On social security in Moscow Russia (15th–17th centuries)

Abstract

The period of the middle of the second millennium of the Christian era is the time of the formation of national states in Europe, i.e. states with a single territory, population and sovereignty – that is, the independence of the supreme state power from neither external nor internal political forces. Russia is no exception in this regard. The process of forming a sovereign (i.e. autocratic) state had many manifestations and the same set of consequences in the internal life of the country. Among them is the evolution of the idea of charity. Initially, as a purely private phenomenon, moreover, in the medieval era, which had an exclusively religious coloring and justification, with the establishment of state power, charity relations acquire a public character, become a secular matter and a subject of concern on the part of public authorities. In Russia, despite the fact that the church retains the function of caring for the poor, this function is in many ways becoming a form of indirect manifestation of the state's social policy. Because of this, it can be said that charity, being legally formalized, acquires socially secure features. At the same time, the process of forming the institution of public service is taking place, which, in the conditions of an agrarian type of economy, is accompanied by changes in the system of land relations: the institution of local land ownership arises and strengthens when land (estate) is given under the condition of service. However, the functioning of this institution raises the problem of providing for those sovereign servants who left the service due to injury or old age, as well as family members of the owner of the estate due to his death. As a result, there is a whole array of norms aimed at solving this problem, which allows us to talk about the emergence of the right of social security in its purest form.

Keywords:

charity, social security, greed and non-greed, begging, alms, land allotment