On the question of the nature of the reception of Byzantine law in medieval Russia

Abstract

For many years, historians and legal scholars have considered the process of forming the legal system of the medieval Russian state. They proceeded from the fact that Byzantine law, primarily canonical, had a serious impact on him. From this it is often concluded that, since Byzantine law genetically goes back to classical Roman law, in Russia they got acquainted with the basics of Roman law quite early and began to assimilate it in one form or another. Recently, however, this traditional and entrenched point of view has come under justified criticism. Using new approaches, the authors of the
article propose to consider the problem of the reception of Byzantine law in Russia based on the peculiarities of the historical and cultural context of this process. Based on the results of his analysis, the authors come to the conclusion that the Russian society of the early Middle Ages was not ready for a fullfledged reception of the norms of Byzantine law. It was perceived by the Russian intellectual  environment of that time primarily as a monument of Christian culture, part of the Orthodox tradition, but not as a legal monument and a guide to everyday judicial activity