Heroes of the 12th and 13th centuries in Rus'. Novgorod land (Republic)
Work plan.
I .Introduction.
II .Russian lands and principalities in XII-XIII centuries.
1. The causes and essence of state fragmentation. Socio-political and cultural characteristics of Russian lands during the period of fragmentation.
§ 1. The feudal fragmentation of Rus' is a natural stage in the development of Russian society and the state.
§ 2. Economic and socio-political reasons for the fragmentation of Russian lands.
§ 3. Vladimir-Suzdal principality as one of the types of feudal state entities in Rus' XII-XIII centuries.
§ 4 Features geographical location, natural and climatic conditions of the Vladimir-Suzdal land.
§ 5. Features of the socio-political and cultural development of the Vladimir-Suzdal principality.
2. The Mongol-Tatar invasion of Rus' and its consequences. Rus' and the Golden Horde.
§ 1. Originality historical development and the way of life of the nomadic peoples of Central Asia.
§ 2. Batya’s invasion and the formation of the Golden Horde.
§ 3. The Mongol-Tatar yoke and its influence on ancient Russian history.
3. The struggle of Rus' against the aggression of the German and Swedish conquerors. Alexander Nevskiy.
§ 1. Expansion to the East and West European countries and religious and political organizations at the beginning of the 13th century.
§ 2. Historical significance of the military victories of Prince Alexander Nevsky (Battle of the Neva, Battle of the Ice).
III . Conclusion
I . INTRODUCTION
XII-XIII centuries, which will be discussed in this test work, barely visible in the fog of the past. In order to understand and understand the events of this most difficult era in the history of medieval Rus', it is necessary to get acquainted with the monuments of ancient Russian literature, study fragments of medieval chronicles and chronicles, and read the works of historians relating to this period. It is historical documents that help us see in history not a simple set of dry facts, but a complex science, the achievements of which play an important role in the further development of society, allowing us to better understand the most important events national history.
Consider the reasons that determined feudal fragmentation - the political and economic decentralization of the state, the creation on the territory of Ancient Rus' of practically independent, independent state entities on the territory of Ancient Russia; to understand why the Tatar-Mongol yoke on Russian soil became possible, and how the dominance of the conquerors was manifested for more than two centuries in the field of economic, political and cultural life, and what consequences it had for the future historical development of Rus' - this is the main task of this work.
The 13th century, rich in tragic events, still excites and attracts the attention of historians and writers. After all, this century is called the “dark period” of Russian history.
However, its beginning was bright and calm. A huge country, larger in size than any European state, was full of young creative power. Those who inhabited it were proud and strong people They did not yet know the oppressive weight of the foreign yoke, they did not know the humiliating inhumanity of serfdom.
The world in their eyes was simple and whole. They did not yet know the destructive power of gunpowder. Distance was measured by the swing of arms or the flight of an arrow, and time by the change of winter and summer. The rhythm of their life was leisurely and measured.
At the beginning of the 12th century, axes were knocking all over Rus', new cities and villages were growing. Rus' was a country of craftsmen. Here they knew how to weave the finest lace and build skyward cathedrals, forge reliable, sharp swords and paint the heavenly beauty of angels.
Rus' was a crossroads of peoples. In the squares of Russian cities one could meet Germans and Hungarians, Poles and Czechs, Italians and Greeks, Polovtsians and Swedes... Many were surprised at how quickly the “Russians” assimilated the achievements of neighboring peoples, applied them to their needs, and enriched their own ancient and unique culture.
At the beginning of the 13th century, Rus' was one of the most prominent states in Europe. The power and wealth of the Russian princes were known throughout Europe.
But suddenly a thunderstorm approached the Russian land - a hitherto unknown terrible enemy. The Mongol-Tatar yoke fell heavily on the shoulders of the Russian people. The exploitation of the conquered peoples by the Mongol khans was ruthless and comprehensive. Simultaneously with the invasion from the East, Rus' was faced with another terrible disaster - the expansion of the Livonian Order, its attempt to impose Catholicism on the Russian people. In this difficult historical era, the heroism and love of freedom of our people manifested themselves with particular force, people rose to the occasion, whose names were forever preserved in the memory of posterity.
II . RUSSIAN LANDS AND PRINCIPALITIES IN XII-XIII BB.
1. CAUSES AND ESSENCE OF STATE Fragmentation. SOCIO-POLITICAL AND CULTURAL CHARACTERISTICS OF RUSSIAN LANDS
PERIOD OF FRAGRANCE.
§ 1. FEUDAL Fragmentation of Rus' – A LEGAL STAGE
DEVELOPMENT OF RUSSIAN SOCIETY AND STATE
Since the 30s of the 12th century, the process of feudal fragmentation began in Rus'. Feudal fragmentation is an inevitable stage in the evolution of feudal society, the basis of which is the natural economy with its isolation and isolation.
The system of natural economy that had developed by this time contributed to the isolation from each other of all individual economic units (family, community, inheritance, land, principality), each of which became self-sufficient, consuming all the product it produced. There was practically no exchange of goods in this situation.
Within the framework of a single Russian state, over the course of three centuries, independent economic regions emerged, new cities grew, large patrimonial farms and the estates of many monasteries and churches arose and developed. Feudal clans grew and united - the boyars with their vassals, the rich elite of the cities, church hierarchs. The nobility arose, the basis of whose life was service to the overlord in exchange for a land grant for the duration of this service. The huge Kievan Rus with its superficial political cohesion, necessary, first of all, for defense against an external enemy, for organizing long-distance campaigns of conquest, now no longer met the needs of large cities with their branched feudal hierarchy, developed trade and craft layers, and the needs of patrimonial lands.
The need to unite all forces against the Polovtsian danger and the powerful will of the great princes - Vladimir Monomakh and his son Mstislav - temporarily slowed down the inevitable process of fragmentation Kievan Rus, but then it resumed with new strength. “The whole Russian land was in disarray,” as the chronicle says.
From the point of view of general historical development, the political fragmentation of Rus' is a natural stage on the path to the future centralization of the country, future economic and political takeoff on a new civilizational basis.
Europe also did not escape the collapse of early medieval states, fragmentation and local wars. Then the education process developed here nation states secular type, which still exist today. Ancient Rus', having gone through a period of collapse, could have come to a similar result. However, the Mongol-Tatar invasion disrupted this natural development political life in Rus' and threw him back.
§ 2. ECONOMIC AND SOCIO-POLITICAL REASONS
Fragmentation of the Russian lands
We can highlight the economic and socio-political reasons for feudal fragmentation in Rus':
1.Economic reasons:
The growth and development of feudal boyar land ownership, the expansion of estates by seizing the lands of community members, purchasing land, etc. All this led to increased economic power and independence of the boyars and, ultimately, to an aggravation of contradictions between the boyars and the Grand Duke of Kyiv. The boyars were interested in such princely power that could provide them with military and legal protection, in particular in connection with the growing resistance of the townspeople, the smerds, to contribute to the seizure of their lands and increased exploitation.
The dominance of subsistence farming and the lack of economic ties contributed to the creation of relatively small boyar worlds and the separatism of local boyar unions.
In the 12th century, trade routes began to bypass Kyiv, “the path from the Varangians to the Greeks,” which once united the Slavic tribes around itself, gradually lost its former significance, because European merchants, as well as Novgorodians, were increasingly attracted to Germany, Italy, and the Middle East.
2. Socio-political reasons :
Strengthening the power of individual princes;
Weakening influence of the Grand Duke of Kyiv;
Princely strife; they were based on the Yaroslav appanage system itself, which could no longer satisfy the expanded Rurik family. There was no clear, precise order either in the distribution of inheritances or in their inheritance. After the death of the Grand Duke of Kyiv, the “table”, according to existing law, went not to his son, but to the eldest prince in the family. At the same time, the principle of seniority came into conflict with the principle of “fatherland”: when the prince-brothers moved from one “table” to another, some of them did not want to change their homes, while others rushed to the Kiev “table” over the heads of their older brothers. Thus, the continued order of inheritance of “tables” created the preconditions for internecine conflicts. In the middle of the 12th century, civil strife reached unprecedented severity, and the number of participants increased many times as a result of the fragmentation of the princely possessions. At that time in Rus' there were 15 principalities and separate lands. In the next century, on the eve of Batu’s invasion, it was already 50.
The growth and strengthening of cities as new political and cultural centers can also be considered the reason for the further fragmentation of Rus', although some historians, on the contrary, regard the development of cities as a consequence of this process.
The fight against nomads also weakened the Principality of Kiev and slowed down its progress; in Novgorod and Suzdal it was much calmer.
To summarize the above, it should be noted that feudal fragmentation in Rus' in the 12th-13th centuries was a natural phenomenon associated with the peculiarities of the formation of the feudal system. Despite the progressiveness of this process, feudal fragmentation had a significant negative aspect: constant strife between the princes depleted the strength of the Russian lands, weakening them in the face of external danger, in particular the approaching Mongol-Tatar invasion.
§ 3. VLADIMIRO-SUZDAL PRINCIPALITY AS ONE OF THE TYPES
FEUDAL STATE FORMATIONS IN Rus'.
In the middle of the 12th century, the once united Kiev state broke up into a number of independent lands and principalities. This collapse occurred under the influence of the feudal mode of production. The external defense of the Russian land was especially weakened. The princes of individual principalities pursued their own separate policies, considering primarily the interests of the local feudal nobility and entered into endless internecine wars. This led to the loss of centralized control and to a severe weakening of the state as a whole.
Further processes of feudalization, which continued in the Russian lands, the specifics of local conditions, the peculiarities of the geographical location, and socio-economic development determined Various types political power in the Russian lands, three main political centers were identified: in the southwest - the Galician-Volyn principality; in the northeast - the Vladimir-Suzdal principality and Novgorod land in the northwest. These three feudal formations differed among themselves in the degree of influence of princely power and the role of the feudal aristocracy, as well as the degree of development of one of the forms of feudal land ownership (patrimonies and estates), the influence of external factors on internal political life and played main role in the history of Rus' XII-XIII centuries.
A feudal veche republic was established in Novgorod the Great. A conflict type of government has developed in the Galicia-Volyn lands. Political system North-Eastern Rus' gravitated towards the princely monarchy.
Gradually, the center of economic and political life moved northeast to the Upper Volga basin. Here the strong Vladimir-Suzdal principality was formed - later the dominant territory of North-Eastern Rus', it became the center of the unification of Russian lands. During the period of feudal fragmentation (after the 30s of the 12th century), it acted as a competitor to Kyiv.
§ 4. FEATURES OF GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION, NATURAL
CLIMATIC CONDITIONS OF THE VLADIMIRO-SUZDAL LAND.
For many centuries, North-Eastern Rus' was a wild outskirts. Fertile soils, rich forests, many rivers and lakes created favorable conditions for the development of agriculture, cattle breeding and crafts. Trade routes to the south, east and west passed here, which led to the development of trade. It was also important that the northeastern lands were well protected by forests and rivers from the raids of nomads. The forest thickets of this land were so vast that in the 13th century, two princely armies going out to battle got lost and did not find each other. It was the land of the rebellious Vyatichi tribe.
In the northeast of modern Moscow, where the cities of Vladimir and Suzdal are located, the forests thinned out, wide open spaces appeared - the lands of the so-called opolya began, the edges of a giant forest. Nature has created a miracle here. As is known, this territory is located in the non-chernozem zone. The soils here are podzolic and relatively poor. But it is in the opole region that they are suddenly replaced by thick black soils.
In the XI-XIII centuries, a stream of settlers moved here. In search of fertile land, Novgorodians went to North-Eastern Rus'. Fleeing from the raids of nomads, the inhabitants of the Dnieper region moved to these places protected by forests. But colonization was also caused by other reasons. Farming techniques were primitive, and population growth required the development of new lands. This pushed farmers to search for a better life in the Northeast, where feudal land ownership appeared only in the second half of the 12th century.
The Vladimir-Suzdal principality covered the area between the Oka and Volga rivers. On its territory lay the route from White Lake along the Sheksna to the Volga. The principality was connected not only with Novgorod trade, which already meant a lot, but also with European trade, and along the Volga with the Caspian Sea, Central Asia, the Celestial Empire, and Byzantium. The route led along the Moscow River to Kolomna, along the Oka to the Volga and along the Klyazma to the Volga.
Gradually, large urban centers emerged here: Rostov, Suzdal, Yaroslavl, Murom, Ryazan. Under Vladimir Monomakh, the cities of Vladimir and Pereyaslavl were built.
§ 5. FEATURES OF SOCIO-POLITICAL AND CULTURAL
DEVELOPMENT OF THE VLADIMIRO-SUZDAL PRINCIPALITY.
The political system of North-Eastern Rus' gravitated towards the princely monarchy.
In 1125 he became the prince of Suzdal younger son Monomakh Yuri, for his thirst for power, received the nickname Dolgoruky for his military activity. Under Prince Yuri, the principality separated from Kyiv and became a vast, independent state. Its first princes managed to form a large princely domain, from which they provided land for serving boyars and nobles, creating for themselves a strong social support in their person.
A significant part of the lands of the principality was developed during the process of colonization and was the property of the prince. The prince did not experience strong economic competition from boyar families. The old boyar aristocracy and large land estates were absent in the principality. The main form of feudal land tenure here became local land tenure (conditional tenure assigned for service)
Supreme power belonged to the prince, who had the title of great. The existing bodies of power and administration were similar to those that existed in the early feudal monarchies: the princely council, the veche, feudal congresses, governors and volostels. A palace-patrimonial system of governance was in effect.
Yuri Dolgoruky constantly fought with Volga Bulgaria and fought with Novgorod for influence on the border lands. He energetically supported the colonization of undeveloped lands: he built cities, erected and decorated churches and monasteries. Moscow was mentioned for the first time under him.
When Yuri was still reigning in Kyiv, his son Andrei left without permission to the north, taking with him miraculous icon Mother of God, which later became a shrine of the Vladimir land. Prince Andrei, contrary to all traditions, moved the princely throne to Vladimir, and next to it, in the village of Bogolyubovo, he built himself a residence. Based on the name of the village, Andrei received the nickname Bogolyubsky.
He continued his father's policy aimed at expanding the principality: he fought with Novgorod and Volga Bulgaria. At the same time, he strove to elevate his principality over other Russian lands, went to Kyiv, and took it. Andrei Bogolyubsky pursued a tough policy towards the boyars in his principality. Attacking their rights and privileges, he brutally dealt with the rebellious, expelled them from the principality, and deprived them of their estates.
During Andrei's reign, new trends in the relationship between the prince and the squad became especially pronounced. In the Northeast, warriors began to gradually turn into princely servants. Not trusting the older squad, the prince increasingly sought to rely on the younger squad. It is characteristic that they were increasingly called nobles: not the prince’s vassals, but his servants. The famous Russian historian S.M. Solovyov wrote: “Andrei changes his treatment of the younger princes and relatives; the latter were amazed at this change, realized the danger to themselves from it and armed themselves against the novelty. “We recognized you as elder,” they said to Andrei, “and you treat us not as relatives, but as assistants."¹ Andrei's autocracy became unbearable for his subjects and associates. A serious conflict was brewing between Andrei Bogolyubsky and the boyars. In 1174, conspirators killed the prince. After the death of Andrei Bogolyubsky, strife began. In the end, Vsevolod, nicknamed the Big Nest, became the prince.
The years of Vsevolod's reign were marked by the internal and external strengthening of the principality, the establishment and further development of the traditions of princely autocracy. Strong princely power, based on the support of small and medium-sized military servants and urban communities, contributed to the formation of a unified and strong state, economic and cultural growth. The authority of the principality in relations with other Russian lands and neighboring states increased.
Vsevolod was the first of the Russian princes to officially accept the title of Grand Duke. Under him, the Vladimir-Suzdal land began to dominate among other principalities. Vsevolod cruelly punished the rebellious boyars. During his reign, Ryazan was captured. Vsevolod interfered in the affairs of Novgorod, he was feared in Kyiv. After the death of the prince, his sons divided the principalities into parts and waged strife. The Vladimir-Suzdal land broke up into a number of inheritances that went to the sons of Vsevolod. Campaigns against Volga Bulgaria, fight against Mordovian tribes on the eastern borders, foundation of a fortress at the mouth of the Oka River Nizhny Novgorod- these are the main points in the history of the principality during this period.
Vladimir-Suzdal Rus' became one of the most advanced and powerful Russian lands in economic, military and cultural terms.
The culture of North-Eastern Rus' was formed on the basis of ancient Slavic culture. It reflected the traditions of the Vyatichi - Slavic tribes. Various cultural influences and traditions merged and melted under the influence of general political and socio-economic relations. The culture of North-Eastern Rus' was associated with the flourishing of trade and crafts, the development of interstate relations and trade ties.
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¹ Solovyov S.M. “Readings and stories on the history of Russia”, M., 1989, p.222.
Christianity had a huge influence on culture as a whole - on literature, architecture, painting. At the same time, the existing dual faith determined that pagan spiritual traditions were preserved for a long time in the culture of North-Eastern Rus'. The harsh canons of church Byzantine art in North-Eastern Rus' underwent changes, images of saints became more worldly and humane. The most important cultural monument of that time are chronicles - weather reports of historical events. As Rus' fragmented, centers of local chronicle writing appeared in Vladimir, Suzdal and other large cities of North-Eastern Rus'. Chroniclers, as a rule, were literate, literary-gifted monks who knew translated literature, legends, epics, and described events and facts related mainly to the life of princes and the affairs of monasteries. Local chronicles were also written by order of the prince by close boyars or warriors. The chronicles of Vladimir-Suzdal Rus' were distinguished by subjects of narration and style.
Architecture flourished. In the 12th century, single-domed churches were built: Dmitrovsky and Assumption in Vladimir, the Church of the Intercession on the Nerl.
B.A. Rybakov wrote: “At the turn of the 12th and 13th centuries, in connection with the appearance of tall three- and four-story buildings in cities, a new style church architecture: churches stretch upward so as not to drown in the diversity of urban buildings. The walls of the churches were lavishly painted with frescoes depicting biblical and gospel subjects. In the dome of the temple, above the light belt of the windows, a huge image of Christ the Pantocrator “all-powerful” was necessarily placed, as if looking from heaven into this church at those praying.”¹.
New fortresses, stone palaces, and chambers of rich people were founded in Vladimir and Suzdal. The stone was usually decorated with carvings. Temples were placed on high hills, they were combined with the natural landscape. The city of Vladimir was surrounded by a stone wall with a gilded Golden Gate.
Icon painting also became widespread. An icon is an image on specially treated boards of saints revered by the church. In Vladimir-Suzdal Rus', the strict Byzantine technique of icon painting was influenced by ancient Russian culture, which introduced softness, depth, and lyricism into the ascetic Byzantine canons. The oldest monument of icon painting that has come down to us is the icon of the “Vladimir Mother of God”. It was named after the transfer of the icon by Andrei Bogolyubsky from Kyiv to Vladimir. One of the oldest surviving monuments of the Vladimir-Suzdal art of icon painting is the main “Deesis”. Written in the late 12th century, Deesis means “supplication.” The Oranta icon also belongs to the same school of icon painting. Dmitrovsky Cathedral in Vladimir was decorated with frescoes " Last Judgment».
The art of wood and stone carving reached a high level; it was used to decorate the palaces of princes and the homes of boyars. Russian jewelers, using the most sophisticated techniques - filigree, niello, granulation, filigree, created gold and silver jewelry that were masterpieces of world art. Magnificently embossed and graceful artistic decoration weapons put Russian goldsmiths on a par with Western European ones.
¹ Rybakov B.A. “Kievan Rus and Russian principalities of the XII-XIII centuries,” M., 1982, p.377
Considering all of the above, we can conclude: the culture of North-Eastern Rus' on the eve of the Mongol invasion was at a very high level development, not yielding to the culture of advanced European countries and actively interacting with it. The blow delivered from the East by the Tatar-Mongol hordes disrupted the natural development of the political, economic and cultural life of Rus' and threw it back.
2 MONGOL-TATAR INVASION OF Rus' AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. Rus' AND THE GOLDEN HORDE.
§ 1. ORIGINALITY OF HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT AND WAY OF LIFE
NOMADIAN PEOPLES OF CENTRAL ASIA.
In the 12th century, Mongolian tribes roamed the steppes of Transbaikalia and the northern part of modern Mongolia. Their main occupation was cattle breeding, supplemented by hunting. The Mongols did not know agriculture. They bred mainly horses and sheep. They lived in felt tents - yurts. Yurts placed on a cart were called tents. Such mobile housing was indispensable during distant nomads. As a rule, among nomadic peoples, old traditions and ancient patriarchal orders remain unchanged for a long time. Property inequality always arose much more slowly among nomads than among farmers.
The Mongols were no exception. In the 12th century they experienced the disintegration of the tribal system. The tribal nobility stood out - the Noyons and Bogaturs. They were surrounded by vigilantes - nukers. The nobility gradually took control of livestock and pastures. This was the main wealth of the nomads, in contrast to farmers, for whom land was the highest value. A type of feudalism was formed, which is usually called nomadic. Ordinary Mongols worked for nobles: they grazed cattle, sheared sheep, and made kumiss from mare's milk. In an effort to have as many livestock as possible, the Noyons were forced to develop more and more new pastures - the old ones were depleted. The traditional nomadic territories turned out to be too small for the expanding herds and herds, and inter-tribal conflicts began over pastures. These clashes escalated into bloody wars, accompanied by the extermination of entire clans and the conversion of captives into slavery.
It was at this time that the tribal system decomposed among the Mongolian tribes and private property appeared. A large number of horse herds and excellent pastures made it possible to stand out economically.
From the very beginning, the Mongol state turned out to be militarized. Nomadic cattle breeding led to depletion of pastures, and depletion of pastures led to the struggle for new pastures. Hence the seizure of the lands of foreign tribes, rapid movements over vast distances. From an early age, the boy was put on a horse and taught how to use a bow - as a result, he grew up to be a strong and courageous fighter.
In the second half of the 12th century, a struggle for leadership began between the Mongol tribes. Those who won subdued their opponents. The birth of the state was accompanied by wars between tribes and tribal unions, the rise of noyons, and their desperate fights among themselves.
During the civil strife at the end of the 12th century, the noion Temujin won. A congress of nomadic nobility - kurultai - proclaimed him in 1206 the great kagan of all Mongols and assigned him a new name and title - Genghis Khan. This kurultai played a tragic role in the fate of all ancient Rus'. Genghis Khan forcibly united under his hand all the Mongols, some neighboring tribes and, on the basis of tribal characteristics, created an army that had no equal in the XII-XIII centuries, during the era of developed feudalism, in the Central Asian states, in Rus' and in Europe. Temujin created a first-class army for his time. The entire army was divided into tens, hundreds, thousands. Ten thousand warriors made up the tumen. If every ten coincided with a family, then the tumen was already a whole army, within which strict subordination of commanders along the hierarchical vertical was observed. Along with a clear organization, high combat effectiveness was ensured by iron military discipline. It was supported by merciless punishments for any minor offenses. Major crimes, acts of betrayal and cowardice were completely out of the question. There was a law in force in the army: if in battle one of the ten runs away from the enemy, then the entire ten were executed; if a dozen run in a hundred, then the whole hundred is executed; If a hundred run and open a gap for the enemy, then the whole thousand will be executed. Hence the army was strong and well trained.
The famous traveler and explorer of Central Asia G.E. Grumm-Grzhimailo wrote in his book “Western Mongolia and the Uriankhai Territory”: “Genghis Khan early realized that a small, but disciplined and abundantly supplied army was the most essential guarantee of military success, and the first his actions were aimed at creating a disciplined and well-trained army from the armed crowd, which before him was usually represented by armies of nomads, and, according to reviews of his contemporaries, he achieved amazing results in this regard, managing to instill in his warriors from the temnik to the private, that disobedience to high command is the gravest of crimes. Genghis Khan owed many of his victories to this iron discipline, which forced people to defend the cause entrusted to them, sometimes to the last man.”¹
The main striking force of the Mongols was cavalry. Each warrior himself had to take care of feeding himself and his horse. And this left him no choice in the campaign: in order not to die himself, he had to rob. Mongol warriors used bows, sabers, and lassos. The reconnaissance was well done.
The Mongolian state-military machine began to work at full speed. In 1211, Genghis Khan attacked Northern China and conquered it within a few years. The Mongols used the experience and knowledge of Chinese officials and recruited Chinese scientists and military specialists into their service. The Mongol army was now strong not only with its powerful and fast cavalry, but also with Chinese siege battering and stone-throwing machines, and projectiles with a flammable mixture that included oil.
¹ G.E. Grumm-Grzhimailo “Western Mongolia and the Uriankhai region”, vol. 2, Leningrad, 1926, p. 442
In 1219–1220 Genghis Khan captured Central Asia, plundering its richest cities: Bukhara, Samarkand, Urgench and others. Then Mongol troops advanced into Northern Iran, entered Azerbaijan and appeared in the Northern Caucasus. There the Mongols broke the resistance of the Alans and approached the Polovtsian steppes.
§ 2. BATYEV’S INVASION OF Rus'.
FORMATION OF THE GOLDEN HORDE.
“In 1224 an unknown people appeared; an unheard of army came, godless Tatars, about whom no one knows well who they are and where they came from, and what kind of language they have, and what tribe they are, and what kind of faith they have... The Polovtsians could not resist them and ran to the Dnieper. Khan Kotyan was the father-in-law of Mstislav Galitsky; he came with a bow to the prince, his son-in-law, and to all the Russian princes... and said: “The Tatars took our land, and tomorrow they will take yours, so protect us; if you don’t help us, we will be cut off, and you will be cut off tomorrow.” “The princes thought and thought and decided to help Kotyan”¹. The hike began in April when the rivers were in full flood. The troops were heading down the Dnieper. The command was exercised by the Kyiv prince Mstislav Romanovich and Mstislav the Udaly. The Polovtsians informed the Russian princes about the treachery of the Tatars. Immediately after crossing the Dnieper, Russian troops encountered the enemy’s vanguard, chased it for seven days, and on the eighth they reached the bank of the Kalka River.
The decisive battle between the united Russian squads and the Mongols took place on May 31, 1223 on the Kalka River, not far from the coast Sea of Azov. The Russian princes suffered a crushing defeat. It was explained by the following reasons: separatism and political egoism of the Russian princes; lack of unified command; the panicky flight of the Polovtsian troops, who, with their disorderly retreat, upset the Russian ranks; Russian troops underestimated the enemy's strength, could not choose the right place for the battle, the terrain, which was completely favorable to the Tatars. But, in fairness, it should be noted that at that time, not only in Rus', but also in Europe, there would not have been an army capable of competing with the formations of Genghis Khan. The defeat at Kalka turned out to be one of the most difficult and tragic for Rus' in its entire history. A terrible danger loomed over Russia.
In 1227, Genghis Khan died. During his lifetime, he divided all the conquered lands among his sons. In 1235, at the kurultai, it was decided to launch a new campaign against Europe, and the grandson of Genghis Khan, Batu Khan, was placed at the head of the army. In 1236, Batu's hordes defeated the Volga Bulgaria, subjugating the Bashkirs, Mari, and Polovtsians.
In December 1237, a huge army entered the Ryazan principality. After five days of siege, Ryazan was taken and the inhabitants were killed. None of the Russian princes sent a squad to help the Ryazan prince. Before the Mongols lay several roads into the depths of the Vladimir-Suzdal land. Since Batu was faced with the task of conquering all of Rus' in one winter, he headed to Vladimir along the Oka, through Moscow and Kolomna.
¹Soloviev.S.M. Readings and stories on the history of Russia. "Russian Chronicle", ch. XVIII, M., 1989, p.148
Prince Yuri of Vladimir sent governor Eremey to Kolomna to unite with Vsevolod, the son of Yuri and Prince Roman. The famous Russian historian S.M. Solovyov writes: “The Tatars surrounded them at Kolomna and fought hard; there was a great slaughter; They killed Prince Roman and the governor Eremey, and Vsevolod with a small squad ran to Vladimir.”¹. Having defeated the Russian troops near Kolomna, Batu came to Moscow, took and burned the city, and killed the inhabitants. In February 1238, the capital of the principality was taken by storm. Simultaneously separate units The Mongol-Tatars, scattered throughout the principality, captured Suzdal, Rostov, Yaroslavl, Pereyaslavl, Yuryev, Galich, Dmitrov, Tver and other cities. The inhabitants of these cities were mercilessly exterminated or taken prisoner.
On March 4, 1238, on the City River, a tributary of Molog, northwest of Yaroslavl, in a bloody battle, the army of the Grand Duke of Vladimir Yuri Vsevolodovich suffered a terrible defeat, he himself was killed.
After a two-week siege, the Mongols took the small town of Torzhok and moved towards Novgorod the Great. However, 100 miles from the city, Batu gave the order to turn south. Historians suggest that the reason for this was the beginning of the muddy roads and, most importantly, the heavy losses suffered by the invaders in previous battles. In addition, the Mongols became convinced that the captured lands were of little use for nomadic cattle breeding.
On the way back, the Mongols besieged the small town of Kozelsk for seven whole weeks. At the cost of huge losses, they took possession of it and, calling it the “Evil City,” wiped it off the face of the earth.
In the fall of 1240, the Mongol-Tatars began an invasion of Southern Rus' and Eastern Europe. The South Russian lands suffered terrible devastation. Pereslavl and Chernigov were captured, Kyiv fell.
In 1241, Batu invaded Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary. However, in the summer of 1242, he suddenly interrupted the campaign and turned to the Volga region. There were several reasons for this, according to historians: the great Khagan Ogedei died, and Batu hurried to the election of a new khan; the Mongols did not have enough troops to control the vast territory they had already conquered; Batu's army was too weakened by assaults, battles and losses.
Having reached the lower reaches of the Volga, in 1243 Batu formed here one of the largest states of the Middle Ages - the Golden Horde. Tens of thousands of captives, primarily artisans, from Rus' and other countries were herded here, and looted goods were brought here. This is how the city of Sarai-Batu appeared - the capital of the Golden Horde (near modern Astrakhan).
§ 3. MONGOL-TATAR YOKE AND ITS INFLUENCE
ON ANCIENT RUSSIAN HISTORY.
Batu's invasion was not a simple predatory raid like the previous campaigns of nomads - the Pechenegs and Polovtsians - against Rus'. The Mongolian nobility sought not only to profit from the riches of Rus', but also to subjugate the Russian principalities to their power, to include them in the empire ruled by the descendants of Genghis Khan. The fragmentation of Russian lands played a fatal role in preventing the invasion of the conquerors from being repelled. Scorched, plundered, depopulated Rus' is forced to submit to its enemies.
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¹ Solovyov S.M. Readings and stories on the history of Russia. "Russian Chronicle", ch. XIX, M., 1989, p.155
A long era has begun in the history of Russia, which is characterized by the ancient concept of “yoke”. The Mongol-Tatar invasion was the boundary that divided the history of Rus' into two eras - before and after Batu’s invasion.
From that time on, Rus' began to lag economically and culturally behind a number of European countries. Most of the Russian princes and boyar warriors, thousands of peasants and townspeople died. Many artisans were taken into slavery. The secrets and techniques of craftsmanship have been lost, entire crafts have disappeared. Cities and villages were devastated.
The Russian people who fell under the rule of the conquerors had to learn to live in new conditions, under a new state system. It was announced to the princes and the population that from now on the supreme ruler of Rus' is the head of the Mongol Empire, and direct control is exercised by Batu Khan. The Horde khan was given the title “tsar” (previously, the Russians only gave this title to the Byzantine emperor). Each principality was now considered first of all a “tsar’s ulus” (the khan’s possession) and only secondarily as a “princely fatherland” (i.e., the hereditary possession of a prince). In accordance with the procedures adopted in the Mongol Empire, all the princes who survived the invasion were obliged to come to Batu and receive from him a label - a letter of grant, which confirmed the authority to govern the principality. Grand Duke of Vladimir, in addition. He had to go to pay his respects to the imperial court in Karakorum. The Horde rulers did not contribute to the centralization of Rus'. It was in their interests to incite hostility between the princes and prevent their unity.
To know how many people survived after the campaigns of Batu and Subedei, in 1248 the Mongols conducted a census of the population of Southern Rus'; in 1257, census takers reached the northern principalities. The result of these calculations was the imposition of a colossal tribute on the country - a way out. In addition to the “exit”, there were emergency payments - requests. If the khan needed funds for war, then he sent an unexpected “request” to Rus', which was collected as strictly as the “exit”. Enormous wealth was spent on gifts to the khan, his relatives and ambassadors, on bribes to courtiers and bribery of Horde officials. The payment of tribute was supervised by special Mongol governors - Baskaks.
From the bloodless principalities, carts with furs and silver and lines of slaves reached the steppe. Those who could not pay the “exit” were taken into slavery. After all, the amount of tribute was “distributed” between individual families.
Rus' not only paid tribute and supplied military units when the Horde declared mobilization. It was also included in the general communication system of the Mongol Empire. The postal network borrowed from China was also introduced into the territories of the conquered principalities. At certain distances along the roadways, stables and inns were built. The surrounding population served there, fulfilling their conscription, and they also supplied horses. Such a point was called yam, and its servants were called yamchi. The task of the yamcha was to ensure the non-stop movement of messengers with the khan’s orders, to keep them ready and provide fresh, rested horses to passing ambassadors and officials.
Another means of keeping Rus' in subjection was repeated Mongol raids. According to historians, in the second half of the 13th century, the enemy invaded Russian borders fourteen times.
Batu's invasion brutally devastated Rus'. The papal ambassador Plano Carpini, traveling to Mongolia through southern Russian lands in 1246, wrote: “As we drove through their land, we found countless heads and bones of dead people lying in the fields.”
Which segment of the population suffered the most? Peasants? Of course, the Mongols did not spare them. But many villages lost in the forests might not even have seen the conquerors. Townspeople? Yes, it was very difficult for them. According to archaeologists, of the 74 cities that existed in Rus' in the 12th-13th centuries, 49 were destroyed by Batu, and 14 were depopulated forever, another 15 were unable to restore their former significance, turning into villages. According to the same Plano Carpini, in Vladimir-Volynsky “the churches were filled with the bodies of the dead.” Many of the survivors, especially artisans, were driven into slavery. Craft production, the secrets of which had been passed down from generation to generation for centuries, fell into decline. Entire specialties have disappeared. For example, the ability to make glassware and window glass, multi-colored ceramics and jewelry with cloisonné enamel was lost. Stone construction froze for half a century. But the heaviest damage was inflicted on the feudal lords: princes and warriors. It was they, professional warriors, who were the first to meet the invaders with weapons in their hands and the first to die on the battlefield. Nine of the twelve Ryazan princes died, two of the three Rostov princes, and five of the nine Suzdal princes. The share of dead vigilantes was most likely not less, but more. Among the Moscow boyars of the 16th century there is no one whose ancestors were known before the invasion. The composition of the squad has changed almost completely. The dead were replaced by completely different people - people from unprivileged sections of society. They were accustomed to being not the comrades-in-arms of princes, but their humble servants. Thus, the Mongol invasion sharply intensified the process of transforming the prince from first among equals into a sovereign master.
However, two and a half centuries of the Horde yoke were not a continuous strip of hardships and hardships for the Russian people. Perceiving conquest as an inevitable but temporary evil, our ancestors learned to benefit from close relations with the Horde. The Russians adopted some fighting skills and tactical techniques of military operations from the Tatars. Something came to Russia from the Horde economy: the word “customs” comes from the Horde word “tamga” (trade duty), and the word “money” itself came to us in those years from the East. Kaftan, robe, shoe, cap - these and other items of clothing, along with their names, were adopted from eastern neighbors. The Yamsk service on the roads of Russia outlived the Golden Horde for several centuries.
The mutual penetration of cultures was facilitated by mixed marriages. Often Russian young men - Muscovites, Novgorodians, Ryazans - married Tatar women. The merger of peoples did not occur, but such families became more and more numerous. Sometimes political calculations were at work - after all, intermarrying with the Horde nobility or even with the khan himself was considered extremely prestigious for the princely families. Later, after the fall of the Golden Horde, Tatar nobles began to move to Russia and laid the foundation for many surnames known in our history and culture.
It was with Batu’s invasion that Rus' began to lag behind a number of Western European countries. If economic and cultural progress continued there, beautiful buildings were erected, literary masterpieces were created, the Renaissance was just around the corner, then Rus' lay, and for quite a long time, in ruins.
The Horde yoke in Rus' undoubtedly played a negative role. This is recognized by the overwhelming majority of historians, publicists, and writers, although opinions have been expressed that foreign rule also had a positive impact on the development of Rus' - the strengthening of state order there, the weakening of princely strife, the establishment of Yam communications, etc. Of course, more than two centuries of dominance of the Horde led, among other things, to mutual borrowings - in the economy, everyday life, language, and so on. But the main thing is that the invasion and the yoke threw the Russian lands back in their development. The reason for this was not only the Horde tribute and all sorts of extortions that ruined the population and undermined the development of commodity-money relations, but also the constant devastation of Russian lands by frequent “armies” - punitive campaigns of the Horde, the destruction of dozens of cities, the death and slavery of thousands of people, the death of crafts, interrupted connections with Europe. The socio-economic and political development of the Russian state was suspended due to the invasion of Rus' by Mongol-Tatar hordes, as a result of which Rus' was turned into an ulus of the Golden Horde. The church structure, faith, political orders, and order of reign were left the same, but the Horde rulers arrogated to themselves the right to judge the princes, approve them for great and appanage reigns, issuing them khan labels. The Horde rulers did not at all promote centralization in Rus', the unification of its lands, but, on the contrary, hindered this. It was in their interests to incite enmity between the Russian princes and prevent their unity. The insidious Horde diplomacy did not allow the rise of any principality and the growth of the authority of one of the princes to the detriment of others.
The Horde also controlled the foreign policy of Rus'. The goal of the Khan's diplomacy was the political isolation of Rus' from the Eastern European states hostile to the Horde - Hungary, Poland, Lithuania, and the Czech Republic.
Everything that happened during these years in terms of the further development of Rus' was done by the will and heroism of the Russian people, and was paid for dearly by them.
3. Rus'’S FIGHT AGAINST GERMAN AND GERMAN AGGRESSION
SWEDISH CONQUERORS. ALEXANDER NEVSKIY.
§ 1. EXPANSION TO THE EAST OF WESTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES AND
RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL ORGANIZATIONS IN THE XIII CENTURY.
Simultaneously with the invasion of the eastern steppes, conquerors from the west attacked Rus'. These were Germans - members of spiritual knightly orders and Swedes, who began the conquest of the lands of the Eastern Baltic in the 12th-13th centuries.
Eastern European lands have long attracted the attention of German feudal lords due to their advantageous geographical location and their wealth. In the 10th-12th centuries, they began to seize the south-eastern coast of the Baltic Sea, where the Finno-Ugric (Estonian) and Balt tribes lived - the ancestors of modern Latvians and Lithuanians. The formation of a state has already begun among the Lithuanian tribes.
At the end of the 12th century. Catholic missionaries appeared in the lands of the Livonians, but the forced baptism of the local residents failed. Then the Pope organized a crusade against the Livs in 1198. Under the pretext of the fight against paganism and the spread of Catholicism, there was a real robbery of the local population.
In 1201, German and Danish feudal lords founded Riga and created the knightly Order of the Swordsmen to conquer the Baltic states, which mercilessly exterminated the Baltic pagans. In Rus' this order was called Livonian. In 1212, the knights subjugated Livonia and began to conquer Estonia, coming close to the Novgorod lands. At this time, the Teutonic Order moved to Europe, completely exterminated the Prussian tribes, and their lands were given to the Germans. In 1237, the Order of the Sword and the Teutonic Order united to jointly fight the Balts. In 1238, an alliance of German, Danish and Swedish feudal lords was concluded against Rus'.
When hordes of Mongol-Tatars fell on Rus' from the east, the crusaders considered that the time had come to launch a decisive offensive on the Novgorod lands. The Pope helped unite the forces of the Crusaders. The Order of the Swordsmen was annexed to the Teutonic Order, in addition, reinforcements were received from Germany and others Catholic countries.
For the ruling class of Rus', including the Russian Orthodox Church, the Germans posed a much greater danger than the Mongols. This was explained by the fact that the Mongols, being pagans, were religiously tolerant and did not interfere in the religious life of Rus', and the Germans threatened Catholicization. At this time, Alexander, the son of Yaroslav, the grandson of Vsevolod, ruled in Novgorod. His role in history is assessed ambiguously. Traditionally, he is perceived by domestic historians as a Russian national hero, a truly Christian ruler, ranked among the all-Russian saints by the church council of 1547.
But there is a completely different view of his actions, most clearly and consistently expressed by the English historian John Fennell. In his opinion, Alexander Nevsky pursued a policy of “strong ties with the Tatars from the Golden Horde and submission to any demand of the khan”; Acting decisively in relation to his western neighbors, he at the same time strengthened his own power, assisting the Horde in the defeat of their brothers. But, despite attempts to downplay the merits of the prince by some historians, the glory of Saint Alexander Nevsky is so great that he will forever remain in the memory of the Russian people as a wise ruler, a famous commander and a brave warrior.
“The Black Years” is the exact name of an entire era in the history of the Russian land, the times of the life and work of Prince Alexander Nevsky. After the hurricane invasion of Batu’s hordes, when Russian military strength was crushed and dozens of cities were burned, a system of heavy dependence on the Horde conquerors began to take shape, based on the fear of new invasions. At the same time, the western borders experienced strong pressure from the Swedes, Germans, and Lithuanians.
After such actions by the eastern and western invaders, the Grand Duke Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, and then his son Alexander Yaroslavovich Nevsky, faced the question: how to fight on all sides? With one hand they had to fight off their western neighbors, with the other they had to cajole the Horde, averting the danger of new raids on Rus' and keeping the younger princes in obedience. Analyzing the military-political situation of that time, it was necessary to choose the path for the further development of Rus'. And this path was chosen - the path of slowly gathering forces, the path of pacifying the Horde at any cost, and then turning their gaze against the crusaders and Lithuanian princes. This step did not reflect the mood of the Russian people, whose patriotism has always been very strong, but it brought to the Russian soil, although not stability, but time for respite. In such a difficult situation, many of the actions of the Grand Duke, merciful towards Rus' and inherently necessary, could seem like cowardly cruelty. So, for example, at the end of the 50s of the 13th century, the Tatar “numbers” began to enumerate the Russian population in order to collect regular tribute in an orderly manner. Novgorod the Great rebelled, opposing the census, but Alexander suppressed the resistance of the Novgorodians, whom he had previously selflessly defended from all enemies, with armed force. As a result, a census was carried out in Novgorod. Is it worth reproaching the famous commander for timidity? No. After all Grand Duke prevented a new pogrom of Rus', which could have destroyed the last region not devastated by the Tatars. Throughout his reign, Alexander Yaroslavich sought to prevent anti-Mongol protests, wanting to avoid new invasions.
Considering resistance to Horde rule useless, realizing that the time to overthrow the hated yoke had not yet come, he adhered to a policy of decisiveness and uncompromisingness in the fight against the Order and caution and humility in relations with the Horde. He knew how to be both menacing and submissive, desperately brave and infinitely humble, frowning menacingly towards the West and smiling towards the East. Already contemporaries were surprised by the complex, contradictory character of the prince, sometimes even reproaching him in their hearts for the fact that he “loved the Tatars more than measure.”
According to the Russian historian G. Vernadsky: “The two feats of Alexander Nevsky - the feat of warfare in the West and the feat of humility in the East - had one goal: the preservation of Orthodoxy as the moral and political force of the Russian people”¹. Alexander, realizing that militarily Rus' was still powerless before the Horde, bowed to the khans, giving North-Eastern Rus' the necessary time to restore the destruction caused by Batu.
Alexander Nevsky saw one path for Rus': the power of the Great Prince of Vladimir should become autocratic in North-Eastern Rus', although perhaps for quite some time. long time dependent on the Horde. For peace with the Horde, for peace on Russian soil, one had to pay. That is why Alexander had to assist Horde officials in the census of Russian lands for the regular collection of tribute. The forces to repel the Horde accumulated gradually, under the guise of unconditional submission, and, realizing this, Nevsky showed himself not only as a brave warrior, but also as an astute politician, deeply understanding the interests and needs of his people.
§ 2. HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF MILITARY VICTORIES
ALEXANDER NEVSKY.
Among the events of the military-political history of Rus' in the 13th century, the military victories of Alexander Nevsky are the most famous and occupy a special place in the memory of the Russian people, as they thwarted plans for expansion into Rus' from the West and its Catholicization.
The Swedes were the first to try to take advantage of the weakening of Rus' during the Mongol-Tatar invasion. Novgorod was under threat of capture. In July 1240, a Swedish fleet under the command of Duke Birger entered the Neva.
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¹ Vernadsky G.V. "Mongols and Rus'". Tver, 2000, p. 38
Having passed the Neva to the mouth of Izhora, the knights landed on the shore. On July 15, 1240, a battle took place that went down in history as the Battle of the Neva. Secretly approaching the Swedish camp, Alexander's cavalry squad attacked the center of the Swedish army. And the foot army of the Novgorodians struck the flank, cutting off the knights’ retreat to the ships. The remnants of the defeated Swedish army went down the Neva into the sea. The brilliant victory of Alexander, nicknamed Nevsky by the people, was the first military success of Rus' since the invasion of Batu.
At the end of March 1242, Nevsky received news from intelligence that the forces of the Livonian Order, led by the master, were approaching him. The prince pulled his forces to Lake Peipsi. There, on Lake Peipsi, one of the largest battles of the Middle Ages unfolded, in which Alexander’s military leadership talent was brilliantly demonstrated. The battle took place on April 5, 1242 and was known in history as the Battle of the Ice.
The German knights lined up in a wedge, or rather, in a narrow and very deep column, the task of which was to launch a massive attack on the center of the Novgorod army. The Russian army was built according to the classical scheme developed by Svyatoslav. The center is a foot regiment with archers advanced forward, and cavalry is on the flanks. The Novgorod Chronicle and the German chronicle unanimously claim that the wedge broke through the Russian center, but at that time the Russian cavalry struck the flanks, and the knights were surrounded. In a stubborn battle, the Russians defeated the knights; The order lost 500 knights, and more than 50 were taken prisoner.
Without exaggerating the scale of the battles won by Alexander Nevsky, it is necessary to emphasize their enormous historical meaning:
1. Expansion into Rus' from the West was stopped;
2. The dominance of the German feudal lords over the peoples of the Baltic states was undermined;
3. Rus' preserved the shores of the Gulf of Finland, access to the Baltic Sea, trade routes to Western countries;
4. The Knights of the Order were unable to enslave the most developed part of Rus' - the Novgorod-Pskov land, and impose Catholicism on its people. Alexander Nevsky acted as a defender of Orthodox Rus' from the Catholic West;
5. The victories of Alexander Nevsky strengthened morale and increased the self-awareness of the Russian people.
Great is the historical merit of Prince Alexander Nevsky as the organizer of the defense of Veliky Novgorod from the onslaught of the Swedes and the Order in the early 40s of the 13th century. Under the leadership of this prince, Novgorod was that part of the Russian land that retained not only some kind of independence from the Horde, but also obvious combat capability in the fight against the aggression of its western neighbors.
Alexander Nevsky acted as a defender of Orthodox Rus' from the Catholic West. This made him one of the main heroes of Russian history. The popularity of Nevsky grew from century to century. Peter I was an ardent admirer of his memory. Soon after the victory over the Swedes in the Northern War, Peter ordered Nevsky's ashes to be transferred from Vladimir to St. Petersburg and placed in the Cathedral of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.
We, his distant descendants, honor the memory of Nevsky, a wonderful patriot and commander. They write about him works of art and scientific works.
III. CONCLUSION
Russian history in the XII-XIII centuries was extremely eventful. In this difficult historical era, the heroism and love of freedom of our people manifested themselves with particular force, people rose to the occasion, whose names were forever preserved in the memory of posterity. This explains the great interest in the events of that time on the part of not only historians, but also writers.
The feudal fragmentation that began in the 30s of the 12th century did not mean collapse Old Russian state. It was just a new political structure. The ethnic and cultural unity of the country was preserved. The feeling of the unity of the Russian land, preserved despite the corroding rust of political fragmentation, princely strife, appanage habits and concepts, is clearly expressed in “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign”: “O Russian land, you are already over the hill!”
It was this fragmentation, disunity, the burden of mistrust and long-standing enmity between the Russian princes that became one of the reasons that determined the Mongol conquests. Strong , a well-organized army of the Tatar-Mongols defeated the military detachments of the Russian principalities one by one. The Horde did not contribute to the centralization of Rus'. It was in her interests to incite hostility between the princes and prevent their unity. The Horde rulers pursued a policy of deliberately pitting various princely groups against each other on the basis of their struggle for leadership in the political life of the Russian land, for the grand ducal label.
Suffering from the hated foreign yoke, Rus' began to lag behind most of the states of Western Europe, which did not know the trouble behind the bleeding Russian people. As A.S. Pushkin rightly noted, Rus', “torn to pieces and drained of blood, stopped the Mongol-Tatar invasion on the edge of Europe” and saved European civilization.
But such difficult trials that befell the Russian people in that distant terrible time could not but affect the future of Rus' and the path of its further historical development. Perhaps it was the more than two-hundred-year Mongol-Tatar yoke that determined the “Asian beginning,” which then turned into the most severe serfdom and autocracy unparalleled in history for Russia.
And yet, reading and studying the events of Russian history of the XII-XIII centuries, reflecting on the historical paths of development of Russia in the terrible, cruel times of conquest and dominion of the Horde khans, who conquered half the world with the sword, exterminated hundreds of peoples and turned hundreds of others into their slaves, you can to note with pride: only a truly great people could survive many decades of brutal violence, ruinous exactions, constant raids, accompanied by massacres, fires, and slavery. The Russian people not only survived, but also under the iron heel of Horde terror, despite the insidious policy of the khans aimed at disuniting the Russian principalities, nurtured their statehood, accumulated strength and retained the will to unity and complete liberation from the hated yoke.
Bibliography.
1. Vernadsky G.V. Mongols and Rus'. Tver, 2000.
2. Grumm-Grzhimailo G.E. Western Mongolia and Uriankhai region, vol. 2, L., 1926.
3. Isaev I.A. The history of homeland. M., Lawyer, 2000.
4. History of the Fatherland. Century XIII. For the Russian land. M., Young Guard, 1983.
5. History of Russia. Encyclopedia, vol. 2, M., Avanta, 1996.
6. Rybakov B.A. Kievan Rus and Russian principalities of the XII-XIII centuries. M., Nauka, 1982.
7. Sakharov A.N., Buganov V.I. History of Russia from ancient times to the end of the 17th century. M., Education, 2003.
8. Solovyov.S.M. Readings and stories on the history of Russia. M., Pravda, 1989.
- The problem of feudal fragmentation of Rus' in domestic historiography (the reason for the collapse of Kievan Rus).
- Internal (economic and socio-political) and external (trade, economic and political) reasons for fragmentation.
- Development of large land ownership and urban growth.
- Fragmentation of city volosts.
- Decline of the trade route from the “Varangians to the Greeks.”
- Types of socio-political organization in various principalities.
- Formation of the main independent principalities and nationalities (boyar republics on the territory of Rus').
- Kiev, Chernigov, Seversk, Polotsk, Smolensk, Galicia-Volyn, Vladimir-Suzdal principalities.
- Novgorod, Pskov, Vyatka. What do you think these three cities have in common? What did they have in common? System of government. Which? Veche. But the veche was everywhere, not only in Novgorod, Pskov and Vyatka. The veche there formed its organs of Posadnichestvo and Tysyatsky
- Principality of Kiev.
- The ruin of Kyiv by Andrei Bogolyubsky 1169.
- “Black Cowls”
- Duumvirate System
- Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich 1180-1194.
- Rurik Rostislavovich 1180-1202.
- Roman Galitsky 1202 -1205.
- A streak of strife.
- Chernigov Principality (separated from Kyiv in the 2nd half of the 11th century.)
- Seversk Principality (separated from Chernigov in the mid-12th century)
- Olgovichi and their connection with the Polovtsians.
- Igor Svyatoslavich - Grand Duke of Chernigov 1198-1202.
- Principality of Polotsk.
- Features of the geographical location.
- Vseslav Bryachislavich, the most famous Polotsk prince and a very interesting character 1044-1101
- Principality of Smolensk (separated from Kyiv in 1120-1130)
- Features of its geographical location (GP) and historical fate.
- Galicia-Volyn principality.
- Principality of Galicia (separated in 1141)
- Yaroslav Osmomysl 1153-1187.
- Volyn principality (separated in the 12th century.)
- Unification of the Galician and Volyn principalities by Roman Mstislavovich 1199.
- Daniil Romanovich Galitsky 1234-1265.
- Vladimir-Suzdal Principality (separated from Kyiv 1132-1135)
- Geographical and historical features of the formation of the Rostov-Suzdal lands.
- Colonization of northeastern Rus'.
- Vladimir 1, Yaroslav and Vladimir 2 on the Rostov table.
- Yury Dolgoruky.
- Founding of Moscow 1147
- Andrei Bogolyubsky 1157-1174.
- The death of Andrei Bogolyubsky and the war of “younger brothers and older tribesmen” of 1174-1177.
- Vsevolod 3 Big nest 1177-1212.
- Yuri Vsevolodavich 1218-1238.
- Novgorod, GP and economy.
We’ll talk a lot about Novgorod, because in the 90s, as well as at the end of perestroika, Novgorod was talked about as an alternative to Moscow. And they said, “If Russia followed the Novgorod path, then everything would be fine with us.” So we’ll see what Novgorod was like. Was this an alternative? And was this model viable beyond the mid-15th century?
- “Novgorod Revolution” 1135-1136. expulsion of Prince Vsevolod.
- Formation of the union of the Slavic groups of Novgorod by the end of the 12th century.
- Tverdislav Mikhailovich. Early 13th century.
- Posadnik Stepan Tverdislavich is an outstanding politician. Activist of the Novgorod Republic. Died 1243
- Novgorod's struggle with the Swedes, Germans and Lithuanians.
- Alexander Yaroslavich in Novgorod.
- Novgorod and Horde.
- Novgorod and Moscow.
- Conflict of 1398
- Yazhelbitsky peace of 1456.
- Battle of Shelon and letter of peace with Ivan 3.
- Transformation of Novgorod into a province of the Moscow State in 1478.
- Territorial and administrative organization of Novgorod: Pyatina, ends, streets.
- Ulichansko-Konchanskaya organization.
- Evening. Posadnik (1126) is the first news in Novgorod that they have such a position.
- Tysyatsky.
- Administration and court.
- Council of gentlemen.
- Prince Archbishop.
- Social structure Novgorod.
- Boyars. Clergy.
- Merchants, “life people”, artisans, peasants, serfs.
- Specifics of social struggle.
- Features of Novgorod law. It was completely unique.
- “Novgorod model” in Russian history and its significance.
- Reasons for the fall of Novgorod.
- Pskov, Vyatka.
- General estimate 12-13th century. In Rus' (Vladimir Rus').
Let's go through each of the principalities. And let's look at the overall social dynamics.
Until the mid-12th century, the Principality of Kiev occupied a very large territory. It is enough to look at any of the maps of that time to see this. But after Andrei Bogolyubsky burned Kyiv in 1169 and left there. The Principality of Kiev began to shrink. And if we look at the map of the end of the 12th century, then in terms of territory the Principality of Kiev is inferior in size not only to the huge Novgorod land, but also to the Chernigov, Polotsk and Smolensk lands.
Features of the Principality of Kyiv. It's theirs social feature, which explains a lot in the development of this principality in that period. A feature of the Kyiv principality in the 12th century was the presence large quantity old boyar estates with fortified points. On the land that was once the land of the glades. This was a vulnerable zone from the steppe. Therefore, already from the 11th century, in order to protect these estates from the Polovtsians, representatives of the Kyiv nobility began to move masses of nomads here to this zone: Torks, Pechenegs, defeated Berendeys. They were all called by the same name, “black hoods.” To keep dust out while walking across the steppe, they wore black hoods, somewhat similar to Budenovkas. Black hoods acted as a buffer between the steppe and Kiev. To get through to Kyiv, it was necessary to go through this semi-nomadic zone, which protected Kyiv.
Black hoods were an anticipation of the Cossacks. They, in fact, carried out border service on the vast territory between the Dnieper, Stugna and Ros. The capital of this semi-autonomous zone was either Kanev or Torchesk. Gradually, the nobility of the Black Klobuks mixed with the Kyiv nobility and played a significant role within the Kyiv elite.
The Kiev boyars in the 2nd half of the 12th century very actively developed the scheme of a duumvirate, that is, two princes. One lived in Kyiv, and the other in Vyshgorod. This was done in order to play on the contradictions between the two princes. And so that the boyars feel like confident masters on Kyiv land. Moreover, as a rule, warring princely branches were usually invited.
Foreign policy The Principality of Kyiv in the early 12th and early 13th centuries. With various vibrations, it had two directions that required constant readiness. First. Polovtsian steppe. Here Kyiv coordinated its actions with Pereslavl, which was in the possession of the Rostov-Suzdal princes. And there was a constant struggle with the Polovtsians. The second direction was the fight against the Vladimir-Suzdal principality, with which they also fought the Polovtsians. A triangle arose: Kyiv, Polotsk, Rostov-Suzdal Principality.
Yuri Dolgoruky reigned for only 3 years in Kyiv, then the Kyiv boyars poisoned him. And Andrei Bogolyubsky did not land in Kyiv. In 1180-1194, a fairly successful commander, the hero of the Lay of Igor’s Campaign, sat on the Kiev throne. Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich. His tribesmen Igor and Vsevolod stood at the head of an unsuccessful campaign, essentially predatory, which was sung poetically. Campaign of 1185. Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich was quite a victorious commander. His co-ruler was Rurik Rostislavovich. There was no agreement between them. This is how it was intended for them to squabble. After the death of Svyatoslav, his son-in-law Roman Mstislavovich Volynsky, the great-grandson of Monomakh, became Rurik’s co-ruler. There was a constant struggle between them. Roman won this fight. But he did not rule for long. In 1205, while hunting in his western possessions, he drove far from his squad and was killed by a Pole. Roman is the last Russian prince, glorified by epics. He is the last bright princely figure among the Kyiv princes. After his death in 1205 and before Mongol invasion There was not a single famous serious prince in Kyiv.
Chernigov and Seversk principalities. The Principality of Chernigov separated from Kievan Rus in the mid-11th century. Monomakh regained some control, but after his death Kievan Rus crumbled. And the Chernigov princes felt equal in rights with the Kyiv princes and they were called the great Chernigov princes. The Seversk land separated from Chernigov in the middle of the 12th century. The Chernigov principality was located on the territory where the Radimichi and partly the Vyatichi once lived. The northeastern border reached almost to Moscow. And in dynastic and ecclesiastical terms, Ryazan was subordinate to Chernigov. Particularly important were the connections of the Chernigov principality with the Polovtsian steppe Desht-i-Kipchak, and the coastal Tmutarakan. The geographical location, family ties and friendship with the Polovtsians made the Chernigov principality a kind of wedge that crashed into the Russian land. Now, if you look at the map, the Chernigov land borders the steppe and crashes into Russian lands. And very often the Polovtsy ruled inside this wedge. If they were met by troops on the border of other principalities, the Polovtsians calmly passed through the Chernigov lands, the princes let them through. And from the Chernigov principality they attacked other principalities. For this, in all other lands they did not like Oleg Svyatoslavich and all his descendants, the Olgovichs. They were considered allies of the Cumans against other Russian principalities. Grandson of Oleg, one of the heroes of the Tale of Igor's Campaign. Igor Svyatoslavich was closely associated with Konchak. In 1178 he became Prince of Novgorod-Seversky. And in 1180, together with other Olgovichs and Polovtsians, he made a campaign against the Smolensk principality. Then Igor, together with the khans Konchak and Kobyak, went to Kyiv and won the great reign for Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich. That is, Igor worked closely with both Kobyak and Konchak. However, in 1183, Igor had the idea to strike the Polovtsians. And rob them, their former allies. The fact is that the Kyiv, Pereslavl and Volyn troops defeated Kobyak and other Polovtsian khans. And Igor believed that he could strike a blow at the weakened Polovtsians and make good money. And in 1185 he decided to strike this blow. On May 10, the Russians destroyed the first nomad camp, but the very next day Khan Konchak approached with united Polovtsian forces and surrounded the Russians. There was a terrible three-day slaughter. Igor and his unit were taken prisoner, after which Konchak moved to Rus', but was driven back. In the spring of 1186, Igor escaped from captivity. And after 11 days of wandering I got home. As we see, the story is completely different from what is usually portrayed to us. The romantic hero Igor turns out to be an elementary marauder who opposed his allies. But the fact is that the allies would have acted the same way if Igor had turned out to be weaker. It was in the spirit of the time. In 1198, Igor becomes the Grand Duke of Chernigov. After his death in 1202, his sons, finding themselves in the Galician land, pursued a harsh anti-boyar policy. They killed about 500 noble boyars. But ultimately they lost and both were hanged. In 1234, Chernigov withstood a heavy siege by the troops of Daniil Galitsky. And after another 5 years it was captured by the Mongol-Tatars. Thus ended the history of the Chernigov principality.
Principality of Polotsk. A very important route to Western Europe along the western Dvina passed through Polotsk land. This route was shorter than through Novgorod. The princely power in Polotsk was not very strong. It was weakened by the veche and the boyars. But the veche and the boyars balanced each other. And, in general, an unstable triangle arose. A striking episode in the reign of Polotsk Rus' was the reign of the energetic Vseslav Bryacheslavich, who fought with absolutely all principalities. This is a man who managed to fight with all the principalities: Novgorod, Pskov, Yaroslavich. Even Monomakh, the enemy of Vseslav, only managed to temporarily subjugate the Principality of Polotsk. With all the abilities and capabilities of Monomakh, he could not cope with this prince. The route to Europe along the Western Dvina is shorter than through Novgorod.
In 1132, the Polotsk land finally separated from the power of Kyiv. And unlike other lands, the Polotsk land immediately broke up into even smaller fiefs. Minsk, Vitebsk, Drutsk and others. Subsequently, all this was seized by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
Principality of Smolensk. It became isolated in the 11th century. And from Smolensk it is very easy to get to Kyiv. The only obstacle was the city of Lubich, which must be passed. Lyubich belonged to Chernigov. But in 1147 Rostislav burned Lubich. Caused the Olgovichs great damage. And as a result, that barrier on the river that blocked the Smolensk people’s path to Kyiv disappeared. This position of Smolensk determined that the Smolensk princes very often sat down to rule in Kyiv. Smolensk seemed to hang over Kyiv. Smolensk had one more feature. The Smolensk principality was hidden inside Russian lands from all enemies. That is, it was located in the very center of Russian lands. And until the beginning of the 15th century it retained its independence. Even Batu bypassed him during his campaign. Because the city would be surrounded by strong walls. It was very difficult to take him. And Batu decided not to get involved with the Smolensk people. That is, until the beginning of the 15th century, Smolensk lived absolutely calmly.
Galicia-Volyn principality.
It was also in a very advantageous geographical position. Trade routes of pan-European importance passed through it, leading to Krakow, Prague, Regensburg, and Gdansk. The Galician-Volyn principality was formed at the end of the 12th century as a result of the merger of the Galician and Volyn lands. The Galician principality reached its greatest prosperity and power under Yaroslavl Osmomysl. Remember, this name, for some reason, in the history of pre-Mongol Rus', everyone remembers the princes of Kiev, but they do not remember the equally important, and perhaps in some ways more important, princes of other lands. Yaroslav Osmomyslov was indeed a very serious figure who opposed Kyiv. And Kyiv had to take this into account. After his death, the principality became the arena of the boyars and gradually began to decline. The Volyn land passed from one prince to another for a long time. And in 1199, Roman Mstislavovich united the Galician and Volyn principalities into one. 1205 killed by the Poles. After he was killed, the boyars, taking advantage of the heir’s minority, essentially seized power. Hungarians and Poles joined the fight on the side of the boyars. Therefore, the struggle of the local population against the boyars automatically turned out to be a struggle against the Hungarians and Poles. And the restoration and strengthening of Roman’s son, Daniil Romanovich Galitsky, took on a character against foreigners. In 1234, Daniil Romanovich took Galich, then Kyiv, and then defeated the combined forces of Hungary, Poland and the Galician boyars. And again unites southwestern Rus'. At this time, the Tatar-Mongol invasion was already in full swing. And Daniil Romanovich believed that he could come to an agreement with the Western Europeans. They will protect him. He converted to Catholicism for a time. Dad sent him a royal crown. But it turned out that the Western Europeans could not help him with anything other than a crown and a blessing. Therefore, according to some sources, he left Catholicism and returned to Orthodoxy, according to others, he remained so. In any case, Daniil Galitsky was the only Russian prince who converted to Catholicism and the prince who became king. But it didn't help him. He died in 1264.
Vladimir-Suzdal Principality.
Rostov-Suzdal land. Historically, emphasize this, it was associated with the most powerful and famous Kyiv princes. Here at different times sat on the Rostov-Suzdal table, Vladimir 1, the baptist of Rus', Yaroslav, Vladimir Monomakh. The present occupation of these lands is associated with Monomakh. Under him, the cities of Vladimir on Klyazma and Pereslavl-Zalessky were built here. In the 1130s, the Rostov-Suzdal land separated from Kyiv. The most important for the formation of this land were princes Yuri Dolgoruky and his son Andrei Bogolyubsky. In his reign, Andrei Bogolyubsky demonstrated to his contemporaries many of the features of the future power of the Moscow princes of the 15th and 16th centuries. It was a memory of the future. He behaved like a sovereign ruler. Kicked my brothers out. The boyar pressed. He acquired social support in the person of the younger squad. That is, the servants of the nobles. And city artisans. Therefore, he moved the capital to the trade and craft city of Vladimir. There, in imitation of Kyiv, silver and golden gates were erected. The Assumption Cathedral was laid. A castle with a luxurious Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary was built in Bogolyubovo. When the Nerl flowed into the Klyazma, the Temple of the Intercession on the Nerl grew. In order to emphasize the sovereignty of his principality, Andrei tried to establish a metropolitanate independent of Kiev back in 1162, that is, before he burned Kiev. But nothing came of it. And then Bogolyubsky came into conflict with the church. He clashed with everyone. Bogolyubsky is a memory of the future. The next prince who will behave the same way as Ivan 3 will in a few centuries. Andrei Bogolyubsky tried to establish the kind of relationship with the church that Ivan the Terrible would later establish when he forced the church. And, besides, there is another similarity between Andrei Bogolyubsky and Ivan the Terrible. He participated in such literary and journalistic activities. And he controlled her. His conflict with the church was this. Passion flared up around the main holiday of Vladimir Rus'. August 1, which Andrei Bogolyubsky associated with the assertion of his strong princely power. And he was supported by Bishop Theodore, who was appointed by him. This holiday raised the importance of Andrei Bogolyubsky almost to the heights of the Byzantine emperor, which the metropolitan, naturally, did not like. And the resistance of the church did not allow Andrei Bogolyubsky to achieve success. He was forced to retreat. And Theodore was anathematized and executed. Bogolyubsky could not save him. The reign of Andrei Bogolyubsky was marked by campaigns against the Kama Bulgars in Kyiv and Novgorod. He darted in all directions. The Novgorod campaign, unlike the Kyiv campaign, ended in failure. But then Andrei Bogolyubsky blocked the supply of grain and bread to Novgorod. And the Novgorodians were forced to submit. And already here, in the conflict of 1170, Novgorod’s dependence on Russian grain was revealed. This once again suggests that the Novgorod model could never be independent. It was enough to block the flow of grain. However, the strongest opposition to Andrei Bogolyubsky came from the Vladimir-Suzdal boyars. A conspiracy arose among them, led by the Kuchkovichs. You probably know what Moscow was called before it went down in history as Moscow. Kuchkovo. These were the possessions of the Kuchkovichs, who were in conflict with Andrei Bogolyubsky. A conspiracy arose among them. And June 28, 1174. In Bogolyubovo, 20 conspirators broke into the prince’s chambers and killed him. They thought they killed him, but in fact he was seriously wounded. And if he had not started moaning loudly, then perhaps he would have been able to escape with the help of the servants. However, he groaned, the conspirators came and finished him off. The next day, having learned about the murder of the prince, the artisans and townspeople, peasants from the surrounding villages rebelled against the princely administration. And they began to rob the houses of the prince’s inner circle, who hatched a conspiracy. This uprising became the prologue to the struggle for power. The Rostov-Suzdal boyars decided to follow the Kyiv example. And start a duumvirate. They decided to invite the nephews of Andrei Bogolyubsky to Rostislavichia to reign. However, the residents, merchants and nobles of Vladimir, called on Bogolyubsky's brother Mikhail. And a very important war began, which played a role in how Vladimir Rus' began to develop. This is a war between younger brothers and older tribesmen. It ended with the defeat of the tribal troops. And the reign of Mikhail. However, this was not yet the final act of the drama. In 1177, Michael dies. And the boyars decided to try again. Oppose Vsevolod with your own candidate. Rostislavich again. This time Mstislav Bezokiy. On June 27, 1177, in the battle of Yuryev, Vsevolod defeated his opponents and captured them.
Townspeople and merchants were in favor of executing opponents. Vsevolod did not want cruelty. They reached a compromise. Blinding and imprisoning opponents, but, nevertheless, they were not killed. Thus began the reign of Grand Duke Vsevolod 3 or the Big Nest. 1177-1212 reign. This is the turn of the 12-13th centuries, this is the heyday of Vladimir Rus'. Although for contemporaries it was just another dynastic struggle. Now from a distance, historically, we see all the originality of this event, which significantly anticipated further evolution. Of course, without the horde, this evolution might not have gone the way it did. But, nevertheless, this stone, which was laid at the foundation of Vladimir Rus', Moscow Rus', was very important. Here, for the first time, the role of trade between the artisan classes and the nobility in the fight against the boyars was revealed. This is a memory of the future, of the oprichnina and much more. Nobility, like social group originated precisely in the 12-13 centuries. Initially, the term “nobleman” meant a servant of the prince, that is, from the courtyard. He was a member of the junior squad and Peaceful time performed such police functions. In the second half of the 13th century, as letters show, nobles, like boyars, began to receive villages. And they held them. And it was in the 13th century, which is significant, that works reflecting the positions of the nobility appeared. This is the Word of Daniel the Sharper. This is a pro-princely and anti-boyar work. And this suggests that a force has emerged that has begun to formulate and articulate its social position. Vsevolod died in 1212, there was civil strife for 6 years, but in 1218 Prince Yuri sat on the throne of Vladimir. Who would then die in the battle with the Tatars on the City River in 1238.
In the 10th-11th centuries in Rus', tribal life collapsed. And in its place a structure such as a city-parish appears. Make a note of this. If pre-revolutionary historians wrote about this, Soviet historians really did not like this topic. Because the city-volost was breaking out of the feudal concept. And it brought some antiquity. The fact is that interesting things happen during this period in the 12th century. The traditional scheme, which is still reproduced in a number of textbooks, simply transfers the Western scheme of feudal fragmentation onto Russian reality. In fact, in Russian reality there were at least two moments that sharply distinguished the process of fragmentation of Kievan Rus from what happened in the west. And it calls into question the very term of feudal fragmentation. So, how did the process of fragmentation of Rus' proceed? The Rurikovichs ruled Russia as a clan, as a biomass. And the number of Rurikovichs grew at a terrible speed. And soon a situation arose that the land became less and less. But everyone needs to be given land. In the 12th century, landless Rurikovichs already appeared and laid claim to the land. And the earth is fragmented, fragmented and fragmented. That is, it was purely tribal fragmentation. Nearby there was a process of fragmentation associated with large landownership, princely and boyar. But this was one of three processes. The first is the process of fragmentation associated with the increase in the number of Rurikovichs, who did not rule individually, like Western dukes and barons, although united in a hierarchy. What about the family? The second process of fragmentation due to the development of large landholdings. And finally, the third point is related to city volosts, which is similar to the process of fragmentation of ancient policies in the 7-8 centuries, which ended with the colonization of the Mediterranean. That is, Rus' in the 12-13 centuries had three engines that led to fragmentation. And only one can be formally attached to traditional feudal fragmentation. Everything was much more complicated.
How was power organized? Power system. This is a triangle. Prince, veche, boyars. And this design was very stable, not because the triangle is generally a very stable figure. But because all historical practice kept all these three elements together. There were principalities dominated by boyars. This is the Galician land in a certain period, this is the Kiev land in a certain period. There was a land in which the power of the prince was strongest from the very beginning. This is Rostov-Suzdal land, then Vladimir. That is, the Horde system fell on prepared ground. And there was a land where the veche, by no means a democracy, veche people's rule of law, these were classic boyar oligarchies, but they were limited. So the rule of people is Novgorod, Pskov and Vyatka. We often forget Vyatka, although Vyatka was very similar to them. In no case should one assume that the fragmentation of Russian lands in the 12th and early 13th centuries was the result of decline. On the contrary, the second half of the 12th century - the beginning of the 13th century was a heyday associated with the fact that internal territories began to be developed. Due to the decline of trade from the Varangians to the Greeks. It was the heyday of cities, the heyday of architecture. It was a period of such progressive development. The first quarter of the 13th century is the chronological moment when Rus' finally breaks up into a number of separate lands and principalities. And there was no opportunity to connect them at that time. This needs to be understood very well. They were then tied up by the horde. And the period 1130-1230 was marked by a cultural upsurge. And by the time the horde arrived, Russia was at the height of its sociocultural development. And absolute political fragmentation. That is, when the Mongols arrived, they were quite capable of fielding an adequate army. But no one was going to do this.
Novgorod. We will talk about it in more detail. Some textbooks hardly mention it, while others give an idealized picture of Novgorod as an alternative to such a despotic Moscow. Almost a republican system. Let's see what Novgorod was like. It is located on the banks of the Volkhov River, near its source from Lake Ilmen. The Volkhov River divides Novgorod into two parts - Torgovaya, eastern, and Sofia, western. Even Novgorod. Write down this Novgorod organization. She played a very big role in many ways. Looking ahead. The Novgorod elite managed to do everything social conflicts translate into territorial conflicts between the ends and the streets. According to the principle, our people are beaten. That is, it began with an action by the lower classes against the boyars, and ended with a massacre on the bridge over the Volkhov. According to the principle, street to street, end to end.
Novgorod is divided into five ends. The main core of the vast Novgorod territory was divided for 5 lands (which from the mid-15th century were called Pyatina). The territory expanded due to military-industrial colonization. Industrial from the word fishing. The striking force of the Novgorod army and the Novgorod robbers are the ushkuiniki. Who knows what the names of the Novgorod robbers were who went to the Perm land, robbed or imposed tribute on the local population? Did they take furs from there? Clue. Does the name come from a long boat with a bow like that? Ushkuy is a boat. And they were called ushkuiniki. In the film Alexander Nevsky, an old film. Vaska Buslaev is there to please the girl, he says he has an ax in his hand. I wanted to go to the Volga and play around with an axe. “To play around with a hatchet” were the ushkuyniki. At the end of the 14th century they went on such a rampage that they ravaged the capital of the Golden Horde. There were about three thousand of them. True, they got too drunk in another place and were chopped up there. But they destroyed the capital. Ushkuiniki were the striking force that, together with the Novgorod army, ensured the influx of furs and tribute. This is a kind of Novgorod version of the Vikings. If the Vikings destroyed Western Europe, then these acted in Perm region. Moreover, the Ushkuiniki and Novgorodians not only went to the Perm land, they also crossed the Stone. “Pass the Stone” is where to go? The Ural Mountains were called stone. Going for the Stone was a matter of honor, valor and heroism.
Agriculture. Of course, in Novgorod land Agriculture was pretty sparse. Winter rye and wheat were cultivated. That is, in the 11th-12th centuries, three-field crop rotation appeared. Three regiments, but it did not squeeze out everything else. The main thing that Novgorodians did was trade. And it must be said that Novgorod was not so much integrated into the Russian lands as it was part of one Western European regional trading system. In fact, Novgorod was its easternmost outpost. What was the name of this union of trading and merchant cities, Western European, with its capital in the city of Lübeck, which for several centuries commanded the Baltic Sea and the northern part Western Europe. What was the name of this union? What is the name of the German air passenger company? Lufthansa. Hanseatic League. Novgorod was part of the Hanseatic League. And it was integrated. He was not independent, he was not a Russian model who opposes Moscow. He was part of the Hanseatic model. And the main foreign trade partners in the west were Gotland, Denmark, and Lubeck. Main export items: furs, wax, timber, resin, whale and walrus oil. They imported what they themselves did not know how to make. They themselves did not know how to make many things - metal products, wine, thin cloth.
Territorial and administrative structure of Novgorod. This organization was closely connected with the military. Novgorod consisted of 1000 armed regiments. There were more, but it was counted 1000. They were commanded by the thousand man, a thousand was divided into hundreds with the chosen sot man. In wartime, the “hundred” was a recruiting district, in peacetime it was the police. The hundred were divided into streets, each of which represented a self-governing local world. It was called the street organization. But in addition to the street organization, there was another territorial organization. The fact is that Novgorod consisted of five large units, they were called ends. Apparently the “ends” are very ancient settlements, which were then united into one Novgorod, but the differences between them remained. And this organization was called the Konchan organization. In Novgorod there was an overlap between two territorial organizations, which greatly complicated the situation. But it made it easier for the top to organize and manipulate social processes. The organization was called Ulichansko-Konchanskaya. The Konchanskaya organization is next to the Ulichskaya one. Moreover, the Konchan organization survived even after Novgorod became part of Moscow. The main authority of Novgorod was the veche. The meeting was convened when the need arose. It could have been convened by a group of townspeople. The prince could, the mayor could. The competence of the veche was comprehensive. There was nothing that limited the competence of the veche. It was limitless. Questions of war and peace, the invitation and expulsion of the prince. Because the prince was invited as a military leader. The veche was not a boyar body, please note this, but it was the boyars who set the tone there, because the boyars could buy loudmouths who would shout what was required of them. The veche was a constant struggle, on the one hand, between the boyars and the prince, and on the second, between the boyar families. And thirdly, the entire top and bottom. It was Mobilis in mobile, mobile in mobile. Quite often the evening ended in a fight. Sometimes it was very harsh, when they were beaten with hooks and drowned in an ice hole. But most often they simply pushed me into the water.
The specificity of Novgorod was not that there was a veche there, but that a system of officials elected and replaced at the will of the veche was created there.
The system of elected positions essentially absorbed princely power. The executive bodies of the veche were two elected dignitaries: the mayor and the thousand. While they held their positions they were called sedate, and when they left their positions they were called old. That is, like in the United States, a person was a governor, but he was called Mr. Governor all his life, already when he left his term. So they were called the old mayors and the old thousand. And they maintained their influence. It is difficult to answer the question of how these two departments differed. They are difficult to differentiate. But we can say that the mayor was more involved in civil affairs. And Tysyatsky - military police. But at the same time, the mayor led military campaigns together with the prince. That is, like a commissioner. There was no hard line. Formally, the mayor in the 10th-11th centuries was appointed prince. However, since the 20s of the 12th century, this position became elective. Tysyatsky appears at the end of the 12th century. Apparently, the emergence of this institution is connected with the struggle of the oldest boyars with representatives of wealthy non-boyar groups. Write it down. Because initially the tysyatskaya opposed the posadnik. The mayor exercised republican control over the prince and the boyars. And the thousand controlled the rest of the population that did not belong to the boyars. And initially he expressed the interests of these layers. This is very reminiscent of the situation in ancient Rome until the mid-3rd century. If you remember, in Ancient Rome there were consuls and tribunes. The consul was chosen from among the patricians. And the tribune is from the plebeians. Then, from the end of the 3rd century BC, patricians also became tribunes, moreover, you first need to become a tribune, undergo an internship, then you will become a consul. The same thing happened in Novgorod. At first, the posadnicheskaya and tysyatskaya opposed each other. Tysyatsky, as a representative of wealthy non-boyar families. But subsequently, as the oligarchic, simply rich groups and boyars merged. First you had to become a thousand and this opened the way to becoming a mayor. The veche resolved issues, but the issues were prepared by an institution called the Council of Gentlemen, sometimes the Council of the Lord. The council consisted of the prince's governor, the acting mayor and the thousand's mayor, the old mayor and the thousand's mayor, the elders of the Konchansky, Sotsky, all these members of this council. All these council members were called boyars. (The Council of Gentlemen is the highest chamber). Regulating relationships. The council of masters, the mayor and the veche with the prince were established by special contractual documents.
What role did the prince play? Novgorodians always called ourselves, we are free men. But they did not consider it possible to do without the prince. He was, first of all, a military leader. Novgorodians, as a rule, invited warlike princes. Mstislav the Brave, Mstislav the Udaloy, Alexander Nevsky. There was a contradiction here. Daring princes, strong people, they tried every time to bend the Novgorodians. And the Novgorodians always pointed to the door, according to the principle, go home and wash your face. Therefore, on the one hand, they dragged strong princes to themselves. And they immediately entered into conflict with them. In the middle of the 12th century, the right to expel princes was approved. That is, the prince can be kicked out. The inequality of the prince and the veche was especially evident in the sphere of warfare and in general external relations. The prince took the oath. Novgorod called himself Mr. Great Novgorod. The prince swore an oath and entered into a formal agreement. The agreement was concluded for an indefinite period. It could be terminated at any time. Novgorod did everything to prevent the prince and his squad from entering deep into Novgorod life. The prince was supposed to live outside the city. He had no right to live within the city. He lived on the site. He and his people had no right to accept any of the Novgorodians as personal dependence. And most importantly, they did not have the right to acquire land property within the boundaries of the great lord Novgorod. That is, there was an attitude towards the prince: the boy cleaned his shoes, here’s a penny for you, and be free. That is, the prince stood, as it were, near Novgorod. Moreover, in the 13th-14th centuries the prince became a symbolic figure, he was even pushed out of command of the army. The mayor and tysyatsky began to lead the army. Even the Grand Duke did not head the Novgorod administration. The prince could not judge without a mayor. The power of the mayor was especially strengthened under the people we were talking about, Stepan Tverdislavich. Tverdislav Mikhalkovich. Even the
princely crafts. For example, in 1271, Prince Yaroslav was expelled for abusing hunting. I hunted in the wrong place, that's all. The control was very strict. The prince received tribute not from Novgorod, but from the land where he was supposed to receive tribute. The Moscow princes had been trying to establish control over Novgorod since the end of the 14th century. But for about half a century they could not achieve success. In 1456, the Peace of Yazhelbitsky was concluded. And the Novgorodians kissed the cross not only for the prince, but also for his son. That is, they did not admit their relationship with
Novgorod land (Republic)
The power of one person over another destroys, first of all, the ruler.
Lev Tolstoy
The largest principality of the era of appanage fragmentation of Rus' was the Novgorod land, which was governed in the form of a boyar republic. The principality flourished due to the development of trade and crafts, because Novgorod, the center of the earth, was located on the most important trade routes. Novgorod maintained its independence from Kyiv for a long time and managed to maintain its independence and identity.
Geographical position
The Novgorod principality or Novgorod land (republic) was located in the northern part of Rus' from the Arctic Ocean to the upper reaches of the Volga, and from Baltic Sea before Ural mountains. The capital is Novgorod. Large cities: Novgorod, Pskov, Staraya Russa, Ladoga, Torzhok, Korela, Pskov and others.
Map of Novgorod land in the 12th-13th centuries.
The specificity of the geographical location was the almost complete absence of agriculture, since the soil was unsuitable for agriculture, as well as the remoteness from the steppes, due to which Novgorod practically did not see the Mongol invasion. At the same time, the principality was constantly subjected to military invasions by the Swedes, Lithuanians and German knights. Thus, it was the Novgorod lands that were the shield of Rus', which protected it from the North and West.
Geographical neighbors of the Novgorod Republic:
- Vladimir-Suzdal Principality
- Principality of Smolensk
- Principality of Polotsk
- Livonia
- Sweden
Economic features
The lack of good arable land has led to Crafts and trade actively developed in the Novgorod Republic. Among the crafts that stood out were: iron production, fishing, hunting, salt making and other crafts characteristic of the northern regions. Trade was mainly carried out with neighboring regions: the Baltic states, German cities, Volga Bulgaria, Scandinavia.
Novgorod was the richest trading city in Rus'. This was achieved by the advantageous geographical location, as well as the presence of trade relations with various regions, including with Byzantium and the Caucasus. Basically, Novgorodians traded furs, honey, wax, iron products, pottery, weapons, and so on.
Political structure
The Novgorod feudal republic was formally governed by a prince, but in reality the system of government can be represented in the form of an inverted triangle.
The real power was with the Veche and the boyars. Suffice it to say that it was the veche that appointed the prince, and it could also expel him. In addition, at the citywide assembly, which functioned within the framework of the boyar council (300 gold belts), the following were appointed:
- The prince was invited along with his squad. His residence was outside the city. The main task is to protect Novgorod land from external threats.
- Posadnik is the head of the city administration. His tasks are monitoring the prince, court in the cities, and governing the cities. He was subordinate to the city's street elders.
- Tysyatsky - head of the city administration and city militia (assistant mayor). He was involved in population management.
- The archbishop is the head of the Novgorod church. Tasks: storage of archives and treasury, responsibility for external relations, monitoring of trade, compilation and preservation of chronicles. The archbishop was confirmed by the Moscow metropolitan.
The prince could be summoned by the Novgorodians, but he could also be expelled, which happened often. A gift (agreement) was concluded with the prince, which indicated the rights and obligations of the prince. The prince was seen only as a protector against foreign invaders, but had no influence on domestic politics or the appointment/removal of officials. Suffice it to say that during the 12th-13th centuries the princes in Novgorod changed 58 times! Therefore, we can safely say that the real power in this principality belonged to the boyars and merchants.
The political independence of the Novgorod Republic was formalized in 1132-1136 after the expulsion of Prince Vsevolod Mstislavich. After this, the Novgorod land eliminated the power of Kyiv and became a virtually independent state with a republican form of government. Therefore, it is customary to say that the Novgorod state was a boyar republic with elements of a system of city self-government.
Novgorod the Great
Novgorod - the capital of the Novgorod land, was founded in the 9th century as a result of the unification of the villages of three tribes: Chud, Slavic and Meryan. The city was located along the Volkhov River and was divided by it into two parts: eastern and western. East End was called Torgovaya, and the western one was called Sophia (in honor of the cathedral).
Novgorod was one of the largest and most beautiful cities not only in Rus', but also in Europe. The city's population was quite educated compared to other cities. This was largely due to the fact that crafts and trade developed in the city, which required specific knowledge.
Culture
Novgorod is one of the largest cities of its time. It is no coincidence that he is often called Mister Veliky Novgorod. In the center of the city was the St. Sophia Cathedral. The pavements in the city were paved with logs and were constantly renewed. The city itself was surrounded by a moat and wooden walls. The city practiced wood and stone construction. As a rule, churches and temples were built of stone, one of the functions of which was to store money.
Chronicles, fairy tales and epics were created in the Novgorod land. Much attention was paid to icon painting. The brightest painting of that era is “Angel with Golden Hair,” which today can be seen in the Russian Museum of St. Petersburg.
Architecture and fresco painting also developed in the principality. The main direction of development is realism.
Main events
Main events in the principality in the 12th-13th centuries:
- 1136 - the expulsion of Prince Vsevolod Mstislavich, after which the Novgorodians independently elected their own prince.
- 1156 - independent election of the Novgorod Archbishop
- 1207-1209 - social movements in Novgorod against the boyars
- 1220-1230 reign of Yaroslav, son of Vsevolod the Big Nest
- 1236-1251 - reign of Alexander Nevsky
13th century in the history of Rus' began without any special external shocks, but in the midst of endless ones. The princes divided the lands and fought for power. And soon the internal troubles of Rus' were joined by danger from outside. The brutal conquerors from the depths of Asia under the leadership of Temujin (Genghis Khan, meaning “great khan”) began their actions.
The troops mercilessly destroyed people and conquered lands. Soon the Polovsk khans asked for help from the Russian princes, and they agreed to oppose the approaching enemy.
It took place in 1223. Due to the fragmented actions of the princes and the lack of a unified command, the Russian warriors suffered heavy losses and left the battlefield. The Mongol troops pursued them to the very outskirts of Rus'. Having plundered and devastated them, they moved no further.
In 1237, the troops of Temuchin’s grandson, Batu, entered the Ryazan principality. Ryazan fell. The conquests continued.
In 1238 on the river. The City army entered into battle with the invader's army, but lost to the Tatar-Mongols. At the same time, the southern Russian princes and Novgorod remained on the sidelines and did not come to the rescue.
In 1239-1240, having replenished his army, Batu undertook a new campaign against the Russian lands. At this time, the unaffected northwestern regions of Rus' (Novgorod and Pskov lands) were in danger from the crusading knights who had settled in the Baltic states, who wanted to spread the Catholic faith by force throughout Rus'. The Swedes and German knights were going to unite in the name of a common idea, but the Swedes were the first to act.
In 1240 (July 15) it happened: the Swedish fleet entered the mouth of the river. Not you. The Novgorodians turned to the Grand Duke of Vladimir Yaroslav Vsevolodovich for help. His young son set off with the army, counting on surprise and speed of onslaught. Although his army was outnumbered by his rival (even with the Novgorodians and commoners joining), Alexander's strategy worked. In this battle, Rus' won, and Alexander received the nickname Nevsky.
Meanwhile, the German knights gained strength and began military operations against Pskov and Novgorod. And again Alexander came to the rescue.
April 5, 1242 took place: troops converged on the ice of Lake Peipsi. Alexander won again - thanks to a change in the order of the formation and coordinated actions. And the knights’ uniforms played against them: when they retreated, the ice began to break under their weight.
In 1243 it was formed. Formally, the Russian lands were not part of this state, but were subject to it: they were obliged to replenish the treasury of the Horde, and the princes had to receive labels to reign at the khan’s headquarters.
During the second half of the 13th century. The Horde made devastating campaigns against Rus' more than once. Cities and villages were ruined.
1251-1263 - reign of Alexander Nevsky.
Due to the invasions of conquerors, during which settlements were destroyed, many monuments of the 10th-13th centuries disappeared. Churches, cathedrals, icons, as well as works of literature, religious objects and jewelry remained intact.
The basis of ancient Russian culture is heritage. It was influenced by nomadic peoples, the Varangians. In addition, the peculiarities of cultural development are associated with, as well as the influence of Byzantium and Western European countries.
With the adoption of Christianity, literacy began to spread, writing developed, enlightenment began, and Byzantine customs began to be introduced.
These changes also influenced 13th-century clothing. in Rus'. Its cut was simple and uniform; items differed mainly in fabric. The suit became longer and looser, not emphasizing the figure, but giving it a static look.
The nobility wore expensive foreign fabrics (velvet, brocade, taffeta, silk) and furs (sable, otter, marten). Ordinary people used canvas fabric, hare and squirrel fur, as well as sheepskin for clothing.
Under the dominance of a subsistence economy, each principality had the opportunity to separate from the center and exist as an independent land or principality. By the middle of the 12th century. on the basis of Kievan Rus, 15 independent principalities were formed, and by the beginning of the 13th century. - 50 principalities. Feudal fragmentation became a new form of organization of Russian statehood in the conditions of the development of the feudal mode of production, which became a natural stage in the development of Ancient Rus'. Titles of the Grand Duke in the 12th century. They named not only the Kyiv princes, but also other princes. The fragmentation process led to the fact that the principalities were divided into smaller fiefs. As a result of this process, the following became independent principalities: Kiev, Chernigov, Murom, etc. Each of the lands was ruled by its own dynasty - one of the branches of the Rurikovichs. The largest principalities were: Galicia-Volyn, Vladimir-Suzdal and Novgorod Boyar Republic. The Vladimir-Suzdal principality emerged at the beginning of the 12th century as a large feudal-boyar agriculture. There were many cities on its territory: Dmitrov, Zvenigorod, Rostov, Suzdal - the territory was protected from enemies by forests and rivers. Profitable trade routes contributed to the separation from the Kyiv state. This principality strengthened under Prince Yuri Dolgoruky, Andrei the Bogolyubenny, and under Vsedom the Big Nest. In the southwest of Rus', the Galician-Volyn principality played an important role. There were fertile lands, rich cities, and significant reserves of rock salt. Princes Yaroslav I and Roman Mstislavovich successfully fought against the Polish feudal lords, the Polovtsians. The largest political center was the Novgorod Boyar Republic. The highest body of the republic was the veche, where the mayor and bishop were elected. The basis of the government's economy was agriculture. Russian lands in the 12th-13th centuries. were independent, had various forms of government, and the economic basis was agriculture.
In the spring of 1223, hordes of nomads under the command of Genghis Khan reached the Dnieper. These were the Mongol-Tatars. Their society was at the stage of decline of military democracy during the transition to the early feudal monarchy. The nomadic army was distinguished by strict military discipline. For example, for the escape of one warrior from the battlefield, his entire ten were executed; for the escape of a dozen, a hundred died.
The Mongol-Tatars came to the Dnieper to attack the Polovtsians, whose khan, Kotyan, turned to his son-in-law, the Galician prince Mstislav Romanovich, for help.
The Russians, therefore, first met in battle with the invaders on the river. Kalka May 31, 1223 The first clash showed:
- 1) the futility of attempts by Russian troops to help the allies;
- 2) lack of a single organization;
- 3) weakness of command.
All together made further battle with the invaders pointless for the Russians.
In the winter of 1237, the Mongol-Tatars under the command of Batu entered the territory of North-Eastern Rus'. Their first victim was the Russian city of Kazan, then the invaders plundered Kolomna.
In February 1238, the capital of North-Eastern Rus', Vladimir, fell.
The nomads conquered Chernigov, and the capital Kyiv also fell. The capture of Russian cities was accompanied by inhuman cruelty; residents were killed, regardless of gender and age.
The war did not affect the Orthodox Church.
The conquerors did not interfere in the religious area of the conquered countries. They did not take tribute from the monasteries. The Mongol-Tatars also sought to attract church leaders to their side.
The Mongol-Tatar yoke was established in Rus': 1) Rus' fell under the rule of the Horde protectorate.
The Golden Horde is the ulus of Jochi, a powerful state created by the Mongol khans. Its capital was Sarai-Batu, located not far from modern Astrakhan; 2) the khan handed over the label for the great reign of Vladimir and controlled the situation throughout the territory. The label was a desired goal for the Russian princes and the cause of feudal strife; 3) the conquerors in every possible way encouraged feudal fragmentation, pitting Rurik’s descendants against each other; 4) the main form of dependence on the Horde was the collection of tribute, the “Horde exit”. Khan's officials (baskaks) dealt with it in Rus'. Tribute was collected from the household. The actions of the Baskaks were characterized by extreme cruelty. They captured people and censused the entire population of North-Eastern Rus' in 1257-1259. The “Great Baskak” had a residence in Vladimir, where the political center of the country practically moved at that time.
The main reasons for the defeat of Rus' and the establishment of the Horde yoke were:
- 1) the feudal fragmentation that existed at that time, since each principality found itself alone with the forces of the conquerors. Thus, the Russian princes were defeated one by one by their enemies;
- 2) the Mongol-Tatars used the advanced military equipment(stone throwers, battering machines, gunpowder);
- 3) numerical superiority of the enemy.
The results of the conquest: cities and villages were burned, skilled artisans were taken into slavery, fields fell into disrepair, and Rus''s foreign economic relations were disrupted for many years. The Mongol-Tatar conquest completed the history of Ancient Rus' in 1240.
The Mongol-Tatar conquest played the role of a catalyst during the division of territory and spheres of influence. This specific feature also distinguished the struggle between the Moscow and Tver principalities in a later period. As a result of this, the exploitation of the dependent population on the ground has increased.
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