Kopys on the Dnieper, taken from Gleb of Minsk in 1116 and a Smolensk tribute place in Rostislav's charter (as usually cited), faces Polotsk's Orsha across the Dnieper border.
Who holds it
- Name
- the prince of Smolensk
- Title
- prince
- Confidence
- medium
Smolensk charter of 1136 as usually cited; ru.wikipedia (Орша) on the Dnieper border
Lord in 1200
The prince of Smolensk.
How things stand that morning
Smolensk's.
Council
Not recorded.
Communities
Not recorded.
Militia
Not recorded.
Walls and castle
Small fort.
Trade and crafts
Dnieper crossing and tolls.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Charter listing from memory of the published text; not refetched.
Primary sources for Smolensk
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- The Chronicle of Novgorod (kept year by year; the Synodal manuscript written in the 13th and 14th centuries). Novgorod's own record, kept at St Sophia. Read online
- The Hypatian Chronicle (the Kievan Chronicle compiled about 1200 at the Vydubichi monastery; the Galician-Volhynian Chronicle in the 13th century). The southern record. Read online
- The Laurentian Chronicle (the Suzdal continuation kept in the late 12th and 13th centuries; manuscript 1377). The court record of Vsevolod III of Vladimir. Read online
- The birch-bark letters (11th to 15th centuries). Excavated letters and notes on birch bark, dated by the layer they lie in. Read online
- The Tale of Igor's Campaign (about 1187 to 1200 (disputed)). A poem on Igor Sviatoslavich's defeat by the Polovtsians in 1185 that addresses the princes of the day by name: Vsevolod of Vladimir, Rurik and David Rostislavich, Yaroslav of Galich, Roman of Volhynia and the Olgovichi of Chernigov, of whom Igor himself was prince from 1198. Read online
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.