Untitled Flashcards Set

Key Dates in Russian History

Pre-Christian Rus’ (Before 988 AD)

  • The Slavs divided into three linguistic groups: South (Balkans), West (Poland, Czechia, Slovakia), and East (Russia, Ukraine, Belarus).

  • Political entities like Greater Moravia and Bulgaria emerged, influencing Slavic governance.

  • Cyril and Methodius (855) introduced Glagolitic and Cyrillic alphabets, bringing literacy and Christian texts to the Slavs.

  • Paganism dominated; key deities included:

    • Perun (thunder), Dazhbog (sun), Volos (cattle), Mokosh (women’s protector).

  • House of Riurik was established, influenced by Norse (Varangian) rulers.

Kievan Rus’ (988-1240)

  • Christianity adopted in 988 under Vladimir the Great, influenced by Byzantium.

  • The Great Schism (1054) split Christianity into:

    • Catholicism (West, Rome)

    • Orthodoxy (East, Byzantium)

  • Resistance from pagan Slavs, but Christianity eventually shaped Kievan culture.

  • Kievan Rus’ developed foreign relations, interacting with the Varangians, Cumans, and Qipchak tribes.

Appanage Rus’ (1223-1380)

  • Fragmentation into competing principalities after Kievan Rus’ declined.

  • Mongol Invasion (1237-1241) under Genghis Khan led to Rus’ submission to the Golden Horde (Mongol rule).

  • Mongols introduced a strict taxation and tribute system, enforcing control through military governors.

  • Islamization (1313-1341) under Khan Uzbek influenced the Mongol-controlled regions.

Fragmentation of Qipchak & Rise of Moscow (1341-1456)

  • Mongol power weakened due to plague (1346), civil war (1357), and Tamerlane’s conquests.

  • Rise of independent states:

    • Crimean Khanate (1475) became an Ottoman client state.

    • Kazan and Sibir Khanates formed in the northeast.

    • Lithuania-Poland expanded, absorbing former Kievan territories.

  • Dmitri Donskoi’s victory at Kulikovo (1380) was symbolic but did not end Mongol rule.

Moscow, Russia & Tsardom (1456-1584)

  • Fall of Constantinople (1453) → Russia saw itself as the “Third Rome.”

  • Ivan III (“The Great”) united Russian lands, played the Crimean Khanate against Lithuania, and centralized power.

  • Ivan IV (“The Terrible”) declared Russia a Tsardom, created the Oprichnina (secret police), and expanded Russian territory.

The Time of Troubles (1584-1613)

  • After Ivan IV’s death, Russia faced succession crises, impostors, and foreign intervention.

  • Boris Godunov ruled but faced resistance; Polish forces occupied Moscow briefly.

  • Romanov Dynasty (1613) emerged after a national revival.

Romanov Dynasty (1613-1917)

  • Peter the Great (1689-1725): Modernized Russia, built St. Petersburg, established a navy.

  • Catherine the Great (1762-1796): Enlightenment ideals, expanded the empire, suppressed peasant revolts.

  • Alexander I & Napoleon: Russia fought Napoleon (1812), adopted some Western reforms.

  • Nicholas I (1825-1855): Conservative rule, censorship, Crimean War loss.

  • Alexander II (1855-1881): Emancipated serfs (1861), assassinated by revolutionaries.

  • Russo-Japanese War (1904) & 1905 Revolution weakened the monarchy.

Soviet Russia (1917-1991)

  • February Revolution (1917): Overthrew Tsar Nicholas II.

  • October Revolution (1917): Bolsheviks (Lenin, Trotsky) seized power.

  • Stalin (1927-1953): Industrialization, collectivization, purges, gulags.

  • WWII: USSR played a major role in defeating Nazi Germany.

  • Gorbachev’s Reforms (1980s): Perestroika (economic reforms), Glasnost (openness) led to USSR collapse (1991).

Recent Russian History

  • Yeltsin: Economic struggles after the USSR.

  • Putin: Power centralization, increasing authoritarianism.

  • Annexation of Crimea (2014) and War in Ukraine (2022- ).

Hagiography (Study of Saints' Lives)

  • Purpose: Document saints’ biographies, miracles, and spiritual impact.

  • Common Across Religions: Christianity, Islam (Sufi saints), Hinduism, Buddhism.

  • Christian Hagiography

    • Developed in the Roman Empire to legitimize Christianity.

    • Forms:

      • Vita (biography)

      • Passio (martyrdom accounts)

      • Miracle stories

Types of Hagiographic Collections

  • Menaion – Calendar-based saint readings.

  • Synaxarion – Short saint biographies.

  • Paterikon – Saints’ lives compiled in a book (e.g., Kievan Monastery of the Caves).

Textual Sources for Boris & Gleb

  • Primary Chronicle (1015) – Earliest written account of their deaths.

  • Narrative & Passion of Boris and Gleb – Detailed hagiography.

  • Nestor’s Works – Chronicles & saintly biographies.

Boris and Gleb

  • Who were they?

    • Sons of Vladimir the Great, brothers to Yaroslav the Wise.

    • Murdered in a succession struggle by Sviatopolk the Accursed (1015).

  • Why are they saints?

    • First canonized saints of Kievan Rus’.

    • Chose non-resistance to evil, similar to Christ’s suffering.

  • Different Versions

    • Primary Chronicle → Traditional narrative.

    • Norse Eymund’s Saga → Suggests Yaroslav hired mercenaries to kill them.

The Life of Alexis, Holy Man of God

  • Background

    • Versions exist in Latin, Greek, Old Church Slavonic.

    • Alexis was from a wealthy Roman family but abandoned worldly life for spiritual devotion.

  • Hagiographic Themes

    • Renunciation: Left family, wealth, marriage, sex, food.

    • Miracles: His corpse emitted the scent of myrrh.

    • Adventure Elements:

      • Traveled by ship to Laodicea, Syria.

      • Mistaken identity: His family unknowingly took him in as a beggar.

  • Carnival & Holy Foolery

    • Reversal of roles: Rich become poor, weak overpower the strong.

    • Relation to Russian iurodstvo (Holy Fool tradition) – Similar figures in Russian Orthodox culture.