To the 80th anniversary of the birth of Academician S. D. Skazkin
On October 19, 1970, a prominent Soviet scientist, academician Sergei Danilovich Skazkin, turned 80 years old1 .
S. D. Skazkin is an outstanding Marxist historian. His research interests are very broad and multifaceted, both in terms of the problems of his work, and in terms of the diversity of countries and peoples whose history attracts his attention. For more than 50 years of scientific and pedagogical activity, S. D. Skazkin not only created his own research school, but also opened a number of new and successfully developing areas in Soviet medieval studies, which is his main specialty.
Problems of agrarian history occupy a central place in the research of S. D. Skazkin. Making critical use of the best of the heritage of the Russian bourgeois school of agricultural historians-Luchitsky, Kovalevsky, Savin, and others-and creatively applying Marxist-Leninist theory, S. D. Skazkin posed and solved a number of important problems in the medieval agrarian history of Europe. Already in the lecture courses of 1935-1938, and later in the textbook on the history of the Middle Ages (parts I and II, ed. 1939, 1956, 1966), S. D. Skazkin gave an analysis of the agrarian system of France and Spain, which remains important to this day, explaining why in the former there was an alliance of the bourgeoisie with the peasantry, which provided the triumph of the great bourgeois revolution of the late eighteenth century, and in the second, the peasants robbed by the feudal lords largely became hereditary vagabonds, beggars or military mercenaries who shed their blood in the aggressive European and colonial adventures of the Spanish dynasty.
In the history of the early Middle Ages, S. D. Skazkin developed the question of the ways of transition to feudalism directly from the primitive communal system. As a result of his research, dogmatic ideas about the supposedly obligatory passage of all peoples through the stage of a developed slave-owning formation and the impossibility of a direct transition from the primitive communal system to feudalism were refuted .2
In the agrarian history of the period of developed feudalism, S. D. Skazkin's attention was drawn to such an important episode of the class struggle of the Italian peasantry as the Dolcino-led uprising. In contrast to bourgeois historiography, which portrayed this mass uprising as an explosion of religious and mystical fanaticism, S. D. Skazkin showed it as one of the integral links in the general chain of peasant uprisings of the fourteenth century. in Europe. The core of these uprisings was the struggle against the remnants of serfdom and the seizure of communal lands by feudal lords, for a reduction in the rate of feudal exploitation and an increase in the degree of economic independence of the peasantry, that is, for a progressive direction of agrarian development. These issues are-
1 An essay on the creative path of Academician S. D. Skazkin see Voprosy Istorii, 1966, No. 4.
2 M. N. Meiman, S. D. Skazkin. On the question of the direct transition to feudalism based on the decomposition of the primitive communal mode of production. Voprosy Istorii, 1960, No. 1.
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These problems were covered in articles by S. D. Skazkin, one of which was presented as a report at the X International Congress of Historical Sciences in Rome in 1955.3
S. D. Skazkin pays great attention to the study of the "second edition of serfdom" in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. In its main aspects, this problem was raised by him in a special study4, which was included among the reports of Soviet historians at the XI International Congress of Historical Sciences in Stockholm in 1960. Skazkin returned to its various aspects in connection with the discussions that took place at the Tallinn (1958), Moscow (1959), and Kiev (1960) conferences.5 and the second Moscow (1965) sessions of the inter-republican symposium on the agrarian history of Eastern European countries, as well as at the All-Union scientific session on the transition from feudalism to capitalism in Russia 6 . This problem is generally considered by the scientist as two sides of the general process with different outcomes for the countries of Western and Eastern Europe. The first expressed the progressive capitalist development of that time, the second-the international division of labor that was emerging on the basis of the formation of the world capitalist market, which turned out to be the triumph of feudal reaction for the regions east of the Elbe.
S. D. Skazkin deals extensively and fruitfully with theoretical problems of the agrarian history of feudalism. He wrote, in particular, works on the nature of feudal property and non-economic coercion and on the basic economic law of feudal formation (the latter in collaboration with M. N. Meiman)7. S. D. Skazkin considers feudal land ownership as a category that has a decisive significance for the entire system of economic, social and legal relations of feudal society. It determines the nature of the production relations of the feudal formation. The form of its realization is feudal rent in its various modifications. These factors, together with non-economic coercion and the nature of the productive forces, form the basis from which the basic economic law of feudalism can be derived. This law is formulated as "the production by serfs and feudal-dependent peasants of a surplus product appropriated by feudal lords in the form of feudal rent" .8
All the above-mentioned studies of S. D. Skazkin on the agrarian history of the Middle Ages are, in essence, studies of key problems that fit seamlessly into the framework of his capital work, which was prepared for a long time and published in 19689 . This book has its own history. It was created as a result of the author's repeated reading of a special course on the history of the medieval peasantry for undergraduates and postgraduates of the History Department of Moscow University, combined with research work on a number of major problems of medieval agrarian history. At the same time, it summed up to a certain extent the long-term work of such leading Soviet agricultural historians as E. A. Kosminsky, A. I. Neusykhin and others. The manuscript of the special course has been used by many Soviet (especially young) historians for a number of years. The publication of the monograph made it
3 S. D. Skazkin. Historical conditions of the Dolcino Uprising. "The Tenth International Congress of Historians in Rome. September 1955 Reports of the Soviet delegation", Moscow, 1956. Dolcino's first message. "From the history of socio-political ideas". Collection of articles dedicated to the 75th anniversary of Academician V. P. Volgin, Moscow, 1955. The Dolcino Uprising. "Teaching history at school", 1949, N 4.
4 S. D. Skazkin. The main problems of the so-called "second edition of serfdom" in Central and Eastern Europe. Voprosy Istorii, 1958, No. 2.
5 See Yearbooks on the Agricultural History of Eastern Europe. Tallinn. 1959; Moscow, 1960; Kiev, 1962.
6 See "Transition from Feudalism to Capitalism in Russia", Moscow, 1969.
7 S. D. Skazkin. Classics of Marxism-Leninism on feudal property and non-economic coercion, "The Middle Ages". Issue V, 1954; S. D. Skazkin, M. N. Meiman. On the basic economic law of the feudal formation. Voprosy Istorii, 1954, No. 2.
8 Voprosy Istorii, 1954, No. 2, p. 75.
9 S. D. Skazkin. Essays on the history of the Western European peasantry in the Middle Ages, Moscow, 1968.
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accessible to a wide range of readers, and it was immediately highly appreciated by the scientific community .10
This major work consistently traces the connection between the history of the medieval peasantry and the pressing socio-economic problems of our time, which gives the book a scientific relevance. The book is also distinguished by the high theoretical level of all sections of the study, which is rich in extensive and versatile factual material. At the same time, it is characterized by acute polemics. Analyzing such problems as the genesis of feudalism, the role of commodity production, the disintegration of the feudal mode of production, the problems of class struggle, etc., the author exposes the reactionary concepts of bourgeois scientists, criticizes the dogmatic or erroneous propositions and conclusions of individual Soviet historians and Marxist researchers in foreign countries. Much attention is paid in the book to the history of the development of the productive forces (a question that has not yet received adequate coverage in the works of our medievalists). The author also provides comprehensive and fresh material in this area. All this, as well as the successful selection of the main aspects of the study, despite the essay structure of the book, allowed S. D. Skazkin to recreate a broad historical canvas and highlight the main problems.
S. D. Skazkin's contribution to defending the Marxist doctrine of the natural change of socio-economic formations is significant. The scientist's consideration of the slave-owning formation as built on the borrowing of slaves mainly outside the slave-owning states themselves, which causes an organic combination of slave-owning and pre-slave societies within the same system, is of very important methodological significance. It allows, in particular, to consider the crisis of the Roman Empire and the primitive communal system of the "barbarian periphery" surrounding it as different aspects of the same world-historical process. It becomes obvious that at the then existing level of development of the productive forces and society as a whole, the slave-owning formation could only appear in its "non-universal" form and on a relatively limited part of the globe."11 This dialectical formulation of the problem is very fruitful. The conclusion made by S. D. Skazkin gives grounds to understand the crisis of the late Roman Empire, the disintegration of the primitive communal system of the barbarians and the formation of the feudal system in its various variants as a crisis of a single system as a whole, and not as two processes in their mechanical contact.
In addition to the previously mentioned theoretical elaboration of the question of the nature and place of feudal land ownership and feudal rent in feudal society, S. D. Skazkin carries out in his monograph a thorough and multifaceted study of the relationship between feudal land ownership and peasant land ownership, based on solid factual material. Rejecting the erroneous constructions of some historians, who actually equate the ownership of land by a feudal lord and the ownership rights of a peasant to it, S. D. Skazkin concludes that "we cannot consider a peasant, a direct producer of the feudal formation, no matter how strong and broad his ownership rights are, as an owner"12 . The identification of these two most important economic and legal categories actually "removes" the class-antagonistic character of feudal society, socially equating the recipient and payer of feudal rent.
The history of the community, its various forms, modifications, and its evolution in various countries and regions is developed in a very broad, multi-faceted and fresh way in the book. S. D. Skazkin's innovation in the treatment of this topic, which has been thoroughly studied by Soviet and foreign historians, consists in his bold use of extensive data from the history of the Russian community for the analysis and synthesis of Western European material.
10 See reviews of: M. A. Barga in the journal "Voprosy Istorii", 1969, N 1, Yu. V. Bromley, V. I. Buganov, V. I. Koretsky ("A valuable study on the history of the Western European peasantry and the problem of agrarian relations in the East of Europe") in the journal "History of the USSR", 1970, N 1.
11 S. D. Skazkin. Essays.., pp. 60-64.
12 Ibid., p. 129.
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S. D. Skazkin has studied in depth a complex set of issues related to the development of the commodity-money economy and its influence on the evolution of the patrimony - manor - seigneury. In this connection, a critical assessment is also given to the concept of the "general crisis of feudalism" of the XIV-XV centuries, which was fashionable in the 50s of the XX century in bourgeois literature, and the scientific inconsistency of which is now becoming more and more obvious even for its former supporters. From the point of view of factual analysis, the chapter on the so-called "emancipation" of the peasants in Western Europe is very valuable .13
Equally important in this respect is the extensive section on the history of the peasantry in Europe in the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, which is rich in a great deal of material and contains numerous references to specialized literature. Here S. D. Skazkin gives a comprehensive study of events that are outwardly different in nature and regional manifestation - the fate of the Western European peasantry in the conditions of the genesis of capitalism and the Central and Eastern European peasantry in the conditions of the "second edition of serfdom". Particularly rich factual material is provided on the second problem. If in his earlier published article S. D. Skazkin gave mainly a statement of the problem and outlined the main ways to solve it, then the book carefully traces the mechanism of the formation of the "second edition of serfdom" in all its historical and regional diversity and specifics. And here S. D. Skazkin, not content with the traditional geographical framework, appeals to the Russian material, entering into an interesting discussion with experts on the history of Russian feudalism .14
The last of the problems discussed in the monograph - about the laws of the class struggle of peasants in the Middle Ages-serves as an important link in the author's general concept, putting dots over the "I" in determining the place of class struggle in feudal society and the historical process in general. And here S. D. Skazkin, true to his style of presentation, criticizes the erroneous views of some Soviet historians on this issue .15
The history of agrarian relations in medieval Europe and the history of the peasantry continue to be the main theme for S. D. Skazkin to this day. Currently, as editor-in-chief, he leads the work of a large team of scientists engaged in compiling the generalizing work "History of the European Peasantry". S. D. Skazkin, co-authored with M. A. Barg and Yu. L. Bessmertny, published two articles in which the principles of construction, tasks, nature and structure of the work being prepared are considered .16 The success of this initiative, as emphasized in the above articles, depends largely on the extent to which the editorial and authoring team will be able to correctly select the main problems, isolate the main ones from a huge number of factors, connections and categories, and develop general principles and principles for building a publication by volume and in general. Therefore, much attention is paid to such issues as classification of factors (constants, variables, system-synthesizing), clarification of conceptual definitions (the concept of a region not only as a certain geographical area, but also as a historical and sociological term meaning a specific type of stage development of the phenomenon as a whole; the concept of feudal rent not only as a certain economic category but also as a focus of the social antagonisms of feudal society, and consequently as an "all-determining link", etc.) 17 . The main stages of the history of the feudal peasantry from its formation to its entry into the period of social stratification in the conditions of the disintegration of feudalism and the genesis of capitalism are also determined. At the same time, the two-sided nature of this process is emphasized, as the decomposition, on the one hand, of the feudal seigniory, on the other-of the feudal state-
13 Ibid., pp. 227-251.
14 Ibid., pp. 349-350.
15 Ibid., p. 352.
16 M. A. Barg, S. D. Skazkin. The history of the medieval peasantry in Europe and the principles of its development. Voprosy istorii, 1967, No. 4; S. D. Skazkin, Yu. L. Bessmertny. History of the European Peasantry: tasks and nature of the publication. "The Middle Ages". Issue 32, 1969.
17 Voprosy Istorii, 1967, No. 4, pp. 68-72, 74.
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the Russian peasantry, with its various symptoms and modifications for the Western European and Central and Eastern European regions 18 .
This approach to defining the principles and objectives of the publication also dictates the nature of its structure. The starting point is the typological-regional principle. But within its framework, there should also be a place for showing the country-specific and chronological diversity of process modifications, as well as thematic layout, and formational and system synthesis .19 These ideas, which are already being implemented through the creation of author's essays, indicate that S. D. Skazkin is in the prime of his creative search, fully preserving the spirit of innovation and broad scope that are so characteristic of his works on the agrarian history of the Middle Ages.
While paying special attention to agrarian history, S. D. Skazkin did not confine himself to this issue alone. He was also interested in the history of the feudal state. He is the creator of the concept of Western European absolutism, which is still rejected by most Soviet Medievalists in their specific studies. The main provisions of this concept were expressed by S. D. Skazkin in the late 30s-early 40s20 . Then they were developed and supplemented in the 50s-early 60s21 .
Based on extensive concrete material, mainly from the history of France and Spain, and creatively using the instructions of the founders of Marxism-Leninism on this issue, S. D. Skazkin came to the conclusion that absolutism is the last form of the feudal state, the organ of class rule of the nobility, 22 and not "merchant capital", as was believed some Soviet historians in the 20s and early 30s. The high degree of centralization of this state and its apparent independence from all classes of society, according to the scientist, were not so much the result of the aggravation of the class struggle between feudal lords and peasants, as other Soviet historians believed, as the result of the emergence of capitalism and a new class - the bourgeoisie in the most advanced countries of Western Europe. The temporary balance of power established between the bourgeoisie and the nobility during this period created conditions for strengthening the central government, which was able to maneuver between these classes. At the same time, S. D. Skazkin convincingly showed that the "independence" of the absolute monarchy from the nobility was only apparent, that the entire policy of states of this type was aimed at supporting the nobility, which was increasingly losing its economic and partly political significance, and protecting its privileges and incomes. It even sometimes helped to increase the latter by means of state taxes squeezed from the peasantry and bourgeoisie, since a huge part of the tax revenues in various forms fell into the hands of the ruling class.
In his works of the 50s and early 60s, S. D. Skazkin emphasized the non-antagonistic nature of relations between the bourgeoisie and the nobility during the formation of absolutism. The contradictions that existed between them did not prevent these two classes from acting together and in alliance with the central government in the struggle against popular, and in particular peasant, movements. This unity of the bourgeoisie, the nobility and the royal power in the oppression of the working masses of the countryside and city also contributed to the strengthening of centralized State power. In his book on the history of the medieval peasantry, S. D. Skazkin once again emphasized that the social support of absolute monarchies everywhere was the nobility - in Eastern Europe, which secured the peasants, in Western Europe, where there were no favorable conditions for preserving the lordly economy, the nobility grew out of the chivalry of the XIV - XV centuries .23
18 Ibid., pp. 71-72, 75-76.
19 "The Middle Ages". Issue 32, 1969, pp. 23-25.
20 "History of the Middle Ages", Vol. II. Moscow, 1939; S. D. Skazkin. Marx and Engels on Western European feudalism. "Scientific Notes" of the Moscow City Pedagogical Institute, vol. III, issue 1, Moscow, 1941.
21 S. D. Skazkin. The problem of absolutism in Western Europe. "From the History of Medieval Europe of the X-XVII centuries", Moscow, 1957; see also his article "Absolutism" in the "Soviet Historical Encyclopedia", vol. 1.
22 "History of the Middle Ages", vol. II, p. 14.
23 S. D. Skazkin. Essays on the history of the Western European peasantry in the Middle Ages, pp. 217-218,
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S. D. Skazkin was also the first Soviet scientist to raise the problem of the diversity of forms of absolutism in different European countries - in France, Spain, England, Prussia, and Austria. He also suggested that the power of the West German princes of the XVI - XVIII centuries should be considered as a specific form of absolutism, and pointed out the proximity to this form of state of the Italian tyranny of the XV-XVI centuries. S. D. Skazkin's understanding of the social nature of absolutism in Western Europe served as a starting point for further theoretical and concrete historical development of this problem in relation to the history of different countries, which is currently being successfully conducted by a number of Soviet medievalists.
A significant place in the research of S. D. Skazkin was constantly occupied by issues of medieval culture and ideology. Among them, works on the history of the Renaissance and humanism are particularly important. Both in his articles on individual Renaissance figures [24] and in his works devoted to general aspects of the problem [25 ], questions of a methodological nature occupy a large place - about the class roots and essence of Renaissance culture, about its historical conditionality, etc. D. Having approached this problem from a Marxist-Leninist point of view, S. D. Skazkin came to the conclusion that there is no reason to reject what F. Skazkin has already put forward. Engels ' understanding of Renaissance culture and humanism as fundamentally early bourgeois, linked to the interests of the emerging class of the bourgeoisie. He found it impossible to agree with those historians, including Soviet ones, who overestimated the role of feudal and noble elements in the emergence of this culture, or saw it as a reflection of the tastes and moods of urban artisans or even the broader working masses of the city. He was particularly determined against modern bourgeois historians, who do not notice the fundamental differences between the medieval culture of the earlier period and the Renaissance culture, strenuously emphasizing the indissoluble connection of the latter, in particular, with the darkest and most negative aspects of the former. The origins of Renaissance and humanism go back, according to S. D. Skazkina, to the urban culture of the period when early capitalist relations began to emerge, and the medieval burghers began to develop into the bourgeoisie. This transitional social stratum, according to the scientist, was the first carrier of the Renaissance culture and humanist ideology, which reflected the very initial phases of the formation of the bourgeoisie. That is why this cultural phenomenon cannot be completely identified with the bourgeois culture of the epoch of developed capitalism, although it already had a number of features - for example, individualism - characteristic of the bourgeoisie at all stages of its further development. At the same time, S. D. Skazkin pointed out the great complexity of this cultural phenomenon, and the impact that well-known noble ideas also had on it, on the one hand, and popular and even peasant - Plebeian ideas on the other.
The significance of S. D. Skazkin's works is not limited to his interpretation of Renaissance and humanism. They also have a broader general methodological significance, outlining the basic principles of a correct approach to the history of medieval culture and ideology in general. These principles boil down to the fact that, in studying such phenomena of the past, a scientist should go from studying social life and the situation of different classes in each epoch to considering their reflection in the field of morality and ethics, then to substantiating the latter in a general philosophical worldview and, finally, to reflecting social existence in aesthetics .26 These principles are largely guided to this day by numerous students of S. D. Skazkin and other Soviet scientists who develop problems of the history of humanism.
S. D. Skazkin also analyzed many other phenomena of medieval culture, in particular the ideological foundations of the Catholic religion and the Reformation teachings, as well as
24 S. D. Skazkin. Copernicus and the Renaissance. Istoricheskiy Zhurnal, 1943, No. 10. The Copernican age and its people. In: "Nicolaus Copernicus", Moscow, l. 1947. Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519). "Teaching history at school", 1952, N 4; his. Medieval culture and the emergence of bourgeois ideology. Transcript of lectures (VPSh at the Central Committee of the CPSU (b). M. 1940.
25 p. D. Skazkin. On the methodology of the history of Renaissance and Humanism. "The Middle Ages". Issue XI, 1958; see his article "Revival" in the "Soviet Historical Encyclopedia", vol.
26 See "The Middle Ages". Issue XI. 1958, p. 134.
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some manifestations of peasant-Plebeian ideology 27 . He initiated a special study of the history of medieval culture before the Renaissance. His students, and above all N. A. Sidorova, a prominent Soviet expert in this field, have a great place in the development of these complex problems.
S. D. Skazkin has always played a major role in intensifying research in those areas of medieval studies that were previously almost or not developed at all by Marxist historians - in the field of the history of medieval Italy, Spain, the Dutch Revolution, and the genesis of capitalism. Directing the interests of his students and collaborators in these areas, and leading a number of collective initiatives dedicated to some of these issues, he significantly contributed to the expansion of the problems of Soviet historiography of the Middle Ages.
S. D. Skazkin made a great contribution to the history of international relations and diplomacy. He always linked them to the class structure and needs of the dominant classes-States that interact in the international arena. This strictly scientific approach is combined in his works with a vivid and lively presentation of extensive concrete material28 .
The creative image of S. D. Skazkin would be incomplete without taking into account his tireless activity in creating collective works devoted to the history of the Middle Ages. He is one of the founders of the Marxist concept of the history of the Middle Ages (along with E. A. Kosminsky, N. P. Gratsiansky, A.D. Udaltsov, A. I. Neusykhin, O. L. Weinstein), which was developed in the late 30s in the process of reading lecture courses and creating university textbooks on this subject. Since then, S. D. Skazkin has consistently been one of the authors and editors of all editions of the two-volume university textbook on the history of the Middle Ages, and in particular the newest one, published in 196629 . He actively worked as the author and editor of volumes III and IV of the World History30, as well as the History of Diplomacy. Currently, together with a large team of Soviet Italians, S. D. Skazkin is working on a consolidated work on the history of Italy. He is one of the leading editors of the generalizing work on the history of the genesis of capitalism, prepared at the Institute of General History of the USSR Academy of Sciences. In a brief essay, it is impossible to list many other works of S. D. Skazkin, in particular all his textbooks, manuals, articles, reviews, books published under his editorship and with his introductory articles, which testify to his deep erudition .31 Being a historian of a very broad profile, S. D. Skazkin, along with the history of the Middle Ages, always paid a lot of attention to the history of modern times .32 Here he was also interested primarily in agrarian problems, in particular, the situation of the French peasantry on the eve of the revolution of 1789, which he began to study as a student. He devoted a number of articles to this issue, which laid the foundation for further research in this area .33 He worked very fruitfully
27 See "History of Italy", Vol. I. Ed. by S. D. Skazkin, L. A. Kotelnikova, V. I. Rutenburg, Moscow 1970, ch. 7 (S. D. Skazkin, V. V. Samarkin. Peasant movements of the XIV-XV centuries).
28 S. D. Skazkin. History of international relations and diplomacy in the Middle Ages. Transcript of the lecture; his own. History of international relations and diplomacy of Western European states in the XVI-XVIII centuries. Transcript of lectures. Moscow, 1945 (Higher School of Party Organizers, under the Central Committee of the CPSU (b); its. Chapter in the collective work "History of Diplomacy", Vol. I. Ed. 1-E. M. 1941; (ed. 2-E. M. 1959).
29 "History of the Middle Ages", Vol. I. Edited by S. D. Skazkin, E. V. Gutnova, A. I. Danilov, Ya. A. Levitsky, Moscow, 1966; vol. P. Edited by S. D. Skazkin, A.D. Lyublinskaya, A. S. Samoilo, Yu. M. Saprykin, M. M. Smirin, A. N. Chistozvonov. 1966.
30 "World History", vol. III. Moscow, 1957; vol. IV. Moscow, 1958.
31 For a detailed bibliography of S. D. Skazkin's works up to and including 1967, see the book "Sergey Danilovich Skazkin" in the series "Biobibliography of Scientists of the USSR", Moscow, 1967.
32 For more complete information about the works of S. D. Skazkin on modern history, see Voprosy Istorii, 1966, No. 4, pp. 155-157.
33 S. D. Skazkin. A reflection of the feudal reaction in the instructions of some of the bailiffs of Champagne in North-Eastern France on the eve of the Great Revolution. "Proceedings" of the Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 1926. Differentiation of the peasants in France on the eve of the Revolution. "The Marxist Historian", 1936, No. 2 (54); same name. Fevdist Hervé and his doctrine of the censor. "The Middle Ages". Issue I. 1942.
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S. D. Skazkin also worked on the history of Russian-German relations in the 70s-80s of the XIX century. He wrote an excellent monograph on this subject based on archival materials - " The End of the Austro-Russian-German Alliance. 1879-1884" (Moscow, 1928) and articles covering certain aspects of this issue 34 . S. D. Skazkin was also engaged in the history of Italy during the period of its unification, which before him was almost not developed in Soviet historiography .35 The scientist was also interested in the history of Prussia of the XVIII-XIX centuries .36
A remarkable feature of S. D. Skazkin's creative appearance is that it is impossible to imagine him outside of teaching activities. Close ties connect him with Moscow State University, where he has been teaching for over 50 years and still teaches special courses, supervises graduate and postgraduate students. Over the years, he also worked in other higher educational institutions. It has trained many hundreds of highly qualified historians, introduced many talented young scientists to science, especially medieval studies, and always assisted them in their research and practical work.
Long-term leadership of S. D. Skazkin of the Section of the History of the Middle Ages of the Institute of General History of the USSR Academy of Sciences (since 1962) and the Department of the History of the Middle Ages of Moscow State University (since 1949), the section of the genesis of capitalism of the Scientific Council "Laws of the historical development of society and the transition from one socio-economic formation to another" (since 1957) and the Inter-Republican Symposium His research on the agrarian history of Eastern Europe (from 1958 to 1967) contributed significantly to the success of Soviet medieval studies. It is difficult to overestimate his contribution to the development of Soviet historical science, especially in the study of the history of the Middle Ages. All the most important initiatives in this field over the past decades are somehow connected with his name. S. D. Skazkin enriched this branch of historical knowledge not only with his own works, but also with new ideas, which he always generously shared with his numerous students.
S. D. Skazkin came to his 80th birthday with new creative achievements. Two years ago, his monograph on the medieval peasantry was published, and with his daily active participation, a consolidated collective work on this topic is being prepared successfully. In the summer of 1970, S. D. Skazkin authored and edited the first volume of the collective work on the history of Italy (from the fifth to the eighteenth centuries).
S. D. Skazkin did a great and fruitful job in preparing Soviet medievalists for the XIII International Congress of Historical Sciences, held in Moscow in August 1970. Leading this group of our scientists at the congress (together with Professor I. A. Fedosov), he greatly contributed to their success. In the lively discussions that took place at the Medieval History section of the Congress, Soviet Medievalists successfully defended Marxist-Leninist positions on a number of major problems in the history of feudal society. S. D. Skazkin himself spoke at the section with a convincing criticism of the report of the American historian G. Post "Sovereignty and its limitations in the Middle Ages".
Being now one of the oldest Soviet historians, Sergey Danilovich Skazkin is still full of energy, vigor and amazing creative energy, which he always so generously gave to Soviet historical science.
34 S. D. Skazkin. Berlin Congress 1787. "Diplomatic dictionary", Vol. I. M. 1948; his. A. M. Gorchakov's diplomacy in the last years of his chancellorship. "International Relations, politics, Diplomacy of the XVI-XX centuries". Collection of articles dedicated to the 80th anniversary of Academician I. M. Maisky, Moscow, 1964.
35 S. D. Skazkin. Cavour and the reunification of Italy. "The Marxist Historian", 1935, N 5-6; it is the same. Introductory articles to the Russian translation of J. R. R. Tolkien's books. Berti " Russia and the Italian States in the Risorgimento period "(M. 1959) and D. Candeloro " History of modern Italy "(T. I. M. 1958).
36 S. D. Skazkin. Friedrich II after Kunersdorf. "Historical Journal", 1945, book 3; his. The end of the Prussian State. "Teaching history at school", 1947, N 3.
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