The Rus'–Byzantine Treaty of 911 is the most comprehensive and detailed treaty which was allegedly concluded between the
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...
and
Kievan Rus'
Kievan Rus', also known as Kyivan Rus,.
* was the first East Slavs, East Slavic state and later an amalgam of principalities in Eastern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical At ...
in the early 10th century. It was preceded by the preliminary treaty of 907. It is considered the earliest written source of Kievan Rus' law. The text of this treaty is only found in the ''
Primary Chronicle
The ''Primary Chronicle'', shortened from the common ''Russian Primary Chronicle'' (, commonly transcribed ''Povest' vremennykh let'' (PVL), ), is a Rus' chronicle, chronicle of Kievan Rus' from about 850 to 1110. It is believed to have been or ...
'' (PVL), and its authenticity is therefore difficult to establish.
Contents
The text of the document is incorporated into the ''
Primary Chronicle
The ''Primary Chronicle'', shortened from the common ''Russian Primary Chronicle'' (, commonly transcribed ''Povest' vremennykh let'' (PVL), ), is a Rus' chronicle, chronicle of Kievan Rus' from about 850 to 1110. It is believed to have been or ...
'' (PVL) '' sub anno'' 911. The text also includes speeches of the parties on the occasion.
* The treaty opens with a lengthy enumeration of the Rus' envoys.
* Article 1 proclaims the "solid and durable" friendship between
Rus'
Rus or RUS may refer to:
People
* East Slavic historical peoples (). See Names of Rus', Russia and Ruthenia
** Rus' people, the people of Rus'
** Rus, a legendary eponymous ancestor, see Lech, Czech and Rus
* Rus (surname), a surname found in Ro ...
and Greeks, and provides that the Rus' will never cause any damage to the Greeks and vice-versa.
* The articles 3 to 7 regulate
criminal law
Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It proscribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and Well-being, welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal l ...
and the life of their colony at
Constantinople
Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
. There is also a proviso on inheritance of a merchant who died in the imperial capital.
* The article 8 is dedicated to
maritime law
Maritime law or admiralty law is a body of law that governs nautical issues and private maritime disputes. Admiralty law consists of both domestic law on maritime activities, and private international law governing the relationships between pri ...
.
* The following articles enlarge on ransom of captives, exchange of criminals, and the status of the
Varangian
The Varangians ( ; ; ; , or )Varangian ," Online Etymology Dictionary were
Primary Chronicle
The ''Primary Chronicle'', shortened from the common ''Russian Primary Chronicle'' (, commonly transcribed ''Povest' vremennykh let'' (PVL), ), is a Rus' chronicle, chronicle of Kievan Rus' from about 850 to 1110. It is believed to have been or ...
'' (PVL), it is difficult to
authenticate
Authentication (from ''authentikos'', "real, genuine", from αὐθέντης ''authentes'', "author") is the act of proving an assertion, such as the identity of a computer system user. In contrast with identification, the act of indicating ...
. Some scholars believe that the original text of the treaty was written in
Medieval Greek
Medieval Greek (also known as Middle Greek, Byzantine Greek, or Romaic; Greek: ) is the stage of the Greek language between the end of classical antiquity in the 5th–6th centuries and the end of the Middle Ages, conventionally dated to the ...
Church Slavonic
Church Slavonic is the conservative Slavic liturgical language used by the Eastern Orthodox Church in Belarus, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Serbia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Slovenia and Croatia. The ...
, after which the Greek original was lost. Cross & Sherbowitz-Wetzor (1930) wrote about the earliest treaties in general:
Serhii Plokhy
Serhii Mykolayovych Plokhy (; born 23 May 1957) is a historian and author. He is the Mykhailo Hrushevsky professor of Ukrainian history at Harvard University, where he also serves as the director of the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute.
E ...
(2006) compared the surviving texts of the supposed Rusʹ–Byzantine treaties of 907, 911 and 944, noting that 'there is serious doubt that the dates attached to the texts of these treaties are reliable. Indeed, there is good reason to believe that the treaties are at least partly the result of later creative editing of original texts, either by the author of the Primary Chronicle or by his predecessors. For example, the text of the Rus' treaty of 911 with Byzantium, which is considered more reliable than the other two, does not include a list of Rus' towns', unlike those of 907 and 944.
The text has many affinities in content and phrasing with the trade treaties later concluded by Byzantium with the merchant republics of
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
. No treaties of comparable complexity and antiquity are known among the other societies in Europe of that time.
Linguistics
It was composed in two languages and signed personally by Emperor
Leo VI the Wise
Leo VI, also known as Leo the Wise (; 19 September 866 – 11 May 912), was Byzantine Emperor from 886 to 912. The second ruler of the Macedonian dynasty (although his parentage is unclear), he was very well read, leading to his epithet. During ...
.
All the names of the Rus' envoys mentioned in the treaty appear to be Scandinavian (attested or reconstructed
Old Norse
Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...
forms in parentheses): Farlof (''Farulfr''), Ver/lemud (''Vermu(n)dr''), Rulav (''Rollabʀ''), Fost (*''Fastuʀ''), Frelavc (''Frilleifr''), Inegeld (''Ingjaldr''), Karly (''Karli''), Karn (''Karna'', attested in a Swedish runic inscription), Lidul(f) (''Lidulif'' < ''Leiðulfr'', but ''litulf'' is attested from a runic inscription), Ruald (''Hróaldr''), Rjuar (''Hróarr''), Truan (''Þróndr'' or ''Þrandr''). Cross & Sherbowitz-Wetzor (1930) observed: 'In the portion of the account of Oleg's expedition which is of native Russian icorigin the Russes and the Slavs are clearly distinguished, but in the treaty text itself the whole expedition is designated as Rus'.'
Apart from the chronology at the start of the PVL (18:10–12), the Treaty of 911 is the only place in the PVL where Oleg is referred to as a кънязя '' k"nyazya'' "prince". If this is accurate, then Oleg would have to have been a prince in his own right (''
suo jure
''Suo jure'' is a Latin phrase, used in English to mean 'in his own right' or 'in her own right'. In most nobility-related contexts, it means 'in her own right', since in those situations the phrase is normally used of women; in practice, especi ...
''). On the other hand, Oleg reportedly told
Askold and Dir
Askold and Dir (''Haskuldr'' or ''Hǫskuldr'' and ''Dyr'' or ''Djur'' in Old Norse; died in 882), mentioned in both the ''Primary Chronicle'', the ''Novgorod First Chronicle'', and the ''Nikon Chronicle'', were the earliest known rulers of Kiev.
...
that he was роду къняжа ''rodu k"nyazha'' "of princely stock/lineage" (PVL 23:14–16), instead of a prince himself, when he is said to have killed them and taken over Kiev in 881/2. At
Rurik
Rurik (also spelled Rorik, Riurik or Ryurik; ; ; died 879) was a Varangians, Varangian chieftain of the Rus' people, Rus' who, according to tradition, was invited to reign in Veliky Novgorod, Novgorod in the year 862. The ''Primary Chronicle' ...
's death, the PVL only calls Oleg his "kinsman", given the care of Rurik's son Igor, and acting as a
regent
In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...
on Igor's behalf, rather than being a prince in his own right.
See also
*
Trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks
The trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks was a medieval trade route that connected Scandinavia, Kievan Rus' and the Eastern Roman Empire. The route allowed merchants along its length to establish a direct prosperous trade with the Empire ...
References
Bibliography
Primary sources
* (in Church Slavonic) Повесть временных лет, ч. 1–2, М.—Л., 1950.
*
**
*