The general line of the political development of Russia in the XI-XII centuries. characterized by the growing desire of the strengthened feudal forces, led by their local princes, to secede from Kyiv. Preserving the political unity of Russia gradually became more and more difficult. Princely circles, which did a lot at the initial stage of the feudalization process, by the second half of the 11th century. exacerbated the social situation in the country. This was facilitated by the continuous strife of the princes (their number increased with each generation), the transition of the princes by seniority from one city to another along with the administration, the invitation of foreigners (Polovtsy, Poles, Berendey) to resolve personal strife. To internal problems were added the difficulties of a foreign policy nature: Russia was under attack by the Polovtsy-Kipchaks. Princely congresses practically did not give any results. Having decided to preserve the peace and inviolability of the borders of their neighbors, the princes already at the very congress made up new conspiracies and started new strife. The way out of the crisis was outlined with the gradual transfer of real political power from the princely elite to the boyars.
By the 1130s. tendencies towards the collapse of the Russian state were clearly indicated. The huge power was difficult to manage and clumsy. Within it, many rich cities and closed estates of the princes of the lateral branches of the dynasty arose. In addition, in the XII century. the ancient borders of tribal unions, which ran through swamps and forests, were still quite tangible, which contributed to their long-term stability. The appearance on the site of the once unified state of one and a half dozen principalities, each of which was equal to a large Western European kingdom, at a certain stage was a completely progressive phenomenon that affected the flourishing of the economy, culture and social thought of all Russian lands.
The princely strife that accompanied the process of the collapse of the Russian state had a negative effect on the international position of Russia. Having gathered in 1097 for a princely congress in Lyubech, the princes expressed regret over the strife that benefited only the Polovtsy, decided to be unanimous from now on and established a completely new principle of organizing power in Russia: "Let everyone keep his fatherland." Thus, the Russian land ceased to be considered a single possession of the entire princely house, but turned into a collection of separate estates, which were the hereditary possessions of the branches of the princely house. The establishment of this principle legally consolidated the already begun division of the state into separate principalities-patrimonies, which increased feudal fragmentation.
The final disintegration of the state took place in the second quarter of the 12th century. The causes of feudal fragmentation were rooted in feudal production relations that developed on the basis of the growth of productive forces in the countryside and in the city. The main reasons for the collapse of the Kievan state include: 1) the emergence and spread of princely and private (patrimonial) feudal land tenure; 2) the emergence of boyar villages; 3) the emergence of local economic centers, weakly interconnected due to the dominance of a closed subsistence economy; 4) the gradual settling of the squad on the ground and the inactivity of the prince, who cared not so much about the interests of the entire state as a whole, but about the interests of his own principality; 5) the gradual decrease in the role of Kyiv as an all-Russian center in connection with the activation of the Polovtsy in the Black Sea steppes (XI century), which led to the outflow of the population from Kyiv to the northeast and west.
Under the pressure of all these circumstances, the state center moved to Vladimir. The number of principalities grew rapidly: by the middle of the XII century. there were 15 principalities, at the beginning of the XIII century. - about 50, and by the XIV century. there were already 250 of them. However, there were cases when neighboring principalities united (Turovo-Pinsk, Galicia-Volyn, Vladimir-Suzdal, etc.). The political unity of Russia was destroyed, but its statehood was preserved in the form of a confederation, where the state center, the title of the Grand Duke and the "Russian Truth" that was common to all continued to exist.
Feudal fragmentation contributed to the development of feudal relations in an ascending line and was typical of the Middle Ages. All medieval European states went through a period of disintegration. For the specific Russia of the pre-Mongolian period, an economic upsurge was characteristic. The migration of the people to the northeast, the development of new barren, loamy lands were accompanied by an increase in the culture of agriculture, the spread of the three-field system, and the development of arable farming. It was a favorable time for the development of handicrafts (researchers identify about 60 specialties), especially blacksmithing and foundry, weapons production, jewelry, and ceramics. The development of handicrafts was accompanied by the growth of cities (in Kievan Rus there were up to 20 cities, in specific - more than 300), the emergence of small-scale production and local markets.
A step forward during this period was also made in the political sphere. The new hereditary order of the formation of princely power made it stable. Appanage princes, having become owners of land, began to act as organizers of the construction of cities, strengthening them with fortresses, and arranging settlers in new places. In the northeast, a new type of innovator princes appeared, which corresponded to the requirements of the time. For example, the name of the Suzdal prince Andrei Bogolyubsky (1157–1174) is associated with serious changes in the organization of power in Russia. He moved the grand princely throne from Kyiv to Vladimir, turned the Vladimir-Suzdal principality into the first hereditary possession of the prince in Russia, and established the grand duke's autocracy in the fight against the boyars. These innovations became characteristic of specific Russia, and the new hereditary order of the formation of princely power took root for a long time.
Decentralization made it possible to better adapt the political structure of the lands to local conditions. In some lands, grand princely power was established in a monarchical form (Vladimir-Suzdal, Galicia-Volyn principalities), others became boyar feudal republics (Novgorod, Pskov). At the same time, the form of the state structure depended on the balance of political forces and the outcome of the boyar-princely confrontation. In most lands, the princes suppressed the separatism of the boyars and established sole power. In Novgorod and Pskov, the boyars gained the upper hand, subjugated the princes, and established a republican system under their rule. In Russia, there was a choice. As is known, in the future, Russia followed the path of development of autocracy (> 3.1). Feudal fragmentation, therefore, was a natural consequence of the development of feudalism. The transition to it was of progressive economic significance, since the creation and formalization of the apparatus of feudal power in the localities contributed to the further development of feudal production. At the same time, the loss of the state unity of Russia and the princely strife, which were conducted, as a rule, in order to strengthen their principality and expand its borders at the expense of its neighbors, undermined its political forces, which was immediately used by external enemies. At the same time, it must be remembered that the political fragmentation of Kievan Rus did not entail cultural disunity. The general religious state and the unity of the church organization slowed down the processes of isolation and created the prerequisites for a possible future unification of the Russian principalities.

Following the heyday under Yaroslav the Wise, the gradual decline of the Old Russian state begins. The era of fragmentation in Russia is traditionally dated from the middle of the 12th to the middle of the 16th century, when the Moscow centralized state had already formed. The main reason for the fragmentation was the intricate succession to the throne ( ladder right- the order of succession to the throne in medieval Russia, when power is transferred to the senior representative of the dynasty). The inconvenience of the ladder system was that the princes constantly had to hit the road, along with his yard and squad. Such a system led to the fact that all the princes began to constantly fight for the grand prince's throne, they wanted to ensure at least some stability for themselves. As a result, already in the XII century, another system appeared - Specific- a system of transfer of power, in which the prince, during his lifetime, divided his state into several possessions, each of which went to a certain son. The unity of the city began to decrease, at first it was divided into 9 principalities, then this number increased until it reached several. tens. The process of disintegration of Kievan Rus began as early as 1054, when the Grand Duke died Yaroslav the Wise. (978 - 1054). In 1132, the Kyiv prince Mstislav Vladimirovich the Great (1076-1132), whose authority was recognized by everyone, died. His successor, Yaropolk, did not have diplomatic qualities, nor any specific talents for ruling, and therefore power began to pass from hand to hand. For a hundred years after the death of Mstislav, more than 30 princes were replaced on the Kiev throne. Exactly 1132. officially considered the date of the beginning of feudal fragmentation. The main problem was that few people were interested in maintaining Mr.'s political unity. It was more profitable for each prince to get his inheritance and build cities there and develop the economy. In addition, economic development also did not depend in any way on the unity of individual principalities, because. they did not trade with each other.

The main reasons for the feudal fragmentation of Russia:

1. Confusing system of succession.

2. The existence of a large number of large cities, each of which had its own political interests and could influence the princes who ruled this city.

3. Lack of economic unity in the Russian lands.

But in the era of feudal irritating There are both positive and negative. sides - Feud. irritating significantly influenced Russia culturally, as they got the opportunity develop individual small towns away from Kyiv. There are also many new cities, some of the cat. subsequently become the centers of large principalities (Tver, Moscow). The territories became much more manageable, as the specific princes reacted to the events much faster, due to the relatively small territory of the principality.

But the lack of political unity affected the fall of the country's defense and already in the XIII century. Russia faced numerous Tatar-Mongol hordes. To resist them in the absence of political. units Russia failed successfully.

5. Forms of dependence and influence on the development of the Russian principalities of the rule of the Golden Horde.

In the XII-XIII centuries, the Unified Old Russian state broke up into several principalities, which weakened it in the face of external dangers. Meanwhile, in the east, in the steppes north of China, a new powerful state of the Mongols was being formed, it was headed by Khan Timuchin (Genghis Khan).

In 1223 on the river. Kalka there was a battle between the Mongols and detachments of Russians and Polovtsians, as a result of which the Russian army and 3 princes Mstislav were defeated. However, having won a victory on the Kalka, the Mongols did not continue their campaign north to Kyiv, but turned east against the Volga Bulgaria.

In the meantime, the Mongol state was divided into several uluses, the western ulus went to the grandson of Genghis Khan - Batu Khan, it was he who would gather an army for a march to the west. In 1235 this campaign will begin. The first city to take the blow of the Tatar-Mongolian army was the city of Ryazan, the city was burned down. Further, the Mongol-Tatars begin to move towards the territories of the possessions of the Vladimir-Suzdal principality. March 4, 1237 on the river. City- Yuri Vsevolodovich died. Then Rostov, Suzdal, Moscow, Kolomna fell. 1238 - a series of raids on the Chernigov principality. 1239- a large army under the leadership of Batu is moving south, in 1240 g Batu's troops took and plundered Kyiv. Russia was defeated, many cities were destroyed, trade and craft froze. A number of crafts simply disappeared; thousands of icons and books were destroyed in fires. Traditional political and trade ties with other countries were disrupted.

Ruined by the Mongols, the Russian lands were forced to recognize vassal dependence on the Golden Horde. Control over Russian lands was exercised Basque governors- leaders of the punitive detachments of the Mongol-Tatars.

In 1257, the Mongol-Tatars undertook a census in order to facilitate the collection of tribute. In total there were 14 types of tribute in favor of the Tatars ("Tsar's tribute" = 1300 kg of silver per year).

State positions were distributed in the Horde. Russian princes and the metropolitan were approved by special khan's letters-labels.

Golden Horde yoke:

Formal independence of the Russian principalities from the Horde

Relations of vassalage (a system of relations of personal dependence of some feudal lords on others)

Reigning under the label of the Horde (powers)

Managing methods of terror

Participation of Russian princes in the military campaigns of the Mongols

Reasons for the defeat of Russia:

Fragmentation and strife of Russian princes

Numerical superiority of nomads

Mobility of the Mongolian army (cavalry)

The consequences of the defeat of Russia:

Decline of cities

The decline of many crafts and trade (foreign and domestic)

The decline of culture (Russian lands fell under the rule of the Horde, which increased the isolation of Russia from Western Europe)

Change in the social composition of the squads and their relationship with the prince. Vigilantes are no longer comrades-in-arms, but subjects of princes → The death of most princes and professional warriors, vigilantes; strengthening of princely power

Formation of the Russian centralized state. The role of Ivan III.

The struggle for the overthrow of the Tatar-Mongol yoke in the XIV - XV centuries. was the main national task of the Russian people. At the same time, the core of the political life of this period becomes the unification process of Russian lands and the formation of a centralized state. The main territory of the Russian state, which took shape in the 15th century, was Vladimir-Suzdal, Novgorod-Pskov, Smolensk, Muromo-Ryazan lands and part of the Chernigov principality.

territorial core formation of the Russian people and the Russian state becomes Vladimir-Suzdal land, in which gradually rises Moscow, turning into the center of the political unification of the Russian lands.

The first mention of Moscow (1147) is contained in the annals, which tells about the meeting of Yuri Dolgoruky with the Chernigov prince Svyatoslav.

Reasons for the rise of Moscow:

1. Favorable geographical position.

According to V.O. Klyuchevsky, Moscow was in “Russian Mesopotamia” - i.e. in the interfluve of the Volga and Oka. This geographical position guaranteed her safety: from the northwest of Lithuania, it was covered by the Principality of Tver, and from the east and southeast of the Golden Horde - by other Russian lands, which contributed to the influx of residents and an increase in population density. Being at the junction of trade routes, Moscow becomes the center of economic ties.

2. Church support

The Russian Church was the bearer of the Orthodox ideology, which played an important role in the unification of Russia. Moscow in 1326, under Ivan Kalita, became the seat of the metropolitan, i.e. turns into an ecclesiastical capital.

3. Active policy of Moscow princes

The main rival of the Moscow principality in the struggle for leadership was Tver Principality, the strongest in Russia. Therefore, the outcome of the confrontation largely depended on the smart and flexible policy of the representatives of the Moscow dynasty.

The ancestor of this dynasty is the youngest son of Alexander Nevsky Daniel (1276 - 1303). Under him, the rapid growth of the Moscow principality began. In three years, his principality has almost doubled in size, becoming one of the largest and strongest in North-Eastern Russia.

In 1303, the reign passed to the eldest son of Daniil Yuri, who for a long time fought against Prince Mikhail Yaroslavovich of Tver. Prince Yuri Danilovich, thanks to his flexible policy with the Golden Horde, achieved significant political success: he enlisted the support of Khan Uzbek by marrying his sister Konchaka (Agafya), received a label for a great reign in 1319. But already in 1325, Yuri was killed by the son of the Prince of Tver , and the label passed into the hands of the Tver princes.

In the reign Ivan Danilovich Kalita (1325 - 1340) The Moscow principality was finally strengthened as the largest and strongest in North-Eastern Russia. Ivan Danilovich was a smart, consistent, albeit cruel politician. In his relations with the Horde, he continued the line of external observance of vassal obedience to the khans, the regular payment of tribute, begun by Alexander Nevsky, in order not to give them reasons for new invasions of Russia, which almost completely stopped during his reign.

From the second half of the XIV century. the second stage of the unification process begins, the main content of which was the defeat by Moscow in the 60s and 70s. its main political rivals and the transition from asserting Moscow's political supremacy in Russia.

By the time of the reign of Dmitry Ivanovich (1359 - 1389) The Golden Horde entered a period of weakening and protracted strife between the feudal nobility. Relations between the Horde and the Russian principalities became more and more tense. At the end of the 70s. Mamai came to power in the Horde, who, having stopped the disintegration of the Horde, began preparations for a campaign against Russia. The struggle to overthrow the yoke and ensure security from external aggression became the most important condition for the completion of the state-political unification of Russia begun by Moscow.

On September 8, 1380, the Battle of Kulikovo took place- one of the largest battles of the Middle Ages, which decided the fate of states and peoples. Thanks to the Battle of Kulikovo, reduced amount of tribute. In the Horde, the political supremacy of Moscow among the rest of the Russian lands was finally recognized. For personal bravery in battle and military merits Dmitry got a nickname Donskoy.

Before his death, Dmitry Donskoy handed over the great reign of Vladimir to his son Basil I (1389 - 1425), no longer asking for the right to a label in the Horde.

Completion of the unification of Russian lands

At the end of the fourteenth century in the Moscow principality, several specific possessions were formed that belonged to the sons of Dmitry Donskoy. After the death of Vasily I in 1425, his sons Vasily II and Yuri (the youngest son of Dmitry Donskoy) began the struggle for the grand prince's throne, and after the death of Yuri, his sons Vasily Kosoy and Dmitry Shemyaka. It was a real medieval struggle for the throne, when blinding, poisoning, conspiracies and deceptions were used (blinded by opponents, Vasily II was nicknamed the Dark One). In fact, it was the largest clash between supporters and opponents of centralization. The completion of the process of unification of Russian lands around Moscow into a centralized state falls on the years of government

Ivan III (1462 - 1505) and Vasily III (1505 - 1533).

For 150 years before Ivan III, there was a gathering of Russian lands and the concentration of power in the hands of the Moscow princes. Under Ivan III, the Grand Duke rises above the rest of the princes not only in the amount of power and possessions, but also in the amount of power. Not by chance a new title "sovereign" appears. The double-headed eagle becomes the symbol of the state when in 1472 Ivan III marries the niece of the last Byzantine emperor Sophia Paleolog. Ivan III, after the annexation of Tver, received the honorary title "By God's grace of the sovereign of All Russia, Grand Duke of Vladimir and Moscow, Novgorod and Pskov, and Tver, and Yugra, and Perm, and Bulgaria, and other lands.

✔Since 1485, the Prince of Moscow began to be called the Sovereign of All Russia.

Ivan III faces new challenges - the formalization of legal relations in the expanded Muscovy and the return of lands occupied by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Poland during the period of the Horde yoke.

The princes in the annexed lands became the boyars of the Moscow sovereign. These principalities were now called uyezds and were ruled by governors from Moscow. Localism is the right to occupy a particular position in the state, depending on the nobility and official position of the ancestors, their merits to the Grand Duke of Moscow.

A centralized administration began to take shape. Boyar Duma consisted of 5-12 boyars and no more than 12 okolnichi (boyars and okolnichi - the two highest ranks in the state). The Boyar Duma had advisory functions on "the affairs of the land." In order to centralize and unify the procedure for judicial and administrative activities throughout the state, Ivan III in 1497 was compiled by the Sudebnik.

The right of peasants to move from one landowner to another a week before and a week after St. George's Day (November 26) with the payment of the elderly.

In 1480 the Tatar-Mongol yoke was finally overthrown. This happened after the clash of Moscow and Mongol-Tatar troops on river Ugra.

Formation of the Russian centralized state

At the end of the XV - beginning of the XVI centuries. became part of the Russian state Chernigov-Seversky lands. In 1510 was included in the state and Pskov land. In 1514 the Russian ancient city became part of the Moscow Grand Duchy Smolensk. And finally in In 1521, the Ryazan principality also ceased to exist. It was during this period that the unification of the Russian lands was basically completed. A huge power was formed - one of the largest states in Europe. Within the framework of this state, the Russian people were united. This is a natural process of historical development. From the end of the XV century. the term "Russia" began to be used.

DICTIONARY

Specific evening period, a generally accepted, although not entirely accurate designation of the first centuries of Russian history, marked by fragmentation into parts of the country's territory, the absence of state unity and, at the same time, the development of urban government.
The beginning of the period is usually attributed to the XI century, to the divisions of Russia after the death of St. Vladimir (1015) and especially Yaroslav the Wise (1054); the end of the period is represented by the 15th and the beginning of the 16th century, when the state (more precisely, patrimonial) idea finally triumphs, and specific fragmentation is replaced by autocracy under the rule of Moscow (North-Eastern Russia) and Lithuania (South-Western Russia), from where the name appears for the subsequent period of Russian history the state of Moscow-Lithuania.
From the very beginning of Russia, according to chronicle legend, three brother-princes appear in 862, and only after the death of Sineus and Truvor (apparently without offspring) Rurik takes possession of their lands, but, sitting himself in Novgorod, distributes other cities to control men from their squad. Two of his princes, Askold and Dir, rule in Kyiv. Oleg, having killed them, unites the principalities of Novgorod and Kiev in his hands and reigns in Kyiv, while in other cities (Chernigov, Pereyaslavl, Polotsk, Rostov, Lyubech, etc.) "the light and great princes that exist under him" or boyars, although somewhat dependent on the chief prince, but, as far as can be judged from the terminology of the agreements with the Greeks of 907 and 912, they were set quite independently.
As the princely family multiplies, the governors or posadniks from the squad are replaced by relatives - sons, brothers and nephews of the elder prince, who receive volosts during the life of the latter. The land is considered the fatherland (property) of the entire princely family as a whole, and everyone in the family seeks to get their share in it. As long as the father is at the head of the family, directly distributing volosts to his sons and moving them from place to place, relations are built solely on the basis of parental authority.
Sons, as posadniks of their father, are obliged to obey him and pay tribute from their volosts, although sometimes disobedience and even open resistance to the authority of their father is manifested (Yaroslav I in Novgorod before the death of St. Vladimir).
Subsequently, when an elder brother or even an older relative becomes the father, and when the number of younger ones increases immoderately, ties weaken, the authority of the elder tends to decline, and individual volosts acquire more and more political independence. Maintaining unity in actions and subordinating the younger ones is possible only for a while to especially energetic, gifted and popular personalities, like Vladimir Monomakh or his eldest son Mstislav I. Already in the first half of the 12th century, the payment of tribute by junior princes to Kyiv ceased or, at least, was replaced by a voluntary and random gift. The power of the oldest prince of Kyiv, who is obliged to "think and guess" about the entire Russian land, ceases to serve as a unifying principle for the Russian land.
Another such manifestation of unity turns out to be no stronger connection - the princely congresses on important issues, like the Lyubetsky in 1097, which are not periodic, but purely random. The mutual relations of the princes during this period (XII - XIII centuries) are built on various foundations: they inherit each other in turn of tribal seniority. But then the tribal relations are confused to an extreme degree. Other principles appear on the stage (not excluding the former): an agreement (not always reliable and lasting between princes), obtaining (i.e., forcible capture), an agreement with the city council (based on the will of the people) and, fixing the dying will of the prince, his will.
In the 11th century, the development of the veche principle, relatively weak, was noticeable only in Novgorod alone. But even in Kyiv and other older cities, the strengthening of the veche element is noted in parallel with the weakening of the princely power. In the 11th century, the Kiev veche appeared only occasionally, in dangerous moments, in the form of a violent, rebellious crowd. In the 12th century, it already arbitrarily summons Vladimir Monomakh to the throne, installs his sons one after another (in 1125 and 1132), drives away the Olgovichi princes and calls Izyaslav Mstislavich in 1146.
Thus, the princes are no longer able to refer to seniority, but to the will of the people, or even directly to the fact of a successful capture ("not the place goes to the head, but the head to the place"). Separate branches of the princely family settled in the regions. Local princely dynasties appear (with the exception of Kyiv and Novgorod): the lines of Monomakhovichi, Olgovichi, and others. The principle of a queue according to seniority is still supported somehow, but more and more limited to the boundaries of the well-known princely branch and region.
New orders began to take shape from the end of the 12th century in the north, where it quickly rises, being built up with cities and populated at the expense of the weakening and emptying Russia of the Dnieper, Russia of Rostov-Suzdal or Vladimir. It rises thanks to the smart colonial and economic activities of its princes - Yuri Dolgoruky and his successors. Now the son of Dolgorukiy, Andrei Bogolyubsky, wants to be an autocrat, does not give a share in his land to either brothers or nephews, reigns alone and gives his power an unlimited character, establishes new relations with the squad. But autocracy is not soon established between the descendants of Vsevolod Yuryevich Big Nest.
The Vladimir land is again divided into parts, which over time increasingly acquire the character of hereditary possessions, passing in a straight line from father to sons and dividing between them into small shares, but not passing into extraneous lines of the princely family. Only from that time (XIII - XIV centuries) did the name appanage appear, meaning not tribal, but personal or family property, hereditary "fatherland" on the basis of civil law. As private property, inheritances are transferred by will, acquired by purchase, in the form of a dowry for the wife. The mutual relations of the princes are determined by treaty charters, which uphold the principle of equality between the princes.
Only one grand-ducal city of Vladimir continues, according to the old custom, to pass to the eldest in the family. The Tatar yoke makes this custom more and more fictitious. Over time, one of the destinies, Moscow, rises above the others, becomes the ecclesiastical and political center of all northeastern Russia.
With the material and moral-ecclesiastical strengthening of Moscow, petty appanage princes pass into the category of service, dependent assistants, so that later, having finally lost their appanages, they become titled boyars of the Grand Duke of Moscow. And the Moscow princes are still faithful to the old view of their land as a private patrimony, and divide their inheritance, giving each son a special inheritance, but at the same time they are increasingly increasing the power and income of the eldest, giving him the "oldest path" more than others, so that in the end the elder alone receives almost everything, while the younger ones are insignificant, through striped islands in the middle of his kingdom and are increasingly deprived of their property rights - independent international relations, collection of taxes by their own power in their destinies, minting coins, etc. If even before the younger brothers were obliged under contracts to keep the elder "honestly and menacingly", then by the end of the 15th century they directly turned into his servants. in the face

Specific period

Feudal fragmentation- the period of weakening of the central power in the feudal states due to the different duration and effect of decentralization, due to the strengthening of large feudal lords in the conditions of the seigneurial system of labor organization and military service. New smaller territorial formations lead an almost independent existence, dominated by subsistence farming. The term is widespread in Russian historiography and is used in various meanings.

Specific period

The term is used to denote the era of the existence of appanages and includes the entire period from the division of central power (from the first in the year - for the empire of Charlemagne, from the last in 1132 - for Kievan Rus; not from the appearance of the first appanages) in the early feudal state to the liquidation of the latter inheritance in a centralized state.

Developed feudalism

Often the term that characterizes the state of supreme power in the state and relations within the top of the feudal society (see vassalage) is used as a synonym for the concepts feudalism and developed feudalism characterizing the economic system and relations between the social strata of society. In addition, the concepts refer to different, albeit overlapping, chronological intervals.

Feudal anarchy, aristocratic order

With the branching of the ruling dynasty in the early feudal states, the expansion of their territory and the administrative apparatus, whose representatives exercise the power of the monarch over the local population, collecting tribute and troops, the number of contenders for central power increases, peripheral military resources increase, and the control capabilities of the center weaken. The supreme power becomes nominal, and the monarch begins to be elected by large feudal lords from his midst, while the resources of the elected monarch, as a rule, are limited by the resources of his original principality, and he cannot transfer supreme power by inheritance. In this situation, the rule "the vassal of my vassal is not my vassal" works.

The first exceptions are England in the north-west of Europe (the Salisbury oath of the city, all feudal lords are direct vassals of the king) and Byzantium in its south-east (at about the same time, Emperor Alexei I Komnenos forced the crusaders who seized the lands on Middle East, recognize vassal dependence on the empire, thereby including these lands in the empire and preserving its unity). In these cases, all the lands of the state are divided into the domain of the monarch and the lands of his vassals, as in the next historical stage, when the supreme power is assigned to one of the princes, it again begins to be inherited and the process of centralization begins (this stage is often called a patrimonial monarchy). The full development of feudalism became a prerequisite for the end of feudal fragmentation, since the overwhelming majority of the feudal stratum, its ordinary representatives, were objectively interested in having a single spokesman for their interests:

The local boyars were accustomed to go on campaigns under the Moscow banner and look at the Moscow prince as their leader and sovereign over sovereigns - other Russian princes. But sooner or later, these other princes begin to notice that power is slipping out of their hands, and they make an attempt to regain it by conspiring against Moscow with its opponents. Then something happens that should have happened long ago: the local boyars, using the right of free departure, go to the service of the Moscow prince, leaving their former overlords without fighting strength, depriving them of the very foundation of power.

Feudal fragmentation of Russia

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see also

• Early feudal monarchy

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From the second half of the XI century. in Russia, new processes begin, characterized, first of all, by the disintegration of the hitherto unified state into separate, in fact, independent lands. For a long time, Soviet historical science explained the causes of fragmentation by the growing class struggle of the peasants against the exploiters, which forced the latter to keep the forces necessary to suppress it on the ground, as a result of which the independence and authority of local princes increased.

Another reason - already of an economic order - was the dominance of a natural (closed) economy. However, the above reasons do not explain the collapse of Russia very well. Firstly, we have almost no data on any major mass uprisings of the 11th - 12th centuries (with the exception of news about events in Suzdal in 1024 and 1071, or in Kyiv in 1068, where unrest is very difficult to define as class), and secondly, the natural nature of the economy is characteristic of both specific and united Russia, and, therefore, this fact in itself cannot explain anything. As for pre-Soviet historiography, it named the erroneous decision of Yaroslav the Wise to divide the lands of the Kyiv state between his sons as the main reason for the collapse. However, this statement is also vulnerable to criticism: after all, even before Yaroslav, the princes made similar divisions, but Russia retained unity. Apparently, it is impossible to get an answer to the question about the reasons for the collapse without understanding what dictated the very unity of the state and how its main functions changed over time. Ancient Russia was united, first of all, thanks to the common desire for predatory campaigns against Byzantium. However, by the end of the tenth century profit in the form of booty and tribute began to noticeably yield in importance to the benefits received from the development of ordinary trade, which became possible, firstly, due to the conclusion of trade agreements with the Byzantine Empire, and secondly, due to the increase in wealth in the hands of the prince (from in whose name, in fact, Russian merchants traded), caused by an increase in the collection of tribute-tax after the stabilization of relations within the state. Thus, the need for military campaigns against Byzantium practically disappeared, which led to their complete cessation. It was also possible to stabilize relations with the "steppe". Already Svyatoslav defeated the Khazars, Vladimir and Yaroslav actually finished with the Pechenegs, and only the Polovtsy continued to disturb Russia with their raids. However, the forces of the Polovtsy were very small, so there was no need to attract the troops of the entire Old Russian state to confront them. Moreover, even those relatively small squads that opposed the Polovtsy delivered such impressive blows that by the end of the 12th - beginning of the 13th centuries. the Polovtsians found themselves in vassal dependence on Russia (more precisely, on the South Russian princes). As for internal functions, they could indeed be performed with great success within the framework of separate, relatively small territories. The complication of public life required not the rare appearances of a judge-arbiter from the center, but everyday regulation. Local interests increasingly capture the princes sitting in separate lands, who begin to identify them with their own interests. Thus, by the end of the XI century. the obvious disappearance of those common interests that unite everyone together, which previously quite firmly cemented the state. Other connecting threads, say, economic ones (here, it is worth remembering the subsistence nature of the economy), simply did not exist. That is why Russia, having lost most of what bound it, broke up. However, the collapse was not absolute. Along with this centrifugal tendency, the centripetal ones also persisted. They were expressed, in particular, in the preservation of the prestige of the title of the Grand Prince of Kyiv (although it no longer plays a real unifying role). In addition, the princes from time to time found it necessary to gather at their inter-princely congresses to discuss emerging common problems. And yet the main trend was undoubtedly centrifugal. The main principle of disintegration was already fixed at the first inter-princely congress in Lyubech in 1097: "everyone keeps his patrimony." At the same time, the statehood of Russia, of course, did not disappear, it simply moved to a new level - land. Accordingly, there have been changes in the structures of power. At the land level, two main types of organization of power were formed, which can be conditionally defined as "republican" and "monarchical". However, the most important elements of these systems are the same: veche, prince, boyars. But the ratio of these elements in the political systems of various Russian lands is very different. If in the Novgorod land, traditionally classified as a "feudal republic", the leading role was played by the veche and the boyars, while the prince performed only the functions of a military leader and guarantor of the judicial system (moreover, an agreement was concluded with him, failure to comply with which threatened him with exile), then in In principalities, on the contrary, the leading positions were occupied by the prince with his boyar advisers, while the veche could only temporarily acquire a noticeable influence on power (as a rule, spontaneously from below, or in the event of a conflict between the prince and the boyars). The most stable positions within the framework of Ancient Russia in the XII century. occupied Novgorod and Vladimir-Suzdal principality. But, if Novgorod never claimed leading roles in the political life of Russia, then the princes of Vladimir (Yuri Dolgoruky, Andrei Bogolyubsky) fought very actively with other princes both for separate territories and for obtaining leading positions (if not in general supremacy) among other Russian lands. However, gradually the process of disintegration captures the Vladimir principality, which, like others, begins to plunge into the abyss of strife. In general, inter-princely strife is perhaps the main theme of chronicle stories and works of literature of the 12th - 13th centuries, which often creates a distorted idea of ​​them as the main feature of the specific period, drawing an image of the gradual decline of Russia, becoming a defenseless victim of any more or less strong enemy. Sometimes one gets the impression of the fatal inevitability of the death of the Old Russian state. In fact, the influence of strife on the development of Ancient Russia is clearly exaggerated. The specific period not only was not a time of decline, but, on the contrary, meant the flourishing of the Old Russian state and, above all, in the sphere of culture. Of course, strife weakened unity, and hence the possibility of a joint rebuff to a major enemy, however, in the foreseeable space, such an enemy did not exist in Russia. The collapse of the Old Russian state, therefore, looks like a natural stage in the development of the Old Russian statehood, forming more developed state structures, laying the foundations for the emergence of a society independent of the state, influencing state policy.

Voronin A.V. History of Russian Statehood

More on the topic 4. Specific period in Russia:

1. TOPIC 3. STATE ORGANIZATION AND LAW OF RUSSIA DURING THE PERIOD OF POLITICAL Fragmentation (SPECIFIC PERIOD) - XII - XIV centuries.
2. 2. The state and law of Russia in the specific period (XII - XIV centuries)
3. State and law of Russia during the period of specific rule (XII-XIV centuries). Formation of the Russian centralized state.