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In what year did the adoption of the cathedral code take place? Preparation of the cathedral code. What was the Code

15.05.2024

The Council Code of 1649 is a set of laws of the Muscovite kingdom, regulating various aspects of the life of Russian society. The fact is that after the end of the Time of Troubles, the Romanovs began active legislative activity: in just 1611-1648. 348 decrees were issued, and after the last Code of Law of 1550 - 445 legislative acts. Many of them are not only outdated, but also contradict each other. All regulations of that time were scattered among different departments, which further increased the chaos in law enforcement. The urgent need for regulation of the legal foundations of the state was realized by the Council Code of 1649. The reason for the adoption of the long-overdue Code was the Salt Riot that broke out in Moscow in 1648, the participants of which demanded its development. In the Council Code, for the first time, a desire is felt not only to form a system of norms, but also to classify them according to branches of law.

At the beginning of the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich, riots began in Moscow, Pskov, Novgorod and other cities. On June 1, 1648, an uprising broke out in Moscow (the so-called “salt riot”), during which the rebels held the city in their hands for several days. Following Moscow, in the summer of the same year, the struggle of townspeople and small service people unfolded in Kozlov, Kursk, Solvychegodsk, Veliky Ustyug, Voronezh, Narym, Tomsk and other settlements. The socio-political crisis dictated the need to strengthen the country's legislative power. Therefore, it was during the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich that the evolution of the class-representative monarchy (“autocracy with a boyar duma and boyar aristocracy”) to absolutism began, which was associated, among other things, with the completion of serfdom.
Although the Code was compiled hastily, it was fundamentally based on the existing legislative tradition. The legal sources of the Council Code were: Decree books of orders, Code of Laws of 1497 and 1550, Lithuanian Statute of 1588, Kormchaya Book and various petitions of the nobility, which contained demands for the abolition of school years. At the Zemsky Sobor, convened on July 16, 1648, the nobles submitted a petition to draw up a Code in order to carry out all sorts of affairs according to that Coded Book. To develop the draft Code, a special order was created headed by Prince N.I. Odoevsky, which included two boyars, one okolnichy and two clerks. The hearing of the draft Code took place at the Council in two chambers: in one the Tsar, the Boyar Duma and the Consecrated Council were present, in the other - elected people of various ranks. Deputies from nobles and towns had a great influence on the adoption of many norms of the Code. It is characteristic that the Code began with a preface, which stated that it was drawn up “by the sovereign’s decree by the general council, so that the Moscow state of all ranks of people, from the highest to the lowest rank, the trial and punishment in all matters would be equal to the great royal affairs of the zemstvo.”
Adopted in 1649, the Council Code abolished St. George's Day and established an indefinite search for fugitives. A considerable fine was also introduced (10 rubles for each fugitive) for receiving and harboring them. But at the same time, the landowner peasants had not yet completely lost their personal rights: according to the Code, they could own property and make transactions in their own name, be plaintiffs, defendants and witnesses in court, and also be hired to work for other persons. It was forbidden to turn serfs into serfs, and to transfer local peasants to estates. A special article of the Code established a fine of 1 ruble for “dishonor” of both a black-sowing and a “boyar” peasant. This was, of course, 50 times less than the fine for insulting a boyar. But nevertheless, the legislation officially recognized the “honor” of the serf, which would be unthinkable for a noble state in the next century, when all personal rights of peasants were eliminated.
The Code established norms that reflected the beginning of the process of bringing together conditional local land ownership with hereditary patrimonial ownership: on the inheritance of estates, allowing the sale of estates to patrimonies, the allocation of part of the estate for living, etc. This process of rapprochement of estates and patrimonial estates found its legal development in the decrees of 1667 and 1672 on mass transfers of estates to the patrimony of Moscow Duma and district officials for participation in the campaign of 1654, for the “Lithuanian” service and the Smolensk campaign. Edicts in the 1670s allowed for the exchange and purchase of estates, bringing the estate as close as possible to a fiefdom.
It is significant that the first chapter, “On blasphemers and church rebels,” provided for liability for crimes against religion and the church. The next most important regulated provision is the protection of the honor and safety of the sovereign. The Council Code defined his status as an autocratic and hereditary monarch. That is, his approval (election) at the Zemsky Sobor did not violate the established principles, but, on the contrary, legitimized them. Even criminal intent directed against the person of the monarch was severely punished. These provisions are developed in the third chapter, “On the Tsar’s Court,” which talks about the protection of the royal residence and the king’s personal property.
The Code classified the following as criminal acts:
crimes against the Church: blasphemy, “seduction” into another faith, interruption of the liturgy in church, etc.;
state crimes: any actions directed against the personality of the sovereign or his family, rebellion, conspiracy, treason;
crimes against the order of government: unauthorized travel abroad, counterfeiting, giving false testimony, false accusation, maintaining drinking establishments without permission, etc.;
crimes against decency: maintaining brothels, harboring fugitives, selling stolen or other people's property, etc.;
malfeasance: extortion, injustice, forgery in service, military crimes, etc.;
crimes against the person: murder, mutilation, beatings, insult to honor;
property crimes: theft, horse theft, robbery, robbery, fraud, arson, damage to other people's property.
crimes against morality: “children’s disrespect for their parents,” pimping, “fornication” of a wife, sexual relations between a master and a “slave.”
This resulted in a system of punishments that included: death penalty, corporal punishment, imprisonment, exile, dishonorable punishments (deprivation of ranks or reduction in rank), confiscation of property, removal from office and fines.
Most of the “white” settlements were liquidated (the church was prohibited from expanding its possessions without royal permission), and trade and fishing activities were declared a monopoly of the townspeople. Although the transition to a posad for privately owned peasants freed them from personal dependence on the feudal lord, it did not mean complete liberation from feudal dependence on the state, since the posad man, like the black-mown peasant, was subject to attachment to the place.
If in the field of family law the principles of Domostroy continued to operate (the supremacy of the husband over his wife and children, the actual community of property, the obligation of the wife to follow her husband, etc.), then in the field of civil law the legal capacity of women increased. Now the widow was endowed with rights in the field of concluding transactions. The oral form of the contract is replaced by a written one, and for certain transactions (for example, the purchase and sale of real estate) mandatory state registration is established.
That is, the Council Code not only summarized the main trends in the development of Russian law in the 15th-17th centuries, but also consolidated new features and institutions characteristic of the era of advancing Russian absolutism. In the Code, for the first time, domestic legislation was systematized and an attempt was made to differentiate the rules of law by industry. The Council Code became the first printed monument of Russian law. Before him, the publication of laws was limited to their announcement in marketplaces and in churches. The appearance of a printed law reduced the possibility of abuses by governors and officials.
In the economic sphere, the Code consolidated the beginning of the formation of a single form of feudal land ownership based on the merger of its two varieties - estates and estates. In the social sphere, it reflected the process of consolidation of the main classes and the establishment of a system of serfdom. In the political sphere, the Code characterized the initial stage of the transition from an estate-representative monarchy to absolutism. In the sphere of court and law, this monument of law was associated with the stage of centralization of the judicial-administrative apparatus, unification and universality of legal institutions.
The Code had no precedents in the history of Russian legislation, many times surpassing the voluminous Stoglav in the wealth of legal material. The Code had no equal in the European practice of those years. The cathedral code of 1649 was in force until 1832, when, under the leadership of M.M. Speransky developed the Code of Laws of the Russian Empire.

Cathedral Code - the first set of laws of the Russian state in Russian history, adopted on January 29, 1649 at the Zemsky Sobor, held in 1648-1649. The monument itself does not have a title; in the preface it is simply called “Olozhenie”. It is quite acceptable to use as definitions the Code of 1649, the Code of the Tsar and others, used as synonyms in historical and legal literature.

Reasons for drawing up the Code

The convening of this council was caused by a number of uprisings that took place in Russian cities. The most powerful of them and dangerous for the authorities was the performance in Moscow in June 1648. The young Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, who ascended the throne in 1645 at the age of 16, transferred a significant part of the power and responsibility to his “uncle”-educator B.I. Morozov. He failed to establish governance of the country, which was plagued by corruption and arbitrariness on the part of the boyars, governors, and other officials. With reference to the 17th century foreign traveler A. Olearius, in the historical tradition the Moscow uprising of 1648 is often called the “salt riot”, but this does not reflect its real reasons, among which the increase in the price of salt was not among the main ones. The population of Moscow who spoke out (posad people and archers, serfs and courtyard servants) tried to submit a petition to the Tsar complaining about bribes, extortions and unfair trials on the part of people in power. The rioters demanded the removal and severe punishment of particularly hated dignitaries from the government headed by Morozov. The spontaneous rebellion began to take on organized forms with clearer demands when, a few days later, the movement was joined by nobles and other service people gathered in the capital to be sent to guard the southern border. They, together with the top merchant class, seized the initiative for negotiations with the tsar. This development of events put the supreme power in a difficult position. On the one hand, service people were a privileged class and were not interested in continuing the rebellion. On the other hand, their interests and armed force could not be ignored. Simply suppressing speech became impossible. On July 16, the Zemsky Sobor was convened with the participation of elected representatives of nobles and merchants. The quintessence of their demands was the proposal to draw up a new Code to put in order and improve written legislation.

Preparation and adoption of the Code

The commission for the preparation of the preliminary text of the Code was headed by the Tsar’s closest boyar and governor, Prince N.I. Odoevsky (1605-1689). There is every reason to believe that he was not a nominal head, but a real leader of the work on the text of the Code, as an intelligent, firm, authoritative person. The commission included two more princes, boyar F.F. Volkonsky and Okolnichy S.V. Prozorovsky, as well as two clerks, G. Leontyev and F.A. Griboyedov. The composition of the commission turned out to be very efficient and experienced, since it completed the task in a relatively short time (1.5 months). On September 1, 1648, as planned, the Zemsky Sobor, with an expanded composition of delegates, resumed its work, having received a written draft of the Code. The work of the cathedral was carried out in two chambers. One included the tsar, the Boyar Duma and the Consecrated Council, that is, the highest church hierarchs. The other was called the Reply Chamber, it was dominated by nobles and representatives of the towns. Amendments were made to the preliminary text both at the meetings of the cathedral and during the ongoing work of the Odoevsky commission on the texts of collective petitions that the elected representatives brought with them to the cathedral as instructions from voters. The situation in the country, which remained alarming and explosive, forced a rush to resolve legislative issues. In the winter of 1648-1649, unrest intensified in various places. On January 29, 1649, the drafting and editing of the Code was completed; it was adopted and signed by all members of the cathedral. These signatures were left by 315 people: Patriarch Joseph, 6 bishops, 6 archimandrites and abbots, the archpriest of the Annunciation Cathedral - the tsar’s confessor, 27 members of the Boyar Duma (boyars, okolnichy, printer and duma clerk), 5 Moscow nobles, 148 noble policemen, 3 “guests” " - privileged merchants, 12 elected from Moscow hundreds and settlements, 89 townspeople from different cities, 15 elected from Moscow Streltsy "orders" - regiments.

Publication of the Code

The original Code is a scroll glued together from 959 columns - “stavs”. The length of the scroll is 309 meters. The Code is currently stored in the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts in a gilded “ark” specially made for this purpose. There is text on the front side and signatures on the back. It is almost impossible to use such a scroll for practical purposes. An exact copy was made from it in the form of a handwritten book, and typographical typesetting was already carried out from it. The Code of 1649 is the first printed monument of Russian law. The first edition, with a circulation of 1,200 copies, began printing on April 7 and was completed on May 20, 1649. Several copies were presented to the Tsar, Patriarch, and boyars. The bulk of the circulation (up to 90%) was put on sale to institutions and individuals. For the first time in the history of Russia, the text of the code of laws could be read and even purchased by everyone. The price, however, was high - 1 ruble. Openness and accessibility of legislation were one of the main demands of the participants in the popular uprisings and the Zemsky Sobor. The fact is that laws could only be learned through oral announcements in squares and churches, from handwritten texts, in the original, or in a small number of lists stored in government institutions. In fact, officials had a monopoly on knowledge of the texts of laws, and they themselves were poorly informed about them. The publication of the Code in print and in mass circulation prevented the possibility of concealing and falsifying basic legal norms and committing the most blatant abuses in the judiciary. The first edition did not satisfy the needs of authorities and public demand. The copies put on free sale sold out quickly from June 14 to August 7, 1649. In December 1649, a second edition was published in the same edition of 1,200 copies. and at the same price for 1 rub. It was sold out (over 98% of the circulation went on sale this time) from January 1650 to August 1651. Great interest in the Code was shown abroad. This is evidenced by the purchase of its copies by foreigners, translations into Latin and French in the 17th century, and into German and Danish at the beginning of the 18th century.

Sources and contents of the Code

To compile the Code, various sources were used: the Code of Law of Ivan the Terrible of 1550, the Lithuanian Statute of 1588, the verdicts of the Boyar Duma, collective petitions of nobles and townspeople, the decree books of the Local, Zemsky, Robber and other orders, which recorded the laws and regulations received by these institutions. orders. Separate norms and provisions from the monuments of Byzantine and church law were also used, primarily from the Book of the Helmsman. In the new set of laws, issues of state, church, economic, inheritance, family, contract and criminal law, and judicial procedural norms were developed. In total, the Code included 25 chapters and 967 articles. They are distributed and named as follows:

Chapter I. And it contains 9 articles about blasphemers and church rebels.

Chapter II. About the state's honor, and how to protect the state's health, and there are 22 articles in it.

Chapter III. About the sovereign's court, so that in the sovereign's court there is no disorder or abuse from anyone.

Chapter IV. About subscribers and who forge seals.

Chapter V. About money masters who will learn how to make thieves' money.

Chapter VI. On travel certificates to other states.

Chapter VII. About the service of all military men of the Moscow State.

Chapter VIII. About the redemption of captives.

Chapter IX. About tolls and transportation and bridges.

Chapter X. About the trial.

Chapter XI. The court is about peasants, and there are 34 articles in it.

Chapter XII. About the court of patriarchal clerks, and all kinds of courtyard people, and peasants, and there are 3 articles in it.

Chapter XIII. About the Monastic Order, and there are 7 articles in it.

Chapter XIV. About kissing the cross, and there are 10 articles in it.

Chapter XV. About accomplished deeds, and there are 5 articles in it.

Chapter XVI. About local lands, and there are 69 articles in it.

Chapter XVII. About estates, and there are 55 articles in it.

Chapter XVIII. About printing duties, and there are 71 articles in it.

Chapter XIX. About the townspeople, and there are 40 articles in it.

Chapter XX. The court about slaves, and there are 119 articles in it.

Chapter XXI. The court is about robbery and Taty’s cases, and there are 104 articles in it.

Chapter XXII. And there are 26 articles in it, a decree for which crimes the death penalty should be inflicted on whom, and for which guilts the death penalty should not be executed, but punishment should be inflicted.

Chapter XXIII. About Sagittarius, and there are 3 articles in it.

Chapter XXIV. Decree on atamans and Cossacks, and it contains 3 articles.

Chapter XXV. Decree on taverns, and it contains 21 articles.

Actually, there are few new norms in the Code. It basically brought the existing legislation into order and into a certain system. However, the new and significantly edited norms included in the Code made a very significant contribution to social, economic, and legal relations, since they became a direct response to the events of 1648, the demands of their participants, and the lessons that the ruling circles learned from them. The main ones are as follows. Legislatively, the church was taken under the protection and protection of the state; blasphemy against the church and faith was subject to the death penalty. At the same time, the subordination of the patriarchal court to the secular court was emphasized, the entire clergy was declared subject to the jurisdiction of the Monastic Order, and the clergy were forbidden to acquire estates. The Orthodox hierarchs were dissatisfied with the introduction of such rules, and the patriarch Nikon, although he signed the Council Code as Metropolitan of Novgorod, after coming to the leadership of the Russian Church (1652) he began to call this code a “cursed” book, a “devilish” law. The status of the tsar was determined as an autocratic and hereditary monarch, not only criminal acts, but also criminal intentions against whom were severely punished. The concept of a crime against the state was developed; actions against the tsar, the tsarist government and its representatives were punishable by “death without any mercy.” Manufacturers of counterfeit documents, seals, and money were also punished extremely severely. In general, the criminal legislation in the Council Code was distinguished by medieval cruelty. At the same time, it proclaimed the principles of impartiality and objectivity in the consideration of cases, provided for the recusal of judges and their prosecution in the event of an acquittal of a guilty person or an accusation of an innocent person for “promises” of bribes. Steps to bring together the two forms of land ownership, local and patrimonial, became very important in socio-economic terms, including the allowance, under certain conditions, of inheritance of estates by the wives and children of landowners, and the exchange of estates for estates. The most important rule of law was the abolition of “lesson years” - the period for searching for runaway peasants who left the landowners without permission. Most historians believe this norm is evidence of the final enslavement of peasants in Russia. A fine of 10 rubles was introduced for harboring fugitives. Judicial representation of serfs in property disputes was abolished, since their property began to be considered as the property of a landowner or patrimonial owner. In the cities, “white”, that is, privately owned settlements and courtyards that belonged to the patriarch, monasteries, boyars, and other patrimonial lands were eliminated and were free from state taxes. All those living in them were now obliged to “bear the tax,” that is, to pay taxes and bear duties, along with the rest of the townspeople. The posad population itself was forever attached to the posads and the sovereign's tax. Like serfs, townspeople could not voluntarily leave their place of residence or change their occupation. An indefinite search for fugitive townspeople was introduced.

The meaning of the Code

The Council Code became the most important event and stage in the history of Russian legislation. During the 17th century, it was repeatedly replenished with “new decree articles” (in 1669 - On tateb, robbery and murder cases, in 1676/1677 - On estates and estates, etc.) In the 18th century, attempts were made to create a new Code, for which Special Legislative Commissions were convened, which ended in vain. The Council Code played the role of a code of laws of Russia (with numerous additions and changes) for almost two centuries. Its text opened the Complete Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire, published in 1830. To a large extent, it was taken into account when developing the XV volume of the Code of Laws of the Russian Empire, which played the role of the criminal code, was published in 1845 and was called the “Code of Punishments”.

Before the Code of 1649 is visible from the following data:

1550-1600 - 80 decrees;
1601-1610 −17;
1611-1620 - 97;
1621-1630 - 90;
1631-1640 - 98;
1641-1648 - 63 decrees.

In total for 1611-1648. - 348, and for 1550-1648. - 445 decrees

As a result, by 1649, the Russian state had a huge number of legislative acts that were not only outdated, but also contradicted each other.

The adoption of the Code was also prompted by the Salt Riot that broke out in Moscow that year; One of the demands of the rebels was the convening of the Zemsky Sobor and the development of a new code. The rebellion was suppressed, but as one of the concessions to the rebels, the tsar convened the Zemsky Sobor, which continued its work until the adoption of the Council Code in 2006.

Legislative work

He was intended to review the draft Code. The cathedral was held in a broad format, with the participation of representatives of the townspeople's communities. The hearing of the draft Code took place at the cathedral in two chambers: in one were the tsar, the Boyar Duma and the Consecrated Cathedral; in the other - elected people of various ranks.

All delegates of the Council affixed their signatures to the list of the Code, which in 1649 was sent to all Moscow orders for guidance in action. When drawing up the code, the task was not to draw up a code; it was only intended to summarize the entire existing stock of legal acts, harmonizing them with each other and abolishing outdated norms.

The elected representatives submitted their amendments and additions to the Duma in the form zemstvo petitions. Some decisions were made through the joint efforts of elected officials, the Duma and the Sovereign.

Much attention was paid to procedural law.

Sources of the Code

Decree books of orders - in them, from the moment of the emergence of a particular order, current legislation on specific issues was recorded.
year - was used as an example of legal technique (wording, construction of phrases, rubrication).

Branches of law according to the Council Code

View of the Kremlin. 17th century

The Council Code only outlines the division of norms into branches of law. However, the tendency towards division into industries, inherent in any modern legislation, has already emerged.

State law

The Council Code determined the status of the head of state - the tsar, autocratic and hereditary monarch.

Criminal law

The death penalty is hanging, beheading, quartering, burning (for religious matters and in relation to arsonists), as well as “pouring a red-hot iron down the throat” for counterfeiting.

Corporal punishment - divided into self-harm(cutting off a hand for theft, branding, cutting off nostrils, etc.) and painful(beating with a whip or batogs).

Imprisonment - terms from three days to life imprisonment. The prisons were earthen, wooden and stone. Prison inmates fed themselves at the expense of relatives or alms.

Exile is a punishment for “high-ranking” persons. It was the result of disgrace.

Dishonorable punishments were also used for “high-ranking” persons: “deprivation of honor,” that is, deprivation of ranks or reduction in rank. A mild punishment of this type was a “reprimand” in the presence of people from the circle to which the offender belonged.

Fines were called “sale” and were imposed for crimes that violate property relations, as well as for some crimes against human life and health (for injury), for “incurring dishonor.” They were also used for “extortion” as the main and additional punishment.

Confiscation of property - both movable and immovable property (sometimes the property of the criminal’s wife and his adult son). It was applied to state criminals, to “greedy people”, to officials who abused their official position.

Purposes of punishment:

Intimidation.
Retribution from the state.
Isolation of the criminal (in case of exile or imprisonment).
Isolating a criminal from the surrounding mass of people (cutting off the nose, branding, cutting off an ear, etc.).

Civil law

The main ways of acquiring rights to any thing, including land, ( real rights), were considered:

The grant of land is a complex set of legal actions, which included the issuance of a grant, entry in the order book of information about the grantee, establishment of the fact that the land being transferred is unoccupied, and taking possession in the presence of third parties.
Acquiring rights to a thing by concluding a purchase and sale agreement (both oral and written).
Acquisitive prescription. A person must in good faith (that is, without violating anyone’s rights) own any property for a certain period of time. After a certain period of time, this property (for example, a house) becomes the property of a bona fide owner. The Code set this period at 40 years.
Finding a thing (provided its owner is not found).

Law of obligations in the 17th century, it continued to develop along the line of gradual replacement of personal liability (transition to serfs for debts, etc.) under contracts with property liability.

The oral form of the contract is increasingly being replaced by a written one. For certain transactions, state registration is mandatory - the “serf” form (purchase and sale and other real estate transactions).

Legislators paid special attention to the problem patrimonial land ownership. The following were legislatively established: a complicated procedure for alienation and the hereditary nature of patrimonial property.

During this period, there were 3 types of feudal land ownership: the property of the sovereign, patrimonial land ownership and estate. Votchina is conditional land ownership, but they could be inherited. Since feudal legislation was on the side of the land owners (feudal lords), and the state was also interested in ensuring that the number of patrimonial estates did not decrease, the right to buy back sold patrimonial estates was provided for. Estates were given for service; the size of the estate was determined by the official position of the person. The feudal lord could only use the estate during his service; it could not be passed on by inheritance. The difference in legal status between fiefs and estates gradually disappeared. Although the estate was not inherited, it could be received by a son if he served. The Council Code established that if a landowner left the service due to old age or illness, his wife and young children could receive part of the estate for subsistence. The Council Code of 1649 allowed the exchange of estates for estates. Such transactions were considered valid under the following conditions: the parties, concluding an exchange record between themselves, were obliged to submit this record to the Local Order with a petition addressed to the Tsar.

Family law

Scenes of Russian life. 17th century

year - Order on city deanery (on measures to combat crime).
year - New Trade Charter (on the protection of domestic producers and sellers from foreign competition).
year - Scribe's mandate (about the rules for land surveying estates and estates, forests and wastelands).

An important role was played by the “verdict” of the Zemsky Sobor of the year on the abolition of localism (that is, the system of distributing official places taking into account the origin, official position of a person’s ancestors and, to a lesser extent, his personal merits.)

The meaning of the Cathedral Code

The Council Code generalized and summarized the main trends in the development of Russian law in the 17th century.
It consolidated new features and institutions characteristic of the new era, the era of advancing Russian absolutism.
The Code was the first to systematize domestic legislation; An attempt was made to differentiate the rules of law by industry.

The Council Code became the first printed monument of Russian law. Before him, the publication of laws was limited to their announcement in marketplaces and in churches, which was usually specifically indicated in the documents themselves. The appearance of a printed law largely eliminated the possibility of abuses by governors and officials in charge of legal proceedings. The Council Code has no precedents in the history of Russian legislation. In terms of volume it can only be compared with Stoglav, but in terms of the wealth of legal material it surpasses it many times over.

When compared with Western Europe, it is striking that the Council Code codified Russian civil law relatively early, already in 1649. The first Western European civil code was developed in Denmark (Danske Lov) in 1683; it was followed by the code of Sardinia (), Bavaria (), Prussia (), Austria (). Europe's most famous and influential civil code, the French Napoleonic Code, was adopted in -1804.

It is worth noting that the adoption of European codes was probably hampered by the abundance of the legal framework, which made it very difficult to systematize the available material into a single coherent, readable document. For example, the Prussian Code of 1794 contained 19,187 articles, making it overly long and unreadable. By comparison, the Napoleonic Code took 4 years to develop, contained 2,281 articles, and required the personal active participation of the emperor to push for its adoption. The cathedral code was developed within six months, numbered 968 articles, and was adopted in order to prevent the development of a series of urban riots in 1648 (started by the Salt Riot in Moscow) into a full-scale uprising like the uprising of Bolotnikov in 1606-1607 or Stepan Razin in 1670-1670. 1671.

The Council Code of 1649 was in effect until 1832, when, as part of the work to codify the laws of the Russian Empire, carried out under the leadership of M. M. Speransky, the Code of Laws of the Russian Empire was developed.

Notes

Literature

Klyuchevsky V. O. Russian history. Full course of lectures. - M.: 1993.
Isaev I.A. History of state and law of Russia. - M.: 2006.
Ed. Titova Yu. P. History of state and law of Russia. - M.: 2006.
AND ABOUT. Chistyakov History of the domestic state and law.. - M.: 1996.
Grigory Kotoshikhin About Russia during the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich. - Stockholm: 1667.

A.G. Mankov"The Code of 1649 - the code of feudal law of Russia." - M.: 1980.

Vladimirsky-Budanov M.F."Review of the history of Russian law", 6th ed. - St. Petersburg. ; Kyiv: Publishing house of bookseller N.Ya.Ogloblin: 1909.

Yu.L. Protsenko"Estate-representative monarchy in Russia (mid-16th - mid-17th centuries)", 6th ed. - Volgograd: 2003.

Wikimedia Foundation.

2010.

See what the “Code of Alexei Mikhailovich” is in other dictionaries: CODE OF ALEXEY MIKHAILOVICH - – see Cathedral Code of 1649...

Soviet legal dictionary

Chapter 1 of the Council Code (“On blasphemers and church rebels”). The text of the first three articles of this chapter is visible. The Council Code of 1649 is a code of laws of the Russian state, a monument of Russian law of the 17th century, the first normative in Russian history... ... Wikipedia The Council Code, one of the monuments of the law of the Russian state. It consisted of 25 chapters and 967 articles (sections: “The trial of peasants”, “About townspeople”, “On local lands”, “On the court”, “On robbers and Tatin affairs”, etc.). Project U... ...

Great Soviet Encyclopedia

1550-1600 - 80 decrees;
Before the Code of 1650 is visible from the following data:
1611-1620 - 97;
1621-1630 - 90;
1631-1640 - 98;
1641-1648 - 63 decrees.

In total for 1611-1648. - 348, and for 1550-1648. - 445 decrees

As a result, by 1649, the Russian state had a huge number of legislative acts that were not only outdated, but also contradicted each other.

1601-1610 − 17;

Legislative work

The adoption of the Code was also prompted by the Salt Riot that broke out in Moscow in 1648; One of the demands of the rebels was the convening of the Zemsky Sobor and the development of a new code. The revolt gradually subsided, but as one of the concessions to the rebels, the tsar convened the Zemsky Sobor, which continued its work until the adoption of the Council Code in 1649.

A copy from the Ferapontovsky Monastery

Much attention was paid to procedural law.

Sources of the Code

Decree books of orders - in them, from the moment of the emergence of a particular order, current legislation on specific issues was recorded.
All delegates of the Council affixed their signatures to the list of the Code, which in 1649 was sent to all Moscow orders for guidance in action.

Branches of law according to the Council Code

View of the Kremlin. 17th century

The Council Code only outlines the division of norms into branches of law. However, the tendency towards division into industries, inherent in any modern legislation, has already emerged.

State law

The Council Code determined the status of the head of state - the tsar, autocratic and hereditary monarch.

Criminal law

- was used as an example of legal technique (formulation, construction of phrases, rubrication).
Corporal punishment - divided into self-harm The death penalty is hanging, beheading, quartering, burning (for religious matters and in relation to arsonists), as well as “pouring a red-hot iron down the throat” for counterfeiting. painful(beating with a whip or batogs).
(cutting off a hand for theft, branding, cutting off nostrils, etc.) and
Exile is a punishment for “high-ranking” persons. It was the result of disgrace.
Dishonorable punishments were also used for “high-ranking” persons: “deprivation of honor,” that is, deprivation of ranks or reduction in rank. A mild punishment of this type was a “reprimand” in the presence of people from the circle to which the offender belonged.
Fines were called “sale” and were imposed for crimes that violate property relations, as well as for some crimes against human life and health (for injury), for “incurring dishonor.” They were also used for “extortion” as the main and additional punishment.
Confiscation of property - both movable and immovable property (sometimes the property of the criminal’s wife and his adult son). It was applied to state criminals, to “greedy people”, to officials who abused their official position.

Imprisonment - terms from three days to life imprisonment. The prisons were earthen, wooden and stone. Prison inmates fed themselves at the expense of relatives or alms.

Intimidation.
Retribution from the state.
Isolation of the criminal (in case of exile or imprisonment).
Isolating a criminal from the surrounding mass of people (cutting off the nose, branding, cutting off an ear, etc.).

It should be especially noted that in addition to the common criminal punishments that exist to this day, there were also measures of spiritual influence. For example, a Muslim who converted an Orthodox Christian to Islam was subject to death by burning, while the neophyte should be sent directly to the Patriarch for repentance and return to the fold of the Orthodox Church. Changing, these norms reached the 19th century and were preserved in the Penal Code of 1845.

Civil law

The main ways of acquiring rights to any thing, including land, ( real rights), were considered:

The grant of land is a complex set of legal actions, which included the issuance of a grant, entry in the order book of information about the grantee, establishment of the fact that the land being transferred is unoccupied, and taking possession in the presence of third parties.
Acquiring rights to a thing by concluding a purchase and sale agreement (both oral and written).
Acquisitive prescription. A person must in good faith (that is, without violating anyone’s rights) own any property for a certain period of time. After a certain period of time, this property (for example, a house) becomes the property of a bona fide owner. The Code set this period at 40 years.
Finding a thing (provided its owner is not found).

Family law

1649 - Order on city deanery (on measures to combat crime).
1667 - New Trade Charter (on the protection of domestic producers and sellers from foreign competition).
1683 - Scribe order (on the rules for land surveying estates and estates, forests and wastelands).

An important role was played by the “verdict” of the Zemsky Sobor of 1682 on the abolition of localism (that is, the system of distribution of official places taking into account the origin, official position of a person’s ancestors and, to a lesser extent, his personal merits.)

The meaning of the Cathedral Code

The Council Code summarized and summarized the main trends in the development of Russian law in the 17th century.
It consolidated new features and institutions characteristic of the new era, the era of advancing Russian absolutism.
The Code was the first to systematize domestic legislation; An attempt was made to differentiate the rules of law by industry.

Notes

Literature

Klyuchevsky V. O. Russian history. Full course of lectures. - M., 1993.
Isaev I. A. History of state and law of Russia. - M., 2006.
Ed. Titova Yu. P. History of state and law of Russia. - M., 2006.
Chistyakov I. O. History of domestic state and law. - M., 1996.
Kotoshikhin Grigory About Russia during the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich. - Stockholm, 1667.

Mankov A. G. The Code of 1649 is the code of feudal law in Russia. - M.: Science, 1980.
Tomsinov V. A. The Cathedral Code of 1649 as a monument to Russian jurisprudence // Cathedral Code of 1649. Legislation of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich / Compiled, author of the preface and introductory articles V. A. Tomsinov. M.: Zertsalo, 2011. P. 1-51.
Vladimirsky-Budanov M. F. Review of the history of Russian law. 6th ed. - St. Petersburg. ; Kyiv: Publishing house of bookseller N. Ya. Ogloblin, 1909.

Protsenko Yu. L.

The most significant measure of the government of Alexei Mikhailovich was a new codification of laws - the publication of the Code of 1649, which replaced the outdated Code of Laws of 1550.

On July 16, 1648, the Tsar, the Boyar Duma and the Holy Council, “for the sake of fear and civil strife for all black people,” sentenced to create a commission of 5 boyars (boyars Princes Odoevsky and Prozorovsky, okolnichy Prince Volkonsky, clerks Leontyev and Griboyedov) to draw up a project collection of laws. By September 1, 1648, elected officials from “all people” of the Moscow state were summoned to the capital to discuss and approve the Code of Laws.

During the work of the Zemsky Sobor in 1648-1649. The original project was significantly modified to take into account the petitions that the elected representatives brought with them. Then the final text of the Code was read out and all participants in the Council signed it.

1. The Council Code interpreted royal power as the power of God’s anointed on earth.

For the first time, the concept of a state crime was defined. These were all acts directed against the power, health, honor of the king and his family. The death penalty was imposed for everything: only for actions that caused unexpected damage to the royal authority, for example, for mistakes in the title or name of the sovereign, they could be torn out with a whip or long sticks (batogs) or sent to eternal life in Siberia.

Every resident of the Muscovite kingdom, having learned about plans against the tsar, was obliged to report. To do this, it was enough to shout on the street: “The Sovereign's Word and Deed!” The authorities immediately opened an investigation.

2. The sovereign's economy was also especially protected. For stealing the royal goods, “royal wheat”, catching fish in the royal pond, etc. the death penalty was imposed.

3. Crimes against the church and the patriarch were strictly punished. “If anyone,” said the Code, “begins to utter obscene speeches to a priest in a church, he will be subjected to trade execution,” - flogged at the auction. For “blasphemy against God and the cross,” burning was prescribed.

4. Many articles regulated relations between the population and local authorities. Disobedience of ordinary people was punished, but punishments were also imposed on governors and other officials for extortion, bribes and other abuses.

5. The Code regulated the official duties and landowning rights of nobles and boyar children. The old custom was fixed. However, a new thing was proclaimed in relation to the landowner peasants.

6. From the beginning of the 17th century. service people in their homeland sought an indefinite search for their fugitive peasants. Fearing the desolation of the central districts and the weakening of the army, Mikhail Romanov went to meet the noble petitions halfway. In 1637, the period of investigation was increased from 5 to 9 years. In 1641, the fixed-term summers were extended to 10 years to search for escaped peasants and to 15 years to search for peasants taken out by other landowners.

The Code of 1649 allowed the owners to search for peasants forever, without a time limit, and return them to the estates. The last step was taken towards the establishment of serfdom in Russia. Now nowhere in the center of the country could a fugitive find shelter to wait out the lesson of the summer. The lessons of the summer, like St. George’s Day in its time, have sunk into oblivion. (True, the custom was still in effect - “there is no extradition from the Don.” It was possible to hide in Siberia and other distant outskirts, from where neither the government nor the owners had the opportunity to return the fugitive).

7. The Code limited the sources of complete servitude. Only a slave by birth was recognized as a white (full) serf. The rest of the slaves were temporary, serving in bondage (under contract or working off a debt). It became impossible to turn an enslaved slave into a whitewashed (full) slave.

The authorities hoped that now the discontent of the debtors being turned into complete slaves would subside. The transformation of ruined service people into slaves will also stop.

8. The Moscow uprising of 1648 and a number of other urban uprisings forced people to listen to the voice of the town. Cherny Posad was indignant at the “competitors” - the Belomestians, residents of settlements owned by monasteries and private individuals. They worked as craftsmen and traded in the city, but did not bear any burdens or expenses. Black tax-payers pledged their property to the owners of white settlements, became white-town residents, and their share of the tax had to be distributed among the remaining black townspeople. The Code re-registered all Belomest residents as black posads, imposed taxes, and private individuals and monasteries were henceforth prohibited from having posad courtyards and shops in the city.

Fighting the flight of the townspeople, the Code forever attached the townspeople to the settlement. The law of 1658 required the death penalty for escaping from a posad.

8. The interests of rich townspeople - merchants, guests (merchants), the Code protected by the fact that severe punishments were announced for encroaching on their property, honor and life.

"NEED FOR SOMETHING NEW"

In general, the Code summed up the development of Russia in the middle of the 17th century. In addition, it provided the basis for the further development of Russian legislation. As noted by V.O. Klyuchevsky, “completing the legislative work of the previous time, the Code served as the starting point for further legislative activity. Its shortcomings began to be felt soon after it came into effect. It was supplemented and corrected in parts by new decree articles, which served as a direct continuation of it: these are the articles on tateb, robbery and murder cases in 1669, on estates and estates in 1676 - 1677. etc. This detailed, often petty revision of individual articles of the Code, full of hesitation, either abolishing or restoring individual legalizations of the code of 1649, is very interesting as a reflection of the moment in Moscow state life, when its leaders began to be seized by doubts about the suitability of legal norms and management techniques , in whose goodness they so believed, and they embarrassedly began to feel the need for something new, half-grown, “European”.

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