The Russian Empire History Podcast

As the twelfth century draws to a close, Svyatoslav of the Olgovichi makes another play for Kyiv, but finds himself forced to share power with Rurik Rostislavich.

His troops have sacked Kyiv and his brother sits on the throne. What next?

By the twelfth century, Bulgaria had become the regional power on the Volga. Conflict with the emerging and ambitious Suzdalia was inevitable, but the Bulgars proved quite capable of holding their own.

In this episode, we catch up on the Bulgars and see how life on the Volga compares to Rus.

Northwest of Rus live the Baltic peoples. After centuries of relative isolation, they are attracting unwanted attention from their neighbours.

We have already met the Qipchaks as the Polovtsi, the steppe enemies of the Rus. But they are more than just that.

In this episode, we look at what we know about how the ordinary people of Rus lived.

A special fiftieth episode answering questions from listeners. What was the Rus army like, what languages were spoken in Rus, marriages and diplomacy, and more.

As the next generation of rulers begins to contest the throne of Kyiv, one of them has a different idea.

Concluding this series, the youngest of the sons of Vladimir Monomakh, Yuri Dolgoruky of Suzdalia, gets his time in Kyiv.

Vyacheslav, the man who never wishes to leave Turov, takes the throne in Kyiv. But for how long?

Vladimir Monomakh’s long and eventful life has ended. As he intended, the throne of Kyiv passes to his son Mstislav, but that does not mean that the path of succession is settled.

Vsevolod’s son, Vladimir Monomakh, finally accepts the people of Kyiv’s call to take the throne.

As the ruling family expands, Rus faces another succession. Will there be war? Or a new agreement?

The sons of Yaroslav divide Rus among themselves. How long will they live in peace?

As Yaroslav reaches the end of his life, an attempt is made to set the rules of succession in Rus.

Christian Raffensperger is Professor of History and Chair of the Department, Kenneth E. Wray Chair in the Humanities, and Director, Emarth Institute for the Public Humanities at Wittenberg University covering Medieval Europe, Russia, and Ukraine. His works include ‘Reimagining Europe: Kievan Rus in the Medieval World, 988-1146’, ’Ties of Kinship: Russian Genealogy and Dynastic Marriage’, ‘The Kingdom of Rus’ and more.

Christian joins me to discuss why Medieval Europe is much more than just France and England, Rus royal marriages, and why using the right titles is important.

Christian’s book recommendation for listeners is Russia in the Early Modern World: The Continuity of Change by Donald Ostrowski. Find it on Amazon at https://amzn.to/46FXMMp a purchase through this link helps support this podcast.

As the last brother standing, Yaroslav has finally become the sole ruler of Rus. What will he do now?

Vladimir’s death plunges Rus into chaos as his sons fight over the succession.

This episode looks at Vladimir’s reign from the baptism of Rus until his death. Did he manage to do anything else noteworthy?

What happened at the baptism of Rus, and inventing St. Vladimir/Volodymyr from the Tale of Bygone Years to Vladimir Putin.

Vladimir continues to expand his territory and to consider the role of religion in his kingdom.

The death of Svyatoslav found Rus unprepared for the succession. The three sons he left in charge of Kyiv, the Drevlians, and Novgorod, soon turn to fighting among themselves.

In the late Soviet period and in post-Soviet Russia, Lev Gumilev’s passionary theory of ethnogenesis and pseudo-historical ideas of a Jewish-Khazar chimera gained enormous popularity, leading to elaborate conspiracy theories of shadowy forces behind contemporary events.

Read the blog post at: https://therussianempirehistorypodcast.com/blog/133-135-imaginary-khazars

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Vladimir Putin says he believes in the “passionary theory”. What does he mean, and where do the Khazars come in?

Part I of a short series looking at the Khazars after the fall of Khazaria. Was there a connection between the Khazars and East European Jews?

In this episode, we look at the first Rus ruler with a Slavic name, but a not so Slavic personal style. If it wasn’t for those treacherous Byzantines, things could have turned out very differently...

In this episode, we continue our introduction to Volga Bulgaria with a look at the ruling dynasty, the capital city, and their conversion to Islam.

In this episode, we begin exploring the formation of Volga Bulgaria, a major medieval European kingdom that will play a significant role in our story.

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In this special episode, I discuss how Byzantium viewed Rus and aspects of their relationship with Dr Monica White of the University of Nottingham.

Olga of Kyiv has been venerated as a saint and gained popularity in modern times as a vengeful warrior queen, but how true are those stories? Listen to this episode to find out the true story of Olga.

https://therussianempirehistorypodcast.com/blog/129-olga-of-kyiv

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In this episode, we look at what the Tale of Bygone Years tells us about Rurik’s successors, Oleg and Igor, and try to figure out what actually might have happened. 

Read the blogpost: https://therussianempirehistorypodcast.com/blog/128-oleg-the-seer-and-igor-rurikovich

In this episode we look at the traditional founder of the ruling dynasty of Rus, discuss what the Rus chronicles were and how they were created, and cover the mistranslation of Rus titles.

Read the blog post: therussianempirehistorypodcast.com/127-rurik-and-what-was-the-tale-of-bygone-years-anyway

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This episode concludes our introduction to the Rus with a look at their move into the Dnieper valley and the trade routes to Byzantium and Western Europe.

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Support the Plant and Hire Alliance campaign to send 10,000 generators to Ukraine https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ukraine-gensets

In Part II, we look at Scandinavian and Rus encounters with the Bulgars and Khazars. 

This episode starts a short series considering the early Rus with a look at where Rus began.

The final part of this mini-series looks at the first tentative steps of Scandinavian travelers into the East.

Read the blog post here: https://therussianempirehistorypodcast.com/episode-123-before-the-rus-part-iii-scandinavians-in-the-northern-forest

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An introduction to one of the biggest controversies in Russian and Ukrainian history - who were the Rus?

Continuing our survey before the Rus with a look at the eastern part of the region. The Bulgars reach the central Volga, Magyars move south, Khazar power preventing new incursions from the steppe starts to crumble.

Read the episode blog post: https://therussianempirehistorypodcast.com/blog/episode-121-before-the-rus-part-ii-bulgars-chuvash-pechenegs-magyars

Support this podcast and get access to exclusive member episodes by subscribing through Patreon, Anchor, or Apple Podcasts.

This episode begins a look across the region as it transitions from antiquity to the early medieval period. 

Read the episode blog post: https://therusianempirehistorypodcast.com/blog/episode-20-before-the-rus-part-i

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The Khazars began as Byzantium’s closest allies, sealed with the marriage of the khagan’s daughter to the emperor’s son. But one decision by the Khazars turned them into enemies.

Read the episode blog post: https://therussianempirehistorypodcast.com/blog/episode-119-from-friends-to-enemies

I’m joined in this episode by Russian historian Alexander Etkind, author of the 2013 book Internal Colonisation to discuss whether the Russian Federation actually could, or, indeed, should break up.

Read the episode blog post here: https://therussianempirehistorypodcast.com/blog/special-episode-4-the-russian-federation-could-it-will-it-should-it-break-up-with-alexander-etkind

The Khazar Khaganate was the first steppe empire in the west that had an economy capable of self-sufficiency. In this episode, we look at the development of agriculture by Slavs and steppe settlers in the black earth region of the forest-steppe belt, and other regional economies of Khazaria.

Read the episode blog post at https://therussianempirehistorypodcast.com/blog/episode-118-time-to-settle-down-the-domestic-economy-of-the-khaza

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With the collapse of the Western Turk Empire, a new Khaganate appears. Soon they will face the might of the expanding Caliphate.

Read the episode blog post here: https://therussianempirehistorypodcast.com/blog/episode-117-the-rise-of-the-khazars-and-the-arab-khazar-wars

In this episode, we look at the origin of the Slavs, something we know remarkably little about. What do linguistic reconstructions, archeology and the written sources tell us?

Read the episode blogpost at https://therussianempirehistorypodcast.com/blog/episode-116-the-mysterious-slavs

This episode introduces the Finno-Ugrians, the original inhabitants of the forests of Northeastern Europe, whose descendants continue to maintain a distinct culture in modern Russia.

Read the blog post here: https://therussianempirehistorypodcast.com/blog/episode-115-the-finno-ugrians

In this episode, we look at the origins of the Bulgars, claimed as ancestors by several peoples of the Russian Empire from the Volga Bulgars to the Gagauz in modern day Moldova, and also, through Bulgaria, the source of the Cyrillic alphabet.

Read the episode blog post at: https://therussianempirehistorypodcast.com/blog/episode-114-bulgars-of-the-western-steppe

In this special episode, the podcast is joined by Oleksa Drachewych to discuss Putin’s claims regarding Ukrainian statehood and nationhood. 

Episode blog post: https://therussianempirehistorypodcast.com/special-episode-3-putins-ukrainian-delusions-with-oleksa-drachewych

Dr. Robert N. Spengler is an archeobotanist specialising in the domestication of plants and how they were spread across Eurasia. He joins me today to discuss the role of the steppe in spreading many of the important foods, from grains to fruit and spices, that we all enjoy today. 

You can learn much more about this subject in his award winning book Fruit from the Sands: The Silk Road Origins of the Foods We Eat, available in physical, ebook, and audio versions here: https://amzn.to/34FLloZ

See the episode blogpost here: https://therussianempirehistorypodcast.com/blog/special-episode-2-from-the-steppe-to-your-table-with-robert-n-spengler

Iranic dominance of the steppe is ending, a new force has arrived. In this episode we take a brief look at the origins of the Turkic peoples and the first Türk Qaganate ahead of a series of episodes on the Turkic migrations into the Western steppe that would lead to the Khazars and Volga Bulgaria.

Read the show blog post here: https://therussianempirehistorypodcast/blog/episode-113-children-of-the-wolf 

In this episode, we look at the impact of the Scythians in their time and in later Russian history.

Read the show blog post here: https://therussianempirehistorypodcast.com/blog/the-scythian-legacy

In this episode we return to the narrative with a look at the Scythian migration from Central Asia into the southern Russian and Ukrainian steppe, and the first empire created by a steppe people. 

Episode blog post https://therussianempirehistorypodcast.com/blog/episode-110-the-first-steppe-empire

This episode rounds out our look at the Scythians with the Sarmatians, who displaced the Royal Scythians as the rulers of the Western steppe, and the Saka, the Scythians who stayed in the East. 

Check out the episode blogpost at https://therussianempirehistorypodcast.com/blog/episode-111-sarmatians-and-saka

In this episode we look at how a Bronze Age initiation ritual evolved into a cornerstone of steppe culture that drove the expansion and migration of nomadic peoples for centuries.

This year is the 200th anniversary of the return to Russia of the Bellinghausen Expedition, which discovered the Antarctic continent and was the first Russian visit to New Zealand. In this episode, we discuss the expedition and its significance with special guest Sergey Permitin.

Pictures by expedition artist Pavel Mikhailov in the collection of the Russian Museum: https://rusmuseumvrm.ru/reference/classifier/author/mihaylov_pavel_nikolaevich/index.php?show=asc&p=0&page=1&ps=20&lang=en#slide-1

NZ Geographic articles on the first Russian visit to NZ:

https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/from-russia-with-respect/?source=readmore-ribbon-related

https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/the-day-the-russians-came/

Peaceful East 200: https://www.russia-maritime.ru/mve200

Horsebreeding, lifestyle, and innovations in weaponry came together to make steppe warriors an almost unstoppable force. In this episode, we look at weapons and equipment of the mounted archers of the steppe and what made them different from their sedentary neighbours.

Intro from The History of Saqartvelo Georgia podcast - find them on all good podcast platforms.

You can support this podcast by donations via PayPal to hello@therussianempirehistorypodcast.com

Ancient Greek historian Herodotus wrote about the Scythians at length, but his writings have always been controversial. What did the Father of History have to say about the steppe warriors, and how reliable is it?

You can support this show by donating via PayPal to hello@therussianempirehistorypodcast.com.

In this last part of our look at archeological discoveries in steppe kurgans, we look at how finds from Ukraine to Mongolia were put together to rediscover the Scythians.

You can support this show by donating via PayPal to hello@therussianempirehistorypodcast.com.

This episode looks at the Greek colonies of the northern Black Sea coast, the Bosporan Kingdom, breadbasket of the Ancient Greek world and an important interface between the steppe and sedentary civilisations.

4000 years ago, another kurgan building culture developed - the ancestors of all the Iranic peoples appeared in the Southern Urals with a trade network from the Black Sea to the Pacific and innovations that would have an impact from China to Egypt.

5000 years ago, nomadic steppe lifestyles began with the Yamnaya people, likely speakers of Proto-Indo-European, who left kurgan graves across the steppe, and whose descendants spread across half the world.

Check out the REHP blog for a map of the Yamnaya homeland https://therussianempirehistorypodcast.com/blog/episode-103-early-kurgans-and-the-yamnaya-culture

Beginning a look at the Bronze Age steppe and the origins of steppe cultures. What was Proto-Indo-European and why is it associated with the steppe?

This episode introduces the geographical setting of Season 1, the East European Plain and the Great Steppe, its geography, climate, resources, and where some of the peoples that will play a key role in our story emerge.

Check out the episode blog post for maps https://therussianempirehistorypodcast.com/blog/the-plain-and-the-steppe

This episode is a brief introduction to this podcast, its themes and plans.