The book summarizes the author’s 25 years of research in the field of international relations of Rus' in the 9th–12th centuries, mainly with the West. Self-sufficient essays on individual periods or episodes together provide a complete picture of the international activity of Rus' in the first four centuries of its existence. The emphasis is on an in-depth source study of little-known and the introduction of new monuments into science, on the comparison of ancient Russian and foreign (Latin, Byzantine, Old German, etc.) texts, on an interdisciplinary approach (involving methods and data from textual criticism, historical linguistics, genealogy, metrology, etc.). etc.).Contents:Preface 7Chapter I. The name “Rus” in the ancient Western European linguistic tradition (IX-XII centuries) 11Chapter II. Cyril and Methodius Mission and Rus': a new aspect (IX century) 51Chapter III. Rus' on the “path from the Germans to the Khazars” (IX-X centuries) 71Chapter IV. Between the Arabs and the Varangians, the West and Constantinople, the ancient Russian monetary and weight system as a result of interethnic cultural interaction. 113Chapter V. “All people are wise”: the baptism of Princess Olga as a fact of international politics (mid-10th century) 219Chapter VI. “Metropolia totius Sclavorum gentis”: Rus' and the Magdeburg Mission Archbishopric (60s of the 10th century) 311Chapter VII. On the eve of Epiphany: Yaropolk Svyatoslavich and Otto II (70s of the 10th century) 339Chapter VIII. The chronicle legend about the “test of faith” by Prince Vladimir and the political and ideological reality of the 80s of the 10th century 391Chapter IX. Vladimir - the second Pavel? Traces of the oldest Russian hagiographical tradition about St. Vladimir in Latin monuments of the first third of the 11th century 435Chapter X. Svyatopolk “The Accursed” or Yaroslav the “Wise”? The international aspect of the Vladimirovich struggle for Kyiv (1015-1019) 451Chapter XI. The failed “triumvirate”: Western European policy of the Yaroslavichs (second half of the 11th century) 505Chapter XII. “Unicus filius meus”: the origin of Svyatopolk Izyaslavich and the problem of closely related dynastic marriages as a tool for genealogical research 559Chapter XIII. Miracle of St. Panteleimon about the “Russian King Harald”: the monastery of St. Panteleimon in Cologne and the family of Mstislav the Great (late 11th - early 12th centuries) 585Chapter XIV. Rus', the West and the Holy Land in the era of the Crusades (XII century) 617Bibliography 649List of abbreviations 727Index of names and anonymous works 731