The Russkaya Pravda (Rus' Justice, Rus' Truth, or Russian Justice; , Pravda Rusĭskaya (13th century, 1280), Правда Руськая, Pravda Rus'kaya (second half of the 15th century); , Russkaya Pravda; , ) was the legal code of Kievan Rus' and the subsequent Rus' principalities during the times of feudal division. It was written at the beginning of the 12th century and remade during many centuries. The basis of the Russkaya Pravda, Pravda of Yaroslav was written at the beginning of the 11th century. The Russkaya Pravda was a main source of Old Rus' Law. In spite of great influence of Byzantine legislation on the contemporary world, and in spite of great cultural and commercial ties between Byzantium and Kievan Rus', the Russkaya Pravda bore no similarity whatsoever to that of the Byzantine Empire. The absence of capital and corporal punishment rather reflects Norse jurisprudence. Editions Three recensions of Russkaya Pravda are known: the Short Edition (Kratkaya), the Extensive Edition (Prostrannaya), and the Abridged Edition (Sokrashchyonnaya). Over 110 extant copies dating from the 13th to the 18th centuries are preserved, included in various manuscripts: chronicles and compilations. Of these, over 100 copies, including the oldest preserved, are of the Extensive Edition. This code was discovered by the historian Vasily Tatischev in the text of one of the Novgorod chronicles and brought to the attention of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 1738. The first commented edition of the text was published by August Ludwig von Schlözer in 1767. Genesis and evolution Pravda Rus'skaya’s legal regulations reflected the evolution of the social relations in the Rus' of the 11th-13th centuries. Common law, Knyaz legislation, and legal proceedings represented the basis of “RP”. The Short Edition of Rus' Justice contains two apparently distinct parts, called by researchers Pravda Yaroslava (Yaroslav’s Law, ca. 1017), otherwise known as Drevneyshaya Pravda (the Oldest Justice) of Yaroslav the Wise, and Pravda Yaroslavichey (The Law by Yaroslav’s sons, ca. 1054). Some indicate other distinct components of the text, possibly added later. The Yaroslav’s Law comprised legal regulations of feudal law along with the archaic regulations that could be traced back to the primitive communal system. According to a popular theory, it was promulgated in order to settle a conflict between Konstantin Dobrynich, a posadnik of Novgorod, and the Varangian population of the city. Subsequent development and improvement of the Rus' Justice took place in times of Yaroslav's sons and