A history of Russia

by Riazanovsky

  Kievan literature consisted of two sharply different categories: oral creations and written works linked to particular authors. Although it is highly probable that the great bulk of Kievan folklore has been lost, enough remains to demonstrate its richness and variety. That folklore had developed

  largely in the immemorial past, and it expanded further to incorporate Kievan experiences. It has been noted, for example, that different Russian wedding songs reflect several distinct stages of social relations: marriage by kidnapping, marriage by purchase, and marriage by consent. Funeral dirges too go very far back in expressing the attitude of the East Slavs toward death. These and other kinds of Russian folk songs often possess outstanding lyrical and generally artistic qualities that have received recognition throughout the world. Kievan folklore also included sayings, proverbs, riddles, and fairy tales of different kinds.

  But special interest attaches to the epic poems, the famous byliny. They represent one of the several great epic cycles of Western literature, comparable in many ways to the Homeric epic of the Greeks, or to the Serbian epic. The byliny narrate the activities of the bogatyri, the mighty warriors of ancient Russia, who can be divided into two categories: a few senior bogatyri and the more numerous junior ones. Members of the first group, concerning whom little information remains, belong to hoary antiquity, overlap with or even become part of mythology, and seem often to be associated with forces or phenomena of nature. The junior Kievan bogatyri, about whom we possess some four hundred epic songs, reflect Kievan history much better, although their deeds too usually belong to the realm of the fantastic and the miraculous. Typically, they form the entourage of St. Vladimir, at whose court many byliny begin and end, and they fight the deadly enemies of the Russian land. The Khazars, with their Hebrew faith, may appear in the guise of the legendary Zhidovin, the Jew; or Tugor Khan of the Polovtsy may become the dragon Tugarin. The junior bogatyri express the peculiarly Kievan mixture of a certain kind of knighthood, Christianity, and the unremitting struggle against the steppe peoples.

  Ilia of Murom, Dobrynia Nikitych, and Alesha Popovich stand out as the favorite heroes of the epic. Ilia of Murom, the mightiest of them and in many respects the most interesting, is depicted as an invalid peasant who only at the age of thirty-three after a miraculous cure started on his great career of defending Kievan Russia against its enemies: his tremendous military exploits do not deprive him of a high moral sense and indeed combine with an unwillingness to fight, except as a last resort. If Ilia of Murom represents the rural masses of Kiev, Dobrynia Nikitych belongs clearly to the upper stratum: his bearing and manners strike a different note than those of the peasant warrior, and in fact he, more than other bogatyri, has links to an actual historical figure, an uncle and associate of St. Vladimir. Alesha Popovich, as the patronymic indicates, comes from the clerical class; his characteristics include bragging, greediness, and a certain shrewdness that often enables him to defeat his opponents by means other than valor. In addition to the great Kievan cycle, we know some Novgorod byliny that

  will be mentioned later in a discussion of that city-state and a few stray epic poems not fitting into any cycle, as well as the artistically much less valuable historical songs of the Moscow period.

  Kievan written literature, as already noted, developed in close association with the conversion of the Russians to Christianity. It contained Church service books, collections of Old Testament narratives, canonical and apocryphal, known as Palaea after the Greek word for Old Testament, sermons and other didactic works, hymns, and lives of saints. Among the more prominent pieces one might mention the hymns composed by St. Cyril of Turov; a collection of the lives of the saints of the Monastery of the Caves near Kiev, the so-called Paterikon; and the writings of Hilarion, a metropolitan in the reign of Iaroslav the Wise and a leading Kievan intellectual, who has been described by Fedotov as "the best theologian and preacher of all ancient Russia, the Muscovite period included." Hilarion's best-known work, a sermon On Law and Grace, begins with a skillful comparison of the law of Moses and the grace of Christ, the Old and the New Testaments, and proceeds to a rhetorical account of the baptism of Russia and a paean of praise to St. Vladimir, the baptizer. It has often been cited as a fine expression of the joyously affirmative spirit of Kievan Christianity.

  The chronicles of the period deserve special notice. Although frequently written by monks and reflecting the strong Christian assumptions of Kievan civilization, they belong more with the historical than the religious literature. These early Russian chronicles have been praised by specialists for their historical sense, realism, and richness of detail. They indicate clearly the major problems of Kievan Russia, such as the struggle against the peoples of the steppe and the issue of princely succession. Still more important, they have passed on to us the specific facts of the history of the period. The greatest value attaches to the Primary Chronicle - to which we have already made many references - associated especially with two Kievan monks, Nestor and Sylvester, and dating from around 1111. The earliest extant copies of it are the fourteenth-century Laurentian and the fifteenth-century Hypatian. The Primary Chronicle forms the basis of all later general Russian chronicles. Regional chronicles, such as those of Novgorod or Vladimir, a number of which survive, also flourished in Kievan Russia.

  The secular literature of Kievan Russia included a variety of works ranging from Vladimir Monomakh's remarkable Testament to the most famous product of all, The Lay of the Host of Igor. The Lay, a poetic account of the unsuccessful Russian campaign against the Polovtsy in 1185, written in verse or rhythmic prose, has evoked much admiration and considerable controversy. Although one view, championed by Mazon, more recently Zimin, and some other scholars, holds it to be a modern forgery, the Lay has been accepted by Jakobson and most specialists as a genuine, if in cer-

  tain respects unique, expression of Kievan genius. Its unknown author apparently had a detailed knowledge of the events that he described, as well as a great poetic talent. The narrative shifts from the campaign and the decisive battle of one of the local Russian princes, Igor and his associates, to Kiev where Grand Prince Sviatoslav learns of the disaster, and to Putivi where Igor's wife Iaroslavna speaks her justly celebrated lament for her lost husband. The story concludes with Igor's escape from his captors and the joy of his return to Russia. The Lay is written in magnificent language which reproduces in haunting sounds the clang of battle or the rustle of the steppe; and it also deserves praise for its impressive imagery, its lyricism, the striking treatment of nature - in a sense animate and close to man - and the vividness, power, and passion with which it tells its tale.

  Architecture and Other Arts

  If Kievan literature divides naturally into the oral or popular and the written, Kievan architecture can be classified on a somewhat parallel basis as wooden or stone. Wooden architecture, like folk poetry, stems from the prehistoric past of the East Slavs. Stone architecture and written literature were both associated with the conversion to Christianity, and both experienced a fundamental Byzantine influence. Yet they should by no means be dismissed for this reason as merely derivative, for, already in the days of Kiev, they had developed creatively in their new environment and produced valuable results. Borrowing, to be sure, forms the very core of cultural history.

  Because wood is highly combustible, no wooden structures survive from the Kievan period, but some two dozen of the stone churches of that age have come down to our times. Typically they follow their Byzantine models in their basic form, that of a cross composed of squares or rectangles, and in many other characteristics. But from the beginning they also incorporate such Russian attributes as the preference for several and even many cupolas and, especially in the north, thick walls, small windows, and steep roofs to withstand the inclement weather. The architects of the great churches of the Kievan age came from Byzantium and from other areas of Byzantine or partly Byzantine culture, such as the Slavic lands in the Balkans and certain sections of the Cau
casus, but they also included native Russians.

  The Cathedral of St. Sophia in Kiev, built in 1037 and the years following, has generally been considered the most splendid surviving monument of Kievan architecture. Modeled after a church in Constantinople and erected by Greek architects, it follows the form of a cross made of squares, with five apses on the eastern or sanctuary side, five naves, and thirteen cupolas. The sumptuous interior of the cathedral contains columns of porphyry, marble, and alabaster, as well as mosaics, frescoes, and other decora-

  tion. In Novgorod another majestic and luxurious Cathedral of St. Sophia - a favorite Byzantine dedication of churches to Christ as Wisdom - built by Greeks around 1052, became the center of the life of that city and territory. But still more outstanding from the artistic point of view, according to Grabar, was the St. George Cathedral of the St. George Monastery near Novgorod. Erected by a Russian master, Peter, in 1119-30, this building with its three apses, three cupolas, and unornamented walls of white stone produces an unforgettable impression of grace, majesty, and simplicity.

  The architecture of the Kievan period achieved especially striking results in the twelfth and the first half of the thirteenth century in the eastern part of the country, the Vladimir-Suzdal area, which became at that time also the political center of Russia. The churches of that region illustrate well the blending of the native tradition with the Romanesque style of the West together with certain Caucasian and, of course, Byzantine influences. The best remaining examples include the two cathedrals in Vladimir, that of the Assumption of Our Lady, which later became the prototype for the cathedral by the same name in the Moscow Kremlin, and that of St. Dmitrii; the Cathedral of St. George in Iuriev Polskii, with its marked native characteristics; and the church of the Intercession of Our Lady on the Nerl river, near Vladimir, which has often been cited as the highest achievement of ancient Russian architecture. Built in 1166-71 and representing a rectangle with three apses and a single cupola, it has attracted unstinting praise for harmony of design and grace of form and decoration.

  Other forms of art also flourished in Kievan Russia, especially in connection with the churches. Mosaics and frescoes richly adorned St. Sophia in Kiev and other cathedrals and churches in the land. Icon-painting too came to Russia with Christianity from Byzantium. Although the Byzantine tradition dominated all these branches of art, and although many masters practicing in Russia came from Byzantium or the Balkans, a Russian school began gradually to emerge. It was to have a great future, especially in icon-painting, in which St. Alipii of the Monastery of the Caves and other Kievan pioneers started what has often been considered the most remarkable artistic development in Russian history. Fine Kievan work in illumination and miniatures in general, as well as in different decorative arts, has also come down to our time. By contrast, because of the negative attitude of the Eastern Church, sculpture proper was banned from the churches, the Russians and other Orthodox peoples being limited to miniature and relief sculpture. Reliefs, however, did develop, reaching the high point in the Cathedral of St. Dmitrii in Vladimir, which has more than a thousand relief pieces, and in the cathedral in Iuriev Polskii. Popular entertainment, combining music and elementary theater, was provided by traveling performers, the sko-morokhi, whom the church tried continuously to suppress as immoral and as remnants of paganism.

  Education. Concluding Remarks

  The scope and level of education in Kievan Russia remain controversial subjects, beclouded by unmeasured praise and excessive blame. On the positive side, it seems obvious that the Kievan culture outlined above could not have developed without an educated layer of society. Moreover, as Kliuchevsky, Chizhevsky, and others have emphasized, Kievan sources, such as the Primary Chronicle and Vladimir Monomakh's Testament, express a very high regard for learning. As to specific information, we have scattered reports of schools in Kiev and other towns, of monasteries fostering learning and the arts, and of princes who knew foreign languages, collected books, patronized scholars, and generally supported education and culture. Beyond that, recent Soviet discoveries centering on Novgorod indicate a considerable spread of literacy among artisans and other broad layers of townspeople, and even to some extent among the peasants in the countryside. Still it would appear that the bulk of the Kievan population, in particular the rural masses, remained illiterate and ignorant.

  Even a brief account of Kievan culture indicates the variety of foreign influences which it experienced and their importance for its evolution. First and foremost stands Byzantium, but it should not obscure other significant contributions. The complexity of the Kievan cultural heritage would become even more apparent had we time to discuss, for example, the links between the Kievan and the Iranian epic, the musical scales of the East Slavs and of certain Turkic tribes, or the development of ornamentation in Kiev with its Scythian, Byzantine, and Islamic motifs. In general, these influences stimulated, rather than stifled, native growth - or even made it possible. Kievan Russia had the good fortune of being situated on the crossroads, not the periphery, of culture.

  Perhaps too much emphasis has been placed on the destruction of Kievan civilization and the loss of its unique qualities. True, Kievan Russia, like other societies, went down never to reappear. But it left a rich legacy of social and political institutions, of religion, language, and culture that we shall meet again and again as we study the history of the Russians in the long centuries that followed their brilliant debut on the world scene.

  Part III: APPANAGE RUSSIA

  VII

  APPANAGE RUSSIA: INTRODUCTION

  The grass bends in sorrow, and the tree is bowed down to earth by woe. For already, brethren, a cheerless season has set in: already our strength has been swallowed up by the wilderness… Victory of the princes over the infidels is gone, for now brother said to brother: "This is mine, and that is mine also," and the princes began to say of little things, "Lo! this is a great matter," and to forge discord against themselves. And on all sides the infidels were victoriously invading the Russian land.

  "the lay of the host of igor" (s. cross's translation)

  The Kievan legacy stood the Russians in good stead. It included, as has already been noted, a uniform religion, a common language and literature, and, with numerous regional and local modifications, common arts and culture in general. It embraced a similarly rich heritage in the economic, social, and political fields. While the metropolitan in Kiev headed the Church of the entire realm, the grand prince, also in Kiev, occupied the seat of the temporal power of the state. Both offices outlived by centuries the society which had created them and both remained of major significance in Russian history, in spite of a shift in their locale and competition for preference among different branches of the huge princely clan. In a like manner the concept of one common "Russian land," so dear to Kievan writers and preachers, stayed in the Russian consciousness. These bonds of unity proved to be of decisive importance in the age of division and defeat which followed the collapse of the Kievan state, in particular during the dark first hundred years following the Mongol conquest, that is, approximately from the middle of the thirteenth to the middle of the fourteenth century. In that period the persistence of these bonds ensured the survival of the Russians as a major people, thus making possible their future historical role. The powerful Moscow state which finally emerged on the east European plain looked, and often was, strikingly different from its Kievan predecessor. Yet, for the historian in any case, Muscovite Russia remains linked to Kievan Russia in many essential, as well as less essential, ways. And it affirmed and treasured at least a part of its Kievan inheritance.

  The twin terrors of Kievan Russia, internal division and invasion from abroad, prevailed in the age which followed the collapse of the Kievan state.

  The new period has been named after the udel, or appanage, the separate holding of an individual prince. And indeed appanages proliferated at that time. Typically, in his will a ruler would divide his principality among his sons,
thus creating with a single act several new political entities. Subdivision followed upon subdivision, destroying the tenuous political unity of the land. As legal historians have emphasized, private law came to the fore at the expense of public law. The political life of the period corresponded to - some would say was determined by - the economic, which was dominated by agriculture and local consumption. Much Kievan trade, and in general a part of the variety and richness of the economy of Kievan Russia, disappeared.