Human activities in the past, their worldview, role in society - all this is the subject of study of the humanities of history. She, based on documents and traces of disappeared eras, explains the life of previous generations.
An increasingly frequently asked question: "Was there a yoke?"
And what to do when there are no concrete traces, but there is only mention of them in the annals, the data of which have always been questioned? How many generations have studied the Mongol-Tatar yoke in schools! Now, not only has this term been removed from historical science and replaced with the phrase "Golden Horde", but absolutely everything related to this phenomenon is disputed. They even ask questions: “Did she even undertake campaigns in Russia?” And quite convincing facts are given that I did not undertake. However, many people from the school day are sure that Russia was under the yoke for 200 years, and the “prince of reign” khans of the Golden Horde were given to Russian princes. But for some reason not one of them has survived.
A document known firsthand
About this kind of documents, as well as about their existence in general, they know only from the annals. However, in later works of literature and art, the very fact of trips to bow to the Horde khans was repeatedly described. The artist Boris Chorikov (1802-1866), known as an illustrator of History of Russia by Karamzin, painted a feud between the Russian princes, arranged by them right in front of a contented khan, for the right to receive a "label for reigning". What was this document? What made princes with rich gifts "go" to the court of the Horde khan? This was a permit issued by the ruler of the ulus of Jochi, or the Golden Horde, a powerful state with a huge army, which, if necessary, confirmed the strength of this decree with sabers. The Khan, having accepted the gifts, allowed the one who brought them to rule in a certain inheritance, even if at that time his prince was sitting there. Khan, as a cunning oriental politician, skillfully used the "shortcut to reign" with the aim of pitting county princes. Thus, controlled Russia could not unite for a joint rebuff to the Horde. As a result of such a policy of the khans, the specific rulers waged war on each other, weakening fragmented Russia.
Dependence of Russia
This became possible because in the years 1237-1242 the Mongols launched an invasion of Russia. It is very interesting that the term “yoke” was not used anywhere in Russian literature. And why it was necessary to adopt the “word”, first used by the Polish chronicler Jan Dolgusz, knowing that this country can distort any fact, if only to annoy or humiliate Russia. And it was used at the end of the 15th century, when there was no trace of the so-called “yoke”. After the Horde invasion, our country was put in vassal dependence - tributary and political. The idea of issuing a “label of reign” was born, obviously, in the headquarters of the khan, because the first trip, and all subsequent ones, began with the prince being called to court.
The first prince to receive the label
Prince Vladimir-Suzdal Yuri Vsevolodovich died at the walls of the legendary Kitezh, in Harakorum, the capital of the Mongol Empire, his brother, Yaroslav , was called. His first trip was considered very successful and was even called diplomatic success. It was he, the father of Alexander Nevsky, who received the first label for reigning. On his second visit to the Horde, he was poisoned by the regent Turashna, the widow of Kaan Ugedei. She immediately called to the court of Alexander, perhaps for the same purpose of the murder. But for various reasons, the prince of Novgorod did not appear in the Horde for 4 years. The poisoner herself suffered the same fate - two months after her son ascended the throne, she was put to death in the same way. At the court of Khan Batu, those still raged.
Intrigues and intrigues
It was necessary to go to the Khan’s headquarters, because only the prince, who received a label for reigning, was considered the rightful ruler. And this concerned not only the
great princes, but also the specific ones. Legally elected Kiev prince Svyatoslav, who was hesitating with the trip, was replaced by his brother Mikhail. Why was this letter so coveted? At first, the Mongols came to Russia for tribute. But riots began, especially in Novgorod. The Hordes preferred to rule the principalities from afar and therefore shifted the collection of tribute to the princes themselves. That is, the place of the prince was more than bread - tribute was charged much more than given to the Horde. The prince, who received the label of reign, significantly increased his wealth. That is why the wicked rushed to bypass the legitimate rulers at the feet of the khan, who was considered the supreme
ruler of Russia. Trips there were expensive and long. So, the cunning politician Ivan Kalita spent most of his time in the Horde and the road, getting there and there. Grandson of Alexander Nevsky Moscow Prince Yuri III Danilovich lived at headquarters for 2 years, married the sister of the khan, thus earning a label for a great reign.
Beautiful, omnipotent, disappeared
According to the stories, the label was a gold plate, the edges of which were rounded. It had a hole for hanging. It is more than strange why there was not a single Golden Label left. Made of precious metal, not subject to time, playing such a huge role in the history of Russia, it disappeared. Labels were also given to the clergy. All of them massively disappeared. The trouble of Ancient Russia was that the rulers, as a rule, had many sons, and large territorial formations were divided between them, turning into small specific principalities. An intelligent politician appeared, united them for a while, and then everything was repeated. So, by the beginning of the XIII century in Russia, in addition to a number of small ones, there were two large principalities - Vladimir and Kiev, the former was much more powerful and larger in size than the latter. Therefore, to receive a label for the Great reign of Vladimir was the cherished dream of many princes, including Alexander Nevsky. He finally got to the Horde with his brother Andrew and received permission to the Kiev table, which was very offended.