History Pages

ECONOMIC REFORM

TSAR ALEXEY MIKHAILOOICH ROMANOV

L.A. Muravieva, Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Social and Political Sciences Financial Academy under the Government Russian Federation

The reign of Alexei Mikhailovich (1645-1676) was the longest in the 17th century. and was 31 years old.

Having created a new team, the government of Alexei Mikhailovich began reforms. The primary issues inherited from the previous reign included the problems of land ownership, the situation of the peasants, and the improvement of the tax system. The complexity of the situation was that the society was still in the stage of formation and formation of the estate system. The nobles were the first to realize their estate interests in the socio-economic and political fields, as evidenced by their numerous petitions. The middle and petty nobility challenged the rights of representatives of the large aristocracy to own peasants and land property. The urban population was increasingly concerned about the lack of definition of their legal status to engage in commercial and industrial activities. Guests and the best merchants filled up the tsar and the government with petitions with a request to limit the privileges of foreign merchants on the Russian market. Summarizing all the public sentiments, the government began to take the first reformist steps. It abolished the privileges of foreign merchants and tarkhan letters, which affected the interests of many monasteries.

The first economic measures were extremely unsuccessful. To stabilize the country's finances, it was necessary to debug the system of tax collections. The main source of tax revenues to the treasury was the urban population - black taxpayers, the people. But it was impossible to increase taxes from artisans, merchants and townspeople to infinity, ignoring the content of their petitions.

with needs, requests and demands. The government has found another way. The first transformation was to reduce the cost of maintaining the state apparatus. As a result, the number of "royal servants" was reduced, state salaries were sharply reduced for service people according to the instrument, and for officials it was halved. The incomes of officials (clerks and clerks) who lived on Ivanovskaya Square in the Kremlin have long consisted of state salaries and feeding from deeds (private begging income). The number of feedings included "honor" and "commemoration" in the form of money or various offerings (pies, sugar, etc.). Such were the permitted forms of encouraging the work of officials. Bribes - "promises" have always been strictly condemned and prohibited. The decrease in salaries led to a sharp increase in the feeding department. The judiciary and city garrisons were transferred to the dependents of the petitioners. Innovations gave rise to an orgy of extortion, extortion and oppression, before which the usual Moscow red tape faded. The population violently expressed dissatisfaction with such a reform.

The second fatal step of the new government was the desire to collect tax arrears from the population for previous years, placing financial responsibility on the provincial officials. Another failure forced the government to shift the focus of collection from direct taxes to indirect ones. Instead of direct taxes (streltsy and yamsky money), a single tax on salt was introduced in the amount of two hryvnias per pood. For Yaik and Astrakhan salt, which was used for salting fish, the tax amounted to one hryvnia per pood in accordance with the decree of February 7, 1646. The initiative to introduce a high single tax was attributed to the guest Vasily Shorin. Trying to reach everything

DIGESTIONS

the generality and impersonality of taxation failed. Salt prices have increased 6 times, its consumption has sharply decreased. Large stocks of fish rotted, merchants suffered enormous losses. The population expressed dissatisfaction, since the main diet of ordinary people was cheap salted fish, which now almost disappeared or was not accessible to him. The introduction of a new duty on salt caused popular riots throughout Russia. It took a year to pacify the population. The tax, which did not justify the hopes of the government, was canceled on December 10, 1647. A wave of popular riots that swept through Russia forced the abolition of the salt tax. Such a purely bourgeois measure of taxation as the introduction of an excise tax on essential goods has diverged from real life. The same fate befell the abolition of tarkhans. In 1647 and 1648 the British again achieved duty-free transportation of goods to Moscow

The attempt to implement township reform in the cities also ended in failure. Its implementation began with Vladimir. Stolnik P.T. Tra-khaniotov quickly and intelligently carried out the royal order. In a short time, the mortgagers of church and secular possessions in the amount of 287 people were returned to the city, which accounted for two thirds of the townspeople. The urban territory was enlarged at the expense of the lands of some estate owners and landlords, and the rights of the townspeople were expanded. Residents of Suzdal turned to the stolnik with a petition for the construction of a city township building in them. The documents confirm the obvious desire of the townspeople to establish urban self-government and legal proceedings, confirmation of their class rights to engage in trade and crafts. Unfortunately, this successful initiative did not develop into a comprehensive urban reform, but was of a local, episodic nature.

The cup of people's anger overflowed in the summer of 1648. The provincial nobles who arrived in Moscow for the review made up for the lack of money by selling wine stocks, which violated the state wine monopoly. The actions of the nobles led to their clash with the administration. In the overcrowded city, food prices rose, which increased the dissatisfaction of the population with the unresolved issue of mortgages, tax increases and abuses of officials. All attempts by the people to petition the king or queen were met with a fierce rebuff from the guards. But the moment came when the archers, also dissatisfied with their position, refused to expel the people from the Kremlin and joined the rebels. The looting of houses and estates of the most hated administrators began. Head of financial

department and salt tax conductor Nazariy Chistov was killed.

The city for some time was in the power of black draft people and archers. The payment of salaries to the archers ensured the gradual transition of the armed forces to the side of the king. The situation was more complicated with the nobles. Historian P.P. Smirnov reasonably argued that in the events of the summer of 1648 there was an alliance of Moscow black people and the local army in the person of serving people from the fatherland - nobles and boyar children. Behind them, if not directly, then indirectly stood a group of large aristocracy, which was in opposition to the government of Morozov. Since the nobles were in no hurry to pay the promised salary, they began to demand the convocation of the Zemsky Sobor. In order to avoid further aggravation of the situation, B.I. Morozov was removed from business and sent to White Lake. The new government was headed by Prince Ya.K. Cherkassky, who became the distributor of the country's finances as the head of the orders of the Great Treasury, Streletsky and Foreign. So a group of noble aristocracy again found itself in power. But the struggle continued. Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich himself was the conductor of the interests of Morozov's party at the Zemsky Sobor on September 1, 1648, having acquired extensive political and managerial experience, skillfully making compromises and gathering strength for a new struggle. The new aristocratic government relied on the provincial nobility and partly on the archers. The party of Alexei Mikhailovich, which Morozov stood for, made the main bet on the settlements, archers and the clergy. The king gradually began to prepare the return of his favorite. Having paid the nobles and boyar children 14 and 8 rubles each, he went on a pilgrimage to the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, where he met with Morozov. After discussing the program of further actions, Morozov took a place in the retinue of the king and was introduced to the people.

The main contentious issues of political groups remained the peasant and land issues. The aristocracy proposed to solve the problem of the lack of land of the landowners exclusively at the expense of church land ownership on the basis of its partial confiscation and the creation of the Monastic order. The struggle of the factions at the Zemsky Sobor reached its apogee during the discussion of petitions for the township reform. The head of the government, Cherkassky, sharply argued with Morozov, who was present at the meeting of the Council, and arbitrarily left royal palace. He was arrested and removed from his posts. Now the father-in-law of the tsar I.D. became the manager of financial flows and the head of the archers. Miloslavsky. Actually

DIGEST-FSHNSH

deed new head government was a front for B.I. Morozov, who did not officially hold government posts, but concentrated all the leading and guiding functions in his hands. The secularization of church lands did not take place. To prevent noble speeches, 124,529 rubles were allocated from the treasury. for the payment of their salaries and at a meeting of the Zemsky Sobor, school summers were canceled. Morozov's opponents attempted a new coup, but the performance did not take place. The king did not disgrace the main instigators of the struggle, since among them were many royal relatives and representatives of the high-born aristocracy. The minor participants in the conspiracy were treated harshly: two were executed, two had their tongues pulled out, and 35 people were flogged. Six months later, several hundred archers without visible reasons sent to Siberia. The urban uprisings of 1648 had a decisive influence on the further course of reforms and the development of the country.

Changes in the internal life of the state in the 1640-1660s. were primarily related to the implementation of legislative reform. The need to create a new code of state laws was dictated by a number of reasons.

Firstly, the presence of many private decrees that have appeared over 100 years since the last Sudebnik of 1550. New decrees were kept in orders and recorded in the Ukaznye books. By the middle of the XVII century. there was an urgent need to bring all existing legal acts and norms into a single code. But what was required was not a mechanical enumeration of them, but a strict and logical systematization and codification, taking into account the changes that had taken place in the life of society after the Time of Troubles. Unlike the Code of Laws of Ivan the Terrible, the Cathedral Code was supposed to contain not only articles of criminal law, but also of state and civil law.

Secondly, the Salt Riot in Moscow and a series of popular uprisings that swept through many cities in the country.

Thirdly, numerous requests and petitions from representatives of various estate groups from nobles to townspeople to convene a Zemsky Sobor to draw up the necessary code of laws.

By decree of the tsar, a commission was created to carry out preparatory work to draw up the Code, headed by 47-year-old Prince Nikita Ivanovich Odoevsky, who had been a member of the Boyar Duma for eight years and headed the Special Order created by the tsar. The aristocratic composition of the commission was balanced by elected representatives from the estates. Pre

instructions were sent with the definition of representation from each curia. Elected people gathered at the Cathedral from 130 (if not more) cities. Among the elected, there were up to 150 servicemen and up to 100 taxable people. The Duma and the Consecrated Cathedral participated in full force. There were relatively few Moscow nobles and court officials, since they also required elected people, and not total participation, as before. In general, the provincial nobility and townspeople of the cities numerically prevailed over the Moscow elected officials and representatives of the administration.

The compilation, editing and discussion of the draft Code took place "in chambers" from October 1648 to January 1649. The Cathedral Code, as a set of laws, covered all spheres of public life. It was based on old Russian laws using the achievements of Byzantine and Lithuanian law. The direct source base consisted of: Sudebnik of 1550 and Stoglav of 1551, royal decrees in writ books, sentences of the Boyar Duma, the ecclesiastical legal manual "The Pilot Book", the Lithuanian Statute - the code of laws of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the edition of 1588. om as a whole and the highest bureaucratic bureaucracy, large landowners. In the future, the Cathedral Code was supplemented by the so-called "new decree cases."

The original text of the Cathedral Code has survived to this day in the State Archives. This is a huge scroll 309 meters long, weighing 12 pounds, written by four duma clerks, who left their staples on the gluing on the reverse side. There are also signatures of 315 participants of the Council. The material is summarized in 25 chapters and 967 articles. The new code of laws was published in a typographical way in a gigantic edition of 2000 (1200 according to some documents) copies at that time and distributed throughout the state in order to "do all sorts of things according to that Code." Previous Sudebniks and individual decrees were not replicated, which created favorable conditions for hushing up and arbitrary interpretation of laws by clerks and judges. The printed Code went on sale at a price of 26 altyns with noon. It became the first printed monument of law in Russia.

The Cathedral Code, as the first systematized law in the history of Russia, contained material relating to many branches of law of that time. Due to this circumstance,

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I am dealing not just with a code, but with a set of laws that is distinguished by its large volume, purposefulness and complex structure. The first and last chapters of the document under consideration cover relations related to the position of the church, the highest state power and the established order of government. A special article determined the status of the head of state - the king, autocratic and hereditary monarch, which in the future prepared the transition to absolutism. For the first time in Russian legislation, a special article contained a provision on the criminal law protection of a person. monarchy. At the same time, it is emphasized that even a criminal intent against the king is punishable by death. For royal dishonor, they pulled out the tongue. In general, the laws were cruel and harsh. The counterfeiters had their throats filled with red-hot lead and tin. But the most terrible crime from the point of view of the legislators of the XVII century. considered "blasphemy". These legal norms were considered earlier than an attempt on the honor and health of the king. Blasphemy against the church and God was punishable by burning at the stake. Death threatened anyone who interfered with the service of the liturgy. All these measures stood guard over the honor and dignity of the Church. But some points of the Code caused strong dissatisfaction of the clergy. Accustomed to judicial privileges, the clergy were extremely dissatisfied with the establishment of a special Monastic order, which was assigned to the court in relation to the clergy. Church hierarchs were deprived of the opportunity to acquire estates or receive them as a gift to monasteries from worldly people. Patriarch Nikon called the Code nothing more than a "lawless book", and N.I. Odoevsky "new Luther". A stubborn struggle began. In 1677 the Monastic order was abolished. So far, the spiritual power in this matter has overcome the secular.

The new legislative code contained a set of norms that regulated the most important social and administrative issues. Chapters XVI and XVII were devoted to land relations. It was established that only servicemen and guests had the right to own estates. Thus, ownership of land became the privilege of the nobility and the top of the merchant class. In the interests of the nobility, the difference between the conditional possession of the estate and the hereditary patrimony was smoothed out. From now on, the estate changed to a fiefdom and vice versa. It was even allowed to sell the estate. The legal status of estates and patrimonies was drawing closer, and the connection between service and land ownership was lost. By the end of the XVII century. the practice of exchanging estates for cash salaries was established, which was a hidden form of the actual sale and purchase of

revenge. It was allowed to rent out estates for money. This situation contributed to the economic and political rapprochement of the nobility and the boyars, the gradual consolidation of the feudal lords within the framework of a single "noble" class-estate with the same rights and privileges for its members. The final erasing of the boundaries between the two forms of landed property took place in the 18th century. decree of Peter I "On the same inheritance" in 1714 and the corresponding decrees of Anna Ioannovna.

The chapter "On the townspeople" contained a set of measures that received the name of the townsman reform in the literature. The posad population became isolated and attached to the posad, turning into a closed class. All residents of the settlement had to bear the tax. It was impossible to leave the settlement not only for a member of the community, but also for his children, brothers, nephews. Posad people could not change their place of residence or occupation. It was impossible to hide from the town tax even with the help of military service. Only the third son of a townsman could become an archer. Pawning for a secular or spiritual feudal lord was severely punished by flogging or exile to Siberia. But no outsider can enter the settlement either. The protection of the interests of the townspeople was combined with their attachment to the township, similar to the serfdom of the peasants. The king acted as the supreme owner for the inhabitants of the town, so they called themselves "sovereign townsmen." The Cathedral Code drew a line for almost a century of struggle between the state and the townspeople with the "white settlements". They were understood as urban estates that belonged to the church or secular feudal lords, whose inhabitants did not pay taxes and did not work for the city. "White Sloboda" was constantly replenished with people from the black settlement, which reduced the number of taxpayers of the state treasury and increased the level of the tax burden on the townspeople. Tax-free "white settlements" were attached free of charge to the sovereign's settlements, i.e. liquidated, and the townspeople who fled into them returned to the tax. The Cathedral Code secured a number of privileges for the townspeople. Posad communities received the exclusive right to engage in trade and industry. All people who bought commercial and industrial establishments were ordered to immediately sell them to the townspeople. Peasants who brought agricultural products to the city were allowed to trade them only from carts in gostiny yards. This provision, on the one hand, protected the townspeople from competition, and on the other hand, contributed to the conservation of the social structure of Russian society.

Dyngest-viyatsysy

The peasant question was also regulated in a new way. Chapter XI canceled the established "lesson years", the search for fugitives became indefinite, and a fine of 10 rubles was imposed for harboring them. for each year, an amount equivalent to 20 times the emergency (request) collection from the peasant household, levied during the war. Thus, the legal registration of serfdom was completed, the heredity of ownership of serfs and the right to dispose of their property was established, the peasants were finally attached to the land. Serfdom also changed the structure of the peasant class. This was expressed in a significant increase in the stratum of dependent peasants at the expense of "black" and palace and blurring the lines between their various categories. Although certain differences still remained. Owning peasants could belong to one person or institution. The administrative-fiscal and judicial-police functions in relation to the landlord peasants were carried out by the landowner through the clerk. A private owner (landowner) could sell, exchange, or inherit them. Palace peasants belonging royal family, could change the owner only as a result of the award. Monastic, church and patriarchal peasants were not subject to alienation. Black-eared peasants survived only in Pomorye and Siberia. They were personally free and had the right to alienate land - sale, mortgage, inheritance. At the very bottom of the social ladder were serfs and bonded people. They did not have personal and property rights, although in fact they more and more often turned into arable people and were included in the tax. The legal status of serfs and serfs was very close.

The innovations fixed in the Cathedral Code, on the one hand, simplified the social structure, on the other hand, contributed to the strengthening of corporate isolation and the formation of a clear estate organization. The estate system was finally formed and received legislative formalization in the second half of the 18th century. The Code of 1649 included the legal concept of "free people". By the end of the XVII century. hired workers were recruited from them for manufactories and construction sites. Thanks to the "free people", a labor market was gradually taking shape in Russia - a necessary element of capitalist development. This concept was destroyed in the Petrine era, which gave rise to a new phenomenon - the serf proletariat.

The Cathedral Code included norms relating to all branches of law, existing and

today: judicial law, civil and criminal, the system of crimes and punishments, family law. Many articles of the Code protected numerous objects of economic management of the population. The development of commodity-money relations, the formation of new types and forms of ownership, the quantitative growth of civil transactions forced legislators to single out with great certainty civil law relations regulated by special rules. This caused a more in-depth development of real, compulsory and inheritance law. The subjects of civil law were both collective and private (individual) persons, whose legal rights were gradually expanded. The transfer of responsibility for obligations from one subject (father) to another (son) contributed to the recognition by the subject of law of his status. Compared with the previous period, there was an increase in the legal capacity of women. The widow was endowed by law with a whole range of powers. Significant changes have taken place in the sphere and procedure for the inheritance of real estate by women. The main way of acquiring property rights to property, in particular to land, remained a contract, which appeared in this capacity earlier than the institution of awards. Compulsory law developed along the line of gradual replacement of personal liability under contracts with the property liability of the debtor. The transfer of obligations to property turned out to be connected with the issue of their transfer by inheritance. In the Cathedral Code, for the first time in Russian law, the institution of servitudes is mentioned, i.e. restriction of the property right of one subject in the interests of the right of use of another. The law mentions personal and real easements. The emergence of easement law testified to an increase in the number of individual owners and a clash of their interests, to the emergence of ideas about the right of private property, which continued to be subject to significant restrictions.

Some articles of the Council Code contained mechanisms for regulating credit relations. The main attention was directed to preventing the spread of the so-called "bloody rebellion", i.e. levying monstrously high interest on short-term loans, which at the end of the 16th century. reached from 48 to 120% per annum. The Council Code forbade any "rescience". Only from an extremely unscrupulous debtor was it allowed to take double and only if he did not repent of his misconduct in court. The loan was provided for 15 years with a possible deferred payment of up to 3 years. Guarantee

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acted as the main form of providing loan al intra- and inter-class contradictions,

obligations. The procedure for obtaining the cumulative Inconsistency of the actions of the reformers

debt provided for the following successor - instead of stabilizing society, it led to new

ness: first the payment of the public debt, unrest and discontent. Reforms carried out

those foreigners, and last but not least the Russians, who were smashed against the Russian consciousness and

people. Debtor (with the exception of the sovereign mentality and rejected by the people. The active part

service people) ¡ it was allowed to put the population on the "right" demanded the solution of cardinal issues

for a whole month. Non-repayment of the debt after this dew of the life of the country with the participation of the "Earth" at the Meeting

The procedure led to the assessment of the movable and the refusal of Zemsky Sobors. Since 1649, mutual relations

movable property and payment of debt. The fiefdoms of power and society were regulated by law

could be mortgaged up to 40 years. If the debtor by us of the Council Code, the adoption of which

there was absolutely nothing to pay, he had his own was one of the main achievements of the era

debt to work out at the rate of 5 rubles. per year for men - Alexei Mikhailovich. Code of about 200 years

us and 2 rubles. a year for a woman. The archers and "deplayed the role of the All-Russian Legal Code,

tey boyars "the debt was withheld from the sovereign's de- Unsuccessful attempts to create a new Code

gentle salary of 4 rubles. per year, and they served under Peter I and Catherine II.

for one grain salary. Debtors-nobles, Until 1832, when under Nicholas I there was a

having a debt of 100 rubles. per month, they could put up the line “The Complete Code of Laws Russian Empire»,

for themselves their peasants, living "for someone else's drafts - the Cathedral Code remained the only free

scrap". The debts of the deceased defendant passed to the house of the laws of the state, wife and children or other relatives who

inherited property. In all cases, the action is

Shaft loan succession mechanism i. Vyyegorodtsev V. I. Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich

duties. Many of these provisions and Patriarch Nikon // Great State

found their further development in the Trade and figures of Russia. - M., 1996. - S. 195.

New trade charters. The Cathedral Code became 2. Ibid. - S. 223.

the last word of Moscow law, full of 3 Platonov S. F. Lectures on Russian history. -

the code of everything accumulated in the offices of the law 1993 __ q 357

nominative stock. 4 Letenko A.B. Russian economic re-

* * * forms. History and lessons. - M., 2004. - S. 23.

5. Cathedral Code of 1649. Text. Comments

Thus, at the first stage of the reformist. - JI., 1987. - S. 61.

6. Essays on the history of the Russian economic

mania to strengthen finances, to resolve social thought. - M., 2003. - S. 263.

Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov (1629-1676) - the second Russian Tsar from the Romanov family. Ruled from 1645 to 1676. He ascended the throne after the death of his father Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov at the age of 16. But it was much easier for the young sovereign than for his father. Time of Troubles ended long ago, and the Moscow government enjoyed the universal support of the people.

By his nature, the young man was cheerful, witty and lively. He passionately loved falconry and started a theater at court. At the same time, the young man was distinguished by prudence and conscientiousness. He revered his elders, was faithful to his friends, did not break the "old days", but slowly and gradually mastered and introduced the experience of the advanced European countries.

State activity of Alexei Mikhailovich

At first, the young tsar listened to the advice of the boyars in everything. Boris Ivanovich Morozov (1590-1661) had the greatest influence on the sovereign. He was a relative of the young Moscow ruler, since both were married to the Miloslavsky sisters.

However, Morozov turned out to be a bad manager. He abused his position, which caused general hostility. In February 1646, on his initiative, a new duty on salt was introduced. It increased noticeably, which caused sharp discontent among the population.

Alexei Mikhailovich loved falconry

It's all over salt riot. Mass riots took place both in Moscow and in other cities. The indignant people demanded that the tsar hand over Morozov to them for reprisal. But the sovereign secretly transported his pet to the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery.

The duty was canceled, after which the popular indignation subsided. Morozov then returned to Moscow, but Alexei Mikhailovich had already ceased to trust him recklessly.

Church reform

The second person who had a great influence on the king was Patriarch Nikon (1605-1681). It was with him that the sovereign carried out the church reform, which led to a split in the Orthodox Church.

The Muscovite kingdom focused on expanding its borders. However, this was hindered by disagreements in the Orthodox faith, and the basis of these disagreements were church rites. They were carried out in accordance with the statutes. The Great Russians adhered to the Jerusalem Rule, and the Little Russians honored the Studite Rule. They differed significantly, that is, they differed from each other.

As a result, the people of Moscow looked down on those who honored a different charter. And this prevented the expansion of borders and unification with other peoples. In such a situation, Moscow could not become the center of Orthodoxy.

Alexei Mikhailovich and Patriarch Nikon at the tomb of St. Philip
(painting by A. Litovchenko)

Therefore, the king decided with the help of Nikon to change the situation. He was an imperious and decisive person, and therefore he took up the church reform coolly.

The liturgical books were rewritten. They began to be baptized not with two, but with three fingers. Serious changes have taken place in the rites of the Church. However, the reforms frightened many Orthodox. It began to seem to them that some kind of non-Russian faith was being introduced. And the believers split into two irreconcilable camps.

Adherents of the old rites or Old Believers were baptized by the authorities schismatics. They resisted Nikonianism in every possible way, which was considered as state resistance and was severely punished.

The Old Believers began to be persecuted, humiliated, and killed. And those, faithful to the faith of their fathers and grandfathers, went into the forests and founded sketes there. When they tried to arrest them, the Old Believers burned themselves.

In 1656, the Holy Council excommunicated all Old Believers from Orthodox Church. This was a terrible punishment for believers. However, Patriarch Nikon did not escape punishment either. His friendship with the king was cracked. The reason was the pride of the patriarch and his passionate desire to influence the anointed of God.

All these encroachments went beyond the bounds of decency, and Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov broke off all relations with the presumptuous lord. Nikon was deprived of his patriarchal rank and sent into exile in a distant northern monastery. But this disgrace did not affect the church reform in any way.

Silver ruble under Alexei Mikhailovich

Other reforms

The sovereign spent military reform. She passed in 1648-1654. During this time, the number of local cavalry, archery regiments and gunners increased. Hussars, dragoons and reiters regiments were created en masse. Foreign military specialists were recruited.

was carried out and monetary reform. The treasury accumulated a lot of silver thalers. Since 1654 they began to be minted into rubles. Efimka, half-efimka, copper fifty dollars appeared. Taxes began to be collected in silver, and copper coins were issued from the treasury. This disrupted the financial system and was the cause of the copper riot. In general, the monetary reform was unsuccessful and failed.

During the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich, an uprising of Stepan Razin took place. It began in 1667, and in 1671 the rebellious ataman was executed in Moscow.

In 1654 Ukraine was reunited with Russia. The second tsar of the Romanov dynasty took an active part in this. From 1654 to 1667 there was a war with Poland. It ended with the signing of the Andrusovo truce. According to him, the cities of Smolensk and Kyiv departed to Russia.

Family life of Alexei Mikhailovich

As for family life, the king's life was extremely successful. He lived for many years in full agreement with Maria Ilinichnaya Miloslavskaya (1624-1669). This woman was distinguished by beauty, kindness and tranquility. She bore the sovereign 13 children. Of these, 5 boys and 8 girls.

Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya

The queen was extremely devout and pious. In a modest wagon, regardless of snow, rain or mud, she often visited holy places, where she prayed long and hard.

After her death, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov married a second time to 20-year-old Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina (1651-1694), the daughter of a simple nobleman. This betrothed in 1672 gave birth to their first child, who was named Peter. Subsequently, he became a reformer in Russia. In addition to Peter, the wife gave birth to the sovereign two more children.

Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina

Three sons subsequently reigned. The country was also ruled by the daughter Sophia together with Ivan and Peter (triarchy). None of the royal daughters married.

In 1676, the sovereign of All Rus' died suddenly. At the time of his death he was 46 years old. He is believed to have died of a heart attack. The throne was inherited by 15-year-old son Fyodor Alekseevich (1661-1682).

Alexey Starikov

On March 19, 1629, the second tsar of the new Russian royal dynasty, Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov, was born. The historical portrait of this ruler paints the image of a fairly intelligent, skillful and tolerant monarch.

Youth of Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov

The biography is very interesting. His mother was E.L. Streshneva is the daughter of noble small landed boyars. Until the age of five, Alexey was under the supervision of numerous mothers and nannies. Boyarin B.I. Morozov became a mentor to the young tsar. By the age of six, the king had mastered the letter, the first books that he read were: the Clockworker, the Acts of the Apostles, the Psalter. Alexey fell in love with reading so much that by the age of 12 he had his own children's library. Among his favorite books are Cosmography, Lexicon and Grammar, published in the Principality of Lithuania. Among his toys were children's armor of German masters, musical instruments, printed sheets (pictures). Alexey Mikhailovich also loved outdoor activities, from childhood he was fond of falconry, and in adulthood he even wrote a treatise on falconry. The biography of Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov indicates the enormous influence that the guardian had on his ward. By the age of fourteen, young Alexei Mikhailovich was introduced to the people, and at sixteen, after the death of his father and mother, he ascended the throne.

The first years of the reign

The reign of Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov began in 1645. The youth and inexperience of the ruler at first was so great that all the important and sore issues of government were concentrated in the hands of B.I. Morozov. But the excellent education and talent of the ruler made themselves felt, and soon Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov himself began to make government decisions. his reign of those years outlines all the complexities and contradictions of the domestic and foreign policy of Rus'. The active involvement of foreign advisers in governing the country gave rise to reforms.

At this time, the character of the king manifests itself. An educated, benevolent and calm person - this is how Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov looked in the eyes of his contemporaries. The nickname "Quiet" king received quite deservedly. But if necessary, he could show will, determination, and sometimes even cruelty.

Cathedral Code

Romanov laid the foundation for the creation of the Cathedral Code - the first set of laws of the Russian state. Prior to this, judging in Rus' was guided by various, often self-contradictory decrees, extracts and orders. The adoption of the code of the king was prompted by the new duties on salt. The instigators suggested that the sovereign put in order the rules of the salt trade and convene Zemstvo Assembly. At that moment, the tsar was forced to make concessions, but after the adoption of the Code, the Zemsky Sobor lost its powers and was soon dissolved.

The marriage of the king

Shortly after ascending the throne, a bride was found for the king. She turned out to be Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya - a girl from an old and noble boyar family. At that time, the kings did not look for brides abroad, but chose their wives from successful boyar houses. Several boyar families fought for the opportunity to intermarry with the royal family. In the Assumption Cathedral, at a prayer, the tsar saw the maiden Mary of the Miloslavsky family. It is unlikely that this meeting was accidental.

Be that as it may, this marriage was successful and long-term. Until her death, the king revered his queen, was an exemplary family man and made thirteen children with her, three of them later became the rulers of the country.

church schism

The influence of the church at the beginning of the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich was so great that the title of "great sovereign" was granted. Thus, the king recognized the equality of power between himself and the ruler of the church. But this caused dissatisfaction of the boyars, since Nikon demanded from them complete obedience and absolute non-interference in church affairs. But, as time has shown, such co-management had its own significant drawbacks.

Nikon considered that he had the right to tell the king how to manage state affairs. The influence of the aristocracy and the boyars on the tsar decreased. The origins of such influence should be sought in the upbringing that Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov received. The historical portrait and notes of contemporaries show us the image of a very God-fearing, religious person. There was only one way to reduce Nikon's influence. At the beginning of 1658, the archpriest of the Kazan Cathedral addressed the tsar with a direct question: “How long do you tolerate such an enemy of God?” And for the king there were no more humiliating reproaches than those that infringed on his royal power and doubted the authority of the autocracy. The confrontation was inevitable and eventually led to a split. The formal reason was the insult of Nikon by the boyars, after which he loudly stepped aside from the rank of patriarch and went to the monastery. In 1666, he deposed Nikon and officially defrocked him. Since then, the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov has become truly autocratic, and he extends his power even to the Church.

Politics of Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov

External relations were of particular interest to the king. The request of the Cossack centurion Khmelnytsky to stop the Polish intervention was heard by the autocrat. The Zemsky Sobor of 1653 accepted Ukrainian Cossacks into citizenship and promised them military support. In May 1654, Russian troops set out on a campaign and occupied Smolensk. By order of the king, in the spring of 1654 hostilities were continued, and the cities of Kovno, Brodno and Vilna became Russian.

The Swedish war was started, which ended in defeat. Troubles in Ukraine, which began shortly after the death of Khmelnitsky, demanded the resumption of hostilities with Poland. On January 8, 1654, the entry of Ukraine into Russia was finally recorded at the Pereyaslav Rada. Much later, in 1667, Poland agreed to the new borders, and the treaty on the accession of Ukraine to Russia began to be recognized internationally. The southern borders of the state were successfully defended, such cities as Nerchinsk, Irkutsk, Seleginsk were built.

Rebellious age

Many decisions related to the expansion of the country's territory were personally made by Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov. The historical portrait of the autocrat of all Rus' would be incomplete without an awareness of the most severe internal contradictions and tensions that he had to face during his reign. It is no coincidence that the 17th century would later be called "Rebellious" because of the constant uprisings that revolted the state. It is especially worth noting the rebellion of Stepan Razin, which had to be suppressed a lot of time and effort.

The economic policy of the king encouraged the creation of manufactories and the expansion of foreign trade. The tsar patronized Russian trade, protecting his domestic market from foreign goods. There were also miscalculations economic policy. The ill-advised decision to equate the value of copper money with silver caused popular grumbling and led to the devaluation of the ruble.

The last years of the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich

After the death of his beloved wife, the king married a second time. His chosen one was the one who gave him three children, including the future Emperor Peter 1.

The tsar paid great attention to education and instructed the Ambassadorial Decree to translate foreign literature and various scientific works into Russian. Among the close associates of the king there were many who read the books of ancient writers, had their own libraries and were fluent in foreign languages. The second wife of the king was fond of the theater, and her own small theater was specially created for her at the palace. Alexei Mikhailovich died at the age of 47.

The results of the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov

The results of the reign of this king can be described as follows:

• The autocracy was strengthened - the power of the tsar was no longer limited by the Church.
• There was a complete enslavement of the peasants.
• The Council Code arose, which became the beginning of judicial reforms in Russia.
• As a result of the reign of this king, the border of the Russian state expanded - Ukraine was annexed, and the development of Siberia began.

In the second half of the 17th century. the transformation of the entire system of Russian traditional culture begins, secular literature arises, including poetry, secular painting is born, the first “comedy performances” are arranged at the court. The crisis of traditionalism also covers the sphere of ideology. Alexei Mikhailovich is one of the initiators of the church reform carried out since 1652 by Patriarch Nikon. In 1666-67, the church council cursed the "Old Belief" and ordered the "city authorities" to burn anyone who "puts blasphemy on the Lord God." Despite personal sympathy for Archpriest Avvakum, Alexei Mikhailovich took an uncompromising position in the fight against the Old Believers: in 1676, the Old Believer citadel, the Solovetsky Monastery, was destroyed. The exorbitant ambition of Patriarch Nikon and his frank claims to secular power led to a conflict with the tsar, which ended in Nikon's deposition. The manifestations of the crisis in the social sphere were the revolt in Moscow of 1662, brutally suppressed by Alexei Mikhailovich, and the Cossack uprising led by S. T. Razin, which was suppressed with difficulty by the government.

Alexei Mikhailovich himself participated in foreign policy negotiations and military campaigns (1654-1656). In 1654, the unification of Ukraine with Russia took place, and the war with the Commonwealth that began after that (1654-1667) ended with the signing of the Andrusovo truce and the consolidation of Russia in Left-Bank Ukraine. But attempts to reach the shores of the Baltic Sea (Russian-Swedish war of 1656-58) did not lead to success.

A man of transitional times, Alexei Mikhailovich was sufficiently educated, the first of the Russian tsars to break the tradition and began to sign documents with his own hand. A number of literary works are also attributed to him, including “Message to the Solovki”, “The Tale of the Repose of Patriarch Joseph”, “The Officer of the Falconer's Way”, etc.

From his first marriage with M. I. Miloslavskaya (1648), Alexei Mikhailovich had 13 children (including Tsars Fedor Alekseevich and Ivan V, Princess Sofya Alekseevna), from his second marriage with N. K. Naryshkina (1671) - 3 children (including Tsar Peter I).

In 1649, the Zemsky Sobor adopted a new set of laws - Cathedral Code. In the 11th chapter of the code

> "lesson summer" was canceled and the hereditary dependence of the peasants on the landowners was established;

> the peasant's property was recognized as the property of the landowner and could be sold for his debts; the landowner himself punished the peasants (except for state crimes) - the peasant became legally disenfranchised, he could be sold, exchanged, etc.;

> harboring fugitive peasants was punished with a whip, prison, for the murder of another peasant, the landowner had to give his best peasant with his family;

> nobles could pass on the estate by inheritance, provided that the sons would serve, like the father.

Strengthening autocracy

Under Alexei Mikhailovich, the strengthening of the autocratic, unrestricted power of the tsar continued, in the second half of the 17th century. zemsky cathedrals were not convened, but the command system of management reached its peak, the process of its bureaucratization was intensively going on. A special role was played by the Secret Order established in 1654, which was directly subordinate to Alexei Mikhailovich and allowed him to direct other central and local institutions. Important changes took place in the social sphere: the process of rapprochement between the estate and the patrimony was underway, and the decomposition of the “service city” system began. The government of Alexei Mikhailovich supported the interests of the Russian merchants, the Customs (1653) and Novotorgovy (1667) Charters protected merchants from foreign competitors. A reflection of new trends in Russian life was the invitation to serve in Russia of foreign specialists, the creation of regiments of the "foreign system".

Reforms of Alexei Mikhailovich

In the second half of the 17th century. the transformation of the entire system of Russian traditional culture begins, secular literature arises, including poetry, secular painting is born, the first “comedy performances” are arranged at the court. The crisis of traditionalism also covers the sphere of ideology. Alexei Mikhailovich is one of the initiators of the church reform carried out since 1652 by Patriarch Nikon. In 1666-67, the church council cursed the "Old Belief" and ordered the "city authorities" to burn anyone who "puts blasphemy on the Lord God." Despite personal sympathy for Archpriest Avvakum, Alexei Mikhailovich took an uncompromising position in the fight against the Old Believers: in 1676, the Old Believer citadel, the Solovetsky Monastery, was destroyed. The exorbitant ambition of Patriarch Nikon and his frank claims to secular power led to a conflict with the tsar, which ended in Nikon's deposition. The manifestations of the crisis in the social sphere were the 1662 riot in Moscow, brutally suppressed by Alexei Mikhailovich, and the Cossack uprising led by S.T. Razin, with difficulty suppressed by the government. Alexei Mikhailovich himself participated in foreign policy negotiations and military campaigns (1654-1656). In 1654, the unification of Ukraine with Russia took place, and the war with the Commonwealth that began after that (1654-1667) ended with the signing of the Andrusovo truce and the consolidation of Russia in Left-Bank Ukraine. But attempts to reach the shores of the Baltic Sea (Russian-Swedish war of 1656-58) did not lead to success.

A man of transitional times, Alexei Mikhailovich was sufficiently educated, the first of the Russian tsars to break the tradition and began to sign documents with his own hand. A number of literary works are also attributed to him, including “Message to the Solovki”, “The Tale of the Repose of Patriarch Joseph”, “The Officer of the Falconer's Way”, etc.

From the first marriage with M.I. Miloslavskaya (1648) Alexei Mikhailovich had 13 children (including Tsars Fedor Alekseevich and Ivan V, Princess Sofya Alekseevna), from his second marriage with N.K. Naryshkina (1671) - 3 children (including Tsar Peter I).

Culture and life. church schism

The split occurred due to external paraphernalia, but it took the form of extreme confrontation. They also affected worldview factors. Many Russian historians (including S. M. Solovyov, V. O. Klyuchevsky and others) portrayed the schism as a conflict that affected only the sphere of ritual. L. Tikhomirov, S. Platonov, B. Bashilov believed that this view does not reflect the full depth of the split, which became the most difficult test for people's self-consciousness.

The most influential of the church traditionalists were Ivan Neronov, Avvakum Petrov, Stefan Vonifatiev (who had the opportunity to become patriarch instead of Nikon, but refused to nominate himself), Andrei Denisov, Spiridon Potemkin. They were gifted and smart people far from religious fanaticism. For example, Potemkin knew five foreign languages, Avvakum was a talented writer, an innovator in style and principles of literary representation. Interestingly, the first impulses for reform came precisely from this group, to which, by the way, Nikon belonged from 1645 to 1652. The question of correcting errors accumulated over centuries in liturgical texts was first raised within the walls of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra

After the business of copying books turned out to be in the hands of visitors, supporters of antiquity came out under the flag of "keepers of ancient piety." The intransigence acquired in the Time of Troubles against any attempt on the Old Russian Orthodox tradition had an effect. The correction of church texts according to Greek models, voluntarily or involuntarily, called into question the canon of Russian Orthodox saints. Nikon's reform crossed out the decisions of the Stoglavy Cathedral of 1551, which consolidated adherence to the "old times", cast a shadow on the tradition of the school of Sergius of Radonezh, which emphasized the special nature of Russian Orthodoxy, its difference from Byzantine. From the point of view of historical facts, Avvakum and his comrades were right: not the Russians, but the Greeks retreated from the traditions of the first Christians, revising ritual norms in the 12th century. As for the correction of sacred books, the Greeks had no less errors and mistakes than the Russians.

Having entered into union with Catholicism in 1439, the Greeks, according to the Russians, lost their right to primacy in the Orthodox world. Even Ivan the Terrible expressed a common position for Russians: “The Greeks are not the gospel to us. We do not have a Greek, but a Russian faith.” The piety of the Greeks in Rus' was called into question.

Nikon, after the removal of the Moscow rulers of the sacred texts, invited not only the people of Kiev, but also foreigners, among whom Paisiy Ligarid and Arseniy the Greek stood out. It is significant that Arseniy the Greek changed his religion three times, at one time he was even a Muslim, and Ligarides was excommunicated by the Patriarch of Constantinople from the Orthodox Church for his sympathy for Catholicism. Nikon managed to attract to his side some representatives of the higher clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church: Dmitry of Rostov, Hilarion of Ryazan, Pavel Sarsky and others. Simeon Polotsky, his students Sylvester Medvedev and Karion Istomin declared the spiritual baggage of Rus' to be of no particular value. The whole sum of habitual ideas and everyday axioms, in the inviolability of which the entire Russian population was sure, was denied. Russian culture was declared backward, European standards were adopted.

The controversy between the Old Believers and the Nikonians turned into a real ideological war. Avvakum and his associates tried to act with the power of logic. Their opponents used to resort to outright forgeries (as was, for example, the notorious "Conciliar act against the heretic Martin"). The possibility of a compromise was scanty - the controversy acquired such a strong intensity. In addition, the victory of the Nikonians was actually guaranteed: they were backed by state power. Tsar Alexei, despite his devout religiosity, did not interfere with Nikon in breaking the old church order. According to indirect data, behind the reform, Alexei's aim was to stand at the head of the entire Orthodox world. The Old Believers perceived Alexei as an apostate, which is confirmed by the description given to the tsar by Archpriest Avvakum: “Paternally throw away, love the strange confrontation, pervert.”

many ordinary people the abandonment of the former rites was experienced as a national and personal catastrophe. It was not clear what turned out to be a bad habitual way, consecrated by time. In 1667, the Solovetsky monks filed a petition to Alexei Mikhailovich, in which there was clear bewilderment: "They teach us a new faith, like Mordovians or Cheremis ... it is not known why." The mood of the people was expressed in the words of Habakkuk: “Satan begged from God for the bright Russia of Satan, even if he will blacken the roof of the martyr.” The Old Believers relied on the opinion of the people, citing an argument in a dispute with the Nikonians: "The voice of the people is the voice of God." In response to this, one of the leaders of the New Believers, Karion Istomin, grinned: “The man is squealing.”

The reform was carried out from an elitist position, shrugging off the folk spirit of Orthodoxy. Nikonians relied on "external wisdom", they represented the essence of the controversy as a conflict between knowledge and ignorance. The Old Believers, on the other hand, tried to prove that the intellect and spirit entered into the conflict. For them, the main thing was moral perfection. Avvakum said that in the moral sense everyone is equal - "from the king to the kennel." The rejection of the old Russian samples of sacred texts in favor of the Greek ones was also associated with elitism, chosenness, which made it difficult for ordinary believers to access the truth. Democracy reigned in pre-Nikonian culture. In Rus', they never appreciated abstract knowledge, seeing in science the path to truth. Correction of ancient Russian books according to foreign standards in the eyes of traditionalists looked like a disregard for "male" culture.

The reform was carried out with the help of violence. Nikon was inclined to be uncompromising and straightforward. He sought to raise the church above secular power and establish in Russia a kind of tsaropapism - only in a national version. Nikon's obstinacy led to strange antics in his behavior: he refused the patriarchate, and then announced his return: "I left the throne without being persecuted by anyone, now I have come to the throne without being called by anyone." Both the tsar and the clergy were tired of Nikon's whims - he was deprived of the patriarchate. But by the time of his abdication, Nikon managed to introduce the spirit of extreme radicalism into the reform. It was carried out by despotic, harsh, rude methods. Old liturgical books were taken away and burned. There were whole fights over books. Lay people and monks secretly took them to the taiga and tundra, avoiding persecution. People said: “According to these books, so many Russians have become righteous and God-pleasers, and now they are considered nothing.” Opposition to the reform manifested itself everywhere: in Vladimir, Nizhny Novgorod, Murom, and so on. From the Solovetsky Monastery, the schism spread throughout the North. The protest against hasty innovations swept many segments of the population. “With fire, yes with a whip, yes with a gallows they want to approve the faith! Avvakum was indignant. - Which Apostles taught so? Don't know! My Christ did not order our Apostles to teach in such a way as to bring them to faith with fire, with a whip, and with a gallows. The essence of the pre-Nikonian understanding of Christianity in Rus' was that one cannot force people to believe by force.

Before the split, Rus' was spiritually united. The difference in education, in everyday life between the various strata of Russian society was quantitative, not qualitative. The split occurred at that difficult moment when the country faced the problem of developing approaches to cultural ties with Europe. The reform paved the way for the spread of disdain for national customs and forms of organization of life.

The result of the split was a certain confusion in the people's worldview. The Old Believers perceived history as "eternity in the present", i.e. as a stream of time in which everyone has his own clearly marked place and is responsible for everything he has done. Idea doomsday for the Old Believers it had not a mythological, but a deeply moral meaning. For the New Believers, the idea of ​​the Last Judgment ceased to be taken into account in historical forecasts and became the subject of rhetorical exercises. The attitude of the New Believers was less connected with eternity, more with earthly needs. They were emancipated to a certain extent, they accepted the motive of the transience of time, they had more material practicality, a desire to cope with time in order to achieve quick practical results.

In the struggle against the Old Believers, the official church was forced to turn to the state for assistance, willy-nilly taking steps towards subordination to secular power. Alexey Mikhailovich took advantage of this, and his son Peter finally dealt with the independence of the Orthodox Church. Petrovsky absolutism was built on the fact that he freed state power from all religious and moral norms.

The state persecuted the Old Believers. Repressions against them expanded after the death of Alexei, during the reign of Fyodor Alekseevich and Princess Sophia. In 1681, any distribution of ancient books and writings of the Old Believers was prohibited. In 1682, on the orders of Tsar Fedor, the most prominent leader of the schism, Avvakum, was burned. Under Sophia, a law was issued that finally banned any activity of schismatics. They showed exceptional spiritual stamina, responded to repressions with actions of mass self-immolation, when people burned entire clans and communities.

The remaining Old Believers brought a kind of stream into Russian spiritual and cultural thought, did a lot to preserve antiquity. They were more literate than the Nikonians. The Old Believers continued the ancient Russian spiritual tradition, which prescribes a constant search for truth and a tense moral tone. The schism hit this tradition when, after the fall of the prestige of the official church, secular authorities took control of the education system. There has been a change in the main goals of education: instead of a person - a carrier of a higher spiritual principle, they began to train a person who performs a narrow circle of certain functions.

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