Kievan Rus' cont'd

During his reign, Vladimir the Great, saw the need for alliances with foreign civilizations. He attained an alliance with the Byzantine Empire by promptly converting the Kievan Rus' to Greek Orthodoxy and marrying Princess Anna of Byzantium. This of course was a purely political mover, and Vladimir's choice reverberates in the largest cultural aspects of Russian culture today. source

St Sophia Cathedral in Kiev, today one of the most significant examples of Kiev architecture, and has been a symbol of Russian power through much political strife. Building began in 1037, under the orders of Yaroslav I the Wise, who had depictions of himself and the royal family illustrated on the inside. Many Greek Orthodox churches were erected on the direct orders of Kiev leaders; religion and politics were very closely entwined in Kievan Rus' society. source

Kievan Rus'

The Kievan Rus' civilization was a federation of East Slavic tribes ruled by the Rurik dynasty. The civilization spanned from the late 9th to the mid-13th century. source

Oleg of Novgorod. As prince of the Rurik dynasty in Novgorod, he took the region of Kiev and built the Kievan Rus' civilization. Oleg died between 912 and 922. source

The rulers of the Kievan Rus' were members of the Rurik dynasty. Icon of Saint Prince Vladimir, who exapnded his realm from the Baltic Sea to modern-day Ukraine, and converted the Kievs to Christianity. 16th century.  source

"Srebrenik" of Vladimir I the Great. source

The Golden Gate of Vladimir: erected in 1164. Served as a fortress and as a main entrance to the city of Vladimir. Saw times of war, the passage of future monarchs, and withstood the Mongol-Tartar attacks. source

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 The Russkaya Pravda is the legal code of the Kievan Rus' and Rus' principalities. Cultural links to the Byzantine Empire are not reflected in Rus' legislation; in fact, the Kievan Rus' code had a far more humane approach to law making than any other Eastern European civilization, with a total absence of capitol or corporal punishment.

Excepts from The Russkaya Pravda: Short Version. source

Article 1.

If a man kills a man, the brother is to avenge his brother; the son, his father; or the father, his son; or nephews, their uncles; and if there is no avenger [the murderer pays] forty grivnas fine; if [the killed man] is a Kievan Russian, or a member of the druzhina, or a merchant, or a sheriff, or an agent of the prince, or even a serf, or a Novgorodian Russian, the fine is forty grivnas.

 Article 7.
 For the moustache twelve grivnas; and for the beard twelve grivnas

 Article 30.
And if anyone damages or burns a prince's bee hive, three grivnas. 

 Article 42.
The following is the tax collecting custom: the collectors [during their journey] should receive seven buckets of malt, a ram or some other meat or two nogatas; and on Wednesday one rezana or cheese; the same on Friday; and as much bread and millet as they can eat; and two chickens per day; and shelter for four of their horses and feed for them, as much as they can eat; the collectors should [collect] sixty grivnas, ten rezanas, twelve veveritsas, and a grivna in advance; and during Lent collectors should receive fish and should get seven rezanas for fish; during a week they should receive fifteen kunas and food as much as they can eat; tax collectors should complete their task in one week; such is Iaroslav's decree. 

 The Primary Chronicle is a history of the Kiev people from 850 to 1110, compiled in 1130 by the Kievan Rus'. Its a widely used source when discussing the history, the culture, and politics of the East Slavs.

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