Names of centers of Russian principalities and lands. Novgorod feudal republic

After the death of the Kyiv prince Yaroslav the Wise in 1054, the process of disintegration of the formerly unified state began in Russia. Similar events took place in Western Europe. This was the general trend of the feudal Middle Ages. Gradually, Russia was divided into several de facto independent principalities with common traditions, culture and the Rurik dynasty. The most important year for the country was 1132, when Mstislav the Great died. It is this date that historians consider the beginning of the final political fragmentation. In this state, Russia existed until the middle of the XIII century, when it survived the invasion of the Mongol-Tatar troops.

Kyiv land

Over the years, the principalities of ancient Russia were divided, united, the ruling branches of the Rurik dynasty changed, etc. Nevertheless, despite the complexity of these events, several key destinies can be distinguished that played the most important role in the life of the country. Even after the actual collapse, de jure, it was the Kyiv prince who was considered the elder.

A variety of specific rulers tried to establish control over the "mother of Russian cities". Therefore, if the specific principalities of ancient Russia had their hereditary dynasties, then Kyiv most often passed from hand to hand. After the death of Mstislav Vladimirovich in 1132, the city briefly became the property of the Chernigov Rurikids. This did not suit the other representatives of the dynasty. Due to the ensuing wars, Kyiv first ceased to control the Pereyaslav, Turov and Vladimir-Volyn principalities, and then (in 1169) it was completely plundered by the army of Andrei Bogolyubsky and finally lost its political significance.

Chernihiv

Ancient Russia on Chernihiv land belonged to the descendants of Svyatoslav Yaroslavovich. They were in conflict with Kyiv for a long time. The Chernihiv dynasty for several decades was divided into two branches: the Olgovichi and the Davydovichi. With each generation, more and more new specific principalities arose that broke away from Chernigov (Novgorod-Seversk, Bryansk, Kursk, etc.).

Historians consider Svyatoslav Olgovich to be the brightest ruler of this region. He was an ally It is with their allied feast in Moscow in 1147 that the history of the capital of Russia, confirmed by chronicles, begins. When the principalities of ancient Russia united in the struggle against the Mongols that appeared in the east, the specific rulers of the Chernigov land came out together with the rest of the Rurikovichs and were defeated. The invasion of the steppes did not affect the entire principality, but only its eastern part. Nevertheless, it recognized itself as a vassal of the Golden Horde (after the painful death of Mikhail Vsevolodovich). In the XIV century, Chernihiv, along with many neighboring cities, was annexed to Lithuania.

Polotsk region

The Izyaslavichs (descendants of Izyaslav Vladimirovich) ruled in Polotsk. This branch of Rurikovich stood out earlier than others. In addition, Polotsk was the first to start an armed struggle for independence from Kyiv. The earliest such war took place as early as the beginning of the 11th century.

Like other principalities of ancient Russia during the period of fragmentation, Polotsk eventually split into several small destinies (Vitebsk, Minsk, Drutsk, etc.). Some of these cities as a result of wars and dynastic marriages passed to the Smolensk Rurikovich. But the most dangerous opponents of Polotsk, without a doubt, were the Lithuanians. At first, these Baltic tribes staged predatory raids on Russian lands. Then they moved on to conquest. In 1307, Polotsk finally became part of the growing power of the Lithuanian state.

Volyn

In Volhynia (the south-west of modern Ukraine), two major political centers stood out - Vladimir-Volynsky and Galich. Having become independent from Kyiv, these principalities began to compete with each other for leadership in the region. At the end of the XII century, Roman Mstislavovich united the two cities. His principality was named Galicia-Volyn. The influence of the monarch was so great that he sheltered the Byzantine emperor Alexei III, expelled from Constantinople by the crusaders.

Roman's son Daniel eclipsed his father's successes with his fame. He successfully fought against the Poles, Hungarians and Mongols, periodically making alliances with one of his neighbors. In 1254, Daniel even accepted the title of King of Russia from the Pope, hoping for help from Western Europe in the fight against the steppes. After his death, the Galicia-Volyn principality fell into decay. First, it broke up into several destinies, and then was captured by Poland. The fragmentation of Ancient Russia, whose principalities were constantly at enmity with each other, prevented her from fighting against external threats.

Smolensk region

The Smolensk principality was located in the geographical center of Russia. It became independent under the son of Mstislav the Great Rostislav. At the end of the XII century, the principalities of Ancient Russia again began a fierce struggle for Kyiv. The main contenders for power in the ancient capital were the rulers of Smolensk and Chernigov.

The descendants of Rostislav reached the pinnacle of power under Mstislav Romanovich. In 1214-1223. he ruled not only Smolensk, but also Kyiv. It was this prince who initiated the first anti-Mongolian coalition, which was defeated at Kalka. Subsequently, Smolensk suffered less than others during the invasion. Nevertheless, its rulers paid tribute to the Golden Horde. Gradually, the principality found itself sandwiched between Lithuania and Moscow, which were gaining influence. Independence under such conditions could not last long. As a result, in 1404, the Lithuanian prince Vitovt naturally annexed Smolensk to his possessions.

Outpost on the Oka

The Ryazan principality occupied lands on the Middle Oka. It stood out from the possessions of the Chernigov rulers. In the 1160s, Murom broke away from Ryazan. The Mongol invasion hit this region painfully. The inhabitants, princes, principalities of ancient Russia did not understand the threat posed by the eastern conquerors. In 1237, Ryazan was the first of the Russian cities to be destroyed by the steppes. In the future, the principality fought with Moscow, which was gaining strength. For example, the Ryazan ruler Oleg Ivanovich was an opponent of Dmitry Donskoy for a long time. Ryazan was gradually losing ground. It was annexed to Moscow in 1521.

Novgorod Republic

The historical description of the principalities of Ancient Russia cannot be complete without mentioning the Novgorod Republic. This state lived according to its special political and social order. An aristocratic republic was established here with a strong influence of the national council. The princes were elected military leaders (they were invited from other Russian lands).

A similar political system developed in Pskov, which was called "the younger brother of Novgorod." These two cities were centers of international trade. Compared to other Russian political centers, they had the most contacts with Western Europe. After the Baltic states were captured by the Catholic military, serious friction began between the knights and Novgorod. This struggle reached its apogee in the 1240s. It was then that the Swedes and Germans were defeated in turn by Prince Alexander Nevsky. When the historical path from Ancient Russia to the Great was almost completed, the republic was left face to face with Ivan III. He conquered Novgorod in 1478.

Northeast Russia

The first political centers of North-Eastern Russia in the XI-XII centuries. were Rostov, Suzdal and Vladimir. The descendants of Monomakh and his younger son Yuri Dolgoruky ruled here. Father's successors Andrei Bogolyubsky and Vsevolod the Big Nest strengthened the authority of the Vladimir principality, making it the largest and strongest in fragmented Russia.

Under the children of Vsevolod the Big Nest, a large-scale development began. The first specific principalities began to appear. However, real disasters came to North-Eastern Russia along with the Mongols. Nomads ravaged this region, burned many of its cities. During the reign of the Horde, the khans were recognized as the elders in all of Russia. Those who received a special label were put in charge there.

In the struggle for Vladimir, two new opponents emerged: Tver and Moscow. The peak of their confrontation came at the beginning of the XIV century. In this rivalry, Moscow turned out to be the winner. Gradually, its princes united North-Eastern Russia, overthrew the Mongol-Tatar yoke and eventually created a single Russian state (Ivan the Terrible became its first tsar in 1547).

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Already in the middle of the XII century. the power of the Kyiv princes began to have real significance only within the Kyiv principality itself, which included lands along the banks of the tributaries of the Dnieper - the Teterev, the Irpin and the semi-autonomous Porose, inhabited by the "Black Hoods" vassals from Kyiv. The attempt of Yaropolk, who became the prince of Kyiv after the death of Mstislav I, to autocratically dispose of the "fatherlands" of other princes was decisively suppressed.
Despite the loss of all-Russian significance by Kyiv, the struggle for possession of it continued until the invasion of the Mongols. There was no sequence in the succession of the Kyiv table, and it passed from hand to hand depending on the balance of power of the fighting princely groups and, to a large extent, on the attitude towards them from the powerful Kyiv boyars and the Black Hoods. In the context of the all-Russian struggle for Kyiv, the local boyars sought to end the strife and to political stabilization in their principality. In 1113, the boyars’ invitation of Vladimir Monomakh to Kyiv (bypassing the then accepted order of succession) was a precedent used later by the boyars to justify their “right” to choose a strong and pleasing prince and conclude a “row” with him that protected them territorially. corporate interests. The boyars who violated this series of princes were eliminated by going over to the side of his rivals or by conspiracy (as, perhaps, Yuri Dolgoruky was poisoned, overthrown, and then killed in 1147 during a popular uprising, Igor Olgovich Chernigov, unpopular among the people of Kiev). As more and more princes were drawn into the struggle for Kyiv, the Kievan boyars resorted to a peculiar system of princely duumvirate, inviting representatives from two of several rival princely groups as co-rulers to Kyiv, which for some time achieved relative political balance, which was so necessary for Kyiv land.
As Kyiv loses the all-Russian significance of individual rulers of the strongest principalities, who have become “great” in their lands, the appointment of their henchmen in Kyiv, “handmaids”, begins to satisfy.
Princely strife over Kyiv turned Kyiv land into an arena of frequent hostilities, during which cities and villages were ruined, and the population was driven into captivity. Kyiv itself was subjected to cruel pogroms both by the princes who entered it as victors and by those who left it as a vanquished and returned to their "homeland". All this predetermined the emerging from the beginning of the XIII century. the gradual decline of the Kyiv land, the outflow of its population to the northern and northwestern regions of the country, which suffered less from princely strife and were virtually inaccessible to the Polovtsians. Periods of temporary strengthening of Kyiv during the reign of such prominent political figures and organizers of the struggle against the Polovtsy as Svyatoslav Vsevolodich of Chernigov (1180-1194) and Roman Mstislavich Volynsky (1202-1205) alternated with the rule of colorless, kaleidoscopically successive princes. Daniil Romanovich Galitsky, in whose hands Kyiv passed shortly before Batu took it, had already limited himself to appointing his posadnik from the boyars.

Vladimir-Suzdal Principality

Until the middle of the XI century. The Rostov-Suzdal land was ruled by posadniks sent from Kyiv. Her real “reigning” began after she went to the younger “Yaroslavich” - Vsevolod Pereyaslavlsky - and was assigned to his descendants as their tribal “volost” In the XII-XIII centuries. The Rostov-Suzdal land experienced an economic and political upsurge, which made it one of the strongest principalities in Russia. The fertile lands of the Suzdal "Opole", boundless forests, cut through by a dense network of rivers and lakes, along which ancient and important trade routes ran to the south and east, the availability of iron ore available for mining - all this favored the development of agriculture, cattle breeding, rural and forestry industries In the acceleration of economic development and the political rise of this forest region, the rapid growth of its population at the expense of the inhabitants of the southern Russian lands, subjected to Polovtsian raids, was of great importance. landownership, absorbing communal lands and involving peasants In personal feudal dependence In the XII - XIII centuries almost all the main cities of this land arose (Vladimir, Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, Dmitrov, Starodub, Gorodets, Galich, Kostroma, Tver, Nizhny Novgorod, etc.) , built by the Suzdal princes on the borders and inside the principality as a supporting fortress and administrative center comrades and built up trade and craft settlements, the population of which was actively involved in political life. Under 1147, the annals first mentioned Moscow, a small border town built by Yuri Dolgoruky on the site of the estate of the boyar Kuchka, confiscated by him.
In the early 30s of the XII century, during the reign of Monomakh's son Yuri Vladimirovich Dolgoruky (1125-1157), the Rostov-Suzdal land gained independence. The military-political activity of Yuri, intervening in all princely strife, stretching out his “long arms” to cities and lands far from his principality, made him one of the central figures in the political life of Russia in the second third of the 11th century. Started by Yuriy and continued by his successors, the struggle with Novgorod and the wars with Volga Bulgaria marked the beginning of the expansion of the principality's borders towards the Dvina and the Volga-Kama lands. Under the influence of the Suzdal princes fell Ryazan and Murom, "pulled" earlier to Chernigov.
The last ten years of Dolgoruky's life were spent in a grueling and alien to the interests of his principality struggle with the southern Russian princes for Kyiv, the reign in which, in the eyes of Yuri and the princes of his generation, was combined with the "elder" in Russia. But already the son of Dolgoruky, Andrey Bogolyubsky, having captured Kyiv in 1169 and brutally robbed it, transferred it to the control of one of his vassal princes, “handmaids”, which testified to a turning point on the part of the most far-sighted princes in their attitude towards Kyiv, which had lost its significance all-Russian political center.
The reign of Andrei Yuryevich Bogolyubsky (1157 - 1174) was marked by the beginning of the struggle of the Suzdal princes for the political hegemony of their principality over the rest of the Russian lands. The ambitious attempts of Bogolyubsky, who claimed the title of Grand Duke of All Russia, to completely subjugate Novgorod and force other princes to recognize his supremacy in Russia failed. However, it was precisely in these attempts that the tendency to restore the state-political unity of the country on the basis of the subordination of specific princes to the autocratic ruler of one of the strongest principalities in Russia was reflected.
With the reign of Andrei Bogolyubsky, the revival of the traditions of the power policy of Vladimir Monomakh is associated. Relying on the support of the townspeople and the nobility-druzhinniks, Andrei severely cracked down on the recalcitrant boyars, expelled them from the principality, confiscated their estates. To be even more independent from the boyars, he moved the capital of the principality from a relatively new city - Vladimir-on-Klyazma, which had a significant trade and craft settlement. It was not possible to finally suppress the boyar opposition to the “autocratic” prince, as Andrei was called by his contemporaries. In June 1174, he was killed by boyar conspirators.
The two-year strife unleashed after the murder of Bogolyubsky by the boyars ended with the reign of his brother Vsevolod Yurievich the Big Nest (1176-1212), who, relying on the townspeople and the retinue layers of the feudal lords, severely cracked down on the rebellious nobility and became the sovereign ruler in his land. During his reign, the Vladimir-Suzdal land reached its highest prosperity and power, playing a decisive role in the political life of Russia at the end of the 12th - beginning of the 13th centuries. Spreading his influence on other Russian lands, Vsevolod skillfully combined the power of arms (as, for example, in relation to the Ryazan princes) with skillful politics (in relations with the South Russian princes and Novgorod). The name and power of Vsevolod were well known far beyond the borders of Russia. The author of The Tale of Igor's Campaign proudly wrote about him as the most powerful prince in Russia, whose numerous regiments could scatter the Volga with oars, and scoop water from the Don with helmets, on whose name alone "all countries trembled" and the rumor about which "replete the whole earth."
After the death of Vsevolod, an intensive process of feudal fragmentation began in the Vladimir-Suzdal land. The strife between the numerous sons of Vsevolod over the grand ducal table and the distribution of principalities led to a gradual weakening of the grand ducal power and its political influence on other Russian lands. Nevertheless, until the invasion of the Mongols, the Vladimir-Suzdal land remained the strongest and most influential principality in Russia, which retained political unity under the leadership of the Grand Duke of Vladimir. When planning an aggressive campaign against Russia, the Mongol-Tatars associated the result of the surprise and power of their first strike with the success of the entire campaign as a whole. And it is no coincidence that North-Eastern Russia was chosen as the object of the first strike.

Chernigov and Smolensk principalities

These two large principalities under the Dnieper had much in common in their economy and political system with other southern Russian principalities, which were the ancient centers of culture of the Eastern Slavs. Here already in the IX-XI centuries. a large princely and boyar land ownership was formed, cities grew rapidly, becoming centers of handicraft production, serving not only the surrounding rural districts, but having developed external relations. Extensive trade relations, especially with the West, had the Smolensk principality, in which the upper reaches of the Volga, Dnieper and Western Dvina converged - the most important trade routes of Eastern Europe.
Allocation of the Chernihiv land in an independent principality occurred in the second half of the XI century. in connection with its transfer (together with the Muromo-Ryazan land) to the son of Yaroslav the Wise, Svyatoslav, for whose descendants it was assigned. Even at the end of the XI century. the ancient ties between Chernigov and Tmutarakan, cut off by the Polovtsians from the rest of the Russian lands and falling under the sovereignty of Byzantium, were interrupted. At the end of the 40s of the 11th century. The Chernihiv principality was divided into two principalities: Chernigov and Novgorod-Seversk. At the same time, the Muromo-Ryazan land became isolated, falling under the influence of the Vladimir-Suzdal princes. Smolensk land separated from Kyiv at the end of the 20s of the XII century, when it went to the son of Mstislav I, Rostislav. Under him and his descendants (“Rostislavichs”), the Smolensk principality expanded territorially and strengthened.
The median, connecting position of the Chernigov and Smolensk principalities among other Russian lands involved their princes in all the political events that took place in Russia in the 12th-13th centuries, and above all in the struggle for their neighboring Kyiv. The princes of Chernigov and Seversk, indispensable participants (and often initiators) of all princely strife, were especially active in politics, unscrupulous in the means of combating their opponents and more often than other princes resorted to an alliance with the Polovtsy, with whom they devastated the lands of their rivals. It is no coincidence that the author of The Tale of Igor's Campaign called the founder of the dynasty of Chernigov princes Oleg Svyatoslavich "Gorislavich", the first to start "forging sedition with a sword" and "sowing" the Russian land with strife.
The grand princely power in the Chernihiv and Smolensk lands could not overcome the forces of feudal decentralization (zemstvo nobility and rulers of small principalities), and as a result, these lands at the end of the 12th - first half of the 13th centuries. fragmented into many small principalities, only nominally recognizing the sovereignty of the great princes.

Polotsk-Minsk land

The Polotsk-Minsk land showed early tendencies towards separation from Kyiv. Despite the unfavorable soil conditions for agriculture, the socio-economic development of the Polotsk land proceeded at a high pace due to its favorable location at the crossroads of the most important trade routes along the Western Dvina, Neman and Berezina. Lively trade relations with the West and neighboring Baltic tribes (Livs, Lats, Curonians, etc.), who were under the sovereignty of the Polotsk princes, contributed to the growth of cities with a significant and influential trade and craft stratum in them. A large-scale feudal economy with developed agricultural crafts, the products of which were also exported abroad, also developed here early.
At the beginning of the XI century. Polotsk land went to the brother of Yaroslav the Wise, Izyaslav, whose descendants, relying on the support of the local nobility and townspeople, fought for the independence of their “fatherland” from Kyiv for more than a hundred years with varying success. Polotsk land reached its greatest power in the second half of the 11th century. in the reign of Vseslav Bryachislavich (1044-1103), but in the XII century. it began an intensive process of feudal fragmentation. In the first half of the XIII century. it was already a conglomeration of petty principalities, only nominally recognizing the power of the Grand Duke of Polotsk. These principalities, weakened by internal strife, faced a difficult struggle (in alliance with the neighboring and dependent Baltic tribes) with the German crusaders who invaded the Eastern Baltic. From the middle of the XII century. The Polotsk land became the object of an offensive by the Lithuanian feudal lords.

Galicia-Volyn land

Galicia-Volyn land stretched from the Carpathians and the Dniester-Danube Black Sea region in the south and southwest to the lands of the Lithuanian Yotvingian tribe and Polotsk land in the north. In the west, it bordered on Hungary and Poland, and in the east, on Kyiv land and the Polovtsian steppe. The Galicia-Volyn land was one of the oldest centers of plowed agricultural culture of the Eastern Slavs. Fertile soils, mild climate, numerous rivers and forests, interspersed with steppe spaces, created favorable conditions for the development of agriculture, cattle breeding and various crafts, and at the same time the early development of feudal relations, large feudal princely and boyar land ownership. Handicraft production reached a high level, the separation of which from agriculture contributed to the growth of cities, of which there were more than in other Russian lands. The largest of them were Vladimir-Volynsky, Przemysl, Terebovl, Galich, Berestye, Holm, Drogichin and others. A significant part of the inhabitants of these cities were artisans and merchants. The second trade route from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea (Vistula-Western Bug-Dniester) and overland trade routes from Russia to the countries of South-Eastern and Central Europe passed through the Galicia-Volyn land. The dependence of the Dniester-Danube lower land on Galich made it possible to control the European navigable trade route along the Danube with the East.
Galician land until the middle of the XII century. was divided into several small principalities, which in 1141 were united by Przemysl prince Vladimir, Volodarevich, who moved his capital to Galich. The principality of Galicia reached its highest prosperity and power under his son Yaroslav Osmomysl (1153-1187), a major statesman of that time, who highly raised the international prestige of his principality and successfully defended in his policy all-Russian interests in relations with Byzantium and neighboring European states with Russia . The author of The Tale of Igor's Campaign dedicated the most pathetic lines to the military power and international authority of Yaroslav Osmomysl. After the death of Osmomysl, the Principality of Galicia became the scene of a long struggle between the princes and the oligarchic aspirations of the local boyars. Boyar landownership in the Galician land was ahead of the princely in its development and significantly exceeded the latter in its size. The Galician “great boyars”, who owned huge estates with their own fortified castle cities and had numerous military retainers-vassals, resorted to conspiracies and rebellions in the fight against princes they did not like, entered into an alliance with the Hungarian and Polish feudal lords.
The Volhynian land became isolated from Kyiv in the middle of the 12th century, having secured itself as a tribal “fatherland” for the descendants of the Kyiv Grand Duke Izyaslav Mstislavich. Unlike the neighboring Galician land, a large princely domain formed early in Volhynia. Boyar land ownership grew mainly due to princely grants to the serving boyars, whose support allowed the Volyn princes to start an active struggle to expand their "fatherland". In 1199, the Volyn prince Roman Mstislavich managed to unite the Galician and Volyn lands for the first time, and with his occupation in 1203, Kyiv, under his rule, was the whole of South and South-Western Russia - a territory equal to the large European states of that time. The reign of Roman Mstislavich was marked by the strengthening of the all-Russian and international position of the Galicia-Volyn region
land, successes in the fight against the Polovtsy, the fight against the recalcitrant boyars, the rise of Western Russian cities, crafts and trade. Thus, the conditions were prepared for the flourishing of South-Western Russia during the reign of his son Daniil Romanovich.
The death in 1205 in Poland of Roman Mstislavich led to a temporary loss of the achieved political unity of Southwestern Russia, to a weakening of princely power in it. In the struggle against princely power, all groups of the Galician boyars united, unleashing a devastating feudal war that lasted over 30 years.
The boyars colluded with the Hungarian and
Polish feudal lords, who managed to seize the Galician land and part of Volhynia. In the same years, there was an unprecedented case in Russia when the boyar Vodrdislav Kormilich reigned in Galich. The national liberation struggle against the Hungarian and Polish invaders, which ended in their defeat and expulsion, served as the basis for restoring and strengthening the position of princely power. Relying on the support of the cities, the serving boyars and the nobility, Daniil Romanovich established himself in Volhynia, and then, having occupied Galich in 1238, and Kyiv in 1240, he again united all of South-Western Russia and the Kievan land.

Novgorod feudal republic

A special political system, different from the principalities-monarchies, developed in the XII century. in Novgorod land, one of the most developed Russian lands. The ancient core of the Novgorod-Pskov land was the land between Ilmen and Lake Peipus and along the banks of the Volkhov, Lovat, Velikaya, Mologa and Msta rivers, which were divided geographically into "pyatinas", and
in the administrative - into "hundreds" and "graveyards". Novgorod "suburbs" (Pskov, Ladoga, Staraya Russa, Velikie Luki, Bezhichi, Yuriev, Torzhok) served as important trading posts on trade routes and military strongholds on the borders of the land. The largest suburb, which occupied a special, autonomous position in the system of the Novgorod Republic (the “younger brother” of Novgorod), was Pskov, which was distinguished by a developed handicraft and its own trade with the Baltic states, German cities, and even with Novgorod itself. In the second half of the XIII century. Pskov actually became an independent feudal republic.
From the 11th century active Novgorodian colonization of Karelia, Podvinya, Prionezhye and the vast northern Pomorye, which became Novgorod colonies, began. Following the peasant colonization (from the Novgorod and Rostov-Suzdal lands) and the Novgorod trade and fishing people, the Novgorod feudal lords also moved there. In the XII - XIII centuries. there were already the largest patrimonial possessions of the Novgorod nobility, who jealously did not allow feudal lords from other principalities to penetrate into these areas and create princely landed property there.
In the XII century. Novgorod was one of the largest and most developed cities in Russia. The rise of Novgorod was facilitated by its exceptionally advantageous location at the beginning of trade routes important for Eastern Europe, linking the Baltic Sea with the Black and Caspian Seas. This predetermined a significant share of intermediary trade in Novgorod's trade relations with other Russian lands, with Volga Bulgaria, the Caspian and Black Sea regions, the Baltic states, Scandinavia and North German cities. The trade of Novgorod relied on the handicraft and various trades developed in the Novgorod land. Novgorod artisans, distinguished by their wide specialization and professional skills, worked mainly to order, but some of their products went to the city market, and through merchants-buyers to foreign markets. Craftsmen and merchants had their own territorial (“Ulichansky”) and professional associations (“hundreds”, “brothers”), which played a significant role in the political life of Novgorod. The most influential, uniting the top of the Novgorod merchants, was the association of wax merchants (“Ivanskoye Sto”), who were mainly engaged in foreign trade. The Novgorod boyars also actively participated in foreign trade, virtually monopolizing the most profitable trade in furs, which they received from their possessions "in the Dvina and Pomorie and from specially equipped trading and fishing expeditions to the Pechersk and Yugorsk lands.
Despite the predominance of the trade and craft population in Novgorod, the basis of the economy of the Novgorod land was agriculture and related crafts. Due to unfavorable natural conditions, grain farming was unproductive and bread was a significant part of Novgorod's imports. Grain stocks in the estates were created at the expense of food rent collected from smerds and used by the feudal lords for speculation in frequent lean years of famine, to entangle the working people in usurious bondage. In a number of areas, the peasants, in addition to the usual rural trades, were engaged in the extraction of iron ore and salt.
In the Novgorod land, a large boyar, and then a church landownership early developed and became dominant. The specifics of the position of the princes in Novgorod, sent from Kyiv as princes-governors, which excluded the possibility of turning Novgorod into a principality, did not contribute to the formation of a large princely domain, thereby weakening the position of princely power in the fight against the oligarchic aspirations of the local boyars. Already the end! in. the Novgorod nobility largely predetermined the candidacies of the princes sent from Kyiv. So, in 1102, the boyars refused to accept the son of the Kyiv Grand Duke Svyatopolk to Novgorod, threatening the latter: “if your son has two heads, then eat him.”
In 1136, the rebellious Novgorodians, supported by the Pskovians and Ladoga residents, expelled Prince Vsevolod Mstislavich, accusing him of "neglecting" the interests of Novgorod. In the Novgorod land liberated from the power of Kyiv, a peculiar political system was established, in which the republican governing bodies stood side by side with and above the princely power. However, the Novgorod feudal lords needed the prince and his retinue to fight against the anti-feudal uprisings of the masses and to protect Novgorod from external danger. In the first period after the uprising of 1136, the scope of the rights and activities of the princely power did not change, but they acquired a service-executive character, were regulated and were placed under the control of the posadnik (primarily in the field of court, which the prince began to administer together with the posadnik). As the political system in Novgorod acquired an increasingly pronounced boyar-oligarchic character, the rights and sphere of activity of princely power were steadily reduced.
The lowest level of organization and management in Novgorod was the association of neighbors - "convicted" with elected elders at the head. Five urban districts - "ends" formed self-governing territorial-administrative and political units, which also had special Konchan lands in collective feudal ownership. At the ends, their veche gathered, electing the Konchan elders.
The city veche meeting of free citizens, owners of city yards and estates was considered the highest body of power, representing all ends. The bulk of the urban plebs, who lived on the lands and estates of the feudal lords in the position of tenants or bonded and feudal-dependent people, were not entitled to participate in the issuance of veche sentences, but thanks to the publicity of the veche, which met on Sofia Square or Yaroslav's Court, could follow the course of the veche debate and with her stormy reaction she often exerted a certain amount of pressure on the Vechnikovs. The veche considered the most important issues of domestic and foreign policy, invited the prince and entered into a series with him, elected the posadnik, who was in charge of administration and court and controlled the activities of the prince, and the tysyatsky, who led the militia and had a special significance in Novgorod, the commercial court.
In the entire history of the Novgorod Republic, the positions of posadnik, Konchansky elders and thousandths were occupied only by representatives of 30-40 boyar families - the elite of the Novgorod nobility ("300 golden belts").
In order to further strengthen the independence of Novgorod from Kyiv and turn the Novgorod bishopric from an ally of princely power into one of the instruments of their political domination, the Novgorod nobility managed to elect (from 1156) the Novgorod bishop, who, as the head of a powerful feudal church hierarchy, turned soon one of the first dignitaries of the republic.
The veche system in Novgorod and Pskov was a kind of feudal "democracy", one of the forms of the feudal state, in which the democratic principles of representation and election of officials at the veche created the illusion of "people's power", the participation of "all Novgorodgorod in governance, but where in reality all the fullness of power was concentrated in the hands of the boyars and the privileged elite of the merchant class. Considering the political activity of the city plebs, the boyars skillfully used the democratic traditions of Konchan self-government as a symbol of Novgorodian freedom, covering their political dominance and providing them with the support of the city plebs in the struggle against princely power.
Political history of Novgorod in the XII - XIII centuries. was distinguished by the complex interweaving of the struggle for independence with the anti-feudal actions of the masses and the struggle for power between the boyar groups (representing the boyar families of the Sofia and Trade sides of the city, its ends and streets). The boyars often used the anti-feudal actions of the urban poor to remove their rivals from power, dulling the anti-feudal character of these actions to the point of reprisals against individual boyars or officials. The largest anti-feudal movement was the uprising in 1207 against the posadnik Dmitry Miroshkinich and his relatives, who burdened the city people and peasants with arbitrary exactions and usurious bondage. The rebels destroyed the city estates and villages of Miroshkinichi, confiscated their debt bondages. The boyars, hostile to the Miroshkinichs, took advantage of the uprising to remove them from power.
Novgorod had to wage a stubborn struggle for its independence with the neighboring princes, who sought to subjugate the rich "free" city. The Novgorod boyars skillfully used the rivalry between the princes to choose among them strong allies. At the same time, rival boyar groups drew the rulers of neighboring principalities into their struggle. The most difficult for Novgorod was the struggle with the Suzdal princes, who enjoyed the support of an influential group of Novgorod boyars and merchants, connected by trade interests with North-Eastern Russia. An important instrument of political pressure on Novgorod in the hands of the Suzdal princes was the cessation of the supply of grain from North-Eastern Russia. The positions of the Suzdal princes in Novgorod were significantly strengthened when their military assistance to the Novgorodians and Pskovians became decisive in repelling the aggression of the German Crusaders and Swedish feudal lords, who were striving to capture the western and northern Novgorod territories.

Among a dozen and a half principalities, the largest were Vladimir-Suzdal, Galicia-Volyn and Novgorod land.

Vladimir-Suzdal principality.

This principality occupied a special place in the history of the Russian Middle Ages. He was destined to become a link between the pre-Mongol period of Russian history and the period of Muscovite Russia, the core of the future unified state.

Located in the distant Zalesye, it was well protected from external threats. Powerful chernozems, created by nature in the center of the non-chernozem belt, attracted settlers here. Convenient river routes opened the way to the Eastern and European markets.

In the XI century. this remote region becomes the "fatherland" of the Monomakhoviches. At first, they do not attach importance to this pearl of their possessions and do not even put princes here. At the beginning of the XII century. Vladimir Monomakh founded the future capital Vladimir-on-Klyazma and in 1120 sent his son Yuri to reign here. The foundations of the power of the Suzdal land were laid during the reign of three prominent statesmen: Yuri Dolgoruky /1120-1157/, Andrei Bogolyubsky /1157-1174/, Vsevolod the Big Nest /1176-1212/.

They were able to defeat the boyars, for which they were nicknamed "autocrats". Some historians see this as a trend towards overcoming fragmentation, interrupted by the Tatar invasion.

Yuri, with his insatiable thirst for power and desire for superiority, turned his possession into an independent principality, which pursued an active policy. His possessions expanded due to the colonized eastern regions. The new cities of Yuryev Polsky, Pereyaslavl Zalessky, Dmitrov grew. Churches and monasteries were built and decorated. The first annalistic mention of Moscow / 1147 / dates back to the time of his reign.

Yuri fought more than once with the Volga Bulgaria, a trade rival of Russia. He led a confrontation with Novgorod, and in the 40s. got involved in an exhausting and useless struggle for Kyiv. Having achieved the desired goal in 1155, Yuri left the Suzdal land forever. Two years later he died in Kyiv /according to one of the versions he was poisoned/.

The master of North-Eastern Russia - tough, power-hungry and energetic - was the son of Dolgoruky Andrei, nicknamed Bogolyubsky for the construction of a palace in the village of Bogolyubovo near Vladimir. Even during the life of his father, Andrei, Yuri's "beloved child", to whom he intended to transfer Kyiv after his death, leaves for Suzdal land without the consent of his father. In 1157, the local boyars elected him their prince.

In Andrei, several qualities were combined that were important for a statesman of that time. A courageous warrior, he was a prudent, extremely shrewd diplomat at the negotiating table. Possessing an extraordinary mind and willpower, he became an authoritative and formidable governor, an "autocrat", whose orders even the formidable Polovtsy obeyed. The prince resolutely placed himself not next to the boyars, but above them, relying on the cities and his military service court. Unlike his father, who aspired to Kyiv, he was a local Suzdal patriot, and he considered the struggle for Kyiv only a means of exalting his principality. Having captured the city of Kyiv in 1169, he gave it to the army for plunder and put his brother there to rule. In addition to all this, Andrei was a well-educated person and was not without original literary talent.

However, in an effort to strengthen the princely power and rise above the boyars, Bogolyubsky overtook his time. The boyars muttered muffledly. When, by order of the prince, one of the Kuchkovichi boyars was executed, his relatives organized a conspiracy, in which the closest princely servants also participated. On the night of April 29, 1174, the conspirators broke into the prince's bedroom and killed Andrei. The news of his death was the signal for a popular uprising. The castle of the prince, the courtyards of the townspeople were plundered, the most hated posadniks, tiuns, and tax collectors were killed. Only a few days later the riot subsided.

Andrei's brother Vsevolod the Big Nest continued the traditions of his predecessors. Imperious, like Andrei, he was more prudent and cautious. Vsevolod was the first among the princes of the Northeast who received the title of "Grand Duke", dictated his will to Ryazan, Novgorod, Galich, led an offensive on the lands of Novgorod and Volga Bulgaria.

Vsevolod had 8 sons and 8 grandchildren, not counting female descendants, for which he received the nickname "Big Nest".

Having fallen ill in 1212, he bequeathed the throne to his second son Yuri, bypassing the elder Constantine. A new strife followed, lasting 6 years. Yuri ruled in Vladimir until the Mongol invasion and died in a battle with the Tatars on the river. City.

Novgorod land.

On the vast expanses of Novgorod land, inhabited by Slavs and Finno-Ugric tribes, several European states could successfully fit in. From 882 to 1136, Novgorod - the "northern guardian of Russia" - was ruled from Kyiv and received the eldest sons of the Kyiv prince as governors. In 1136, the Novgorodians expelled Vsevolod / Monomakh's grandson / from the city and since then they began to invite the prince from wherever they wanted, and they expelled the objectionable / the famous Novgorod principle of "liberties among the princes" /. Novgorod became independent.

A special form of government has developed here, which historians call the boyar republic. This order had a long tradition. Back in the Kyiv period, distant Novgorod had special political rights. In the 11th century a posadnik was already being elected here, and Yaroslav the Wise, in exchange for the support of the Novgorodians in the struggle for Kyiv, agreed to the boyars' jurisdiction over the prince.

The Novgorod boyars descended from the local tribal nobility. It got rich on the division of state revenues, trade and usury, and from the end of the 11th century. began to acquire estates. Boyar land ownership in Novgorod was much stronger than the princely. Although the Novgorodians tried more than once to “feed” the prince for themselves, their own princely dynasty did not take shape there. The eldest sons of the grand dukes, who sat here as governors, after the death of their father, aspired to the throne of Kyiv.

Situated on marginal lands along the famous route "from the Varangians to the Greeks", Novgorod developed primarily as a craft and trade center. Metalworking, woodworking, pottery, weaving, leather production, jewelry, and fur trade reached a particularly high level. A lively trade was going on not only with Russian lands, but also with foreign countries of the West and East, from where they brought cloth, wine, ornamental stone, non-ferrous and precious metals.

Furs, honey, wax, leather were sent in exchange. In Novgorod, there were trading yards founded by Dutch and Hanseatic merchants. The most important trading partner was the largest among the cities of the Hansa - Lübeck.

The highest body of power in Novgorod was the assembly of free owners of yards and estates - veche. It made decisions on issues of domestic and foreign policy, invited and expelled the prince, elected the mayor, the thousandth, the archbishop. The presence without the right to vote of the masses of the urban population made the veche meetings stormy and loud events.

The elected mayor actually headed the executive branch, ruled the court, and controlled the prince. Tysyatsky commanded the militia, judged on commercial matters, and collected taxes. The archbishop /"Vladyka"/, who was appointed by the Metropolitan of Kyiv until 1156, was also elected later. He was in charge of the treasury and foreign relations. The prince was not only a military commander. He was also an arbitrator, participated in negotiations, was responsible for internal order. Finally, he was simply one of the attributes of antiquity, and in accordance with the traditionalism of medieval thinking, even the temporary absence of a prince was considered an abnormal phenomenon.

Veche system was a form of feudal "democracy". The illusion of democracy was created around the actual power of the boyars and the so-called "300 golden belts".

Galicia-Volyn land.

Southwestern Russia, with its highly fertile soils and mild climate, located at the crossroads of numerous trade routes, had excellent opportunities for economic development. In the thirteenth century almost a third of the cities of all Russia were concentrated here, and the urban population played an important role in political life. But the princely-boyar strife, sharper than anywhere else in Russia, turned internecine conflicts into a permanent phenomenon. The long border with the strong states of the West - Poland, Hungary, the Order - made the Galicia-Volyn lands the object of the greedy claims of its neighbors. Internal upheavals were compounded by foreign interference that threatened independence.

At first, the fate of Galicia and Volyn developed differently. Galician principality, the westernmost in Russia, until the middle of the 12th century. was divided into small holdings.

Przemysl Prince Vladimir Volodarevich united them, moving the capital to Galich. The principality reached its highest power under Yaroslav Osmomysl /1151-1187/, so named for his high education and knowledge of eight foreign languages. The last years of his reign were overshadowed by clashes with powerful boyars. The reason for them was the family affairs of the prince. Having married Dolgoruky's daughter Olga, he took a mistress Nastasya and wanted to transfer the throne to his illegitimate son Oleg "Nastasich" bypassing the legitimate Vladimir. Nastasya was burned at the stake, and Vladimir, after the death of his father, expelled Oleg and established himself on the throne / 1187-1199 /.

After the death of Yaroslav the Wise, Volyn changed hands more than once, until it came to the Monomakhoviches. Under the grandson of Monomakh, Izyaslav Mstislavich, she separated herself from Kyiv. The rise of the Volyn land takes place at the end of the 12th century. with the cool and energetic Roman Mstislavich, the brightest figure among the Volyn princes. For 10 years he fought for the neighboring Galician table, and in 1199 he united both principalities under his rule.

The short reign of Roman /1199-1205/ left a bright mark in the history of southern Russia. The Ipatiev Chronicle calls him "the autocrat of all Russia", and the French chronicler calls him "the Russian king".

In 1202, he captured Kyiv and established control over the entire south. Having begun at first a successful struggle with the Polovtsy, Roman then switched to Western European affairs. He intervened in the struggle between the Welfs and the Hohenstaufens on the side of the latter. In 1205, during a campaign against the king of Lesser Poland, Roman's army was defeated, and he himself was killed while hunting.

Roman's sons Daniil and Vasilko were too small to continue the grand schemes to which their father fell victim. The principality collapsed, and the Galician boyars began a long and devastating feudal war that lasted about 30 years. Princess Anna fled to Krakow. The Hungarians and Poles captured Galicia and part of Volhynia. Roman's children became playthings in a major political game that the opposing sides sought to get their hands on. The national liberation struggle against foreign invaders became the basis for the consolidation of forces in Southwestern Russia. Prince Daniel Romanovich has grown up. Having established himself in Volyn, and then in Galich, in 1238 he again united both principalities, and in 1240, like his father once, he took Kyiv. The Mongol-Tatar invasion interrupted the economic and cultural upsurge of Galicia-Volyn Rus, which began during the reign of this outstanding prince.



Kievan Rus and Russian principalities

Principalities of southern Russia

I. Kiev principality (1132 - 1471)

Zap. Kievskaya, North-West. Cherkassky, Vost. Zhytomyr region Ukraine. Table. Kyiv

II. Chernihiv Principality (1024 - 1330)

North of Chernihiv region Ukraine, east of the Gomel region. Belarus, Kaluga, Bryansk, Lipetsk, Oryol regions. Russia. Capital Chernihiv

1) Bryansk principality (c. 1240 - 1430). The capital is Bryansk (Debryansk).

2) Vshchizh principality (1156 - 1240)

Feudal Republic of Northern Russia

I. Novgorod feudal republic (X century - 1478)

Novgorod, Leningrad, Arkhangelsk, the north of the Tver region, the republics of Komi and Karelia. Capital Novgorod (Lord Veliky Novgorod)

II. Pskov feudal republic (XI century - 1510)

Pskov region Capital Pskov (Pleskov)

Principalities of Eastern Russia

I. Principality of Murom (989 - 1390)

South of Vladimir, north of Ryazan, southwest of Nizhny Novgorod region. Capital Murom

II. Principality of Pron (1129 - 1465). South of the Ryazan region

Capital Pronsk. From the middle of the fourteenth century led. principality

III. Ryazan principality (1129 - 1510)

Center of the Ryazan region. The capital is Ryazan, from 1237 Pereyaslavl-Ryazansky (New Ryazan). From the end of the thirteenth century grand duchy

1) Belgorod principality (c. 1149 - 1205). Capital Belgorod Ryazansky

2) Kolomna principality (c. 1165 - 1301). Capital Kolomna

IV. Vladimir-Suzdal principality (1125 - 1362).

Vologda, Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Vladimir, Ivanovo, Moscow and northern Nizhny Novgorod regions. Capitals Rostov, Suzdal, from 1157 Vladimir on the Klyazma. From 1169 the Grand Duchy

1) Poros (Torcheskoe) principality (? - ?)

V. Pereyaslavskoe - Zalessky principality (1175 - 1302)

Capital Pereyaslavl (n. Pereyaslavl - Zalessky)

VI. Rostov principality (c. 989 - 1474).

Capital Rostov the Great.

In 1328 it fell apart:

1) Senior line (Sretenskaya (Usretinskaya) side of Rostov).

2) Junior line (Borisoglebskaya side of Rostov).

1) Ustyug principality (1364 - 1474). Capital Veliky Ustyug

2) Bokhtyug principality (1364 - 1434)

VII. Yaroslavl principality (1218 - 1463). Capital Yaroslavl

1) Youth principality (c. 1325 - 1450). Capital of Mologa

2) Sitsk principality (c. 1408 - 60). Capital unknown

3) Principality of Prozor (c. 1408 - 60). The capital of Prozor (now the village of Prozorovo)

4) Shumorovsky principality (c. 1365 - 1420). Capital village Shumorovo

5) Novlensky principality (c. 1400 - 70). Capital village Novleno

6) Zaozersko - Kubensky principality (c. 1420 - 52). Capital unknown

7) Sheksna principality (c. 1350 - 1480). Capital unknown

8) Shekhon (Poshekhon) principality (c. 1410 - 60). Capital Knyazhich Gorodok

9) Kurb principality (c. 1425 - 55). The capital is the village of Kurby

10) Ukhor (Ugor) principality (c. 1420 - 70). Capital unknown

11) Romanov principality (? - ?)

VIII. Uglitsky principality (1216 - 1591). Capital Uglich

Nizhny Novgorod Principality

1) Gorodets principality (1264 - 1403). Capital Gorodets

2) Shuya principality (1387 - 1420). Shuya capital

XVI. Grand Duchy of Tver (1242 - 1490). Capital Tver

1) Kashinsky principality (1318 - 1426). Capital Kashin

2) Kholm principality (1319 - 1508). Capital Hill

3) Dorogobuzh principality (1318 - 1486). Capital Dorogobuzh

4) Mikulin principality (1339 - 1485). Capital Mikulin

5) Gorodensky principality (1425 - 35).

6) Zubtsovsk principality (1318 - 1460).

7) Telyatevsky inheritance (1397 - 1437).

8) Chernyatinsky destiny (1406 - 90). Capital Chernyatyn (now the village of Chernyatino)

XVII. Moscow Grand Duchy (1276 - 1547). Moscow the capital

2) Zvenigorod principality (1331 - 1492). Capital Zvenigorod

3) Vologda Principality (1433 - 81). Capital Vologda

4) Mozhaisk principality (1279 - 1303) (1389 - 1492).

5) Vereisk principality (1432 - 86).

6) Volotsk principality (1408 - 10) (1462 - 1513). Capital Volok Lamsky (now Volokolamsk)

7) Ruza principality(1494 - 1503). Capital Ruza

8) Staritsky Principality(1519 - 63). Capital Staritsa

9) Rzhev principality (1408 - 10) (1462 - 1526). Capital Rzhev

10) Kaluga principality (1505 - 18). Capital Kaluga