I.Ya. FROYANOV ABOUT SUZERAINTY-VASSALAGE IN RUS’

Abstract

In the works of the outstanding Soviet and Russian historian I.Ya. Froyanov, a new concept of the history of early Medieval Rus’ as a country in which the feudal system had not yet been formed, which took place in the corresponding period in a number of Western European countries, was substantiated. Nevertheless, I.Ya. Froyanov did not deny the formation of suzerainty-vassalage relation in Rus’, typical of Western feudalism. He highlighted the features of Russian suzerainty-vassalage and showed that such relations can be formed in society at the pre-feudal stage of its development. Thus, I.Ya. Froyanov combined the tradition of Russian historiography with a fundamentally new approach to understanding this phenomenon.