Kukenois, Gerzike and the Borderlines of Ancient Russian Ecumene

Abstract. The author turns to the historical situation on the western borders of the Old Russian Oikumena. From very long time, Russian lands built relations with local Baltic tribes of the Baltic and Finnish language families with the help of a Dannic dependence. Initially, this tribute, apparently, collected Kyiv, but over time it became Polotsk. Moreover, the establishment of tribute should be attributed to the end of the 11th century. Formed in the Western lands of Rus’, the Polotsk land in the 12th–13th centuries, spreading tribute, faced opposition to Riga and the Order Brothers Rytse. During the implementation of a complex policy in the region, a Russian exclus arose: the volost – Kukenis and Herzike, which were dependent on the main city of Polotsk land. A dispute has long been in historiography regarding what role these volosts played in the political and economic life of the region, and, most importantly, which ethnic group they belonged. The article justifies the idea that these were parts of the Old Russian Polotsk city-state – the result of colonization and volost decay, characteristic of Ancient Rus’. There is no reason to consider them state formations of local Baltic tribes. The situation is quite reminiscent of the one that was on the other side of the Old Russian Oikumena: a Tmutorokan volost arose in the Black Sea region.

Keywords: Kukenois, Gerzike, The City-State of Polotsk, volost, Henry of Livonia, knights, Tmutorokan volost.