The ''Synopsis'', also known as the ''Kievan Synopsis'' or ''Kyivan Synopsis'' () is work of history, first published in

Kiev Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

(Kyiv) in 1674. It interprets history through a Christian conception of time focused on the narratives of creation, fall, and redemption. It also had a political purpose to justify the Treaty of Pereyaslav which annexed the

Cossack Hetmanate The Cossack Hetmanate (; Cossack Hetmanate#Name, see other names), officially the Zaporozhian Host (; ), was a Ukrainian Cossacks, Cossack state. Its territory was located mostly in central Ukraine, as well as in parts of Belarus and southwest ...

to the

Tsardom of Russia The Tsardom of Russia, also known as the Tsardom of Moscow, was the centralized Russian state from the assumption of the title of tsar by Ivan the Terrible, Ivan IV in 1547 until the foundation of the Russian Empire by Peter the Great in 1721. ...

while also claiming a central role for the city of Kiev. Innokentiy Gizel is generally considered to be the author of ''Synopsis'', however this is arguable. ''Synopsis'' was the first textbook on the subject of Russian history written in any

Slavic language The Slavic languages, also known as the Slavonic languages, are Indo-European languages spoken primarily by the Slavic peoples and their descendants. They are thought to descend from a proto-language called Proto-Slavic, spoken during the Ear ...

. It was rather popular until the mid-19th century and survived some thirty editions. The book began with the history of the origins and lifestyle of the

Slavs The Slavs or Slavic people are groups of people who speak Slavic languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout the northern parts of Eurasia; they predominantly inhabit Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, and ...

and ended with the mid-17th century in the first edition. The second and third editions (1678 and 1680) end with the Chyhyryn Campaigns of 1677-1678. ''Synopsis'' covers the history of

Kievan Rus' Kievan Rus', also known as Kyivan Rus,. * was the first East Slavs, East Slavic state and later an amalgam of principalities in Eastern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical At ...

, the

Mongol invasion of Rus' The Mongol Empire invaded and conquered much of Kievan Rus' in the mid-13th century, sacking numerous cities such as Principality of Ryazan, Ryazan, Principality of Yaroslavl, Yaroslavl, Principality of Pereyaslavl, Pereyaslavl and Vladimi ...

, and the struggles against the

Crimean Tatars Crimean Tatars (), or simply Crimeans (), are an Eastern European Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group and nation indigenous to Crimea. Their ethnogenesis lasted thousands of years in Crimea and the northern regions along the coast of the Blac ...

, Ottoman Turkey, and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. The author of the ''Synopsis'' asserted that the Russian

tsar Tsar (; also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar''; ; ; sr-Cyrl-Latn, цар, car) is a title historically used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean ''emperor'' in the Euro ...

s were the legal successors of the Grand Princes of Kiev. ''Synopsis'' is notable since it clearly demonstrates that the idea of uniting all East Slavic people under the authority of one state was born not in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

but in the south-western lands of former Kievan Rus' and designed in Kiev. The purpose of the work is to "achieve a precarious balance between glorifying the Muscovite tsar on the one hand and defending Kiev’s own claims to power on the other."{{Cite web, last=Rikoun, first=Polina, date=n.d., title=Narrating the Center: Kiev and Moscow in 16th-century Historiography, url=https://www.aatseel.org/100111/pdf/5a7_2_rikoun.pdf, access-date=2022-01-26, website=American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages The appendix of the ''Synopsis'' contains lists of Russian princes, Polish

Voivode Voivode ( ), also spelled voivod, voievod or voevod and also known as vaivode ( ), voivoda, vojvoda, vaivada or wojewoda, is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe in use since the Early Mid ...

s in

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, Cossack hetmans, and Kievan metropolitans.

References

Ukrainian literature Medieval literature History textbooks Books about civilizations 17th-century history books