Varangian Chronicler Profile picture
Nov 19, 2021 25 tweets 9 min read Read on X
THREAD: Origins of the Kievan Rus
So far we have covered the exploits of the first generation of the Varangian Guard in Byzantine service. However, our understanding of these men remains incomplete until we explore the world they came from.
Swedish Vikings and traders had prowled the waters and towns of the Gulf of Finland for generations by the time a warrior named Rurik entered the scene. The local Slavic and Finnic tribes had recently refused to pay tribute to the Swedes and quarreled since they had no laws.
The Russian Chronicle records that they extended an invitation to Rurik and his brothers, Sineus and Truvor, to bring their kin and rule over them. Rurik accepted and they began to rule the region from Novgorod. Sineus and Truvor soon died and Rurik ruled alone.
It is more likely that Rurik was one in a long line of Swedes to raid, trade, and settle in the region, but the first to consolidate rule over Norse colonists and local Baltic, Finnic, and Slav tribes. This conquest is likely the source of the apocryphal “invitation.”
Soon after two of Rurik’s men, Askold and Dir, asked Rurik for permission to sail downriver to Constantinople. On their way down the Dnieper they captured a small town on a hill overlooking the river from the Khazars. That town, Kiev, would become the future capital of the Rus.
Askold and Dir then proceeded to Constantinople and laid waste to its suburbs, catching the Byzantines by surprise. This was the first recorded contact between these nations and the Rus sailed back with tales of Constantinople and unimaginable wealth.
The Patriarch sent missionaries north and began the long process of converting the Rus. From these initial contacts the Rus and Byzantines established a bustling trade network that connected Northern Europe with the Mediterranean and Arab worlds.
Rurik died in 879 and his kinsman Oleg, took control as regent for his son, Igor. In 880-882 Oleg led an army south down the Dnieper River, capturing Smolensk, Lyubech, and Kiev, where he killed Askold and Dir.
Oleg, seeing Kiev’s advantageous position on trade routes, made it the new capital. Oleg continued Rurik’s work, subjugating Slav tribes, and building forts and towns for his Norse settlers, soldiers, and merchants along the waterways of Eastern Europe.
Kiev and many of the Slav tribes in the south were previously under the control of the Khazar Khaganate. Rus expansion into modern-day Ukraine would put them on a collision course with the nomads and their empire as they vied for critical trade routes on the rivers and plains.
When the Magyars migrated into the Carpathian Plain, pressured by the expanding Pechenegs, the Khazars lost a valuable ally and became increasingly vulnerable. The Rus used this opportunity to peel away their Slav tributaries and attack the Khazars to secure the Don and Volga.
Oleg’s control of the great rivers on which trade passed between the Baltic and Russia to Constantinople and beyond made him and his nobles exceedingly wealthy. Beeswax, honey, furs, amber, and slaves were brought to Constantinople’s markets.
Merchants would return with wine, spices, jewelry, glass, silk, and other manufactured products. This trade was the lifeblood of the Rus and many of their conflicts revolves around controlling it.
With the weakening of the Khazars, the Pechenegs gained control of the Ukrainian grasslands. The Dnieper River and most of the Rus trade passed through this way, the rapids south of Kiev made the journey especially treacherous.
When traders reached the rapids they had to pull their goods and boats out of the water and drag them overland. This made them particularly vulnerable to Pecheneg extortion and attacks. This lead to much conflict between the Rus and Pechenegs as they vied for control.
The steppe tribes weren’t the only ones Oleg fought to secure his trade revenues. In 907, Oleg led 5,000 Rus warriors in a fleet of 200 ships to Constantinople. Before he reached the city Byzantine envoys provided Oleg with luxurious food and wine.
Sensing danger, Oleg refused the poisoned wine and laid siege to the city. The Byzantines had strung an iron chain across the Golden Horn, but Oleg fitted wheels to his dugout canoes and transported them overland and past the chain, exposing the weaker sea walls to his men.
With this, the Byzantines were ready to negotiate. The Rus were given a hefty tribute and privileges including a merchant colony near the city around the Church of St. Mamas, mutual aid for shipwrecked merchants, and the right of Rus warrior to enlist as Byzantine mercenaries.
Oleg was allowed to nail his shield to the city walls in triumph before he left for Kiev, treasure in tow and treaty in hand.
This treaty provided the Rus and Byzantines with a framework for their burgeoning trade network. George Verdansky, the author of “Kievan Russia,” estimated the annual Rus trade flotilla was roughly ten thousand tons of goods, far larger than any other European trade network.
This massive trade proved incredibly lucrative for both the Rus and Byzantines and helped bring their nations, cultures, and religions closer together.
As time went on the Norse settlers, warriors, merchants, and nobles began to merge with the Slavic tribes they ruled over. This fusion eventually gave rise to a unique, but predominantly Slavic, Rus identity. Another thread will examine this fusion in depth.
Oleg and Rurik forged a state from the disparate tribes of the forests of Eastern Europe gave rise to a new power in medieval Europe. Oleg’s guarantee of favorable trading rights with Constantinople ensured this dynamic power would mature under Byzantine influence.
This influence is still felt today as Russian culture, religion, and history still draw from this ancient connection. In the next thread we will talk about Igor’s reign and Rus attacks further afield, all the way to Azerbaijan.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Varangian Chronicler

Varangian Chronicler Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @Varangian_Tagma

May 14
The fact that the Byzantines basically forgot they ruled Sardinia will always be funny to me. Image
After the Muslim conquest of Sicily, Sardinia was isolated from the rest of the empire. The Byzantines had more pressing matters & through negligence, Sardinia slowly gained a measure of de facto independence. Image
The Sardinians repelled frequent raids from Sicily & Africa by Muslim pirates. Such attacks forced them to abandon many of the old ports and cities of the coast, further isolating them from the rest of the Byzantines by making the life-line of communication by sailing weaker. Image
Read 13 tweets
May 10
During the reign of Constantine VII, a raiding party from Tarsus attacked the sleepy village of Herakleos.

The villagers were celebrating Divine Liturgy when they received the grave news.

The village priest, Themel, decided to act. That decision would change his life forever. Image
As Themel prepared the Holy Mystery a messager burst into the church to announce that Muslim raiders had been spotted marching toward the village. Image
Themel stopped the liturgy and stormed out of the church at the head of his flock, wearing his priestly vestments and armed with a semantron, a big wooden or iron board to hit as a sort of bell. Image
Read 9 tweets
Apr 30
A lot of people are sending this to me.

If you’ve read Ibrahim you’ll know he isn’t a historian; he’s a polemicist. He uses primary sources to weave a narrative of constant, civilizational conflict between Islam & Christianity.

Whether or not you agree; that’s the motive here.
There is no scrutiny of sources or historiography, these are broad strokes to get the scene set for another chapter in a 1,400 year cage match.
If you are looking for Treadgold or Kaldellis here you won’t find him. Ibrahim understands that the Byzantines after Basil II struggled to adapt to new threats, yet is uninterested in the complex political, social, and material causes.
Read 5 tweets
Apr 5
The Byzantine army was the most multi-ethic force in the pre-modern world.

Mongols, Turks, Africans (Zanj), Saxons, Norse, Rus, Normans, Huns, Alans, Cumans, Pechenegs, Germans, Italians, Georgians, Armenians, Iranians, Albanians, Catalans, and more.

How did they manage it? Image
Many came as mercenary warrior bands looking for employment. These were enrolled within the military and given regular pay & orders under the watchful eye of Byzantine officers.

This prevented mercenaries from becoming a nuisance & the Byzantines to use them expertly in battle. Image
Some of these mercenaries settled down with local women, eventually fading into the general population except for the preservation of their surnames and connections to their regiments. Image
Read 17 tweets
Mar 9
During the reign of Emperor Theophilos, ships from the misty North slid into the harbor at Constantinople. The envoys entered the Imperial Court & sparked curiosity among the Byzantines. Who were these strangers? Image
The men explained to the Emperor that they were Rhos, and subjects of a Khagan who ruled the river lands north of the Black Sea. Their way home had been blocked by steppe nomads and they asked for his help in traveling back. Image
Theophilos agreed to help the men and sent them with his own envoys to the court of Louis the Pious in 839 AD. Their arrival was noted by Bishop Prudentius who confirms the men claimed to be “Rhos” and ruled by a Khagan. Image
Read 12 tweets
Jan 23
Few people realize how close Europe was to a second Dark Age in the 9th century. The world that emerged from that chaos created the Medieval World far more than the Age of Charlemagne, a glorious & ephemeral vision of European unity not unlike Napoleon. Image
By the end of the 800s AD Charlemagne’s Empire had collapsed into a mess of squabbling warlords. Vikings overran England, besieged Paris. Magyars trampled over the fertile interior. Muslim raiders reached the walls of Rome itself. These attacks degraded central control further Image
Even the Papacy descended into chaos; the plaything of cynical nobles, scandalized continuously. Popes debauched and blood feuds worked their way all the way to his throne. Assassinations, hedonism, and even the trial of an exhumed Pope blackened the Papal reputation. Image
Read 18 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(