Biography of the Russian ruble

The monotonous progress according to which the numbers of the first graph increase, with the exception of two, makes them see in them not reference, but approximate, mathematical prices: market prices can hardly grow with that correctness. Since, along with the rise in prices, the number of baked bread baked from a quarter to the price of money inclusive increases, then, obviously, different varieties of flour in the same market at a given minute are expected to be the price of prices to the indicated limit, and not fluctuations in flour prices in different markets or at different times.

All this is still clear; It is only necessary to ask the experts in the bread case, whether it was possible to find 18 equal varieties of rye flour in the old Moscow market. But what are the ends of both of the first columns, where flour prices rise as the sore decreases, that is, in the last 8 rows of the table we find some kind of conjunction of progressively expensive flour prices with its progressively falling kindness.

It is difficult to guess what practical goal this mathematical calculation had in relation to the bread market. Thanks to this construction of the table in it, there is nothing to grab onto in order to determine exactly what kind of handie is supposed to be in it from different varieties of flour. It remains to be content with guesses. Take the lower variety of flour, from a quarter of which Kireevsky baked pounds of bread.

It seems less than 15 pounds per pound of a podge, and with such a handmade, the baker hardly agrees to work. After assuming such a priest, we find that a quarter of rye flour at the price of 40 money on the table weighed 5 pounds 16 pounds. But it must be added to this that in G. explaining this, Lviv, who produced experience in the summer, notes in his note that Kireevsky made experience in winter, and in winter a quarter of flour weighs more, “because the flour in the Blink is planting and sitting to the extent, and now they bring hot flour from mills, and the construction is placed in the extent,” because of this, a significant difference in the results came out in the results of this Both experiments: Kireevsky received a pound of rye bread from a quarter of flour at the cost of money, from which only pounds could be obtained from Lviv's experience.

Having reduced the figure in this proportion, we will find that from a quarter of flour at the cost of 40 money, Lviv would have received only pounds. With a murmur of 15 pounds per pound of rye flour, which did not have time to lie tightly, only 4 pounds of 26 pounds will turn out to be a quarter. But since the priest, in all likelihood, was more than 15 pounds, the indicated book about bread and fracture weight gives some support to the conclusion extracted from the comparison of the Bread Tomsk Ometa G.

Despite the shatteness of the stated grounds, it seems, with some probability, it is possible to admit that the replacement of the old, four -pound quarter of the new, osmipudo, has occurred in the gap. This four -pound quarter, as we saw, was used in Moscow and in the 16th century. But there are instructions that are exciting perplexity of the quarter, which was in use in Novgorod land in the second half of this century.

In the customs literacy of G., out of bewilderment, excited by the issue of the attitude of this new measure to the old one, two guesses can be released. First of all, there is an assumption whether the Moscow government wanted, completing the political and administrative association of the state, to put the unity of measures and scales throughout its space, replacing the local metric units of Moscow.

In this case, under a new measure in the presented customs charters, it is necessary to understand the Moscow quarter, and under the old local Novgorod. About half of the XVII century. When the Moscow state -owned quarter out of four -pudova turned into an osmipudovaya, then the Novgorod doubled. It means that after the G., expressed in the letter, it is somewhat strange that the Moscow government in both of the above acts, introducing its old Moscow measure in Novgorod, calls it a new measure, and not just Moscow, as it is usually expressed in other customs diplomas when it speaks of its state quarter.

Another assumption is much more reliable: a new measure - the same old Novgorod measure; Only now, the dishes of this measure, proven and branded, was introduced by the government with the prohibition of using the previous dishes, which was made without proper supervision and control and could be falsified with the selfish purpose to the detriment of the buyer of bread or state -owned customs, which collected a measured duty from the sale of bread in the amount of quarters.

It seems to be not about various capacities, but about the measure of stigmain and non -named, that is, even more directly indicates one borrowed city of Korobya - the Novgorod measure equal to two Novgorod quarters. On the back of the borrowed, it was noted that one of the three debtors “paid his third of the oats, Osmin with a tender”; So, the cakes of the oats, busy with all three, contained 4 osmines “to a new measure”, that is, the second assumption is more confirmed by a comparison of the given customs letters with others, in which the measured duty is designed directly for the Moscow quarter here is also forbidden to sell bread “not to the spots”.At the same time, such customs norms are established here: from four Moscow quarters of all bread of a dead duty 1 money; Who will sell 4 quarters without appearing to the meters, from that 1 rub.

The same norms are found in the customs letters of Orekhovskaya G. Obviously, in the Novgorod and Orekhov customs letters, tariff norms in the Moscow account are shifted to the Metric System of Novgorod the Great. Since in Moscow there was no need to introduce a new measure different from Moscow in Novgorod, she wanted to only strengthen the old local measure in the interest of the customs wrap, protecting it from damage, which are usually subjected to trade measures and scales in the absence of supervision and verification.

Perhaps a new walking unit of measure was also established in return for the former, which, in fact, reasoned the letters of Novgorod and Orekhovskaya under the “new” and “old” measure: for example, before, the largest measured dishes, which were sold in the local markets, could be in Osmina, and now for more convenient calculation of the tariff, stamping dishes in a quarter were introduced.

It remains to make a few comments about the fur, or the bag. Apparently, he served more than a container than a measure: they were not so much measured with bags as they sold or poured bread. Therefore, bags could be very diverse in volume. However, there are some indications, as if hinting at the uniform capacity of the most walking bag. The Pskov chronicler speaks of the cheapness of basic necessities in the city In the city, it can be assumed that it was the same with salt, and the fur was bought in the city of salt in the city in itself a shaky comparison finds unexpected support in the above estimate of official bread reserves in the Tomsk category of rye 91 fur; As the official Tomsk Osmina was in these bags of flour in a quarter, vol.

III will now turn to the study of bread prices.

We will put out the techniques of this study in advance. But few of them are suitable. For the most part, sore prices, or hungry, or, so to speak, are too well -fed, cheap. Therefore, they were noted in due time that they stood above or below the normal level. In ancient Rus', this level was extremely shaky. The reason for this was the pathology of the Old Russian market. He was surprisingly shy; The slightest difficulty produced panic on it.

In productive years, confusion in the transport raised prices three times, four times and more. Once in Pskov in the city, but there was no shortage in it, but only for some reason it temporarily stopped its polling. Soon it was made plenty, and its price also quickly fell to 15 money for a vitality, i.e. you can imagine what fluctuations he cropped. In the hungry - gg. All this finds the choice of healthy, normal prices.

In the character of the Old Russian bread market, we notice another feature, apparently the opposite of the first. It consisted in the fact that with fleeting painful fluctuations in prices from fright, this market stubbornly held the previous prices, as soon as he came in a normal mood. This feature can be formulated as follows: bread prices often hesitated, but slowly changed. Without a doubt, the eye cause of such stability of normal prices was that with many private, skillful difficulties, often frightening the bread market, the indigenous conditions that influenced agriculture changed tightly.

Due to this, when studying the movement of prices, long periods are indicated by themselves, during which healthy bread prices were held at approximately the same level. When comparing ancient prices with the current ones, it is necessary to take these large periods, and not individual points expressed in separate prices of a year or another year. The second task follows from here-to determine this level, that is, the resolution of this task is difficult to variegated as, despite this stability, even, apparently, the normal prices noted in the monuments of the same period differ.

This variety is explained by the difference in the seasons, which include prices that have reached us, the quality or grade of bread and the like, fluctuating normal prices. Of all such conditions at a distant chronological distance, the researcher can catch only one geographical, expressed in a change in prices for areas, which was due to the unequal attitude of demand and supply in different markets.

In the space of centuries, this attitude has changed significantly due to the changes that occurred in the routes of the message, in the geographical placement of agricultural labor, in the entire warehouse of the national economy. In many southern chernozem regions of Russia, which now serve as the main suppliers of central bread markets, in the XVI century. Meanwhile, there was already a non -earth population, which was supposed to receive part of the bread from the outside, sometimes from afar.

Of course, the ratio of grain prices in these areas to the prices of central leading markets then was far from which now exists. What to do with such local prices?To more clearly understand the meaning of this issue, we take such an approximate case. Suppose a quarter of rye now costs 7 rubles in the Yelet. At the end of the XVI century. The purpose of comparing prices of different localities is to determine the general level of prices that existed at a certain time in order to find out the attitude of the ancient monetary unit to the current one at this level.

Comparing Moscow prices, we find that a penny of the late XVI century. Such a difference happened, as it is easy to notice, because the ratio of Moscow prices towards Yelets is now not what existed in the 16th century. Having received two relations of a penny of the 16th century. The average price withdrawn from the prices of Moscow and Yeletskaya, in the XVI century. But the actual average, which determines the normal price level, in the XVI century.

Therefore, the more we put into the calculation of prices similar to Yelets, the more than our average will be removed from the normal level, approaching some to the highest limit, others to the lower. Determining the help of such average market relations of the ancient monetary unit to the current one, we obviously take incommensurable values, compare the high prices of the 16th century.

Therefore, the prices that were held in some local markets of ancient Rus', which were in an exclusive position, and which stood to the prices of the Moscow market in relation to their current attitude, should be counted to patients, abnormal and, like hungry, "E can be introduced into the calculation. The basis for determining the attitude of the old prices will serve as a table of bread prices in this table.

Bread on the provinces on the basis of the information received from the rural hosts about how they sold field works on the spot in August, September and October in agricultural terms this year was distinguished by features that represent some convenience to the studying history of Russian bread prices. Approximately the condition in which agricultural production was located in Old Moscow Rus': without leaving the limits of normal, this year’s crop gave the best harvest on non -chernozem -ground, rather than on black -eating basis.

The climatic conditions made in G. another feature was the level of grain prices of this year. According to the remark of the above publication, bread trade was different in the city of the main reason for such a decline in prices was the weakness of foreign demand for Russian bread.