Messages. – Internal and external trade. Trade and trade relations in ancient Rus'

Trade in Ancient Rus' since the formation of statehood, of course, was of great importance not only in its development, but also in the formation of monetary and financial relations in general. As you know, trade is divided into two main branches - external (with other states) and internal (within one state). So, foreign trade in Ancient Rus', of course, is more important and interesting. After all, at one time it was the engine, the support of the entire economy of the ancient Russian state.

Trade and trade relations in Ancient Rus' contributed to unification and cooperation different words population, and this fact is true for both external and internal relations. Many structures were involved in it: agriculture, crafts, hunting, and trade. Everything that is created by the hand of man could be bought and sold. It was the awareness of this fact that gave impetus to the development of trade and monetary relations in Ancient Rus'.

Economy and trade of Ancient Rus': map

To better imagine the scale of Rus''s trade with other states, it is worth imagining a map. So, one of the most important trade routes was “from the Varangians to the Greeks.” It originated from the Varangian Sea, walked along the Dnieper and Volkhov rivers, and went out to the Black Sea, Bulgaria and Byzantium. The Great Volga Route also played a significant role (it was also called the route “from the Varangians to the Arabs”). It started from Ladoga, continued to the Caspian Sea and followed to Central Asia, Persia and Transcaucasia. There was also a trade route by land: from Prague to Kyiv, and then to Asia.

Internal trade of Ancient Rus'

It consisted of artisans and small traders. In almost every city, and later in small towns, markets (or another name - auctions) were formed. Peasants offered the fruits of their labor for sale in the form of all kinds of products made of metal, wood, and stone. We are talking about household utensils, tools for cultivating land and everything that could be of interest ordinary people. Of course, at first there was an exchange of some goods for others. For example, food was exchanged for products of artisans and hunters. It must be said that many merchants were assigned their own shops in which scales were used.

Of course, the development of internal trade in Ancient Rus' was controlled by the state. Marketplaces were places of large gatherings of people, so announcements about pressing and exciting matters were often made there (for example, if a thief was caught, this was announced on the market square).

What products were most popular in those days?

• The lion's share was made up of products Agriculture.
• Weapon.
• Blacksmith products.
• Metals.
• Salt.
• Clothing, including fur.
• Pottery products (dishes).
• Wood.
• Animals and poultry (horses, cows, sheep, geese, ducks), as well as meat.
• Cultivation products - honey, wax.

If the town was small, then all trade was controlled by local merchants. In large cities, visitors could be found everywhere, especially from Novgorod. The larger the settlement, the wider the range of goods available on the market. The main trading cities were the already mentioned Novgorod, as well as Smolensk, Kyiv, Chernigov, Galich, Polotsk. Already at that time there was a concept of trade duties. By the way, they made up a significant share of the princes’ total income.

If we talk about markets, historians divide them into rural and urban. From the former, goods were sent to the latter, that is, from the village to the nearest city. And from the city they could end up in any part of the state.

Previously, we talked about barter, that is, the exchange of goods, and not purchase and sale as such. But already at the beginning of the ninth century there was a gradual development of monetary relations. The first coins were those from the African centers of the Caliphate. Then Asian dirhams and European denarii appeared.

Foreign trade of Ancient Rus'

It was in close connection with the so-called tributary system (ninth-tenth centuries). Tribute was taken in money (coins and silver bars), furs, and also in small quantity livestock, food. All the collected tribute, or rather the lion's share of it, was sold to the Byzantine market. Rus''s foreign trade was protected by a military structure. This was necessary to protect goods from possible attacks by nomads. In the tenth century, due to military conflicts, favorable conditions were created for trade on the Black Sea, in Byzantium, Khazar Khaganate, Volga Bulgaria.

The second important part of foreign trade was transit. It took place thanks to the trade routes that went from Europe to Asia, from the Baltic states to Byzantium. At the same time, the famous route “from the Varangians to the Greeks” became increasingly important, which allowed the Dnieper to become the main artery of ancient Russian trade.

And what goods were the most in demand within the foreign trade of Rus'?

• Slaves, especially women. In general, the Slavic slave trade originated in the sixth century, but continued during the times of Ancient Rus'. After Mongol invasion she practically disappeared.
• Furs, furs. Yes, despite hunting being underdeveloped even then, people had to work hard at it. This was due to the fact that the princes demanded furs as tribute. Even in those regions of Rus' where there were no valuable fur-bearing animals, trips to other areas were organized specifically for the extraction of furs. The most famous in the fur trade were merchants from Novgorod.
• The fruits of beekeeping in the form of honey and wax. The latter, by the way, was in demand for the primitive lighting that existed at that time. The scale in which the wax trade was carried out is amazing: whole pounds of it were weighed!
• Textile. The main need was for linen fabrics. They were subsequently used to sew clothes and household items (towels, bed linen).
• Jewelry that was made in Ancient Rus' was very highly valued in Europe.

So far we have talked about those goods that were exported. What did they import? A very interesting place here is occupied by the import of silk fabrics (in Rus' they were called pavoloks). There was a certain rule that did not allow Russian merchants to export more than the established amount of silk. Even in Rus', European swords were valued, despite the high quality of their own. When talking about imported goods, it is impossible not to mention non-ferrous metals. They imported silver, tin, lead, copper both from Europe and from Arab countries. Also worthy of attention are seasonings and spices that were not found in Rus'.

Trade of Ancient Rus' with Byzantium

We all know that relations between Rus' and Byzantium were quite close. And this concerned not only foreign policy relations, but also economic relations, in particular trade. We can say that this became the basis for the choice of the Christian religion in Rus'. Byzantium was rightfully considered the largest partner Old Russian state in the field of foreign trade. In Constantinople, Russian merchants had some benefits (for example, the possibility of non-payment of trade duties). They imported from Byzantium everything that could be characterized by the epithets “luxurious, refined, sophisticated.” These were objects of art, clothing, and jewelry. But the Byzantine economy also gained a lot from trade with Russian merchants.

A little about merchants...

According to sources (both written and material), the merchant appears before us as a warrior-combatant. He is armed and well dressed. He could be distinguished from a warrior by the presence of scales, which were an integral attribute of everyone who was in one way or another connected with trade. A horse was used as a vehicle and a means of transporting goods, and a rook was used for water crossings. In the tenth and eleventh centuries, merchants united in squadrons. While making a campaign, they could not only engage in their main business - trade, but also carry out military raids. But since the middle of the eleventh century, there has been a tendency towards division: merchants as merchants, and warriors as warriors. That is, merchants became “narrow specialists” in their activities, focusing only on their business.

As we see, the economy and trade of Ancient Rus' were inseparably linked. The fruits of the first gave impetus to the development of the second. In turn, profits from trade made it possible to modernize and facilitate labor in economic activity. One flourished, and with it the other. Trade also had military protection; it was significantly influenced by the apparatus of power and administration. Compared to modern trade, of course, there have been massive changes. But it’s still worth knowing about what happened before, what our ancestors bought and sold, and what they were interested in.

Trade in ancient Rus' was only for rubles!

Cities became centers for the development of crafts. They arose from fortresses-castles and from trade and craft villages. The city was connected with the nearest rural district, from whose products it lived and whose population it served with handicrafts. In the cities there were markets where food and handicrafts were sold, and foreign merchants brought goods there.

Scandinavian sources call Rus' “the country of cities.” In Russian chronicles of the 9th-10th centuries. 25 cities are mentioned, in the chronicles of the 11th century - 89. The heyday of ancient Russian cities occurred in the 11th-12th centuries. The ancient Russian city consisted of a fortress - Detinets and a city settlement, where the trade and craft population lived and there was a market - trading. The population of Kyiv, which chronicler of the 11th century. Adam of Bremen called “the rival of Constantinople”, numbered in tens of thousands of people. Just like in cities Western Europe, craft and merchant associations arose in ancient Russian cities, but the guild system never developed in Russia.

Princes made special agreements with foreign countries sought to protect the interests of merchants. The “Russian Truth” provided for measures to protect the property of merchants from losses associated with wars. Silver bars and foreign coins were used as money. Princes Vladimir Svyatoslavovich and his son Yaroslav Vladimirovich issued silver coins in small quantities.

Rus' gained fame in Europe with its products. In the cities, artisans worked to order and for the market.

Clothes for the nobility were made from patterned fabrics and embroidered with colored silks and wool, gold or silver threads. Sometimes a woven or embroidered pattern was reproduced using a simpler technique - already in the 10th-11th centuries. Colored printed cloth appeared in Rus'.

Silk and gold brocade are found in the burials of rich people.

Rich boyar clothes were decorated with sewn-on plaques with relief and colored patterns and continuous rows of fat pearls. Judging by the ancient images, the upper cloaks of the Koran looked especially magnificent. The baskets included the most expensive imported fabrics - tin, aksamite, brocade, etc. The large woven pattern is also interesting for its subjects: lions, elephants, birds with girlish faces, horsemen, winged bulls and leopards, bright flowers, eagles - the whole motley world of oriental fairy tales fiction flaunted on the cloaks of the combatants.

Trade in silk fabrics from the East already in the 9th century. was almost monopolized by Rus merchants. Before crusades Rus' was the most important intermediary in trade between the West and the East. No wonder the French poet of the 12th century. praising the beauty, he spoke about her beautiful clothes made of “Russian silk.” Old Russian townspeople constantly saw in front of them clothes on which Russian patterns were replaced by patterns of Iranian and Byzantine fabrics. Of these fabrics, only a few fragments have survived to this day.

Craft workshops produced tools (plowshares, axes, chisels, pliers), weapons (shields, chain mail armor, spears, helmets, swords), household items (keys, locks), and jewelry - gold, bronze, copper. The complex techniques of granulation (making patterns from the smallest grains of metal), filigree (making patterns from the finest wire), figured casting and niello (making a black “background for patterned silver plates”) and cloisonne enamel were mastered.

Old Russian jewelers knew the art of minting non-ferrous metals. A wide scope of activity for “smiths of gold and silver” opened up in the field of jewelry making.

The golden crowns of Russian princesses were decorated with enamel and pearls. Gold chains with images of birds descended from the crown to the shoulders; the chains ended with kolta (ancient Russian hollow pendants, often decorated with grain, filigree, enamel, niello) with sirens, leopards, and flowers. The woman’s neck was richly decorated with various “mane utensils,” which included a monista of large medallions, various beads, pendants, and crosses. All this was done thinly, gracefully, entwined with filigree curls, strewn with the finest grains. The woman’s hands were secured at the wrists with wide silver bracelets, richly ornamented with images of birds, centaurs, guslars and dancers, and there were rings on her fingers. The princes and boyars themselves were dressed in patterned baskets, on their heads they wore special hats with fur trim and a patterned top, the collars and sleeves were embroidered with threads and embroidery. The caftan was fastened with beautiful rhombic clasps or tied with colored cords, the belt was decorated with a silver or gold set, and on the feet were morocco boots, colored and embroidered with pearls.

In addition, warriors tried to decorate their weapons and armor whenever possible. Gilded or silver-plated helmets were lined with chased silver patterns or images of saints, chain mail was trimmed with a copper border, the handles and scabbards of swords were decorated with silver wire, silver engraving and cast overlays (at the ends of the scabbard) with images of birds, animal faces, and belt weaving. Relief images of birds were cast on bronze weights from flails. The ceremonial hatchets were especially exquisitely decorated: they depicted birds on the sides of the tree and artistically executed initials (for example, the letter A formed by a figurine of a snake and a sword pierced into it).

The war horse, the warrior's companion, was also the subject of the master jeweler's care. Bridles with bronze plaques, with animal heads at the ends of the straps, saddles made of “burnt gold” and flowery, patterned saddle cloths adorned the horse. Bone quiver linings with intricate interweaving of fantastic beasts, carved knife handles, elegant folding combs, spurs with miniature gold studs, battle shields with heraldic symbols and many others various items completed the warrior's attire.

The bows of warships were decorated with carved dragon heads raised high above the water, and the sails were made of colored silk.

The “honorable feasts” of the prince and his retinue, sung by epics, chronicles and even Christian preachers, were a kind of exhibition of princely wealth: the tables were set with gold and silver dishes, turk horns in a chased frame, glass glasses and carved ladles, the floors were covered with flowery oriental carpets.

Servants served water for washing in bronze vessels in the form of animals or horsemen. Next to the tables, servants fanned bronze incense burners (“dill burners”), also decorated in the shape of animals; their interior was filled with aromatic herbs, smoke came through the openwork slit “in the body,” and flames burst out of the “eyes” and “ears.” The premises were illuminated by candles in candlesticks standing on animal paws, and for the large princely chandeliers, probably the same bronze chandeliers with twelve or sixteen candles, which are known from churches of the 10th-12th centuries, were used.

Feast utensils were also decorated in a very diverse manner. There were all types of jewelry techniques and a wide variety of subjects. Next to Russian utensils one comes across foreign products. Sometimes the caring hand of the prince's treasurer marked on the bottom the price for which this or that piece of art was purchased.

The princely treasury, a repository of huge artistic and material assets, were shown to ambassadors of foreign countries, who admired the abundance and beauty of the utensils.

Foreign trade of Rus' developed. The Dnieper route connected Rus' with Byzantium. Merchants from Kyiv traveled to Moravia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Southern Germany, from Novgorod and Polotsk - according to Baltic Sea to Scandinavia, Polish Pomerania and further to the west. They traded in the possessions of the Arab Caliphate. In the customs regulations of the 10th century. the city of Raffel-Stetten (Germany) mentions Slavic merchants. Mainly raw materials were exported from Rus'. With the development of crafts, the export of handicraft products increased. Furs, wax, honey, resin, flax, etc. were supplied to the foreign market.

An indicator of the shift in the productive forces of Rus' in the 11th - early 12th centuries. was the further development of the craft. In the village, under the dominance of a natural economy, the production of clothing, shoes, utensils, agricultural implements, etc. was a home production that had not yet been separated from agriculture. Blacksmithing and, to a lesser extent, pottery crafts became isolated from agriculture. Bone-carving and carpentry also acquired a craft character. In Volyn, entire villages made slate whorls for spindles, which were distributed throughout Rus'.

With the development of the feudal system, some of the community artisans became dependent on the feudal lords, others left the village and went under the walls of princely castles and fortresses, where craft settlements were created. The possibility of a break between the artisan and the village was due to the development of agriculture, which could provide the urban population with food and the beginning of the separation of crafts from agriculture. Cities became centers for the development of crafts. In them by the 12th century. there were over 60 craft specialties. A significant part of the crafts was based on metallurgical production, the level of which is indicative for assessing the development of the craft as a whole. If in the countryside blast furnace had not yet separated from blacksmithing, then in the cities at least 16 specialties appeared in the field of iron and steel processing, which ensured a significant production of products. The technical level of metallurgical production is evidenced by the use by artisans of welding, casting, forging metal, welding and hardening of steel.

Russian artisans of the 11th-12th centuries. produced more than 150 types of iron and steel products, their products played important role in the development of trade relations between the city and the countryside. Old Russian jewelers knew the art of minting non-ferrous metals. Craft workshops produced tools (plowshares, axes, chisels, pincers, etc.), weapons (shields, chain mail armor, spears, helmets, swords, etc.), household items (keys, etc.), jewelry - gold, silver, bronze, copper.

In the field of artistic crafts, Russian craftsmen mastered the complex technique of granulation (making patterns from the smallest grains of metal), filigree (making patterns from the finest wire), figured casting and, finally, the technique of niello (making a black background for patterned silver plates) and cloisonné, which requires special art. enamels. Beautiful items with gold and silver inlays on iron and copper have been preserved. Such types of craft as pottery, leatherworking, woodworking, stone cutting, and dozens of others received significant development in ancient Russian cities. With its products, Rus' gained fame in Europe at that time. In the cities, artisans worked to order and for the market. However, the social division of labor in the country as a whole was weak. The village lived on subsistence farming. The products of a few village artisans were distributed over a distance of approximately 10-30 km. The penetration of small retail traders into the village from the city did not violate the natural character rural economy. Cities were centers of internal trade. There were markets selling both food and handicrafts; Foreign merchants brought their goods there. But urban commodity production did not change the natural economic basis of the country’s economy.

Rus''s foreign trade was more developed. Russian merchants traded in the possessions of the Arab Caliphate. The Dnieper route connected Rus' with Byzantium. Russian merchants traveled from Kyiv to Moravia, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Southern Germany; from Novgorod and Polotsk - along the Baltic Sea to Scandinavia, Polish Pomerania and further to the west. In the customs regulations of the 10th century. the city of Raffelstetten (Germany) mentions Slavic merchants. Mainly raw materials were exported from Rus'. With the development of crafts, the export of handicraft products increased. The external market received furs, wax, honey, resin, flax and linen fabrics, silver items, a spindle whorl made of pink slate, weapons, locks, carved bone, etc. Luxury items, fruits, spices, paints, etc. were imported into Rus'.

The princes sought to protect the interests of Russian merchants through special treaties with foreign states. In “Russkaya Pravda” later (the so-called “Long”) edition XII-early XIII V. some measures were envisaged to protect the property of merchants from losses associated with wars and other circumstances. Silver bars and foreign coins were used as money. Princes Vladimir Svyatoslavich and his son Yaroslav Vladimirovich issued (albeit in small quantities) minted silver coins.

However, foreign trade did not change the natural character of the Russian economy, since the overwhelming majority of exported items (furs, etc.) were not produced as goods, but received in the form of tribute or rent from smerds; things brought from abroad served only the needs of wealthy feudal lords and townspeople. Foreign goods almost did not penetrate into the village.

With the growth of the social division of labor, cities developed. They arose from fortresses-castles, gradually overgrown with settlements, and from trade and craft settlements, around which fortifications were erected. The city was connected with the nearest rural district, from whose products it lived and whose population it served with handicrafts. At the same time, part of the urban population maintained contact with agriculture, although it was a subsidiary occupation for the townspeople.

Scandinavian sources called Rus' “the country of cities.” These cities meant both craft and trade centers and small fortified points. Russian chronicles, having preserved references to cities, probably incomplete, make it possible to judge their growth. In the chronicles of the 9th-10th centuries. 25 cities are mentioned in the news of the 11th century. -89. The heyday of ancient Russian cities falls in the 11th-12th centuries.

The ancient Russian city consisted of a fortress - Detinets and a city settlement, where the trade and craft population lived and there was a market - trading. Population in such major cities, like Kyiv, which is a chronicler of the 11th century. Adam of Bremen called “the rival of Constantinople”, or Novgorod, in the 11th-12th centuries. apparently numbered in the tens of thousands of people. The urban craft population was replenished with runaway slaves and dependent smerds.

As in the countries of Western Europe, craft and merchant associations arose in ancient Russian cities, although a guild system did not develop here. Thus, there were associations of carpenters and town workers (builders of fortifications) led by elders, and brotherhoods of blacksmiths. Craftsmen were divided into masters and apprentices. In addition to free artisans, patrimonial artisans also lived in cities, who were slaves of princes and boyars... The city nobility was made up of the boyars.

The large cities of Rus' (Kyiv, Chernigov, Polotsk, Novgorod, Smolensk, etc.) were administrative, judicial and military centers. At the same time, having grown stronger, the cities contributed to the process of political fragmentation. This was a natural phenomenon under conditions of the dominance of subsistence farming and the weakness economic ties between individual lands.

The process of state formation among the Eastern Slavs, due to both internal and external reasons, lasted for several centuries. In the IX-X centuries. There was a weakening of clan ties, and territorial and political forms of community of people took shape. With the destruction of tribal foundations, the power of the Kyiv prince strengthened, at the turn of the 10th-11th centuries. The range of his powers expanded, and the very nature of judicial and managerial activities became more complex. However, the central bodies of the court and administration were formed extremely slowly. SOUTH. Alekseev notes that “letters recording the will of the prince are known in Rus', according to at least, from the second quarter of the 12th century.”

In administration and court the prince could replace himself tiunami or virnikami who acted on his behalf. The ranks of the latter differed in the types of official assignments that came from the prince. However, the main features of local government in the XI-XII centuries. were “the underdevelopment of the apparatus, the lack of differentiation of its functions and the “wandering” nature of the local princely administration.”

The key figure in the princely administration appears to have been fiery tiun or courtier. The latter’s administration at that time replaced all central authorities financial management. Directly related to tax collection were tributaries, Osmeniki, mytniki and others tax collectors, who equally managed the property affairs of the prince as a ruler and as a private individual.

In the system of yard management bodies, private-economic and state-owned were not yet differentiated. The prince's personal income was completely merged with the state budgetary funds: tribute was collected by the prince and spent at his discretion not only for the maintenance of the squad, but also for public needs. The prince took care of the protection of trade, in which he himself participated. Concluding agreements with Byzantium and European states, he was obliged to organize transportation across portages and rivers, issue travel documents to merchants, maintain communication routes in proper condition, ensure compliance with the correct units of mass and length, appoint mytniks to auctions, etc. Step by Step by step, the military-political organization, created for the personal needs of the prince and his squad, turned into a state that embodied the interests of all segments of the population, satisfying not only private, but also public needs.

Administration of the land-volost was usually concentrated in the hands of one prince. However, several “principalities” could arise in the land according to the number of senior cities and adult representatives of the famous princely line. In each volost (principality) there was a certain number of urban and rural societies - rope, bound by mutual responsibility for paying tribute to the prince and maintaining public order. The administration of the volost also provided the prince with other means for maintaining the squad. Besides tribute- direct tax from the tax-paying population - he also collected travel, trade and judicial duties in his favor - indirect taxes, which objectively led to the diversification of the functions of violence and taxation.

In the pre-revolutionary historical literature The prevailing opinion was about the exclusive role of foreign trade in the political and economic life of Ancient Rus' and the significant personal participation of the Kyiv princes in long-distance commodity exchange operations. So, M.N. Pogodin believed that extensive trade with Byzantium was the most important occupation of the first Russian princes. CM. Soloviev pointed out that the bulk of Russian goods that went on sale in the markets of Byzantium and Khazaria were princely property and, accordingly, “a significant part of what was exchanged for these goods had to return to the princely treasury.”

According to V.O. Klyuchevsky, foreign trade with the resulting forestry, hunting and beekeeping (forest beekeeping), and the development of natural resources was the dominant factor in economic life, the “guiding force National economy» countries in the 9th-13th centuries. He believed that from ancient times in each region (land) there were older cities: Kyiv, Chernigov, Smolensk, Lyubech, Novgorod, Rostov, Polotsk, which were created by the “successes of foreign trade.” Most of them stretched out in a long chain along the river route “from the Varangians to the Greeks.” The exception was Pereyaslavl - on the river. Trubezh, Chernigov - on the river. Desna and Rostov - in the upper Volga region, which “moved east from this<...>operational basis of Russian trade as its eastern outposts." It is not surprising that Kievan Rus V.O. Klyuchevsky called it “Dnieper, city, commercial.”

V.V. Svyatlovsky characterized the Kiev state as a primitive trading one. It seemed to him that “trade for Ancient Rus' was the central nerve of its life, the key to progress and civilization.” V.A. Butenko also admitted that “thanks to the development of trade Kievan Rus achieved prosperity." M.V. Dovnar-Zapolsky suggested that “broad foreign trade should have caused trade exchange within the country itself.” G.V. Vernadsky emphasized the connection of the market square “with political life and governance.” Pointing to the enormous social importance of trade in ancient Russian society, I.Ya. Froyanov also notes that “bargaining pulled together not only economic, but also social threads. He was the focus public life, a place for people to communicate. There they learned the "latest news", exchanged information, discussed issues of "current politics"<...>The trade, noisy and crowded, instantly turned into an evening gathering if the need arose.”

In pre-revolutionary historiography, a different opinion was expressed, which then prevailed in the Soviet period. According to him, foreign trade played a more modest (not major) role in the economy of Kievan Rus. So, G.V. Plekhanov expressed doubt that foreign trade was the mainspring of economic activity of the Russian people. N.A. agreed with him. Rozhkov, who noted that “trading activity was the occupation exclusively of the social elite, princes, their warriors and a small group of wealthy townspeople.” A.E. adhered to the same version. Presnyakov, who criticized V.O. Klyuchevsky for the extreme exaggeration of the depth of the influence of trade on the “tribal life” of the Eastern Slavs. P.P. Maslov opposed exaggerating the role of trade on the grounds that it “was important mainly for princes and boyars.” THEM. Kulischer also insisted that the presence of princely trade could not in any way indicate the scope of trading activity in general.

According to B.A. Rybakov, the flourishing of the cities of Kievan Rus was achieved not so much by trade as by success in the development of crafts. P.A. agreed with him. Khromov, who also believed that “the Kiev state was not based on the success of foreign trade and the emergence of such cities as Kyiv, Novgorod, Smolensk, Polotsk, Vladimir, etc. should not be explained by foreign trade.” He assigned the leading role to agriculture, which, in his words, “was the main branch of the economic life of our ancestors.” I.P. Kozlovsky also emphasized that agriculture has been one of the main occupations of the Russian population since time immemorial. Recognizing that agriculture was “one of the main elements of the Russian national economy of the Kyiv period,” “as important an element of the Russian economy as trade,” G.V. Vernadsky, however, warned against downplaying the role of foreign trade on this basis.

Most historians Soviet period rejected the thesis about the leading role of foreign trade in the economic life of the country, based on the idea that a small part of the population of the Kyiv state participated in it in the person of princes, warriors, and guests. However, B.A. Rybakov drew attention to the inadequacy of such an opinion. He was able to establish that to equip a sailing flotilla of 400-500 ships, it was necessary to use 2000 looms and organize the work of women in 80-100 villages throughout the winter. It was also necessary to grow flax and hemp, spin yarn and make approximately 20,000 m of ship ropes. The number of ships in a trade caravan was measured in a three-digit figure, and each boat could accommodate 20-40 people. The construction of the merchant fleet took place in winter time and took up part of the spring. Final ship collection points (from Novgorod land to Kyiv) were separated from each other at a distance of 800-1200 km. Thus, the annual rafting of boats along the Dnieper required colossal joint, concerted efforts of many thousands of people, a “state approach” to the matter of making a fleet. According to the calculations of G.V. Vernadsky, the total volume of transported cargo could be about 10 thousand tons. In his opinion, even if “half the volume was used for transporting “living goods” - slaves, or for other purposes, then at the most conservative estimate the goods themselves weighed about five thousand tons<...>in the tenth century, Western maritime trade could not represent anything similar to Russian-Byzantine trade.” The value indicators characterizing the trade of Rus' and Byzantium were also impressive. According to the assumption of G.G. Litavrin, even with one small boat, the total cost of the goods could reach 1000-1500 gold pieces, equivalent to 200-300 pieces of silk.

The latest archaeological research has confirmed the validity of V.O.’s concept. Klyuchevsky about the formation of Russian cities under the influence and in connection with the development of foreign trade. Based on publications by V.Ya. Petrukhina, E.A. Melnikova, E.N. Nosov and some other modern authors G.G. Litavrin developed the idea of ​​B.A. Rybakov about the scale of foreign trade of Ancient Rus'. According to him, equipping the long-distance trading expeditions of the Varangians, established in the 8th-10th centuries. in Ladoga, the Rurik settlement near Novgorod, Gnezdovo near Smolensk and the Middle Dnieper region, demanded the creation of " government structure, based on an entire network of settlements,” as well as the mobilization of significant material resources and funds for the construction and equipment of ships, as well as for “feeding” warriors and traders. Summarizing the results of the study of Russian foreign and domestic trade of the 10th - early 13th centuries, I.Ya. Froyanov came to the conclusion that the mutual trade turnover of various cities and lands of Ancient Rus' was significant, and “foreign trade affected not only the top of ancient Russian society, but also the ordinary population.”

Thanks to the discovery and study of new monuments from the period of formation of the Old Russian state (fortifications, mounds, burial grounds, etc.), in the second half of the 20th century. scientists began to better understand the geography of trade relations of Kievan Rus. In particular, it was possible to establish that almost all of these monuments were “directly connected with the most important waterways - the Great Volga “from the Varangians to the Arabs”<...>and Dnieper "from the Varangians to the Greeks." Both paths played an important role in the political and economic consolidation of Rus'.

Archaeological research contributed to the approval of the point of view about the asynchrony of the Volga and Dnieper routes. V.L. came to this conclusion earlier than others. Yanin and A.L. Mongait. So, according to V.L. Yanina, “the complete absence in Russian treasures of the 9th century. Byzantine coins indicate that the formation of the so-called path “from the Varangians to the Greeks” did not occur in the 9th century.<...>and a little later." Based on a study of the topography of archaeological sites by A.L. Mongait also emphasizes that the path “from the Varangians to the Greeks” acquired paramount importance later than the Great Volga.

Using the method of comparing the dating of treasures Kufic coins, V.L. Yanin showed that the Dnieper along its entire length north of Kyiv was noticeably used only in the first quarter of the 9th century, and then from the beginning of the 10th century. (“from 825 to 900 no movement can be traced along this path”). Thus, the only highway along which in the 9th - early 10th centuries. transit trade movement could be carried out, there was a Volga route. E.N. came to similar conclusions. Nosov and I.V. Dubov, who also studied in detail the extensive numismatic materials about the trade routes of Eastern Europe in the 8th-9th centuries. Assuming that the route “from the Varangians to the Greeks,” connecting Northern Europe with the Black Sea region, functioned already in the 9th century, V.V. Sedov, at the same time, notes that at that time it was a restless path of all kinds of adventurers, which only “starting from the 10th century.<...>becomes a busy thoroughfare for domestic and international trade.”

The original point of view on the issue under consideration was held by G.S. Lebedev, who believed that in the 830-860s. there was a division of functions between the Volga and Dnieper routes. The Volga system began to play primarily the role of trade, and the Dnieper - the military-political arteries of the Old Russian state.

In fact, the geography of trade relations in Ancient Rus' was much wider. In the XI-XIII centuries. Its relations with France, Northern and Southern Germany, Italy, Poland, the Czech Republic, Moravia, Hungary, Sweden, and other countries and lands of Europe developed intensively. To the west of Kyiv the path led to Krakow, Prague and the most populous city in the 12th century. the German city of Regensburg on the Danube. In Kyiv there was a court of Regensburg merchants. In addition to the foreigners who lived in trading posts, a private population of foreigners also settled in Kyiv. This, for example, is indicated by the names: “Lyadsky Gate”, “Ugrian Gate”, “Jewish Gate”. “Greeks, Armenians, Jews, Germans, Moravians, Venetians,” specified V.I. Pokrovsky, lived peacefully in Kyiv, attracted by the profitable exchange of goods. They were allowed to build Latin churches and solemnly celebrate worship; It was only forbidden to argue about faith. Kyiv in the 11th century. amazed Dietmar of Merseburg with eight markets and an untold wealth of goods. Regensburg in the 11th century. had trading offices in Kyiv for the purchase of fur goods.” In the XI-XII centuries. in Regensburg there was a special corporation of merchants who traded with Russia - Ruzariev.

The main suppliers of artistic utensils to Kyiv and other cities Russian land were Lower Lorraine, Rhineland, Westphalia and Lower Saxony. At the turn of the XII-XIII centuries. artistic metal products intended for wide sales were widely imported: bronze bowls of “trade” types from the Meuse-Lower Rhine region, Lower Saxon bronze utensils, products of Limoges enamellers, etc. Frisian and Flemish cloth and velvet, steel blades for making swords and sabers; silver, Bohemian glass, and marble were brought from the Czech Republic; from Hungary - pacers who were called “fari”, which means a well-trained horse. From the cities on the Meuse and the Rhine, trade routes led up the Main or Neckar into southern Germany - to Regensburg on the Upper Danube. The Danube route through Vienna led to Hungary, and from there to Southern Rus' to Galich, Przemysl, Udechev and Kyiv. Another route to the East began in Cologne and further went through Magdeburg to Polish cities (Poznan, Gniezno, Plock) and Powislenie. An important customs point on the Polish-Russian border was Drogichin Nadbuzhsky, where many commodity seals with the signs of the Kyiv princes, as well as other owners of goods - boyars and merchants were discovered.

Pre-revolutionary authors (S.M. Solovyov, V.O. Klyuchevsky, P.P. Melgunov, G.V. Plekhanov, N.A. Rozhkov, M.V. Dovnar-Zapolsky, I.M. Kulisher, etc.) They also drew attention to the fact that foreign trade in Ancient Rus', firstly, was reduced to the export of tribute (thus, Russian exports were identified with the collected and exported tribute) and, secondly, was under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Kyiv prince, his entourage and a small group of wealthy citizens. “The tribute that the Kiev prince collected as a ruler,” pointed out V.O. Klyuchevsky, “served him at the same time as a means for trade turnover.” These conclusions were not rejected by Soviet historiography. “Foreign trade,” notes P.A. Khromov, “were fueled by the tribute collected by the princes from the population, the rent received from the feudal-dependent peasants, and, to a small extent, the handicraft production of small commodity producers.” According to B.A. Rybakov, export items were alienated by the boyars and princes from the smerds without any ransom in the form of tribute or quitrent.

The question of the nature of tribute and methods of obtaining it is debatable. Apparently, the tribute was not only a surplus product, but also a military indemnity, periodically collected in certain amounts. The only instrument for obtaining it was military force, “relying on which the Kyiv princes sought tributaries, and therefore various expensive goods and all kinds of ornaments,” as well as raw products, which included honey, wax, furs, grain bread, flax, pets, etc. It is also important to note that due to tributes from the conquered tribes of the Eastern Slavs, not only the Kiev nobility, but also the Polyana community as a whole was enriched. Thus, in the X century. Tribute was a collective form of exploitation of one tribe by another.

Already from the 9th century. tribute could also be levied in foreign money - schlyagami. Speaking about this, one should at the same time listen to the opinion of M.B. Sverdlova and D.S. Likhachev, who attribute the testimony of the Tale of Bygone Years about the collection by the Kyiv prince Oleg (882-912) from the Radimichi of a plow from a plow to a later time.

Among direct fees, in addition to tribute, historical sources also call polyudye, usually identified with the method or form of collecting tribute (princely tour of tribute concentration points). At the same time, S.M. Soloviev and M.A. The deacons gave polyud the meaning of a “gift” that was collected by the Grand Duke from the population of the Kyiv volost. So, S.M. Solovyov, wrote: “... the prince traveled around his volost, dealt with matters of judgment left before his arrival, and took gifts that enriched his treasury.” M.A. Dyakonov called polyudye “the prince’s tour of his territory to perform government functions” and collect gifts that were presented by the local population.

B.A. Rybakov also initially admitted that “external Rus',” that is, the Slavic tribes subject to the Kyiv prince, paid tribute, and in the regions around Kyiv “the prince himself collected polyudye.” Developing this thesis, I.Ya. Froyanov came to the conclusion that with the advent of the permanent position of the prince in the conditions of the tribal system, “polyudye” (as opposed to tribute) was collected from free people, the prince’s fellow tribesmen. Having a voluntary (negotiable) nature, it was one of the forms of support for the Kyiv prince - “free” - and was collected through the prince’s tour of the tribal territory of the glades, freed from the usual tribute.

At first, the collection of tribute was not regulated in any way. But after Prince Igor was killed in 945 while trying to collect tribute from the Drevlyans a second time, his wife, Princess Olga, taking cruel revenge on the Drevlyans, streamlined the collection of tribute. Fixed, permanent, stipulated by agreement tribute was called lesson(agreement), quitrent or way of life. Collectors were appointed - tributaries, places for collecting tribute were identified (centers of rural communities), which at the same time became princely strongholds - churchyards. Thus, the Novgorod mayors, before the reign of Yaroslav Vladimirovich in Novgorod (1014), annually paid Kyiv “lessons” of 2000 hryvnia, then (from 1019) - 300 hryvnia. However, from the 11th century. The term “tribute” was finally established for internal taxes. With the collapse of the tribal system and the formation of territorial-communal unions in the 11th-12th centuries. the importance of tribute as the main source of budget revenues (export commodity fund) quickly declined. They were replaced by feeding and privately owned methods of withdrawing surplus product, court fines ( Virs, sales And lessons), trade duties, etc.

Among Russian export goods, first of all, furs, honey and wax should be mentioned. The fourth main export item was live goods - slaves. According to V.O. Klyuchevsky, in the X-XII centuries. servants(captive slaves) “formed the main article of Russian export to the Black Sea and Caspian markets. Slavery was one of the most important subjects to which the attention of ancient Russian legislation was drawn, as can be judged by Russian Truth: Articles on slavery constitute one of the largest and most elaborate sections in its composition. At that time, the servants constituted a necessary economic accessory for Russian landownership: the lands of private owners, as well as the private estates of princes, were mostly inhabited by them and their hands were primarily cultivated.”

Conclusion V.O. Klyuchevsky’s ideas about the large-scale slave trade in Ancient Rus' generally found understanding with B.D. Grekova, B.A. Rybakova, L.V. Tcherepnin, and many other Soviet historians. So, I.Ya. Froyanov argues that the slave trade, having originated among the Slavs in ancient times, then developed “ crescendo": already in the 9th century. it turned into an ordinary business, and in the 10th century, having reached its peak, it became a profitable item of foreign trade. This is explained, firstly, by the absence in ancient Russian society of conditions for a more or less widespread use of slave labor and, secondly, by the concentration on the territory of successful tribes of a large number of captive slaves from rival or hostile tribes, who posed a known danger to the former. “If in the previous era,” notes I.Ya. Froyanov, “redemption from slavery prevailed over the trade in slaves, then from now on trade transactions in live goods begin to prevail.”

The slave trade, which became widespread in the 9th-10th centuries, did not stop in the subsequent period. However, in the XI-XII centuries. here a significant change took place: “Christian slaves were no longer sold by Russians outside the country.” Apparently, they were not sold on foreign markets and serfs, that is, those who were personally dependent on their fellow tribesmen (unlike servants, serfs had some capacity and legal capacity, which provided them with “some everyday, economic and legal relief”).

It is likely that in the XI-XII centuries. Pagan slaves, such as Polovtsian prisoners of war, were exported outside Rus'. P.P. Melgunov pointed out that during the destruction of the Polovtsian “vezhs” and villages, Polovtsian youths (“Komansky boys”) and girls (“red Polovtsian girls”) “in large quantities, among other goods, were exported to Byzantium and Alexandria by Russian merchants.” In turn, the Polovtsians captured Russian “Polonyaniki and Polonyanok”, who were then released for ransom or sold into slavery to overseas merchants. Russian captives could be found not only in Constantinople and Korsun, where slave girls were sent to weaving workshops and men to galleys, but also in Kerch, on the Middle Danube, in Preslav (in Bulgaria), in Prague and even in distant Alexandria.

In fact, the product range of Russian exports to Byzantium, Transcaucasia, eastern and European countries was much wider. Written and archaeological sources contain information that in addition to furs, honey, wax and slaves, salt, flax and linen (“Russian fabric”), silver items, chain mail, caviar, walrus ivory and products made from it. In the 11th-12th centuries, when there was an increase in the urban population due to the breakdown of tribal ties and the restructuring of society based on the territorial-communal principle, the volume of commercial transactions increased, the role of local intra-regional and short-range interregional trade increased, and some craftsmen switched to working in the market. At the same time, there was an expansion of the export range due to handicraft goods, including silver jewelry with filigree, niello and grain, foundry products, locks, axes, leather, slate whorls, etc. Sales area for Kyiv champlevé enamels and glass bracelets “ reached a length of 1400 km." Archaeological material convincingly indicates that the products of Russian artisans of the X-XII centuries. “they were not inferior to the products of foreign craftsmen, and in some cases were of better quality.”

In the XII - first third of the XIII century. There was a steady increase in trade transactions everywhere. Along with luxury goods, international trade in raw materials and essential products began to play a primary role. Thus, in Poland and Slavic Pomerania, a lot of glazed white clay dishes, Easter eggs, Ovruch slate spindle whorls, silver moons with grain, Kiev three-beaded temple rings, bronze pendants in the form of a cross in a circle, silver and niello kolta, glass rings and bracelets, and some types of weapons were found - sabers, shishaks (helmets), etc. Both traditional goods were exported to the Czech Republic and Moravia from the Russian land - wax, honey, furs, slaves (captives and people bought for resale), and handicrafts: metal products, including folding bronze cast crosses, three-beaded temple rings, encolpion crosses, different types pendants, lunars, silver hryvnias - circles, glass beads, rings, hanging “Russian locks”, etc. To Sweden - Kyiv “pysanka” with enamel glaze, silver lunar pendants, neck hryvnias, crosses with champlevé enamel, jewelry, made in the “twit” style; in Chersonesos - slate whorls, bronze encolpions with Russian inscriptions, slate icons, etc.

A simple list of exported goods casts doubt on the validity of the thesis of pre-revolutionary historiography about the “economic passivity” of Ancient Rus', which allegedly failed to develop forms of independent art and best case scenario imitated Byzantine and eastern models, “not so much conducted active trade as served as a warehouse for the exchange of Asian goods for European ones.”

Fur goods were shipped to Regensburg from Kyiv, some of which were then transferred to France. Byzantine goods could be exported to Southern Germany - various expensive materials, silk fabrics, wines, etc.

The Russians also traded with the Pechenegs, Cumans and other nomadic peoples, selling them honey, furs, bronze mirrors, beads, possibly chain mail and slaves, etc. in exchange for cattle, horses, sheep. As in other cases, trade was characterized exclusively by barter. Bread was not exported from Rus' during the period under review. Russian grain did not even reach the Byzantine possessions in Crimea. Also, no news has been preserved about its deliveries to the Pechenegs and Cumans in exchange for nomadic goods.

In the IX-X centuries. Rus''s foreign trade was in their hands guests, who came from foreigners - “Varangians” or “Russians”, who constantly came to the Russian land for trading purposes or at the call of Russian princes, who recruited their military squads from them. Some of these Varangian guests, without stopping, immediately went to the Caspian region for Arab silver coins or to Byzantium, there to serve the emperor profitably, trade with profits, and sometimes rob under the guise of merchants. Others, who were in the princely service, “quickly assimilated among the local population, adopting the Slavic language.” Already at the end of the X - beginning of the XI century. they mixed to a large extent with the dominant Slavic population of the cities and became “part of the Russian background.” As a result, the word “guest”, which initially meant a foreigner, eventually became synonymous with all merchant-wholesalers who took part in international trade.

Foreign trade in the early period of Russian history was closely connected with piracy. CM. Soloviev believed that “the Varangian came to the famous coast under the guise of trade and really began to trade with the inhabitants; but at the first opportunity, from a merchant he became a pirate and robbed those with whom he had previously bartered.” “It happened very often,” A.I. echoed him. Nikitinsky, telling about the beginning of trade relations between the Novgorodians and the Scandinavians, - that the trades of both a pirate and a merchant were combined in the same persons; It often happened that members of the same company robbed in one place and traded in another.” The first relations of the Varangians with the peoples of the Caucasus and the East were also marked by hostility and were limited to robber raids, “but here, as in Byzantium, robbery went hand in hand with trade, and a merchant grew out of the robber.”

Absolutizing the non-economic, military, aggressive nature of the activities of the first Kyiv princes, M.N. Pokrovsky sought to prove that her main goal until the middle of the 12th century. there was the capture of servants - slaves, who constituted the main item of trade with Byzantium and the East. In general, this author believed that “robber” trade preceded barter and that every merchant in ancient period was a military man, and “the goods were spoils of war, and the place where the goods were stored was naturally a military camp.”

IN. Klyuchevsky believed that until the middle of the 11th century. the Kiev prince, his relatives and boyars were the main Russian merchants. Like the warriors, the guests were in the closest official dependence on the prince, who sent them to the embassy and as a guest. According to I.D. Belyaev, trade in princely goods was in the nature of service or duty and was carried out by princely “bailiffs - merchants, or merchants elected from society.” A.E. Presnyakov admitted the very possibility of the “trade” origin of ancient Russian cities only as a result of the energetic desire of the Varangians to the Volga, Caspian and Black Sea markets.

The next stage in the social development of the Russian merchant class was closely connected with the growth of cities, largely due to the decomposition of the tribal system. “City suburbs,” pointed out M.N. Tikhomirov, - begin to appear approximately from the end of the 10th - beginning of the 11th century, in Kyiv earlier than in other places, in most Russian cities - from the 11th century.” Along with the rapid growth of cities and townspeople, the urban population of Ancient Rus' increased. At the same time, handicraft production expanded, commodity-money relations developed, and trade turned into a profitable urban profession. So, if in the 11th century. In the Russian land there were 89 cities, then in the 12th century. there were already 224 of them. As patrimonial land ownership grew, the boyars became increasingly alienated from urban society, which “owned commercial capital.” Craft, says I.Ya. Froyanov, became more and more specialized and gradually acquired the features of small-scale production, “stimulating internal exchange, the apogee of which falls in the 12th century. The impact of the craft industry on the development of social relations is increasing immeasurably. Cities become centers of crafts and trade."

Coming in the middle of the 12th century. The flourishing of ancient Russian urban craft continued until the Mongol invasion. Mass production of products began, which were continuously improved in technical and artistic terms. In this regard, the volume of trading activity inevitably increased. According to S.M. Solovyov, from the middle of the 11th century. trade became “the main means of accumulating wealth in Rus', for we no longer see news about profitable campaigns in Greece or the East, about the plunder of rich cities and peoples.” In the XII-XIII centuries. The merchants increasingly connected their activities and lives with the city, becoming more “sedentary”. According to P.A. Khromov, from the 11th century. Foreign trade of Kievan Rus began to pass from the hands of the feudal nobility to professional merchants who appeared among the townspeople. In fact, G.G. agrees with him. Litavrin and V.L. Yanin, who note that merchants “are agents dependent on the prince and boyars, conducting trade on their behalf,” stood out as a separate class of “independent trade intermediaries.”

The movement of goods over considerable distances, impassable roads, crossing deserted and border areas encouraged merchants to cooperate and collectively defend against theft and robbery. Therefore, the bulk of trade, both overland and by water, continued to be carried out by caravans of carts and merchant fleets of ships. “Caravans,” G.V. pointed out. Vernadsky, - contributed to the creation of merchant associations, useful in many respects - for example, in the general protection of merchant rights and regulation of the level of duties and taxes. Associations of merchants formed early in Kievan Rus<...>Usually the merchants of one city formed a kind of joint venture.” However, in pre-revolutionary historiography the opinion was also expressed that “artel” trade in Ancient Rus' did not yet provide for joint merchant responsibility for transactions at a common expense.

The church was directly related to the creation of trade associations. It is no coincidence that merchant artels were named after the saint in whose name it was consecrated. religious building. They had their own elders and their own community capital. Pravda Russian knows merchants as a separate category of people, standing on a par with the boyars tiunami, swordsmen And gridew. At the same time, pre-revolutionary literature emphasized that in medieval Russia, classes never fought for freedoms and privileges, and therefore neither social fragmentation, nor special merchant law and special merchant jurisdiction characteristic of Western countries could arise here.

Russian trade law of the Kyiv period had an international aspect, since relations between Russian and foreign merchants were regulated by articles peace treaties, concluded with Byzantium, Khazaria and Volga Bulgaria and German cities. A common feature of international treaties of Rus' in the 12th-13th centuries. there was complete mutual equality of the parties. A.S. Mulyukin also saw their peculiarity in the absence of reservations regarding the free movement of merchants. Rus' at that time was equally open to all foreigners, and therefore there was no need to provide merchants with a special right of entry based on agreements. In contracts before the 14th century. contained only guarantees of safe, convenient movement across Russian territory for foreign merchants and the responsibility of the authorities for their personal and property safety.

Pre-revolutionary historiography rightly spoke of the relatively soft, compliant attitude of Russians towards visiting foreigners. At the same time, we cannot agree with M.F.’s thesis. Vladimirsky-Budanov that the broad rights and privileges of the latter (the ability to acquire movable property, enter into obligatory relationship with the local population, etc.) were determined by “the economic passivity of Ancient Rus', which received the necessary goods from other countries through guest merchants.” Having analyzed numerous archaeological materials dating back to the 9th-11th centuries, P.P. Tolochko came to the conclusion that “southern Scandinavia and Rus' were approximately at the same level of social, historical and cultural development<...>Almost none of the categories of handicraft items brought to Rus' by the Scandinavians became a role model for Russian craftsmen.” Characterizing the role of Kyiv in international trade exchanges, A.A. Spitsyn rightfully argued that he “for a long time undividedly concentrated all relations with the West in his hands” and until the Mongol invasion “continued his trade with the West in furs, and with Novgorod, Suzdal and the Bulgarians in Greek and Black Sea goods, but the release of these goods to the West was already gradually declining.”

Notes

. Alekseev Yu.G. Code of Law of Ivan III. Tradition and reform. St. Petersburg, 2001. P. 80.

Right there. P. 112.

. Vladimirsky-Budanov M.F. Review of the history of Russian law. 7th ed. Pg.; Kyiv, 1915. P. 76; Sergeevich V.I. Lectures on the history of Russian law. St. Petersburg, 1890. P. 414-415; Lyubavsky M.K. Lectures on ancient Russian history until the end of the 16th century. 3rd ed. M., 1918. S. 127, 129.

. Vladimirsky-Budanov M.F. Review of history... P. 4, 80-81.

. Klyuchevsky V.O. Quick Guide on Russian history. M., 1906. P. 38-39.

Cm.: Puzanov V.V. Princely and state economy on Rus' X-XII centuries V national historiography XVIII - early XX centuries. Izhevsk, 1995. P. 105-110.

. Pogodin M.N. Research, remarks and lectures on Russian history. M., 1846. T. 3. P. 246-262.

. Soloviev S.M. Works: In 18 books. / Rep. ed. I.D. Kovalchenko, S.S. Dmitriev. M., 1988. Book. 1. pp. 240-245.

. Klyuchevsky V.O. A short guide... P. 19.

. Klyuchevsky V.O. Works: In 9 volumes. M., 1987. T. 1. P. 141. Archaeological data allow us to attribute the founding of Novgorod to the middle of the 10th century. ( Sedov V.V. Russian Kaganate of the 9th century // OI. 1998. No. 4. P. 14).

. Svyatlovsky V.V. A primitive trading state as a form of life. St. Petersburg, 1914. P. 299.

. Butenko V.A. A brief outline of the history of Russian trade. M., 1910. P. 8.

. Dovnar-Zapolsky M.V. History of the Russian national economy. Kyiv, 1911. T. 1. P. 183.

. Vernadsky G.V. Russian history. Kievan Rus. Tver, 1996. pp. 129-130.

. Froyanov I.Ya. Ancient Rus': Experience in researching the history of social and political struggle. M.; St. Petersburg, 1995. S. 192, 193.

Cm.: Plekhanov G.V. History of Russian social thought. M., 1918. T. 1. P. 55-60.

. Rozhkov N.A. Review of Russian history from a sociological point of view. Kyiv 2nd ed. M., 1905. P. 24.

. Presnyakov A.E. 1) Princely law in Ancient Rus'. Essays on the history of the X-XII centuries. St. Petersburg, 1909. P. 162; 2) Lectures on Russian history. Kievan Rus. M., 1938. T. 1. P. 65.

. Maslov P. Public course on the history of the national economy. From primitive times to the 20th century. 4th ed. M.; Pg., 1923. P. 49.

. Kulisher I.M. History of Russian trade up to the nineteenth century inclusive. Pg., 1923. S. 40-41.

. Rybakov B.A. Trade and trade routes // History of culture of Ancient Rus'. Pre-Mongol period. M.; L., 1948. T. 1. P. 316.

. Khromov P.A. Essays on the economics of feudalism in Russia. M., 1957. S. 8, 228-229.

. Kozlovsky I. A brief outline of the history of Russian trade. Kyiv, 1898. Issue. 1. P. 10.

. Vernadsky G.V. Russian history. Kievan Rus. pp. 16, 112.

Cm.: Rybakov B.A. Kievan Rus and Russians Principalities XII-XIII centuries M., 1993. P. 320-321; Vernadsky G.V. Russian history. Kievan Rus. P. 37.

. Vernadsky G.V. Russian history. Kievan Rus. pp. 38-39. It seems that the volumetric indicators of trade exchange with Byzantium were tens of times more modest. According to G.G. Litavrin, by the middle of the 10th century. 20-22 Russian ambassadors were officially “accredited” in Byzantium. Up to 50 merchants were accountable to them, each of whom had several boats in his care. Every year, 100-120 Russian ships were sent to Constantinople, capable of transporting up to 200 tons of cargo (see: Litavrin G.G. Byzantium, Bulgaria, Ancient Rus' (IX - beginning of the 12th century). St. Petersburg, 2000. pp. 105-130).

. Litavrin G.G. Byzantium, Bulgaria, Ancient Rus'... P. 113.

Right there. P. 13.

. Froyanov I.Ya. Kievan Rus: Essays on Russian historiography. L., 1990. P. 87.

. Dubov I.V. North-Eastern Rus' in the early Middle Ages. L., 1982. P. 110.

. Yanin V.L. Monetary weight systems of the Russian Middle Ages. M., 1956. P. 105; Dubov I.V. North-Eastern Rus'... P. 42-43. In Soviet historiography, the prevailing view was about the active, widespread use of the route “from the Varangians to the Greeks” already in the 9th century. And parallel existence Russian-Arab and Russian-Byzantine trade relations ( Brim V.A. The path from the Varangians to the Greeks // IAN USSR. Department of Societies, Sciences. 1931. No. 2. P. 210-247; Lyashchenko P.I. History of the national economy of the USSR. M., 1947. Part 1. P. 99; Rybakov B.A. Trade and trade routes. P. 317; Grekov B.D. Kievan Rus. L., 1953. P. 439; Sverdlov M.B. Transit routes in Eastern Europe IX-XI centuries // Izv. All-Union geogr. about-va. 1969. T. 101, issue. 6. P. 541, 544-545). Of the modern authors, A.V. adheres to this point of view. Nazarenko and G.G. Litavrin ( Nazarenko A.V. Ancient Rus' on international routes. Interdisciplinary essays on cultural, trade, political relations of the 9th-12th centuries. M., 2001. P. 215; Litavrin G.G. Byzantium, Bulgaria, Ancient Rus'... P. 11).

. Mongait A.L. Ryazan land. M., 1961. P. 87. The opinion that the Volga route was opened before the Dnieper route was expressed in the literature of the pre-war period ( Brim V.A. The path from the Varangians to the Greeks. pp. 213, 219).

. Yanin V.L. 1) Monetary weight systems... P. 103; 2) Numismatics and problems of commodity-money circulation in Ancient Rus' // VI. 1955. No. 8. P. 137.

. Nosov E.N. Numismatic data on the northern part of the Baltic-Volga route at the end of the 8th-10th centuries. // VIEW. 1976. T. 8. P. 95-110; Dubov I.V. North-Eastern Rus'... P. 43.

. Sedov V.V. The path “from the Varangians to the Greeks” // VII All-Union Conference on the Study of History, Economics, Literature and Language Scandinavian countries and Finland: Abstracts of reports. L.; M., 1976. Part 1. P. 135.

. Lebedev G.S. The Viking Age in Northern Europe. L., 1985. P. 234.

. Vasilyevsky V.G. Ancient trade Kyiv and Regensburg // ZhMNP. 1888. July. P. 137; Spitsyn A.A. Trade routes of Kievan Rus // Sergei Fedorovich Platonov’s students, friends and admirers. St. Petersburg, 1911. P. 236-242; Khromov P.A. Essays on Economics... P. 9, 229-230; Darkevich V.P. International relations // Ancient Rus'. City, castle, village / Answer. ed. B.A. Kolchin. M., 1985. P. 397; Novoseltsev A.P., Pashuto V.T. Foreign trade of Ancient Rus' (until the middle of the 13th century) // History of the USSR. 1967. No. 3. P. 84-98; Perkhavko V.B. Furs in ancient Russian trade exchange (IX-XIII centuries) // OI. 1999. No. 5. P. 165.

. Vasilyevsky V.G. Ancient trade... P. 131-134; 144; Spitsyn A.A. Trade routes... P. 237.

. Svyatlovsky V.V. Primitive trading state... P. 195-196; Pokrovsky V. History of trade in Russia // encyclopedic Dictionary F. Brockhaus and I. Efron. St. Petersburg, 1901. T. 33A. P. 564; Novoseltsev A.P., Pashuto V.T. Foreign trade of Ancient Rus'... P. 84-90.

. Spitsyn A.A. Trade routes... P. 238; Dovnar-Zapolsky M.V. History... T. 1. P. 179-180; Darkevich V.P. International connections. P. 396. According to Western European sources, the Rusarii ( Ruzarii) were German, Regensburg, as well as Czech and Moravian merchants who traded with Russia ( Florovsky A.V. Czech-Russian trade relations X-XII centuries. // International relations of Russia until the 17th century: Sat. articles / Ed. A.A. Zimina, V.T. Pashuto. M., 1961. P. 81).

. “Russian land” in the narrow sense is the territory of the Middle Dnieper region (Kyiv, Chernigov and Pereyaslavl South with adjacent volosts). The term first appears in the Byzantine-Russian treaty of 911 ( Kuchkin V.A.“Russian land” according to chronicles of the 11th - first third of the 12th centuries. // Formation of the Old Russian state. Controversial issues: Abstracts of reports / Rep. ed. A.P. Novoseltsev. M., 1992. pp. 79-80).

. Pogodin M.N. Research... T. 3. P. 278; Aristov N. Industry of Ancient Rus'. St. Petersburg, 1866. P. 187; Bestuzhev-Ryumin K.N. Russian history. St. Petersburg, 1872. Part 1. P. 60; Melgunov P.P. Essays on the history of Russian trade in the 9th-18th centuries. M., 1905. S. 44-45; Luchinsky M.F. Money in Rus' IX-XII centuries. Kazan, 1958. P. 145; Darkevich V.P. International connections. S. 3%; Novoseltsev A.P., Pashuto V.T. Foreign trade of Ancient Rus'... P. 86-93; Preobrazhensky A.A., Perkhavko V.B. Merchants of Rus'. IX-XVII centuries. Ekaterinburg, 1997. pp. 35-36; Riasanovsky N.V. A History of Russia. New York, 1963. 5th ed., 1993. P. 47.

. Klyuchevsky V.O. A short guide... P. 31.

. Khromov P.A. Essays on Economics... P. 230. In general, the level of commodity production and commodity-money relations in Rus' in the 9th-10th centuries. remained extremely low. Work to order predominated, connections between individual settlements were limited and irregular. Dirhams that came to Rus' from the East were not always a payment value; They were often buried in treasures, used as jewelry raw materials, and taken by weight (see. Darkevich V.P. International connections. pp. 397-398).

. Rybakov B.A. Trade and trade routes. P. 316.

. Froyanov I.Ya. Kievan Rus: Essays on socio-economic history. L., 1974. P. 116. According to L.V. Tcherepnin and his followers, tribute was the earliest form of exploitation of the East Slavic community members Kyiv princes, feudal rent based on the “possession” of land or the prince’s supreme (state) ownership of the land (see: Cherepnin L.V. Rus': Controversial issues in the history of feudal property in the 9th-15th centuries. // Novoseltsev A.P., Pashuto V.T., Cherepnin L.V. The paths of feudalism (Transcaucasia, Central Asia, Rus', the Baltic states). M., 1972).

Cm.: Froyanov I.Ya. 1) Ancient Rus'... P. 49; 2) Slavery and tribute among the Eastern Slavs. St. Petersburg, 1996, pp. 362-448. Already in the 11th century. the dominance of the Kyiv (Polyanskaya) community in the East Slavic world was undermined by the collapse of tribal relations and exhausting wars with the Pechenegs ( Froyanov I.Ya. Ancient Rus'... P. 96).

The Tale of Bygone Years / Prepared by. text, translation, articles and commentary. D.S. Likhacheva. St. Petersburg, 1996. P. 14. Shlya? - a coin whose exact origin is unclear. D.S. Likhachev admitted that it could be a Polish coin (cf. Lithuanian. szillings, Anglo-Saxon. stilling, goth skilliggs, Polish szelag) (Ibid. P. 410).

Trade in ancient Rus' played a large role in the formation of the economy of the ancient Russian principalities. Were especially significant water resources Rus'. Shipping and shipbuilding flourished. But most of the year the rivers are covered with ice. Therefore, ice roads were used for transportation by sleighs or stakes. In winter, people experienced problems with bad weather. Strong winds, frost, blizzards and impassable snow created problems for the development of trade relations.

Markets are a necessary component of the city and the entire population; with their help, internal trade was formed in ancient Rus'. The market united everyone. The largest markets were located in cities such as Novgorod, Smolensk, Kyiv and Chernigov, this contributed to the development of trade in ancient Rus'. Goods were brought here from all cities. For example, salt was brought to Kyiv from the Carpathian mountains, and bread from the Ryazan and Suzdal lands to Novgorod. A variety of goods could be found at the market: weapons, metal, salt, furs, fabrics, wheat, bread, honey and livestock.

At markets, villagers exchanged their goods for goods from urban artisans. Regular traders had their own shops. Scales were used to accurately control loose goods. Thus, large steel scales were discovered in Old Ryazan.

A market is not only a place for the exchange of goods or agricultural products, but also a large area with shops and warehouses. The people exhibited and exchanged the products of their farms. Once a week and on holidays, peasants brought produce to the market, then trade area became a fair.

The square was also a political place. Official announcements were made in the markets, meetings were held and important issues of Rus' were decided. Especially if it concerned the discontent of the people. All unrest was quickly suppressed through discussions.

An important stage in the development of the economy was the foreign trade of ancient Rus'. Polyudye is a tribute that was collected from the people every year. It could be money, furs, livestock, food. AND most of sold on the foreign market. Of course, there were few trade routes, but trade and trade relations between ancient Rus' and Byzantium were developed. Since the route is not close, but is well known to merchants, the goods were always accompanied by a princely squad. They guarded ships with goods from attacks by the Pechenegs. Basically, the ships went through the Baltic-Black Sea, Volga-Baltic route, through Novgorod. All trade routes passed through this city, which also contributed to the development of economic relations.

Baltic-Black Sea route.

The ships sailed along the Dnieper to the Black Sea and along it. The final point of the voyage was the Arab Caliphate, which was famous for its silk fabrics. Mainly furs, wax and honey, and slaves were sent there. Arab traders had a great demand for black fox furs. And the merchants brought back to Rus': colored fabrics, silk, gold-woven seals, massive jewelry, weapons, spices, wine, icons.

Volga-Baltic route.

Trade routes passed to Central Asia, Iran, the Baltic states, and Scandinavia.

The ships' route ran along the Volga and reached Khazaria, then they paid a toll and sailed to the Caspian Sea. Prices for goods were higher than on the Russian market. This could be especially seen in furs, the price of which increased almost 2.5 times.

And merchants from these countries brought stone swords, leather goods, for example, shoes. Since there were no coins in Rus' at that time, they paid with the furs of martens and squirrels. Merchants, sailing through countries, saw their development. For example, among the Bulgars in the 9th century one could find schools, palaces with central heating and running water.

The path from the Varangians to the Greeks is the trade of ancient Rus' with Byzantium. It included both water and land routes. The towns along the road prospered. They developed through trade. Iron and metal were brought from the Scandinavian countries. The Baltic states were famous for amber. And they brought bread and honey from the Novgorod lands. This was not only trade, formalized by law, but also the development of political relations between states. Russian princes took as wives women from noble families of Byzantium. All these moments played a big role in the formation of the state of Rus'.

Trade in Kievan Rus.