The name Rurik is associated with the ancient Russian state and one of the legendary figures in the history of Europe. Very little is known about this very courageous man.
Prince Rurik is considered, perhaps, one of the most mysterious figures in Russia. He was supposedly born sometime in 808 in the city of Rerik, now renamed Rarog.
In the early 800s, the Danish king Gottfried captured this city, and ordered Rurik's father, Prince Godolub, to be hanged. His mother, the widowed Princess Umila, hid in a foreign land with her two young children. In general, the period of Rurik's childhood is not covered in history. The mention of this time can only be found in the Bertin Annals, when in 826 the brothers (the future prince with his brother Harold) appeared at the residence of the Frankish emperor. King Louis the Pious became their godfather and granted them lands beyond the Elbe.
By the beginning of the ninth century, there was no whole state on our territory. Here lived the tribes of Chudey, Vesey, Ilmen Slavs, Krivichi, Vyatichi, Drevlyans, Polyans and others. Enmity and quarrels broke out between them very often, many people died in endless skirmishes.
Therefore, according to legend, finallyone day, representatives of all these tribes gathered and called for a foreign prince to “put things in order.” This man, according to the chroniclers, was Prince Rurik, and this event happened in 862.
Before the events described, in 845, the Varangians went up the Elbe on their boats and defeated almost all the cities along the banks of the river. They were led by Prince Rurik, who, five years later, commanded a huge fleet for those times, consisting of 350 ships. And it was this armada that he brought down on England.
In 862, the Varangian troops occupied the shores of Ladoga, and in 864, Rurik annexed Izborsk and Beloozero to his possessions.
And when the “summoned” prince formed a single state on the united lands of numerous tribes, Novgorod became its capital. Next to it, another small town was cut down - Gorodishche, where many Novgorod rulers subsequently lived.
In neighboring Polotsk, Beloozero and other cities, Prince Rurik appointed his close people - associates to rule. Literally two years after Prince Rurik ascended the throne, an uprising began, led by Vadim the Brave. However, the ruler of the Novgorod lands was able to fully prove that he was quite capable of governing his recalcitrant subjects: he brutally suppressed the uprising.
By 864, as a result of a difficult war with the Khazars, he managed to subjugate Murom and Rostov, expanding the Novgorod principality, stretching from the Volkhov to the mouth of the Oka.
During the reign, Prince Rurik actively strengthened his bordersand founded new cities. The policy pursued by him was quite simple: he was well aware of the importance of the river trade routes, along which the main cargoes from the East were transported. He managed to control them, thereby making Novgorod even richer.
Until his death, he firmly held the rule in Novgorod. According to the chronicle, Rurik reigned for seventeen years. He died in 879 during a raid against the Lopi and Korela tribes.
After his death, the throne in Novgorod passed to his son Igor, however, due to the fact that he was a minor, Prince Oleg took over the actual rule.
Ruriks, whose dynasty ruled the Russian land for more than seven hundred years, was interrupted only at the end of the nineteenth century.
