- Part two -
THE CHRONICLES ARE FULL OF LIES AND SHAME THE RUSSIAN PEOPLE
255 years ago, in 1749, a grandiose scandal erupted at the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. From which begins what we call the "anti-scientific Norman theory" of the origin of the Russian state. With which there has been a struggle for decades and centuries …
I must say that the work of Academician Gottlieb Bayer "On the Varangians" came out long before these events. And not somewhere on the "enemy" side, but in the "Commentaries" of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, where Bayer was one of the first and respected academicians (the working language of the Academy of Sciences was then German, and therefore the work "On the Varangians" was first published in German).
But then she did not attract much attention to herself. Passions flared up in 1749, when another academician, Gerard Miller, on September 6 was supposed to speak at a ceremonial meeting of the Academy of Sciences with a speech "On the origin of the people and the name of Russia." According to the rules of those times, the speech was preliminarily considered by the commission. Trediakovsky spoke in favor, noting, however, that the matter itself is controversial. But Lomonosov fiercely opposed. He found Miller's speech "like a night." Almost all members of the commission agreed with Lomonosov. The speech was not only banned from speaking, but even decided to be taken away from the author. Miller complained of bias, and then the president of the academy ordered to consider it at the general meeting. The examination lasted six months (!) And ended with the decision to destroy Miller's work!
These are far from scientific passions … As V. O. Klyuchevsky, “the reason for the fervor of these objections was the general mood of that minute … Miller's speech was not at the right time; it was the height of national excitement …"
I must note that we owe to Gerard Miller the first publications of the chronicles and, in general, the interest of science in ancient Russian texts. It was on Miller's initiative in 1732 that collections of ancient Russian literary monuments began to appear in German for the first time. But - in an abbreviated form, in excerpts, excerpts. When, in 1734, the Academy applied to the Senate for permission to publish the chronicles in full, the Senate forwarded the scientists' application to the Synod, and the Synod banned it, deciding that the chronicles were full of lies and dishonor the Russian people.
Promotional video:
So the story with Miller's speech, which happened fifteen years after the decision of the Synod, was quite in the spirit of those times.
Such an ideologically prohibitive approach to the annals reigned in Russia until the arrival of Catherine II to the reign, when with her approval and efforts of Novikov, Musin-Pushkin, Shcherbatov, Boltin and others, the first monuments of ancient Russian history and literature were published. 200 years have passed since these times, but it cannot be said that we have made very much progress. Under the communists, the publication of chronicles was reduced to several names. And what was allowed was subjected to a monstrous reduction. Now there are no bans, but, as they say, there is no money. Or rather, there is no desire and aspiration. One way or another, and Russia is probably the only country in the world that does not have a complete collection of national chronicles published in modern Russian. What has been published and is being published since the time of Musin-Pushkin to the present day, came out and comes out in microscopic editions,and most importantly - in a reprinted edition, in the Church Slavonic language! That is, it is absolutely inaccessible to readers.
But this is a retreat.
And we are talking about Novgorod and the Varangians.
Oath
You experience strange feelings wandering the streets of Veliky Novgorod. I probably have it from childhood. One of the first books I read, at the age of five, was the story of ancient Novgorod. And childhood impressions are like a long dream, as if he himself lived and was there …
And now, forty-five years later, it feels like I have lived here and have always been. Since ancient times it. Well, of course, all the knowledge of adult life is already crushing. Who's heart will not falter in the city where the Russian land came from. But the same knowledge says that the humiliation of the Russian land came from here. And the point is not in the Norman theory, according to which the Russian state and the Russian state itself are the work of newcomers, Western aliens. The essence is in the primary source.
As the Tale of Bygone Years writes, “the Varangians from the overseas levied tribute from the Chudi, and from the Slavs … They drove the Varangians across the sea, and did not give them tribute, and began to possess themselves. And there was no truth among them, and generation after generation rose up, and they had strife, and they began to fight with each other. And they said to themselves: "Let's look for a prince who would rule over us and judge by right." And they went across the sea to the Varangians, to Russia. Those Varangians were called Rus, as others are called Swedes, and other Normans and Angles …"
That is, tired of discord and confusion, not just anyone, namely the Novgorodians, came to the Varangians and said:
“Our land is great and abundant, but there is no order in it. Come to reign and rule over us."
These words became the spell of Russian history and fate. Not only because it is said and written by a talented hand. No, first of all because they, words, were confirmed by life all the time. In any case, during the years of Soviet power, the years of monstrous mismanagement, absurdity and waste of national wealth, every second literate person repeated to himself and out loud: "Our land is great and abundant, but there is no order in it …" But then, during the years of communist mismanagement, no one in a nightmare would have dreamed of what would become of us after the fall of the communist power … And therefore the chronicle was perceived and perceived as a prophecy and a spell: nothing can be done, it has always been like that, it is written in our family …
If it were a separate manuscript, a separate chronicle would be one thing. But this is the "Tale of Bygone Years", the basis of the foundations of Russian history, literature, and national consciousness. It is no coincidence that it is called the Primary Chronicle …
It is not surprising that soon after the publication of the chronicles in the 18th century, the so-called Norman theory arose that offend the national feelings of Russians. Since she, this theory, deduced the emergence of the Russian state exclusively from the activities of the newly arrived Varangians-Normans. It is also understandable that it was immediately disputed and was always disputed. Starting with Lomonosov and ending with the main ideologists of the CPSU.
But … Each position of the historical document is checked by other sources. For example, some facts and dates from the same "Tale of Bygone Years" are clarified, confirmed or refuted by the research of Shakhmatov, Gumilyov, Likhachev and other scientists, by comparisons with European and Arab sources.
And the history of the calling of the Varangians is impossible to verify! There is no mention of this event in European, Arab or Jewish sources. The Varangian page in "The Tale of Bygone Years" is like an indestructible wall - neither go around it nor go around it. No more historical evidence! And so, probably, historians, starting with Soloviev, Klyuchevsky, Kostomarov and ending with Gumilev, Likhachev, Petrukhin, only noted the contradictions of the legend (very accurately!), Tried to explain or question it. But not more.
I will try to prove that there was no Varangian vocation. Using only logic. Well, and, of course, using analogies for illustration.
HOW MYTHS ARE CREATED
In the VIII century, Spain, as you know, already belonged to the Moors - Muslims. One of the Moorish emirs started a war with the emir of Zaragoza and called for help from Charlemagne, King of the Franks, future emperor, founder of the Carolingian dynasty. Karl came, helped, not for nothing, of course, and set off on the way back. But in the narrow Ronseval Gorge, the Spanish Basques attacked his army (as we see, the Basques then considered themselves separate from the Spaniards and were invincible). In this battle, Roland died, together with his soldiers who covered the withdrawal of the army and actually saved the army and Karl.
These are the facts. But what do we read in the "Songs of Furious Roland" that have come down to us, composed (at least recorded) later, already in the XII century? And the fact that Emperor Charles went to war against the wicked (?) For the faith of Christ (?), His army was attacked by the Moors (?), In other sources - even the Saracens (?), But the brave Roland, faithful to the chivalrous traditions (?), saved the army and the emperor by sacrificing himself. It is clear that all this was already composed in the light of the ideology of the Crusades and the ideology of chivalry, which then, in the VIII century, did not exist. Roland probably looked at the first knights (equestrian warriors) who emerged from the wild Germanic forest gangs, people of cave manners with condescending disgust, since he was the closest associate of the emperor and - neither more nor less - the margrave of Brittany, that is, a special crowned one.
And now it does not matter how much the troubadours themselves edited the ancients and composed new ones “in the spirit of the times”, but how much they were prompted: “Guys, it’s not good to remind that our Charlemagne took part in the showdown of the Moors, it’s not good to say that the Christian army was attacked Christians are Basques …”Most likely, it was both. This is how myths are created.
TAKE US UNDER YOUR PROTECTION
Yes, this has often happened in history. For example, the annexation of Kazakhstan to Russia, when Abulkhair, khan of the Younger Zhuz (Younger Horde), fleeing from the invasion of the Dzungars, tired of the eternal clashes on the border with the Bashkirs, asked for Russian citizenship. Or - Georgia, fleeing from Turkish expansion, concluded the Treaty of St. George with Russia and took refuge "beyond the border of friendly bayonets."
That is, a weaker state is part of a stronger state. But in any case, the state turns to the state.
Was Novgorod a state in the 9th century? Yes, I was. A city-state with a high culture and civilization, and with extensive possessions. And we should not be confused by its relative youth, the fact that the excavations of Ioannina's expedition show its beginning from the VIII century. That's why he called himself the New City. And the old one, as evidenced by recent archaeological discoveries, was most likely in Staraya Ladoga - the oldest center of the Slavic settlement in the North-West. By the way, according to the later Ipatiev Chronicle, Rurik came to reign in Staraya Ladoga, and then, having settled down, founded the New City and transferred his headquarters there, to Novgorod.
So, to which state did the Novgorod state turn for patronage? To Varyazhsky? So there was no such state!
Rurik - namesake
The contradictions and inconsistencies of the chronicle forced even major historians to unconvincing hypotheses. Indeed, at first they paid tribute to the Varangians, then they kicked out the Varangians, but immediately after that they asked them to “own us”? An obvious nonsense. And therefore V. O. Klyuchevsky suggests that they have called "other Varangians." What "others"?
The emigrant historian GV Vernadsky and after him LN Gumilyov in "our" Rurik see Rurik (or Rerik, Rorik) of Jutland. If so, then everything is fine, they turned not to some rabble, but to a famous person, to the state! It is not a shame to lead a pedigree from there. But in this hypothesis there are even more contradictions than in the annals. First, there are almost two thousand kilometers from Novgorod to Jutland-Denmark. This means that the Novgorod delegation, and most importantly, Rurik and his retinue had to go through the German, Polish, Lithuanian, Zhmud, Pskov lands and probably break through with battles, because he had many enemies. And not a word about this in the annals! And if he went on ships along the Baltic coast, went up the Neva to Ladoga, and from there went up the Volkhov to Novgorod - all the same, the neighboring tribes would not have let him through just like that. And such a long campaign could not have remained unnoticed in Europe, in comparison with which Rurik's previous campaigns to the lands of the Franks and Anglo-Saxons were short Sunday walks … Secondly, it is difficult to imagine that Rurik immediately and readily changed his position as ruler of Jutland- Denmark to Novgorod, so far from Europe. But even if so, why is there no mention of such an event in Western sources? Meanwhile, a lot is known about the previous life of Rurik of Jutland. And his parents, and victories and defeats. After all, he was a rather famous man in Europe, he equipped up to three hundred (!) Ships on campaigns, climbed the Elbe and fought on German lands, went to the shores of England, subjected the Anglo-Saxons to devastation and plunder. And suddenly such an act of his, leaving for Novgorod, which would surely have amazed his contemporaries,a two-thousand-kilometer hike - remained unmarked by anyone !? Very, very doubtful.
Apparently, historians were also confused by the phrase "went overseas." It seems as if the "sea", then it goes without saying that the Baltic. In reality, the Slavs called Lake Peipsi, Ilmen, Onega, and Ladoga the sea, around which were the camps and camps of "their" neighbors, the Varangians. Let us recall again the words of the chronicle:
“The Varangians from the overseas took tribute from the Chudi, and from the Slavs …
And here I will say that many answers and many clues are in sight and by ear, in the language. The most durable and reliable witness. Do you agree that the construction of the phrase is the most everyday one: exiled overseas, went overseas? Agree, if you went to ask the Vikings for more than two thousand kilometers to Jutland, the structure of the phrase would be different, completely different! Even if it had not been mentioned that the campaign was great, and the Varangian Sea, as the Baltic was called in antiquity. And here - just the sea. That is, on this side of Ladoga there was a city of Slavs, Mary, Chud and Krivichi - Staraya Ladoga. And on the other side of Ladoga, across the sea - the camp of the Varangians … That's the whole secret. And if we also remember that, according to the Ipatiev Chronicle, Rurik first came to Staraya Ladoga, then a lot falls into place …
And why, in fact, we are talking only about Ladoga. In the same way, Ilmen was called "the sea", and in the same way beyond Ilmen were the camps of the Varangians.
Who are the Varangians?
Varangians - this is how the Slavs called the Vikings. The Vikings, if we ignore the modern romanticization of cinema, were then simply robbers, bandits. These were young people who did not want to live peacefully and catch herring like their fathers and grandfathers. And they left their native settlements for Vic, in Russian - a settlement, but literally - a path. They hunted for robbery, robbery. Over time, they became a terrible force and terrorized Europe for three centuries, climbing upstream of rivers in their boats and burning cities and villages. And when there were no campaigns, they were hired in the armies of neighboring warring states. In general, mercenaries, landsknechts.
They were also hired by Slavic city-states. Numerous evidences of this are in the annals. Moreover, in all the annals about the hiring of the Varangians is spoken of as an ordinary matter, they did not go anywhere far behind them, they were always at hand. Here is one of the earliest testimonies. 980 year. Prince Vladimir of Novgorod wages war against Yaropolk, the murderer of their brother Oleg, and hires the Varangians. He breaks Yaropolk's squad, captures Kiev, and Yaropolk himself invites to negotiations in his tent. As soon as Yaropolk entered there, two Varangians pierced him with swords from both sides …
Yes, our Vladimir was distinguished by truly Varangian cruelty, unbridledness, disregard for all human norms and indiscriminate choice of means - qualities rare even for the mores of those times. Having received a refusal in the hand of the Polotsk princess Rogneda - she did not want to go for him, because Vladimir was a bastard, the illegitimate son of Svyatoslav from the Drevlyan slave-housekeeper Malusha - Vladimir goes to Polotsk by war, seizes the city and rapes Rogneda in front of his father and mother. As the chronicler notes, "he was insatiable in fornication, bringing married women to him and corrupting girls." Having killed Yaropolk, he immediately takes his wife, that is, the wife of his brother. And she was already pregnant. A son was born from Yaropolk. And the attitude towards him in the family was appropriate. As in due time and to Vladimir himself. And he behaved, presumably, also accordingly … In general, Svyatopolk grew up,the future killer of his brothers Boris, Gleb and Svyatoslav, nicknamed by the chronicler Svyatopolk the Damned …
But one way or another, and Prince Vladimir, so terrible in his unbridled passions, became a key figure in the history of Russia. Everything that happened after him is only a consequence of his choice of faith. The second such figure in the history of Russia was only Alexander Nevsky, about whom a lot will be said …
Prince Vladimir, eight years after the assassination of Yaropolk, christened Russia and became Vladimir the Holy. Perhaps the Lord forgave him all his sins for this. As the chronicler concludes, "he was an ignoramus, but in the end he found eternal salvation."
In this figure, in my opinion, the customs of those times are manifested in the most extreme expressions. From raging inferiority complexes to such actions as the baptism of Rus, which determined the development of the era, the course of history itself.
However, fratricide cannot be reduced only to the unkind feelings of illegitimate sons and stepsons. The quite legitimate Yaropolk began to kill. Let us recall, again, the murder of Boris, Gleb and Svyatoslav. Yes, Svyatopolk, of course, Cursed. But Scandinavian sources unequivocally point to the involvement in this murder of Svyatopolkov's brother Yaroslav, later named the Wise. So it remains to be wondered why Yaroslav fought so fiercely, expelled Svyatopolk from everywhere: either as a cursed fratricide, or as a witness to a common crime? And if you remember their ancestor Rurik, then one cannot fail to note the more than strange simultaneous death of his brothers Sineus and Truvor, after which Rurik becomes the sole ruler in the Northwest (it should be mentioned, however, that some researchers consider Sineus and Truvor to be fictional figures).
Fratricide is a common family chronicle of the Rurikovichs. Of Vladimir's eleven children, only four or five seem to have died a natural death. Yaroslav the Wise, one of them, said before his death to children: "Love each other, because you are brothers, from one father and one mother." But it is useless - Yaroslav's sons and grandsons, like their fathers and grandfathers, fought mercilessly with each other … The wisest of them - Vladimir Monomakh, tried to arrange the world with concessions, giving his relatives either Kiev or Chernigov. But Oleg and Davyd Svyatoslavich continued fratricidal wars even after the congress of princes in Lyubech, where they all kissed the cross and agreed on peace. That did not prevent Davyd Igorevich and Svyatopolk from immediately after that to grab Vasilko Terebovlsky and gouge out his eyes. Etc.
Yes, when it comes to power, there is no time for kinship. This was the case in all dynasties and throughout the world. But still, I believe that the Rurikovichs in world history occupy a special place in the shed blood of their own … Probably, this was due to the peculiarities of the huge country and the fact that initially, under Svyatoslav, and even more so under Vladimir with many children, a strict order of inheritance and distribution was not defined lands. But one must probably not ignore the origin …
Pagan Slavs are a peaceful and hospitable people. This was noted by all the most ancient chroniclers. The Slavs honored the clan, seniority in the clan, family.
Varangians-Vikings are a conscious and unconscious, complete, absolute denial of the family, father and mother. In the ancient military band there was one law - unconditional obedience to the leader. And in honor - only strength and complete disregard for everything else. That is why the so-called berserkers were especially appreciated among the Vikings - psychopaths, people-animals, mad, possessed, possessing cave ferocity and equally cave shamelessness and contempt for any restrictions.
This is the kind of environment that gave birth to Rurik, these are the laws and customs of his son and grandson. This is the kind of blood that raged in his great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren.
Yes, on the one hand, the mores of the princely families were softened by Slavic wives and Orthodox priests traditionally close to the female half of the house. Just imagine: two brothers, with the approval of the third, give the order to gouge out their nephew's eyes, and the fourth brother, unable to stop them, tries to admonish both contemporaries and descendants:
“Do not kill either the right or the guilty, and do not command to kill him; even if he is guilty of death, do not destroy any Christian soul. If God softens your heart, shed tears for your sins …"
Imagine a man brought up by his mother in Orthodox spiritual traditions, who, in the bloody murk of a cruel age, writes the following words:
“Why are you sad, my soul? Why are you embarrassing me? Trust in God, for I believe in Him …"
This is Vladimir Monomakh.
On the other hand, along the male line, there was an upbringing "in the traditions of fathers and grandfathers." The influence on the young princes of their Varangian mentors-governors, like Sveneld, was also enormous. After all, Sveneld, Yaropolk's first advisor, played a key role in the murder of Oleg. And the non-Varyazian governors were not much better. For example, Dobrynya is already Vladimir's governor. Dobrynya was Malusha's brother. The very same slave, the mother of Prince Vladimir. And when the Polotsk princess Rogneda refused Vladimir, pointing out his origin from a slave, then Dobrynya was very insulted for his sister. And how could he instilled young Vladimir for the war with Polotsk. In general, this fierce soldiery realized their vengeful or ambitious plans with the help of the princes, accustoming them and prompting them to do things unthinkable for their age …
But this is a retreat. In this case, we are interested in the collision of the "Vikings and Vladimir". The first one, who was later called the Saint.
Having killed Yaropolk and established himself on the Kiev throne, Vladimir decided that now it is possible not to pay the mercenaries. He drove them to Byzantium (in the chronicles - they themselves asked: “You deceived us, so let us go to the Greek land”), before sending the Byzantine emperor a warning: “Here the Varangians are coming to you, do not try to keep them in the capital, otherwise they will do you the same harm as here, they were settled in different places, but don't let one in here."
Of course, this act does not paint the prince. But, the descendant of the Varangians himself, Vladimir, apparently knew how to deal with this brotherhood.
In a word, it is precisely established who the Varangians were, how they treated the Varangians and who they were for the Slavs in 980. So is it possible to consider that a century earlier they, the Varangians, were civilized representatives of any civilized "Varangian" state? Of course no. And is it logical that the representatives of the civilized Novgorod state came to a violent, wild band living according to cave laws and customs, and called them “to rule and rule over us”? I think it's funny …
Moreover, it is doubly funny if you pay attention to the fact that we are talking about the most freedom-loving city of ancient and medieval Russia. Novgorodians never tolerated princely omnipotence. Therefore, the sons of the great Kiev princes came here with great reluctance. Novgorodians did not even recognize Alexander Nevsky! And here - complete servility and humiliation, and even before the Varangians …
To clarify the situation, let's draw a modern analogy. Let's say two powerful Moscow oligarchs - Berezner and Gusev - did not share something. Will any of them come to the criminals from the Lyubertsy criminal group and say: “Our oligarchy is great and abundant, but there is no order in it. Come and own us … ? Will not come. She won't tell. But to hire - can.
By the way, one of the original meanings of the word "Varangian" is "mercenary".
- Part two -