The dissertation studies the problem of the Old Rus' veche. Its main research objectives are: to examine the social characteristics and the sphere of the veche's authority, as well as the principle properties of the narrative models employed in the chronicle accounts on the veche, and the Old Rus' bookmen concepts of the veche. The study has been done on two levels: that of the textual criticism and that of historical analysis, which allowed to expend significantly the informative potential of the sources and to reach a number of new conclusions concerning the veche. A new approach to studying the sources has been developed - the analysis of parallel accounts on the veche, a method based on the concept of historical narratives of chronicle type. It has been established that the account on the veche does not reflect the accurate facts of social and political life only, but contain the narrative descriptive schemes at that. The analysis of the series of parallel chronicle accounts allowed establishing of narrative models used in constructing the texts. The author identifies three such models: "the glorification / accusation of the prince"; "the conflicts with the prince"; "the representation of the prince". Each model existed in two variants, and the choice between them depended mainly on chronicler's attitude toward the characters of his narrative. In addition, the system of the chronicles' terms for the description of the veche phenomenon and its participants have been analyzed. The author shows that the terminology was multi-semantic and interchangeable. The term "veche" was not compulsory in the descriptions of the veche activities, which allows to include some indirect accounts into discussion. The established principles of Old Rus' social terminology's functioning, as well as the non-factual narrative component of texts, permitted to offer a number of fresh insights as to the nature and competence of the veche. The dissertation discusses one of the most controversial problems of the veche history: the q uestion of its social composition. Basing on the analysis of the chronicle formulas, the author shows that virtually all groups participated in the veche: those of noble and humble descent, or, to put it in contemporaneous terminology, "the boyars", "the otroks", and "the common chad'". The accounts on separate assemblies of "chern'" (the commoners) or the boyars, occasionally noted by the chronicles, one cannot take at face value. The singling out of the boyars or the commoners is linked to the semantics of these terms, while actually the typical public assemblies of noble and lowborn took place. The author advances an idea of a fixed and permanent composition of the veche. This view is based on the series of parallel accounts on assemblies of the same groups, on calling forth the veche outside the city walls. The traditional view on the veche's composition expansion in times of "mutinies" is rejected. The attempt to determine the number of possible participants in the veche has been made. Both some indirect chronicle reports on the numbers involved and the fact that the vehce was called on town squares of rather limited space suggest the group of no more than couple hundred. Thus, the composition of the veche included the upper-most social strata of the town or "land" (although one might find in the sources the claims that all the adult male population was eligible and did participate in the veche). This contradiction, so it seems, was being resolved with the help of the term "dieti" ("the youngsters"), which in some cases designated the politically subordinate population. The observations on the number of participants, veche's fixed composition, and its predominantly aristocratic nature, as well as identification of the veche participants as "druzhyna" (the retinue), allowed to assume that there have been no firm distinction between the veche composition and the princely retinue. Apparently, in times of political stability the veche equaled to the "whole of the princely retinue". The dissertation analyses the s phere of the veche's authority. The major issues of veche's concerns have been studied: the invitation and dismissal of the prince, the verdict on some military issues, judicial rulings and their enforcement, the verdict on distribution of finances, the election of bishops, participation in certain ceremonies etc. In spite of rather broad competence of the veche, one cannot speak of its authonomy. Even the question of invitation/dismissal of the prince was not the sole initiative of the veche members, but always correlated with the activity of princely factions, struggle between and alliances of the princes. Apparently, this resulted from the complex ways the princely retinue/veche operated. The reconstruction of the narrative modes of description and their factual basis allowed to determine the Old Rus' bookmen concepts of veche. First, it allowed to conclude that focus of the chroniclers' concerns was the relationship between the prince and the veche members, while the dominant figure in the whole configura tion was the prince, not the townsfolk. This fact produced the allocation of the texts between the two: texts, which describe the invitation/dismissal of the prince are by far the most numerous, followed by the texts on certain etiquette situations. The parallel accounts demonstrate that the mentions of the veche and the "people" were used to set up certain characteristics of the prince. The legitimacy and illegitimacy of the assemblies according to the mindset of the times derived from their loyalty or disloyalty to a certain prince. The prince-centered focal point of the chroniclers explains the disturbing nature of the veche theme in general, and unevenness of the veche accounts distribution in chronicles in particular. In fact, only those accounts that stem from the notion of collectivity are not associated with the attitudes toward the prince. The author establishes the semantics of those descriptions concerned with the veche's social and territorial unity and disunity, the particular persons' addresses to the veche.
