Justice of the Rus

Context

The promulgation of the Justice of the Rus marked a critical step in the larger process of forming Eastern Slavic (and some Finnic) tribes into a single Rus state ruled from Kiev. (The original meaning of the term Rus is still debated, but it generally refers to these various tribes and their growing state.) Although some scholars argue that an organized Rus state existed from as early as the sixth century—a view based partly on trade with the wealthy Byzantine Empire and its great capital Constantinople to the south—the dominant theory argues for a founding date in the late ninth century and attributes a key role to outsiders known in Western history as the Vikings and in Russian history as the Varangians. According to a common version of this thesis, Varangians, traveling back and forth along river routes linking their Scandinavian homeland and the Byzantine Empire, began to organize and lead a growing number of raids on Constantinople, including a major attack in 860. Rus soldiers were recruited for these campaigns. Over time, Varangian princes assumed more general power over the Rus, welding them into a state.

There is considerable evidence in support of this theory from the field of linguistics, archaeological records, and the records of the Vikings themselves. Also of some use is the Primary Chronicle, an annalistic account of early Rus history compiled in Russia by Orthodox Christian monks during the mid-eleventh through the early twelfth centuries. This text tells how, frustrated by the persistence of their own intertribal conflicts, some Rus tribes appealed to the Varangians in 862; the document notes the wealth and promise of Rus land but also a general lack of order. Three Varangian brothers supposedly responded. Following the deaths of two, the third, named Rurik, inherited a nascent Rus state centered in the northern city of Novgorod.

Although scholars consider this story, and Rurik himself, to be only semihistorical, the Rurik Dynasty he supposedly founded ruled Kievan Rus and Russia itself until the death of the czar Fyodor I (son of Ivan IV, “the Terrible”) in 1598. There is much greater historical certainty about Rurik's immediate successor, another Varangian named Oleg. He successfully united many more Eastern Slavs, established his capital at Kiev, and is considered the true founder of Kievan Rus. His successors continued the effort to subjugate and unite more tribes under Kievan control. Eventually, the Varangians were absorbed into the surrounding populations. This mixing of Rus and Viking, along with the inclusion of Finnic and other local tribes, formed the basis of the modern-day Russian people.

The next major event in the development and consolidation of Kievan Rus came in 988, when Vladimir, grand prince of Kiev, converted to Orthodox Christianity and made it the official religion of his entire domain. The adoption of Christianity went hand in hand with ongoing efforts to forge a single, more centralized state. All of these efforts were endangered, however, by continual feuding among Rus princes, which threatened to tear the state apart completely. Following Vladimir's death in 1015, a protracted struggle ensued as several of his sons claimed power. Yaroslav, the eventual victor, had previously been prince of Novgorod. From this position he had already issued at least two local charters, serving as precedents for his Justice of the Rus.

Historians identify at least two reasons that the Justice of the Rus was promulgated. First, it helped Yaroslav secure power, gain legitimacy, and reestablish order; it can thus be seen as part of the larger princely project of state building and centralization. At the same time, in formalizing certain rules and procedures, it also defined and limited the prince's powers. Thus, many historians believe that the Justice of the Rus may have been forced upon Yaroslav by prominent Novgorodians as the price for their support of his quest to become grand prince of Kiev.

The Justice of the Rus drew on a variety of traditions and precedents. In Yaroslav's original clauses, the influence of Eastern Slavic common law is apparent, blended with rulings and clauses reflecting the interests of the prince. The additions and revisions undertaken by his sons (and others thereafter) more obviously reflect the growing needs and interests of the state and its rulers, and are thus an indication of the rise of state power at that time. The Justice of the Rus, especially later versions, also shows the influence of Byzantine law, with which the Rus would have been familiar, given a long history of commercial, military, and religious interaction.

The Justice of the Rus was not the only tradition of law in Kievan Rus. From the time of Russia's Christianization in the late tenth century, there had also existed a body of canon law. This was largely unaffected by the issuance of the Justice of the Rus. Members of the clergy, other persons employed by the church, and peasants living on church lands were subject in all matters exclusively to church law and courts. For all other persons, church law applied only in the case of family and sexual matters, such as marriage and divorce, rape, and incest. A new ecclesiastical code was also issued during Yaroslav's reign at Kiev. Thus the issuance of the Justice of the Rus created a fairly neat division of jurisdiction between secular and ecclesiastical law.