The Cambridge Introduction to Russian Literature

Chapter 3

Traditional narratives

862:Viking chieftain Ryurik invited to rule Novgorod (Ryurikovich

dynasty lasts until 1598)

988:Kiev: Prince Vladimir converts Rus' to Eastern [Greek] Orthodox

Christianity

1015:Martyrdom of Boris and Gleb

1223:Mongols reach Kiev and destroy it [“Mongol Yoke” lasts until 1480]

1242:Alexander Nevsky defeats Teutonic knights on frozen Lake Chud

1563:First printing press in Moscow authorized by Ivan the Terrible

1580s:Boris Godunov sends eighteen young men abroad to study; none

return, nor do their assigned spies

1598:Election of Boris Godunov as tsar

1606:Assassination of Tsar Dmitry (called “The Pretender”); “Time of

Troubles” begins

1613:“Troubles” end, Mikhail Romanov elected tsar (Romanov dynasty

lasts until 1918)

1636:Moscow: Patriarch orders musical instruments burned

1652:Moscow: all foreigners required to live in a single district

(the “German Quarter”) 1650s-60s: State-sponsored church reforms leading to Schism [Raskol] and

breaking-away of Old Believers

1672:First stage play performed at Moscow court

1682-1725: Reign of Peter the First, the Great

Russian medieval culture was rich, but not in the printed word. Folk and religious art was visual and aural: folk tales, epic and everyday songs, round dances, charms for healing the sick, rituals for marrying and burying, laments for men lost to the army during recruiting season, saints’ lives and the liturgy. In 1563, Tsar Ivan the Terrible allowed a printing press to be set up in Moscow. The first book published in Russian on Russian soil, an elaborate edition of readings from the Apostles for use in the liturgy, appeared in 1564. In 1565, the press was destroyed by a mob incited by clerical authorities. Accused of heresy, the master printer Ivan Fyodorov “fled for unknown lands” - but printing continued under the protection of Tsar Ivan himself.1 This cautionary tale,

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