859-1240

The Kievan State

980-1015

Reign of Vladimir

989

Baptism of Vladimir and conversion of Kievan Russia to Christianity

1019-1054

Reign of Yaroslav the Wise (peak of Kievan power)

1030

Yaroslav starts first school in Novgorod

1037

Saint Sophia Cathedral begun in Kiev

1045-57

Building of Saint Sophia in Novgorod

1054

Schism between Eastern and Western Catholicism

1054-73

Russkaya Pravda, the first Russian law code, is written

1054-1113

Era of civil war

1095

First election of prince in Novgorod

11th century

First birch-bark documents

Novgorod streets paved with lumber; wooden water pipes laid

1113-1125

Reign of Vladimir Monomakh as grand prince

1116

Primary Chronicle composed

1125-1157

Reign of Yuri Dolgoruki

1125-1200

Second version of Russkaya Pravda

1136

Novgorod expels its ruling prince

1147

Moscow first mentioned in chronicles

1156

Moscow founded by Yuri Dolgoruki

1157-76

Reign of Andrei Bogoliubsky as prince of Vladimir-Suzdal

1167

Sadko builds a church in Novgorod

1169

Prince Andrei Bogoliubsky captures Kiev

Transfer of capital to Vladimir

1176-1212

Reign of Vsevolod Big Nest

1185

Defeat of Prince Igor Sviatoslavovich by Polovtsy

1196

Novgorod granted right to select prince

1203

Prince of Smolensk captures Kiev

1212

Partition of principality of Vladimir-Suzdal upon death of Vsevolod III

1212-37

Reign of Yuri II

1223

First Mongol invasion; Russians defeated on the Kalka

1227

Death of Genghis Khan

1237-42

Mongol conquest of Russia

1237-46

Reign of Yaroslav II

1240-1480

Period of the Mongol-Tatar Yoke

1240

Mongols conquer southern Russia; fall of Kiev

1240

Prince Alexander Nevsky of Novgorod defeats the Swedes on the Neva

1242

Nevsky's battle on the ice of Lake Peipus against the Teutonic knights

1252

Alexander Nevsky of Novgorod made grand prince

1253

Founding of Sarai as capital of the Golden Horde

1262

Rebellion in Suzdal

1275

Population of Russia about 10 million

1276-1303

Daniel Nevsky is prince of Moscow

1282-83

Leaders of Golden Horde adopt Islam

1294

Death of Kublai Khan; decline in unity of Mongol Empire

First Russian icon is signed and dated (Novgorod)

1300

Metropolitan of Kiev settles in Vladimir

1318

Yuri Danilovich becomes first Muscovite to be made grand prince

1326

Final establishment of Metropolitan in Moscow, Theognost

1328-40

Reign of Ivan I (Kalita-Moneybags)

1337

Establishment of Trinity Monastery in Moscow

1340-53

Reign of Simeon the Proud

1348

Pskov secures independence from Novgorod

Swedish King Magnus marches against Novgorod

1353-59

Reign of Ivan II (the Meek)

1359-89

Reign of Dmitri Donskoi

1362

Kiev taken by Grand Duke Olgerd of Lithuania

1367-68

First stone fortifications of Moscow Kremlin

1378

Theophanes the Greek paints first frescoes in Novgorod

1380

Victory of Dmitri Donskoi over the Tatars at Kulikovo Field

1389-1425

Reign of Vassily I

1390-1430

Active life of icon painter Andrei Rublev

1395

Defeat of the Golden Horde by Tamerlane

1425-48

War of succession for Moscow's throne

1425-62

Reign of Vassily II (the Dark)

1430-66

Disintegration of Golden Horde

Successor khanates of Crimea, Kazan, and Astrakhan

1436

Foundation of Solovetsky Monastery

1441

Metropolitan Isidore deposed for accepting Council of Florence

1446

Church of Russia declared autocephalous

1448

Council of Russian bishops chooses new metropolitan

1452

Mongol prince of Kasimov places himself under Muscovite authority

Moscow stops regular tribute payments to the Golden Horde

1453

Fall of Constantinople to the Turks

1462-1505

Reign of Ivan III (the Great)

1471

Campaign of Ivan III against Novgorod

Charter of the city of Novgorod

1472

Ivan III marries Byzantine princess Sophia

1475-78

Cathedral of Annunciation built by Fieravanti

1476-78

Ambrosio Contarini visits Moscow, first Western written account

1478

Moscow acquires Novgorod

1480

Formal independence of Moscow from Mongol control

1480-1689

The Pre-Petrine Period

1481-1502

Active career of icon and fresco painter Dionysius

1485

Moscow acquires Tver

Cathedral of Annunciation built by Pskov architects

Antonion Solario and Marco Ruffo build Palace of Facets

1485-1516

Building of new Kremlin in Moscow

1488

Uprising in Novgorod

1493

Ivan III takes title of "Sovereign of All Russia"

1497

Sudebnik, law code of Ivan III, established

1505-33

Reign of Vassily III

1505-1509

Cathedral of Archangel Michael built by Alevisio Nuovi of Milan

1511

Annexation of Pskov

1514

Capture of Smolensk

1517-19

Printing of first books in Russian in Prague

1521

Crimean khanate's forces reach Moscow

1525

Maxim the Greek condemned by the Church Council

1529-60

Construction of churches at Diakovo, Ostrovo and Kolmenskoe

1533

Ivan IV inherits throne at age of three

1533-47

Regency of Sophia

1547-84

Reign of Ivan IV (the Terrible)

1547

Twenty-two Russian saints canonized

Novgorod and Pskov icon painters ordered to Moscow after great fire

1550-55

Construction of the Cathedral of St. Basil the Blessed

1550-1700

134 books translated into Russian

1551

Council of the Hundred Chapters (Stoglav) reforms Church

1552

Conquest of Kazan

1553

Opening of the White Sea route by Chancellor

Ivan's illness

1554

Conquest of Astrakhan

1555

Granting of charter to The Russia Company of England

1558

Stroganovs granted land on the Kama River

1558-83

Livonian war against Poland and Sweden for possession of Baltic

1560s

Edition of Domostroi, a book of principles of family life

1560

Death of Ivan's wife, Anastasia

1564

First book printed in Moscow

Kurbsky flees to Lithuania

1565-72

Ivan the Terrible's reign of terror, formation of oprichnina

1566

First Zemskii Sobor (Consultative Land Assembly)

1570

Ivan the Terrible's pogrom in Novgorod

1571

Crimean Tatars burn Moscow

1571-1600

Fortification of southern frontier

Beginning of Don, Zaporozhian, and Ural Cossacks

1572

Purge of oprichnina leaders

1580s

Boris Godunov sends 18 Russians to study abroad

1581-83

Ermak conquers Western Siberia

1581

Ivan IV kills his eldest son

Privilege of St. George's Day, 26 November, abolished

1584-98

Reign of Fedor I

1585

Foundation of Archangelsk

1587

Rise of Boris Godunov as de facto ruler

1588

Giles Fletcher in Moscow

1589

Russian patriarchate established

1590s

Rostov becomes the seat of the Metropolitan

1591

Dmitri tsarevich killed in Uglich

1598-1613

The Time of Troubles

1598-1605

Reign of Boris Godunov as "Lord Protector"

1601-03

Famine

Erection of the bell tower of Ivan the Great

1604

Invasion by Poles and the First False Dmitri

1605-06

Reign of First False Dmitri

1606-07

Revolt of Bolotnikov and Shakhovskoy

1606-10

Reign of Basil Shuisky

1608-10

Rebellion under the Second False Dmitri; Polish aid

1610

Shuisky deposed; Second False Dmitri murdered

1610-12

Poles occupy Moscow

1611-17

Swedes occupy Novgorod

1612-13

Minin and Pozharsky lead popular militia against Poles in Moscow

1613

Zemskii sobor chooses Michael Romanov as new tsar

1613-45

Reign of Michael Fedorovich Romanov

1617

Treaty of Stolbovo: peace with Sweden

Loss of any outlet to Baltic

1634-38

Two visits of Adam Olearius to Moscow

1636

Patriarch orders all musical instruments burned

1639

Russian explorers reach the Pacific

1645-76

Reign of Alexis Mikailovich Romanov

1649

Ulozhenie, new law code, established

Abolition of English trading privileges

1650s

Moscow population about 200,000

1650

Patriarch standardizes the five-domed church

1652

Foreigners in Moscow required to live in Nemetskaia Sloboda

Nikon elected patriarch

1653

Last full meeting of Zemskii Sobor

1654

Church council adopts Nikon's reforms

Beginning of the Schism (Raskol)

Agreement at Pereiaslavl establishes Russian authority over the Ukraine

1654-67

Thirteen Years War with Sweden

1666

Church Council deposes Nikon as patriarch

1667

Cession to Muscovy of Kiev, Little Russia, and Smolensk

1670-71

Stenka Razin revolt

1671

Avvakum writes of his Life in prison

1672

Russian embassies sent to all major European states

Artakserova deistva, first play given at Moscow court

1674

Synopsis, first textbook of Russian history, appears

1676-82

Reign of Fedor III

1682

End to practice of mestnichestvo

1682-89

Regency of Sophia

1684

Sophia institutes formal persecution of Old Believers by decree

1689-1917

The Petrine Period

1689-1725

Reign of Peter I (the Great)

1689-95

Second regency under mother of Peter I

1695

Beginning of the Russian navy

1696

Death of Ivan; Peter becomes sole tsar

1697-98

The Grand Embassy: Peter's first trip to Europe

Revolt of Streltsy crushed

1700

Suspension of the patriarchate

Julian calendar adopted

1700-21

Great Northern War

1701

School of Mathematics and Navigation founded

1703

Founding of city of St. Petersburg

Peterburgskie vedomosti; first newspaper in Russia

1708

Establishment of the guberniias (provinces)

1710

First census (household and tax)

1711

First press in St. Petersburg

Establishment of the Senate

1712

Peter's marriage to Catherine, his mistress

St. Petersburg becomes Russia's capital

1715

Naval academy opened

1716-17

French architect Leblond builds the central palace of Peterhof

1717

Government colleges established

Peter's second trip to the West

1718

Institution of poll tax

Tsarevich Alexis killed

1719

Provincial reform

1720

Pososhkov's book On Poverty and Wealth

1721

Holy Synod replaces patriarchate

Peter named "Emperor" and "the Great"

Organization of state postal service

1722

Table of Ranks established

New law of succession

1724

Head tax introduced

Catherine, Peter's second wife, crowned empress

1725

Foundation of the Academy of Sciences

1725-27

Reign of Catherine I

1725-29

Arctic expedition of Vitus Bering

1726

Supreme Secret Council created

1727-30

Reign of Peter II

1730

Struggle over the terms of succession

1730-40

Reign of Anne

1730

Gentry estates no longer required to go to a single heir

1731

Cadet school opened for gentry

1736

Limit placed on gentry service

1741

Lomonsov appointed to the Academy of Sciences

Bering discovers the Aleutian islands and Alaska

1740-41

Reign of Ivan IV

1741

Coup places Elizabeth on the throne

1741-62

Reign of Elizabeth

1746

Ban on purchase of serfs by non-nobles

1750

First professional Russian theater founded in Yaroslavl by Volkov

1753

Decree abolishing internal customs

1754-62

Rastrelli builds the Winter Palace

1755

Founding of Moscow University

1760

Landowners granted right to exile serfs to Siberia

1762

Reign of Peter III

Manifesto on Rights of the Nobility issued; compulsory service ended

Secularization of monastery lands

Peter III removed in palace coup

1762-96

Reign of Catherine II (the Great)

1763-64

Secularization of church lands

1765

Establishment of Free Economic Society

1767

Peasants forbidden to submit complaints against their landowners

1767-68

Legislative Commission called

1768-74

War with Turkey

1769-94

Catherine publishes satirical journals

Novikov's journals The Drone and The Painter

1769

Establishment of the Imperial Council

1773-74

Pugachev revolt

1775

Reform of local government

Limit on Cossack autonomy

1780s

Englishman Cameron builds at Tsarskoe Selo

1781-86

Full absorption of the Ukraine into Russian Empire

1782-85

Giacomo Quarenghi builds the Hermitage

1783

Incorporation of the Crimea

Private printing presses permitted

1785

Charter constituting the nobility and the gentry as an estate

1787-92

Second Turkish War

1788-90

War with Sweden

1790

Radishchev publishes Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow

1796-1801

Reign of Paul I

1797

New law of succession

Establishment of three-day barshchina

1799

Russo-American Trading Company formed

1801-25

Reign of Alexander II

1801

Extension of right to own land to nongentry

Sale of serfs without land prohibited

1802

Formation of government ministries

1804-13

War with Persia

1805

Russian defeat by Napoleon at Austerlitz

1806-15

The new admiralty built by Zakharov

1807-11

Reforms of Speransky

1809

Krylov's Fables

1812

Napoleon's invasion of Russia; burning of Moscow

1813-14

Alexander's pursuit of Napoleon to Paris

1816-21

Arakcheev's military colonies

1817

Transfer of Makariev fair to Nizhnii Novgorod

1817-57

The Frenchman Montferrand builds St. Isaac's Cathedral

1818

Karamzin's History of the Russian State

1819

University of St. Petersburg founded

1819-29

The Italian Rossi builds Palace Square's General Staff Building

1825-55

Reign of Nicholas I

1825

Novosiltsev's Constitutional Charter presented

Decembrist revolt

Griboelov's comedy Woe to Wit

1830

Briullov's painting Last Day of Pompeii

Mathematician Lobachevsky publishes first work

1831

Pushkin completes Eugene Onegin

1833

Uvarov's Doctrine of "Official Nationality" proclaimed

Alexandriiskii Theater in St. Petersburg opened

1836

Chaadaev's Philosophical Letter

Glinka's opera Life for the Tsar

Gogol's Inspector General

1837

Pushkin killed in duel

1838

First Russian railroad --St. Petersburg to Tsarskoe Selo

1838-47

Belinsky works on the Notes of the Fatherland

1840

Lermontov's Hero of Our Time

1841

Ban against the sale of peasants individually

1842

Glinka's opera Ruslan and Ludmila

Gogol's Dead Souls

1847

Belinsky's Letter to Gogol

1849

Arrest of Petrashevsky circle

1851

St. Petersburg-Moscow railway opened

1852

Turgenev's Sportsman's Notebook

1853

Ostrovsky's first play produced

1855-81

Reign of Alexander II

1857

First issue of Herzen's Kolokol (The Bell)

Alexander Ivanov's painting Christ's First Appearance to the People

1859

Surrender at Shamil; conquest of Caucasus completed

Goncharov's Oblomov

1860

Founding of Vladivostok

1860-73

First railway boom

1861

Emancipation of the serfs

1862

St. Petersburg Conservatory founded; Anton Rubenstein, director

The Mighty Handful (Balakierev, Cui, Borodin, Mussorgsky, Rimsky- Korsakov)

Turgenev's Fathers and Sons

1863

Artists Co-operative Society (Peredvizhniki) founded

Chernyshevsky's What Is To Be Done?

1864

Reform of local government; zemstvo instituted

1866

Moscow Conservatory founded; Tchaikovsky becomes a professor

Dostoevskyís Crime and Punishment

1867

Sale of Alaska to the United States

1869

Tolstoy's War and Peace

1870

Society for Travelling Art Exhibitions (Peredvizhniki) founded

Mendeleyev's Principles of Chemistry

1873-74

The movement "to the people" (V narod)

1874

Mussorgsky's opera Boris Godunov

1876

"Land and Liberty" party founded

1877

Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake

1878

Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto takes Paris by storm

Tchaikovsky's opera Eugene Onegin

Tolstoy's Anna Karenina

1879

People's Will party and Black Partition founded

1880

Dostoevskyís Brothers Karamazov

1881

Alexander II assassinated

"Temporary Regulations" issued

1881-94

Reign of Alexander III

1884

Reactionary regulations for universities

1885

Gentry Land Bank created

1888

Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade

1890

Borodin's opera Prince Igor

Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty

1891

Trans-Siberian Railroad begun

1891-93

Making of Franco-Russian alliance

1892

Tretiakov donates his Russian art collection to the city of Moscow

Witte as minister of communications, finance, and commerce

1894-1917

Reign of Nicholas II

1897

First general population census in Russia

1898

Moscow Art Theater founded, produces Chekhov's Sea Gull

First Congress of Russian Social Democratic Party

1902

Gorky's Lower Depths

1904-05

Russo-Japanese War

1905

Revolution: Potemkin mutiny, General Strike, "Bloody Sunday," October Manifesto

1906-1911

Stolypin reforms and "neckties parties"

1908

Trotsky becomes editor of Pravda in Vienna

1909

Diaghilev's Ballets Russes tours Western Europe

1910

Igor Stravinsky's Firebird scandalizes Paris

1911-13

Balkan Wars

1913

Stravinsky's Rite of Spring

1914

World War I begins

St. Petersburg renamed Petrograd

1916

Rasputin assassinated

1917

Nicholas II abdicates

Bolshevik Revolution