What principalities were in ancient Rus'. Kievan Rus and Russian principalities

Moved to new period, entitled Specific Rus', during which Russian territories were divided into independent states.

Served this, which arose for a number of reasons:

The intricate principle of inheritance and overgrown offspring;
Increase in boyar land ownership;
Politics in the principalities, guided by the interests of the nobility, which is beneficial to have a prince defending his own rights than to stand on the side of the prince of Kyiv;
Veche power, which existed in many cities in parallel with the princely one and contributed to the independence of individual settlements;
The impact of subsistence farming.

But such a device interfered with the fight against external enemies(the aggressive actions of the Mongols, attacks from German knights who, together with the Swedes, are trying to force a change in religion), which was the main reason for the unification of Russian principalities and lands, which had their own developmental characteristics.

One of these lands is the Novgorod Republic, which got out of the control of the princes of Kyiv in 1136, the peculiarity of which is the type of political administration. Unlike other Russian lands, the head was a posadnik, not a prince. He and the thousand's manager were elected with the help, and not the prince (as in other lands). Novgorod land was feudal republic until 1478. Then - the collector of Russian lands - abolished the veche and annexed the territory to Moscow Novgorod Republic.

The Pskov Republic, ruled by the governors of Kyiv until 1136, in turn became part of the Novgorod Republic, while enjoying broad autonomy (independence). And from 1348 it became completely independent until 1510, when it was also attached to the Moscow principality.

Samo Muscovy in the 13th century, it separated from the great Vladimir principality. In the early years of the 14th century, the Principality of Moscow entered into rivalry with the Principality of Tver for the expansion of its territory. In 1328, by order, he defeated Tver for an uprising against the Horde, and soon received the title of Grand Duke of Vladimir. The descendants of Ivan, with rare exceptions, retained their place on the princely throne. The victory in Moscow finally and firmly fixed the importance of the center of the unification of Russian lands for Moscow.

Under the reign of Ivan 3, the period of unification of the Russian principalities around Moscow came to an end. Under Vasily 3, Moscow became the center of the Russian centralized state. By this time, having annexed, in addition to all of North-Eastern Rus' (" Suzdal land"until the 13th century, from the end of the 13th century called the" great princedom of Vladimir ") and Novgorod, also the Smolensk lands conquered from Lithuania ( Russian principality, located in the upper reaches of the Dnieper, Volga and Western Dvina) and Chernihiv Principality(located on the banks of the Dnieper).

The Ryazan principality belonged to the Chernigov land, which separated into a separate Muromo-Ryazan principality, and since the middle of the 12th century it has been a grand principality, with the capital in the city of Ryazan. The Ryazan principality was the first to be severely attacked by the Mongol-Tatars.

The Grand Duchy of Lithuania - the state of Eastern Europe, which existed from the middle of the 13th century to the 18th century, was a rival of the Moscow principality in the struggle for power.

The Polotsk principality - one of the first to stand out from the composition of the Old Russian state, later became independent with its capital in Polotsk (in the 14-18 centuries a large city in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania).

Neighbors and competitors Principality of Lithuania from the middle of the 13th century there was the Galicia-Volyn principality - one of the most extensive Russian southwestern principalities. It was created at the merger of two principalities: Volyn and Galicia.

For a long time, Slavic, Latvian, Lithuanian Finno-Ugric tribes lived scattered throughout the vast territories of Eastern Europe. On the territory of the future mighty state of Kievan Rus, such East Slavic tribes lived:

drevlyans, meadows, northerners,Dulibs, Tivertsy, White Croats - these tribes are the future Ukrainians;
Dregovichi, Polochans - future Belarusians;
Krivichi, Radimichi, Slovenes, Vyatichi - future Russians.

In the 8th-9th centuries, the process of unification of these tribes and the formation of ancient Russian people. Thus, a powerful state is formed with a territory of about 1,330,000 km², FROM: Taman Peninsula in the south, Dniester to the Northern Dvina in the north.

It must be said that when the tribes united, there were two centers of the state at once - Novgorod and Kyiv. The origins of the grand ducal dynasty belonged to Novgorod, but the capital was in Kyiv.

The collapse of the great state into principalities.

"And the whole Russian land was uplifted..."- such is the record of the chronicler that has come down to us. Which indicated that he died Grand Duke Kyiv Mstislav and all the principalities came out of obedience to the capital of Kyiv.

In the second quarter of the 12th century, Kievan Rus actually broke up into independent principalities.

To middle of XII century Kievan Rus was fragmented into 13 principalities. The principalities pursued their own policies. Kyiv was the most desirable territory of all the principalities and was a constant "bone of contention".

One can observe how strong the fragmentation of the great state was.

became the most powerful Kiev principality, later the Vladzhimir-Suzdal and Smolensk principalities were stronger.

9 principalities became the property of the sons of the eldest grandson of Yaroslav the Wise. Later received the name - Galician Principality.

In the principality of Chernigov, the sons of Davyd and Oleg Svyatoslavich ruled.

In the Principality of Murom, their uncle Yaroslav Svyatoslavich ruled.

Some principalities disintegrated over time, some were completely destroyed. As the Tmutarakan principality, which fell under the raids of the Polovtsy in the XII century, ceased to exist.

And by the 13th century total Principalities have already reached 50.

Despite the huge decline in power and defense potential, the period feudal fragmentation characterized as the prosperity of cities and the growth of culture.

In the XV-XVII centuries, the period of fragmentation of these lands ends and a single Moscow state. which has become one of the most major states in Europe.

After a period of active “gathering” of lands and “bailing” of tribes by the Kyiv princes in the 10th - first half of the 11th century. the general border of Rus' in the west, south and southeast stabilized. In these zones, not only no new territorial additions take place, but, on the contrary, some possessions are lost. This was due both to internal strife, which weakened the Russian lands, and to the appearance of powerful military-political formations on these frontiers: in the south, such a force was the Polovtsy, in the west - the kingdoms of Hungary and Poland, in the north-west at the beginning of the 13th century. a state was formed, as well as two German orders - the Teutonic and the Order of the Sword. The main areas where expansion continued common territory Rus', became the north and northeast. The economic benefits of developing this region, a rich source of furs, attracted Russian merchants and fishermen, along whose routes a stream of settlers rushed to new lands. The local Finno-Ugric population (Karelians, Chud Zavolochskaya) did not seriously resist the Slavic colonization, although there are separate reports of skirmishes in the sources. The relatively peaceful nature of the penetration of the Slavs into these territories is explained, firstly, by the low density of the indigenous population, and secondly, by the various natural "niches" occupied by local tribes and settlers. If the Finno-Ugric tribes gravitated more towards dense forests, which provided ample opportunities for hunting, then the Slavs preferred to settle in open areas suitable for agriculture.

Specific system in the XII - early XIII century

By the middle of the XII century. Old Russian state disintegrated into principalities-lands. In the history of fragmentation, two stages are distinguished, separated by the Mongol-Tatar invasion of the 1230s–1240s. to the lands of Eastern Europe. The beginning of this process is defined by researchers in different ways. The most reasonable is the opinion that the trend towards fragmentation has been clearly manifested since the middle of the 11th century, when after the death of Yaroslav the Wise (1054), Kievan Rus was divided among his sons into separate possessions - appanages. The eldest of the Yaroslavichs - Izyaslav - received the Kyiv and Novgorod lands, Svyatoslav - the Chernigov, Seversk, Muromo-Ryazan lands and Tmutarakan. Vsevolod, in addition to Pereyaslav land, received Rostov-Suzdal, which included the north-east of Rus' to Beloozero and Sukhona. Smolensk land went to Vyacheslav, and Galicia-Volyn - to Igor. Somewhat isolated was the Polotsk land, which was owned by the grandson of Vladimir Vseslav Bryachislavich, who actively fought with the Yaroslavichs for independence. This division was subjected to repeated revision, and even smaller destinies began to form within the existing territories. Feudal fragmentation is fixed by the decisions of several congresses of princes, the main of which was Lyubech congress 1097, which established “everyone and keep his fatherland”, thereby recognizing the independence of the possessions. Only under Vladimir Monomakh (1113–1125) and Mstislav Vladimirovich (1125–1132) was it possible to temporarily restore the primacy of the Kyiv prince over all Russian lands, but then fragmentation finally prevailed.

Population of principalities and lands

Kievan principality. After the death of the Kyiv prince Mstislav Vladimirovich and independence of Novgorod in 1136, the direct possessions of the Kyiv princes narrowed to the limits of the ancient lands of the glades and drevlyans on the right bank of the Dnieper and along its tributaries - the Pripyat, Teterev, Ros. On the left bank of the Dnieper, the principality included lands up to Trubezh ( great importance for communication with these lands, he had a bridge across the Dnieper from Kyiv, built by Vladimir Monomakh in 1115). In the annals, this territory, like the entire Middle Dnieper region, was sometimes referred to in the narrow sense of the word "Russian land". Of the cities, in addition to Kyiv, Belgorod (on the Irpin), Vyshgorod, Zarub, Kotelnitsa, Chernobyl and others are known. southern part Kyiv land- Porosye - was an area of a kind of "military settlements". In this area there was whole line towns that began to be built back in the time of Yaroslav the Wise, who settled captive Poles here (). In the Ros basin, there was a powerful Kanev forest and fortress towns (Torchesk, Korsun, Boguslavl, Volodarev, Kanev) were erected here thanks to the support that the forest provided against nomads, at the same time, strengthening this natural defense. In the XI century. the princes began to settle in Porosie Pechenegs, Torks, Berendeys, Polovtsy, who were captured by them or voluntarily entered their service. This population was called black hoods. Black hoods led nomadic image life, and in the cities that the princes built for them, they took refuge only during the Polovtsian attacks or for wintering. For the most part, they remained pagans, and apparently got their name from the characteristic headdresses.

hood(from Turkic - "kalpak") - the headdress of Orthodox monks in the form of a high round cap with a black veil falling over the shoulders.

Perhaps the steppe people wore similar hats. In the XIII century. black hoods became part of the population of the Golden Horde. In addition to the cities, Porosye was also fortified by ramparts, the remains of which survived at least until the beginning of the 20th century.

Kiev principality in the second half of the XII century. became the subject of a struggle between numerous contenders for the Kyiv Grand Duke's table. im in different time Chernigov, Smolensk, Volyn, Rostov-Suzdal, and later Vladimir-Suzdal and Galician-Volyn princes owned. Some of them, sitting on the throne, lived in Kyiv, others considered the Kiev principality only as a controlled land.

Pereyaslav principality. Pereyaslavskaya, adjacent to Kievskaya, covered the territory along the left tributaries of the Dnieper: Sula, Pselu, Vorskla. In the east, it reached the upper reaches of the Seversky Donets, which was here the border of the Russian settlement. The forests that covered this area served as protection for both Pereyaslavsky and Novgorod-Seversky principalities. The main fortified line went east from the Dnieper along the border of the forest. It was made up of cities along the river. Sule, the banks of which were also covered with forest. This line was strengthened by Vladimir Svyatoslavich, and his successors did the same. The forests stretching along the banks of the Psel and Vorskla provided the Russian population with an opportunity already in the 12th century. advance south of this fortified line. But progress in this direction was not great and was limited to the construction of several cities, which were, as it were, outposts of the Russian settled way of life. On the southern borders principalities also in the XI-XII centuries. settlements of black hoods arose. The capital of the principality was the city of Pereyaslavl South (or Russian) on Trubezh. Voin (on the Sula), Ksnyatin, Romen, Donets, Lukoml, Ltava, Gorodets stood out from other cities.

Chernihiv land located from the middle Dnieper in the west to the upper reaches of the Don in the east, and in the north to the Ugra and the middle reaches of the Oka. Within the principality special place occupied the Seversky land located along the middle Desna and the Seim, the name of which goes back to the tribe of the northerners. In these lands, the population was concentrated in two groups. The main mass held on the Desna and the Seimas under the protection of the forest, here were the largest cities: Chernigov, Novgorod-Seversky, Lyubech, Starodub, Trubchevsk, Bryansk (Debryansk), Putivl, Rylsk and Kursk. Another group - Vyatichi - lived in the forests of the upper Oka and its tributaries. At the time under consideration, there were few significant events here, except for Kozelsk. settlements, but after the invasion of the Tatars, a number of cities appeared on this territory, which became the residences of several specific principalities.

Vladimir-Suzdal land. From the middle of the XI century. the northeast of Kievan Rus is assigned to the branch of the Rurikids, originating from Vsevolod Yaroslavich. By the end of the century, the territory of this inheritance, which was ruled by Vladimir Vsevolodovich Monomakh and his sons, included the vicinity of Beloozero (in the north), the Sheksna basin, the Volga region from the mouth of the Medveditsa (the left tributary of the Volga) to Yaroslavl, and in the south it reached the middle Klyazma. The main cities of this territory in the X-XI centuries. there were Rostov and Suzdal, located between the Volga and Klyazma rivers, so during this period it was called the Rostov, Suzdal or Rostov-Suzdal land. By the end of the XII century. as a result of successful military and political actions of the Rostov-Suzdal princes, the territory of the principality occupied much more extensive areas. In the south, it included the entire Klyazma basin with the middle course of the Moskva River. The extreme southwest went beyond Volokolamsk, from where the borders went to the north and northeast, including the left bank and the lower reaches of the Tvertsa, Medveditsa and Mologa. The principality included the lands around the White Lake (to the source of the Onega in the north) and along the Sheksna; retreating somewhat south of the Sukhona, the boundaries of the principality went to the east, including the lands along the lower Sukhona. Eastern borders located along the left bank of the Unzha and the Volga to the lower reaches of the Oka.

The development of the economy here was greatly influenced by relatively favorable natural and climatic conditions. In the Volga-Klyazma interfluve (Zalessky Territory), mainly covered with forest, there were open areas - the so-called opolya, convenient for the development of agriculture. Sufficiently warm summers, good moisture and fertility of the soil, forest cover contributed to relatively high and, most importantly, stable yields, which for the population medieval Rus' was very important. The amount of bread grown here in the 12th - first half of the 13th century made it possible to export part of it to the Novgorod land. Opolya not only united the agricultural district, but, as a rule, it was here that cities appeared. Examples of this are the Rostov, Suzdal, Yuryev and Pereyaslav opoles.

To ancient cities Beloozero, Rostov, Suzdal and Yaroslavl in the XII century. a number of new ones are added. Vladimir is rapidly rising, founded on the banks of the Klyazma by Vladimir Monomakh, and under Andrei Bogolyubsky, it became the capital of the whole earth. Especially stormy urban planning activities Yury Dolgoruky (1125–1157), who founded Ksnyatin at the mouth of the Nerl, was distinguished, Yuryev Polskaya on the river. Koloksha - the left tributary of the Klyazma, Dmitrov on Yakhroma, Uglich on the Volga, built the first wooden one in Moscow in 1156, transferred Pereyaslavl Zalessky from Lake Kleshchina to the Trubezh, which flows into it. He is also attributed (with varying degrees validity) the foundation of Zvenigorod, Kideksha, Gorodets Radilov and other cities. Dolgoruky's sons Andrei Bogolyubsky (1157–1174) and Vsevolod Big Nest(1176-1212) pay more attention to the expansion of their possessions to the north and east, where rivals Vladimir princes the Novgorodians and Volga Bulgaria. At this time, the cities of Kostroma, Velikaya Salt, Nerekhta arose in the Volga region, somewhat to the north - Galich Mersky (all associated with salt mining and salt trading), further to the northeast - Unzha and Ustyug, on Klyazma - Bogolyubov, Gorokhovets and Starodub. On the eastern borders, Gorodets Radilov on the Volga and Meshchersk became strongholds in the wars with Bulgaria and the Russian colonization of the middle.

After the death of Vsevolod the Big Nest (1212), political fragmentation led to the emergence of a number of independent principalities in the Vladimir-Suzdal land: Vladimir, Rostov, Pereyaslav, Yuryevsky. In turn, smaller destinies appear in them. Thus, Uglich and Yaroslavl separated from the principality of Rostov around 1218. In Vladimirsky, the Suzdal and Starodub principalities were temporarily distinguished as destinies.

Main part Novgorod land covered the basin of the lake and the rivers Volkhov, Msta, Lovat, Shelon and Mologa. The extreme northern Novgorod suburb was Ladoga, located on the Volkhov, not far from its confluence with Lake Nevo (Ladoga). Ladoga became a stronghold of the northwestern Finno-Ugric tribes subordinate to Novgorod - Vodi, Izhora Korela () and Emi. In the west, the most important cities were Pskov and Izborsk. Izborsk - one of the oldest Slavic cities - practically did not develop. Pskov, on the contrary, located at the confluence of the Pskov with the Velikaya River, gradually became the largest of the Novgorod suburbs, a significant trade and craft center. This allowed him to subsequently gain independence (finally, the Pskov land, which stretched from Narva through Lake Peipus and Pskov to the south to the upper reaches of the Great, separated from Novgorod in the middle of the 14th century). Prior to the capture by the order of the sword-bearers of Yuryev with the district (1224), the Novgorodians also owned the lands to the west of Lake Peipsi.

To the south of Lake Ilmen was another of the most ancient Slavic cities of Staraya Russa. Novgorod possessions to the southwest covered Velikie Luki, on the upper reaches of the Lovat, and in the southeast the upper reaches of the Volga and Lake Seliger (here, on a small Volga tributary of the Tvertsa, Torzhok arose - an important center of Novgorod-Suzdal trade). The southeastern Novgorod borders adjoined the Vladimir-Suzdal lands.

If in the west, south and southeast Novgorod land had fairly clear boundaries, then in the north and northeast during the period under review there is an active development of new territories and the subordination of the indigenous Finno-Ugric population. In the north, the Novgorod possessions include the southern and eastern coasts (Tersky coast), the lands of Obonezhye and Zaonezhye up to. The north-east of Eastern Europe from Zavolochye to the Subpolar Urals become an object of penetration by Novgorod fishers. local tribes Perm, Pechora, Ugra were connected with Novgorod by tributary relations.

In the Novgorod lands and in close proximity from them arose several areas where mining took place iron ore and iron smelting. In the first half of the XIII century. on Mologa, the city of Zhelezny Ustyug (Ustyuzhna Zheleznopolskaya) arose. Another area was between Ladoga and Lake Peipsi in the lands of water. Iron production also took place on the southern coast of the White Sea.

Polotsk land, which was isolated before everyone else, included the space along the Western Dvina, Berezina, Neman and their tributaries. Already from the beginning of the XII century. an intensive process of political fragmentation was going on in the principality: independent Polotsk, Minsk, Vitebsk principalities, appanages in Drutsk, Borisov and other centers appeared. Some of them in the east come under the authority of the Smolensk princes. Western and northwestern lands (Black Rus') from the middle of the XIII century. depart for Lithuania.

Smolensk principality occupied the territories of the upper reaches of the Dnieper and the Western Dvina. Of the significant cities, in addition to Smolensk, Toropets, Dorogobuzh, Vyazma are known, which later became centers of independent destinies. The principality was an area of developed Agriculture and a supplier of bread for Novgorod, and since its territory was the most important transport hub, where the upper reaches largest rivers Eastern Europe, the cities conducted a brisk intermediary trade.

Turov-Pinsk land was located along the middle reaches of the Pripyat and its tributaries, the Ubort, Goryn, Styr, and, like the Smolensk, had Russian lands on all its borders. The largest cities were Turov (the capital) and Pinsk (Pinesk), and in the XII - early XIII centuries. Grodno, Kletsk, Slutsk and Nesvizh arose here. AT late XII in. the principality broke up into Pinsk, Turov, Kletsk and Slutsk destinies, which were dependent on the Galician-Volyn princes.

In the extreme west and southwest, independent Volyn and Galician lands, at the end of the XII century. united into one Galicia-Volyn principality. Galician land occupied the northeastern slopes of the Carpathian (Ugric) mountains, which were a natural border with. The northwestern part of the principality occupied the upper reaches of the San River (a tributary of the Vistula), and the center and southeast - the basin of the middle and upper Dniester. Volyn land covered the territory along the Western Bug and the upper reaches of the Pripyat. In addition, the Galicia-Volyn principality owned lands along the Seret, Prut and Dniester rivers up to, but their dependence was nominal, since the population was very small here. In the west, the principality bordered on. During the period of fragmentation in the Volyn land, there were Lutsk, Volyn, Beresteisky and other destinies.

Muromo-Ryazan land until the 12th century was part of the Chernigov land. Its main territory was located in the basin of the Middle and Lower Oka from the mouth of the Moskva River to the outskirts of Murom. By the middle of the XII century. the principality broke up into Murom and Ryazan, from which Pronskoe later stood out. Largest cities- Ryazan, Pereyaslavl Ryazansky, Murom, Kolomna, Pronsk - were the centers of handicraft production. The main occupation of the population of the principality was arable farming, grain was exported from here to other Russian lands.

A separate position stood out Tmutarakan Principality located at the mouth of the Kuban, on the Taman Peninsula. In the east, his possessions reached the confluence of the Bolshoi Yegorlyk with the Manych, and in the west they included. With the onset of feudal fragmentation, Tmutarakan's ties with other Russian principalities gradually faded.

It should be noted that the territorial fragmentation of Rus' had no ethnic grounds. Although in the XI-XII centuries. the population of the Russian lands did not represent a single ethnic group, but was a conglomerate of 22 different tribes, the boundaries of individual principalities, as a rule, did not coincide with the boundaries of their settlement. So, the area of settlement of the Krivichi turned out to be on the territory of several lands at once: Novgorod, Polotsk, Smolensk, Vladimir-Suzdal. The population of each fief most often formed from several tribes, and in the north and northeast of Rus', the Slavs gradually assimilated some of the indigenous Finno-Ugric and Baltic tribes. In the south and southwest of Slavic population elements of nomadic Turkic-speaking ethnic groups were poured in. The division into lands was largely artificial, determined by the princes, who allotted certain destinies to their heirs.

It is difficult to determine the level of population of each of the lands, since there are no direct indications of this in the sources. To some extent, in this matter, one can focus on the number of urban settlements in them. According to M.P. Pogodin’s rough estimates, in the Kiev, Volyn and Galician principalities, according to the annals, more than 40 cities are mentioned in each, in Turov - more than 10, in Chernigov with Seversky, Kursk and the land of the Vyatichi - about 70, in Ryazan - 15, in Pereyaslavsky - about 40, in Suzdal - about 20, in Smolensk - 8, in Polotsk - 16, in Novgorod land- 15, total in all Russian lands - more than 300. If the number of cities was directly proportional to the population of the territory, it is obvious that Rus' south of the line of the upper reaches of the Neman - the upper reaches of the Don was an order of magnitude higher in population density than the northern principalities and lands.

In parallel with the political fragmentation of Rus', church dioceses were being formed on its territory. The boundaries of the metropolis, whose center was in Kyiv, in the XI - the first half of the XIII century. completely matched with common borders Russian lands, and the borders of the emerging dioceses basically coincided with the borders of specific principalities. In the XI-XII centuries. the centers of the dioceses were Turov, Belgorod on the Irpen, Yuryev and Kanev in Porosie, Vladimir Volynsky, Polotsk, Rostov, Vladimir on the Klyazma, Ryazan, Smolensk, Chernigov, Pereyaslavl South, Galich and Przemysl. In the XIII century. Volyn cities were added to them - Holm, Ugrovsk, Lutsk. Novgorod, which was originally the center of the diocese, in the XII century. became the capital of the first archdiocese in Rus'.

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As we have seen, the Kievan state in the IX century. It was made up of separate "volosts", or "principalities", in which the Varangian or Slavic princes once sat, subjugated or exterminated by the Kievan great princes. While the Kyiv princes were sovereign, the volosts obeyed them and were ruled by princely governors (“posadniks”) from Kyiv. Both the sons of the great Kyiv princes and their warriors were in the position of such posadniks. When the autocracy was lost and princely family multiplied and divided into branches, then each significant city had its own princes. Not all of them wanted to obey Kyiv prince; very often they were at enmity with the Grand Duke of Kyiv and tried to become independent from him. Gradually, the connection between the volosts and Kyiv weakened and weakened; in the 12th century The Kievan state again turned into a series of volosts, or lands, isolated from each other. The most important of these were the lands: Kyiv , Chernihiv-Severskaya, Volyn and Galician - in the southern half of Rus'; Polotsk , Smolensk , Novgorod , Rostov-Suzdal and Muromo-Ryazanskaya - in the northern half of Rus'.

In the center of each of these volosts, or lands, there was an older city, or “great”, to which the entire volost and the younger cities in it, the “suburbs” of the older city, obeyed. According to the chronicler, “From the beginning, Novgorodians and Smolnyans and Kiyans and Polochans and all authorities (that is, volosts), as if in thought, converge for ever; what the elders will think of, they will stand on the same suburb. The custom of veche meetings has existed since ancient times in tribal unions and communities. When the volosts lived apart, they were governed evenings : veche called and dressed up the prince; the veche chose "elders" or "old men" to manage worldly affairs; The veche judged its fellow citizens, started wars and made peace with neighbors. When Kievan dynasty subjugated the volosts, the activity of veche meetings naturally narrowed: they began to be in charge of only their local community affairs. When in the twelfth century The Kievan dynasty weakened in civil strife, the veche in the volosts returned to their former independence. They entered into agreements (ranks) with princes, called for princes who were pleasing to them, and did not let unloved princes into the city; tried to influence the course of princely strife, demanding their cessation or starting a war against princes hostile to the city. To manage the affairs of their city, the veche chose its own people, the "elders." Among them, one of the most notable was thousand . Tysyatsky commanded the city militia, called "thousands"; he was subordinated to the "Sotsky" and "Tens", the heads of smaller detachments. When the princes were strong and enjoyed great power in the volosts, they appointed thousandths; with the fall of their power, the right to elect a thousandth passed to the veche. The veche of the older cities arrogated to itself the power to send from itself posadniks to the suburbs; and sometimes, as, for example, in Novgorod, it elected its mayor even for the oldest city, independently of the prince and princely officials. Thus, the veche administration was strengthened in the cities, with which the princes had to reckon, and sometimes even fight.

Pskov Veche. Artist A. Vasnetsov, 1909

Veche orders are little known to us, because no written documents have survived from veche meetings. Usually, at the meeting, all the free adults of the city converged on the ringing of the bell; if there were people coming from the suburbs in the city, then they went to the veche. The case was reported to the veche either by the prince, if the veche was collected by the prince, or by the "elders of the city", the elected authorities of the city, which constituted special advice. The Veche shouted out its opinion. To solve a case, it was required that everyone should agree on one thought; individual votes were not counted, but they were convinced by eye that there were no noticeable objections to the prevailing opinion. If the objections were loud and stubborn, and the minority did not want to submit to the majority, then it came to open quarrels and internecine strife; the minority was suppressed even by force. There was no fixed time for convening veche meetings; veche “called” when there was a need for it. The meeting place was usually an open town square.

Simultaneously with the veche power in the cities, princely power also acted. The prince, as in ancient pagan times, was primarily a military guard of the volost, for which he received "tribute" from the volost. With his squad, he became the head zemstvo militia, "thousands", and led her to the enemy. AT Peaceful time the prince took part in the management of the volost: he judged the court according to important cases leaving less important things to their "tiuns" (servants); supervised the activities of the veche, convening it and reporting matters to it; communicated with neighboring volosts and foreign owners on political and commercial matters. Everything that the prince did, he did with his retinue. It consisted of two parts: the senior squad and the junior squad. The first consisted of "boyars" and "husbands" - free and even noble princely servants; the second was made up of "gridi" and "lads" - unfree and semi-free warriors and workers. From the senior squad, the prince made up his "thought" - advice on all state affairs; sometimes the city "elders" or "elders" were also invited to this Duma. From his retinue, the prince chose his deputies to the cities and, in general, judges and officials. Without the boyars, the prince did not undertake any important business, because the boyars, serving by voluntary agreement, could refuse to help the prince in such a matter, which he planned without them. They could leave from one prince to another, “move away” from their master, and this was not considered treason at that time. Each boyar had his own squad, sometimes very crowded, and owned lands, and therefore used great value and respect in the society of that time. The younger squad of the prince, completely dependent on him, made up his household and his army. The more numerous was the prince's squad, the stronger was the prince himself. That is why the princes took great care of the squad, attracted boyars and servants and tried to provide them well in order to tie them tighter to themselves. Receiving tribute from their volost and duties from their court, the princes turned these funds mainly to the maintenance of the squad. Having rich and well-organized villages, the princes shared the income from them with the retinue. The number of princely squads sometimes reached a thousand people.