In the twelfth century there was a collapse Kievan Rus into separate principalities independent from each other, but formally a single state continued to exist until the period Tatar-Mongol invasion. The time from the 12th to the 16th centuries is considered to be the period political Rus'.
Political fragmentation of Rus': preconditions
There is still debate among modern historians about what became the real reason division of a single strong state into several smaller and more disparate ones. It is believed that the primary role in historical process played a role in the emergence of local boyars. The princes ruling individual Russian lands no longer wanted to share income with the Kyiv prince, but the local boyars needed strong local power more than ever, so they actively supported their position.
In addition, at the turn of the 11th-12th centuries, a system of production of goods for general consumption took shape, the structural unit of which became a separate patrimony. Over time, such fiefdoms available in different corners countries begin producing products only for their own consumption, but not for sale. As a result, commodity exchange between the lands of a single state practically ceases. Each territory under the control of a separate prince becomes completely autonomous and has the opportunity to prosper without the support of neighboring lands.
The development of arable farming led to the strengthening of the power of vigilantes on the ground. Gradually, the vigilantes turn into landowners interested in ensuring that their possessions become completely independent of national laws. In this regard, a system of so-called immunities was developed, according to which the landowner boyars received complete independence from the Grand Duke, became full owners of their possessions, and had the right to establish certain laws on their territory. This suggests the conclusion that the political fragmentation of Rus' was a consequence of the development of private land ownership and the transition of combatants to a sedentary lifestyle. By the middle of the 12th century, on the basis of the unified state that existed several decades ago, about fifteen independent principalities were formed. The number of lands independent of Kyiv is growing at tremendous speed and reaches two hundred and fifty. The largest state formations of this period of time were the Galicia-Volyn and Vladimir-Suzdal principalities. Each such principality is completely independent and independent from others, has its own monetary unit, a separate army, etc. Relations between the heads of all lands are regulated on the basis of agreements and traditions. if they are carried out, then very rarely, they are based on the desire to expand their lands at the expense of the territories of the neighboring principality.
Political fragmentation of Rus': consequences
The main consequences of the political fragmentation of Kievan Rus were:
- development of new lands for growing grain, development of peasant farming;
- strengthening the power of the church, its influence on cultural life countries;
- the formation of a clear system of feudal hierarchy.
Agriculture development, rapid growth cities, the entry of individual cities into the foreign policy arena, the development of architecture, chronicles - these are the consequences feudal fragmentation Rus'. In addition, the complete political collapse of the state never took place. The power of the Kyiv princes has always existed, albeit very illusory. Throughout the entire period of fragmentation, the Orthodox faith united the people of all Russian principalities; the leadership of the entire church organization was in the hands of the Kyiv Metropolitan. Facing external danger Prince of Kyiv acted as the sole defender of the Russian state. The political fragmentation of Rus' became an important stage development of the state on the path to its future centralization, political and economic takeoff.
Feudal fragmentation of Rus', its causes and consequences.
ʼʼThe Tale of Igor's Campaign.
The feudal fragmentation of Russian lands (XIII–XV centuries) is a natural stage in the development of feudalism, a period of rapid growth of local political centers and various parts countries.
Basic reasons for feudal fragmentation:
1) dominance subsistence farming with the simultaneous underdevelopment of economic ties;
2) the emergence of large feudal land ownership in the form of boyar estates;
3) strengthening of the political influence of the boyars, their desire for independence from Kyiv;
4) weakening of military and political power central government, caused by the struggle of the princes for Kyiv;
5) the development of cities in Rus' as local centers of economic (trade, craft) and political life.
The collapse of Kievan Rus outwardly looked like a division of lands among the descendants of Yaroslav the Wise. At 1097 ᴦ. in ᴦ. In Lyubeche (near Kyiv), a congress of Russian princes took place, the decisions of which became the beginning of the formation of independent principalities. At the same time, princely strife continued. To the internal strife there was added danger from outside - the invasion of the nomadic Polovtsians. The Polovtsians turned out to be a strong and dangerous enemy. Military campaigns of individual princes (for example, the campaign of the Seversk prince Igor in 1185 ᴦ.) ended unsuccessfully. To defeat the Polovtsians, it was necessary to unite the forces of the Russian princes and stop the princely strife. The nameless author of “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” addressed the princes with such a patriotic appeal. At some point in time, the unity of Rus' was restored by Prince Vladimir Monomakh (1113–1125). After his death, quarrels between the princes flared up with renewed vigor, and the Russian lands disintegrated into independent states.
The largest lands of the time of feudal fragmentation were The Vladimir-Suzdal Principality, the Galician-Volyn Principality and the Novgorod Republic.
The Vladimir-Suzdal principality was located in the northeast of Rus', between the Oka and Volga rivers. Nature and climate favored the development of agriculture and cattle breeding. The main cities of the principality - Suzdal, Rostov, Vladimir - became centers of crafts and trade. Princely and boyar landholdings grew rapidly. Northeastern Rus' became independent under Prince Yuri Dolgoruky (1125–1157), nicknamed for his intervention in princely strife and desire to seize distant cities and lands. His policy of expanding the principality, continued by his sons Andrei Bogolyubsky (1157–1174) and Vsevolod the Big Nest (1176–1212), turned beginning of XIII V. northeastern Rus' into the strongest state among the Russian lands.
The Galicia-Volyn principality was located in the southwest of Kyiv with rich lands and developed trade. Largest cities– Vladimir Volynsky, Galich, Kholm, Berestye – were famous as craft centers. Unlike the northeast, in the southwest of Rus' large boyar land ownership developed early. Having become rich, the boyars began to compete for power with the Galician and Volyn princes, ruining the country with long and fruitless military campaigns. The principality reached its power during the reign of princes Yaroslav Osmomysl (1152–1187), Roman Mstislavich (1199–1205) and Daniil Romanovich (1238–1264).
Novgorod land was located in the north and north-west of Rus'. The center of this state was Novgorod, the second largest city in Rus' after Kyiv. Located at the intersection of trade routes, Novgorod became the largest center of trade with the south, east and especially with the west.
IN Novgorod land a political system developed that differed from other Russian lands. Since 1136, when the uprising of the Novgorodians ended with the expulsion of the prince, Novgorod enjoyed the right to independently choose a prince from any princely family. The prince and his army were invited in cases of extreme importance to defend borders and wage wars, but he could not interfere in internal relations. The head of the city-state was the bishop (later the archbishop), the highest ecclesiastical judge, custodian of the city treasury. Executive branch belonged to the mayor, and the governor of the Novgorod militia was the thousand. The posadnik and tysyatsky were annually elected from among the Novgorod boyars for general meeting townspeople - veche.
Consequences of feudal fragmentation were different. Positive:
1) the difficulties of life in the south forced people to move to the north and east of the country, settling and developing these previously undeveloped outskirts of ancient Rus'.
2) each prince, having received part of the Russian lands into permanent possession, strives for their improvement - builds new cities, encourages the development of agriculture, crafts, and trade;
3) in the Russian principalities a system of vassalage is developing, when small landowners are in the position of subjects and servants, and not relatives and co-rulers of the prince;
4) there is activity in social life.
Negative:
1) the ruin of the population due to endless princely civil strife;
2) an increase in external danger, the possibility of complete enslavement of Russian lands by foreign invaders.
Analysis of socio-political structures Ancient Rus' allows us to identify three centers of gravity that to some extent influenced social development:
· government in the person of the prince with the swordsmen, virniks, “almsmen” and other administrative agents surrounding him;
· boyars represented by the clan and tribal nobility, which at a certain stage switched to the exploitation of their relatives and fellow tribesmen, and the top of the princely squad;
· city people's self-government represented by the "city elders" and the veche.
In the future, the relationship between these power elements at certain historical stages will determine one or another type of statehood.
Feudal fragmentation of Rus', its causes and consequences. - concept and types. Classification and features of the category "Feudal fragmentation of Rus', its causes and consequences." 2017, 2018.
The period of feudal fragmentation of Kievan Rus, which began in the 30s of the 12th century, lasted until the very end of the 15th century. However, many of its signs became quite clearly visible already in the second half of the 11th century.
Reasons for feudal fragmentation in Rus':
the development of the strengthening of Russian cities, which occurred on a par with the development of Kyiv;
the estates of the princes were completely independent thanks to subsistence farming;
the large number of children of most Russian princes;
traditions of succession to the throne.
During the period of feudal fragmentation, Rus' consisted of many separate principalities. And, if initially the Kiev principality was actually the strongest, then over time its leadership became formal due to economic weakening.
Despite the will left by Yaroslav the Wise, his sons Izyaslav, Vyacheslav, Igor, Vsevolod and Svyatoslav, who for a long time carried out joint campaigns and successfully defended their lands, began a long and bloody struggle for power. Svyatoslav in 1073 expels the eldest of the brothers, Izyaslav, from Kyiv. And after his death in 1076, the struggle for power flared up with renewed vigor.
The system of inheritance adopted during that period did not contribute to the creation of a peaceful situation. After the death of the prince, the rights to the throne passed to the eldest in the family. And the prince’s brother became the eldest, which, of course, did not suit the sons. Vladimir Monomakh tried to correct the situation. At the Lubech Congress in 1097, a new system of succession to the throne was adopted. Now power over the principality became the privilege of local princes. But this is precisely what led to the isolation of individual lands and the strengthening of the political fragmentation of Rus' in subsequent centuries. The situation gradually escalated, the strife became more and more brutal. Many appanage princes, seeking help in the struggle for power, brought nomads to their lands. And, if initially Kievan Rus split into 14 principalities: Kiev, Rostov-Suzdal, Murom, Chernigov, Galician, Smolensk, Pereyaslavl, Tmutarakan, Turovo-Pinsk, Vladimir-Volyn, Polotsk, Ryazan, the lands of Pskov and Novgorod, then already in 13 century there were about 50 principalities!
The consequences of fragmentation in Rus' and the ongoing princely strife soon made themselves felt. Small principalities did not pose a serious threat to the nomads who appeared on the borders. The Russian princes, preoccupied with the problems of seizing and retaining power, were unable to come to an agreement and repel the Tatar-Mongol hordes. But, on the other hand, modern historians consider the period of fragmentation to be a natural part of the history of each state.
Question No. 7. Russian principalities during the period of feudal fragmentation
In the 11th century The unified Old Russian state collapsed into 13-14 principalities. The most prominent were: Vladimir-Suzdal, Galicia-Volyn and Novgorod principalities.
The most politically active principalities were the Galicia-Volyn, Vladimir-Suzdal and Novgorod principalities
Vladimir-Suzdal Principality. Vsevolod dealt with his brother’s murderers and established an autocratic form of government in the principality, which determined the political development of all northwestern Rus'. In North-Eastern Rus', later than in other Russian lands, feudal relations began to strengthen. By the time of the collapse of the Kyiv state, a local strong, united boyars had not yet formed here. Huge land holdings were seized by the princes who organized their economy. This determined the comparative strength of the princely power. However, later the Vladimir-Suzdal principality also divided into a number of appanages and independent principalities. (in the 12th-13th centuries, economic growth began, the cities of Vladimir, Dmitrov, Pereslavl-Zalessky, Gorodets, Kostroma, Tver, Nizhny Novgorod arose.)
Galicia-Volyn Principality. Features of the political system G-V book. explained by the uniqueness of its historical development. The first feudal lords were landowners who emerged from decaying rural communities. In this regard, the princely economy was relatively small here. In G-V book. there were the same authorities as in the Kiev state, that is, the prince, the council under the prince, the veche. The significance of the evening was small. Officials in charge of branches of palace administration (court servants, printers, etc.) enjoyed serious influence. G-V book. Har-Xia has a great influence of the nobility in political life. The boyars independently controlled their lands. The principality was divided into voivodeships headed by voivodes appointed from local boyars. Some positions in the palace administration, as well as the posts of governors, were often inherited in boyar families. The most famous of the local princes was Yaroslav Osmomysl (1152-1187). The largest and most significant cities were Vladimir Volynsky, Galich, Przemysl, Kholm, Kamenets.
Novgorod Principality. Soc.-econ. and political development. Compared to other Slavic lands, the conditions for agriculture here were unfavorable. But there is a lot of fur and salt. The Novgorod land was on the route “From the Varangians to the Greeks.” And it was trade that determined the social differentiation of the population. Novgorod played a significant role in the political history of Ancient Rus'. Oleg, Vladimir, Yaroslav began their ascension to the Kiev throne from Novgorod, recruiting Varangians into their squad.
The social elite of Novgorod society consisted, first of all, of the landowner boyars. Novgorod imported fabrics, metal products, raw materials for handicraft production, and exported furs and handicrafts. Political power was concentrated in the hands of 300-400 families (usually boyars), who were the subjects of political law, i.e. participants of local government bodies - Veche. The veche elected the head of local government, the mayor and tysyatsky. Tysyatsky was responsible for collecting taxes. Administratively, the city was divided into districts - ends. Initially there were 3 of them, each with its own Veche, which elected the Konchak headman. The ends were divided into streets, where there was also a Veche (artisans and boyars). The prince never played a decisive political role in Novgorod.
Feudal fragmentation is a stage in the political development of medieval society, when a single state of the early stage of the Middle Ages is fragmented into a number of independent states (in Rus' - principalities and lands). At the same time, the grand-ducal power remains, but has only a nominal significance. Local princes were quite independent and often fought with the great princes. Reasons for feudal fragmentation:
- economic - growth of productive forces in crafts and agriculture in places. At the end of the XI-XII centuries. Two-field and three-field systems began to spread everywhere. The number of cities grew (in the 10th century - 60, by the beginning of the 13th century - 230). At the same time, the growth of productive forces took place under conditions of the dominance of a subsistence economy and the absence of economic ties between Russian lands;
- social - determined by development feudal relations in places. In the IX-X centuries. There were quite noticeable differences in the level of development of society between Kiev and its outskirts. “The Tale of Bygone Years,” comparing the Polyans and the Drevlyans, noted that the Polyans “have a meek and quiet disposition,” and the Drevlyans “live bestially, according to bestial customs, eat everything unclean, have shaming before their wives,” as well as the custom of kidnapping the bride. This testified to the backwardness of the Drevlyans and the weak spread of Christianity among them, since they did not know fasting. At the end of the 11th - beginning of the 12th century. the outskirts were no longer behind Kyiv in terms of level social development. Social stratification began everywhere. Under such conditions, the local nobility began to strive to have an apparatus of power capable of coping with social clashes;
- political - were determined by the interest of the local nobility in securing their own princely dynasties to their feudal centers. The presence of princes at local princely tables in a laddered order of ascension to power was temporary. Therefore, they did not pay attention to local affairs special attention. This situation suited the local nobility. At the same time, already in the Kiev period, a tradition began to take shape, according to which certain dynasties began to be established in individual feudal centers. Thus, Chernigov, Tmutarakan and Ryazan began to be listed as the descendants of Svyatoslav Yaroslavich; Pereslavl on the Dnieper, Rostov and Suzdal - for the descendants of Vsevolod and Vladimir Monomakh, etc.
- ideological - associated with the spread of traditions of suzerainty - vassalage and the idea of independence of each prince in his own fiefdom.
Consequences of fragmentation:
- After the death of Vladimir Monomakh's son, Mstislav the Great, Rus' in 1132 broke up into about 20 principalities and lands of varying sizes. Subsequently, crushing continued. Along with the rise of the economy and culture, this process also had negative consequences: civil strife and a weakening of the country’s defense. This was sensitive for Rus', which was located on the border with the steppe;
- The Polovtsian onslaught intensified. The Russian population was forced to leave Belaya Vezha on the Don, Tmutarakan, and leave lands in the Lower Dnieper region;
- Gradually, a defense system began to take shape, in which each prince was responsible for his own section of the Russian border. Therefore, the defeat of Prince Igor Svyatoslavovich Novgorod-Seversky and his brother Bui-Tur Vsevolod of Kursk in 1185, described in the “Tale of Igor’s Campaign,” had dire consequences for Rus', creating a gap in the Russian defense into which the Polovtsians of the khans Bonyak and Konchak invaded . With great difficulty we managed to push them back into the steppe. The author of the Lay called on the princes to unite military forces for the defense of Rus'. On the eve of the Mongol invasion, this call was very relevant, but the princes as a whole were unable to overcome local interests and rise to an understanding of all-Russian tasks. However, it can be noted social phenomena positive order. For example, in the separate isolated principalities, crafts and cities developed more successfully than before, and estates multiplied, which at that time became the most progressive form of organizing large-scale farming on earth. New centers of chronicle writing were formed, wonderful architectural structures, blossomed Old Russian literature, journalism, culture became richer and more diverse.