Elity rządzące w Rosji w XVI-XVIII w. - wprowadzenie do problematyki

Abstract

The article is devoted to the, formation and functioning of ruling eIites in Russia in the 16th-18th centuries. Along with the coronation of the grand prince of Moscow Ivan Vasilyevich, the tsar in 1547, visible rivalry between the rulers (tsars) and representatives of Russian aristocracy (influential princely and boyar famiIies) began. In the 17th century, people from nobility (dvoryanstvo) or merchants joined the circle of people coming from prominent families which controlled both internal and external policy of the state. At the turn of the 17'h and 18th centuries in the time of Peter the Great's reigning, people from other, sometimes the lowest social ranks, were also admitted to the most important state functions. At that time, the traditional advisory authority of the Russian rulers - Boyar Duma, whose foundations were based on the representatives of aristocracy, was also liquidated. Boyar Duma was replaced by the Governing Senate, instituted by Peter the Great in 1711, a collegial legislative, judicial and executive body responsible for all state issues. In the following years, the Governing Senate was completely subordinated to the tsars' will ruling in Russia.