Hypatian Codex

The Hypatian Codex (also known as Hypatian Letopis, Ipatiev Letopis, Cyrillic Ипатьевская летопись) is a svod (compendium) of three letopises: the Primary Chronicle, Kyiv Chronicle, and Galician-Volhynian Chronicle.[1] It is the most important source of historical data for southern Rus'.[2]

The codex was rediscovered in Ukraine in 1617 and then copied by monks in Kyiv in 1621. It was re-discovered yet again in the 18th century at the Hypatian Monastery of Kostroma by the Russian historian Nikolay Karamzin.

The codex is the second oldest surviving manuscript of the "Initial svod" (Primary Chronicle), after the Laurentian Codex. The Hypatian manuscript dates back to ca. 1425,[1] but it incorporates much precious information from the lost 12th-century Kievan and 13th-century Galician chronicles. The codex was possibly compiled at the end of the 13th century.[2]

Since 1810, the codex has been preserved in the Russian National Library, St Petersburg. The language of this work is Old Church Slavonic with many East Slavisms.

Editions

Complete Collection of Russian Chronicles, II.

See also

References
  1. Velychenko, Stephen (1992). National History as Cultural Process: A Survey of the Interpretations of Ukraine's Past in Polish, Russian, and Ukrainian Historical Writing from the Earliest Times to 1914 (illustrated ed.). CIUS Press. p. 142. ISBN 0-920862-75-6.
  2. Dimnik, Martin (1994). The Dynasty of Chernigov 1054–1146. Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies. p. xii. ISBN 0-88844-116-9.

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