Kievan Rus Influence
Byzantine Influence on Kievan Rus
Kate Sergeeva
World History to the 16th Century (CHW3M1-01)
Byzantine Influence on Kievan Rus
“All the empires of Christendom are united in thine, for two Romes have fallen and the third exists, and there will not be a fourth. No one will replace your Christian Tsardom!” - Such were the words of an Orthodox monk Philoteus as he wrote to Vasily III in 1510, proclaiming Russia as the true and only successor to the Byzantine Empire. ("The Third Rome," 2012) Although at that time the words were probably only intended to glorify Muscovy and its Tsar, they gradually became a symbol of the enormous influence that Byzantine Empire had on Russia ever since Christianity became the official religion of the latter. …show more content…
Vladimir’s marriage to a Byzantine princess also guaranteed Byzantium as an ally against possible enemies and raised his authority among the neighboring states. Also, developed European countries would previously look down on Kievan Rus as on a pagan, primitive, barbarian state. However, by abandoning paganism and adopting Christianity, Rus brought itself up to their level, thus enabling the development of closer ties with them. For example, during the rule of Yaroslav the Wise, many alliances were made and secured through dynastic marriages: Yaroslav himself was married to a Swedish princess; his sons were married to Byzantine and Polish princesses, his daughters married to kings of France, Hungary, and Norway. (Zhukovsky, …show more content…
Such Byzantine legal codes as Nomocanones, Ecloga, Justinian Code, and The Compilation were brought to Rus by the clergy that used them in the church courts, and translated into Slavonic language. All of these codes had a great influence over Russian civil and criminal codes. For example, the new system of punishments in “Russian Truth”, implementing physical punishments rather than fines and death penalties, was derived from Ecloga. (Byzantine Influence, 2011.) Also, a few first steps were done in organizing the legal system; for example, creation of the institute of executors. In terms of criminal law, with the adoption of Christianity and Byzantine law codes, the idea of a crime changed drastically; crime was no longer defined as “doing harm to someone”, instead, it became “breaking the
Kate Sergeeva
World History to the 16th Century (CHW3M1-01)
Byzantine Influence on Kievan Rus
“All the empires of Christendom are united in thine, for two Romes have fallen and the third exists, and there will not be a fourth. No one will replace your Christian Tsardom!” - Such were the words of an Orthodox monk Philoteus as he wrote to Vasily III in 1510, proclaiming Russia as the true and only successor to the Byzantine Empire. ("The Third Rome," 2012) Although at that time the words were probably only intended to glorify Muscovy and its Tsar, they gradually became a symbol of the enormous influence that Byzantine Empire had on Russia ever since Christianity became the official religion of the latter. …show more content…
Vladimir’s marriage to a Byzantine princess also guaranteed Byzantium as an ally against possible enemies and raised his authority among the neighboring states. Also, developed European countries would previously look down on Kievan Rus as on a pagan, primitive, barbarian state. However, by abandoning paganism and adopting Christianity, Rus brought itself up to their level, thus enabling the development of closer ties with them. For example, during the rule of Yaroslav the Wise, many alliances were made and secured through dynastic marriages: Yaroslav himself was married to a Swedish princess; his sons were married to Byzantine and Polish princesses, his daughters married to kings of France, Hungary, and Norway. (Zhukovsky, …show more content…
Such Byzantine legal codes as Nomocanones, Ecloga, Justinian Code, and The Compilation were brought to Rus by the clergy that used them in the church courts, and translated into Slavonic language. All of these codes had a great influence over Russian civil and criminal codes. For example, the new system of punishments in “Russian Truth”, implementing physical punishments rather than fines and death penalties, was derived from Ecloga. (Byzantine Influence, 2011.) Also, a few first steps were done in organizing the legal system; for example, creation of the institute of executors. In terms of criminal law, with the adoption of Christianity and Byzantine law codes, the idea of a crime changed drastically; crime was no longer defined as “doing harm to someone”, instead, it became “breaking the