Chronicles and centers of chronicle writing in ancient Rus'. How reliable are the old Russian chronicles?

The history of chronicles in Rus' goes back to the distant past. It is known that writing arose before the 10th century. The texts were written, as a rule, by representatives of the clergy. It is thanks to ancient writings that we know. But what was the name of the first Russian chronicle? Where did it all start? Why is it of great historical significance?

What was the name of the first Russian chronicle?

Everyone should know the answer to this question. The first Russian chronicle was called “The Tale of Bygone Years.” It was written in 1110-1118 in Kyiv. Linguistic scientist Shakhmatov revealed that she had predecessors. However, this is still the first Russian chronicle. It is called confirmed, reliable.

The story describes a chronicle of events that occurred over a certain period of time. It consisted of articles that described each past year.

Author

The monk described events from biblical times to 1117. The title of the first Russian chronicle is the first lines of the chronicle.

History of creation

The chronicle had copies made after Nestor, which were able to survive to this day. They weren't very different from each other. The original itself was lost. According to Shchakhmatov, the chronicle was rewritten just a few years after its appearance. Big changes were made to it.

In the 14th century, the monk Lawrence rewrote the work of Nestor, and it is this copy that is considered the most ancient that has survived to our time.

There are several versions of where Nestor got the information for his chronicle. Since the chronology goes back to ancient times, and articles with dates appeared only after 852, many historians believe that the monk described the old period thanks to the legends of people and written sources in the monastery.

She corresponded often. Even Nestor himself rewrote the chronicle, making some changes.

The interesting thing is that in those days scripture was also a code of law.

The Tale of Bygone Years described everything: from exact events to biblical legends.

The purpose of the creation was to write a chronicle, record events, restore chronology in order to understand where the Russian people come from and how Rus' was formed.

Nestor wrote that the Slavs appeared a long time ago from the son of Noah. Noah had three in total. They divided three territories among themselves. One of them, Japheth, received the northwestern part.

Then there are articles about the princes, the East Slavic tribes that descended from the Noriks. It is here that Rurik and his brothers are mentioned. It is said about Rurik that he became the ruler of Rus' by founding Novgorod. This explains why there are so many supporters of the Norman theory of the origin of princes from the Rurikovichs, although there is no factual evidence.

It tells about Yaroslav the Wise and many other people and their reign, about wars and other significant events that shaped the history of Rus' and made it what we know it now.

Meaning

"The Tale of Bygone Years" is of great importance today. This is one of the main historical sources on which historians conduct research. Thanks to her, the chronology of that period has been restored.

Since the chronicle has an open genre, ranging from stories of epics to descriptions of wars and weather, one can understand a lot about the mentality and ordinary life of the Russians who lived at that time.

Christianity played a special role in the chronicle. All events are described through the prism of religion. Even the deliverance from idols and the adoption of Christianity are described as a period when people got rid of temptations and ignorance. And the new religion is light for Rus'.

Culture of Rus' X - early XIII centuries.
Chronicles

Chronicles are the focus of the history of Ancient Rus', its ideology, understanding of its place in world history - they are one of the most important monuments of writing, literature, history, and culture in general. For compiling chronicles, i.e. weather reports of events, only the most literate, knowledgeable, wise people were taken, capable of not only presenting various affairs year after year, but also giving them an appropriate explanation, leaving for posterity a vision of the era as the chroniclers understood it.

The chronicle was a state matter, a princely matter. Therefore, the order to compile a chronicle was given not just to the most literate and intelligent person, but also to the one who would be able to implement ideas close to this or that princely branch, this or that princely house. Thus, the chronicler’s objectivity and honesty came into conflict with what we call “social order.” If the chronicler did not satisfy the tastes of his customer, they parted with him and transferred the compilation of the chronicle to another, more reliable, more obedient author. Alas, work for the needs of power arose already at the dawn of writing, and not only in Rus', but also in other countries.

Chronicles, according to the observations of domestic scientists, appeared in Rus' shortly after the introduction of Christianity. The first chronicle may have been compiled at the end of the 10th century. It was intended to reflect the history of Rus' from the time of the emergence of the new Rurik dynasty there and until the reign of Vladimir with his impressive victories, with the introduction of Christianity in Rus'. From this time on, the right and duty to keep chronicles were given to church leaders. It was in churches and monasteries that the most literate, well-prepared and trained people were found - priests and monks. They had a rich book heritage, translated literature, Russian records of ancient tales, legends, epics, traditions; They also had the grand ducal archives at their disposal. The best thing for them was to carry out this responsible and important work: to create a written historical monument of the era in which they lived and worked, connecting it with past times, with deep historical origins.

Scientists believe that before chronicles appeared - large-scale historical works covering several centuries of Russian history - there were separate records, including church, oral stories, which initially served as the basis for the first generalizing works. These were stories about Kiev and the founding of Kyiv, about the campaigns of Russian troops against Byzantium, about the journey of Princess Olga to Constantinople, about the wars of Svyatoslav, the legend about the murder of Boris and Gleb, as well as epics, lives of saints, sermons, traditions, songs, various kinds of legends .

Later, already during the existence of the chronicles, more and more new stories were added to them, tales about impressive events in Rus', such as the famous feud of 1097 and the blinding of the young prince Vasilko, or about the campaign of the Russian princes against the Polovtsians in 1111. The chronicle also included Vladimir Monomakh's memoirs about life - his “Teachings to Children”.

The second chronicle was created under Yaroslav the Wise at the time when he united Rus' and founded the Church of Hagia Sophia. This chronicle absorbed the previous chronicle and other materials.

Already at the first stage of creating chronicles, it became obvious that they represent collective creativity, are a collection of previous chronicles, documents, and various types of oral and written historical evidence. The compiler of the next chronicle acted not only as the author of the corresponding newly written parts of the chronicle, but also as a compiler and editor. It was his ability to direct the idea of ​​the arch in the right direction that was highly valued by the Kyiv princes.

The next chronicle Code was created by the famous Hilarion, who wrote it, apparently under the name of the monk Nikon, in the 60-70s of the 11th century, after the death of Yaroslav the Wise. And then the Code appeared already during the time of Svyatopolk in the 90s of the 11th century.

The vault, which was taken up by the monk of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery Nestor and which entered our history under the name “The Tale of Bygone Years,” thus turned out to be at least the fifth in a row and was created in the first decade of the 12th century. at the court of Prince Svyatopolk. And each collection was enriched with more and more new materials, and each author contributed to it his talent, his knowledge, his erudition. Nestor's codex was in this sense the pinnacle of early Russian chronicle writing.

In the first lines of his chronicle, Nestor posed the question “Where did the Russian land come from, who was the first to reign in Kyiv, and where did the Russian land come from?” Thus, already in these first words of the chronicle it speaks of the large-scale goals that the author set for himself. And indeed, the chronicle did not become an ordinary chronicle, of which there were many in the world at that time - dry, dispassionately recording facts, but an excited story of the then historian, introducing philosophical and religious generalizations into the narrative, his own figurative system, temperament, his own style. Nestor depicts the origin of Rus', as we have already said, against the backdrop of the development of the entire world history. Rus' is one of the European nations.

Using previous codes and documentary materials, including, for example, treaties between Rus' and Byzantium, the chronicler unfolds a wide panorama of historical events that cover both the internal history of Rus' - the formation of all-Russian statehood with its center in Kyiv, and the international relations of Rus' with the outside world. A whole gallery of historical figures passes through the pages of the Nestor Chronicle - princes, boyars, mayors, thousands, merchants, church leaders. He talks about military campaigns, the organization of monasteries, the foundation of new churches and the opening of schools, religious disputes and reforms of internal Russian life. Nestor constantly concerns the life of the people as a whole, their moods, expressions of dissatisfaction with the princely policies. On the pages of the chronicle we read about uprisings, murders of princes and boyars, and brutal social battles. The author describes all this thoughtfully and calmly, trying to be objective, as objective as a deeply religious person can be, guided in his assessments by the concepts of Christian virtue and sin. But, frankly speaking, his religious assessments are very close to universal human assessments. Nestor condemns murder, betrayal, deception, perjury uncompromisingly, but extols honesty, courage, loyalty, nobility, and other wonderful human qualities. The entire chronicle was imbued with a sense of the unity of Rus' and a patriotic mood. All the main events in it were assessed not only from the point of view of religious concepts, but also from the standpoint of these all-Russian state ideals. This motive sounded especially significant on the eve of the beginning of the political collapse of Rus'.

In 1116-1118 the chronicle was rewritten again. Vladimir Monomakh, who was then reigning in Kyiv, and his son Mstislav were dissatisfied with the way Nestor showed the role of Svyatopolk in Russian history, on whose order the “Tale of Bygone Years” was written in the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery. Monomakh took the chronicle from the Pechersk monks and transferred it to his ancestral Vydubitsky monastery. His abbot Sylvester became the author of the new Code. Positive assessments of Svyatopolk were moderated, and all the deeds of Vladimir Monomakh were emphasized, but the main body of The Tale of Bygone Years remained unchanged. And in the future, Nestor’s work was an indispensable component both in the Kiev chronicles and in the chronicles of individual Russian principalities, being one of the connecting threads for the entire Russian culture.

Later, with the political collapse of Rus' and the rise of individual Russian centers, the chronicle began to fragment. In addition to Kyiv and Novgorod, their own chronicle collections appeared in Smolensk, Pskov, Vladimir-on-Klyazma, Galich, Vladimir-Volynsky, Ryazan, Chernigov, Pereyaslavl-Russky. Each of them reflected the peculiarities of the history of its region, and its own princes were brought to the fore. Thus, the Vladimir-Suzdal chronicles showed the history of the reign of Yuri Dolgoruky, Andrei Bogolyubsky, Vsevolod the Big Nest; Galician chronicle of the beginning of the 13th century. became essentially a biography of the famous warrior prince Daniil Galitsky; the Chernigov branch of the Rurikovichs was mainly narrated in the Chernigov Chronicle. And yet, even in the local chronicles, all-Russian cultural origins were clearly visible. The history of each land was compared with the entire Russian history; The Tale of Bygone Years was an indispensable part of many local chronicles. Some of them continued the tradition of Russian chronicle writing in the 11th century. So, shortly before the Mongol-Tatar invasion, at the turn of the 12th-13th centuries. In Kyiv, a new chronicle was created, which reflected the events that took place in Chernigov, Galich, Vladimir-Suzdal Rus', Ryazan and other Russian cities. It is clear that the author of the code had at his disposal the chronicles of various Russian principalities and used them. The chronicler also knew European history well. He mentioned, for example, the Third Crusade of Frederick Barbarossa. In various Russian cities, including Kyiv, in the Vydubitsky monastery, entire libraries of chronicles were created, which became sources for new historical works of the 12th-13th centuries.

The preservation of the all-Russian chronicle tradition was shown by the Vladimir-Suzdal chronicle code of the early 13th century, which covered the history of the country from the legendary Kiy to Vsevolod the Big Nest.

Ancient Rus'. Chronicles
The main source of our knowledge about ancient Rus' is medieval chronicles. There are several hundred of them in archives, libraries and museums, but according to
Essentially, this is one book that was written by hundreds of authors, starting their work in the 9th century and finishing it seven centuries later.
First we need to define what a chronicle is. In a large encyclopedic dictionary the following is written: “Historical work, type
narrative literature in Russia from the 11th to the 17th centuries, consisted of weather records, or were monuments of complex composition - free
vaults. "The chronicles were all-Russian ("The Tale of Bygone Years") and local ("Novgorod Chronicles"). The chronicles were preserved mainly in
later lists. V. N. Tatishchev was the first to study the chronicles. Having decided to create his grandiose “Russian History”, he turned to all famous
In his time, the chronicles found many new monuments. After V.N. Tatishchev, the study of chronicles, specifically “The Tale of Bygone Years,” was carried out by A.
Schletzer. If V.N. Tatishchev worked in breadth, combining additional information from many lists in one text and, as it were, following in the footsteps of the ancient chronicler -
compiler, Schletser worked in depth, identifying in the text itself a lot of clerical errors, errors, and inaccuracies. Both research approaches, for all their external
The differences had one similarity: the idea of ​​a non-original form in which the “Tale of Bygone Years” has come down to us was consolidated in science. That's what it is
great credit to both wonderful historians. The next major step was taken by the famous archaeographer P. M. Stroev. And V.N. Tatishchev, and A.
Schleptser imagined “The Tale of Bygone Years” as the creation of one chronicler, in this case Nestor. P. M. Stroev expressed a completely new
view of the chronicle as a set of several earlier chronicles, and all the chronicles that have reached us began to be considered such sets. Thus he opened the way
not only to a more correct, from a methodological point of view, study of the chronicles and codes that have reached us, which have not reached us in their
original form. The next step taken by A. A. Shakhmatov was extremely important, which showed that each of the chronicle codes, starting
from the 11th century to the 16th century, not a random conglomeration of heterogeneous chronicle sources, but a historical work with its own
political position dictated by the place and time of creation. Thus, he connected the history of chronicling with the history of the country.
The opportunity arose to mutually verify the history of the country with the history of the source. Source data has become not an end in itself, but the most important
help in reconstructing the picture of the historical development of the entire people. And now, when starting to study a particular period, they first of all strive
analyze the question of how the chronicle and its information are related to reality. Also a great contribution to the study of history
Russian chronicles were contributed by such wonderful scientists as: V. M. Istrin, A. N. Nasonov, A. A. Likhachev, M. P. Pogodin and many others. There are two
main hypotheses regarding "The Tale of Bygone Years". First we will consider the hypothesis of A. A. Shakhmatov.
The history of the origin of the initial Russian chronicle has attracted the attention of more than one generation of Russian scientists, starting with V.N. Tatishchev.
However, only Academician A. A. Shakhmatov managed to resolve the issue of the composition, sources and editions of the Tale at the beginning of this century. results
his research is presented in the works “Research on the most ancient Russian chronicles” (1908) and “The Tale of Bygone Years” (1916). In 1039
In Kyiv, a metropolis was established - an independent organization. At the court of the Metropolitan, the Most Ancient Kiev Code was created, which dates back to 1037.
This code, suggested A. A. Shakhmatov, arose on the basis of Greek translated chronicles and local folklore material. In Novgorod in 1036. is created
Novgorod Chronicle, based on which in 1050. The Ancient Novgorod arch appears. In 1073 monk of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery Nestor the Great,
Using the ancient Kiev vault, he compiled the first Kiev Pechersk vault, which included historical events that occurred after the death of Yaroslav
Wise (1054). Based on the first Kiev-Pechersk and Novgorod arch, the second Kiev-Pechersk arch was created.
The author of the second Kiev-Pechersk vault supplemented his sources with materials from Greek chronographs. The second Kiev-Pechersk vault served
the basis of the "Tale of Bygone Years", the first edition of which was created in 1113 by the monk of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery Nestor, the second edition -
by the abbot of the Vydubitsky monastery Sylvester in 1116 and the third by an unknown author in the same monastery in 1118. Interesting refinements to the hypothesis
A. A. Shakhmatov were made by the Soviet researcher D. S. Likhachev. He rejected the possibility of existence in 1039. The most ancient Kyiv vault and connected
the history of the emergence of chronicles with the specific struggle waged by the Kiev state in the 30-50s of the 11th century against political and
religious claims of the Byzantine Empire. Byzantium sought to turn the church into its political agency, which threatened independence
Russian state. The struggle between Rus' and Byzantium reached particular tension in the middle of the 11th century. The political struggle between Rus' and Byzantium turns into
open armed conflict: in 1050 Yaroslav sends troops to Constantinople led by his son Vladimir. Although Vladimir's campaign
ended in defeat, Yaroslav in 1051. elevates the Russian priest Hilarion to the metropolitan throne. This further strengthened and united the Russian
state. The researcher suggests that in the 30-40s in the 11th century, by order of Yaroslav the Wise, oral folklore was recorded
historical legends about the spread of Christianity. This cycle served as the future basis for the chronicle. D. S. Likhachev suggests that "Tales of
the initial spread of Christianity in Rus' "were recorded by the scribes of the Kyiv metropolis at the St. Sophia Cathedral. Obviously, under the influence
Easter chronological tables-Paschals compiled in the monastery. Nikon presented his narration in the form of weather records - by ~ years ~. IN
created around 1073 Nikon's first Kiev-Pechersk vault included a large number of legends about the first Russians, their numerous campaigns against
Tsargrad. Thanks to this, the vault of 1073 acquired an even more anti-Byzantine orientation.
In “Tales of the Spread of Christianity,” Nikon gave the chronicle a political edge. Thus, the first Kiev-Pechersk vault appeared
exponent of people's ideas. After the death of Nikon, work on the chronicle continued continuously within the walls of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery and in 1095
the second Kiev-Pechersk vault appeared. The Second Kiev-Pechersk Code continued the propaganda of the ideas of the unity of the Russian land, begun by Nikon. In this vault
Princely feuds are also sharply condemned.
Further, in the interests of Svyatopolk, on the basis of the second Kiev-Pechersk Code, Nester created the first edition of the Tale of Bygone Years. At
Vladimir Monomakh, Abbot Sylvester, on behalf of the Grand Duke in 1116, compiled the second edition of the Tale of Bygone Years. This edition
came to us as part of the Laurentian Chronicle. In 1118, in the Vydubitsky Monastery, an unknown author created the third edition of the Tale
time years." It was brought up to 1117. This edition is best preserved in the Ipatiev Chronicle. There are many differences in both hypotheses, but both
these theories prove that the beginning of chronicle writing in Rus' is an event of great importance.

The first Russian chronicles

"The Tale of Bygone Years" which is also called "Nestor's Chronicle" named after its compiler (c. 1110–1113), known in two editions;

- "Laurentian Chronicle"(manuscript 1377), on which is the name of its copyist, monk Lawrence, who supplemented it with a chronicle of events in North-Eastern Rus' until 1305;

And later (beginning of the 15th century) "Ipatiev Chronicle" discovered in the Ipatiev Monastery in Kostroma. It also includes "The Tale of Bygone Years" to which is added a chronicle of events that took place in Kyiv, Galich and Volyn until 1292.

According to the outstanding philologist A. A. Shakhmatov, "The Tale of Bygone Years" is a chronicle collection that combines:

The first Kyiv chronicle, dating back to 1037–1039;

Its continuation, written by the monk Nikon from the Pechersk Monastery in Kyiv (c. 1073);

The story of the adoption of Christianity by Vladimir and his people - “The Tale of the Baptism of Rus'”;

- new vault, everyone the texts listed above, compiled in the same monastery ca. 1093–1095;

Final edition of Nestor.

After the death of Prince Svyatopolk Izyaslavich in 1113, the monk Sylvester from the Mikhailovsky Vydubitsky Monastery, on behalf of Vladimir Monomakh, rewrote "The Tale of Bygone Years" bringing the story to 1117.

Gaps in the narrative were filled with borrowings from Byzantine chronographs (George Amartol) and from folk legends (for example, the story of Olga’s revenge on the Drevlyans).

Chapter 1 Russian chronicles and the Miller-Romanov version of Russian history 1. The first attempts to write ancient Russian history A good overview of the history of writing Russian history is given by V.O. Klyuchevsky, p. 187–196. This story is little known and very interesting. We will bring