The Coronation Rite of the Sovereign in Muscovite Rus’: Origins and Development (Late 15th – 17th Centuries)

The article examines the coronation rite of Russian autocrats as a means of formalizing the sovereign’s special status within the system of secular authority as God’s anointed, and his unique position between the state and the church. The procedure of the first coronation of the grandson of Vasily III (Dmitry), as well as that of Ivan IV (the Terrible) is analyzed in detail. The study explores concepts from Russian and foreign state theory, i. e. tsar, autocrat, sovereign, and subject. It identifies the specific features of formalizing the sovereign’s status, as well as emergence and establishment of the coronation rite for the sovereign and autocrat of the Russian state. The universal mechanism for implementing the individual-state relationship is the subjects’ oath of allegiance to the autocrat. He is not an elected head of state, but a person with unlimited power over his subjects. The coronation rite and the oath of allegiance are inextricably linked as two aspects of the same phenomenon – autocracy.