The relationship between the Prince and the Veche in the Vladimir-Suzdal principality in the second half of the 12th – early 13th centuries in modern Russian historiography

The article is devoted to the modern historiography of the problem of the relationship between the prince and the Veche in Vladimir-Suzdal Russia. The subject of the research is the process of forming modern scientific ideas about the features of the political model that has developed in the Vladimir-Suzdal Principality. The object of the research is the complex of historical publications on the history of Ancient Russia in general and the history of the Vladimir-Suzdal Principality, which developed in the second half of the 1980s – 2000s. The relationship between the prince and the veche in the Vladimir-Suzdal land of the rising period (the second half of the XII – early XIII centuries) is not ignored by any of the modern historians studying the nature of power in Ancient Russia. The purpose of this work is to identify the main problematic aspects and directions in the study of the topic, evaluate the results achieved and identify areas for further development. Methodologically, the author relies on the principle of objectivity, recognizes the diversity of approaches to the study of historical reality, and uses general historical and special historiographical methods. The novelty of the research lies in the identification, systematization and analysis of publications by modern researchers on the relationship between the prince and the Veche in the Vladimir-Suzdal Principality in the second half of the XII – early XIII centuries. The author comes to the conclusion that three main approaches coexist and polemize in the post-Soviet Russian historical science: the "community-based" school (I.Ya. Froyanov, A.Yu. Dvornichenko), the elite (corporate) concept (A.A. Gorsky, P.V. Lukin) and the "contractual" model (P.S. Stefanovich). The discussion shifted from the question of who held the leading positions, the prince or the Veche, to an analysis of the mechanisms of their interaction: the procedure for calling the prince, the essence of the "row", the competence and composition of the Veche. The political model of the Vladimir-Suzdal Principality was multidimensional, characterized by a balance between the authority of the prince and the sovereignty of the urban community, based on a "number" and mutual oath. Further research is likely to deepen our understanding of the regional features of this model and its transformation during the Mongol rule.