The Sudebnik of 1497 (), also known as the Sudebnik of Ivan III (), was a collection of

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

s introduced by Ivan III in 1497. It played a big part in the

centralisation Centralisation or centralization (American English) is the process by which the activities of an organisation, particularly those regarding planning, decision-making, and framing strategies and policies, become concentrated within a particular ...

of the Russian state, the creation of all-Russian legislation, and the elimination of

feudal fragmentation Feudal fragmentation is a process whereby a feudal state is split into smaller regional state structures, each characterized by significant autonomy, if not outright independence, and ruled by a high-ranking noble such as a prince or a duke.

.Monuments of Russian Law. Vol. 3: Monuments of Law in the Period of Formation of Russian Centralized State in 14—15 centuries / ed. by Lev Cherepnin. Moscow, 1955. P. 419—420, 426—432, 438—457. (. Also full Old Russian text and translation into modern Russian). It was later replaced by the

Sudebnik of 1550 The Sudebnik of 1550 (), also known as the Sudebnik of Ivan IV (), was an expansion and revision of the Sudebnik of 1497 by Ivan IV of Russia, a code of laws originally instituted by Ivan III, his grandfather. It is considered the result of the f ...

under

Ivan IV Ivan IV Vasilyevich (; – ), commonly known as Ivan the Terrible,; ; monastic name: Jonah. was Grand Prince of Moscow and all Russia from 1533 to 1547, and the first Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia from 1547 until his death in 1584. ...

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The ''Sudebnik'' replaced the former legal charters of different Russian principalities as a code for the entire state. It set up an order of court procedures and legal norms, binding uniformly on all parts of the state and strengthening the central authority in Moscow. The ''Sudebnik'' takes its roots from earlier law codes, including the ''

Russkaya Pravda The ''Russkaya Pravda'' (sometimes translated as ''Rus' Justice'', ''Rus' Truth'', or ''Russian Justice'') was the legal code of Kievan Rus' and its principalities during the period of feudal fragmentation. It was written at the beginning of th ...

'', the Pskov Judicial Charter,

prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

decree A decree is a law, legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state, judge, monarch, royal figure, or other relevant Authority, authorities, according to certain procedures. These procedures are usually defined by the constitution, Legislativ ...

s, and

common law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...

, the regulations of which had been upgraded with reference to social and economic changes. The ''Sudebnik'' was overall a collection of

legal procedure Procedural law, adjective law, in some jurisdictions referred to as remedial law, or rules of court, comprises the rules by which a court hears and determines what happens in civil, lawsuit, criminal or administrative proceedings. The rules are ...

s. It established a universal system of the

judicial The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

bodies of the state, defined their

competence Broad concept article: *Competence (polyseme), capacity or ability to perform effectively Competence or competency may also refer to: *Competence (human resources), ability of a person to do a job properly **Competence-based management, performa ...

and subordination, and regulated legal fees. The ''Sudebnik'' expanded the range of acts considered punishable by the standards of

criminal justice Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the rehabilitation of offenders, preventing other ...

(e.g.,

sedition Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech or organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, establ ...

sacrilege Sacrilege is the violation or injurious treatment of a sacred object, site or person. This can take the form of irreverence to sacred persons, places, and things. When the sacrilegious offence is verbal, it is called blasphemy, and when physical ...

slander Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making wikt:asserti ...

). It also renewed the concept of different kinds of a

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

. ''Sudebnik'' established the investigative nature of legal proceedings. It provided different kinds of

punishment Punishment, commonly, is the imposition of an undesirable or unpleasant outcome upon an individual or group, meted out by an authority—in contexts ranging from child discipline to criminal law—as a deterrent to a particular action or beh ...

, such as the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

and

flagellation Flagellation (Latin , 'whip'), flogging or whipping is the act of beating the human body with special implements such as whips, Birching, rods, Switch (rod), switches, the cat o' nine tails, the sjambok, the knout, etc. Typically, floggin ...

. In order to protect the

feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...

landownership, ''Sudebnik'' introduced certain limitations in the law of estates, increased the term of limitation of

legal action In legal terminology, a complaint is any formal legal document that sets out the facts and legal reasons (see: cause of action) that the filing party or parties (the plaintiff(s)) believes are sufficient to support a claim against the part ...

s with regards to princely lands, introduced flagellation for the violation of

property Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, re ...

boundaries of princely,

boyar A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Bulgaria, Kievan Rus' (and later Russia), Moldavia and Wallachia (and later Romania), Lithuania and among Baltic Germans. C ...

and

monastic Monasticism (; ), also called monachism or monkhood, is a religious way of life in which one renounces worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual activities. Monastic life plays an important role in many Christian churches, especially ...

lands – violation of

peasant A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasan ...

land boundaries entailed a

fine Fine may refer to: Characters * Fran Fine, the title character of ''The Nanny'' * Sylvia Fine (''The Nanny''), Fran's mother on ''The Nanny'' * Officer Fine, a character in ''Tales from the Crypt'', played by Vincent Spano Legal terms * Fine (p ...

. The ''Sudebnik'' also introduced a

fee A fee is the price one pays as remuneration for rights or services. Fees usually allow for overhead, wages, costs, and markup. Traditionally, professionals in the United Kingdom (and previously the Republic of Ireland) receive a fee in contrad ...

(''пожилое'', or pozhiloye) for peasants who wanted to leave their feudal lord (''Крестьянский выход'', or Krestiyansky vykhod), and also established a universal day (November 26) across the Russian state for peasants who wanted to switch their masters (''Юрьев день'', or Yuri's Day).English translation by H. W. Dewey

References

Bibliography

{{efron, Судебники 1497 и 1550 гг. 1490s in law 1497 in Europe 15th century in the Grand Principality of Moscow 15th-century manuscripts Cyrillic manuscripts Legal history of Russia Medieval legal codes

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References

Bibliography