Prerequisites for the creation of the Boyar Duma in the system of state authorities

In the 15th century under conditions of autocracy, an estate-representative monarchy arose. The beginning, conventionally, of this period is considered to be the convening of the first Zemsky Sobor in 1549 (during this period, progressive reforms of Ivan IV and much more took place, which prepared a new era in the development of the state apparatus and law). The king was the head of state. He legislated throughout the country, was the head of the executive branch, commanded troops, managed finances, and was the highest judge. In the conditions of an estate-representative monarchy, the need arose for an estate-representative body that would limit the power of the tsar, which is what the Boyar Duma became. The tsar now carried out all state functions with the participation of the Boyar Duma, as well as Zemsky Sobors through a system of orders and governors. It was the Boyar Duma, with the established system of localism and the Zemsky Sobor, that were the necessary attributes of an estate-representative monarchy. With the decline of their role in the state and the further liquidation of these authorities, the existence of the estate-representative monarchy ended.

The reorganization of the state apparatus began in the 80s. XV century, after the annexation of Tver, Ryazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Veliky Novgorod to Moscow and the liberation of Rus' from the Tatar yoke. The palace-patrimonial system of government, which had developed back in the days of feudal fragmentation, became unsuitable in the new conditions. The power of the tsar is significantly strengthened, the Boyar Duma is formalized, and central governing bodies - orders - are created.

The Boyar Duma, a permanent council of the nobility, was formed under the Grand Duke. Its members were appointed by the great king on the basis of parochial rules. The Boyar Duma developed from a council under the prince, which included the largest feudal lords. The Duma included the descendants of former appanage princes and the most well-born and influential boyars (20-30 people). The boyar duma did not play an independent role; it always acted together with the tsar, constituting, together with the sovereign, a single supreme power.

The Duma was the highest control institution. She collected information about service people, was interested in the expenses of orders, sometimes delving into such trifles as, for example, how much money was spent in the order on candles, ink and firewood. The decision (sentence) of the Duma (especially with the participation of the Tsar) on a complex case received from an order, or on a private complaint, became a precedent when analyzing similar cases in orders.

So, the main prerequisite for the formation of the Boyar Duma in the system of government bodies was the emergence in Russia of an estate-representative monarchy, which was supposed to rely on an estate-representative body such as the Boyar Duma. It was this prerequisite that played a huge role in the formation of the Boyar Duma.

Formation of the Boyar Duma in the system of public administration, its social composition and terms of reference

Although the emergence of the Boyar Duma dates back to the times of the early feudal monarchy, its role increased under Ivan III. It was under Ivan III that the Boyar Duma became a permanent body of power, which had centuries-old traditions from the times of Kievan Rus and the period of feudal fragmentation in the form of meetings under the prince, the functions of which were inseparable from the prerogatives of the Moscow prince.

Competence of the Boyar Duma.

The competence of the Boyar Duma was mainly outlined by the Code of Laws of 1550 and the Council Code of 1649. The legislative significance of the Duma was directly approved by the Tsar Code of Laws of 1550 (Article 98). The Duma participated in the adoption of laws together with the tsar, then as an integral part of the Zemsky Sobor. The Boyar Duma did not have a clearly defined competence separate from the tsarist power. The Duma participated in legislation and discussed bills approved by the Tsar. She discussed requests from orders and governors about matters that these bodies could not resolve, and gave instructions to orders and governors on matters of current administration. Military and international issues were discussed in it, and diplomatic correspondence passed through it. The Duma was the highest control institution. She collected information about service people, was interested in the expenses of orders, sometimes delving into such trifles as, for example, how much money was spent in the order on candles, ink and firewood.

Since the Duma often acted as the highest court, its decisions in this area very often filled in gaps in legislation. This was Duma legislation through precedents. The Duma also approved new taxes, made decisions on issues of army organization, land affairs, international relations, administered orders and supervised local government.

The Boyar Duma resolved the most important state affairs. She approved the Grand Duke's Code of Laws of 1497 and the Code of Laws of 1550 and 1589. Article 98 of the Code of Law of 1550 considered the verdict of the Boyar Duma a necessary element of legislation: “and what new cases will be, are not written in this code of law, and how those cases from the state of the report and from all the boyars will be sentenced.” The decree on indentured servitude in April 1597, the tsar "sentenced all the boyars", the November decree of the same year on runaway peasants "the tsar indicated and the boyars were sentenced."

The meaning of the Duma was indicated in the tsar’s code of law: “And if there are new cases, but are not written in this code of law, and as those cases are passed from the sovereign’s report and from all the boyars to the verdict, those cases are to be attributed to this code of law.” Sovereign decrees and boyar sentences were recognized as legislative sources. The general legislative formula was as follows: “The sovereign indicated, and the boyars sentenced.” This concept of law, as the result of the inseparable activity of the tsar and the Duma, is proven by the entire history of legislation in the Moscow state. But there were exceptions to this general rule. Thus, royal decrees without boyar sentences are mentioned as laws; on the other hand, there are a number of laws given in the form of a boyar sentence without a royal decree: “All the boyars at the Top have been sentenced.” Tsar's decrees without boyar sentences are explained either by the accident of the struggle against the boyars (under Grozny), or by the insignificance of the issues being resolved that did not require a collegial decision, or by the haste of the matter. Boyar sentences without royal decrees are explained either by the authority given to the boyars in this case, or by the absence of the king and the interregnum. Thus, from these cases it is by no means possible to conclude that the legislative rights of the tsar and the Duma are separate.

Meetings of the Boyar Duma were held in the Kremlin: in the Faceted Chamber, sometimes in the private half of the palace (the Front, Dining or Golden Chambers), less often outside the palace, for example, in the oprichnina palace of Ivan the Terrible in Moscow or Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda.

The functions and prerogatives of the Duma expanded as the tasks of public administration became more complex and differentiated. In fact, it turned into a “co-ruling” body under the monarch.

Social composition of the Boyar Duma

The Boyar Duma developed from a council under the prince, which included the largest feudal lords. The Duma included the descendants of former appanage princes and the most noble and influential boyars. Representatives of less noble families held the rank of okolnichy in the Duma.

At the end of the 15th century. The Duma consisted of two ranks: boyars and okolnichi (the highest court rank, meaning the people closest to the prince), who belonged to the Duma ranks.

Boyars until the end of the 17th century. occupied one of the dominant positions in the state. The Tsar, at his discretion, appoints boyars to one or another rank, according to tradition. The custom of localism, that is, the procedure for appointment to positions based on the principle of birth and nobility, plays an important role in this. Thus, the sign of localism was an essential feature for appointment to public office.

Boyars occupied key roles in the state. The ranks of boyars and okolnichy complained to them. Persons with the rank of boyar could occupy the highest positions in military and civil administration. They were appointed commanders of regiments, ruled regions as governors and governors, and were present in the State Duma - the highest state body of the country. The boyars also controlled the main orders, served as ambassadors and conducted diplomatic negotiations with representatives of foreign embassies.

Persons in rank okolnichikh could also occupy the same positions as the boyars, but with less importance. Okolnichy managed many orders and were appointed assistants to the boyars. Only persons granted by the sovereign could enter these ranks.

The boyar class was a hereditary state, but was sometimes complained to by the tsar. Service to the state was the only duty of the boyars. The rights of the boyars were much broader. They could only occupy the highest positions in the state and had the right of hereditary ownership of land and peasants.

In addition to the boyars and okolnichi, from the beginning of the 16th century. Duma nobles appear in the Boyar Duma (since Ivan IV), then Duma clerks.

The Duma nobles were the third "honorable" category (rank), after the boyars and okolnichy. Duma nobles took part in meetings of the Boyar Duma, led orders, and were also appointed governors in cities. Along with the Duma clerks, they served as a support for the tsarist power in the fight against the boyar aristocracy in the Duma.

The establishment of the rank of Duma nobleman was supposed to serve as a means of moderating the aristocratic element in the Boyar Duma; it made it possible to introduce into the Duma people of humble origin, people for whom, due to the latter circumstance, access to the highest ranks of boyar and okolnichy was closed, or at least extremely difficult, but whose talents and experience could be useful in the Duma. In the boyar lists, the rank of Duma nobleman was first found in 1572, under the name “nobleman in the Duma,” and the first nobleman in the Duma was Roman Vasilyevich Olferyev, the second was Mikhail Andreevich Beznin.

The clerks appear in the 16th century. rulers of orders and in this rank exercise direct influence on the affairs of public administration, little by little taking into their own hands individual threads that set in motion the entire mechanism of state life. Little by little, the center of gravity of government activity is being drawn from the Boyar Duma into these orders.

Thus, by the end of the 16th century. The Boyar Duma consisted of people of four degrees: boyars, okolnichy, Duma nobles and Duma clerks.

Boyar Duma public administration

Although the Duma was extensive in its composition and had an aristocratic character, it could not satisfy the needs of the emerging autocratic state, which needed a more operational bureaucratic body, but in the 16th century. The Duma was still one of the most important bodies in the system of state authorities. Boyar Duma under Ivan IV

The 16th century, in particular the years of the reign of Ivan IV, are considered one of the darkest periods in the history of the Russian state. It was during this century that the most dramatic change occurred in the Boyar Duma as a state governing body.

The era of boyar rule during the early childhood of Ivan IV was marked only by a fierce struggle between the boyar families of the princes Telepnev-Obolensky, Shuisky, Belsky and Glinsky; representatives of each clan wanted to stand at the head of the Duma, showing direct and predominant influence on the course of state life, each clan tried to “seat” the other. Mutual slander, suspicion, imprisonment, and murder were used.

The difficult era of boyar rule could not help but respond to the impressionable character of the young sovereign: it determined his attitude towards the boyars in the subsequent years of his rule. One of the first concerns of Ivan IV at the beginning of his reign was the reorganization of the Sovereign Duma. The Tsar consulted with this Duma about all the most important matters: through it, the court was conducted, the appointment of governors and military arrangements were made, estates and estates were distributed, and the highest court chips were exercised. The Duma, in turn, controlled the activities of the tsar.

The New Duma was quite at the height of its recognition and its influence should be seen in the convening of the first Zemsky Sobor, the correction of the Code of Laws and in all the best undertakings of this bright era of Ivan’s reign. The significance of this Duma was very great - it had a decisive influence on the course of state life.

From the middle of the 16th century. in the Boyar Duma, a privileged part was allocated (room or nearby duma), with which the tsar resolved a number of issues without holding general meetings. Under Ivan the Terrible in 1547-1580. the “Elected Rada” acted from among the Duma members and officials of the palace administration closest to the tsar. Often members of the Rada, for example, A.F. Adashev, on the local ladder were significantly lower than the Duma members, who were not members of this body.

From that time on, Ivan IV’s attitude towards the boyars sharply worsened. Under the influence of the instigations of the party opposing Sylvester and Adashev, the tsar began to have a negative attitude towards the boyars. But the action of the boyars - adherents of Sylvester and Adashev - especially affected the tsar during his serious illness in 1553: these boyars, at the bedside of the tsar who was dying, refused to kiss the cross of his four-year-old son Dmitry, intending to elevate the tsar’s cousin, Prince Vladimir, to the throne Andreevich. This act, which deeply touched the most sensitive side of Ivan’s heart, could no longer be forgotten by him after his recovery. From 1560, Ivan began an open struggle with the boyars. Sylvester and Adashev are removed from the court, the tsar comes under the influence of new advisers who are opponents of the party of Sylvester and Adashev. The Duma of Sylvester and Adashev falls: some of its members end their lives at the hands of the executioner or go into exile, the other part is gradually replaced by new elements directed in the new spirit of Ivan’s policies.

The Tsar needed liberation from the entrenched tutelage of the Boyar Duma and the Church. Ivan IV saw the oprichnina as a way out of the current situation.

In December 1564, the tsar and his entire court unexpectedly left the capital and moved to Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda. In the letters sent to Moscow, Ivan the Terrible accused the boyars of “treason,” but in relation to the townspeople it was said that the tsar “is not angry with them and does not subject them to disgrace.” Merchants and townspeople declared that they themselves were ready to “consume all traitors” and asked the Boyar Duma to return the tsar. From the ambassadors from the metropolitan and the boyars, Ivan IV demanded full power in order to “put down his opals, and execute others and immolate their bellies.” Thus, by announcing his abdication and using the support of the Moscow settlement, the tsar wrested consent from the Duma and the Holy Council to introduce a state of emergency in the state.

The entire territory of the country was divided into “oprichnina” and “zemshchina”. The oprichnina was governed by a special “sovereign court” and had its own administrative apparatus and army. The Zemshchina was still ruled by the boyar Duma. The transfer of power to the Duma was fictitious.

Ivan the Terrible created the repressive oprichnina regime in order to eliminate from his path those social groups and strata that limited his power. Oprichnina terror fell on many princely and boyar families. Oprichnina was the first attempt to establish an autocratic form of government in Russia.

The number of the Boyar Duma was increased 3 times. This was done in order to weaken the boyar aristocracy, which was slowing down the adoption of decisions necessary for the state.

Thus, it was from Ivan the Terrible that the Boyar Duma completely became the highest advisory body under the tsar. Even under Ivan IV, the importance of the Boyar Duma was great. Ivan IV, treating the boyars with distrust, nevertheless took into account the opinion and activities of the Boyar Duma. Consequently, the importance of the Boyar Duma under Ivan IV the Terrible did not fall.

The significance of the Boyar Duma in Russian public administration in the 15th-16th centuries.

XV-XVI centuries are the heyday of the legislative activity of the Boyar Duma.

The boyars' confidence in the strength of their political position was also supported by the attitude of the Moscow sovereigns themselves towards the institution that served as a stronghold for this position.

It is quite difficult to determine the relations that operated between people who themselves never expressed them directly and precisely and did not even seem to feel the need to formulate them. It remains to follow the individual facts in which these relationships were revealed. There are quite a few facts that show the enormous importance of the Boyar Duma.

First of all, the same sovereign, about whose severity and autocracy the boyars complained so much, recognized him as the class that primarily bears the responsibility of the zemstvo structure, which maintains external security and internal order in the state. Looking at his boyars, the dying Grand Duke, the father of the Terrible, as the chronicler says, told them: “I held the Russian land with you, you swore an oath to me to serve me and my children; I order you, princess and my children, serve the princess and my son, protect under him his state, the Russian land, and all of Christianity from all enemies, from insanity and from Latinism and from your strong people, from insults and from sales, all together, as much as God will help you.”

The same idea, only in different words, is expressed to the boyars by the dying Vasily, and according to the story of a modern narrator about his death, very close to the court, who had the opportunity to hear or recognize the true expressions of the Grand Duke. Vasily speaks with the boyars “about the dispensation of the zemstvo”; before his death he orders them how “to build the kingdom without him.” The composition and governmental significance of the boyar duma corresponded to this political position of the class. The title of a Duma person was not hereditary by law: they were promoted to Duma ranks, “the Duma was spoken” by appointment of the sovereign. Now this appointment has become necessary in itself with the multitude of boyar families, with the abundance of available service persons in individual families. But according to the pedigree composition of the Duma of the 16th century. one can see to what extent the sovereign's appointment was consistent with the aristocratic order of persons and surnames established among the boyars. Members of the Duma, especially the two highest ranks, usually came from a well-known noble circle, which, in the person of its successive representatives, “was in charge of the Duma”; The sovereign “cleaned up both the regimental commanders and his advisers, discussing their fatherland, who was born.”

And the governmental significance of the Duma, in fact, was far from passive: it is more than an advisory assembly under its sovereign, and enjoys a certain scope in its activities.

In 1510, the same stern Grand Duke Vasily, whose power over his subjects surpassed all monarchs in the world, deciding the political fate of Pskov in Novgorod, “ordered his boyars to do as they thought in their Duma,” and the arrest of the Pskov authorities and citizens who arrived then to the sovereign with petitions, is the work of the Moscow boyars, a consequence of their Duma verdict.

The stereotypical language of official acts obscured the importance of the boyars before the authority of the tsar. But when the king spoke in simple, non-conventional language, both sides appeared in a different light. In a speech prepared for delivery at the council of 1551, Ivan, recalling his verdict on localism in the Duma of 1549, notes with pleasure that “that verdict was favorable to all the boyars.” To the council, which was attended by the prince and boyars along with the clergy, Ivan indicates the task of arranging everything according to St. rules and forefathers' laws, "on which we, the saints, the king and everyone, will sentence and put to death." The Duma itself had a procedure for discussing the issues that were next in line.

At the end of 1552, the tsar, leaving Moscow to go to Trinity to baptize his newborn son, ordered the boyars to think about the organization of the newly conquered Kazan and then sit down to feed, i.e. about replacing them with a cash salary; but they pushed forward the question of feeding that concerned them more closely, and “put the Kazan building aside,” for which the chronicler complains about them.

These facts prove that the tsars themselves respected the Boyar Duma and understood its significance for themselves. The king needed to rely on some body that would give advice to the prince on making decisions of national importance.

The Boyar Duma knew the ups and downs of its national importance, but even Ivan the Terrible was forced to reckon with it, although he periodically sent its members to the chopping block. The role of the Duma was also well understood by foreigners, who, before attending the royal reception, had to communicate with Duma officials for a long time. The Englishman Giles Fletcher, who visited Rus' under Boris Godunov, left interesting memories about the role of the Duma. He wrote: “The Tsar and the Boyar Duma, which is under him, are both the supreme rulers and the executors in relation to the publication and destruction of laws, the determination of government officials, the right to declare war and enter into alliances with foreign powers, the right to execute and pardon, the right to change decisions on civil and criminal cases."

In the 16th century the political significance of the Duma was formally approved: the boyar verdict was recognized as a necessary moment of legislation, through which each new law added to the Code of Laws had to pass.

Thus, in the XV-XVI centuries. The Duma played an important role in the political affairs of the sovereign. The princes, and then the tsars, understood the significance of the Boyar Duma and relied on its activities. Numerous facts testifying to the Tsar’s attitude towards the Duma prove the high position of the Boyar Duma in society and its role for the sovereigns. Consequently, the importance of the Boyar Duma among government bodies was the highest.



Boyar Duma - “collective, class, general land”, ancient customary power (V.O. Klyuchevsky): former appanage princes, boyars. In the political system of the Moscow state, it was the Duma that was the main institution that reflected the dynamics of the process of centralization of power and control.

Composition of the Boyar Duma.

The Boyar Duma developed from a council under the prince, which included the largest feudal lords. The Duma included the descendants of former appanage princes and the most noble and influential boyars (20-30 people). Representatives of less noble families held the rank of okolnichy in the Duma. In the 16th century, the Boyar Duma from a feudal curia under the prince turned into a state body of an estate-representative monarchy. The composition of this body expanded significantly in the 17th century due to the elevation to boyar dignity of unborn royal favorites and relatives. Representatives of the nobility and the service bureaucracy (secretaries) are also included in the Duma. Hence, composition of the Duma in the first half of the 17th century there was fourfold: boyars, okolnichy, Duma nobles and Duma clerks. Low-born boyars, nobles and clerks, who expressed the interests of the serving nobility, significantly displaced the old feudal aristocracy. The importance of these noble elements was great, since Duma nobles and clerks in most cases entered the Duma after 20-30 years of service, had extensive experience and knowledge, and formulated the decisions of the Duma. Boyars until the end of the 17th century they occupied one of the leading positions in the state. In the 17th century service people for the fatherland(boyars and nobles) are finally formalized into a complex and clear hierarchy of ranks, obliged to serve the state in the military, civil and court departments in exchange for the right to own land and peasants.

Functions of the Boyar Duma.

The Boyar Duma had a legislative character, and its authority and influence varied under different monarchs. In some periods, decisions were made by a narrow circle of those close to the throne. “Sovereign of All Rus'” Ivan III discussed all issues with the boyars and did not punish for “meeting”, that is, for objections and disagreements with his opinion. But his son Vasily III was reproached for the fact that instead of consulting with the Boyar Duma, he “locked himself up at his bedside and did all the work.” Prince Andrei Kursky also accused Ivan the Terrible of trying to rule without consulting the “best men.” During the minority of the tsar and during the period of civil strife, the Boyar Duma turned into a center that actually governed the state.

The Duma met every day, meeting in the Kremlin early in the morning, in the summer at sunrise, in the winter before dawn; meetings lasted five to six hours, and often resumed in the evening. The meetings took place both in the presence and absence of the king. Current affairs were introduced for discussion by the heads of the orders; most often, the legislative initiative belonged to the tsar, who, in the expression of that time, “sat with the boyars about matters.” Sometimes the boyars decided the matter on their own, and the boyar’s verdict could acquire the force of law without subsequent approval by the tsar. Nevertheless, the Boyar Duma did not go beyond the scope of a legislative advisory body. The decrees of that time were enshrined in the traditional formula: “The Tsar indicated, and the boyars sentenced.” The struggle of the boyar groups sometimes resulted in “great abuse, great shouting and noise, and many swear words.” However, there was no organized opposition in the Boyar Duma. On special occasions, the Boyar Duma met together with the Consecrated Council - the highest church hierarchs. Such meetings were called cathedrals, which should be distinguished from Zemsky Sobors.

The role of the Boyar Duma in political life.

The Duma played the role of a conciliation body. Given the chaos in the area of ​​the order system at that time, this was the main responsibility of the government. There were several general rules regarding the determination of decisions of the Boyar Duma. Historiography and legal history have developed two general rules in this regard, which can be formulated as follows: form: “and the great sovereign, having listened to the report extract, indicated and the boyars sentenced.” There is simply a designation of the fact of the tsar’s participation in the meeting of the Boyar Duma. But this order of legislation was not formally binding on the tsar. He could decide cases himself and issue orders that had the nature of legislative decrees, single-handedly. Sometimes the tsar resolved issues with a small circle of advisers - the so-called chamber duma of the sovereign.

The form “by decree of the great sovereign, the boyars, having listened to that report, sentenced” is simply a designation of the fact of the absence of the tsar at the meeting of the Boyar Duma.

The Duma issued two general types of acts: “zakrep” and “litter”. “Zakrep” - decisions of the Duma on general issues of governance, under it was the signature of all Duma clerks. “Litter” - the consolidation of a private decree - the act was signed by one Duma clerk.

At the end of the 16th - beginning of the 17th century. The role of the Duma and the nobility close to the court in governing the state not only does not decrease, but also increases, which was expressed, first of all, in the strengthening of the participation of boyars in the direct management of orders as judges. The increasing role of the nobility in the management of orders occurred throughout the 17th century. This had important political significance and contributed to the gradual bureaucratization of the boyars. From the body of the originally patrimonial land aristocracy, the Duma is gradually transformed into a body of the service aristocracy, into a kind of council “from the heads of orders.”

Boyar Duma - “collective, class, general land”, ancient customary power (V.O. Klyuchevsky): former appanage princes, boyars. In the political system of the Moscow state, it was the Duma that was the main institution that reflected the dynamics of the process of centralization of power and control.

Composition of the Boyar Duma.

The Boyar Duma developed from a council under the prince, which included the largest feudal lords. The Duma included the descendants of former appanage princes and the most noble and influential boyars (20-30 people). Representatives of less noble families held the rank of okolnichy in the Duma. In the 16th century, the Boyar Duma from a feudal curia under the prince turned into a state body of an estate-representative monarchy. The composition of this body expanded significantly in the 17th century due to the elevation to boyar dignity of unborn royal favorites and relatives. Representatives of the nobility and the service bureaucracy (secretaries) are also included in the Duma. Hence, composition of the Duma in the first half of the 17th century there was fourfold: boyars, okolnichy, Duma nobles and Duma clerks. Low-born boyars, nobles and clerks, who expressed the interests of the serving nobility, significantly displaced the old feudal aristocracy. The importance of these noble elements was great, since Duma nobles and clerks in most cases entered the Duma after 20-30 years of service, had extensive experience and knowledge, and formulated the decisions of the Duma. Boyars until the end of the 17th century they occupied one of the leading positions in the state. In the 17th century service people for the fatherland(boyars and nobles) are finally formalized into a complex and clear hierarchy of ranks, obliged to serve the state in the military, civil and court departments in exchange for the right to own land and peasants.

Functions of the Boyar Duma.

The Boyar Duma had a legislative character, and its authority and influence varied under different monarchs. In some periods, decisions were made by a narrow circle of those close to the throne. “Sovereign of All Rus'” Ivan III discussed all issues with the boyars and did not punish for “meeting”, that is, for objections and disagreements with his opinion. But his son Vasily III was reproached for the fact that instead of consulting with the Boyar Duma, he “locked himself up at his bedside and did all the work.” Prince Andrei Kursky also accused Ivan the Terrible of trying to rule without consulting the “best men.” During the minority of the tsar and during the period of civil strife, the Boyar Duma turned into a center that actually governed the state.

The Duma met every day, meeting in the Kremlin early in the morning, in the summer at sunrise, in the winter before dawn; meetings lasted five to six hours, and often resumed in the evening. The meetings took place both in the presence and absence of the king. Current affairs were introduced for discussion by the heads of the orders; most often, the legislative initiative belonged to the tsar, who, in the expression of that time, “sat with the boyars about matters.” Sometimes the boyars decided the matter on their own, and the boyar’s verdict could acquire the force of law without subsequent approval by the tsar. Nevertheless, the Boyar Duma did not go beyond the scope of a legislative advisory body. The decrees of that time were enshrined in the traditional formula: “The Tsar indicated, and the boyars sentenced.” The struggle of the boyar groups sometimes resulted in “great abuse, great shouting and noise, and many swear words.” However, there was no organized opposition in the Boyar Duma. On special occasions, the Boyar Duma met together with the Consecrated Council - the highest church hierarchs. Such meetings were called cathedrals, which should be distinguished from Zemsky Sobors.

The role of the Boyar Duma in political life.

The Duma played the role of a conciliation body. Given the chaos in the area of ​​the order system at that time, this was the main responsibility of the government. There were several general rules regarding the determination of decisions of the Boyar Duma. Historiography and legal history have developed two general rules in this regard, which can be formulated as follows: form: “and the great sovereign, having listened to the report extract, indicated and the boyars sentenced.” There is simply a designation of the fact of the tsar’s participation in the meeting of the Boyar Duma. But this order of legislation was not formally binding on the tsar. He could decide cases himself and issue orders that had the nature of legislative decrees, single-handedly. Sometimes the tsar resolved issues with a small circle of advisers - the so-called chamber duma of the sovereign.

The form “by decree of the great sovereign, the boyars, having listened to that report, sentenced” is simply a designation of the fact of the absence of the tsar at the meeting of the Boyar Duma.

The Duma issued two general types of acts: “zakrep” and “litter”. “Zakrep” - decisions of the Duma on general issues of governance, under it was the signature of all Duma clerks. “Litter” - the consolidation of a private decree - the act was signed by one Duma clerk.

At the end of the 16th - beginning of the 17th centuries. The role of the Duma and the nobility close to the court in governing the state not only does not decrease, but also increases, which was expressed, first of all, in the strengthening of the participation of boyars in the direct management of orders as judges. The increasing role of the nobility in the management of orders occurred throughout the 17th century. This had important political significance and contributed to the gradual bureaucratization of the boyars. From the body of the originally patrimonial land aristocracy, the Duma is gradually transformed into a body of the service aristocracy, into a kind of council “from the heads of orders.”

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Boyar Duma in the XV-XVI centuries

Prerequisites for the creation of the Boyar Duma in the system of state authorities

In the 15th century under conditions of autocracy, an estate-representative monarchy arose. The beginning, conventionally, of this period is considered to be the convening of the first Zemsky Sobor in 1549 (during this period, progressive reforms of Ivan IV and much more took place, which prepared a new era in the development of the state apparatus and law). The king was the head of state. He legislated throughout the country, was the head of the executive branch, commanded troops, managed finances, and was the highest judge. In the conditions of an estate-representative monarchy, the need arose for an estate-representative body that would limit the power of the tsar, which is what the Boyar Duma became. The tsar now carried out all state functions with the participation of the Boyar Duma, as well as Zemsky Sobors through a system of orders and governors. It was the Boyar Duma, with the established system of localism and the Zemsky Sobor, that were the necessary attributes of an estate-representative monarchy. With the decline of their role in the state and the further liquidation of these authorities, the existence of the estate-representative monarchy ended.

The reorganization of the state apparatus began in the 80s. XV century, after the annexation of Tver, Ryazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Veliky Novgorod to Moscow and the liberation of Rus' from the Tatar yoke. The palace-patrimonial system of government, which had developed back in the days of feudal fragmentation, became unsuitable in the new conditions. The power of the tsar is significantly strengthened, the Boyar Duma is formalized, and central governing bodies - orders - are created.

The Boyar Duma, a permanent council of the nobility, was formed under the Grand Duke. Its members were appointed by the great king on the basis of parochial rules. The Boyar Duma developed from a council under the prince, which included the largest feudal lords. The Duma included the descendants of former appanage princes and the most well-born and influential boyars (20-30 people). The boyar duma did not play an independent role; it always acted together with the tsar, constituting, together with the sovereign, a single supreme power.

The Duma was the highest control institution. She collected information about service people, was interested in the expenses of orders, sometimes delving into such trifles as, for example, how much money was spent in the order on candles, ink and firewood. The decision (sentence) of the Duma (especially with the participation of the Tsar) on a complex case received from an order, or on a private complaint, became a precedent when analyzing similar cases in orders.

So, the main prerequisite for the formation of the Boyar Duma in the system of government bodies was the emergence in Russia of an estate-representative monarchy, which was supposed to rely on an estate-representative body such as the Boyar Duma. It was this prerequisite that played a huge role in the formation of the Boyar Duma.

Formation of the Boyar Duma in the system of public administration, its social composition and terms of reference

Although the emergence of the Boyar Duma dates back to the times of the early feudal monarchy, its role increased under Ivan III. It was under Ivan III that the Boyar Duma became a permanent body of power, which had centuries-old traditions from the times of Kievan Rus and the period of feudal fragmentation in the form of meetings under the prince, the functions of which were inseparable from the prerogatives of the Moscow prince.

Competence of the Boyar Duma.

The competence of the Boyar Duma was mainly outlined by the Code of Laws of 1550 and the Council Code of 1649. The legislative significance of the Duma was directly approved by the Tsar Code of Laws of 1550 (Article 98). The Duma participated in the adoption of laws together with the tsar, then as an integral part of the Zemsky Sobor. The Boyar Duma did not have a clearly defined competence separate from the tsarist power. The Duma participated in legislation and discussed bills approved by the Tsar. She discussed requests from orders and governors about matters that these bodies could not resolve, and gave instructions to orders and governors on matters of current administration. Military and international issues were discussed in it, and diplomatic correspondence passed through it. The Duma was the highest control institution. She collected information about service people, was interested in the expenses of orders, sometimes delving into such trifles as, for example, how much money was spent in the order on candles, ink and firewood.

Since the Duma often acted as the highest court, its decisions in this area very often filled in gaps in legislation. This was Duma legislation through precedents. The Duma also approved new taxes, made decisions on issues of army organization, land affairs, international relations, administered orders and supervised local government.

The Boyar Duma resolved the most important state affairs. She approved the Grand Duke's Code of Laws of 1497 and the Code of Laws of 1550 and 1589. Article 98 of the Code of Law of 1550 considered the verdict of the Boyar Duma a necessary element of legislation: “and what new cases will be, are not written in this code of law, and how those cases from the state of the report and from all the boyars will be sentenced.” The decree on indentured servitude in April 1597, the tsar "sentenced all the boyars", the November decree of the same year on runaway peasants "the tsar indicated and the boyars were sentenced."

The meaning of the Duma was indicated in the tsar’s code of law: “And if there are new cases, but are not written in this code of law, and as those cases are passed from the sovereign’s report and from all the boyars to the verdict, those cases are to be attributed to this code of law.” Sovereign decrees and boyar sentences were recognized as legislative sources. The general legislative formula was as follows: “The sovereign indicated, and the boyars sentenced.” This concept of law, as the result of the inseparable activity of the tsar and the Duma, is proven by the entire history of legislation in the Moscow state. But there were exceptions to this general rule. Thus, royal decrees without boyar sentences are mentioned as laws; on the other hand, there are a number of laws given in the form of a boyar sentence without a royal decree: “All the boyars at the Top have been sentenced.” Tsar's decrees without boyar sentences are explained either by the accident of the struggle against the boyars (under Grozny), or by the insignificance of the issues being resolved that did not require a collegial decision, or by the haste of the matter. Boyar sentences without royal decrees are explained either by the authority given to the boyars in this case, or by the absence of the king and the interregnum. Thus, from these cases it is by no means possible to conclude that the legislative rights of the tsar and the Duma are separate.

Meetings of the Boyar Duma were held in the Kremlin: in the Faceted Chamber, sometimes in the private half of the palace (the Front, Dining or Golden Chambers), less often outside the palace, for example, in the oprichnina palace of Ivan the Terrible in Moscow or Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda.

The functions and prerogatives of the Duma expanded as the tasks of public administration became more complex and differentiated. In fact, it turned into a “co-ruling” body under the monarch.

Social composition of the Boyar Duma

The Boyar Duma developed from a council under the prince, which included the largest feudal lords. The Duma included the descendants of former appanage princes and the most noble and influential boyars. Representatives of less noble families held the rank of okolnichy in the Duma.

At the end of the 15th century. The Duma consisted of two ranks: boyars and okolnichi (the highest court rank, meaning the people closest to the prince), who belonged to the Duma ranks.

Boyars until the end of the 17th century. occupied one of the dominant positions in the state. The Tsar, at his discretion, appoints boyars to one or another rank, according to tradition. The custom of localism, that is, the procedure for appointment to positions based on the principle of birth and nobility, plays an important role in this. Thus, the sign of localism was an essential feature for appointment to public office.

Boyars occupied key roles in the state. The ranks of boyars and okolnichy complained to them. Persons with the rank of boyar could occupy the highest positions in military and civil administration. They were appointed commanders of regiments, ruled regions as governors and governors, and were present in the State Duma, the highest state body of the country. The boyars also controlled the main orders, served as ambassadors and conducted diplomatic negotiations with representatives of foreign embassies.

Persons in rank okolnichikh could also occupy the same positions as the boyars, but with less importance. Okolnichy managed many orders and were appointed assistants to the boyars. Only persons granted by the sovereign could enter these ranks.

The boyar class was a hereditary state, but was sometimes complained to by the tsar. Service to the state was the only duty of the boyars. The rights of the boyars were much broader. They could only occupy the highest positions in the state and had the right of hereditary ownership of land and peasants.

In addition to the boyars and okolnichi, from the beginning of the 16th century. Duma nobles appear in the Boyar Duma (since Ivan IV), then Duma clerks.

The Duma nobles were the third "honorable" category (rank), after the boyars and okolnichy. Duma nobles took part in meetings of the Boyar Duma, led orders, and were also appointed governors in cities. Along with the Duma clerks, they served as a support for the tsarist power in the fight against the boyar aristocracy in the Duma.

The establishment of the rank of Duma nobleman was supposed to serve as a means of moderating the aristocratic element in the Boyar Duma; it made it possible to introduce into the Duma people of humble origin, people for whom, due to the latter circumstance, access to the highest ranks of boyar and okolnichy was closed, or at least extremely difficult, but whose talents and experience could be useful in the Duma. In the boyar lists, the rank of Duma nobleman was first found in 1572, under the name “nobleman in the Duma,” with Roman Vasilyevich Olferyev shown as the first nobleman in the Duma, and Mikhail Andreevich Beznin as the second.

The clerks appear in the 16th century. rulers of orders and in this rank exercise direct influence on the affairs of state administration, little by little taking into their own hands individual threads that set in motion the entire mechanism of state life. Little by little, the center of gravity of government activity is being drawn from the Boyar Duma into these orders.

Thus, by the end of the 16th century. The Boyar Duma consisted of people of four degrees: boyars, okolnichy, Duma nobles and Duma clerks.

Boyar Duma public administration

Although the Duma was extensive in its composition and had an aristocratic character, it could not satisfy the needs of the emerging autocratic state, which needed a more operational bureaucratic body, but in the 16th century. The Duma was still one of the most important bodies in the system of state authorities.

Boyar Duma under Ivan IV

The 16th century, in particular the years of the reign of Ivan IV, are considered one of the darkest periods in the history of the Russian state. It was during this century that the most dramatic change occurred in the Boyar Duma as a state governing body.

The era of boyar rule during the early childhood of Ivan IV was marked only by a fierce struggle between the boyar families of the princes Telepnev-Obolensky, Shuisky, Belsky and Glinsky; representatives of each clan wanted to stand at the head of the Duma, showing direct and predominant influence on the course of state life, each clan tried to “seat” the other. Mutual slander, suspicion, imprisonment, and murder were used.

The difficult era of boyar rule could not help but respond to the impressionable character of the young sovereign: it determined his attitude towards the boyars in the subsequent years of his rule.

One of the first concerns of Ivan IV at the beginning of his reign was the reorganization of the Sovereign Duma. The Tsar consulted with this Duma about all the most important matters: through it, the court was conducted, the appointment of governors and military arrangements were made, estates and estates were distributed, and the highest court chips were exercised. The Duma, in turn, controlled the activities of the tsar.

The New Duma was quite at the height of its recognition and its influence should be seen in the convening of the first Zemsky Sobor, the correction of the Code of Laws and in all the best undertakings of this bright era of Ivan’s reign. The significance of this Duma was very great - it had a decisive influence on the course of state life.

From the middle of the 16th century. in the Boyar Duma, a privileged part was allocated (room or nearby duma), with which the tsar resolved a number of issues without holding general meetings. Under Ivan the Terrible in 1547-1580. the “Elected Rada” acted from among the Duma members and officials of the palace administration closest to the tsar. Often members of the Rada, for example, A.F. Adashev, on the local ladder were significantly lower than the Duma members, who were not members of this body.

From that time on, Ivan IV’s attitude towards the boyars sharply worsened. Under the influence of the instigations of the party opposing Sylvester and Adashev, the tsar began to have a negative attitude towards the boyars. But the action of the boyars - adherents of Sylvester and Adashev - especially affected the tsar during his serious illness in 1553: these boyars, at the bedside of the tsar who was dying, refused to kiss the cross of his four-year-old son Dmitry, intending to elevate the tsar’s cousin, Prince Vladimir, to the throne Andreevich. This act, which deeply touched the most sensitive side of Ivan’s heart, could no longer be forgotten by him after his recovery. From 1560, Ivan began an open struggle with the boyars. Sylvester and Adashev are removed from the court, the tsar comes under the influence of new advisers who are opponents of the party of Sylvester and Adashev. The Duma of Sylvester and Adashev falls: some of its members end their lives at the hands of the executioner or go into exile, the other part is gradually replaced by new elements directed in the new spirit of Ivan’s policies.

The Tsar needed liberation from the entrenched tutelage of the Boyar Duma and the Church. Ivan IV saw the oprichnina as a way out of the current situation.

In December 1564, the tsar and his entire court unexpectedly left the capital and moved to Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda. In the letters sent to Moscow, Ivan the Terrible accused the boyars of “treason,” but in relation to the townspeople it was said that the tsar “is not angry with them and does not subject them to disgrace.” Merchants and townspeople declared that they themselves were ready to “consume all traitors” and asked the Boyar Duma to return the tsar. From the ambassadors from the metropolitan and the boyars, Ivan IV demanded full power in order to “put down his opals, and execute others and immolate their bellies.” Thus, by announcing his abdication and using the support of the Moscow settlement, the tsar wrested consent from the Duma and the Holy Council to introduce a state of emergency in the state.

The entire territory of the country was divided into “oprichnina” and “zemshchina”. The oprichnina was governed by a special “sovereign court” and had its own administrative apparatus and army. The Zemshchina was still ruled by the boyar Duma. The transfer of power to the Duma was fictitious.

Ivan the Terrible created the repressive oprichnina regime in order to eliminate from his path those social groups and strata that limited his power. Oprichnina terror fell on many princely and boyar families. Oprichnina was the first attempt to establish an autocratic form of government in Russia.

The number of the Boyar Duma was increased 3 times. This was done in order to weaken the boyar aristocracy, which was slowing down the adoption of decisions necessary for the state.

Thus, it was from Ivan the Terrible that the Boyar Duma completely became the highest advisory body under the tsar. Even under Ivan IV, the importance of the Boyar Duma was great. Ivan IV, treating the boyars with distrust, nevertheless took into account the opinion and activities of the Boyar Duma. Consequently, the importance of the Boyar Duma under Ivan IV the Terrible did not fall.

The significance of the Boyar Duma in Russian public administration in the 15th-16th centuries.

XV-XVI centuries are the heyday of the legislative activity of the Boyar Duma.

The boyars' confidence in the strength of their political position was also supported by the attitude of the Moscow sovereigns themselves towards the institution that served as a stronghold for this position.

It is quite difficult to determine the relations that operated between people who themselves never expressed them directly and precisely and did not even seem to feel the need to formulate them. It remains to follow the individual facts in which these relationships were revealed. There are quite a few facts that show the enormous importance of the Boyar Duma.

First of all, the same sovereign, about whose severity and autocracy the boyars complained so much, recognized him as the class that primarily bears the responsibility of the zemstvo structure, which maintains external security and internal order in the state. Looking at his boyars, the dying Grand Duke, the father of the Terrible, as the chronicler says, told them: “I held the Russian land with you, you swore an oath to me to serve me and my children; I order you, princess and my children, serve the princess and my son, protect under him his state, the Russian land, and all of Christianity from all enemies, from insanity and from Latinism and from your strong people, from insults and from sales, all together, as much as God will help you.”

The same idea, only in different words, is expressed to the boyars by the dying Vasily, and according to the story of a modern narrator about his death, very close to the court, who had the opportunity to hear or recognize the true expressions of the Grand Duke. Vasily speaks with the boyars “about the dispensation of the zemstvo”; before his death he orders them how “to build the kingdom without him.” The composition and governmental significance of the boyar duma corresponded to this political position of the class. The title of a Duma person was not hereditary by law: they were promoted to Duma ranks, “the Duma was spoken” by appointment of the sovereign. Now this appointment has become necessary in itself with the multitude of boyar families, with the abundance of available service persons in individual families. But according to the pedigree composition of the Duma of the 16th century. one can see to what extent the sovereign's appointment was consistent with the aristocratic order of persons and surnames established among the boyars. Members of the Duma, especially the two highest ranks, usually came from a well-known noble circle, which, in the person of its successive representatives, “was in charge of the Duma”; The sovereign “cleaned up both the regimental commanders and his advisers, discussing their fatherland, who was born.”

And the governmental significance of the Duma, in fact, was far from passive: it is more than an advisory assembly under its sovereign, and enjoys a certain scope in its activities.

In 1510, the same stern Grand Duke Vasily, whose power over his subjects surpassed all monarchs in the world, deciding the political fate of Pskov in Novgorod, “ordered his boyars to do as they thought in their Duma,” and the arrest of the Pskov authorities and citizens who arrived then to the sovereign with petitions, is the work of the Moscow boyars, a consequence of their Duma verdict.

The stereotypical language of official acts obscured the importance of the boyars before the authority of the tsar. But when the king spoke in simple, non-conventional language, both sides appeared in a different light. In a speech prepared for delivery at the council of 1551, Ivan, recalling his verdict on localism in the Duma of 1549, notes with pleasure that “that verdict was favorable to all the boyars.” To the council, which was attended by the prince and boyars along with the clergy, Ivan indicates the task of arranging everything according to St. rules and forefathers' laws, "on which we, the saints, the king and everyone, will sentence and put to death." The Duma itself had a procedure for discussing the issues that were next in line.

At the end of 1552, the tsar, leaving Moscow to go to Trinity to baptize his newborn son, ordered the boyars to think about the organization of the newly conquered Kazan and then sit down to feed, i.e. about replacing them with a cash salary; but they pushed forward the question of feeding that concerned them more closely, and “put the Kazan building aside,” for which the chronicler complains about them.

These facts prove that the tsars themselves respected the Boyar Duma and understood its significance for themselves. The king needed to rely on some body that would give advice to the prince on making decisions of national importance.

The Boyar Duma knew the ups and downs of its national importance, but even Ivan the Terrible was forced to reckon with it, although he periodically sent its members to the chopping block. The role of the Duma was also well understood by foreigners, who, before attending the royal reception, had to communicate with Duma officials for a long time.

The Englishman Giles Fletcher, who visited Rus' under Boris Godunov, left interesting memories about the role of the Duma. He wrote: “The Tsar and the Boyar Duma, which is under him, are both the supreme rulers and the executors in relation to the publication and destruction of laws, the determination of government officials, the right to declare war and enter into alliances with foreign powers, the right to execute and pardon, the right to change decisions on civil and criminal cases."

In the 16th century the political significance of the Duma was formally approved: the boyar verdict was recognized as a necessary moment of legislation, through which each new law added to the Code of Laws had to pass.

Thus, in the XV-XVI centuries. The Duma played an important role in the political affairs of the sovereign. The princes, and then the tsars, understood the significance of the Boyar Duma and relied on its activities. Numerous facts testifying to the Tsar’s attitude towards the Duma prove the high position of the Boyar Duma in society and its role for the sovereigns. Consequently, the importance of the Boyar Duma among government bodies was the highest.

Boyar Duma

1.3 The essence of the Boyar Duma

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Boyar Duma

2.2 Composition of the Boyar Duma

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Boyar Duma

3.2 Termination of the Boyar Duma

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Boyar Duma in the XV-XVI centuries

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2.3 The nature of the activities of the Boyar Duma

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Chapter 3.

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1.2 Functions of the Boyar Duma

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2.2 Meetings of the Boyar Duma

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Boyar Duma

CHAPTER I.

BOYAR DUMA AS THE FIRST PROTOTYPE OF THE STATE DUMA

Boyar Duma

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Boyar Duma

1.2 Boyar Duma as a class body

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Boyar Duma

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Boyar Duma in the XV-XVI centuries

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The role of the Boyar Duma in public administration in the X-XVII centuries.

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2). Boyar Duma

The main government institution in Russia in the 16th - 17th centuries. there was a Boyar Duma. Originated in the 15th century. from the council under the prince, it was an advisory body under the king. During the formation of the centralized Russian state...

Boyar Duma

Boyar Duma- the highest council, consisting of representatives of the feudal aristocracy. Was a continuation of the princely Duma [ source?] in the new historical conditions of the existence of the Russian state at the end of the 14th century. Not a single sovereign could do without thought, not excluding Ivan the Terrible.

The boyar duma did not play an independent role; it always acted together with the tsar, constituting, together with the sovereign, a single supreme power. This unity was especially evident in matters of legislation and international relations. In all cases, a decision was made in the following form: “The sovereign indicated and the boyars sentenced” or “By the sovereign’s decree the boyars sentenced.”

In view of the widespread ideas about the boyar duma as an institution, it should be recalled that the nobles whom the tsar “allowed”, or favored, to join his duma, that is, to the “council people”, had neither an office, nor a staff, nor their own office work and archive of resolved cases. The Tsar, at his discretion, appointed some Duma members to voivodeships in the largest cities of the state - on the Dvina, Arkhangelsk, Veliky Novgorod, Belgorod, Kazan, Astrakhan, etc., sent others as ambassadors to foreign states, instructed others, “ordered” some or a business or an entire branch of management, and finally, he kept some with him as permanent advisers on current issues of public administration. Thus, we can say that the Duma rank of a service person testified not to his actual service merits, but to the level at which he was among the ruling elite of the state.

The Boyar Duma existed until the end of the 17th century and was later transformed into the Senate.

Compound

The Boyar Duma was a political institution that created and led the Moscow state and social order. It was an aristocratic institution. This character was revealed in the fact that most of its members almost until the end of the 17th century. came from a well-known circle of noble families and was appointed to the Duma by the sovereign according to a well-known line of parochial seniority. The only constant support for the structure and significance of the boyar duma was the custom, by virtue of which the sovereign called people of the boyar class into administration in a certain hierarchical order. The strength of this custom was created by the history of the Moscow state itself.

The Duma of the Moscow State included only boyars in the ancient meaning of the word, that is, free landowners. Then, with their transformation into service people, a division arose into boyars in general and service boyars in the precise sense. The highest class of servants is called “introduced boyars,” that is, introduced into the palace to constantly assist the Grand Duke in governing matters. Another lower category of the same courtyard servants are called worthwhile boyars, or travelers who received a “way” - income to management. Only the first, that is, the introduced boyars, sometimes called “big ones,” could be advisers to the prince, members of the boyar duma. This was the transition to the formation of a rank from the boyars (which later gave the right to a meeting in the Duma).

The second element that became part of the boyar duma as the destinies were destroyed is - princes, who became advisers to the Grand Duke according to their rank of princes, without initially needing a special appointment to the rank of boyar, since they considered their rank higher than that of the boyar. This element prevailed in the Duma until the end of the 16th century, and from that time not every prince got into the Duma; The large number of serving princes forced a choice between them and promoted only a few to the Duma through the rank of boyar. In addition to these two elements, the Duma also included some officials; so, I could be present in the Duma okolnichy, a title that was later converted to rank. Under John III, the right of court and administration belonged to the boyars and okolnichy (“Judge the court of the boyars and okolnichy”, Sud. g., art. I).

Notes

Literature

  • Klyuchevsky V. O. Boyar Duma of Ancient Rus'. - M.: Synodal Printing House, 1902. - 555 p. (on the Runiverse website)

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See what “Boyar Duma” is in other dictionaries:

    The Supreme Council of representatives of the aristocracy under the Russian sovereign in the 10th and early 18th centuries. The activities of the Boyar Duma were of a legislative nature. She discussed issues of legislation, foreign policy, government, and religion. IN … Political science. Dictionary.

    BOYAR DUMA, 1) in the Old Russian state, a council under the prince of members of the senior squad, close relatives, etc. 2) During the period of fragmentation of the princely domains, a council of noble vassals under the prince. 3) In the Russian state of the late 15th and early 18th centuries... ...Russian history

    Boyar Duma- in the Russian state at the beginning of the 18th century. the highest council under the Grand Duke, and from 1547 under the Tsar. Consisted of representatives of the aristocracy (the largest feudal lords), its activities were of a legislative nature. During the period of feudal fragmentation... Encyclopedia of Law

History » Boyar Duma » Termination of the Boyar Duma

Although the Duma survived under the first Romanovs, its importance began to gradually decline. After Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich abolished localism in 1682 and burned the books of rank, the importance of the Boyar Duma finally fell. The tsarist power no longer needed “support” from the highest aristocrats; Russia confidently took the path of absolute monarchy. The Boyar Duma finally ceased its activities under Peter I. After the capital was moved to St. Petersburg, meetings of the Boyar Duma, which remained in Moscow, were not held. In 1711, the tsar created a new body - the Senate, and the need for the Duma finally disappeared. Peter I stopped conferring Duma ranks, and due to the natural loss of members of the Boyar Duma, it finally disappeared.

Meetings with the boyars continued in the so-called Near Chancellery, which in itself was nothing more than the tsar’s personal office and a permanent institution; but congresses of boyars in the chancellery are no longer a permanent institution. In subsequent years, before the establishment of the Senate, Peter, during his departures from the capital, entrusted the management of affairs to several persons, but did not trust them and did not rely on them. In 1711, February 22, declaring war with Turkey and preparing to leave for the theater of war, he also entrusted the management of affairs to several persons, calling their totality the senate, which by no means had the former significance of the boyar duma and was not a political institution.

Thus, the boyar duma was an institution closely connected with the fate of a certain class of Moscow society; it was a political institution that created and led the Moscow state and social order. By its special composition it was an aristocratic institution. This character was revealed in the fact that most of its members almost until the end of the 17th century. came from a well-known circle of noble families and was appointed to the Duma by the sovereign according to a well-known line of parochial seniority. The only constant support for the structure and significance of the boyar duma was the custom, by virtue of which the sovereign called people of the boyar class into administration in a certain hierarchical order. The strength of this custom was created by the history of the Moscow state itself.

The meetings of the Duma were recorded - these documents were called the “court list”. The court list was compiled by the clerk; the minutes also recorded the opinions of Duma officials, but this practice was not permanent, then the protocol was copied by the clerk in draft form and verified by the clerk - “the clerk has his hand in those matters” and was verbally reported to the members of the Duma so that they could make corrections in the right place .

The protocols were considered the most important Duma documents and therefore some of them were included in the inventory of the Tsar's archives, and they were stored in carefully locked chests in expensive bindings.

The final documents of the meeting were the decrees of the Tsar and the verdicts of the Boyar Duma.

The text of these documents began with the words: “The Tsar, Sovereign, Grand Duke indicated” or “The Great Sovereign, having listened to this report, indicated and the boyars sentenced” (with some changes, this form of the beginning of the text of the Decrees lasted for over a hundred years.) / The Boyar Duma stood guard over the hierarchy not only departments and officials, but also documents.

Its competence included issuing grants and decree letters to the highest clergy and palace dignitaries for the ownership of estates, villages, lands and industries.

The Duma's paperwork included confidential correspondence and special written records on prominent government and court figures. Those who received a “guarantee note” went through a special commission of guarantors with all the elements confirming the fact of the guarantee. Thus, within the walls of the Duma, a kind of dossier was concentrated on prominent government dignitaries.

Often reports formed the basis of future documents, for example, letters, then at the end of the letter there was a postscript “from the report of clerk Fyodor Bulgakov.”

This is how the foundations of the legal regulation of the relationship between the Duma and service people were created. The function of the Duma to manage Russian territories required correspondence, which was divided into “messengers and messengers,” and the fact of receipt of the document was recorded in special books. The author's signature on documents was a rare occurrence. However, decrees, letters of grant, agreements with foreign states, personal lists of city nobles and boyar children had the signature (“inscription”) of the clerk and the “right” of the clerk.

Many important documents were affixed with a state seal with the image of a double-headed eagle as a symbol of the succession of power by the Moscow princes from Byzanium and Rome. There were also seals of cities, which over time turned into coats of arms. The most common was the columnar form of documents.

But for inventories and other security records, books were used (boyar books, receipts and expenditure books of the treasury, scribes, sentinels, etc.). Obviously, these books were kept in orders, and at meetings of the Boyar Duma they were used for reference purposes.

The Boyar Duma, being until a certain time a legislative, executive and judicial body, could not do without an appropriate apparatus performing office work functions. These functions were decentralized, since part of the preparatory work for the meetings was concentrated in the Middle Duma, orders, and Duma commissions. However, the most important documents underwent legal examination in the Great Moscow Discharge, which, before receiving the status of an order, was a structure of the Boyar Duma.

The documentation procedure was largely based on historically established rituals and traditions, which in the process of creating precedents acquired the character of a complete system.

That is why documents and rules for their execution have acquired such a long life, with which we still deal today9.

CHAPTER III. THE SIGNIFICANCE AND ROLE OF THE BOYAR DUMA

3.1 The role of the Duma in the system of government bodies of the Moscow State

The Duma played the role of a conciliation body. Given the chaos in the area of ​​the order system at that time, this was the main responsibility of the government. There were several general rules regarding the determination of decisions of the Boyar Duma.

Historiography and legal history have developed two general rules in this regard, which can be formulated as follows:

the form: “and the great sovereign, having listened to the report extract, indicated and the boyars sentenced...” is simply a designation of the fact of the tsar’s participation in the meeting of the Boyar Duma. But this order of legislation was not formally binding on the tsar. He could decide cases himself and issue orders that had the nature of legislative decrees, single-handedly.

Administrative reforms of Peter I

Sometimes the tsar resolved issues with a small circle of advisers - the so-called chamber duma of the sovereign.

the form: “by decree of the great sovereign, the boyars, having listened to that report, sentenced...” is simply a designation of the fact of the absence of the tsar at the meeting of the Boyar Duma.

The Duma issued two general types of acts: “zakrep” and “litter”.

“Zakrep” - decisions of the Duma on general issues of governance, under it was the signature of all Duma clerks. “Litter” - the consolidation of a private decree - the act was signed by one Duma clerk.

At the end of the 16th - beginning of the 17th centuries. The role of the Duma and the nobility close to the court in governing the state not only does not decrease, but also increases, which was expressed, first of all, in the strengthening of the participation of boyars in the direct management of orders as judges. The increasing role of the nobility in the management of orders occurred throughout the 17th century.

This had important political significance and contributed to the gradual bureaucratization of the boyars. From the body of the originally patrimonial land aristocracy, the Duma is gradually transformed into a body of the service aristocracy, into a kind of council “from the heads of orders.” End of the 16th and beginning of the 17th centuries. were an important milestone in this process.

Although the Duma survived under the first Romanovs, its importance began to gradually decline. After Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich abolished localism in 1682 and burned the books of rank, the importance of the Boyar Duma finally fell.

The tsarist power no longer needed “support” from the highest aristocrats; Russia confidently took the path of absolute monarchy. The Boyar Duma finally ceased its activities under Peter I. After the capital was moved to St. Petersburg, meetings of the Boyar Duma, which remained in Moscow, were not held. In 1711, the tsar created a new body - the Senate, and the need for the Duma finally disappeared. Peter I stopped conferring Duma ranks, and due to the natural loss of members of the Boyar Duma, it finally disappeared.

Meetings with the boyars continued in the so-called Near Chancellery, which in itself was nothing more than the tsar’s personal office and a permanent institution; but congresses of boyars in the chancellery are no longer a permanent institution.

In subsequent years, before the establishment of the Senate, Peter, during his departures from the capital, entrusted the management of affairs to several persons, but did not trust them and did not rely on them. In 1711, February 22, declaring war with Turkey and preparing to leave for the theater of war, he also entrusted the management of affairs to several persons, calling their totality the senate, which by no means had the former significance of the boyar duma and was not a political institution.

Thus, the boyar duma was an institution closely connected with the fate of a certain class of Moscow society; it was a political institution that created and led the Moscow state and social order.

By its special composition it was an aristocratic institution. This character was revealed in the fact that most of its members almost until the end of the 17th century. came from a well-known circle of noble families and was appointed to the Duma by the sovereign according to a well-known line of parochial seniority.

The only constant support for the structure and significance of the boyar duma was the custom, by virtue of which the sovereign called people of the boyar class into administration in a certain hierarchical order. The strength of this custom was created by the history of the Moscow state itself.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, it is necessary to summarize the work done.

It should be noted that the Boyar Duma is a relatively modern term. In reference books of the 16th-17th centuries, the phrase Duma Boyar is more often used.

However, its functions, the composition of the service boyars, the types of documents and the issues discussed directly correlate it with the supreme power.

The Boyar Duma knew the ups and downs of its national importance, but even Ivan the Terrible was forced to reckon with it, although he periodically sent its members to the chopping block. The role of the Duma was also well understood by foreigners, who, before attending the royal reception, had to communicate with Duma officials for a long time.

The Boyar Duma not only discussed the most important state issues and proposed consolidated decisions to the Tsar, but was also a legislative body.

In 1497 and 1550, she approved state codes of law - a kind of code of laws. All the most important state decisions were made only with the participation of the Duma, as evidenced by the wording on ancient documents.

Financial management of the Boyar Duma.

She approved the taxes. In addition, the Duma ordered the distribution of estates and estates based on petitions.

The Duma performed the control functions of supervising the governors, and later the governors.

The Duma also received petitions from the population regarding the abuses of local authorities.

The Duma dealt with foreign policy issues. The head of the Ambassadorial Prikaz was a member of the Duma, which included a Chamber of Responsibility that dealt with international issues of the Muscovite kingdom.

The judicial rights of the Duma were also determined by its competence.

We know few details about the progress of affairs in the Boyar Duma, but the great consequences of its work are clear to everyone.

Under her leadership, the Moscow state system was created, obtaining funds and ways to fight off countless external enemies who surrounded the Moscow state from everywhere, and the very procedure for directing these funds to protect the country and its internal structure was created in the Duma.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Dodonova, M.I. Historical experience of documenting the activities of the Boyar Duma . 2002. – No. 1. – P. 82 – 86.

2. Zulyar Yu.A., Genesis of the Russian autocracy and discussion about its features, Uch. Manual, Irkutsk, 2006.

3. Zuev M. N. History of Russia from ancient times to the beginning of the 21st century.

M.: Bustard, 2004. – 83 p.

4. Isaev I.A. History of state and law of Russia, Textbook, - M., 2004., 3rd ed.

5. History of state and law of Russia / ed. Yu.P. Titova M., “Prospect” 2001.

Kashtanov S.M. Russia // History of Europe. - T.3. — From the Middle Ages to modern times (end of the 15th - first half of the 17th century). - M., 1993

7. Klyuchevsky V.O. Russian history course. Moscow, 1989

8. Munchaev Sh.M., Ustinov V.M. Russian history. Textbook for universities. M., Publishing House Infra M - Norma, 1997.

9. Pushkarev S.G.

Review of Russian history. Moscow, 1991.

10. Cherepnin L.V. Formation of the Russian centralized state. M., 1978

11. Schmidt S.O. At the origins of Russian absolutism. M., 1996.

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BOYAR DUMA, the highest council under Russian princes and tsars in the 10th - early 18th centuries. The term was introduced into scientific circulation by Russian historians of the 18th and 19th centuries. The words “duma”, “council” (in the indicated meaning) and their derivatives “think”, “advise”, “dumets”, “adviser”, as well as “dumnitsa”, “counselor” (the room where the meeting of the Boyar Duma took place ) and etc.

appeared in sources from the 11th century when describing institutions or events that were associated with their activities, including in an earlier period (starting from the 10th century).

In the Old Russian state of the 10th - early 12th centuries, at meetings of the Kiev princes with the senior squad, as well as with representatives of the tribal nobility (“city elders”), inter-princely and international relations, the judicial and administrative structure of the state (including the adoption of the Russian Pravda), issues of accepting Christianity and providing for the Church and the like.

Church hierarchs were present at the most important meetings. The composition, prerogatives and functions, frequency and place of convening of such councils were determined by the prince-suzerain, as well as by tradition in accordance with the circumstances and specific goals. Members of the councils participated in princely feasts, court ceremonies, were present at the princely court, during negotiations between the princes and the conclusion of agreements between them. The fragmentation of the Old Russian state in the 12th - early 13th centuries into independent principalities (and the latter into appanage principalities) led by representatives of various branches of the Rurik dynasty, the emergence of boyars in the principalities as the dominant class strengthened the significance of the Boyar Duma.

The Dumas were replenished with persons from the boyar elite (including members of the thousand), and therefore the activities of the Dumas became more regular.

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The establishment of the dependence of the Russian principalities and lands on the Golden Horde and their weakening influenced the fate of the Boyar Duma. In North-Eastern Rus' in the mid-13th to mid-15th centuries, there was a sharp reduction in the number of service boyars who died during pandemics and Horde raids of the 13th-15th centuries (especially until the 1430s), as well as the elimination by the end of the 14th century of the institution of thousands in most principalities led to the strengthening of the role of the prince-suzerain in determining the composition, subject and order of activities of the Boyar Duma.

The development of the princely economy strengthened in the Boyar Duma the positions of officials who headed its individual branches, or paths - the groom, steward, hunter, etc. By the end of the 14th century, the gradual formation of the aristocratic elite of the untitled boyars consolidated the hereditary nature of the participation of its representatives in the Boyar Duma and in the state management (“great” or “introduced” boyars).

In the Russian territories annexed by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the late 13th - early 15th centuries (mainly western, southwestern, and later central), Boyar Dumas were preserved only in small appanage principalities that belonged to the Rurik princes.

In the Novgorod Republic and the Pskov Republic, in the absence of hereditary princely power, Boyar Dumas were not formed; a well-known analogy to them was the Council of Gentlemen.

The Boyar Duma received its classic appearance at the final stage of the formation of the Russian state in the form of a monarchy with class representation (mid-15th - mid-16th centuries).

The transformation of the Boyar Duma became an integral part of fundamental changes in the country's social and state structure and at the same time - a consequence of such changes. Since the end of the 15th century, the Boyar Duma has been a permanent supreme council under the sovereign. Its activities were carried out in various forms, its functions concerned all areas of management, and it had extensive prerogatives.

A hierarchical structure of the Boyar Duma emerged, a procedure for its replenishment and rules for career advancement in the Boyar Duma were gradually formed, members of the Boyar Duma had a fixed status and material support.

Until the beginning of the 18th century, the Boyar Duma occupied the highest position in the structures of the Sovereign's court.

In the mid-16th to the last quarter of the 17th century, the “Duma ranks” constituted a special, most prestigious and active curia of zemstvo councils. The Boyar Duma was the core of meetings of a narrower composition headed by the monarch on acute military-political, economic and other problems (“military” councils of 1471, 1550-70s, etc.; “church-zemsky” councils of 1580, 1584, etc. .; meetings in 1660, 1662, 1663 with representatives of the privileged merchants and townspeople, etc.).

The appointment of its members to the Duma (“saying” the Duma rank) was established at the turn of the 15th-16th centuries, the procedure itself has been recorded in sources since the end of the 16th century.

Since the last quarter of the 15th century, the Boyar Duma included by appointment boyars (the highest Duma rank), okolnichy (the next most important rank), and by position - butlers (heads of central departments - the Grand Palace, later the Grand Palace of Prikaz and the so-called regional palaces), usually having the rank of boyar or okolnichy, treasurers, bed-keepers, hunters, etc., from the 2nd third of the 16th century - kravchie. In the 16th century, to replenish the Boyar Duma with close advisers to the monarch from the common nobility and from among the officials, the ranks of Duma nobles were introduced (since 1517, “children of the boyars who live with the sovereign in the Duma” are known, from 1551 - “solicitor in the Duma”, from 1564 - “nobles who live in the Duma”) and Duma clerks (since 1532 “great clerks” have been known, since 1562 - “Duma clerks”).

Since the 2nd half of the 16th century, the sovereign's printer (keeper of the royal seal) also held the Duma rank. In the 17th century, the Boyar Duma also included nurseries, solicitors with a key, and others.

Duma officials received, first of all, the most important appointments of governors. Since the 16th century, they had the highest rates of “manorial dachas” (including estates near Moscow) and regular cash salaries. Traditional was the right of Duma members to judicial conciliar proceedings on criminal and political charges, recorded by Tsar Vasily Ivanovich Shuisky in the text of the letter of the cross in 1606 and expanded by him through a number of additional guarantees.

At the end of the 15th century, the number of the Boyar Duma did not exceed 15-18 people (including officials); during the reign of the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily III Ivanovich, with a slight increase in the number of members of the Boyar Duma, the proportions of ranks developed in it (boyars predominated, with the exception of the period 1509-1518 years) and genealogical composition (from 60 to 90% of the boyars were from the titled nobility; among the okolnichy, untitled nobility of Moscow and Tver families dominated).

In the middle of the 16th century, the Boyar Duma expanded sharply, the genealogical proportions were preserved (with a slight decrease in the proportion of boyars): in 1560-62 it consisted of more than 60 people. Executions and repressions of the nobility during the years of the oprichnina and the activities of the special court of Tsar Ivan IV Vasilyevich the Terrible almost halved the composition of the Boyar Duma.

At the same time, the positions of the humble Duma nobles sharply strengthened in it: in March 1584 there were about a third of them in the united Duma (formed by the merger of the special courtyard Boyar Duma of Ivan IV Vasilyevich and the Zemstvo Boyar Duma, which operated in 1565-84 in territories not included tsar into the oprichnina), they all received Duma ranks in a special court or in the oprichnina Duma, which included the tsar’s favorites in the rank of boyars or Duma nobles.

At the end of the 16th century, the number of the Boyar Duma almost recovered (about 60 people in 1598), as well as its genealogical composition (titled persons were about 40%, the share of the Old Moscow untitled nobility increased). Representatives of more than 110 families received appointments to the Boyar Duma during the 16th century, about 50% of them were titled persons of the seven princely houses of the Rurikovichs (princes of Obolensky and Chernigov, Rostov, Ryazan, Suzdal, Starodub, Tver, Yaroslavl), people from some Smolensk lines Rurikovich and four branches of Lithuanian Gediminovich.

Representatives of about 30 princely families received only the rank of boyar; persons from the untitled nobility began their careers in the Boyar Duma with the rank of okolnichy. By the end of the Time of Troubles, the position and authority of the Boyar Duma sharply weakened and was restored only in the 1620s. In the 2nd half of the 17th century, the number of the Boyar Duma, due to multidirectional political factors, grew steadily (59 people in 1648/49, 79 people in 1662/63, 108 people in 1675/76, 180 people in 1688/89) against the background rapid growth in the number of okolnichy, Duma nobles and clerks (in general, in the 1670-80s they accounted for more than 60% of the Duma), a significant “deterioration” of its genealogical composition (over 20 names of titled and untitled nobility received only the boyar rank in the 17th century, in The Duma included about 15 more “Duma” surnames according to tradition, while dozens of second- and third-rate surnames and clans emerged in the 16th century) and a new gradual general decline in the role of the Boyar Duma in the life of the state and society while the role of the monarch increased.

For persons from new families (especially favorites), a consistent career from Duma nobleman to boyar was typical.

The Boyar Duma met regularly, usually headed by the sovereign (for example, from 3 to 5 days a week in the mid-17th century). Full meetings of the Boyar Duma took place noticeably less often than meetings of the monarch with a narrower circle of close advisers - the Middle Duma.

The agenda of the meetings was formed by the sovereign, as well as requests from orders. The Boyar Duma did not have an office, separate office work, its decisions (and sometimes the main points of view during the discussion) were recorded by the clerks of the orders who submitted the request. At meetings of the Boyar Duma, its members, together with the sovereign, adopted “verdicts.” There were also “Duma” commissions (consisting entirely of Duma members or headed by members of the Boyar Duma), Duma members headed a number of orders (by the end of the 16th century - about 15 orders, from the mid-17th century - more than 25).

The “Duma” commissions supervised general and district military reviews, where the “setting up” of land and monetary salaries of serving nobles, Cossacks, etc. took place.

(1552, 1555-56, 1598, 1605-06, etc.); prepared with preliminary approval the charter of the guard service (1571, etc.), projects for the construction of serif lines (from the 2nd half of the 16th century); formed regiments of the new system (2nd third of the 17th century); made decisions on the construction of fortresses. The “Duma” commission was also the Execution Chamber, which operated in the late 17th and early 18th centuries.

Members of the Boyar Duma from the 2nd half of the 15th century were present at the court of the grand or appanage prince, forming a judicial curia under him.

But more often (no later than the 2nd third of the 16th century) the highest court in Moscow was the judicial “boyar commissions”, which tried cases depending on the administrative-territorial affiliation of the “litigants” (“boyars to whom cities were ordered”) or from legal qualifications (“boyars who were ordered to commit robbery”).

The Duma members participated in the Stoglav Council of 1551, at which, in addition to the text of the Stoglav itself, the Code of Laws of 1550 (see the article Code Codes of the 15th-16th centuries) and the statutory zemstvo charter were approved.

According to the Code of Law of 1550 (Article 88), the Boyar Duma necessarily participated in the processes of lawmaking and codification of law. She, together with church councils, adopted the codes of 1580 and 1584 on the fate of church land ownership. Special commissions headed by Duma members prepared the text of the Council Code of 1649, draft reforms of the “sovereign military and zemstvo affairs” (1681-82) and the like.

The Duma members also led the work on the codification of law within the competence of the central departments they led; as a result, “judicial”, “statutory” and “decree” books were compiled from the mid-16th to mid-17th centuries. Members of the Boyar Duma constantly participated in all palace ceremonies and receptions. During long trips of the monarch in the 16th-17th centuries (to monasteries, palace estates, during military campaigns), part of the Boyar Duma accompanied him, and a commission appointed by the sovereign from members of the Boyar Duma (until 1569, often headed by an appanage prince from the Moscow branch of the Rurikovichs) headed the current administration and was the highest judicial authority.

Boyar Duma

At meetings of the Boyar Duma (sometimes preceding zemstvo councils, for example, in 1566, 1621, 1653), key issues of war or peace (truce), large-scale military operations, sovereign campaigns, etc. were considered. Diplomatic negotiations with foreign delegations in Moscow, at various embassy meetings congresses were conducted by commissions (with the right to conclude preliminary agreements) consisting of members of the Boyar Duma.

Duma members of various status usually headed Russian embassies in other states. The Boyar Duma also participated in church reforms (the founding of the Kazan diocese in 1555, the establishment of the patriarchate and the expansion of the number of departments in 1589, the condemnation and defrocking of Patriarch Nikon, discussion of issues of internal church structure at the church council of 1666-67, etc.).

During the Time of Troubles, after the overthrow of Tsar Vasily Ivanovich Shuisky, the “Seven Boyars,” consisting of prominent representatives of the Boyar Duma who were then in Moscow, actually (July - October 1610), and then formally (late October 1610 - October / November 1612) was the highest institution of state and political power in the country. “Seven Boyars” 17 (27).8.1610 concluded an agreement on the recognition of the Polish prince Vladislav (the future Polish king Vladislav IV) as the Russian Tsar.

During the formation of autocracy, the importance of the Boyar Duma, which, by the way of its formation, was an institution for the representation of titled and untitled aristocracy, fell, its meetings took place much less frequently, and the number of members of the Boyar Duma decreased (138 people in 1696/97, 48 people in 1713).

In 1713, the Boyar Duma ceased to function (the liquidation of the Boyar Duma was facilitated by the creation of the Senate in 1711).

Subsequently, advisory functions under the Russian monarchs were performed by the Supreme Privy Council (1726-30), the Cabinet of Ministers 1731-41, the Conference at the Highest Court (1756-1762), the Imperial Council (1762), the Permanent Council (1801-10), and the State Council (1810). -1917/18).

Lit.: Klyuchevsky V.

O. Boyar Duma of Ancient Rus'. 3rd ed. M., 1902; Sergeevich V. [I.] Antiquities of Russian law. St. Petersburg, 1908. T. 2: Veche and the Prince. Advisors to the prince. St. Petersburg, 1908; Zimin A. A. Composition of the Boyar Duma in the XV-XVI centuries // Archaeographic Yearbook for 1957.

M., 1958; aka. The formation of the boyar aristocracy in Russia in the second half of the 15th - first third of the 16th century. M., 1988; Nazarov V.D. From the history of central state institutions of Russia in the mid-16th century. // History of the USSR. 1976. No. 3; Crummey R. O. Aristocrats and servitors: the boyar elite in Russia, 1613-1689. Princeton, 1983; Pavlov A.P. Sovereign's court and political struggle under Boris Godunov (1584-1605). St. Petersburg, 1992; Skrynnikov R.G. The reign of terror.

St. Petersburg, 1992; The Russian elite in the seventeenth century: Duma and ceremonial ranks of the Sovereign's court, 1613-1713. , 2004. T. 1; Stanislavsky A. L. Works on the history of the sovereign's court in Russia in the 16th-17th centuries. M., 2004.

V. D. Nazarov.

1. During the XV - XVII centuries, one of the painful problems of internal life was the problem of relations between the tsar (prince) and the boyars, and later - the tsar, the boyars and the nobility.

This problem especially worsened during the reign of Ivan the Terrible.

The boyars are the highest aristocracy, which was formed during the times of Kievan Rus and the Mongol-Tatar yoke.

The distinctive features of the boyars were:

Wealth - boyars were usually large landowners;

Nobility - the boyars claimed great authority, almost equal to the tsar; had a rich and illustrious pedigree;

Origin - most often, the descendants of appanage princes who did not become tsars (grand dukes) and their relatives became boyars;

Independence - the boyars usually owed nothing (neither wealth nor nobility) to the tsar and perceived the tsar (Grand Duke) as first among equals.

Several boyar families were formed in Rus'. which were independent centers of power independent of the Grand Duke (Tsar):

Golitsyn;

Miloslavsky;

Shuisky;

Velskie;

Romanovs;

Godunovs;

Morozovs;

Other famous births.

Boyars usually sought to reduce royal power and demanded additional privileges for themselves. Often the boyars were the initiators and perpetrators of intrigues and unrest, since this was a chance to strengthen the position of their clan, bypassing other clans, for example:

Great feudal war 1433 - 1453,

Boyar rule 1533 - 1547

and the wars between the Shuiskys and the Velskys in the 1540s;

After Ivan the Terrible - the Great Troubles of 1603 - 1613. and the Seven Boyars.

Thus, the boyars posed a threat to the royal power and the unity of the country.

2. Nobles - a class of subjects who are in the service of the state and receive remuneration for this. The distinctive features of the nobility were:

Average property status - usually capable representatives of the middle class of that time became nobles - professional warriors and officials, townspeople (townspeople), small and medium-sized landowners, wealthy peasants; very rarely very rich subjects or representatives of the poorest strata became nobles;

Not nobility - as a rule, persons who became nobles were not noble; they earned their authority afterwards;

Being in the service of the state - unlike the boyars, who existed on their own and served the state only when they wanted, the nobles necessarily served the state, as a rule, either as officials or as military personnel;

Receiving rewards from the tsar - for their service to the state, the nobles were rewarded by the tsar, most often with land;

Loyalty to the Tsar - unlike the boyars, the nobles were obliged to the Tsar, were devoted to him and were interested in the Tsar and strengthening the Tsarist power.

A particularly rapid growth of the nobility in Rus' and the strengthening of its positions began in the 1480s.

and in the era of Ivan the Terrible, since the young Russian state, liberated from the Mongol-Tatars, was interested in managerial and military personnel. The Tsar, in turn, was also interested in the nobles and strengthening their position.

One of the periods of intensified struggle between the boyars, on the one hand, and the tsar and nobles, on the other, was the oprichnina - a special order of governance in part of the territory of the state and the historical era associated with it.

Oprichnina was introduced under the following circumstances:

In 1564, Tsar Ivan the Terrible made an unexpected political move - he left Moscow for the Alexandrovskaya Sloboda and announced his intention to refuse to be king, declaring the main reason for his decision “the treacherous activities of the boyars” and declaring them to be the culprits of all the problems in the state;

The tsar had a certain popularity, and his decision brought Moscow to the brink of an anti-boyar rebellion; delegations from different classes reached out to the tsar with a request to stay;

Having received popular support, at the beginning of 1565

The tsar returned to Moscow and announced the introduction of the oprichnina, which was one of the main conditions for his return.

The essence of the oprichnina was as follows:

In January 1565, the entire country was divided into two parts - zemshchina and oprichnina;

On the territory of the zemshchina (“common land”), which included the southern and eastern regions of Rus', the usual order of government was maintained;

The rest of the territory (oprichnina) was declared the personal inheritance of the tsar, where a special order of governance was established;

The territory of the oprichnina included mainly the lands of Western and Northern Rus', as well as the territory around Moscow.

The special management procedure was as follows:

In the territory of the oprichnina, the tsar was declared the sole autocrat, the owner of these lands, who could make any decisions without any restraining bodies;

The legal governing bodies - the Boyar Duma, the Zemsky Sobor, the bodies of zemstvo self-government - did not operate in this territory;

To implement the tsar’s decisions, an oprichnina army was created on the territory of the oprichnina, which was subordinate to no one except the tsar;

The oprichnina army was organized in the form of a monastic inquisitorial order;

The guardsmen - soldiers of Ivan the Terrible - wore black clothes and tied a dog's head and a broom to their horse, which symbolized their intention to “gnaw out and sweep out traitors”;

The guardsmen could use any measures to achieve their goals, including torture and murder, and did not obey anyone except the tsar;

In the subject territory, the guardsmen unleashed terror against local landowners, boyars, princes and political opponents of the tsar;

As a result of the 7-year terror of the guardsmen, many large feudal estates, mainly boyars, were ruined and destroyed;

Faced with arbitrariness and unable to defend themselves, many boyars abandoned their wealth and lands, fled abroad or hid in the territory of the zemshchina;

A number of boyars, as well as relatives of the tsar, who during his childhood claimed the throne, were destroyed.

The oprichnina terror, which lasted 7 years, significantly undermined the position of the boyars in Rus'.

The oprichnina was abolished and the normal order of government was restored throughout the country - the activities of the bodies of the estate-representative monarchy and the bodies of zemstvo self-government. The reasons for the end of the oprichnina were:

Fulfilling its main task is to undermine large boyar landownership and eliminate the most dangerous rivals of the tsar from among the boyars and princes;

Increasing raids on Rus' by the Crimean Tatars (in 1571

3.2 Termination of the Boyar Duma

the Crimean Khan Devlet-Girey reached Moscow and burned it, and the Russian army was unable to resist, since the guardsmen did not obey anyone and undermined discipline in the army);

The transformation of the guardsmen into an independent uncontrolled force, which became dangerous for the tsar himself;

Dissatisfaction in society with the arbitrariness and impunity of the guardsmen, because of which the authority of the tsar began to fall.

The oprichnina was stopped as decisively as it had begun.

Many guardsmen were scattered throughout the country, some were hidden in monasteries. Ivan the Terrible did not like to remember the oprichnina, and even saying the word “oprichnina” out loud after 1572

was prohibited under penalty of death. Recently, science has been considering another point of view on the oprichnina - the “classless” one, the essence of which is that the oprichnina terror was directed, first of all, against the political opponents of Ivan the Terrible. This point of view is supported by the fact that society was split not along the line of boyars - nobles, but along the line of supporters of Ivan the Terrible - opponents of Ivan the Terrible.

In particular.

Among the guardsmen were boyars, nobles, and representatives of other classes;

The oprichnina terror was directed not only at the boyars, but also at representatives of other classes, as well as entire areas;

Both boyars, nobles and ordinary people became victims of the guardsmen.

If we take into account the second (classless) point of view, then the oprichnina can be explained as the terror of Ivan the Terrible against his political opponents (regardless of their class affiliation).

First of all, this terror was directed against the group of Vladimir Ancient - the cousin of Ivan the Terrible, his main political rival and pretender to the throne, as well as against the boyars and nobles opposed to Ivan the Terrible.

This version is also supported by the fact that as soon as this group, as well as Vladimir Staritsky himself, were destroyed, the oprichnina was stopped.

http://histerl.ru/otechestvennaia_istoria/kratko/boriba_ivana_groznogo_s_boiarstvom.htm

Control test on the topic “Time of Troubles”
A1. The Time of Troubles in Russia refers to the period
1) second quarter of the 15th century.
2) third quarter of the 16th century.
3) the end of the 16th - beginning of the 17th century.
4) the end of the 17th century.
A2.

What was one of the consequences of the suppression of the Rurik dynasty on the Moscow throne?
1) the beginning of the Time of Troubles in Russia
2) establishment of the oprichnina
3) convening of the first Zemsky Sobor
4) the beginning of the reign of Elena Glinskaya
A3. What event happened during the Time of Troubles in Russia?
1) battle on the river. Sheloni 2) formation of the Tushino camp
3) publication of the Trade Charter 4) Solovetsky uprising
A4. Who, during the Time of Troubles, appealed to his fellow Nizhny Novgorod residents to begin organizing a second militia and became one of its leaders?
1) Boris Godunov 2) Andrey Kurbsky
3) Kuzma Minin 4) Archpriest Avvakum
A5.

Which of the above refers to the results of the Troubles of the late 16th - early 17th centuries?
1) accession of the Romanov dynasty
2) carrying out reforms of the Elected Rada
3) creation of the Streltsy army
4) the beginning of the convening of Zemsky Sobors
A6. In what year did the Romanov dynasty begin to reign?
1) 1547 2) 1584
3) 1613 4) 1645
A7. Read an excerpt from the work of a historian and indicate the year when the events described took place.

“For a year and a half, Moscow remained a battlefield. During this time, residents became accustomed to waiting every minute for a cannonball to strike and to hide from shelling. Now the battle was won. The hard times are left behind.
A parade was held in honor of the victory. The Zemstvo army formed up on the Arbat, and from there proceeded in a solemn march to Kitay-Gorod. Trubetskoy's troops, gathered outside the Pokrovsky Gate, entered the fortress from the other side. The troops converged on the square near Lobnoye Mesto, from where they moved through the Spassky Gate to the Kremlin.

The great hour has struck. The ancient capital of the Russian state was completely cleared of foreign conquerors.”
1) 1380 2) 1480
3) 1612 4) 1812
A8. Read an excerpt from the historian’s work and indicate the ruler in question.
“Tsar Fedor died. With his death, the dynasty of Ivan Kalita, which ruled the Moscow state for three hundred years, came to an end.

The ruler's influence was shaken. The nobility put up with his power as long as he carried out affairs in the name of the rightful king. However, in the eyes of the great boyars, he remained nothing more than an artful temporary worker. The ruler's claims to own the crown aroused the indignation of the descendants of the great and appanage princes. The “temporary worker” was not related by blood to the king and therefore had no formal rights to the throne.”
1) Vasily Shuisky 2) Boris Godunov
3) Fyodor Mstislavsky 4) Mikhail Romanov
A9. Read an excerpt from a historical source and indicate the century when the events described took place.

“Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich and Kuzma... went to Yaroslavl. The Kostroma residents saw them off with great joy and gave them a lot of treasury to help them. They came to Yaroslavl, and many people greeted them with joy... The Yaroslavl people received them with great honor and brought many gifts. They did not take anything from them and, being in Yaroslavl, began to plan how they could go under the Moscow state for purification.

Many military men and townspeople began to come to them from the cities and bring money from the treasury to help ... "
1) XIV century. 2) XV century.
3) XVI century 4) XVII century.
A10.

Fall of the Boyar Duma 16-18 centuries

Read an excerpt from the work of the historian S. F. Platonov and name the historical figure in question. “...In the spring of 1606

V.I. Shuisky, together with Golitsyn, began to act much more carefully; they managed to win over the troops stationed near Moscow; on the night of May 16-17, their detachment was brought into Moscow, and there Shuisky already had enough sympathizers. However, the conspirators, knowing that not everyone in Moscow was irreconcilably opposed to the impostor, considered it necessary to deceive the people and started a revolt, allegedly for the Tsar, against the Poles who had offended him.

But the matter was soon explained. The king was declared an impostor and killed on the morning of May 17. The “true prince,” whom they so recently so touchingly greeted and whose salvation they so rejoiced at, became a “defrocked,” a “heretic,” and a “Polish whistler.”
1) False Dmitry I 2) False Dmitry II
3) Boris Godunov 4) Fedor Borisovich
A11.

Read an excerpt from the historian’s work and name the king in question.
“The boyars went to the king. The king’s brother-in-law, Ivan Mikhailovich Vorotynsky, told him: “The whole earth beats you with its brow; leave your state for the sake of internecine warfare, because they don’t like you and don’t want to serve you.”

The king had no choice but to obey. He laid down his royal staff and moved from the royal chambers to his princely house.
The supreme government temporarily passed to the boyar council under the chairmanship of Prince Fyodor Mstislavsky.”
1) Boris Godunov 2) Vasily Shuisky
3) Mikhail Romanov 4) Ivan IV
A12. Read an excerpt from a contemporary’s diary and indicate the year when the events described occurred.
“An ill-fated rebellion, for which the traitors have long united, forming alliances and swearing oaths.

Their leader in that matter was the current Tsar, Vasily Ivanovich Shuisky, who promised to divide fortresses and states between them and appoint them to high positions... Troops were released against that Moscow that could side with Dmitry, conspiring with the most influential merchants and part of the world.” .
1) 1598
2) 1605
3) 1606
4) 1610
A13.

Read an excerpt from the document and determine what event it is associated with.
“In Nizhny, the treasury was becoming small. He began to write to cities in Primorsky and all over Ponizovye, so that they would help them go to the cleansing of the Moscow state. In the cities they heard the meetings in Nizhny, they were glad and sent him to advise, they sent a lot of treasury to him.”
1) with the creation of the Second Militia in 1612
2) with the campaign of False Dmitry I to Moscow
3) with the election of Mikhail Romanov to the kingdom
4) with the election of Boris Godunov to the kingdom
B1.

Indicate the names of the leaders of the Second Militia, which liberated Moscow from the Poles in 1612. Find two names in the list below and write down the numbers under which they are listed.
1) Ivan Zarutsky;
2) Dmitry Pozharsky;
3) Grigory Otrepiev;
4) Kuzma Minin;
5) Mikhail Romanov.
AT 2. Write down the term in question.
“The government, consisting of representatives of noble boyar families, came to power after the overthrow of Vasily Shuisky.”
C1.

You have been instructed to prepare a detailed answer on the topic “The End of the Time of Troubles.” Make a plan according to which you will cover this topic.
The plan must contain at least three points. Write a brief explanation of the content of any two points.
The plan with explanations should reflect the main events (phenomena) associated with the end of the Troubles of the early 17th century.

in Russia.

Items

Boyar Duma before the Time of Troubles. What was it like?

newbie Answer 1:
The Boyar Duma had a legislative character, and its authority and influence varied under different monarchs. In some periods, decisions were made by a narrow circle of those close to the throne. “Sovereign of All Rus'” Ivan III discussed all issues with the boyars and did not punish for “meeting”, that is, for objections and disagreements with his opinion.

But his son Vasily III was reproached for the fact that instead of consulting with the Boyar Duma, he “locked himself up at his bedside and did all the work.”

Prince Andrei Kursky also accused Ivan the Terrible of trying to rule without consulting the “best men.” During the minority of the tsar and during the period of civil strife, the Boyar Duma turned into a center that actually governed the state.
The decrees of that time were enshrined in the traditional formula: “The Tsar indicated, and the boyars sentenced.”
Hierarchy of Duma ranks: boyars, okolnichy, Duma nobles, Duma clerks.

You need to read about localism in the Boyar Duma.... With the abolition of localism, the importance of the Boyar Duma finally falls.
Membership in the Boyar Duma was traditionally reserved for aristocratic families, and when one or another well-born person reached a certain age, he was “said the Duma,” that is, introduced into the circle of boyars.

Boyar Duma: date of establishment, history.

Of course, time made its own adjustments to the composition of the nobility. The Oprichnina and the Troubles destroyed the offspring of the appanage princes. As S. F. Platonov noted, “For the Moscow aristocracy, the time of unrest was the same as the Wars of the Scarlet and White Roses were for the aristocracy of England: it suffered such a decline that it had to absorb new, comparatively democratic elements, so as not to completely exhausted."

The Boyar Duma ceased its activities under Peter I.