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Kievan Rus'

EuropeHeartland today: Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia

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A federation of eastern Slavic principalities ruled from Kyiv by the Rurikid dynasty, from about 882 until the Mongol sack of Kyiv in 1240. Vladimir took Christianity from Byzantium around 988, and Yaroslav's reign is counted its height. Ukraine, Russia and Belarus each trace part of their history to it.

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Key events

  1. According to the Primary Chronicle, Prince Oleg moves his seat from Novgorod to Kyiv and rules the Rus from thereDisputed

    The year and Oleg's rule rest on the Primary Chronicle, compiled about 230 years later. Encyclopedia.com gives Oleg's reign as starting in 879 or 882.

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  2. Prince Vladimir accepts Christianity from Byzantium, and Byzantine clergy baptize the people of Kyiv in the DnieperDisputed

    Sources give 987 or 988, and disagree on whether Vladimir was baptized in Kyiv or at Chersonesos. His baptism was tied to marriage with Anna, sister of Emperor Basil II.

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  3. – Yaroslav becomes sole ruler of the Rus when his brother Mstislav dies in 1036, and reigns until 1054

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  4. Monks at Kyiv complete the Primary Chronicle, the main written account of Rus' early historyDisputed

    The date is approximate. The text is now thought to be a compilation of earlier works, possibly edited by the monk Nestor, and the oldest surviving manuscript dates from 1377.

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  5. A coalition of princes sent by Andrei Bogolyubsky of Vladimir plunders Kyiv

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  6. The Mongol army of Batu Khan takes and sacks Kyiv

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