§ 1. The Principality of Kiev Although it has lost its significance as the political center of the Russian lands, Kyiv has retained its historical glory as the “mother of Russian cities”. It also remained the church center of the Russian lands. But most importantly. The Kievan principality continued to remain

The respectful attitude in Rus' towards Veliky Novgorod was fully justified. In the 9th century it was the center of Russian cities and sought to surpass the capital Kyiv. No matter how much Kyiv sent its princes to Novgorod, they could not take root. Novgorod owes its exceptional status, first of all, to its favorable geographical location - the famous trade route "from the Varangians to the Greeks" ran through it, which served as a rapid development of trade and handicraft production.

Relationships with neighbors

Novgorod formed its own aristocracy. It consisted of representatives of the boyars, the merchants, who, having lands, forests, fish storages in their possessions, and having united with the church authorities, and having great support from the common people, they created a single powerful apparatus that resisted the pressure of Kiev, and made serious competition to Rostov and .

The Novgorod principality became so independent from Kyiv that it began to conduct independent political and economic activities with the Germans, Scandinavians and with its neighbors: the Polotsk, Smolensk, Rostov-Suzdal principalities. Even wars bypassed him, the city managed to avoid the raids of the Pechenegs, who barbarously robbed and ravaged the cities.

Internal contradictions

If in foreign policy the authorities and the people acted as a single force, then in the internal it was not so smooth. Constant clashes of interests between the working people and the aristocracy resulted in riots and uprisings. There was no unity among the nobility, merchants and boyars were constantly fighting for wealth and the redistribution of land, every now and then they tried to put their man as head of the city. The same thing happened in the cities of the principality, such as Pskov, Ladoga. To show that Novgorod is no worse than Kyiv, the Novgorod Kremlin Palace and St. Sophia Cathedral were built on the Volkhov River, following the example of Kyiv.

The veche and the Council of Lords were the supreme power in Novgorod. Veche was represented by people from the people and had the right to resolve all issues of the Novgorod Republic. Noble and influential people united in the Council of Lords. Novgorod citizens had a great spirit of independence, and did not stand on ceremony either with the Kyiv authorities or with the local ones. So during the reign of Vsevolod (son), who began an internecine struggle with neighboring principalities to the detriment of the local population. The boyars, the merchants and the church united and overthrew the presumptuous ruler, took him into custody, then expelled him from the city.

After these events, in 1136 Novgorod became an aristocratic republic, led by the tops of the boyars, merchants and the archbishop. The city council from time to time invited various princes to the military leadership, but as soon as they ceased to suit, they were immediately expelled. For many centuries, the Novgorod principality was one of the most powerful politically and economically due to a strong aristocracy that enjoyed the support of the people. But one should not think that the people in the Novgorod principality decided something, there was never democracy in Rus', the people only took part in the elections, this was the end of their role.

End of the Grand Duchy

In the 15th century, one of the most important cities in the principality of Pskov separated from Novgorod. In 1478, he annexed Novgorod to the Muscovite state, and Tsar Grozny finally destroyed all Novgorodian independence.

• Surprisingly, historians to this day find the remains of various documents from birch bark, proving that at that time, writing and literacy were very developed in Novgorod, both among the nobility and among the common people. On sheets of birch bark there are records of a different nature, from love letters of ordinary townspeople to state letters of Novgorod princes.

History of Russia from ancient times to the end of the 17th century Milov Leonid Vasilyevich

§ 2. Novgorod land in the XII-XIII centuries.

Princely power and Novgorod in the IX-XI centuries. Already during the period of being a part of the Old Russian state, the Novgorod land had important differences from other ancient Russian lands. The local elite of Slovenes, Krivichi and Chud, who invited in the 9th century. Varangian king to become the military leader of the union, was not in the X-XI centuries. neither destroyed nor included in the princely squad. The conditions of the “row” of the 9th century, apparently, were observed to a certain extent by both sides, although the position of the prince, who represented the interests of Kiev here, by the beginning of the 11th century. clearly intensified, as evidenced by his move from the Rurik settlement to the very center of the earth - Novgorod.

In the events connected with the struggle of the Prince of Novgorod Yaroslav for the Kiev throne after the death of Vladimir in 1015, the population of Novgorod, led by the "best men", acted as an independent force along with the prince and his retinue. When, having been defeated in the fight against his brother Svyatopolk, Yaroslav wanted to flee "over the sea", the Novgorodians cut his ships and forced him to continue the fight. Mentioned in the annals and "veche" - a meeting of the population of Novgorod, which the prince gathered "on the field" in order to enlist the support of the Novgorodians in the struggle for the Kiev table.

The chronicle testifies to the voluntary self-taxation of the city's population for hiring the Varangians "overseas" to help Yaroslav about the social division among the Novgorod population: they collected "4 kunas from the husband, and 18 hryvnias from the boyars." Since the hryvnia of that time consisted of 25 kunas, the boyar’s contribution was more than a hundred times higher than the contribution of a simple Novgorodian. Obviously, the local elite - the boyars - had already quite clearly separated from the rest of the population, and large amounts of money were in the hands of the boyars. These funds were accumulated due to the fact that the boyars, along with the prince's retinue, played an important role in collecting tribute from the Novgorod land. This is evidenced by the finds by archaeologists on the boyar estates of Novgorod of locks from bags for collecting tribute. Management of the Novgorod land in the XI century. carried out jointly by the top of the local urban community and the governor of the Kyiv prince, who was sitting in Novgorod - his son and his retinue, but the main role in this belonged to the governor-prince, who relied on the support of a powerful father in Kiev.

The emergence of Novgorod posadnichestvo. The Novgorod community took the first important step towards changing these relations in its favor in the 1980s. XI century, when a deep internal political crisis of the Old Russian state was already clearly indicated. In 1088, Prince Vsevolod Yaroslavin of Kiev sent his young grandson Mstislav, son of Vladimir Monomakh, to reign in Novgorod. At this time, a kind of co-ruler appeared next to the juvenile prince - the "posadnik", who was elected by the Novgorodians themselves. Posadniks continued to be elected even when the prince came of age. The Novgorod city community clearly sought to strengthen its role in the administration of the Novgorod land. After the death of Vsevolod Yaroslavich, the Novgorodians ensured that Mstislav remained on the Novgorod table against the wishes of the new Kyiv prince Svyatopolk.

The struggle of the Novgorod city community with princely power. At the end of the second decade XII V. the desire of the Novgorod city community for greater independence collided with the policy of Monomakh, aimed at restoring the strong position of the Kyiv prince as the head of the Old Russian state. Monomakh, without asking the opinion of the Novgorodians, imprisoned his grandson Vsevolod Mstislavich in 1117 in Novgorod, and summoned the dissatisfied Novgorod boyars to Kyiv and imprisoned him. Formally, the dual power in Novgorod was preserved, but the posadniks began to be sent from Kyiv. Monomakh's policy was continued by his son Mstislav. He considered Vsevolod as his governor, who, on the orders of his father, went on campaigns with the Novgorod army.

The situation changed dramatically when, after the death of Mstislav in 1132, the power of the Kyiv prince weakened, and Vsevolod Mstislavich was left without external support. Already in 1134, the Novgorodians "expelled the prince" Vsevolod from the city. The prince managed to return to the Novgorod table only by concluding a "row" - an agreement with the Novgorodians, which determined the conditions under which they allowed the prince to manage the Novgorod land. From that moment, the weakening of the position of princely power began due to the expansion of the participation of the urban community in the management of the Novgorod land.

On May 28, 1136, Vsevolod Mstislavich, a number of whose actions aroused the discontent of the Novgorodians, was taken into custody by the verdict of the veche and expelled from the city two months later. One of the Chernigov princes, Svyatoslav Olgovich, was invited to the Novgorod table, but a year later he was also expelled. In the future, successfully maneuvering between hostile principalities and unions of principalities, the Novgorodians achieved that in the second half of the XII century. all the ancient Russian princes recognized their right to invite the prince to the Novgorod table at their own request (the so-called liberty in the princes). The highest body of power in the Novgorod land was the meeting of the inhabitants of the city - the veche, which decided which prince to invite to the Novgorod table and on what conditions he would govern the Novgorod land. Without the consent of the veche, the prince could not make important political decisions. The outward expression of the changes in relations between the princely power and Novgorod was established no later than the middle of the XII century. the practice of convening a veche at the "Yaroslav's Court" - the territory of the prince's residence in the city, and the Rurik settlement again became the permanent residence of the prince.

Restrictions on the power of the prince in Novgorod. During the XII century. the prince in Novgorod lost a number of prerogatives, which in other ancient Russian lands were closely connected with the institution of princely power. Originally founded at the end of the 10th century the Novgorod episcopal see was closely connected with the princely power and was supported by proceeds from the princely treasury. The prince was the patron of the department. Back in 1137, Prince Svyatoslav Olgovich independently endowed it with a tithe from the tribute from the graveyards along the Dvina and Pinega, but since 1156, bishops began to be elected at the veche, and the “polats near St. Sophia” become the place of storage of the Novgorod treasury. The bishop elected at the veche became the highest church authority for the inhabitants of Novgorod. Later, the veche stubbornly refused to allow the metropolitan to exercise ecclesiastical judgment during his visit to the city. If the posadnik was elected by the Novgorodians (the practice of such elections was restored already in the early 30s of the 12th century), then the head of the city militia, the thousandth, was appointed by the prince from among his husbands. But since the 80s. 12th century and the tysyatsky began to be elected at the veche.

In the same years, from the hands of the prince into the hands of Novgorod passed the merchant court and revenues from duties levied when weighing honey and wax and measuring fabrics - the most important items of medieval trade.

Why was the Novgorod boyars able to succeed where the "senior" squad of Rostov was defeated? One of the reasons for the success was that the Novgorod boyars were able to achieve unity of action with other important centers of the Novgorod land. So, in the veche, which in 1136 decided to expel Vsevolod Mstislavich, the inhabitants of two other main centers of the earth, Pskov and Ladoga, participated together with the Novgorodians. At the same meeting, it was decided to send posadniks to these cities. When later, trying to use the contradictions between the different centers of the Novgorod land, Vsevolod Mstislavich settled in Pskov, the Novgorodians did not force events, not wanting to shed blood on "their brothers", and achieved an agreement with their suburbs.

In the XII-XIII centuries. Novgorod land had the features of a kind of federal structure based on an agreement between the Novgorod boyars and the local elite of the two main centers of the earth. It is known what place Pskov occupied in such a device. When one or another prince sat down at the table in Novgorod, he received the right, by agreement with the Pskovites, to put one of his family members on the table in Pskov.

Secondly, it mattered that the broad circles of the population of Novgorod in the outbreak of the conflict did not support the prince, but their local boyars. In the events connected with the expulsion of Vsevolod Mstislavich, for the first time in the political struggle, the "merchants" acted as a special group of the Novgorod population. When Vsevolod, having settled in Pskov, tried to gather an army in order to regain the Novgorod table, his supporters among the boyars were levied with indemnity and the collected funds "dash a merchant to go to war." The support rendered by ordinary Novgorodians to their boyars in the struggle against princely power was not accidental. The reasons for their behavior are explained in the peculiarities of the socio-political organization of the Novgorod land.

Socio-political organization of the Novgorod land. Despite the existence of a peculiar political system in the land, when the veche, and not the prince, was the supreme body of state power, the Novgorod state was no different from other ancient Russian principalities in terms of the general type of relations between the top and bottom of society. And in it, the city-fortress (in this case, Novgorod) dominated the rural district subordinate to it, and here the social elite living in the city lived by collecting tribute and feeding at the expense of the rural population. It is no coincidence that the issue of the distribution of feedings is given such a significant place in the agreements that Novgorod concluded with the princes. The earliest surviving texts of such treaties date back to the 60s. XIII century, but the form underlying them was formed at a much earlier time. The agreement stipulated that the prince had to distribute volosts for feeding not to his warriors, but to Novgorod men, to make such distributions only together with the mayor; he was not supposed to deprive his husband of the parish without guilt. Feeding in the volosts subordinated to Novgorod here clearly acts as one of the main sources of income for Novgorod husbands, and the posadnik, as a representative of Novgorod, had to ensure that feeding was given to Novgorodians.

Like other ancient Russian lands, Novgorod land was covered with a network of churchyards - places for collecting tribute, where tributaries traveled from Novgorod. In 1169, on the Northern Dvina in the disputed territories, things came to a real battle between Novgorod and Rostov tributaries. The victorious Novgorodians "took all the tribute, and on the Suzhdal stinks another."

In addition, the territories of subordinate Finno-Ugric tribes (the territories of modern Estonia, Finland, the Urals) adjoined the Novgorod state in the northeast and west, where the Novgorod army was also regularly sent to collect tribute. The Novgorod order differed from the order in other ancient Russian lands in that instead of the princely squad, the Novgorod city community acted as the dominant social group, sharing part of its income with the city communities of Pskov and Ladoga. Of course, the Novgorod boyars played a leading role in the collection of tribute, appropriating a significant part of the collected funds, but the entire city community as the collective sovereign of the Novgorod land also took part in the organization of armed detachments sent from Novgorod to collect tribute, and in the distribution of the collected funds. That is why the entire Novgorod city community was interested in the transfer of power in the land from the hands of the prince to the hands of the upper layer of the community - the Novgorod boyars.

Although in a truncated form, the institution of princely power in Novgorod was still preserved. The prince and the squad accompanying him were allocated certain lands for feeding. During the war, the prince led the Novgorod army, together with the mayor, he acted as the supreme judge and participated in the distribution of volosts to feed the Novgorod men.

The preservation of princely power in Novgorod was due to two reasons. First, by offering a Novgorod table to a prince associated with one of the ancient Russian lands, Novgorod ensured its support in the fight against another land, the rulers of which threatened Novgorod. Such a policy enabled Novgorod to maintain its independence, using the rivalry between neighboring political centers.

Secondly, the internal structure of the Novgorod city community was quite complex. Novgorod was divided into territorial associations - "ends", which were headed by boyar clans. The clans fought among themselves for power and influence, involving in this struggle the population of the ends associated with them. Such conflicts filled the internal political life of Novgorod in the 12th-13th centuries. Under these conditions, in order to preserve the unity of the urban community, Novgorodians need the existence of some kind of arbitrator who could regulate disputed issues in relations between the ends. Together (however, this arbiter should not have become so strong as to rise above the community and subjugate it to his power. A way out was found in establishing the practice of joint rule of the prince and the elected head of the city community - the posadnik. They should jointly administer justice and distribute to the Novgorod husbands The posadnik, as a representative of the Novgorodians, made sure that the prince did not increase his power to the detriment of Novgorod, and the participation of the prince was a certain guarantee that the posadnik would not turn state power into an instrument for protecting the interests of the boyar clan to which he belonged.

First half of the 12th century - the time to which the first evidence of the appearance of large feudal landownership in the Novgorod land dates back. As already mentioned, near the Fine Arts, Prince Mstislav Vladimirovich, the son of Monomakh, transferred the volost of Buitse in Derevskaya Pyatina to the oldest monastery in Novgorod, the Yuryev Monastery. The monastic brethren were given most of the income that had previously been received by the princely treasury (tribute and half of the polyudya), as well as administrative and judicial power over the peasants, for whom the abbot of the monastery became a real “sovereign”. Then, in the 30s, Prince Vsevolod Mstislavich granted this monastery the Lyakhovichi churchyard on the Lovat River in Derevskaya Pyatina. In the XV century. in these volosts there were hundreds of peasant households. Although Yuriev was the oldest monastery in Novgorod, under the collective patronage of the city, the awards to him were no exception. At the same time, the Novgorod Panteleimon Monastery received from Novgorod the village of Vitoslavitsy with the smerds who lived in it. Smerdy were freed from tribute and duties in favor of the prince and "from Gorodets attempts" and were to be "pulled to St. Panteleimon in the monastery."

However, there is no reason to attribute the formation of the large landed estates of the Novgorod boyars, well known from later sources, to the same time. Among the birch bark letters of the XIV-XV centuries. letters on land disputes, petitions of peasants to landowners, are common, but among the birch bark letters of the 11th-12th centuries. There are no such texts.

Gradually, land holdings began to appear among the Novgorod boyars. In 1209, when, by decision of the council, the property of the posadnik Dmitry Miroshkinich and his relatives was confiscated, and their property was distributed among the Novgorodians, "their villages were sold and servants." In 1230, the Novgorodians also plundered the villages of the posadnik Semyon Borisovich and two other boyars. In one of the birch bark letters of the first half of the XIII century. we read a complaint about the sale of a village with "servants", cattle and bread without the knowledge of the addressee.

By the end of the XIII - the beginning of the XIV century. the growth of landownership of the Novgorod boyars led to serious changes in both the social structure of Novgorod society and the nature of its state institutions.

The position of merchants and artisans in Novgorod. Relations between the upper and lower classes of Novgorod society were not limited to their common interest in the collection and distribution of tribute from the territories subordinate to the Novgorod state. In the collection of tribute, a simple Novgorodian participated as a member of his end, obeying the leadership of the boyar clan that was at the head of the end (in 1169, “100 men from the end were sent to collect tribute to the Northern Dvina”). However, ordinary residents of Novgorod - merchants and artisans, like manufacturers who sold their products at the Novgorod market, had their own special interests that did not coincide with the interests of the boyars. Novgorod in the XII-XIII centuries. was already a major center of crafts and trade. On the territory of the city, archaeologists have found products of dozens of handicraft specialties. The development of handicrafts and trade was facilitated by the favorable geographical position of the city on the trade routes connecting the east and west of Europe. Novgorod merchants brought furs and wax from the Russian lands and the Urals to the west. In the middle of the Baltic Sea, on the island of Gotland, there was a Novgorod merchant's yard. Already in the first half of the XII century. on their trips, Novgorod merchants traveled to Denmark. To protect their interests, Novgorod merchants and artisans used the "hundred organization" created by the princely government to control the urban population and organize the city militia. The division into hundreds did not coincide with the division of the city into ends.

When in the 80s. XII V. Since the prince ceded to Novgorod the merchant court and the collection of duties on the sale of a number of important goods, then the head of the hundredth organization, the elected thousandth, stood at the head of the merchant court. If the posadnik was elected from among the Novgorod boyars, then the thousand boyars in the XII-XIII centuries. they were not chosen from among the boyars. The posadnik and the Novgorod boyars were forbidden to "interfere" in the commercial court and "every trade business." Probably, Tysyatsky was the head of the trade and craft population of Novgorod during this period and defended its interests. Control over the measures and scales at the city auction was transferred to the hands of the Sotskys. Sotsky even received the right to "build the house of St. Sophia" together with the Novgorod bishop. Thus, the Novgorod boyars, who were interested in supporting the broad circles of the urban population in governing the Novgorod state, were forced to agree to granting them a certain autonomy in the field of trade and handicraft activities.

According to the data of the second half of the 13th century, the city of Thousand Novgorod ruled the commercial court together with the merchant elders. Novgorod sources of the XII-XIII centuries. two associations of Novgorod merchants are known. The first of these was the association of wax merchants - one of the main objects of the export trade of Novgorod, which, by the name of its patronal church - the church of Ivan on Opoki, was called "Ivan merchants". In the hands of the "Ivan" merchants were the city scales for weighing wax and the income from the duties levied at the same time. Another was the association of "overseas merchants", whose patronal temple was the Church of Paraskeva Pyatnitsa at the Novgorod market. The fate of these associations turned out to be different. The association of "overseas" merchants fell into decay when trade on the Baltic Sea in the 13th century. seized the Hanseatic League of German cities, and the "Ivan" merchants became the main association of Novgorod merchants. These associations included very wealthy people. So, in order to join the ranks of the "Ivan" merchants, it was necessary to make a contribution of 50 hryvnias and bring a piece of expensive Flanders cloth to the thousandth. Participation in the “commercial court”, together with the thousand merchant elders, indicates that this court protected, first of all, the interests of the wealthy merchants.

The stability of the Novgorod state was ensured by two types of agreements - between Novgorod and other centers of the Novgorod land and between the top and bottom of the Novgorod city community. While they acted, that part of the population of the Novgorod land that took part in political life acted as a united front both against the attempts of the prince to strengthen his power, and against the attempts of powerful neighboring rulers to subjugate the Novgorod state.