Fair in the 17th – first half of the 19th centuries. Trade and merchants in Russia in the 16th century

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Introduction…………………………………………………….… …………………..2

Makaryevskaya Fair……………………………………………...……… …….3

Irbit Fair……………………………………………………….. ………5

Verkhneudinsk Fair...................... ............................. ..... .............................. .....8

Kyakhta Fair……………………………………………………..… ……11

Conclusion…………………………………………………………………….15

List of references…………………………………..………. 17

Introduction

The Germanic roots of the word "fair" are obvious - jahr-markt - annual market. This is how, since the 10th century, the places of periodic congresses of traders and the import of goods began to be called in Europe.

Such “convention places” existed in Germany, Spain, Italy, France, and England. The fairs were interconnected and followed one another - both in time and space. Already by the XI-XII centuries. they became not only a place for wholesale trade, but also the main channel of international trade. They retained this role until the end of the 18th century.

Reliable historical evidence of Russian fairs dates back to the 16th century, but most likely they existed earlier. According to V.I. Dahl, “a fair is a large trade congress and the delivery of goods at the most urgent time in the year, an annual trade that lasts for weeks.”

Of course, they have been known for a long time, only they were called differently - markets, auctions. One of these auctions, on the Mologa River, near the town of Kholopiem, was visited by a traveler in Russia at the beginning of the 16th century. German diplomat Sigmund von Herberstein. Then in his “Notes on Moscow Affairs” he called this bargaining with his usual word “jahrmarkt” - “fair”.

Due to historical circumstances, two fairs in Russia took the largest sizes - Makaryevskaya, later renamed Nizhny Novgorod and Irbitskaya.

The first of them dates back to the 16th century. and, thanks to its fortunate geographical location, soon acquired all-Russian fame and began to generate enormous turnover, especially after it was transferred to Nizhny Novgorod.

Thus, this topic is quite relevant.

The purpose of this work is to trace the history of fairs in the world and in Russia.

Makaryevskaya Fair

The beginning of large periodic trading on the middle Volga dates back to very distant times. In the first half of the 13th century, it takes place on the Arsk field, near Kazan. In 1524, Vasily Ioannovich, taking advantage of the fact that the Tatars plundered Russian merchants, forbade them to travel to Kazan and established a Russian fair in Vasilsursk. The location was chosen poorly, since Vasilsursk, as a border town, served as the starting point for military operations against Kazan.

After the conquest of the Kazan Khanate in 1552, favorable conditions for trade developed. Apparently, soon after this a fair was formed at the monastery of St. Makaria, however, no official date for the founding of the fair has been established. Thanks to its advantageous location, in the middle of the Volga route, the fair developed more and more. In 1641, Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich gave the monastery the right to collect customs duties from traders for one day of trade (July 25 - St. Macarius). In 1648, Alexei Mikhailovich allowed trade duty-free for five days, and then ordered to pay a special tax. In 1666, merchants came to the fair not only from all over Russia, but also from abroad, and it lasted 2 weeks.

At the end of the 17th century. the import of goods reached 80 thousand, in the middle of the 18th century. - 49 0 thousand, and by the end of it - 30 million rubles. At this time, there were 1,400 state-owned fair premises in Makaryev; in addition, the merchants built 1800 shops. The treasury received 15 thousand rubles from hiring shops in 1790, and in 1810 - up to 120 thousand rubles.

Having grown greatly, part of the fair even captured the opposite bank of the Volga near the village of Lyskovo. The fair buildings were temporary, representing wooden booths, shops and taverns. By the middle of the 18th century, many buildings fell into disrepair, and on June 18, 1751, a royal decree was issued on the construction of a stone guest courtyard on the site of the old wooden one. Numerous projects for the redevelopment of the fair from the late 18th - early 19th centuries have been preserved. By the end of 1809, the reconstruction of the fairgrounds was completed.

On August 16, 1816, a fire occurred that destroyed the guest house (with the exception of the stone building), with all the temporary booths that belonged to it. The fire occurred after the end of the auction (the end of the auction was considered the holiday of the First Savior, i.e. August 1), when there was no longer a single person and not a single bale of goods at the fair. The loss was over 2 million rubles. This fire raised the question of moving the fair, since the monastery had little space for the fair, and in addition, the current of the Volga washed away the Makaryevsky bank every year.

Irbit Fair

Irbit is one of the oldest Ural cities, which for almost three centuries served as the site of annual trade between European Russia and Siberia, Central Asia and China. The largest merchants participated in trade at the Irbit fair. Sending and transporting goods to the Irbit fair not only took a lot of time and required significant expenses, but also encountered many difficulties. Irbit was located 1674 versts from Barnaul, 1700 versts from Biysk and 2200 versts from Chuya, away from the leading land route - Moscow and navigable rivers. Delivery of goods was carried out by water and land (in summer) or by sleigh (in winter). In the case of land delivery, the goods went from Altai through Biysk, Barnaul, Suzun to the Moscow highway, along it to Tyumen and from Tyumen along the Tyumen-Irbit highway, being in transit from 30 to 40 days. Cost of delivery of goods to different years from Biysk was 1 rub.-1 rub. 50 kopecks, from Barnaul - 70 kopecks - 1 rub. 20 kopecks and was entirely dependent on the monopoly of coachmen contracted to transport goods. The lengths of the run were called “ropes” in the coachman’s language. Each "rope" had its own monopolists. Clerks accompanied the goods. The merchants themselves rarely followed the trade caravan; they overtook it on the way, arriving in Irbit earlier. When transferring from one “rope” to another, goods were often lost, diluted with inferior quality, stolen, and the case described in the “Irbit Fair Leaflet” / No. 11, 1870 / was typical: “One Biysk merchant accepted nuts from coachmen and the wax was far from being in full quantity: those coachmen who accepted the luggage on the spot drove home, reduced the amount of nuts by about a pood in each bag, folded the bags, and sewed them up so that the bags seemed tightly stuffed. These coachmen themselves did not go with the luggage, but. they handed it over to other coachmen without weight. Often the goods are accepted not by weight, but according to availability.”

With the development of private shipping, merchants began to ship goods by water. Delivery by water was 3-5 times cheaper. The cost of delivery of one pood averaged 20 kopecks. (1896). Before the rivers froze, the merchants sought to deliver goods to Tyumen (the westernmost point) along the Ob, Tobol, Tura rivers, and from Tyumen by sleigh ride to Irbit, which was 500 miles away. So, in 1884, 400 poods were in the Tyumen port for shipment to Irbit. Barnaul gold for 12,000 rubles, 20,000 pcs. cattle skins, 30,000 pounds. Suzun copper for 300,000 rubles, 30,000 poods. butter for 210,000 rubles. Cheapness water transportation encouraged merchants to extend the waterway all the way to Irbit, but the Nitsa River, on which Irbit stood, was shallow, and trial trips during floods (in particular, in 1862) put an end to the merchants' attempts to use the waterway from Tyumen to Irbit. Trade at the Irbit Fair was multi-stage in terms of the degree of participation of merchants in trade and the volume of trade operations. Speculatively, three types of trade can be distinguished. First stage: sale of small wholesale quantities by local suppliers, concentration of goods in the hands of wholesalers. At this stage, it was important for small and medium-sized traders to quickly find their bearings, sell profitably and purchase goods for resale. Second stage: competition between wholesalers and trade operations with large quantities, retail trade during transactions. At this stage, trading success depended on the ability to “beat the price” of a few competitors. Third stage: sending wholesale quantities for further resale in places of demand - Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Poland, America...

Throughout the 19th century. The Irbit fair was an important part of the trade network Russian Empire and occupied second place in terms of trade turnover, second only to Nizhny Novgorod, and ahead of it in terms of growth rates (over 1817-1861, its turnover increased 16 times, while Nizhny Novgorod’s turnover increased four times). The significance of the Irbit fair was determined by the culture that developed in the 19th century. geographical division of labor: Siberia was a developed region of agricultural and handicraft production, Central Russia was a producer of industrial goods. In conditions of enormous distances, the absence of railways, and the imperfection of existing communications, the Irbit Fair for Siberia was the main point of sale of products Agriculture and crafts and the purchase of industrial goods for local markets.

Verkhneudinsk Fair

Fairs began to be held in Verkhneudinsk in 1780. Verkhneudinsk was located at the intersection of important trade routes from Kyakhta to the European part of Russia and from Irkutsk to the Amur.

In the 1810s, trade also took place in December near the village of Oninskoye (now Khorinsky district of Buryatia). The fair's turnover was insignificant. In the 1820s, merchants of Selenginsk began to open temporary trade in Verneudinsk, and then moved all their activities there.

Since 1786, two fairs a year have been held in Verkhneudinsk: January Fair - from January 18 to February 1 and Holy Cross from September 15 to 28. In 1817, the merchants of Verkhneudinsk managed to hold only one fair a year. The beginning of the fair depended on the time of freezing of Lake Baikal - transporting goods across the ice was cheaper and faster. In 1868, the start time of the fair was moved from January 25 to February 10. But trade often began before the official date - goods had to be delivered to the Amur before the start of the spring thaw.

In the mid-1870s, the import of goods increased to 3 million rubles, of which fabrics (mainly Russian-made) accounted for up to 2 million rubles. About 75% of goods are sold on credit. The main turnover comes from Irkutsk merchants. The first place in terms of turnover at the fair is occupied by the Butin trading house - up to a million rubles. The head of the trading house of the Butin brothers is Mikhail Dmitrievich Butin (1836 – 1907). In the 1870s, A.F. Vtorov opened trade in textile goods at the Verkhneudinsk and Nizhny Novgorod fairs.

Subsequently, the role of the Verkhneudinsk Fair decreased. Trade operations were carried out in Irkutsk, and Verkhneudinsk was used as a warehouse for goods.

In 1878, books began to be sold at the fair.

The Verkhneudinsk fair played a major role in the supply of grain to the Chita region and the Nerchinsk region, since the Verkhneudinsk district was the most agriculturally developed in Transbaikalia. The turnover of the Verkhneudinsk Fair increased significantly after the annexation of the Amur Territory and the development of the gold industry. The fair reached its greatest prosperity in the 1860s, when the import of goods increased to 1.5 million rubles. Most of the goods were sold for cash; credit transactions accounted for only about 30% of turnover. At the same time, the volume of fur trade at the Verkhneudinsk Fair began to decline. Furs began to be sent directly to Irkutsk, Irbit, and the Nizhny Novgorod Fair. In addition, Nerchinsk merchants learned to independently purchase goods in the European part of Russia, steamships appeared on the Amur, tea from China began to be imported along the Amur.

From the middle of the 18th century until 1850, lead from the Nerchinsk factories was transported through Verkhneudinsk to the Altai factories. In total, from 1747 to 1850, more than 1.6 million pounds of lead were delivered from the Nerchinsk factories to Altai.

Main products of the Verkhneudinsk Fair:

Bread - to the Chita district, Nerchinsk and the gold mines of the Amur region;

Meat - to Irkutsk;

Manufactory;

Leathers and skins - to Kyakhta

Tea - to the European part of Russia;

Fur;

Contract contracts for the delivery of tea, bread, meat and other goods.

The first wooden building of Gostiny Dvor was built in 1791. Near the Gostiny Dvor, Bazarnaya Square is formed (since 1924, Revolution Square). Merchant houses with shops are being built around the square. The former market square still remains the center of Ulan-Ude. Trade also took place on Kalininskaya Square - now this place is the location of the collective farm market.

On June 3, 1803, at a meeting of merchants and wealthy townspeople of Verkhneudinsk, it was decided to build stone guest courtyards. Construction began in 1804. The Gostiny Dvor was built according to the design of the Irkutsk provincial architect Anton Ivanovich Losev (1765 - 1829). Construction continued with long interruptions, and at the end of 1825 the southern and western parts were built. It was only in 1856 that the outer cornice and roof were built.

In 1834, the philistines of Verkhneudinsk wanted to build their own shopping arcades. The townspeople were allowed to complete the construction of the northern part of the Gostiny Dvor. 30 years later, Small Trading Rows were built. About 40% of the tenants of public rows were Jewish merchants. In 1887, merchant Joseph Rosenstein became a shareholder of Bolshoi Gostiny Dvor. In 1908, 11 Jews were already renting shops in the Bolshoi Gostiny Dvor.

In 1955, construction of a 3-story department store began on the site of the Small Trading Rows. Gostiny Dvor has the status of a historical and architectural monument of federal significance.

In the 1820s, merchant Mitrofan Kuzmich Kurbatov built shopping arcades. Until the 1950s, Kurbatov's shopping arcades were used for trade. Currently they house a medical facility.

Kyakhta Fair

Border trade with China and Mongolia contributed to the development of various sectors of the Siberian economy: trade, fur trade, transport, cattle breeding, agriculture, leather industry, etc. Capital proceeds from trade in Kyakhta were invested in gold mining, shipping, industry, and charity . Border trade with China began after the conclusion of the Treaty of Nerchinsk in 1689. In 1689 - 1706, trade took place in Nerchinsk, and later in Selenginsk and Kyakhta. In 1693, at the direction of the head of the Siberian order, Repnin, the first customs charter was developed specifically for Siberia. Trade in Nerchinsk did not acquire the desired scale, and in 1719 an embassy was sent to Beijing led by guard captain Lev Izmailov. He was accompanied by secretary Lorenz Lang, who on the trip collected materials on the history of Russian-Chinese relations and Siberia, and also wrote the work “Description of the Chinese State.”

MAKAREVSKAYA FAIR is the largest fair in Russia in the 17th - early 19th centuries.

It appeared in the 1620s at the walls of the Holy Trinity Ma-karie-vo-Zhel-to-Vod-skogo monastery (now not in the village of Ma-kar -e-vo), on the se-re-di-not tor-go-vo-go path along the Vol-ga River, along which, from ancient times, a tor-walked- good exchange between Asia and Europe. For the first time, the Makaryevskaya Fair is placed in the us-tav-noy gra-mo-te of the Tsar Mi-hai-la Fyo-do-ro-vi-cha igu-me-nu Ma-ka -rie-vo-Zhel-to-vod-go monastery of Av-raa-miyu from September 19 (29), 1627. Ofi-tsi-al-no uch-re-zh-de-na by decree of Mi-hai-la Fe-do-ro-vi-cha dated June 10 (20), 1641.

The fair trade took place once a year, the trade was initially conducted for one day - July 25, old style, in day of pa-mya-ti os-no-va-te-lya Ma-ka-ri-evo-Zhel-to-vod-sk-go monastery of the Venerable Ma-kar-ria Zhel-to-vo-sko-go and Un -women, in 1667, the period for pro-ve-de-niya yar-mar-ki was increased to two, in 1681 - to four weeks and continued change in the future.

In the 2nd half of the 17th century, the bright trade-gov-la chas-tich-but moved to the right bank of the Volga, to the village of Lys-ko- in. At the end of the 17th - beginning of the 18th centuries, the Makaryevskaya Fair became widely known not only in Russia, but also abroad; up to 60 thousand people every year. The Makaryevskaya fair was closely connected with all the major trade centers of the country. Western European to-va-ry came to the Makaryevskaya fair first from Ar-khan-gel-sk, in the XVIII - early XIX centuries - from St. Petersburg. At the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th centuries, the Makaryevskaya Fair began to play the role of “meeting between Europe and Asia.”

The main domestic to-va-ra-mi, pro-da-vav-shi-mi-sya at the fair-mark, were salt, fish, bread, honey, flax and textiles fabric, zhe-le-zo, Siberian furs, lo-sha-di and cattle, co-lo-co-la, from-de-liy kus-tar pro-my-words . From Europe to Yar-Mar-ku, Dutch steel and copper, English cloth, Swedish weapons, German products from gold, boom-ma -ga, po-su-da, from Vos-ka - Indian pearls and precious stones, Chinese faience, silk, velvet, Central Asian cotton-cha- that-boo-many fabrics and carpets, oriental spices.

During the years of the Kon-ti-nen-tal-noy blockade of Ve-li-ko-bri-ta-nii and the Patriotic War of 1812, more zen-nyh for the Makaryevskaya fair, the os-ta-va-las were not sold-by-us.

The bright trade turnover at the end of the 17th century amounted to 80 thousand rubles, in the middle of the 18th century - 490 thousand rubles, at the end of the 18th century - 30 million rubles as-sig- na-tsiya-mi, in 1814 - 44 million rubles as-sig-na-tsiya-mi. In terms of its turnover, the Makaryevskaya Fair at the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th centuries was the largest in Russia (its turnover exceeded that of you are at the Ir-bit fair-mark by 20-25%) and in Europe, trade on it is at-ob-re-la bir-zhe-voy ha-rak-ter ( at the Makaryevskaya fair there is a “stock exchange hall”, as well as a “reference desk” for the completion of transactions su-do- owners and grain traders). The leading role at the Makaryevskaya fair with the merchants of Moscow, Ka-za-ni, Yaro-slav-la, Nizh-ne-Nov-go-ro- yes, As-t-ra-ha-ni, St. Peter-bur-ga.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the Makaryevskaya Fair attracted up to 170 thousand people every year.

To-go-dy from the or-ga-ni-za-tion of the yar-ma-roch-noy trade-gov-whether first-in-the-start-but-in-favor of the Holy -Tro-its-ko-go Ma-ka-ri-evo-Zhel-to-vod-sk-go monastery. Since 1667, the government has tried to direct the same fees from those delivered to the yar-mar-ku to-va- ditch into the state treasury, however, due to the cooperation of the mo-na-Styr authorities, this process was completed only in 1700 -Zom of Tsar Peter I from July 19 (30). Yar-mar-ka has been in charge of the Great Treasury and Kazan-skogo, since 1718 - Kom-merz-kol-le- gii, since 1804 - a bright-ma-roch-noy kon-to-ry under the governor-on-to-re of the Nizhe-rod-province. Since 1804, the Society of Ma-Kar-ev-skih trading states has been active (consisting of three elected traders from each -up to a row), presenting the in-te-re-sy merchants of the yar-mar-ki in front of the pra-vi-tel-st-vom.

At first, the bright places were the time. Every year, in the middle of the mo-na-sta-rya, there were rows of wooden dismountable ba-la-ha on wooden stilts -new, established State Court (first mentioned in 1683), which was surrounded by wooden fortresses walls with four towers and one blank one. Behind the pre-de-la-mi Gos-ti-no-go yard chao-tich-no there were separate shops, har-chev-ni, ka-ba-ki and ba-la - sir.

In 1755, the dismantled State courtyard at the expense of the treasury was replaced by a hundred; it consisted of 8 trade rows and 830 large ba-la-ga-novs, which is s-essentially po-la-voch- a long way from the fair.

In 1805-1809, the treasury built a new huge State courtyard (architect A.D. Za-kharov), which was built of 32 trade buildings, including up to 2 thousand two-story shops. In the center of the Gos-ti-no-go yard on-ho-di-elk there is a single stone construction of a yar-mar-ki - the first in Russian shopping mall with an area of ​​5.5 thousand m2. Near the State yard there were commodity warehouses, a mosque, an Armenian church, a theatre, ba-la-gans, trucks, ba-ni. On all sides of the trade rows, a deep ditch 19 m wide was dug, separating the main trade zone from the warehouse. ter-ri-to-rii.

The state courtyard of the fair was destroyed in the heat of August 18 (30), 1816. Due to the impossibility of expanding the bright territory and the lack of convenient transport right, through Vol-gu near Lys-ko-vo yar-mark-ku in the same place, you decided-to-but not to re-grow, she was re-re-ve -de-na in Nizhny Nov-gorod [you-have-approved on February 15 (27), 1817, the Regulations of the Committee of Ministries ], where the Nizhe-rod-skaya fair-mar-ka arose.

The 17th century is the most important stage in the development of market trade relations, the beginning of the formation of an all-Russian national market. In the grain trade, Vologda, Vyatka, Veliky Ustyug, and Kungur district acted as important centers in the north; southern cities - Orel and Voronezh, Ostrogozhsk and Korotoyak, Yelets and Belgorod; in the center - Nizhny Novgorod. By the end of the century, a grain market appeared in Siberia. Salt markets were Vologda, Sol Kama, Lower Volga; Nizhny Novgorod served as a transshipment and distribution point.
In the fur trade, a major role was played by Vychegda Salt, which lay on the road from Siberia, Moscow, Arkhangelsk, Svenskaya Fair near Bryansk, Astrakhan; V
the last third of the century - Nizhny Novgorod and the Makaryevskaya Fair, Yrbit (Irbit Fair) on the border with Siberia.
Flax and hemp were sold through Pskov and Novgorod, Tikhvin and Smolensk; the same goods and canvases - through the Arkhangelsk port. Skins, lard, and meat were traded in large sizes Kazan and Vologda, Yaroslavl and Kungur, iron products - Ustyuzhna Zheleznopolskaya and Tikhvin. A number of cities, primarily Moscow, had trade relations with all or many regions of the country. Quite a few townspeople formed a special “merchant rank”, engaged exclusively in trade. The merchant class—the pre-bourgeoisie—was emerging.
The dominant position in trade was occupied by the townspeople, primarily guests and members of the living room and cloth hundreds. Large traders came from wealthy artisans and peasants. In the trading world, an outstanding role was played by guests from Yaroslavl - Grigory Nikitnikov, Nadya Sveteshnikov, Mikhailo Guryev, Muscovites Vasily Shorin and Evstafiy Filatyev, Dedinovo brothers Vasily and Grigory Shustov (from the village of Dedinova, Kolomensky district), Ustyug residents Vasily Fedotov-Guselnikov, Usov-Grudtsyn , Barefoot, Revyakins, etc. Traded various goods and in many places; trade specialization was poorly developed, capital circulated slowly, free funds and credit were absent, and usury had not yet become a professional occupation. The scattered nature of trade required many agents and intermediaries. Only towards the end of the century specialized trade appeared. For example, the Novgorod Koshkins exported hemp to Sweden, and from there they imported metals.
Retail trade took on a large scale in the cities (in shopping arcades and huts, from trays, benches and peddling). Township small traders walked around the districts with a body filled with various goods (peddlers); Having sold them, they bought canvas, cloth, furs, etc. from the peasants. Buyers emerged from among the peddlers. They connected the peasants with the market.
Foreign trade operations with Western countries were carried out through Arkhangelsk, Novgorod, Pskov, Smolensk, Putivl, and the Svensk Fair. They exported leather and grain, lard and potash, hemp and furs, meat and caviar, linen and bristles, resin and tar, wax and matting, etc. They imported cloth and metals, gunpowder and weapons, pearls and precious stones, spices and incense, wine and lemons, paints and chemical products (vitriol, alum, ammonia, arsenic, etc.), silk and cotton fabrics, writing paper and lace, etc. Thus, they exported raw materials and semi-finished products, imported products of Western European manufacturing industry and colonial goods. 75% of foreign trade turnover came from Arkhangelsk, the only and also inconvenient port connecting Russia with Western Europe. Astrakhan played a leading role in eastern trade. It was followed by the Siberian cities of Tobolsk, Tyumen and Tara. The treasury and private traders conducted transactions with the countries of Central Asia and the Caucasus, Persia and the Mughal Empire in India. Since the end of the 17th century, especially after the conclusion of the Treaty of Nerchinsk (1689), trade relations with China have been developing.
The competition of foreign merchants in the domestic market caused collective protests from less wealthy Russian merchants. In the 20s - 40s, they filed petitions, complaining that they “left their trades and therefore became impoverished and incurred great debts.” They demanded that the operations of foreigners be limited, and those who, despite the prohibitions of the Russian authorities, conducted retail trade, be expelled from the country.
Finally, in 1649, English merchants were banned from trading within the country, and then they were all expelled. The reason in the decree was explained simply and artlessly: the British “killed their sovereign King Charles to death.” A revolution took place in England, and its participants, led by Oliver Cromwell, executed their monarch, which in the eyes of the Russian court was a clearly reprehensible and unforgivable offense.
By Customs regulations In 1653, many small customs duties remaining from the time of feudal fragmentation were eliminated in the country. In return, a single ruble duty was introduced - 10 money per ruble, i.e. 5% from the purchase price of goods (1 ruble = 200 money). They took more from foreigners than from Russian merchants. The New Trade Charter of 1667 further strengthened protectionist tendencies in the interests of the Russian commercial and industrial class.

To the question of the Russian Fair in the 17th century asked by the author Eurovision the best answer is In the 17th century Russia's productive forces have generally evolved. The population increased significantly, amounting to 10.5 million people by the end of the century. There were 335 cities in Russia. During this period, flattening hammers, drilling machines, and paper mills were known in Russia. 55 manufactories were built, mainly metallurgical ones. For creating industrial enterprises Foreign capital is attracted to Russia, and on preferential terms.
The process of social division of labor is gradually deepening, the specialization of agricultural and industrial areas is being determined, crafts are turning into small-scale production - all this leads to increased commodity exchange. The local form of land tenure contributes to the decomposition of the natural economy. Production is developing based on the processing of agricultural raw materials: in the estates they are involved in distilling, producing cloth and linen, and creating flour-grinding and tanning enterprises.
In Russia, the process of initial accumulation of capital begins, although, unlike England, it proceeded in a feudal form - wealth was accumulated by large landowners. There was a differentiation of the population, rich and poor appeared, “walking” people appeared, i.e. deprived of the means of production. They become civilian employees. The hired workers could be peasant otkhodniks. The status of an employee receives legislative confirmation in the Council Code. All this indicates the emergence of capitalist relations. This is also facilitated by the systematic growth of trade with European and Asian countries. The Russian market is included in the system of the world market and world economic relations. Russia sells furs, timber, tar, potash, hemp, hemp, ropes, and canvas to Western countries. If previously 20 ships arrived in Arkhangelsk annually, then in the 17th century. – 80. Among the imported goods are consumer goods for the feudal elite and silver coins as raw materials for the production of domestic money. Russia traded with Eastern countries through Astrakhan. The cities of Dagestan and Azerbaijan played an important role. In the 17th century trade relations with China and India began.
The development of domestic trade also begins new stage. Trade ties are acquiring a national character. In terms of trade turnover, Moscow took first place - there were 120 specialized retail rows and 4 thousand retail premises.
In the 17th century active development of Siberia continued. The Russians reached the shores of the Pacific Ocean, Kamchatka, and the Kuril Islands. In 1645, the pioneer Vasily Poyarkov walked along the Amur into the Sea of ​​Okhotsk. In 1648, Semyon Dezhnev (c. 1605-1673) discovered the strait separating Asia from North America. In 1649-1653 Erofei Khabarov (c. 1610 - after 1667) from Yakutia made a trip to Dauria (Transbaikalia) and reached the Amur.
Explorers compiled maps of Siberia, drawings, surveys, paintings of cities, individual regions and the entire region as a whole. In 1672, the “Drawing of the Siberian Lands” was compiled. Siberia was gradually settled and colonized, fortified cities were founded, which served as strongholds for their further advancement. They were called forts. Thus, in 1619 the Champs Elysees fort arose, in 1628 the Krasnoyarsk fort, etc.
Trade between the central regions and the Urals, Siberia, the Far East, and the southern outskirts expanded. Trade centers were large fairs of all-Russian significance: Makaryevskaya from the 16th century, Irbitskaya from the first half of the 17th century, Svenskaya, Arkhangelsk.
There have been shifts in the social structure Russian society. Approval in the XV-XVI centuries. The nobility put forward the local form of land ownership, and in the 17th century. The position of the merchants strengthened. Domestic trade is turning into a sphere for the application of merchant capital. The merchants are allocated to a special group and are divided into corporations: guests, living hundred, cloth hundred.
The Russian government supported the merchants.
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St. Petersburg State

University of Architecture and Civil Engineering


Department economic history



Trade and merchants in Russia

16th century



Shulgina Anna Mikhailovna

Lebedeva Ekaterina Alexandrovna

Group 1-M-I


Saint Petersburg


1. Introduction to the world system...................................................... ........................... 3

2. The cycle of the world ....................................................... ................................ 4

3. Diameters â 16…..................................... ............................................... 5

3.1. Gîrîäà.................................................. ........................................................ ............................. 5

3.2. Responsiveness to the roundabouts..................................................... ........................................................ ... 7

4. Volatile region ..................................................... ........................................................ ...... 8

4.1. Extension ................................................... ........................................................ .............. 8

4.2. DAILY.................................................... ........................................................ .......................... 10

4.3. RESULTS.................................................... ........................................................ ......................... 10

4.4. Proceedings of the Republic of Kazakhstan..................................................... ................................................ eleven

5. VALID SYSTEM WITH CHASIAN ..................................................... ........................................... 12

5.1. Valovov ................................................................ ........................................................ .................. 12

5.2. Vûvîç tòvàrîv................................... ........................................................ ................ 13

5.3. Valuation of the world..................................................... ................................ 14

6. Tourism and volition..................................................... ........................................................ ........ 15

6.1. Exposition and results................................................... ........................................................ .......... 15

6.2. Menu in Russia...................................................... ........................................................ .............. 15

6.3. Valuation of the world..................................................... ................................ 16

7. Gymnastics................................................................... ........................................................ ................. 17

8. Conclusion.................................................... ........................................................ ........................ 21

Literary .................................................................... ........................................................ .................... 21



The merchant class is special social layer engaged in trade under the dominance of private property. The merchant purchases goods not for his own consumption, but for subsequent sale for the purpose of making a profit, i.e. acts as an intermediary between producer and consumer (or between producers of different types of goods).

Briefly the state of trade in Russia in the 16th century N.M. Karamzin described it as follows: “Trade at that time was in a flourishing state. They brought us from Europe silver bullion, cloth, rolled gold, copper, mirrors, knives, needles, wallets, wines; from Asia silk fabrics, brocades, carpets, pearls , precious stones; furs, leather, wax were exported from us to Lithuania and Turkey; saddles, bridles, linens, cloth, leather were not produced in exchange for Asian horses. From Russia, Polish and Lithuanian merchants traveled to Moscow; Danish, Swedish and German merchants traded in Novgorod; Asian and Turkish merchants lived on Mologa, where the Kholopy town formerly existed, and where this church was located at that time, it was still famous for its noble money. his goods in Moscow to the Grand Duke: he chose for himself what he liked: he paid money and allowed the rest to be sold."

1. History of the emergence of the merchant class

Trade intermediaries appear during the period of decomposition of primitive communal relations, however, the merchants become a necessary element of the social structure only in a class society, developing with the growth of the social division of labor and exchange and in the process of development breaking up into various property groupings: at one pole stands out the rich merchants, representing trading capital, on the other - small traders.

In Ancient Rus', two terms were used - “merchant” (a city dweller engaged in trade) and “guest” (a merchant trading with other cities and countries). The term "merchant" appears in the 13th century. The first mention of the merchant class in Kievan Rus dates back to the 10th century. In the 12th century, the first merchant corporations arose in the largest economic centers. The process of growth of the merchant class was interrupted by the Mongol-Tatar invasion and resumed in North-Eastern Rus' at the turn of the 13th-14th centuries. The development of cities and the numerical growth of the merchant class led to the identification of the richest and most influential groups of merchant guests in Moscow, Novgorod, Pskov, Tver, Nizhny Novgorod, Vologda, etc. At this time, as before, the accumulation of merchant capital occurred mainly in the external sphere trade. The unification of Russian lands around Moscow was accompanied by the liquidation of taxation and other autonomy of local merchant corporations, and later by their destruction.

2. Brief description of the era

The 16th century was a period of demographic and economic growth, expressed in population growth, an increase in the mass of precious metal in the money market (thanks to the increasing influx of gold and silver from Spanish possessions in America and improved silver mining technology in Germany), the expansion of international trade, and increased agricultural productivity. economy, expansion of industry, improvement of living conditions of the bulk of the population.

This era became important turning point and in the history of Russia. The process of the formation of a single state, which has stepped over the framework of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, is being completed. During the reign of Ivan III (1462-1505) and Vasily III (1505-1533), the country increased 6 times, exceeding the territory of France by about 5 times, the population increased from 2-3 to 7 million.

The main occupation of the working population of Russia in the 16th - first half of the 17th century was agriculture. Cattle breeding played a major role in agricultural production. Livestock products occupied second place after bread among goods entering the country's domestic market. Of the trades closely related to peasant farming, beekeeping, fishing and hunting played a major role. A trade that required a significant level of technological development was the salt production industry.

In the 16th - first half of the 17th century, many crafts developed in Russia: ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, woodworking, production of machines, mechanisms and vehicles, construction, textile, leather, pottery and glass production, bone processing, chemical and artistic crafts, jewelry. In the second half of the 16th century, book printing began and the first experiments in paper production were made.

Advances in craft production, especially in metallurgy, wood and non-ferrous metal processing, contributed to the progress of technology and increased labor productivity in agriculture.

The basis of production relations in the Russian village was feudal ownership of land. There were different types of lands: privately owned, church-monastery, palace and black-plowed. The feudal class consisted of two main classes: secular and spiritual landowners. The legislative establishment of a peasant fortress in the 90s of the 16th century contributed to the rapprochement of all categories of feudal land tenure, because it strengthened and legally formalized the landowner's incomplete ownership of the person of the direct producer, and consequently, increased his property rights to peasant lands. The development of feudalism in depth and the strengthening of non-economic coercion of peasants led to a limitation of their individual rights and to an ever-increasing subordination to the feudal lord, up to a temporary (from 1581) and then permanent ban on peasant output.

However, against the background of the deepening of feudalism, from the end of the 15th and especially in the 16th century, Russia was increasingly drawn into the orbit of pan-European politics and trade.

3. Trade centers in the 16th century

3.1. Cities

The constantly deepening process of separation of crafts from agriculture led to the growth and development of cities in the 16th and first half of the 17th centuries. Cities were centers of crafts, trade and administrative activities of large radius areas. For the 16th century, 210 names of urban crafts were identified (in Novgorod - 293). The composition of urban artisans was dominated by those who were engaged in the production of food supplies (34 specialties), then those who prepared household items (25 specialties) and then artisans of all other 119 specialties. Among the latter, the most important were professions related to metalworking.

Craftsmen in Moscow and other large urban centers of the 16th century worked not only to order, but also for the market. They made their works at home and then brought them for sale to the merchants sitting in the rows. In cities, trade was carried out by local residents in shops, and by visiting merchants in guest yards, which existed in every more or less significant city. Peasants who came from nearby villages traded in the square, usually once or twice a week.

The shops overwhelmingly belonged to permanent residents of the city and were distributed among the townspeople, military people and people dependent on the children of the boyars and clergy, in proportion to the number of representatives in the city of each of these categories. In the 16th century, one person most often owned three shops; in Pskov and Kazan, individuals had 10 or more shops. The shops were small in size, located in rows.

In interregional trade, a large role was played by privileged merchants - guests, as well as monastic merchants from the Solovetsky, Volokolamsk, and Trinity-Sergius monasteries, who conducted large-scale trade in salt and bread. With the growing economic influence of trade and townsmen circles, the trading privileges of the monasteries gradually began to narrow.

Large trading people and guests took more part in foreign trade operations and less - in trading in local markets. At the same time, they were also a kind of grand ducal agents for trade affairs. Many of them became large landowners and occupied prominent positions in the government apparatus.

In the 16th century, Kitay-Gorod became the center of trade in Moscow. At the same time, even in the second half of the 16th century, trade was traditionally carried out in the Kremlin. There were auctions in other parts of the city. N.M. Karamzin described trade in Moscow as follows: “Gostiny Dvor (in the same place as now, on the square, near the Kremlin), surrounded by a stone wall, attracted the eye not with the beauty of the shops, but with the wealth of goods, Asian and European. In winter, bread, meat, firewood, timber and hay were usually sold on the Moscow River, in shops and huts."

In the second half of the 16th century, the merchants, together with artisans and small traders of the cities, were united into the class of townspeople, in which merchants constituted a wealthy minority. From the same class, a small group of merchants was used by the government to carry out trade and financial orders. In the last third of the 16th century, these merchants were united into three all-Russian privileged corporations - guests, trading people of the living room (at the end of the 16th century - 350 people) and cloth hundreds (at the end of the 16th century - 250 people). The Stroganov trading people occupied a special position in terms of their economic power. “Trading foreigners” (foreign merchants) also had courtyards in cities. The earliest list of guests as representatives of a special class stratum is given in the act of the Zemsky Sobor of 1566, which names 12 guests. In 1650, their number doubled - 24. From the end of the 16th century, the rank of guest began to be represented as a special grant of merit.

Large merchants concentrated in Moscow. After the Moscow fire of 1571, the government brought all the “best people” of other cities to Moscow, bleeding the provincial settlements dry. At the end of the 16th and 17th centuries, the merchants turned into a class group that combined trading with the function of tax collectors on a farming basis. Connection with the state apparatus contributed to the enrichment of some and the economic decline and ruin of others, because tax farmers were financially responsible for collecting the established amount of taxes. The property differentiation in the groups of guests, members of the living room and the cloth hundreds was the stronger, the higher the class position and wealth of the group as a whole.

The heavy population of the big city was divided into hundreds (sometimes fifty) and settlements. Often there were hundreds not only geographically - administrative units, but also organizations that united groups of artisans and traders similar in the nature of their activities.

Moscow was the main center not only of the domestic Russian market, but also of exchange with foreigners. It was not without reason that the Tsar was called the first merchant of the country. The royal treasury entered into transactions with foreign merchants for large sums of money and had the right to select best products. The largest Russian merchants with significant capital lived in Moscow. Finally, in Moscow, more than in other places, class and social contradictions were aggravated, which found, in particular, expression in the Moscow uprising of 1648.

3.2. Development of shopping villages

The reason for the emergence of trade and craft settlements, as well as the development of cities, was the increased separation of crafts and trade from agriculture. On the basis of the crafts there arose Sol Kamenskaya, which was a suburb of Cherdyn in the 16th century, Novaya Russa, which originally bore the name of Novaya Salt, Ustyuzhna Zheleznopolskaya, etc. The development of crafts in the sub-monastery settlements led to the formation of Tikhvin Posad, a settlement near the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery, and contributed to commercial and industrial growth s. Klementyev near the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, etc. Auctions began to be held in townships and craft villages, usually once a week.

An important indicator of the development of crafts and domestic trade in the 16th - first half of the 17th century was the growth of craft villages, rural markets, rows and fairs. The reason for opening a trade in the village was usually indicated by the remoteness of the village from the city and the trade. The emergence of trading villages reduced the spatial gap between cities as centers of trade and contributed to the formation of the preconditions for an all-Russian market.

In large trading villages, there are several, and sometimes many, craft specialties. The products of rural artisans, like urban ones, partially acquire a commercial character. The income of customs in commercial and industrial villages ranged from 38 to 150 rubles per year, which was much less than the income of city customs.

4. Internal trade

4.1. Domestic market

The production process and the deepening of the social division of labor led at the turn of the 15th-16th centuries to the increased development of commodity-money relations. The increase in the marketability of agriculture was to a certain extent stimulated by the growth of monetary taxes, in order to pay which peasants had to sell not only surpluses, but also part of the necessary product. The rise in taxes already at the end of the 40s of the 16th century led to sharp increase quantities of marketable bread, which caused a rapid revival of local markets. All the benefits from high grain prices did not accrue to the peasantry as a whole, but only to its small wealthy elite, who had grain reserves and money to buy grain at cheap prices in productive years. The production of marketable bread in Russia in the 16th century was so limited that almost no grain was supplied to foreign market.

From the urban merchants in the 16th century, buyers of agricultural products emerged, purchasing goods from peasants in small quantities. Thus, the purchase of flax for sale abroad was carried out in pounds, half pounds.

The sale of livestock products was carried out primarily by peasants. And buyers acted in this area, without whose participation it would have been impossible to sell livestock products to foreign merchants. Trade in salt, fish, and honey played a very important role in the development of the domestic market. The largest sellers of salt in the 16th century were monasteries that had grants for duty-free transportation and sale of salt. Representatives of other categories of the population also traded salt. Large trade in salt contributed to the establishment of connections between distant markets and the process of formation of an all-Russian market.

In the 16th - first half of the 17th century, there was a gradual increase in the volume of handicraft products intended for free sale, and the role of the buyer increased. Some artisans also act as sellers of their products. Characteristic is the combination of work to order with work for the market.

An indicator of the intensive development of small-scale commodity production and trade in cities is the increase in the number of retail premises, of which shops were most often places of large-scale trade, and benches, huts, etc. were places of small-scale trade. Although the “gathering” of the richest trading people to Moscow in the 70s of the 16th century caused damage to the development of local trade, it still did not interrupt this process as a whole. The political upheavals that Novgorod experienced in the 16th century also could not stop the expansion of the trading activities of the townspeople. The number of shops in Novgorod increased from 700 at the beginning of the 16th century to 850 at the turn of the 16th - 17th centuries. In Pskov, according to data from the 80s of the 16th century, there were about 1250 shops, barns, etc. premises. In Moscow, in Kitay-Gorod alone, there were 1,368 retail places. During the same period, there were 574 of them in Nizhny Novgorod, 386 in Tula, and 236 in Suzdal.

The general rise of domestic trade in the 16th century was reflected in rising prices and increased customs revenues. During the 16th century, prices for agricultural products increased 3-4 times, for handicrafts - doubled. The turnover of domestic trade in city markets grew, and customs revenues increased. Thus, the income of the Nizhny Novgorod customs increased from 12,183 rubles in 1615 to 33,335 rubles in 1645, i.e. almost tripled in 30 years.

However, the development of domestic trade was slowed down by the influence of feudal relations, and credit was not sufficiently developed. Loans were given at high interest rates (usually 20%). Trade transactions and travel were subject to numerous duties. All traders were divided into local, non-resident and “foreigners”, by which in customs documents were meant residents not of Moscow, but of other Russian lands and abroad. The smallest amount of duties was levied on locals, and the highest on “foreigners.”

4.2. Money

Silver and copper money circulated in Russia: Moscow, Tver, Pskov, Novgorod; silver was considered 200 in a ruble (which cost two chervonets), and copper pool 1200 in hryvnia. Novgorod money had almost double the price: there were only 140 of them in the ruble. These coins depicted the Grand Duke sitting in a chair and another person bowing his head before him; in Pskov there is a bull in a crown; on Moscow old St. George, or the horseman, and the flower, and new, priced at half the price of the old ones, represented one inscription. Only foreign gold money circulated: Hungarian chervonets, Roman guilders and Livonian coins, the price of which varied. Every silversmith struck and issued a coin: the government watched that these moneymen did not deceive in the weight and purity of the metal. The Emperor did not prohibit the export of coins from Russia, but he wanted us to only exchange goods with foreigners, and not buy them with money. - Instead of the current one hundred, an ordinary trading account was fourty And ninety; said: forty, two forty, or ninety, two ninety, and so on.

4.3. Trade fairs

Separate fairs existed in Russia already in the 16th century. In some cities and at large monasteries, fairs are held to coincide with local holidays. This is how all-Russian connections arose, leading to the formation of an all-Russian market.

Small local markets, replete with small-scale items, were dominated by artisans and merchants. The degree of specialization in individual crafts was quite high: for example, among the artisans who made shoes, shank makers, heel makers, sole makers, etc. are known. Craftsmen who produced industrial semi-finished products gradually turned into small commodity producers.

Fair trade contributed to the establishment of permanent trade relations between Novgorod and Moscow, as well as the Pomeranian north with the center of the country. Connections are also being established between other regional markets.

4.4. Portrait of a Russian merchant

Traders, primarily Muscovites, were distinguished by great enterprise and good knowledge of market conditions. The range of goods of one merchant was usually very diverse.

We have noticed that Russians are not angry, not grumpy, patient, but are prone (especially Muscovites) to deception in trade. They glorified the ancient honesty of the Novgorodians and Pskovites, who were then already beginning to change in character. Proverb: person to sell goods, served as a charter for the merchants.

Arrogant against the poor townspeople, nobles and rich merchants were hospitable and polite to each other. They kissed, bowed to each other, and the lower the better: they stopped and began bowing again; sat down and talked; the owner accompanied the guest to the porch, and his beloved to the very gate.

The dress of the boyars, nobles, and merchants did not differ in cut: the outer one with edges, wide, long was called single rows; other obscenely, with a collar; third Pherezians, with buttons to the hem, with or without stripes; the same long, with stripes or only with buttons to the waist, whips, dolmans, caftans; each one had wedges and holes in its sides. A half-caftan was worn with a trump card; shirts with an embroidered, multi-colored collar and a silver button; morocco boots, red, with iron horseshoes; tall caps, bright hats, black and white. Men cut their hair. - The houses did not shine with interior decoration: the richest people lived in bare walls. The entryway was huge, and the doors were low, and anyone entering always bent down so as not to hit his head on the upper doorframe.

The difficulties of traveling along trade routes (described below) forced medieval merchants to be traders, diplomats, and warriors at the same time. The 16th century guest is as much a merchant as he is a warrior; "he is equally skilled in both oar and sword; he is as experienced in bargaining as in military affairs."

5. Foreign trade with the West

In the 16th - first half of the 17th century Russian state traded with many European countries. Trade ties with the Hanseatic cities, Scandinavia, the Baltic states, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, etc. They were supplemented in the mid-16th century by trade with England and Holland, and from the 80s of the 16th century - with France. Trade was carried out through the Baltic ports (Nevel, Riga, Narva ), Smolensk, from the second half of the 16th century - also through the mouth of the Dvina and the Murmansk coast. Arkhangelsk, built in the 80s of the 16th century at the mouth of the Dvina and became the main port for trade with England and Holland, acquired particular importance. Relations with these countries played a leading role in Russian-Western European trade. Intermediary trade, especially with the participation of the Dutch, facilitated trade with Spain and other countries with which there were no direct regular trade relations. In England, a special trading company was founded for trade with Russia and Persia, which received a founding royal charter in 1555; it immediately became known under the unofficial name of the Russian or Moscow company. In the second half of the 16th century and later, this company tried to monopolize the Russian foreign market. Dutch merchants waged a particularly fierce struggle with the British.

5.1. Import of goods

The composition of goods imported into and exported from Russia was very diverse. Fabrics, metals and metal products were imported, including money, weapons, glass utensils, paper, some furs, etc. Among fabrics, the main place was occupied by cloth of various varieties and different origins. Even the cheapest imported cloth cost more than the most expensive local cloth at the end of the 16th century. Some silk (satin, velvet, etc.) and cotton fabrics were also imported, but their share in Western imports does not compare with the share of cloth.

Among the metals, iron, copper, lead, tin, as well as gold and silver in coins, bars and products were imported into Russia. Despite having its own iron mining, Russia needed iron and products made from it. Iron, steel knives, scissors, locks, needles, pins, etc. Swedish, Dutch and English merchants brought in significant quantities. Having an urgent need for non-ferrous metals, especially copper for casting cannons and bells, Russia, which did not have its own development of non-ferrous metals at that time, was extremely interested in bringing this product. The main supplier of metals to Russia was England. The minting of money and monetary circulation in Russia depended on the import of silver.

The Russian state waged long wars and experienced a certain shortage of weapons. Some types of firearms (muskets, self-propelled guns) and bladed weapons (halberds), cannonballs, gunpowder, molds for casting guns, and armor were imported into Russia.

Among the imported jewelry were gems and pearls, dishes and utensils, among food products were herbs and spices, fruits, wines, beer, herring, and salt. Glass and mirrors were also imported. Chemical goods imported included alum, vitriol, mercury, cinnabar, ink nuts, hot sulfur, paints, sublimate, borax, yar, whitewash, soap (Spanish), and furs - French foxes, otters and ilks.

5.2. Removal of goods

The main items of Western export from Russia were items of agriculture, hunting, livestock farming, fishing, maritime and some other crafts. A very important part of Russian exports was furs. Russian merchants purchased in different cities and villages, and then sold horse hair, pork bristles to foreign merchants, goose down, felt. Leathers and leather goods received special attention from foreign merchants. Livestock products were also exported - lard, meat, butter, etc.

Already in the 16th century, large quantities of flax and hemp were exported from agricultural products; buckwheat, flaxseed and vegetable oil were also exported. Products from the processing of industrial crops were also sold abroad: rope yarn, ropes.

Western European merchants bought large quantities of marine and fishing products from Russia: walrus ivory, blubber, shark and cod oil, skins of sea animals, caviar, valuable fish - cod, halibut, salmon. Very important export items were honey and wax. Mast timber, larch sponge, burl (frozen birch sap), licorice root, and products from the use and processing of wood: resin, pitch, ash, and potash were sent abroad. Alabaster and mica were also exported. There was transit trade in Persian silk, oil and rhubarb.

The sovereign treasury had the preferential right to exchange goods with foreign merchants. She declared “reserved” those goods for which she wanted to have a monopoly right of acquisition or sale. These were precious metals, sable furs, wax, bread (grain), resin, flaxseed, caviar, Persian silk and rhubarb. In the total trade turnover, a significant amount fell on the king's share.

5.3. Relations with foreign merchants

Foreign merchants and trading companies sought to achieve various privileges and advantages from the Russian government. In the 16th - first half of the 17th century, their rights were determined not only by interstate treaties, but also by special charters. The first charter of this kind was issued in 1517 to Danish merchants. The English Moscow Company and Dutch merchants received a number of letters of commendation. The most accepted form of trade with foreigners was wholesale trade. Foreigners were instructed to deal first of all with the treasury, then with merchants, but not directly with commodity producers and consumers. When trading wholesale, payment was made not in cash, but in goods. Therefore, foreign trade was predominantly barter in nature. The certain primitiveness of trade with foreigners is evidenced by its fair character. Russian merchants traveled to countries Western Europe in rare cases. As a rule, they did not travel further than the Baltic states and Scandinavia. Therefore, trade activity depended to a large extent on the initiative of foreign merchants and companies.

The balance of trade between Western countries and Russia in the Baltic and White Seas was passive, i.e. the value of exports from Russia to the West exceeded the value of imports to Russia from the West. Therefore, along with goods, Western merchants also imported money. Traders from many Russian cities and counties participated in trade with Western European merchants. In some, trade was carried out directly, in others, buyers purchased goods for subsequent sale to foreign merchants in such large centers of international trade as, for example, Arkhangelsk or Novgorod.

6. Trade with the East

From the eastern countries, the Russian state traded with the Kazan and Astrakhan khanates (until 1552-1554), with the Central Asian khanates, the Nogai Horde, Crimea, Turkey and Iran.

6.1. Export from Russia

Among the items exported from Russia, there were goods of domestic origin and products of Western countries.

In the group of Russian handicraft goods, a significant part consisted of leather, distinguished by good workmanship, weapons, including firearms, very rare in the East, wooden, silver and iron products) especially axes and knives); Fabrics and garments, wine, and vodka occupied a smaller place. The products of local crafts were exported: furs, honey and wax, salt, birds of prey, walrus ivory, mica and paints. Grain, flour, lard, and oil were exported in small quantities.

The objects of intermediary trade between Russia and the East were Western cloth, paper, glass, mercury, iron and non-ferrous metals - tin, copper, lead.

Trade in yasyr was carried out on a very limited scale, i.e. prisoners. Eastern merchants were allowed to buy no more than 10 prisoners: it was forbidden to sell Russian people and prisoners who converted to Orthodoxy. In 1566, it was strictly forbidden to sell captured “Germans” trained in the craft. The sale of prisoners was carried out mainly in Kasimov, Pereyaslavl-Ryazan, Nizhny Novgorod and Sviyazhsk.

6.2. Import to Russia

Imports into Russia from Eastern countries were distinguished by a variety of goods. Many types of fabrics were imported - silk (damask, taffeta, satin, velvet, etc.) and cotton (calico, motley yarn), carpets, raw silk, cotton, some types of leather (yuft, morocco), spices, raisins, prunes, almonds , nuts and sugar, rice, fish, mosquito products (paints, gum, alum), oil, used mainly as a solvent in painting techniques, incense, soap, precious metals - gold and silver (in coins), products made from them, precious and colored stones, pearls. Russia bought a large number of horses from the Nogai Horde and a slightly smaller number of sheep. The secondary objects of Russian import from the East were weapons and horse equipment, military musical instruments, dishes.

Through the mediation of Central Asian and Iranian merchants, trade with the countries of East and Southeast Asia was maintained. Direct trade relations between Russia and India began in the middle, and with China - in the second half of the 17th century. The objects of intermediary trade between Russia and the West were such eastern goods as raw silk and oil.

Within Russia, imported oriental goods were distributed unevenly: luxury goods had a narrow market among the top of the ruling class. Cheap varieties of silk fabrics, cotton fabrics, some types of spices, paints, alum, and oil penetrated into various layers of society.

Russia's trade turnover with eastern countries was incomparably smaller than with western ones. At the turn of the 16th-17th centuries, trade turnover with the West reached 150 thousand rubles, and with the East - a little more than 4 thousand rubles.

In trade with the East, as with the West, the treasury had a preferential right to purchase imported goods; a number of goods were in its monopoly. Already in the first half of the 16th century, the export of precious metals - gold and silver - from the country was greatly hindered, and in the second half it was completely prohibited.

6.3. Relations with foreign merchants

By the middle of the 16th century, eastern merchants were allowed to travel freely only to Russian border cities, and the points where they were allowed to trade were specifically determined. In the first third of the 16th century, Turks and Tatars had the right to trade in the village of Kholopiem (in Uglich district), where people from the most remote places gathered during the fair.

Eastern merchants could engage in general trading only after completing trade transactions with the treasury. But at the same time, merchants who came to Russia with government goods were prohibited from retail trade and the purchase of Russian goods directly from their manufacturers. They had to enter into trade relations with Russian merchants with the assistance of specially assigned merchants, translators and bailiffs. State-owned trade was exempt from customs duties, while transactions with private individuals were subject to customs taxation. Only in Siberia were eastern merchants allowed to trade duty free.

On the Russian side, it was primarily the middle and small merchants who were drawn into trade with the East. It was this that prevailed in trade trips to Crimea, Turkey, and Iran. Large merchants like the Stroganovs sent their clerks to the East.

7. Trade routes

In the 16th century, Moscow became the center of the most important land and river routes in Russia. With the formation of a unified Russian state, changes occurred in the previously established trade routes. The expansion of the country's territory and, as a result, the emergence of new markets, led to the emergence of new directions of trade routes, which, like the old trade roads, increasingly gravitated towards Moscow as the administrative center of the country. These paths have lost their independent meaning and became radii connecting the capital with the periphery.

A number of trade routes were particularly important in the 16th century. Along the Moscow River there was a waterway to the Oka and further to the Volga. A road led through Stromynka to the northeast in the direction of Suzdal. From Tverskaya Street the road to Tver and further to Veliky Novgorod began. Sretenskaya Street led to the Yaroslavl highway, and from Rogozhskaya Sloboda there was a highway to Kazan and Nizhny Novgorod. Through the suburban village of Kolomenskoye there was a road to the south to Serpukhov and Tula. The Mozhaisk road went through Arbat and Dorogomilovo in the direction of Smolensk. All these roads branched further into a whole network of paths and diverged throughout the entire space of the Russian state.

The main highway between the two largest Russian cities of Novgorod and Moscow remained in the 16th century, the ancient road from Moscow to Novgorod through Volok Lamsky, Tver and Torzhok. With the annexation of Novgorod to Moscow, economic ties between these cities are strengthened.

Several important trade routes diverged from Novgorod to the west and northwest. They established connections with the countries of Western Europe.

One of the trade routes to the West went from Novgorod to Pskov, and then to Ivangorod and Narva, to Riga, Lithuania. Other roads also went to Ivangorod from Novgorod, passing Pskov along Luga to the city of Yama, through Petrovsky Pogost, through Luzhsky Yam. One of the roads led from Novgorod to Kholmogory through the village of Sumy.

In the second half of the 16th century, the trade route from Moscow to the White Sea through Yaroslavl, Vologda, Totma, and Ustyug became especially important. There was a lively trade with England and Holland this way. This road covered more than 1,500 miles, and the journey along it could last up to 50 days.

Several trade routes went south from Moscow. One of the main ones in the 16th century was the Don. This ancient route, known since the end of the 14th century, was used by Metropolitans Pimen and Cyprian, who traveled from Moscow to Constantinople and back. From Moscow, the caravans traveled by water or by land to Kolomna and Ryazan, and from there along three roads - through Mikhailov, Ryazhen, Staraya Ryazan - to Voronezh and the Don. The ships followed the Don to Azov, and then by sea to Constantinople. The total length of the route from Moscow to Azov was about 2230 km. This took approximately 55 days. In addition to the Don route, land roads also led south through Belgorod, Putivl, Novgorod-Seversky, Bryansk, Bryn, and Kaluga. This road is mentioned in Turkish and Crimean ambassadorial books. Traders sometimes traveled to Turkey by roundabout routes: through Lithuanian lands. However of great importance These trade routes were not used in the 16th century, since during this period relations with Lithuania were strained, and the Lithuanian authorities tried not to allow Russian trading people to pass through their lands.

Great development in the second half of the 16th century it received the Volga trade route. This happened in connection with the annexation of Kazan and Astrakhan. This journey usually began in Moscow, from where travelers descended along the Moscow River and Oka to the Volga. The British began their travels along the Volga from Yaroslavl. Waterway from Moscow to Astrakhan lasted 1.5-2 months. In Astrakhan, goods were reloaded onto sea vessels and the journey continued to eastern countries along the shores of the Caspian Sea. Several land roads led from Astrakhan to Central Asia and Iran.

The North has always attracted Russian sailors. The 16th century saw significant progress in their exploration of the Northern Sea Route. The northern route to Europe has been known to Russian people for a long time. At the end of the 15th century, it was used by Russian ambassadors Grigory Istoma, Dmitry Zaitsev and Dmitry Radev. The literature has established the opinion about the opening of a sea route from Western Europe to the White Sea by the British. Sources completely refute this opinion. “In fact, Chancellor followed the path that Novgorod military expeditions and Russian ambassadors walked long before him in the 12th-15th centuries: Grigory Istoma, Dmitry Zaitsev, Dmitry Gerasimov and other Russian people.” At the end of the 16th century, the route through the Arctic Ocean to the mouth of the Taz River, a tributary of the Ob, which became known as the Mangazeya sea route, also acquired national importance.

In addition to large transit trade routes, there were many roads of local importance that connected large cities with rural areas and smaller urban areas.

In the 16th century, there was already a summary description of the roads of the Russian state. Based on pre-existing road workers and drawings, at the end of the 16th century a general drawing of the Russian state was compiled, containing a description of roads, rivers, cities and tracts. Apparently, at this time, descriptions of sea routes were also compiled - Pomeranian sailing directions. One of them apparently formed the basis for the map of the White Sea and the Mezen River, compiled at the end of the 16th century by Luka Wagener.

Medieval travelers and traders preferred to travel by water or, in winter, by land. In the summer, and especially during periods of mud, travel was tiring due to the poor condition of the roads. There are many memories left about the difficulty of traveling along Russian roads in summer, spring and autumn. Thus, Pavel Joviy wrote that “the path from Vilna through Smolensk to Moscow, in winter, according to strong ice, which turns into hard ice from frost and frequent driving, occurs with incredible speed, but in the summer, you can only drive here with great difficulty and with extreme effort, because the snow melting from the sun forms swamps and dirty, impassable swamps, on which wooden roads are laid with the greatest difficulty for travel." The responsibility to build such bridges and roads lay with the local population. Bridge work was a special type of duty in the 16th century. When there were no bridges across the rivers, the crossing was carried out in a primitive way, which was described as follows: travelers cross across rivers “in a certain unique way of crossing, namely: they cut down bushes, tie them in bunches, sit on them themselves, lay down their property and, thus, rowing down the river, they reach the other bank. Others tie similar bundles to the tails of horses; They, driven by whips, swim to the other shore, dragging people with them and thus transporting them.”

The government made attempts to streamline travel along the most important roads. One of the measures in this direction was the construction of pits. Researchers depict the Yamskaya chase of the 16th century in the following form. Along large roads, at a certain distance from each other, averaging 30-40 km (sometimes more often), there were road pit stations. The surrounding population supplied the pits with carts and feed for horses. It took turns driving the chase itself. The yam usually consisted of a yam yard, two or three huts, a hay barn and a stable. The coachmen were in charge of the pits. Usually, lands were assigned to the Yamsky yard: arable land, hayfields, and sometimes villages, the expenses of which went to the coachmen. Usually two or three coachmen lived in a pit. Not everyone had the right to use the pits. In most cases, they were used by officials: royal messengers, ambassadors, who in this case were given the appropriate travel document. Private individuals were not allowed to hire horses in the pits. The government established control over the activities of the pits. A significant number of documents from the end of the 16th century have been preserved, with which the government regulated the rules in the pits. Boyar children were sent to the sites to construct pits.

Medieval routes of communication were difficult and dangerous not only because of the primitive state of roads and transport. A lot of worries for travelers were raids of all kinds of robbers for the purpose of robbery. Therefore, traveling alone was risky. This largely explains the joining of merchants to diplomatic embassies, which had fairly reliable armed guards.

Ambassadors and traders united in large caravans, even 500 ships each. Despite the large number of these caravans, attacks on them and robberies of goods and “wake” were very frequent. The documents preserved numerous complaints from merchants about robberies during moves.

The government tried to organize permanent protection of travelers from robbers on some roads. In the 1920s, Russia, together with Turkey, took measures to protect the Don Route. The Sultan sent 3 ships with cannons and arquebuses to “protect the Don”. Russian security vessels were supposed to move towards them. On the Volga, the Russian Tsar kept detachments of archers to guard embassy and trade caravans.

But despite all these measures, attacks on trade and embassy caravans were very frequent and were considered commonplace on Russian medieval roads.

8. Conclusion

In general, the evolution of socio-economic relations in Russia in the 16th century was very complex. On the one hand, there was a process of development of feudalism in depth and breadth, which led to the enslavement of peasants and an increase in the rights of the landowner to the personality of the direct producer. On the other hand, in Russia there was a rapid growth of commodity-money relations, the transformation of crafts into small-scale commodity production was planned, manufactories arose, the importance of wage labor increased, and exchange between regions and with foreign countries. The development of feudalism could not stop the development of commodity-money relations, but the latter did not yet threaten the foundations of feudal land ownership and the principle of non-economic coercion.

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