The social structure of Wa society in the ninth century is weakly expressed. The process of formation of social groups stretched over the period of the 9th - 12th centuries.
Society is divided into the following population groups:
Free (feudal nobility - princes; boyars; clergy: higher hierarchs, parish monasticism; townspeople: merchants, artisans; free community members)
Feudally dependent (smerdy, purchases).
The Russian Truth contains a number of norms that determine the legal status of certain groups of the population. According to its text, it is difficult to distinguish between the legal status of the ruling stratum and the rest of the population. There are only two legal criteria: the rules on increased (2nd) criminal liability for the murder of a representative of a privileged stratum and the rules on a special procedure for inheriting real estate (land) for representatives of this stratum. These legal privileges extended to princes, boyars, princely husbands, princely tiuns and firemen (not all of them were feudal lords).
The structure of the feudal ruling class of the ancient Russian state:
1. Princes - former princes of tribal unions or individual tribes (soon this title belonged only to the Ruriks). The princes' income is polyudie. During this period, a grand ducal domain arose. R.P. mentions the people of the prince who live under the prince:
a) firemen (managers)
c) grooms
d) smerdy
e) serfs
All of them belonged to the prince's court
2. Boyars - descendants of the great princes. Their ancestors are tribal elders. Wealth is connected with land. They ruled cities, volosts, were part of the prince's squad (princely men). Until the 11th century they lived at the court. In the XI-XII centuries - the subsidence of the squad to the ground (the prince favors the land). The squad was divided into senior and junior. The fine for the murder of a princely husband is 80 hryvnia. In XI, they also receive land and rank in the fire.
Boyar land ownership arises as a result of the seizure of land and grants from the prince.
3. Clergy - in 988
a) higher (black, monasticism) - lived in monasteries.
b) parish spirit
Since XI, the monasteries are turning into large households. earth. Entry when making contributions.
4. Urban (posad) population: - 40 hryvnia for killing mountains. citizens. The merchant class was divided into guests (foreign or nonresident) and local. There were also artisans and day laborers.
5. Smerdy community members are legally and economically independent, they performed their duties and paid taxes only in favor of the state. They possessed certain property and could bequeath it to their children (land - only to sons). In the absence of heirs, his property passed to the community. The law protected the person and property of the smerd. For the committed acts and crimes, as well as for obligations and contracts, he was personally and property liable. He acted as a full participant in the trial. There were, moreover, not free smerds.
Community functions:
1. Economic - all community members held the land on the right of possession and use.
2. Administrative and legal organization.
3. Police-judicial organization.
If a murder was committed on the territory of the community, the community itself investigated it. The culprit and his family were indulged in flood and plunder (conf. property). The outcasts turned to the princes, by their decision they were transferred to the monasteries.
6. Procurement - in Brief ed. R.P. not mentioned, in P.P. - a person working in the household of a feudal lord for a "kupa", i.e. loan. This debt had to be worked off, moreover, there were no established equivalents and standards. The amount of work is determined by the lender. For the first time, the purchase relationship with the creditor was regulated in the Charter of Vladimir Monomakh after the purchase uprising in 1113. The law protected the person and property of the purchase. The purchase was responsible for the safety of the tools, accompanied the master on campaigns. The purchase is not subject to punishment if it goes to work in the city. Zakup could go to court with a complaint against his master and, in rare cases, act as a witness. If the purchase ran away or committed theft, he turned into a serf.
In R.P. The “role” (arable, rural) purchase, which worked on foreign land, did not differ in its legal status from the “non-role” purchase. They were paid for their work.
7. Serfs ("robes") - the most disenfranchised subjects of law. The source of slavery is birth from a serf, self-sale into bondage, marriage to a serf without concluding an agreement with the master, entering the key keeper without an agreement with the master, committing a crime (“stream and plunder”), flight of the purchase from the master, malicious bankruptcy. The most common source of servility is captivity (it is not mentioned in the R.P.).
Everything that the serf possessed was the property of the master. All the consequences arising from the contracts and obligations that the serf concluded with the knowledge of the master also fell on the master. The identity of a serf was not protected by law (for his murder - a fine; serf = property). The serf who committed the crime had to be handed over to the victim. The lord bore the penalty for the lackey. In court, a serf could not be a plaintiff, defendant or witness. Referring to the testimony of a serf in court, a free man had to make a reservation that he refers to the "words of a serf."
There was no equality within the serfs (privileged and unprivileged serfs).
©2015-2019 site
All rights belong to their authors. This site does not claim authorship, but provides free use.
Page creation date: 2016-02-16
Particular attention in the study of the Old Russian state should be paid to the characteristics of the state and social system and legal system.
State system and local government
According to the form of government, it was an early feudal monarchy. The supreme power belonged to the Grand Duke, who was the bearer of legislative, executive and judicial power. Under the prince there was a Council, consisting of the oldest squad (military nobility), the most influential palace servants and the highest clergy.
In necessary cases, feudal congresses were convened, which brought together princes and large feudal lords. The council under the prince and the feudal congresses did not have a strictly defined competence.
The veche was also preserved - the people's assembly, which met as needed and decided the most important issues: war and peace, removal of the prince, etc.). Over time, it has lost its meaning.
The central organs of state administration were built on the basis of the palace and patrimonial system, in which the administration of the state was carried out on the basis of the administrative apparatus of the princely court. In the hands of the prince's servants (butler, stable, etc.), the functions of managing any branch of the palace economy and a similar sphere in public administration were combined.
Local government was carried out by posadniks and volosts sent from the center, acting on the basis of a feeding system, i.e. their maintenance was undertaken by the population of the administered territories.
A special role in the state mechanism was played by the army, the backbone of which was the grand ducal squad. If necessary, other princes were called with their squads. In the event of a serious military danger, the people's militia gathered.
The Old Russian state did not have special judicial bodies. Judicial functions were carried out by state and local authorities. However, there were special officials who assisted in the administration of justice. Among them are, for example, virniks who collected criminal fines for murder. Virnikov, when they were on duty, was accompanied by a whole retinue of minor officials. Judicial functions were also performed by the church and individual feudal lords, who had the right to judge people dependent on them (patrimonial justice). The judicial powers of the feudal lord were an integral part of his immunity rights.
social order
The main classes of ancient Russian society were feudal lords and feudal-dependent people. The feudal lords included princes, the “best”, “oldest” men, boyars, firemen, who owned land property in the form of estates (hereditary property).
The origin of the privileged estates: from tribal nobility, military service, servants especially close to the prince (tiuns, etc.).
Feudal property was hierarchical in nature. Large feudal lords - princes were lords (suzerains), who had vassals who were in certain relations with lords, regulated by feudal treaties and special, immunity letters. The nobility received at the disposal of certain territories with the right to exercise judgment on them and collect tribute without the participation of the prince. Gradually, these territories (by the 11th-12th centuries) become the property of their owners.
After the adoption of Christianity, which played an important role in the formation of ancient Russian statehood, the privileged estates were replenished with the clergy. The church is gradually turning into a large landowner.
The feudal lords were exempt from paying taxes and taxes, had the exclusive right to own land, to occupy high government positions, participate in the adoption of laws, exercise judicial functions, participate in international negotiations, etc.
The bulk of the population of Kievan Rus were smerds. They owned plots of land, had the necessary tools. The vast majority of the population of Ancient Russia lived in a community (urban or rural). A territorial or neighboring community - a verv was a subject of law, it was responsible for crimes committed on its territory, acted as a subject in land disputes, etc. A community member could leave the community (for example, “not invest” in wild vir). During the period under review (9th-12th centuries), part of the smerds remained free (paying tribute, performing duties), but some of them already became dependent on the feudal lords (paying dues and performing corvée).
Purchases made up another group of dependent people. These are people who, due to financial difficulties, borrowed some property (kupa). The dacha of the kupa was drawn up by an agreement in the presence of witnesses. Until the return of the debt, the purchase was dependent on the owner and carried certain duties in his favor.
Particular attention must be paid to slavery and the institution of servitude. The main source of slavery was captivity. However, due to climatic conditions and other factors (a relatively high level of development of production, other conditions for the formation of statehood, etc.), slavery did not spread in Russia and was of a limited, patriarchal nature. Initially, the source of servility was also captured. Later, servile dependence begins to be regulated by the Russian Truth, which provided for the following cases of turning into serfs:
1) non-return of borrowed money;
2) as a measure of punishment;
3) registration of entry into the service of the feudal lord as a key tyun in an improper way (without witnesses);
4) self-sale into slaves;
5) entry of a free man into marriage with a serf.
The serf was deprived of all rights, he was not a subject of law, the owner was responsible for him. Serfdom was of two types - free (eternal) and temporary. Outcasts had a special status - personally free, but defenseless before society and the state category of the population: outcasts were not subject to blood feuds, they were forbidden to assist in the payment of fines.
The urban population consisted of artisans and merchants. They could unite in professional organizations (like workshops and guilds).
Russian Truth
When considering the legal system, it should be borne in mind that in the Old Russian state customary law was in force, based on the customs of the pre-state period and still retaining their features (sacred character, blood feud, etc.) and princely legislation that appeared quite early. The most complete expression of the latter was Russkaya Pravda. This legislative monument is the result of the law-making activity of Prince Yaroslav the Wise and his descendants. In science, there is an unconfirmed version of Russian Truth as a private codification. The sources of Russian Pravda were: customary law, the legislation of princes, judicial practice, Byzantine canon law.
Russkaya Pravda is a multifaceted legislative document built according to a casual system, which contained norms regulating various aspects of the social life of ancient Russian society. Russian Truth was divided into three editions: Short, Long and Abbreviated. More than a hundred lists of Russian Truth have come down to us.
It regulated civil law relations (a system of contracts, inheritance law, etc.), considered acts of a criminal law nature, and regulated procedural relations. Crime was understood as “insult”, i.e. causing physical, property or moral harm. The basis of the process was three stages: “call out” (announcement of a crime committed on the trading floor), “chase the trace” (search for a criminal or a missing thing) and “arch” (an analogue of a modern confrontation). In the process of proving, the following were used: “red-handed” (evidence), testimony of witnesses (“vidoks” and “rumors”), “company” (oath), ordeals, etc.
The system of punishments was built on the principle of a talion and included: blood feud (subsequently prohibited), a fine (vira, half-vira, double, wild or wholesale and a lesson), “stream and plunder” (there is still a controversy about the creature of this type punishment The most common point of view is the confiscation of property and the expulsion of the offender from the community.
Russkaya Pravda and other sources of ancient Russian law quite clearly distinguish between two main parts of civil law - the right to property and the law of obligations. The right of ownership arises with the establishment of feudalism and feudal ownership of land. Feudal property is formalized in the form of a princely domain (land ownership belonging to a given princely family), a boyar or monastic estate. In the Brief Edition of Russian Pravda, the inviolability of feudal land ownership is fixed. In addition to ownership of land, it also speaks of the ownership of other things - horses, draft animals, serfs, etc.
Russian Truth knows obligations from contracts and obligations from causing harm. Moreover, the latter merge with the concept of crime and are called resentment.
Old Russian law of obligations is characterized by foreclosure not only on property, but also on the person of the debtor, and sometimes even on his wife and children. The main types of contracts were contracts of exchange, sale, loan, luggage, personal hiring. Agreements were concluded orally, but in the presence of witnesses - rumors. The purchase and sale of land apparently required a written form. When selling a stolen item, the transaction was considered invalid, and the buyer had the right to demand damages.
The loan agreement is most fully regulated in Russian Pravda. In 1113, there was an uprising of the lower classes of Kiev against usurers, and Vladimir Monomakh, called by the boyars to save the situation, took measures to streamline the collection of interest on debts. The law in the form of an object of a loan names not only money, but also bread, honey. There are three types of loans: an ordinary (household) loan, a loan made between merchants (with simplified formalities), and a loan with self-mortgage - purchasing. There are different types of interest depending on the term of the loan. Interest collection period is limited to two years. If the debtor paid interest within three years, then he had the right not to return the amount owed to the creditor. The short-term loan entailed the highest interest rate.
Marriage and family legislation developed in Ancient Russia in accordance with canonical rules. Initially, there were customs associated with a pagan cult. One of the forms of individual marriage in the pagan era was the kidnapping of the bride (including imaginary), the other was the purchase. Polygamy was quite widespread. With the introduction of Christianity, new principles of family law are established - monogamy, the difficulty of divorce, the lack of rights for illegitimate children, cruel punishments for extramarital affairs.
According to the Church Charter of Yaroslav, a monogamous family becomes an object of protection from the church. Members of such a family, primarily the wife, enjoy her full patronage. Marriage was necessarily preceded by betrothal, which was considered indissoluble
In addition to the Russian Truth, public relations in the Old Russian state were regulated by a number of regulatory documents. These are, first of all, princely statutes and statutory charters. Charters fixed for a long time the relationship between the state and church authorities. For example, the Charter of Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavovich on tithes, courts and church people (defining the jurisdiction of the church - intra-family relations, witchcraft), the Charter of Prince Yaroslav Vladimirovich on church courts (regulation of family and marriage relations, as well as prosecution for crimes related to violation of the norms of family and marriage law, sexual crimes and crimes against the Church).
Treaties between Russia and Byzantium in 907, 911, 944 and 971 constituted a separate category of legal documents. These are the first written contracts that have come down to our time. They regulated trade relations between Russian merchants and Byzantium, determined the procedure for resolving civil legal disputes, the procedure for prosecuting the guilty and the types of punishments for criminal offenses.
test questions
1. List the prerequisites for the formation of the state among the Eastern Slavs.
2. What are the features of the formation of the Old Russian state?
3. Why did the Old Russian state pass the slaveholding phase of development? What factors contributed to this?
4. Why did two centers of Slavic statehood actually develop with different forms of government: the early feudal monarchy in Kyiv and the feudal republic in Novgorod?
5. Features of the organization of state power in the Old Russian state.
6. What is the palace and patrimonial management system?
7. How was local government carried out in Kievan Rus?
8. The social structure of the Old Russian state and its features.
9. The main features of the institution of servility in Ancient Russia.
10. List the main sources of ancient Russian law. What is the meaning of Russian Truth?
11. Legal regulation of procedural relations in Kievan Rus.
12. Describe the criminal law according to Russian Truth.
13. What are the features of the legal regulation of marriage, family and inheritance relations in Russia in the X-XII centuries?
14. How did the Eastern Slavs live in the 7th-8th centuries. (settlement, nature of economic activity, beliefs, tribal organization, social stratification, tribal associations, relationships with neighboring peoples)?
15. Why did the Eastern Slavs pass the slaveholding stage of development? What prevented slavery from becoming the basis of their economic activity?
16. Under the influence of what factors did the process of political consolidation of the East Slavic tribes take place? What were the reasons for the emergence of statehood among the Eastern Slavs?
17. What role did the baptism of Russia play in the formation and strengthening of national statehood?
18. What does the "Tale of Bygone Years" say about the calling of the Varangians to the Russian land? How do supporters of the "Norman theory" of the origin of the Old Russian state interpret chronicle information? What is the scientific inconsistency of this theory?
19. How did the social system of the Old Russian state look like? What was the legal status of the main categories of its population? Why is ancient Russian society considered early feudal?
20. What elements did the state system of Kievan Rus consist of? What is the palace and patrimonial system of government?
21. What are the reasons for the loss of state unity by Russia? Can the collapse of the Old Russian state and the ensuing political disunity of the Russian lands be considered a natural stage in the development of Russian statehood?
22. What sources of law played a decisive role in the formation of the legal system of the Old Russian state? What caused the development of the grand-ducal legislation?
23. What is the origin of Russian Truth? What editions does it include? What is the technical and legal level of this legal monument? What influence did he have on the subsequent development of domestic law, what is its general historical significance?
24. What characteristics can be given to the law of obligations, inheritance and family and marriage law, based on the legal provisions of Russian Truth?
25. What did the system of crimes and punishments look like in Russkaya Pravda?
26. What features did the trial in the Old Russian state have? What types of evidence did Russkaya Pravda provide for?
Literature
1. Reader on the history of the state and law of the USSR. - M., 1990.
2. Russian legislation of the X-XX centuries. / ed. O.I. Chistyakov. T. 1. - M., 1984.
3. Vladimirsky-Budanov M.F. Review of the history of Russian law. - Rostov-on-Don, 1995.
4. Isaev I.A. History of the state and law of Russia: textbook. allowance. - M., 2004.
5. History of the state and law of Russia / ed. Yu.P. Titov. - M., 2004.
6. History of the domestic state and law / ed. O.I. Chistyakov. - M., 2004.
7. Kudinov O.A. History of domestic state and law. - M., 2005.
8. Rogov V.A. History of the state and law of Russia. - M., 1995.
9. Rybakov B.A. Kievan Rus and Russian principalities of the XII-XIII centuries. - M., 1982.
10. Yushkov S.V. Metropolitan justice. - M., 1989.
Tasks
Task number 1
In the historical and legal literature, the following forms of the emergence of the state are distinguished:
1) Athenian - classical (social division of labor and the growth of its productivity, the emergence of the family, private property, the split of society into opposing classes, the emergence of the state in the form of policies);
2) Roman (the reasons listed in the previous paragraph and the struggle of the plebeians against the patricians);
3) ancient Germanic (emergence of the state as a result of violence);
4) Asian (geographical conditions, the creation of irrigation facilities, the creation of a superstructure for construction management - the state apparatus).
In your opinion, which of the forms is acceptable for explaining the emergence of the state in Kievan Rus? Is it possible, using the example of the formation of Kievan Rus, to speak of any one form of the emergence of the state among the ancient Slavs?
Task number 2
During the reign of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, two criminal cases took place. The essence of the first was that, protecting his family and property, boyar K. killed a thief who entered the house. In the second case, during a fight between two smerds, one killed the other.
Explain what should be guided by, and what decisions the princely court should make in these cases.
Task number 3
The boyar serf T. started a fight with a resident of the settlement, blacksmith K. on the street, as a result of which he beat the blacksmith himself and the merchant P., who tried to separate them. He managed to escape from his pursuers in the house of his master. The victims appealed to the princely court.
What decision should the prince make, given that the events took place in the 11th century? Can a serf be the subject of a crime?
Task number 4
Resolve the dispute that arose between two residents of the settlement - the shoemaker A. and the potter V., taking into account the fact that it took place at the beginning of the 12th century. The initiator of the trial was the shoemaker A., who asked to punish the potter V. for beating him in a fight. According to eyewitnesses of the incident, the fight was provoked by the shoemaker A.
What decision will the prince make? Would the fact that the fight was provoked by a potter affect the decision?
Task number 5
During the trial of the murder of the merchant L., the prince, in order to clarify all the circumstances and punish the culprit, combatant P., interviewed three people who, in his opinion, could help recreate the full picture of what happened. Two of them said that they were present at the fight, the third was not personally at the fight, but assured that he knew everything from the words of the wife and son of the murdered man. The last story seemed to the prince the most convincing.
Could the prince be guided in making a decision by the testimony of a person who did not see the actual event of the crime, given that the crime took place in 1097?
Task number 6
Resolve the situation that arose at the beginning of the XII century. During the bargaining in the bazaar, a quarrel arose between the Varangian merchant and the princely combatant V., which escalated into a fight. A Varangian merchant was injured in the fight: he was beaten, his goods were partially destroyed. He demanded that the prince condemn the guilty combatant.
What decision was made by the princely court? Will the fact that the victim was a foreigner affect the outcome of the case?
Task number 7
During a quarrel, smerd K. killed the boyar serf E. Since the murder took place at a fair with a large crowd of people, smerd K. was immediately taken to the princely court for trial.
What decision did the prince make in accordance with the legislation in force at that time? How would the decision change if it was not a serf who was killed, but a smerd?
Task number 8
At the princely court, a case was heard about the theft of goods from merchant R. by merchant I. The testimonies of the victim and the accused were confused. It was not clear what kind of goods were stolen, where this goods were stored, why the suspicions fell on the merchant I. Both parties swore on the Bible, promising to tell the truth. However, the situation has not been clarified. The prince postponed the decision of this case for the next day, so that the parties could bring more solid evidence of their positions.
What evidence could be used in the trial of the 11th-12th centuries if a similar situation took place in Kievan Rus?
Tests
1. The reasons for the formation of the Old Russian state are:
a) increase in labor productivity, geographical location and climatic conditions, ethnic and religious community of Slavic tribes;
b) the conquest by the Slavic tribes of other peoples inhabiting the territory of the future Old Russian state;
c) the conclusion of an agreement on the creation of the state by the elders of the Slavic tribes.
2. The Norman theory of the origin of the state among the Slavs was refuted:
a) O.I. Klyuchevsky;
b) M.V. Lomonosov;
c) O.I. Chistyakov.
3. According to the Norman theory of the origin of statehood among the Slavs:
a) the Slavic tribes were invited as a ruler - the Varangian prince with his retinue;
b) the state of the Slavs arose as a result of the Mongol-Tatar conquest;
c) the state arose as a result of the conquest of the Slavic tribes by the Pechenegs.
4. The early feudal monarchy in the Old Russian state is characterized by the presence of a prince under the head of state:
a) Boyar Duma;
b) feudal congresses and people's councils;
c) Zemsky Sobor.
5. Form of government - feudal republic, took place:
a) in Novgorod;
b) in Kyiv;
c) in the Rostov-Suzdal land.
6. The feeding system as a way of maintaining local governments consisted of:
a) in the receipt by the governors of salaries from the princely treasury;
b) in leaving the governors to themselves part of the duties and tribute collected for the prince;
c) the need for the governors to engage in handicrafts or to cultivate the land for the maintenance of themselves and their apparatus.
7. Feudal lords in Kievan Rus were represented by:
a) princes, "best", "oldest" men, boyars, firemen, church;
b) princes, boyars and the church;
c) "best" and "oldest" husbands, firemen.
8. Slaves in Ancient Russia had the status:
b) serfs;
c) free people.
9. Smerdy is:
a) the entire free population of Kievan Rus;
b) free peasants;
c) urban population engaged in petty trade and handicrafts.
10. The sources of Russian Truth were:
a) customary law, the legislation of princes, judicial practice, Byzantine canon law;
b) customary law and religious norms;
c) judicial practice.
11. Russian Truth understood crime as:
a) injury or harm caused to one or more people;
b) a socially dangerous act infringing on the interests protected by the state;
c) property damage caused to a certain person.
12. Criminal liability in Russian Pravda is represented by:
a) mainly property punishments;
b) self-harmful punishments and the death penalty;
c) imprisonment and hard labor.
13. Litigation on Russian Pravda:
a) was of an accusatory and adversarial nature;
b) was wanted;
c) was competitive.
14. The stages of the trial under Russkaya Pravda were:
a) call, arch, persecution of the trace;
b) to cry out, persecution of the trace, flood and plunder;
c) set and call.
15. Witness testimony according to Russkaya Pravda was:
a) testimony of video records and rumors;
b) testimonies of eyewitnesses of the crime;
c) testimonies of persons who own land allotments, who can provide any information about the crime.
16. Three editions of Russian Pravda are:
a) three parts regulating homogeneous social relations;
b) three parts regulating the legal status of various classes;
c) editions of Russian Pravda with changes and additions made in certain historical periods.
17. In what century was a single Old Russian state based in Kyiv founded on the territory of the Eastern Slavs?
a) In the eleventh century. b) In the ninth century. c) in the tenth century.
18. In what year was the first treaty between the Kievan state and Byzantium concluded?
a) In 907. b) In 862. c) In 911.
19. Which of the three editions of Russian Truth is the most ancient?
a) Abbreviated Truth. b) Brief Truth. c) Extensive Truth.
20. One of the types of punishments in Russian Pravda was golovnichestvo. Headache is:
a) monetary recovery in favor of the family of the murdered
b) a fine for the murder of persons belonging to the lower strata of society.
c) confiscation of the criminal's property.
21. For the murder of "princely husbands" according to Russian Pravda, a fine was established in the amount of:
a) 40 hryvnia b) 80 hryvnia c) 20 hryvnia.
22. Capital punishment according to Russian Truth.
a) the death penalty.
b) hard labor.
c) life imprisonment.
d) confiscation of property and extradition of the criminal (together with his family) to
23. Which Kyiv prince lowered usurious interest?
a) Svyatopolk.
b) Ivan Kalita.
c) Vladimir Monomakh.
d) Saint Vladimir.
24. What was the name of the oldest code of Russian law, the text of which is before us
did not come?
a) Russian Law
b) Yaroslav's truth.
c) The truth of the Yaroslavichs.
d) Cathedral Code.
25. The most powerless subject according to Russian Truth.
a) a purchase, b) a serf, c) an employee, d) a ryadovich.
26. When was the Old Russian state formed with its capital in Kyiv?
a) in the 6th century, b) in the 10th century, c) in the 10th century.
27. Which of the ancient customs is completely preserved by Russkaya Pravda?
a) mutual responsibility.
b) kidnapping of brides.
c) polygamy.
d) blood feud.
28. When was Pravda Yaroslav published?
a) Before 1054 b) In 882 c) In X century d) B 1113
29. Name the supporters of the Norman theory.
a) M.B. Lomonosov, G.F. Derzhavin.
b) Bayer, Schlozer.
c) M.N. Pokrovsky, N.A. Ryzhkov.
d) B.D. Grekov, B.A. Rybakov.
30. Which of the Russian princes abolished the death penalty?
a) Alexander Nevsky.
b) Yaroslav and Yaroslavichi.
c) Vladimir I,
31. Name the second edition of Russian Truth .
a) The truth of the Yaroslavichs.
b) Abbreviated Truth.
c) Extensive Truth.
d) The charter of Vladimir Monomakh.
32. What document first defined ecclesiastical jurisdiction?
a) Pilot book.
b) The charter of Vladimir Svyatoslavovich.
c) Yaroslav's charter.
d) Domostroy.
33. Name the oldest monument of Russian law, the text of which
has science?
a) The truth of Yaroslav.
b) Russian law.
c) The charter of Vladimir Monomakh.
d) Oleg's treaty with the Greeks in 911.
Appendix
The concept of "social system" includes: the economic development of the country, the class structure of society, the legal status of classes and social groups of the population.
Historical, written and archaeological sources testify that in the economic life the main occupation of the Eastern Slavs was dominated by agriculture. Both slash (in forest areas) and arable (fallow) agriculture developed.
In the X-XII centuries. there is a significant growth of cities with a handicraft and trade population. In the XII century in Russia there were already about 200 cities.
In the ancient Russian state, princely, boyar, church and monastic land ownership was developed, a significant part of the community members became dependent on the owner of the land. Feudal relations are gradually formed.
The formation of feudal relations in Kievan Rus proceeded unevenly. In Kiev, Chernihiv, Galician lands, this process was faster than among the Vyatichi and Dregovichi.
The feudal social system in Russia was established in the 9th century. As a result of the social differentiation of the population, the social structure of society was formed. According to their position in society, they can be called classes or social groups.
These include:
* feudal lords (princes great and appanage, boyars, church and monasteries);
* free community members (rural and urban "people" and "people");
* smerds (communal peasants);
* purchases (a person who has fallen into debt bondage and works out "kupa");
* outcasts (a person who left the community or freed himself from slavery by ransom);
* servants and serfs (court slaves);
* urban population (urban aristocracy and urban lower classes);
The ruling class of feudal lords was formed in the 9th century. These included grand dukes, local princes, boyars. The state and personal reign was not divided, therefore the princely domain was an estate belonging not to the state, but to the prince as a feudal lord.
Along with the grand ducal domain, there was also boyar-druzhina agriculture.
The form of princely agriculture was the estate, i.e. a form of ownership in which land was inherited.
The appearance in the Long Edition of Russkaya Pravda, dating back to the end of the 11th-beginning of the 12th centuries, of articles mentioning boyar tiuns, boyar ryadovichi, boyar serfs and boyar inheritance allows us to conclude that boyar land ownership was also established by this time.
For a long time, a group of feudal boyars was formed from the richer combatants of the prince and from the tribal nobility. The form of their land tenure was:
1. fiefdom;
2. holding (estate).
Estates were acquired through the seizure of communal lands or by grants and were inherited. The boyars received the holding only by grant (for the duration of the boyar's service or until his death). Any land ownership of the boyars was associated with the service to the prince, which was considered voluntary. The transfer of a boyar from one prince to the service of another was not regarded as treason.
The feudal lords should include both the church and the monasteries, which, after the adoption of Christianity in Russia, gradually became large landowners.
Free community members made up the bulk of the population of Kievan Rus. The term "people" in Russkaya Pravda refers to free, predominantly communal peasants and the urban population. Judging by the fact that in Russkaya Pravda (Article 3) "people" were opposed to "prince-husband", he retained his personal freedom.
Free community members were subjected to state exploitation, paying tribute, the method of collection of which was polyudie. The princes gradually transferred the right to collect tribute to their vassals, and free community members gradually became dependent on the feudal lord.
Smerds made up the bulk of the population of the Old Russian state. These were communal peasants. Smerd was personally free, his personal integrity was protected by the prince's word (Art. 78 paragraphs). The prince could give land to the stink if he worked for him. Smerds had tools of production, horses, property, land, conducted a public economy, lived in communities.
Part of the communal peasants went bankrupt, turned into "thin smerds", turned to the feudal lords and the rich for a loan. This category was called "purchases". The main source characterizing the position of "purchase" are Art. 56-64, 66 Russian Pravda, lengthy edition.
Thus, "purchases" are peasants (sometimes also representatives of the urban population), who temporarily lost their freedom for using a loan, "kupa", taken from the feudal lord. He was actually in the position of a serf, his freedom was limited. He could not leave the courtyard without the permission of the master. For trying to escape, he turned into a slave.
"Outcasts" were free and dependent. These were:
* former purchases;
* serfs redeemed at will;
* people from the free strata of society.
They were not free until they entered the service of the owner. The life of an outcast is protected by the Russian Truth with a fine of 40 hryvnia.
At the lowest rung of the social ladder were serfs and servants. They were not subjects of law, but the owner was responsible for them. Thus, they were the owners of the feudal lord. If he committed theft, then the master paid. In the case of beatings by a serf, he could kill him "in the dog's place", i.e. like a dog. If a slave took refuge with his master, then the latter could protect him by paying 12 hryvnias, or hand him over for reprisal.
The law forbade sheltering runaway serfs.
Political system
Let us briefly consider the political system of the Old Russian state.
The concept of government includes:
* questions of the structure of the state;
* political form of government;
* structure and competence of central and local authorities and administration;
* military device;
* the judicial system of the state.
The formation of the ancient Russian state continued until the first third of the 12th century. It was an integral state based on the principle of suzerainty-vassalage. According to the form of government, the ancient Russian state was an early feudal monarchy with a fairly strong monarchical power.
The main characteristics of the ancient Russian early feudal monarchy can be considered:
* economic and political influence of the boyars on the central and local authorities;
* the great role of the council under the prince, the dominance of large feudal lords in it;
* the presence of a palace-patrimonial system of government in the center;
* the presence of a feeding system on the ground.
It arose at a time when there were no prerequisites for the formation of a centralized state, with poorly developed trade and crafts, and the absence of strong economic ties between individual regions. The feudal lords needed a strong central authority to cover or support the seizure of communal and new lands.
The support of the Grand Duke by the feudal lords contributed to the rapid spread of his power over the vast territory of Russia.
Kievan Rus was not a centralized state. It was a conglomerate of feudal estates-principalities. The Kyiv prince was considered a suzerain or "elder". He gave land (flax) to the feudal lords, provided them with assistance and protection. The feudal lords had to serve the Grand Duke for this. In case of violation of fidelity, the vassal was deprived of his possessions.
The supreme authorities in the Old Russian state were the Grand Duke, the council under the prince, feudal congresses, veche.
The power functions of the Grand Duke of Kiev during the reign of Oleg (882-912), Igor (912-945) and regent Olga under Svyatoslav (945-964) were relatively simple and consisted of:
* organization of squads and military militias and their command;
* protection of state borders;
* the implementation of campaigns to new lands, the capture of prisoners and the collection of tribute from them;
* maintaining normal foreign policy relations with the nomadic tribes of the south, the Byzantine Empire, the countries of the East.
Initially, the Kiev princes ruled only the Kiev land. During the conquest of new lands, the Kyiv prince in the tribal centers left a thousand led by a thousand, a hundred led by a sot, smaller garrisons led by a tenth, which served as the city administration.
At the end of the 10th century, the functions of the power of the Grand Duke undergo changes. The feudal nature of the power of the prince began to manifest itself more clearly.
The prince becomes the organizer and commander of the armed forces (the multi-tribal composition of the armed forces complicates this task):
* takes care of the construction of fortifications along the external border of the state, the construction of roads;
* establishes external relations in order to ensure the security of borders;
* carries out legal proceedings;
* Carries out the approval of the Christian religion and financially provides for the clergy.
(During this period, popular unrest begins. In 1068, Izyaslav brutally suppressed a popular uprising, and in 1113, frightened by a new unrest, the boyars and bishops summoned Vladimir Monomakh to Kyiv with a strong squad, who suppressed the uprising).
The princely power was exercised locally by posadniks, volostels and tiuns. By issuing laws, the prince consolidated new forms of feudal exploitation and established legal norms.
Thus, the prince becomes a typical monarch. The Grand Duke's throne was first inherited according to the principle of "seniority" (to the elder brother), and then according to the principle of "fatherland" (to the eldest son).
The council under the prince did not have separate functions from the prince. It consisted of the city elite ("the elders of the city"), large boyars, influential palace servants. With the adoption of Christianity (988), representatives of the higher clergy entered the Council. It was an advisory body under the prince to resolve the most important state issues: declaring war, concluding peace, alliances, issuing laws, financial issues, and court cases. The central governing bodies were officials of the princely court.
It should be noted that with the improvement of the system of feudalism, the decimal (thousands, centurions, and tenths) system is gradually being replaced by the palace and patrimonial system. Separations between the organs of state administration and the management of the personal affairs of the prince disappear. The general term tiun is specified: "fireman" is called "fiery tiun", "senior groom" - "tiun stableman", "village and military headman" - "rural and military tiun", etc.
With the complication of the tasks of public administration, the role of these positions has strengthened, the functions have become more precise, for example: "voivode" - head of the armed forces; "tiun equestrian" - responsible for providing the prince's army with horses; "butler-fireman" - the manager of the princely court and performing certain state tasks; "stolnik" - food supplier.
Feudal congresses (snems) were convened by the grand dukes to resolve the most important issues of foreign and domestic policy. They could be nationwide or several principalities. The composition of the participants was basically the same as the Council under the prince, but the specific princes were also convened for feudal congresses.
The functions of the congress were:
* adoption of new laws;
* distribution of lands (fiefs);
* solution of issues of war and peace;
* protection of borders and trade routes.
The Lyubechsky congress of 1097 is known, which, having in mind the unification of efforts in the fight against external enemies, "the organization of the world" recognized the independence of the specific princes ("let each one keep his fatherland"), at the same time called for observing Russia by all for "one". Snem in 1100 in Uvetichi was engaged in the distribution of fiefs.
Veche was convened by the prince or the feudal elite. All adult residents of the city and non-citizens participated in it. The decisive role here was played by the boyars and the urban elite "the elders of the city." Serfs and people subordinate to the householder were not allowed at the meeting.
It is known that the decision to kill Prince Igor for abuse of collecting tribute was made by the Drevlyans at their meeting.
In 970, the Novgorod Veche invited Vladimir Svyatoslavovich to reign.
The following questions were decided at the meeting:
Convocation and recruitment of the people's militia and the choice of leader;
A protest was expressed against the policies of the prince.
The executive body of the veche was the Council, which actually replaced the veche. The veche disappeared as feudalism developed. Preserved only in Novgorod and Moscow.
Local governments were initially local princes, who were later replaced by the sons of the Kiev prince. In some less important cities, posadnik-governors were appointed, thousands of the Kiev prince from his entourage.
The local administration was maintained at the expense of part of the extortions from the population. Therefore, the posadnik and volosteli were called "feeders", and the management system was called the "feeding" system.
The power of the prince and his administration extended to the townspeople and the population of lands that were not captured by the feudal lords. The feudal lords also received immunity - the legal registration of power in the possessions. In the immunity (defensive) charter, the land granted to the feudal lord and the rights to the population, which were obliged to be subordinate, were determined.
In the Old Russian state, the court was not separated from the administrative power. The supreme court was the Grand Duke. He judged combatants and boyars, considered complaints against local judges. The prince conducted the analysis of complex cases at a council or veche. Individual cases could be entrusted to a boyar or a tyun.
In the localities, the court was carried out by the posadnik and volosteli.
In addition, there were patrimonial courts - the courts of landowners over the dependent population, on the basis of immunity.
In the communities there was a communal court, which, with the development of feudalism, was replaced by the court of administration.
The functions of the church court were carried out by bishops, archbishops, metropolitans.
3. Development of Old Russian feudal law
In the Old Russian state, the source of law, as in many early feudal states, is a legal custom inherited from the primitive communal system. The "Tale of Bygone Years" notes that the tribes had "their customs and the laws of their fathers." The source refers to the norms of customary law, and the concepts are used as synonyms.
With the development of feudalism and the aggravation of class contradictions, customary law loses its significance. During the time of Vladimir Svyatoslavovich (978/980-1015), legislation expressing the interests of feudal lords, affirming feudal principles and the influence of the church, was becoming increasingly important.
The first legal document that has come down to us was the charter of Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavovich "On tithes, courts and church people." The charter was created at the turn of the X-XI centuries. in the form of a short statutory charter, which was given to the Church of the Holy Mother of God. The original has not come down to us. Only lists compiled in the 12th century are known. (Synodal and Olenets editions).
The charter acts as an agreement between the prince (Vladimir Svyatoslavovich) and the metropolitan (presumably Lyon). According to the charter, initially - the prince:
a) the patron of the church (protects the church and provides it financially);
b) does not interfere in the affairs of the church;
Tithing is determined for the existence of the church. According to the charter, the prince owes 1/10 of the funds received from:
court cases;
In the form of tribute from other tribes; give to the church
From trade.
Like a prince, each house had to give 1/10 of the offspring, income from trade, the harvest also to the church.
The statutory charter was drawn up under the strong influence of the Byzantine church, as evidenced by the content of the articles in terms of determining the corpus delicti.
The purpose of the charter is the approval of the Christian church in the Old Russian state. The provision of Vladimir's charter "On tithes, courts and church people" is aimed at:
* preservation of the family and marriage, assertion of the inviolability of family ties;
* protection of the church, church symbols and Christian church order;
* struggle against pagan rites.
The collections of Byzantine ecclesiastical law (nomocanons) that were widespread in the Old Russian state were of great importance. Subsequently, on their basis, with the involvement of norms from Russian and Bulgarian sources in Russia, "helmsman" (guiding) books were compiled as sources of church law.
Thus, after the adoption of Christianity (988), the church acts as an element of the state.
In the ninth century gains development and secular law. Collections of law appear, containing legal material accumulated by the princely and communal courts. More than 110 such collections have come down to us in various lists. These collections were called "Russian Truth" or "Russian Law". By Russian historians, they are united by similarity among themselves in 3 editions:
1. Brief truth (KP).
2. Long Truth (PP).
3. Abbreviated Truth (SP).
Some lists are named after their location:
* Synodal - kept in the library of the Synod;
* Trinity - was kept in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra;
* Academic - kept in the library of the Academy of Sciences.
The short truth is divided into 2 parts:
1. The most ancient truth (see vv. 1-18) - compiled in the 30s. 11th century
Yaroslav the Wise (1019-1054), therefore known as the Truth of Yaroslav. It contains norms of customary law (for example, blood feud), the privilege of feudal lords is not sufficiently expressed (the same punishment is established for the murder of any person).
2. Truth of the Yaroslavichs (see Art. 19-43), compiled in the 70s. XI century, when the son of Yaroslav Izyaslav reigned in Kyiv (1054-1072). The truth of the Yaroslavichs reflects a higher level of development of the feudal state: the princely property and administration are protected; instead of blood feud, a monetary penalty is established, and it is different, depending on the class position.
The lengthy truth was compiled during the reign of Vladimir Monomakh (1113-1125). It consists of 2 main parts:
1. The charter of Yaroslav, including a brief truth (see Art. 1-52) "Court Yaroslavl Volodemerech".
2. Charter of Vladimir Monomakh (see Art. 53-121) "Charter of Volodemer Vsevolodovich".
In this document:
* the feudal right as a privilege is fully formalized;
* civil law, criminal law, judicial system and legal proceedings are regulated in more detail;
* articles appear on the protection of the boyar estates, on the relationship between feudal lords and purchasers, and on smerds.
The abbreviated truth arose in the 15th century. from the Long Truth and acted in the Muscovite state.
In addition to the Russian Truth, the sources of secular law in Russia are the Russian-Byzantine treaties, which contain not only the norms of international law, but also the norms regulating internal life. 4 treaties of Russia with Byzantium are known: 907, 911, 944 and 971. The treaties testify to the high international prestige of the Old Russian state. Much attention is paid to the regulation of trade relations.
The main source of ancient Russian feudal law is Russkaya Pravda. The main part of it is devoted to criminal and procedural law, however, there are articles containing civil law norms, especially obligations and inheritance.
Let us briefly consider the content of Russkaya Pravda according to the scheme:
* property rights;
* liability law;
* inheritance law;
* procedural law;
* Crime and Punishment.
In Brief Truth there is no general term for the right of ownership, because the content of this right was different depending on who was the subject and what was meant by the object of the property right. At the same time, a line was drawn between the right of ownership and the right of possession (see Articles 13-14 of the CP).
In "Russkaya Pravda" considerable attention is paid to the protection of the private property of the feudal lords. Strict liability is provided for damage to boundary marks, plowing the boundary, for arson, cutting down a side tree. Of property crimes, much attention is paid to theft ("tatba"), i.e. secret theft of things.
In the Long Truth, the right of ownership of feudal serfs is fixed, including the procedure for finding, detaining, returning a runaway serf, and responsibility for harboring a serf is established. The one who gave the serf bread (equally for harboring) had to pay the price of the serf - 5 hryvnias of silver (serfs cost from 5 to 12 hryvnias). The one who caught the serf received a reward - 1 hryvnia, but if he missed it, he paid the price of the serf minus 1 hryvnia (see Art. 113, 114).
In connection with the development of private property, inheritance law is being formed and developed. In the norms of inheritance law, the desire of the legislator to preserve property in this family is clearly visible. With its help, the wealth accumulated by many generations of owners remained in the hands of one and the same class.
By law, only sons could inherit. The father's court without division passed to the youngest son. (Art. 100 PP). Daughters were deprived of the right to inherit, tk. when they got married, they could take property outside their clan. This custom existed among all peoples during the transitional period from the primitive communal system to a class society. It was also reflected in Russian Truth.
With the strengthening of princely power, the provision was fixed: “If a smerd dies childless, then the prince inherits, if unmarried daughters remain in the house, then allocate a certain part for them, if he is married, then do not give them a part” (Article 90 of the PP).
An exception was made for the daughters of boyars and warriors (later also clergy), artisans and community members, their inheritance in the absence of sons could pass to daughters (Article 91 of the PP). Children, adopted by a slave, did not participate in the inheritance, but received freedom along with their mother (Article 98 of the PP).
Until the age of majority of the heirs, their mother disposed of the inheritance property. If a widowed mother got married, she received part of the property "for a living". In this case, a guardian from the next of kin was appointed. The property was transferred in the presence of witnesses. If the guardian lost part of the property, he had to compensate.
There was a difference between inheritance by law and by will. The father could divide the property between his sons as he saw fit, but he could not bequeath it to his daughters.
The dominance of private property led to the emergence of the law of obligations. It was relatively underdeveloped. Obligations arose not only from contracts, but also from causing harm: damage to the fence, illegal riding of someone else's horse, damage to clothing or weapons, death of the master's horse through the fault of the purchase, etc. In these cases, there was not a civil claim (compensation), but a fine. Obligations extended not only to the property of the debtor, but also to his person.
According to Russkaya Pravda, a conscientious bankrupt (merchant) was not sold into slavery, but received an installment plan from the creditor. A malicious bankrupt was sold with all his property into slavery.
The "Russkaya Pravda" also reflected the obligation from the treaties. Agreements, as a rule, were concluded orally in the presence of rumors or mytnik (witnesses). In Russkaya Pravda, contracts were known: purchase and sale, loan, luggage (a loan agreement between merchants), personal hiring, purchasing.
Criminal law in the Old Russian state was formed as a right-privilege, but shades of an earlier period have been preserved. It is reflected in Russian-Byzantine treaties and Russkaya Pravda.
A feature of "Russian Truth" is that it punishes only for intentional crimes or causing harm. (Crimes committed through negligence were reflected only in the 17th century in the "Cathedral Code"). In "Russkaya Pravda" the crime is called "insult", which refers to the infliction of moral, material or physical damage. This followed from the understanding of "offense" in antiquity, when inflicting offense on an individual meant insulting a tribe, community or clan. But with the formation of feudalism, compensation for damage for a crime (offense) did not go in favor of society, but of the prince.
Only free people were responsible. The owner was responsible for the serfs. "If the thieves are serfs ... whom the prince does not punish by sale, because they are not free people, then for the serf theft to pay double fixed prices and compensation for losses" (Article 46).
The types of crimes provided for by Russkaya Pravda can be divided into:
a) crimes against the person;
b) crimes against property or property crimes;
The first group includes murder, assault, bodily harm, beatings.
There was a difference between murder in a quarrel (fight) or in a state of intoxication (at a feast) and murder by robbery, i.e. premeditated murder. In the first case, the perpetrator paid a criminal fine together with the community, and in the second case, the community not only did not pay the fine, but was obliged to extradite the murderer, together with his wife and children, to "stream and ruin."
Insult by action, physical insult (a blow with a stick, a pole, a hand, a sword, etc.) was punished by the "Russian Truth", and an insult by a word was considered by the church.
Bodily injuries included a wound to the arm (“so that the arm falls off and dries out”), damage to the leg (“it starts to limp”), an eye, nose, and cutting off the fingers of the hand. Beatings included beating a person to the point of blood and bruises.
The crimes against honor included pulling out mustaches and beards, for which a large fine (12 hryvnias of silver) was collected.
The second group includes crimes: robbery, theft (tatba), destruction of other people's property, damage to boundary marks, etc.
Robbery associated with murder was punished with "flood and ruin". According to Russkaya Pravda, theft is considered to be the abduction of a horse, a serf, weapons, clothes, livestock, hay, firewood, a boat, etc. For the theft of a horse, a "horse thief" was supposed to issue a professional horse thief to the prince for "flow and ruin" (Article 35).
For a simple (one-time) theft of a princely horse, a penalty of 3 hryvnia was supposed to be recovered, a smerd - 2 hryvnia (Article 45). A thief could be killed on the spot (v. 40). But if he was tied up, then killed, then 12 hryvnias were collected.
Punishment according to Russkaya Pravda provided, first of all, compensation for damages. Yaroslav's Pravda provided for blood feud on the part of the victim's relatives (Article 1). Yaroslavichi canceled the blood feud.
Instead of revenge for the murder of a free man, a vira was established - a monetary penalty in the amount of 40 hryvnias. For the murder of the "princely husband" compensation was established in the amount of double vira - 80 hryvnias. For the murder of a smerd or a serf, not a vira was collected, but a fine (lesson) in the amount of 5 hryvnias.
Among the monetary penalties for murder - vira in favor of the prince and golovnichestvo (usually vira) in favor of the family of the murdered, for other crimes - sale in favor of the prince and a lesson in favor of the victim. "Wild Vira" was exacted from the community in case of refusal to extradite the criminal.
The highest penalty according to Russian truth is white stream and ruin - conversion (sale) into slavery and confiscation of property in favor of the prince. This punishment was applied for 4 types of crime: horse theft, arson, robbery and malicious bankruptcy.
The proceedings were adversarial. The main role in the court belonged to the parties. The process was a lawsuit (dispute) of the parties before the judge. The court acted as an arbitrator and made a decision orally. Peculiar forms of this process were "shout", "arch" and "persecution of the trace".
The evidence was the testimony of rumors, vidakov, ordeals, court fights, an oath.
In terms of features legal status of the population and its individual strata, there are many disagreements regarding the place and role of various social groups in society and the system of relationships between them, but there are also fairly clear positions. So, the distinction according to the degree of freedom is obvious: the entire population was divided into free (boyars, representatives of the clergy and merchants, communal farmers, artisans, etc.), dependent (serfs) and semi-dependent (zakupy, ryadovichi) people.
There is no doubt the increasing stratification of society and the separation of the ruling stratum, which is grouped mainly within the framework of the princely squads. There are differences in the question of the evolution of its composition. If some emphasize the ethnically non-Slavic (as a rule, Scandinavian) origins of the retinue layer, which is only gradually replenished by representatives of the Slavic tribal elite (I. D. Belyaev), then others see the process of formation of the nobility as a result of the internal decomposition of Slavic collectives, with an insignificant share of a foreign element (S V. Yushkov).
An analysis of the composition of this already fully formed stratum of the elite is to some extent hampered by the insufficient completeness of the decay processes and the certain complexity of distinguishing between the ruling stratum and the rest of the population. First of all, this boyars and princely men- companions. The privileged status of this group consisted in the right to participate in meetings with the princes, to receive various government positions from them, as a rule, with the transfer of certain territories or part of the tribute received by the prince, to be present at princely feasts, to provide weapons, etc. In legal terms, this was expressed in increased (usually double) criminal liability for the murder of representatives of this group (Article 1 of the Long Pravda) and a special procedure for inheriting land (Article 91 of the Long Pravda).
From the end of the X century. another privileged group begins to form - clergy. The policy of supporting the Church by the state and the gradual strengthening of her position in Russia created the basis for the concentration in her hands of very significant wealth and the opportunity to participate in political activities. This was especially evident in the Novgorod land, where the archbishop ("Vladyka") actually managed the city treasury and often acted as a kind of arbiter.
There were also significant privileges merchants. Initially, these were people from the retinue circle, engaged in both war and trade, from the middle of the 11th century. the merchant class was gradually replenished with people from other strata - artisans, free community members and even serfs, finally turning into an independent professional and social group. Although its unity was very conditional. On the one hand, the most privileged part of it clearly stood out - guests - merchants trading with foreign countries, on the other - a significant mass of small traders operating in the local market.
If more or less clear ideas have developed regarding the elite of ancient Russian society, then the situation is completely different with the unprivileged sections of the population. Disagreements exist literally on all positions: the sources of formation, the degree of freedom and dependence, the system of internal and external relations, the place and role in the social structure, relations with the state, the standard of living - all these issues are very ambiguously interpreted in historical literature.
Perhaps the most mysterious figure of Ancient Russia is stink. Some see in the smerds that make up the majority of the rural population free communal farmers, whose duties in relation to the prince (state) were limited only to paying taxes and performing duties in favor of the state ( S. A. Pokrovsky), others, on the contrary, consider them as dependent people , the oppressed (L. V. Cherepnin). I. Ya. Froyanov generally considered them to be a relatively small group of former captives, state slaves, planted on the ground. Along with these "internal" smerds, he also singles out a group of "external" ones: subjugated tribes who paid tribute.
The reasons for the discrepancies are largely related to the obvious duality of the smerd's status. In the event of the death of a childless smerd, his inheritance ("ass", "status") passed to the prince. On the one hand, the smerd had obligations under contracts, had the right to participate in the trial, on the other hand, there were signs of legal incompetence: the fine for killing him was equal to the fine for killing a serf (5 hryvnias). Apparently, the difficulty of identifying the status of a smerd is due to the fact that while maintaining a single name for this social group for quite a long time, its position was constantly changing. Perhaps, initially it was a communal farmer, then a state tributary.
The category is somewhat better defined in Russkaya Pravda. purchase, to which, in the Extended Edition, a whole section is allocated - the Charter on Procurement. Purchase - a person who has taken a kupa - a loan (land, livestock, grain, money, etc.) and is obliged to work it out. Since interest on the loan increased - cuts, the duration of working off could constantly increase. The absence of firm standards for working off caused constant conflicts that required the settlement of relations between debtors and creditors, as a result of which the limits on debt cuts were set.
The person and property of the purchaser were protected by law, the master was forbidden to punish him for no reason and take away his property. At the same time, in the event of an offense being committed by the purchase itself, the responsibility turned out to be joint and several: the victim received a fine from his master, but the purchase could be turned into a complete serf - a slave ("issued by the head"). In the same way, for leaving the master without paying, the purchase became a serf. As a witness in a trial, the procurement could act only in special cases: in minor cases ("in small claims") or in the absence of other witnesses ("on need").
Another not entirely clear figure of Russian Pravda are ryadovichi. Most modern historians believe that the ryadovichi in Kievan Rus are people who were dependent on the master according to the "row" (contract) and close in their position to purchases. So, the fine for killing him was equal to the fine for killing a smerd. On the contrary, L. V. Cherepnin believed that in Russia there was no special category of ryadoviches, putting forward the hypothesis that this term in Russian Pravda was used to refer to ordinary smerds and serfs.
Apparently, both the purchasers and the Ryadovichi differed not so much in their position as in the way they acquired their status and can be classified as semi-slaves - a kind of temporary serfs. Unlike complete slaves, they retained the right to return their freedom if they fulfilled their obligations.
But, perhaps, there is no more controversial category of the population in the entire social structure of early medieval Russia than serfs- people whose right to own the masters was not limited in any way. Secular law did not interfere at all in the relationship of the master to the serf, it only held the masters liable for the damage caused to their serfs by third parties. The life of servants was protected by law not as an independent value, but only as property belonging to any owner. The serfs were not personally responsible: "their prince does not execute them by selling." Kholop did not have his own property and at any time he could be sold or given to any person. For all the consequences arising from contracts and obligations concluded with the consent of the owner by the serf, the responsibility was borne by the master. The law practically did not protect the life of a serf. True, for his murder by third parties a fine of 5 hryvnia was imposed, but this is not so much a punishment as compensation for the loss of property (another form of compensation could be the transfer of another slave to the master). In certain cases, a serf can generally be killed without bearing any responsibility for it. The serf who committed the crime himself should have been handed over to the victim (in an earlier period he could simply be killed at the scene of the crime). Penalties against the actions of a serf also applied to the master. Kholop could not appear in court as any of the parties. The testimony of a serf as a witness was insignificant: in the absence of other evidence, a free person could refer to his testimony, but with the obligatory clause about "the words of a serf." In other words, from a formal point of view, a serf is a slave of Russian medieval society.
However, a feature of the position of a serf was often the discrepancy between his legal status and practice (as, indeed, in Russian law as a whole). In reality, even if by the good will of the masters, serfs could possess not only movable property, but even households, had their own households, passed property by inheritance, etc.
But the main distinguishing feature of ancient Russian servility was not so much its legal status as the practical use of this provision. The labor of serfs was used not so much in the production process as in everyday life, therefore a more accurate definition of a serf is servant. Although, undoubtedly, among the serfs we meet plowed and courtyard people, the bulk were the servants of the prince or boyar, who were part of his personal servants and squad. It was from their midst that the princely administration was formed (for example, tiuns, keykeepers, firemen) and even prominent representatives of the elite came out.
The law strictly regulated the sources of internal servility: self-sale into slavery (of a person, family), birth from parents, one of whom is a serf, marriage to a robe, tiunism (keykeeper) - entering the service as a household manager to a master without a row (an agreement on maintaining the status free man). The commission of a crime, the escape of the purchase from the master, the loss or loss of another's property by the merchant could also become a source of servility. At the same time, a number of researchers believe that the main source of servility was external - war, captivity, although it is absent in Russkaya Pravda (the rationale for this is seen in the fact that Russkaya Pravda regulates only internal processes).
A relatively small group, but very significant in the structure of social relations, consisted of artisans. In social terms, they were very heterogeneous: firstly, free communal artisans living in the countryside, secondly, free urban craftsmen and, thirdly, serf artisans.
The former focused on meeting economic needs, the latter - on household and, possibly, military needs. A number of historians believe that already in the pre-Mongolian period, handicraft associations arose similar to the guild organizations of Western European cities (M.N. Tikhomirov), but there is no direct information about this in the sources, and indirect information is very scarce and contradictory.
Thus, the social structure of Ancient Russia is a complex interweaving of relations of the most diverse levels - professional, social, related, etc., often amorphous, fuzzy, contradictory, characteristic of the transitional era.
- So, for the murder of the most noble people, a double vira is established - 80 hryvnias, for the bulk of the free - 40. There were categories of people for whose murder a fine was paid in an even smaller amount - 12.5 hryvnias.
- Unlike ordinary members of the community, in the event of whose death, in the absence of sons, the inheritance passed to the prince, the daughters of the boyars had the right to the inheritance. However, such a right belonged to all free people, except for smerds.
- It was expressed, in particular, in the granting of judicial immunity (the right of the monasteries to investigate and judge for certain crimes committed on its territory) with the corresponding receipt of court fees, the release of monks from all types of nationwide taxes, etc.
- According to A. E. Presnyakov, "the question of ancient Russian smerds is apparently destined to remain extremely controversial - for a long time, perhaps forever" (Presnyakov A.E. Princely law in ancient Russia: lectures on Russian history. Kievan Rus. M., 1993. S. 241).
- "Russian Pravda by smerd ... means an unprivileged simple free ... commoner ... Smerd ... as an ordinary citizen is everywhere exposed by Russian Pravda as a free person, unlimited in his legal capacity, he forms the bulk of the free population of Ancient Russia" (Pokrovsky S. A. The social structure of the Old Russian State // Proceedings of the All-Union Legal Correspondence Institute. T. XIV. M., 1970. S. 61, 64).
- The term "smerd" (in the sense of a peasant exploited on state land) by the beginning of the 11th century began to be used along with the term "man", people (in the sense of free communal peasants)" ( Cherepnin L.V. From the history of the formation of the class of the feudal-dependent peasantry in Russia // Historical Notes. T. 56. M., 1956. S. 248).
- The word "serf" Russian Pravda refers only to a man, an unfree woman is called a "robe". The collective name for both is "servants" (chad).
- The Church, whose representatives intervened in the personal relations of the masters with the serfs, had a serious influence on the mitigation of the position of the serfs. The Church not only portrayed the Christian ideal of the serf-owner, but also established ecclesiastical punishment for the murder of their own slaves and for cruel treatment of them, protested against the sale of serfs into the hands of the filthy, against the trade in slaves in general ("fore-salvation of souls"), and itself contributed to the liberation of serfs, especially in form of absolution "to your liking." The liberated serfs ceased all relations with the old masters and, under the name of outcasts, along with others who had lost their means of subsistence, became under the protection of the church.
A feudal society is characterized by the division of the population into estates, i.e. social groups that have rights and obligations defined by law. In Kievan Rus, the process of formation of estates had just begun. The entire population of Kievan Rus can be conditionally divided into three categories: free, semi-dependent and dependent people.
The top of the free people were prince and his retinue . Of these, the prince chose the governor and other officials. At first, the legal status of the squad differed from the Zemstvo elite - well-born, noble, of local origin. But in the XI century, these two groups are combined into one - boyars . The boyars were a privileged part of society. They were exempt from paying taxes.
The free population also included clergy, which was a separate group of the population and was divided into black and white. played a leading role in the state black clergy - monastic. The best scientists (Nestor, Hilarion, Nikon), doctors (Agapit), artists (Alimpiy) lived and worked in the monasteries, who kept chronicles, rewrote books, organized various schools. To white clergy churchmen belonged: priests, deacons, clerks, palamari.
The cities provided the middle group of free people. The inhabitants of the cities were legally free, even equal to the boyars, but in fact they depended on the feudal elite.
The lowest group of the free population was represented by peasants - stinks . They owned land and livestock. Smerdy made up the vast majority of the population of Kievan Rus, paid the established taxes and served military service with personal weapons and horses. Smerd could inherit his property to his sons.
Semi-dependent (semi-free) people. In Kievan Rus there was a fairly large group of semi-free people - purchases. This was the name of the smerds, who, for various reasons, temporarily lost their economic independence, but under certain conditions had the opportunity to regain it again. Such a smerd borrowed a “kupa”, which could include money, grain, livestock, and until such time as he returned this “kupa”, he remained a purchase. A zakup could have his own farm, yard, property, or he could live on the land of the one who gave him the “kupa” and work on this land.
Dependent (involuntary) people were called serfs .
To outcasts included people who, for various reasons, left the social group to which they previously belonged, but did not join another. All these people passed under the protection of the church. The bulk of the outcasts in Kievan Rus came from serfs who received freedom.
6. Russian Pravda: origin, lists, editions, pages, general x-ka, knowledge in the development of Russian law.
Origin: RP has been composed for a long time (in the 11th-11th centuries), but some of its articles go back to pagan antiquity. For the first time its text was discovered by V.N. RP has come down to us in more than a hundred lists of the XIV-XVI centuries, which differ greatly from each other in composition, volume, and structure. There is no consensus in the literature about the origin of this legislative monument, as, in fact, about the interpretation of its content. Scientists have been arguing about this for over 250 years, since the time when, in 1738, V.N. Tatishchev discovered and prepared for publication the first list of Russian Pravda.
Sources of codification –
customary law and princely court. practice. Common law includes- provisions on blood feud (Art. 1) and mutual responsibility (Art. 19 KP). The legislator has a different attitude to these customs: he seeks to limit blood feud (narrowing the circle of avengers) or completely cancel it, replacing it with a fine (vira). Mutual responsibility, on the contrary, is preserved by him as a political measure that binds all members of the community with responsibility for their member who committed the crime (“wild vira” was imposed on the entire community).
Norms developed by princely judicial practice, are numerous in Russian Pravda and are sometimes associated with the names of the princes who received them (Yaroslav, the sons of Yaroslav, Vladimir Monomakh).
Certain influence on Russian Pravda rendered Byzantine canon law.
Editions: traditionally preserved numerous versions of Russian Pravda are divided into two main editions, which differ in many respects, and received the names "Short"(6 lists) and "Spacious"(over 100 listings). As a separate edition stands out "Abbreviated"(2 lists), which is an abbreviated version of the "Large Edition".
1) "Brief Truth" consists of the following legal texts:
- "The Truth of Yaroslav", from 1016 or 1036 (Art. 1-18);
- “The Truth of the Yaroslavichs” (Izyaslav, Svyatoslav, Vsevolod), dated 1072 (Art. 18-41);
Pokon virny - determining the order of feeding virniks (princely servants, vira collectors), 1020s or 1030s. (Art. 42);
A lesson for bridgemen (regulated the wages of bridgemen (pavement builders, or, according to some versions, bridge builders), 1020s or 1030s (Article 43).
++"Short Truth" consisted of 43 articles. Its first part, the most ancient, also spoke about the preservation of the custom of blood feud, about the lack of a sufficiently clear differentiation in the amount of judicial fines depending on the social status of the victim. The second part (Art. 18 - Art. 43) reflected the further development of feudal relations: blood feud was abolished, the life and property of feudal lords were protected by increased penalties.
2) Spacious- Lists of "PP" are found in the lists of church laws, in the annals, in articles from the Holy Scriptures of a judicial and legislative nature ("The Measure of the Righteous").
The composition of the "PP": 2 parts - the court of Prince Yaroslav the Wise and the Charter of Vl. Monomakh, which were included in the "Brief Truth" with later changes and additions to the Charter adopted during the reign of Vladimir Monomakh, after the suppression of the uprising in Kyiv in 1113. "PP" was compiled in the XII century. She was used by spiritual judges in the analysis of secular cases or litigation. It differed significantly from the "Brief Truth". Number of articles - 121. This code reflected further social differentiation, the privileges of feudal lords, the dependent position of serfs, purchases, lack of rights of serfs.
"PP" testified to the process of further development of feudal agriculture, paying much attention to the protection of property rights to land and other property. In connection with the development of commodity-money relations and the need for their legal regulation, "Large Pravda" determined the procedure for concluding a number of contracts, transferring property by inheritance.
3) "Abridged Truth" belongs to a much later period. Historians believe that it developed in the 15th century. in the Moscow state after the annexation of the territory "Great Perm" According to Tikhomirov, it was written exactly there, which was reflected in the cash account.
General x-ka: RP is the most unique monument of Old Russian. rights.
This is the first written code of laws, the RP quite fully covers a very wide area of relations. It is a set of developed feudal law, which reflects the norms of criminal and civil law and process.
RP is an official act. Its very text contains indications of the princes who adopted or changed the law (Yar. Wise, Yaroslavichi, Vl. Monomakh).
RP is a monument of feudal law. It comprehensively defends the interests of the ruling class and frankly proclaims the lack of rights of unfree workers - serfs, servants.
The RP satisfied the needs of the princely courts so well that it was included in legal collections until the 15th century. Lists of PP were actively distributed as early as the 15th - 16th centuries. (only in 1497 was the Judicial Code of Ivan III published, replacing the PP as the main source of law).
Influence The code can be traced in the subsequent monuments of law: the Novgorod Judicial Charter, the Pskov Judicial Charter of 1467, the Moscow Sudebnik of 1497, the Lithuanian Charter of Casimir IV - 1468, the Lithuanian Statute of 1588.
Russian Pravda was widely spread in all the lands of Ancient Russia as the main source of law and became the basis of legal norms until 1497, when the Sudebnik, published in the Moscow centralized state, replaced it.
Russian Pravda reflects the main branches of law.
The social relations that have developed in Russia, the new form of ownership have become an objective prerequisite for the emergence of a new set of laws - Russian Truth. The truth consolidated the existing system of class relations and property relations in the state.
In Russkaya Pravda there are no decrees on determining the methods of acquiring, the volume and procedure for transferring land property rights, with the exception of the estate (yard), but there are punitive decrees on violating the boundaries of land ownership.
The sources do not indicate the existence of the institution of private land ownership. It was not in the era of Russian Truth. The land was the collective property of the community. Forests, hayfields and pastures were in common use. Everything related to the timing and methods of dividing arable land among members of the community, the use of forests, hayfields, waters and pastures, the distribution of taxes and duties among householders, was decided by the world, i.e. general meeting of householders under the leadership of the headman - the elected head of the community. This form of collective ownership is also explained by climatic conditions, especially in the northern regions. It was impossible for a single farm to survive.
Law of Obligations. Civil obligations were allowed only between free persons and arose either from a contract or from a tort (offense). Of the contractual obligations mentioned purchase and sale, loan, hire and luggage. For a legal purchase, it was required to purchase a thing for money from its owner, and to conclude an agreement in the presence of two free witnesses. The Loan Ordinances distinguish between interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing loans. In Russkaya Pravda, a free person who received a loan and pledged to pay it back with his work is called a purchase. It was forbidden for the master to sell the purchase under the threat of the release of the latter from the loan and the payment of a fine by the master. The deposit agreement was made without witnesses, but when a dispute arose during the return of a thing deposited, the keeper cleansed himself with an oath.
Obligations arose as a result of committed crimes, as well as offenses of a civil nature (careless and accidental).
Inheritance, called in Russian Pravda the ass and the remainder, was opened at the time of the death of the father of the family and passed to the heirs either by will or by law. The father had the right to divide his estate among the children and allocate part of it to his wife at his own discretion. A mother could transfer her property to any of her sons, whom she recognized as the most worthy.
Inheritance by law was opened when the testator did not leave a will.
The general legal order of inheritance was determined in Russian Pravda by the following rules. After the father, who did not leave a will and did not divide his house during his lifetime, the legitimate children of the deceased inherited, and part of the inheritance went in favor of the church “for the remembrance of the soul of the deceased” and part in favor of the surviving wife, if the husband did not assign her a share of his property during his lifetime . Children born from a robe did not inherit from their father, but received freedom along with their mother. Daughters do not inherit from smerds, they inherit from feudal lords.
Marriage was preceded by betrothal, which received religious consecration in a special rite. The engagement was considered indissoluble. Marriage was concluded through a religious ceremony performed in a church (wedding). The marriage could be terminated (terminated). Russian law of the pagan era allowed polygamy.
Everyone had to pay church tithes.
