The siege of Constantinople in 860 was the only major military expedition of the Rus' recorded in

Byzantine 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 the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

and

western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...

an sources. The ''

casus belli A (; ) is an act or an event that either provokes or is used to justify a war. A ''casus belli'' involves direct offenses or threats against the nation declaring the war, whereas a ' involves offenses or threats against its ally—usually one bou ...

'' was the construction of the fortress Sarkel by Byzantine engineers, restricting the Rus' trade route along the Don River in favour of the

Khazars The Khazars ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a nomadic Turkic people who, in the late 6th century CE, established a major commercial empire covering the southeastern section of modern European Russia, southern Ukraine, Crimea, a ...

. Accounts vary, with discrepancies between contemporary and later sources, and the outcome is unknown in detail. It is known from Byzantine sources that the Rus' caught

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 ...

unprepared; preoccupied by the ongoing

Arab–Byzantine wars The Arab–Byzantine wars or Muslim–Byzantine wars were a series of wars from the 7th to 11th centuries between multiple Arab dynasties and the Byzantine Empire. The Muslim Arab Caliphates conquered large parts of the Christian Byzantine empir ...

, the empire was unable, at least initially, to make an effective response to the attack. After pillaging the suburbs of the Byzantine capital, the Rus' retreated for the day and continued their siege in the night after exhausting the Byzantine troops and causing disorganization. The event gave rise to a later Orthodox Christian tradition, which ascribed the deliverance of Constantinople to a miraculous intervention by the

Theotokos ''Theotokos'' ( Greek: ) is a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, used especially in Eastern Christianity. The usual Latin translations are or (approximately "parent (fem.) of God"). Familiar English translations are "Mother of God" or "God-beare ...

Background

The first mention of the Rus' near the Byzantine Empire comes from ''Life of St. George of Amastris'', a

hagiographic A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an wiktionary:adulatory, adulatory and idealized biography of a preacher, priest, founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religi ...

work whose dating is debated. The Byzantines had come into contact with the Rus' in 839. The timing of the attack suggests the Rus' had been informed of the city's weakness, demonstrating that the lines of trade and communication did not cease to exist in the 840s and 850s. Nevertheless, the attack from the Rus' in 860 came as a surprise; it was as sudden and unexpected "as a swarm of wasps", as

Photius Photius I of Constantinople (, ''Phōtios''; 815 – 6 February 893), also spelled ''Photius''Fr. Justin Taylor, essay "Canon Law in the Age of the Fathers" (published in Jordan Hite, T.O.R., and Daniel J. Ward, O.S.B., "Readings, Cases, Mate ...

put it.Turnbull 48–49 The empire was struggling to repel the

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 C ...

advance in

Asia Minor Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

. In March 860, the garrison of the key fortress Loulon unexpectedly surrendered to the Arabs. In April or May, both sides exchanged captives, and the hostilities briefly ceased; however, in the beginning of June, Emperor

Michael III Michael III (; 9/10 January 840 – 24 September 867), also known as Michael the Drunkard, was Byzantine emperor from 842 to 867. Michael III was the third and traditionally last member of the Amorian dynasty, Amorian (or Phrygian) dynasty. He ...

left Constantinople for

to invade the

Abbasid Caliphate The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 CE), from whom the dynasty takes ...

Siege

On June 18, 860, at sunset, a fleet of about 200 Rus' vessels sailed into the

Bosporus The Bosporus or Bosphorus Strait ( ; , colloquially ) is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul, Turkey. The Bosporus connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara and forms one of the continental bo ...

and started pillaging the suburbs of Constantinople (

Old East Slavic Old East Slavic (traditionally also Old Russian) was a language (or a group of dialects) used by the East Slavs from the 7th or 8th century to the 13th or 14th century, until it diverged into the Russian language, Russian and Ruthenian language ...

: '' Tsarigrad'',

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 ...

: '' Miklagarðr''). The attackers set homes on fire, drowning and stabbing the residents. Unable to do anything to repel the invaders, Patriarch Photius urged his flock to implore the

to save the city. Having devastated the suburbs, the Rus' passed into the

Sea of Marmara The Sea of Marmara, also known as the Sea of Marmora or the Marmara Sea, is a small inland sea entirely within the borders of Turkey. It links the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea via the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits, separating Turkey's E ...

and fell upon the Isles of the Princes, where the former patriarch Ignatius of Constantinople was living in exile. The Rus' plundered the dwellings and the monasteries, slaughtering those they captured. They took twenty-two of the patriarch's servants aboard a ship and dismembered them with axes. The attack took the Byzantines by surprise, "like a thunderbolt from heaven", as it was put by Patriarch Photius in his famous oration written on the occasion. Emperor Michael III was absent from the city, as was his navy, which was dreaded for its skill in using

Greek fire Greek fire was an incendiary weapon system used by the Byzantine Empire from the seventh to the fourteenth centuries. The recipe for Greek fire was a closely-guarded state secret; historians have variously speculated that it was based on saltp ...

. The imperial army, including troops normally garrisoned closest to the capital, was fighting the Arabs in Asia Minor. The city's land defences were weakened by this. The sea defences were also lacking as the

Byzantine Navy The Byzantine navy was the Navy, naval force of the Byzantine Empire. Like the state it served, it was a direct continuation from its Roman navy, Roman predecessor, but played a far greater role in the defence and survival of the state than its ...

was occupied fighting Arabs in the

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans and Anatolia, and covers an area of some . In the north, the Aegean is connected to the Marmara Sea, which in turn con ...

and the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

. These simultaneous deployments left the coasts and islands of the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

, the

, and the Sea of Marmara susceptible to attack. The invasion continued until August 4, when, in another of his sermons, Photius thanked heaven for miraculously relieving the city from such a dire threat. The writings of Photius provide the earliest example of the name "Rus" (''Rhos'', ) being mentioned in a Greek source; previously the dwellers of the lands to the north of the

were referred to archaically as " Tauroscythians". The patriarch reported that they had no supreme ruler and lived in some distant northern lands. Photius called them ἔθνος ἄγνωστον, "unknown people", although some historians prefer to translate the phrase as "obscure people", pointing out the earlier contacts between Byzantines and the Rus'.Vasiliev 187

Later traditions

The sermons of Photius offer no clue as to the outcome of the invasion or the reasons why the Rus' withdrew. Later sources attribute their retreat to the Emperor's speedy return. As the story goes, after Michael and Photius put the veil of the Theotokos into the sea, there arose a tempest which dispersed the boats of the barbarians. In later centuries, it was said that the Emperor hurried to the church at Blachernae and had the robe of the Theotokos carried in procession along the

Theodosian Walls The Walls of Constantinople (; ) are a series of defensive wall, defensive stone walls that have surrounded and protected the city of Constantinople (modern Fatih district of Istanbul) since its founding as the new capital of the Roman Empire b ...

. This precious Byzantine relic was dipped symbolically into the sea and a great wind immediately arose and wrecked the Rus' ships. The pious legend was recorded by

George Hamartolus George Hamartolos or Hamartolus () was a monk at Constantinople under Michael III (842–867) and the author of a chronicle of some importance. Hamartolus is not his name but the epithet he gives to himself in the title of his work: "A compendiou ...

, whose manuscript was an important source for 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 ...

''.For other Byzantine authors who narrate stories about the miraculous saving of Constantinople from the Scythians see: Leo Grammaticus 240–241; Theodose de Melitene 168; Symeon Logothetes 674–675 The authors of the chronicle appended the names of Askold and Dir to the account as they believed that these two

Varangians The Varangians ( ; ; ; , or )Varangian
," Online Etymology Dictionary were

Kiev Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

in 866. It was to this year that (through some quirk in chronology) they attributed the first Rus' expedition against the Byzantine capital.The number of raids was multiplied in the 16th century Nikon Chronicle, which interpreted the 860 raid (described in Byzantine sources) and the 866 raid (described by the Primary Chronicle) as two distinct events. This obvious blunder led

Boris Rybakov Boris Aleksandrovich Rybakov (; 3 June 1908, Moscow – 27 December 2001, Moscow) was a Soviet and Russian archeologist and historian. He was one of the main proponents of anti-Normanist vision of Russian history. He is the father of Indologis ...

to conclude that the Rus' raided Tsargrad in 860, 866, 874. For a critique, see Tvorogov 54–59. Vlahernskaya

Nestor's account of the first encounter between the Rus' and the Byzantines may have contributed to the popularity of the Theotokos in Russia. The miraculous saving of Constantinople from the barbarian hordes would appear in Russian icon-painting, without understanding that the hordes in question may have issued from

. Furthermore, when the Blachernitissa was brought to

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

in the 17th century, it was said that it was this icon that had saved Tsargrad from the troops of the "

Scythian The Scythians ( or ) or Scyths (, but note Scytho- () in composition) and sometimes also referred to as the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern Iranian equestrian nomadic people who had migrated during the 9th to 8th centuries BC fr ...

khagan Khagan or Qaghan (Middle Mongol:; or ''Khagan''; ) or zh, c=大汗, p=Dàhán; ''Khāqān'', alternatively spelled Kağan, Kagan, Khaghan, Kaghan, Khakan, Khakhan, Khaqan, Xagahn, Qaghan, Chagan, Қан, or Kha'an is a title of empire, im ...

", after Michael III had prayed before it to the Theotokos. Nobody noticed that the story had obvious parallels with the sequence of events described by Nestor. In the 9th century, a legend sprang up to the effect that an ancient column at the Forum of Taurus had an inscription predicting that Constantinople would be conquered by the Rus. This legend, well known in Byzantine literature, was revived by the Slavophiles in the 19th century, when Russia was on the point of wresting the city from the Ottomans.

Criticism

As was demonstrated by Oleg Tvorogov and Constantine Zuckerman, among others, the 9th century and later sources are out of tune with the earliest records of the event. In his August sermon, Photius mentions neither Michael III's return to the capital nor the miracle with the veil (of which the author purportedly was a participant). On the other hand,

Pope Nicholas I Pope Nicholas I (; c. 800 – 13 November 867), called Nicholas the Great, was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 24 April 858 until his death on 13 November 867. He is the last of the three popes listed in the Annuario Pontif ...

, in a letter sent to Michael III on September 28, 865, mentions that the suburbs of the imperial capital were recently raided by the pagans who were allowed to retreat without any punishment.Nicolai I 479–480. Analyzed in Vasiliev 61–62. The ''Venetian Chronicle'' of John the Deacon reports that the ''Normanorum gentes'', having devastated the ''suburbanum'' of Constantinople, returned to their own lands in triumph ("''et sic praedicta gens cum triumpho ad propriam regressa est''").Iohannes Diaconus 116–117. It appears that the victory of Michael III over the Rus' was invented by the Byzantine historians in the mid-9th century or later and became generally accepted in the Slavic chronicles influenced by them.This theory is advanced by Zuckerman, among others (see Zuckerman 2000). However, the memory of the successful campaign was transmitted orally among the Kievans and may have dictated Nestor's account of Oleg's 907 campaign, which is not recorded in Byzantine sources at all.

Notes and references

Notes

References

Sources

* * * Iohannes Diaconus. ''Chronicon''. Rome: Monticolo, Cronache veneziane antichissime * Leo Grammaticus. ''Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae''. Bonn, 1842. *Logan, F. Donald. ''The Vikings in History'', 2nd ed. Routledge, 1992. * Nicolai I. ''Papae epistolae''. Ed. in: Monumenta Germaniae Hictorica. Epistolae VI. (Karolini eavi IV). Berlin, 1925 * Symeon Logothetes. ''Chronicon''. Bonn, 1838. *. ''Chronographia''. Munich, 1859. *Harris, Jonathan, ''Constantinople: Capital of Byzantium''. Hambledon/Continuum, London, 2007. *Sverrir Jakobsson,
The Varangians: In God’s Holy Fire
'' (Palgrave Macmillan, 2020), pp. 23–34. * Turnbull, Stephen.
The Walls of Constantinople, AD 324–1453
',

Osprey Publishing Osprey Publishing is a British publishing company specializing in military history formerly based in Oxford. Predominantly an illustrated publisher, many of their books contain full-colour artwork plates, maps and photographs, and the company p ...

, *Tvorogov, Oleg. "Skol'ko raz khodili na Konstantinopol Askold i Dir?" ''Slavyanovedeniya'', 1992. 2 * Vasiliev, Alexander. ''The Russian Attack on Constantinople in 860''. Cambridge Mass., 1925 * Uspensky, Fyodor. ''The History of the Byzantine Empire'', vol. 2. Moscow: Mysl, 1997 * Zuckerman, Constantine. , in , ed. M. Kazanski, A. Nersessian & C. Zuckerman (), Paris 2000, pp. 95–120. *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Constantinople, Siege of, (860) 860s conflicts 860 860s in the Byzantine Empire Battles involving the Vikings 860 860 Primary Chronicle episodes