In the second half of the XVII century. the general trend in the development of the state system of Russia was the transition from autocracy with the Boyar Duma, from the estate-representative monarchy to the bureaucratic-noble monarchy, to absolutism, i.e., unlimited and uncontrolled power of the monarch.

The question of the conditions for the emergence of absolutism in Russia requires further study, but even now we can say with confidence that it is useless to look for prerequisites for the establishment of this form of government in the economy - the specifics of the history of our country is that its economy lags behind the political system. Recall that external danger had a decisive influence on the creation of a unified state. The same danger, the threat of losing independence, forced the establishment of absolutism. The threat from the more developed countries of the West and the systematic predatory raids from the south forced the state to keep in constant readiness significant armed forces, the cost of maintaining which exceeded the material resources of the population. Only the unlimited power of the monarch could compel the population to make sacrifices to the state. Other factors also mattered: the vast size of the country's territory, the ongoing colonization, the rivalry of the boyars with the bulk of the nobles, which allowed the monarch to maneuver between them, the urban uprisings of the mid-17th century. and etc.

Russia's transition to absolutism can be traced in various areas of the country's political life: in the change of the royal title, the withering away of such an attribute of a class-representative monarchy as zemstvo sobors, in the evolution of the order system, as well as the composition of the Boyar Duma, in increasing the importance of non-pedigree people in the state apparatus, and finally, in a victorious outcome for the secular power of its rivalry with the power of the church.

In Russia, an absolute monarchy was formed in the course of Peter the Great's reforms. However, already from the Council Code of 1649, measures are clearly visible that reflected timid attempts to move to new forms of organization of power. The title of the Moscow sovereigns has changed, in which the word "autocrat" appeared. After the reunification of the Left-bank Ukraine with Russia, it sounded like this: “Great Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Duke autocrat of all the Great and Small and White Russia ... "

The theoretical postulates of autocracy were reinforced by the Code of 1649, two chapters of which were devoted to the observance of the prestige of royal power and the determination of penalties for all thoughts and actions that caused damage to both the “sovereign honor” and the royal court. Any dishonor was severely punished, even with a word, if it was inflicted on someone in the king's residence.

From the 80s of the XVII century. The convocation of Zemsky Sobors was stopped. The last full Zemsky Sobor decided to reunite Ukraine with Russia in 1653. The strengthened autocracy no longer needed the support of the class-representative body. He was pushed back by government agencies - orders, as well as the Boyar Duma.

The command system has also undergone significant changes. 17th century considered the time of its heyday. It was a rather complex and cumbersome system of central institutions, which lacked both uniform principles for creating orders and a clear distribution of functions between them. This explains the complexity of their classification.

Throughout the 17th century a total of over 80 orders functioned, of which a little more than 40 survived by the end of the century. The number of orders increased, because there was a need to manage new industries state economy: the creation of regiments of the new system caused the appearance of the Reitar order, and the reunification of Ukraine with Russia was accompanied by the creation of the Little Russian order, the return of the Smolensk lands - the Smolensk order, etc. It was a natural process that reflected the complication of the socio-economic and political structure of society and, accordingly, the complication of the structure of the state apparatus. However, it was not the appearance of new orders that meant a transition to the absolute, but innovations in the structure of each of them and the growth of the influence of outbred people. If in 1640 there were only 837 clerks, in 1690 there were almost four times as many - 2739. More than 400 people at the end of the century were in the Local Order and the Order of the Great Treasury. The staff of the order of the Grand Palace consisted of more than 200 people. In the rest of the orders, there were from 30 to 100 clerks. A contemporary noted that there were so many clerks in the orders that “there is nowhere to sit, they write standing up.” The growth in the number of clerks is evidence of the increasing role of officials in government.

A more important innovation in the order system was the creation of such institutions as the Order of Secret Affairs and the Accounts Order. The Order of Secret Affairs sent functions of control over the activities of other orders, considered petitions submitted to the name of the king, and was in charge of the royal economy. It was under the direct jurisdiction of the tsar and was not subordinate to the Boyar Duma. According to G. Kotoshikhin, it was created "in order for his royal thought and deeds to be fulfilled according to his desire, and the boyars and thoughtful people would not know about anything." Supervisory functions in the field of finance were carried out by the Counting Order, established in 1650. Both orders ceased to exist after the death of their founder, Alexei Mikhailovich. However, the organization of control by means of officials is one of the signs of absolutism.

Changes in local government also reflected the trend towards centralization and the fall of the elective principle. Power in the districts, and there were more than 250 of them in the country in the middle of the century, was concentrated in the hands of the governors, who replaced all the officials of the zemstvo elected bodies: city clerks, court and siege heads, and labial elders. Zemstvo administration was preserved only in Pomorie.

In the 17th century ranks are further developed: military-administrative districts that arose in the border regions. The first of them - Tula was created in the XVI century. In the 17th century in connection with the expansion of the borders to the south, west and east, the Belgorod, Smolensk, Tobolsk and other categories arose. They were also created in areas located in the center of the country (Moscow, Vladimir, etc.), but they turned out to be short-lived. Boyars were appointed governors of the ranks, governors of districts were subordinate to them. The ranks were the distant predecessors of the provinces of the time of Peter the Great. The rights and obligations of the governor of the ranks were not defined. Their main task was to mobilize forces to repel the enemy.

In the second half of the XVII century. scattered attempts were made to reorganize the army. The so-called regiments of the “new system” were created from free, “eager” people: soldiers (infantry), reiters (cavalry) and dragoons (mixed system). They also recruited "subject" people. One hundred peasant households gave one soldier for lifelong service. These regiments were assembled only for the duration of the war, and after it ended, they disbanded. Foreign officers began to be invited into the army.

A serious obstacle to the transition to the absolute was created by the church, which still claimed great power.

In the second half of the XVII century. there was a conflict between the leadership of the church and the state. Moscow Patriarch Nikon put forward and fiercely defended the idea of ​​independence and the leading role of the church in the state. He argued that the "priesthood" (church) is higher than the "kingdom" and that the king receives the crown from the hands of the patriarch - the representative of God on earth. Having a huge personal influence on the tsar, Nikon managed to achieve the title of "great sovereign", which put him almost on an equal footing with Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. The court of the Moscow patriarch was not much inferior in luxury and splendor to the royal chambers. As mentioned above, Nikon was removed from patriarchal power by a church council and expelled from Moscow.

The Council Code of 1649, allowing the exchange of estates for estates and vice versa, marked the beginning of the merging of boyars and nobles into one closed class - the estate. In 1674, the black-tailed peasants were forbidden to enroll in the nobility. In 1679-1681. housekeeping was introduced. The unit of taxation was the peasant or township household. Thus, the processes that took place in the socio-political development of Russia in the second half of the 17th century indicate that attempts at reforms took place before the reforms of Peter the Great.

Time of Troubles has always caused controversy among historians. A number of researchers believe that some episodes of the Time of Troubles concealed the possibility of an alternative development for Russia (for example, the beginnings of contractual relations between the tsar and his subjects when Vasily Shuisky and Prince Vladislav were called to the throne). Many historians point out that the national consolidation that made it possible to repel foreign invasions was achieved on a conservative basis, which for a long time postponed the much-needed modernization of the country.

Socio-economic and political development Russia under the first Romanovs

a) Socio-economic development

Agriculture

The events of the Time of Troubles led to the ruin and devastation of a significant part of Russia, especially its central regions. Starting from the 20s. 17th century the recovery process has begun. Basically, it was restored by the 40s. 17th century However, this process in different regions of the country proceeded at different rates. The southern regions, where there were fertile lands, recovered faster. A slower rise in the economy took place in the central regions of Russia, which suffered the most during the Polish intervention and the peasant war. For example, in 14 central counties in the 70th year of the XVII century. plowed land was 60% of the previously cultivated.

The main branch of the Russian economy was Agriculture, where the three-field system of agriculture continued to dominate. The main agricultural crops were rye and oats. Wheat, barley, millet, buckwheat, peas were also grown, flax and hemp were also grown from industrial crops. Horticulture and horticulture developed. The plow, harrows, sickle, scythe remained the main tools of labor, the plow was slowly introduced. In agriculture, the methods of cultivating the land, traditional for the previous time, remained routine, but in the 17th century. in general, compared with the 16th century, more agricultural products were produced in Russia, primarily due to the development of new sown areas in the south of Russia, in the Volga region, and Siberia. The development of the commercial economy is observed.

The economy of large estates and monasteries was drawn into market relations. The intensive involvement in commodity production of the farms of privately owned peasants was hampered by their complete subordination to the power of the feudal lords, the inability to freely dispose of their labor, and the growth of property and state duties.

Craft and industry

In the 17th century increased specific gravity handicraft production in the country's economy. The division of labor deepened. The largest centers of handicraft production were Moscow, Ustyug the Great, Yaroslavl, Novgorod, Tula, and others. Handicraft centers in the 17th century. there were also some villages in which the peasants completely or partially broke with agriculture. For example, commercial and industrial villages in the Volga region - Pavlov, Lyskovo, Murashkino.

In the development of handicraft production in the XVII century. there is a clear trend towards becoming small scale production. If earlier artisans mainly worked to order, then in the 17th century the number of artisans working for the market increased. During this period, the commodity specialization of individual regions began to manifest itself clearly. In Yaroslavl and Kazan, the production of leather was actively developing, metal was brought from Tula and Ustyuzhna Zhelezopolskaya, metal products from Ustyug and the Urals, flax from Pskov and Rzhev, salt from Totma and Staraya Rusa.

The development of small-scale crafts and the growth of commodity specialization prepared the ground for the emergence manufactories. Their creation was accelerated by state needs. Manufactory production took shape in places where commodity production developed. If Western European manufactory operated on the basis of civilian labor, then Russian manufactory was based on the labor of serfs, since the market for civilian labor in Russia, where serfdom dominated, was practically absent.

In the 17th century There were 30 manufactories in Russia. The first manufactory was created in 1631 in the Urals - Nitsinsky copper smelter. The ironworks of Vinnius and Wilkinson functioned near Tula. Several metallurgical plants built by S. Gavrilov operated in the Olonets region. Leather manufactory production developed in Yaroslavl, Kazan. The treasury owned manufactories - Mint, Printing, Khamovny (linen) yards.

Trade

In the 17th century in Russia, trade developed intensively. Several regional shopping centers were formed: Moscow, Ustyug the Great, Yaroslavl, Vologda, Kostroma. The Volga was a lively trade artery, where the cities of Astrakhan, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod developed as large shopping centers. Fairs played an important role in the development of trade: Makaryevskaya, Svenskaya, Tikhvinskaya, Irbitskaya, Solvychegodskaya. The number of local rows and fairs grew.

But there were significant obstacles in the way of the development of trade and merchants. There was an acute question of access to the seas, the absence of which hampered the development of trade. Foreign capital sought to capture Russian markets, which led to a clash with the interests of Russian merchants. The merchants of Russia demanded that the state protect them from competition with foreign merchants. Trade charter 1653 established a single ruble duty for merchants and abolished a number of internal duties. In 1667 was adopted new trading charter, according to which foreign merchants were prohibited from retail trade in Russia.

Thus, in the Russian economy of the XVII century. the dominant position was occupied by the feudal system. At the same time, early bourgeois elements began to take shape in the country, which were subject to the deforming effects of the feudal system.

In Soviet historiography of the 17th century. was called the beginning new period of Russian history. By this time, a number of historians attributed the beginning of the disintegration of feudalism and the emergence in its depths of the capitalist way of economy. Questions related to the genesis of capitalism in Russia remain debatable. Disputes are raised by the question of whether the new phenomena in the country's economy were of a bourgeois nature.

b)Popular movements. Adoption of serfdom

Urban uprisings

The state was faced with the task of returning the lands seized during the years of intervention. For this, funds were needed to maintain the army. The financial situation of the state was extremely difficult. The feudal state shifted the entire burden of eliminating the consequences of the intervention onto the masses. In addition to the land tax, they resorted to extraordinary cash collections - "five money", which were collected from 1613 to 1633 seven times. The population strongly resisted the collection of emergency taxes. The heaviest direct tax on the upkeep of the troops, the "streltsy money", has increased greatly.

Since each township community was given the total amount of tax for the year, it was possible for the urban elite to shift the entire burden of the tax onto ordinary township taxpayers. Large arrears were formed, which the state extorted in 1646-1647. by the most severe methods.

There was another circumstance that worsened the situation of ordinary townspeople - the penetration of feudal landownership into the cities. The settlements in the cities belonging to the feudal lords were called white, and them people were exempted from paying state taxes. Many townspeople went to white freedoms, escaping from state taxes, and the share of taxes that fell on the departed was distributed to the remaining population. The townspeople demanded the destruction of the white settlements. contradictions between. the urban poor and the feudal nobility, as well as the merchant elite adjoining it, continuously increased.

This led to a number of urban uprisings.

Having failed to collect arrears of direct taxes in 1646, the government of the boyar B.I. Morozov established an indirect tax on salt. The people were unable to buy salt at the new prices. Instead of replenishing the treasury, there was a reduction in cash income. In 1647 the state abolished the tax on salt. Then Morozov, who was at the head of the government, tried to reduce cash costs by reducing the salaries of archers, gunners, officials of orders. This led to an unprecedented scale of bribery and embezzlement, dissatisfaction with the archers and gunners, who, in their position, were increasingly close to the townspeople.

The activities of the Morozov government caused powerful

urban uprisings. In 1648, uprisings took place in Kozlov, Voronezh, Kursk, Solvychegodsk and a number of other cities. The most powerful was the uprising in Moscow in the summer of 1648. The reason for the uprising was an attempt to file a petition demanding the liquidation of white settlements, protection from unfair judges of the Zemsky order (Morozov and Pleshcheev), and tax reduction. The people, who tried to give the tsar a petition, were dispersed. The next day, the opposition of the boyars surrounding the tsar and the clerks embittered the settlements even more. The townspeople defeated the palaces of Morozov, Pleshcheev, and the merchant Shorin. Archers joined the uprising. The rebels demanded the extradition of the hated boyars. Pleshcheev's crowd tore to pieces on the spot. Morozov was exiled. The city was in the hands of the rebels. The peasants of the surrounding villages joined the uprising.

The nobles took advantage of the stormy events of the June days to force the exhausted government of the boyar aristocracy to satisfy their demands.

On June 10, a meeting of Moscow and provincial nobles and the merchant elite took place. The meeting participants demanded the convening of the Zemsky Sobor to discuss the urgent tasks of the nobility's land ownership. Influenced by a wave of urban uprisings, the government immediately agreed.

Cathedral Code 1649 G.

On September 1, 1648, the Zemsky Sobor began its work, and in January 1649 it adopted the Cathedral Code.

The Cathedral Code in its content was feudal and reflected the victory of the nobility. This document proclaimed the abolition of "lesson years" and the establishment of an indefinite investigation of fugitive peasants and townspeople. The property of the feudal lord became not only the peasant with his family, but also his property.

The Cathedral Code completed the long process of folding serfdom, which went through a number of stages. Since the time of Kievan Rus, there have been various categories of unfree peasants (zakupy, ryadovichi). Sudebnik 1497 The city limited the transition of peasants to other lands to two weeks a year (before and after St. George's Day), introduced a payment "for the elderly." which the peasant, leaving, had to pay the feudal lord. AT 1581 For the first time, “reserved summers” were introduced, when the transition was unconditionally prohibited. AT 1592 The compilation of cadastral books was completed. AT1597 a five-year term was introduced to search for peasants who fled after1592 d. V 1607 A fifteen-year period of investigation was introduced. Finally, in1649 serfdom was finally formalized. As mentioned above, serfdom - this is the dependence of the peasant on the feudal lord (or on the feudal state) in personal, land, property. legal relations, based on attaching the peasant to the land.

The Code recognized for the nobleman the right to transfer the estate by inheritance, provided that the sons would serve, like the father. In this way; two forms of feudal property -g- patrimony and the estate - approached. Church land ownership was limited. The creation of the Monastic Order placed church land ownership under the control of the state. White settlements were eliminated. Their population is obliged to pay tax. Posad people are also attached to the community, like a peasant to a feudal lord. Service people according to the instrument - archers, etc. - were obliged to pay state taxes from their trades and crafts.

The adoption of the Council Code, directed against the working people of the city and countryside, aggravated the class struggle. In 1650, the uprisings of the townspeople broke out in Pskov and Novgorod. The state needed funds to maintain the state apparatus and troops (Russia waged war with Sweden in 1656-1661 and with Poland in 1654-1667). Up to 67% of state funds were spent on the maintenance of the troops. In an effort to increase the revenues of the treasury, since 1654 the government began to mint copper coins at the same price instead of silver coins. For eight years there were so many of them (including fake ones) that they simply depreciated. This led to an increase in prices. Silver money disappeared, and the state accepted taxes only with them. Arrears grew. Price gouging led to famine. The desperate townspeople of Moscow rebelled in 1662 (Copper Riot). The uprising was brutally suppressed, but copper money was no longer minted.

Peasant war led by Stepan Razin

The uprising of 1662 became one of the harbingers of the impending peasant war, which was led by Ataman S.T. Razin. The norms of the Council Code of 1649 sharply aggravated the class antagonism in the countryside. The development of commodity-money relations led to the intensification of feudal exploitation, which was expressed in the growth in the black earth regions of corvée and monetary quitrents in places where the land was infertile. The deteriorating position of the peasants in the fertile lands of the Volga region was felt with particular acuteness, where the landownership of the Morozov, Mstislavsky, and Cherkassky boyars was growing intensively. The specificity of the Volga region was that there were lands nearby where the population had not yet experienced the full severity of feudal oppression. This is what attracted the Trans-Volga steppes and the Don runaway serfs, peasants, townspeople. The non-Russian population - Mordovians, Chuvashs, Tatars, Bashkirs were under the double oppression of feudal and national. All this created the prerequisites for the deployment of a new peasant war in this area.

The driving forces of the peasant war were peasants, Cossacks, serfs, townspeople, archers, non-Russian peoples of the Volga region. Razin's "charming (from the word" seduce") letters called for a campaign against the boyars, nobles, and merchants. They were characterized by faith in a good king. Objectively, the demands of the insurgent peasants boiled down to the creation of such conditions in which the peasant economy could develop as the main cell of agricultural production.

The harbinger of the peasant war was the campaign of Vasily Us from the Don to Tula (May 1666). Cossack detachment in the course of its advance, it was replenished with peasants who smashed the estates. The uprising swept the territories of Tula, Dedilovsky and other counties. The government urgently threw against the rebels the noble militia. The rebels retreated to the Don.

In 1667-1668. Cossack holytba, alien serfs and peasants made a trip to Persia. He received the name "campaign for zipuns." Such attacks were made by the Don squalor before, but this campaign is striking in its scope, thoroughness of preparation, duration and tremendous success.

During the "campaign for zipuns" the differences devastated not only the western and southern coasts of the Caspian Sea, inflicted defeats on the Persian army and navy, but also opposed government troops. They defeated a detachment of Astrakhan archers, defeated a caravan of ships belonging to the tsar, patriarch, merchant Shorin. Thus, already in this campaign, the features of social antagonism appeared, which led to the folding of the core of the future insurgent army.

In the winter of 1669-1670. upon returning from the Caspian Sea to Don Razin, he is preparing for a second campaign, this time against the boyars, nobles, merchants, on a campaign for all the "rabble", "for all the bonded and disgraced".

The campaign began in the spring of 1670. Vasily Us joined Razin with his detachment. Razin's army gathered slanderous Cossacks, runaway serfs and peasants, archers. The main goal of the campaign was the capture of Moscow. The main route is the Volga. To carry out a campaign against Moscow, it was necessary to provide a rear - to take the government fortresses of Tsaritsyn and Astrakhan. During April-July, differences took possession of these cities. The courtyards of the boyars, nobles, clerks were destroyed, the archives of the voivodship court were burned. Cossack administration was introduced in the cities.

Leaving a detachment led by Us and Sheludyak in Astrakhan, Razin's rebel detachments took Saransk and Penza. A trip to Nizhny Novgorod was being prepared. The actions of the peasant detachments turned the Volga region and the adjacent regions into a hotbed of anti-feudal movement. The movement was transferred to the Russian North (the differences were in Solovki), to Ukraine, where a detachment of Frol Razin was sent.

Only by the exertion of all forces, by sending numerous regiments of government troops, tsarism by the spring of 1671. was able to drown the peasant movement in the Volga region in blood. In April of the same year, Razin was defeated and handed over to the government by the homely Cossacks. June 6, 1671 Razin was executed in Moscow. But the execution of Razin did not mean the end of the movement. Only in November 1671. government troops captured Astrakhan. In 1673-1675. on the Don, near Kozlov and Tambov, rebel detachments were still operating.

The defeat of the peasant war under the leadership of Stepan Razin was predetermined by a number of reasons. Chief among them was that the peasant war had a tsarist character. The peasants believed in the "good king", because, due to their position, they could not see the true reason for their

oppression and develop an ideology that would unite all the oppressed sections of the population and raise them against the existing feudal system. Other reasons for the defeat were spontaneity and locality, weak weapons and poor organization of the rebels.

Schism in the Russian Orthodox Church

character wide popular movement has gained church schism. In 1653, Patriarch Nikon, wishing to strengthen the position of the church, whose authority in the 17th century. fell,

like never before, he began to carry out church reform. Its essence was to unify the norms of church life and the Orthodox Church. The correction of the rites of liturgical books according to Greek models violated the established traditional Russian forms of church rites and caused discontent among the clergy and secular nobility. Archpriest Avvakum became the recognized leader of Nikon's opponents. The speeches of the zealots of the old faith found support in different strata of Russian society, which led to a movement called the schism. The broad participation of the peasantry and other strata of the exploited population in this movement gave it a social character. In their minds, the deterioration of the situation caused by the registration of serfdom was associated with changes in faith. Speaking in defense of the old faith, the masses protested against the growing exploitation.

in) Domestic politics

Transition to absolutism

In the second half of the XVII century. In Russia, a trend is developing to move from a class-representative monarchy to an absolute monarchy. The power of the king is increasing in the country. This was expressed both in the appearance of the word "autocrat" in the royal title, and in the change in the social composition of the Boyar Duma in the direction of strengthening the representation of the nobility there. In 1678-1679. in the Duma there were 42 boyars, 27 okolnichy, 19 duma nobles and 9 duma clerks. Characteristically, the number of clerks in the Duma began to include people from the "merchant people", i.e. merchants.

In 1682, localism was abolished (the principle of holding a public office depending on the nobility of the family and the official position of the ancestors). To strengthen the power of the parya, centralize and overcome fragmentation in management, in 1654 the Order of the Great Sovereign of Secret Affairs was formed, to which a number of important state affairs were transferred from the Boyar Duma. The tendency to establish the autocratic power of the tsar was also manifested in the victory of Alexei Mikhailovich over Patriarch Nikon, who sought to actively interfere in the management of state affairs.

The tendency to strengthen autocratic power was also manifested in a number of other measures. Beginning in 1653, the convocation of Zemsky Sobors practically ceased. A merger and reorganization of orders was carried out, their subordination to one person. For example, the father-in-law of the tsar I.D. Miloslavsky supervised the work of five orders, and the Posolsky order was subordinated to 9 orders that were in charge of the annexed territories. The government tried to reorganize the local administration as well. Russia was divided into 250 districts, headed by governors. In the second half of the XVII century. some counties began to unite under the authority of one governor into the so-called categories: Ryazan, Ukrainian, Novgorod, etc. Since 1613, 33 Russian cities have received voivodship administration. In the hands of the governors appointed by the government, administrative, judicial and military power, supervision over the collection of taxes and taxes was concentrated.

In the 17th century the question of reforming the armed forces of Russia arose sharply. The fighting efficiency of the archery troops was falling. Sagittarius for many years did not receive a monetary salary from the state. The source of life for them and their families was trading and handicraft activities, which they were allowed back in the 16th century. Military service distracted archers from their studies. In addition, the archers paid state taxes from their trades and crafts, which brought them closer in their interests to the townspeople of cities. Regimental commanders often used archers to work on their farms. All this made military service a burdensome task for the archers.

The noble militia served on the same principles as in the 16th century. But if in the XVI and the first half of the XVII centuries. military service was still an incentive for the nobility, then by the end of the 17th century. it has become very burdensome for most. They shied away from service. In addition, the nobles were poorly trained in the conduct of military operations. One of the contemporaries characterized the military training of the nobles as follows: "they have no training for battle and they don't know any formation."

Already in the first half of the century, in connection with this, the formation of regiments of a new system began - the Reiters and Dragoons. They were formed on the basis of a forced recruitment of "subsistence people", when one person was taken from 100 households for lifelong service in these regiments. By the end of the HUPv. regiments of the new system began to play a significant role in the armed forces of Russia.

Russia's foreign policy inXVI–XVIIcenturies

FOREIGN POLICY IN THE XVI CENTURY

Main tasks in the field of Russian foreign policy in the XVI century. were: in the west - the need to have access to the Baltic Sea, in the southeast and east - the fight against

Kazan and Astrakhan khanates and the beginning of the development of Siberia, in the south - the protection of the country from the raids of the Crimean Khan.

Accession and development of new lands

The reasons. Formed as a result of the collapse of the Golden Horde, the Kazan and Astrakhan khanates constantly threatened the Russian lands. They held the Volga trade route in their hands. Finally, these were areas of fertile land (Ivan Peresvetov called them "podraisky"), which the Russian nobility had long dreamed of. The peoples of the Volga region - Mari, Mordovians, Chuvashs - were striving for liberation. The solution to the problem of the subordination of the Kazan and Astrakhan khanates was possible in two ways: either to plant your proteges in these states, or to conquer them.

After a series of unsuccessful diplomatic attempts to subjugate the Kazan Khanate in 1552, the 150,000-strong army of Ivan IV besieged Kazan, which at that time represented a first-class military fortress. To facilitate the task of taking Kazan, a wooden fortress was built in the upper reaches of the Volga (near Uglich), which was disassembled and floated down the Volga to the confluence of the Sviyaga River. The city of Sviyazhsk was built here, which became the stronghold of the struggle for Kazan. The construction of this fortress was headed by a talented master Ivan Vyrodkov. He also supervised the construction of mine tunnels and siege devices.

Kazan was taken by storm 2 October 1552 G . As a result of the explosion of 48 barrels of gunpowder laid in the mines, part of the wall of the Kazan Kremlin was destroyed. Through gaps in the wall, Russian troops broke into the city. Khan Yadigir-Magmet was taken prisoner. Subsequently, he was baptized, received the name Simeon Kasaevich, became the owner of Zvenigorod and an active ally of the king.

Four years after the capture of Kazan in 1556 G. was attached Astrakhan . Chuvashia and most of Bashkiria voluntarily became part of Russia. Dependence on Russia was recognized by the Nogai Horde. Thus, the new fertile lands and the entire Volga trade route became part of Russia. The Russian lands were spared from the invasions of the Khan's troops. Russia's ties with the peoples of the North Caucasus and Central Asia have expanded. The accession of Kazan and Astrakhan opened up an opportunity for advancement in Siberia . Wealthy merchants - industrialists Stroganovs received letters from Ivan the Terrible to own land along the Tobol River. At their own expense, they formed a detachment of 840 (according to other sources 600) people from free Cossacks, led by Ermak Timofeevich. In 1581, Yermak with his army penetrated the territory of the Siberian Khanate, and a year later defeated the troops of Khan Kuchum and took his capital Kashlyk (Isker).

The accession of the Volga region and Siberia had a generally positive meaning for the peoples of this region: they became part of the state, which was located on more high level economic and cultural development. The local ruling class eventually became part of the Russian one.

In connection with the beginning of development in the XVI century. On the territory of the Wild Field (fertile lands south of Tula), the Russian government was faced with the task of strengthening the southern borders from the raids of the Crimean Khan. For this purpose, Tula (from the middle of the 16th century) and Belgorodskaya (in the 30s - 40s of the 17th century) were built. notch features- defensive lines, consisting of the blockages of the forest - notches, in between which they set up wooden fortresses - prisons, which closed the passages in the notches for the Tatar cavalry.

Livonian War(1558-1583)

Trying to reach the Baltic coast, Ivan IV waged a grueling Livonian war for 25 years. The war with Livonia was caused by the need to establish close ties with Western Europe, which could be most easily achieved through the seas, as well as the need to defend the western borders of Russia. The Russian nobles were interested in this war: it opened up the possibility of acquiring new economically developed lands. The war, therefore, was conditioned by the objective needs of Russia's development at that time.

occasion the war was caused by the delay by the Livonian Order of 123 Western specialists invited to the Russian service, as well as the non-payment of tribute by Livonia for the city of Yuryev with the territory adjacent to it over the past 50 years. The Livonian ambassadors, who came to Moscow for negotiations, could not give a satisfactory explanation of the reasons for the non-payment of tribute on time. When the ambassadors were invited to the feast, they saw empty dishes in front of them. This was an unheard-of insult and actually meant war. In 1558 Ivan IV moved troops to Livonia.

The beginning of the war characterized by the victories of the Russian troops who took Narva and Yuryev. A total of 20 cities were taken. Russian troops fought successful battles, advanced to Riga and Reval (Tallinn). In 1560, the troops of the Order were defeated, and its master was captured. This led to the collapse of the Livonian Order (1561), whose lands came under the rule of Poland, Denmark and Sweden. The new Master of the Order, G.Ketler, received Courland as a possession and recognized dependence on the Polish king. The last major success of the Russians at the first stage of the war was the capture of Polotsk in 1563.

The war took protracted nature. Several European powers were drawn into it. Contradictions within Russia intensified. Among those Russian boyars who were interested in strengthening the southern Russian borders, resistance to the continuation of the Livonian War grew. The figures surrounding the tsar also showed hesitation - A. Adashev and Sylvester. This led to the termination in 1560 of the activities of the Chosen Rada. Ivan IV took a course on strengthening personal power. In 1564, Prince Andrei Kurbsky, who had previously commanded the Russian troops, went over to the side of the Poles. This was not dissatisfaction with the actions of the king, but an act of treason. In these difficult circumstances for the country, Ivan IV went to the introduction oprichnina (1565-1572).

In 1569 Poland and Lithuania united into one state - Commonwealth. The troops of the Commonwealth, as well as Sweden, who captured Narva, conducted successful military operations against Russia. Only the defense of the city of Pskov in 1581, when its inhabitants repulsed 30 assaults and made about 50 sorties against the troops of the Polish king Stefan Batory, allowed Russia to conclude a truce in the Yama Zapolsky - a place near Pskov in 1582. A year later, the Plyussky truce was concluded with Sweden . The Livonian war ended in defeat.

The failure of the Livonian War was ultimately a consequence of economic backwardness Russia , which could not successfully endure a long struggle with strong opponents. The ruin of the country during the years of oprichnina only exacerbated the matter.

FOREIGN POLICY OF RUSSIA IN THE 17TH CENTURY

The international position of Russia in the XVII century. was difficult. The country faced a number of foreign policy tasks that had to be solved. One of them was the need to return the Western Russian lands with Smolensk, torn away by the Commonwealth under the Deulino truce of 1618. In 1632, having decided to take advantage of the “kinglessness” that had come in Poland after the death of the Polish king Sigismund, by decision of the Zemsky Sobor, Russia began a war for the return of Smolensk. Due to the economic ruin of the country and the backwardness of the state and military organization, Russia was defeated in this war, and on May 17, 1634, Russia and Poland signed polyanovsky world, according to which the Commonwealth returned only the city of Serpeysk and recognized Tsar Michael as the sovereign of "All Russia". Vladislav renounced his claim to the Russian throne.

The failure in the Smolensk War was also caused by the raid of the Crimean Tatars at its most decisive moment, which once again reminded the Russian government of the sharp and tense relations with Turkey and its vassal, the Crimean Khanate.

In the 30s of the XVII century. work began on the construction of a new line of fortifications - the Belgorod notch line. In 1646, it extended far to the south and stretched from Akhtyrka through Belgorod to Tambov. The old Tula notch line was rebuilt and fortified. It went from the upper reaches of the Zhizdra River through Tula to Ryazan and became the second line of defense against Tatar raids; in the rear, the notches along the river were fortified. Ok. In the fight against the Turkish-Tatar aggression, the Don Cossacks played a prominent role, not only repulsing the raids, but also often going on the offensive. But ensuring security from the raids of the Crimean Tatars was not fully achieved. The struggle in the south against Turkish-Tatar aggression continued to occupy an important place in Russia's foreign policy in the second half of the 17th century.

Reunification of Ukraine with Russia

In the 17th century Ukrainian lands were under the rule of the Commonwealth. According to the Union of Lublin in 1569, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which included

Ukrainian lands, united with Poland. After the union, Polish magnates and gentry began to settle on Ukrainian lands. Feudal oppression intensified in Ukraine. Ukrainian peasants and urban artisans were ruined by growing taxes and duties. The regime of severe oppression in Ukraine was also aggravated by the fact that back in 1557 the pans received from the royal power the right to the death penalty in relation to their serfs. Along with the strengthening of feudal oppression, the population of Ukraine experienced national and religious oppression.

The strengthening of feudal, national and religious oppression in Ukraine by the Commonwealth was the reason for the rise of the national liberation movement. Its first wave came in the 20-30s. XVII century, but was brutally suppressed by the Polish pans. A new stage of the national liberation movement took place in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Its center was the Zaporizhzhya Sich, where the free Cossacks were formed. An outstanding statesman and commander headed the struggle of the Ukrainian people

Bohdan Khmelnytsky. His will, mind , courage, military talent, devotion to Ukraine, created for him enormous prestige among the broad strata of the Ukrainian population and, above all, the Cossacks. The driving forces of the national liberation movement in Ukraine were the peasantry, the Cossacks, the philistines (city dwellers), the small and medium Ukrainian gentry.

The uprising in Ukraine began in the spring of 1648. That year, the rebels defeated the Poles near Zhovti Vody, Korsun and Pilyavtsy. At the same time, Khmelnytsky turned to Russia with a request to take Ukraine "under the hand of Moscow" and jointly fight against Poland. The government of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich could not satisfy his request. Russia was not ready for war with Poland: popular uprisings raged in the country. Russia, closely following the course of events in Ukraine, provided her with diplomatic, economic and military support.

After the battle near Zbarazh, in the summer of 1649, where the rebels were victorious, Poland and Ukraine began negotiations for peace. August 8, 1649 was signed Zborovsky world. According to its terms, Bogdan Khmelnitsky was recognized by the Commonwealth as a hetman, the number of registered Cossacks (who received a salary) was determined at 40 thousand. The Polish government recognized the self-government of the Cossack army, which was assigned to the Kiev, Chernigov and Bratslav provinces. The presence of Polish troops and Jesuits on their territory was prohibited, while Polish feudal lords could return to their possessions in these voivodeships. In Poland, this peace was regarded as a concession to the rebels and caused discontent among the magnates and gentry. Ukrainian peasants met with hostility the return of Polish feudal lords to their possessions. Further continuation of the struggle in Ukraine was inevitable.

Hostilities resumed in the spring of 1650. The decisive battle took place in June 1651 near Berestechko. Bribed by the Poles, an ally of the Ukrainians, Khan Islam-Giray, led away his cavalry, which largely predetermined the defeat of the rebels and the offensive of the troops of the Commonwealth to Ukraine. He was stopped only in September 1651 under the white church, where peace was made. His conditions were difficult. The register of Cossacks was reduced to 20 thousand. In the Cossack self-government, only the Kiev province was left. The hetman was deprived of the right to independent external relations. The Polish lords were given full power over the dependent population. The answer to this was new performances in the Dnieper region. In 1652, near Batog, the rebels defeated the Polish army. However, the Commonwealth, having gathered an army of 50 thousand, launched an offensive against Ukraine, whose position was becoming more and more dangerous. In April 1653, Khmelnitsky again turned to Russia with a request to accept Ukraine into its composition.

On May 10, 1653, the Zemsky Sobor in Moscow decided to admit Ukraine to Russia. Buturlin's Russian embassy went there. On January 8, 1654, the great Rada of Ukraine in Pereyaslavl decided to reunite Ukraine with Russia, which became part of it with broad autonomous rights. In Ukraine, the hetman was elected. Recognized local government, class rights of the nobility and the Cossack officers. Hetman had the right to external relations with all countries except Poland and Turkey. The Cossack registry was set at 60,000.

The Commonwealth did not agree with the reunification of Ukraine with Russia. In 1654, a war broke out that lasted until 166.7. It ended with the signing Andrusovo truce January 31, 1667, on the basis of which a peace treaty was to be prepared. Russia received Smolensk, Dorogobuzh, Belaya Tserkov, Seversk land with Chernigov and Starodub. Poland recognized the reunification of Left-Bank Ukraine with Russia. Right-bank Ukraine and Belarus were still part of the Commonwealth. The Zaporozhian Sich remained in the joint administration of Russia and the Commonwealth. These conditions were finally fixed in 1686. Eternal peace with Commonwealth. In this world, Russia and Poland united against the Turkish-Tatar aggression. The conditions of the Eternal Peace forced Russia to terminate the agreement concluded in 1681. Bakhchisarai.peace by Turkey, according to which both sides agreed to a twenty-year truce.

Simultaneously with the Russian-Polish war (1654-1667) Russia in 1656-1658. waged war with Sweden for the return of the Baltic coast, which had gone to Sweden under the Stolbovsky peace of 1617. The war ended unsuccessfully. In 1661 in Cardissa(between Yuryev and Revel) a peace dictated by Sweden was signed. The lands at the mouth of the Neva, as well as the Livonian lands conquered during the war, remained with Sweden.

Despite the successes achieved in relations with the Commonwealth, Russia at the end of the 17th century. continued to fight Tatar aggression and prepare the necessary foreign policy prerequisites for the transition to the struggle for access to the Baltic Sea.

The events of the Time of Troubles led to the ruin and devastation of a significant part of Russia. Starting from the 20s. 17th century the recovery process has begun. The main branch of the Russian economy remained agriculture, where the three-field system of agriculture continued to dominate. Horticulture and horticulture developed. The intensive involvement in commodity production of the farms of privately owned peasants was hampered by their complete subordination to the power of the feudal lords, the inability to freely dispose of their labor, and the growth of property and state duties. In the 17th century increased the share of handicraft production in the country's economy. There is also a manufacture. In Russia, manufactory was based on the labor of serfs, since the market for free labor in Russia, where serfdom dominated, was practically absent. In the 17th century There were 30 manufactories in Russia. Trade also developed rapidly. But there was an acute question of access to the seas, the absence of which hindered the development of trade. The merchants of Russia demanded that the state protect them from competition with foreign merchants. The trade charter of 1653 established a single ruble duty for merchants and abolished a number of internal duties. In 1667, the Novotragovy Charter was adopted, according to which foreign merchants were prohibited from retail trade in Russia. In the second half of the XVII century. there is a transition from a class-representative monarchy to an absolute monarchy. The power of the king is increasing in the country. There is a change in the composition of the Boyar Duma: the nobility is increasing. In 1682 localism was abolished, i.e. the principle of holding a public office depending on the nobility of the family and the official position of the ancestors. To strengthen the power of the parya, centralize and overcome fragmentation in management, in 1654 the Order of the Great Sovereign of Secret Affairs was formed. Since 1653, the convocation of Zemsky Sobors has practically ceased. Orders were merged, subordinating them to one person. In the 17th century the combat capability of the archery troops is falling. Streltsy did not receive a monetary salary from the state for many years. The source of life for them and their families was trading and craft activities, archers paid state taxes from their trades and crafts. Regimental commanders often used archers to work on their farms. All this made military service a burdensome task for the archers. The nobility avoided service in every possible way. In addition, the nobles were poorly trained in the conduct of hostilities.

25. Foreign policy of Russia in the XVI-XVII centuries.

The international position of Russia in the XVII century. was difficult. The country faced a number of foreign policy tasks that had to be solved. One of them was the need to return the Western Russian lands with Smolensk, torn away by the Commonwealth under the Deulino truce of 1618. In 1632, having decided to take advantage of the “kinglessness” that had come in Poland after the death of the Polish king Sigismund, by decision of the Zemsky Sobor, Russia began a war for the return of Smolensk. Due to the economic ruin of the country and the backwardness of the state and military organization, Russia was defeated in this war, and on May 17, 1634, the Polyanovsky Peace was signed between Russia and Poland, according to which the Commonwealth returned only the city of Serpeisk and recognized Tsar Michael as the sovereign of "All Russia" ". Vladislav renounced his claim to the Russian throne. The uprising in Ukraine began in the spring of 1648. After the battle of Zbarazh, in the summer of 1649, where the rebels won, Poland and Ukraine began peace negotiations. August 8, 1649 Zborowski peace was signed. According to its terms, Bogdan Khmelnitsky was recognized by the Commonwealth as a hetman, the number of registered Cossacks (who received a salary) was determined at 40 thousand. The decisive battle took place in June 1651 near Berestechko. Bribed by the Poles, an ally of the Ukrainians, Khan Islam-Giray, led away his cavalry, which largely predetermined the defeat of the rebels and the offensive of the troops of the Commonwealth to Ukraine. He was stopped only in September 1651 under the White Church, where peace was concluded. On May 10, 1653, the Zemsky Sobor in Moscow decided to admit Ukraine to Russia. Buturlin's Russian embassy went there. On January 8, 1654, the big Rada of Ukraine in Pereyaslavl decided to reunite Ukraine with Russia. The Commonwealth did not agree with the reunification of Ukraine with Russia. In 1654, the war began, which lasted until 166.7. It ended with the signing of the Andrusovo truce on January 31, 1667, on the basis of which a peace treaty was to be prepared. Russia received Smolensk, Dorogobuzh, Belaya Tserkov, Seversk land with Chernigov and Starodub. Poland recognized the reunification of Left-Bank Ukraine with Russia. Right-bank Ukraine and Belarus were still part of the Commonwealth. The Zaporozhian Sich remained in the joint administration of Russia and the Commonwealth. These conditions were finally fixed in 1686 by the Eternal Peace with the Commonwealth. In this world, Russia and Poland united against the Turkish-Tatar aggression. The conditions of the Eternal Peace forced Russia to terminate the Bakhchisarai Peace Treaty concluded in 1681 by Turkey, according to which both sides agreed to a twenty-year truce.

In 1613, at the most representative and numerous Zemsky Sobor in Moscow, the question arose of choosing a new Russian Tsar. The applicants were Prince Vladislav, the son of the Swedish king Karl-Philip, the son of False Dmitry II and Marina Mnishek Ivan, as well as representatives of the most noble boyar families. The Zemsky Sobor elected to the kingdom a representative of the venerable old Moscow boyar family, 16-year-old Mikhail Romanov, son of Fyodor Nikitich Romanov. The rights of the Romanovs to the throne were substantiated in one of the last chronicle works - "The New Chronicler", created in the 30s. 17th century

Father of Mikhail F.N. Romanov, the nephew of Ivan the Terrible's first wife, Anastasia Romanova (his father, Nikita Romanov, Anastasia's brother), was forcibly tonsured a monk in 1601 under the name Filaret, and in 1619 he was elected patriarch. A powerful and resolute man, in fact, until his death in 1633, he held the government of the country in his hands. A three-hundred-year history of the reign of a new Russian dynasty began.

The election of Mikhail Romanov as tsar did not stop the Poles' claims to establish themselves on the Russian throne, and they were looking for opportunities to arrange for the young king. Widely known is the feat of the Kostroma peasant Ivan Susanin, at the price own life who saved Mikhail, who went on a pilgrimage, from the Polish massacre. M.I. Glinka immortalized his feat in the opera A Life for the Tsar. Decembrist poet K.F. Ryleev dedicated sublime lines to him:

“A traitor, they thought, you found in me:

They are not and will not be on the Russian land!

In it, everyone loves their homeland from infancy

And he will not destroy his soul by betrayal.

"The villain! - shouted the enemies, boiling over, - You will die under the swords! “Your anger is not terrible! Who is Russian by heart, he cheerfully and boldly, And joyfully perishes for a just cause! Neither execution nor death, and I am not afraid: Without flinching, I will die for the tsar and for Russia!

... The snow is pure, the purest blood stained: She saved Mikhail for Russia!

The government of Mikhail Romanov was faced with the task of ending the intervention and restoring internal order. According to the Stolbovsky peace with Sweden in 1617, Russia regained Novgorod, but left the coast of the Gulf of Finland and Korela to Sweden; in 1618

According to the Deulinsky truce with Poland, Russia left the Smolensk, Seversk and Chernigov lands behind it. But in general, the territorial unity of Russia was restored. Only in 1634, according to the Polyanovsky Treaty after the Smolensk War (1632-1634), the Commonwealth recognized Mikhail Fedorovich as king.

The Troubles strengthened the idea of ​​autocracy, and the Romanov monarchy was perceived as a symbol of inner world and stability. The moderation and traditionalism of the first Romanov served to consolidate society. With the consolidation of tsarist power, the government less and less resorted to Zemsky Sobors. Domestic policy took the path of further strengthening the feudal-serf order and the estate system. In order to streamline taxation in the 20s. 17th century new scribe books began to be compiled, attaching the population to the place of residence. The practice of "lesson years" was revived.

During the reign of Mikhail's son Alexei Mikhailovich (1645-1676), the state system of Russia evolved from a class-representative monarchy to absolutism, i.e. unlimited and uncontrolled power of the monarch. The threat from the more developed countries of the West and systematic raids from the south forced this process and forced the state to keep in constant readiness significant armed forces, the cost of maintaining which exceeded the material resources of the population. Other factors were also important, such as the vast territory of the country with the further development of new lands, the rivalry of the boyars with the nobility, which allowed the monarch to maneuver between them, peasant and urban uprisings.

Alexei Mikhailovich, nicknamed "The Quietest" for his ability to trust the decision of state issues to suitable executors from among his close associates, had to take important steps on Russia's path to absolutism. According to V.O. Klyuchevsky, he created a “transformative mood” around him, surrounding himself with thinking people. It was under Alexei Mikhailovich that the most dramatic events of the century took place and the most significant victories were won - over Sweden and Poland.

A necessary step in overcoming the consequences of the Time of Troubles and strengthening statehood was the adoption in 1649 of the Council Code. A hundred years have passed since the Sudebnik of 1550, and it did not take into account the new needs of society. The Council Code of 1649 is a universal code of feudal law, which had no analogues in previous legislation. It established norms in all spheres of society: social, economic, administrative, family, spiritual, military, etc., and remained in force until 1832. The first chapters of the Code provided for severe punishments for crimes against the church and royal power. The power and personality of the king was increasingly identified with the state.

The most important section was the "Court on the Peasants", which introduced an indefinite search for runaway peasants, and finally canceled the transfer of peasants to new owners on St. George's Day. The government took over the search for runaway peasants. This meant the legal registration of a nationwide system of serfdom, in which the feudal lord had the right to dispose of the person, labor and property of his peasants. This allowed the maximum concentration of forces on solving the problems of domestic and foreign policy on a feudal basis.

All classes of society were obliged to serve the state and differed from one another only in the nature of the duties assigned to them: service people carried out military service, and taxable people carried the "tax" in favor of the state and service people. Owning peasants were not exempted from state taxes and paid them on an equal footing with the black-haired peasants, which means they pulled a double "tax" - state and landowner. The state not only provided the landowner with judicial and administrative power over the peasants, but also made him a responsible collector of state taxes from his peasants. Thus, the feudal lords became responsible for the payment of "taxes" by the serfs and received power over the economic life of their serfs.

The state also attached chernososhnye (state) peasants and townspeople to the land. They were forbidden to change their place of residence under pain of cruel punishment and were assigned to bear the state "tax". And yet, in the position of the owner (belonging to secular and spiritual owners) and black-haired (state) peasants, there remained some differences. The feudal lord received the right to actually completely dispose of the property and personality of the peasant. The state transferred to him a significant part of the administrative-fiscal and judicial-police functions. Black-skinned peasants, living on state land, had the right to alienate it: sale, mortgage, inheritance. They had personal freedom. The life of the community was led by a secular gathering and elected elders, who arranged the duties, were responsible for their timely payment, repaired the court and protected the rights of the community.

The Code of 1649 liquidated the "white settlements", which belonged in the cities to large secular and spiritual feudal lords, whose population had previously been free from duties. The state, having limited the immunity of the feudal lords in its own favor, subjugated the urban population and became its feudal owner in the city. The townspeople were obliged to engage in trade and crafts, since both served as a source of financial income to the treasury. The development of cities, crafts, trade was carried out within the framework of the serf system, which undermined the development of capitalism. The monopoly of the townspeople on trade in the cities and the permission of the peasants to trade only “from carts” hampered the development of commodity-money relations in the countryside and placed internal trade under state control in order to make a profit for the benefit of the state (and not to rid the townspeople of competition) .

The enslavement policy of the 16th-17th centuries, culminating in the adoption of the Council Code, was aimed at the entire taxable population, since the owner's and state lands were only varieties of feudal property. In Russia, a system of so-called "state feudalism" has developed, when the state acted as a feudal owner in relation to the entire population, while in the leading countries Western Europe there was a weakening of serfdom. In Russia, serfdom, in the absence of an incentive for the direct producer to develop production, led to an increase in economic backwardness, which was especially striking against the backdrop of progress in Western Europe, which had embarked on the path of capitalism.

The cathedral code reflected the process of erasing the differences between the hereditary patrimony and lifelong possession - the estate, providing for their exchange. The government already at the beginning of the 17th century. began to sell estates into estates. Among the nobility, the direct connection between the service and its land remuneration began to be lost: the estates remained with the clan even if its representatives stopped serving. Thus, the rights to dispose of estates expanded, and they approached the patrimony. There was a blurring of the boundaries between the individual categories of the ruling class of feudal lords. By the end of the century, only formal differences remained between them, and the share of noble land ownership increased significantly.

The state sought to control church land ownership. The Council Code limited the growth of church land ownership by a ban on the purchase of land and the transfer of estates to the church under a spiritual testament.

Foreign trade during this period was almost entirely in the hands of privileged foreign merchants. Russian merchants, poorly organized and less wealthy, could not compete with them. The state monopoly on the export of a number of goods that were in demand abroad significantly limited the possibilities for Russian merchants to accumulate capital. The dominance of foreign commercial capital in the domestic market of Russia caused acute discontent. The trade charter of 1653, instead of a multitude of trade duties, established a single duty and increased the amount of duty from foreign merchants. Thus, the charter was of a patronizing nature and met the requirements of the Russian merchant class.

In the spirit of the policy of protectionism, the Novotrade Charter of 1667 was drawn up, which sharply limited the trade of foreigners on the domestic market and freed Russian merchants and manufacturers from competition by raising customs duties on the import of foreign products. Its compiler Afanasy Lavrentievich Ordin-Nashchokin, who came from an ignorant noble family, became a prominent statesman of the 17th century. Relying mainly on his own experience and knowledge, he was actively involved in foreign policy, and largely thanks to his efforts, agreements beneficial to Russia were concluded with Sweden and Poland. Ordin-Nashchokin was a supporter of the use of economic and cultural Western experience, but at the same time he knew well the reasonable measure of borrowing. Many of his reform ideas government controlled and city self-government were implemented in the era of Peter I.

Boyars B.I. Morozov, F.M. Rtishchev, A.S. Matveev, V.V. Golitsyn also sought to resolve problems in the economic life of the country, understood the importance of developing trade and industry and the need to support the merchants to strengthen the state. The evolution of government policy towards mercantilism - maintaining an active balance by the state foreign trade- contributed to the interests of the emerging absolutism.

17th century ends the Middle Ages and marks the beginning of the New Age. The accumulation of secular knowledge is gradually destroying the medieval worldview, in which religious ideas played a dominant role. A feature of the culture of this period is its "secularization", i.e. the liberation of public consciousness from the influence of religion and the church, the fall of their authority in the spiritual life of society. Attention to the person, his role in ongoing events and determining his own destiny is growing.

Growing ties with foreign countries gave rise to a state need to get acquainted with the achievements of secular sciences. Although the authorities settled foreigners away from the center of Moscow, in German Quarter(modern district of Lefortovo), and sought to isolate them from communication with the Russians, new knowledge about the world around them inevitably penetrated into the minds of the Russians. In 1654, the Left-bank Ukraine, which experienced the cultural influence of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, became part of Russia, contributed to the deepening of these ties. The greatest interest in understanding the new cultural situation was shown by the urban trade and craft strata, whose occupation inevitably oriented them to the study of everything modern, advanced, but interest in secular culture was manifested in the most diverse groups of society. The Church's monopoly on education and literacy was beginning to fade.

Serious changes are beginning to take place in the field of education. The country needed educated, qualified specialists in all areas of exact, natural science, humanitarian knowledge, which met the internal and external needs of the emerging absolutism.

The accession of the Volga region and Siberia opened up space for geographical research, organizing expeditions to previously unexplored lands. Journeys to distant lands were previously made by Russian pioneers. 30 years before the opening of the route to India by the Portuguese Vasco da Gama, the Tver merchant Afanasy Nikitin made his journey (1466-1472) and left fascinating memories of "Journey Beyond the Three Seas". In 1648, the expedition of Semyon Dezhnev, 80 years before V. Bering, reached the strait between Asia and North America. The easternmost point of Russia is named after Dezhnev. E.P. Khabarov in 1649 compiled a map and studied the lands along the Amur, the Siberian Cossack V.V. Atlasov explored Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands. The Siberian Order summarized all the information and materials received, on which Western European scientists then relied for a long time.

An important event was the appearance of the first printed textbooks: the Primer by Vasily Burtsov and the illustrated Primer by Karion Istomin, the Grammar by M. Smotrytsky, and at the beginning of the 18th century. - "Arithmetic" by L. Magnitsky, named by M.V. Lomonosov "gates of learning". Typography was concentrated in the sovereign's Printing House.

The paradox of the situation lay in the fact that from the time of the Stoglavy Cathedral (1551), only lower theological schools existed in Russia. There was no secular education. The solution of the question of the essence and tasks of education was reflected in the disputes between the “Latins” and the “Greekophiles”. For Russian Westernizers - "Latins" - Poland for a long time remained a model, an intermediary from which Russia could borrow Western experience. Supporters of the Greek orientation "Grecophiles" sought to preserve the traditions of Russian spiritual life, fearing, not without reason, the invasion of secular European knowledge.

The Reformation and Protestant ethics in Europe changed the value orientations of society. This complex and controversial time of the collapse of the usual living space in the culture of Europe is conveyed by the Baroque style. Western European baroque became the form through which enlightenment features and a bright personality began to penetrate into Russian culture. The conductors of the "Latin" culture, Western influence were immigrants from Poland, Belarus and Ukraine. Under Alexei Mikhailovich, a rather influential circle of lovers of Western European scholarship, education, literature, household items and comforts was formed. This court environment became a bridge to the New Age and brought forward many reformers. Among them was the teacher of the royal children, a Belarusian by origin Samuil Emelyanovich Petrovsky-Sitnianovich from Polotsk, or Simeon Polotsky.

In the 17th century there are two higher educational institutions for the clergy: in 1632 the Kiev-Mohyla Academy in Ukraine, named after its founder Peter Mohyla, and in 1687 the Greek scientists Sophrony and Ioanniky Likhuda from Padua (Italy) headed the first higher educational an institution in Moscow - the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy, where Lomonosov later studied. Simeon Polotsky took an active part in the preparation of the draft charter of the academy. The building of the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy was located on Nikolskaya Street near the Kremlin. She marked the beginning of the future higher education in Russia; Academy graduates could enter the civil service. However, during its creation, supporters of the Greek orientation won. Even earlier, Simeon of Polotsk founded a school in the Zaikonospassky Monastery at the Printing House (1665), which trained clerks.

In the field of spiritual education, he was the first to try to reorient the organization and content to the Western way. educational process with a reasonable interaction of traditions and innovations, the boyar F.M. Rtishchev is an influential person from Alexei Mikhailovich's entourage. The Ukrainian and Belarusian schools at the monasteries served as a model for him. In 1649, Rtishchev opened a school in Moscow at the Andreevsky Monastery, where he invited learned monks from Kiev. The penetration of secular principles into literature was expressed in the emergence of new genres of literature - the poem and the novel. The creator of Russian poetry of the 17th century. was Simeon Polotsky, an encyclopedically educated person, a supporter of enlightenment and rapprochement with the West. S. Polotsky introduced almost all the then known poetic genres into literary use - from the epigram to the solemn ode. He wrote two poetry collections "Multicolored Vertograd" and "Rhymologion".

A bright innovator in literature was the ideological head of the schism, Archpriest Avvakum (Petrov). "The Life of Archpriest Avvakum, written by himself" opens the genre of autobiography and tells about his own sins and exploits with lyricism and irony, combined with angry pathos. The first Russian novel was "The Tale of Savva Grudtsy-ne" - a story about a young merchant's son and his adventures. Satire also sounded in a new way, denouncing human weaknesses and vices (“Service to a tavern”, “The Tale of Woe-Misfortune”). The first historical work published in print was the "Synopsis" of the Kiev monk Innocent Gizel, which told about the joint history of the Ukrainian and Russian peoples since the time of Kievan Rus.

In Russian painting of the 17th century. The "secularization" of art is especially vividly represented by the work of Simon Ushakov. In his icon "The Savior Not Made by Hands", new realistic features of painting are clearly visible: three-dimensionality in the depiction of the face, elements of direct perspective. The trend towards a realistic depiction of a person, characteristic of the Ushakov school, was embodied in the “parsun” (from “persona” - a person) - a portrait made according to the laws of iconographic art. The most famous of them are images of Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich, Prince M.V. Skopin-Shuisky, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich.

In architecture, a decorative principle declared itself, which found expression in two new styles. Moscow, or "Naryshkin" (named after the customers of the Naryshkin boyars), baroque was distinguished by the brightness of the facade, the contrasting combination of red and white flowers, an abundance of shells, columns and capitals that adorned the walls, the visible "number of storeys" of buildings, borrowed from secular architecture. Examples of the Moscow baroque are the Church of the Intercession of the Virgin in Fili and the refectory and bell tower of the Novodevichy Convent. The style of “stone patterning” was widely used, replete with multi-colored reliefs, platbands, tiles made of stone and brick. Its typical examples are the churches of St. Nicholas in Khamovniki and the Trinity in Nikitniki in Moscow.

. The "secularization" of consciousness turned out to be in clear contradiction with traditional thinking. Among the clergy, there was open talk about the "impoverishment of the faith." Western European countries by the 17th century. survived the Reformation and the victory of the secular worldview over the religious, while Russia was fenced off from the West for more than two centuries as a result of the Horde yoke. Muscovite Russia needed new knowledge that would meet the urgent tasks of the development of education. The gap with the West in cultural and spiritual development became more and more obvious, the overcoming of which required liberation from the direct participation of the church in this process. Interest in secular knowledge is growing in Russian society, the need to think freely is increasingly felt, and the insufficiency of the old sources and methods of enlightenment is becoming more and more clear.

The ecclesiastical worldview itself was in crisis. The loss of the church's spiritual monopoly dictated the need for change, and this was perfectly realized by the intelligent and infinitely ambitious associate of Alexei Mikhailovich, Patriarch Nikon (in the world Nikita Minov). The son of a Mordovian peasant and a Cheremiska (Mariyka), he went through all the steps of the church hierarchy from a village priest to the all-powerful head of the Russian church.

The desire to deepen church influence throughout the Slavic and Orthodox world gave rise to different points of view on the question of how this could be achieved. In the 40s. 17th century in Moscow, a circle of zealots of ancient piety was formed, whose members were future irreconcilable opponents - Nikon and Archpriest Avvakum. The leaders of the Circle made an attempt to raise the authority of the church by streamlining worship, without in any way shaking the very foundations of the church and trying to protect the spiritual life of society from the penetration of secular principles into it. Alexei Mikhailovich supported their program, since it corresponded to the interests of the autocracy, which was advancing towards absolutism.

The unity of views in the Circle was broken when deciding on the choice of samples for correcting liturgical texts. Archpriest Avvakum and his supporters took as a basis Old Russian handwritten texts translated from Greek before the fall of Byzantium (Old Greek). It turned out, however, that they are full of discrepancies, since before the advent of printing, church books were copied by hand, and errors crept into them. The Greek monks who came to Russia drew the attention of the Russian higher hierarchy to these discrepancies.

Having become patriarch in 1652, Nikon decided to overcome the crisis of the church through church reform, strengthen its role as the world center of Orthodoxy and strengthen ties with the South Slavic countries. The reform was supposed to unify church life in view of the planned reunification of Ukraine with Russia and the unification of the Russian and Ukrainian churches, between which there were differences in church rituals. The content of the reform outwardly coincided with the desire of the "zealots of ancient piety" to restore the unity of the content of liturgical books, lost over the long centuries after the adoption of Christianity.

But Nikon needed not just the unification of church life, but bringing it into line with modern standards Greek (modern Greek) and other Orthodox churches. He was supported by learned monks who came from Ukraine, among whom was Epiphany Slavinetsky, who received a serious theological education in his homeland. Nikon entrusted the correction of church books to visiting Kiev learned monks and Greeks. They began to be guided in the correction of texts by modern printed publications, Greek and South Russian. However, one should not think that the introduction of rituals on the model of Ukraine and Belarus meant the convergence of the official ideology with Western Europe.

During the preparation of the reform, the weakness of the theological layer of religion, the absence of a system of spiritual education and the educated personnel themselves were clearly felt. Therefore, it was natural to turn to the experience of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which did not have the support of the state and, in the ideological struggle against Uniatism and Catholicism, adopted the main method of the enemy - scholasticism. In contrast to the Catholic schools in Ukraine, the already mentioned Kiev-Mohyla Theological Academy (1632), within whose walls a rich polemical literature was created, and Orthodox "brotherhoods" arose. Recognition of the authority of Ukrainian and Greek theologians in matters of dogma was painfully perceived by church conservatives as a retreat to "Latinism".

As a result, the new missal was corrected not according to the old Greek books, but according to the Greek original published in 1602 in Venice. In addition, the church reform touched upon service ceremonies: the two-fingered sign of the cross was replaced with a three-fingered one, “hallelujah” began to be announced not twice, but three times, they began to move around the lectern not in the direction of the sun (“salting”), but against it. In the liturgical texts, some words were replaced with equivalent ones (the name of the Savior "Jesus" to "Jesus"), and the word "true" was removed from the "Creed" in the line "And in the Holy Spirit, the true and life-giving Lord". Instead of polyphony, when they read and sang at the same time to shorten the service, they introduced unanimity, which made it easier for the parishioners to understand what was happening, bowing to the ground at the service was replaced by half bows. Changes also affected the clothes of priests.

Thus, the reform affected only the outer side of worship, leaving without attention the ideas of enlightenment and education coming from the West, their secular content. Neither Nikon nor the top clergy accepted these elements of Western European culture and education that penetrated into Russia. However, the reform opened the way to the unification of all Orthodox churches, confirming the leadership of Russia, and opened the way for cultural dialogue with all of Europe.

In his activities, Nikon not only defended the independence of the church from the state and opposed government interference in its affairs. His claims went even further: he put forward an essentially Catholic thesis - "the priesthood of the kingdom is more than there" and demanded that the secular authorities be subordinated to it. The position of Nikon before his break with the tsar was close to the position of the head of the church, not subject to the tsar - the bearer of complete and sole power. The solemn atmosphere of his patriarchal “exit” was in no way inferior to the royal one: his head was decorated with a miter, similar to a royal crown, under his feet a carpet with an embroidered double-headed eagle was laid. At the same time, Nikon emphasized that he sees his support not in royal mercy, but in the rights of his dignity. Such an interpretation of the patriarchal power was not slow to be reflected in Nikon's relationship with the tsar.

The conflict between the "quietest" tsar and the imperious patriarch ended in Nikon's defeat. The church council of 1666 deprived him of his patriarchal rank, but recognized the church corrections he had made. The church became one of the most important obstacles on the path of the impending transformations, the successful implementation of which required its complete subordination to the state, which happened in the 18th century.

The supporters of the irreconcilable Habakkuk did not accept the innovations and were excommunicated from the church. They were persecuted by both ecclesiastical and state authorities. This led to a split in the Russian church and the emergence of the Old Believer movement. The defenders of the "old faith" received support from the most diverse strata of Russian society. All of them were united by the struggle for an idealized national antiquity. The split was one of the forms of social protest, but it cannot be attributed to the number of progressive movements, because the ideal of the organization of life was turned into the past. His ideology hindered the development of a secular, rationalistic, anti-feudal worldview. Upholding national isolation, hostility to everything new, foreign, the schism movement looked not forward, but backward.

However, the role of the Old Believers in Russian history is not as straightforward as it might seem at first glance. The persecution of their faith, economic oppression (they had to pay a double poll tax) did not prevent them from maximizing their creative and intellectual potential. Their connection with Russian entrepreneurship is obvious: the Old Believers Guchkovs, Morozovs, Ryazanovs, Zotovs, Ryabushinskys founded the first merchant and industrial dynasties in the country. The Old Believers have a special merit in the creation of a leather and bacon manufactory, gold mining, they succeeded in creating a credit system in the Urals and Siberia. The creation of the Ural manufactories under Peter I and the highest quality of iron in Europe and the level of casting were largely the results of their activities. At Demidov's metallurgy factories, most of the workers were Old Believers, and the factories themselves were densely surrounded by hermitages.

The strengthening of autocracy during the reign of the first Romanovs manifested itself in various spheres of the country's political life. The class-representative Zemsky Sobors, which finally ceased to be convened in the 1980s, lost their significance. In the 17th century, the composition and size of the Boyar Duma changed due to the involvement of the nobles, the order system was centralized and the role of order officials in government increased, the secular authorities won in rivalry with the authorities of the church. Changes in local government also reflected a trend towards centralization and a decline in electiveness. Power in the united uyezds was concentrated in the hands of the governors, who replaced all officials of the zemstvo elected bodies.

The title of the Moscow tsar changed: from the “sovereign of all Russia” in 1654, he turns into “by the grace of God ... the autocrat of all Great and Small and White Russia.” The articles of the Council Code raised the prestige of the tsarist government to an unattainable height and determined harsh penalties for damage to the "sovereign's honor." In everyday life, the greatness of the autocracy was emphasized by the magnificent and solemn ritual of honoring the king, the luxury of the court. The pomposity of the rituals took on the character of sacred rites. All external means were used to instill the idea of ​​the divine origin of royal power. By the end of the XVII century. the evolution of state administration, courts, and military affairs reflected the transition from a class-representative monarchy to absolutism.

After the death of Alexei Mikhailovich, his son Fyodor Alekseevich (1676-1682), who did not take an active part in state affairs, ascended the Russian throne. The leading place at the court was occupied by relatives of his mother, Miloslavsky.

During the reign of Fyodor Alekseevich, the political role of the nobility increased. An important milestone in its consolidation was the abolition in 1682 of the most important boyar institution - parochialism, since the parochial custom became a serious obstacle in solving the problems of domestic and foreign policy. The ancient aristocratic families had less and less opportunity to compete with the layers of less noble service people who were rising to power. In 1679-1681. instead of the field tax, household taxation was introduced. The unit of taxation was the peasant or township household.

After the death of the childless tsar, the young sons of Alexei Mikhailovich Ivan (from marriage to M.I. Miloslavskaya) and Peter (from marriage to N.K. Naryshkina) came to power, and with the support of the archers, the regents until they came of age were appointed Princess Sophia, daughter of Alexei Mikhailovich from his first marriage. The actual ruler under Sophia (1682-1689) was her favorite, Prince Vasily Golitsyn. He combined the features of a "statesman" and an intellectual. Many administrative and economic reforms, including the education reform project, up to the creation of the first university in Russia, but by nature Golitsyn was more of a philosopher than an energetic practitioner.

In 1689, Peter, having reached the age of majority, married Evdokia Lopukhina and formally received all rights to the throne. A clash with Sophia became inevitable and ended with the victory of Peter with the support of the Moscow Patriarch. Sophia was imprisoned in the Novodevichy Convent in Moscow, Golitsyn was sent into exile, and with the death of Tsar Ivan (1696), Peter's autocracy was established.

Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov became the Russian tsar at a difficult time (Scheme 82). The turmoil led Russia to a complete economic collapse. Political stability was not immediately established either, the system of government in the center and in the regions was destroyed. The main tasks of the young king were to achieve reconciliation in the country, overcome the economic ruin and streamline the management system. For the first six years of his reign, Mikhail ruled, relying on the Boyar Duma and the Zemsky Sobors. The latter did not actually stop working from 1613 to 1619. In 1619, the tsar's father Fyodor Nikitich (in monasticism Filaret) Romanov returned from Polish captivity. Filaret, who took the patriarchal rank, actually ruled the country until his death in 1633. In 1645, Mikhail Romanov also died. His son Alexei Mikhailovich became the Russian Tsar (Scheme 83).

By the middle of the century the economic ruin had been overcome. Economic development of Russia in the XVII century. characterized by a number of new phenomena in economic life (Scheme 84). The craft gradually developed into small-scale production. More and more products were made not to order, but for the market. There was an economic specialization of individual regions. In Tula and Kashira, for example, metal products were produced. The Volga region specialized in leather processing. Novgorod and Pskov were centers of flax production. The best jewelry was created in Novgorod, Tikhvin and Moscow. In the same era, centers of artistic crafts began to emerge (Khokhloma, Palekh, etc.).

The development of commodity production led to the emergence of manufactories. They were divided into state-owned, i.e. owned by the state (for example, the Armory), and privately owned. The latter arose mainly in metallurgy. Such enterprises were located in Tula, Kashira and the Urals. The growth of productive forces contributed to the development of trade and the emergence of an all-Russian market. Two major all-Russian fairs arose: Makarievskaya on the Volga and Irbitskaya on the Urals.

In the 17th century final legal registration took place in Russia serfdom. By this term, historians understand the most severe form of dependence of the peasants on the landowner, whose power extended to the person, labor and property of the peasants belonging to him.

In the historical literature, there are two main concepts of the enslavement of the Russian peasantry. According to the concept of "decree" enslavement, serfdom was introduced on the initiative state power to maintain the country's defense capability and ensure the service class. This point of view was held by historians N.M. Karamzin, S.M. Solovyov, N.I. Kostomarov, S.B. Veselovsky and B.D. Greeks, and modern historian R.G. Skrynnikov. In the works of V.O. Klyuchevsky, M.P. Pogodin and M.A. Dyakonov defends the "unordered" concept, according to which serfdom was a consequence of the real life conditions of the country, only legally formalized by the state (Scheme 86).

In 1649, the Council Code was adopted - a code of domestic feudal law that regulated relations in the main areas of society (Scheme 87). In July 1648, the Zemsky Sobor considered the petition of servicemen and merchants for the adoption of a new code of laws. For its development, a special commission was created, headed by the boyar N.I. Odoevsky. Already in the autumn of the same year, the draft Code was presented to the king. At the beginning of 1649, the Code was approved by the Zemsky Sobor. Soon it was published with a circulation of 1200 copies. The code is divided into chapters, and the chapters are divided into articles. In total, the Cathedral Code has 25 chapters and 967 articles.

The code of laws begins with the chapter "On blasphemers and church rebels", in which it is prescribed to punish any blasphemy, heresy or speech against church authorities by burning at the stake. The next two chapters regulate the status of the king. The very name of one of them is indicative: "On the sovereign's honor and how to protect his sovereign's health." The Council Code prescribes cruel punishments not only for rebellion against the tsar or insulting the head of state, but even for fights and outrages in the royal court. Thus, the legislative consolidation of the absolute monarchy took place.

The social structure of society is framed in the Cathedral Code, since it regulates the rights and obligations of all estates. Chapter 11 "The Court of the Peasants" was of the greatest importance. It is in it that the indefinite search for runaway peasants is indicated, which finally consolidated serfdom. According to the Cathedral Code, urban residents were attached to the place of residence and "tax", i.e. carrying out government duties. A significant part of the Code is devoted to the order of legal proceedings and criminal law. Laws of the 17th century look too harsh. Historians of law have counted 60 crimes for which the death penalty is provided for in the Council Code. The Code also regulates the procedure for carrying military service, travel to other states, customs policy, etc.

Political development of Russia in the XVII century. characterized by the evolution of the state system: from a class-representative monarchy to absolutism. A special place in the system of estate-representative monarchy was occupied by Zemsky Sobors (Scheme 88). The Zemsky Sobor included the higher clergy ("consecrated cathedral"), the Boyar Duma and the elected part ("curia"). The elected delegates of the Council represented the Moscow nobles, the administration of orders, the district nobility, the tops of the "draft" settlements of the Moscow suburb, as well as the Cossacks and archers ("service people on the device"). Black-nose peasants were represented only once - at the Zemsky Sobor in 1613.

As already mentioned, the first Zemsky Sobor in the history of Russia was convened by Ivan IV in 1549 (the Council of Reconciliation) (Scheme 89). Cathedrals of the 16th century resolved questions about the continuation of the Livonian War and the election of the king. special role The Council of 1613, which elected Mikhail Romanov to the throne, played in Russian history. In the first years of the reign of the young tsar, the Zemsky Sobors worked almost continuously and helped Mikhail in governing the state. After the return of Father Mikhail Fedorovich Filaret Romanov from Polish captivity, the activities of the Sobors become less active. They mainly dealt with issues of war and peace. In 1649, the Zemsky Sobor adopted the Cathedral Code. The last Zemsky Sobor, which worked in 1653, resolved the issue of the reunification of Ukraine with Russia. Subsequently, zemstvo activity fades away. In the 1660-1680s. Numerous estate commissions met. All of them were predominantly boyar. The end of the work of Zemsky Sobors actually meant the completion of the transition from a class-representative monarchy to absolutism.

The significant role of the Boyar Duma remained in the system of state authorities and administration. However, in the second half of the XVII century. its value is declining. From the composition of the Duma, the so-called Near Duma, consisting of persons especially devoted to the tsar, stands out.

High development in the 17th century reaches the command control system (diagram 90). Permanent orders were engaged in certain branches of public administration within the country or were in charge of certain territories. The defense of the country and the affairs of the service class were in charge of the discharge, archery, Pushkar, foreign and Reitar orders. The local order formalized land allotments and conducted judicial investigations on land cases. The embassy order carried out the foreign policy of the state. Along with the permanent ones, temporary orders were also created. One of them was the order of secret affairs, led personally by Alexei Mikhailovich. The order was engaged in supervision of the activities of higher public institutions and officials.

The main administrative-territorial unit of the state was the county. The system of local government in the XVII century. was built not on the basis of elected bodies, but on the authorities appointed from the center of the governor. Zemsky and labial elders obeyed them.

The social structure of Russian society in the 17th century. was deeply estate (Scheme 91). The term "estate" means a social group that has rights and obligations enshrined in custom or law and inherited. The privileged class were secular and spiritual feudal lords. Secular feudal lords were divided into ranks. In the 17th century this concept reflected not so much an official position as belonging to a certain group of the feudal estate. Its top was made up of Duma ranks: boyars, roundabouts, there were Moscow ranks - officials, solicitors, Moscow nobles. They were followed by the lower categories of the privileged class - the ranks of the city. These included provincial nobles, who were called "children of the boyars."

Most of the dependent population were peasants. Personally free members of the community were called black-haired peasants. The rest of the peasants were either privately owned, i.e. belonging to the landlords, or palace, or appanage, belonging to the royal family. Slaves were in the position of slaves. Attached to their duties were the inhabitants of the cities - artisans and merchants. The richest merchants were called "guests". Among the dependent estates were "service people on the instrument": archers, gunners and Cossacks.