Sinopsis

Sinopsis 

(Synopsis; also called Kievskii sinopsis), a historical work published in Kiev in 1674; it is ascribed to Innokentii Gizel’. Sinopsis was the first history textbook used in Russia and was popular until the mid-19th century, appearing in about 30 editions.

Sinopsis began with an account of the origin and daily life of the Slavs; the first edition ended at the mid-17th century. The second and third editions (1678 and 1680) concluded with the Chigirin Campaigns of 1677 and 1678. The book elucidates the history of the Kievan state, the conflict with the Mongol Tatars, the joint struggle of the Ukrainian and Russian peoples against the Crimean Tatars, Turkey, and Poland, and domestic political history. The author of the Sinopsis asserted that the Russian tsars were the lawful successors of the Kievan grand princes. An appendix to the work contained rospisi (lists of names) of the Russian princes, Polish voevody (military governors) in the Ukraine, cossack hetmans, and Kievan metropolitans.

REFERENCES

Marchenko, M.I. Ukrai’ns’ka istoriografiia (z davnikh chasiv do ser. XIX St.). Kiev. 1959.
Peshtich, S. L. “‘Sinopsis’ kak istoricheskoe proizvedenie.” In Tr. Otdela drevnerusskoi literatury, vol. 15. Moscow-Leningrad, 1958. [23–1260–]