For more than 900 years, Russians have been drawing information about their history from the famous âTale of Bygone Years,â the exact date of writing of which is still unknown. A lot of controversy raises the issue of authorship of this work.
A few words about myths and historical facts
Scientific postulates often undergo changes over time, but if in the field of physics, chemistry, biology or astronomy such scientific revolutions are based on the discovery of new facts, then history has been copied more than once to please the authorities or according to the prevailing ideology. Fortunately, modern man has many opportunities to independently find and compare facts relating to events that took place many centuries and even millennia ago, as well as get acquainted with the point of view of scientists who do not adhere to traditional views. All of the above applies to such an important document for understanding the history of Russia as âThe Tale of Bygone Yearsâ, the year of creation and authorship of which has recently been doubted by some members of the scientific community.
The Tale of Bygone Years: authorship
From the "Tale of Bygone Years" about its creator, you can only find out that at the end of the XI century he lived in the Pechora monastery. In particular, there is a record of the Polovtsian attack on this monastery in 1096, to which the chronicler himself was an eyewitness. In addition, the document mentions the death of Elder Jan, who helped write the historical work, and indicates that the death of this monk occurred in 1106, which means that at that time the person who made the record was alive.
Ever since the time of Peter the Great, Russian official science, including Soviet, believes that the author of the novel âThe Tale of Bygone Yearsâ is the chronicler Nestor. The oldest historical document that refers to it is the famous Ipatiev Chronicle, written in the 20s of the XV century. This work includes in a separate chapter the text of âThe Tale of Bygone Yearsâ, which is preceded by the mention as its author of a certain monk from the Pechersky Monastery. The name of Nestor first appears in the correspondence of the Pechersk monk Polycarpus with Archimandrite Akindin. The same fact confirms the "Life of St. Anthony", compiled on the basis of oral monastery traditions.
Nestor the Chronicler
The âofficialâ author of the story âThe Tale of Bygone Yearsâ was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church, so you can read about him in the lives of the saints. From these sources we learn that Rev. Nestor was born in Kiev in the 1050s. At the age of seventeen, he entered the Kiev Pechersk Monastery, where he was a novice of the Monk Theodosius. At a fairly young age, Nestor took tonsure, and later took initiation into the hierodeacon. He spent his whole life in the Kiev Pechersk Lavra: here he wrote not only âThe Tale of Bygone Yearsâ, the year of creation of which is not known for certain, but also the famous lives of the holy princes Gleb and Boris, as well as a work telling about the first ascetics of his monastery. Church sources also indicate that Nestor, who had reached a very old age, died around 1114.
What the âTale of Bygone Yearsâ talks about
âThe Tale of Bygone Yearsâ is the history of our country, covering a huge time period, incredibly saturated with various events. The manuscript begins with a story about the sons of Noah, one of whom - Japheth - was given control by lands such as Armenia, Britain, Scythia, Dalmatia, Ionia, Illyria, Macedonia, Media, Cappadocia, Paphlagonia, Thessaly and others. The brothers began the construction of the Pillar of Babylon, but the angry Lord not only destroyed this building, which embodies human pride, but also divided people âinto 70 and 2 nations,â among which were the Noriks - the ancestors of the Slavs, descended from the sons of Japheth. The following is mentioned about the Apostle Andrew, who predicted that a Great City would appear on the banks of the Dnieper, which happened when Prince Kiy and his brothers Shchek and Khoriv founded Kiev. Another important mention concerns the year 862, when âChud, Slovenes, Krivichi and allâ went to the Vikings to call them to reign, and at their call came three brothers Rurik, Truvor and Sineus with their families and relatives. Two of the newly arrived boyars - Askold and Dir - took leave from Novgorod to Constantinople and, seeing Kiev along the road, remained there. Further, âThe Tale of Bygone Yearsâ, the year of creation of which historians have yet to clarify, talks about the reign of Oleg and Igor and sets out the story of the baptism of Russia. The story ends with the events of 1117.
The Tale of Bygone Years: A History of the Study of this Work
The Nestor Chronicle became known after Peter the Great in 1715 ordered to make a copy of the Radzivilov list stored in the library of Koenigsberg. Documents have been preserved confirming that the attention of the tsar to this manuscript was drawn by Jacob Bruce - a person remarkable in all respects. He conveyed the transposition of the Radzivil List into a modern language to Vasily Tatishchev, who was going to write the history of Russia. In addition, such famous scientists as A. Shlepzer, P. M. Stroyev and A. A. Shakhmatov were engaged in the study of the story.
Chronicler Nestor. âThe Tale of Bygone Yearsâ: opinion of A. A. Shakhmatov
A new look at the âTale of Bygone Yearsâ was proposed at the beginning of the twentieth century. Its author was the famous scientist A. A. Shakhmatov, who proposed and justified the ânew historyâ of this work. In particular, he made arguments in favor of the fact that in 1039 in Kiev, on the basis of Byzantine chronicles and local folklore, the Kiev Arch was created, which can be considered the oldest document of its kind in Russia. Around the same time, the Novgorod Chronicle was written in Novgorod. It was on the basis of these two works in 1073 that Nestor first created the first Kiev-Pechersky arch, then the second and finally the âTale of Bygone Yearsâ.
âThe Tale of Bygone Yearsâ was written by a Russian monk or a Scottish prince?
The last two decades have been rich in various kinds of historical sensations. However, in fairness it must be said that some of them have not found scientific confirmation. For example, today there is an opinion that the âTale of Bygone Yearsâ, the year of creation of which is known only approximately, was actually written not between 1110 and 1118, but six centuries later. In any case, even official historians acknowledge that the Radzivil List, that is, a copy of the manuscript, attributed to Nestor, was made in the 15th century and was then decorated with numerous miniatures. Moreover, Tatishchev wrote âHistory of Russiaâ not even from him, but from the retelling of this work into his contemporary language, the author of which, perhaps, was Jacob Bruce himself, the great-great-grandson of King of Scotland Robert the First. But this theory has no serious justification.
What is the main essence of Nestorovsky work
Specialists who hold an unofficial view of the work attributed to Nestor the Chronicler believe that it was necessary to justify autocracy as the only form of government in Russia. Moreover, it was this manuscript that put an end to the question of abandoning the âold godsâ, pointing to Christianity as the only correct religion. This was precisely its main essence.
âThe Tale of Bygone Yearsâ is the only work in which the canonical version of the baptism of Russia is told, all the rest simply refer to it. This alone should make him study very closely. And it is the âTale of Bygone Years,â whose characterization adopted in official historiography today is being called into question, is the first source that tells us that the Russian sovereigns descended from the Rurikovich. For each historical work, the date of creation is very important. The Tale of Bygone Years, which is of exceptional importance for Russian historiography, does not. More precisely, at the moment there are no incontrovertible facts to indicate even a specific year of its writing. And this means that new discoveries lie ahead, which may shed light on some dark pages of the history of our country.