Early Traditions in Russia
Prince Vladimir of Kiev
Early History of Russia
• Prince Vladimir wanted to find a new religion for
his people
• Sent delegates to other countries to find different
religions
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Islam
Judaism
Roman Christianity
Byzantine Christianity
• Visited Constantinople (capital of the Byzantine
Empire)
• Made the decision 1000 years ago and dramatically
changed Russian history
• Made them adopt Byzantine culture and thus
develop differently than Western Europe
Kievan Rus’
• First early Russian state called Kievan Rus’
– Formed in the year 800 A.D (800 C.E)
• Made up of several city-states that had their own
rulers
– Ruler of each state worked with nobles and a council
• Located on the Dnieper River and important as a
trade center
– Traded:
• Furs
• Honey
• Farm products (harvests from fields)
– Sending many of these goods to Constantinople
Cultural Diffusion from Byzantine Empire
• Byzantine Empire was the most advanced
civilization in Europe at the time
• Adopted Two (2) main cultural elements:
– System of Writing
• Alphabet based on Greek and Hebrew letters about 860
• Called Cyrillic
• Created by monk called Cyril (who was spreading
Christianity)
– Byzantine Christianity
• Prince Vladimir converts in 988
• Missionaries helped to spread the religion
• Monks Cyril and Methodius helped to spread this idea
Christianity Splits in Two
• Soon after Vladimir converted a serious
disagreement divided Roman and Byzantine
Christians
• 1054 Christians split into the:
– Roman Catholic Churches
– Eastern Orthodox Churches
• Bitter rivalries and different interpretations
divided the two groups
• Cut Russia off from the Western world
– Eventually transformed into Russian Orthodox Church
Mongol Rule of Russia
• Attacked and destroyed Kiev in the 1200’s
– Called the Tatars by the Russians, they were actually
Mongols
• Allowed the Russian princes to rule but the
Mongols had all the power
• Exacted (demanded) tribute from the conquered
people
– No tribute meant that you would be horribly punished
– Law of Thirds
• Killed 1/3 of the people
• Enslaved 1/3 of the people
• Took 1/3 of all the money and goods as tribute
• Furthered the separation between Russia and the
other western countries
The Rise of Moscow
• Gained power as the Mongols slowly left Russia
• Stole taxes that the Mongols demanded and kept
them for the rich nobles
• Ideally located by several major rivers
• Head of the Russian Orthodox Church moved there
from Kiev
• Ivan the Great (Ivan III)- called himself a czar- means
emperor
– Autocrat- ruler that had unlimited power
• Ivan the Terrible (Ivan IV) - grandson of Ivan the
Great
– Created a secret police force that killed all who opposed
him
Ivan the Third a.k.a Ivan the Great
Ivan the Fourth a.k.a Ivan the Terrible
Peter I – “Peter the Great”
• Russia was too far behind the west in technology
and territory by the 1600’s
• Czar Peter the Great
– Hired western engineers, shipbuilders and other experts
to modernize Russia
– Built schools that were more modern and made
government more modern
– Built the new capital called St. Petersburg
• On the Baltic Sea
• Forced men to shave their beards and everyone had
to dress in western style clothing
• Catherine the Great- benefited from the advances
and tried as well to modernize Russia