On the Evolution of Relations between State Power and the Nobility in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Russian State in the late Middle Ages

Abstract

The Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Russian state had similar structures, but there were at the same time sharp differences in the nature of the relations between the state authorities and members of the nobility in the two states. This article discusses the issue of when exactly this distinction between the two nations arose. The article shows that for the first half of the fifteenth century there was no reason to talk about the existence of fundamental discrepancies between the orders in both states. A sharp turning point in this regard came in the middle of the second half of the fifteenth century, when the possessions of the nobles in the Grand Duchy received extensive tax and judicial immunity (Priviley of 1447), and in the Russian state this immunity was reduced and a local system of conditional noble land ownership associated with the growth of specific areas began to emerge.