Features of the economic development of ancient Russian and German cities in the XII – first third of the XIII century

The subject of the study is the economic life of the city of Ancient Russia and the medieval city of Germany. The object of the study is an ancient Russian and Western European city in the XII – first third of the XIII centuries. For more than a century, the debate has been going on about whether Russia is following its own special path of development, different from the Western one, or whether our country is developing in the general direction of the world historical process, lagging behind Western European states for various reasons. The appeal to the economic problems of the city is due to the exceptional importance of the economic sphere of life, it determines the course of all processes taking place in society, affecting the other subsystems of society. For comparison, we have chosen one of the dominant political centers of Russia in the era of fragmentation – the Vladimir-Suzdal Principality and the cities of Germany, which are a classic example of a medieval city in Western Europe. The work used a comparative historical method that allows us to identify common and specific features of the development of the economic sphere of the urban centers of Ancient Russia and medieval Europe in order to reveal the versatility of the phenomenon of the ancient Russian city. The ancient Russian and medieval German city in the XII – first third of the XIII century had a deep connection with the nearby agricultural district and were agrarian in nature. Despite this, the most important direction of the economic development of the cities of Vladimir-Suzdal land and medieval Germany was their development as trade and craft centers. Merchant associations operate in both countries, and active trade and credit operations are carried out. Both cities were distinguished by the differentiation of the craft and its narrow specialization. The novelty of the study lies in the fact that a comparative analysis of the level of economic development of a significant number of ancient Russian and German medieval cities was carried out. As a result of the study, it was concluded that in German cities of the High Middle Ages, a special urban world was developing, characterized by strict regulation of almost all aspects of the life of citizens. The ancient Russian cities, on the contrary, did not develop a specific urban law that would operate only within the city walls.