The Spread of Civilization in
Eastern Europe
Moving North
 864 orthodox missionaries Cyril and Methodius to
territory that is now Czech and Slovak republics.
The Roman Catholics were more powerful so they
moved on the Balkans and southern Russia, where
their ability to speak the Slavic language helped
gain converts. They devised a written script for the
language derived from Greek letters- Cyrillic
 Literature and literacy developed along with the
spread of Christianity in the east. Also, missionaries
willing to use local languages in services- opposite
of Latin west
East Central Borderlands
 Eastern missionaries did not monopolize
borderlands of eastern Europe
 Region organized in a series of regional monarchies
loosely governed amid a powerful, land-owning
aristocracy
 Kingdoms of Poland, Bohemia, and Lithuania
surpassed western kingdoms in territory size
 Large influx of Jews- esp. in Poland
Emergence of Kievan Rus’
 Russia not yet a full-fledged civilization
 Slavic people had moved from Asian homeland during the time of the
Roman Empire and mixed with earlier inhabitants and invaders, like the
Bulgarians, who had adopted the Slavic language. Slavic political
organization in family tribes and villages. Animist religion
 6th and 7th centuries traders from Scandinavia began to work throughout
he Slavic lands as a middleman from Byzantium to Scandinavia
(Dnieper river)
 Scandinavian traders set up some governments along their trade routeone in Kiev. Rurik, a native of Denmark, became the first prince of
Kievan Rus about 855 CE and flourished until 12th century.
Scandinavians coined the term Russia
Vladimir I (ruled from 9801015)
 Converted people to orthodox Christianity (was
awed at splendor of Constantinople)
 Organized mass baptisms and forced conversion
 Russian Orthodox church developed
 As it became Christian it was the largest single state
in Europe- although highly decentralized
Institutions and Culture in
Kievan Rus
 Borrowed much from Byzantium (ie. Central ruler should
have wide powers)
 Fervent devotion to the power of God and many Eastern
saints
 Russian literature using Cyrillic
 Peasants were fairly free farmers, although an aristocratic
landlord class existed . Boyars- Russian aristocrats- had less
political power than counterparts in western Europe
 Yaroslav the Wise (1019-1054)- greatest ruler of the period
used marriages to create ties with other European countries
but still had main focus of Byzantium
Kievan Decline
 Began to fade in 12th century
 Rival princes set up regional governments, royal family
argued over succession, and decline of Byzantium reduced
Russia’s trade and wealth
 1237-1238 and 1240-1241- invasions by Mongols of Asiacalled Tatars in Russian
 2 centuries Russia under Tatar control. Some social
harmony during the time made it possible for Russian
culture to reemerge when Tatars were forced out in the 15th
century
 New Rome idea of the Russians- sense of Eastern Christian
mission
The End of an Era in Eastern
Europe
 With Byzantium and Russia under siege east
European civilization fell on hard times
 Separate trajectories of east and west Europe