When the state system develops, grows and becomes stronger, reforms and innovations are inevitable. Ways of life, management principles, territorial division are changing, new tasks are emerging. And the current scheme of work of the state machine ceases to meet the requirements of the time. There is a need for massive change. This situation developed by the beginning of the 16th century in the Moscow kingdom. The process of centralization led to the emergence of a new management system. There were orders. They became the basis of the power structure for nearly two centuries.
Creating a command system
The history of this term is quite natural. The sovereign can "order to be in charge" of this or that matter, and a particular subject must fulfill the order. With the development of the state, management only through officials loses its effectiveness. They are replaced by entire institutions and departments. Researchers believe that the order system began to take shape during the reign of Ivan III, at the end of the 15th - beginning of the 16th centuries. orders (alsocalled "courts", "chambers", "quarters", "huts") were the key bodies of central government, which were in charge of certain state territories or areas of activity. In the reign of Ivan the Great, about 10 such departments were created, including the Treasury, Zhitny, Konyushenny, the Great Court, which was in charge of the lands of the Moscow prince. Under Vasily III (the years of reign - 1505-1533), their number is growing, the Yamsky order and the Smolensk bit appear.
Design and composition
Normatively, the creation of the order system was fixed during the reign of Ivan IV the Terrible. The provisions of the Sudebnik of 1550 determined the number of orders (80 at that time) and their main powers.
In the jurisdiction of each, two main areas of activity were distinguished: legal proceedings and office work. The first was in charge of the judges, the second - clerks and clerks. All of them were appointed and removed by the decision of the supreme power. To carry out individual assignments in orders, there were, for example, interpreters (Ambassadorial order), pipe workers, gunners, weekly workers. The task of the latter was to notify witnesses and defendants of the need to appear in court.
Essential "employees" were required to attend the service every day except Sundays and public holidays. Decisions were taken by the judges jointly, but more often unanimously, with the filing of the chief of them. The orders were in the name of the sovereign, and in case of disagreement with the decision, the complaints were considered by the Boyar Duma.
The heyday of the command system
Like any undertaking, the management reform has gone through several stages. The formation of the order system was a response to the expansion of the range of state tasks. This also included the need to control the newly annexed territories. The number and composition of the orders changed several times. For example, with the advent of the patriarchate and the beginning of the development of Siberia, corresponding departments arose. During the Troubles, on the contrary, the number of orders decreased.
Researchers agree that the first half of the 17th century, the reign of the first representatives of the Romanov dynasty, became the period of the highest development of the prikaz system. A significant number of orders, both temporary and permanent, appeared under Alexei Mikhailovich (Little Russian, monastery, grain, Reitar, secret affairs, etc.). Most of them were located in the order chambers of the Moscow Kremlin.
Separation of powers: complexities
Over time, it became obvious that the created administrative apparatus does not always effectively perform its functions and corresponds to state tasks. And the problem was not only in the growth of the number of departments. The essence of the command system was the fuzziness of the hierarchy and distribution of powers. The duties of many of them were intertwined, often contradicting each other. Sometimes the order could carry out such a number of diverse cases that it ceased to correspond to its original functionality.
Gradually, the order system became quite cumbersome and clumsy. Judges and clerks often "did not correspond to their position", not fulfilling their direct duties, abusing their position. Despite the obvious shortcomings, the system persisted until the reforms of Peter I, and individual orders lasted almost until the middle of the 18th century.
Territorial Orders
There were three relative principles according to which the powers of orders were distributed. These are categories of population, territory or areas of work. Based on this, several groups of orders can be distinguished. The jurisdiction of the territorial was the management of individual districts, principalities. Some of them were called "quarters" (according to the principle of dividing the lands of the Moscow principality that existed in the 15th century):
- Nizhny Novgorod.
- Vladimirskaya.
- Novgorod.
- Ustyug.
- Galician.
- Kostroma.
As new territories were annexed or lost, new orders were created and merged: Great Russian, Siberian, Kazan Palace, Little Russian, Livonian affairs, etc.
Palace
If entire regions were in charge of the first group of orders, then this category included departments responsible for managing the sovereign's court and lands. The beginning was laid by the creation of the order of the Grand Palace. Their leadership was entrusted to the "butler", who led the courtiers. One of his most important tasks was the collection of dues and other taxes from the population of cities, villages, volosts that belonged to the royal family. This command system subsequently also included:
- Treasury.
- Bread.
- Stable.
- Hunter.
- Bed.
- Falconer.
- Palace Judgment.
- Stone.
- Dirge.
- Gold and Silver Deed order.
- Royal and Tsaritsyn workshops.
Industry-specific
The order management system began to take shape largely precisely because of the need to separate the different spheres of domestic affairs. It was on this principle that Aptekarsky, Yamskoy, Zhitny, Kholopy, Printed orders initially appeared. One of the first among them is mentioned in the sources by Yamskoy. His tasks included control over transit hauls and mail delivery, as well as collecting taxes from coachmen. During periods of disaster, Zhitny Prikaz, which was in charge of the warehouses in which bread was stored to supply the troops and in case of crop failures, acquired great importance.
A special category was the departments responsible for the observance of law, order and the system of punishments. These include robbery and detective orders. Initially, they were created as a temporary body to combat robbery, but eventually existed until the 18th century. The robbery order was in charge of cases of robberies and murders, managed prisons and executioners.
Military and diplomatic affairs
Foreign policy has always been the most important area of public interest, which is reflected in the number of relevant institutions. Over the years, the order system for military and foreign affairs included:
- Ambassadorial order.
- Foreign.
- Streletsky.
- Reitar.
- Cossack.
- Pushkarsky.
- order of the Cash and grain collection.
- Gun.
- bit.
- Armored.
- Admir alty.
Diplomatic relations with the countries of Europe and Asia were under the jurisdiction of the Ambassadorial Order. Interpreters and clerks, headed by the embassy Duma clerk, were engaged in preparing Russian embassies and meeting foreign delegations, escorting foreigners in Moscow, ransoming and exchanging prisoners of war.
The entire service class was under the jurisdiction of the Discharge Order. His tasks also included the recruitment of troops, the appointment of military leaders and governors, reviews and fees, accounting for civilian positions, determining the amount of salaries.
Property, income and expenses
Not so numerous, but no less significant group of institutions included in the order system, controlled not only the process of replenishing the state treasury, but also issues of land ownership. It included:
- Local order;
- New quarter;
- Great Parish order;
- order of the Great Treasury.
The first of them was one of the most influential government bodies in charge of patrimonial and local land ownership. This included the distribution and seizure of estates for the service class (nobles and boyar children), the compilation of cadastral books, and the resolution of land disputes.
The tasks of the order of the Great Treasury included control over government revenues received fromcities, villages, villages that were not under the jurisdiction of other units. He was also subordinate to merchants, the cloth and living room hundreds, the money yard, customs, the Tula Arms Plant.
The scope of the New Quarter's responsibilities was quite varied: collecting from the mug yards (up to 100 thousand rubles a year), court cases on the illegal sale of tobacco and wine, and since 1678 - managing the affairs of the Kalmyks.
Control and revision orders
The growth in the number of departments and the fuzzy division of their responsibilities led to the fact that the order system in the 17th century was faced with the need to create regulatory bodies.
This is how the Order of Accounts was formed. There were no judges in it, and the tasks of the clerks included control over the income and expenses of various institutions. Also, the order was engaged in the collection of taxes that did not enter the treasury and the balance of funds that were not spent by departments during the year.
The Order of Secret Affairs, created during the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich, stood apart. Reporting directly to the sovereign, he performed the functions of monitoring the execution of royal decrees, at the same time being an office. The tasks included the identification of state crimes and the organization of the investigation on them. Clerks also accompanied ambassadors during visits to other countries and governors on campaigns, following their actions. It is noteworthy that it was this order that was instructed to participate in the creation of a unified postal service.
Public improvement
Components of the order system responsible for construction, public charity,enlightenment, remained in Russia for quite a long time. These include:
- Order of Stone Affairs;
- Printing order;
- Order of the Almshouse Building.
The stone order performed the most important function of managing the construction of buildings and structures. He was also in charge of all the artisans, brick factories, the collection of taxes from the cities where lime and white stone were mined. Its successor (created in 1775) monitored the compliance of the development of Moscow with the developed plan. The new state body was also responsible for the quality of building materials and fire safety of buildings.
Public charity and charity were administered by the Order of the Building of Almshouses, created in the second half of the 17th century. These included: the distribution of alms, the search for earning opportunities for the able-bodied population, punishments for parasitism. At the same time, a significant part of the duties was assigned to the clergy.
At the Zemsky Sobor in 1681, it was decided to organize a census of the poor, arrange for the elderly and infirm citizens in hospitals, and involve the able-bodied in public works. In Moscow, it was planned to build "spring houses" - state almshouses.
