"The Tale of Bygone Years": the year of creation and the author

For more than 900 years, Russians have been drawing information about their history from the famous "Tale of Bygone Years", the exact date of writing which is still unknown. A lot of controversy is also raised by the question of the authorship of this work.

A few words about myths and historical facts

Scientific postulates are often changed over time, but if in the field of physics, chemistry, biology, or astronomy, such scientific revolutions are based on the discovery of new facts, history has often been rewritten to suit the authorities or according to the prevailing ideology. Fortunately, modern man has a lot of opportunities to independently find and compare facts relating to events that took place many centuries and even millennia ago, as well as get acquainted with the point of view of scientists who do not adhere to traditional views. All this is also applicable to such an important document for understanding the history of Russia as the "Tale of Bygone Years," the year of creation and authorship of which have recently been questioned by some members of the scientific community.

"The Tale of Bygone Years": authorship

From the very "Tale of Bygone Years" about its creator, one can only learn that at the end of the XI century he lived in the Pechora Monastery. In particular, there is a record of the Polovtsy's attack on this monastery in 1096, to which the chronicler himself was an eyewitness. In addition, the document mentions the death of Elder Jan, who helped write historical work, and indicates that the death of this monk occurred in 1106, which means that at that time the person who made the record was alive.

Russian official science, including the Soviet one, since the time of Peter the Great, believes that the author of the story "The Tale of Bygone Years" is the chronicler Nestor. The oldest historical document, which refers to it, is the famous Ipatiev Chronicle, written in the 20s of the XV century. This work includes a separate chapter of the text "The Tale of Bygone Years", which precedes the reference as its author of a certain blacksmith from the Caves Monastery. The name of Nestor was first encountered in the correspondence of the Pechersk monk Polikarp with Archimandrite Akindin. The same fact is confirmed by the "Life of the Monk Anthony", compiled on the basis of oral monastic legends.

Nestor the Chronicler

"Official" author of the story "The Tale of Bygone Years" was canonized by the ROC, so you can read about it in the lives of saints. From these sources we learn that the Monk Nestor was born in Kiev in the 1050s. At the age of seventeen, he entered the Kiev-Pechersky Monastery, where he was a novice of the Monk Theodosius. At a fairly young age, Nestor took tonsure, and later took initiation into hierodeacons. All his life he spent in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra: here he wrote not only the Tale of Bygone Years, the year of its creation is not known for certain, but also the famous lives of the holy princes Gleb and Boris, as well as work telling about the first ascetics of his monastery. The church sources also indicate that Nestor, who reached a very old age, died about 1114.

About what tells "The Tale of Bygone Years"

"The Tale of Bygone Years" is the history of our country, embracing a huge time span, incredibly rich in various events. The manuscript begins with a story about the sons of Noah, one of which - Japheth, - such lands as Armenia, Britain, Scythia, Dalmatia, Ionia, Illyria, Macedonia, Media, Cappadocia, Paphlagonia, Thessaly and others have managed to manage. The brothers began the construction of the Babylonian Pillar, but the angry Lord not only destroyed this building, personifying human pride, but also divided the people into "70 and 2 people", among whom were the Norits - the ancestors of the Slavs, descended from the sons of Japheth. Further mention is made of the Apostle Andrew, who foretold that the Great City would appear on the bank of the Dnieper, which happened when Prince Kia, with the brothers Shchek and Horyv, founded Kiev. Another important mention refers to 862, when "the Chud, Slovene, Krivichi and all" went to the Varangians to call them to reign, and three brothers Rurik, Truvor and Sineus came with their call to their families and their approximate friends. Two of the boyar boyars - Askold and Dir - were asked to leave Novgorod for Constantinople and, seeing on the way to Kiev, stayed there. Next, "The Tale of Bygone Years," the year of its creation, has yet to be clarified by historians, tells about the rule of Oleg and Igor and sets out the story of the baptism of Rus. The story ends with the events of 1117.

"The Tale of Bygone Years": the history of the study of this work

Nestorovskaya chronicle became known after Peter the Great in 1715 instructed to make a copy from the Radzivil list, stored in the library of Koenigsberg. The documents confirming that the attention of the king to this manuscript were drawn by Jacob Bruce - a personality remarkable in all respects. He also transferred the transfer of the Radzivil list to the modern language of Vasily Tatishchev, who was going to write the history of Russia. In addition, the study of the story dealt with such famous scientists as A. Shlepzer, PM Stroev and AA Shakhmatov.

The Chronicler Nestor. "The Tale of Bygone Years": the opinion of AA Shakhmatov

A new look at the "Tale of Bygone Years" was proposed in the early twentieth century. Its author was the well-known scientist AA Shakhmatov, who proposed and justified the "new history" of this work. In particular, he gave arguments in favor of the fact that in 1039 in Kiev, based on Byzantine chronicles and local folklore, the Kiev arch was created, which can be considered the oldest document of this kind in Russia. Around the same time Novgorod was written in Novgorod. It was on the basis of these two works that in 1073 Nestor first created the first Kiev-Pechersky arch, then the second and finally the Tale of Bygone Years.

"The Tale of Bygone Years" is written by a Russian monk or a Scottish prince?

The last two decades were rich in various historical sensations. However, in fairness, it must be said that some of them did not find scientific confirmation. For example, today there is an opinion that the "Tale of Bygone Years", the year of its creation is known only approximately, is actually written not between 1110 and 1118, but six centuries later. In any case, even official historians admit that the Radzivil list, that is, a copy of the manuscript attributed to Nestor, was made in the 15th century and at the same time decorated with numerous miniatures. Moreover, Tatishchev wrote "The History of Russia" not even from him, but from retelling this work into his modern language, the author of which, perhaps, was Jacob Bruce himself - great-grandson of King of Scotland Robert the First. But this theory has no serious justification.

What is the main essence of Nestorovsky labor?

Specialists who adhere to the unofficial view of the work attributed to Nestor the Chronicler believe that it was necessary to justify the autocracy as the only form of government in Russia. Moreover, it was this manuscript that put an end to the question of abandoning the "old gods", pointing to Christianity as the only correct religion. This was his main essence.

"The Tale of Bygone Years" is the only work in which the canonical version of the baptism of Rus is told, all the rest simply refer to it. This alone should make it very hard to study it. And it is the "Tale of Bygone Years", a characterization of which has been called into question in official historiography today, is the first source that tells us that the Russian rulers were descended from the Rurik people. For each historical work, the date of creation is very important. "The Tale of Bygone Years," which has exceptional significance for Russian historiography, has none. More precisely, at the moment there are no irrefutable facts that allow to indicate even a specific year of its writing. And this means that there are new discoveries ahead, which, perhaps, can shed light on some dark pages of the history of our country.