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Introduction. The paper deals with the phenomenon of patron-client relations in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Russia, which until recently has been almost completely neglected by the scholars. Relying on recent publications and his own findings, the author addresses the key issues of the topic including the origins of this phenomenon in Russia, the typology of patron-client relations and their specifics in Muscovy. Methods and materials. The paper combines a survey of the current historiography with examination of selected primary sources (mainly private letters from archival collections) and forays into the theory of patron-client relations elaborated by social scientists. Comparing the Muscovite patronage system to its counterparts in other European countries enables some hypotheses about the peculiarities of patron-client relations in pre-Petrine Russia. Analysis. Addressing the problem of the origins of the Russian patronage the author traces the evolution of social relations and the appearance of the specific language of patronage which leads him to a conclusion that the phenomenon in question might have emerged by the end of the 16th century. Proceeding then to the typology of patron-client relations, the author assumes that, although only aristocratic patronage has been thoroughly studied so far, similar phenomena can be detected in other milieus as well, including the Church, where nepotism and corporate clientelism flourished. Finally, the author isolates some specific features of the Muscovite patronage, especially its depoliticized and decentralized character, as contrasted to the analogous phenomena in Poland-Lithuania, England, and France. Results. Summing up the present-day knowledge of the Muscovite patronage, the author highlights it as a typically early modern phenomenon that evolved within the official state institutions and functioned as an addendum to them.

Long description: Die Geschichte des Begriffs »Politik« reicht bis in die Antike zurück. Seitdem hat sich seine Bedeutung vielfach gewandelt und ausdifferenziert. Was »Politik« bedeutete und was als »politisch« bezeichnet wurde, veränderte sich je nach der historischen Situation des Wortgebrauchs. An den Beispielen Deutschland, Frankreich, England und Russland untersuchen die Autorinnen und Autoren des Bandes diesen semantischen Wandel für die Zeit vom 17. bis zum 20. Jahrhundert. Dabei entwickeln sie eine neue, umfassende Begriffsgeschichte des Politischen. -- Ausgezeichnet von H-Soz-u-Kult "Das Historische Buch 2009", Offene Kategorie (3. Platz).