{{no footnotes, date=July 2017 Bravlin (apparent

Cyrillic The Cyrillic script ( ) is a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia. It is the designated national script in various Slavic, Turkic, Mongolic, Uralic, Caucasian and Iranic-speaking countries in Southeastern Europe, Ea ...

: "Бравлин") was an

apocrypha Apocrypha () are biblical or related writings not forming part of the accepted canon of scripture, some of which might be of doubtful authorship or authenticity. In Christianity, the word ''apocryphal'' (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to ...

l overlord of the Rus' who supposedly devastated all the

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

from

Kerch Kerch, also known as Keriç or Kerich, is a city of regional significance on the Kerch Peninsula in the east of Crimea. It has a population of Founded 2,600 years ago as the Colonies in antiquity#Greek colonies, ancient Greek colony Pantik ...

to Sougdaia in the last years of the 8th century but was paralyzed when he had entered the church of St. Stephen in Sougdaia. His Crimean campaign is mentioned in only one source, the Russian version of the Life of St. Stephen of Sougdaia ( Stephen of Surozh in Russian), tentatively dated to the 15th or 16th centuries.

Vasily Vasilievsky Vasily Grigorievich Vasilievsky, sometimes Vasiljevskij or Wasiliewski (; 2 February 1838 – 25 May 1899) was a Russian historian who founded the St. Petersburg school of medieval studies and was a major force in Byzantine studies during the secon ...

, who was the first to publish this manuscript in the 19th century, reasoned that the core of the narrative might stem from the

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages (historiography), Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th to the 10th century. They marked the start o ...

, reflecting a vague memory of some 10th-century Russo-Byzantine conflict. Since St. Stephen died in 786 and Bravlin's invasion is said to have happened "several years" after his death (during the term of Stephen's successor, archbishop Philaret), this Rus' expedition is usually dated to the 790s. Among those historians who view Bravlin as a historical figure, Nikolay Belyaev attempted to trace in his fanciful name some allusion to the

Battle of Bravalla A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...

(770). Anyway, the name Bravlin is obviously of non-Slavic origin and may be attributed only to Vikings who at that time represented a serious force on ancient Slavic lands. Alexander Vasiliev discarded the account of this campaign as a typical pious legend, whose interest is purely literary rather than historical.

Constantine Zuckerman Constantin Zuckerman (; born 1957) is a French historian and Professor of Byzantine studies at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes in Paris. Biography Academic rank: professor. Highest degree: doctorate. Job title: The Deputy Director of the Ce ...

casts further doubts on the historicity of Bravlin and his raid against the Crimea.

References

*Васильевский В.Г. Русско-византийские исследования. St. Petersburg, 1893. * Vernadsky, G. ''The Problem of the Early Russian Campaigns in the Black Sea Area''. // American Slavic and East European Review, Vol. 8, No. 1 (Feb., 1949), pp. 1–9. *Vasiliev А.А. ''The Russian Attack on Constantinople in 860.'' Cambridge Mass., 1946, pp. 81–83. *Беляев Н.Г. Рорик Ютландский и Рюрик начальной летописи. // Seminarium kondakovianum. Сборник статей по археологии и византиноведению, издаваемый семинарием имени Н.Г.Кондакова. III. Прага, 1929. С. 220-221 Medieval Crimea Rus'–Byzantine wars History of the Rus' people Legendary monarchs Slavic warriors