The ancient Russian state of the 9th-12th centuries. Norman theory

02.07.2020

Story Kievan Rus officially begins in 882 - as recorded in the annals, it was then that Oleg from the Rurikovichs, having killed Askold and Dir, began to rule the principality with its capital in Kiev. His campaigns, as well as the wars of conquest of other princes, led to the fact that the lands under the hand of Kiev became more and more. Kievan Rus in the 9th-12th centuries is a large and developed European state.

Foreign and domestic policy of the ancient Russian state

From the very beginning foreign policy had several directions at once: it was necessary to resist both Byzantium, which spread its expansion to the Northern Black Sea region, and the Khazars, who prevented trade in the eastern direction, and the Pecheneg nomads - they simply devastated Russia with their raids.

Byzantium repeatedly tried to subdue Ancient Russia, but not all of its attempts were successful. So, after Oleg’s sea campaign against Tsargrad, a trade agreement beneficial for the East Slavic state was concluded between the countries, however, during the reign of Igor, after his less successful military operations, the conditions changed to less favorable for Russia.

The most successful in terms of foreign policy was the reign of Svyatoslav - he not only defeated the army Khazar Khaganate and Volga Bulgaria (having previously captured the Vyatichi), but also conquered the North Caucasian tribes and founded the Tmutarakan principality.

Rice. 1. Svyatoslav Igorevich.

He also concluded an agreement with Byzantium, after which he turned his gaze to the Balkans. However, the conquest of the Bulgarian kingdom in 967 turned an insidious ally against him: the Byzantine ruler supported the Pechenegs, they went to Kiev, but were defeated by Svyatoslav. He again returned to the Danube and, with the support of the Bulgarians, went to Tsargrad. The map of hostilities was constantly changing, either Svyatoslav or the Byzantine side took the upper hand, and at some point the Kiev prince decided to return to his capital, but on the way he was killed by the Pechenegs.

Economy and culture of Kievan Rus

Russia in the 9th early 12th century was a state with feudal land ownership. The owners of the land were not only the princes, but also the boyars and warriors, and a little later the church was added to them. The labor force on which it was based economic development Kievan Rus, there were serfs, serfs and other categories of the population. They took food rent from them.

As for culture, it was largely formed under the influence of the Byzantine tradition - this applies not only to architecture, but also to painting. His own literature was also formed under the influence of translated literature, but it was ideologically rich and artistically perfect. Most famous works of that time - this is the "Tale of Bygone Years", "Instructions" by Monomakh and, of course, "The Tale of Igor's Campaign".

The medieval state of Kievan Rus in the 9th (correctly - IX) century was formed by uniting the East Slavic tribes under the leadership of the Rurikovich. At the same time, the problem of the origin of statehood remains debatable. There is a Norman theory that emphasizes the foreign origin of the ruling dynasty. At the same time, another position, first expressed by Lomonosov, is based on the fact that the monarchy could not be formed without the readiness of the people for this, without certain social, cultural, and economic prerequisites. This dispute, in fact, has dragged on for centuries, there are enough supporters for both points of view. It is enough to know that there are several views on how Kievan Rus was formed, the term itself began to be used much later, from the 18th century, recognizing the dominant role of Kiev, which throughout the entire period remained the central, main throne.

Kievan Rus constantly expanded its geography, conquering new territories, although sometimes yielding. During the period of its highest prosperity, the state in the south reached the Taman Peninsula, the top of the Northern Dvina - in the north, the Dniester - in the west. The tribal composition was very diverse: Drevlyans, glades, Tivertsy, Sivertsy and so on. The advantage of the location itself is due to the fact that the principality lay on a major trade route "from the Varangians to the Greeks", which facilitated trade. In addition, the country was located in the actual center of Europe, uniting the eastern part with the western. All this helped to grow economic prosperity.

princes

The final formation of the state was completed with the appearance of the first prince, Oleg, who came from Novgorod and seized power in Kiev in 882, killing Dir and Askold. So, historically, he cannot be called unequivocally the first ruler, but it was from him that the famous Rurik dynasty went. Of course, even discussing such a phenomenon as Kievan Rus briefly, one cannot fail to say about Rurik himself. It is logical to start counting from him, the problem is that there is quite a bit of exact information about this person left, and some researchers generally consider him mythical. Of course, since there are references to his relatives in history, he himself clearly existed. However, everything else is already controversial.

So, Oleg went to Kiev, where he ruled for about 30 years until his death, conquering a number of tribes and freeing them from the need to pay tribute to the Khazars. The next prince was Igor, the son of Rurik, who ruled until 945, was killed by the Drevlyans because he decided to collect tribute from them for the second time. Since Igor's son was still too young, Princess Olga turned out to be regent with him, who cruelly took revenge on the recalcitrant tribe. And she was the first of the rulers to accept Christianity.

Her son Svyatoslav ruled until 975, when he was killed in battle with the Pechenegs. He became famous for military campaigns, under him Kievan Rus significantly expanded its territories and strengthened its own influence. The prince managed to achieve particular success in relation to Byzantium, where the invasion of the Slavs began to be openly feared. However, during periods when various peace treaties, the rulers managed to achieve significant benefits. For example, duty-free shopping for merchants and much more.

After the death of Svyatoslav, a struggle for power began between his heirs, which eventually won the youngest son Vladimir, who guessed to hide from his brothers in Scandinavia, and then return with a mercenary army. First, he seized power in Novgorod, from where he later moved to Kiev.

Heyday

Kievan Rus developed up to the period of feudal fragmentation. But the real state was crippled by the Tatar-Mongolian invasion, from which, in fact, it has not yet recovered. Nevertheless, at the time of its heyday it was a rich, strong, well-developed state, including in cultural terms, which was ahead of many European countries. Princely campaigns constantly increased its territory, which is shown by the map of Kievan Rus, for example, actually approached the possessions of Byzantium, which then remained quite powerful.

The main monetary unit was the hryvnia, the Arab dirham and the Byzantine liter were also used. Since the state was almost constantly at war, physical activities were encouraged. At the age of 12, the boys should already have been able to ride a horse, own all the main types of weapons, hunt, fish, swim, cook, repair clothes, armor and much more. At the age of 12, girls were supposed to be able to cook, clean, treat simple wounds, help their mother in all matters, and when Christianity came, they knew all the prayers and mended clothes. Moreover, the higher the position in the society of the parents, the more stringent the requirements became. So, at the age of 12, it was expected from the prince's heir that he would soon participate with his father in military campaigns, first as an assistant, and then as a full-fledged combat unit.

The level of culture was also quite high. Everyone was literate to one degree or another. Even Kievan Rus was famous for its architecture, both wooden and stone. Especially in this regard, the capital distinguished itself. They dressed quite richly, wealthy people could afford furs, fabrics embroidered with gold and silver. Great attention was paid to cleanliness, baths were very common. Perhaps this is the reason for the absence of epidemics, more typical for Europe of that period. The Principality was not in vain considered one of the centers of culture and civilization. Even if the topic of Kievan Rus briefly only devote time.

tax.

Starting from the 9th century, rigid centralized power began to form in Russia.

The territory of our country is located between Europe and Asia.
Any military actions of these parties passed through our
land and gave rise to constant extreme situations, therefore
constantly stood the task of being in combat readiness.
Based on this, we understand that our state
militarized for centuries. Europe and Asia for sure
influenced the formation political institutions,
cultural, and many others, which is why many scientists,
including Florensky, called our country Eurasia.

Christianity came to Russia in 988, and in 1054 it split into two directions: Orthodoxy (Rus) and Catholicism (the West). From this

moment the confrontation began, which at the end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th centuries. it ends thanks to Peter1 (the window to Europe).

Due to the above three factors, a special form of social organization of society has developed in our country.

If in Western countries the cell of society is the family, then in Russia it was a community, a collective, a corporation. For all these reasons, in

Our country has always played the decisive role of the state, centralized power.

We find the first mention of the Old Russian state in the "Tale of Bygone Years", which was written by the monk Nester in the 12th century and

tells about the events in the middle of the 9th century.

The Slavic tribes, who by that time lived in a rural community, sought to unite, quarreled among themselves because of the priority

authorities. Their dispute lasted a long time, and they were forced to turn to their northwestern neighbors, the Normans (Varangians) with a proposal to come

reign and govern the Slavs.

In 862 Varangian prince Rurik began his reign in Novgorod and Kiev.

In 882, Prince Oleg united the northern and southern territories.

Old Russian state was a vast and very unstable association due to the fact that it was united only by military

considerations.

At that time, the head of state was the prince. His throne was in Kiev. The prince periodically went “to the people”, this was called polyudye.

Polyudye is a way of collecting tribute from the population of the East Slavic tribes that existed in the 9th-12th centuries in Russia. Tribal. unions kept

own organization, the duties of their princes included the supply of tribute (carriage), mainly furs. The size was calculated proportionally

yards, and did not depend on the wealth of the owners.

The Old Russian state combined elements of the slave-owning, feudal system.

In the 10th century, the feudal system was defined.

Features of the feudal system:all land is the property of the Grand Duke.

An estate is a landed property that belonged to a feudal lord - hereditarily and with the right to resale, pledge

or donations.

Gradually attaching peasants to the land.

Significance of the adoption of Christianity.
The adoption of Christianity raised the status of the state, put along with Western - European countries, ties with Byzantium strengthened, the state grew stronger, the role of the prince strengthened, and also contributed to the development of culture and writing.
Feudal fragmentation began in the 11th century.
In 1097, a congress of specific princes took place in the city of Lyubech. A decision was made - each prince keeps his own land - a patrimony and passes it on by inheritance.

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How did the state of Ancient Russia arise in 9- 12th century
The process of the emergence of the ancient Russian state lasted for quite a long time. The state community was formed from the direct desire of the people to streamline the various issues in it. From the moment of its inception, the authorities could solve not only combat missions, but also ambiguities in court cases. At first, the state power did not pretend to participate in the homely life of a simple society. The people began to realize the usefulness of a higher authority.

In the east of Russia, the two centers of the Slavs of Novgorod and Kiev (in political interests) united into one whole state. But with firmness, the connection was established only at the beginning 863 d. Up to this point, the administration of the state was half independent, for the most part subordinated to the Khazars. Soon the first prince Rurik came to Kiev (the Rurik dynasty went from here). He laid the foundation of the state in Russia. The prince concluded an agreement on the management of affairs and the right to collect tribute from the local nobility. Just after the sovereign came to power, the road from Kiev to Tsargrad was opened.

The government of the state was not only inherited (as a rule, from father to son). But power in Russia could be transferred "according to seniority." For example, if the prince died, then not the eldest of the sons directly took his place, but his own brother, who became the eldest in their family. Thus, dynasties appeared, which became the pivot in state system authorities.

Mainly Ancient Russia in 9 -12 centuries inhabited by free community members (they were called commoners). The landowning community - rope (this name comes from the word rope, they measured their borders with it), included a social and economic unit of society. On its territory, it was responsible, and had to maintain public order. For example, if a corpse was found within the community, then it was necessary to find and hand over the killer to the state or pay for it. For the disposal of the land, the community also paid a tax (tribute) to the prince, whom, in turn, they considered the supreme owner of the entire territory of the land.
The formation of the state among the Slavs proceeded in several ways. They either submitted to one union of principalities (for example, Slovenia), or one of the tribal unions (Rus), except for the peoples of Bulgaria. They also united between the Slavic union of tribal principalities with the people of the Turkic race. The common frontier for all Slavs was that they were not included in the distribution area ancient civilization. Therefore the life of Slavic people developed slowly, in a peculiar way.

For the state, the most important thing was to consider political situations, such as: weak cultural contact with neighboring developed states, their aggressive aspirations; pressure from nomads; promoting the life of society; restriction of the use of maritime trade routes. The state of Russia gradually became at the head public life(in other words, the supreme legislator).

In Russia, commodity-money relations developed very slowly. The state power invested a lot in military spending, thereby limiting the material resources of the people. Soon there was a division of the people into "poor" and "rich". Some became boyars and merchants, having their own land holdings, and the rest of the population were peasants who served (as slaves) to their superiors. The men who were at the head of the tribal principalities turned into boyars, the senior princely squad. The squad in Russia were considered warriors who were tied to the prince. Less noble people were in the younger squad, which also kept close to the prince. All of them were servants of the sovereign. They performed various tasks: they took part in the trial and reprisals; collected tribute; ruled the country; helped in military affairs. Such squads were the lever of state power management and were very beneficial for ruling the country.

From its inception, the power in Russia showed a powerful organizing force that did not take seriously any resistance from society to its undertakings. Such addiction as coercion and arbitrariness was fundamentally laid at the foundation of state power. Also, the idea of law and order and legality did not become a universally significant value for the prince. He was not accustomed to the need to provide for his activities. The sovereign himself controlled the army and kept the defense of the country from attack. In almost all the campaigns that he conquered, he participated as the supreme military commander. And always stood in front of the troops.

Note that although society in Ancient Russia was considered quite primitive, it was rapidly developing economic sphere, agriculture, livestock breeding.

History as a science, methodology and theory of historical science.

Story- this is the science of the past of human society and its present, of the patterns of development of social life in specific forms, in spatio-temporal dimensions.
The content of the story serves as a historical process, which is revealed in the phenomena human life, information about which is preserved in historical monuments and sources.

History is a diversified science, it is composed of a number of independent branches of historical knowledge, namely: economic history; political; social; civil; military; state and law; Religions, etc.

The historical sciences also include ethnography, which studies the life and culture of peoples, and archeology, which studies history based on material sources of antiquity.

History is also subdivided according to the breadth of the study of the object: · the history of the world as a whole(world or general history); · history of continents(for example, the history of Asia and Africa); · history of individual countries and peoples or groups of peoples(Russian history). Exists auxiliary historical disciplines having a relatively narrow subject of study, studying it in detail and thus contributing to a deeper understanding historical process generally: · chronology- studies time reference systems; · paleography- handwritten monuments and ancient writing; · diplomatics- historical acts; · numismatics- coins, medals, orders, monetary systems, trade history; · metrology- a system of measures; · flag science- flags; · heraldry- coats of arms of countries, cities, individual families; · sphragistics– printing; · epigraphy- inscriptions on stone, clay, metal; · genealogy- the origin of cities and surnames; · toponymy- the origin of geographical names; · local history- the history of the area, region, region; · source study- a significant auxiliary historical discipline, investigating historical sources; · historiography- description and analysis of the views, ideas and concepts of historians and the study of patterns in the development of historical science.

But unlike them, history considers the process of development of society as a whole, analyzes the totality of the phenomena of social life, all its aspects of their interconnection and interdependence.

Theory and methodology of historical science

Idealistic understanding of history- idealists conclude that the basis of the historical process is the spiritual moral perfection of people, and human society is developed by the person himself, while the abilities of man are given by God

Materialistic understanding of history- since material life is primary in relation to the consciousness of people, it is economic structures, processes and phenomena in society that determine everything spiritual development and other human relationships
Exists special-historical research methods: - chronological- provides for the presentation of historical material in chronological order; - synchronous- involves the simultaneous study of various events occurring in society; - dichronous– periodization method; - historical simulation; - statistical method.
Principles of studying historical data
1. The principle of historicism- any historical phenomenon should be studied in development: how it arose, what stages it passed in its development, what it eventually became. It is impossible to consider an event or a person simultaneously or abstractly, outside of time positions.

2. The principle of objectivity- this principle requires considering each phenomenon in its versatility and inconsistency, in the aggregate of both positive and negative sides.

3. The principle of social approach- involves consideration of historical and economic processes, taking into account the social interests of various segments of the population, various forms their expression in society.

4. The principle of alternativeness- determines the degree of probability of the implementation of an event, phenomenon, process based on an analysis of objective realities and possibilities.
Essence, forms and functions of historical knowledge

History performs several socially significant functions.

1. Cognitive- the study of the historical path of countries, peoples and in an objectively true, from the position of historicism, reflection of all phenomena and processes that make up the history of mankind.

2. Practical-political function- history as a science, revealing the patterns of development of society on the basis of theoretical understanding of historical facts, helps to develop a scientifically based political course, to avoid subjective decisions.

3. Worldview function- history creates documentary accurate stories about outstanding events of the past, about thinkers to whom society owes its development.

4. educational function- knowledge of the history of their people and world history forms civic qualities - patriotism and internationalism; shows the role of the people and individuals in the development of society.

The development of Russian statehood in the 9th-12th centuries. Kievan Rus.

Ex. several prerequisites for the formation of the state. activities, there was a process of formation of social. groups. polit. - tribal unions, began to conclude temporary political unions among themselves. outwardly polit. the presence of external danger. The final fact was connected with the Varangians. They also had decay. in the 9th century Novgorodians and some Sev. the tribes fell under the influence of the Varangians and began to pay tribute to them. But in 859, the Novgos drove out the Varangians and stopped paying tribute to them, but the question arose about who should rule, so they turned to the Varangians to send someone to rule. Then Rurik came to power, after his death Oleg came to power. There is a chronicle created by him. scientists. Norman theory. this theory has both parties. and against.. Prot. believe that the arrival of the Varangian is a legend, because it is not known who the first princes were and where they came from, although archaeologists. Excavations show that the Varangians still existed in Russia, but their number. it wasn't great. Varangians laid the foundation for the first dynasty in Russia
The political development of Kievan Rus in the 9-12th century. In 862, Rurik came to power, but after his death, Oleg came to power, tried to seize Kiev, which became the center of the united state, by deceit. In 991, Oleg signed an international treaty with Byzantium. And already in 988 Vladimir converted to Christianity. In the 11th century, popular uprisings took place in Kiev and Novgorod, caused by feudal exploitation. But I, the wise, was able to suppress the uprising. This contributed to the creation of a code of laws "pravdayaroslav". After the death of the wise. The sons at first managed to coordinate everything. But due to the fact that certain areas of the country grew rich, fragmentation occurred.

Socio-economic structure of Ancient Russia. The main form of org. Pro-va was a feudal patrimony or fatherland, i.e. hereditary possession. The population engaged in agriculture. were called labor stinks, they lived both in peasant communities and in estates, the smerds who lived in estates were deprived of personal freedom. In addition to them, purchases, ryadovichi and serfs lived in the estates. Procurement- these are the people who borrowed from the owner and worked for their creditor until they worked off the debt. Ryadovichi concluded a contract under which they performed the work, and serfs, were on a par with slaves, replenished at the expense of captives. With the deepening of social labor in Russia, the number of cities grew. The city was an administrative, commercial and craft center. They were formed on the site of feudal castles, graveyards at the intersection of trade routes.

3. Formation of civilizations. Russia's place in world civilization.
The emergence of civilization is a natural result of the development of human society after the transition to a productive economy. Firstly, agriculture contributed to the sedentary nature of the “village. Secondly, it was the productive economy that made it possible to obtain sufficient yields so that a part of society could not engage in constant physical labor to obtain food. An opportunity arose to expand the scope of human society beyond the limits of agriculture.

The emergence of the first civilization. Until now, the problem of the very first center of the origin of civilization remains largely controversial. Almost simultaneously in several areas the globe, especially favorable for agriculture, several centers are formed. In the 4th millennium BC. the first two centers of civilization appeared: Sumerian - in the lower reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates (Mesopotamia) and Egyptian - in the Nile Valley. In the middle of the 3rd millennium BC. in India and at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. Civilizations are being formed in China on their own.

Slavophiles

Russian civilization is characterized by high spirituality, based on an ascetic worldview, and a collectivist, communal structure. social life. From the point of view of the Slavophiles, it was Orthodoxy that gave rise to a specific, social organization- a rural community, a “world”, which has economic and moral significance. Slavophilism is based on the ideology of pan-Slavism. At the heart of their idea of the special fate of Russia lies the idea of the exclusivity, the peculiarity of the Slavs.

Eurasians

The Eurasians, unlike the Slavophiles, insisted on the exclusivity of Russia and the Russian ethnos. This exclusivity, in their opinion, was determined by the synthetic nature of the Russian ethnos. Russia is a special type of civilization that differs from both the West and the East. This particular type of civilization they called Eurasian.

In the Eurasian concept of the civilizational process, a special place was given to the geographical factor ( natural environment) - the "place of development" of the people. This environment, in their opinion, determines the characteristics of various countries and peoples, their self-consciousness and destiny. Russia occupies the middle space of Asia and Europe,

It should be noted that each of the concepts that determine the place of Russia in world civilization is based on certain historical facts. At the same time, a one-sided ideological orientation clearly shines through in these concepts.