| Rurik | |
|---|---|
| Prince of Novgorod | |
| Reign | 864-879 |
| Titles | Prince of Slovene (862-864) |
| Buried | ? |
| Successor | Oleg |
| Offspring | Igor |
| Dynasty | Rurik Dynasty |
Rurik, or Riurik (Russian: Рюрик; ; Old East Norse: Rørik, meaning "famous ruler"; c. 830 – c. 879), was a Varangian chieftain who gained control of Ladoga in 862, built the Holmgard settlement near Novgorod, and founded the Rurik Dynasty which ruled Kievan Rus and then Galicia-Volhynia until the 14th and Muscovy until the 16th century.
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Name
Riurik is the Slavic rendering of the same Germanic name as the modern Anglo-Scots Roderick, the Welsh Rhydderch or Spanish and Portuguese Rodrigo. In old Germanic languages it had forms such as Hrodric (Old High German) and Hroðric (Old English). In Old Norse, Hrœrekr (Norway, Iceland) and RøRikR (Denmark, Sweden), from which Riurik is derived. The name also appears in Beowulf as Hréðrík.[1]
History
There is a debate over how Rurik came to control Ladoga and Novgorod. The only information about him is contained in the 12th-century Russian Primary Chronicle, which states that Chuds, Slovene (one of the tribes of eastern Slavs), Merias, Veses and Krivichs (also a slavic tribe) "…drove the Varangians back beyond the sea, refused to pay them tribute, and set out to govern themselves". Afterwards the tribes started fighting each other and decided to invite Rurik to reestablish order.
Rurik remained in power until his death in 879. He married Efanda (Edvina Alfrind Ingrid) of Urman. His successors (the Rurik Dynasty), however, moved the capital to Kiev and founded the state of Kievan Rus, which persisted until 1240, the time of Mongol invasion. A number of extant princely families are patrilineally descended from Rurik, although the last Rurikid to rule Russia, Vasily IV, died in 1612.
There is a large 9th-century funerary barrow in Novgorod Oblast called Shum Gora, intricately defended against looting. It remains to be excavated. The local inhabitants refer to it as Rurik's Grave.
Disputed origin
Even though some historians emphasize folklore roots for the Rurik legend and consequently dismiss Rurik as a legendary figure, there is a controversy about his ethnic origins in Eastern Europe.
According to the Primary Chronicle Rurik was one of the Rus, a Varangian tribe likened by the chronicler to Danes, Swedes, Angles, and Gotlanders. In the 20th century, archaeologists partly corroborated the chronicle's version of events. It was discovered that the settlement of Ladoga, whose foundation has been ascribed to Rurik, was actually established in the mid-8th century. Earthenware, household utensils, and types of buildings from the period of Rurik's foundation correspond to patterns then prevalent in Jutland.
Some Slavic historians (B.A. Rybakov and his followers among them) argue that the account of Rurik's invitation was borrowed by a pro-Scandinavian chronicler from a hypothetical Norse document. For instance, the Primary Chronicle states that Rurik arrived to Slavic lands with two brothers, Sineus and Truvor, and sent them to rule the towns of Beloozero and Izborsk, respectively. Instead of connecting Sineus to Signjotr and Truvor to Torvald, they suggest that the chronicler read a hypothetical Scandinavian document and misinterpreted the Norse words 'sine hus' (with house) and 'tru voring' (with loyal guard) as the names of Rurik's brothers: Sineus and Truvor.
There is another theory that Rurik, on account of common intermarriages between Varangians and Slavic women, was of mixed Slavic-Varangian descent. This theory is based on the information of the first modern historian of Russia, Vasily Tatishchev (a Rurikid himself), who claimed that Rurik was of Wendish extraction. He went so far as to name his mother, Umila; his maternal grandfather, Gostomysl; and a cousin, Vadim. Rurik's father were from Finland. Those who assume good faith on Tatishchev's part point out that he based his account on the lost Ioachim Chronicle.
Last there is a theory that identifies Rurik with the Danish Viking lord Rorik of Dorestad, who ruled the western coast from Jutland down to northern France.
Genetic research
A current DNA research project by Dr. Andrzej Bajor of Poland, under the auspices of the Family Tree DNA Rurikid Dynasty Project, seeks to more accurately place Rurik within the light of history and out of the shadows of legend, while simultaneously trying to find his modern descendants. This project also seeks to study the DNA of male descendants of the medieval Lithuanian ruler Gediminas (Gedymin), whose line includes some of the highest princely families of Russia and Poland. The Gediminids intermarried with the Rurikids, and there has been speculation that they may even descend from Rurik. The DNA results of modern Rurikid princes indicate that Rurik was probably of Finno-Ugrian descent (haplogroup N1C1, formerly designated N3a1).[2] Further genetic studies seem to indicate the existence of two haplogroups among modern Rurikids: the descendants of Vladimir II Monomakh (Monomakhoviches) are of N1c1 group typical for Finno-Ugrian people, while the descendants of Oleg I of Chernigov (Olgoviches) are of R1a group typical for Slavic peoples. According to the Russian Newsweek magazine it indicates that the official genealogy is probably incorrect but leaves the ethnic origin of Rurik unclear.[3]
Here is the latest data, as of March 15, 2010, from Dr. Bajor (reproduced here with his permission):
"The administrators of this project until 2008 were co-operating with Stepan Kravchenko and Nikita Maximov, who are the Editor-in-Chief and the Scientific Editor of the Russian Newsweek Magazine, respectively. The Russian Newsweek had tested the first two Rurikid princes.
"The first of these two was Prince Dmitri Mikhailovich Shahovskoi of Paris, France, the prominent Professor at the Russian Orthodox Institute, who made the 1st Y-DNA test in the Rurikid dynasty (at the end of 2006). Unexpectedly, he was found to be descended from a Finno-Ugrian background (genetic haplogroup N1c1 - earlier it was described as N3a). The 2nd one was Professor Andrei Petrovich Gagarin of St. Petersburg, Russia. His Y-DNA test result matched that of Prof. Shahovskoi. Professor Gagarin's test was confirmed later by the test of his cousin, Grigori Grigorievich Gagarin. Andrei Gagarin is also the 1st Rurikid prince to have done a Deep Clade N test (this proved that his haplo is, in fact, N1c1); in addition, after he joined the Rurikid Dynasty DNA Project, he also upgraded his test up to 67 markers (FTDNA Co.'s standard).
"Next came Alexandr Solomin. For very many years he has declared that his family was, in fact, a lost branch of the Monastyrev family. The Monastyrevs of Smolensk lost the rights to their princely title as early as the 16th century. Since his Y-DNA test result matched those of Shahovskoi and Gagarin, he became the representative of the 1st family, unknown to genealogists, which proved its princely descent by Y-DNA testing. However, another test done later by Prince Nikolai Rzhevsky of the Smolensk branch showed that Alexandr is not descended from this branch of the Rurikid dynasty. Most probably he is descended from early Rurikids, but not necessarily from the princes of Smolensk.
"The 4th one was Nikita Dmitrievich Lobanov-Rostovsky of Great Britain, whose result matches the remaining three.
"The 5th one (or the 6th one after G.G. Gagarin) was Nikolai Rzhevsky of the Smolensk stock. Shortly thereafter Andrei P. Gagarin he also made his Deep Clade N test to prove his N1c1 haplo.
"These six princes are descended from St. Vladimir Monomakh. Their genetic haplo (N1c1) can be explained like this: the Roslagen seashore (slightly north of Stockholm, Sweden, where Rurik was supposed to have been born) until approx. the 4th/5th centuries A.D., was inhabited mainly by a Finno-Ugrian population. The Norse Vikings and Goths were also living in this region and were mixed with the native Finns. However, Finnish genes survived on the paternal lines. Their test results were later matched and confirmed by the tests done by the following princes from Russia: Putyatin, Kropotkin, Khilkov, Vadbolsky and Myshetsky. Although Prince Kropotkin by all means is a Rurikid, probably he is not descended on the Smolensk branch.
"The other two princes, Volkonsky and Obolensky, who are descended from Oleg Svatoslavovich (grandson of St. Yaroslav Mudry (the Wise)) are genetic Slavs (haplo R1a1). Their test results were later confirmed by a test done by another Prince Volkonsky. It seems that it was probably the king of Poland, Boleslaw II Smialy, who broke the genetic line of the Kievan Rurikoviches. In 1069 he visited Kiev with his troops. However, he escaped from Kiev shortly thereafter. The reason for this was not given by historians. He also visited Kiev in the years 1077/78 (he spent more than one year in Kiev). Their genetic haplos are typical for western Slavs, and especially for the Wielkopolska (Greater Poland) region in Poland, where the Polish royal Piast dynasty established their first princedom. Nevertheless, more explanations may exist, and these are still to be sought for.
"Prince Jakub Maria Puzyna was believed to be descended from Oleg Svatoslavovich of Kiev. However, he is not. Most probably he is not a direct descendant of Rurik. However, he is at least descended from one of Rurik's closest relatives.
"Prince Piotr Szuyski (most probably he is the last Shuyski in the world; his ancestor escaped from Moscow to the Gr. Duchy of Lithuania) was believed to be descended from St. Vladimir Monomakh. However, he is not. He is somehow related by blood with Prince Volkonsky. This puzzle can be solved by Y-DNA tests carried out among the Lyapunov and Shemyakin families (certainly, provided that the Shemyakins are descended from Prince Dmitri Shemyaka).
"By no means is Prince Stanislaw Antoni Czetwertynski a genetic descendant of Rurik. His genetic haplo (I2a2) is typical for the native population of the Ukrainian and Belarusian Polissyia region. This can also mean that Prince Tur(e), who founded the Turov-Pinsk princely dynasty, wasn't at all a genetic descendant of Rurik.
"Currently, it has been discovered that the marker # 41 (DYS 395S1b) may play a considerable role in the genealogy of the Rurikid dynasty. This marker seems to be invariant in a genetic clan. It was found that Princes Gagarin and Puzyna inherited a rare mutation (18) in this marker.
"My private database is here http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~mozhayski/teksty/ydna.html .
"The database also includes Gediminid princes.
"Bogdan Korybut-Woroniecki was found to be descended from a Swedish or Norwegian Viking (genetic haplo I1a). However, experts of the Polish Association of Nobility don't believe that he is a genuine Gediminid prince. In my opinion he is descended from one of the native Lithuanian princes.
"Prince Tonu Trubetsky (he is a famous musician nicknamed Tony Blackplait) is descended from the Gediminid Trubetskoi princes. His family tree since Gedimin is well documented. He was found to be descended from the native Lithuanian population. And this seemed reasonable, since from Stryjkowski's chronicle (end of 16th century) it follows that the early Gediminid princes spoke Lithuanian as their native tongue. Alas, Tonu Trubetsky's branch was broken by someone in the past [Tonu Trubetsky is of the R1a1 haplotype]. Most probably an adoption unknown to historians occurred in this branch of the Trubetsky princes. Besides, this is what the Trubetsky princes wrote in Obshchiy Gerbovnik Rassiyskoi Imperii (Armorial of the Russian Empire, vol. 2, St. Petersburg 1798). That Gedimin was descended from St. Vladimir the Great of Kiev on the Polotsk branch seems to be uncertain from the point of view of true genetics. In spite of the lack of close blood relations between the Rurikids and the Gediminids, one may, however, think of "political" family relations, i.e., that both princely lines were related in another way to each other: namely, in the Suzdal Chronicle (Suzdalskaya Letopis') one can find a text dealing with the siege of Polotsk by St. Vladimir the Great of Kiev. From this it comes out, that ROGNEDA, the future wife of St. Vladimir, as well as mother of his sons, HAD HER OWN SON from her 1st MARRIAGE. It's then quite probable that IZIASLAV VLADIMIROVICH of POLOTSK was, in fact, AN ADOPTED SON of St. Vladimir.
"Prince Askold Georgievich Khovanskii, whose ancestors were genuine Gediminid princes in Russia, is also of Finno-Ugrian descent (N1c1). He matches well with Alex Chartorisky (Czartoryski) of Australia, whose family comes from Russia. They both match well with another Prince Trubecki (Trubetzkoi) of Canada, who, for the time being, doesn't wish to show his Y-DNA test result to the public. Their tests were later confirmed by the tests made by another Trubetzkoy of Russia and Galitzine (Golitsin) of Russia. Their genetic haplos depart from those of the Rurikids. By no means were the Gediminid princes descended from St. Vladimir of Kiev. Currently, it seems that the Gediminids and Rurikids shared a common male ancestor in the time of Jesus Christ, or slightly later.
"Nevertheless, the project is seeking other princes of Gediminid descent, such as Trubecki (Trubetskoi), Golicyn (Galitzine), Chowanski (Khovansky) and Kurakin (Kurakine). Others, such as Czartoryski, Sanguszko and Koriatowicz-Kurcewicz, are rarely met in the world anymore.
"Prince Jerzy Czartoryski of Canada decided to make his Y-DNA test in spite of what historians speculate(d) about the descent of his princely branch. It is believed that his G...Grandmother, Princess Izabela Czartoryska (nee Fleming) had her 1st son with the Rurikid Prince Nikolai Vasilievich Repnin, while it was Armand-Louis de Gontaut-Biron, Duc de Lauzun, who fathered the 2nd son, Konstanty, from whom Prince Jerzy has descended. Prince Jerzy was found to be descended from a Germanic tribe (R1b1). He can still be descended from the French, since the majority of them are of Germanic origin. This is what counts here: that Prince Jerzy inherited the title of Prince, as well as family tradition, from his legitimate ancestors, the Czartoryski princes. On the other hand, however, providing that he is really descended from the Gontaut-Birons, this duly means that he is a genetic descendant of an old French family, having their roots in the 12th century, that may also eventually belong to one of the ruling dynasties (the Merovingians, or the Carolingians)."Metsamies 02:51, 20 March 2010 (UTC)
Hrörek of Dorestad
The only Hrörek described in Western chronicles was Rorik of Dorestad, a konung from the royal house of Hedeby. Since the 19th century, there have been attempts to identify him with the Viking prince Rurik of Russian chronicles.[4] Alexander Nazarenko objects to this identification.[5]
Roerik of Dorestad was born about 810/820 to Ali Anulo, 9th King of Hedeby. Frankish chroniclers mention that he received lands in Friesland from the Emperor Louis I. This was not enough for him, and he started to plunder neighbouring lands: he took Dorestad in 850, captured Hedeby in 857 and looted Bremen in 859. The Emperor was enraged and stripped him of all his possessions in 860. After that Roerik disappears from the Western sources for a considerable period of time. And at that very moment, in 862, the Rurik of Rus arrives in the Eastern Baltic, builds the fortress of Ladoga and later moves to Novgorod.
Rorik of Dorestad reappeared in Frankish chronicles in 870, when his Friesland demesne was returned to him by Charles the Bald; in 882 he is already mentioned as dead. The Russian chronicle places the death of Rurik of Novgorod at 879. According to Western sources, the ruler of Friesland was converted to Christianity by the Franks. This may have parallels with the Christianization of the Rus', as reported by Patriarch Photius in 867.
Rurikid descendants
Rurik dynasty went on to rule Kiev and its vast Empire. After the disintegration of Kievan Rus' in the 13-14th centuries, the dynasty continued to rule two of the three successor states. One is Galicia-Volhynia until the deaths of Andrew and Lev II in 1323. Another being north-eastern principalities of Vladimir-Suzdal that would eventually become the Grand Duchy of Moscow and Tsardom of Russia, the last ruler from this line being Fedor I (died 1598).
One descendant of the Rurikid Grand Prince of Tver was Catherine the Great, who married Peter III of the Romanov dynasty in 1745, uniting the two dynasties.
Historian Vasily Tatishchev and filmmaker Jacques Tati were descended from Rurik, as are many noble Russian families. Among these descendants of Rurik are the Volkonsky, Obolensky, Shuyski, Dolgorukov, Khilkoff, Repnin, Gorchakov, Gagarin, Wassilchikov, and Putyatin families, as well as Ruthenian families of Ostrogski, Wareg-Massalski, and Czetwertyński.
Through the Ukrainian-born wife of the twelfth-century King Henry I of France, many Western Europeans, noble and commoner alike, can claim descent from Rurik. Henry's queen had been born Anne of Kiev, daughter of Yaroslav the Wise, probably a great-great-great-grandson of Rurik.
 The Obolensky - Repnin coat of arms is composed of the emblems of Kiev and Chernigov. |
 Khilkoff Coat of Arms |
 Coat of arms of the Gorchakov family |
| Preceded by Gostomysl |
Prince of Novgorod | Succeeded by Oleg |
References
- ^ Volume I, Section 3, Beowulf: Scandinavian Traditions; Personality of the Hero; Origin and Antiquity of the Poem; the Religious Element. in Ward & Trent, et al. The Cambridge History of English and American Literature. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1907–21; New York: Bartleby.com, 2000 (http://www.bartleby.com/211/0303.html).
- ^ DNA Testing of the Rurikid and Gediminid Princes
- ^ Операция «Чистые Рюрики» Russian Newsweek N52 January 2008
- ^ Rurik's identification with Hrörek was propagated by Boris Rybakov and Anatoly Kirpichnikov (see А.Н. Кирпичников: Сказание о призвании варягов. Анализ и возможности источника // Первые скандинавские чтения. - СПб., 1997. - С. 7-18).
- ^ Nazarenko A., Rjurik и Riis Th., Rorik // Lexikon des Mittelalters. VII. - Munchen, 1995. - P. 880, 1026.
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