SPb. Journal of the Ministry of Public Education, 1848. — 42 s. Language: Russian pre-reform. The first cities in Russia, as far as we know, were: Novgorod, Kiev, Smolensk, Chernigov, Rostov and some other, meeting in the first pages of our Chronicles, and often familiar to the Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenius, the Writer of the X century, and partly mentioned in the We do not know the beginnings of these cities; it is buried in the darkness of ancient times, and if we believe our ancient traditions, it almost goes back to the first centuries of Christianity: for, according to Nestor... Belyaev Ivan Dmitrievich (1810 1873), Russian historian . He was born into the family of a priest .. In 1833 he graduated from Moscow University .. From 1852 until his death, he was a professor of the history of law at Moscow University, secretary of the Moscow Society of History and Antiquities of Russia and editor of his "Timekeeper". According to socio-political views - Slavophile. Works on the history of the Russian peasantry, law, economy, life, military affairs, chronicles in Russia . The work "Peasants in Russia" is the first systematic work in Russian historiography on the history of peasants from the time of Kievan Rus to the 18th century. Belyaev created it in the years of preparation of the peasant reform of 1861 and sought to give answers to the questions of modernity. He regarded serfdom as a "disease of Russian society", and its elimination as a process of "gradual recovery", which began with the end of the 18th century. decrees of Paul I, continued by legislation on the peasant question of Alexander I and Nicholas I. Belyaev defended the thesis that the Russian peasants up to 18 in . were personally free and owned land; the essence of serfdom was reduced to a set of legal institutions. Belyaev was the first Russian historian, in addition to legislative monuments, widely used act materials. Collected a rich collection of ancient Russian acts and handwritten books .