Kiev land 12-13 centuries. Russian principalities of the XII-XIII centuries. Kievan principality. Characteristic features of this period
After a period of active “gathering” of lands and “bailing” of tribes by the Kiev princes in the 10th - first half of the 11th century. the general border of Russia 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 connected both with internal civil strife, which weakened the Russian lands, and with the appearance of powerful military-political formations on these borders: 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 directions where the expansion of the common territory of Russia continued were 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” that were 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. The Old Russian state broke up into principalities-lands. In the history of fragmentation, two stages are distinguished, separated by the Mongol-Tatar invasion of the 1230s–1240s. on the ground. The beginning of this process is defined by researchers in different ways. The most reasoned opinion seems to be that the tendency 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 Kiev 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 Russia 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 the Lyubech congress of 1097, which established "each 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 Kiev prince over all Russian lands, but then fragmentation finally prevailed.
Population of principalities and lands
Kievan principality. After the death of the Kiev prince Mstislav Vladimirovich and independence of Novgorod in 1136, the direct possessions of the Kiev princes narrowed to the limits of the ancient lands of the glades and drevlyans on the right bank and along its tributaries - the Pripyat, Teterev, Ros. On the left bank of the Dnieper, the principality included lands up to Trubezh (the bridge across the Dnieper from Kiev, built by Vladimir Monomakh in 1115, was of great importance for communication with these lands). 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 Kiev, Belgorod (on Irpen), Vyshgorod, Zarub, Kotelnitsa, Chernobyl, etc. are known. The southern part of the Kiev land - Porosye - was an area of a kind of "military settlements". There were a number of towns on this territory, which began to be built back in the time of Yaroslav the Wise, who settled captive Poles here (). The powerful Kanev forest was located in the Ros basin, and the fortified 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 a nomadic lifestyle, and in the cities that the princes built for them, they took refuge only during 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 Kiev Grand Duke's table. It was owned at various times by the Chernigov, Smolensk, Volyn, Rostov-Suzdal, and later Vladimir-Suzdal and Galician-Volyn princes. Some of them, sitting on the throne, lived in Kiev, 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 of the principality 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. In the principality, a special place was occupied by the Seversk 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 review, there were few significant settlements here, except for Kozelsk, 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. The eastern borders were 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 was very important for the population of medieval Russia. 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 the ancient cities of 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. Yury Dolgoruky (1125–1157), who founded Ksnyatin at the mouth of the Nerl, Yuryev Polskaya on the river, was especially active in urban planning. 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 credited (with varying degrees of validity) with the foundation of Zvenigorod, Kideksha, Gorodets Radilov and other cities. The sons of Dolgoruky Andrey Bogolyubsky (1157–1174) and Vsevolod the Big Nest (1176–1212) pay more attention to the expansion of their possessions to the north and east, where the rivals of the Vladimir princes are Novgorodians and Volga Bulgaria, respectively. 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 other hand, 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 Velikiye 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. The local tribes of Perm, Pechora, Yugra were connected with Novgorod by tributary relations.
In the Novgorod lands and in their immediate vicinity, several regions arose where iron smelting also took place. In the first half of the XIII century. on Mologa, the city of Zhelezny Ustyug (Ustyuzhna Zheleznopolskaya) arose. Another area was located between Ladoga and the lake in the lands of the waters. 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 Russia) from the middle of the XIII century. depart for Lithuania.
Smolensk principality occupied the territories of the upper reaches of the Dnieper and. 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 grain for Novgorod, and since its territory was the most important transport hub where the upper reaches of Eastern Europe converged, the cities carried on a lively 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 the end of the XII century. 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. The largest cities - Ryazan, Pereyaslavl Ryazansky, Murom, Kolomna, Pronsk - were 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 Russia 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 feudal estate most often formed from several tribes, and in the north and northeast of Russia, the Slavs gradually assimilated some of the indigenous Finno-Ugric and Baltic tribes. In the south and southwest, elements of nomadic Turkic-speaking ethnic groups poured into the Slavic population. 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 is possible 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 Pereyaslavl - 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 Russia to south of the line of the upper reaches of the Neman - the upper reaches of the Don was an order of magnitude higher than the northern principalities and lands.
In parallel with the political fragmentation of Russia, church dioceses were being formed on its territory. The boundaries of the metropolis, whose center was in Kiev, in the XI - the first half of the XIII century. completely coincided with the general borders of the 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 Russia.
In modern historiography, the title "Kiev princes" is used to designate a number of rulers of the Kiev principality and the Old Russian state. The classical period of their reign began in 912 with the reign of Igor Rurikovich, who was the first to bear the title of "Grand Duke of Kiev", and lasted until about the middle of the 12th century, when the collapse of the Old Russian state began. Let's take a brief look at the most prominent rulers during this period.
Oleg the Prophet (882-912)
Igor Rurikovich (912-945) - the first ruler of Kiev, called the "Grand Duke of Kiev." During his reign, he conducted a number of military campaigns, both against neighboring tribes (Pechenegs and Drevlyans), and against the Byzantine kingdom. The Pechenegs and the Drevlyans recognized the supremacy of Igor, but the Byzantines, militarily better equipped, put up stubborn resistance. In 944, Igor was forced to sign a peace treaty with Byzantium. At the same time, the terms of the agreement were beneficial for Igor, since Byzantium paid a significant tribute. A year later, he decided to attack the Drevlyans again, despite the fact that they had already recognized his authority and paid tribute to him. Igor's warriors, in turn, got the opportunity to cash in on the robberies of the local population. The Drevlyans ambushed in 945 and, having captured Igor, executed him.
Olga (945-964)- The widow of Prince Rurik, who was killed in 945 by the Drevlyane tribe. She headed the state until her son, Svyatoslav Igorevich, became an adult. It is not known exactly when she transferred power to her son. Olga was the first of the rulers of Russia to accept Christianity, while the whole country, the army and even her son were still pagans. Important facts of her reign were the subjugation of the Drevlyans who killed her husband Igor Rurikovich. Olga established the exact amount of taxes that the lands subject to Kiev had to pay, systematized the frequency of their payment and the timing. An administrative reform was carried out, dividing the lands subordinate to Kiev into clearly defined units, each of which was headed by a princely official "tiun". Under Olga, the first stone buildings appeared in Kiev, Olga's tower and the city palace.
Svyatoslav (964-972)- the son of Igor Rurik and Princess Olga. A characteristic feature of the reign was that Olga actually ruled most of his time, first because of the minority of Svyatoslav, and then because of his constant military campaigns and absence in Kiev. Assumed power around 950. He did not follow the example of his mother, and did not accept Christianity, which was then unpopular among the secular and military nobility. The reign of Svyatoslav Igorevich was marked by a series of continuous conquest campaigns that he carried out against neighboring tribes and state formations. The Khazars, Vyatichi, the Bulgarian kingdom (968-969) and Byzantium (970-971) were attacked. The war with Byzantium brought heavy losses to both sides, and ended, in fact, in a draw. Returning from this campaign, Svyatoslav was ambushed by the Pechenegs and was killed.
Yaropolk (972-978)
Vladimir the Saint (978-1015)- Kiev prince, best known for the baptism of Russia. He was a prince of Novgorod from 970 to 978, when he seized the throne of Kiev. During his reign, he continuously conducted campaigns against neighboring tribes and states. He conquered and annexed to his state the tribes of the Vyatichi, Yatvyag, Radimichi and Pechenegs. He carried out a number of state reforms aimed at strengthening the power of the prince. In particular, he began minting a single state coin, replacing the previously used Arab and Byzantine money. With the help of invited Bulgarian and Byzantine teachers, he began to spread literacy in Russia, forcibly sending children to study. He founded the cities of Pereyaslavl and Belgorod. The main achievement is the baptism of Russia, carried out in 988. The introduction of Christianity as the state religion also contributed to the centralization of the Old Russian state. The resistance of various pagan cults, then widespread in Russia, weakened the power of the Kiev throne and was brutally suppressed. Prince Vladimir died in 1015 during another military campaign against the Pechenegs.
SvyatopolkCursed (1015-1016)
Yaroslav the Wise (1016-1054) is the son of Vladimir. He feuded with his father and seized power in Kiev in 1016, driving his brother Svyatopolk away. The reign of Yaroslav is represented in history by traditional raids on neighboring states and internecine wars with numerous relatives who claimed the throne. For this reason, Yaroslav was forced to temporarily leave the throne of Kiev. He built the churches of Hagia Sophia in Novgorod and Kiev. It is to her that the main temple in Constantinople is dedicated, therefore the fact of such a construction spoke of the equality of the Russian church with the Byzantine one. As part of the confrontation with the Byzantine Church, he independently appointed the first Russian Metropolitan Hilarion in 1051. Yaroslav also founded the first Russian monasteries: the Kiev Caves Monastery in Kiev and the Yuryev Monastery in Novgorod. For the first time he codified feudal law by issuing a code of laws "Russian Truth" and a church charter. He did a great job of translating Greek and Byzantine books into Old Russian and Church Slavonic, constantly spending large sums on the correspondence of new books. He founded a large school in Novgorod, in which the children of elders and priests learned to read and write. He strengthened diplomatic and military ties with the Varangians, thus securing the northern borders of the state. He died in Vyshgorod in February 1054.
SvyatopolkCursed (1018-1019)- secondary interim rule
Izyaslav (1054-1068)- son of Yaroslav the Wise. According to his father's will, he sat on the throne of Kiev in 1054. Throughout almost the entire reign, he was at enmity with his younger brothers Svyatoslav and Vsevolod, who sought to seize the prestigious Kiev throne. In 1068, the troops of Izyaslav were defeated by the Polovtsians in a battle on the Alta River. This led to the Kiev uprising in 1068. At the veche meeting, the remnants of the defeated militia demanded that they be given weapons in order to continue the fight against the Polovtsy, but Izyaslav refused to do this, which forced the people of Kiev to revolt. Izyaslav was forced to flee to the Polish king, his nephew. With the military help of the Poles, Izyaslav regained the throne for the period 1069-1073, was again overthrown, and ruled for the last time from 1077 to 1078.
Vseslav Charodey (1068-1069)
Svyatoslav (1073-1076)
Vsevolod (1076-1077)
Svyatopolk (1093-1113)- the son of Izyaslav Yaroslavich, before taking the throne of Kiev, he periodically headed the Novgorod and Turov principalities. The beginning of the Kiev principality of Svyatopolk was marked by the invasion of the Polovtsy, who inflicted a serious defeat on the troops of Svyatopolk in the battle near the Stugna River. This was followed by several more battles, the outcome of which is not known for certain, but in the end, peace was concluded with the Polovtsy, and Svyatopolk took the daughter of Khan Tugorkan as his wife. The subsequent reign of Svyatopolk was overshadowed by the continuous struggle between Vladimir Monomakh and Oleg Svyatoslavich, in which Svyatopolk usually supported Monomakh. Svyatopolk also repelled the constant raids of the Polovtsians led by the khans Tugorkan and Bonyak. He died suddenly in the spring of 1113, possibly by poisoning.
Vladimir Monomakh (1113-1125) was a prince of Chernigov when his father died. He had the right to the Kiev throne, but gave it to his cousin Svyatopolk, because he did not want war at that time. In 1113, the people of Kiev raised an uprising, and, having thrown Svyatopolk, they invited Vladimir to the kingdom. For this reason, he was forced to accept the so-called "Charter of Vladimir Monomakh", which alleviates the situation of the city's lower classes. The law did not affect the foundations of the feudal system, but regulated the conditions of enslavement and limited the profits of usurers. Under Monomakh, Russia reached the peak of its power. The Minsk principality was conquered, and the Polovtsy were forced to migrate east of the Russian borders. With the help of an impostor who pretended to be the son of the previously killed Byzantine emperor, Monomakh organized an adventure aimed at placing him on the Byzantine throne. Several Danubian cities were conquered, but success could not be further developed. The campaign ended in 1123 with the signing of peace. Monomakh organized the publication of improved editions of The Tale of Bygone Years, which have survived in this form to this day. Monomakh also created several works on his own: the autobiographical Ways and Fishes, the code of laws “the charter of Vladimir Vsevolodovich” and “Instructions of Vladimir Monomakh”.
Mstislav the Great (1125-1132)- the son of Monomakh, formerly the prince of Belgorod. He ascended the throne of Kiev in 1125 without resistance from the other brothers. Among the most outstanding deeds of Mstislav, one can name a campaign against the Polovtsians in 1127 and the sacking of the cities of Izyaslav, Strezhev and Lagozhsk. After a similar campaign in 1129, the Principality of Polotsk was finally annexed to the possessions of Mstislav. In order to collect tribute, several campaigns were made in the Baltic states, against the Chud tribe, but they ended in failure. In April 1132, Mstislav died suddenly, but managed to transfer the throne to Yaropolk, his brother.
Yaropolk (1132-1139)- Being the son of Monomakh, he inherited the throne when his brother Mstislav died. At the time of coming to power, he was 49 years old. In fact, he controlled only Kiev and its environs. By his natural inclinations he was a good warrior, but he did not possess diplomatic and political abilities. Immediately after the assumption of the throne, the traditional civil strife began, connected with the succession to the throne in the Principality of Pereyaslavl. Yuri and Andrei Vladimirovich expelled Vsevolod Mstislavich from Pereyaslavl, who was imprisoned there by Yaropolk. Also, the situation in the country was complicated by the frequent raids of the Polovtsy, who, together with the allied Chernigov, plundered the outskirts of Kiev. The indecisive policy of Yaropolk led to a military defeat in the battle on the Supoy River with the troops of Vsevolod Olgovich. The cities of Kursk and Posemye were also lost during the reign of Yaropolk. This development of events further weakened his authority, which was used by the Novgorodians, who announced their separation in 1136. The result of the reign of Yaropolk was the actual collapse of the Old Russian state. Formally, only the Principality of Rostov-Suzdal retained submission to Kiev.
Vyacheslav (1139, 1150, 1151-1154)
Already in the middle of the XII century. the power of the Kiev princes began to have real significance only within the Kiev 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 Kiev. The attempt of Yaropolk, who became the prince of Kiev 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 Kiev, the struggle for possession of it continued until the invasion of the Mongols. There was no sequence in the succession of the Kiev 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 Kiev boyars and the Black Hoods. In the context of the all-Russian struggle for Kiev, the local boyars sought to end the strife and to political stabilization in their principality. In 1113, the boyars’ invitation of Vladimir Monomakh to Kiev (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 Kiev, the Kievan boyars resorted to a peculiar system of princely duumvirate, inviting representatives from two of several rival princely groups as co-rulers to Kiev, which for some time achieved relative political balance, which was so necessary for Kiev land.
As Kiev 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 Kiev, “handmaids”, begins to satisfy.
Princely strife over Kiev turned Kiev land into an arena of frequent hostilities, during which cities and villages were ruined, and the population was driven into captivity. Kiev 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 Kiev 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 Kiev 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 Kiev 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 Kiev. 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 Kiev, 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 Kiev 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 Kiev, 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 Kiev 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 Kiev. 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 Kiev. 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 Kiev 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 Kiev 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 Kiev in the middle of the 12th century, having secured itself as a tribal “fatherland” for the descendants of the Kiev 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, Kiev, 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 Kiev in 1240, he again united the entire South-Western Russia and Kiev 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 Kiev 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! v. the Novgorod nobility largely predetermined the candidacies of the princes sent from Kiev. So, in 1102, the boyars refused to accept the son of the Kiev 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 Kiev, 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 Kiev 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.
The development of feudal relations in Russia.
Time from the end of the X to the beginning of the XII century. is an important stage in the development of feudal relations in Russia. This time is characterized by the gradual victory of the feudal mode of production over a large area of the country.
The agriculture of Russia was dominated by sustainable field farming. Cattle breeding developed more slowly than agriculture. Despite a relative increase in agricultural production, harvests were low. Shortage and famine were frequent occurrences, undermining the Kresgyap economy and contributing to the enslavement of the peasants. Hunting, fishing, and beekeeping remained of great importance in the economy. Furs of squirrels, martens, otters, beavers, sables, foxes, as well as honey and wax went to the foreign market. The best hunting and fishing areas, forests with side lands were seized by feudal lords.
In the 11th and early 12th centuries part of the land was exploited by the state by collecting tribute from the population, part of the land area was in the hands of individual feudal lords as estates that could be inherited (later they became known as estates), and possessions received from the princes in temporary conditional holding.
The ruling class of feudal lords was formed from local princes and boyars, who became dependent on Kiev, and from the husbands (combatants) of the Kiev princes, who received land, "tortured" by them and the princes, into administration, possession or patrimony. The Kievan Grand Dukes themselves had large land holdings. The distribution of land by the princes to combatants, while strengthening feudal production relations, was at the same time one of the means used by the state to subjugate the local population to its power.
Land property was protected by law. The growth of boyar and ecclesiastical landownership was closely connected with the development of immunity. The land, which used to be peasant property, fell into the ownership of the feudal lord “with tribute, viry and sales”, that is, with the right to collect taxes and court fines from the population for murder and other crimes, and, consequently, with the right to court.
With the transfer of land into the ownership of individual feudal lords, the peasants fell into dependence on them in various ways. Some peasants, deprived of the means of production, were enslaved by the landowners, using their need for tools, implements, seeds, etc. Other peasants, who were sitting on land subject to tribute, who owned their tools of production, were forced by the state to transfer their land under the patrimonial power of the feudal lords. With the expansion of estates and the enslavement of smerds, the term servants, which previously denoted slaves, began to spread to the entire mass of the peasantry dependent on the landowner.
The peasants who fell into bondage to the feudal lord, legally formalized by a special agreement - nearby, were called purchases. They received from the landowner a plot of land and a loan, which they worked out in the feudal lord's household with the master's inventory. For escaping from the master, the zakuns turned into serfs - slaves deprived of any rights. Labor rent - corvée, field and castle (construction of fortifications, bridges, roads, etc.), was combined with natural quitrent.
With the death of Vladimir Monomakh in 1125. the decline of Kievan Rus began, which was accompanied by its disintegration into separate states-principalities. Even earlier, the Lyubech Congress of Princes in 1097 established: “... let each one keep his fatherland” - this meant that each prince becomes the full owner of his hereditary principality.
The collapse of the Kievan state into small principalities-patrimonies, according to V.O. Klyuchevsky, was caused by the existing order of succession to the throne. The princely throne was not passed from father to son, but from the elder brother to the middle and younger. This gave rise to strife in the family and the struggle for the division of estates. External factors played a certain role: nomad raids devastated the southern Russian lands and interrupted the trade route along the Dnieper.
As a result of the decline of Kiev in southern and southwestern Russia, the Galicia-Volyn principality rose, in the northeastern part of Russia - the Rostov-Suzdal (later Vladimir-Suzdal) principality, and in northwestern Russia - the Novgorod Boyar Republic, from which in the XIII century stood out Pskov land.
All these principalities, with the exception of Novgorod and Pskov, inherited the political system of Kievan Rus. They were led by princes, relying on their squads. The Orthodox clergy had great political influence in the principalities.
The political system in Novgorod and Pskov developed in a special way. The supreme power there belonged not to the prince, but to the veche, which consisted of the urban aristocracy, large landowners, wealthy merchants and the clergy. Veche, at its discretion, invited the prince, whose functions were limited only to the leadership of the city militia - and then under the control of the council of gentlemen and the posadnik (the highest official, the actual head of the boyar republic). The constant opponents of the Novgorodians were the Swedes and the Livonian Germans, who repeatedly tried to subjugate Novgorod. But in 1240 and 1242. they suffered a crushing defeat from Prince Alexander Yaroslavich, who received the nickname Nevsky for his victory over the Swedes on the Neva River.
A special situation has developed in Kiev. On the one hand, he became the first among equals. Soon, some Russian lands caught up and even outstripped him in their development. On the other hand, Kiev remained an "apple of discord" (they joked that there was not a single prince in Russia who did not seek to "sit" in Kiev). Kiev was "recaptured", for example, by Yuri Dolgoruky, Prince of Vladimir and Suzdal; in 1154 he achieved the throne of Kiev and sat on it until 1157. His son Andrei Bogolyubsky sent regiments to Kiev, and so on. Under such conditions, the Kiev boyars introduced a curious system of "duumvirate" (co-government), which lasted the entire second half of the 12th century. The meaning of this original measure was as follows: at the same time, representatives of two warring branches were invited to Kiev land (an agreement was concluded with them - a “row”); thus, a relative balance was established and strife was partly eliminated. One of the princes lived in Kiev, the other - in Belgorod (or Vyshgorod). They acted jointly on military campaigns and carried out diplomatic correspondence in concert. So, co-rulers duumvirs were Izyaslav Mstislavich and his uncle - Vyacheslav Vladimirovich; Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich and Rurik Mstislavich.
Yaroslav the Wise tried to prevent civil strife after his death and established between his children order of succession to the throne of Kiev by seniority: from brother to brother and from uncle to eldest nephew. But even this did not help to avoid a struggle for power between the brothers. V 1097 Yaroslavichi gathered in the city of Lyubich ( Lubian Congress of Princes) and forbade princes to move to reign from principality to principality. Thus, the prerequisites for feudal fragmentation were created. But this decision did not stop internecine wars. Now the princes took care of expanding the territories of their principalities.
For a short time, the world was restored to the grandson of Yaroslav Vladimir Monomakh (1113-1125). But after his death, war broke out with renewed vigor. Kiev, weakened by the constant struggle against the Polovtsy and internal strife, is gradually losing its leading role. The population seeks salvation from the constant plunder and moves to more peaceful principalities: Galicia-Volyn (Upper Dnieper) and Rostov-Suzdal (interfluve of the Volga and Oka). In many ways, the boyars, who were interested in expanding their patrimonial lands, pushed the princes to seize new lands. Due to the fact that the princes established the Kievan order of succession in their principalities, processes of fragmentation began in them: if at the beginning of the 12th century there were 15 principalities, then by the end of the 13th century there were already 250 principalities.
Feudal fragmentation was a natural process in the development of statehood. It was accompanied by the revival of the economy, the rise of culture and the formation of local cultural centers. At the same time, during the period of fragmentation, the awareness of national unity was not lost.
Reasons for fragmentation: 1) the lack of solid economic ties between the individual principalities - each principality produced everything necessary within itself, that is, it lived by subsistence farming; 2) the emergence and strengthening of local princely dynasties; 3) weakening of the central power of the Kiev prince; 4) the decline of the trade route along the Dnieper "from the Varangians to the Greeks" and the strengthening of the importance of the Volga as a trade route.
Galicia-Volyn principality located in the foothills of the Carpathians. Trade routes from Byzantium to Europe passed through the principality. In the principality, a struggle arose between the prince and the big boyars - landowners. Poland and Hungary often intervened in the struggle.
The Galician principality was especially strengthened under Yaroslav Vladimirovich Osmomysl (1157–1182). After his death, the Galician principality was annexed to Volhynia by the prince Roman Mstislavovich (1199–1205). Roman managed to capture Kiev, declared himself the Grand Duke, and pushed the Polovtsy from the southern borders. Roman's policy was continued by his son Daniel Romanovich (1205–1264). During his time, the Tatar-Mongols invaded and the prince had to recognize the power of the khan over himself. After the death of Daniel, a struggle broke out between the boyar families in the principality, as a result of which Volyn was captured by Lithuania, and Galicia by Poland.
Novgorod principality stretched throughout the Russian North from the Baltic to the Urals. Through Novgorod there was a lively trade with Europe along the Baltic Sea. The Novgorod boyars were also drawn into this trade. After uprisings of 1136 Prince Vsevolod was expelled and the Novgorodians began to invite princes to their place, that is, a feudal republic was established. Princely power was significantly limited city council(meeting) and Council of gentlemen. The function of the prince was reduced to organizing the defense of the city and external representation. The one elected at the veche actually ruled the city posadnik and the council of gentlemen. Veche had the right to expel the prince from the city. The veche was attended by delegates from the city ends ( Konchan veche). All free citizens of this end could participate in the Konchan veche.
The republican organization of power in Novgorod had a class character. Novgorod became the center of the fight against German and Swedish aggression.
Vladimir-Suzdal Principality It was located between the Volga and Oka rivers and was protected from the steppes by forests. Attracting the population to the desert lands, the princes founded new cities, did not allow the formation of urban self-government (veche) and large boyar land ownership. At the same time, settling on princely lands, free community members became dependent on the landowner, that is the development of serfdom continued and intensified.
The beginning of the local dynasty was laid by the son of Vladimir Monomakh Yuri Dolgoruky (1125–1157). He founded a number of cities: Dmitrov, Zvenigorod, Moscow. But Yuri sought to get to the great reign in Kiev. The real owner of the principality became Andrei Yurievich Bogolyubsky (1157–1174). He founded the city Vladimir-on-Klyazma and moved the capital of the principality there from Rostov. Wanting to expand the boundaries of his principality, Andrei fought a lot with his neighbors. The boyars, removed from power, organized a conspiracy and killed Andrei Bogolyubsky. Andrey's policy was continued by his brother Vsevolod Yurievich Big Nest (1176–1212) and son of Vsevolod Yuri (1218–1238). In 1221 Yuri Vsevolodovich founded Nizhny Novgorod. The development of Russia was slow Tatar-Mongolian invasion of 1237–1241.
Russia in XII - XIIIcenturies. political fragmentation.
V 1132 The last powerful prince Mstislav, the son of Vladimir Monomakh, died.
This date is considered the beginning of the period of fragmentation.
Reasons for fragmentation:
1) The struggle of the princes for the best principalities and territories.
2) The independence of the boyars-patrimonials in their lands.
3) Subsistence economy, strengthening the economic and political power of cities.
4) The decline of the Kiev land from the raids of the steppes.
Characteristic features of this period:
The aggravation of relations between the princes and the boyars
Princely strife
The struggle of the princes for the "Kiev table"
The growth and strengthening of the economic and political power of cities
The heyday of culture
Weakening of the military potential of the country (fragmentation caused the defeat of Russia in the fight against the Mongols)
The main centers of political fragmentation:
Novgorod land
The supreme power belonged to the veche, which called the prince.
Officials were elected at the veche: the posadnik, the thousand, the archbishop. Novgorod feudal republic
Vladimiro - Suzdal Principality
Strong princely power (Yuri Dolgoruky (1147 - the first mention of Moscow in the annals), Andrei Bogolyubsky, Vsevolod the Big Nest)
Galicia-Volyn principality
Powerful boyars that fought for power with the princes. Famous princes - Yaroslav Osmomysl, Roman Mstislavovich, Daniil Galitsky.
Before the Mongol invasion - the heyday of Russian culture
1223 - the first battle with the Mongols on the Kalka River.
The Russians tried to fight back along with the Polovtsy, but were defeated
1237-1238 - the campaign of Batu Khan to North-Eastern Russia (the Ryazan principality was the first to be defeated)
1239-1240- to South Russia
Reasons for the defeat of Russia in the fight against the Mongol-Tatars
- Fragmentation and strife between the princes
- The superiority of the Mongols in the art of war, the availability of experienced and large army
Consequences
1) The establishment of a yoke - the dependence of Russia on the Horde (payment of tribute and the need for princes to receive a label (a khan's letter that gave the prince the right to manage his lands) Baskak - a khan's governor in Russian lands
2) The ruin of lands and cities, the deportation of the population into slavery - undermining the economy and culture
Invasion of German and Swedish knights to the northwestern lands - Novgorod and Pskov
Goals
*seizure of new territories
* Conversion to Catholicism
Novgorod prince Alexander Nevsky at the head of the Russian troops won victories:
Russian principalities and lands in the XII-XIII centuries
on the river Neve over the Swedish knights
1242 on Lake Peipsi over the German knights (Battle on the Ice)
1251 -1263 - the reign of Prince Alexander Nevsky in Vladimir. Establishing friendly relations with the Golden Horde to prevent new invasions from the West
Work plan.
I. Introduction.
II. Russian lands and principalities in the XII-XIII centuries.
1. Causes and essence of state fragmentation. Socio-political and cultural characteristics of Russian lands in the period of fragmentation.
§ 1. The feudal fragmentation of Russia is a natural stage in the development of Russian society and the state.
§ 2. Economic and socio-political reasons for the fragmentation of Russian lands.
Vladimir-Suzdal principality as one of the types of feudal state formations in Russia in the XII-XIII centuries.
§ 4 Features of the geographical location, natural and climatic conditions of the Vladimir-Suzdal land.
Russian lands and principalities in the XII - the first half of the XIII century.
Features of the socio-political and cultural development of the Vladimir-Suzdal principality.
2. Mongol-Tatar invasion of Russia and its consequences. Russia and the Golden Horde.
§ 1. The originality of the historical development and way of life of the nomadic peoples of Central Asia.
Batu's invasion and the formation of the Golden Horde.
§ 3. The Mongol-Tatar yoke and its influence on ancient Russian history.
The struggle of Russia against the aggression of the German and Swedish conquerors. Alexander Nevskiy.
§ 1. Expansion to the East of Western European countries and religious and political organizations at the beginning of the XIII century.
§ 2. The historical significance of the military victories of Prince Alexander Nevsky (Battle of the Neva, Battle of the Ice).
III. Conclusion
I. INTRODUCTION
XII-XIII centuries, which will be discussed in this control work, are barely distinguishable in the fog of the past.
In order to understand and understand the events of this most difficult era in the history of medieval Russia, it is necessary to get acquainted with the monuments of ancient Russian literature, study fragments of medieval chronicles and annals, read the works of historians related to this period. It is historical documents that help to see in history not a simple collection of dry facts, but the most complex science, the achievements of which play an important role in the further development of society, and allow a deeper understanding of the most important events in national history.
Consider the reasons that led to feudal fragmentation - the political and economic decentralization of the state, the creation on the territory of Ancient Russia of practically independent from each other, independent state formations; to understand why the Tatar-Mongol yoke on Russian soil became possible, and what was the domination of the conquerors for more than two centuries in the field of economic, political and cultural life, and what consequences it had for the future historical development of Russia - this is the main task of this work.
XIII century, rich in tragic events, to this day excites and attracts the eyes of historians and writers.
After all, this century is called the "dark period" of Russian history.
However, its beginning was bright and calm. The vast country, larger than any European state, was full of young creative power. The proud and strong people who inhabited it did not yet know the oppressive gravity of the foreign yoke, did not know the humiliating inhumanity of serfdom.
The world in their eyes was simple and whole.
They did not yet know the destructive power of gunpowder. Distance was measured by the span of arms or the flight of an arrow, and time was measured by the change of winter and summer. The rhythm of their life was unhurried and measured.
At the beginning of the XII century, axes were knocked all over Russia, new cities and villages grew. Russia was a country of masters.
Here they knew how to weave the finest lace and build soaring cathedrals, forge reliable, sharp swords and draw the heavenly beauty of angels.
Russia was a crossroads of peoples.
On the squares of Russian cities one could meet Germans and Hungarians, Poles and Czechs, Italians and Greeks, Polovtsians and Swedes... Many were surprised how quickly the “Rusichs” assimilated the achievements of neighboring peoples, applied them to their needs, enriched their own ancient and unique culture.
At the beginning of the XIII century, Russia was one of the most prominent states in Europe. The power and wealth of the Russian princes were known throughout Europe.
But suddenly a thunderstorm approached the Russian land - a hitherto unknown terrible enemy.
A heavy burden fell on the shoulders of the Russian people, the Mongol-Tatar yoke. The exploitation of the conquered peoples by the Mongol khans was ruthless and comprehensive. Simultaneously with the invasion from the East, Russia also faced another terrible misfortune - the expansion of the Livonian Order, its attempt to impose Catholicism on the Russian people.
In this difficult historical era, the heroism and love of freedom of our people manifested itself with particular force, people whose names were forever preserved in the memory of descendants were exalted.
II. RUSSIAN LANDS AND PRINCIPALITIES IN THE XII-XIII CENTURIES.
1. CAUSES AND ESSENCE OF STATE Fragmentation. SOCIO-POLITICAL AND CULTURAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE RUSSIAN LANDS
THE PERIOD OF Fragmentation.
§ 1. FEUDAL Fragmentation of RUSSIA - A NATURAL STAGE
DEVELOPMENT OF RUSSIAN SOCIETY AND THE STATE
From the 30s of the XII century, the process of feudal fragmentation began in Russia.
Feudal fragmentation is an inevitable step in the evolution of feudal society, the basis of which is a subsistence economy with its isolation and isolation.
The natural economy system that had developed by that time contributed to the isolation from each other of all individual economic units (family, community, inheritance, land, principality), each of which became self-sufficient, consuming all the product it produced. There was practically no trade in goods in this situation.
Within the framework of the unified Russian state, independent economic regions have developed over three centuries, new cities have grown, large patrimonial farms have arisen and developed, and the possessions of many monasteries and churches.
Feudal clans grew up and rallied - the boyars with their vassals, the rich top of the cities, church hierarchs. The nobility was born, the basis of whose life was the service to the overlord in exchange for a land grant for the time of this service.
The huge Kievan Rus with its superficial political cohesion, which was necessary, first of all, for defense against an external enemy, for organizing long-range campaigns of conquest, now no longer corresponded to the needs of large cities with their branched feudal hierarchy, developed trade and craft strata, and the needs of votchinniki.
The need to unite all forces against the Polovtsian danger and the mighty will of the Grand Dukes - Vladimir Monomakh and his son Mstislav - temporarily slowed down the inevitable process of fragmentation of Kievan Rus, but then it resumed with renewed vigor.
“The whole Russian land was irritated,” as the chronicle says.
From the point of view of general historical development, the political fragmentation of Russia is a natural stage on the way to the future centralization of the country, the future economic and political rise on a new civilizational basis.
Europe also did not escape the collapse of the early medieval states, fragmentation and local wars.
Then the process of formation of secular nation-states, which still exist, was developed here. Ancient Russia, having gone through a period of disintegration, could come to a similar result. However, the Mongol-Tatar invasion disrupted this natural development of political life in Russia and threw it back.
§ 2. ECONOMIC AND SOCIO-POLITICAL REASONS
Fragmentation of RUSSIAN LANDS
We can single out the economic and socio-political reasons for feudal fragmentation in Russia:
1.Economic reasons:
- the growth and development of feudal boyar land ownership, the expansion of estates by seizing the lands of smerds-communists, buying land, etc.
All this led to the strengthening of the economic power and independence of the boyars and, ultimately, to the aggravation of the contradictions between the boyars and the Grand Duke of Kiev. The boyars were interested in such a princely power that could provide them with military and legal protection, in particular in connection with the growing resistance of the townspeople, smerds, contribute to the seizure of their lands and intensify exploitation.
- the dominance of subsistence farming and the lack of economic ties contributed to the creation of relatively small boyar worlds and the separatism of local boyar unions.
- in the XII century, trade routes began to bypass Kiev, "the path from the Varangians to the Greeks", which once united the Slavic tribes around itself, gradually lost its former meaning, because.
European merchants, as well as Novgorodians, were increasingly attracted to Germany, Italy, and the Middle East.
2. Socio-political reasons :
- strengthening the power of individual princes;
- weakening the influence of the great Kiev prince;
- princely strife; they were based on the Yaroslavl appanage system itself, which could no longer satisfy the overgrown family of Rurikovich.
There was no clear, precise order either in the distribution of inheritances or in their inheritance. After the death of the great prince of Kiev, the "table" according to existing law did not go to his son, but to the eldest prince in the family. At the same time, the principle of seniority came into conflict with the principle of “fatherland”: when the princes-brothers moved from one “table” to another, some of them did not want to change their homes, while others rushed to the Kiev “table” over the heads of their older brothers.
Thus, the preserved order of inheritance of the "tables" created the prerequisites for internecine conflicts. In the middle of the XII century, civil strife reached an unprecedented severity, and the number of their participants increased many times due to the fragmentation of princely possessions.
At that time in Russia there were 15 principalities and separate lands. In the next century, on the eve of Batu's invasion, there were already 50.
- the growth and strengthening of cities as new political and cultural centers can also be considered the reason for the further fragmentation of Russia, although some historians, on the contrary, regard the development of cities as a consequence of this process.
- the fight against nomads also weakened the Kiev principality, slowed down its progress; in Novgorod and Suzdal it was much calmer.
Feudal fragmentation in Russia in the 12th-13th centuries. Specific Russia.
- Feudal fragmentation– political and economic decentralization. The creation on the territory of one state of independent independent principalities, formally having a common ruler, a single religion - Orthodoxy, uniform laws of "Russian Truth".
- The energetic and ambitious policy of the Vladimir-Suzdal princes led to the growth of the influence of the Vladimir-Suzdal principality on the entire Russian state.
- Yuri Dolgoruky, son of Vladimir Monomakh, received the Vladimir principality in his reign.
- 1147 Moscow first appears in chronicles. The founder is boyar Kuchka.
- Andrei Bogolyubsky, son of Yuri Dolgoruky. 1157-1174. The capital was moved from Rostov to Vladimir, the new title of the ruler is Tsar and Grand Duke.
- The Vladimir-Suzdal principality flourished under Vsevolod the Big Nest.
1176-1212. The monarchy was finally established.
Consequences of fragmentation.
Positive
- the growth and strengthening of cities
– Active development of crafts
— Settlement of undeveloped lands
- laying roads
— Development of internal trade
— The flourishing of the cultural life of the principalities
Strengthening the local self-government apparatus
Negative
— continuation of the process of fragmentation of lands and principalities
- internecine wars
- weak central government
- Vulnerability to external enemies
Specific Russia (XII-XIII centuries)
With the death of Vladimir Monomakh in 1125.
the decline of Kievan Rus began, which was accompanied by its disintegration into separate states-principalities. Even earlier, the Lyubech Congress of Princes in 1097 established: “... let each one keep his fatherland” - this meant that each prince becomes the full owner of his hereditary principality.
The collapse of the Kievan state into small principalities-patrimonies, according to V.O.
Klyuchevsky, was caused by the existing order of succession to the throne. The princely throne was not passed from father to son, but from the elder brother to the middle and younger. This gave rise to strife in the family and the struggle for the division of estates. External factors played a certain role: nomad raids devastated the southern Russian lands and interrupted the trade route along the Dnieper.
As a result of the decline of Kiev in southern and southwestern Russia, the Galicia-Volyn principality rose, in the northeastern part of Russia - the Rostov-Suzdal (later Vladimir-Suzdal) principality, and in northwestern Russia - the Novgorod Boyar Republic, from which in the XIII century stood out Pskov land.
All these principalities, with the exception of Novgorod and Pskov, inherited the political system of Kievan Rus.
They were led by princes, relying on their squads. The Orthodox clergy had great political influence in the principalities.
Question
The main occupation of the inhabitants of the Mongolian state was nomadic cattle breeding.
The desire to expand their pastures is one of the reasons for their military campaigns. It must be said that the Mongol-Tatars conquered not only Russia, it was not the first state they took. Prior to that, they subjugated Central Asia, including Korea and China, to their interests. From China, they adopted their flamethrower weapons, and because of this they became even stronger. The Tatars were very good warriors. They were armed "to the teeth", their army was very large.
They also used psychological intimidation of enemies: in front of the troops were soldiers who did not take prisoners, brutally killed opponents. The very sight of them frightened the enemy.
But let's move on to the Mongol-Tatar invasion of Russia. The first time the Russians faced the Mongols was in 1223. The Polovtsy asked the Russian princes to help defeat the Mongols, they agreed and a battle took place, which is called the Battle of the Kalka River. We lost this battle for many reasons, the main of which is the lack of unity between the principalities.
In 1235, in the capital of Mongolia, Karakorum, a decision was made on a military campaign to the West, including Russia.
In 1237, the Mongols attacked the Russian lands, and the first city captured was Ryazan. There is also in Russian literature the work “The Tale of the Devastation of Ryazan by Batu”, one of the heroes of this book is Yevpaty Kolovrat. The Tale says that after the ruin of Ryazan, this hero returned to his native city and wanted to take revenge on the Tatars for their cruelty (the city was plundered and almost all the inhabitants were killed). He gathered a detachment of the survivors and rode after the Mongols.
All wars fought bravely, but Evpaty distinguished himself with special courage and strength. He killed many Mongols, but in the end he himself was killed. The Tatars brought the body of Yevpatiy to Batu, talking about his unprecedented strength. Batu was struck by the unprecedented power of Yevpaty and gave the body of the hero to the surviving tribesmen, and ordered the Mongols not to touch the Ryazans.
In general, the years 1237-1238 were the years of the conquest of northeastern Russia.
After Ryazan, the Mongols took Moscow, which resisted for a long time, and burned it. Then they took Vladimir.
After the conquest of Vladimir, the Mongols split up and began to ravage the cities of northeastern Russia.
In 1238, a battle took place on the Sit River, the Russians lost this battle.
The Russians fought with dignity, no matter what city the Mongol attacked, the people defended their homeland (their principality). But in most cases, the Mongols still won, only Smolensk was not taken. Kozelsk also defended for a record long time: as many as seven weeks.
After a trip to the north-east of Russia, the Mongols returned to their homeland to rest.
But already in 1239 they returned to Russia again. This time their goal was the southern part of Russia.
1239-1240 - the campaign of the Mongols in the southern part of Russia. First they took Pereyaslavl, then the Principality of Chernigov, and in 1240 Kiev fell.
This ended the Mongol invasion. The period from 1240 to 1480 is called the Mongol-Tatar yoke in Russia.
What are the consequences of the Mongol-Tatar invasion, the yoke?
- Firstly, this is the backwardness of Russia from the countries of Europe.
Europe continued to develop, but Russia had to restore everything destroyed by the Mongols.
- Second is the decline of the economy. A lot of people were lost. Many crafts disappeared (the Mongols took artisans into slavery).
Russian lands and principalities in the 12th - first half of the 13th centuries
Also, farmers moved to more northern regions of the country, safer from the Mongols. All this hindered economic development.
- Third- the slowness of the cultural development of Russian lands. For some time after the invasion, no churches were built in Russia at all.
- Fourth- termination of contacts, including trade, with the countries of Western Europe.
Now the foreign policy of Russia was focused on the Golden Horde. The Horde appointed princes, collected tribute from the Russian people, and, in case of disobedience of the principalities, carried out punitive campaigns.
- Fifth consequences are highly controversial.
Some scientists say that the invasion and the yoke preserved political fragmentation in Russia, others argue that the yoke gave impetus to the unification of Russians.
Question
Alexander is invited to reign in Novgorod, he was then 15 years old, and in 1239 he marries the daughter of the Polotsk prince Bryachislav.
With this dynastic marriage, Yaroslav sought to consolidate the union of the northwestern Russian principalities in the face of the threat looming over them from the German and Swedish crusaders. The most dangerous situation developed at that time on the Novgorod borders. The Swedes, who had long competed with the Novgorodians for control over the lands of the Finnish tribes of Em and Sum, were preparing for a new onslaught. The invasion began in July 1240. The Swedish flotilla under the command of Birger, the son-in-law of the Swedish king Eric Kortavy, passed from the mouth of the Neva to the fall of the river.
Izhora. Here the Swedes made a stop before advancing on Ladoga, the main northern fort of the Novgorodtsev post. Meanwhile, Alexander Yaroslavich, warned by the sentinels about the appearance of the Swedish flotilla, hastily left Novgorod with his squad and a small auxiliary detachment. The calculation of the prince was based on the maximum use of the factor of surprise. The blow should have been delivered before the Swedes, who outnumbered the Russian army, had time to completely disembark from the ships. On the evening of July 15, the Russians swiftly attacked the Swedes' camp, trapping them on a cape between the Neva and Izhora.
Thanks to this, they deprived the enemy of freedom of maneuver and at the cost of small losses, all 20 people. This victory secured the northwestern border of the Novgorod land for a long time and earned the 19-year-old prince the glory of a brilliant commander. In memory of the defeat of the Swedes, Alexander was nicknamed Nevsky. In 1241, he expelled the Germans from the fortress of Koporye, and soon freed Pskov. The further advance of the Russian troops to the northwest, bypassing Lake Pskov, ran into fierce resistance from the Germans.
Alexander retreated to Lake Peipsi, pulling up all available forces here. The decisive battle took place on April 5, 1242. The battle formation of the Germans had the traditional wedge shape for the crusaders, at the head of which were several rows of the most experienced heavily armed knights. Knowing about this feature of knightly tactics, Alexander deliberately concentrated all his forces on the flanks, in the regiments of the right and left hands. He left his own squad - the most combat-ready part of the army - in ambush in order to bring it into battle at its most critical moment.
In the center, along the very edge of the Uzmeni bank (channels between Lake Peipsi and Pskov), he placed the Novgorod infantry, which could not withstand the frontal attack of the knightly cavalry. In fact, this regiment was initially doomed to defeat. But having crushed and thrown it to the opposite shore (to the island of Voronii Kamen), the knights inevitably had to substitute the weakly protected flanks of their wedge under the blow of the Russian cavalry.
In addition, now the Russians would have a shore behind their backs, and the Germans would have thin spring ice. The calculation of Alexander Nevsky was fully justified: when the knightly cavalry broke through a pig regiment, it was taken in pincers by the regiments of the Right and Left hands, and a powerful attack by the prince's squad completed the rout.
The knights turned into a stampede, while, as Alexander Nevsky expected, the ice could not stand it, and the waters of Lake Peipus swallowed up the remnants of the crusading host.
World around 4th grade
Hard times on Russian soil
1. Circle the border of Russia at the beginning of the 13th century with a red pencil.
Mark on the map with arrows the path of Batu Khan in Russia.
Write down the dates when Batu Khan attacked the cities.
Ryazan- end of 1237
Vladimir- in February 1238
Kiev- in 1240
3. Read the poem by N. Konchalovskaya.
Previously, Russia was specific:
Each city separate
Avoiding all neighbors
Ruled by a specific prince,
And the princes did not live together.
They would need to live in friendship
And one big family
Protect your native land.
I would be afraid then
Horde attack them!
Answer the questions:
- What does specific prince mean?
Russia by the middle of the XII century broke up into separate principalities, which were ruled by specific princes.
- How did the princes live? The princes did not live together, there were civil strife.
- Why were the Mongol-Tatars not afraid to attack Russian lands? The Russian princes were unable to unite to repulse the enemy because of the fragmentation of the Russian principalities.
Match the battle with its date.
5. Read the description of the battle on Lake Peipus.
The Russians fought furiously. Yes, and how not to fight without rage, when children and wives were left behind, villages and cities were left, native land with a short and sonorous name Rus was left.
And the crusaders came like robbers.
But where there is theft, there is cowardice side by side.
Fear took the dogs-knights, they see - the Russians are pushing them from all sides. Heavy horsemen cannot turn around in a crush, do not escape.
And then the Russians used hooks on long poles. They will hook the knight - and off the horse. He crashes on the ice, but he cannot get up: it hurts awkwardly in thick armor. Here he is off his head.
When the battle was in full swing, the ice suddenly crackled under the knights and cracked. The crusaders went to the bottom, pulled their heavy armor.
The crusaders did not know such a defeat until that time.
Since then, the knights have looked eastward with fear.
They remembered the words spoken by Alexander Nevsky. And this is what he said:
(O. Tikhomirov)
Answer the questions:
- Why did the Russians fight furiously? They defended their native land
- Why was it hard for the crusader cavalry in battle?
Russian lands and principalities 12-13 century (p. 1 of 6)
The Crusader cavalry were heavy, clumsy.
- What did the Russians use hooks for? They hooked the knights with hooks and dragged them off the horse.
- What words of Alexander Nevsky did the knights remember? Underline these words of the Russian prince in the text. Remember them.
The social, political and cultural development of the Old Russian state took place in close interaction with the peoples of the surrounding countries. One of the first places among them was occupied by the mighty Byzantine Empire, the closest southern neighbor of the Eastern Slavs. peaceful economic, political and cultural ties, and sharp military clashes On the one hand, Byzantium was a convenient source of military booty for the Slavic princes and their warriors On the other hand, Byzantine diplomacy sought to prevent the spread of Russian influence in the Black Sea region, and then try to turn Russia into a vassal of Byzantium , especially with the help of Christianization. At the same time, there were constant economic and political contacts. Evidence of such contacts is the existence of permanent colonies of Russian merchants in Constantinople, known to us from Oleg’s agreement with Byzantium (911). reflection in a large number of Byzantine things found on the territory of our country After Christianization, cultural ties with Byzantium intensified
Russian squads, crossing the Black Sea on ships, raided coastal Byzantine cities, and Oleg even managed to take the capital of Byzantium - Constantinople (in Russian - Tsargrad) Igor's campaign was less successful
In the second half of the 10th century, some Russian-Byzantine rapprochement was observed. Olga's trip to Constantinople, where she was friendly received by the emperor, strengthened relations between the two countries. Byzantine emperors sometimes used Russian squads for wars with their neighbors.
A new stage in Russia's relations with both Byzantium and other neighboring nations falls on the reign of Svyatoslav, the ideal hero of Russian chivalry Svyatoslav pursued an active foreign policy. He clashed with the powerful Khazar Khaganate, which once levied tribute from the territory of Southern Russia. , 941 and 944, the Russian warriors made campaigns against the Khazars, having achieved the gradual release of the Vyatichi from paying tribute to the Khazars. Taman Peninsula Tmutarakan Principality and to the liberation from the power of the Khaganate of the Volga-Kama Bulgarians, who after that formed their own state - the first state formation of the peoples of the Middle Volga and Kama region
The fall of the Khazar Khaganate and the advance of Russia in Pricher- 54
In an effort to mutually weaken Russia and Danubian Bulgaria, against which Byzantium pursued an aggressive policy, the Byzantine emperor Nikephoros II Phocas offered Svyatoslav a campaign in the Balkans Svyatoslav won a victory in Bulgaria and captured the city of Pereyaslavets on the Danube This result was unexpected for Byzantium There was a threat of uniting the Eastern and Southern Slavs into one state, with which Byzantium would not have been able to cope. Svyatoslav himself said that he would like to transfer the capital of his land to Pereyaslavets
To weaken Russian influence in Bulgaria, Byzantium used Pechenegs This Turkic nomadic people was first mentioned in the Russian chronicle under 915. Initially, the Pechenegs roamed between the Volga and the Aral Sea, and then, under pressure from the Khazars, they crossed the Volga and occupied the Northern Black Sea region. then Byzantium from time to time managed to “hire” the Pechenegs for attacks on the other side. So, during Svyatoslav’s stay in Bulgaria, they, apparently at the instigation of Byzantium, raided Kiev. Svyatoslav had to urgently return to defeat the Pechenegs, but soon he again went to Bulgaria , a war with Byzantium began there. Russian squads fought fiercely and bravely, but the Byzantine forces were too outnumbered.
a peace treaty was concluded, Svyatoslav's squad got the opportunity to return to Russia with all their weapons, and Byzantium was satisfied only with the promise of Russia not to attack
However, on the way, on the Dnieper rapids, apparently having received a warning from Byzantium about the return of Svyatoslav, the Pechenegs attacked him. Svyatoslav died in battle, and the Pecheneg prince Kurya, according to chronicle legend, made a bowl from the skull of Svyatoslav and drank from it at feasts. According to the ideas of that era , this manifested, paradoxically as it may seem, respect for the memory of the fallen enemy, it was believed that the military prowess of the owner of the skull would go to the one who drinks from such a bowl
A new stage of Russian-Byzantine relations falls on the reign of Vladimir and is associated with the adoption of Christianity by Russia. Shortly before this event, the Byzantine emperor Vasily II turned to Vladimir with a request to help with the armed forces in suppressing the uprising of the commander Varda Foka, who captured Asia Minor, threatened the field of Constantine and claimed to the imperial throne In exchange for help, the emperor promised to marry his sister Anna to Vladimir
was in no hurry with the promised marriage.
This marriage was of great political importance. Just a few years earlier, the German emperor Otto II had failed to marry the Byzantine princess Theophano. Byzantine emperors occupied the highest place in the feudal hierarchy of the then Europe, and marriage to a Byzantine princess sharply raised the international prestige of the Russian state.
In order to achieve the fulfillment of the terms of the agreement, Vladimir laid siege to the center of the Byzantine possessions in the Crimea - Chersonese (Korsun) and took it. The emperor had to fulfill his promise. Only after that, Vladimir made the final decision to be baptized, because, having defeated Byzantium, he ensured that Russia did not have to follow in the wake of Byzantine policy. Russia became on a par with the largest Christian powers of medieval Europe.
This position of Russia was also reflected in the dynastic ties of the Russian princes.
So, Yaroslav the Wise was married to the daughter of the Swedish king Olaf - Indigerda. Yaroslav's daughter - Anna was married to the French king Henry I, another daughter - Elizabeth became the wife of the Norwegian king Harald. The Hungarian queen was the third daughter - Anastasia.
The granddaughter of Yaroslav the Wise - Eupraxia (Adelheida) was the wife of the German Emperor Henry IV.
Russian lands and principalities 12-13 century
One of the sons of Yaroslav - Vsevolod was married to a Byzantine princess, the other son Izyaslav - to a Polish one. Among the daughters-in-law of Yaroslav were also the daughters of the Saxon margrave and Count Stadensky.
Russia also had lively trade relations with the German Empire.
Even on the remote periphery of the Old Russian state, on the territory of present-day Moscow, was found dating back to the 11th century. a lead trade seal originating from some Rhenish city.
The constant struggle of Ancient Russia had to be waged with the nomads. Vladimir managed to establish a defense against the Pechenegs. Nevertheless, their raids continued. In 1036, taking advantage of the absence of Yaroslav, who had left for Novgorod, in Kiev, the Pechenegs laid siege to Kiev.
But Yaroslav quickly returned and inflicted a severe defeat on the Pechenegs, from which they were never able to recover. They were forced out of the Black Sea steppes by other nomads - the Polovtsians.
Polovtsy(otherwise - Kipchaks or Cumans) - also a Turkic people - back in the 10th century.
lived in the territory of North-Western Kazakhstan, but in the middle of the X century. moved to the steppes of the Northern Black Sea region and the Caucasus. After they ousted the Pechenegs, a huge territory came under their rule, which was called the Polovtsian steppe or (in Arabic sources) Desht-i-Kipchak.
It stretched from the Syr Darya and the Tien Shan to the Danube. For the first time, the Polovtsians are mentioned in Russian chronicles under 1054, and in 1061.
first encounter with them. 56
“The Polovtsy came first to the Russian land to fight” The second half of the XI-XII centuries - the time of the struggle of Russia with the Polovtsian danger
So, the Old Russian state was one of the largest European powers and was in close political, economic and cultural relations with many countries and peoples of Europe and Asia.
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