Not a single medieval European state in its development passed the stage of feudal fragmentation. Somewhere it was overcome quite quickly (as, for example, in England), and somewhere regional political entities remained quite independent almost until the twentieth century (as happened in Germany and Italy). This fate did not bypass medieval Russia. The period of strengthening of princely power and the conquest of East Slavic tribes was replaced by the era of redistribution of land allotments between the bred representatives of the princely family.
Prerequisites of the Lubey Congress
Perhaps the first forerunner of this era should be considered the struggle of Vladimir Svyatoslavich with his brother Yaropolk. This episode of the late 10th century was the first confrontation between the sons of the deceased prince over the Kiev throne. Then the collapse of Kievan Rus as a single state was stopped. The son of Vladimir the Great, Prince Yaroslav the Wise , also ruled quite confidently . However, after his death, in the second half of the XI century, the process of the collapse of Kievan Rus into separate estates becomes more and more obvious. Speaking about the reasons for this process, it is necessary to single out not only the number of potential heirs who aspired to the throne, but also socio-economic reasons. Thus, the establishment and growth of feudal relations led to the strengthening of the regions. Subsistence farming did not contribute to development
trade and strengthen any ties between territories. Over time, it became more profitable for local boyars to support not the Kiev prince, but their local one. An important factor was also the growth of large cities - Chernigov, Galich, Polotsk, Smolensk, Suzdal. By the end of the XI century, Russia was divided into the local destinies of the princes, who endlessly fought among themselves for power, territory and authority. Among other negative influences, civil strife prevented from rallying against a common enemy in the face of the nomadic tribes of the Black Sea steppes. The first attempt to solve this problem and agree among themselves was the Lubeski Congress of the Princes of 1097. Its name comes, in fact, from the gathering place - the town of Lubech on the Dnieper, in the modern Chernihiv region.
The congress of the princes
The eldest son of the prince who died in 1093, Svyatopolk II Izyaslavovich, was unable to cope with the growing civil strife. Everything that was mentioned in the previous paragraph reached its peak at that time. At the initiative of Prince Vladimir Monomakh, who was then more authoritative in Russia, the Lube Congress of Russian Princes was convened in 1097.
The main purpose of this gathering was to suppress bloody strife and determine agreements between the princes. As a result of negotiations, the Lubesk Congress of Princes led to the most important decision at that time: “Each ruler holds his fatherland”. Thus, now not the great Kiev prince was overlord, who had the right to unite all the Russian lands under his rod, but, on the contrary, the principle was fixed that each specific prince had full power in his own principality and transferred it by inheritance. The loving congress of the princes resolved the contradictions between the princes in this way. But at the same time, this decision led to the formal consolidation of fragmentation. The loving congress of princes literally pushed Russia in the first half of the 12th century to the final assertion of the feudal independence of the regions.