the tribes that inhabited the banks of the river. Ros and Rossava at Kyiv.

2. Russia - in the Old Norse language - rowers, Rurik's team.

3. Russia - from the ancient Slavic city Rusa(Staraya Russa).

4. Russia - from the Gothic word rosoman- fair-haired, light-haired person.

Neighbors of the Eastern Slavs:

In the northwest, the neighbors of the Slavs were the Scandinavians - Varangians (vikings, or Normans- "Northern people") - the ancestors of modern Swedes, Danes and Norwegians. Brave sailors and warriors, they plowed on boats - longships("dragon" ships) of the seas of Europe, terrifying its inhabitants. The scarcity of natural resources forced men to go on predatory campaigns. The word "Viking" (from vik - "bay") meant a participant in such campaigns, defining not a nationality, but a profession.

Along the Baltic were the Baltic tribes ( Livs, Ests, Zhmuds, Aukshaits, Yatvingians);

In the north and northeast: Finno-Ugric (whole, chud, sum, eat, korela, measuring, muromá, meshchera);

In the south: semi-nomadic peoples ( Pechenegs, Khazars) and Scythians.

In the IV century. Germanic tribes invaded the territory of the Slavs ready led by leader Germanarich. They were defeated, but Germanarich's successor Amal Vinitar deceived 70 Slavic elders, led by Busom(Bogem) and crucified them. The Gothic words "bread", "plow", "sword", "helmet" remained in the Slavic language.

In the IV-V centuries. during the Great Migration of Peoples from Asia to Europe, Turkic tribes passed through the Slavic lands Huns.

In the VI century. the Slavs fought with the Turkic nomad Avar Khaganate. Avars during the negotiations treacherously killed the Slavic ambassador Mezamir. Avars subjugated the Carpathian Slavs Dulebov. PVL reports the cruelty of the Avars. "Obry", as the chronicler calls them, harnessed Slavic women to carts and forced themselves to carry them, they were "great in body and proud in mind", but "disappeared without a trace." Avar Khaganate in the 7th century was destroyed by Byzantium.

In the VI century. in the Black Sea region a Turkic Bulgarian kingdom. Part of the Bulgarians led by khan Asparuh migrated to the Danube, where they became glorified. Others settled on the middle Volga and Kama, creating Volga Bulgaria (Bulgaria) with the center in Bulgar .

By the 7th century in the North Caucasus, in the Lower Volga and the Black Sea region arose Khazar Khaganate. The Khazars borrowed Judaism from the Jewish population of Crimea and established dominance over the Eastern Slavs, who paid tribute to them until the 9th–10th centuries.

From the 6th century Slavs make trips to Byzantium- the heiress of the ancient Roman Empire, whose inhabitants called themselves "Romans". From Byzantine sources it is known about the Slavs and Ants, who, according to Mauritius Strategist, the author of the work of the VI century. " Strategikon”, “are similar in their way of life, in their customs, in their love for freedom”; "they can in no way be persuaded into slavery or submission." Rosy - "Scythian people, cruel and barbaric", "wild and rude". Byzantine author of the 6th century. Procopius of Caesarea wrote that "Slavic tribes are not ruled by one person, but live in the rule of the people (democracy), and therefore they consider happiness and misfortune in life to be a common thing, life and legalization were the same." Women, along with men, took part in military campaigns and battles. It is known that in the 830s in Constantinople at the court of the emperor Theophilus the first Russian embassy appeared.

Travelers from the Arab Caliphate, following the precepts of the Prophet Muhammad "look for science at least in China", made long-distance scientific expeditions. In the descriptions of the Arabs of the VIII-IX centuries. three proto-states – associations of tribal unions of the Rus - Cuiaba, or Kuyavia(with capital in Kyiv), Weak or Slavia(centered in Novgorod) and Artab(Arsab) , or artania. The location of Artania is unknown, possibly Ryazan, Rostov the Great or Beloozero.

Occupations of the Slavs - agriculture, cattle breeding, hunting, fishing, etc.

Agriculture – main occupation. Archaeologists find grains of rye, wheat, flax, farming tools - hoes, sickles, scythes, metal tips dry. Rye among the Slavs was called " zhito" ("a life"). In the southern forest-steppe zone dominated há lying down farming system, or fallow- after several harvests, the land was not sown to restore fertility. In the northern forest regions there was undercut (slash-and-burn) farming system, or undercut: trees were cut and burned, clearing a piece of land (" a pancake»).

Cattle breeding . The Slavs raised cattle, pigs and horses. The cattle were highly valued. In the Old Russian language, the word "cattle" also meant money.

B ó martial arts (« board"- hive-deck) - collecting honey from wild bees.

Trade. Slavs exchanged furs, honey, wax, walrus ivory, and slaves for fabrics, jewelry, wine, and weapons. The main was the water-land route "from Varangian in the Greeks". His route: Baltic (Varangian) Sea, r. Neva, Lake Ladoga, r. Western Dvina, Volkhov, Ilmen-lake, r. Lovat, then the ships were dragged into the river. The Dnieper (Borisfen) and the Black Sea reached Byzantium. Along the river Volga (Itil) ran Volga trade route to the countries of the East - Khazaria, Volga Bulgaria, Persia, Khorezm.

pagan beliefs. Religion of the Slavs paganism (from the Old Slavs. " tongues"- foreign peoples who did not accept Christianity) religion based on the worship of many gods, personifying the forces and phenomena of nature, idolatry. Forms of beliefs:

-fetishism – worship of objects and phenomena(stones, trees);

-animism - belief in spirits, the cult of ancestors. The Slavs believed that spirits are the souls of ancestors, relatives, live nearby. The spirit (demon) has a positive or negative influence. There was faith in women in labor- goddesses of fertility. Lived in the water water and coastline, in the forest - goblin(forester), in the fields - field workers, in the dwelling - brownie, in the bath - banner;

-totemism – belief in the origin of the human race from animals. The Slavs worshiped wild boars, bears, elks, etc. A kind of ancestor worship in the form of animals is shapeshifting. So, in epics the hero Volga turns into a falcon, the bride girl turns into a swan, a duck, a frog;

-polytheism – faith in many gods.

Main Slavic gods:

- Perun - the god of lightning and thunder, the patron of the prince and the squad;

- Swar ó G - the god of the sky and heavenly fire, the patron of artisans;

-Svarozhychi - sons of Svarog;

- Genus - the deity of the Universe and fertility;

- Yarilo - the god of spring fertility, among a number of tribes - the god of the Sun;

- Horse , or God bless - the god of the Sun and light, the solar horse;

- Kupala – god of summer

- Page and the God - deity of wind and storms;

- Vel é with - the god of cattle, the patron of shepherds and wealth;

-M ó cat (Makosh) – wife of Perun, goddess of fertility, patroness of female needlework and girlish fate;

- Semargl - the only zoomorphic Slavic god, a winged dog, the embodiment of the sacred number seven (of Iranian origin).

Pagan holidays were associated with the agricultural cycle.

Archaeologists have found pagan idols, sanctuaries - toá food and burial places tré bisha. Rituals performed by priests Magi. Burial methods - placing the corpse in the soil ( inhumation) and cremation ( cremation). Weapons and vessels with food were placed in the funeral pyre. There were human sacrifices. Numerous remains of people, both adults and children, who were sacrificed, were found in pagan sanctuaries in the Carpathian region. Byzantine author of the ninth century Leo the Deacon described the pagan rites of the Ross (calling them Scythians) during the siege of the city of Dorostol by Prince Svyatoslav. “When night fell ... the Scythians went out onto the plain and began to pick up their dead. They piled them up in front of the wall, made many fires and burned them, slaughtering many captives, men and women, according to the custom of their ancestors. Having made this bloody sacrifice, they strangled several infants and roosters, drowning them in the waters of the Istra (Danube)."

Social system. Tribal and neighboring (territorial) communities. In the VI-IX centuries. among the Eastern Slavs there was a process of decomposition of the primitive communal system, the formation of a state, the development of feudal relations. The low level of agriculture required large expenditures of physical labor. The main business unit was tribal community (rope) – group of people connected by blood relationship and the unity of the economy. In a tribal community, all its members are relatives - members of the same clan. They farmed together, cultivated the land with common tools, and also consumed the harvest jointly.

The improvement of the productive forces (development of agriculture, cattle breeding, iron tools) created a surplus crop. The tribal community broke up into families, was replaced by neighborly ( territorial ) community – human settlement,consisting of families living in the neighborhood in a certain area,not related by family ties, collectively cultivating the land. In the neighboring community, the basis was not consanguinity, but the proximity of residence. The main business unit was family. Community ownership of forests, hayfields, pastures, and reservoirs was preserved. The arable land was divided between families into allotments. The property of the family was the harvest, tools, housing, livestock. There was a wealth inequality.

Military democracy (inó Christmas) – form of tribal organization in the era of the decomposition of the primitive communal system in6th–8th centuries.; a transitional stage in the development of society, during which the military nobility (prince and retinue) stands out, concentrating material values ​​​​and political power in their hands. The supreme governing body continued to be veche - the supreme body of tribal self-government and the court. But in the conditions of numerous wars, the role of the military leader - the prince - increased. The prince was first chosen at a veche. Then the role of the veche falls, and the power of the prince becomes hereditary. The prince relied on squad, which could force the people into obedience.

The first evidence of the Slavs. The Slavs, according to most historians, separated from the Indo-European community in the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. e. The ancestral home of the early Slavs (Proto-Slavs), according to archaeological data, was the territory to the east of the Germans - from the Oder River in the west to the Carpathian Mountains in the east. A number of researchers believe that the Proto-Slavic language began to take shape later, in the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e.

The first written evidence about the Slavs dates back to the beginning of the 1st millennium AD. e. Greek, Roman, Arabic, Byzantine sources report about the Slavs. Ancient authors mention the Slavs under the name of the Wends (Roman writer Pliny the Elder, historian Tacitus, 1st century AD; geographer Ptolemy Claudius, 2nd century AD).

In the era of the Great Migration of Nations (III-VI centuries AD), which coincided with the crisis of the slave-owning civilization, the Slavs mastered the territory of Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe. They lived in the forest and forest-steppe zones, where, as a result of the spread of iron tools, it became possible to conduct a settled agricultural economy. Having settled in the Balkans, the Slavs played a significant role in the destruction of the Danube border of Byzantium.

The first information about the political history of the Slavs dates back to the 4th century. n. e. From the Baltic coast, the Germanic tribes of the Goths made their way to the Northern Black Sea region. The Gothic leader Germanaric was defeated by the Slavs. His successor Vinitar deceived 70 Slavic elders headed by God (Bus) and crucified them. Eight centuries later, the author of The Tale of Igor's Campaign, unknown to us, mentioned the "time of Busovo".

A special place in the life of the Slavic world was occupied by relations with the nomadic peoples of the steppe. Along this steppe ocean, stretching from the Black Sea to Central Asia, wave after wave of nomadic tribes invaded Eastern Europe. At the end of the IV century. the Gothic tribal union was broken by the Turkic-speaking tribes of the Huns, who came from Central Asia. In 375, the hordes of the Huns occupied the territory between the Volga and the Danube with their nomads, and then moved further into Europe to the borders of France. In their advance to the west, the Huns carried away part of the Slavs. After the death of the leader of the Huns, Atilla (453), the Hunnic state disintegrated, and they were thrown back to the east.

In the VI century. the Turkic-speaking Avars (the Russian chronicle called them obrams) created their own state in the southern Russian steppes, uniting the tribes that roamed there. The Avar Khaganate was defeated by Byzantium in 625. “Proud in mind” and in body, the great Avars-Obras disappeared without a trace. “They died like obras” - these words, with the light hand of the Russian chronicler, became an aphorism.

The largest political formations of the VII-VIII centuries. in the southern Russian steppes there was the Bulgarian kingdom and the Khazar Khaganate, and in the Altai region - the Turkic Khaganate. The states of the nomads were unstable conglomerates of the steppes, who hunted for military booty. As a result of the collapse of the Bulgarian kingdom, part of the Bulgarians, led by Khan Asparuh, migrated to the Danube, where they were assimilated by the southern Slavs who lived there, who took the name of Asparuh's warriors, that is, Bulgarians. Another part of the Bulgarian-Turks with Khan Batbai came to the middle reaches of the Volga, where a new power arose - Volga Bulgaria (Bulgaria). Its neighbor, who occupied from the middle of the 7th century. the territory of the Lower Volga region, the steppes of the North Caucasus, the Black Sea region and partly the Crimea, was the Khazar Khaganate, which levied tribute from the Dnieper Slavs until the end of the 9th century.

In the VI century. Slavs repeatedly made military campaigns against the largest state of that time - Byzantium. From that time, a number of works by Byzantine authors have come down to us, containing original military instructions on the fight against the Slavs. So, for example, the Byzantine Procopius from Caesarea wrote in his book “War with the Goths”: “These tribes, Slavs and Antes, are not controlled by one person, but since ancient times they live in democracy (democracy), and therefore they consider happiness and unhappiness in life to be a matter of common ... They believe that only God, the creator of lightning, is the lord over all, and bulls are sacrificed to him and other sacred rites are performed ... Both of them have the same language ... And once even the name of the Slavs and Antes was the same Same".

Byzantine authors compared the way of life of the Slavs with the life of their country, emphasizing the backwardness of the Slavs. Campaigns against Byzantium could only be undertaken by large tribal unions of the Slavs. These campaigns contributed to the enrichment of the tribal elite of the Slavs, which accelerated the collapse of the primitive communal system.

The formation of large tribal associations of the Slavs is indicated by the legend contained in the Russian chronicle, which tells about the reign of Kyi with the brothers Shchek, Khoriv and sister Lybid in the Middle Dnieper. Kyiv, founded by the brothers, was allegedly named after the elder brother Kyi. The chronicler noted that other tribes had the same reigns. Historians believe that these events took place at the end of the 5th-6th centuries. n. e.

The territory of the Eastern Slavs (VI-IX centuries).

The Eastern Slavs occupied the territory from the Carpathian Mountains in the west to the Middle Oka and the upper reaches of the Don in the east, from the Neva and Lake Ladoga in the north. To the Middle Dnieper in the south. The Slavs, who developed the East European Plain, came into contact with a few Finno-Ugric and Baltic tribes. There was a process of assimilation (mixing) of peoples. In the VI-IX centuries. the Slavs united in communities that no longer had only a tribal, but also a territorial and political character. Tribal unions are a stage on the way to the formation of the statehood of the Eastern Slavs.

In the chronicle story about the settlement of Slavic tribes, a dozen and a half associations of Eastern Slavs are named. The term "tribes" in relation to these associations has been proposed by historians. It would be more correct to call these associations tribal unions. These unions included 120-150 separate tribes, whose names have already been lost. Each individual tribe, in turn, consisted of a large number of clans and occupied a significant territory (40-60 km across).

The story of the chronicle about the settlement of the Slavs was brilliantly confirmed by archaeological excavations in the 19th century. Archaeologists noted the coincidence of the excavation data (burial rites, female adornments - temporal rings, etc.), characteristic of each tribal union, with an annalistic indication of the place of its settlement.

Glade lived in the forest-steppe along the middle reaches of the Dnieper (Kyiv). To the north of them, between the mouths of the Desna and Ros rivers, lived northerners (Chernigov). To the west of the glades, on the right bank of the Dnieper, the Drevlyans “sedesh in the forests”. To the north of the Drevlyans, between the rivers Pripyat and the Western Dvina, the Dregovichi (from the word "dryagva" - a swamp) settled, who along the Western Dvina were adjacent to the Polochans (from the Polota River, a tributary of the Western Dvina). To the south of the Bug River, there were Buzhans and Volynians, according to some historians, the descendants of the Dulebs. The interfluve of the Prut and the Dnieper was inhabited, convict. Tivertsy lived between the Dnieper and the Southern Bug. Vyatichi were located along the rivers Oka and Moscow; to the west of them lived the Krivichi; along the Sozh River and its tributaries - Radimichi. The northern part of the western slopes of the Carpathians was occupied by white Croats. Ilmen Slovenes (Novgorod) lived around Lake Ilmen.

The chroniclers noted the uneven development of individual tribal associations of the Eastern Slavs. At the center of their story is the land of the glades. The land of the glades, as the chroniclers pointed out, was also called "Rus". Historians believe that this was the name of one of the tribes that lived along the Ros River and gave the name to the tribal union, the history of which was inherited by the meadows. This is just one of the possible explanations for the term "Rus". The question of the origin of this name is not fully understood.

The neighbors of the Eastern Slavs in the north-west were the Baltic Letto-Lithuanian (Zhmud, Lithuania, Prussians, Latgalians, Semigallians, Curonians) and Finno-Ugric (Chud-Ests, Livs) tribes. The Finno-Ugric peoples coexisted with the Eastern Slavs both from the north and the northeast (Vod, Izhora, Karelians, Sami, all, Perm). In the upper reaches of the Vychegda, Pechora and Kama lived Yugras, Merya, Cheremis-Mars, Murom, Meshchera, Mordvins, Burtases. In the east, from the confluence of the Belaya River into the Kama to the Middle Volga, the Volga-Kama Bulgaria was located, its population was the Turks. The Bashkirs were their neighbors. South Russian steppes in the VIII-IX centuries. occupied by the Magyars (Hungarians) - Finno-Ugric pastoralists, who, after their resettlement in the region of Lake Balaton, were replaced in the 9th century. Pechenegs. The Khazar Khaganate dominated the Lower Volga and the steppe spaces between the Caspian and Azov Seas. The Black Sea region was dominated by Danubian Bulgaria and the Byzantine Empire.

The path "from the Varangians to the Greeks"

The great waterway "from the Varangians to the Greeks" was a kind of "pillar road" that connected Northern and Southern Europe. It arose at the end of the ninth century. From the Baltic (Varangian) Sea along the Neva River, the caravans of merchants got to Lake Ladoga (Nevo), from there along the Volkhov River - to Lake Ilmen and further along the Lovat River to the upper reaches of the Dnieper. From Lovat to the Dnieper in the Smolensk region and on the Dnieper rapids they crossed by "drag routes". The western coast of the Black Sea reached Constantinople (Tsargrad). The most developed lands of the Slavic world - Novgorod and Kyiv - controlled the northern and southern sections of the Great Trade Route. This circumstance gave rise to a number of historians, following V. O. Klyuchevsky, to assert that the trade in fur, wax and honey was the main occupation of the Eastern Slavs, since the path "from the Varangians to the Greeks" was "the main core of economic, political, and then cultural life Eastern Slavs.

Economy of the Slavs. The main occupation of the Eastern Slavs was agriculture. This is confirmed by archaeological excavations that have found seeds of cereals (rye, wheat, barley, millet) and garden crops (turnips, cabbage, beets, carrots, radishes, garlic, etc.). A person in those days identified life with arable land and bread, hence the name of grain crops "zhito", which has survived to this day. The agricultural traditions of this region are evidenced by the borrowing by the Slavs of the Roman bread norm - the quadrantal (26.26 l), which was called the quadrant in Russia and existed in our system of weights and measures until 1924.

The main agricultural systems of the Eastern Slavs are closely connected with natural and climatic conditions. In the north, in the area of ​​taiga forests (the remnant of which is Belovezhskaya Pushcha), the dominant system of agriculture was slash-and-burn. Trees were cut down the first year. In the second year, dried trees were burned and, using the ashes as fertilizer, they sowed grain. For two or three years, the plot gave a high harvest for that time, then the land was depleted, and it was necessary to move to a new plot. The main tools there were an ax, as well as a hoe, a plow, a knotted harrow and a spade, with which they loosened the soil. Harvested with sickles. They threshed with chains. The grain was ground with stone grinders and hand millstones.

In the southern regions, fallow was the leading system of agriculture. There were many fertile lands, and plots of land were sown for two or three or more years. With the depletion of the soil, they moved (shifted) to new areas. The main tools used here were a plow, a ralo, a wooden plow with an iron plowshare, that is, tools adapted for horizontal plowing.

Cattle breeding was closely related to agriculture. The Slavs bred pigs, cows, and small cattle. Oxen was used as working livestock in the south, and horses were used in the forest belt. Other occupations of the Slavs include fishing, hunting, beekeeping (gathering honey from wild bees), which had a large share in the northern regions. Industrial crops (flax, hemp) were also grown.

Community

The low level of productive forces in the management of the economy required huge labor costs. Labor-intensive work that had to be carried out within strictly defined deadlines could only be performed by a large team; it was also his task to oversee the correct distribution and use of land. Therefore, a large role in the life of the ancient Russian village was acquired by the community - peace, rope (from the word "rope", which was used to measure the land during divisions).

By the time the state was formed among the Eastern Slavs, the tribal community was replaced by a territorial, or neighboring, community. The community members were now united, first of all, not by kinship, but by a common territory and economic life. Each such community owned a certain territory on which several families lived. There were two forms of ownership in the community - personal and public. The house, household land, livestock, inventory were the personal property of each community member. In common use were arable land, meadows, forests, reservoirs, fishing grounds. Arable land and mowing were to be divided between families.

Communal traditions and practices determined the way and characteristic features of the life of the Russian peasantry for many, many centuries.

As a result of the transfer by the princes of the right to own land to the feudal lords, part of the communities fell under their authority. (A feud is a hereditary possession granted by a senior prince to his vassal, who is obliged to carry out court, military service for this. A feudal lord is the owner of a feud, a landowner who exploits peasants dependent on him.) Another way of subordinating neighboring communities to feudal lords was their capture by combatants and princes. But most often, the old tribal nobility, subjugating the community members, turned into boyars-patrimonials.

Communities that did not fall under the rule of the feudal lords were obliged to pay taxes to the state, which in relation to these communities acted both as the supreme authority and as a feudal lord.

Peasant farms and farms of feudal lords had a natural character. Both those and others sought to provide for themselves at the expense of internal resources and had not yet worked for the market. However, the feudal economy could not live completely without a market. With the appearance of surpluses, it became possible to exchange agricultural products for handicraft goods; cities began to take shape as centers of crafts, trade and exchange, and at the same time as strongholds of the power of the feudal lords and defense against external enemies.

City

The city, as a rule, was built on a hill, at the confluence of two rivers, as this provided a reliable defense against enemy attacks. The central part of the city, protected by a rampart, around which a fortress wall was erected, was called the kremlin, krom or citadel. There were palaces of princes, courtyards of the largest feudal lords, temples, and later monasteries. From two sides the Kremlin was protected by a natural water barrier. From the side of the base of the Kremlin triangle, they dug a moat filled with water. Bargaining was located behind the moat under the protection of the fortress walls. The settlements of artisans adjoined the Kremlin. The handicraft part of the city was called a settlement, and its individual districts, inhabited, as a rule, by artisans of a certain specialty, were called settlements.

In most cases, cities were built on trade routes, such as the route "from the Varangians to the Greeks", or the Volga trade route, which connected Russia with the countries of the East. Communication with Western Europe was also maintained by land roads.

The exact dates of the founding of ancient cities are unknown, but many of them existed by the time of the first mention in the annals, for example Kyiv (the legendary annalistic evidence of its foundation dates back to the end of the 5th-6th centuries), Novgorod, Chernigov, Pereslavl South, Smolensk, Suzdal, Murom and others. According to historians, in the IX century. in Russia there were at least 24 large cities that had fortifications.

social order

At the head of the East Slavic tribal unions were princes from the tribal nobility and the former tribal elite - “deliberate people”, “best men”. The most important issues of life were decided at public meetings - veche gatherings.

There was a militia ("regiment", "thousand", divided into "hundreds"). At the head of them were the thousand, sotsky. The squad was a special military organization. According to archaeological data and Byzantine sources, East Slavic squads appeared already in the 6th-7th centuries. The druzhina was divided into the eldest, from which ambassadors and princely administrators came out, who had their own land, and the youngest, who lived with the prince and served his court and household. The warriors, on behalf of the prince, collected tribute from the conquered tribes. Such trips to collect tribute were called polyuds. The collection of tribute usually took place in November-April and continued until the spring opening of the rivers, when the princes returned to Kyiv. The unit of tribute was the smoke (peasant yard) or the land area cultivated by the peasant yard (ralo, plow).

Slavic paganism

The ancient Slavs were pagans. At an early stage of their development, they believed in evil and good spirits. A pantheon of Slavic gods developed, each of which personified various forces of nature or reflected the social and social relations of that time. The most important gods of the Slavs were Perun - the god of thunder, lightning, war; Svarog - the god of fire; Veles - the patron saint of cattle breeding; Mokosh - the goddess who protected the female part of the economy; Simargl is the god of the underworld. The god of the sun was especially revered, which was called differently by different tribes: Dazhdbog, Yarilo, Horos, which indicates the absence of stable Slavic intertribal unity.

Formation of the Old Russian state

The tribal reigns of the Slavs had signs of the emerging statehood. Tribal principalities often united into large superunions, which revealed features of early statehood.

One of these associations was the union of tribes headed by Kiy (known since the end of the 5th century). At the end of the VI-VII century. there was, according to Byzantine and Arabic sources, the "Power of Volhynia", which was an ally of Byzantium. The Novgorod chronicle tells about the elder Gostomysl, who headed the ninth century. Slavic unification around Novgorod. Eastern sources suggest the existence on the eve of the formation of the Old Russian state of three large associations of Slavic tribes: Kuyaba, Slavia and Artania. Kuyaba (or Kuyava), apparently, was located around Kyiv. Slavia occupied the territory in the area of ​​Lake Ilmen, its center was Novgorod. The location of Artania is determined differently by different researchers (Ryazan, Chernihiv). The famous historian B. A. Rybakov claims that at the beginning of the 9th century. on the basis of the Polyansky Union of Tribes, a large political association "Rus" was formed, which also included part of the northerners.

Thus, the widespread use of agriculture with the use of iron tools, the collapse of the tribal community and its transformation into a neighboring one, the growth in the number of cities, the emergence of a squad are evidence of the emerging statehood.

The Slavs mastered the East European Plain, interacting with the local Baltic and Finno-Ugric populations. The military campaigns of the Antes, Sclavens, Russ against more developed countries, primarily against Byzantium, brought significant military booty to the combatants and princes. All this contributed to the stratification of East Slavic society. Thus, as a result of economic and socio-political development, statehood began to take shape among the East Slavic tribes,

Norman theory

The Russian chronicler of the beginning of the 12th century, trying to explain the origin of the Old Russian state, in accordance with the medieval tradition, included in the chronicle the legend of the calling of three Varangians as princes - the brothers Rurik, Sineus and Truvor. Many historians believe that the Varangians were Norman (Scandinavian) warriors who were hired and took an oath of allegiance to the ruler. A number of historians, on the contrary, consider the Varangians a Russian tribe that lived on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea and on the island of Rügen.

According to this legend, on the eve of the formation of Kievan Rus, the northern tribes of the Slavs and their neighbors (Ilmen Slovenes, Chud, all) paid tribute to the Varangians, and the southern tribes (Polyans and their neighbors) were dependent on the Khazars. In 859, the Novgorodians "expelled the Varangians across the sea", which led to civil strife. Under these conditions, the Novgorodians who had gathered for a council sent for the Varangian princes: “Our land is great and plentiful, but there is no order (order - Auth.) in it. Yes, go to reign and rule over us. Power over Novgorod and the surrounding Slavic lands passed into the hands of the Varangian princes, the eldest of whom Rurik laid, as the chronicler believed, the beginning of a princely dynasty. After the death of Rurik, another Varangian prince, Oleg (there is evidence that he was a relative of Rurik), who ruled in Novgorod, united Novgorod and Kyiv in 882. So, according to the chronicler, the state of Rus (also called Kievan Rus by historians).

The legendary chronicle story about the calling of the Varangians served as the basis for the emergence of the so-called Norman theory of the emergence of the Old Russian state. It was first formulated by the German scientists G.-F. Miller and G.-Z. Bayer, invited to work in Russia in the 18th century. M. V. Lomonosov acted as an ardent opponent of this theory.

The very fact of the presence of the Varangian squads, by which, as a rule, they understand the Scandinavians, in the service of the Slavic princes, their participation in the life of Russia is beyond doubt, as well as the constant mutual ties between the Scandinavians and Russia. However, there are no traces of any noticeable influence of the Varangians on the economic and socio-political institutions of the Slavs, as well as on their language and culture. In the Scandinavian sagas, Russia is a country of untold riches, and serving the Russian princes is a sure way to gain fame and power. Archaeologists note that the number of Varangians in Russia was small. No data were found on the colonization of Russia by the Vikings. The version about the foreign origin of this or that dynasty is typical of antiquity and the Middle Ages. Suffice it to recall the stories about the calling of the Anglo-Saxons by the Britons and the creation of the English state, about the founding of Rome by the brothers Romulus and Remus, etc.

In the modern era, the scientific inconsistency of the Norman theory, which explains the emergence of the Old Russian state as a result of a foreign initiative, has been fully proven. However, its political meaning is dangerous even today. The "Normanists" proceed from the premise of the supposedly primordial backwardness of the Russian people, who, in their opinion, are incapable of independent historical creativity. It is possible, they believe, only under foreign leadership and according to foreign models.

Historians have convincing evidence that there is every reason to assert that the Eastern Slavs had stable traditions of statehood long before the calling of the Varangians. State institutions arise as a result of the development of society. The actions of individual major personalities, conquests or other external circumstances determine the concrete manifestations of this process. Consequently, the fact of calling the Varangians, if it really took place, speaks not so much about the emergence of Russian statehood, but about the origin of the princely dynasty. If Rurik was a real historical figure, then his vocation to Russia should be seen as a response to the real need for princely power in the Russian society of that time. In historical literature, the question of Rurik's place in our history remains controversial. Some historians share the opinion that the Russian dynasty of Scandinavian origin, like the very name "Rus" ("Russians" the Finns called the inhabitants of Northern Sweden). Their opponents are of the opinion that the legend about the calling of the Varangians is the fruit of tendentious writing, a later insertion caused by political reasons. There is also a point of view that the Varangians-Rus and Rurik were Slavs who originated either from the southern coast of the Baltic (Rügen Island) or from the region of the Neman River. It should be noted that the term "Rus" is repeatedly found in relation to various associations, both in the north and in the south of the East Slavic world.

The formation of the state of Rus (the Old Russian state or, as it is called after the capital, Kievan Rus) is the natural completion of a long process of decomposition of the primitive communal system among a dozen and a half Slavic tribal unions who lived on the way "from the Varangians to the Greeks." The established state was at the very beginning of its journey: primitive communal traditions retained their place in all spheres of life of East Slavic society for a long time.

The Eastern Slavs in ancient times were a united group of peoples, which included thirteen tribes. Each of them had its own characteristics, place of settlement and population.

Tribes of the Eastern Slavs

The table below "Eastern Slavs in antiquity" will give a general idea of ​​which peoples were part of this group and how they differed.

Rice. 1. Map of the settlement of the Slavs.

The main occupations of the Eastern Slavs

They mainly cultivated the land. Depending on the region, this resource was used in different ways: for example, in the south, with its rich black soil, the land was sown for five years in a row, and then moved to another site, allowing it to rest. In the north and in the center, at first it was necessary to cut down and burn the forest, and only then to grow useful crops on the liberated area. The plot was fertile for no more than three years. They grew mainly cereals and root crops.

The Slavs were also engaged in fishing, hunting and beekeeping. Stable cattle breeding was quite developed: they kept cows, goats, pigs, horses.

A very important role was played in the life of the Slavic tribes by trade, which was conducted along the famous route “from the Varangians to the Greeks”. The skins of martens served as the main "monetary unit".

The social system of the Eastern Slavs

The social structure was not complex: the smallest unit was the family headed by the father, families united into communities under the leadership of the elder, and the communities already formed a tribe, the important issues of life of which were decided at the people's assembly - veche.

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Rice. 2. People's Council.

Belief system of the Eastern Slavs

It was polytheism or, in other words, paganism. The ancient Slavs had a pantheon of deities that they bowed to. The belief was based on fear or worship of natural phenomena, which were deified and personified. For example, Perun was the god of thunder, Stribog was the god of the wind, and so on.

Rice. 3. Statue of Perun.

The Eastern Slavs performed rituals in nature, they did not build temples. Statues of deities carved from stone were placed in glades, in groves.

The Slavs also believed in spirits, such as mermaids, brownies, goblin, etc., which was later reflected in folklore.

What have we learned?

From the article, we learned briefly about the Eastern Slavs in antiquity: the tribal division and territories that each tribe occupied, their characteristics and main occupations. We learned that the main among these occupations was agriculture, the types of which differed depending on the locality, but others were also important, such as cattle breeding, fishing and beekeeping. They clarified that the Slavs were pagans, that is, they believed in a pantheon of gods, and their social system was based on communities.

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