Vyacheslav Valentinovich Shaposhnik doctor of History, professor, Institute of History (Mendeleevskaya linia, 5, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 199034)
v.shaposhnik@spbu.ru
Shaposhnik V. V. Events of the 30–40s 16th century in the «Royal speeches» at Stoglavy Assembly, Religiya. Tserkov’. Obshchestvo. Issledovaniya i publikatsii po teologii i religii [Religion. Church. Society: Research and publications in the field of theology and religious studies], Saint-Petersburg, 2024, vol. 13, pp. 254–267.
doi: 10.24412/2308-0698-2024-13-254-267
Language: Russian
The article examines the question of how the events of boyar rule (30–40s of the 16th century) were reflected in the «royal speeches» at the Stoglavy Council, held in 1551. In his speeches to the participants of the Council, Ivan IV mentioned many of the most important incidents that happened after the death of his father, Grand Duke Vasily III: the reign of Grand Duchess Elena Glinskaya, the arrest and death of appanage princes, the Moscow fires of 1547 and others. The young monarch, recalling the events of his childhood and youth, called boyar self-will as the cause of all troubles. However, in the spirit of «reconciliation» between various groups of the elite, achieved in the late 1540s, accusations against the boyars sound relatively mild, and specific names of «troublemakers» are not mentioned. The «royal speeches» at the Stoglavy Assembly can be compared with how the events of the 30s and 40s were discussed. Here can be Grozny’s accusations against the boyars his First Message to Andrei Kurbsky. They are directly called «traitors». In any case, Ivan IV’s negative attitude towards the boyars did not undergo major changes throughout his life. In a number of cases, tsarist accusations against the Russian elite of the 30–40s are hardly entirely fair. In general, the state apparatus continued to function throughout the period of boyar rule, despite the negative phenomena caused by the situation of political instability.
The study was supported by a grant from the Russian Science Foundation № 22-18-00151 «The Changes in the Composition and Image of the Ruling Elite of the Russian State during the Turning Periods of Russian History in the XVI-XVII centuries (Boyars rule, Oprichnina, Time of Troubles, Reigns of Alexey Mikhailovich, FedorAlexeevich, the Regency of Princess Sophia)».
Key words: Ivan IV, Stoglav Assembly, boyar rule, Elena Glinskaya, appanage princes, elite
URL: https://rcs-almanac.ru/shaposhnik-2024-en/
