27. "Antique" Second Roman Empire in the X-XIII centuries AD. e. and in the XIII-XVII centuries AD. e In addition to the correspondence described above, the Second Empire and the Holy Empire of the X-XIII centuries contain at their very beginning three major rulers. Actually, both compared empires begin with them.

This state is the fruit of the feat of the Russian people, who defended their faith and independence, their ideals on the edge of the European world. Researchers note such features in ancient Russian culture as synthetic and openness. The original spiritual world was created as a result of the interaction of the heritage and traditions of the Eastern Slavs with the Byzantine culture, and, consequently, the traditions of antiquity. The time of formation, as well as the first flowering of Old Russian culture, falls on the period from the 10th to the first half of the 13th centuries (that is, in the pre-Mongolian period).

Folklore

The traditions of ancient paganism have been preserved, primarily in folklore in songs, fairy tales, proverbs, spells, incantations, and riddles. Epics occupied a special place in the historical memory of the Russian people. They were heroic tales of brave defenders from the enemies of their native land. Folk storytellers sing the exploits of Mikula Selyaninovich, Volga, Alyosha Popovich, Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich and other heroes (there are more than 50 different main characters in the epics).

They turn to them their call to stand up for the fatherland, for the faith. In the epics, interestingly, the motive of defending the country is supplemented by another one - the defense of the Christian faith. The most important event was her baptism.

Writing in Russia

With the adoption of Christianity, writing began to develop rapidly. Although she was known even earlier. As evidence, we can cite the mention of "features and cuts" dating back to the middle of the first millennium, information about the agreements between Russia and Byzantium, which were drawn up in Russian, an earthen vessel near Smolensk with a Cyrillic inscription (the alphabet created by Cyril and Methodius, the enlighteners of the Slavs at the turn of the 10th and 11th centuries).

Orthodoxy brought many liturgical books, secular and religious translated literature to Russia. Handwritten books have come down to us: two "Izborniks" of Prince Svyatoslav, dated 1073 and 1076, the "Ostromir Gospel", referring to 1057. They say that in circulation in the 11-13 centuries there were about 130-140 thousand books that had several hundred titles . By the standards of the Middle Ages in Ancient Russia, the level of literacy was quite high. There is also other evidence. These are those discovered by archaeologists in Veliky Novgorod in the middle of the 20th century, as well as inscriptions on handicrafts and walls of cathedrals, the activities of monastic schools, book collections and the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra and others, according to which the culture and life of Ancient Russia are being studied today.

There was an opinion that the ancient Russian culture belonged to the "mute", that is, it did not have its own original literature. However, this assumption is incorrect. The literature of Ancient Russia is represented by various genres. These are the lives of the saints, and chronicles, and teachings, and journalism, and travel notes. Let us note here the famous "Tale of Igor's Campaign", which did not belong to any of the genres that existed at that time. Thus, the literature of Ancient Russia is distinguished by a wealth of trends, styles, and images.

Spinning and weaving

The Old Russian state was distinguished not only by its original culture, but also by its way of life. Life is interesting and original. The inhabitants were engaged in various crafts. Among women, the main occupation was spinning and weaving. The required amount of fabric had to be woven by Russian women in order to dress their family, as a rule, a large one, and also to decorate the house with towels and tablecloths. It was no coincidence that the spinning wheel was considered by the peasants as a traditional gift, which was kept with love and passed down from generation to generation.

There was a custom in Russia to give beloved girls a spinning wheel of their own work. The more skillfully the master carved and painted it, the more elegant it looked, the more honor he had. Russian girls gathered on winter evenings for gatherings, took spinning wheels with them to show off.

Houses in cities

Customs, like life, in ancient Russian cities had a slightly different character than in villages. There were practically no dugouts here (see photo).

The life of Ancient Russia in the cities reflected various buildings. City dwellers most often erected two-story houses, which consisted of several rooms. The houses of warriors, clergymen, princes, boyars had their own differences. Necessarily, large areas of land were allocated for estates, log cabins were built for servants and artisans, as well as various outbuildings. The life of Ancient Russia was different for different segments of the population, which reflected the types of dwellings. Boyar and princely mansions were real palaces. These houses were decorated with expensive carpets and fabrics.

The Russian people lived in fairly large cities. They numbered tens of thousands of inhabitants. In villages and villages there could be only a few dozen households. Life was preserved in them longer than in cities.

Houses in the villages

Residential areas, along which various trade routes passed, had a higher standard of living. Peasants lived, as a rule, in small houses. In the south, semi-dugouts were common, the roofs of which were often covered with earth.

In Russia, the northern huts were two-story, high, with small windows (there could be more than five). Sheds, pantries and canopies were attached to the side of the dwelling. They were all usually under the same roof. This type of dwelling was very convenient for the northern harsh winters. Many elements of the houses were decorated with geometric ornaments.

Interior of peasant huts

In Ancient Russia it was quite simple. The huts in the villages usually did not look rich. The interior of the peasant huts was cleaned rather strictly, but elegantly. In front of the icons in the front corner there was a large table, which was intended for all members of this family. Ancient household items in Russia also included wide benches that stood along the walls. They were decorated with carved edging. Most often, there were shelves above them, which were intended for storing dishes. Household items of Ancient Russia included a postavets (northern locker), which was usually supplemented with elegant painting depicting flowers, birds, horses, as well as pictures depicting allegorically the seasons.

The table on holidays was covered with red cloth. Carved and painted utensils were placed on it, as well as lights for the torch. Ancient Russia was famous for woodworking. They made a variety of utensils. The most beautiful were ancient Russian ladles of various sizes and shapes. Some of them contained several buckets in volume. The ladles intended for drinking were often boat-shaped. Their handles were decorated with horse heads or carved ducks. The ladles were also generously supplemented with carvings and paintings.

Buckets-ducks were called ladles that had the shape of a duck. Turned vessels resembling a ball were called brothers. Beautiful salt shakers, shaped like horses or birds, were carved by wood craftsmen. Beautiful spoons and bowls were also made. Everything related to the life of Ancient Russia was usually made of wood: cradles for children, mortars, bowls, baskets, furniture. The craftsmen who created the furniture not only thought about convenience, but also about beauty. These things certainly had to please the eye, turn even the hardest work of the peasants into a holiday.

Clothing of various segments of the population

Clothing could also identify different segments of the population. Peasants and artisans, both men and women, wore shirts that were made from homespun cloth. In addition to shirts, men wore pants, and women wore skirts. Ordinary people wore ordinary fur coats in winter.

In form, the clothes of noble people were often similar to peasant clothes, but in quality, of course, they were completely different. Such clothes were created from expensive fabrics. Often cloaks were made of oriental fabrics embroidered with gold. Winter coats were sewn only from valuable furs. Peasants and townspeople also wore different shoes. Only wealthy residents could afford to buy boots or pistons (shoes). The princes also wore boots that were richly decorated with inlays. Peasants could afford to make or purchase only bast shoes that survived in Russian culture until the 20th century.

Feasts and hunting in Ancient Russia

The hunting and feasts of the ancient Russian nobility were known to the whole world. During such events, the most important state affairs were often decided. The inhabitants of Ancient Russia celebrated victories in campaigns nationwide and magnificently. Honey and overseas wine flowed like a river. Servants served huge platters of meat and game. These feasts were necessarily visited by posadniks and elders from all cities, as well as by a huge number of people. It is difficult to imagine the life of the inhabitants of Ancient Russia without plentiful feasts. The tsar feasted with the boyars and retinue on the high gallery of his palace, and the tables for the people were located in the courtyard.

Falconry, dog and hawk hunting were considered the pastime of the rich. Various games, races, tournaments were built for the common people. The life of Ancient Russia as an integral part, especially in the north, also included a bathhouse.

Other features of Russian life

Children in the boyar-princely environment were not raised independently. Boys at the age of three were put on a horse, after which they were given to the care and training of a nursery teacher (that is, a teacher). Young princes at the age of 12 went to govern volosts and cities. Wealthy families in the 11th century began to teach both girls and boys to read and write. Kyiv market was a favorite place for ordinary and noble people. Here they sold products and products from all over the world, including India and Baghdad. The ancient people of Russia were very fond of bargaining.

It is impossible to understand the era without referring to the conditions of everyday life. The historian I. E. Zabelin wrote that a person's home life "is an environment in which the germs and rudiments of all the so-called great events of history lie."

The daily life of a person is centered in the family. In ancient Russia, families were usually large. A grandfather, his sons with their wives, grandchildren, etc. lived in the same family. Childhood passed in very harsh conditions, which was reflected even in terms applied to children: lad- "non-speaking", not having the right to speak; lad- "serf"; servants - younger members of the genus. Spanking was considered the main method of education. Beating for educational purposes was the norm. Babies were sometimes sold into slavery by their own parents.

However, one should not exaggerate the negative impact of cruel upbringing. As correctly noted by V. V. Dolgov, preventive cruelty was the only way to save the life of a child in situations where a parent could not control his child all 24 hours a day (due to employment in the service, work, etc.). Of course, there were no nurseries, kindergartens and regular general education schools then, of course. The rich could still assign a nanny to the child, but the poor? How to make sure that the child does not climb where it is not necessary, if he is left to himself most of the time? There is only one answer: to intimidate, to protect his life with prohibitions and punishments that can be life-saving. He will not go into the forest with wolves, he will not swim down the river, he will not set fire to the house, etc. In addition, the cruelty of upbringing did not cancel parental love, albeit in peculiar forms.

However, childhood, even so harsh, did not last long, especially among the lower classes.

“The social boundary of the final maturation throughout the entire ancient Russian period was considered marriage. Another, no less important indicator of adulthood was the acquisition of one’s own household. According to V.V. the child did not begin to live independently". It seems that the property criterion was even more important, since adulthood is generally independence, and remaining in the parental home, children could not have the right to a decisive vote - all power belonged to the head of the family. Therefore, in the annals, cases of princely weddings are always celebrated and described as very significant events, but the prince becomes an active political figure only after he takes possession of the parish ...<...>

All this led to the fact that the society of the early Russian Middle Ages did not know a clearly defined age up to which a person could, had the right and opportunity to remain a child. There was no age of legal capacity, there was no clearly defined period during which one should receive education, all this appeared much later. For a long time, the marriageable age limit was the only institutionalized limit that existed in official culture.

Among the peasantry, there were cases of eight- or nine-year-old boys marrying adult girls. This was done in order to get an extra worker into the family. Representatives of the noble classes married and married later, but weddings at 12–15 years old were the norm. The adult head of the family - the husband - was complete sovereign among their households. The wife was considered only an attachment to the "strong half", therefore, the proper names of ancient Russian women have almost not come down to us: they were called either by their father or by their husband (for example, Yaroslavna, Glebovna, etc.).

The attitude towards the weaker sex is illustrated by a well-known parable in the Middle Ages: “Not a bird in birds, an owl, not a hedgehog in animals, not a fish in fish, a goat, not a serf working in serfs, [so] neither a husband in men, who listens to his wife.

Without the permission of her husband, the wife did not have the right to leave the house and eat at the same table with him. Only in rare cases did women receive some rights. Before marriage, a daughter could inherit her father's property. The slave girl, who lived with the master as a wife, after his death gained freedom. Widows had all the rights of the head of the family and the mistress.

However, for husbands, family life was not always carefree. Due to unequal marriages and age misalliances in medieval society, the problem of the "evil wife" was acute. A special article was even introduced into the legislation: "If the husband's wife beats, a fine of 3 hryvnias" (as for stealing the prince's horse). The case when a wife steals property from her husband and tries to poison him was punished with the same fine. If a woman persisted in her desire to destroy her husband and repeatedly sent a hired killer to him, she was allowed to divorce.

The people of Ancient Russia were called mainly by their first names, but often they also had various nicknames. Patronymics were rarely used. The person who was called by his patronymic (with the addition of the suffix -vich, for example, Igorevich, Olgovich), was a noble; so called princes, later - large boyars. Personally free representatives of the middle classes enjoyed "semi-patronymics"(suffixes were added to their naming -ov, -ev, -in, for example, "Ivanov Petrov's son", i.e. his father's name was Peter). The lower strata of society did not have a patronymic at all, there were only first names. Also in Ancient Russia there were no surnames. They appear only in the XV-XVI centuries, initially among the feudal lords.

To describe the main features of the life of Ancient Russia, let's start with the dwelling. In the Middle Ages, living quarters were small, consisting of one or more rooms (for the rich). In the houses, the main furniture was benches and benches, on which they sat and slept. The rich had wooden beds, carpets, tables, chairs. Household property was stored in chests or bags, which were thrust under the benches. In the dark, the premises were lit with a burning wooden chip - torch or clay oil lamps, candles.

We can only partially restore the appearance of ancient Russian residential buildings according to archeological data. The main type was hut. It was a wooden quadrangular log cabin, placed either directly on the ground, or on supports (stones, logs). The floor could be earthen or wooden, from smoothly hewn boards. There must have been an oven; actually the word hut and means "housing with a stove" (from istba, source, source). However, chimneys and chimneys were rare; all the smoke went into the hut. Light entered the houses through small windows cut into the walls. As a rule, they were "drag": a narrow oblong gap in the wall, which was closed ("clouded") with a board.

The poor lived in semi-dugouts. A rectangular hole was dug in the ground, the walls were reinforced with a wooden frame, which was covered with clay. Then on top) "a plank or log roof was built, sometimes raising it above the surface on a small log house. Since it is impossible to exist without heating in the Russian winter, semi-dugouts were also equipped with domed adobe stoves that were heated" in a black way. In peasant houses, together with the family under one roof, behind partitions, they could keep livestock.

The richer a person was, the more complex the structure was of his dwelling: a canopy and a cold cage, which served as a pantry, were attached to the hut (warm living quarters). For wealthy people, the log cabins-cages were combined into entire galleries, which were sometimes built on special support pillars to several floors. Such a residential complex was called mansions, and if at the same time it was decorated with rounded gable roofs, six- or octagonal log cabins, then it was called tower. Princes, boyars, heads of the city administration lived in the towers. Most of the buildings were wooden. Some churches and civil structures (terema) were built of stone, but the latter are extremely few in number. In addition, in the yard of wealthy people there were various outbuildings: cellars, baths, cowgirls, barns, pantries, etc.

The main dress was shirt-shirt from canvas, for the rich - from thin linen. It was fastened with wooden, bone or metal buttons and girded with a narrow leather belt or sash. Wide trousers were usually tucked into boots or wrapped in onuchi. The bulk of the population wore bast shoes or Porsche(the leg was wrapped in a single piece of soft leather and tied up), in winter - felt boots. In winter, they wore sheepskin coats, warm clothes made of coarse wool.

Know dressed richer. The aristocrat could be distinguished by the fact that he had Korzno- a raincoat made of expensive fabric. Outerwear was decorated with embroideries, furs, gold and precious stones. mantles(cut-out gate), pripole(clothing floors) and opiast(sleeves at the hands). The dress was sewn from expensive fabrics: aksamita(velvet), canvases(silks). On the feet of the princes and boyars were high boots made of colored morocco (red, blue, yellow colors were popular). Headdresses were round, soft, trimmed with fur. Winter coats were made from sable, beaver, and marten fur.

Food products were made mainly from cereals (rye, oats, millet, less often wheat) and vegetables. These were bread, various cereals, kissels, stews, decoctions, etc. Meats were eaten macho and more often pork than beef and lamb. On the other hand, river fish enjoyed wide popularity, which was explained both by its cheapness and by the large number of Orthodox fasts. They drank bread kvass, honey, fruit decoctions. The dishes were used mainly wooden, in rich houses - iron, copper, silver.

The life and customs of Ancient Russia show us a medieval society that recently adopted Christianity, with gradually growing social differentiation.

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Presentation on the topic: Life of the people of 10-13 centuries

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The culture of the people is inextricably linked with their way of life, everyday life, just as the way of life of the people, determined by the level of development of the country's economy, is closely connected with cultural processes. The people of Ancient Russia lived both in large cities for their time, numbering tens of thousands of people, and in villages with several dozen households and villages, especially in the north-east of the country, in which two or three households were grouped.

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All the testimonies of contemporaries indicate that Kyiv was a large and rich city. In terms of its scale, many stone buildings, temples, palaces, it competed with other European capitals of that time. The palaces of prominent boyars were located in the old city, and here on the mountain were the houses of wealthy merchants, other prominent citizens, and the clergy. The houses were decorated with carpets, expensive Greek fabrics. From the fortress walls of the city one could see the white-stone churches of the Caves, Vydubitsky and other Kyiv monasteries in the green bushes.

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In palaces, rich boyar mansions, life went on - warriors, servants were located here, countless servants crowded. From here came the administration of principalities, clans, villages, here they judged and dressed, tributes and taxes were brought here. Feasts were often held in the hallways, in spacious gardens, where overseas wine and their own honey flowed like a river, servants carried huge dishes with meat and game. Women sat at the table on an equal footing with men. Women generally took an active part in management, farming, and other affairs.

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The favorite pastimes of rich people were falconry, hawk, dog hunting. Races, tournaments, various games were arranged for the common people. An integral part of ancient Russian life, especially in the North, however, as in later times, was a bathhouse. Below, on the banks of the Dnieper, a merry Kyiv market was noisy, where, it seems, products and products were sold not only from all over Russia, but from all over the then world, including India and Baghdad.

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Wealthy women adorned themselves with gold and silver chains, beaded necklaces, which were very fond of in Russia, earrings, and other gold and silver jewelry finished with enamel and niello. But there were decorations and simpler, cheaper, made from inexpensive stones, simple metal - copper, bronze. They were worn with pleasure by poor people. It is known that even then women wore traditional Russian clothes - sundresses; the head was covered with ubrus (shawls).

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His life, full of work, worries, flowed in modest Russian villages and villages, in log huts, in semi-dugouts with stoves-heaters in the corner. There, people stubbornly fought for existence, plowed up new lands, raised cattle, beekeepers, hunted, defended themselves from "dashing" people, and in the south - from nomads, again and again rebuilt dwellings burned by enemies. Moreover, often plowmen went out into the field armed with spears, clubs, bows and arrows to fight off the Polovtsian patrol. On long winter evenings, by the light of the torches, women spun, men drank intoxicating drinks, honey, remembered the days gone by, composed and sang songs, listened to storytellers and storytellers of epics.

Occupying a special place, 2 types - laying the corpse and burning. The primitive burial of corpses, which were artificially given the position of an embryo in the womb, was associated with a belief in a second birth after death. Therefore, the deceased was buried prepared for this second birth. The Proto-Slavs in the Bronze Age refuse this. A rite appeared, generated by new views about the human soul, which does not incarnate again in any other creature (beast, bird, man ...), but moves into the air space of the sky. This was achieved by burying the burnt ashes in the ground and building a model of a house, a “domovina” over the burial. The roadside pillars on which the vessels with the ashes of their ancestors stood were boundary marks that guarded the boundaries of the family field and grandfather's estate. yard. All the inhabitants saw off the corpse with loud weeping, and some women in white clothes poured tears into small vessels, called mournful. They kindled a fire in the cemetery and burned the dead with his wife, horse, weapons; they collected the ashes in urns, clay, copper or glass, and buried them together with the deplorable vessels. Sometimes they built monuments: they lined the graves with wild stones and fenced them with pillars. The sad rites were concluded with a cheerful celebration, which was called strava. During the heyday of paganism, the most common and honorable was burning, followed by the filling of a barrow. After that, a feast was held on the mound in memory of the deceased. In another way, the so-called mortgaged dead were buried - those who died a suspicious, unclean death, or who did not live in truth. The funeral of such dead was expressed in throwing the body far away into a swamp or ravine, after which it was covered with branches from above (so as not to defile the earth and water with an unclean corpse). jelly. The deceased were commemorated at Christmas time, on Maundy Thursday and Radonitsa, in Semik and before Dmitriev's Day. On the days of commemoration of the dead, a bathhouse was heated for them, bonfires were burned (so that they would warm themselves), and food was left for them on the festive table. Christmas mummers represented, among other things, the ancestors who came from the other world and collected gifts. The goal is to appease the dead ancestors. belief in "mortgaged dead - people who did not die by their own death, they were afraid and revered during a common commemoration.

9. Life and customs in Russia-10-12 centuries. dwelling

Russia for many years was a country of wood, and its pagan chapels, fortresses, towers, huts were built of wood. They expressed a sense of building beauty, proportions, the fusion of architectural structures with the surrounding nature. wooden architecture dates back to pagan Russia, and stone architecture is associated with Christian Russia. Intricate artistic wood carving - traditional. Forest, wood - main building materials, easily processed, convenient for building simple dwellings. but it was not durable and could not withstand fire, fires. The main type of dwelling is a hut - a Russian log house. At first, the huts were semi-dugout, while the frame fell half a meter into the ground, the floors were earthen. There were usually no windows. The stove was heated in black, that is, the smoke spread throughout the hut. From the sides and from above, the hut was lined with earth. From the second half of the X century. ground-based huts begin to predominate, wooden floors appear on logs, raised above ground level. Portage windows are being cut through the walls of the huts. At first they were narrow and covered with planks from the inside. Later, red windows began to be cut through, into which mica windows were inserted. Furnaces appeared that were heated "in white". It took ceilings that were covered with earth, and clay pipes that brought smoke out through the ceiling. Before the Tatar-Mongol invasion, more and more two-chamber and three-chamber huts appeared, in some places two-story wooden houses were also built.