Editing Rurik

{{Short description|Varangian chieftain of the Rus'}}
{{about||the ships|Russian ship Rurik{{!}}Russian ship ''Rurik''|the dynasty|Rurik dynasty|other people with the given name Rurik or Ryurik|Rurik (given name)}}
{{protection padlock|small=yes}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Rurik
| image        = 1000 Rurik.JPG
| caption      = Rurik on the 19th-century "[[Millennium of Russia]]" monument in [[Veliky Novgorod]]
| succession   = [[Prince of Novgorod]]
| reign        = 862–879{{efn|name=death}}
| coronation   = 
| full name    = 
| successor    = [[Oleg the Wise|Oleg]]
| spouse       = 
| issue        = [[Igor of Kiev|Igor]]
| dynasty      = [[Rurikids|Rurik]]
| father       = 
| mother       = 
| birth_date   = 
| birth_place  = 
| death_date   = 879{{efn|name=death}}
| death_place  = [[Veliky Novgorod|Novgorod]]
| religion     = [[Norse paganism]]
| burial_date  = 
| burial_place = 
}}

'''Rurik''' (also spelled '''Rorik''', '''Riurik''' or '''Ryurik''';<ref name="sawyer"/><ref>{{cite book |last=Obolensky |first=Dmitri |title=The Russian chronicles : a thousand years that changed the world: from the beginnings of the Land of Rus to the new revolution of Glasnost today |date=1990 |publisher=Century |location=London |isbn=9780712637640 |pages=32}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Harris |first1=Zena |last2=Ryan |first2=Nonna |name-list-style=and |date=2004 |title=The Inconsistencies of History: Vikings And Rurik |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40922182 |url-status=live |journal=New Zealand Slavonic Journal |volume=38 |pages=105–130 |issn=0028-8683 |jstor=40922182 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211203174707/https://www.jstor.org/stable/40922182 |archive-date=3 December 2021 |access-date=3 December 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Lotha |first=Gloria |title=Rurik {{!}} Norse leader {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Rurik |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141011233806/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/512996/Rurik |archive-date=11 October 2014 |access-date=9 March 2023 |website=britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> {{langx|cu|Рюрикъ|Rjurikŭ}};<ref>{{cite book |last=Клосс |first=Борис |title=Полное собрание русских летописей. Том 1. Лаврентьевская летопись |date=15 May 2022 |publisher=Litres |isbn=978-5-04-107383-1 |pages=19–20 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PwNTDwAAQBAJ |language=ru |access-date=21 July 2023 |archive-date=23 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230723200100/https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/%D0%9F%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B5_%D1%81%D0%BE%D0%B1%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B5_%D1%80%D1%83%D1%81%D1%81%D0%BA/PwNTDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{efn|{{langx|be|Рурык|Ruryk}}, {{langx|ru|Рюрик|Ryurik}}, {{langx|uk|Рюрик|Riuryk}}.}} {{langx|non|[[Hrøríkʀ]]}}; died 879)<ref>{{cite book |last1=Franklin |first1=Simon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mMoFBAAAQBAJ |title=The Emergence of Russia 750-1200 |last2=Shepard |first2=Jonathan |date=6 June 2014 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-87224-5 |pages=57 |language=en |name-list-style=and}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Jakobsson |first=Sverrir |title=The Varangians: In God's Holy Fire |date=14 October 2020 |publisher=Springer Nature |isbn=978-3-030-53797-5 |page=64 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ji0DEAAAQBAJ |language=en}}</ref>{{efn|name=death|Alternatively 870s; "[T]he 870s [are] the last decade in which Riurik presumably lived."{{sfn|Ostrowski|2018|p=46}} "Riurik died some time in the 870s."{{sfn|Ostrowski|2018|p=42}}}} was a [[Varangians|Varangian]] chieftain of the [[Rus' people|Rus']] who, according to tradition, was invited to reign in [[Veliky Novgorod|Novgorod]] in the year 862.<ref name="sawyer"/><ref>{{cite book |last=Perrie |first=Maureen |title=The Cambridge History of Russia. Volume 1. From Early Rus' to 1689 |date=2006 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=1107639425 |pages=2, 47–48}}</ref> The ''[[Primary Chronicle]]'' states that Rurik was succeeded by his kinsman [[Oleg the Wise|Oleg]] who was regent for his infant son [[Igor of Kiev|Igor]].
 
Traditionally, Rurik has been considered the founder of the [[Rurik dynasty]], which was the ruling dynasty of [[Kievan Rus']] and its principalities, and ultimately the [[Tsardom of Russia]], until the death of [[Feodor I of Russia|Feodor I]] in 1598.

== Life ==
{{Further|Calling of the Varangians}}
{{See also|Rurik dynasty#Genealogical issues}}
The earliest mention of Rurik is contained in the ''[[Primary Chronicle]]'', traditionally ascribed to [[Nestor the Chronicler|Nestor]] and compiled in {{circa|1113}},<ref>{{cite book |last=Langer |first=Lawrence N. |title=Historical dictionary of medieval Russia |date=2021 |location=Lanham |isbn=9781538119426 |pages=145 |edition=Second}}</ref> which states that [[East Slavs|East Slavic]] and [[Finnic peoples|Finnic]] tribes in 860–862 (including the [[Chud]]s, [[Novgorod Slavs|Slovenes]], [[Krivichs]], [[Meryans]] and [[Vepsians#History|Ves]]) "drove the Varangians back beyond the sea, refused to pay them tribute, and set out to govern themselves".<ref>{{cite book |last=Mägi |first=Marika |title=In Austrvegr. |date=2018 |publisher=BRILL |location=Boston |isbn=9789004363816 |pages=207}}</ref> Afterwards the tribes started fighting each other and decided to invite the Varangians, led by Rurik, to reestablish order. Rurik came along with his younger brothers [[Sineus and Truvor]] and a large retinue.<ref name="sawyer">{{cite book |title=The Oxford illustrated history of the Vikings |date=1997 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford [England] |isbn=9780192854346 |pages=138–139}}
*{{cite book |last1=Ketola |first1=Kari |last2=Vihavainen| first2=Timo |title=Changing Russia? : history, culture and business |date=2014 |publisher=Finemor |location=Helsinki |isbn=978-9527124017 |pages=1 |edition=1.}}
*{{cite book |last=Dixon-Kennedy |first=Mike |title=Encyclopedia of Russian & Slavic myth and legend |date=1998 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |location=Santa Barbara, Calif. |isbn=9781576070635 |pages=232}}</ref>

According to the chronicle, Rurik was one of the [[Rus' people|Rus']], a [[Varangian]] tribe. Most historians believe that the Rus' were of Scandinavian origin,<ref>{{cite book |last=Wickham |first=Chris |title=Medieval Europe |date=2016 |location=New Haven |isbn=9780300208344 |pages=175}}
*{{cite book |last=Jones |first=Gwyn |title=A history of the Vikings |date=1984 |location=Oxford |isbn=9780192801340 |pages=246 |edition=Revised}}</ref> more specifically from what is currently coastal [[East Middle Sweden|eastern Sweden]] around the eighth century.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.historyextra.com/period/viking/the-vikings-at-home/ |title=The Vikings at home |date=24 September 2012 |work=History Extra |access-date=26 February 2021 |archive-date=4 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200504155730/https://www.historyextra.com/period/viking/the-vikings-at-home/ |url-status=live }}
*{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Kievan_Rus/ |title=Kievan Rus |encyclopedia=World History Encyclopedia |first=Joshua J. |last=Mark |date=3 December 2018 |access-date=23 April 2021 |archive-date=14 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414072503/https://www.worldhistory.org/Kievan_Rus/ |url-status=live }}
*{{cite encyclopaedia |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/vikg/hd_vikg.htm |location=New York |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art |title=Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History: The Vikings (780–1100) |first=Jean |last=Sorabella |date=October 2002 |access-date=26 February 2021 |archive-date=23 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200423235801/https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/vikg/hd_vikg.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> According to the prevalent theory, the name ''Rus''{{'}} is derived from an [[Old Norse]] term for "the men who row", from an older name for the Swedish coastal area of [[Roslagen]].<ref name="Blöndal2007">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vFRug14ui7gC&pg=PA1|title=The Varangians of Byzantium|last=Blöndal|first=Sigfús|date=1978|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521035521|page=1|access-date=2 February 2014|archive-date=14 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414031004/https://books.google.com/books?id=vFRug14ui7gC&pg=PA1|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Brink, Stefan. "Who were the Vikings?', in ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=wuN-AgAAQBAJ The Viking World] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414030955/https://books.google.com/books?id=wuN-AgAAQBAJ|date=14 April 2023}}'', ed. by Stefan Brink and Neil Price (Abingdon: Routledge, 2008), pp. 4–10 (pp. 6–7).</ref>

Sineus established himself at [[Belozersk|Beloozero]], and Truvor at the town of [[Izborsk]]. Truvor and Sineus died shortly after the establishment of their territories,<ref name="langer">{{cite book |last=Langer |first=Lawrence N. |title=Historical dictionary of medieval Russia |date=2021 |location=Lanham |isbn=9781538119426 |pages=176 |edition=Second}}</ref><ref name="dixon-kennedy">{{cite book |last=Dixon-Kennedy |first=Mike |title=Encyclopedia of Russian & Slavic myth and legend |date=1998 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |location=Santa Barbara, Calif. |isbn=9781576070635 |pages=232}}</ref> and Rurik consolidated these lands into his own territory, extending his rule in northern Russia.<ref name="sawyer"/> [[Askold and Dir]], followers of Rurik who were sent to [[Constantinople]], seized [[Kyiv|Kiev]] before launching an [[Siege of Constantinople (860)|attack]] recorded in Byzantine sources for the year 860.<ref>{{cite book |last=Duczko |first=Wladyslaw |title=Viking Rus: studies on the presence of Scandinavians in Eastern Europe |date=2004 |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden |isbn=9789004138742 |pages=204}}</ref><ref name="langer"/>

The [[Laurentian Codex]] of 1377, which contains the oldest surviving version of the ''[[Primary Chronicle]]'', states that Rurik first settled in [[Veliky Novgorod|Novgorod]] ("newtown"), while the [[Hypatian Codex]] of the 1420s states that Rurik first settled in [[Staraya Ladoga|Ladoga]], before moving his seat of power to the newly founded city of Novgorod, a fort built not far from the source of the [[Volkhov River]], where he stayed until his death.<ref name="dixon-kennedy"/><ref>{{cite book |title=The Cambridge history of Russian literature |date=1992 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=9780521425674 |pages=12–13 |edition=Rev.}}</ref><ref name="A history of the Vikings">{{cite book |last=Jones |first=Gwyn |title=A history of the Vikings |date=1984 |location=Oxford |isbn=9780192801340 |pages=246 |edition=Revised}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Somerville |first1=Angus A. |title=The Viking age : a reader |last2=Mcdonald |first2=Andrew R. |date=2020 |isbn=9781487570477 |edition=Third |location=Toronto |pages=282}}</ref>

Rurik is said to have remained in power until his death some time in the 870s.{{efn|name=death}} On his deathbed, Rurik bequeathed his realm to [[Oleg the Wise|Oleg]], who belonged to his kin, and entrusted to Oleg's hands his son [[Igor of Kiev|Igor]], for he was very young. Oleg moved the capital to [[Kiev]] (by murdering the then-rulers and taking the city) and founded the state of [[Kievan Rus']], which was ruled by Rurik's successors (his son Igor and Igor's descendants). The state persisted until the [[Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus'|Mongol invasion]] in 1240.

==Legacy==
{{further|Rurikids}}

Rurik does not appear in the [[regnal list]] in the opening section of the ''[[Hypatian Codex]]'' (compiled {{circa}} 1425); the list of ''knyazi'' ("princes") of Kiev starts with "[[Askold and Dir|Dir and Askold]]", followed by "Oleg", and then "Igor".{{sfn|Ostrowski|2018|p=36}}

The Rurikids were the ruling dynasty of [[Kievan Rus']], and ultimately the [[Tsardom of Russia]], until 1598, and numerous [[List of Russian princely families|noble families]] claim male-line descent from Rurik. The last Rurikid to rule Russia as tsar was [[Vasily IV]],<ref>Raffensperger, Christian and Ingham, Norman W.. "Rurik and the First Rurikids", ''[[The American Genealogist]]'', 82 (2007), 1–13, 111–119.</ref> who reigned until 1610 and was from the [[Shuysky|House of Shuysky]]. The [[House of Romanov|Romanovs]] were also related to the descendants of Rurik through marriage. The descendants of the princely families allegedly inherited from Rurik are still living.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Kalmistopiiri |first=julkaissut |date=27 October 2021 |title=Ruhtinas ja ruhtinaan pojat – paljastavatko geenit Venäjän perustajana pidetyn Rurikin alkuperän? |url=https://kalmistopiiri.fi/2021/10/27/ruhtinas-ja-ruhtinaan-pojat-paljastavatko-geenit-venajan-perustajana-pidetyn-rurikin-alkuperan/ |access-date=3 September 2022 |website=KALMISTOPIIRI |language=fi |archive-date=26 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220926095759/https://kalmistopiiri.fi/2021/10/27/ruhtinas-ja-ruhtinaan-pojat-paljastavatko-geenit-venajan-perustajana-pidetyn-rurikin-alkuperan/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The king [[Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki]] reigned in the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] until 1673; a member of the House of [[Wiśniowiecki]], who traditionally traced their descent to the [[Gediminids]], recent studies side with a Rurikid origin of the House of [[Zbaraski]] and its cadet branches including the House of Wiśniowiecki.<ref>[https://rcin.org.pl/dlibra/doccontent?id=31441 Księstwa Rzeczpospolitej: państwo magnackie jako region polityczny]</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Кралюк |first=Петро |title=Півтори тисячі років разом - Спільна історія українців і тюркських народів |date=4 April 2020 |publisher=Glagoslav Publications |isbn=978-966-03-8155-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7lXqDwAAQBAJ&dq=Вишневецькі+Гедиміновичів&pg=PT266 |language=uk}}</ref>

==Alternative theories==
{{main|Rorik of Dorestad|Anti-Normanism}}
[[Image:Rorik by H. W. Koekkoek.jpg|thumb|{{center|[[Rorik of Dorestad]], as conceived by H. W. Koekkoek (1912)}}]]

The name ''Rurik'' is a form of the Old Norse name ''[[Hrœrekr]]''.<ref>Omeljan Pritsak, "Rus{{'"}}, in ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=d-XiZO8V4qUC Medieval Scandinavia: An Encyclopedia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230426163702/https://books.google.com/books?id=d-XiZO8V4qUC |date=26 April 2023 }}'', ed. Phillip Pulsiano (New York: Garland, 1993), pp. 555–56.</ref> Rorik of Dorestad was a member of one of two competing families reported by the [[Frankish Empire|Frank]]ish chroniclers as having ruled the nascent Danish kingdom at [[Hedeby]]. He may have been a nephew of king [[Harald Klak]]. He is mentioned as receiving lands in [[Friesland]] from [[Louis the Pious|Emperor Louis I]]. He plundered neighbouring lands: he took [[Dorestad]] in 850, attacked Hedeby in 857, and looted [[Bremen (city)|Bremen]] in 859, while his own lands were ravaged in his absence. The Emperor was enraged and stripped him of all his possessions in 860. After that, Rorik disappears from western sources for a considerable period of time. In 862, according to Russian sources, Rurik arrived in the eastern Baltic and built the fortress of Ladoga. Later he moved to Novgorod.{{citation needed|date=May 2023}}

Rorik of Dorestad reappeared in Frankish chronicles in 870, when his Friesland [[demesne]] was returned to him by [[Charles the Bald]]. In 882, Rorik is mentioned as dead (without a specific date of death).{{citation needed|date=January 2024}} The ''Primary Chronicle'' places the death of Rurik of Novgorod in 879,{{sfn|Ostrowski|2018|p=40}} three years earlier than the Frankish chronicles. According to western sources, the ruler of Friesland was converted to Christianity by the Franks.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}}

The idea of identifying Rurik of Rus' with Rorik of Dorestad was revived by the anti-Normanists [[Boris Rybakov]] and Anatoly H. Kirpichnikov in the mid-20th century,<ref>Kirpichnikov, Anatoly H. "Сказание о призвании варягов. Анализ и возможности источника". ''Первые скандинавские чтения'', СПб; 1997; ch. 7–18.</ref> but [[Alexander Nazarenko]] and other scholars have objected to it.<ref>Nazarenko, Alexander. "Rjurik и
Riis Th., Rorik", ''Lexikon des Mittelalters'', VII; Munich, 1995; pp. 880, 1026.</ref>

== Gallery ==
<gallery>
File:Calling of varangians 01.jpg|[[Calling of the Varangians]] [[Miniature (illuminated manuscript)|miniature]] in the ''[[Radziwiłł Chronicle]]'' (15th century)
File:Rurik titularnik.jpg|Image of Rurik in the "Tsar's titularnik" (1672)
File:Prizvanievaryagov.jpg|{{center|Rurik and his brothers [[Sineus and Truvor]] arrive at Ladoga. Painted by [[Viktor Vasnetsov]] ({{c.}} 1913)}}|alt=Rurik and his brothers Sineus and Truvor arrive at Ladoga. Painted by Viktor Vasnetsov (c. 1913)
File:A01 Prizvanie varyagov.jpg|{{center|The Varanginas Rurik, Sineus and Truvor are approached by messengers from the east. Drawn by [[Fyodor Bruni]] ({{c.}} 1839)}}
</gallery>

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{Cite book |last=Halperin |first=Charles J. |date=2022 |title=The Rise and Demise of the Myth of the Rus' Land |url=https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/58585/9781802700565.pdf |location=Leeds |publisher=Arc Humanities Press |pages=107 |isbn=9781802700565 |access-date=1 February 2023}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Ostrowski |first=Donald |date=2018 |title=Was There a Riurikid Dynasty in Early Rus'? |url=https://brill.com/view/journals/css/52/1/article-p30_2.xml |journal=Canadian-American Slavic Studies |volume=52 |issue=1 |pages=30–49 |doi=10.1163/22102396-05201009}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Rurik}}
{{S-start}}
{{S-hou|[[Rurikids|Rurikid]]||||879}}
{{S-reg}}
|-
{{S-non|reason=Title established}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[Prince of Novgorod]]|years=862-879}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Oleg the Wise]]}}
{{S-end}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Princes of Novgorod]]
[[Category:Founding monarchs]]
[[Category:830s births]]
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]
[[Category:870s deaths]]
[[Category:Year of death uncertain]]
[[Category:Rurikids]]
[[Category:Varangians]]
[[Category:9th-century monarchs in Europe]]
[[Category:European people whose existence is disputed]]
[[Category:Primary Chronicle episodes]]