Primary Sources

This is a collection of links to texts that are available on-line, in the first instance in English. I am using the designation "primary source" rather loosely to include many kinds of material ranging from "documents" such as law codes or decrees to narrative sources such as chronicles. I have not attempted to cull material based on the quality of the translations. Obviously we need new translations of many of the items commonly included in anthologies and which, in some instances, served as the source for the texts linked here. One can hope that, over time, new translations will be posted both to extend the range and to raise the quality of what is accessible. Where there are several texts located on a single web site, I have grouped them under that site. For other material the arrangement is approximately chronological. As the quantity of material linked here grows, the site will be rearranged and probably a search capacity will be added.

Legal texts--Translations by Daniel Kaiser

The currently authoritative collection of English translations of early Rus legal texts is that by Daniel Kaiser (Grinnell College), tr. and ed., The Laws of Rus'--Tenth to Fifteenth Centuries (=The Laws of Russia, Series I, Vol. 1) (Salt Lake City, Utah: Charles Schlacks, Jr., Publisher, 1992). For an introduction to these texts, one should consult in that volume both Prof. Kaiser's "Introduction," pp. xli-lii, and the "Foreword" by Prof. Richard Hellie, pp. xi-xl. I have provided on a brief introduction to Russkaia Pravda and the Church Statutes, which can be viewed here. Prof. Kaiser has posted on his web site so far the following of his translations:

• Short Russkaia Pravda
• Expanded Russkaia Pravda
• Church Statute of Prince Vladimir
• Church Statute of Prince Iaroslav
• Novgorod Charter of Prince Sviatoslav Olgovich to the Church of St. Sophia, 1136-1137.
• Novgorod Treaty with Tver' Prince Iaroslav Iaroslavich, ca. 1264-1265
• Novgorod Judicial Charter
• Pskov Judicial Charter
• Pravosudie Mitropolich'e

A Collection of Sources (University of Durham)

• Excerpts from the Primary Chronicle, including:

  1. The founding of the city of Kiev;
  2. The arrival of the Vikings in Rus';
  3. Oleg's campaign against Constantinople;
  4. The christianization of Russia.

• The Martyrdom of Boris and Gleb.
• Ilarion's "Sermon on Law and Grace."
• The Pouchenie of Vladimir Monomakh.
• The Life (zhitie) of Saint Sergii of Radonezh.
• Moscow the Third Rome (the epistle of Filofei).
• The correspondence attributed to Tsar Ivan IV and Prince Kurbskii (excerpts).
• The Domostroi (excerpts).
• The Ulozhenie (Law Code) of 1649 (excerpts: Table of chapter headings; Chs. I, II, IV-VI).

A Collection of Texts Translated by Jana Howlett (Jesus College, Cambridge)

Note: Prof. Howlett's web site also includes Russian texts for most of works in translation plus the "Zadonshchina." The links here are to the English translations, which include her helpful annotation.

• The Tale of the Grand Princes of Vladimir.
• The Tale of Dracula
• A Letter from Ivan IV to Queen Elizabeth I, October 24, 1570.
• The Life of St. Peter [the Metropolitan--head of the Rus church--in Moscow in the early 14th century].
• The Life of Uliania Osor'ina.

Other Sources

• The Khazar correspondence. This translation into English contains excerpts. Note that Russian versions of the texts are available from the 1930s edition by P. Kokovtsov, linked to the Khazaria Information Center pages.
• Constantine Porphyrogenitos, De Administrando Imperio (excerpts).
• The "Igor' Tale" (Haney/Dahl translation):

  1. Introduction;
  2. Text;
  3. Commentary.

  Note, sections of the commentary have been linked, somewhat awkwardly, to the corresponding sections of the text on that page.
• Novgorod's treaty with the merchants of Gotland in 1229.
• The Smolensk/Riga/Gotland Treaty of 1229. Versiona A of the Treaty of Prince Mstislav Davidovich of Smolensk with Riga and Gotland. Facsimile of text, digitized electronic versions, and the Goetz translation of the text into German provided by Prof. Jos Schaeken of the University of Groningen, who has also provided electronic text versions of other early Slavic texts, available through the Titus Project for Indo-European texts and studies.
• The Chronicle of Novgorod. Complete text of Michell/Forbes English translation, in a PDF file. Prepared by Tom Dykstra, Ph.C.
• The Chronicle of Novgorod (from Michell/Forbes translation, as excerpted in Walsh's anthology of readings on Russian History).
• William of Rubruck's detailed description of his journey to the Mongols in the 13th century. The Rockhill translation, edited for the web by Janeen Richards and Lance Jenott.
• Pegolotti's merchant handbook about trade in Western Asia in the time of the Mongols (as seen from Constantinople). The excerpts from Yule's edition, prepared for the web by Daniel C. Waugh.
• The Law Code (sudebnik) of 1497 (Dewey translation).
• Anthony Jenkinson's journey through Muscovy, down the Volga and on to Bukhara in the 1550s. Edited by Lance Jenott.
• Marshall Poe's edition of Samuel Collins, The Present State of Russia (1671).

© 2002 Daniel C. Waugh
Last updated October 3, 2002

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