What did the boyars do in ancient Rus'. Who are the boyars and nobles? See what "boyars" are in other dictionaries
Who are the boyars? This is the upper class that existed in Rus' from the 10th to the 17th century. The privileged class also included the great and specific princes.
The emergence of the boyars
In the hierarchical ladder, the boyars occupied a leading role immediately after the Grand Duke, participated along with him in government.
This class stood out in the 9th century, when the formation of the Old Russian state began. Among them, during the 10-11 centuries, princely and zemstvo boyars separately existed. The first were also called princely men, and the second - city elders. It was the latter who were the descendants of the tribal nobility. When in the 11th century princely husbands were endowed with land, they merged with the zemstvo boyars, becoming a single estate.
Princes and boyars in state affairs in the 12th-15th centuries
Since the boyars were vassals of the prince, their duties included serving in his army. But they also had many privileges: they had the right to leave for another prince; and dominance on the territory of their estates; their vassals.
The fragmentation of Rus', which took place in the 12th-15th centuries, led to the weakening of princely power. At the same time, there was an increase in the economic power of the boyar class, an increase in its political influence.
For example, in the territory of the Galicia-Volyn principality and the Novgorod lands in the 13th century, the boyars took over the decision of state affairs, which was carried out at the so-called councils. Due to the strong influence of this estate, the Chernigov, Polotsk-Minsk, Muromo-Ryazan principalities did not have powerful princely power.
Rivalry between princes and patrimonial boyars
To weaken the influence of the patrimonial boyars, the princes resorted to the help of service boyars and nobles.
When, starting from the second half, the grand ducal power began to increase again, the so-called worthy boyars appeared. Their powers included managing the branches of the palace economy.
Who are the noble boyars? This is a horseman, falconer, bowler, etc. They also included governors, in whose administration were separate territories that had gone to them for feeding.
Education entailed a restriction of the rights of the boyars, which consisted in narrowing the scope of immunity, constraint and cancellation by the end of the 15th century of the right to leave for another prince. The social status of the class has changed.
Distribution of power in the 15th-17th centuries
Who are the boyars since the 15th century? Now this is the highest rank among service people in the fatherland. The presence of such a title meant that a person could participate in activities; this gave the right to be considered the highest duma rank. Boyars, as a rule, were now in the main administrative, judicial and military positions, were at the head of orders.
The patrimonial boyars, who continued to resist the regime of the newly formed centralized state, were deprived of many socio-economic and political privileges. All protests and speeches were immediately suppressed. The boyar aristocracy suffered greatly from the oprichnina of Ivan IV.
With the accession to the throne of the Romanovs, the distribution of influence among the estates changed dramatically. Now the service boyars and nobles of the 17th century have become economically stronger, while many noble dynasties have been cut short. It was for these reasons that the class differences between the boyars and the nobility gradually began to disappear. And when the local and patrimonial landownership, according to the order of 1714, united, they were tacitly united into the concept of "landlords". Later, this term was modified into the word "bare", or "master".
In 1682 localism was abolished, and now the boyars were less and less involved in state affairs. And at the beginning of the 18th century, Peter I completely abolished the title of boyar.
Life of boyars and nobles
The nobles and boyars of the 17th century in Russia, as mentioned earlier, began to unite into one estate.
If we talk about everyday life, then according to the remaining artifacts of those times, we can conclude that in the noble and boyar estates there were a lot of weapons and silver items, expensive jewelry and interior items. By the 17th century, many estates had become feudal castles that could house 60 to 80 people.
The appearance of the first truly chic estates for those times dates back to the 10th-11th centuries. Gradually, some of them went bankrupt in the process of various reforms. The owners started their estates. But representatives of enterprising families, who managed to preserve their wealth and territories, by the 16-17 centuries surrounded their estates with high walls, turning them into real castles.
Life of boyars and nobles in the 17th century
The gradual penetration of the European model of life into the materially secure classes led to increased concern for the comfort of life. How else to understand who the boyars and nobles are? The higher materially wealthy classes showed this as soon as they could: a variety of cutlery and napkins, individual dishes and tablecloths began to appear on the tables. Now each member of the family had a separate room. Particularly wealthy dynasties used faience, tin and copper utensils.
Representatives of famous families of that time (Golitsyn, Naryshkin, Odoevsky, Morozov, etc.) decorated their large stone houses according to last word European fashion: expensive wallpapers, carpets and leather on the walls; mirrors and paintings; a large number of light sources, in particular chandeliers and decorative candles.
Both masters and servants began to dress in the European manner: light expensive fabrics, free cut, jewelry made of gold and silver embroidery and precious stones. Despite the fact that European dresses were the exception rather than a constant in 17th century Russia, the privileged classes in many ways began to follow the trends of Western fashion.
Hobbies have become another new element in the life of wealthy boyars and nobles. Playing chess, attending concerts and other entertainments have become an integral part of the life of the rich. They traveled in light carriages with springs and servants at the back, wore wigs, and the men began to shave their faces.
The townspeople lived more modestly. Its representatives dressed in a cloth dress, furniture and utensils were not so expensive. But in their lives there was also a desire for comfort. In the rooms one could see paintings, clocks, mirrors. Reception of guests was carried out in special ceremonial halls.
The nobles tried to copy the royal chambers, of course, not with royal gloss, but still. In their mansions there were windows with mica, furniture made of carved wood, carpets on the floors.
Who are the boyars in Wallachia and Moldavia?
On the territory of Wallachia and Moldavia, this feudal class took shape in the 14th century. Within it, a certain classification was observed. The tribal boyars were the owners of the bashtins (estates), and the local boyars were the owners of the granted estates. Over time, the differences between them began to blur. The boyars of independent Romania in the 19th century included people from large merchants and officials. In these territories, the liquidation of the boyars as a class took place only on March 22, 1945, in the process of implementing the law on agrarian reform.
The terms "boyars" and "nobles" in the history textbook
Who are the boyars and nobles? The historical definition provides a clear and concise answer to this question.
Nobles are representatives of a privileged class that arose in a feudal society.
Boyars - representatives of the upper layer that existed from the 10th to the 17th centuries in the territory Kievan Rus, the Moscow principality, Bulgaria, the Moldavian principality, Wallachia, from the XIV century in Romania.
Already in the most ancient monuments of our history, we find evidence of the existence of a special government class, or circle of people who were the closest government employees of the prince. These people are called boyars, A Sometimes retinue prince, and constituted his usual advice, with which he thinks about the dispensation of the earth. Together with the princely power, which has a state character, there is also a special military class - the princely squad, princely men. This was a class of the population closer to the prince, which is also proved by the larger one laid down in the Russian Truth for the murder of the prince-husband, i.e. buddy, I believe. This position of the combatant was also the source of his wealth, and the combatants were generally richer than the rest of the population, with the exception of a few especially wealthy guests. The squad, in turn, was divided into senior and junior, which also had their own units. The eldest was close to the prince, but several people stood out from this senior squad, especially important ones, close to the prince. The senior squad is known under the name of the boyars. Their common name was originally fires, subsequently the name was approved for them princely husbands, and finally, just boyars. Word boyar generally denoted an influential person in the land, a deliberate husband; better in the sense that the chronicle uses this word when speaking of the Drevlyansk ambassadors to the book. Olga: " Best Husbands(there were 20 chosen), even holding the Derevskaya land. "The boyar was not only a senior combatant, but probably also a rich man, mainly a landowner, a large owner. There was a difference between the boyars, but only an everyday one, similar to the division of people in general into the best, average and worst. position, but to their actions. There could be boyars and subordinates to one another; for example, in the Patericon of Pechora it is said that Shimon Afrikanovich sent his boyar Vasily; and it is clear that this boyar was a person subordinate to Shimon, and therefore lower than him. The origin of the persons who made up the prince's squad did not matter; personal qualities were more important. In the concepts of the people, even in later times, when estate system more strong in the Russian state was conceivable a combatant and a priest, and a guest son; there are known examples of boyars and priestly grandchildren from the smerdya tribe. There could have been strangers in the squad, even from such a people with whom Rus' was always at war, for example, the Pechenegs: the Pechenegs of Ildea were in the service of Prince Yaropolk and in great honor. The prince only bothered about the number of combatants suitable for him, since the strength of the squad always and everywhere determined the value, "honor" of sovereigns. But in the X - XII century. the prince's retinue, for the most part, still had to be recruited from the children of the retinues themselves. The son of a well-deserved warrior in advance had the prince in his favor, who could give him a place in his squad in the fatherland, i.e. in accordance with the meaning of the father. The award for the fatherland, like a well-known formula, runs through the whole ancient history. A son was supposed to be worthy of his father.
From the best people among the inhabitants of each land and from the highest members of the princely court of warriors, a class of boyars was formed. The best people are called. zemstvo boyars as opposed to princely boyars, prince husbands. the best people chronicle sometimes called. "city elders" or "human" ones. Under Vladimir, St. "old men" or "elders" called. the best zemstvo people (boyars), since the chronicler translates the Latin term - "senatores" with the word "starci"; sometimes the chronicler means by the word "elders" all members of the princely duma (i.e. boyars, par excellence). It can be argued that East Slavs from ancient times they had among themselves the same class of the best people, which the Western Slavs call majores natu, seniores, kmety, and other terms. This class is everywhere formed from people who are superior in tribal seniority (descent, which is why its members are called elders), in power in their society (members of it "hold the land"), and finally, in higher economic wealth (the term "better people" in subsequent history means richer people).
While the new government, the prince with his retinue, did not strengthen and needed the help of the city nobility (elders, princely husbands), from which it itself came out, both social forces stood very close to each other. The whole tenth century they act together and are very similar to one another, they fight and trade together, and together they discuss the most important issues of legislation in the duma of the prince. But then these two forces, so related in origin, diverge more and more. This mutual removal is found from the middle of the 11th century. with the children of Yaroslav; it was prepared by various circumstances. The princely government was organized and, having strengthened itself administratively and militarily, it became less in need of the assistance of the city administration and city regiments. The reign of Vladimir, when the city elders so often appeared in the prince's palace next to the boyars, was the time of the most intense struggle with the steppe. Then the Kiev government everywhere intensively searched for military people. But the terrible defeat inflicted by Yaroslav on the Pechenegs in 1036 under the walls of Kyiv, for some time, untied the hands of the government from this side. At the same time, the political and economic distance between the princely retinue and the urban aristocracy began to noticeably expand. Service advantages more and more communicated the importance of the nobility to the former, reducing the latter to the position of simple philistines. The successes of commerce have circulated in the country considerable circulating capital, raised the money income of the government class in terms of income in kind, and weakened its direct participation in the commercial operations of the cities. The appearance among the boyars of privileged land ownership, signs of which become noticeable from the 11th century, further removed this class from urban society, which owned commercial capital. Due to various advantages, official, personal and economic, which did not belong to all members of the squad to the same extent, the word boyar over time ceased to be a synonym for the prince's husband and received various special meanings in different areas of life. Having received a closer meaning at the princely court, the title of boyar expanded outside the government sphere: in the language of private civil relations, all serving privileged landowners and slave owners were called boyars, regardless of the court hierarchy, due to the close connection of the then landownership with slaveholding. Such is the boyar in Russkaya Pravda, and with the same meaning this word passes through the monuments of our law until the very 18th century. Slave ownership was the legal and economic basis of the boyar patrimony. Private privileged landownership in ancient Rus' developed out of slavery. The patrimony of a private owner legally and economically originated from the fact that the slave owner planted his serfs on the land for its economic exploitation; land was attached to a person, became his property by means of the fact that people were attached to it, personally strong to him, constituting his property; the serf became a legal conductor of the right to own land and an economic tool for the economic exploitation of the latter. In the language of ancient Russian civil law, the boyar from the time of Russian Pravda and up to the decrees of Peter the Great meant not that at court old Russian prince and the prince of Moscow: here he was the highest service rank, having received the special significance of an adviser, a permanent princely "duma", or "dumnik", and there he served as a privileged landowner and slave owner. Kholop was called a boyar village, a village was a boyar village, work on the arable land of a landowner was boyar business, boyars, regardless of whether the landowner had the title of boyar at court or not.
The highest governmental class in the principality of specific time is indicated in the princely charters of the 14th and 15th centuries. the name of the boyars introduced And worthwhile, or travelers. Boyars introduced were the rulers of certain departments of the palace administration or the palace economy, the butler, treasurer, falconer, steward, bowler, etc. Worthwhile all palace officials, higher and lower, who received palace lands and income for travel or food were called. The introduced boyar was at the same time worthy, because he usually used such a salary; but like a great boyar, he towered over ordinary travelers who were not the chief administrators of individual departments of the palace economy. The prince, appointing the boyars as the main administrators of his palace household, entrusting them with his household servants and his household chores, as if he introduced these boyars into his palace, so that they were considered as if living in the palace. In such cases, the title: "introduced boyar" corresponded in meaning to the later title of room boyars or neighbors.
So, from the two elements - the retinue (service) and the zemstvo, one boyar class is composed (since the 11th century), when the retinues, having settled, became local landowners, and the zemstvo boyars, through palace services, passed into the class of princely husbands. The princely courts, continuing to exist, prepared new service elements, which gradually merged again into the zemstvo boyars. The word: “nobles” (instead of “team” or “grid”) appears already in the 12th century: “The townspeople of Bogolyubstiya and the nobles plundered the house of the princes” (Ipat. let., 1175). But we have not established the German distinction of Dienst-Adel and simply Adel. The boyars of ancient Rus' had no no class corporatism,no class privileges. The formation of corporatism was hindered by the zemstvo character of the ancient Russian states. Each community (city, volost and even village) had its own boyars (as well as middle and smaller people). For the most part, the zemstvo distribution of classes prevented the formation of corporatism. This was not contradicted by the fact that the boyars, in fact (that is, those whose dignity was recognized in the whole state of that time - the land) were only the boyars of the older city. estate value boyars is determined by the value of the community; nevertheless, the population of the older community is recognized as boyar (higher) in relation to the population of the younger cities, although these latter have their own boyars. The formation of estate corporatism was also hindered by the methods of joining the boyar class, which were then practiced. The boyar was the one who occupied the highest place in the service (princely or zemstvo) and acquired more or less rich property. Personal qualities (with elevation in society) prevailed in ancient Slavic societies over birth and heredity. Birth influenced the assimilation of the boyars only in fact, that is, it was easier for the boyar's son to achieve the boyars. From this family nicknames, ancient Rus' did not know; the chronicle tells us only the names, sometimes patronymics of the boyars.
In the absence of corporatism, the boyar class could not enjoy any privileges (exclusive rights). In the sphere of personal rights, although firemen (or princely men) are protected by double vira upon murder (Rus. Pr. Ak. 18, 21, Kar. 1 and 3) and double sale "for flour", but this applies only to princely men and is explained by their personal relationship with the prince, and the prince collects, under the general name of vira, not only a criminal fine, but also a private reward. In the sphere of property rights, monuments ascribe to the boyars the right to own villages (land property), as if belonging to them par excellence. In any case, in fact, land ownership belonged to the boyars more than to persons of other classes. In the field of inheritance rights, boyars are credited with the privilege of passing on inheritance to daughters, in the absence of sons; but such a right extends not only to the boyars, but also to all free "people", except for the smerds.
Under Peter V., the formation of several estates, or states, from the former service and draft classes begins. During the initial formation of the nobility by Peter, it received the name courtiers, Then nobility following the example of Poland and Lithuania. It was impossible to call him nobility at that time because in the Moscow state the lower rank of service people was called nobles and such a name for a boyar would be an insult. The former Moscow ranks were abolished by Peter's decrees of 1695-1703, but those who had them wore them out in the first quarter of the 18th century. A positive measure for the formation of the gentry, which replaced the boyars, should be considered a decree on the same inheritance of 1714, by which the estates were assigned to the gentry on the basis of the right of ownership, that is, the foundation was laid for the 1st and most important privilege of the nobles - to own populated property regardless of service. The second act of the formation of the nobility was the manifesto of Peter III on February 18. 1762 on the release of nobles from compulsory service, after which everything they were rewarded for their service turned into their privileges. The final organization of the estates was given by the charter of Catherine II in 1785, the content of which is based on the petitions of the nobles themselves, declared by them during the accession of the emperor. Anna and in the legislative commissions of Elisabeth and Catherine.
Wed Al. I. Markevich, "History of Localities in the Muscovite State in the 15th - 17th Centuries." (Odessa, 1888); V. Klyuchevsky, "The Boyar Duma of Ancient Rus'" (Moscow, 1888).
Encyclopedia Brockhaus-Efron
BOYARIN
1) A large landowner, a representative of the upper layer of feudal lords in Ancient Rus' ( cm.). In state administration boyars ranked second after grand dukes. At the courtyards ( cm.) of the Grand Dukes, they ruled certain branches of the palace economy or territories. Boyars were subordinated prince and had their subordinates. During the period of feudal fragmentation (XII-XV centuries), with the weakening of princely power, economic power and political influence the boyars intensified. In the Novgorod feudal republic ( cm.) they actually ruled the state. In the XIV century, during the formation of the Russian centralized state, the property and political privileges of the boyars were significantly limited. In the middle of the XVI century. dealt a particularly strong blow to the boyar aristocracy. In the 17th century many noble boyar families died out, others weakened economically; the importance has grown nobility as a new aristocracy. boyars how a special estate with its social and economic privileges ceased to exist under Peter I at the beginning of the XVIII century. The title of boyar was abolished in the Petrine era.
In the domestic sense until the XVIII century. word boyars meant both boyars and nobles. From this word came the word - the common name of a representative of one of the privileged classes - nobleman, landowner or high-ranking official (cm.). It also began to be used when referring to a person of a lower class to a person of a higher class.
2) The highest rank (title) of a government official in the Moscow ( cm.) Rus' in the XV - XVII centuries, which gave the right to participate in meetings Boyar Duma to hold major administrative, judicial and military positions, to lead orders(type of ministry), to be a voivode individual areas(that is, to represent both the military and administrative authorities there). The title of boyar was received primarily by persons from the noblest families. But in the XVI and especially in the XVII century. the rank of boyar and the corresponding position in the state apparatus were also received by representatives of the unborn nobility for their personal merits.
"Treat of the boyar". Artist V.G. Schwartz. 1865:
Russia. Large linguo-cultural dictionary. - M .: State Institute of the Russian Language. A.S. Pushkin. AST-Press. T.N. Chernyavskaya, K.S. Miloslavskaya, E.G. Rostova, O.E. Frolova, V.I. Borisenko, Yu.A. Vyunov, V.P. Chudnov. 2007 .
Synonyms:See what "BOYARIN" is in other dictionaries:
BOYARIN- husband. noblewoman wives. now a barin, mistress. (From the fight, beat, voivode? from the boyars, cheer for whom, take care? from the pains, the highway?) With the boyars to know the mind to gain (it’s a sin not to cheat). The boyar is not even a brother in rags. Such a boyar, but still not a man. Everyone… … Dictionary Dalia
boyar- Cm … Synonym dictionary
boyar- BOYARIN, history. - About the meaning. see below. - And before your letter, we sent to Tobolsk the Surgut Litvin Yakov Sergunov, the newly baptized Narymsky Oleshka Sanbycheev with service and other matters (1. 384). HRE 19: boyar "1) in Dr. Rus' and Moscow. state - ... ... Dictionary of the trilogy "The Sovereign's Estate"
BOYARIN- BOYARIN, boyar, pl. boyars, boyars, husband. (source). In Muscovite Rus', a person belonging to the upper class. Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov. D.N. Ushakov. 1935 1940 ... Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov
BOYARIN- BOYARIN, a, pl. yare, yar, husband. 1. In Russia before the beginning of the 18th century: a large landowner belonging to the upper stratum of the ruling class. 2. In Romania before 1945: a tribal or local feudal lord. | adj. boyar, oh, oh. Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov. S.I.… … Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov
boyar- This term has other meanings, see Boyarin (meanings). Russian boyars Boyarin (zh.r. boyarynya, pl. boyars) in the narrow sense, the highest stratum of feudal society in the X ... Wikipedia
BOYARIN- Marry the boyars. Prikam. Obsolete The name of the youth game. MFS, 36. Big boyars (boyars). Sib. Witnesses, guests of honor at the wedding from the side of the groom. SPS, 27; FSS, 15. Small boyars. Sib. Witnesses from the bride. SPS, 27; FSS, 15. Big boyar ... Big dictionary of Russian sayings
boyar- a, m. Large landowner; a person who had the highest degree and title in pre-Petrine times. And he said, looking at the ground, to the noble boyar. // Nekrasov. Who should live well in Rus' // BOYARSKY, BOYARYSHNYA, ◘ NEAREST BOYARIN, ◘ DUMNY BOYARIN ... Dictionary of forgotten and difficult words from works of Russian literature of the 18th-19th centuries
BOYARIN- Mishko Boyarin, peasant of the Kolomna settlement. 1495. Scribe. I, 72. Andrei Boyarin, landlord in Vilna. 1643. Arch. Sat. VI, 342 ... Biographical Dictionary
boyar- Probably common. suf. derivative (cf. lord) from the lost boyars, genus. n. boyars (most likely, original. formations with suf. ar from fight fights “battle, battle”). See beat. Boyarin originally "fighter, warrior, combatant" ... Etymological dictionary of the Russian language
boyar- I boyar of the forests (Melnikov 3, 266) - the euphemistic name of the bear. See boyar. II boyar other Russian. boyar, where is the master from, Ukrainian. boyar, senior slav. bolirin, pl. bolѩre μεγιστᾶνες (Supr.), Bolg. boyar, boyar, Serbohorv. boyar. With this word... ... Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language by Max Fasmer
Boyars- the highest class of feudal landowners in Rus' in the IX-XVII centuries In Kievan Rus and during the period of feudal fragmentation, they were members of the princely council, had their own armed detachments. With education Russian state were members of the Boyar Duma, the title of boyar became the highest court rank, complained to the king. They were usually at the head Boyars Abolished by Peter I. Boyars- Already in the most ancient monuments of our history, we find evidence of the existence of a special government class or circle of people who were the closest government employees of the prince. These people are called boyars, and sometimes the prince's retinue, and made up his usual council, with which he thinks about the disposition of the land.
Together with the princely power, which has a state character, there is also a special military class - the princely squad, princely men. This was a class of the population closer to the prince, which is also proved by the larger one stipulated in the Russian Truth for the murder of the prince-husband, i.e. buddy, I believe. This position of the combatant was also the source of his wealth, and the combatants were generally richer than the rest of the population, with the exception of a few especially wealthy guests. Between the boyars there was a difference, but only an everyday one, similar to the division of people in general into the best, average and worst. In the annals, others Boyars are called lepshy, great, etc.; the chronicle contemptuously calls other boyars boyars, although here contempt may refer not to their position, but to their actions. could be Boyars and subordinate to one another.
From the best people among the inhabitants of each land and from the highest members of the princely court of warriors, a class of boyars was formed. The best people are called. zemstvo boyars as opposed to princely boyars, princely men. The best people in the chronicle are sometimes called. “Elders of the city” or “people”. Having acquired a closer meaning at the princely court, the title of boyar expanded outside the government sphere: in the language of private civil relations, all serving privileged landowners and slave owners were called boyars, regardless of the court hierarchy, due to the close connection of the then landownership with slaveholding. Such is the boyar in Russian Pravda, and with the same meaning this word passes through the monuments of our law until the very 18th century.
The highest governmental class in the principality of specific time is indicated in the princely charters of the 14th and 15th centuries. The name of the boyars introduced and worthy or wayfarers. Boyars those introduced were the rulers of certain departments of the palace administration or the palace economy, the butler, treasurer, falconer, stolnik, bowler, etc. All palace officials, higher and lower, who received palace lands and income for travel or for feeding, were called worthy.
The introduced boyar was at the same time worthy, because he usually used such a salary; but like a great boyar, he towered over ordinary travelers who were not the chief administrators of individual departments of the palace economy. The prince, appointing the boyars as the main administrators of his palace economy, entrusting them to his household servants in his household affairs, as if he introduced these boyars into his palace, so that they were considered as if living in the palace. In such cases, the title: “introduced boyar” corresponded in meaning to the later title of room or neighbor boyars.
So, from two elements - the retinue (service) and the zemstvo, one boyar class is composed (since the 11th century), when the retinues, having settled down, became local landowners, and the zemstvo Boyars through palace services they passed into the class of princely husbands. The princely courts, continuing to exist, prepared new service elements, which gradually merged again into the zemstvo boyars.
The formation of estate corporatism was also hindered by the methods of joining the boyar class, which were then practiced. The boyar was the one who occupied the highest place in the service (princely or zemstvo) and acquired more or less rich property. Personal qualities (with elevation in society) prevailed in ancient Slavic societies over birth and heredity. Birth influenced the assimilation of the boyars only in fact, i.e. it was easier for the son of a boyar to reach the boyars. From this family nicknames, ancient Rus' did not know; the chronicle tells us only the names, sometimes patronymics of the boyars. In the absence of corporatism, the boyar class could not enjoy any privileges (exclusive rights).
Wed Al. I. Markevich, "History of locality in the Muscovite state in the XV - XVII centuries." (Odessa, 1888); V. Klyuchevsky, "The Boyar Duma of Ancient Rus'" (Moscow, 1888).
Lit .: Klyuchevsky V O Boyar Duma of Ancient Rus'. M. 1937. Trino F.P.
BOYARS, representatives of the upper stratum of society in the Old Russian state, Russian principalities and lands, the Russian state, Russia in the 10th - early 18th centuries; the highest rank in the Boyar Duma since the 15th century. The etymology of the word "boyars" and the history of the boyars of the period of the 10th - early 13th centuries remain controversial, the prevailing opinion is that the word "boyars" was borrowed from the Turkic Danube-Bulgarian language through the Old Church Slavonic language in the form "boyar" with the meaning "noble, rich person". In the narratives of the 11th-12th centuries, mostly translated ones (including texts on biblical and Byzantine history), the form “bolyarin” dominates with an additional meaning - “ruler”, representative of power. These boyars formed the entourage of the bearers of supreme power - the "Old Testament" kings and Byzantine emperors. This understanding of the word "boyars" was entrenched in ancient Russian society and was introduced into the system of concepts denoting its social hierarchy. From the turn of the 11th-12th century, the boyars are mentioned in chronicle monuments both in synchronous reports and in news about earlier events in Rus' dating back to the end of the 10th century. From the 2nd quarter of the 12th century, and especially in the 13th century, the word "bolyarin" was quite widely used in chronicles and other narratives, secular and church legislative texts, in documents (acts) when describing the norms of law and events in the Old Russian state. Since the 13th century, the form "boyar" has dominated in the sources.
In modern Russian historiography, two main points of view have developed regarding the boyars of the 10th - early 13th centuries. Supporters of the first (I. Ya. Froyanov and others) see in them a tribal nobility that opposed the prince and the senior squad (“princely men”) and was the socio-political core of the “city-states” that entered into contractual relations with the princes. The boyars headed the state-political institutions of the "city-states", holding the positions of posadniks (at least in a number of such cities) and thousands.
According to the second point of view, the boyars were connected with the princely power, making up with the "princely men" the senior squad and the highest, privileged layer of judges-managers who were obliged to the prince for military and other services. At the same time, some researchers (A. A. Gorsky and others), representing the second point of view, date the integration of the boyars into the system of relations with the prince-sovereign at the turn of the 10th-11th centuries and argue that the positions of posadniks and thousandths were initially replaced by boyars through princely appointments, and the territorial-ownership ties of the boyars were compatible with their inclusion in the prince’s environment. Other scientists (M. B. Sverdlov and others) attribute the integration of boyars (tribal nobility) with "princely men" into one class group of boyars to the 2nd third of the 12th - 1st third of the 13th century. Both of them see the foundations of such integration in the development of land, "feudal" property (estates) in the countryside, downplaying (and sometimes not taking into account) the importance of the boyars' patrimonial property in cities. But initially it was the boyars' urban households that determined their territorial and class cohesion (the theme was developed by V. L. Yanin and his school in relation to Novgorod).
fragmentation ancient Russian state from the 2nd third of the 12th century into a number of principalities (and their subsequent fragmentation into smaller principalities) and lands contributed to the growth of regional characteristics in the position of the boyars. IN Novgorod land(since 1136 in the Novgorod Republic) from the turn of the 11th-12th centuries, the boyars controlled the institute of posadnichestvo, which in the 13th-15th centuries was continuously reformed under the influence of the struggle between the clans of the boyars, contradictions between the city ends, frequent uprisings, and also under the influence of interaction with the grand ducal authorities. In the 2nd third of the 12th century, the boyars became the main social force, including in relations with the princes. By the end of the 13th century, a council of gentlemen took shape in Novgorod, which included the boyars. Not later than the 2nd third of the 14th century, the institution of the thousandth also came under the control of the boyars. The reforms of the early 15th century transformed the social and state-political system Novgorod Republic into the oligarchy of the boyars. In the Galicia-Volyn principality of the 13th century, the boyars were an influential political force with relatively strong princely power and retained their status after 1239-40. Then and later, boyars were understood here not only as elite groups of untitled nobility, but also as a wider circle of privileged landowners who were obliged to perform military service. Similar was the evolution of the boyars in other Russian principalities annexed in the late 13th and early 15th centuries by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Not later than the 2nd third of the 15th century, the name "boyars" was assigned there to medium and small landowners, who had certain privileges and were obliged to the state for military service. In North-Eastern Rus', the evolution of relations between boyars and princes (great and appanage) was influenced by a combination of factors. As a result of the political struggle of 1174-75 and 1212-18, the boyars of the old political centers (Rostov, Suzdal) were weakened and the power of the Grand Duke of Vladimir was relatively strengthened. The establishment of the dependence of the Russian principalities and lands on the Golden Horde, the Horde raids of the 13th-15th centuries (especially until the 1430s), as well as pandemics, led to the physical destruction of most of the old boyar families (in the 16th-17th centuries, the genealogy of very few surnames dated back to pre-Mongol times and even to the end of the 13th century; one of the exceptions is the Shimonovichi-Vorontsov-Velyaminovs). In the 2nd half of the 14-15th century, the replenishment of the boyars went at the expense of the low layers of the "free" patrimonials who fell into the princely service. There were differences in the position of the "old" and "new" boyars, not only in origin, but also in the location of their estates. Already since the 14th century, the boyars in North-Eastern Rus' were understood not only as an elite group of non-titled nobility (those from it were members of the council under the prince, occupied the highest positions in the management system and the princely economy, see Feeding), but also a wider stratum of privileged votchinniks, obliged by military service, who participated in the management of tax-paying people as petty feeders. Both those and other boyars were brought together by the right (duty) of bearing military service and complicity in management, the right to free departure to another prince (gradually narrowing towards the end of the 15th century), the nature of patrimonial land ownership (there was a “boyar land” along with princely, church and other lands), the presence, albeit in varying amounts, of judicial and financial immunity, the principles for separating individual boyars into elite or local microgroups (persons named with a patronymic “-vich” and possessing family status, i. e. married or widowed).
The liquidation of the institute of thousand from the end of the 14th century in most principalities meant the elimination of the former elements of the organization of the boyars. New ways of organizing were realized in the structures of the Sovereign's Court. He absorbed the service boyars and less status strata. From the 2nd third of the 15th century, the totality of class groups of the court was described in the sources as "boyars and boyar children" (in the 12th-13th centuries as "boyars and nobles", in the late 13th - early 15th century as "boyars and free servants"). The ennoblement of low-status strata (which was fixed by changes in terminology) also meant the gradual consolidation of the term "boyars" for the upper strata of the elite.
From the middle of the 15th century, the boyars were understood almost exclusively as members of the Boyar Duma, as well as persons belonging to the elite groups of the untitled, and later titled nobility, which became part of the court of the Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III Vasilyevich in in large numbers as territorial-clan estate groups of service princes. Since the end of the 15th century, the boyars are persons granted the rank of "boyar", as well as persons who have the right of a boyar court by the position they hold in the central authorities, in the princely economy or local government (governors). The rank of "boyar" was not hereditary. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the boyars were the highest ruling stratum in the Russian state; together with other duma ranks and a number of high-status groups of the court, they constituted the “political class” under the great princes of Moscow, and then the tsars. They possessed significant land property and residences in Moscow and other cities, had the highest material and financial security, and held the highest positions in public administration, with military and diplomatic appointments, were a necessary, natural environment for the palace life of the kings. Until the end of the 17th century, the rivalry of various clan-tribal "palace parties" of the boyars, who occupied various positions in matters of succession to the throne (end of the 15th century, middle and end of the 16th century), external and domestic policy, was one of the key components of the political struggle in the Russian state.
In a broader sense, in historiography, boyars are understood as a set of titled and untitled surnames, whose members were traditionally part of the Boyar Duma as boyars or roundabouts. In the 16th century there were over 75 such surnames (of which about 50 were titled princely families). In the 17th century, with a significant renewal of the genealogical composition and an increase in the number of boyars and okolnichy, the number of these surnames decreased to 45-50 (more than half fell to the share of titled families).
The boyars, as well as the estate hierarchy of the 16-17th century, ceased to exist during the reforms of Tsar Peter I. The last award to the rank of "boyar" took place in 1712.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, peasants and serfs called landowners and votchinniks boyars. The words "master", "bare", derived from the word "boyars", were widely used in the 18-19 centuries, and are still used today.
The privileged class group of landowners in the Moldavian and Wallachian principalities, and then in Romania (Romanian boerii), which developed in the 13-14 centuries, was also called boyars. In the Middle Ages, it was divided into clans, who owned bashtans (fatherlands), and locals, who owned moshias (estates). Eliminated during the agrarian reform of 1945.
Lit .: Veselovsky S. B. Feudal land tenure in northeastern Rus'. M.; L., 1947. T. 1; he is. Studies in the history of the class of service landowners. M., 1969; Lvov A. S. Lexis "The Tale of Bygone Years". M., 1975; Nazarov V.D. "Courtyard" and "nobles" according to the Novgorod and North-Eastern annals (XII-XIV centuries) // Eastern Europe in antiquity and the Middle Ages. M., 1978; Yanin VL Novgorod feudal patrimony: (Historical and genealogical research). M., 1981; he is. Novgorod posadniks. 2nd ed. M., 2003; Crumey R. O. Aristocrats and servitors: the boyar elite in Russia, 1613-1689. Princeton, 1983; Zavadskaya S. V. "Bolyarin" - "boyar" in Old Russian written sources // Ancient States on the territory of the USSR. Materials and research. 1985 M., 1986; Zimin A. A. Formation of the boyar aristocracy in Russia in the second half of the 15th - the first third of the 16th century. M., 1988; Pavlov A.P. Sovereign court and political struggle under Boris Godunov (1584-1605). SPb., 1992; Froyanov I. Ya. Ancient Rus': Experience in the study of the history of social and political struggle. M.; SPb., 1995; Sverdlov M. B. Pre-Mongol Rus. Prince and princely power in Rus' VI - the first third of the XIII century. St. Petersburg, 2003; Gorsky A. A. Rus': From the Slavic Settlement to the Muscovite Kingdom. M., 2004.
