Kievan Rus' (Old East Slavic Рѹ́сь IPA: [rusĭ], Greek: Ρωσία, Latin: Russia, Ruthenia, Belarusian: Кіеўская Русь, Russian: Ки́евская Русь, romanised: Kievskaya Rus’, IPA: [rusʲ], Ukrainian: Ки́ївська Русь), usually written simply Kievan Rus and sometimes Kyivan Rus', was a medieval state which existed from approximately 880 to the middle of the 13th century. Founded by the Scandinavian traders (Varangians) called "Rus'" and centered in the city of Kiev (now the capital of Ukraine), Rus' polity is widely considered an early predecessor of three modern East Slavic nations: Belarusians, Russians, and Ukrainians, although attempts to nationalize the medieval state's history are common among historians from the three countries.
The reigns of Vladimir the Great (980–1015) and his son Yaroslav I the Wise (1019–1054) constitute the Golden Age of Kiev, which saw the acceptance of Christianity and the creation of the first East Slavic written legal code, the Russkaya Pravda. The early leaders of Rus' were most likely a Scandinavian warrior-elite that ruled a majority of Slavic subjects. Scandinavians gradually intermarried and merged with the Slavic population — the third known ruler of Rus', Sviatoslav I, Rurik's grandson, already has a Slavic name. Michael Psellus asserts that Scandinavians continued to remain in control until at least the mid-11th century. The state's power gradually fell due to the decline of Constantinople, the drying up of troude routes, and the subsequent Mongol invasion of Rus'.
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