A. ORIGINS [862]-1019.
Bearing in mind the background to the establishment of Scandinavian settlements in Rus as discussed in the Introduction to the present document, any reconstructed genealogy of the Rurikid dynasty during the early years, as well as all dates and even names, must be viewed with caution. The detailed genealogy for this early period set out below may be of little factual significance but is reproduced by way of interest.
1. [RURIK [Roric] (-[879]). According to the Primary Chronicle 860/62, following a call to "the Varangian Russes [=Scandinavians]…to come to rule and reign over us", Rurik and his two brothers migrated to settle, Rurik the oldest brother settling in Novgorod[15]. Franklin & Shephard comment that "the story [in the Primary Chronicle]…remains highly controversial"[16]. The initial Scandinavian settlements seem to have been at Gorodishche, the town of Novgorod (as its name implies) being a new settlement which was probably established nearby in the 950s[17]. The Primary Chronicle records Rurik´s death in 879[18]. This chronology is dubious when compared with the more robust dates attributable to his supposed grandson Sviatoslav (see below). m ---. The name of Rurik´s wife is not known. Rurik & his wife had [two possible children]:
a) [IGOR [Ingvar] ([877/79] or [910/20]-killed Iskorosten [=Korosten] [944/46], bur Dereva near Iskorosten). The Primary Chronicle names Igor as son of Rurik, adding that he was "very young" at his father´s death[19]. This suggests a birth date in [877/79] for consistency with the report about his supposed father´s death in the same source. However, the chronology of Igor´s son Sviatoslav, which is more robust as shown below, suggests that it is more likely that Igor was born in [910/20]. The Primary Chronicle records that Igor succeeded (his relative) Oleg in 912[20], but this chronology is also difficult to sustain. It is probably more accurate to suggest that Igor was established at Kiev by the end of the 930s[21]. The existence of Igor as a historical figure is nevertheless corroborated: Liudprand of Cremona records that "rex…Inger" came to Constantinople, during the reign of Emperor Romanos I, with "mille et eo amplius navibus"[22] (dated to 941 by Franklin & Shepard[23]), and the De administrando imperio names his son "Sphendosthlabus Ingor Russiæ principis filius"[24]. Franklin & Shepard also refer to an apparently corroborating Khazar text, in which the leader is named 'H-L-G-W' [=Oleg?] and is said to have died in the Caspian region[25]. Oleg negotiated privileged trading terms with Byzantium in [944], the text of which is incorporated into the Primary Chronicle[26]. The main terms of the treaty are corroborated by the De administrando imperio[27]. The Primary Chronicle records that Oleg was killed by Derevlian Slavs, who lived to the north-east of Kiev and were unwilling to submit to his rule[28]. m ([930/35]) OLGA [Helga/Haelgha] --- (-969). The Primary Chronicle records that a wife Olga was brought [to Igor] from Pskov in 903[29]. The date is clearly inconsistent with the suggested birth date of their son Sviatoslav in [935/40] as shown below. After her husband was killed, the Derevlian Slavs proposed her marriage to their own leader Mal, but the Primary Chronicle records that Olga exacted prompt and effective revenge for her husband's death after besieging the Derevlian capital of Iskorosten[30]. Olga was regent for her son [from 945 to 964]. Her centre of power was based around Kiev where she owned two halls[31]. The Primary Chronicle records that Olga was baptised in Constantinople in [957] by the emperor (Konstantinos VII), and took the name HELENA after the mother of Emperor Konstantinos the Great[32]. Cedrenus records that "Elga Rossorum principis uxor" came to Constantinople after her husband died, was baptised, and returned home[33]. The Continuator of Regino records that "legati Helenæ reginæ Rugorum", who had been baptised at Constantinople "sub Romano imperatore Constantinopolitano", visited Otto I King of Germany in 959, and that in 960 "Libutius ex cœnobitis sancti Albani" was consecrated "genti Rugorum episcopus" by "episcopo Adaldago" [archbishop of Bremen][34]. The Annales Quedlinburgenses record the arrival of "legati Rusciæ gentis ad regem Ottonem" in 960 and his sending "Adalbertum episcopum" to their country[35]. The difference in the two sources of the name of the supposed first bishop is not explained. The Primary Chronicle records that, during the invasion of the Pechenegs in 968, Olga shut herself in the city of Kiev with her grandsons Yaropolk, Oleg and Vladimir and that she died in 969[36]. She was later esteemed to be a saint, her feast day being 11 July. Igor & his wife had one child:
i) SVIATOSLAV ([935/40]-killed in battle 972). The De administrando imperio names "Sphendosthlabus Ingor Russiæ principis filius"[37]. The Primary Chronicle names Sviatoslav as son of Olga[38]. He succeeded his father as leader in Kiev, under the regency of his mother.
- see below.
b) [---. The precise relationship, if any, between the following individuals and Igor is not known. m ---.] [Two children]:
i) [IGOR. The Primary Chronicle names Igor "nephew of Igor" in the [944] treaty with Byzantium[39].
ii) [AKUN. The Primary Chronicle names Akun "nephew of Igor" in the [944] treaty with Byzantium[40], although it is not known whether he shared the same parents with Igor.
2. [SINEUS . According to the Primary Chronicle 860/62, following a call to "the Varangian Russes [=Scandinavians]…to come to rule and reign over us", Rurik and his two brothers migrated to settle, Sineus the second brother settling in Beloozero but dying after two years[41].
3. [TRUVOR . According to the Primary Chronicle 860/62, following a call to "the Varangian Russes [=Scandinavians]…to come to rule and reign over us", Rurik and his two brothers migrated to settle, Truvor the third brother settling in Izborsk but dying after two years[42].
The precise relationship, if any, between the following person and the main line of Rurik is not known.
1. OLEG [Helgi/Haelghe] (-912). The Primary Chronicle records that Rurik bequeathed his realm to Oleg "who belonged to his kin"[43]. The Primary Chronicle describes Oleg´s capture of Smolensk, Lyubech and Kiev, where he killed the local rulers Askold and Dir and set himself up as prince[44]. The same source states that he established authority over the Polyanians, Derevlians, Severians and Radimichians, but waged war with the Ulichians and the Tivercians[45]. It also records that, after a Rus attack on Constantinople, Oleg concluded two treaties with Byzantium which established the conditions for future Russian trade with Constantinople[46]. Franklin & Shepard point out the lack of corroboration in Byzantine sources for these early treaties[47]. The Primary Chronicle records that Oleg died from a snake bite[48].
SVIATOSLAV, son of IGOR [Ingvar] of Kiev & his wife Olga --- ([935/40]-killed in battle [Mar/May] 972). The De administrando imperio names "Sphendosthlabus Ingor Russiæ principis filius"[49]. The Primary Chronicle names Sviatoslav as son of Olga[50]. His birth date is estimated on the assumption that he was a young adult when the De administrando imperio was compiled, before the death of Emperor Konstantinos VII in 959. According to the Primary Chronicle he "was but a child" in 946[51]. At an early age, Sviatoslav´s father appears to have established him in the northern town of Gorodishche, which indicates a claim to overlordship of the northern Scandinavian settlements. The place is called "Nemogardas" in the De administrando imperio[52], which could be a corruption of Novgorod. He succeeded his father as SVIATOSLAV I Grand Prince of Kiev, under the regency of his mother. Kiev was besieged by the Pechenegs in 962[53]. Ruling alone by the mid-960s, Prince Sviatoslav launched a major attack against the Khazars in 965, using the Pechenegs as allies[54]. He conquered the entire middle Volga area and took control of the commercial centres of Sarkel and Ityl[55]. Sviatoslav invaded the territory of the Bulgars along the Danube in 967, having been invited to do so by Emperor Nikephoros Phokas, and established a base at Pereiaslavets on the Danube delta[56]. It is not clear whether Pereiaslavets was the same place as Preslava, the Bulgarian capital, as Franklin & Shepard appear to assume[57], or a different place which appears to be the basis on which Fine writes[58]. Zonaras records that "Borises…Bulgarorum rex" reconquered Preslav but was defeated by "Sphendosthlavus Russorum dux"[59]. Faced with the perceived threat of invasion by Sviatoslav, Emperor Ioannes Tzimisces marched into Bulgaria, captured the capital, and negotiated Sviatoslav's withdrawal. During Sviatoslav's absence in Bulgaria, the Pechenegs raided as far as Kiev. Fine points out that according to the Primary Chronicle the Bulgarians summoned the Pechenegs to attack Kiev, without help from Byzantium[60]. The Primary Chronicle records that, on Sviatoslav´s return journey to Kiev while crossing the Dnieper river in Spring 972, he was attacked and killed by the Pecheneg leader Kuria who reputedly made his skull into a ceremonial cup covered with gold[61]. This represents a curious echo of the report in Paulus Diaconus according to which the skull of Alboin King of the Lombards in Pannonia was allegedly made into a drinking cup after he was defeated and killed by Cunimund King of the Gepids in 567[62].
m (before [960]) --- [of Hungary], daughter of [TORMAS Prince of Hungary & his wife ---]. The primary source which confirms her parentage and marriage has not yet been identified. She was known as PREDSLAVA in Russia. EuropäischeStammtafeln[63] suggests that Predslava was the possible daughter of Tormas but the basis for this speculation is not known. Her marriage date is estimated from the estimated date of birth of her son.
Mistress (1): ESFIR, daughter of ---. She is named as Sviatoslav´s mistress in EuropäischeStammtafeln[64]. The primary source which confirms her parentage and relationship with Sviatoslav has not yet been identified.
Mistress (2): MALUSHA [Malfred], daughter of MALK of Lyubech & his wife --- (-1002). The Primary Chronicle names Malusha, stewardess of Olga and sister of Dobrinya (naming their father Malk of Lyubech), as mother of Sviatoslav's son Vladimir[65].
Grand Prince Sviatoslav & his wife had one child:
1. IAROPOLK Sviatoslavich ([960]-murdered Kiev [980]). The Primary Chronicle names Yaropolk, Oleg and Vladimir as grandsons of Olga[66]. The source which records that Iaropolk was his father´s legitimate son has not yet been identified. He succeeded his father in 972 as IAROPOLK I Grand Prince of Kiev. The Primary Chronicle records that, after he was attacked in Kiev by his half-brother Vladimir, Iaropolk fled to Rodnia near Pecheneg territory. He was murdered when he returned to Kiev to negotiate with Vladimir[67]. The Primary Chronicle records that "the bodies of the two princes Yaropolk and Oleg sons of Sviatoslav" were buried in the Church of the Holy Virgin after being baptised in 1044[68]. m (972) ---. The Primary Chronicle records that Yaropolk had a Greek wife who had been a nun, brought home by his father[69]. She was the mistress of her husband´s brother VLADIMIR I "Velikiy/the Great" Grand Prince of Kiev. The Primary Chronicle records that Vladimir, later Grand Prince of Kiev, had intercourse with his brother's [Yaropolk's] wife "a Greek woman"[70].
Grand Prince Sviatoslav had one illegitimate child by Mistress (1):
2. OLEGSviatoslavich(-killed [976/77], bur Vruchiy). The Primary Chronicle names Yaropolk, Oleg and Vladimir as grandsons of Olga[71]. His father designated him in 972 as ruler in Dereva[72]. The source which records the name of Oleg´s mother, and the fact that he was illegitimate, has not yet been identified. After a dispute with his brother Iaropolk over hunting rights, the latter attacked and defeated Oleg, who was pushed from the bridge leading into Ovruch, and later buried at Vruchiy[73]. The Primary Chronicle records that "the bodies of the two princes Yaropolk and Oleg sons of Sviatoslav" were buried in the Church of the Holy Virgin after being baptised in 1044[74].
Grand Prince Sviatoslav had one illegitimate child by Mistress (2):
3. VLADIMIRSviatoslavich([960]-Berestov 15 Jul 1015). The Primary Chronicle names Yaropolk, Oleg and Vladimir as grandsons of Olga[75]. The Primary Chronicle names Malusha, stewardess of Olga and sister of Dobrinya (naming their father Malk of Lyubech), as mother of Sviatoslav's son Vladimir[76]. He succeeded in [980] as VLADIMIR I "Velikiy/the Great" Grand Prince of Kiev.
- see below.
The precise relationship, if any, between the following person and the main line of Rurik is not known.
1. KHRYSOKHIR (-killed in battle Lemnos [1022/23]). Cedrenus records that "Anna imperatoris sorore" died "in Rossia", adding that her husband had already died, in a passage following the record of events dated to [1022], adding that "Chrysochir quidam Bladimeri cognatus" (not yet identified) sailed for Constantinople after she died but was defeated and killed at Lemnos by "Davido Achridensi Sami præfecto ac Nicephoro Cabasila duce Thessalonicæ"[77].
Chapter 1. ORIGINS, GRAND PRINCES of KIEV
B. GRAND PRINCES of KIEV 1019-1093
A. PRINCES of PEREMYSHL and TEREBOVL
B. PRINCES of GALICH 1144-1199
C. PRINCES of VOLYNIA, PRINCES and KINGS of GALICH
D. PRINCES of GALICH 1218/1226
Chapter 4. PRINCES of TUROV and PINSK
Chapter 5. PRINCES of NOVGOROD-SEVERSKIY and KURSK
Chapter 6. PRINCES of RIAZAN, MUROM and PRONSK
Chapter 7. PRINCES of SMOLENSK
Chapter 8. GRAND PRINCES of VLADIMIR, PRINCES of ROSTOV-SUZDAL
A. PRINCES OF ROSTOV-SUZDAL and VLADIMIR, GRAND PRINCES of VLADIMIR 1243-1322
Chapter 9. PRINCES of ROSTOV and BELOOZERO
Chapter 10. GRAND PRINCES of SUZDAL and NIZHNI-NOVGOROD
Chapter 11. GRAND PRINCES of TVER
A. PRINCES of TVER, GRAND PRINCES of VLADIMIR 1263-1327
Chapter 12. GRAND PRINCES of MOSCOW, TSARS of RUSSIA
A. PRINCES of MOSCOW, GRAND PRINCES of VLADIMIR 1328-1447
B. GRAND PRINCES of MOSCOW 1425-1533
D. TSARS of RUSSIA 1598-1605, GODUNOV
E. TSAR of RUSSIA 1606-1610, SHUISKY