Rus' chronicle
Rus' chronicle or Russian chronicle: 51 or Rus' letopis (Old East Slavic: лѣтопись, romanized: lětopisʹ) was the primary type of Rus' historical literature. Chronicles were composed from 11th to 18th centuries, generally written in Old East Slavic (and later Ruthenian and Muscovite Russian) about Kievan Rus' and subsequent Rus' principalities and histories. Chronicles were one of the leading genres of Old Rus' literature, and were prominent in medieval and early modern Eastern and Central Europe.
| Rusʹ chronicle | |
|---|---|
| Old East Slavic: лѣтопись | |
Tale of Bygone Years (Primary Chronicle) in Radziwiłł Chronicle of 15th century. | |
| Author(s) | chroniclers, who were mainly churchmen |
| Language | Old Church Slavonic and Old East Slavic |
| Date | 11–18th centuries |
| Genre | History |
The genre was distributed in Belarus, the Czech lands, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, and Ukraine. Chronicles were the main form of historical narrative until the middle of the 16th century, the time of Ivan the Terrible, when they were superseded by another historiographical genre – chronographs.