Oleg Takes Kiev — The Rus Centred on the Dnieper
Oleg took Kyiv in 882, killed the men holding it, and declared it the mother of Russian cities — the event the Primary Chronicle treats as the founding of Kyivan Rus. The chronicle's account begins earlier, with Slavic and Finnic tribes around Novgorod expelling Varangian tribute-takers, falling into war among themselves, and then inviting them back: come rule over us, for our land is great and rich but there is no order in it. Rurik came in 862 and took Novgorod. Oleg was his kinsman and successor, regent for Rurik's young son Igor. He moved south along the river route from the Baltic to the Black Sea — the way from the Varangians to the Greeks — taking Smolensk and Lyubech, and came to Kyiv, which was held by two Varangians named Askold and Dir. He concealed his soldiers in the boats, sent word that merchants were passing and wished to see them, and had them killed when they came down to the shore. Kyiv's advantage over Novgorod was position: it sat on the Dnieper above the rapids, commanding the trade in furs, wax, honey and slaves flowing to Constantinople. Oleg attacked Byzantium in 907 and extracted a favourable trade treaty, confirmed in 911, and is said to have hung his shield on the city's gate. How much of this is history and how much is a twelfth-century construction is heavily disputed, as is whether the Rus were Scandinavian or Slavic — a question with modern political weight. Vladimir accepted Christianity from Byzantium in 988, which set the religious direction of the whole region. The Mongols destroyed Kyiv in 1240.
- Year: 882 CE
- Category: Political
