About the Structure of the Boyar Duma and Palace Administration in the Period of Boyar Rulling in the 30s–40s of the 16th Century

• Main Author: Alexander L. Korzinin
• Format: Article
• Language: Russian
• Published: Volgograd State University 2019-10-01
• Series: Vestnik Volgogradskogo Gosudarstvennogo Universiteta. Seriâ 4. Istoriâ, Regionovedenie, Meždunarodnye Otnošeniâ
• Subjects: boyar rulling; boyar duma; aristocracy; political struggle; public administration; 16th century
• Online Access: https://hfrir.jvolsu.com/index.php/en/component/attachments/download/2042

Introduction. The main purpose of the publication is to recreate members of the Boyar duma and palace administration, to reconstruct the high-ranking structure of the top of the Sovereign court during the period of Boyar rulling on the basis of all published and archival documents. Methods and materials. The method of genealogical analysis and the method of prosopografical investigation are applied to the research of the duma and palace composition. The author uses information from various editions of genealogical books, Gosudarev rodoslovets of 1555, lists of noble families of the late 17th c., charge and ambassadorial books, acts on land, chronicles, supplementary books of monasteries. Analysis. The author reveals the features of the highest appointments, dynamics of appointments to the Boyar duma and palace administration during the political crisis of 1533–1547. Results. The author notes that new appointments in the Boyar duma and palace administration depended not only on the developed political environment, but also on the patrimonial order of inheritance of the highest ranks in a narrow circle of boyar clans notable and close to the throne. One more important conclusion received as a result of the research is that during the studied period powerful aristocrats possessed two ranks of boyars (okolnichy and dvoretsky) at the same time. The explanation of this can be found, perhaps, in the process of bureaucratization of management noted by M.M. Krom, which was expressed in isolation of government from the carrier of the supreme power and formation of the professional group of managers which concentrated the most significant administrative functions in their hands.