Week III: 14 Sept. Muscovite Russia
Assignment: R&S, pp. 105-195
Ch. 12
What was the basis of the appanage era economy? Is there evidence that trade also remained important to the economy? Explain.
How do the authors explain the positions taken by historians in the debate over feudalism in Russia? (What was Pavlov-Silvansky's argument? What did his critics argue?) What position do the authors take in this debate?
Describe the social hierarchy in appanage Russia. What was the relative status of princes, boyars, free servants, serfs, and slaves?
What was the difference between a pomestie and a votchina? Barshchina and obrok?
Were boyars and princes the only landowners in appanage Russia? Explain.
What case do the authors make for the evolution of the autocratic state out of the appanage period?
Ch. 13
What was the basis of the conflict in the Russian church between "possessors" and "non-possessors" and what was the result? Why was that politically important?
What was the symbolic importance of the "hat of Monomakh" and of the doctrine of the Third Rome? How did these increase the status of the Muscovite Grand Prince?
What kinds of literature survive from the appanage period and what does this tell us?
For the authors, what is most important about Russia architecture in this period? And what is most important about Russian icon painting in this period?
On what causes do the authors blame the decline of literature and education in the appanage period?
Ch. 14
Was Moscow the only consolidated state to emerge in the former territory of Kievan Russia? Explain.
Why do the authors refer to the early Lithuanian state as "Lithuanian-Russian"?
When and why did the Lithuanian state become linked to Poland and what were the results?
In what sense do the authors see the Lithuanian-Russian state as an "alternative" to the political course followed by Muscovite Russia?
Ch. 15
What traumatic events marked the childhood of Muscovite Grand Prince Ivan IV (Ivan the Terrible)?
When did Ivan IV assume power and what was the symbolic importance of his coronation as "tsar"?
Why do the authors describe the first thirteen years of Ivan IV's reign (1547-1560) as "the good half"? What characterized his approach to domestic rule in this period? What changes did he oversee in Russian law? In the Church? In government administration? In the organization of the army?
What were the goals of Ivan IV's wars? In what directions did Moscow expand in hte first half of Ivan's reign, and with what results?
Did Ivan IV isolate Russia from the West? Explain.
When and why did Ivan IV come into conflict with the boyars and with his own closest advisors?
In basic terms, what did Ivan IV do when divided Moscow into the zemshchina and oprichnina?
How did Ivan IV use his oprichniki and why? What were the results?
What happened to Russia's recent western territorial gains in the second half of Ivan IV's reign? Did Russian expansion in the East continue? Explain.
What three main explanations of Ivan IV's behavior do the authors discuss, and what position do they actually take?
Who dominated government during the reign of Ivan's son Feodor and what were the main achievements of the Moscovite state in this period?
What events set the stage for Boris Gudonov to assume the throne after Feodor's death in 1598?
Ch. 16
Why did 1598-1613 become known as the "Time of Troubles"?
On p. 145 the authors say that "the rise of Moscow meant a further simplification of Russian social relations"--what do they mean? (What was the service entry, and how did the Muscovite tsars reward them for service? According to the authors, how did that affect other social groups and why is it linked to the rise of serfdom?)
First Phase: What events under Boris Godunov encouraged rumors that Prince Dmitrii was alive, and how do the authors explain the "episode of False Dmitri"? (Why was False Dmitri able to take power as tsar?)
What led to the overthrow of False Dmitri, and who then became tsar? How do the authors explain the relationship between Basil Shuisky and the boyars?
Second Phase: What regions rebelled against Moscow in 1606-1610, and why do the authors describe Bolotnikov's rebellion as "social"?
Who was False Dmitri II and who supported him?
When and why did Polish King Sigusmund III intervene in Russia and what were the results?
Third Phase: When and why was a Polish prince invited to be tsar, why did the "deal" fall apart, and what were the results?
What role did the Orthodox Church play in raising a national campaign against the Poles?
When and how did the Russians finally drive the Poles from Moscow?
Who attended the February 1613 zemskii sobor and who did they chose as Moscow's new Tsar? Why?
Explain how the following historians/groups of historians described the results of the Time of Troubles: Platonov, Soloviev, the Slavophiles, Kliuchevskii, most Soviet historians. According to the authors, who were the big winners and losers in the Time of Troubles?
Ch. 17
How do the authors explain Tsar Mikhail Romanov's relationship with the zemskii sobor and the boyar duma? Who was the "power behind the throne" during Mikhail's reign?
What do the authors consider the main problems facing Moscow under Mikhail?
How have historians described Tsar Aleksei Mikhailovich?
What were the most important domestic rebellions during the reign of Aleksei?
What were the main territorial uprisings during the reign of Aleksei? (And who were the cossacks?)
What happened in Moscow's war with Poland under Aleksei?
What do the authors consider the most important aspect of the brief reign of Feodor III?
Ch. 18
What was the basis of the Muscovite economy?
How do the authors explain the origins of serfdom in Russia? Why did the Tsarist government issue laws restricting the movement of peasants? And what role did the Ulozhenie (law code) of 1649 play in this process?
How do the authors describe the Muscovite social hierarchy? (What was the relative status of boyars, the service gentry, townspeople, state peasants, serfs, and slaves)? How did the 1649 law code affect the social hierarchy?
How important a role in government do the authors think the boyar duma and zemskii sobor played in the Muscovite period? Do they think these institutions limited the tsar's powers? Explain.
What was the mestnichestvo system?
According to the authors, what impact did territorial expansion have on the centralization of the Muscovite state? What were the prikazy?
According to the authors, what impact did centralization have on local government?
What main point do the authors make about Russian eastern expansion in the 1600s?
So what is the main point of this chapter?
Ch. 19
How do the authors compare Muscovite culture to Kivan culture?
What were the main issues involved in the Great Schism (raskol) in the Russian Orthodox Church in the 1650s? (What were the aims of Nikon's reforms and what were the objections of his opponents?)
Who "won" in this conflict? What happened to Nikon, what happened to Avvakum, and what became of the Old Believers?
How do the authors explain the impact of the raskol on Russian culture?
What besides "true faith" was the central issue concerning Russian thinkers in the 1600? What arguments did Russian tsars and intellectuals make in favor of autocracy?
What main points do the authors make about developments in the Muscovite period in the arts and in architecture? What about education?
Do the authors think that Moscow in the Muscovite period was really isolated from trends in European thought? Explain.