Name: 【TED-Ed】Where did Russia come from? - Alex Gendler
Uploaded: 2015-10-30T03:20:57.000Z
Duration: 5 min 20 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

and what are the differences  between it and its neighbors?

The answers lie in an epic story of seafaring warriors,

and the rise and fall of a medieval state known as Kievan Rus.

a large group of tribes spread through the dense woodlands of Eastern Europe.

much of what we know about them comes from three main sources:

accounts from literate scholars  of the Roman Empire and the Middle East,

and, lastly, an epic history called  the Primary Chronicle

compiled in the 12th century  by a monk named Nestor.

What they tell us is that these tribes who shared a common Slavic language

had by the 7th century split into western, southern and eastern branches,

the latter stretching from  the Dniester River

As Nestor's story goes, after years of subjugation by Vikings from the north,

who, by the way, did not wear  horned helmets in battle,

the region's tribes revolted and drove back the Northmen,

but left to their own devices,  they turned on each other.

the tribes reached out to the foreigners they had just expelled,

inviting them to return  and establish order.

The Vikings accepted, sending a prince named Rurik and his two brothers to rule.

With Rurik's son, Oleg,  expanding his realm into the south,

"Rus" most likely deriving from  an old Norse word for "the men who row."

The new princedom had complex relations with its neighbors,

alternating between alliance and warfare with the Khazar and Byzantine Empires,

Religion played an important  role in politics,

the Rus prince Vladamir I decided it was time to abandon Slavic paganism,

and sent emissaries  to explore neighboring faiths.

Put off by Islam's prohibition on alcohol

and Judaism's expulsion  from its holy land,

the ruler settled on Orthodox Christianity

after hearing odd accounts  of its ceremonies.

With Vladimir's conversion and marriage to the Byzantine emperor's sister,

as well as continued trade  along the Volga route,

the relationship between  the two civilizations deepened.

Byzantine missionaries created an alphabet for Slavic languages

while Rus Viking warriors served as the Byzantine Emperor's elite guard.

the Kievan Rus flourished from its rich resources and trade.

Its noblemen and noblewomen married prominent European rulers,

while residents of some cities  enjoyed great culture,

literacy, and even democratic freedoms  uncommon for the time.

Fratricidal disputes over succession began to erode central power

as increasingly independent cities ruled by rival princes vied for control.

The Fourth Crusade  and decline of Constantinople

devastated the trade integral  to Rus wealth and power,

while Teutonic crusaders  threatened northern territories.

The final blow, however, would  come from the east.

Rus princes paid little attention  to the rumors

until 1237, when 35,000 mounted  archers led by Batu Khan

sacking Kiev before continuing  on to Hungary and Poland.

The age of Kievan Rus had come to an end, its people now divided.

In the east, which remained  under Mongol rule,

would grow to challenge  the power of the Khans,

conquering parts  of their fragmenting empire,

As it absorbed other  eastern Rus territories,

it reclaimed the old name  in its Greek form, Ruscia.

Meanwhile, the western regions whose leaders had avoided destruction

through political maneuvering  until the hoard withdrew

came under the influence of Poland and Lithuania.

would develop differences in society, culture and language

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【TED-Ed】Where did Russia come from? - Alex Gendler

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