Ukraine's Medieval Past and Ways of Writing European History

Durham University Ukrainian Talk series with Dr Markian Prokopovych 

Ukraine's Medieval Past and Ways of Writing European History

8 December, 6pm @ Durham Town Hall 

Free event  

Translator present 

Can modern states claim direct ascendancy from medieval and early modern kingdoms and princedoms? The legacy of the Kyivan Rus’, the powerful federation of princedoms in medieval Europe, with its capital Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital today, has been long appropriated by several polities and schools of history.

After Kyiv had fallen to the Golden Horde in 1240, each of them claimed to be the rightful descendant of the Rus’. Ironically, these debates resurfaced with new force in the recent years in the speeches of Vladimir Putin, in which he justified the military invasion of Ukraine with historical arguments. Are there grounds for such insinuations or are they mere historical manipulations? What can historians do to challenge them?

This roundtable will situate the historical legacy of the Kyivan Rus’ in its broader European context and discuss ways of conceptualising European medieval history that prioritises other actors than political states, empires, and kingdoms. 

Participants: Yaroslava Fatiukha, graduate student, ZNU; Prof Serhii Liakh, Professor of History, ZNU; Dr Vitaliy Mykhaylovskiy, Associate Professor of History, Borys Hrinchenko Kyiv University; Prof Christian Raffensperger, Professor of History, Kenneth E. Wray Chair in the Humanities Wittenberg University; Prof Len Scales, Professor of Late Medieval History, Durham University. Chair: Dr Markian Prokopovych, Associate Professor of History, Durham University. 

This series is organised jointly by Durham University, Zaporizhzhia National University in Ukraine and Durham County Council.