Features of the economic development of ancient Russian and German cities in the XII – first third of the XIII century

Zueva Lyubov Evgen'evna PhD in History Associate Professor, Department of Social, Humanitarian and Legal Sciences, Murom Institute (branch) of Vladimir State University named after Alexander Grigorievich and Nikolai Grigorievich Stoletov 602264, Russia, Vladimir region, Murom, Orlovskaya str., 23, room 316a lyuba_evg@list.ru

The ancient Russian city has been an important object of historical science for a long period of time. Pre-revolutionary historians ^{[17] [18] [24]}, exploring the phenomenon of the city, the main directions of its study were determined: the genesis of urban settlements; the place of the assembly in the city government system; the role and functions of the prince in the ancient Russian city.

In the pre-war period of the formation of Soviet historical science, a number of works of a local history nature were published devoted to the study of the Vladimir-Suzdal Principality, including the theme of the ancient Russian city ^{[22] [6]}.

M.N. Tikhomirov, in the work "Ancient Russian Cities", was the first domestic researcher to draw attention to the similarity of the direction of development of cities of Ancient Russia and Western Europe, pointing to the negative role of the Mongol-Tatars, who destroyed most of the ancient Russian urban centers, which prevented them from becoming such a significant force as the cities of Western Europe ^[31].

I.N. Danilevsky agrees with M.N. Tikhomirov, pointing out the fact that despite the specifics of natural and climatic conditions, the originality of culture and everyday life of the Eastern Slavs, the genesis of urban centers in Russia and in Europe has similar features^[11].

The authors of the collective monograph "The City in the medieval Civilization of Western Europe", on the contrary, believe that the urban centers of Russia were seriously different from European ones, since they lacked artisan workshops and other corporate associations that later formed the foundation of European civil society ^[7].

V.B. Kobrin and A.L. Yurganov support this point of view, pointing out the serious dependence of the urban settlement on the prince and the fact that there is no burgher patrician here ^[19].

The phenomenon of the ancient Russian city is in the focus of attention of both domestic and foreign researchers. The core problem is to identify similarities and differences in the ways of development of urban centers in different geographical spaces. Thus, W. Blackwell ^[39] states the fundamental similarity of Russian and Western European cities, only pointing to such a specific feature of Russian cities as subordination to the central administration in order to collect taxes and control.

German historians X. Ruess and P. Nitsche conceptually define the ancient Russian state as an integral part of Europe ^[38], pointing out, however, the fact that there is no specific urban governance in the urban centers of Russia and the liberties and privileges of citizens recorded in charters (with the exception of Novgorod and Pskov). R. Hammel-Kizov comparing the topography of Novgorod and German Lubeck, fixes its similarity, but noting the specifics of the internal development of cities ^{[36, p.236]}.

Thus, there is no unity among domestic and foreign researchers on the issue of similarities and differences between ancient Russian and Western European cities: one group of scientists identifies them, the other insists on the originality of each of the urban phenomena.

Since its inception, the ancient Russian city has been the center of administrative and spiritual power, crafts and trade, uniting the agricultural district ^{[15, p.66]}.

I.Ya. Froyanov ^[35] and P.P. Tolochko ^[32], studying the problem of the genesis of urban centers in Russia, focus on their relationship with the rural district. "Being a product of the agricultural element, the ancient Russian city was connected with the agricultural district that gave rise to it by thousands of visible and invisible threads. For her, it was a natural economic, administrative, political and cultural center" ^{[32, p.115]}. P.P. Tolochko believed that the ancient Russian city was not an autonomous economic unit separated from the rural district ^{[33, p.99]}. Archaeological finds of agricultural tools (scythes, sickles, flails, etc.) demonstrate the importance of agricultural labor for ancient Russian citizens ^{[33, p.116]}.

Animal husbandry played a significant role in the economic life of the city, as evidenced by numerous archaeological finds of bones of large and small livestock ^{[33, p. 117]}. The importance of cattle breeding in cities is also confirmed by the oldest code of laws - Russian Truth, which contains an article on a fine in case of hay theft ^{[27, Article 5]}.

Despite the significant role of agriculture in urban life, the essence of the city was determined by trade and craft. The XII century for Vladimir and Suzdal is characterized by the rapid growth of urban settlements, inhabited, for the most part, by artisan people. This fact is confirmed by the archaeological finds of many craft workshops made by N.N. Voronin, as well as the fencing of the territory of Suzdal Posad with defensive structures discovered by M.V. Sedova and D.A. Belenka ^{[26] [3]}.

"To designate people engaged in handicrafts, in Ancient Russia the names were used: "artisans", "needlework people". However, these mentions are relatively rare, since the ancient Russian chroniclers more often referred to the entire urban population in general terms: "people", "child". Artisans were among them on an equal basis with the rest of the urban population, which, thus, was little differentiated by the chroniclers" ^{[31, p.142]}. Russian Pravda, which includes many articles on trade and credit, never mentions artisans, pointing only to the existence of gorodniki and mostnikov.

But this fact does not at all deny the existence of the mentioned category of citizens. Thus, M.N. Tikhomirov expresses the opinion that there were at least three dozen craft specialties here ^{[31, pp.88-89]}, and B.A. Rybakov, in turn, expands this list to 64 ^{[28, pp.509-510]}. The authors of the collective monograph "Ancient Russia: city, castle, village" suggest that the number of craft professions in large cities significantly exceeded one hundred ^{[14, p.244]}.

Most medieval industries could not exist outside of professional associations. Their appearance is associated with the concentration of artisan people in certain parts of the city, whose name reflected the specifics of the occupation of the people living here. Thus, the names "Remenniki" and "Gonchar" have been preserved in the historical topography of Vladimir.

The economic face of ancient Russian cities was largely determined by trade. We are aware of the existence of two types of trade – internal and external. In relation to traders within the country, the concept of "merchant" was used, those who traded with foreign powers were traditionally called "guest"." The extensive trade relations of the Suzdal land are recorded both by written sources and monuments of material culture. The Ipatiev chronicle under 1175 mentions that "merchants from Southern Russia, Constantinople, Western Europe and Volga Bulgaria came to Vladimir, calls "guests" "from Tsaryagorod and from other countries", "Bulgarians and Jews" ^{[16, stb.591]}. Sedova, conducting excavations in Suzdal, notes frequent finds of fragments of Central Asian and Bulgarian ceramics, as well as glassware and slate spinning wheels from the South Russian principalities ^{[29, p.111]}.

The articles of the Extensive Russian Truth allow us to reconstruct the appearance of a merchant, the peculiarities of his economic activity. The ancient code of laws defines a fine for the murder of a merchant: "If a person kills a person, ... then put 40 hryvnia for him; if (he) is a Rusin, Gridin, merchant..." ^{[27, art.1]}. This evidence suggests that merchants were part of a privileged social group along with princely vigilantes.

Both domestic merchants and "guests" had a high social status, being under the special protection of the prince. Prince Vladimir Vsevolodovich in "Teaching Children" advises his descendants to treat foreign merchants with respect: "most of all, honor a guest, no matter where he comes from, whether a commoner, or a noble, or an ambassador; if you cannot honor him with a gift, then with food or drink: for they, passing, will glorify a person across all lands, either good or evil" ^{[23, p.100]}.

Merchants with significant capital could not be outside the political life of the city. After the murder of Andrei Bogolyubsky, a period of interregnum followed, accompanied by a confrontation between Rostov and Suzdal, from the position of the older cities and the "younger" Vladimir. Mstislav and Yaropolk Rostislavichi, the tribesmen of the murdered prince from his elder brother, were captured by the Vladimirites, led by Prince Vsevolod Yuryevich. Reprisals against them were persistently demanded by representatives of the city elite – merchants and boyars – therefore the prince was forced to give the prisoners to them ^{[21, stb.385]}. Merchants also participated in important ceremonies – seeing off the prince's son to reign in another city (Konstantin Vsevolodovich went to Novgorod in 1206). Konstantin was accompanied by "all his father's boyars and all the merchants" ^{[21, stb.428]}. The above facts allow us to speculate about the high position of merchants in the social hierarchy of the city.

During the period under study, the first corporations of merchants appeared in Russia. The charter of one of them, the Ivan Hundred, has been preserved. The association was a monopolist in the field of wax sales, as well as the keeper of trade measures of weight, volume and length, sharing this responsibility with the Archbishop of Novgorod. The presence of merchant corporations in the cities of the Vladimir-Suzdal Principality is not directly confirmed by documents. One can only assume the existence of merchant armed caravans for the transportation of goods here, since robberies in that era were an ordinary event. From the information of the Laurentian Chronicle (weather record of 1216), we learn that 150 Novgorodians and 15 Smolnyans arrived in Pereslavl-Zalessky to trade "guest" ^{[21, stb.474]}.    

So, despite the close connection of the ancient Russian city with agriculture, its economic appearance was determined by craft and trade. The beginnings of trade and craft corporations are observed in cities, but the time of their existence turned out to be insignificant, since the Mongol invasion caused devastating damage to urban centers.

The main spheres of economic life in the medieval urban centers of Germany were similar. Just as in Russia, there is an inextricable connection between the city and the nearby agricultural district. The medieval European city was home to a fairly large number of large landowners who conducted market-oriented agriculture. "Many people had land in the city and the urban district, most often using it for the production of products necessary for personal needs, but also for sale on the local market" ^{[8, p.22]}. City charters contain numerous evidences of the facts of the existence of estates among the townspeople. For example, article 15 of the Second City Law of Strasbourg begins with the words: "if someone enters someone's house or estate ..." ^{[5, Article 15]}.

The lord of a privately owned or episcopal city had extensive land holdings located both outside the city walls and inside the urban settlement itself. The residence and manor of the Strasbourg lord bishop were located in the city itself. The competence of the city judge, among other things, included providing the seignorial estate with working cattle and tools. "To the manor yard located inside the city, Schultgeis should give 13 oxen for the bishop's plows ... and 1 horse, on which the master of the court will ride and carry seeds to the field" ^{[13, V.94]}. Probably, the land holdings of the lord of the city occupied a significant area, since the city charter contains the obligation of city residents to work as a corvee for five days a year.

City legislation sought to strictly regulate life inside the walls of the settlement, taking care of the improvement of urban space.  Animal husbandry, being one of the important occupations of the townspeople, forced the city authorities to establish rules for keeping livestock.  "No one should have pigs in the city unless he entrusts them to a shepherd" ^{[13, v.86]}.  Even in the European-scale shopping center, which was Strasbourg, there was a special territory where pigs were allowed to graze ^{[13, Article 87]}.  "Within the city, no one should feed pigs outside their home" ^{[5, Article 32]}, and in the case of uncontrolled pig walking in the city, the owner was obliged to pay a fine ^{[5, Article 32]}.

It is possible to explain the existence of such a close connection with agricultural labor and cattle breeding by a rather low income level of the majority of the population, as well as the weak marketability of agriculture in the district.  

The trade concept of the emergence of medieval cities defines trade as the core of urban economic life. The market or trade was under the special protection of the supreme authority – the king. In medieval society, this fact meant more severe punishment for those who dared to violate this peace – up to the death penalty. The city Constitution of Medebakh fixes: "We (Archbishop Reinhold of Cologne) firmly ordered that peace be preserved in the Medebach market" ^{[10, v.25]}. The auction accumulated a significant number of material values and capital, thus pushing to commit crimes here. The supreme protection of the trading place by the head of state provided conditions for the safe conduct of trade transactions.

Medieval German cities have concentrated trade within their borders since their inception. In order to conduct trading activities more effectively, merchants created professional associations. The city law of Zoest and Medebach gives us information that the first merchant corporations have been established here since the XII century. The rights and obligations of the corporation's members were fixed by city charters. From the constitution of Medebach, we learn about the existence in the city of a layer of merchants engaged in foreign trade with Denmark or Ancient Russia, who borrowed from a usurer to carry out trade operations ^{[10, V.15]}.

 Such information is found in city charters with enviable constancy, which allows us to conclude that there was a developed credit and usury system in medieval cities.

The economic life of a medieval city cannot be imagined without the existence of trade, but, nevertheless, craft should be considered the core of the urban economy. Artisans, who made up the majority of urban residents, made products for sale, creating the basis for trade exchange. In Strasbourg, a major trading center of the European region, already at the beginning of the XIII century there were several dozen associations of artisans – the forerunners of future workshops, and there was only one merchant guild. Thus, handicraft work, which gave rise to small-scale production, provided the city with a new quality as a place of concentration of professional craft and trade.

A significant amount of information about the differentiation of urban crafts and the presence of professional craft associations is provided by the Oldest Urban and Second Law of Strasbourg. Other city charters practically did not include articles devoted to artisan people, which makes it possible to consider the above-mentioned documents unique. They mention fifteen of the most common craft specialties, although scientists and archaeological data will allow us to assert the existence of more than a hundred urban crafts.  "Only in the city there were conditions for improving skills, exchanging production experience" ^{[37, S.234]}.  

At the beginning of the XII century, the first guild associations of urban artisans appeared. Membership in the workshop allowed the artisan to produce a certain type of product according to a strictly regulated procedure, and also guaranteed the right to sell them within the city limits.

"By the beginning of the XIII century, there was almost no "free" craft left in the medieval city: all artisans were part of associations to one degree or another. In the traditional, class, corporate society of the Middle Ages, the constitution of any activity was most successful through the association of those engaged in this activity into a socially recognized collective" ^{[9, p.118]}.

Despite the fact that the final formation of the guild system (associated with the adoption of the charters of associations) took place at the turn of the XIII-XIV centuries, articles partially regulating the work of artisans appear in the city constitutions of an earlier period. The second city law of Strasbourg, recorded in 1214, introduces certain requirements for the quality of weaving products. "Gray cloths that are not two cubits and a quarter wide must be burned. And if a hair is mixed with the cloth, then it is also subject to burning" ^{[5, v.56]}. Certain requirements were imposed on coopers – they must "make barrels up to 40 am [am is a medieval measure of volume] and without bark" ^{[5, art.41]}.

The design of professional associations of merchants and artisans testified to such a characteristic feature of the European Middle Ages as corporatism.

Thus, the medieval German city appears to us as a single organism uniting many corporations and living according to documented rules, whose members thoroughly defend their liberties and privileges. Ancient Russia in the XII - first third of the XIII century. only embarked on the path already traversed by European cities, but the fall of the northeastern Russian lands under the rule of the Golden Horde led to a slowdown in the socio-economic processes taking place in the ancient Russian city, as a result of which the vector of development of the domestic city has changed significantly.