The article considers the issues of recognition by princes of Old Rus’ of their clan unity and exclusion from political practice of the idea of killing a prince. Some factors that undermined this clan unity of Rurik's descendants are considered in relation to the period of fragmentation of pre-Mongol Rus’. The first factor is associated with the change of princes' generations in the interval of 25 to 30 years, and the relations of princes belonging to different generations. Methodological difficulties of studying this factor are considered along with those related to the scarcity of sources. The second factor is related to the presence of a number of princes' sons from two marriages. Children from the second marriage were not only half brothers of the elders, but also belonged to the next generation. These problems are discussed using mainly the material of the history of North-Eastern Rus’ in the 12th and 13th centuries.
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