Историческая основа именования ругами и рутенами населения Руси в средневековых западноевропейских источниках

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to explain great variability in the use of the name “rus”/“Rus” in medieval written sources and to prove historical connection between ancient tribes of the Rutheni and the Rugi. The article presents arguments in favour of the Southern European origin of the Rutheni and the Rugi, delineates their migration routes, summarises information from ancient sources that characterise these tribes. Scientific novelty of the study consists in the author’s attempt to provide rationale for the hypothesis of ethnographic unity of all the “Rus” tribes, which is almost unknown in historiography. As a result, it is proved that there was probably ethnogenetic relationship between the Rutheni and the Rugi and these peoples’ names being similar is not a coincidence.