HIST 2906A: Kyivan Rus’ and the Russian Empire to 1801
HIST 2906A: Kyivan Rus’ and the Russian Empire to 1801
Instructor: Professor Erica Fraser
This course explores the history of the East Slavs from the earliest medieval records we have up to the end of Catherine the Great’s reign. This history began in the city-states of a loose confederation called Rus’, centred on the largest principality of Kyiv long before Moscow even existed. Over many centuries and due to cultural, political, and military events we will explore, those cities and surrounding lands divided into Russia, Ukraine, and other polities. Today, several East Slavic peoples claim Kyivan Rus’ as their ancestral home, and politicians like Vladimir Putin have used this shared history to violently proclaim that Ukraine “belongs” to Russia.
We will focus on three major areas:
1. Chronological: From the 10th to the end of the 18th century and the different waves of political control and social development that characterized this region.
2. Thematic: Within this chronology, we will examine persistent themes such as the authority of the princes and Tsars; the Orthodox Church and religious minorities; women’s lives; the expansion of the Russian empire and its impact on Ukrainians and other colonized nations; the establishment of slavery (called serfdom); and the philosophies and ideologies that helped shape East Slavic history.
3. Record-keeping and interpretation: How do we know what we know about this history? What records have survived, and how? We will look at bark carvings from early centuries, religious texts, epic poems of battles, etiquette books, law codes, royal decrees, memoirs, and fiction. We will ask how people recorded their experiences and preserved (or lost) those documents; what might have been left out or who was not permitted to record their experiences for various reasons; and how we as historians should evaluate our sources.
Along the way, we will also look at how and why politicians have used warped versions of this medieval past to advance their goals in present-day Russia.
Assignments:
Regular reading quizzes, one essay, and an in-class mid-term and final exam. Attendance and discussion participation are required for success in this course.
Texts:
One textbook will be available for purchase or rental. Primary sources will be available for free via web links.
Questions? Feel free to email me at erica.fraser@carleton.ca