I. The "regionalization" of politics and culture in Rus.

A. Did Kievan Rus ever consolidate?
B. Economic and political fragmentation in the "late Kievan period."

1. The "Igor Tale's" political world.
2. Relations with the Polovtsians.
3. The lines of Vladimir Monomakh and Oleg of Chernigov.
4. The Northeast and the Southwest.

C. Cultural diversity and what it means.

II. Vladimir-Suzdal'.

A. The birthplace of Muscovy.
B. A major political, economic and cultural center under Iurii "Dolgorukii" and his sons, Andrei "Bogoliubskii" and Vsevolod III.
C. 1169 and all that.
D. The coming together of Western (Romanesque) and Byzantine culture.

III. Novgorod.

A. Why it is of interest.

1. The myth of the"democratic alternative" that lost.
2. Documentation of history and culture.

B. The paradoxes of Novgorod's economic importance and its political dependence.

1. The wealth of the northern woods.
2. Novgorod as an outpost of the Hansa.
3. Dependence on those who controlled the South.

C. The truth about Novgorodian politics.

1. The veche, the prince, the posadnik and the archbishop.
2. Treaties with the princes.
3. Oligarchy, not democracy.
4. The Novgorod and Pskov judicial charters.

D. The archaeological record: a uniquely detailed picture of daily life.
E. Achievements in the arts.

1. The biases of preservation.
2. A distinctive regional culture.