Initially, the prince of the Eastern Slavs was only the leader of the squad, invited by the resolution of the veche, which primarily took into account his military qualities and merits. In an era of frequent wars and attacks by hostile tribes, the importance of the prince inevitably increased. Gradually, he concentrated in his hands not only the function of a military leader, but also the administrative and judicial functions. His power acquires a state character and eventually becomes hereditary. At the same time, factors were at work in Kievan Rus that prevented the strengthening of the autocracy of the Kyiv prince.
In carrying out his functions, the prince relied on the squad, which in his hands was a means of coercion and control, collection of tribute, protection of his own interests and the population of the country from enemies. It was divided into "oldest" And "younger". Those who were part of the “oldest” squad were called princely men, or boyars. The younger warriors were called differently at different times and in different regions: youths, children, gridi. The relationship between the prince and the senior warriors was of a vassal nature. The boyars recognized the authority of the Kyiv prince and were obliged to serve him. At the same time, they had the right to leave the prince and go to the service of another overlord. Many of the senior warriors, in turn, had their own squads, relying on which they governed the territories under their control. The princes had to seriously take into account the opinion of the squad when resolving this or that issue. So, in 944, during the campaign against Byzantium, it was on the advice of the warriors that Igor made peace with the Byzantine emperor. Later, Svyatoslav, despite the persistent suggestions of his mother, Princess Olga, refused to be baptized, citing the fact that his squad would not approve of this. His son, Vladimir, decided to convert to Christianity, again as a result of advice with his squad. In 945, it was at the insistence of the squad that Prince Igor returned to the land of the Drevlyans to re-collect tribute, which led to his death.
Junior vigilantes- these are persons dependent on the prince, people of his court, who served as the prince’s guard, carried out individual assignments, and held minor government positions. From among the warriors, personnel were recruited to fill various military and civil positions in the state: governors, posadniks, swordsmen, virniks, mytniks, etc. The sources of income for the prince and his squad were: tribute from the subject population, funds from its trade, military booty, trade and court fees, fines, and later - patrimonial farming.
Trying to cope with the revolts of the tribes forcibly incorporated into the state, the first Kyiv princes often drowned them in blood, which, however, did not give a serious and lasting effect. In 988, Vladimir Svyatoslavich, with the aim of firmly consolidating the lands within the state, introduced the institution prince-deputies, placing his sons to reign in the most important strategic points of Rus', as well as in those lands where separatist tendencies had previously been particularly strong.
The Varangians called Ancient Rus' Gardarika, that is, the country of cities. However, unlike Western European cities, which arose as centers of craft and trade, Russians primarily served as administrative and political centers. Most of the cities of Ancient Rus' were small and were just fortified settlements. But along with them there were also quite large cities, consisting of a fortified center - the detinets, or Kremlin, around which there were settlements inhabited by artisans and traders. The population of the cities was armed. At the head of this people's militia of the city was a thousand, once elected by the city council, and later appointed by the prince. During the formation of the Old Russian state in cities, evening, resolving issues related to the invitation and expulsion of princes, the declaration of war and the conclusion of peace, the adoption of some laws, etc. The city administration, democratically elected at veche meetings - the “city elders” - was part of the princely council along with the warriors. However, already in the 11th century. The veche in most regions of Rus' is gradually losing its former role and significance, many of its functions are transferred to the princes.
At first, there were no written laws and rules, and therefore society lived according to the norms of customary law, that is, according to customs. One of the treaties between Rus' and Byzantium, concluded in the 10th century, mentions "Russian Law" which, according to historians, was common law. Among the customs that existed in Rus' can be called talion - the custom of blood feud. If one of the clan members was killed, his relatives had to take revenge on the killer. However, the customs of different tribes often contradicted each other, and as they fragmented, settled mixed with other tribes and clans, that is, as a single state took shape, it was no longer custom that was required, but the law emanating from this state. A set of laws called "Russian Truth" gradually formed in Rus' from the beginning of the 11th century. until the middle of the 13th century. It began under Yaroslav the Wise with the creation of “Russian Truth,” or, as it is also called, “The Most Ancient Truth.” Yaroslav’s “Pravda” limited (but did not yet completely abolish) blood feud. Now the circle of avengers no longer included the entire clan, but only the closest relatives of the victim. Blood feud could be replaced by a fine. Thus, for the murder of a free person a fine of 40 hryvnia was provided. The “Most Ancient Truth” also determined punishments for other crimes. Later, the “Most Ancient Truth” was supplemented by the “Truth of the Yaroslavichs,” that is, the sons of Yaroslav, which appeared in the early 70s of the 11th century. in response to a wave of peasant and urban uprisings. "Pravda Yaroslavich" abolished blood feud. By the size of the fines levied for the murder of persons belonging to different social categories, one can judge the degree of social stratification by the second half of the 11th century. For the murder of the prince's associates (ognishchanin, tiun, swordsman, elder) a fine of 80 hryvnia was imposed. It was 16 times higher than the fine for killing a smerd, which was 5 hryvnia. Punishments were also provided for encroachment on the prince’s property (land, livestock, etc.).
Codification in Ancient Rus' ends with the creation in 1113 of the “Charter” of Vladimir Monomakh, which became another component of the “Russian Truth”. Thus, the “Russian Pravda” defined punishments for attacks on the life and health of people, as well as on their property. The main punishment for such crimes in Ancient Rus' after the abolition of blood feud was fines. Sometimes, for example for premeditated murder, the punishment was flood (exile) and plunder of the offender's property. For murder in a quarrel or fight, a fine was levied on the perpetrator. If the killer was not known, the fine (wild vira) was paid by the community in whose territory the murder took place.
“If someone kills a prince’s husband as a robber, and (members of the vervi) are not looking for the killer, then a vira for him in the amount of 80 hryvnias must be paid to the vervi on whose land the murdered person is found; in the case of the murder of a person, pay the vira (prince) in the amount of 40 hryvnias ".
materials of Russian Pravda
Social structure of the society of Kievan Rus
The population of the ancient Russian state, according to various estimates, ranged from 5 to 9 million people.
At the head of Rus' were the Rurikovichs - the Grand Duke of Kiev and his relatives. The prince enjoyed great power. He led the army, organized the defense of the country and directed all campaigns of conquest. In the former tribal principalities, his brothers and sons ruled on behalf of the great Kyiv prince.
Senior squad
Former tribal princes and the best men of the period of “military democracy” made up the senior squad, the top of the squad layer. They were called boyars and constituted the permanent council (“Duma”) of the prince.
Junior squad
The junior squad is ordinary soldiers (“gridi”, “youths”, “children”). From the junior squad, the prince's personal squad was recruited, which was in his service.
From the pre-state period, the squad came to the social structure of Kievan Rus. But during this period it is divided into older and younger.
People are personally free residents of Kievan Rus. By occupation, people could be both urban artisans and communal peasants.
Craftsmen were a fairly large group of the population of Rus'. As the social division of labor grew, cities became centers for the development of crafts. By the 12th century. in the cities of Rus' there were over 60 craft specialties; artisans produced more than 150 types of iron products. The growth of cities and the development of crafts is associated with the activities of such a group of the population as merchants. The Russian-Byzantine treaty of 944 allows us to talk about the existence of an independent merchant profession.
The peasants united into a rural community - verv, which consisted of economically independent families. The word "rope" is most often associated with a rope, which may have been used to mark out individual areas.
The community owned a certain territory and was responsible for public order on it to the state (for a corpse found on its territory, it had to pay or find and extradite the killer), paid a fine - vira - for its members, owned land, which it periodically distributed among families .
Vladimir I (Saint) Svyatoslavovich (died in 1015), Prince of Novgorod (from 969), Grand Duke of Kiev (from 980). The youngest son of Svyatoslav. Came to power in Kyiv after 8 years of internecine war. Conquered the Vyatichi, Radimichi and Yatvingians; fought with the Pechenegs, Volga Bulgaria, Byzantium and Poland. Under him, defensive lines were built along the rivers Desna, Osetr, Trubezh, Sula, etc., and the city of Kyiv was re-fortified and built up with stone buildings. In 988-990 introduced Christianity as the state religion. Under Vladimir I, the Old Russian state entered its heyday, and the international authority of Rus' strengthened. In Russian epics it was called the Red Sun. Canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church.
The squad, which previously performed only military functions, from the end of the 10th century. increasingly turned into an apparatus of state power. The warriors carried out various orders of the Grand Duke (in military affairs, in governing the country, in the field of diplomatic relations). At the same time, the prince was forced to take into account the opinion of the squad. The chronicle cites a case when a squad expressed its dissatisfaction with the stinginess of Vladimir, who displayed wooden dishes during a feast; The prince, considering that the loss of the squad was worth more than silver and gold, satisfied her demand. In the cities, the prince relied on the boyar-posadniks, in the army - on the governor, who were also, as a rule, representatives of prominent boyar families.
The main group of the population of Kievan Rus were free community members - people.
Semi-independent population of Kievan Rus
At the beginning of the 12th century. A group of semi-dependent people appears - procurement. Most often these were ruined community members who went into bondage for receiving a loan - “kupa”. While working off the debt, the purchaser could work on his master’s land, but at the same time he maintained his farm. The law protected the purchaser from the owner’s possible desire to turn him into a white-washed (i.e., complete) slave. The purchase was deprived of personal freedom, but he could redeem himself by repaying the debt. But if the purchaser tried to escape, he became a complete slave.
“Russian Truth” is a code of ancient Russian law. It included individual norms of the “Russian Law”, the Truth of Yaroslav the Wise (the so-called Most Ancient Truth), the Truth of the Yaroslavichs, the Charter of Vladimir Monomakh, etc. Dedicated to the protection of the life and property of princely warriors and servants; free rural community members and townspeople; regulated the position of dependent people; set out the rules of obligation and inheritance law, etc. Preserved in 3 editions: Brief, Long, Abridged (lists of the 13th-18th centuries).
A small group of the semi-dependent population of Rus' were the ryadovichi. Their lives, according to “Russian Truth,” were protected only by a 5-hryvnia fine. Their connection with the drawing up of a series of agreements is likely. Perhaps the ryadovichi are tiuns who entered into an agreement, key holders, husbands of slaves, as well as children from marriages of slaves and freemen. Ryadovichi often carried out minor administrative tasks for their masters.
Dependent population of Kievan Rus
Completely dependent groups of the population include slaves, known as servants and serfs. Probably, servants is an early name, serfs - a later one. Another possible explanation: servants are slaves from prisoners of war, slaves are internal slaves. The slave did not have the right to be a witness in court; the owner was not responsible for his murder. Not only the slave, but also everyone who helped him was punished for escaping. The sources of slavery were captivity, selling oneself into slavery, marrying a slave or marrying a slave, entering the service of a prince (tiun, housekeeper) without an appropriate contract. In Rus' there was patriarchal slavery, when slaves were involved in household work, but Roman classical slavery did not exist. The bulk of slaves performed menial work. Their lives were valued at five hryvnia. But at the same time, slaves could be managers, overseers, and housekeepers. Their life (for example, the prince's tiun) was valued at 80 hryvnia, and he could act as a witness in court.
Despite the existence of an unfree population in Kievan Rus, most historians believe that slavery in Rus' was not widespread due to economic unprofitability.
In addition, in Rus' there are categories of semi-dependent and completely dependent residents.
Smerds were a special group of the population. These are probably unfree princely tributaries. Smerd did not have the right to leave his property to his heirs. It was handed over to the prince.
One more group can be distinguished - outcasts, people who have lost their social status - a slave who has been bought out, a community member expelled from the rope, a bankrupt merchant or artisan, and even a prince who has lost his principality.
Social The structure of society changed and became more complex as feudal relations developed. Some pre-revolutionary historians argued that the free population of the Kyiv state did not know class divisions and partitions. Everyone enjoyed the same rights, but, of course, different groups of the population differed from each other in their actual situation, i.e., in wealth and social status. influence. The social elite were called: the best people, (men), goblins, big, first, deliberate, boyars.
The lower classes were made up of smaller people, black people, simple children, stinkers. Klyuchevsky and historians of his school note that the upper layer of the population (boyars) consisted of two elements: zemstvo boyars - the local tribal aristocracy (descendants of tribal elders, tribal princes), as well as the military-commercial aristocracy, the serving princely boyars and the upper layer of princely warriors. Soviet historiography in the class of feudal lords singles out the top - representatives of the grand ducal house with the Grand Duke at its head. The middle layers according to Klyuchevsky were: the ordinary mass of princely warriors, who were kept and fed at the princely court and, as an additional reward, received their share of tribute and military booty: the middle layers of the urban merchants. The lower strata - the urban and rural common people - were the main population of Rus'. Free community farmers who owed tribute to the prince, city and artisans, purchasers and ordinary people, smerds - unfree or semi-free tributaries who sat on the prince’s land and bore duties for his personal benefit. The unfree population of Rus' are serfs (prisoners of war, bonded serfs, outcasts).
The government apparatus performed the following functions:
- - Collection of tribute from subject lands in favor of the Grand Duke of Kyiv (polyudye);
- - Maintaining public order in your land. Princes judged and resolved conflicts and defended their lands from external enemies, especially nomads;
- - Foreign policy activities. Military campaigns were undertaken against neighboring states in order to seize spoils, alliances were concluded, and trade and diplomatic relations were established.
The historian Semenikova believes that the Old Russian state was built on the basis of the institution of vassalage.
The highest stratum of society - the boyars - were vassals of the Grand Duke of Kyiv and were obliged to serve his squad.
But at the same time they were complete masters in their lands, where they had less noble vassals. The system of boyar immunity included the right to transfer to the service of another prince.
2. Social stratification
A society consisting only of family communities can be thought of as fundamentally homogeneous. All members of the zadruga have an equal share in both the total labor and the production product. This is a “classless” society in miniature.
With the breakdown of friendship and the emancipation of the family from the clan, with a similar isolation of the individual from society and the formation of territorial communities of a new type, the entire social structure of the nation becomes more complex. Gradually different social classes take shape.
The process of social stratification began among the Eastern Slavs long before the formation of the Kyiv state. We know that the Sklavens and Antes in the sixth century turned prisoners of war - even those of the same race - into slaves. We also know that among the Antes there was an aristocratic group and that some of the military leaders owned great wealth224. Thus, we have among the Eastern Slavs elements of at least three existing social groups already in the sixth century: the aristocracy, the common people and the slaves. The subjugation of some of the East Slavic tribes to foreign conquerors could also be realized in the political and social differentiation of various tribes. We know that the East Slavs paid tribute in grain and other agricultural products to the Alans, Goths and Magyars, as each of these peoples in turn established control over parts of the East Slavic tribes. While some of the Slavic groups eventually asserted their independence or autonomy, others remained under foreign control for a longer period. Peasant communities, initially dependent on foreign masters, later recognized the authority of local Slavic princes, but their status did not change, and they continued to pay the same duties. So, a difference was established in the position of different Slavic groups. Some of them were self-governing, others were dependent on princes.
Taking into account this extraordinary social and historical background, we must approach the study of Russian society in the Kiev period. It can be assumed that the society was quite complex, although in Kievan Rus there were no such high barriers between individual social groups and classes that existed in feudal Europe of the same period. In general, it should be said that Russian society of the Kyiv period consisted of two large groups: free and slaves. Such a judgment, however, although correct, is too broad to adequately characterize the organization of Kyiv society.
It should be noted that among the free themselves there were different groups: while some were full citizens, the legal status of others was limited. In fact, the position of some of the free classes was so precarious, due to legal or economic restrictions, that some of their own free will chose to become slaves. So, we can find an intermediate group between the free and the slaves, which can be called semi-free. Moreover, some groups of the actually free were in a better economic situation and better protected by law than others. Accordingly, we can talk about the existence of a high-ranking class and a middle class of free people in Kiev society.
Our main legal source for this period is the Russian Truth, and to this code we must turn to obtain the legal terminology characterizing social classes. In the eleventh century version of Pravda - the so-called "Short Version" - we find the following fundamental concepts: husbands- for the upper layer of the free, People– for the middle class, stinkers - for people with restricted access, servants - for slaves.
In the eyes of the legislator, a person had different values, depending on his class affiliation. Old Russian criminal law did not know the death penalty. In its place was a system of monetary payments imposed on the murderer. The latter had to pay compensation to the relatives of the murdered man (known as bot in the Anglo-Saxon version) and a fine to the prince ("bloodwite"). This system was common among the Slavs, Germans and Anglo-Saxons in the early Middle Ages.
In the earliest version of Pravda, the wergeld, or payment for the life of a free person, reached 40 hryvnia. In the "Truth" of the sons of Yaroslav, princely people ( husbands)were protected by a double fine of 80 hryvnia, while the fine for people(plural - People) remained at the original level of 40 hryvnia. The fine that the prince had to pay for murder stink was set at 5 hryvnia - one eighth of the normal wergeld. Slaves who were not free did not have a wergeld.
From a philological point of view, it is interesting that all the above terms belong to the ancient Indo-European basis225. Slavic husband (mozhi) related to Sanskrit manuh, manusah; Gothic manna; German mann and mench. In Old Russian, “husband” means “a man of noble birth”, “knight” and also means “husband” in family terms. People means a community of human beings, which can be compared to the German leute. It turns out that the root of the word is the same as in the Greek adjective eleutheros (“free”)226. Smerd can be considered in relation to the Persian mard, "man"; mard also sounds in Armenian. The disappearance of the original "s" in the combination "sm" is not unusual in Indo-European languages227. According to Meillet, mard emphasizes the mortality of man (in contrast to the “immortals,” i.e., the gods)228. From this point of view, it is interesting to compare the Persian mard and the Slavic death(both words mean "death").
In the social development of Russia, each of the above terms has its own history. The term “smerd” acquired a pejorative meaning in connection with the verb “stink,” “to stink.” The term "husband" in the sense of a specific social category gradually disappeared, and from husbands the class of boyars eventually developed. In its diminutive form the term man(“little man”) was applied to peasants subordinate to boyar power. From here - man,"peasant". Term people(singular) also disappeared, except for the combination commoner
Plural form People still in use; it corresponds to the word in modern Russian language Human, used only in the singular. The first part of this word (person-) represents the same root that is present in the Old Russian word servants(“house slaves”). The original meaning of the root is “genus”: let’s compare the Gaelic clann and the Lithuanian keltis229.
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Topic: Kievan Rus in IX - beginning. XII centuries: social structure, political and government system
Work plan
Introduction
The emergence of the Old Russian state
1. Socio-economic system of Kievan Rus
2. Political and government system
Conclusion
References
Introduction
The Old Russian state of Kievan Rus arose in Eastern Europe in the last quarter of the 9th century. At its peak, it occupied the territory from the Taman Peninsula in the south, the Dniester and the headwaters of the Vistula in the west to the headwaters of the Northern Dvina in the north.
There are two main hypotheses for the formation of the Old Russian state. According to the Norman theory, based on the Tale of Bygone Years of the 12th century and numerous Western European and Byzantine sources, statehood in Rus' was introduced from outside by the Varangians - the brothers Rurik, Sineus and Truvor in 862.
The anti-Norman theory is based on the idea of the emergence of the state as a stage in the internal development of society. The founder of this theory in Russian historiography was considered to be Mikhail Lomonosov. In addition, there are different points of view on the origin of the Varangians themselves. Scientists classified as Normanists considered them to be Scandinavians (usually Swedes); some anti-Normanists, starting with Lomonosov, suggest their origin from West Slavic lands. There are also intermediate versions of localization - in Finland, Prussia, and other parts of the Baltic states. The problem of the ethnicity of the Varangians is independent of the issue of the emergence of statehood.
The first information about the state of the Rus dates back to the first third of the 9th century: in 839, the ambassadors of the Kagan of the people of Rus were mentioned, who arrived first in Constantinople, and from there to the court of the Frankish emperor Louis the Pious. The term “Kievan Rus” appears for the first time in historical studies of the 18th - 19th centuries.
Kievan Rus arose on the trade route “from the Varangians to the Greeks” on the lands of the East Slavic tribes - the Ilmen Slovenes, Krivichi, Polyans, then covering the Drevlyans, Dregovichs, Polotsk, Radimichi, Severians, Vyatichi.
1. The emergence of the Old Russian state
Kievan Rus of the 9th-12th centuries is a huge feudal state stretching from the Baltic to the Black Sea and from the Western Bug to the Volga.
The chronicle legend considers the founders of Kyiv to be the rulers of the Polyan tribe - the brothers Kiya, Shchek and Khoriv. According to archaeological excavations carried out in Kyiv in the 19th-20th centuries, already in the middle of the 1st millennium AD. there was a settlement on the site of Kyiv.
Kievan Rus - one of the largest states of medieval Europe - emerged in the 9th century. as a result of the long internal development of the East Slavic tribes. Its historical core was the Middle Dnieper region, where new social phenomena characteristic of a class society arose very early.
In the northeast, the Slavs delved into the lands of the Finno-Ugric people and settled along the banks of the Oka and upper Volga; in the west they reached the Elbe River in Northern Germany. And yet most of them were drawn to the south, to the Balkans - with their warm climate, fertile lands, rich cities.
The existence of Kievan Rus covers the period from the 9th century to the 30s of the 12th century. The Old Russian state can be characterized as an early feudal monarchy. The head of the state was the Grand Duke of Kyiv. His brothers, sons and warriors carried out the administration of the country, the court, and the collection of tribute and duties.
The young state faced major foreign policy tasks related to the protection of its borders: repelling the raids of the nomadic Pechenegs, fighting the expansion of Byzantium, the Khazar Khaganate, and Volga Bulgaria.
Since 862, Rurik, according to the Tale of Bygone Years, established himself in Novgorod.
During that period, the Slavs were subject to constant raids by nomads. Prince Oleg conquered Kyiv, killing Rurik, expanded Russian borders, conquering the Drevlyans, northerners, and Radimichi.
Prince Igor conquered Kyiv and became famous for his campaigns in Byzantium. Killed by the Drevlyans while collecting tribute. After him, his wife Olga ruled, who brutally avenged her husband’s death.
Then the throne of Kyiv was taken by Svyatoslav, who devoted his whole life to campaigns.
Prince Yaropolk was conquered by Vladimir (the Saint). He converted to Christianity and baptized Rus' in 988.
During the reign of Yaroslav the Wise (1019-1054), the period of greatest prosperity of Kievan Rus began. Prince Yaroslav the Wise expelled Yaropolk the Accursed, fought with his brother Mstislav, and established family ties with many European countries. But already in the second half of the 11th century, the so-called princely war began between the princes, which led to the weakening of Kievan Rus.
In the second half of the 12th century, Rus' broke up into independent principalities.
2. Socio-economic system of Kievan Rus
Kievan Rus developed in the form of an early feudal monarchy. Feudal society is characterized by the division of the population into classes. An estate is a closed social group that has rights and obligations defined by law. In Kievan Rus, the process of formation of estates had just begun.
At the pinnacle of state power stood the Grand Duke. The authorities also included the boyar council (council under the prince) and the veche.
Prince. He could only be a member of the family of Vladimir the Great. Kievan Rus did not have a clearly defined right of succession to the throne. At first, the Grand Duke ruled with the help of his sons, who were completely subordinate to him. After Yaroslav, the right of all the sons of the prince to inherit in the Russian land was established, but for two centuries there was a struggle between two approaches to inheritance: according to the order of all brothers (from eldest to youngest), and then according to the order of the sons of the eldest brother or only along the line of the eldest sons.
The prince's competence and power were unlimited and depended on his authority and the real strength on which he relied. First of all, the prince was a military leader; he took the initiative of military campaigns and their organization. The prince headed the administration and court. He had to “rule and judge.” He had the right to pass new laws and change old ones.
The prince collected taxes from the population, court fees and criminal fines. The Prince of Kyiv had influence on church affairs.
The boyar council, and at first the council of the prince's squad, was an integral part of the mechanism of power. It was the moral duty of the prince to consult with the squad, and later with the boyars.
Veche. The veche was a body of power that had been preserved since the times of the tribal system. With the growth of the prince's power, the veche loses its significance and only when the power of the Kyiv princes declines does it increase again. The veche had the right to elect a prince or deny him reign. The prince elected by the population had to conclude an agreement with the veche - a “row”.
The veche in Kievan Rus did not have a specific competence or procedure for convening. Sometimes the veche was convened by the prince, more often it met without his will.
Controls. There were no clearly defined governing bodies in Kievan Rus. For a long time there was a tithe system (thousands, sots, tens), which was preserved from military democracy and performed administrative, financial and other functions. Over time, it is replaced by the palace-patrimonial system of government, i.e. such a system of government in which princely servants over time turned into government officials who carried out various functions of government.
The division of principalities into administrative units was not clear. Chronicles mention a volost, a churchyard. The princes carried out local government in cities and volosts through mayors and volostels, who were representatives of the prince. From the middle of the 12th century, instead of mayors, the position of governors was introduced.
Officials of the local administration did not receive salaries from the Grand Duke, but were supported by levies from the population. This system is called a feeding system.
The body of local peasant self-government was the verv - a rural territorial community.
The power of the prince and his administration extended to cities and the population of lands that were not the property of the boyars. Boyar estates gradually acquired immunity and were freed from princely jurisdiction. The population of these estates becomes completely subservient to the boyar-owners.
The entire population of Kievan Rus can be conditionally divided into three categories: free, semi-dependent and dependent people. The top free people were the prince and his squad (princes and men). From among them, the prince chose governors and other officials. At first, the legal status of the “princely men” differed from the zemstvo elite - well-born, noble, of local origin. But in the 11th century these two groups merged into one - the boyars.
The boyars took part in the work of boyar councils, veche, and administration, where they held senior positions. The boyars were not homogeneous and were divided into different groups, membership of which gave the right to be a privileged part of society, and all crimes directed against the boyars were punished more severely. Thus, according to Russian Pravda, the life of the boyars was protected by a double vira (vira is the highest criminal fine). The boyars were also exempt from paying taxes.
The boyars were not a closed caste. For certain merits, a boyar could become a smerd, and even a foreigner - a Varangian, a Polovtsian, etc. In the Kyiv land, the boyars were not separated from the merchants, from the city elite. Over time, a patriciate was created in the cities, which was more connected with the city than with the personality of the prince.
Russian cities, especially Kyiv, were experiencing an acute process of struggle between the urban population, both with the princely power and with the urban patriciate. Thus, the usury of Svyatopolk and the extortion of the city patriciate led in 1113 to an uprising in Kyiv.
The free population also included the clergy, which represented a separate group of the population and was divided into black and white. At that time, the leading role in the state was played by the black clergy - monastics. The best scientists (Nestor, Hilarion, Nikon), doctors (Agapit), artists (Alympius), who kept chronicles, copied books, and organized various schools, lived and worked in the monasteries. The first place among the monasteries of Kievan Rus belonged to Kiev-Pechersk. He became an example for other monasteries and had a huge moral influence on the princes and the whole society.
The white clergy included churchmen: priests, deacons, clerks, palamari, and clerics. The number of white clergy was very large. According to some sources, in Kyiv at the beginning of the 11th century there were more than 400 churches.
The middle group of free people was provided by the cities. Residents of cities were legally free, even equal in rights with the boyars, but in fact they depended on the feudal elite.
The lowest group of the free population were peasants - smerds. They owned land and livestock. Smerds made up the overwhelming majority of the population of Kievan Rus, paid established taxes and served military service with personal weapons and horses. Smerd could inherit his property to his sons. Russian Truth protected the personality and economy of the smerd as if it were free, but the punishment for a crime against a smerd was less than for a crime against the boyars.
In the XII-XIII centuries, boyar land ownership increased throughout Rus', and in connection with this, the number of independent smerds decreased. The number of smerds who work on boyar land is growing, while remaining free.
Semi-dependent (semi-free) people. In Kievan Rus there was a fairly large group of semi-free people - purchasers. This was the name given to smerds who, for various reasons, temporarily lost their economic independence, but under certain conditions had the opportunity to regain it. Such a smerd borrowed a “kupa”, which could include money, grain, livestock, and until he returned this “kupa”, he remained a purchase. The purchase could have his own farm, yard, property, or he could live on the land of the one who gave him the “kupa” and work on this land. Zakup himself was responsible for his actions, and the perpetrator was responsible for a crime against him as for a crime against a free man. For unfair punishment imposed by the creditor on the purchaser, the latter could complain to the court, and then the creditor would be held liable. An attempt to sell the purchase to slaves freed him from the debt, and the creditor paid a high fine for this. In case of theft committed by a purchaser or his escape from a creditor without paying the debt, he turned into a slave.
Dependent (involuntary) people were called serfs. At first, this term was used to describe male persons (lad - serf - serf), and over time, all involuntary people.
The main sources of servitude were: captivity in war; marriage with an involuntary person; birth from slaves; sale in front of witnesses; fraudulent bankruptcy; escape or theft carried out by the purchaser. The law provided for the conditions under which a slave could become free: if he was bought out, if his owner freed him. A woman servant, if her master raped her, after his death received freedom with her children. The slave actually had no rights. For damage caused to the slave, the owner received compensation.
However, he was also responsible for the crime committed by the slave. The slave could not have his own property; he himself was the property of the owner. With the spread of Christianity, the situation of slaves improved. The Church called for softening in relations with slaves, advising them to be set free to “remember the soul.” Such slaves moved into the category of outcasts.
Outcasts included people who, for various reasons, dropped out of the social group to which they previously belonged, but did not join another.
The main wealth and main means of production in Rus' was land. First, a domain was formed - the personal possession of the prince. By the X - XII centuries. Large private landholdings developed in Kievan Rus. The form of land ownership became patrimony - land transferred by inheritance with the right of full ownership. The estate could be princely, boyar, or church. The peasants living on it became land dependent on the feudal lord. The feudal patrimony, or fatherland, became a common form of organization of production, i.e. paternal possession, passed from father to son by inheritance. The owner of the estate was a prince or boyar.
A characteristic feature of the Russian economy was the subordination of peasants to a collective feudal lord - the state, which collected land taxes from them in the form of tribute. At the initial stage of the development of Old Russian tribute was collected from the entire free population and was called polyudye. This was the exercise of the supreme right to the land, the establishment of allegiance to the prince.
The highest official positions in Kievan Rus were occupied by representatives of the druzhina nobility. The council under the prince constituted the Duma. Military detachments were led by governors. The collection of taxes was carried out by tributaries (land taxes) and letniks (merchants). There were court officials - swordsmen, virniks, zemstvos and minor officials - priviuchs, sweepers. By the 10th century, the lands of tribal unions turned into administrative units - volosts under the control of princes - governors of the Grand Duke.
The number of Russian cities continues to grow. It is known that in the 10th century 24 cities were mentioned in chronicles, and in the 11th century - 88 cities. In the 12th century alone, 119 of them were built in Rus'.
The growth in the number of cities was facilitated by the development of crafts and trade. At this time, handicraft production included dozens of types of crafts, including weapons, jewelry, blacksmithing, foundry, pottery, leatherwork and weaving. The center of the city was a market where handicraft products were sold. Internal trade, due to subsistence farming, was much less developed than external trade. Kievan Rus traded with Byzantium, Western Europe, Central Asia, and Khazaria.
3. Political and government system
The object of the princes' foreign policy was all matters related to dynastic relations, issues of war and peace, foreign trade, and the relationship of the Grand Duke and his state to foreign religious organizations. All these problems required the personal participation of the head of state, because the affairs of the dynasty, military affairs, taxes, like the rest of the treasury, were concentrated in the hands of the prince.
Kievan Rus had foreign policy relations with three types of states during the period of its existence:
1. Russians are independent or appanage and related (dynastically) dependent on the Grand Duke of the Kyiv principality and land.
2. Non-Russian state entities and lands that were the closest neighbors of Kievan Rus, bordering on it, entering into wars, alliances, and treaty relations with it.
3. Western European states that did not have direct borders with Kievan Rus.
Thus, Kievan Rus had complex relations with almost four dozen foreign policy entities.
The concentration of all foreign policy and its leadership in the hands of one person - the Grand Duke - created favorable conditions for strengthening the tactics of caution and ensured the greatest secrecy and surprise of all the most important decisions of the head of state. And this was a huge advantage of the Kyiv princes over other European monarchs.
The following periods can be distinguished in the foreign policy of the princes of Kievan Rus:
1. From Rurik to Yaroslav the Wise (862 - 1054) The main feature is the accumulation of lands, the expansion of the state at the expense of internal resources - the inheritance of weakened and impoverished princes - relatives of the Grand Duke.
2. From Yaroslav the Wise to Vladimir Monomakh (1054 - 1125) The period of stabilization of foreign policy advances, the period of consolidating the successes of foreign policy and protecting from interference in it by other Rurikovichs, appanage princes, attempts to defend and canonize the individuality of pursuing a foreign policy line as a personal policy prince or, at least, as a unified national policy.
3. From Mstislav I to Daniil Romanovich Galitsky (1126 - 1237) The period of a defensive direction of foreign policy, the main task of which was to preserve the acquisitions of previous centuries, to prevent the strengthening regional principalities from weakening the Kiev state. During this period, the weakened Kyiv princes had to share their monopoly on foreign policy with their Monomakhovich relatives. And this leads to the disappearance of the continuity of the foreign policy line that was preserved during the prince’s personal foreign policy. The frequently replaced great princes, who have ruled for a year or two, can no longer see foreign policy prospects. As a result, at the first strong external pressure from the Tatar-Mongols, all of Rus' falls apart.
Beginning in 1125, a new dynasty was established on the Kiev grand-ducal throne - the Vladimirovich-Monomakhovichs. The influence of the grand dukes on foreign policy after Vladimir Monomakh weakens. The reason lies not only in the short duration of the princes’ tenure in their positions, but also in the need to take into account the opinion of the entire Monomakhovich clan. Along with the liquidation of the independence (political) of Kievan Rus, its independent foreign policy, determined in the Horde by the Great Khan, was also liquidated.
However, the state unity of Rus' itself was not strong. Signs of the fragility of unity were revealed after the death of Svyatoslav, when young Yaropolk took power in Kyiv. Yaropolk relied on the Varangians - mercenaries hired by his father. The Varangians behaved arrogantly. Svyatoslav's second son Oleg began a fight with them and sought to replenish his squad with peasants - Oleg died in this strife, but Vladimir (3rd son) began to reign over the walls of Kyiv. After the death of Grand Duke Vladimir in 1015, difficult times came for Rus': his sons (12 of them) began long-term strife, in which the Pechenegs, Poles, and Varangian detachments were involved. The soldiers barely violated the established order in the state. The year 1073 came, and a new internecine struggle. This time, strife occurred between the sons of Yaroslav the Wise. If Yaroslav the Wise managed to maintain the unity of Rus' for a long time, then it turned out to be more difficult for his sons and grandsons to do this. There are many reasons for this.
Firstly, the order of succession to the throne established by Yaroslav turned out to be unsuccessful. The sons of the deceased Grand Duke did not want to give power to their elders, their uncles, and they did not allow their nephews to take power, putting their sons in their place, although they were younger.
Secondly, among the successors of Yaroslav the Wise there was no purposeful and strong-willed personality like Vladimir I and Yaroslav himself.
Thirdly, large cities and lands were gaining strength. The emergence of large patrimonial farms, including church estates, contributed to the general progress of economic life and the desire for independence from Kyiv.
Fourthly, the constant interference of the Polovtsians in the internal affairs of Rus' History of the Russian State.
In 1068, when the Polovtsian Khan Shakuran invaded Russian lands, the sons of Yaroslav the Wise took refuge in their fortresses. The Kiev people overthrew Izyaslav and proclaimed the Polovtsian prince Vseslav to the throne, who left a grateful memory for seven years. Having expelled Vseslav, the Yaroslavichs continued to quarrel with each other for eight years. During these years, popular uprisings broke out in the Volga region and in distant Belozer, in the Rostov land, Novgorod against the feudal nobility, which increased taxes: taxes and sales (judicial duties), feed (supply for officials). Since the anti-feudal movements were also directed against the church, the rebels were sometimes led by the Magi. The movement took the form of an anti-Christian movement, appealing to the return of the old pagan religion.
Since 1125, after the death of Monomakh, the son of Monomakh, nicknamed the Great, established himself on the Kiev throne. He ruled Russia as menacingly as his father. Under him, the Polotsk Vseslavichs were expelled from their possessions. Due to internal strife, the Chernigov Svyatoslavichs weakened: the Murom-Ryazan land separated from Chernigov. None of the princes dared to confront Mstislav. But after his death in 1132, strife began among the descendants of Monomakh. The Olegovichs immediately took advantage of this, and the relative calm in Rus' came to an end.
Thus, we can conclude that after the death of Svyatoslav, a new political situation arose in Rus': after the death of the ruler, several sons remained who shared power. The new situation gave rise to a new event - princely strife, the purpose of which was the struggle for power.
political state Kievan Rus
Conclusion
The existence of Kievan Rus covers the period from the 9th century to the 30s of the 12th century. The Old Russian state was one of the largest European states. The fight of Rus' against the raids of nomads was of great importance for the security of the countries of both Western Asia and Europe. Rus''s trade relations were extensive. Rus' maintained political, trade and cultural relations with the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Bulgaria, had diplomatic ties with Byzantium, Germany, Norway and Sweden, and also established ties with France and England. The international significance of Rus' is evidenced by the dynastic marriages concluded by Russian princes. Treaties with Byzantium preserve valuable evidence about social relations in Kievan Rus and its international significance.
However, already in the 12th century. A number of principalities separated from the ancient Russian state. Along with the economic prerequisites for fragmentation, there were also socio-political ones. Representatives of the feudal elite, having transformed from the military elite (combatants, princely people) into landowners, strived for political independence. The process of the squad settling to the ground was underway. In the financial field, it was accompanied by the transformation of tribute into feudal rent.
During this period, the system of public administration also changed. Two control centers are formed - the palace and the fiefdom. All court ranks are simultaneously government positions within a separate principality, land, appanage, etc. Finally, foreign policy factors played an important role in the process of collapse of the relatively unified Kyiv state. The invasion of the Tatar-Mongols and the disappearance of the ancient trade route “from the Varangians to the Greeks,” which united the Slavic tribes around itself, completed the collapse.
The Principality of Kiev, seriously damaged by the Mongol invasion, lost its significance as a Slavic state center.
List of literature
1. Georgieva T.S. History of Russia: textbook. - M.: Unity, 2001
2. Isaev I.A. History of state and law of Russia: Complete course of lectures. - 2nd ed. reworked and additional - M.: Lawyer, 1998
3. History of the Russian State: textbook \ A.M. Pushkarev. - M.: Pravda, 2003
4. Kondakov I.V. New history of Russia: textbook. - M.: University, 2000
5. Lyubimov L.D. Art of Ancient Rus'. - M.: Education, 1991
6. Pavlov A.P. History: textbook for universities. - St. Petersburg, 2005
7. Russia in the 9th-20th centuries: textbook\pod. ed. A.F. Nettle. - M.: Unity, 2004
8. Rybakov B.A. The birth of Rus'. - M.: "AiF Print", 2003
Reader on the history of Russia: In 4 volumes, - Volume 1. From ancient times to the 17th century. / Compiled by: I. V. Babich, V. N. Zakharov, I. E. Ukolova. - M.: MIROS, International relations,
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