Elena Glinskaya: reforms (table). The monetary reform of Elena Glinskaya and her essence

The reforms of Elena Glinskaya were carried out in conditions when the young united Russian state changed its way, abandoning the obsolete orders of the period of fragmentation.

The personality of Elena Glinskaya

In 1533, the Grand Duke Vasily III died suddenly. His first wife was never able to give birth to a child. Therefore, just before his death, he concluded his second marriage, despite the fact that it was contrary to the church rules. His second wife was Elena Glinskaya. As in any monarchy, in the Moscow principality, in the absence of an heir, the question of the succession of power sharply arose. Because of this, the personal life of the ruler became an invariable part of the state life.

Elena gave birth to Basil, two sons - Ivan and Yuri. The eldest of them was born in 1530. At the time of his father's death he was only three years old. Therefore, a regency council was assembled in Moscow, which included boyars from various influential aristocratic families.

The Board of Elena Glinskaya

At the head of the state was Elena Glinskaya, the mother of a young prince. She was young and full of energy. According to the law and tradition, Elena had to transfer power to her son when he reached the age of majority (17 years).

However, the regent suddenly died in 1538 at the age of 30. There were rumors in Moscow that she was poisoned by the Shuisky boyars, who wanted to take all power to the council with them. Anyway, the exact causes of death have not been clarified. The authorities for another decade passed to the boyars. This was a period of turmoil and outrage, which affected the character of the future king.

Nevertheless, during a short period of government, Elena managed to implement many state reforms that were called upon to improve life in the country.

Preconditions of the monetary reform

In 1535 an unprecedented transformation of the monetary system began, initiated by Elena Glinskaya. Reforms have been needed for several decades. Under Ivan III and Vasily III, the Moscow principality annexed a host of new sovereign territories (Novgorod republic, Pskov, Ryazan principality, etc.). Each region had its own currency. Rubles differed in denomination, coinage, shares of precious metals, etc. While the appanage princes were independent, each of them had its own mint and defined its financial policy.

Now all the scattered Russian lands found themselves in the jurisdiction of Moscow. But the mismatch of money led to a complication of interregional trade. Often, the parties to the transaction simply could not pay off due to the mismatch of their coins. This chaos could not remain without consequences. Throughout the country they caught counterfeiters, who flooded the market with low-quality counterfeits. There were several methods for their work. One of the most popular was the circumcision of coins. In the 1930s, the amount of low-quality money became threatening. Did not help and the execution of criminals.

The essence of changes

The first step to correcting the financial situation was to prohibit the monetary regalia (the right to chasing) the former free lands on whose territory their mints existed. The essence of Elena Glinskaya's monetary reform is the unification of the entire monetary system.

At this time, the number of European merchants increased, which gladly went to trade in the markets of Muscovy. In the country there were many rare goods for Western buyers (furs, metals, etc.). But the growth of trade was hampered by turmoil with counterfeit coins inside the Moscow Principality. The monetary reform of Elena Glinskaya was supposed to correct this situation.

Continuation of the policy of Basil III

It is interesting that measures to change the monetary policy were discussed even under Vasily III. The prince led an active foreign policy (he fought with Lithuania, the Crimea, etc.). The cost of the army was reduced by deliberately deteriorating the quality of coins, in which the share of precious metals declined. But Basil III died prematurely. Therefore, the monetary reform of Elena Glinskaya took place in unexpected circumstances. The Princess successfully coped with her task in a short time. This can only be explained by the fact that she was an active assistant in the affairs of Vasily when he was still alive. That's why Elena Glinskaya was aware of all the cases and necessary measures. The turmoil inside the Boyar Duma and the regency council could not prevent the young ruler.

Implementation of the reform

In February 1535, a decree was issued in Moscow on changes in monetary circulation. First, all the old coins that were minted to that day, became invalid (this involved both low-quality counterfeits and coins of the appropriate quality). Secondly, new money was introduced with a weight of one-third of a gram. For the convenience of small calculations, coins were also minted twice as easily (0.17 grams). They were called polushkami. At the same time, the word of the Turkic origin of "money" was officially fixed. Originally it was distributed among the Tatars.

However, there were also reservations, which included the monetary reform of Elena Glinskaya. To put it briefly, for Veliky Novgorod some exceptions were introduced. It was this city that was the merchant capital of the principality. Traders from all over Europe came here. Therefore, for the sake of simplicity, the Novgorod coins received their own weight (two thirds of a gram). They depicted a rider armed with a spear. Because of this, these coins began to be called kopecks. Later this word spread throughout Russia.

Effects

It is difficult to overestimate the benefits of Elena Glinskaya's reforms, which are very difficult to describe briefly. They helped the country to move to a new stage of development. The single monetary system facilitated and accelerated trade. In remote provinces, rare goods began to appear. The food deficit has decreased. Traders were rich and invested their profits in new projects, raising the economy of the country.

The quality of coins that were minted in Moscow has improved. Among the European merchants, Russian money began to be respected. Foreign trade of the country was activated, which allowed the sale of rare goods abroad, which gave a significant profit to the treasury. Helena Glinskaya's reforms contributed to all this. The table shows the main features of these transformations, not only in the financial, but also in other spheres of society.

Lip Reform

Princess Elena Glinskaya, whose reforms did not end financially, also began to change the system of local self-government. The change in state borders with her husband led to the fact that the old internal administrative division became ineffective. Because of this, Elena Glinskaya's lip reform began. It concerned local self-government. The adjective "labial" comes from the word "destroy". The reform also covered criminal justice in the province.

According to the princess's innovation in the country, there appeared labial huts in which the labwalkers worked. Such bodies were to begin work in each volost city. The labial elder could conduct a trial of the robbers. This privilege was selected from the feeders who appeared during the growth of the Moscow Principality. Boyars, who lived outside the capital, became not just governors. Sometimes their power was too dangerous for the political center.

Therefore, the transformations began in the local self-government, initiated by Elena Glinskaya. The reforms also introduced new territorial districts (lips), which corresponded to the territory that was under the supervision of the labial headmen. It was a division according to criminal jurisdiction. It did not abolish habitual volosts, which corresponded to administrative borders. The reform began under Elena and continued with her son Ivan. In the XVI century borders of the lips and volosts coincided.

Changes in local self-government

The elders were chosen from the local boyars. They were controlled by the Duma, which met in the capital, as well as the Robbery order. This management body was in charge of criminal cases of robberies, robberies, murders, as well as the work of prisons and executioners.

The separation of powers between the local administration and the courts has increased the effectiveness of their work. Also there was a post of labial tselovalnik. He was elected from among wealthy peasants and had to help the elder in his work.

If the criminal case could not be examined in the labile hut, it was sent to the Robbery Order. All these innovations have been brewing for a long time, but they appeared exactly at the time when the rules of Elena Glinskaya. Reforms have led to the fact that merchants and travelers have become safer to move on roads. The new system was useful in the improvement of the Volga lands, annexed during the reign of Ivan the Terrible (Kazan and Astrakhan khanates).

Also, the labial houses helped the authorities to fight anti-government protests among the peasantry. As mentioned above, the reform was needed not only to change local government, but also to combat feeding. The abandonment of this outdated practice occurred a little later, when the successors of Helen began to update the zemstvo legislation. As a result, in time, the appointed governors were replaced by electors who knew their district better than the appointees from Moscow.

Work of the labial tubes

The appearance of labial huts and the beginning of an organized fight against crime were the result of understanding that any violation of the law is not a private matter of the victim, but a blow to the stability of the state. After Helen Glinskaya, criminal norms were also updated in the Sudebnik of her son. Each labial elder received a staff of employees (tselovalnikov, tenths, etc.). Their number depended on the size of the lip and the number of residential yards within this territorial unit.

If before that the nurses were engaged only in an adversarial and prosecutorial process, the elders conducted investigative and investigative measures (for example, interviewing witnesses, finding evidence, etc.). This was a new level of legal proceedings, which made it possible to combat crime more effectively. The reforms of Elena Glinskaya have become an unprecedented push in this sphere of society.