The Muscovite Tsarsdom as an Early Modern State

• In Event: Muscovy in Comparative Perspective

Abstract

This paper draws attention to "family resemblance" between Muscovite Russia of the 16th and 17th centuries and early modern states elsewhere in Europe, highlighting the ideas of sovereignty and common good, the impersonal power of the growing officialdom, the expanding space of public consultations (councils and assemblies of the land), patronage systems, and submission of the Church to the secular authorities. However, stressing common features does not mean ignoring important differences (e.g., in the tax systems, or in the relations between the rulers and their subjects). On the whole, the Muscovite "case" can contribute to a serious modification of the conventional pattern of a European early modern state.

Author

• Mikhail Markovich Krom, European U at St. Petersburg (Russia)