To understand what orders are, it is necessary to turn to the history of Russia of the period when the Moscow princes created a single national state. These governing bodies lasted until the era of Peter I. The Tsar Reformer replaced the old orders with new collegia.
Origin
In the XV century, Moscow princes finally annexed to their possessions all the remaining independent Russian principalities and republics. Each of these mini-states had its own internal management system. Because of this, the new Moscow state existed in a state of administrative anarchy.
To correct this situation, Prince Ivan Vasilievich III took over (reigned in 1462-1505). What are orders? At that time, these were temporary authorities, in which officials and boyars close to the sovereign worked. They were in charge of a certain sphere (treasury, army, relations with foreign ambassadors), etc. “Being in the order” meant fulfilling the commission of the Grand Duke. From this expression came the name of the majority of state bodies in Russia in the XV-XVII centuries.
Household orders
Under the successors of Ivan III, on grand and royal thrones, orders in Russia not only took root, but also became indispensable components of the state machine. They can be divided into several groups according to purpose.
It is logical that the first governing body of a new type was responsible for the Kremlin and, in general, all the lands belonging to the prince. So the Palace order arose. The people who worked in it monitored the maintenance of order and economic affairs in the residence of the Moscow rulers. For example, Ivan III was very reverent about his property. Under him, Moscow was pretty much rebuilt. In the historical center, new chambers and churches appeared.
The management body responsible for the state of the treasury gradually separated from economic orders. Stable taxation has always been an important pillar of the existence of the state. Therefore, it is not surprising that the princes tirelessly followed the state of their wallet. Over time, the Order of Accounts also arose. He was also responsible for indirect taxes (for example, on trade). It was a department that exercised control over the receipt of money from foreign merchants.
Military and administrative orders
It is also important to single out a military group of orders: Razryadny, Cossack, Streletsky, etc. With their help, the government monitored the state of the army and the provision of service people. The Armory Order conducted checks on the production and purchase of the latest weapons. Just at the end of the 15th century, mines with metals began to be found in the foothills of the Urals in the north-east of the country. With their help, the production of armor and firearms was stably established.
The Streletsky order was also responsible for collecting all liable feudal lords in the army. This Russian system was very different from the western one. In Europe at the same time, almost all armies were hired and bought at the expense of the state treasury. In Russia, the army continued to exist, consisting of sovereign subjects.
What are administrative orders? These were state bodies of the third group. For example, in the Local Order issued lands and estates intended for serving boyars. In this body, censuses were carried out and various disputes around real estate were resolved.
But this also includes those institutions that monitored the internal order in the country. They were in charge of criminal cases, prisons and, in general, the entire system of punishments for crimes. These were the Robbery and the Serf orders.Zemsky separately monitored the situation in Moscow, the largest city of the Russian state.
Other government bodies
Over time, the creation of orders was also needed for the most specific areas of the life of the state. For example, in Yamsky the postal service was regulated, and the Postal one was responsible for the state press (which was only born in Russia).
At the end of the 16th century, under the last Rurikovich (Fedor Ivanovich), a patriarchate was established. This was an important state step necessary to assert the independence of the Russian Orthodox Church after Constantinople was captured by the Turks. The relations of the tsarist government and patriarchs were regulated with the help of orders specially created for this purpose - Monastic, Church affairs, etc.
Device
To clarify in more detail what orders are, you need to look at their internal structure. Each such authority, in spite of the diversity of goals, possessed approximately the same device. Inside it were two parts. In one, all executive cases were conducted, in the other - written (execution, letters, decrees, etc.).
The officers of the orders were called differently: judges, clerks and clerks. They were appointed by the supreme authority - by decree of the king. It was possible to challenge the decision made by the state order only by sending a petition to the sovereign. For the court there was a special tsarist duma, consisting of his close ones.
The fact that the establishment of orders was important for the supreme authority officially emphasizes the appeal used in the order papers. These government bodies ordered on behalf of the king, which was emphasized at the beginning of each letter.
Officials
The first clerks who worked in the orders were the boyars who received this position from Ivan III. However, they were not professionals - people who would have been trained in the administrative service from the very beginning of their state careers. This problem of the lack of highly qualified personnel was not solved immediately. Only with time did the clerks begin to appear in the orders, having been promoted to this position from clerks and petty officials.
In the heyday of the order system, there were 38 such institutions in Moscow. About 70 clerks who were the bureaucratic elite of the state worked in them. At the same time, it was possible to obtain such a position without belonging to a noble noble family.
Some clerks received a place in the Duma for their service. As a rule, they combined their posts, continuing to work in the "native" order. Among them, brilliant statesmen stood out at different times. For example, they were immigrants from the Ambassadorial order - two brothers Shchelkalovs and Ivan Viskovaty.
