The Ruling Families of Rus

Clan, Family and Kingdom

Christian Raffensperger, Donald Ostrowski

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English

Reaktion Books
01 October 2023

History; European history

Series: Dynasties

This is a new history of the region known as Kyivan Rus', a state in eastern and northern Europe from the late ninth to the mid-sixteenth century that encompassed a variety of polities and peoples, including Lithuanian, Polish, Ottoman and others.

This account for the first time focuses on the history of the region via families, which allows the discussion of a wider region and a larger group of people than has been possible before. The book examines the development of Rus, Lithuania, Muscovy and Tver, and their relations and interconnections with the Mongols, Byzantines and many other peoples.

This readable yet thoroughly scholarly book will appeal to anyone with an interest in the history of eastern Europe, a region that is crucial in world politics today.

'In the current context of the Russian-waged war in Ukraine, calls to decolonize the study of Eastern Europe and Eurasia abound. The search is on to shed the teleological framework that casts Russia’s early modern and modern imperial ambitions into the medieval past and onto the lands that comprise today’s Belarus and Ukraine. In The Ruling Families of Rus, Christian Raffensperger and Donald Ostrowski provocatively venture to displace some of the myths of Russia’s aggrandizement that have been projected onto a medieval past that belongs to many others. The authors destabilize claims of a continuous Riurikid dynasty often used to link the Kyivan past with late medieval Muscovy, and instead focus on families, which opens historical space for women and the numerous kniazi who lived their lives unaware of the national historiographical claims that would come to define modern visions of the East European medieval period. Tracing the stories of families and individuals from the ninth to the late sixteenth century, this book evidences the entanglement of peoples across Europe and Eurasia and shows readers how diversity of intention is a mark of both the present and the past. Raffensperger and Ostrowski take a brave step in replacing the popularized Russian myth of the Middle Ages with a history that emphasizes multiplicity and complexity of identities, relationships and choices.' – Olenka Z. Pevny, University of Cambridge

By: Christian Raffensperger, Donald Ostrowski
Imprint: Reaktion Books
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 216mm, Width: 138mm,
ISBN: 9781789147155
ISBN 10: 1789147158
Series: Dynasties
Pages: 356
Publication Date: 01 October 2023
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Christian Raffensperger is the Kenneth E. Wray Chair in the Humanities at Wittenberg University, Ohio. His many books include Conflict, Bargaining, and Kinship Networks in Medieval Eastern Europe (2018). Donald Ostrowski is a lecturer at the Harvard Extension School, and Associate of the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute. His books include Russia in the Early Modern World: The Continuity of Change (2022).

Reviews for The Ruling Families of Rus: Clan, Family and Kingdom

'Twenty-five years ago, Donald Ostrowski helped to alter conventional views of the Mongol influence on Russia. Now, with his collaborator Christian Raffensperger, he offers a novel interpretation of early Rus history, focusing on families rather than dynasties. Ostrowski and Raffensperger reveal the roles of these families in Rus history from about the tenth through the sixteenth centuries. The families not only dominated political life but also had dramatic influences on the economy, art, culture, and religion. This well-written and jargon-free work will be attractive for the general reader and will serve as an important source for scholars.' – Morris Rossabi, Associate Adjunct Professor, Columbia University