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XX
Translation: П.С. Стефанович, Древнерусское понятие чести в памятниках литературы домонгольской Руси, "Древняя Русь: Вопросы медиевистики", 2004, 2 (16). pp. 63-87. The text is a historiographical polemic with the thesis put forward by Yuri Lotman in the context of research into the medieval concept of honor.
EN
The article by Stefan Kozak is devoted to the beginnings of the rooting of Christianity within culture of Kievan Rus. This early stage was very important for the subject of the article and makes the starting point for tracing its continuity in the next historical and cultural epochs. In a concise way the author presents the most important old-Russian Christian roots of Ukrainian culture, including the sources essential to the shaping of tradition of Christianitas in Ukraine, while a component of its success was the very development of culture itself. The author emphasizes the fact that through the centuries the Ecclesia semper reformanda set directions for the development of literature, culture and arts.
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Rus and Khazars

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EN
The southern thrust of the Rus in the ninth–tenth centuries is to be explained not only by Viking hunger for wealth and glory, but also by the large, rapidly growing market for furs in the Caliphate. In order to reach that market, the Rus had to cross the Khazars’ sphere of influence in the steppes and wooded steppes of the Volga and Don regions. The khaganate was a great power, which presided over many client peoples. It was perhaps awareness of the potential threat posed by the Rus which prompted the Khazars to improve their northern defences in the 830s. There is clear evidence that they then extended their authority over the Rus, their khagan being acknowledged as Rus ruler. The subsequent history of the Rus, up to their successful rebellion in 965, can only be understood if account is taken of Khazar influence and of wider geopolitical circumstances. The following propositions, all to some extent conjectural, are put forward: (1) that the first Rus attack on Constantinople in 860 was a show of force, timed to coincide with several Arab raids on Byzantine territory, and that it was initiated by the Khazars at the urging of the central Abbasid authorities; (2) that Byzantium was seeking a useful ally both against the Balkan Bulgars and against the Sajids of Azerbaijan, when it offered substantial trade concessions to the Rus in 911, that no objection was made by the Khazars, who had recently faced problems from the Oghuz Turks and their Pecheneg clients, and that the treaty resulted in a damaging Rus raid in the Caspian region after 912–913; (3) that there was a serious deterioration in Khazar-Byzantine relations in the 920s; (4) that the second Rus attack on Constantinople in 941 (this time in great force) was instigated by the Khazars, in response to an abortive Rus rebellion; and (5) that the Rus subsequently patched up relations with the Khazars, who allowed them to invade Azerbaijan in 944–945, and made peace with the Byzantines, signing a new trade treaty in 944. Apart from some evidence of assimilation of Khazar customs, it was the division of the Rus into twenty or so distinct principalities which was the principal longterm outcome of Khazar influence.
EN
This article reviews the creation and the roots of two historical legends about the trip of Ivan Smera to Alexandria and the privilege of Alexander Macedon to Slavs. The methodology of current research is based on the comparison of historical narratives. Two versions of the legend about the trip to the Orient were composed on the ground of old Kyivan chronicle which narrates the story about the choice of religion by Kyivan prince Volodimer in the last decades of the Xth century when several ambassadors were sent to study the peculiarities of Judaism, Islam, Latin and Byzantine Christianity. During the second half of the XVI century, a new version of this tale was composed by Calvinists in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. It narrates the visit of a certain person (Jolash or Ivan Smera) who arrived at Alexandria in North Africa to investigate the customs of the local Christian community. Ivan Smera found that the customs and the rite of the local community reflect the ideals of simple Christian service, without icons and church decoration. The rite of this religious community responds to the customs and the service of Calvinism. Smera has reported about the customs of Alexandria’s Christians to Volodimer but the Kyivan price ignored the ambassador’s notes and accepted Christianity in the byzantine rite. The other legend, which circulated in East and Central Europe during the Renaissance, narrates about the privilege of Alexander Macedon that was inscribed by golden letters on the tables in Alexandria. This imagined document relates that Slavic tribes arrived from the lands of Illyria and Dalmatia under the rulership of chieftains Lech, Roxolan, and Czech. It seems that both legends are rooted in Alexandria because Arianism prevailed in this city during late antiquity and Calvinism leaders supposed to establish good relations with orthodox patriarchs of this city in the second half of the XVI century. Religious life in ancient Alexandria was treated by the authors of the legend about the trip to North Africa as an example of perfect Christianity.
PL
In 2016, an Early Medieval sword scabbard chape was handed over to the Museum of Kostrzyn Fortress. According to the person submitting it, it was found about 5-6 years earlier in the northern part of Kostrzyn nad Odrą. The main decorative motif of the openwork field is a heraldically arranged bird. The closest analogies to the chape in question are dated to the second half of the 10th and 11th century. Artefacts of this type could have been produced in Scandinavia, but also in the Rus and Baltic areas. Unfortunately, we are not able to say what raw material was used to cast the artefact in question. An analysis of the metal composition of the find carried out on the surface of the artefact demonstrated that a very heterogeneous lead alloy was used, which could have also been a result of lead-bleaching. The same technology was also observed on the chapes from Ruthenia. Scholars have explained the presence of an ornithomorphic motif on the surface of the artefact in various ways
EN
The Arabic sources comprising the information about the society called ar-Rūs play an important role in the disputes between the Normanists and the Anti-normanists. The data provided by Arab travelers and historians do not only give laconic notes of the community bearing such a name, but also constitute valuable and comprehensive characteristics of their customs, social relations and religion. Therefore, they allow to obtain various information regarding the factors constituting the identity of that early Medieval society. Thus, it is not surprising that the Arabic information concerning the people called ar-Rūs engage both the historians of the Slavic people and archaeologists or ethnologists as well. In this article the material from the account of Ahmad ibn Fadlan’s journey to the Kama Bulgars (the first half of the 10th c.) was scrutinized to state which cultural traditions the costumes and forms of worship of the old Rus might be connected to.
PL
Źródła arabskie zawierające informacje o społeczności określanej jako ar-Rūs odgrywają istotną rolę w sporze między normanistami i antynormanistami. Informacje przekazane przez arabskich podróżników oraz historyków dostarczają nie tylko lakonicznych wzmianek o ludzie noszącym taką nazwę, lecz dodatkowo zawierają cenne i obszerne charakterystyki obyczajów, stosunków społecznych oraz religii. Pozwalają zatem uzyskać różnorodne dane dotyczące czynników składających się na tożsamość tego wczesnośredniowiecznego ludu. Nie dziwi zatem, że arabskie dane dotyczące ludu ar-Rūs interesują zarówno historyków Słowian, jak również archeologów czy etnologów. W niniejszym artykule poddano rozważaniom materiał pochodzący z relacji z podróży do Bułgarów kamskich Ahmada ibn Fadlāna (1. poł. X wieku) w celu odpowiedzi na pytanie o to, z kulturą jakiego ludu można wiązać obyczaje oraz formy kultu Rusów.
EN
Comparative studies of medical specialization in Orthodox and Catholic monasteries. Preliminary remarks. The article is dedicated to the problem of the genesis of hospitals and specialization of some Catholic and Orthodox monasteries in the provision of medical care and other charitable activities. The relevance of the topic is dictated by the difficulty in explaining the phenomenon of the Orthodox Trinity Hospital Monastery in Kyiv outside the context of the history of Rus as a part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Orthodox monasteries are not characterized by the reflection in their name of the monastery’s implied charitable function. The problems of historiography relating to the monastery as a medical institution are discussed in the article. It focuses how the imperial concept of historical development prevails in post-Soviet countries, also either West European connections or regional features is taken little into account. Despite the meager available source base, posing the question makes it possible to identify promising areas of research, such as a comparison of the charters of Orthodox and Catholic monasteries with regard to the care of patients, dependence of specialized church institutions on public health policy, dynamics of the evolution of hospitals in Catholic and Orthodox monasteries, an architectural and spatial structure of medical units there, monastic view of disease and medical practice, which highlight the issues of the monasteries’ social role and their functioning during epidemics.
EN
The printer’s mark was used for the first time in 1457 (Mainz Psalter), and rapidly found numerous followers. Initially its function was to protect the printer against profits being taken over by dishonest competitors. Over time, it has become a symbol of beliefs, outlook on life, and the sense of aesthetics of the printer/editor. Ivan Fiodorov designed his typographic mark in the 70 s of the 16th century for prints that were issued from his first own printing shop in Lviv. That mark, as well as the person of the master of the black art and his publications have been extensively described in the rich literature of the subject. This paper is an attempt at polemics with certain determinations of Russian and Ukrainian researchers on the subject of that mark, trying to prove that Ivan Fiodorov designed only one printer’s mark (and not two or three as it is claimed by some of the researchers), the differences observable in the Lviv and Ostrog prints being insignificant enough to justify the thesis of two variants of the same printer’s mark. Then the author presents numerous, some fairly controversial, hypotheses concerning the genesis and symbolism of Fiodorov’s printer’s mark. Most researchers assume that the iconographic motif placed on the mark – an inverted Latin letter “S” (the symbol of a river) with the arrow pointing upwards refers to the words of Nestor: Great are the benefits from book learning [. . . ] as we gain wisdom and moderation through the words of the books, as those are like rivers feeding the whole world. . . That interpretation is argued against by A. Gusieva who maintains that the ideological centre of the printer’s mark of Fiodorov was the shovel plough – a simple agricultural implement, seeking a similarity to it (the mark) in the shape of one of its elements. To support her thesis the Russian researcher cites the Postscriptum to the Lviv Apostol (Acts of the Apostles) which includes words of key importance for her argument: “shovel plough”, “sowing”, “grain”. In that manner, according to her, the printer refers to be Biblical phrase: “The Sower sows the Word”, perceiving there an analogy to the mission of education and culture proliferation among the people. The paper presents specific facts from the life of Fiodorov and demonstrates that the fragment cited in the text by Gusieva had been taken out of a broader context which totally changed the intent of the printer’s expression. The paper argues in favour of the aquatic symbolism of the iconographic motif placed on the printer’s mark of Ivan Fiodorov as the most adequate to the message it carries.
EN
Studies over the history of former Russia are at present characterized by the regard of individual varieties of its regions, what makes a certain approach to the assumption formed in the second half of the XIX century concerning „the uniform nationality of old Russian”. The approach stated the existence of the common ancestor of today’s Russians, Ukrainians and Byelorussians. New settlements on the subject of factors bearing upon the consolidation of the old Russian society, demand from an explorer – to achieve a convincing decision of the problem of the collective self-identification in the Middle Ages – reaching for the ancient monuments of the literature in which historic explicite bases could come to light based on which human communities of former Russia identified their own members or opposed each other. The specific structure of the old Russian state consisting of Kiev and of Novogrod “estates” as well as appearing in ancient literary monuments definitions such as the Ruthenian “tribe”, the Varangian “tribe” make us wonder over the meaning and connotations, which designed “old Russian nationality” carries with itself.
PL
Studia nad dziejami dawnej Rusi charakteryzują się obecnie uwzględnianiem różnorodności poszczególnych jej regionów, co stanowi pewne odejście od ukształtowanego w drugiej połowie XIX wieku założenia o „jednolitej narodowości staroruskiej”. Zakładało one istnienie wspólnego przodka dzisiejszych Rosjan, Ukraińców oraz Białorusinów. Nowe ustalenia na temat czynników wpływających na konsolidację staroruskiego społeczeństwa wymagają od badacza – w celu dokonania przekonującego rozstrzygnięcia problemu zbiorowej samoidentyfikacji w średniowieczu – sięgnięcia po te zabytki piśmiennictwa, w których ujawnić się mogły explicite historyczne podstawy dokonywania przez zbiorowości ludzkie dawnej Rusi identyfikacji swoich członków lub wzajemnego przeciwstawiania się sobie. Specyficzna struktura państwa staroruskiego składającego się z „włości” kijowskiej i nowogrodzkiej oraz pojawiające się w zabytkach piśmienniczych określenia typu „ród ruski”, „ród wareski” każą zastanowić się nad znaczeniem i konotacjami, jakie niesie ze sobą projektowana „narodowość staroruska”.
DE
,,Baptismus Ruthenorum" ist ein unvergängliches, die Tiefe der Renaissancetheologie darstellendes Werk. Diese Theologie strebte nach Bewahrung und Wiederaufbau der religiösen und zivilisatorischen Einheit des christlichen Europas. Stanislaw Orzechowski (1513-1566), ein begabter Schriftsteller und Theologe, Humanist und religiöser Polemiker erweckt aus diesem Grunde, genauso wie seine Anschauungen - als ob aus dem Grenzbereich zweier Kulturen: der östlichen und der westlichen - das Interesse der Literatur-, Kultur- und Thologiehistoriker der Renaissance. Er nimmt einen besonderen Platz in der Theologiegeschichte ein wegen seiner eigenen Vorstellung von Wiederaufbau der religiösen und zivilisatorischen Einheit des Christentums. Als Humanist bleibt Orzechowski zwar unter der Beeinflussung von Erasmus aus Rotterdam und von den durch die Reformationswelle ausgelösten Strömungen, doch der Bezugspunkt seiner Theologie ist der Glaube an die Mission des gesamt-christlichen Konzils. Dieser Idee bleibt er treu trotz konfessioneller Wirbel in der Theologie. Eben in diesem Geiste entsteht „Baptismus Ruthenorum" (1544) als ein Beitrag zur großen Vorkonzildiskussion über die Wiederherstellung der Einheit in dem Christentum der lateinischen Tradition. Im Grunde genommen ist das eine Abhandlung über das richtige Verstehen der Katholizität und der Allgemeinheit der Kirche - des mystischen Leibs Christi. In dieser Kirche bildet die Taufe die Grundlage der antiken Einheit - der Katholizität christlicher Kirchen der fünf Traditionen. Es ist also eine Abhandlung über die Notwendigkeit der Wiederherstellung des komplementären Charakters in der Definition der römischen Kirche. Interessant ist hier der für das richtige Verständnis der Anschauungen des Theo-logen unentbehrliche ruthenische Kulturkontext. Dieses „gente Roxolanus" oder „gente Ruthenus" zeigt in dem Zusammenhang mit dem weiteren Teil (natione vero Polonus fidei catholicae) eine Spezifik der Kultur der ruthenischen Gebiete Polens in der Renaissanceetappe ihrer Entwicklung. Diese Spezifik stützt sich auf die Kontinuität des geschichtlichen Gedächtnisses, die auf die Taufe Rutheniens zurück-greift. Orzechowski, der „Prophet aus Ruthenien", setzt auf der Grundlage der lateinischen Theologie die altrussische Idee über die Würde der Taufe in der ruthenisehen Kirche und über die Notwendigkeit des Wiederaufbaus der ursprünglichen Einheit fort. Er weist deutlich auf den Bedeutungsunterschied zwischen den Begriffen „Ecclesia catholica" und „Ecclesia universalis" hin. Das vieldeutige Verstehen der „Katholizität" trug zur konfessionellen Teilung und letzten Endes zur Zerstörung der Einheit der christlichen Zivilisation bei. Da die genannte Abhandlung eine positive Antwort des Theologen auf das Problem der Epoche ist, bringt er in ihr seine eigene Vorstellung der künftigen Einheit zum Ausdruck. Geschichtliche Elemente erfüllen hier die Rolle eines die Einheit der östlichen und westlichen Slawen in einer Kirche illustrierenden Bildes. Der Autor führt Beispiele der Einigkeit an. Sie sind ein Symptom der Teilnahme der Orthodoxen und der römischen Katholiken in der ursprünglichen Tradition der nicht geteilten Kirche. Dadurch wird Orzechowski zum Sänger der vergessenen Gabe der Einheit. Ein Zeichen der Antizipation des Aufbaus der künftigen Brüderlichkeit ist das Beispiel der Zusammenarbeit der lateinischen und griechisch-orthodoxen Priesterherrschaft in Lemberg. Ihr Resultat ist das bis heute existierende russisch-orthodoxe Bistum von Halicz-Lemberg. sehen Kirche und über die Notwendigkeit des Wiederaufbaus der ursprünglichen Einheit fort. Er weist deutlich auf den Bedeutungsunterschied zwischen den Begriffen „Ecclesia catholica" und „Ecclesia universalis" hin. Das vieldeutige Verstehen der „Katholizität" trug zur konfessionellen Teilung und letzten Endes zur Zerstörung der Einheit der christlichen Zivilisation bei. Da die genannte Abhandlung eine positive Antwort des Theologen auf das Problem der Epoche ist, bringt er in ihr seine eigene Vorstellung der künftigen Einheit zum Ausdruck. Geschichtliche Elemente erfüllen hier die Rolle eines die Einheit der östlichen und westlichen Slawen in einer Kirche illustrierenden Bildes. Der Autor führt Beispiele der Einigkeit an. Sie sind ein Symptom der Teilnahme der Orthodoxen und der römischen Katholiken in der ursprünglichen Tradition der nicht geteilten Kirche. Dadurch wird Orzechowski zum Sänger der vergessenen Gabe der Einheit. Ein Zeichen der Antizipation des Aufbaus der künftigen Brüderlichkeit ist das Beispiel der Zusammenarbeit der lateinischen und griechisch-orthodoxen Priesterherrschaft in Lemberg. Ihr Resultat ist das bis heute existierende russisch-orthodoxe Bistum von Halicz-Lemberg.
PL
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PL
„Puer et Ruthena puella”, czyli małżeństwo Mieszka syna Bolesława Szczodrego to artykuł polemiczny poświęcony dyskusji historiograficznej wokół związku zawartego w 1089 roku przez polskiego księcia Mieszka. W roku 1076 Bolesław Szczodry stracił władzę w Polsce i musiał wraz z rodziną uchodzić na Węgry. Po śmierci Bolesława, Mieszko, z inicjatywy stryja Władysława Hermana, wrócił do kraju. Tu, jak napisał w swej kronice Anonim tzw . Gall, ożenił się z „ruską dziewczyną”. Fakt ten oprócz kroniki odnotowały również najstarsze polskie roczniki, stwierdzając lakonicznie „Mesco duxit uxorem”. Lapidarne wzmianki źródeł spowodowały dyskusję w gronie historyków, poszukujących politycznych paranteli tego mariażu. Ojca „ruskiej dziewczyny” widziano w Izjasławie Jarosławiczu, jego synu Światopełku, Wsiewołodzie Jarosławiczu lub którymś z poddniestrzańskich Rościsławiczów. Liczne propozycje nie doprowadziły do rozstrzygających konstatacji . W ostatnim okresie w polskiej historiografii pojawiły się głosy dające asumpt do nowego, oryginalnego opisu historii małżeństwa Mieszka. Wskazywały one „półprywatny” i niedynastyczny charakter ożenku. Sugerowały też złe intencje inicjatora związku, Władysława Hermana, działającego celowo i złośliwie na niekorzyść bratanka. Potwierdzeniem hipotez miało być nazwanie przez kronikarza wybranki księcia „ruską dziewczyną” oraz brak wzmianki na temat jej dynastycznego pochodzenia. Podstępne poczynania stryja wobec młodzieńca były z kolei odpowiedzią na jego niegdysiejszy związek, skojarzony przymusowo przez ojca Mieszka, Bolesława Szczodrego. Wówczas Władysław także musiał ożenić się z kobietą niedynastycznego pochodzenia. Wydaje się jednak, że określenie małżonki Mieszka „ruską dziewczyną”, wynikało z pisarskiej konwencji przyjętej przez Galla Anonima w ramach relacji z ostatnich chwil życia syna Szczodrego. Tu książę nazywany jest chłopcem, a jego partnerka, dziewczyną. Sądzę, że miana te nie wyłączają dynastycznego pochodzenia obojga. Poza tym, Gall w swej kronice, często marginalnie traktował informacje o korzeniach rodzinnych żon Piastów. Uznanie małej wiarygodności hipotezy o niedynastycznym związku Mieszka dezaktualizuje także, nie mające źródłowego uzasadnienia, przypuszczenie o oryginalnej zemście Hermana na bratanku.
EN
“Puer et Ruthena puella: the marriage of Mieszko, son of Bolesław II the Generous”, is a polemical article dedicated to a historiographical discussion about the liaison made in 1089 by the Polish Prince Mieszko. In 1076, Bolesław II the Generous lost power in Poland and had to flee with his family to Hungary. After Bolesław’s death, Mieszko returned to Poland on the initiative of his uncle, Władysław I Herman. There, as the so called Gallus Anonymus wrote in his chronicle, Mieszko married a “Ruthenian girl”. Apart from Gallus’ chronicle, this event was recorded also in the oldest Polish annals, stating laconically: “Mesco duxit uxorem”. Terse mentions in historical records spurred a discussion among historians, who wanted to ascertain political genealogy of this marriage. The father of the “Ruthenian girl” was believed to be either Iziaslav Yarolavich, his son Sviatopolk, Vsevolod Jaroslavich or one of the Transnistrian Rostyslavyches. Numerous suggestions did not lead to any final conclusion. The most recent period in the Polish historiography gave rise to a new, original description of the history of the marriage in question. It pointed to its “semi-private” and non-dynastic nature. It was also suggested that the initiator of the union, Władysław Herman, was motivated by bad intentions, acting intentionally and maliciously to the detriment of his nephew. The hypothesis was supported by the chronicler’s references made to the Prince’s bride as a “Ruthenian girl” and the lack of mention of her dynastic lineage. Cunning actions of the young man’s uncle were supposed to be a response to one of his own marriages, forced by Mieszko’s father, Bolesław II the Generous. Władysław Herman also had to marry a woman without a dynastic heritage. However, it seems that calling Mieszko’s wife a “Ruthenian girl” could be merely a part of the literary convention adopted by Gallus Anonymus in the account of the last moments of life of Bolesław’s son. The Prince is referred to as a boy, and his wife – a girl. In my opinion, this does not exclude their dynastic origins. Moreover, in his chronicle, Gallus often did not pay much attention to family roots of the wives of the Piasts. Recognizing the unlikelihood of the hypothesis of a non-dynastic marriage of Mieszko would also invalidate the supposed, yet not substantiated by any evidence, revenge of Władysław Herman on his nephew.
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