Askold and Dir (2nd half of the 9th century) - Kievan princes. In 860, knowing, according to the chronicler, about the difficult foreign policy situation of Byzantium, they made a successful campaign against Constantinople ("going to Constantinople"). In 882, Askold and Dir were summoned behind the fortress walls by deceit and killed by the Novgorod prince Oleg, who decided to rule in Kyiv from now on.
Used materials of the book: Shikman A.P. Figures of national history. Biographical guide. Moscow, 1997
Askold - the legendary Varangian, who was in 864-882. Kyiv prince. + 882
"The Tale of Bygone Years" reports that the Varangian prince Rurik, who ruled in Novgorod, had two husbands - Askold and Dir, not his relatives, but the boyars. And they went to Constantinople with their family. When they sailed along the Dnieper, they saw a small city on the mountain and asked: "Whose city is this?" The local residents answered: "There were three brothers - Kyi, Shchek and Khoriv, who built this town and died. We are sitting here, their descendants, and pay tribute to the Khazars." Askold and Dir remained in this city, gathered many Varangians and began to own the land of the meadows.
In 866 Askold and Dir went to war against the Greeks. Tsar Michael was at that time on a campaign against the Arabs, and had already reached the Black River, when the eparch sent him news that Rus' was marching against Constantinople. And the king returned. Rus', on two hundred ships, entered the Court, killed many Christians and laid siege to Tsargrad. The outskirts of the city were robbed, dwellings and fields were burned, many children, women and old people were killed. The water in the rivers turned into blood, the springs and reservoirs could not be recognized, since they were all littered with dead bodies.
But then a storm suddenly arose with the wind, and great waves scattered all the Russian ships, they were washed ashore and broken, so that few of them managed to return home.
All the monarchs of the world. Russia. 600 short biographies. Konstantin Ryzhov. Moscow, 1999
ASKOLD (Oskold, Askold) and DIR (sk. 882?), boyars of the Novgorod prince Rurik.
According to "The Tale of Bygone Years" Askold and Dir “begged off” from Rurik to Tsargrad together with their relatives. When they sailed in boats along the Dnieper, they saw a small town on a mountain. Askold and Dir asked the locals whose town it was. And they heard in response that it was built Kiem and his brothers, who died long ago, and their descendants live here and pay tribute to the Khazars. Askold and Dir reigned in the Polyana land and made Kyiv their capital.
Resurrection and other chronicles report that Askold and Dir fought with Drevlyans And streets. And in the Joachim Chronicle it is said that Askold successfully fought with the Khazars.
In 866 Askold and Dir went on a campaign against Constantinople. 200 Russian warships broke into the Golden Horn and laid siege to Tsargrad. However, the rising storm smashed the Russian ships on the coastal rocks and only a few managed to return home.
In the Nikon Chronicle, under 864, it is reported about the death of Askold’s son “from the Bulgarians”, under 865 - about the campaign of Askold and Dir against Polotsk, “to whom they did a lot of evil”, under 867 - about their return from Constantinople with the rest of the squad and beating they are many Pechenegs. It also speaks of the baptism of the Kievan Rus together with their princes. This event took place around 874 and is confirmed by Byzantine chronicles.
In 882 the Novgorod prince Oleg Prophetic lured Askold and Dir to the Kiev suburb of Ugorskoe, where they were killed. Askold was buried on Ugorskaya mountain. The church of St. Nicholas. And Dirov's grave, the chronicler noted, is located behind the church of St. Irina.
Historians have suggested that Askold and Dir were not the boyars of Rurik, but were descendants of Prince Kiy.
O. M. Rapov
Literature:
Sakharov A.N. Diplomacy of ancient Rus'. IX - first half of the X century. M., 1980.
Among the many secrets with which the past of our Motherland is so rich, the story of Askold and Dir, the legendary princes who ruled the Kievan land in the second half of the 9th century, shortly after Rurik and his Varangian squad appeared in Novgorod, is especially intriguing. To this day, scientific disputes around the personalities of these heroes do not subside, since there is no exact data regarding the circumstances of their lives. Some researchers are even inclined to believe that in the annals under these names one person is hiding.
How did you know about these princes?
All information relating to Askold and Dir is drawn mainly from The Tale of Bygone Years, a chronicle of the 12th century, the authorship of which is traditionally attributed to the monk of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra Nestor, and also taken from later sources. However, their reliability is questionable, since the texts were repeatedly copied by hand and may contain both accidental scribal errors and deliberately introduced distortions made to suit certain political trends of that era. To restore a more or less objective picture of past times can only be done by comparing the information contained in a number of independent sources, which are European, Byzantine and Arabic documents.
Disagreements Contained in Literary Monuments
The years of life of Askold and Dir have not been precisely established, since the chroniclers do not express a unanimous opinion on this matter. Even their very arrival in Kyiv is described in different ways. In The Tale of Bygone Years, the author claims that, having appeared together with Rurik in 862 on Novgorod land and being his warriors, they voluntarily expressed a desire to go on a campaign to Constantinople (Tsargrad) and for this purpose undertook a journey down the Dnieper.
However, on the basis of a later, Nikon chronicle, dating back to the 16th century, a hypothesis was born that Askold and Dir, deprived of Rurik during the distribution of land, raised a rebellion, after which they were suppressed down the Dnieper, fleeing persecution. One way or another, but, having caught up with the glorious city, founded, according to its inhabitants, by a certain Kiy, they learned that there was no ruler in it, and, having an armed squad, they immediately filled this gap.
Reasons for the obedience of the people of Kiev
The chroniclers mention only in passing about why the people of Kiev allowed foreigners who arrived from nowhere to be in charge. But on the basis of the materials cited by them, it can be concluded that the Varangians were quite loyal to the local residents and, subject to the timely payment of tribute, did not intend to violate their usual way of life. They shared a pagan religion. In addition, a powerful detachment standing behind the contenders for power was a very significant argument.
Campaign of Askold and Dir to Byzantium
All the peoples living north of the Black Sea, the Greeks called the Rus, and they told the world about their predatory raids in their historical chronicles. The same events are reported by the chronicler Nestor, as well as the compilers of the Italian chronicles of that era. Despite some minor discrepancies, there are no significant contradictions in their accounts, and they are trustworthy.
This event - a predatory raid on Byzantium - dates back to about 860. Then up to 300 ships filled with armed Russians, led by the Kyiv princes Askold and Dir, approached Tsargrad from the sea. Exhausted by a long war with the Arabs, the Byzantines could not offer them proper resistance and were on the verge of death. The hopelessness of the situation was aggravated by rumors of the most severe looting, which the suburbs of the capital had already undergone.
A holiday that has survived the ages
The residents of Constantinople managed to escape from the bloody atrocities of foreigners only thanks to the miraculous intercession of the Queen of Heaven, who, through prayers in the Blachernae Church of Patriarch Photius and Tsar Michael himself, spread Her robe over the city. The oncoming storm immediately scattered the ships of the Russians and thereby forced the conquerors to retreat. The shores of the Bosporus and their princes left, having previously concluded a trade agreement with Tsar Michael. The holiday, established in honor of this event by the Russian Orthodox Church, is celebrated annually on October 14 and is called the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos, but not everyone knows that it is associated with the names of the Kiev princes Askold and Dir.
Mistakes established in history
Further, the annals say that, having miraculously got rid of cruel conquerors, Byzantium began to establish diplomatic and trade relations with the Old Russian state, as well as to develop missionary activities on its territory. On this basis, an opinion appeared that during the reign of Askold and Dir, our ancestors for the first time marked their turn to Christianity, and their newly-made princes became the initiators of this. It became widespread due to the publication in 1847-1848. major work "History of the Russian Church", the author of which was a prominent theologian and major religious figure, Archbishop Filaret (Gumilevsky).
However, this point of view, which is very popular among the people, does not have any serious scientific justification. For example, the well-known Russian historian academician A. A. Shakhmatov (1864-1920) pointed out that the Kiev princes, who, due to their territorial proximity, had the closest relations with the Khazar Khaganate, were hardly influenced by Byzantine missionaries and had much more chances to change paganism to Judaism than to Christianity.
In addition, he draws attention to the fact that none of the early chronicles mentions the personal participation of Askold and Dir in the Constantinople campaign of 866. On this basis, the scientist concludes that their names were inserted into the text much later, in order to give both greater historical significance.
The murder of the Kyiv rulers
In 879, after the death of Rurik, his young son Igor became the heir to princely power, whose relative Oleg, who went down in Russian history with the nickname Prophetic, was appointed guardian and temporary ruler. Taking advantage of the power that was in his hands, he wished to extend his influence not only to the northern lands, but also to vast areas extending south of Novgorod. Having gathered a large army from the Varangians and Slavs, he conquered Smolensk and Lyubech, and soon ended up at the walls of Kyiv.
According to the testimony of the author of The Tale of Bygone Years, he captured the city on the Dnieper with the help of the most sophisticated deceit. Realizing that Askold and Dir had done everything necessary to strengthen their capital, and it would not be easy to take it by attack, he resorted to cunning. Leaving the main part of his army in ambush, the temporary worker pretended to be a peaceful merchant and invited the rulers of the city to come out to him for trade negotiations.
Unaware of the danger looming over them, they appeared on the banks of the Dnieper without proper protection and were immediately captured by the attacking soldiers. Accusing the princes of illegally seizing power, which should rightfully belong to the young son of Rurik, and before he came of age personally to him, Oleg ordered them to be killed immediately. The tomb of Prince Askold was the burial mound, which still towers on the Dnieper bank, and the relics of his co-ruler Dir rested for a long time in Kyiv, next to the church of the Holy Great Martyr Irina.
sole ruler
Having committed this double murder, Prophetic Oleg seized power over Kiev, making it the center of a vast principality and for the first time declaring it the "Mother of Russian cities." This event, which, according to the chroniclers, dates back to 882, marked the beginning of the unification of all the southern and northern lands under the rule of one ruler. He died, according to legend, from the bite of a snake hiding in the remains of his horse.
Hypotheses and conjectures of scientists
At the end of the article, it would be appropriate to cite several hypotheses regarding the origin of the princes treacherously killed by Oleg. According to one of them, only Dir was a participant in all the events described above, while Askold was his descendant. Moreover, both of them were by origin not Varangians, but Slavs. According to another version, Askold single-handedly reigned in Kyiv, came from the Varangians, while Dir did not exist at all, and his image is a figment of the imagination of later chroniclers.
At the same time, researchers who admit the historicity of both of these characters quite logically conclude that they reigned in different historical periods, and the chronicler Nestor united them as illegal co-rulers and usurpers of power. Proponents of which of the hypotheses are closer to the truth - time will tell, since research in this area does not stop to this day.
Askold Prince of Kiev (together with Dir)
864 - 882
B. Olshansky. In the summer of 908. Going to Tsargrad
882
Askold - a Varangian from the squad of Rurik, the Kiev prince in 864-882. (co-ruled with Dir).
According to The Tale of Bygone Years, Askold and Dir were boyars of the Novgorod prince Rurik, who let them go on a campaign against Constantinople. They settled in Kyiv, seizing power over the glades, who at that time did not have their own prince and paid tribute to the Khazars (864).
Russian campaign against Constantinople in 860
Trizna of Russian warriors. Painting by G. Semiradsky.
The names of Askold and Dir in the annals are associated with the first campaign of Rus' against Constantinople, dated 866 (probably took place in 860; Byzantine sources report only one leader of the Rus, without naming him), followed by the so-called first baptism of Rus'. It is possible that the Christian name of Askold was the name of Nikola, since a church was built in honor of this saint on the site of his grave.
Askold and Dir were killed (882) by the Novgorod prince Oleg, who accused them of illegally seizing power, since they were not from the Rurik family.
According to the Novgorod First Chronicle, the Varangians Askold and Dir are not connected with Rurik, and came to Kyiv before Rurik's invitation to Novgorod, but after the Rus' campaign against Constantinople. In Kyiv, they called themselves princes and began to fight with the Drevlyans and Uglichs.
Hike to Constantinople Askold and Dir in the Radziwill Chronicle, XV century
Description in later sources
In the Pskov 2nd chronicle (XV century) it is said that: “And the princes in that summer were on the Russian lands; From Varyagov 5 princes, the first name is Skald (that is, Askold), and the other is Dir, and the third is Rurik ... ".
The Nikon and Joachim chronicles contain information unknown from other sources about the events of the 870s: the flight of part of the Novgorod nobility from Rurik to Askold during the struggle for power in Novgorod, the death of Askold's son in the fight against the Bulgarians (872), Askold's campaigns against the Polochans ( 872), Krivichi (where Rurik planted his governors) and Pechenegs (875). The campaign of Rus' against Tsargrad (860), referred by the Tale of Bygone Years to 866, is dated 874-875.
The siege of Constantinople by the Russians, led by Askold and Dir. Patriarch Photius and Emperor Michael III touch the surface of the sea with the Robe of the Mother of God. Radzivilov Chronicle.
In addition to the ancient Russian chronicles, Askold and Dir are mentioned in the work of the 15th-century Polish historian Jan Dlugosh (possibly compiled to substantiate Poland's claims to the Kiev inheritance, as opposed to the Moscow Rurikovich). In his interpretation, Askold was a Polyana prince, a descendant of Kiy, the founder of Kyiv. He was the governor of Prince Dir, who, perhaps, removed the latter from the throne and became an autocratic ruler.
Historiography according to Askold
Askold's grave, Ivan Bilibin
In 1919, Academician A. A. Shakhmatov connected Prince Askold with the Southern Priilmenie (the center of Staraya Russa). According to his hypothesis, Rusa was the original capital of the most ancient country. And from this "most ancient Rus' ... soon after" 839, the movement of Scandinavian Rus' began to the south, which led to the foundation in Kyiv around 840 of the "young Russian state". In 1920, Academician S. F. Platonov noted that future research would collect ... the best material for understanding and strengthening A. A. Shakhmatov's hypothesis about the Varangian center on the southern bank of the Ilmen. A prominent historian of the Russian diaspora, G. V. Vernadsky, also connected Prince Askold with Staraya Russa.
B. A. Rybakov put forward a bold assumption about the presence in Ancient Rus' of the “Askold chronicle”.
The name Askold, according to most researchers, comes from the Old Norse Haskuldr or Hoskuldr. According to another version, the name has local, Slavic roots. B. A. Rybakov believed that the name Oskold could come from the ancient self-name of the Scythians: chipped.
In 2010, V.V. Fomin considered it possible to assume that Askold and Dir were connected with Old Russian Russia (the center of Staraya Russa), forced to leave Priilmenye as soon as Rurik established himself there, representing Varangian Rus', which first settled in Ladoga "
Dir (in the Ipatiev Chronicle also Dird, ? -882) is a legendary Varangian who took possession of Kiev together with Askold and was killed with him by the Novgorod prince Oleg.
According to The Tale of Bygone Years, he was the boyar of the Novgorod prince Rurik. Together with Askold, they allegedly went down the Dnieper to Kiev in the land of the glades, who at that time did not have a prince and paid tribute to the Khazars, and sat there as princes. Further, in the PVL it is reported that in 866, under the leadership of Dir and Askold, Russia made the first campaign against Constantinople (and the Byzantine sources indicate that the campaign was in 860), then in about 882 Rurik's successor, the Novgorod prince Oleg captured Kiev and, according to legend, he fraudulently lured Dir and Askold to his boat and killed both because of the illegality of their reign due to the lack of princely dignity, introducing them to Igor, the son of Rurik.
Death of Askold and Dir. Engraving by F. A. Bruni, 1839.
According to another hypothesis, Askold and Dir ruled at different times. The mention of Dir is sometimes seen in the message of the Arab geographer al-Masudi (mid-10th century), about a certain powerful Slavic ruler: “The first of the Slavic kings is the king of Dir, he has vast cities and many inhabited countries, Muslim merchants arrive in his land from different kinds of goods." Consequently, Dir could rule either after Askold, or even before his arrival. According to one version, Dir, mentioned by al-Masudi, ruled after Oleg the Prophet, but was deposed and killed by the legendary Oleg II (who, in turn, was expelled around 936 by his cousin Igor Rurikovich). According to this version, the author of the PVL combined the legend about the elimination of Askold by Prince Oleg Veshchim with the legend about the elimination of Dir by the legendary Oleg II. According to another version, Dir reigned in Kyiv before Askold and took part in the campaign of 860. It has been suggested that Dir can be identified with the "king of the Slavs", to whom the Caucasian tribe of the Sanari in the 850s turned for help against the Arab caliph. This "king of the Slavs" was placed by the ninth-century author al-Ya'kubi on a par with the rulers of Byzantium and Khazaria. V. N. Tatishchev, relying on the "Joachim Chronicle", believed that Askold's invitation to Kiev was due to the lack of a ruler among the meadows, that is, as other historians believe, after the death of Dir. However, Tatishchev himself considered the appearance of Dir a mistake in reading the text of the chronicle.
Death of Askold. Unknown artist of the late 19th century.
Askold and Dir, allegedly killed by Oleg together, were buried in various places: “And they killed Askold and Dir, carried them to the mountain and buried Askold on the mountain, which is now called Ugorskaya, where Olmin’s court is now; on that grave Olma built the church of St. Nicholas; and Dir’s grave is behind the church of St. Irina. According to one version, this indicates an artificial connection in the annals of Askold and Dir, which may have occurred due to a misreading of the Scandinavian spelling of Askold's name - Hoskuldr, or under the influence of local legends about Dir and his grave.
According to another version, "Dir" is the title or nickname of Prince Askold, the existence of which many do not doubt. The Soviet Slavic historian academician Rybakov Boris Aleksandrovich wrote: “The personality of Prince Dir is not clear to us. It is felt that his name is artificially attached to Oskold, because when describing their joint actions, the grammatical form gives us a single, and not a double number, as it should be when describing the joint actions of two persons.
Campaign to Constantinople.
Having concentrated power in his hands after the death of his brothers, Rurik lived in Novgorod, giving the best combatants the cities of Polotsk in the land of the Krivichi, Rostov in the land of Meri, Beloozero in the land of Vesi, Murom (the city of the Finnish tribe of the same name on the Oka River). He allowed Askold and Dir to go on a campaign against Constantinople. There are different opinions about the origin of Askold and Dir. According to one version, Askold, the Russian kagan, was a direct descendant of Kiy, the founder of Kyiv. He ruled Kiev together with Dir (or Dmir). According to another version, the prince of Kyiv was Dir, whose governor was Askold. According to the third version, Askold and Dir were Rurik's combatants and comrades.
With a small retinue, they went down the Dnieper to Kyiv, stopped at the glades and began to gather an army. The people of Kiev paid tribute to the Khazars. Askold and Dir promised to release them from tribute and settled in a rich city. The Varangians, led by experienced military leaders, conducted several successful campaigns in the steppe, and the Khazars did not want to demand tribute from the people of Kiev. For four years of active combat life, the squad of Askold and Dir has significantly increased. They decided to go to Constantinople.
Preparations for a difficult campaign were completed, and 200 rooks set off in 860. along the Dnieper to the Black Sea. There were 40-50 people in each boat.
Sacrifice of Rurik 862.
Engraving by B. Chorikov. 19th century
They chose a very good time for the trip. In Tsargrad that year there was neither an army nor Emperor Michael III, who fought a difficult struggle with the Arabs. Only Patriarch Photius was in the capital, but he did not think about the invasion of the enemy, burdened with state, religious and personal affairs. In the summer of 860, Emperor Michael III went on a campaign against the Arabs. The boats of Askold and Dir hurried to the capital of the Byzantine Empire.
On June 18, 860, the weather was calm and sunny in Constantinople. Suddenly, a motley spot appeared in the north in the strait, and people froze in horror: the boats of the Russ cut the soft wave, approaching the city. The rooks went exactly along the course planned by Askold and Dir. Each knew their place in the ranks. The Russians clearly landed troops, took the low country gates, scattered around the suburbs. The warriors of Askold and Dir worked harmoniously: they threw everything of value into the boats, then fire into the houses ...
And the Byzantine soldiers were preparing for an enemy assault. They very much hoped for the high, solid walls of Constantinople.
Having coped with the first task of the raid, the Russians approached the city and began to build an embankment. There were too few defenders, and their mood quickly changed. They were close to panic, despair. From the outside, under the walls, stubborn lovers of someone else's good are swarming. From the inside of the fortress, like from a volcano that has suddenly woken up, the noise of a panicking Constantinople is borne.
And suddenly the volcano began to subside: something important happened in the city. There, in the church of Hagia Sophia, Patriarch Photius spoke calmly, firmly. And his speech was strange. He denounced fellow citizens, recalling how "the Greeks unfairly ran around visiting Russians", about other sins.
The embankment grew. And the inhabitants of the capital of a world power went to the temple, from where a confident voice could be heard: “We received forgiveness and did not have mercy on our neighbor. Themselves rejoiced, they grieved everyone, they themselves were glorified, they dishonored everyone ... Finally, the time has come to resort to the Mother of the Word, to Her, the only hope and refuge. Let us cry out to her: “Honorable one, save your city, as you know!”.
The Robe of the Mother of God was lifted from the Blachernae Church, and the people went to the procession. The patriarch and the clergy in full vestments, banners, a solemn choir of voices, a string of citizens and in front - a miraculous riza ...
From below, the Russians saw people on the fortress wall and the sky cut off by the edge of the brick wall. People moved slowly in the sky, soldered by a single spirit ...
For several decades in a row, the Slavs went to the Slavs, and they did not have unity, there was no powerful support of the spirit that led the Byzantines along the wall. Rurik put things in order among the Slavs with a sword - did it succeed? Fear calmed the Slavs a little, but between the high wall and the Byzantine sky there was something else. Not fear led the townspeople to the procession.
The Byzantines kept walking and walking along the wall. One mass. The voices of the singers had a magical effect on the Russians. The Russians were not shy. And the state that they experienced cannot be called fright. It was a stronger feeling. And it was not a feeling at all, but - Vera. At that moment, the warriors realized that the people on the wall could not be defeated, just as it was impossible to make the sun not shine. And when the unhurried procession approached the builders of the embankment along the edge between the sky and the wall, one of the Russians screamed, threw the tool and rushed to the boats, dragging his comrades-in-arms with him. Nobody shot at them, nobody chased them. And they ran, ran, as if from fire.
Excited Russians went home...
In 867, as Photius says in a letter to the Pope, the Rus tribe adopted the Christian faith. It was one of the tribes that settled in the Black Sea region. However, some historians claim that Askold was the first in Rus' to accept the Orthodox faith, and therefore many of his squads.
This episode, recorded in the message of the Patriarch of Constantinople, must be kept in mind when discussing the topic of the Baptism of Rus', which took place more than a century after the events described.
As it was written in the previous article about the formation of the first settlements on the territory of Kyiv, signs of urban development began to appear around the 5th-6th century. There is no exact data on who founded the city, but most theories say that the first rulers of Kyiv were immigrants from Scandinavia - the Varangians. The intensive growth of the city was facilitated by a very favorable geographical location (the famous trade route from the "Varangians to the Greeks" along the Dnieper), as well as the growing power of the squad (army) of the Polyan tribe (whose center was Kiev). It was the military superiority of the Polyana lands that helped to unite around Kyiv the nearby neighboring East Slavic tribes, most of them located on the territory of modern Ukraine. All interesting information about the first Kyiv princes is available during ours.
Askold and Dir. The first princes of Kyiv, whose names are mentioned in the annals, are the princes Askold and Dir, who ruled Kiev in the period from 860 to 880. Reliably little is known about this period, as well as how the princes "sat down" in Kiev, but theories of their origin also converge on Scandinavian roots, and some scholars argue that Askold and Dir were Rurik's combatants. There is an opinion that Askold could be a descendant of Kiy, and Dir is only his middle name or nickname. The first military campaign of the Kyiv army against Tsargorod (Constantinople) to Byzantium was made at the same time, which testifies to the already certain power of the Kyiv lands.
Oleg in Kyiv. According to one of the main sources on the basis of which we can build a chronology of the development of Kiev - this is the Tale of Bygone Years, in 882 Prince Oleg entered Kiev and killed Askold (Askold and Dir) and began to rule Kiev and all the lands under his control. Oleg was most likely a relative of the legendary Rurik. According to the general theory, after the death of Rurik, taking with him his son, still a young Igor, Oleg recruited an army and began to descend in a southerly direction. After the conquest of Smolensk and Lyubech, Oleg came to Kyiv, and having killed the local princes, he began to rule here. Oleg liked the new city and its location, and he decided to sit down in it, thereby, supposedly, connecting his northern lands with the new, Kyiv ones and making them the capital.
Oleg ruled Kiev for over 30 years. During this time, he significantly increased the possessions of his new power - he annexed the Drevlyans, Radimichi and northerners to Kyiv. During the victorious campaigns against Byzantium in 907 and further in 911, one of the first written agreements between Constantinople and Kiev was signed, preferential rights for trade of Russian merchants were established. Oleg had the title of Grand Duke, is considered the founder of the Rurik dynasty-princes of Kyiv. Legends about the death of Oleg from a snakebite also gained popular popularity.
Askold and Dir are the legendary princes who ruled in the city of Kyiv at the end of the 9th century, converted to Christianity and laid the foundations of ancient Russian statehood.
This is the generally accepted version, but there are many contradictions in it.Sources
The information that we draw on the history of Ancient Rus' is collected for the most part in the Tale of Bygone Years, as well as in later chronicles, which are largely based on the first. The reliability of such documents by modern historians is being questioned: and it is not only a matter of chronological inaccuracies or mixing of facts.
Chronicles were repeatedly rewritten, and, accordingly, errors gradually crept into them, or even worse, deliberate distortions of events in favor of one or another political idea.
Lev Gumilyov believed, for example, that the chronicler Nestor viewed history as a policy turned to the past, and therefore remade it in his own way.
Nevertheless, if we have independent sources of information - not only ancient Russian chronicles, but Byzantine, European or Arabic documents, then we can generally restore the picture of the events of a bygone era.
From Varangians to Khazars
The Tale of Bygone Years reports that Askold and Dir were Varangian warriors of the Novgorod prince Rurik, who begged him to go on a campaign against Tsargrad (Constantinople). But in the Nikon chronicle, they act as enemies of Rurik: dissatisfied with the division of volosts, combatants participate in an uprising organized against him.
One way or another, going down the Dnieper, the Varangians saw on the hill a glorious city founded by Kiy. Having learned that there is no ruler in the city, and that its population pays tribute to the Khazars, they decided to settle there and reign.
The Ustyug chronicle says that Askold and Dir were "neither the tribe of the prince, nor the boyars, and Rurik will not give them either a city or a village." Apparently, the trip to Constantinople was only a pretext, and the ultimate goal was to get land and a princely title.
Historian Yu. K. Begunov claims that Askold and Dir, having betrayed Rurik, turned into Khazar vassals. There is no information about the defeat of the Novgorod retinue of the Khazars (and it was not easy to do this), which means that this version has the right to life - otherwise the Khazars (and their mercenaries) would not have allowed the Varangians to dispose of their patrimony so easily. But, perhaps, there was also an agreement between both sides - in the face of the disgraced Varangians, the kaganate saw a serious help in the confrontation with the powerful Rurik.
Hike to Tsargrad
In addition to the Tale of Bygone Years, we learn about the raids of the Rus (as the Greeks called the peoples living north of the Black Sea) on Tsargrad from Byzantine and Italian chroniclers, which makes the information more reliable. True, the sources differ in determining the dates: the Tale indicates the year 866, and according to Byzantine data it is 860-861, however, making an adjustment for the inaccurate chronology of the Tale, we can assume that we are talking about the same events.
The Byzantines, exhausted by the war with the Arabs, did not expect an attack from the sea by the Rus. According to various sources, from 200 to 360 ships approached the shores of Constantinople.
The Byzantines had little idea where this army came from, but the chronicler Nestor speaks of the troops of Askold and Dir, who plundered the surroundings of the Byzantine capital and threatened to take Constantinople itself.
Only thanks to the fervent prayer of Tsar Michael and Patriarch Photius, as well as the robe of the Most Holy Theotokos, which was soaked in the sea, a miracle happened: a storm suddenly broke out, and huge waves and a strong wind scattered the ships of the “godless Russians” - few were able to return home.
Christians or Jews?
Some sources report that after the defeat of the Rus, Byzantium establishes relations with the young Old Russian state and begins to carry out its missionary activities there. Filaret Gumilevsky writes that "according to the undoubted voice of history, Kievan Rus heeded the gospel preaching under the Kievan princes Askold and Dir."
However, Academician A. A. Shakhmatov claims that in the older chronicles telling about the campaign against Constantinople there is no mention of Askold and Dir - their names were inserted later, nothing is said about them either in Byzantine or Arabic sources. Moreover, given the possible connections of the Kyiv princes with the Jewish Khaganate, it is premature to talk about their Christianity: they had much more chances to convert to Judaism.
Murder
After the death of Rurik, Oleg, the one who took revenge on the "unreasonable Khazars", became the guardian under his young son Igor and, in fact, the head of Novgorod. He remembered the disgraced Varangians, and therefore the campaign against Kyiv organized by him in 882 was aimed at displacing the illegal power of impostors. Kyiv at that time turned into a hotbed of unrest - dissatisfied residents of the Novgorod lands constantly flocked there, and therefore immediate measures were required.
However, according to the Polish historian of the 15th century Janusz Dlugosh, who largely retells the ancient Russian chronicles, Askold and Dir were the hereditary rulers of Kiev, descendants of Kiy, and moreover, brothers, and therefore the overthrow of the Kiev princes looks not only treacherous, but also illegal.
But here one can see the desire of Dlugosh to show the validity of the Polish claims to Kyiv, since, in his opinion, Kyi, one of the heirs of the Polish dynasty.
Was there Deer?
According to the chronicle, Askold was buried at the place of his death - the high right bank of the Dnieper, but Dir's grave was behind the Irininsky Monastery - not far from the current Golden Gate. They are separated by three kilometers: a strange fact, co-rulers (or even brothers) who died on the same day are buried in different places!
It should be noted that some researchers suggest that Askold and Dir ruled in Kyiv at different times, but there are those who believe that Askold and Dir are the same person. In the Old Norse version of the name "Haskuldr", the last two letters could be separated into a separate word, and eventually into an independent person.
Also, Byzantine sources, describing the siege of Constantinople by the Rus, speak of one military leader, though without naming him.
The historian B. A. Rybakov gives us an explanation: “The personality of Prince Dir is not clear to us. It is felt that his name is artificially attached to Askold, because when describing their joint actions, the grammatical form gives us a single, not a double number, as it should be when describing the joint actions of two persons.
The story of the Kyiv princes Askold and Dir leaves more questions than it answers. Chronicles, as the main source of information, unfortunately, suffer from inaccuracies or direct distortion of facts, and archeology is not able to show us a complete and reliable picture of the life of Ancient Rus' in the 9th century. Of course, we still have to learn something, but much will remain hidden by the veil of the past millennium.
