In 1613, at the most representative and numerous Zemsky Sobor in Moscow, the question arose of choosing a new Russian Tsar. The applicants were Prince Vladislav, the son of the Swedish king Karl-Philip, the son of False Dmitry II and Marina Mnishek Ivan, as well as representatives of the most noble boyar families. The Zemsky Sobor elected to the kingdom a representative of the venerable old Moscow boyar family, 16-year-old Mikhail Romanov, son of Fyodor Nikitich Romanov. The rights of the Romanovs to the throne were substantiated in one of the last chronicle works - "The New Chronicler", created in the 30s. 17th century
Father of Mikhail F.N. Romanov, the nephew of Ivan the Terrible's first wife, Anastasia Romanova (his father, Nikita Romanov, Anastasia's brother), was forcibly tonsured a monk in 1601 under the name Filaret, and in 1619 he was elected patriarch. A powerful and resolute man, in fact, until his death in 1633, he held the government of the country in his hands. A three-hundred-year history of the reign of a new Russian dynasty began.
The election of Mikhail Romanov as Tsar did not stop the claims of the Poles to establish themselves in Russian throne, And they were looking for opportunities to arrange for the youth of Iar. The feat of the Kostroma peasant Ivan Susanin is widely known, at the cost of his own life he saved Mikhail, who went on a pilgrimage, from the Polish massacre. M.I. Glinka immortalized his feat in the opera A Life for the Tsar. Decembrist poet K.F. Ryleev dedicated sublime lines to him:
“A traitor, they thought, you found in me:
They are not and will not be on the Russian land!
In it, everyone loves their homeland from infancy
And he will not destroy his soul by betrayal.
"The villain! - shouted the enemies, boiling over, - You will die under the swords! “Your anger is not terrible! Who is Russian by heart, he cheerfully, and boldly, And joyfully perishes for a just cause! Neither execution nor death, and I am not afraid: Without flinching, I will die for the tsar and for Rus'!
... The snow is pure, the purest blood stained: She saved Mikhail for Russia!
The government of Mikhail Romanov was faced with the task of ending the intervention and restoring internal order. According to the Stolbovsky peace with Sweden in 1617, Russia regained Novgorod, but left the coast of the Gulf of Finland and Korela to Sweden; in 1618
According to the Deulinsky truce with Poland, Russia left the Smolensk, Seversk and Chernigov lands behind it. But in general, the territorial unity of Russia was restored. Only in 1634, according to the Polyanovsky Treaty after the Smolensk War (1632-1634), the Commonwealth recognized Mikhail Fedorovich as king.
The Troubles strengthened the idea of autocracy, and the Romanov monarchy was perceived as a symbol of inner world and stability. The moderation and traditionalism of the first Romanov served to consolidate society. With the consolidation of tsarist power, the government less and less resorted to Zemsky Sobors. Domestic policy took the path of further strengthening the feudal-serf order and the estate system. In order to streamline taxation in the 20s. 17th century new scribe books began to be compiled, attaching the population to the place of residence. The practice of "lesson years" was revived.
During the reign of Mikhail's son Alexei Mikhailovich (1645-1676), the state system of Russia evolved from a class-representative monarchy to absolutism, i.e. unlimited and uncontrolled power of the monarch. The threat from the more developed countries of the West and systematic raids from the south forced this process and forced the state to keep in constant readiness significant armed forces, the cost of maintaining which exceeded the material resources of the population. Other factors were also important, such as the vast territory of the country with the further development of new lands, the rivalry of the boyars with the nobility, which allowed the monarch to maneuver between them, peasant and urban uprisings.
Alexei Mikhailovich, nicknamed "The Quietest" for his ability to trust the decision of state issues to suitable executors from among his close associates, had to take important steps on Russia's path to absolutism. According to V.O. Klyuchevsky, he created a “transformative mood” around him, surrounding himself with thinking people. It was under Alexei Mikhailovich that the most dramatic events of the century took place and the most significant victories were won - over Sweden and Poland.
A necessary step in overcoming the consequences of the Time of Troubles and strengthening statehood was the adoption in 1649 of the Council Code. A hundred years have passed since the Sudebnik of 1550, and it did not take into account the new needs of society. The Council Code of 1649 is a universal code of feudal law, which had no analogues in previous legislation. It established norms in all spheres of society: social, economic, administrative, family, spiritual, military, etc., and remained in force until 1832. The first chapters of the Code provided for severe punishments for crimes against the church and royal power. The power and personality of the king was increasingly identified with the state.
The most important section was the "Court on the Peasants", which introduced an indefinite search for runaway peasants, and finally canceled the transfer of peasants to new owners on St. George's Day. The government took over the search for runaway peasants. This meant the legal registration of a nationwide system of serfdom, in which the feudal lord had the right to dispose of the person, labor and property of his peasants. This allowed the maximum concentration of forces on solving the problems of domestic and foreign policy on a feudal basis.
All classes of society were obliged to serve the state and differed from one another only in the nature of the duties assigned to them: service people carried out military service, and taxable people carried the "tax" in favor of the state and service people. Owning peasants were not exempted from state taxes and paid them on an equal footing with the black-haired peasants, which means they pulled a double "tax" - state and landowner. The state not only provided the landowner with judicial and administrative power over the peasants, but also made him a responsible collector of state taxes from his peasants. Thus, the feudal lords became responsible for the payment of "taxes" by the serfs and received power over the economic life of their serfs.
The state also attached chernososhnye (state) peasants and townspeople to the land. They were forbidden to change their place of residence under pain of cruel punishment and were assigned to bear the state "tax". And yet, in the position of the owner (belonging to secular and spiritual owners) and black-haired (state) peasants, there remained some differences. The feudal lord received the right to actually completely dispose of the property and personality of the peasant. The state transferred to him a significant part of the administrative-fiscal and judicial-police functions. Black-skinned peasants, living on state land, had the right to alienate it: sale, mortgage, inheritance. They had personal freedom. The life of the community was led by a secular gathering and elected elders, who arranged the duties, were responsible for their timely payment, repaired the court and protected the rights of the community.
The Code of 1649 liquidated the "white settlements", which belonged in the cities to large secular and spiritual feudal lords, whose population had previously been free from duties. The state, having limited the immunity of the feudal lords in its own favor, subjugated the urban population and became its feudal owner in the city. The townspeople were obliged to engage in trade and crafts, since both served as a source of financial income to the treasury. The development of cities, crafts, trade was carried out within the framework of the serf system, which undermined the development of capitalism. The monopoly of the townspeople on trade in the cities and the permission of the peasants to trade only “from carts” hampered the development of commodity-money relations in the countryside and placed internal trade under state control in order to make a profit for the benefit of the state (and not to rid the townspeople of competition).
The enslavement policy of the 16th-17th centuries, culminating in the adoption of the Council Code, was aimed at the entire taxable population, since the owner's and state lands were only varieties of feudal property. In Russia, a system of so-called "state feudalism" developed, when the state acted as a feudal owner in relation to the entire population, while in the leading countries of Western Europe there was a weakening of serfdom. In Russia, serfdom, in the absence of an incentive for the direct producer to develop production, led to an increase in economic backwardness, which was especially striking against the backdrop of progress in Western Europe, which had embarked on the path of capitalism.
The cathedral code reflected the process of erasing the differences between the hereditary patrimony and lifelong possession - the estate, providing for their exchange. The government already at the beginning of the 17th century. began to sell estates into estates. Among the nobility, the direct connection between the service and its land remuneration began to be lost: the estates remained with the clan even if its representatives stopped serving. Thus, the rights to dispose of estates expanded, and they approached the patrimony. There was a blurring of the boundaries between the individual categories of the ruling class of feudal lords. By the end of the century, only formal differences remained between them, and the share of noble land ownership increased significantly.
The state sought to control church land ownership. The Council Code limited the growth of church land ownership by a ban on the purchase of land and the transfer of estates to the church under a spiritual testament.
Foreign trade during this period was almost entirely in the hands of privileged foreign merchants. Russian merchants, poorly organized and less wealthy, could not compete with them. The state monopoly on the export of a number of goods that were in demand abroad significantly limited the possibilities for Russian merchants to accumulate capital. The dominance of foreign commercial capital in the domestic market of Russia caused acute discontent. The trade charter of 1653, instead of a multitude of trade duties, established a single duty and increased the amount of duty from foreign merchants. Thus, the charter was of a patronizing nature and met the requirements of the Russian merchant class.
In the spirit of the policy of protectionism, the Novotrade Charter of 1667 was drawn up, which sharply limited the trade of foreigners on the domestic market and freed Russian merchants and manufacturers from competition by raising customs duties on the import of foreign products. Its compiler Afanasy Lavrentievich Ordin-Nashchokin, who came from an ignorant noble family, became a prominent statesman of the 17th century. Relying mainly on his own experience and knowledge, he was actively involved in foreign policy, and largely thanks to his efforts, agreements beneficial to Russia were concluded with Sweden and Poland. Ordin-Nashchokin was a supporter of the use of economic and cultural Western experience, but at the same time he knew well the reasonable measure of borrowing. Many of his ideas regarding the reforms of public administration and city self-government were implemented in the era of Peter I.
Boyars B.I. Morozov, F.M. Rtishchev, A.S. Matveev, V.V. Golitsyn also sought to resolve problems in economic life countries understood the importance of the development of trade and industry and the need to support the merchants to strengthen the state. The evolution of government policy towards mercantilism - the maintenance by the state of an active balance of foreign trade - contributed to the interests of the emerging absolutism.
17th century ends the Middle Ages and marks the beginning of the New Age. The accumulation of secular knowledge is gradually destroying the medieval worldview, in which religious ideas played a dominant role. A feature of the culture of this period is its "secularization", i.e. the liberation of public consciousness from the influence of religion and the church, the fall of their authority in the spiritual life of society. Attention to the person, his role in ongoing events and determining his own destiny is growing.
Growing ties with foreign countries gave rise to a state need to get acquainted with the achievements of secular sciences. Although the authorities settled foreigners away from the center of Moscow, in the German Sloboda (modern Lefortovo district), and sought to isolate them from communication with Russians, new knowledge about the outside world inevitably penetrated the minds of Russians. Incorporation in 1654 into Russia Left-bank Ukraine, which experienced the cultural impact of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, contributed to the deepening of these ties. The greatest interest in understanding the new cultural situation was shown by the urban trade and craft strata, whose occupation inevitably oriented them to the study of everything modern, advanced, but interest in secular culture was manifested in the most diverse groups of society. The Church's monopoly on education and literacy was beginning to fade.
Serious changes are beginning to take place in the field of education. The country needed educated, qualified specialists in all areas of exact, natural science, humanitarian knowledge, which met the internal and external needs of the emerging absolutism.
The accession of the Volga region and Siberia opened up space for geographical research, organizing expeditions to previously unexplored lands. Journeys to distant lands were previously made by Russian pioneers. 30 years before the opening of the route to India by the Portuguese Vasco da Gama, the Tver merchant Afanasy Nikitin made his journey (1466-1472) and left fascinating memories of "Journey Beyond the Three Seas". In 1648, the expedition of Semyon Dezhnev, 80 years before V. Bering, reached the strait between Asia and North America. The easternmost point of Russia is named after Dezhnev. E.P. Khabarov in 1649 compiled a map and studied the lands along the Amur, the Siberian Cossack V.V. Atlasov explored Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands. The Siberian Order summarized all the information and materials received, on which Western European scientists then relied for a long time.
An important event was the appearance of the first printed textbooks: the Primer by Vasily Burtsov and the illustrated Primer by Karion Istomin, the Grammar by M. Smotrytsky, and at the beginning of the 18th century. - "Arithmetic" by L. Magnitsky, named by M.V. Lomonosov "gates of learning". Typography was concentrated in the sovereign's Printing House.
The paradox of the situation lay in the fact that from the time of the Stoglavy Cathedral (1551), only lower theological schools existed in Russia. There was no secular education. The solution of the question of the essence and tasks of education was reflected in the disputes between the “Latins” and the “Greekophiles”. For Russian Westernizers - "Latins" - Poland for a long time remained a model, an intermediary from which Russia could borrow Western experience. Supporters of the Greek orientation "Grecophiles" sought to preserve the traditions of Russian spiritual life, fearing, not without reason, the invasion of secular European knowledge.
The Reformation and Protestant ethics in Europe changed the value orientations of society. This complex and controversial time of the collapse of the usual living space in the culture of Europe is conveyed by the Baroque style. Western European baroque became the form through which enlightenment features and a bright personality began to penetrate into Russian culture. The conductors of the "Latin" culture, Western influence were immigrants from Poland, Belarus and Ukraine. Under Alexei Mikhailovich, a rather influential circle of lovers of Western European scholarship, education, literature, household items and comforts was formed. This court environment became a bridge to the New Age and brought forward many reformers. Among them was the teacher of the royal children, a Belarusian by origin Samuil Emelyanovich Petrovsky-Sitnianovich from Polotsk, or Simeon Polotsky.
In the 17th century two higher educational institutions for the clergy appeared: in 1632, the Kiev-Mohyla Academy in Ukraine, named after its founder Peter Mohyla, and in 1687, the Greek scientists Sofroniy and Ioanniky Likhudy from Padua (Italy) headed the first higher educational institution in Moscow - the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy, where Lomonosov later studied. Simeon Polotsky took an active part in the preparation of the draft charter of the academy. The building of the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy was located on Nikolskaya Street near the Kremlin. She marked the beginning of the future higher education in Russia; Academy graduates could enter the civil service. However, during its creation, supporters of the Greek orientation won. Even earlier, Simeon of Polotsk founded a school in the Zaikonospassky Monastery at the Printing House (1665), which trained clerks.
In the field of spiritual education, he was the first to try to reorient the organization and content to the Western way. educational process with a reasonable interaction of traditions and innovations, the boyar F.M. Rtishchev is an influential person from Alexei Mikhailovich's entourage. The Ukrainian and Belarusian schools at the monasteries served as a model for him. In 1649, Rtishchev opened a school in Moscow at the Andreevsky Monastery, where he invited learned monks from Kiev. The penetration of secular principles into literature was expressed in the emergence of new genres of literature - the poem and the novel. The creator of Russian poetry of the 17th century. was Simeon Polotsky, an encyclopedically educated person, a supporter of enlightenment and rapprochement with the West. S. Polotsky introduced almost all the then known poetic genres into literary use - from the epigram to the solemn ode. He wrote two poetry collections "Multicolored Vertograd" and "Rhymologion".
A bright innovator in literature was the ideological head of the schism, Archpriest Avvakum (Petrov). "The Life of Archpriest Avvakum, written by himself" opens the genre of autobiography and tells about his own sins and exploits with lyricism and irony, combined with angry pathos. The first Russian novel was "The Tale of Savva Grudtsy-ne" - a story about a young merchant's son and his adventures. Satire also sounded in a new way, denouncing human weaknesses and vices (“Service to a tavern”, “The Tale of Woe-Misfortune”). The first historical work published in print was the "Synopsis" of the Kiev monk Innocent Gizel, which told about the joint history of the Ukrainian and Russian peoples since the time of Kievan Rus.
In Russian painting of the 17th century. The "secularization" of art is especially vividly represented by the work of Simon Ushakov. In his icon "The Savior Not Made by Hands", new realistic features of painting are clearly visible: three-dimensionality in the depiction of the face, elements of direct perspective. The trend towards a realistic depiction of a person, characteristic of the Ushakov school, was embodied in the “parsun” (from “persona” - a person) - a portrait made according to the laws of iconographic art. The most famous of them are images of Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich, Prince M.V. Skopin-Shuisky, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich.
In architecture, a decorative principle declared itself, which found expression in two new styles. Moscow, or "Naryshkin" (named after the customers of the Naryshkin boyars), baroque was distinguished by the brightness of the facade, the contrasting combination of red and white colors in it, the abundance of shells, columns and capitals that adorned the walls, the visible "number of storeys" of buildings, borrowed from secular architecture. Examples of the Moscow baroque are the Church of the Intercession of the Virgin in Fili and the refectory and bell tower of the Novodevichy Convent. The style of “stone patterning” was widely used, replete with multi-colored reliefs, platbands, tiles made of stone and brick. Its typical examples are the churches of St. Nicholas in Khamovniki and the Trinity in Nikitniki in Moscow.
. The "secularization" of consciousness turned out to be in clear contradiction with traditional thinking. Among the clergy, there was open talk about the "impoverishment of the faith." Western European countries by the 17th century. survived the Reformation and the victory of the secular worldview over the religious, while Russia was fenced off from the West for more than two centuries due to Horde yoke. Muscovite Rus' needed new knowledge that would meet the urgent tasks of the development of education. The gap with the West in cultural and spiritual development became more and more obvious, the overcoming of which required liberation from the direct participation of the church in this process. Interest in secular knowledge is growing in Russian society, the need to think freely is increasingly felt, and the insufficiency of the old sources and methods of enlightenment is becoming more and more clear.
The ecclesiastical worldview itself was in crisis. The loss of the church's spiritual monopoly dictated the need for change, and this was perfectly realized by the intelligent and infinitely ambitious associate of Alexei Mikhailovich, Patriarch Nikon (in the world Nikita Minov). The son of a Mordovian peasant and a Cheremiska (Mariyka), he went through all the steps of the church hierarchy from a village priest to the all-powerful head of the Russian church.
The desire to deepen church influence throughout the Slavic and Orthodox world gave rise to different points of view on the question of how this could be achieved. In the 40s. 17th century in Moscow, a circle of zealots of ancient piety was formed, whose members were future irreconcilable opponents - Nikon and Archpriest Avvakum. The leaders of the Circle made an attempt to raise the authority of the church by streamlining worship, without in any way shaking the very foundations of the church and trying to protect the spiritual life of society from the penetration of secular principles into it. Alexei Mikhailovich supported their program, since it corresponded to the interests of the autocracy, which was advancing towards absolutism.
The unity of views in the Circle was broken when deciding on the choice of samples for correcting liturgical texts. Archpriest Avvakum and his supporters took as a basis Old Russian handwritten texts translated from Greek before the fall of Byzantium (Old Greek). It turned out, however, that they are full of discrepancies, since before the advent of printing, church books were copied by hand, and errors crept into them. The Greek monks who came to Rus' drew the attention of the Russian higher hierarchy to these discrepancies.
Having become patriarch in 1652, Nikon decided to overcome the crisis of the church through church reform, strengthen its role as the world center of Orthodoxy and strengthen ties with the South Slavic countries. The reform was supposed to unify church life in view of the planned reunification of Ukraine with Russia and the unification of the Russian and Ukrainian churches, between which there were differences in church rituals. The content of the reform outwardly coincided with the desire of the "zealots of ancient piety" to restore the unity of the content of liturgical books, lost over the long centuries after the adoption of Christianity.
But Nikon needed not just the unification of church life, but bringing it into line with the modern norms of the Greek (Modern Greek) and other Orthodox churches. He was supported by learned monks who came from Ukraine, among whom was Epiphany Slavinetsky, who received a serious theological education in his homeland. Nikon entrusted the correction of church books to visiting Kiev learned monks and Greeks. They began to be guided in the correction of texts by modern printed publications, Greek and South Russian. However, one should not think that the introduction of rituals on the model of Ukraine and Belarus meant the convergence of the official ideology with Western Europe.
During the preparation of the reform, the weakness of the theological layer of religion, the absence of a system of spiritual education and the educated personnel themselves were clearly felt. Therefore, it was natural to turn to the experience of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which did not have the support of the state and, in the ideological struggle against Uniatism and Catholicism, adopted the main method of the enemy - scholasticism. In contrast to the Catholic schools in Ukraine, the already mentioned Kiev-Mohyla Theological Academy (1632), within whose walls a rich polemical literature was created, and Orthodox "brotherhoods" arose. Recognition of the authority of Ukrainian and Greek theologians in matters of dogma was painfully perceived by church conservatives as a retreat to "Latinism".
As a result, the new missal was corrected not according to the old Greek books, but according to the Greek original published in 1602 in Venice. In addition, the church reform touched upon service ceremonies: the two-fingered sign of the cross was replaced with a three-fingered one, “hallelujah” began to be announced not twice, but three times, they began to move around the lectern not in the direction of the sun (“salting”), but against it. In the liturgical texts, some words were replaced with equivalent ones (the name of the Savior "Jesus" to "Jesus"), and the word "true" was removed from the "Creed" in the line "And in the Holy Spirit, the true and life-giving Lord". Instead of polyphony, when they read and sang at the same time to shorten the service, they introduced unanimity, which made it easier for the parishioners to understand what was happening, bowing to the ground at the service was replaced by half bows. Changes also affected the clothes of priests.
Thus, the reform affected only the outer side of worship, leaving without attention the ideas of enlightenment and education coming from the West, their secular content. Neither Nikon nor the top clergy accepted these elements of Western European culture and education that penetrated into Russia. However, the reform opened the way to the unification of all Orthodox churches, confirming the leadership of Russia, and opened the way for cultural dialogue with all of Europe.
In his activities, Nikon not only defended the independence of the church from the state and opposed government interference in its affairs. His claims went even further: he put forward an essentially Catholic thesis - "the priesthood of the kingdom is more than there" and demanded that the secular authorities be subordinated to it. The position of Nikon before his break with the tsar was close to the position of the head of the church, not subject to the tsar - the bearer of complete and sole power. The solemn atmosphere of his patriarchal “exit” was in no way inferior to the royal one: his head was decorated with a miter, similar to a royal crown, under his feet a carpet with an embroidered double-headed eagle was laid. At the same time, Nikon emphasized that he sees his support not in royal mercy, but in the rights of his dignity. Such an interpretation of the patriarchal power was not slow to be reflected in Nikon's relationship with the tsar.
The conflict between the "quietest" tsar and the imperious patriarch ended in Nikon's defeat. The church council of 1666 deprived him of his patriarchal rank, but recognized the church corrections he had made. The church became one of the most important obstacles on the path of the impending transformations, the successful implementation of which required its complete subordination to the state, which happened in the 18th century.
The supporters of the irreconcilable Habakkuk did not accept the innovations and were excommunicated from the church. They were persecuted by both ecclesiastical and state authorities. This led to a split in the Russian church and the emergence of the Old Believer movement. The defenders of the "old faith" received support from the most diverse strata of Russian society. All of them were united by the struggle for an idealized national antiquity. The split was one of the forms of social protest, but it cannot be attributed to the number of progressive movements, because the ideal of the organization of life was turned into the past. His ideology hindered the development of a secular, rationalistic, anti-feudal worldview. Upholding national isolation, hostility to everything new, foreign, the schism movement looked not forward, but backward.
However, the role of the Old Believers in Russian history is not as straightforward as it might seem at first glance. The persecution of their faith, economic oppression (they had to pay a double poll tax) did not prevent them from maximizing their creative and intellectual potential. Their connection with Russian entrepreneurship is obvious: the Old Believers Guchkovs, Morozovs, Ryazanovs, Zotovs, Ryabushinskys founded the first merchant and industrial dynasties in the country. The Old Believers have a special merit in the creation of a leather and bacon manufactory, gold mining, they succeeded in creating a credit system in the Urals and Siberia. The creation of the Ural manufactories under Peter I and the highest quality of iron in Europe and the level of casting were largely the results of their activities. At Demidov's metallurgy factories, most of the workers were Old Believers, and the factories themselves were densely surrounded by hermitages.
The strengthening of autocracy during the reign of the first Romanovs manifested itself in various spheres of the country's political life. The class-representative Zemsky Sobors, which finally ceased to be convened in the 1980s, lost their significance. In the 17th century, the composition and size of the Boyar Duma changed due to the involvement of the nobles, the order system was centralized and the role of order officials in government increased, the secular authorities won in rivalry with the authorities of the church. Changes in local government also reflected a trend towards centralization and a decline in electiveness. Power in the united uyezds was concentrated in the hands of the governors, who replaced all officials of the zemstvo elected bodies.
The title of the Moscow tsar changed: from the “sovereign of all Rus'” in 1654, he turns into “by the grace of God ... the autocrat of all Great and Small and White Russia.” The articles of the Council Code raised the prestige of the tsarist government to an unattainable height and determined harsh penalties for damage to the "sovereign's honor." In everyday life, the greatness of the autocracy was emphasized by the magnificent and solemn ritual of honoring the king, the luxury of the court. The pomposity of the rituals took on the character of sacred rites. All external means were used to instill the idea of the divine origin of royal power. By the end of the XVII century. the evolution of state administration, courts, and military affairs reflected the transition from a class-representative monarchy to absolutism.
After the death of Alexei Mikhailovich, his son Fyodor Alekseevich (1676-1682), who did not take an active part in state affairs, ascended the Russian throne. The leading place at the court was occupied by relatives of his mother, Miloslavsky.
During the reign of Fyodor Alekseevich, the political role of the nobility increased. An important milestone in its consolidation was the abolition in 1682 of the most important boyar institution - parochialism, since the parochial custom became a serious obstacle in solving the problems of domestic and foreign policy. The ancient aristocratic families had less and less opportunity to compete with the layers of less noble service people who were rising to power. In 1679-1681. instead of the field tax, household taxation was introduced. The unit of taxation was the peasant or township household.
After the death of the childless tsar, the young sons of Alexei Mikhailovich Ivan (from his marriage to M.I. Miloslavskaya) and Peter (from his marriage to N.K. Naryshkina) came to power, and with the support of the archers, Princess Sophia, the daughter of Alexei Mikhailovich from his first marriage, was appointed regent until they came of age. The actual ruler under Sophia (1682-1689) was her favorite, Prince Vasily Golitsyn. He combined the features of a "statesman" and an intellectual. Many administrative and economic reforms are associated with his name, including the educational reform project, up to the creation of the first university in Russia, but by nature Golitsyn was more of a philosopher than an energetic practitioner.
In 1689, Peter, having reached the age of majority, married Evdokia Lopukhina and formally received all rights to the throne. A clash with Sophia became inevitable and ended with the victory of Peter with the support of the Moscow Patriarch. Sophia was imprisoned in the Novodevichy Convent in Moscow, Golitsyn was sent into exile, and with the death of Tsar Ivan (1696), Peter's autocracy was established.
6.1. Economic and social development Russia under the first Romanovs
The turmoil led Russia to a complete economic collapse. Political stability was not immediately established either, the system of government in the center and in the regions was destroyed. The main tasks of Mikhail Romanov were to achieve reconciliation in the country, overcome the economic ruin and streamline the management system. For the first six years of his reign, Mikhail ruled, relying on the Boyar Duma and the Zemsky Sobors. In 1619, the tsar's father Fyodor Nikitich (in monasticism Philaret) Romanov returned from Polish captivity. Filaret, who took the patriarchal rank, began to actually govern the country until his death in 1633. In 1645, Mikhail Romanov also died. His son Alexei Mikhailovich (1645–1676) became the Russian Tsar.
By the middle of the century, the economic devastation brought by the Time of Troubles had been overcome. Economic development of Russia in the XVII century. characterized by a number of new phenomena in economic life. The craft gradually developed into small-scale production. More and more products were produced not to order, but for the market, there was an economic specialization of individual regions. In Tula and Kashira, for example, metal products were produced. The Volga region specialized in leather processing, Novgorod and Pskov were centers of flax production. The best jewelry was produced in Novgorod, Tikhvin and Moscow. Centers of artistic production began to emerge (Khokhloma, Palekh, and others).
The development of commodity production led to the emergence of manufactories. They were divided into state-owned, i.e. belonging to the state, and privately owned.
The growth of productive forces contributed to the development of trade and the emergence of an all-Russian market. There were two major all-Russian fairs - Makarievskaya on the Volga and Irbitskaya on the Urals.
The Zemsky Sobor in 1649 adopted the Cathedral Code - a code of domestic feudal law that regulated relations in the main spheres of society. The Council Code prescribed cruel punishments not only for rebellion against the king or insulting the head of state, but even for fights and outrages in the royal court. Thus, there was a legislative consolidation of the process of becoming an absolute monarchy.
In the Cathedral Code, the social structure of society was framed, since it regulated the rights and obligations of all classes.
Cardinal changes took place in the life of the peasantry. The Council Code of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich finally formalized serfdom - an indefinite search for fugitive peasants was established.
According to the Council Code, urban residents were attached to the place of residence and "tax", that is, the performance of state duties. A significant part of the Code is devoted to the order of legal proceedings and criminal law. Laws of the 17th century look too harsh. For many crimes, the Council Code provided for the death penalty. The Code also regulated the procedure for carrying military service, travel to other states, customs policy, etc.
Political development of Russia in the 17th century. characterized by the evolution of the state system: from a class-representative monarchy to absolutism. Zemsky Sobors occupied a special place in the system of estate-representative monarchy. The Zemsky Sobor included the highest clergy, the Boyar Duma and the elective part: Moscow nobles, the administration of orders, the district nobility, the tops of the “draft” settlements of the Moscow suburb, as well as Cossacks and archers (“service people on the device”).
In the early years of Mikhail Romanov's reign, the Zemsky Sobors worked almost continuously and helped him in governing the state. Under Filaret Romanov, the activity of the Councils becomes less active. The last Zemsky Sobor, which worked in 1653, resolved the issue of the reunification of Ukraine with Russia. Subsequently, zemstvo activity fades away. In the 1660s-1680s. Numerous estate commissions met. All of them were predominantly boyar. The end of the work of Zemsky Sobors actually meant the completion of the transition from a class-representative monarchy to absolutism. The significant role of the Boyar Duma remained in the system of state authorities and administration. However, in the second half of the XVII century. its value is declining.
High development in the XVII century. reaches the command control system. Orders were engaged in certain branches of public administration within the country or were in charge of certain territories. The most important among them were the order of the Secret Affairs, led personally by Alexei Mikhailovich and supervising the activities of higher public institutions and officials. The local order formalized land allotments and conducted judicial investigations on land cases. The embassy order carried out the foreign policy of the state. The order of the Great Treasury controlled the finances.
The main administrative-territorial unit of the state was the county. The system of local government was built in the XVII century. not on the basis of elected bodies, but on the authorities appointed from the center of the governors. Zemsky and labial elders obeyed them. In the hands of the governor concentrated administrative, judicial and military power, supervision over the collection of taxes and taxes.
The social structure of Russian society in the 17th century. was deeply social. The term "estate" means a social group that has rights and obligations enshrined in custom or law and inherited. The privileged class were secular and spiritual feudal lords (clergy). Secular feudal lords were divided into ranks. In the 17th century this concept reflected not so much an official position as belonging to a certain group of the feudal estate. Its top was made up of duma ranks: boyars, roundabouts, clerks and duma nobles. The next in their position in society were the ranks of Moscow - officials, solicitors, Moscow nobles. They were followed by the lower categories of the privileged class - the ranks of the city. These included provincial nobles, who were called "children of the boyars."
Most of the dependent population were peasants. Personally free members of the community were called black-haired peasants. The rest of the peasants were either privately owned, that is, belonging to the landowners, or palace, or appanage, belonging to the royal family. Slaves were in the position of slaves. Attached to their duties were the inhabitants of the cities - artisans and merchants. The richest merchants were called "guests". Among the dependent estates were "service people on the instrument": archers, gunners and Cossacks.
After the death of Ivan the Terrible, Russia experienced a difficult time of turmoil, anarchy and disasters - Time of Troubles. In 1613, after repeated attempts by Russian society to overcome the Time of Troubles, the Romanov boyars found themselves on the Russian throne.
The historical merit of the Romanov boyars lies in the fact that they were able to rise above their narrow egoistic interests of understanding national tasks. They were able to see the main internal and external problems of Russia and solve them.
During the reign of the first Romanovs, such important events, as the adoption of the first printed lawyer of Russia (Council Code), a church reform was carried out, the reunification of Ukraine and Russia took place.
The results of the reign of the Romanovs
During the reign of the Romanov dynasty, Russia reached its present peak. Rus' finally ceased to be a disparate state, civil strife ended, and the country gradually began to gain military and economic power, which allowed it to defend its own independence and resist the invaders.
Despite the difficulties that periodically occurred in the history of Russia, by the 19th century the country had turned into a huge powerful Empire, which owned vast territories. In 1861, serfdom was completely abolished, the country switched to a new type of economy and economy.
9. Russia in the first quarter XVIII V. Transformations of Peter I. Evaluation of them in Russian historiography
The 18th century was in many ways a turning point in the history of Russia, which began with the controversial era of Peter the Great's reforms. For the beginning of the 18th century, it is difficult to separate domestic politics from foreign, economic development and Russia's entry into the broad international arena. Many transformations of Peter I were caused by the war, just as the war itself was necessary for the further development of the country.
The foreign policy of the beginning of the 18th century was characterized by the same directions as in the previous period - southern and western. Russia's struggle for access to the Black and Baltic Seas has become an urgent need. Attempts to reach the Black Sea were made in 1687 and 1689 (the campaigns of V. Golitsyn were unsuccessful), in 1695 and 1696 (the Azov campaigns of Peter I, the second of which ended with the capture of the Azov fortress). The search for allies in Europe (the “Great Embassy” of 1697) led to a reorientation of the foreign policy course - access to the Baltic Sea was supposed to help solve many economic and political problems.
The Northern War (1700-1721) ended with the victory of Russia. In 1721, a peace was concluded in the Finnish city of Nishtadt, under the terms of which part of Finland and Karelia (Vyborg and Kexholm), Ingria, Estland and Livonia with Riga were annexed to Russia. The country received access to the Baltic Sea.
The Northern War gave a powerful impetus to reforms. During the war in Russia, a strong army was created and Navy, a new capital was founded - St. Petersburg (1703). The state administration was reformed, and an absolutist state was formed. In 1711, the ruling Senate was established, replacing the Boyar Duma. In 1718 colleges were introduced instead of the old orders. The changes affected the regional administration; the country was divided into 8 (later 11) provinces headed by governors. Since 1719, the country began to be divided into 50 provinces. A troop quartering system has been introduced. Thus, an Albsolutist bureaucratic state was created, riddled with surveillance and espionage. The strengthening of the personality of the power of the tsar was reflected in the adoption by Peter I of the title of emperor (1721).
The basis of economic policy was mercantilism (the accumulation of funds through active trade), integral part which was protectionism - the promotion of domestic industry. New industrial regions are being created and old industrial regions are being activated, manufactories appear based on the labor of serfs.
Changes have also taken place in the social sphere. There is a unification of estates, the social structure is simplified. This was facilitated, first of all, by the decree on uniform inheritance (1714) and the “Table of Ranks”, published in 1722.
A number of measures were taken in the interests of the merchants and city dwellers. Was introduced new system taxation (capitation instead of household). The new tax was significantly higher than the previous one. This, like a number of other factors, led to an increase in the social activity of the population, the flight of peasants, armed uprisings, the largest of which were the uprising in Astrakhan (1707-1708) and the uprising of K. Bulavin on the Don (1707-1708).
10. Russia in the era palace coups(1725-1762). Russia under Catherine II. The policy of "enlightened absolutism"
The era of palace coups - a time period in political life Russia XVIII centuries, when the transition of the highest state power took place through the commission of palace coups by the guards or courtiers.
This phenomenon was favored by the absence of clear rules for succession to the throne with the incessant struggle of palace factions. Under the conditions of an absolute monarchy, a palace coup turned out to be the only effective way feedback between the supreme power and society, more precisely, its noble elite.
The author of the term, V. O. Klyuchevsky, dates the era of palace coups from the death of Peter I in 1725 to the accession to the throne of Catherine II in 1762. However, the idea that it is the Guard that determines to whom the throne will pass was also common at the beginning of the 19th century, during the events of the interregnum of 1825 (the Decembrist Uprising).
With the exception of the transfer of power from Anna Ioannovna to Anna Leopoldovna in 1740, from Elizabeth Petrovna to Peter III in 1761 and from Catherine II to her son Paul I in 1796, in all other cases during the first century of the existence of the Russian Empire, power was transferred by the use of threat or force:
1725 - the elevation of the Menshikov party to the throne of Catherine I
May 1727 - The Supreme Privy Council transfers the throne to Peter II, bypassing other applicants
September 1727 - the overthrow of Menshikov
1730 - the throne was transferred to Anna Ioannovna, subject to the signing of conditions limiting her autocracy
1740 - overthrow of Biron by the Munnich group
1741 - enthronement of Elizabeth Petrovna
1762 - enthronement of Catherine II and murder Peter III
1801 - the assassination of Paul I
Catherine 2
The policy of Peter 3, both external and internal, provoked the indignation of almost all sections of Russian society. Yes, and could not cause any other reaction, for example, the return of Prussia captured during the Seven Years' War territories. Catherine, on the other hand, enjoyed considerable popularity. It is not surprising that in such a situation a conspiracy soon developed, led by Catherine.
On June 28, 1762, the guards took the oath to Catherine in St. Petersburg. Peter 3 was forced to abdicate the next day and arrested. And soon he was killed, as is believed, with the tacit consent of his wife. Thus began the era of Catherine II, referred to only as the Golden Age.
In many ways, the domestic policy of Catherine II depended on her commitment to the ideas of the Enlightenment. It was the so-called enlightened absolutism of Catherine II that contributed to the unification of the management system, the strengthening of the bureaucratic apparatus and, ultimately, the strengthening of the autocracy. The reforms of Catherine 2 became possible thanks to the activities of the Legislative Commission, which included deputies from all classes. However, the country did not manage to avoid serious problems. So, 1773 - 1775 became difficult. - the time of the Pugachev uprising.
The foreign policy of Catherine II turned out to be very active and successful. It was especially important to secure the southern borders of the country. Turkish campaigns had great value. In their course, the interests of the greatest powers - England, France and Russia - clashed. During the reign of Catherine II great importance attached to the annexation of the territories of Ukraine and Belarus to the Russian Empire. This Catherine II was able to achieve with the help of the divisions of Poland (together with England and Prussia). It is necessary to mention the decree of Catherine 2 on the liquidation of the Zaporozhian Sich.
The reign of Catherine 2 was not only successful, but also long. She ruled from 1762 to 1796. According to some sources, the empress also thought about the possibility of abolishing serfdom in the country. It was at that time that the foundations of civil society were laid in Russia. Pedagogical schools were opened in St. Petersburg and Moscow, the Smolny Institute, the Public Library, and the Hermitage were created. On November 5, 1796, the Empress suffered a cerebral hemorrhage. Catherine II died on November 6th. Thus ended the biography of Catherine 2 and the brilliant Golden Age. The throne was inherited by Paul 1, her son.
Enlightened absolutism
The theory of "enlightened absolutism", whose founder is considered to be Thomas Hobbes, is completely imbued with the rationalist philosophy of the age of "enlightenment". Its essence lies in the idea of a secular state, in the desire of absolutism to put the central power above all else. Until the 18th century, the state idea, which was expressed by absolutism, was understood in a narrow practical sense: the concept of the state was reduced to the totality of the rights of state power. Holding firmly to the views worked out by tradition, enlightened absolutism introduced at the same time a new understanding of the state, which already imposes obligations on state power, which enjoys rights. The consequence of this view, which was formed under the influence of the theory of the contractual origin of the state, was that theoretical limitation of absolute power, which caused a whole series of reforms in European countries, where, along with the desire for the "state benefit", concerns for the general welfare were put forward. The "enlightenment" literature of the 18th century not only set itself the task of criticizing the old order: the aspirations of philosophers and politicians of that time converged that the reform should be carried out by the state and in the interests of the state. Therefore, a characteristic feature of enlightened absolutism is the union of monarchs and philosophers who wished to subordinate the state to pure reason.
In literature, "enlightened absolutism" was enthusiastically received. The most striking example of enlightened absolutism is the political worldview of Voltaire, the same point of view was held by the school of physiocrats with Quesnay, Mercier de la Riviere and Turgot at the head.
Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov became the Russian Tsar at a difficult time (Fig. 6.1). The turmoil led Russia to complete economic ruin. Political stability was not immediately established either, the system of government in the center and in the regions was destroyed. The main tasks of the young king were to achieve reconciliation in the country, overcome economic ruin and streamline the management system.
Rice. 6.1
For the first six years of his reign, Mikhail ruled, relying on the Boyar Duma and the Zemsky Sobors. The latter did not actually stop their work from 1613 to 1619. In 1619, the tsar's father Fyodor Nikitich (in monasticism Filaret) Romanov returned from Polish captivity. Filaret, who took the patriarchal rank, became the de facto ruler of the country until his death in 1633. In 1645, Mikhail Romanov also died. His son Alexei Mikhailovich became the Russian Tsar (Fig. 6.2).
Rice. 6.2
By the middle of the century, the economic devastation brought by the Time of Troubles had been overcome. The economic development of Russia in the XVII century. characterized by a number of new phenomena in economic life (Fig. 6.3). The craft gradually developed into small-scale production. More and more products were made not to order, but to the market. The economic specialization of individual regions is developing. In Tula and Kashira, for example, metal products were produced. The Volga region specialized in leather processing. Novgorod and Pskov were centers of flax production. The best jewelry was produced in Novgorod, Tikhvin and Moscow. In the same era, centers of artistic production arose (Khokhloma, Palekh, etc.).
The development of commodity production made possible the emergence of manufactories, which were divided into state-owned, i.e. owned by the state (for example, the Armory), and privately owned. Latest
originated mainly in metallurgy. Such enterprises were located in Tula, Kashira and the Urals.
Rice. 6.3
The growth of productive forces contributed to the development of trade and the beginning of the formation of the all-Russian market. There are two major all-Russian fairs Makarievskaya on the Volga and Irbigskaya in the Urals.
In the 17th century final legal registration took place in Russia serfdom. By this term, historians understand the most severe form of dependence of the peasants on the landowner, whose power extended to the person, labor and property of the peasants belonging to him. The forcible attachment of peasants to the land was practiced in a number of European countries in the Middle Ages. However, in Western Europe, serfdom was relatively short-lived and did not exist everywhere. In Russia, it was finally established at the turn of the New Age, existed in the most rigid form and was abolished only in 1861. How can we explain such a phenomenon in Russian history? In the historical literature, one of the reasons for the enslavement of peasants is the low productivity of peasant farms. Other reasons for the formation of serfdom, historians consider the harsh natural and climatic conditions and the economic dependence of the peasants on the feudal lords. The position of the Russian peasantry was influenced by the peculiarities of the political development of Russian statehood. The basis of the armed forces of Russia in the XVII century. constituted the service class of landowners. The ever-increasing costs of maintaining the country's defense capability required the strengthening of this estate and the provision of its free labor force (Fig. 6.4).
Rice. 6.4
In the historical literature, two main concepts of the enslavement of the Russian peasantry have developed. The concept of "decree" enslavement suggests that serfdom was introduced at the initiative of the state authorities, based on the needs of the country's defense capability and to ensure the service class. This point of view was held by historians N. M. Karamzin, S. M. Solovyov, N. I. Kostomarov, S. B. Veselovsky and B. D. Grekov, modern historian R. G. Skrynnikov. In the works of V. O. Klyuchevsky, M. II. Pogodin and M. L. Dyakonov defended the "ruthless" concept, according to which serfdom was a consequence of real living conditions countries, formalized by the state only legally (Fig. 6.5).
Rice. 6.5
It is not difficult to trace the stages of the legal registration of serfdom. In 1581, Ivan the Terrible introduced "Reserved Years", until the abolition of which the peasants were forbidden to leave their owners, i.e. the peasants were deprived of the ancient right to cross on St. George's Day. In continuation of the policy of enslaving the peasants, Godunov's government adopted in 1597 a decree on a five-year search for fugitive peasants. Decrees of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich in 1637 and 1641. the state investigation was increased accordingly to nine and then to 15 years. The date of the final registration of serfdom is considered to be 1649. The Council Code of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich established an indefinite search for fugitive peasants.
The Council Code, adopted in 1649, is a code of domestic feudal law that regulated relations in the main areas of society (Fig. 6.6).
In July 1648, the Zemsky Sobor considered the petition of servicemen and merchants for the adoption of a new code of laws. For its development, a special commission was created, headed by the boyar Odoevsky. Already in the autumn of the same year, the draft Code was presented to the king. At the beginning of 1649, the Code was approved by the Zemsky Sobor. Soon it was published with a circulation of 1200 copies.
The code is divided into chapters, and the chapters are divided into articles. In total, the Cathedral Code has 25 chapters and 967 articles. The code of laws begins with the chapter "On blasphemers and church rebels," which prescribes that any blasphemy, heresy, or speech against church authorities be punished by burning at the stake. The next two chapters regulate the status of the king. The very name of one of them is indicative: "On the sovereign's honor and how to protect his sovereign's health." The Council Code prescribes severe punishment not only for rebellion against the king or insulting the head of state, but even for fights and outrages in the royal court. So there was a legislative consolidation of the process of becoming an absolute monarchy.
Rice. 6.6
The Cathedral Code formalized the social structure of society, regulating the rights and obligations of all classes. Most importance had chapter 11 "The Court of the Peasants". It was she who introduced the indefinite search for fugitive peasants, finally formalizing serfdom. The Cathedral Code attached urban residents to the place of residence and "tax", i.e. carrying out government duties. A significant part of the Code is devoted to the order of legal proceedings and criminal law. Laws of the 17th century look harsh. Historians of law have counted 60 crimes for which the Council Code provides for the death penalty. The Code also regulates the procedure for military service, travel to other states, customs policy, and much more.
Political development of Russia in the 17th century. characterized by the evolution of the state system from a class-representative monarchy to absolutism. A special place in the system of estate-representative monarchy was occupied by Zemsky Sobors (Fig. 6.7). They included the "consecrated cathedral" (higher clergy), the Boyar Duma and the elective part (curia). The elected delegates of the Zemsky Sobor represented the Moscow nobles, the administration of orders, the district nobility, the tops of the draft settlements of the Moscow Posad, as well as service people "according to the instrument" - Cossacks and archers. State peasants were represented only once: at the Zemsky Sobor in 1613.
Rice. 6.7
As already mentioned, the first Zemsky Sobor (Sobor of Reconciliation) in the history of Russia was convened by Ivan IV in 1549 (Fig. 6.8). Cathedrals of the 16th century resolved questions about the continuation of the Livonian War and the election of a new king to the kingdom. A special role in Russian history was played by the cathedral of 1613, which elected Mikhail Romanov as king. In the first years of the reign of the young tsar, the Zemsky Sobors worked almost continuously and helped Mikhail in governing the state. After the return of Father Mikhail Fyodorovich Filaret from Polish captivity, the activity of the cathedrals became less active. Councils decided mainly questions of war and peace. In 1649, the Zemsky Sobor adopted the Cathedral Code. The last Zemsky Sobor, which worked in 1653, resolved the issue of the reunification of Ukraine with Russia. After that, zemstvo activity fades away. In the 1660-1680s. Numerous estate commissions met. All of them were predominantly boyar. The end of the work of Zemsky Sobors actually meant the completion of the transition from a class-representative monarchy to absolutism.
The high place of the Boyar Duma remained in the system of state authorities and administration. However, in the second half of the XVII century. its value is declining. From the composition of the Duma, the so-called Near Duma, consisting of persons especially devoted to the tsar, stands out.
Rice. 6.8
High development in the XVII century. reaches the command control system (Fig. 6.9). Permanent orders were engaged in separate branches of government within the country or were in charge of individual territories. All the orders that were in charge of the country's defense and affairs can be attributed to the sectoral ones.
service class. This function was carried out by one of the most important government bodies - the Discharge Order. The local order formalized land allotments and carried out the court in land cases. The embassy order was in charge of the foreign policy of the state. Along with the permanent ones, temporary orders were also created. One of them was the order of Secret Affairs, personally led by Alexei Mikhailovich. The order was engaged in the supervision of the activities of higher state institutions and officials.
Rice. 6.9
The main administrative-territorial unit of the state was the county. The system of local government was built in the XVII century. not on elected bodies, but on the authorities appointed from the center of the voivods, to whom the zemstvo and labial elders were subordinate.
The social structure of Russian society in the 17th century. was deeply estate (Fig. 6.10). The term "estate" means a social group with
enshrined in custom or law and inherited rights and obligations. The privileged class were secular and spiritual feudal lords. Secular feudal lords were divided into ranks, under which in the XVII century. was understood not so much as an official position, but as belonging to a certain group of the feudal estate. The top of the latter was made up of duma ranks - boyars, okolnichy, duma clerks and duma nobles. The next in their position in society were the Moscow ranks - the capital's nobles. They were followed by the lower categories of the privileged class - the ranks of the city, which included the provincial nobles, who were called the children of the boyars.
Most of the dependent population were peasants. Non-serfs, personally free members of the community were called black-tailed peasants, and the rest - privately owned, i.e. belonging to the landlords, or palace, or appanage, belonging to the royal family. Slaves were in the position of slaves. Residents of cities - artisans and merchants - were attached to their duties, among whom the richest were called "guests". Among the dependent estates were service people "according to the instrument": archers, gunners and Cossacks.
Main dates and events: 1613 - accession of Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov; 1649 - adoption of the Cathedral Code; 1653 - the last Zemsky Sobor.
Historical figures: Mikhail Fedorovich; Patriarch Filaret; Alexey Mikhailovich; Fedor Alekseevich.
Basic terms and concepts: localism; autocracy; absolutism.
Answer plan: 1) the main directions of changes in the political system; 2) Zemsky Sobors; 3) Boyar Duma; 4) order system; 5) local government; 6) the Cathedral Code of 1649. 7) the beginning of the formation of absolutism.
Reply material: The first Russian tsar of the new herd dynasty was Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov (1613-1645). By the time he began his reign, he was barely 16 years old. At that age, he could not be an independent politician. Assuming the throne, Mikhail took a solemn oath in which he promised not to rule without the Zemsky Sobor and the Boyar Duma. The king fulfilled this oath until he returned from the captivity of his father. Filaret, proclaimed patriarch in 1619, also received the title of "great sovereign" and became co-ruler of his son. Until his death in 1633, Filaret was the de facto ruler of Russia. After the death of Mikhail, his son Alexei Mikhailovich (1645-1676) became king.
Already under the first tsars of the Romanov dynasty, there was a significant strengthening of royal power and a weakening of the role of class-representative bodies in public life.
The promise of Mikhail Fedorovich to rule in accordance with the Zemsky Sobor and the Boyar Duma was not accidental: in the conditions of economic ruin and the weakness of the central government, the tsar was forced to seek support. First of all, the Zemsky Sobor became such a support. Throughout the reign of Mikhail Fedorovich, a feature of the Zemsky Sobors was a significant increase in the representation of the lower classes. Moreover, the deputies elected to the Council received "orders" from their voters and had to defend them before the tsar. However, as the tsarist power strengthened and the situation in the country stabilized, Zemsky Sobors began to meet less and less.
After Filaret's death, some noblemen proposed to transform the Zemsky Sobor into a permanent parliament. However, these ideas did not meet the interests of autocratic power. Councils began to be convened only to approve the projects already prepared by the tsar, and not to discuss the ways of the country's development. The last Zemsky Sobor, where various layers were widely represented Russian society, was convened in 1653. He accepted the population of the Left-Bank Ukraine and Kiev into Russian citizenship. In the future, the bureaucracy and the army became the main support of autocratic power.
The Boyar Duma also gradually lost its former role. The composition of the Duma was expanded by Mikhail Fedorovich - this is how he thanked those who supported his accession to the throne (up to a hundred people). Moreover, the Duma now included not only the tribal aristocracy, but also representatives of humble families. The Duma was still called upon to resolve the most important issues - war and peace, approval of bills, the introduction of new taxes, the resolution of controversial issues, etc. The tsar or a boyar appointed by him supervised its work.
The increase in the size of the Duma made it too cumbersome and forced the tsar to create a more flexible governing body, consisting of the most trusted persons - the "near" ("small", "secret") Duma, which gradually replaced the "big" Duma. In full composition, the Boyar Duma began to convene less and less. The "near" Duma concentrated in its hands the solution of many questions of state administration.
The growth of the country's territory, the complication of economic tasks led to a significant increase in the number of orders. At various times in Russia there were about a hundred of them. Foreign policy issues (including the release of prisoners of war for ransom) were in charge of the Ambassadorial Order. The order of the Grand Palace was in charge of the palace economy and the property of the king. The state order was responsible for the safety of jewelry and things of the royal family. The stable order disposed of numerous royal stables and equipment for royal trips. The discharge order distributed the nobles and boyars to the royal service. Land grants and the collection of taxes from estates and estates were in charge of the Local Order. Yamskoy Prikaz was responsible for fast and reliable postal communication. With the growth of the scale of stone construction in the capital and large cities, the Order of Stone Affairs arose. Almost the central place was occupied by the Petition Order, which considered the petitions and complaints of the royal subjects. Under Alexei Mikhailovich, there was also the Order of Secret Affairs, which controlled the activities of all state institutions and was in charge of the economy of the royal family.
However, the numerical growth of orders had a negative impact on the management system as a whole, confused the duties of employees, increased bureaucratic red tape and abuse of official position. Sometimes orders were engaged in solving the same or similar tasks. So, judicial issues were resolved by Rogue and Zemsky orders. Military affairs were in charge of the Discharge, Streltsy, Pushkar, Inozemsky, Reitarsky, Cossack orders. A number of orders were responsible for the control of local government. All this testified to the need to reform the order system, to simplify it.
In the 17th century, the county remained the main administrative unit. By the end of the century there were more than 250 of them. Counties, in turn, were divided into camps and volosts. From the very beginning of the century, the tsar appointed governors at the head of counties and a number of border towns. They not only led local military detachments, but also possessed the highest administrative and judicial power: they were responsible for collecting taxes, performing duties by the population, and adjudicating court.
To overcome the consequences of the Time of Troubles, it was necessary to adopt many new laws. As before, their projects were prepared on behalf of the tsar by persons close to him and gained strength after the consent of the Boyar Duma and the tsar. In those cases when the bill was especially important, it was approved by the Zemsky Sobor. The appearance in the first half of the century of new laws, which were applied along with the laws of an earlier time, required their streamlining, bringing them into a single document - a set of laws. The compilation of such a code was entrusted to close associates of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, headed by Prince N. I. Odoevsky. When compiling the Cathedral Code (adopted by the Zemsky Sobor in 1649), not only Russian laws, but also foreign ones were used. The young Tsar Alexei himself participated in the development of the code of laws.
The code reflected the increased role of the king in the life of the country. For the first time, the concept of “state crime” (against the honor and health of the king and his family, representatives of state power and the church) was introduced into the law, for which severe punishment was provided. The code approved the full right of the landowner to the land and dependent (serf) peasants. An indefinite search for runaway peasants was established and a large fine for harboring fugitives.
Thus, during the 17th century, tendencies were growing to strengthen the autocratic power of the tsar, who now relied not on estate representation, but on the bureaucratic apparatus and the army; there was a final approval of serfdom; the rights and privileges of the nobility, the social support of the tsarist autocracy, increased significantly.