In the 11th century Rus' reached its peak and stood on the same level with European countries in terms of economic development and state structure. But the invasion of the Mongol-Tatars stopped its development, if not thrown a step lower, while Europe continued to move forward. Although, says Karamzin, it is not known how the fate of Russia would have turned out if not for the Tatar-Mongols, but, say, the Swedes, Poles or Lithuanians captured it.
Bearing in mind the consequences of the Mongol-Tatar yoke for Rus', it should be noted that it led to a long decline in the economic, political and cultural development of the Russian lands, marked the beginning of their lagging behind the advanced Western European countries. The old agricultural centers and the once developed territories were abandoned and fell into decay. The borders of agriculture moved north. Russian cities were subjected to mass destruction and destruction, their role in the political and economic life the country fell, disappeared forever or revived only after 150-300 years, such crafts as filigree, niello, cloisonne enamel, polychrome glazed ceramics, stone carving, etc. Stone construction stopped, fine and applied arts fell into decay. The connection between urban handicraft and the market weakened, and the development of commodity production slowed down. The tribute to "silver" led to its leakage to the Horde and the almost complete cessation of monetary circulation within the Russian lands. Finally, tens of thousands of people died in battles or were driven into slavery as a result of the incessant raids of the Mongols - Tatars on Russian lands. Only in the last quarter of the thirteenth century 14 major invasions of Rus' were made, not counting the many whiter minor raids. Many cities, for example, Pereslavl-Zalessky, Murom. Suzdal, Ryazan were destroyed again and again.
It took almost a century of hard work and heroic struggle of the people to restore the economy under these difficult conditions and ensure its further development as a necessary basis for the elimination of feudal fragmentation and the creation of a Russian centralized state.
Thus, the XII-XIII centuries. in the development of the country were a very complex and controversial era. The period of feudal fragmentation experienced by Russia, which was a natural stage in the development of the feudal formation, coincided with foreign aggression, both from the west and from the east. Having repulsed the threat from the west in the middle of the 13th century. The Russian lands were subjected to a terrible defeat as a result of the Mongol-Tatar invasion and for almost two and a half centuries fell under the yoke of the Golden Horde, which helped to consolidate the defense of the Russian lands from European states, led to an acceleration in the socio-economic and political structure of the Russian lands, introduced by the conquerors of features, characteristic of oriental despotisms.
However, there were also positive sides. New trade routes were opened instead of the ancient route "from the Varangians to the Greeks": with the East through the Horde, with Constantinople and the West through the Don - Azov.
The great Muscovite princes were able to do away with appanages and create a politically cohesive Russian state, despite the fact that its individual regions, “lands”, continued to live a self-sufficient economic life isolated from one another for another two centuries.
Three main features of the formation of Russian statehood can be noted. This is, firstly, the combat system of the state.
The second feature was non-legal nature internal management and public structure. Centralization was accompanied by the enslavement of the peasantry and the strengthening of class differentiation.
The third feature of the Moscow state order was unlimited supreme power with an indefinite scope of action. Byzantine and eastern influence led to strong despotic tendencies in the structure and politics of power. The main support of autocratic power was not the union of cities with the nobility, but the local nobility.
Until the beginning of the 18th century, the domestic army was very different from the Western troops, which is largely due to the Horde heritage, as a result of which for a long time the main combat unit of Rus' was light cavalry. She was faster and more agile than heavily armed mounted knights.
Tatars and Russians not only fought with each other, but also often fought joint military operations, since under the banners of the Golden Horde, due to vassal dependence, the wars of Rus' often fought, which adopted the tactics of nomads.
The dependence that was established in the middle of the 13th century soon began to be felt by contemporaries as a given: the most ancient Russian chronicles represented the invasion of the eastern hordes as the “punishment of the Lord”, and resistance to it was perceived as something doomed. At the same time, Bishop Serapion of Vladimir at the end of the 13th century noted that the Tatars "although they do not know the law of God, they do not kill their fellow believers, do not rob, do not lock themselves in someone else's."
Khans perception
In the 13th-15th centuries, Russian people considered the khans to be kings, although before the yoke this title officially applied only to the rulers of Rome and Constantinople. Historian Anton Gorsky notes that such an attitude towards the rulers of the Horde is associated with the capture of the capital of Byzantium in 1204 by the Catholic crusaders, which was perceived in Rus' as "the death of the kingdom."
Just shortly after this, the invasion of the Mongol-Tatars began, and the formed Golden Horde, according to the researcher, occupied the empty place of the perished "kingdom" in the attitude of the inhabitants of Rus'. One way or another, in 1261, the Orthodox regained Constantinople, and the emperor of Byzantium and the local patriarchate, to which the churches of Rus' were subordinate, became allies of the Horde.
Until the second half of the XIV century, until the Golden Horde began to disintegrate into separate parts, dependence on the Tatars in the Russian lands was not questioned, and armed conflicts with them mainly occurred due to princely strife, when one or another ruler attracted nomads to his side.
Orientation to the East
At first, the yoke could be another reason for clashes with the Tatars due to non-payment of tribute, but soon its collection was transferred to the princes, who, with the help of their subordinates, collected and transported dues to the Horde. A trip there was often fraught with danger and even the likelihood of death: in the first hundred years of Tatar rule, more than ten Russian rulers were executed by order of the khans.
In addition to tribute, another duty of the population was the supply of soldiers, with which the Horde strengthened their armies.
The invasion of nomads reoriented Rus' from west to east. If in the 10th century the Arab traveler Ibn Fadlan wrote that the Russians mainly used a sword, the blade of which was “Frankish”, then in the 15th century this weapon was finally supplanted by the Asian saber. Even more than a hundred years after the liberation from the Horde dependence, the Venetian diplomat Francesco Tiepolo noted that the armor of the cavalry of noble warriors was made in Persia.
At the same time, Russian horses also had an oriental appearance: unlike western breeds, they were undersized, but much more unpretentious in maintenance. In the 16th century, European cavalry moved to formation in ranks, for which the riders needed more equipment. Russian horsemen used simpler ammunition: for example, a whip instead of spurs.
The basis of the army
The main force of the Russian army, like that of the Tatars, was the cavalry, which dominated the battlefields until the end of the 17th century, when it began to be replaced by infantry with firearms. The main tactics of the troops were the techniques mastered thanks to the nomads: quick attacks and feigned retreats, followed by luring the enemy into an ambush.
The Italian Paolo Giovio wrote at the beginning of the 16th century that the Tatars most often won through surprise attacks, and not because of battle formation or stamina in battle. The lightning speed of the attack was facilitated by the main weapon of the horsemen - the bow, which made it possible to conduct remote combat for some time. At the same time, thanks to the shallow saddle, the archer could shoot in all directions. The same was true for the Russian troops.
In close combat, they used a saber and a spear, and in order to reduce weight and, therefore, increase mobility, Russian horsemen used light armor. Foreign contemporaries compared domestic equestrians with nomads, noting the similarity of their tactics, as well as unpretentiousness in everyday life.
Mark on history
At the end of the 14th century, the central power in the Golden Horde weakened, because of which the local elites began a continuous struggle for supremacy, which allowed the Russian lands, united under the rule of Moscow, to gradually gain independence. The defeated representatives of the Horde clans sought help from the Moscow rulers, who used the strife in the east to their advantage.
Even after the Mongol-Tatar yoke fell in 1480, the Russian army had to interact with the Tatars, fighting periodically with the khanates that appeared instead of the Golden Horde, or conduct joint military operations with nomadic allies. One example of an alliance between Russians and Tatars was the Kasimov Khanate that existed until 1681, which was completely controlled by Moscow.
Due to their close relationship, nomads have had a long-term impact on Russian army, which seriously changed its appearance only in early XVIII century due to the dominance of gunpowder and the transformations of Peter I. Nevertheless, the influence of the nomadic east on national army, expressed in the maneuverability of the cavalry, could be traced for many more centuries.
Many students and simple people, far from a deep study of history, confuse the Mongolian state and the Golden Horde, identifying them. Despite the fact that the Golden Horde was a part of the Mongolian state for a long time, Khan Batu and his successor Khan Berke did everything to isolate this territory, creating their own, unique state. It was she who became a powerful state, exerting a huge influence on the Russian princes, and it was here that they went for labels. How did the separation of the Golden Horde happen, and what influence did the state have on Ancient Rus'?
Separation of the Golden Horde from the Mongolian state
As mentioned above, the separation began during the reign of Batu Khan. He was not a great khan of the Mngol Empire, but he occupied one of the best uluses, which later became the Golden Horde. After the election of Khan Mongke in 1251, Batu supported him, and received a lot of privileges for his land. The territories of the then Mongol Empire stretched for many kilometers, and the soldiers managed to capture not only China, but also some European territories, including Poland and Austria. That is why the strengthening of the small ulus of Batu was of little concern to anyone.
The trend towards isolation was continued by the next khan Berke. It was he who made the Golden Horde independent. What steps did Berke take to isolate his territories?
- He continued to improve the urban appearance of Sarai-Batu, making the city one of the most modern economic and political centers.
- Berke himself converted to Islam even before the beginning of his reign and gradually planted this faith throughout his ulus.
- By inviting experts in the field of science and art from Iran and Egypt, Berke increased the proportion of educated people in his ulus.
- He improved trading and economic ties, which significantly affected the well-being of the ulus.
In 1269, already during the reign of Mengu-Timur, the Juchi ulus became completely independent, and among the people, among the Russian population, it was called the Golden Horde.
The heyday of the Golden Horde and its influence on Ancient Rus'
The long-term influence of the Golden Horde on Ancient Rus' cannot be ignored. Here the point is not only in the economic dependence of the two states on each other, but also in political and social changes in the life of society.
In fact, the Russian princes had only a semblance of a limited monarchy, and the final decisions in the state were always made by the khans and their assistants. To get a label for a great reign, the princes needed to prove themselves well to the khan. There were also frequent cases of patronage, when the khans promoted their favorites, making them governors in the most politically important principalities of Rus'.
So, there is a case when in 1248, the Golden Horde arbitrarily placed Alexander Nevsky on the throne of Kiev. According to the will of Yaroslav the Great, the throne of Kiev was to go to Andrey, but the khan had long been in a trusting relationship with Nevsky, as a result of which, it was he who was given the coveted throne.
Words such as “label” and “tribute” entered the everyday life of Russian princes, and interaction with Ancient Russia formed the basis of the economy of the Golden Horde. By receiving huge tribute, the local khans were considered the richest representatives of the Mongol Empire, and therefore they managed to achieve independence.
Due to well-built political and economic relations with Ancient Russia, the Golden Horde flourished until the middle of the XIV century. During the reign of Khan Uzbek and his heir Dzhanibek, the Horde grew rich before our eyes, becoming more and more powerful.
And yet, discontent was ripening among the Russian princes. Despite the fact that the Mongol khans provided protection to the Russian land, the state was burdened by obligations to the Golden Horde. That is why the uprising was only a matter of time. 1380 was a turning point in the history of the Golden Horde. After the Battle of Kulikovo and the unexpected defeat of the Mongols, the Russian princes realized that this rival could also be successfully fought.
Why did the Russian princes dare to fight? The thing is that the “tidbit” called the Golden Horde became more and more attractive, and therefore the local khans and their heirs waged an endless struggle for the throne. A peculiar analogy with the turmoil helped the Russian princes to take the local soldiers by surprise, breaking their main forces. After such a defeat, it took the Mongols many months to restore their strength.
There was a widespread unification of forces, the princes cooperated with each other, if only to achieve liberation from Tatar-Mongol yoke. For two years the Russian lands enjoyed freedom and did not pay tribute until Tokhtamysh came to power. Having defeated Moscow, the great Mongolian khan plunged Rus' into a century of silence and obedience.
And yet, the Battle of Kulikovo has become direct evidence that Ancient Rus' is capable of fighting. Now the princes had only to wait for the maximum weakening of the Golden Horde in order to achieve independence.
Two main white spots national history the second third of the XIII - the last third of the XV centuries: what kind of socio-economic system existed in the north of the East Russian Plain; how did the Golden Horde influence the development of Rus' of the specific period?
The Mongol-Tatars could influence and influence the following spheres of the socio-political and socio-economic life of Rus' in the XIII-XV centuries. First, on the economy of the Old Russian state. According to the most conservative estimates, the horror of the siege and assault in 1237-1241. 76 urban centers of Ancient Rus' were tested. A. A. Kuza, compiling a map of the main Russian cities of the 13th century, placed 183 names on it. That is, 40% of all craft and trade centers were ruined. But, the thesis about the catastrophic defeat of Batu needs serious clarification. Ryazan, Pereyaslav, Chernigov, Novgorod, Seversk, Kiev principalities are literally trampled under the hooves of Tatar horses. On the territory of the "Russian land" and the Ryazan principality in the first third of the XIII century. 61 cities were equipped. Batu's troops ravaged 40. Vladimir-Suzdal Rus was seriously damaged, but it must be remembered that Batu passed through the central and southern regions Zalesky land, the northern part of the principality is little affected by the invasion. This specificity manifested itself to an even greater extent (the locality of the devastation inflicted by the Mongol-Tatars in 1237-1241) during the campaign against southwestern Rus'. The Beresteiskaya land and the Gorodensky principality - the constituent parts of the power of Daniel of Galicia, passed the pogrom of Batu. The same can be said about the western and southeastern parts of Chervonnaya Rus. The volosts, concentrating around Kolomyia, Terebovlya, Yaroslavl, successfully survived the horrors of the winter of 1240-1241. Novgorod land suffered slightly. All the damage fit in the burning of Torzhok. Finally, the Turov-Pinsk, Polotsk and Smolensk principalities passed the bitter fate of Ryazan and the "Russian Land". Baty passed by.
At ancient Russian principalities different fate. They can be conditionally divided into four categories. The first is the Ryazan principality and the so-called Russian land, here the situation is close to disaster. The second is the Vladimir-Suzdal principality and Galicia-Volyn Rus, the destruction is large-scale, but local. The third category is Novgorod land - the destruction is episodic. The fourth group should include the Polotsk, Smolensk and Turov-Pinsk principalities, where in 1237-1241. there were no nukers of Jochi's son.
Archaeological research shows that in the second half of the XIII century. in the ancient Russian cities, the production of: cloisonne enamel; filigree production stopped for a whole century; the blackening technique also fell into disuse after the invasion, and there is no evidence of molding in the late thirteenth and fourteenth centuries of glazed polychrome ceramics. In the second half of the century, the production of glass bracelets, cornelian and bronze beads was completely stopped; The jewelry business of Ancient Rus' suffered enormous damage. The art of stone carving has also been lost. A serious regression is observed in the building trades. Stone buildings in the first century of Mongol rule were erected much less than in the twelfth century, with huge claims to quality.
How did these changes affect the economy of Ancient Rus'; on the life of a medieval city? The first thing you pay attention to is that the high-tech industries of handicraft production suffered the main damage. We do not have data on the number of artisans Kievan Rus, about the number of skillful stone carvers, specialists capable of making polychrome glazed ceramics, blowing glass beads. But it is appropriate to assume that there could not have been many of them. Russian, Arabic, European sources are full of references to the special policy of Ogedei, Ogul-Gaymysh, Guyuk, Munk. The kagans and regents resettled the best artisans in Mongolia to decorate the Karakorum. Batu, Sartak, Berke and other khans of the Golden Horde followed the example of the khagans. In the twentieth century excavated significant settlements of Russian artisans in Sarai-Batu, Sarai-Berke, Ukek. Such a policy could not contribute to the development of crafts in the cities of Northern Rus'. But, the best were exported to the Horde and Mongolia. A priori, there could not be many of them. In the second half of the XIII - early XIV centuries. in the cities of Suzdal, Novgorod and Pskov, the Ryazan principality, artisans lost the art of cloisonné enamel, blackening, and forgot how to make filigree. The loss is palpable, but it is impossible to consider filigree or polychrome ceramics as a product of mass demand. The consumer of high-tech crafts was a small stratum of the inhabitants of Ancient Rus'. The economy could no longer meet their demand. It is hard, but not fatal for the economy and the old Russian city. Mass crafts: blacksmithing and pottery, ordinary ceramics, according to modern archeology, have not suffered irreparable damage. Finally, it must be remembered that we are talking about a traditional society. The economy of such crops has been well studied by M. Weber. The German sociologist came to the conclusion: the style, form, image of the production of the traditional economy does not imply a sharp drop.
The impact of the invasion and the yoke on the economy medieval Rus' was not stimulating. We can talk about the stagnation and even regression of handicraft production in the second half of the 13th - the first half of the 14th centuries. The question of the role and significance of the Mongol-Tatars in this process is debatable. Can it be argued that they initiated the fall of the second half of the thirteenth century? In our opinion, no. The invasion was not all-Russian. The vast territory happily escaped Batu's horsemen. Approximately 1/3 of the Old Russian state was not affected by the Batu pogrom. The muzzle of the Mongolian horses was not seen by Novgorod and Pskov, Smolensk and Polotsk. Meanwhile, Novgorod, just as Vladimir was, was affected by the industrial depression of the second half of the 13th century. The development of Pskov and Smolensk followed the same scenario. There is no direct fault of Batu and Genghisides in the stagnation of these territories. It can be assumed that it is indirect. Having defeated the principality of Vladimir and the “Russian Land”, the grandson of Genghis Khan narrowed the markets for the artisans of Novgorod and Smolensk to the limit. This, no doubt. But the Novgorod "republic", as well as the principality of Smolensk, are the most important transit centers, export citadels of Ancient Rus'. Probably, filigree and polychrome ceramics were bought not only and not so much in the East Russian Plain. General rule of any economy is the export of high-tech production. That is, it is possible to consider that Batu initiated the crisis of the second half of the thirteenth century on one condition, if you do not take into account the sad experience of Novgorod, Pskov and Smolensk. Finally, there is certain, albeit indirect, evidence that the crisis began long before the 1340s. Handicraft production in Kyiv, Polotsk, Rostov, Suzdal and even Smolensk has been in recession since the end of the 12th century.
This is our first conclusion: jihangir was not the ancestor of the crisis of the second half of the 13th - the first half of the 14th centuries. It started thirty or forty years earlier. Undoubtedly, Batu and his heirs made their considerable contribution to its development. But, is it possible to say that this influence is all determining? The list of crafts lost by Russia after 1237 includes: the art of cloisonné enamel; filigree and blackening technique, molding of glazed polychrome ceramics, production of glass bracelets, cornelian and bronze beads, stone carving, etc. It is highly doubtful that their disappearance was decisive in the conditions of the traditional economy of the Middle Ages.
As a second conclusion, it can be assumed that the establishment of foreign domination stimulated the depression, was one of the many factors in the economic crisis of the second half of the 13th century. There is no reason to reduce everything to the Golden Horde yoke or to attach special importance to it, and this is not confirmed. historical facts. Batu is one of many and in all is not a right-flank reason.
G. V. Vernadsky wrote in his monograph:
“The disappearance of urban crafts in the first century of Mongol domination made for a time a serious gap in the satisfaction of consumer demand. The villagers had to depend on what they could produce at home. Princes, boyars and monasteries had no alternative to the development of crafts in their own estates.
The thesis is very serious. Is it possible to talk about the manorization of crafts in specific Rus'? And, if so, what role did the Golden Horde play in this? Manorization cannot be denied. The number of facts testifying in favor of this position is enormous. What are the reasons for the transfer of handicraft production in the second half of the XIII century. from city to village? In our opinion, the answer is in the date of the transfer. Second half of the 13th century It is well known that relations between the prince and the ancient Russian city were never cloudless. But such intensity, such tension as in the days of Alexander Yaroslavovich, Andrei Alexandrovich did not happen before. Main city Northern Rus' - Veliky Novgorod tirelessly rebels and rebels against all the great princes of the second half of the 13th century. In 1262, a grandiose citywide anti-Horde uprising arose, not supported by the Rurikovichs. Relations between the city and the prince are rapidly and irreparably deteriorating. Vsevolodovichi are preparing to strike a decisive blow. It is this scenario of the manorization of crafts that seems to us the most plausible. In the second half of the XIII century. between the princes and the city is not the usual opposition. The subjects of history offer a different discourse of development. Princes - go to bow to the Khan. The city is to rise. The manorization of crafts is not only an economic act. It has clear political overtones. Princes, transferring crafts to their residences, weaken their political rival. Since they have two strong allies: the church, and, most importantly, the boyars, that is, the urban patriciate, the process of manorization becomes irreversible. Otherwise, we must admit that the main consumers of filigree, blackening, cloisonne enamel, etc. were smerds and other rural residents of Ancient Rus'.
So, the invasion of Batu had a serious impact on the economy of Ancient Rus'. At least 40% of the country's urban centers were destroyed in 1237-1241. From the second half of the XIII century. begins a deep and comprehensive crisis of handicraft production. It is wrong to believe that Batu Khan initiated it. Many of the largest craft centers of Kievan Rus happily escaped the fate of Kyiv and Kozelsk. Despite this, there were depressions in Novgorod, Polotsk, and Smolensk. Its first flashes can be dated to the end of the XII century. During these years, the art of the artisans of Polotsk, Kyiv, and Southern Pereyaslavl dramatically weakened. The Mongols did not initiate the crisis, but they certainly stimulated it. The deepening of the crisis, on the other hand, can be interpreted as a versification of handicraft production in medieval Rus'. The disappearance of only high-tech industries of handicraft production can be directly connected with the Mongols. In the historical realities of the XIII century. it was not the art of filigree and blackening or stone carving that determined the trend. Great importance acquired the manorization of the craft, its transfer from city walls to rural fences. The role of the khans of the Golden Horde in this is clearly visible. Faced with the opposition of the city of Northern Rus' of the 13th century, imposing a huge tribute on it, and at the same time, providing tax preferences to the church, the opportunity for Kalita and his ilk to establish close relations with the rulers of the Horde, the Genghisides contributed to the development of the manorial craft, and as a result, the weakening of the craft urban.
Ergo, if we talk about the impact and influence of the Tatars on the economy (craft) of specific Rus', it must be admitted that high-tech industries were the first to suffer from Batu and his sons and nephews. The policy of the Golden Horde allowed the Russian princes to vigorously and forcefully develop the manorial craft. That is, the influence of the state created by Batu on the handicraft production of Northern Rus' in the second half of the XIII - the first half of the XV centuries. doubly. On the one hand, the Genghisides allowed the Rurikoviches to weaken the urban handicraft production. On the other hand, they helped the descendants of Vsevolod III develop the manorial craft. If I may say so, in the second half of the XIII - the first half of the XIV centuries. the agrarianization of the craft of medieval Rus' took place.
The economy is not limited to the craft sector. Other the most important occupation ancient Russian city dweller was trade. How was the situation in this area in 1242-1462? Kievan Rus is located in the center of the most important trade routes of medieval Eurasia. In many ways, successful geography predetermined the power and wealth of the Old Russian state. For the worse, the situation began to change in the second half of the XII - the end of the XII century. Crash in 1204 Byzantine Empire- the strongest blow to the Varangian-Greek trade. The IV Crusade and the events preceding it (the maximum weakening of Byzantium in the second half of the 12th century) played an important role in the "fall" of Kyiv. The decay of the Volga trade route allowed Andrei Bogolyubsky and Vsevolod III to overcome Rostov the Great. It would seem that the invasion of Batu, the unprecedented defeat of ancient Russian cities in 1237-1241, the yoke regime adopted by Yaroslav Vsevolodovich would only intensify the crisis of ancient Russian trade. Sources do not confirm this. Genghisides perfectly understood the importance of trade relations, control over transport arteries is the most important aspect of Mongolian politics. If you do not take the decade of Berke, when a powerful corporation of Muslim merchants of Central Asian origin monopolized foreign trade, the rest of the time the khans of the Golden Horde patronized the international trade of Northern Rus'. Novgorod and other “hundreds” got a chance and knew perfectly well how to use it. Mengu-Timur, Uzbek did a lot for the development of foreign trade of medieval Rus' with the Italian colonies in the Crimea and Azov. The story about the death of Mikhail of Tver shows that not only in Saray, but also on the outskirts of the Golden Horde, on the banks of the Terek, there was a numerous and powerful Russian merchant brotherhood. Tokhtamysh, during the campaign of 1382, complained that Russian merchants completely controlled shipping on the Volga. The Crimea received special significance in the foreign trade of Northern Rus'. Factories of Novgorod, Moscow, Tver merchants were in the main cities of the peninsula: Cafe, Mangup and, first of all, Surozh. Surozhans are the first merchants, guests both in Moscow and in Vladimir-Volynsky. Thanks to Mengu-Timur, they did not stop, on the contrary, the ties between Rus' and the West strengthened and strengthened. At the end of the Middle Ages, Novgorod achieved significant success here. He joined the Hanseatic League. The undoubted flourishing of handicrafts, especially the cloth-making of Northern and Central Europe led to the closest contacts with Moravia, Bohemia, Ypres, etc. To say that the Golden Horde interfered with the trade of specific Rus' is to sin against historical truth. Decline in trade turnover Horde Rus' is fixed only in the 40s - 60s of the XIII century. After Mengu-Timur settled in the khan's tent, the affairs of the guests of Northern Rus' went uphill. The stagnation of the times of Batu-Berke can only partly be explained by the influence of the Golden Horde. Probably, these are echoes of the general economic crisis that began at the end of the 12th century. Economic science teaches that the first to emerge from a recession is a business that assumes greater volatility. In the thirteenth century there was nothing more valliative than international trade. The Jochids, having created a powerful state, were able to breathe new life a new life in the ancient and rather decayed trade routes "From the Varangians to the Greeks" and "From the Varangians to the Persians". The volumes of cargo sailing along the Dnieper, the Western Dvina, the Volga are so significant that no trading corporation, be it the Hansa, the Raddhonites or the Muslims of Khorezm, could single-handedly monopolize the East Russian trade bridge between Europe and Asia.
So, our conclusion regarding the trade relations of Northern Rus' of specific time: the Horde stimulated the international trade turnover of the northern Russian principalities in the second half of the 13th - first half of the 15th centuries.
Despite the fact that Rus' of the 13th century bore the proud name of "Gardarika", the majority of the inhabitants of the East Russian Plain did not live in cities at all. Neither craft and trade are the main occupation of the "citizens" of Kievan Rus. Before the Great Turn of the 20th Century. Russia is an agricultural country. In the XIII-XV centuries. 99% of the population live in villages and villages and are engaged in agriculture.
How was the situation in the agrarian sphere of Northern Rus'; how did invasion and yoke affect the medieval tiller? Sources and experts agree: Agriculture was least affected by the Mongol invasion. The khans are not interested in reducing the productivity of agriculture in specific Rus'. The main taxpayer supplying the lion's share of the "national wealth" of the Golden Horde is a medieval Russian peasant. Prosperous was the case with crafts, salt production, and fishing. All scientists agree - in the XIV-XV centuries. the agricultural sector (agriculture, arable farming) becomes the main branch of the national economy. According to the apt remark of V. O. Klyuchevsky, Rus' is turning from a commercial city into an agricultural country. Agriculture, a very, very inert thing, hardly amenable to technical improvements, has taken a significant step forward in a specific period. First, the crop rotation system is changing. Most of the arable land goes to the three-field. Secondly, the tools of labor are being improved. Oratay of this time used three main types of plow: a heavy plow, an improved plow with an iron plow share, and a light wooden plow. Ralo species have been zoned. The plow itself was used infrequently, mainly in the Novgorod volosts. The light plough, pulled by one horse, is typical of the northern forest regions, just involved in crop rotation. The plowmen of the Moscow principality raised the land with an improved plow. It was pulled by three horses at once. At one time, P. P. Smirnov suggested that during the reign of Ivan I, a completely new type of plow was invented, which gave a big impetus to the agriculture of Muscovy. In his view, this invention was one of the main reasons for the rise of the Moscow principality. Another major historian, referring to the hypothesis of P. P. Smirnov, noted:
"the theory is ingenious, but there is not enough evidence to support it."
Something else is interesting: Smirnov's mistake concerned precisely the Moscow principality, and precisely from the second quarter of the fourteenth century. Sometimes an incorrect hypothesis is as indicative as a brilliance, an approved postulate.
Another important branch of agriculture is animal husbandry. Here the situation was not so brilliant. Breeding small and large livestock is a side occupation of orphans and peasants of specific Rus'. There are many explanations for this. traditional food culture Eastern Slavs did not contribute to the livestock boom. Geography and climate also prevented the emergence of huge herds of sheep and cows in Suzdal or Novgorod. Colonization, which took place rapidly in the XIV-XV centuries. did not allow the peasants to be distracted from the uplift of virgin lands and wastelands.
The only place where the situation was slightly different was horse breeding. Stallions, herds of mares, riding and riding horses are often mentioned in the wills of the Grand Dukes of Moscow. Obviously, horse breeding was an important branch of the grand ducal economy. Needing cavalry squads, Vsevolodovich patronized horse breeding.
It is difficult to say how the Golden Horde influenced the agriculture of specific Rus'. The rise of the agricultural sector in the XIV-XV centuries. no doubt, but was this the merit of the khan's headquarters? In contrast to trade, where the role of Genghisides is obvious, in agriculture we will be careful not to say the same. The following constant is most probable - the agriculture of Northern Rus' of specific time indifferently perceived 250 years of foreign domination.
Let's sum up the final conclusion, how did the yoke affect the national economy? First, it is necessary to reject the assertion that the Horde initiated an all-Russian economic crisis 13th century The chronology of the crisis needs to be revisited. In certain territories of Kievan Rus: Kyiv, Polotsk, Pinsk, Southern Pereyaslavl, it began in the last quarter of the previous century. Secondly, the invasion and the yoke in a certain way influenced (stimulated) the handicraft production of medieval Rus'. In this case, the Tatars showed themselves in two guises. Batu directly caused significant damage to the high-tech craft industries of the ancient Russian city. Not wanting to sin against historical truth, we note that most likely the regression of jewelry, skillful ceramics, etc. began before 1237. These products, a priori, were largely export-oriented. Since the second half of the XII century, the intensity of the two main export arteries of Ancient Rus': shipping along the Dnieper and the Volga has been sharply reduced. The heirs of Batu in the second half of the XIII century. gave the grandchildren of Vsevolod the Big Nest a trump card for the manorization of the craft. This is precisely the main influence of the Golden Horde on the handicraft production of specific Rus'. Khans contributed to its agrarianization. At the same time, we note that not the Genghisides, but the Rurikovichs were the instigators of the process. Thirdly, the influence of the khans on trade is beneficial and positive. The Golden Horde allowed the export-import trade of Ancient Rus' to overcome the remission of the second half of the 12th - the first half of the 13th centuries. The powerful state formed by Batu in the Volga steppes gave an additional impetus to the international trade of Novgorod, Tver, Nizhny, Moscow. Fourth, the influence of the Golden Horde on agriculture is highly doubtful. If there was an impact of Sarai on the medieval oratay, then it was apical.
That is, in the XIV-XV centuries. Rus' was undergoing a transformation. It was turning from a trading city into an agricultural power, and in this (at least in the economic field) the influence of the Horde is minimal.
Ergo the influence of the Golden Horde on the development trend of the national economy of Russia in the XIV-XV centuries. slightly. Russia, without foreign pressure, chose the direction economic development. Movement towards agrarianization in every sense of the term.
The Tale of Bygone Years says that the Ilmen Slavs, taught by Gostomysl, turned to Rurik with the words: "our land is rich and plentiful, but there is no order." To ensure order in the East Russian Plain was the main thing that was charged to the king and his descendants. Therefore, the issues of court and legal proceedings, fiscal and financial policy, problems of local administration, etc. were especially important for the Rurikovichs. How was the situation in these areas of socio-economic life in 1242-1462?
In the middle of the last century famous historian and the prominent Eurasianist G. V. Vernadsky tried to assure the reader:
“In the Kiev period, the main areas of princely administration were judicial, military and financial. The prince was the supreme judge, his representatives collected taxes and court fees. After the Mongol invasion, the supreme control of all administrative functions was taken over by the king, the Mongol khan. The power of the Russian princes was sharply reduced. Now the princes had to obey the orders of the khan, and the administrative powers of the princes in their own states were severely limited; they could exercise power functions only within the narrow sphere of affairs left in their competence by the Mongols.
In the view of the historian, this is an innovation of the second third of the thirteenth century. And this is the fundamental mistake of the Eurasian historical Orientalism. The Rurikovichs of the Kyiv era were not autocratic rulers. Their power is significantly limited by the ancient Russian veche. By modernizing the historical process, one might say they are hired managers. The descendants of Rurik have a lot of powers, but they are not able to decide everything on their own. When the imperious and powerful Vsevolod III took it into his head to circumvent the right of the ladder to transfer the throne of Vladimir, in addition to the recalcitrant Konstantin, to Yuri Vsevolodovich, he was forced to convene a "zemstvo council", seek help and support, legitimize the "land" of his decision. The prince of the Suzdal land acts according to the same patterns as the weak-willed and powerless Yaroslav Osmysl thirty years before. And with the same result. Both Vsevolod Yurievich and Yaroslav Vladimirovich were denied support by the land. As a result, the self-willed Konstantin sat down in Vladimir on the Klyazma, and the rebellious Vladimir in Galich.
This is our first claim to the Eurasian perception of the influence and significance of the Golden Horde yoke in Rus'. The khans were not the first to cut the power of the princes of the house of Rurik. Before them, and with no less success, this was done by the Zemstvo Veche. But there was also a difference. The restriction of the powers of the Rurikovichs to the ancient Russian veche is functional, that is, historically evolutionary. It came about naturally. The taking away of power by the Genghisides from the Russian princes of the thirteenth and subsequent centuries is the result of a military defeat in 1237-1241.
The first thing Batu did was to deprive the Rurikovichs of the highest legal priority. The unfortunate story of Mikhail of Tverskoy and Yuri of Moscow convincingly proves that from now on all the main court cases were decided at the khan's headquarters. Although Genghisides was the head not only of the Volga-Aral steppes, but nominally of the East Russian plain, he clearly distinguished the Mongol proper from ethnic Russians. This was especially clearly manifested in the case of the Rostov princes and the descendants of Peter Ordynsky. The heir of the great conqueror, once converted to Orthodoxy, became a zealous neophyte, founded a monastery. His grandson began to sue the descendants of Boris of Rostov, who tried to pull off the monastery lands. Although half a century had passed since Peter Ordynsky and his legacy broke with the Horde, in the eyes of the Khan they still remained Mongols. This example can be continued more than once if desired. The general place of judicial practice of the Horde period became: all litigations between Russians and Mongols are subject to consideration in the Mongolian court. Having taken the highest jurisdiction for himself, the Khan did not pay attention to court cases of an ordinary nature. It is extremely difficult to say who conducted legal proceedings in Kievan Rus. The Long and Brief Truths that have come down to us allowed N. P. Pavlov-Silvansky to say that they were compiled, in the last resort, by the Truth of the Yaroslavovichs, the first lawsuit of national jurisdiction, as a form of defense of the Rurikovich from the encroachments of the land. There are serious doubts that the prince and his tiun always knitted and decided court cases in Kievan Rus. Most likely, the consortial veche structures of the Old Russian state had great independence in this area. Another thing is specific Rus'. From the second half of the XIII century. prince chief judge by the precedents of simple jurisdiction. And this is the merit of Khan. Having become the supreme judge in matters of national importance, he projected a model in space. We again cannot agree with the verdict of G. V. Vernadsky: "judicial practice turned out to be the least affected by the Mongol rule." The changes are significant and massive. Khan expands the judicial powers of the Russian princes.
More debatable is the question: borrowing by Russia of the norms and provisions of the criminal and procedural law of Mongolia. Supporters of the intervention of Tatar customs in the Russian society of the specific period usually pay attention to two phenomena that arose in the second half of the 13th century. Institute of the death penalty and torture as a form of judicial investigation. Even such an opponent of the assimilation character of Russian law as M.F. Vladimirov-Budansky agreed that this was a gift from the Golden Horde. It does not seem to us that the fault of the Genghisides has been proven. The death penalty and torture arise in the XIII-XIV centuries. in northeastern Rus'. The Pskov loan letter testifies to the same for North-Western Rus'. Meanwhile, none of the scientists believe that the intervention of the Golden Horde in the XIV-XV centuries. went so far west. Pskov and Novgorod are free from Horde influence. Historians of law see in the death penalty of the Pskov Loan Charter the result of the influence not of the East, but of the West:
"Thanks to my geographic location and brisk trade with Western cities, Novgorod and Pskov were much more open to Western influences than Moscow. In fact, the punishment system of England, France and Germany in the late Middle Ages and the beginning of the New Era was as severe, or even more severe, than Mongolian criminal law. Both the death penalty and corporal punishment were imposed for many crimes. In Germany, beheading and hanging were common forms of punishment for a criminal.
The above quote allows you to take a different look at the barbarization of the criminal and procedural code of the late Middle Ages. If the same forms of punishment and interrogation occur at the same time in such different civilizations Western Europe and Central Asia, this means only one thing: the barbarization of the process is the command of the spirit of the times. That is, the Sudebnik of 1497, where the deprivation of life was provided for every led dashing person at the first suspicion, was not influenced by the Golden Horde. Dvinskaya letter of grandfather Ivan III, requiring to chop off heads at the third relapse is a response to a historical request of the XIV-XV centuries.
So, the yoke significantly influenced the jurisdiction of Rus'. It was the khans who made the princes sovereign judges, with all the ensuing consequences.
In the IX-X centuries. Helg, Ingvar, Helga established and successfully reformed the polyudye system. It is difficult to consider this institution as a classical tax. But, one cannot doubt its all-Russian character. Payments from all regions of the East Russian Plain continued successfully under the grandson and great-grandson of St. Olga. It is unlikely that the Yaroslavovichi could achieve the full amount of fees. It is unbelievable that this was on the shoulder of Svyatopolk II. It is clear that after the death of Mstislav the Great, the national tax sunk into oblivion. In the era of political fragmentation, the veche successfully attacked the prince's fiscal rights not only in Veliky Novgorod. Without much stretch, we can say that from the second third of the XII century. there was a reorientation of the fiscus from the Ruriks to the veche. In the second third of the XIII century. the khans dealt an even stronger blow to the tax rights of the Russian princes. Until 1327, the princes were de facto deprived of the right to collect taxes. They were replaced by the Basques. The situation changed drastically in the second third of the 14th century. The cunning Kalita persuaded the simple-hearted Uzbek to abolish the Baskaks. The rebellion of Tver and Alexander Mikhailovich contributed to this decision of the khan. From the beginning of the 30s of the XIV century. all tax revenues are in the hands of the great and appanage princes. The Uzbek abolished the Baskaks, but not the tribute collection system. Kalita and his successors soon became convinced that the organization created by Berke's efforts could be very beneficial for the Vsevolodovichs. After paying a share of the tribute due for each darkness, all that remained was sent by the Rurikovichs to their own treasury. The main winning side was Grand Duke Vladimirsky. In all other principalities, there are far fewer topics. And since from 1327 to 1462, with a three-year exception of 1359-1362, he was also the Prince of Moscow, a stream of preferences went to this principality. Dmitry Donskoy and Tamerlane finally made the dominion of the Golden Horde ephemeral. The fact that the two Basils did not throw off the yoke is explained not by the strength of the state of Batu Khan, but by the peculiarities of Moscow history in the first eighty years of the 15th century.
Having become almost autocratic in their principalities, the Danilovichi, Yaroslavovichi, and princes of Ryazan left intact the foundations of the Mongolian administrative system and the taxation system. As before, tribute is the main source of state income, the plow is the main unit of direct taxation. Tamga finally took the form of a customs duty on imported goods. In addition to it, there were also local customs duties, the so-called myt. Fiscal history of the XIV-XV centuries. shows us the increase and expansion of collections of various kinds. Undoubtedly, this is the legacy of the Golden Horde. Russian princes in the fourteenth century could collect for the khans, and from the next century on, basically put in their pocket: tethered (fee for tying cattle); horn, or tax on horns, a spot levied for branding horses, etc. .
So, the fiscal, and hence the financial capabilities of the Rurikids of specific Rus' increased a hundredfold. The merit of the Golden Horde in this is undeniable. But, can this be considered an influence, an influence of the Horde on the social and economic life of medieval Rus'? We believe that influenza suggests borrowing. Mostly voluntary, sometimes semi-voluntary. Was there a voluntary, or at least semi-voluntary borrowing by Northern Russia of the second half of the 13th century. Golden Horde system of taxation? The facts prove otherwise. Cities rebelled and fronted. The Rurikovichs were in opposition to the yoke regime for a long time. De facto fisk adopted in Rus' in the second half of the XIII - the first half of the XV centuries. was not borrowed, but imposed on the country by the winner. This is not an influence, but a specific change of the subject by the object in their own selfish interests. Subsequently, the strengths of the subject became convinced of the effectiveness of the new system, and after the change political situation left her intact. But no more. Initially, the taxation of specific Rus' was not borrowed by the latter, but was introduced by force by the Golden Horde.
The khans, perhaps unwillingly, strengthened the princely power. The Rurikovichs of the Horde pores received in the sphere of legal proceedings and fiscus powers unthinkable to the Monomakhoviches and Olgovichs of the Kyiv era. To the credit of the heirs of Rurik, they quickly got their bearings in the new situation. It was a fundamental innovation requiring numerous and very serious advances. Having become supreme judges for non-state crimes, of which there are 9 out of 10 in any society, the Vsevolodovichs soon created a system of justice. Most crimes and cases were resolved by special officials of the prince, the so-called governors and volosts. Each county town had its own governor. In every rural area there is a volost. They could not knit and solve without an apparatus. Therefore, there are princely tiuns and speakers. Thus, in the second half of the 13th-14th centuries, something arose that had never been seen before in Rus' - the bureaucracy. New layer need to be fed. Since it is traditionally difficult in Russia with specie, the princes came up with the institution of feeding. The first mentions of feeders date back to Kievan Rus. But then it's an episode. Mass phenomenon becomes from the fourteenth century. Volostites and governors are not only a judge. The princes also grant them administrative powers.
Consequently, the khans of the Golden Horde, having introduced in Russia new system taxation and bestowing significant judicial powers on the princes, they became the midwives of the domestic bureaucracy. Just as in the case of the system of fiscal and legal proceedings, this innovation cannot be called the Golden Horde influenza. The governors and volostors are a derivative of the fiscal and judicial functions, which were not borrowed, but imposed on Rus' by the Golden Horde.
Big changes in the XIV-XV centuries. occurred in the military field. First of all, we are interested in innovations of a qualitative order. Therefore, we ignore such significant innovations of the XIV-XV centuries as a new order of staffing the armed forces. In the Kievan era, the army of Ancient Rus' consisted of two components: the princely squad, the city militia. 14th century changed the system. Largely under the influence of the Mongol experience, Rus' moved to universal military service. Smerdy not participating in the wars of the 9th-12th centuries, now a significant part of the recruit contingent. The city militia, without which the battles of previous years are inconceivable, are gradually losing their former combat effectiveness. The abolition of the position of the thousandth by Dmitry Donskoy is clear and harsh evidence of this. Undoubtedly, this is an important innovation, but it could hardly have somehow influenced the trend of Russia's historical development.
What really changed Russian history was hidden in another "militarist innovation" of the fourteenth century. The nature of the princely squad has changed. In the Kiev period, the squad was built: on the principle of free partnership. The power of the prince was supported by his popularity among the squad, his organizational skills. Youths, children, boyars followed him as long as they wanted to. The new appears at the end of the 12th - the first third of the 13th centuries. In the Old Russian state, a princely court arises. During the Mongol period, it became the cornerstone of the organization of the Russian armed forces. The creation of the "yard" had a conceptual meaning. On the one hand, the combatants ceased to be comrades of the prince; henceforth they are his servants. On the other hand, apparently, it was from the “court” that the defining element of the state-political structure of Northern Rus' of the XIV-XV centuries budded. - the so-called patrimonial monarchy. In this regard, it is extremely important to find out what role the Mongols played in the establishment of the court? Let us turn again to the heritage of GV Vernadsky. The largest Eurasianist, whom opponents reproached for exaggerating the role and significance of the Mongols in Russian history, wrote:
"at the same time, although not as a result of direct Mongol pressure, the nature of the princely squad changed."
That is, even the founder of historical Eurasianism denied the role of the heirs of Genghis Khan in the creation of the "court".
In the XIV-XV centuries. Significant changes took place in the sphere of state-administrative management of Northern Rus'. First, there was the so-called patrimonial monarchy. Secondly, the XIV century. - the start of the domestic bureaucracy. Thirdly, the role of the prince as a judge and publican increased qualitatively. Has the yoke affected these innovations? Is it possible to say that the khans are the ancestors of governors and volostors, worthy boyars, feeding? With great care. The patrimonial nature of the state, so clearly observed in the XIV-XV centuries. was formed without Horde intervention. Even G.V. Vernadsky denied the influence of the Horde on the initiator of patrimonial power - the “princely court”. Without having an impact on the "princely court", the Chingizids fully recouped in the field of jurisprudence and fiscal taxation. The prince, forced to share with the city veche the functions of a judge and tax collector in the Kiev period of national history, in the second quarter of the 14th century. otter from these processes the ancient Russian city. In the future, the Golden Horde khans underwent the same fate. By the beginning of the XV century. the great princes of appanage Rus' are sovereign judges and tax collectors. Of course, they command these functions to abbots and boyars, but they do it of their own free will, with every right to restore immunity. Such development is the merit of the great khans. They initiated the process. Therefore, it is impossible to talk about the influence of the Golden Horde on the judicial and fiscal system of specific Rus'. Influence is voluntary borrowing. In our case, the winner destroyed one form of judiciary and tax administration. And, by the right of the strong, in a voluntaristic way he created another. A little later, princely power was incorporated into it. After some time, she mastered the phenomenon. In any case, this is not a borrowing of Horde samples by specific Russia. The essence of the governor, the volost is initially secondary. It occurs as a derivative of two functions. On the one hand, the transformation of the state: instead of the consortium forms of public power of Kievan Rus, a dominant type is established, where everything is based on the imperative intention of the prince. The role of Genghisides in strengthening the imperative component of the power of the Rurikovichs is decisive. That is, the Golden Horde in the second half of the XIII century. created this form of administrative control of the northeast of the East Russian Plain. In the XIV century Vsevolodovichi successfully privatized the latter. On the other hand, the bureaucracy of the XIV century. - a direct consequence of the new understanding state structure. Instead of the associative statuary type, since the time of Kalita and Mikhail Alexandrovich, a patrimonial monarchy has arisen. The princely domain is expanding to the maximum, which requires its own ministerials. In this trend, the role of the Golden Horde is minimal. Even the Eurasianists admit that the “courtyard”, the foundation of the foundations of the patrimonial form of the state, arose outside the Mongolian patterns.
Ergo khans transformed the administrative model of the Old Russian state. The Golden Horde, apparently, had no effect on evolution state forms Northern Rus' from the associative type of the Kyiv period to the patrimonial monarchy of the XIV century.
That is, it is impossible to detect traces of borrowing the Golden Horde administrative methods and state forms. It is necessary to talk not about the influence of the khans on the administrative management of Northern Rus' in the second half of the 13th - the first half of the 15th centuries, but about the voluntaristic introduction of a fundamentally new administrative model by Batu-Tokhta.
How did the Horde influence the social history and political life of Northern Rus' in the second half of the 13th - first half of the 15th centuries? In the first century of Horde domination in Rus', perhaps the greatest social shift in all the centuries of existence took place. The khans quickly showed their true colors. After twelve years of patriarchal rule, Burke came to power in Sarai. The new khan brought new course. The younger brother Batu began to tighten the regime, first of all, to increase the output of the Horde. Most likely, the growth was multiple. Rus' in the middle of the XIII century. responded to Berke's innovation with an increase in resistance, anti-Horde sentiments. The city became the leader of the opposition. His displeasure is not accidental. Almost free from taxes in the XII - the first third of the XIII centuries. urban entities are forced to bear the main burden of exit. The apogee of resistance came in 1262. In that year, most of the cities of Northern Rus' rebelled against Berke. De facto, the uprising ended in nothing. The country managed to throw off the yoke 218 years after 1262. Alexander Nevsky was able to convince the khan not to send a punitive expedition to the north of the East Russian Plain. But, this is only one side of the coin. Another for the ancient Russian city fell tails. In the last third of the XIII century. Genghisides and Rurikovichs came to grips with the cities of Northern Rus'. By joint efforts, the Mongols and the princes prevented the further spread of urban unrest. By the middle of the fourteenth century, the Rurikovichs were finally able to take control of the urban community. The power and importance of the veche is sharply reduced, from that moment it can no longer be considered as an element of control. Veche did not disappear in the truest sense of the word. But, from now on, it is collected in ultra-supra-major circumstances. Tokhtamysh or a fire in 1547 is needed for a veche to be convened on Red Square. The fall of the city assembly at the beginning of the XIV century. the end of the social, and hence political history Ancient Rus'. Its trend: democratic social and political life, striving for internal consensus and solidarity, understanding of the common historical destiny, the consortial nature of corporate entities, etc., has come to an end.
History, like nature, does not tolerate emptiness. The city and the veche were replaced by the prince and the manor. XIV-XV centuries time of rapid development of private ownership of land. Perhaps the result of the urban crisis of the XIII century. May be a derivative of the Golden Horde yoke. After 1242, the khans deprived the Vsevolodoviches of the favorite toy of the Rurikovichs of Kievan Rus - politics. Unlike their ancestors, the Zalesky princes of the second half of the 13th - 14th centuries. forced to deal more with the economy than with politics. In the end, this gave the result:
“In Muscovy, the Grand Duke's possessions have become the main basis of both economic power and the administration of the Grand Duke. Landed estates were not only one of the main sources of his income, but also became the core of his possessions in the administrative sense.
The example of the Danilovichs, Yaroslavovichs, Andreevichs was followed by the boyars of Northern Rus'.
XIV-XV centuries the era of a steady increase in boyar land ownership. G. V. Vernadsky assures that:
"during the Mongol period, the boyars had more influence on state affairs than before."
True, as evidence, he cites the history of the Galician boyars. Having quarreled with the last descendant of Izyaslav Mstislavovich - Yuri II, the Galician boyars destroyed Chervonnaya Rus. But, the Galician boyars are always a special article, and the boyars of the Suzdal land, neither under Dolgoruky, nor under Bogolyubsky, nor under Kalita, did not have such ambitions.
The same scholar perceptively remarks:
“despite all their influence on the course of state affairs and the growth of their own land holdings, the Moscow boyars failed to accurately determine their political rights during the Mongol period.”
Trying to answer the question why this happened, the academician's son gives the following reasons: firstly, Mongol rule; secondly, the rejection of the aristocratic government of the northeastern city; thirdly, the possibility of commanding the boyars of specific Rus'.
It is not entirely clear how the khans curbed the self-will of the medieval Russian boyars? It is absolutely not clear why they should do this? Since the time of the mother, Guyuk's widow, the Mongols have taken the course: "divide and rule." A living example of this is the case of the thousand Velyaminov. There is no answer to the question why the command of the Galician boyars did not weaken the elite of Chervonnaya Rus, and the right of the Moscow boyars to leave prevented them from talking on an equal footing with Proud and Red? What are the specifics of the Suzdal land, why Novgorod accepted oligarchic control, Galich bowed to the local aristocracy, and Suzdal and Rostov treated the local boyars with such prejudice.
In our opinion, of the three reasons cited by GV Vernadsky, only one is effective. The prejudice of the northeastern city against the boyars. To understand the roots of the phenomenon, it is necessary to remember how this layer was recruited. The boyars of Ancient Rus' are the leaders of the urban community, the patriciate. In the middle of the XIII century. they betrayed their former alliance with the city. In the second half of the same century, they finally went over to the side of the Rurikovichs, did not support, energetically helped Alexander Nevsky, to put out the uprising in 1262. The Zalesky boyars of the XIV-XV centuries. they are the heirs and successors of the traitors of 1262. Medieval artisans have a good memory. They perfectly understood to whom Rostov the Great, Suzdal and Pereyaslavl Zalessky owed their humiliation. On the other hand, the boyars, having lagged behind the city and retiring to the Vsevolodoviches, realized: in the event of a collapse, they would be executed twice - once as enemies; the other as renegades. This prospect forced them to remain loyal to the Rurikovichs. In the second half of the XIII - the first half of the XIV centuries. different branches of the genus Vsevolod the Big Nest. Let us recall the story of Andrei Gorodetsky and Semyon Tonilovich. When Kalita made the predominance of the city on the Moskva River irresistible, they forcefully went over to the side of the Moscow princes. Another story confirms this: Vasily I and the Nizhny Novgorod boyar Rumyants.
V. O. Klyuchevsky called Moscow Rus' a draft state, where all segments of the population must serve the state in one way or another. Rus' made its first steps in this direction in the second half of the 13th century. During the Kievan period, the inhabitants major cities did not pay taxes; formed their own militia, in which they served as free citizens, and not as drafted soldiers. After 1242 everything changed. Universal, direct taxation and military duty transformed the status of the urban class. The strong ones were the first to flee from the sinking ship of the ancient Russian city. In the second half of the XIII century. the city patriciate (boyars) left the community. At the end of the XIII - XIV centuries, another privileged group followed their example - the top merchants. Mengu-Timur breathed new life into the foreign trade of medieval Rus'. Merchants again began to fully use the advantages of the transit position of the East Russian Plain. In contrast to Novgorod, where merchants were under discounter boyars; the boyars of northeastern Rus' did not practice the discount. As a result, in the second half of the fourteenth century in Moscow, Tver, Nizhny Novgorod a powerful merchant stratum arose. In the capital city, it was divided into three groups: guests, the richest wholesalers; living room hundred, a corporation of less wealthy guests; and the Cloth Hundred, a corporation of clothiers. Donskoy and the heirs were able to quickly tie the living room and cloth hundreds, the guests themselves, to the central government. For the latter, good relations with the prince - governor, and then the successor of the Horde king, are much more important than consensus with artisans and black people. Having finally divided the city community, Vsevolodovichi, using the principle: divide et impero, put it under control. Ivan IV introduced material compensation for crimes against the urban population. The fine for dishonoring a guest was 50 rubles; city dweller 5 rubles; and for the dishonor of the "townsman" a ruble was enough. It is impossible to talk about a consortium, about the common historical fate of a guest and a black man who costs fifty times less.
The social evolution of the rural population followed the same patterns. The Mongolian system of taxation and conscription was its starting point. The logical conclusions were soon drawn by the Vsevolodovichs. Recall that during the Kiev period, the rural population was usually not subject to conscription into the army. Small landowners (people and natives) were not subject to direct taxes either. Now everyone is dead. People and peasants, orphans all pay yasak and can be called up. Of course, there are differences in various categories. Monastic peasants do not bear the state tax. But, it is not essential. The whitewashing of the monastery volosts is the result of the subjective will of the khan, and not the iron norm of the law. The immune rights of some secular estates, by the way, are not so much, from the XIV-XV centuries. only 19 letters came - the result of the desire of the prince, and nothing more. That is, in potency, the entire rural population of northeastern Rus' is draft.
So in social sphere and the political life of northeastern Rus' in the second half of the 13th - the first half of the 15th centuries. there have been a number of significant upheavals. Firstly, the veche disappeared as an amateur body political power. Secondly, the urban patriciate (boyars) and the top merchants went over to the side of the princely power. Thirdly, deformed social structure urban community. Instead of the consortium form of Ancient Rus', the Suzdal land receives a division into white and black townspeople. Fourthly, the city as a political force ceased to exist by the beginning of the fourteenth century. Fifthly, the northeastern boyars did not follow the path of their ancient Russian counterparts or the boyar class of southwestern and northwestern Rus'. They did not become prince's frondeurs, but loyal allies and junior partners. Sixthly, the common people, that is, the majority of townspeople and rural dwellers, are henceforth taxpayers.
The question is, what role did the Golden Horde play in all these changes? Is it possible to explain the defeat of the veche in the second half of the 13th century. - Influence of the Horde experience? Definitely not. The cities of the thirteenth century did not borrow the practice of the Horde cities. Moreover, they fiercely resisted such a fate. Can it be argued that the khans had a hand in the fate of the city council? Undoubtedly. It is problematic that without the help of the Genghisides, the Vsevolodovichi would have been able to defeat the cities of the Zalesky land. That is, again we are dealing not with influence, but with the influence of the Horde on Russian history. Is the declaration correct: the Horde influenced the reorientation of the political sympathies of the urban boyars? With big reservations. Influence is voluntary or semi-voluntary borrowing. Before the urban patriciate of Northern Rus' in the second half of the XIII century. a dilemma arose: to lead the resistance, and that, probably, again experience the horrors of Kozelsk in 1238 and Kyiv in 1240; or go to the side of the strong. The boyars chose the latter. Voluntariness or semi-voluntariness of this step is approved with huge tolerances. The division of the urban estate in the 14th century was mainly the merit of the Vsevolodoviches, and not the Genghisides. This is a direct consequence of the defeat of the ancient Russian city in the second half of the previous century. It is unlikely that the Khan was directly interested in such know-how. The Old Russian city in the north-east of the East Russian Plain fell as a socio-political phenomenon by the beginning of the 14th century. the natural result of the actions of the khans of the Golden Horde and the princes of the Grand Duchy of Vladimir. The fact that the boyars of the Zalesky land became a faithful "vassal" of the house of Rurik also has little to do with the activities of the Golden Family. And, finally, the hardship of the common population is the result of the Golden Horde carried out by the khans in 1255-1257. tax reform.
That is, of the six socio-political shifts of 1242-1462. Barn had direct or indirect involvement by four. The fall of the veche, the reorientation of the political preferences of the northeastern boyars, the liquidation of the ancient Russian city and the drudgery of the common population of specific Rus'. In all these cases, it is impossible to speak of influenza, that is, the borrowing of specific Rus' experience of the Horde.
Ergo, the influence of the Golden Horde on the social and political life Rus' 1242-1462 There is an obvious impact, that is, direct intervention and change in national history by the triumphant winners in the second half of the 13th - first half of the 15th centuries.
Which of the historians came closest to solving the historical puzzle? S. M. Solovyov with his idea of the inviolability of the trend of national history, that neither the Normans nor the Mongols could really influence the historical course of Russia? B. D. Grekov with the statement about the exceptional negativity of the Horde experience for Rus', that our ancestors heroically overcame and rejected the Horde experience, that the only thing that the Golden Horde could achieve was to slow down the development of Russia? Or G. V. Vernadsky, who put forward the concept of a single historical trend of the Tatars and Northern Rus' from the second half of the 13th century?
In order to fully answer this question, it is necessary to find out how S. M. Solovyov, B. D. Grekov and G. V. Vernadsky perceived the idea of historical continuity. For S. M. Solovyov, Kievan Rus and Muscovite Rus are two heterogeneous phenomena. But, despite the heterogeneity, they have one essence. Already at the end of the existence of the Old Russian state, the vectors of the Muscovite kingdom were visible. That is, the author of the fundamental history of Russia denies historical gaps. For him, history is always an evolutionary reshaping. Kievan Rus was evolutionarily reformatted into Moscow, the latter in Russian empire. B. D. Grekov, although he was the founder of historical materialism in Russian medieval studies, was skeptical about the possibility of a historical break. The main Eurasian historian, on the contrary, made this idea the alpha and omega of his concept. Between Muscovite and Kievan Rus lies an unbridgeable abyss. Since the Muscovite kingdom came out of the Golden Horde, and not from the Old Russian state, Kievan Rus is rather an aunt than a mother of Muscovite Rus. Northern part of the East Russian Plain in 1242-1462 a component of the Golden Horde, which decisively broke with its former history.
Whose point of view is more preferable: Grekov and Solovyov, who believe that Kievan and Moscow (specific) Rus had two hypostases, but one essence; or Vernadsky, who fully explored the Kiev and Moscow period of national history? What place in these schemes can be put specific Rus'?
First, undoubtedly, the trend of the Kyiv and Moscow segments is different. S. M. Solovyov is sure that it consists in the transition from the beginning of the tribal to the state. Although there is a serious reason for this concept, its contemporaries have already subjected it to the most severe criticism. Kievan Rus is a country of consortia, consensus, pluralistic form of government. Despite all the tricks, the Rurikoviches, even a branch of Yuri Dolgoruky, could not offer a life alternative. It is unlikely that some futurologist of the late XII century. could assume that in two and a half centuries one of them (Rurikovich) would be called the king, and all the rest serfs, that is, slaves. There were no prerequisites for this in Ancient Rus'.
Without a doubt, between the message IX-XII centuries. and the message of the end of the 15th century - a huge distance. The question is, what role did the second half of the 13th - the first half of the 15th centuries play in this, and to what extent is the heterogeneity of the aspirations of the twelfth and fifteenth centuries natural and logical?
Let us recall once again what innovations came to Rus' after 1242. In the economic sphere, the most obvious and important progress was the agrarianization of handicrafts. In the field of administration, the dominion of the Golden Horde brought universal military service and direct taxation. The khans became the godfathers of a significant increase in the judicial powers of the northern Russian princes. They, volens nolens, also stood at the origins of the birth of the domestic bureaucracy. The Horde also played a significant role in changing the social and political relations in Rus' in the second half of the 13th - the first half of the 15th centuries. The fall of the veche, Rurikophilia of the northeastern boyars, draft attachment common people specific Rus', the disappearance of the ancient Russian city as a phenomenon of socio-political life, representatives of the Golden Family are involved in all this.
The history of specific Rus' is moving in a strictly defined direction. Her sign is a departure from the horizontal system of succession to the throne. Instead of the legitimate-legal principle of the Old Russian state, the Rurikovichs of the fourteenth century put forward a different maxim: the strong are lawful. Unlike Monomakh, Yuri of Moscow and the second prince of Tver with the name Mikhail no longer need the equivalents of the abbot of the Vydubitsky monastery. Having become patrimonial princes, they adopted the thinking of the princes-owners, breaking with the mentality of the princes-politicians of Kievan Rus. In this capacity, they want to be autocratic, in every possible way pursuing and limiting the power of the younger representatives of the dynasties Daniil Alexandrovich, Yaroslav Yaroslavovich, Andrei Alexandrovich. Simeon the Proud, Mikhail II of Tverskoy, Dmitry Suzdalsky, Oleg Ryazansky demand disrespect and submission from their younger relatives. It (desires of submission) transforms the nature of public power. The dominant type comes to the place of the consortium of Ancient Rus'. From now on, everything is decided not by establishing a consensus, but by pluralism of opinions. Everything determines the material possibilities of a descendant of Rurik, his order.
Undoubtedly, S. M. Soloviev, and B. D. Grekov are wrong - this is a break with the trend of Kievan Rus. Northern Rus' 1242-1462 demonstrates a different intention than the East Russian Plain of 882-1242. Is this gap natural? Did it follow, at least, from the history of northeastern Rus' of the Kievan period?
The future Moscow kingdom is a fragment of the Old Russian state. When Nevruy “destroyed” Andrew I, it became clear that the descendants of Vsevolod the Big Nest would have to be satisfied with the three territories of Kievan Rus. The fatherland of Yuri Dolgoruky and his sons, the legacy of Yaroslav Svyatoslavovich and the Novgorod land. These are different regions and their development in 882-1242. went differently. Suzdal Rus from the second half of the 12th century. the most powerful principality of the East Russian Plain. Ryazan, Murom, who went to Yaroslav Svyatoslavovich, are among the weakest. Novgorod is a special article of ancient Russian history, even the boyars of Chervonnaya Rus could not boast of the successes that fell to the lot of the Novgorod gentlemen.
If we assume that the trend of the socio-political development of Northern Rus' in the second half of the XIII - the first half of the XV centuries. Naturally, there should be no discord in the evolution of the Zalesky land, the Ryazan principality and the Lord of Veliky Novgorod. And there, and there, and there you can see: the manorization of handicraft production; belittling the role and importance of the veche; ruricophilia boyars; an increase in the powers of the prince in the field of legal proceedings, administrative management, and taxation; the collapse of the phenomenon of the ancient Russian city.
Does the history of Veliky Novgorod demonstrate this? Only the first point is the crisis of urban crafts in the second half of the 13th century. Everything else is not inherent in Novgorod. The city was able to prevent even the new sacred cow of the Vsevolodovichs from entering its pasture. He put a barrier to the Grand Duke in the affairs of the city court, administrative management and the collection of fiscus. That is, Novgorod during the Horde period develops differently. He was able to remain faithful to ancient Russian traditions, to himself of the twelfth century.
Ryazan has a different story. It goes in the same direction as the Moscow and Tver principalities. But, Oleg Ivanovich's parish is godlessly late in its development. If Tver and Suzdal are a generation behind Moscow, then Ryazan is two.
That is, these innovations: belittling the role and importance of veche; ruricophilia boyars; an increase in the powers of the prince in the field of legal proceedings, administrative management, and taxation; the collapse of the phenomenon of the ancient Russian city is not natural for the entire north of the East Russian Plain.
How can one explain the different course of Novgorod and the lag of Ryazan? In our opinion, the main reason for the different discourses in Moscow, Ryazan and Novgorod is geography. From the city on Ilmen to the Horde border, more than one hundred kilometers. To attack Moscow suddenly, as Tokhtamysh showed, the Tatars could only in one case, if the Ryazan and Suzdal princes betray the cause of Russian unity, try on the guise of Svyatopolk the Accursed. Ryazan is another matter for her, the Horde outside the outskirts. The remoteness of Novgorod weakened it from the devastating raids of the Tatar cavalry. The geography of Moscow plus Ivan Kalita allowed the principality in the forty years of the fourteenth century: to give birth and raise two generations, to whose nerves the impressions of childhood did not instill the unaccountable horror of fathers and grandfathers before the Tatar: they went to Kulikovo field. Ryazan could not boast of either the first - ignorance of the horrors of the Tatar siege and assault, or the second - forty years of a quiet life, when those who are no longer afraid of the Horde grow up.
That is, the weakness of the Tatar press helped Novgorod to remain faithful to the precepts of Ancient Rus'. Its huge cargo did not give the Ryazan principality a chance to compete on equal terms with the land of Yuri Dolgoruky. If, we add to this, traced back to the XII century. the desire of the princes of Suzdal Rus' for autocracy, then the socio-political alignment of the XIV-XV centuries. will become completely clear.
So now you can answer main question. Moscow kingdom and Old Russian state two phenomena with different essences and hypostases. Rus' specific is only half. Northern Rus' in the second half of the XIII - the first half of the XV centuries. consists of two irreducible parts. On the one hand, the Zaleska land is the incubator of the future state of Ivan IV. On the other hand, the northwest of the East Russian Plain has remained faithful to the traditions of the past all these 220 years. We do not consider the gap between Moscow and Novgorod the result of the natural course of things. At the same time, we deny the absolute artificiality of the new situation that developed in the Moscow principality in the second third of the 14th century.
Movement from democracy IX-XII centuries. to the autocracy of the XVI-XX centuries, in the XIII-XV centuries. had two engines. One was created by the Golden Horde. Whether by chance, on purpose, but the khans, having transformed in the second third of the XIII century. associative-confederal Ancient Rus' into a unitary state, where there is a recognized ruler by all - the Tatar king; failing to preserve the southern principalities in the second twenty-five years of the next century; but, having strengthened the north of the East Russian Plain; weakened towards the end of the 14th century. they passed on the art, and, more importantly, the material opportunities they created to the descendants of Vsevolod Vladimirsky and Yaroslav Ryazansky. By the will of fate, the princes of the city on the Moscow River turned out to be the most successful and skillful students. The Rurikovichs created another engine on their own. Lost in the second half of the XIII century. most of their political power, they transformed themselves into patrimonial princes. In the XIV-XV centuries Zalesky Vsevolodovichi and Oksky Yaroslavovichi successfully spread this new feeling beyond the boundaries of the domain proper. Consequently, Genghisides are only cousins of the tsars of the Daniil Alexandrovich dynasty and the emperors of the Romanov family.
Neither Solovyov, nor Grekov, nor Vernadsky were able to fully solve the historical puzzle that took shape in 1242-1462. The Horde has played its role, and it is by no means the role of an extra in national history. For those two and a half hundred years that the Mongols ruled in Rus', they did not always and not in everything hinder and hinder the forward movement of the Russian people. Specific Rus' is only de jure part of the Golden Horde. De facto Novgorod does not accept and rejects the experience of the Horde. The more accommodating Zalesky land is not a miserable copier of the Horde's experience. The most important intention of its socio-economic and socio-political development - the patrimonial monarchy is in no way connected with the history of the state of Batu Khan. And even where the Horde hand can be traced, it is impossible to talk about the influence of the Jochid country. The princes who succeeded Vsevolod III and Ingvar of Ryazan had no way out. They did not voluntarily borrow (and without this there can be no influence of one on the other) military service, direct, universal taxation, etc. The kings of Rus', Berke and Uzbek, indicated: "so be it."
Ergo Horde did not influence Rus'. All qualitative innovations, one way or another, are connected with it: derogation of the role and importance of the veche; ruricophilia boyars; an increase in the powers of the prince in the field of legal proceedings, administrative management, and taxation; the collapse of the phenomenon of the ancient Russian city were, in general, forcibly introduced by the khans. The descendants of Jochi stopped halfway. When at the end of the XIV - the first half of the XV centuries. a banner fell from their weakened hands, it was successfully picked up by Vasily Dmitrievich, Vasily Vasilyevich, and Ivan Vasilyevich. They were able to do what the Golden Horde Khan failed to do - to conquer the northwestern part of Northern Rus'. (Under conquest should be understood the violent demolition of one trend of social development inherent in Novgorod and Pskov in the 14th-15th centuries, and the equally violent introduction of another). So, the Horde did not influence, but in an imperative-forceful way influenced community development specific Rus'.
Bibliographic list
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Feudal fragmentation of Rus' (XII-XIII centuries). civilizational methods of development.
Feudal fragmentation- a period in the history of feudalism, when the state was divided into separate independent feudal estates, and the power of the supreme rulers sharply weakened.
From the middle of XII, around 1132 (the death of Mstislav the Great), the state gradually broke up into separate principalities, subsequently the unity of Rus' began to weaken.
Kievan Rus did not develop any definite order in the distribution of volosts among the princes.
Prerequisites for fragmentation
The instability of hereditary relationships
The growth of the feudal aristocracy in the field
The need for troops and apparatus of suppression
The decline of Kyiv and the rise of other cities
Reasons for fragmentation
The main force in crushing was the boyars. Based on his power, the local princes managed to establish their power in every land. However, later between the strong boyars and the local princes, contradictions and a struggle for power arose.
Legacy Ladder - Instability
Princely strife
The political fragmentation of Kievan Rus led to the formation of about 12-15 separate principalities:
Kiev, Chernigov, Pereyaslav, Murom Galician, Vladimir-Volyn, Polotsk, Novgorod, Pskov, Turovo-Pinsk, Tmutarakan, Ryazan, Rostov-Suzdal, Smolensk.
Each land is ruled by a branch of Rurikovich. The sons of the prince and the boyars manage the local destinies. Civil strife both on the "land" and on the "specific" plots.
Consequences of Fragmentation
The consequences of fragmentation are ambiguous; on the one hand, this is a negative process that brings with it:
Internecine wars
A clear weakening of the overall military potential, embracing foreign conquest
Increasing fragmentation of princely possessions
The small principalities were weakening, which gave rise to ironic sayings among contemporaries: “In Rostov Land, there is a prince in every village.” On the other hand, the beginning of fragmentation is characterized by the growth of cities, the flourishing of Russian culture in all its manifestations.
Tatar-Mongolian aggressive campaigns and establishing a yoke in Rus'.
In 1206, the Mongol empire was formed, headed by Temuchin (Genghis Khan). The Mongols defeated Primorye, Northern China, Central Asia, Transcaucasia, attacked the Polovtsians. Russian princes came to the aid of the Polovtsy (Kiev, Chernigov, Volyn, etc.), but in 1223 they were defeated on Kalka due to inconsistency in actions.
In 1236 the Mongols conquered the Volga Bulgaria, and in 1237, led by Batu, invaded Rus'. They ruined the Ryazan and Vladimir lands, in 1238 they defeated them on the river. The city of Yuri Vladimirsky, he himself died. In 1239, the second wave of invasion began. Chernigov, Kyiv, Galich fell. Batu went to Europe, from where he returned in 1242.
The reasons for the defeat of Rus' were its fragmentation, the numerical superiority of the close-knit and mobile army of the Mongols, its skillful tactics, and the absence of stone fortresses in Rus'.
The yoke of the Golden Horde, the state of the invaders in the Volga region, was established.
Rus' paid her tribute (tithe), from which only the church was exempted, and supplied soldiers. The collection of tribute was controlled by the Khan's Baskaks, later by the princes themselves. They received from the khan a charter for reigning - a label. The prince of Vladimir was recognized as the eldest among the princes. The Horde intervened in the feuds of the princes and ruined Rus' many times. The invasion caused great damage to the military and economic power of Rus', its international prestige and culture. The southern and western lands of Rus' (Galich, Smolensk, Polotsk, etc.) later passed to Lithuania and Poland.
In the 1220s. Russians participated in Estonia in the struggle against the German crusaders - the Order of the Sword, in 1237 transformed into the Livonian Order, a vassal of the Teutonic Order. In 1240, the Swedes landed at the mouth of the Neva, trying to cut off Novgorod from the Baltic. Prince Alexander defeated them in the Battle of the Neva. In the same year, the Livonian knights launched an offensive, taking Pskov. In 1242, Alexander Nevsky defeated them on Lake Peipus, stopping the raids of the Livonians for 10 years.
Influence of the Golden Horde on Rus'.
Bearing in mind the consequences of the Mongol-Tatar yoke for Rus', it should be noted that it led to a long decline in the economic, political and cultural development of the Russian lands, marked the beginning of their lagging behind the advanced Western European countries. The old agricultural centers and the once developed territories were abandoned and fell into decay. The borders of agriculture moved north. Russian cities were subjected to mass ruin and destruction, their role in the political and economic life of the country fell, disappeared forever or revived only after 150-300 years, such crafts as filigree, niello, cloisonne enamel, polychrome glazed ceramics, stone carving, etc. Suspended stone construction, fine and applied arts fell into decay. The connection between urban handicraft and the market weakened, and the development of commodity production slowed down. The tribute to "silver" led to its leakage to the Horde and the almost complete cessation of monetary circulation within the Russian lands. Finally, tens of thousands of people died in battles or were driven into slavery as a result of the incessant raids of the Mongol-Tatars on Russian lands. Only in the last quarter of the thirteenth century 14 major invasions of Rus' were made, not counting the many whiter minor raids. Many cities, for example, Pereslavl-Zalessky, Murom. Suzdal, Ryazan were destroyed again and again.
