Borovkov D.A. Interpretation of the Chronicle Tale of Yaroslav I’s “Ryad” in the Works of S. M. Solovyev and M. P. Pogodin

Abstract: The article examines the first attempts at critically interpreting the episode in “The Tale of Past Years” for 1054 regarding the testament (ryad) of the Kievan prince Yaroslav I the Wise in Russian historical science during the middle of the 19th century, as presented in the works of S. M. Solovyev (“The History of the Relations Between the Russian Princes of the House of Rurik,” 1847) and M. P. Pogodin (“Studies, Comments and Lectures on Russian History,” t. 4, 1850), and also reviews the transformation of the critical interpretations in the following works of the named scholars. On the basis of a comparative-textological analysis, the author brings to light the main and particular tendencies in interpreting the testimony of Yaroslav I in the works of S. M. Solovyev and M. P. Pogodin. The article’s scientific novelty lies in revisiting the historiographical stereotype established in Russian historiography of the 20th century that ascribed the first critical interpretation of the chronicle tale on the testament of Yaroslav I for 1054 to the studies of A. A. Shahmatov, published at the beginning of the 20th century, concerning the history of the Ancient Russian chronicle writing.

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