The Golden Age of Kyivan Rus’ as an example of the Byzantine Commonwealth: a reassessment of manuscript production

A new and detailed analysis of manuscript production in pre- Mongol Rus’ shows convincingly how the influence of Byzantium in religious and cultural aspects was paramount in the creation and crafting of Christian culture of Kyivan Rus’. Not only the texts were imported for the Christianising endeavour, but also the material aspects of the codices responded to a conscientious effort by the political and religious elites of emulating Byzantine practices and replicating them across all the territories of pre-Mongol Rus’. This paper presents the first findings of a digital humanities project hosted at the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute that aims to digitally geocode the main artistic and literary achievements of “The Golden Age of Kyivan Rus’”