Is it a Clan? Marriage Policy and Rivalry of Noble Families in Russia in the 16th — 17th Centuries

The terminology of patrilineal kinship is insufficient to study a power distribution and gender history of Muscovite Russia, to which historians, philologists, and anthropologists pay increasing attention. Having outlined a comparative perspective and developed a language of interpretation, the author examines cases from the 16th and 17th centuries that highlight kinship and matrimonial ties and discuss inter-kin alliances: the marriage of Princess Marfa Shuiskaya to Prince Ivan Belski, the correspondence of the nun Olga Godunova, the life of Ulyana Osoryina, and the struggle within the Sheremetev family. Interpreting these cases, the article outlines the shift from the terminology of clans in favor of the concepts of political unions and social networks, which are more in line with the specifics of Russian political culture.