Traditionally, Rurik has been considered the founder of theRurik dynasty, which was the ruling dynasty ofKievan Rus' and its principalities, and ultimately theTsardom of Russia, until the death ofFeodor I in 1598. As a result, he is considered to be the traditional founder of theRussian monarchy.[11][12]
The earliest mention of Rurik is contained in thePrimary Chronicle, traditionally ascribed toNestor and compiled inc. 1113,[13] which states thatEast Slavic andFinnic tribes in 860–862 (including theChuds,Slovenes,Krivichs,Meryans andVes) "drove the Varangians back beyond the sea, refused to pay them tribute, and set out to govern themselves".[14] Afterwards the tribes started fighting each other and decided to invite the Varangians, led by Rurik, to reestablish order. Rurik came along with his younger brothersSineus and Truvor and a large retinue.[1]
According to the chronicle, Rurik was one of theRus', aVarangian tribe. Most historians believe that the Rus' were of Scandinavian origin,[15] more specifically from what is currently coastaleastern Sweden around the eighth century.[16] According to the prevalent theory, the nameRus' is derived from anOld Norse term for "the men who row", from an older name for the Swedish coastal area ofRoslagen.[17][18]
Sineus established himself atBeloozero, and Truvor at the town ofIzborsk. Truvor and Sineus died shortly after the establishment of their territories,[19][20] and Rurik consolidated these lands into his own territory, extending his rule in northern Russia.[1]Askold and Dir, followers of Rurik who were sent toConstantinople, seizedKiev before launching anattack recorded in Byzantine sources for the year 860.[21][19]
TheLaurentian Codex of 1377, which contains the oldest surviving version of thePrimary Chronicle, states that Rurik first settled inNovgorod ("newtown"), while theHypatian Codex of the 1420s states that Rurik first settled inLadoga, before moving his seat of power to the newly founded city of Novgorod, a fort built not far from the source of theVolkhov River, where he stayed until his death.[20][22][23][24]
Rurik is said to have remained in power until his death some time in the 870s.[a] On his deathbed, Rurik bequeathed his realm toOleg, who belonged to his kin, and entrusted to Oleg's hands his sonIgor, for he was very young. Oleg moved the capital toKiev (by murdering the then-rulers and taking the city) and founded the state ofKievan Rus', which was ruled by Rurik's successors (his son Igor and Igor's descendants). The state persisted until theMongol invasion in 1240.
The Rurikids were the ruling dynasty ofKievan Rus', and ultimately theTsardom of Russia, until 1598, and numerousnoble families claim male-line descent from Rurik. He is considered to be the traditional founder of theRussian monarchy.[11][12] The last Rurikid to rule Russia as tsar wasVasily IV,[26] who reigned until 1610 and was from theHouse of Shuysky. TheRomanovs were also related to the descendants of Rurik through marriage. The descendants of the princely families allegedly inherited from Rurik are still living.[27]
The nameRurik is a form of the Old Norse nameHrœrekr.[30] Rorik of Dorestad was a member of one of two competing families reported by theFrankish chroniclers as having ruled the nascent Danish kingdom atHedeby. He may have been a nephew of kingHarald Klak. He is mentioned as receiving lands inFriesland fromEmperor Louis I. He plundered neighbouring lands: he tookDorestad in 850, attacked Hedeby in 857, and lootedBremen in 859, while his own lands were ravaged in his absence. The Emperor was enraged and stripped him of all his possessions in 860. After that, Rorik disappears from western sources for a considerable period of time. In 862, according to Russian sources, Rurik arrived in the eastern Baltic and built the fortress of Ladoga. Later he moved to Novgorod.[citation needed]
Rorik of Dorestad reappeared in Frankish chronicles in 870, when his Frieslanddemesne was returned to him byCharles the Bald. In 882, Rorik is mentioned as dead (without a specific date of death).[citation needed] ThePrimary Chronicle places the death of Rurik of Novgorod in 879,[31] three years earlier than the Frankish chronicles. According to western sources, the ruler of Friesland was converted to Christianity by the Franks.[citation needed]
The idea of identifying Rurik of Rus' with Rorik of Dorestad was revived by the anti-NormanistsBoris Rybakov and Anatoly H. Kirpichnikov in the mid-20th century,[32] butAlexander Nazarenko and other scholars have objected to it.[33]
^abcdThe Oxford illustrated history of the Vikings. Oxford [England]: Oxford University Press. 1997. pp. 138–139.ISBN9780192854346.
Ketola, Kari; Vihavainen, Timo (2014).Changing Russia? : history, culture and business (1. ed.). Helsinki: Finemor. p. 1.ISBN978-9527124017.
Dixon-Kennedy, Mike (1998).Encyclopedia of Russian & Slavic myth and legend. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO. p. 232.ISBN9781576070635.
^Obolensky, Dmitri (1990).The Russian chronicles : a thousand years that changed the world: from the beginnings of the Land of Rus to the new revolution of Glasnost today. London: Century. p. 32.ISBN9780712637640.
^Perrie, Maureen (2006).The Cambridge History of Russia. Volume 1. From Early Rus' to 1689. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 2,47–48.ISBN1107639425.
^abMiddleton, John (1 June 2015).World Monarchies and Dynasties. Routledge. p. 805.ISBN978-1-317-45158-7.One of the Rus princes—Rurik (r. ca. 862–879)—became ruler of Novgorod (r. ca. 862–879) and is considered the traditional founder of Russia. Rurik was the ancestor of the many family branches of the Riurikid dynasty, which ruled until 1598.
^Brink, Stefan. "Who were the Vikings?', inThe Viking WorldArchived 14 April 2023 at theWayback Machine, ed. by Stefan Brink and Neil Price (Abingdon: Routledge, 2008), pp. 4–10 (pp. 6–7).
^abLanger, Lawrence N. (2021).Historical Dictionary of Medieval Russia (Second ed.). Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 176.ISBN9781538119426.
^abDixon-Kennedy, Mike (1998).Encyclopedia of Russian & Slavic myth and legend. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO. p. 232.ISBN9781576070635.
^Duczko, Wladyslaw (2004).Viking Rus: studies on the presence of Scandinavians in Eastern Europe. Leiden: Brill. p. 204.ISBN9789004138742.
^The Cambridge history of Russian literature (Rev. ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1992. pp. 12–13.ISBN9780521425674.
^Jones, Gwyn (1984).A History of the Vikings (Revised ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 246.ISBN9780192801340.
^Somerville, Angus A.; Mcdonald, Andrew R. (2020).The Viking Age: A Reader (Third ed.). Toronto: University of Toronto Press. p. 282.ISBN9781487570477.
