Merchants as representatives of the Russian world in the works of medieval literature

The article provides an overview of a number of monuments of Old Russian literature, telling about the representatives of the merchant class. The place that the heroes of this social group occupy in the Old Russian literature of the 16th - 17th centuries is characterized. The thematic diversity of these stories and the degree of their study in the works of medievalists are shown. Particular attention is paid to those Old Russian stories about merchants who were included in the reading circle of Pechora peasants-Old Believers, preserved in the home libraries of the descendants of the creators and keepers of ancient manuscripts.