A tysyatsky ( rus, тысяцкий, p=ˈtɨsʲɪt͡skʲɪj, " thousandman"), sometimes translated '' dux'' or ''

herzog ''Herzog'' (female ''Herzogin'') is a German hereditary title held by one who rules a territorial duchy, exercises feudal authority over an estate called a duchy, or possesses a right by law or tradition to be referred to by the ducal title. T ...

'', was a military leader in ancient Rus' who commanded a people's volunteer army called a ''thousand'' ( rus, тысяча,

tysyacha The administrative division of Novgorod Republic is not definitely known; the country was divided into several ''tysyachas'' (lit. thousands) and ''volosts''. The city of Novgorod with its vicinity, as well as a few other towns were not part of any ...

). In the

Novgorod Republic The Novgorod Republic was a medieval state that existed from the 12th to 15th centuries, stretching from the Gulf of Finland in the west to the northern Ural Mountains in the east, including the city of Novgorod and the Lake Ladoga regions of mod ...

, the tysyatsky evolved into a judicial or commercial official and was elected from

boyar A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Kievan Rus', Bulgaria, Russia, Wallachia and Moldavia, and later Romania, Lithuania and among Baltic Germans. Boyars were se ...

s at a

veche Veche ( rus, вече, véče, ˈvʲet͡ɕe; pl, wiec; uk, ві́че, víče, ; be, ве́ча, viéča, ; cu, вѣще, věšte) was a popular assembly in medieval Slavic countries. In Novgorod and in Pskov, where the veche acquired gre ...

for a period of one year. In cities with no veche, tysyatskies were appointed by the

knyaz , or ( Old Church Slavonic: Кнѧзь) is a historical Slavic title, used both as a royal and noble title in different times of history and different ancient Slavic lands. It is usually translated into English as prince or duke, depe ...

s or prince from among the noble boyars and could hand down their post to their sons. In the

, tysyatskies were considered representatives of ordinary people ( rus, чёрные люди, t=black people). Along with the role as military leaders, they were also supposed to supervise the city fortifications, convene veches, act as ambassadors and as judges in the commercial courts. Like the

posadnik Posadnik (Cyrillic: посадник, (literally: по-садник - ''pre-sident'') was the mayor in some East Slavic cities or towns. Most notably, the posadnik (equivalent to a stadtholder, burgomeister, or podestà in the medieval west) ...

s, the office was often held by one man for several years in a row and he was often succeeded by his son or another close relative, indicating that the office was held within clans and was not fully elective.See Valentin Ianin, ''Novgorodskie Posadniki'' (Moscow: Iazyki russkoi kul'tury, 2003). In the 14th century the former tysyatskies maintained considerable political influence and privileges and were known as ''Old Tysyatskies''. The earliest documented tysyatsky of Novgorod was Putyata.

Dmitry Donskoy Saint Dmitry Ivanovich Donskoy ( rus, Дми́трий Ива́нович Донско́й, Dmítriy Ivanovich Donskóy, also known as Dimitrii or Demetrius), or Dmitry of the Don, sometimes referred to simply as Dmitry (12 October 1350 – 1 ...

Grand Prince of Moscow This is a list of all reigning monarchs in the history of Russia. It includes the princes of medieval Rus′ state (both centralised, known as Kievan Rus′ and feudal, when the political center moved northeast to Vladimir and finally to Mosc ...

, abolished the post after the death of Vassily Vassilyevich Velyaminov in 1374, replacing it with

voyevoda Voivode (, also spelled ''voievod'', ''voevod'', ''voivoda'', ''vojvoda'' or ''wojewoda'') is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe since the Early Middle Ages. It primarily referred to the m ...

s and

namestnik A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning " ...

s. The Novgorod tysyatsky was abolished when

Ivan III Ivan III Vasilyevich (russian: Иван III Васильевич; 22 January 1440 – 27 October 1505), also known as Ivan the Great, was a Grand Duchy of Moscow, Grand Prince of Moscow and Grand Prince of all Names of Rus', Russia and Ruthenia, ...

conquered the city for Muscovy in 1478, and the same happened in

Pskov Pskov ( rus, Псков, a=pskov-ru.ogg, p=pskof; see also names in other languages) is a city in northwestern Russia and the administrative center of Pskov Oblast, located about east of the Estonian border, on the Velikaya River. Populatio ...

when

Vasili III Vasili III Ivanovich (russian: Василий III Иванович, 25 March 14793 December 1533) was the Grand Prince of Moscow from 1505 to 1533. He was the son of Ivan III Vasiliyevich and Sophia Paleologue and was christened with the nam ...

conquered it in 1510.

Notes

References

;Notes ;Sources *

George Vernadsky George Vernadsky (Russian: Гео́ргий Влади́мирович Верна́дский; August 20, 1887 – June 12, 1973) was a Russian Empire-born American historian and an author of numerous books on Russian history. European years ...

. A History of Russia. (Yale University Press, 1969) ().

External links

Tysyatsky in Novgorod
- Article in

Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary The ''Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopaedic Dictionary'' (Russian: Энциклопедический словарь Брокгауза и Ефрона, abbr. ЭСБЕ, tr. ; 35 volumes, small; 86 volumes, large) is a comprehensive multi-volume ...

*{{in lang, ru}
Tysyatsky in Kiev and Moscow Rus
- Article in

Novgorod Republic Titles Military ranks of Russia Local government in Russia History of the Rus' people