Oh, those lovable Vikings! Did they, or didn't they? The argument continues today over their
precise role in the formation of the early Kievan state in the
tenth century. The image on the left is the monument in Kiev to the
Vikings; the image on the right is a reconstructed "Oseberg" Viking ship in the Viking museum near Oslo, Norway.
What you
must do this week
Read the textbook chapters 3, 4, 5 and 6
Check the remarks by
Professor Blois and Professor Evans on the early Kievan state
Please read the Sample Historical
Document Analysis,
based on some excerpts from Hammurabi's code of law. The sample illustrates some of the questions
that a historian asks when reading a historical document. This is what you will be doing in this course.
Post (or respond) your thoughts/ideas about this week's reading and assignment in the Blackboard online discussion forum. Do not post your assignment there.
Read chapter 2, chapter 3, chapter 4 and chapter 5 from Mary Platt Parmele (1843-1911) A Short History of Russia
(1907, 4th edition). These are short chapters, and this is optional reading.
Extra Credit Options
For 25 points maximum extra credit, read
the Pravda Rus'skaia
(Russian Law Code) and write a paragraph in which you offer some analysis of the social structure of Kievan Rus'.