The project is the life of people in Rus'. How our ancestors lived in ancient Rus'

Before that, the life of a simple Russian peasant was completely different.
Usually a person lived to be 40-45 years old and died already an old man. He was considered an adult man with a family and children at the age of 14-15, and she was even earlier. They did not get married for love, the father went to woo the bride to his son.
There was no time for idle rest. In the summer, absolutely all the time was occupied by work in the field, in winter, logging and homework for the manufacture of tools and household utensils, hunting.
Let's look at the Russian village of the 10th century, which, however, is not much different from the village of both the 5th century and the 17th century...

We got to the Lubytino historical and cultural complex as part of a motor rally dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the Avtomir group of companies. It is not for nothing that it is called "One-storied Russia" - it was very interesting and informative to see how our ancestors lived.
In Lyubytino, at the place of residence of the ancient Slavs, among the barrows and graves, a real village of the 10th century was recreated, with all outbuildings and necessary utensils.

Let's start with an ordinary Slavic hut. The hut is cut from logs and covered with birch bark and turf. In some regions, the roofs of the same huts were covered with straw, and somewhere with wood chips. Surprisingly, the service life of such a roof is only slightly less than the service life of the entire house, 25-30 years, and the house itself served 40 years. Considering the lifetime at that time, the house was just enough for a person’s life.

By the way, in front of the entrance to the house there is a covered area - these are the very canopies from the song about "the canopy is new, maple."

The hut is heated in black, that is, the stove does not have a chimney, the smoke comes out through a small window under the roof and through the door. There are no normal windows either, and the door is only about a meter high. This is done in order not to release heat from the hut.

When the stove is fired, soot settles on the walls and roof. There is one big plus in the "black" firebox - there are no rodents and insects in such a house.

Of course, the house stands on the ground without any foundation, the lower crowns simply rest on several large stones.

This is how the roof is made

And here is the oven. A stone hearth mounted on a pedestal made of logs smeared with clay. The stove was lit from early morning. When the stove is heated, it is impossible to stay in the hut, only the hostess remained there, preparing food, all the rest went outside to do business, in any weather. After the stove was heated, the stones gave off heat until the next morning. Food was cooked in the oven.

This is what the cabin looks like from the inside. They slept on benches placed along the walls, they also sat on them while eating. The children slept on the beds, they are not visible in this photo, they are on top, above the head. In winter, young livestock were taken into the hut so that they would not die from frost. They also washed in the hut. You can imagine what kind of air was there, how warm and comfortable it was there. It immediately becomes clear why life expectancy was so short.

In order not to heat the hut in the summer, when this is not necessary, there was a separate small building in the village - a bread oven. Bread was baked and cooked there.

Grain was stored in a barn - a building raised on poles from the surface of the earth to protect products from rodents.

Barrels were arranged in the barn, remember - "I scratched the bottom of the barn ..."? These are special board boxes in which grain was poured from above, and taken from below. So the grain was not stale.

Also, a glacier was tripled in the village - a cellar in which ice was laid in the spring, sprinkled with hay and lay there almost until the next winter.

Clothes, skins, utensils and weapons that were not needed at the moment were stored in a crate. The crate was also used when the husband and wife needed to retire.

Barn - this building served for drying sheaves and threshing grain. Heated stones were piled into the hearth, sheaves were laid on the poles, and the peasant dried them, constantly turning them over. Then the grains were threshed and winnowed.

Cooking in an oven involves a special temperature regime - languor. So, for example, gray cabbage soup is prepared. They are called gray because of their gray color. How to cook them?

RESEARCH AND CREATIVE

PROJECT

HOW PEOPLE LIVED IN Rus'

Professional competition of educators

All-Russian Internet Competition of Pedagogical Creativity

2012/13 academic year

Nomination: Organization of the educational process

Prepared and conducted by: Vasyukova T.V. ,Klimenko E.A.

GBOU kindergarten № 1244

Moscow 2013

The research and creative project “How People Lived in Rus'” is devoted to the study of the history of Russian life, the arrangement of a village hut, various customs and beliefs that existed in Russian families. The choice of the topic was caused by the children's interest in the way of life of the Russian people, in the variety of ancient household items.

Objective of the project:

1. Study of the history of Russian peasant life.

2. Formation of respect for Russian folk culture.

Project objectives:

1. Get acquainted with a variety of household items, their names and purpose.

2. Conduct a survey of children in order to clarify the knowledge of the names and purpose of ancient household items (activation of the dictionary).

In ancient times, almost all of Rus' was made of wood. In Rus', it was believed that the tree has a beneficial effect on a person, it is good for his health. It is the tree that has long been considered a symbol of the birth of life and its continuation. Huts in the old days were built of spruce or pine. From the logs in the hut there was a pleasant resinous smell.

Russian people who lived many years ago built huts for their families. Izba (village house) - the most common building of that time. The peasant built the house firmly, for centuries. The peasant built the hut himself or hired experienced carpenters. Sometimes "help" was organized when the whole village worked for one family.

It turns out that at the entrance to the hut it was possible to stumble. Do you know why? The hut had a high threshold and a low lintel. So the peasants took care of the heat, tried not to let it out.

Here we are in the hut. The oven takes center stage.

The entire internal layout of the hut depended on the location of the furnace. The stove was placed so that it was well lit, and away from the wall, so that a fire would not happen.

The space between the wall and the oven is called the oven. There the hostess kept the tools necessary for work: tongs, a large shovel, a poker.

Cast iron and pots stood on the hearth near the stove. Inventory and firewood were stored in a niche under the hearth. There were small niches in the oven for drying mittens and felt boots.

“Nurse, mother” was called the stove among the people. “Mother is a stove, decorate your children,” the hostess said when baking bread and pies. Our apartment does not have such an oven, it was replaced by a stove, but in the villages grandmothers still love to bake pies in a Russian stove.

We bake our test toys in the oven, but we also say: “Mother is a stove, decorate your kids.” She hears us and pleases us with ruddy products.

Everyone in the peasant family loved the stove. She not only fed the whole family. She warmed the house, it was warm and cozy there even in the most severe frosts.

Children and old people slept on the stove.

Young and healthy people were not allowed to lie on the stove. They said about lazy people: "He wipes bricks on the stove."

Most of the time at the stove was spent by the hostess. Her place at the stove was called "baby kut" (that is, "women's corner"). Here the hostess cooked food, here in a special closet - "dishes" were kept kitchen utensils. There were many shelves near the stove, on the shelves along the walls were milk bowls, earthenware and wooden bowls, and salt shakers.

The other corner near the door was for men. It was called "conic". On the bench they made a pattern in the form of a horse's head. The owner worked at this shop. Sometimes he slept on it. The owner kept his tools under the bench. Harness and clothes hung in the men's corner.

In the peasant house, everything was thought out to the smallest detail. An iron ring was made on the central beam - the "mother" and a cradle was attached.

A peasant woman, sitting on a bench, put her foot into the loop, rocked the cradle, and worked herself: she spun, sewed, embroidered.

Nowadays, there are no such cradles anymore, children sleep in beautiful cribs.

The main corner in the peasant's hut was called the "red corner". In the red corner, the cleanest and brightest, there was a goddess - a shelf with icons.

The goddess was carefully decorated with an elegant towel - "rushnik". Sometimes the goddess was illuminated with a lamp - a vessel with oil or candles.

A person entering the hut always took off his hat, turned to face the icons, crossed himself, and bowed low. And then he entered the house. Icons were carefully kept and passed down from generation to generation.

The dining table, according to Orthodox custom, was always placed in the red corner. At the table, the whole family "ate" - took food. The table was usually covered with a tablecloth. There was always a salt shaker on the table, and a loaf of bread lay: salt and bread were symbols of the well-being and prosperity of the family.

A large peasant family sat down at the table according to custom. The place of honor at the head of the table was occupied by the father - "highway". To the right of the owner on the bench sat the sons. The left shop was for the female half of the family. The hostess rarely sat down at the table, and even then from the edge of the bench. She busied herself at the stove, served food on the table. Her daughters helped her.

Sitting at the table, everyone waited for the owner to command: “With God, we started,” and only after that they began to eat. At the table it was forbidden to talk loudly, laugh, knock on the table, turn around, argue. Parents said that from this hungry "sinisters" - ugly little men - would flock to the table, bring hunger, poverty and disease.

The peasants were especially respectful of bread. The owner cut off from the loaf and distributed to everyone his share of bread. Breaking bread was not accepted. If the bread fell on the floor, they picked it up, kissed it, asked his forgiveness.

Salt was also revered. It was served to the table in beautiful wicker or wooden "salt licks".

Hospitality was the rule of Russian life, a custom that Russian people observe to this day. "Bread and salt" - this is how people greet the owners who entered the house while eating.

2.2 Life of peasants. Many items were used in Russian life. And almost all of them were made by hand. The furniture was also homemade - a table, benches nailed to the walls, portable benches.

Each family had "korobeyki" - bast chests, iron-studded wooden chests. Family valuables were stored in the chests: clothes, dowry. The chests were locked. The more chests there were in the house, the richer the family was considered.

Distaffs were a special pride of the hostesses: turned, carved, painted, which were usually put in a prominent place.

Spinning wheels were not only a tool of labor, but also a decoration of the home. It was believed that the patterns on the spinning wheels protect the home from the evil eye and dashing people.

There were a lot of utensils in the peasant's hut: clay pots and latki (low flat bowls), pots for storing milk, cast irons of various sizes, valleys and brothers for kvass.

Various barrels, tubs, vats, tubs, tubs, and gangs were used on the farm.

Bulk products were stored in wooden boxes with lids, in birch bark cases. Wicker products were also used - baskets, boxes.

2.3 Distribution of labor duties in a village family by gender. The families of the peasants were large and friendly. Parents with many children treated their children with love and care. They believed that by the age of 7-8 the child was already “entering the mind” and began to teach him everything that they knew and could do themselves.

The father taught the sons, and the mother taught the daughters. From an early age, every peasant child prepared himself for the future duties of a father - the head and breadwinner of the family or mother - the keeper of the hearth.

Parents taught their children unobtrusively: at first, the child simply stood next to the adult and watched how he worked. Then the child began to give instruments, to support something. He has already become an assistant.

After some time, the child was already entrusted with the performance of part of the work. Then the child was already made special children's tools: a hammer, a rake, a spindle, a spinning wheel.

Parents taught that one's own instrument is an important matter, one should not give it to anyone - they "spoil", and one should not take instruments from others. “A good craftsman works only with his tool,” the parents taught.

For the work done, the child was praised, bestowed. The first product made by the child, he also got: a spoon, bast shoes, mittens, an apron, a pipe.

The sons were the main assistants of the father, and the daughters helped the mother. The boys, together with their father, made homemade toys from different materials, weaved baskets, baskets, bast shoes, planed dishes, household utensils, and made furniture.

Each peasant knew how to skillfully weave bast shoes.

Men wove bast shoes for themselves and for the whole family. We tried to make them strong, warm, waterproof.

The father helped the boys, instructed with advice, praised. “The work teaches, torments, and feeds”, “Extra craft does not hang behind your shoulders,” my father used to say.

In every peasant household there was always cattle. They kept a cow, a horse, goats, sheep, a bird. After all, cattle gave a lot of useful products for the family. Men took care of the cattle: they fed, removed manure, cleaned the animals. The women milked the cows and drove the cattle to pasture.

The main worker on the farm was the horse. All day the horse worked in the field with the owner. They grazed the horses at night. It was the duty of the sons.

The horse needed different devices: collars, shafts, reins, bridles, sledges, carts. All this was made by the owner himself together with his sons.

From early childhood, any boy could harness a horse. From the age of 9, the boy began to be taught to ride and drive a horse. Often, boys of 8-9 years old were released into shepherdesses, he worked "in people", grazed the herd and earned a little - food, gifts. It was to help the family.

From the age of 10-12, the son helped his father in the field - he plowed, harrowed, fed sheaves and even threshed.

By the age of 15-16, the son turned into the main assistant to his father, working on a par with him. My father was always there and helped, prompted, supported. The people said: “The father of the son teaches well”, “With the craft you will go through the whole world - you will not be lost.”

If the father was fishing, then the sons were also next to him. It was a game for them, a joy, and the father was proud that he had such assistants.

The girls were taught to cope with all women's work by their mother, older sister and grandmother.

Girls learned how to make rag dolls, sew outfits for them, weave braids, jewelry, and sew hats from tow. The girls did their best: after all, by the beauty of the dolls, people judged what a craftswoman she was.

Then the girls played with dolls: "went to visit", lulled, swaddled, "celebrated the holidays", that is, they lived with them a doll life. It was believed among the people that if girls willingly and carefully play with dolls, then the family will have profit and prosperity. So through the game, the girls were attached to the cares and joys of motherhood.

But only the younger daughters played with dolls. As they grew older, their mother or older sisters taught them how to care for babies. The mother went to the field for the whole day or was busy in the yard, in the garden, and the girls almost completely replaced the mother. The nanny girl spent the whole day with the child: she played with him, calmed him down if he cried, lulled him to sleep. Sometimes experienced girls - nannies were given to another family "for hire". Even at the age of 5-7, they nursed other people's children, earning for themselves and their families: handkerchiefs, cuts of cloth, towels, food.

And so they lived: the younger girls - nannies are found with the baby, and the older daughters help their mother in the field: they knit sheaves, collect spikelets.

At the age of 7, peasant girls began to be taught to spin. The first small elegant spinning wheel was given to the daughter by her father. Daughters learned to spin, sew, embroider under the guidance of their mother.

Often girls gathered in one hut for gatherings: they talked, sang songs and worked: they spun, sewed clothes, embroidered, knitted mittens and socks for brothers, sisters, parents, embroidered towels, knitted lace.

At the age of 9, the girl already helped the mother to cook food.

Peasants also made cloth for clothes at home on special looms. She was called that - homespun. All winter they spun tows (threads), and in the spring they began to weave. The girl helped her mother, and by the age of 16 she was trusted to weave on her own.

Also, the girl was taught how to care for cattle, milk a cow, reap sheaves, turn hay, wash clothes in the river, cook food and even bake bread. Mothers told their daughters: “It’s not the kind of daughter who runs away from work, but that daughter is kind, which is visible at any work.”

Gradually, the girl came to the realization that she was a future mistress who could do all the women's work. My daughter knew that "To drive a household is to walk without opening your mouth." “To live without work is only to smoke the sky,” my mother always said.

Thus, “good fellows” grew up in peasant families - father’s assistants, and “red girls” - craftsmen - needlewomen who, growing up, passed on the skill to their children and grandchildren.

Lydia Dmitryukhina
NOD "How people lived in Rus'"

Target: fostering a respectful attitude to the past of Russia.

Tasks:

To consolidate and expand children's knowledge about the past of our Motherland;

To form in children a sense of patriotism, love for their native land, native country, the people inhabiting it;

To consolidate the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthe device of the Russian hut, about the folk costume;

To acquaint children with the traditions and creativity of the Russian people in an accessible form;

Develop children's thinking, teach to compare, draw conclusions;

Develop children's historical memory, cognitive abilities;

Promote the development of children's speech;

To bring up in children a positive attitude and respect for the glorious life of our ancestors, the desire to become the heirs of their traditions.

vocabulary work: a hut, a Russian stove, a shirt, ports, a kokoshnik, bast shoes, platbands, a spinning wheel.

Integration of educational regions: "Social and communicative development", "Speech development", "Artistic and aesthetic development", "Physical development".

Demo Material: illustrations about the Motherland; illustrations of Russian folk tales; illustrations with huts, Russian folk costumes; equipment for the experiment; household items for a peasant families: dishes (clay, wooden, disks with Russian folk music.

preliminary work: visiting the mini-museum of the Russian hut; viewing illustrations (slides) Russian hut, folk costume, shoes; reading fiction, learning poems about the Motherland, memorizing proverbs, sayings, incantations; drawing, modeling on the theme of folk art crafts (Gzhel, haze, Khokhloma); didactic games: "Wonder Patterns", "Dress the Doll" and others.

Outdoor games: Russian folk game "Yasha", "At the bear in the forest", "Pie" and others.

educational activities

A Russian folk melody sounds, the children enter the group, they are met by a teacher in a Russian folk costume.

Educator. Hello dear guests!

Guests invited, but welcome!

Come quickly, take all the places.

Come on in, don't be shy.

Get comfortable

(children sit on chairs)

Our conversation today is devoted to a topic dear to every person. Of course, you guessed that we are talking about our Motherland.

Guys, let's answer together with you question: "What is the Motherland?"

(slide show and children's answers)

Motherland is Russian forests, fields, seas and rivers

Home is the place where our family and friends live. People: mom, dad, grandma, grandpa

Motherland is the place where our kindergarten stands.

Motherland is our country Russia, in which we were born and live.

Educator. Well done boys. Motherland is our country Russia. And in the old days our country was affectionately called Rus' - mother.

Motherland in Old Russian is a family. Attention, prepare your fingers, the game begins.

finger game "Motherland"

I have a huge family:

And the path, and the forest,

In the field, every spikelet.

River, blue sky

This is all mine, dear.

I love everyone in the world -

This is my homeland!

What were the names of the people who lived in Rus'? (Russians)

Do you guys know how people lived in Rus' in the old days? Do you want to know?

So listen:

Glory to our side

Glory to Russian antiquity

And about this old

I will tell my story.

So that the children can know

About the affairs of the native land!

We are now living in an amazing time. We are surrounded by a big world filled with events. But it all started in antiquity. In old times People very carefully chose the place for the construction of the hut.

Where do you think the hut should have been built? (near the river)

What other conditions were necessary to build a house?

(houses were built near the forest)

Educator. That's right guys. In wooded places, along the banks of the river, lakes, our ancestors settled, put their houses and outbuildings. "To live near the forest - not to be hungry" How do you understand this proverb?

(a lot of mushrooms, berries grow in the forest, animals and birds live, you can get wild honey)

What do you think the huts were built from? Rus'? (from logs)

Why are the Russians People built wooden houses from logs?

(a lot of forests and this is the most affordable material)

Educator. Yes, Russian huts were built from logs, because wood retains heat well. In winter, it is always warm in the hut, and in summer, in the heat and heat, it was cool and fresh. Each owner tried to build a more elegant hut. The windows were decorated with carved platbands and shutters, the porch - with twisted pillars.

How were the windows decorated?

What was the porch decorated with?

Educator. Up to 20 people were built at a time. "The more hands, the easier the work". The hut was built without nails, only with the help of an ax. “Without taking up the ax, you can’t cut down the hut”. In one light day, carpenters could build a hut. And after work you need to relax. On Russ spoke: "Business before pleasure".

Now we will play a folk game "Yasha".

A game "Yasha"

Now my boys guess riddle:

“There is a tower, in the tower there is a box, in a box there is a flour, in a flour there is a bug”. What was the main thing in the hut?

(The main was the oven)

Educator. Entering the hut, you immediately turn to the stove attention: it occupies almost half the hut. In the old days they said "No Furnace - No Life"

Why did they say so?

(The stove heated the hut, they cooked dinner on it, baked pies, dried mittens, felt boots, it was possible to sleep on the stove)

How did they talk about the stove in the old days?

Child. There is no kinder Russian stove

Feed everyone, warm,

Helps dry mittens

She puts the kids to bed.

Educator. The whole way of life, the whole life of a peasant is connected with the stove. It was not for nothing that the people endowed the stove with magical properties, and the image of the stove became traditional for Russian fairy tales. And let's play a game and remember the fairy tales that mention the stove.

Didactic game "Remember the story"

Educator. Well done guys, I remembered all the fairy tales. It turns out that many Russian folk tales speak of a stove.

Previously, everything in the hut was done by hand. On long winter evenings they cut bowls and spoons, hollowed out ladles, wove, embroidered. Any work was honorable: adult and child. And dressed people in a special way. Who will tell you what clothes they wore on Rus'?

(In the old days, men wore shirts and ports, and women wore shirts, sundresses and kokoshniks. Bast shoes were traditional shoes at that time)

That's right, guys, the shirt was the main garment on Rus'. She was worn All: and children, and men, and women. Shirts were worn wide: men - short, women - long. Festive shirts were decorated with embroidery along the hem, collar, edge of the sleeves.

Men's shirts had patterns on the chest. It was believed that they protect the heart from evil forces.

Guys, do you know what clothes were sewn from in ancient times?

(Yes, we know. Clothes were sewn from linen and woolen cloth)

Tell us, guys, how did you get such canvases?

(First, flax and animal hair were spun on a spinning wheel - they received threads. Then the threads were woven on a loom - they received a canvas - a gray canvas)

All right guys, that's how it was. And to make the fabrics bright and elegant, they were dyed. Do you know what they were painted with?

(children's answers)

Educator. In those days, there were no colors. And fabrics were dyed with cornflower and St. John's wort, blueberry and blueberry leaves, oak and linden roots. Don't believe? And now see for yourself. Dye the fabric like in the old days. Come closer to the tables. You each have two bowls of decoctions of onion and chokeberry. Take pieces of cloth and dip them into the broth. Dip one piece into onion broth, and the other into berry broth. Now we take it out, straighten it and leave it to dry on a plate. Don't forget to dry your hands after work. Did everyone succeed? What colors are your pieces of fabric dyed? (pink and yellow). What do you think, what can be sewn from such a fabric? (dress, shirt).

Well done boys. And in the old days they loved to dance, let's have some fun with you.

Russian round dance "Hare"

Educator. All clothes for Rus' women sewed themselves and only in the cities specially trained clothes were sewn for princes and boyars People.

What were they called? (tailors)

clothes on Rus' took care, not thrown away, passed on by inheritance, altered and worn to complete disrepair.

Time passed. Gradually, sewing clothes and shoes became the work of specialists. In the past, tailors were called by different names, depending on what they sewed.

Guys, let's stand in a circle and play a game with you.

Didactic ball game "Who Will I Be"

If I sew a fur coat, then I am a fur coat, and if I sew a caftan, then I am a caftan

(shaposhnik, mitten, sarafan, soronik, shower warmer, body warmer)

Well done boys! So you learned what the Russian people wore in the old days.

The Russian people have always been famous for their hospitality. What proverbs do you know about it?

What is in the oven, all swords on the table.

The hut is not red with corners, but red with pies.

Know how to invite guests, know how to treat.

Educator. The guests were treated to pies and pancakes, the guests ate, sang songs, played games, danced round dances.

Did you guys enjoy visiting me?

What do you know about people's lives? Rus'?

What was the main thing in the hut?

What clothes were worn Rus'?

What were the cloths for clothes painted with?

Educator. Very good. Today we learned a lot of new things about the life of people on Rus'. And they played games, and danced round dances, and painted the canvas. And now, dear guests, invited and welcome guests, come to the table and taste the treat.

Feast, food and clothing in Russia in the X-XVII centuries

Russian hut The Russian hut has not changed its appearance for centuries. The basis of the hut was a cage - a connection of logs at four corners. The winter cage was heated by a stove, the cold cage is a summer building, without a stove. Peasant huts in Ancient Rus' are semi-earth or ground, log cabins. For semi-dugouts, a shallow pit was dug, the walls of which were covered with wood. The floor was more often earthen, tightly packed, sometimes smeared with clay. To enter such a dwelling, one had to go down several steps dug in the ground. Sometimes a ready-made frame was lowered into the pit, filling the earth into the voids formed between the walls of the frame and the pit. The semi-dugout had no ceiling, it was replaced by the roof itself. The basis of wooden ground buildings was a quadrangular log cabin, usually 4 x 4 m. The ceiling of smoothly hewn boards was covered with a gable roof. The floor in log houses has always been plank. Such a house was called a hut - from the Slavic istba, which means "firebox", since it was necessarily built with a stove. He was taller than a semi-dugout, often had a second floor. The windows were cut through in logs and closed in cold weather - they were “clouded” with boards, which is why they were called “drag windows”. Sometimes the windows were covered with mica, which, however, did not transmit light well. Window glass appears only in the XIV century. The entrance to the house was usually oriented to the south, so that more heat and light could enter the dwelling. Some houses consisted of a hut, a warm dwelling, and a cold one that served as a pantry. Often there were cellars - lower rooms for livestock, things. In this case, the hut itself, which stood above the basement, was called the upper room. The upper room with windows that let in a lot of light was called a room. The most prosperous people also had a third tier - a tower. In rich houses, the floors were wooden, and in princely houses, they were made of oak tiles (a kind of parquet). In every rich house there was a soap room - a Russian bath. Mansions Mansions (from Slavic - temple) are several buildings placed side by side. Mansions were called the princely palace, which consisted not of one large building, but of several buildings. Each member of the princely family had his own special room, separate from other buildings. To connect all the rooms served as a canopy and passages. In addition to the hut and the cage, the annals mention: gridnitsa - front chambers, canopy, which also played the role of a front room, a tower, a lodge, or an odrin - a bedroom, a medusha - a pantry for storing drinks, a soap room - a bathhouse, various outbuildings. Mansions were built on two or three floors, connecting separate rooms with covered or open galleries. So, the canopy was a front terrace on the second floor. The Terem completed the construction, being located on the second or third floors. All the buildings in the courtyard were surrounded by a strong palisade. Interior decoration of houses The main role in the interior of the Russian house was played by the stove. Its location determined the entire internal layout. Usually the stove was located to the left or right of the entrance, less often - in the center of the hut. The corner diagonally from the stove was the front part of the hut: icons were hung here, benches and a table were set up, guests were seated here. It was called red. The corner opposite the stove was called a woman's kut, or middle. In it, women usually cooked and spun. The fourth corner was intended for men's work. The main pieces of furniture were a table and fixed benches, on which they sat and slept. Also known are movable benches, chests and beds intended for sleeping. They were laid high next to the stove (in the northern lands) or low above the door (in the south). Inside, the house was not decorated in any way, since the stoves were without chimneys for a long time and the smoke went straight into the hut, covering the walls and all objects in the house with soot. The situation in the houses depended on the wealth of their owners. Those who are poorer have wooden tables, benches, benches along the walls. The rich have tables, benches, benches with rich paintings, as well as stools. Wealthy houses were cleaned with carpets. After the appearance of chimneys, walls in the princely palaces began to be painted with frescoes. The huts were illuminated with torches, which were inserted into the furnace crevice or a metal light. Wealthy people used tallow candles with wooden or metal candlesticks that stood on tables. Sometimes there were silver "shandals" - the same candlesticks - or lamps with vegetable oil. Royal Palace in the 17th century in the Moscow Kremlin The appearance of the royal palace was an extremely colorful multitude of buildings of the most diverse sizes. They crowded next to each other, towered one above the other, were covered with different roofs: gable, in the form of tents, barrels, stacks, with cut gilded combs and gilded poppies at the top. In other places there were towers and turrets with eagles, unicorns and lions instead of weathercocks. The roofs and domes of the royal palace were covered with gold. The walls of the buildings were decorated with carved ornaments: leaves, herbs, birds and animals. The buildings were connected by numerous passages, vestibules, stairs. Mansions and chambers The living quarters of the sovereign and his family were located in the Bed Mansions, which was also called the Terem Palace. Next to the Faceted Chamber, the Golden Tsaritsyna Chamber was arranged. Nearby were the mansions of the princesses, under the windows of which a garden and flower beds were laid out. A little further, near the Assumption Cathedral, stood the Patriarchal Court. Near the Trinity Gate, like a tower, stood the stone Tsar's mansions. The specially built Armory housed rooms for arts and crafts. Icon painters and draftsmen worked in the Icon Chamber. In the Golden Chamber - goldsmiths and jewelers, in the Silver Chamber - silversmiths. In the Barrel Order - gunsmiths and barrel craftsmen. In the Armory, in special rooms, the sovereign's weapons, as well as regimental and sovereign great banners were kept. In the vast Chamber of the Great Treasury, huge lockers contained jeweled weapons. Bread was made in the Bread Palace: smooth, that is, ordinary, and tiled - decorated with various figures. They also baked kalachi, saiki, bagels, Easter cakes, loaves, gingerbread and sugars (sweets). Numerous supplies were stored in the cellars and cellars of the palace. The stern palace is actually the royal kitchen. The hearty palace was in charge of intoxicating drinks of all kinds. It had more than thirty cellars and glaciers. Kremlin gardens The Upper and Lower Embankment Gardens were arranged in the Kremlin. Apple trees, pears, currants, flowers grew there, small artificial ponds, gazebos were located. In 1682, grapes grew here and watermelons were sown. Interior decoration Everything that served as decoration inside the choir was called an outfit. The walls and ceilings were covered with multi-colored paintings, sheathed with red board, which was decorated with beautiful carvings, often gilded. The floor was paved with oak bricks - square oak bars. The walls themselves were upholstered with beautiful, painted wallpaper made of cloth. Foreign wallpapers made of expensive fabrics were called tapestries. Doors were also always upholstered with cloth. On solemn occasions, the walls were decorated with rich gold and silk fabrics, and the floors were decorated with Persian and Indian carpets. The usual furniture was benches that were placed along the walls, all around the entire room or ward. Wallets were placed on the benches - cotton mattresses - or morocco (leather) mattresses. Sometimes the benches were simply upholstered with red morocco and felt. The tables were made of oak, with chiseled legs, or lime - painted. They were covered with scarlet or green cloth, and on solemn days - with golden carpets or velvet tablecloths. Since the second half of the 17th century, “German and Polish” tables, decorated with carvings and painted with different colors, have come into fashion. Chairs were rarely used, and chairs were given to only one sovereign. Frames were inserted into the windows, on which windows were attached - lifting or opening. Glasses were used extremely rarely, they were completely replaced by mica. Mica windows were decorated with picturesque paintings and hung with woven curtains. All residential mansions had tiled stoves: made of blue or green tiles. The ovens were square and round. The tiles were painted with herbs, flowers, and various patterns. To store things in the rooms, wardrobes, hiding places, chests, caskets, boxes, boxes were placed. Shelves were attached to the walls. All furniture was made of wood, mainly linden, and decorated with rich carvings. Some pieces of furniture were upholstered with cloth. royal place In the large reception chambers, in addition to the usual shops, in the front, or red corners, there were royal places, or thrones. They were richly decorated with gold, silver, precious stones and golden fabrics. From above, the throne was covered with a tent canopy, a velvet pillow was placed on the seat, and the armrests were made in the form of lion or eagle heads. Three steps led up to the seat. In the second half of the 17th century, the Front Room, where the throne stood, no longer had any other furniture, except for the usual benches along the walls. Guests were invited to sit on these benches according to their seniority; more honorable - closer to the king. Only occasionally were especially important guests, such as noble clergy, given a special chair. room clock Numerous foreign-made room clocks stood in the premises of the royal palace. These watches were true works of art. The dials were decorated with drawings, precious stones. The clock mechanism itself was framed with intricate figures: some were with trumpeters and an elephant, others - with a Turkish rider on a horse, others - in the form of a flask, on a high stand with the image of the planets. There was a clock with a double-headed eagle trimmed with crystal and turquoise. In the right leg, the eagle held a broadsword, and in the left - orb.

Feast, food and clothing in Russia in the X-XVII centuries.

Chronicles and literary monuments rarely talk about food and cooking. And yet, from these rare references, as well as from archaeological sources, one can get an idea of ​​​​what our ancestors drank and ate in antiquity.

The most common food was bread products, cereals and kissels, that is, what was made from grain. Porridges were made from oatmeal, buckwheat, barley, wheat flour and eaten with butter or milk. Buckwheat porridge was traditionally served with cabbage soup. The Tale of Bygone Years mentions oatmeal and pea jelly. On fast days, jelly was eaten with milk, and on fast days, with vegetable oil.

On ordinary days, rye bread was more often seen on the table, on holidays - bread made from wheat flour and kalachi. In addition to bread, they baked from flour: pies, pies, pancakes, pancakes, brushwood, loaves. According to the method of preparation, pies were distinguished between hearth pies, that is, baked, and spun pies - fried in oil. Fillings for pies could be very different. Peas were stuffed with peas, krupenik with porridge, mushroom picker with mushrooms, kulebyaka with fish or meat, kurnik with chicken. They also baked pies with cottage cheese, eggs, "Saracenic millet" (as rice was called in the old days), poppy seeds, turnips, cabbage, sweet pies - with berries, raisins. In shape, pies could be round, long, three-eared, and according to the method of decoration - deaf, if they were pinched and the filling in them was not visible, or pies. Russian cuisine knew in those days up to twenty types of pies.

Baked goods were usually served with soups, which were called fish soups. Remember: "And between wow - pies"? "Ukha" at that time was called any soup or stew, and not just fish. "Kuryach's ear" was prepared from chicken with the addition of various spices. If cloves were put in the soup, then it was called "black ear"; if pepper - "white ear"; “naked” was a soup without spices.

Spices and spices were an indispensable part of Russian cuisine. Mustard seed has been imported to Rus' since antiquity, as evidenced by a find from the end of the 10th century: a pot with the inscription goroukhscha, i.e. "mustard".

In addition to soup, they also cooked cabbage soup and borscht. The word shchi at that time was used in two meanings: 1) “a hot cabbage dish” and 2) “a drink similar to kvass”, which was prepared on the leftovers of beer and stored all year round in barrels or bottles.

Cabbage was the main vegetable product, and the whole garden was often called “cabbage”. Turnips were very popular, especially before the appearance in the 18th century. potatoes. Turnips were eaten raw, steamed (hence the expression: “simpler than steamed turnips”), baked, porridge and stews were prepared from it. Dishes from peas, beets, carrots were very popular in Rus'. Onion, garlic and horseradish were abundantly used as seasoning.

Meat dishes were cooked boiled or fried. Judging by the frequency of mention in different sources, game birds were especially fond of: black grouse, hazel grouse - and poultry: chickens, geese, ducks. A feature of the Russian table of that time was the preparation of such exotic birds as: swans, cranes and herons. According to the Orthodox tradition, mixing, grinding, grinding and crushing food was considered a sin, so dishes were prepared from a whole piece. The meat was fried on a spit, calling it "spinned". The “pan” hare was fried in a frying pan, and the “rossole” hare was boiled in cucumber brine with an admixture of spices.

Fish dishes were no less diverse: herring, pike and steam bream, salmon, white fish, beluga, sterlet, sturgeon. They prepared from them: “saffron fish soup, black fish soup, perch fish soup, flesh fish soup, bream fish soup, crucian fish soup, pike heads with horseradish and garlic, loaches in sour shti”.

The word dessert appeared only in the 18th century, and “snacks,” as sweets were then called, usually included berries and vegetables boiled in honey, marshmallows, and nuts.
Favorite drinks were fruit drinks, kvass, beer, vodka and wine. Mead was distinguished between boiled and set, that is, poured into a certain dish. According to the method of preparation and spices, they are known: light honey, molasses, simple, boyar, honey with spices, berry honey. They cooked on honey and kvass, calling it "honey". Depending on the strength, vodka, then called “wine”, was called: “simple”, or “kind”, “boyar”, “double wine”. Sweet vodka made with molasses was intended for women. They liked to insist vodka on herbs: mint, mustard, St. John's wort, bodyaga, juniper and lemon peels. Imported wines - Greek, French, Hungarian, Italian ("Fryazhsky") - appeared at that time only in the houses of the nobility, since they were expensive.

At feasts and at the usual family meal in Rus', seniority was strictly observed at the table. The tables were not placed in the middle of the room, but were placed next to the benches, on which “seats” were distributed according to the age and position of family members or guests. In the front corner, at the "upper" end of the table, under the icons, sat the host. On his right hand is the eldest son or the next brother in seniority; on the left - the second son. The third son could sit next to the eldest son, and opposite him - the son of the eldest son - the eldest grandson. Women in pre-Petrine times did not sit down at the common table: they served food, and they themselves ate later. However, women's feasts are also known, to which the hostess invited her friends.

They often ate from one bowl, called "salty", strictly observing the order: the older ones - after the younger ones. Disposed of the feast, of course, the head of the family.
They didn’t go to visit without an invitation (“an uninvited guest is worse than a Tatar”). Invitations to the feast were given personally or through servants specially sent for this purpose. Accepting an invitation the first time was considered bad form (“they don’t go to visit at the first call”), just like coming first.
“When you are called to a feast, do not sit in a place of honor,” the author of Domostroy advises. - Suddenly, from among those invited there will be someone more respectable than you, and the owner will come up to you and say: “Give way!” - and then you will have to move to the last place in shame. But, if you are invited, sit down, having entered, in the last place, and when the one who invited you comes and says to you: “Friend, sit higher!” - then the rest of the guests will honor you. So everyone who ascends will humble himself, and the humble will ascend.”

Before the arrival of the guests, appetizers, pickles, mustard, salt and pepper were placed on the table. Prayers were read before and after the meal. It was supposed to eat in silence or in spiritual conversation. As the author of Domostroy instructs, to blaspheme food or drink: “It is “rotten”, or “sour”, or “fresh”, or “salty”, or “bitter”, or “rotten”, or “raw”, or “digested”, or even some kind of censure to express, was considered a sin. But it is fitting that God's gift - any food or drink - be praised and eaten with gratitude, then God also gives the food a fragrance and turns it into sweetness. And if some food and drink are no good, punish the household, the one who cooked, so that this would not happen in advance.

Clothing in Russia in the X-XVII centuries.

According to chronicle sources, images in temples, descriptions of foreigners, individual fragments of fabrics found during archaeological excavations, it is possible to restore the appearance of the ancient Russian costume.

In ancient times, all clothes were called "port", which has been preserved to this day in the name of the profession - "tailor".

The main part of the costume of peasants and townspeople, men and women, poor and rich, was a shirt, or shirt, without which no outfit could be imagined at all. The shirt was the bottom, underwear. Expression: to wear out to the last shirt - meant "to reach extreme poverty." As a rule, even servants in a good house had several shirts. According to the wedding rite, the groom received from the bride and her relatives as a gift at least three shirts. In one of the Novgorod birch bark letters, Boris, who left home for a short time, asks his wife to send him a change of shirt, which he forgot at home.

They sewed a shirt, as a rule, from bleached canvas, decorating the collar, hem and cuffs with embroidery, which in this case played the role of a talisman: so that evil spirits could not penetrate the body. On the chest, the shirt had a straight or oblique cut (kosovorotka) and was fastened with a small button. Similar bronze, bone or wooden buttons are often found by archaeologists. The shirts of rich people were fastened with buttons made of silver, gold and precious stones.

The top shirt, which was worn over the bottom, was sewn from materials of bright colors: blue, green, yellow. On ancient images, the shirts are long, covering the soles of the feet. Over time, they became much shorter, according to one of the foreigners, "barely covering the buttocks." Men wore loose-fitting shirts, always with a belt, which also played the role of a talisman.

Judging by the images, the cut of shirts remained unchanged for many centuries: both the king and the simple peasant wore a shirt of the same cut. They differed only in material and decoration. Only in the Petrine era, from the beginning of the 18th century, did the nobility begin to wear "Dutch" shirts with lace and frills.
Over time, the word "ports" began to take on a narrower meaning and denote a part of a man's suit - pants, or legs. Old Russian trousers were narrow, with a narrow step, and were worn tucked into boots or onuchi with bast shoes. The lower trousers were sewn from canvas or silk, the upper ones - from denser colored materials: cloth, velvet and even gold fabrics. Documents from the 17th century "Pants of purple cloth" and "trousers of worm cloth" are mentioned.

In some regions, women wore an upper shirt over a lower shirt - a spinner decorated with embroidery and fringe. The women's costume was supplemented with a piece of fabric that was wrapped around the hips - pony.

In a word, a sundress until the 17th century. denoted long elegant men's clothing. So, in the spiritual charter of one of the princes, among other men's clothing, "sarafan silk is yellow, it has 23 buttons of gold and silver." However, over time, a sleeveless women's dress began to be called a sundress, more often “oar”, that is, fastened in front with buttons. Sundresses were sewn from beautiful colored fabrics, sometimes expensive imported ones, decorated with lace, precious buttons, embroidery, and fur. The sundress continued to be traditional women's clothing for a long time, and not only among the peasantry: in the 19th century. he was the favorite clothing of the townswomen.

Both men and women, depending on the time of year, wore a retinue (from the word svyat - “to wrap up”, “to dress”), a caftan or a zipun. The retinue was a long, narrow garment, decorated with embroidery on the floors and sleeves and fastened with beautiful fasteners. The caftan, depending on the fashion, was sewn longer or shorter, but so that it opened the boots and did not interfere with walking. In the images, caftans can often be seen with standing collars - "trump cards" - and numerous buttons. Sleeves could be long - folding - or regular, but decorated with richly embroidered cuffs. Zipun was a short outerwear, close in purpose to a caftan. Both of these words: zipun and caftan are of Turkic origin.

Various sources mention other outerwear: queen, okhaben, single rows, that is, unlined clothes, “in one row”, which were worn over a shirt, and sometimes put on one over the other.

The most ancient clothing for the street was votola - a piece of coarse fabric thrown over the shoulders in cold weather. The princes wore beautiful fur-lined cloaks made of bright Byzantine fabrics, fastening them on the right shoulder with a precious buckle.

Some types of clothing for the street, although they had sleeves, but, like raincoats, were worn in a cape. This is a coat, which was more often worn by men, and letnik - women's outerwear. Both the collar and the letnik had long, wide sleeves exquisitely trimmed with gold thread, which were sometimes tied behind the back.

In the cold season, both peasants and townspeople wore casings, sheepskin coats and fur coats. Unlike modern ones, fur coats were sewn with fur inside. Fur coats were simpler on hare fur or sheepskin. Richer people had fur coats on sables, ermines, martens and loved to cover them with gold and velvet fabrics and decorate them with precious buttons.

Both women's and men's hats differed in variety. Men wore sun-dried hats, wicker hats, murmolkas (high hats resembling a truncated cone in shape), fur hats with earflaps, triukhs and malachai. The princes were depicted in hats with fur trim, well known to us from the famous Monomakh hat. For ceremonial exits, the boyars put on a throaty hat, that is, sewn from the throat of fur-bearing animals - high, widening upwards, with a flat crown.

Women's hats looked more complex than men's and were significant. According to custom, a married woman could not appear in public with an uncovered head, with simple hair. All hair was carefully removed under a cloth wrapped around the head - a new one or an ubrus. In some areas, they wore a small embroidered cap with horns on their heads - kiku, or kichka - a symbol of marriage. Very popular in ancient times was a kokoshnik richly decorated with beads and embroidery with a bedspread. In the cold season, women wore fur hats, sometimes tying a scarf on top - a veil. Only girls could wear their hair loose or braided, putting on them a simple whisk and a koruna decorated with pearls - strips of fabric or metal that covered the forehead and were fastened at the back of the head.

Since ancient times, townspeople have worn leather shoes on their feet - pistons, or boots, tied around the shin, and boots. The peasants wore woven bast shoes and wrappers made of canvas, cloth or fur - onuchi.

Interesting information about the royal costume, which he wears for festive ceremonies, is contained in the "Book of the Sovereign Tsar and Grand Duke Mikhail Feodorovich, All Rus''s way out, what kind of dress is on the sovereign." For example, on September 1, 1633 - the day the New Year began - a short narrow dress made of patterned silk fabric - a zipun, decorated with a crimson collar embroidered with pearls and a gimp - thin gold or silver wire was put on over the shirt. It was called such a fastened collar around. The zipun was wearing a “scaly white” caftan, and on it was a lingonberry-colored single-row, also decorated with golden lace. The sovereign was shod in morocco "chervchet" (i.e. crimson) shoes. Holding in his hands the “small Indian staff”, the king sat on a green chair “from the Great Treasury, velvet foot”. Although the New Year (New Year) was a great holiday, however, the king was not wearing the most ceremonial outfit that day. On the occasion of a great celebration, the tsar dressed in the so-called big outfit - the royal dress, reminiscent of a bishop's vestments.

The prebaptismal period in the history of Rus' was a big headache for Soviet historians and ideologists, it was easier to forget about it and not mention it. The problem was that in the late 20s and early 30s of the twentieth century, Soviet scientists in the humanities were able to more or less substantiate the natural “evolutionary” nature of the newly minted communist ideology of the “brilliant” Marx and Lenin, and divided the whole history into five well-known periods : from the primitive communal formation to the most progressive and evolutionary - communist.

But the period of Russian history before the adoption of Christianity did not fit into any “standard” template - it did not look like a primitive communal system, nor a slaveholding, nor a feudal one. But rather it looked like a socialist.

And this was the whole comedy of the situation, and a great desire not to pay scientific attention to this period. This was also the reason for the dissatisfaction of Froyanov and other Soviet scientists when they tried to understand this period of history.

In the period before the baptism of Rus', the Rus undoubtedly had their own state, and at the same time there was no class society, in particular feudal society. And the inconvenience was that the “classical” Soviet ideology claimed that the feudal class created the state as an instrument of its political domination and suppression of the peasants. And then there was the confusion...

Moreover, judging by the military victories of the Rus over their neighbors, and that the “queen of the world” Byzantium herself paid tribute to them, it turned out that the “original” way of society and the state of our ancestors was more effective, harmonious and advantageous compared to other ways and structures that period in other nations.

“And here it should be noted that the archaeological sites of the Eastern Slavs recreate society without any clear traces of property stratification. The outstanding researcher of East Slavic antiquities I.I. Lyapushkin emphasized that among the dwellings known to us

“... in the most diverse regions of the forest-steppe belt, it is not possible to indicate those that, in their architectural appearance and in the content of the household and household equipment found in them, would be distinguished by wealth.

The internal structure of the dwellings and the inventory found in them do not yet allow dismembering the inhabitants of these latter only by occupation - into landowners and artisans.

Another well-known specialist in Slavic-Russian archeology V.V. Sedov writes:

“It is impossible to identify the emergence of economic inequality on the materials of the settlements studied by archaeologists. It seems that there are no distinct traces of the property differentiation of the Slavic society in the grave monuments of the 6th-8th centuries.

All this requires a different understanding of the archaeological material,” notes I.Ya. Froyanov in his study.

That is, in this ancient Russian society, it was not the meaning of life to accumulate wealth and pass it on to children, it was not some kind of ideological or moral value, and this was clearly not welcomed and contemptuously condemned.

A what was valuable? This can be seen from - what did the Russians say, for they swore by the most valuable - for example, in an agreement with the Greeks of 907, the Rus swore not by gold, not by their mother and not by children, but by “their weapons, and Perun, their God, and Volos, the god of cattle.” Svyatoslav also swore Perun and Volos in the 971 treaty with Byzantium.

That is, they considered their connection with God, with the Gods, their veneration and their honor and freedom to be the most valuable. In one of the agreements with the Byzantine emperor there is such a fragment of the oath of Svetoslav in case of violation of the oath: “let us be golden, like this gold” (gold plate-stand of the Byzantine scribe - R.K.). Which once again shows the despicable attitude of the Rus to the golden calf.

And now and then, the Slavs, the Russ, stood out and stand out in their overwhelming majority for their benevolence, sincerity, tolerance for other views, what foreigners call “tolerance”.

A vivid example of this is even before the baptism of Russia, at the beginning of the 10th century in Russia, when in the Christian world there could be no question of pagan temples, sanctuaries or idols (idols) standing on “Christian territory” (with glorious Christian love for all , patience and mercy), - in Kiev, half a century before the adoption of Christianity, the Cathedral Church was built and a Christian community existed around it.

It is only now that enemy ideologists and their journalists falsely screamed about the non-existent xenophobia of Russians, and they are trying to see this xenophobia of them with all binoculars and microscopes, and even more - to provoke.

The researcher of the history of Russians, the German scientist B. Schubart wrote with admiration:

“ The Russian person possesses Christian virtues as permanent national properties. Russians were Christians even before conversion to Christianity” (B.Shubart “Europe and the Soul of the East”).

The Russians did not have slavery in the usual sense, although there were slaves from captives as a result of battles, who, of course, had a different status. I.Ya. Froyanov wrote a book on this topic “Slavery and tributary among the Eastern Slavs” (St. Petersburg, 1996), and in his last book he wrote:

“Eastern Slavic society was aware of slavery. Customary law forbade the slaves of their fellow tribesmen. Therefore, captured foreigners became slaves. They were called servants. For the Russian Slavs, servants are primarily an object of trade ...

The position of slaves was not harsh, as, say, in the ancient world. Chelyadin was a member of the related team as a junior member. Slavery was limited to a certain period, after which the slave, acquiring freedom, could return to his land or stay with his former owners, but already in the position of free.

In science, this style of relationship between slave owners and slaves has been called patriarchal slavery.”

Patriarchal is paternal. You will not find such an attitude towards slaves not among the wise Greek slave owners, not among medieval Christian slave traders, nor among Christian slave owners in the south of the New World - in America.

Russians lived in tribal and inter-tribal settlements, engaged in hunting, fishing, trade, agriculture, cattle breeding and handicrafts. The Arab traveler Ibn Fadlan in 928 described that the Russians built large houses in which 30-50 people lived.

Another Arab traveler Ibn-Ruste at the turn of the 9th-10th centuries described Russian baths in severe frosts as a curiosity:

“When the stones of the highest degree are heated, water is poured over them, from which steam spreads, heating the dwelling to the point that they take off their clothes.”

Our ancestors were very clean. Especially in comparison with Europe, in which even during the Renaissance, at the courts of Paris, London, Madrid and other capitals, ladies used not only perfumes to neutralize the unpleasant “spirit”, but also special caps for catching lice on their heads, and the problem of feces even at the beginning of the 19th century, the French Parliament considered from the windows to the streets of the city.

The pre-Christian ancient Russian society was communal, veche, where the prince was accountable to the people's assembly - the veche, which could approve the transfer of the prince's power by inheritance, or could re-elect the prince for himself.

“An old Russian prince is not an emperor or even a monarch, because a veche, or a people's assembly, to which he was accountable, stood over him,” I.Ya. Froyanov noted.

The Russian prince of this period and his squad did not demonstrate feudal "hegemonic" signs. Without taking into account the opinions of the most authoritative members of society: heads of clans, wise “dids” and respected military leaders, no decision was made. A good example of this was the famous Prince Svyatoslav. A.S. Ivanchenko in his study notes:

“...Let's turn to the original text of Leo the Deacon... This meeting took place on the banks of the Danube on July 23, 971, after the day before Tzimiskes asked for peace from Svetoslav and invited him to his headquarters for negotiations, but he refused to go there... Tzimiskes, having tamed his pride, to go to Svetoslav himself.

However, thinking in a Roman way, the emperor of Byzantium wished, if military force failed, then at least with the splendor of his vestments and the richness of the outfits of the retinue accompanying him ... Leo Deacon:

“The sovereign, covered with ceremonial, golden forging, armor, rode on horseback to the banks of the Istra; he was followed by numerous horsemen glittering with gold. Soon Svyatoslav also appeared, having crossed the river in a Scythian boat (this once again confirms that the Greeks called the Russes the Scythians).

He sat on the oars and rowed, like everyone else, without standing out among the others. His appearance was as follows: medium height, not very large and not very small, with thick eyebrows, blue eyes, a straight nose, a shaved head and thick long hair hanging from his upper lip. His head was completely bare, and only a tuft of hair hung from one side of it ... His clothes were white, which did not differ from the clothes of others except for noticeable cleanliness. Sitting in a boat on the bench of rowers, he talked a little with the sovereign about the conditions of peace and left ... The sovereign gladly accepted the conditions of the Rus ... ".

Had Svyatoslav Igorevich had the same intentions regarding Byzantium as against the Great Khazaria, he would have destroyed this arrogant empire without much effort even during his first campaign on the Danube: four days of travel remained for him to Constantinople, when Sinkel Theophilus, the closest adviser to the Byzantine patriarch, fell kneel before him, asking for peace on any terms. And indeed Tsargrad paid a huge tribute to Rus'.

I emphasize an important evidence - the prince of the Rus Svetoslav, equal in status to the Byzantine emperor, was dressed like all his warriors and rowed with oars along with everyone ... That is, in Rus' during this period, the communal, veche (cathedral) system was based on equality, justice and accounting interests of all its members.

Taking into account the fact that in the modern language of smart people “society” is a society, and “socialism” is a system that takes into account the interests of the whole society or its majority, then we see in pre-Christian Rus' an example of socialism, moreover as a very effective way of organizing society and the principles of regulating the life of society.

History with an invitation to reign Rurik around 859-862. also shows the structure of Russian society of that period. Let's get acquainted with this story and at the same time find out who Rurik was by nationality.

Since ancient times, the Rus had two centers of development: the southern one, on the southern trade routes on the Dnieper River, the city of Kiev and the northern one, on the northern trade routes on the Volkhov River, the city of Novgorod.

It is not known for certain when Kiev was built, as well as much in the pre-Christian history of Rus', because numerous written documents, chronicles, including those on which the famous Christian chronicler Nestor worked, were destroyed by Christians for ideological reasons after the baptism of Rus'. But it is known that Kyiv was built by the Slavs, headed by a prince named Kyi and his brothers Shchek and Khoriv. They also had a sister with a beautiful name - Lybid.

The then world suddenly learned and started talking about the Kievan princes, when on June 18, 860, the Kievan prince Askold and his governor Dir approached the Russian army to the capital of Byzantium, Tsargrad (Constantinople) from the sea on 200 large boats and presented an ultimatum, after which they attacked the capital of the world for a week.

In the end, the Byzantine emperor could not stand it and offered a huge indemnity, with which the Rus sailed home. It is clear that only the empire could resist the main empire of the world, and it was a great developed Slavic empire in the form of a union of Slavic tribes, and not dense barbarian Slavs, who were benefited by their arrival by civilized Christians, as the authors of books write about it even in 2006-7.

In the same period, in the north of Rus' in the 860s, another strong prince appeared - Rurik. Nestor wrote:

“... Prince Rurik and his brothers arrived - with their families ... those Varangians were called Rus.”

“... Russian Stargorod was located in the area of ​​​​the present-day West German lands of Oldenburg and Macklenburg and the adjoining Baltic island of Rügen. It was there that Western Rus' or Ruthenia was located. - V.N. Emelyanov explained in his book. - As for the Varangians, this is not an ethnonym, usually mistakenly associated with the Normans, but the name of the profession of warriors.

Mercenary warriors, united under the common name of the Varangians, were representatives of different clans of the Western Baltic region. The Western Russians also had their Varangians. It was from among them that the native grandson of the Novgorod prince Rostomysl, Rurik, the son of his middle daughter Umila, was called ...

He came to Northern Rus' with the capital in Novgorod, since the male line of Rostomysl died out during his lifetime.

Novgorod at the time of the arrival of Rurik and his brothers Saneus and Truvor was ancient Kyiv - the capital of South Rus' - for centuries.

“Novugorodians: you are the people of Novgorodians - from the Varangian family ...” - wrote the famous Nestor, as we see, meaning by the Varangians all the northern Slavs. It was from there that Rurik began to rule, from Ladograd located north of Ladograd (modern Staraya Ladoga), which is recorded in the annals:

“And the oldest Rurik in Ladoza.”

According to academician V. Chudinov, the lands of today's northern Germany, on which the Slavs used to live, were called White Russia and Ruthenia, and, accordingly, the Slavs were called Russ, Rutens, Rugs. Their descendants are the Slavs-Poles, who have long lived on the Oder and the shores of the Baltic.

“... A lie aimed at castrating our history is the so-called Norman theory, according to which Rurik and his brothers have been stubbornly listed as Scandinavians for centuries, and not Western Russians ... - V.N. Emelyanov was indignant in his book. - But there is a book by the Frenchman Carmier "Letters about the North", published by him in 1840 in Paris, and then in 1841 in Brussels.

This French researcher, who, fortunately, had nothing to do with the dispute between anti-Normanists and Normanists, during his visit to Macklenburg, i.e. just in the area from which Rurik was called, he wrote down among the legends, customs and rituals of the local population also the legend of the calling to Rus' of the three sons of the prince of the Slavic-obodriches Godlav. Thus, as early as 1840, among the German population of Macklenburg, there was a legend about a vocation…”.

The researcher of the history of ancient Rus', Nikolai Levashov, writes in one of his books:

“But, the most interesting thing is that even a fake they could not do without serious contradictions and gaps. According to the “official” version, the Slavic-Russian state of Kievan Rus arose in the 9th-10th centuries and arose immediately in a finished form, with a code of laws, with a rather complex state hierarchy, a system of beliefs and myths. The explanation for this in the “official” version is very simple: the “wild” Slavic-Russians invited Rurik the Varangian, allegedly a Swede, to their prince, forgetting that in Sweden itself at that time there was simply no organized state, but there were only squads of jarls who were engaged in armed robbery of their neighbors ...

In addition, Rurik had nothing to do with the Swedes (who, moreover, were called Vikings, not Varangians), but was a prince from the Wends and belonged to the Varangian caste of professional Warriors who studied the art of combat from childhood. Rurik was invited to reign according to the traditions existing among the Slavs at that time to choose the most worthy Slavic prince as their ruler at the Veche.

An interesting discussion unfolded in the Itogi magazine, No. 38, September 2007. between the masters of modern Russian historical science professors A. Kirpichnikov and V. Yanin on the occasion of the 1250th anniversary of Staraya Ladoga, the capital of Upper or Northern Rus'. Valentin Yanin:

“It has long been inappropriate to talk about the fact that the calling of the Varangians is an anti-patriotic myth ... At the same time, one must understand that before the arrival of Rurik, we already had some statehood (the same elder Gostomysl was before Rurik), thanks to which the Varangian, in fact, was invited rule over local elites.

Novgorod land was the residence of three tribes: Krivichi, Slovenes and Finno-Ugric peoples. At first, it was owned by the Varangians, who wanted to be paid “one squirrel from each husband.”

Perhaps it was precisely because of these exorbitant appetites that they were soon driven out, and the tribes began to lead, so to speak, a sovereign lifestyle that did not lead to good.

When a showdown began between the tribes, it was decided to send ambassadors to (neutral) Rurik, to those Varangians who called themselves Rus. They lived in the southern Baltic, northern Poland and northern Germany. Our ancestors called the prince from where many of them themselves were from. It can be said that they turned to distant relatives for help ...

If we proceed from the real state of affairs, then before Rurik there were already elements of statehood among the mentioned tribes. Look: the local elite ordered Rurik that he did not have the right to collect tribute from the population, only high-ranking Novgorodians themselves could do this, and he should only be given a gift for exercising their duties, again I will translate into modern language, a hired manager. The entire budget was also controlled by the Novgorodians themselves ...

By the end of the 11th century, they generally created their own vertical of power - posadnichestvo, which then became the main body of the veche republic. By the way, I think it is no coincidence that Oleg, who became the prince of Novgorod after Rurik, did not want to linger here and went to Kyiv, where he already began to reign supreme.

Rurik died in 879, and his only heir Igor was still very young, so Rus' was headed by his relative Oleg. In 882, Oleg decided to seize power in all of Rus', which meant the unification of the Northern and Southern parts of Rus' under his rule, and moved on a military campaign to the south.

And taking Smolensk by storm, Oleg moved to Kyiv. Oleg came up with a cunning and insidious plan - he, with wars under the guise of a large trade caravan, sailed along the Dnieper to Kyiv. And when Askold and Dir came ashore to meet the merchants, Oleg jumped out of the boats with armed wars and, having made a claim to Askold that he was not from a princely dynasty, killed both. In such an insidious and bloody way, Oleg seized power in Kyiv and thus united both parts of Rus'.

Thanks to Rurik and his followers, Kyiv became the center of Rus', which included numerous Slavic tribes.

“The end of the 9th and 10th centuries are characterized by the subordination of the Drevlyans, Severians, Radimichi, Vyatichi, Ulich and other tribal unions to Kyiv. As a result, under the hegemony of the Polyana capital, a grandiose “union of unions”, or a super-union, was formed, covering almost all of Europe territorially.

The Kievan nobility, the glades as a whole used this new political organization as a means to receive tributes…” – noted I.Ya.Froyanov.

The Ugric-Hungarians, neighboring with Russia, once again moved through the Slavic lands towards the former Roman Empire and on the way tried to capture Kyiv, but it did not work out and, concluding in 898. an allied treaty with the people of Kiev, moved in search of military adventures to the west and reached the Danube, where they founded Hungary, which has survived to this day.

And Oleg, having repelled the attack of the Ugrians-Khuns, decided to repeat Askold's famous campaign against the Byzantine Empire and began to prepare. And in 907, the famous second campaign of the Rus, led by Oleg, against Byzantium took place.

The huge Russian army moved again on boats and land to Tsargrad - Constantinople. This time, the Byzantines, taught by previous bitter experience, decided to be smarter - and managed to pull over the entrance to the bay near the capital with a huge thick chain in order to prevent the entry of the Russian fleet. And they interfered.

The Russians looked at this, landed on land, put the rooks on wheels (skating rinks) and, under their cover from arrows and under sails, went on the attack. Shocked by the unusual sight and frightened, the Byzantine emperor and his entourage asked for peace and offered to ransom.

Perhaps, since then, the popular expression has gone about achieving the goal by any means: “not by washing, but by skating”.

Having loaded a huge indemnity on boats and carts, the Rus demanded and bargained for themselves unimpeded access of Russian merchants to the Byzantine markets and the rarest exclusive: the duty-free right of Russian merchants to trade throughout the territory of the Byzantine Empire.

In 911, both parties confirmed this agreement and prolonged it in writing. And the next year (912) Oleg handed over the rule of prosperous Rus' to Igor, who married a Pskov woman Olga, who once transported him by boat across the river near Pskov.

Igor kept Rus' intact and was able to repel the dangerous raid of the Pechenegs. And judging by the fact that Igor in 941 moved the third military campaign against Byzantium, one can guess that Byzantium ceased to comply with the agreement with Oleg.

This time, the Byzantines prepared thoroughly, they did not hang chains, but thought of throwing vessels with burning oil (“Greek fire”) from throwing guns at the Russian boats. The Russians did not expect this, they were confused, and, having lost many ships, they landed on land and staged a fierce battle. Constantinople was not taken, they suffered serious damage, and then within six months the evil ones returned home with various adventures.

And then they began to prepare more thoroughly for a new campaign. And in 944, for the fourth time, they moved to Byzantium. This time, the Byzantine emperor, anticipating trouble, halfway asked for peace on favorable terms for the Rus; they agreed and loaded with Byzantine gold and fabrics returned to Kyiv.

In 945, during the collection of tribute by Igor, some kind of conflict occurred among the Drevlyans. The Slavs-Drevlyans, led by Prince Mal, decided that Igor and his retinue went too far in demands and created injustice, and the Drevlyans killed Igor and killed his combatants. The widowed Olga sent a large army to the Drevlyans and took fierce revenge. Princess Olga began to rule Russia.

From the second half of the 20th century, researchers began to receive new written sources - birch bark letters. The first birch bark letters were found in 1951 during archaeological excavations in Novgorod. About 1000 letters have already been discovered. The total volume of the birch bark dictionary is more than 3200 words. The geography of the finds covers 11 cities: Novgorod, Staraya Russa, Torzhok, Pskov, Smolensk, Vitebsk, Mstislavl, Tver, Moscow, Staraya Ryazan, Zvenigorod Galitsky.

The earliest charters date back to the 11th century (1020), when the area in question had not yet been Christianized. Thirty charters found in Novgorod and one in Staraya Russa belong to this period. Until the 12th century, neither Novgorod nor Staraya Russa had yet been baptized, so the names of people found in letters of the 11th century are pagan, that is, real Russians. By the beginning of the 11th century, the population of Novgorod corresponded not only with addressees located inside the city, but also with those who were far beyond its borders - in villages, in other cities. Even villagers from the most remote villages wrote household assignments and simple letters on birch bark.

That is why, the outstanding linguist and researcher of the Novgorod letters of the Academy A.A. Zaliznyak claims that “this ancient writing system was very common. This writing was distributed throughout Rus'. The reading of birch-bark letters refuted the existing opinion that in Ancient Rus' only noble people and the clergy were literate. Among the authors and addressees of letters there are many representatives of the lower strata of the population, in the texts found there is evidence of the practice of teaching writing - the alphabet, copybooks, numerical tables, “pen tests”.

Six-year-old children wrote - “there is one letter, where, it seems, a certain year is indicated. Written by a six year old boy. Almost all Russian women wrote - “now we know for sure that a significant part of women could both read and write. 12th century letters in general, in a variety of respects, they reflect a freer society, with a greater development, in particular, of female participation, than a society closer to our time. This fact follows from the birch bark letters quite clearly. Literacy in Rus' is eloquently evidenced by the fact that “the picture of Novgorod of the 14th century. and Florence in the 14th century, according to the degree of female literacy - in favor of Novgorod.

Experts know that Cyril and Methodius invented the Glagolitic alphabet for Bulgarians and spent the rest of their lives in Bulgaria. The letter, called "Cyrillic", although it has a similar name, has nothing to do with Cyril. The name "Cyrillic" comes from the designation of the letter - the Russian "doodle", or, for example, the French "ecrire". And the tablet found during the excavations of Novgorod, on which they wrote in antiquity, is called “kera” (sera).

In the "Tale of Bygone Years", a monument from the beginning of the 12th century, there is no information about the baptism of Novgorod. Consequently, the Novgorodians and the inhabitants of the surrounding villages wrote 100 years before the baptism of this city, and the Novgorodians did not get writing from Christians. Writing in Rus' existed long before Christianity. The proportion of non-church texts at the very beginning of the 11th century is 95 percent of all found letters.

Nevertheless, for a long time, for academic falsifiers of history, the version that the Russian people learned to read and write from alien priests was the fundamental version. At the aliens! Remember, we have already discussed this topic: When our ancestors carved runes on stone, the Slavs were already writing letters to each other.

But in his unique scientific work “The Craft of Ancient Rus'”, published back in 1948, archaeologist academician B.A. Rybakov published the following data: « There is an ingrained belief that the church had a monopoly in the production and distribution of books; This opinion was strongly supported by the clergy themselves. It is only true here that monasteries and episcopal or metropolitan courts were the organizers and censors of book copying, often acting as intermediaries between the customer and the scribe, but the executors were often not monks, but people who had nothing to do with the church.

We have made a count of scribes depending on their position. For the pre-Mongol era, the result was as follows: half of the book scribes turned out to be laymen; for the 14th - 15th centuries. the calculations gave the following results: metropolitans - 1; deacons - 8; monks - 28; clerks - 19; priests - 10; "God's servants" -35; popovichi-4; parobkov-5. Priests cannot be considered in the category of churchmen, since literacy, which is almost mandatory for them (“the priest’s son cannot read and write - an outcast”), did not predetermine their spiritual career. Under vague names like “God's servant”, “sinner”, “God's dull servant”, “sinful and daring for evil, but lazy for good”, etc., without indicating belonging to the church, we should understand secular artisans. Sometimes there are more specific indications: “Wrote Eustathius, a worldly person, and his nickname is Shepel”, “Ovsei raspop”, “Thomas the scribe”. In such cases, we no longer have any doubts about the “worldly” nature of the scribes.

In total, according to our calculation, 63 laymen and 47 churchmen, i.e. 57% of artisan scribes did not belong to church organizations. The main forms in the era under study were the same as in the pre-Mongolian: work to order and work for the market; between them there were various intermediate stages that characterized the degree of development of a particular craft. Work to order is typical for some types of patrimonial craft and for industries associated with expensive raw materials, such as jewelry or bell casting.

The academician cited these figures for the 14th - 15th centuries, when, according to the narrations of the church, she served, almost as a helmsman for the multimillion-strong Russian people. It would be interesting to look at the busy, single metropolitan, who, together with an absolutely insignificant handful of literate deacons and monks, served the postal needs of the many millions of Russian people from several tens of thousands of Russian villages. In addition, this Metropolitan and Co. must have possessed many truly miraculous qualities: the lightning speed of writing and moving in space and time, the ability to simultaneously be in thousands of places at once, and so on.

But not a joke, but a real conclusion from the data given by B.A. Rybakov, it follows that the church has never been a place in Rus' from which knowledge and enlightenment flowed. Therefore, we repeat, another academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences A.A. Zaliznyak states that “the picture of Novgorod of the 14th century. and Florence in the 14th century. in terms of female literacy - in favor of Novgorod. But the church by the 18th century led the Russian people into the bosom of illiterate darkness.

Let us consider the other side of the life of ancient Russian society before the arrival of Christians on our lands. She touches the clothes. Historians are accustomed to us to draw Russian people dressed exclusively in simple white shirts, sometimes, however, allowing themselves to say that these shirts were decorated with embroideries. Russians are presented as such beggars, hardly able to dress at all. This is another lie spread by historians about the life of our people.

To begin with, we recall that the first clothing in the world was created more than 40 thousand years ago in Rus', in Kostenki. And, for example, at the Sungir site in Vladimir, already 30 thousand years ago, people wore a leather jacket made of suede trimmed with fur, a hat with earflaps, leather pants, leather boots. Everything was decorated with various objects and several rows of beads. The ability to make clothes in Rus', of course, was preserved and developed to a high level. And one of the important clothing materials for the ancient Rus was silk.

Archaeological finds of silk on the territory of Ancient Rus' of the 9th - 12th centuries were found in more than two hundred points. The maximum concentration of finds - Moscow, Vladimir, Ivanovo and Yaroslavl regions. Just in those in which at that time there was a rise in population. But these territories were not part of Kievan Rus, on the territory of which, on the contrary, finds of silk fabrics are very few. As you move away from Moscow - Vladimir - Yaroslavl, the density of silk finds in general is rapidly falling, and already in the European part they are rare.

At the end of the 1st millennium AD. Vyatichi and Krivichi lived in the Moscow region, as evidenced by groups of mounds (near the Yauza station, in Tsaritsyn, Chertanov, Konkovo, Derealevo, Zyuzin, Cheryomushki, Matveevsky, Fili, Tushino, etc.). The Vyatichi also constituted the original nucleus of the population of Moscow.

According to various sources, Prince Vladimir baptized Rus', or rather, began the baptism of Rus' in 986 or 987. But Christians and Christian churches were in Russia, specifically in Kyiv, long before 986. And it was not even about the tolerance of pagan Slavs to other religions, but about one important principle - the principle of freedom and sovereignty of the decision of each Slav, for whom there were no masters