THE ASSEMBLY OF THE LAND LAW CODE

January 29, 1649. On July 16, 1648, the Sovereign, Tsar, and Grand Prince Aleksei Mikhailovich,-Autocrat of all Russia, in the twentieth year of his life, in the third year of his reign protected by God, took counsel with his spiritual father and intercessor, the most holy Iosif, Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, and with the metropolitans, and the archbishops, and the bishop, and the entire holy Assembly. He [also] had discussions with his own royal boyars, and okol'nichie, and [other] counselors [about] the laws written in the canons of the holy apostles and holy fathers and the laws of the Byzantine emperors in the Procheiros Nomos. [They discussed] which of those laws would be suitable for state and civilian affairs [and they resolved that those statutes] should be extracted. [They also ordered] collected the decrees of the former great sovereigns, tsars, and grand princes of Russia, and of his sovereign father, the great Sovereign, Tsar, and Grand Prince of all Russia Mikhail Fedorovich of blessed memory, and [also] the boyar decisions on various state and civilian matters. [They ordered] those sovereign decrees and boyar decisions compared with the old law codes [Sudebniki]. Concerning those laws which in prior years were not inserted as a decree in the Sudebniki of the previous sovereigns and those laws which were not [further enacted] as boyar decisions: write down and order accordingly those laws by his sovereign decree [and] by common counsel so that for the people of all ranks, from the highest to the lowest rank, of the Muscovite state the law and justice will be equal for all in all cases. The Sovereign, Tsar, and Grand Prince of all Russia Aleksei Mikhailovich ordered the boyars Prince Nikita Ivanovich Odoevskii and Prince Semen Vasil'evich Prozorovskii, and the okol'nichii Prince Fedor Fedorovich Volkonskii, and the State Secretaries Gavrila Levont'ev and Fedor Griboedov to assemble everything and write it up in an official report.

For this, his own royal and civil grand tsarist business, the sovereign, in counsel with his spiritual father and intercessor, the most holy Iosif, Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia decreed and the boyars affirmed that two men from each rank should be chosen from the stol'niki, and striapchie, and Moscow dvoriane, and zhil'tsy. Also, two men should be selected from the dvoriane of all towns and from the deti boiarskie of the large towns, except Novgorod. One man per borough [should be sent] from the Novgorodians; one man each from the lesser towns, and three men from the first corporation merchants; two men each from the merchants of the second corporation and the third corporation; one man each from the taxpaying hundreds, and the settlements, and the urban taxpaying districts of the towns. [Those sent] were to be worthy and prudent men so that his sovereign tsarist and civilian business might be affirmed and put into effect with [the participation of] all the delegates so that all these great decisions, [promulgated] by his present royal edict and the Law Code of the Assembly of the Land, henceforth would in no way be violated.

By the decree of the Sovereign, Tsar, and Grand Prince of all Russia Aleksei Mikhailovich, the boyars, Prince Nikita Ivanovich Odoevskii and his associates, extracted [relevant laws] from the Canons of the Holy Apostles and the Holy Fathers, and from the laws of the Byzantine emperors in the Procheiros Nomus, and from the old Sudebniki of former grand sovereigns, and from the decrees of the great Sovereign, Tsar, and Grand Prince of all Russia Mikhail Fedorovich of blessed memory, and from boyar decisions, and laws which were not written down in the earlier Sudebniki, and in decrees of the former sovereigns, and in boyar decisions. Having written down these laws anew, they brought them to the sovereign.

In the present [sic] year 1648, on October 3, the Sovereign, Tsar, and Grand Prince Aleksei Mikhailovich, Autocrat of all Russia, with his spiritual father and intercessor the most holy Iosif, Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, and with the metropolitans, the archbishops, and the bishop; and also with his royal boyars, and okol'nichie, and counselors of that assemblage listened to [a reading] of the Ulozhenie', it was also read to the delegates who had been chosen in Moscow and from the provincial towns for the common counsel so that in the future the entire Ulozhenie would be solidly based and unshakable.

The sovereign ordered the entire Ulozhenie written on a scroll. He ordered the most holy Iosif, Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, and the metropolitans, and the archbishops, and the bishop, and the archimandrites and fathers superior, and the entire holy Assembly; and his royal boyars, and okol'nichie, and counselors, and the chosen dvoriane and deti boiankie, and the first corporation merchants, and the trading townsmen of the Muscovite state and all the towns of the Russian tsardom to sign the scroll copy.

Once the signatures had been affixed to the Ulozhenie, the sovereign ordered it copied into a [manuscript] book and [ordered] the State Secretaries Gavrila Levont'ev and Fedor Griboedov to affix their signatures to the [manuscript] book. From that [manuscript] book he ordered many copies printed for use in Moscow in all the chancelleries and in the provincial towns, and [he ordered] that all cases be conducted according to the laws in that Ulozhenie.

According to the decree of the Sovereign, Tsar, and Grand Prince of all Russia Aleksei Mikhailovich, the Ulozhenie was written on the scroll. The most holy Iosif, Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, and the metropolitans, and archbishops, and bishops, and archimandrites, and fathers superior, and the entire holy Assembly; and also the boyars, and okol'nichie, and counselors; and the chosen dvoriane and deti boiarskie', and the first corporation merchants and trading townsmen affixed their signatures on the scroll copy of the Ulozhenie. From that Ulozhenie a copy was written into a [manuscript] book, word for word. This book was printed from that [manuscript] book.

When the Ulozhenie, by the decree of the Sovereign, Tsar, and Grand Prince of all Russia Aleksei Mikhailovich, was read to the delegates, at that time, by the sovereign's decree, boiarin Prince lur'i Alekseevich Dolgorukoi presided in the Response Chamber, and the delegates were with him.