DIARIES OF RULERS AS A HISTORICAL SOURCE

Abstract. This article reveals the concept of diaries of rulers as a historical source, discusses the key stages of their emergence. The author also analyzes the main thematic lines contained in the diaries of the rulers.

Keywords: diary, source studies, source, personal background.

One of the main types of sources of personal origin is a diary. A diary is understood as a source of personal origin, which is a regular record of the author's thoughts.

The peculiarity of this type of sources is that the diary conveys the perception of the surrounding world precisely from the point of view of the period in which this diary was written, which helps in source studies from the point of view of the assessment of events by contemporaries.

The emergence of the genre of diaries dates back to the Middle Ages, where since the XIV century there was a genre of urban chronicles, which, however, contained elements of the chronicle. Over time, more separate types of diaries appear, such as travel diaries (for example, Michel Montaigne's «Diary of a Trip to Italy»). By the XVIII century, the diary received the status of a literary genre, which is facilitated by a large number of publications of private diaries. A very significant role, according to researchers [1, p. 172], was played here by the administrative reforms of Peter I. The change in the structure of office work led to the emergence of a new type of documentation – journals, each of which recorded the specific work of specific workers. Frequent use and filling in of such journals in the workplace could affect, among other things, the popularization of a similar type of document in personal use.

By the second half of the XIX century, more and more personal diaries appeared, systematically kept from day to day, which allows them to be studied more closely. Keeping a diary has ceased to be a privilege of the upper strata of the population. Accordingly, due to this, the source base also grows by this period.

Personal diaries are an example of a way of communication in which the author of the diary is also his reader [6, p. 14]. A feature of this type of communication is the time gap between reading and writing, which gives the diaries intensity in matters of reflection. However, the diary may not be re-read, in which case it is a way of so-called «relaxation through text» or the author may simply give the stylistic coloring of the diary to his work [6, p. 15]. According to the writer M.M. Prishvina: «The diary is written either for yourself to sort yourself out and sort of consult with yourself, or it is written with the intention, explicit or secret, to enter society and say your word in it» [5, p. 364].

Personal diaries contain three main thematic lines: a record of external events, a description of «internal» events and direct appeals to oneself. Not each of these lines can be found in a separate diary, however, their complex is fundamental to the characteristics of this genre. It should be noted that each of these lines can carry very valuable information. The first line of recording external events turns the diary into a useful source for reconstructing historical events.

There is a diverse classification of this type of sources, and one of the main ways of classification is the division according to the socio–professional status of the authors [1, p. 354]. Definitely, the most high-status authors of the diaries could be members of royal families, as well as monarchs themselves.

The diaries of monarchs are quite valuable material for source studies. In addition to the factual component, which is the information given in the diary, they may contain indirect information about the monarch himself, which will allow recreating his historical portrait, as well as a psychological portrait, which is quite an important aspect in the field of personality history.

As an example to the hunt is revealed. Thus, even from small fragments of the diaries of rulers, it is possible to draw certain conclusions about the life of monarchs, their character and way of life.

Quite a great interest in this issue is the separation of the diary from private correspondence and memories, which often complement each other and can be perceived as one, more global variety of sources [1, p. 363].

The above-mentioned diary is a kind of diary-chronicle [4, p. 46], i.e. a diary in which events are noted day after day, mainly for memory. Such a diary is characterized by the author's interest in certain topics, which can be seen when examining the diary of Alexei Mikhailovich. A significant part of the diaries of monarchs is exactly this kind of diaries [1, p. 358]. They do not contain an assessment of events by the author, diaries in this case serve solely as a way of recording events. However, along with the events, the description of which is the purpose of the author of the diary, there may also be events representing information from his personal life, which is of very significant interest for source studies.

Thus, the monarch's diary is a very valuable source from the point of view of studying both issues directly related to the personality of its author, and issues related to the events of the era in which this diary was compiled. Some of the facts and hypotheses put forward on the basis of the information in the diary can be quite indirect and indirect, however, the addition of research by other sources can strengthen the position of these theories, which is undoubtedly an important component of source studies. However, we should not forget that each source of personal origin depends on its authorship and the subjectivity of such a source depends on many parameters of the author, whether it is his views and judgments or his idea of the world [2]. Every source of personal origin has such a subjective element and the diaries of rulers are no exception.