1.6. The Russian state in the 17th century The main problem of Russia's development, starting from the 17th century, was the search for ways to modernize the country. The essence of modernization is to change the socio-political, economic, spiritual and private life of society in accordance with the requirements of the new

Introduction. From the beginning of the XIV century. the fragmentation of the Russian principalities stops, giving way to their unification. The creation of the Russian centralized state was caused primarily by the strengthening of economic ties between the Russian lands, which was a consequence of the overall economic development of the country.

The starting point in the development of the feudal economy was the progress of agriculture. Agricultural production is characterized in this period by the increasing spread of the arable system, which becomes the predominant method of cultivating the land in the central regions of the country. The arable system noticeably replaces the slashing system, which is widespread mainly in the northern forest areas, and the fallow, which still dominates in the south.

The arable system requires constant cultivation of the land. Since here the peasant always deals with one plot, which rests from sowing only after a year or two, the need arises to fertilize the fields. All this requires more advanced tools of production.

The growing need for agricultural implements necessitates the development of handicrafts. As a result, the process of separation of handicraft from agriculture goes deeper and deeper.

The separation of handicraft from agriculture entails the need for exchange between the peasant and the artisan. This exchange takes place in the form of trade, which in this period increases accordingly. Markets are created on the basis of such exchange. The natural division of labor between individual regions of the country, due to their natural characteristics, forms economic ties on the scale of the whole of Russia. The development of foreign trade also contributed to the establishment of internal economic ties.

All this urgently demanded the political unification of the Russian lands, i.e. creation of a centralized state.

Another prerequisite for the unification of the Russian lands was the intensification of the class struggle, the strengthening of the class resistance of the peasantry. The rise of the economy, the possibility of obtaining ever greater surplus product induces the feudal lords to intensify the exploitation of the peasants. Moreover, the feudal lords strive not only economically, but also legally to secure the peasants to their estates and estates, to enserf them. Such a policy evokes natural resistance from the peasantry, which assumes various forms. Under such conditions, the feudal class was faced with the task of keeping the peasantry in check and bringing its enslavement to the end. This task could only be accomplished by a powerful centralized state capable of fulfilling the main function of an exploiting state - suppressing the resistance of the exploited masses.

These two reasons played a leading role in the unification of Russia. Without them, the process of centralization could not have achieved significant success. However, in itself, the economic and social development of the country in the XIV - XVI centuries. could not yet lead to the formation of a centralized state.

The factor that accelerated the centralization of the Russian state was the threat of attack, which forced the Russian lands to rally in the face of a common enemy.

It is known that only a powerful centralized state can cope with an external enemy. Therefore, rather broad masses of the people were also interested in his education.

Formation of the Russian centralized state. The Russian centralized state was formed around Moscow, which was destined to eventually become the capital great power. This role of Moscow, a relatively young city, was due primarily to its economic and geographical position. Moscow arose in the then center of the Russian lands, due to which it was better than other principalities, covered from external enemies. It stood at the crossroads of river and land trade routes.

Having emerged as a city in the 12th century, Moscow was not originally the center of a separate principality. Only from time to time it was given to the younger sons of the Rostov-Suzdal princes. Only from the end of the XIII century. Moscow becomes the capital city of an independent principality with a permanent prince. The first such prince was the son of the famous hero of the Russian land Alexander Nevsky - Daniel. Under him in the late XIII - early XIV centuries. the unification of the Russian lands began, successfully continued by his successors. Drawing a line towards the unification of the Russian principalities, the Muscovite princes bought up the lands of neighboring principalities, seized them at the opportunity by armed force, often using Golden Horde, annexed by diplomatic means, concluded agreements with the weakened specific princes, making them their vassals. The territory of the Moscow Principality also expanded due to the settlement of the Upper Trans-Volga region.

The foundation of Moscow's power was laid under Daniel's second son, Ivan Kalita (1325-1340). Under him, the collection of Russian lands continued. Ivan Kalita managed to get a label from the Tatars for a great reign, acquired the right to collect tribute for the Tatars from all or almost all Russian principalities that retained their independence. This position was used by the Moscow princes in order to gradually subjugate these principalities. Thanks to the flexible foreign policy of the Moscow princes, it was possible to ensure peace in Russia for several decades. Moscow became the center Orthodox Church, in 1326 the metropolitan see was transferred to it from Vladimir. Expanding the territory of the Muscovite state, the Grand Dukes turned the destinies into simple estates. The appanage princes ceased to be sovereigns in their appanages and were equated with the boyars, i.e. became subjects of the Grand Duke of Moscow. They could no longer pursue an independent domestic and foreign policy.

By the end of the XIV century. The Moscow principality became so strong that it was able to start a struggle for liberation from the Mongol Tatar yoke. The first crushing blows were dealt to the Horde, the most significant of which was the victory of the Russian troops under the command of Prince Dmitry Donskoy on the Kulikovo field. Under Ivan III, the unification of Russian lands entered a completed phase. The most important lands were annexed to Moscow - Novgorod the Great, Tver, part of the Ryazan principality, Russian lands along the Desna. In 1480, after the well-known "standing on the Ugra", Russia finally freed itself from the Tatar yoke. The process of unification of Russian lands was completed at the beginning of the 16th century. Prince Vasily III annexed to Moscow the second half of the Ryazan principality, Pskov, liberated Smolensk from Lithuanian domination.

Together with the unification of the Russian lands, the power of the great princes over them also grew. The Moscow principality ceased to be a collection of more or less independent states. The division into appanages was replaced by division into administrative-territorial units headed by governors and volosts.

Along with the unification of Russian lands, some neighboring peoples also joined. Together with Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod, Perm and other lands, the Moscow state also included small non-Russian peoples who inhabited them: Meshchers, Karelians, Saami, Nenets, Udmurts, and others. Some of them assimilated, dissolved into the Great Russian people, but most retained their originality. The Russian state, like Kyiv, became multinational. Chistyakov O.I. History of domestic state and law. Part 1: Textbook / Ed. O.I. Chistyakov. - M. Publishing house BEK, 1996. - 368 p.

Thus, the process of formation of a single Russian state was expressed, firstly, in the unification of the territories of previously independent states-principalities into one - the Grand Duchy of Moscow; and secondly, in changing the very nature of statehood, in transforming the political organization of society. Titov Yu.P. History of the state and law of Russia. Textbook / Ed. Yu.P. Titova - M .: "Prospect", 1999. - 544 p.

Social system and legal status of the population. During the period under review, quite significant changes took place in Russia in the forms of feudal ownership of land and in the legal status of the main groupings of the ruling class of feudal lords. The nature of the relationship between them became different.

The class of feudal lords was divided into several categories. At the head of the hierarchical ladder was the Grand Duke - the largest feudal lord, who owned the palace and black-moss lands. The palace lands belonged directly to the prince and his family and were often distributed to close associates for service. The peasants of the palace lands carried dues or corvee and were ruled by palace servants. Chernososhnye lands belonged to the prince as head of state. The peasants of these lands bore taxes, duties in favor of the grand duke's power and were ruled by his governors. Black lands also often passed into the private possession of feudal lords - boyars, monasteries, nobility. The serving princes turned into large estate owners, first vassals, and then subjects of the Grand Duke, who were obliged to serve him. Boyars - large landowners, estates, were also vassals of the Grand Duke, and then - his subjects. The patrimonial boyars became the main category of the ruling class of feudal lords during the period of feudal fragmentation. They had great rights to the land and the peasants who lived on it: they transferred the land by inheritance, alienated it, changed it, etc.; in their hands were the court, administration, collection of taxes, etc. in addition, the boyars had the “right to leave” from one prince to another, which did not entail the liquidation of the estate. An important institution of patrimonial landownership was the right of patrimonial redemption of alienated lands, according to which the relatives of the votchinnik had the opportunity to acquire them in the first place. This right was exercised regardless of the vassal ties of the boyars. Boyar land ownership already by the 15th century. did not coincide with the borders of specific principalities remaining from political fragmentation. Vassal relations with specific princes were destroyed and replaced by service to the Grand Duke. With the unification of the lands and the strengthening of the grand ducal power, the legal status of the boyars-patrimonials changed significantly: the “right to leave” was limited and then abolished; estates began to acquire the character of conditional land ownership; their immunity privileges were reduced. These changes led to some limitation of the power of the boyars, which did not mean the loss of their privileged position. The boyars were still large landowners, they exploited peasants, bonded people, and serfs. They were free from taxes and duties, judged their peasants and ruled over them. The boyars were part of the feudal council under the prince, occupied the most important positions in the state administration and in the armed forces, and had privileges in court.

The boyar title could previously only be obtained by inheritance. With the change of the old feudal nobility, the title of boyars became a court rank, favored by the Grand Duke. There were "introduced" boyars, okolnichi, whose belonging to the top of the feudal nobility was established by the prince. Other layers of feudal lords had the ranks of duma nobles, duma clerks, stewards, Moscow and city nobles, etc.

The feudal hierarchy of that time was characterized by a system of parochialism, in which representatives of princely or feudal families occupied a certain place at the prince's court and in the sovereign's service by virtue of their generosity. The broad privileges of the old feudal nobility and the system of parochialism were a serious brake on the process of centralization and the strengthening of political unity. Titov Yu.P. History of the state and law of Russia. Textbook / Ed. Yu.P. Titova - M .: "Prospect", 1999. - 544 p.

Serving people - noblemen - owned the land on the so-called local right, i.e. conditionally, for service and for the duration of service. The owners of local lands could not alienate them and pass them on by inheritance, were not included in the Boyar Duma, could not receive the highest ranks in the palace administration and be governors.

The nobility became an increasingly numerous group of the ruling class, and a group closely associated with the grand ducal power and becoming its important political pillar. The nobility was extremely interested in strengthening the power of a single sovereign, since they could not cope with either internal or external enemies on their own. It was interested in capturing new lands and expanding the “dachas” provided to it, in intensifying the development of trade, the emergence of new trade routes, since the economy of an average and small feudal lord could be effective only in conditions of market relations, the development of lordly plowing, and an increase in duties. Subsequently, the rights of the nobles to land were significantly expanded.

The middle and small feudal lords included free servants and boyar children. Medium and small noble landownership had a more progressive and viable character compared to the boyar-princely patrimony, as evidenced by the numerous facts of the ruin of the former princes and boyars, their debts, mortgages of land, selling them to new owners.

Monasteries and the church - the largest landowners - estates - had up to a third of all privately owned lands in the Russian state. Church and monastic landownership continued to develop intensively during the XIV - XV centuries. It, as a rule, did not coincide with the borders of individual principalities. The clergy linked their policy with the Grand Duke, supported his desire for the political unification of Russia, strengthening the state apparatus. Only the power of the grand dukes could help the clergy cope with the peasant movement. The peasants more and more often rose up to fight, seized the lands of the feudal lords, and fled to the outskirts of the country. Only a strong government could protect the interests of the clergy, create the necessary conditions for the increased exploitation of the direct producers. But at the same time, the broad privileges and immunities of church feudal lords prevented the centralization of the state. At the beginning of the XVI century. there was a tendency to some change, limitation: the lands of monasteries and churches were no longer exempt from paying state taxes, cases of the most serious crimes were withdrawn from the jurisdiction of the court of the clergy.

Church feudal lords had a number of personal privileges - they did not pay royal taxes, they were subject only to the court of the clergy, their lives, honor, property were protected by increased penalties. Titov Yu.P. History of the state and law of Russia. Textbook / Ed. Yu.P. Titova - M .: "Prospect", 1999. - 544 p.

Urban population. Cities were usually divided into two parts: the city itself, i.e. a place enclosed by a wall, a fortress and a trade and craft settlement surrounding the city walls. Accordingly, the population was divided. In the fortress - detinets lived in peacetime mainly representatives of the princely government, the garrison and servants of local feudal lords. Craftsmen and merchants settled in the settlement. The first part of the population was free from taxes and state duties, the second belonged to the tax "black" people.

The intermediate category was made up of the population of settlements and households belonging to individual feudal lords and located within the city limits. These people, economically connected with the settlement, were nevertheless free from the city tax and carried duties only in favor of their master. The economic upsurge in the 15th century, the development of handicrafts and trade strengthened the economic position of the cities, and, consequently, raised the importance of the townspeople. In the cities, the most wealthy circles of merchants stand out - guests leading foreign trade. Chistyakov O.I. History of domestic state and law. Part 1: Textbook / Ed. O.I. Chistyakov. - M. Publishing house BEK, 1996. - 368 p.

The peasants were divided into several main groups: sovereign, palace and private property.

The black-taxed peasants paid taxes and carried other natural duties to the Grand Duke-Sovereign. Their number was constantly and significantly reduced, as they were transferred along with the land, complained to the feudal lords. Privately owned peasants lived on the land of individual feudal lords, having land plots from them, for which land owners received rent, either dues or corvée. The position of the palace peasants was similar. During the period under review, there is an increase in the exploitation of the peasants, an increase in the size of quitrent, corvee. The feudal lords could ensure the fulfillment of these duties only by strengthening non-economic coercion and strengthening the state apparatus. With his help from the middle of the XV century. began the process of general enslavement of the peasants. At first, the right to move certain groups of old-time peasants, silversmiths was limited, then in special letters granted by the grand dukes, it was determined general term transition peasants - St. George's Day. When leaving, the peasant had to pay a certain amount - the elderly. At that time, the institution of servility was preserved, but a new group appeared - bonded people. Yu.P. Titov. History of the state and law of Russia. Textbook / Ed. Yu.P. Titova - M .: "Prospect", 1999. - 544 p. The bondage arose out of debt bondage. The person who borrowed had to work off the interest. Most often, bondage became lifelong.

Kholops were divided into several groups. There were large, full and reporting slaves. Big serfs are the pinnacle of servility, princely and boyar servants, who sometimes held high positions. Full and reporting serfs worked in the household of the feudal lord as servants, artisans, and farmers. The economic unprofitability of servile labor is becoming more and more obvious. Therefore, there is a tendency towards a relative reduction in servility.

At the same time, self-sale into slaves became widespread. The impoverished peasants were sold into slaves. The number of serfs was also reduced due to their release into the wild. Most often, serfs were released under a will. Monasteries also released their serfs.

During this period, the process of gradual blurring of the line between serfs and peasants is developing, which began as early as in Ancient Russia. Serfs receive some property and personal rights, and enslaved peasants are losing them more and more. Chistyakov O.I. History of domestic state and law. Part 1: Textbook / Ed. O.I. Chistyakov. - M. Publishing house BEK, 1996. - 368 p.

Conclusion Thus, in the second half of the XIV century. in northeastern Russia, the tendency to unite the lands intensified. The center of the association was the Moscow principality, separated from Vladimir-Suzdal in the 12th century.

The weakening and disintegration of the Golden Horde, the development of economic inter-princely relations and trade, the formation of new cities and the strengthening of the nobility as a social stratum played the role of unifying factors. In the Moscow principality, the system of local relations was intensively developing: the nobles received land from the Grand Duke for their service and for the duration of their service. This made them dependent on the prince and strengthened his power.

Speaking of centralization, two processes should be kept in mind: the unification of Russian lands around a new center - Moscow and the creation of a centralized state apparatus, a new power structure in the Muscovite state.

In the course of centralization, the entire political system was transformed. In place of many independent principalities, a single state is formed. The whole system of suzerain-vassal relations is changing: the former grand dukes themselves become vassals of the Grand Duke of Moscow, a complex hierarchy of feudal ranks is taking shape. The strengthening service nobility becomes a support for the Grand Duke in the fight against the feudal aristocracy, which does not want to sacrifice its independence. In the economic field, a struggle is unfolding between the patrimonial and local types of land tenure.

The church became a serious political force, concentrating in its hands significant land holdings and values ​​and basically determining the ideology of the emerging autocratic state.

The elite of the urban population waged a continuous struggle against the feudal aristocracy and actively supported the policy of centralization. She formed her corporate bodies, insisted on exemption from heavy taxation and the elimination of privileged feudal trades and trades in the cities.

Thus, in the emerging political situation, all three social forces - the feudal (secular and spiritual) aristocracy, the serving nobility and the top tenants - formed the basis of the estate-representative system of government.

Lesson plan:

1. Reasons for the formation of the Russian centralized state.
2. The political system of the Russian state at the end of the 15th-17th centuries.

The beginning of the process of centralization dates back to the 14th century. However, until the 80s of the XV century. the unification of Russian lands and the centralization of state power were carried out within the framework of the feudal fragmentation that still prevailed. Only since the 80s. XV century the dominant form of the political system of Russia is no longer fragmentation, but a centralized state. The completion of the process of folding a single state territory and formalizing a centralized control system dates back to the end of the 15th - 16th centuries.

It should be noted that the process of the emergence of centralized states is a natural stage in the development of feudalism, following after the early feudal period and feudal fragmentation. It takes place at a stage in the development of feudalism when more or less strong economic ties are established between individual regions of the country as a result of the growth of the social division of labor, the development of handicrafts and commodity production, and the growth of cities. Along with the generality of this process in Russia, in comparison with Western Europe, there were some peculiarities. In Western Europe, the formation of centralized states took place in the conditions of the beginning of bourgeois development, while in Russia it began under the dominance of the feudal system. However, the main feature is the predominance political reasons over economic. In Russia, the process of centralization was greatly accelerated by the need to deal with an external danger: with the Golden Horde first of all, but also with the threats from Lithuania and the Livonian Order.

1. Reasons for the formation of a centralized state.

In the fourteenth century began to emerge tendencies of political unification of the Russian princes. This was facilitated - although not to the same extent as in Western Europe - by the socio-economic development of the country: Russia began to recover from the Batu pogrom.

Agriculture restored after the Mongol-Tatar invasion is developing. The rise in the productive forces in agriculture is mainly due to the expansion of the areas sown with agricultural crops. During this period, the peasants are intensively plowing wastelands - lands abandoned as a result of enemy raids, clearing forest areas for arable land, colonizing the lands of the Urals and Primorye.

There was a transition to a two- and three-field crop rotation system, the plow with an iron coulter became the main arable tool, and they began to fertilize the land with manure.

But as the area of ​​cultivated land increased, thereby increasing their value, the attack of the feudal lords on the peasants intensified. Land is of value to the feudal lord only if the peasants who work it live on it. During the XI-XV centuries. feudal landownership increased significantly: the free, peasant community was absorbed by the feudal owners. Only in the northeast did the so-called "black" peasants, who did not belong to individual feudal lords, survive.

From the middle of the fourteenth century the church begins to turn into a large feudal landowner. Under the conditions of the Mongol-Tatar yoke, the church was placed in the most favorable conditions in comparison with other layers of the feudal lords. In Russia, as in other conquered countries, the Mongol-Tatars did not touch the church. They perfectly understood the power of its influence on the masses, which could be used to assert the power of the conquerors. Church lands were exempted from paying tribute, even from the supply and maintenance of Tatar horses. The church received immunity from the conquerors. Similarly, through the purchase, usury transactions, the grant of the prince, the contributions of the estates, the metropolitan, episcopal, monastic land ownership is expanding. Founded by Sergius of Radonezh, the Trinity-Sergius Monastery (1339) becomes one of the largest feudal lords. The Kirillov Monastery in the north near White Lake, the Solovetsky Monastery, founded in 1404, became the same large landowners. Moscow metropolitan.

The development of feudal property and its new forms caused a further increase in the dependence and exploitation of the rural working population. However, feudal exploitation in the XIII-XV centuries. was not intensive: with the weak development of commodity-money relations, the feudal lord was content with receiving only those agricultural products that he could consume. Quite in kind was the main form of rent. The intensified exploitation of the peasants aggravated the class struggle and led to numerous anti-feudal uprisings. This struggle took the most varied forms: weeding and mowing the fields and meadows of the feudal lord, setting fire to his estate, killing individual patrimonial owners, and armed uprisings. Therefore, the class of feudal lords was interested in expanding the base of grand ducal power and strengthening the state.

From the second half of the fourteenth century. the rise of urban craft begins. It was accompanied by a significant increase in the technology of handicraft production. Among the many handicraft specialties of the cities, metal processing occupied the first place. The most common were blacksmithing and weapons production. It should be said that firearms appeared in Russia simultaneously with their appearance in Western Europe. During the siege of Moscow by Tokhtamysh in 1382, cannons (the so-called mattresses) operated on the fortress walls of Moscow.

Jewelery has spread widely. Russian weapons and jewelry successfully competed with the products of Damascus, Milanese, Baghdad and Constantinople craftsmen who brought their goods to the Crimean market. Many Russian cities, especially Moscow, were famous at that time for their excellent gunsmiths, jewelers, silver and goldsmiths.

The wide development of handicrafts, its further separation from agriculture, and the growth of the commodity production of artisans caused the economic upsurge of cities, which is especially clearly observed at the end of the 14th century.

In the XIV-XV centuries. cities were built up, expanded, actively settled by artisans and merchants. During this period, many new Russian cities were born, which grew mainly from trade and craft villages. These include Klin, Serpukhov, Kineshma, Ruza, Vereya, Borovsk, Kashira and others.

In the old cities - Moscow, Vladimir, Novgorod, Pskov, Kostroma, Nizhny Novgorod, large handicraft settlements grew up. Cities were increasingly turning into craft centers. The rise of agricultural production and the development of handicrafts increased the role of cities and as trading centers. In a number of cities, including Moscow, Novgorod, and Tver, certain branches of handicraft worked only for the market. In Moscow, for example, commodity production was widely developed in pottery, leather and shoe making.

In the cities there were "trades" - markets where local agricultural products and handicrafts were sold. Local auctions prevailed, but they acquired the importance of regional markets (Novgorod the Great, Pskov, Tver, Ryazan, Nizhny Novgorod). Internal trade relations developed mainly between the city and the countryside within each principality. However, trade relations also developed between the various lands of North-Eastern Russia.

They talk about the development of trade relations between the Russian lands, in particular, the contractual letters of the princes of the 14th-15th centuries. These letters indicated that the princes were obliged not to interfere with the trade of merchants, to let them pass through their possessions "without hooks and without dirty tricks." All this was one of the prerequisites for the political unification of Russia.

Moscow developed the widest trade relations, which turned into the largest center of North-Eastern Russia, into the main market for agricultural products. The expansion of trade contributed to the strengthening of economic ties between individual principalities. However, for the further economy it was necessary to unite all Russian lands into a single state.

The completion of the political unification of Russia was caused by the need to liberate the country from the yoke of the Mongol-Tatar khans, as well as the increased external danger. The raids on Russia by the Golden Horde khans still did not stop. Behind the back of the Tatar feudal lords now stood the mighty Sultan's Turkey. After recognition in the 70s of the XV century.

With the Crimean Khanate, vassal dependence on the Sultan, the Turkish feudal lords actually captured the southern regions of Ukraine, the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov, and a significant part of the Caucasus. They cut off Russian lands from the shores of the Black and Azov Seas.

The neighboring states not only did not cut off the Russian people from the seas, but also from the mouths of large rivers. All the middle and lower reaches of the Dnieper were captured by Lithuania. On the lower reaches of the Western Dvina and the Neman, the Livonian knights established themselves. The Mongol-Tatar feudal lords dominated the middle and lower reaches of the Volga. The feudal lords of Poland, Lithuania, Livonia and Sweden set the feudal nobility of Novgorod, Pskov, Tver and Ryazan against Moscow and with its help sought to seize the Russian border lands.

Thus, not only the economic, but also the political development of the Russian lands required the completion of their unification in a single state. In the process of unification, for the reasons mentioned, all segments of the population of Russia were interested.

1. Unification of Russian lands around Moscow.

In the 80-90s of the XIII century, the process of formation of new principalities continued in North-Eastern Russia, and this was not just a crushing of the former principalities, but the emergence of independent and semi-independent states. The new principalities in the political events of their time act as an ever stronger force, despite the relatively small size of their territory. This is evidenced by the political history of Moscow, Tver, Yaroslavl and other principalities. In northeastern Russia, new centers of economic development arose, which also became centers of struggle against the conquerors. Apparently, Tver developed most rapidly at the end of the 13th century, where already in 1285, even earlier than in Novgorod, stone construction began for the first time after the invasion. The Cathedral of the Savior was built, however, for several years, but still it became the first stone building after the Mongol-Tatar invasion. This was not only a manifestation of the increased forces of Tver, but was of no small importance for the defense of the city. At the end of the 13th century, Tver and its prince, who had a label for a great reign, act as a real force seeking to lead the Russian lands. However, quite soon, Tver had rivals.

At the turn of the 13th-14th centuries, Moscow began to grow rapidly. In the first years of the fourteenth century Moscow prince Daniil Alexandrovich took Kolomna (1301) and Mozhaisk (1303) from their neighbors. The entire course of the Moscow River was under the rule of the Moscow prince. At the same time, apparently taking advantage of the strife between the princes of Pereyaslavl and Tver, the prince of Moscow persuaded the prince of Pereyaslavl to his side and received from him by will his possessions (1302). With the addition of the Principality of Pereyaslav with its densely populated, long-cultivated lands, salt lands, and fishing, the strength of the Moscow prince increased even more.

Much blood was shed in the struggle between the princes of Tver and Moscow. Both rival sides relied on the Mongol-Tatars. The princes made trips to the Horde more than once. In the Horde in 1318, Prince Mikhail Yaroslavich of Tver died, and then in 1325 his rival Prince Yuri Daniilovich of Moscow died. The struggle had the character of a typical feudal strife, but in its objective content it was the initial stage of a new stage in the unification process in North-Eastern Russia. The question was being decided about the political center that would lead this process in the future. And the Moscow principality became such a center. There were objective and subjective prerequisites that determined Moscow's victory. If we compare the geographical conditions for the development of Moscow and Tver, then they are generally similar. Moscow, however, had an advantage over Tver in that it occupied a more central position in relation to all the northeastern lands and that important water and land routes passed through its region, connecting various parts of North-Eastern Russia. In addition, the geographical position of Moscow guaranteed her a certain security: from the north-west it was covered by the Principality of Tver, and from the east and south-east of the Golden Horde by other Russian lands, which contributed to the influx of residents and an increase in population density. The Moscow principality also became a territory of developed feudal landownership.

One of the greatest political achievements of the Moscow princes in the first half of the 14th century was the attraction of the Church to their side. When in 1299 Metropolitan Maxim moved from devastated Kyiv to Vladimir, he became an ally of the Tver prince, who was then the Grand Duke. The church was looking for support in a strong prince and therefore focused on Tver. After the death of Maxim in 1307, the prince of Tver wanted to consolidate his alliance with the church and sent his bishop to Constantinople to the patriarch with a request to appoint him metropolitan to Russia. But the patriarch had another candidate for the Russian metropolis - Peter, who arrived in Russia. In Tver, Peter was received coldly. Moscow Prince Yuri Danilovich took advantage of this and attracted Peter to his side. The far-sighted Ivan Daniilovich, who ruled in Moscow during the lifetime of his older brother, Yuri, in 1326 built the first stone church in the city - the Assumption Cathedral and suggested that Metropolitan Peter, who had lived in Moscow for a long time, completely leave Vladimir. Peter agreed, but in the same year 1326 he died and was buried in Moscow. His successor Theognost finally made Moscow the center of an all-Russian metropolis. Therefore, some historians attribute the transfer of the capital of Russia from Vladimir to Moscow to 1326. A more far-sighted policy also played a significant role in the success of the Moscow princes. Using the contradictions in the camp of their opponents and consistently attracting the most diverse social forces to their side, the Moscow princes strengthened their position step by step. They often acted with military force, but in the first half of the fourteenth century, a large proportion of Moscow's successes must be attributed to diplomatic activity.

In 1325, the brother of Prince Yuri Daniilovich, who was killed in the Horde, Ivan Daniilovich, who subsequently subdued the apt nickname "Kalita" - a money bag, appeared on the Moscow princely table. There are two versions about the origin of this nickname. According to one of them, he got his nickname due to the fact that he was a prudent, cautious politician and a hoarder owner: a purse for money, which was tied to a belt, was called a kalita. According to the second version, Ivan Daniilovich was nicknamed Kalita because he always carried a bag with copper money, which he distributed to the poor and wretched.

Ivan Daniilovich was an experienced politician, he knew the Horde well and soon tried to use its rulers in his own interests. At the time of the reign of Kalita, the label for the great reign was with the Tver prince Alexander Mikhailovich. two years later, in August 1327, a large popular uprising broke out in Tver against the Mongol-Tatars. Ivan Kaliita went to the Horde and returned from there with a punitive Mongol-Tatar detachment that dealt a heavy blow to the entire Tver principality. Thus, the strength of Moscow's rival, the prince of Tver, was undermined. Ivan Daniilovich gained great confidence from the khans, he was instructed to collect tribute from the Russian lands and send it to the Horde. The Basque system in Russia was liquidated, in which the khan officials - the Baskaks - collected tribute, while creating violence and cruelty. During this period, the Horde's invasion of Russia almost completely stopped. The chronicler noted: “And from there the silence will be great for 40 years, and the trash will cease to fight the Russian land and kill the Christians, and the Christians will rest and perish from the great languor and many hardships, from the violence of the Tatars.” The respite from the Tatar invasions played a big role in the restoration and development of the economy in the Russian lands. This respite was a direct prerequisite for the economic upsurge that began in the second half of the 14th century and predetermined decisive successes in the unification process and the struggle against the Mongols-Tatars. The transformation of Moscow into the center of the gathering of the Horde "exit" gave the Moscow princes the opportunity to significantly enrich and subjugate many small principalities to their influence. An important role was played by the alliance between Moscow and the Novgorod Republic, established in the first half of the 14th century, which was interested in supporting Moscow against neighboring Tver, which threatened it. through the Tver lands, grain was transported from the central regions of the country, which was not enough in Novgorod, surrounded by marginal lands, and the Tver princes more than once resorted to direct pressure on Novgorod, detaining ships with bread in Torzhok. By tradition, Moscow princes became princes in Novgorod. But they did not interfere in Novgorod affairs, acting only as military leaders in the defense of Novgorod land from its neighbors. At the same time, Novgorod gave Moscow considerable funds, which the Moscow princes often demanded from the Novgorod Republic in an emergency manner. The concentration of significant material resources in the hands of the prince made it possible to acquire new lands (the so-called purchases of Ivan Kalita). One of Kalita's spiritual letters lists the villages he bought in Novgorod, Vladimir, Kostroma, Pereyaslav, Yuryev and Rostov lands. In this way, the prudent prince took root in other principalities, gaining new opportunities to manage his affairs. But the Moscow prince also acted by force. He thus subjugated the Rostov Principality. By force, Kalita also tried to put an end to the Tver prince Alexander Mikhailovich, when he fled to Pskov and refused to go to the Horde Khan for reprisals. Kalita was helped by the church - Metropolitan Feognost excommunicated Pskov from the church, banned worship there and achieved his goal - the Pskovites expelled Alexander Mikhailovich, who had to flee to Lithuania. In 1339, Ivan Kalita removed the bell from the main Tver Cathedral and took it to Moscow.

Ivan Kalita paid a lot of effort and attention to the construction of the new capital of the Russian land - Moscow. He put a new, oak Kremlin in Moscow, which significantly increased its importance as a military defense center. Five stone cathedrals erected under Kalita further strengthened both the military-defensive and ecclesiastical-political significance of Moscow.

Shortly before his death, Kalita traveled to the Horde with his two sons in 1339 and approved his will there. On one of his spiritual letters there is a khan's tamga - evidence of its approval by khan Uzbek. The spiritual testament of Kalita secured the leading position of the Moscow prince over his brothers. the territory of the principality was divided by Kalita between the sons - heirs in such a way that the Moscow prince Simeon the Proud received a preponderance of material forces compared to

by their brothers. Therefore, when the Russian princes went to the Horde for a label for a great reign, no one could compete with Simeon Ivanovich - he received a grand-ducal table from Khan Uzbek. In the Golden Horde, he received not only a great reign - all Russian princes were "given under his hands", that is, they ceased to be equal to him and became his subordinates. The new Grand Duke treated them arrogantly, which is why he received the nickname Proud.

In 1347, Simeon Ivanovich more firmly consolidated the alliance between Moscow and Tver, taking as his wife the daughter of Alexander Mikhailovich, Prince of Tver, who died in the Horde.

Simeon the Proud continued the policy of his father - often traveled to the Horde, sought unity of action between the great and specific princes. During his reign, Russia did not experience bloody strife and Horde pogroms. But in 1352, it underwent another devastation, no less terrible in its consequences - the epidemic of the Black Death. In 1351, the plague was brought to Russia from Western Europe through Poland, a little later it went from the south. In 1353, the Grand Duke himself became a victim of the "Black Death". After the death of Simeon the Proud, Khan Dzhanibek issued a label for the great reign to his brother Ivan Ivanovich (1353-1359). By his nature, Ivan was a quiet and unambitious person, for which he received the nickname Meek. Ivan the Crooked died in 1359, when his son Dmitry was nine years old.

Taking advantage of the minority of the Moscow prince Dmitry, in 1359 the Suzdal prince Dmitry Konstantinovich managed to acquire a label for a great reign. But those close to the Moscow prince, of course, could not come to terms with the loss of their privileged position. The Moscow boyars, led by Metropolitan Alexei, the godson of Kalita, by skillful policy in the Horde, as well as direct military pressure on Dmitry Konstantinovich, forced the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod prince in 1363 to abandon the great reign in favor of the Moscow dynasty, and in 1366 to marry Dmitry Ivanovich his daughter, Evdokia.

Dmitry Ivanovich successfully continued the work of his grandfather - strengthened the power of Moscow. In this he was persistent and unshakable. His hallmark was military prowess. He boldly entered the fight against strong enemies - Tver, Lithuania, Ryazan and even the Golden Horde.

The defeat of Moscow's rivals in the struggle for a great reign was an important prerequisite for the consolidation of all-Russian forces to fight an external enemy. Moscow, which had become the main center of Russia, was actively preparing its forces for the decisive battle with the conquerors. The Moscow prince began to send his troops to meet the Mongol-Tatar invasions, which resumed after a long break, to other principalities and lands, thereby fulfilling the function of defending the entire Russian land. On the Vozha River, the right tributary of the Oka, his troops in 1378 defeated the Khan of the Golden Horde, Begich. That was the largest Russian victory over the conquerors. The power of the Golden Horde was shaken.

To restore the former power, the ruler of the Horde, Mamai, began to gather forces for a campaign against Moscow. He prepared for it long and carefully. He pulled together an army from all subject lands, recruited mercenaries. In 1380, according to the chronicler, he recruited mercenaries. In 1380, according to the chronicler, he moved to Russia "with all the princes and with the sowing of the Tatar and Polovtsian forces", and along the way, "he annexed many hordes to himself." Together with the Horde cavalry, hired Genoese infantry went to the Russian borders. According to historians, Mamai's army reached 200-300 thousand people - more than Batu Khan had during the conquest of Russia. Found Mamai and allies - the Grand Duke of Lithuania Jagiello and Prince Oleg of Ryazan. The Ryazan principality was on the path of the Horde and was afraid to oppose them. A formidable danger hung over Russia.

Dmitry Ivanovich, having learned at the end of July about the movement of the Mongol-Tatars, appealed for the collection of Russian military forces in Moscow and Kolomna, the Moscow fortress on the Oka River. Soon the Grand Duke himself set out with an army in Kolomna. On the spacious Maiden's Field near Kolomna, all the regiments united. Most likely, the number of Russian rati reached 100-150 thousand people, and the Horde, as already indicated - 200-300 thousand people. But there are also such judgments (in particular, the military historian E.A. Razin) that the Russian army was half the number mentioned. Be that as it may, contemporaries argued that Russia had never gathered such a large army. “From the beginning of the world there has never been such a power of Russian princes,” wrote the chronicler. With this army, Dmitry Ivanovich moved to the Don. The plan of the campaign was that, instead of defending on the Oka River, where Mamai could join with his allies, crossing the Oka and moving towards the enemy to the upper reaches of the Don.

On the morning of September 7, the Russian regiments crossed from the left bank to the right bank of the Don at the confluence of the Nepryadva River and settled on the Kulikovo field. In front stood the Advanced Regiment, next to it on the flanks - the regiments of the Right Hand and the Left Hand, behind it - the reserve (cavalry). Behind the left flank in the forest (in the “oak forest”) was the Ambush Regiment, led by Prince Vladimir Andreevich the Brave and boyar D.M. Bobrok-Volynsky.

The crossing of the Don meant the determination of the Russian commanders to fight to the end, since the possibility of retreat was greatly complicated by the fact that the Don and Nepryadva rivers and deep ravines were in the rear of the Russian army. At the same time, such a position made it difficult for the Mongol-Tatar cavalry to maneuver around. Mamai's army stood in a deployed formation without reserves, the cavalry was located in the first line, and the infantry in the second.

The general slaughter, according to the custom of that time, was preceded by a duel of heroes. A mighty warrior, Chelubey, left the Horde ranks. Monk Alexander Peresvet rushed towards him from the Russian ranks, “a native of Lubech”, about whom the chronicler wrote that he “when he was in the world, he was a glorious hero, he had great strength and strength and was able to do military work.” The riders gathered "and hit hard with spears, and the spears were broken, and both fell from their horses to the ground dead and their horses fell." Alexander Peresvet is the first hero and the first Russian warrior to fall in this battle. After that, the main forces converged. The Tatar cavalry, having crushed the Advanced Regiment, began to push the Big Regiment, the Russian regiments suffered heavy losses; Boyar Mikhail Brenok, who fought in the Great Regiment in the armor of the Grand Duke and under his banner, was killed. Dmitry Ivanovich in the armor of an ordinary soldier fought among the soldiers of the same regiment. The onslaught of the Mongol-Tatars in the center was delayed by the commissioning of the reserve. The Horde also failed to break through on the right flank of the Russian army. Then Mamai threw all the remaining forces on the left flank of the Russians. "Regiment of the left hand" began to slowly retreat. A critical moment was approaching - the Horde went around the side of the Big Regiment. Apparently, Mamai was already triumphant. He did not know that a select Russian regiment hid in an ambush in Zelenaya Oakbrava, and the Horde tumens, entering the flank of the Big Regiment, expose themselves to the attack of the ambush. And the ambush regiment hit! “We left the green oak forest, hit the great Tatar force and began to kill the Tatars mercilessly. And the Tatars turned to flight, and ran ... "The Russian soldiers rushed into the chase, which lasted almost fifty miles, and only the fact that" their horses got tired "saved the remnants of Mamai's army.

The victory in the Battle of Kulikovo can least of all be regarded as an accident. It was really prepared by the entire course of the development of the unification process, the rise of the national economy in Russia. The great courage of tens of thousands of Russian soldiers, the skill of the commander and the valor of Dmitry Ivanovich, nicknamed “Donskoy” for this victory, ensured one of the glorious victories in the history of our Motherland.

The victory at the Kulikovo field had a variety of consequences. She approved the leading position of Moscow in the Russian lands, showing the strength of the unity of the Russian lands to fight the external enemy and the organizing role of Moscow in this matter, and also caused a new upsurge of spiritual life in Russia.

Nevertheless, the Russian princes had to pay tribute to the Horde for a long time even after the Battle of Kulikovo. This is explained by the fact that the unification process was not fixed, and the latter depended on the level of socio-economic development of Russia.

However, in general, as a result of the reign of Dmitry Donskoy, significant success was achieved in the unification process. In his spiritual will, Dmitry was able for the first time, without the sanction of the Horde Khan, to transfer the great reign to his son Vasily as the “fatherland” of the Moscow princes.

By the end of the 15th century, the socio-economic and political prerequisites for the unification of Russian lands in one state had matured. They were embodied in the strengthening of the grand ducal power, which acquired a fairly strong material support as a result of the development of feudal landownership and economy, as well as cities. The need to overthrow the Mongol-Tatar yoke and to defend against external enemies accelerated the process of the rise of the grand ducal power, which acted as the organizer of the defense of the Russian land.

The unification of Russian lands in one state took place for about 50 years - during the great reign of Ivan III Vasilyevich (1462-1505) and the first years of the reign of his successor Vasily III Ivanovich (1505-1533). Even at the end of the fourteenth century. the independent existence of the Nizhny Novgorod principality ceased. In the 60-70s of the fifteenth century. the principalities of Yaroslavl and Rostov came under the rule of Moscow - not without direct violence from Moscow. But the most difficult task was the liquidation of the strong and independent Novgorod feudal republic. Ivan III began to prepare for a speech against Novgorod. There were enough reasons for this: the Novgorodians did not fulfill the previous agreements, they seized the lands that were transferred to the grand prince. In the 70s, part of the Novgorod nobility, led by the Boretskys, headed for the transition of Novgorod under the protection of the Grand Duke of Lithuania, if only not to give up their power to the Grand Duke of Moscow.

The attempts of the Novgorod nobility to enter into an alliance with Lithuania gave the Moscow prince a basis and at the same time gave rise to the need to take decisive measures to subordinate Novgorod to his power. A plan was developed for a campaign against Novgorod. In the spring of 1471, Ivan III went on a campaign to "punish" the Novgorodians. On July 14, 1471, a decisive battle took place on the Shelon River. Poorly organized Novgorod regiments were defeated without much effort. An agreement was concluded between Moscow and Novgorod. Under the terms of the agreement, the Novgorodians pledged to be "persistent" from the Moscow prince and not come under the rule of Lithuania.

After the events of 1471, the situation in Novgorod became even more aggravated, which the Grand Duke of Moscow soon took advantage of. In 1478, the Novgorod Republic was liquidated, the veche bell was removed and taken to Moscow. Together with Novgorod, Karelia was annexed to the Principality of Moscow, in 1472 - "Great" Perm, in 1483 - Yugra and Vogul lands on the Ob, Irtysh and Tobol, and in 1489 - Moscow troops took Vyatka. The mastery of Novgorod with its vast possessions was a decisive success of the Moscow grand ducal power in the unification process.

Almost simultaneously, another major event took place in the process of formation of a unified Russian state. It was the overthrow of the Mongol-Tatar yoke in 1480, associated with the success in the struggle of Ivan III against the rebel princes. The ruler of one of the remnants of the disintegrated Golden Horde, Ahmed Khan (he owned the so-called Great Horde) invaded the Russian land, tried to force the Grand Duke of Moscow to pay tribute again (Ivan III had already stopped paying money a few years before). The situation was complicated by the alliance of Ahmed Khan with the Polish-Lithuanian sovereign Casimir IV. Ivan III showed outstanding political skill, having entered into an alliance with the opponent of Ahmed Khan, the Crimean Khan Mengli Giray, who struck at the Ukrainian possessions of Casimir IV and thereby prevented him from coming to the aid of Ahmed Khan. At the same time, Ivan III managed to eliminate the dangerous rebellion of the specific princes.

Ahmed Khan's attempt to force the river. Ugru was unsuccessful. Without waiting for help from Casimir and fearing the impending winter, Ahmed Khan led his army back. "Standing on the Ugra" ended with the liberation of the Russian land from the Mongol-Tatar yoke. It was prepared by the whole course of history, the heroic struggle against the conquerors and the success of the unification process. Having overthrown the Mongol-Tatar yoke, Moscow continued the unification of the Russian lands even more actively.

The Moscow prince bore the title of Grand Duke, but there was another Prince of Tver who also bore the title of Grand Duke. The reason for the campaign against Tver of the Moscow prince was the attempt of the Tver prince Mikhail Borisovich to independently resolve issues that had previously been resolved jointly with Moscow. The ambassadors of Moscow were expelled from Tver. Michael made an agreement with Polish king Casimir IV. This is exactly what Ivan III was waiting for. In the winter of 1484-1485. Moscow troops moved to Tver. they crossed the border, as Mikhail Borisovich accepted the conditions of Ivan III, not to be called his brother, but his younger brother, to abandon the Novgorod lands, to participate in Moscow's military campaigns, to break ties with Lithuania. The Tver boyars went over to the side of Ivan III, and the townspeople peacefully kissed the cross to the new prince Ivan Ivanovich Molodoy, to whom Tver was granted an inheritance. In 1485, the Moscow prince officially took the title of Grand Duke of "All Russia".

Grand Duke Vasily III (1505-1533) continued to collect Russia. The next step was the question of joining Pskov, whose population and boyars had long gravitated towards Moscow. The solution of this issue was accelerated by a new attack on Pskov by the troops of the Lithuanian Order, which in September 1503 laid siege to Pskov. As a result of the war, Pskov abandoned its independent policy and joined the Russian state without any reservations. In 1510, the veche was liquidated in Pskov.

Finally, in 1512, the Ryazan Principality, which had long been in de facto subordination to Moscow, ceased to exist. The unification of the Russian lands was basically completed. The territory subject to the Grand Duke of Moscow grew six times (Ivan III inherited about 430 thousand km from his predecessor in 1462. A huge power was formed, which turned into a major force in Europe at that time. From the end of the 15th century, the term "Russia" began to be used .

1. The political system of the Russian state at the end of the 15th - 17th centuries.

In 1485, Ivan III declared himself "sovereign of all Russia." This led to the strengthening of the power of the Grand Duke himself and a change in his relations with other princes. The Grand Duke was no longer just the eldest or the first among equal princes, but a sovereign, far superior in his power to the rest of the Russian princes.

Relations between the sovereign and the boyars began to take shape in a new way, although not only was it not yet removed from the solution of state affairs, but, on the contrary, remained its closest support. First of all, the composition of the nobility changed, into which the princes and boyars of the recently independent lands and principalities joined. A system of internal hierarchy took shape among the boyars, resulting in localism - the order of filling positions in accordance with the nobility of origin, which was determined by the length of service and the proximity of one kind or another to the Grand Duke.

Under the sovereign, a permanent council of the nobility, the Boyar Duma, was formed. Its members were appointed by the Grand Duke on the basis of local rules. The Boyar Duma met daily in the presence of the sovereign and resolved issues of internal and foreign policy. The formula of the decision was the words: "the Grand Duke pointed out, and the boyars were sentenced."

With the increase in the functions of state administration, it became necessary to create special institutions that would manage military, foreign, land, financial, judicial and other affairs. In the ancient organs of palace administration - the Grand Palace and the Treasury - special departmental "tables" began to form, managed by clerks, who, as a rule, were nobles. Later they developed into orders, when a certain group of questions began to be entrusted (“ordered”) to some boyar, around whom a staff of clerks and clerks was formed.

To manage the districts - the former independent lands, principalities or destinies - boyars - governors were appointed for a certain period. For the performance of judicial and administrative functions, the governors collected “feed” from the subject population in their favor, from which the name “feeding” came from. Formally serving the Grand Duke, the governor actually felt like the owner of the territory entrusted to him.

For the first time in Russia, the Moscow prince Ivan III began to call himself not only the sovereign, but also the king of all Russia. The Roman emperor used to add the title "Caesar" to his name. From the word "Caesar" came Russian word"tsar". Having become a widower, Ivan III remarried the Byzantine princess Sophia Paleolog, took the Byzantine coat of arms of the double-headed eagle, later combined with the Moscow coat of arms of George the Victorious. In the form of a crown, the “cap of Monomakh” was used, with which the sovereign crowned the son of Sophia Palaiologos Vasily III on the throne. In 1453, the Ottoman Turks captured the weakened Byzantium and Moscow became the center of government. Muscovy became known as Russia.

The new state power and the new position of the feudal lords needed legal formalization. The former legal laws of Russia are outdated. The most important legislative code of Russia, the era of the creation of a single state, was the judicial code of Ivan III, introduced in 1497. The judicial code was intended primarily to ensure the class interests of the feudal lords. The 57th article of the Sudebnik established as a national law a rule according to which peasants could leave their owners only once a year - a week before St. George's Day, autumn (November 26), and within a week after it with the obligatory payment of "old" - payment for living on the land of the feudal lord. There was a restriction of peasant freedom.

Dying in 1533, Grand Duke Vasily III (1505-1533) left two sons, Ivan and Yuri. The eldest of them, Ivan, was only three years old. Of course, the new Grand Duke could not rule himself. Power was concentrated in the hands of his mother, Elena Vasilievna Glinskaya, but she also died when her son was 8 years old. Ivan's childhood passed in the turmoil of the princes' struggle for power, which made him a suspicious, cruel, unbridled, despotic person. Metropolitan Macarius played an important role in restoring order in the country. In January 1547, according to the ritual conceived by him, a solemn wedding took place in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin of Ivan IV (1533-1584) to the kingdom. For the first time, the Moscow Grand Duke was endowed with the title of Tsar, which, according to the then concepts, sharply elevated him above all the Russian nobility and equalized him in position with Western European sovereigns. But there was another meaning in the wedding of Ivan IV to the kingdom. He received the royal crown from the hands of the head of the church, and this emphasized the special position of the church in the state, which acted as a guarantor of autocratic power.

Exacerbation of the class struggle in the middle of the XVI century. became the most important prerequisite (along with the growth and development of cities) for the formation of a class-representative monarchy in Russia, that is, a form of a feudal state in which the power of the monarch relied on the bodies of class representation of nobles, clergy and townspeople. This form of state existed in most of Europe during the heyday of

feudalism. Bodies of estate representation in different countries They were called differently: in Spain and Portugal - Cortes, in France - States General, and in Russia - Zemsky Sobors. At the Zemsky Sobors, in addition to members of the Boyar Duma and the higher clergy, there were representatives of the nobility, and from 1566, the townspeople. There were no peasants at Zemsky Sobors.

The first Zemsky Sobor was convened in 1549. It is usually called the "Council of Reconciliation", since in his speech Ivan 1U condemned the boyar autocracy and called on the participants in the council to cooperate. The created state required significant funds, so one of the most important issues at the Zemsky Sobors was the introduction of new taxes and changes in the old ones. Foreign policy issues were also discussed here. For example, the Council of 1653 approved the reunification of Ukraine with Russia.

The most important was the reform of local government, which consisted of provincial and zemstvo reforms.

As a result of the lip reform, cases of “robbers” (as the feudal lords called people who opposed feudal oppression) were removed from the court, governors and volosts and transferred to the lip authorities (from the word lip - district). They were headed by elected persons from local nobles - labial elders. The labial elders relied on wealthy peasants and townspeople.

The zemstvo reform consisted in the fact that the court, the administration of the population and the collection of taxes, which were carried out by the governors, were transferred to the zemstvo elders, who were elected from among the wealthy townspeople and peasants. In 1555-1556. the feeding system was abolished nationwide. In the border towns, governors were replaced by governors who headed the military and civil administration of the city and county. At the beginning of the seventeenth century Governors were introduced in all Russian cities. They controlled the organs of provincial and zemstvo self-government. Thus, the lip reform began, and the zemstvo reform completed the restructuring of local government on a class-representative basis.

The organs of central administration, the orders, were also strengthened. At this time, the main network of permanent orders was formed: Posolsky, Razryadny, Yamskoy and others. The orders not only grew in number, but the role of clerks in them increased. By the end of the XVI century. the number of orders reached 22.

In 1550 a new Sudebnik. It consolidated reforms in the field of local and centralized government. The Sudebnik confirmed the restriction of the right of the peasant transition only by St. George's Day and increased the payment for the "elderly".

The reforms of the 50s were carried out in the interests of the entire class of feudal lords, but they especially strengthened the nobility. In the localities, the labial elders, the nobles, began to play a large role, and the role of the clerks, the nobles, intensified in the orders. Since the convocation of the Zemsky Sobors, the nobility began to be involved in the government of the country even more actively. The power of the tsar increased, national legislation and taxation were further developed, the state apparatus grew and strengthened.

The main code of laws of Russia in the seventeenth century. becomes the Council Code of 1649. It finally formalized serfdom, since it not only secured the exit of the peasants from the owner, but also introduced an indefinite search for fugitive peasants with their return to the owner. The Cathedral Code also embodied the general trend in the development of the state system - the strengthening of the role of the nobility and, to some extent, the top tenants in the state administration of the country and, in connection with this, the strengthening of the centralization of state power. In a historical perspective, this trend prepared the transition from autocracy to absolutism, which took shape in the first quarter of the 18th century. In the seventeenth century the title of Russian tsars officially began to include the term "autocrat" ("great sovereign, tsar and grand duke, autocrat of all Russia").

During the 17th century there were changes in the composition of the estates of the Boyar Duma - the representation of the nobility increased. Thus, a prominent statesman A.L. Ordin-Nashchokin emerged from the Pskov nobles. The son of the clerk, A.S. Matveev, became a boyar close to the tsar.

In the first half of the seventeenth century Zemsky Sobors met quite often. In the future, the autocratic power, which had become stronger, in solving the most important state issues, dispensed with the convocation of councils, confining itself to meetings with representatives of individual estates. The last councils were held in 1648-1649; 1651-1653 The withering away of Zemsky Sobors was one of the manifestations of the transition from a class-representative monarchy to absolutism. The command system, designed to centralize government in the state, increasingly fragmented it. In the seventeenth century there were up to 80 orders. It was then that the notoriously famous red tape and its inevitable companions flourished - bribery, embezzlement, bribery, which could not be stopped by any severity of royal decrees and regulations.

A kind of attempt to strengthen centralized power and overcome the fragmentation of government in the middle of the seventeenth century. was the organization of the Order of the great sovereign of secret affairs. Some important government affairs were removed from the jurisdiction of orders and the Boyar Duma. The clerks of the Order of Secret Affairs accompanied the boyar ambassadors abroad, strictly monitoring the observance of the instructions given to them. The order also managed the tsar's economy, was in charge of the production of shells for artillery, and the investigation of political affairs.

Changes were also made to the local government system. In 1613, governors appointed by the government settled in 33 cities, then governors were sent to all cities of Russia, which meant a narrowing of local self-government. In a number of cases, the labial elders, who were in charge of judicial and police affairs, were retained. But the labial institutions became only executive bodies under the governors. Zemstvo elders supervised the collection of direct taxes and were obliged to support the governor and his clerks. Some counties were united under the authority of one governor into the so-called ranks, which were the beginnings of the future division of the country into provinces.

In the second half and especially in the last quarter of the seventeenth century. in the political system of Russia, the tendencies of the formation of absolutism are clearly visible. This manifested itself in:

• - legislative formalization by the Council Code of 1649 of the unlimited autocratic power of the tsar;
• - termination of the convocation of Zemsky Sobors;
• - limiting the functions of the Boyar Duma, next to which the personal office of the tsar appears - the Order of Secret Affairs;
• - the abolition of localism in 1682, which contributed to the consolidation of the nobility and the boyars into a single class - the estate, the merger of the patrimony and estates.

The completion of the formation of absolutism falls on the reign of Peter I at the beginning of the 18th century. The Russian centralized state is being formed, where the political and economic association around a strong central government and established an unlimited monarchy - absolutism (autocracy).

Literature:

Klyuchevsky V.O. Works. In 9 t. T.2. The course of Russian history, part 2. - M .: Thought, 1987.

Solovyov S.M. Works in 18 books. Book 3. History of Russia since ancient times. T.5-6.-M.: Thought, 1983.

Sakharov A.M. Education and development of the Russian state in the XIV - XVII centuries - M.: Higher school, 1969. (1 ratings, average: 5,00 out of 5)