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The article examines several interrelated problematic questions, the first of which reflects the justification of scientific relevance for modern Russian historical science of studying the Western royal courts of the Middle Ages and early Modern times, in particular, French court. The author presents the royal court as an important part of French history, which influenced the historical development of European and partly Russian civilization. The interest to the history of French court of Russian historians is also associated with a significant number of rare French documents of the 16th century, concentrated in Russian repositories and requiring introduction into scientific circulation. These documents are largely associated with current Russian research on curial history, which have a long tradition and focus on the institutional history of the court. An overview of current trends in curial research in Western historiography is also presented, which focuses on the study of gender characteristics, personal court members, socio-political evolution of the court, compilation of databases on courtiers and employees, movements and residences of monarchs.

At the end of the 19th century and the first quarter of the 20th century, political parties became the main actors for Russia’s social and economic processes and events. During the last three decades, they have been the focus of scholars’ efforts since classified sources of the Soviet period were opened for public access at the end of the 20th century. Intense scholarship shaped two main approaches to the topic. One focuses on each political party individually, and the other focuses on interactions between all of them. The second approach, even considering its merits, remains limited because relationships are explained mainly through competition between political parties, whereas in reality, connections were more diverse. This article makes a first attempt to show at personal and group levels the transition of former socialists to the Bolshevik party between the February and October revolutions. It identifies specific party leaders and groups that changed their political views and positions; establishes the time and motives for their break with their former parties to join the Bolsheviks; and clarifies the impact of their joining the Bolshevik party. Based on an analysis of questionnaires of delegates who participated in the Sixth Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (Bolsheviks), the article concludes that by the end of the summer of 1917, the Bolshevik political elite consisted of almost 43 % of former socialists, among whom there was a large proportion of professional revolutionaries. Such human resources, mostly consisting of “left-socialists,” contributed to the radicalization of the RSDLP(b), reorienting the political struggle from democratic and political methods to violence and militarism.

This article discusses the contents of a collection formerly owned by Axel Oxenstierna (1583–1654) and now held by the National Library of Russia (St. Petersburg). This archive of the Chancellor of Sweden is particularly rich in diplomatic material as Oxenstierna led that country’s foreign policy during the final phase of the Thirty Years War (1618–1648). The context of this collection, the historical value of these documents, and a list of all the Chancellor’s correspondents, as well as of his own autographs are documented in this article.

Introduction. The court of Anna Yaroslavna, the French queen of the 11th century, has not been specifically studied in historical literature. The author proposes to find out how the ecclesiastical environment of the Queen was formalized and structured in 1051–1075, who of the church persons formed her inner circle, and whether the royal ecclesiastical household had an influence on the formation of the church policy of the crown. Methods. The methodology is a combination of institutional and social history as part of the systemic approach that makes it possible to understand the evolution of the Queen’s household within the curial Capetian system. Analysis. The reviewed sources indicate that Anna Yaroslavnas staying in France and her relationships with the curial clerics were very close. The Royal acts attest to Anna’s high level of involvement in the ecclesiastical affairs of France, her regular support for the church persons of Curia regis, the Chancellor-Bishop and his servants, as well as the state of curial priests. Results. The ecclesiastical entourage of King Henri I and Queen Anna largely shaped the policy of the Capetians and strengthened dynastic authority. As a widow and queen mother, Anna Yaroslavna played in accordance with the policies of Henry I and his predecessors, contributing to the further strengthening of the church presence at the court, and in particular the bishops in Curia regis, as opposed to the feudal clans and influence of the pope. At the same time, all her actions were aimed at the interests of the crown in order to guarantee the safe preservation of the throne for her son Philip I.

The published collection of documents is devoted to Lieutenant General V.G. Boldyrev, who was one of the major political and military figures of counterrevolution during the Civil War in Russia. The documents are dated November 1922 - August 1923. At that time, Boldyrev was in prison, being arrested by the bodies of the State Political Directorate. The documents contain the information about how and according to what considerations Party and Soviet authorities made decisions concerning the fate of the former Supreme Commander in chief of the anti-Bolshevist camp, who refused to leave Russia and to become an emigrant.

The article is dedicated to the Huguenot military leader of the times of the Religious Wars in France, the Breton nobleman François, seigneur de La Noue, one of the legendary captains of the 16th century. In the 1570s captain de La Noue considered by his contemporaries as a successor to the traditions of honor and noble qualities of the knight Bayard. He actively fought, including on the side of the Flemish Protestants in their struggle against Spanish rule. Based on a study of correspondence and movements of the La Noue military camp in the fall of 1579, the authors reconstruct the historical context around the captain's unknown autograph of November 1579, stored in the funds of the Scientific and Historical Archive of St. Petersburg Institute of History, as part of the manuscript collection of Nikolay P. Likhachev, offering their own version of the dating of this undated document. The autograph is a letter of guarantee protecting the inhabitants of the village of Bondieu / Bondues and aimed at ensuring the unhindered supply of food products to the cities of Flanders/Netherlands, controlled by the by the States General.

The NdF3 solubility in molten eutectic FLiNaK, which is a conceivable medium for a molten salt reactor (MSR), was determined by the quasi-binary phase diagram FLiNaK-NdF3. The eutectic mixture FLiNaK was prepared by direct melting of components LiF, NaF and KF·HF. The acidic anhydrous salt (KF·HF) was used instead of the hygroscopic KF. The NdF3 was sintered by hydrofluorination of Nd2O3. The oxygen impurity in the prepared eutectic FLiNaK, determined by an oxygen analyzer LECO OH836, was 0.036 wt.%, whereas the NdF3 contained 0.04 wt.% of oxygen. A part of the FLiNaK-NdF3 quasi-binary phase diagram was obtained using two thermal analysis techniques: differential thermal analysis (DTA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The FLiNaK-NdF3 phase diagram in the region of 0–30 mol.% NdF3 contains one eutectic at 2 mol.% NdF3 and 450 °C and two peritectic points: 8 mol.% NdF3 at 500 °C and 22 mol.% NdF3 at 575 °C. The region of the FLiNaK-NdF3 phase diagram below the liquidus line is rather complicated due to the complex structure of the multicomponent system in its molten state, as in its solid state. The NdF3 solubility in FLiNaK is about 5 mol.% at 490 °C and 29 mol.% at 700 °C, this means that the process of the MA transmutation in the MSR can be carried out in molten FLiNaK with a content of actinides as high as 15–20 mol.% in the temperature range of 550–650 °C.

Crystallization temperatures (liquidus and solidus) in the LiCl-Li2O and (LiCl-KCl)-Li2O systems with the KCl content of 10 and 20 mol.% were obtained with independent methods of thermal analysis using cooling curves, isothermal saturation, and differential scanning calorimetry. The linear sweep voltammetry was applied to control the time of the equilibrium establishment in the molten system after the Li2O addition, which depended on the composition of the base melt and the concentration of Li2O. The fragments of the binary LiCl-Li2O and quazi-binary [LiCl-KCl(10 mol.%)]-Li2O and [LiCl-KCl(20 mol.%)]-Li2O phase diagrams in the Li2O concentration range from 0 to 12 mol.% were obtained. The KCl presence in the LiCl-KCl-Li2O molten mixture in the amount of 10 and 20 mol.% reduces the liquidus temperature by 30 and 80°, respectively, but the region of the homogeneous molten state of the system is considerably narrowed, which complicates its practical application. The Li2O solubility in the molten LiCl, LiCl-KCl(10 mol.%) and LiCl-KCl(20 mol.%) decreases with increasing the KCl content and is equal to 11.5, 7.7 and 3.9 mol.% at 650°С, respectively. The LiCl-KCl melt with 10 mol.% KCl can be recommended for practical use as a medium for the SNF pyro-chemical reprocessing at temperature below 700 °C.

During pyrochemical reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel, complex melts based on LiCl-KCl eutectic are formed, but their properties are still not well studied. We measured the electrical conductivity of (LiCl-KCl) eut. − CeCl 3 , (LiCl-KCl) eut. − NdCl 3 and (LiCl-KCl) eut. − UCl 3 quasi-binary melts was up to 40 mol.% CeCl 3 , 40 mol.% NdCl 3 and 10.45 mol.% UCl 3 in a wide temperature span. In addition the electrical conductivity of several compositions, such as (LiCl-KCl) eut. − CeCl 3 + NdCl 3 and (LiCl-KCl) eut. − CeCl 3 + NdCl 3 + UCl 3 was measured. The measurements were carried out in quartz cells of the capillary type. When the total concentration of trivalent ions is less than 12 mol.%, we found that the conductivity of mixtures of arbitrary composition is almost a linear function of CeCl 3 , NdCl 3 , and UCl 3 the overall concentration.

Nitride nuclear fuel (UN + 10-20% PuN) is considered a promising alternative to the widely used oxide nuclear fuel (UO2). Thermal conductivity and density of nitride fuel are ∼ 7 times and 1.3 times higher than that of oxide fuel, respectively. Nitride fuel demonstrates a good compatibility with the cladding of fuel rods made of stainless steel. Along with the development of new fuel, methods for its subsequent processing are being developed. Various options for the initial opening of nitride spent nuclear fuel (SNF) are considered in this article. The use of gaseous chlorine is technologically inconvenient and dangerous when working with radioactive substances. The electrochemical dissolution of nitride SNF cannot be realized due to the formation of a by-product - UNCl. Uranium nitride chloride is an insulator and it blocks the electrochemical process. It was found that the chlorination of nitride SNF with cadmium or lead chlorides makes it possible to carry out 100% UN → UCl3 conversion. The use of voloxidation (oxidation of nitride SNF to oxides) as the first stage of processing will make the entire technology universal, suitable for processing both nitride and oxide SNF. The choice of the method for opening SNF depends on the choice of the subsequent stages of its processing. Keywords: nitride spent nuclear fuel, SNF, chlorination, anodic dissolution, UNCl, “soft” chlorination, voloxidation, processing

This article examines the phenomenon of the marginal, then rebellious and simultaneously fleeing court of Marguerite de Valois, queen of Navarre, from 1585 to 1587. It takes a fresh look at her household, her courtiers, her finances, and how the Queen relied on families with local connections in the regions of exile as a means of maintaining her status as a royal figure. By acquiring the nature of a political phenomenon, in the conditions of the decisive phases of the Civil Wars in France, her flight was, undoubtedly, a destructive factor for the Valois monarchy. In these circumstances King Henry III, the Guise family, Philip II of Spain, and later Henry IV, all recognized the political importance of the figure of Queen Marguerite (and her court) in the processes of preserving cohesion for the country and the legitimacy of royal power.

The article was submitted on 23.05.2019. Совместная статья международного авторского коллектива посвящена эволюции политических и дипломатических связей России и Франции с особым акцентом на событиях 1555 г., когда Францией была предпринята попытка создать европейский альянс для борьбы с императором Священной Римской империи. В центре анализа – письмо короля Генриха II Валуа, адресованное Ивану IV Васильевичу, а также сопроводительные послания короля турецкому султану, шведскому королю и французскому посланнику в Константинополе, объясняющие миссию Ганса Шлитте, уполномоченного московским двором вести переговоры в Европе. Статья сопровождается публикацией четырех документов, впервые вводимых в научный оборот. Authored by an international team of researchers, this article considers the evolution of political and diplomatic relations between Russia and France, with a special emphasis on the events of 1555, when France attempted to create a European alliance to fight the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. The authors analyse a letter from Henry II de Valois, king of France, to Ivan IV, tsar of Russia. The letter was accompanied by messages from the king to the Turkish sultan, the Swedish king and the French ambassador at Constantinople, explaining the mission of Hans Schlitte, a Saxon merchant authorised by the Moscow royal court to negotiate in Europe. The article is accompanied by all four documents, which have never been introduced to historians previously. Статья написана при поддержке гранта РНФ № 19–18–00247 «Двор русских княгинь в системе властных структур Древней Руси и Западной Европы в период Средневековья и раннего Нового времени (XI–XVI вв.)».

The electrical conductivity of (LiCl-KCl) eut. - CdCl 2 quasi-binary melts was measured over entire concentrations range and in a wide temperature span. The liquidus line of the system was plotted based on conductivity data. The equivalent conductivity and its activation energy were calculated. The results were interpreted in terms of coexistence and mutual influence of the complexes formed by the Li + and Cd 2+ cations.

The samarium (III)/(II) and europium (III)/(II) redox potentials in molten lithium chloride were measured using the direct potentiometric method in the temperature range from 923 to 1094 K. Glassy carbon was used as the indifferent working electrode, and the standard chlorine electrode as a reference. The total concentration of rare-earth chlorides dissolved in molten lithium chloride did not exceed 4.5 mol%.