The reign of Prince Oleg (briefly)

The reign of Prince Oleg - a brief description

Chronology of the reign of Prince Oleg 882-912.

In 879, after the death of Rurik, his relative Oleg became the prince of Novgorod (this happened due to the early childhood of Igor, Rurik’s son). New Prince was very militant and enterprising. As soon as he ascended the princely throne, he set the goal of capturing waterway to Greece. However, for this it was necessary to conquer everything Slavic tribes living along the Dnieper.

Since in order to achieve the set goals one squad was not enough, Oleg gathers an army from Finnish tribes, as well as Krivichi and Ilmen Slavs, after which he moves south. On his way, he subjugates Smolensk, Lyubech (where he leaves some of the soldiers), and then goes to Kyiv.

At that time, Askold and Dir, who did not belong to the princely family, ruled in Kyiv. Oleg lured them out of the city by cunning and gave the order to kill them. After this, the people of Kiev surrendered without a fight, Oleg took the place of the Grand Duke of Kyiv, and the city itself proclaimed “the mother of Russian cities.”

The new Kiev prince carried out large-scale work to strengthen the city’s structures, which were responsible for its defense, and also carried out several successful military campaigns in 883-885, thereby expanding the lands subject to Kyiv. In addition, Oleg subjugated the Radimichi, Northerners and Drevlyans. He built fortresses and cities in the conquered lands.

Domestic politics during the reign of Prince Oleg

Domestic policy under Oleg was reduced to collecting tribute from conquered tribes (essentially, it remained the same as under other rulers). The tribute was fixed throughout the state territory.

Foreign policy during the reign of Prince Oleg

The year 907 was marked for Prince Oleg and Rus' with a very successful campaign against Byzantium. Frightened by the huge army and falling for Oleg’s trick (the ships were put on wheels and walked on land), the Greeks offered the Prince of Kyiv a huge tribute, which he accepted on the condition that Byzantium would provide benefits to Russian merchants. Five years later, Oleg signed a peace treaty with the Greeks.

After this campaign, legends began to be made about the prince, attributing to him supernatural abilities and mastery of magic. From that time on, the people began to call Prince Oleg the Prophetic.

The prince died in 912. According to legend, Oleg once asked the sorcerer the reason for his death and he answered him that the prince would die from his faithful beloved horse. After this, Oleg gave the horse to the stable, where he was cared for until death. Having learned about the death of the horse, the prince came to his bones on the mountain to say goodbye true friend, where he was bitten on the leg by a snake that crawled out of a horse’s skull.

In 879, after the death of Rurik, the throne was supposed to go to his son Igor. However, due to his early age, the government of the state was taken into the hands of Prince Oleg, nicknamed the Prophetic, who later became the Novgorod and Grand Prince of Kyiv.

Wanting to expand his own territories, the prince managed to gather a fairly powerful army, which included representatives of the Finnish tribes, as well as the Ilmen Slavs and Krivichi. Having moved into south direction, he soon manages to join own possessions cities of Lyubech and Smolensk. But the plans of the newly-made ruler were broader. Having transferred power in the captured cities to loyal warriors, the warlike prince went to Kyiv, which at that time (882) was ruled by Askold and Dir. After ambushing and killing the pseudo-rulers, Oleg takes the Great Kiev throne, after which he declares the city “the mother of Russian cities.” The same year is considered the true date of formation of the state of Kievan Rus.

From the very beginning of Oleg's reign, active strengthening of defensive structures and city walls began in Kyiv. The borders of the new state were also strengthened by military guard fortresses, in which vigilantes served around the clock. In 883-885, the prince managed to undertake several successful campaigns, as a result of which the Slavic tribes living on the banks of the Sozh, Bug, Dniester, northerners and Drevlyans were subjugated. By order of the Prophetic Oleg, cities were built in the occupied territories, and the conquered inhabitants were obliged to pay taxes. Thus, all domestic politics the prince (like other rulers of that time) was reduced to collecting tribute and strengthening his own borders.

Prince Oleg's foreign policy was no less successful. The most important event in it was the 907 campaign against Byzantium for which the ruler gathered an incredible army (according to some sources, up to eighty thousand people). Despite Byzantium's strategy and defensive cunning, the Greeks were captured and their suburbs completely plundered.

The result of this campaign was a huge tribute and many favorable conditions for ensuring the trade of Russian merchants. Five years later, peace with Byzantium was legalized as a written treaty. After returning to Kyiv, Prince Oleg received the name Prophetic among the people, that is, a sorcerer and seer.

Without a doubt, Oleg’s successful foreign and domestic policies were the key to the success of the development of a new powerful Slavic state.

TERMS

Anti-Norman theory(M. Lomonosov, B. A. Rybakov), according to which the state was formed in 882.

beekeeping- collecting wild honey.

Grand Duke- head of the Grand Duchy of Rus' in the 10th-15th centuries, the Russian state in the 15th - mid-16th centuries.

Veche– national assembly in Rus' in the 10th-14th centuries. It resolved issues of war and peace, summoned and expelled princes, adopted laws, and concluded treaties with other states.

Byzantium- a state that arose in the 4th century in the eastern part Eastern Empire as a result of its collapse. It existed until the 15th century. The capital was Constantinople, in Rus' it was called Constantinople. IN 1453 Byzantium captured Ottoman Empire, the capital was renamed Istanbul.

Military democracy – social order, in which the military nobility stands out (prince and squad), concentrating significant material values ​​and political power in their hands.

Ancient Rus'- the first name of the state in the 11th-13th centuries.

Druzhina-armed detachments under the prince, participating in wars, managing the principality and the prince’s personal household.

Smoke - yard taxation unit.

Purchases- peasants who took a loan (“kupa”) from landowners with livestock, grain, and tools and were forced to work off the debt.

Prince– at first it was the leader of the tribe, the head of the squad. With development feudal society- head of the principality. The eldest was called great, the rest - appanage.

Chronicles- historical chronicles in the 11th-18th centuries. Recording events by year.

quitrent- annual collection of tribute - money, food, handicrafts - from peasants.

Verv-peace- community.

Shift farming- a method of cultivating land in which bushes were cut down and burned, and fertilizer was used for 5-7 years.

Slash-and-burn agriculture- forests were uprooted and burned. This fertilizer was enough for up to 15-3-20 years.

Polyudye- the prince and his retinue travel around all their lands to collect tribute.

The path “from the Varangians to the Greeks”- waterway connecting Northern Rus' with the South. He walked from the Varangian (Baltic) Sea along the Neva, Lake Ladoga, the Volkhov River, Lake Ilmen, the Lovat River, then dragged to the Dnieper River, along it to the Black Sea, then along the sea coast to Byzantium.

Early feudal monarchy- a state of transition from a primitive communal system to a feudal one. In the 8th-11th centuries. the process of formation took place in Rus' feudal relations while preserving elements of the primitive communal system (veche, blood feud, paganism, tribal customs).

Ryadovichi- smerds (peasants) who entered into an agreement (series) with landowners on the conditions of working for him or using his land or tools.

Smerda- free community peasants who had their own farm and arable land.

Destiny- member's share princely family in family possession.

Feudalism- a stage of human development that replaced the primitive communal system. Under feudalism, the land belonged to feudal lords - large landowners (“feud” - land), who transferred rights by inheritance. The peasants had their own farm, family, fed themselves, and bore duties. The feudal lord appropriated the labor of the peasants in the form of feudal rent.

Feudal rent- payment for the use of the land of feudal lords in the form of labor (corvée), natural food rent or cash rent.

Khazars- nomads, Turkic-speaking people. The state is the Khazar Khaganate, the capital is Itil. Svyatoslav finally defeated them in 965.

Serfs- feudal-dependent population, according to legal status close to slaves. The sources of the formation of this class: captivity, sale for debts, marriage with a serf or servant, etc.

Centrist theory- the state of Rus' was formed as a result of internal pan-Slavic development, but with the participation of the Varangians (A.L. Yurganov, L.A. Kovtsa and most modern historians).

Servants- in the 9th-12th centuries - slaves, later - a wide range of feudal-dependent people.

Birth Old Russian state was accompanied by the formation of its diplomatic system, the development of methods and techniques of foreign policy. In order to protect his northern borders, Oleg entered into an agreement with the Varangians, pledging to pay them an annual monetary tribute. He managed to achieve peace with the Ugrians who raided Kyiv. Friendly relations were established with Bulgaria, after him in 907 Oleg made a campaign against Constantinople. The agreement concluded in the same year with Byzantium "peace and love", stipulated the status of Russian embassy and trade missions in the empire. Four years later, a new treaty was adopted with the Greeks, in which the concept was introduced for the first time in diplomatic documentation "Russian land".

Oleg's trek to the south. Having united the forces of the Varangian squads and northern tribes, he began to advance towards the Dnieper region, subjugating to his power all the cities and lands he encountered along the way.

Preparing for the campaign against Kyiv, Prince Oleg called on Varangian mercenaries to take part in it so that they would strengthen his squad. He also attracted into his army a “great number” of Novgorodians, Krivichi, Vesi, Chud and Meri. With this huge army he moved by water to the Dnieper Never before has such a grandiose caravan of ships walked along ancient river beds and portages. His pupil was with Oleg. “Whoever owned Kiev held in his hands the key to the main gates of Russian trade. That’s why everyone Varangian princes that appeared in the north were so drawn to Kyiv", - wrote V.O. Klyuchevsky.

"Acceptance" of Smolensk. Prince Oleg approached Smolensk, the capital of the Krivichi tribal union. He "took power" in the city and placed his governor in it with a strong squad capable of holding new land. Among Oleg’s warriors were the Krivichi, and they were able to convince their fellow tribesmen to meekly surrender to the power of the mighty ruler. The capture of Smolensk took place peacefully, without casualties or destruction.

Capture of Lyubech. Next, Prince Oleg invaded the possessions of the northerners, who did not want to submit to him. The main city in their land was ancient Lyubech, which the Novgorod army had to take in battle. Leaving his own there too "husband" with a large detachment of warriors, Prince Oleg went further down the Dnieper.

Oleg's war with the Ugrians

The mysteries of the Russian Middle Ages include the war with the Ugrians, whom historians identify with the Hungarians. The Old Russian state managed to pay off the Ugrians.

IN "Tales of Bygone Years" it is said that in 898 Kyiv was besieged by nomadic tribes of the Ugrians: “The Ugrians walked past Kiev along the mountain, which is now called the Ugric, and came to the Dnieper, became vezhi: they walked just like the Polovtsy now. And, coming from the east, they rushed through the great mountains, which are called the Ugric, and began to fight with those who lived there . After all, the Slavs sat here before, and then the Volyn land was captured by the Volokhs. And after the Ugrians drove out the Volokhs, inherited that land and settled together with the Slavs, subjugating them to themselves; and from then on the land was called Ugrian. And the Ugrians began to fight with the Greeks and captured the land Thracian and Macedonian all the way to Seluni. And they began to fight with the Moravians and Czechs. There was one Slavic people: the Slavs who sat along the Danube and were conquered by the Ugrians, and the Moravians, and the Czechs, and the Poles, and the Glades, who are now called Rus.". The chronicle does not tell the history of the presence of the Ugrians in the Dnieper region. From other sources it becomes clear that they moved west and began to fight with the Slavs and Volokhs - representatives of the tribes of the Middle Danube, attack "Greeks"- and also to press back the Moravians and Czechs.

Great danger. Historians believe that the Ugric hordes appeared under the walls of Kyiv to make it a stronghold during their advance westward through Northern Black Sea region. Hanging over the capital of Rus' deadly danger. The enemies surrounded the city, blocking all approaches to it, as all nomads did. "The Tale of Bygone Years" does not talk about how the people of Kiev managed to fight off the enemy.

From "Acts of the Hungarians". Unknown Hungarian author of a work from the 12th–13th centuries "Acts of the Hungarians", using documents from the 11th century, says that, moving west, the Ugric tribes reached the Kyiv lands and "they wanted to subjugate the kingdom of the Russians". Prince of Kyiv, whose name the Hungarian author does not name, came out to meet the enemies and entered into battle with them, but was defeated by the army of the Hungarian leader Almos. The Ugrians pursued the Russians right up to the walls of Kyiv, behind which they took refuge. Then the Hungarians scattered throughout the area, devastating the surrounding towns and villages.

Peace treaty with the Ugrians. According to Hungarian sources, the Russians asked for peace, and their embassy appeared in the Almos camp. During the negotiations, the Ugrians demanded that hostages be sent to their camp, that they be provided with food, clothing and other necessary supplies for the journey, and that they pay an annual tribute of ten thousand marks in silver. The Russians, in turn, set a condition: the Hungarians must immediately leave Kyiv lands. The chronicler writes that Almos consulted with his dignitaries, and the Hungarians "they fulfilled the request of the prince of the Russians and made peace with him". The payment of tribute by the Slavs became compensation for peace and prosperity in Rus'.

Oleg's sad defeat. Treaty with the nomadic tribes of the Hungarians "about peace and love", according to a number of historians, meant the defeat of the ruler of Kyiv, who was correlated with the Grand Duke Kievsky Oleg. The obligation to pay an annual monetary tribute to the warlike Hungarians was regarded by historians as a heavy burden that fell on the shoulders of numerous Slavic peoples. It is not known for certain how many years Rus' fulfilled the conditions of the enslaving agreement with the Ugrians.

INTERNAL POLITICS OF PROPHETIC OLEG

During the reign of Prince Oleg of Novgorod and Principality of Kiev united in single state. The Old Russian state gradually gained power. Prince Oleg, in one way or another, managed to extend his power to the Krivichi, Drevlyans, Northerners, Radimichi, Tivertsi and other Slavic tribes. The entire route “from the Varangians to the Greeks” and its branches to the Desna and Western Dvina were under the protectorate of Kyiv. Prince Oleg was the first to strike at the might Khazar Khaganate. He successfully fought with the Viwantine Empire. In 907, he concluded a peace and trade treaty with the Greeks that was beneficial for Rus', which was later confirmed in 912. In the text of the document, Oleg is called “Russian Grand Duke” for the first time.

FOREIGN POLICY OF THE PROPHETIC OLEG

The birth of the ancient Russian state was accompanied by the formation of its diplomatic system and the development of methods and techniques of foreign policy. In order to protect his northern borders, Oleg entered into an agreement with the Varangians, pledging to pay them an annual monetary tribute. He managed to achieve peace with the Ugrians who raided Kyiv. Friendly relations were established with Bulgaria, after him in 907 Oleg made a campaign against Constantinople. The treaty of “peace and love” concluded with Byzantium that same year stipulated the status of Russian embassy and trade missions in the empire. Four years later, a new treaty was adopted with the Greeks, in which the concept of “Russian land” was introduced for the first time in diplomatic documentation.