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Robert O. Crummey uses the methods of collective biography to provide the first modern study of the elite group that dominated Russian government and society in the seventeenth century--the members of the Boyar Duma or royal council between 1613 and 1689. This book examines their careers in governmental service, their position in networks of family relationships and factional groupings, their values and attitudes, and their economic activities. Originally published in 1983. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
Aristocracies or nobilities dominated the social, economic, and institutional history of all European counties until only a few generations ago. The relics of their power, in traditions and behaviour, in architecture and the arts, are still all around us. This short introduction shows how ideas of aristocracy originated in ancient times, were transformed in the middle ages, and have only fallen apart over the last two centuries. The myths in which aristocracies have always sought to shroud themselves are stripped away, but the true sources of their enduring power are also revealed. Their outlook and behaviour affected the rest of society in innumerable and sometimes surprising ways, but perhaps most surprising was the way in which a centuries-old aristocratic hegemony crumbled away over the last two hundred years. In this Very Short Introduction William Doyle considers why this happend and what remains today. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
Peter the Great (1672–1725), tsar of Russia for forty-three years, was a dramatic, appealing, and unconventional character. This book provides a vivid sense of the dynamics of his life—both public and private—and his reign. Drawing on his letters and papers, as well as on other contemporary accounts, the book provides new insights into Peter’s complex character, giving information on his actions, deliberations, possessions, and significant fantasy world--his many disguises and pseudonyms, his interest in dwarfs, his clowning and vandalism. It also sheds fresh light on his relationships with individuals such as his second wife Catherine and his favorite, Alexander Menshikov. The book includes discussions of Peter’s image in painting and sculpture, and there are two final chapters on his legacy and posthumous reputation up to the present.
Wie im gesamten mittelalterlichen und frühneuzeitlichen Europa fiel der Religion auch im Moskauer Reich eine Schlüsselrolle bei der Legitimation von Herrschaft und Integration der Gesellschaft zu. Die Vereinheitlichung der Lebensformen auf der Grundlage orthodoxer Kirchlichkeit war ein Bindeglied für die meisten Gebiete des Reiches. Doch konnte religiöser Dissens die Integration auch fallweise in Frage stellen? Wie weit ging die Kommunikation über die religiösen Grenzen hinweg? Waren doch im Moskauer Reich neben der Orthodoxie auch andere christliche Konfessionen, Islam und Naturreligionen präsent? In welchem Verhältnis standen die protonationalen Integrationspraktiken der russischen Orthodoxie zu den Anliegen imperialer Herrschaft? Lässt sich beim Vergleich mit Westeuropa von 'Gleichzeitigkeit des Ungleichzeitigen' mit Bezug auf Phänomene der religiösen Praxis sprechen? Können wir das Konfessionalisierungsparadigma auf die Geschichte des Moskauer Reiches übertragen? Autorinnen und Autoren aus Russland, Deutschland, den USA, Frankreich und Finnland geben hierzu Antworten. Der von Ludwig Steindorff herausgegebene Sammelband ist aus der X. Internationalen Konferenz zur altrussischen Geschichte her vorgegangen, die 2008 in Kiel stattfand.
In A Woman's Kingdom, Michelle Lamarche Marrese explores the development of Russian noblewomen's unusual property rights. In contrast to women in Western Europe, who could not control their assets during marriage until the second half of the nineteenth century, married women in Russia enjoyed the right to alienate and manage their fortunes beginning in 1753. Marrese traces the extension of noblewomen's right to property and places this story in the broader context of the evolution of private property in Russia before the Great Reforms of the 1860s. Historians have often dismissed women's property rights as meaningless. In the patriarchal society of Imperial Russia, a married woman could neither work nor travel without her husband's permission, and divorce was all but unattainable. Yet, through a detailed analysis of women's property rights from the Petrine era through the abolition of serfdom in 1861, Marrese demonstrates the significance of noblewomen's proprietary power. She concludes that Russian noblewomen were unique not only for the range of property rights available to them, but also for the active exercise of their legal prerogatives.A remarkably broad source base provides a solid foundation for Marrese's conclusions. These sources comprise more than eight thousand transactions from notarial records documenting a variety of property transfers, property disputes brought to the Senate, noble family papers, and a vast memoir literature. A Woman's Kingdom stands as a masterful challenge to the existing, androcentric view of noble society in Russia before Emancipation.
The massive economic transformations and political upheavals that have been sweeping China and the Soviet Union in the final decades of the twentieth century are among the great dramas of our time. Yet the origins of these revolutionary changes are murky and their outcomes unclear. Have we witnessed the demise of an archaic authoritarian order and the rise of pluralism and democracy, or are the tumultuous events of the post-Mao era and the period of perestroika more usefully viewed in light of broader patterns of power and politics in Chinese and Russian history? Considering these questions with a new interpretation of power relations and political processes in China and Russia, Mark Lupher explores the imperial era, the communist period, and the current situation in both countries. Rather than speaking of “reform,” which too often is understood as liberalization along Western lines, his discussion is focused on power restructuring—the ebb and flow of state power; the centralization and decentralization of political and economic power; and the three-way struggles between central rulers, various elites, and nonprivileged groups that drive these processes. Lupher’s power-restructuring analysis is noteworthy in combining broad comparative-historical analysis and conceptualization with a closely focused discussion and reinterpretation of the Chinese Cultural Revolution—the core of his book. By comparing and bringing new light to bear on a series of pivotal episodes in Chinese and Russian history, he furthers our understanding and assessment of processes that will continue to unfold in China, Russia, and the former Soviet republics.
This companion comprises 28 essays by international scholars offering an analytical overview of the development of Russian history from the earliest Slavs through to the present day. Includes essays by both prominent and emerging scholars from Russia, Great Britain, the US, and Canada Analyzes the entire sweep of Russian history from debates over how to identify the earliest Slavs, through the Yeltsin Era, and future prospects for post-Soviet Russia Offers an extensive review of the medieval period, religion, culture, and the experiences of ordinary people Offers a balanced review of both traditional and cutting-edge topics, demonstrating the range and dynamism of the field
Der Sammelband mit 30 Beitragen zur Fruhen Neuzeit der ostslavischen Geschichte bundelt internationale Forschungsergebnisse, die - zum Teil unter Einbeziehung neuer Archivquellen - zeigen, dass die wichtigsten Phanomene der Moderne alle ihre Wurzeln in den hier behandelten Jahrhunderten haben. Dabei finden verfassungspolitische Themen ebenso ihre Berucksichtigung wie konfessionelle, ideengeschichtliche, wirtschaftliche, bildungs- oder aussenpolitische Fragen. Neue kulturgeschichtliche Ansatze finden ihren Niederschlag zum einen in geschlechterspezifischen Beitragen, zum anderen in Aufsatzen zur Erinnerungskultur (z.B. die national-ukrainische Geschichte des 17. Jahrhunderts im Spiegel der Publizistik Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts). Besonderes Augenmerk gilt der Auseinandersetzung mit dem fachlichen Vermachtnis des im Jahre 2000 verstorbenen Professor Hans-Joachim Torkes.
The Tsar's Happy Occasion shows how the vast, ornate affairs that were royal weddings in early modern Russia were choreographed to broadcast powerful images of monarchy and dynasty. Processions and speeches emphasized dynastic continuity and legitimacy. Fertility rites blended Christian and pre-Christian symbols to assure the birth of heirs. Gift exchanges created and affirmed social solidarity among the elite. The bride performed rituals that integrated herself and her family into the inner circle of the court. Using an array of archival sources, Russell E. Martin demonstrates how royal weddings reflected and shaped court politics during a time of dramatic cultural and dynastic change. As Martin shows, the rites of passage in these ceremonies were dazzling displays of monarchical power unlike any other ritual at the Muscovite court. And as dynasties came and went and the political culture evolved, so too did wedding rituals. Martin relates how Peter the Great first mocked, then remade wedding rituals to symbolize and empower his efforts to westernize Russia. After Peter, the two branches of the Romanov dynasty used weddings to solidify their claims to the throne. The Tsar's Happy Occasion offers a sweeping, yet penetrating cultural history of the power of rituals and the rituals of power in early modern Russia.