PROHIBITION OF EMBASSIES AND COMMUNICATION WITH THIRD PARTY POLITICAL ACTORS IN PRINCELY AGREEMENTS OF THE 12TH – 15TH CENTURIES

Abstract

The prohibition an embassies and other forms of political communication in the treaties of Rurikids and other rulers significantly expanded from the 12^th to the 15^th century. The formulas of mid-12^th-century agreements reflected by the Kievan Chronicle ("To stand as one," "To stand as one brother," and assurances (such as "Whoever is your enemy is my enemy") were popular in the middle of the 12^th century. But the late 12^th century, those formulae already were not sufficient. For example, they did not provide ample information to Rurik Rostislavich's opponents and allies regarding their own political activities, leading to numerous discussions and additions in the princes' "speeches" of the Kievan Chronicle. The agreements of Dmitry Donskoy and his children on paper and parchment contain more detailed terms. At that time, although princes still repeated the formula "To stand as one", a whole range of prohibitions emerged: treaties prohibited to conclude separate agreements, to send ambassadors, to form new alliances; and established obligations to inform about new agreements and to report intrigues. Such conditions could be both mutual and unilateral. The agreements between the Moscow princes and the Ryazan’ and Tver princes of the 14^th century contained separate entries about actions in specific areas of foreign policy. Treaties of the 15^th century typically just listed groups of opponents. The agreements of the Northwest of Rus’ did not rule out the possibility of a change in opponents' policies. All these regional specificities correlate clearly to the complex political relations of the 14^th–15^th centuries.