HIS 111
Unit 8: Russia

The Kremlin in Moscow, in winter, from the Moscow River side.
Ashton Fleming had identified the structures in the photo for extra credit.

• Read the short section on Byzantium in chapter 10 in the textbook.
• Read my HIS 241 remarks on the early Kyivan state.
• Watch my short video on Kyivan Rus'.
• Read my notes on the Byzantine Empire and Empress Theodora. I also have an older video on Byzantium available that I did in about 1995.
  
• Read the Russian Primary Chronicle excerpt.
• Study the Questions to Consider and the Key Terms for the unit.
• Take the Midterm exam (150 points).
• Take a moment and look ahead to unit 12 and the required Ibn Battuta group project that you will be doing. Groups will be set up momentarily.

• At Boundless World History, see the section on The Development of Russia.

• Russia, the Kyivan Rus, and the Mongols: Crash Course World History #20
• Justinian and the Byzantine Empire | World History | Khan Academy
• Byzantium, the Lost Empire
• The Varangian Rus 1/3
• Monastery of the Caves in Kyiv, Ukraine
• For extra credit please suggest to your instructor a relevant video for this unit of the course. Send the title of the video, the URL and a brief explanation of why you find the video interesting and applicable to the material that is being studied in this unit.

• For up to 25 points of extra credit, in a one-page paper (maybe two pages), summarize the main issues of the Iconoclasm dispute that took place in the eighth century, using such sources as the Catholic Encyclopedia, John of Damascus, the Decree of the Second Council of Nicaea, or any other sources you wish to use.  Please be sure to cite your sources.
• For up to 25 points of extra credit, read the short version of the Russkaia pravda (the earliest Russian law code) and write a one-page paper. Compare and contrast this early Russian law code with other early law codes such as Hammurabi, the Ten Commandments, etc.
• For up to 10 points of extra credit, read Grand Prince Vladimir Monomakh's Instruction to His Children (Use PDF if website is unavailable.) and write a paragraph in which you explain the Grand Prince's conception of the political state.
• For up to 10 points of extra credit, read Procopius: The Plague, 542, from his History of the Wars, and write a paragraph in which you assess the impact of the plague on Roman/Byzantine society.  If you want a lot of extra credit, you can do some research and compare this account of the plague with accounts of the Black Death that struck Europe in the 1340s.
• For up to 5 points of extra credit, you can submit the answers to the Russian Primary Chronicle study questions. Please write in formal, complete sentences.
• For extra credit, please suggest a relevant website for this unit of the course.  Send your instructor the title of the site, the URL and a brief explanation why you find the information interesting and applicable to the material being studied this unit.

• Upon successful completion of this unit, you will be able to (1) demonstrate knowledge of the key characteristics in the development of Kyivan Rus' and (2) analyze a historical source.