Introduction. In this work, we will consider the culture, economy and life of our ancestors - Eastern Slavs. The discoveries of archaeologists allow us to say that the ancestors of the current Slavic peoples - the Proto-Slavs, have been known since the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. e. The first written evidence about the Slavs dates back to the turn of the 1st millennium AD. e. Greek, Roman, Arabic, Byzantine historians report about the Slavs. Ancient authors mention the Slavs under the names of Wends, Antes, Sclavins. They call them "countless tribes", "great people".

We will pay special attention to the immediate ancestors of the Smolyan-Krivichi. Krivichi lived in the VIII-XII centuries in the territories of the present Vitebsk, Mogilev, Pskov, Bryansk and Smolensk regions, as well as eastern Latvia. The formation of the Krivichi tribes is associated with the Tushemlinsko-Bantserovskaya culture, which existed in the above places from the 4th to the 7th century AD.

The Krivichi were probably the first Eastern Slavs to move in the 6th century. from the Carpathians to the northeast. Limited in their distribution to the northwest and west, where they met strong Lithuanian and Finnish tribes, the Krivichi advanced to the northeast and absorbed the small Finno-Ugric and Baltic tribes living there. In the west, they, together with the Dregovichi, made up the current Belarusian, nationality. Settling on the great trade route "from the Varangians to the Greeks", the Krivichi took part in trade with Scandinavia and Byzantium . Emperor Konstantin Porphyrogenitus says in his Op. about the fact that the Krivichi make boats on which the Rus go to Tsargrad. Krivichi, as a tribe subordinate to Kyiv, participated in the campaigns of the princes Oleg the Prophet and Igor Stary to the Byzantines. Oleg's contract mentions their city of Polotsk. The oldest archaeological monuments of the Krivichi are long mounds with cremations dating back to the 6th-9th centuries.

The data of archeology, linguistics, anthropology indicate that the early medieval ethnic communities of the Dregovichi and Radimichi, Krivichi were formed as a result of mixing, synthesis of Slavic and Baltic population groups. Their culture and language intertwined Slavic and Baltic elements with an advantage of Slavic features. In the abstract, we will analyze the Baltic and Slavic features in the culture of the Krivichi, consider the economy, life and culture of the Krivichi in comparison with the culture of other Slavic tribes.

Chapter 1. The resettlement of the Eastern Slavs. The first mention of the Krivichi.

The most precise indications of the initial chronicler about the settlements of the Eastern Slavic tribes that became part of the Russian state were found and translated. The chronicle speaks of this resettlement in three places; in the first place it is said that the eastern branch of the Slavs, i.e. white Croats, Serbs and Horutans, being pushed by the enemy, moved to the northeast, and some sat down along the Dnieper and called themselves glades, and others - Drevlyans, because they sat in the forests ; then they sat down between Pripyat and Dvina and called themselves Dregovichi; some sat down on the Dvina and called themselves Polochans, on behalf of the river Polota, which flows into the Dvina. Part of the Slavs also sat near Lake Ilmen and was nicknamed by their name - the Slavs, these Slavs built a city and called it Novgorod, the rest of the Slavs sat down along the Desna, along the Seven, along the Sula and called themselves the north or northerners. In another place it is said that the Polyans had their own reign, the Drevlyans had their own, the Dregovichi had their own, the Slavs had their own in Novgorod, the Polochans had their own. From them, i.e. from Polochan, krivichi, which sit on the upper reaches of the Volga, Dvina and Dnieper, they have the city of Smolensk; from them - northerners. Then the tribes are immediately listed in this order: the glades, the Drevlyans, the Novgorodians, the Polochans, the Dregovichi, the north with an addition of the Buzhans, who were named after the Bug River and later called the Volhynians. Finally, in the third place, speaking of the Polans and Drevlyans, with confirmation that they are a Slavic tribe, the chronicler adds the Radimichi and Vyatichi, who come from the Poles, that is, from the Western Slavs: there were two brothers in the Poles, Radim and Vyatko; Radim came and sat down with his family on the Sozha River, and Vyatko - on the Oka. The Croats were immediately added, then the Dulebs, who lived along the Bug, where at the time of the chronicler there were already Volhynians; finally, the Uglichs and Tivertsy, who lived along the Dniester, to the very sea and the Danube, numerous tribes who had cities that existed before the time of the chronicler.

So, the first Slavic settlers, whom the parish and the reason for it remembers the tradition, are the Drevlyans and the meadow, the inhabitants of the forests and the inhabitants of the fields; already these same local reasons determined the difference in the customs of both tribes, the great savagery of the Drevlyans, their great inclination to live at the expense of their neighbors, from which the clearing suffered. This last tribe acquired special significance because the town, founded among it, Kyiv, became the main city of the Russian land. As for the founding of Kyiv, as in general all ancient famous cities, there were different legends. Its name, similar to the adjective possessive form, made us assume the name of the founder of Kyi (Kiy - Kyiv city, like Andrey - Andreev, Peter - Petrov).

The Drevlyans are followed by the Dregovichi, who settled between Pripyat and the Dvina. The name Dregovichi is found among the Bulgarian Slavs and in Germany.

The Dregovichi are followed by the Krivichi. They had old cities: Izborsk, Polotsk (from the Polota River), Smolensk, later found in the annals of Toropets (from the Toropy River), now Krivitepsk, Krivich and Krivig are known among the common people. The Slavs of Novgorod follow the Krivichi. In all the names of the tribes, we notice that they come either from places, or from the names of the ancestors, or are called by their own noun, such as the dulebs; only the inhabitants of Novgorod and the surrounding areas, "having been called by their own name," as the chronicler says, are Slavs. This oddity can be explained by the fact that the Ilmen Slavs, being the latest migrants from the Krivichi, did not have time to acquire a specific name for themselves, in contrast to their fellow tribesmen, and retained a generic name, in contrast to the outlandish Finns, with whom they were surrounded. The northerners, according to the chronicler, went from the Krivichi and settled on the Desna, Semi and Sula rivers. The names of the Radimichi and Vyatichi the chronicler directly derives from the names of the ancestors and tells the legend that both of these tribes come from the Poles. We have no right to suspect this tradition, which shows that the era of the arrival of these tribes was not too distant, it was remembered even in the time of the chronicler. That these tribes came later than others is proved by the dwellings they chose: the Radimichi settled on the Sozh, and the Vyatichi had to move further east, to the Oka, because the lands along the Desna, lying between the Sozh and the Oka, were already occupied by northerners.

Regarding Dulebs and Buzhans, we accept these two names as belonging to the same tribe, which had its dwellings on the Western Bug; in the annals, in two different news, these tribes are placed in the same places, with the same addition that both one and the other tribe were later called Volynians, and in no news are both names put together side by side, but where there is one, there is no other. The chronicler does not know about the movement of the Dulebs-Buzhans: we think that they should be considered as a branch of the Croatian tribe that settled from time immemorial on the banks of the Bug, in Volhynia. The chronicler considers the Uglichs and Tivertsy to be the last tribes to the south. In the given news about the settlement of the tribes, the dwellings of the Uglichs and Tivertsy are assigned along the Dniester to the sea and the Danube: "Improve (Uglich), the Tivertsy sedyahu along the Dniester to the sea, the essence of their city to this day: yes, I call from the Greek the Great Skuf." But there is other news, from which it is clear that the Uglich lived before in the lower reaches of the Dnieper; when Igor voivode Sveneld, after a stubborn three-year resistance, took their city of Peresechen, they moved west, crossed the Dniester and settled on its western bank, where even now, in the Orhei district of the Bessarabia region, there is the village of Peresecheni or Peresechina, probably founded by the fugitives in memory of the former their cities. The chronicler's indications of the large number of Tivertsy and Uglichs, their stubborn resistance to the Russian princes, their dwellings from the Dniester, or even from the Danube to the Dnieper itself and, perhaps, further to the east, leave no doubt that these are the same tribes that Procopius and Iornandu were known as Antes.

As for the life of the Slavic eastern tribes, the initial chronicler left us the following news about him: "each lived with his own family, separately, in his own places, each owned his own family." We have now almost lost the meaning of gender, we still have derivative words - relatives, kinship, relative, we have a limited concept of the family, but our ancestors did not know the family, they knew only the clan, which meant the entire set of degrees of kinship, both the closest and the most remote; clan also meant the totality of relatives and each of them; Initially, our ancestors did not understand any social connection outside the clan and therefore used the word clan also in the sense of a compatriot, in the sense of a people; the word was used to designate ancestral lines tribe. The unity of the clan, the connection of tribes was supported by a single ancestor, these ancestors wore different names- elders, zhupans, lords, princes, etc.; the last name, apparently, was especially used by the Russian Slavs and, according to word production, has a generic meaning, meaning the eldest in the family, the ancestor, the father of the family.

1.1. TERRITORY OF RESIDENCE OF KRIVICH.

The western border of the Krivichi on the territory of Belarus ran along Lake Osveyskoye, then descended to the south, crossing the Western Dvina near the mouth of the Drissa. From here it went to the Desna basin (the left tributary of the Western Dvina). Braslav was the westernmost Krivichi settlement in the area. In the north and east, the border of the Krivichi passed outside the territory of Belarus, but the neighboring regions of the Dvina and Dnieper regions (Pskov and Smolensk regions). The Tale of Bygone Years states that "the Krivichi even sit on the top of the Volga, and on the top of the Dvina, and on the top of the Dnieper."

1.2. BALTIC AND SLAVIC IN THE CULTURE OF KRIVICH.

Archaeological monuments of the Krivichi are round (hemispherical) burial mounds. The Krivichi culture had regional differences. They are divided into two large groups: Polotsk-Smolensk and Pskov. The Polotsk-Smolensk group lived on the territory of Belarus (as well as in the Smolensk region). It differed from the Pskov one in its original decorations: bracelet-shaped temporal rings with tied ends. The Pskov group of Krivichi did not have such decorations.

The ethnic appearance of the Krivichi, including the Polotsk-Smolensk, was dominated by Slavic features. Their language was Slavonic.

Slavic is also the main type of jewelry of the Polotsk-Smolensk Krivichi - bracelet-shaped temporal rings with tied ends. The Slavic elements of culture also include most types of rings (wire, smooth, twisted, lamellar, ribbed, shield). Distinctly Slavic features are found in the ceramics of the round Krivich barrows. Its main part consists of pots with a conical body, rounded, slightly pronounced shoulders and a slightly bent rim. Their color is yellow-gray and reddish-yellow. Most of the pots are not ornamented. Slavic elements can also be traced in the funeral rite of the Krivichi. A significant part of the burial is characterized by the Slavic orientation of the dead (head to the west).

At the same time, Baltic elements are also very noticeable in the culture of the Polotsk-Smolensk Krivichi. There are many of them among the Krivichi jewelry. The Baltic elements in the decorations of the Krivichi include, in particular, a bracelet with snake heads, spiral rings, neck torcs of the Baltic type, a head wreath consisting of several rows of spirals strung on a bast and interspersed with lamellar plaques, radial ring-shaped buckles, horseshoe-shaped clasps with conical, multifaceted, wrapped ends. Baltic elements are also recorded in funeral rite Krivichi. The Baltic tradition is the presence of ritual bonfires in the burial, the orientation of the dead with their heads to the east, found in some burials.

The influence of the Balts also affected the appearance of the Polotsk Krivichi. Their anthropological type was formed as a result of the mixing of the Slavs with the Balts. It is characterized by long-headedness, which was previously inherent in the Baltic population, who lived on the territory of Belarus before the settlement of the Slavs. The Krivichi costume is characterized by a large number of ornaments - these are horseshoe-shaped buckles (plots), zoomorphic bracelets and gilded glass beads, plate conic pendants. A characteristic feature of the Krivichi women's costume was the monists, in which beads were combined with metal pendants.

Thus, the data of archeology, linguistics, anthropology indicate that the Krivichi were formed as a result of the synthesis of the Slavic and Baltic population groups. Slavic and Baltic elements intertwined in the culture and language of the Krivichi. Their cultures represented new integrity, qualitative neoplasms, in which Slavic features prevailed. Therefore, the new ethnic communities were Slavic, occupying a peculiar position among the Slavic ethnic groups. They absorbed a number of Baltic elements into their culture, but differed in specific features of Slavic culture that arose under the influence of the Balts.

In contact with

They were engaged in agriculture, cattle breeding, crafts. Main cities: Smolensk, Polotsk, Izborsk.

From the 9th century - in the composition Kievan Rus. According to one hypothesis, they became part of the Old Russian people.

In the XI-XII centuries. the territory of the Krivichi was part of the Smolensk and Polotsk principalities, the northwestern part - in the Novgorod possessions.

Story

The Northern Krivichi stood at the origins of the creation of Novgorod Rus, while the Old Pskov dialect is identified with the North Krivichi.

The western Krivichi created Polotsk, and the southern ones - Smolensk (Gnezdovo), included in the Old Russian state already under the successor of Rurik, Prince Oleg.

In the Latvian language, to this day, Russians are called Krivichi (Latvian krievi, Latg. krīvi), Russia Krevia (Latvian Krievija), and Belarus - Baltkrevia (Latvian Baltkrievija).

In all regions, the Krivichi closely interacted with the Varangians. Byzantine emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus says that the Krivichi make boats on which the Rus go to Tsargrad.

It is believed that the last tribal prince of the Krivichi Rogvolod, together with his sons, was killed in 980. prince of novgorod Vladimir Svyatoslavich.

In the Ipatiev list, the Krivichi were mentioned for the last time under 1128, and the Polotsk princes were named Krivichi under 1140 and 1162. After that, the Krivichi are no longer mentioned in the East Slavic chronicles.

However, the tribal name Krivichi was used in foreign sources for quite a long time (until the end of the 17th century).

After the formation of Kievan Rus, the Krivichi (along with the Vyatichi) took an active part in the colonization of the eastern lands (modern Tver, Vladimir, Kostroma, Ryazan, Yaroslavl and Nizhny Novgorod regions, the north of Moscow, as well as the Vologda region) where they possibly assimilated, and possibly pushed back the local Finnish tribes Dyakovo culture.

The southwestern, Polotsk branch of the Krivichi is also called Polotsk. Together with the Dregovichi, Radimichi and some Baltic tribes, this branch of the Krivichi formed the basis of the Belarusian ethnos.

culture

A distinctive feature of the Krivichi burials are long mounds - rampart-shaped earthen mounds. All long mounds contain burial places according to the cremation rite.

The Krivichi Kurgan culture differs from the synchronous Slavic cultures of the Dnieper region.

The ground arrangement of residential and outbuildings of the Krivichi (as well as the Slovenes of Novgorod) resembles the Slavic archaeological monuments of the forest belt of Poland.

Other Krivich artifacts are bronze sickle-shaped temporal rings, glass beads, knives, spearheads, sickles, ceramics (whorls and pots made on a potter's wheel).

Helpful information

Origin

Krivichi are usually divided into two large groups: Pskov and Polotsk-Smolensk.

In the culture of the Polotsk-Smolensk Krivichi, studied relatively better, along with Slavic elements of jewelry, there are elements of the Baltic type. Baltic elements are also seen in the funeral rite.

On the question of the origin of the Slavic ancestors of the Krivichi, there are two main points of view.

The first connects their ancestral home with the Carpathian region, the second with the territory of northern Poland. At the same time, it is clarified that at first the Krivichi came to the Pskov region (VI century: The culture of the Pskov long mounds), moving through the Middle Ponemanye), and later some of them moved south and populated the Smolensk region and eastern Belarus).

In favor of the first hypothesis, chronicles indicate the origin of the Krivichs, in particular, the Polochans (along with the Drevlyans, Polyans (Dnieper) and Dregoviches) from the tribes of White Croats, Serbs and Khorutans who settled on the territory of Belarus, who migrated to the upper reaches of the Dnieper in the 6th-7th centuries. .

The second hypothesis is based on the work of modern domestic linguists. In particular comparative analysis Toporova V.N., made on the basis of the results of research by Zaliznyak A.A. of the language of Novgorod birch bark letters and the ancient Krivichi dialect, conducted by Nikolaev S.L., shows the original belonging of the Krivichi to the northwestern Slavic dialect group, including, for example, such languages ​​as -Lechitic or Lusatian.

Polochane

Polochans - part of the Krivichi, who settled in the 9th century. the territory of modern Vitebsk and the north of the Minsk region.

Anthropology

The Krivichi were characterized by high stature, dolichocephaly, narrow face, protruding wavy nose, outlined chin - a type characteristic of the Valdai type.

In the 5th century in the north-west of the future Russia, the first monuments of the archaeological culture of long barrows appear. Most experts reasonably connect this culture with the Slavic tribal union of the Krivichi, mentioned in Russian chronicles. The area of ​​distribution of long mounds coincides with the annalistic area of ​​the Krivichi, which included the Smolensk, Polotsk and Pskov lands.
Based on the radiocarbon method, one of the most peripheral, northward settlements of the Krivichi (Warsaw Gate III in Belozerye) dates back to the first half of the 5th century BC. It can be concluded that the settlement of the Krivichi occurred at a very early time, regardless of the spread of other Slavic cultures. At the same time, the characteristic features of the Krivichi culture clearly indicate their far from complete isolation from their relatives. Apparently, the ancestors of the Krivichi went north very early, perhaps under the onslaught of the Huns at the end of the 4th - beginning of the 5th century. Their special features material culture formed, as we shall see, in place. It is possible that groups of Slavs participated in the settlement of the north different origin that came in different ways.
According to The Tale of Bygone Years, the first of the groups attributable to the Krivichi appeared in their habitats Polochans, residents of the Podvinye: " other [Slavs] sat down on the Dvina and called Polotsk - for the sake of the river that flows into the Dvina, the name of Polot". From them, as they say later, the Smolensk (Upper Dnieper) Krivichi also went. But at the same time, the Kyiv chronicler does not speak at all about the Pskov-Izborsk Krivichi. Meanwhile, the great importance of the Pskov and Izborsk districts for Krivichi history is also confirmed written sources and archaeological material.

At the same time, it seems more than likely that at first the Krivichi nevertheless came to the territory of modern Belarus. At that time, its lands were inhabited by the Eastern Balts (the archaeological culture of Tushemli-Bantserovshchina). Moving along the river arteries north of Pripyat, the Slavs in the first third of the 5th century. appeared in the Upper (Mogilev) Dnieper region. In this border zone between the Kolochins and the Tushemlins, the newcomers first settled.
The Slavs, apparently, were the last inhabitants of the ancient settlement of Abidnya. Three kilometers to the north, Slavic dwellings appeared at the Kolochinsky settlement of Taimanovo. Somewhere, it may have been about the displacement of local residents, somewhere about peaceful coexistence. Two Slavic semi-dugouts were found to the west, on the Lower Berezina, in the Kolochinsky settlement of Schatkovo. This is already clear evidence of the peaceful coexistence of a few Slavs with the Balts.
It was while moving up the Berezina that the Slavs ended up in the upper reaches of the Viliya. There are a number of Tushemli settlements of the 6th - 7th centuries. with pronounced Slavic features. Especially many Slavs lived in the settlement of Dedilovichi, the house-building of which bears clearly Slavic features. Here, obviously, we are dealing with forceful “settlement”, known to us from the Penkovo-Kolochinsk materials. The Slavs took Baltic women as their wives, as evidenced by ceramic material (exclusively Tushemla ware). At the same time, more typical in this period and in this region was the peaceful coexistence of Slavs and Balts in the same settlements. The settlement of Gorodishche was probably characterized by a mixture of Slavs (constituting up to a third of its population) and Balts. Nearby, in the village of Revyachki, a combination of Baltic and Slavic house-building techniques was also revealed. The Slavs brought to the region inhabited by the Tushemla tribes a number of new elements of everyday life, partly accepted by the locals (stone millstones, ritual iron knives, etc.). This reflects the process of long-term interaction between the two ethnic elements in the Dnieper-Dvinsk region.
From the Upper Dnieper, the Slavs, the ancestors of the Krivichi, back in the first half of the 5th century. got to the upper reaches of the Lovat. These lands, the sparsely populated northern periphery of the Tushemla culture, became the basis for further Slavic settlement. One of the oldest long mounds (Polibino) was found here, the inventory of which is reliably attributed to the 5th century BC. The village of Zhabino is also located here, characterized by the coexistence of the Slavic (the culture of long mounds) and the Tushemly population. From this region, the Krivichi settled to the north, to the sparsely populated lands of the future Pskov-Novgorod land. The local residents here were no longer the Balts, but the Baltic Finns. Their self-name was reflected in the modern ethnonym Setu (a group close to the Estonians in the Pskov region) and in the old Russian designation of the Baltic Finns "chud".
The main direction for the movement of the Slavs was the direction down the Velikaya River and further along both banks of the communicating Pskov and Peipsi lakes. In the course of this resettlement, they were still at the beginning of the 6th century. reached the southern part of the Emajõga river basin on the western bank, and on the eastern bank - the Zhelchi River. Separate groups of Krivichi in the 5th - early 6th centuries. moved east from the main massif - to the upper reaches of the Luga (Zamoshye) and even beyond the Ilmen, to Belozerye (Varshavsky Sluice, Ust-Belaya).
largest center Slavic settlement in the region was at that stage the Pskov settlement (then still unfortified). Newcomer Slavs lived here, and, in a slightly larger number, the indigenous people - "chud". The joint residence and mutual mixing of the Slavs and the Baltic Finns in these lands is also confirmed by inventory and ceramics from the long mounds themselves. Relations between the two equally small groups of the population developed mostly peacefully. Pskov (the ancient Slavic name Pleskov "city on the reach [open part of the river]"), obviously, was the common tribal center of the "Chud" and the Krivichi who settled side by side with it. Findings in the Pskov settlement (in Slavic dwellings) of vessels of the Tushemla type testify to the arrival of a certain number of Baltic women with their Slavic husbands.
Thus, having settled in the Baltic and Baltic-Finnish lands, the Krivichi entered into a relationship of a kind of symbiosis with the natives. In the lands of the "chud" this symbiosis wore more peaceful forms. However, the Baltic tribes eventually established peaceful contacts with the newcomers - the Slavs. The long-term interaction of the Krivichi with the Balts (not only the eastern ones), including after coming to the Pskov region, is evidenced by the Latvian name of the Russians - krievs.

Of interest is the name of the tribal union - Krivichi. It is produced from the personal name "Kriv". The latter can be understood as an opposition to the epithet of the god Perun ("Right"). Thus, "Kriv" may well refer to the god Veles, the antagonist of Perun in the Slavic "basic myth". We have already spoken about the possible "Velesic" nature of the Proto-Slavic religion, especially in the northern periphery.
In the mythological and genealogical legends of the Belarusians, the descendants of the Krivichi - the Polochans, the name of the hero-ancestor is Bai (Fight). In the myth of the creation of the world, Bai appears as the first person. One of his sons, Belopol, is the ancestor of the Belarusians. The giant dogs of the father - Stavra and Gavra - help Belopol to determine the boundaries of their possessions, breaking through the Dvina and Dnieper rivers. According to another legend, Bai - ancient prince, who lived in Krasnopolye near Drissa (in the Vitebsk region). Together with his dogs Stavra and Gavra, he hunted in the local "dense forests". From several wives, Bai had sons - the ancestors of individual Belarusian families. The eldest of them is Boyko (Belopol, unlike the later text, is not mentioned among them at all). The third tradition also places Bai (here - Boy) in Krasnopolye above the river Drissa. Boy - the prince-bogatyr, hunting in the forests along the Drissa with Stavra and Gavra. Dogs overcame any beast and protected the prince from robbers. The battle established their worship on a par with the "important persons", and after death introduced the days of their remembrance ("Stavrus grandfathers"; the rite is also known in the Minsk region). The meaning of this ancient holiday of commemoration of the dead allows you to see a deity in Bai afterlife accompanied by demonic dogs (like the Indian Pit). The original source of the name "Bai" is Baltic, as are the names of dogs. The Lithuanian bajus "terrible" can be interpreted as an epithet of the Baltic god of the underworld Vels, the antagonist of the thunderer Perkons.
In the Danish chronicle of Saxo Grammar, the "Russian" prince Boy, identified with the Scandinavian god Vali, the son of Odin and Rinda (the latter is rethought by Saxo as a "Russian princess"), acts. The legend is dated to the well-known in Russia mound of the Boy who fell in battle. Odin-Wall (note, "crooked", one-eyed) is genetically related to Veles and Vels, and this identity could be recognized by a Scandinavian who encountered Russian tradition. Perhaps, in this legend, as in one of the later Belarusian versions, the first prince (Boy, cf. Boyko) acted as the son of a deity (Bay, Veles). It is worth noting that in another Scandinavian monument - "Sage o Hёpver" - the ruler of Russia is attributed to "odinic" origin. Isn't this a trace of the same legends, going back to the earliest contacts between the Normans and the Krivichi?
A chain of identities is being built: Kriv - Bai - Veles (Baltic Vels). Obviously, the Krivichi erected themselves to Veles (in the course of contacts with the Balts, the Slavic god naturally identified with Vels-Bai) and paid special worship to him. His name was taboo. Probably, the leaders of the union were the high priests of Veles and especially built their family to him, and perhaps they were considered his earthly incarnations (compare the images of Prince Boy and Bai). It also seems that the name "Bai", which is of Baltic origin, replaced in the Slavic tradition the original, Slavic "Kriv" - the ancient epithet of Veles.
The material and spiritual culture of the Krivichi was formed in close contact and cohabitation with Finnish and partly Baltic tribes. At the same time, the Slavic basis was preserved. This is clearly reflected by the finds of ceramics of Slavic types and other things of Slavic origin throughout the area of ​​​​settlement of the Krivichi. Some elements of Slavic culture, as noted, were also perceived by those tribes with whom the Krivich came into contact. The penetration of cultures was mutual.
Slavic traditions are preserved in house building. Settling in the lands of the Dnieper-Dvina Balts, the Slavs built semi-dugouts with stoves in the corner (Abidnya, Taimanovo, Shatkovo, Dedilovichi, Gorodishche), which were not found among local residents. Taking into account local climatic conditions, and possibly under the influence of local house-building traditions, the Krivichi began to build ground houses of a log (not pillar, which prevailed among the Balts) structure. Such houses were built in the settlements of Dedilovichi, Gorodishche, Zhabino, Pskov and others. In Pskov, ground log houses retain elements of a semi-dugout appearance, but their recesses are inclined (the area below is up to 9 sq.m.). In the Tushemly area there are houses that combine elements of Slavic and Baltic house building (Dedilovichi, Gorodishche, Revyachki).
In general, the occupations and life of the Krivichi, as far as one can judge, differed little from the occupations and life of other Slavic tribes. Perhaps, hunting and fishing played a relatively large role among the Krivichi. But the main occupations remained (as, indeed, among non-Slavic neighbors) slash-and-burn agriculture and cattle breeding. Judging by the found iron sickle (Polibino), the tools of agricultural labor among the Krivichi were somewhat more archaic than in the south. The Slavs brought to the north stone millstones, which are beginning to displace the stone grain grinders used earlier by the Balts.
The most characteristic element that determines the culture of the Krivichi is the burial rite in long rampart-shaped mounds up to 2 m high and up to 10 m wide. The Krivichi mounds reached 300 m or more in length. Such burial mounds have no analogues among the Slavs of other lands. According to archaeologists, among the Krivichi themselves, they were preceded by a barrow-free burial rite. They placed the burnt remains of the dead in shallow pits dug in the burial grounds. Some mounds were erected over such sites. The peculiarities of the terrain prompted the transition to the kurgan rite - perhaps, natural hills were required for the construction of sites, while the new places of residence of the Krivichi are often flat. It is also possible that during burials in the ground it was necessary to observe a certain hierarchy, the means of observing which was the construction of barrows.
The funeral rite had some variations (including within the framework of one large family that built a long barrow). Burning during this period was always done on the side. There are urn burials (in the Pskov land no more than 20%) and non-urn burials, with and without inventory. Urns could be made not only from clay, but also from wood materials (birch bark, wood). Burial could be done on the mainland (during the construction of the mound), on a leveled area of ​​the embankment, in pits or shallow pits (up to 50% of all burials) in an already filled mound, left on the surface of the mound. Long mounds were surrounded by ditches, in which ritual fires were often lit. In some burial mounds of the Pskov region, stone structures(base lining, covering, tombstones and fencing, etc.), associated with the Baltic-Finnish or Baltic influence.
The presence in a number of burials already in the 5th - early 6th centuries. a rather rich inventory testifies to the process of stratification going on in the Krivichi society. The long mounds themselves, without a doubt, are the product of a tribal system, the collective tombs of large families that have been used for quite a long time. The number of burials in one mound reaches 22.
Politically, the Krivichi in the period described were obviously a community of loosely connected and settled over a vast territory, in foreign language environment patronymics and communities. As a rule, they did not create their own settlements at all, but settled together with the Balts and Finns. At the same time, of course, the Krivichi were initially united by consciousness common origin. It is impossible to exclude the possibility of the existence of some common sacred center or authority, perhaps a sacred leader, who was considered the high priest of the ancestor god. However, in the first half of the 6th c. the number of Krivichi was still very small, they lived scattered and interspersed with the aboriginal population. The Krivichi tribal union, as an independent political unit, most likely did not exist yet.

Krivichi. WHO ARE THEY?

In our life, there are many words and concepts, signs and sayings that are rooted in the past. We take them all for granted: crooked tracks,cudgel, erratic goal.

And once they had a completely different and sometimes very important meaning for people. Now philologists call this a legacy of the past, considering it an atavism that will inevitably die out on its own. But time passes, but sayings do not disappear ...

More and more often I meet the opinion that we should not even look into that past. Moreover, the arguments are really weighty: well, what can be extracted from those distant times that is necessary and useful? And, what difference does it make to us where what came to us from, and who brought it to us? And most importantly: the history of our people has long been written and it begins from the time of the creation of the Russian statehood, that is, from 862. And what happened before is, as it were, not Russian at all, but it is not known what ...
Maybe that's why historical information about the ancient ethnic groups that lived on our land for thousands of years begins precisely with the arrival of Rurik. And people who once called themselves glades, Vyatichi, Krivichi have long been of no interest to anyone.
But these are our ancestors, from whom we got our appearance, character and mentality. In order not to be unfounded, it can be cited as an example of the Krivichi tribes who left a big mark in the history of Russia, which, according to various reasons remained underestimated.

So the enigmatic krivichi…

Here is what is written about them in the encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron:

„Krivichi- numerous Slavic tribe, which occupied the upper reaches of the Volga, Dnieper and Western. Dvina, southern part Lake area and part of the Neman basin.< … >In the west, the Krivichi, together with the Dregovichi, formed the basis of the Belarusian tribe. Having settled on the great waterway from Scandinavia to Byzantium, the Krivichi took part in trade with Greece; Konstantin Porfirorodny says that the Krivichi make boats on which the Russians go to Tsargrad. They participated in the campaigns of Oleg and Igor against the Greeks, as a tribe subordinate to the Kyiv prince; Oleg's contract mentions their city of Polotsk. Already in the era of the formation of the Russian state, the Krivichi had political centers: Izborsk, Polotsk and Smolensk".

In big Soviet Encyclopedia about the same:

„Krivichi, an East Slavic tribal association of the 6th-10th centuries, which occupied vast areas in the upper reaches of the Dnieper, Volga and Western Dvina, as well as the southern part of the basin Lake Peipus. < … >The main centers are Smolensk, Polotsk, Izborsk and possibly Pskov. The Krivichi included numerous Baltic ethnic groups.

Of these reference data, two phrases are most interesting: "The Krivichi included numerous Baltic ethnic groups" and the Krivichi "there are political centers" . To deal with this, I had to look into the history of these tribes much deeper, where they found amazing facts the existence of this not only political, but also religious union.

The history of the Krivichi began much earlier. In the II-III centuries, a prolonged cooling was noted in the Baltic Sea region, which caused a deterioration in the life of a number of Slavic and Baltic tribes living in the coastal territories of Germany and Poland. In search of more livable places, part of the Serbs and Rugs went to the Balkans, the Gutens (Goths) moved to the northern Black Sea region, the Vands (Vandals) to the south of France and Spain. Those who did not dare to resettle eked out a miserable, half-starved existence. This caused widespread discontent and riots against the rulers. At the same time, the pantheons of the Celtic and Scandinavian gods of the Baltic region were shaken: hunger was attributed to negligent rulers, and cold to bad gods.

This process, unique for world history, of the simultaneous change of rulers and gods is described in legends: “... two princes (reiks) were expelled from the Prussian lands - twin brothers Videvut and Bruteno. With their few supporters, they settled in the Noitto castle, which was located on a sandy spit separating the Gdansk Bay from the bay at the mouth of the Vistula.

At the specified location to today only the foundations of the castle remain. And what happened behind its thick walls and curtained windows, we will never know. Everything can only be assumed from the result of those secret meetings where the brothers and their associates worked out new system statehood!

The election of leaders was immediately rejected due to widespread discontent. Even then, the well-known further history principle: the time of troubles and revolutions always replaces dictate and a firm hand was required. To build a power vertical, the brothers decided to combine into one whole the strength and power of the leader, and the worship of the gods in the person of the chief priest, and thus the postulate was proclaimed: the voice of the king is the voice of god. The commander and the priest later unsuccessfully tried to introduce the same system of power by the Dnieper Slavs - the princes Askold and Dir.

The management of the new association of tribes and peoples was formed on the principle of a pyramid. All as one had to obey the priest-ruler. Commands went from the chief priest to the supreme, and from them to the middle and lower servants. Everyone enters a certain cell at his own level, performing his function (the principle of network marketing). At the same time, it was total control over unreliable and dissident relatives - any failure is easily identified and the weak link is changed. Everything in this pyramid had to be even as bricks and firmly connected with something. Such a binder "solution" was found. The people of the priest were united and connected by the main thing - life, which they were deprived of in case of violation of the oath-oath. The most terrible oath was the blood oath and those who mixed their blood became blood brothers , And this meant that one had to avenge one's fellow tribesman as a close relative by blood feud.

It is not surprising that the head priest was named like that - Kriva. The name of the priest was clear to everyone. Old Prussian krawian, Proto-Slavic kry (in genitive case krъve), ​​Lithuanian krau;jas meant the same – blood. It is easy to guess that the self-name Krivichi originally meant - blood brothers. It should also speak of ruthlessness towards enemies. The name of the Krivichi was understandable even to the formidable Romans, because the Latin word cruor in literal translation meant thickening blood flowing from the wound.

The name of the chief priest of Krive has deep Sanskrit roots. It is interesting that the chief priests, who were called exactly the same, existed as early as the 3rd millennium BC in northern India. Among the Aryan tribes that reached Nepal, the Krivas were distinguished by discipline and cruelty, and the leader was not only a priest, but also a god. Warriors of the curve brought him human sacrifices - captive enemies. Executions were arranged in the form of orgies, which was a favorite sight among ancient people. Later, such exciting spectacles turned into public executions of heretics - enemies by faith. The name of the tribe, most likely, was associated precisely with this cruel rite, since krive (ancient Indian - kravi;s) meant "raw meat" .

He was elected prince-priest of the Krivichi Bruteno , although at first both brothers ruled. This conclusion can be drawn from the fact that official name the high priest was Krive-Krivaitis (ait - accepted designation junior). It is also known that the priest-brothers themselves began to be deified after their death, setting up pillars with their image next to the main god.

The three main gods of the Krivichi are an ancient version Eastern religions. For example, the Indian trimurti: Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver and Shiva the destroyer. But here the more common vertical triad was used: a god in heaven, a god on earth, and a god under the earth. This was already a step towards monotheism (monotheism), since all pagan religions of gods were counted in dozens.

The main god of the Krivichi became Perkūnas - a thunderer, incinerating all objectionable (from the Sanskrit root peru - ash). In fact, it was the prototype of the Greek Zeus and the Roman Jupiter.

Prophecies of the Mane

The second was Potrims - the god of rivers, springs, prosperity, harvest and good luck, symbolizing life values. It was a bright god.

The third was the dark god Potalls - the god of the underworld, night ghosts, trouble, anger and horror.

A description of the Krivichi pantheon in the town of Romov has come down to us. The three idols were installed inside a millennium oak tree with a girth of over 12 meters. At the feet of the statue of Perkunas, a fire was constantly burning, which was a symbol of faith and the eternal memory of ancestors. The fire of the celestial Perun was very significant, and in the event of a fire dying out, the caretaker of the fire was killed due to an oversight. At the feet of the earthly god Potrims always lay ears of corn, wax and incense, but during the war terrible sacrifices could also be made to him. The underground Potalls was honored only on the days of meetings and holidays, sacrificing sheep and goats to him, the blood of which was watered on the roots of the oak.

The very first supporters of the brothers made up the highest caste. Having taken a secret oath, the blood brothers carried their teachings to the masses. They managed to attach to it the tribes of Ulmarugians and Gallindians, who lived in the north-eastern parts of Poland. They were convinced that all the troubles that were coming were due to the bad worship of the ancient gods and the lack of sacrifices. This conviction was not always voluntary - often the opponents of the new order were themselves sacrificed. They accepted the faith of the Krivichi and southern tribes Prussia dodoshany and mazury.

An interesting version of the writer-historian A.B. Snisarenko about the initial perception of the power of the Krivichi by the Slavs. The sacred animal of the Slavs was the horse. The Slavs called the priests of the highest caste a little differently - mane , implying that the mane is the neck that connected the head (god) to the body (the people). Such a "mane" - from junior ministers to seniors - has become an intermediary structure. Because of large territories and off-road, everything was perceived pragmatically: “I am far from God - you are closer. I don't have time - you serve it. So tell God that I honor him, love him, and here are my gifts for Him.

The mane lived in sacred groves and was shown to the people only a few times a year, which gave an aura of mystery. And the waiting effect also worked well. which was later successfully used by kings, emperors and leaders of the peoples. The gathering of the community took place as follows: the mane gave his crooked staff to the servant slave and sent her with the message to the nearest settlement. In the future, the staff went from one village to another and, in the end, returned to the owner. This meant that the entire community was notified. In some regions of Germany, this method of transmitting messages with any object existed until the 19th century.

An important role in the promotion of the new teaching was played by the sacrifice of one of the high priests. A high rank was usually inherited, and only if the mane had no children, then someone from a lower caste could take the place. In the elections, it came to personal fights. Perhaps this became the prototype of duels that arose in Europe in the Middle Ages. According to the surviving legend, one elderly mane, without waiting for death, held such elections, then read a sermon, taking all the sins of the people upon himself, and ordered himself to be burned in front of the audience, which was done.

It should not be ruled out that it was just a skillful staging used for PR by priests of the highest caste. At meetings with Supreme Krive, everything always went according to the script with the use of tricks and elements of mental influence. For example, dried hemp was thrown into ritual bonfires, and intoxicated decoctions were added to the sacrificial bowl, which was launched in a circle. Rhythmic ritual dances to the tambourine were also arranged, which were performed by priests cobens. From their name in the Russian language there are definitions of kobenitsya and vykobenitsya.

All this was a preliminary act warming up the crowd. And then, finally, Krive himself appeared, in a bright robe with a red border, with a crooked staff and a club in his hands. A large fire was lit near the sacred oak, Krive prophesied, gave instructions on sowing or harvesting, and gave advice. Moon calendar was known to the priests and they used it with success.

After the prophecies, the initiation of candidates for the higher castes of ministers was carried out. They were always ceremonial and solemn with a procession around the fire. Senior priests received crooked staffs and headbands with an embroidered ornament - an encrypted sowing calendar. The candidates added their blood to the sacrificial bowl, and finally, under the roar of the crowd, a drop of blood was added there by Krive himself. Believers were sprinkled from this bowl, they smeared their faces. The remnants of the blood, dedicated to the priesthood, drank. So everyone became blood brothers of the chief priest, and this gave everyone a sense of belonging to the plans of God.

It all ended with a sacrifice. It was a demonstration of what awaits everyone for apostasy, betrayal and cowardice. Captured enemies of other faiths and apostates were sacrificed. It should not be forgotten that in the first centuries of our era, the executions of non-believers were a common occurrence and thousands of Christians were martyred in those days. However, over time, human sacrifice became a thing of the past, and they were replaced by animals.

A goat was chosen as a sacrificial animal among the Krivichi. Perhaps this choice was made purely for pragmatic reasons - the goat is one of the least significant animals in the economy. But it is possible that this character was borrowed from Old Testament. After the goat was killed, the penitent sinners were forgiven their sins and the brothers proceeded to a common meal.

Warrior's Oath

Another ritual of the Krivichi was initiation into warriors. This ceremony took place on the days of the spring and autumn equinoxes. The young man showed the ability to use a sword with two hands - the famous art of the Scythians. Then, a cruciform wound in the shape of the letter X was inflicted on his chest with a sacred dagger. The future warrior had to endure the pain. The blood of the youth “was given to the god of the underworld, so that he no longer demanded it.

This ancient Scythian rite in the first centuries of our era was used by the Cherusci transported by the Etruscans from the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov to northern Germany in defiance of the hated Romans. The Cherusci really beat up the Romans. In 9 AD, under the leadership of the Etruscan Armenia, they defeated 3 Roman legions in the Teutoburg Forest. Then, due to inconvenience, Cherusci were withdrawn from world history. Their descendants, the Teutons, remained in Germany, and warlike Prussians similar to them appeared in Poland.

In ancient times, the blood oath was a widespread ritual in the East. Herodotus talks about this way of concluding agreements among the Scythians. Later in Scandinavia and Germany, this way of fraternization served as a sign of reconciliation between warriors. Such an oath remained a magical ritual for a long time. secret societies. The full moon, sacred fire, magic crystals and other paraphernalia were added to this action. Initiation into the mystery exalted a person in their eyes, his chosenness. Mystery and magic rituals remain the main attributes of modern sectarianism.

The greatest distribution of the cult of Krive was in the territories of Lithuania and Belarus. The Krivichi also lived in the central regions of Russia, where the tribes of the Galinds came in the 1st-3rd centuries, or, as the Russian chroniclers called them, the golyads. In the work of the historian of the VI century Jordan "Tetika", in the enumeration of the tribes taxed by the Gothic king Germanarich, Merya, Mordovians, all, Chud and golyad are clearly read. Archaeologists have determined the habitat of the golyad: the territories of the Tver, Smolensk and Moscow regions. For several centuries these were the most predatory places of ancient Russia.

By the VIII century, the center of the Krivichi had already moved from the territory of Prussia to a place called Romove near Vilnius. By this time, the ambitious priests of the Krivichi already considered themselves worthy rivals of Rome. Therefore, they called their place of worship their Rome, and the founders of the teachings of Videvut and Bruteno began to be compared with Romulus and Remus.

However, the spread of the cult soon stopped. In addition to the Lithuanian tribes and the golyad, only the neurons in western Belarus and part of the Ilmen Slavs who worship the same Perun accepted him. The Novgorod Magi did not have any general leadership like the Krivichi, and therefore the Slavs living on the border with Lithuania and Estonia accepted their rites even before baptism.

The tribes of the Finno-Ugric peoples were far from the Prussians both in language and in way of life. The Curonians, Semigallians, and Latgalians who lived on the territory of Latvia also did not betray their god Kurko, on whose behalf Latvia was called Courland for a long time.

However, by the arrival of Rurik in Novgorod, the territory inhabited by “blood brothers” was already very extensive.

Rurik, although he was baptized at a young age, but after the start of the war with the Danish Vikings and German margraves, he became an ardent enemy of Christianity. Therefore, the Krivichi became allies of the Varangians and, on an equal footing with the Novgorodians, traded with the Khazaria. They participated in the campaigns of Oleg and Igor against Byzantium. However, with the adoption of Christianity by Novgorod (the Novgorod Eparchy was formed in 951) in northern Russia a long religious confrontation between the Slavs and the Krivichi began.

This was especially aggravated during the reign of Vladimir Krasno Solnyshko, when the golyadi tribes blocked the trade route from Kyiv to Bulgar. Bogatyr leader Might became the prototype of the epic Nightingale the Robber. He acquired oriental features later from the illustrators of the epic epic. Mogta, from whom the definition of mighty appeared in our language, according to legend, threw an ax 100 miles and killed a bull with it. He was indeed caught and brought to Prince Vladimir and the Metropolitan of Kyiv in 1006.

Golyad

Golyad lost his prince, but the whistle of robbers was heard in those places for a long time. The whistle has always been a demoralizing weapon for robbers. They also attacked at dusk and, for greater intimidation, dressed their sheepskin coats with fur outside.

Golyad lived apart and rather poorly. The words hunger, naked and squalor associated with them. They spoke their own language, dressed in dark clothes.

Blacksmithing was the most profitable trade for the golyad. Their city of masters was called Kovno (Kaunas) - that is, Kuznetsk.

Perhaps, because of their unsociableness and uncleanliness, they could become the prototype of devils. Many places of golyadi settlements are still called Devil's towns or Chertkovo. The connection between blacksmiths and devils is very visible - a poker, an apron, an oven. One of the variants of the etymology of the name of this mythical character of ancient Russia is black, dirty like a pig. Apparently from here, a nose-piglet was added to the goat-blacksmith appearance of the devil.

It is known that Catholicism and Orthodoxy had a different approach to missionary activity. Rome wanted to complete everything quickly - the crusaders in Europe and Asia, the conquistadors in America introduced Christianity with fire and sword. After a successful crusade to Jerusalem in 1097, the Pope of Rome sent the returning knights of the crusaders to the Baltic states, equating Orthodox Christians with pagans and Muslims. Thus, the Teutonic Order appeared in the territories inhabited by Estonians, followed by the Livonian Order. Estonians were baptized by force.

Byzantium, however, remembered that the Christians themselves won thanks to the area of ​​martyrdom for their faith, and therefore they tried to resolve all disputes peacefully. There is only one known case of the official execution of pagan preachers mentioned in Russian chronicles. The Orthodox limited themselves to the destruction of pagan temples, and built their own churches in their place or nearby. Temples in Novgorod and its suburbs, as well as on the islands of Valaam and Konevets are mentioned among the first destroyed sanctuaries.

By official history the last tribal prince of the Krivichi Rogvold and his sons were killed by the Novgorod prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich in 980. Vladimir then returned from Kolyvan - the city of Kleva (Tallinn), where he recruited Vikings and Varangians into his squad. Taking the daughter of the Krivichi prince Rogneda and making her his wife, Vladimir came to Kyiv, where he expelled his half-brother, sat on the Kyiv throne and converted to Orthodoxy. But even having lost the prince, the Krivichi remained Krivichi, and the chroniclers only wished for reality. In the Ipatiev list, the Krivichi were mentioned for the last time in 1128, and the Polotsk princes were named Krivichi in 1162.

In foreign sources, Krivichi were known until the end of the 18th century. For example, Latvians have long called Belarus Baltokrivia. Perhaps this is due to the rarely mentioned historical events from the Middle Ages. All official historians, including foreign ones, diligently hush up the existence in the center of Europe of a center of resistance to Christianity on the lands of Smolensk, Prussians, Lithuanians and Belarusians. There, this process dragged on for three centuries, and the last stronghold of paganism surrendered only at the end of the XIV century. The counterarguments to Christianity among the Krivichi were peculiar. Here is how the Prussians reacted to the sermons of the Czech Bishop Adalbert in 997:
“Be glad you made it to this place with impunity. And only a quick return will give you hope to stay alive. Your slightest advance inland will bring you destruction. Because of such people, our land does not bear fruit, trees do not bear fruit, children are not born, and old people die.”
Soon, Adalbert was killed near present-day Kaliningrad because he did not heed the warning. Catholic preachers considered the lands of the Krivichi "cursed place".

Lithuanian and Belarusian lands at that time were a constant subject of dispute between Poland and Kyiv. But if the Slavs at that time did not encroach on someone else's faith, since they themselves were in the majority pagans, then the Poles went east with a cross, forcibly driving them into their faith. The Krivichi put up fierce resistance. The Quedlinburg Annals report the tragic death of Archbishop Boniface in the lands of the Yotvingians in 1009.

After trips to Lithuania Kyiv prince Yaroslav in 1038 and 1040, they became dependent on Kievan Rus for almost a century and a half. Sophia Cathedral was built in Polotsk itself (between 1030-1060), one of the earliest temples Ancient Russia. However, Orthodox priests failed to baptize pagans either. True, and conflicts between the Krivichi and the Slavs were not recorded at that time. The appearance of the Slavic fortress Kovno (Kaunas) in the territories of the Lithuanian Zhmudi is attributed to the same time.

A new period of relations began in 1183-1184. Having escaped the control of the Polotsk princes, the Lithuanians made their first military campaign against the lands of the Slavs. Having reached Pskov, they inflicted significant damage Novgorod principality. Returning with good booty, lithuania (as the conquerors were called in the annals) "came to taste". Lithuanians went to the Pskov region and even to Livonia (Estonia). For more than half a century, their raids were constant. Every 5-7 years they disturbed the Slavs, Estonians and Latvians, and because of the destruction of villages and crops, they left a bad memory of themselves.

It can be assumed that during the period of raids on the Pskov lands, the inhabitants stopped building solid and strong houses - why build if they come and burn it down again? After the Lithuanian raids stopped, they were still expected for a very long time. Houses squinted and fell apart, but the Lithuanians did not go. It was then that the people of Pskov came up with the idea of ​​propping up their houses with stops and fastening the corners with brackets. Staples steel hot commodity, they were made in in large numbers and High Quality. So they began to call Pskovites in Russia skobars, this nickname is still well-known.

In the first half of the 13th century, Grodno, Novgorodok, Slonim and Volkovysk, which belonged to the so-called Black Russia, became part of the Lithuanian principality created by Mindovg. In 1251, Mindovg still accepts Catholicism and is proclaimed by the Pope the King of Lithuania. But, the priests opposed Kriva, and began to call on the people to disobedience. It was then that tens of thousands of Prussians moved near Pinsk and Brest, fleeing the invasion of German and Polish crusaders.

In 1261, frightened by popular unrest, Mindovg renounced Catholicism. He enters into a military alliance with Alexander Nevsky against the Teutonic Order. Relationships between Lithuanians and Slavs are rapidly improving, including princely marriages. So it comes to Pskov Lithuanian prince Devmont - he brings 300 noble families there. A year later, having been baptized, he becomes the prince of Pskov and brings glory ancient city, victories over the knights of the Teutonic and Livonian Orders. The symbolic sword of Devmont still hangs at the entrance to the Pskov Kremlin.

At the end of the 13th century, the Lithuanian possessions included the Principality of Polotsk, which was conquered from Poland by Viten - a governor, a native of the Kovno Zhmud. The Slavs of Polotsk accept a new prince and return to paganism again. The main opponents of Viten are the Teutonic knights-crusaders, victories over which glorified him among Orthodox Christians.

The crusader knights were nobles. These were small landowners, going to the service of the kings with the hope of increasing their allotments or making a career at court. Such an estate was absent in Russia, but it was already in demand. The princes were surrounded only by servants - bed-riders, falconers. And because the winner of the noble knights, Prince Viten became synonymous with the Slavic warrior-hero of noble blood. In fact, in the epics, the image of a knight was created, who became the forerunner of the serving nobility. The famous painting by V. Vasnetsov "The Knight at the Crossroads" could also be called "The Knight at the Crossroads".

In 1316, after the death of Viten, his son Gedemin came to power, who became the first collector of western Russian lands. The rapprochement between Lithuania and Russia was facilitated by the Slav David, a famous governor who owned the Grodno lands. Back in 1314, he defeated the Teutonic knights near Novgorodk, and in 1318 he led the Lithuanian-Russian detachment that invaded Prussia. David becomes the main adviser to Gedemin and calls him to unite with Russia. In 1322-1323. David helped the Pskovians in their fight against the Livonian Order and marched with his detachment all the way to Tallinn. In 1324, David of Grodno arrived in time for Pskov, besieged by the Germans, and defeated the knightly detachments.

It so happened that Lithuania initially did not fall into the number of tributaries of the Golden Horde, it turned out to be aloof from big conquests. Thanks to this, she quickly gained strength. Furthermore, Lithuanian principality began to gradually pick up her former tributaries for herself. Old Russian principalities poured into it voluntarily, preferring Lithuania, although they had no material benefit from this - paying the same tithe to Lithuania. Apparently, the fact that Gedemin never interfered in the internal affairs of the annexed principalities, without touching either religion or power, played an important role in this. And now the Minsk, Turov and Pinsk princes refused to pay tribute to the Horde, which at that time was a great courage.

And soon the Grand Duke of Lithuania and Zhmudi Gedimin began to bear the title of the Grand Duke of Russia, since the Russian lands subordinate to him both in area and in population were already twice as large as the Lithuanian ones. It is from the reign of Gedemin that the definition of Lithuanian Rus originates.

The rapid expansion of the Grand Duchy with the accession can be attributed to a combination of circumstances and to a reasonable policy at the same time. Gedemin married his son Olgerd to Marya Yaroslavna, the only daughter of the Vitebsk prince, and in 1320 he inherited the Vitebsk inheritance. He married his second son, Lubart, to the daughter of the Volyn prince Lev Yuryevich, after whose death (1325) Volhynia also went to his son. He married his daughter Aigusta to Simeon, the son of the Moscow prince Ivan Kalita. Gedemin himself had two Orthodox wives, Olga and Eva. During this period, the prince preferred everything Russian. In addition, his squad consisted mostly of Russian soldiers.

The expansion of Lithuanian possessions was also facilitated by the fact that Gedemin and his son Olgerd were skillful diplomats. They did not burn villages and did not destroy cities unless absolutely necessary. Although Gedemin remained a pagan all his life in the subject lands, he did not destroy the ancient sanctuaries, did not interfere with the construction of Catholic or Orthodox churches.

His main adviser was Krive Lizdeiko (the founder of the Radziwill family). It was he who deciphered the dream of the Grand Duke, after which the new capital of Lithuania was founded - the free city of Vilna, now Vilnius. Quite naturally, the capital was built next to the main pagan sanctuary in Romov. Until now, the old city of the Lithuanian capital is called Crooked City.

In 1341, Gedemin died in a battle with the Teutonic knights, his sons took his body to Vilna. There, in the Crooked Valley, according to the ancient Lithuanian custom, he was burned on a huge fire in full dress, armed, along with his beloved horse and servant, with part of the enemy booty and three captured Germans.

Interestingly, the cremation ritual came from tropical countries, where a warm and humid climate contributed to the rapid decomposition of bodies and the emergence of epidemics. It was most widespread in India, and this indirectly confirms the version that the model for the Lithuanian priests was an ancient Indian leader with the same name.

In 1345, power passed to Olgerd. He was not going to fight with Pskov and Novgorod, hoping that their accession to Lithuania was a matter of time. In 1346, he approached Novgorod with a large army and, according to historians, he could have taken it. But he stopped on the Luga River and demanded reprisals against the posadnik Ostafiy Dvoryaninets, who was fighting for the annexation of Novgorod to Moscow. Olgerd's supporters convinced the Novgorodians to get off with little blood, and the posadnik (head of the city) was torn to pieces by the crowd. Indeed, the pro-Lithuanian or, as they were also called, the German parties in Novgorod and Pskov were strong, they resisted pro-Moscow sentiments for a long time. Muscovites destroyed their political opponents only a hundred years later, together with their last leader Marfa Boretskaya (Marfa Posadnitsa).

In 1355, Bryansk, Chernigov, Novgorod-Seversky joined Lithuania. Under the protection of Olgerd, Smolensk also stood up, in which, quite possibly, the ancient religion of “blood brothers” also played a role. All this led to a clarification of the relations of Lithuanian Rus with the three Tatar princes who ruled the Podolsk land. In 1362, Olgerd defeated them on the banks of the Blue Waters River, and dispelled the myth about the invincibility of the Tatars. After the defeat, the princes fled to the Crimea, where they founded the Crimean Khanate. This was the first major victory of Russian weapons over the Tatars, since the basis Lithuanian army were Russian regiments. After this victory, the whole of Southern Russia, including Kyiv, was in the hands of Olgerd. The latter put up a short resistance, for which Olgerd removed the henchman of the Horde, Prince Fedor, who was sitting there, and gave Kyiv to his son Vladimir to manage.

Olgerd at the walls of Moscow

Soon Tver also entered the protectorate of Lithuania. Back in 1350, Olgerd married a second marriage to the Tver princess Ulyana Mikhailovna, and his father-in-law persistently asked him to help in a showdown with Moscow. Three times in 1368, 1370 and 1372, their combined troops approached Moscow and even besieged it, but they failed to take the city. Olgerd still valued people and avoided reckless assaults. But most likely, being a smart politician, the Lithuanian prince understood that in the event of a victory over Moscow, he would be left alone with the Horde. And he did not give up hope for the annexation of Moscow by peaceful means and even converted to Orthodoxy.

Olgerd died in 1377. After him, seven heirs remained, between whom strife immediately began. The throne was taken by the son from the second marriage of Jagiello, and the eldest son Andryus (Andrey) went to Moscow for support. This event took an unexpected turn.

In the Velvet Book of the 17th century, many Moscow boyars ordered pedigrees with Western roots. So, among the henchmen of the son of Olgerd Andryus, a certain Glanda-Kambila Divonovich appeared, who received the name Ivan after baptism, and the nickname Mare (apparently from the similarity of this word with Kambila). It was with him that the boyar family of the Romanovs began. A little later, a new version of the genealogy of the Romanov dynasty appeared in which Ivan Kobyla, a descendant of Videvut, was baptized in Novgorod under Alexander Nevsky. But even this was not enough. The Romanovs really wanted to have more ancient roots than the Rurikovichs, and then a version appeared that the Romanov family comes from the brother-priests of the Krivichi and is almost two centuries older than the Rurik family.

Ten years after the accession of Jagiello (1387), Lithuania finally adopted Catholicism. And it was the last state in Europe that adopted Christianity a thousand years later than Armenia, which became the first Christian country in 304.

On this, Lithuanian Rus ended. The principalities of Tver and Smolensk immediately separated from it, and later other territories professing Orthodoxy.

What do we have left of the Krivichi?

Very much.

The Krivichi retained their identity for almost a millennium. In the Middle Ages, there was a Krivich language, which for a long time was a link between Poland and Muscovy. And although their language has not been preserved, its traces remained in the names, names and nicknames. And there were sayings and fairy tales with their direct participation. The Krivichi did not go into oblivion... In Polotsk, thanks to local historians, a monument to the Krivichi was erected.

Monument to the Krivichi

The memory of the Krivichi is preserved in the names of many settlements and to this day. For example, in Grodno region there is an ancient village of Krevo - one of the religious and administrative centers Krivichi.

In Pskov, Novgorod and Leningrad regions there are several identical toponyms Krivets, earlier, apparently, Krivich. And then there are the settlements of Krivsk, Grivino, Grivy. However, the closer to Moscow, there are fewer such names. They disappeared or were renamed. But the names of the rivers in Moscow and the Moscow region, left to us by the golyad tribe, can be found in large numbers. Only on the territory of the capital there are more than a dozen of them: Bubna, Golyadenka, Ichka, Rachka, Filka, Khimka, Chechera, Yauza, etc.

Most of the toponyms associated with the sacred tree of the Krivichi oak can be attributed to the inheritance from the Krivichi. On the territory of residence of the Krivichs, their great amount: Dubovo, Dubravy, Poddubki, Starodubovo, Dubna. There are about 30 such names in the Pskov region, which is almost 3 times higher than the mentions of other trees (birch, linden, elm). The phraseology associated with oak is also very interesting. Along with the respectful and lyrical mention in fairy tales and chants of mighty oaks and oak forests, in our language there are expressions of negative content that were created during the period of the ideological struggle against the pagan Krivichi: "oak - oak" , "stall club" , "give oak" etc.

The statistics of toponyms is very interesting with the mention of another symbol of the Krivichi religion - the scapegoat . In the same Pskov region, there are six settlements of Kozlovo, several villages of Kozly and Kozlovichi, and in total about 15 similar names can be found on the map. I think earlier in these places there were much more "goat" toponyms. It is known that in Russia, both in tsarist and Soviet times, dissonant names were more than once purged. But even today, this number looks impressive against the background of only five mentions of larger and more worthy animals - bulls, oxen, deer. If you do not know the history of the fight against paganism, then you can make the erroneous conclusion that the goat was the most revered animal of the vast region.

Expression "scapegoat" and today one of the most famous and used. Interestingly, this phraseological unit is the only mention of an animal with a touch of compassion. In general, the word goat has become a household word, having only negative connotations. Most often they are characterized by an uncouth and impudent person: "Launch the goat in the garden." However, there are more serious accusations of sins, using the root of the name of the animal, for example: "Devil's Tricks" . The connection of demons, devils and the devil himself, with the image of an innocent goat is undeniable - horns, hooves, beard. The Lithuanians themselves had this exotic character in their epic, where he was called velnyas and even kept statuettes of him in their homes. Not surprisingly, the only museum of devils is located in Lithuania in the city of Kaunas (Kovno).

No less interesting legacy from the Krivichi are our signs and superstitions. The ancient priests of the Krivichi quite accurately predicted the weather, eclipses of the sun and moon. This is explained by the fact that they knew the calendar. Archaeologists found several objects in the Krivichi mounds, on which there were cuts, notches and signs corresponding to calendar dates. So the priests instilled in people faith in miracles. This belief is reflected in our folklore, especially in fairy tales.

And from the Krivichi we got faith in fate. People always want to know their future, but in canonized religions it was forbidden to predict it. Therefore, all our fortune-telling came entirely from paganism, and for the most part from the Krivichi. Their fortune tellers used various natural phenomena: the power of the wind and the movement of clouds, the movement of water jets and foam in whirlpools. The Krivichi had plenty of predictors.

The behavior of animals and birds predicted the future harvest lecutons (flyers) and Zhverutei (animals). There were also household predictors - dumons (demons), they did it by fire or smoke. And there were giblets - soothsayers on the insides of animals. Personal fate was most often predicted by pouring lead or wax into water.

The most interesting and most understandable were colts . They threw bones, oak planks or pebbles on the table or on the ground. Moreover, all these objects were painted in two colors - black and white, and runic signs were applied to the white side. This, in principle, resembled a card layout, and according to which side the thrown objects were located, and which signs were open, the priests made a prediction. The chief drawers called themselves Vaidulots , and in their name the familiar words are clearly visible to all of us - lot and loto. And over time, sailors and travelers turned pebbles and planks with signs into games in the cockpit - dice and dominoes.

The property of our people to rely on chance, craving for lotteries, faith in what the cards will tell them - all this was absorbed by our ancestors of the Krivichi in those distant pagan times.

The fight against the Krivichi was very active with the help of ridicule and bullying. Judging by birch bark letters, Novgorodians were very sharp on the tongue. According to historical evidence, the main symbols of Kriva were a curved staff and a club. You can recall the ancient expression: we have the truth, and you have falsehood, - this is how the Novgorodians ended their arguments, in disputes with the Pskovites. In the heat of the showdown, the Krivichi called the Novgorodians fools, and they answered them: your goats are brothers and you yourself goats ! Since then, this swear word has become the most offensive in Russia, and verbal skirmishes often turned into fisticuffs.

And the Novgorodians skillfully used the name of their chief priest. So the word curve appeared in Russian, bearing negative meaning. Perhaps even then there were expressions walk on crooked paths and prevaricate . Even one-eyed people began to be called crooked, although the Slavs always had compassion for the poor. And that is not all. For example, the lower caste of priests among the Krivichi was called ligushens , and initially the Christians simply called them liars and compared them to slippery swamp dwellers. However, everything was not so clear. For example, for lovers, religious differences were not a hindrance. An age-old proverb speaks of this. "Love is blind" and the love story in the fairy tale "The Frog Princess". The heroine possessed magic, which was always attributed to priests and sorcerers, but with the help of love, in the end, the frog turned into a princess, which meant the expulsion of demons and sorcerers and her conversion to the true Christian faith.

There are still many white spots in the history of the Krivichi. Perhaps this little research will encourage someone to continue searching for our roots and new discoveries.

Indeed, the Baltic peoples call their eastern neighbors not otherwise than krievs or krievai, and Russia - Krievija. Scientists believe that, most likely, such a naming comes from the name of an ancient union of tribes that lived at the headwaters of the Dvina, Volga and Dnieper rivers, and were called Krivichi.

What did you do

Tribal Union of the Krivichi Zani He worked on arable farming, cattle breeding and blacksmithing, since there was a lot of iron ore in the swamps. Plowed tools with iron tips appeared among the Krivichi already in the 10th century, at the same time for the first time they began to grow winter wheat. Krivichi made skillful Jewelry, made clothes and shoes, forged weapons, built ships. Along the Dnieper they rafted to Constantinople and traded with Byzantium, along the Western Dvina and the Neman they went to Europe and to the Varangians; along the Volga they went down to trade in Khazaria and the Bulgars.

The tribes lived in two large groups: the western one formed around the cities of Polotsk and Smolensk, and the northern one near Pskov. In addition, Izbor belonged to the Krivichi, and they had a significant impact on the history of Veliky Novgorod. Each tribe spoke its own dialect, and there were six in total: Pskov, Old Novgorod, Smolensk, Upper Volga, Polotsk and, finally, Western; the last two served as the basis for the northern and northwestern Belarusian dialects.

Archaeologists claim that the Krivichi were tall and had a Caucasoid appearance: a slightly elongated skull with a high vault, a narrow face and a hooked nose. If we compare them with people now living in Russia, then most of all they are similar to the Eastern European Slavs of the Valdai type, who have a pronounced Nordic appearance.

Quite a long time after Kyiv adopted Orthodoxy, the Kpivichs remained pagans. The dead were buried in long, bulk mounds, arranging a rich feast.

Mystery of the name

Slavist Peter Tretyakov believed that the name of the tribes comes from the name of the Lithuanian god Kriva. Archaeologist Boris Rybakov echoed him, only specifying that the god's name was Krive-Kiveite. Sergei Solovyov associated the name of the East Slavic tribes living in marshy areas with the Lithuanian word kirba, which means swamp, bog. Scientists put forward other etymological versions of the names of the tribes: according to Georgy Shtykhov from Belarus, it was formed on behalf of the elder Kriv; according to the Soviet linguist Georgy Kharbugaev, it came from the definition of the border of their lands, which was curved and ran through rough terrain, hills alternated with ravines and swamps.

Where did they come from

Many scientists agree that this very large people was formed as a result of the assimilation of the alien Slavic tribes with the Baltic and Finnish peoples. Archaeological finds support this idea.

The scientist Sergey Alekseev believes that the Huns drove the Krivichi to the north at the turn of the 4th-5th centuries. However, the authoritative historian Nina Vasilyeva does not agree with him, who in her books emphasizes that the advance of the Slavs to the north from southern steppes was due to passionarity and happened much earlier - in the Bronze Age, that is, the first Russian cities were founded at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. e. Moreover, this hypothesis also does not contradict archaeological data.

It remains unclear where exactly the Kpivichs came from. chronicle sources connect their past with the Carpathian region, and most linguists (in particular, Vladimir Toporov and academician Andriy Zaliznyak) indicate that the Krivichi language belongs to the language of the Lutichi and Nevrov, that is, they consider them to come from the north of Poland.

Slavs or Balts?

AT last years various false historians assure the public that the Krivichi and, consequently, the Belarusian population have nothing to do with the Slavs, that the Krivichi are Baltic tribes. They are not even embarrassed by the conclusion of geneticists that 35-37% of Finnish blood flows in the Baltic states, while only 9-14% in Belarusians.

The author of The Tale of Bygone Years knew that the Krivichi were Slavs descended from the Polochans: “... and Slovenia has its own in Novgorod, and the other on Polot, ilk and Polochan, from the same and Krivichi, ilk sit on the top of the Volga and on the top of the Dvina, and on the top of the Dnieper, their own city is Smolenesk, where the Krivichi sit ... "

In the Ipatiev Chronicle, princes from Polotsk are also called Krivichi. And the emperor of Byzantium, Constantine VII, wrote that Vervians, Druuvites, Krivichi, Severians live in Slavinia, and they all pay tribute to the Ross.

The fact that the Krivichi were Slavs is also indicated by the suffix "-ichi" - by analogy with the Vyatichi or Radimichi. The Balts did not and do not have such a suffix.

An interesting detail: on the Greek peninsula of the Peloponnese (Morea) there is a toponym Kryvitsani, which is associated with the Krivichi. It is obvious that the union of East Slavic tribes was numerous and influential, and, perhaps, some part of it also settled in Greece.

Historian Nina Vasilyeva defines the Krivichi as autochthons, successors of the most ancient population of the Russian North and direct ancestors of the Russian people.