Russian serfdom
Encyclopedia
The origins of serfdom
in Russia
are traced to Kievan Rus in the 11th century. Legal documents of the epoch, such as Russkaya Pravda
, distinguished several degrees of feudal dependency of peasants, the term for an unfree peasant
in the Russian Empire
, krepostnoi krestyanin (крепостной крестьянин), is translated as serf.
in Russia
(крепостничество, or krepostnichestvo) may be traced to the 11th century, however, the most complete form of feudal exploitation
enveloped only certain categories of rural population. In the 12th century, the exploitation of the so-called zakups on arable land
s (ролейные (пашенные) закупы, or roleyniye (pashenniye) zakupy) and corvee
smerd
s (Russian term for corvee is барщина, or barschina) was the closest to what is now known as serfdom. According to the Russkaya Pravda
, a prince
ly smerd had limited property
and personal rights. His escheat
was given to the prince and his life was equated with that of the kholop
, meaning his murder
was punishable by 5yh grivnas.
s, but serfdom as we know it was still not a widespread phenomenon
. In the mid-15th century the right of certain categories of peasants in some votchina
s to leave their master was limited to a period of one week before and after the so-called Yuri's Day
(November 26). The Sudebnik of 1497
officially confirmed this time limit as universal for everybody and also established the amount of the "break-away" fee called pozhiloye (пожилое).
The legal code of Ivan III of Russia
, Sudebnik
(1497), strengthened the dependency of peasants, statewide, and restricted their mobility
. The Russians
persistently battled against the successor states of the Golden Horde
, chiefly the Khanate of Crimea. Annually the Russian population of the borderland suffered from Tatar invasions
and tens of thousands of noblemen protected the southern borderland (a heavy burden for the state), which slowed its social and economic development and expanded the taxation of peasantry.
increased the amount of pozhiloye and introduced an additional tax
called za povoz (за повоз , or transportation fee), in case a peasant refused to bring the harvest
from the fields to his master. A temporary (Заповедные лета, or Forbidden years
) and later an open-ended prohibition for peasants to leave their masters was introduced by the ukase
of 1597, which also defined the so-called fixed years
(Урочные лета, or urochniye leta), or the 5-year time frame for search of the runaway peasants. In 1607, a new ukase defined sanction
s for hiding and keeping the runaways: the fine had to paid to the state and pozhiloye - to the previous owner of the peasant.
Most of the dvoryane were content with the long time frame for search of the runaway peasants. The major landowners of the country, however, together with the dvoryane of the south, were interested in a short-term persecution
due to the fact that many runaways would usually flee to the southern parts of Russia. During the first half of the 17th century the dvoryane sent their collective petition
s (челобитные, or chelobitniye) to the authorities, asking for the extension of the "fixed years". In 1642, the Russian government established a 10-year limit for search of the runaways and 15-year limit for search for peasants taken away by their new owners.
The Sobornoye Ulozhenie (Соборное уложение, or Code of Law) of 1649 introduced an open-ended search for those on the run, meaning that all of the peasants who had fled from their masters after the census of 1626 or 1646–1647 had to be returned. The government would still introduce new time frames and grounds for search of the runaways after 1649, which applied to the peasants who had fled to the outlying districts of the country, such as regions along the border abatis
es called zasechniye linii (засечные линии) (ukases of 1653 and 1656), Siberia
(ukases of 1671, 1683 and 1700), Don (1698) etc. The dvoryane constantly demanded that the search for the runaways be sponsored by the government. The legislation
of the second half of the 17th century paid much attention to the means of punishment of the runaways.
Serfdom was hardly efficient, serfs and nobles had little incentive to improve the land. However, it was politically effective. Nobles rarely challenged the tsar for fear of provoking a peasant uprising. Serfs had lifelong tenancy on their plots so they tended to be conservative too. The serfs took little part in uprisings, it was the Cossacks and nomads who rebelled. The revolutions of 1905 and 1917 happened after serfdom's abolition.
uprisings, such as the uprisings of Ivan Bolotnikov
(1606–1607), Stenka Razin
(1667–1671), Kondraty Bulavin (1707–1709) and Yemelyan Pugachev
(1773–1775). While the Cossack
uprisings benefited from disturbances among the peasants, and they in turn received an impetus from Cossack rebellion, none of the Cossack movements were directed against the institution of serfdom itself. Instead, peasants in Cossack-dominated areas became Cossacks, thus escaping from the peasantry rather than directly organizing peasants against the institution. Between the end of the Pugachev rebellion and the beginning of the 19th century, there were hundreds of outbreaks across Russia, and there was never a time when the peasantry was completely quiescent.
in significant enough numbers to become a major concern for the Russian Government and sufficient to play a role in its decision to partition the Commonwealth
. Increasingly in the 18th century until the partitions solved this problem, Russian armies raided territories of the Commonwealth, officially to recover the escapees, but in fact kidnapping many locals.
remained a major institution in Russia
until 1723, when Peter the Great converted the household slaves into house serfs. Russian agricultural slaves were formally converted into serfs earlier in 1679.
In 1798, Ukrainian landlords were banned from selling serfs apart from land. In 1841, landless nobles were banned also.
became prominent views of the former crime within Russian society: (1) illnesses of the mind
and more abstract concepts such as feelings of inner turmoil, torment or persecution resulted in many suicides. These cases were typically said to have mitigating circumstances for suicide, and thus the body was treated to a proper Christian
burial. (2) Another commonly attributed cause for suicide was the culmination of an individual’s moral failure, which included “drunkenness, debauchery, depravity, and impudence.”This particular view very likely sprung from reports related to incidents of serfs committing suicide once being freed by their owner. One particularly well-known example is the case of Grigorii Miasnikov, who committed suicide on 1 September 1828. A talented young man, Miasnikov received freedom from his owner so that he could pursue an education in art, which he displayed an aptitude for. However, his owner demanded that he leave art school and return to work. Though Miasnikov’s suicide could fall into the category of the natural outcome of the serf without his owner, it was in actuality an act of protest against the institution of serfdom itself. Miasnikov left behind a suicide note which read: ‘Forgive me, my most beloved friends. Do not reproach me for my act — I am showing you how one must oppose the superciliousness of ambitious men. My dear friend Vasilii Egorovich—write on my tomb that I died for freedom. Forgive me.’“In the Name of Freedom: Suicide, Serfdom, and Autocracy in Russia.”
Because of this note, in conjunction with the other details of his suicide (which are discussed further down), the court charged Miasnikov’s body with the political offense of “discussing governmental reform”rather than the criminal offense of committing suicide. In addition to that, the mode by which he chose to kill himself—a gun, the favoured weapon of choice for noblemen and military officers— and the place where he performed the action, the art school’s Gallery of Antiquity, both evoked the image of a romantic hero
, which could be interpreted as Miasnikov making himself a model for future protests against serfdom as a patriarchal institution. However, these details were covered up and his suicide was publicly recognised as being no different from others. Then again, there were those serfs who truly found themselves at a loss without the guidance of their owner. One such serf was able to explain the reason for his suicide as he lay dying from his self-inflicted wounds. He was often unable to find work and was without a place to live, and subsequently began to suffer from “pensiveness,”which may be interpreted in this case as depressed
thought or mood congruent memory. (3) The third possibility was that a serf committed suicide as the result of constant or exceptionally harsh treatment by a cruel owner. This motivation was defined as the instigation of a suicide. Under Peter the Great, suicide and attempted suicide became felony
offenses in Russia; as suicide had become a criminal offense, the Church no longer retained the discretion to decide how to handle them. However, instigation of suicide was regarded with more seriousness than either of those, likened more closely to premeditated murder
. Instigation of suicide was also a crime unique to Russian and Soviet legal proceedings, since the very idea worked in tandem with patriarchical and paternalist principles, which is shown by the text: "Parents, guardians, and other individuals possessing some sort of power, who, through the manifest abuse of this power combined with cruelty, drive a subordinate or someone entrusted to their guardianship to commit suicide, are [subject to the following penalties]: the loss of certain rights ... and privileges and incarceration in a house of correction for a term lasting from eight months to one year and four months; in addition, if they are Christians, they are to be assigned a church penance
, as determined by their spiritual authority."
As serfs made up at least half of Russia’s population for centuries, it is unsurprising that the highest percentage of suicides were committed by this social group. Women and peasants, who would compose the larger proportion of suicides after the abolition of serfdom in Russia, were less often victims of self-murder. Additionally, they did not necessarily suffer from the same situations as a serf might, which were surmised as motivations for suicide: “anger, fear of punishment, melancholy, fear of military recruitment, fear of punishment, melancholy, punishment already inflicted (by a serf owner), and avoidance of punishment.”A variety of ideas arose, all supporting the theories mentioned above and more, attempting to puzzle out why a serf would commit self-murder. Within the sphere of conjecture remained the logical assumption that a serf’s actions were spurred on by either a cruel master, or that they fell victim to personal thoughts and feelings of “melancholy,” which may be understood in the modern day as depression. Serf suicides remained prevalent in Russian society right up until the abolishment of the institution of serfdom in 1861, under Emperor Alexander II
. After the removal of the institution, suicides lost their high concentration within a certain social class and the numbers dispersed amongst women, children and people of lower classes. With the centuries-long tradition of serfdom having come to an end, the total social order came under scrutiny by society. In particular, other forms of patriarchy which became more evident in different sectors of Russian society (in the home, schools and the military, for example)where the crime of instigated suicide became more prominent. In particular, the question of women’s place in society became a topic of discussion in Russian society.
The exact numbers, according to official data, were: entire population 60,909,309; peasantry of all classes 49,486,665; state peasants 23,138,191; peasants on the lands of proprietors 23,022,390; peasants of the appanages and other departments 3,326,084. State peasants were considered personally free, but their freedom of movement was restricted.
Russia
n serfdom depended entirely on the traditional and extensive technology of the peasantry. Yields remained low and stationary throughout most of the 19th century. Any increase in income drawn from agriculture was largely through increasing land area and extensive grain raising by means of exploitation of the peasant labor, that is, by burdening the peasant household still further.
Serfs owned by European Russian landlords
% peasants enserfed in each province, 1860
+55%: Kaluga
Kiev
Kostroma
Kutaisi
Minsk
Mogilev
Nizhny Novgorod
Podolia
Riazan Smolensk
Tula
Vitebsk
Vladimir
Volhynia
Yaroslavl
36-55%: Chernigov Grodno Kovno Kursk
Moscow
Novgorod Orel
Penza
Poltava
Pskov
Saratov
Simbirsk Tambov
Tver
Vilna
16-35%: Don
Ekaterinoslav Kharkov Kherson
Kuban
Perm
Tiflis Vologda
Voronezh
In the black earth region 70-77% of the serfs performed labour services (barshchina), the rest paid rent (obrok) Owing to the high fertility, 70% of Russian cereal production in the 1850s was here.
In the 7 central provinces, 1860, 67.7% of the serfs were on obrok.
, Courland
and Livonia respectively. However all the land stayed in noble hands and labor rent lasted till 1868. It was replaced with landless laborers and sharecropping (halbkörner). Landless workers had to ask permission to leave an estate.
The nobility was too weak to oppose the emancipation of the serfs. In 1820 a fifth of the serfs were mortgaged, half by 1842. By 1859, a third of noble's estates and two thirds of their serfs were mortgaged to noble banks or the state. The nobility was also weakened by the scattering of their estates, lack of Primogeniture
and the high turnover and mobility from estate to estate.
In 1861 all serfs were freed in a major agrarian reform, stimulated by the fear voiced by Tsar Alexander II
that "it is better to liberate the peasants from above" than to wait until they won their freedom by risings "from below." Serfdom was abolished in 1861, but its abolition was achieved on terms unfavorable to the peasants and served to increase revolutionary pressures. Between 1864 to 1871 serfdom was abolished in Georgia
. In Kalmykia
serfdom was only abolished in 1892.
The serfs had to work for the landlord as usual for two years. The nobles kept nearly all the meadows and forests, had their debts paid by the state while the ex serfs paid 34% over the market price for the shrunken plots they kept. This figure was 90% in the northern regions, 20% in the black earth region but zero in the Polish provinces. In 1857, 6.79% of serfs were domestic, landless servants who stayed landless after 1861. Only Polish and Romanian domestic serfs got land. 90% of the serfs who got larger plots were in the 8 ex Polish provinces where the Tsar wanted to weaken the Szlachta (the rest were in the barren north and in Astrakhan
. In the whole Empire, peasant land declined 4.1%, 13.3% outside the ex Polish zone and 23.3% in the 16 black earth provinces. These redemption payments were not abolished till January 1, 1907.
Serfdom
Serfdom is the status of peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to Manorialism. It was a condition of bondage or modified slavery which developed primarily during the High Middle Ages in Europe and lasted to the mid-19th century...
in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
are traced to Kievan Rus in the 11th century. Legal documents of the epoch, such as Russkaya Pravda
Russkaya Pravda
Russkaya Pravda was the legal code of Kievan Rus' and the subsequent Rus' principalities during the times of feudal division.In spite of great influence of Byzantine legislation on the contemporary world, and in...
, distinguished several degrees of feudal dependency of peasants, the term for an unfree peasant
Peasant
A peasant is an agricultural worker who generally tend to be poor and homeless-Etymology:The word is derived from 15th century French païsant meaning one from the pays, or countryside, ultimately from the Latin pagus, or outlying administrative district.- Position in society :Peasants typically...
in the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
, krepostnoi krestyanin (крепостной крестьянин), is translated as serf.
Origins
The origins of serfdomSerfdom
Serfdom is the status of peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to Manorialism. It was a condition of bondage or modified slavery which developed primarily during the High Middle Ages in Europe and lasted to the mid-19th century...
in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
(крепостничество, or krepostnichestvo) may be traced to the 11th century, however, the most complete form of feudal exploitation
Exploitation
This article discusses the term exploitation in the meaning of using something in an unjust or cruel manner.- As unjust benefit :In political economy, economics, and sociology, exploitation involves a persistent social relationship in which certain persons are being mistreated or unfairly used for...
enveloped only certain categories of rural population. In the 12th century, the exploitation of the so-called zakups on arable land
Arable land
In geography and agriculture, arable land is land that can be used for growing crops. It includes all land under temporary crops , temporary meadows for mowing or pasture, land under market and kitchen gardens and land temporarily fallow...
s (ролейные (пашенные) закупы, or roleyniye (pashenniye) zakupy) and corvee
Corvée
Corvée is unfree labour, often unpaid, that is required of people of lower social standing and imposed on them by the state or a superior . The corvée was the earliest and most widespread form of taxation, which can be traced back to the beginning of civilization...
smerd
Smerd
Smerds were feudal-dependent peasants in Russia and some other Slavic countries. Sources from the 11th and 12th centuries mention smerds’ presence in the Kievan Rus Smerds (sing. smerd; in Russian: pl. смерды, sing. смерд ) were feudal-dependent peasants in Russia and some other Slavic countries....
s (Russian term for corvee is барщина, or barschina) was the closest to what is now known as serfdom. According to the Russkaya Pravda
Russkaya Pravda
Russkaya Pravda was the legal code of Kievan Rus' and the subsequent Rus' principalities during the times of feudal division.In spite of great influence of Byzantine legislation on the contemporary world, and in...
, a prince
Prince
Prince is a general term for a ruler, monarch or member of a monarch's or former monarch's family, and is a hereditary title in the nobility of some European states. The feminine equivalent is a princess...
ly smerd had limited property
Property
Property is any physical or intangible entity that is owned by a person or jointly by a group of people or a legal entity like a corporation...
and personal rights. His escheat
Escheat
Escheat is a common law doctrine which transfers the property of a person who dies without heirs to the crown or state. It serves to ensure that property is not left in limbo without recognised ownership...
was given to the prince and his life was equated with that of the kholop
Kholop
Kholops were feudally dependent people in Russia between the 10th and early 18th centuries. Their legal status was close to that of serfs.- Etymology :The word kholop was first mentioned in a chronicle for the year of 986. Its etymology is unclear...
, meaning his murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
was punishable by 5yh grivnas.
Thirteenth to fifteenth centuries
In the 13th to 15th centuries, feudal dependency applied to a significant number of peasantPeasant
A peasant is an agricultural worker who generally tend to be poor and homeless-Etymology:The word is derived from 15th century French païsant meaning one from the pays, or countryside, ultimately from the Latin pagus, or outlying administrative district.- Position in society :Peasants typically...
s, but serfdom as we know it was still not a widespread phenomenon
Phenomenon
A phenomenon , plural phenomena, is any observable occurrence. Phenomena are often, but not always, understood as 'appearances' or 'experiences'...
. In the mid-15th century the right of certain categories of peasants in some votchina
Votchina
Votchina or otchina was an East Slavic land estate that could be inherited. The term "votchina" was also used to describe the lands of a knyaz.The term originated in the law of Kievan Rus...
s to leave their master was limited to a period of one week before and after the so-called Yuri's Day
Yuri's Day
Yuri's Day is the Russian name for either of the two feasts of Saint George celebrated by the Russian Orthodox Church.Along with various other Christian churches, the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates the feast of St George on April 23 , which falls on May 6 of the Western Calendar...
(November 26). The Sudebnik of 1497
Sudebnik
Sudebnik of 1497 , a collection of laws, which was introduced by Ivan III and played a big part in the centralisation of the Russian state, creation of the nationwide Russian Law and elimination of feudal division....
officially confirmed this time limit as universal for everybody and also established the amount of the "break-away" fee called pozhiloye (пожилое).
The legal code of Ivan III of Russia
Ivan III of Russia
Ivan III Vasilyevich , also known as Ivan the Great, was a Grand Prince of Moscow and "Grand Prince of all Rus"...
, Sudebnik
Sudebnik
Sudebnik of 1497 , a collection of laws, which was introduced by Ivan III and played a big part in the centralisation of the Russian state, creation of the nationwide Russian Law and elimination of feudal division....
(1497), strengthened the dependency of peasants, statewide, and restricted their mobility
Freedom of movement
Freedom of movement, mobility rights or the right to travel is a human right concept that the constitutions of numerous states respect...
. The Russians
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
persistently battled against the successor states of the Golden Horde
Golden Horde
The Golden Horde was a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate that formed the north-western sector of the Mongol Empire...
, chiefly the Khanate of Crimea. Annually the Russian population of the borderland suffered from Tatar invasions
Tatar invasions
The Mongol invasion of Europe from the east took place over the course of three centuries, from the Middle Ages to the early modern period.The terms Tatars or Tartars are applied to nomadic Turkic peoples who, themselves, were conquered by Mongols and incorporated into their horde...
and tens of thousands of noblemen protected the southern borderland (a heavy burden for the state), which slowed its social and economic development and expanded the taxation of peasantry.
Sixteenth century
The Sudebnik of 1550Sudebnik of 1550
Sudebnik of tsar Ivan IV , a revised code of laws instituted by his grandfather Ivan the Great. This code can be considered as the result of the first Russian parliament of the feudal Estates type of 1549....
increased the amount of pozhiloye and introduced an additional tax
Tax
To tax is to impose a financial charge or other levy upon a taxpayer by a state or the functional equivalent of a state such that failure to pay is punishable by law. Taxes are also imposed by many subnational entities...
called za povoz (за повоз , or transportation fee), in case a peasant refused to bring the harvest
Harvest
Harvest is the process of gathering mature crops from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper...
from the fields to his master. A temporary (Заповедные лета, or Forbidden years
Forbidden years
Forbidden Years were part of a tightening of the service obligations of serfs in Russia leading to full-scale serfdom in the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries. They were first instituted by Tsar Ivan IV Forbidden Years (ru: Заповедные лета) were part of a tightening of the service...
) and later an open-ended prohibition for peasants to leave their masters was introduced by the ukase
Ukase
A ukase , in Imperial Russia, was a proclamation of the tsar, government, or a religious leader that had the force of law...
of 1597, which also defined the so-called fixed years
Fixed years
Fixed years was the term used in Russian documents for the statute of limitations during which a run-away serf could be sought out and returned to his landlord. They were fixed at five years by an ukaz of Tsar Fedor Ivanovich issued on November 24, 1597...
(Урочные лета, or urochniye leta), or the 5-year time frame for search of the runaway peasants. In 1607, a new ukase defined sanction
Sanctions (law)
Sanctions are penalties or other means of enforcement used to provide incentives for obedience with the law, or with rules and regulations. Criminal sanctions can take the form of serious punishment, such as corporal or capital punishment, incarceration, or severe fines...
s for hiding and keeping the runaways: the fine had to paid to the state and pozhiloye - to the previous owner of the peasant.
Seventeenth century
After the passage of laws which further restricted the peasants' right to free movement, the vast majority of the Russian peasantry was finally bound in full serfdom. Serfs were given to estates in the Sobornoye Ulozhenie (Соборное уложение, "Code of Law") of 1649, and flight was made a criminal offense in 1658. Russian landowners eventually gained almost unlimited ownership over Russian serfs. The landowner could transfer the serf without land to another landowner while keeping the serf's personal property and family, however the landowner had no right to kill the serf. About four-fifths of Russian peasants were serfs according to the censuses of 1678 and 1719; free (black) peasants remained only in the North and North-East of the country.Most of the dvoryane were content with the long time frame for search of the runaway peasants. The major landowners of the country, however, together with the dvoryane of the south, were interested in a short-term persecution
Persecution
Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another group. The most common forms are religious persecution, ethnic persecution, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these terms. The inflicting of suffering, harassment, isolation,...
due to the fact that many runaways would usually flee to the southern parts of Russia. During the first half of the 17th century the dvoryane sent their collective petition
Petition
A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer....
s (челобитные, or chelobitniye) to the authorities, asking for the extension of the "fixed years". In 1642, the Russian government established a 10-year limit for search of the runaways and 15-year limit for search for peasants taken away by their new owners.
The Sobornoye Ulozhenie (Соборное уложение, or Code of Law) of 1649 introduced an open-ended search for those on the run, meaning that all of the peasants who had fled from their masters after the census of 1626 or 1646–1647 had to be returned. The government would still introduce new time frames and grounds for search of the runaways after 1649, which applied to the peasants who had fled to the outlying districts of the country, such as regions along the border abatis
Abatis
Abatis, abattis, or abbattis is a term in field fortification for an obstacle formed of the branches of trees laid in a row, with the sharpened tops directed outwards, towards the enemy. The trees are usually interlaced or tied with wire...
es called zasechniye linii (засечные линии) (ukases of 1653 and 1656), Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
(ukases of 1671, 1683 and 1700), Don (1698) etc. The dvoryane constantly demanded that the search for the runaways be sponsored by the government. The legislation
Legislation
Legislation is law which has been promulgated by a legislature or other governing body, or the process of making it...
of the second half of the 17th century paid much attention to the means of punishment of the runaways.
Serfdom was hardly efficient, serfs and nobles had little incentive to improve the land. However, it was politically effective. Nobles rarely challenged the tsar for fear of provoking a peasant uprising. Serfs had lifelong tenancy on their plots so they tended to be conservative too. The serfs took little part in uprisings, it was the Cossacks and nomads who rebelled. The revolutions of 1905 and 1917 happened after serfdom's abolition.
Rebellions
There were numerous rebellions against this bondage, most often in conjunction with CossackCossack
Cossacks are a group of predominantly East Slavic people who originally were members of democratic, semi-military communities in what is today Ukraine and Southern Russia inhabiting sparsely populated areas and islands in the lower Dnieper and Don basins and who played an important role in the...
uprisings, such as the uprisings of Ivan Bolotnikov
Ivan Bolotnikov
Ivan Isayevich Bolotnikov was the leader of a popular uprising in Russia in 1606–1607 known as the Bolotnikov rebellion . The uprising was part of the Time of Troubles in Russia.-Biography:...
(1606–1607), Stenka Razin
Stenka Razin
Stepan Timofeyevich Razin Тимофеевич Разин, ; 1630 – ) was a Cossack leader who led a major uprising against the nobility and Tsar's bureaucracy in South Russia.-Early life:...
(1667–1671), Kondraty Bulavin (1707–1709) and Yemelyan Pugachev
Yemelyan Pugachev
Yemelyan Ivanovich Pugachov , was a pretender to the Russian throne who led a great Cossack insurrection during the reign of Catherine II...
(1773–1775). While the Cossack
Cossack
Cossacks are a group of predominantly East Slavic people who originally were members of democratic, semi-military communities in what is today Ukraine and Southern Russia inhabiting sparsely populated areas and islands in the lower Dnieper and Don basins and who played an important role in the...
uprisings benefited from disturbances among the peasants, and they in turn received an impetus from Cossack rebellion, none of the Cossack movements were directed against the institution of serfdom itself. Instead, peasants in Cossack-dominated areas became Cossacks, thus escaping from the peasantry rather than directly organizing peasants against the institution. Between the end of the Pugachev rebellion and the beginning of the 19th century, there were hundreds of outbreaks across Russia, and there was never a time when the peasantry was completely quiescent.
Russian army raids
The Polish historian, Jerzy Czajewski, wrote that the Russian peasants were escaping from Russia to the Polish-Lithuanian CommonwealthPolish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was a dualistic state of Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch. It was the largest and one of the most populous countries of 16th- and 17th‑century Europe with some and a multi-ethnic population of 11 million at its peak in the early 17th century...
in significant enough numbers to become a major concern for the Russian Government and sufficient to play a role in its decision to partition the Commonwealth
Partitions of Poland
The Partitions of Poland or Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in the second half of the 18th century and ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland for 123 years...
. Increasingly in the 18th century until the partitions solved this problem, Russian armies raided territories of the Commonwealth, officially to recover the escapees, but in fact kidnapping many locals.
Slaves and serfs
As a whole, serfdom both came and remained in Russia much later than in other European countries. SlaverySlavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
remained a major institution in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
until 1723, when Peter the Great converted the household slaves into house serfs. Russian agricultural slaves were formally converted into serfs earlier in 1679.
Eighteenth and Nineteenth centuries
Bourgeois were allowed to own serfs 1721-62 and 1798–1816, this was to encourage industrialisation. In 1804, 48% of Russian factory workers were serfs,52% in 1825. Landless serfs rose from 4.14% in 1835 to 6.79% in 1858. They received no land in the emancipation. Landlords deliberately increased the number of domestic serfs when they anticipated serfdom's demise.In 1798, Ukrainian landlords were banned from selling serfs apart from land. In 1841, landless nobles were banned also.
Serf Suicides
Numerous documents dated from the 1820s through the end of Russia’s Imperial era which pertain to police investigations, court records and trial transcripts suggest that three commonly ascribed reasons for suicideSuicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
became prominent views of the former crime within Russian society: (1) illnesses of the mind
Mental illness
A mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture. Such a disorder may consist of a combination of affective, behavioural,...
and more abstract concepts such as feelings of inner turmoil, torment or persecution resulted in many suicides. These cases were typically said to have mitigating circumstances for suicide, and thus the body was treated to a proper Christian
Orthodox Christianity
The term Orthodox Christianity may refer to:* the Eastern Orthodox Church and its various geographical subdivisions...
burial. (2) Another commonly attributed cause for suicide was the culmination of an individual’s moral failure, which included “drunkenness, debauchery, depravity, and impudence.”This particular view very likely sprung from reports related to incidents of serfs committing suicide once being freed by their owner. One particularly well-known example is the case of Grigorii Miasnikov, who committed suicide on 1 September 1828. A talented young man, Miasnikov received freedom from his owner so that he could pursue an education in art, which he displayed an aptitude for. However, his owner demanded that he leave art school and return to work. Though Miasnikov’s suicide could fall into the category of the natural outcome of the serf without his owner, it was in actuality an act of protest against the institution of serfdom itself. Miasnikov left behind a suicide note which read: ‘Forgive me, my most beloved friends. Do not reproach me for my act — I am showing you how one must oppose the superciliousness of ambitious men. My dear friend Vasilii Egorovich—write on my tomb that I died for freedom. Forgive me.’“In the Name of Freedom: Suicide, Serfdom, and Autocracy in Russia.”
Because of this note, in conjunction with the other details of his suicide (which are discussed further down), the court charged Miasnikov’s body with the political offense of “discussing governmental reform”rather than the criminal offense of committing suicide. In addition to that, the mode by which he chose to kill himself—a gun, the favoured weapon of choice for noblemen and military officers— and the place where he performed the action, the art school’s Gallery of Antiquity, both evoked the image of a romantic hero
Romantic hero
The Romantic hero is a literary archetype referring to a character that rejects established norms and conventions, has been rejected by society, and has the self as the center of his or her own existence. The Romantic hero is often the protagonist in the literary work and there is a primary focus...
, which could be interpreted as Miasnikov making himself a model for future protests against serfdom as a patriarchal institution. However, these details were covered up and his suicide was publicly recognised as being no different from others. Then again, there were those serfs who truly found themselves at a loss without the guidance of their owner. One such serf was able to explain the reason for his suicide as he lay dying from his self-inflicted wounds. He was often unable to find work and was without a place to live, and subsequently began to suffer from “pensiveness,”which may be interpreted in this case as depressed
Depression (mood)
Depression is a state of low mood and aversion to activity that can affect a person's thoughts, behaviour, feelings and physical well-being. Depressed people may feel sad, anxious, empty, hopeless, helpless, worthless, guilty, irritable, or restless...
thought or mood congruent memory. (3) The third possibility was that a serf committed suicide as the result of constant or exceptionally harsh treatment by a cruel owner. This motivation was defined as the instigation of a suicide. Under Peter the Great, suicide and attempted suicide became felony
Felony
A felony is a serious crime in the common law countries. The term originates from English common law where felonies were originally crimes which involved the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods; other crimes were called misdemeanors...
offenses in Russia; as suicide had become a criminal offense, the Church no longer retained the discretion to decide how to handle them. However, instigation of suicide was regarded with more seriousness than either of those, likened more closely to premeditated murder
Premeditated murder
Premeditated murder is the crime of wrongfully causing the death of another human being after rationally considering the timing or method of doing so, in order to either increase the likelihood of success, or to evade detection or apprehension.State laws in the United States vary as to definitions...
. Instigation of suicide was also a crime unique to Russian and Soviet legal proceedings, since the very idea worked in tandem with patriarchical and paternalist principles, which is shown by the text: "Parents, guardians, and other individuals possessing some sort of power, who, through the manifest abuse of this power combined with cruelty, drive a subordinate or someone entrusted to their guardianship to commit suicide, are [subject to the following penalties]: the loss of certain rights ... and privileges and incarceration in a house of correction for a term lasting from eight months to one year and four months; in addition, if they are Christians, they are to be assigned a church penance
Penance
Penance is repentance of sins as well as the proper name of the Roman Catholic, Orthodox Christian, and Anglican Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation/Confession. It also plays a part in non-sacramental confession among Lutherans and other Protestants...
, as determined by their spiritual authority."
As serfs made up at least half of Russia’s population for centuries, it is unsurprising that the highest percentage of suicides were committed by this social group. Women and peasants, who would compose the larger proportion of suicides after the abolition of serfdom in Russia, were less often victims of self-murder. Additionally, they did not necessarily suffer from the same situations as a serf might, which were surmised as motivations for suicide: “anger, fear of punishment, melancholy, fear of military recruitment, fear of punishment, melancholy, punishment already inflicted (by a serf owner), and avoidance of punishment.”A variety of ideas arose, all supporting the theories mentioned above and more, attempting to puzzle out why a serf would commit self-murder. Within the sphere of conjecture remained the logical assumption that a serf’s actions were spurred on by either a cruel master, or that they fell victim to personal thoughts and feelings of “melancholy,” which may be understood in the modern day as depression. Serf suicides remained prevalent in Russian society right up until the abolishment of the institution of serfdom in 1861, under Emperor Alexander II
Alexander II of Russia
Alexander II , also known as Alexander the Liberator was the Emperor of the Russian Empire from 3 March 1855 until his assassination in 1881...
. After the removal of the institution, suicides lost their high concentration within a certain social class and the numbers dispersed amongst women, children and people of lower classes. With the centuries-long tradition of serfdom having come to an end, the total social order came under scrutiny by society. In particular, other forms of patriarchy which became more evident in different sectors of Russian society (in the home, schools and the military, for example)where the crime of instigated suicide became more prominent. In particular, the question of women’s place in society became a topic of discussion in Russian society.
Serfdom's Extent in Russia
By the mid-19th century, the peasants composed a majority of the population, and according to the census of 1857 the number of private serfs was 23.1 million out of 62.5 million Russians,37.7% of the population.The exact numbers, according to official data, were: entire population 60,909,309; peasantry of all classes 49,486,665; state peasants 23,138,191; peasants on the lands of proprietors 23,022,390; peasants of the appanages and other departments 3,326,084. State peasants were considered personally free, but their freedom of movement was restricted.
| % serfs on estates of... | 1700 | 1861 |
|---|---|---|
| +500 serfs | 26 | 42 |
| 100-500 | 33 | 38 |
| 1-100 | 41 | 20 |
| 1777 | 1834 | 1858 |
|---|---|---|
| 83 | 84 | 78 |
Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n serfdom depended entirely on the traditional and extensive technology of the peasantry. Yields remained low and stationary throughout most of the 19th century. Any increase in income drawn from agriculture was largely through increasing land area and extensive grain raising by means of exploitation of the peasant labor, that is, by burdening the peasant household still further.
Serfs owned by European Russian landlords
| No. of serfs | in 1777 (%) | in 1859 (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 1000+ | 1.1 | |
| 501-1000 | 2 | |
| 101-500 | 16 (101+) | 18 |
| 21-100 | 25 | 35.1 |
| 0-20 | 59 | 43.8 |
% peasants enserfed in each province, 1860
+55%: Kaluga
Kaluga
Kaluga is a city and the administrative center of Kaluga Oblast, Russia, located on the Oka River southwest of Moscow. Population: It is served by Grabtsevo Airport.-History:...
Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
Kostroma
Kostroma
Kostroma is a historic city and the administrative center of Kostroma Oblast, Russia. A part of the Golden Ring of Russian towns, it is located at the confluence of the Volga and Kostroma Rivers...
Kutaisi
Kutaisi
Kutaisi is Georgia's second largest city and the capital of the western region of Imereti. It is 221 km to the west of Tbilisi.-Geography:...
Minsk
Minsk
- Ecological situation :The ecological situation is monitored by Republican Center of Radioactive and Environmental Control .During 2003–2008 the overall weight of contaminants increased from 186,000 to 247,400 tons. The change of gas as industrial fuel to mazut for financial reasons has worsened...
Mogilev
Mogilev
Mogilev is a city in eastern Belarus, about 76 km from the border with Russia's Smolensk Oblast and 105 km from the border with Russia's Bryansk Oblast. It has more than 367,788 inhabitants...
Nizhny Novgorod
Nizhny Novgorod
Nizhny Novgorod , colloquially shortened to Nizhny, is, with the population of 1,250,615, the fifth largest city in Russia, ranking after Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, and Yekaterinburg...
Podolia
Podolia
The region of Podolia is an historical region in the west-central and south-west portions of present-day Ukraine, corresponding to Khmelnytskyi Oblast and Vinnytsia Oblast. Northern Transnistria, in Moldova, is also a part of Podolia...
Riazan Smolensk
Smolensk
Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River. Situated west-southwest of Moscow, this walled city was destroyed several times throughout its long history since it was on the invasion routes of both Napoleon and Hitler. Today, Smolensk...
Tula
Tula
Tula may refer to:In geography:*Tula, Hidalgo, a town in Mexico, once the capital and sacred city of the Toltec people.*Tula, Tamaulipas, a place in the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico*Tula River in central Mexico...
Vitebsk
Vitebsk
Vitebsk, also known as Viciebsk or Vitsyebsk , is a city in Belarus, near the border with Russia. The capital of the Vitebsk Oblast, in 2004 it had 342,381 inhabitants, making it the country's fourth largest city...
Vladimir
Vladimir
Vladimir is a city and the administrative center of Vladimir Oblast, Russia, located on the Klyazma River, to the east of Moscow along the M7 motorway. Population:...
Volhynia
Volhynia
Volhynia, Volynia, or Volyn is a historic region in western Ukraine located between the rivers Prypiat and Southern Bug River, to the north of Galicia and Podolia; the region is named for the former city of Volyn or Velyn, said to have been located on the Southern Bug River, whose name may come...
Yaroslavl
Yaroslavl
Yaroslavl is a city and the administrative center of Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, located northeast of Moscow. The historical part of the city, a World Heritage Site, is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Kotorosl Rivers. It is one of the Golden Ring cities, a group of historic cities...
36-55%: Chernigov Grodno Kovno Kursk
Kursk
Kursk is a city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur, Tuskar, and Seym Rivers. The area around Kursk was site of a turning point in the Russian-German struggle during World War II and the site of the largest tank battle in history...
Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
Novgorod Orel
Orel
Orel or Oryol can refer to:*Oryol, a city in Russia, the administrative center of Oryol OblastIt can also refer to:*Alexander Oryol , Soviet military leader and admiral...
Penza
Penza
-Honors:A minor planet, 3189 Penza, discovered by Soviet astronomer Nikolai Stepanovich Chernykh in 1978, is named after the city.-Notable residents:...
Poltava
Poltava
Poltava is a city in located on the Vorskla River in central Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Poltava Oblast , as well as the surrounding Poltava Raion of the oblast. Poltava's estimated population is 298,652 ....
Pskov
Pskov
Pskov is an ancient city and the administrative center of Pskov Oblast, Russia, located in the northwest of Russia about east from the Estonian border, on the Velikaya River. Population: -Early history:...
Saratov
Saratov
-Modern Saratov:The Saratov region is highly industrialized, due in part to the rich in natural and industrial resources of the area. The region is also one of the more important and largest cultural and scientific centres in Russia...
Simbirsk Tambov
Tambov
Tambov is a city and the administrative center of Tambov Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Tsna and Studenets Rivers southeast of Moscow...
Tver
Tver
Tver is a city and the administrative center of Tver Oblast, Russia. Population: 403,726 ; 408,903 ;...
Vilna
16-35%: Don
Don
- People :* Don , a short form of the masculine given name Donald in English, also a masculine given name in Irish* Don , a Spanish, Portuguese and Italian title, given as a mark of respect* Don, a crime boss...
Ekaterinoslav Kharkov Kherson
Kherson
Kherson is a city in southern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Kherson Oblast , and is designated as its own separate raion within the oblast. Kherson is an important port on the Black Sea and Dnieper River, and the home of a major ship-building industry...
Kuban
Kuban
Kuban is a geographic region of Southern Russia surrounding the Kuban River, on the Black Sea between the Don Steppe, Volga Delta and the Caucasus...
Perm
Perm
Perm is a city and the administrative center of Perm Krai, Russia, located on the banks of the Kama River, in the European part of Russia near the Ural Mountains. From 1940 to 1957 it was named Molotov ....
Tiflis Vologda
Vologda
Vologda is a city and the administrative, cultural, and scientific center of Vologda Oblast, Russia, located on the Vologda River. The city is a major transport knot of the Northwest of Russia. Vologda is among the Russian cities possessing an especially valuable historical heritage...
Voronezh
Voronezh
Voronezh is a city in southwestern Russia, the administrative center of Voronezh Oblast. It is located on both sides of the Voronezh River, away from where it flows into the Don. It is an operating center of the Southeastern Railway , as well as the center of the Don Highway...
In the black earth region 70-77% of the serfs performed labour services (barshchina), the rest paid rent (obrok) Owing to the high fertility, 70% of Russian cereal production in the 1850s was here.
In the 7 central provinces, 1860, 67.7% of the serfs were on obrok.
The Abolition of Serfdom in Russia
In 1816, 1817 and 1819 serfdom was abolished in EstlandGovernorate of Estonia
The Governorate of Estonia or Estland, also known as the Government of Estonia or Province of Estonia, was a governorate of the Russian Empire in what is now northern Estonia.-Historical overview:...
, Courland
Courland Governorate
Courland Governorate, also known as the Province of Courland, Governorate of Kurland , and Government of Courland , was one of the Baltic governorates of the Russian Empire, that is now part of the Republic of Latvia....
and Livonia respectively. However all the land stayed in noble hands and labor rent lasted till 1868. It was replaced with landless laborers and sharecropping (halbkörner). Landless workers had to ask permission to leave an estate.
The nobility was too weak to oppose the emancipation of the serfs. In 1820 a fifth of the serfs were mortgaged, half by 1842. By 1859, a third of noble's estates and two thirds of their serfs were mortgaged to noble banks or the state. The nobility was also weakened by the scattering of their estates, lack of Primogeniture
Primogeniture
Primogeniture is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn to inherit the entire estate, to the exclusion of younger siblings . Historically, the term implied male primogeniture, to the exclusion of females...
and the high turnover and mobility from estate to estate.
In 1861 all serfs were freed in a major agrarian reform, stimulated by the fear voiced by Tsar Alexander II
Alexander II of Russia
Alexander II , also known as Alexander the Liberator was the Emperor of the Russian Empire from 3 March 1855 until his assassination in 1881...
that "it is better to liberate the peasants from above" than to wait until they won their freedom by risings "from below." Serfdom was abolished in 1861, but its abolition was achieved on terms unfavorable to the peasants and served to increase revolutionary pressures. Between 1864 to 1871 serfdom was abolished in Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
. In Kalmykia
Kalmykia
The Republic of Kalmykia is a federal subject of Russia . Population: It is the only Buddhist region in Europe. It has also become well-known as an international chess mecca because its former President, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, is the head of the International Chess Federation .-Geography:*Area:...
serfdom was only abolished in 1892.
The serfs had to work for the landlord as usual for two years. The nobles kept nearly all the meadows and forests, had their debts paid by the state while the ex serfs paid 34% over the market price for the shrunken plots they kept. This figure was 90% in the northern regions, 20% in the black earth region but zero in the Polish provinces. In 1857, 6.79% of serfs were domestic, landless servants who stayed landless after 1861. Only Polish and Romanian domestic serfs got land. 90% of the serfs who got larger plots were in the 8 ex Polish provinces where the Tsar wanted to weaken the Szlachta (the rest were in the barren north and in Astrakhan
Astrakhan
Astrakhan is a major city in southern European Russia and the administrative center of Astrakhan Oblast. The city lies on the left bank of the Volga River, close to where it discharges into the Caspian Sea at an altitude of below the sea level. Population:...
. In the whole Empire, peasant land declined 4.1%, 13.3% outside the ex Polish zone and 23.3% in the 16 black earth provinces. These redemption payments were not abolished till January 1, 1907.
See also
- SmerdSmerdSmerds were feudal-dependent peasants in Russia and some other Slavic countries. Sources from the 11th and 12th centuries mention smerds’ presence in the Kievan Rus Smerds (sing. smerd; in Russian: pl. смерды, sing. смерд ) were feudal-dependent peasants in Russia and some other Slavic countries....
- KholopKholopKholops were feudally dependent people in Russia between the 10th and early 18th centuries. Their legal status was close to that of serfs.- Etymology :The word kholop was first mentioned in a chronicle for the year of 986. Its etymology is unclear...
- ObshchinaObshchinaObshchina or Mir ) or Selskoye obshestvo were peasant communities, as opposed to individual farmsteads, or khutors, in Imperial Russia. The term derives from the word о́бщий, obshchiy ....
- KolkhozKolkhozA kolkhoz , plural kolkhozy, was a form of collective farming in the Soviet Union that existed along with state farms . The word is a contraction of коллекти́вное хозя́йство, or "collective farm", while sovkhoz is a contraction of советское хозяйство...
- Imperial Russia
- History of slaveryHistory of slaveryThe history of slavery covers slave systems in historical perspective in which one human being is legally the property of another, can be bought or sold, is not allowed to escape and must work for the owner without any choice involved...
- Manifesto of three-day corveeManifesto of three-day corveeThe Manifesto of three-day corvee or An Imperial Edict Forbidding Sunday Labor by Serfs was issued by the Russian emperor Paul I on April 5th, 1797 as a first ever legal attempt at extending the rights of Russian serfs...
(1797) - Emancipation reform of 1861 in Russia
External links
- Russia :: Social classes -- Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Serfdom: The Life of East Europe's Masses
- Russia - Chapter XXVIII The Serfs
- Welcome to Encyclopædia Britannica's Guide to History
- Saltychikha (1730–1801): Russian serf-owner
- The Causes of Slavery or Serfdom: A Hypothesis
- Крепостная правда in KommersantKommersantKommersant is a commerce-oriented newspaper published in Russia. , the circulation was 131,000.- History :The newspaper was initially published in 1909, and it was closed down following the Bolshevik seizure of power and the introduction of censorship in 1917.In 1989, with the onset of press...
-Money. - Russian serfdom, The ArgusThe Argus (Australia)The Argus was a morning daily newspaper in Melbourne established in 1846 and closed in 1957. Widely known as a conservative newspaper for most of its history, it adopted a left leaning approach from 1949...
, Friday 30 July 1858, p. 7