«The Great Schism» of Eastern Slavic Medieval Studies: Seven Theses for Discussion

Abstract

The article considers the current situation in the field of studying the history of Old Rus’ and the Eastern Slavic Middle Ages in general. A thesis states that currently there is a tendency to disintegration of the formerly single field of research, and that medievalists from Belarus, Russia and Ukraine are increasingly locked in their national historiographies. Such a situation is figuratively compared with the «great schism» of the Western and Eastern churches in 1054. The article invites to a discussion on this issue.