Leonov S.V. On the question of influence of Byzantine on Russian history

Abstract: the article describes connections of Russia and Byzantine mostly in IX–XII centuries, show main characteristics of the historiographical studies of this issue, specifies the extent and nature of the Byzantine influence on the various areas of the ancient Russian society: religion, culture, political views, legal system, economy, etc. The author analyses the following problem of discussion: what was the level and nature of the dependence of Russia from Byzantine and expresses his own opinion. Due to this the main attention is paid to the analysis of the system of titles of the Russian rulers, its characteristics in comparison with the other Slavic and Orthodox countries. As a result the author gives a definition of the nature and specifics of the ancient Russian reception to the Byzantine civilization, identifies factors determining this specificity.

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