Zemsky Sobor message. Last Zemsky Sobor

Ticket number 20 - Zemsky Sobors of the Moscow State

The Zemsky Sobors are representative institutions, bodies of general Zemstvo power, personifying the entire Russian state. It is worth noting that they were of a different nature than the representative bodies in the West. The AP has an ideological (participation of the people in power) and an actual connection with the veche (there were replacements), but it is not a historical continuation, and they are also opposite in composition. Spiritual cathedrals became the progenitors of the AP.

compound:

    King - present and preside or replace himself as an authorized person (1682).

    Boyar Duma. The DB is, as it were, an upper chamber, and not a representative of the interests of its class.

    - the clergy (Metropolitan, then Patriarch - the Consecrated Cathedral), represents not their class, but the interests of the church in the state and the nationwide.

    boyar children,

    townspeople,

    Black-eared peasants (they were present only at the Councils of 1613 and 1682)

    Heads and centurions of archers, elders and sots from black hundreds and settlements,

    Atamans from the Cossacks, Tatar murzas, guests and merchants;

As for the territorial beginning, almost all counties were represented at the Councils (in 1613, Siberia was also represented).

Zemsky Sobors represented at the same time a kind of legislative and executive bodies, because. their members, as a rule, confirmed by oath their obligation to fulfill the decision taken at the Councils.

Zemsky Sobors were classified into :

deliberative , which, in principle, were all the Councils until 1598 (the suppression of the family of Ivan Kalita)

electoral - V.N. Latkin.

According to the method of convocation, they were divided into - L.V. Tcherepnin:

Called by the king

Convened by the king at the initiative of the population

Convened by the population / on his initiative in the absence of the king.

Convocation and elections to the Zemsky Sobor:

The Council was convened draft letter sent from the king to famous people and localities. The letter contained a list of issues to be discussed at the Council; the charter also indicated the number of elected representatives required from a given group or locality. The terms of the convocation have not been determined.

The constituency consisted of a city with a county, as well as a camp. Took part in the elective meetings full payers of taxes and those who served. At the end of the elections, a protocol was drawn up, certified by all those who took part in the elections, and sent to Moscow (to the Posolsky or Discharge Order). Local authorities were strictly forbidden to interfere in the elections.

Elected were forbidden to leave Moscow for the duration of the meeting of the Council.

The order of the Zemsky Sobor:

The cathedral opened with a solemn service in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. Then there was a meeting of the Council in full composition, where the royal speech was delivered. The theme of the council was announced and a report was given on the implementation of the previous decision. After that, deliberative meetings of the elective ones took place - for each class separately.

Each part of the council argues separately and submits its (written) opinion when the discussion is over. Each member of the council could submit a separate opinion.

Decisions were made out "fairy tale". The decision could only be taken unanimously! If not, then a joint meeting. The same is at the level of the entire cathedral.

The competence of Zemsky Sobors:

    the election of a new tsar and a new dynasty: the first elected tsar Fedor Ioannovich (1584), the last - Peter I (1682); the chosen dynasties are the Godunovs, the Shuiskys, the Romanovs-Yurievs;

    the exercise of the Supreme legislative power (at the Councils the Sudebnik was adopted in 1550 and the Code in 1649);

    issues of war and peace;

    issues of church dispensation (competition with the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church)

    tax administration issues. An example is the introduction of the 5th money in 1634;

    issues of maintaining and developing the domestic national economy. In the Time of Troubles in general, the Zemsky Sobor assumed the entirety of the Supreme Power in Russia.

    the right to petition, which later resulted in the formal right of legislative initiative - was singled out by M.F. Vladimirsky-Budanov.

It has gone through several stages of development. The first Council was convened in 1549, and the last in 1684. (a total of 57 Councils were convened in 135 years). Their beginning in the 16th century served as a measure to strengthen power, shaken by boyar strife. Then councils were convened only on key issues of the state, which determined its fate. Then, as power was consolidated, their importance fell. In the period from 1653-1676, Alexei Mikhailovich did not convene the AP, this is due to the fact that the SUTSAM calmed legislative requests. Under Peter, the last one is convened, because. among the new institutions of the reformer and thanks to the establishment of absolutism, there was no place for Zemsky Sobors.

The idea of ​​convening the AP under the conditions of absolutism did not die, they wanted to create a new Council code: Legislative and Legislative Commissions. In the future - 1811 - Speransky's reform attempts, who were accused of being a French spy. The last major attempt - 1880-1881 - Manifesto to convene business people. Finally, the idea of ​​the Zemsky Sobor, reworked in a Western rationalist manner, served as a stimulus for the constitutional reform of 1906. Zemsky Sobors played an important role in bringing the government closer to the people, collectively resolving the issue, strengthening the weakened government, and gave impetus to the further development of the idea of ​​representation in Russia.

The difference between the Zemsky Sobors and the representative bodies of Western Europe:

The very fact of the existence of the Zemsky Sobor served as proof for Soviet historiography that Russia followed the same path as the West. In the late Middle Ages (14th-16th centuries), a class-representative monarchy was formed, which in the 17th century in Europe turned into an absolutist monarchy, which, after going through a revolution, turned into a constitutional monarchy or a bourgeois state. This gave Soviet historians the opportunity to believe that the October Revolution was a pattern.

To what extent does the AP correspond to a class-representative monarchy? If we compare the competencies of the AP and Western bodies, we will find a lot in common.

The first similarity is finance. The AP approves all taxes. The second is that the AP and Western bodies adopt laws common to the entire state. Finally, the general question of competence is the question of war and peace. This is where the similarity ends.

The composition of the AP is different from the composition of the estate representation in Europe. The basis of representation is the estate, when in Russia the estate is a phenomenon of a too late kind. Estates in Russia appear in the 18th century, in the era of absolutism.

In Western Europe, the estate is a closed group of people, the concept of isolation is reinforced by exogamous marriages. A general profession that is inherited within an estate. It is impossible to circumvent the class norm, the violator of these norms is faced with a complete abstraction among his class, he is not recognized as equal to himself. The opposition of estates to the state and the protection of rights before state power. In the West, the estate-representative monarchy is the result of the political struggle of the estates.

Legally, the entire free population of the Moscow state is a service population, it serves the state. Any black-haired peasant is a government official. In Russia, the main distinguishing feature of the estates did not develop, the population is not opposed to the state, it is obliged to serve. In Russia, representation is not a privilege, but a type of service. Therefore, the Zemsky Sobor becomes a special institution in which the state sees itself as in a mirror. In our country, the appearance of the Zemsky Sobor is the result of "administrative need."

National history. History of Russia from ancient times to 1917. Encyclopedia. Volume 2. M .: Great Russian Encyclopedia, 1996. S. 261 - 262.

Zemsky cathedrals, cathedrals, councils, zemstvo councils, central nationwide class-representative institutions with legislative functions in the middle XVI XVII centuries (in 1610 - 1613 the highest legislative and executive bodies). A variety of Zemsky Sobors were the so-called church-zemstvo, military and judicial councils. They arose at the final stage of the formation of the Russian centralized state in the form of a class-representative monarchy. By the middle of the XVI century. there were fundamental changes in the composition and structure of the Sovereign's court, local estate institutions, the importance of the Consecrated Cathedral increased.

The first Zemsky Sobor was convened in 1549 in an atmosphere of significant social aggravation (Moscow uprising of 1547, speeches of service nobles and taxable strata of the city and countryside in the 1540s). Meetings of Zemsky Sobors were held in Moscow, Vladimir (1550), near Moscow (1610 1611), in Yaroslavl (1611 1612). They were convened by kings (very rarely at the initiative of the estates) and estates (during periods of interregnum).

At the Zemsky Sobors, the most important issues of Russia's domestic and foreign policy were discussed and resolved. Zemsky Sobors were convened during the coronation of Fyodor Ivanovich (1584), Alexei Mikhailovich (1645), when Sofya Alekseevna was appointed ruler (1682); at Zemsky Sobors, Boris Godunov (1598), Vasily Shuisky (1606), Mikhail Fedorovich (1613), Ivan V and Peter I (1682) were elected to the kingdom; confirmed the deposition of Tsar Vasily Shuisky and the transfer of supreme power to the "Seven Boyars" (1610); developed the conditions for the election of the Polish prince Vladislav to the Russian throne (1610). The Zemsky Sobor of 1619 sanctioned the election of Patriarch Filaret at the Consecrated Council, thereby emphasizing his real status as co-ruler of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich. Zemsky Sobors prepared a number of important reforms. The Zemsky Sobor of 1549 considered and approved the reform of local government and outlined other changes. On January 3, 1565, the Zemsky Sobor agreed to Tsar Ivan IV to introduce the oprichnina. In 1613 - 1622, the Zemsky Sobors were engaged in financial and tax policy (the decisions of the Zemsky Sobors on the collection of "fifteen", "request", "sosh" money and other fees and "reserves"), developed measures to eliminate the consequences of the intervention of the early XVII in. , regulated land relations, strengthened the foundations of feudal land tenure (carrying out a new description and patrols in counties, detecting townspeople - pawnbrokers, etc.). In 1681 - 1682 Zemsky Sobors abolished localism and outlined military, financial, and government reforms. Secular and ecclesiastical codes were adopted at Zemsky Sobors [Sudebnik 1550, Stoglav (1551), Cathedral Code 1649]. At judicial Zemsky Sobors, A.F. Adashev and Sylvester , dethroned Metropolitan Philip (judicial-church Zemsky Sobors 1560, 1568), accused of conspiracy against False Dmitry I and convicted Prince Vasily Shuisky (judicial Zemsky Sobor 1605), sentenced to death (1607) Ileyka Muromets ("Tsarevich Peter"). The activities of some Zemsky Sobors are associated with the adoption of measures to suppress the Cossack-peasant uprising led by I.M. Zarutsky (1614), movements of the Cossacks in the Moscow and Pomeranian cities (1614), the Pskov uprising of 1650. In foreign policy, special attention was paid to the Russian-Polish (1566, 1580, 1591, 1610, 1611, 1684) and Russian-Swedish (1616) relations, including violations of the Deulino Treaty of 1618 and the Polyanovsky Peace of 1634 by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth . In 1642, the Zemsky Sobor considered the issue of accepting Azov into the Russian state. , in 1653 he decided to declare war on the Commonwealth and to accept Ukraine into Russian citizenship (took place in 1654). The so-called military councils (“meetings”, “meetings”) and some Zemsky councils were devoted to organizing campaigns against Kazan (1550, 1552), reforming the border service (1571), military operations against the troops of the Crimean Khanate (1598, 1604, 1637, etc. .), the invasion of Prince Vladislav (1618), etc.

The composition of Zemsky Sobors was formed by representation from estate groups, socio-political and state institutions. Representation was due to the status of the person, determined by choice or, possibly, by appointment (invitation). The core of the Zemsky Sobor and its permanent parts (curia) were: consecrated cathedral, headed by the Moscow metropolitan (from 1589 - patriarch) and included archbishops, bishops, archimandrites, abbots of influential monasteries; Boyar Duma(including duma nobles and duma clerks), as well as (before the beginning of the XVII c.) persons who, by virtue of their position, had the right of a boyar court (butlers, treasurers, printers, etc.). The bulk of the secular feudal lords of the XVI century. represented various groups of the sovereign's court(stewards, solicitors, Moscow and elected nobles, clerks, etc.). From the trade and craft population, privileged groups of merchants were represented at the Zemsky Sobor ( guests, members of the Living Room and Cloth Hundreds). At the Zemsky Sobor of 1584 for the first time were present "elected" from the county nobility, at the Zemsky Sobor in 1598 their representation increased; For the first time, Sotsky Moscow Black Hundreds and Half Hundreds participated in the meetings of the cathedral. From the beginning of the 17th century the principle of real election was developed (elected from county corporations of the nobility, from the white city clergy, a number of class groups of service people "according to the instrument", taxable citizens, etc.). A special role in the history of Zemsky Sobors (“Councils of the Whole Earth”, 1611-1613) was played in 1604-1605 by city councils, all-estate local bodies that arose in many territories of Russia. Having started the national liberation movement against the interventionists, they actively contributed to the formation of the First Militia of 1611, the People's Militia of 1611 - 1612 and struggle for state and national revival. At the Zemsky Sobor of 1612 - 1613 for the first time were present elected from the black-haired and palace peasants. The Electoral Council of 1613 was the most numerous (over 800 people from no less than 58 cities) and representative in composition in comparison with the previous Zemsky Sobor. In 1613 - 1622 Zemsky Sobors acted almost continuously, while one composition of the Zemsky Sobor held several "sessions". In 1632 - 1653 Zemsky Sobors were convened relatively rarely - on the most significant issues of domestic and foreign policy. During this period, the activity of the class groups of the city became more active and the state significance of class meetings increased, representatives from foreigners appeared in the Russian service (1648). The last Zemsky Sobors (1682, 1683 - 1684) were held after the death of Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich in the conditions of a political crisis and the struggle for power of palace groups. In the context of the evolution of the state-political system of Russia to absolutism Zemsky Sobors lost their significance by the end of the 17th century. Researchers count about 60 Zemsky Sobors of the middle of the 16th - 17th centuries. (V.D. Nazarov)

the highest estate-representative institutions in Russia ser. XVI - to. XVII centuries. They included members of the Consecrated Cathedral, the Boyar Duma, the "sovereign court", elected from the provincial nobility and the top of the townspeople. We considered the most important national issues.

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Zemsky Sobors

Central class-representative institutions in Russia in the XVI-XVII centuries. They included members of the Consecrated Cathedral - archbishops, bishops, etc., headed by the metropolitan, from 1589 - with the patriarch, members of the Boyar Duma, the "sovereign court", elected from the provincial nobility and the top citizens. The most important nationwide issues were considered at the Western Conference. At the beginning of the XVII century. during the period of mass popular movements, Polish and Swedish intervention, the “Council of All the Earth” was convened, the continuation of which was the Z. S. in 1613, who elected the first Romanov, Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich, to the throne. During his reign, the Z. S. were convened most often. The practice of convening and running meetings of Z. S. was not strictly regulated. The councils approved or elected tsars on the throne, approved the council code of 1649, abolished parochialism in 1682, approved treaties on the reunification of Ukraine with Russia, on “perpetual peace” with Poland in 1683-1684, with their help the government introduced new taxes, changed existing ones, discussed foreign policy issues, the need to recruit troops, etc. Sometimes unplanned issues were proposed for discussion, for example, at the Council of 1566, the question of the abolition of the oprichnina introduced by John IV the Terrible was raised. From the middle of the XVII century. the activity of Z. S. freezes, which is explained by the strengthening of absolutism in Russia.

Composition Z.s. was formed by representation from class groups, socio-political and state institutions. Representation was due to the status of the person, determined by choice or, possibly, by appointment (invitation). The core of Z.s. and its permanent parts (curia) were: the Consecrated Cathedral, headed by the Moscow Metropolitan (since 1589 - patriarch) and including archbishops, bishops, archimandrites, abbots of influential monasteries; Boyar Duma (including duma nobles and duma clerks), as well as (before the beginning of the 17th century) persons who had the right of the boyar court by virtue of their position (butlers, treasurers, printer). The bulk of the secular feudal lords of the XVI century. represented various groups of the Sovereign's court (stewards, solicitors, Moscow and elected nobles, clerks). From the trade and craft population in the W.s. privileged groups of merchants were represented (guests, members of the Living Room and Cloth Hundreds). From 1584 on the W.s. there were "elected" from the district nobility, since 1598 the sotskys of the Moscow Black Hundreds, since 1612 - elected from the peasants. Z.s. lost their importance by the end of the 17th century.

The first Z.s. (1549 and 1566) are organically included in the system of institutions of the estate-representative monarchy that had developed by the middle of the 16th century, when a number of political reforms were carried out.

In June 1566, on the W.s. only representatives of the zemshchina were present, the delegates were appointed by the government. Here, for the first time, the government faced strong opposition. A large group of boyars, nobles turned to the tsar with a petition for the resignation of the oprichnina. Z.s. stands out in particular. 1613: it was wider and more democratic in composition than the previous ones - a new dynasty was elected to the Moscow throne. Some time after the election of Mikhail Fedorovich Z.S. did not dissolve and acted as the supreme body under the king. At the beginning of the XVII century. frequent convocations of Z.s. were necessary for the adoption of unpopular decisions on the new tension of the military and economic forces of the country.

Z.s. gathered in one of the Kremlin chambers (Granovitaya, Dining room and others). The cathedral was opened by a clerk or by the tsar himself. The clerk read out the "letter" (summon) for the cathedral. The answer to the question on the agenda was given on "separate articles" by each class.

Duration Z.s. was from several hours (1645) and days (1642) to several months (1648-1649) and even years (1613-1615,1615-1619,1620-1622).

Solutions were drawn up in a conciliar act-protocol with the seals of the tsar, the patriarch, the highest ranks and the kissing of the lower ranks. Z.s. existed until the end of the 17th century, gradually losing their significance and role in the life of the state.

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G. Ivan created the Cathedral of Reconciliation. Subsequently, such cathedrals began to be called Zemsky. By "council" was meant any assembly. Including the meeting of the boyars (“the boyar cathedral”). The word "zemsky" could mean "nationwide" (that is, the case of "the whole earth"). During the reign of Ivan IV the Terrible, the practice of convening class meetings, called "zemstvo councils" only from the 17th century, spread.

The history of Zemsky Sobors is the history of the internal development of society, the evolution of the state apparatus, the formation of social relations, changes in the estate system. In the 16th century, the process of forming the given was just beginning, initially it was not clearly structured, and its competence was not strictly defined. The practice of convocation, the order of formation, and even more so, the composition of Zemsky Sobors for a long time were also not regulated.

As for the composition of zemstvo sobors, even during the reign of Mikhail Romanov, when the activity of zemstvo sobors was the most intense, the composition varied depending on the urgency of the issues being resolved and on the very nature of the issues.

Periodization of Zemsky Sobors

The periodization of Zemsky Sobors can be divided into 6 periods:

1. The history of Zemsky Sobors begins during the reign of Ivan IV the Terrible. The first council took place in the city of Sobors convened by the tsarist authorities - this period continues until the city of

There is also an opinion that it was the so-called "cathedral of reconciliation" (perhaps, the king with the boyars or reconciliation between representatives of different classes among themselves).

B. A. Romanov, that the Zemsky Sobor consisted, as it were, of two “chambers”: the first was made up of boyars, courtiers, butlers, treasurers, the second - governors, princes, boyar children, great nobles. Nothing is said about who the second “chamber” consisted of: from those who happened to be in Moscow at that time, or from those who were specially summoned to Moscow. The data on the participation of the townspeople in the zemstvo sobors are very doubtful, although the decisions made there were often very beneficial to the top of the township. Often the discussion took place separately among the boyars and okolnichy, clergy, service people, that is, each group separately expressed its opinion on this issue.

The earliest council, the activity of which is evidenced by the sentencing letter (with signatures and a list of participants in the Duma Council) and the news in the annals, took place in 1566, where the main issue was the continuation or termination of the bloody Livonian War.

An important place in the zemstvo councils was occupied by the clergy, in particular, the zemstvo councils of February - March 1549 and the spring of 1551 were at the same time church councils in full force, and only the metropolitan and the higher clergy participated in the rest of the Moscow cathedrals. Participation in the councils of the clergy was intended to emphasize the legitimacy of the decisions taken by the monarch.

Historical prerequisites for the appearance and disappearance of Zemsky Sobors

R. G. Skrynnikov expresses the opinion that the Russian state of the 16th century, before the Zemsky Sobor of 1566, was an autocratic monarchy with an aristocratic boyar Duma, and subsequently followed the path of transformation into a class-representative monarchy.

The supreme power already under Grand Duke Ivan III, trying to reduce the power functions of large feudal lords, turned to the peasant self-government for support. The Sudebnik of 1497 determined that courtiers, elders and the best people from volosts, that is, representatives of peasant communities, would certainly be present at the court of governors.

Even under Ivan IV, the government was trying to expand its social base by addressing directly the various classes of the Russian state, which was overcoming feudal fragmentation. The Zemsky Sobor can be regarded as a body that replaces the Veche. Perceiving the traditions of the participation of public groups in solving government issues, he replaces the elements of democracy with the principles of class representation.

According to some historians, the existence of Zemsky Sobors was relatively short and did not have a great influence on the social development of Russia:

Firstly, councils never met independently, they were convened by the monarch, most often to maintain his policy, in order to give them legitimacy and justice in the eyes of the people (the approval of new taxes by the will of “the whole earth” excluded complaints from the population);

Secondly, the estate-representative body could not develop in Russia due to the fact that all estates, by and large, were equally powerless before the unlimited royal power, regardless of nobility and wealth. “We are free to execute and pardon our serfs,” Ivan the Terrible argued, meaning by serfs all his subjects, from noble princes to the last bonded peasants. As V. O. Klyuchevsky wrote: “The estates in Russia of the XVI-XVII differed not in rights, but in duties.”

Other researchers, such as I. D. Belyaev, believed that Zemsky Sobors:

They contributed to overcoming the remnants of feudal fragmentation in Russian society, both politically and psychologically;

We accelerated reforms in the courts and local self-government, because the various classes of society had the opportunity to inform the supreme power of their needs.

Zemsky Sobors of the 16th-17th centuries. for quite objective reasons, they did not give rise to a stable class representation in Russia. The Russian economy of that period was still not productive enough for the development of industrial and trading estates (and in most European countries of that period, which were much stronger economically, absolutism prevailed), however, Zemsky Sobors played a significant role in overcoming crises and developing Russian society in the XVI- 17th century

Bibliography

  • A. N. Zertsalov. On the History of Zemstvo Sobors. Moscow ,
  • A. N. ZERTSALOV "New Data on Zemstvo Sobors in Russia 1648-1649". Moscow, 1887.

Notes


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In the 16th century, a fundamentally new body of state administration arose in Russia - the Zemsky Sobor. The Zemsky Sobor is the highest estate-representative institution of the Russian state, from the middle of the 16th to the end of the 17th century. This is a gathering of representatives of all segments of the population (except for the serfs) at which economic, political and administrative issues were discussed.

Composition of the Zemsky Sobor

The Zemsky Sobor included: the tsar, the Boyar Duma, the Consecrated Cathedral in full force, representatives of the nobility, the upper classes of the townspeople (merchant people, large merchants), and sometimes state peasants. Zemsky Sobor as a representative body was bicameral. In the upper house there was a tsar, the Boyar Duma and the Consecrated Cathedral were included, which were not elected, but took part in it in accordance with their position.

Order of elections for the council

Members of the lower house were elected. The order of elections for the council was as follows. From the Discharge Order, the governors received an order on elections, which was read to the inhabitants of cities and peasants. After that, estate electoral lists were compiled, although the number of representatives was not recorded. Voters gave their elected mandates. But elections were not always held. There were cases when, during the urgent convocation of a council, representatives were invited by the king or local officials.

In the Zemsky Sobor, the nobles (the main service class, the basis of the army) and merchants played an important role, because the solution of monetary problems to provide funds for state needs, primarily defense and military, depended on their participation in this meeting.

As representatives of the population, not specially elected deputies were invited, but mainly officials who were at the head of local noble and township societies. When making any decision, the members of the council were obliged at the same time to be the executors of this decision. In the period of the beginning of the 17th century, the cathedral representation was only elective, and representatives of the service and townspeople were its permanent members. The free peasantry, forming common “all-district worlds” with the townspeople, was also represented at the councils, but the serfs did not take part in them.

"Tsar John IV opens the first Zemsky Sobor with his penitential speech"

Discussion questions. Duration

At the Zemsky Sobor, the discussion of issues took place in ranks and in groups. After discussing the issue, the elected people submitted their written opinions to the groups - the so-called "fairy tales".

The regularity and duration of the meetings of the councils were not regulated depending on the circumstances, the importance and content of the issues under discussion. There were cases when Zemsky Sobors functioned continuously. They resolved the main issues of foreign and domestic policy, legislation, finance, state building. Issues were discussed by estates (chambers), each estate submitted its written opinion, and then, as a result of their generalization, a sentence was drawn up, accepted by the entire composition of the cathedral.

Thus, the government had the opportunity to identify the opinions of individual classes and groups of the population. However, on the whole, the cathedral acted in close connection with the tsarist authorities and the Duma. Cathedrals were assembled on Red Square, in the Patriarch's Chambers or the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin, and later - in the Golden Chamber or the Dining Hut.

In addition to the name "Zemsky Sobor", this representative institution had other names: "Council of All the Earth", "Cathedral", "General Council", "Great Zemstvo Duma".

First Zemsky Sobor

The first Zemsky Sobor was convened in Russia in 1549 and is known in history as the Cathedral of Reconciliation. The reason for its convocation was the uprising in 1547 in Moscow and the need to reconcile the contradictions between the boyars and the nobility.

Zemsky Sobor 1613: made the Romanovs a royal dynasty

Based on historical documents, they count in the XVI-XVII centuries. about 50 such cathedrals. All of them can be conditionally divided into 4 groups: those convened by the sovereign on his initiative; convened by the king at the request of the estates; convened by the estates on their initiative; councils where the king was elected.

The first group of cathedrals prevailed. The Council of 1549 belongs to the second group, because it was convened at the request of the estates. The Council of 1598 elected to the kingdom, 1613 -.

The most complex and representative structure in the 16th century was the Stoglavy Cathedral of 1551 and the Cathedral of 1566.

1551 - on the initiative of the sovereign and the metropolitan, a church council was convened, which was called Stoglavy, since its decisions were formulated in 100 chapters. The council regulated church art, the rules for the life of the clergy, compiled and approved a list of all-Russian saints. The most controversial issue was the question of church land ownership. Ritual rituals were unified throughout the country. The council approved the adoption of the Code of Laws of 1550 and the reform.

The cathedral of 1566 was more representative from a social point of view. It formed 5 curia, uniting various segments of the population (clergy, boyars, clerks, nobility and merchants). At this council, the question of the war with Lithuania and Poland was decided.

Summing up the competence of Zemsky Sobors, we can state that they considered the following questions:

Elections to the kingdom;

War and Peace;

Adoption of new regulations;

Taxation.