Greek serfdom and the reasons for the enslavement of peasants. Consequences of the enslavement of peasants. Formation of serfdom in the Russian state
One of the most controversial issues in Russian historiography is the topic: “Eslavement of the peasants.” The stages of this process are very conventional, but the generally accepted point of view is that serfdom in Russia finally took shape in the 17th century. It should be noted that this phenomenon also existed in medieval Europe, but it was not observed everywhere and was quickly abolished. Therefore, many scientists wondered why in our country the serf system of dependence took shape just at the time when it actually ceased to exist in Europe.
Prerequisites
The enslavement of peasants, the stages of which are conventionally identified according to the decrees of the tsarist government in the 15th-17th centuries, according to some researchers, was a natural consequence of the low productivity of agricultural farms, in turn, due to difficult natural and climatic conditions.
In addition, some historians believe that the reason for the emergence of the serfdom system was the original dependence of the peasants on the feudal lords. The former, settling in a new place, borrowed tools and seeds for sowing from the latter, and occupied the land, which tied the peasants to the landowners. However, initially, village residents had the opportunity to leave their owner by paying off their debts. However, the latter tried to keep the workforce with him by increasing wages or debt. This is how the enslavement of the peasants actually began. The stages of this important phenomenon in the socio-economic life of the country were characterized by a gradual increase in pressure and pressure from landowners.
Causes
In addition to these circumstances, there was another condition that contributed to the emergence and strengthening of the serf system in our country. It is known that the military basis of the state was the service class, which consisted of landowners and their armed men.
In order to properly perform their official duties, the state sought to provide landowners with free labor and therefore met their wishes and demands to permanently assign tax-bearers to them. Thus, already at the legal level, the enslavement of peasants continued, the stages of which can be roughly identified according to the relevant legislative acts of the government. Landowners were primarily concerned with providing their lands with workers. But since the peasants had the right to go to another owner after paying off their debts, the landowners complained to the tsar about the lack of farmers. And the authorities went to meet the service people, in every possible way preventing the transition of dependent people from one landowner to another.
Theories
The stages of peasant enslavement in Russia were studied by many prominent Russian historians. Scientists have developed two concepts for the emergence of serfdom in our country. According to the first of them, the state, in order to maintain defense capability, attached peasants to the land so that service people could regularly fulfill their duties in maintaining border security.
This theory received historical science the name “decree”, since its authors emphasized the legal, legislative reasons for the emergence of the serfdom system. This point of view was adhered to by such prominent scientists as N. Karamzin, S. Solovyov, B. Grekov, R. Skrynnikov. The stages of enslavement of peasants in Russia were considered by scientists in different ways. Other authors, on the contrary, argued that the emergence of serfdom was a natural consequence historical development the country's economy.
They believed that the living conditions themselves developed the corresponding conditions for the dependence of the peasants on the landowners, and the state only legally, formally consolidated the already existing relations. This theory was actively developed by such famous researchers as V. Klyuchevsky, M. Dyakonov, M. Pogodin. In contrast to the first point of view, this concept is called “unspecified”.
Land ownership
The main stages of peasant enslavement should be determined by the degree of their dependence on the feudal lords. In the 15th century, two forms of feudal land tenure finally took shape: patrimonial and local. The first involved the transfer of land by inheritance from ancestors.
This was the privilege of the highest stratum of the large boyars. The main part of the service class received plots for their service and became nobles. They were called landowners because they owned an estate - land that was at their disposal as long as the nobleman served the state.
Categories of dependent population
On the formation of new groups rural population You can trace the stages of enslavement of peasants. Briefly, this phenomenon can be characterized as the process of formation of the serf system due to the emergence of various forms of dependence on feudal lords. The 15th century can rightfully be considered the first period of registration of serfdom, since it was at this time that dependent peasants were separated into separate categories.
Some of them worked for landowners for half the harvest, for which they received the name “ladles.” Others worked off their debt to the owner with their own labor and were therefore called indentured servants. And finally, there was a category of bobs who did not have their own arable land and, therefore, the ability to pay taxes and debts. So, the 15th century can rightfully be considered the first period of the formation of serfdom in the rural population.
Decree of the 15th century
The main stages of the enslavement of peasants in Russia are traditionally distinguished by the decrees of the rulers, limiting their freedom. The first such law was the famous Code of Laws of Moscow Grand Duke Ivan III, which was adopted in 1497.
This largest legislative monument provided for the centralization of the courts, and also limited the period for the transfer of peasants from one landowner to another to one period per year - a week and a week after St. George's Day (November 26).
16th century decrees
However, almost a century later, in 1581, the Russian Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible introduced the so-called reserved summers, which abolished this right of peasants indefinitely. The government of Boris Godunov, during the reign of Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich, adopted a decree on “prescribed flights.” According to this resolution, a period of five years was introduced for the capture of fugitive peasants. These stages of peasant enslavement, the table of which is presented in this section, marked the origin of serfdom in Russia.
17th century legislation
In this century, the final formation of personal dependence of the rural population on the feudal lords took place. Under the first Romanovs, two more decrees were adopted that increased the time frame for searching for fugitive peasants. In 1637, the government of Mikhail Fedorovich extended this period by 9 years, and in 1641 by 15 years.
The stages of enslavement of peasants, the table of which includes laws of the 15th-17th centuries, which consolidated the serfdom of the rural population, ended with the adoption of the Council Code under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in 1649. This legislative act provided for an indefinite search for fugitive peasants, and also attached them to the landowners for life.
Consequences
The result of all these decisions was the establishment of a system of serfdom in our country, which lasted until the second half of the 19th century. This had an extremely negative impact on the domestic economy, which continued to maintain an agrarian character, while new times dictated the need for a transition to capitalism and market relations. However, it is impossible to evaluate this process so unambiguously, which was caused by the formation of the local land tenure system in Russia, as well as the formation of the service class. Nevertheless, the long existence of the serf system led to the fact that Russia's industrial development took place in difficult conditions. So, main stages of peasant enslavement, table which are presented above, stretched over three centuries.
Over the centuries, many factors and events have influenced the situation of the peasantry. The enslavement of peasants can be divided into four main stages, from the first decrees legalizing serfdom until its abolition.
First stage (late XV - late VXI centuries) - St. George's Day
Due to the growth of master's duties, peasants are increasingly leaving the landowners for other lands. The power of the sovereign is not yet great enough to introduce strict prohibitions. But the need to maintain the loyalty of the nobility requires taking action. Therefore, in 1473, the Code of Law was published, according to which leaving the landowner is now possible only after the completion of plowing work, on November 26, during the week before St. George’s Day and the week after, subject to the payment of the “elderly”.
In 1581, against the backdrop of the severe devastation of the country, Tsar Ivan the Terrible issued a Decree on the introduction of “reserved years,” temporarily prohibiting peasants from leaving even on St. George’s Day.
Second stage (end of the 16th century - 1649) - Cathedral Code
During the Time of Troubles, it becomes increasingly difficult to keep peasants from fleeing. In 1597, a decree was issued introducing a 5-year period for searching for fugitive peasants. In subsequent years, the period of “lesson years” increases. The responsibilities of local administrations include the search for fugitives and the inquiry to which all newly arrived peasants are subjected.
The Council Code of 1649 finally recognizes peasants as the property of landowners. Serfdom status is affirmed as hereditary - the children of a serf father and free people who marry serfs also become serfs. The “scheduled summer” declared by Ivan the Terrible is cancelled: a decree on the indefinite search for fugitives comes into force.
The third stage (mid-XVII - late XVIII centuries) - complete strengthening of serfdom
The most difficult stage of the enslavement of peasants. Landowners receive full right to dispose of serfs: sell, subject to corporal punishment (often leading to the death of peasants), exile without trial to hard labor or to Siberia. By this time, serfs were virtually no different from black slaves on New World plantations.
The fourth stage (end of the 18th century - 1861) - decomposition and abolition of serfdom
By the beginning of this period, the decadence of the feudal system became increasingly obvious. The development of liberal ideas among the nobility leads to the formation of a negative attitude of its leading part towards the phenomenon of serfdom. Understanding of the ineffectiveness and shamefulness of the very phenomenon of serfdom is gradually strengthening at the very top. Attempts were made to change the existing situation, then by Alexander 1. But only half a century later, Alexander 2 published a Manifesto, giving serfs the right to dispose of their freedom, at their discretion, change types of activities and move to other classes.
Interesting Facts
- Serfdom in Russia was distributed unevenly across territories. It is known that on western territories the percentage of serfs was significantly higher than in other areas. While in Siberia and Pomerania there was no serfdom as such.
- The eternal faith of the common people in the “good tsar” was the reason that many peasants did not believe the contents of the Manifesto of Alexander II. Almost immediately after the announcement, numerous rumors arose that the text of the true Manifesto was hidden from them, and a false one was read out: the peasants themselves received freedom, but their lands remained the property of the master. The peasant was a user and could become an owner only by purchasing his plot from the landowner.
- The genetically formed psychology of the serfs sometimes led to the fact that after the reform, the peasants renounced their will simply because they did not know what to do with it: “Here is my home. Where will I go? It is known that good-hearted human relations with the master often also previously caused former serfs to be reluctant to leave him. For example, the nanny, praised by Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, Arina Rodionovna, also being a serf and having received freedom, refused to leave her masters, whom she loved with all her soul.
For some reason, we associate serfdom with history Russian Empire. However, Russia was far from the first and not the only country in Europe where an order arose to “attach” the peasant to the land. We decided to find out where corvee still existed and what form it took.
Serfdom: reasons for its occurrence
By serfdom we mean a system of legal norms that prohibited peasants from leaving the land plots to which they were “attached.” The essence of serfdom was that the peasant could not alienate or change this plot of land, and was in complete subordination to the feudal lord (in Russia - the landowner), who was allowed to sell, exchange and punish serfs.
What was the reason for the emergence of serfdom? During the feudal system, agriculture began to develop intensively, which, along with trophies obtained in military campaigns, became the source of livelihood for the nobility. The area of arable land expanded, but someone needed to cultivate it. And here a problem arose: the peasants were constantly looking for better land plots and working conditions, and therefore often moved from place to place.
The owner of the land - the feudal lord - risked at any moment being left without workers or with a dozen peasant families, which were not enough to cultivate large lands. Therefore, the nobility, supported by the monarchs, forbade the peasants to change their place of residence, assigning them to certain plots of land and obliging them to cultivate them for the benefit of the feudal owner.
Initially, serfdom appeared not in Russia, with which it is strongly associated, but in European countries: Great Britain, Germany and France. Next we will tell you how serfdom “strode” across Europe, covering country after country and becoming similar to ordinary slavery. However, even international law of that time did not question the legality of serfdom, accepting it as a norm of life.
Serfdom in Europe
The formation of serfdom in Europe began in the 9th-10th centuries. One of the first countries where the nobility decided to “attach” peasants to the land was England. This was facilitated by the extreme impoverishment of the peasantry, who were forced to sell their plots and agree to any conditions of the feudal lords in order to earn at least some means of subsistence.
Rights of serfs, called villans, were severely limited. Villan was obliged to work for his master (seigneur) all year round, serving his duty with the whole family from 2 to 5 days a week. It is impossible to name a specific year for the abolition of serfdom in England: the softening of its individual elements took place gradually, starting with the rebellion of Wat Tyler, which occurred in the 14th century.
The final disappearance of signs of serfdom in the economy of the British crown occurred in the 16th century, when sheep farming replaced agriculture and the feudal system was replaced by a capitalist one.
But in central and western Europe, serfdom lasted much longer - until the 18th century. It was especially harsh in the Czech Republic, Poland and East Germany. In Sweden and Norway, where, due to the severity of the climate and the lack of fertile soils, the share of agriculture in the state's economy is very small, there was no serfdom at all.
Later than anything abolition of serfdom occurred in the Russian Empire, which will be discussed further.
Serfdom in Russia: origin and development
The first signs of serfdom in Russia appeared at the end of the 15th century. In those days, all lands were considered princes, and the peasants who cultivated them and bore duties to the appanage princes were still free at that time and formally had the right to leave the plot, moving to another. When settling in a new plot, a peasant:
- had to pay rent - rent for the use of land. Most often it was introduced as a share of the harvest and, as a rule, amounted to a fourth of it;
- was obliged to bear duties, that is, to perform a certain amount of work for the temple or the local prince. This could be weeding, harvesting, putting things in order in the church yard, etc.;
- received a loan and assistance - funds for the purchase of agricultural equipment and livestock. The peasant had to return this money when moving to another place of residence, but due to the need to pay quitrent, only a few managed to collect the required amount. The rest fell into bondage, forced to remain in the same place and involuntarily “attached” to the ground.
Realizing how profitable it was to tie peasants to the land, officials consolidated serfdom in the legal codes of 1497 and 1550. The enslavement took place gradually. First, St. George's Day was introduced - two weeks in the second half of November, when peasants were allowed to move from one landowner to another, having previously paid the quitrent and repaid the loan. On other days, changing your place of residence was prohibited.
Then the landowners were allowed to search for and punish runaway peasants. At first, the search limit was 5 years, but gradually it grew, and then the restrictions were completely lifted. In practice, this meant: even if after 20 years the boyar discovered his escaped serf, he could return him and punish him at his discretion. The peak of serfdom was the ban on St. George's Day - from 1649, peasants found themselves in lifelong bondage to the landowners.
Russian serfs were forbidden to file complaints against their masters, but they could completely control their fate: send them to serve in the army, send them to Siberia and do hard labor, give them as gifts and sell them to other landowners.
The only thing that was vetoed was the murder of serfs. There is a known case with the landowner Saltychikha (Daria Ivanovna Saltykova), who killed several dozen of her peasants and was punished for it. She was stripped of her title of noblewoman and sent to serve a life sentence in a monastery prison, where she died.
Serfdom in Russia: abolition
The abolition of serfdom in Russia was inevitable. The Russian sovereigns understood: serfdom is not much different from slavery and is pulling the country back. However, they could not change the system that had developed over centuries with one stroke of the pen.
Serfdom reforms began under Alexander I, who approved Count Arakcheev’s bill on the gradual ransom of peasants at the expense of the state treasury. From 1816 to 1819, serfdom was abolished in the Baltic provinces of the Russian Empire. However, things didn’t go any further for Alexander I.
A radical reform of the abolition of serfdom took place in 1861 under Alexander II. The tsar was pushed to sign a manifesto that gave freedom to the peasants by the popular unrest that began during Crimean War. The authorities, in order to recruit recruits from the villagers, promised them liberation from landowner bondage, but they did not keep their word. This provoked a wave of uprisings that swept across Russia, as a result of which serfdom was abolished.
The reform, by and large, did not satisfy either the landowners or the peasants. The former lost part of their lands, since the state obliged to give the serf freedom, while allocating them with a plot of land certain area, for which the state was obliged to pay compensation. The latter seemed to receive freedom, but had to work for another 2 years for the landowner, and then pay the state a ransom for the received plot.
But, be that as it may, the reform took place and served as an impetus for the development of the capitalist system in Russia and, as a consequence, the class struggle.
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ESTABLISHMENT OF PEASANTS IN RUSSIA
While in Western Europe The rural population gradually freed itself from personal dependence in Russia during the 2nd half. XVI-XVII centuries the reverse process took place - the peasants turned into serfs, i.e. attached to the land and personality of their feudal lord.
1. Prerequisites for the enslavement of peasants
The natural environment was the most important prerequisite serfdom in Russia. The removal of the surplus product necessary for the development of society in the climatic conditions of vast Russia required the creation of the most stringent mechanism non-economic coercion.
The establishment of serfdom occurred in the process of confrontation between the community and the developing local land ownership. The peasants perceived arable land as God's and royal property, at the same time believing that it belonged to the one who worked on it. The spread of local land ownership, and especially the desire of service people to take direct control of part of the communal land (i.e. to create “ lordly smell ”, which would guarantee the satisfaction of their needs, especially in military equipment, and most importantly, would make it possible to directly transfer this land as an inheritance to their son and thereby secure their family practically on patrimonial right) met resistance from the community, which could only be overcome completely subjugating the peasants.
In addition, the state was in dire need of guaranteed tax receipts. Given the weakness of the central administrative apparatus, tax collection was transferred to the hands of the landowners. But for this it was necessary to rewrite the peasants and attach them to the personality of the feudal lord.
The effect of these prerequisites began to manifest itself especially actively under the influence of disasters and destruction caused by oprichnina and Livonian War . As a result of the flight of the population from the devastated center to the outskirts, the problem of providing the service class with labor and the state with taxpayers sharply worsened.
In addition to the above reasons, enslavement was facilitated by the demoralization of the population caused by the horrors of the oprichnina, as well as peasant ideas about the landowner as a royal man sent from above to protect against external hostile forces.
2. Main stages of enslavement
The process of enslaving peasants in Russia was quite long and went through several stages. The first stage is the end of the 15th - the end of the 16th century. Back in the era Ancient Rus' part of the rural population lost personal freedom and turned into smerds and slaves. In conditions of fragmentation, peasants could leave the land on which they lived and move to another landowner. The Code of Law of 1497 streamlined this right, confirming the right of the peasants after paying “ elderly ” for the possibility of “going out” on St. George’s Day in the fall (the week before November 26 and the week after). At other times, peasants did not move to other lands - busy with agricultural work, autumn and spring thaw, and frosts interfered. But the fixation by law of a certain short period of transition testified, on the one hand, to the desire of the feudal lords and the state to limit the rights of the peasants, and on the other, to their weakness and inability to assign the peasants to the person of a certain feudal lord. Besides, this right forced landowners to take into account the interests of the peasants, which had a beneficial effect on the socio-economic development of the country.
A new stage in the development of enslavement began at the end of the 16th century and ended with the publication of the Council Code of 1649. In 1592 (or in 1593 . ), those. During the reign of Boris Godunov, a decree was issued (the text of which has not been preserved), prohibiting exit throughout the country and without any time restrictions. In 1592, the compilation of scribe books began (i.e., a population census was carried out, which made it possible to assign peasants to their place of residence and return them in case of escape and further capture to the old owners), the lordly land was “whitewashed” (i.e., exempted from taxes). smell.
The compilers relied on scribal books decree 1597 g., who established the so-called “period years” (the period of search for fugitive peasants, defined as five years). After a five-year period, the escaped peasants were subject to enslavement in new places, which met the interests of large landowners and nobles of the southern and southwestern districts, where the main flows of fugitives were sent. The dispute over labor between the nobles of the center and the southern outskirts became one of the causes of the upheavals of the early 17th century.
At the second stage of enslavement, there was a sharp struggle between various groups of landowners and peasants on the issue of the period for searching for fugitives, until the Council Code of 1649 abolished the “lesson years”, introduced an indefinite search and finally enslaved the peasants.
At the third stage (from the middle of the 17th century to the end of the 18th century), serfdom developed along an ascending line. The peasants lost the remnants of their rights; for example, according to the law of 1675, they could be sold without land. In the 18th century landowners received full right to dispose of their person and property, including exile without trial to Siberia and to hard labor. In their social and legal status, peasants came closer to slaves; they began to be treated as “talking cattle.”
At the fourth stage (end of the 18th century - 1861), serf relations entered the stage of their decomposition. The state began to implement measures that somewhat limited serfdom, and serfdom, as a result of the spread of humane and liberal ideas, was condemned by the leading part of the Russian nobility. As a result, for various reasons it was canceled by the Manifesto of Alexander 11 in February 1861.
3. Consequences of enslavement
Serfdom led to the establishment of an extremely ineffective form of feudal relations, preserving the backwardness of Russian society. Feudal exploitation deprived direct producers of interest in the results of their labor and undermined both the peasant and, ultimately, the landowner economy.
Having aggravated the social division of society, serfdom caused mass popular uprisings that shook Russia in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Serfdom formed the basis despotic form of power, predetermined the lack of rights not only at the bottom, but also at the top of society. The landowners served the tsar faithfully also because they became “hostages” of the serfdom system, because their safety and possession of “baptized property” could only be guaranteed by a strong central government.
Dooming the people to patriarchy and ignorance, serfdom prevented the penetration of cultural values into the people's environment. It also affected the moral character of the people, giving rise to some slavish habits in them, as well as sharp transitions from extreme humility to all-destructive rebellion.
And yet, in natural, social and cultural conditions In Russia, another form of organization of production and society probably did not exist.
Bibliography
1. Zimin A.A. Reforms of Ivan the Terrible. M., 1960.
2. Zimin A.A. Oprichnina of Ivan the Terrible. M., 1964.
3. Kobrin V.B. Ivan groznyj. M., 1989.
4. Koretsky V.I. Formation of serfdom and the first peasant war in Russia. M., 1975.
5. Nosov N.E. The formation of estate-representative institutions in Russia. M., 1969.
6. Skrynnikov R.G. Reign of Terror. St. Petersburg, 1992.
Serfdom- a legally confirmed provision in which the peasant could not leave the land to which he was assigned without permission from the authorities. The runaway peasant was caught, punished and forcibly returned. By decision of the landowner, a serf could be sold, sent to hard labor, or given up as a soldier.
In the 15th century, the young Russian state waged continuous wars: in the southeast with the Kazan Khanate, Crimeans and Nogais, in the west with Sweden and Lithuania (later the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth). The treasury could not support a huge professional army, so a local system was formed. A service man (warrior, professional military man) was “settled” on the land given to him by the prince. That is, during his service, this land belonged to him - he and his family had to feed from it. For this he was obliged to perform military and border service.
But the land itself does not feed; it needs to be cultivated. Considering that a service man spent up to ten months a year on the Ukrainian borders (borders) and on campaigns, he could not do this himself, even if he could and wanted to. Moreover, in addition to food from the land, he had to acquire and maintain everything necessary for the campaign: a horse, weapons, armor. Peasants were needed to cultivate the land and provide the landowner with everything he needed.
It should also be noted low level productivity Agriculture. If in the Mediterranean countries the harvest reached 1:12 (a sown bag of wheat yielded 12 bags of harvest), in Europe it was 1:6, in Rus' - 1:3. It was not easy for a peasant to feed himself and his family. Therefore, when the feudal lord began to take away part of the product to satisfy his needs, the peasants sought to escape. Another factor was enemy invasions and epidemics, from which people also fled to better lands. Population density decreased sharply, and as a result, the amount of production decreased.
The most widespread period, when many territories were practically depopulated, was the Time of Troubles. In order to provide the emerging nobility with material resources, it was necessary to secure the peasants on the land.
Formation of serfdom in the Russian state
Table: stages of peasant enslavement.
Ruler | Document |
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|---|---|---|---|
The time to leave the landowner is determined to be two weeks (St. George’s Day) with payment for the elderly | Code of Law |
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The regulation on St. George's Day was confirmed, the size of the elderly was increased | Code of Law |
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In certain years, peasants are prohibited from crossing | Decree on “Reserved Summers” |
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A 5-year search for fugitives has been introduced | Fedor Ivanovich | Decree on “Scheduled summers” |
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A 15-year search for fugitives has been introduced | Vasily Shuisky | Cathedral Code |
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Lesson summers have been cancelled, and an indefinite investigation has been introduced. | Alexey Mikhailovich | Cathedral Code |
The first step towards the enslavement of free peasants was the Code of Law of Ivan III in 1497. One of its provisions was the appointment of a period when the peasant could leave the landowner. It was St. George's Day, the feast of St. George the Victorious. It fell on November 26, old style (December 9). A week before and a week after it, the farmer could leave the feudal lord. By this time, the crops had already been harvested, and, consequently, the peasant paid all state taxes and all types of natural and monetary obligations in favor of the landowner. The peasant had to pay elderly- compensation to the landowner for the loss of a worker.
The next stage was the introduction by Ivan the Terrible of “ reserved years" - a time when the peasant could not leave even on St. George's Day. This rule was introduced in 1581.
In 1597 the concept of “ lesson years", according to which the landowner could search for a fugitive for up to 5 years. And in 1607, the period for searching for fugitive peasants was increased to 15 years.
And in 1649, the Council Code of Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov finally enslaved the peasants. The search for fugitives became indefinite, even if the peasant fled many years ago, married a free woman, and had children. He was found, and together with all the household members, he was returned with all his property to the master.
In addition to the peasant cultivators, the personal property of the landowners included numerous courtyard people, servants, grooms, and cooks. Serf theater and ballet troupes were recruited from the servants.
Categories of unfree citizens in Rus'
Unfree people in Rus' appeared simultaneously with the formation of the state. They could be either temporarily unfree or for life. They can be roughly divided into three categories: stinkers, purchases, slaves.
Smerda
Smerda- initially free cultivators, eventually assigned to the land they cultivated. The land could either belong to the smerd himself and be inherited by his sons, or be the property of a prince or monastery. Smerds were obliged to pay taxes to the prince and serve natural duties, field a foot army or provide him with horses and fodder. In addition to lack of freedom and economic dependence, their rights were infringed. According to Russian Truth, for the murder of a lyudin (free community member) the penalty was 40 hryvnia, for the murder of a smerd - 5 hryvnia.
Purchases
Purchases- workers who entered into a series (agreement) with the feudal lord, according to which they sold themselves for a certain period or until repayment taken according to the series. Most often, in order to avoid starvation, the peasant took seeds, equipment, livestock, and less often money from the feudal lord. He settled on the land of his temporary owner and gave away part of the harvest. After working off the debt, he was free to leave his place of residence. When trying to escape from the landowner without paying off, he became a whitewashed slave.
Serfs
Serfs- the category closest to slaves. White slaves were the property of the owner along with utensils and livestock. Children born to slaves (offspring) became the property of the parents' owner. Serfs most often fell into slavery during wars and raids. In enemy territory they took a full, drove it to their own land and “served” it, that is, turned it into slaves. Citizens were put into captivity by court decision for serious crimes. It was called “flood and plunder.” The entire family of the culprit could be turned into slaves. Another category is debt slavery; creditors could sell an insolvent debtor as a slave. A free man who married a servant also became a slave. The owner did not bear responsibility for the murder of his slave, but for someone else’s he was responsible for damage to property.
The remaining categories of peasants were free community members and lived on their own land. In case of war, epidemic, or crop failure, they could leave their homes and go to other lands. This is precisely what became the reason for the gradual enslavement of farmers.
Two theories of the origin of serfdom in Russia.
In the 19th century, two theories of the origin of serfdom were formed - decree and non-decree. According to the decree theory, the author of which was the Russian historian Sergei Mikhailovich Solovyov, serfdom became the result of the activities of the state. In his opinion, the consistent policy of the Muscovite kingdom, and later the Russian Empire, secured the peasants based on the needs of the country. This was done in order to provide a material base for the service class, which bears the heavy burden of government service. In this way, not only the peasants, but also the service people themselves were established.
Another Russian historian, Vasily Osipovich Klyuchevsky, put forward a different, unspecified theory. In his opinion, legislative acts did not formulate, but merely confirmed the actual state of affairs. In the first place he put the economic factor and private law relations, which allowed one class to exploit another.
Slave and serf
The difference between the serf and the slave in the British American colonies and the United States, 1619–1865.
Slave of the British Colonies | Serf peasant |
|---|---|
Subject of law |
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He was incompetent: in court, his owner was responsible for the slave’s misdeeds. In relation to the slave himself, the full extent of his responsibility was determined by the slave owner himself; he could impose any punishment, up to execution. | Unlike a slave, he represented himself in court and could act as a witness, including against the landowner. Serf landowners were tried for the murder. From 1834 to 1845, 2,838 nobles were brought to trial, 630 of them were convicted. The most high-profile trial was the trial of landowner Daria Nikolaevna Saltykova. For the murder of several dozen serfs, she was deprived of her nobility and sentenced to death, which was commuted to life imprisonment. |
Own |
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A slave could not own property. His home, clothing, food and tools belonged to the planter. | The serf lived in his own home, worked with his own tools, and provided for himself. Could engage in latrine farming. In the months not occupied with work on the land, peasants went to construction sites, mines, factories, and were engaged in carriage and small-scale production. In the 19th century, more than 5 million people were employed annually in waste trades |
Family |
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A slave could not have a family. | The serf married his wife and his marriage was sanctified by the church |
Possibility of release |
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The opportunity to be released was only in some states. A slave who had received his freedom could be sold again at auction in states where slavery was enshrined in law. | The serf could buy himself from the landowner. Thus, the founder of the Morozov dynasty of philanthropists, Savva Vasilyevich, having started working as a handicraft weaver, bought himself from a landowner and his five sons for money unimaginable at that time - 17 thousand rubles. The Guchkovs, Ryabushinskys and many other rich dynasties came from serfs. |
Often the legal rights of serfs were not respected; the decrees of sovereigns were advisory in nature. Therefore, cruel treatment and arbitrariness of landowners were not the exception, but the rule in the Russian Empire. The most disenfranchised were not the peasants (the community and government officials stood up for them), but the servants - servants living on the estates or city houses of landowners. IN different time the number of serfs in Russia ranged from 27 to 53%.
Abolition of serfdom
Serfdom in the Russian Empire was abolished in stages: from 1816 to 1819 - abolished in the Courland, Livonia, and Estland provinces. In 1861, Tsar Alexander II signed the manifesto “On the most merciful granting to serfs of the rights of free rural inhabitants.” In Bessarabia, serfdom lasted until 1868, in Abkhazia, Armenia, Azerbaijan - until 1870, in Georgia - until 1971.
Tables: Form of enslavement of peasants
Historical period | Form of enslavement | Description |
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Early feudal state (IX-XI centuries) | Smerdas are plowmen dependent on the prince. |
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Feudal fragmentation (XII-XIII centuries) | Serebryaniki (those who borrowed money - “silver” - with the obligation to work it off with their labor), ladles or sharers (those who worked on the land, as a rule, “in half” - for half the harvest). |
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Formation of a centralized state | Elderly 15th century | Compensation for the empty yard and labor losses to the landowner when the peasant leaves. Code of Law of 1550 – “elderly” was doubled. |
St. George's Day | Historical transition period. Old-time peasants who had lived for four years or more with the landowner, in the event of a transfer, paid him “the whole of the old,” while new arrivals paid “part of the yard.” In the Code of Laws of 1497. The rule of St. George's Day became mandatory for the entire peasantry. |
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Reserved summers. | 1581-1592 – Flight of peasants from their homes due to the oprichnina → temporary prohibition of the transition (cancellation of St. George’s Day). |
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Summer lessons. | 1597 – Search for fugitive peasants and return them to the feudal lords. A five-year period of searching for fugitive peasants (an attempt to keep the peasantry in place). 1614 - as with the introduction of St. George’s Day, the first to receive preferential rights was the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, which, as a reward for defense during the years of intervention, was allowed to search for its peasants for 9 years. 1637 - in response to the collective petition of the nobles to abolish the “lesson years,” the government extended the effect of a private decree to all feudal lords and extended the search for fugitive peasants from 5 to 9 years. 1641 – after a new collective petition from the nobles, the period for searching for fugitive peasants was increased to 10 years. Cathedral Code of 1649 - the proclamation “to search for runaway peasants indefinitely”, an eternal and indefinite hereditary peasant fortress was established. |
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Work performed by peasants for their masters. The creation of a corvee economy based on peasant labor was a necessity for the landowner if he wanted to improve the quality of products and increase the income of his farm. |
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Developmental Grocery monetary | Work on the owner's arable land and hayfields, in vegetable gardens and orchards, on construction and repair manor buildings, mills, dams, etc. Including both agricultural and livestock products and household industrial products, like no other, it contributed to the conservation of the natural character of the economy. In the 17th century, with rare exceptions, monetary rent did not yet play an independent role and was most often combined with corvee duties and payments in kind. |
Literature:
- Litvinov M. A. History of serfdom in Russia.