UKRAINE AND ANCIENT RUS' HERITAGE

A wave of indignation, that has been triggered in Ukrainian society by Putin's recent attempt to "expropriate" the historical heritage of Anna Yaroslavna (Anne of Kyiv), is a positive sign in general. It proves that the image of the medival Kievan empire has become a part of historical memory of Ukrainian society for years of independence. However, the perspective of perception of that era leaves much to be desired.

Such conclusion can be made from the very cult of Anna Yaroslavna. A thing, that was quite ordinary for the middle ages, is perceived today as an object of national pride. Daughters of the Rurik genus had become wives to representatives of Western European or Scandinavian royal families, as well as daughters of thence royal genuses had married to men of Rurik dynasty. This was a usual process for that time. And if Ukrainians should be proud about the fact that the daughter of the Kievan knyaz (prince) was a French queen, then, following this logic, the Swedes should cherish the cult of Anna's mother Ingiegerda (the daughter of the Swedish King Olaf Shetkonung, who married Yaroslav the Wise and had had a great influence on the political life in Kievan Empire).

Dynastic links of the past can be used as a decorative element in modern diplomacy. But the historical cult of Anna Yaroslavna indicates that some Ukrainians are still trying to prove their right to be a part of European civilisational space, which is rather unhealthy inclination (since they themselves doubt in this). It is an axion that Ukraine is a part of Europe.

In relation to the Middle Ages, it is worthwhile to beware of excessive "nationalization" of the then persons and events. The point is that we will come to false understanding of that epoch, if looking at it from the perspective of the XIX-XX centuries. Back in the XI century, the Ruricovich dynasty had been strongly tied with the Scandinavian elites. Yaroslav the Wise, as mentioned, married the Swedish princess Ingigerde. Their daughter, Elizabeth, became a wife of the Norwegian King Harald III the Bold, who was sent to the service to Prince Yaroslav. Later he headed an elite detachment of Scandinavian mercenaries in Byzantium. After some time Harald III gained power in his homeland, and died in the struggle for the crown of England. Yaroslav's father Volodimir had quite similar episodes in his biography. Just as Harald, whose long way to the throne lay through the lands of Rus', in struggle for power in Kyiv Volodimir had been hiding and massing forces in Scandinavia for some time. At the same time, the Norwegian King Olaf І was growing at the court of Vladimir in Novgorod. Ethnically, Vladimir the Great and Yaroslav the Wise were Ukrainian monarchs, Harald the Brave and Olaf the Sacred - the Norse. However, all they belonged to one and the same military-political and cultural space.

So, the fact that the daughter of Kievan prince and Scandinavian princess had ruled the French kingdom was quite an ordinary thing. As well as the fact that the son of Henry I and Anna Yaroslavna Hugo the Great was one of the leaders of the First Crusade, and their daughter Edigna is revered as a saint by Bavarian Catholics.

The Kyiv empire of times of Svyatoslav, Vladimir and Yaroslav was one of Europe's most powerful political formations of that time. This fact does not require evidence. Due to certain circumstances, the returning process of Ukraine to its heritage has a tinge of anti-colonialism. However, the image of Kievan empire should contribute to the mental strengthening of our national subjectivity. instead of wandering in fog of alien geopolitical projects.

original by Igor ZAGREBELNY