Epoch-making years. The Board of Ivan the Terrible

In the history of Russia, the years 1547-1583 play a large role. These years (the reign of Ivan the Terrible) are associated with the general public, first of all, with the infamous oprichnina. And it really had an important influence on the further political, social and economic development of the Moscow State. At the same time, it is important to note other large-scale changes that occurred in these years. The reign of Ivan the Terrible was accompanied by various reforms carried out by the peculiar government of his time - the Elected Rada. In essence, all the reforms were aimed at centralizing the state and further creating, in fact, uniform state orders and structures throughout the country. In this sense, they did not differ in anything special these years. The reign of Ivan the Terrible was quite consistent with the all-European tendencies towards the absolutization of monarchical rule, which began in the High Middle Ages. Here we should mention another reason that Ivan the Terrible probably meant. The years of the reign of his father and his predecessor, Vasily III, were marked by large-scale popular riots. And in 1547 the mob even dared to kill the representative of the royal family, outraged by the tyranny of the boyars. It was obvious that the government needed reforms. First of all, judicial and administrative.

Reforming activities of the Chosen People

To realize these goals, a kind of unofficial government was created under the tsar, which operated from 1547 to 1560. All reforms were aimed in fact at forming a qualitative bureaucratic state system in the Moscow kingdom, taking control of the situation in the country, centralizing power, eliminating the survivals of feudal civil strifes, and so on. This unofficial government included some noblemen, boyars, and spiritual leaders. The main transformations were as follows:

1. Judicial reform. The boyar court could no longer judge the boyars themselves, this right was transferred to the exclusive jurisdiction of the royal court. The new court, developed by the Rada, liquidated a number of judicial privileges of the feudal lords and increased the importance of the central courts. For the first time the main and only source of law was proclaimed the law. That is, ordinary rights that indulged the boyar arbitrariness were liquidated.
2. Zemsky Reform transferred to the department of urban or rural communities independent management: the collection of taxes and the maintenance of their own forces of order. In addition, the peasant community was recognized equal in rights with the urban. Now all of her elected - the village elder, the dvorian - were considered employees of the state.
3. Military reform - perhaps the most important, which was marked by the time of the reign of Ivan the Terrible. She proclaimed the principle of compulsory gentry service. In the 1550's, an Archer army was created , for the first time in Russian lands. Important was the decree, which abolished the vicegerency during periods of hostilities.

Oprichnina

At the same time, despite the work of the boyars themselves, aimed at centralizing the state, for them the harsh years soon came. The reign of Ivan the Terrible in its last period was marked by total terror against the aristocracy. It seemed to the tsar that the reforms were too slow, that the members of the government intentionally delayed the absolutization of his power. In the early 1960s, the king decides the question from the shoulder. He creates a very docile corps of military oprichniki, who literally begin to destroy physically the representatives of the boyars.