Russian Truth (population categories, public relations)

Rumsskaya Pravda (other Russian: Russkaya Pravda (XI century, 1019-1054), Russkaya Pravda (second half of the 15th century) (here “truth” in the meaning of Latin iustitia, Greek dykbYapmb) is the legal code of Rus'. Yaroslav's truth is based on the oral law and customary law of Rus'.

Russian Truth contains, first of all, the norms of criminal, inheritance, commercial and procedural legislation; is the main source of legal, social and economic relations of the Eastern Slavs.

Origin

The conventional name of the ancient Russian legal collection, which was preserved only in lists (copies) of the 13th-15th centuries and later. It is similar to numerous early European legal collections, for example, the Salic Truth, a collection of legislative acts of the Frankish state. Also known are the Ripuar and Burgundian Truths, compiled in the 5th-6th centuries. n. e., etc. The Anglo-Saxon legal codes, as well as Irish, Alemannic, Basar and some other legal collections, also belong to the Barbarian Truths. The name of these collections of Pravda laws is controversial.

In Latin sources Lex Salica - Salic law. The question of the time of origin of its oldest part in science is controversial. Some historians even date it back to the 7th century. However, most modern researchers associate the Most Ancient Truth with the name of the Kyiv prince Yaroslav the Wise. The approximate period of its creation is 1019-1054. The norms of Russian Truth were gradually codified by the princes of Kyiv on the basis of oral tribal law, with the inclusion of aspects of Scandinavian and Byzantine law, as well as church influence.

Estates

Ivan Bilibin. Court during the time of Russian Truth.

By the 9th century, the time of the formation of the Old Russian state, the Eastern Slavs had established feudal ownership of land and the formation of feudal landowners and feudal-dependent peasants. The ruling class of feudal lords included the Kyiv princes, local (tribal) princes, communal nobility (boyars), the elite of the service people, and the squad of princes. According to Doctor of Historical Sciences A. A. Gorsky, in the 9th century. and later in Rus' feudalism as such had not yet developed, but there was a system of champions. The ruling class was not the communal nobility, about which we have no information, but a corporation of squads headed by the prince. The boyars were representatives and descendants of the “senior” squad, and not the communal nobility.

After adoption in the 10th century. Christianity, a significant part of the land was concentrated in the hands of the church, monasteries, and clergy. Another category of feudal lords appeared - palace servants, service people who received land for service and for the duration of their service.

All groups of feudal lords were in a relationship of suzerainty-vassalage. The supreme overlord was the Grand Duke, his vassals were local princes - overlords of their boyars and service people. Feudal vassals received land holdings as a reward for their service. This increased the dependence of the peasants who paid them rent.

In the Old Russian state, a hierarchical organization of various groups of the ruling class of feudal lords, typical of feudalism, took shape, based on the system of feudal land tenure.

As the power of the feudal lords increased, their political rights grew. The feudal lords received immunities from their overlord princes, were exempted from paying tribute, acquired the right to have a squad, judge the population dependent on them, and collect taxes. At the same time, a right (right-privilege) arose, protecting the position of the nobility. Russian Pravda defined a number of privileges: increased punishment for killing a feudal lord or causing property damage to him, broader rights to transfer property by inheritance, including to daughters.

The class of feudal-dependent peasants developed in various ways. The process of feudalization led to the fact that there were almost no free peasants. The main group of the peasantry were the Smerds, who lived in a community and had their own house, farm, and plot of land for use. Dependence on the feudal lord could be greater or less, but mainly it manifested itself in the obligation to pay taxes and serve feudal duties. The life and property of smerds were protected by law to a much lesser extent compared to feudal lords. Their property, in the absence of sons, was not inherited by married daughters, but became the property of the master. Only unmarried daughters received part of the property. Smerdas were subject to the court of the prince, his vassals, and the church (if they lived on its land).

The position of smerds cannot be defined as serfdom. They were not attached to the land or the person of the feudal lord, but their dependent state is beyond doubt.

Another category of the population was made up of purchases - smerds, who found themselves in a difficult economic situation, borrowed property from their master and guaranteed its return, as if by self-mortgage. Zakup worked on the master’s farm and could not leave him until he repaid the debt (otherwise he would be transferred to a complete, “white-washed” serf). But the purchase had some rights and protection of the law.

There were other categories of the population - outcasts, people who left the community, forgiven - these were those who fell under the so-called “patronage”, the patronage of the church, monasteries, secular feudal lords, and were obliged to work in their households.

Along with the feudal-dependent population, the ruling classes also exploited slaves (servants). Russian Truth also calls them servants. The most ancient sources of servitude were captivity and birth from a slave. But Russian Truth also pointed out others: self-sale into slavery, marriage with a slave, entering the service (tiuns, key workers), “without a row” (that is, without any reservations), bankruptcy. A slave could be a runaway purchaser or a person who committed a serious crime.

Articles of Russian Pravda testified to the situation of slaves. For the murder of a slave, his master was paid compensation of only 5 hryvnia, for a slave - 6 hryvnia. For a stolen slave, the gentleman received 12 hryvnia. A slave was most often considered an object of law, and the owner was responsible for him.

As crafts and trade developed, cities arose, the size of the urban population increased, from which the rich elite stood out - the “best” people. The urban population was freer than the peasantry. The life and property of townspeople were protected by norms that applied to full-fledged free people. Russkaya Pravda respectfully calls “gridins”, “merchants”, artisans, moneylenders.

Property relations, Law of obligations

In Russian Pravda there are concepts: transfer of property for storage (deposit), a simple loan, a disinterested loan, a favor out of friendship, giving money in growth from a certain agreed percentage, a short-term and long-term interest-bearing loan, a trade commission, a contribution to a trading company enterprise. In Pravda, there is a certain procedure for collecting debts from an insolvent debtor during the liquidation of his affairs, that is, the procedure for a trade competition distinguishing between malicious and unfortunate insolvency. There are several types of credit turnover.

Two legal criteria that particularly distinguish these groups within society are the rules on increased (double) criminal liability for the murder of a representative of a privileged stratum (Article 1 of the PP) and the rules on a special procedure for inheriting real estate (land) for representatives of this stratum (Article 91 PP). These legal privileges extended to subjects named in Russian Pravda as princes, boyars, princely men, princely tiuns, and firemen.

The bulk of the population was divided into free and dependent people; there were also intermediate and transitional categories. Legally and economically independent groups were the townspeople and community smerds (they paid taxes and performed duties only in favor of the state). The urban (posad) population was divided into a number of social groups - boyars, clergy, merchants, “lower classes” (artisans, small traders, workers, etc.). In addition to free smerds, there were other categories of them, which Russian Truth mentions as dependent people. A free community member had certain property that he could bequeath to his children (land - only to his sons). In the absence of heirs, his property passed to the community. The law protected the person and property of the smerda. For committed misdeeds and crimes, as well as for obligations and contracts, he bore personal and property liability. In the trial, Smerd acted as a full participant.

The short edition of Russian Pravda does not mention procurement, but the Long edition contains a special Charter on procurement. Purchase - a person working on the feudal lord’s farm for a “kupa”, that is, a loan that could include various values ​​- land, livestock, grain, money, etc. This debt had to be worked off, and there were no established standards or equivalents. The scope of work was determined by the lender. Therefore, with the increase in interest on the loan, bondage intensified and could continue for a long time.

The law protected the person and property of the purchaser, prohibiting the master from punishing him without reason and taking away his property. If the purchase itself committed an offense, the responsibility was twofold: the master paid a fine for it to the victim, but the purchase itself could be “given away,” that is, turned into a complete slave. Its legal status changed dramatically. For attempting to leave the master without paying, the purchaser was also turned into a slave. A purchaser could act as a witness in a trial only in special cases: in minor cases (“in small claims”) or in the absence of other witnesses (“need”). The purchase was the legal figure that most clearly illustrated the process of “feudalization,” enslavement, and enslavement of former free community members.

The serf is the most powerless subject of law. His property status is special - everything he owned was the property of the master. All consequences arising from the contracts and obligations that the slave entered into (with the knowledge of the owner) also fell on the master. The identity of a slave as a subject of law was not actually protected by law. For his murder, a fine was levied, as for the destruction of property, or another slave was transferred to the master as compensation. The slave who committed the crime had to be handed over to the victim (in an earlier period he could simply be killed at the scene of the crime). The master always bore punitive liability for the slave. In a lawsuit, a slave could not act as a party (plaintiff, defendant, witness).

The reign of the majestic Prince Yaroslav Vladimirovich (1019-1054) was marked by a new grandiose reform that changed the social order. This is how the first written set of laws appeared in Rus' (approximately 1016) - “Russian Truth”, or “Pravda Yaroslava”. Later, his sons and grandsons supplemented the collection with articles (“The Truth of the Yaroslavichs”). “Russian Truth” is a collection of laws mainly on civil and criminal law. It established legal proceedings and determined punishments for certain offenses or crimes. From it you can glean information about the social structure, morals, and customs of Russian society of that time. In civil cases, Russkaya Pravda established a court of twelve elected officials. Unlike the codes of laws of other countries of the then Christian world, “Russian Truth” did not know the use of torture and corporal punishment, although execution for the most serious crimes existed. Mostly they were sentenced to monetary fines (i.e. vire), the size of which depended on the severity of the offense and who the victim was. Blood feud, so popular in the society of those centuries, was also limited.

The most serious crimes were robbery, arson and horse theft. The criminal was subjected to flood and plunder. Initially, it was the expulsion of the criminal and confiscation of property, later the criminal was turned into slavery, and his property was plundered.

At the top of the social pyramid of the Old Russian state there were nobility and special privileged servants:

• The nobility in Russian Pravda is represented by the prince and his senior warriors - the boyars. The prince receives fines, whose property is protected by certain articles, and in whose name the trial is carried out.
• Tiuns and ognishchans - high-ranking princely and boyar servants, as well as the princely senior groom - had a privileged position

Then came the free and independent population:

• The main character of Russian Truth is the husband - a free man;
• Rusin - junior princely warrior:
• Gridin is a representative of the fighting squad;

• Kupchina - a warrior engaged in trade;
• Yabetnik - a vigilante associated with the trial;
• Swordsman - fine collector;
• An outcast is a person who has lost touch with the community;
• Slovenin is a resident of Slovenia, that is, Novgorod (Yaroslav bestowed the Most Ancient Truth on Novgorod residents), in this context, an ordinary resident.

• Smerd is a peasant, in this context a dependent peasant. If after his death he had no unmarried daughters left, the prince inherited the property of the smerd.
• Serfdom could be whitewashed (full) or purchased. Obel is a lifelong slave. Feminine - robe.
• Zakup - a person who has taken a kupa - a debt, and has become a debt slave until he repays or works off the debt.
• Ryadovich is a person who entered the service and became dependent under a “row,” that is, a contract.

A law cannot be a law if there is no strong force behind it.

Mahatma Gandhi

The entire population of Ancient Rus' can be divided into free and dependent. The first category included nobility and ordinary people who had no debts, were engaged in crafts and were not burdened with restrictions. With dependent (involuntary) categories everything is more complicated. In general, these were people who were deprived of certain rights, but the entire composition of involuntary people in Rus' was different.

The entire dependent population of Rus' can be divided into 2 classes: those completely deprived of rights and those who retained partial rights.

• Serfs- slaves who fell into this position due to debts or by decision of the community.
• Servants- slaves who were purchased at auction were taken prisoner. These were slaves in the classical sense of the word.
• Smerda- people born into dependence.
• Ryadovichi- people who were hired to work under a contract (series).
• Purchases- worked off a certain amount (loan or purchase) that they owed, but could not repay.
• Tiuny- managers of princely estates.

Russian truth also divided the population into categories. In it you can find the following categories of the dependent population of Rus' in the 11th century.

It is important to note that the categories of the personally dependent population in the era of Ancient Rus' were smerds, serfs and servants. They also had complete dependence on the prince (master).

Completely dependent (whitewashed) segments of the population

The bulk of the population in Ancient Rus' belonged to the category of completely dependent. These were slaves and servants. In fact, these were people who, by their social status, were slaves. But here it is important to note that the concept of “slave” in Rus' and Western Europe was very different. If in Europe slaves had no rights, and everyone recognized this, then in Rus' slaves and servants had no rights, but the church condemned any elements of violence against them. Therefore, the position of the church was important for this category of the population and provided relatively comfortable living conditions for them.

Despite the position of the church, completely dependent categories of the population were deprived of all rights. This demonstrates well Russian Truth. This document, in one of its articles, provided for payment in the event of killing a person. So, for a free citizen the payment was 40 hryvnias, and for a dependent one - 5.

Serfs

Serfs - that’s what they called people in Rus' who served others. This was the largest stratum of the population. People who became completely dependent were also called " whitewashed slaves».

People became slaves as a result of ruin, misdeeds, and the decision of fiefdom. They could also become free people who, for certain reasons, have lost part of their freedom. Some voluntarily became slaves. This is due to the fact that a part (small, of course) of this category of the population was actually “privileged”. Among the slaves were people from the prince’s personal service, housekeepers, firemen and others. They were rated in society even higher than free people.

Servants

Servants are people who have lost their freedom not as a result of debt. These were prisoners of war, thieves, condemned by the community, and so on. As a rule, these people did the dirtiest and hardest work. It was an insignificant layer.

Differences between servants and slaves

How were servants different from serfs? It is as difficult to answer this question as it is today to tell how a social accountant differs from a cashier... But if you try to characterize the differences, then the servants consisted of people who became dependent as a result of their misdeeds. One could become a slave voluntarily. To put it even simpler: the slaves served, the servants did the work. What they had in common was that they were completely deprived of their rights.

Partially dependent population

Partially dependent categories of the population included those people and groups of people who lost only part of their freedom. They were not slaves or servants. Yes, they depended on the “owner”, but they could run a personal household, engage in trade and other matters.

Purchases

Purchases are ruined people. They were given to work for a certain kupa (loan). In most cases, these were people who borrowed money and could not repay the debt. Then the person became a “purchaser”. He became economically dependent on his master, but after he completely repaid the debt, he became free again. This category of people could be deprived of all rights only if the law was violated and after a decision by the community. The most common reason why Purchases became slaves was the theft of the owner's property.

Ryadovichi

Ryadovichi - were hired to work under a contract (row). These people were deprived of personal freedom, but at the same time retained the right to conduct personal farming. As a rule, the agreement was concluded with the land user and it was concluded by people who were bankrupt or unable to lead a free lifestyle. For example, series were often concluded for 5 years. Ryadovich was obliged to work on the princely land and for this he received food and a place to sleep.

Tiuny

Tiuns are managers, that is, people who locally managed the economy and were responsible to the prince for the results. All estates and villages had a management system:

• Fire Tiun. This is always 1 person - a senior manager. His position in society was very high. If we measure this position by modern standards, then the fire tiun is the head of a city or village.
• Regular tiun. He was subordinate to the fireman, being responsible for a certain element of the economy, for example: crop yield, raising animals, collecting honey, hunting, and so on. Each direction had its own manager.

Often ordinary people could get into tiuns, but mostly they were completely dependent serfs. In general, this category of the dependent population of Ancient Rus' was privileged. They lived in the princely court, had direct contact with the prince, were exempt from taxes, and some were allowed to start a personal household.

Russian Truth became the first collection of laws in Ancient Rus'. Its first editions appeared during the reign of the Kyiv prince Yaroslav the Wise in the first half of the 11th century. He was the initiator of the creation of Russian Truth. The collection was necessary in order to streamline life in a state where people still judged and resolved disputes according to unwritten traditions. All of them are reflected on the pages of this collection of documents.

A brief description of Russian Truth suggests that it stipulates the order of social, legal and economic relations. In addition, the collection contains norms of several types of legislation (hereditary, criminal, procedural and commercial).

Prerequisites

The main goal that Yaroslav the Wise set for the collection was to determine the legal status of the population according to Russian Truth. The emergence of codified norms was common in all medieval European societies. So, in the Frankish state the “Salic truth” was similar. Even the barbaric northern states and the British Isles appeared with their own judges. The only difference is that in Western Europe these documents were created several centuries earlier (starting from the 6th century). This was due to the fact that Rus' appeared later than the feudal Catholic states. Therefore, the creation of legal norms among the Eastern Slavs occurred several centuries later.

Creation of Russian Truth

The most ancient Truth, or the Truth of Yaroslav, appeared in 1016, when he finally established himself in Kyiv. However, this document was not intended for the southern capital, but for Novgorod, since the prince began his reign there. This edition contains mainly various criminal articles. But it was with this list of 18 articles that the creation of Russian Pravda began.

The second part of the collection appeared a few years later. It was called the Truth of the Yaroslavichs (children of the Grand Duke) and affected the legal relations between the residents of the state. In the 1930s, articles appeared regarding the feeding of virniks. These parts exist in the form of a short edition.

However, the collection was supplemented after the death of Yaroslav. The creation of Russian Pravda continued under his grandson Vladimir Monomakh, who managed to briefly unite the appanage principalities (the era of feudal fragmentation was approaching) and complete his Charter. He entered the lengthy edition of Pravda. The lengthy editorial touched on disputes related to the right to property. This was due to the fact that trade and monetary relations were developing in Rus'.

Existing copies

It is known for certain that no original copies of Russian Truth have survived. Domestic historiography discovered later copies when they were discovered and studied. The earliest copy is considered to be a list placed in the Novgorod first chronicle of the 11th century. This is exactly what it became for researchers.

Later, copies and lists were found dating back to the 15th century. Excerpts from them were used in various Helmsman books. Russian Truth ceased to be relevant with the release of the Code of Laws of Ivan III at the end of the 15th century.

Criminal law

A person’s responsibility for crimes is reflected in detail on the pages that Russkaya Pravda contains. The articles fix the difference between intentional and unintentional crimes. There is also a distinction between light and heavy damage. By this measure it was decided what punishment the criminal would be sentenced to.

At the same time, the Slavs still practice what Russkaya Pravda talks about. The articles state that a person has the right to punish the killer of a father, brother, son, etc. If a relative did not do this, then the state announced a reward of 40 hryvnia for the head of the criminal. These were echoes of the previous system that had existed for centuries. It is important to note that Rus' had already been baptized, but remnants of the pagan bloodthirsty era still existed in it.

Types of fines

Criminal law also included monetary fines. The Slavs called them vira. Fines came to Rus' from Scandinavian law. It was vira that over time completely replaced blood feud as a measure of punishment for crime. It was measured differently, depending on the nobility of the person and the severity of the offense committed. An analogue of the Russian vira was wergeld. This was a monetary penalty, prescribed in the barbaric truths of the Germanic tribes.

Under Yaroslav, vira was a fine solely for the murder of a man who was a free man (that is, not a slave). For a simple peasant the fine was 40 hryvnia. If the victim was a person who was in the service of the prince, then the penalty was doubled.

If a free man was seriously injured or a woman was killed, the perpetrator had to pay half-virya. That is, the price fell by half - to 20 hryvnia. Less serious crimes, such as theft, were punishable by small fines, which were determined individually by the court.

Headhunting, flow and plunder

At the same time, a definition of golovnichestvo appeared in Russian criminal law. This was a ransom money that the killer had to provide to the family of the deceased. The size was determined by the status of the victim. Thus, the additional fine to the relatives of the slave was only 5 hryvnia.

Flow and plunder are another type of punishment that was introduced by Russian Truth. The state's right to punish a criminal was supplemented by the expulsion of the offender and confiscation of property. He could also be sent into slavery. At the same time, the property was looted (hence the name). The punishment varied depending on the era. Flow and plunder were assigned to those guilty of robbery or arson. These were considered to be the most serious crimes.

Social structure of society

Society was divided into several categories. The legal status of the population according to Russian Pravda completely depended on its The highest stratum was considered to be the nobility. It was the prince and his senior warriors (boyars). At first, these were professional military men who were the mainstay of power. It was in the name of the prince that the trial was carried out. All fines for crimes also went to him. The servants of the prince and boyars (tiuns and ognishchans) also had a privileged position in society.

On the next step were free men. In Russian Pravda there was a special term for this status. The word “husband” corresponded to it. Free persons included junior warriors, fine collectors, as well as residents of the Novgorod land.

Dependent strata of society

According to Russian Truth, the worst legal position of the population was among dependent people. They were divided into several categories. Smerdas were dependent peasants (but with their own plots) working for the boyar. Slaves for life were called serfs. They had no property.

If a person took out a loan and did not have time to repay, then he fell into a special form of slavery. It was called purchasing. Such dependents became the property of the borrower until they paid off their debts.

The provisions of Russian Pravda also spoke about such an agreement as the Row. This was the name of the agreement under which people voluntarily entered the service of the feudal lord. They were called ryadovichi.

All these categories of residents were at the very bottom of the social ladder. This legal status of the population, according to Russian Truth, practically devalued the lives of addicts in the literal sense of the word. The penalties for killing such people were minimal.

In conclusion, we can say that society in Rus' was very different from the classical feudal model in Western Europe. In Catholic states in the 11th century, the leading position was already occupied by large landowners, who often did not even pay attention to the central government. In Rus' things were different. The top of the Slavs was the prince's squad, which had access to the most expensive and valuable resources. The legal status of population groups according to Russian Truth made them the most influential people in the state. At the same time, a class of large landowners had not yet formed from them.

Private right

Among other things, Yaroslav's Russian Truth included articles on private law. For example, they stipulated the rights and privileges of the merchant class, which was the engine of trade and the economy.

The merchant could engage in usury, that is, give loans. The fine was also paid in the form of barter, such as food and groceries. Jews were actively involved in usury. In the 12th century, this led to numerous pogroms and outbreaks of anti-Semitism. It is known that when Vladimir Monomakh came to rule in Kyiv, he first of all tried to resolve the issue of Jewish borrowers.

Russian Truth, the history of which includes several editions, also touched upon issues of inheritance. The charter allowed free people to receive property under a paper will.

Court

A complete description of Russian Pravda cannot skip articles relating to procedural law. Criminal offenses were tried in the princely court. It was carried out by a specially appointed representative of the authorities. In some cases, they resorted to confrontation, when the two sides proved their case one-on-one. The procedure for collecting a fine from the debtor was also prescribed.

A person could go to court if something went missing. For example, this was often used by merchants who suffered from theft. If the loss was found within three days, then the person in whose possession it was found became a defendant in court. He had to justify himself and provide evidence of his innocence. Otherwise, a fine was paid.

Testimony in court

Witnesses could be present in court. Their testimony was called the Code. The same word denoted the procedure for searching for lost items. If she took the proceedings outside the city or community, then the last suspect was recognized as the thief. He had the right to clear his name. To do this, he could carry out the investigation himself and find the person who committed the theft. If he failed, then it was he who was fined.

Witnesses were divided into two types. Vidoki are people who saw with their own eyes a crime that was committed (murder, theft, etc.). Hearsay - witnesses who reported unverified rumors in their testimony.

If it was not possible to find any crimes, then they resorted to last resort. It was an oath by kissing the cross, when a person gave his testimony in court not only before the princely authority, but also before God.

A water test was also used. This was a form of divine judgment, when testimony was tested for truth by removing the ring from boiling water. If the defendant could not do this, he was found guilty. In Western Europe, this practice was called ordeals. People believed that God would not allow a conscientious person to get hurt.