From the sixteenth century journalistic works have reached us, the author of which is Ivan Peresvetov, one of the outstanding minds of the era of Ivan the Terrible. At a time when dissent in the country was suppressed with particular cruelty, he had the courage to express ideas that run counter to official state ideology. Information about his life is very limited, the only source from which they were gleaned were his own works, which preserved his name in the memory of his descendants.
Service in the ranks of mercenary troops
Peresvetov Ivan Semenovich came from Lithuanian lands and, having reached adulthood, became a professional military man. Of the two petitions written by him in the name of Tsar Ivan the Terrible, it is known that in the late twenties of the 16th century, he, together with a group of Polish nobles, served in the army of the Hungarian king Jan Zapol. Apparently, we are talking about hired service, so common in those days.
Having fought under the banner of Zapoly for several years, Ivan joined the service of his adversary, the Czech monarch Ferdinand I of Habsburg. The reason for this was a change in the policy of the Polish king Sigismund I, whose subject was Ivan Peresvetov. After a short time, fate threw him into the army of the Moldavian ruler Peter IV, with whom he participated in several campaigns.
In the power of the boyar bureaucracy
Further, in his petition, he reports that in the late thirties he arrived in the capital city of Moscow. Here, he was assigned to supply the army with the production of combat shields, but this project was not realized due to the fault of the boyars, who at that time constituted the ruling elite in the country. Either they made bureaucratic obstacles so sweet to their hearts, or they simply plundered money, but Ivan Peresvetov was left out of work, and the valiant army was without shields.
Once in Moscow and immediately faced with destructive manifestations of uncontrolled boyar power for the state, he gives deep insight to everything he sees and tries to look for ways to solve the problem. He sets out his thoughts on paper and in the form of petitions gives to the people who ruled the country on behalf of the then-young Tsar Ivan IV. But the temporary workers who were in power at that time had nothing to do with his thoughts, and the papers submitted to him remained unanswered.
Criticism of Moscow Boyars
The petitions of Ivan Peresvetov of those years did not reach us, and even the very fact that they really existed was questioned for a long time. Only studies of scientists of the XX century have confirmed their reliability. Today, historians have at their disposal the works of Peresvetov, written by him in a later period, when the young Ivan IV reached the age that allowed him to rule the country on his own. This refers to the end of the forties of the XVI century. The literary heritage of the author includes two collections - full and incomplete edition.
The main content in the works of Ivan Peresvetov in one way or another boils down to harsh criticism of the highest boyars, exposing his unscrupulousness and moral decay, the result of which were the widespread lawlessness. He contrasts them with “poor but brave warriors”. That is, service people, who constituted the true support of the state. The social and philosophical ideas of Ivan Peresvetov are in many respects close to the moods of the lower layer of the feudal lords — the nobility. In them, he expresses himself as an ideologist of the Moscow autocracy. The theme of the need for “formidable tsarist power” passes through all his compositions with a red thread.
Opponent of enslavement and enslavement
However, in the works of Ivan Peresvetov often expressed thoughts that are incompatible with the basic principles of the political system of that era. A significant place in them belongs to the condemnation of all forms of enslavement and enslavement of the lower strata of society. The author cites the biblical words as the main argument that all people, regardless of origin and nationality, are “children of Adam,” and therefore, the strong should not be possessed by the weak. In his opinion, all enslavement takes place at the devilish instigation.
The ideas set forth in his writings were unusually bold and could not but arouse the fury of opponents. So, for example, Ivan Peresvetov argued that everyday truth and justice are higher than religious faith. Such a comparison set up a significant part of the clergy against him. Nevertheless, he attributed the troubles of the Moscow state precisely to the lack of truth, which he so boldly extolled over all spiritual values.
Advice to the Emperor
In his petitions sent to Ivan the Terrible at a time when he had already taken power tightly in his hands, Peresvetov took the liberty of giving advice to the monarch on governing the country. How terrible the king thought it necessary to be guided by them, became the subject of scientific debate in the XIX century. In particular, the famous historian Karamzin drew attention to the fact that much of what Peresvetov wrote received a real reflection in the tsar’s politics, but whether this was a coincidence or the monarch really did not disdain the thoughts of his subject remains a mystery.
This can be illustrated by the example of the conquest of the Kazan kingdom, carried out in 1552. The fact is that Peresvetov in his works acted as an ardent supporter of the struggle against the Tatars and really wrote about the need to seize their capital. But to say that Ivan the Terrible took a decisive campaign under the influence of his calls would be somewhat reckless. The fight against the Kazan kingdom has been waged since the beginning of the 15th century, and its outcome was hardly the result of these petitions.
Also quite controversial is the role of Peresvetov in drafting the Code of Laws in 1550 - the code of state laws of Russia. The idea of ​​the need for its creation is often found in petitions, but it was embodied in the life of the sovereign in a slightly different way.
The philosophical ideas of Ivan Peresvetov about the equality of all people before God and the inadmissibility of enslavement were contrary to the policy of the tsar, which was reflected in Sudebnik, whose laws did not prohibit the enslavement of some people by others, but only regulated this process.
Boyar son - the enemy of slavery
By the way, in his statements about the inadmissibility of the conversion of free people to slaves, Peresvetov was not alone. The history of Russia includes the name of another opponent of slavery - Matvey Bashkin. This boyar son, declared a malicious heretic, preached not forced service, but the performance of certain duties exclusively on a voluntary basis. In his patrimony, he released all the serfs into the wild, destroying the documents attesting to their subordinate and disenfranchised social status.
A variety of literary forms in the works of Peresvetov
Literary monuments belonging to the pen of Ivan Peresvetov are very diverse in nature. If we talk about the above Malaya and Bolshoi petition, the first of them is really a petition - an appeal to the king in order to achieve a concrete momentary result. In this case, it was a request for help in the production of shields for the army. If we turn to the Bolshoi petition, then it is easy to notice that this is a document of a completely different order. We are faced with a detailed political treatise pursuing far-reaching, strategic goals.
His works, such as The Legend of Magmet Saltan and The Legend of Tsar Constantine, are completely different in their literary form. At first glance, all the features of stories written in an epic style are inherent in them, but upon closer examination, it becomes clear that these are acutely journalistic works aimed at eradicating vices that existed in society, the enemy of which was Ivan Peresvetov. His ideas were found in these novels in an original and highly artistic expression. In many ways, they were ahead of their time.
The main content in the works of Ivan Peresvetov was to reflect reality and identify its vices. It is in this vein that the author criticizes the Byzantine king Constantine, who became responsible for the fact that the once powerful power, having become the prey of the greedy and dishonest courtiers, became weak and fell victim to Magmet-Saltan. Here clearly refers to Sultan Muhammad II, who captured Constantinople in 1453. It was a kind of warning about what the country's uncontrolled willfulness of its rulers leads to.
The end of life, hidden for centuries
It remains unknown when and under what circumstances Ivan Peresvetov passed away. His biography practically does not contain specific information. One can only assume that he hardly completed his earthly journey in peace and quiet - too many seditious thoughts were expressed to him . This is indirectly confirmed by the fact that in subsequent years the name of Peresvetov was hushed up in every way and for a long time was in oblivion. This is the destiny of all who are not afraid to tell the truth in the face of the powerful.