Russian Truth is a collection of legal norms of Kievan Rus.
Russian Truth became the first legal document in Ancient Rus', which combined all existing laws and decrees and formed a kind of unified regulatory and legislative system. At the same time, Russian Pravda is an important cultural monument, as it represents a brilliant example of writing and written culture from the earliest period of the development of the state.
Russian Truth contains norms of criminal, inheritance, trade and procedural legislation; is the main source of legal, social and economic relations of Ancient Rus'.
The creation of Russian Truth is associated with the name of Prince Yaroslav the Wise. At the moment, the original of this document has not survived; only later copies exist. There is also debate about the origin of the Russian Truth, but scientists are inclined to believe that the document arose during the reign of Yaroslav the Wise, who collected all existing laws into one book in approximately 1016-1054. Later, the document was finalized and rewritten by other princes.
Sources of Russian Truth
Russian truth is presented in two versions - short and lengthy. The short version includes the following documents:
- Yaroslav's Truth, 1016 or 1030s;
- Truth of the Yaroslavichs (Izyaslav, Vsevolod, Svyatoslav;
- Pokon virny - determination of the order of feeding virniks (prince's servants, vira collectors), 1020s or 1030s;
- A lesson for bridge workers - regulation of wages for bridge workers - pavement builders, or, according to some versions, bridge builders - 1020s or 1030s.
The short edition contains 43 articles, it describes new state traditions, and also preserves some old customs such as blood feud. The second part describes some rules for collecting fines and types of violations. In both parts, justice is based on the concept of class - the severity of the crime depends on the class of the criminal.
A more complete version includes the charter of Yaroslav Vladimirovich and the charter of Vladimir Monomakh. The number of articles is about 121, the Russian Truth in an expanded edition was used in civil and ecclesiastical courts to determine punishments for criminals, and also regulated some commodity-money relations.
The norms of criminal law in Russian Pravda correspond to the norms adopted in many early state societies. The death penalty was retained, intentional murder was separated from unintentional murder, and the degrees of damage (also intentional or unintentional) and fines were determined depending on the severity of the offense. It is interesting that the monetary fines mentioned in the Russian Pravda were calculated in different monetary units.
A criminal offense was followed by a trial. Russian Pravda determined the norms of procedural legislation - how and where trials were held, who could take part in them, how it was necessary to contain criminals during the trial and how to judge them. Here the class principle was preserved, when more noble citizens could count on a weaker punishment. Regarding the collection of debts, the document also provided for a procedure according to which it was necessary to withdraw a sum of money from the debtor.
Russian Truth determined the categories of citizens and their social status. Thus, all citizens were divided into several categories: nobility and privileged servants (this included warriors and the prince, who had privileged rights); ordinary free residents (younger warriors, tax collectors, as well as residents of Novgorod and Novgorod land); dependent population (lower strata - smerds, serfs, purchases and ryadovichi - that is, peasants who were dependent on the feudal lords and the prince).
The meaning of Russian Truth
Russian Truth became the first legal document in Rus' and was very important for the development of statehood. Scattered laws and decrees adopted in different lands could not provide sufficient legal support for public life and legal proceedings, Russian Pravda corrected this deficiency - now there was a document that served as a legal code and was used in courts. Russian Truth laid the foundations for the future legal system, and also became the first source that officially consolidated the class division of the state, the privilege of the nobles over the common people and the beginning of feudalism. Judicial documents that were written later always included Russian Pravda in their basis and were formed precisely on its basis (for example, the Code of Law of 1497).
It is also important to note that Russian Truth is the most important source of knowledge about the life of Kievan Rus at the very initial stage of the development of the state.
RUSSIAN TRUTH- a monument of legislation of the 11th–12th centuries, considered the earliest code of legal norms of early medieval Rus' that has reached modern researchers.
The term “truth”, often found in ancient Russian sources, means the legal norms on the basis of which the trial was carried out (hence the expressions “to judge the right” or “to judge in truth”, that is, objectively, fairly). Sources of codification are norms of customary law, princely judicial practice, as well as borrowed norms from authoritative sources – primarily the Holy Scriptures. There is an opinion that even before Russian truth there was a certain Russian Law(its norms are referenced in the text Treaty Rus' with Byzantium 907), however, which of his articles were included in the text of Russian Pravda, and which are original, there is no exact data. According to another hypothesis, the name “Pravda Roskaya” comes from the lexeme “ros” (or “rus”), which means “combatant”. In this case, in the text of the set of norms one should see a code adopted to regulate relations in the princely-squad environment. The importance of tradition and customary law (not written down anywhere or by anyone) was less important in it than in the community environment.
Russian Truth has survived to this day in copies of the 15th century. and eleven lists from the 18th–19th centuries. According to traditional Russian historiography, these texts and lists are divided into three editions Russian Truth: Brief, Extensive And Abbreviated.
The oldest list or the first edition Russian Truth is Brief Is it true(20–70s of the 11th century), which is usually divided into The Truth of Yaroslav the Wise(1019–1054) and Pravda Yaroslavich. First 17 articles Pravda Yaroslav(according to the breakdown of later researchers, since there is no division into articles in the source text itself), preserved in two lists of the 15th century. as part of the Novgorod I Chronicle, contain an even earlier layer - the first 10 recorded norms, “as Yaroslav judged” - they are called The Most Ancient Truth (« Pravda Roska"). Its text was compiled no earlier than 1016. A quarter of a century later, the text The Most Ancient Truth formed the basis of all Pravda Yaroslav– code of norms of case law. These norms regulated relations within the princely (or boyar) economy; Among them are regulations on fees for murder, insults, mutilations and beatings, theft and damage to other people's property. Start Brief Truth convinces of the fixation of the norms of customary law, since they deal with blood feud (Article 1) and mutual responsibility (Article 19).
Pravda Yaroslavich(sons of Yaroslav the Wise) are referred to as articles 19–41 in the text Brief Truth. This part of the code was compiled in the 70s of the 11th century. and until the end of the century it was constantly updated with new articles. These include articles 27–41, divided into Pokon Virny(that is Charter on fines in favor of the prince for the murder of free people and the standards of feeding the collectors of these payments), the appearance of which is associated with the uprisings of 1068–1071 in Rus', and Lesson for bridge builders(that is, Rules for those who pave roadways in cities). In general Brief version Russian Truth reflects the process of the formulation of laws from particular cases to general norms, from the solution of specific issues to the formulation of general state law at the stage of formation of the medieval feudal order.
Vast Truth– second edition Russian Truth, a monument to a developed feudal society. Created in the 20–30s of the 12th century. (a number of researchers associate its origins with the Novgorod uprisings of 1207–1208 and therefore attribute its composition to the 13th century). Preserved in more than 100 lists as part of legal collections. The earliest - Synodal list of Extensive Truth- compiled in Novgorod around 1282, included in the Kormchaya Book and was a collection of Byzantine and Slavic laws. Another early list is Trinity, 14th century. - included in The standard of the righteous, also the oldest Russian legal collection. Most of the lists Dimensional Truth– later, 15–17 centuries. All this wealth of texts Dimensional Truth is combined into three types (in source studies - editions): Synodal-Troitsky, Pushkin-Archaeographic And Karamzinsky. Common to all types (or versions) is the combination of text Brief Truth with the norms of the princely legislation of Svyatopolk Izyaslavich, who ruled Kiev from 1093 to 1113, as well as the Charter of Vladimir Monomakh 1113 (the charter determined the amount of interest charged on contractual loans). By volume Vast Truth almost five times more Brief(121 articles with additions). Articles 1–52 are referred to as Court of Yaroslav, Articles 53–121 – as Charter of Vladimir Monomakh. Norms Dimensional Truth operated before the Tatar-Mongol yoke in Rus' and in its first period.
Some researchers (M.N. Tikhomirov, A.A. Zimin) believed that Vast Truth was primarily a monument of Novgorod civil legislation, and later its norms became all-Russian. Degree of "officiality" Dimensional Truth is unknown, as are the exact boundaries of the region covered by its rules.
The most controversial monument of ancient Russian law is the so-called Abridged Truth– or third edition Russian Truth, which arose in the 15th century. It reached only two lists of the 17th century, placed in Helmsman's book special composition. It is believed that this edition originated as a reduction of the text Dimensional Truth(hence the name), was compiled in the Perm land and became known after its annexation to the Moscow principality. Other scholars do not rule out that this text was based on an earlier and unknown monument from the second half of the 12th century. Disputes still continue among scholars regarding the dating of various editions. Truth, especially this third one.
From the beginning of the 14th century. Russian Truth began to lose its significance as a valid source of law. The meaning of many of the terms used in it became unclear to copyists and editors, which led to distortions of the text. From the beginning of the 15th century. Russian Truth ceased to be included in legal collections, which indicates that its norms have lost legal force. At the same time, its text began to be included in chronicles - it became history. Text Russian Truth(various editions) formed the basis of many legal sources - Novgorod and Smolensk with Riga and the Gothic coast (Germans) of the 13th century, Novgorod And Judgment letters, Lithuanian Statute 16th century, Sudebnik Casimir 1468 and finally the all-Russian code of norms of the era of Ivan III - Sudebnik 1497.
Brief Truth was first discovered by V.N. Tatishchev in 1738 and published by A.L. Shletser in 1767. Vast Truth first published by I.N. Boltin in 1792. In the 19th century. above The truth outstanding Russian lawyers and historians worked - I. D. Evers, N. V. Kalachev, V. Sergeevich, L. K. Goetz, V. O. Klyuchevsky, who analyzed the time and reasons for the creation of individual parts and editions Russian Truth, the relationship between the lists, the essence of the legal norms reflected in them, their origins in Byzantine and Roman law. In Soviet historiography, the main attention was paid to the “class essence” of the source under consideration (works of B.D. Grekov, S.V. Yushkov, M.N. Tikhomirov, I.I. Smirnov, L.V. Cherepnin, A.A. Zimin ) – that is, to study with the help Russian Truth social relations and class struggle in Kievan Rus. Soviet historians emphasized that Russian Truth perpetuated social inequality. Having fully defended the interests of the ruling class, she openly proclaimed the lack of rights of unfree workers - serfs, servants (thus, the life of a serf was valued 16 times lower than the life of a free “husband”: 5 hryvnia versus 80). According to the conclusions of Soviet historiography, Russian Truth asserted the inferiority of women both in the property and private spheres, but modern research shows that this is not so (N.L. Pushkareva). In Soviet times, it was customary to talk about Russian Truth as a single source that had three editions. This corresponded to the general ideological orientation towards the existence of a single legal code in ancient Rus', just as the Old Russian state itself was viewed as the “cradle” of three East Slavic nationalities. Currently, Russian researchers (I.N. Danilevsky, A.G. Golikov) more often talk about Brief, Spatial And Abridged Truths as independent monuments that are of great importance for the study of various parts of the state of Rus', similar to all-Russian and local chronicles.
All texts of Russian Truth have been published several times. There is a complete academic edition of it according to all known lists.
Russian Truth is a legal document of Ancient Rus', a collection of all laws and legal norms that existed in the 10th and 11th centuries.
Russian Truth is the first legal document in Ancient Rus', which united all the old legal acts, princely decrees, laws and other administrative documents issued by a variety of authorities. Russian Truth is not only an important part of the history of law in Russia, but also an important cultural monument, since it reflects the way of life of Ancient Rus', its traditions, principles of economic management, and is also an important source of information about the written culture of the state, which at that time was just emerging.
The document includes rules of inheritance, trade, criminal law, as well as principles of procedural law. Russian Truth was at that time the main written source of information about social, legal and economic relations on the territory of Rus'.
The origin of Russian Truth today raises quite a few questions among scientists. The creation of this document is associated primarily with the name Yaroslav the Wise - the prince collected all the legal documents and decrees that existed in Rus' and issued a new document around 1016-1054. Unfortunately, today not a single copy of the original Russian Pravda has survived, only later censuses, so it is difficult to say exactly about the author and the date of creation of Pravda. The Truth was rewritten several times by other princes, who made modifications to it according to the realities of the time.
Main sources of Russian Truth
The document exists in two editions: short and lengthy (more complete). The short version of Russian Pravda includes the following sources:
Pokon virny - determining the order of feeding princely servants, vira collectors (created in the 1020s or 1030s);
Pravda Yaroslava (created in 1016 or 1030s);
Pravda Yaroslavich (does not have an exact date);
A lesson for bridge workers - regulation of wages for builders, pavement workers, or, according to some versions, bridge builders (created in the 1020s or 1030s).
The brief edition contained 43 articles and described new state traditions that appeared shortly before the creation of the document, as well as a number of older legal norms and customs, in particular, the rules of blood feud. The second part contained information about fines, violations, etc. The legal foundations in both parts were built on a principle quite common for that time - class. This meant that the severity of the crime, the punishment or the size of the fine depended not so much on the crime itself, but on what class the person who committed it belonged to. Also, different categories of citizens had different rights.
A later version of the Russian Pravda was supplemented by the charter of Yaroslav Vladimirovich and Vladimir Monomakh , the number of articles in it was 121. Russian Truth in an expanded edition was used in court, civil and church, to determine punishment and settle commodity-money litigation and relations in general.
In general, the norms of criminal law described in the Russian Pravda correspond to the norms adopted in many early state societies of that period. The death penalty is still retained, but the typology of crimes is significantly expanding - murder is now divided into intentional and unintentional, different degrees of damage are designated, from intentional to unintentional, fines are levied not at a single rate, but depending on the severity of the offense. It is worth noting that Russian Truth describes fines in several currencies at once for the convenience of the legal process in different territories.
The document also contained a lot of information about the legal process. Russian Pravda determined the basic principles and norms of procedural legislation: where and how it is necessary to hold court hearings, how it is necessary to contain criminals during and before the trial, how to judge them and how to carry out the sentence. In this process, the class principle mentioned above is preserved, which implies that more noble citizens could count on a more lenient punishment and more comfortable conditions of detention. Russian Pravda also provided for a procedure for collecting monetary debt from a debtor; prototypes of bailiffs appeared who dealt with similar issues.
Another side described in Russian Pravda is social. The document defined different categories of citizens and their social status. Thus, all citizens of the state were divided into several categories: noble people and privileged servants, which included princes, warriors, then ordinary free citizens, that is, those who were not dependent on the feudal lord (all residents of Novgorod were included here), and the lowest category were considered dependent people - peasants, serfs, serfs and many others - who were in the power of feudal lords or the prince.
The meaning of Russian Truth
Russian Truth is one of the most important sources of information about the life of Ancient Rus' at the earliest period of its development. The presented legislative norms allow us to get a fairly complete picture of the traditions and way of life of all segments of the population of the Russian land. In addition, Russian Pravda became one of the very first legal documents, which was used as the main national legal code.
The creation of Russian Pravda laid the foundations for the future legal system and in the creation of new legal codes in the future (in particular, the creation code of law of 1497 ) has always remained the main source, which was taken as a basis by legislators not only as a document containing all acts and laws, but also as an example of a single legal document. Russkaya Pravda for the first time officially consolidated class relations in Rus'.
In our literature on the history of Russian law, there is no consensus on the origin of Russian Pravda. Some consider it not an official document, not a genuine monument of legislation, but a private legal collection compiled by some ancient Russian lawyer or group of lawyers for their own personal purposes. Others consider the Russian Pravda to be an official document, a genuine work of the Russian legislative power, only spoiled by copyists, as a result of which many different lists of Pravda appeared, which differ in the number, order and even text of the articles. Installation of LED curtain.
It is indisputable that, like any other legal act, Russian Truth could not arise from scratch, without having a basis in the form of sources of law. All that remains for us is to list and analyze these sources, to evaluate their contribution to the creation of Russian Pravda.
The sources of codification are customary law and princely judicial practice. The norms of customary law include, first of all, provisions on blood feud (Article KP) and mutual responsibility (Article KP). The legislator shows a different attitude towards these customs: he seeks to limit blood feud (narrowing the circle of avengers) or completely abolish it, replacing it with a monetary fine - vira (there is a similarity with the “Salic truth” of the Franks, where blood feud was also replaced by a monetary fine); Unlike blood feud, mutual responsibility is preserved as a measure that binds all members of the community with responsibility for their member who committed a crime (“Wild Virus” was imposed on the entire community).
Another source of Russian Truth was the Russian Law (rules of criminal, inheritance, family, procedural law). Disputes about its essence still continue to this day. In the history of Russian law there is no consensus on this document. It is known that it is partially reflected in the treaties between Rus' and the Greeks in 911 and 944 and in the Russian Truth. For example, in the treaty of 911 it is written: “If you strike with a sword or beat with a katz or a vessel, for that strike or beating you will give 5 liters of silver according to the Russian law.”
The references of treaties to the law of the young Russian state, used as a source of law along with the laws of the Byzantine Empire, became the topic of lively discussion in historical and legal literature. For example, supporters of the Norman theory of the origin of the Old Russian state considered the Russian Law to be Scandinavian law. V.O. Klyuchevsky believed that the Russian Law was a “legal custom”, and as a source of Russian Truth it represents “not the primitive legal custom of the Eastern Slavs, but the law of urban Rus', which developed from quite diverse elements in the 9th - 11th centuries.” According to V.V. Mavrodin, the Russian Law was customary law created in Rus' over the centuries. L.V. Cherepnin suggested that between 882 and 911 a princely legal code was created, necessary for the implementation of princely policies in the annexed Slavic and non-Slavic lands. In his opinion, the code reflected relations of social inequality. It was “the right of an early feudal society, located at a lower stage of the process of feudalization than the one at which the Most Ancient Truth arose.” A.A. Zimin also allowed for the formation of early feudal law at the end of the 9th - beginning of the 10th centuries. He believed that under Oleg, customary law still existed, and under Igor, princely laws appeared - “charters”, “pokons”, which introduced monetary punishment for violation of property rights and mutilation, limited blood feud, and replaced it in some cases with monetary compensation, began to use the institutions of witness-video, code, duels, oath. These norms were later included in the Communist Code. Although some of the conclusions of A.A. Zimin and L.V. Cherepnin remain debatable (about the development of early feudal ancient Russian law in the 9th - 10th centuries from legal custom and customary law), their observations prove that Russian Truth is not just a record of the customary law of an individual tribe. Not being a supporter of the Norman theory of the origin of the Old Russian state, I support the point of view of A.A. Zimin. In the second half of the 9th century, in the middle Dnieper region, the unification of the Pravda Slavic tribes, similar in composition and social nature, took place into the Russian Law, the jurisdiction of which extended to the territory of the state formation of the Slavs with its center in Kyiv. The Russian Law represents a qualitatively new stage in the development of Russian oral law in the conditions of the existence of the state. Also in Russian Pravda there are numerous norms developed by princely judicial practice.
The concept of Russian Truth
Russian truth is the oldest monument to the history of the fatherland, in other words, it is a collection of legal norms of Kievan Rus. The original text of the truth has not reached us. If you believe the basic data, then the Russian Truth was written in 1037 by Yaroslav the Wise for the Novgorodians. For many centuries, Russian truth served as a guide for legal proceedings. Subsequently, truth itself entered other sources of law. It is believed that the Russian Truth is the first stage in the codification of Russian law, but this information is not reliable, since the text of the Russian Truth itself contains a reference to the Russian Law.
Russian Truth has three editions: Abridged, short and lengthy.
The earliest version of this source of law is considered to be the Brief Truth, which arose during the reign of Yaroslav the Wise. It consisted of Pravda Yaroslav, Pravda Yaroslavich, Pokon Virny, Lesson of Bridge Workers. Each component of truth is presented as a series of articles in the source.
It is believed that after a brief edition, a lengthy truth appeared; it was released after 1113 during the reign of Vladimir Monomakh. The extensive truth includes the Court of Yaroslav and the Charter of Vladimir Monomakh.
The last, third edition is considered to be the Abridged Truth. It appeared in two lists of the 17th century, placed in the Helmsman’s Book of a special composition. It is believed that this edition arose as an abbreviation of the text of the Extensive Truth. Disputes still continue among scientists regarding the dating of various editions of Pravda, especially this third one.
Origin of Russian truth
Nowadays, it is generally accepted that Russian Truth is one of the largest legal works of the Middle Ages. Some scientists naively believe that Russian Truth arose under the influence of Byzantine and Scandinavian law; this is not so. Russian truth arose entirely on Russian soil. This means that Russian truth as a source of law is analogous to the “Salic truth”, “Anglo-Saxon legal codes” and other sources of law of that time.
As for the place of origin of the document, this issue also remains controversial. Some historians (B.G Grekov, S.V Yushakov and others) believe that Russian truth takes its roots from Kyiv, others (M.N Tikhomirov) believe that it came from Novgorod. Each of the theories of origin is significant and controversial and often, apart from general considerations and theories, does not carry any serious evidence.
Until now, the question of the origin of the first texts of Russian Truth is controversial. Some scientists associate the emergence of Russian truth with the name of Yaroslav the Wise, a famous political figure of that time, builder of libraries and educational institutions. The lists of the Brief Edition are not numerous, there are two of them, Academic and Archaeographic. Both documents are similar in content, which indicates that they originated from the same source or protographer.
The lengthy truth has been preserved in more lists. They are longer in content and contain a larger number of articles, which indicates deeper legal thinking.
M.H. Tikhomirov dates the emergence of lengthy truth to the beginning of the thirteenth century, due to the movements in Novgorod in 1209.
L.V. Cherepnin believes that this source of law arose in parts at princely congresses (Lyubechesky), and as a whole it appeared in 1209.
S.V. Yushkov believed that the Long Truth was compiled in the twelfth century as a result of a mechanical combination of the Court of Yaroslav Vladimirovich and the Charter of Vladimir Monomakh.
B. A. Rybakov believes that the Extensive Truth was created during the reign of Vladimir Monomakh or his son Mstislav.
The abbreviated truth is attributed by most researchers (such as N.A. Maksimeyko, A.A. Zimin) to the 15th or even the 17th century. However, M.N Tikhomirov believes that it was written in the second half of the 12th century.
Russian truth did not arise out of nowhere; it reflects the development of thought and is the result of the progress of the ancient Russian state. Many researchers believe that the first text, which appeared during the reign of Yaroslav the Wise, was written to eradicate old pagan customs. This time needed written law. In the codification of the law.
Sources of Russian Truth
As we may have already noticed, the concept of Russian Truth refers to three different documents, which can be designated as “short”, “lengthy” and “abbreviated”
Considering the first texts of Russian Pravda (Brief edition), we can say that the sources of codification were common law and judicial practice.
The norms of customary law were the provisions on circular felling and bloody revenge.
The norms of princely judicial practice are numerous in Russian Pravda and are associated with the names of the princes who adopted them.
Special attention should be paid to such a source as Byzantine canon law.
As a specific source, we can highlight the Russian Law. Little is known about this document. It is believed that this is a set of rules that existed even before the first texts of Russian Truth. There is practically no written evidence; it is only mentioned in a few documents. It is believed that this was an oral set of rules.
Another source of Russian truth is custom (here it is necessary to distinguish between custom and custom sanctioned by the state), it becomes the norm of customary law and these norms could exist both orally and in written form.
More complex in structure and composition, after the short truth, is the lengthy truth; it was compiled more thoroughly and in detail.
The very first and perhaps one of the main sources of law is the short truth. Borrowings from the short truth were placed in both chapters of the long truth (articles 71, 72, 73, 76, 77 and 78).
But the legislator of that time did not limit himself to borrowing articles from the first edition. The compilers of the Extensive Truth used the charter of Vladimir Monomakh. It included regulations on the collection of interest and on purchases, which was associated with the uprising of 1113 in Kyiv.
Researchers consider the third source to be the protograph of the Abridged Truth, but this is only Tikhomirov’s working hypothesis.
The abbreviated truth is the most complex source of law, compared to the previous two truths. Most researchers note this edition as a very late legal monument.
There is a theory that this is a simple excerpt from the text of a lengthy truth, but the Abridged Truth has a number of features that cannot be explained by the assumption that it is a simple abbreviation of the previous edition. It differs in the content of the articles or there are new sections. In the text of this truth, all articles of the abridged edition that were borrowed from the short version are omitted.
Russian truth is a set of laws (code) of Kievan Rus. It was compiled during the reign of Yaroslav the Wise. Russian truth includes criminal, procedural, commercial, and inheritance laws. This handbook was used by the powers to build social, economic and legal relations in Ancient Rus'. All subsequent generations took Russian truth as a basis in drawing up new laws and legal norms.
In contact with
Classmates
1016 is the date of the appearance of Russian Truth. Before this set of laws appeared, everything was based on religious considerations. Church legal texts have certain similarities with the content of the text in articles written in Russian Pravda, however, they are not identical to it.
This book should have appeared for the following reasons:
- The judges of Ancient Rus' were not familiar with Russian customs and traditions, because Most of them came from other countries.
- Pagan law, on which all previous legal norms were based, went against the new religious beliefs.
Thus, the adoption of Christianity served as the main impetus for the creation of Russian Truth.
- Why Russian truth is a manifestation of Yaroslav’s wisdom.
- Read the summary and main provisions of the Old Russian document online.
- Three main editions of Russian Truth.
- The Short Truth and the Long Truth.
- The system of fines in the ancient Russian state.
- What is the significance of the first collection of codes for the modern world?
Why Russian truth is a manifestation of the wisdom of Yaroslav
The answer to this question is very simple - before the reign of Yaroslav, no one compiled written documents with a code of legal, criminal and administrative norms. This was one of the significant reasons for which Yaroslav Vladimirovich received the nickname Wise. All subsequent legislation of Kievan Rus is based on the text of this document.
Russian truth in its original form, unfortunately, has not survived to this day. However, later lists can also be considered as variations of this document.
The book contained legal norms:
- criminal;
- legal;
- procedural;
- administrative;
- civil;
- family.
According to this set of laws, it is unacceptable to decide legal proceedings by means of a duel to the death (“whoever has the sharpest sword has the upper hand”).
Three main editions of Russian Truth
There are three main editions of this document:
- Brief. This is the oldest version of the presentation.
- Extensive. Second edition of the book.
- Abbreviated. A later version, formed in the 15th century on the Brief and Long Pravda.
All three editions have been published many times and you can read them in the complete academic edition.
Short and Long Truth
Brief usually divided into two parts:
- The Truth of Yaroslav (contains the first 10 norms “as Yaroslav judged”);
- The truth of the Yaroslavichs (sons of Yaroslav Vladimirovich).
The copy that has survived to contemporaries dates back to 1280. This is the oldest copy of the code of laws that has ever been found. This book was first published by the Russian historian Vasily Nikitich Tatishchev.
The documents included in the ancient edition are devoted to blood feud, responsibility for murder, the procedure for collecting fines and paying them.
Articles in the Yaroslavich Pravda on the protection of private property and the protection of the population contributed to stabilization in the state.
Extensive- This is the second complete presentation of the original source. Consists of two parts:
- Charter of Yaroslav the Wise.
- Charter of Vladimir Monomakh.
These charters were also included in the Brief, but underwent a number of changes and additions. Dates from the 12th century. It consists of 121 articles, which reflect: divisions into social strata, the advantages and development of land owners, the general position of slaves, hereditary property rights and many other aspects.
Abbreviated- the latest variation. Dates from the 15th century. It was created on the basis of the Short and Long in the Moscow Principality. Written in Great Perm. It contains 50 articles.
These codes distinguish murder in a quarrel - unintentional, from a bloody massacre "in robbery" - intentional. There are also different types of damage caused: severe, weak. The punishment depends on this. They were limited to fines or expulsion of the culprit and his family. And also blood feud was relevant - “If the husband kills the husband, then take revenge on the brother’s brother.”
Social status played a key role in determining punishment. Slaves were punished much harsher than princely associates.
Fines system
Fines were paid in different monetary units: hryvnia, kuna and others.
Vira - This was the name given to the payment for the lethal reprisal of a free person. Its size was directly related to social status in ancient Russian society. The more significant the role of the murdered person in the state, the higher the fine.
Poluvirye - payment for serious injuries.
Sale - fine for theft, minor bodily injury and other criminal offenses.
What is the significance of the first ancient Russian collection of codes for the modern world?
- This is the first legal document accessible to modern people to read, thanks to which we have an idea of the trials in Kievan Rus.
- This is the basis on which the entire subsequent legislative system was drawn up.
- We have an idea of the traditions and customs in Kievan Rus.
Interesting fact! The name “criminal” comes from the Old Russian “golovshchina”, which meant murder.
From this article you learned about the first Old Russian code of laws and norms; now you have an idea of the brief content of the text of this document and understand its significance for contemporaries.
"Russian Truth" is the most important legal source in the history of the Russian state. The document contains provisions on the lifestyle and status of various segments of the population. In addition, the ancient source is a collection of criminal, civil and cultural norms. This article will examine the legal status of population groups according to “Russian Truth”. So let's get started.
"Russian Truth": general characteristics
The first official collection of legal norms that appeared in Kievan Rus dates back to 1016. Historians call Yaroslav the Wise the main compiler of the document. The document was first discovered by researcher Vasily Tatishchev, who found and analyzed a short version of it.
"Russian Truth" includes rules of hereditary, procedural, criminal and commercial nature. In fact, a small document provided comprehensive information about almost all the rules of public life. Separately, it is worth highlighting the categories of the population according to “Russian Truth”, their legal status and status. At the moment, not a single original copy of the famous document has survived. There are only relatively later versions and lists, dating from the 13th-15th centuries.
Princes and their entourage
It’s worth talking a little more about the legal status of the population according to “Russian Truth”. We need to start with the privileged layers. In Rus' at the beginning of the second millennium, these were the boyars and princes. Princes in the document refer to persons holding power in a particular region. The Grand Duke is the ruler of Kiev; his sons or relatives sit in other Russian cities. The prince has two main functions: to administer court and collect taxes.
The expression “princely men” is used several times in the document. This is what people in Rus' were called who were surrounded by the ruler. These are loyal to the prince, one might say, his agents. The represented persons cannot be identified as a separate class. Although in “Russkaya Pravda” the legal status of the population implies the presence of “princely husbands,” these persons are not indicated in any other ancient Russian source.
Finally, it is worth talking about the boyars. This is a privileged class, obliged to faithfully serve their prince. Boyar servants perform various functions. They should be discussed further.
Boyars and nobility
What place do boyars occupy in the population according to “Russian Truth”? The legal status of feudal lords is always different, because each representative of the privileged class has his own functions and responsibilities.
In "Russkaya Pravda" the concept of "tiun" is often found. This is a boyar or princely manager who could have different legal status. The concept itself came from Scandinavia, where feudal lords were called tiuns. They collected tribute, ruled volosts and even administered justice. In Rus', the position of the represented persons was different. At the time of the appearance of "Russian Truth", tiuns were most often boyars close to the prince. They were engaged in managing and organizing the functions of their ruler. However, over time, even slaves began to acquire the status of tiun.
Ognishchanin was also a privileged servant. He was engaged in the protection of princely property. According to Russian Pravda, the life of a fireman was valued at 80 hryvnia. This is twice the price of a common man. There are also “old grooms” - princely servants in charge of the stables of their ruler.
Clergy
Representatives of the Orthodox Church have a special legal status according to “Russian Truth”. The population of the ancient Russian state had a large percentage of clergy, churchmen and monks.
The clergy in Rus' was divided into white and black. The white category included priests (ordinary priests - the largest group), archpriests, protopresbyters, as well as various types of deacons. A special place in Russian Orthodoxy was occupied by clergy who accepted the schema - a special spiritual status. The black category includes monasticism, which is also classified into several types. Yaroslav the Wise actively contributed to the development of the clergy in Rus'. The Russkaya Pravda established separate standards for killing or causing harm to church representatives.
Free people
Who were included in the category of so-called commoners? What status did the independent and free inhabitants of Rus' have? The legal status of the population according to the brief "Russian Truth" is reflected quite clearly. The main character in the document under consideration is the husband - a free man. For the murder of a husband, a fine of 40 hryvnia is imposed. A variety of representatives of the ancient Russian population could be called husbands.
The so-called community smerds were independent both legally and economically. These people performed certain duties in favor of the state and also paid taxes. Here it is worth highlighting the townspeople. Both smerds and posadniks had property that could be inherited. Representatives of these categories bore property and personal liability for crimes and misdemeanors committed. There were also different social groups in the cities: artisans, workers, small traders, merchants and other categories of people. The legal status of the free population according to Russian Pravda was stipulated for each individual category. Basically, fines and other types of punishment were established for various crimes and misdemeanors. It was by the severity of the sanctions that one could determine how privileged a particular class was.
Purchases and rank and file
It is worth moving to a group of dependent people. There are quite a large number of categories of the population in this industry. The most privileged group among dependent people are the so-called warrior elders and princely breadwinners. These are the elders who are involved in managerial affairs.
The lowest position was occupied by purchases, smerds and ryadovichi. At the same time, a dependent smerd should not be confused with a communal smerd, who was in an intermediate position on the “ladder of dependence”, and therefore had some rights and opportunities. A dependent smerd is a simple peasant whose property was inherited by the prince. People who became slaves due to debt bondage were called purchasers. These are dependent Russians who took on a “kupa” - a debt that they subsequently could not repay. The ryadovichi, in turn, concluded a “row” with the feudal lord - a special agreement under which they received responsibilities for cultivating the land.
Serfs
The most powerless and most dependent category of people deserves to be discussed separately. Serfs in Kievan Rus were close in status to slaves, however, according to many historians, they were not such. According to “Russian Truth”, the legal status of social groups close to serfs had the status of not a subject, but an object of law. There were no penalties for killing one's own slave. For someone else's they paid 12 hryvnia. Here it is worth remembering the price of a commoner’s life, which, according to the document in question, was 40 hryvnia. The difference between free people and slaves is obvious.
Serfdom manifested itself in many forms. Groups of slaves depend on how exactly this or that person acquired this status. For example, a purchaser who committed a serious crime was converted into white-washed (full) servitude, which was passed on by inheritance. The same applies to failure to pay debt. Sometimes the amount due could be so large that the debtor immediately became not a purchaser, but a slave.
Serfs should not be confused with servants. The so-called servants acquired a semi-slave status as a result of captivity, which was often used during military campaigns. There were incredibly many servants in Rus'. Almost every family whose head participated in a military campaign had one foreign slave with them.
Population according to "Russian Truth": tables
The legal status of each category of the population can be characterized indefinitely. However, the best understanding comes only when looking at the structure of the inhabitants of Kievan Rus, recorded in the form of a table.
The table presents fairly generalized data. Thus, there are still debates about whether servants should be classified as servitude. Historians also debate the role of smerds. Not all of them were addicts.
Thus, the data in the form of a table provides the best description of the legal status of the population according to Russian Pravda.
Collection of criminal norms
Provisions regulating punishments for crimes or misdemeanors best reflect the legal inequality of different categories of the population. Any person other than a serf was considered the subject of a crime in Kievan Rus. "Russian Truth" did not provide for an age of criminal responsibility for people. However, the document already reflected the concept of complicity.
The main crime in the document is “tatba”, that is, theft. Horse stealing was considered the worst type of theft. No less attention was paid to murder. The most common form of punishment for murder or assault was a fine. Its amount varied depending on which category of the population the person belonged to.
Civil law
Old Russian legislation had an extensive and high-quality civil system. Considerable attention in "Russian Pravda" is paid to property rights. The feudal lord had full property rights to the means of production and incomplete property rights to the worker.
For damage to property, the culprit had to pay a fine and compensate for the damage. The contractual system was also developed. It was she who formed and consolidated the legal status of the population of Ancient Rus'. People took on debts, became dependent, and then entered into a series or coupa. All this contributed to the establishment of a social system that persisted for many subsequent centuries.
More than a hundred lists of Russian Pravda have survived to this day, which can be presented in three main editions: Brief, Long and Abridged. The oldest (published no later than 1054) is the Brief Truth, consisting of the Truth of Yaroslav and the Yaroslavichs, Pokon Virny and the Lesson of Bridge Workers (a total of 43 articles have been published) History of State and Law of Russia: a textbook for university students studying in special fields. “Jurisprudence”, Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation. - M.: Prospekt, 2009. - 33 p..
A lengthy edition appeared no earlier than 1113 and is associated with the names of Yaroslav (Yaroslav's court) and Vladimir Monomakh (Charter).
From the revised Long version, the Abridged version appeared in the middle of the 15th century.
Regarding the status of the Russian Pravda, there are two opposing assessments: some historians recognize the Russian Pravda as the official code of princely law (Pogodin, Belyaev, Lange, etc.), the other - a private collection of legal customs and judicial practice (Sergeevich, Vladimirsky-Budanov, etc.).
According to the beliefs of V.O. Klyuchevsky, Russian Truth was published as a supplement to the Helmsman’s Book, and church legal proceedings became the basis for the formation of its text.
So, the code of laws "Russian Truth" is based on a number of sources, including foreign ones, of a church-legal nature - Nomocanon (The Helmsman's Book), Eclogue, Law of Judgment for People, Prochiron, Civil Law (IX century), church statutes Vladimir and Yaroslav. This gives the right to assume that Russian Truth could be used by church courts to make decisions in non-church civil and criminal cases of V.M. Syrykh. History of state and law of Russia. Textbook. - M: Eksmo, 2007. - 104 p..
Princely laws also formed the basis of Pravda, but rather in a retold form, this is explained by the ecclesiastical legal orientation of the text: it does not contain crimes, sanctions and procedural actions that took place in judicial practice; State crimes, the death penalty and judicial combat, which were never supported by the Church, are not indicated in any way.
With the strengthening of princely power, interference in the text of the Russian Truth is limited to church legal proceedings; the collection begins to cover princely legal proceedings. However, without becoming a direct code of princely laws (but a collection of customs and church legislation), Pravda still remained a guide for princely legal proceedings Pivovarov Yu.S. History of judicial institutions of Russia. - M: INION RAS, 2004. - P. 6-7..
The collection of laws uses a casual or formal way of analyzing the material: a certain incident was taken from a legal source or real life (custom, Byzantine law, judicial practice), the resolution on which the Russian Pravda itself decided. At the same time, there was a double motive for the decision: religious and moral (fair) and purely legislative (according to regulations).
It becomes obvious that, as a body of laws, Russian Truth was built up gradually: at first, its individual norms were formed (borrowings from Byzantine law were adopted into real judicial practice), which were systematized during the selection by Kudinov O.A. History of state and law of Russia. Textbook. - M: Os-89, 2008. - 45 p..
The brief edition of Russian Pravda consists of two parts: the first, which includes 17 articles, contains norms of criminal, civil and administrative law. The second part contains the decisions of the princely congresses of Yaroslav's descendants, supplementing the existing articles with norms of court fees and expenses.
Develops the provisions of the Brief Edition of the Long Pravda, systematizing them, and adds to them laws adopted during the reign of Vladimir Monomakh.
The division of Pravda into the “Court of Yaroslav” and the “Charter of Vladimir” can be considered quite conditional: only a few articles are related to the lawmaking of these princes, the rest were brought from different sources and eras, since the main task of Pravda was to attract and include in its composition various norms that were important primarily for the codifier.
The sources subject to codification were the norms of customary law (blood feud, mutual responsibility) and princely legal proceedings, the latter are especially numerous in Russian Pravda and are associated with the names of the princes who accepted them (Yaroslav, sons of Yaroslav, Vladimir Monomakh) and of course a certain influence on systematization was provided by Byzantine canon law Rogov V.A. History of state and law of Russia in the 9th - early 10th centuries. Textbook. - M: MGIU, 2006. - 11 p. .
Russkaya Pravda distinguishes, albeit with some difficulties, the legal status of the ruling elite and the rest of the population according to two legal criteria that particularly distinguish these groups within society - norms on increased responsibility and a special order of inheritance. Representatives of these privileged groups, according to the prescriptions of Russian Pravda, were princes, boyars, princely men, princely tiuns, and firemen. However, not all of these persons are feudal lords; we are talking only about their privileges associated with their status, including social status or proximity to the princely court.
Most of the population was divided into dependent and free people; there were also intermediate and transitional categories. The townspeople and community smerds were considered legally and economically independent (they paid taxes and performed duties only in favor of the state). Among the urban population, a number of social groups stood out - boyars, clergy, merchants, “lower classes” (artisans, small traders, workers, etc.) Yushkov S.V. Essays on the history of feudalism in Kievan Rus. - M: Publishing House of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 1939. - 139 p..
Among the dependent categories, it is worth mentioning the “serf” smerds, who were in bondage and service to the feudal lords. A more complex legal figure was the procurement, which works on the feudal lord’s farm for a “kupa”, i.e. a loan that could include various valuables - land, livestock, grain, money, etc. Officially, while in bondage, the purchaser, nevertheless, remained a free person until he violated the agreement with the creditor. Otherwise, he could be turned into a slave. The Long Edition had a special Procurement Charter.
The purchase was the legal figure that most clearly illustrated the process of “feudalization”, the enslavement of former free community members.
The most powerless subject of law was the slave, who did not have any property - everything he possessed was the property of the master. The law regulated various sources of servitude: self-sale into bondage (of one person or the whole family), birth from a serf, marriage to a “robe”, “key holding”, commission of especially serious crimes, flight of purchases from the master, malicious bankruptcy (a merchant loses or squanders someone else’s property ), captivity Old Russian principalities X-XIII centuries. /Ans. ed. L.G. Bloodless. M.: Publishing house "Science". 1975. - 123 pp.
In Russian Pravda there was no such thing as a legal entity, so the code can be defined as a set of laws of private law, so, among the types of crimes, there are no crimes against the state. As an individual, only with a higher position, the personality of the prince himself was considered as an object of criminal encroachment. The content of property rights was associated with specific subjects; it could be different depending on the property. The norms and principles of customary law included in the Russian Pravda work only with individuals.
Another source for studying the legal development of the Old Russian state is princely judicial practice, introducing a subjective element into the definition of the subject of law (those close to the princely court, to whom, first of all, privileges apply) and the assessment of legal actions.
In Russian Pravda, an important component of procedural law was the settlement of all kinds of legal fees and taxes to princely officials: assistant judge, youth, virnik, invoices to the prince’s husband with a scribe, company lessons during the oath, duty for testing with iron, judicial lessons.
Obligatory relations could arise from situations of harm or from a contract. By ignoring the fulfillment of obligations, the debtor could lose property, and in some cases, his freedom. Agreements were concluded orally, but a prerequisite for recognition of the agreement was the presence of witnesses who could confirm this fact at the auction or in the presence of the Mytnik. The Russian Pravda mentions contracts of purchase and sale, loan, credit, personal hiring, storage, commission, etc.
In Russian Pravda, the line between compensation for damage and criminal punishment is as insignificant as the difference between the scope of civil and criminal law is in principle. Legally, the difference is made only in the collection procedure; for a civil offense, liability for losses in the form of a fine falls on the accused in favor of the victim; for criminal offenses, the fine is collected in favor of Prince Isaev I.A. History of state and law of Russia. Textbook. - M: Yurist, 2007. - P. 39-42..
The Russian Truth in the field of civil law relations quite accurately defines and distinguishes different institutions from the field of property and obligations law.
In addition, Russian Law included in the code a number of outdated and outdated elements, such as a dispute over the ownership of property through an “ordeal” or the procedure for the plaintiff to claim something belonging to him in the process of “collection”.
Archaic elements that deform the civil freedom of the contract have also been preserved in the field of obligation law, such as the lack of compensation when concluding a bad deal (a free man with a slave), when one of the parties to the contract is deprived of legal capacity, the onset of personal enslaving liability when it is impossible to fulfill a property debt obligation ( bankruptcy, procurement), etc.
Social stratification and legal differentiation (different procedures for the “boyars” and for ordinary free people) have emerged in the field of inheritance law, however, the main role in judicial practice in the conduct of cases concerning inheritance law is played by the community of the rope and the clan element, which continues to operate rooted in In Rus', the minority principle (the advantage of the youngest son in inheritance) and the predominance of the legal order of inheritance over the testamentary one.
The law mentions the inheritance of movable property - houses, yards, slaves, livestock, goods. Since the land was not an object of private property, there is no talk of inheritance yet. Only legal heirs could be included in the will, and the testator only distributed shares among them.
In the field of criminal law, the private nature of ancient law also manifested itself. The crime, according to the interpretation of Russian Pravda, was considered not as a violation of the law or the prince’s will, but as an “offense”, i.e. causing moral or material damage to a person or group of persons. The law did not differentiate a criminal offense from a civil offense. Persons and property were the objects of the crime. All individuals, including slaves, acted as subjects of the crime. The law did not say anything about the age limit for the subjects of a crime. The subjective side of the crime included intent or negligence. A clear distinction between the motives of a crime and the concept of guilt did not yet exist, but they were already outlined in the law.
Flow and plunder (arson, horse theft, robbery) were the types of crimes for which capital punishment was imposed according to Russian Pravda. The punishment included the confiscation of all property and the transfer into slavery of the criminal along with his family. Ibid. - pp. 42-44..
The closest type of punishment according to the gravity of the crime was vira - a fine that went to the princely treasury and was established in the only case - for murder. In proportion to the vira, the head payment was paid, but to the relatives of the victim. Depending on the status of the deceased, the amount of fines was assigned - double, for a privileged member of society in the amount of 80 hryvnia and single, for the murder of an ordinary free person, in the amount of 40 hryvnia.
Vira could also be imposed on the community, in the form of the so-called mutual responsibility (“wild” or “general”), binding all members of the community with a common duty, and thereby performing a police function.
Punishments for the rest of the crimes (both against the person and against property) were imposed in the form of a fine, the amount of which could vary depending on the severity of the offense. Compensation for damage, both moral and material, becomes the main goal of any punishment. An atavism that has been preserved since the times of tribal relations, and nevertheless was included in the Russian Pravda, became the principle of talion, closely associated with blood feud. It is impossible not to mention the judicial duel that existed in practice, although there are no written references to it in Russian Pravda.
There are no articles in Russian Pravda describing such concepts as a crime against the state or against morality. The absence of these concepts can be explained quite simply - by the peculiar nature of the sources on the basis of which Russian Truth was formed. This is custom and church legislation, neither in the first nor in the second such an object as the “state” appears, therefore criminal encroachments on it are not provided for by the Truth.
Already during the time of Russian Truth, crimes against morality were brought under the jurisdiction of church legislation and were regulated by church collections of statutes of princes Vladimir and Yaroslav.
Church legal proceedings, from the legal field of which, apparently, Russian Pravda emerged, using its norms in relation to cases of a non-ecclesiastical nature towards church persons, sought to implement its own principles, close to the church, but was forced to take into account the existing common judicial practice.
From the collection of Russkaya Pravda, the rules regarding the judicial duel were excluded, although the latter was a very popular way for its time to prove one’s case, as well as the rules governing the use of the death penalty as one of the types of punishment. The Church’s negative assessment of the institution of capital punishment, as a kind of continuation of blood feud, was supplemented by another significant point: when considering the most serious cases in the church court (and the latter was an indisputable source in the process of codifying the norms of Russian Truth), according to which the death penalty was applied to convicted, together with the church judge, the princely judge also participated in the process. Most likely, the use of the death penalty as the ultimate punishment in a sentence was only within his powers, but a church judge, for moral and Christian reasons, could not shoulder such responsibility.
Russian Pravda tried to include the most significant, from the point of view of judicial practice and drafters, public relations developing in Rus': contracts, property issues, responsibility for a crime and types of punishments, the trial itself, etc. The desire of the compilers of the Russian Pravda to remove from the code some unnecessary aspects (such as the death penalty, blood feud, duel, etc. mentioned above), the chaos in judicial practice, predetermined the result that the Russian Pravda was unable to reflect a truly real picture of the existing systems of legal relations in Rus'.
The Church, as an ideological institution with a strict organizational hierarchy introduced from outside, significantly influenced the political order that existed in Rus'. She integrated into Russian reality previously unfamiliar ideas about monarchical power, state hierarchy and political centralization. Church management and recommendations introduced into the princely administration the concepts of moral improvement, the idea of legality and the primacy of the monarch, written codification of legal paperwork and conducting the investigative procedure of judicial proceedings. Ibid. - pp. 44-50..