In 1581, the eldest son Ivan Ivanovich died at the hands of Ivan 4, potential heirs to the throne 2: Fyodor Ivanovich and Dmitry - the son from his marriage with Maria Naga, born in 1579. Ivan 4 dies in 1584. Fyodor Ivanovich 1584-1598 becomes the heir. Greatest influence used by: Boris Godunov, Ivan Mstislavsky, Nikita Romanovich Zakharyin-Yuryev. The main political struggle is taking place between several factions:
1. Bogdan Belsky and Nagiye, led by Maria Naga. The goal is to enthronement Dmitry. After the death of Dmitry, they were exiled to monasteries for massacres of innocent people.
2. Shuisky. The goal is maximum influence under Fedor Ivanovich.
3. Mstislavskys, led by Ivan Mstislavsky. The goal is maximum influence under Fedor Ivanovich. Later, Ivan Mstislavsky was exiled to the Belozersky monastery.
4. Nikita Rom. Zakharyin-Yuryev and his family. After the death of N.R. In 1585 they lose significance.
5. Boris Godunov and his supporters. Reliance on the marriage of F.I. and Irina Godunova, B.G.’s sister. Since 1589, his protege Patriarch Job has become an important ally of Godunov. The goal is to maintain their influence and strengthen kinship with the ruling dynasty. Under F.I. Boris Godunov was a stable boy and a close boyar, in fact the ruler of the country.
May 15, 1591 – murder/suicide of Dmitry under unclear circumstances. The naked people are accused of killing B.G.'s people, and reprisals are committed against them. An official commission consisting of Vasily Shuisky, Andrei Kleshnin (B.G.’s man) and Gelasius decided to commit suicide in an epileptic fit. Maria Naguya is exiled to a monastery. Later, the Nagiye accuse Godunov of starting the Moscow fire in order to “distract from Dmitry’s death.” On May 7, 1598, Fyodor Ivanovich dies childless -> dynastic crisis. Boris announces that power has been bequeathed to Irina, and Job, Boris Godunov, Fyodor Nikitich Romanov have been appointed regents. Irina refuses and goes to the monastery; Boris is called king from the crowd, probably under the influence of Job. On February 17, 1598, the Zemsky Sobor was convened (474 people, 99 clergy and 272 servants, mostly Muscovites - Plat.). Godunov's opponents: You. Shuisky, Ivan Mstislavsky, Fed. Nikitich Romanov. Boris was elected to the kingdom under the influence of Job. On February 21, after much persuasion from Job, Irina and the council, Boris agrees to the kingdom. August 1, 1598 - letter of fidelity to Boris, his wife and children (an attempt to establish a new dynasty), September 1, 1598 - crowning of the kingdom 1598-1605.
8. Troubles. Beginning of the Romanov dynasty
After the death of Ivan the Terrible, the Zemsky Sobor, composed of service people, recognized Ivan IV's son Feodor as tsar. In 1589, the patriarchate was introduced, which meant the independence of the Russian Orthodox Church from Constantinople. In 1597, “scheduled summers” were introduced - a five-year period for searching for runaway peasants. In 1598, with the death of Fyodor Ivanovich and the suppression of the Rurik dynasty, the Zemsky Sobor elected Boris Godunov to the throne by a majority vote.
Beginning of the 17th century - the period of the Time of Troubles. The causes of the Troubles were the aggravation of social, class, dynastic and international relations at the end of the reign of Ivan IV and under his successors.
1) In the 1570s–1580s. The most economically developed center (Moscow) and north-west (Novgorod and Pskov) of the country fell into desolation. As a result of the oprichnina and the Livonian War, part of the population fled, while others died. Central government In order to prevent the flight of peasants to the outskirts, it took the path of attaching peasants to the land of feudal landowners. In fact, a system of serfdom was established on a state scale. The introduction of serfdom led to an aggravation of social contradictions in the country and created conditions for mass popular uprisings.
2) After the death of Ivan IV the Terrible, there were no heirs capable of continuing his policies. During the reign of the mild-mannered Fyodor Ivanovich (1584–1598), the de facto ruler of the country was his guardian Boris Godunov. In 1591, in Uglich, under unclear circumstances, the last of the direct heirs to the throne, the youngest son of Ivan the Terrible, Tsarevich Dmitry, died. Popular rumor attributed the organization of the murder to Boris Godunov. These events caused a dynastic crisis.
3) At the end of the 16th century. the neighbors of Muscovite Rus' are strengthening - the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Sweden, the Crimean Khanate, and the Ottoman Empire. The aggravation of international contradictions will be another reason for the events that broke out during the Time of Troubles.
During the Time of Troubles, the country was actually in a state of civil war, accompanied by Polish and Swedish interventions. Rumors became widespread that Tsarevich Dmitry, who had “miraculously escaped” in Uglich, was alive. In 1602, a man appeared in Lithuania posing as Tsarevich Dmitry. According to the official version of the Moscow government of Boris Godunov, the man posing as Dmitry was the fugitive monk Grigory Otrepiev. He went down in history under the name of False Dmitry I.
In June 1605, the protege of the Polish gentry, False Dmitry I, entered Moscow. However, his policies caused discontent among both the common people and the boyars. As a result of a conspiracy among the boyars and an uprising of Muscovites in May 1606, False Dmitry was killed. The boyars proclaim Vasily Shuisky (1606–1610) tsar.
In 1606–1607 is happening popular performance led by Ivan Bolotnikov. In the summer of 1606, Bolotnikov from Krom moved to Moscow. Along the way, a small detachment turned into a powerful army, which included peasants, townspeople, and even detachments of nobles led by Prokopiy Lyapunov. The Bolotnikovites laid siege to Moscow for two months, but as a result of treason, some of the nobles were defeated by the troops of Vasily Shuisky. In March 1607, Shuisky issued the “Code on Peasants,” which introduced a 15-year period for searching for fugitive peasants. Bolotnikov was driven back to Kaluga and besieged by tsarist troops, but broke out of the siege and retreated to Tula. The three-month siege of Tula was led by Vasily Shuisky himself. The Upa River was blocked by a dam and the fortress was flooded. After V. Shuisky promised to save the lives of the rebels, they opened the gates of Tula. Having broken his word, the king brutally dealt with the rebels. Bolotnikov was blinded and then drowned in an ice hole in the city of Kargopol.
While Shuisky was besieging Bolotnikov in Tula, a new impostor appeared in the Bryansk region. Relying on the support of the Polish gentry and the Vatican, in 1608 False Dmitry II marched from Poland to Russia. However, attempts to take Moscow ended in vain. False Dmitry II stopped 17 km from the Kremlin in the village of Tushino, for which he received the nickname “Tushino thief”.
To fight the Tushins, Shuisky concluded an agreement with Sweden in February 1609. The Swedes provided troops to fight the “Tushinsky Thief”, and Russia renounced its claims to the Baltic coast.
The Polish king Sigismund III ordered the nobles to leave Tushino and go to Smolensk. The Tushino camp collapsed. False Dmitry II fled to Kaluga, where he was soon killed. The Tushino boyars invited the son of the Polish king, Tsarevich Vladislav, to the Moscow throne.
In the summer of 1610, a coup took place in Moscow. Shuisky was overthrown, the boyars led by F. I. Mstislavsky seized power. This government was called the “Seven Boyars”. Despite the protests of Patriarch Hermogenes, the “Seven Boyars” concluded an agreement to call Tsarevich Vladislav to the Russian throne and allowed Polish interventionists into the Kremlin.
The catastrophic situation stirred up the patriotic feelings of the Russian people. At the beginning of 1611, the First People's Militia, led by P. Lyapunov, formed and besieged Moscow, but due to internal disagreements between the participants, it disintegrated, and Prokopiy Lyapunov was killed.
Swedish troops, freed from treaty obligations after the overthrow of Shuisky, captured a significant part of the north of Russia, including Novgorod, besieged Pskov, and the Poles, after almost two years of siege, captured Smolensk. The Polish king Sigismund III announced that he himself would become the Russian Tsar, and Russia will enter to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
In the fall of 1611, the Second People's Militia was formed on the initiative of the Nizhny Novgorod posad elder Kuzma Minin and headed by Prince Dmitry Pozharsky. In 1612 Moscow was liberated from the Poles.
In February 1613, Mikhail Romanov was elected to the throne by the Zemsky Sobor.
9. " Rebellious Age": Popular movements in the 17th century
The 17th century is a time of uprisings, riots and popular movements.
Many of them were caused by specific circumstances, often by erroneous actions of the authorities.
After the Time of Troubles, the government, which was experiencing financial difficulties and needed funds to wage wars in order to return the lands lost during the Time of Troubles, in addition to the permanent tax, resorted to emergency monetary levies and indirect taxes. In a country devastated by the events of the Time of Troubles, payment of emergency taxes was often impossible due to poverty and the insolvency of the Russian population. Arrears to the treasury were growing.
In 1646, the government of Alexei Mikhailovich again increased indirect taxes, raising the price of salt four times. But instead of replenishing the treasury, there is a reduction in income again, because the people were unable to buy salt at the new price. In 1647, the government abolished the tax, but it was decided to collect arrears for three years by any means.
This decision resulted in an open uprising in Moscow in June 1648, called the “Salt Riot.” For several days Moscow was in revolt: they burned, killed, robbed everyone who was considered the culprit of the people's troubles. The townspeople were joined by archers and gunners, and some nobles. The uprising was suppressed only with the help of bribed archers, whose salaries were increased.
The uprising, which frightened the authorities, largely contributed to the convening of the Zemsky Sobor in 1649 and the adoption of the Council Code - a new code of laws.
« Salt riot“in Moscow was not the only one. In the 1630s - 1650s, uprisings took place in more than 30 Russian cities: Veliky Ustyug, Voronezh, Novgorod, Pskov, Kursk, Vladimir, and Siberian cities.
These uprisings did not ease the situation of the people. In the middle of the 17th century, tax pressure increased even more. The wars that Russia waged with Sweden and Poland required money; funds were also needed to maintain the state apparatus.
In search of a way out of the difficult financial situation, the Russian government began minting copper coins instead of silver coins in 1654 at the same price. So much copper money was issued that it became worthless. The high cost of food led to famine. Driven to despair, the Moscow townspeople rebelled in the summer of 1662. It was brutally suppressed, but the government, to calm the people, was forced to stop minting copper money, which was again replaced by silver.
In a series of these and other speeches, the movement of Stepan Razin, which in the historiography of Soviet times was usually called the “peasant war,” stands out. But even if you move away from class approach Soviet times, it should still be noted that Razin’s uprising was the largest uprising of the 17th century, with big actions two armies, military plans and a real threat to the Moscow government from the rebels.
The intensification of feudal exploitation, the formalization of serfdom, and the growth of tax oppression intensified the flight of peasants to the outskirts of the country, to areas inaccessible to the government.
One of the places where fugitive peasants went was the Don, where they became free people. In the Cossack regions, since ancient times, there was a custom not to extradite fugitives who came there.
By the mid-60s, the Don had accumulated large number fugitives.
Unlike the old Don Cossacks, these newly arrived people (they began to be called “golytba”, “golutvennye Cossacks”) did not receive a salary. Cossacks were forbidden to plow the land on the Don, fearing that agriculture would turn the Cossacks into peasants and lead to their enslavement by Moscow.
“Golytba” actively participated in campaigns against the Crimea and Turkey, which provided rich booty (“campaigns for zipuns”).
In 1658 - 1660, the Turks and Crimean Tatars blocked access to Azov and Black Sea. The Caspian coast increasingly became the target of Cossack attacks.
In 1666, a detachment of 500 Cossacks led by Ataman Vasily Us undertook a campaign from the Don through Voronezh to Tula to offer the government their services in connection with the war between Russia and Poland, wanting to gain a livelihood from military service. On the way, the detachment was joined by many peasants and townspeople. The detachment grew to 3 thousand people.
A large, well-armed government army was assembled against the Usovites, forcing the rebels to retreat to the Don. Many of the participants in Vasily Us’s campaign subsequently joined Stepan Razin’s army.
In 1667, the “golutvennye Cossacks” went to the Caspian Sea on a “campaign for zipuns” led by S.T. Razin. They captured the Yaitsky town (now Uralsk), making it their stronghold. In 1668 - 1669, the Razins subjected the western coast of the Caspian to devastating raids, defeating the fleet of the Iranian Shah, and returned to the Don with rich booty. This campaign did not go beyond the usual Cossack campaign for booty.
In the spring of 1670 S. Razin began new trip to the Volga, in which the Cossacks, peasants, townspeople, and the large non-Russian population of the Volga region took part.
The main goal of the campaign was Moscow, the route was the Volga. Among the rebels there were strong sentiments of naive monarchism and faith in a good king. Their anger was directed against the governors, boyars, nobles, and all rich people. The rebels tortured, brutally executed, burned the houses of the rich, plundered their property, freeing the common people from taxes and serfdom.
The rebels captured Tsaritsyn, Astrakhan, Saratov and Samara. Only the capture of Simbirsk was delayed. Thus, the uprising covered a vast territory from the lower Volga to Nizhny Novgorod, from Ukraine to the Trans-Volga region.
Only in the spring of 1671, with a great effort of the 30,000-strong army against the 20,000-strong army of S.T. Razin's government was able to lift the siege of Simbirsk and crush the uprising.
Razin himself was captured by wealthy, house-loving Cossacks, handed over to the government and executed in the summer of 1671. Individual units The rebels fought with the tsarist troops until the autumn of 1671.
Analyzing the reasons for the defeat of the uprising, researchers, first of all, note the low level of military organization; disunity of the rebels; the diversity of goals and demands of various social and national strata of participants in the armed struggle.
Uprising S.T. Razin forced the government to look for ways to strengthen the existing system. The power of local governors is strengthening, reforms in the army have continued; The transition to a system of household taxation begins.
One of the forms of protest in the 17th century was the schismatic movement.
In 1653, on the initiative of Patriarch Nikon, a reform was carried out in the Russian Orthodox Church, designed to eliminate discrepancies in books and rituals that had accumulated over many centuries.
Correction of church books according to Greek models began. Instead of the Old Russian one, Greek rituals were introduced: two fingers were replaced by three fingers, and a four-pointed cross instead of an eight-pointed one was declared a symbol of faith.
The innovations were consolidated by the Council of the Russian Clergy in 1654, and in 1655 approved by the Patriarch of Constantinople on behalf of all Eastern Orthodox churches.
However, the reform, carried out hastily, without preparing Russian society for it, caused strong confrontation among the Russian clergy and believers. In 1656, the defenders of the old rites, whose recognized leader was Archpriest Avvakum, were excommunicated from the church. But this measure did not help. A movement of Old Believers arose, creating their own church organizations. Thus, a split occurred in the Russian Orthodox Church. Old Believers, fleeing persecution, went to distant forests and beyond the Volga, where they founded schismatic communities - monasteries. The response to the persecution was mass self-immolation and starvation.
The Old Believers movement also acquired a social character. The old faith became a sign in the struggle against the strengthening of serfdom.
The most powerful protest against church reform manifested itself in the Solovetsky uprising. Rich and Famous Solovetsky Monastery openly refused to recognize all the innovations introduced by Nikon and to obey the decisions of the Council. An army was sent to Solovki, but the monks secluded themselves in the monastery and put up armed resistance. The siege of the monastery began, which lasted about eight years (1668 - 1676). The monks' stand for the old faith served as an example for many.
After the suppression of the Solovetsky uprising, the persecution of schismatics intensified. In 1682, Habakkuk and many of his supporters were burned. In 1684, a decree followed, according to which the Old Believers were to be tortured, and in case of disobedience, burned. However, these measures did not eliminate the movement of supporters of the old faith.
At the end of the 17th century, Russia was rocked by Streltsy riots. By this time, in connection with the creation of regiments of the new system, the role of the archers had decreased, they lost many privileges. The Sagittarius not only carried military service, but were also actively engaged in economic activities. The arbitrariness of the Streltsy colonels, frequent delays in salaries, the obligation to pay taxes and duties on trades, the growth of property inequality among them - all caused discontent among the Streltsy.
The boyars cleverly took advantage of this discontent in the struggle for power after the death of Fyodor Alekseevich, provoking the Streltsy revolts of 1682, 1689 and 1696.
The result of the rebellions and the active participation of the Streltsy in the political struggle around the throne was a radical reform of the army carried out by Peter I and which led to the disbandment of the Streltsy troops.
Urban and peasant uprisings, streltsy and schismatic riots reported, according to V.O. Klyuchevsky, “the alarming character of the 17th century.” The demands of the rebels attracted the government's attention to pressing, pressing problems and pushed it towards reforms.
- 1547 - proclamation of Ivan IV as Tsar.
- 1548 - convening of the first Zemsky Sobor.
- 1550 - adoption of the Law Code.
- 1552 - capture of Kazan.
- 1556 - annexation of the Astrakhan Khanate.
- 1558-1583 - Livonian War.
- 1565-1572 - oprichnina.
- 1581-1585 - Ermak’s campaign in Siberia.
Territory of Russia in the 16th century
In the 16th century, the Grand Duchy of Moscow, which is now more correctly called the Russian State, rapidly expanded its territory. This rapid growth, which began under Ivan III, can be clearly shown using numbers. Ivan III inherited from his father the Moscow Principality with an area of 430 thousand km 2. Through the efforts of Ivan III and his son Vasily III(1505-1533) their possessions increased to 2 million 800 thousand km 2. And by the end of the 16th century, the huge Russian state already extended over an area of 5 million 400 thousand km 2. Thus, before the eyes of several generations of Muscovites, the size of their state grew approximately tenfold. (For comparison: the territory of modern France is about 550 thousand km 2, Great Britain - 244 thousand km 2.)
Territory and population
The population growth of the Moscow state lagged far behind the growth of the territory. Many new lands - the areas between the Volga and the Urals, Western Siberia, the Wild Field regions - were sparsely populated or completely deserted. In general, the country's population was approximately 5-7 million people.
The ratio of territory and population is expressed by the average value - population density. Even in the most densely populated regions of Russia (Novgorod and Pskov lands) it was about 5 people per 1 km 2. This is much less than in Western European countries, where there were from 10 to 30 people per 1 km 2. In other words, Russia in the 16th century was a huge but deserted country. Its inhabitants lived in small villages, separated from one another by many kilometers of forests and swamps.
Russian politics in the 16th century
Russian culture in the 16th century
- 1564 - the beginning of book printing in Moscow.
HISTORY OF RUSSIA 16TH CENTURY. TIMES ARE TERRIBLE. TIMES ARE TROUBLESOME.
In the 16th century, Russia entered under the “sign” double headed eagle, firmly holding Russian lands in Europe and Asia in its paws. It was led by an intelligent politician and talented leader, “Sovereign of All Rus',” Ivan lll. Unification, law and autocracy are the goals and objectives that he strove for and which he put into practice. Endless civil strife and strife between principalities and cities weakened the military and economic potential of the Russian lands. Centralization of management was achieved by any possible means. The Grand Duke created a professional army, well equipped and organized. Many appanage rulers voluntarily and consciously recognized the priority of Moscow in public administration. All those dissatisfied with this policy were punished and deposed. City residents did not want to participate in fratricidal wars, for the sake of princely sovereignty. Moscow was not perceived as an enemy and an enslaver. The city was known for its good nature and willingness to accept anyone who wanted to live and work peacefully and honestly. Ivan Kalita also cleared the Moscow lands of theft and robbery. Those oppressed by Catholic Lithuania found refuge here. The Crimean Tatars fled here, seeking protection from the Sultan.
Mr. himself Veliky Novgorod, who arrogantly rejected diplomatic attempts at peaceful solutions, was defeated. Novgorod troops suffered a brutal defeat on the Sheloni River in 1471. The Novgorodians paid a penny and lost part of their lands, and seven years later they voluntarily asked Moscow for a protectorate. By this time, the Russian state had already determined its basic forms, although the annexation of new lands continued.
Not all neighboring states were pleased with the expansion, strengthening and independence of Russian lands in the 16th century. The Lithuanians and Livonians threatened from the northwest, and the Great Horde could not come to terms with the loss of the source of rich tribute in the southeast. Akhmat Khan, after many years of preparation, led his army to Rus'. The armies stood on opposite banks of the Ugra River. Attempts by the Mongols to cross were met with rebuff. The “stand on the Ugra River” lasted more than a month, after which the khan withdrew his troops. On the way back, Akhmat was killed, and his severed head was delivered to the Grand Duke. This is how the story of the Mongol-Tatar yoke ended.
But not only foreign policy was a priority in government reforms. Local government; estate, civil and criminal legal relations required adaptation and regulation in new conditions. In 1497, the first collection of laws and rules in the history of Rus', the Code of Laws, was published. It is based on the provisions of the “Russian Truth” (a set of regulations regulating legal and court decisions in Ancient Rus'). A large list of additions and new interpretation some codes, in accordance with the conditions and spirit of the times.
The history of Russia in the 16th century took the baton from the past century. Vasily lll is crowned on the throne, continuing the work of his father. The new sovereign was a tough politician and autocrat. Appanage princes who declared disobedience to Moscow were perceived as internal enemies. Any unrest was nipped in the bud. The boyar class, which had great wealth, power and freedom of choice, did not go unnoticed (the boyar had the right to choose which prince to serve). Duma boyars in state issues They placed themselves in no way lower than princes. There were still memorable times in history when the princes could not implement decisions that were not approved by the Duma. Vasily Ivanovich eliminated those who were excessively free-thinking, without hesitation in means and methods. The opponent could be sent to another war, exiled to a monastery or executed, for a suitable reason. Foreign policy continued the line of establishing Russia as an independent and strong state. Diplomatic ties were established with European countries. There was an attempt to conclude a union with the Pope about a joint fight against the Sultan. In a treaty of 1514 concluded with the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian, Grand Duke Vasily is first mentioned as “Emperor Rusov,” which suggests that in the 16th century Russia declared itself as an equal among equals. Vasily lll inherited from his father insight and patience in anticipation of the result. In order to protect the southern borders from restless Crimeans, he invited and accepted into the service of noble Tatar nobles who settled in Russia, started families, and thus received “dual citizenship.” They were interested in the stability of relations between the old and new homeland, using all their influence on this.
With the death of Vasily Ivanovich in 1533, Russia entered a period of struggle for the throne. The heir was three years old at that time. The boyar and princely nobility were divided into two camps. Some supported the rule of the dowager empress, others sought to establish a boyar protectorate, led by a representative of the Rurik dynasty. It was a time of intrigue and death. The heir's mother was poisoned when he was eight years old. For the same number of years, after her death, the state was ruled by boyars. In January 1547, sixteen-year-old Ivan lV was crowned king. A new stage in Russian history began in the 16th century. The young king, ambitious, suspicious and hot-tempered, zealously took the helm of power. He did not trust the boyars and brought into his circle representatives of the nobility and a progressive-minded priesthood, who became the backbone of the “Chosen Rada”. Created in 1549, it is a reform-minded legislative body. The elected Rada was subject to “orders”, institutions performing control duties in all areas public administration: military, legal, financial and political. The orders were headed by trusted persons who controlled the flow of income into the state treasury. The Zemsky Sobor, convened in 1550, declared inter-class reconciliation. The theses of the new relations formed the basis of the Code of Law, adopted around the same time. In 1951, a church council was convened. The state power, headed by the tsar, presents to the council the structure of church-state relations, with a list of one hundred chapters (hence the name “Hundred-Glavy Cathedral”). Restrictions were introduced on the participation of the church in secular affairs and cuts in income and estates. Monasteries, in particular, were forbidden to give the population money in interest and bread at “nasp”, that is, at interest. The uncontrolled purchase of land by monasteries was prohibited.
A new structure of army service was established, in the direction of increasing “service people according to the instrument.” Their maintenance was provided by the state treasury. Large landowners were obliged to provide, on occasion, a certain reserve of manpower in full military equipment. The “staff” militia of rural residents and townspeople also remained. “Localism” was abolished in the army, which opened the way to command positions for less noble, but more talented people.
The order on “feeding” issued by the king in 1556 abolished the powers of governors and the rights of regional nobility. A new principle of dividing territories into “lips” was introduced. At the head of the province, a local governor was appointed, who supervised the investigative, judicial and penal authorities. The headman reported directly to the central government.
The years of reform in the history of the reign of Ivan the Terrible were the most productive and served to further consolidate and centralize the Russian state. For many high-ranking officials, from among the clergy and boyar class, such changes seemed unacceptable. Dissatisfaction with the tsar's internal policies was brewing, so far only in minds and words. But Ivan Vasilyevich, whose suspicion intensified to mania after the death of his wife, makes a move unexpected for his opponents and supporters. He first demonstrates his desire to leave the throne, and then announces to the shocked people that he will remain in power if the citizens guarantee him unconditional support in the fight against traitors. Traitors meant all those dissatisfied with the authorities.
The time of “oprichnina” was coming. All royal and state lands and institutions, and everything that belonged to the oprichnina, were declared oprichnina. Repressions began among the opposition-minded boyars. The confiscated property of those repressed went into the royal register. The guardsmen guarded the Tsar and were his secret police. They carried out terror against undesirable members of the military and aristocratic elite. A terrible time of denunciation, torture and execution began. Based on false slander, an expedition to Novgorod was undertaken. Novgorodians accused of treason were mercilessly exterminated without trial or investigation. Up to six hundred people died every day.
The failure of the guardsmen as a military force was revealed in 1571, when the hordes of the Crimean Khan besieged Moscow. Many simply did not show up at the military location. Soon the oprichnina was abolished as a state institution, but remained in the structure of the court. The same goes for government properties. The renaming to “dvorovyi” and “domroviye” did not change the essence of affiliation.
There is no consensus on the causes and circumstances of the emergence of the oprichnina. Some researchers of the history of Russia of the 16th century see them in the unsuccessful wars with Livonia and the betrayal of Kurbsky, which prompted the tsarist authorities to think about conspiracy and treason. Others, in the paranoid tendencies of Ivan the Terrible. Whatever it was, the oprichnina caused enormous damage to the state. A colossal number of people at that time were exterminated. Many estates were plundered and neglected. People wandered without work, shelter and bread.
Ivan the Terrible died in 1584, leaving behind the feeble-minded Fyodor as his heir. Feodor reigned unnoticed and died unnoticed. The history of the Rurik dynasty ended with the 16th century. Troubled times were coming.
The Russian state at the end of the 16th - 17th centuries
| Parameter name | Meaning |
| Article topic: | The Russian state at the end of the 16th - 17th centuries |
| Rubric (thematic category) | Story |
Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich (ruled 1584-98), who inherited the throne after the death of Ivan the Terrible, was sickly and weak-minded. A sharp struggle for power broke out among the palace factions surrounding the throne. Soon, having pushed aside Princes Shuisky and F.I. Mstislavsky, the Tsar's brother-in-law, boyar Boris Fedorovich Godunov (brother of Queen Irina), began to play a leading role at court. From the mid-1580s. Godunov became the de facto ruler of the state. Tsar Fedor Ivanovich left no heirs (his only daughter died in infancy); his younger brother Dmitry Ivanovich, the last of the direct heirs to the throne, died in Uglich in 1591ᴦ. (according to the official version, he fatally wounded himself with a knife during an epileptic seizure).
In 1598ᴦ. The Zemsky Sobor elected Boris Godunov as king (reigned until 1605ᴦ.). In the 1580-90s. There was an economic upturn in the country, although the consequences of the oprichnina and the Livonian War had not yet been completely overcome. Russia's international position has stabilized. As a result of the Russian-Swedish war of 1590-93, which ended with the Treaty of Tyavzin 1595, Russia returned part of the lands lost during the Livonian War (including the cities of Yam, Koporye, Oreshek). In 1601 ᴦ. The truce with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was extended for 20 years. Trade with England, Holland, and Persia intensified. Russian positions in the North Caucasus have strengthened. The development of Siberia continued, where fortresses and fortresses were built: Surgut (1594ᴦ.), Verkhoturye (1598ᴦ.), Mangazeya (1601ᴦ.), Tomsk (1604ᴦ.), etc.; crafts and trade developed. To strengthen the southern and western borders, the cities of Voronezh (1586ᴦ.), Belgorod (1593ᴦ.), Valuiki (1593ᴦ.), Tsarev-Borisov (1599ᴦ.), etc. were founded, Kursk was restored (1596ᴦ.).
Church and civil stone construction acquired a large scale: stone fortresses were built in Smolensk, Astrakhan, and Kazan. The White City and Zemlyanoy City, architectural complexes in the Kremlin, and the royal residence in the village were built in Moscow. Bolshie Vyazemy (near Moscow). Foreigners (miners, watchmakers, doctors, pharmacists, etc.) were invited to work in Russia. Noble children were sent abroad to study science. At the same time, in the last quarter of the 16th century. important changes have taken place in state structure Russia, aimed generally at strengthening autocratic power, strengthening the role and influence of the administrative bureaucracy, strengthening the serfdom of peasants and townspeople, and increasing tax oppression. The privileged position of the Moscow nobility and nobles who served on the Moscow list was consolidated (as opposed to district nobility, who served “with the city”). In the 1580s. a land census was carried out, decrees were issued banning peasant exits on St. George's Day (1592/93), and a 5-year period for searching for fugitives (1597); in the same year, indentured servants were deprived of the right to redeem their freedom, and the so-called. "free slaves" are converted into bonded ones. “Posad construction” was carried out in the cities (the return of fugitive townspeople, the abolition of the privileges of privately owned settlements). The emerging economic recovery was interrupted by the terrible famine of 1601-1603, which, despite large-scale charitable events carried out by the government, had catastrophic consequences for economic development country, led to a sharp aggravation of social contradictions.
The climate of general discontent, as well as the dynastic crisis (the suppression of the Rurik dynasty) created fertile ground for the emergence of impostors acting under the names of the heirs of Ivan the Terrible. Contemporaries called this period the Time of Troubles. In 1603ᴦ. In the central districts of the country, detachments of peasants and serfs operated under the leadership of Khlopok. Although the uprising was quickly suppressed, the internal political situation in the country did not stabilize. In the fall of 1604, an impostor, False Dmitry I, moved from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth to the Moscow State, posing as Tsarevich Dmitry (ruled in 1605-06), who died in Uglich. His power was recognized by the cities of the Seversk land (except for Novgorod-Seversky), Komaritskaya volost and Kromy volost. By March 1605ᴦ. they swore allegiance to him" Polish cities"Voronezh, Belgorod, Yelets, Kursk, etc.
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After the death of Boris Godunov (April 13, 1605ᴦ.), a significant part of the tsarist army besieging the Kromy fortress went over to the side of False Dmitry I. The united army moved to Moscow, where on June 1 a coup took place in favor of the impostor: Fyodor Godunov and his mother Tsarina Maria Grigorievna were taken into custody and soon killed, and the impostor reigned in the Kremlin. Imitating the Polish king, False Dmitry I renamed the Boyar Duma into the Senate and made changes to the palace ceremonies. The impostor emptied the treasury with expenses for the maintenance of the Polish and German guards, for entertainment and gifts to the Polish king; His marriage to the Catholic Marina Mniszech caused general outrage. A conspiracy has matured among the boyar nobility.
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On May 17, 1606, during the uprising of the townspeople against the Poles, False Dmitry I was killed.
Prince Vasily Ivanovich Shuisky (ruled 1606-10) became king. Nominated by a narrow circle of courtiers, the new king was not popular among the people. The spread of rumors about the “salvation” of False Dmitry I led to a mass movement against Shuisky under the slogan of returning the “true Tsar Dmitry Ivanovich” to the throne. The uprising, led by I. I. Bolotnikov, covered a vast territory (Komaritsky volost, Ryazan land, Volga region, etc.), an army of thousands of rebels, which included detachments of Cossacks, serfs, townspeople, peasants, small nobles, etc., in the autumn of 1606ᴦ. besieged Moscow. After several battles with the royal army, the Bolotnikovites retreated to Tula and after a three-month siege (May - September 1607ᴦ.) were forced to surrender. Moreover, already at the beginning of 1608ᴦ. In the Seversk land, a new impostor appeared - False Dmitry II, under whose banner everyone dissatisfied with the government of Vasily Shuisky began to gather. To the territory of the weakened internecine war Detachments of Polish nobles and Zaporozhye Cossacks. In June 1608ᴦ. The army of False Dmitry II approached Moscow. In the camp in the village of Tushino, a “thieves’” Boyar Duma was formed, orders were in effect, and ranks and lands complained on behalf of “Tsar Dmitry.” To fight the impostor, Vasily Shuisky concluded an agreement with Sweden, to which, in exchange for hiring foreign troops, Russia ceded Ladoga and Korelo. In September 1609ᴦ. invaded Russia Polish king Sigismund III besieged Smolensk. In May 1610ᴦ. Polish army led by Hetman S. Zholkevsky moved to Moscow and in the battle near the village. Klushino defeated the army of Vasily Shuisky. In Moscow on July 17, 1610. The boyars and nobles, supported by part of the townspeople's population of the capital, burst into the palace and demanded that the tsar abdicate the throne. Vasily Shuisky was tonsured a monk, and the participants in the conspiracy swore an oath to “choose a sovereign with the whole earth.”
Power passed to the provisional boyar government headed by Prince F.I. Mstislavsky - the so-called. Seven Boyars. 17 August 1610 ᴦ. the new government concluded an agreement with Hetman Zholkiewski on the election of the Polish prince Vladislav to the Russian throne and allowed him into the capital Polish garrison. Soon the Swedes captured Pskov and Novgorod. The actions of the boyar government were regarded in the country as an act of treason and served as a signal for the unification of patriotic forces under the slogan of expelling foreign invaders and electing a sovereign “by the will of the whole earth.” The movement was led by the serving nobility and the elite of the suburbs of a number of cities. The First Militia was created (1611 ᴦ.), then the Second Militia under the leadership of the Nizhny Novgorod merchant K. M. Minin and Prince D. M. Pozharsky (1611-1612 ᴦ.). The second militia, supported by a patriotic population, liberated Moscow. Zemsky Sobor 1613 ᴦ. elected Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov (reigned 1613-45) as Tsar and created a government that completed the fight against foreign invaders and internal strife and began the restoration of the country's economy, destroyed as a result of the socio-political and economic crisis of the late 16th - early 17th centuries.
At the end of the Time of Troubles, Russia's international position was difficult. According to the Treaty of Stolbov 1617 ᴦ. Sweden returned Novgorod and the Novgorod land to Russia, leaving behind the Izhora land from the river.
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Neva and access to the Gulf of Finland. According to the Deulin truce of 1618 ᴦ. The Smolensk land was transferred to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
The predatory raids of the Crimean Tatars caused enormous damage to the country.
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During the 1st half of the 17th century. Crimean Tatars At least 200 thousand Russian people were taken captive and sold in slave markets in Istanbul. Economic ruin of the Russian state at the beginning of the 17th century. has reached alarming proportions. Huge tracts of cultivated land were abandoned. IN to the greatest extent Counties located to the west and south of Moscow were affected, and to a lesser extent, to the north of it. In some counties, the desolation of arable land has reached 60%. Government measures (gross description and patrol of deserted areas, search and return of runaway peasants to their former places of residence, etc.) were aimed both at eliminating economic devastation and further strengthening serfdom. In order to replenish the treasury for 5 years annually (until 1619ᴦ.), a “fifth money” or pyatina (a fifth of the movable property of the tax population) was collected, as well as “request money” from the clergy and service people. All benefits of cities and lands in the payment of taxes were abolished, privately owned, so-called. white, settlements. In 1619 ᴦ. In order to streamline the collection of taxes, the compilation of new scribe and watch books began. In 1637ᴦ. a decree was issued to increase the period of investigation to 9 years for fugitive peasants, and in 1642 ᴦ. - up to 10 years for fugitives and 15 years for deported peasants.
Under Tsars Mikhail Fedorovich and Alexei Mikhailovich (reigned 1645-1676), along with the Boyar Duma, there was a “close” or “secret Duma”, consisting of proxies invited by the Tsar. In 1619-33. the actual ruler of the country was Patriarch Filaret, the father of the king. In the 1st half of the 17th century. The role of the administrative bureaucracy - clerks and clerks - continued to increase. All local military, judicial and financial power was concentrated in the hands of the governor. At the end of the 16th - beginning of the 17th centuries. The role of the nobility increased. Military needs required improving the situation of serving people; for this purpose, the government carried out a massive distribution of black (state) lands to the estates.
Intensive settlement of the territories south of the Belgorod region, as well as the Middle Volga region and Siberia, began. In 1619 ᴦ. The Yenisei fort was founded in 1628ᴦ. - Krasnoyarsk, in 1631ᴦ. - Bratsky, in 1632ᴦ. -Yakut. In 1639ᴦ. Russian explorers reached the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk.
During this period, the legal registration of serfdom was completed, and the process of concentration of small local markets into a single all-Russian market was underway. In the 1620-30s. Handicraft production and trade revived in Russia. Guests and members of the Living Room of the Hundred were exempt from the townsman tax. On behalf of the government, merchants carried out government trade, managed customs houses and taverns. Customs duties and the tsarist monopoly on trade in bread, furs, copper, etc. became an important source of funds for the treasury.
By the middle of the 17th century. Agriculture and crafts recovered from the consequences of the Time of Troubles. Market ties were restored and grew, there was a massive transformation of urban crafts into small-scale commodity production, the craft specialization of individual cities deepened, and merchant and noble entrepreneurship began to develop. The first manufactories appeared: in river transport and salt production, as well as in the distillery, leather (production of leather), rope spinning and metalworking industries. In Moscow there were Cannon, Coin, Printing, Velvet courtyards, Armory, Khamovnaya chambers, etc.
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With the support of the state, the first metallurgical and glass factories were built. Foreign merchants (A.D. Vinius, P.G. Marcelis, etc.) received permission to build enterprises. Connections between small local markets were strengthened, and an all-Russian market was emerging. The number of urban and rural trades, markets and fairs has increased. Trades in the largest cities (Moscow, Yaroslavl, etc.), the Makaryevskaya Fair (near Nizhny Novgorod) acquired all-Russian significance. The capital of the state, Moscow, became the center of the emerging all-Russian market. In the development of trade exchange with Ukraine, the Svensk fair (near Bryansk) began to play an important role, with the Don - Lebedyanskaya (now the territory of the Lipetsk region), with Siberia - Irbitskaya (now the territory Sverdlovsk region). Internal interregional trade (in bread, salt, etc.) became one of the basic sources of the formation of merchant capital. At the same time, as before, the main source of their education was foreign trade. Sea trade with the countries of Western Europe was carried out through a single seaport - Arkhangelsk (on the White Sea), which accounted for 3/4 of the country's trade turnover. Western European goods were also delivered to Russia by dry route through Novgorod, Pskov, and Smolensk. The main consumers of imported goods (mainly industrial products were supplied - weapons, cloth, paper, tin, luxury goods, etc.) were the treasury and the royal court.
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Trade with Asian countries was carried out through Astrakhan, where, along with Russian merchants, Armenians, Iranians, Bukharans, and Indians traded, delivering raw silk, silk and paper materials, scarves, carpets, etc.
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Russian merchants supplied domestic goods, mainly raw materials - hemp, flax, yuft, potash, leather, lard, linen, furs. Russia's foreign trade was almost entirely in the hands of foreign merchants, who made transactions not only in Arkhangelsk, but also in other cities of the country and thus penetrated the domestic market. The dominance of foreign trading capital in the domestic market caused acute discontent among Russian merchants. At the zemstvo councils of the 1630-40s. questions were raised about allowing trade to foreign merchants only in border cities.
In the village, where at least 96% of the population lived, a subsistence patriarchal economy, predominantly agricultural, was dominant. The increase in agricultural production was achieved mainly through the development of new lands in the central and especially peripheral regions (southern counties of Russia, the Middle Volga region, the Urals, Siberia). The growing demand for bread, as well as flax and hemp, especially for export, contributed to a significant increase in the sale of agricultural products. In the 2nd half of the 17th century. Regions that produced commercial grain and also specialized in commercial cattle breeding began to form: the Middle Volga region, the Chernozem Center.
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The regions that consumed bread were also identified: Northern Pomerania, the Lower Volga region, the territory of the Don Army and Siberia. TO commodity-money relations The palace and landowner households gradually began to adapt. Industry, as before, developed primarily due to the growth of handicraft and small commodity production and the deepening of sectoral specialization in industry on this basis. The centers for the production of linen for sale on the domestic market and abroad were Novgorod, Pskov, Smolensk, Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Vologda. Leather production was established in Yaroslavl, Vologda, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod and Kaluga. The centers of iron-making industries were the Tula-Serpukhov, Tikhvin and Ustyuzhno-Zheleznopolsky regions. The main salt production areas were Pomorie (Galitskaya Salt, Kamskaya Salt, Vychegodskaya Salt), Staraya Russa in the West and Balakhna in the Middle Volga region. In the XVII - early XVII centuries. there was a concentration of artisans and rural commodity producers in old cities, and new urban industrial centers arose in the European part (Simbirsk, 1648ᴦ., etc.).
The townspeople sought the liquidation of the “white” settlements, which belonged to the feudal lords and were exempt from paying state taxes (until 1649-52), and the privileges of guests, trading people of the living room and cloth hundreds, the abolition of tarkhanov (letters that granted trading privileges for large monasteries) , protested against tax oppression and, often together with the archers and other service people “according to the instrument,” rebelled against the arbitrariness of the authorities. Rising taxes and increased exploitation of townspeople caused the Salt Riot of 1648, the Novgorod Uprising of 1650, the Pskov Uprising of 1650; in 1648-50. uprisings also occurred in the cities of the South (Kozlov, Kursk, Voronezh, etc.), Pomerania (Veliky Ustyug, Sol Vychegodskaya), the Urals and Siberia.
The government of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich compiled a set of laws, the so-called. The Council Code of 1649, according to which privately owned, palace and state peasants were finally deprived of the right of peasant exit, and the search and return of fugitive peasants had to be carried out regardless of the statute of limitations. Landowners received the right to dispose of the property and person of the peasant. Registration completed state system serfdom in Russia. In the 1st half of the 17th century. the actual began, and in the last quarter of the 17th century. and the legally sanctioned sale of peasants without land. In 1649-52. “White” settlements were assigned to the settlement and the ban on the unauthorized transfer of townspeople from one city to another was confirmed; they were also forbidden to “mortgage,” that is, to become personally dependent on the feudal lords and thereby avoid a significant part of state duties. Trade was declared the privilege of the townspeople; peasants were forbidden to have shops in cities. In 1652 ᴦ. A state monopoly was established on the trade in grain wine (vodka). Trade Charter 1653 ᴦ. the government unified customs taxation, eliminating many small fees that hampered the development of interregional trade; in 1667ᴦ. The New Trade Charter was adopted, which prohibited foreigners from trading in the internal cities of Russia.
At the same time, the concentration of the bulk of land and peasants in the hands of the church and secular feudal lords limited the possibility of growth in state revenues. The heaviest burden of taxes fell on relatively few layers of the population - on the townspeople and personally free peasants of Siberia and the northern regions European Russia. In the 1670s. they paid taxes from the courtyard approximately 2-3 times more than monastery peasants, and 4-6 times more than landowners. The situation of privately owned peasants was no easier, since their payments and duties in favor of their feudal owners increased. Complex processes socio-economic development and the strengthening of feudal oppression led to an exacerbation of social contradictions. The flight of peasants and townspeople to southern regions(where the number of Cossacks increased due to the runaways), in the Urals and Siberia. The migration of a significant number of peasants and artisans to the eastern regions of the country objectively contributed to the development of these territories. Concerned about the mass exodus of peasants and the lack of labor, the landowners demanded that the government strengthen serfdom. Since the 1650s. at the insistence of the nobility, commissions were created to search for fugitives. The rapid growth of the privately owned feudal-serf economy continued, mainly due to the massive transfer (distributions) of state and palace lands and the peasants living on these lands into the possession of the feudal serf lords. By the 1670s. about 80% of the tax-paying population turned out to be the property of the tsar, boyars, nobles, monasteries and other church feudal lords.
In the area foreign policy actions were taken to resolve contradictions with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Sweden and the Ottoman Empire. An attempt to return lands seized by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was made during Smolensk War 1632-34. Despite successes in the initial period, the war ended in failure. The Russian army near Smolensk, being surrounded, capitulated. According to the Polyanovsky Treaty of 1634ᴦ. The Poles returned only Serpeisk and the district to Russia and fulfilled the demand of the Russian government that Vladislav IV renounce his claims to the Russian throne. To repel Tatar raids from the South by the end of the 1640s. The creation of the Belgorod Line - a system of defensive structures - was completed. In 1637ᴦ. Don Cossacks captured the Turkish fortress of Azov and owned it for 5 years (the so-called Azov seat), withstanding the siege of the Turkish-Tatar troops. At the same time, the government did not provide support to the Cossacks, fearing a conflict with the Ottoman Empire.
In 1647ᴦ. In Ukraine, which was under the rule of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, an uprising broke out, which grew into the War of Liberation of 1648-54. The army of Zaporozhye Cossacks under the leadership of Bogdan Khmelnitsky won a number of victories over Polish troops(battles at Zheltye Vody and Korsun in May 1648, at Pilyavets in September 1648 and Zborova on August 5, 1649). Not only the Cossacks, but also wide circles of the rural and urban population joined the struggle. From the very beginning of the liberation war, Khmelnitsky repeatedly appealed to the Russian government with a request to accept Ukraine into Russian citizenship. The situation in Russia was not conducive to satisfying the request - the country was not ready for a war with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which would begin immediately after the announcement of the unification of Ukraine with Russia. Only October 1, 1653 ᴦ. The Zemsky Sobor in Moscow decided to accept Ukraine into Russian citizenship. An embassy headed by boyar Buturlin was sent to Ukraine. January 8, 1654 ᴦ. representatives Zaporozhye army, who gathered at the rally in Pereyaslavl, swore allegiance to Russia.
The entry of Ukraine into Russia led to a war with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. At the first stage, military operations were successful for Russia. In 1654 ᴦ. Russian troops captured Smolensk and 33 cities of Eastern Belarus, incl. Polotsk, Vitebsk, Mogilev. Taking advantage of the weakness of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, in the summer of 1655. swedish king Charles X invaded Poland from the North and captured most of its territory, incl. and Warsaw. Russian government decided that Sweden's seizure of Polish lands would strengthen its position in the Baltic states and complicate Russia's struggle for access to Baltic Sea. October 24, 1656 ᴦ. Russia concluded a truce with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. By this time, Russia was already at war with Sweden. Russian troops captured Dorpat, Kokenhausen, Dinaburg, Marienburg and approached Riga. But the siege of Riga was unsuccessful. For two years, when Russia was at war with Sweden, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, having received a respite, resumed military operations against Russia. Russia did not have the opportunity to wage war against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Sweden at the same time, and on December 20, 1658 ᴦ. In Valiesar, she concluded a truce with Sweden for 3 years. In 1660 ᴦ. Sweden made peace with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and Russia was forced by the Treaty of Kardis (June 1661ᴦ.) to return its acquisitions in Livonia to Sweden. The renewed war with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth became protracted and ended with the signing of the Truce of Andrusovo in 1667, according to which the Smolensk and Chernigov voivodeships were ceded to Russia, and the annexation of Left Bank Ukraine was recognized. Hetman's transition to the Russian side Right Bank Ukraine P. Doroshenko caused a war with the Ottoman Empire (1676-81), which also laid claim to the territory of Ukraine. The Russian-Ukrainian army, having won in 1677-78. a number of victories over numerically superior enemy and showing steadfastness in the defense of Chigirin, thwarted the expansionist plans of the Ottoman Empire. January 13, 1681ᴦ. An agreement was signed in Bakhchisarai establishing a 20-year truce. During the war, the third defensive line, 400 miles long, was created - Izyumskaya, which protected Sloboda Ukraine from Crimean raids. Russo-Turkish War and invasion Turkish troops to Central Europe (1683 ᴦ.) contributed to the settlement of relations between Russia and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (" Eternal Peace"1686 ᴦ.). Russia joined the anti-Turkish coalition (Austria, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth), Venice). At the same time, the Crimean campaigns of 1687 ᴦ. and 1689 ᴦ., undertaken by Russia in accordance with its obligations to allied states, did not bring success to Russia, which was one of the reasons for the fall of the government of Princess Sophia. The fight against the Ottoman Empire and the Crimean Khanate was continued by Peter I.
In this situation, he continued to strengthen political system(primarily the autocratic power of the tsar), gradually acquiring the character absolute monarchy. The successes of absolutism in Russia were facilitated by the further weakening of the positions of the boyar aristocracy and the church, the strengthening of the local nobility, and the growing importance of cities in the economic life of the country. The emergence of absolutism was accompanied by the withering away of institutions characteristic of an estate-representative monarchy. From the middle of the 17th century. The activities of the Zemsky Sobors are gradually dying out. The Zemsky Sobor of 1653, which adopted a resolution on the unification of Ukraine with Russia, is considered the last council of its full composition. The government adopted the practice of inviting only representatives of classes in whose opinions it was interested in meetings (for example, a meeting with merchants in connection with the financial crisis caused by the depreciation of copper money). On the so-called “conciliar act”, approved in 1682 ᴦ. the abolition of localism, there were two curias - the Boyar Duma and the Consecrated Cathedral.
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The importance of the Boyar Duma, whose composition was replenished with unborn members, dropped noticeably. In the government of the 1960-70s. The leading role was played by A.L. Ordin-Nashchokin and A.S. Matveev, who came to the fore due to their personal qualities and were of humble origin. In 1653 ᴦ. the share of boyars and okolnichy accounted for 89% total number members of the Boyar Duma, in 1700 ᴦ. specific gravity them dropped to 71%. The size of the Boyar Duma also changed. In case in 1638 ᴦ. The Duma included 35 members, then in 1700-94 the Duma turned into an ineffective, cumbersome institution. It was in this regard that Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich created the sovereign’s room with her, and his son Fyodor Alekseevich created the Execution Chamber, which consisted of a narrow circle of people who previously discussed issues submitted to meetings of the Boyar Duma. The order system has undergone significant changes.
In the historiography of the 17th century. is considered the time of its heyday. Over the course of the century, a total of over 80 orders functioned, of which more than 40 survived by the end of the century. The number of nationwide orders remained almost unchanged: 25 in 1626. and 26 at the end of the century (Ambassador, Discharge, Local and other orders). As the need arose to manage new branches of the state economy (the creation of regiments of a foreign system, the annexation of Ukraine and the Smolensk land, etc.), the number of orders increased. At the same time, the number and influence of mongrel people grew in the structure of each of them. In case in 1640 ᴦ. There were only 837 people among the clerks, then in 1690ᴦ. there were 2739 of them. The increase in the number of clerks indicated the increasing role of officials in government. A more important innovation was the creation of such institutions as the Order of Secret Affairs and the Accounting Order. The Order of Secret Affairs exercised control over the activities of the remaining orders, considered petitions submitted to the king, and was in charge royal economy. It was under the direct authority of the tsar and was not subordinate to the Boyar Duma. The Accounting Order, established in 1650, performed controlling functions in the field of finance. Changes in the organization of local government also reflected the trend towards centralization and the decline of elective principles. Power in the districts, of which there were about 250, was concentrated in the hands of the governors, who replaced all officials of the zemstvo elected bodies: city clerks, judge and siege heads, provincial elders, etc.
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The total number of staff in the voivodeship offices (secretaries and clerks) by the end of the century was approaching 2 thousand people.
The church created a serious obstacle to the transition to absolutism. Patriarch Nikon’s ideas about the superiority of spiritual power over secular power, as well as his attempts to appropriate to himself the same extensive power that Patriarch Filaret, the father of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich, had, led to an acute conflict with Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and then to even greater subordination of the church to secular power . Also according to the Council Code of 1649 ᴦ. the government limited the growth of church land ownership by banning land contributions to monasteries.
The severity of social contradictions led in the 2nd half of the 17th century. to numerous and varied manifestations of popular discontent. There was a massive uprising of Moscow's lower classes Copper Riot 1662, caused by the financial crisis during the Russian-Polish war of 1654-67. In the 2nd half of the 1660s. major popular unrest began on the Don (Vasily Usa's campaign to Tula in 1666, the Caspian campaign of S. T. Razin in 1667-69), which grew into an uprising under the leadership of Razin in 1670-71. The main force of this movement was the peasantry, and The core of the rebel military forces are the Don Cossacks and the archers of the Lower Volga cities. Together with Russian peasants and townspeople, the peoples of the Volga region rose up to fight. The uprising covered a vast territory of the South and South-East of the European part of the country, but was brutally suppressed by the government.
Social contradictions were reflected in the sphere of public worldview. The consequence of the beginning of the “secularization” of the spiritual life of society was a schism in the Russian Orthodox Church. The unification of liturgical books and the reform of church rituals, carried out by Patriarch Nikon with the support of the tsarist government, met resistance from supporters of “ancient piety.” The protest found support in various layers of society: the peasantry, the lower classes, archers, part of the white and black clergy, as well as the court nobility. The ideological positions of the split were deeply conservative. It is important to note that the supporters of the “old faith” were characterized by the denial of the “world” - the serfdom state as the kingdom of the Antichrist, eschatological sentiments, and strict asceticism. Opponents of the reform were anathematized at the council of 1666-67. and were subjected to repression by official ecclesiastical and secular authorities. Fleeing from persecution, supporters of the old faith fled to the North, to the Volga region, Siberia, and burned themselves alive in protest (in 1675-95, 37 self-immolations were recorded, in which about 20 thousand people died). Many defenders of the “old faith” took part in the uprising led by Razin, the Solovetsky uprising, and the uprising of K. F. Bulavin.
Short reign Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich (1676-82) was accompanied by a stubborn struggle among the palace parties. An attempt to carry out reforms aimed at further strengthening absolutism (the introduction of household taxation in 1679, the destruction of localism in 1682, the centralization of the apparatus, etc.) caused an aggravation of contradictions at the top and discontent among the urban lower classes. Taking advantage of the Moscow uprising of 1682 ᴦ. (“Khovanshchina”), which broke out after the death of the tsar, Tsarevna Sofya Alekseevna (reigned 1682-89) came to power, officially proclaimed ruler under the tsars Ivan and Peter - her younger brothers. The government of Sophia made small concessions to the posads and weakened the search for fugitive peasants, which caused discontent among the nobles. In 1689 ᴦ. As a result of a clash between two court factions, the government of Sophia and her favorite V.V. Golitsyn fell, and power passed to Peter I the Great (tsar from 1682ᴦ., emperor in 1721-25).
By the end of the 17th century. Russia included Left Bank Ukraine, territories of the Volga region, the Urals, Siberia. The entry of Ukraine into Russia saved the Ukrainian people from the devastating Turkish-Tatar invasions and national-religious oppression by the gentry of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Catholic Church. Peasants and Cossacks, developing lands in the Volga region, the Urals and Siberia, brought with them centuries-old experience of agriculture and crafts, new tools; The economic and social development of some regions of Siberia, which were at a lower level at the time of annexation to Russia, noticeably accelerated. Another positive result of the entry of the peoples of Siberia into the Russian state was that the infighting and armed struggle both within ethnic groups, and between individual peoples, depleting the economic resources of each of them.
In Russian culture XVII V. features of the transition from the Middle Ages to modern times are traced. Main feature The culture of this period consisted of an intensified process of its secularization, that is, liberation from church influence. Literacy penetrated widely into the townspeople: at the end of the century, every second or third city dweller could read and write. In 1665 ᴦ. A school was opened at the Zaikonospassky Monastery in Moscow, preparing clerks for service in the orders. Parochial schools arose in some cities, and Muscovites, residents of Kitai-Gorod, received them in 1667ᴦ. permission to open a gymnasium. Over two hundred people studied at the school at the Printing Yard, opened in 1680. In 1687 ᴦ. The Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy was founded in Moscow. While exploring new territories of North-East Asia and the Far East, Russian people made valuable geographical discoveries in Siberia (S. I. Dezhnev, V. D. Poyarkov, E. P. Khabarov, etc.). The expansion of trade and diplomatic relations contributed to the appearance of works about foreign countries (for example, the description of China by N. G. Spafari). There was a gradual accumulation of knowledge in medicine, astronomy, mathematics, physics and chemistry. In the literature of the 17th century. was the beginning of the transition from ancient literature to new.
The Russian state at the end of the 16th - 17th centuries - concept and types. Classification and features of the category "Russian state at the end of the 16th - 17th centuries" 2017, 2018.
Social and political structure of the Russian state XVI century.
Formed at the end of the 15th and beginning of the 16th centuries. The Russian state developed as part of a global civilization. However, one should take into account the unique conditions in which this development took place. The territory of Russia lay in a zone of sharply continental climate with a short agricultural summer. The fertile chernozems of the Wild Field (south of the Oka River) of the Volga region and southern Siberia have just begun to be developed.
The country had no access to warm seas. In the absence of natural borders, the constant struggle against external aggression required the strain of all the country's resources.
Territory and population.
At the beginning of the 16th century, our state was called differently in official documents: Rus', Russia, the Russian State, the Muscovite Kingdom, and at the end of the 16th century - Russia. At this time, the territory of the country increased. It included the lands of the Kazan, Astrakhan Khanates, and Bashkiria. The development of fertile lands on the southern outskirts of the country - the Wild Field - was underway. Attempts were made to reach the Baltic Sea. The territory of the Siberian Khanate was annexed. After the annexation of Kazan, Russia's neighbor in the East became Khanate of Siberia, which was of great interest to Russian feudal lords (new territories, obtaining expensive furs). The conquest of Siberia began in 1581, when the Stroganov merchants organized a Cossack campaign against the Siberian Khan Kuchun, who carried out constant raids on their possessions. This campaign was led by Ermak (Ermalai Timofeevich). In the spring of 1582, Ermak moved deep into Siberia, walked along the Irtysh and Tobol rivers and captured Chuvash Mountain, which guarded the approaches to the capital of the Khanate. Kuchum fled, and the Cossacks occupied his capital Kashlyk (Siberia) without a fight.
However, Kuchum continued to attack the Cossacks, inflicting sensitive blows on them. Ermak found himself in a difficult situation, since his detachment was hundreds of miles away from its base. Help from the Moscow government came only two years later. Kuchum managed to lure Ermak’s detachment into an ambush. While trying to swim to his boats, Ermak drowned. The remnants of his detachment, suffering from lack of food and scurvy, left Kashlyk and returned to Russia. Ermak’s campaign marked the beginning of a systematic Russian offensive in the Trans-Urals. The Tyumen fortress was built in 1568, and Tobolsk in 1587, which became the Russian center in Siberia. In 1598, Kuchum was finally defeated and soon died. The peoples of Siberia became part of Russia, Russian settlers began to develop the region, peasants, Cossacks, townspeople and merchants flocked there.
By the end of Ivan IV's reign it had increased tenfold compared to what his grandfather Ivan III had inherited in the mid-15th century. In its composition
Rich, fertile lands entered, but they still needed to be developed. With the entry of the lands of the Volga region, the Urals, Western Siberia and the multinational composition of the country's population increased even more.
The country's population by the end of the 16th century numbered nine million people. Its main part was concentrated in the northwest (Novgorod) and in the center of the country (Moscow). However, its density, even in the most populated lands, according to historians, was only one to five people per 1 sq. km.
Agriculture.
It is necessary to pay special attention to the development of agriculture in the 16th century, since the vast majority of the population were peasants who lived in villages and hamlets (from 5 to 50 households).
The country's economy was traditional in nature, based on the dominance of subsistence farming. The boyar estate remained the dominant form of land ownership. The largest were the possessions of the Grand Duke, Metropolitan and monasteries. Former local princes became vassals of the Sovereign of All Rus'. Their possessions turned into ordinary fiefdoms (“prejudication of princes”).
Expanded, especially from the second half XVI centuries of local land ownership. The state, in conditions of a lack of funds to create a mercenary army, wanting to put the boyars - patrimonial lands and appanage princes under the control, took the path of creating a state estate system. The distribution of land led to the fact that in the second half of the 16th century the black-growing peasantry in the center of the country and in the north-west (peasants living in communities, paying taxes and bearing duties in favor of the state) was significantly reduced. Significant amount black-sown peasants remained only on the outskirts (north of the country, Karelia, Volga region and Siberia). The population living on the developed lands of the Wild Field (on the Dnieper and Don rivers, on the Middle and Lower Volga, Yaik) was in a special situation. In the second half of the 16th century, the Cossacks began to play a significant role on the southern outskirts of Russia. The peasants fled to the free lands of the Wild Field. There they united into unique paramilitary communities; all the most important matters were decided in the Cossack circle. Property stratification penetrated early among the Cossacks, which caused a struggle between the poorest Cossacks - the Golytba - and the elders - the Cossack elite. Since the 16th century, the government has used Cossacks to carry border service, supplied them with gunpowder, provisions, and paid them salaries. Such Cossacks, in contrast to the “free” ones, received the name “service”.
The level of agricultural development in different regions was not the same. Central regions were an area of developed arable farming with a three-field system. The development of the Wild Field, rich in black soil, began. Here the fallow system has been preserved, and in the north - undercutting. The main tool was a wooden plow with an iron tip.
They grew rye, oats, and barley; peas, wheat, buckwheat, and millet were sown less frequently. In the Novgorod-Pskov and Smolensk lands flax was cultivated. Soil manuring became quite widespread, which significantly increased the yield. In the north and northeast of the country, hunting, fishing and salt making were widespread; In the Volga region, along with agriculture, cattle breeding occupied a significant place.
Monasteries played a significant role in the development of agriculture. Here, as a rule, the soil was better cultivated for crops. Since the monasteries had benefits, peasants willingly settled on their lands.
Cities and trade.
By the end of the 16th century, there were approximately 220 cities in Russia. Largest city there was Moscow, whose population was about 100 thousand people. Up to 30 thousand people lived in Novgorod and Pskov, 8 thousand in Mozhaisk, approximately 3 thousand people in Serpukhov and Kolomna.
In the 16th century, the development of handicraft production in Russian cities continued. The specialization of production, closely related to the availability of local raw materials, was then still exclusively natural - geographical in nature. Tula - Serpukhov, Ustyuzhno - Zhelezopol, Novgorod - Tikhvin regions specialized in metal production, Novgorod - Pskov land and Smolensk region were largest centers production of linen and canvas. Leather production developed in Yaroslavl and Kazan. The Vologda region produced huge amount salt, etc. Large-scale stone construction at that time was carried out throughout the country. The first large state-owned enterprises appeared in Moscow - the Armory Chamber, the Cannon Yard, and the Cloth Yard. There is a further deepening of the division of labor. In Novgorod, one could count 22 specialties among metalworking craftsmen: locksmiths, tanners, cinquefoil makers, nail makers, etc.; 25 specialties – among tanners; 222 silversmiths worked. Craftsmen worked primarily to order, but they also produced some things for trade. The exchange of products in Russia was carried out on the basis of the geographical division of labor. Signs of the formation of an all-Russian market have emerged. In the 16th century, trade developed significantly. Northern lands they brought bread, and from there furs and fish. In domestic trade The main role was played by feudal lords and among them the Grand Duke himself, monasteries, and large merchants. Gradually, industrial products and handicrafts entered the sphere of trade circulation. The largest shopping centers there were Novgorod, Kholmogory, Nizhny Novgorod, Moscow.
A significant part of the territory of the cities was occupied by courtyards, gardens, vegetable gardens, meadows of boyars, churches and monasteries. Monetary wealth was concentrated in their hands, which was given away at interest, went to the purchase and accumulation of treasures, and was not invested in production.
Development of foreign trade. With Western Europe trade relations carried out through Novgorod and Smolensk. These connections are established in
as a result of the expedition of the Englishmen H. Willoughby and R. Chancellor, who were looking for a way to India through Arctic Ocean and found themselves at the mouth of the Northern Dvina. Through it, in the middle of the 16th century, a maritime connection with England was established. Preferential agreements were concluded with the British, and the English Trading Company was founded. In 1584 the city of Arkhangelsk arose. However, the climatic conditions of this area limited navigation on the White Sea and Northern Dvina to 3-4 months. Great Volzhsky trade route after the annexation of the Volga khanates, he connected Russia with the countries of the East, from where silk, fabrics, porcelain, paints, etc. were brought. Weapons, cloth, jewelry, and wine were imported from Western Europe, and furs, flax, honey, and wax were exported.
As trade developed, a rich stratum of merchants was formed from various layers of society. Privileged merchant associations, a living room and cloth hundreds were created in Moscow. They received judicial and tax benefits from the government.
An analysis of socio-economic development in Russia in the 16th century shows that the traditional feudal economy was being strengthened in the country at that time. The growth of small-scale production in cities and trade did not lead to the creation of centers of bourgeois development.
State system.
Before Ivan the Terrible in Rus' there were two national departments: the Palace (administration personal matters sovereign) and the Treasury (money, jewelry, state seal, archive). The country was divided into districts headed by a governor. Counties were divided into volosts.
