Why Medieval Slavs Would Laugh at You

What would happen if you time-traveled to the 10th century and tried to hang out with medieval Slavs? Spoiler: they’d probably hate you. In this video, we dive deep into the worldview, traditions, and daily life of the medieval Slavic peoples, from pagan forest spirits and Orthodox saints to brutal blood feuds, sacred feasts, and the communal bonds that held everything together. Discover what made medieval Slavic life so different from ours and what we can learn from it today.

Timestamps:
0:00 – Why medieval Slavs would hate you
0:57 – Kinship, rod, and the sacred duty of revenge
1:40 – Princess Olga’s ruthless vengeance
2:14 – Communal life, veche councils, and sacred feasts
3:34 – Piast the Wheelwright and sacred hospitality
4:19 – A day in the life of a Slavic peasant
5:36 – Clothing, homes, and seasonal rhythms
6:36 – Pagan festivals and sacred traditions
7:28 – Sviatoslav I and the warrior kings
8:16 – The power and agency of Slavic women
8:59 – Spirits of forest, field, and home
9:49 – Paganism and Christianity intertwine
11:22 – What modern people don’t understand about the medieval Slavic worldview
11:54 – Final thoughts: what we can learn from them

Works Cited
- Cross, Samuel Hazzard, and Olgerd P. Sherbowitz-Wetzor, translators. The Russian Primary Chronicle: Laurentian Text. Medieval Academy of America, 1953.
- Franklin, Simon, and Jonathan Shepard. The Emergence of Rus 750–1200. 2nd ed., Routledge, 2014.
- Obolensky, Dimitri. The Byzantine Commonwealth: Eastern Europe, 500–1453. Praeger, 1971.
- Tolochko, Oleksiy P. The Primary Chronicle’s “Ethnographic” Tales: A Reconsideration. Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute, 2014.
- Uspenskij, Boris A. The Semiotics of the Russian Icon. U of Michigan P, 1976.
- Vernadsky, George. Kievan Russia. Yale University Press, 1948.
- Warner, David A., translator. The Annals of Fulda. Manchester University Press, 1992.
- Živković, Tibor. Forging Unity: The South Slavs Between East and West, 550–1150. Institute of History, 2008.