Late Byzantine views of Rus: a reassessment

The late Byzantine empire maintained close ties with the principalities of Rus, but these have been studied almost exclusively in the context of the crises surrounding the appointments of rival metropolitans for the East Slavonic lands in the mid- to late fourteenth century. Other types of sources s...

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Main Author: White, M.
Format: Article
Published: John Benjamins Publishing 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/49591/
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author White, M.
author_facet White, M.
author_sort White, M.
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description The late Byzantine empire maintained close ties with the principalities of Rus, but these have been studied almost exclusively in the context of the crises surrounding the appointments of rival metropolitans for the East Slavonic lands in the mid- to late fourteenth century. Other types of sources show, however, that Rus was a subject of serious scholarly interest for several generations of late Byzantine intellectuals. The contemporary politics and geography of Rus, as well as its earlier conversion to Christianity under Byzantine auspices, are discussed in works of various genres and periods. Although the accuracy of these writings is limited, they reveal that the hostility which arose from the machinations in the church hierarchy was not the full story of Byzantine-Rus relations. Indeed, in the empire’s weakened state post-1261, many members of the Byzantine elite viewed Rus as a powerful and reliable (if unsophisticated) supporter whose geopolitical success was thanks largely to Byzantium’s civilising influence.
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spelling nottingham-495912020-05-04T19:20:10Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/49591/ Late Byzantine views of Rus: a reassessment White, M. The late Byzantine empire maintained close ties with the principalities of Rus, but these have been studied almost exclusively in the context of the crises surrounding the appointments of rival metropolitans for the East Slavonic lands in the mid- to late fourteenth century. Other types of sources show, however, that Rus was a subject of serious scholarly interest for several generations of late Byzantine intellectuals. The contemporary politics and geography of Rus, as well as its earlier conversion to Christianity under Byzantine auspices, are discussed in works of various genres and periods. Although the accuracy of these writings is limited, they reveal that the hostility which arose from the machinations in the church hierarchy was not the full story of Byzantine-Rus relations. Indeed, in the empire’s weakened state post-1261, many members of the Byzantine elite viewed Rus as a powerful and reliable (if unsophisticated) supporter whose geopolitical success was thanks largely to Byzantium’s civilising influence. John Benjamins Publishing 2017-11-29 Article PeerReviewed White, M. (2017) Late Byzantine views of Rus: a reassessment. Byzantinoslavica . ISSN 0007-7712 (In Press) Byzantium Rus Muscovy Gregoras Plethon Chalkokondyles
spellingShingle Byzantium
Rus
Muscovy
Gregoras
Plethon
Chalkokondyles
White, M.
Late Byzantine views of Rus: a reassessment
title Late Byzantine views of Rus: a reassessment
title_full Late Byzantine views of Rus: a reassessment
title_fullStr Late Byzantine views of Rus: a reassessment
title_full_unstemmed Late Byzantine views of Rus: a reassessment
title_short Late Byzantine views of Rus: a reassessment
title_sort late byzantine views of rus: a reassessment
topic Byzantium
Rus
Muscovy
Gregoras
Plethon
Chalkokondyles
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/49591/