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Sudebnik of 1497

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TheSudebnik of 1497(Russian:Судебник 1497 года), also known as theSudebnik of Ivan III(Russian:Судебник Ивана III), was a collection oflawsintroduced byIvan IIIin 1497. It played a big part in thecentralisationof the Russian state, the creation of all-Russian legislation, and the elimination offeudal fragmentation.[1][2][3][4]It was later replaced by theSudebnik of 1550underIvan IV.[5][6]

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Sudebnik of 1497 in the Russian State Archive of Ancient Documents

TheSudebnikreplaced the former legal charters of different Russian principalities as a code for the entire state. It set up an order of court procedures and legal norms, binding uniformly on all parts of the state and strengthening the central authority in Moscow.[7][8]

TheSudebniktakes its roots from earlier law codes, including theRusskaya Pravda,thePskov Judicial Charter,princelydecrees,andcommon law,the regulations of which had been upgraded with reference to social and economic changes. TheSudebnikwas overall a collection oflegal procedures.It established a universal system of thejudicialbodies of the state, defined theircompetenceandsubordination,and regulatedlegal fees.TheSudebnikexpanded the range of acts considered punishable by the standards ofcriminal justice(e.g.,sedition,sacrilege,slander). It also renewed the concept of different kinds of acrime.Sudebnikestablished the investigative nature of legal proceedings. It provided different kinds ofpunishment,such as thedeath penaltyandflagellation.In order to protect thefeudallandownership,Sudebnikintroduced certain limitations in the law of estates, increased theterm of limitationoflegal actionswith regards to princely lands, introduced flagellation for the violation ofpropertyboundaries of princely,boyarandmonasticlands – violation ofpeasantland boundaries entailed afine.TheSudebnikalso introduced afee(пожилое,or pozhiloye) for peasants who wanted to leave their feudal lord (Крестьянский выход,or Krestiyansky vykhod), and also established a universal day (November 26) across the Russian state for peasants who wanted to switch their masters (Юрьев день,orYuri's Day).[1][9]

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  1. ^abMonuments of Russian Law. Vol. 3: Monuments of Law in the Period of Formation of Russian Centralized State in 14—15 centuries / ed. by Lev Cherepnin. Moscow, 1955. P. 419—420, 426—432, 438—457. (Russian:Памятники русского права. М.: Госюриздат, 1955. Вып. 3: Памятники права периода образования Русского централизованного государства XIV—XV вв./ под ред. Л.В. Черепнина. С. 341—416.Also full Old Russian text and translation into modern Russian).
  2. ^Bushkovitch, Paul (2012).A Concise History of Russia.New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 36.ISBN9780521543231.Ivan III in his own time already had the reputation of the builder of the Russian state... The consolidation of Russia as a state was not just a territorial issue, for Ivan also began the development of a state apparatus...
  3. ^Feldbrugge, F. J. M. (17 June 1993).Russian Law: The End of the Soviet System and the Role of Law.Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. pp. 78–79.ISBN978-0-7923-2359-4.Although it was the first major piece of all-Russian legislation since several centuries, covering a wide range of topics subject to the secular courts, it should not be regarded as a code in the modern sense
  4. ^Letiche, John M. (27 May 2022).A History of Russian Economic Thought: Ninth Through Eighteenth Centuries.Univ of California Press. p. 102.ISBN978-0-520-31868-7.
  5. ^Skrynnikov, Ruslan G. (20 October 2015).Reign of Terror: Ivan IV.BRILL. p. 33.ISBN978-90-04-30401-7.
  6. ^The American Slavic and East European Review 1956 Volume XV.1963. p. 338.
  7. ^Letiche, John M. (27 May 2022).A History of Russian Economic Thought: Ninth Through Eighteenth Centuries.Univ of California Press. p. 102.ISBN978-0-520-31868-7.
  8. ^Dewey, Horace W. (1956)."The 1497 Sudebnik-Muscovite Russia's First National Law Code".American Slavic and East European Review.15(3): 325–338.doi:10.2307/3001097.JSTOR3001097.
  9. ^English translation by H. W. Dewey.

Bibliography[edit]

WikisourceThis article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:"Судебники 1497 и 1550 гг.".Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary(in Russian). 1906.