# Kievan Chronicle

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{{Short description|Chronicle of Kievan Rus'}}
{{italic title}}
The '''''Kievan Chronicle''''' or '''''Kyivan Chronicle'''''{{efn|{{langx|ru|Киевская летопись|translit=Kievskaya letopis|italics=yes}}; {{Langx|uk|Київський літопис|translit=Kyivskyi litopys}}}} is a [chronicle](/source/Rus'_chronicle) of [Kievan Rus'](/source/Kievan_Rus'). It was written around 1200 in [Vydubychi Monastery](/source/Vydubychi_Monastery) as a continuation of the ''[Primary Chronicle](/source/Primary_Chronicle)''.{{sfn|Heinrich|1977|p=v}} It is known from two [manuscript](/source/manuscript)s: a copy in the ''[Hypatian Codex](/source/Hypatian_Codex)'' ({{circa}} 1425), and a copy in the ''[Khlebnikov Codex](/source/Khlebnikov_Codex)'' ({{circa}} 1560s); in both codices, it is sandwiched between the ''Primary Chronicle'' and the ''[Galician–Volhynian Chronicle](/source/Galician%E2%80%93Volhynian_Chronicle)''.{{sfn|Jusupović|2022|p=12}}{{sfn|Tolochko|2007|p=47–48}} It covers the period from 1118, where the ''Primary Chronicle'' ends, until about 1200, although scholars disagree where exactly the ''Kievan Chronicle'' ends and the ''Galician–Volhynian Chronicle'' begins.{{efn|name=Hristova post-Gutenberg|Daniela S. Hristova (2006): 'Like the titles "Kievan" chronicle (KС) and "Galician-Volhynian" chronicle, the boundaries between these two chronicles as well as between the KС and PVL are a scholarly undertaking; there is nothing in the text itself that indicates where one chronicle ends and another begins. Unfortunately for us, the post-[Gutenberg](/source/Johannes_Gutenberg) readers, medieval chronicles lack the punctuation that embellishes modern texts and the spacing between words, chapters, parts imposed by modern typography.'{{sfn|Hristova|2006|p=314}}}}

== Composition ==
[[File:Triangle of Kyiv Chernihiv Pereyaslavl 1132.png|thumb|Central [Kievan Rus'](/source/Kievan_Rus') in 1132, in the middle of the period covered by the ''Kievan Chronicle'']]
When historian [Leonid Makhnovets](/source/Leonid_Makhnovets) published a [modern Ukrainian](/source/Ukrainian_language) translation of the entire ''[Hypatian Codex](/source/Hypatian_Codex)'' in 1989, he remarked: 'The history of the creation of this early-14th-century chronicle [compilation] is a very complex problem. Equally complex is the question of when and how each part of the chronicle appeared. There is a vast literature on this subject, different views are expressed, and discussions are ongoing'.{{sfn|Makhnovets|1989|p=vi}}

Among the sources used by the anonymous chronicler of the ''Kievan Chronicle'' were:
* a chronicle of the city of [Pereyaslavl](/source/Pereiaslav);{{sfn|Heinrich|1977|p=v}}
* various family chronicles of the [Monomakhovichi](/source/Monomakhovichi), specifically of [Rurik Rostislavich](/source/Rurik_Rostislavich), [Igor Svyatoslavich](/source/Igor_Svyatoslavich) (the protagonist in ''[The Tale of Igor's Campaign](/source/The_Tale_of_Igor's_Campaign)''), [Oleg III Svyatoslavich](/source/Oleg_III_Svyatoslavich), and [Vladimir Glebovich](/source/Vladimir_Glebovich);{{sfn|Heinrich|1977|p=v}} and
* a chronicle of [Kyiv Pechersk Lavra](/source/Kyiv_Pechersk_Lavra) (Monastery of the Caves).{{sfn|Heinrich|1977|p=v}}

There is evidence that a [redactor](/source/Redaction_(editorial_synthesis)) added material from the ''Galician–Volhynian Chronicle'' in the 13th century.{{sfn|Heinrich|1977|p=v}} Because its sources, save for the monastic chronicle, are secular and were probably not written by monks, the ''Kievan Chronicle'' is a politico-military narrative of the [disintegration of Kievan Rus'](/source/disintegration_of_Kievan_Rus'), in which princes are the main players.{{sfn|Heinrich|1977|pp=v–vi}} It contains a historiographical account of the events celebrated in the epic ''[Tale of Igor's Campaign](/source/Tale_of_Igor's_Campaign)'', in which the basic sequence of events is the same.{{sfn|Børtnes|1989|p=17}} It also contains a passion narrative of the martyrdom of the prince [Igor Olgovich](/source/Igor_Olgovich) in 1147.{{sfn|Børtnes|1989|p=21}}

[Jaroslaw Pelenski](/source/Jaroslaw_Pelenski) (1987) pointed out that the ''Kievan Chronicle'' has a length of 431 [columns](/source/Column_(typography)), describing a period of about 80 years; a much higher information density than the ''Primary Chronicle'', which describes as many as 258 years in only 283 (actually 286) columns.{{sfn|Pelenski|1987|p=307–308}} Nevertheless, at the time, the ''Kievan Chronicle'' had received far less attention from scholars than the ''Primary Chronicle''.{{sfn|Pelenski|1987|p=307–308}} The text of the ''Kievan Chronicle'' shows strong similarities with that of the ''[Suzdal'–Vladimirian Chronicle](/source/Suzdalian_Chronicle)'' found in the ''[Laurentian Codex](/source/Laurentian_Codex)'' and elsewhere, but also some remarkable differences.{{sfn|Pelenski|1988|p=762}}
{{Timeline Kievan Chronicle manuscripts}}

== Authorship ==
Based on the 1661 ''Paterik'' of the Kievan Caves Monastery, 17th-century writers started to assert that [Nestor](/source/Nestor_the_Chronicler) wrote many of the surviving [chronicles](/source/Rus'_chronicle) of Kievan Rus',{{sfn|Tolochko|2007|p=31}} including the ''Primary Chronicle'', the ''Kievan Chronicle'' and the ''Galician–Volhynian Chronicle'',{{sfn|Tolochko|2007|p=47}} even though many of the events described therein were situated in the entire 12th and 13th century (long after Nestor's death {{circa}} 1114).{{sfn|Tolochko|2007|p=47}} From the 1830s to around 1900, there was fierce academic debate about Nestor's authorship, but the question remained unresolved, and belief in Nestorian authorship had persisted.{{sfn|Tolochko|2007|p=32–33}}

== Contents ==
=== Structure ===
{{About|section=yes|a [regnal list](/source/regnal_list) found in the ''Kievan Chronicle''; the dates given here may not be historically accurate, and not all were grand princes of Kiev|a list of grand princes of Kiev|Grand Prince of Kiev}}
[[File:Khlebnikov Codex f136v sub anno 1118 & 1119.jpg|300px|thumb|'In the year 1118, Jaroslav Svjatopolčič fled from the city of [Vladimir /Volynskij/](/source/Volodymyr_(city)). The Hungarians /who were fighting with him/ and his boyars abandoned him. In this same year, on the sixth of January, Roman Vladimirič died, and [Vladimir /Monomax/](/source/Vladimir_II_Monomakh) sent another son, Andrej, to rule in the city of Vladimir.'<br />– opening lines of the ''Kievan Chronicle'' as preserved in the ''[Khlebnikov Codex](/source/Khlebnikov_Codex)'', with an English translation based on Lisa Lynn Heinrich (1977){{sfn|Heinrich|1977|p=2}}]]
Lisa Lynn Heinrich (1977) divided the ''Kievan Chronicle'' into the following chapters:{{sfn|Heinrich|1977|pp=x–xi}}
# Last years of [Vladimir II Monomakh](/source/Vladimir_II_Monomakh); reign of Mstislav Vladimirovich ([Mstislav I of Kiev](/source/Mstislav_I_of_Kiev), 1118–1126)
# Reign of Vsevolod Olgovich ([Vsevolod II of Kiev](/source/Vsevolod_II_of_Kiev), 1140–1146)
# Reign of Iziaslav Mstislavich ([Iziaslav II of Kiev](/source/Iziaslav_II_of_Kiev), 1146–1147)
# Reign of Iziaslav Mstislavich (Iziaslav II of Kiev, 1148–1149)
# Reign of Yuri Vladimirovich ([Yuri Dolgorukiy](/source/Yuri_Dolgorukiy), 1149–1150)
# Reign of Yuri Vladimirovich (Yuri Dolgorukiy, 1151)
# Reign of Yuri Vladimirovich (Yuri Dolgorukiy, 1152–1154)
# Reigns of [Rostislav Yuryevich](/source/Rostislav_Yuryevich) (of Novgorod), Yuri Vladimirovich, and [Iziaslav Davidovich (III of Kiev)](/source/Iziaslav_III_of_Kiev) (1154–1160)
# Reign of Rostislav Mstislavich ([Rostislav I of Kiev](/source/Rostislav_I_of_Kiev), 1160–1169)
# Reigns of Mstislav Iziaslavich ([Mstislav II of Kiev](/source/Mstislav_II_of_Kiev)), Gleb Yurievich ([Gleb of Kiev](/source/Gleb_of_Kiev)), [Vladimir II Yaroslavich](/source/Vladimir_II_Yaroslavich) (of Halych), and Roman Rostislavich ([Roman I of Kiev](/source/Roman_I_of_Kiev)) (1169–1174)
# Reign of Yaroslav Iziaslavich ([Yaroslav II of Kiev](/source/Yaroslav_II_of_Kiev), 1174–1180)
#–15. Reigns of Sviatoslav Vsevolodovych ([Sviatoslav III of Kiev](/source/Sviatoslav_III_of_Kiev)), and [Rurik Rostislavich](/source/Rurik_Rostislavich) (1180–1200)

=== Style and events ===
The ''Kievan Chronicle'' is a direction continuation of the text of the ''Primary Chronicle''.{{sfn|Heinrich|1977|p=iv}} The original text of the ''Kievan Chronicle'' has been lost; the versions preserved in the ''Hypatian Codex'' and ''Khlebnikov Codex'' are not copied from each other, but share a common ancestor that has (so far) not been found.{{sfn|Hristova|2006|p=314}}{{sfn|Ostrowski|1981|p=21}}

The ''Kievan Chronicle'' contains 72 announcements of princely deaths, 60 of which are about men who died as princes (84%), and 12 of them are about women who died as princesses (16%).{{sfn|Garcia de la Puente|2012|p=350}}

Unlike the ''Primary Chronicle'', in which the [Lithuanians](/source/Lithuanians) were portrayed as a people which had been subdued by [Yaroslav the Wise](/source/Yaroslav_the_Wise), and paid tributed to Kievan Rus' until at least the early 12th century, the ''Kievan Chronicle'' narrates about a 1132 campaign in which a Rus' army burnt down Lithuanian settlements, only to be ambushed by Lithuanians on the way back and taking heavy losses.{{sfn|Plokhy|2006|p=90}}

The ''Kievan Chronicle'' contains references to the [fall of Jerusalem](/source/Siege_of_Jerusalem_(1187)) in 1187 and the death of the Emperor [Frederick Barbarossa](/source/Frederick_Barbarossa) on the [Third Crusade](/source/Third_Crusade) in 1190, considering the former—and the failure of the crusade—divine punishment for sin and the latter a martyrdom.{{sfn|Isoaho|2017}}

=== Ending ===
The (pen)ultimate entry of the ''Kievan Chronicle'' is the year 1200 (erroneously named "1199" in the text), which contains a long [panegyric](/source/panegyric) praising [Rurik Rostislavich](/source/Rurik_Rostislavich) (intermittently [Grand Prince of Kiev](/source/Grand_Prince_of_Kiev) between 1173 and 1210, died 2015), ending with "[Amen](/source/Amen)".{{sfn|Heinrich|1977|p=iv}} However, in the ''[Khlebnikov Codex](/source/Khlebnikov_Codex)'', the text of the ''Kievan Chronicle'' ends in the year 6704 (1196).{{sfn|Jusupović|2022|p=12}}

There is some disagreement amongst scholars{{sfn|Perfecky|1973|p=127}}{{efn|name=Hristova post-Gutenberg}} whether the entry of the year 6709 (1201),{{efn|{{langx|cu|В лѣт̑ . ҂s҃ . ѱ҃ . ѳ҃ . начало кнѧжениӕ великаго кнѧзѧ Романа како держєв̑  бывша всеи Роускои земли кнѧзѧ Галичкого{{sfn|Shakhmatov|1908|p=715}}|V lět̑ . [<nowiki>҂</nowiki>](/source/Cyrillic_numerals)[dz](/source/Dze) . [ps](/source/Psi_(Cyrillic)) [f](/source/Fita) . načalo knęženiae velikago knęzę Romana kako deržyev̑ byvša vsei Rouskoi zemli knęzę Galičkogo|In the year [6709 (1201)] was the beginning of the reign of grand prince Roman, formerly the holder of all the Rus' land, the Prince of Galicia.|label=none}} Heinrich 1977: "In the year 1201 was the beginning of the reign of Grand Prince Roman, prince of Galič, as autocrat of all Russia."{{sfn|Heinrich|1977|p=iv}} Perfecky 1973: "The beginning of the reign of Great Prince Roman, prince of Halyč, whose domain was the entire Land of Rus'".{{sfn|Perfecky|1973|p=127}}}} which is not found in the ''[Khlebnikov Codex](/source/Khlebnikov_Codex)'' or the Pogodin text,{{sfn|Perfecky|1973|p=127}} should be considered the final sentence of the ''Kievan Chronicle'' (Perfecky 1973,{{sfn|Perfecky|1973|p=127}} Heinrich 1977{{sfn|Heinrich|1977|p=iv}}), or the first sentence of the ''[Galician–Volhynian Chronicle](/source/Galician%E2%80%93Volhynian_Chronicle)'' (earlier scholars such as Bestuzev-Rjumin, [A. Galakhov](/source/Alexey_Galakhov) 1863,{{sfn|Perfecky|1973|p=127}} and [A. Shakhmatov](/source/Aleksey_Shakhmatov) 1908{{sfn|Shakhmatov|1908|loc=[http://litopys.org.ua/ipatlet/ipat31.htm p. 715]}}). Perfecky stated: 'I believe that [the entry of 6709] and not Roman's quarrel with his father-in-law Prince [Rjurik of Kiev](/source/Rurik_Rostislavich) under 1195–96 (Hruševs'kyj, ''Istorija'', p.&nbsp;2) is the last information about Roman in the Kievan Chronicle, of which it is an integral part (or more specifically "abrupt-ending" - to which the chronicler perhaps planned to return or possibly even returned, but that fragment never reached us).'{{sfn|Perfecky|1973|p=127}}

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}

== Bibliography ==
=== Primary sources ===
* {{Cite book |editor-last=Shakhmatov |editor-first=Aleksey Aleksandrovich |date=1908 |title=Ipat'evskaya letopis' |trans-title=The Hypatian Codex |script-title=ru: Ипатьевская лѣтопись |series=[Complete Collection of Russian Chronicles](/source/Complete_Collection_of_Russian_Chronicles) (PSRL) |volume=2 |edition=3rd |url=http://litopys.org.ua/ipatlet/ipat.htm |location=Saint Petersburg |publisher=Typography of M. A. Aleksandrov / [Izbornyk](/source/Izbornyk) |pages=285–715 |access-date=16 May 2024 |language=cu, ru}}

;Translations
* ''English:'' {{Cite thesis |first=Lisa Lynn |last=Heinrich |url=https://www.proquest.com/openview/19e194adba30c8370f27104300e74150/ |title=The Kievan Chronicle: A Translation and Commentary |type=PhD diss. |institution=Vanderbilt University |year=1977 |place=Nashville, Tennessee}} {{ProQuest|7812419}}
* ''Ukrainian:'' {{Cite book |last=Makhnovets |first=Leonid |authorlink=Leonid Makhnovets |title=Літопис Руський за Іпатським списком |trans-title=Rus' Chronicle according to the Hypatian Codex |url=http://litopys.org.ua/litop/lit.htm |pages=591 |location=Kyiv |publisher=Dnipro |date=1989 |access-date=4 June 2024 |isbn=5-308-00052-2 |language=uk}}

=== Literature ===
* {{Cite book |first=Jostein |last=Børtnes |chapter=The Literature of Old Russia, 988–1730 |editor=Charles Arthur Moser |title=The Cambridge History of Russian Literature |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1989}}
* {{cite journal |last=Garcia de la Puente |first=Ines |title=Gleb of Minsk's Widow: Neglected Evidence on the Rule of a Woman in Rus'ian History? |journal=Russian History |publisher=Brill Deutschland |volume=39 |issue=3 |year=2012 |issn=0094-288X |doi=10.1163/18763316-03903006 |pages=347–378}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Hristova |first=Daniela |date=2006 |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/24664447 |title=Major Textual Boundary of Linguistic Usage in the Galician-Volhynian Chronicle |journal=Russian History (Brill) |volume=33 |issue=2/4 |pages=313–331}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Isoaho |first=Mari H. |authorlink=Mari Isoaho |url=https://helda.helsinki.fi/bitstream/handle/10138/231234/Mari_Isoaho_Pal_25_Vol_2_Text.pdf |title=Battle for Jerusalem in Kievan Rus': Igor's Campaign (1185) and the Battle of Hattin (1187) |journal=Palaeoslavica |volume=25 |issue=2 |year=2017 |pages=38–62}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Jusupović |first1=Adrian |authorlink1= |date=2022 |title=The Chronicle of Halych-Volhynia and Historical Collections in Medieval Rus' |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JJxjEAAAQBAJ |location=Leiden |publisher=Brill |pages=268 |isbn=9789004509306 |access-date=18 May 2023}}
* {{Cite book |last=Kloss |first=Boris |authorlink=Boris Kloss |date=1998 |title=Ipat'evskaya letopis' |trans-title=The Hypatian Codex |script-title=ru: Ипатьевская летопись |chapter=Predislovie k izdaniyu 1998 g. |trans-chapter=Foreword to the 1998 Edition |script-chapter=ru:Предисловие к изданию 1998 г. |series=[Complete Collection of Russian Chronicles](/source/Complete_Collection_of_Russian_Chronicles) (PSRL) |volume=2 |edition=5th |url=http://litopys.org.ua/ipatlet/ipatdod01.htm |location=Moscow |publisher=Yazyki russkoy kul'tury / [Izbornyk](/source/Izbornyk)  |pages=E-N |access-date=1 June 2024 |language=cu, ru}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Ostrowski |first=Donald |date=March 1981 |title=Textual Criticism and the Povest' vremennykh let: Some Theoretical Considerations |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41035890 |journal=Harvard Ukrainian Studies |publisher=Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=11–31 |doi= |jstor=41035890 |access-date=6 May 2023}}
* {{Cite journal |last1=Pelenski |first1=Jaroslaw |authorlink=Jaroslaw Pelenski |date=1987 |title=The Sack of Kiev of 1169: Its Significance for the Succession to Kievan Rus' |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/41036277 |journal=Harvard Ukrainian Studies |publisher=Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=303–316 |jstor=41036277}} Reprinted in Pelenski (1988), ''The Contest for the Legacy of Kievan Rus{{'}}''.
* {{cite journal |title=The Contest for the "Kievan Succession" (1155–1175): The Religious-Ecclesiastical Dimension |first=Jaroslaw |last=Pelenski |authorlink=Jaroslaw Pelenski|journal=Harvard Ukrainian Studies |year=1988 |volume=12/13 |page=776 |jstor=41036344}} Reprinted in Pelenski (1988), ''The Contest for the Legacy of Kievan Rus{{'}}''.
* {{cite book| first=George A. |last=Perfecky |title=The Hypatian Codex Part Two: The Galician–Volynian Chronicle. An annotated translation by George A. Perfecky |location=Munich |publisher=Wilhelm Fink Verlag |year=1973 |oclc=902306}}
* {{cite book |title=The Origins of the Slavic Nations: Premodern Identities in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus |last=Plokhy |first=Serhii |year=2006 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-521-86403-9 |pages=378 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pCdUmCWxwJ8C}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Tolochko |first=Oleksiy |authorlink=Oleksiy Tolochko |date=2007 |title=On "Nestor the Chronicler" |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41304501 |journal=[Harvard Ukrainian Studies](/source/Harvard_Ukrainian_Studies) |publisher=Harvard University |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=31–59 |doi= |access-date=30 September 2022}}

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Category:13th-century history books
Category:Old East Slavic chronicles
Category:Old Church Slavonic literature
Category:Slavic history
Category:Church Slavonic manuscripts

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Kievan Chronicle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kievan_Chronicle) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kievan_Chronicle?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.