Russkaya Pravda

The Russkaya Pravda (Rus' Justice, Rus' Truth,[2] or Russian Justice;[3] Old East Slavic: Правда роусьскаꙗ, Pravda Rusĭskaya (13th century, 1280),[4][5] Правда Руськая, Pravda Rus'kaya (second half of the 15th century);[6][7] Russian: Русская правда, Russkaya Pravda; Ukrainian: Руська Правда, Rus'ka Pravda) was the legal code of Kievan Rus' and the subsequent Rus' principalities during the times of feudal division. It was written at the beginning of the 12th century and remade during many centuries. The basis of the Russkaya Pravda, Pravda of Yaroslav was written at the beginning of the 11th century. The Russkaya Pravda was a main source of Kievan Rus' law.[8][9]

Russkaya Pravda
First page of the oldest surviving copy of Rus' Justice (Extensive edition)[1] from Synodic Kormchaia of 1282 (Novgorod)
Createdfrom the beginning of the 11th century
Author(s)prince's administration.
Purposeguidance for the princely court.

In spite of great influence of Byzantine legislation on the contemporary world, and in spite of great cultural and commercial ties between Byzantium and Kievan Rus', the Russkaya Pravda bore no similarity whatsoever to that of the Byzantine Empire. The absence of capital and corporal punishment rather reflects Norse jurisprudence.[10][11]

Editions
Copy of the "Extensive edition".[12] Beginning manuscript: "СОУДЪ ꙖРОславль ‧ володимирица⁘⁓ Правда роусьскаꙗ :" (Sudŭ Jaroslavlĭ Volodimirica. Pravda Rusĭskaja.)

Three recensions of Russkaya Pravda are known: the Short Edition (Kratkaya), the Extensive Edition (Prostrannaya), and the Abridged Edition (Sokrashchyonnaya). Over 110 extant copies dating from the 13th to the 18th centuries are preserved, included in various manuscripts: chronicles and compilations. Of these, over 100 copies, including the oldest preserved, are of the Extensive Edition.

This code was discovered by the historian Vasily Tatischev in the text of one of the Novgorod chronicles and brought to the attention of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 1738. The first commented edition of the text was published by August Ludwig von Schlözer in 1767.

Genesis and evolution

Pravda Rus'skaya's legal regulations reflected the evolution of the social relations in the Rus' of the 11th-13th centuries. Common law, Knyaz legislation, and legal proceedings represented the basis of "RP".

The Short Edition of Rus' Justice contains two apparently distinct parts, called by researchers Pravda Yaroslava (Yaroslav's Law, ca. 1017), otherwise known as Drevneyshaya Pravda (the Oldest Justice) of Yaroslav the Wise, and Pravda Yaroslavichey (The Law by Yaroslav's sons, ca. 1054). Some indicate other distinct components of the text, possibly added later.

The Yaroslav's Law comprised legal regulations of feudal law along with the archaic regulations that could be traced back to the primitive communal system. According to a popular theory, it was promulgated in order to settle a conflict between Konstantin Dobrynich, a posadnik of Novgorod, and the Varangian population of the city.

Subsequent development and improvement of the Rus' Justice took place in times of Yaroslav's sons and his grandson Vladimir Monomakh. New provisions are believed to have been added to Pravda Rus'skaya after the revolts in Kiev, Novgorod, and Rostov-Suzdal province in 1068–1071.

In the arising Russian state, the Pravda Rus'skaya was replaced in 1497 by the Sudebnik, the Code of Law. Several centuries earlier, new legal codes were promulgated in Pskov and Novgorod.

Institutions

"Pravda Yaroslavichey" increased responsibility of a given community for killing a knyaz's soldiers, tiuns ("tiun", a privileged servant of knyazs or boyars), starostas ("starosta", a representative from the low-ranking administration of a knyaz), otroks ("otrok", a low-ranking soldier in the army of a knyaz) and other servants on their own territory. "Pravda Yaroslavichey" provided severe punishment for arson, deliberate cattle mutilation, and collective encroachment on rich people's property. After the 1113 Riot in Kiev, an exorbitant interest law was introduced that limited financial operations of moneylenders.

Administering justice in Kievan Rus by Ivan Bilibin

The Pravda stabilized the system of feudal relations and social inequality. During 11th-13th centuries it made new laws for the smerds ("smerd" – a feudal-dependent peasant), zakups ("zakup" - a feudal-dependent peasant, who could become free after paying off his "zakup", a feudal loan), kholops ("kholop" – a feudal-dependent peasant, who could be killed or sold like a slave) etc. The Vast Edition of Pravda contains special regulations regarding the status of zakups and kholops. It also reflects the role of the court of a knyaz, by increasing and giving various forms of punishment and penalties. It instituted fines that benefited the knyaz or his administration with diminished compensation to the victims.

In an attempt to abolish the blood feud (that was quite common at that time), the Pravda narrowed its "usage" and limited the number of avengers to the closest relatives of the dead. If there were no avengers on the victim's side, the killer had to pay a fine (called "vyra") in favour of the knyaz and partial compensation to the relatives of the victim (the killer's community had to help him pay his fine). If a woman was killed, one would have to pay half of the regular fine (called "poluvir'ye", half of "vyra"). The Pravda also protected the health and honor of the free members of the feudal society and provided financial compensation for mutilation or insult by word or deed. The Pravda had a comprehensive system of punishments and penalties for larceny in a city or countryside, deliberate damage to forests, hunting grounds or lands, trespassing etc. It also regulated debt between individuals and contained articles of liability and hereditary law. The Pravda made use of witnesses, oaths and of the trial by water or iron, a kind of a last-resort test used to prove defendant's innocence or guilt in legal proceedings. The legal process also included testimony witnesses, evidence, collecting or hot pursuit. Investigators had to check for false accusations, as well.

See also

Notes
  1. Pravda Russkaya / ed. by Boris Grekov. - Moscow; Leningrad: publisher of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. - Vol. 3: Facsimile of the texts. - 1963. (Russian: Правда Русская / Под общ. ред. акад. Б.Д. Грекова. - М.; Л.: Изд-во АН СССР. Т. III: Факсимильное воспроизведение текстов. - 1963).
  2. Yaroslav Padokh (1993). "Ruskaia Pravda". Encyclopedia of Ukraine. Vol. 4. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  3. "Yaroslav I". The New Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 12 (15th ed.). 2003. p. 823. ISBN 9780852299616. Under Yaroslav the codification of legal customs and princely enactments was begun, and this work served as the basis for a law code called the Russkaya Pravda ("Russian Justice").
  4. А. М. Камчатнов. Хрестоматия по истории русского литературного языка (Памятники X - XIV веков по рукописям X - XVII веков). Москва, 2009 год.
    • Русская правда древнейшей Пространной редакции по списку из пергаменной рукописи 1280 года [XIII век] Новгородской, или Климентовской, Кормчей, хранящемуся в ГИМ (Син. № 132).
    • Формат – in folio, почерк – устав, текст – в два столбца.
    • Описание: Св. к.-1, № 183.
    • Издания: Карский Е. Ф. Русская правда. Фототипич. изд. Л., 1930; Правда Русская. I. Тексты. Под. ред. Б. Д. Грекова. М.; Л., 1940.
    • Фрагменты текста приведены по рукописи, варианты – по изданиям.
    • (л. 615 в) «СОУДЪ ꙖРОславль ‧ володимирица⁘⁓ Правда роусьскаꙗ ‧»
  5. А. А. Зимин. Правда русская. Монография. Москва, "Древлехранилище", 1999 год.
    • Приложения. Перечень списков Правды Русской: Пространная Правда,
    Синодально-Троицкая группа: Синодальный вид:
    • 1(8). С — Синодальный I список. 80-е годы XIII века. — ГИМ. Синод. № 132.
  6. By Troitzky manuscript (second half of the 15th century): «Суд Ярослава Владимеричь, Правда Руськая»
  7. Руська Правда. Тексти на основі 7 списків та 5 редакцій. Склав та підготував до друку проф. С. Юшков. Видавництво Української Академії Наук. Київ, 1935
  8. Yushkov, Serafim. Course of the History of State and Law of the USSR. - Moscow: Yurizdat (Juridical Publisher), 1949. - Vol. 1: Social and Political System and Law of Kievan State. - 542 p. (Russian: Юшков С.В. Курс истории государства и права СССР. – М.: Юриздат, 1949. – Т. I: Общественно-политический строй и право Киевского государства. – 542 с..
  9. Zimin, Aleksandr. Pravda Russkaya. - Moscow: Drevlekhranilische ("Archive"), 1999. – 421 p. (Russian: Зимин А.А. Правда Русская. – М.: Древлехранилище, 1999. – 421 с.).
  10. Orest Subtelny (2009). The Ukraine: A History. p. 16.
  11. Ekaterina Brancato (January 2009). Markets versus Hierarchies: A Political Economy of Russia from the 10th Century to 2008. p. 66. ISBN 9781848447257.
  12. Pravda Russkaya / ed. by Boris Grekov. - Moscow; Leningrad: publisher of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. - Vol. 3: Facsimile of the texts. - 1963. (Russian: Правда Русская / Под общ. ред. акад. Б.Д. Грекова. - М.; Л.: Изд-во АН СССР. Т. III: Факсимильное воспроизведение текстов. - 1963).

Some editions
  • English translation of Short Russkaya Pravda by Daniel H. Kaiser Archived 17 February 2022 at the Wayback Machine: Source: The Laws of Rus' - Tenth to Fifteenth Centuries, tr., ed. Daniel H. Kaiser (Salt Lake City: Charles Schlacks Publisher, 1992), 15-19.
  • English translation of Vast Russkaya Pravda by Daniel H. Kaiser Archived 17 February 2022 at the Wayback Machine: Source: The Laws of Rus' - Tenth to Fifteenth Centuries, tr., ed. Daniel H. Kaiser (Salt Lake City: Charles Schlacks Publisher, 1992), 20-34.
  • Main edition: Pravda Russkaya / ed. by Boris Grekov. - Moscow; Leningrad: publisher of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. - Vol. 1: Texts. - 1940. Vol. 2: Commentaries. - 1947. Vol. 3: Facsimile of the texts. - 1963. (Russian: Правда Русская / Под общ. ред. акад. Б.Д. Грекова. - М.; Л.: Изд-во АН СССР. - Т. I: Тексты. - 1940; Т. II: Комментарии. - 1947; Т. III: Факсимильное воспроизведение текстов. - 1963).
  • Memorials of Russian Law / ed. by Serafim Yushkov. Issue 1: Memorials of Law of Kievan State of the 10th-12th centuries / Aleksandr Zimin. - Moscow: Gosyurizdat (State Juridical Publisher), 1952. - 287 p. (Russian: Памятники русского права / Под ред. С.В. Юшкова. – М.: Госюриздат, 1952. – Вып. I: Памятники права Киевского государства X–XII вв. / Сост. А.А. Зимин. – 287 с.).

Some references

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