Historical Writing of Early Rus (c. 1000 – c. 1400) in a Comparative Perspective

Brill

2021

xv, 477 p.

East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 450–1450 ; vol. 71

9789004426924

The surviving texts and the typology of genres -- The beginnings of historical writing in Kiev -- Historical writing in Novgorod -- The functions of the Annals in Early Rus.

This book deals with the Rus annals (letopisi) and with a variety of related texts concerning the historical past. A new typology of those texts is introduced, together with a comprehensive discussion of how the writing of history came into being in Rus between c.1000 and c.1050. The author focuses on the work of the annalists of Novgorod from c. 1045 to c. 1400, and discusses the functions of annalistic writing in the Rus society. Both the character and the role of the writing of history in Rus is highlighted by means of comparison with other political and cultural areas of medieval Europe, particularly with Anglo-Saxon England.

Английский