Tysiatskii
The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.
Tysiatskii
in ancient Russia, the military leader of a tysiacha (town militia). In the Novgorod Feudal Republic a tysiatskii was chosen at a veche (popular meeting) of boyars, usually for a term of one year, and served as an assistant to the posadnik (prince’s vicegerent). In cities without veche administration, princes appointed tysiatskie from the aristocratic boyars; the post then became hereditary. Prince Dmitrii Ivanovich Donskoi abolished the post of tysiatskii in Moscow. Elsewhere, voevody (military governors) and namestniki (vicegerents) replaced tysiatskie, and by the mid-15th century, the post was gradually disappearing.
REFERENCE
Tikhomirov, M. N. Srednevekovaia Moskva v XFV-XV vv. Moscow, 1957.The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.