Rurikids

House of Rurik
Country	Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, Lithuania
Founded	862 – Rurik
Current head	–
Titles	Tsar of Russia King of Rus' King of Galicia-Volhynia Grand Prince of Kiev Grand Prince of Moscow Grand Prince of Vladimir Grand Prince of Tver Grand Prince of Chernigov Grand Prince of Ryazan Prince of Yaroslavl Prince of Smolensk Prince of Novgorod Prince of Turov Prince of Pereyaslavl Prince of Polotsk Prince of Rostov Duke of Mačva Duke of Bosnia Ban of Slavonia Ban of Mačva Ban of Bosnia
Dissolution	1598 – Feodor I
Cadet branches	House of Shuya As well as several other extant and extinct branches.

The Rurik dynasty or Rurikids (Russian: Рю́риковичи, Ukrainian: Рю́риковичі, Belarusian: Ру́рыковичи) was a dynasty founded by the Varangian prince Rurik, who established himself in Novgorod around the year 862 AD. The Rurikids were the ruling dynasty of Kievan Rus' (after 862), the successor principalities of Galicia-Volhynia (after 1199), Chernigov, Vladimir-Suzdal, and the Grand Duchy of Moscow, and the founders of the Tsardom of Russia. They are one of Europe's oldest royal houses, with numerous existing cadet branches.

Origins

File:Zlatnik HQ.jpg

Gold coin of Vladimir the Great

The Rurikid dynasty was founded in 862 by Rurik, a Varangian prince. The apocryphal story tells of the [Slavic] tribes in the area calling on “‘the Varangians [i.e. Scandinavians], to the Rus' … The Chud, the Slovenes, the Krivichi and the Ves said “Our land is vast and abundant, but there is no order in it. Come and reign as princes and have authority over us!”’ Three brothers came with ‘their kin’ and ‘all the Rus’ in response to this invitation. Rurik set up rule in Novgorod, giving more provincial towns to his brothers. There is some ambiguity even in the Primary Chronicle about the specifics of the story, “hence their paradoxical statement ‘the people of Novgorod are of Varangian stock, for formerly they were Slovenes.’” However, archaeological evidence such as “Frankish swords, a sword chape and a tortoiseshell brooch” in the area suggest that there was, in fact, a Scandinavian population during the tenth century at the latest. The "Rurikid Dynasty DNA Project" of FamilyTreeDNA commercial genetic genealogy company reports that Y-DNA testing of the descendants of Rurikids suggests their non-Slavic origin.

History of the theory of Finno-Ugric origins

"Europe 814" - around the time of Rurik's birth. Finnic Peoples are marked with darker yellow

Genetic studies in the "Family Tree DNA Rurikid Dynasty Project" pinpoint the origin of the Monomakhovich branch of the Rurikid descendants' DNA "to the genetic haplogroup N1c1 – the so-called “Finno-Ugrian”" group. The studies concluded "that the N1c1 Rurikid princes belong to the so-called “Varangian Branch” in this haplogroup."

This is consistent with Roslagen in the northeastern corner of Uppland - a suggested birthplace of Rurik - having represented the southern border region of the land inhabited by Finno-Ugric tribes at the time of Rurik's birth. During the 12 centuries after Rurik's birth, the Finno-Ugrian ethnic zone in what today is Sweden has gradually shifted northbound, while the Finno-Ugrians have - for the most part - assimilated and melted into the mainstream Swedish society. In attempts to have the Finnish population of Sweden Proper "Swedified" and assimilated into the mainstream Swedish society, the use of the Finnish language had become strictly prohibited in Sweden Proper in the mid-17th-century.

A DNA study conducted on the prehistoric skeletal remains of four individuals from Gotland (in Southern Sweden) supports the area having been ethnically interconnected with Finland and Kvenland during the primeval era:

"The hunter-gatherers show the greatest similarity to modern-day Finns", says Pontus Skoglund, an evolutionary geneticist at Uppsala University in Sweden.

The Family Tree DNA studies also support the views of those who have presented in writing, that Rurik as well as the Rus' and the Varangians in general were ethnically Finnic or Finno-Ugrians, primarily at least. The most influential proponent of the Finnish theory has been Empress Catherine the Great of Russia, a.k.a. Catherine II, who in her writings on the history of Russia placed the home of origin of the Varangians in the region between Ingria and Finland, i.e. in Karelia. Both Catherine and her husband Emperor Peter III of Russia were Rurikid descendants.

Catherine even wrote a play about Rurik, in which the dying Gostomysl instructs his followers to elect his daughters son, grandson of a Finnish prince, as their ruler.

It was also during the reign of Catherine II, that three editions were published of a short review of Russian history by Timofei Malgin, another advocate of the Finnish theory, and a work of similar persuasions by Ivan P. Yelagin, literary advisor to the Empress and the founder of Russian freemasonry.

Other proponents of the Finnish theory have included e.g. the Rurikid descendant and the author of the first full-scale Russian history Vasily Tatishchev; the Rurikid prince and a historian Mikhail Shcherbatov; historians Viktor Paranin (1990); Johan Adolf Lindström (has presented also a Goth-Varangian theory); A. H. Snellman (Artturi Heikki Virkkunen); Yrjö Koskinen; Jalmari Jaakkola and Matti Klinge and archaeologist Pirkko-Liisa Lehtosalo-Hilander and the Professor of Finnish and Scandinavian archaeology Carl Fredrik Meinander.

According to Vasily Tatishchev, the Rus' originated from the area of Finland and the Rus' were Finns. He based his knowledge primarily on the Ioachim Chronicle. The original chronicle was lost, and its contents are known through Tatishchev's "History of Russia" (История Российская). Further support for Tatishchev`s Finnish theory was provided by the "Chronicon Finlandiae", written by an unknown author, published by Christian Nettelbladt in 1728.

According to Viktor Paranin, the home region of the Rus' was Karelian Isthmus, area ceded to the Soviet Union by Finland in the Paris Peace Treaty in 1947.

Based on the findings by Håkon Stang from the University of Oslo, the term Rus' derives from the term "ruskea", which in the Finnic languages stands for the color brown, but which in the more eastern Finno-Ugric languages means the color red (compare: Finnish aamu"rusko", meaning morning glow, sunrise, dawn).

Evolution and end of the dynasty

Rurik and his brothers founded a state that later historians called Kievan Rus'. By the middle of the twelfth century, Kievan Rus' had dissolved into independent principalities, each ruled by different branches of the Rurik dynasty.

“The Rurikid dynasty… attempted to impose on their highly diverse polity the integrative concept of russkaia zemlia (“the Rus’ land”) and the unifying notion of a “Rus’ people.” This sense of proto-nationalism is largely the product of historians in the modern era: “Kievan Rus’ was never really a unified polity. It was a loosely bound, ill-defined, and heterogeneous conglomeration of lands and cities inhabited by tribes and populous groups whose loyalties were primarily territorial.” This caused the Rurik dynasty to effectively dissolve into several sub-dynasties ruling smaller states in the 10th and 11th centuries. These were the Olgoviches of Severia who ruled in Chernigov, Yuryeviches who controlled Vladimir-Suzdal, and Romanoviches in Galicia-Volhynia.

The Olgoviches were the offsprings of Oleg I of Chernigov, who was a grandson of Yaroslav the Wise. They continued to rule until early 14th century when they were torn apart by the emerging Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Grand Duchy of Moscow.

The Romanoviches was the line of Roman the Great, they were eventually crowned kings and ruled until 1323. The last were two brothers, Andrew and Lev II, who ruled jointly and were slain trying to repel Mongol incursions. The Polish king, Władysław I the Elbow-high, in his letter to the Pope wrote with regret: "The two last Ruthenian kings, that had been firm shields for Poland from the Tatars, left this world and after their death Poland is directly under Tatar threat." Losing their leadership role, Rurikids, however, continued to play a vital role in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the later Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Most notably, the Ostrogski family held the title of Grand Hetman of Lithuania and strove to preserve the Ruthenian language and Eastern Orthodoxy in this part of Europe.

The Yuryeviches were founded by Yuriy Dolgorukiy, the founder of Moscow and spread vastly in the north-east. Beginning with the reign of Ivan the Terrible, the Muscovite branch used the title "Tsar of All Russia" and ruled over the Tsardom of Russia. The death in 1598 of Tsar Feodor I ended the rule of the Rurik dynasty. The dynasty was briefly revived in the person of Vasili IV of Russia, a descendant of Shuyskiy line of the Rurik dynasty, but he died without issue. The unstable period known as the Time of Troubles succeeded Feodor's death and lasted until 1613. In that year, Mikhail I ascended the throne, founding the Romanov dynasty that would rule until 1762 and as Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov until the revolutions of 1917. Tsar Mikhail first wife Maria Dolgorukova was of Rurikid stock but their marriage produced no children. It was until the reign of Peter III in 1762. Emperor Peter III and his wife Catherine the Great were both descended from the Rurik dynasty. Historian Vasily Tatishchev and filmmaker Jacques Tati were descended from Rurik.

Trade

In the early days of the Rurikid dynasty, the Kievan Rus' mainly traded with other tribes in Eastern Europe and Scandinavia. “There was little need for complex social structures to carry out these exchanges in the forests north of the steppes. So long as the entrepreneurs operated in small numbers and kept to the north, they did not catch the attention of observers or writers.” The Rus’ also had strong trading ties to Byzantium, particularly in the early 900’s, as treaties in 911 and 944 indicate. These treaties deal with the treatment of runaway Byzantine slaves and limitations on the amounts of certain commodities such as silk that could be bought from Byzantium. The Rus’ used logs floated down the Dnieper River by Slavic tribes for the transport of goods, particularly slaves to Byzantium.

Skirmish with Byzantium

One of the largest military accomplishments of the Rurikid dynasty was the attack on Byzantium in 960. Pilgrims of the Rus’ had been making the journey from Kiev to Constantinople for many years, and Constantine Porphyrogenitus, the Emperor of the Byzantine Empire, believed that this gave them significant information about the arduous parts of the journey and where travelers were most at risk, as would be pertinent for an invasion. This route took travelers through domain of the Pechenegs, journeying mostly by river. In June 941, the Rus’ staged a naval ambush on Byzantine forces, making up for their smaller numbers with small, maneuverable boats. Interestingly, these boats were ill-equipped for the transportation of large quantities of treasure, suggesting that looting was not the goal. The raid was led, according to the Primary Chronicle, by a king called Igor. Three years later, the treaty of 944 stated that all ships approaching Byzantium must be preceded by a letter from the Rurikid prince stating the number of ships and assuring their peaceful intent. This not only indicates fear of another surprise attack, but an increased Kievan presence in the Black Sea.

Legacy

Russian and Ukrainian historians have debated for many years about the legacy of the Rurikid dynasty. The Russian view, “resting largely on religious-ecclesiastical and historical-ideological claims and on political-juridical theories [was] formulated in Moscow between the 1330’s and the late 1850’s,” and views the Principality of Moscow as the sole heir to the Kievan Rus’ civilization. The Ukrainian nationalist view came into being somewhat later “between the 1840’s and the end of the 1930’s,” and views the Ukrainian descendants of the Rurikid dynasty as its only true successors. The Soviet theory “allotted equal rights to the Kievan inheritance to the Three Slavic peoples, that is the Russians, the Ukrainians, and the Belorussians.”

Genetic studies of Rurikids

See also: List of haplogroups of historical and famous figures § N (Y-DNA)

According to the FamilyTreeDNA Rurikid Dynasty DNA Project, Rurik appears to have belonged to Y-DNA haplogroup N1c1, based on testing of his modern male line descendants. But while genetically related to the later Baltic Finnic peoples, the Rurikids do not possess the DYS390=24 mutation associated with the Finnic languages, theirs remaining the ancestral DYS390=23, with the Rurikid haplotype itself (all values considered) more closely associated with [North] Germanic speakers (Varangians).

Further genetic studies seem to indicate the existence of two major haplogroups among modern Rurikids: the descendants of Vladimir II Monomakh (Monomakhoviches) and some others are of N1c1 group (130 people or 68%), while the descendants of a junior prince from the branch of Oleg I of Chernigov (Olgoviches) and some others (total 45 peoples or 24%) are of R1a and R1b haplogroups typical for Slavic, Germanic and Celtic peoples.

Family tree (Rurik through Vladimir)

Rurik

Igor of Kiev

Olga of Kiev

Malk Lubchanin

Sviatoslav I

Malusha

Rogvolod

Dobrynya

Oleg

Yaropolk I

Anna Porphyrogenita

Vladimir the Great

Rogneda of Polotsk

Konstantin Dobrynich

daughter of Bolesław I Chrobry

Sviatopolk I

Theofana

8 issues (see below)

Dobrynich line

Main line (from Vladimir to Yaroslav)

Olof Skötkonung

Estrid of the Obotrites

Rogneda of Polotsk

Vladimir the Great

Adela

Saint Anna

Yaroslav the Wise

Izyaslav of Polotsk

Mstislav

Vsevolod

Premislava

Mstislava

Predslava

Mstislav of Chernigov

Boris

Gleb

Stanislav

Sudislav

10 issues

Polotsk line

Eustaphius

Vladimir's Czech wives

Olava

Vladimir the Great

Malfrida

Vysheslav

Sviatoslav

Vladimir's other wives

granddaughter of Otto the Great

Vladimir the Great

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Maria Dobroniega

Casimir I

Agatha

Edward the Exile

out-marriage daughter

Margrave Bernard

Pozvizd

Yuryevichi (Yuri the Long-Arm)

Main articles: Grand Prince of Kiev, Grand Prince of Vladimir, List of rulers of Galicia and Volhynia, List of Ukrainian rulers, and List of Russian rulers

The following image shows the descent of the leading, or historically most powerful branch of the Rurikids, the descendants of Vladimir II Monomakh through his sixth son Yuri Dolgorukiy:

Princely families of Rurik stock

from princes of

• Starodub: Gagarin, Golibesovsky, Gundorov, Kovrov, Krivoborsky, Lyalovsky, Nebogaty, Neuchkin, Ossipovsky, Paletsky, Pozharsky, Romodanovsky, Ryapolovsky, Tatev, Tulupov and Khilkoff.
• Polotsk: Vitebsky, Izyaslavsky, Drutsky, Minsky and Polotsky.
• Peremyshly: Galitsky and Peremyshlsky.
• Chernigov: Baryatinsky, Belevsky, Volkonsky, Vorotynsky, Gorensky, Gorchakov, Dolgorukov, Yeletsky, Zvenigorodsky-Ryumin, Zvenigorodsky-Barashev, Zvenigorodsky-Spyachy, Zvenigorodsky-Shestov, Zvenigorodsky-Zventsov, Zvenigorodsky-Tokmakov, Zvenigorodsky-Nozdrevaty, Karachevsky, Kashin, Klubkov-Massalski, Kozelsky, Koltsov-Massalski, Koninsky, Kurlyatev, Litvinv-Massalski, Lykov, Massalski, Machevsky, Mezetsky, Obolensky, Nogtev-Obolensky, Strigin-Obolensky, Yaroslavov-Obolensky, Nagiye-Obolensky, Telepnev-Obolensky, Ovchinin-Telepnev-Obolensky, Obolensky-Cherny, Obolensky-Bely, Obolensky-Zoloty, Obolensky-Serebryany, Odoevsky, Ogiński, Ossovitsky, Peremyshlsky (Peremyshl of Kaluga), Peninsky, Puzyna, Repnin, Repnin-Volkonsky, Svyatopolk-Chetvertinsky, Spashsky, Torussky, Trostensky, Turenin, Tufyakin, Khotetovsky, Shchepin-Obolensky and Shcherbatov.
• Ryazan: Muromsky and Pronsky.
• Halych: Babichev, Bakrinovsky, Lutsky, Ostrogski, Volynsky and Zaslawski.
• Drutsk: Drutsky, Drutsky-Ozeretsky, Drutskoy-Sokolinsky, Konoplia-Sokolinsky, Drutsky-Gorsky, Drutsky-Liubetsky, Drutsky-Podberezsky and Putyatin.
• Smolensk: Vyazemsky, Berezuisky, Dashkov, Žyžemski, Kozlovsky, Korkodinov, Kropotkin, Porkhovsky, Rzhevsky, Selekhovsky, Solomeretsky and Fominsky.
• Yaroslavl: Alabyshev, Alenkin, Belsky, Velikogagin, Golygin, Dulov, Deyev, Zhirovy-Zasekin, Zaozersky, Zasekin, Zubaty, Kubensky, Kurbsky, L'vov, Molozhsky, Mortkin, Okhlyabinin, Penkov, Prozorovsky, Sandyrevsky, Siseev, Sitsky, Sontsov, Sontsov-Zasekin, Sudsky, Temnosiny, Troekurov, Ukhorsky, Ushaty, Skulimowski, Khvorostinin, Yukhotsky, Shamin, Shastunov, Shakhovskoy, Shekhonsky, Shumorovsky and Shchetinin.
• Rostov: Bakhteyarov-Rostovsky, Brity-Rostovsky, Buinosov-Rostovsky, Bychkov-Rostovsky, Gvozdev-Rostovsky, Golenitsin-Rostovsky, Goluby-Rostovsky, Kasatkin-Rostovsky, Katyrev-Rostovsky, Lastkin-Rostovsky, Lobanov-Rostovsky, Priimkov-Rostovsky, Puzhbolsky-Rostovsky, Temkin-Rostovsky, Khokholkov-Rostovsky, Shchepin-Rostovsky and Yanov-Rostovsky.
• Beloozero: Andomsky, Beloselsky, Belosselsky-Belozersky, Vadbolsky, Dyabrinsky, Kargolomsky, Kemsky, Sugorsky, Ukhtomsky and Sheleshpansky.
• Suzdal: Barbashin, Brukhaty-Shuisky, Glazaty-Shuisky, Gorbaty-Shuisky, Kirdyapin-Shuisky, Nizhegorodsky, Nogtev-Suzdalsky, Skopin-Shuisky and Shuisky.
• Moscow: Borovsky, Busovsky, Vereisky, Volotsky, Galitsky (Galich of Merya), Mozhaisky, Uglitsky and Shemyakin.
• Tver: Dorogobuzhsky, Kashinsky, Mikulinsky, Telyatevsky, Kholmsky and Chernyatinsky.

Noble families of Rurik stock

who do not use or lost their princely titles, from princes of

• Chernigov: Satin.
• Smolensk: Aladyin, Bezsonov, Bokeev, Burukhin, Vnukov, Vsevolozhsky, Gubastov, Danilov, Dmitriev, Dmitriev-Mamonov, Dobrynsky, Yeropkin, Zabolotsky, Ivanov, Karpov-Dalmatov, Kisleevsky, Knutov, Korobyin, Molody, Monastyrev, Mussorgsky, Netshin, Polev, Rezanov, Rzhevsky, Rozhestvensky, Sapogov, Solomin, Sudakov, Tatishchev, Tolbuzin, Travin, Tsyplyatev and Shukalovsky.
• Galich (Galich of Merya): Berezin, Ivin, Ilyin, Lyapunov and Ossinin.
• Belozersk, Kurtsov and Funikov.
• Ryazan: Ovtsyn, Lykov, Zhulyebin, Bulgakov, Denysyev, Nazarov, Izmailov, Zamyatin, Zlobin, Velyaminov and Fedorov.
• Rostov: Krasnov.
• Tver: Agryenev.

Gallery

• 
  Gagarin family / Khilkoff Coat of Arms
• 
  The Obolensky – Repnin coat of arms is composed of the emblems of Kiev and Chernigov.
• 
  Coat of arms of the Gorchakov family
• 
  Ostrogski Coat of Arms

See also

• Rulers of Kievan Rus’
• Shum Gora
• Vikings
• Uí Ímair (House of Ivar), contemporary Norse dynasty powerful in the Anglo-Celtic Isles
• Grand Prince of Tver
• Knyaz

External links

• Marek, Miroslav. "Genealogy of the Rurik dynasty from Genealogy.eu". Genealogy.EU. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
• Genealogical chart of Dukes of Kiev