The Ethnology Notebooks. 2026. № 5 (191), 1432—1438
UDK 94(477)”09″:340.14
- Received: 09.10.2026
- Accepted: 12.10.2026
- Published: ??.??.2026
TREATIES BETWEEN THE GREEKS AND THE RUS AS A SOURCE OF CUSTOMARY LAW REGULATION OF SOCIAL RELATIONS IN KYIV RUS
BILYNSKYI-HRODZ Yuriy
- ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-7267-0379
- Postgraduate student of the Ethnology Institute of the NAS of Ukraine,
- 15, Svobody Avenue, 79000, Lviv, Ukraine,
- Contacts: e-mail: grodz.jur@gmail.com
Abstract. The article examines the Rus’-Byzantine treaties of the 10th century as an important source for the history of social relations and customary law regulation in Kyiv Rus. The relevance of the topic stems from the need for a comprehensive analysis of the information potential of these treaty documents to clarify the characteristics of the functioning and development of customary law in Old Rus’ society. The objective of the study is to determine the informational capabilities of the Rus’-Byzantine treaties for reconstructing customary law norms and to elucidate their place among the sources of the legal history of Kyiv Rus. The methodological framework comprises the principles of historicity, objectivity, and a systematic approach, along with historical, source-critical, comparative-historical, and analytical methods.
Main emphasis is placed on the treaties of 911 and 945, whose provisions illuminate the regulation of criminal and civil relations, liability for offenses, judicial procedures, evidence, oaths, blood feuds, monetary ransoms, trade relations, property protection, captivity, slavery, and inheritance. Scholarly debates regarding the correlation between Byzantine legal norms and Rus’ customary law are examined. It is substantiated that the treaty provisions reflect an interaction and compromise between two legal traditions, while terms such as zakon («law»), pokon rus’kyi («Rus’ custom»), and ustav rus’kyi («Rus’ statute») may indicate the normative significance of established customary rules. It is established that the treaty norms testify to a combination of personal, property, and public liability, as well as a gradual formalization of customary mechanisms governing social relations.
The author concludes that the Rus’-Byzantine treaties serve as a comprehensive historical and legal source that allows for the study of social organization, property relations, judicial practices, and the customary legal culture of Kyiv Rus, while also tracing the interaction between customary norms and written forms of legal regulation.
Keywords: Kyiv Rus, Byzantium, customary law, Rus’-Byzantine treaties, treaties with the Greeks, «Law of the Rus’», social relations, legal customs, historical source.
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