Sources of information about
Prince Igor Rurikovich

Tale of Bygone Years, also called the “Original Chronicle” or “Nestor’s Chronicle”) is the earliest of the ancient Russian chronicles of the beginning of the 12th century that have come down to the present day. Known from several editions and lists with minor deviations in the texts introduced by scribes. Was compiled in Kyiv.

We have given clippings about events related to the personality of Prince Igor Rurikovich and his reign, translated by D.S. Likhachev.

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The work in six books, written by Liutprand in Frankfurt in 958-962, is a historical chronicle with autobiographical inserts. Describing events from 887 to 949. The clipping represents the 15th chapter of the 5th book, describing the naval battle of 941 between the troops of Emperor Roman and Prince Igor Rurikovich.

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Leo the Deacon – Byzantine writer, historian, belonged to court circles. The “History” of Leo the Deacon in 10 books describes the events of 959-976, but contains a number of excursions into the past and facts from the times before 989-992.

In the above fragment of the 10th chapter of the 6th book, 25 years after the death of Prince Igor Rurikovich, in a letter to Svyatoslav, the Byzantine emperor John Tzimiskes recalled the fate of his father, calling him Inger, reporting that Igor went on a campaign against some Germans , was captured by them, tied to the tops of trees and torn in two.

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Feofan’s successor – the common designation in Byzantine historiography for a number of Byzantine chronicles covering the period from 813 to 961. The anonymous author of the first of them, dedicated to the period from 813 to 867, identified himself as the successor of Theophan the Confessor.

In the above fragment of the 39th section of the 6th book, the events of the first campaign of Prince Igor against Constantinople in 941 are described.

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The Arab historian, geographer and traveler Al-Masudi lived in the 10th century and left behind a large-scale work “Golden Mines”, which, unfortunately, has not been fully preserved to this day.

The above fragment (sections 7-12) describes the campaigns of the Rus not mentioned in the ancient Russian chronicles.

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Read sections 7-12

A Hebrew manuscript containing a fragment of a letter from an unnamed Jew, a subject of the Khazar king Joseph, to an unnamed gentleman from a Mediterranean country. One of the two (along with the letter of Tsar Joseph) written monuments of Khazar origin.

In the fragment cited by us there is a story about the contemporary Russian-Khazar-Byzantine war in the Black Sea region, where the Russian leader is named H-l-g-w, which allowed some historians to try to link this campaign to Oleg the Prophet or Igor Rurikovich.

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In Tatishchev, it is worth paying attention first of all to three fragments telling about Igor Rurikovich – the first, this is subsection “G” in the 4th chapter of the 1st book, which describes the so-called. “Joachim Chronicle”.

The second section (2nd chapter of the 2nd book) is a description of the reign of Oleg the Prophet, there are also brief mentions of Igor.

The third section (3rd chapter of the 2nd book) is a detailed description of Igor’s reign.

Read the 4th chapter of the 1st book

This clipping from the fundamental work of S. M. Solovyov “History of Russia from ancient times” contains a description of the reign of Prince Igor Rurikovich, as well as related events. The fragment was cut from the 5th chapter of the 1st volume.

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This clipping from N. M. Karamzin’s large-scale historical work “History of the Russian State” contains a detailed description of the reign of Prince Igor Rurikovich. The fragment represents the 5th chapter of the 1st volume.

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