Decay of the Rus 1


 * Decay of the Rus 1
 * by Stephen Lazer
 * 15 March 2002


 * But who will guide us down God’s path,
 * Oh angel, when you go away?
 * Who will keep men’s feet in line
 * Whose feet are often prone to stray?


 * Seek those among you who are pure
 * Who act and speak in Godly wise
 * Who live by Ragnar’s holy words
 * From them your priesthood shall arise


 * Questions

Spectrum Submission, history of

By the time of the Next Prophet’s death in SE 147 [919 CE] he had created a priesthood drawn from the most devout adherents to the new faith, with himself as head priest, or Answerer as the position was known. FN1 After his death, the remainder of the priesthood gathered together in Kiev to choose a new Answerer. A precedent was established at this first conclave whereby nominations for the Answerer were accompanied by a speech expounding on the wondrous qualities of the nominee: his purity, his devotion to the faith, and his knowledge of the Teachings of Ragnar the Prophet and the Next Prophet’s Epistle to All. Another precedent established was that no priest dared display the arrogance of nominating himself. When all the nominations and speeches had been made, the priests would choose the nominee who was believed to have lived the most blameless life and would spend the least time in the afterlife enduring punishment. FN2

A major turning point in the development of Spectrum Submission occurred in SE 331 [1103 CE] following the death of the Answerer Vjacheslav. At the conclave to choose his successor, one priest nominated the Great Prince Volodar I. The priest’s nomination speech was so convincing that the conclave chose to make Volodar the new Answerer, and to raise him up to kingship of Kievan Rus. This set yet another precedent: after Volodar, for the remaining existence of Kievan Rus, the King was also the spiritual leader of Spectrum Submission.

Volodar’s own death in SE 344 [1116 CE] required the establishment of a new precedent. Volodar’s only son had died at the Battle of Ragnarok, and his grandson Volodar II was too young to serve as Answerer and reign as king. The conclave’s solution was to elect the elderly Dragomir as both Answerer and regent for the young Volodar. As regent, Dragomir instructed the young Great Prince on all the assorted religious duties that he would have to perform to succeed his grandfather as Answerer. By the time of Dragomir’s death in 352 [1124 CE], young Volodar had gained sufficient knowledge and experience to serve the dual roles.

This set the pattern when a King/Answerer died. Usually, the new King was not immediately nominated to be Answerer. If he were truly devout -- as some indeed were -- he might be, but usually the priests would at first choose a devout member of the priesthood. This Answerer would serve as a religious instructor to the new King. Since the Answerer chosen was usually an old man, well known and respected, he would serve for only a few years. After his passing the King would usually be chosen, with those priests nominating him often elevated to the Privy Council. FN3

The Rus changed direction after their defeat at the Battle of Ragnarok in 323 [1095 CE]. They focused more on the south and southeast, skirmishing a little with the new Turkish empires that had defeated and occupied Khazaria. It is important here to recognize that the south was firmly Spectral, with assorted religious minorities all owing their freedom to the King in Kiev. The north, centered on Novgorod, was still mostly orthodox Submissive, although most of the officials appointed by the King were Spectral nobles from the south.

The growing differences between north and south would ultimately lead to the breakup of Kievan Rus. Since before Volodar the Great Princes had been patronizing the arts, imitating the Byzantines, in order to maintain the pretense that Kievan Rus was a major power. The Questioning in Kiev was a somewhat smaller copy of Constantinople's Hagia Sophia, designed and built by Byzantine architects. Other, more minor Questionings were built in the southern, more Spectral areas of Kievan Rus; they were meant more to impress the Imperials, Turks and Persians than anyone else. The principality of Novgorod often got smaller, less costly, inferior versions of what the southern Rus enjoyed. The reason for this was that the Kings exercised less control over the north, and the rulers of the lands of the House of Submission were not as difficult to impress.

Garrisoning was much increased after Volodar and especially after the rise of the Turks and Tebad. Many of the troops were Vikings from the north, while again the officers tended to be nobles who were born in the south, or whose lineage came from the south.

Most Rus didn't notice the differences, and the few who did didn't care, at first. The damaging fratricidal wars were long over, and Kiev was becoming wealthy through increased trade to the south and the east. Khazar refugees in the late third century, then Persian refugees fleeing Tebad and the other Turks, were filling Kiev with advanced learning, which would diffuse north to Novogorod and then north again to Scandinavia, and West to Vistulis.

The big change came in 401 [1173 CE]. Contrary to what the Kievans wanted to prove -- and had even started to believe -- the Rus were not a major power. The same Battle of Manzikert that began the end for the Empire would light the spark for the Fall of Rus and the end of the Rurikid dynasty.

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