 In European manuscripts dating from the 11th century, "Ruthenia" was used to describe Rus', the wider area occupied by the ancient Rus' (commonly referred to as "Kievan Rus"').This term was also used to refer to the Slavs of the island of Rügen or other Baltic Slavs, whom even in the 12th century were portrayed by chroniclers as fierce pirate pagans even though Kievan Rus' had long since converted to Christianity