Feldbrugge F. Law in Medieval Russia

Leiden; Boston: Brill; Martinus Nijhoff Pub., 2009. — xxviii, 336 p. — (Law in Eastern Europe, Vol. 59). — ISBN: 978-90-04-16985-2.Much of what we know about the colourful Russian middle ages comes from legal sources: the treaties of Russian-Scandinavian warlords with the Byzantine emperors, the gradual penetration of Christianity and Byzantine institutions, the endless game of war and peace among the numerous regional princes, the activities of Hanseatic merchants in the wealthy city-republic of Novgorod, the curious relationships between the Mongol conquerors and Russian rulers and church dignitaries, etc. And, at the even further fringes of medieval Europe, there were the Christian kingdoms of Armenia and Georgia, squeezed between the Islamic empires of Iran and Turkey, but each possessing their elaborate and original legal systems. A discussion of more general questions of legal history and legal anthropology precedes the treatment of these various topics.Law’s Beginnings and Early Law
The Question of Definition
The Indo-European Aspect
Looking beyond the Indo-Europeans
Law and State
The Origins of Legislation
The Russkaia PravdaGeneral Remarks
The Short Pravda
The Chronological Framework of the Short Pravda
The Short Pravda: Composition and Status
The Expanded Pravda
Other Contemporary Sources
The Contents of the Short Pravda: Wergeld and Composition
Procedure
The Origins of the Russkaia Pravda
The Sources of the Oldest Pravda
The «Russian Custom» (Zakon Russkii)
Other Contemporary Slavic Legislation
Germanic Contacts
What does the Oldest Pravda represent?
Roman Law in Medieval Russia
Introduction to the Problem
How the Views Developed over Time
The Legislation Involved: Roman and Byzantine Law — The «Lenders»
The Legislation Involved: Russian Law — The «Borrowers»
Roman/Byzantine Influences: Where and When
The Kormchaia as the Main Vehicle of Byzantine Legal Influence and Other Collections
Weighing the Evidence
Later DevelopmentsLand Tenure, the Druzhina and the Nature of Kievan Rus’
Land Tenure: The Legal Perspective
The Nature of Kievan Russia: Soviet Approaches
The Nature of Kievan Russia: Trade or Agriculture?
Interlude: Feudalism
The Nature of Kievan Russia: Continued
The DruzhinaPopular Assemblies in Early Medieval Russia: The Veche in Legal History
Sources
Five Centuries of Veche History
The Veche in Early Kievan Russia
The Kievan «Empire»
Veche and Prince
Composition of the Veche
Veche Procedure
The Veche after 1240
The Situation in Novgorod and Pskov
Kievan Rus’ as a Period of Transition
The Veche and the Nature of the Kievan Polit
The Veche in a Comparative European Context
The Russian Veche and Legislation
Renewed Interest in the Veche
The Elder Brother in Russia
The House of Rurik
From Genealogical to Contractual Seniority
Muscovy Russia: Mestnichestvo
The Table of Ranks
Postscript: The «Elder Brother» in Soviet Rhetoric
Human Rights in Russian Legal History
Defining the Topic
The Earliest Times
Periodization and Sources
The Treaties between Princes
Princely Treaties not involving Moscow
The Treaties of the Russian Cities
Iarlyks of Tatar Khans
Concluding ThoughtsNovgorod Treaties
Pskov Treaties
Polotsk Treaties
Moscow Treaties
Other Princely Treaties
Iarlyks of Tatar Khans
Human Rights in Russian Legal HistoryThe Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948
Equality
Taming the State: Dispersal of Power
The Position in Russia
Church and State in Russia
Popular Rule and Democracy in Russia
Feudalism
Urban Freedom
Due Process
Equality
Concluding Observations
The Skra of Novgorod: Legal Contacts Between Russia and Western Europe in the Middle AgesNovgorod the Great
Novgorod’s System of Government
Novgorod’s Legal System
Novgorod’s Trade with the Hanseatic League
The German Court of St.Peter in Novgorod
Adjudication of German-Russian Disputes
The Internal Organization of the Court of St.Peter
The Skra of Novgorod and its Different Versions
Sources and Contents of the Different Versions of the Skra
Concluding Remarks
Medieval Law in Transcaucasia — on the Periphery of European Legal HistoryThe Literature
General Historical Background: Armenia
General Historical Background: Georgia
The Law of the Armenian Kingdoms
The Code of Mkhitar Gosh
The Code of Smbat Sparapet
The Legal History of Georgia
The Non-Georgian Parts of the Collection
The Law of Bagrat Kuropalates
The Canonical Laws
The Laws of Beka and Aghbuga
The Law of Giorgi V the Brilliant
The Order of the King’s Court
The Law of the Catholicos
The Law Code of Vakhtang VI
Dasturlamali