Krivichs
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The Krivichs or Kryvichs (Template:Lang-rus; Template:Langx, Script error: No such module "IPA".) were a tribal union of Early East Slavs between the 6th and the 12th centuries.[1] It is suggested that originally the Krivichi were native to the area around Pskov.[2] They migrated to the mostly Finnic areas in the upper reaches of the Volga, Dnieper, Dvina, areas south of the lower reaches of river Velikaya and parts of the Neman basin.[3]
Etymology
According to Max Vasmer, the name of the tribe probably stems from that of their legendary forefather Kriv.[4] The article in the encyclopedia Template:Ill clarifies that this interpretation comes from East Slavic mythology.[5] Vasmer also mentions that the tribe was mentioned by Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus in his De Administrando Imperio as Script error: No such module "Lang"..[4]
History
Script error: No such module "Unsubst". The Krivichs left many archaeological monuments, such as the remnants of agricultural settlements with traces of ironworks, jeweler's art, blacksmith's work and other handicrafts; long burial mounds of the 6th to 9th centuries with cremated bodies; burial mounds of rich warriors with weapons; sets of distinctive jewelry (bracelet-like temporal rings and glass beads made out of stretched wire). By the end of the first millennium, the Krivichs had already acquired well-developed farming and cattle-breeding. Having settled around the Trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks, the Krivichs traded with the Varangians. Their chief tribal centres were Gnezdovo, Izborsk, and Polotsk.
The Krivichs as a tribe took part in Oleg's and Igor's military campaigns against the Byzantine Empire.
Modern uses of the name
- Today, in Latvian, Script error: No such module "Lang". means "Russian" and Script error: No such module "Lang". is "Russia". Through Baltic territories, the word became known in Central Europe. For example, a German chronicler from Duisburg wrote in 1314: "Script error: No such module "Lang".". And in a Polish publication Script error: No such module "Lang". (Lublin, 1687. Б. II, 49) the Polotsk saint Paraxedis was called Script error: No such module "Lang". (the queen of the Kryvians).
- Also in Latvian, a Belarusian is known as Script error: No such module "Lang"., and Belarus is named Script error: No such module "Lang".. The prefix balt- is from the Latvian word Script error: No such module "Lang". which means "white", thus Script error: No such module "Lang". is cognate to "White Russia" and "Belarus" itself.
- Script error: No such module "Lang". (Script error: No such module "Lang".) was the name of a magazine that the Belarusian historian Vaclau Lastouski published in Kaunas from 1923 to 1927.
- Kriwi is the name of a Belarusian folk-rock band.
- Places named Kryvičy in modern Belarus are possibly named after the tribe, however this is contested basing on the suggested areal of Krivichs.[6]
See also
References
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- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b WORD: кри́вичи from Этимологический словарь Фасмера
- ↑ Крив, citing Vyacheslav Ivanov, Vladimir Toporov, "Мифологические географические названия как источник для реконструкции этногенеза и древнейшей истории славян" In: Вопросы этногенеза и этнической истории славян и восточных романцев, Moscow, 1976
- ↑ Ежы Ахманскі. Літоўская этнічная мяжа на ўсходзе ад племянной эпохі да XVI стагоддзя // ARCHE 2 2016. С. 13—96.