Category
Empires & Dynasties
How empires, kingdoms and ruling houses rose, held on and fell apart — and what they left on the map.
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Empires & Dynasties · Tsardom of Russia
The Muscovy Company: How England Found Russia
In 1553 three English ships sought a route to China. Two crews died in the Arctic; the third reached Ivan the Terrible. The story of the Muscovy Company.
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Empires & Dynasties · Tsardom of Russia
The Oprichnina: Ivan the Terrible's Terror, 1565–1572
What was the oprichnina? How Ivan the Terrible split Russia in 1565, who the oprichniki were, what happened at Novgorod in 1570, and why Stalin admired it.
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People · Tsardom of Russia
Boris Godunov: The Real Tsar Behind Pushkin and Mussorgsky
Boris Godunov ruled Russia as regent and tsar from 1585 to 1605. Did he murder Tsarevich Dmitry? And how did Karamzin, Pushkin and Mussorgsky make his legend?
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War & Warriors · Tsardom of Russia
The Time of Troubles (1598–1613): Famine, Pretenders and the Poles in the Kremlin
Russia's Time of Troubles, 1598–1613: the great famine, three False Dmitrys, the Poles in the Kremlin, Minin and Pozharsky and the first Romanov tsar.
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People · Grand Principality of Moscow
Ivan III: How Ivan the Great Made Muscovy a State
Ivan III ruled Moscow from 1462 to 1505. He took Novgorod and Tver, outfaced the Horde on the Ugra, rebuilt the Kremlin and gave Russia its first law code.
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People · Tsardom of Russia
Ivan the Terrible: The First Tsar, Fact and Legend
Ivan IV was crowned Russia's first tsar in 1547 and died in 1584. His reforms, wars, the oprichnina, his wives, his son, and which famous stories are myths.
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People · Kievan Rus'
Vladimir Monomakh: The Prince Who Held Rus' Together
Vladimir Monomakh, grand prince of Kyiv from 1113 to 1125: his wars against the Polovtsians, the councils that kept Rus' together, his Instruction, and the cap.
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War & Warriors · Kievan Rus'
The Mongol Invasion of Rus' (1237–1240): How the Cities Fell
How the Mongols conquered Rus' in 1237–1240, city by city from Ryazan and Vladimir to Kyiv, what chronicles and graves show, and where the "Tatar yoke" began.
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People · Mongol Empire
Batu Khan: Genghis Khan's Grandson and the Conquest of Rus'
Who Batu Khan was, how he led the Mongol conquest of Rus' and the invasion of Hungary, why he turned back in 1242, and what eyewitnesses saw at his court.
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People · Novgorod Republic
Alexander Nevsky: Warrior, Mongol Vassal, Saint
Who was Alexander Nevsky? The prince who beat Swedes and crusaders, served the Mongol khans, punished his own people and became Russia's warrior saint.
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Empires & Dynasties · Kievan Rus'
Kievan or Kyivan Rus'? The Name, the Spelling and Who Owns the Past
Was Kievan Rus' Ukraine or Russia? What the realm called itself, where "Kievan" and "Kyivan" come from, and why historians call Rus' a shared past.
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Sources & Evidence · Kievan Rus'
The Primary Chronicle: How We Know About Early Rus'
Who wrote the Primary Chronicle, when, which manuscripts survive, and how historians test its dates against Byzantine, Arabic and Frankish sources.
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War & Warriors · Kievan Rus'
Sviatoslav I: The Warrior Prince
Who was Sviatoslav I of Kiev? The pagan prince who broke Khazaria, conquered Bulgaria, defied Byzantium and died at the Dnieper rapids in 972.
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People · Kievan Rus'
Yaroslav the Wise: Law, Marriages and the Golden Age
Who was Yaroslav the Wise? See how Kyiv's grand prince wrote down the law, married his daughters to kings and why his bones are missing.
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People · Kievan Rus'
Igor of Kiev and the Drevlian Tribute
Igor of Kiev ruled the Rus' until the Drevlians killed him in AD 945. See how Greek fire, a costly treaty and a greedy tribute round sealed his fate.
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People · Kievan Rus'
Oleg of Novgorod: The Prophetic Prince
Who was Oleg of Novgorod? The Varangian who took Kiev, raided Constantinople and died by a snake, sorted into history and legend.
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People · Kievan Rus'
Olga of Kiev: Revenge, Regency and Sainthood
Olga of Kiev buried envoys alive and burned a city with birds, then became a saint. Here is what really happened and what the sources say.
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Empires & Dynasties · Volga Bulgaria
Volga Bulgaria: The Trading Kingdom on the Volga
Volga Bulgaria was a Muslim Turkic kingdom on the Volga and Kama that grew rich on furs and silver. Discover its story, from AD 922 to the Mongols.
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War & Warriors · Byzantine Empire
The Varangian Guard: The Viking and English Axemen Who Guarded Byzantium
Who were the Varangian Guard? Discover how Viking and English axemen guarded Byzantine emperors from AD 988 to c. 1400, what they earned and how it ended.
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Empires & Dynasties · Rus'
Who Was Rurik? The Viking Founder of the Rurikid Dynasty
Was Rurik real? See what the chronicles and archaeology say about the Viking founder of the Rurikid dynasty, which ruled Rus' and Russia until 1598.