Physicist and astronomer Stefan Feeney of University College London, one of the...
Russia did not have this magnificent heritage and ate mainly on its own, which in many ways slowed down Russian urban life compared to the leading countries of the West. But nevertheless, cities in Russia arose earlier than in a number of countries of Eastern Europe, say, in Hungary, Poland, Scandinavia (Sweden and Norway).
The 9th century, the time of the formation of the state in Russia, the eradication of tribal relations, became the boundary of the appearance of all the largest ancient Russian cities. In the X - the beginning of the XI century. in Russia, there were already about 30 large urban centers with fortified "detinets", kremlins, the area of \u200b\u200bwhich was over 2.5 hectares. In the middle of the XI - the first half of the XII century. there were already 42 such cities, and by the middle of the 13th century. - 62. Among them stood out those who had all the characteristic features of urban life - Kiev, Chernigov, Smolensk, Polotsk, Novgorod, Suzdal, Rostov, Ladoga, Lyubech, Pereyaslavl, Przemysl, etc. All of them developed as large urban centers, it was in the 9th-10th centuries, i.e. during the period of strengthening and development of the economy of the East Slavic lands, the formation of East Slavic statehood. All of them were surrounded by powerful walls, had a complex system of fortifications, and were princely residences. There were princely palaces and administrative buildings. Tributes and military indemnities were brought here. Here the prince did "judgment and reprisal", here court and trade duties were collected. The courts of the nobility, privileged wealthy citizens, stood in the cities.
A significant part of the inhabitants of the cities was made up of various merchants - from wealthy merchants, "guests" who trade with other countries, to small peddlers. Merchant associations were born in the cities, which had their charters, common funds, from which assistance was provided to merchants in trouble.
In Kiev, Novgorod, Chernigov, and other large cities of Russia, there were courts of foreign merchants. There were entire areas where merchants from Khazaria, Poland, Scandinavian countries lived. A large community was made up of merchants and usurers, Armenians and Jews, in whose hands was a significant commercial and usurious capital. The Jewish merchants, using their constant contacts with relatives and co-religious partners in other countries, connected Russian trading centers not only with neighboring, but also with distant parts of Europe, including England and Spain. Armenian merchants carried out trade relations of Russia with the countries of the Caucasus and Asia Minor. There were many merchants from the Volga Bulgaria, the countries of the East - Persia, Khorezm, etc. in Russian cities. And Russian merchants were welcome guests in the markets of Constantinople and Krakow, Rensburg and Budapest, in Scandinavia, in the Baltic and German lands. In Constantinople, there was a Russian courtyard, where merchants from Russia constantly stopped. Knowing the cockiness of the Russian merchants and the accompanying guards, their violent temper, the Byzantine authorities at the same time allowed no more than fifty people into the city, carefully making sure that they did not have weapons with them.
In many large and small cities of Russia, auctions were noisy. Along the wide steppe paths, along shady forest roads, in the cold of winter, along the icy surface of frozen rivers, endless merchant caravans stretched to the fortress gates of Russian cities. In Novgorod, around which there were few fertile lands, there were wagons with grain; from the south, from Volhynia, salt was brought to all Russian cities. Fish of all kinds were moving from north to south. From Kiev, Novgorod and other large cities, peddlers carried the products of skilled artisans to towns and villages. The Russian “guests” brought wax, furs, linen, various silver crafts, the famous Russian chain mail, leather, whorl, locks, bronze mirrors, and bone products to the neighboring countries. Often, along with caravans, merchants drove for sale and servants - captives captured by Russian squads during military campaigns, which were highly valued in the slave markets of Chersonesos, Bulgar, Constantinople.
Foreign merchants brought their goods to Russia from everywhere: from Byzantium - expensive fabrics, weapons, church utensils, gems, gold and silver utensils and jewelry; from the countries of the Caucasus, Persia, the Caspian Sea - incense and spices, beads, which were so appreciated by Russian women, and wine; from Flanders - fine cloth. Russian merchants traded with Rhine cities, Hungarian, Czech, Polish lands, from where metal products, as well as weapons, wines, horses came from. Large myta (duties) were collected from this diverse trade as great Kiev princes as well as local. Representatives of princely houses also participated in trade affairs: they either trusted their goods to merchants, or had their trade representatives in numerous trade caravans, which, under heavy guard, went from Russian lands to all corners of the world.
Each city was also the center of trade for the entire surrounding area. Craftsmen from the surrounding towns and smerds from the countryside were drawn to him to sell the fruits of their labors, to buy something necessary in the household.
In Kiev, the main market was located on Podil, under the mountain, at the confluence of the Pochaina River with the Dnieper. At the moorings of Pochaina, the sails of numerous ships were white, the boats of the same tree were scurrying about. Greeks and Bulgarians, Jews and Poles, Germans and Czechs, Armenians and Arabs, Varangians and Scandinavians sat in the trading rows. Goods were lying on the piers and in barns, they were littered with shops on Krasnaya and Zhitnaya squares, on the streets going up Podol from the water. Merchants from the north hung fox, sable, marten furs on poles, Greeks and Arabs unfolded curtains (expensive fabrics), right on the ground, on rags laid out precious stones, bracelets, necklaces.
The entire auction was filled with products of Kiev craftsmen. Silverware shone in the sun, trimmed with a chased pattern, embossed silver kolts (pendants for earrings), gold jewelry with cloisonne enamel, earrings decorated with the finest filigree, items made of blackened silver delighted the eye. Pottery items stood in rows - jugs, scoops, amphoras, pots. Tanners and blacksmiths, bone cutters and carpenters, other handicraft people, whose settlements, consisting of chopped wooden huts, adobe houses, semi-dugouts, descended like a continuous anthill along the slopes of Starokievskaya Mountain to the banks of the Dnieper and Pochaina, brought here the labors of their own hands. Hundreds of craft professions provided the markets of Russian cities with the most diverse products.
In the markets of Russia, various coins rang. There were silver hryvnias and kuns of their own coinage, and Arab dirhems, and Byzantine gold nomisms, and German thalers. But in the northern wilderness and in the steppe south, as in the old days, the skins of valuable animals and cattle were still used as monetary units. It is not for nothing that money in Russia since ancient times was called kuns, i.e. fur of martens, which spoke of the time when not metal, but furs were the equivalent of money in these parts.
The description of the ancient Russian city would be incomplete if we did not mention the temples and monasteries located there. Each city had its main city cathedrals. In Kiev, these were first the Church of the Tithes, and then the Church of St. Sophia, in Chernigov - the Church of the Savior, in Novgorod - also on the Kiev model - the eldest son of Yaroslav the Wise, who died early, Vladimir built the St. Sophia Cathedral.
In the XI century. in Kiev, in addition to the Pechersky Monastery, Vydubitsky, which belonged to the princely family, as well as a convent already existed. Monastic life was closely intertwined with the general urban way of life.
In addition to the main, cathedral cathedrals, where the church service was conducted by the heads of local church parishes - archbishops and bishops, subordinate to the Kiev metropolis, or metropolitan cathedra, in every major city there were dozens of other churches that were built by princes, boyars, wealthy merchants, and even artisans on own money. Rich people near their own choirs and even inside these choirs often built their house churches, where only members of their family performed a religious cult.
Army, military people were an integral part ancient Russian society, an inseparable feature of the life of Russian cities, an organic part of the way of the grand ducal palace, the palaces of other princes and boyars.
Gone are the days when the whole tribe rose up against the enemy or when the great princes of Kiev led tens of thousands of their fellow tribesmen on distant campaigns, placing under their battle banners a significant part of the male population of various principalities, headed by their princes. To the share of these temporary combat
formations accounted for part of the spoils of war and the annual tribute paid by the defeated enemy. Their share accounted for heavy defeats and thousands of deaths, bleeding a developing country.
With the creation of a strong and relatively unified state, military affairs fell into the hands of professional soldiers, for whom war became the meaning of life. Professional warriors served the prince and were on his payroll. For the older squad, as mentioned earlier, this was the distribution of "feedings", later land, for the younger - content on contentment, payment of money, parts of the captured booty, etc.
The squad from now on became the core of the army, the most powerful and well-armed part of the princely army. The Grand Duke of Kiev had a squad of 500 to 800 people. These warriors moved either on horseback or in fast and light boats along rivers and seas. They were armed with swords, spears, sabers. On their heads they had "shishaks" - graceful pointed helmets, a shield, armor or chain mail protected their bodies. Each squad fought next to its prince, and the prince or boyar himself led his squad during the battle. During hand-to-hand fights, special bodyguards protected the prince, protected him with their shields and bodies from enemy sabers and arrows.
But the squad was only a part of the Old Russian army. Another part of it was the “regiment”, simple “howls” - smerds and artisans. The Grand Duke and other princes involved them in military activities either when the state, the entire population was in mortal danger, as happened during the terrible raids of the Pechenegs, and later the Polovtsy, or when all of Russia was on a big campaign, as was the case in time of wars with Byzantium, Poland, Khazaria. In this case, the townspeople came to the "regiment", where they were divided into tens and hundreds, led by their tenths and sots. The villagers were in the "regiment" led by their elders, and then also divided into tens and hundreds. The entire "regiment" was commanded, as mentioned above, by a thousand. The armament of the “warriors” was simpler: a bow, a quiver with arrows, a spear or a heavy battle ax that pierced through strong armor, each had a knife on his belt in case of hand-to-hand fights. Armor "howl" was not worn. She was too expensive. Chain mail was also rare. But the shields were in the hands of everyone.
The army went on a campaign under the princely banners. The trumpeters sounded the march. The prince rode ahead, a squad pranced behind him, then came the “howl” on foot. Next was a convoy, in which there were armaments of warriors folded up to the time and food supplies. Shortly before the battle, the soldiers dismantled their weapons and prepared them for battle.
Battles often began with a duel of heroes, which each side exhibited. The success of their hero spewed an enthusiastic cry from the lips of the troops, and the inspired warriors rushed to the attack. Such was the duel between Mstislav and the prince of Kassog, the hero Rededey. In one battle with the Pechenegs during the period of Vladimir Svyatoslav, a Russian hero, a simple kozhemyaka, during a duel killed a Pecheneg strongman with a throw to the ground. After that, the Russians hit the enemy and won.
During the battle, the entire army, as a rule, was divided into a “chelo” - the center, where the most reliable warriors were located, able to withstand the blows of the enemy cavalry: on foot, armed with shields, spears and axes. On the right and left "wings" there were mounted warriors, the prince's squad. The task of the "wings" was to surround the enemy and strike him from the flanks after the "brow" would withstand the blow of the enemy.
Often, at a distance from the main army, along with the Rus, mercenary or allied foreign troops marched on the campaign: Varangians or detachments of friendly
nomads - Torkov, Berendey. The Kiev princes also attracted the Pechenegs, and later the Polovtsians. The chronicler wrote with condemnation about those cases when the Russian princes led nomads on campaigns against their own compatriots.
Mercenaries and allies, as a rule, did not merge with the Russian army, they obeyed their commanders. In case of failure, they often fled from the battlefield, exposing the front.
If the Russian army went to storm the enemy fortress, then the wagon train contained special siege devices - battering rams (huge logs covered with iron), stone arrows, access ladders, vezhs (mobile wooden towers).
Ancient Moscow. XII-XV centuries Tikhomirov Mikhail Nikolaevich
MERCHANT ASSOCIATIONS IN MOSCOW
The top of the Moscow merchants united in two groups: guests-surozhans and cloth workers. The division of trading people into the Living Room and Cloth Hundreds was preserved in the 17th century, but then the names of guests and cloth makers remained only by tradition. It was different in the XIV-XV centuries, when guests and cloth makers were not only separate corporations, but also united by the specifics of their trading activities. Surozhan guests traded with the south, clothiers with the West; the main goods of the former were silk fabrics, the latter mainly traded in cloth. In their social position, the people of Surozh were superior to clothiers and other merchants. In the annalistic news, Surozhans are usually mentioned first, then clothiers and merchants.
The social significance of the merchant elite rested primarily on their wealth. With the concept of surozhans, cloth makers and other merchants, the idea was connected as about people, "...they are temples filled with wealth, every commodity." The grand dukes themselves often needed the support of the merchant elite, especially during internecine unrest or peace with the Horde. This was experienced by Vasily the Dark, against whom, together with Shemyaka, many of the Muscovites, boyars and guests, were plotting. Guests and clothiers also gave money to Shemyaka's father, Prince Yuri of Galicia, helping him pay off his Horde debts. In general, the role of the merchants in the early history of Moscow is much more noticeable and visible than it might seem at first glance.
Despite the paucity of information from our sources, they still allow us to note another important feature of the history of Moscow surozhans and cloth workers - the existence among them of corporations such as Western European guilds. True, we have opposite opinions on this matter. For example, V. E. Syroechkovsky believes that “... neither the guests nor the clothiers of Moscow have developed into a real “guild”, at least somewhat similar to the Novgorod Ivan St., although he is ready to allow for Moscow merchants “... some rudiments of corporatism ”, since the chronicle speaks of the church of Ivan Chrysostom, which was originally the building of Moscow guests. For the statements of V. E. Syroechkovsky, in general, too much caution in conclusions is characteristic, sometimes nullifying all the valuable work done by the author. Meanwhile, the chronicle text, which forced the researcher to think about the question of the existence of some rudiments of corporatism among Moscow merchants, is very eloquent in itself. “The same summer,” the Moscow chronicler wrote under 1479, “the month of July, laid the foundation of the Church of St. Grand Duke Ivan (Vasilyevich.- M. T.) stone, and previously dismantled the former wooden one; from the beginning, the church of the guests of Moscow was built, and the monastery of that one was already impoverished; the great prince appointed the abbot of that church above all the cathedral priests and abbots of the city of Moscow and the zagrad priests even for the summer before this, always put your vow, because his name was called, when there is a feast of the bringing of John Chrysostom, Genuaria 27, and in the dungeon of the toy I commanded the church to build another church, of the same month 22, Timothy the Apostle, on that day was born, and I commanded that the dismantled wooden church be placed in his monastery near the Intercession in the gardens, hedgehog and byst, having dismantled the first small one. In more short message another chronicle we find an interesting detail. The chronicle calls the church "the former drawing room of wood." So, the Church of St. John Chrysostom was the building of the Moscow guests, which allows us to see in it the patronal church of the top of the Moscow merchants - the guests. It is known that the patronal churches had the significance not only of a religious, but also of a civil institution. Under them, basements and barns were usually arranged for storing goods, a common merchant treasury was placed, and communal holidays were held on certain days. The name of the church of St. John Chrysostom - "... the former drawing room of wood" - perhaps indicates the existence of another temple that belonged to the guests, no longer wooden, but stone. The desolation of the monastery, which was originally the church of the Moscow guests-Surozhians, attracted the attention of Ivan III, which was not an accidental phenomenon, but could be closely connected with the revival of relations with Italy at the end of the 15th century.
Some references to the same churches associated with the guests can be seen in the name of another Moscow church. The Cathedral of St. Nicholas of Gostunsky was erected in 1506, in the place, "... where the old wooden church of St. Nicholas Linen called stood." Apparently, the name "linen" church received from the association of merchants who traded in flax, and from Western European sources we know that Nicholas the Wonderworker was considered the patron saint of flax merchants.
What rights could associations of guests and cloth workers have? In the 17th century at the head of the latter was the "clothing headman." Cloth workers paid gold and pishchalny money, swivel money, paved street bridges and guarded street bars, from which, however, the monastery courtyards were not exempted. The duties of cloth workers, which we have outlined, finally took shape in the 17th century, but their corporation took shape much earlier. As early as 1621, the clothiers asked for a letter of commendation, because such a letter "... burned down in their Moscow ruin."
That the duties and privileges of guests and clothiers date back to very ancient times, can be seen from the fact that their service is already mentioned in interprincely treaties of the end of the 14th century. In the contract of 1388, the article establishes the obligations of the princes-co-owners of Moscow in relation to guests, clothiers and city people: "... watch us from one, but do not accept them into service." The question of what is meant by the service of guests, clothiers and city people has caused controversy in the historical literature. Some researchers believed that we were talking about military service (S. M. Solovyov and V. E. Syroechkovsky), while others (M. A. Dyakonov) saw this as financial and economic service, similar to the duties that Moscow guests and merchants in the 16th-17th centuries. Both opinions, however, sin with an inaccurate understanding of the word "service", which had in the XIV-XV centuries. a very definite meaning of vassalage. The Russian Middle Ages even developed a special term "order to serve" to denote the assumption of vassalage. Like any free person, a city dweller could “order to serve” to one of the co-owner princes of Moscow, with all the ensuing consequences. The concept of "service" included various duties of a "servant" - a vassal, including the obligation to act with the master on a campaign against enemies. Entering the "service" to one of the princes-co-owners, the city man violated the rights of the others, since he passed under the authority of the court of this or that prince and thereby violated the corporate privileges of the surozhans and cloth workers.
What were these corporate privileges? They can be judged by later letters to Moscow guests. In the well-known charter of 1598, given to the Novgorod merchant Ivan Soskov on the occasion of granting him a "guest name", we find his release from the stoyalytsiks, permission to keep drinking at home without notice and without requisition, establishing jurisdiction only for the sovereign himself. The most important of these privileges is the subordination of the guest to the court of the Grand Duke, and it is precisely such an award that we find in the letter of Dmitry Donskoy to the new merchant Mikula with children.
The direct jurisdiction of the Grand Duke and the exemption from the payment of duties, probably, were the privileges that guests and clothiers enjoyed from ancient times. “It is impossible not to notice some kinship between the Novgorod vulgar merchants and Moscow guests and people of the living room and cloth hundred,” writes V. I. Sergeevich, immediately pointing out the remoteness of such kinship. But this relationship seems distant only because he compares two phenomena chronologically separated by five centuries: the "vulgar" Novgorod merchants of the 12th century. and Moscow guests of the 17th century. There is a whole abyss between them, but such an abyss did not exist between the Moscow guests-surozhans and cloth workers, on the one hand, and their Novgorod counterparts, on the other, in the XIV-XV centuries. understand big influence on the political events of the indicated time, the guests-surozhans and cloth workers, rejecting the existence of merchant unions among them, is much more difficult than admitting that Moscow merchants in the period of feudal fragmentation were similar to Novgorod in everything. And how can one understand without this the constant indication of guests and cloth workers as special groups of the urban population, and there are many such indications in our sources. Orders of the Muscovite state of the XVII century. they destroyed the antiquity, which remained only in the traditional names of guests and clothiers, but it clearly appears in the early annalistic news and speaks of the time when guest-surozhans and clothiers made up strong merchant corporations.
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The changes that took place in the economic, social and spiritual life of the Slavs led to the 9th century. to the formation of the state Kievan Rus. It was an early feudal state, distinguished by a large number of cities (foreigners called Russia the country of "Gordariki"), an advantageous geopolitical position.
Business life in Russia, as in other states of the era early medieval, developed mainly in the form of trade, but not so much internal as external, due to the favorable geographical position of the country. Princes and warriors acted as merchants. Having collected tribute in furs, wax, honey, they went to Byzantium and other countries, where they exchanged the brought goods for wine, silk, weapons, etc. The Arab geographer and traveler Ibn Ruste described them most figuratively, testifying that “they were well armed: on their side - a steel sword, in their hands - a spear. They are dressed very well,” as they are engaged in trade. He also mentions golden hoops (hryvnias), trousers of 100 cubits of matter and swords, belts in which money is tied.
Often trade was combined with robbery and military attacks. They robbed in foreign and Russian lands, captured slaves and furs, and robbed on the way to the south. This was one of the distinguishing features of the business life of the early Middle Ages, when the traditions of the past were preserved and acted, when the prince "having become a sovereign, like a konig, he, like a Varangian, did not cease to be an armed merchant."
Only in the tenth century professional merchants appeared. Among the prerequisites that caused the emergence of merchants, one should single out the accumulation in the hands of the feudalizing nobility of significant surpluses of products. Agriculture and forestry, the need for their sale, as well as the emergence of trade and craft settlements around the former tribal centers, which became the main points of exchange of goods. What environment did the first Russian merchants come from?
These were, first of all, combatants (representatives of the "junior squad", youths who did not enter the emerging class of feudal lords), artisans, princely and boyar servants, i.e. those people who were associated with the feudal nobility and who were distinguished by enterprise, initiative, courage, determination.
Merchants always went on long journeys in whole detachments. The military encampment of the merchants was called "goods". The word "comrade" at that time meant "belonging to the same camp, to the same detachment." Such an armed detachment, setting off on a long journey, made sacrifices to the god of thunder and weapons - Perun. And on the whole further journey, the merchants did not forget their warlike gods, swore by their names when concluding contracts, sacrificed animals to them, and carried their images with them.
In the XI-XII centuries. merchant organizations began to emerge in Russia, similar to Western European guilds and brotherhoods. Their emergence was dictated by the common commercial interests of the merchants, the difficulties of long-distance trade, and the increased attention of the feudal nobility to commercial capital.
According to sources and literature, one of the first in Russia created their own corporate organization in 1134-1135. merchants of Novgorod. The corporation had the Church of John the Baptist on Opoki and was called "Ivanskoye Sto". At the head of the Ivan merchant class were five elders, including a thousand. The headman was in charge of all commercial and living affairs and the merchant court; the posadnik and the boyars had no right to enter into the affairs of the guild. Only those who were able to contribute to the temple treasury, i.e., could become a full member of the Ivan merchant association. to the corporation's fund, a fee of 50 hryvnias of silver (10 kg), as well as to present a roll of expensive "Ypres cloth" brought from Flanders to the Novgorod thousandth. Those who joined the corporation became full-fledged, vulgar, as they said then (from the word “went”), i.e. a hereditary merchant (the vulgar merchant class was passed down from father to son). The Ivan community had its own pier on the banks of the Volkhov, for the right to moor to which a fee was levied. The Ivan merchant headman was a prominent person in Novgorod. The real scale of the activities of the "Ivansky Sto" was quite wide. There are suggestions that the corporation exercised leadership functions in relation to the entire Novgorod merchant class, handled commercial legal proceedings, and ensured the collection of duties. On behalf of the entire Novgorod merchant class, the elders of the Ivansky Sto participated in negotiations with foreign merchants.
In addition to Ivansky, there were other merchant organizations in Novgorod: Overseas merchants, Yugorshina, Nizovsky merchants. Each group of merchants had a temple, which, as a rule, was founded by the ruler of the organization.
Similar organizations of the merchants were in other Russian cities - Kiev, Polotsk, but the sources and literature do not allow us to adequately illustrate their activities. For the same reasons, it is difficult to conduct a comparative analysis between the merchant guilds of the West and the merchant associations of Kievan Rus. But the very fact of their creation and activity suggests that a layer of professional business people appeared in the country, in which corporate consciousness was awakened, who sought to consolidate and unite in order to jointly overcome difficulties, defend and protect their interests.
The fact that the merchants established themselves in ancient Russian society, separated into one of its estates and received recognition from the state, is evidenced by Russkaya Pravda, the first code of laws in the history of our state (XI-XII centuries). In it, the "price of life" of a merchant was determined somewhere in the middle between the "price of life" of the boyars, on the one hand, and smerds, on the other. So, for the murder of a princely tiun, a "vira" (fine) of 80 hryvnias was relied upon, for the murder of a "man", a simple free man (apparently, the bulk of the merchants belonged to this category) - a fine of 40 hryvnias, for the murder of a smerd and serf - 5 hryvnia.
The government supported the merchant class and was interested in its growth. Why? Firstly, part of the tribute received by the Grand Duke from the population in the form of products and products was sold to guests. Secondly, through merchants, international contacts were established and maintained, and, thirdly, the treasury was replenished. The grandson of Yaroslav the Wise, Vladimir Monomakh, in 1125, after a congress of princes, issued a law on the protection of Russian merchants from more enterprising representatives of other nationalities participating in domestic trade. Vladimir Monomakh bequeathed to his children to especially honor the guest "wherever he comes from: whether he is simple, eminent, or an ambassador."
But, on the other hand, the state controlled and regulated the commercial and entrepreneurial activities of merchants and imposed heavy customs taxes on them. First of all, this is myt - the oldest trade duty. "Russkaya Pravda" mentions "mytniks" - collectors of this tax. In addition to myt, merchants had to pay taxes on measures and weights. Fees in cash were considered a tax in kind.
Thus, in ancient Russian society, a layer of business people was established - merchants engaged in commercial activities regularly and professionally. The lowest category of this layer was made up of merchants (or merchants), who lived mainly in local trade. The highest one is guests (from the old Russian "guest" - trade), who conducted foreign trade operations, as well as operations with other Russian principalities.
The origin of the merchant class in Russia
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Topic 1
ORIGINS OF BUSINESS ACTIVITIES IN MEDIEVAL RUSSIA
1. The origin of the merchant class in Russia.
2. The social status of the merchants in medieval Russia.
The origin of the merchant class in Russia
Trade exchange - the oldest form entrepreneurial activity, and merchants are rightly called the first Russian entrepreneurs who made a significant contribution to the progressive development of the country's economy.
During the IX - X centuries. Simultaneously with the beginning of the formation of class relations, there was a process of singling out a group of people who were mainly engaged in foreign trade.
Prerequisites for the emergence of professional traders:
1. Accumulation in the hands of the princely, retinue and tribal elites of significant reserves of forest products and agriculture.
2. Separation of handicraft from agriculture.
3. The emergence of trade and craft settlements around tribal centers that became the embryos of cities.
4. The growing need for the sale of surplus natural wealth in exchange for material values that were not produced in Russia at that time (luxury items, monetary silver).
The first Russian kupas came mainly from the ranks of combatants, artisans, princely and boyar servants. Unlike the peasants, their life and well-being did not depend on farming and cattle breeding, which chained a person to a permanent place of residence.
Every year, when autumn came, the Grand Duke of Kiev with his retinue departed on a detour of the conquered East Slavic tribes in order to collect polyudya. The tribute received, accompanied by guards, was delivered to Kiev, where the princely bins were replenished with furs, leather, wax, and honey. Excess tribute came true with the help of the prince's squad, who went on long-distance military-trade expeditions to Byzantium, Khazaria, Volga Bulgaria, Germany and other countries of East and West.
We must admit that the words of the historian A.Ya. Gurevich that in the Viking Age "trade and robbery went hand in hand." Indeed, the trading expeditions of medieval warrior merchants often turned into military raids, and vice versa. This is confirmed by the materials of archaeological excavations: a sword, a dagger, spear and arrowheads, a battle ax, chain mail or armor are found in combination with weights, scales in the inventory of rich retinue burials of the 10th century. on the territory of ancient Russia.
By the end of the X century. the separation of warriors and merchants begins, which is confirmed by the materials of archaeological excavations, which make it possible to trace the property and social stratification among those involved in trade.
Only by the middle of the XI century. the merchant class turned into a finally formed professional and social group of the population of Ancient Russia. The composition of the former warrior merchants is replenished by people from other strata - urban and rural artisans who have broken away from the community of free peasants and even serfs who carried out the trade orders of princes and boyars.
The word "merchant" ("merchant") was used in a double sense. First, in relation to all persons professionally engaged in the exchange of goods. Secondly, in a narrower sense, so-called businessmen who specialized in the field of domestic trade.
Craft and trade during the formation of Russia (XI - XIII centuries)
Along with professional merchants, there was a larger group of small artisan merchants in the markets of ancient Russian cities, who sold hand-made pottery, wooden barrels, linen, leather shoes, iron knives, axes, door locks, and glassware.
In the XI - XIII centuries. both wholesale and retail trade in products of handicraft, agriculture, and crafts became widespread. It used both natural exchange (“goods for goods”) and commodity-money relations (“goods-money-goods”), including credit transactions and prepayment for goods. From the 11th century the highest quality products (for example, metal door locks) began to be supplied to foreign markets - to Byzantium, Hungary, Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, and England. But the leading export items were still furs, leather, wax, linen.
To pay for large purchases during the coinless period in the Russian lands, silver hryvnia ingots, their fragments (half a piece, etc.) were used. In addition, original fur and leather money were in circulation.
Common economic interests, the difficulties of long-distance trade forced the merchants to unite. In Southern Russia, a group of "guests" stood out who traveled regularly to Byzantium and were therefore called "Greeks". In order to protect merchants from attacks by the Polovtsy, military expeditions were organized.
The center of merchant associations, as a rule, was the patronal church (for example, the church of Paraskeva Pyatnitsa - the patroness of trade in Veliky Novgorod).
The monastic artisans not only satisfied internal needs, but also sold part of their products. Relatively cheap mass products entered the market - pectoral crosses, relic crosses, small stone and metal icons. But the activity of the monasteries in the pre-Mongol era was of a limited nature, since the monastic economy then focused only on the self-sufficiency of the brethren, and not on the market.
Gradually, local markets (the city and the nearby rural district), regional (within the borders of the principalities) and interregional markets formed in Russia.
The attitude in ancient Russian society towards the merchants was very contradictory: it ranged from princes supporting guests in foreign markets and using them to sell excess income and purchase luxury goods to the infringement of their property rights, the introduction of numerous customs duties and robbery during feudal conflicts, from the recognition of the need trading people to the expression of open hostility towards them on the part of the poor.
Handicraft production, crafts and trading activities in the XIV - XV centuries.
The devastating Mongol invasion disrupted the established and gradually accelerating course of economic life.
The cities of North-Eastern and South Russia suffered the heaviest damage from the Batyev pogrom: traditional trade relations were suspended for a while, hundreds of artisans were killed or captured, the technologies of a number of crafts (glass-making, some jewelry techniques, etc.) were forgotten, in the fire of fires workshops with tools and stocks of raw materials were destroyed.
But the continuity of trade and craft life was fully preserved in the leading centers of North-Western Russia (Novgorod, Pskov, Smolensk), which escaped the Mongol pogroms. Already in the XIV century. Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Tver, which were once insignificant peripheral points of the Vladimir-Suzdal principality, turned into large centers of crafts and trade.
In handicraft production of the XIV - XV centuries. the trends that emerged back in the pre-Mongolian period continue: the deepening of specialization and the simplification of production technology, which contributed to the reduction in the cost of consumer goods. For example, a change in the technology of welding a knife blade in Novgorod in the 14th century. led to a reduction in the amount of steel consumed, a decrease in labor costs and, at the same time, to a deterioration in the quality of products.
In the era of the Horde yoke in Russia, crafts that were more complex in terms of technology appeared - massive casting of bells, cannons, minting coins, water mills, deep drilling of salt wells, associated with the enlargement of production, the use of hired work force and the use of simple labor cooperation. Some of the industries (casting bells, weapons, coins) worked to order, serving the needs of the state and the church, and not the market. On the basis of indirect data, it can be argued that in Russian cities there are associations of artisans along the streets, settlements, hundreds, rows, which have their own treasury, patronal churches and gather their members for feasts - “brothers”.
After 1240, broken trade relations began to revive much faster than handicrafts and crafts, which was also of interest to the rulers of the Golden Horde, who received significant additional income from collecting customs duties. Along with Veliky Novgorod, Pskov and Smolensk, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, and Tver began to turn into lively centers of domestic and foreign trade. Most of all, information was deposited on the trade in grain, salt, furs, flax, and fish.
The merchant environment was constantly replenished by not only hereditary merchants, but also representatives of other social groups. Having become rich in trading operations, many artisans abandoned their craft, but retained the name of their former kind of activity, although they were already trading in other goods. So, there are references to Mitya the knifemaker, Andryusha the armored man, Boris the ukladnik (way of life - steel products), etc.
Medieval written sources confirm that in Russia in the XIV - XV centuries. continued to trade, as before, not only free, but also people dependent on the feudal lords, including serfs. But often free merchants also carried, in addition to their own property, goods belonging to princes and boyars.
Free and dependent church people were another source of replenishment for the medieval Russian merchant class. The trade of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery near Moscow, which sent in the 60s of the XV century, acquired the widest scope. only in Veliky Novgorod 300 wagons in winter and 300 wagons in summer.
But by the end of the 15th century, the princely authorities began to restrict the privileged trade of church institutions. However, dodgy church merchants managed to bypass the duty trade. Wuxi.Rus.
The oldest information about trade among the Slavs. The Slavs, the ancestors of the modern peoples of Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, came from Central Europe to Eastern Europe in the 5th century. Since that time, they began their centuries-old settlement in Eastern Europe and the economic development of its natural resources. The economy of the Slavic society was based on gathering, hunting, fishing, farming, mining, which were not deep from the surface of the earth. Subsistence farming dominated the country, that is, the Slavs produced everything necessary for life in their place of residence. Therefore, it was not essential products that were exchanged, but only especially valuable and rare items- jewelry, weapons, metals, salt, etc. This feature of the exchange in all ancient societies - dominance of foreign trade over domestic- remained in Russia for many centuries.
Among the Slavs, like among all ancient peoples, the original form of trade was silent exchange. Information about such an exchange between Novgorodians and primitive Ugric tribes has been preserved from the 11th century. in the annals: (Ugrians) “they show iron and wash their hands, asking for iron, and if anyone gives them iron or a knife or an ax, and they (Ugrians) will give quick (furs) against (for this).” That is, at the place where the exchange took place, people usually kept a distance from each other and did not talk to each other, which is why it is called mute. Those who wanted to receive this or that product - the "buyer" - showed it. Another participant in the exchange - the "seller" - put what he asked for and usually left. The “buyer” posted his product and also left. If its quantity seems sufficient, then the “seller” who came to the lying things took the “fee”. If he was not satisfied, he either took his thing back, or did not touch anything and expected that the other participant in the exchange would add some more “fee”. This is how an ancient exchange took place, in which one feels mutual distrust towards each other, the desire to insure against troubles or even misfortunes that can be expected from a stranger. Initially, instead of exchange, there was simply robbery with the use of force and murder. Silent exchange is a more humane form of communication between people, the result of the development of social relations, that is, connections between people.
Already in antiquity, some kind of exchange existed among the Eastern Slavic tribes. Thanks to transit trade and other types of exchange, different things got from one region to another. So, items made in the Black Sea region ended up in the Dnieper region, and from there they were transported to the north of Europe. Things brought from Central Asia and Iran (Persia) are found during excavations in the Middle Dnieper region, where the Kievan state was later formed. Perhaps in the VII-VIII centuries. the slave trade was born, which at a later time played a very important role in Russia and in its trade with other countries.
In the ninth century Slavic conquests began Byzantium- a huge empire located south of the Slavic lands. Byzantium at that time was the richest and most culturally developed country in Europe. Its capital, Constantinople (the modern Turkish city of Istanbul), was located along the shores of the strait connecting the Black and Mediterranean Seas. Here Europe bordered on Asia. Through Constantinople, goods of Asian production were sold to Europe, so the capital of Byzantium was a center of trade of world importance. Especially in medieval Europe, Asian spices were valued, necessary for the consumption of meat food. This food spoiled rather quickly during storage, and spices contributed to its storage and beat off an unpleasant odor. Merchants from Europe were also attracted by fine Byzantine handicrafts.
During military campaigns against Byzantium, the Slavs learned about the way of life of strangers, their occupations and Byzantine craft products. This created the basis for exchange and trade with Byzantium. Acquaintance with the works of Byzantine crafts, especially weapons and jewelry, increased the level of needs of the Slavic nobility, caused a desire to acquire them. Wars delivered a very valuable commodity - slaves. The Byzantines captured by the Slavs were ransomed by their relatives, which also contributed to the development of trade between the two peoples.
Volga trade route. From the end of the VIII - the beginning of the IX century. in Eastern Europe there were merchants from the Arab East (Anterior Asia). Their lands were south and east of Byzantium. The territory occupied by the Arabs expanded due to their conquests. They pressed Byzantium, advanced to Central Asia. Therefore, the borders of their lands were approaching the homeland of the Slavs.
The way from the Arab lands to Eastern Europe lay along the Caspian 耠sea 䑎 and along the Volga 䀮 (In the 8th - 10th centuries, the Arabs mastered the Volga trade route and the European North. ␟on the banks of the Middle Volga and its "tributary of the Kama" lived! the nomadస Bulgarians who founded here the state - Volga Bulgaria (Bulgaria) Į The Bulgarian kingdom adopted Islam - the same religion that "was among the Abs. It established diplomatic relations with the Arabs.
This contributed to trade along the Caspian Sea and the Volga. The main trade of the Arabs was in Volga Bulgaria, in the small town of Bulgar (not far from modern Kazan).
The Arab nobility greatly appreciated the skins of sables and silver foxes. Arab merchants bought mammoth bones and walrus tusks for their artisans. To meet these merchants along the rivers of Eastern Europe, people from the Scandinavian Peninsula, from the territory of modern Sweden, moved.
Immigrants from Scandinavia began to come to Eastern Europe at the end of the 8th century. Initially, these were armed groups that came here for robbery. They began to develop the Baltic-Volga route, which opened up access to the places of trade of Arab merchants. The Scandinavians considered Arabic silver oriental coins to be the most valuable goods (they were interested in metal). They themselves sold slaves, sable furs and squirrels to the Arabs. In the middle of the ninth century Scandinavians began to establish contacts with the Slavs. In the X-XI centuries. Scandinavian merchant ships already regularly went to Russia.
In the land of the Slavs, at the place where the Volkhov River flows into Ladoga lake, the aliens founded their city. It had a busy market, craft shops for repairing equipment and weapons. Through this city and from it, military-trading detachments went to the southeast, to the middle course of the Volga, where their trade with the Arabs took place. Merchants arrived on the Middle Volga in boats in whole squads. They built booths here, in which they laid out goods for sale. Trade was the most primitive, barter: a commodity was simply exchanged for another commodity. Thus, along the Volga and other routes, goods went from Scandinavia in the north to the Arab East in the south. The flow of Arab silver first went to Scandinavia and other parts of Europe, and from the beginning of the 10th century. silver began to settle in the lands of the Eastern Slavs. Arab merchants traded on the Volga until the 10th-11th centuries. The heyday of their trade fell in the first half of the tenth century. Later, their goods began to come to Eastern Europe, mostly through Constantinople, along the Dnieper route.
On the lower Volga at that time there was a state Khazar Khaganate founded by a nomadic people - the Khazars. In the capital - the city of Itil - on one side, on the right bank of the Volga, lived the ruler-kagan and his nobles, warriors, merchants from different countries. There was a market on the river bank. Merchants arriving in the city moored their ships to the shore and engaged in trade here. This order was widespread among ancient peoples. V European languages the word "port" means "market", that is, usually the port - the place where the ships stopped - was also a place of trade.
A variety of furs came from the north along the Volga to Itil, and from there to Central Asia - sables, ermines, ferrets, foxes, martens, beavers, hares, goats. Treated horse skin was also exported - yuft, wax, honey. From the Arabs, merchants received, in addition to silver items, beads, pearls, precious stones, and jewelry. In the X century. The Volga was the main artery connecting Asia and northern Europe.
The path "from the Varangians to the Greeks". In the ninth century formed another great trade route in Eastern Europe. Contemporaries called it the path "from the Varangians to the Greeks", that is, from Scandinavia to Byzantium; the inhabitants of Scandinavia, the Slavs called the Varangians, and the Byzantines - the Greeks. Unlike the Volga trade route, this route went through the Slavic lands and had a great and varied impact on the life of the local population. He begins to play an important role in the life of the Slavs from the tenth century. Through the Slavic lands, ships moved along the rivers, which carried foreign merchants and their goods. These vessels sometimes walked on water, sometimes they were dragged with the help of the local population overland on wooden skating rinks, beams or on a deck from one river to another. Distance from Baltic Sea and to Cherny was 2,700 km. It took about four months to overcome such a distance, taking into account stops along the way. The path "from the Varangians to the Greeks" ended in the capital of Byzantium - Constantinople.
Passing through unfamiliar lands, Western European merchants now and then encountered the local population, which robbed them. Therefore, as can be assumed, over time they began to negotiate with the leaders of the Slavic tribes. The chieftains took tribute from passing merchants and in return ensured their safety as they advanced through their territory. Apparently, from that time a custom developed, which also operated much later in Russia: a visiting merchant first of all presented his goods to the local ruler, who chose what he especially liked, and then the merchant could start trading. This tribute over time became the most tempting income for the Slavic rulers, since it included items that were not produced or mined in the Slavic land.
From the second half of the ninth century Byzantium experienced an economic boom. Here, after some decline, urban life revived. Foreign trade grew. Silk fabrics of Byzantine production, gold and silver brocade, jewelry and glass products were widely sold in different countries, including in Russia.
From the second half of the IX-X centuries. The Dnieper region began to play a significant role in transit trade. Small towns arose along the trade route “from the Varangians to the Greeks”. Thanks to trade and tribute, the local nobility rose from it. Kiev became an important hub for this trade. Since that time, the state of the Eastern Slavs has been formed, one of the largest centers of which was Kiev. The top of the society was the military-trading layer, which rallied around the prince, formed his squad, army, administrative apparatus, distributed over the cities. This layer included not only Slavs, but also Scandinavians.
Merchants in Russia in the IX-XIII centuries. At this time, it is already possible to speak of the emergence of the merchant class as a special social group whose main income was trade. The merchant was not just a seller or buyer of goods. Urban and rural artisans who sold their products and purchased raw materials, the clergy, who managed the boyar economy, and peasants who sold the products of their agriculture and crafts in the nearest cities and at rural markets, were involved in market operations. For all these people, trading was not a professional occupation. They belonged to different classes and class groups. A merchant is a professional merchant who was engaged in the purchase, delivery, resale of consignments of goods and belonged to the merchant class. Already in Kievan Rus, a layer of people was taking shape, who, according to their professional occupations, can be attributed to merchants.
In the IX-X centuries. the process of formation of the merchant class was just beginning. Important conditions formation of a layer of professional traders In Slavic society, there was the accumulation in the hands of the local nobility of significant reserves of forestry and agricultural products, the acquaintance of this nobility with such luxury and household items that were not produced or mined in the land subject to it, the separation of craft from agriculture, the emergence of more or less permanent trade - handicraft settlements.
At first, the composition of such merchants was not homogeneous. They were from different lands. The merchants included Scandinavians, Slavs, representatives of other nationalities. In the IX-X centuries. merchant guests in Russia usually came from Scandinavia. They were accustomed to seafaring, to long-distance voyages in ships, so they could embark on long journeys both in Europe and in Asia. During the formation of the state of Kievan Rus, the first merchants, by their origin, were warriors of the princes who ruled in Russia. Later, especially from the 11th century, merchants appeared from among the local boyars, the trade and craft population of cities.
Starting from the first centuries in the history of Russian trade and for a very long time, the merchant was a military man. Trade caravans resembled armed expeditions, as merchants had to face various dangers on a long journey and defend their goods with weapons in their hands. On the way, the merchant could also go on a robbery for the sake of valuable booty. At this time, trading operations sometimes turned into raids. In ancient times trade and plunder accompanied each other everywhere.
An ancient legend, recorded by a chronicler, said that at the end of the 9th century. Novgorod prince Oleg, a Scandinavian by origin, came with soldiers in boats along the Dnieper to Kiev. Seeing that he would not be able to take the city by storm, Oleg pretended to be a merchant and summoned the rulers of Kiev, Askold and Dir, to the banks of the Dnieper. The military attire of Oleg and the people around him could not seem strange to the representatives of the local authorities who came to him. It was ordinary appearance merchants who were on a large trading trip. Askold and Dir were killed by Oleg's soldiers, and Oleg turned Kiev into the capital of his state, uniting the northern and southern Slavic lands. In Kiev, there were much more merchants traveling to Byzantium than in Novgorod land, and ᐺnyaZya's income is higher. Now the path "from the Varangians to the Greeks" was under the control of the new ruler. Dohᐾzh from merchants passing through it significantly replenished the princely treasury.
Varangians
(A.జ.Vasnetsov)
Every year in the fall, the prince set off with his retinue to detour the subject lands. An important purpose of these trips was the collection of “polyudya”, which consisted of products for food and especially valuable items - prey for gathering and hunting. Everything collected during the detour was delivered to Kiev. The princes shared with the warriors part of the collected valuables. In late spring and summer, on behalf of the prince, the combatants went to Byzantium to sell the products that they, together with the prince, collected from the subject population. It is no coincidence that already in the ninth century. such traders exported from Russia for sale not only furs, but also swords, not of Slavic production, but of Western Europe. Thus, the warriors more or less systematically engaged in trade, receiving from it an important income.
Over time, the layer of Scandinavian merchants was replenished with Slavs. The merchant class included people who, like farmers, were not tied to a certain place of residence, who freely left their homes. Among them could be princely and boyar servants, artisans.
Trade was not always a permanent, professional activity for their participant. He could have left them. The composition of the layer of trading people was still unstable. Merchants who made long-distance trading trips were called in Russia guests, and trade guest. The social status of the merchant was quite high. A new period in the development of the merchant class began in connection with the growth of cities in Russia (since the 11th century). At this time, the aggressive policy of the Russian princes was replaced by a policy of peaceful relations with neighbors. In the XI-XII centuries. trade relations between Russia and Byzantium became especially close. Professional merchants arose among the townspeople. Foreign trade began to pass to them. If in the IX-X centuries. merchants led a nomadic lifestyle, were temporary residents of trading settlements, then in the XI-XIII centuries. they increasingly connect their lives with the city, with local trade, become more sedentary.
An important feature of trade in antiquity was that trade duties at that time and for many centuries were very high, reaching 20% of the value of goods carried by the merchant. However, the high prices of goods at the point of sale and the wholesale scope of trading operations not only reimbursed all the costs of travel and trade, but also brought significant profits. A dangerous but very profitable long-distance trading trip quickly enriched the merchant.
At this time, merchants traveled to Byzantium on the way "from the Varangians to the Greeks", to Khazaria - along the Don, through the Caspian Sea - to Baghdad. Their ships plowed the waters of four seas - the Black, Baltic, Azov and Caspian. Clay vessels served as containers for storage and transportation of some goods. Since the ninth century merchants had miniature folding scales with weights. When folded, they easily fit into a small pouch or case and attached to the belt. On such small scales, only precious goods, usually silver, could be weighed.
Scales and weights of an ancient Russian merchant
In the XII century. Russia was divided into different lands-principalities. In the XII century, when the former commercial importance of Kiev began to fall, the commercial role of such cities as Novgorod, Smolensk, Polotsk, Vladimir-on-Klyazma began to grow rapidly. At this time, the Russian lands finally got rid of dependence on Kiev, stopped sending the Kiev prince an annual tribute in silver. The craft developed. At the same time, the stratum of the merchant class grew. There was a further development of trade. Trade-related operations became more diversified. In the XII century. among the merchants, mutual money loans are spreading - lending. Merchants also took other people's goods for sale on a trading trip. One merchant received goods from another for storage. At the same time, the first merchant associations were formed in Novgorod, which indicates a high degree of development of trade. The growth of trade and merchants' incomes also causes sharply negative consequences. From the 30s. 12th century princes constantly attacked merchant caravans, intercepted trade routes, took trading centers from battle, and arrested merchants. According to the collection of laws - Russkaya Pravda - for the murder of a merchant, the same fine was imposed on the guilty as for the prince's combatant - 40 hryvnias.
Merchant people were used as warriors by the princes in case of military danger or even as participants in a military campaign. Even more often, the princes used their knowledge, experience, and opportunities in the field of diplomacy and intelligence. Knowing foreign languages, they acted as translators. Messages were passed with reliable merchants. The princes forced merchants to transport princely people and goods at their own expense.
Foreign trade of Ancient Russia. Trade with Byzantium and Eastern countries. Around the 11th century . Kiev has become one of the most important international trade centers in Eastern Europe. He was considered a rival of Constantinople. To some extent, the commercial role of Kiev was similar to that of the Byzantine capital. Just like Constantinople, Kiev was the center through which Europe received goods from Asia. In the Kiev markets one could meet merchants from different countries. Lively trade routes crossed here. Southern Russia was a region of Europe through which goods from the east of the continent moved to the west and from west to east. So from the Russian lands silk fabrics of Arab production went to Poland, the Czech Republic, Germany, France. The path "from the Varangians to the Greeks" was actively used until the 12th century.
Expensive foreign things imported into the Russian lands settled in the cities and estates of the nobility. The needs of the nobility for luxury invariably grew. She needed beautiful dishes for feasts, silk fabrics, chased lining for men's belts and horse harness, necklaces for men and women, pendants, earrings, etc. The princes generously endowed warriors with imported things - expensive weapons, jewelry. Trade in these items in one way or another affected the top of society, without touching the bulk of the population.
In the second half of the X century. Kiev Prince Svyatoslav dealt a crushing blow to the Khazar Khaganate. After this event, the position of Russia on the Volga trade route increased significantly. Apparently, the regime for collecting duties from Russian merchants has changed. The Volga began to be perceived as a trade road, which was actively used by Russian merchants and foreign merchants who traveled to Russia. From the mouth of the Volga to the Baltic Sea could be reached in two months.
In the tenth century merchant caravans from Russia traveled to the largest center of Central Asia, Khorezm. Furs, processed leather, flax, Baltic amber, and slaves were brought here. From the mouth of the Volga, the ships of ancient Russian merchants moved along the western coast of the Caspian Sea to the Persian coast.
For a long time, trade with Byzantium remained an important area of trade for merchants from Russia. Every year two merchant caravans departed from Kiev to Constantinople. They consisted not only of Kiev merchants, but also of warrior merchants from Novgorod, Smolensk, Chernigov and other centers of Russia. First, in May, merchants from the southern lands set off. In July, merchants from Novgorod and other northern regions gathered near Kiev. From Kiev in boats, hollowed out of large trees, 30-40 people in each merchants went down the Dnieper. Each of these caravans spent three months in Byzantium. Between Russia and Byzantium in the first half of the tenth century. trade agreements were signed. In accordance with them, empty soldier barracks near Constantinople were assigned to merchants coming from Russia, from which the soldiers were sent to summer camps. In such a place, it was easier for the government of Constantinople to control the behavior of visitors. Here the merchants lived and received food from the Byzantine government. They were allowed into Constantinople through the same gates only accompanied by a state official, without weapons, in turns in groups of 50 people, taking into account everyone who entered the capital. In these orders, the fear of the Byzantine authorities in front of the often violent crowd of Russian merchant soldiers is noticeable. Trade with Byzantium was under the control of the Kiev prince. Without his knowledge, not a single merchant could go to Constantinople. Merchants accompanied the embassies to Constantinople, they were considered lower in position than the ambassadors, but usually greatly outnumbered them in each embassy. All military-trade expeditions to Byzantium were not private, but state-owned.
Byzantium has repeatedly become the object of robbery by the Slavic princes with their squads. Often, under the guise of merchants, soldiers entered Byzantium with the aim of robbery. Therefore, already in the tenth century. a procedure was introduced for the presentation by visitors from Russia to local authorities of gold or silver seals-rings - a kind of identity card. After the baptism of Russia in 988, relations between the two states acquired a much more peaceful character. From Byzantium, ancient Russian merchants exported luxury items - gold, silver, fine fabrics, vegetables, wines and jewelry. The Church needed to bring wine to Russia, olive oil, incense, dyes, non-ferrous metals. These goods were bought by a narrow circle of consumers, the top of the Slavic society. Slaves, wax and furs went from Russia to Byzantium as goods.
In the tenth century at the conclusion of treaties between Russia and Byzantium, they regulated the procedures for the trade of ancient Russian merchants on the territory of Byzantium and the passage of Byzantine merchants through the ancient Russian lands.
Merchants who arrived in Byzantium were sent by princes and boyars. Some of them were trade agents of the prince, some were free guests. The treaties determined penalties for criminal offenses committed by visiting merchants. Russian merchants had to present to the Byzantine authorities a certificate from their prince indicating the number of ships sent to prove the peaceful nature of the trip. The soldiers' barracks in which they settled were located outside of Constantinople. These barracks had simple furnishings and a large kitchen. They lived like this for several summer months, until autumn. The authorities gave them food for the entire duration of their stay.
Since ancient times, all peoples had a custom - "coastal law", - in accordance with which coastal residents robbed ships that were wrecked. The agreement between Russia and the Byzantines provided for mutual assistance in such cases: if the Greek ship was wrecked, the inhabitants of Russia must rescue the cargo and deliver it to a safe place.
In the XI-XII centuries. trips of merchants from Russia to Byzantium continued. People traveling along the Dnieper route were in danger in the form of nomads who followed the advancing caravan and attacked it at an opportunity. Merchants also suffered damage during strife between princes. Therefore, the Kiev princes took care of the merchants - they sent their warriors to the most dangerous places to protect them.
Over time, the set of goods that were exported from Russia to Constantinople and further - into the depths of Byzantium grew. In addition to slaves, whose role as a commodity grew, Russian merchants brought dried fish, red and black caviar, wax, white hare fur.
From the middle of the XI century. gradually began to change the terms of trade. The conquests of various nomadic peoples cut Russia off from some of the southern states, making it difficult for Russia to connect with Byzantium. The influx of Arab silver coins - dirhams - to Russia stopped. From the end of the XI century. started Crusades from Western Europe to the Arab East. They paved new, shorter routes that linked Western Europe with the Byzantine markets. In the XII century. the value of the route “from the Varangians to the Greeks” decreases, the trade of Kiev weakens. The conquest of Constantinople by the crusaders at the beginning of the 13th century. finally paralyzed the Kiev-Byzantine trade.
Trade in the western direction. Since ancient times, merchants from Russia moved not only in a southerly direction - to Byzantium, but also in a northerly direction, to the Baltic Sea, to coastal countries - Denmark, Sweden, Slavic Pomerania. Since the X century. contacts of the Slavs with Western Europe begin. At the beginning of the X century. merchants from Eastern Europe traveled up the Danube through the Bulgarian lands to Poland, the Czech Republic, and southern Germany (Bavaria). A significant flow of artistic works from the West began in the 12th century, where urban craft flourished at that time.
In the IX-XI centuries. through the northern part of Russia to the Baltic countries there was a stream of Arab silver. During this time, Northern Europe received approximately 800-1000 tons of silver from the Arabs through Russia. Slavic merchants delivered expensive furs (ermine, sable), wax, and honey to the Baltic countries and even to the more distant parts of Europe. Unlike Byzantium, the inhabitants of the northern Polish and southern Swedish lands also bought old Russian jewelry, dishes, tools, and other household items.
Since the second half of the IX century. from Kiev, merchants traveled to the upper reaches of the Danube through Krakow and Prague, through Hungary to Bavaria. In the X-XI centuries. Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, was the largest European center of the slave trade. Land roads led here, along which merchants moved in wagons and with pack horses. They brought slaves (men, women, children), wax, drove horses for sale. In the Bavarian capital, one of the richest German cities, Regensburg in the XI-XII centuries. even there were Russian gates, which speaks of the constant arrivals of merchants from Russia here.
Since the X century. swords were taken to Russia from German lands, silver, which was not mined in Russian lands. Amber was brought from the Southern Baltic. Russia received metals through the Baltic Sea (iron, copper, lead, and from the 11th century - silver), salt, cloth, wine, herring. Wonderful horses were brought from Hungary to Russia, which were especially valued by military people. Silver also came from here. Bronze and other goods were brought from German cities to Russia. In Kiev, Novgorod, Smolensk there were colonies of foreign merchants. Temples were even built for them here.
Domestic trade. In ancient times, for a long time, internal trade was inferior to external trade in terms of development. Domestic trade becomes a noticeable phenomenon in the 11th century. At this time, in the ancient Russian cities appear tenements – handicraft and trading quarters located around the fortified city center. In the XII-XIII centuries. cities grew rapidly. Some of the artisans moved from working to order to working for the market. The role of internal trade has increased.
An important place in the city was bargaining - the city market, where they sold ordinary things necessary for the main part of the population of Russia: clothes, livestock, in particular, horses. On behalf of his master, his slave slave could trade in the market. At the beginning of the XI century. There were 8 markets in Kiev. Later, their number grew to 12. In addition, 8 fairs were held in Kiev.
Novgorod was a significant trading center. Over time, its commercial value grew. In Novgorod, bargaining occupied a vast place and was divided into rows of shops in accordance with the goods that were sold in these shops. So, wax was sold in Voshchny Ryad. The trade was usually located next to the church, the church square at the same time was a place of trade, as was the case in Western Europe. Cellars in a stone temple were often used as a room in which goods were stored and stored. Per front door, in the porch of the temple, the goods were weighed.
Operated on the market mytnik – servant of the prince who collected one of the most important taxes - myt - toll. Along with this duty in Russia there were such duties as living tribute, transportation, osmnichee. In the conditions of the fragmentation of Russia, the number of customs houses increased.
Bargaining was a place that was most often visited by the entire population of the city. Handicraft products were sold within the rural district closest to the city (50-100 km). Pedlars carried goods from city markets to remote villages. Inside Russia, glass bracelets made in Kiev, jewelry with enamel, dishes dispersed. From city to city, merchants carried imported salt by land or water. Imported bread was often sold in Novgorod, especially in famine years. In such times, the well-being of the inhabitants of Novgorod depended on the delivery of grain from the eastern and southern regions of Russia, even from German lands. In the years of famine, self-sale into slavery of adults and the sale of children into slave slaves grew. In general, the slave trade was developed in Russia.
Money. International and domestic exchange facilitated the development of money and money circulation. In Russia there was a variety of money. Initially, barter trade prevailed: goods were exchanged for goods. Then commodity-money appeared, their role was played by the most common and highly valued goods on the market. When making settlements with foreign merchants, ancient Russian people used full-fledged high-quality furs. Oriental silver coins were in use - durhems and Western European denarii. Although the princes of Kiev Vladimir and later his son Yaroslav minted their own coin, it did not play a prominent role in the market. The role of money for domestic trade was played by animal skins - squirrels, martens. From the ancient Slavic name of the squirrel "veveritsa" came the name of money - "veksha", from the "marten" - "kuna". Coons in Russia were called money in general. In one or another territory of Russia, money was in circulation in the form of bundles of furs (in particular, 18 skins in a bundle).
The underdevelopment of commodity-money circulation is evidenced by the treasures of oriental coins, which are found during excavations of ancient Russian settlements. Money buried in the ground went out of circulation. In addition, they were often used not as a means of exchange, but as raw materials for handicrafts - jewelry and utensils, used as pendants for necklaces.
Importance of trade in ancient Russia. Speaking about the importance of trade in the life of the Eastern Slavs, it must be remembered that the Slavic society lived in a subsistence economy. It was aimed at consumption, not at the production of goods for sale. Opportunities for the development of trade were small. Trade almost did not concern the broad masses of the population. Such economic phenomena that existed in Russia as the accumulation of money as a treasure, barter in kind were an indicator of the weakness of commodity-money circulation. Craftsmen worked to order, not for market sales. Their products were not intended for the mass buyer. Trade links between isolated settlements were limited and irregular.
Nevertheless, trade had a noticeable impact on various aspects of the life of the population of Eastern Europe. She influenced the composition of society. Trade contributed to the stratification of ancient Russian society. The nobility celebrated their position by decorating themselves with imported things, and thus towered over the rest of the population. Imports introduced the nobility to previously unknown jewelry, fine crafts, and high-quality household items. Imported things caused the development of the need for luxury, in an appropriate way of life. The taxes that the merchants gave to the princes enriched the princely-druzhina elite of society. Trade stimulated the development of the trade and handicraft population in the cities. It was the basis for the formation and development of such a social stratum as the merchant class.
Trade stimulated the formation and growth of cities, created income and new employment for the population of the country. On trade routes, special settlements arose - settlements of warriors, merchants and artisans. The composition of the population of such settlements was unstable, closely connected with foreign trade. The most ancient cities of Russia were on the way "from the Varangians to the Greeks." Trade stimulated their growth. Strangers to each other came to live in shopping centers, breaking off the old blood-kinship and communal ties, they were the forerunners of medieval townspeople. In places where passing merchants had to drag their ships from the basin of one river to the basin of another, settlements arose. Control over portages was carried out by princely combatants. Local population served merchants moving along difficult sections of the rivers, provided equipment for the movement of boats on dry land in the areas of portages. Trade influenced the development of Slavic crafts. Oriental and Byzantine fabrics and works of artistic craft brought to Russia served as models for Slavic craftsmen.
