Medieval History: The Bulgars and Slavs (600-1453)

Pictures in James' notebook.
The first Russian states were Slavic and led by Swedish Viking traders. The greatest of these leaders was Rurik. The Bulgers were the decendants of the Huns who settled by the Volga River in Russia. After a confrontation with a local group from lower down the Volga, the Bulgers moved to the Danube area, taking over the Slavs who lived there. The Slavs came from what is now Belsarus. In the 860's Cyril and Methodius. two missionaries from Byzantium, were sent to convert the Bulgers. Cyrillic lettering, still used today by Russians and Bulgarians, was invented by these two brothers. In 988, Vladimir, the prince of Kiev, converted to Christianity, marrying a Byzantine princess.

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By the time Byzantium fell in 1453, Russia had become the home of Orthodoxy. They are famous for church construction which favored domes, and so pendentives were invented to support such constructions.
sources and resources:

• The Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of World History
• A Child’s History of the World by V.M. Hillyer
• Story of the World, Volume 2: The Middle Ages by Susan Wise Bauer
• The Kingfisher History Encyclopedia
• History Odyssey, Pandia Press, Level 1 (1-4th grade), Level 2 (5th-8th grade or Level 3 (9th-12th grade)
• Medieval History Portfolio, Homeschool Journey