Legislative norms of the 1649 Sobornoye Ulozheniye in the regulation of the mill business in the Moscow State

The article explores the history of the formation of the first legal norms in the regulation of the mill business in the Moscow state in the middle of the 17th century. The most common type of mills in this period were water-driven mills. They were used not only in the agrarian sector, but also in metallurgy and light industry. The technological scheme of Russian water mills in the 17th century was rather complex and archaic. It is emphasised that the mill business itself in the Moscow state developed in an extensive way, the number of mills increased, which sometimes worsened the ecological situation on the rivers, flooding of arable land and disturbances in the functioning of other mill complexes. All of this led to disputes, complicated social relations between the owners of mills and lands, and generally had a negative impact on the economic situation in the regions of the Moscow state. On the basis of act materials examples of conflict situations related to the use of mills in some regions of the Moscow state in the 17th century are given. The general state legal acts created in the late 15th and 16th centuries are considered. IThese acts do not mention the mill business as an object of law enforcement activity. Particular attention is paid to the Sobornoye Ulozheniye (law code) of 1649. It is argued that it was this document that became the first legislative act, where the problems of mill functioning were considered. A search was made for possible sources used in the creation of the norms of the Sobornoye Ulozheniye. It was concluded that its relevant articles partly copied earlier legal norms contained in the statutes of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania of the 16th century. The norms of the Statute of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania of 1529 and the norms of the Sobornoye Ulozheniye of 1649 were compared. It is noted that the norms of the Sobornoe Ulozhenie devoted to mills had some differences from the norms of statutes not only in the form of statement, but also in the essence of the measures taken - the norms of the Ulozhenie were largely aimed at curbing the very possibility of technological accidents through the introduction of a ban on the construction of mills on dangerous sections of rivers. But the question of punishment of those responsible for these accidents was secondary. Examples of application in the realities of the Moscow state of the 2nd half of the 17-early 18 centuries of some provisions of the Sobornoe Ulozhenie of 1649 are considered. Some provisions of the Sobornoe Ulozhenie of 1649 are considered, and it is concluded that the norms and the practice of their application set out in the Ulozhenie could not radically affect the situation with the use of mills. It is hypothesised that some decrease in the number of conflict situations related to the use of mills in the 18 th century was due to the spread of more advanced technological objects - windmills. The author declares no conflicts of interests.