Primary Chronicle - Citizendia

The Primary Chronicle (Old Church Slavonic: Повѣсть времяньныхъ лѣтъ; Russian: Пóвесть временны́х лет, Povest' vremennykh let; Ukrainian: Пóвість врéм'яних літ, Povist' vremjanykh lit; Belarusian: Апóвесць мíнулых часóў Apovests' minulikh chasoũ often translated into English as Tale of Bygone Years), is a history of the Kievan Rus' from around 850 to 1110 originally compiled in Kiev about 1113. to make sure old Cyrillic letters are displayed properly (For example instead of just Ѣ write Ѣ Russian ( transliteration:,) is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages Ukrainian (in Ukrainian украї́нська мо́ва ukrayins'ka mova,) is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. The Belarusian language, or Belorussian,(беларуская мова BGN/PCGN: byelaruskaya mova, Scientific: belaruskaja mova Kievan Rus′ (Ки́евская Русь romanised: Kievskaya Rus', rusʲ also written as Kyivan Rus′ (Ки́ївська Русь or Kievan Events By Place Asia Emperor Montoku succeeds Emperor Nimmyō as Emperor of Japan. Kiev, also known as Kyiv ( Ukrainian:, Kyiv, ˈkɪjiw Russian:, Kiyev; see also Cities' alternative names) is the

1 Three editions
2 Two manuscripts
3 Assessment
4 References
5 Further Reading
6 See also

Three editions

The original compilation was long considered to be the work of a monk named Nestor, and hence it was formerly referred to as Nestor's Chronicle, or Nestor's manuscript. Saint Nestor the Chronicler (c 1056 - c 1114 Kyiv) was the reputed author of the Primary Chronicle, (the earliest East Slavic Chronicle Among many sources he used were earlier (now lost) Slavonic chronicles, Byzantine annals of John Malalas and George Hamartolus, native legends and Norse sagas, several Greek religious texts, Rus-Byzantine treaties, oral accounts of Yan Vyshatich and other military leaders. John Malalas or Ioannes Malalas (or Malelas) (Syriac word for "rhetor" "orator" ( Greek:) (c George Hamartolus ( Greek) was a Monk at Constantinople under Michael III (842-867 and the author of a chronicle of some importance Bylina ( Russian: были́на also Byliny, Bylyny and Stariny) is a traditional epic, The sagas (from Icelandic saga, plural sögur) are stories about ancient Scandinavian and Germanic history about early Viking voyages Yan Vyshatich ( Ян Вышатич in Russian; c 1016 - June 24, 1106) was a Kievan Nobleman and military commander Nestor worked at the court of Sviatopolk II of Kiev and probably shared his pro-Scandinavian policies. Sviatopolk II Iziaslavich ( Cyrillic: Святополк II Ізяславич 1050&ndash April 16, 1113) was supreme ruler of the Kievan Rus

The early part is rich in anecdotal stories, among which are the arrival of the three Varangian brothers, the founding of Kiev, the murder of Askold and Dir, the death of Oleg, who was killed by a serpent concealed in the skeleton of his horse, and the vengeance taken by Olga, the wife of Igor, on the Drevlians, who had murdered her husband. The Varangians or Varyags ( Old Norse: Væringjar Greek: Βάραγγοι Βαριάγοι Váraggoi / Varyágoi, Ukrainian Askold ( Haskuldr in Old East Norse and Höskuldr in Old West Norse) and Dir ( Dyri in both dialects of Old Norse Oleg of Novgorod ( Slavic: Олег Old Norse: Helgi, Khazarian, possibly Helgu) was a Varangian prince (or konung Saint Olga (Ольга also called Olga Prekrasa (Ольга Прекраса or Olga the Beauty, Old Norse: Helga; born c The Drevlians ( Деревляни, Derevliany in Ukrainian; Древляне, Drevlyane in Russian) were a Tribe The account of the labors of Saints Cyril and Methodius among the Slavic peoples is also very interesting, and to Nestor we owe the tale of the summary way in which Vladimir the Great suppressed the worship of Perun and other idols at Kiev. Saints Cyril and Methodius (Κύριλλος και Μεθόδιος Old Church Slavonic: Кѷриллъ и Меѳодїи) were two Byzantine Greek brothers born Saint Vladimir Svyatoslavich the Great ( Old Russian: Володимеръ Святославичь, c In Slavic mythology, Perun ( Cyrillic: Перун is the highest God of the pantheon and the god of Thunder and Lightning

In the year 1116, Nestor's text was extensively edited by hegumen Sylvester who appended his name at the end of the chronicle. Hegumen, hegumenos, or ihumen ( Greek: ἡγούμενος; Macedonian, Bulgarian and Russian: игумен Sylvestr ( Сильвестр in Ukrainian) ( c[[ 055]] - 1123) was a Clergyman and a Writer in Kievan Rus As Vladimir Monomakh was the patron of the village of Vydubychi where his monastery is situated, the new edition glorified that prince and made him the central figure of later narrative. For the cruiser see Russian armoured cruiser Vladimir Monomakh, for the submarine see RFS Vladimir Monomakh Vladimir II Monomakh Vydubychi (Видубичі is a historical neighborhood in Ukrainian capital Kiev. This second version of Nestor's work is preserved in the Laurentian codex (see below).

A third edition followed two years later and centered on the person of Vladimir's son and heir, Mstislav the Great. Mstislav I Vladimirovich the Great (Мстислав Владимирович Великий ( June 1, 1076, Turiv &ndash April 14, The author of this revision could have been Greek, for he corrected and updated much data on Byzantine affairs. This latest revision of Nestor's work is preserved in the Hypatian codex (see below).

Two manuscripts

Because the original of the chronicle as well as the earliest known copies (the Laurentian codex and the Hypatian codex) are lost, it is difficult to establish the original content of the chronicle, word by word.

The Laurentian codex was copied by the Nizhegorod monk Laurentius for the Prince Dmitry Konstantinovich in 1377. Laurentian Codex (Лаврентьевский список Лаврентьевская летопись is a collection of chronicles that includes the oldest extant version of the Nizhny Novgorod (Ни́жний Но́вгород Nižnij Novgorod) colloquially shortened as Nizhny, is the fourth largest city in Russia Dmitri Konstantinovich of Suzdal (Дми́трий Константи́нович Су́здальский (1324 &ndash June 5, 1383) The original text he used was a lost codex compiled for the Grand Duke Mikhail of Tver in 1305. Tver (Тверь is a city in Russia, the administrative center of Tver Oblast. The account continues until 1305, but the years 898-922, 1263-83 and 1288-94 are missing for reasons unknown. The manuscript was acquired by the famous Count Musin-Pushkin in 1792 and subsequently presented to the Russian National Library in St Petersburg. Aleksei Ivanovich Musin-Pushkin (1744 &mdash 1817 (also spelled Aleksei Ivanovich Mussin-Pushkin) count since 1797 statesman historian and art collector Year 1792 ( MDCCXCII) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year The National Library of Russia in St Petersburg, known as the State Public Saltykov-Shchedrin Library in 1932-1992 (i Saint Petersburg ( tr: Sankt-Peterburg,) is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River

The Hypatian codex was discovered at the Ipatiev Monastery of Kostroma by the Russian historian Nikolay Karamzin. The Hypatian Codex ( Hypatian Chronicle, Ipatiev Chronicle, Ипатьевская летопись is a compendium of three Chronicles Primary Chronicle The Hypatian Monastery (Ипатьевский монастырь in Russian) is a male Monastery, situated on the bank of the Kostroma River just opposite Kostroma (Кострома́ is an historic city in central Russia, the administrative centre of Kostroma Oblast. Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin ( Никола́й Миха́йлович Карамзи́н) (December 1 1766 – June 3 1826 a Russian author credited The Hypatian manuscript dates to the 15th century, and incorporates much information from the lost 12th-century Kievan and 13th-century Halychian chronicles. Halych (Галич Гáлич Halicz Halyčas is a historic city on the Dniester River in western Ukraine. The language of this work is the East Slavic version of Church Slavonic language with many additional irregular east-slavisms (like other east-slavic codices of the time). Church Slavonic (also Church Slavic, Old Bulgarian) is the Liturgical language of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Macedonian Orthodox

Numerous monographs and published versions of the chronicle have been made, the earliest known being in 1767. Year 1767 ( MDCCLXVII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Aleksey Shakhmatov published a pioneering textological analysis of the narrative in 1908. Aleksey Aleksandrovich Shakhmatov ( 5 June 1864 - 16 August 1920) was an outstanding Russian philologist credited with laying Year 1908 ( MCMVIII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Dmitry Likhachev and other Soviet scholars partly revisited his findings. Dmitry Sergeyevich Likhachov (Дми́трий Серге́евич Лихачёв also Dmitri Likhachev or Likhachyov;, St Their versions attempted to reconstruct the pre-Nestorian chronicle, compiled at the court of Yaroslav the Wise in the mid-11th century. Yaroslav I the Wise (c 978 in Kiev - February 20, 1054 in Kiev) ( East Slavic: Ярослав Мудрый Christian name

Assessment

Unlike many other medieval chronicles written by European monks, the Tale of Bygone Years is unique as the only written testimony on the earliest history of East Slavic peoples. Its comprehensive account of the history of Kievan Rus is unmatched in other sources, although important correctives are provided by the Novgorod First Chronicle. Kievan Rus′ (Ки́евская Русь romanised: Kievskaya Rus', rusʲ also written as Kyivan Rus′ (Ки́ївська Русь or Kievan The Novgorod First Chronicle (Новгородская первая летопись or The Chronicle of Novgorod 1016-1471 is the most ancient extant chronicle of the It is also valuable as a prime example of the Old East Slavonic literature. Old East Slavic, also known as Old Russian (древнерусский or Old Ruthenian, was a vernacular literary language used from the 10th to the 14th centuries

References

A collation of the chronicle by Donald Ostrowski in Cyrillic is available at http://hudce7.harvard.edu/~ostrowski/pvl/ together with an erudite and lengthy introduction in English. The Cyrillic alphabet (səˈrɪlɪk also called azbuka, from the old name of the first two letters is actually a family of Alphabets, subsets of which are used by This is an interlinear collation including the five main manuscript witnesses, as well as a new paradosis, or reconstruction of the original.
There is an English translation and commentary by Samuel Hazzard Cross and Olgerd P. Sherbowitz-Wetzor, The Russian Primary Chronicle. Medieval Academy of America Publication No. 60 (Cambridge: Mediaeval Academy, 1953).
The main codices (Laurentian, Hypatian, Novgorodian) are available in Cyrillic on http://litopys.org.ua/
http://www.uoregon.edu/~kimball/chronicle.htm Excerpts of primary chronicle, including founding of Novgorod by Rus, Attacks on Byzantines, and Conversion of Vladimir. Also mentions several slavic tribes by name.

Contents

Three editions

Two manuscripts

Assessment

References

Further Reading

See also