863 C.E..

863 C.E..

Please draw the following timeline in your notebook.

Chronology of early Russia.

882 C.E.

1019 C.E.1054 C.E.1206 C.E.1240 C.E.1380 C.E.

957 C.E.980 C.E.

988 C.E.989 C.E.

1462 C.E.

1472 C.E.1476 C.E.1480 C.E.1547 C.E.1584 C.E.

863 C.E.Two Greek monks,

Cyril and Methodius, adapt the Greek

alphabet so they could translate the Bible into Slavic languages. This

alphabet became known as Cyrillic and is still used in Russia and

Ukraine today. The Cyrillic alphabet with English transliteration in the parentheses.

863 C.E..

882 C.E.Oleg of Novogard moves the capital to Kiev effectively starting the reign of the Kieven Rus.

A map of Rus territory and

some of the major cities is shown to

the right.

882 C.E.

957 C.E.Princess Olga of Kiev converts to Byzantine

Christianity. She is the first Rus ruler to do so.

Christianity will not become popular until the

conversion of her Grandson Vladimir

partway through his reign.

957 C.E.

980 C.E.Vladimir the Great who was the grandson of Olga of Kiev

murders his brother and conquers the other Rus principalities to become

Prince of Kiev and Knyaz of all Kieven Rus.

980 C.E.

988 C.E.The

conversion of the Kieven Rus begins.

Vladimir encourages

mass baptisms in the Dnieper

River.

988 C.E.

989 C.E.Vladimir the Great,

marries Anna, the sister of Byzantine Emperor Basil II. This marriage would

have far reaching effects for both Empires and for

Christianity as well.

989 C.E.

1019 C.E.Yaroslav the Wise comes to the throne and ushers

in a golden age of Rus civilization.

- Began work on a Russian law code.

- United different Rus principalities.

- Arranged marriages between his children and powerful

European Royalty.

1019 C.E.

1054 C.E.Yaroslav the Wise dies. The map to the right shows the

territory of the Rus principalities at the time of

his death.

1054 C.E.

1206 C.E.Genghis Kahn comes to power and begins the Mongol Empire. It would grow to be the largest contiguous land empire in world history. (Even today!)

1206 C.E.

1240 C.E.Kiev falls to the Mongol

Invasion. The Mongols

would rule over Russia or

parts of Russia for the

next 240 years.

1240 C.E.

1380 C.E.Battle of Kulikovo. Prince Dimitri of Moscow united various Russian principalities to defeat the Golden Horde and begin establishing Muscovite independence. This would later lead to an independent Russian state.

1380 C.E.

1462 C.E.Ivan III, later known as Ivan the Great comes to power. Constantinople had been

conquered by the Ottomans just nine years earlier, and

Ivan began to refer to Moscow as the “Third

Rome.”

1462 C.E.

1472 C.E.Ivan III marries Sophia

Palaeogologus, the niece of the last

Byzantine Empire. 1472 C.E.

1476 C.E.Ivan the Great refuses to pay

tribute to Khan Ahmed of the Golden Horde,

effectively claiming

independence and beginning

a war.

1476 C.E.

1480 C.E.Great stand on the Ugra River.

The last Mongols and Tartars are expelled from Muscovite

territory. Ivan III would rule for 25 more

years until his death in 1505 C.E. During his reign he would triple the territory of the Russians, a feat for which he is given the

title, “Ivan the Great.”

1480 C.E.

1547 C.E.Ivan the IV, grandson of Ivan III

becomes Czar of all Russia. He is commonly known as Ivan the

Terrible. During his reign he would centralize power and take away

land and privileges from the boyars (landowning nobles). The

changes he made laid the foundation for centuries of

authoritarian rule in Russia.

1547 C.E.

1584 C.E.Ivan the

Terrible dies. He left his

empire to his childless son Feodor who

died 14 years later.

In his later years, Ivan had become emotionally unstable. In 1581, he beat his pregnant daughter in law for wearing immodest clothing. Supposedly this caused her to miscarriage. When Ivan’s second son and future heir confronted him, Ivan

struck him on the head accidentally killing him and effectively ending his dynasty.

1584 C.E.