The representative bodies in Russia in the first half of the seventeenth century

Abstract

The article is concerned with the history of representative institutions in Russia, the Zemsky Sobor (the Assembly of the Land, the National assembly) in the 1620s-50s. On the basis of the documents preserved in the Russian State Archive of Ancient Documents and analyzed in the works of major Russian historians, the article discusses the background to the activities of the Sobors and their relationship with the social and economic situation in the country; the elections to the Sobors and their composition; viewpoints and demands of the important social groups and strata participating in these Sobors and their submitted ‘opinions’; the main issues discussed at the Sobors, results of their activities and decrees refl the decisions of the Zemsky Sobors. It also examines collective petitions submitted to the Sobors which reflect the points of view of the representatives of two main estates – the nobility (nobles and deti boyarskie) and the merchants and townspeople. The author comes to a conclusion about significant role of the Zemsky Sobors in shaping of the Russian state and overcoming the consequences of the Time of Troubles, as well as in finding solutions to acute and vital problems facing the state, namely, to regulate the financial policy, to repulse an external threat, and to develop the basic principles of the foreign policy. At the Sobor a compilation of a uniform Code of Laws was made, i.e. Sob ornoe Ulozhenie of 1649. The article also discusses the reasons for the decline of the representative institutions in Russia since the 1650s, where, although being a contributory factor, they found no support of the upper stratum of society and bureaucracy.

Keywords

• zemsky sobor
• rusia
• siglo xvii
• elecciones
• nobleza
• mercaderes
• ciudadanos
• finanzas
• política exterior
• guerras