Riurykide dynasty

Riurykide dynasty (Riurykovych; Russian and Belarusian: Riurikovich). The ruling princely dynasty of Kyivan Rus’, descended from Prince Ihor of Kyiv, who according to the Primary Chronicle was the son of the Varangian Riuryk of Novgorod. The separation of certain Kyivan Rus’ lands and growing independence of individual principalities from the Kyivan center resulted in the creation of some 15 (and later more) autonomous Riurykide houses, which were denoted genealogically either by the name of the principality they controlled or by the name of their founder.

Ukrainian branches of the Riurykide dynasty were the Monomakhovych house of Kyiv and Volhynia, descended from Volodymyr Monomakh; the Romanovych dynasty of Galicia-Volhynia, descended from Roman Mstyslavych; the Rostyslavych house of Galicia, descended from Rostyslav Volodymyrovych; the Olhovych house of Chernihiv and Novhorod-Siverskyi, descended from Oleh (Mykhailo) Sviatoslavych; and the Turiv-Pynsk house (see Turiv-Pynsk principality), descended from Iziaslav Yaroslavych. One of the houses, descended from Prince Yurii Dolgorukii, the youngest son of Volodymyr Monomakh, became the family of the grand princes of Vladimir-Suzdal and then of the grand princes and tsars of Muscovy. The last Riurykide tsar, Fedor I Ivanovich, died without heirs in 1598. The Belarusian Riurykides included the Polatsk house, descended from Iziaslav Volodymyrovych and his grandson, Vseslav, which became autonomous in the 11th century; and the Smolensk house, descended from Rostyslav Mstyslavych, Monomakh's grandson. The descendants of the various houses, particularly those of Belarus and Chernihiv–Novhorod-Siverskyi, were many, and they maintained their patrimonial appanages until they became servitor princes of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania or Muscovy. A number of junior families lost their princely titles at that time.

Riurykide families who managed to preserve their princely status in the Russian Empire until the 20th century include the Bariatinskys, Dolgorukovs, Gorchakovs, Obolenskys, Repnins, Shcherbatovs, and Volkonskys, descended from the Olhovych house; the Drutsky-Liubetskys, Drutsky-Sokolynskys, Sviatopolk-Mirskys, and Sviatopolk-Chetvertynskys, descended from the Romanovych house; the Kropotkins and Viazemskys, descended from the Smolensk house; and many other families of various Russian houses.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Dolgorukov, P. Rossiiskaia rodoslovnaia kniga, pt 1 (Moscow 1855)
Vlas’ev, G. Potomstvo Riurika: Materialy dlia sostavleniia rodoslovii, 3 pts (Saint Petersburg 1906–7)
Baumgarten, N. Généalogies et mariages occidentaux des Rurikides russes du Xe au XIIe siècle (Rome 1928)
—Généalogie des branches régnantes des Rurikides du XIIIe au XVIe siècle (Rome 1934)

Oleksander Ohloblyn

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 4 (1993).]