Tysyatsky

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Tysyatsky (tysiatsky, Russian: тысяцкий; sometimes translated "dux" or "Heerzog") was a military leader in Ancient Rus, who commanded a people's volunteer army called тысяча (tysyacha, or a thousand). In the Novgorod Republic, tysyatsky was elected from boyars at a veche for a period of one year and was an assistant to posadnik. In the cities with no veche, tysyatskies were appointed by knyazs from among the noble boyars and could hand down their post to their sons.

In the Novgorod Republic, tysyatskies were considered representatives of ordinary (black) people. Alongside with the role as the military leaders, they were also supposed to supervise the city fortifications, open veches, serve as ambassadors to foreign powers. They could also act as judges in their own court. The former tysyatskies were known as the Old Tysyatskies and also had considerable privileges. The earliest documented tysyatsky of Novgorod was Putyata.

Grand Prince Dmitry Donskoy executed the last tysyatsky of Moscow and abolished the post, replacing them with voyevodas and namestniks. By the mid-15th century, the post of tysyatsky had been gradually abolished elsewhere. This spelled the end of local government in Russian cities for half a millennium, until the establishment of zemstvo in the 1860s.