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Tsarist autocracy

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84-751: List of forms of government Philosophers Works Tsarist autocracy ( Russian : царское самодержавие , romanized :  tsarskoye samoderzhaviye ), also called Tsarism , was an autocracy , a form of absolute monarchy localised with the Grand Duchy of Moscow and its successor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire . In it, the Tsar possessed in principle authority and wealth, with more power than constitutional monarchs counterbalanced by legislative authority, as well as

168-575: A dictatorship or it may be a group, as in a one-party state . The word despotism means to "rule in the fashion of despots" and is often used to describe autocracy. Historical examples of autocracy include the Roman Empire , North Korea , the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan , Eritrea and Nazi Germany . Regardless of the form of government, the actual governance may be influenced by sectors with political power which are not part of

252-461: A 1544 reformed litany and additional devotions An injunction accompanied this primer, imploring schoolmasters to use it in teaching children to read and learn prayers. Produced by Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer , the new primer reflected his difficulty in liturgical reform. Cranmer's reformed litany, much-shortened liturgical calendar , and less penitential Dirige replaced the medieval patterns. The king's primer, authorized directly by

336-437: A form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. A common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of state is not a monarch. Montesquieu included both democracies , where all the people have a share in rule, and aristocracies or oligarchies , where only some of

420-541: A historical state of human society, especially before the concentration of power afforded by agriculture. It has been presented as a viable long-term choice by individuals known as anarchists who oppose the state and other forms of coercive hierarchies. These systems are often highly organized, and include institutional or cultural systems to prevent the concentration of power. Anarchism typically advocates for social organization in non-hierarchical, voluntary associations where people voluntarily help each other . There are

504-511: A limited circulation in small but consistent community. Aveling that the English prose was of similar quality in Catholic primers as in contemporary Protestant devotionals. John Dryden , England's first poet laureate , is thought to have translated several hymns found in a 1706 Catholic primer. A renewed edition of the Catholic primer was officially sanctioned in the early 20th century, but

588-642: A medieval primer vis-à-vis an horae or book of hours : Alan Jacobs described the primary distinction between the texts being that, in the Middle Ages , books known as primers were in English and those known as horae were in Latin; Charity Scott-Stokes described the former as the Middle English term for the horae and Geoffrey Cuming treated them as synonymous in pre-Reformation England regardless of which language they were written in. Editions of

672-586: A minimum of land, wealth and status. Some critics of capitalism and/or representative democracy think of the United States and the United Kingdom as oligarchies . These categories are not exclusive. Autocracies are ruled by a single entity with absolute power, whose decisions are subject to neither external legal restraints nor regular mechanisms of popular control (except perhaps for implicit threat). That entity may be an individual, as in

756-431: A minimum of wealth and status. Social democracy rejects the "either/or" phobiocratic/polarization interpretation of capitalism versus socialism. Social democracy argues that all citizens should be legally entitled to certain social rights. These are made up of universal access to public services such as: education, health care, workers' compensation, public transportation, and other services including child care and care for

840-586: A more religious authority than Western monarchs. The institution originated during the time of Ivan III (1462−1505) and was abolished after the Russian Revolution of 1917 . Imperial autocracy, Russian autocracy, Muscovite autocracy, tsarist absolutism, imperial absolutism, Russian absolutism, Muscovite absolutism, Muscovite despotism, Russian despotism, tsarist despotism or imperial despotism. Ivan III (reigned 1462–1505) built upon Byzantine traditions and laid foundations for

924-577: A number of small, wealthy, trade-based city-states embraced republican ideals, notably across Italy and the Baltic. In general, these mercantile republics arose in regions of Europe where feudal control by an absolutist monarchy was minimal or absent completely. In these mercantile republics, the leaders were elected by the citizenry with the primary duty of increasing the city-state's collective wealth. Many political systems can be described as socioeconomic ideologies. Experience with those movements in power and

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1008-469: A reversion to pre-Reformation Sarum primer formulas under the Catholic Mary I 's five-year reign; there were 34 editions of the primer published under Mary. Despite Queen Mary's anti-Protestantism, many of the psalms and prayers in the authorized 1555 primer were in common with the 1545 king's primer. The restoration of Reformation principles with Elizabeth I's ascent to the English throne saw

1092-537: A series of Elizabethan devotionals published by Cambridge in the mid-19th century. In the introduction to these editions, Clay identified the 1559 and 1566 versions and 1575 edition of the primers as among the variety of authorized devotionals in the Elizabethan period, in distinction from the Edwardian forms reprinted during the 16th-century. Catholic primers continued to see occasional production. Among them

1176-429: A single, vastly powerful corporation deposes a weak government, over time or in a coup d'état . Some political scientists have also considered state socialist nations to be forms of corporate republics, with the state assuming full control of all economic and political life and establishing a monopoly on everything within national boundaries – effectively making the state itself amount to a giant corporation. Probably

1260-683: A standalone entity or as a hybrid system of the main three. Scholars generally refer to a dictatorship as either a form of authoritarianism or totalitarianism. The ancient Greek philosopher Plato discusses in the Republic five types of regimes: aristocracy , timocracy , oligarchy , democracy, and tyranny . The question raised by Plato in the Republic : What kind of state is best? Generational changes informed by new political and cultural beliefs, technological progress, values and morality over millenniums have resulted in considerable shifts in

1344-610: A substantial proportion of all publications in England through the early 16th century. Bound books like primers were supplemented by a variety of pamphlets oriented towards private devotion, including adaptions of the Psalms, sermons, and religious educational texts. Since English demand outstripped domestic printing capacity, Parisian printers like François Regnault dominated the market for Sarum primers. The contents of one primer dating from circa 1400 were: The Passion of Jesus

1428-409: A system of elected local self-government ( Zemstvo ) and an independent judicial system, but Russia did not have a national-level representative assembly ( Duma ) or a constitution until the 1905 Revolution . The system was abolished after the Russian Revolution of 1917 . The tsar himself, the embodiment of sovereign authority, stood at the center of the tsarist autocracy, with full power over

1512-531: A type of prayer book is unknown, primers originated in texts produced for laity in the 14th century that developed out of and in correspondence with editions of the breviary and the related portiforium . Liturgical historian Edmund Bishop forwarded the view that the contents of these primers were pious devotional developments from the Divine Office according monastic use that were gradually viewed as obligatory within those communities. However, it

1596-518: A variety of forms of anarchy that attempt to discourage the use of coercion, violence, force and authority, while still producing a productive and desirable society. More generally, random selection of decision makers from a larger group is known as sortition (from the Latin base for lottery). The Athenian democracy made much use of sortition, with nearly all government offices filled by lottery (of full citizens) rather than by election. Candidates were almost always male, Greek, educated citizens holding

1680-401: Is appointed by the president or elected by the parliament and handles daily administration. The term semi-presidential distinguishes this system from presidential and parliamentary systems. A directorial republic is a government system with power divided among a college of several people who jointly exercise the powers of a head of state and/or a head of government. In the early Renaissance,

1764-492: Is defined more broadly. For example, a 2010 International Alert publication defined anocracies as "countries that are neither autocratic nor democratic, most of which are making the risky transition between autocracy and democracy". Alert noted that the number of anocracies had increased substantially since the end of the Cold War. Anocracy is not surprisingly the least resilient political system to short-term shocks: it creates

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1848-849: Is likely that the distinction between these devotions and the Divine Office were maintained and understood by those employing them. The earliest of these accretions were the Seven Penitential Psalms and the Fifteen Psalms . Further additions came with the 10th-century ascendancy of the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary . Laity in Western Christendom would attend recitation of the Divine Office, with women noted to have said

1932-600: Is portrayed primarily in science fiction settings. Examples from popular culture include Gaia in Appleseed Primer (prayer book) Primer ( Latin : primarium ; Middle English: primmer , also spelled prymer ) is the name for a variety of devotional prayer books that originated among educated medieval laity in the 14th century, particularly in England . While the contents of primers have varied dependent on edition, they often contained portions of

2016-893: The Muscovite or Russian despotism , have been criticized as misleading, since Muscovy, and Russia, never had characteristics of pure despotism , such as the ruler being identified with a god ). l As used in those publications . m As used in those publications . n As used in those publications . List of forms of government List of forms of government This article lists forms of government and political systems , which are not mutually exclusive , and often have much overlap. According to Yale professor Juan José Linz there are three main types of political systems today: democracies , totalitarian regimes and, sitting between these two, authoritarian regimes with hybrid regimes . Another modern classification system includes monarchies as

2100-706: The Charter to the Gentry , legally affirming the rights and privileges they had acquired in preceding years, and the Charter of the Towns, establishing municipal self-government. This placated the powerful classes of society but left real power in the hands of the state bureaucracy. Building on this, Alexander I (reigned 1801–1825) established the State council as an advisory legislative body. Alexander II (1855–1881) established

2184-483: The Church of England , where it developed into an Anglican and humanist educational tool for schoolchildren. Catholic editions were occasionally produced up to the 20th century, though in limited numbers. Over the succeeding centuries, their popularity as Christian texts waned as the word primer came to be associated with secular introductory textbooks . While the etymology of the word "primer" in reference to

2268-545: The Psalms and Latin liturgical practices such as the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary . Medieval primers were often similar to and sometimes considered synonymous with the also popular book of hours ( Latin : horae ); typically, a medieval horae was referred to as a primer in Middle English . Primers remained popular during and immediately after the English Reformation among Protestants in

2352-523: The first Book of Common Prayer published the same year. The significant popularity of primers in the century preceding the Reformation has been identified as contributing English lay familiarity with the canonical hours–particularly the Psalms, prayers, and litanies–as contained within the Book of Common Prayer . The Sarum and York primer's wedding exhortation and a matrimonial homily were included in

2436-438: The military , and the police force , would be privatised . The social welfare function carried out by the state is instead carried out by corporations in the form of benefits to employees. Although corporate republics do not exist officially in the modern world, they are often used in works of fiction or political commentary as a warning of the perceived dangers of unbridled capitalism . In such works, they usually arise when

2520-554: The 14th century through to the Reformation. Another popular prayer in English primers was " Adoro re, Domine Jesu Christe, in crude pendentem ". Commonly associated with the Wounds of Jesus , the prayer contained seven short sections and was connected to substantial indulgences . This prayer, which originated by the 9th-century and is found within the Book of Cerne , formed a significant aspect of English lay devotion both within and outside

2604-561: The 1549 prayer book, though the blessings of the ring and bride-bed present in the Sarum primer were deleted. Henrician primers likely greatly influenced the generation which became leaders under Elizabeth I . A 1546 modified primer, Yny lhyvyr hwnn , by John Prise would become the first book printed in Welsh. This text lacked the canonical hours and featured significant humanist elements; its educational qualities have been compared to

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2688-455: The 1559 primer based on the 1551 model. Among the few deviations from the moderately reformed 1551 primer were the removal of the litany's deprecation of the pope and the addition of the new "An order for Morning Prayer daily through the year". This latter change was most likely a late interpolation intended to align the primer with the 1559 Book of Common Prayer . With the 1559 Elizabethan primer, both Matins and Vespers were consolidated under

2772-414: The 18th century. By 1604, publication of devotional literature no longer required royal initiative and the 1553 pattern was more widely accepted. English Protestant devotional primers were occasionally published through 1870, with three Henrician primers reprinted by Edward Burton in the early 19th century among the most influential Oxford reprints of the period. William Keatinge Clay edited

2856-680: The absolutism of the Muscovite political system as "patrimonial", and saw the stability of the Soviet Union in the fact that Russians accepted the legitimacy of this patrimonial organization. Some historians have pointed to a racial element in the concept. For example, American Cold War analysts, including George Kennan , linked the Soviet government's autocratic rule to Tatar influences during its history, and biographies of Russian leaders often stressed their possible Asiatic ancestries. In

2940-528: The autocracy included writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky , Mikhail Katkov , Konstantin Aksakov , Nikolay Karamzin , Konstantin Pobedonostsev and Pyotr Semyonov . They all argued that a strong and prosperous Russia needed a strong tsar and that philosophies of republicanism and liberal democracy were alien to it. Some historians see the traditions of tsarist autocracy as partially responsible for laying

3024-447: The behest of the sultan and generally only required a tax from the lower classes, instead of military service and/or manual labour like in the feudal system. Governments can also be categorized based on their size and scope of influence: Certain major characteristics are defining of certain types; others are historically associated with certain types of government. This list focuses on differing approaches that political systems take to

3108-453: The belief about the origination of political authority, who may participate in matters of state, how people might participate, the determination of what is just, and so forth. Index of Forms of Government. Systems resembling anarchism can be a natural, temporary result of civil war in a country, when an established state has been destroyed and the region is in a transitional period without definitive leadership. It has also been proposed as

3192-573: The boyar elites and the bureaucracy as its pillars. For example, Sergey M. Troitskii claimed that the Russian monarchs held sway of the nobility which was reduced to state service. According to Troitskii, absolutism in Russia was the same as everywhere else. This led to a difficult position within Marxism because absolutism revolves around institutions and laws, which were fundamentally less important than

3276-626: The chance to change things. An oligarchy does not have to be hereditary or monarchic. An oligarchy does not have one clear ruler but several rulers. ( Ancient Greek ὀλιγαρχία (oligarkhía) literally meant rule by few") Some historical examples of oligarchy include the Roman Republic , in which only males of the nobility could run for office and only wealthy males could vote, and the Athenian democracy , which used sortition to elect candidates, almost always male, Greek, educated citizens holding

3360-637: The dead , the Church of England's primers from 1559 until their gradual disuse retained the Office of the Dead but deleted Marian devotions . It was during this period that the primers increasingly lost their religious emphasis and were adapted into secular primer textbooks . These secular texts remained influenced by the patterns present in religious primers while overtly catechizing nonconformist primers continued to compete with official Anglican catechisms through

3444-407: The distribution of sovereignty , and the autonomy of regions within the state. These have no conclusive historical or current examples outside of speculation and scholarly debate. While retaining some semblance of republican government, a corporate republic would be run primarily like a business , involving a board of directors and executives . Utilities , including hospitals , schools ,

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3528-428: The elderly. Social democracy is connected with the trade union labour movement and supports collective bargaining rights for workers. Contemporary social democracy advocates freedom from discrimination based on differences of: ability/disability, age, ethnicity, sex, language, religion, and social class. Oligarchies are societies controlled and organised by a small class of privileged people, with no intervention from

3612-412: The end of Elizabeth's reign. Despite the prohibition against it, they were likely used for teaching children with an alphabet inserted into one edition printed around 1564. It is possible Elizabeth allowed the 1553-styled primers due to their proximity to the 1552 Book of Common Prayer which had been adapted as the 1559 prayer book she approved. Despite some reformed sentiments towards prayers for

3696-464: The eyes of Chistozvonov, whatever absolutist or autocratic elements were indeed present in Russia, they were not unique and do not warrant Russia's exclusive categorization. Similarly struggling with Marxist conceptions, Soviet historian Petr A. Zaionchkovskii and his student Larisa G. Zakharova focused on the importance of the political convictions of Russian officials and bureaucrats to explain nineteenth-century political decision-making. By showing that

3780-659: The first half of the 16th century. At least 116 editions of the Sarum primer were produced between 1478 and 1534; immediately prior to Henry VIII 's full separation of the Church of England from the Catholic Church , an unreformed primer according to the Sarum Use was printed in Paris. The Reformation saw primers produced in a similarly proliferate fashion; in the 13 years following the 1534 break, 28 editions were printed in English. Reformed vernacular translations of

3864-407: The formal government. These are terms that highlight certain actions of the governors, such as corruption , demagoguery , or fear mongering that may disrupt the intended way of working of the government if they are widespread enough. The Polity IV dataset recognizes anocracy as a category. In that dataset, anocracies are exactly in the middle between autocracies and democracies. Often the word

3948-415: The groundwork for the totalitarianism in the Soviet Union . They see the traditions of autocracy and patrimonialism as dominating Russia's political culture for centuries; for example, Stephen White is described as "the most consistent" defender of the position that the uniqueness of Russian political heritage is inseparable from its ethnic identity. In White's opinion, autocracy is the defining factor in

4032-490: The history of Russian politics. He wrote that Russian political culture is "rooted in the historical experience of centuries of absolutism". Those views had been challenged by other historians, for example, Nicolai N. Petro and Martin Malia (as cited by Hoffmann). Richard Pipes is another influential historian among non-specialists who holds the position about the distinctness of Russian history and political system, describing

4116-495: The interdependence of monarch and nobility in the practice of rule. Outside Russia and the Soviet Union, Hans-Joachim Torke among others tried to counter the notion of an all-powerful autocratic state by pointing at the mutual dependency of service elites and the state (coining the term "state-conditioned society"). Torke acknowledges that the tsars were not reined in by any form of constitution, but he emphasizes, for example,

4200-435: The laity, a value modern historians have understood through its regular inclusion in wills from 1323 onward. During the late Middle Ages, manuscript and later printed primers became the primary devotional literature of the English laity. The first printed primer was published in Latin in 1494 and contained additional devotions to the typical but unstandardized pattern. Religious literature, including primers, accounted for

4284-594: The land"). During Michael's reign, when the Romanov dynasty was still weak, such assemblies were summoned annually. The Romanov dynasty consolidated absolute power in Russia during the reign of Peter the Great (reigned 1682–1725), who reduced the power of the nobility and strengthened the central power of the tsar, establishing a bureaucratic civil service based on the Table of Ranks but theoretically open to all classes of

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4368-524: The later Elizabethan alphabet book and catechism , The ABC with the Catechism . Under Edward VI , a revised version of Henry's primer was introduced in 1551. This text had a less mariological bent than Henry's primer but retained traditional elements. In 1553, a new Edwardine primer appeared towards the end of the young king's reign; this latter primer reflected an further degree of reformed theology. These protestantizing deviations were followed by

4452-595: The limitations of Christian morality and court customs. The so-called "American school" of the 1980s and 1990s argued for the important role of elite networks and their power in court. Edward Keenan went even further in his well-known piece on Muscovite political culture, claiming that the tsar was merely a puppet in the hands of boyars who wielded the actual power behind the scenes. For others, like David Ransel and Paul Bushkovitch, it goes too far to portray relations between tsar and nobility like Keenan does, because it does not appreciate their complexity. Bushkovitch argues that

4536-411: The monarch, was printed in at least two versions in 1545. This primer would establish the pattern of English prayer books and private devotion for the next century, enabling and officially encouraging the laity to worship according to the public services of the church in their own home. Henry VIII's primer was reprinted under Edward VI in 1547 and 1549, the latter with the revised Litany as present in

4620-403: The monarch, who mostly rule kingdoms. The actual role of the monarch and other members of royalty varies from purely symbolical ( crowned republic ) to partial and restricted ( constitutional monarchy ) to completely despotic ( absolute monarchy ). Traditionally and in most cases, the post of the monarch is inherited , but there are also elective monarchies where the monarch is elected. Rule by

4704-694: The most infamous secret society is the Illuminati , who had in their general statutes, "The order of the day is to put an end to the machinations of the purveyors of injustice, to control them without dominating them." Secret societies are illegal in several countries, including Italy and Poland , who ban secret political parties and political organizations in their constitutions. Secret societies are often portrayed in fiction settings. Some examples from popular culture include: Magocracies are portrayed primarily in fiction and fantasy settings. Some examples from popular culture include: Synthetic technocracy

4788-437: The most part of society; this small elite is defined as sharing some common trait. De jure democratic governments with a de facto oligarchy are ruled by a small group of segregated, powerful or influential people who usually share similar interests or family relations. These people may spread power and elect candidates equally or not equally. An oligarchy is different from a true democracy because very few people are given

4872-622: The movement for separation of church and state in West European monarchies, the Russian Empire combined monarchy with the supreme authority on religious issues (see Church reform of Peter I and caesaropapism for details). Another key feature related to patrimonialism . In Russia, the tsar owned a much higher proportion of the state (lands, enterprises, etc.) than did Western monarchs. The tsarist autocracy had many supporters within Russia. Major Russian advocates and theorists of

4956-440: The name of Dirige . The 1559 primer was intended as a means for schoolmasters to teach children how to read and write and included Henry's order for its use as such. The more traditional primer patterns preserved under Elizabeth may have been responsible for the later Caroline Divines 's positive sentiments towards catholic devotion. Although the royal injunctions prohibited the print of any other primers, Elizabeth permitted

5040-575: The one hand, the tsar's relative power fluctuated per monarch, and on the other hand, that the nobility was all but unified; the balance of power changed with each tsar as well as the rise of boyars and in the case of Peter I even shifted multiple times. Charles J. Halperin cautioned against views that too easily claim tsar and state dominance in politics or society. While acknowledging the institutional differences between Muscovy and Western European monarchies, Halperin nevertheless stresses that these differences should not be considered absolute. In his view,

5124-414: The people rule, as republican forms of government. These categories are not exclusive. A semi-presidential republic is a government system with power divided between a president as head of state and a prime minister as head of government, used in countries like France , Portugal , and Ukraine . The president, elected by the people, symbolizes national unity and foreign policy while the prime minister

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5208-517: The poor, would often be recited at funerals and during the "month's mind" and anniversary of a given death. Typically, the liturgical contents of primers—both manuscripts and printed editions—would be wholly in Latin. While some late 15th-century English-language manuscript primers rendered the Little Office, the Office of the Dead, and the Psalms into English, printers in England would officially produce none that translated these elements into

5292-446: The practice of rule, a matter of human interactions, is more important than theory and abstractions. a As used in those publications . b The existing literature pairs the words Russian, tsarist, Muscovite and imperial with despotism, absolutism and autocracy in all possible combinations, rarely giving clear definitions. Tsarist can be indeed applicable to the entire period (see also historical usage of

5376-480: The prayers in a low voice. However, the time needed to thoroughly learn the intricacies of the breviaries proved prohibitive to laypersons. Those devotions which were mostly invariable were adapted into primers. The introduction of the Office of the Dead and its variants of Matins and Vespers would, alongside the Little Office, form the basis of primers for several centuries. Historians differ in what constituted

5460-527: The primer increasingly associated with the catechisms also produced during her reign, as well as the Elizabethan Book of Common Prayer . The 1559 Elizabethan primer was part of Elizabethan Religious Settlement program to restore traditional worship in a reformed context and was soon accompanied by two other authorized devotional books: Orarium in 1560 and Preces Privatae in 1564. The other categories p Elizabeth's royal injunctions introduced

5544-490: The primer were officially authorized by the Church of England and printed that same year as English ecclesial independence. In 1535, printer and translator William Marshall collaborated with John Byddell to produce a second reformed English primer. In 1539, John Hilsey produced a more conservative translation that retained some Latin at the behest of Thomas Cromwell . Another primer, King Henry's Primer –also in English and Latin–superseded these prior editions and included

5628-478: The primer. Traditionally, primers also had a tendency to include eccentric and superstitious devotions. It is from Dirige , the Latin word for the Matins and Lauds of the Office of the Dead as they were contained in primers, that the English word " dirge " is derived; Placebo and Dirige being among the first words recited of the evening and morning offices respectively. The Dirige , accompanied by gifts to

5712-459: The primers would match the local liturgical use in their ordering of the Psalms, with known variations for the Roman Rite , Sarum Use , York Use , and Parisian practices. Standardization of these devotions and the early primers would generally occur within monastic communities and cathedral and collegiate chapters . The 14th century saw the primer become a valued devotional text among

5796-438: The promise but not yet the actuality of an inclusive and effective political economy, and threatens members of the established elite; and is therefore very vulnerable to disruption and armed violence. Countries with monarchy attributes are those where a family or group of families (rarely another type of group), called the royalty , represents national identity, with power traditionally assigned to one of its individuals, called

5880-415: The publication of a more reformed primer in 1560. This permission did not allow it to replace or serve as alternative to the 1559 primer and was never authorized for educating children; it deleted the 1553 primer's phrase that the text was meant to be "taught, learned, read, and used." Printing of similarly unauthorized books–distinguishing themselves as " A Primer" rather than " The Primer"–continued through

5964-508: The same) as well as to its content (the question how Russian or "tsarist" autocracy differs from "regular" autocracy or from European absolutism for that matter). Regarding the substance of the autocracy model, its equation with despotism and its supposed origins in Mongol rule, as well as its supposed rise in medieval Muscovy, have been heavily debated. For one, Marxist Soviet scholars were concerned with prerevolutionary absolutism and identified

6048-522: The society, in place of the nobility-only mestnichestvo which Feodor III had abolished in 1682 at the request of the highest boyars. Peter I also strengthened state control over the Russian Orthodox Church . Peter's reforms provoked a series of palace coups seeking to restore the power of the nobility. To end them, Catherine the Great , whose reign (1762–1796) is often regarded as the high point of absolutism in Russia, in 1785 issued

6132-514: The socioeconomic base of society. This raises the question of how absolutism could be the same when socioeconomic circumstances in Russia were not the same as elsewhere. In order to reconcile the non-socioeconomic nature of absolutism with Marxist theory, Soviet scholar Alexander N. Chistozvonov proposed to group the Russian monarchy with the Prussian and Austrian ones, forming a distinct mix of Western European absolutism and "oriental despotism". In

6216-493: The state and its people. The autocrat delegated power to persons and institutions acting on his orders, and within the limits of his laws, for the common good of all Russia. The tsar was metaphorically a father and all of his subjects were his children; this metaphor even appeared in Orthodox primers , and is remembered in the common Russian expression "царь-батюшка" tsar-batyushka ("tsar-dear father"). Furthermore, contrary to

6300-401: The state was not a unified and powerful whole (commanded by the economically dominant class), they likewise tackled common (Marxist) conceptions of Russian autocracy. While like Troitskii, they studied the nobility and bureaucracy (in a later period), Zaionchkovskii and Zakharova painted a different picture of the tsar's position. Coinciding with Western scholars like Robert Crummey, they lay bare

6384-464: The strong ties they may have to particular forms of government can cause them to be considered as forms of government in themselves. These categories are not exclusive. A similar system is the Iqta‘ , used by medieval Islamic societies of the middle east and north Africa. This functioned much like the feudal system but generally had titles that weren't granted to a family dynasty but to individuals at

6468-893: The term autocracy : Today, the autocrat is usually seen as synonymous with despot, tyrant, and/or dictator, though each of these terms originally had a separate and distinct meaning. Overall, out of the available terms, "tsarist autocracy" is the one that seems most correct for the entire period discussed, but it is worth keeping in mind that there are no ideal types and that the Russian political system evolved through time. c As used in those publications . d As used in those publications . e As used in those publications . f As used in those publications . g As used in those publications . h As used in those publications . i As used in those publications . j As used in those publications . k The terms oriental despotism and its development,

6552-417: The term "tsar" ), but Muscovite is applicable only to the period of the Grand Duchy of Moscow , which was replaced by tsardom of Russia , a period for which the words imperial and Russian are applicable. Further, we can look at Muscovite despotism as a precursor for the tsarist absolutism , however, the very use of the word despotism has problems (see following note). Finally, care should be taken with

6636-411: The theoretic lack of limitations on the power of the tsar is irrelevant and instead claims that the "crucial question" is where the real power lay. In his view, this can only be shown by the political narrative of events. Bushkovitch placed the balance of power between the tsar, the individual boyars, and the tsar's favorites at the center of political decision-making. In so doing, Bushkovitch found that on

6720-597: The tradition of the racist ideology of the Nazis, they maintained that Asiatic influences rendered the Russians, along with the Chinese , untrustworthy. Historians of different backgrounds have criticized the concept of tsarist autocracy in its various forms. Their complaints range from the different names of the model being too vague, to its chronological implications (it is impossible to consider Russia in different centuries

6804-471: The tsarist autocracy which with some variations would govern Russia for centuries. Absolutism in Russia gradually developed during the 17th and 18th centuries, replacing the despotism of the Grand Duchy of Moscow . After the chaotic Time of Troubles (1598–1613), the first monarch of the Romanov dynasty , Michael of Russia (reigned 1613–1645), was elected to the throne by a Zemsky Sobor ("assembly of

6888-572: The vernacular prior to the independence of the Church of England . Pre- Reformation , the production of translations of the Bible or its contents was prohibited in England. To circumvent this, some early English Reformers and late Lollards successfully imported foreign-printed vernacular primers in the 1530s despite official efforts to suppress this trade. While importation would sometimes be restricted, at least 60 percent of English breviaries, books of hours, primers, and manuals came from abroad during

6972-460: Was a 1599 translation of the post- Tridentine Officium Beatae Mariae Virginis into English by Richard Verstegan and printed in Antwerp . Historian of English literature J.M. Blom argued that the 42 editions of Catholic primers printed between 1599 and 1800 were of great historical and literary importance; recusancy historian John Aveling disputed this thesis and argued that English primers had

7056-489: Was heavily emphasized within medieval piety, forming the center of English private devotion akin to the centrality of the crucifix in the liturgy. Among the most popular devotions to the Passion that appeared within pre-Reformation Sarum primers was the prayer "Oh bone Gesu", derived from Anselm of Canterbury 's Mediations . This and other primer prayers would also emphasize a kinship with Jesus that remained salient from

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