Medieval Russian Fortresses AD 862 1480

A history of the key fortresses that dominated the landscape of medieval Russia from its legendary foundations in the 9th century to its conquest by the Mongols and the eventual rise to power of the principality of Muscovy.

According to Russian legend, in the year AD 862 the Slav tribes of what is now European Russia invited a number of Scandinavian princes to rule over them. However, on the death ...