The essence of Godunov's policy in relation to the boyars becomes clearer if we study the reform of the sovereign's court which was carried out under his rule in the second half of the 1580s. As a wise and hard-headed politician, he realised that neither the continuation of the oprichnina policy nor the establishment of a regime of 'boyar rule' could resolve Russia's political crisis. The regent looked back at the constructive reforms of the court in the middle of the sixteenth century, and especially at the ideas behind the Thousander Reform of 1550, which was intended to consolidate the upper strata of the service class around the throne. Boris Godunov followed this model when he reorganised and reviewed the personnel of the sovereign's court. There is a great similarity between the decrees of 1550 and 1587 concerning the allocation of service estates close to the capital to members of the sovereign's court.[9] In the course of the reform of the court in the second half of the 1580s its membership was thoroughly reviewed. The government's aim was to bring the hierarchical structure of the court into line with the social origins of its members, and to remove low-born individuals. The surviving list of members of the sovereign's court from 1588 / 9 indicates that representatives of the most eminent princely- boyar families clearly predominated in the highest court ranks - the boyar duma and the Moscow nobility.[10] The court retained its aristocratic composition throughout the years of Godunov's rule, both as regent and as tsar. At the same time, at the end of the sixteenth century and at the beginning of the seventeenth century there was a marked numerical increase in the provincial nobility and a growth in its political activity. The provincial nobility was, however, largely excluded from participation in governance. The highest posts in the state apparatus were concentrated in the hands of the predominantly aristocratic elites of the sovereign's court, and also of the secretarial heads of the chancellery bureaucracy. At the end of the sixteenth century the role of the boyars in the governance of the central and local administrative apparatus increased; the boyars and the Moscow nobles played a more noticeable part than before in the work of the chancelleries, and the power of the provincial governors was strengthened. In the years of Godunov's regency we can clearly observe the consolidation of the 'boyar' elite, both at court and in the chancellery secretariat, into a special privileged ruling group of servitors.
This consolidation did not, however, lead to any weakening of the power of the autocrat. By the end of the sixteenth century the princely-boyar elite had lost most of their hereditary lands and their previous links with the provincial nobility, and they did not constitute any kind of stratum of great magnates who were all-powerful in the localities. The Russian aristocracy was totally dependent on state service, and it was riven by precedence disputes; it was incapable of acting as a united force in defence of its corporate interests.[11]Many of even the most eminent princes sought the friendship of the powerful regent Boris Godunov, who largely controlled service appointments and land allocations, and they provided him with their support. Godunov did not need to resort to disgrace and execution on a large scale in order to retain the obedience of the elite. But he managed to avoid resorting to the methods of the oprichnina mainly because he was able to take advantage of the results of the oprichnina itself and the achievements of the centralising policies of previous Muscovite rulers.
One of the most important events of Godunov's regency was the establishment of the Russian patriarchate in 1589. This helped to strengthen the authority of the Russian sovereign and of the Russian Church both within the country and beyond its borders. The introduction of the patriarchate led to a further rapprochement of Church and state. It is revealing that the main role in the negotiations with Patriarch Jeremiah of Constantinople, when he came to Russia to discuss the establishment of the patriarchate, was played by representatives of the secular power - the regent, Boris Godunov, and the conciliar ambassadorial secretary, A. Ia. Shchelkalov.[12] At the same time, at the end of the sixteenth century the clergy came to play an increasingly active role in defending the interests of the state. For example, the leaders of the Church hierarchy played a prominent role in the election of Godunov as tsar and the legitimisation of his autocratic power, and in the denunciation of the First False Dmitrii as an impostor. Boris Godunov's supporter Metropolitan Iov became patriarch, and other Church leaders were promoted. They largely owed the strengthening of their position to the regent.
By implementing this policy of consolidating the upper tiers of the service class and of the clergy under the aegis of the autocracy, Boris Godunov managed to resolve the country's internal political crisis, to restore the authority of the Russian monarchy and to establish himself firmly in power.
With the aim of strengthening state power, Godunov's government carried out a restructuring of central and local institutions of government. At the end of the sixteenth century and the beginning of the seventeenth, further measures were introduced to improve and extend the chancellery system of administration, and the number of secretaries was expanded.[13] The control of the centre over the districts was again perceptibly increased. An important indicator of this was the development and consolidation of the power of the provincial governors (voevody). A new feature in this period was the appearance of governors not only in the peripheral border towns, but also in the northern and central regions of the country.[14] At the same time, we find a decline in the role of the guba and zemskii ('land') institutions of local self-government by the social estates.
In the realm of foreign policy, Boris Godunov's government aimed to overcome the onerous consequences of the Livonian war and to restore the international prestige of the Muscovite state. After the death of Ivan the Terrible, Russian diplomats conducted tense negotiations with the Poles, as a result of which they managed to prevent a potentially damaging military confrontation with Poland and to conclude a prolonged fifteen-year truce, which was extended for a further twenty years in 1601. Taking advantage of a favourable international situation and of internal difficulties in Sweden, in the winter of 1589/90 Russia began military action against the Swedes, with the aim of regaining her former towns on the Baltic coast. In 1595 in the village of Tiavzino a peace treaty was signed with the Swedes, in which Sweden returned to Russia Ivangorod, Iam, Kopor'e, Oreshek and Korela. This was a major victory for Russia, although it should not be overstated - the problem of an outlet to the Baltic Sea was not fundamentally resolved, and the sea-route known as the 'Narva sailing' remained in Swedish hands.[15] Russia's trade with the countries of Western Europe was conducted, as before, mainly through the north of the country. As a result of Godunov's efforts, relations with England were revived. The Russian government extended its patronage to the English merchants and gave them tariff privileges, but it refused to grant them monopoly rights to trade through the White Sea and opened its ports to the merchants of other countries.
9
10
S. P. Mordovina and A. L. Stanislavskii, pt. 1 (Moscow: TsGADA, 1979), pp. 104-76.
11
A. P. Pavlov,
(St Petersburg: Nauka, 1992), pp. 202-3.
12
A. Ia. Shpakov,
13
A. P. Pavlov, 'Prikazy i prikaznaia biurokratiia (1584-1605 gg.)',
15
B. N. Floria,
(Moscow: Nauka, 1973), pp. 61-2.