B. Zemsky Sobor and reforms of the first half of the reign of Ivan the Terrible. Convening of the first Zemsky Sobor, its role in the political life of Rus' The first Zemsky Sobor was convened by Ivan 4

What is known about the First Zemsky Sobor
The Zemsky Sobor is a gathering of representatives of different segments of the population of the Russian state to resolve political, economic and administrative issues. The word “zemsky” meant “nationwide” (that is, the matter of “the whole earth”).
Such meetings were convened to discuss the most important issues of the internal and foreign policy of the Moscow state, and also on urgent matters, for example, they examined issues of war and peace, taxes and fees, mainly for military needs.
In the 16th century, the process of forming this public institution was just beginning; initially it was not clearly structured, and its competence was not strictly defined. The practice of convening, the procedure for forming, especially the composition of zemstvo councils for a long time were also not regulated.
The first is considered to be the Zemstvo Sobor of 1549, which lasted for two days; it was convened to resolve issues about the new Tsar Code of Law and the reforms of the “Elected Rada”. The sovereign and the boyars spoke at the cathedral, and later a meeting of the Boyar Duma took place, which adopted a provision on the non-jurisdiction (except in major criminal cases) of boyar children to governors.
There is also an opinion that this was the so-called “cathedral of reconciliation” (possibly between the king and the boyars or reconciliation between representatives of different classes among themselves).

How it all happened (“The Degree Book”)
1549 - under the influence of his environment, Tsar Ivan IV decided to take a new step in Russian history - the convening of the first Zemsky Sobor. “In the twentieth year of his age,” it is said in the Degree Book, “seeing the state in great anguish and sadness from the violence of the strong and from untruths, the king intended to bring everyone into love. Having consulted with the metropolitan about how to destroy sedition, ruin untruths, and quench enmity, he called for assembling his state from cities of all ranks.” When the elected officials gathered, on Sunday the Tsar went out with a cross to the Place of Execution and after the prayer service began to say to the Metropolitan:
“I pray to you, holy master! Be my helper and champion of love. I know that you desire good deeds and love. You yourself know that I remained four years after my father, and eight years after my mother; my relatives did not care about me, and my strong boyars and nobles did not care about me and were autocratic, they stole dignity and honors for themselves in my name and practiced themselves in many selfish thefts and troubles. I was as if deaf and did not hear, and had no reproach in my mouth due to my youth and helplessness, but they ruled.”
And, addressing the boyars who were in the square, Tsar Ivan threw at them passionate words: “O unrighteous covetous and predators and unrighteous judges! What answer will you give us now that many have brought tears upon themselves? I am pure from this blood, expect your reward.”
After bowing in all directions, Ivan IV continued: “People of God and given to us by God! I pray for your faith in God and love for us. Now we cannot correct your previous troubles, ruins and taxes due to my long minority, the emptiness and lies of my boyars and authorities, the recklessness of the unrighteous, covetousness and love of money. I pray you, leave each other enmity and burdens, except perhaps for very big matters: in these matters and in new ones, I myself will be your judge and defense, as much as possible, I will ruin untruths and return what was stolen.”
That same day, Ivan Vasilyevich granted Adashev a okolnichy and at the same time told him: “Alexey! I instruct you to accept petitions from the poor and offended and analyze them carefully. Do not be afraid of the strong and glorious, who steal honors and brutalize the poor and weak with their violence; do not look at the false tears of the poor, who slander the rich, who want to be right with false tears, but consider everything carefully and bring the truth to us, fearing the judgment of God; choose righteous judges from the boyars and nobles.”

The result of the first Zemsky Sobor
No other information about the first Zemsky Sobor has survived to this day, however, from a number of indirect signs one can see that the matter could not be limited to one speech by the sovereign, but many practical issues were also raised. Ivan IV ordered the boyars to make peace with all Christians of the state. And in fact, soon after this, an order was given to all feeding governors to quickly put an end to all disputes with zemstvo societies regarding feeding by the world order.
At the Council of the Stoglavy in 1551, Ivan Vasilyevich said that the previous council had given him a blessing to correct the old Code of Laws of 1497 and to establish elders and kissers throughout all the lands of his state. This means that the Zemsky Sobor of 1549 discussed a number of legislative measures with the aim of restructuring local government.
This plan began with the urgent liquidation of all litigation between the zemstvo and the feeders, continued with the revision of the Code of Law with the mandatory universal introduction of elected elders and kissers into the court, and ended with the granting of charters that abolished feeding altogether. As a result of these measures, local communities were supposed to free themselves from the petty tutelage of boyar-governors, collect taxes themselves and administer justice themselves. It is known that feeding, unjust trials and uncontrolled collection of taxes became the real scourge of Russian life by the middle of the 16th century.

The many abuses of boyar-governors in the performance of their duties are reported in all sources of that era. By abolishing feeding and creating independent community courts, Ivan Vasilyevich tried to destroy the evil that had taken deep roots in Russian society. All these measures were fully consistent with the new state of mind of the sovereign and followed from his speech delivered to all the people in 1549. But the charters, according to which the volosts were given the right to be governed by both elected authorities, were paid off. The volost paid off the governors with a certain amount contributed to the treasury; the government gave her the right to pay off as a result of her request; if she did not strike, considering the new order of things unprofitable for herself, then she remained with the old one.
The following year, 1551, a large church council, usually called Stoglav, was convened to organize church administration and the religious and moral life of the people. A new Code of Law was presented at it, which was a corrected and disseminated edition of the old grandfather’s Code of Law of 1497.

Since ancient times in Rus' there has been a custom to solve problems that have arisen and settle matters with the entire community, “conciliarly,” despite the fact that the convening of the first Zemsky Sobor took place only in the middle of the sixteenth century, during the period of the country’s rule by Ivan the Terrible. The existence of such institutions is typical for many European countries that have passed through the stage of estate-representative monarchy in their development. The first zemstvo councils arose in England, Catalonia, and Portugal. In Spain, such deliberative institutions were called Cortes, in Poland - Diets, in Germany - Landtags.

So, the Zemsky Sobor is the highest institution of estate-representative power, endowed with legislative functions. It was convened to resolve political and administrative affairs. In other words, this is a convening of representatives of different classes to resolve some matter of national importance. The emergence of such an institution was the result of the end of the unification of Russian lands into a single state and the strengthening of local power of the nobility. In terms of the composition of its members, the Russian Zemsky Sobor was close to Western European class representations, but differed from them in having only an advisory function. European zemstvo councils had the right to legislate. In Rus', the decisions of this institution came into force only after their approval by the Tsar and the Boyar Duma.

The convening of the first Zemsky Sobor in Rus' was timed to coincide with the beginning of the reforms of Ivan IV the Terrible. It included the highest clergy, boyars, appanage princes, wealthy citizens, and representatives of the nobility from different provinces of the country. The Zemsky Sobor conventionally consisted of two chambers. One of them included boyars, treasurers, butlers, the other - nobles and military leaders. Each convocation of the Zemsky Sobor lasted, as a rule, no more than two days. The tsar spoke at it three times, after which the boyars could express their opinion on the issue at hand, and at the end a meeting of the Boyar Duma was held. All meetings were held strictly according to ranks, decisions were made unanimously.

The convening of the first Zemsky Sobor in February 1549, which proclaimed the transition of the Russian state to an estate-representative monarchy, was of great importance for the political and cultural life of the country. From this time on, the role of the nobility in governing the country increased. During the convocation, a new set of laws is established and a decision is made to create the Petition Hut. From now on, anyone could submit a petition (request) to the Tsar and almost immediately receive an answer to it. Similarly, the petition hut regulated the activities of other government agencies.

The first Zemsky Sobor, convened in Rus', was called the “Cathedral of Reconciliation”; in parallel with it, a meeting of the Church Council was held, which examined the lives of sixteen Orthodox saints and established the church celebration of the holidays named after them.

The convening of the first Zemsky Sobor, and all those that followed it, was carried out by a special charter, which indicated the reason for convening and the number of elected representatives. Often the population itself decided how many people should sit at the Zemsky Sobor. Representatives were selected through elections held in various cities of the country in the form of meetings. Persons who perform service and also regularly pay taxes to the state treasury could take part in these elections. Elected representatives did not receive a salary for their participation in the convening of the Zemsky Sobor. Moreover, they had to independently provide themselves with everything necessary when going to such a meeting.

All convocations of the Zemsky Sobor were held, as a rule, in a solemn atmosphere in the Kremlin. A service was held in their honor in the Assumption Cathedral. In total, over the two centuries of the existence of this institution, a meeting of 57 Zemsky Sobors was held.

In June 1547, Moscow townspeople (townspeople) rebelled. The reason for the uprising was a terrible fire that destroyed almost the entire city north of the Moscow River (about 2 thousand people died). The supply of food to the capital stopped and famine began. The people demanded an end to boyar arbitrariness, the removal of the Glinsky princes from power, and an increase in the role of Ivan IV in government decision-making. With great difficulty, the authorities managed to restore order in the city. This uprising was of great importance. Firstly, Ivan IV saw with his own eyes the full power of popular anger and subsequently tried to use it in his political interests. Secondly, the tsar became convinced of the need for serious government reforms.

By 1549, a group of people close to him gradually formed around the young autocrat, which Prince Andrei Kurbsky (one of its participants) later called the Chosen Rada. It was not an authority, a government, and had no legal basis for its activities. Everything was built on the personal relationships of Ivan IV with his advisers, and while he was under their influence, gradual changes were carried out in the country aimed at consolidating the ruling layer and strengthening the administrative apparatus, strengthening the state, and solving foreign policy problems.

The nobleman Alexei Adashev supervised the activities of the Petition Izba, which received complaints and denunciations, and at the same time served as the tsar’s personal office. An active participant in the Elected Rada was the priest Sylvester, who influenced the spiritual life of the Tsar and introduced him to books. The circle of those close to him also included: Metropolitan Macarius and the talented diplomat and Duma clerk Ivan Viskovaty.

In the early 1560s. Ivan IV is freed from the influence of the Elected Rada. Almost all of its participants were repressed.

Zemsky Sobor 1549

In February 1549, on the initiative of Ivan IV, a central estate-representative legislative body, the Zemsky Sobor, was convened for the first time. Subsequently (until the middle of the 17th century), the use of Zemsky Sobors to resolve the most important state issues became a common practice. Zemstvo councils were convened irregularly, solely at the will of the sovereign; they had no legislative initiative and, therefore, did not in any way limit the autocratic power of the tsar.

The Council of 1549, which historians often call the “Cathedral of Reconciliation,” was attended by the Boyar Duma, church hierarchs, and representatives of landowners. At the very first meeting, the sovereign accused the boyars of “untruths,” abuses and “negligence.” The boyars apologized and tearfully begged for forgiveness, promising to serve “truly, without any cunning.” The tsar forgave them and called on everyone to live in peace and harmony, but still insisted on removing the “children of the boyars” (small and medium-sized landowners) from the jurisdiction of the feeding governors. During the council, decisions were also made on the need for judicial reform, on the “organization” of local self-government, and on preparations for war with the Kazan Khanate.

Law code 1550

In 1550, by decision of the Zemsky Sobor of 1549, a new Code of Law was adopted. It largely repeated the provisions that already existed in the Code of Laws of Ivan III, but took into account the accumulated legal practice and was significantly expanded.

At the expense of butlers, treasurers, clerks and all sorts of clerks, the composition of the judiciary expanded. Landowners were removed from the jurisdiction of the boyars and governors. Nobles and merchants could elect special people - kissers who participated in the vicegerental court. The rights of governors were also curtailed by the fact that the responsibility for collecting taxes passed to elected people - favorite heads (elders), which prepared the way for the abolition of the feeding system. A procedure for filing complaints against governors and volosts was established. Service people, who were the support of the royal power, were protected from falling into servitude. The judicial privileges of appanage princes were also sharply reduced.

New in the Code of Laws of Ivan IV was the concept of anti-state activity - “sedition”, which included serious criminal offenses, conspiracies, and rebellions. The first articles of this code of laws established severe penalties for bribery and willful injustice.

The Code of Law also concerned the position of dependent peasants. Their attachment to the land intensified, since, despite the fact that the right of St. George's Day was preserved, payments for the elderly increased.

REASONS FOR THE CONVENING OF THE FIRST Zemsky Sobor

According to some, this council was convened by the tsar to fight the boyars, against whom Ivan the Terrible was looking for support among the people8. This view is not supported by historical evidence. On the contrary, it was in 1550 that the tsar could least of all think about the fight against the boyars. By that time, through the mediation of Metropolitans Macarius and Sylvester, he had become close to the best people from the boyars and formed a circle of advisers and employees who helped him in his bold external and internal enterprises. Sensing this difficulty, other researchers correct the guess, adding that the first Zemsky Sobor gave the tsar solid ground for the future struggle against the boyars9. But when this expected struggle came, the tsar did not look for support in the solid ground of the Zemsky Sobor, but created for this a new institution of a completely anti-Zemstvo character. Everything that is known about the goals of the first Zemsky Sobor from the supreme culprit and its leader also does not support speculation about the militant democratic motives that supposedly caused it. […]

Other researchers indicate other reasons for the convening of the first Zemsky Sobor; These reasons are sometimes repeated by supporters of the anti-boyar origin of this cathedral as reinforcement of their guess. Those were: the need that arose with the unification of Rus' by Moscow for a common body for the entire Russian land, with the help of which it could declare its needs and desires before the resulting common supreme power, the need to give a general direction to the interests and aspirations of individual zemshchinas of the Moscow state, so that it could develop the consciousness of an integral all-Russian zemshchina, the need for the tsar to enter into an alliance with the land, removing the boyars from the path that led to the unity of the tsar and the land, the tsar’s clearly understood need for direct communication with the people in order to have firm support in them in government activities, etc. paragraph 10 It is impossible not to recognize the convenience of these considerations, that they relate to the origin of conciliar representation in general, and not just the first council; It is difficult to explain the origin of the first council separately from subsequent ones, especially when there is so little data for judgments about the first council.

INTERNAL REFORM OF THE STATE

Simultaneously with the Kazan campaigns of Grozny, his internal reform was underway. Its beginning is associated with the solemn “council” that met in Moscow in 1550-1551. This was not a Zemsky Sobor in the usual sense of the term. The legend that in 1550 Grozny convened in Moscow a representative meeting of “every rank” from the cities is now recognized as unreliable. As I. N. Zhdanov first showed, a council of clergy and boyars on church affairs and “zemskie” was then meeting in Moscow. At this council or with its approval in 1550, the Code of Law of 1497 was “corrected”, and in 1551 “Stoglav”, a collection of decrees of a canonical nature, was compiled. Reading these monuments and, in general, the documents of government activities of those years, we come to the conclusion that at that time a whole plan for the restructuring of local government was created in Moscow. […] Since the primitive feeding system could not meet the requirements of the time, the growth of the state and the complication of the social order, it was decided to replace it with other forms of management. Before the abolition of feeding in this place, the feeders were placed under the control of public elected representatives, and then they were completely replaced by self-government bodies. At the same time, self-government received two types: 1) The jurisdiction of elected people was transferred to the court and police in the district (“guba”). This usually happened in those places where the population had a mixed class character. Service people were usually chosen as provincial elders, and to help them were given elected kissers (i.e., jurors) and clerks, who constituted a special presence, the “gubal hut.” All classes of the population were elected together. 2) Not only the court and police, but also financial management were transferred to the authority of elected people: collecting taxes and running the community economy. This usually happened in districts and volosts with a solid tax population, where zemstvo elders had long existed for tax-paying self-government. When these elders were given the functions of the provincial institution (or, what is the same, the governorship), the most complete form of self-government was obtained, covering all aspects of zemstvo life. Representatives of such self-government were called differently: favorite elders, favorite heads, zemstvo judges. The abolition of feedings was decided in principle around 1555, and all volosts and cities were allowed to move to a new order of self-government. The “feeders” had to continue to be left without “feed,” and the government needed funds to replace the feed with something. To receive such funds, it was established that cities and volosts must, for the right of self-government, pay a special rent to the sovereign treasury, called the “kormlenago okupa.” It went to special cash desks, “treasuries,” which were called “quarters” or “chetets,” and former feeders received the right to annual “lessons” or a salary “from the cheti” and began to be called “chetvertiki.”

From the earliest times in Rus' there was an order according to which all problems that arose were solved collectively, although the convening of the first Zemsky Sobor occurred only in 1549. What did this body do, what happened in the country, what caused its appearance, who were its members? The answers to these questions will be found in the article.

The role of the Zemsky Sobor

The Zemsky Sobor was the highest representative state institution in Tsarist Rus' from the mid-sixteenth century to the end of the seventeenth century.

It included:

• the Boyar Duma - a permanent council under the prince, which decided the most important state issues and was present in the Zemsky Sobor in full force;
• the consecrated cathedral, whose representatives were the highest church hierarchs;
• elected people from servicemen - persons known in Rus' in the period from the fourteenth century to the eighteenth century, who are obliged to perform military or administrative service for the benefit of the state;
• Moscow nobility;
• Streltsy - elected officials;
• Pushkars - Russian artillerymen from the sixteenth to the seventeenth centuries;
• Cossacks

This organization included absolutely all classes of the population, not counting the serfs. The first Zemsky Sobor of 1549 was convened with the aim of acquainting all participants in this institution with the reforms of the new body of Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible. This body was the Elected Rada.

The reforms included the following innovations:

• the formation of the Streltsy army - the personal guard of Ivan the Terrible;
• creation of a new Code of Law;
• centralization of power, tightening and strengthening of the system of orders and coercion.

This council existed during the class-representative monarchy - a form of government in which members of all classes take part in solving political, administrative, economic, social, international problems and issues in the state.

One of the most cruel rulers of Rus', who wanted to create an absolute monarchy in his state, on February 27, 1549, showed signs of democratic initiative and organized the convening of the first Zemsky Sobor, a body that included people of various social and economic backgrounds.

However, in reality this is a big step towards the centralization of power. For the next 130 years, this council had the decisive say in solving the most important domestic and foreign political problems, economic issues, electing new rulers of the state and determining succession to the throne.

Before the governing body that emerged during the time of Ivan Vasilyevich, the country knew another similar institution - the veche. This is a kind of attempt to introduce democracy into the state management system, because this body also included representatives of different classes. At first, minor judicial and administrative problems were discussed here, and then issues at the level of international relations.

Important! The Zemsky Sobor was fundamentally different from the veche. Its activities were much more binding and regulated, and the most important state issues were resolved from the very beginning. The councils became the first demonstration in the country of parliamentarism - a system of governing the country where there is a distinction between the functions of the legislative and executive powers with a significant position of parliament.

Reasons and prerequisites for creation

In 1538, Elena Glinskaya was a princess, the second wife of Moscow Prince Vasily Ivanovich, the first ruler of the united Russian state, dies.

Her period of reign was marked by endless internal confrontations between the boyars and other representatives of the upper classes, lack of support among the boyars and ordinary people, and cruelty towards competitors in the struggle for the throne.

After her death, the line of the reign's legacy continued with two children - the eldest Ivan and the younger Yuri.

The young pretenders, neither one nor the other, were able to take control of the country, so the boyars actually exercised power over them and the state. A continuous struggle for the throne ensues between different clans.

In December 1543, the eldest son of Elena Glinskaya was ready to declare his intentions to begin an independent reign. He uses brutal methods to gain power. He gave the order to arrest Shuisky, the prince of Rus' at that time.

On January 16, 1547, Ivan was crowned king. During this period, people's discontent grew due to poor management, which was not really implemented, and the lawlessness that noble people did in relation to ordinary peasants. The feudal struggle between the estates and the boyars is growing. The king understands that the conditions that existed before he began to rule made him completely dependent and controlled by noble people.

Thus, it was the following reasons and prerequisites that laid the foundation for the history of the Zemsky Sobor:

• the creation and legitimation of new orders of management features, such as the establishment of an absolute monarchy (autocracy), as well as a return to the positions of power that existed during the reign of Vasily III;
• the unification of the main and most influential political forces in the state - feudal lords and the richest merchants conducting foreign trade;
• the need to conclude a truce and friendly, cooperative agreements between classes;
• the need to distribute responsibility for ongoing political activities among representatives of the noble classes;
• the escalating discontent of the lower classes - ordinary people, which intensified due to the fires that occurred in Moscow in 1547, where more than 1,700 people died and about a third of the city's buildings were destroyed;
• the need for fundamental reforms in all spheres of society, state support for the population.

The institution received the unofficial name of the “Cathedral of Reconciliation.” He concluded that the boyars' rule, which was carried out after the death of the princess, had poor results.

However, Ivan the Terrible himself did not blame the boyars for the poor state of affairs in the country - he took most of the responsibility upon himself, at the same time making it clear that he was ready to forget all gross violations of the rules of decency, norms of behavior and past grievances in exchange for loyalty to the tsar himself, current laws and orders, commitment to the ideals of public institutions.

However, already at that time it was clear that boyar rule would be greatly limited in favor of the power of the nobles - the young tsar did not want to give all the powers of governing the state into one hand.

If the main prerequisite for the convening of this government body is clear - the peculiarities of Ivan the Terrible’s personal vision and the contradictions that had accumulated at the very top of power by the time he took office, then with regard to the main reason for the creation, disputes are still ongoing among historians: some scientists argue that the main factor was a huge Moscow fire that claimed the lives of thousands of people, in which the people blamed the Tsar's relatives - the Glinskys, and others were sure that Ivan was afraid of the atrocities of ordinary people.

One of the most plausible theories is that the young king was afraid of the responsibility that fell upon him upon coming to power, and decided to create a body that would share this responsibility with him.

Differences between Western parliamentarism and Russian

All created social institutions and government agencies, including the Zemsky Sobor, were unique and had their own characteristics, unlike Western foundations and orders. The creation of this body is a step towards the formation of a management system that has more than once helped the country survive and overcome political and international crises.

For example, when a period came in which there were no obvious contenders for the reign, it was this council that determined who would take power and established a new dynasty.

Important! The first ruler elected by the Zemsky Sobor was Fedor, the son of Ivan IV Vasilyevich the Terrible. After this, the council met several more times, establishing the reign of Boris Godunov and then Mikhail Romanov.

During the reign of Michael, the activity and history of convening zemstvo councils ceased, but the further formation of the public administration system was carried out with an eye on this
institution.

The Zemsky Sobor cannot be compared with similar governmental bodies in the West for the following reasons:

1. In the West, representative, governmental, and legislative bodies were formed with the goal of eliminating and preventing the arbitrariness of the autocratic “elite.” Their establishment was a consequence of political competition. The initiative to form such bodies was put forward by ordinary citizens, while in Russia the formation took place at the suggestion of the tsar himself, and the main goal was the centralization of power.
2. The Parliament of the West had a regulated system of government, convened at certain intervals, and had specific meanings and functions prescribed in legislation. The Russian Zemsky Sobor was convened at the request of the tsar or due to urgent need.
3. The Western parliament is a legislative body, and the Russian model was rarely involved in publishing and passing laws.

Useful video

Conclusion

The first Zemsky Sobor was convened by Ivan IV the Terrible at the beginning of his reign. Probably, the young ruler wanted to confirm his right to the throne, create a healthy, strong management system, and bring the state closer in level of development to Western countries.

However, subsequent developments showed that the tsar sought to centralize power, create an absolute monarchy, the strongest autocracy. At the same time, this body played a big role - it became a prototype for the further formation of the public administration system.

In contact with