Around 1549, a new government was formed from people close to young John, later called the Chosen Rada by Prince A. Kurbsky. It included: the representative of the humble but large landowners Alexey Adashev, who headed the Elected Rada, Prince Andrei Kurbsky, priest Sylvester, Metropolitan Macarius, clerk Ivan Viskovaty.

The Rada was not an official government body, but in fact for 13 years it was the government and governed the state on behalf of the Tsar.

Reforms of the Elected Rada. The new level of political organization of the country, which had developed by the middle of the 16th century, had to correspond to new state institutions - class and representative institutions that defended the interests of large regions. The Zemsky Sobor became such a body.

The Council of 1549 was the first Zemsky Council, that is, a meeting of class representatives with legislative functions. Its convocation reflected the establishment of an estate-representative monarchy in Russia. However, the first Council was not yet of an elective nature and representatives of the urban trade and craft population and peasants were not present there. However, both of these categories of the population did not play a major role at the councils in the future.

From 1550 to 1653, 16 councils were convened, and after the closing of the last of them there was no living memory or regret.

Adoption of a new judge. Undoubtedly, the largest undertaking of the government of Ivan the Terrible was the new legislative code drawn up in June 1550, which replaced the outdated Code of Laws of 1497. Of the 99 articles of the Code of Laws, 37 were completely new, and the rest were subject to radical revision. Social legislation, included in the code of law of 1550, concerns two important issues - land ownership and the dependent population (peasants and slaves). For the first time in the code of law there was a chapter about the tsar, which stipulated the rights of the tsar, title, and form of government. A clause on high treason was also introduced.

The new Code of Laws fully met the needs of the time. It introduced penalties for bribery for the first time, and introduced rules of law that still exist today.

Local government reforms. The zemstvo reform was destined to acquire special significance - the introduction of zemstvo institutions and the transition to the abolition of feeding. Lands not assigned to the princely palace were included in the circle of local government. This administration was carried out by governors and volosts. The position of the manager was called feeding, since he fed at the expense of the managed. Viceroyships were given not for government work, but for court service.

The reform was supposed to lead to the final elimination of the power of governors by replacing it with local governing bodies chosen from the wealthy black-growing peasantry and townspeople. The zemstvo reform, conceived as a nationwide reform, was fully implemented only in the black-plowed territories of the Russian North. As a result of the elimination of the feeding system and the creation of local estate-representative institutions, the Russian government was able to achieve the solution of the most important tasks in strengthening the centralized apparatus of power. As a result of the reform, the bulk of the nobles were freed from “fed” functions, which increased the combat effectiveness and increased the personnel of the Russian army; The nobility strengthened its position - it received regular remuneration for the proper performance of military service.

Army reforms. The army reform that began in 1556 was also connected with the Kazan War. As a result of several unsuccessful campaigns, it became clear that the old way of organizing the army was no longer suitable for such a state, that is, the army needed transformation.

The army was already staffed not only from Russian soldiers. In the second half of the 16th century, Cossacks living on the Don joined the army. Cossacks were used for border service.

Having created such a recruitment system, Ivan receives a solid basis for further changes in the structure of the army. The core of the army becomes the mounted noble militia.

A permanent type of troops appears - archers. They were formed as permanent contingents of infantry (partly cavalry), armed with firearms. They were collectively provided with land, city yards (not subject to taxes), a small monetary grant, while retaining the right to small trade and craft.

Modernization and good living conditions for the Streltsy in the second half of the 16th century made the standing Streltsy army the most powerful fighting force of the Russian state.

Thanks to the changes carried out in the army, its weapons acquired some uniformity. Each warrior had an iron helmet, armor or chain mail, a sword, bow and arrows.

Adding to the changes in the army is the appearance of artillery. The artillery park serving cannons and squeakers is increasing.

The military reform also included the prohibition of parochial disputes between governors; now they were all subordinate to one commander-in-chief. Appointments to the highest voivode posts based on the principle of “breed” and nobility led to disastrous consequences on the battlefield. New laws made it possible to appoint less noble, but more courageous and experienced commanders as comrades to the commander-in-chief.

As a result of the reforms, a powerful, combat-ready army was created, capable of resisting a strong and large enemy.

Church reforms. Religious reform began with the Council of the Russian Church in 1551, which in history is known as the Hundred-Glavy Cathedral. At the Council of the Hundred Heads, the government raised the question of the future fate of monastic land ownership, which met with decisive opposition from the militant churchmen - the Josephites. In May 1551, a decree was issued on the confiscation of all lands and lands transferred by the Boyar Duma to bishops and monasteries after the death of Vasily III. The implementation of new land legislation allowed the government to replenish the fund of manorial lands.

The implementation of church reform was also aimed at educating “competent” church ministers, changing the service itself, its unification, because within the church organization itself there were differences in the composition of the “saints” and there was no strict order in the performance of church rites, there was no strict system of internal regulations.

Changes in the tax system. The period of reforms of the 50s coincides with the Kazan War. As you know, war and reforms required huge amounts of money and therefore various financial reforms are being carried out. In addition, Russia inherited a tax system from the time of fragmentation of the state into principalities, which was morally outdated and did not meet the requirements of the time.

Tax reform had several directions. The first reform hit the monasteries the hardest. In 1548-1549, it began, and in 1550-1551, the abolition of financial seizures for the payment of basic taxes and various travel and trade duties - the main source of income for monasteries - was carried out.

A single measure for determining profitability was established - “plow” - a land unit. Not only new taxes are introduced (“food money”, “polyany”), but old ones are also increased. For example, there is an increase in the rates of one of the main land taxes (“yam money”).

Based on the tax changes, we can conclude that they were aimed at increasing state revenues. There is a sharp and noticeable increase in the monetary tax pressure. These transformations were distinguished by their completeness and constructiveness. As a result of the reforms, the authorities achieved uniformity in the tax sphere.

Results of reform. These were the reforms of Ivan the Terrible, developed together with the members of the Elected Rada. The main feature of the transformations during the reign of the Elected Rada was the disorderliness of their implementation and at the same time their complexity. The reforms cannot be called unsuccessful, since the main institutions and institutions, the main regulatory norms, survived both the oprichnina and Ivan IV himself, which means they achieved their goal. As a result of the reforms, Russia received a new set of laws - the Code of Laws of 1550, a new system of government locally and at the center. The military service system acquired its final form and became the foundation of the Russian monarchy. The reforms were supported by the development of trade and diplomatic relations with the West. Science and art are developing, a period of prosperity of the state is beginning, and if the reforms had not encountered opposition from the aristocracy, whose rights were infringed, they would have led to even greater results. But the hostility of the boyars leads to the oprichnina.

The term itself is found only in the work of Kurbsky, while Russian sources of that time do not give this circle of people any official name.

Creation

The formation of a select circle of people around the tsar occurs after the Moscow events of the summer of 1547: a fire and then an uprising of Muscovites. According to Kurbsky’s version, during these events Archpriest Sylvester appeared to the king and “threatened the king with a terrible spell from the Holy Scriptures,<...>to<...>stop his riots and moderate his violent temper.”

Compound

The composition of the “Elected Rada” is the subject of debate. Definitely, the priest of the Annunciation Cathedral of the Kremlin, the confessor of the Tsar Sylvester and a young figure from a not very noble family A.F. Adashev participated in the “Rada”.

On the other hand, some historians deny the existence of the Elected Rada as an institution led exclusively by the three above-mentioned persons.

Reforms of the Chosen One:

1. 1549 The First Zemsky Sobor is a body of class representation that ensures the connection between the center and the localities, Ivan IV’s speech from the front: condemnation of the wrong boyar rule, announcement of the need for reforms.
2. Code of Law of 1550 - development of the provisions of the Code of Law of Ivan III, limitation of the power of governors and volosts, strengthening of control of the tsarist administration, uniform amount of court fees, preservation of the right of peasants to cross on St. George’s Day.
3. The Council of the Hundred Heads in 1551 – unification of church rites, recognition of all locally revered saints as all-Russian, establishment of a strict iconographic canon, requirements for improving the morals of the clergy, prohibition of usury among priests.
4. Military reform of 1556 - the Code of Service was adopted: restriction of localism for the period of hostilities, in addition to the mounted local militia, organization of a standing army - archers, gunners, a unified order of military service.
5. Formation of the order system:
   • Ambassadorial order - foreign policy
   • Petition order (Adashev) - the highest control body
   • The local order was in charge of land ownership
   • The robber order searched and tried
   • Streletsky order was in charge of the created Streltsy army
   • Rank - noble army, appointment of governor
   • Great Parish - tax collection
   • Yamskoy - postal service and stations
   • Zemsky - law enforcement in Moscow
6. Continuation of the provincial reform - the abolition of feedings, all power in the counties passed to elected provincial and zemstvo elders, and in cities - to favorite heads.

The reforms of the Elected Rada outlined the path to strengthening and centralization of the state and contributed to the formation of an estate-representative state.

Fall of the Chosen Rada

The reason for the royal disfavor by some historians [ Who?] is seen in the fact that Ivan IV was dissatisfied with the disagreements of some members of the Rada with the late Anastasia Zakharyina-Yuryeva, the Tsar’s first wife. This is also confirmed by the fact that after the death of his second wife, Maria Temryukovna, Ivan the Terrible also carried out executions of those disliked by the queen and accused the boyars of “harassing” (poisoning) Maria.

In 1553, Ivan the Terrible fell ill. The illness was so severe that the question of transfer of power arose in the Boyar Duma. Ivan forced the boyars to swear allegiance to their infant son, Tsarevich Dmitry. But among the members of the Rada, the idea arose to transfer the Moscow throne to the Tsar’s cousin, Vladimir, Prince Staritsky. In particular, Sylvester noted that Vladimir’s quality is that he loves advisers. However, Ivan recovered from his illness, and the conflict, at first glance, was settled. But the king did not forget this story and later used it against Sylvester and Adashev.

The main contradiction was the radical difference in the views of the Tsar and the Rada on the issue of centralization of power in the state (the process of centralization is the process of concentrating state power). Ivan IV wanted to speed up this process. The elected Rada chose the path of gradual and painless reform.

Historical estimates

Among historians there is no unambiguous assessment of the activities of the “Elected Rada”.

Karamzin notes the positive features of the rule of the “Elected Rada”, emphasizing the “wise moderation” and “philanthropy” of the tsarist government: “Everywhere the people blessed the government’s zeal for the common good, everywhere they replaced unworthy Rulers: they punished them with contempt or prison, without excessive severity; wanted to mark a happy change of state not by the cruel execution of bad old officials, but by the better election of new ones...”

Kostomarov’s influence of the “circle of favorites” is such that “without consulting with the people of this elected council, Ivan not only did not arrange anything, but did not even dare to think,” in this influence the historian sees a “bitter humiliation” for the autocracy of Ivan IV.

see also

Notes

Links

• Elected Rada- article from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia
• Elyanov E. Subjective interpretations: domestic historians about the era of Ivan the Terrible

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See what the “Elected Rada” is in other dictionaries:

The unofficial government of the Russian state in the late 1540s and 1550s. The Elected Rada included those close to Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible. A prominent position in the Elected Rada was occupied by Duma nobleman A.F. Adashev, court priest Sylvester,... ... Political science. Dictionary.

THE ELECTED RADA, the unofficial government of the Russian state under Tsar Ivan IV, in the late 40s and 50s. 16th century (A.F. Adashev, Sylvester, Makariy, A.M. Kurbsky, etc.). Supporters of a compromise between the various ruling strata, annexation... ... Modern encyclopedia

23-11-2017, 12:03 |

Reforms of the Elected Rada - the table of reforms of this body is quite extensive. To begin with, we should remember what kind of state institution this is and how it appeared in Russia. Everyone knows that the Elected Rada as a governing body was created under Ivan IV the Terrible. one of the few rulers of Russia who was on the throne for a very long time.

The elected Tsar's Rada was created to assist the sovereign in governance. And if you look at the events of this period, this body adopted a number of important government reforms. However, later, according to Ivan the Terrible, there was no longer a need for this political institution, and he eliminated it. Below, all Rada reforms will be presented in more detail in the table.

The reign of Ivan the Terrible before the creation of the Elected Rada

very often he said that he did not remember the time when he was not the ruler of Russia. And indeed it is. It is worth remembering that he ascended the throne as a little boy at the age of three. He became a Russian sovereign after the death of his father and ruled the country for 51 years. became a landmark event for many of his contemporaries. The activities of the Elected Rada relate precisely to the first half.

If we talk about Ivan’s personality, he was a man with a sharp mind, a brilliant memory, he had a lively nature, he was constantly striving for knowledge. All these traits began to appear from childhood. In addition, during the regency of his mother Elena Glinskaya and then the reign of the Bor Duma, he received an excellent education for that time.

After the death of his father, his wife Elena Glinskaya was regent for little Ivan; she managed to take power into her own hands, even though she was a woman. She turned out to be a very talented person, and also a skillful politician. Elena Glinskaya worthily continued the work of her husband Vasily, and carried out a number of reforms:

• Strengthening the defense of the Russian state (building fortresses);
• Currency reform - the introduction of a single coin for the entire territory of the country (the creation of the “Kopeyka”);
• Reform of units of weight, measures, volume - unification of measures;
• Lip reform - local elections of elders.

In 1538, the young queen unexpectedly dies. After the death of Elena, the Boyars from the Duma became regents over the little one. Contradictions constantly arose between them, which eventually resulted in open, violent conflicts. What Ivan also witnessed.

The exact cause of death became known thanks to modern methods of studying her remains. A lot of heavy metal and arsenic salts were found, which suggests that she was poisoned. By the way, the skull bones were well preserved, and this made it possible to reproduce her exact appearance. Scientific reconstruction of her facial features made it possible to claim that Helen was a very beautiful woman. In fact, with her beauty, she amazed the already middle-aged VasilyIII.

Elected Rada under Ivan the Terrible

In 1547, the young sovereign arrived and took control into his own hands. The royal title was not recognized abroad for a long time, until the conquest of the Astrakhan and Kazan khanates. Immediately after the wedding, the new tsar married Anastasia Zakharyeva-Yuryeva. Her family was the ancestor of the future Romanov family. He married for love.

After the fire, an uprising began in Moscow. There were rumors that the tsar's grandmother Anna Glinskaya, who was considered a witch, was to blame for this. This event showed that there are no forces in the country to suppress such social movements. Archpriest Sylvester warned that if he does not fulfill his duties, then just as Moscow is burning, so he and his family will die. From this moment on, a new stage in the reign begins.

Gradually, a new environment was taking shape, which was called the Chosen Rada; representatives of noble boyar families stayed under Ivan. But especially among them, the members of the Elected Rada stood out, who spoke out about the situation in the country and gave advice to the Tsar.

Composition of the Elected Rada:

1. Andrey Kurbsky;
2. Alexey Adashev;
3. Metropolitan Macarius;
4. Archpriest Sylvester;
5. Clerk Ivan Viskovaty.

The leaders of the Elected Rada were very educated people. In this regard, he had a good ability to select a great political team for himself. At the same time, the Elected Rada is not an official body; it is simply a group of figures close to the sovereign. The table below details all members of this environment.

Reforms of the Elected Rada under Ivan the Terrible table

In 1550 there was a surge of journalistic opuses. There are many petitions and simple proposals to improve the government structure. Based on these materials, the Elected Rada is developing reforms. Many of the reform projects were subsequently implemented. The reforms of the Elected Rada begin.

The first major reform of the Chosen Rada under Ivan was a meeting of representatives of the estates in the Zemsky Sobor. This is the first body that was elected, and it was wider in composition than the Boyar Duma. The Council played the role of the highest legislative body. At the first meeting, new reforms and the possibility of creating a new code of Russian laws were discussed.

In 1550, the Elected Rada issued a new set of laws, which in history was called the Code of Laws of Ivan IV. In fact, there were no big differences between the codes of law (1497) and (1550). However, the structure of the latter was much more thoughtful.

Basic provisions of the Law Code:

• Provisions on combating corruption and arbitrariness;
• Confirmation of the right of peasants to move around November 26 (St. George's Day) from one territory to another;
• Increase in the elderly (payment by the peasant for moving to another territory);

After the discovery of the New World, the conquistadors brought a huge amount of precious metals to Europe. As a result, there was a sharp decline in the value of silver. This affected the purchasing power of all coins backed by silver, the same ones were in use in the Russian state. Silver came from Europe, and Rus' was forced to take the exchange rate into account. This is most likely due to the increase in the elderly population. Thus, they tried to somehow index the income of service people from the elderly.

Prikaznaya and other reforms of Ivan IV and the Elected Rada

The order reform attempted to create a whole series of governing bodies under the Tsar and the Boyar Duma. Orders, aka Huts, aka Palaces, were divided mainly into two types:

1. Permanent.
   • Branch huts - managed individual branches of government (Ambassador, discharge, etc.);
   • Territorial - governed individual territories (Novogorodsky, Tverskoy, etc.).
2. Temporary.

The head of the order was the judge, followed by his deputies, and then ordinary workers.

Later, the Elected Rada, in its heyday, also contributed to the spread of lip reform to all territories of the country. Governors were abolished; elders had to be elected everywhere.

Further, special attention was paid to military affairs. 1556 - Service Regulations. The essence of this reform of the Elected Rada as a whole regulated the ratio of the amount of land in an estate or patrimony with how servants should come to the sovereign's service. That is, they were ordered to arrive for service “on horseback, crowded and armed.”

In the 1550s, a new army was created - Streletsky. This was infantry, armed with new weapons - arquebuses and dressed in European style. They served by conscription, semi-regularly. The fact is that the state could not provide them with a decent income, so in their free time they could engage in other activities (trade, craft, etc.).

Table of reforms of all the Elected Rada

Thus, during the relatively short period of rule of the Elected Rada, it was possible to carry out a number of important reforms. These transformations made it possible to restore order in the country, replenish the treasury, and internal arbitrariness partially ceased. Russia has become a fairly stable state. Internal troubles have subsided, this has allowed us to begin to carry out active work. However, success did not unite the team, and by the 1560s the king had a new entourage.

The table of reforms of all the Elected Rada is presented below.

The beginning of reforms is associated with the creation in 1549 of the Elected Rada - a circle of close like-minded people of the king, who began to play the role of government under the young sovereign. Among the most important events of this government is the convening of the first Zemsky Sobor in the history of Russia in Moscow in February 1549. Throughout the 16th century. Zemstvo councils met quite regularly and were meetings under the tsar, which were assigned an advisory role.

The “Elected Rada” was the body that exercised direct executive power, formed a new administrative apparatus and directed it. The compromise on which the new government was based had three sides: the feudal aristocracy on one side, the serving nobility on the other, and the tsar was also a party to the compromise. In this government activity, bold external enterprises went hand in hand with broad and well-thought-out plans for internal change.

The “Elected Rada” began the creation of centralized government bodies - orders (until the mid-60s they were called “lips”). The task of this institution was to receive petitions (complaints addressed to the sovereign) and conduct investigations into them. Order reform(2nd half of the 50s of the 16th century). A system of executive power and public administration has been created, consisting of 22 orders. The reform resulted in an increase in the size of the bureaucracy, covering all spheres of society with its influence.

Even before the reforms of the mid-16th century. certain branches of government, as well as the management of individual territories, began to be entrusted (“ordered,” as they said then) to the boyars. This is how the first orders appeared - institutions in charge of branches of public administration or individual regions of the country. In the middle of the 16th century. There were already two dozen orders. Military affairs were managed by the Razryadny Prikaz (in charge of the local army), Pushkarsky (artillery), Streletsky (streltsy), Armory Chamber (Arsenal), foreign affairs were managed by the Ambassadorial Prikaz, finances were managed by the Grand Parish Order, state lands distributed to the nobles were managed by the Local Prikaz , serfs - The serf order dealt with the distribution of estates and estates among service people. There were orders that were in charge of certain territories, for example, the order of the Siberian Palace governed Siberia, the order of the Kazan Palace governed the annexed Kazan Khanate.

At the head of the order was a boyar or clerk - a major government official. The orders were in charge of administration, tax collection and the courts. As the tasks of public administration became more complex, the number of orders increased. By the time of Peter the Great's reforms at the beginning of the 18th century. there were about 50 of them. The design of the order system made it possible to centralize the management of the country [ 3] . reign reformist formidable

Law code 1550 Undoubtedly, the largest undertaking of the government of Ivan the Terrible was the new legislative code drawn up in June 1550, which replaced the outdated Code of Laws 1497. Of the 99 articles of the new Code of Laws, 37 were completely new, and in the rest the text of the previous code was subject to coordinate revision.

Social legislation, included in the code of law of 1550, concerns two important issues - land ownership and the dependent population (peasants and slaves).

One of the articles deals with patrimonial land ownership in general. Since the nobility increasingly began to be supported by estates rather than fiefdoms, it is quite clear that the main content of the article mainly concerned land ownership of the feudal nobility. The article proclaims that persons who sold the estate or their relatives who signed the deed of sale are deprived of the right to redeem the alienated land property. The law is on the side of the land buyer. The law promoted the alienation of patrimonial-boyar land property.

The second group of articles of the Code of Laws consists of laws on peasants and slaves. “In an environment of growing class struggle, Adashev’s government did not risk further enslaving the peasants, although this was what the demands of the nobles amounted to. The attitude towards slaves has become even more bitter.”

The Code of Law paid special attention to issues of central and local government. This legislative monument already outlines the main directions along which the restructuring of the state apparatus will take place in the 50s. All transformations begin with local government. Law code 1550 clearly reflected this feature: its transformations relate mainly to viceroyal administration.

The first royal questions set out three groups of problems concerning church reform. Church services and the order of church life were criticized; it was said that it was necessary to elect “immaculate” priests and abbots so that they would carefully fulfill their duties. In a cautious form, it was proposed to eliminate the non-jurisdiction of monasticism and the clergy to the royal court, but the question of the fate of monastic land ownership was of particular importance. While maintaining the old feeding system as a whole, it only makes adjustments to it that limit the power of governors and volosts.

Religious reform was held at the so-called “Stoglavy Council” (meeting of the highest hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church) in 1551. The decisions of the council were summarized in 100 chapters (code of legal norms of the internal life of the Russian clergy and their relationships with society and the state) [ 4] . They included the transfer to the tsar of lands seized by the church from nobles and peasants during his childhood, as well as estates given by the boyars to monasteries for the funeral of the soul; the prohibition of the church from increasing its land holdings without the permission of the king; establishment of uniformity in religious rites, responsibility for their violation, election of archimandrites and abbots.

Stoglav is written in the form of answers to questions about church structure. These questions, written on behalf of Ivan the Terrible, contained a kind of reform program and were presented by the government for consideration by the church council. However, they were only compiled by order of the king, and not by himself [ 5] .

Who was the compiler of the royal questions? Some authors (a manual edited by I. A. Froyanov) call Sylvester . Others (A.V. Kartashev) point to Metropolitan Macarius with the participation of Archpriest Sylvester and Abbot of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery Artemy (he was soon convicted by a church court and exiled to Solovki as a heretic). According to A.V. Kartashev, “... the council of 1551 really achieved its universal goal: it revised all aspects of Russian church life in order to cleanse it, if possible, of all its shortcomings.”

“Stoglav” approved previously adopted decisions on the canonization of local saints and recognition of them as All-Russian saints; prohibited innovation in icon painting; unified the procedure for performing church rites; planned the opening of special schools for the training of priests in Moscow and other cities; condemned the vices in secular and church life; forbade inviting buffoons to weddings; monasteries were forbidden to lend money for growth and to unnecessarily beg the tsar for new lands and preferential charters; monasteries were also forbidden to buy patrimonial estates “without reporting” to the tsar; lands taken from the boyars during Ivan’s childhood (from 1533) were taken away from them.

Monetary (tax) reform was the introduction in 1551 of a new unit of taxation - the large plow. Depending on the fertility of the soil, as well as the social status of the owner of the land, the plow amounted to 400-600 acres of land.

Its size varied depending on the class of the owner of the land,” according to which the Moscow ruble became the main monetary unit of the country. The right to collect trade duties under Ivan IV passed into the hands of the state. The population of the country was obliged to bear taxes - a complex of natural and monetary duties.

Military reform. At the beginning of 1550, the Streltsy army was created, initially numbering 3 thousand people. Artillery was separated into a separate branch of the military and quickly began to grow in quantity, having 3 thousand guns in service by the end of the reign of Ivan the Terrible. In July 1550, localism (occupation of military positions depending on the nobility of the family) was abolished. The local salary of the nobles for their service was increased to 600 quarters of land. In 1556, the feeding system was eliminated, and the boyars became; receive a monetary salary from the state for their service, which has become the main source of livelihood. In the same year, the Service Code was announced, equalizing the responsibilities of military service for boyars and nobles. Carrying out reforms, the government of the Elected Rada tried to satisfy the interests of the serving nobility at the expense of the aristocracy and peasantry. As a result of the reforms carried out, a tendency to limit autocracy to the new serving noble aristocracy emerged.

Land legislation. The central issue of domestic policy in the 50s was the land question. The nature of the land policy of the 50s was determined already in the first major enterprise in the field of the land issue. This event was the deportation, the sentence on October 3, 1550, of a thousand nobles around Moscow, on the basis of which it was planned to build a new Sovereign's court not on a territorial principle, but on the basis of nobility and career success. Therefore, it was decided to place the “chosen thousand” - 1070 nobles. The “thousand” included nobles who did not have their own land near Moscow, which made it difficult for them to serve at court. The deployment of the “best thousand” allowed the government to always have on hand people who could be appointed as commanders in regiments, heads of hundreds, and sent on diplomatic missions to neighboring states. In addition, the transformation was supposed to restore the unity of the peasant class. But the reform encountered some difficulties. To provide a “thousand” with land, at least 118 thousand quarters of arable land were required, and the Treasury did not have such an amount. And therefore the reform was carried out only partially. The Novgorodians were supposed to be the last to be disposed of, but no land was found for them. That is, due to the remoteness of Novgorod from Moscow, Novgorod landowners practically could not serve in Moscow. During the implementation of the reform, some landowners did not have enough land, but the removal of thousanders was, first of all, an event of enormous scale in the field of land relations. As a result of the execution of the sentence on October 3, 1550, the noble landowners received into their hands over 100 thousand quarters of arable land with a corresponding amount of land: meadows and forests. One of the most important acts of policy of the government of Ivan the Terrible is the verdict on May 11, 1551. The significance of this verdict lies in the fact that it formulates the basic principles of the policy of the government of Ivan IV in relation to the two most important categories of feudal land ownership: monastic and princely. According to the verdict of May 11, 1551, bishops and monasteries were to transfer to the treasury all the lands granted to them after the death of Vasily III by the boyar governments. Secondly, they were obliged to return to the old owners - nobles and “Christians” - local and black lands taken by the clergy for debts or “violence”. Thirdly, the law completely prohibited the clergy from acquiring new lands “without reporting.” But the practical results of land measures cannot be overestimated, since the system of restrictions came into effect only if there was a threat of the land leaving service. “If there were heirs and during the normal course of service, the princes from the Sovereign’s court had the right to both the redemption of ancestral lands and the priority right to receive lands from the local fund, replenished from confiscated estates.” The implementation of this reform, expressing the interests of the state and the nobility, was necessary to limit the autocracy of the church and establish control over the land. The purpose of this legislation was not the conservation of previously established land relations, but the expansion of the fund of land ownership, which served as the basis for the new military service

The central reform was the abolition of feeding and the creation of fundamentally new local authorities in their place. Most often in the literature this reform is also called zemstvo reform. It began in 1551 [ 6] It entailed changes in all the most important spheres of society, at all levels of government. “The zemstvo reform can be considered the fourth blow to the feeding system dealt during the reforms.” It was supposed to lead to the final elimination of the power of the governors by replacing it with local governing bodies chosen from the wealthy black-growing peasantry and townspeople. The wealthy circles of the townspeople and the volost peasantry were interested in the implementation of the zemstvo reform. The intensification of class struggle, in the form of brigandage, and the inability of the viceroyal apparatus to successfully suppress the popular masses were the main reasons that made the reform of local government urgent. The provincial and zemstvo reforms, as they were implemented, led to the creation of estate-representative institutions in the localities that met the interests of the nobility, upper towns and wealthy peasantry. The feudal aristocracy gave up some of its privileges, but the meaning of the reform was directed primarily against the working masses in the countryside and city.

“In 1684, the convening and dissolution of the Zemsky Sobor on eternal peace with Poland took place. Thus ended the history of zemstvo assemblies, which had been convened for more than a hundred years. Zemsky Sobors were very important in the history of Russia, which explains the fact that a huge number of works by various scientists and historians are devoted to their study. The creation of zemstvo councils was a big step in improving the state management system and became a key moment in the development of our country as a democratic state.

Domestic history: lecture notes Kulagina Galina Mikhailovna

4.1. Beginning of the reign of Ivan IV. Reforms of the Chosen Council (1548/9–1560)

The heir of Vasily III, who died in 1533, was his three-year-old son Ivan IV (1533–1584). In fact, the mother, Elena Glinskaya, ruled for the child. The short regency of Elena Glinskaya (1533–1538) was marked not only by the fight against numerous conspirators and rebels, but also by reform activities. The carried out monetary reform unified the monetary circulation system. Unified banknotes - kopecks - were introduced, and a standard for the weight of coins was determined. Measures of weight and length were also unified. Local government reform has begun. In order to limit the power of governors, the institution of provincial elders was introduced in the country. This elective position could only be held by a nobleman. Representatives of the upper strata of the urban and rural population were elected to help him. Such people received the right to occupy the position of zemstvo elder. The government of Elena Glinskaya paid great attention to strengthening the country's defense. To protect the Moscow suburb, the walls of Kitai-Gorod were built.

After the sudden death of Elena in 1538, the next few years were spent in the struggle for power between the boyar groups of the Shuisky and Belsky.

In January 1547, when the heir of Vasily III turned 17 years old, Ivan Vasilyevich accepted the royal title. The political meaning of this event was to strengthen the power of the Moscow sovereign, his authority excluded from that moment any claims to the supreme power of the descendants of aristocratic families. The new title equated the head of the Russian state with the khans of the Golden Horde and the emperors of Byzantium.

At the very end of the 1540s. A circle of associates formed around the young tsar, called the government of the Elected Rada (1548/9–1560), which carried out a number of important transformations in the life of the country aimed at strengthening the centralized state.

In 1549, the Zemsky Sobor was convened for the first time. This became the name for the meetings periodically assembled by the tsar to resolve and discuss the most important issues of the state’s domestic and foreign policy. The Zemsky Sobor included representatives of the boyars, nobility, clergy, and the elite of the townspeople. It became the highest advisory estate-representative body. The Zemsky Sobor of 1549 considered the problems of abolishing “feedings” and suppressing the abuses of governors, so it was called the Council of Reconciliation. The Boyar Duma continued to play an important role in the government of the country. Orders arose - bodies in charge of individual branches of public administration. Among the first, petition, local, zemstvo and other orders were formed, and their employees were called clerks and clerks.

In 1550, a new Code of Law of the Russian State was adopted. The Code of Justice introduced legal norms defining the punishment of officials for unfair trials and bribery. The judicial powers of the royal governors were limited. The Code of Laws contained instructions on the activities of orders. The right of peasants to move on St. George's Day was confirmed. The Code of Law of 1550 introduced a significant restriction on the enslavement of children of slaves. A child born before his parents were enslaved was recognized as free.

The principles of local government were radically changed. In 1556, the “feeding” system was abolished throughout the state. Administrative and judicial functions were transferred to provincial and zemstvo elders.

A significant restructuring of the armed forces began. A cavalry army was formed from service people (nobles and boyar children). In 1550, a permanent streltsy army was created. Infantrymen armed with firearms began to be called archers. The artillery was also strengthened. From the total mass of service people, a “chosen thousand” was formed: it included the best nobles endowed with lands near Moscow.

A unified system of land taxation was introduced - the “big Moscow plow”. The size of tax payments began to depend on the nature of land ownership and the quality of the land used. Secular feudal lords, landowners and patrimonial owners received greater benefits compared to the clergy and state peasants.

In February 1551, the Council of the Russian Church was convened, which received the name Stoglavogo, since its decisions were set out in 100 chapters. The Council discussed a wide range of issues: church discipline and the morality of monks, enlightenment and spiritual education, the appearance and standards of behavior of a Christian. The unification of the rituals of the Russian Orthodox Church was especially important.

The reform activities of the Chosen Rada lasted about ten years. Already in 1553, disagreements between the king and his entourage began. The conflict situation intensified after the death of Queen Anastasia in 1560. Ivan IV accused the Chosen Rada of poisoning his beloved royal wife. At the same time, disagreements between the tsar and members of the Chosen Rada on issues of foreign and domestic policy led to the cessation of its existence. Reforms were suspended.

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