Nobility Russian Empire formed under Peter I as a result of the reforms he carried out.
Previously, there were two main types of land ownership - patrimonial, in which the owner disposed of his lands without any conditions and passed them on by inheritance as he wanted, and local, given for service, that is, on the condition that its holder would appear on demand to the gathering place of troops along with his people. However, regardless of the status of the land holding, everyone had to serve - both patrimonial owners and landowners. In 1701 it was announced: “Service people of all ranks serve from the lands, but no one owns the lands for nothing.” In 1714, Peter finally equalized the status of patrimony and estate by adopting the Decree on Single Inheritance. Thus, service obligations were strictly assigned to the upper class.
In order to prevent the nobility from evading service, the autocracy ordered the administrative authorities to carry out personal censuses and compulsory inspections, failure to appear for which threatened with a fine, confiscation of estates and even execution. The regulation of vacations was also introduced, violation of the terms of which threatened the nobles with serious consequences.
However, the throne was not limited only to coercive measures - more subtle mechanisms were also used to influence the consciousness of the nobleman.
On January 24, 1722, the Table of Ranks was introduced. Now the entire service was clearly divided into civil, military and court, each of which had 14 ranks, or classes. Promotion from one rank to another depended on how zealously a person served; anyone who rose to class VIII in civil service and to class XIV in military service received hereditary nobility (later this level was raised several times).
As a result, the nobles turned into direct subjects of the monarch, obliged to perform regular, lifelong service to the emperor and the Fatherland; This service was rewarded with a salary, not a land allotment, and was carried out on the basis of personal service, through the gradual passage of all ranks, starting with a soldier or a petty clerical worker. The principle of priority of nobility and birth when occupying positions was completely abolished: the boyars virtually disappeared, and the place of the nobleman in social structure the upper class henceforth depended not on his pedigree, but on the rank he occupied - as well as on the mercy of the emperor, who in his own name began to elevate courtiers to princely dignity, introduced count and baronial titles, streamlined the use of family coats of arms, founded the first Russian Order of St. Andrew the First-Called and ordered “the noble nobility to be counted according to their suitability.” And even after the Manifesto on the freedom of the nobility Manifesto on the freedom of the nobility- decree “On the granting of liberty and freedom to the entire Russian nobility,” issued by Peter III in 1762 and freeing nobles from compulsory civil and military service. the advantage of the serving nobleman over the non-employee remained.
Rank - the main indicator of the successful service and favor of the monarch - acquired extreme importance and subordinated to its influence all social spheres of existence of the nobleman’s personality, including even everyday life and private human relations. Bureaucratic status determined everything: the number of horses in the carriage, the livery of the footmen, a place in the church, an invitation to a public assembly, the outfits of the wife and daughters of a serving nobleman. The demand for “honor above one’s rank” became the subject of denunciation and was subject to a fine, which stimulated the respect of subjects for bureaucratic subordination. At the same time, “ambition and vanity” in the struggle for ranks were encouraged in every possible way by promotions, awards and titles.
Since under Peter, even among the nobility there was extreme low level literacy, the tsar declared education to be another, in addition to service, strict duty and at the same time a privilege of the Russian nobility. The nobility of the upper echelons of the bureaucracy and the army and a certain level of enlightenment strengthened the social ambition of the upper class, which “is different from meanness for the sake of service.” Thus, public service became the leading object of social prestige of the individual and the main class dignity of the nobility.
Nobleman and Emperor: Service to the Tsar and the Fatherland
Peter I. Painting by Louis Caravaque. Approximately 1716 Wikimedia Commons Meaning civil service- compulsory service and at the same time the privileges of the nobility - was associated with the fundamental values of Russian historical consciousness. Among them, the most important was the idea of the monarch as the personification of power, the state itself and its growing foreign policy power.
In the Military Regulations, approved by Peter in 1716, His Majesty was proclaimed “Absolute Monarch, who should not give an answer to anyone in the world about his affairs.” Peter abolished the patriarchate and placed the Synod (organ of government controlled, actually no different from other boards). The author of the church reform and the first vice-president of the Synod, one of Peter’s ideologists, Feofan Prokopovich, in his sermons called the emperor “the minister of the Most High,” the “most powerful” mediator of the mercy of God descending on the people. The solemn ceremony of crowning the kingdom, the unquestioned authority of the royal power, the regime of absolutism, the liquidation of the patriarchate - all these circumstances contributed to the sacralization of the image of the monarch.
Service to the monarch merged with a sense of patriotism and involvement in the victories of an expanding power. The most important channel for influencing the consciousness of not only the royal entourage, but also the entire upper class, became the personal example of the king. It is no coincidence that Peter himself, submitting to the requirements of “universal service,” brought benefit to the Fatherland in the rank of sergeant, bombardier, captain, did not disdain the role of a student of “educated politicized peoples” and became the first Orthodox tsar to leave the borders of Russia, hoping that, “looking at the ruler, and subordinate people" will internalize the same aspirations.
The highest authority of the autocrat can also be considered as the most important mechanism ensuring the execution of decrees, the contempt of which “is no different from treason.” The monarch himself, who, by his unshakable will, adopted “eternal” and “immovable” decrees, with the establishment of absolutist rule, acted as the only subject of lawmaking, and in the minds of his subjects his will was identified with the law.
On October 22, 1721, in connection with the triumphant end of the Northern War, Peter I was presented with the titles Emperor, Father of the Fatherland and Great. This became a new stage in the development of the monarchical consciousness of his subjects: it was even more closely intertwined with patriotic pride in the victories of the state led by the emperor. The imperial title, which equalized the status of Peter I and the supreme ruler of Europe - the Holy Roman Emperor, demonstrated a qualitatively different level of claims of the sea power that arose on the outskirts of of Eastern Europe. Over the following decades, this imperial idea took hold in the consciousness of the entire upper class and became the leading motive for the activities of each of its representatives.
Catherine II, following the Tsar-Transformer, also proclaimed the autocratic power of the monarch as the unshakable basis of the state idea. But the tone of the authorities and the accents they place have changed somewhat. If in the era of Peter the main ideological value of selfless devotion to the “Automatic Monarch” was proclaimed through the texts of oaths, public sermons and threats of beheading, then in Catherine’s documents there was constant mention of “Our natural love for mankind” and “motherly admonitions”. The Empress banned “abusive and obscene words” in official papers, confirmed the destruction of the Secret Investigative Office and the principle of “word and deed” The secret search office, created by Peter I in 1718, was liquidated by a special manifesto of Peter III in 1762. The same manifesto introduced punishment for the use of “the hateful expression ‘word and deed’.”, practically did not allow a single death penalty for a nobleman, she mentioned the prospect of “deprivation of the belly” only for edification, and at the place where Peter chopped off heads, she organized public executions of “harmful writings.”
This turn was associated not so much with the character and range of reading of the empress, but with the fact that the throne now faced more complex tasks. Russia needed serious reforms of local government, mobilization of resources for wars for access to the Black Sea, and incorporation of annexed territories. The throne needed a social stratum of active, enlightened officers and officials with a developed state consciousness. Therefore, the authorities needed to take care of “correcting morals” and “preparing their minds to introduce better laws.”
The emphasis was placed directly on the politically active educated elite. And when this class finally turned into ruling class, the backbone of the bureaucratic apparatus and the army, the main intellectual force of the empire, a kind of supporting structure of the entire public building, Catherine gave the nobles in 1785 a Charter, which endowed the upper class with a number of privileges. The nobility had the right to open noble meetings in provinces and districts; the “noble” could not be subjected to corporal punishment. The Manifesto of Liberty of 1762 was once again confirmed, abolishing the mandatory nature of noble service to the state.
Nevertheless, class legislation still in every possible way stimulated the readiness to “zealously serve the Emperor and the Fatherland” using methods of social control perfected over decades. The throne influenced the ambitious aspirations of the subjects to “give great fame to their careers”; inflamed the class ambition of the “noble nobility”, which has the honorary right of “noble service”; stimulated competition for rank, which, having forever supplanted tribal dignity, firmly established itself in public consciousness as the main indicator of a person’s place in the class hierarchy, the source of a sense of involvement in power and the main criterion for assessing a person by society and even his self-esteem.
Fronde of the Russian nobility
Title page of the Charter of the nobility. 1785 Project “100 Main Documents of Russian History” However, often the efforts of the authorities to influence the consciousness of their subjects produce unpredictable results. The feeling of personal dependence and devotion to the throne, cultivated over centuries, service to which was proclaimed the main ideological value, turned the upper class into direct servants of the emperor. And if in Western Europe the king was “first among equals”, and the feudal class was connected by a strong network of vassal-seigneurial ties, then in Russia the monarch’s subjects were united only by the favor of the court and the ranks granted by the imperial power. The goals of the nobility as a class were dissolved in state interest, which was identified with the authority of the throne, and replaced by the duty of loyalty.
Over time, in the minds of the educated elite, the values instilled by the authorities began to deform: some began to painfully perceive the generally accepted means of advancement up the bureaucratic ladder - the system of petitions, recommendations and patronage - as “grooming”, “searching” and “idolatry”. Ideas about the highest content of the civil service itself also gradually became more complicated: the formula of zealous devotion to the emperor and the Fatherland, indivisible for the traditional consciousness, began to collapse, and some people, especially those belonging to the highest echelons of power, began to distinguish between service to the sovereign, the Fatherland, and the common good - and court service. This was aggravated by criticism of the morals and relationships prevailing in the secular environment: they began to be described as “the most dirty and partisan intrigues, slanderous attacks.”
At first, dissatisfaction manifested itself only in verbal statements, violations of etiquette and non-standard perception of stereotypical situations, but was not realized in any way in thoughtful actions. If we read the private letters of nobles of the second half of the 18th century, we will see how many of them distance themselves from “chattering”, “rumor”, “rumours”, “talks”, “gossip”, “slander” - that is, from the prevailing public opinion. A zone is being formed among the educated nobility privacy, a small community acquires special value special people, referred to in correspondence as “smart, honest, enlightened people”, “downright noble people”, “true patriots” or “a society of good morals”.
As a result, the influence of the ideological doctrine of absolutism began to weaken, traditional values in the minds of the nobles faded into the background, and some of them directed their forces into other social areas, independent of the bureaucratic apparatus, the throne and the secular masses. But the intellectual elite could not oppose the autocracy either economic power large land holdings, no strong position in the province that had developed over centuries, no monolithic class solidarity. And she began to look for other areas of personal fulfillment.
A privileged position and a certain everyday freedom gave the confronting nobleman only one unique opportunity - to move away from court life, secular surroundings and the exhausting struggle for a career and find, albeit temporary, and sometimes illusory, peace. This could be done in the closed world of a noble estate, in family happiness, a friendly circle, in Masonic quests, books, writing, in autonomous social activities, such as charity or private publishing. The most striking example of such socially significant activity, not directed against the authorities, but also independent of it, is the history of the Novikov circle. Nikolai Novikov, a writer, a Rosicrucian Freemason, retired from St. Petersburg, rented the printing house of Moscow University and opened a private publishing house. During the famous “Novikov decade” (1779-1789), more books came out of this printing house than during all other years of Catherine’s reign.
The zone of private life was formed in country estates, where often a nobleman, “mentally lagging behind all high-society plans,” indulged in “the life of the deceased in retirement,” enjoying “peace and his property.” In the homes of the intellectual elite, a special microclimate of friendly emotional communication reigned, colored by amateur poetry and literary games.
At the same time, in the second half of the 18th century, the nobles still retained pride in the greatness of the empire, an exalting sense of involvement in its brilliant victories, faith in the highest authority of the supreme power and the presumption of innocence of the royal person. These feelings restrained the growing discontent and desire for self-isolation from the state - the conflict between the educated individual and the throne was still in its infancy and, at the level of ordinary consciousness, manifested itself only in issues far from the operation of official values. Fronder sentiments coexisted with loyal ideals, giving rise to the bizarre characters of the caustic mockingbirds of Catherine’s reign. Such large-scale Russian figures of the 18th century as Alexander Suvorov, Nikita Panin Nikita Panin(1718-1783) - statesman, diplomat, educator of Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich., Nikolay Repnin Nikolay Repnin(1734-1801) - diplomat and military leader., Mikhail Muravyov Mikhail Muraviev(1757-1807) - poet, writer, teacher of the Grand Dukes Alexander and Konstantin Pavlovich; during Alexander's reign - senator, fellow minister of public education, trustee of Moscow University. They amazingly combined service at court, independence of opinion and sharp criticism of the mores of the world.
Thus, in the golden age of the Russian nobility, two leading trends initiated by the state - the formation of the bureaucracy and the intelligentsia - reached a certain balance: the layer of professional officials had not yet formed into a caste, pushing the upper class out of the management of the empire, and the noble culture had not yet developed into open opposition to the throne. But the ideological split of the ruling class that occurred in the first quarter of the 19th century and the loss of its leading positions was, of course, genetically connected with the social history of the previous century.
Where did the noble class in Rus' come from?
The word "nobleman" literally means "a person from the princely court" or "courtier". The nobles were taken into the service of the prince to carry out various administrative, judicial and other assignments. In the system of European ideas, the top of the Russian nobility of that time is a kind of analogue of the viscountcy.
[edit] History
In the 13th century, nobles constituted the lowest stratum of the nobility.
The nobility in Russia arose in the 12th century as the lowest part of the military service class, constituting the court of a prince or a major boyar.
The code of laws of the Russian Empire defined the nobility as a class, belonging to which “is a consequence flowing from the quality and virtue of the men in command in ancient times, who distinguished themselves by merit, by which, turning the service itself into merit, they acquired a noble name for their offspring. Noble means all those who were born from noble ancestors, or were granted this dignity by monarchs.”
From the 14th century, nobles began to receive land for their service: a class (landowners) appeared. Later they were allowed to purchase land.
Rise of the nobility
The rise of the nobility is associated with the reign of Ivan the Terrible. Inspired by the ideas of the nobleman Peresvetov, the tsar set a course for building a centralized monarchy (autocracy) based on the nobility, which implied a fight against the old (boyar) aristocracy.
In February 1549, the first Zemsky Sobor took place in the Kremlin Palace. Ivan IV gave a speech there. He publicly accused the boyars of abuse of power and called on everyone to work together to strengthen the unity of the Russian state.
In 1649, the nobles received the right to perpetual possession and indefinite search for fugitive peasants.
In 1722, Emperor Peter the First introduced the Table of Ranks - a law on the procedure for civil service, based on Western European models.
According to the Table, the granting of old (boyar) aristocratic titles ceased, although they were not formally abolished. This was the end of the boyars. The word “boyar” remained only in popular speech as a designation for an aristocrat in general and degenerated to “master.”
Nobility as such was not the basis for holding a rank: the latter was determined only by personal service. “For this reason, we do not allow anyone of any rank,” wrote Peter, “until they show us and the fatherland any services.”
This caused indignation among both the remnants of the boyars and the new nobility. This, in particular, is the subject of Cantemir’s Second Satire “On the Envy and Pride of Evil Nobles.”
The privileges of the nobility are enshrined and legally codified by the “Charter Granted to the Nobility of 1785.” The main privilege: the nobility is exempt from compulsory public service (in fact, from any obligations to the state and the monarch).
Russian nobilityReceipt " noble liberty"was the apogee of the power of the Russian nobility. Then began " Golden autumn": the transformation of the upper nobility into a "leisure class" (at the cost of gradual removal from political life) and the slow ruin of the lower nobility. Strictly speaking, the “lower” nobility was not particularly ruined, simply because there was often nothing to “ruin” - most of the service nobles were without place.
Decline of the nobility
IN early XIX century (especially after Patriotic War) part of the nobility became imbued with constitutionalist and even republican sentiments. Many nobles joined Masonic lodges or secret anti-government organizations. The Decembrist movement had the features of a noble front.
After the peasant reform of 1861, the economic position of the nobility weakened. As capitalism developed in Russia, the nobility lost its position in society.
After October revolution 1917 all classes in the RSFSR were legally abolished.
Classification
During its heyday, the nobility was divided into:
Ancient nobility - descendants of ancient princely and boyar families.
Titled nobility - princes, counts, barons.
Hereditary nobility - nobility passed on to legitimate us
The origins of the formation of the Russian nobility go back to ancient times. During the era of military democracy, the Eastern Slavs formed groups of people close to tribal clan elders, later princes and military leaders. Basically, this category of people usually includes warriors, senior and junior, the bravest, most efficient, who later became rich due to military booty and princely awards.
The senior squad consisted of princely men, or boyars, the youngest - of children, or youths.
The oldest collective name for the junior squad, grid or gridba (Scandinavian grid - yard servant) was later replaced by the word yard or servants. According to V.O. Klyuchevsky, this squad, together with its prince, came from among the armed merchants of large cities. In the 11th century, it was not yet distinguished from this merchantry by sharp features, either political or economic. The squad of the principality constituted, in fact, the military class. On the other hand, the squad served the prince as an instrument of governance: members of the senior squad, the boyars, constituted the duma of the prince, his state council. It also included the “city elders,” that is, the elected military authorities of the city of Kyiv and other cities. Thus, the issue of accepting Christianity was decided by the prince in consultation with the boyars and “city elders.”
In addition to the vigilantes, the localities had their own landowning nobility. Kievan Rus already knows the great princes, simply princes, who sat not in Kiev, but in less significant centers: then the princely and zemstvo boyars (from about the 12th century they merged into a single class), “greater” and “lesser”, with relations of vassalage and subvassalage. They constitute the service elite of the birth class of feudal lords, descendants of the tribal nobility.
With the increase in princely families, the service class of warriors increased in number. Therefore, the older and rich younger princes had quite numerous courts. Each prince had his own squad, and according to V.O. Klyuchevsky, in the second half of the 12th century there were several dozen, if not a hundred, such princes. The squad still had a mixed tribal composition. In the 10th-11th centuries it was still dominated by the Varangians. In the 12th century, it included other third-party elements (eastern and western). The unity of the princely family allowed the warrior to move from prince to prince, and the unity of the land - from region to region. In view of this mobility of the boyars, land ownership slowly developed. In the 11th-12th centuries, the lands of boyars and junior warriors were already allocated, but they did not constitute the main economic interest for service people. The warriors preferred other sources of income, including from trade and the prince’s salary. Thus, service people, not tied to their place of service and to the family of one prince, did not form stable local interests in any area, nor did they develop strong dynastic ties.
So, the nobility was divided into the following levels:
- 1) upper layer, nobility in the role of princely husbands, senior warriors, senior officials of the princely administration. It was these freemen, especially close to the prince-monarch, who made up his highest council, the Boyar Duma, received from him part of the tribute and other fees, land and smerds, and had the right to leave from one overlord to another.
- 2) youths - junior warriors, princely officials (as a rule, court officials); servants (also junior warriors, personal servants of princes, executors of their economic orders); court servants, subordinate to the courtier. This entire large and motley crowd served the prince’s court and his vast household.
- 3) the lower layer - the actual courtyard people or nobles, people both free and dependent; among them are serfs (slaves) and younger youths.
Story
Rise of the nobility
- From the 14th century, nobles began to receive land for their service: a class of landowners appeared - landowners. Later they were allowed to purchase land.
- After the annexation of the Novgorod land and the Tver principality (late 15th century) and the eviction of patrimonial lands from the central regions, the lands thus vacated were distributed to the nobles under the condition of service (see estate).
- The Code of Law of 1497 limited the right of peasants to move (see serfdom).
- In February of the year, the first Zemsky Sobor took place in the Kremlin Palace. Ivan IV gave a speech there. Inspired by the ideas of the nobleman Peresvetov, the tsar set a course for building a centralized monarchy (autocracy) based on the nobility, which implied a fight against the old (boyar) aristocracy. He publicly accused the boyars of abuse of power and called on everyone to work together to strengthen the unity of the Russian state.
- In 1550 chosen thousand Moscow nobles (1071 people) were placed within 60-70 km. around Moscow.
- The Service Code of 1555 actually equalized the rights of the nobility with the boyars, including the right of inheritance.
- After the annexation of the Kazan Khanate (mid-16th century) and the eviction of the patrimonial people from the oprichnina region, declared the property of the tsar, the lands thus freed were distributed to the nobles under the condition of service.
- In the 80s of the 16th century, reserved summers were introduced.
- The Council Code of 1649 secured the right of nobles to perpetual possession and indefinite search for fugitive peasants.
The strengthening of the Russian nobility in the period of the XIV-XVI centuries occurred mainly due to the acquisition of land under the condition of military service, which actually turned the nobles into suppliers of feudal militia by analogy with Western European knighthood and the Russian boyars of the previous era. The local system, introduced with the aim of strengthening the army in a situation where the level of socio-economic development of the country did not yet allow centrally equipping the army (unlike, for example, France, where kings from the 14th century began to attract knighthood to the army on the terms of monetary payment, first periodically, and from the end of the 15th century - on a permanent basis), turned into serfdom, which limited the flow of labor into the cities and slowed down the development of capitalist relations in general.
Apogee of the nobility
- In the year, Emperor Peter the First introduced the Table of Ranks - a law on the procedure for civil service, based on Western European models.
- According to the Table, the granting of old (boyar) aristocratic titles ceased, although they were not formally abolished. This was the end of the boyars. The word “boyar” remained only in popular speech as a designation for an aristocrat in general and degenerated to “master”.
- Nobility as such was not the basis for holding a rank: the latter was determined only by personal service. “For this reason, we do not allow anyone of any rank,” wrote Peter, “until they show us and the fatherland any services.” This caused indignation among both the remnants of the boyars and the new nobility. This, in particular, is the subject of Cantemir’s Second Satire “On the Envy and Pride of Evil Nobles.”
- The privileges of the nobility are enshrined and legally codified by the “Charter Granted to the Nobility of 1785”. The main privilege: the nobility is exempt from compulsory public service (in fact, from any obligations to the state and the monarch).
Decline of the nobility
- At the beginning of the 19th century (especially after the Patriotic War), part of the nobility became imbued with republican sentiments. Many nobles joined Masonic lodges or secret anti-government organizations. The Decembrist movement had the features of a noble front.
- After the peasant reform of 1861, the economic position of the nobility weakened. As capitalism developed in Russia, the nobility lost its position in society.
- After the October Revolution, all estates in the RSFSR were legally liquidated by the decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee “On the destruction of estates and civil ranks” of November 10, 1917.
Classification
During its heyday, the nobility was divided into:
- Ancient nobility- descendants of ancient princely and boyar families.
- Titled nobility- princes, counts, barons.
- Hereditary nobility- nobility passed on to legal heirs.
- Personal nobility- nobility received for personal merit (including upon reaching grade 14 at civil service), but not inherited. It was created by Peter I with the aim of weakening the isolation of the noble class and giving people of the lower classes access to it.
The prestige of personal nobility was minimal (they were not even considered real nobility). In addition to the usual length of service of hereditary nobility, personal nobles could, until 1900, apply for it if their fathers and grandfathers served for 20 years in the ranks of chief officers. Personal nobility extended only to the wife. Children enjoyed the status of hereditary honorary citizens.
The grandchildren of personal nobles (that is, the descendants of two generations of persons who received personal nobility and served for at least 20 years each) could apply for elevation to hereditary nobility.
Personal nobility was acquired by persons of non-noble origin:
- award (which was extremely rare)
- achievement of promotional rank
- in case of awarding an order
By rank, personal nobility was received by:
"1. Persons promoted to the rank of chief officer in active service, and to the rank of ninth class in civilian service; ...
3. Persons of the merchant class granted the rank of ninth class not according to the order of service, unless they are given special certificates for hereditary nobility.”
- Placeless nobility- nobility received without allocating and securing lands (estates).
Acquisition of nobility
The title of nobleman is inherited or assigned.
There were several ways to acquire nobility. One of them is the acquisition of nobility by the service. Previously, a professional military man who entered the service of one or another prince automatically became a nobleman.
In 1722-1845, hereditary nobility was given for the length of service of the first chief officer rank (Fendrik, then ensign, cornet) in military service (and in general ranks assigned to the XIV class and above - for example, the rank of bayonet-junker was not a chief officer, but nobility gave) and the rank of collegiate assessor in civil and when awarded any order of the Russian Empire, since 1831 - with the exception of the Polish order Virtuti Militari.
In 1845-1856 - for service to the rank of major and state councilor, and for awarding the Orders of St. George, St. Vladimir of all degrees and first degrees of other orders.
In 1856-1900, nobility was given to those who had risen to the rank of colonel, captain 1st rank, or actual state councilor.
In 1900-1917, the qualifications for orders increased - hereditary nobility under the Order of St. Vladimir could only be obtained starting from the 3rd degree. This restriction was introduced due to the fact that the Order of St. Vladimir, 4th degree, received massive complaints based on length of service and for charitable donations.
It was permissible to apply for the grant of hereditary nobility if the father and grandfather of the applicant had personal nobility, having served it in the ranks of chief officers.
Privileges of the nobility
The nobility had the following privileges:
- right of ownership of inhabited estates (until 1861),
- freedom from compulsory service (in 1762-1874, later all-class military service was introduced),
- freedom from zemstvo duties (until the 2nd half of the 19th century),
- the right to enter the civil service and to receive education in privileged educational institutions(the Corps of Pages, the Imperial Alexander Lyceum, the Imperial School of Law accepted children of nobles from parts 5 and 6 of the genealogical book and children of persons who had a rank of at least 4th class),
- law of corporate organization.
see also
- Certificate of rights, liberties and advantages of the noble Russian nobility
Links
- Lists of noble families of the Russian Empire by province. Bibliographic index
- Kuchurin V.V. Mysticism and Western European esotericism in the religious life of the Russian nobility
- Kuchurin V.V. P.N. Miliukov about the religious life of the Russian nobility
- Lists of nobles published in the provinces of the Russian Empire
- Yablochkov M. History of the nobility in Russia. St. Petersburg, 1876
- Conversations about Russian culture. Life and traditions of the Russian nobility
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
See what “Nobility in Russia” is in other dictionaries:
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Russian nobility.
What is its origin? What were they like? ranks in the Moscow kingdom, which nobles could or could not occupy?
Until 1785 (before the Charter of Catherine II to the nobility - “Charter on the rights, liberties and advantages of the noble Russian nobility”) the nobility was special rank it was a rank 6th degree of sovereign "officials".
The first and most important at the royal court were boyars Origin of the word boyar remains unclear and numerous versions coexist - from Turkic to Scandinavian (see, for example, Vasmer's etymological dictionary and analysis on the website: http://oldrus.livejournal.com/74912.html). One thing is known: boyars already existed at the princely court of Vladimir Monomakh. There were boyars of the sovereign, there were boyars of appanage princes, of the Patriarch and in Novgorod, when Novgorod the Great enjoyed all the rights of a free city. The sovereign's boyars sat in the Tsar's Duma, headed the Prikaz, ruled large and important cities, led the army, were ambassadors, and when the Tsar left Moscow on a campaign or on a pilgrimage, they "were in charge of Moscow."
The last boyar was Prince Ivan Yuryevich Trubetskoy (d. January 16, 1750). Boyars, as a rank, ended with his death. The boyars were service people, and they were entitled to a salary. The ordinary salary was up to 700 rubles, and additions were made to the salary for special merits.
The second degree was okolnichy. Their duty was to monitor outskirts states, abroad. They were in charge of border courts (disputes), conducted foreign correspondence, were present at court battles and decided who “won the field,” i.e., who turned out to be right in a court case. Okolnichy accompanied the Grand Duke or Tsar on campaigns.
Third degree - thoughtful nobles. The rank of Duma nobleman was first established in 1572. Duma nobles were members State Duma. One of them was elected keeper of the state seal (printer). The printer applied the state seal to the letters. The last printer was Nikita Zotov under Peter I.
The fourth degree of ranks was the rank steward. For the first time, stolniki are mentioned in documents of 1398. The guards watched the table of the Grand Duke. They offered him food. We went everywhere with the prince and sovereign. They also had other duties - they sat in the Duma, were appointed regimental judges, “heads” of military hundreds, “at the banner”, “at the shell” (guns), and were sent by governors to places. In 1687, about 3,000 people served as stewards. The bells were elected from the steward (the bells stood motionless on the sides of the royal throne, and during campaigns they were constantly near him and carried his weapons).
The fifth degree was solicitors. The word "cooking" meant the sovereign's hat, mittens, scarf and staff. When the tsar was in the church or in the Prikaz, or in someone’s house, the solicitors kept the “cooking”.
The sixth degree was actually nobles . The word nobleman comes from the words "yard" "palace". Under the appanage princes, the courtyard and palace were called gridnyami, and those serving at the grid, freemen or slaves, - grid workers. But even under Grand Duke Vladimir it was said nobleman instead of gridnik .
The nobles were one of the lower parts of the service class; the court of a prince or boyar consisted of nobles. The “Code of Service” of 1555 (under Ivan the Terrible) practically equalized the rights of the nobility with the rights of the boyars. The serving nobility becomes the support of the tsar; the nobles are given the lands and estates of many boyars, which the tsar declared as his property during the oprichnina. Nobles receive these lands and the right to inherit them on condition of service. In 1649, by the Council Code, the nobility received the right to eternal ownership of their lands and the right to indefinitely search for fugitive peasants.
Seventh degree - tenants. They were appointed from the children of nobles, children of boyars, from solicitors, from stewards. Residents had to live in Moscow (they were not in other cities), and be always ready for service and defense of the city. The residents, in fact, were the Moscow security army, but they were also sent on campaigns. From among them, bannermen, solicitors and others were elected officials at the sovereign's court. In 1663 there were 2,000 people. During the peace period, they were entrusted with various minor duties, for example, they had to deliver letters and decrees. In 1701, Peter I ordered no more residents to be recruited, and those who remained were sent to his guards regiments, organized according to a foreign model.
The nobility - the highest ruling class in Russia arose on the basis of public service. The Moscow principality, and then the kingdom, expanded. The former appanage principalities became the property of the Grand Duke, and a huge number of “nobles”, former courtyard servants of the appanage princes, ended up in his possessions. And, in order to bind them to service, they were given plots of state land that they could use only subject to mandatory performing military or other service. Boyar children who served freely received lands as patrimony, i.e. as a hereditary possession, as a reward for service, and the nobles were required to serve.
In the 16th century, the children of boyars and nobles were legally equal in rights, since the former also began to receive land for their service, and thus they all also began to be called nobles. Court service became, as it were, more important than free service. Noble service became military and compulsory. All nobles were included in the lists and thus it became possible to determine the size and capabilities of the Russian army. And in order to compile the lists, reviews were organized by special order, to which the nobles had to appear with full weapons and supplies and cavalry. The chiefs were called elected nobles or heads of hundreds.
Others who stood in the ranks, or more simply - city nobles, remained privates.
The nobles called from Moscow were considered in their position to be higher than the nobles called from other cities - urban ones, because their service took place under the “supervision” of the tsar; it was easier for them to curry favor and get into the Duma circles or courtiers.
Boyar children were called by different names and performed various minor duties; the “boyar children” came from different classes. They could be the sons of poor princes and the sons of priests. The boyar children were given a small plot of land, which they cultivated and from which they had to feed, have a horse, weapons and armor, and carry military service under the command of a boyar with full weapons and food supplies.
Nobility in its turn was divided into classes and levels. The highest nobility are those princes who did not receive rank boyar . The Russian land “replete” with princes in those days: descendants of former appanage princes, descendants of noble Tatar and Lithuanian captives. Due to impoverishment, some of them served as nobles or boyar children.
The nobility was divided into Moscow and city nobility. The Moscow nobility had an advantage over the city nobility, since it was closer to the person of the tsar, they were the first to go on campaigns with him, and city nobles sometimes complained to the Moscow nobility, as if they were a rank. Moscow nobles held important city positions: they were appointed governors and governors. And for a bad act, a Moscow nobleman could be “assigned to the city,” i.e. demote him to city nobles. Moscow nobles also served as envoys, and they also formed the Moscow noble regiments. In 1693, there were 1893 Moscow nobles. The city nobles were divided into elected and courtyard nobles, and they occupied the positions of bailiffs to transport envoys to the capital.
What positions were there at the court of the Moscow sovereigns?
Boyar butler - one of the important palace positions.
Butler with a path - an even more important position, the boyars complained to this title for special merits.
Boyar equestrian - a very high rank, under Tsar Fedor Boris Godunov was the groom. The equestrian was in charge of all state-owned horse volosts.
Kravchiy - was at the sovereign’s table, stood opposite and cut the food, howled with dishes, drinks and table routine. This rank usually consisted of relatives of the king. The last kravchim under Peter I was his relative from the Naryshkin family, Kirill Alekseevich.
Gunsmith - he was in charge of all the personal weapons of the sovereign.
Treasurer - was in charge of the treasury, the king’s dress, jewelry and decorations royal family and their chambers.
Bedmaker - was in charge of all the accessories of the sovereign’s bed and the bed itself.
Sleeping bags - were constantly in the sovereign’s room, sleeping at night in front of the door of the bedchamber.
Yaselnichy - looked after the horse harness and horses of the royal ride.
Chashnik - was in charge of the royal cellars, served and tasted drinks. He was responsible for the responsibility of “knowing the tables” and “watching the tables” - i.e. he conveyed special person the king's order to serve a cup of drink to one or another sitting at the table, as a sign of special royal favor. Such a ceremony was a whole ritual and was accompanied by certain speech formulas.
In addition, the following served at court: house nobles, sedate housekeeper, stoker, shutter maker, charm maker, stirrups (with carriages and stirrups), palace solicitors, connectors, contractors and since the time of Ivan the Terrible - hunter and falconer.
Chin hunter was mentioned for the first time in 1509, and the first hunter was Mikhail Ivanovich Nagoy (grandson of Semyon Noga). Maria Feodorovna was naked last wife Ivan the Terrible.
Chin falconer was established in 1550 and the first falconer was Fyodor Mikhailovich Naumov, nicknamed Zhulla.
Trappers and falconers were in charge of smaller ranks, such as: lapwings, hawksbills and other people during animal and falconry hunting.
