Assignments

1) Give Ukrainian equivalents to the following:

Faith, paganism, advisors, to reject, consumption, permitted, dull, astound, ties, vital

2) Give definitions to the following:

Christianization, paganism, emissaries, Latin Rite, liturgy, rudimentary, orthodox, zenith

3) Answer the questions on the text:

1. Sviatoslav was pagan, wasn’t he?

2. Why did Volodymyr decide to accept a new faith?

3. Why did he send emissaries to different parts of Europe?

4. What kind of Christian rite was accepted by Volodymyr?

5. What consequences for Rus’ did the adoption of Christianity have?

4) Speak on this issue adding extra information from other sources.

5) What can you say about this statue?

Unit 6: Golden Age of Kiev

This theme is dealt with in a lot of historical sources. The following citation is to illustrate this:

“During the Golden Age of Kiev, the lands of Rus' covered modern western, central and northern Ukraine, Belarus, and western Russia. But it did not include modern eastern and southern Ukraine, which were inhabited by nomads and had a different history.

In the 9th century, much of modern-day Ukraine was populated by the Slavic tribes. The so-called Kievan Rus was founded by Rus' people, Varangians who first settled around Ladoga and Novgorod, then gradually moved southward eventually reaching Kiev about 880. Kievan Rus' included the western part of modern Ukraine, Belarus, with larger part of it situated on the territory of modern Russia.

During the 10th and 11th centuries, it became the largest and most powerful state in Europe. In the following centuries, it laid the foundation for the national identity of Ukrainians and Russians. Kiev, the capital of modern Ukraine, became the most important city of the Rus'. According to the Primary Chronicle, the Rus' elite initially consisted of Varangians from Scandinavia.

The Varangians later became assimilated into the local Slavic population and became part of the Rus' first dynasty, the Rurik Dynasty. Kievan Rus' was composed of several principalities ruled by the interrelated Rurikid Princes. The seat of Kiev, the most prestigious and influential of all principalities, became the subject of many rivalries among Rurikids as the most valuable prize in their quest for power.

The Golden Age of Kievan Rus' began with the reign of Vladimir the Great (980–1015), who turned Rus' toward Byzantine Christianity. During the reign of his son, Yaroslav the Wise (1019–1054), Kievan Rus' reached the zenith of its cultural development and military power. This was followed by the state's increasing fragmentation as the relative importance of regional powers rose again. After a final resurgence under the rule of Vladimir Monomakh (1113–1125) and his son Mstislav (1125–1132), Kievan Rus' finally disintegrated into separate principalities following Mstislav's death. …”

In the 11th and 12th centuries, constant incursions by nomadic Turkic tribes, such as the Pechenegs and the Kipchaks, caused a massive migration of Slavic populations to the safer, heavily forested regions of the north. The 13th century Mongol invasion devastated Kievan Rus'. Kiev was totally destroyed in 1240. On the Ukrainian territory, the state of Kievan Rus' was succeeded by the principalities of Galich (Halych) and Volodymyr-Volynskyi, which were merged into the state of Galicia-Volhynia. …”

The complete version of this text is at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kievan_Rus%27

Assignments

1) Give Ukrainian equivalents to the following:

Nomads, tribes, southward, foundation, principalities, influential, interrelated, rivalries, to disintegrate, heavily forested, devastated,

2) Give definitions to the following:

Varangians, powerful state, elite, assimilated, dynasty, resurgence, fragmentation, migration

3) Answer the questions on the text:

1. When did Rus’ become the most powerful European state?

2. What territories did Kievan Rus’ include?

3. Did the Varangians become assimilated into the Slavic population?

4. What was Kievan Rus’ composed of?

5. The Rus’ elite consisted of Varangians, didn’t it?

4) Speak on this issue adding extra information from other sources.

5) Describe this picture

Unit 7: Rise and apogee of Galicia–Volhynia

This theme is dealt with in a lot of historical sources. The following citation is to illustrate this:

“Volhynia and Galicia had originally been two separate Rurikid principalities, assigned on a rotating basis to younger members of the Kievan dynasty. The line preceding Roman had held the principality of Volhynia whereas another line, that of Yaroslav Osmomysl held Galicia. Galicia–Volhynia was created when, following the death of the last heirless prince of Galicia, Prince Roman the Great of Vladimir-in-Volhynia (modern Volodymyr-Volynskyi) acquired the Principality of Galicia in 1199, uniting both lands into one state. Roman's successors would mostly use Galich (Galicia) as the designation of their combined kingdom. In Roman's time Galicia–Volhynia's principal cities were Galich (modern Halych) and Vladimir-in-Volhynia. In 1204 he captured Kiev. Roman was allied with Poland, signed a peace treaty with Hungary and developed diplomatic relations with the Byzantine Empire. At the height of his reign he briefly became the most powerful of the Rus princes.

In 1221, Mstislav Mstislavich, son of Mstislav Rostislavich, liberated Galicia–Volhynia from the Hungarians, but it was Daniil Romanovich, son of Roman, who re-united all of south-western Rus, including Volhynia, Galicia and Rus' ancient capital of Kiev, which Danylo captured in 1239. Danylo defeated the Polish and Hungarian forces in the battle of Yaroslav (Jarosław) and crushed their ally Rostislav Mikhailovich, son of the prince of Chernigov, in 1245. After meeting with Batu Khan, Danylo reorganized his army along Mongol lines and equipped it with Mongolian weapons although Danylo himself maintained the traditional attire of a Rus prince.

Under Danylo's reign, Galicia–Volhynia was one of the most powerful states in east central Europe. Commerce developed due to trade routes linking the Black Sea with Poland, Germany and the Baltic basin. Major cities, which served as important economic and cultural centers, were among others: Lvov (where the royal seat would later be moved by Danylo's son), Vladimir-in-Volhynia, Galich, Kholm (danylo's capital), Peremyshl, Drohiczyn and Terebovlya. Galicia–Volhynia was important enough that in 1252 Danylo was able to marry his son Roman to the heiress of the Austrian Duchy in the vain hope of securing it for his family. Another son, Shvarn, married a daughter of Mindaugas, Lithuania's first king, and briefly ruled that land from 1267–1269. At the peak of its expansion, the Galician–Volhynian state contained not only south-western Rus lands, including Red Rus and Black Rus, but also briefly controlled the Brodnici on the Black Sea. …”

The complete version of this text is at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galicia%E2%80%93Volhynia

Assignments

1) Give Ukrainian equivalents to the following:

Separate, acquired, designation, successors, to liberate, to promote, realm, archbishop, reign

2) Give definitions to the following:

Rotating basis, combined kingdom, peace treaty, independent, authority, trade route

3) Answer the questions on the text:

1. Who was the first ruler of united Galicia-Volhynia principality?

2. What name for Galicia-Volhynia was mostly used after Roman?

3. Which states had diplomatic relations with Galicia-Volhynia?

4. Who was the first king on Rus lands?

5. Which dynasty did Danylo Halytsky belong to?

4) Speak on this issue adding extra information from other sources.

5) He’s not just a rider. Who is it?

Unit 8: Zaporizhian Sich

This theme is dealt with in a lot of historical sources. The following citation is to illustrate this:

“The first Zaporizhian Sich was established on the Isle of Little Khortytsia in 1552 by Dmytro Vyshnevetsky when the Ruthenian prince built a fortress at Nyz Dnieprovsky (Lower Dnieper) and placed a cossack garrison there. In 1558, however, that fortress was destroyed by Tatar forces. Soon another Sich was created on the now-flooded island of Tomakivka as a fortified encampment 40 miles south near the modern city of Marhanets. That Sich also was razed by Tatars already in 1593. With the destruction of the Tomakivka Sich the third Sich was created on the Bazavluk island in 1593 that today is flooded as well. It manage to stay until 1638 when it was destroyed by a Polish expeditionary force against a cossack uprising. There also was another Sich which was first mentioned in 1628 at Mykytyn Rih near the today's city of Nikopol and was captured by Bohdan Khmelnytsky in 1648. And, of course, there was the Chortomlyk Sich that was mercilessly razed by the Russian forces right after the Battle of Poltava to extinguish separatist tendencies among cossacks. Then another Sich was built at the mouth of the Kamianets River, which also was destroyed by Russians in 1711. The cossacks then fled to the Crimean Khanate to avoid persecutions and founded the Oleshky Sich in 1711 (today it is the city of Tsuryupinsk). In 1734, however, they were allowed to return back to the Russian Empire. Being discriminated in the Khanate cossacks gladly accepted the offer to return and build another Sich in close proximity to the former Chortomlyk Sich. That was the last Sich which was destroyed in 1775.

But only in 1618 did Hetman Petro Konashevych Sahaidachny order his Cossacks to build the earthen perimeter with the log walls on top of it. The log fort was surrounded with а massive abatis made from entire trees. Hence the term "Sich" — a noun derived from the verb in Ukrainian sikty (сікти) "to chop" or "cut", meaning to clear a forest for an encampment, or to build a fortification with the trees that have been chopped down.

The remoteness of the location and rapids on the Dnieper River provided effective protection from attack. …”

The complete version of this text is at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaporizhian_Sich