The Kiev boyars sympathized with the power of the senior branch of the descendants of Mstislav the Great, but external pressure was too strong for the position of the local nobility to become decisive in the choice of princes.
In the next period, there was a fierce struggle for the reign of Kiev between Monomakh’s grandson Izyaslav Mstislavich and the younger Monomakhovich Yuri. Izyaslav Mstislavich Volynsky expelled Yuri Dolgoruky from Kyiv several times because he was not notified in time about the approach of the enemy (Yuri’s ally Vladimir Volodarevich Galitsky was perplexed about this), but was forced to take into account the rights of his uncle Vyacheslav. Yuri was able to establish himself in Kyiv only after the death of his nephew while reigning in Kiev, but he died under mysterious circumstances (presumably he was poisoned by the people of Kiev), after which the courtyards of his warriors were plundered.
Kyiv continued to be the center of the fight against the steppe. Despite actual independence, other principalities (Galician, Volyn, Turov, Smolensk, Chernigov, Seversk, Pereyaslavl) sent troops to the Kyiv training camp. The last such gathering was carried out in 1223 at the request of the Polovtsians against a new common enemy - the Mongols. The battle on the Kalka River was lost by the allies, the Kiev prince Mstislav the Old, along with 10 thousand soldiers, died, the Mongols, after the victory, invaded Rus', but did not reach Kiev, which was one of the goals of their campaign.
After the Battle of Kalka, the Smolensk princes began to lose influence in Rus', including in Galich, and in 1228-1236 Kiev found itself in the center of a new large-scale civil strife, which was ended by the arrival of Yaroslav Vsevolodovich from Novgorod to Kiev in 1236, the year of the reappearance Mongols in Europe.
After his death Grand Duke Casimir IV did not recognize the patrimonial rights of his sons to the Kyiv land and gave it only as a lifelong fief to the eldest of them, Simeon. Both Olelko and Simeon provided many services to the Kyiv principality, taking care of its internal structure and protecting it from Tatar raids. They enjoyed great love among the population, so when, after the death of Simeon, Casimir did not transfer the reign to either his son or his brother, but sent the governor Gashtold to Kiev, the Kievans offered armed resistance, but had to submit, although not without protest. At the beginning of the 16th century, when Prince Mikhail Glinsky raised an uprising with the goal of separating the Russian regions from Lithuania, the people of Kiev reacted sympathetically to this uprising and provided assistance to Glinsky, but the attempt failed. With the formation of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1569, Kyiv, along with all of Ukraine, became part of Poland.
During the Lithuanian period, the Principality of Kiev extended to the west to Sluch, in the north it crossed Pripyat (Mozyr Povet), in the east it went beyond the Dnieper (Oster Povet); in the south, the border either retreated to Russia, or reached the Black Sea (under Vytautas). At this time, the Principality of Kiev was divided into povets (Ovruch, Zhitomir, Zvenigorod, Pereyaslav, Kanev, Cherkasy, Oster, Chernobyl and Mozyr), which were governed by governors, elders and holders appointed by the prince. All residents of the povet were subordinate to the governor in military, judicial and administrative terms, paid tribute in his favor and carried out duties. The prince possessed only supreme power, which was expressed in the leadership of the militia of all districts in war, the right of appeal to him to the governor's court and the right to distribute land property. Under the influence of the Lithuanian order, the social order. According to Lithuanian law, land belongs to the prince and is distributed by him for temporary possession under the condition of performing public service. Persons who received plots of land under this right are called “zemlyans”; Thus, from the 14th century, a class of landowners was formed in the Kyiv land. This class is concentrated mainly in the northern part of the principality, which is better protected from Tatar raids and more profitable for the economy due to the abundance of forests. Below the zemyans stood the “boyars,” assigned to the povet castles and carrying out service and various kinds of duties due to their belonging to this class, regardless of the size of the plot. Peasants (“people”) lived on state or Zemyansky lands, were personally free, had the right of transition and bore in-kind duties and monetary tributes in favor of the owner. This class moved south to the unpopulated and fertile steppe povets, where the peasants were more independent, although they risked suffering from Tatar raids. To protect against the Tatars, from the end of the 15th century, groups of military people, designated by the term “Cossacks”, have been allocated from the peasants. A petty-bourgeois class begins to form in the cities. IN Lately existence of the Kyiv Principality, these estates are only beginning to be identified; There is no sharp line between them yet; they are finally formed only later.
“The path from the Varangians to the Greeks,” which was the core of the economy of the Old Russian state, lost its relevance after the Crusades, in particular, the capture of Constantinople (1204). Europe and the East were now connected, bypassing Kyiv through the Mediterranean Sea.
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Kutuzov, accompanied by his adjutants, rode at a pace behind the carabinieri.
Having traveled half a mile at the tail of the column, he stopped at a lonely abandoned house (probably a former inn) near the fork of two roads. Both roads went downhill, and troops marched along both.
The fog began to disperse, and vaguely, about two miles away, enemy troops were already visible on opposite hills. To the left below the shooting became louder. Kutuzov stopped talking with the Austrian general. Prince Andrei, standing somewhat behind, peered at them and, wanting to ask the adjutant for a telescope, turned to him.
“Look, look,” said this adjutant, looking not at the distant army, but down the mountain in front of him. - These are the French!
Two generals and adjutants began to grab the pipe, snatching it from one another. All the faces suddenly changed, and everyone expressed horror. The French were supposed to be two miles away from us, but they appeared suddenly, unexpectedly in front of us.
- Is this the enemy?... No!... Yes, look, he... probably... What is this? – voices were heard.
Prince Andrey with a simple eye saw below to the right a dense column of French rising towards the Absheronians, no further than five hundred steps from the place where Kutuzov stood.
“Here it is, the decisive moment has come! The matter has reached me,” thought Prince Andrei, and, hitting his horse, he rode up to Kutuzov. “We must stop the Absheronians,” he shouted, “Your Excellency!” But at that very moment everything was covered with smoke, close shooting was heard, and a naively frightened voice two steps from Prince Andrei shouted: “Well, brothers, it’s a Sabbath!” And it was as if this voice was a command. At this voice, everything started to run.
Mixed, ever-increasing crowds fled back to the place where five minutes ago the troops had passed by the emperors. Not only was it difficult to stop this crowd, but it was impossible not to move back along with the crowd.
Bolkonsky only tried to keep up with her and looked around, perplexed and unable to understand what was happening in front of him. Nesvitsky with an embittered look, red and not like himself, shouted to Kutuzov that if he did not leave now, he would probably be captured. Kutuzov stood in the same place and, without answering, took out a handkerchief. Blood was flowing from his cheek. Prince Andrei pushed his way up to him.
-Are you injured? – he asked, barely keeping his lower jaw from trembling.
– The wounds are not here, but where! - said Kutuzov, pressing a handkerchief to his wounded cheek and pointing at the fleeing people. - Stop them! - he shouted and at the same time, probably making sure that it was impossible to stop them, he hit the horse and rode to the right.
The newly surging crowd of fleeing people took him with them and dragged him back.
The troops fled in such a dense crowd that, once they got into the middle of the crowd, it was difficult to get out of it. Who shouted: “Go! Why did you hesitate? Who immediately turned around and fired into the air; who beat the horse on which Kutuzov himself was riding. With the greatest effort, getting out of the flow of the crowd to the left, Kutuzov, with his retinue, reduced by more than half, rode towards the sounds of close gun shots. Having emerged from the crowd of those running, Prince Andrei, trying to keep up with Kutuzov, saw on the descent of the mountain, in the smoke, a Russian battery still firing and the French running up to it. The Russian infantry stood higher up, moving neither forward to help the battery nor back in the same direction as those fleeing. The general on horseback separated from this infantry and rode up to Kutuzov. Only four people remained from Kutuzov’s retinue. Everyone was pale and silently looked at each other.
– Stop these scoundrels! - Kutuzov said breathlessly to the regimental commander, pointing to the fleeing; but at the same instant, as if in punishment for these words, like a swarm of birds, bullets whistled through Kutuzov’s regiment and retinue.
The French attacked the battery and, seeing Kutuzov, fired at him. With this volley, the regimental commander grabbed his leg; Several soldiers fell, and the ensign standing with the banner released it from his hands; the banner swayed and fell, lingering on the guns of neighboring soldiers.
The soldiers began to shoot without a command.
- Oooh! – Kutuzov muttered with an expression of despair and looked around. “Bolkonsky,” he whispered, his voice trembling from the consciousness of his senile impotence. “Bolkonsky,” he whispered, pointing to the disorganized battalion and the enemy, “what is this?”
But before he finished these words, Prince Andrei, feeling tears of shame and anger rising in his throat, was already jumping off his horse and running to the banner.
- Guys, go ahead! – he shouted childishly.
"Here it is!" thought Prince Andrei, grabbing the flagpole and hearing with pleasure the whistle of bullets, obviously aimed specifically at him. Several soldiers fell.
- Hooray! - Prince Andrei shouted, barely holding the heavy banner in his hands, and ran forward with undoubted confidence that the entire battalion would run after him.
Indeed, he only ran a few steps alone. One soldier set off, then another, and the whole battalion shouted “Hurray!” ran forward and overtook him. The non-commissioned officer of the battalion ran up and took the banner, which was shaking from the weight in the hands of Prince Andrei, but was immediately killed. Prince Andrei again grabbed the banner and, dragging it by the pole, fled with the battalion. Ahead of him, he saw our artillerymen, some of whom fought, others abandoned their cannons and ran towards him; he also saw French infantry soldiers who grabbed artillery horses and turned the guns. Prince Andrei and his battalion were already 20 steps from the guns. He heard the incessant whistling of bullets above him, and soldiers constantly groaned and fell to the right and left of him. But he didn't look at them; he peered only at what was happening in front of him - on the battery. He clearly saw one figure of a red-haired artilleryman with a shako knocked on one side, pulling a banner on one side, while a French soldier was pulling the banner towards himself on the other side. Prince Andrey already clearly saw the confused and at the same time embittered expression on the faces of these two people, who apparently did not understand what they were doing.
"What are they doing? - thought Prince Andrei, looking at them: - why doesn’t the red-haired artilleryman run when he has no weapons? Why doesn't the Frenchman stab him? Before he can reach him, the Frenchman will remember the gun and stab him to death.”
Indeed, another Frenchman, with a gun to his advantage, ran up to the fighters, and the fate of the red-haired artilleryman, who still did not understand what awaited him and triumphantly pulled out the banner, was to be decided. But Prince Andrei did not see how it ended. It seemed to him that one of the nearby soldiers, as if swinging a strong stick, hit him in the head. It hurt a little, and most importantly, it was unpleasant, because this pain entertained him and prevented him from seeing what he was looking at.
"What is this? I'm falling? My legs are giving way,” he thought and fell on his back. He opened his eyes, hoping to see how the fight between the French and the artillerymen ended, and wanting to know whether the red-haired artilleryman was killed or not, whether the guns were taken or saved. But he didn't see anything. There was nothing above him anymore except the sky - high sky, not clear, but still immeasurably high, with gray clouds quietly creeping along it. “How quiet, calm and solemn, not at all like how I ran,” thought Prince Andrei, “not like how we ran, shouted and fought; It’s not at all like how the Frenchman and the artilleryman pulled each other’s banners with embittered and frightened faces - not at all like how the clouds crawl across this high endless sky. How come I haven’t seen this high sky before? And how happy I am that I finally recognized him. Yes! everything is empty, everything is deception, except this endless sky. There is nothing, nothing, except him. But even that is not there, there is nothing but silence, calm. And thank God!…"
On Bagration’s right flank at 9 o’clock the business had not yet begun. Not wanting to agree to Dolgorukov’s demand to start the business and wanting to deflect responsibility from himself, Prince Bagration suggested that Dolgorukov be sent to ask the commander-in-chief about this. Bagration knew that, due to the distance of almost 10 versts separating one flank from the other, if the one sent was not killed (which was very likely), and even if he found the commander-in-chief, which was very difficult, the sent one would not have time to return earlier evenings.
Bagration looked around at his retinue with his large, expressionless, sleep-deprived eyes, and Rostov’s childish face, involuntarily frozen with excitement and hope, was the first to catch his eye. He sent it.
- What if I meet His Majesty before the Commander-in-Chief, Your Excellency? - said Rostov, holding his hand to the visor.
“You can hand it over to your Majesty,” Dolgorukov said, hastily interrupting Bagration.
Having been released from the chain, Rostov managed to sleep for several hours before the morning and felt cheerful, courageous, decisive, with that elasticity of movements, confidence in his happiness and in that mood in which everything seems easy, fun and possible.
All his wishes were fulfilled that morning; a general battle was fought, he took part in it; Moreover, he was an orderly under the bravest general; Moreover, he was traveling on an errand to Kutuzov, and perhaps even to the sovereign himself. The morning was clear, the horse under him was good. His soul was joyful and happy. Having received the order, he set off his horse and galloped along the line. At first he rode along the line of Bagration’s troops, which had not yet entered into action and stood motionless; then he entered the space occupied by Uvarov’s cavalry and here he already noticed movements and signs of preparations for the case; Having passed Uvarov's cavalry, he already clearly heard the sounds of cannon and gunfire ahead of him. The shooting intensified.
In the fresh morning air there were no longer, as before, at irregular intervals, two, three shots and then one or two gun shots, and along the slopes of the mountains, in front of Pratzen, the rolls of gunfire were heard, interrupted by such frequent shots from guns that sometimes several cannon shots were no longer separated from each other, but merged into one common roar.
It was visible how the smoke of the guns seemed to run along the slopes, catching up with each other, and how the smoke of the guns swirled, blurred and merged with one another. Visible, from the shine of the bayonets between the smoke, were the moving masses of infantry and narrow strips of artillery with green boxes.
Territory Until the middle of the 12th century, the Principality of Kiev occupied significant areas on both banks of the Dnieper, bordering the Polotsk land in the north-west, Chernigov - in the north-east, Poland in the west, the Principality of Galicia - in the south-west and the Polovtsian steppe in the south-east . Only later did the lands west of Goryn and Sluch go to the Volyn land, Pereyaslavl, Pinsk and Turov also separated from Kyiv.
The Principality of Kiev is located in the Middle Dnieper region; n These lands were located in the forest and forest-steppe zone, and were the richest in the state; n In addition to the fertile black soil, which ensured the development of agriculture, there was enough wood and minerals that were widely used in craft production; n n Rivers - the Dnieper, Desna, Pripyat, Southern Bug - connected the Principality of Kiev with other lands of Rus', as well as with foreign trade markets.
n By that time, there were about 80 cities in the principality. Among them are Kyiv, Kanev, Cherkassy, Ovruch, Zhitomir, Vyshgorod, Belgorod, Chernobyl, Mozyr, Iskorosten, Vozvyagel, Guben and others. Big cities, as a rule, were located in the forest-steppe zone, and along southern borders built fortified cities.
Kyiv n Kyiv was the capital of the principality and at the same time remained the largest economic and cultural center of the entire of Eastern Europe. The population of Kyiv at that time was about 50 thousand people. The courtyards of boyars and merchants and large craft workshops were located here.
Social composition of the population and political system n The people who served the prince and made up his squad were a special class of the Kyiv population. Service to the prince was considered honorable and gave the warriors a high social position. Only in the princely service could one become a “boyar,” that is, join the ranks of the then aristocracy.
The rest of Kyiv society consisted of two main strata: free people and slaves. With the development of urban life and trading activities among free people, they began to distinguish city dwellers from the rural population. n The townspeople were called “city people” and were divided into “the best”, or “the best”, that is, the wealthy, and the poor. According to their occupations, they were called “merchants” and “artisans”. n
n The rural population was called Smerds. The Smerdas were free people, they had their own arable land and their own farm. If a smerd became a farm laborer for another landowner and worked on his land, using the owner’s livestock and tools, then he was no longer considered an independent person and was called “zakup”. Zakup, however, was not a slave: he could become a smerd again, if only he could pay off his master and start his own farm. The Smerds lived in communities called “vervi”, or “pogosta”, and paid taxes to the prince.
n Separate from the worldly population, subordinate to the princes and councils, stood the church society known to us, subordinate to the Russian metropolitan: the clergy, monasteries, outcasts and church workers, “suffering” people. As in pagan times, servility, that is, slavery, continued to exist. The influence of Christianity softened the attitude of masters towards their slaves, but could not eradicate the custom itself. n In the master's "boyar" villages, the entire working population usually consisted of "servants", that is, slaves who plowed the arable land for their master and ran his entire household. n
Trade n “The path from the Varangians to the Greeks”, which was the core Old Russian state, lost its relevance after the loss by Russia of the cities of Sarkel on the Don, Tmutarakan and Kerch on the Black Sea and Crusades. Europe and the East were now connected by bypassing Kyiv (through the Mediterranean Sea and through the Volga trade route).
n In the south, the Principality of Kiev bordered on the lands of the Polovtsian nomads. The Polovtsians often raided the Kyiv land, plundered and ruined it. Therefore, defensive systems were built to protect against nomads.
The peculiarity of the Principality of Kyiv was a large number of old boyar estates with fortified castles, concentrated in the old land of glades to the south of Kyiv. n To protect these estates from the Polovtsians, back in the 11th century, significant masses of nomads expelled by the Polovtsians from the steppes were settled along the Ros River: Turks, Pechenegs and Berendeys, united by a common name - Black Klobuks. n
Church The entire ancient Russian territory constituted a single metropolitanate, ruled by the Metropolitan of All Rus'. The residence of the metropolitan until 1299 was located in Kyiv, then it was divided into 2 metropolises - with centers in Vladimir-Zalessky and Galich. n The separate Kiev Metropolis became isolated only in the 15th century. n
Rulers n n n n n Yaropolk Vladimirovich (1132 - 1139) Vyacheslav Vladimirovich (1139) Vsevolod Olgovich (1139-1146) Igor Olgovich (1146) Izyaslav Mstislavich (1146-1149) Yuri Vladimirovich Dolgoruky (1149-1151) Vyacheslav Vlad imirovich (1150) Izyaslav Mstislavich (1150 ) Yuri Vladimirovich Dolgoruky (1150-1151) Izyaslav Mstislavich, Vyacheslav Vladimirovich (duumvirate) (1151-1154) n n n n n Rostislav Mstislavich (1154) Izyaslav Davydovich (1154-1155) Yuri Vladimirovich Dolgoruky (1155-1157) Izya Slav Davydovich (1157-1158) Rostislav Mstislavich (1159 - 1162) Izyaslav Davydovich (1162) Rostislav Mstislavich (1162 - 1167) Vladimir Mstislavich (1167) Mstislav Izyaslavich (1167 - 1169)
n n n n n Gleb Yuryevich (1169) Mstislav Izyaslavich (1169-1170) Gleb Yuryevich (1170-1171) Vladimir Mstislavich (1171) Roman Rostislavich (1171-1173) Vsevolod Yuryevich Big Nest(Vladimirsky) (1173) Rurik Rostislavich (1173) Yaroslav Izyaslavich (Volynsky) (1174) Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich (1174) n n n n n Yaroslav Izyaslavich (Volynsky) (1175) Roman Rostislavich (1175-1177) Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich (1177-1180) Rurik Rostisla hiv ( 1180-1181) Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich (1181-1194) Rurik Rostislavich (1194-1201) Ingvar Yaroslavich (1201-1203) Rurik Rostislavich (1203) Rostislav Rurikovich (1203-1205) Rurik Rostislavich (1206)
n n n Vsevolod Svyatoslavich Chermny (1206-1207) Rurik Rostislavich (1207-1210) Vsevolod Svyatoslavich Chermny (1210-1214) Ingvar Yaroslavich (1214) Mstislav Romanovich (1214-1223) Vladimir Rurikovich (1223-1235) Izyaslav Vladimi Rovich (1235 - 1236) Yaroslav Vsevolodovich (1236 - 1238) Mikhail Vsevolodovich (1238-1239) Rostislav Mstislavich (1239-1240) Daniil Romanovich Galitsky (1240-1241) n n n Mikhail Vsevolodovich Saint (1241-1243) Yaroslav Vsevolodovich (1243 - 1246) Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky (1246 - 1263) Yaroslavich Vladimir Ivanovich 1300 Stanislav Ivanovich 1324 Fedor (1324-1362) Vladimir Olgerdovich (1362 - 1395) Skirgailo Olgerdovich (1395-1396) Ivan Borisovich (1396-1399) Olelko (Alexander) Vladimi Rovich (1443-1454) Simeon Alexandrovich (1454 - 1471)
n Mstislav-Fyodor Vladimirovich the Great - Grand Duke of Kiev (1076 - 1132), son of Vladimir Monomakh. Several times he was a prince in Novgorod, acting in complete unity with the Novgorodians and contributing to the strengthening and beautification of the city. He married a Novgorod woman, the daughter of a mayor. When Monomakh died in 1125, Mstislav became the prince of Kyiv and, having established good relations with the people of Kiev, took a position of power in the princely environment. Owning Kiev, Novgorod, Smolensk, Posem and Polotsk, Mstislav created the strongest power within the Russian principalities. Its unity, however, did not survive him; His attempt to secure Kyiv for his family, and for its owner a position of power in Rus', also failed. By defeating the Polovtsians and campaigning against Lithuania and Chud, Mstislav secured the Russian borders, and through marriage alliances with the Scandinavian states and Byzantium he secured a peaceful neighborhood with them. Following the tradition of Vsevolod's house, he allowed Byzantium to play an overly influential role in the affairs of the Russian church: this harmed the independence of the latter, but Mstislav led to canonization, albeit partial.
The role of the Principality of Kyiv in Ancient Rus' At first, the Principality of Kiev was a political center and played a large role in Ancient Rus'. However, in the 12th century, Kievan Rus disintegrated into independent principalities, i.e., in the era of feudal fragmentation. n The land of Kyiv, which transformed from a metropolis into a “simple” principality, was characterized by a steady decrease political role. n The territory of the land itself, which remained under the control of the Kyiv prince, was also constantly decreasing. n In 1169, Kyiv, for the first time in the practice of princely strife, was taken by storm and plundered, and for the first time, the prince who took possession of the city did not remain to reign in it, placing his protege in charge. Andrei was recognized as the eldest and bore the title of Grand Duke, but made no attempt to sit in Kyiv. Thus, the traditional connection between the reign of Kyiv and the recognition of eldership in the princely family became optional. n
The Principality of Kiev separated from the Old Russian state with the beginning of feudal fragmentation in the 30s. 12th century The territory of the Kyiv principality covered the lands of the glades and Drevlyans along the Dnieper and its tributaries - Pripyat, Teterev, Irpen and Ros and part of the left bank opposite Kyiv. Strengthening others feudal principalities and the intensification of the struggle between the princes led to the capture of Kyiv by the troops of Andrei Bogolyubsky and the transfer of the grand-ducal table to Vladimir. Caucasus suffered greatly during the Mongol-Tatar invasion (1240). In the 2nd half of the 13th century. The Kyiv princely table remained unoccupied. In 1362 K. k. was included in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Although it has lost its significance as the political center of Russian lands, Kyiv, however, has retained its historical glory as the “mother of Russian cities.” It also remained the ecclesiastical center of the Russian lands. Here was concentrated greatest number large private estates and the largest amount of arable land was located. In Kiev itself and the cities of the Kyiv land - Vyshgorod, Belgorod, Vasilyev, Turov, Vitichev and others, thousands of artisans still worked, whose products were famous not only in Rus', but also far beyond its borders.
The death of Mstislav the Great in 1132 and the subsequent struggle for the Kiev throne between the Monomakhovichs and Olgovichs became a turning point in the history of Kyiv. It was in the 30-40s of the 12th century. he irrevocably lost control over the Rostov-Suzdal land, where the energetic and power-hungry Yuri Dolgoruky ruled, over Novgorod and Smolensk, whose boyars themselves began to select princes for themselves. After the death of Monomakh's son Mstislav the Great (1132), Kyiv was a bone of contention between the princes and the scene of numerous strife until 1169. The city was burned and plundered by Bogolyubsky's warriors. Some of the Kyivans were exterminated, some were taken into captivity. The importance of Kyiv as the political center of Russian lands began to decline. After another struggle, the Kiev throne passes to Prince Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich, the grandson of Oleg of Chernigov. It is he who is described by the author of the Lay as a powerful and imperious prince who was an authority for all Russian lands. It was he who persuaded his cousin, the young Seversk prince Igor, the hero of “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign,” to postpone the campaign against the Polovtsians and wait for the gathering of all-Russian forces. However, Igor Svyatoslavich did not heed the voice of the cautious princes and moved into the steppe without preparation, which doomed him to defeat. For the Kyiv land, big European politics, long campaigns in the heart of Europe, the Balkans, Byzantium and the East are a thing of the past. Now foreign policy Kyiv is limited to two directions: the previous exhausting struggle with the Polovtsians continues. In addition, the Vladimir-Suzdal principality, which, under Yuri Dolgoruky, captured Pereyaslavl and now threatened Kyiv, is becoming a new strong enemy. After the death of Yuri Dolgoruky, the Vladimir-Suzdal throne passed to his son Andrei Bogolyubsky, who in the 60s already laid claim to the senior prince's rights to Kyiv. The Vladimir-Suzdal prince approached Kyiv in 1169 with his allies, other princes. After a three-day siege, the squads of the princes besieging Kyiv burst into the city. For the first time in its history, Kyiv was taken “on the shield” and not by external enemies, not by the Pechenegs, Torques or Polovtsians, but by the Russians themselves. However, the storm passed and Kyiv, despite this brutal defeat, continued to live the full life of the capital of a large principality. Andrei Bogolyubsky, having subjugated Kyiv and officially received the title of Grand Duke of Kyiv, did not move there; he gave the reign of Kiev first to his brother Gleb, and after his death to the Smolensk prince Roman Rostislavich (1172). The Principality of Kiev achieved a certain stability and prosperity under the already mentioned Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich (1180-1194), who shared power in the principality with his co-ruler Rurik Rostislavich. Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich made a victorious campaign against the Polovtsian Khan Kobyak in 1183. Thus, the Kyiv boyars sometimes united representatives of warring princely clans on the throne and avoided another civil strife. When Svyatoslav died, then Rurik Rostislavich beginning of XIII V. shared power with Roman Mstislavich Volynsky, the great-great-grandson of Monomakh, who claimed the Kiev throne. Then a struggle began between the co-rulers. And again the Vladimir-Suzdal prince, this time the famous Vsevolod the Big Nest, brother of Andrei Bogolyubsky, who had been killed by this time, intervened in Kyiv affairs. During the struggle between the warring parties, Kyiv changed hands several times. In the end, the victorious Rurik burned Podol and plundered Saint Sophia Cathedral and the Church of the Tithes - Russian shrines. His allies, the Polovtsians, plundered the Kyiv land, took people captive, chopped up old monks in monasteries, and “took young monks, wives and daughters of Kiev to their camps.” This is how the city was plundered by its recent ruler. Roman then captured Rurik and tonsured him and his entire family as monks. And soon the new winner also died: he was killed by the Poles during a hunt, as he had gone too far while staying in his western possessions. This was in 1205. In the fire of internecine struggle, Russian princes died one after another, Russian cities burned.
The Principality of Kiev consisted of lands washed by the middle course of the Dnieper, the western tributaries of the Dnieper - from Uzh in the north to Ros in the south, and the southern tributary of Pripyat by the Sluch River. total area the principality was smaller than the Suzdal land. Chernigov, Smolensk, Polotsk principalities or Volyn land. There were virtually no borders in the south. It is difficult to say where the land of Kiev ended and where the territory of the steppe nomads of the Polovtsians began. An approximate, although movable, dividing line can be drawn from the southern reaches of the Ros River to the headwaters of the Southern Bug. The eastern border between Kiev, on the one hand, and Chernigov and Pereyaslavl, on the other, ran along the Dnieper, although the 15-kilometer strip of land east of the Dnieper between the Desna and Trubezh belonged to Kyiv. In the north, the border with the Turovo-Pinsk principality ran along the southern course of the Prinyat River, and the western border of Kyiv with the Volyn land ran along a line east of the headwaters of the Goryn River.
The city of Kyiv itself, built on the hills, was ideally located militarily. Near Kiev were the well-fortified cities of Vruchy (or Ovruch, as it was sometimes called), Vyshgorod and Belgorod, which controlled the approaches to the capital from the north-west, west and south-west, respectively. From the south, Kyiv was covered by a system of forts built along the banks of the Dnieper and a number of well-defended cities on the Ros River.
A feature of the Kyiv principality was a large number of old boyar estates with fortified castles, concentrated in the old land of glades to the south of Kyiv. To protect these estates from the Polovtsians, back in the 11th century, significant masses of nomads expelled by the Polovtsians from the steppes were settled along the Ros River (in “Porosye”): Torks, Pechenegs and Berendeys, united in the 12th century under a common name - Black Klobuki. They seemed to anticipate the future border noble cavalry and carried border service on the vast steppe space between the Dnieper, Stugna and Ros. Along the banks of the Ros, cities populated by the Chernoklobutsk nobility arose (Yuryev, Torchesk, Korsun, Dveren, etc.). The capital of the semi-autonomous Porosie was either Kanev or Torchesk, a huge city with two fortresses on the northern bank of the Ros. Black Cowls played an important role in political life Rus' XII centuries and often influenced the choice of one prince or another.
From an economic point of view, the Dnieper provided direct communication not only with the Black Sea, but also connected the city with the Baltic through the Berezina and Western Dvina, with the Oka and Don - along the Desna and Seim, and with the Dniester and Neman basins - along Pripyat and the Western Bug.
At the beginning of the 12th century, under the great rulers Vladimir Monomakh(1113-1125) and his son Mstislav the Great(1125-1132) the limits of the territories under their control were not strictly defined. It is difficult to say whether there were borders under them that separated what later became known as the Principality of Kyiv and the Volyn land, Turovo-Pinsk, Smolensk and Southern Pereyaslavl, which were under the control of close relatives (and henchmen) of the Kyiv prince. The land of Kiev was Russia, and Rus' consisted of all the southern lands, excluding the Galician land, the Chernigov and Ryazan principalities. Even certain parts of the Principality of Polotsk in the north-west were under the rule of Monomakh and Mstislav. But the unity of the Kyiv land, restored by Vladimir Monomakh after the internecine wars of the 11th century. was living out its last days. Already the reign of Yaropolk (1132-1139). who succeeded his brother Mstislav, was overshadowed by division and struggle within the very family of Monomakh's descendants.
In 1132, after the death of Mstislav the Great, Russian principalities began to fall away from Kyiv one after another. Novgorod was finally freed from the power of Kyiv. The Rostov-Suzdal land was already acting independently. Smolensk accepted princes of its own free will. Galich, Polotsk, and Turov had their own special princes. The horizons of the Kyiv chronicler narrowed to the Kiev-Chernigov conflicts, in which, however, the Byzantine prince, the Hungarian troops, the Berendeys, and the Polovtsians took part.
After the death of the unlucky Yaropolk in 1139, the even more unlucky Vyacheslav sat on the Kiev table, but lasted only eight days - he was kicked out Vsevolod Olegovich, son of Oleg “Gorislavich”. The Kiev Chronicle depicts Vsevolod and his brothers as cunning, greedy and crooked people. The Grand Duke continuously intrigued, quarreled his relatives, and granted dangerous rivals distant appanages in bearish corners in order to remove them from Kyiv. Vsevolod's attempt to return Novgorod under his control by imprisoning his brother there Svyatoslav Olegovich was not successful. The siblings of the new Kyiv prince Igor and Svyatoslav fought with him for inheritance, accompanied by conspiracies, rebellions and reconciliations. Vsevolod did not enjoy the sympathy of the Kyiv boyars; this was reflected both in the chronicle and in the description that V.N. Tatishchev took from sources unknown to us:
“This great prince was a man of great stature and great fatness, with little hair on his head, a wide brad, large eyes, and a long nose. He was wise in councils and courts; he could acquit or accuse whomever he wanted. He had many concubines and practiced more fun than reprisals. Because of this, the people of Kiev suffered a great burden from him. And when he died, hardly anyone, except his beloved women, cried for him, but more were happy. But moreover... they feared burdens from Igor, knowing his fierce and proud disposition.”
Vsevolod’s successor, his brother Igor, the same prince of a fierce disposition whom the Kievans feared so much, was forced to swear allegiance to them at the veche “with all their will.” But before the new prince had time to leave the veche meeting for dinner, the people of Kiev rushed to destroy the courts of the hated tiuns and swordsmen. The leaders of the Kyiv boyars, Uleb thousand and Ivan Voitishich, secretly sent an embassy to the prince Izyaslav Mstislavich, the grandson of Monomakh, to Pereyaslavl with an invitation to reign in Kyiv, and when he and his troops approached the walls of the city, the boyars threw down their banner and, as agreed, surrendered to him. Igor was tonsured a monk and exiled to Pereyaslavl. The reign of Izyaslav was filled with the struggle with the Olegovichs and with Yuri Dolgoruky, who twice managed to briefly capture Kiev. During this struggle, Prince Igor Olegovich, a prisoner of Izyaslav, was killed in Kyiv by the verdict of the veche (1147).
Due to the fact that Kyiv was often a bone of contention between the princes, the Kiev boyars entered into an agreement with the princes and introduced a curious system of duumvirate, which lasted throughout the second half of the 12th century. The duumvirs-co-rulers were Izyaslav Mstislavich and his uncle Vyacheslav Vladimirovich, Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich and Rurik Rostislavich. The meaning of this original measure was that representatives of two warring princely branches were simultaneously invited and thereby partly eliminated strife and established relative balance. One of the princes, considered the eldest, lived in Kyiv, and the other in Vyshgorod or Belgorod (he controlled the land). They went on campaigns together and conducted diplomatic correspondence in concert.
The foreign policy of the Kyiv principality was sometimes determined by the interests of one or another prince, but, in addition, there were two constant directions of struggle that required daily readiness. The first and most important is, of course, the Polovtsian steppe, where in the second half of the 12th century feudal khanates were created that united individual tribes. Usually Kyiv coordinated its defensive actions with Pereyaslavl (which was in the possession of the Rostov-Suzdal princes), and thereby a more or less unified line of Ros - Suda was created. In this regard, the importance of the headquarters of such a common defense passed from Belgorod to Kanev. The southern border outposts of the Kyiv land, located in the 10th century on Stugna and Suda, now moved down the Dnieper to Orel and Sneporod-Samara.
The second direction of the struggle was the Vladimir-Suzdal principality. Since the time of Yuri Dolgoruky, the northeastern princes, freed by their geographical position from the need to wage a constant war with the Polovtsians, directed military forces to subjugate Kyiv, using the border principality of Pereyaslavl for this purpose. The arrogant tone of the Vladimir chroniclers sometimes misled historians, and they sometimes believed that Kyiv had completely died out at that time. Particular importance was attached to the campaign of Andrei Bogolyubsky, son of Dolgoruky, against Kyiv in 1169.
The Kiev chronicler, who witnessed the three-day plunder of the city by the victors, described this event so colorfully that he created the idea of some kind of catastrophe. In fact, Kyiv continued to live the full life of the capital of a wealthy principality even after 1169. Churches were built here, the all-Russian chronicle was written, and the “Tale of Igor’s Campaign” was created, which is incompatible with the concept of decline.
Development of feudal relations in Rus'.
Time from the end of the X to the beginning of the XII century. is important stage in the development of feudal relations in Rus'. This time is characterized by the gradual victory of the feudal mode of production over a large territory of the country.
IN agriculture Rus' was dominated by sustainable field agriculture. Cattle breeding developed more slowly than agriculture. Despite the relative increase in agricultural production, harvests were low. Frequent phenomena were shortages and hunger, which undermined the Kresgyap economy and contributed to the enslavement of the peasants. The economy maintained great importance hunting, fishing, beekeeping. The furs of squirrels, martens, otters, beavers, sables, foxes, as well as honey and wax went to the foreign market. The best hunting and fishing areas, forests and lands were seized by the feudal lords.
In the XI and early XII centuries. part of the land was exploited by the state by collecting tribute from the population, part land area was in the hands of individual feudal lords as estates that could be passed on by inheritance (later they became known as estates), and possessions received from princes for temporary conditional holding.
The ruling class of feudal lords was formed from local princes and boyars, who became dependent on Kyiv, and from husbands (combatants) Kyiv princes, who received control, possession or patrimony of lands “tortured” by them and the princes. The Kyiv Grand Dukes themselves had large land holdings. The distribution of land by princes to warriors, strengthening feudal production relations, was at the same time one of the means used by the state to subjugate the local population to its power.
Land ownership was protected by law. The growth of boyar and church land ownership was closely related to the development of immunity. The land, which was previously peasant property, became the property of the feudal lord “with tribute, virami and sales,” that is, with the right to collect taxes and court fines from the population for murder and other crimes, and, consequently, with the right of trial.
With the transfer of lands into the ownership of individual feudal lords, peasants in different ways became dependent on them. Some peasants, deprived of the means of production, were enslaved by landowners, taking advantage of their need for tools, equipment, seeds, etc. Other peasants, sitting on land subject to tribute, who owned their own tools of production, were forced by the state to transfer the land under the patrimonial power of the feudal lords. As the estates expanded and the smerds became enslaved, the term servants, which previously meant slaves, began to apply to the entire mass of the peasantry dependent on the landowner.
The peasants who fell into bondage to the feudal lord, legally formalized by a special agreement - nearby, were called zakupov. They received from the landowner a plot of land and a loan, which they worked on on the feudal lord's farm with the master's equipment. For escaping from the master, the zakuns turned into serfs - slaves deprived of all rights. Labor rent - corvée, field and castle (construction of fortifications, bridges, roads, etc.), was combined with nagural quitrent.
With the death of Vladimir Monomakh in 1125. decline began Kievan Rus, which was accompanied by its disintegration into separate states-principalities. Even earlier Lyubech Congress princes in 1097 established: “...let each one maintain his fatherland” - this meant that each prince became the full owner of his hereditary principality.
The collapse of the Kyiv state into small fiefdoms, according to V.O. Klyuchevsky, was caused by the existing order of succession to the throne. The princely throne was passed not from father to son, but from the older brother to the middle and younger. This gave rise to strife within the family and a struggle over the division of estates. External factors played a certain role: raids by nomads devastated the southern Russian lands and interrupted the trade route along the Dnieper.
As a result of the decline of Kyiv in the southern and southwestern Rus' The Galician-Volyn principality rose, in the northeastern part of Rus' - the Rostov-Suzdal (later Vladimir-Suzdal) principality, and in northwestern Rus' - the Novgorod boyar republic, from which the Pskov land emerged in the 13th century.
All these principalities, with the exception of Novgorod and Pskov, inherited the political system of Kievan Rus. They were led by princes, supported by their squads. The Orthodox clergy had great political influence in the principalities.
The political system in Novgorod and Pskov developed in a special way. The highest power there belonged not to the prince, but to the veche, which consisted of the city aristocracy, large landowners, wealthy merchants and the clergy. The veche, at its discretion, invited the prince, whose functions were limited only to leading the city militia - and then under the control of the council of gentlemen and the mayor (the highest official, the de facto head of the boyar republic). The permanent opponents of the Novgorodians were the Swedes and Livonian Germans, who repeatedly tried to subjugate Novgorod. But in 1240 and 1242. They suffered a crushing defeat from Prince Alexander Yaroslavich, who received the nickname Nevsky for his victory over the Swedes on the Neva River.
A special situation has developed in Kyiv. On the one hand, he became first among equals. Soon, some Russian lands caught up and even ahead of him in their development. On the other hand, Kyiv remained an “apple of discord” (they joked that there was not a single prince in Rus' who did not want to “sit” in Kyiv). Kyiv was “conquered,” for example, by Yuri Dolgoruky, the Vladimir-Suzdal prince; in 1154 he achieved the Kyiv throne and sat on it until 1157. His son Andrei Bogolyubsky also sent regiments to Kyiv, etc. Under such conditions, the Kiev boyars introduced a curious system of “duumvirate” (co-government), which lasted throughout the second half of the 12th century. The meaning of this original measure was as follows: at the same time, representatives of two warring branches were invited to the Kyiv land (an agreement was concluded with them - a “row”); Thus, relative balance was established and strife was partially eliminated. One of the princes lived in Kyiv, the other in Belgorod (or Vyshgorod). They went on military campaigns together and conducted diplomatic correspondence in concert. So, the duumvirs-co-rulers were Izyaslav Mstislavich and his uncle, Vyacheslav Vladimirovich; Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich and Rurik Mstislavich.
