Los «Zemskie Sobory» en la Rusia de finales del siglo XVI y comienzos del XVII: los estereotipos historiográficos reflejados en las fuentes históricas

Abstract

In the works on the history of the Russian Zemsky Sobors, there is a tradition to draw a parallel between the Sobors and representative bodies of European countries in the 16th –17th centuries (the English Parliament, the French States General, the Spanish Cortes). It is believed that the end of the 16th – early 17th century, especially the Time of Troubles, was the heyday of Zemsky Sobors (when a weak Central government, in the conditions of the civil war, had to look for support in the organs of estate representation). Meanwhile, the analysis of historical sources does not allow to assume that during this period the Zemsky Sobors played a greater role than they did previously. Even the most studied Zemsky Sobors – the elective Sobors of 1598 and 1613 – were held with serious violations of election procedures, and the provinces were not represented to the extent it was described in the official documents. The question of the place of the Zemsky Sobors in the political system of Muscovite state at the beginning of the 17th century requires further analysis.