Is the master a steward? History of the Word in the Ages

The history of the ancient Russian state contains many strange and mysterious names and names. Faced with them in modern life, it is rather difficult to unravel the meaning of such names and toponyms. One of the strange names that are found in ancient chronicles is the "fire-warden". This word changed its meaning several times over time, so it's necessary to understand what it meant, gradually.

Old Russian Times

In manuscripts of the 10th century, the word "fiend" appears for the first time. In Ancient Russia, this meant - the person in charge of the economy, the house of the prince. Since the words "house" and "hearth" were almost synonymous, the manager of the household economy received its name, which derives from the word "hearth". This post was very respected and honorable. Initially, it was elected, but later it began to be inherited. This is evidenced by the fact that along with the concept of "fiery", the phrase "thiune of fiery" was used. A tyune is already a representative of the nobility. In his charge was the entire prince's court, stables, barns and herds.

Characteristics of the Great Wall

The Ognissanin is an educated person, trained in reading and writing. It was on him that he was responsible for collecting taxes and customs mitts. Naturally, such a person became respected and prosperous. Therefore, there is such a definition of the word "fiery" - a knight with a lot of servants and slaves.

"Russian Truth" of the times of Yaroslav the Wise highly appreciates the life of the steward. For the murder of the fiend, the perpetrators of his death were to pay a fine of 80 UAH. For comparison, the life of a free man was estimated at 40 UAH, the killer of a smerd or a slave sold 5 UAH of a fine.

Novgorod freemen

At the beginning of the 12th century in the Novgorod lands the word "ognitsa" meant not only "fire" and "house", but also transformed into a more extensive concept of "possession". The owner of the land allotment also received the name "fiery". The definition of this word in the Novgorod dialects is already different from the generally accepted one - in fact most of the fireworks of that time did not have direct relation to the prince's squad, but were simply prosperous landowners. During the 12th-13th centuries, an influential stratum of city dwellers from Novgorod formed an influential stratum of Novgorod citizens, who formed public opinion on people's veche and defined the policy of the Novgorod Republic.

Last mentions

By the 17th and 18th centuries, the word gradually lost its significance. In the charters of the 17th century it is found only on the lands of Northern Russia. The Ognissanin is the headman of a small village or village, sometimes performing the duties of a lay judge. After the 18th century this word is no longer found either in oral or written language.

Alternative Values

The common meaning of this word was often challenged. In the opinion of Mstislavsky, a fire-fighter is a hero who originated from the clan of the oldest Slav princes. This point of view of modern science is questioned, since security and aristocracy of the firewood at first were in no way hereditary. As the studies have shown, the first representatives of the thinns of the firesides were chosen from simple combatants.

The second meaning of the word is mentioned in the famous Veles book, about which many historians have broken feathers. According to the unknown author of this edition, the firemen are pre-Christian pagans who worshiped fire. But this statement is also controversial. The fire was worshiped by all primitive Slavic tribes who had a similar pantheon of gods, and this did not give grounds to one tribe to deify fire more than others. There is no historical evidence for this. Impressive is the history of the definition of "fiery". As it was said above, the word was used until the beginning of the 18th century, when the fire-worshipers were already firmly forgotten.