Black peasants are personally free people

The history of our country, like any other, is a process of socio-economic and political development with elements of the struggle between classes, some of which were in a privileged position, while others were in the completely opposite. To this class, the peasants belonged to the Blacks and the Owners of Rus, and then to the Russian Empire.

Russian nuances of the historical process

In order to understand in detail the peasant question, it is necessary to understand how the process of feudalization and capitalization was going on in our country. In contrast to Europe, these important events in Russia occurred with some delay. There were several objective reasons for this, the most important, however, was the invasion of the Mongol-Tatars. If we compare the analogous processes of feudalization of Rus and Europe of the preordian period, we can say about the great degree of their similarity. But then the way completely diverges: if in the West serfdom began to die in the thirteenth-fourteenth century, then in Russia it is just beginning to strengthen. This is especially noticeable by the end of the fourteenth century. It was after the gradual liberation from dependence on the Horde that the aspirations of the feudal lords intensified to bind the peasants to their farms. Over the next centuries, this process has only taken on a larger scale.

The origin of differentiation

Inequality arose in the ancient Russian state, then there were purchases, ryadovichi. These were people who were still personally free, but who were in economic dependence. Rich and noble Rusichs tried to turn them into completely dependent, but it turned out with varying success. Nevertheless, then there is a special category of practically disenfranchised slaves. But this process can not be called empowerment yet - these are only its origins, which were extinguished by the already mentioned Mongol invasion. However, the establishment of feudal control over the peasant class was not completely stopped, it simply slowed down. In the XII-XIV centuries the peasants had the right of St. George's Day, which allowed them to change the owner once a year, paying him compensation (the elderly). The state and the Grand Duke, and then the Tsar, did not stand aside from this process. On the one hand, they defended the interests of feudal lords, and on the other, they expanded their land holdings. The peasants who lived there, as well as those who moved there, were black-skinned peasants.

Legislative registration of peasant dependence

The feudal lords looked at these transitions with great displeasure, as the authorities repeatedly stated. The supreme power considered as its main support a layer of large, medium and small noblemen, therefore it was compelled to reckon with discontent of these people. Black peasants, as a rule, were subjected to lesser exploitation and were connected only with taxes and small duties in favor of the state, so it is understandable that the private peasants want to change their status. Legislatively, the right to transfer peasants was established by the Code of Law of 1497. The subsequent events, in particular the expanding noble-boyar opposition, led to the appearance in the new Code of Law of 1550 of an article on the increase of the elderly. Although the rule of St. George's Day remained, but the payment for the transition has increased significantly, which was for many peasant families an unbearable sum. Thus, the authorities hoped to find a compromise solution, losing to the feudal estate, but not ignoring the interests of the peasants completely.

"Here's to you, grandmother, and St. George's Day!"

The rural population of the European North and Siberia is the black-footed peasants that survived by the end of the sixteenth and the beginning of the seventeenth century. The definition of this term can be formulated as follows: peasants, depending on the state, but personally free living on the domain of the ruler. Their other name is state peasants. To this era the center of the country was all serf. This was promoted by the policy of Ivan IV. The Livonian War, followed by the oprichnina, led to the utter desolation of the central and partly southern part of the European territory of the country. Therefore, in 1581, the decree "On Protected Years" appeared, which meant a temporary ban on the transfer of peasants to other owners. Although the authorities gave it out as a temporary measure, nevertheless after this transition the peasants were no more.

The Age of Serfdom

Further policy only became tougher, in 1597 issued a decree "On the Lessons of the Year," which provided for the search of fugitive peasants and their return to the owner for five years, with the passage of time this period only increased. In 1649, the Sobornoye Ulozhenie, a new set of laws of the state, was already passed, which actually forbade the owner to change, and the period of search for runaway peasants became perpetual. This date is considered an episode of the final establishment of control of feudal lords over peasants, serfdom was established in Russia, but not all peasants became owners. The population of rural units, which turned out to be at the time of the adoption of the Code on the territory of the country belonging to the royal family, were not serfs, remaining free-that's who are black-eared peasants. And the term got its name from the tax - on a black plow.