Contents Foreword xi A Note on Sources xv 1. Primary Sources: Chronicles and Other Collections xv The Primary Chronicle xvi The First Novgorod Chronicle xvii Other Collections xviii 2. Primary Sources: Individual Documents (Charters); Archives xviii 3. Secondary Sources xx Translations xxii Textbooks on Legal History xxiii General History Classics xxiv Genealogy xxv List of Abbreviations xxvi Chapter 1: LAW S BEGINNINGS AND EARLY LAW 1 1. The Question of Definition 2 2. The Indo-European Aspect 5 Background 5 Indo-Europeans? 7 Indo-European Patriarchy 9 Chieftaincy and Kingship 12 The Professionalization of Law 12 The Penalty Catalogue 14 Collective Liability 16 Some Preliminary Conclusions 18 3. Looking beyond the Indo-Europeans 19 The Code of Hammurabi 19 The Law of Bagrat Kuropalates 21 The Great Statute of the Oirat Mongols of 1640 22 4. Law and State 24 5. The Origins of Legislation 28 Chapter 2: THE RUSSKAIA PRAVDA 33 1. Introduction 33 2. General Remarks 35 3. The Short Pravda 35 4. The Chronological Framework of the Short Pravda 36 5. The Short Pravda: Composition and Status 38
vi Law in Medieval Russia 6. The Expanded Pravda 39 7. Other Contemporary Sources 39 The Treaties of 912 and 945 39 The Treaty of 1229 between Smolensk and Riga 41 8. The Contents of the Short Pravda: Wergeld and Composition 41 9. Procedure 46 10. The Origins of the Russkaia Pravda 48 11. The Sources of the Oldest Pravda 51 12. The Russian Custom (Zakon Russkii) 51 13. Other Contemporary Slavic Legislation 53 14. Germanic Contacts 53 15. What does the Oldest Pravda represent? 57 Chapter 3: ROMAN LAW IN MEDIEVAL RUSSIA 59 1. Introduction to the Problem 59 2. How the Views Developed over Time 62 3. The Legislation Involved: Roman and Byzantine Law The Lenders 70 Roman Law 70 Secular Byzantine Law 71 a. The Nomos Georgikos or Farmer s Law 71 b. Ecloga 72 c. Basilika 73 d. Epanagoge (Eisagoge) 74 e. Procheiron 74 f. Epitome 75 Byzantine Canonical (Ecclesiastical) Law 75 The Early Collections up to the Nomocanon XIV titulorum 76 Subsequent Developments in Byzantine Canon Law 77 Summary of Byzantine Canon Law 78 4. The Legislation Involved: Russian Law The Borrowers 79 The Court Law for the People 79 The Russian-Byzantine Treaties 80 The Russian Law (Russkaia Pravda) 81 The Church Statutes of the Princes 83 5. Roman/Byzantine Influences: Where and When 85 6. The Kormchaia as the Main Vehicle of Byzantine Legal Influence and Other Collections 87 The Penetration of the Kormchaia into Medieval Russia 88 The Merilo Pravednoe or Just Measure 92 The Knigi Zakonnye or Law Books 93
Contents vii 7. Weighing the Evidence 94 Roman Law 94 Byzantine Law 108 Nomos Georgikos 109 Ecloga 111 The Court Law for the People 116 Procheiron 118 Chapter on Witnesses 119 Church Statutes 120 Treaties with Byzantium 122 8. Later Developments 122 9. Conclusions 125 Chapter 4: LAND TENURE, THE DRUZHINA AND THE NATURE OF KIEVAN RUS 129 1. Land Tenure: The Legal Perspective 130 2. The Nature of Kievan Russia: Soviet Approaches 132 3. The Nature of Kievan Russia: Trade or Agriculture? 134 4. Interlude: Feudalism 136 5. The Nature of Kievan Russia: Continued 139 6. The Druzhina 140 7. Conclusion 145 Chapter 5: POPULAR ASSEMBLIES IN EARLY MEDIEVAL RUSSIA: THE VECHE IN LEGAL HISTORY 147 1. Sources 148 2. Five Centuries of Veche History 149 3. The Veche in Early Kievan Russia 150 4. The Kievan Empire 152 5. Veche and Prince 152 6. Composition of the Veche 154 7. Veche Procedure 156 8. The Veche after 1240 157 9. The Situation in Novgorod and Pskov 159 10. Kievan Rus as a Period of Transition 160 11. The Veche and the Nature of the Kievan Polity 161 12. The Veche in a Comparative European Context 162 13. The Russian Veche and Legislation 163 14. Renewed Interest in the Veche 164
viii Law in Medieval Russia Chapter 6: THE ELDER BROTHER IN RUSSIA 167 1. The House of Rurik 167 2. From Genealogical to Contractual Seniority 170 3. Muscovy Russia: Mestnichestvo 174 4. The Table of Ranks 178 5. Postscript: The Elder Brother in Soviet Rhetoric 179 Chapter 7: THE TREATIES OF MEDIEVAL RUSSIA 181 1. Defining the Topic 181 2. The Earliest Times 183 3. Periodization and Sources 186 4. The Treaties between Princes 188 Starshinstvo 189 The Treaties and Testaments of the Princes of Moscow: Close Relatives 189 Excursion concerning the Title of Grand Prince 192 The Treaties of the Princes of Moscow: Distant Relatives 195 The Treaties between Moscow and Lithuania 196 5. Princely Treaties not involving Moscow 197 Smolensk Treaties 197 Other Princely Treaties 198 6. The Treaties of the Russian Cities 200 The Treaties of Novgorod the Great 200 Novgorod-Tver Treaties 202 Novgorod-Moscow Treaties 204 Novgorod Treaties with Foreign Rulers 205 Novgorod Treaties with German and Baltic Cities and Merchants 206 Pskov Treaties 210 7. Iarlyks of Tatar Khans 211 8. Concluding Thoughts 214 Appendix 220 1. Novgorod Treaties 220 with Moscow and Tver Grand Princes 220 with Foreign Rulers 222 with German and Baltic Cities and Merchants 222 2. Pskov Treaties 224 3. Polotsk Treaties 224 4. Moscow Treaties 224 with Other Russian Princes 224 with Foreign Princes 229
Contents ix 5. Other Princely Treaties 229 among themselves and with Foreign Princes 229 6. Iarlyks of Tatar Khans 230 Chapter 8: HUMAN RIGHTS IN RUSSIAN LEGAL HISTORY 233 1. Introduction 233 2. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 233 3. Equality 235 4. Taming the State: Dispersal of Power 236 The Separation of Powers 236 Due Process 237 Separation of Church and State 237 Christian Anthropology and the Freedom of Conscience 238 Sharing Power: Original Democracy 239 Sharing Power: The Feudal System 240 Sharing Power: Urban Freedom 241 Rationalism and Enlightenment 242 5. The Position in Russia 243 6. Church and State in Russia 243 The First Centuries 243 Church and State under the Mongols 245 The Church in Muscovy 247 The Special Status of Novgorod 249 The Church in the Russian Empire 250 7. Popular Rule and Democracy in Russia 250 8. Feudalism 252 9. Urban Freedom 253 10. Due Process 256 11. Equality 257 12. Concluding Observations 258 Chapter 9: THE SKRA OF NOVGOROD: LEGAL CONTACTS BETWEEN RUSSIA AND WESTERN EUROPE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 261 1. Introduction 261 2. Novgorod the Great 262 3. Novgorod s System of Government 264 4. Novgorod s Legal System 266 5. Novgorod s Trade with the Hanseatic League 267 6. The German Court of St.Peter in Novgorod 270
x Law in Medieval Russia 7. Adjudication of German-Russian Disputes 271 8. The Internal Organization of the Court of St.Peter 274 9. The Skra of Novgorod and its Different Versions 278 10. Sources and Contents of the Different Versions of the Skra 281 11. Concluding Remarks 290 Chapter 10: MEDIEVAL LAW IN TRANSCAUCASIA ON THE PERIPHERY OF EUROPEAN LEGAL HISTORY 293 1. Introduction 293 2. The Literature 294 3. General Historical Background: Armenia 295 4. General Historical Background: Georgia 297 5. The Law of the Armenian Kingdoms 298 6. The Code of Mkhitar Gosh 299 7. The Code of Smbat Sparapet 300 8. The Legal History of Georgia 303 9. The Non-Georgian Parts of the Collection 304 10. The Law of Bagrat Kuropalates 305 11. The Canonical Laws 306 12. The Laws of Beka and Aghbuga 307 13. The Law of Giorgi V the Brilliant 307 14. The Order of the King s Court 308 15. The Law of the Catholicos 309 16. The Law Code of Vakhtang VI 310 17. Dasturlamali 311 18. Conclusions 312 Index of Personal Names 315 Subject Index 325 Glossary of Russian and Foreign Terms 329 About the Author 335