Sphragistics is a special historical discipline, the subject of which is seals (matrices and impressions). In the traditional view, a seal attached or attached to a document is a sign certifying its legal force, indicating its origin and confirming its authenticity. Considering the significance of the seal in this aspect, historians used it for external criticism of the source. As a result, sphragistics played the role of an auxiliary discipline of diplomacy, while in this case it was an auxiliary discipline of history not directly, but indirectly - through diplomacy.

At present, Soviet and foreign historical science increasingly asserts the view that sphragistic material can provide effective assistance in the study of a number of problems, primarily the history of state institutions, the formation of centralized management and chancellery, the evolution of state power, the formation of state symbols, which, in turn, was a consequence of the political orientation of the state, and etc. The formulation of these and similar questions is connected with the changing tasks of sfragistics: at the present stage of research, the press, without losing its significance in the source criticism of the document, is increasingly acting as an independent source. (It is no coincidence that sphragistics is no longer called an auxiliary, but a special historical discipline.) Such a direction of domestic sphragistic research, when seals are a source in the study of a number of important problems, is developed mainly on the material found during archaeological excavations - Old Russian bulls1 .

Press-wax (wax-mastic) impressions are currently not so actively introduced into scientific circulation, but in the last two decades there has been a tendency to subject individual thematic or territorial groups of wax seals2 to more or less systematic analysis, which can be considered as a pledge

1 See: Yanin V. L. Study of Old Russian seals. In: Auxiliary historical disciplines (VIEW). Issue I. L. 1968; Soboleva N. A. On the methodology of studying the sphragistic material of the XV-XVIII centuries. Historiographical notes. - In the same place. Vol. VIII. l. 1976; her own. On trends in the development of special historical disciplines. Historiographical review for 1964-1978. In the collection of articles: Source studies of national history. 1979. Moscow, 1980.

2 See about these works: Soboleva N. A. On the method of studying sphragistic material, and also: ee same. Pugachev seals. - Voprosy istorii, 1977, N 8; ee same. Symbols of Russian statehood. - Ibid., 1979, No. 6; her own. On the dating of the Great State Seal of Ivan IV. In: Russia on the Path of Centralization, Moscow, 1982; Titov A. K. Study of sphragistic monuments of Belarus. - Soviet Archives, 1980, N 2.

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successful research of these sphragistic monuments of the feudal period. The sphragistic material of the new age, as well as the seals of the Soviet state, which are the most valuable source on the history of socialist state-building, state institutions, and the formation of socialist symbols, have not yet been properly included in scientific circulation, although certain changes can be noted here3 .

The state of knowledge of Russian seals of different epochs is not the same. Understanding and explaining this fact can be facilitated by analyzing the process of formation of sphragistic research. This article, which does not pretend to be an exhaustive review of the literature, makes an attempt, based on the existing achievements in this field and observations made by researchers of seals, to consider the historical evolution of domestic sphragistics as a scientific discipline. This aspect has not received adequate coverage in the literature.

Since when did sphragistics take shape as a "system of knowledge", i.e. a scientific discipline? In the middle and end of the last century, it was repeatedly stated that in Russia "sphragistics as a science does not exist"4 . N. P. Likhachev and A.V. Oreshnikov noted that Russian sphragistics is a "little-cultivated field" 5 .

With the description of the seals, we meet in the chronicle sources. In the 17th and early 18th centuries, the description of the state seal and seals of various departments was recorded in legislative documents. The XVIII century gave the main form of publication of domestic seals. This is a description of printing on the document. The beginning of such a publication was laid by the publication in 1718 of a letter found in the archive of the Embassy Chancery 6 . This letter, sent by Maximilian I to Grand Duke Vasily III in 1514, in which the latter was called emperor, was provided with a double-sided gold seal-the bull of the German emperor. When issued, the letter was accompanied by an engraving depicting a bull, and the word "bull" was also explained. Peter I, when ordering the charter to be printed not only in Russian, but also in some foreign languages and "sent out everywhere for the knowledge", had in mind purely utilitarian goals: to prove his right to the imperial title. It is unlikely that the publication of a certificate with a seal itself had any scientific meaning, especially since one should not look for the beginning of sphragistics as a special discipline, but it can be stated that the idea of the inseparability of a document and a seal has firmly entered the consciousness of publishers of old documents.

In further publications of sources made in the XVIII century.,

3 This is primarily an article: Kiselev G. F., Lyubisheva V. A. Lenin and the creation of the state seal and coat of arms of the RSFSR. - Istoriya SSSR, 1966, N 5. Publikatorskaya deyatel'nost ' ukrainskikh istorikov v oblasti sotsialisticheskoi sfragistiki [Publishing activity of Ukrainian historians in the field of socialist sfragistics]. Питания предмета та історіографії. Kiev, 1977, pp. 132-138) allows us to hope for the appearance in the near future of a generalizing work devoted to the seals of Soviet Ukraine.

4 Gavrilon S. A few words about the collection of images from seals attached to charters and other legal acts stored in the Moscow Archive of the Ministry of Justice, soe G. P. I. Ivanov. - CHOIDR, 1859, book 1, 2, p. 58-59; Rodzevich.F. I. O. russkoy sfragistike [Russian sphragistics]. - Bulletin of Archeology and History, St. Petersburg, 1886, vol. VI, p. 207.

5 Likhachev N. P. Khrisovuli tverskikh knyazey [Khrisovuli of the Tver Princes]. - IGO, St. Petersburg, 1900, issue 1, p. 160; see also: his. Lectures on diplomacy given in 1896-1897 at the St. Petersburg Archaeological Institute. St. Petersburg, 1897, p. 17; his. Materials for the history of Byzantine and Russian sphragistics. Issue 1. L. 1928, p. 1; Oreshnikov A.V. Materials for Russian sphragistics. - Proceedings of the Moscow Numismatic Society, Moscow, 1903, vol. III, issue 1, p. 108.

6 Bibliography of works on domestic source studies and special historical disciplines published in the XVIII century, Moscow, 1981, pp. 145-146.

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first of all, in the Ancient Russian vivliophic 7, the rule of describing the seal accompanying the document is approved. It was most clearly manifested in the largest publication of documents of the beginning of the XIX century-the Collection of State Documents and Contracts (SGTD). This publication, conceived during the reign of Catherine II, was supposed to meet "world standards", in particular the "Dumont Diplomatic Corps". The publication of the SGGD is indeed similar in general to the collection of documents of Zh. Dumont 8, it is even more illustrated (in terms of the image of seals that fasten the document). However, negative opinions were repeatedly expressed about the drawings of seals from the SGGD back in the XIX century. In subsequent editions of documents, in particular in the publications of the Archeographic Commission, there is even less information about seals.

This fact, apparently, is connected not so much with ignoring the seals, but with the formation of the idea of the need for special study of them, which meant, first of all, the selection of the object of study. This refers to the publication of albums or publications of seals, which were supposed to form the material basis for sphragistic research. In this case, the seals were abstracted from the document, which, as a rule, was in the foreground for the researcher, and the seal served as a kind of addition to it (hence the traditional perception of seals in the context of diplomatic research). At the end of the XVIII - beginning of the XIX century, examples of such selection of seals against the background of the general revival of the publication of sources were observed in a number of European countries, especially in France, Germany, and Austria. In the Russian historiography of this period, there was also a question of compiling a "complete collection of images from the seals" of ancient charters .9
Analyzing the works of the 19th century, which are usually classified as sphragistic, researchers start counting from the article of Metropolitan Yevgeny (Bolkhovitinov)10 . However, the author himself, having chosen as a model for himself the works of Western European diplomatists I. H. Hatterer and J. Mabillon, in his words, "offers a diplomatic and paleographic analysis of letters", which he considered as "a sign of certification in diplomacy", i.e. in a diplomatic context. It is no accident that N. P. Likhachev put Bolkhovitinov's article "at the head of the beginning literature of Russian diplomacy" 11 .

N. M. Karamzin demonstrates a creative approach to sphragistic material in the "History of the Russian State". The descriptions of Russian seals are woven into the outline of the historical narrative, forming a single whole with the latter. Along with the seals described in the SGGD, he gives information about the seals of little-known ones, for example, the golden Batu seal, about the seal, in his opinion, of a khan's official, which binds together with the grand ducal seal the spiritual letter of Ivan Kalita, describes the seals of the Galician-Vladimir princes from the Konigsberg archive 12 . It is significant that Karamzin attracted sfra-

7 Ancient Russian viv'liofika, or a collection of various ancient works, such as: Russian embassies to other states, rare letters, descriptions of wedding ceremonies and other historical and geographical memorabilia, and many works of ancient Russian poets, published monthly by Nikolai Novikov. Part II. SPb. 1773, ed. 2-E. Hch. I-III. M. 1788; hh. XVI, XVIII. M. 1791.

8 Dumont J., Rousset de Missy J. Corps universel diplomatique du droit des gens. Tt. 1 - 8. Amsterdam. 1726 - 1731.

9 Sbornik Mukhanova, Moscow, 1836; izd. 2-E. SPb, 1866, p. XVI.

10 Evgeny (Bolkhovitinov). Notes on the charter of Grand Duke Mstislav Volodimirovich and his son Vsevolod Mstislavich, appanage Prince of Novgorod, granted to the Novgorod Yuriev Monastery. - Bulletin of Europe, 1818, part 100, NN 15-16.

11 Likhachev N. P. Iz istorii diplomatiki (XIX V.) [From the History of Diplomacy (XIX century)]. SPb. 1905-1906, p. 20.

12 Karamzin N. M. Istoriya gosudarstva Rossiiskogo [History of the Russian State]. Izd. 2-E. T. III. SPb. 1818, approx. 360; vol. IV. SPb. 1819, notes 326, 204, 268, 276.

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statistical material for establishing the forgery of certificates. He expressed his belief in the forgery of the letter of Oleg of Ryazan, allegedly issued in 1257 in the name of the khan's relative Ivan Shai, who went to Oleg from the Horde and was baptized. Among the signs indicating the forgery of the certificate, the seal occupies an important place: according to the method of its attachment, as the author believed, it in no way corresponded to the old custom of sealing documents .13
Karamzin's work has widely familiarized the Russian reading public with Russian seals. A significant addition to it was the work of G. K. Kotoshikhin, a clerk of the Embassy Order, published in 1840 by the Archeographic Commission, which described and showed the practical application of a group of seals used in the office work of Russia in the XVII century .14
Karamzin's work and Kotoshikhin's publication made a certain contribution to the sphragistic theme in Russian historiography, but did not radically affect its allocation. Until the middle of the 19th century, printing was still "dependent" on the document, and was described during its existence. Such a "descriptive" way of analyzing seals has been criticized in scientific circles. They questioned the correctness of the perception of seals only as a means of certifying a document, noted the carelessness of document publishers in relation to seals, inaccuracy of description, blatant errors in the transmission of legends, which contributed to errors in their definition, and so on. As a positive example, sphragistic publications appeared by this time in other European countries 15. In short, the question of distinguishing seals from diplomacy as a subject of independent research was quite clearly defined by the middle of the 19th century. The result was not long in coming.

The first work on seals can be considered the monograph of A. B. Lakier "Russian Heraldry". The work of A. B. Lakier, which introduced the Russian reader to the history of the origin and creation of national coats of arms, also included a rich sphragistic material. The general historical system of views of the author fully corresponded to the level of development of historical science in the middle of the XIX century. In particular, the emphasis on the originality of the historical path of Russia, the primordial existence of such an institution as autocratic power, as well as many others, were reflected in him in the form of the concept of the ancient origin of Russian coats of arms, the indissoluble connection of ancient seals and later coats of arms. This provision was criticized immediately after the publication of book 16 . However, Lakier's desire to prove the antiquity of the origin of Russian coats of arms led to the attraction of such really ancient historical material as seals. The author's field of view was almost all the sphragistic material known by the middle of the XIX century. For the most part, it is placed in tables. Lakier described in general all the princely seals published in the SGGD and known by that time with significant amendments, clarifications and explanations, making an attempt to classify them. He singled out the princely seals (grand and appanage dukes), the seals of cities, clergy, officials and individuals.

Some methodological techniques used by Lakier in IP-

13 Ibid., vol. IV, note 90.

14 Kotoshikhin G. K. About Russia in the reign of Alexey Mikhailovich. St. Petersburg, 1840, pp. 29, 38, 114.

15 Kammerer G. von. Ueber einige merkwurdige Siegel des Mittelalters. St. Petersburg. 1852, S. 1 - 2.

16 See about this: Soboleva N. A. Russian city and regional heraldry of the XVIII-XIX centuries. Moscow, 1981, p. 8, sn. 9.

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following the Old Russian seals, namely, the correlation of images on seals and simultaneous Old Russian coins, a comparative analysis of images on Russian seals-comparing them with similar Lithuanian, Polish, Serbian and other European samples, drawing on written sources necessary for developing the correct interpretation of a particular emblem that bears a seal, etc. allowed him to: make observations that were then not challenged by the researchers. Despite the presence of a number of contradictions and ambiguities in Lakier's understanding of the theoretical issues of sphragistics, his attempts to reveal the essence of the very process of sealing a document deserve attention. He sees the press not only as "one of the main means of verifying the authenticity of acts and determining the time of their compilation"17 , but also sees it as an external expression of legal relations.

Lakier, he said, was far from " presenting a complete science of seals." However, the experience of studying such poorly researched and complex historical material as coats of arms and seals in Russia allowed Lakier to declare to skeptics and alleged opponents: "The idea that there can be no independent science about our coats of arms and seals is false in its basis and consequences."18 Although Lakier's work had a great resonance in scientific circles, it cannot be said that sphragistics in Russia then entered a new phase of its development, i.e. it turned into a scientific discipline. In particular, one of the cardinal questions - about the essence of the press, its functions-was left out and was not clarified. Diplomatic literature provided the most general information about seals as signs of certification of acts. Russian legal scholars practically did not consider the press as a manifestation of social and legal life 19.

D. M. Meychik made an attempt to understand the legal meaning of seals 20 . In his opinion, the seal as a criterion of authenticity shares its function with the signature, becoming an essential indicator of legal force and a sign of the authenticity of the document. The author did not go further than this theoretical conclusion about the function of the seal and the relationship with the signature in documents of a certain type (chartered, decree documents). He noted that the documents he was considering had a seal (and signature)on them it does not always act as an exclusive means of strengthening the legal force of the document. The evidence of witnesses (poslukhov) also competes with it. However, the author spoke vaguely about the interdependence of all these means of securing the document. In his view, the seal was not the main criterion for the authenticity and legal force of a medieval document, but the evidence of proverbs. He did not correlate the meaning of the document with the sign of its fastening, did not take into account the fact that the assessment of the importance and value of the document depended on the sign of fastening, primarily on the attached or attached seal. The identification formulas, their content and form did not attract his attention either. In general, the Defendant limited himself to stating the fact of binding a particular type of act in one way or another, without making any conclusions about its legal nature and significance.

17 Lakier A. B. Russkaya geraldika [Russian heraldry]. St. Petersburg, 1855, p. 87.

18 Ibid., p. 2.

19 Some observations on the form of document binding are available from K. A. Nevolin (Nevolin K. A. Istoriya rossiiskikh grazhdanskikh zakonov [History of Russian Civil Laws], Vol. 2, St. Petersburg, 1851, pp. 51-52, 54) and A. B. Lakier (Lakier A. B. Obshchie osnovy sistemy kontraktov i obyazatel'nosti po nachalam russkogo zakonodatelstva [General bases of the system of contracts and obligations under the principles of Russian legislation]. - Son of the Fatherland, St. Petersburg, 1852, book 5, pp. 72-76).

20 Meychik D. M. Gramoty XIV i XV vvakh [Letters of the XIV and XV centuries]. Moscow Archive of the Ministry of Justice, Moscow, 1883.

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Thus, it remained unknown who was involved in the sealing of documents, whose seal had a sufficient degree of authority to seal a particular document, what role was assigned to ambassadors and their seals (or seals) in terms of the identification mark, etc. On these and similar issues that shed light on many facts from the field of state history Neither the diplomatists nor the jurists could find an answer to these questions, which explain the connection of the press with the social and political system, with legal concepts and norms, with certain stages of the development of the culture of society. There was no answer to them in Lakier's book either.

In the second half of the 19th century, Russian press became an object of increasing attention. Finally, albums of domestic prints21 appear along with individual publications 22 . Careful description of seals in published documents becomes a rule of thumb, and some sphragistic subjects attract the attention of historians and antiquarians. In particular, the princely and royal seals were the subject of the work of B. Koehne, published in Berlin 24 . Starting with the ancient Russian monuments of sphragistics - bullae, the author brings it to the seals that are modern to him. Kene made a number of quite fair comments regarding the images on the princely seals, tried to change the existing dating of some of them, and gave a number of unknown data about Russian emblems obtained from foreign sources.

In general, it can be stated that by the end of the XIX century, Russian press only received the right to become an object of research. It is hardly legitimate to talk about the formation of sphragistics as a system of knowledge by that time.

It has been suggested in the literature that the direction of development and theoretical positions on which domestic auxiliary historical disciplines were based from the very beginning of their formation "are determined by the general concepts of the historical process of the noble and bourgeois periods of historiography"25 . At the same time, these disciplines are evolving in connection with certain laws inherent in each of them. The latter circumstance makes us pay attention to the processes taking place in each of the auxiliary historical disciplines, regardless of their territorial affiliation. In other words, it is correct to consider the development of this or that auxiliary discipline against the background of the development of a new one.-

21 Ivanov P. Collection of pictures from ancient seals attached to charters and other legal acts stored in the Moscow Archive of the Ministry of Justice. Moscow, 1858; Pictures of ancient Russian seals of state, royal, regional, city, public places and private individuals. Issue 1. Moscow, 1880; Prozorovsky D. Collection of Polish and other seals belonging to the Ministry of Justice. 1881; Bolsunovsky K. Sphragisticheskie i geraldicheskie pamyatniki Yugo-Zapadnogo kraya [Sphragistic and heraldic monuments of the South-Western Region]. Issue I. Kiev, 1899.

22 For example: Berednikov Ya. I. A note on antiquities discovered in the Moscow Kremlin. St. Petersburg, 1844.

23 See, for example, Sreznevsky I. I. Ancient monuments of Russian writing and language (X-XIV centuries). General Time Review, St. Petersburg, 1863; 2nd edition, St. Petersburg, 1882. Here the author to a certain extent fulfilled his promise regarding a detailed description of ancient Russian seals, given earlier (Sreznevsky I. I. Row entry with a seal of the XIII century. - Notes of the Archaeological Society, St. Petersburg, 1851, vol. III, p. 222). "Facts on Russian sfragistics" are collected and presented by Sreznevsky in chronological order from the X to the XIV centuries. along with a description of the documents that carry them. A. A. Shakhmatov, listing errors and failures in the publication of letters in the SGGD, noted the poor image of seals. Reprinting Novgorod letters, he also re-described their seals, paying special attention to the inscriptions (Shakhmatov A. A. On the language of Novgorod letters. - In: Studies in the Russian Language, vol. 1, St. Petersburg, 1885).

24 Koehne B. de. Notice sur les sceaux et les armoiries de la Russie. Brl. 1861.

25 Kamentseva E. I. Istoriya podsuktivnykh istoricheskikh dlinin [History of auxiliary historical disciplines]. Moscow, 1979, p. 16.

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the main regularities of historical development. And this makes it possible to correlate, in particular, the development of sphragistics in different countries. By the end of the 19th century, many Western European countries published generalizing works on sphragistics, which were based on large complexes of sphragistic monuments; in European historical science, the question of systematization of sphragistic knowledge arose .26 This became possible as a result of the accumulation of sphragistic material, which was primarily due to the extensive publication of written sources. Publishing activity, which was particularly intense in France, Germany, and Austria in the nineteenth century, covered not only documents in general, but also sphragistic monuments as a separate field. Atlases and print albums have become commonplace in Western European historiography since the second half of the 19th century. Clearly developed principles for publishing documents (chronological, regional, etc.) made it possible to select the seals that bind them in special issues, summarize and analyze the latter.

In Russia, too, the nineteenth century produced numerous publications of ancient documents. However, as Likhachev noted earlier, the use of published sources, and in particular in relation to sphragistic research, was extremely difficult "due to the lack of reference books for act publications, systematic registers of published and unpublished documents, the dispersion of published documents in a very significant number of journals and in an even much larger number of different non-periodical and individual series." books and brochures " 27 . The lack of integrity, complexity, and a certain system in the publication of documents (no matter by what principle - by funds, by types of documents, or by territorial and political characteristics-they were published) hindered the creation of seal codes and thus became a kind of brake on the development of sfragistics as a scientific discipline in Russia.

It seems that the reason for this state of sphragistics, as well as heraldry, in the Russian historical science of the XIX century also has an objective logical explanation. The Russian public of the XIX century got acquainted with historical works containing information about coats of arms and seals. There was also an idea of them as a source. However, due to the predominance of the noble-protective direction in historical science, these sources were interpreted primarily as historical monuments of the ruling feudal class.

The historical significance of coats of arms, seals (if considered separately from the document, as an independent monument), emblems, symbols, etc., determined primarily by the fact that they represent an external expression of legal relationships, social structure, political iconography, etc., was not emphasized in the works of researchers. Therefore, it was natural to treat the above-mentioned monuments as attributes of feudal society. The latter, as is well known, aroused considerable skepticism in the Russian public environment, especially when the wave of their rejection after the French bourgeois Revolution of the late XVIII century reached Russia. These attributes of the obsolete system, first of all coats of arms, monarchical symbols and emblems, but also Old Russian seals, which, due to their specific feudal symbols, could well be classified as such signs, were not interested (in that perspective,

26 In particular, the German scientists F. K. Hohenlohe-Waldenburg and H. P. Blavatsky proposed their own systems for classifying seals. Grotefend (see about this: Likhachev N. P. From lectures on sphragistics. St. Petersburg, 1905-1906, pp. 15-21).

27 Likhachev N. P. On drawing up the list of published Russian acts. Pg. 1923, pp. 1-3.

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in which they were presented) public thought in such a way as to really attract attention. Other, more pressing ideas worried the Russian reader. Therefore, probably, there was some "non-perception" of the above problems.

The 20th century changed the Russian scientific community's view of the press. At the beginning of the century, the subject of study is theoretically comprehended and quite clearly distinguished, the goals and objectives of sphragistics-a scientific discipline-are formulated, the methodology is outlined, and the main directions of research are determined. This positive process is connected with the success of archeology, first of all with the mass finds of lead seals, especially at the Novgorod settlement. One of the first people who was able to appreciate the new sphragistic monuments in terms of their historical significance was N. P. Likhachev, a major specialist in the field of auxiliary historical disciplines, and later a well-known Soviet scientist. The accumulated sphragistic material in the form of Old Russian metal seals found in the ground, its systematization, as well as the analysis of sphragistic works that appeared in Western European literature, which were based on large complexes of sphragistic monuments, led Likhachev to comprehend the theoretical foundations of sphragistics. He determined the place and significance of seals in historical research.

Considering the press as a material for historical and diplomatic knowledge, Likhachev wrote: "Seals are not only diplomatic monuments (paper clips), but also purely historical (expressions of political trends, social trends and views - in images, shape, size, material) and monuments of art history, as well as valuable documents in the field of everyday history (images of buildings, clothing, various utensils, etc.). weapons)"28 . Thus, Likhachev, without denying the importance of the press for external criticism of the document, put forward the concept of the press as an independent source in the first place. He also formulated the basic principle of research of sphragistic monuments. Criticizing the various systems and classifications of sphragistic material that exist in Western European literature, he wrote that the study of seals cannot be based on purely external features - the shape, pattern, material, or method of attaching seals. "We should study the material (sphragistic. - N. S.) by states and their institutions or in chronological order, while noticing the phenomena of succession, influence and interaction. Sphragistic facts must be made closely dependent on diplomatic facts. " 29 In addition to this programmatic approach, from the point of view of the methodology of sphragistic research, Likhachev also outlined the main points of a specific sphragistic study. This refers to the undated and unattributed seals that attracted his close attention in the late 19th century. k remained the most important object of his research activity for the rest of his life - bulls found in the ground.

The theoretical principles outlined in the first years of scientific experiments on metal seals were developed by Likhachev in the course of his further work with monuments of this type, the number of which increased every year. These propositions are set forth in his work on the history of Byzantine and Russian sphragistics 30 and summarize the author's observations primarily in the field of Old Russian bulls. Metal seals, according to Likhachev, are a "special feature" of the company.

28 Likhachev N. P. From lectures on sphragistics, p. 14.

29 Ibid., p. 22.

30 Likhachev I. P. Materials for the history of Byzantine and Russian sphragistics. Issue 1. - Proceedings of the Museum of Paleography, L., 1928, vol. 1; issue 2. - Ibid., L., 1930, vol. 2.

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chapter " Russian sphragistics. The history of their study is quite fully covered by Likhachev himself. It was especially carefully analyzed by V. L. Yanin31 .

Likhachev, although unevenly distributed his attention between different areas of sphragistic research, singled out the Old Russian metal bulls, but in the most general terms still painted a picture of the evolution of seals in medieval Russia. The first stage, up to the 15th century, is considered by him as the period of the Byzantine orientation of Russian sphragistics. From the end of the 15th century , in his opinion, 32 the Western European character prevails in the images and style of seals. When describing the stages, Likhachev proceeded from the well-known position that Western European sphragistics, without rejecting metal bulls, basically had wax-mastic seals. Likhachev also, accepting only in principle this characterization of stages, emphasized that Russian sphragistics should never be presented only as imitative. "A powerful, young nation," he wrote, "significantly transformed the models and Russified them." 33
Anticipating one of the main current postulates in the approach to sphragistic research, namely, the development of sphragistics of the region, Likhachev wrote about the need to distribute Russian sphragistic monuments to "generally recognized centers of political, social and economic life" 34. He also made other constructive comments and suggestions on a number of important general issues of the press, for example, on analogies in the sphragistics of various countries and peoples, the relationship of symbolic symbols with officially recognized emblems of power recorded in monuments, sphragistics, numismatics and heraldry, and finally, on the extremely important problem of the evolution of the functions of the press.

In the person of Likhachev, Russian sphragistics gained not only a theorist, but also a popularizer. Sphragistics has become a discipline taught to students of the Archaeological Institute. It was included in the course of lectures on diplomacy, and was also the subject of special lectures 35 .

Likhachev is also credited with highlighting such a sphragistic problem as the formation of the Russian state press. As early as 1900, he noted that " the varieties of the state seal of the Moscow grand dukes and tsars are far from fully understood." A few years later, he tried to fill the void in the historiography of this issue by writing a sphragistic essay that included observations on Russian official seals .36 In his field of vision were wax seals revealed during acts of the XVI-XVII centuries, of various types.

31 Yanin V. L. On the centenary of N. P. Likhachev's birth. - Sovetskaya arkheologiya, 1962, N 2; his. Study of Old Russian visly seals. - VIEW. Issue No. I; his own. Assembly seals of Ancient Russia. X-XV centuries. Vol. 1. Moscow, 1970, vved.

32 Likhachev N. P. Materials. Issue 1, p. 1. However, he admits that the beginning of the Western European influence on the sphragistic image is observed already from the end of the XIII-beginning of the XIV century (ibid., p. 22 - 23, 30 - 31, 48, 51, 68 - 69; issue 2, p. 31).

33 Likhachev N. P. Ibid. Issue 1, p. 1.

34 Likhachev N. P. Ibid., p. 10. Sphragistics of a region is understood as a complex of sphragistics monuments belonging to a certain territory, which is a special historical region and at the same time an independent unit of territorial organization, mainly political and administrative, which is distinguished by economic, social, cultural and ethnic features. The region's sphragistics are made up of the seals of individuals and institutions associated with the general territorial affiliation in a certain chronological period (see about this: Kuczynski S.K. Pieczeeie ksiazat Mazowieckich. Wroclaw etc. 1978, s. 7 - 8).

35 Likhachev N. P. From lectures on sphragistics. The oldest sphragistics. From lectures on diplomacy given at the Archaeological Institute for the 1904/5 academic year, St. Petersburg, 1906.

36 Likhachev N. P. Khrisovuli tverskikh knyazey, p. 160; his. The case of Antony Possevin's arrival in Moscow. St. Petersburg, 1903, section II.

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private, royal, and also belonging to certain officials: the treasurer, customs officers, and so on. Citing many sphragistic facts, Likhachev nevertheless suggested that the Russian press does not lend itself to systematization. This thesis was refuted by his subsequent constructions in the field of Old Russian metal seals. As for the wax seals, he understood why he could not reconstruct the picture of their evolution: he made sphragistic research directly dependent on the review, description and publication of documents, emphasizing the importance of publishing integral groups of acts of Muscovy Rus.

The validity of Likhachev's scientific foresight about the crucial importance of publishing the entire complex of Russian acts in the development of many problems of Russian history, including sphragistics, was confirmed in practice. On the basis of a large number of documents collected by him dating back to 1611-1612, first of all the letters of grant from the estate, he created a coherent scheme for the use and use of the zemstvo seal. 37 The" dispensation " of the zemstvo seal (a single-headed eagle with a branch in its claws was imprinted on black wax) took place in the First Militia on June 30, 1611. Not having in his hands a sufficient amount of material on the operation of the administrative system of the Second, Nizhny Novgorod militia, Likhachev meanwhile claimed that the government of K. Minin and D. Pozharsky used in their orders " from the spring of 1612 the same seal as the government of Lyapunov - Trubetskoy-Zarutsky Collected by Likhachev sphragistic materials within the framework of documents known to him The First and Second militias, the analysis of articles that spoke about seals, allowed him to draw up a diagram of the political ideas of the First Militia, its rights and powers, interactions with the Second Militia, and the pretentious views of the Zemstvo government as a whole. Thus, while claiming that the Nizhny Novgorod militia adopted from the very beginning the same stamp as the First One, Likhachev seemed to emphasize that the Second Militia thereby adopted, so to speak, the "Lyapunov ideology".

The discovery of new documents with seals violated the scheme built by Likhachev. P. A. Sadikov, who studied the order materials of the Nizhny Novgorod militia, 38 drew attention to the discrepancy between Likhachev's conclusion and the original execution of the order documents of the Nizhny Novgorod militia. All acts were sealed with the personal ring seal of the Prince. Pozharsky district. The pendant seal used for international correspondence was cut from it. Thus, the official seal of the Second Militia was, apparently, the personal seal of the Prince. Pozharsky district. It was only after the reunification of the two militias that the only state regalia of the Zemstvo Government began to function in accordance with its direct purpose as the state seal. This remarkable sphragistic plot in itself, where the seals are very skilfully displayed as sources of evidence of the political aspirations of their creators (apparently, Likhachev primarily pursued this goal), serves as proof that the sphragistic construction, on the basis of which historical conclusions are drawn, cannot be based on individual author's findings, in particular on the basis of the author's work. it should be based on an "exhaustive collection of material".

Likhachev repeatedly addressed the issue of the origin of the state seal. In particular, it seemed unacceptable to him that there was a significant-

37 Likhachev I. P. Zemstvo press of the Moscow State in the Time of Troubles, Moscow, 1914.

38 Sadikov P. A. "Zemskaya" press N. Nizhegorodskoe opolchenie [Nizhny Novgorod Militia]. In: Chronicle of classes of the Archeographic Commission for 1927-1928, l. 1929, p. 35.

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the prevailing opinion in the literature is that the Russians borrowed the state seal from Byzantium. He believed that such a system did not exist in the Byzantine Empire: "There was no logo on it. It was, after all, the seal of the monarch, and not of the Byzantine monarchy under this or that emperor. ...The Muscovite government could not borrow directly from Byzantium what it did not have. " 39 Likhachev's credo for the Russian state press is set forth in theses intended for the widest reading40 . His arguments about the formation of the state press were based on identifying political issues that affect the formation of a particular type of press. The existence of sphragistic monuments was considered by him to be inextricably linked with the political history of Russia. The correctness of the research aspects outlined by him in relation to state seals is confirmed in a specific study of their visual components.

In recent decades, there have been works in which Russian and medieval seals and their emblems are interpreted as sources reflecting the concept of state power.41 Thus, the study of the iconography of the horseman striking the dragon with a spear and the double-headed eagle-emblems of the first Russian national press, their typology, and identification of analogies in Western and Southern European sphragistic material made it possible to express a very definite point of view on the emblems that were used as state symbols by the government of Ivan III. Comparison of the emblems symbolizing the Russian state with similar sphragistic monuments in other European countries shows that due to the prevalence of such subjects in Europe and the well-known specifics of use (on signs of power), the above-mentioned images served as a kind of advertisement for the new state, reflecting the idea of its equality with other European powers and expressing the political aspirations of the Moscow government on a pan-European scale. The aspect of the study of state seals outlined by Likhachev includes the latter in the circle of irreplaceable sources in the development of issues of "political symbols". It is used to express the main ideas of state policy, reflect the moments of sovereignty and citizenship, domestic aspirations, foreign policy plans, etc.

Thus, N. P. Likhachev is the founder of scientific sphragistic knowledge. Thanks to his works, sphragistics turned from a narrow section of diplomacy into a scientific discipline, gaining its own content. And it's not just about studying old Russian metal seals. The works of Likhachev mentioned here on feudal wax seals, which, by the way, are little known, indicate that this sphragistic material also had the quality of a most valuable source in the eyes of the scientist. The complex period of Russian history, the personal fate of a remarkable scientist, and most importantly, the shift of scientific interest that led him to turn to metal seals, the number of finds of which was increasing, created an extensive complex, in contrast to the isolated, sometimes accidental discoveries in archives that do not form integral groups of sphragistic memorials-

39 Likhachev N. P. Some of the oldest printing types of Byzantine Emperors, Moscow, 1911, pp. 1, 43.

40 Likhachev N. P. History of education of the Russian state press. - Birzhevye vedomosti, 15. V. 1915.

41 Alef G. The Adoption of the Muscovite Two-headed Eagle: A Discordant View. - Speculum, 1966, vol. 41, N 1; Stokl G. Testament und Siegel Ivans IV. Opladen. 1972, S. 41-69; Soboleva N. A. Symbols of Russian statehood. On the dating of the Great State Seal of Ivan IV.

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the latter could not have been formed due to the specific nature of the sources ' publications, as mentioned above) - all these reasons, I think, influenced Likhachev's subsequent refusal to develop sphragistic problems related to wax seals.

A. V. Oreshnikov and A. S. Lappo-Danilevsky followed the example of Likhachev, who set the tone at the beginning of the century in mastering a new discipline. Well-known experts, one in the field of numismatics, the other in diplomacy, have made their contribution to the developing domestic sphragistics.

Oreshnikov's work 42 is an essay on Russian sphragistics, which was one of the stages of generalizing domestic material on seals and, without developing sphragistic problems in detail, nevertheless contained valuable information and observations in this area. For us, the general principles of Oreshnikov's work are of particular importance. He emphasized the commonality of numismatics and sphragistics of the XIV-XV centuries; which, in his opinion, consisted primarily in the arbitrary choice of images on both monuments, which he explained by the complete absence of concepts of an emblem or coat of arms in Russia in the XIV-XV centuries; in the interdependence of subjects on specific coins and seals of individuals, etc. D. Oreshnikov, perhaps for the first time in Russian sfragistics, expressed the idea of the existence of an extensive system of seals in Russia, as a mandatory component accompanying not only the princely, but also any official document. This recognition of the existence of the institute of printing in Ancient Russia (in contrast to the previous statements regarding seals - princely regalia) was very significant and was later proved on the relevant material by Likhachev.

The undoubted merit of Oreshnikov was a purely practical publishing activity in the field of sphragistics. In the same essay, he placed an image of metal seals that fasten a number of grand ducal letters of Moscow, Tver, etc., commenting on them accordingly. Subsequently, Oreshnikov repeatedly returned to sphragistic plots .43
The work of Lappo-Damilevsky 44 is devoted to the study of seals that secure the letters of the Galician-Vladimir princes of 1316-1341. This typically sphragistic study, which provides a detailed description of the material, cords, images on seals, searches for analogies to these images, and identification of seal types, ends with conclusions about the intersection of cultural influences and traditions in the design of the sphragistic type of princely seals of the XIV century: Byzantine and Western European.

Based on the analysis of the most significant works that contributed to the formation of domestic sphragistics as a system of knowledge, it can be stated that in the pre-October period, its content was determined, it stood out from diplomacy. Moreover, sphragistics developed into a scientific discipline, as evidenced primarily by the works of Likhachev, who widely considered sphragistic monuments from the point of view of their historical significance.

However, sphragistics acquired a social quality only at a new stage of its development - in Soviet historical science. Its auxiliary function is pushed into the background, and the sphragistic ones themselves are relegated to the background.

42 Oreshnikov A.V. Uk. soch.

43 Oreshnikov A. V. Applied printing of Prince Mosalsky-Rubtsa. In: Numismatic Collection, vol. I. Moscow, 1911; his. Ring of St. Alexis Metropolitan. In: Collection of articles on Archeology and Byzantine Studies, T. P. Praga. 1928.

44 Lappo-Dakilevsky A. S. Seals of the last Galich-Vladimir princes and their advisers. St. Petersburg, 1906. In: Boleslav Yuri II, Prince of All Little Russia, St. Petersburg, 1907.

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monuments now serve as the basis for important historical buildings. Domestic sphragistic research did not acquire this quality immediately. After the Great October Socialist Revolution, sfragistics developed in line with the general principles of historical research based on Marxist-Leninist principles. For example, at the first stage (until the mid-1930s), when the method of comprehensive development of sources was approved in historical science, the press became the subject of special attention of historians analyzing document complexes .45 The authors emphasized the role of seals as historical monuments that contribute to understanding the content of the document. At the same time, sphragistics, while maintaining the position of an independent scientific discipline established at the beginning of the century, continued to evolve in the already outlined directions. The basis of sphragistic research at that time was made up of lead seals from archaeological excavations, the results of which were studied in the form of separate essays were reflected in the work of Likhachev mentioned above.

However, even in the courses of lectures on auxiliary historical disciplines and in generalizing works on the methodology of history, sphragistics was still considered in the tradition of bourgeois historical knowledge: it was assigned the role of a section of diplomacy. When formulating its tasks as an auxiliary historical discipline, it was emphasized that the press should be studied as one of the means to prove the authenticity and reliability of a document .46
At the next stage, when the position of scientific understanding of the historical process has been strengthened, there is already a more creative approach to understanding the problems associated with the study of seals. Along with assigning them the role of tools for external criticism of the source, it is emphasized that " press... they represent an extremely valuable category in the general complex of materials for historical and archaeological knowledge of the epoch. " 47 Attempts are being made to collect bibliographic information about Old Russian seals (metal and wax) in order to make these ancient monuments more accessible for research. 48 It is also significant that in the works dealing to varying degrees with the problems of domestic sphragistics, there are important theoretical observations that contribute to understanding the social significance of seals.

This primarily refers to the work of M. Maksimova 49 . A comparative analysis of the sphragistic monuments of the Greek poleis of the Northern Black Sea region and similar archaeological material related to the Scythian tribal society allowed the author to link the emergence of the institute of printing with a certain stage in the development of human society. Maksimova links the evolution of the press with the formation of systems of property signs. She believes that from the point of view of its legal nature, the seal originally served as a label (the stage preceding the seal, "pre-print", from which it developed

45 Andreev A. I. Gramota 1685 g. tsarey Ioannaand Pyotr Alekseevich to the Swedish King Karl XI. In: Chronicle of classes of the Archeographic Commission for 1923-1925, Issue 33. l. 1926; Sadikov P. A. Uk. soch.

46 Bolshakov A.M. Auxiliary historical disciplines. Ed. 4-E. L. 1924, p. 130; Saar G. P. Istochniki i metody istoricheskogo issledovaniya [Sources and methods of historical research]. Baku. 1930, p. 51-55; Bykovsky S. N. Metodika istoricheskogo issledovaniya [Methodology of historical research]. l. 1931, p. 81-82.

47 Korobkov N., Ivanov B. Russkie printii [Russian seals]. - Archivnoe delo, 1939, N 3 (51), p. 31.

48 Orlov A. S. Materials for the bibliography of Russian seals (XI-XV centuries-before 1425). In: Auxiliary historical disciplines. M.-L. 1937, p. 245.

49 Maksimova M. Antique seals of the Northern Black Sea region. - Bulletin of Ancient History, 1937, N 1.

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print in all the various forms and functions that are inherent in it later) of its owner. Maksimova defines the threshold for turning a placemark into a print: This is the emergence of the institution of private property, the existence of which was a prerequisite for the development of a certain function of the press - the protection and approval of property. For understanding the social significance and functions of sphragistic monuments, Maksimova's conclusion is very significant that at the initial stage of its existence, the seal is an institution of class society, belonging to the ruling class, one of the forms of sanctifying private property, legitimizing its inviolability. Considering this function of printing as the main one for the ancient world, the author does not forget to mention the use of printing in its other functional meaning - as a means of binding a document, although he does not develop the problem of the relationship between the development of writing and printing.

The work of Academician B. A. Rybakov on princely property signs is extremely important for understanding the patterns of transition from marks to seals. 50 Written more than 40 years ago, it remains one of the few books in Soviet historiography that provide methodological guidelines for understanding the formation of historically formed systems of signs of various social significance. Especially significant is the author's conclusion about the evolution of princely property signs from the label, and this sign itself is, in fact, the label of the "ruling dynasty", within which it is modified, preserving the general scheme. For a limited time, these "figures" are used by princes as signs of power (on coins, seals), but then they are replaced by new emblems of power that are more appropriate to the needs of the era. The work of B. A. Rybakov gives a historically determined scheme of development of princely property signs, which presupposes the existence (parallel or subsequent) similarly historically determined institutions that are somewhat similar to the system of princely property signs in their legal nature, for example, seals, coats of arms.

Along with other auxiliary historical disciplines, sphragistics was included in lectures and textbooks that emphasized the importance of its development for solving historical problems, and its evolution was considered within the framework of general historical periodization. The Moscow Historical and Archival Institute has played a particularly important role in teaching sphragistics .51 With the participation of its teaching staff, specialists in the field of auxiliary historical disciplines, including sphragistics, were trained.

Thus, in Soviet historical science, sphragistics as a scientific discipline acquired a social face, which was most clearly manifested in the works of the next stage (starting from the 60s) of the study of seals.

V. L. Yanin's monograph on Novgorod posadniks 52 is a practical embodiment of this rethinking of the goals and objectives of sfragistics . The lead seals found in Novgorod served as the main source for the author's reconstruction of the Posadnik Institute, i.e., when recreating the picture of the political structure of Novgorod. In another of his major sphragistic works 53 Yanin writes about

50 Rybakov B. A. Signs of ownership in the princely economy of Kievan Rus of the X-XII centuries. - Soviet Archeology, 1940, book VI.

51 Kamentseva E. I. Uk. soch., p. 24; Kamentseva E. I., Ustyugov N. V. Russkaya sfragistika i geraldika [Russian sfragistics and heraldry]. Ed. 1-E. M. 1963 (revised textbook by N. V. Ustyugov, issued on the steklograph in 1939/40); ed. 2-E. M. 1974.

. 52 Yanin V. L. Novgorodskie posadniki [Novgorod Posadniki], Moscow, 1962.

53 Yanin V. L. Assembly seals of Ancient Russia. X-XV centuries. Tt. 1-2. Moscow -1970.

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In a broader material, he reconstructs the history of ancient Russian state institutions, traces the main points of their development, and records administrative reforms that are not reflected in other sources, showing the formation of the state power apparatus in Ancient Russia. The formation and solution of a number of historical problems in both books was preceded by an exhaustive collection of material and compilation of its code, development and application of a perfect research methodology, analysis of written and material sources.

A detailed analysis of the work of V. L. Yanin has already been undertaken in Soviet historiography 54. Domestic sfragistics owes to V. L. Yanin the definition of its primary sources, the allocation of the archaic "pre-Byzantine" type of printing. He clearly delineated the stages of the existence of one or another type of bull in Ancient Russia, and also defined a milestone in the history of ancient Russian seals-the beginning of the XII century. Since that time, according to the scientist, there has been a tendency in Novgorod to strengthen the princely bull and use the vistula lead seal by other institutions of power, while in the south it is fading away. he formulated a thesis about the functional nature of the Russian bull, considering the main purpose of the hanging seals to be their use in official documents, binding acts, and also expressed a number of other constructive provisions.

The above-mentioned fundamental works are at the head of the main direction of Soviet sphragistic research. The development of this direction was promoted primarily by systematic excavations of ancient Russian cities, and mainly Novgorod, where the bulk of metal seals were discovered. Tradition had a certain significance: it was precisely with the study of this kind of monuments that the existence of sphragistics as a scientific discipline began. The main point is a convincing demonstration of the capabilities of metal seals, which act as a historical source.

V. L. Yanin's sphragistic works, which showed the possibilities of seals as a source, contributed to the creation of a whole school of researchers, his students, who are currently developing this direction in the study of Old Russian seals (P. A. Shorin, A. A. Molchanov, B. D. Yershevsky). However, the significance of V. L. Yanin's works lies not only in the fact that they represent the foundation of the main direction in modern sphragistic research. They demonstrate the principles of a universal method of studying seals (its foundations were laid by Likhachev at the time), which should find and to some extent already finds application in the study of not only metal, but also a huge mass of seals of later time-wax, wax - mastic, sealing wax, and ink impressions. Thus, the subject matter of works devoted to medieval wax seals 55 indicates the fulfillment of the basic principle in the approach to the study of sphragistic material - seals are studied on a functional basis. Researchers of various groups of medieval (wax and wax-mastic) seals rely on one of the main theoretical assumptions that guide the work with metal seals, namely: the main condition for sphragistic research is the complete identification of the material, which implies the study of seals in a complex, and not their individual publications 56 . In addition to the development of basic methodological techniques, which, of course, does not exclude their detailing in relation to different materials in chronology, there are other methods that can be used in the following areas:-

54 Kashtanov S. M. Old Russian seals (reflections on the book by V. L. Yanin). - History of the USSR, 1974, N 3.

55 See about them: Soboleva N. A. On the methodology of studying sphragistic material.

56 Demidova N. F. Russian customs seals of the XVII-XVIII centuries. In: Agrarian History of the European North of the USSR. Vologda. 1970, p. 173.

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These are objective data that contribute to the further development of sphragistic research. If we are talking about medieval seals, then this is a comprehensive publication of documents previously scattered in various publications. The publication of Russian acts of the 14th and early 16th centuries in the post-war decades, covering almost all the acts of this chronological period known to date, also predetermines the study of the sphragistic material of this time. The integrity of the set of documents is available for such an important region as North-Eastern Russia, which has become the core of the Russian centralized state. This integrity also determines the creation of a catalog of seals of this region, and then their scientific analysis.

The source base for the developing sphragistic research of the modern direction will undoubtedly be made up of published catalogues of seals identified in archival and museum collections. Currently, these institutions are working to identify seal complexes, and attempts are being made to systematize them based on cataloging 57 . It seems that this is the right way to work with sphragistic monuments (both pre-October and modern), which will reveal the potential of seals of different chronological periods as independent sources and ultimately lead to the creation of works of a general historical nature based on them. Such an approach to sphragistic monuments is: in accordance with the solution of one of the most important tasks facing Soviet historians-the expansion of the source base of scientific research, which should be based on an exhaustive set of the most diverse sources.

Observations on the study of seals allow us to recreate the picture of the formation of domestic sphragistics. Seals have long been included in diplomatic research. It was only in the second half of the 19th century that attempts were made to isolate the subject of sphragistics and systematize seals. However, since the literature was dominated by the principle of analyzing and interpreting seals as monuments of the dominant feudal class, sphragistic problems were devoid of historicism, the study of seals was not widely recognized. The success of archeology in the late XIX-early XX centuries, which revealed large complexes of metal seals together with other monuments of material culture, led researchers, and first of all N. P. Likhachev, to understand the role of seals in the historical process. Evaluation of the seals from the excavations in terms of their historical significance forced the Russian historical science to reconsider the attitude to seals, put them on the queue and outline ways to develop sphragistics as a scientific discipline. In Soviet historical science, this process of changing the tasks of sphragistics continued. At the same time, due to the scientific understanding of the historical process, the approach of Soviet scientists to sphragistic monuments has changed dramatically. Sphragistics has acquired a social quality, and the material of this discipline is widely used in the formulation and solution of important general historical problems.

57 The results of this work are reflected in some reports of employees of the country's archives and museums (Bogatova M. I. Seals of the first Soviet institutions and local party committees in the museum's collections. - Proceedings of the Central Museum of the Revolution of the USSR, Moscow, 1973, issue 5; Khabalashvili E. P. Catalog of seals in the archive. - Soviet Archives, 1976, N 2; O ya T. F. Collection of seals in the Central State Archive of the Estonian SSR and scientific reference apparatus to them. - Ibid.,! 978, N 6; Titov A. K. UK. soch.; his. Беларускія пячаткі (Дакастрычніцкі перыяд). - Мастацтва Беларусі, 1984, N 2).

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