Poet Tatiana Autumn of Chernobylbegins like this: "On the forgotten graveyard the crosses have long turned black ...". In the understanding of modern people, the graveyard is a rural cemetery. An old word that is rarely used. And only writers remember it. Was it like this before?
The Slavs had their own annual detourslands by princes and their retinue. On the way, the prince stopped in pre-arranged villages or fortified places, where a tribute was paid. Here, strong courts were built to fight off the attack and left the steward, often called a "cattleman", regulating the collection of goods and solving administrative issues in the absence of the master. Traveling around the country in summer could be along the rivers, and in winter - on the sleigh. Therefore, convenient places for stopping were called graveyards. It is in ancient Russia and their very name determines. At the guest, that is, trade, the merchants gathered. With the arrival of the prince, social life was revived: the trial was being conducted, and the vigilantes were recruited.
Since 946 the order of tribute payment has been changing,called polyude. Princess Olga establishes the tax system by streamlining the terms and amount of the natural tax, called a lesson. From this point on, "graveyards" and "lessons" are terms that designate the territorial administrative units of Rus and the charters. A lesson is a fixed amount of tax from a certain place. On the pogosts, tiny volunteers are appointed, collectors of tribute. Tiun considers the number of foci or black sokh and transfers to Kiev. So the amount of tax "from smoke" or "from the plow" is set. Tributes are collected by the village elders. Instead of livestock, the monetary equivalent is the hryvnia - a metal casting of silver or gold, serving as a measure of weight and payment. In Russia, the coin was not minted, but used foreign currency, often pennies, melting them into ingots. The name "hryvnia" comes from the Old Slavonic "mane", that is, the neck. From the hryvnia could consist of a necklace.
At the churchyard in the absence of the princess, the court ruled the tyunaccording to the testimony of witnesses. For want of these, he spoke to pagan priests. Guilty paid the virus, that is fine. The death penalty was imposed on the murder.
In the event of refusal to pay tribute, Tiun was summoned by the militia. Olga herself could suddenly appear at the churchyard and control the tyun.
Olga identified hunting grounds and princelyvillage. This entailed the appearance of smerds - the common people, dependent on the prince, with their land (fiefdom), which was inherited. In the absence of heirs, the land was taken away to the prince. True, the prince had the right to take the land from the smerdy, punishing him for his fault. Then he became a servant with his family. This is practically slavery.
Originally this word meant a guest house orThe place where the prince stops with his retinue. Over time, the term "graveyards" means dividing the territory into taxable districts with the center where there was a tribute reception center and a resident of the town who was responsible for collecting tribute. Since the X century, these are already trading villages with bazaars, which attract merchants and craftsmen. The tax collection center becomes a lively place of public life. Gradually Christianity spread in Russia, and in the places where tribute was collected, as the most visited, churches began to be built. They attracted additional cash flows, engaged in baptism, funeral services and weddings. The cemetery was arranged on consecrated ground, near the church. The name of the churchyard was double - in the village and in the church.
В Псковской, Новгородской губерниях погост – это several villages, from ten to a hundred according to the descriptions of those years. In the central Russian provinces, where the number of private estates was great, public life revolved around the village, where the landlord's estate was. The church and the cemetery were located at a distance.
Since the XVIII century. this is the name of the church standing apart from the village with a cemetery, a dwelling of the clergy or a priest's house. By the XIX-XX centuries it was just a rural cemetery.
Now the term "churchyard" is not even reminiscent ofa place where a high-ranking person or a responsible official stops. Perhaps, the single-root word "hotel" will say more about it. There was only an association with the cemetery, especially the rural one. This is how poets use it.
At Mikhail Shcherbakov:
In Ivan Bunin:
In Russia, they were not always buried on land,located near the temple. Or temples, if you delve very much in the old days. For noble people erected a mound. Remember - "Prince Igor and Olga are sitting on a hill"? This hill is a barrow where Oleg is buried. Usually, horses and valuables were buried with the lord. Also known are the burial fields. They were outside the settlement.
Burial places at the graveyards in pre-Christian timeshad pagan idols. During the period of the spread of Christianity they were demolished, and temples were built at that place. The land was sanctified and Christians were buried on it. The rest of the cemeteries remained un-sanctified, gradually declining. Later, the word acquires the meaning of the parish center. Therefore the churchyard is a cemetery with a church.
