Volyn Short Chronicle

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The Volyn Short Chronicle (Ukrainian: Воли́нський коро́ткий літо́пис, romanized: Volynsjkyj korotkyj litopys) is the conventional name of a Lithuanian chronicle in Ruthenian that is part of the Supraśl Manuscript of the early 16th century, found in the Supraśl Orthodox Monastery (Supraśl, now Białystok County in Poland).[1][2] It is currently kept in the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts (РГАДА/RGADA) in Moscow (ф. 181, оп. 1, № 21, 26).[1][2] Previously, it was also known as the Short Kyiv Chronicle[3] or Short Kyivan Chronicle.[4]

Name

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When Mikhail Andreevich Obolensky first published the text of the chronicle in 1836, he called it the "Abridged" or "Short Kievan (Kyivan) Chronicle".[1] But because the parts of the text that provide unique, original materials are entirely devoted to Volyn, subsequent scholars have renamed it Volyn Short Chronicle instead.[1]

Contents

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The Volyn Short Chronicle has 74 folios (leaves, sheets).[1] Mikałaj Ułaščyk (1975, 1980) divided the chronicle into three parts:[1]

Composition

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According to the Encyclopedia of Ukraine (1989), the text is primarily composed from Novgorodian sources.[3] According to Mytsyk (2003), the chronicle was probably created by a priest of the cathedral in Volodymyr in Volyn, who was close to bishop Vassian of Volodymyr.[2][which?]

Unlike earlier chronicles such as the 12th-century Kievan Chronicle, its focus is not the so-called "Rus' Land" (mentioned only twice), but the "Volhynian Land", which is treated on equal terms with the "Lithuanian Land". [4] The author's interests remain squarely focused on what happened in Volhynia and Podolia[2] in the 15th century.[3] In the second part, the events of 1495 to 1497 stand out: the author used both his own impressions and the testimony of other eyewitnesses to write about the 1495 election of Macarius Chort [ru; uk] as metropolitan of Kiev, Galicia and all Rus', and his subsequent death at the hands of the Tatars in 1497.[2] The praise to Ostrozhsky in the third part would not have been added until after his victory over the Muscovite troops in the Battle of Orsha (1514).[2]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Ulashchik 1980a, p. 10.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Mytsyk 2003.
  3. ^ a b c d Chyzhevsky & Zhukovsky 1989.
  4. ^ a b Plokhy 2006, pp. 110–111.

Literature

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  • Chyzhevsky, Dmytro; Zhukovsky, Arkadii (1989). "Kyiv Chronicle". Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine. Vol. 2. Retrieved 27 August 2025.
  • Plokhy, Serhii (2006). The Origins of the Slavic Nations: Premodern Identities in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus (PDF). New York: Cambridge University Press. pp. 110–111. ISBN 978-0-521-86403-9. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
  • Ulashchik, N.N., ed. (1980a) [1975]. Bilorusjko-lytovsjki litopysy Білорусько-литовські літописи [The Belarusian–Lithuanian Chronicles]. Complete Collection of Rus' Chronicles (PSRL) (in Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian). Vol. 32, 35. Moscow: Nauka / Izbornyk. p. 306. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  • Kovalsky, Mykola Pavlovich; Mytsyk, Yuri Andriyovych (1985). "Украинские летописи" [Ukrainian chronicles]. Вопросы истории (in Russian) (10). Nauka: 81–94.
  • Mytsyk, Yuri Andriyovych (2003). "Волинський короткий літопис" [Volyn Short Chronicle]. Encyclopedia of History of Ukraine (in Ukrainian). Institute of History of Ukraine. Archived from the original on 27 March 2013. Retrieved 18 January 2025.