Dynasty of Kyiv princes Rurikovich. Rurik Dynasty

There were Rurikovichs for sure, but was there a Rurik... Most likely he was, but his personality still raises many more questions than answers.

The Tale of Bygone Years tells about the calling of Rurik by the Eastern Slavs. According to the Tale, this happened in 862 (although the calendar in Rus' in those years was different, and the year in fact was not 862). Some researchers. and this can be seen in particular from the diagram below, Rurik is called the founder of the dynasty, but its foundation is considered only from his son Igor. Probably, during his lifetime, Rurik did not have time to recognize himself as the founder of a dynasty, because he was busy with other things. But the descendants, after thinking about it, decided to call themselves a dynasty.

Three main hypotheses regarding the origin have been formed.

The first - the Norman theory - claims that Rurik with his brothers and retinue were from the Vikings. Among the Scandinavian peoples at that time, as proven by research, the name Rurik really existed (meaning “illustrious and noble man”). True, there are problems with a specific candidate, information about which is also available in other historical stories or documents. There is no clear identification with anyone: for example, the noble Danish Viking of the 9th century, Rorik of Jutland, or a certain Eirik Emundarson from Sweden, who raided the Baltic lands, is described.
The second, Slavic version, where Rurik is shown as a representative of the princely family of the Obodrites from the West Slavic lands. There is information that one of the Slavic tribes living on the territory of historical Prussia was then called Varangians. Rurik is a variant of the Western Slavic “Rerek, Rarog” - not a personal name, but the name of the Obodrit princely family, meaning “falcon”. Supporters of this version believe that the coat of arms of the Rurikovichs was precisely a symbolized image of a falcon.
The third theory believes that Rurik really did not exist at all - the founder of the Rurik dynasty emerged from the local Slavic population during the struggle for power, and two hundred years later his descendants, in order to ennoble their origins, ordered the author of The Tale of Bygone Years a propaganda story about the Varangian Rurik.

Over the years, the princely dynasty of Rurikovich was fragmented into many branches. Not many European dynasties can compare with it in the ramifications and large number of offspring. But this was the very policy of this ruling group; they did not set out to sit firmly in the capital; on the contrary, they sent their offspring to all corners of the country.

The branching of the Rurikovichs begins in the generation of Prince Vladimir (some call him the Saint, and some the Bloody), and first of all the line of the princes of Polotsk, descendants of Izyaslav Vladimirovich, separates.

Very briefly about some of the Rurikovichs

After the death of Rurik, power passed to Saint Oleg, who became the guardian of Rurik’s young son, Igor. Prophetic Oleg united the scattered Russian principalities into one state. He glorified himself with intelligence and belligerence, with a large army he went down the Dnieper, took Smolensk, Lyubech, Kyiv and made the latter his capital city. Askold and Dir were killed, and Oleg showed little Igor to the clearings:

“Here is the son of Rurik - your prince.”

As you know, according to legend, he died from a snake bite.

Further Igor grew up and became the Grand Duke of Kyiv. He contributed to the strengthening of statehood among Eastern Slavs, the extension of the power of the Kyiv prince to the East Slavic tribal associations between the Dniester and the Danube. But in the end he turned out to be a greedy ruler, for which he was killed by the Drevlyans.

Olga, Igor's wife, cruelly took revenge on the Drevlyans for the death of her husband and conquered them main city Korosten. She was distinguished by a rare intelligence and great abilities. In her declining years she accepted Christianity and was later canonized.

One of the most famous princesses in Rus'.

Svyatoslav. Known as one of the most prominent commanders from the Rurik family, for the most part he did not sit still, but was on military campaigns. His son Yaropolk considered responsible for the death of his brother Oleg, who tried to claim the Kiev throne.

But Yaropolk was also killed, and again by his brother, Vladimir.

The same one Vladimir that Rus' baptized. The Kiev Grand Duke Vladimir Svyatoslavovich was at first a fanatical pagan; he is also credited with such traits as vindictiveness and bloodthirstiness. At least he did not regret his brother and got rid of him in order to take the princely throne in Kyiv.

His son Yaroslav Vladimirovich, to whom history added the nickname “Wise,” was truly a wise and diplomatic ruler of the Old Russian state. The time of his reign was not only about internecine feudal wars between close relatives, but also attempts to Kievan Rus on the world political arena, attempts to overcome feudal fragmentation, construction of new cities. The reign of Yaroslav the Wise is the development of Slavic culture, a kind of golden period of the Old Russian state.

Izyaslav - I- the eldest son of Yaroslav, after the death of his father he took the Kiev throne, but after an unsuccessful campaign against the Polovtsians, he was driven out by the people of Kiev, and his brother became the Grand Duke Svyatoslav. After the death of the latter, Izyaslav returned to Kyiv again.

Vsevolod - I could have been a useful ruler and a worthy representative of the Rurikovichs, but it didn’t work out. This prince was pious, truthful, loved education very much and knew five languages, but the Polovtsian raids, famine, pestilence and turmoil in the country did not favor his principality. He held onto the throne only thanks to his son Vladimir, nicknamed Monomakh.

Svyatopolk - II- the son of Izyaslav I, who inherited the Kiev throne after Vsevolod I, was distinguished by his lack of character and was unable to pacify the civil strife of the princes over the possession of cities. At the congress in Lyubich Pereslavl in 1097, the princes kissed the cross “to each one own his father’s land,” but soon Prince David Igorevich blinded Prince Vasilko.

The princes gathered again for a congress in the year 1100, and deprived David of Volhynia; at the suggestion of Vladimir Monomakh, they decided at the Dolob congress, in 1103, to undertake a joint campaign against the Polovtsians, the Russians defeated the Polovtsians on the Sal River (in 1111) and took a lot of cattle: cattle, sheep, horses, etc. The Polovtsian princes alone killed up to 20 people . The fame of this victory spread far among the Greeks, Hungarians and other Slavs.

Vladimir Monomakh. A widely known representative of the Rurik dynasty. Despite the seniority of the Svyatoslavichs, after the death of Svyatopolk II, Vladimir Monomakh was elected to the Kiev throne, who, according to the chronicle, “wanted good for the brethren and the whole Russian land.” He stood out for his great abilities, rare intelligence, courage and tirelessness. He was happy in his campaigns against the Polovtsians. He humbled the princes with his severity. The “teaching to children” he left is remarkable, in which he gives purely Christian moral teaching and high example the prince's service to his homeland.

Mstislav - I. Resembling his father Monomakh, Monomakh's son, Mstislav I, lived harmoniously with his brothers in mind and character, inspiring respect and fear in the disobedient princes. So, he expelled the Polovtsian princes who disobeyed him to Greece, and instead of them, he installed his son to rule in the city of Polotsk.

Yaropolk, Mstislav's brother, Yaropolk, son of Monomakh, decided to transfer the inheritance not to his brother Vyacheslav, but to his nephew. Thanks to the discord that arose from here, the Monomakhovichs lost the Kiev throne, which passed to the descendants of Oleg Svyatoslavovich - the Olegovichs.

Vsevolod - II. Having achieved a great reign, Vsevolod wanted to consolidate the Kiev throne in his family and handed it over to his brother Igor Olegovich. But not recognized by the people of Kiev and tonsured a monk, Igor was soon killed.

Izyaslav - II. The people of Kiev recognized Izyaslav II Mstislavovich, who vividly resembled his famous grandfather Monomakh with his intelligence, brilliant talents, courage and friendliness. With the accession of Izyaslav II to the grand-ducal throne, the rooted in ancient Rus' concept of seniority: In one family, a nephew could not be a Grand Duke during his uncle’s lifetime.

Yury Dolgoruky". Prince of Suzdal from 1125, Grand Duke Kiev in 1149-1151, 1155-1157, founder of Moscow. Yuri was the sixth son of Prince Vladimir Monomakh. After the death of his father, he inherited the Rostov-Suzdal principality and immediately began to strengthen the borders of his inheritance, erecting fortresses on them. So, for example, under him the fortress of Ksyantin arose, as modern Tver was previously called. By his order, the following cities were founded: Dubna, Yuryev-Polsky, Dmitrov, Pereslavl-Zalessky, Zvenigorod, Gorodets. The first chronicle mention of Moscow in 1147 is also associated with the name of Yuri Dolgoruky.
The life of this prince is unusual and interesting. The youngest son of Vladimir Monomakh could not claim more than an appanage principality. He received the Rostov principality as his inheritance, which became prosperous under Yuri. Many settlements arose here. The tireless son of Monomakh received his nickname “Dolgoruky” for his ambitions, for constantly interfering in other people’s affairs and for his constant desire to seize other people’s lands.
Owning the Rostov-Suzdal land, Yuri always sought to expand the territory of his principality and often raided neighboring lands owned by his relatives. Most of all, he dreamed of capturing Kyiv. In 1125, Yuri moved the capital of the principality from Rostov to Suzdal, from where he made campaigns to the south, strengthening his squad with mercenary Polovtsian troops. He annexed the cities of Murom, Ryazan, and part of the lands along the banks of the Volga to the Rostov Principality.
The Suzdal prince occupied Kyiv three times, but he never managed to stay there for long. The struggle for the great reign with his nephew Izyaslav Mstislavich was long. Yuri entered Kiev three times as Grand Duke, but only the third time did he remain so until the end of his days. The people of Kiev did not like Prince Yuri. This was explained by the fact that Yuri more than once resorted to the help of the Polovtsians and was almost always a troublemaker during periods of struggle for the throne. Yuri Dolgoruky was a “newcomer” for the people of Kiev, from the North. According to the chronicler, after the death of Yuri in 1157, the people of Kiev plundered his rich mansions and killed the Suzdal detachment that came with him.

Andrey Bogolyubsky. Having accepted the title of grand duke, Andrei Yuryevich transferred the throne to Vladimir on the Klyazma, and from then on Kyiv began to lose its primacy position. The stern and strict Andrei wanted to be autocratic, that is, to rule Russia without a council or squads. Andrei Bogolyubsky mercilessly pursued the disgruntled boyars, they plotted against Andrei's life and killed him.

Alexander Nevskiy". Grand Duke of Novgorod (1236-1251). Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky consistently pursued a policy aimed at strengthening the northwestern borders of Rus' and reconciliation with the Tatars.
While still the Prince of Novgorod (1236-1251), he showed himself to be an experienced commander and wise ruler. Thanks to the victories won in the “Battle of the Neva” (1240), in the “Battle of the Ice” (1242), as well as numerous forays against the Lithuanians, Alexander for a long time discouraged the Swedes, Germans and Lithuanians from taking possession of the northern Russian lands.
Alexander pursued the opposite policy towards the Mongol-Tatars. It was a policy of peace and cooperation, the purpose of which was to prevent a new invasion of Rus'. The prince often traveled to the Horde with rich gifts. He managed to achieve the release of Russian soldiers from the obligation to fight on the side of the Mongol-Tatars.

Yuri - III. Having married the sister of Khan Konchak, in Orthodoxy Agafya, Yuri acquired great strength and help from the Tatars who were related to him. But soon, thanks to the claims of Prince Dmitry, the son of Mikhail, who was tortured by Khan, he had to report to the horde. Here, at the first meeting with Dmitry, Yuri was killed by him, in revenge for the death of his father and for a violation of morality (marriage to a Tatar).

Dmitry - II. Dmitry Mikhailovich, nicknamed “formidable eyes”, for the murder of Yuri III, was executed by the khan for arbitrariness.

Alexander Tverskoy. Brother executed in the horde Dmitry -II Alexander Mikhailovich was confirmed by the khan on the grand-ducal throne. He was distinguished by his kindness and was loved by the people, but he ruined himself by allowing the Tver people to kill the hated Khan's ambassador Shchelkan. The Khan sent 50,000 Tatar troops against Alexander. Alexander fled from the khan's wrath to Pskov, and from there to Lithuania. Ten years later, Alexander of Tver returned and was forgiven by the khan. Not getting along, however, with the Prince of Moscow Ivan Kalita, Alexander
he was slandered by him in front of the khan, the khan summoned him to the horde and executed him.

John I Kalita. John I Danilovich, a cautious and cunning prince, nicknamed Kalita (money purse) for his frugality, devastated the Tver principality with the help of the Tatars, taking advantage of the opportunity of violence of the indignant Tver residents against the Tatars. He took upon himself the collection of tribute from all over Rus' for the Tatars and, greatly enriched by this, bought cities from appanage princes. In 1326, the metropolitanate from Vladimir, thanks to the efforts of Kalita, was transferred to Moscow, and here, according to Metropolitan Peter, the Assumption Cathedral was founded. Since then, Moscow, as the seat of the Metropolitan of All Rus', has acquired the significance of a Russian center.

John -II Ioannovich, a meek and peace-loving prince, followed in everything the advice of Metropolitan Alexei, who enjoyed great importance in the Horde. During this time, Moscow's relations with the Tatars improved significantly.

Vasily - I. Sharing the reign with his father, Vasily I ascended the throne as an experienced prince and, following the example of his predecessors, actively expanded the boundaries of the Moscow principality: He acquired Nizhny Novgorod and other cities. In 1395, Rus' was in danger of an invasion by Timur, the formidable Tatar khan. Between
Thus, Vasily did not pay tribute to the Tatars, but collected it into the grand ducal treasury. In 1408, the Tatar Murza Edigei attacked Moscow, but after receiving a ransom of 3,000 rubles, he lifted the siege from it. In the same year, after long disputes between Vasily I and the Lithuanian prince Vytautas, both cautious and cunning, the Ugra River was designated as the extreme border of Lithuanian possessions on the Russian side.

Vasily - II Dark. Yuri Dmitrievich Galitsky took advantage of Vasily II's youth, declaring his claims to seniority. But at the trial in the horde, the khan leaned in favor of Vasily, thanks to the efforts of the smart Moscow boyar Ivan Vsevolozhsky. The boyar hoped to marry his daughter to Vasily, but was disappointed in his hopes: Offended, he left Moscow to Yuri Dmitrievich and assisted him in taking possession of the grand-ducal throne, on which Yuri died in 1434, when Yuri’s son Vasily the Oblique decided to inherit his father’s power, then all the princes rebelled against him.

Vasily II took him prisoner and blinded him: Then Dmitry Shemyaka, brother of Vasily Kosoy, captured Vasily II by cunning, blinded him and took the Moscow throne. Soon, however, Shemyaka had to give the throne to Vasily II. During the reign of Vasily II, the Greek metropolitan Isidore accepted the Florentine Union (1439), for this Vasily II put Isidore in custody, and the Ryazan Bishop John was installed as metropolitan. Thus, from now on, Russian metropolitans are appointed by a council of Russian bishops. Behind last years great princes, internal organization The grand duchy was the subject of the main concerns of Vasily II.

John - III. Accepted by his father as a co-ruler, John III Vasilyevich ascended the grand-ducal throne as the full owner of Rus'. He first severely punished the Novgorodians who had decided to become Lithuanian subjects, and in 1478, “for a new offense,” he finally subjugated them. Novgorodians lost their veche and
self-government, and the Novgorod mayor Maria and the veche bell were sent to John’s camp.

In 1485, after the final conquest of other appanages more or less dependent on the Moscow principality, John finally annexed the Tver principality to Moscow. By this time, the Tatars were divided into three independent hordes: Golden, Kazan and Crimean. They were at enmity with each other and were no longer afraid of the Russians. In official history it is believed that it was John III in 1480, having entered into an alliance with the Crimean Khan Mengli-Girey, tore apart the Khan's basma, ordered the Khan's ambassadors to be taken to execution, and then overthrew the Tatar yoke without bloodshed.

Vasily - III. The son of John III from his marriage to Sophia, Palaeologus Vasily III, was distinguished by his pride and inaccessibility, punishing the descendants of appanage princes and boyars under his control who dared to contradict him. He is “the last collector of the Russian land.”
Having annexed the last appanages (Pskov, the northern principality), he completely destroyed the appanage system. He fought twice with Lithuania, following the teachings of the Lithuanian nobleman Mikhail Glinsky, who entered his service, and finally, in 1514, he took Smolensk from the Lithuanians. The war with Kazan and Crimea was difficult for Vasily, but ended in the punishment of Kazan: Trade was diverted from there to the Makaryev fair, which was later moved to Nizhny. Vasily divorced his wife Solomonia and married Princess Elena Glinskaya, which further aroused the boyars who were dissatisfied with him against him. From this marriage Vasily had a son, John.

Elena Glinskaya. Appointed ruler of the state by Vasily III, the mother of three-year-old John Elena Glinskaya immediately took drastic measures against the boyars who were dissatisfied with her. She made peace with Lithuania and decided to fight the Crimean Tatars, who boldly attacked Russian possessions, but in the midst of preparations for a desperate struggle she died suddenly.

John - IV the Terrible. Left at the age of 8 in the hands of the boyars, the intelligent and talented Ivan Vasilyevich grew up amid the struggle of parties over the rule of the state, among violence, secret murders and incessant exile. Having himself often suffered oppression from the boyars, he learned to hate them, and the cruelty, riotousness and violence that surrounded him
rudeness contributed to the hardening of his heart.

In 1552, Ivan conquered Kazan, which dominated the entire Volga region, and in 1556 the kingdom of Astrakhan was annexed to the Moscow state. The desire to establish itself on the shores Baltic Sea made John start Livonian War, which brought him into conflict with Poland and Sweden. The war started quite successfully, but ended with the most unfavorable truce for John with Poland and Sweden: John not only did not establish himself on the shores of the Baltic, but also lost the coast of the Gulf of Finland. The sad era of “searches,” disgrace and executions began. John left Moscow, went with his entourage to the Alexandrovskaya Sloboda and here surrounded himself with guardsmen, whom John contrasted with the rest of the land, the zemshchina.

The Rurikovichs ruled for 748 years - from 862 to 1610.
Almost nothing is known for certain about the founder of the dynasty - Rurik.
Until the 15th century, none of the Russian tsars called themselves “Rurikovich”. The scientific debate about the personality of Rurik began only in the 18th century.
The common ancestors of all Rurikovichs are: Rurik himself, his son Igor, grandson Svyatoslav Igorevich and great-grandson Vladimir Svyatoslavich.
The use of a patronymic as part of a family name in Rus' is a confirmation of a person’s connections with his father. Nobles and simple people They called themselves, for example, “Mikhail, Petrov’s son.” It was considered a special privilege to add the ending “-ich” to the patronymic, which was allowed to people of high origin. This is how the Rurikovichs were called, for example, Svyatopolk Izyaslavich.
Vladimir the Saint had from different women 13 sons and at least 10 daughters.
Old Russian chronicles began to be compiled 200 years after the death of Rurik and a century after the baptism of Rus' (the appearance of writing) on the basis of oral traditions, Byzantine chronicles and the few existing documents.
The largest statesmen from the Rurikovichs there were the Grand Dukes Vladimir the Holy, Yaroslav the Wise, Vladimir Monomakh, Yuri Dolgoruky, Andrei Bogolyubsky, Vsevolod the Big Nest, Alexander Nevsky, Ivan Kalita, Dmitry Donskoy, Ivan the Third, Vasily the Third, Tsar Ivan the Terrible.
For a long time, the name Ivan, which was of Jewish origin, did not apply to ruling dynasty, however, starting with Ivan I (Kalita), four sovereigns from the Rurik family are called by it.
The symbol of the Rurikovichs was a tamga in the form of a diving falcon. The 19th century historian Stapan Gedeonov associated the very name of Rurik with the word “Rerek” (or “Rarog”), which in the Slavic tribe of Obodrits meant falcon. During excavations of early settlements of the Rurik dynasty, many images of this bird were found.
The families of the Chernigov princes trace their origins to the three sons of Mikhail Vsevolodovich (great-great-grandson of Oleg Svyatoslavich) - Semyon, Yuri, Mstislav. Prince Semyon Mikhailovich of Glukhov became the ancestor of the princes Vorotynsky and Odoevsky. Tarussky Prince Yuri Mikhailovich - Mezetsky, Baryatinsky, Obolensky. Karachaevsky Mstislav Mikhailovich-Mosalsky, Zvenigorodsky. Of the Obolensky princes, many princely families later emerged, among which the most famous are the Shcherbatovs, Repnins, Serebryans, and Dolgorukovs.
Among the Russian models from the time of emigration were princesses Nina and Mia Obolensky, girls from the most noble princely family of the Obolenskys, whose roots go back to the Rurikovichs.
The Rurikovichs had to abandon dynastic preferences in favor of Christian names. Already at baptism Vladimir Svyatoslavovich was given the name Vasily, and Princess Olga - Elena.
The tradition of the direct name originates in the early genealogy of the Rurikovichs, when the Grand Dukes bore both a pagan and Christian name: Yaroslav-George (the Wise) or Vladimir-Vasily (Monomakh).
Karamzin counted 200 wars and invasions in the history of Rus' from 1240 to 1462.
One of the first Rurikovichs, Svyatopolk the Accursed, became an anti-hero of Russian history due to accusations of murdering Boris and Gleb. However, today historians are inclined to believe that the great martyrs were killed by the soldiers of Yaroslav the Wise, since the great martyrs recognized Svyatoslav’s right to the throne.
The word “Rosichi” is a neologism from the author of “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign.” This word as a self-name of the Russian times of the Rurikovichs is not found anywhere else.
The remains of Yaroslav the Wise, whose research could answer the question of the origin of the Rurikovichs, disappeared without a trace.
In the Rurik dynasty there were two categories of names: Slavic two-basic ones - Yaropolk, Svyatoslav, Ostromir and Scandinavian ones - Olga, Gleb, Igor. Names were assigned a high status, and therefore they could belong exclusively to a grand ducal person. Only in the 14th century did such names come into general use.
Since the reign of Ivan III, the version of the origin of their dynasty from the Roman Emperor Augustus has become popular among the Russian Rurik sovereigns.
In addition to Yuri, there were two more “Dolgorukys” in the Rurik family. This is the ancestor of the Vyazemsky princes, a descendant of Mstislav the Great Andrei Vladimirovich Long Hand and a descendant of St. Michael Vsevolodovich of Chernigov, Prince Ivan Andreevich Obolensky, nicknamed Dolgoruky, the ancestor of the Dolgorukov princes.
Significant confusion in the identification of the Rurikovichs was introduced by the ladder order, in which, after the death of the Grand Duke, the Kiev table was occupied by his closest relative in seniority (and not his son), the second in seniority relative, in turn, occupied the empty table of the first, and so all the princes moved by seniority to more prestigious tables.
Based on the results of genetic studies, it was assumed that Rurik belonged to the N1c1 haplogroup. The area of settlement of people of this haplogroup covers not only Sweden, but also the regions modern Russia, the same Pskov and Novgorod, so the origin of Rurik is still unclear.
Vasily Shuisky was not a descendant of Rurik in the direct royal line, so the last Rurikovich on the throne is still considered the son of Ivan the Terrible, Fyodor Ioannovich.
Ivan III’s adoption of the double-headed eagle as a heraldic sign is usually associated with the influence of his wife Sophia Paleologus, but this is not the only version of the origin of the coat of arms. Perhaps it was borrowed from the heraldry of the Habsburgs, or from the Golden Horde, who used a double-headed eagle on some coins. Today, the double-headed eagle appears on the coats of arms of six European states.
Among the modern “Rurikovichs” there is the now living “Emperor of Holy Rus' and Third Rome”, he has the “New Church of Holy Rus'”, “Cabinet of Ministers”, “ The State Duma», « Supreme Court", "Central Bank", "Ambassadors Plenipotentiary", "National Guard".
Otto von Bismarck was a descendant of the Rurikovichs. His distant relative was Anna Yaroslavovna.
The first American president, George Washington, was also a Rurikovich. Besides him, 20 more US presidents were descended from Rurik. Including father and son Bushi.
One of the last Rurikovichs, Ivan the Terrible, on his father’s side was descended from the Moscow branch of the dynasty, and on his mother’s side from the Tatar temnik Mamai.
Lady Diana was connected with Rurik through the Kyiv princess Dobronega, daughter of Vladimir the Saint, who married the Polish prince Casimir the Restorer.
Alexander Pushkin, if you look at his genealogy, is Rurikovich on the line of his great-grandmother Sarah Rzhevskaya.
After the death of Fyodor Ioannovich, only his youngest - Moscow - branch was stopped. But the male offspring of other Rurikovichs (former appanage princes) by that time had already acquired surnames: Baryatinsky, Volkonsky, Gorchakov, Dolgorukov, Obolensky, Odoevsky, Repnin, Shuisky, Shcherbatov...
The Last Chancellor Russian Empire, the great Russian diplomat of the 19th century, friend of Pushkin and comrade of Bismarck, Alexander Gorchakov was born into an old noble family descended from the Yaroslavl Rurik princes.
24 British prime ministers were Rurikovichs. Including Winston Churchill. Anna Yaroslavna was his great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandmother.
One of the most cunning politicians of the 17th century, Cardine Richelieu, also had Russian roots - again through Anna Yaroslavna.
In 2007, historian Murtazaliev argued that the Rurikovichs were Chechens. “The Rus were not just anyone, but Chechens. It turns out that Rurik and his squad, if they really are from the Varangian tribe of Rus, then they are purebred Chechens, moreover, from the royal family and speaking their native Chechen language.”
Alexandre Dumas, who immortalized Richelieu, was also Rurikovich. His great-great-great-great... grandmother was Zbyslava Svyatopolkovna, daughter of Grand Duke Svyatopolk Izyaslavich, who was married to the Polish king Boleslav Wrymouth.
The Prime Minister of Russia from March to July 1917 was Grigory Lvov, a representative of the Rurik branch descending from Prince Lev Danilovich, nicknamed Zubaty, a descendant of Rurik in the 18th generation.
Ivan IV was not the only “formidable” king in the Rurik dynasty. “Terrible” was also called his grandfather, Ivan III, who, in addition, also had the nicknames “justice” and “great”. As a result, Ivan III received the nickname “great”, and his grandson became “formidable”.
The “Father of NASA” Wernher von Braun was also Rurikovich. His mother was Baroness Emmy, née von Quisthorn.

Of which there are almost twenty tribes of rulers of Rus', they descend from Rurik. This historical character was presumably born between 806 and 808 in the city of Rerik (Raroga). In 808, when Rurik was 1-2 years old, the domain of his father, Godolub, was seized by the Danish king Gottfried, and the future Russian prince became half an orphan. Together with his mother Umila, he found himself in a foreign land. And his childhood is not mentioned anywhere. It is assumed that he spent them in Slavic lands. There is information that in 826 he arrived at the court of the Frankish king, where he received an allotment of land “beyond the Elbe”, in fact the land of his murdered father, but as a vassal of the Frankish ruler. During the same period, Rurik is believed to have been baptized. Later, after being deprived of these plots, Rurik joined the Varangian squad and fought in Europe, not at all as an exemplary Christian.

Prince Gostomysl saw the future dynasty in a dream

Rurikovich, family tree whom Rurik’s grandfather (Umila’s father) saw, as the legend says, in a dream, made a decisive contribution to the development of Rus' and Russian state, since they ruled from 862 to 1598. The prophetic dream of old Gostomysl, the ruler of Novgorod, showed precisely that from “the womb of his daughter a wonderful tree would sprout that would feed the people in his lands.” This was another “plus” in favor of inviting Rurik with his strong squad at the moment when Novgorod lands There were civil strife, and the people suffered from attacks from outside tribes.

The foreign origin of Rurik may be disputed

Thus, it can be argued that the family tree of the Rurik dynasty began not with foreigners, but with a person who by blood belonged to the Novgorod nobility, who long years fought in other countries, had his own squad and the age allowed to lead the people. At the time of Rurik’s invitation to Novgorod in 862, he was about 50 years old - quite a respectable age at that time.

Was the tree based on Norway?

How did the Rurikovich family tree form further? The image shown in the review gives a complete picture of this. After the death of the first ruler of Rus' from this dynasty (the Book of Veles testifies that there were rulers in the Russian lands before him), power passed to his son Igor. However, due to the young age of the new ruler, his guardian, which is allowed, was Oleg (“Prophetic”), who was the brother of Rurik’s wife, Efanda. The latter was a relative of the kings of Norway.

Princess Olga was co-ruler of Rus' under her son Svyatoslav

Rurik's only son, Igor, born in 877 and killed by the Drevlyans in 945, is known for pacifying the tribes subordinate to him, going on a campaign against Italy (together with the Greek fleet), trying to take Constantinople with a flotilla of ten thousand ships, and was the first military commander Rus', which he encountered in battle and fled from in horror. His wife, Princess Olga, who married Igor from Pskov (or Pleskov, which may indicate the Bulgarian city of Pliskuvot), brutally took revenge on the Drevlyan tribes that killed her husband, and became the ruler of Rus' while Igor’s son Svyatoslav was growing up. However, after her son came of age, Olga also remained a ruler, since Svyatoslav was mainly engaged in military campaigns and remained in history as great commander and conqueror.

The family tree of the Rurik dynasty, in addition to the main ruling line, had many branches that became famous for unseemly deeds. For example, Svyatoslav's son, Yaropolk, fought against his brother Oleg, who was killed in battle. His own son from the Byzantine princess, Svyatopolk the Accursed, was something like the biblical Cain, since he killed the sons of Vladimir (another son of Svyatoslav) - Boris and Gleb, who were his brothers by his adoptive father. Another son of Vladimir, Yaroslav the Wise, dealt with Svyatopolk himself and became the prince of Kyiv.

Bloody feuds and marriages with all of Europe

We can safely say that the family tree of the Rurikovichs is partially “saturated” with bloody events. The diagram shows that the reigning ruler from his presumably second marriage with Ingigerda (daughter of the Swedish king) had many children, including six sons who were rulers of various Russian appanages and married foreign princesses (Greek, Polish). And three daughters who became queens of Hungary, Sweden and France also by marriage. In addition, Yaroslav is credited with having a seventh son from his first wife, who was taken into Polish captivity from Kiev (Anna, son Ilya), as well as a daughter, Agatha, who presumably could have been the wife of the heir to the throne of England, Edward (the Exile).

Perhaps the distance of the sisters and interstate marriages somewhat reduced the struggle for power in this generation of Rurikovichs, since most of the time of the reign of Yaroslav's son Izyaslav in Kiev was accompanied by a peaceful division of his power with the brothers Vsevolod and Svyatoslav (the Yaroslavovich triumvirate). However, this ruler of Rus' also died in battle against his own nephews. And the father of the next famous ruler of the Russian state, Vladimir Monomakh, was Vsevolod, married to the daughter of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine Monomakh the Ninth.

In the Rurik family there were rulers with fourteen children!

The Rurik family tree with dates shows us that this outstanding dynasty was continued for many years to come by the descendants of Vladimir Monomakh, while the genealogies of the remaining grandchildren of Yaroslav the Wise ceased in the next hundred to one hundred and fifty years. Prince Vladimir had, as historians believe, twelve children from two wives, the first of whom was an English princess in exile, and the second, presumably a Greek. Of this numerous offspring, those who reigned in Kyiv were: Mstislav (until 1125), Yaropolk, Vyacheslav and Yuri Vladimirovich (Dolgoruky). The latter was also distinguished by his fertility and gave birth to fourteen children from two wives, including Vsevolod the Third (Big Nest), so nicknamed, again, for the large number of offspring - eight sons and four daughters.

What outstanding Rurikovichs do we know? The family tree, extending further from Vsevolod the Big Nest, contains such eminent surnames as Alexander Nevsky (grandson of Vsevolod, son of Yaroslav the Second), Michael the Second Saint (canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church due to the incorruptibility of the relics of the murdered prince), John Kalita, who gave birth to John the Meek, who, in turn, gave birth to Dmitry Donskoy.

Formidable representatives of the dynasty

The Rurikovichs, whose family tree ceased to exist at the end of the 16th century (1598), included in their ranks the great Tsar John the Fourth, the Terrible. This ruler strengthened autocratic power and significantly expanded the territory of Rus' by annexing the Volga region, Pyatigorsk, Siberian, Kazan and Astrakhan kingdoms. He had eight wives, who bore him five sons and three daughters, including his successor on the throne, Theodore (the Blessed). This son of John was, as expected, weak in health and, possibly, in mind. He was more interested in prayers, the ringing of bells, and the tales of jesters than in power. Therefore, during his reign, power belonged to his brother-in-law, Boris Godunov. And subsequently, after the death of Fedor, they completely switched to this statesman.

Was the first of the reigning Romanov family a relative of the last Rurikovich?

The family tree of the Rurikovichs and the Romanovs, however, has some points of contact, despite the fact that the only daughter of Theodore the Blessed died at the age of 9 months, around 1592-1594. Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov - first new dynasty, was crowned in 1613 by the Zemsky Sobor, and came from the family of boyar Fyodor Romanov (later Patriarch Filaret) and noblewoman Ksenia Shestova. He was a cousin’s nephew (to the Blessed One), so we can say that the Romanov dynasty to some extent continues the Rurik dynasty.

The Rurik dynasty is the very first grand-ducal dynasty on the Russian throne. It was established, according to the text of the Tale of Bygone Years, in 862. This date has the symbolic name “calling of the Varangians.”

The Rurik dynasty lasted 8 centuries. During this time, there were a lot of displacements, mistrust, and conspiracies against its representatives. The first representative of the dynasty, that is, its founder, Rurik. was invited to rule the city's people's council in Novgorod. Rurik laid the foundation of statehood in Rus' and became the founder of the first grand-ducal dynasty. But it is worth noting that more than half of the representatives of the Rurik region still came from Kievan Rus.

So, the Rurik dynasty, a list of which will be presented below with all the characteristics of its figures, has its own branched system. The second representative was Oleg. He was the governor of Rurik and ruled when his son was young. He is known for uniting Novgorod and Kyiv, and also for signing the first treaty between Rus' and Byzantium. When Rurik's son Igor grew up, power passed into his hands. Igor conquered and conquered new territories, imposing tribute on them, which is why he was brutally killed by the Drevlyans. After Igor, power passed into the hands of his wife. This wise woman spent the first economic reform on Russian soil, establishing lessons and graveyards. When Olga and Igor’s son Svyatoslav grew up, naturally, all power went to him.

But this prince was distinguished by his military thinking and was constantly on campaigns. After Svyatoslav, Vladimir 1, better known as Vladimir the Holy, ascended the throne.

He baptized Rus' at the end of the 10th century. After Vladimir, Svyatopolk ruled; he was in an internecine war with his brothers, which was won by Yaroslav the Wise. This is whose reign was great: the first Russian code of laws was compiled, the Pechenegs were defeated and great temples were erected. After the reign of Yaroslav, Rus' will remain in a kind of turmoil for a long time, because the struggle for the great princely throne is getting tougher and no one wants to lose it.

The Rurik dynasty, whose tree was very complex, received its next great ruler almost 100 years later. It was Vladimir Monomakh. He was the organizer of the Lyubechsky Congress, he defeated the Polovtsians and preserved the relative unity of Rus'. The Rurik dynasty branched out again after his reign.

Yuri Dolgoruky and Andrei Bogolyubsky can be distinguished from this period. Both princes were prominent figures in the era of fragmentation of Rus'. The remaining period of this dynasty will be remembered by several names: Vasily 1, Ivan Kalita, Ivan 3, Vasily 3 and Ivan the Terrible. It is with the names of these figures that the creation of a unified Russian state is associated; it was they who began the annexation of all lands to Moscow and they also completed it.

The Rurik dynasty gave our land statehood, huge spacious territories that were united by the last representatives of this dynasty, and an extensive cultural heritage.

Adam and Eve from a geneticist's point of view

Konstantin Severinov, an expert in molecular biology, explains how linguists have helped biologists discover where humanity comes from, who mitochondrial Eve is, and whether she met Adam

In order to analyze where people come from, you can use, oddly enough, not genealogical, but linguistic approaches - the procedure for finding the root of living people and life on Earth in general is very similar to the procedure for determining the root of some modern languages belonging to the same group.

Each individual person - living now or who lived previously - from the point of view of genetics can be considered as very long text. This text is our genome. This genetic message consists of simple language- the language of deoxyribonucleic acid, the alphabet of which contains only four letters: A, G, C and T. Using these letters, a text of approximately three billion letters is composed, arranged in in a certain order. In this text it is written in genetic language that this is, for example, Kostya Severinov or someone else. Three billion letters is a lot; so many letters would be contained in a book a thousand times larger than War and Peace.

It is obvious that we are all not only more or less similar, but also different. This difference is due to the fact that among the three billion letters that make up the genome of each individual person, there are a number of differences. The number of such "typos" between any two human individuals is approximately 0.1% of the total number of letters. That is, between two specific individuals there will be a difference of approximately three million positions.

African origins of man

If we take a genetic text that says that this is, for example, a chimpanzee, then there will also be about three billion letters, but the number of differences between the average chimpanzee and the average human will not be 0.1%,

as between people, but 1%. However, overall the text is still very similar. The genetic text of other mammals will be more different, but will still be very similar to ours.

The genomes of various organisms are now being determined every day.

and are compared with each other. The approach is identical to how linguists look for a root, say Slavic languages. They compare languages and highlight the most similar ones. So, Ukrainian is more similar to Russian than everyone

of them individually is similar to Czech. In this way, family trees are built, on which the tongues coming out are shown in the form of branches.

from a common root, and the closer the branches are to each other, the closer the languages that are designated by these branches. Geneticists also build such trees, and in an interesting way It turns out that the genetic tree of life has one root.

It is more convenient to compare genetic texts of people if you use small sections of DNA several thousand letters long, which are located in special organelles of our cells called mitochondria. Mitochondria and the DNA contained in them are passed on only through the maternal line. That is, we get our mitochondria from our mother, our mothers get them from their mothers, and so on. If we start comparing these texts, it turns out that the greatest diversity of mitochondrial DNA, the greatest number of “typos” in these similar texts, is concentrated in Africa, somewhere where modern Ethiopia is. That is, people there are the most diverse. And in the Americas, Europe, Asia, Australia and Oceania they are more similar to each other - often more similar than the inhabitants of neighboring African villages.

The simplest explanation for this unexpected fact is that ancient people originally lived and evolved (that is, became more diverse and acquired typo mutations in their DNA) in Africa,

and then some small groups of these people, constituting only a small part of the total diversity, left (or perhaps were expelled) from their original habitat and eventually spread across the planet, populating first Europe, then Asia and Oceania, and then the Americas.

A closer analysis shows that there were several such exoduses from Africa. Gradually, the descendants of these people changed and accumulated additional typo mutations. But still, they all as a group represented only a small subset of all that genetic diversity, all those typos that came out of the original place. On the other hand, the typos that the settlers acquired were absent in Africa itself - after all, the likelihood of independently obtaining the same typo is very small.

What was Eva like?

The fact that we all come from Africa is beyond any doubt, but the exact answer to the question of when this exodus or exoduses occurred is not entirely clear. But in any case, the migration began no earlier than one hundred and fifty thousand years ago. This estimate is derived from the concept of Mitochondrial Eve, which itself has nothing to do with the fact that we are all from Africa, but states that all the mitochondria and mitochondrial DNA of living people can be traced back to a single woman who lived in Africa for about a hundred years. fifty thousand years ago.

As already mentioned, mitochondria are inherited through the maternal line, that is, only the mother gives mitochondria to both boys and girls. Let's do a little mental experiment: look at all the multitude of people who now live on the planet - every man and every woman, of course, had a mother, and it is easy to understand that the number of mothers who gave birth to all people is less than the number of people who are now living. Moving in this way from each generation to the previous one, we will gradually reduce the number of mothers needed to produce the next generation, and, moving along such a cone, we will very quickly come to the conclusion that there had to be one and only one woman, - this is the so-called mitochondrial Eve, whose mitochondria served as the source of all people living today, and she lived one hundred and fifty thousand years ago.

Of course, we don’t know what she was like, this Eve, but we know what mitochondrial DNA she had, what her DNA sequence was, just as we know about the Proto-Indo-European language not because someone speaks it now, but because , that it can be reconstructed from modern languages that originate from it. It is important to understand that Eva was by no means the only woman of her time and did not stand out among her contemporaries in any way. She was neither more beautiful nor more sexy, productive or intelligent than other women of her time. All we know is that she had at least two daughters, and one of the daughters had a mistake, a typo in the mitochondrial DNA, so that it became different from her sister's mitochondrial DNA, and each of the sisters left female descendants who, in turn, had daughters.

Meeting of Adam and Eve

The question naturally arises about a man to whom all humanity can be reduced. He is called, accordingly, Adam. The exact same situation arises with him: from school course In biology, we know that a boy can only get the Y chromosome from his dad. And just as we bring out Eve, we can bring out Adam. This is a certain man who, on the direct paternal line, is the source of all Y chromosomes in all living men. But if you calculate when this person lived, it turns out about fifty thousand years ago. That is, Eve is older than Adam. This is explained by the fact that a man can have more children than a woman, which allows the Y chromosome to spread faster than mitochondrial DNA. Adam, too, was not famous for anything special, he is simply the source of the Y chromosomes of all men living today.