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Article: Medieval Russia, 980-1584.
- Article from:
- The Historian
- Article date:
- January 1, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 Phi Alpha Theta, History Honor Society, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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By Janet Martin. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995. Pp. xxv, 450. $65.00.)
This book surveys the history of the medieval Russian state from its formation in the late tenth century to the death of Ivan the Terrible in 1584. Martin focuses, as do the medieval chronicles, on the activities of the ruling Riurikid princes. Beneath the chaos of disputed successions to the throne, civil wars, and shifting alliances, Martin sees underlying order: the Riurikids' shared concern with determining dynastic legitimacy and with obtaining political stability.
In Kievan Rus, these goals led to the development of a system of collateral succession among the many ...