INTRODUCTION

This collection of essays seeks to present a comprehensive analysis of pivotal developments in Russian political, economic, and cultural life in the course of the seventeenth century. By undertaking this thorough examination of the “anatomy” of late Muscovite society and state, the papers included here reveal several important aspects of Russian history that have, to this day, been either unknown or misunderstood. We hope and believe that these findings will contribute to a more fundamental reassessment of seventeenth-century Russia in the minds of regional specialists and those looking at Russia in a broader European, Eurasian, or global context.