As Yaroslav reaches the end of his life, an attempt is made to set the rules of succession in Rus ..read more

Christian Raffensperger is Professor of History and Chair of the Department, Kenneth E. Wray Chair in the Humanities, and Director, Emarth Institute for the Public Humanities at Wittenberg University covering Medieval Europe, Russia, and Ukraine. His works include ‘Reimagining Europe: Kievan Rus in the Medieval World, 988-1146’, ’Ties of Kinship: Russian Genealogy and Dynastic Marriage’, ‘The Kingdom of Rus’ and more. Christian joins me to discuss why Medieval Europe is much more than just France and England, Rus royal marriages, and why using the right titles is important. Christian’s book re ..read more

Vladimir’s death plunges Rus into chaos as his sons fight over the succession ..read more

This episode looks at Vladimir’s reign from the baptism of Rus until his death. Did he manage to do anything else noteworthy ..read more

What happened at the baptism of Rus, and inventing St. Vladimir/Volodymyr from the Tale of Bygone Years to Vladimir Putin ..read more

Vladimir continues to expand his territory and to consider the role of religion in his kingdom ..read more

The death of Svyatoslav found Rus unprepared for the succession. The three sons he left in charge of Kyiv, the Drevlians, and Novgorod, soon turn to fighting among themselves ..read more

In the late Soviet period and in post-Soviet Russia, Lev Gumilev’s passionary theory of ethnogenesis and pseudo-historical ideas of a Jewish-Khazar chimera gained enormous popularity, leading to elaborate conspiracy theories of shadowy forces behind contemporary events. Read the blog post at: https://therussianempirehistorypodcast.com/blog/133-135-imaginary-khazars Subscribe on Patreon, Spotify or Apple Podcasts for exclusive member episodes ..read more

Part I of a short series looking at the Khazars after the fall of Khazaria. Was there a connection between the Khazars and East European Jews ..read more

In this episode, we look at the first Rus ruler with a Slavic name, but a not so Slavic personal style. If it wasn’t for those treacherous Byzantines, things could have turned out very differently ..read more