It was created by deacon Gregory for his patron, Posadnik Ostromir of Novgorod, in 1056 or 1057, probably as a gift for a monastery.
The earliest Novgorodian posadniks include Dobrynya (an uncle of Vladimir the Great), his son Konstantin Dobrynich and Ostromir, who is famous for patronizing the Ostromir Gospels, among the first books published in Russia (it is now housed in the National Library of Russia in St. Petersburg).