Negotiable charters of the grand princes in the 14th - 16th centuries as a source basis for the reconstruction of their legal status

The research focused on the legal status of the Grand Prince during the establishment of the Russian centralized state. The purpose of the study was to analyze the main characteristics of the legal status of the Grand Prince based on the rules of negotiable charters. From the perspective of the elements of the legal status of the Grand Prince of Moscow as a whole, their overall evolution was to extend gradually the set of powers. At the same time, the vast majority of legal rules used in negotiable charters were bilateral. They included the obligations of the younger princes to the Grand Prince and vice versa. The study emphasized that the legal status of the Grand Prince as well as the status of other princes was formalized in negotiable charters rather than national regulations. The author noted that the duration of this order (the 14th-16th centuries) resulted in the principle of legal responsibility of the head of state to individuals and the lack of such responsibility to society at large.