The Origins of the Belarusian Statehood (IX - XIII centuries)

The article examines the process of formation of the medieval state on the territory of Belarus. The stages of emergence, formation and functioning of the Principality of Polotsk, small appanage principalities of the period of feudal fragmentation and the creation and formation of the Russian-Lithuanian state in the 13th century are analyzed. The author of the article analyzed the domestic and foreign policy of medieval state entities on the territory of Belarus, considered the system of their state power, management and implementation of the justice mechanism. The relevance of the study of the genesis of the Principality of Polotsk is due to the fact that it is, along with the Kyiv and Novgorod lands, one of the oldest within the entire Old Russian state. The work also states the application in the Polotsk land in the 10th century of the legendary “Law of the Russian” and the mention of the payment of tribute to Polotsk, along with other cities under the protection of the Rurik dynasty, the Byzantine Empire after the victorious campaign against Constantinople of Prophetic Oleg. In addition, the geopolitical significance of the little-known victory of Mindaugas, the Russian-Lithuanian prince, over the united army of the Galicia-Volyn principality and the Tatar horde in 1258 in the vicinity of the village of Krutogorye is emphasized. Analyzing the content of the heraldic meaning of the Lithuanian-Russian coat of arms – “Pahonia”, its relationship with similar symbols of Alexander Nevsky and his descendants, used on seals and coins, up until the reign of Grand Duke Ivan III in the Moscow state, who adopted the insignia of the Third Rome as a twoheaded eagle, is proven.

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