In this article, the author applies to the long-standing issue of the correlation between the kin and the service mat- ters in the Rurikids interaction of the pre-Mongol period. Despite the fact that feudal theory met with continual criti- cism since the 1980s, some of its aspects have become firmly established in the methodology of studying medieval Russia. Meanwhile, princes? relations does not provide convincing evidences of either the existence of a rigid hierarchy that goes beyond the intra-family relations of patronage and mutual assistance, or other elements that characterize feu- dal society. However many other details: the personal bonds of the relations, the importance of their ritual components bring these relations closer to European medieval counterparts. All members of the Rurik family were connected with each other, not only with their lord like in the vassalage type of interaction. The horizontal-oriented relations were pre- dominant in the Pre-mongol period, they aimed at maintaining a balance of power between the individual branches of the Rurik dynasty.
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