Sailing, Walking and Riding to Byzantium: Journeys from Eastern Europe

The East Slavs' abiding fascination with Byzantium was not deterred by the formidable distance of their homeland from the empire. The very earliest descriptions of the Rus emphasise the arduous journeys they were willing to undertake in order to raid and trade with Byzantium, and the difficulty of this voyage was a defining characteristic of Byzantine-Rus relations in all periods. Yet although much is known about the logistics of travel in the mid-tenth century thanks to the De Administrando Imperio of Constantine VII, there has been little research into other periods. This talk will provide an outline of how travel between Rus and Byzantium changed over 600 years, accounting for shifts in geopolitics, settlement, trade, modes of transport and reasons for travel. Despite persistent obstacles, the Rus of the late medieval period remained as keen as their ancestors to reach Tsargrad.