- 1547 - Ivan IV is proclaimed tsar.
- 1548 - convocation of the first Zemsky Sobor.
- 1550 - adoption of the Code of Law.
- 1552 - the capture of Kazan.
- 1556 - annexation of the Astrakhan Khanate.
- 1558-1583 - Livonian War.
- 1565-1572 - oprichnina.
- 1581-1585 - Ermak's campaign to Siberia.
Territory of Russia in the 16th century
In the 16th century, the Grand Duchy of Moscow, which is now more correctly called the Russian state, rapidly expanded its territory. This rapid growth, which began under Ivan III, can be clearly shown with the help of numbers. Ivan III inherited the principality of Moscow from his father with an area of 430 thousand km 2. Through the efforts of Ivan III and his son Vasily III (1505-1533), their holdings increased to 2 million 800 thousand km 2. And by the end of the 16th century, the huge Russian state already stretched over an area of 5 million 400 thousand km 2. Thus, before the eyes of several generations of Muscovites, the size of their state increased by about ten times. (For comparison: the territory of modern France is about 550 thousand km 2, Great Britain - 244 thousand km 2.)
Territory and population
The growth of the population of the Moscow state lagged far behind the growth of the territory. Many new lands - areas between the Volga and the Urals, Western Siberia, the Wild Field - were sparsely populated or generally deserted. In general, the population of the country was about 5-7 million people.
The ratio of territory and population is expressed by an average value - population density. Even in the most densely populated regions of Russia (Novgorod and Pskov lands), it was about 5 people per 1 km 2. This is much less than in Western Europe, where there were from 10 to 30 people per 1 km 2. In other words, Russia in the 16th century was a huge, but desolate country. Its inhabitants lived in small villages, separated from one another by many kilometers of forests and swamps.
Russian politics in the 16th century
Culture of Russia in the 16th century
- 1564 - the beginning of book printing in Moscow.
16th c. in the history of Russia is rich in events. The territories of the former Kievan Rus, which were actively divided during the 14-16th centuries, were now completely divided, in Russia there were no more free lands left. All territories are completely dependent on Muscovite Rus or Lithuania; the princes of the appanages were members of the Moscow grand-ducal family.
Russia at the beginning of the 16th century.
The culture
In the 16th century. the culture of Russia developed especially brightly in such areas as painting, architecture, literature. Painting was represented by icon painting. In architecture, in addition to wood, continued. Churches and temples were erected. The tent style is widespread. Various fortifications were built. In the literature, the most relevant topics were those related to changes in political life (with the formation of autocracy). A 12-volume edition of Macarius has appeared - a collection of popular works for home reading. Written by "Domostroy" - a collection of tips and rules. They were printed ("Apostle" - the first accurately dated), which marked the beginning of book printing in Russia.
Formation of the estate-representative monarchy in Russia
The reign of Vasily III, who made a significant contribution to the history of Russia in the Middle Ages, fell on the beginning of the 16th century.
During his years on the throne, many events took place: the unification of the Russian lands around Moscow was completed, and Russia, a major power in Europe, was finally formed. After his death on the night of December 3-4, 1533, the three-year-old Ivan IV ascended the throne by will, under the patronage of the board of trustees and mother Elena Glinskaya. During the reign of Ivan, the estate-representative monarchy was finally formed.
From the beginning of his reign, Ivan the Terrible had strained relations with the boyar nobility.
But, despite his negative attitude towards the boyars, the tsar at that time was ready to compromise with them and involve them in work on reforms.
This was evidenced by the conference convened by the monarch in February 1549, which is often called the first Zemsky Sobor in the history of Russia. According to the chronicle, a compromise was concluded between the tsar and the boyars. After him, apparently, work began on a new Code of Laws, which was to replace the outdated Code of Laws of Ivan III.
At the same time, a judicial reform began, according to which small servants - the children of the boyars - had to be tried in all cities for all cases "to condemn murder and thief and robbery" not by the court of the boyars-governors, as it was before, but by the royal court.
In January 1547.
For the first time in the history of Russia, Ivan IV officially accepted the title of tsar. By this time, the situation of the masses had worsened, and the social struggle had intensified. In 1549. under Ivan IV, a government circle was formed - the Chosen Rada. In 1549, the first Zemsky Sobor (a representative body of estates) was convened, which included the Boyar Duma, representatives of the clergy and nobles. The council decided to develop a new Code of Laws and formulated a program of reforms, the main of which are the zemstvo and military.
Zemsky councils met irregularly and did not become a permanent authority.
In 1550, a new Code of Law was adopted, based on the Code of Laws of 1497, but somewhat expanded.
Its main difference is that for the first time the administration of justice was put under the control of representatives of the local population - elders and “kissing people” (jury participants in the court who kissed the cross).
According to the Code of Laws, responsibility for the crimes of the peasants was assigned to the boyar, the landowner was now called the "sovereign" of the peasant, thus the legal status of the peasant approached the status of a slave.
Compared with the Code of Law of Ivan III, the new one not only increased the number of articles from 68 to 100 and clarified some provisions, but also had features of novelty associated with the further strengthening of the state and central authority.
There was a further restriction of the court of governors, a narrowing of its competence and an increase in control over it from above. The court of lip chiefs was legalized. The procedure for issuing new laws was determined, which were adopted by the tsar together with the Boyar Duma. The Code of Law contributed to the formation of corporations of service people in the field.
The old tarkhan letters were canceled, and the issuance of new ones was prohibited, since the tarkhan letters freed the immunist feudal lord (on church lands) from paying taxes to the treasury from their lands. The abolition of tarkhans also contributed to the consolidation of state unity.
The Code of Law legalized the emergence of a new phenomenon - enslaving servitude, which was established for a period until the payment of the debt.
To prevent the transformation of enslaving servitude into a permanent one, the Sudebnik forbade taking bondage in the amount of more than 15 rubles and confirmed the right of a peasant exit on St. Under the Chosen Rada, the order system of central administration was fully formed, which began to form even under Ivan III.
Orders were organized both according to the sectoral and territorial principles, and the order bureaucracy - the clerical staff of orders - played an increasingly prominent role in the system of state power. The most significant attention was paid to military reforms, a streltsy army was created, which was supposed to weaken the dependence of the central government on local princes and boyars and on those regiments that they brought to war.
Unable to fully support the archers, the state allowed them to engage in trade and fishing. Another reform was the project of the "chosen thousand" - the "placement" of a thousand of the best children of the boyars near Moscow, about which the verdict was adopted in October 1550. This project, however, was only partially implemented.
Central government bodies were created - orders: Ambassadorial order (engaged in foreign policy), Complaints order (considered complaints addressed to the king), Local order (in charge of land tenure of feudal lords), Robbery order (searched for and tried "dashing" people), Discharge order (in charge of the troops ), Siberian and Kazan orders (in charge of the management of these territories), etc.
a streltsy army was created. There were several thousand archers. They received a salary, firearms and uniforms. Voivodship one-man command was established in the army.
The lip reform was completed: the robbery court was withdrawn from the governors and handed over to lip elders (lip - district), chosen from the nobles.
In 1556 the feeding was canceled.
In 1556, the Code of Service was adopted, according to which an armed horseman must go into service for every 170 hectares of land. Cash "help" was given to those who brought out more people than they should have, or who owned less than 170 hectares.
The one who brought fewer people out paid a fine. The service was carried on for life.
Localism was streamlined, which arose during the 15th-16th centuries.
The essence of parochialism was that when appointed to military or government positions, the origin of the service person was of decisive importance. Localism gave the aristocracy some guarantees of preserving its dominant position, but, above all, it nominated those who had long and faithfully served the Grand Dukes of Moscow. In order to avoid disputes in the middle of the sixteenth century. the official genealogical reference book was compiled - "Sovereign genealogy".
All appointments were recorded in the discharge books, which were kept under the discharge order. The Moscow ruble became the main currency of the country. But the Novgorod "money" was also minted, it was equal to the Moscow rubles.
Thus, the monetary, zemstvo, military reforms contributed to the formation of the estate-representative monarchy in Russia.
Ivan IV - the first tsar of all Russia and alternatives to reforming the country
By the beginning of the 1560s, a new period of the reign of Ivan IV began, the main content of which was the oprichnina (1565-1572), and the goal was to strengthen Ivan's personal power, the course for reforms was overthrown.
To understand the reasons for the changes taking place, let us return to the beginning of the life and reign of Ivan the Terrible.
His father, Vasily III, who by that time had already turned 51 years old, was looking forward to the birth of his first child and heir with great impatience. Having devoted all his strength to the expansion and strengthening of the kingdom, he did not want to transfer it to his brothers, of whom princes Yuri Dmitrovsky and Andrei Staritsky remained alive by that time, by virtue of their very position and feudal tradition were his rivals.
In Russian princely families, since Kiev times, there was a tradition in which an extremely important role was given to the father in the upbringing of sons.
The father and grandfather of Ivan the Terrible, Ivan III and Vasily III, under the supervision of their fathers, not only formed the main personality and character traits, but also took the first steps in the field of state power as co-rulers of their fathers. But Ivan Vasilyevich did not have such an opportunity. Shortly after he was three years old, his father died. The young Ivan thus became the sovereign under the supervision of his mother and under the guardianship of the board of trustees.
All this could not replace his father. His mother could not be for him a teacher of life to the same extent as his father could be.
Another difficult consequence of the death of his father for Ivan was the atmosphere of palace intrigues, conspiracies and constant struggle for power. The prince's sharp impressionable mind vividly absorbed everything that was happening and perceived it as the norm of relationships between people.
He saw the death of people he knew, including his relatives, thanks to which he deeply learned that a person's life does not have any significant value, and family ties and affections mean little. In less than 8 years, the Grand Duke suffered a new personal tragedy.
The political situation has changed dramatically. The period of regency ended, the boyar rule began, which was a revived board of trustees.
He matured and developed a resentment against the boyars, each new fact acquired unjustifiably great importance and deeply sunk into his memory. The development of this feeling was facilitated by the gradually forming idea of the divine origin of one's power over the state and of the servile position of all those who lived in it, including the noble boyars, towards it.
Unable to completely eliminate the independence of the Boyar Duma and the Church, Ivan the Terrible decided to take an unusual step.
In early December 1564, he left the capital on a pilgrimage to the monasteries. Such trips were made every year. But it has never happened before that the royal treasury, clothes, jewelry, icons were taken out, so that such a large retinue and guards would leave with the royal family. A month later, on January 3, 1565, the tsar sent two messages from the Alexandrova settlement. One of them spoke of the tsar's anger at the boyars, commanding people and "sovereign pilgrims" for their betrayal and atrocities.
In another letter, he addressed "black" people and merchants and wrote that he did not hold anger on them and did not impose disgrace on them.
Possessing, like any tyrant, the skills of a demagogue, he played on popular feelings and prejudices, exploiting both monarchism and distrust of the nobility, which had established themselves in the mass consciousness. And when on January 5 representatives of Muscovites came to Sloboda and asked Grozny to return to the kingdom, he set as a condition for his return the allocation of a special lot for him - oprichnina, where he would establish his rule and select loyal people for himself.
Another condition he made was to grant him the right to execute traitors without the church interceding for them. In the rest of the country - the zemstvo region - the previous order of government remained.
The word "oprichnina" has been known in Russia for a long time.
It came from the word "oprich" - "except" and meant part of the patrimonial lands left to the widow. Under Ivan IV, it began to mean a part of the country's territory taken as an inheritance. The oprichnina included some quarters of Moscow, part of the lands of the former Yaroslavl principality, some cities near Moscow, rich Pomorie, and later - the lands of merchants and salt producers Stroganovs in the Kama region and part of the lands of Veliky Novgorod.
But it is better known, since the time of Ivan the Terrible, a different, bloody and terrible meaning of this word has become, which was associated with the methods of conducting the oprichnina policy. The guardsmen were feared and hated, since the zemstvo man had no rights before them.
The broom and the dog's head, which the guardsmen attached to their saddle, became symbols of Russian despotism, tyranny and autocracy.
Prone not only to executions and reprisals, but also to buffoonery and foolishness, Grozny represented the guardsmen in the form of monastics. Therefore, they wore coarse robes, under which rich robes were hidden. The daily routine in Aleksandrova Sloboda, which was the center of the oprichnina, where the tsar often lived, was a kind of parody of monastic life.
Joint prayers and meals, in which the king participated, were replaced by torture in dungeons, in which he also took part. Being both a tormentor and an actor, he played the role of the abbot in Sloboda. At the same time, Ivan the Terrible, absolutely confident in the divine origin of his power, acted in the role of an earthly god, and the guardsmen were presented in the form of a devilish host, called upon to carry out punishments assigned from above.
On the oprichnina lands, a "bust of people" began.
Yaroslavl and Rostov princes and boyars were resettled near Kazan, where they were given land on local law. Their estates passed into state property and went to the local dachas of the guardsmen. The land policy of Ivan the Terrible, aimed at expanding the fund of state land for distribution to landowners, was a continuation of the policy of his grandfather and father, but with even more cruel methods.
The general indignation at the oprichnial events was very significant.
This forced the tsar already in 1566 to issue a decree on the "forgiveness" of all who were exiled to the Kazan region. Ivan the Terrible could not ignore the boyars, and even under war conditions. The discontent of the majority of the population of the oprichnina was supported by the church. In protest against the oprichnina, Metropolitan Athanasius on May 19, 1566
left the pulpit and retired to the Chudov Monastery. After a council with the Zemstvo boyars, the tsar proposed to the Kazan archbishop German Polev to take the metropolitan see, but he also persuaded Grozny to abolish the oprichnina.
Then the oprichnina duma came out against Herman, and two days later he also had to leave the department. Forced to take into account the opinion of the church and the influential zemstvo boyars, who were extremely dissatisfied with the fact that the guardsmen interfere in purely church affairs, the tsar agreed to offer the chair to the hegumen of the Solovetsky monastery Philip, who was called Fyodor Stepanovich Kolychev in the world and who was a representative of a noble boyar family. But Philip also made the abolition of the oprichnina a condition for him to be ordained.
With a protest against the oprichnina, this time massive, Ivan the Terrible had to face in July 1566, when the Zemsky Sobor, created by him, met on the continuation of the Livonian War.
The council supported the continuation of the war, but more than 300 of its participants submitted a petition to the tsar to cancel the oprichnina. This demand was a proposal to the tsar to make a concession in response to the concession of the council itself, which agreed to introduce new taxes on the war. But on the question of the oprichnina, Grozny did not make concessions. All petitioners were arrested and soon released, and three, who were recognized as the instigators, were executed.
The guardsmen showed themselves in the robberies of the population. But it did not always work successfully against an external enemy.
In the summer of 1571, the Crimean Khan Dovlet Girey burned down Moscow. Ivan the Terrible was so scared that he even fled to Beloozero. The successful campaign of the khan showed the fallacy of the division of the army into oprichnina and zemstvo, allowed by the king. Therefore, this division was eliminated. In the fall of 1572, the oprichnina was canceled.
Thus, Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible entered Russian history, and remained in the memory of the people as a bloody tyrant, the creator of the oprichnina and the culprit in the death of many people.
Goals, priorities, main directions of the foreign policy of Ivan the Terrible
During the reign of Ivan IV, the external environment of Russia was very unfortunate. Internal reforms went hand in hand with the solution of foreign policy problems, the most significant of which turned out to be Kazan by that time.
The idea of conquering Kazan has already spread widely in Russian society. In 1521, the Crimean Khan Mohammed-Girey succeeded in overthrowing the Russian protege Shah-Ali from the Kazan throne, replacing him with his brother Sahib-Girey. Soon he undertook a devastating raid on the Russian lands. The Tatars were stopped only a few kilometers from Moscow, but the danger of new raids remained.
Now, on the southern and eastern borders of Russia, a coalition of Tatar khanates, supported by Turkey, opposed. Therefore, in the foreign policy of the Moscow state in the 20-40s. the eastern direction is becoming a priority.
Since the end of the 40s. Russia is moving to more decisive actions against the Kazan Khanate.
The campaigns of 1547-1548 and 1549-1550 ended in failure, so the next campaign was more thoroughly prepared. The Sviyazhsk fortress, built in May 1551 near Kazan in just a month, became the springboard for the upcoming offensive. On the siege of Kazan, which began in the summer of 1552, a 150,000-strong army and 150 guns with mobile towers were thrown.
The city was taken after the besiegers managed to blow up one of the fortress walls. The Kazan Khan was captured and transferred to the Russian service. The territory of the khanate became part of Russia.
In 1556, the Astrakhan Khanate fell without resisting the Russian troops. After that, the Nogai Horde, roaming east of the Volga, recognized its dependence on Russia.
Participation in this campaign allowed Ivan IV to get directly acquainted with the position of the army, which contributed to the implementation of another military reform - the verdicts on parochialism in 1549.
The local tradition established a strict dependence between the official position of a person in the military or administrative service and the nobility of the family, and the occupation of a lower position in the service than the father, grandfather, etc., meant the ruin of the family honor. Local accounts, very complex and ramified, led to disputes that weakened the army. It was still impossible to abolish localism at that time, since the nobility was very tenaciously holding on to it.
But the verdict of 1549 put parochial disputes within a certain framework and limited their negative impact on the combat effectiveness of troops.
The Crimean Khanate remained a source of serious danger for Russia, for protection from which the construction of the Tula notch line was undertaken - a defensive line of fortresses, forts and forest heaps (“spotted”). Along with this, in 1556-1559. reconnaissance raids were carried out deep into the territory of the Crimean Khanate.
But the Moscow government did not take more decisive actions, firstly, because of fears of aggravating relations with Turkey, and secondly, in connection with the intensification of the western direction in foreign policy.
In 1557 the Livonian Order concluded an alliance with Lithuania against Russia. Military conflict became inevitable. Ivan IV decided on a preemptive strike, using as a pretext that the Order did not pay tribute for the possession of Dorpat (the former Russian fortress of Yuryev).
The Livonian War began (1558-1583), which was initially very successful for Russia.
By 1559, almost the entire territory of Livonia was occupied, Riga and Revel were besieged, the Master of the Order of Fürstenberg was captured. These military defeats forced the new Master Kettler to seek protection from Lithuania. Under the treaty of 1561, the Livonian Order ceased to exist, and Kettler became a vassal of Sigismund II Augustus as Duke of Courland.
At the same time, Sweden made claims to the northern part of Livonia, and Denmark to the island of Ezel.
The rivalry between these two states postponed their clash with Russia for some time. Therefore, the only enemy of Russia was Lithuania. In 1563, the Russian troops managed to take Polotsk, but further failures began to pursue them.
The geopolitical position of Russia in the West became even more complicated after in 1569, according to the Union of Lublin, Poland and Lithuania formed a single state - Rzeczpospolita, which, however, for several years could not start active hostilities due to the outbreak of internal strife caused by the disease and death of Sigismund II Augustus.
But, nevertheless, the danger of attack persisted.
Thus, the foreign policy of Ivan IV was aimed at strengthening the borders of the Russian state and protecting its territory from outside attacks.
Social and political structure of the Russian stateXvicentury.
Formed in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. The Russian state developed as a part of the global civilization.
However, one should take into account the peculiarity of the conditions in which this development took place. The territory of Russia lay in a strip of a sharply continental climate with a short agricultural summer. Fertile chernozems of the Wild Field (south of the Oka River) of the Volga region and southern Siberia have just begun to be developed.
The country had no outlet to warm seas. In the absence of natural borders, the constant struggle against external aggression required the exertion of all the country's resources.
Territory and population.
At the beginning of the 16th century, our state was called differently in official documents: Russia, Russia, the Russian state, the Muscovite, and at the end of the 16th century - Russia.
At this time, the territory of the country increased. It included the lands of the Kazan, Astrakhan Khanates, Bashkiria. There was a development of fertile lands on the southern outskirts of the country - Wild Field. Attempts were made to access the Baltic Sea.
The territory of the Siberian Khanate was added. After the annexation of Kazan, the Siberian Khanate became a neighbor of Russia in the East, which was of great interest to Russian feudal lords (new territories, obtaining expensive furs). The conquest of Siberia began in 1581, when the Stroganov merchants organized a Cossack campaign against the Siberian Khan Kuchun, who made constant raids on their possessions.
This campaign was headed by Ermak (Ermalai Timofeevich). In the spring of 1582, Ermak moved into the depths of Siberia, crossed the Irtysh and Tobol rivers and captured the Chuvash Mountain, which guarded the approaches to the capital of the khanate.
Kuchum fled, and the Cossacks occupied his capital Kashlyk (Siberia) without a fight.
However, Kuchum continued to attack the Cossacks, inflicting sensitive blows on them. Ermak found himself in a difficult position, since his detachment was removed from their base by hundreds of miles. Help from the Moscow government came only two years later. Kuchum managed to lure Ermak's detachment into an ambush. Trying to swim to his boats, Ermak drowned. The remnants of his detachment, suffering from a lack of food and scurvy, left Kashlyk and returned to Russia.
Ermak's campaign marked the beginning of a systematic Russian offensive in the Trans-Urals. In 1568, the fortress of Tyumen was built, in 1587 - Tobolsk, which became the Russian center in Siberia. In 1598 Kuchum was finally defeated and soon died. The peoples of Siberia became part of Russia, Russian settlers began to develop the region, peasants, Cossacks, townspeople and merchants rushed there.
By the end of the reign of Ivan IV it had increased tenfold compared to what his grandfather Ivan III inherited in the middle of the 15th century.
Its composition
rich, fertile lands entered, but they still had to be developed. With the entry of the lands of the Volga region, the Urals, Western Siberia and even more, the multinational composition of the country's population increased.
The population of the country by the end of the 16th century was nine million people.
Its main part was concentrated in the northwest (Novgorod) and in the center of the country (Moscow). However, its density even in the most populated lands, according to historians, was only one to five people per 1 sq. Km.
Agriculture.
It is necessary to pay special attention to the development of agriculture in the 16th century, since the overwhelming majority of the population was made up of peasants who lived in villages and villages (from 5 to 50 households).
The country's economy was of a traditional nature, based on the domination of a natural economy.
The boyar patrimony remained the dominant form of land tenure. The largest were the possessions of the Grand Duke, Metropolitan and monasteries. Former local princes became vassals of the Sovereign of All Russia. Their possessions were transformed into ordinary estates ("bribing princes").
Expanding, especially from the second half of the 16th century, local land ownership.
The state, in the face of a lack of funds for the creation of a mercenary army, wishing to control the boyars - votchinniki and appanage princes, took the path of creating a state local system. The distribution of land led to the fact that in the second half of the 16th century, the black-moored peasantry in the center of the country and in the northwest (peasants who lived in communities, paid taxes and bore duties in favor of the state) significantly decreased.
A significant number of black-moored peasants remained only on the outskirts (the north of the country, Karelia, the Volga region and Siberia). The population living on the developed lands of the Wild Field (on the Dnieper, Don rivers, on the Middle and Lower Volga, Yaik) was in a special position. In the second half of the 16th century, the Cossacks began to play a significant role in the southern outskirts of Russia.
The peasants fled to the vacant lands of the Wild Field. There they united in a kind of paramilitary community; all the most important matters were decided in the Cossack circle. Property stratification early penetrated into the environment of the Cossacks, which caused a struggle between the poorest Cossacks - the naked people and the elders - the Cossack elders. Since the 16th century, the government has used the Cossacks for border service, supplied them with gunpowder, provisions, and paid them a salary.
Such Cossacks, in contrast to the "free", received the name "service".
The level of development of agriculture in different regions was not the same. The central regions were an area of developed arable farming with a three-field system.
The development of the Wild Field, rich in black earth, began. The shifting system has been preserved here, and in the north there is a sweep. The main tool of labor was a wooden plow with an iron tip.
They grew rye, oats, barley; less often they sowed peas, wheat, buckwheat, millet. Flax was cultivated in the Novgorod-Pskov and Smolensk lands.
The fertilization of the soil has become quite widespread, which significantly increased the yield. In the north and north - east of the country, hunting, fishing and salt production were widespread; in the Volga region, along with agriculture, cattle breeding occupied a significant place.
Monasteries played a significant role in the development of agriculture.
Here, as a rule, the soil was cultivated better for sowing. Since the monasteries had privileges, peasants willingly settled on their lands.
Cities and trade.
By the end of the 16th century, there were approximately 220 cities in Russia. The largest city was Moscow, the population of which was about 100 thousand people. Up to 30 thousand people lived in Novgorod and Pskov, in Mozhaisk - 8 thousand, in Serpukhov and Kolomna about 3 thousand people.
In the 16th century, the development of handicraft production continued in Russian cities.
The specialization of production, closely related to the availability of local raw materials, was then still extremely natural - geographical in nature. Tula - Serpukhovskoy, Ustyuzhno - Zhelezopolsky, Novgorod - Tikhvin regions specialized in metal production, Novgorod - Pskov land and Smolensk region were the largest centers for the production of linen and canvas. Leather production was developed in Yaroslavl and Kazan. The Vologda Territory produced a huge amount of salt, etc.
All over the country, large stone construction was carried out at that time. The first large state-owned enterprises appeared in Moscow - the Armory, the Cannon Yard, and the Cloth Yard.
There is a further deepening of the division of labor. In Novgorod, one could count 22 specialties among metalworkers: locksmiths, tanners, saber workers, carnation workers, etc .; 25 specialties - among tanners; 222 silversmiths worked. The artisans worked mostly to order, but they also produced something for the trade. The exchange of products in Russia took place on the basis of the geographical division of labor.
Signs of the formation of an all-Russian market have emerged. In the 16th century, trade developed significantly. The northern lands brought bread, and from there furs and fish. In domestic trade, the main role was played by the feudal lords and among them the Grand Duke himself, monasteries, and large merchants. Gradually, industrial products and handicrafts were included in the sphere of trade circulation.
The largest shopping centers were Novgorod, Kholmogory, Nizhny Novgorod, Moscow.
A significant part of the territory of the cities was occupied by courtyards, orchards, vegetable gardens, meadows of boyars, churches and monasteries. In their hands were concentrated money wealth, which was given at interest, went to the purchase and accumulation of treasures, and not invested in production.
Development of foreign trade.
Trade relations with Western Europe were carried out through Novgorod and Smolensk. These links are established in
as a consequence of the expedition of the British H. Willoughby and R. Chancellor, who were looking for a way to India through the Arctic Ocean and ended up at the mouth of the Northern Dvina. Through it, in the middle of the 16th century, a naval connection with England was established. Preferential agreements were concluded with the British, and the English trading company was founded. In 1584 the city of Arkhangelsk was founded. However, the climatic conditions of this region limited navigation on the White Sea and the Northern Dvina for 3-4 months.
The Great Volga trade route, after the annexation of the Volga khanates, connected Russia with the countries of the East, from where silk, fabrics, porcelain, paints, etc. were transported. Weapons, cloth, jewelry, wine were imported from Western Europe, and furs, flax, honey, and wax were exported.
With the development of trade, a rich stratum of merchants was formed from various strata of society.
Privileged merchant associations, a drawing room and hundreds of cloths were created in Moscow. They received judicial and tax benefits from the government.
Analysis of socio - economic development in Russia in the 16th century shows that the country at this time is strengthening the traditional feudal economy.
The growth of small-scale production in cities and trade did not lead to the creation of hotbeds of bourgeois development.
Political system.
Before Ivan the Terrible in Russia there were two state departments: the Palace (management of the personal affairs of the sovereign) and the Treasury (money, jewelry, state seal, archive were kept).
The country was divided into districts headed by a governor. The counties were divided into parishes.
World history: in 6 volumes. Volume 3: The World in Early Modern Era Collective of Authors
RUSSIA IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE XVI CENTURY
RUSSIA IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE XVI CENTURY
In the spring of 1502, Vasily Ivanovich, the son of Ivan III and Sophia Palaeologus, was married to the “Grand Duke of Vladimir and Moscow” and became co-ruler of his father, and from the end of October 1505, after the death of Ivan III, he began to rule independently. (His nephew and contender for power, Dmitry Ivanovich, died in prison in 1509.) He continued the policy of uniting the Russian lands under the rule of Moscow, which by that time were still independent. Pskov and Ryazan remained formally independent by the end of 1505. But the Moscow grand dukes sent service princes to Pskov since 1399. Moscow kept control of his foreign policy and provided support in the confrontation with the Livonian Order and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. At the beginning of 1510, with the personal participation of Vasily III, Pskov was finally annexed. In 1521, the Ryazan Grand Duchy, which had been firmly controlled by Moscow from the middle of the 15th century, was also liquidated.
One of the priorities of Vasily III's policy was to maintain a balance of interests and forces in the ruling stratum. Ensuring efficiency in the management of the taxable population, in the organization of military affairs, in the implementation of foreign policy also required the unremitting attention of the sovereign. In the Duma of Vasily III, there were no more than 15-16 boyars and okolnichy, but to them should be added another 30-35 persons without a Duma rank who held the highest military and civil posts, as well as two or three "big" clerks. This was the closest circle of the sovereign. The clergy, the commanding people in the offices of the central bodies, the offices themselves have acquired much more weight. But the era of Vasily III is still far from the completion of the estate structuring of society in a single (centralized) state, as well as the formation of a logical system of administrative and judicial management in the center and in the localities.
The "political estate" of the state was formed within the court. Various groups ("palace parties") fought for prestigious military appointments (regimental commanders in large armies, garrison in large border fortresses), for significant posts in central government institutions, as well as in local government bodies (governors in leading cities). They fought for the Duma ranks (boyars, okolnichykh), for the possibility of influencing the decision-making of the Grand Duke. The groupings themselves arose on the basis of family ties, as well as the generality of posts, appointments and status. Gradually, the custom was formed to make important decisions on the advice of members of the Boyar Duma, in the norms of parochialism and parochial court, which somewhat limited arbitrariness in appointment to office.
The main concern of the state was to replenish the treasury and ensure the combat effectiveness of the armed forces. The generally favorable financial situation was ensured by the expansion of the territory (which meant an increase in the number of payers) and a relatively stable economic recovery. The surviving documents record the successes of internal colonization in most regions. Advances in the development of new and previously abandoned lands increased the number of taxpayers and, just as important, meant the tacit agreement of peasants with the level of taxation.
Another important task was the constant expansion of the fund of local lands. The basis of the army was a militia of service children of the boyars (they were also called service people in their homeland, since their service was passed from father to son). In the last third of the XV - early XVI century. there was a sharp demographic growth of this large and important stratum. Providing him with land (with the peasants) has become a constant priority of the state. It was during the reign of Vasily III that the estate became the leading type of secular land tenure, under which the quality of service of each nobleman was determined at regular reviews and the size of the estates was normalized. Mass movements of the former patrimonials continued from the annexed and conquered lands (Pskov, Smolensk, and a number of others) with subsequent placement. Some of the boyar children had the right to receive feedings - administrative and judicial positions, in the performance of which they themselves and their apparatus were provided from slaves with food, fodder, monetary levies, judicial and other duties from the controlled population. This traditional type of local government in a single state became an irritant for all class groups in the localities. Already in the 20s of the XVI century. the government of Vasily III is attempting to partially replace the breeders with city clerks from local nobles.
When assessing the size of the army as a whole, one must remember about the fighting slaves (together with their masters they participated in hostilities), the infantry (separate formations of mercenaries, detachments of squeakers from among the townspeople; both of them had hand firearms), gunners and other persons , serving field and serf artillery, and finally, about the taxable people involved in the transportation of artillery, ammunition, provisions, as well as for military engineering work.
Of the 28 years of the one-man rule of Vasily III, not a single year was peaceful; although the "declared" and ending with armistice wars took 17 years, but since 1512 the annual spring-autumn service in the fortresses was obligatory for all the serving nobility. So they defended themselves from the raids of the troops of the Crimean Khanate, from the detachments of the Nogai Horde and (in the "non-peaceful years") Kazan. From the end of the 15th - the beginning of the 16th century. the priority was the struggle with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania for the ancient Russian lands that were part of it. The successes of Russia, enshrined in the agreement of 1503, were ensured by military victories, the transfer of a significant part of the elite of the eastern regions of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to the side of Moscow, as well as skillful diplomacy, as a result of which only the Livonian Order remained Lithuania's ally at that time.
Initially, Vasily III headed for the continuation of an active policy. But in the long war of 1512-1522. only its first stage was really successful. In the summer of 1514, after the third siege, the garrison of Smolensk surrendered. However, in September, the Russian army was defeated at Orsha. Soon the approximate equality of forces was determined: Lithuania was unable to reconquer the Smolensk region, while Russia, despite some military successes, was unable to achieve new territorial increments. In 1522 a truce was concluded, confirmed in 1526 and later.
Expansion of economic and cultural contacts with European states was very important for Russia. The country was in dire need of architects, masters of serfdom, foundry-artillerymen, gunsmiths, doctors, pharmacists. It was necessary to ensure the possibility of their recruitment in European countries and to guarantee the passage of the hired specialists through Lithuania. The authorities made it difficult, and at times simply blocked their passage to Russia.
For the restructuring of the Moscow Kremlin, begun by Ivan III in the 70s of the 15th century, more and more masters were required. The Grand Duke's ambassadors most often hired them in northern Italy, in Milan and Venice. Aleviz Novy, who headed in 1505-1508, reached Moscow through the Crimea. construction of the grand ducal tomb - the Cathedral of the Archangel. Apparently, Bon Fryazin arrived in the same years, who built the pillar-shaped church-bell tower of John Climacus (it is customary to call a special type of Old Russian centric tower-like temple, which could combine a church and a bell tower, by Bon Fryazin; the work of Bon Fryazin is considered the first monument of this type). Its original height was 60 m; later, under Boris Godunov, it was built up to a height of 81 m; now better known as the Ivan the Great Bell Tower. Under the leadership of engineers, fortifiers, architects, stone carvers from Renaissance Italy, a unique ensemble of the Moscow Kremlin was created, the monuments of which became a clear demonstration of the new political ambitions of the rulers of Russia. It is impossible to overestimate the influence of the Kremlin buildings on the development of Russian church, palace and fortification architecture in the 16th – 17th centuries. Elements of architectural decor, first used in Russia by Italian masters (especially Marco Ruffo and Pietro Antonio Solari during the construction of the Palace of Facets and Aleviz Novy - the Archangel Cathedral), became the favorite motives for decorating Russian churches and chambers of the 16th – 17th centuries. Russian craftsmen also worked in the Kremlin. In particular, they erected house churches for the grand ducal family and metropolitans - the Cathedral of the Annunciation and the Church of the Deposition of the Robe. Several icon painters were involved in the creation of icons for the Assumption Cathedral, led by the most prominent Russian artist of this time, Dionysius (c. 1430/40 - between 1503 and 1508), whose talent was most vividly revealed in the paintings of the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Mother of God of the Ferapont Monastery near Vologda, made by Dionysius with his sons in 1502. Unfortunately, from his works for the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, only the hagiographic icons of the spiritual organizers of the Russian land, Metropolitans Peter and Alexy of Moscow, have survived.
An urgent problem was the assertion of the sovereignty of the Russian state in the international arena. This was then determined by the ratio of titles. At the end of the 15th century. the rulers of Denmark, Sweden and some other states recognized for the Moscow monarch the title of "sovereign, grand prince of all Russia", and in some cases - the royal title. The latter was translated into Latin as "emperor".
The official title of sovereigns was formed on the basis of a wide range of ideas that explained the origin of the power of Russian monarchs and the place of their "kingdom" among the world's empires and in the history of the church. During the reign of Vasily III, three works arose, mutually complementing each other. In the Chronograph "edition of 1512" Russian history fits into the world history, which ends with the capture of Constantinople by the Ottomans in 1453. Now Orthodox Christianity is embodied in Russia. This was consonant with the emerging theory "Moscow is the Third Rome", formulated by the Pskov monk Philotheus in his "Epistle" to the clerk Misuryu Munekhin: "All Christian kingdoms came to an end and came together in a single kingdom of our sovereign ... this is the Roman kingdom: for the two Romes fell , and the third is worth, and the fourth will not happen. "
The cycle "Legends of the Vladimir Princes" combined the "genealogical" legend about the origin of the Moscow dynasty from Prus, the brother of Emperor Augustus, with the establishment of kinship with the Byzantine Basileus, as well as the transfer by Constantine IX Monomakh of the symbols of power to Vladimir Monomakh. The theory of the "Third Rome" found here a diverse secular argument. These works soon turned out to be in demand practically: during the wedding of Ivan IV to the throne in 1547, in heated disputes about the titles of the Moscow sovereign with Lithuanian diplomats.
By the middle of the 20s of the XVI century. the question of the heir became extremely acute: the marriage of Vasily III and Solomoniya Saburova turned out to be childless. According to tradition, a second marriage was allowed after the death of a wife or her voluntary tonsure as a nun. At the end of 1525, the Grand Duke decided to forcibly tonsure Solomon, and in February 1526 he married Princess Elena Glinskaya. In August 1530, the future Ivan IV was born.
The divorce and new marriage of Basil III became, apparently, one of the hidden reasons for the gradual change in the attitude of the sovereign towards various trends within the Church. In the first decades of the XVI century. In the Russian Church, polemics intensified on a wide range of interrelated issues: about the attitude towards heretics, about church (especially monastic) property, about the degree and nature of the Church's participation in worldly affairs, and the grand ducal power in church affairs. The most clearly opposite positions were formulated in the writings of Joseph Volotsky (1439-1515) and Nil Sorsky (1433-1508), as well as their followers - Josephites and non-possessors. The first were supporters of a tough struggle against heretics, strengthening the power of the monarch and his role in the affairs of the Church, preserving and growing the possessions of monasteries and pulpits while guaranteeing their inviolability. At the same time, "acquisitiveness" found moral justification in active charity and the new practice of commemoration. Their opponents advocated a return to the norms of primitive Christianity, a poor church and asceticism. The leaders of both currents possessed great authority, while, in the face of a constant lack of land to house the service class, the position of non-possessors on the issue of monastic land tenure was understood by the grand ducal authorities. But in 1525, Metropolitan Daniel, who stood on the positions of Josephite, promoted the divorce of Basil III, and the supporters of "non-covetousness" Prince-Monk Vassian Patrikeev and Maxim the Greek condemned the divorce.
Maxim the Greek (in the world - Mikhail Trivolis; c. 1470-1555) in 1518, at the invitation of Vasily III, arrived from Athos to translate, correct and describe the Greek books. Excellently educated, he lived for a long time in Italy, where he communicated with many figures of the Renaissance and worked in the famous Venetian printing house of Al da Manuzia. In Moscow he was greeted with great honor. In the early years he translated Greek texts into Latin, and Russian translators from Latin into Church Slavonic; later he began to translate directly into Church Slavonic. In 1522 Maxim the Greek condemned the uncanonical, from his point of view, the appointment of Metropolitan Daniel without the permission of the Patriarch of Constantinople, and in 1525 - the divorce of the Grand Duke. In the same 1525 he was convicted and excommunicated on charges of heresy, espionage for Turkey and imprisoned in a monastery, then in 1531 he was again convicted. The conditions of the elder's detention were relaxed, but he was not allowed to return to Athos. Despite the fact that Maxim the Greek spent most of his long stay in Russia in captivity, he left a vast and extremely significant literary heritage.
Military operations in the first third of the 16th century. almost did not affect the main regions. This, as well as the well-known stability of taxes and property rent, the absence of massive epidemics, caused population growth, internal colonization and, accordingly, the country's economic growth. There were more cities, but especially settlements and rows with a fishing and trade population. There is no doubt an increase in domestic and foreign trade, including exports to Europe of especially valuable and ordinary furs, as well as the products of a number of crafts. Treasury revenues have increased markedly.
This financial base made it possible to implement the military-defensive program. The Kremlin in Nizhny Novgorod (by 1511), Tula (1514-1521), Kolomna (1525-1531), Zaraisk (1531) covered the southern border. Similar measures were taken on the western border.
Vasily III died after a long illness in December 1533. He left a completely satisfactory legacy: a prosperous economic situation, a generally calm international situation, a relatively conflict-free development of estate structures, the sovereign's court, and central government bodies.
Vasily left the state with a large personal power of the monarch, limited by individual institutions and traditions, based on the corporate unity of the emerging "political class".
After the death of Vasily III, Elena Glinskaya became the de facto ruler, removing the guardians appointed by her husband from power. After her sudden death (1538), the control of the country passed to the Boyar Duma, in which there was a struggle for power, mainly between the Shuisky and Belsky groups. The maturity of the young Grand Duke only increased the political uncertainty due to the uneven nature of Ivan IV and his susceptibility to outside influences. The unmotivated disgrace and executions of 1545-1546, open manifestations of dissatisfaction with taxing townspeople and squeakers demonstrated the need to strengthen the authority of the supreme power, turning it into the center of the consolidation of society. For this, in January 1547, Ivan IV was crowned with royal regalia. The second step is a change in the style of the monarch's behavior: his marriage in February 1547 to Anastasia Romanova, the end of executions and torture, regular participation in government, administration of justice, and military operations.
In the history of many states, transformations were launched by wars, often unsuccessful. It was at such moments that society felt the need for change especially acutely. In the destinies of Russia, this was repeated more than once, in particular in the middle of the 16th century. The war with Kazan is usually attributed to 1545–1552: in the spring of 1545, the first after 1530 campaign of a large Russian army near Kazan took place; it fell on October 2, 1552. The initial steps of reforms are traditionally dated to the period that opened with the wedding of Ivan IV with the royal title in January 1547, and ended with the first cardinal changes in the system of local authorities in 1551.
The "tsarist" campaigns against Kazan began in the fall of 1547. The fact that the Russian regiments were headed by the sovereign himself emphasized the primacy of the "eastern policy" and the "Kazan problem". This action is associated with the beginning of changes and social upheavals in the country, especially the performance of Moscow citizens after a catastrophic fire in the capital in the summer of 1547. Shocking for Ivan IV and his entourage was not only the murder of close relatives of the sovereign from the Glinsky clan (whose slaves, according to rumors, set fire to Moscow), but also the fact that the capital was for some time under the control of the taxing townspeople-men.
In such circumstances, the victory over the traditional enemy - Kazan - was very important. But due to unexpected thaws, the tsar returned from the campaign without crossing the borders of his state. The winter campaign of 1549/1550 was prepared much more carefully. This time, the main forces of the army, led by Ivan IV, approached Kazan. But the unexpected mudslide, the "great phlegm" did not allow the use of artillery and turned any attempt at an assault into nonsense. The double setback led to a change in the war plan and precipitated reforms.
Church of the Ascension in Kolomenskoye. 1528-1532
The decisive attack on the Kazan Khanate took place a year later. In 1551, the Sviyazhsk fortress was erected on the right steep bank of the Volga in less than a month. The "smooth" or "ship" army was sent to Sviyazhsk with food, ammunition and part of the artillery through the hollow water. In parallel, the formation of the main army and auxiliary detachments took place, which took control of the Kama basin. In June, most of the forces of the main army, led by the tsar, moved to the fortress along the Oka. Despite the undoubted inequality of forces, the resistance of the Kazan Khanate was long, fierce and initially successful. First, it was necessary to defeat the Tatar detachments in the rear of the Russian troops, then organize a siege of the fortress itself, with constant artillery shelling of Kazan. Even the undermining of the underground passage to the source of water did not shake the determination of the besieged. At the end of September, part of the fortress walls was blown up. On October 2, after many hours of assault and hand-to-hand fighting in the streets, the fierce resistance of the besieged was suppressed. The city fell. The Kazan Khanate ceased to exist.
The capture of Kazan was a milestone in the development of Russia, in the strengthening of its international positions. In 1554-1556. The Astrakhan Khanate was conquered, from the second half of the 50s the Nogai Horde passed to the status of a vassal dependence on Russia, then the Bashkir lands voluntarily passed under the authority of Moscow on the basis of full autonomy. As early as 1555, the Siberian Khan asked through his ambassadors for the "protection" of the tsar, promising tribute in sables. The entire Volga, from its source to its mouth, was under the control of Moscow.
The conquest of Kazan was fundamentally important in shaping the state and political ideology of Russia as an Orthodox Christian kingdom. The victory over a confessional and traditional enemy could not but be seen at the top of society as a sign of God's chosenness of the Orthodox tsar and his people. The accession of the Islamic Khanate in the era of the maximum power of the Ottoman Empire was regarded in a special way both in Russia and in Europe. Ivan IV now had additional grounds for the royal title - now “under him” there were two kingdoms. The title of sovereign was immediately expanded, and the argument itself was used in diplomatic disputes.
The memory of the capture of Kazan was immortalized by the erection of the Cathedral of the Intercession on the moat (St. Basil's Cathedral). The cathedral was built in 1555-1561. "According to the sovereign's vow"; both the royal customer and the builders who embodied his plan were true innovators. Eight pillar-like side-chapels of this temple are united on one base around the ninth - the central pillar, covered with a tent. The dedications of the thrones of each side-altar remind of the manifestations of miraculous intercession during the war with Kazan, and all together they symbolize the victory of the Orthodox army over the Basurmans.
Stone pillar-shaped hipped-roof temples appeared in Russia in the era of Vasily III. A true gem and, possibly, the first monument of hipped roof architecture is the Church of the Ascension in Kolomenskoye (1528–1532). Its architectural decoration combines Russian, Renaissance and Gothic elements in a whimsical and harmonious manner. There is a fairly reasonable assumption that this temple was erected under the leadership of the architect Pyotr Fryazin (aka Petrok Maly), better known for the construction of the first bastion-type fortifications in Russia, including the earthen and stone walls of Kitay-Gorod in Moscow (1535-1538). ... The customers of almost all known tent and pillar-shaped temples were the sovereigns or people from their inner circle. And all these churches marked the most important events in the life of their high-ranking customers, and, consequently, the state. According to one of the previously popular hypotheses, the Church of the Ascension in Kolomenskoye was a memorial church in honor of the birth of Ivan the Terrible, the Church of the Beheading of John the Baptist in Dyakov, which united five pillar-like chapels, celebrated his wedding to the kingdom, and the Intercession Cathedral - the victory over Kazan.
Modern research suggests that the church in Kolomenskoye began to be built even before the birth of Ivan, while the Dyakovskaya church is somewhat younger than the Church of the Intercession, which in this case is the result not of a gradual development of architectural forms (from simple and rational to more complex and decorative), but of bold innovation ...
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Vasily III, having ascended the throne in 1505, continued the policy of his father Ivan III by gathering ancient Russian lands into the Moscow principality. The movement for the annexation of Western Russian lands to Moscow was led by Mikhail Glinsky. He succeeded in 1507-08. to resist the coalition that the Polish-Lithuanian king Sigismund tried to create against Moscow, and in 1508, according to "eternal peace", all the lands that had already ceded to Muscovy were recognized for her (the upper reaches of the Oka, Dnieper and along the banks of the Desna). Another war with Lithuania in 1514 ended with the annexation of Smolensk.
The very cautious policy of Ivan III regarding Pskov, when suppressing the uprising of smerds there in the mid-80s of the 15th century, she helped Vasily III to liquidate the Pskov Republic in 1510 and, in order to avoid separatism, he resettled some of the boyars and merchants to the central regions, and settled nobles from the central regions of Russia in the Pskov region ...
In 1521, the independence of one of the most eastern Russian principalities, Ryazan, was abolished. Thus, the Moscow principality turned into a major power, and the Great Russian nationality acquired state unity.
During this period, it was difficult to build relations with the Kazan Khanate. Even under Ivan III, she recognized her vassalage to Russia. But after Ivan's death, she refused these obligations. Various representatives of the aristocracy came to power in Kazan - sometimes they were Moscow's henchmen, sometimes - its outspoken opponents. In 1523, a fortress was built on the Sura - Vasilsuryevsk - not far from Kazan, and in 1524 there was a campaign against Kazan. The city was not taken, but peace was concluded, which turned out to be very precarious. Therefore, the Volga trade was transferred to Nizhny Novgorod.
Roots domestic policy Basil III lie in the peculiarities of the internal political situation at the end of his father's reign.
· It is necessary to preserve the integrity of the state. But this was hindered by the ancient traditions of allocating inheritance to all sons. Ivan III wisely placed about two-thirds of the state in the hands of his eldest son. He deprived his brothers of the right to mint coins and trade, as well as the possibility of transferring the inheritance to his children - he was supposed to return after their death to the great reign.
· However, it was not easy to defend the integrity of the state. Vasily marries a representative of the old Moscow nobility, Solomonia Saburova, which gives him support for the Moscow nobility.
· In the intra-church polemics about ways to strengthen the authority of the Church, Vasily was forced to side with the adherents of a strong royal power - the Osiflians.
The essence of the disagreement Osiphlians and non-possessors: Nil Sorsky's supporters are non-possessors, they defended the idea of the Church's asceticism in order to maintain its authority. They condemned the "acquisition" of wealth by the clergy. Joseph Volotsky and the Osiflian clergy believed that to maintain the authority of the clergy and the Russian state, a strong and rich Church was needed, possessing large land plots and other material resources, making it independent from the sovereign. At the same time, it was the Osiphlians who defended the idea of the need for a strong state power, having a divine origin, supported by the authority of the Church.
Ivan III was inclined to support non-possessors. This made it possible to secularize church lands for distribution to the nobles, thereby strengthening the power. However, the church council of 1503 gave victory to the Osiphlians. Basil III in his struggle to preserve the integrity of the state was forced to rely on Osiflian church leaders. In 1508, the monastery of Joseph Volotskiy came under the patronage of the Grand Duke and began to provide the Church with broad immunity privileges. This undoubtedly strengthened the grand-ducal power, but until the era of Peter, a clear relic of feudal fragmentation remained in the centralized state - large church landownership, independent of the sovereign.
The churchmen did not remain in debt and ideologically substantiated the priority of the Moscow grand dukes in the unification process, served to strengthen the authority of the grand ducal power. The central idea that determined the goal and the historical mission of the Russian state was the concept of the "third Rome", formulated by the monk of the Pskov-Caves monastery Philotheus in a series of letters to the Grand Duke of Moscow and All Russia Vasily III. It was proclaimed that imperial Rome fell due to the lack of correct Christianity. The second Rome - Constantinople paid for the union with the Catholics signed shortly before the fall of the city. Vasily III - the son of the last Byzantine emperor and the world center of Orthodoxy moved to Moscow. Consequently, the power of the Grand Duke of Moscow is pleasing to God.
Despite the strengthening of the Russian centralized state under Ivan III and Vasily III, the power of the Grand Duke of Moscow was severely limited by the boyar aristocracy. This became obvious after the death of Vasily III in 1533, when, under the young son of Vasily Ivan IV and his mother and guardian Elena Glinskaya, in Moscow began the struggle of rival boyar clans, each of which nominated its own contender for power. At the same time, several conspiracies were formed at once in order to remove from the board the regent - the mother of the heir to the throne, Elena Glinskaya. The conspiracies of the Shuisky princes are revealed, as well as the conspiracy of Mikhail Glinsky, who relied on appanage princes. Andrei Staritsky, the uncle of the heir, demands an expansion of the inheritance, which at the end of the 30s also resulted in a conspiracy based on the Novgorod boyars, but they betrayed him, and Andrei was executed. After the death of Elena Glinskaya in 1538 (it is possible that as a result of poisoning), power passed from one boyar group to another and everyone increased their possessions at the expense of the grand ducal lands (1538 - power from the Shuisky, 1539 - Belsky, 1542 - Shuisky again ). However, the young Grand Duke Ivan has an imperious character. Mindful of the humiliations that he had to endure in childhood and adolescence from the boyars, Ivan IV unleashed a fierce struggle against their dominance in power. In 1543, he began to remove certain groups from power, to execute the instigators of the riots.
The first years of reign Ivan IV (1533 - 1584) were marked by important reforms, on the development and implementation of which a circle of gifted people close to the sovereign worked - Chosen glad (Alexey Adashev, Andrei Kurbsky, Metropolitan Macarius, Archpriest Sylvester, clerk Ivan Viskovaty - the composition of the Rada is diverse - here there are aristocrats and service people and the clergy). At the initiative of Macarius, Grand Duke Ivan Vasilievich was crowned as Tsar according to the Byzantine enthronement rite. "Kingdom wedding" was intended to strengthen the authority of power in society and raise Ivan IV over the boyars. In 1550, at the Zemsky Sobor, the first in the history of the Moscow state, a new set of laws was adopted - Code of Law... Among other things, the Sudebnik limited the power of the boyars - governors by transferring their judicial powers to elected representatives ("beloved heads") of the district service nobility - labial elders. In volosts, judicial functions were also transferred from volostels - proteges of governors to elected zemstvo elders. Ivan the Terrible abolished the feeding system and limited the principle of parochialism, so that people who were distinguished not by birth, but by high professional qualities were admitted to the military leadership. He created a rifle army - the prototype of the future regular army. Of great importance in strengthening the unity of the state was the Church's Stoglavy Sobor, which established a single corps of saints for the whole of Russia and eliminated local liturgical differences.
Foreign policy steps of Ivan IV.
Tatar khanates of the 16th century are fragments of the old enemy of Russia, the Golden Horde. And the Crimean, Kazan, and Astrakhan khanates formed a single coalition with Muslim Turkey and did not give Russia access to either the Black Sea or the Caspian Sea, holding the Middle and lower reaches of the Volga. Attempts to solve the problem of the existence of the Kazan Khanate through diplomatic means were insufficient. In 1551, on the right bank of the Volga, the wooden fortress Sviyazhsk was built - a stronghold in the fight against the Tatars. In 1552, the fortress was lowered down the water to Kazan and the siege of the city by 150 thousand Russian troops led by the tsar began. During the siege, Russian engineers made mines and built special siege towers. October 2, 1552 Kazan fell... The complex process of incorporating the khanate into the Russian state began, and a special Kazan order was created. This process was facilitated by taking in 1556 year also after the siege of the capital of another Tatar khanate of Astrakhan and in 1557 year swore allegiance to the Russian tsar Khan of the Big (Volga) Nogai Horde... Thus, the entire coast of the Volga became part of Russia, towns began to be built on the Volga to protect the borders and trade with the East. Russia received and actively used the opportunity to enter the Caspian Sea.
