Kievan land in the 12th-13th centuries briefly. Kiev principality: geographical location and characteristics of the government. Public and economic life

By the middle of the XII century. The principality of Kiev actually turned into an ordinary one, although nominally it continued to be considered a political and ideological center (there was a grand-princely table and a metropolitan see). A feature of its socio-political development was a large number of old boyar estates, which did not allow excessive strengthening of princely power.

In 1132-1157. a fierce struggle for Kiev continued between the offspring of Vladimir Monomakh (“Monomachichs”) and the children of his cousin, Oleg Svyatoslavich (“Olgovichi”, or “Gorislavichi”, as their contemporaries called them). Monomashichs rule here (Yaropolk Vladimirovich and Vyacheslav Vladimirovich), then Olgovichi (Vsevolod Olgovich and Igor Olgovich), then again Monomashichs (Izyaslav Mstislavich and Rostislav Mstislavich). In 1155-1157. the principality is ruled by the Suzdal prince Yuri Dolgoruky (one of the younger sons of Vladimir Monomakh).

Almost all Russian principalities are gradually involved in the struggle for a great reign. As a result, by the middle of the XII century. The Kiev land was devastated and took an insignificant place among other lands of Russia. Starting from 1157, the princes who received the grand prince's table tried not to break ties with their principalities and felt insecure in Kiev. At this time, the duumvirate system was established, when the simultaneous reign of two great princes became the rule. The title of the Grand Duke of Kiev remained honorary, but no more.

Especially fatal for Kiev was the campaign of the Rostov-Suzdal prince Andrei Yurievich Bogolyubsky in 1169, after which the city actually lost all political significance, although it remained a major cultural center. Real political power passed to the prince of Suzdal. Andrei Bogolyubsky began to dispose of the Kiev princely table as his vassal possession, transferring it at his own discretion.

Some strengthening of the Kiev principality occurs in the 80-90s. 12th century It falls on the reign of Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich (1177-94), the grandson of Oleg Svyatoslavich. In view of the increased danger from the Polovtsians, he managed to unite the forces of a number of principalities. The 1183 campaign against Khan Kobyak was especially large and successful. The well-known campaign of Igor Svyatoslavich (1185) dates back to the reign of Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich. Under Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich and his successor Rurik Rostislavich (1194-1211 with a break), Kiev again tries to play the role of an all-Russian cultural and political center. This is evidenced, for example, by the compilation of an annals in Kiev in 1199.

But in the beginning of the first years of the XIII century. feudal struggle the value of Kiev falls completely. The Kiev principality becomes one of the objects of rivalry between Vladimir-Suzdal, Galicia-Volyn, as well as Chernigov and Smolensk princes. The princes are quickly replaced on the Kiev table until the Mongol conquest.

The Kiev principality suffered greatly during the Mongol invasion. In the autumn of 1240, Batu took Kiev, which was then owned by Daniil Romanovich of Galicia, and handed it over to the Suzdal prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich. In the 40s. 13th century the boyar of this prince sits in Kiev. Since then, we have very little data on the fate of the Kiev land. In the second half of the XIII century. the Kiev princely table, apparently, remained unoccupied. In the future, the territory of the former Kiev principality began to increasingly fall under the influence of the rapidly gaining strength of the Russian-Lithuanian state, into which it became part in 1362.

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. IN 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.

IN 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 life of which was based on the service to the overlord in exchange for a land grant for the time of this service.

Huge Kievan Rus with its superficial political cohesion, 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 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 an increase in 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 the 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 element 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

Kyiv- 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 Polovtsy.

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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Kievan principality. The Kiev principality, although it lost its significance as the political center of the Russian lands, was still considered the first among other principalities. Kiev has retained its historical glory as the "mother of Russian cities". It also remained the church center of the Russian lands. The Kiev principality was the center of the most fertile lands in Russia. The largest number of large patrimonial farms and the largest amount of arable land were located here. Thousands of artisans worked in Kiev itself and the cities of the Kiev land, whose products were famous not only in Russia, but also far beyond its borders.

The death of Mstislav the Great in 1132 and the subsequent struggle for the throne of Kiev became a turning point in the history of Kiev. It was in the 30s and 40s. 12th century he irretrievably lost control over the Rostov-Suzdal land, where the energetic and power-hungry youngest son of Vladimir Monomakh, Yuri Dolgoruky, ruled, over Novgorod and Smolensk, whose boyars themselves began to select princes for themselves.

For Kievan land, big European politics and long-distance campaigns are a thing of the past. Now Kiev's foreign policy is limited to two directions. The old exhausting struggle with the Polovtsy continues. The principality of Vladimir-Suzdal becomes a new strong adversary.

The Kiev princes managed to contain the Polovtsian danger, relying on the help of other principalities, which themselves suffered from Polovtsian raids. However, it was much more difficult to deal with the northeastern neighbor. Yuri Dolgoruky and his son Andrey Bogolyubsky more than once made trips to Kiev, took it by storm several times and subjected it to pogroms. The victors plundered the city, burned the churches, killed the inhabitants and took them into captivity. As the chronicler said, there were then “on all people there is groaning and longing, inconsolable sadness and incessant tears”.

However, during the peaceful years, Kiev continued to live a full-blooded life as the capital of a large principality. Beautiful palaces and temples have been preserved here, here, in monasteries, primarily in the Kiev-Pechersk monastery, or lavra (from the Greek word "Laura"- a large monastery), pilgrims converged from all over Russia. An all-Russian chronicle was also written in Kiev.

There were periods in the history of the Kiev principality when, under a strong and skillful ruler, it achieved certain successes and partially regained its former authority. This happened at the end of the 12th century. under the grandson of Oleg Chernigov Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich, a hero "Words about Igor's Campaign". Svyatoslav shared power in the principality with the great-grandson of Vladimir Monomakh, Rurik Rostislavich, brother of the Smolensk prince. So the Kiev boyars sometimes united representatives of the warring princely groups on the throne and avoided another civil strife. When Svyatoslav died, Roman Mstislavich, Prince of Volyn, great-great-grandson of Vladimir Monomakh, became co-ruler of Rurik.

After some time, the co-rulers began to fight among themselves. During the struggle of the warring parties Kiev several times passed from hand to hand. During the war, Rurik burned Podil, plundered the St. Sophia Cathedral and the Church of the Tithes - Russian shrines. The Polovtsians allied with him plundered the Kiev land, took people into captivity, cut down old monks in monasteries, and "young maids, wives and daughters of Kiev were taken to their camps". But then Roman captured Rurik and tonsured him a monk.

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 the relative political balance so necessary for the Kievan 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 also 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 of 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 the European states neighboring 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 landownership grew mainly due to princely grants to serving boyars, whose support allowed the Volyn princes to begin 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 lands 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 the penetration of feudal lords from other principalities into these areas and the creation of 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! in. 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.

Kiev principality

For the author of The Tale of Igor's Campaign, the Kiev principality was the first among all Russian principalities. He soberly looks at the contemporary world and no longer considers Kiev the capital of Russia. The Grand Duke of Kiev does not order other princes, but asks them to enter "into the golden stirrup ... for the Russian land," and sometimes, as it were, asks: "Don't you think to fly here from afar to guard your father's golden throne?", as he turned to Vsevolod Big Nest.

The author of the Lay has great respect for sovereign sovereigns, princes of other lands, and does not at all suggest redrawing the political map of Russia. When he speaks of unity, he means only what was quite real then: a military alliance against the "nasty", a single defense system, a single plan for a distant raid into the steppe. But the author of the Lay does not lay claim to the hegemony of Kiev, since Kiev had long ago turned from the capital of Russia into the capital of one of the principalities and was almost on an equal footing with such cities as Galich, Chernigov, Vladimir on the Klyazma, Novgorod, Smolensk. Kiev was distinguished from these cities only by its historical glory and the position of the church center of all Russian lands.

Until the middle of the XII century, the Kiev principality occupied significant areas on the Right Bank of the Dnieper: almost the entire Pripyat basin and the Teterev, Irpin and Ros basins. Only later did Pinsk and Turov separate from Kiev, and the lands to the west of Goryn and Sluch went to the Volyn land.

A feature of the Kiev principality was a large number of old boyar estates with fortified castles, concentrated in the old land of glades to the south of Kiev. To protect these estates from the Polovtsy, as early as the 11th century, along the Ros River (in "Porosye"), significant masses of nomads expelled by the Polovtsians from the steppes were settled: Torks, Pechenegs and Berendeys, united in the 12th century by a common name - Black Hoods. They seemed to anticipate the future border noble cavalry and carried out border service in the vast steppe space between the Dnieper, Stugna and Ros. Cities populated by the Chernoklobutsky nobility (Yuriev, Torchesk, Korsun, Dveren, etc.) arose along the banks of the Ros. Defending Russia from the Polovtsy, the Torks and Berendeys gradually adopted the Russian language, Russian culture, and even the Russian epic epic.

The capital of the semi-autonomous Porosye was either Kanev or Torchesk, a huge city with two fortresses on the northern bank of the Ros.

The Black Hoods played an important role in the political life of Russia in the 12th century and often influenced the choice of this or that prince. There were times when the Black Hoods proudly declared to one of the pretenders to the Kiev throne: "In us, prince, there is both good and evil," that is, that the achievement of the grand prince's throne depends on them, border cavalry constantly ready for battle, located two days way from the capital.

For half a century that separates "The Tale of Igor's Campaign" from the time of Monomakh, the Kiev principality lived a difficult life.

In 1132, after the death of Mstislav the Great, Russian principalities began to fall away from Kiev one after another: either Yuri Dolgoruky would ride from Suzdal to seize the Pereyaslav principality, then the neighboring Chernigov Vsevolod Olgovich, together with his Polovtsian friends, "went fighting villages and cities ... and people the secant even came to Kiev ... ".

Facial image of Grand Duke Mstislav Vladimirovich. Titular. 1672

Novgorod was finally freed from the power of Kiev. The Rostov-Suzdal land was already acting independently. Smolensk voluntarily accepted the princes. Galich, Polotsk, Turov had their own special princes. The horizons of the Kiev chronicler narrowed down to the Kiev-Chernigov conflicts, in which, however, the Byzantine prince, the Hungarian troops, the Berendeys, and the Polovtsy took part.

After the death of the unlucky Yaropolk in 1139, the even more unlucky Vyacheslav sat on the Kiev table, but lasted only eight days - he was expelled by Vsevolod Olgovich, the son of Oleg "Gorislavich".

The Kiev Chronicle depicts Vsevolod and his brothers as cunning, greedy and crooked people. The Grand Duke constantly led intrigues, quarreled with relatives, granted distant destinies in bearish corners to dangerous rivals in order to remove them from Kiev.

An attempt to return Novgorod was unsuccessful, since the Novgorodians expelled Svyatoslav Olgovich "for his malice", "for his violence."

Igor and Svyatoslav Olgovichi, brothers of Vsevolod, were unhappy with him, and all six years of reigning passed in mutual struggle, violations of the oath, conspiracies and reconciliations. Of the major events, one can note the stubborn struggle between Kiev and Galich in 1144-1146.

Vsevolod did not enjoy the sympathy of the Kiev boyars; this was reflected both in the annals and in the characterization that V. N. Tatishchev took from sources unknown to us: “This Grand Duke husband was great in stature and very fat, had little hair on his head, a wide beard, considerable eyes, a long nose. He was wise (cunning - B.R.) in councils and courts, for whom he wanted, he could justify or accuse. And when he died, hardly anyone, except for his beloved women, wept, and they were more glad.

The protagonist of "The Tale of Igor's Campaign" - Svyatoslav of Kiev - was the son of this Vsevolod. Vsevolod died in 1146. Subsequent events clearly showed that the main force in the principality of Kiev, as well as in Novgorod, and in other lands at that time, was the boyars.

Vsevolod's successor, his brother Igor, the same ferocious prince whom the people of Kiev so feared, was forced to swear allegiance to them at the veche "with all their will." But the new prince had not yet had time to leave the veche meeting for dinner, when the "kiyans" rushed to smash the yards of the hated tiuns and swordsmen, which was reminiscent of the events of 1113.

The leaders of the Kiev boyars, Uleb Tysyatsky and Ivan Voitishich, secretly sent an embassy to Prince Izyaslav Mstislavich, the grandson of Monomakh, in Pereyaslavl with an invitation to reign in Kiev, and when he approached the walls of the city with his troops, the boyars threw down their banner and, as it was agreed, surrendered to him. Igor was tonsured a monk and exiled to Pereyaslavl. A new stage of the struggle between Monomashich and Olgovichi began.

The clever Kiev historian of the end of the 12th century, Abbot Moses, who had a whole library of annals of various principalities, compiled a description of these turbulent years (1146-1154) from fragments of the personal chronicles of the warring princes. It turned out to be a very interesting picture: the same event is described from different points of view, the same act was described by one chronicler as a good deed inspired by God, and by others as the intrigues of the "all-sly devil".

The chronicler of Svyatoslav Olgovich carefully conducted all the economic affairs of his prince and, with each victory of his enemies, meticulously listed how many horses and mares were stolen by the enemies, how many haystacks were burned, what utensils were taken in the church and how many troughs of wine and honey stood in the prince's cellar.

Of particular interest is the chronicler of the Grand Duke Izyaslav Mstislavich (1146-1154). This is a man who knew military affairs well, participated in campaigns and military councils, and carried out the diplomatic missions of his prince. In all likelihood, this is the boyar, Kievan thousand Peter Borislavich, mentioned many times in the annals. He conducts, as it were, a political account of his prince and tries to put him in the most favorable light, to show him as a good commander, a managerial ruler, a caring overlord. Exalting his prince, he skillfully vilifies all his enemies, showing an outstanding literary talent.

To document his chronicle-report, obviously intended for influential princely-boyar circles, Peter Borislavich widely used the authentic correspondence of his prince with other princes, the people of Kiev, the Hungarian king and his vassals. He also used the minutes of princely congresses and diaries of campaigns. Only in one case does he disagree with the prince and begins to condemn him - when Izyaslav acts against the will of the Kiev boyars.

The reign of Izyaslav was filled with a struggle with the Olgovichi, with Yuri Dolgoruky, who twice managed to briefly capture Kiev.

In the process of this struggle, the prisoner of Izyaslav, Prince Igor Olgovich (1147), was killed in Kiev by the verdict of the veche.

In 1157 Yuri Dolgoruky died in Kiev. It is believed that the Suzdal prince, unloved in Kiev, was poisoned.

During these strife in the middle of the XII century, the future heroes of the "Tale of Igor's Campaign" are repeatedly mentioned - Svyatoslav Vsevolodich and his cousin Igor Svyatoslavich. So far, these are third-rate young princes who went into battle in the vanguard detachments, received small cities as inheritance and "kissed the cross with all their will" of the older princes. Somewhat later, they were fixed in large cities: from 1164 Svyatoslav in Chernigov, and Igor in Novgorod-de-Seversky. In 1180, not long before the events described in the Lay, Svyatoslav became the Grand Duke of Kiev.

Treasure with hryvnia money bars

Due to the fact that Kiev was often a bone of contention between the princes, the Kiev boyars entered into a “row” with the princes and introduced a curious system of duumvirate, which lasted the entire second half of the 12th century.

Duumvir co-rulers were Izyaslav Mstislavich and his uncle Vyacheslav Vladimirovich, Svyatoslav Vsevolodich and Rurik Rostislavich. The meaning of this original measure was that at the same time representatives of two warring princely branches were invited and thereby partly eliminated strife and established a relative balance. One of the princes, who was considered the eldest, lived in Kiev, and the other - in Vyshgorod or Belgorod (he disposed of the land). On campaigns, they acted together and diplomatic correspondence was carried out in concert.

The foreign policy of the Kiev principality was sometimes determined by the interests of this or that prince, but, in addition, there were two permanent lines of struggle that required daily readiness. The first and most important is, of course, the Polovtsian steppe, where in the second half of the 12th century feudal khanates were created that united individual tribes. Usually Kiev coordinated its defensive actions with Pereyaslavl (which was in the possession of the Rostov-Suzdal princes), and thus a more or less unified Ros-Sula line was created. In this regard, the significance of the headquarters of such a general defense passed from Belgorod to Kanev. The southern border outposts of the Kievan land, located in the 10th century on the Stugna and on the Sula, now moved down the Dnieper to Orel and Sneporod-Samara.

The second direction of the struggle was the Vladimir-Suzdal principality. Since the time of Yuri Dolgoruky, the northeastern princes, freed by their geographical position from the need to wage a constant war with the Polovtsy, directed their military forces to subjugate Kiev, using the border Principality of Pereyaslavl for this purpose. The arrogant tone of the Vladimir chroniclers sometimes misled historians, and they sometimes believed that Kiev at that time was completely stalled. Particular importance was attached to the campaign of Andrei Bogolyubsky, the son of Dolgoruky, against Kiev in 1169.

The Kiev chronicler, who witnessed the three-day robbery of the city by the victors, described this event so vividly that he created an idea of ​​some kind of catastrophe. In fact, Kiev continued to live a full-blooded life as the capital of a rich principality even after 1169. Churches were built here, an all-Russian chronicle was written, the "Word about Igor's Campaign" was created, which is incompatible with the concept of decline.

Kiev Prince Svyatoslav Vsevolodich (1180-1194) "Word" characterizes as a talented commander.

His cousins, Igor and Vsevolod Svyatoslavich, with their haste awakened the evil that Svyatoslav, their feudal overlord, managed to cope with shortly before:

Svyatoslav, the formidable great Kievan thunderstorm Byashet ruffled his strong regiments and haraluzhny swords;

Step on the Polovtsian land;

Pritopta hills and yarugas;

Stir up rivers and lakes;

Dry up streams and swamps.

And the filthy Kobyak from the bow of the sea

From the great iron regiments of the Polovtsians,

Like a whirlwind, vytorzhe:

And pvdesya Kobyak in the city of Kiev,

In the grid of Svyatoslavl.

Tu Nemtsi and Veneditsi, that Gretsi and Morava

Sing the glory of Svyatoslav

Prince Igor's cabin...

The poet meant here the victorious campaign of the united Russian forces against Khan Kobyak in 1183.

Svyatoslav's co-ruler was, as it is said, Rurik Rostislavich, who reigned in the "Russian Land" from 1180 to 1202, and then became for some time the Grand Duke of Kiev.

"The Tale of Igor's Campaign" is entirely on the side of Svyatoslav Vsevolodich and says very little about Rurik. Chronicle, on the contrary, was in the sphere of influence of Rurik. Therefore, the activities of the duumvirs are biased by the sources. We know about the conflicts and disagreements between them, but we also know that Kiev at the end of the 12th century experienced an era of prosperity and even tried to play the role of an all-Russian cultural center.

This is evidenced by the Kiev chronicle of 1198 of Abbot Moses, which, together with the Galician chronicle of the 13th century, was included in the so-called Ipatiev Chronicle.

The Kiev Code gives a broad idea of ​​the different Russian lands in the 12th century, using a number of annals of individual principalities. It opens with The Tale of Bygone Years, which tells about the early history of all of Russia, and ends with a recording of Moses' solemn speech on the construction of a wall at the expense of Prince Rurik, strengthening the banks of the Dnieper. The orator, who prepared his work for collective performance by "one mouth" (cantata?), calls the Grand Duke the king, and his principality magnifies "an autocratic power ... known not only in Russian borders, but also in distant overseas countries, to the end of the universe."

Mosaic image of the prophet. 11th century Sophia Cathedral in Kiev

After the death of Svyatoslav, when Rurik began to reign in Kiev, his son-in-law Roman Mstislavich Volynsky (great-great-grandson of Monomakh) became his co-ruler for a short time in the "Russian Land", that is, the southern Kiev region. He received the best lands with the cities of Trepol, Torchesky, Kanev and others, which made up half of the principality.

However, Vsevolod the Big Nest, the prince of the Suzdach land, envied this "goddamn volost", who wanted to be in some form an accomplice in the management of the Kiev region. A long feud began between Rurik, who supported Vsevolod, and the offended Roman Volynsky. As always, the Olgovichi, Poland, and Galich were quickly drawn into the strife. The case ended with the fact that Roman was supported by many cities, Black Hoods, and finally in 1202 "opened the gates for him."

In the very first year of the great reign, Roman organized a campaign deep into the Polovtsian steppe "and took the Polovtsian vines and brought a lot of souls full of peasants from them (from the Polovtsy. - B.R.), and there was great joy in the lands of Rus" .

Rurik did not remain in debt and on January 2, 1203, in alliance with the Olgovichi and "the entire Polovtsian land" took Kiev. "And great evil was done in the Russtey of the land, as if there was no evil from baptism over Kiev ...

Taking the hem and burning it; otherwise you took Mount and plundered St. Sophia and the Tithes (church) as metropolis ... plundered and robbed all the monasteries and adorned the icons ... then put everything in full. and nuns, and the young black women, wives and daughters of Kiev were taken to their camps.

Obviously, Rurik did not hope to gain a foothold in Kiev, if he robbed him like that, and went to his own castle in Ovruch.

In the same year, after a joint campaign against the Polovtsians in Trepol, Roman captured Rurik and tonsured his entire family (including his own wife, Rurik's daughter) as monks. But Roman did not rule long in Kiev, in 1205 he was killed by the Poles, when he rode too far from his squads while hunting in his western possessions.

The poetic lines of the chronicle are connected with Roman Mstislavich, which, unfortunately, has come down to us only partially. The author calls him the autocrat of all Russia, praises his mind and courage, noting especially his struggle with the Polovtsy: before their land, like an eagle; hrobor bo be, like a tour. Regarding the Polovtsian campaigns of Roman, the chronicler recalls Vladimir Monomakh and his victorious struggle against the Polovtsians. Epics with the name of Roman have also been preserved.

One of the chronicles that has not come down to us, used by V. N. Tatishchev, provides extremely interesting information about Roman Mstislavich. As if after the forcible tonsure of Rurik and his family, Roman announced to all Russian princes that his father-in-law had been dethroned by him for violating the treaty.

This is followed by a presentation of Roman's views on the political structure of Russia in the 13th century: the Kiev prince must "defend the Russian land from everywhere, and keep good order among the brethren, the princes of Russia, so that one cannot offend another and run over and ruin other people's regions." The novel blames the younger princes who are trying to capture Kiev, not having the strength to defend themselves, and those princes who "bring in the filthy Polovtsians."

Then the draft of the election of the Kiev prince in the event of the death of his predecessor is presented. Six princes must choose: Suzdal, Chernigov, Galician, Smolensk, Polotsk, Ryazan; "Junior princes are not needed for that election." These six principalities should be inherited by the eldest son, but not divided into parts, "so that the Russian land does not diminish in strength." Roman proposed to convene a princely congress to approve this order.

It is difficult to say how reliable this information is, but in the conditions of 1203 such an order, if it could be put into practice, would be a positive phenomenon. However, it is worth recalling the good wishes on the eve of the Lubech Congress of 1097, his good decisions and the tragic events that followed him.

V. N. Tatishchev retained the characteristics of Roman and his rival Rurik:

"This Roman Mstislavich, the grandson of the Izyaslavs, was although not very large, but broad and overbearingly strong; his face was red, his eyes were black, his nose was large with a hump, his hair was black and short; he was very angry; his tongue was slanted, when he was angry, he did not could pronounce words for a long time; had a lot of fun with nobles, but he was never drunk. He loved many wives, but owned none of them. The warrior was brave and cunning in organizing regiments ... He spent his whole life in wars, received many victories, and once. - B. R.) was defeated. "

Rurik Rostislavich is characterized differently. It is said that he was in the great reign for 37 years, but during this time he was expelled six times and "suffered a lot, having no rest from anywhere. After all, he himself had a lot of drink and wives, he was diligent about the government of the state and his security. His judges and in the cities, the rulers caused a lot of burdens for the people; for this, he had very little love among the people and had respect from the princes.

Obviously, these characteristics, full of medieval juiciness, were compiled by some Galician-Volynian or Kievan chronicler who sympathized with Roman.

It is interesting to note that Roman is the last of the Russian princes sung by epics; book and folk assessments coincided, which happened very rarely: the people very carefully selected heroes for their epic fund.

Roman Mstislavich and the "wise-loving" Rurik Rostislavich are the last bright figures in the list of Kievan princes of the 12th-13th centuries. Next come the weak rulers, who left no memory of themselves either in the annals or in folk songs.

The strife around Kiev continued even in those years when a new unprecedented danger loomed over Russia - the Tatar-Mongol invasion. During the time from the battle on the Kalka in 1223 to the arrival of Batu near Kiev in 1240, many princes were replaced, there were many battles over Kiev. In 1238, Prince Michael of Kiev fled, fearing the Tatars, to Hungary, and in the terrible year of Batiev's arrival, he collected feudal dues donated to him in the principality of Daniel of Galicia: wheat, honey, "beef" and sheep.

"Mother of Russian cities" - Kiev lived a bright life for a number of centuries, but in the last three decades of its pre-Mongolian history, the negative features of feudal fragmentation, which actually led to the dismemberment of the Kiev principality into a number of destinies, were too strong.

The singer of "The Tale of Igor's Campaign" could not stop the historical process with his inspired stanzas.

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THE GRAND PRINCIPALITY OF KIEV After reviewing the Norman period of Russian History, we proceed to a presentation of the events that make up the content of the period, mainly specific, from the death of Yaroslav to the conquest of Russia by the Mongols (1054–1240).

From the book Kievan Rus and Russian principalities of the XII-XIII centuries. author Rybakov Boris Alexandrovich

Principality of Kiev For the author of The Tale of Igor's Campaign, the Principality of Kiev was the first among all Russian principalities. He soberly looks at the contemporary world and no longer considers Kiev the capital of Russia. The Grand Duke of Kiev does not order other princes, but asks them to enter "in

author Tolochko Petr Petrovich

2. Kiev chronicle of the 11th century. Kiev Chronicle of the 11th century. if not contemporary with the events described, then closer to them than the chronicle of the 10th century. It is already marked by the presence of the author, enlivened by the names of writers or compilers. Among them is Metropolitan Hilarion (author

From the book Russian chronicles and chroniclers of the X-XIII centuries. author Tolochko Petr Petrovich

5. Kiev chronicle of the XII century. The immediate continuation of The Tale of Bygone Years is the Kiev Chronicle of the end of the 12th century. In the historical literature, it is dated differently: 1200 (M. D. Priselkov), 1198–1199. (A. A. Shakhmatov), ​​1198 (B. A. Rybakov). Concerning

From the book Russian chronicles and chroniclers of the X-XIII centuries. author Tolochko Petr Petrovich

7. Kiev chronicle of the XIII century. Continuation of the Kiev Chronicle of the end of the XII century. in the Ipatiev Chronicle there is the Galicia-Volyn Chronicle. This circumstance, due to chance, the presence in the hands of the compiler of the Ipatiev list of precisely such annals,

author Tike Wilhelm

BATTLE FOR KIEV AND MOLDAVAN 101st Jaeger Division in hell near Gorchichny - 500th Special Forces Battalion bleeds - Colonel Aulok and his young grenadiers - Lieutenant Lumpp with the 1st Battalion of the 226th Grenadier Regiment defends Borisovka Isthmus

From the book March to the Caucasus. Battle for oil 1942-1943 author Tike Wilhelm

Fights for Kiev and Moldavan

From the book History of the USSR. Short course author Shestakov Andrey Vasilievich

II. Kievan state 6. Formation of the Kievan principality Varangian raids. In the 9th century, the lands of the Slavs, who lived around Novgorod and along the Dnieper, were raided by robber gangs of the Varangians - inhabitants of Scandinavia. The Varangian princes with their retinues took furs, honey and

From the book History of Ukraine. South Russian lands from the first Kiev princes to Joseph Stalin author Allen William Edward David

Kievan state Under St. Vladimir (980-1015) and Yaroslav the Wise (1019-1054), Kievan Rus - a completely unusual and even strange historical phenomenon - in less than a century turned into a powerful and prosperous state. The historian Rostovtsev, who studied Greek and

From the book The Missing Letter. The unperverted history of Ukraine-Rus the author Wild Andrew

Kievan State Sources We have the first information about the state of Kievan Rus from the annals. It is generally accepted that the original chronicle was the so-called "Initial Chronicle", written by Nestor, a monk of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. But this is not entirely accurate,