Kievan Rus' Kievan Rus' (Old East Slavic Рѹ́сь, Рѹ́сьскаѧ землѧ,[citation needed] Greek Ῥωσία, Latin Rus(s)ia, Ruscia, Ruzzia, Rut(h)enia,[1][2] Old Norse Garðaríki) was a loose federation[3] of East Slavic tribes in Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century,[4] under the reign of the Rurik dynasty. The modern peoples of Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia all claim Kievan Rus' as their cultural inheritance.[5] At its greatest extent in the mid-11th century, it stretched from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Black Sea in the south and from the headwaters of the Vistula in the west to the Taman Peninsula in the east,[6][7] uniting the majority of East Slavic tribes.[3] Kievan Rus' begins with the rule (882–912) of Prince Oleg, who extended his control from Novgorod south along the Dnieper river valley in order to protect trade from Khazar incursions from the east[3] and moved his capital to the more strategic Kiev.
Name[edit] History[edit] Origin[edit] Invitation of the Varangians[edit] Pskov. Pskov (Russian: Псков, IPA: [pskof] ( History[edit] Early history[edit] Pskov is one of the oldest cities in Russia. The name of the city, originally spelled "Pleskov", may be loosely translated as "[the town] of purling waters". Its earliest mention comes in 903, which records that Igor of Kiev married a local lady, St. Pskov Republic[edit] By the 14th century, the town functioned as the capital of a de facto sovereign republic. For Russia, the Pskov Republic was a bridge towards Europe; for Europe, it was a western outpost of Russia. Finally, in 1510, the city fell to Muscovite forces.[8] The deportation of noble families to Moscow is a subject of Rimsky-Korsakov's opera Pskovityanka (1872).
Modern history[edit] Peter the Great's conquest of Estonia and Latvia during the Great Northern War in the early 18th century spelled the end of Pskov's traditional role as a vital border fortress and a key to Russia's interior. Administrative and municipal status[edit] Landmarks and sights[edit] Pskov Republic. Origin[edit] As a principality, Pleskov was ruled by separate princes, but often it was ruled directly from Novgorod until the mid-13th century when the city began accepting as rulers princes exiled from their possessions. Each exiled prince that went to Pleskov could be proclaimed prince there (if principal throne wasn't occupied by other prince) but in any case he could get honorary reception and live there without fear for his life. Internal organization[edit] Final years[edit] The strengthening of ties with the Grand Duchy of Moscow, caused by economic development and foreign policy objectives, Pskov’s participation in the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380, and successful joint struggle against the Teutonic Knights and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania offered conditions for elimination of the independence of the Pskov Republic.
In 1501, armies of Pskov and Moscow were defeated in the Battle of the Siritsa River by the Livonian Order, but the city withstood the subsequent siege. Daumantas[edit] Slavic piracy. Slavic peoples. The Slavs are an Indo-European ethno-linguistic group living in Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, North Asia and Central Asia, who speak the Indo-European Slavic languages, and share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds. From the early 6th century they spread to inhabit most of Central and Eastern Europe and Southeast Europe.[27] Slavic groups also ventured as far as Scandinavia, constituting elements amongst the Vikings;[28][29] whilst at the other geographic extreme, Slavic mercenaries fighting for the Byzantines and Arabs settled Asia Minor and even as far as Syria.[30] Later, East Slavs (specifically, Russians and Ukrainians) colonized Siberia[31] and Central Asia.[32] Every Slavic ethnicity has emigrated to other parts of the world.[33][34] Over half of Europe's territory is inhabited by Slavic-speaking communities.[35] Ethnonym[edit] European countries where a Slavic language is the official one on the entire territory History[edit]