Kyivan Rus during the rule of the sons of Yaroslav the Wise in the assessments of Polish historians of the end of the 19th – first third of the 20th century

Abstract

Abstract. The purpose of the article is to study the specifics of the study by Polish scholars who worked from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of World War II, the history of the reign of the sons of Yaroslav the Wise and the assessment by scholars of this period in the history of Kyivan Rus and Polish-Russian relations. The research methodology involves the use of general scientific and specifically historical research methods, such as analysis and synthesis, comparison, criticism of historical sources, the genetic method and others, a complex combination of the principles of historicism, objectivism and systematics. The scientific novelty of the article lies in the fact that for the first time in domestic science it considers the specifics of the study by Polish scholars of the end of the 19th century – 1939. problems of the history of Kyivan Rus during the reign of the sons of Yaroslav the Wise. Conclusions. For Polish scholars who worked in the period from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of World War II, it was important to study the history of Kyivan Rus, with which their ancestors were united by many pages of a common past. They also paid much attention to tracing various patterns and parallels in the development of the medieval Polish and Rus states, which allowed them to better delve into the mechanisms of historical processes. Such an important period that attracted the attention of Polish historians was the time of the transition of Kyivan Rus from a single centralized rule during the reign of Yaroslav the Wise to the beginning of specific fragmentation during the reign of his sons. Scholars studied the establishment of the seniority system in Kyivan Rus during the Yaroslavichs and its characteristics and violations of the established principles, which deepened internal political conflicts and led to the split of the state. Historians paid much attention to the internal conflicts between the Rus’ princes and the participation of Polish rulers in them, in particular Boleslav II. They studied the international aspects of Izyaslav Yaroslavich’s activities and his search for allies. In this context, there were attempts to portray the Yaroslavichs’ internecine strife as a conflict between the pro-Western and pro-Byzantine parties in the Rus’ political sphere. In the assessments of some Polish historians, the period of the reign of the sons of Yaroslav the Wise was depicted as a time of defeat of the idea of ​​unity with the Roman Church, to which Izyaslav I was inclined, and the assertion of Byzantine church orthodoxy, which was supported by Vsevolod I. The significance of the emergence of the Polovtsian threat was also emphasized, which became an important factor in both foreign relations and the internal political struggle.