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Abstract. The emergence of the patrimonial theory of the state in the national historiography in the middle of the 19th century. It was motivated to clarify and understand the historical features of the development of the Moscow government in the late Middle Ages and early modern times. The founder of this theory, historian and lawyer K.D. Kavelin, allocated patrimonial began as a special stage in the development of Russia, when the Grand Duchy of Moscow was a grand-ducal patrimony. The theory was accepted by historians. V.O. Kliuchevsky noted that representation of the Grand Duchy as a patrimony promoted the unification of the Russian lands. However, at the same time, he considered that this representation impeded to image the patrimony as a state. He pointed out that the Smuta has promoted the concept of the state in the Russian society. G.V. Plekhanov emphasized the powerlessness of subjects of patrimonial sovereign as a feature of the patrimonial state. He noted that the very stable tradition of the patrimonial state had been preserving in Russia. Interest to this theory emerged in the national historiography in the late 20th–early 21st century. The researchers considered the compound of government and property in a such state as its peculiarity. It was also noted that such type of state was primitive, and this determined its instability. Its origin in Russia is linked with the tradition of the Northern-Eastern Russian power organization, and with the influence of the Horde.
Keywords: the theory of the patrimonial state, Russian historiography, patrimony, K.D. Kavelin, V.O. Kluchevsky, G.V. Plehanov, R. Pipes, power and property, Russia.