Two antiquities – one policy: the «tribute of dorpat» and the «tribute of kazan» in Russian diplomacy and historical thought in 1550–60s

Abstract

In the beginning of 1550s the diplomats of Russian Tsar Ivan IV for the first time used the legend about «Kazan tribute» and «Dorpat tribute» to justify the historical rule over Kazan and German Livonia. The story about «Kazan tribute» was firstly mainstreamed during the reign of Ivan IV; however, the «Dorpat tribute» was mentioned in the Russian-Livonian treaties of 15th century – its origin is still unknown. For the first time in historiography this article compares two stories. The author examines the sources of both legends, their author, the role in the justification of the continuity between the ancient Rus’ of Rurikovichi and Moscow Russia of Ivan IV, the relation between the terms «otchina» (paternity), «dan’» (tribute), «zemlya» (land). Since the 1470s Moscow began to rethink the tribute relationships, that had been established in Mongol-Turk political space. This resulted in an attempt to stop the payments for the Chan of Crimea (1473) and to demand the tribute from the Bishop of Dorpat (Russian Yuryev, 1474). Based on the Text of «Primary chronicle» the Russian intellectuals claimed the identity of Volga Bulgaria and Kazan, ancient Russian Yuryev and German Dorpat in the text of Nikon Chronicle. The main criterion for the hereditary rule over the territory was «zemlya» (land) as the political category, regardless of the ethnicity and religion of its population. The author concludes that the courtier Alexey Adashev edited the story about «Dorpat tribute» following the example of «Kazan tribute» story. Thus, there is a direct intertextual dependence between the two stories.