Vadim the Bold was a legendary chieftain of the Ilmen Slavs who led their struggle against Rurik and the

Varangians The Varangians (; non, Væringjar; gkm, Βάραγγοι, ''Várangoi'';Varangian
" Online Etymo ...

in the 9th century. According to the Nikon Chronicle, a historic 16th-century Muscovite chronicle that covered events of 859–1520 CE, the Novgorodians broke into rebellion against Rurik, their ruler, but his Varangian

druzhina In the medieval history of Kievan Rus' and Early Poland, a druzhina, drużyna, or družyna ( Slovak and cz, družina; pl, drużyna; ; , ''druzhýna'' literally a "fellowship") was a retinue in service of a Slavic chieftain, also called ''knyaz ...

managed to quell the riots and murdered their leader, Vadim. The first Russian historian,

Vasily Tatishchev Vasily Nikitich Tatishchev (russian: Васи́лий Ники́тич Тати́щев) (19 April 1686 – 15 July 1750) was a prominent Russian Imperial statesman, historian, philosopher, and ethnographer, best remembered as the author of the ...

, conjectured that Vadim's mother was the elder daughter of

Gostomysl Gostomysl depicted on the first plate of the book ''Illustrated Karamzin'' (1836), depicting the history of Russia. Gostomysl () is a legendary 9th-century prince or posadnik of Novgorod who was introduced into the historiography by Vasily Tati ...

. Hence, Vadim was Rurik's elder cousin and had a better claim to the throne.

In Russian literature

After Tatischev's publications, Vadim became one of the most popular characters in the 18th-century Russian literature.

Yakov Knyazhnin Yakov Borisovich Knyazhnin (russian: Я́ков Бори́сович Княжни́н, November 3, 1742 or 1740, Pskov – January 1, 1791, St Petersburg) was Russia's foremost tragic author during the reign of Catherine the Great. Knyazhnin's cont ...

, a leading playwright, penned a play in which he contrasted Vadim, a defender of Novgorod's ancient freedom, with the authoritarian Rurik. When the play appeared in 1791, Catherine the Great was enraged, although she had fictionalized Vadim's struggle against Rurik in one of her own plays. Against the background of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

, Knyazhnin was accused of

Jacobinism A Jacobin (; ) was a member of the Jacobin Club, a revolutionary political movement that was the most famous political club during the French Revolution (1789–1799). The club got its name from meeting at the Dominican rue Saint-Honoré M ...

and all printed copies of his play were to be burnt.

Authenticity issues

In the 19th century, Sergey Solovyov and other major historians cast a doubt on the historicity and

authenticity Authenticity or authentic may refer to: * Authentication, the act of confirming the truth of an attribute Arts and entertainment * Authenticity in art, ways in which a work of art or an artistic performance may be considered authentic Music * A ...

of Vadim."Vadim of Novgorod"
The tragedy in verse in five acts. (Russian)
The project "Collection of classics" Libraries Moshkova (Lib.ru / Classical)
Accessed May 2011. Currently, he is considered a legendary personage. Yet his freedom-loving character appealed to the spirit of

Romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...

. Three leading Russian poets of the era,

Alexander Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...

Vasily Zhukovsky Vasily Andreyevich Zhukovsky (russian: Василий Андреевич Жуковский, Vasiliy Andreyevich Zhukovskiy; – ) was the foremost Russian poet of the 1810s and a leading figure in Russian literature in the first half of the 19t ...

and

Mikhail Lermontov Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov (; russian: Михаи́л Ю́рьевич Ле́рмонтов, p=mʲɪxɐˈil ˈjurʲjɪvʲɪtɕ ˈlʲɛrməntəf; – ) was a Russian Romantic writer, poet and painter, sometimes called "the poet of the Caucas ...

, based their poems on the subject of Vadim's legendary exploits.

References

{{reflist Russian folklore characters 9th century in Europe East Slavic history People from medieval Novgorod Heroes in mythology and legend