Kati Parppei, Ph. D. (2010), University of Eastern Finland, is Academy Research Fellow and Adjunct Professor of Russian History at that university. Amongst her previous publications is "The Oldest One in Russia": The Formation of the Historiographical Image of Valaam Monastery (Brill, 2011).

• Foreword and acknowledgementsList of maps and illustrationsMapsIllustrationsIntroduction“Light of freedom began to dawn”“History’s turning points”The battle of Kulikovo as “mythscape”Hindsight and narrativeAbout the structure of the bookPart 1 The medieval and pre-modern battlefield1.1. The battle of Kulikovo in the early sources1.2. The first chronicle entries1.3. New cluster of texts1.4. The Life of Dmitrii Ivanovich1.5. Poetic Zadonshchina1.6. Expanded Chronicle TaleOleg of Riazan – “the new Judas”Churchmen enter the sceneAnticipation and divine miracles1.7. Vassian Rylo’s letter to Ivan III1.8. The Tale of the Rout of Mamai“Like a flock of sheep”Allies of Mamai and DmitriiRole of Dmitrii’s familyInvolvement of the Trinity MonasteryMetropolitans alive and deadOmens and comparisonsEvents on the battlefieldImage of Dmitrii in “The Tale”List of motifs: the plot-structure is established1.9. Further developmentsNikon ChronicleBook of DegreesZadonshchina : the longer versionOur Lady of the Don – and VladimirPart 2 From manuscripts to national history writingEntering the age of print2.1. The Kievan Sinopsis – the first history textbook“Slavo-Rossian” viewpointThe adventures of Zakhariia TiuchevOther details in the Sinopsis2.2. Historians’ Kulikovo takes shapeFirst steps in national history writingMankiev’s “secular Kulikovo”V. N. Tatishchev’s detailed narrativeM. M. Shcherbatov’s critical touchI. N. Boltin: defending the virtues of the Muscovite Grand Prince2.3. “First National Victory”: Russian National Historiography and the Kulikovo BattleScholarly developmentsN. M. Karamzin’s patriotic viewpointN. A. Polevoi – a critic who failedS. M. Solov’ev: “Europe over Asia”N. I. Kostomarov: Dmitrii as a man of “poor talent”V. O. Kliuchevskii: “The first national victory”Later developmentsPart 3 Popular Kulikovo3.1. Popular-historical publicationsThe first attemptsProductive Gur’ianovKazadaev’s post-Napoleonic ideasAfremov’s military details500-year celebrations: Ilovaiskii’s “historical viewpoint”The Ottoman question3.2. School textbooksIlovaiskii and the role of RiazanOstrogorskii fulfilling “certain didactic criteria”“The first national feat”The active role of DmitriiS. F. Platonov’s enduring interpretations3.3. Lubok literature“The horrible rout of Mamai”3.4. Oral traditionHistorical songs and the “Saturday of Dmitrii”Afanas’ev and “godless Mamai”Kulikovo in bylinas3.5. Plays and poetryOzerov and “Dmitrii Donskoi”Poems inspired by Kulikovo3.6. Visual battlefieldKulikovo in artworksMonument to KulikovoEpilogue: Notes on Soviet and post-Soviet Kulikovo”Contemporary Kulikovo fields”St. Dmitrii DonskoiKulikovo in imagesMythscape challengedConclusionsAbbreviationsSourcesPrinted chronicle sourcesOther printed sourcesVirtual sourcesLiterature