Is the king king or not? Origin of the word

Encyclopedia of Russian sparingly describes in several lines the origin and meaning of the concept of "king". This annoying omission becomes all the more incomprehensible, because it is in Russian that this word is very often used. Let's try to tell where this concept came from in our language.

Origin of the term

The word "king" is the distorted pronunciation of the Latin concept of caesar (Caesar, Caesar), which came to Russian through Byzantium. In ancient Rome, after the era of brilliant government, Julius Caesar was the so-called person with full authority. The ancient Slavs did not have kings - all power belonged to the princes. It is interesting that the West European early Middle Ages did not have kings, but in the Near and Middle East autocratic kings met at every step. For example, it is enough to recall King Solomon from the Book of Judges, who possessed unlimited power in ancient Israel.

Rus medieval

Who knows, if it had not been for such a long bondage of the Tatar-Mongol yoke, maybe ancient Rus would have been rid of tsarism as the highest form of autocracy. But several hundred years of Mongol rule strengthened in the ancient Muscovy precisely the eastern form of government. The tsars of Rus have all the features of eastern despotism and bring cruelty and ruthlessness to their enemies in their own forms of government, demanding absolute obedience from their associates.

Ivan the Terrible

The era of Russian tsars began in the late 16th century. A long period of turmoil and Tatar rule came to an end. Russia grew stronger and united around the Moscow principality. The first Russian tsar is Ivan the Terrible, the son of a great dynasty of Rurik, who ruled Russian lands for centuries. It is interesting that Ivan the Terrible began to call himself king not at once. The first years of his reign on all documents alongside his name became the title of Grand Duke. But here Byzantium, who was considered the elder sister of Russia, fell under the onslaught of the Turks. The title of absolute ruler was picked up by Ivan the Terrible. In decrees and letters alongside his name began to appear the word "autocrat" - so translated the title of the Emperor of Byzantium. In addition, he managed to marry the niece of the real and Byzantine emperor Sophia Palaeologus. Becoming the wife of Ivan the Terrible, she shared with him not only power in Russia, but also the phantom inheritance rights to all the titles of the Eastern Roman Empire. In addition to the title "king of the state", she transferred the rights to the coat of arms. So on the seal of the autocrat and Tsar Ivan there appears a two-headed eagle, proudly adorned once by arms and banners of Byzantine emperors.

Tsars of Russia

After the death of Ivan the Terrible, there was no one who could by right of succession to the throne take the place of the Moscow Tsar. Numerous False Dimitri and other pretenders were mercilessly expelled from the royal chambers. On March 13, 1613, at the Zemsky Sobor, it was decided to elect Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov as tsar and to put him on the Moscow throne. Thus began the 300-year reign of the kings of the Romanov dynasty, one of the most famous monarchical dynasties in the whole world.

Kings and Kings

It is interesting that when translating from Russian the word "tsar" loses its autocratic significance. Quite often in European languages it is replaced by the term "king", which is not exactly the same thing. The attitude to the king and the king was different. In Russia, the tsar - the governor of God on earth, the defender and the defender, his anger was considered akin to his father, it's no wonder that from ancient times the word "king-father" came to us.

The concept of "king" is the supreme ruler of this or that land. If for the Russian word "king" is a synonym for the ruler of his own country, then in the thinking of the European, the association will be more biblical. This discrepancy of the same word led to the fact that in some languages there appeared an interesting transcription of this mysterious word. The king is [tsar], [tzar] and other similarly copied terms. Sometimes it is replaced by the term king.

Perhaps you might think that in our time, when the reign of kings is no longer relevant, and there is almost no concept as such. This is not quite true. If we ignore the state hypostasis of this term, then this concept is often found in the Russian language, only in a figurative sense. Today the king is something majestic, rich, powerful, and sometimes simply great. We all know about the Tsar Cannon and the Tsar Bell.

Praising a dinner or a dress, we characterize them with the word "royal". Perhaps this word will surprise us again in the very near future.