16th century The history of Russia is rich in events. The territories of the former Kievan Rus, which were actively divided throughout the 14th-16th centuries, were now completely divided, and there were no free lands left in Russia. All territories are completely dependent on Muscovite Rus' or Lithuania; the princes of the appanages were members of the Moscow grand ducal family.

Russia at the beginning of the 16th century.

Culture

In the 16th century. The culture of Rus' developed especially brightly in such areas as painting, architecture, and literature. Painting was represented by iconography. In architecture, in addition to wood, it continued. Churches and temples were erected. The tent style is common. Various fortifications were built. In the literature, the most relevant topics were those related to changes in political life (with the emergence of autocracy). A 12-volume edition of Macarius appeared - a collection of popular works for home reading. “Domostroy” was written - a collection of tips and rules. They were printed (“Apostle” is the first precisely dated one), which marked the beginning of book printing in Russia.

Introduction

Formed at the end of the 15th and beginning of the 16th centuries. The Russian state developed as part of world civilization.
In the 30s of the 16th century, Vasily III completed the unification of lands around Moscow. The territory and population of the country have changed.
Feudal strife decreased. The great and appanage princes renounced their rights in their domains and came under the protection of Moscow, turning into service princes.
The elimination of dependence on the Horde and the restoration of statehood became favorable conditions for the development of productive forces and feudal production - the development of feudal relations and the socio-economic development of the country accelerated.
Increased labor productivity in agriculture led to an increase in the urban population, which contributed to the development of crafts and trade. No new technologies appeared in Rus' in the 15th century, with the exception of the production of firearms.
Russia's international authority grew. Diplomatic relations were established with Germany, Venice, Denmark, Hungary and Turkey. From the second half of the 15th century, Moscow’s struggle with the Livonian Order for access to the Baltic Sea became increasingly important. In the 15th century, the growing importance of the Moscow state was also facilitated by significant changes that occurred as a result of the expansion of the Ottoman Empire. After the fall of Constantinople and the collapse of Byzantium, leadership in the Orthodox world passed to Moscow, which served as the basis for the formation of the concept of “Moscow - the third Rome.” The Holy Roman Empire, Hungary, and Denmark sought an alliance with the Moscow state.
And this is already a single centralized state, all the cities and lands of which are subordinate to the Grand Duke of Moscow. Which is Ivan IV during this period.
Ivan the Terrible is called the first autocratic ruler - the first Tsar of the Russian state.
This topic is relevant, since the life and politics of Ivan the Terrible was and remains not entirely well studied, an unambiguous historical assessment of the activities of the first Russian Tsar has not been given, and the history of the Russian state of that period is full of secrets and mysteries.
The purpose of this work is to study the Russian state in the 16th century.

1. The Russian state in the 16th century

Territory and population
By the end of the 16th century. The territory of Russia has expanded almost twice compared to the middle of the century. It included the lands of the Kazan, Astrakhan and Siberian Khanates, Bashkiria. There was also development of land on the southern outskirts of the country, the so-called Wild Field, rich in fertile lands. Attempts were made to reach the Baltic coast.
Population of Russia at the end of the 16th century. numbered 9 million people. The bulk of the population was concentrated in the north-west and central parts of the country. However, its density even in the most populated lands of Russia, according to historians, was 1-5 people per 1 sq. km. In Europe at the same time, the population density reached 10-30 inhabitants per 1 sq. km.
By the end of the reign of Ivan IV, the territory of the country had increased more than ten times compared to what his grandfather Ivan III had inherited in the mid-15th century. It included rich and fertile lands, but they still needed to be developed. With the inclusion of the lands of the Volga region, the Urals, and Western Siberia, the multinational composition of the country's population expanded even more.
Agriculture
Russia in the 16th century took a step forward in socio-economic development, which proceeded unevenly in different lands. The country's economy was of a traditional nature, based on the dominance of subsistence farming and feudal orders.
The boyar estate remained the dominant form of feudal agriculture. The largest were the estates of the Grand Duke, Metropolitan and monasteries. Former local princes became vassals of the Sovereign of All Rus'. Their possessions turned into ordinary fiefdoms (“prejudication of princes”).
Local land ownership expanded, especially in the second half of the 16th century. The state, in conditions of a lack of funds to create a mercenary army, wanting to subjugate the boyars-patrimonial princes and appanage princes, took the path of creating a state estate system.
The distribution of land led to the fact that in the second half of the 16th century. The black-growing peasantry (peasants who lived in communities and paid taxes to the state) decreased significantly in the center of the country and in the north-west. A significant number of black-sown peasants remained only in the north of the country, in Karelia, as well as in the Volga region and Siberia.
Peasants who lived on the developed lands of the Wild Field (on the Dnieper, Don, Middle and Lower Volga, Yaik rivers) were in a special situation. Peasants here received land plots for their service in protecting Russian borders.
By the second half of the 16th century. On the southern outskirts of Russia, the Cossacks began to take shape. The growth of feudal exploitation led to a mass exodus of peasants to the free lands of the Wild Field. There they united into unique paramilitary communities; all the most important matters were decided in the Cossack circle. Property stratification penetrated early among the Cossacks, which caused a struggle between the poorest Cossacks and the elders. From the 16th century the government used the Cossacks to perform border service. It supplied the Cossacks with gunpowder, provisions, and paid them salaries.
The unified state contributed to the development of productive forces. Three-field farming has become widespread, although slash-and-burn agriculture has not yet lost its importance. The main form of rent remained quitrent in kind. Corvée has not yet become widespread. The feudal lords' own plowing was worked by suffering (from "strada" - agricultural work) and bonded (debtors who worked off interest on the debt or voluntarily signed "service bondage") slaves.
Cities and trade
By the end of the 16th century. There were approximately 220 cities in Russia. The largest city was Moscow, whose population was about 100 thousand people (in Paris and Naples at the end of the 16th century there were 200 thousand people, in London, Venice, Amsterdam, Rome - 100 thousand). The remaining cities of Russia, as a rule, had 3-8 thousand people. In Europe, the average-sized city of the 16th century. numbered 20-30 thousand inhabitants.
The most important and developed Russian cities of the 16th century. there were Novgorod, Vologda, Veliky Ustyug, Kazan, Yaroslavl, Sol Kamskaya, Kaluga, Nizhny Novgorod, Tula, Astrakhan. During the development of the Wild Field, Orel, Belgorod and Voronezh were founded; in connection with the annexation of the Kazan and Astrakhan khanates - Samara and Tsaritsyn. With the penetration of Russians into Siberia, Tyumen and Tobolsk were built.
Finally, in connection with the needs of foreign trade, Arkhangelsk arose.
In the 16th century There was a rise in handicraft production and commodity-money relations in Russian cities. The specialization of production, closely related to the availability of local raw materials, was then still of an exclusively natural-geographical nature. The Tula-Serpukhov, Ustyuzhno-Zhelezopol, Novgorod-Tikhvin districts specialized in metal production; The Novgorod-Pskov land and the Smolensk region were the largest centers for the production of linen and linen; leather production developed in Yaroslavl and Kazan; The Vologda region produced huge amounts of salt, etc. Widespread stone construction took place throughout the country. The first large state-owned enterprises appeared in Moscow - the Armory Chamber, the Cannon Yard, and the Cloth Yard.
Speaking about the scope of handicraft production, it should be noted that the quantitative growth of small-scale commodity production has not yet led to its development into capitalist commodity production, as was the case in a number of advanced countries in the West. A significant part of the city's territory was occupied by courtyards, gardens, vegetable gardens, meadows of boyars, churches and monasteries; monetary wealth was concentrated in their hands, which was given at interest, went to the purchase and accumulation of treasures, and was not invested in production.
Along with merchants, secular and spiritual feudal lords, especially monasteries, played a significant role in trade. Bread was brought from the center and southern regions to the north, and leather from the Volga region; Pomorie and Siberia supplied furs, fish, salt, Tula and Serpukhov supplied metal, etc.
Analysis of the socio-economic development of Russia in the 16th century. shows that the country at that time was undergoing a process of strengthening the feudal mode of production. The growth of small-scale production in cities and trade did not lead to the creation of centers of bourgeois development.

2. Ivan the Terrible

Childhood
Ivan IV, the son of Grand Duke Vasily III and Elena Vasilievna Glinskaya, was born on August 25, 1530 in the village of Kolomenskoye near Moscow. At the age of three (in 1533) he was awarded the title of Prince of Moscow and All Rus'.
After the death of his father, 3-year-old Ivan remained in the care of his mother, who died in 1538, when he was 8 years old.
Ivan grew up in an environment of palace coups and the struggle for power among the warring boyar families. He was surrounded by murder, intrigue and violence, which did not contribute to the development of gentleness and kindness, but gave rise to suspicion, vindictiveness and cruelty in the child. It’s no wonder that Ivan’s penchant for torturing living beings did not alarm anyone, and even, on the contrary, aroused approval.
One of the strongest impressions of the tsar in his youth was the “great fire” and the Moscow uprising of 1547.
The reign of Elena Glinskaya for her son, after her death, was replaced by 10 years of turmoil. Instability prepared the way for a major revolt of the population of Moscow in June 1547, the cause of which was a huge fire that occurred on June 21, when the Kremlin and most of the suburb burned out in 6 hours, and 25 thousand households were burned in the fire. Four thousand people died, others were left homeless. Muscovites began a spontaneous uprising against the Glinskys, who were accused of the fire, and killed Prince Glinsky and some boyars in the Assumption Cathedral. After the veche meeting, the townspeople moved to Vorobyovo, where the tsar had taken refuge, and made demands for the extradition of the other “culprits” of the fire. During this revolt, suppressed by the government, the houses of many boyars were looted.
Beginning of reign
The young prince dreamed of unlimited autocratic power. His dreams came true on January 16, 1547, when the solemn crowning of Ivan IV took place in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. After receiving the Holy Mysteries, Ivan Vasilyevich was anointed with myrrh. The royal title allowed him to take a significant position in diplomatic relations with Western Europe. The grand ducal title was translated as “prince” or even “grand duke.” The title “king” was either not translated at all, or translated as “emperor”. The Russian Tsar was thus equal to the only Holy Roman Emperor in Europe.
Since 1549, together with the Elected Rada, Ivan IV carried out a number of reforms aimed at centralizing the state: the Zemstvo reform of Ivan IV, the Guba reform, reforms were carried out in the army, and in 1550 a new Code of Law of Ivan IV was adopted. In 1549, the first Zemsky Sobor was convened. In 1555-56, Ivan IV abolished feeding and adopted the Code of Service.
In 1550-51, Ivan the Terrible personally took part in the Kazan campaigns. In 1552 Kazan was conquered, then the Astrakhan Khanate (1556). In 1553, trade relations with England were established. In 1558, Ivan IV began the Livonian War for the approaches to the Baltic Sea coast. Initially, military operations developed successfully. By 1560, the army of the Livonian Order was completely defeated, and the Order itself ceased to exist.
Meanwhile, serious changes took place in the internal situation of the country. Around 1560, the king broke with the leaders of the Chosen Rada and placed various disgraces on them. In 1563, Russian troops captured Polotsk, at that time a large Lithuanian fortress. The Tsar was especially proud of this victory, won after the break with the Chosen Rada. However, already in 1564 Russia suffered serious defeats. The king began to look for those “to blame,” and disgraces and executions began.
Reforms of Ivan IV. In addition to wars and thoughts of conquering new territories, a plan was born in the head of Ivan IV to improve the system of government and “improve” the life of the state, because Russia, during the Golden Horde, lagged significantly behind Europe in development, and, moreover, was in the power of the boyar aristocracy. In the fight against the boyars, the nobles supported the tsar.
etc.................

The end of the 15th - beginning of the 16th centuries was the time of the formation of the centralized Russian state. The conditions in which the formation of the state took place were not entirely favorable. A sharply continental climate and a very short agricultural summer prevailed. The fertile lands of the Wild Field (south), the Volga region and Southern Siberia have not yet been developed. There were no outlets to the seas. The likelihood of external aggression was high, which required constant effort.

Many territories the former Kievan Rus (western and southern) were part of other states, which meant that traditional ties - trade and cultural - were broken.

Territory and population.

For the second half of the 16th century territory Russia has doubled compared to the middle of the century. At the end of the 16th century, 9 million people lived in Russia. Population was multinational. Main part population lived in the north-west (Novgorod) and in the center of the country (Moscow). But even in the most densely populated areas the density population remained low - up to 5 people per 1 sq.m. (for comparison: In Europe - 10-30 people per 1 sq. m.).

Agriculture. The nature of the economy was traditional, feudal, and subsistence farming dominated. The main forms of land ownership were: boyar patrimony, monastic land ownership. From the second half of the 16th century, local land ownership expanded. State actively supported local land ownership and actively distributed land to landowners, which led to a sharp reduction in black-growing peasants. Black-nosed peasants were communal peasants who paid taxes and carried out duties in favor of the state. By this time, they remained only on the outskirts - in the north, in Karelia, Siberia and the Volga region.

Population, Those living in the territory of the Wild Field (Middle and Lower Volga region, Don, Dnieper) enjoyed a special position. Here, especially in the southern lands, in the second half of the 16th century, the Cossacks began to stand out (from the Turkic word “daring man”, “free man”). Peasants fled here from the hard peasant life of the feudal lord. Here they united in communities that were paramilitary in nature, and all the most important matters were decided in the Cossack circle. By this time, there was also no equality of property among the Cossacks, which was expressed in the struggle between the golytby (the poorest Cossacks) and the Cossack elite (the elders). From now on state began to use the Cossacks for border service. They received wages, food, and gunpowder. The Cossacks were divided into “free” and “service”.

Cities and trade.

There were more than two hundred cities in Russia by the end of the 16th century. About 100 thousand people lived in Moscow, while large European cities, for example, Paris and Naples, numbered 200 thousand people. Population 100 thousand people at that time lived in London, Venice, Amsterdam, Rome. The remaining Russian cities were smaller in number population As a rule, these are 3-8 thousand people, while in Europe the average cities numbered 20-30 thousand people.

Craft production was the basis of the city's economy. There was a specialization of production, which was exclusively natural and geographical in nature, and depended on the availability of local raw materials.

Metal was produced in Tula, Serpukhov, Ustyug, Novgorod, Tikhvin. The centers of production of linen and linen were Novgorod, Pskov, and Smolensk lands. Leather was produced in Yaroslavl and Kazan. Salt was mined in the Vologda region. Stone construction became widespread in cities. Armory Chamber, Cannon Yard. The Cloth Yard were the first state-owned enterprises. The enormous accumulated wealth of the feudal landowning elite was used for anything, but not for the development of production.

In the middle of the century, at the mouth of the Northern Dvina there was an expedition of the British led by H. Willoughby and R. Chancellor, looking for a way to India through the Arctic Ocean. This marked the beginning of Russian-English relations: maritime connections were established and preferential relations were concluded. The English Trading Company began to function. Established in 1584, the city of Arkhangelsk was the only port connecting Russia with European countries, but navigation on the White Sea was only possible for three to four months a year due to harsh climatic conditions. Wine, jewelry, cloth, and weapons were imported into Russia through Arkhangelsk and Smolensk. They exported: furs, wax, hemp, honey, flax. The Great Volga Trade Route again acquired significance (after the annexation of the Volga khanates, which were the remnants of the Golden Horde). Fabrics, silk, spices, porcelain, paints, etc. were brought from the countries of the East to Russia.

In conclusion, it should be noted that in the 16th century, economic development in Russia followed the path of strengthening the traditional feudal economy. For the formation of bourgeois centers, urban crafts and trade were not yet sufficiently developed.

K con. XVI century The territory of the country has increased almost 2 times compared to the middle. century. Population of Russia at the end. XVI century numbered 9 million people. There were approximately 220 cities in Russia, the average population of which was 3-8 thousand people. The largest city was Moscow - about 100 thousand people.

The country's economy was traditional in nature, based on the dominance of subsistence farming. The boyar estate remained the dominant form of land ownership. They expanded, especially from the second floor. XVI century, local land ownership: the state, in conditions of a lack of funds, endowed service people with land plots - estates that were not inherited. Agriculture developed extensively through the development of new territories. The three-field crop rotation system spread. Colonization of the southern lands took place - both by peasants and landowners; in Siberia, new lands were populated only by peasants.

In the 16th century The development of handicraft production in cities continued, and specialization of individual regions of the country began to emerge. Changes are taking place in domestic trade: local markets are being replaced by county markets. Foreign trade was being established: maritime connections were established with England through Arkhangelsk, and trade with the countries of the East was carried out through Astrakhan.

The largest feudal lords included the boyar-princely aristocracy. It consisted of two main groups. The first consisted of former appanage princes, who had lost their former political privileges, but retained their former economic importance. The second group of the feudal elite included large and medium-sized boyars. The interests and positions of these two groups of feudal lords on some issues were different. Former appanage princes consistently opposed centralization. In the future, a tendency towards increased consolidation of feudal lords is emerging and developing.

In the 2nd half. XVI century On the southern outskirts of Russia, the Cossacks, which were formed from among runaway peasants, played a significant role. From the 16th century the government used the Cossacks to perform border service, supplied them with gunpowder, provisions, and paid them salaries.

Strengthening state power by Ivan the Terrible

As a form of feudal state, the estate-representative monarchy corresponded to the era of mature feudalism. It develops as a result of the struggle of monarchs to further strengthen the centralized state. The power of the monarch during this period was not yet strong enough to become absolute. The monarchs and their supporters fought with the top of the feudal aristocracy, which opposed the centralizing policy of the Moscow sovereigns. In this struggle, the monarchs relied on the nobles and the elite of the townspeople, whose representatives were invited for “council” to the Zemsky Councils.

After the death of Vasily III in 1533, his 3-year-old son Ivan IV ascended the grand-ducal throne.

When Ivan was a child, actual rule was exercised by the boyars. Boyar rule led to the weakening of central power.

Around 1549, a council of people close to him (the Chosen Rada) formed around the young Ivan IV. It existed until 1560 and carried out transformations called the reforms of Ser. XVI century

The reforms improved the public administration system:

1) the composition of the Boyar Duma was expanded almost three times in order to weaken the role of the old boyar aristocracy in it. The Boyar Duma played the role of a legislative and advisory body;

2) a new government body was created - the Zemsky Sobor. Zemsky councils decided the most important state affairs. issues - foreign policy, finance; during the interregnum, new kings were elected at Zemsky Councils;

3) the order system finally took shape. Orders are institutions that were in charge of branches of public administration or individual regions of the country. At the head of the orders were boyars, okolnichy or Duma clerks. The order system contributed to centralization in the government of the country;

4) the local feeding system was abolished. Management was transferred to the hands of provincial elders, elected from local nobles, and zemstvo elders - from among the wealthy strata of the black-sown population where there was no noble land ownership, city clerks (favorite heads) - in cities.

To strengthen autocratic power, weaken the boyars, destroy the separatism of the feudal nobility and the remnants of feudal fragmentation, Ivan IV introduced a policy called “Oprichnina” (1565-1572).

He divided the country's territory into zemshchina - lands under the control of the Boyar Duma and oprichnina - the sovereign's appanage, which included the most economically important lands.

From among the nobles, loyal supporters of the tsar, an oprichnina army was created with the help of which the fight was waged against the boyars and all opponents of unlimited tsarist power.

Oprichnina had dire consequences for the country.

1) in political terms: there was a weakening of the political role of the boyar aristocracy, the strengthening of autocracy, the final formation of Russia as an eastern-type state with a despotic system of government;

2) in economic terms: there was a weakening of large feudal-patrimonial land ownership and the elimination of its independence from the central government, redistribution of land from the boyars in favor of the nobility, the establishment of the predominance of corvée over quitrent, the ruin of the country, the economic crisis;

3) socially, the oprichnina contributed to the further enslavement of the peasantry and the aggravation of contradictions within the country.

Thus, in mid. XVI century An apparatus of state power emerged in the form of an estate-representative monarchy. The general trend towards centralization of the country was enshrined in a new set of laws - the Code of Laws of 1550.

Socio-political development of Russia at the end of the 16th and 17th centuries.

Time of Troubles and its consequences.

Ivan groznyj.

Ivan 4 (1533-84) from 1533-38 was ruled by Elena Glinskaya, and from 1538-47 the state was ruled by boyar groups.

In 1547, Ivan 4 took the royal title.

The first period of government was reformist (late 40s, early 60s). A government circle “elected council” has formed

The main reasons for the fall of the elected Rada:

1) Ivan 4 was for the Levon War, but the elected Rada was against it.

2) Ivan 4 began to view collegial government as an attack on his own power and set a course for autocracy.

Second period of the reign of Ivan 4:

Oprichnina- this is the policy of Ivan 4 in 1565-72 (84) to strengthen autocratic power.

The essence of the oprichnina: a) division of the country into oprichnina (the domain of the king with special administration and troops) and zemshchina (territory with the previous administration); b) repression against potential rivals. 1) execution of unwanted boyars.

2) reprisal against cousin Vladimir Staritsky. 3) campaign against Novgorod 1569-70. 4) exile and then the murder of Metropolitan Philip.

Oprichnina results:

1) autocracy based on fear and terror.

2) disorganization of the state apparatus.

3) economic crisis and devastation.

Foreign policy of Ivan the Terrible (table)

Third point on the plan:

At the beginning of the 17th century there was a civil war - an organized and armed struggle for state power between separate social groups within one state.

Fyodor Ivanovich (1584-98) Since the new tsar, the Regina council was created, headed by Boris Godunov. On his initiative: 1) increased enslavement of the peasants; 2) the patriarchate was established in 1589.

Godunov's position was touched after the death of Tsarevich Dmitry in 1591. At the Zemstvo Council, Boris Godunov was elected tsar in 1598-1605. In October 1604, the false Dmitry 1 crossed the border and Godunov unexpectedly died.

Reasons for the troubled times:

1) systemic crisis of society: politically negative consequences of the oprichnina, the end of the Rurik dynasty.

2) economic crisis after the oprichnina.

3) public dissatisfaction of the peasants with the policy of enslavement of the peasants. (Table. Periods of Troubles in the 17th century).

The new Tsar Mikhail Romanov 1613-1645. In 1614, Sweden launched military operations against Russia. In 1617, the Peace of Stalbovo was concluded with Sweden, Russia returned the Novgorod lands.

In 1616, Russia started a war with Poland, but it was unsuccessful. In 1618 - the Deulin truce, Russia lost the Smolensk land.

Annexation of Ukraine to Russia (table)

Church reform and church schism.

Reasons for the reform:

1) discrepancies between church books and canonical models.

2) unification is extremely important due to the union of Ukraine and Russia.

In 1666, a great church council condemned Nikon and approved the reform.

(Table. Major uprisings of Stepan Razin)

Fourth question on the plan:

4. the problem of the Estate-representative monarchy in Europe and Russia

The city of Yelets existed as the center of the principality until the beginning of the 15th century, then fell into disrepair and was destroyed. It was restored in 1592-1593. like a fortress on the southern border of Russia. By the end of the 17th century, the city was the largest trade and craft center in the region and was larger in number than cities such as Kursk and Voronezh. It is no coincidence that the Voronezh governor
in the 1710s preferred to be in Yelets, where there were more favorable conditions for a comfortable life than in Voronezh.

The main indicator of the economic development of a city is the growth in the number of its residents employed in trade and crafts. Thus, we will trace the dynamics of the population of Yelets and, in this context, the ratio of the townspeople and the service population.

Yu. A. Mizis, in his work on the formation of the market of the Central Black Earth Region, rightly noted that the townspeople population in southern Russian cities was not predominant in numbers and economic potential, and the formation of towns and cities took a “painfully long time” and encountered resistance from communities of small service people. Only towards the end of the 17th century. In Yelets, the townspeople population predominated, which was associated with economic success in the development of the city.

On the problem of studying the population of Russia in the 17th-18th centuries. In Russian historical science, various Soviet and Russian historians and demographers consulted, whose works set out in some detail the methodology for registering the population using scribe and census books, as well as audit materials.

According to generally accepted methods, the courtyard in the 17th-18th centuries. corresponded to an average family of 6 people. Due to the approximate nature of our calculations, for greater reliability we will use rounded figures, which is quite acceptable when determining the population size for the era under study. We have already tested this technique in separate studies.

After the completion of construction of Yelets in 1594, the number of service people in the new fortress was 846 people. In addition, there were 11 clergy and 13 people classified as officials in Yelets, for a total of 870 people. . Thus, the average number of families of the service population of Yelets at the end of the 16th century. was about 6100 people. Moreover, the approximate size of the townspeople's population at that time was only about 100 people.

In 1618, the city of Yelets was destroyed by the Cossack army of the Zaporozhye hetman P.K. Sagaidachny. On the eve of this sad event, 1,461 male servicemen lived in the city. . The townspeople population, located in a separate Chernaya Sloboda of Yelets since 1613, was about 40 people. It turns out that about 6,000 people lived in Yelets in 1618, while the townspeople population was no more than 160 people. The population here did not change noticeably until 1632. From this year, a significant part of the service population moved, on the initiative of the government, to new cities on the southern border.

This process continued until the mid-1650s.

In the summer of 1645, the serving population of Yelets swore allegiance to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. The approximate size of the serving population in the city was 400 people, in addition, there were 5 clerks and about 30 clergy in the city. According to the census book of 1646, there were townspeople in Yelets - 177 people and 4 widows, in monastic settlements - 44 people and 4 widows, on church lands - 39 people and 1 widow, in the settlement of boyar N.I. Romanov - 17 people and 1 widow, in addition, their slaves lived in the houses of the boyars’ children - 66 people and 7 widows. Total in 1645-1646 The service population was about 2,000 people, and the townspeople exceeded 1,000 people.

In 1658, Yelets was attacked by the Tatars, as a result of which a population census was compiled. According to this document, 2,210 people lived in the city. The service population of the city was approximately 1,165 people (the affiliation of 87 people was determined approximately), the townspeople - 907 people.

In the 1660s. The growth of the serving population stopped, which was associated with the gradual fading of the city’s military function. In 1688, approximately 16 thousand people lived in Yelets, of which the townspeople population was about 10 thousand people. In 1697, about 20 thousand people lived in Yelets, of which the townspeople population made up the absolute majority - 16 thousand people.

In the 10s. XVIII century Yelets became the center of a special tax district - a “share”, which included more than 5,000 households. In this regard, the population of the city exceeded 20 thousand people. According to the Landrat Book of 1711, the serving population was no more than 1 thousand people.

Thus, statistical materials on Yelets reflect the process of transforming the fortress into a full-fledged city. Moreover, over a hundred-year period, the trade and craft population outnumbered the service population: at the end of the 16th century. in Yelets, the trade and craft population was just over 2%; at the beginning of the 18th century. – 95%. It should be noted that the turning point in the dynamics of the ratio of the service and townspeople was 1645-1650. It was during these years that the government carried out the “posad construction”, during which some of the service people became townspeople, since they received rights and privileges in trade. Thus, the reforms of the government of B.I. Morozov contributed to the economic development of cities and increased the number of taxpayers to replenish the treasury. At the same time, the reforms made it possible to accelerate the process of urbanization of some regions that lag behind the center in their development (in particular, the South of Russia).

In general, the population dynamics of Yelets were associated with the economic development of the city, as well as changes in its military significance, while its geographical location contributed to the rapid transformation of the city into an important trade and economic center.

1 Vodarsky Ya. E. Population of Russia over 400 years. M.: Education, 1973. 160 p.

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3 Gorskaya N. A. Historical demography of Russia during the era of feudalism. Results and problems of the study. M.: Nauka, 1994. 224 p.

4 Kabuzan V.M. Population of Russia in the 18th – first half of the 19th century: Based on audit materials. M.: Nauka, 1963. 157 p.

5 Kabuzan V.M. Changes in the distribution of the population of Russia in the 18th – first half of the 19th centuries: based on audit materials. M.: Nauka, 1971. 210 p.

6 Komolov N. A. Yelets in the 1710-1770s: pages of political history // Interuniversity scientific and methodological readings in memory of K. F. Kalaidovich. Vol. 8. Yelets: Yerevan State University Publishing House. I. A. Bunina, 2008. pp. 35-42.

7 Mironov B.N. Russian city in the 1740-1860s: demographic, social and economic development. L.: Nauka, 1990. 272 ​​p.

8 Zhirov N.A. Kanishchev V.V. Modeling of historical and geographical zoning (based on materials from the south of central Russia of the 19th century) // History: Facts and Symbols. 2015. No. 1. pp. 63 – 83.

9 Lyapin D. A., Zhirov N. A. Number and distribution of the population of Livensky and Eletsk districts at the end of the 16th - beginning of the 17th centuries // Rus', Russia: Middle Ages and Modern Times. Readings in memory of Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences L. V. Milov: materials of the international scientific conference (Moscow, November 21-23, 2013). Vol. 3 M.: MSU, 2013. pp. 283-288.

10 Lyapin D. A., Zhirov N. A. Tax population of cities in the South of Russia (based on the census of 1646) // Rus', Russia: Middle Ages and Modern Times. Vol. 4. Readings in memory of Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences L.V. Milov. Proceedings of the international scientific conference. Moscow, October 26 – November 1, 2015. M.: MSU, 2014. P. 283-288.

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12 Mizis Yu. A. Formation of the market of the Central Black Earth Region in the second half of the 17th - first half of the 18th centuries. Tambov: Julius, 2006. 815 p.

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Home >  Wiki-textbook >  History > 7th grade > The Russian state at the end of the 16th century: ruin, enslavement of peasants

Porukha in the 70-80s

The period of economic crisis in the Russian state coincided with the end of the reign of Ivan the Terrible. The prerequisite for the decline of the country's economy was social factors: most of the population died during the oprichnina and the Livonian War, many peasants fled from tsarist oppression to the Siberian forests.

The tightening of serfdom and the abolition of St. George's Day led to massive popular unrest and uprisings. Peasants often organized robbery attacks on the estates of boyars and landowners. The lack of labor and the refusal of some peasants from agricultural work led to the fact that the area of ​​uncultivated land accounted for more than 80% of the total.

Despite this, the state continued to increase taxes. The number of deaths from hunger and infectious diseases has increased in the country. Ivan the Terrible made attempts to stabilize the situation in the state; taxation of landowners was reduced and the oprichnina was abolished. But still, this failed to stop the economic crisis, which went down in history as “ruin.”

Enslavement of the peasantry at the end of the 16th century

It was during this period that serfdom was officially established in the Russian state by Tsar Ivan the Terrible. The entire population of the Russian state was entered by name into special books, which indicated which landowner this or that person belonged to.

According to the royal decree, peasants who ran away or refused to work on the land of the landowner were subject to severe punishment.

According to many historians, this year marks the beginning of the formation of serfdom in Russia.

Also, at the legislative level, a provision was enshrined, following which debtors who were late in paying the debt automatically fell into serfdom from their creditor, without the right to further redeem their own freedom. The children of peasants living in serfdom became the property of the landowner, like their parents.

Russia under Fyodor Ivanovich

By the end of his reign, Tsar Ivan the Terrible was an exhausted old man and could not fully participate in governing the state. The supreme power in Russia belonged to the boyar families close to the tsar. After his death, the sovereign did not leave worthy heirs.

The throne was taken by the youngest son, Fyodor Ivanovich, a soft man who possessed absolutely no qualities that could make him a wise king.

Ivan Fedorovich was unable to eliminate the economic crisis and completely overcome external expansion, but it would be wrong to say that his reign did not bring positive results for the state. Being a religious man, the king was able to significantly raise the level of spiritual development of the people.

During his reign, cities destroyed by foreign invaders were significantly transformed, and primary schools were opened at monasteries and churches.

Without possessing the art of military strategy, Fyodor Ivanovich was able to organize an army, thanks to which the Russian state won the Russian-Swedish war and regained the previously lost cities of Ivangorod, Yama, Korely and Koporye.

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Russian history. From ancient times to the 16th century. 6th grade Kiselev Alexander Fedotovich

Chapter 6. RUSSIA IN THE XVI CENTURY

RUSSIA IN THE 16TH CENTURY