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Ivan Peresvetov and his philosophical ideas

From the XVI century, we received journalistic works, authored by Ivan Peresvetov - one of the outstanding minds of the era of Ivan the Terrible. At a time when dissent in the country was suppressed with particular cruelty, he had the courage to express ideas that ran counter to official state ideology. Information about his life is very limited, the only source from which they were derived, were his own works, which retained his name in the memory of the descendants.

Service in the ranks of hired troops

Peresvetov Ivan Semenovich came from Lithuanian lands and, having reached the age of maturity, became a professional soldier. Of the two petitions, written by him in the name of Tsar Ivan the Terrible, it is known that at the end of the twenties of the 16th century he, along with a group of Polish nobles, served in the ranks of the army of the Hungarian king Jan Zapol. Apparently, this is a hired service, so common in those days.

Having won over Zapola's banners for several years, Ivan joined the ranks of his opponent, the Czech monarch Ferdinand I of Habsburg. The reason for this was the change in the policy of the Polish King Sigismund I, whose subject was Ivan Peresvetov. After a short time, fate threw him in the army of the Moldavian sovereign, Peter IV, with whom he participated in several campaigns.

In the power of the boyar bureaucracy

Further in his petition, he reports that in the late thirties he came to the capital city of Moscow. Here he is entrusted with the task of supplying the army with the production of military shields, but this project was not realized due to the fault of the boyars, who at the time were the ruling elite in the country. Whether they arranged such bureaucratic obstacles so dear to their heart, or simply plundered money, but only Ivan Peresvetov remained out of work, and a valiant army - without shields.

Having found himself in Moscow and immediately faced with disastrous manifestations of uncontrolled boyar power for the state, he betrays his deep understanding of everything he has seen and tries to find ways to solve the problem. His reflections he sets out on paper and in the form of petitions gives to the people who ruled the country in the name of the still young king Ivan IV. But the time-holders who were in power at that time had no concern for his thoughts, and the papers submitted to them remained unanswered.

Criticism of the Moscow boyars

The petitioners of Ivan Peresvetov did not reach us in those years, and even the very fact that they really existed was for a long time questioned. Only studies of scientists of the XX century have confirmed their reliability. Today, historians have at their disposal Peresvetov's works written by him in a later period, when young Ivan IV reached the age that allowed him to rule the country independently. This refers to the end of the forties of the XVI century. The author's literary heritage includes two collections - complete and incomplete edition.

The main content in the works of Ivan Peresvetov in one way or another comes down to sharp criticism of the high boyars, denouncing his unprincipled and moral decay, the consequence of which is the lawlessness that is being created everywhere. He contrasts them with "the poor, but the brave warriors." That is, the servicemen who formed the true support of the state. The social and philosophical ideas of Ivan Peresvetov are in many respects similar to those of the lower stratum of feudal lords - the nobility. In them he expresses himself as the ideologist of the Moscow autocracy. A red thread through all his works is the theme of the need for "formidable royal power."

The enemy of enslavement and enslavement

However, Ivan Peresvetov's works often express thoughts incompatible with the basic principles of the state system of that era. A significant place in them is the condemnation of all forms of enslavement and enslavement of the lower strata of society. The author, as the main argument, gives the biblical words that all people, regardless of their origin and nationality, are the "children of Adam", and consequently, it does not fit the strong to own the weak. In his opinion, all enslavement takes place by diabolical instigation.

The ideas set forth in his writings were extraordinarily bold and could not but arouse the opponents' fury. So, for example, Ivan Peresvetov argued that everyday truth and justice are higher than religious belief. Such a comparison set against him a significant part of the clergy. Nevertheless, he explained the ills of the Moscow state precisely by the lack of truth, which he so boldly extolled over all spiritual values.

Advices to the Emperor

In his petitions, sent to Ivan the Terrible at a time when he already firmly took power in his hands, Peresvetov undertakes the courage to advise the monarch on governing the country. How much the formidable tsar considered it necessary to be guided by them, became the subject of scientific disputes back in the XIX century. In particular, the famous historian Karamzin drew attention to the fact that much of what Peresvetov wrote, got a real reflection in the king's policy, but whether this was a coincidence or the monarch did not really disdain the thoughts of his subject remains a mystery.

This can be illustrated by the example of the conquest of the Kazan kingdom, carried out in 1552. The fact is that Peresvetov in his writings acted as an ardent supporter of the struggle against the Tatars and really wrote about the need to master their capital. But to argue that Ivan the Terrible made a decisive campaign under the influence of his calls, it would be somewhat reckless. The struggle against the Kazan kingdom was conducted from the beginning of the XV century, and hardly its outcome was a consequence of these petitions.

Also, the role of Peresvetov in the compilation of the Code of Laws of 1550 by the Code of State Laws of Russia is rather controversial. The idea of the need for its creation is often found in petitions, but it was embodied in a different way by the sovereign.

Ivan Peresvetov's philosophical ideas about the equality of all people before God and inadmissibility of enslavement ran counter to the policy of the tsar, which was reflected in the Sudebnik, whose laws did not prohibit the enslavement of some people by others, but only regulated this process.

Boyar's son - an opponent of slavery

By the way, in his statements about the inadmissibility of treatment of free people in slaves Peresvetov was not alone. The history of Russia included the name of yet another opponent of slavery - Matvey Bashkin. This boyar son, declared a malicious heretic, preached not compulsory service, and the performance of certain duties solely on a voluntary basis. In his patrimony, he released all serfs to the will, while destroying documents that testified to their subordinate and disenfranchised social status.

Variety of literary forms in the works of Peresvetov

Literary monuments belonging to the pen of Ivan Peresvetov, are very diverse in nature. If we talk about the above-mentioned Small and Large petitions, the first of them is really a petition - an appeal to the tsar in order to achieve a specific immediate result. In this case, it was a request for assistance in the production of shields for the army. If we turn to the Great petition, then it is easy to see that this is a completely different document. We have before us a detailed political treatise, pursuing far-reaching, strategic goals.

Completely different in their literary form are such his works as "The Legend of Magmet-Saltan" and "The Tale of Tsar Constantine." At first glance, they have all the features of stories written in epic style, but with more detailed examination it becomes clear that these are sharply journalistic works aimed at eradicating the vices in the society, the enemy of which was Ivan Peresvetov. His ideas found in these stories an original and highly artistic expression. In many ways they were ahead of their time.

The main content in the works of Ivan Peresvetov was the reflection of reality and the identification of its vices. It is in this vein that the author criticizes the Byzantine tsar Constantine, who became the culprit of the once powerful power, becoming the prey of greedy and unclean courtiers, was exhausted and fell victim to Magmeta-saltan. Here, Sultan Muhammad II is clearly referring to the conquest of Constantinople in 1453. This was a kind of warning about the consequences of the country's uncontrolled self-will for its rulers.

End of life hidden in the centuries

It remains unknown when, and under what circumstances, Ivan Peresvetov passed away. His biography practically does not contain specific information. One can only assume that he hardly finished his earthly journey in silence and peace - too much was expressed to them seditious thoughts. Indirectly, this is confirmed by the fact that in subsequent years the name of Peresvetov was silenced in every way and was for a long time in oblivion. This is the lot of all who are not afraid to tell the truth in the face of the powerful of this world.

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