The Ceremony of Conscripting the Rulers in Rus in the 12th century, Illustrated with an Example of the Enthronement of Igor Svyatoslavich and Izjaslav Mscislavovich in 1146

Abstract

The article discusses the problem of the enthronement of the rulers of Rus in the 12th century. It was proved by an example of two princes, Igor Svyatoslavich and Izjaslav Mscislavovich, that the accounts of appointing the rulers were suitably “modelled” by the authors of the latopisy (chronicles/annals), who in this way created a specific vision of the future in accordance with the views of their protectors. The abovementioned observations point out that the factual and historical approach towards this kind of narration, without any second-thoughts on the literary and ideational form, can lead to an erroneous interpretation of the process of shaping the enthronement ceremonial in Rus. The author contradicts the theory, propounded in the literature on this subject-matter about the “spatial dualism” of the Russian ryt on the enthronement (in the Orthodox church or the prince’s court), corroborating the view that starting from the middle of the 11th century the place of appointing the rulers of Rus has been the cathedral of Santa Sophia.