Russia before the Mongol invasion: what we lost

Before the Mongol invasion, Russia, which converted to Christianity in 988, was a large European state, quite capable of accepting a staff from Constantinople. The state consisted of 12 principalities. In many of them: Volyn, Murom, Ryazan, Chernihiv, Suzdal and others were ruled by the descendants of the Rurikovich. At the head was the capital city with the prince. In international politics, Russia was also a respected state.
Yaroslav the Wise is a Russian prince who left his mark in many European chronicles and sagas. Especially in Scandinavian literature.

The main characters in the sagas mentioning Prince Yaroslav were the king Olaf Haraldsson and his son Magnus.

The reason is that Yaroslav led a very active foreign policy in Scandinavia. He entered into an alliance with the Danish king Knud the Great, married in 1019 the daughter of the Swedish ruler Ingergerde, widely attracted the Normans to serve in his army.

Yaroslav had three daughters and six sons. To one of them, the second daughter Elizabeth, a young Varangian, who was in the service in the army of the prince, got involved. His name was Harald. It so happened that he was a native of an ancient Varangian clan and served in a foreign land. His older brother was St. Olav, the famous ruler of Norway, uniting the country and baptizing it. But he did it so zealously that he was hated. When the Danes attacked the country, many turned to the enemy. Olaf and Harald fought together. But the Danish king won.

Olaf died, and Harald, saving his son Magnus, went with him to Yaroslav. He accepted them as relatives. Yaroslav married his sister to the Polish king. The eldest daughter Anastasia became the Queen of Hungary. When King Androsh broke paralysis, she virtually single-handedly ruled the state. But the brother of the sick king organized an uprising. Soon, the defeated king died, and Anastasia with the children escaped from the German king. He helped restore her power, but not for long - until the next uprising. Anna Yaroslavovna became the queen of France, having married Henry the First.

Historians estimate that the children of the Russian princes entered into 84 dynastic marriages. The Tatar-Mongol invasion interrupted this tradition for a long time. Such a practice will return only under Peter the Great. The standard of living of the population was much higher than in the next three hundred years. Europeans called Russia Gardarika - "the country of cities."

15% of the population lived in cities. The population of Kiev was more than 50,000 people. For comparison, there were 10,000 people in Paris. After the Tatar-Mongol invasion, Russia turned into a country of villages. Archaeologists have found several thousand birch bark letters, which indicates a high level of education. In Kiev, the princes gathered a library equal to the library of Alexander the Great. The Tale of Bygone Years was created. The invasion hindered the development of our culture and statehood for at least several centuries. All political contacts and trade with Europeans ceased.

Watch the video: Mongol Invasion - History of Russia in 100 Minutes Part 4 of 36 (May 2024).