The prince is the highest aristocratic title. Significant milestones of the reign of Prince Igor

The prince is a title. During feudalism he wore the head of state, who was the sole ruler. In the hands of the prince was concentrated all power. This term was endowed with high meaning among the Slavs and other peoples of Europe in the 9th-16th centuries. Later, the prince - it was already just the highest noble title.

Who was called the prince?

The Slavs considered the prince to be the leader of the tribe, and later, in the period of early feudalism, the head of state or a single territory. At first the princely power was elected, but after the passage of time, from the 9th to the 16th centuries, it began to be inherited from father to son. Thus, a kind of Rurikovich appeared in Russia, where the rulers were the great princes Oleg, Igor, Yaropolk. This was before the beginning of the 18th century, when the title of prince in Russia was the only one that was inherited.

But during the reign of Peter 1, the title loses its prestige, as foreigners from Europe, called princes, began to come to Russia. By this title they began to present their subjects for certain merits, which had a special significance for the state. The first was favorite in the princes favorite Peter 1 Alexander Menshikov. At the dawn of the Great October Socialist Revolution this and all other noble titles were abolished.

Grand Duke - who is this?

This ancient title was called the rulers of the Russian state. The Rurikovich family began to expand, which made it necessary to distinguish the older generation. They were given the title "Grand Duke". At first it was an honorary title and that's it. The Grand Duke is a ruler who does not have the right to interfere in the administration that the younger princes performed. When Andrei Bogolyubsky ravaged Kiev, this title began to be appropriated to Vladimir princes, but the Kiev ones were called by tradition.

At the time of the Tatars, power was vested with the title of Khan. Then the Grand Dukes had the right to interfere in the management of the affairs of the specific princes. In the time of Basil the Dark, Moscow became the capital of the great princes. During the reign of Ivan 3, this title is gradually replaced with the title of sovereign. The Grand Duke also called the specific princes, if their land was fragmented and separated from the Vladimir and then the Moscow principalities. The title "prince" eventually began to be supplemented and fouled with differences: the most brilliant prince, lordship.

Significant milestones of the reign of Prince Igor

• Igor - the ruler of Kiev since 912. He came to power after his brother Oleg died. The general term of his reign is 32 years. During this time, the prince managed to conquer Uglich and Drevlyane, forcing them to pay tribute, for which he himself was poisoned each year with his squad. Such campaigns were called "polyudye" and played a fatal role in Igor's life.
• In 1913, under his command, a campaign was made to the shores of the Caspian Sea, the approaches to which were controlled by the Khazars. When the prince and his troops approached Baku, for further advancement, they had to promise half the booty to the Khazars. It really turned out to be huge. The promised share of the Khazars received, but it seemed to them a little. A terrible battle began. In it, Prince Igor lost almost all of his army.
• The prince of Kiev is the only Russian commander who collected a huge fighting squad for the struggle against the Polovtsians. But this time Igor's goal was different: it was necessary to liberate the Russian land from the Pechenegs, who for the first time attacked Russia. They, like the nomadic tribes of Ugrians, Bulgars, Avars, came from the east. Pechenegs, unable to withstand the meeting with a strong Igor's army, retreated and went to Bessarabia, terrifying their neighbors. In 915, defeated foreigners made peace with Prince Igor, who after five years was violated by them. Since 920 the nomadic tribes of the Pechenegs have again begun to encroach on the Russian lands.
• 935 is marked by campaigns to Italy in conjunction with the Greeks. In general, the period of the reign of Igor in the annals preserved little information.

• Prince Igor is the legal successor and follower of his brother Oleg. But in his reign there was nothing significant until 941, until he made a campaign to Constantinople, which ended in complete defeat of the squad: more than half of the soldiers were destroyed. The Byzantines in this battle used the Greek fire.
• Defeated in the last campaign, Prince Igor in 943 again went to battle against the Greeks. But the Bulgarians and Khazars warned the Byzantines about it. The Greeks offered a world profitable for the Russian prince. Igor accepted it.
• In 944, the rulers of the two states concluded a new peace treaty. The essence of it was that the world will last as long as the sun shines and the world stands. The signing of this treaty was of great importance, since it became the first international document in which the country was called "Russian land". Igor returned from this campaign victorious, not having entered with the Byzantines in the battle.

It seemed that the time of failure had passed and the old Igor had time to peacefully rule. But it was not so. The outrages of their own grand prince's friends began because of the emptiness of the treasury as a result of frequent unsuccessful campaigns and payments to hired warriors. Igor's servants encouraged him to go to collect tribute with them. Such trips were called a pole, as a result of which a tribute was collected from the subject tribes.

The death of Prince Igor

The Prince of Kiev is the son of Rurik. Igor died because of his own imprudence. When during the next polyudja the tribute from the Drevlyan was collected, under the pressure of his squad, he decided to return to Iskorosten and collect the tribute a second time. But he went on a campaign with a small number of squads, since the bulk of it was sent to Kiev along with the looted goods. This was his mistake. Igor did not accept the offer of the Drevlyans to leave their land and not to collect the tribute for a second time, for which he was executed along with his soldiers. The period of the reign of Prince Igor is characterized by the spread of the power of Rusich to vast territories: on both sides of the Dnieper, in its upper and middle reaches, to the Caucasus in the southeast and Volkhov to the north.