For more than seven centuries, the Rurik dynasty ruled in Russia. Under her, the Russian state was formed, fragmentation was overcome, the first monarchs ascended the throne. The ancient Varangian family has sunk into oblivion, leaving historians with many unsolvable mysteries.
Dynastic intricacies
The greatest difficulty for historians is the compilation of the Rurik family tree. The point is not only the remoteness of eras, but also the breadth of the genus's geography, its social interweaving, and the absence of reliable sources.
Certain difficulties in the study of the Rurik dynasty are created by the so-called "ladder" (regular) law that existed in Russia until the 13th century, under which not his son, but the next oldest brother, acted as the successor of the Grand Duke. Moreover, the princes often changed their lot, moving from city to city, which further confuses the general picture of the genealogy.
True, until the reign of Yaroslav the Wise (978-1054), the inheritance in the dynasty proceeded in a straight line, and only after his sons Svyatoslav and Vsevolod, during the period of feudal fragmentation, the branches of the Rurikovich began to multiply incessantly, spreading throughout the ancient Russian lands.
One of the branches of the Vsevolodovichs leads to Yuri Dolgoruky (1096? -1157). It is from him that the line begins its countdown, which subsequently led to the appearance of the Great Dukes and Tsars of Moscow.
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First of a kind
The identity of the founder of the Rurik dynasty (died in 879) to this day causes a lot of controversy, up to the denial of his existence. For many, the famous Varangian is nothing more than a semi-mythical figure. This is understandable. In the historiography of the 19th - 20th centuries, the Norman theory was criticized, since the idea of the inability of the Slavs to create their own state was intolerable to domestic science.
Modern historians are more loyal to Norman theory. So, academician Boris Rybakov hypothesizes that in one of the raids on the Slavic lands Rurik's squad captured Novgorod, although another historian, Igor Froyanov, supports the peaceful version of the “vocation of the Varangians” to reign.
The problem is that the image of Rurik lacks specificity. According to some sources, it could be the Danish Viking Rörik of Jutland, according to others, the Swede Eirik Emundarson, who raided the lands of the Balts.
There is also a Slavic version of the origin of Rurik. His name is associated with the word "Rerek" (or "Rarog"), which in the Slavic tribe of the Obodrits meant a falcon. And, indeed, during the excavations of the early settlements of the Rurik dynasty, many images of this bird were found.
Wise and Cursed
After the division of the ancient Russian lands between the descendants of Rurik, with appanages in Rostov, Novgorod, Suzdal, Vladimir, Pskov and other cities, a real fratricidal war broke out for the possession of estates, which did not subside until the centralization of the Russian state. One of the most power-hungry was Prince Turovsky, Svyatopolk, nicknamed the Cursed. According to one version, he was the son of Vladimir Svyatoslavovich (the Baptist), according to another, Yaropolk Svyatoslavovich.
Rebelling against Vladimir, Svyatopolk was imprisoned on charges of trying to avert Russia from baptism. However, after the death of the Grand Duke, he turned out to be more agile than others and took the empty throne. According to one of the versions, wanting to get rid of competitors in the person of his half-brothers Boris, Gleb and Svyatoslav, he sent his warriors to them, who dealt with them one by one.
According to another version, to which the historian Nikolai Ilyin is inclined, Svyatopolk could not kill Boris and Gleb, since they recognized his right to the throne. In his opinion, the young princes fell victim to the hands of the soldiers of Yaroslav the Wise, who claimed the Kiev throne.
One way or another, a long fratricidal war broke out between Svyatopolk and Yaroslav for the title of Grand Duke of Kiev. It continued with varying success, until in the decisive battle on the Alta River (not far from the place of Gleb's death), Yaroslav's squads finally defeated Svyatopolk's detachment, who was branded a treacherous prince and a traitor. Well, "the winners write history."
Khan's kingdom
One of the most odious rulers from the Rurik family was Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible (1530-1584). On the paternal side, he descended from the Moscow branch of the dynasty, and on the maternal side from Khan Mamai. Perhaps it was Mongolian blood that gave his character such unpredictability, explosiveness and cruelty.
Mongolian genes partly explain the military campaigns of Grozny to the Nogai Horde, the Crimean, Astrakhan and Kazan khanates. By the end of the reign of Ivan Vasilyevich, Muscovite Russia possessed a territory exceeding the rest of Europe: the growing state was more likely to correspond to the possessions of the Golden Horde.
In 1575, Ivan IV unexpectedly abdicated the throne and proclaimed the new king of the Kasimov khan, Semeon Bekbulatovich, a descendant of Genghis Khan and great-grandson of the Khan of the Great Horde, Akhmat. Historians call this action "political masquerade", although they cannot fully explain it. Someone argues that in this way the tsar escaped the predictions of the Magi, who predicted death for him, others, in particular the historian Ruslan Skrynnikov, see this as a cunning political move. It is interesting that after the death of Grozny, many boyars consolidated around the candidacy of Semeon, but they eventually lost the fight against Boris Godunov.
Death of the prince
After the imbecile Fyodor Ioannovich (1557-1598), the third son of Ivan the Terrible, was placed in the kingdom, the question of the successor turned out to be relevant. They were considered the younger brother of Fyodor and the son of the Terrible from the sixth marriage Dmitry. Even despite the fact that the Church did not officially recognize Dmitry's right to the throne, since only children from the first three marriages could be applicants, who actually ruled the state and was counting on the throne of Fyodor's brother-in-law, Boris Godunov was seriously afraid of a competitor.
Therefore, when on May 15, 1591 in Uglich, Tsarevich Dmitry was found dead with his throat cut, suspicion immediately fell on Godunov. But, as a result, an accident was blamed for the death of the prince: allegedly, the prince, suffering from epilepsy, mortally wounded himself during an attack.
Historian Mikhail Pogodin, who in 1829 worked with the original of this criminal case, also acquits Godunov and confirms the version of the accident, although some modern researchers tend to see this as an insidious intent.
Tsarevich Dmitry was destined to become the last of the Moscow branch of the Rurikovichs, but the dynasty was finally interrupted only in 1610, when Vasily Shuisky (1552-1612), representing the Suzdal line of the Rurikovich family, was overthrown from the throne.
Treason Ingigerda
Representatives of Rurikovich can be found today. Russian scientists have recently conducted research on DNA samples of those who consider themselves the legitimate heirs of the ancient family. The researchers came to the conclusion that the descendants belong to two haplogroups: N1с1 - branches leading from Vladimir Monomakh and R1a1 - descending from Yuri Tarusky.
However, it is the second haplogroup that is recognized as primordial, since the first could appear as a result of the infidelity of Yaroslav the Wise's wife, Irina. The Scandinavian sagas tell that Irina (Ingigerda) was inflamed with love for the Norwegian king Olaf II. According to historians, the fruit of this love was Vsevolod, the father of Vladimir Monomakh. But even this option once again confirms the Varangian roots of the Rurik family.