The Relations of “Grown-up” Children with Their Parents and Grandparents as an Aspect of North Western Rus’ Population Familial Everyday Life (as Revealed in the 12th–14th Centuries Birch Bark Letters)

The article analyzes various sides of the relationship of “adult children” with their parents and grandparents. The problem is revealed as one of the aspects of familial everyday life among the population of the Northwestern lands of Rus’ in 12th-14th century (mainly about Novgorod and Pskov lands). Stated that even after creating their own family, offsprings continued to communicate with the “parental home”. There are traced various forms and circumstances of this interaction - economic, juridical or caring. The economic form is considered in the context of joint economic (in particular, trade) activities, financial and other material support, as well as other specific circumstances. The legal form of interaction is covered on the base of various precedents - sureties, taking on debt obligations and even attempts to avoid legal liability. The cultural and anthropological side of the issue is revealed in clarifying the circumstances of the "young" taking on various guardianship functions over the older generation, as well as in the course of designating those psycho-emotional processes that can be qualified as care. Based on such a historical source as birch bark letters, the article offers an interpretation of the social and personal processes that determined the family (in the broad sense) life of a person in medieval Rus'.