Tale of Bygone Years: the Russian Primary Chronicle as a family chronicle

Abstract

This paper aims to develop a new approach to the investigation of the oldest Russian historical text, the Tale of Bygone Years or Russian Primary Chronicle. The purpose of this study is to examine methods by which the chronicler constructed the Riurikid princely dynasty from legendary forefathers to the author's own time. How did the contemporary political situation at the beginning of the twelfth century influence the presentation of the Riurikids of the ninth and tenth centuries? What was the place of oral traditions within the work? How did the ideology of princely power interact with the presentation of family and kinship?