Ancient Rus: Image Strategies of the Middle Ages

Ilya Agafonov is a historian, publicist, and expert on pre-Petrine Russia. Before you is a collection of fascinating stories about how ideal rulers were represented in medieval Rus and Russia. There are no lengthy theoretical explanations here, but there are stories where the serious mixes with the amusing, and the sublime with the absurd.

You will learn:

• Why a name and title could determine a prince's fate, while their absence could strip him of power.

• How medieval rulers built relationships with God—from humble piety to audacious "negotiations" with the heavens.

• Which actions of the ideal sovereign were praised by chroniclers, and which were quickly forgotten.

• What real (and not so real) examples princes and kings aspired to in order to match the "ideal".

• Why some stories about power would appear today as political jokes. If you are curious about how our ancestors envisioned the "correct" ruler—this book is for you.

The main thing is not to seek strict science within it, but to allow yourself to be captivated by the strange, instructive, and sometimes absurd stories that for centuries shaped the image of the ideal sovereign.