Riasanovsky and Steinberg Chapter 6: Kievan Rus; Religion and Culture – Flashcards

Kievan religion before Prince Vladimir's conversion to Christianity was this. It was quite quintessential for an Indo-European people, having both a cult of the dead and a deep intertwined connection between men and animals. The Kievan gods were largely taken from other Slavic cultures along the Danube, like Perun, the god of thunder and lightening. Kievan gods were not all powerful like Greek gods.

"Double faith" or "double belief." The simultaneous subscription to two different, and possibly even contradictory, belief systems. Characteristic of early Russian Christianity, where people observed Christian rites but nonetheless continued to adhere to certain pagan beliefs and practices

This monk, living from 982 to 1073, was one of the first in Kiev. This man, taking his vows on Mount Athos, lived his life much like his namesake who established the monastic order; he strove to live a path of asceticism.

This monk was the disciple of St. Anthony, dying in 1074. This man developed the monastic community in Kiev.

This was the main monastery near Kiev developed in large part by St. Theodosius

In the first centuries of the Orthodox church in Russia, many bishops were imported from Constantinople. These two men are the only metropolitans of Kiev known to be Russian, from the 11th and 12th centuries respectively.

This, written by Vladimir Monomakh to his children, was essentially a biography of Monomakh's life.

The modern hypothesis of the development of the Cyrillic alphabet by St. Cyril states that St. Cyril developed this alphabet for the language of Kievan Rus instead, and that the Cyrillic alphabet was developed by his disciples later on in Bulgaria.

While probably developed by disciples of St. Cyril, this alphabet was supposedly developed by St. Cyril and St. Methodius to give Kievan Rus an alphabet for their language after converting to Christianity.

Evident by treaties between Kievan Rus and the Byzantine Empire, the Russians had a writing system prior to this date, which is in conflict with the historical notion that the Cyrillic alphabet was the first alphabet of the Russians.

Most of stories about these characters found in Kievan byliny revolve around the court of Vladimir I of Kiev (958-1015). There served the most notable of these characters or vityazs: the trio of Alyosha Popovich, Dobrynya Nikitich and Ilya Muromets. Each of them tend to be known for a certain character trait: Alyosha Popovich for his wits, Dobrynya Nikitich for his courage, and Ilya Muromets for his physical and spiritual power and integrity, and for his dedication to the protection of his homeland and people. These senior members of these characters are more mythological than junior members, of which more byliny remain and so more is known

This was a collection of Old Testament narratives, canonical and apocryphal, assembled by monks of Kievan Rus for church. This word is derived from the Greek word for the Old Testament. Most writings in Kiev were of this nature: religious.

A record of the lives of the saints of the Monastery of the Caves near Kiev.

This work by Hilarion, the metropolitan of Kiev, was a comparison of the law of Moses and the grace of Christ, shedding light onto the Kievan interpretation of the bible.

The poem gives an account of a failed raid of Igor Svyatoslavich (d. 1202) against the Polovtsians of the Don River region. It is the greatest secular Kievan written work, containing masterful language, and it is because of this language that some contest it is a modern forgery

This Cathedral was built in Kiev in 1037 and remains one of the most impressive stone buildings remaining from the Kievan period. It was modeled on a church in Constantinople.

This Cathedral was builtin in Novgorod around 1052 by Greek architects, exemplifying the overwhelming Greek influence in Russian architecture during the Kievan period.

This Cathedral as built in St. George's Monastery in 1130. Unlike most Kievan structures, this Cathedral was designed by Peter, a Russian. It is very simplistic but has many Greek elements.

This cathedral of Vladimir was constructed in 1160 during the rise of Vladimir. This Cathedral would be the model for the Cathedral of the same name in Moscow.

This church, built outside of Vladimir on the Nerl River in 1171, is considered the highest achievement of architecture in Kievan Rus.

This was the term used in Kievan Rus for minstrels. Minstrels, freed slaves, freebooters, criminals, and a few others constituted undefined social groups that lived on the margins of established legal categories

This man was a pioneer in Kievan icon-painting. This man, like all of Kievan art, was highly influenced by Byzantine art.