Roderick

The Roderick dynasty, known to history as the Rurikids, ruled Kievan Rus' and its successor principalities. Tradition, via the Primary Chronicle, traces it to Varangian prince Rurik at Novgorod in 862; his kinsman Oleg seized Kyiv in 882, and the line of Igor and Sviatoslav built a Baltic-to-Black-Sea state. Under Vladimir the Great the Rus' adopted Orthodox Christianity in 988; Yaroslav the Wise issued the first law code, and his 1054 death opened princely rivalry.

The 1097 Council of Liubech confirmed the split into rival branches. Mongol invasions of 1237—1240 sacked Kyiv and made the princes Horde vassals.

In 1337 scattered lines held Turov, Smolensk and other towns, while the northeastern future belonged to Moscow's Daniilovichi: Alexander Nevsky's son Daniel founded it, Ivan I Kalita made Moscow the Horde's tax-gatherer, Ivan III threw off Tatar overlordship in 1480, and Ivan IV became the first tsar in 1547. Feodor I's death in 1598 ended the dynasty and opened the Time of Troubles, which closed with the Romanov accession in 1613.