The “Rhos” at the court of Louis the Pious
A Byzantine embassy received at Ingelheim on 18 May 839 brought men who called their people “Rhos” and their ruler a “chacanus”; Louis the Pious found out that they were Swedes. This is the earliest reliable mention of the Rus’.
- Date
- 18 May 839exact dateDate in the Julian calendar
- Place
- Imperial palace at Ingelheimtoday: Ingelheim am Rhein, Germany · Western and Central Europe
- Route
- Constantinople → Ingelheim
- Participants
- Varangians, Byzantine Empire
- Threads
- Eastern Europe and Rus’ before the Baptism (1st–10th c.)
- Also known as
- Annals of St Bertin 839; Rus' Khaganate; Посольство росов 839 года; Русский каганат
The Annals of St Bertin, in the part written by Prudentius of Troyes, record that Emperor Theophilos sent these men with his envoys and asked Louis to help them return home, because the road by which they had come to Constantinople led through the lands of savage peoples. Louis suspected them of being spies and detained them until their good faith could be established; the outcome is unknown.
The notice shows that by the 830s a Scandinavian people called Rhos had a ruler with the Turkic (Khazar) title of khagan and contacts with Byzantium. Where the centre of this “Rus’ Khaganate” lay — in the region of Ladoga and Lake Ilmen, on the upper Volga or on the Dnieper — and whether it was a state at all is disputed; 9th-century Arabic writers also speak of a “khaqan of the Rus”.
Connections
Related events
- Rus’ attack on Constantinople18 June – 4 August 860 · Balkans and Anatoliathe first two dated appearances of the Rus’ in written sources
Same participants
- Founding of Ladoga753 · Eastern Europevia Varangians
- Construction of Sarkelbetween 833 and 841 · Eastern Europevia Byzantine Empire
Same place
- Crossing of the Rhine31 December 406 · Western and Central Europe
- Gutenberg Biblebetween 1454 and 1455 · Western and Central Europe
Meanwhile in the world
Other regions, within 25 years of this event
Eastern Europe
- Construction of Sarkelbetween 833 and 841
- Calling of the Varangians862
- First Christianization of the Rus’between 860 and 867
- Askold and Dir rule in Kyiv862–882
- The Khazar rulers adopt Judaismbetween 740 and 861
Balkans and Anatolia
- Rus’ attack on Constantinople18 June – 4 August 860
- Christianization of Bulgaria864
- Byzantine Iconoclasmbetween 726 and 730 – 11 March 843
The same period
Sources
- Wikipedia (English): Rus' Khaganate
- Wikipedia (English): Annales Bertiniani
- Wikipedia (Russian): Русский каганат
- Wikipedia (Russian): Бертинские анналы
- Shepard J. The Rhos guests of Louis the Pious: whence and wherefore? // Early Medieval Europe. — 1995. — Vol. 4, no. 1. — P. 41–60.
- Назаренко А. В. Древняя Русь на международных путях. — М.: Языки русской культуры, 2001.