Serpent of the peasants: the stages and their characteristics

Under the Russian Tsar Ivan the Third, the main forces of the state were directed to "gathering the Russian lands" around Moscow, freeing the khans from the Horde. In the annexed lands, it was required to establish the order of their use, which resulted in the local land tenure system. According to it, the state land was handed over to a serving person for temporary use or for life as a reward for service and a source of income. So formed the local troops. On the lands of the newly-born landowners until 1497, relatively free peasants who could switch from one "employer" to another unhindered, paying a fee for the use of housing and land, and also all the existing debts, were working.

Agriculture does not contribute to frequent movements

Was there the enslavement of the peasants until 1497? The stages of the agricultural cycle do not in fact contribute to the active movement of farmers from one site to another. This is due to the fact that it requires the arrangement of a new dwelling, the preparation of a new plot for crops, the creation of a food reserve for the first time. Therefore, the free peasantry at that time was conservative and moved, in fact, not very often, although it had the right to do so. Land tenants in the 15th century were generally divided into newcomers and old residents. The first of which could count on benefits from their feudal lord (in order to attract workers to the farm), and the latter were not subject to very high taxes, as they worked constantly, and they had a great interest. Peasants could work as part of the harvest (ladles) or for interest (silver).

It was possible to become free only in winter

How did the serfs become enslaved? The stages of this process stretched for several centuries. Everything changed with the adoption of Ivan the Third Code of Laws - the Code of Laws, in which it was established that a peasant could leave only one master after another, only after the end of agricultural work, during St. George's Day and a week before or after him with the payment of an "elderly". It must be said that in different years the feast of this saint - George the Great Martyr - was celebrated on different days. According to the old calendar, this day fell on November 26, in the 16th and 17th centuries it was celebrated on December 6, and in our days - on December 9. Sudebnik also determined the amount of "elderly", which was one ruble from the households located in the fields, and a half-board from the farms located in the forests, in favor of the landlords. At the same time, this fee was set for four years, that is, if the peasant lived and worked for a year, he had to pay a quarter of the amount determined by the Sudebnik.

Characteristics of the main stages of enslavement of peasants

The son and heir of Ivan the Third, Vasily the Third, expanded the Moscow principality by annexing Ryazan, Novgorod-Seversky and Starodub Principality. With him there were active processes of centralization of power, which were accompanied by the minimization of the power of the boyars and the growth of the landed nobility, in whose estates someone had to work. This tendency increased during the reign of Ivan the Fourth (Grozny), who in his Code of Laws of 1550 confirmed the right of the landowners to let the peasants only on Yuryev's day, while reducing the rights of the peasants and serfs themselves and raising the "elderly" to two altynes. Stages of enslavement of peasants in Russia went one after another.

Non-free tillers have been in Russia since ancient times

About slaves it is necessary to say a few words separately. This status of an unfree person personally existed since the time of the principalities of Ancient Rus and until 1723. The slave was actually a slave (the slave captured in the war was called a "Chelyadin" and was in a worse situation with respect to the serf). In slaves fell again in the war, as a result of the crime (the prince could take in the serfs of a person who committed murder in robbery, arson or horse stealing), with insolvency in paying debts or at birth from not free parents.

It was possible to become a slave voluntarily if a person married a not free person, sold himself (at least for 0.5 hryvnia, but under witnesses), served as a keyman or a tyoon (in the latter case, other relationships were possible). With the serfs, the owner was free to do anything, including selling and killing, while simultaneously responsible for their actions to third parties. The slaves worked there, where they will be put, including on the ground. Therefore, we can say that the enslavement of peasants, whose stages date back to the 15th-16th centuries, was in fact based on the practices of the slave system that had been established.

Partial ban on the transition

Shortly before his death (in 1581), Ivan the Terrible imposed restrictions on the transition of farmers to the Yuryev day to conduct a general census of land and assess the scale and quality of management on it. This was another event, which caused further enslavement of the peasants. Stages of development of the system of enslavement, however, are attributed to both Grozny and Tsar Fedor Ivanovich, who seems to have issued such a decree in 1592.

Proponents of the ban imposed by Grozny indicate that the documents until 1592 contain references to "reserved (forbidden) summers", while supporters of Fedor Ivanovich believe that it was the absence of references to "reserved summers" in the documentation after 1592 that indicates , That the ban was introduced in 1592-1593. There is no clarity on this issue until now. It should be noted that the cancellation of St. George's Day did not work throughout Rus - in the south the peasants could move from one owner to another long enough.

Complete enslavement of farmers

The main stages in the enslavement of peasants in the 16th century did not end with the above measures. In 1597, a decree was issued on the lesson of the years, which established that a runaway peasant could be returned to his former master for 5 years. If this term expired and the previous owner did not file an application for a search, the fugitive stayed in a new place. As an escape, any departure was considered, and a refund was made with all property and family.

The summer was partially canceled under Boris Godunov

Stages of legal enslavement of peasants operated since 1597 in respect not only of the farmer himself, but also of his wife and children, who became "fixed" for the land. Ten years after the adoption of the rules of the school years (1607), the situation of servile rural workers has worsened, since under Vasily Shuisky, a decree was issued to extend the search term to fifteen years, which significantly extended the rights of landowners to the work of peasants. This document tried to prove the illegality of the cancellation of the learned years during the reign of B. Godunov, who introduced the indulgences, most likely in connection with the famine in 1601-1602.

What ended all the stages of enslavement of the peasants? Briefly - a complete cancellation of the school years and an unlimited number of fugitives. This happened under Tsar Aleksei Mikhailovich and was decorated with the Cathedral Ordinance of 1649. Only after more than two hundred years, in 1861, serfdom will be abolished and Russian peasants will receive relative freedom.