In the textbook “History of Public Administration in Russia”, edited by A. N. Markova, zemsky councils of the 16th - 17th centuries. called a fundamentally new government body. The Council acted in close connection with the tsarist government and the Duma. The Council, as a representative body, was bicameral. The upper chamber included the tsar, the Boyar Duma and the consecrated council, who were not elected, but participated in accordance with their position. Members of the lower house were elected. Issues were discussed by estate (by chamber). Each estate submitted a written opinion to the owl, and then, as a result of their generalization, a conciliar verdict was drawn up, accepted by the entire composition of the cathedral.
Councils met on Red Square, in the Patriarchal Chambers or in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin, and later in the Golden Chamber or the Dining Hut.
Zemsky councils were headed by the tsar and the metropolitan. The role of the tsar at the council was active; he raised questions before the council, accepted petitions, listened to the petitioners, and practically carried out all the leadership of the council’s actions.
Sources of that time contain information that at some councils the tsar also addressed petitioners outside the chambers in which the meeting on estates was held, that is, not to the members of the council. There is also information that at some councils the king, during very acute situations, addressed the opinions of people in the square adjacent to the palace chambers.
The cathedral opened with a traditional prayer service, perhaps in some cases with a procession of the cross. It was a traditional church celebration that accompanied the most important political events. The meetings of the council lasted from one day to several months, depending on the circumstances. So. The Stoglavy Council was held from February 23 to May 11, 1551, the Council of Reconciliation was held on February 27-28, 1549, the Zemsky Council on the campaign to Serpukhov to repel the troops of the Crimean Khan Kazy-Girey was held on April 20, 1598 for one day.
There was no law and no tradition regarding the frequency of convening councils. They were convened depending on the circumstances within the state and foreign policy conditions. According to sources, in some periods the councils met annually, and sometimes there were breaks of several years.
Let us give as an example the issues of internal affairs considered at the councils:
1580 - On church and monastic land ownership;
1607 -- On the release of the population from the oath to False Dmitry 1, on the forgiveness of perjuries against Boris Godunov;
1611 -- The verdict (constitutive act) of “the whole earth” on the state structure and political order;
1613 -- About sending collectors of money and supplies to cities;
1614, 1615, 1616, 1617, 1618 and others. Cherepnin L.V., M. 1968, Zemsky Sobors of the Russian State, p. 87 - On the collection of five-year money, that is, on the collection of funds for the maintenance of troops and general government expenses.
An example of how the tsar and the government had to resort to the help of the Zemsky Sobor as a result of severe internal unrest is the period 1648 - 1650, when uprisings broke out in Moscow and Pskov. These facts shed light on the influence of unrest in the convening of zemstvo councils.
The Moscow popular uprising began on June 1, 1648 with attempts to submit a petition to the tsar, who was returning on pilgrimage from the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. The essence of the complaints was to expose “the untruth and violence that is being perpetrated against them (the petitioners”). But hopes for a peaceful resolution and satisfaction of complaints were not realized. On June 2, after new fruitless attempts to present the petition to the Tsar during a religious procession, the people broke into the Kremlin and destroyed the palaces of the boyars. For this topic, the content of one of the petitions, dated June 2, 1648, to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, which has come down to us in a Swedish translation, is interesting. The petition was compiled “from all ranks of people and all the common people.” The text contains an appeal to the tsar “to listen to our and the Moscow simple nobility, city service people, high and low ranks in Moscow complaint.” This list of ranks reproduces the usual composition of the Zemsky Sobor. In terms of content, this is a petition, mainly of service people speaking on behalf of the entire population of the Moscow state, imbued with ideas of indignation in 1648. In it, the subjects appeal for the last time to the sense of honor and fear of the young king, threatening him with divine punishment and the punishment of popular indignation for the violence and robberies allowed in the country.
For this topic, the petition’s positive proposals regarding the reorganization of the state apparatus are of interest. The petition pays special attention to the justification of judicial reform. The following words are addressed to the king: “You must... command to eradicate all unrighteous judges, remove the unreasonable ones, and in their place choose fair people who could answer for their judgment and for their service before God and before your royal majesty.” If the tsar does not fulfill this order, then he “must instruct all people to appoint all officials and judges at their own expense, and for this purpose choose people who, in the old days and in truth, can protect them from strong (people) violence.”
To understand the nature of the activities of the cathedrals, we can give a brief description of the military cathedral in January 1550. Ivan the Terrible gathered an army in Vladimir, heading for a campaign near Kazan.
According to a document called the Chronograph, Ivan IV, having listened to a prayer service and mass in the Assumption Cathedral, addressed in the presence of Metropolitan Macarius a speech to the boyars, governors, princes, boyar children, courtyards and policemen of the Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod lands with an appeal to abandon parochial accounts in the royal service during the hike. The speech was a success and the soldiers said, “Your royal punishment and command to serve are acceptable; as you command, sir, so we do.”
Metropolitan Macarius also gave a speech. This cathedral consecrated the readiness of the land to go to Kazan.
Of great historical interest is the council of 1653, at which the question of accepting Ukraine into Russian citizenship was discussed at the request of Ukrainian representatives. Sources indicate that the discussion of this issue was long, and people of “all ranks” were interviewed. They also took into account the opinion of the “square people” (obviously, not the participants of the cathedral, but those who were in the square while the cathedral meetings were going on).
As a result, a unanimous positive opinion was expressed regarding the accession of Ukraine to Russia. The Charter of Accession expresses satisfaction with the voluntary nature of this accession on the part of the Ukrainians.
Some historians consider the council of 1653 on the admission of Ukraine to the Russian state to be practically the last council; after that, the council’s activities were no longer so relevant and experienced a process of withering away.
To fully characterize the content of the activities of the cathedrals and their influence on the socio-political life of the country, on the history of Russia, let us consider, for example, the activities of three cathedrals: the Stoglavy Cathedral, the Cathedral that made the decision on the oprichnina, and the Laid Down Cathedral.
Most experts believe that the Stoglavy Cathedral cannot be excluded from the cathedral system of the 16th - 17th centuries. Cherepnin L.V., M. 1968, Zemsky Sobors of the Russian State, p. 84, although they emphasize that it was a church council. However, it should be included in the general conciliar system for three reasons:
1) it was convened on the initiative of the king;
2) it was attended by secular representatives from the Boyar Duma;
3) the collection of decisions adopted at the council to a certain extent also concerned the laity.
The cathedral met in Moscow in January-February 1551, the final completion of the work dates back to May 1551. It received its name from the collection of council decisions, divided into one hundred chapters - “Stoglav”. The government's initiative in convening the council was determined by the desire to support the church in the fight against anti-feudal heretical movements and at the same time subordinate the church to secular power.
The Council of the Hundred Heads proclaimed the inviolability of church property and the exclusive jurisdiction of clergy to the church court. At the request of the church hierarchs, the government abolished the jurisdiction of clergy over the tsar. In exchange for this, members of the Stoglavy Council made concessions to the government on a number of other issues. In particular, monasteries were prohibited from establishing new settlements in cities.
The decisions of the council unified church rites and duties throughout Russia, regulated the norms of intra-church life in order to increase the moral and educational level of the clergy and the correct performance of their duties. The creation of schools for the training of priests was envisaged. Control was established by church authorities over the activities of book scribes and icon painters, etc. During the second half of the 16th and 17th centuries. up to the Council Code “Stoglav was not only a code of legal norms for the internal life of the clergy, but also its relationship with society and the state.
The council of 1565 played a significant role in strengthening the absolute monarchy. In the early 60s of the 16th century. Ivan IV sought to actively continue the Livonian War, but encountered opposition from some people from his circle. Break with the Elected Rada and disgrace with the princes and boyars 1560-1564. caused discontent among the feudal nobility, leaders of orders and the highest feudal nobility, leaders of orders and the highest clergy. Some feudal lords, not agreeing with the tsar’s policy, betrayed him and fled abroad (A. M. Kurbsky and others). In December 1564, Ivan IV left for the Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda near Moscow and on January 3, 1565, announced his abdication due to “anger” at the clergy, boyars, children of boyars and clerks. On the initiative of the estates, under these conditions, the Zemsky Sobor met in Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda. the classes were concerned about the fate of the throne. Representatives of the cathedral declared their commitment to the monarchy. As for the guests, merchants and “all citizens of Moscow,” they, in addition to statements of a monarchical nature, showed anti-boyar sentiments. They beat them with their foreheads so that the king “would not give them to the wolves for plunder, but most of all, he would deliver them from the hands of the strong; and who will be the sovereign’s villains and traitors, and they do not stand for them and consume them themselves.” Cherepnin L.V., M. 1968, Zemsky Sobors of the Russian State, p. 104
The Zemsky Sobor agreed to grant the tsar emergency powers and approved the oprichnina.
The laid cathedral is the cathedral that adopted the Council Code of 1649 - the code of laws of the Russian state. It took place under the direct influence of the Moscow uprising of 1648. It sat for a long time.
The drafting was carried out by a special commission headed by the boyar Prince N.I. Odoevsky. The draft Code was discussed in its entirety and in parts by members of the Zemsky Sobor, class by class (“in chambers”). The printed text was sent to orders and localities.
The sources of the Council Code were:
Sudebnik 1550 (Stoglav)
Decree books of Local, Zemsky, Robber and other orders
Collective petitions of Moscow and provincial nobles, townspeople
The helmsman's book (Byzantine law)
Lithuanian status in 1588 and others. Great Soviet Encyclopedia. Volume 24, page 9
An attempt was made for the first time to create a set of all existing legal norms, including judicial codes and the Newly Indicated Articles. The material was compiled into 25 chapters and 967 articles. The Code outlines the division of norms by industry and institution. After 1649, the body of legal norms of the Code included the newly specified articles on “robbery and murder” (1669), on estates and estates (1677), and on trade (1653 and 1677).
The Council Code determined the status of the head of state - the tsar, autocratic and hereditary monarch. His approval (election) at the Zemsky Sobor did not shake the established principles; on the contrary, it justified and legitimized them. Even criminal intent (not to mention actions) directed against the person of the monarch was severely punished.
The system of crimes according to the Council Code looked like this:
1. Crimes against the church: blasphemy, seducing an Orthodox Christian into another faith, interrupting the liturgy in the church.
2. State crimes: any actions (and even intent) directed against the personality of the sovereign, his family, rebellion, conspiracy, treason. For these crimes, responsibility was borne not only by the persons who committed them, but also by their relatives and friends.
3. Crimes against the order of administration: malicious failure of the defendant to appear in court and resistance to the bailiff, production of false letters, acts and seals, unauthorized travel abroad, counterfeiting, maintaining drinking establishments without permission and moonshine, taking a false oath in court, giving false testimony, "sneaking" or false accusation.
4. Crimes against the deanery: maintaining brothels, harboring fugitives, illegal sale of property (stolen, someone else’s), unauthorized entry into a mortgage (to a boyar, to a monastery, to a landowner), imposition of duties on persons exempted from them.
Official crimes: extortion (bribery), illegal exactions, injustice (deliberately unfair decision of a case out of self-interest or hostility), forgery in service, military crimes (damage to private individuals, looting, escape from a unit).
5. Crimes against the person: murder, divided into simple and qualified, mutilation, beatings, insult to honor. Killing a traitor or thief at the scene of a crime was not punished at all.
6. Property crimes: simple and qualified theft (church, in the service, horse theft, theft of vegetables from the garden, fish from cages), robbery and robbery, fraud, arson, forcible taking of other people's property, damage to other people's property.
7. Crimes against morality: disrespect for parents by children, refusal to support elderly parents, pimping, sexual relations between a master and a slave.
The chapter of the Code “Court on Peasants” contains articles that finally formalized serfdom - the eternal hereditary dependence of the peasants was established, the “Fixed summers” for searching for runaway peasants were abolished, and a high fine was established for harboring runaways.
The adoption of the Council Code of 1649 was an important milestone in the development of the absolute monarchy and the serf system. The Council Code of 1649 is a code of feudal law.
For the first time in secular codification, the Council Code provides for liability for ecclesiastical crimes. The assumption by the state of affairs that were previously under ecclesiastical jurisdiction meant a limitation of the power of the church.
The comprehensive nature and compliance with historical conditions ensured the durability of the Council Code; it retained its significance as the law of Russia until the first half of the 19th century.
Thus, the history of Zemsky Sobors can be divided into 6 periods:
The time of Ivan the Terrible (since 1549). The councils convened by the tsarist authorities had already taken shape. The cathedral, assembled on the initiative of the estates (1565), is also known.
From the death of Ivan the Terrible to the fall of Shuisky (from 1584 to 1610). This was the time when the preconditions for civil war and foreign intervention were taking shape, and the crisis of autocracy began. The councils performed the function of electing the kingdom, and sometimes became an instrument of forces hostile to Russia.
1610 - 1613 The Zemsky Sobor under the militias turns into the supreme body of power (both legislative and executive), deciding issues of domestic and foreign policy. This is the time when the Zemsky Sobor played the largest and most progressive role in public life.
1613 - 1622 The Council operates almost continuously, but as an advisory body under the royal power. Questions of current reality pass through them. The government seeks to rely on them when carrying out financial activities (collecting five-year money), restoring the damaged economy, eliminating the consequences of the intervention and preventing new aggression from Poland.
From 1622, the activity of the cathedrals ceased until 1632.
1632 - 1653 Councils meet relatively rarely, but on major policy issues - internal (drawing up the Code, the uprising in Pskov) and external (Russian-Polish and Russian-Crimean relations, the annexation of Ukraine, the question of Azov). During this period, speeches by class groups intensified, presenting demands to the government, in addition to cathedrals, also through petitions.
After 1653 to 1684 The time of decline of cathedrals (there was a slight rise in the 80s).
Thus, the activity of zemstvo councils was an important component of the functioning of state power, the support of power on the dominant social forces during the formation of the absolute monarchy.
From the earliest times in Rus' there was an order according to which all problems that arose were solved collectively, although the convening of the first Zemsky Sobor occurred only in 1549. What did this body do, what happened in the country, what caused its appearance, who were its members? The answers to these questions will be found in the article.
The Zemsky Sobor was the highest representative state institution in Tsarist Rus' from the mid-sixteenth century to the end of the seventeenth century.
It included:
- the Boyar Duma - a permanent council under the prince, which decided the most important state issues and was present in the Zemsky Sobor in full force;
- the consecrated cathedral, whose representatives were the highest church hierarchs;
- elected people from servicemen - persons known in Rus' in the period from the fourteenth century to the eighteenth century, who are obliged to perform military or administrative service for the benefit of the state;
- Moscow nobility;
- Streltsy - elected officials;
- Pushkars - Russian artillerymen from the sixteenth to the seventeenth centuries;
- Cossacks
This organization included absolutely all classes of the population, not counting the serfs. The first Zemsky Sobor of 1549 was convened with the aim of acquainting all participants in this institution with the reforms of the new body of Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible. This body was the Elected Rada.
The reforms included the following innovations:
- the formation of the Streltsy army - the personal guard of Ivan the Terrible;
- creation of a new Code of Law;
- centralization of power, tightening and strengthening of the system of orders and coercion.
This council existed during the class-representative monarchy - a form of government in which members of all classes take part in solving political, administrative, economic, social, international problems and issues in the state.
One of the most cruel rulers of Rus', who wanted to create an absolute monarchy in his state, on February 27, 1549, showed signs of democratic initiative and organized the convening of the first Zemsky Sobor, a body that included people of various social and economic backgrounds.
However, in reality this is a big step towards the centralization of power. For the next 130 years, this council had the decisive say in solving the most important domestic and foreign political problems, economic issues, electing new rulers of the state and determining succession to the throne.
Before the governing body that emerged during the time of Ivan Vasilyevich, the country knew another similar institution - the veche. This is a kind of attempt to introduce democracy into the state management system, because this body also included representatives of different classes. At first, minor judicial and administrative problems were discussed here, and then issues at the level of international relations.
Important! The Zemsky Sobor was fundamentally different from the veche. Its activities were much more binding and regulated, and the most important state issues were resolved from the very beginning. The councils became the first demonstration in the country of parliamentarism - a system of governing the country where there is a distinction between the functions of the legislative and executive powers with a significant position of parliament.
Reasons and prerequisites for creation
In 1538, Elena Glinskaya was a princess, the second wife of Moscow Prince Vasily Ivanovich, the first 
ruler of the united Russian state, dies.
Her period of reign was marked by endless internal confrontations between the boyars and other representatives of the upper classes, lack of support among the boyars and ordinary people, and cruelty towards competitors in the struggle for the throne.
After her death, the line of the reign's legacy continued with two children - the eldest Ivan and the younger Yuri.
The young pretenders, neither one nor the other, were able to take control of the country, so the boyars actually exercised power over them and the state. A continuous struggle for the throne ensues between different clans.
In December 1543, the eldest son of Elena Glinskaya was ready to declare his intentions to begin an independent reign. He uses brutal methods to gain power. He gave the order to arrest Shuisky, the prince of Rus' at that time.
On January 16, 1547, Ivan was crowned king. During this period, people's discontent grew due to poor management, which was not really implemented, and the lawlessness that noble people did in relation to ordinary peasants. The feudal struggle between the estates and the boyars is growing. The king understands that the conditions that existed before he began to rule made him completely dependent and controlled by noble people.
Thus, it was the following reasons and prerequisites that laid the foundation for the history of the Zemsky Sobor:
- the creation and legitimation of new orders of management features, such as the establishment of an absolute monarchy (autocracy), as well as a return to the positions of power that existed during the reign of Vasily III;
- the unification of the main and most influential political forces in the state - feudal lords and the richest merchants conducting foreign trade;
- the need to conclude a truce and friendly, cooperative agreements between classes;
- the need to distribute responsibility for ongoing political activities among representatives of the noble classes;
- the escalating discontent of the lower classes - ordinary people, which intensified due to the fires that occurred in Moscow in 1547, where more than 1,700 people died and about a third of the city’s buildings were destroyed;
- the need for fundamental reforms in all spheres of society, state support for the population.
The institution received the unofficial name of the “Cathedral of Reconciliation.” He concluded that the boyars' rule, which was carried out after the death of the princess, had poor results.
However, Ivan the Terrible himself did not blame the boyars for the poor state of affairs in the country - he took most of the responsibility upon himself, at the same time making it clear that he was ready to forget all gross violations of the rules of decency, norms of behavior and past grievances in exchange for loyalty to the tsar himself, current laws and orders, commitment to the ideals of public institutions.
However, already at that time it was clear that boyar rule would be greatly limited in favor of the power of the nobles - the young tsar did not want to give all the powers of governing the state into one hand.
If the main prerequisite for the convening of this government body is clear - the peculiarities of Ivan the Terrible’s personal vision and the contradictions that had accumulated at the very top of power by the time he took office, then with regard to the main reason for the creation, debate among historians is still ongoing: some scientists argue that the main factor was a huge Moscow fire that claimed the lives of thousands of people, in which the people blamed the Tsar's relatives - the Glinskys, and others were sure that Ivan was afraid of the atrocities of ordinary people.
One of the most plausible theories is that the young king was afraid of the responsibility that fell upon him upon coming to power, and decided to create a body that would share this responsibility with him.
Differences between Western parliamentarism and Russian
All created social institutions and government agencies, including the Zemsky Sobor, were unique and had their own characteristics, unlike Western foundations and orders. The creation of this body is a step towards the formation of a management system that has more than once helped the country survive and overcome political and international crises.
For example, when a period came in which there were no obvious contenders for the reign, it was this council that determined who would take power and established a new dynasty.
Important! The first ruler elected by the Zemsky Sobor was Fedor, the son of Ivan IV Vasilyevich the Terrible. After this, the council met several more times, establishing the reign of Boris Godunov and then Mikhail Romanov.
During the reign of Michael, the activity and history of convening zemstvo councils ceased, but the further formation of the public administration system was carried out with an eye on this 
institution.
The Zemsky Sobor cannot be compared with similar governmental bodies in the West for the following reasons:
- In the West, representative, governmental, and legislative bodies were formed with the goal of eliminating and preventing the arbitrariness of the autocratic “elite.” Their establishment was a consequence of political competition. The initiative to form such bodies was put forward by ordinary citizens, while in Russia the formation took place at the suggestion of the tsar himself, and the main goal was the centralization of power.
- The Parliament of the West had a regulated system of government, convened at certain intervals, and had specific meanings and functions prescribed in legislation. The Russian Zemsky Sobor was convened at the request of the tsar or due to urgent need.
- The Western parliament is a legislative body, and the Russian model was rarely involved in publishing and passing laws.
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Conclusion
The first Zemsky Sobor was convened by Ivan IV the Terrible at the beginning of his reign. Probably, the young ruler wanted to confirm his right to the throne, create a healthy, strong management system, and bring the state closer in level of development to Western countries.
However, subsequent developments showed that the tsar sought to centralize power, create an absolute monarchy, the strongest autocracy. At the same time, this body played a big role - it became a prototype for the further formation of the public administration system.
Need for reforms
The most important milestone in political development was the uprising in Moscow, which occurred shortly after the coronation of Grozny. In 1547 there was an unusually dry summer. Fires have become more frequent in Moscow. The largest of them destroyed most of the wooden city. Several thousand residents died in the fire, tens of thousands were left homeless and foodless. Rumors arose that the fires were caused by arson and witchcraft. The authorities took the most savage measures against the “lighters”: they were tortured and during torture they talked about themselves, after which they were executed. On the second day after the “great fire,” a boyar commission was formed to punish those responsible for the disaster. On June 26, the boyars gathered people in front of the Assumption Cathedral and found out who was setting Moscow on fire. The mob accused Anna Glinskaya of arson. The people came out of obedience and carried out reprisals against the boyar Yu. V. Glinsky. On June 29, the mob moved to Vorobyovo, demanding that the Tsar’s grandmother Anna Glinskaya be handed over for execution. But the uprising was dispersed and its instigators were punished.
In 1547-1550, unrest occurred in other cities. The situation of its people worsened further due to the poor harvest of 1548-1549.
“Popular uprisings showed that the country needs reforms. Further development of the country required the strengthening of statehood and centralization of power.”
Moscow completed the unification of Russian lands at the end of the 15th and beginning of the 16th centuries. It turned out to be impossible to manage a vast state with the help of archaic institutions and institutions that developed in small principalities during the period of fragmentation. The All-Russian Code of Law of 1497 is hopelessly outdated. The source of constant discontent among the boyar children was the boyar court, famous for its abuses. Only with the help of noble detachments could popular unrest be stopped. These facts also tell us about the need for Russian reforms.
Thus, it is clear that in the middle of the 16th century Russia needed to strengthen statehood and centralize power. The need for reforms in governing the country was obvious.
The new level of political organization of the country, which had developed by the middle of the 16th century, had to correspond to new state institutions - class and representative institutions that defended the interests of large regions. The Zemsky Sobor became such a body.
In February 1549, the tsar gathered for a meeting the boyar duma, the Consecrated Cathedral (the top of the church) and the highest representatives of the boyars and nobility - the first Zemsky Sobor. The Tsar accused the boyars of the abuses and violence they committed during his childhood, and reminded them of how they mocked him. Then he called to forget all grievances and act together for the common good. Hence the name of the Council – “Cathedral of Reconciliation”. At the Council they announced the planned reforms and the preparation of a new Code of Law. By the decision of the Council, the nobles were released from court by the boyar-governors and given them the right to be tried by the Tsar himself.
The Council of 1549 was the first Zemsky Council, that is, a meeting of class representatives with legislative functions. Its convocation reflected the establishment of an estate-representative monarchy in Russia. However, the first Council was not yet of an elective nature and representatives of the urban trade and craft population and peasants were not present there. However, both of these categories of the population did not play a major role at the councils in the future. The emergence of an estate-representative monarchy meant that now all the most important permissions would be sanctioned by representatives of the ruling class.
It is necessary to indicate the meaning of the term “Zemsky Sobor”. Soloviev saw in this term a sign of the power of the people opposing the tsar. According to Cherepnin’s definition, the Zemsky Sobor is “an estate-representative body of a single state, created in opposition to feudal law.”
At the Zemsky Sobor of 1550, a new Code of Law was adopted, which incorporated (in contrast to the rather archaic Code of Law of 1497) the norms of all the main sections of the then law. The fundamental innovation was the proclamation in the final articles of two norms: the continuity of development of legislation, as well as the public nature of the entry into force of the Code of Law. It takes into account judicial practice.
The new Code of Laws fully met the needs of the time. For example, it introduced penalties for bribery for the first time. In the new legislative document, rules of law appear that still exist, and the local government institutions that appeared earlier in 1551 received statutory charters, that is, they “subscribed to the Code of Law.” Later, new codes were also published that supplemented the Code of Laws.
The norms for the peasant transition on St. George’s Day were confirmed and clarified, and the “elderly” limit was increased; the power of the feudal lord over the peasants is strengthened: the master is made responsible for the crimes of the peasants; The Code of Law applies to newly annexed lands. The privileges of monasteries not to pay taxes to the treasury have been eliminated. It is forbidden to serve boyar children as slaves; Punishments were introduced for boyars and bribe-taking clerks.
Thus, in the middle of the 16th century, a class-representative monarchy in the person of the Zemsky Sobor began to take hold in Russia, which received support thanks to the publication of the new Code of Laws
In June 1547, Moscow townspeople (townspeople) rebelled. The reason for the uprising was a terrible fire that destroyed almost the entire city north of the Moscow River (about 2 thousand people died). The supply of food to the capital stopped and famine began. The people demanded an end to boyar arbitrariness, the removal of the Glinsky princes from power, and an increase in the role of Ivan IV in government decision-making. With great difficulty, the authorities managed to restore order in the city. This uprising was of great importance. Firstly, Ivan IV saw with his own eyes the full power of popular anger and subsequently tried to use it in his political interests. Secondly, the tsar became convinced of the need for serious government reforms.
By 1549, a group of people close to him gradually formed around the young autocrat, which Prince Andrei Kurbsky (one of its participants) later called the Chosen Rada. It was not an authority, a government, and had no legal basis for its activities. Everything was built on the personal relationships of Ivan IV with his advisers, and while he was under their influence, gradual changes were carried out in the country aimed at consolidating the ruling layer and strengthening the administrative apparatus, strengthening the state, and solving foreign policy problems.
The nobleman Alexei Adashev supervised the activities of the Petition Izba, which received complaints and denunciations, and at the same time served as the tsar’s personal office. An active participant in the Elected Rada was the priest Sylvester, who influenced the spiritual life of the Tsar and introduced him to books. The circle of those close to him also included: Metropolitan Macarius and the talented diplomat and Duma clerk Ivan Viskovaty.
In the early 1560s. Ivan IV is freed from the influence of the Elected Rada. Almost all of its participants were repressed.
Zemsky Sobor 1549
In February 1549, on the initiative of Ivan IV, a central estate-representative legislative body, the Zemsky Sobor, was convened for the first time. Subsequently (until the middle of the 17th century), the use of Zemsky Sobors to resolve the most important state issues became a common practice. Zemstvo councils were convened irregularly, solely at the will of the sovereign; they had no legislative initiative and, therefore, did not in any way limit the autocratic power of the tsar.
The Council of 1549, which historians often call the “Cathedral of Reconciliation,” was attended by the Boyar Duma, church hierarchs, and representatives of landowners. At the very first meeting, the sovereign accused the boyars of “untruths,” abuses and “negligence.” The boyars apologized and tearfully begged for forgiveness, promising to serve “truly, without any cunning.” The tsar forgave them and called on everyone to live in peace and harmony, but still insisted on removing the “children of the boyars” (small and medium-sized landowners) from the jurisdiction of the feeding governors. During the council, decisions were also made on the need for judicial reform, on the “organization” of local self-government, and on preparations for war with the Kazan Khanate.
Law code 1550
In 1550, by decision of the Zemsky Sobor of 1549, a new Code of Law was adopted. It largely repeated the provisions that already existed in the Code of Laws of Ivan III, but took into account the accumulated legal practice and was significantly expanded.
At the expense of butlers, treasurers, clerks and all sorts of clerks, the composition of the judiciary expanded. Landowners were removed from the jurisdiction of the boyars and governors. Nobles and merchants could elect special people - kissers who participated in the vicegerental court. The rights of governors were also curtailed by the fact that the responsibility for collecting taxes passed to elected people - favorite heads (elders), which prepared the way for the abolition of the feeding system. A procedure for filing complaints against governors and volosts was established. Service people, who were the support of the royal power, were protected from falling into servitude. The judicial privileges of appanage princes were also sharply reduced.
New in the Code of Laws of Ivan IV was the concept of anti-state activity - “sedition”, which included serious criminal offenses, conspiracies, and rebellions. The first articles of this code of laws established severe penalties for bribery and willful injustice.
The Code of Law also concerned the position of dependent peasants. Their attachment to the land intensified, since, despite the fact that the right of St. George's Day was preserved, payments for the elderly increased.
Convening of the first Zemsky Sobor.
In 1549, the Zemsky Sobor was created - an advisory body in which the aristocracy, clergy, and “sovereign people” were represented; later representatives of the merchant class and the city elite were elected. The convening of the Council testified to the creation of an estate-representative institution and the transformation of Russia into an estate-representative monarchy. The Zemsky Sobor included the Boyar Duma, representatives of the clergy, feudal lords and townspeople.
Although the Councils did not limit the power of the tsar and were of an advisory nature, they contributed to the implementation of local political measures of the supreme power. Since the legal status of the Zemsky Sobors was not determined, they met extremely unevenly. The elected Rada directed the supreme power on the path of rapprochement with society and the organization of the state with public assistance. According to all data, the Zemsky Sobor owes its convocation to her inspiration. It is very likely that the idea of convening a Council arose among the clergy surrounding the Tsar, who knew the Church Council to organize the affairs of the church.
The convening of the Council may have been prompted by Metropolitan Macarius and some other persons, “respected by the presbytery,” who were the soul of the “chosen council” that surrounded the king. But even among the boyars belonging to this elected Rada, the idea of the Zemsky Sobor enjoyed sympathy. From the tsar’s speech, which he delivered at the church council of 1551, one gets the impression that the first Zemsky Sobor was convened for general reconciliation, to put an end to the litigation and displeasure that had accumulated in society from the previous era of boyars and then tsarist arbitrariness and tyranny.
So, the first Zemsky Sobor met in Moscow for the internal pacification of the state after the turmoil of the 30s and 40s. His role, by all indications, was not limited to the general formulation of this task. In the history of the development of the supreme power of the new Moscow state, a moment came when some limitation of monarchical absolutism was established.
This restriction was primarily the work of a certain circle of people who took advantage of a favorable turn in the tsar’s mental life, and not the result of a united rebuff, the solidary efforts of the entire upper class or most of it. Not being the result of the struggle of an entire class with the monarch, this restriction was not secured by proper political guarantees, a known constitution that would precisely define the rights and duties of the monarch in relation to his subjects.
As a result of all this, the restriction turned out to be fragile and was unable to prevent the onset of an even worse tyranny. 5.
End of work -
This topic belongs to the section:
"The Russian state in the 16th century."
The most populated were the central regions from Tver to Nizhny Novgorod. The population of cities grew, Moscow numbered more than 100 thousand by the beginning of the century. Productive cattle breeding developed in the central regions and the Volga region from Uglich to Kineshma. In the forested areas of the North..
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