Сословно-представительная монархия: ошибка в переводе?

Средние века. 2014. Т. 75. № 3-4. С. 66–78.

Boytsov M.

The ambitious concept of the “Monarchy with Representation of Estates”, developed by generations of Soviet medievalists and remaining influential even nowadays, includes as its central part the notion of “organs of representation of estates”. However, no one has wondered until now, under what historical circumstances the concept of the “Monarchy with Representation of  Estates” evolved, what sort of terminology was used to describe it, and what meanings were conveyed by this terminology. This article offers a hypothesis that the concept as a whole, as well as its specific terms, emerged step by step in two following but quite different political situations. On the one hand, it reflected the expectations  of pro-Western liberals of the late 19th and early 20th centuries concerning introduction of a limited monarchy in Russia. On the other hand, there can be identified a further semantic layer in the terminology, determined by political and historical doctrines of the Stalin era. Although most of the terms were originally translated from western European languages, they were soon filled with entirely new - and local ("Russian-Soviet") meaning. As a result, such notions as “monarchy with representation of estates”, or “organs of representation of estates” appear currently to be so burdened with dubious political and ideological connotations that they can hardly be applicable, if at all.

Keywords: сословное представительство, сословная монархия, органы сословного представительства

Publication based on the results of: Eastern and Western Europe in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Period: historical and cultural commonalities, regional peculiarities and the dynamics of interaction (2014)