The Mongol Invasion
This Mongol leader spearheaded the invasion of the Rus’ principalities in the 1230s.
What is Batu Khan?
This battle in 1223 marked the first major contact between Mongol forces and Rus’ princes.
What is the Battle of the Kalka River?
This warrior saint and prince of Novgorod chose cooperation over confrontation with the Mongols.
Who is Alexander Nevsky?
The Zadonshchina epic often refers back to this earlier work.
What is the Lay of Igor's Campaign?
In medieval Rus’, this elite noble class served as advisers to the prince and held significant land and political influence.
What are the boyars?
This Mongol term, referring to a royal decree or edict issued by the Khan, was central to the Mongol administration in Rus' and was used to legitimize the power of local rulers.
What is a yarlyk?
This was the name of the Mongol capital on the lower Volga River from which they ruled the Rus’ lands.
What is Sarai?
This prince, praised throughout Zadonshchina, led the Rus' forces to victory on the Kulikovo Field in 1380.
Who is Dmitrii Donskoy?
This title claimed that Moscow had inherited the legacy of Rome and Byzantium as the center of true Christianity.
What is the Third Rome?
This document, issued by the khan, granted a Rus’ prince the right to rule.
What is a yarlyk?
The Mongols controlled a vast network of trade routes known as the Silk Road, which facilitated the exchange of goods between Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, including Russia.
What is the Silk Road?
This famous city was devastated in 1240 and lost its central political role in Rus’ affairs.
What is Kiev?
He was the founder of the Muscovite Daniilovich line, the youngest son of Alexander Nevsky.
Who is Daniil of Moscow?
This honorific title, granted by the Mongol khan, gave Moscow princes formal supremacy over other Rus’ rulers.
What is Grand Prince of Vladimir?
This form of prayer in the Eastern Orthodox Church emphasizes inner stillness in order to experience the divine energies of God.
What is hesychasm?
This battle, fought in 1380, marked a significant but ultimately unsuccessful attempt by Dmitry Donskoi to challenge Mongol dominance.
What is the Battle of Kulikovo?
This Russian leader was responsible for the "radical monasticization of society," but was considered to be a "terrible" leader.
Who is Ivan IV (the Terrible)?
He was the first prince to bequeath his principality to his son without consulting the khan.
Who is Dmitry Donskoi?
This period, lasting from 1598 to 1613, followed the death of Tsar Fedor I and marked a time of dynastic crisis, foreign intervention, and widespread chaos in Russia.
What is the Time of Troubles?
The narrative genre described the life of a saint.
What is hagiography?
After the Battle of Kulikovo, this major event in 1480 marked the end of Mongol influence over Russia, when Ivan III refused to pay tribute to the Golden Horde.
What is the Great Stand on the Ugra River?
The Time of Troubles ended when this dynasty ascended to the Russian throne in 1613.
Who are the Romanovs?
This "quiet" spiritual leader supported Dmitry Donskoi, blessed his campaign at Kulikovo, and symbolized the growing alliance between the Church and Muscovite power.
Who is Sergius of Radonezh?
Each year on November 4th, Putin lays flowers at the monument to these heroes of 1612.
Who are Mnin and Pozharsky?
This policy, launched by Ivan the Terrible in 1565, divided the Russian state and gave the tsar a personal territory ruled by terror, enforced by a loyal force known for their black robes and brutal tactics.
What is the oprichnina?