The favourable prospects for the development of Old Rus­sian culture and literature at the beginning of the thirteenth century were not destined to be realised. Bitter ordeals lay ahead for Russia, the Mongol invasion and the establishment of Mongol overlordship. The first clash of the Rus­sians with the Mongols took […]

The feudal disunity of Russia, which was particularly strong during Mongol overlordship, promoted the development of local and regional chronicle-writing. This had two consequences. On the one hand, the chroniclers’ field of vision became narrower to some extent. On the other hand, the emergence of regional chronicle- writing led to […]

One of the earliest surviving manuscripts of a Russian chronicle is The Laurentian Chronicle, which got its name from a note at the end of the manuscript copied in 1377 in the principality of Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal to the effect that the chronicle was copied by the monk Laurentius and his […]

The Galich-Volhynian prin­cipality was in the south-west of Russia. To the west and south-west it bordered on Poland and Hungary, to the east on the principalities of Kiev and Turov-Pinsk. The Galich-Volhynian principality was one of the richest Russian principalities and played an important role in the political life of […]

One of the central themes of Old Russian literature was the role of the prince in the life of the country. The need for strong princely power in order to struggle successfully against external enemies and overcome internal contradictions was perfectly clear to those concerned with the fate of their […]

The Tale of the Battle on the Kalka. In examining the history of thirteenth-century chronicle-writing, we have already men­tioned the broad reflection in the chronicles of Batu’s invasion and the establishment of Mongol overlordship. Let us now consider the individual works of this type. The first clash with the invaders, […]

The Lay of the Ruin of the Russian Land has come down to us in two manuscripts, not as an independent text, but as the foreword to the first redaction of The Tale of the Life of Alexander Nevsky.23 Some specialists believe that The Lay of the Ruin is the […]

The Tale of Batu’s Capture of Ryazan is not a documentary account of the struggle of the people of Ryazan in 1237 against the enemy that invaded the principality. Among the participants in the battle many names are mentioned that are unknown in chronicle sources. Some of the princes who, […]

A description of the Russian people’s heroic struggle against Batu’s forces has survived in accounts of the defence of other towns that were attacked and defeated. They take the form either of brief entries on the capture by the Mongols of a certain town or small stories. In all of […]

It is interesting that even in towns that were not attacked by Batu legends grew up about the miraculous saving of the town from this disaster due to the intercession of higher powers. One such legend of this period has survived in The Tale of Mercurius of Smolensk It arose […]