WARS FOR THE CAPITAL IN THE KYIVAN CHRONICLE

For centuries, Russian scholarship has been trying to appropriate the history of the medieval Rus’ state and its literature. At the same time, most Russian historians, from the 19th century to the present, have had to acknowledge that the definitions of Rus’ and Rus’ land in the chronicles of that time refer to the territory of the Kyiv, Pereiaslav and Chernihiv principalities or in some cases, only to the Kyiv land. That is why today’s Russia stubbornly repeats that there is no Ukraine and no Ukrainians, only ‘Malorossia’ and ‘Malorossians.’ Ukrainian scholars must actively work to dispel these myths. A renewed reading of history, especially of the medieval period, should lay the foundation for the full-scale cultural modernization of the Ukrainian nation and state. As a document of its time, the Kyivan Chronicle deserves special attention from Ukrainian scholars. It preserved dozens of testimonies about conflict situations related to the attempts of the Rurik dynasty princes to take over Kyiv. After the death of Volodymyr Monomakh’s son Yaropolk in 1139, the rule of Kyiv changed hands 40 times by the end of the 12th century. In the single year of 1173, the change of power took place 4 times. The chroniclers portrayed Iziaslav Mstyslavych, Yurii Volodymyrovych, and Andriy Yuriiovych as the most active participants in the Kyivan Wars. However, the last of them fought not ‘for’ Kyiv, but openly ‘against’ it. He was brought up on the border of two traditions — the one of Kyivan Rus and the Eastern — but clearly preferred the latter. He spent a long time in the Rus’ land, where he had certain rights and prospects, but then returned to Zalissia and became an autocrat there. He tried to fill his capital with symbols of greatness, directly imitating the sacred landmarks of Kyiv. He managed to capture and destroy Kyiv in 1169, but his next attempt in 1173 was unsuccessful. Galician and Volyn regiments came to support the people of Kyiv against the ruler of Zalissia.