Main description: An overriding assumption has long directed scholarship in both European and Slavic history: that Kievan Rus' in the tenth through twelfth centuries was part of a Byzantine commonwealth separate from Europe. Christian Raffensperger refutes this conception and offers a new frame for two hundred years of history, one in which Rus' is understood as part of medieval Europe and East is not so neatly divided from West. With the aid of Latin sources, the author brings to light the considerable political, religious, marital, and economic ties among European kingdoms, including Rus', restoring a historical record rendered blank by Rusianmonastic chroniclers as well as modern scholars ideologically motivated to build barriers between East and West. Further, Raffensperger revises the concept of a Byzantine Commonwealth that stood in opposition to Europe-and under which Rus' was subsumed-toward that of a Byzantine Ideal esteemed and emulated by all the states of Europe. In this new context, appropriation of Byzantine customs, law, coinage, art, and architecture in both Rus' and Europe can be understood as an attempt to gain legitimacy and prestige by association with the surviving remnant of the Roman Empire. Reimagining Europe initiates an expansion of history that is sure to challenge ideas of Russian exceptionalism and influence the course of European medieval studies.

Looks at the history of Russia during the Kievan period, from 862 to 1237.

A leading international authority discusses all aspects of Russian history, from the struggle by the state to control society to the transformation of the nation into a multi-ethnic empire, Russia's relations with the West and the post-Soviet era. Original.

The authors included in this volume, Ilarion, Klim Smoljatic and Kirill of Turov, are remarkable for both their personal and literary achievements. Simon Franklin prefaces the texts with a substantial introduction that places each of the three authors in their historical context.

"Describes and analyzes the dynastic marriages of the descendants of Volodimer, the first ruler of Kyivan Rus', across medieval Europe from the tenth through the twelfth centuries and presents more than twenty-two genealogical charts with accompanying bibliographic information"--

An historical study of the contest for the legacy of Kievan Rus. This contest was conducted by the various Slav states - Russia, the Ukraine and Poland - with the aim of establishing direct historical continuity to Kievan Rus in order to validate their claims to its legacy.

Among the finest products of early Ukrainian literature were the Lives of the first Rus' saints. Hollingsworth provides a lucid introduction that discusses each saint and his or her cult in the historical as well as social contexts and examines the literary and textual features of the Rus' vitae.

14 Laying the foundations and laying out the building on the site -- 15 The period of construction -- 16 The construction process -- 17 The size and structure of the building teams -- 18 The social position of the builders -- Conclusion -- Indexes

This volume consists of two of the oldest texts of Kievan Rus': the Izbornik of 1076 and Grigorij the Philosopher's Homilies on all the Days of the Week. The Izbornik is the earliest extant witness to the reception and subsequent transformation of Eastern Orthodox moral instruction that resulted from the transmission to Rus' of Bulgarian Slavic translations from Greek.