MTSENSK HISTORY FROM THE 10TH CENTURY TO THE FIRST DECADES OF THE 15TH CENTURY

To date, there are no studies that fully describe the early stages of the emergence of a settlement on the site of modern Mtsensk in connection with the settlement processes going on at that time in the Verkhneoksky (Upper Oka) historical region. Also, until now, connections with the formation of the local management system and the subsequent state assimilation of this territory by the Old Russian State, and later by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, have not been considered. The issue of the administrative-territorial structure and ownership of the city and adjacent lands is also unresolved. This situation is primarily due to the obvious lack of written sources directly narrating the events that took place here from the 10th century to the first decades of the 15th century. Of significant importance was also the fact that this territory was under the direct control of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which opposed Moscow in the struggle for primacy in the Russian lands. The article presents arguments indicating a high probability of permanent belonging of the city and its lands to the grand-ducal domains throughout the entire period of early history from the moment of inclusion in Ancient Rus' until the beginning of the 15th century. The main reasons for the emergence of Mtsensk as an urban settlement and its establishment as an administrative center are also indicated, and legends about the longer existence of pagan religious cults here, compared to neighboring lands, are refuted.