Rus' is ancient and medieval. History of Russia: Periodization of Russian history. Kievan Rus – Muscovy State Two “Bulgarias” in the service of Rus'

East Slavs - descendants of ancient agricultural and pastoral tribes who lived in the south of Eastern Europe BC. At the beginning of our era, the Eastern Slavs occupied a vast territory from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea, from the Carpathian Mountains to the upper reaches of the Oka and Volga rivers. By the middle of the 9th century. at Eastern Slavs the prerequisites for the creation of the state - Kievan Rus. Many Western historians still claim that it was created by the Normans who came from Scandinavia. Russian scientists have long refuted this so-called “Norman theory”. They proved that Old Russian state arose as a result of the long independent development of the East Slavic tribes, long before the arrival of the Normans. The oldest written information about the Slavs belongs to the ancient Greek scientists Hesiod, who reported on the “Antes” and “Vends” living from the Carpathians to the Baltic Sea. From the 6th century n. e. The concept “Slavs” appears in the sources. The most complete data about the Eastern Slavs was left to us by historians of the 6th century. Jordan and Procopius of Caesarea. It is believed that the ancestral home of the Slavs was Central and Eastern Europe. In the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e. iron begins to spread among the Slavs, and a gradual decomposition of the tribal system occurs. At the same time, the single Slavic community is divided into two branches - eastern (Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians) and western (Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Lusatians). Later, in the 1st thousand. n. BC, the third branch of the Slavs (Bulgarians, Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, Macedonians, Bosnians) also became isolated. The total number of Slavic peoples at the beginning of the 20th century. amounted to about 150 million people, including Russians - over 65 million, Ukrainians - about 31 million, Belarusians - about 7 million, Poles - over 19 million, Czechs - more

7 million, Slovaks - more than 2.5 million, Serbs and Croats - over 9 million, Bulgarians - 5.5 million, Slovenes - 1.5 million. The bulk of the Slavic population lived in Russia - 107.5 million people, in Austria-Hungary - about 25 million, in Germany - over 4 million, in the countries of America - over 3 million. In 1970, the total number of the Slavic people was about 260 million, of which: Russians - over 130 million, Ukrainians - 41.5 million, Belarusians - 9.2 million, Poles - about 37 million, Czechs - about 10 million. In the first centuries of our era, eastern The Slavs maintained a communal system. Each tribe consisted of several clan communities. The Slavs were engaged in shifting agriculture. With the improvement of tools, shifting agriculture was replaced by arable farming with a two-field system. There was no longer any need to live in groups. Individual families began to emerge from tribal communities. Each family had its own house, plot of land, and its own tools. But places for hunting, fishing, and pastures were in common use. With the advent of family property, property inequality appeared among the Eastern Slavs. Some families get richer, others get poorer. A class of large landowners emerges - the boyars.

In the VI--VIII centuries. The Slavs are undergoing an intensive process of decomposition of the tribal system and the formation of large tribal unions. Feudal relations are born, economic and socio-political prerequisites for the formation of statehood are created.

The names of Slavic tribal unions are mostly associated not with unity of origin, but with the area of ​​settlement. This indicates that at this time among the Slavs, territorial ties already prevailed over tribal ones. So, the Polyans lived on the Dnieper near Kyiv; Dregovichi - between Pripyat and Western Dvina; Krivichi - around the city of Smolensk; Vyatichi - in the Oka River basin, etc.

At the head of each tribe was a prince who had his own “reign.” It was not yet a principality in the later, feudal sense of the word. Tribal princes created armed units - squads. They usually lived in separate villages, around which artisans settled: blacksmiths, gunsmiths, shoemakers, carpenters, etc. They produced weapons, clothing, and shoes for the squad. The princely settlement was surrounded by a deep moat with water, a high earthen rampart with a log wall. This is how the Slavs created cities.

A legend has been preserved about how the prince of the Slavic tribe of the Polyans, Kiy, and his brothers Shchek and Khoriv built a city on the high bank of the Dnieper. In honor of his older brother, they named him Kiev. The descendants of Kiy were the first princes of the Kyiv state.

For many centuries, the Eastern Slavs fought against the nomads who came from Asia. In the 4th century. the Slavs were attacked by the Huns, then the Avars and Khazars, then the Pechenegs and Polovtsians. “Asia does not cease to send out predatory hordes who want to live off the settled population; it is clear that in the history of the latter one of the main phenomena will be the constant struggle with the steppe barbarians,” wrote the famous Russian historian S.M. Soloviev. The Slavs themselves often undertook military campaigns on the banks of the Danube and Byzantium. To wage defensive and offensive wars, they united into alliances.

So, large tribal unions were the immediate predecessors of the state.

The initial stage of the existence of a state among many peoples is associated with the rise (due to certain circumstances) of one of the noble families. Subsequently, having established its power in certain lands, this family turned into a ruling dynasty. About the same thing happened in Rus', where the Rurikovich and Romanov dynasties are distinguished.

It should be noted that Kyiv had its own traditions of East Slavic statehood. It is believed that around the VI-VII centuries. the founder of the city, the Slavic prince Kiy, ruled here, and then his relatives. However, in 882 the rulers were the Parisian knights Askold and Dir, who were dealt with cruelly and treacherously by the Novgorod prince Oleg.

Kyiv attracted Prince Oleg primarily because it was located on the famous route “from the Varangians to the Greeks.” Large cities arose along the great trade route - Kyiv, Smolensk, Novgorod, etc. It became, as it were, the core of the Old Russian state, its main street. At that time, rivers were the most convenient roads. It is no coincidence that all ancient cities stand on the banks of rivers, usually on a high cape at the confluence of a small river with a large one.

What are the prerequisites for the formation of the Old Russian state - Kievan Rus?

Firstly, These are economic prerequisites:

a) the Eastern Slavs have a higher level of development of productive forces relative to other peoples. The main branch of the Slavic economy was agriculture using iron tools: ploughshares, plows, tips, plows, etc. This allowed the Slavs to develop new lands and move from slash-and-burn to more productive arable farming. The Slavs sowed rye, wheat, barley, oats, flax and other crops.

They were actively engaged in cattle breeding. Initially, cattle were bred for meat and for use in work. As people began to consume milk for food and acquired the skills to make various products from it (butter, cheese, etc.), the importance of dairy cattle increased. In addition, cattle breeding allowed the development of leather production;

b) development of crafts. The separation of crafts from agriculture among the Eastern Slavs occurs in the VI-VIII centuries. Archaeological data indicate the existence of blacksmiths, foundries, gunsmiths, gold and silversmiths, potters, etc. during this period. Slavic craftsmen produced more than 150 types of various products from iron and steel alone;

c) highly productive agriculture and a variety of crafts led to the active development of trade. This is confirmed by finds during excavations of Roman and other coins, Byzantine jewelry, and items made in various regions, mainly within the boundaries of the three main trade routes. The first is the “great path from the Varangians to the Greeks.” It led from the Gulf of Finland to the Neva River, to Lake Ladoga, to the Volkhov River, to Lake Ilmen, to the Lovat River, from Lovat, using small rivers and portages, crossed to the Western Dvina, and from there to the upper reaches of the Dnieper and the Dnieper to the Black Sea to "Greeks", i.e. to Byzantium. This important route was used by both the Slavs themselves and the Varangians. The second equally important route went along the Volga, to the land of the Volga Bulgarians and to the Khazar kingdom, to the Caspian Sea. To get to the Volga, the Slavs used its tributaries (Mologa, Sheksna) and the Metaya River, which flows into Lake Ilmen. The third route also led to the Khazar kingdom from the middle Dnieper through small rivers to the Donets River and from the Donets to the Don, from there it was possible to get to both the Azov and Caspian Seas. The Slavs traveled along these routes to trade with the Greeks, Bulgarians, and Khazars.

Secondly, These are socio-political prerequisites:

a) in the 6th century. Slavic tribal unions began to take shape, which became the prototype of future statehood. Tribal alliances were initially created only for military purposes. Among them, the largest ones should be highlighted: glades - in the Kyiv region; duleby - in the Carpathians; Volyans, northerners, etc. V.O. Klyuchevsky directly pointed out that these unions were the beginning of the statehood of the Slavs. This is how he writes about the Dulebs: “This military alliance is a fact that can be placed at the very beginning of our history: it began in the 6th century. on the very edge, in the southwestern corner of our plains, on the northeastern slopes and foothills of the Carpathians";

b) in the VI--VIII centuries. The Eastern Slavs had a good military organization for their time, which also testified to the presence of elements of statehood in their system. An interesting confirmation of the military-state organization was given by the Kiev mathematician A. Bugai, who explored more than 700 km of the so-called. “Snake shafts”, located south of Kyiv. Based on radiocarbon analysis, he concluded that in order to protect the Slavic tribes from the invasion of nomads from the south in the 6th - 8th centuries. A four-row system of protective structures was created. One of the shafts stretches for 120 km from Fastov to Zhitomir. Its cubic capacity suggests that more than 100 thousand people participated in the construction. Such a scale of work was possible only in an organized society;

c) the absence of slavery among the Slavs. More precisely, it existed in a patriarchal form and did not develop into a slave-owning mode of production.

Third, These are external prerequisites:

a) the need to expand land holdings, which only the state could implement on a large scale;

b) the constant threat of attack by the Normans from the northwest, Byzantium from the southwest, the Khazars from the southeast, and the Pechenegs from the south. All this dictated the need for a powerful military organization and its centralized control. Thus, based on the above characteristics, we can conclude that the creation in the middle of IX and. the early feudal Old Russian state with its center in the land of the tribal union of the Polyans - the city of Kiev - was a natural result of the internal development of the Slavic ethnos.

Kievan Rus was characterized by a multi-structured economy. What constituted the economic basis of the Old Russian state?

Firstly , feudal ownership of land. This was a fundamental difference from Western European countries to a number of other countries, in which the process of state formation was associated with the dominance of slave labor. Feudal ownership of land existed in two forms:

A) fiefdoms- the land of a large feudal lord, boyar, which was inherited. It consisted of a feudal estate and peasant villages;

b) estates- land that the prince granted to his warriors as conditional possession for their service. The right to own land existed only during the period of service. This land was not passed on by inheritance.

Secondly , the improvement of agricultural tools led to the emergence of Ancient Rus' two-field and three-field farming systems. This, in turn, made it possible to increase the area of ​​land and its productivity.

Third , rapid development of crafts. About 150 different craft specialties were known in Kievan Rus. The development of crafts, along with other reasons, led to the growth of cities. Based on chronicles, historians have calculated that in the 9th-10th centuries. There were 24 cities in Rus'; in the 11th century. -- 64, in the 12th century. - 135, and by the 13th century. - already 224. The largest were Kyiv, Novgorod, Smolensk, Chernigov. In Scandinavia, Rus' was then called Gradarika - the country of cities. The size of the cities is evidenced by descriptions of Kyiv made by a German chronicler in the 10th century. He noted the presence in the city of 400 churches and 8 large shopping areas, as well as 100 thousand inhabitants.

Fourth , deepening the social division of labor, increasing agricultural productivity, and the development of crafts led to an increase in trade exchange between city and countryside, trade between various regions of Kievan Rus and itself with many countries: Persia, Arabia, France, Scandinavia. Byzantium was Rus''s largest trading partner.

The establishment of private ownership of land led to the creation of a clear social structure of society and marked the beginning of the formation of serfdom among peasants.

At the top of the social pyramid was the Grand Duke of Kiev. He was the largest owner of land and collected tribute from subordinate tribal princes and other land owners. He gave the estate conditional possession for his service. CM. Soloviev wrote that every year in November the Russian princes left Kyiv with their retinue and went to the lands of the Slavic tribes under their control, where they collected tribute, carried out legal cases and resolved other issues.

The next level was occupied by large land owners - boyars and local princes. They paid tribute to the Grand Duke of Kyiv and had the right to collect tribute from their subordinates and lands belonging to them. The same place was occupied by the higher clergy. Free peasants lived on free lands, paid tribute to various feudal lords and worked off duties.

Dependent peasants paid dues to the feudal lords or worked off corvee labor. During the formation of Kievan Rus, the majority of the population consisted of free peasants - community members. However, as private ownership of land was established, dependence on feudal lords increased, peasants were ruined as a result of crop failure, wars, natural disasters, and other reasons, and forced to voluntarily go into bondage to the feudal lord. In this way, economic coercion was carried out on the peasants.

The dependent population was subject to feudal rent, which existed in Rus' in two forms: corvee and quitrent in kind.

a) Corvee - this is the free forced labor of a peasant working with his own equipment on the farm of a feudal lord. Widespread in

European Russia in the second half of the 16th - second half of the 19th century. After the abolition of serfdom in 1861, sharecropping was retained for temporarily obligated peasants. Legally abolished in 1882, it actually existed until the October Revolution of 1917 in the form of work.

b) Quirk in kind - annual collection of money and products from serfs. Food dues were abolished on February 19, 1861; monetary dues were retained for temporarily obligated peasants until 1883.

The following groups of dependent peasants formed in Kievan Rus:

a) purchase - a peasant who took a coupa (debt in cash or in kind) from the feudal lord;

b) ryadovich - a peasant who, for various reasons, could not manage the farm on his own and entered into a series of agreements with the feudal lord. He voluntarily admitted his dependence and received in return a large plot of land, tools, grain for crops, etc.;

c) outcast - a peasant who has lost contact with the community and is hired by the feudal lord;

d) freedman - a slave who has been set free, finds himself without means of subsistence and goes into bondage to the feudal lord;

e) serf - a person who was mainly part of the courtyard people of the feudal lords and was actually in the position of a slave.

Kievan Rus was an early feudal monarchy led by a Grand Duke. The grand ducal power was unlimited and hereditary.

The prince also exercised judicial power. An important element of the political system of the Old Russian state was the council under the Grand Duke of local princes and the highest layer of warriors - the boyars. Local power was exercised by tribal princes, as well as mayors, thousand and sotskys appointed by the Grand Duke.

The completion of the formation of the state structure and the development of feudal relations made it necessary to modify Russian law. The code of laws of Kievan Rus was called “Russian Truth”. In the 11th century The formation of the so-called “Short Edition” of “Russian Pravda” is taking place. It consisted of two main parts - “The Most Ancient Truth” (or “The Truth of Yaroslav”) and “The Truth of the Yaroslavichs”. In addition to princely civil legislation, during this period church legal documents were also in force in Rus', which were aimed at strengthening the political positions of the Russian Church.

The period of ancient Rus' dates back to ancient times, with the appearance of the first Slavic tribes. But the most important event is the calling of Prince Rurik to reign in Novgorod in 862. Rurik came not alone, but with his brothers, Truvor ruled in Izborsk, and Sineus ruled in Beloozero.

In 879, Rurik dies, leaving behind his son Igor, who, due to his age, cannot rule the state. Power passes into the hands of Rurik's comrade Oleg. Oleg united Novgorod and Kyiv in 882, thereby founding Rus'. In 907 and 911, Prince Oleg’s campaigns against Constantinople (the capital of Byzantium) took place. These campaigns were successful and raised the authority of the state.

In 912, power passed to Prince Igor (son of Rurik). Igor's reign symbolizes the successful activities of the state in the international arena. In 944, Igor concluded an agreement with Byzantium. However, success in domestic policy was not achieved. Therefore, Igor was killed by the Drevlyans in 945 after trying to collect tribute again (this version is most popular among modern historians).

The next period in the history of Rus' is the period of the reign of Princess Olga, who wants to take revenge for the murder of her husband. She ruled until approximately 960. In 957 she visited Byzantium, where, according to legend, she converted to Christianity. Then her son Svyatoslav took power. He is famous for his campaigns, which began in 964 and ended in 972. After Svyatoslav, power in Rus' passed into the hands of Vladimir, who ruled from 980 to 1015.

Vladimir's reign is most famous for the fact that it was he who baptized Rus' in 988. Most likely, this is the most significant event of the periods of the ancient Russian state. The establishment of an official religion was necessary to a greater extent to unite Rus' under one faith, strengthening the princely authority and the authority of the state in the international arena.

After Vladimir there was a period of civil strife, in which Yaroslav, who received the nickname Wise, won. He reigned from 1019 to 1054. The period of his reign is characterized by more developed culture, art, architecture and science. Under Yaroslav the Wise, the first set of laws appeared, which was called “Russian Truth”. Thus he founded the legislation of Rus'.

Then the main event in the history of our state was the Lyubech Congress of Russian princes, which took place in 1097. Its goal was to maintain stability, integrity and unity of the state, a joint struggle against enemies and ill-wishers.

In 1113, Vladimir Monomakh came to power. His main work was “Instructions for Children,” where he described how to live. In general, the period of the reign of Vladimir Monomakh marked the end of the period of the Old Russian state and marked the emergence of a period of feudal fragmentation of Rus', which began at the beginning of the 12th century and ended at the end of the 15th century.

The period of the Old Russian state laid the foundation for the entire history of Russia, founded the first centralized state on the territory of the East European Plain. It was during this period that Rus' received a single religion, which is one of the leading religions in our country today. In general, the period, despite its cruelty, brought a lot for the development of further social relations in the state, laid the foundations for the legislation and culture of our state.

But the most important event of the ancient Russian state was the formation of a single princely dynasty, which served and ruled the state for several centuries, thereby power in Rus' became permanent, based on the will of the prince, and then the tsar.

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Its history can be divided into three periods:

the first - the period of formation of Ancient Rus' under the first Rurik princes (second half of the 9th - last third of the 10th centuries);

the second - the heyday of Kievan Rus under Vladimir I and Yaroslav the Wise (late 10th - first half of the 11th centuries);

the third is the period of the beginning of the territorial and political fragmentation of the Old Russian state and its collapse (second half of the 11th - first third of the 12th centuries).

- First period the history of Ancient Rus' begins since 862, when in Novgorod or, perhaps, first in Staraya Ladoga he began to reign Rurik (862 – 879). As already noted, this year is traditionally considered the legendary beginning of Russian statehood.

Unfortunately, information about the details of Rurik’s reign has not reached us. Since Rurik’s son Igor was a minor, he became the Novgorod prince’s guardian Oleg (879 – 912). According to some sources, he was a relative of Rurik, according to others, he was the leader of one of the Varangian detachments.

In 882, Oleg launched a campaign against Kyiv and killed Askold and Dir, who reigned there. who were the last representatives of the family of the legendary Kiya. True, some scientists consider them Rurik’s warriors who took the Kiev throne. Oleg made Kyiv the capital of the united state, calling it “the mother of Russian cities.” That is why the Old Russian state also went down in history under the name Kievan Rus.

In 911, Oleg made a victorious campaign against Constantinople(as the Russians called Constantinople, the capital of Byzantium). He concluded a very beneficial agreement for Rus' with the Byzantine emperor and returned to Kyiv with rich booty. According to the agreement, Russian merchants, or guests, as they were called then, could buy goods in Constantinople without paying duties for them, live in the capital for a month at the expense of the Greeks, and so on. Oleg included the Krivichi, Northerners, Radimichi and Drevlyans into his state, who began to pay tribute to the Kyiv prince.

For his luck, wisdom and cunning, Oleg was nicknamed the Prophetic by the people, that is, knowing in advance what to do in a given situation.

After the death of Oleg, the son of Rurik became the prince of Kyiv Igor (912 – 945). Under him, Russian squads made two campaigns against Byzantium and concluded a new agreement with the Byzantine emperor, which stipulated the order of trade between the two states. It also included articles on military alliance.

Igor fought with the Pechenegs who were attacking Russian lands. Under him, the territory of the state expanded due to the inclusion of the lands of the streets and Tiverts. Subject lands paid tribute to the Kyiv prince, which he collected annually by traveling around them with his retinue. In 945, trying to re-take tribute from the Drevlyans, Igor was killed by them.

Igor's successor was his wife, Princess Olga (945 – 964). She brutally took revenge on the Drevlyans for the death of her husband, killing many of the rebellious ones, and burned their capital - the city of Iskorosten (currently Korosten). The Drevlyans were finally included in the Old Russian state.

Under Olga, the collection of tribute was streamlined. Special places for collecting tribute were established - graveyards, the size of the tribute - lessons, and the timing of its collection was determined.

During this period, the international relations of Ancient Rus' expanded significantly. There was an exchange of embassies with the German Emperor Otto I, and relations with Byzantium were strengthened. While visiting Constantinople, Olga promised support to the Byzantine emperor in his policy towards his neighbors, and also accepted Christianity there. Later Russian Orthodox Church She canonized Olga as a saint.

The next prince of Kyiv was the son of Igor and Olga - Svyatoslav (964 – 972). He was a talented commander who glorified the Russian land with his military campaigns. It was Svyatoslav who owned the famous words that he uttered before his squad in one of the difficult battles: “We will lie here as bones: the dead have no shame!”

He began the subjugation of Ancient Rus' by the Vyatichi, who until the last fought for their independence and remained the only Slavic tribe in the east not subject to the Kyiv prince. Svyatoslav defeated the Khazars, repelled the onslaught of the Pechenegs, defeated the Volga Bulgaria, successfully fought on the Azov coast, capturing Tmutarakanya (modern Taman) on the Taman Peninsula.

Svyatoslav began a war with Byzantium for the Balkan Peninsula, which at first went well, and he even thought of moving the capital of his state from Kyiv to the bank of the Danube, to the city of Pereyaslavets. But these plans failed to be realized. After stubborn battles with a large Byzantine army, Svyatoslav was forced to conclude a non-aggression treaty with Byzantium and return the occupied lands.

Returning to Kyiv with the remnants of his squads, Svyatoslav was ambushed by the Pechenegs at the Dnieper rapids and was killed. The Pechenezh prince cut off his head and made a cup from the skull, believing that all the strength of the great warrior would pass to the one who drank from it. These events took place in 972. Thus ended the first period of the history of Ancient Rus'.

After the death of Svyatoslav, turmoil and struggle beganfor power between his sons. It stopped after his third son, Prince Vladimir, took the Kiev throne. He went down in history as Vladimir I, outstanding statesman and commander (980 – 1015). And in Russian epics - this is Vladimir the Red Sun.

Under him, all the lands of the Eastern Slavs were finally united as part of Ancient Rus', some of which, primarily the Vyatichi, during the period of unrest tried to again become independent of the Kyiv prince.

Vladimir managed to solve the main task of the foreign policy of the Russian state at that time - to organize an effective defense against Pecheneg raids. For this purpose, several defensive lines with a well-thought-out system of fortresses, ramparts, and signal towers were built on the border with the steppe. This made a sudden attack by the Pechenegs impossible and saved Russian villages and cities from their raids. It was in those fortresses that the epic heroes Ilya Muromets, Alyosha Popovich and Dobrynya Nikitich served. In battles with Russian squads, the Pechenegs suffered heavy defeats.

Vladimir made several successful military campaigns in the Polish lands, Volga Bulgaria and others.

The Kiev prince reformed the system of government and replaced the local princes, who continued to rule the tribes that became part of Ancient Rus', with their sons and “husbands,” that is, the leaders of the squads.

With him, the first Russian coins appeared: zlatniki and serebrianniki. The coins depicted Vladimir himself, as well as Jesus Christ.

The appearance of Jesus Christ on coins was not accidental. In 988, Vladimir I adopted Christianity and made it the state religion.

Christianity has been penetrating Rus' for a long time. Even under Prince Igor, some of the warriors were Christians; the Cathedral of St. Elijah was located in Kyiv; Vladimir’s grandmother, Princess Olga, was baptized.

Vladimir's baptism took place in Crimea after the victory over Byzantine troops during the siege of the city of Korsun (Chersonese). Vladimir demanded the Byzantine princess Anna as his wife and declared his intention to be baptized. This was happily accepted by the Byzantine side. The Byzantine princess was sent to the Kyiv prince, as well as priests who baptized Vladimir, his sons and his squad.

Returning to Kyiv, Vladimir, under pain of punishment, forced the people of Kiev and the rest of the people to be baptized. The baptism of Rus', as a rule, took place peacefully, although it met with some resistance. Only in Novgorod did the residents rebel and were pacified by force of arms. After which they were baptized, driven into the Volkhov River.

The adoption of Christianity had great importance for the further development of Rus'.

Firstly, it strengthened the territorial unity and state power of Ancient Rus'.

Secondly, having rejected paganism, Rus' was now on a par with other Christian countries. There has been a significant expansion of its international connections and contacts.

Thirdly, it had a huge impact on the further development of Russian culture.

For his services in the baptism of Rus', Prince Vladimir was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church and named equal to the apostles.

The Russian Orthodox Church was headed by the Metropolitan, who was appointed by the Patriarch of Constantinople until the mid-15th century.

After the death of Vladimir I, turmoil began again, in which twelve of his sons fought for the Kiev throne. The Troubles lasted four years.

During this princely feud, on the orders of one of the brothers, Svyatopolk, three other brothers were killed: Boris of Rostov, Gleb of Murom and Svyatoslav Drevlyansky. For these crimes, Svyatopolk was popularly nicknamed the Damned. And Boris and Gleb began to be revered as holy martyrs.

Civil strife ended after the beginning of the reign in Kyiv Prince Yaroslav Vladimirovich, who received the nickname Wise from his contemporaries (1019 - 1054). The years of his reign in history are considered the period of the highest prosperity of Ancient Rus'.

Under Yaroslav, the Pecheneg raids stopped, and they were given a tough rebuff. In the north, in the Baltic lands, Yuryev (now the city of Tartu in Estonia) was founded, and on the Volga - the city of Yaroslavl. The Kyiv prince managed to unite all of Ancient Rus' under his leadership, that is, he finally became the sovereign prince of the Old Russian state.

Rus' has received wide international recognition. Yaroslav had family ties with many of the European ruling dynasties. His daughters were married to Hungarian, Norwegian, and French kings. Yaroslav's sister married the Polish king, and her granddaughter married the German emperor. Yaroslav himself married a Swedish princess, and his son Vsevolod married a Byzantine princess, daughter of Emperor Constantine Monomakh. Yaroslav's grandson Vladimir, born from this marriage, received the nickname Monomakh. It was he who later continued the glorious deeds of his grandfather.

Yaroslav went down in history as a Russian legislator. It was under him that the first set of laws “Russian Truth” appeared, which regulated life in Ancient Rus'. The law, in particular, allowed blood feud. Murder could be avenged legally: son for father and father for son, brother for brother and nephew for uncle.

Under Yaroslav, there was a rapid development of Russian culture: churches were built, work was carried out on teaching literacy, translating from Greek and copying books into Russian, and a book depository was created. In 1051, shortly before the death of Yaroslav, for the first time not a Byzantine, but a Russian clergyman, Hilarion, became the Metropolitan of Kyiv. He wrote that the Russian state at that time was “known and heard in all corners of the earth.” With the death of Yaroslav in 1054, the second period of the history of Ancient Rus' ended.

- Social and state system of Kievan Rus

Geographically, Rus' in the 11th century was located from the Baltic (Varangian) and White Seas, Lake Ladoga in the north to the Black (Russian) Sea in the south, from the eastern slopes of the Carpathian Mountains in the west to the upper reaches of the Volga and Oka in the east. About 5 million people lived on vast territories. The family made up the yard, “smoke”, “ten”. Families were territorially neighboring (no longer consanguineous) communities (“rope”, “hundred”). Communities gravitated towards churchyards - trade and administrative centers, on the site of which cities grew (“regiment”, “thousand”). In place of the previous tribal unions, principalities (“lands”) were formed.

The political system of the Old Russian state combined the institutions of the new feudal formation and the old, primitive communal one. At the head of the state was a hereditary prince called the Grand Duke. He ruled with the help of a council of other princes and warriors. The rulers of other principalities were subordinate to the Kyiv prince. The prince had a significant military force, which included a fleet.

Supreme power belonged to the Grand Duke, the eldest among the Rurikovichs. The prince was a legislator, military leader, supreme judge, and recipient of tribute. The prince was surrounded by a squad. The warriors lived in the prince's court, took part in campaigns, shared tribute and spoils of war, and feasted with the prince. The prince consulted with his squad on all matters. Participated in management Boyar Duma, which was originally composed of senior warriors. In all lands, the people's council played an important role. Administration was carried out by princes, mayors from the boyars, governors, elected thousanders in cities, etc.

The armed forces included a professional princely squad and a militia. Initially, the permanent detachments (“courts of princes”) included courtyard servants, both free and dependent (“slaves”). Later, service to the prince began to be based on his agreement with his servant (boyar) and became permanent. The word “boyar” itself takes its origin from the word “bolyar” or “fighter”. If necessary, in case of military danger, a people's militia was assembled, led by a thousand, by decision of the veche assembly. The militia consisted of free people - peasants and townspeople. The militia was built according to the “decimal principle”. The warriors united into dozens, tens into hundreds, hundreds into thousands. Most of the commanders - tens, sots, thousand - were chosen by the soldiers themselves. The warriors knew each other well. The hundred usually consisted of men from the same volost, usually related by some degree of kinship. Over time, the territorial (district) principle appears to replace the decimal system. “Thousand” is replaced by a territorial unit – an army. The detachments began to be called "regiments". The “tens” were transformed into a new territorial unit – the “spear”.

In 988, under Vladimir I, Christianity in the Byzantine version was adopted as the state religion instead of paganism. The Russian Orthodox Church initially supported the state and depended on it, since according to the Charter of Vladimir, proclaimed a saint, it received 10% of all income in the state for its functioning. The Grand Dukes actually appointed the highest clergy and encouraged the development of monasteries. The principle of the predominance of secular power over spiritual power is usually called Caesaropapism.

The bulk of landowners, boyars, who had extensive farms in the countryside, lived in Russian cities. They were interested in collecting and sharing the tribute collected in the surrounding territories. This is how the state apparatus was born in the cities, the upper strata of society were consolidated, interterritorial ties were strengthened, that is, the process of state formation developed.

The basis of the social organization of Ancient Rus' was the community. In modern Russian historical science, the prevailing opinion is that in the Old Russian state the absolute majority of the population were free community peasants, united in a rope (from the rope with which plots of land were measured; the rope was also called “hundred”, later – “guba”). They were respectfully called “people”, “men”. They plowed, sowed, cut and burned the forest for new arable land (“slash-and-burn system”). They could kill a bear, elk, wild boar, catch fish, collect honey from forest edges. The “husband” of Ancient Rus' participated in the community gathering, chose the headman, participated in the trial as part of a kind of “jury panel” - “twelve best husbands"(called "izvod"). The ancient Russian, together with his neighbors, pursued a horse thief, an arsonist, a murderer, participated in the armed militia in the event of major military campaigns, and together with others fought off the raid of nomads. A free person had to control his feelings, be responsible for himself, relatives and dependent people. For premeditated murder in accordance with the “Russian Truth”, a set of laws of the first half of the 11th century. property was confiscated, and the family was completely enslaved (this procedure was called "stream and plunder"). For a tuft of hair torn out of a beard or mustache, an offended free person was entitled to compensation of 12 hryvnia “for moral damage” (the hryvnia is a silver ingot weighing about 200 grams; currently the hryvnia is the main monetary unit in Ukraine). This is how the personal dignity of a free person was valued. Murder was punishable by a fine of 40 hryvnia.

The “husband” of Ancient Rus' was indisputably liable for military service, a participant in military campaigns. By decision of the people's assembly, all combat-ready men went on the campaign. Weapons (swords, shields, spears) were received, as a rule, from the princely arsenal. Each man knew how to handle an ax, knife, and bow. Thus, the army of Svyatoslav (965–972), including, along with the squad and the people’s militia, numbered up to 50–60 thousand people.

The communal population constituted the absolute majority in the Novgorod, Pskov, Smolensk, Chernigov, Vladimir, Polotsk, Galician, Kyiv and other lands. The population of cities also constituted a unique community, among which Novgorod with its veche system is of greatest interest.

At the same time, various life circumstances created categories of people with a different legal status. Ryadovichi were those who became temporarily dependent on the owner on the basis of an agreement (“row”) concluded with him. Those who lost their property became purchasers and received from the owner a small plot of land and tools. The purchaser worked for a loan (kupa), grazed the owner's livestock, could not leave him, could be subject to corporal punishment, but could not be sold into slavery, retaining the chance to buy out his freedom. As a result of captivity, self-sale, sale for debts or crimes, through marriage to a serf or servant, Russian people could become serfs. The master's right in relation to the slave was not limited in any way. His murder “cost” only 5 hryvnia. Serfs were, on the one hand, the servants of the feudal lord, who were part of his personal servants and squads, even the princely or boyar administration. On the other hand, serfs (slaves of Russian society), unlike ancient slaves, could be planted on the land (“suffering people”, “sufferers”), and worked as artisans. By analogy with Ancient Rome, the lumpen-proletarians of Ancient Rus' can be called outcasts. These were people who had lost their previous social status: peasants expelled from the community; freed slaves bought their freedom (as a rule, after the death of the owner); bankrupt merchants and even princes “without a place,” that is, who did not receive the territory in which they performed administrative functions. When considering court cases, a person’s social status played an important role, and the principle was “just judge based on your husband.” Landowners, princes and boyars acted as masters of dependent people.

3. Feudalism of Western Europe and the socio-economic system of Ancient Rus': similarities and differences.

The emergence and development of feudal land tenure and the associated enslavement of the peasantry occurred in different ways. In Western Europe, for example, in France, for military service the king was granted land first for life, and then as hereditary property. Over time, peasants were attached both to the personality of the landowner-feudal lord and to the land. The peasant had to work on his farm and on the farm of the seigneur (elder, master). The serf gave the owner a significant part of the products of his labor (bread, meat, poultry, fabrics, leather, shoes), and also performed many other duties. All of them were called feudal rent and were considered the peasant’s payment for the use of land, thanks to which his family was fed. This is how the main economic unit of the feudal mode of production arose, which in England was called a manor, in France and many other countries - a seigneury, and in Russia - a fiefdom.

In Byzantium, such a rigid system of feudal relations did not develop. In Byzantium, feudal lords were forbidden to maintain squads or build prisons on their estates, and they lived, as a rule, in cities, and not in fortified castles. On charges of conspiracy or high treason, any feudal owner could lose his property and his very life. In all feudal societies, land was the main value. To cultivate the land, feudal landowners used various systems of exploitation of peasant labor, without which the land remained dead.

In the Russian lands, the formation of socio-economic relations inherent in feudal society had its own characteristics. Pressure from the prince and his administration had certain limits. There was a lot of free land in the country. For centuries, it was possible to move from the previous place and settle 50–100 miles to the north or east. It was possible to build a house in a new place in a few days, and clear a plot of land for arable land in a few months. This opportunity warmed the soul of the Russian people for many decades. Colonization of free territories and their economic development occurred almost continuously. They escaped from the raids of nomads in the nearby forest. The process of feudalization and restriction of freedom of rural and urban workers was slow.

In the IX – X centuries. on initial stage development of feudal relations, direct producers were subordinated to state power. The main form of peasant dependence was state taxes: land tax - tribute (polyudye), court taxes ( Virs, sales).

At the second stage, individual, large land ownership takes shape, which in Western Europe is called seigneurial. Feudal land ownership arose and was formalized legally in different ways in different Russian lands, at different speeds as a result of increasing property inequality and in connection with the transfer of a significant part of the arable land of the community members into the private ownership of large owners - feudal lords, princes and boyars. Agricultural communities gradually came under the patronage of the prince and his squad. A system of exploitation of the personally free population by the military-service nobility (squad) of the Kyiv princes was formed by collecting tribute. Another way to subjugate a neighboring community to the feudal lords was to capture them by warriors and princes. But most often, the tribal nobility turned into large owners, subjugating the community members. Communities that did not fall under the power of feudal lords were obliged to pay taxes to the state, which in relation to these communities acted both as the supreme power and as the feudal lord.

In the 10th century Domain land ownership of the Kyiv princes arises and in the next century strengthens. The main form of organization of economic life becomes feudal fiefdom, i.e., paternal estate handed down from father to son. In the 11th century Land ownership appears among the representatives of the top of the service nobility - the boyars. The princes and their noble warriors begin to take control of various, mostly communal, lands. The process of feudalization of Russian society is underway, since ownership of land provides significant economic advantages and becomes an important political factor.

The princes of individual lands and other large, medium, and small feudal lords were in vassal dependence on the Grand Duke. They were obliged to supply the Grand Duke with soldiers and to appear at his request with a squad. At the same time, these vassals themselves exercised control over their estates and the grand ducal governors had no right to interfere in their internal affairs.

Each fiefdom was something like a small independent state with its own independent economy. The feudal estate was stable because it conducted subsistence farming. If necessary, peasants were involved in “corvee labor,” that is, general work for the benefit of the owner.

In the XII - first half of the XIII century. patrimonial land ownership continues to grow. In economic life, boyar and princely estates, as well as church, feudal in nature, land holdings come first. If in written sources of the 11th century. There is little information about boyar and monastic estates, but in the 12th century, references to large landholdings became regular. The state-feudal form of ownership continued to play a leading role. Most of the direct producers continued to remain personally free people. They depended only on state power, paying tribute and other state taxes.

4. Neighbors of Ancient Rus' in the 9th-12th centuries: Byzantium, Slavic countries, Western Europe, Khazaria, Volga Bulgaria.

At the stage of the formation of the Old Russian state (862-980), the Rurikovichs solved the following problems:

1. They expanded their sphere of influence, subjugating more and more East Slavic and non-Slavic tribes. Rurik annexed the Finnish tribes to the Slavs - all, Meryu, Meshchera. Oleg moved the center of Ancient Rus' to Kyiv, “the mother of Russian cities” in 882. He included the lands of the Krivichi, Drevlyans, Northerners, Radimichi, Dulebs, Tivertsi and Croats into Ancient Russia and essentially completed the unification of all East Slavic tribes within a single state. Ancient Rus' included most of the East European Plain.

2. The first Rurikovichs entered into relationships with neighboring established and emerging states, fought wars, and achieved international recognition through the signing of international agreements.

Oleg, at the head of a significant army, besieged Constantinople (Tsargrad), the capital of Byzantium, and concluded with it the first international equal treaty for Rus' in 911. Igor, the son of Rurik and Oleg’s pupil, began to fight against Pechenegs, which were completely defeated by his great-grandson Yaroslav the Wise. Igor made unsuccessful campaigns against Byzantium in 941 and 944, and concluded a treaty in 944. He kept the tribes subjugated by Rurik and Oleg in subjection. He was killed in the Drevlyan land for arbitrariness during the collection dani (polyudye).

The outstanding commander Svyatoslav liberated the Vyatichi from the Khazars, subjugated them to Rus', and defeated the Khazar Khaganate in 965. Svyatoslav founded Tmutarakan near the Kerch Strait and Preslavets near the mouth of the Danube. He fought a difficult war against Byzantium (the Battle of Dorostol), and sought to advance as much as possible in the southwestern direction to areas with a more favorable climate. He signed a truce with Byzantium and was killed by the Pechenegs while returning home.

3. The first Russian rulers established trade, economic, cultural, family and dynastic relations with neighboring states and rulers. Rus' did not have its own deposits of gold and silver. Therefore, at first Byzantine denarii and Arab dirhams were used, and then their own zlatniks and silver coins began to be minted.

During the heyday (980-1132), the content and priorities of foreign policy activities began to change in accordance with the increasing economic and military power of the Russian state.

The Rurikovichs established trade, economic, cultural, family and dynastic relations with neighboring states and rulers. During its heyday (980-1132), the ancient Russian state occupied a prominent place on the political map of Europe. Political influence grew as economic and military power strengthened, due to entry into the circle of Christian states. The borders of the Russian state, the nature of relationships, the order of trade and other contacts were determined by a system of international treaties. The first such document was signed with Byzantium by Prince Oleg in 911 after a very successful military campaign. For the first time, Rus' acted as an equal subject of international relations. The baptism of Rus' in 988 also occurred under circumstances in which Vladimir I took an active position. In exchange for helping the Byzantine Emperor Vasily II in the fight against internal opposition, he actually forced the emperor's sister Anna to marry him. Vladimir's son Yaroslav the Wise was married to the Swedish princess Ingigerda (baptized Irina). Through his sons and daughters, Yaroslav the Wise became related to almost all European ruling houses. The Novgorod land, Galicia-Volyn, Polotsk, Ryazan and other principalities had extensive international connections.

Foreign trade played an exceptional role in the economic life of Novgorod. This was facilitated geographical position the northwestern corner of Rus', adjacent to the Baltic Sea. Novgorod was home to many artisans who worked primarily to order. But the main role in the life of the city and the entire Novgorod land was played by merchants. Their association at the Church of Paraskeva Pyatnitsa has been known since the 12th century. Its participants conducted long-distance, that is, overseas, foreign trade. Wax traders united into the Ivan merchant class. Pomeranian merchants, Nizovsky merchants and other entrepreneurial artels traded with other Russian lands. Since ancient times, Novgorod has been most closely connected with Scandinavia. In the IX-XI centuries. Relations with the Danes, Germans (especially the Hanseatics), and the Dutch improved. Chronicles, acts and treaties of Novgorod for the XI-XIV centuries. record regular trips of Novgorod merchants to Narva, Revel, Dorpat, Riga, Vyborg, Abo, Stockholm, Visby (Gotland Island), Danzig, Lubeck. A Russian trading post was established in Visby. The foreign trade of the Novgorodians was focused exclusively on the western direction. A major role was played by the re-export of Western goods deep into Rus', further to the countries of the East, and of Russian and Eastern goods to the West. For many centuries, the Neva and Ladoga region played the role of a kind of gateway to Eurasia, which predetermined the economic importance of this region and the fierce struggle for influence in it. Various contractual relations and family alliances connected the Rurikovichs with their neighbors in the east, especially with the Polovtsians. Russian princes were participants in many international coalitions, often relying on the support of foreign military force, provided their services. Most of the princes spoke, in addition to Russian, Greek, German, Polish, Polovtsian and others.

1. Vladimir I, Yaroslav the Wise, Vladimir II successfully defended the territory of their state and strengthened the recognition of its borders by a system of treaties.

Vladimir I finally conquered Vyatichi, Radimichi, Yatvag, annexed lands in Galicia (Cherven, Przemysl, etc.). Yaroslav the Wise (1019-1054) in 1036 completely defeated the Pechenegs, who began to serve the Russian princes or migrated to Hungary. In 1068, the struggle of the Russian people against the Polovtsians began, which proceeded with varying success due to the flaring up of civil strife within the House of Rurikovich. During the reign of Vladimir II Monomakh (1113-1125), serious defeats were inflicted on the Polovtsians, with whom mostly peaceful relations began to develop.

2. In the east, the struggle with the nomads became protracted. The Pechenegs were defeated, powerful blows were dealt to the Polovtsy, and some of the nomads went into the service of the Russian princes.

3. With the adoption of Christianity, Rus' stood on a par with most European states. But in 1054 There was a split in Christianity. Over time they took shape Catholicism And Orthodoxy. The schism has persisted for almost a thousand years. Byzantium and Rus' became closer based on their adherence to Orthodoxy.

During the period of feudal fragmentation, each principality carried out its foreign policy.

1. Ties with the ruling houses of European states have strengthened. Vladimir II was married to the daughter of the Byzantine emperor, from whom, according to legend, he received the symbol of supreme power - the “Monomakh cap”, the prototype of the future royal crown.

Wars were waged against close neighbors, seizures were carried out, agreements were concluded and violated. peace treaties, mutual claims accumulated. Under Vsevolod III Yuryevich (nicknamed the Big Nest) (1176-1212), the center of the Russian state actually moved to the richest city of Vladimir. Vsevolod subjugated the Ryazan principality and made campaigns against the Kama Bulgarians.

2. The rulers of the principalities, in the fight against their relatives in the “House of Rurikovich,” increasingly turned to foreign states for help (Poland, Hungary, Sweden, etc.). This was often accompanied by concessions of territories, benefits for foreign merchants, etc. Foreign policy activities were carried out directly by princes from the House of Rurikovich, who usually spoke European and Eastern languages, conducted diplomatic correspondence, and sent their trusted representatives from among the boyars and wealthy merchants as ambassadors.

3. Russian rulers underestimated the danger from the east. The Russian regiments, even united with the Cumans, suffered a catastrophic defeat on the Kalka River (a tributary of the Don) in 1223 from large advanced forces of the Mongol-Tatars, led by the commander of Genghis Khan. No conclusions were drawn from this defeat and the Mongol invasion of 1237/38. took the Russian lands by surprise. The policy of “walking apart, fighting together” was carried out inconsistently and turned out to be ineffective.

5. Old Russian culture of the 9th-12th centuries.

1. Culture and beliefs of the Eastern Slavs

The ancient Slavs were people of Vedic culture, therefore it would be more correct to call the ancient Slavic religion not paganism, but Vedism. This is a peaceful religion of a highly cultured agricultural people, related to other religions of the Vedic root - Ancient India, Ancient Greece.

According to the Book of Veles (presumably written by Novgorod priests no later than the 9th century, dedicated to the god of wealth and wisdom Veles and resolving the dispute over the origin of the Slavs), there was an archaic Trinity-Triglav: Svarog (Svarozhich) - the heavenly god, Perun - the thunderer, Veles (Volos) the destroyer god Universe. There were also mother cults. The fine arts and folklore of the ancient Slavs were inextricably linked with paganism. The main deities of the Slavs were: Svarog (god of the sky) and his son Svarozhich (god of fire), Rod (god of fertility), Stribog (god of cattle), Perun (god of thunderstorms).

The decomposition of clan relations was accompanied by the complication of cult rituals. Thus, the funerals of princes and nobles turned into a solemn ritual, during which huge mounds were built over the dead, one of his wives or a slave was burned along with the deceased, a funeral feast was celebrated, i.e. commemorations accompanied by military competitions. Archaic folk holidays: New Year's fortune-telling, Maslenitsa were accompanied by incantatory magical rituals, which were a kind of prayer to the gods for general well-being, harvest, deliverance from thunderstorms and hail.

Not a single culture of a spiritually developed people can exist without writing. Until now, it was believed that the Slavs did not know writing before the missionary activity of Cyril and Methodius, but a number of scientists (S.P. Obnorsky, D.S. Likhachev, etc.) pointed out that that there is indisputable evidence of the presence of writing among the Eastern Slavs long before the baptism of Rus'. It was suggested that the Slavs had their own original writing system: knotted writing, its signs were not written down, but were transmitted using knots tied on threads that were wrapped in ball books. The memory of this letter remains in language and folklore: for example, we still talk about the “thread of the narrative”, “the intricacies of the plot”, and also tie knots as a keepsake. Knot-pagan writing was very complex and accessible only to a select few - priests and high nobility. Obviously, the knotted writing could not compete with the simpler, logically perfect writing system based on the Cyrillic alphabet.

2. The adoption of Christianity by Russia and its significance in the development of Russian culture

The adoption of Christianity by Russia is the most important event in the cultural life of that period. The nature of the historical choice made in 988 by Prince Vladimir was not accidental. The chronicle “The Tale of Bygone Years” contains a long story about the doubts of Vladimir and his boyars when choosing a faith. However, the prince made his choice in favor of Greek Orthodox Christianity. The decisive factor in turning to the religious and ideological experience of Byzantium were the traditional political, economic, and cultural ties of Kievan Rus with Byzantium. Around 988, Vladimir himself was baptized, he baptized his squad and the boyars, and, under pain of punishment, forced the people of Kiev and all Russians in general to be baptized. The baptism of the rest of Rus' took a long time. In the Northeast, the conversion of the population to Christianity was completed only at the end of the 11th century. Baptism has met with resistance more than once. The most famous uprising took place in Novgorod. The Novgorodians agreed to be baptized only after the princely warriors set fire to the rebellious city. Many ancient Slavic beliefs entered the Christian canon in Rus'. The Thunderer Perun became Elijah the Prophet, Veles became St. Blaise, the Kupala holiday turned into St. John the Baptist, Pancake Day pancakes are a reminder of the pagan worship of the Sun. Belief in lower deities remained - goblins, brownies, mermaids and the like. However, all this is just remnants of paganism, which do not make an Orthodox Christian a pagan.

The adoption of Christianity by Russia had a progressive significance; it contributed to the development of feudal relations in ancient Russian society, sanctifying the relations of domination and subordination (“let the servant fear his master,” “there is no power except from God”); the church itself became a large landowner. Christianity introduced humanistic values ​​(“thou shalt not kill,” “thou shalt not steal,” “love thy neighbor as thyself”) into the morals and customs of ancient Russian society. The adoption of Christianity strengthened the unity of the country and the central government. The international position of Rus' changed qualitatively - from a pagan barbarian power it turned into a European Christian state. The development of culture received a powerful impetus: liturgical books in the Slavic language, icon painting, fresco painting, and mosaics appeared, stone architecture flourished, the first schools were opened in monasteries, and literacy spread.

3. Old Russian literature

Russian literature was born in the first half of the 11th century. among the ruling class and was elitist. The church played a leading role in the literary process, therefore, along with secular literature, church literature received great development. The writing materials were parchment, specially tanned calfskin, and birch bark. Paper finally replaces parchment only in the 15th-16th centuries. They wrote with ink and cinnabar, using goose quills. An Old Russian book is a voluminous manuscript made up of notebooks sewn into a wooden binding covered with embossed leather. In the 11th century Luxurious books with cinnabar letters and artistic miniatures appeared in Rus'. Their binding was bound with gold or silver, decorated with pearls, precious stones. This is the “Ostromir Gospel”, written by Deacon Gregory for the Novgorod mayor Ostromir in 1057.

The literary language is based on the living spoken language of Ancient Rus'; at the same time, in the process of its formation, a closely related language, although foreign in origin, was played by the Old Church Slavonic or Church Slavonic language. On its basis, church writing developed in Rus' and worship was conducted.

One of the genres of ancient Russian literature was the chronicle - a weather account of events. The chronicler not only described historical events, but also had to give them an assessment that met the interests of the prince-customer. The oldest chronicle that has come down to us dates back to 1113. It went down in history under the name “The Tale of Bygone Years”, as is commonly believed, was created by the monk of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery Nestor. “The Tale” is distinguished by the complexity of its composition and the variety of materials included in it.

One of the oldest monuments of ancient Russian literature is the famous “Sermon on Law and Grace” (1037-1050) by the princely priest in Berestov and the future first Metropolitan of Kyiv Hilarion. The content of the “Word” was the substantiation of the state-ideological concept of Ancient Rus', the definition of its place among other peoples and states, its contribution to the spread of Christianity.

At the beginning of the 12th century. In ancient Russian culture, newer literary genres were formed: teachings and walking (travel notes). Most striking examples serve as the “Instruction for Children”, compiled in his declining years by the Kiev Grand Duke Vladimir Monomakh, as well as the famous “Walking” created by one of his associates, Abbot Daniel, describing his journey through holy places through Constantinople and the island of Crete to Jerusalem.

At the end of the 12th century. the most famous of the poetic works of ancient Russian literature was created - “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” (came down to us in the only copy that died during the fire of 1812 in Moscow), the plot of which was based on a description of the unsuccessful campaign against the Polovtsians of the Novgorod-Seversk prince Igor Svyatoslavich (1185). The unknown author of the Lay apparently belonged to the druzhina nobility. The main idea of ​​the work was the need for unity of Russian princes in the face of external danger; its call is aimed at ending civil strife and princely strife.

The legal code of Rus' was “Russian Truth”, which contains, first of all, the norms of criminal, inheritance, trade and procedural legislation and is the main source of legal, social and economic relations of the Eastern Slavs. Most modern researchers associate the Most Ancient Truth with the name of the Kyiv prince Yaroslav the Wise. The approximate period of its creation is 1019-1054. The norms of Russian Truth were gradually codified by the Kyiv princes.

4. Construction and architecture.

With the advent of Christianity in Rus', the construction of religious buildings and monasteries began widely. Unfortunately, the monuments of ancient Russian wooden architecture have not survived to this day. One of the first central monasteries was Kiev-Pechersk, founded in the middle. 11th century Anthony and Theodosius of Pechersk. Pechery, or caves, are places where Christian ascetics originally settled, and around which a settlement arose, which turned into a communal monastery. Monasteries became centers for the dissemination of spiritual knowledge.

At the end of the 10th century. Stone construction began in Rus'. One of the first stone buildings in Kyiv was the Tithe Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, erected by Greek craftsmen and destroyed during the Batu invasion in 1240. Excavations revealed that it was a powerful structure made of thin brick, decorated with carved marble, mosaics, and frescoes. The Byzantine cross-domed church became the main architectural form in Ancient Rus'. Archaeological excavations of this ancient temple of Rus' made it possible to establish that this building with an area of ​​about 90 sq.m. crowned, according to the chronicle, with 25 crowns, i.e. chapters, was grandiose in concept and execution. In the 30s of the 11th century. The stone Golden Gate with the Gate Church of the Annunciation was built.

The outstanding work of architecture of Kievan Rus was the St. Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod. It is much more severe than the Kyiv one, has 5 domes, much more powerful and more severe walls made of local limestone. There are no bright mosaics in the interior, but only frescoes, but not as dynamic as in Kyiv, and an excess of ornamental decorations of pagan antiquity with a clearly visible pattern of knotted writing.

5. Crafts.

Crafts were highly developed in Kievan Rus: pottery, metalworking, jewelry, beekeeping, etc. In the 10th century. A potter's wheel appears. By the middle of the 11th century. refers to the first known sword with the Russian inscription: “Lyudota forged.” Since that time, Russian swords have been found in archaeological excavations in the Baltic states, Finland, and Scandinavia.

The jewelry technique of Russian craftsmen was very complex, and Russian products were in great demand on the world market of that time. Many decorations are made using the granulation technique: a pattern consisting of many balls is soldered onto the product. Decorative and applied art was enriched with techniques brought from Byzantium: filigree - soldering thin wire and balls, niello - filling a silver surface with a black background, enamel - creating a colored pattern on a metal surface.

6. The Middle Ages as a stage of the historical process in Western Europe, the East and Russia.

Technology, relations of production and modes of exploitation, political systems, ideology and social psychology.

The emergence and development of feudal land tenure and the associated enslavement of the peasantry occurred in different ways. In Western Europe, for example, in France, for military service the king was granted land first for life, and then as hereditary property. Peasant farmers who worked on the land found themselves dependent on the owner. Over time, peasants were attached both to the personality of the landowner-feudal lord and to the land. The peasant had to work on his farm and on the farm of the seigneur (elder, master). The serf gave the owner a significant part of the products of his labor (bread, meat, poultry; fabrics, leather, shoes), and also performed many other duties. All of them were called feudal rent and were considered the peasant’s payment for the use of land, thanks to which his family was fed. This is how the main economic unit of the feudal mode of production arose, which in England was called a manor, in France and many other countries - a seigneury, and in Russia - a fiefdom.

In Byzantium, such a rigid system of feudal relations did not develop (see above). In Byzantium, feudal lords were forbidden to maintain squads or build prisons on their estates, and they lived, as a rule, in cities, and not in fortified castles. On charges of conspiracy or high treason, any feudal owner could lose his property and his very life.

The “queen” of all sciences was theology (translated from Greek as “the doctrine of God”; theology). Theologians interpreted the Holy Scriptures, explained the world from a Christian perspective. Philosophy has been in the position of “the handmaiden of theology” for a long time. The clergy, especially the monks, were the most educated people of their time. They knew the works of ancient authors, ancient languages, and especially respected the teachings of Aristotle. The language of the Catholic Church was Latin. Therefore, access to knowledge for “simple people” was actually closed.

Theological disputes were often artificial. Dogmatism and scholasticism became widespread. Dogma translated from Greek language means "opinion, doctrine, ruling." By “dogmatism” we mean one-sided, ossified thinking that operates with dogmas, that is, positions taken on faith as an immutable truth, unchangeable under any circumstances. The tendency towards dogmatism has safely survived to this day. The term “scholasticism” and the well-known word “school” have a common origin from the Greek word meaning “school, scholar.” During the Middle Ages, scholasticism became most widespread. It was a type of religious philosophy that combined theological-dogmatic approaches with rationalistic methodology and interests in formal-logical problems.

At the same time, rationalism (translated from Latin as “reason, rational”) appeared in the depths of theology over time. The gradual recognition that truth can be obtained not only through faith, divine revelation, but also through knowledge and rational explanation, contributed to the gradual liberation of the natural sciences (medicine, alchemy, geography, etc.) from the strict control of the church.

The Church made sure that the peasant, artisan, merchant, and any ordinary person of the Middle Ages felt sinful, dependent, and insignificant. The daily life of the “little man” was under the comprehensive control of the priest, the feudal lord and the community. The sacrament of confession, obligatory for everyone, forced a person to evaluate his actions and thoughts, taught him to self-discipline and self-restraint. It was not accepted and dangerous to stand out from the general gray mass. The clothes of men and especially women were of a simple cut and should not emphasize the texture of the body.

The people of the Middle Ages were characterized by fear of the Second Coming of Christ and the Last Judgment, which was expected more than once in a state of mass history and panic.

Of course, not everywhere, not always, and not everything was so gloomy. In the spiritual culture of the Middle Ages, in the lives of people, heresies, remnants of paganism, and folk culture opposed the dominant religious culture. The people were entertained by traveling actors - jugglers (buffoons). During the holidays, mummers walked along the streets of villages and cities (at Christmas), dances, competitions and games were held in the squares. During the “Feasts of Fools,” which parodied church services, the lower clergy put on monstrous masks right in the church, sang daring songs, feasted and played dice. Smart clergymen understood that explosions of unbridled, “worldly” fun allowed them to “let off steam” and brighten up a rather difficult, dull everyday life. In many European countries, modern festivals, carnivals, and traditional events originated during the Middle Ages.

For a long time, monasteries were centers of spiritual culture. At the beginning of the second millennium, universities competed with them.

7. Reasons, nature and features of the period of feudal fragmentation. Russian lands in the XII-XIV centuries.

Modern researchers understand feudal fragmentation as the period of the 12th - 15th centuries. in the history of our country, when from several dozen to several hundred large states were formed and functioned on the territory of Kievan Rus. Feudal fragmentation was a natural result of the previous political and economic development society, the so-called period of the early feudal monarchy.

There are four most significant reasons for the feudal fragmentation of the Old Russian state.

The main reason was political. The vast expanses of the East European Plain, numerous tribes, both Slavic and non-Slavic origin, at different stages of development - all this contributed to the decentralization of the state. Over time, the appanage princes, as well as the local feudal nobility represented by the boyars, began to undermine the foundation under the state building with their independent separatist actions. Only strong power concentrated in the hands of one person, the prince, could keep the state organism from collapse. And the Grand Duke of Kiev could no longer completely control the policy of local princes from the center; more and more princes left his power, and in the 30s. XII century he controlled only the territory around Kyiv. The appanage princes, sensing the weakness of the center, now did not want to share their income with the center, and the local boyars actively supported them in this.

The next reason for feudal fragmentation was social. By the beginning of the 12th century. has become more complicated social structure Old Russian society: large boyars, clergy, merchants, artisans, and urban lower classes appeared. These were new, actively developing layers of the population. In addition, the nobility arose, serving the prince in exchange for a land grant. His social activity was very high. In each center, behind the appanage princes there was an impressive force in the person of the boyars with their vassals, the rich elite of the cities, and church hierarchs. The increasingly complex social structure of society also contributed to the isolation of the lands.

Economic reasons also played a significant role in the collapse of the state. Within the framework of a single state, over three centuries, independent economic regions emerged, new cities grew, and large patrimonial estates of the boyars, monasteries and churches arose. The subsistence nature of the economy provided the rulers of each region with the opportunity to separate from the center and exist as an independent land or principality.

In the 12th century. The foreign policy situation also contributed to feudal fragmentation. Rus' during this period did not have serious opponents, since the Grand Dukes of Kyiv did a lot to ensure the security of their borders. A little less than a century will pass, and Rus' will face a formidable enemy in the person of the Mongol Tatars, but the process of the collapse of Rus' by this time will have gone too far, and there will be no one to organize the resistance of the Russian lands.

All major Western European states experienced a period of feudal fragmentation, but in Western Europe the engine of fragmentation was the economy. In Rus', during the process of feudal fragmentation, the political component was dominant. In order to receive material benefits, the local nobility - the princes and boyars - needed to gain political independence and strengthen their inheritance, to achieve sovereignty. The main force in the process of separation in Rus' was the boyars.

At first, feudal fragmentation contributed to the rise of agriculture in all Russian lands, the flourishing of crafts, the growth of cities, and the rapid development of trade. But over time, constant strife between the princes began to deplete the strength of the Russian lands and weaken their defense capability in the face of external danger. Disunity and constant hostility with each other led to the disappearance of many principalities, but most importantly, they became the cause of extraordinary hardships for the people during the Mongol-Tatar invasion.

In conditions of feudal fragmentation, the exploitation of the peasantry intensified, the number of free community members gradually decreased, and the community fell under the power of farmers. Previously free community members became feudal dependents. The deterioration of the situation of the peasants and urban lower classes was expressed in various forms, and uprisings against the feudal lords became more frequent.

In the XII-XIII centuries. so-called immunities have become widespread. Immunity is the provision of a special charter to the landowner (letter immunities), in accordance with which he exercised independent management and legal proceedings in his patrimony. He was simultaneously responsible for the performance of state duties by the peasants. Over time, the owner of the immunity charter became the sovereign and obeyed the prince only formally.

In the social development of Rus', the hierarchical structure of feudal land ownership and, accordingly, seignorial-vassal relations within the class of feudal lords are quite clearly manifested.

The main overlord was Grand Duke- exercising supreme power and being the owner of all the land of a given principality.

The boyars, being vassals of the prince, had their own vassals - medium and small feudal lords. The Grand Duke distributed estates, immunities and was obliged to resolve controversial issues between feudal lords and protect them from the oppression of their neighbors.

A typical feature of the period of feudal fragmentation was the palace-patrimony system of government. The center of this system was the princely court, and the management of the princely lands and the state was not differentiated. Palace officials (butler, equerry, falconer, bowler, etc.) performed national duties, managing certain territories, collecting taxes and taxes.

Legal issues during the period of feudal fragmentation were resolved on the basis of "Russian Truth", customary law, various agreements, charters, charters and other documents.

Interstate relations were regulated by treaties and letters (“finished”, “row”, “kissing of the cross”). In Novgorod and Pskov in the 15th century. their own legal collections appeared, developed in the development of “Russian Truth” and church statutes. In addition, they implemented the norms of customary law of Novgorod and Pskov, charters of princes and local legislation.

8. The Mongol-Tatar invasion of Rus' and its impact on the economic, political, social and cultural development of the country. The struggle of the Russian people against foreign invaders (XIII-XV centuries).

The Russian state, formed on the border of Europe and Asia, which reached its peak in the 10th - early 11th centuries, at the beginning of the 12th century broke up into many principalities. This collapse occurred under the influence of the feudal mode of production. The external defense of the Russian land was especially weakened. The princes of individual principalities pursued their own separate policies, considering primarily the interests of the local feudal nobility and entered into endless internecine wars. This led to the loss of centralized control and to a severe weakening of the state as a whole. At the beginning of the 13th century in Central Asia The Mongolian state was formed. After the name of one of the tribes, these peoples were also called Tatars. Subsequently, all the nomadic peoples with whom Rus' fought began to be called Mongol-Tatars. In 1206, a congress of the Mongolian nobility took place - the kurultai, at which Temujin was elected leader of the Mongolian tribes, and received the name Genghis Khan (Great Khan). As in other countries, in early stage development of feudalism, the state of the Mongol-Tatars was distinguished by its strength and solidity. The nobility was interested in expanding pastures and organizing predatory campaigns against neighboring agricultural peoples who were at a higher level of development. Most of them, like Rus', experienced a period of feudal fragmentation, which greatly facilitated the implementation of the aggressive plans of the Mongol-Tatars. Then they invaded China, conquered Korea and Central Asia, and defeated the allied forces of the Polovtsian and Russian princes on the Kalka River (1223). Reconnaissance in force showed that it was possible to wage aggressive campaigns against Rus' and its neighbors only by organizing an all-Mongol campaign against European countries. The head of this campaign was the grandson of Genghis Khan, Batu, who inherited from his grandfather all the territories in the west, “where the foot of a Mongol horse has set foot.” In 1236, the Mongol-Tatars captured Volga Bulgaria, and in 1237 they subjugated the nomadic peoples of the steppe. In the fall of 1237, the main forces of the Mongol-Tatars crossed the Volga and concentrated on the Voronezh River, aiming at Russian lands.

In 1237, Ryazan suffered the first blow. The princes of Vladimir and Chernigov refused to help Ryazan. The battle was very difficult. The Russian squad came out of encirclement 12 times, and Ryazan held out for 5 days. “One Ryazan man fought with a thousand, and two – with ten thousand” - this is how the chronicle writes about this battle. But Batu had a great superiority in strength, and Ryazan fell. The entire city was destroyed.

The battle of the Vladimir-Suzdal army with the Mongol-Tatars took place near the city of Kolomna. The Vladimir army died in this battle, predetermining the fate of North-Eastern Rus'. In mid-January, Batu occupied Moscow, then, after a 5-day siege, Vladimir. After the capture of Vladimir, Batu splits his army into several parts. All cities in the north, except Torzhok, surrendered almost without a fight.

After Torzhok, Batu does not go to Novgorod, but turns south. The turn away from Novgorod is usually explained by spring floods. But there are other explanations: firstly, the campaign did not fit into the deadlines, and secondly, Batu was unable to defeat the united forces of North-Eastern Rus' in one or two battles, using numerical and tactical superiority.

Batu combs the entire territory of Rus' using hunting raid tactics. The city of Kozelsk was declared the gathering point for the Khan’s troops. Kozelsk held out for 7 weeks and withstood the general assault. Batu took the city by cunning and did not spare anyone, killing everyone down to the infants. Batu ordered to destroy the city to the ground, plow up the ground and fill the place with salt so that this city would never be reborn. On his way, Batu destroyed everything, including villages, as the main productive force in Rus'.

In 1240, after a 10-day siege of Kyiv, which ended with the capture and complete plunder of the latter, Batu’s troops invaded the states of Europe, where they brought horror and fear to the inhabitants. In Europe it was stated that the Mongols had escaped from hell, and everyone was waiting for the end of the world.

But Rus' still resisted. In 1241 Batu returned to Rus'. In 1242, Batu was in the lower reaches of the Volga, where he set up his new capital - Sarai-batu. The Horde yoke was established in Rus' by the end of the 13th century, after the creation of the state of Batu - the Golden Horde, which stretched from the Danube to the Irtysh.

Already the first consequences of the Mongol conquests were catastrophic for the Slavic lands: the fall and destruction of the role of cities, the decline of crafts and trade, demographic losses - physical destruction, slavery and flights became factors that significantly reduced the population in the south of Rus', the destruction of a significant part of the feudal elite.

The essence of the Golden Horde invasion as a historical phenomenon is the formation and strengthening of a stable system of dependence of Russian lands on the conquerors. The Golden Horde invasion manifested itself primarily in 3 spheres: economic (the system of taxes and duties - tribute, plow, underwater, duties, feed, hunting, etc.), political (the Horde’s approval of princes on the tables and the issuance of labels for land management) , military (the obligation of the Slavic principalities to delegate their soldiers to the Mongol army and take part in its military campaigns). The khan's governors in the Russian lands, the Baskaks, were called upon to monitor the preservation and strengthening of the system of dependence. In addition, in order to weaken Rus', the Golden Horde, throughout almost the entire period of its dominance, practiced periodic devastating campaigns.

The Mongol-Tatar invasion caused great damage to the Russian state. Enormous damage was caused to the economic, political and cultural development of Rus'. The old agricultural centers and once-developed territories became desolate and fell into decay. Russian cities were subjected to massive destruction. Many crafts have become simpler and sometimes disappeared. Tens of thousands of people were killed or taken into slavery. The ongoing struggle waged by the Russian people against the invaders forced the Mongol-Tatars to abandon the creation of their own administrative bodies of power in Rus'. Rus' retained its statehood. This was also facilitated by the lower level of cultural and historical development of the Tatars. In addition, Russian lands were unsuitable for raising nomadic cattle. The main purpose of enslavement was to obtain tribute from the conquered people. The size of the tribute was very large. The size of the tribute alone in favor of the khan was 1300 kg of silver per year. In addition, deductions from trade duties and various taxes went to the khan's treasury. In total there were 14 types of tribute in favor of the Tatars.

The Russian principalities made attempts not to obey the horde. However, the forces to overthrow the Tatar-Mongol yoke were still not enough. Realizing this, the most far-sighted Russian princes - Alexander Nevsky and Daniil Galitsky - took a more flexible policy towards the Horde and the khan. Realizing that an economically weak state would never be able to resist the Horde, Alexander Nevsky set a course for restoring and boosting the economy of the Russian lands.

In the summer of 1250, the Khan of the Mighty sent his envoys to Daniil Galitsky with the words: “Give Galich!” Realizing that the forces are unequal, and by fighting the Khan’s army he dooms his lands to complete plunder, Daniel goes to the Horde to bow to Batu and recognize his strength. As a result, the Galician lands are included in the Horde with the rights of autonomy. They retained their land, but were dependent on the khan. Thanks to such a soft policy, the Russian land was saved from complete plunder and destruction. As a result of this, a slow restoration and economic recovery of the Russian lands began, which ultimately led to the Battle of Kulikovo and the overthrow of the Tatar-Mongol yoke.

During the difficult years of the Mongol invasion, the Russian people had to repel the onslaught of German and Swedish feudal lords. The goal of this campaign was to capture Ladoga, and, if successful, Novgorod itself. The predatory goals of the campaign, as usual, were covered up with phrases that its participants were trying to spread the “true faith” - Catholicism - among the Russian people.

At dawn on a July day in 1240, the Swedish flotilla unexpectedly appeared in the Gulf of Finland and, having passed along the Neva, stood at the mouth of the Izhora. A temporary Swedish camp was set up here. Novgorod Prince Alexander Yaroslavich (son of Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich), having received a message from the head of the sea guard, Izhorian Pelgusius, about the arrival of enemies, gathered his small squad and part of the Novgorod militia in Novgorod. Considering that the Swedish army was much more numerous than the Russian one, Alexander decided to deal an unexpected blow to the Swedes. On the morning of July 15, the Russian army suddenly attacked the Swedish camp. The cavalry squad fought its way to the center of the Swedish troops. At the same time, the foot Novgorod militia, following along the Neva, attacked enemy ships. Three ships were captured and destroyed. With blows along Izhora and the Neva, the Swedish army was overthrown and pushed into the corner formed by two rivers. The balance of forces changes

« Who can live well in Rus'? "(N. Nekrasov, production: "Who can live well in Rus'?")

« Rus', where are you going? ? (N.V. Gogol, production “Dead Souls”)

- « Who is guilty? "(A.I. Herzen, production: “Who is to blame?”)

- « What to do? "(I. G. Chernyshevsky, production "What to do")

« Who to be? » (V.V. Mayakovsky, production “Who to be?”)

Periodization of Russian history

Traditionally, Russian history is counted from 862, when the Varangians from Scandinavia came to Rus' and became princes of the Russian lands. Russian civilization is relatively young.

The history of Russia can be divided into 5 cycles:

9th-13th centuries

The period of prosperity was reached under Yaroslav the Wise in the 12th century, when Kievan Rus became one of the leaders of medieval society. The cycle ended as a result of the feudal fragmentation of the state and the Tatar-Mongol invasion.

14th century – beginning of the 17th century.

The center of the country was moved to Moscow, and a Moscow State. The cycle reached its peak under Ivan III and ended in national catastrophe during the Time of Troubles.

Early 17th century - early 20th century

The third cycle began with the accession of the Romanov dynasty and reached its peak during the reign of Peter I and Catherine II. Russian empire became one of the world powers. However, then conservative tendencies prevailed, and there was a delay in the transition to an industrial society (almost a century compared to Europe). The completion of this cycle is a series of national catastrophes: defeat in the war with Japan, in the First World War, the collapse of the Russian Empire and civil war.

20 20 century – 1991

The Russian Bolsheviks, with difficulty and using violent methods, reassembled most of the disintegrated empire under the rule of a single center. Local civilization is being revived again, but for the first time not under the flag of Orthodoxy, but of socialism. Soviet Union became a superpower. This cycle ended with economic and geopolitical weakening, internal national problems and then the collapse of the USSR.

Many people think that in the 20th century. The natural course of Russian history was interrupted by a catastrophe. Tens of millions of people died at the hands of their fellow citizens and with their consent. There was a sharp degradation of morals and culture. This situation is sometimes compared to the death of classical ancient culture.

Since 1991

Having abandoned socialist ideology and overcome the economic crisis of the 90s, Russian Federation looking for a way to a better future.

(According to the book by Kononenko, B.I.: Culture. Civilization. Russia.)

Features of Russian history

Several times a thousand years of history Russia was undergoing a radical socio-political and economic transformation (the era of the reign of Peter I, socialism, reforms of the 90s of the 20th century).
Several times the country reached a dead end (Time of Troubles, socialism). The population often experienced disasters. Wars and famines recurred.

However, against the tragic background of Russian history, a high culture arose, stages of upsurges in spirituality were observed, and global successes in science were achieved.

East-West

Russian history alternates between eastern and western phases. Russians see their country as largely Asian, which needs to be civilized along the European path.
Western historians see in Russia more of a type of Eastern society (people rule, not the law; power is concentrated in the hands of one person; there is no understanding of the individual as an absolute value).
However, Russian civilization can generally be considered hybrid: it includes elements of Europeanism and Asianism.

Eastern Slavs and Kievan Rus

East Slavs

In the 6th-8th centuries. during the final stage Great Migration various tribes of the Eastern Slavs (for example, Vyatichi, Drevlyans, Krivichi, etc.) settled over a vast area from the Middle Dnieper in the south to Lake Ladoga in the north, from the Western Bug in the west to the Volga in the east.
Although the conditions for the effective development of agriculture in these areas were unsuitable due to the harsh climate (the fertile southern steppe regions were occupied by nomadic tribes - Cumans, Pechenegs, Turks, Khazars, etc.), the Eastern Slavs were mainly engaged in agriculture, as well as hunting and fishing and cattle breeding. They traded honey, wax, and furs.
At the head of the East Slavic communities were the prince and his squads. Their residences were fortified settlements - cities.

The religion of the Eastern Slavs was paganism - they revered natural gods (Perun is the main god, the god of thunder and lightning, Radegast is the sun god).

Rus' and Kievan Rus

The north-south water trade route passed along the Dnieper and Volkhov rivers "from the Varangians to the Greeks". This route was chosen by the Varangians, a northern tribe of Scandinavians (Vikings) for trade with Byzantium. Large cities arose on it - Novgorod And Kyiv.

In 862, the Varangians created the earliest union of East Slavic lands in Novgorod - Rus, later called Kievan Rus.
The Varangians left traces in the Russian language - for example, the name Vladimir = Waldemar, Olga = Helga. The word “Rus” possibly comes from the Finnish “Ruotsi”, which, according to one hypothesis, was the name of the tribes of the Eastern Slavs.

The first ruler of Rus' was the Varangian prince (Hrörekr, Roderick) who came to Novgorod. The founder of the first dynasty of Russian rulers - the Rurikovichs. Under Rurik's heir, prince Oleg, Kyiv was annexed to his lands, which became the capital of the principality.

In 988 under the prince Vladimir Orthodox Christianity, borrowed from Byzantium, was adopted. A sculpture of the pagan god Perun in Kyiv was thrown into the Dnieper River.
After baptism, Slavic writing, created in the 9th century, penetrated into Rus'. Cyril and Methodius.

Kievan Rus developed intensive trade and cultural ties with Byzantium. Byzantine civilization left many traces in Russian society.

Kievan Rus reaches its peak in the half of the 11th century. at Yaroslav the Wise. At this time, it was part of the advanced European states, and its rich diplomatic and trade ties with Europe were strengthened. Yaroslav's sons married European princesses, his daughters married European kings.
Under Yaroslav, the first set of laws of Ancient Rus' was adopted - Russian Truth .
In 1125, with the end of the reign Vladimir Monomakh, Kievan Rus broke up into separate principalities.

The first written monument testifying to the early history of Russia is the chronicle The Tale of Bygone Years , created by monks in the Kiev Pechersk Lavra.

At the initial stage of the development of Rus', the geographical location at the crossroads of Eurasian trade and migration routes played an important role. The history of that time is an almost continuous struggle between sedentary (mostly Slavic) and nomadic (mostly Asian) peoples. Kievan Rus blocked the way to the west for hordes of nomads. A myth arises about Russia as the “shield of Europe.”

Period of feudal fragmentation

After the collapse of Kievan Rus, a system of separate, virtually independent principalities was formed. They developed around the large cities of Kievan Rus. The most significant: Novgorod, Vladimir-Suzdal, Smolensk, Chernigov, Later Tverskoye.

Novgorod land

Novgorod was the most developed, largest shopping center. He had his own money, laws, army, government system (“boyar republic”). The most valuable architectural monuments arose here.
The famous prince was from Novgorod Alexander Nevskiy, who twice defended the land from enemies - from the Swedes (battle on the Neva River, 1240) and the Teutonic knights ( Battle on the Ice on Lake Peipus, 1242).

Mongol-Tatar yoke

At the beginning of the 13th century. a large army of new nomads led by Genghis Khan approached the southeastern borders of Rus'.
In 1237, a union of Mongol tribes was founded in the lower reaches of the Volga River. Golden Horde. From here the Mongols invaded Russian lands, took Ryazan, Vladimir, Moscow, and ravaged Kyiv. From Rus', Mongol troops began a campaign in Central Europe.
For 240 years, the Russian lands were practically a protectorate of the Mongol Empire and paid it an annual tribute.
In 1380, the Moscow prince Dmitry Donskoy defeated the Tatars in Battle of Kulikovo Field and marked the beginning of liberation.

Consequences of the invasion

Many cities were destroyed, crafts were forgotten, and construction was stopped. The invasion caused a deep decline in culture and a long lag between Russia and Western Europe.

An uninvited guest is worse than a Tatar. (Russian folk proverb)

Moscow State

The Moscow princes took advantage of Moscow's advantageous position in the center of the Russian principalities and, with the help of the Golden Horde, eliminated their rivals (princes of the cities of Vladimir, Ryazan and Tver). Moscow began to claim the role of a center in the process of “gathering Russian lands.”
In the middle of the 15th century. The Horde split into the Crimean, Astrakhan, Kazan and Siberian khanates.

Ivan III

In 1462, Ivan III, “Grand Duke of Moscow and All Rus',” ascended the throne. The era of his reign is associated with the centralization of the country and calm on its eastern borders. Ivan III annexed the appanage principalities: he suppressed separatism in Novgorod, conquered Yaroslavl, Tver, Pskov, Ryazan. During the reign of the heirs of Ivan III, the borders of the Moscow state continued to expand.

Ideological platform of the Moscow state

• ancient origin of the power of rulers from the Rurik dynasty
• the power of the sovereign is from God himself, the ruler is a fighter for the true faith
• Moscow – “the third Rome” (Moscow is the spiritual center of world Christianity)

After overcoming the consequences of the Mongol-Tatar invasion, a huge rise of culture. Stone Kremlin cathedrals grew, and valuable monuments of painting (icons and frescoes by Andrei Rublev) and literature (chronicles, hagiography) arose.

Under Ivan III the first central government bodies(“orders” and institutions that decide matters of state affairs - for example, the Ambassadorial Prikaz, the predecessor of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs).
Was written Code of Law , a new set of laws.
A merchant class was formed (for example, the famous old Stroganov family), crafts and construction developed. However, in the economic field, the life of people (the population numbered about 6.5 million) in the Moscow state developed unevenly - booms were replaced by stagnation, there were frequent crop failures and plague epidemics.

Ivan IV the Terrible

In 1533, three-year-old Ivan IV (later nicknamed the Terrible) ascended the Moscow throne. Throughout his childhood and youth, when he could not actually rule, there was a struggle between boyar groups at court.
In 1547, 16-year-old Ivan, as the first Russian Grand Duke, was officially crowned king.

Personality of Ivan the Terrible

Ivan IV grew up in an atmosphere of conspiracies and murders, without a mother, which greatly influenced his psyche. After his beloved wife died, he lost the last signs of humanity. The king, in a fit of anger, even killed his son.

Public Administration Reforms

The young tsar and his boyar assistants carried out a number of reforms.
Created the first Russian parliament - Zemsky Sobor. A system of orders from central bodies governing different areas of the state has developed.
The population paid cash and in-kind taxes.

Trade Development

In Russia under Ivan the Terrible, industry and trade relations with other countries, mainly Persia and England. English and Dutch merchants and entrepreneurs often arrived in Russia at that time.

Foreign policy and wars

A semi-regular army emerges, and the Tsar fights the enemies of Russia with military means. He manages to conquer the Kazan and Astrakhan khanates (their lands turn into almost deserted spaces); later the Siberian Khanate was also defeated. Lands along the entire Volga were annexed to Russia, and the occupied territories were colonized. For the first time, Russia turned into a multinational state (non-Slavic and non-Orthodox peoples lived in the newly annexed territories).

At the end of the 50s. 16th century started Livonian Wars(Livonia - today's Latvia and Estonia), which actually ended in the defeat of Russia.

Repression

The monarch's individual power gradually strengthened and his suspicion deepened; the policy of repression affected all segments of the population.
The king divided the state in two: into the so-called. "oprichnina", to which those he trusted were included (the territory of the “oprichnina” occupied a third of the country). Here the boyars, who became the executors of the policy of tsarist terror, ruled in their own way, not constraining themselves by any laws. It was forbidden to talk about the “oprichnina” in the presence of foreigners. The rest of Russia was called "Zemshchina".
Many thousands of people died during the terror. The most terrible evil was the defeat and depopulation of Novgorod.

Consequences of the reign of Ivan IV

Moscow Rus', led by the first Tsar, expanded significantly, turned into a multinational state and began to be called Russia. A strictly centralized monarchy was created.

Time of Troubles

(vague = strange, unclear; turmoil - excitement, rebellion)
The Time of Troubles or Troubles is the name of a stage in the history of Russia when dynasties changed in difficult and unclear conditions.
After the death of Ivan IV the Terrible in 1584, his mentally retarded son became the heir to the throne. Feodor I, who entrusted the conduct of state affairs to his brother-in-law, the guardsman Boris Godunov. Second son of Ivan the Terrible, Dmitriy, died unexpectedly at the age of eight; Godunov was unofficially accused of his murder. After the death of Tsar Feodor, the Zemsky Sobor elected Godunov as tsar. The Rurik dynasty came to an end.

Reign of Boris Godunov

The reign of Boris Godunov was plagued by failures - terrible crop failures and famines, epidemics, invasions, uprisings, in which the people saw signs of God's wrath.
At the end of the 16th century. measures were taken to establish serfdom in Russia.

Impostors

In an atmosphere of general discontent and chaos, impostors appear who act as the heirs of Ivan IV.
In Poland (at that time the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth), one young man declared himself the miraculously saved Tsarevich Dmitry. Boris Godunov was killed as a result of a conspiracy, and after the capture of Moscow by the Poles in 1605, an impostor was elevated to the throne in Russia. He entered the history of Russia under the name False Dmitry I. The Russians learned that this was not the real Russian Tsar, as various legends say, for example, by the fact that he did not sleep after dinner, as was customary in Russia, and did not go to the bathhouse. The conspirators soon got rid of the new king.

Then the royal throne passed from hand to hand, and for some time it was again at the disposal of the Poles.
Only in 1613, with the help of the popular patriotic movement (led by Novgorodians Minin and Pozharsky), the Russian throne was liberated from the power of foreigners. The Zemsky Sobor elected to reign Mikhail Romanov. The reign of the Romanov royal dynasty begins.

Board of Mikhail Romanov

The first decades of Romanov power were associated with the tightening of serfdom. The culmination of the peasant resistance was insurrection Don Cossack Stepan Razin (1667–1671).
Cossacks are former serfs who ran away from their owners, free people living on the outskirts of Russian territory.

History of Ancient Rus'- history of the Old Russian state from 862 (or 882) to the Tatar-Mongol invasion.

By the middle of the 9th century (according to the chronicle chronology in 862), in the north of European Russia in the Ilmen region, a large union had formed from a number of East Slavic, Finno-Ugric and Baltic tribes, under the rule of the princes of the Rurik dynasty, who founded a centralized state. In 882, the Novgorod prince Oleg captured Kyiv, thereby uniting the northern and southern lands of the Eastern Slavs under one rule. As a result of successful military campaigns and diplomatic efforts of the Kyiv rulers, the new state included the lands of all East Slavic, as well as some Finno-Ugric, Baltic, and Turkic tribes. In parallel, there was a process of Slavic colonization of the northeast of the Russian land.

Ancient Rus' was the largest state formation in Europe and fought for a dominant position in Eastern Europe and the Black Sea region with the Byzantine Empire. Under Prince Vladimir in 988, Rus' adopted Christianity. Prince Yaroslav the Wise approved the first Russian code of laws - Russian Truth. In 1132, after the death of the Kyiv prince Mstislav Vladimirovich, the collapse of the Old Russian state began into a number of independent principalities: the Novgorod land, the Vladimir-Suzdal principality, the Galician-Volyn principality, the Chernigov principality, the Ryazan principality, the Polotsk principality and others. At the same time, Kyiv remained the object of struggle between the most powerful princely branches, and the Kiev land was considered the collective possession of the Rurikovichs.

In North-Eastern Rus', since the middle of the 12th century, the Vladimir-Suzdal principality has risen; its rulers (Andrei Bogolyubsky, Vsevolod the Big Nest), while fighting for Kyiv, left Vladimir as their main residence, which led to its rise as a new all-Russian center. Also, the most powerful principalities were Chernigov, Galicia-Volyn and Smolensk. In 1237-1240, most of the Russian lands were subjected to the destructive invasion of Batu. Kyiv, Chernigov, Pereyaslavl, Vladimir, Galich, Ryazan and other centers of Russian principalities were destroyed, the southern and southeastern outskirts lost a significant part of the settled population.

Background

The Old Russian state 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.

Before the calling of the Varangians

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. From this time on, the ethnonym “Rus” also became known. The term " Kievan Rus"appears for the first time only in historical studies of the 18th-19th centuries.

In 860 (The Tale of Bygone Years mistakenly dates it to 866), Rus' made its first campaign against Constantinople. Greek sources associate with him the so-called first baptism of Rus', after which a diocese may have arisen in Rus' and the ruling elite (possibly led by Askold) adopted Christianity.

Rurik's reign

In 862, according to the Tale of Bygone Years, the Slavic and Finno-Ugric tribes called the Varangians to reign.

Per year 6370 (862). They drove the Varangians overseas, and did not give them tribute, and began to control themselves, and there was no truth among them, and generation after generation arose, and they had strife, and began to fight with each other. And they said to themselves: “Let’s look for a prince who would rule over us and judge us by right.” And they went overseas to the Varangians, to Rus'. Those Varangians were called Rus, just as others are called Swedes, and some Normans and Angles, and still others Gotlanders, so are these. The Chud, the Slovenians, the Krivichi and all said to the Russians: “Our land is great and abundant, but there is no order in it. Come reign and rule over us." And three brothers were chosen with their clans, and they took all of Rus' with them, and they came and the eldest, Rurik, sat in Novgorod, and the other, Sineus, in Beloozero, and the third, Truvor, in Izborsk. And from those Varangians the Russian land was nicknamed. Novgorodians are those people from the Varangian family, and before they were Slovenians.

In 862 (the date is approximate, like the entire early chronology of the Chronicle), the Varangians and Rurik’s warriors Askold and Dir, heading to Constantinople, subjugated Kiev, thereby establishing complete control over the most important trade route “from the Varangians to the Greeks.” At the same time, the Novgorod and Nikon chronicles do not connect Askold and Dir with Rurik, and the chronicle of Jan Dlugosh and the Gustyn chronicle call them descendants of Kiy.

In 879, Rurik died in Novgorod. The reign was transferred to Oleg, regent for Rurik’s young son Igor.

The first Russian princes

Reign of Oleg the Prophet

In 882, according to chronicle chronology, Prince Oleg ( Oleg the Prophet), a relative of Rurik, went on a campaign from Novgorod to the south, capturing Smolensk and Lyubech along the way, establishing his power there and putting his people under reign. In Oleg's army there were Varangians and warriors of the tribes under his control - Chud, Slovene, Meri and Krivichi. Then Oleg, with the Novgorod army and a hired Varangian squad, captured Kyiv, killed Askold and Dir, who ruled there, and declared Kyiv the capital of his state. Already in Kyiv, he established the amount of tribute that the subject tribes of the Novgorod land - the Slovenes, Krivichi and Merya - had to pay annually. The construction of fortresses in the vicinity of the new capital also began.

Oleg extended his power by military means to the lands of the Drevlyans and Northerners, and the Radimichi accepted Oleg’s conditions without a fight (the last two tribal unions had previously paid tribute to the Khazars). The chronicles do not indicate the reaction of the Khazars, however, the historian Petrukhin puts forward the assumption that they began an economic blockade, ceasing to allow Russian merchants through their lands.

As a result of the victorious campaign against Byzantium, the first written agreements were concluded in 907 and 911, which provided for preferential terms of trade for Russian merchants (trade duties were abolished, ship repairs and overnight accommodation were provided), and resolution of legal and military issues. According to historian V. Mavrodin, the success of Oleg’s campaign is explained by the fact that he was able to rally the forces of the Old Russian state and strengthen its emerging statehood.

According to the chronicle version, Oleg, who bore the title of Grand Duke, reigned for more than 30 years. Rurik's own son Igor took the throne after Oleg's death around 912 and ruled until 945.

Igor Rurikovich

The beginning of Igor's reign was marked by the uprising of the Drevlyans, who were again conquered and imposed an even greater tribute, and the appearance of the Pechenegs in the Black Sea steppes (in 915), who ravaged the possessions of the Khazars and ousted the Hungarians from the Black Sea region. By the beginning of the 10th century. The Pecheneg nomads extended from the Volga to the Prut.

Igor made two military campaigns against Byzantium. The first, in 941, ended unsuccessfully. It was also preceded by an unsuccessful military campaign against Khazaria, during which Rus', acting at the request of Byzantium, attacked the Khazar city of Samkerts on the Taman Peninsula, but was defeated by the Khazar commander Pesach and turned its arms against Byzantium. The Bulgarians warned the Byzantines that Igor had begun the campaign with 10,000 soldiers. Igor's fleet plundered Bithynia, Paphlagonia, Heraclea Pontus and Nicomedia, but then it was defeated and he, abandoning the surviving army in Thrace, fled to Kyiv with several boats. The captured soldiers were executed in Constantinople. From the capital, he sent an invitation to the Varangians to take part in a new invasion of Byzantium. The second campaign against Byzantium took place in 944.

Igor's army, consisting of Polans, Krivichi, Slovenes, Tiverts, Varangians and Pechenegs, reached the Danube, from where ambassadors were sent to Constantinople. They concluded a treaty that confirmed many of the provisions of the previous treaties of 907 and 911, but abolished duty-free trade. Rus' pledged to defend Byzantine possessions in Crimea. In 943 or 944 a campaign was made against Berdaa.

In 945, Igor was killed while collecting tribute from the Drevlyans. According to the chronicle version, the cause of death was the prince’s desire to receive tribute again, which was demanded of him by the warriors, who were jealous of the wealth of the squad of governor Sveneld. Igor’s small squad was killed by the Drevlyans near Iskorosten, and he himself was executed. Historian A. A. Shakhmatov put forward a version according to which Igor and Sveneld began to conflict over the Drevlyan tribute and, as a result, Igor was killed.

Olga

After Igor's death, due to the minority of his son Svyatoslav, real power was in the hands of Igor's widow, Princess Olga. The Drevlyans sent an embassy to her, inviting her to become the wife of their prince Mal. However, Olga executed the ambassadors, gathered an army and in 946 began the siege of Iskorosten, which ended with its burning and the subjugation of the Drevlyans to the Kyiv princes. The Tale of Bygone Years described not only their conquest, but also the preceding revenge on the part of the Kyiv ruler. Olga imposed a large tribute on the Drevlyans.

In 947, she undertook a trip to the Novgorod land, where, instead of the previous polyudye, she introduced a system of quitrents and tributes, which local residents themselves had to take to the camps and churchyards, handing them over to specially appointed people - tiuns. Thus, a new method of collecting tribute from the subjects of the Kyiv princes was introduced.

She became the first ruler of the Old Russian state to officially accept Christianity of the Byzantine rite (according to the most reasoned version, in 957, although other dates are also proposed). In 957, Olga made an official visit to Constantinople with a large embassy, ​​known from the description of court ceremonies by Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus in his “Ceremonies,” and she was accompanied by the priest Gregory.

The Emperor calls Olga the ruler (archontissa) of Rus', the name of her son Svyatoslav (the list of retinues indicates “ Svyatoslav's people") is mentioned without a title. Olga sought baptism and recognition of Rus' by Byzantium as an equal Christian empire. At baptism she received the name Elena. However, according to a number of historians, it was not possible to agree on an alliance immediately. In 959, Olga accepted the Greek embassy, ​​but refused to send an army to help Byzantium. In the same year, she sent ambassadors to the German Emperor Otto I with a request to send bishops and priests and establish a church in Rus'. This attempt to play on the contradictions between Byzantium and Germany was successful, Constantinople made concessions by concluding a mutually beneficial agreement, and the German embassy led by Bishop Adalbert returned back with nothing. In 960, a Russian army went to help the Greeks, fighting in Crete against the Arabs under the leadership of the future emperor Nikephoros Phocas.

The monk Jacob, in the 11th century work “Memory and Praise to the Russian Prince Volodymer,” reports the exact date of Olga’s death: July 11, 969.

Svyatoslav Igorevich

Around 960, the matured Svyatoslav took power into his own hands. He grew up among his father's warriors and was the first of the Russian princes to bear a Slavic name. From the beginning of his reign, he began to prepare for military campaigns and gathered an army. According to the historian Grekov, Svyatoslav was deeply involved in international relationships Europe and Asia. Often he acted in agreement with other states, thus participating in solving the problems of European and, partly, Asian politics.

His first action was the subjugation of the Vyatichi (964), who were the last of all the East Slavic tribes to continue to pay tribute to the Khazars. Then, according to eastern sources, Svyatoslav attacked and defeated Volga Bulgaria. In 965 (according to other sources also in 968/969) Svyatoslav made a campaign against the Khazar Kaganate. The Khazar army, led by the Kagan, came out to meet Svyatoslav’s squad, but was defeated. The Russian army stormed the main cities of the Khazars: the fortress city of Sarkel, Semender and the capital Itil. After this, the ancient Russian settlement of Belaya Vezha arose on the site of Sarkel. After the defeat, the remnants of the Khazar state were known as the Saksins and no longer played their previous role. The establishment of Rus' in the Black Sea region and the North Caucasus is also connected with this campaign, where Svyatoslav defeated the Yases (Alans) and Kasogs (Circassians) and where Tmutarakan became the center of Russian possessions.

In 968, a Byzantine embassy arrived in Rus', proposing an alliance against Bulgaria, which had then left the obedience of Byzantium. The Byzantine ambassador Kalokir, on behalf of Emperor Nikephoros Phocas, brought a gift of 1,500 pounds of gold. Having included the allied Pechenegs in his army, Svyatoslav moved to the Danube. In a short time, the Bulgarian troops were defeated, Russian squads occupied up to 80 Bulgarian cities. Svyatoslav chose Pereyaslavets, a city in the lower reaches of the Danube, as his headquarters. However, such a sharp strengthening of Rus' aroused fears in Constantinople and the Byzantines managed to convince the Pechenegs to make another raid on Kyiv. In 968, their army besieged the Russian capital, where Princess Olga and her grandchildren - Yaropolk, Oleg and Vladimir - were located. The city was saved by the approach of a small squad of governor Pretich. Soon Svyatoslav himself arrived with a mounted army, driving the Pechenegs into the steppe. However, the prince did not seek to remain in Rus'. Chronicles quote him as saying:

Svyatoslav remained in Kyiv until the death of his mother Olga. After that, he divided the possessions between his sons: he left Kyiv to Yaropolk, Oleg - the lands of the Drevlyans, and Vladimir - Novgorod).

Then he returned to Pereyaslavets. In a new campaign with a significant army (according to various sources, from 10 to 60 thousand soldiers) in 970, Svyatoslav captured almost all of Bulgaria, occupied its capital Preslav and invaded Byzantium. The new emperor John Tzimiskes sent a large army against him. The Russian army, which included Bulgarians and Hungarians, was forced to retreat to Dorostol (Silistria) - a fortress on the Danube.

In 971 it was besieged by the Byzantines. In the battle near the walls of the fortress, Svyatoslav’s army suffered heavy losses, and he was forced to negotiate with Tzimiskes. According to the peace treaty, Rus' pledged not to attack Byzantine possessions in Bulgaria, and Constantinople promised not to incite the Pechenegs to campaign against Rus'.

Voivode Sveneld advised the prince to return to Rus' by land. However, Svyatoslav preferred to sail through the Dnieper rapids. At the same time, the prince planned to gather a new army in Rus' and resume the war with Byzantium. In winter they were blocked by the Pechenegs and Svyatoslav’s small squad spent a hungry winter in the lower reaches of the Dnieper. In the spring of 972, Svyatoslav attempted to break into Rus', but his army was defeated and he himself was killed. According to another version, the death of the Kyiv prince occurred in 973. The Pecheneg leader Kurya made a bowl for feasts from the prince’s skull.

Vladimir and Yaroslav the Wise. Baptism of Rus'

The reign of Prince Vladimir. Baptism of Rus'

After the death of Svyatoslav, civil strife broke out between his sons for the right to the throne (972-978 or 980). The eldest son Yaropolk became the great prince of Kyiv, Oleg received the Drevlyan lands, and Vladimir received Novgorod. In 977, Yaropolk defeated Oleg’s squad, and Oleg himself died. Vladimir fled “overseas”, but returned two years later with a Varangian squad. During the campaign against Kyiv, he conquered Polotsk, an important trading point on the western Dvina, and married the daughter of Prince Rogvolod Rogneda, whom he killed.

During the civil strife, Vladimir Svyatoslavich defended his rights to the throne (reigned 980-1015). Under him, the formation of the state territory of Ancient Rus' was completed, the Cherven cities and Carpathian Rus', which were disputed by Poland, were annexed. After Vladimir’s victory, his son Svyatopolk married the daughter of the Polish king Boleslav the Brave and peaceful relations were established between the two states. Vladimir finally annexed the Vyatichi and Radimichi to Rus'. In 983 he made a campaign against the Yatvingians, and in 985 - against the Volga Bulgarians.

Having achieved autocracy in the Russian land, Vladimir began religious reform. In 980, the prince established a pagan pantheon of six different-tribal gods in Kyiv. Tribal cults could not create a unified state religious system. In 986, ambassadors from various countries began to arrive in Kyiv, inviting Vladimir to accept their faith.

Islam was proposed by the Volga Bulgaria, Western-style Christianity by the German Emperor Otto I, Judaism by the Khazar Jews. However, Vladimir chose Christianity, which the Greek philosopher told him about. The embassy returning from Byzantium supported the prince. In 988, the Russian army besieged the Byzantine Korsun (Chersonese). Byzantium agreed to peace, Princess Anna became Vladimir's wife. The pagan idols that stood in Kyiv were overthrown, and the people of Kiev were baptized in the Dnieper. A stone church was built in the capital, which became known as the Tithe Church, since the prince gave a tenth of his income for its maintenance. After the baptism of Rus', treaties with Byzantium became unnecessary, since closer relations were established between both states. These ties were strengthened to a large extent thanks to the church apparatus that the Byzantines organized in Rus'. The first bishops and priests arrived from Korsun and other Byzantine cities. The church organization within the Old Russian state was in the hands of the Patriarch of Constantinople, who became a great political force in Rus'.

Having become the prince of Kyiv, Vladimir faced an increased Pecheneg threat. To protect against nomads, he builds lines of fortresses on the border, the garrisons of which were recruited from the “best men” of the northern tribes - the Ilmen Slovenes, Krivichi, Chud and Vyatichi. Tribal boundaries began to blur, and the state border became important. It was during the time of Vladimir that many Russian epics took place, telling about the exploits of heroes.

Vladimir established a new order of government: he planted his sons in Russian cities. Svyatopolk received Turov, Izyaslav - Polotsk, Yaroslav - Novgorod, Boris - Rostov, Gleb - Murom, Svyatoslav - Drevlyansky land, Vsevolod - Vladimir-on-Volyn, Sudislav - Pskov, Stanislav - Smolensk, Mstislav - Tmutarakan. Tribute was no longer collected during Polyudye and only in churchyards. From that moment on, the princely family and their warriors “fed” in the cities themselves and sent part of the tribute to the capital - Kyiv.

Reign of Yaroslav the Wise

After the death of Vladimir, a new civil strife occurred in Rus'. Svyatopolk the Accursed in 1015 killed his brothers Boris (according to another version, Boris was killed by Scandinavian mercenaries of Yaroslav), Gleb and Svyatoslav. Having learned about the murder of the brothers, Yaroslav, who ruled in Novgorod, began to prepare for a campaign against Kyiv. Svyatopolk received help from the Polish king Boleslav and the Pechenegs, but in the end he was defeated and fled to Poland, where he died. Boris and Gleb were canonized as saints in 1071.

After the victory over Svyatopolk, Yaroslav had a new opponent - his brother Mstislav, who by that time had gained a foothold in Tmutarakan and Eastern Crimea. In 1022, Mstislav conquered the Kasogs (Circassians), defeating their leader Rededya in battle. Having strengthened the army with the Khazars and Kasogs, he set out to the north, where he subjugated the northerners who joined his troops. Then he occupied Chernigov. At this time, Yaroslav turned for help to the Varangians, who sent him a strong army. The decisive battle took place in 1024 near Listven; victory went to Mstislav. After her, the brothers divided Rus' into two parts - along the riverbed of the Dnieper. Kyiv and Novgorod remained with Yaroslav, and it was Novgorod that remained his permanent residence. Mstislav moved his capital to Chernigov. The brothers maintained a close alliance; after the death of the Polish king Boleslav, they returned to Rus' the Cherven cities captured by the Poles after the death of Vladimir the Red Sun.

At this time, Kyiv temporarily lost its status as the political center of Rus'. The leading centers then were Novgorod and Chernigov. Expanding his possessions, Yaroslav undertook a campaign against the Estonian Chud tribe. On the conquered territory in 1030 the city of Yuryev (modern Tartu) was founded.

In 1036 Mstislav fell ill while hunting and died. His only son had died three years earlier. Thus, Yaroslav became the ruler of all Rus', except for the Principality of Polotsk. In the same year, Kyiv was attacked by the Pechenegs. By the time Yaroslav arrived with the army of Varangians and Slavs, they had already captured the outskirts of the city.

In the battle near the walls of Kyiv, Yaroslav defeated the Pechenegs, after which he made Kyiv his capital. In memory of the victory over the Pechenegs, the prince founded the famous Hagia Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv; artists from Constantinople were called to paint the temple. Then he imprisoned the last surviving brother, Sudislav, who ruled in Pskov. After this, Yaroslav became the sole ruler of almost all of Rus'.

The reign of Yaroslav the Wise (1019-1054) was the time of the highest prosperity of the state. Social relations were regulated by the collection of laws “Russian Truth” and princely statutes. Yaroslav the Wise pursued an active foreign policy. He became related to many ruling dynasties of Europe, which testified to the wide international recognition of Rus' in the European Christian world. Intensive stone construction began. Yaroslav actively turned Kyiv into a cultural and intellectual center, taking Constantinople as a model. At this time, relations between the Russian Church and the Patriarchate of Constantinople normalized.

From that moment on, the Russian Church was headed by the Metropolitan of Kiev, who was ordained by the Patriarch of Constantinople. No later than 1039, the first Metropolitan of Kiev, Theophan, arrived in Kyiv. In 1051, having gathered bishops, Yaroslav himself appointed Hilarion as metropolitan, for the first time without the participation of the Patriarch of Constantinople. Hilarion became the first Russian metropolitan. In 1054 Yaroslav the Wise died.

Crafts and trade. Monuments of writing (The Tale of Bygone Years, the Novgorod Codex, the Ostromirovo Gospel, Lives) and architecture (Tithe Church, St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv and the cathedrals of the same name in Novgorod and Polotsk) were created. The high level of literacy of the inhabitants of Rus' is evidenced by numerous birch bark letters that have survived to this day. Rus' traded with the southern and western Slavs, Scandinavia, Byzantium, Western Europe, the peoples of the Caucasus and Central Asia.

The reign of the sons and grandsons of Yaroslav the Wise

Yaroslav the Wise divided Rus' between his sons. The three eldest sons received the main Russian lands. Izyaslav - Kyiv and Novgorod, Svyatoslav - Chernigov and the Murom and Ryazan lands, Vsevolod - Pereyaslavl and Rostov. The younger sons Vyacheslav and Igor received Smolensk and Vladimir Volynsky. These possessions were not inherited; a system developed in which the younger brother succeeded the eldest in the princely family - the so-called “ladder” system. The eldest in the clan (not by age, but by line of kinship) received Kiev and became the Grand Duke, all other lands were divided between members of the clan and distributed according to seniority. Power passed from brother to brother, from uncle to nephew. Chernigov occupied second place in the hierarchy of tables. When one of the members of the clan died, all the Rurikovichs younger in relation to him moved to lands corresponding to their seniority. When new members of the clan appeared, their destiny was determined - a city with land (volost). A certain prince had the right to reign only in the city where his father reigned; otherwise, he was considered an outcast. The ladder system regularly caused strife between the princes.

In the 60s In the 11th century, the Polovtsians appeared in the Northern Black Sea region. The sons of Yaroslav the Wise were unable to stop their invasion, but were afraid to arm the Kyiv militia. In response to this, in 1068 the people of Kiev overthrew Izyaslav Yaroslavich and placed on the throne the Polotsk prince Vseslav, who had been captured by the Yaroslavichs during a strife the year before. In 1069, with the help of the Poles, Izyaslav occupied Kyiv, but after this, uprisings of the townspeople became constant during crises of princely power. Presumably in 1072 the Yaroslavichs edited the Russian Truth, significantly expanding it.

Izyaslav tried to regain control of Polotsk, but was unsuccessful, and in 1071 he made peace with Vseslav. In 1073, Vsevolod and Svyatoslav expelled Izyaslav from Kyiv, accusing him of an alliance with Vseslav, and Izyaslav fled to Poland. Kiev began to be ruled by Svyatoslav, who himself was in allied relations with the Poles. In 1076, Svyatoslav died and Vsevolod became the prince of Kyiv.

When Izyaslav returned with the Polish army, Vsevolod returned the capital to him, retaining Pereyaslavl and Chernigov. At the same time, Svyatoslav’s eldest son Oleg was left without possessions, who began the fight with the support of the Polovtsians. Izyaslav Yaroslavich died in the battle with them, and Vsevolod again became the ruler of Rus'. He made his son Vladimir, born of a Byzantine princess from the Monomakh dynasty, the prince of Chernigov. Oleg Svyatoslavich fortified himself in Tmutarakan. Vsevolod continued the foreign policy of Yaroslav the Wise. He sought to strengthen ties with European countries by marrying his son Vladimir to the Anglo-Saxon Gita, daughter of King Harald, who died at the Battle of Hastings. He married his daughter Eupraxia to the German Emperor Henry IV. The reign of Vsevolod was characterized by the distribution of lands to prince-nephews and the formation of an administrative hierarchy.

After the death of Vsevolod, Kyiv was occupied by Svyatopolk Izyaslavich. The Polovtsians sent an embassy to Kyiv with a peace proposal, but Svyatopolk Izyaslavich refused negotiations and seized the ambassadors. These events became the reason for the large Polovtsian campaign against Rus', as a result of which the combined troops of Svyatopolk and Vladimir were defeated, and significant territories around Kyiv and Pereyaslavl were devastated. The Polovtsy took away many prisoners. Taking advantage of this, the sons of Svyatoslav, enlisting the support of the Polovtsians, laid claim to Chernigov. In 1094, Oleg Svyatoslavich with Polovtsian troops moved to Chernigov from Tmutarakan. When his army approached the city, Vladimir Monomakh made peace with him, ceding Chernigov and going to Pereyaslavl. In 1095, the Polovtsians repeated the raid, during which they reached Kyiv itself, ravaging its surroundings. Svyatopolk and Vladimir called for help from Oleg, who reigned in Chernigov, but he ignored their requests. After the departure of the Polovtsians, the Kyiv and Pereyaslav squads captured Chernigov, and Oleg fled to his brother Davyd in Smolensk. There he replenished his troops and attacked Murom, where the son of Vladimir Monomakh Izyaslav ruled. Murom was taken, and Izyaslav fell in battle. Despite the peace proposal that Vladimir sent him, Oleg continued the campaign and captured Rostov. Another son of Monomakh, Mstislav, who was the governor in Novgorod, prevented him from continuing his conquests. He defeated Oleg, who fled to Ryazan. Vladimir Monomakh once again offered him peace, to which Oleg agreed.

Monomakh's peaceful initiative was continued in the form of the Lyubech Congress of Princes, who gathered in 1097 to resolve existing differences. The congress was attended by the Kiev prince Svyatopolk, Vladimir Monomakh, Davyd (son of Igor Volynsky), Vasilko Rostislavovich, Davyd and Oleg Svyatoslavovich. The princes agreed to stop strife and not lay claim to other people's possessions. However, the peace did not last long. Davyd Volynsky and Svyatopolk captured Vasilko Rostislavovich and blinded him. Vasilko became the first Russian prince to be blinded during civil strife in Rus'. Outraged by the actions of Davyd and Svyatopolk, Vladimir Monomakh and Davyd and Oleg Svyatoslavich set off on a campaign against Kyiv. The people of Kiev sent a delegation headed by the Metropolitan to meet them, which managed to convince the princes to maintain peace. However, Svyatopolk was entrusted with the task of punishing Davyd Volynsky. He freed Vasilko. However, another civil strife began in Rus', which escalated into a large-scale war in the western principalities. It ended in 1100 with a congress in Uvetichi. Davyd Volynsky was deprived of his principality. However, for “feeding” he was given the city of Buzhsk. In 1101, the Russian princes managed to make peace with the Cumans.

Changes in public administration at the end of the 10th - beginning of the 12th centuries

During the baptism of Rus', the authority of Orthodox bishops, subordinate to the Kyiv metropolitan, was established in all its lands. At the same time, the sons of Vladimir were installed as governors in all lands. Now all the princes who acted as appendages of the Kyiv Grand Duke were only from the Rurik family. Scandinavian sagas mention the fiefs of the Vikings, but they were located on the outskirts of Rus' and on newly annexed lands, so at the time of writing “The Tale of Bygone Years” they already seemed like a relic. The Rurik princes waged a fierce struggle with the remaining tribal princes (Vladimir Monomakh mentions the Vyatichi prince Khodota and his son). This contributed to the centralization of power.

The power of the Grand Duke reached its highest strengthening under Vladimir and Yaroslav the Wise (then, after a break, under Vladimir Monomakh). The position of the dynasty was strengthened by numerous international dynastic marriages: Anna Yaroslavna and the French king, Vsevolod Yaroslavich and the Byzantine princess, etc.

Since the time of Vladimir or, according to some information, Yaropolk Svyatoslavich, the prince began to give lands to the warriors instead of monetary salaries. If initially these were cities for feeding, then in the 11th century villages began to receive warriors. Along with the villages, which became fiefdoms, the boyar title was also granted. The boyars began to form the senior squad. The service of the boyars was determined by personal loyalty to the prince, and not by the size of the land allotment (conditional land ownership did not become noticeably widespread). The younger squad (“youths”, “children”, “gridi”), who were with the prince, lived off feeding from the princely villages and the war. The main fighting force in the 11th century was the militia, which received horses and weapons from the prince during the war. The services of the mercenary Varangian squad were largely abandoned during the reign of Yaroslav the Wise.

Over time, the church began to own a significant part of the land (“monastery estates”). Since 996, the population has paid tithes to the church. The number of dioceses, starting from 4, grew. The department of the metropolitan, appointed by the Patriarch of Constantinople, began to be located in Kiev, and under Yaroslav the Wise, the metropolitan was first elected from among the Russian priests; in 1051, Hilarion, who was close to Vladimir and his son, became the metropolitan. Monasteries and their elected heads, abbots, began to have great influence. The Kiev-Pechersk Monastery becomes the center of Orthodoxy.

The boyars and squad formed special councils under the prince. The prince also consulted with the metropolitan and the bishops and abbots who made up the church council. With the complication of the princely hierarchy, by the end of the 11th century, princely congresses (“snems”) began to gather. There were veches in the cities, which the boyars often relied on to support their own political demands (uprisings in Kyiv in 1068 and 1113).

In the 11th - early 12th centuries, the first written set of laws was formed - “Russian Truth”, which was successively replenished with articles from “The Truth of Yaroslav” (c. 1015-1016), “The Truth of the Yaroslavichs” (c. 1072) and the “Charter of Vladimir” Vsevolodovich" (c. 1113). The “Russian Truth” reflected the increasing differentiation of the population (now the size of the vira depended on the social status of the killed), and regulated the position of such categories of the population as servants, serfs, smerdas, purchases and ordinary people.

“Yaroslav’s Truth” equalized the rights of “Rusyns” and “Slovenians” (it should be clarified that under the name “Slovenes” the chronicle mentions only Novgorodians - “Ilmen Slovenes”). This, along with Christianization and other factors, contributed to the formation of a new ethnic community that was aware of its unity and historical origin.

Since the end of the 10th century, Rus' has known its own coin production - silver and gold coins of Vladimir I, Svyatopolk, Yaroslav the Wise and other princes.

Decay

The Principality of Polotsk was the first to separate from Kyiv - this happened already at the beginning of the 11th century. Having concentrated all the other Russian lands under his rule only 21 years after the death of his father, Yaroslav the Wise, dying in 1054, divided them between the five sons who survived him. After the death of the two youngest of them, all lands came under the rule of the three elders: Izyaslav of Kyiv, Svyatoslav of Chernigov and Vsevolod of Pereyaslavl (“the Yaroslavich triumvirate”).

In 1061 (immediately after the defeat of the Torci by the Russian princes in the steppes), raids by the Polovtsians began, replacing the Pechenegs who migrated to the Balkans. During the long Russian-Polovtsian wars, the southern princes for a long time could not cope with their opponents, undertaking a number of unsuccessful campaigns and suffering sensitive defeats (the battle on the Alta River (1068), the battle on the Stugna River (1093).

After the death of Svyatoslav in 1076, the Kyiv princes attempted to deprive his sons of the Chernigov inheritance, and they resorted to the help of the Cumans, although the Cumans were first used in strife by Vladimir Monomakh (against Vseslav of Polotsk). In this struggle, Izyaslav of Kiev (1078) and the son of Vladimir Monomakh Izyaslav (1096) died. At the Lyubech Congress (1097), called upon to stop civil strife and unite the princes for protection from the Polovtsians, the principle was proclaimed: “ Let everyone keep his fatherland" Thus, while preserving the right of ladder, in the event of the death of one of the princes, the movement of the heirs was limited to their patrimony. This opened the way to political fragmentation (feudal fragmentation), since a separate dynasty was established in each land, and the Grand Duke of Kiev became first among equals, losing the role of overlord. However, this also made it possible to stop the strife and unite forces to fight the Cumans, which was moved deep into the steppes. In addition, treaties were concluded with the allied nomads - the “black hoods” (Torks, Berendeys and Pechenegs, expelled by the Polovtsians from the steppes and settled on the southern Russian borders).

In the second quarter of the 12th century, the Old Russian state broke up into independent principalities. The modern historiographic tradition considers the chronological beginning of fragmentation to be 1132, when, after the death of Mstislav the Great, the son of Vladimir Monomakh, the power of the Kyiv prince was no longer recognized by Polotsk (1132) and Novgorod (1136), and the title itself became the object of struggle between various dynastic and territorial associations of the Rurikovichs. In 1134, the chronicler, in connection with a schism among the Monomakhovichs, wrote: the whole Russian land was torn apart" The civil strife that began did not concern the great reign itself, but after the death of Yaropolk Vladimirovich (1139), the next Monomakhovich, Vyacheslav, was expelled from Kyiv by Vsevolod Olgovich of Chernigov.

During the XII-XIII centuries, part of the population of the southern Russian principalities, due to the constant threat emanating from the steppe, as well as due to the ongoing princely strife for the Kiev land, moved north to the calmer Rostov-Suzdal land, also called Zalesye or Opolye. Having joined the ranks of the Slavs of the first, Krivitsa-Novgorod migration wave of the 10th century, settlers from the populous south quickly became the majority on this land and assimilated the rare Finno-Ugric population. The massive Russian migration throughout the 12th century is evidenced by chronicles and archaeological excavations. It was during this period that the founding and rapid growth of numerous cities of the Rostov-Suzdal land (Vladimir, Moscow, Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, Yuryev-Opolsky, Dmitrov, Zvenigorod, Starodub-on-Klyazma, Yaropolch-Zalessky, Galich, etc.) occurred. often repeated the names of the cities of origin of the settlers. The weakening of Southern Rus' is also associated with the success of the first crusades and changes in the main trade routes.

During two major internecine wars in the mid-12th century, the Principality of Kiev lost Volyn (1154), Pereyaslavl (1157) and Turov (1162). In 1169, the grandson of Vladimir Monomakh, the Vladimir-Suzdal prince Andrei Bogolyubsky sent an army led by his son Mstislav to the south, which captured Kyiv. For the first time, the city was brutally plundered, Kyiv churches were burned, and the inhabitants were taken captive. Andrei's younger brother was placed in the reign of Kiev. And although soon, after unsuccessful campaigns against Novgorod (1170) and Vyshgorod (1173), the influence of the Vladimir prince in other lands temporarily fell, Kyiv began to gradually lose, and Vladimir began to acquire, the political attributes of an all-Russian center. In the 12th century, in addition to the Kyiv prince, the title of great also began to be borne by the Vladimir princes, and in the 13th century, occasionally also by the princes of Galicia, Chernigov and Ryazan.

Kyiv, unlike most other principalities, did not become the property of any one dynasty, but served as a constant bone of contention for all powerful princes. In 1203, it was plundered for the second time by the Smolensk prince Rurik Rostislavich, who fought against the Galician-Volyn prince Roman Mstislavich. The first clash between Rus' and the Mongols took place in the Battle of the Kalka River (1223), in which almost all the southern Russian princes took part. The weakening of the southern Russian principalities increased the pressure from the Hungarian and Lithuanian feudal lords, but at the same time contributed to the strengthening of the influence of the Vladimir princes in Chernigov (1226), Novgorod (1231), Kiev (in 1236 Yaroslav Vsevolodovich occupied Kyiv for two years, while his older brother Yuri remained reign in Vladimir) and Smolensk (1236-1239). During the Mongol invasion of Rus', which began in 1237, Kyiv was reduced to ruins in December 1240. It was received by the Vladimir princes Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, recognized by the Mongols as the oldest in the Russian lands, and later by his son Alexander Nevsky. They, however, did not move to Kyiv, remaining in their ancestral Vladimir. In 1299, the Kiev Metropolitan moved his residence there. In some church and literary sources - for example, in the statements of the Patriarch of Constantinople and Vytautas at the end of the 14th century - Kyiv continued to be considered as a capital city at a later time, but by this time it was already a provincial city of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Since 1254, the Galician princes bore the title “King of Rus'”. From the beginning of the 14th century, the Vladimir princes began to bear the title of “Grand Dukes of All Rus'”.

In Soviet historiography, the concept of “Kievan Rus” was extended both until the middle of the 12th century, and for the wider period of the mid-12th - mid-13th centuries, when Kiev remained the center of the country and the governance of Russia was carried out by a single princely family on the principles of “collective suzerainty”. Both approaches remain relevant today.

Pre-revolutionary historians, starting with N.M. Karamzin, adhered to the idea of ​​​​transferring the political center of Rus' in 1169 from Kyiv to Vladimir, dating back to the works of Moscow scribes, or to Vladimir (Volyn) and Galich. In modern historiography there is no consensus of opinion on this matter. Some historians believe that these ideas are not confirmed in the sources. In particular, some of them point to such a sign of the political weakness of the Suzdal land as a small number of fortified settlements compared to other lands of Rus'. Other historians, on the contrary, find confirmation in the sources that the political center of Russian civilization moved from Kyiv, first to Rostov and Suzdal, and later to Vladimir-on-Klyazma.