“YOU ARE OUR PRINCE”: AGREEMENTS BETWEEN THE CITY AND PRINCE IN THE KYEVAN CHRONICLE

Abstract

The article discusses the phraseology of the relations between cities and princes, presented in the 12th-century Kievan (Kyivan) Chronicle. Their relations have long been studied, including the stages of the formation of the veche, the history of the so-called enthronement, and the degree of involvement of the clergy in this process. However, the researchers’ attention was not focused on the relations between members of the dynasty and politically active groups (such as citizens of a certain town), when it came to preparing and conducting military campaigns, making alliances, performing the triumphal meeting of the army leader, and a number of other issues. The analysis of the description of such events reveals that the chronicler often pays attention to politically ambiguous situations, when several Rurikids claimed to be rulers of the town at the same time, and the townspeople’s opinion became decisive. At this point, they could demonstrate their loyalty to the ruler by means of the steady expression “you are our knyaz”, which was complementary to the phrase “you are my people”. Both phrases could be part of more complex utterances that named the predecessors of the prince who had taken care of the town; enumerated certain Christian symbols, such as the shrines of the town; and contained a direct call for subsequent actions. These examples illustrate that a long tradition of creating treaty language patterns existed as early as in the 12th century.