Structure of the Russian society of the period of centralization
The article traces the organic connection between the agricultural means of production, have not changed significantly from the moment of occurrence of the old Russian state, and the new social groups and authorities, which appear in the XIV-XV centuries. The social hierarchy of the Russian society in the period under review is presented as a system of redistribution of the received peasantry and urban population of surplus in favor of serving the population, service of which, in turn, made it possible to ensure the functioning of the system, protecting it from internal centrifugal forces, as well as from external interventions.