Having thrown off the centuries-old shackles of the Horde and overcome feudal fragmentation, Rus' by the middle of the sixteenth century turned into single state with a large population and vast territories. She needed a strong and organized army to protect the borders and develop new lands. This is how service people appeared in Rus' - these were professional warriors and administrators who were in the service of the sovereign, received a salary in lands, food or bread and were exempt from paying taxes.

Categories

There were two main categories of service people.

1. Those who served in their country. The highest military class, recruited from among the Russian nobility. From the name it is clear that the service was passed on to the son from the father. They occupied everything leadership positions. For their service, they received land plots for permanent use, fed and grew rich through the work of the peasants on these plots.

2. Those who served according to the device, that is, by choice. The bulk of the army, ordinary warriors and lower-level commanders. They were chosen from the masses. As a salary they received land plots for general use and for a time. After leaving service or death, the land was taken by the state. No matter what talents the “instrumental” warriors possessed, no matter what feats they performed, the road to the highest military positions was closed to them.

Servicemen for the Fatherland

The children of boyars and nobles were included in the category of service people in their homeland. They began to serve at the age of 15, before which they were considered minors. Special Moscow officials with assistant clerks were sent to the cities of Rus', where they organized shows of noble youth, who were called “noviki.” The new recruit's suitability for service, his military qualities and financial status were determined. After which the applicant was enrolled in the service, and he was assigned a monetary and local salary.

Based on the results of the reviews, tens were compiled - special lists in which records of all service people were kept. The authorities used these lists to control the number of troops and the amount of salaries. In tens, the movements of the serviceman, his appointment or dismissal, injuries, death, and captivity were noted.

Service people in the country were hierarchically divided into:

Moscow;

Urban.

Duma servants for the fatherland

People from the highest aristocratic environment who occupied a dominant position in the state and army. They were governors, ambassadors, governors in border cities, led orders, troops and all state affairs. The Duma were divided into four ranks:

Boyars. The most powerful people of the state after the Grand Duke and the Patriarch. Boyars had the right to sit in the Boyar Duma and were appointed ambassadors, governors, and members of the Judicial Collegium.

Okolnichy. The second most important rank, especially close to the sovereign. Okolnichy represented foreign ambassadors to the ruler of Rus', they were also involved in all the grand ducal trips, be it a trip to war, prayer or hunting. The okolnichy went ahead of the king, checked the integrity and safety of the roads, found overnight accommodation for the entire retinue, and provided everything necessary.

Duma nobles. They performed a variety of duties: they were appointed governors and managers of Prikazas, participated in the work of commissions of the Boyar Duma, they had military and court duties. With the proper talent and zeal, they moved to a higher rank.

The clerks are Duma. Experienced officials of the Boyar Duma and various Orders. They were responsible for working with the documents of the Duma and the most important Orders. The clerks edited royal and Duma decrees, acted as speakers at Duma meetings, and sometimes rose to the rank of head of the Order.

Instrument officers

According to the instrument, service people constituted the combat core of the Russian troops. They were recruited from free people: the population of cities, bankrupt servicemen in the homeland, and partly from “Pribornye”, they were exempt from most duties and taxes and for their service they were given a cash salary and small plots of land, on which they worked themselves in their free time from service and wars.

Service people according to the device were divided into:

Kazakov;

Streltsov;

Gunners.

Cossacks

The Cossacks did not immediately become the sovereign's servants. These willful and brave warriors only entered the sphere of influence of Moscow in the second half of the sixteenth century, when the Don Cossacks, for a reward, began to guard the trade route connecting Rus' with Turkey and Crimea. But Cossack troops quickly became a formidable force in the Russian army. They guarded the southern and eastern borders of the state and actively participated in the development of Siberia.

Cossacks settled separately in cities. Their army was divided into “devices” of 500 Cossacks each, under the leadership of a Cossack head. Additionally, the instruments were divided into hundreds, fifty and tens, they were commanded by centurions, pentecostals and tens. The general management of the Cossacks was in the hands of who appointed and dismissed service people. The same order determined their salaries, punished and judged them, and sent them on campaigns.

Sagittarius

Streltsy can rightfully be called the first regular army in Rus'. Armed with bladed weapons and arquebuses, they were distinguished by high military training, versatility and discipline. The archers were mainly foot warriors, they could fight both independently and as a full-fledged addition to the cavalry, which until then had been the main striking force of the sovereign's troops.

In addition, the streltsy regiments had a clear advantage over the noble cavalry, because they did not need long training, they went on a campaign at the first order of the authorities. In peacetime, archers monitored law and order in cities, guarded palaces, and performed guard duty on city walls and streets. During the war, they took part in sieges of fortresses, repelling attacks on cities and in field battles.

Like the free Cossacks, the archers were divided into orders of 500 warriors, and they, in turn, were divided into hundreds, fifty, and the smallest units - tens. Only serious injuries, old age and wounds could put an end to the service of the archer, otherwise it was for life and was often inherited.

Pushkari

Already in the sixteenth century, statesmen understood the importance of artillery, so special service people appeared - these were gunners. They performed all tasks related to the guns. In peacetime, they kept the guns in order, stood guard next to them, and were responsible for obtaining new guns and making cannonballs and gunpowder.

During the war, they were responsible for all the artillery issues. They transported guns, maintained them, and took part in battles. The gunners were additionally armed with arquebuses. The Pushkar rank also included carpenters, blacksmiths, collar workers and other artisans needed to repair tools and city fortifications.

Other service people in Russia in the 16th century

Conscripted service people. This was the name of the fighters who were recruited from the peasants by special decree of the tsar during difficult wars.

Battle serfs. Military retinue of large aristocrats and middle-class landowners. They were recruited from unfree peasants and rejected or bankrupt newcomers. Combat serfs were an intermediate link between the draft peasantry and the nobles.

Church servants. These were warrior-monks, patriarchal archers. Warriors who took monastic vows and reported directly to the patriarch. They played the role of the Russian Inquisition, monitoring the piety of the clergy and defending the values ​​of the Orthodox faith. In addition, they guarded the highest dignitaries of the church and, if necessary, became a formidable garrison in the defense of fortress monasteries.

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instrument service people
- in Russia of the XIV-XVIII centuries, the general name for persons obliged to perform military or administrative service in favor of the state.

There are other names in the literature - Free servants, Attendants, Military people, Warriors, Sovereign's people.

• 1 History
  • 1.1 Service people “in the homeland”
  • 1.2 Service people “according to the device”
  • 1.3 Service people “on call”
  • 1.4 Church servants
  • 1.5 Combat serfs (servants)
• 2 See also
• 3 Notes
• 4 Literature
• 5 Links

Story

The armed forces of the Russian state (Russian army, Rat) at the end of the 15th - first half of the 17th centuries were staffed by all the servicemen of the state who carried out military service personally and indefinitely and made up the local noble cavalry (local army).

They were divided into:

• Moscow service people, so in sources from the end of the 16th century they report about the Ukrainian service of Moscow service people: “And the sovereign ordered all Ukrainian governors in all Ukrainian cities to stand in their place according to the previous list and at the gathering they should be in regiment according to the previous list; and how will the military people come to the sovereign’s Ukraine, and the sovereign ordered to be in the forefront of the Ukrainian regiment.”;
• city ​​service people (city nobles and boyar children, enrolled in military service in cities (Kaluga residents, Vladimir residents, Epifans and others), made up city noble horse hundreds with their heads and other commanders).

Service people in the Russian kingdom were divided into categories:

• servants “for the fatherland” (out of duty), these included Moscow ranks, city nobles and boyar children, who bore personal land duties and served at their own expense in the “hundred service” (the most noble and wealthy), or for a salary in the “reitarsky system", the most noble people from among the reitar were allocated to hussars (only in the Novgorod rank) and spearmen;
• servants “by instrument” (selection, selection), these included archers, Cossacks, gunners, zatinshchiki, pishchalniks, and so on, who carried out constant service for a salary in money, in-kind provision of bread, salt, fabrics, and more;
• “conscript” servicemen, temporarily serving in wartime by decree (conscription), these included peasants according to a certain proportion - the so-called “dacha people”;
• church service people;
• combat slaves or servants.

Service people "in the homeland"

The service was mainly passed down from father to son. This category included boyars, okolnichys, stolniks, boyar children, Murzas and service Tatars, Lithuanian courtyards, stellate sturgeons, nobles, Duma clerks, white-domestic Cossacks and others. They were considered a privileged class, owned land (on patrimonial, “quarter” or local rights) and peasants. For their service they received cash or local salaries, titles and other rewards.

Main article: Local system

Service people "according to the instrument"

They were recruited from representatives of the tax-paying classes who were personally free. First of all, these are the Streltsy, who obeyed the Streletsky order. Most of the city Cossacks also obeyed the Streletsky order. This can be explained by the lack of a clear difference in the service of city Cossacks and archers. Both were armed with arquebuses and did not have horses for service. Some of the Cossacks obeyed the Cossack order. There were few such Cossacks with atamans and esauls. Subsequently, the service “on the device” also turned into hereditary. Children of Streltsy became Streltsy, children of Cossacks became Cossacks. A specific group of the population were Streltsy and Cossack children, nephews and elders. This group formed gradually, when all the places in the required number of city Cossacks or Streltsy were already occupied, but their origin obliged these people to serve in the “instrument” people. The state did not consider them a full-fledged army, but they were included in the city estimate lists. Streltsy and Cossack children, nephews and elders were armed with spears and “served on foot.” There were also smaller service units: gunners, zatinshchiki, collar workers, state blacksmiths, interpreters, messengers (messengers), carpenters, bridge builders, notch watchmen and yam hunters. Each of the categories had its own functions, but in general they were considered inferior to the Streltsy or Cossacks. Bridge builders and watchmen are not mentioned in all cities. In Korotoyak and Surgut, among the local service people there were also local executioners. Serving people “according to the instrument” were rarely involved in regimental service. They were engaged in gardening, crafts, trade, and crafts. All service people paid grain taxes into the city treasury in case of a siege. In the 17th century, ordinary military personnel of the regiments of the “new order” were added to the category of service people “according to the instrument” - musketeers, reiters, dragoons, soldiers, as well as plow soldiers and dragoons.

Service people "on call"

In wartime, by decree (conscription) of the tsar, at critical moments for the state, peasants were temporarily called up for service according to a certain proportion - the so-called “dacha people”.

During education centralized state The people's militia was liquidated by the grand ducal government. The prince attracted the masses to military service only in case of serious military danger, regulating the size and nature of this service at his own discretion (pososhny army).

A. V. Chernov, “Armed forces of the Russian state in the XV-XVII centuries,” M., Voenizdat, 1954, p. 27-28.

Main article: The marching army

Church servants

The third, special and quite numerous category was made up of church ministers(patriarchal nobles, boyar children, archers, messengers, etc.), who accepted obedience or tonsure (monasticism), were supported and armed at the expense of the church and were subordinate to the Patriarch and the highest hierarchs (metropolitans, archbishops, archimandrites) of the Russian Orthodox Church. According to contemporaries, Patriarch Nikon, “if necessary,” could “put into the field” up to ten thousand people. The Patriarchal Streltsy, for example, guarded the patriarch and were a special intra-church “morality police” that monitored the behavior of the clergy. “The Patriarchal archers constantly go around the city,” wrote the Archdeacon of Antioch, who visited Moscow. Orthodox Church Paul of Aleppo, - and as soon as they meet a drunken priest and monk, they immediately take him to prison and subject him to every kind of reproach...” The Patriarchal Archers were also a kind of church inquisition - they were engaged in the search and arrests of people suspected of heresy and witchcraft, and after the church reform of 1666, Old Believers, including Archpriest Avvakum and noblewoman Morozova. “The Patriarch’s archers grabbed the noblewoman by the chain, knocked her to the floor and dragged her away from the chamber down the stairs, counting the wooden steps with her unfortunate head...” The Patriarchal archers walked around Moscow churches and houses and, having seized the “wrong” icons, brought them to Patriarch Nikon, who publicly broke them, throwing them to the ground. Church service people were also involved in public service. At the end of the 16th and at the beginning of the 17th centuries, the “people of the Ryazan ruler” carried out guard duty to protect the southern border of the Russian state, along with the Cossacks. Numerous monasteries-fortresses - Novodevichy Monastery, Donskoy Monastery, Simonov Monastery, Novospassky Monastery, New Jerusalem Monastery, Nikolo-Peshnoshsky Monastery, Vysotsky Monastery, Spaso-Evfimiev Monastery, Bogolyubsky Monastery, Epiphany-Anastasia Monastery, Ipatiev Monastery, Tolgsky Monastery, Rostov Boris and Gleb Monastery , Zheltovodsk Makariev Monastery, Spaso-Prilutsky Monastery, Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery, Solovetsky Monastery, Pafnutyevo-Borovsky Monastery, Pskovo-Pechersky Monastery, Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery, Joseph-Volotsky Monastery, Trinity-Sergius Lavra and others had powerful artillery, high walls with towers and numerous garrisons of monastic warriors, were able to withstand a long siege and played a key role in the defense of the Russian state. The Holy Trinity Borshchevsky Monastery, one of the most powerful fortresses of the Belgorod region, was founded in 1615 by the Don Cossacks and Borshchev was built specifically for the atamans and Cossacks, “which of them are tonsured and which of them are wounded and maimed in that monastery.”

Combat serfs (servants)

The fourth category was fighting slaves (servants) - armed servants who belonged to the category of the unfree population. Existed in Russian state in the 16th-18th centuries, they formed the armed retinue and personal guard of large and medium-sized landowners and carried out military service in local army together with the nobles and “children of the boyars.” The servants occupied an intermediate social position between the nobility and the peasants. Compared to the completely powerless arable and yard serfs, this stratum enjoyed considerable privileges. Starting from the second half of the 16th century, among the military serfs, ruined “children of the boyars” and “newcomers” rejected during the tsarist establishment increasingly began to appear, for whom joining the boyar retinue, even at the cost of freedom, was the only way to maintain their belonging to the military class. In different years, the number of combat slaves ranged from 15 to 25 thousand people, which amounted to from 30 to 55% of the total number of the entire local army.

In the 19th century, the word was retained in the form “servant” as an address to soldiers or other lower military ranks.

See also

• Serviceman
• Person liable for military service
• Conscript
• Volunteer
• Mercenary
• Warrior
• Soldier
• Hussar
• Militiaman
• City Cossacks
• Serving Tatars
• Boyar children
• Sagittarius
• Cossacks
• Battle serfs

Notes

1. Ill. 92. Warriors in tags and iron hats // Historical description of clothing and weapons Russian troops, with drawings, compiled according to the highest command: in 30 volumes, in 60 books. / Ed. A. V. Viskovatova.
2. Belyaev I. D. “On guard, village and field service in the Polish Ukraine of the Moscow State, before Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich” - M. 1846
3. Seredonin O. M. “News of foreigners about the Russian armed forces.” - St. Petersburg, 1891
4. “Boyar lists of the last quarter of the 16th - early 17th centuries. and painting of the Russian army in 1604." / Comp. S. P. Mordovina, A. L. Stanislavsky, part 1 - M., 1979
5. Richard Halley. "Service in Russia" 1450-1725. - M., 1998

Literature

• Brodnikov A. A. About the protective weapons of the service people of Siberia in the 17th century // Bulletin of NSU. Series: History, philology. - 2007. - T. 6, No. 1.
• About the Russian army during the reign of Mikhail Fedorovich and after it, before the transformations made by Peter the Great. Historical research valid member Imperial Society of Russian History and Antiquities I. Belyaev. Moscow. 1846

Links

instrument service people

Service people Information About

people in the service of the state are not by origin, but by hire (secretaries, clerks, archers, gunners, zatinshchiki, city Cossacks, soldiers, coachmen). The condition of an instrumental service man was hereditary in the same way as that of a boyar's son; Streltsy children general rule they tidied up into the archers, the Cossack children ~ into the Cossacks. But this category of persons did not have hereditary isolation and was constantly replenished by an influx of new forces from various strata of society; New people joined the Streltsy and Cossacks from time to time.

Sl. “according to the device” they settled in cities as settlements and were allocated small plots of state-owned land, and their land plots were very similar to the tax plots of the townspeople. Sl. “according to equipment”, being landowners, but not having peasants or slave workers, they themselves cultivated the land and hunted with their own hands. Streltsy, Cossacks and other instrumental people, just like the children of the boyars, were free from taxes, as Sl., white landowners, but with some restrictions. Many of them, living in cities, were engaged in trade and crafts.

In the 17th century Sl. “according to the device” they were allocated local land in the border regions of the country, where they guarded state borders without additional salary.

Introduction

As a result of military reforms and the general growth of the armed forces, the composition of the Russian army increased significantly. At the same time, its organization has become more complex. From the middle of the 16th century. the army consisted of service people according to the “fatherland” and service people according to the “device”.

The first group included:

Duma service people - boyars, okolnichy, Duma nobles;

Moscow service people - stewards, solicitors, Moscow nobles, tenants;

city ​​service people - nobles and boyar children elected (“from choice”), courtyards (“according to the courtyard list”) and policemen (city and siege service).

The second group consisted of archers, Cossacks, gunners, zatinshchiki, collar workers, government blacksmiths, carpenters, etc. This group also includes prefabricated and pososh people.

Let's look at each group separately.

Service people in the “fatherland” (noble militia)

The bulk of service people in the “fatherland” were city nobles and boyar children.

According to the charter of 1556, the service of nobles and boyar children began at the age of 15; before that time they were considered “underage.” To enlist the grown-up nobles and children of the boyars, or, as they were called, “noviks,” into the service, boyars and other Duma officials with clerks were periodically sent from Moscow to the cities; sometimes this matter was entrusted to local governors. Arriving in the city, the boyar had to organize elections from local service nobles and children of boyar special salary workers, with the help of which recruitment was carried out. Based on inquiries from those enlisted into the service and instructions from salary earners, the financial status and service suitability of each new recruit were established. Salaries showed who could be in the same article with whom based on origin and property status. Then the newcomer was enlisted in the service and was assigned a local and monetary salary.

Salaries were set depending on the origin, property status and service of the newcomer. Local salaries of new workers ranged on average from 100 quarters (150 dessiatines in three fields) to 300 quarters (450 dessiatines) and cash salaries - from 4 to 7 rubles. During the service, the local and monetary salaries of new recruits increased.

The government vigilantly ensured that people from the lower classes did not penetrate among the nobles and children of the boyars. When recruiting new recruits into the service, it was specified that there should be no “priests’ and peasants’ children, and boyar slaves, and monastery servants.” Here we are talking not only about representatives of the tax population (peasants and townspeople), whose preservation the government was especially concerned about for tax purposes, but also about all non-noble people in general. This principle remained in force later. During inspections (debriefs) of nobles and boyar children, non-nobles were removed from service.

The military needs of the country, especially the organization of the defense of the southern border, nevertheless prompted the government to recruit persons of non-boyar-noble origin, for example, Cossacks, into the ranks of the children of boyars and service people. In general, on the southern outskirts of the state, where military men were very much needed, the government took less into account the “fatherland” of those who were assigned to the estate.

The promotion of new recruits to the service often took place simultaneously with a general inspection of all service people in the “fatherland” of a given city and county. At these reviews, or “debriefings,” it was necessary to find out, with the help of paymasters, about each person: what kind of horse and weapon and people he would be in the service, what kind of country and service he would be, and to whom “a mile away”, what his local and monetary salary, how much service he can perform, whether he shows up for work on time and leaves it, etc. As a result of the layout and review, a special list was compiled for the city and county, the so-called “tenth”.

In the organization of the local militia, tens had great value. The government took into account the nobles and children of the boyars in tens, appointed them to the service and dismissed them from it. All tens were kept in the Discharge Order. Before the new analysis, the Rank noted in tens all the official movements of each person, participation in campaigns and battles, additions to local and monetary salaries, captivity, death, etc. For the Local Order, tens were the basis for allocating estates to service people in accordance with salaries.

The number of serving nobles and boyar children in each city and district ultimately depended on land area county, suitable for local distribution. Thus, in Kolomna in 1577 there were about 310 nobles and boyar children, in Pereyaslavl Zalessky in 1590 - 107, in Murom in 1597 - 154. The largest number of serving nobles and boyar children had such major cities, like Novgorod (more than 2000 people in five Pyatina), Pskov and Smolensk (more than 479 people) .

Depending on their birth, property wealth and serviceability, nobles and boyar children were divided into elected, courtyard and policemen.

Elected boyar children constituted a privileged part of the district service people in the “fatherland.” In peacetime, they served alternately in Moscow at the royal court under the name “tenants.” They guarded the royal court, and also carried out various assignments of a military, administrative and other nature. In wartime, the residents were part of the Tsar's regiment or were the Tsar's bodyguards. They were appointed heads of hundreds of local militia.

During the time under study, boyar courtyard children occupied a middle position between elected officials and city officials. Boyar children were replenished from the policemen according to the “yard list”; Electors were appointed from among the boyars' courtyard children. The largest group consisted of city boyar children, who performed both regimental and city service.

The local and monetary salaries of serving nobles and boyar children were very different: they ranged from 20 to 700 quarters and from 4 to 14 rubles. per year. The size of salaries depended primarily on the rank of the serving person. The highest salaries were received by boyar children who served “by choice” (350 – 700 quarters), then “according to the yard list” (350 – 500 quarters) and, finally, by “policemen” - the largest and most varied group in terms of salaries ( 20 -- 500 quarters). There were no uniform local and monetary salaries for nobles and boyar children. Salaries varied geographically and were determined by the government.

Depending on the performance of official duties, local and monetary salaries changed. For proper service, the landowner's salary increased. For faulty service (failure to show up for service, early departure from it, etc.), local and monetary salaries were reduced, and in case of malicious violation of official duties, the estate was taken away from the landowner and transferred to the boyars' homeless children.

In the second half of the 16th century. The military service of nobles and boyar children was divided into city (siege) and regimental. Siege service was carried out either by small-scale residents with salaries of 20 chiets or by those who were unable for health reasons to perform regimental (march) service; in the latter case, part of their estates was taken away from the boyars' children. Siege service was carried out on foot, and it had to be carried out only “from the ground”, from the estates; No salary was paid to those in siege service. For good service, nobles and boyar children were transferred from siege service to regimental service with an increase in local salary and the issuance of a cash salary.

Regimental service was long-distance (march) and short-range (Ukrainian, coastal). In peacetime, regimental service consisted of constant protection of borders, mainly southern ones.

Moscow service people (stewards, solicitors, Moscow nobles and tenants) were in a more privileged position than city people. Thus, Moscow nobles received local salaries from 500 to 1000 quarters and cash from 20 to 100 rubles. In addition, many of them had estates. In peacetime, Moscow servicemen carried out diplomatic, military and administrative assignments, and were governors in cities. In wartime, some of the Moscow ranks were included in the tsar's regiment, while others were sent to other regiments. In the regiments, Moscow ranks occupied command positions of governors, their comrades, heads of hundreds, etc. The total number of Moscow service people was small - no more than 2 - 3 thousand people.

Duma ranks (boyars, okolnichy, Duma nobles) occupied the highest command positions in the army. They were appointed large regimental and simple regimental governors, governors in border cities, etc. The most noble of the boyars were entrusted with the main command of the army.

Boyars and okolnichi received local salaries in the amount of 1000 to 2000 quarters, and Duma nobles from 800 to 1200 quarters; the boyars' cash salaries were 500-1200 rubles; okolnichy - 200 - 400 rubles, Duma nobles 100 - 200 rubles. per year.

There were few Duma ranks: about 15 okolniks, no more than 6 Duma nobles. As for the boyars, then greatest number there were 30 of them under Boris Godunov; on average, the composition of the boyars ranged from 15 to 25 people.

Called into service, the landowners of one district formed hundreds of assembly points; from the remnants of the district hundreds, mixed hundreds were created; they were all distributed on the shelves. After the end of the service, the nobles and boyar children went home, hundreds broke up and were formed again at the next call for service. Thus, the bends, like the regiments, were only temporary military units of the local militia.

At the head of the hundreds were heads appointed by the government or regimental governors from local district or Moscow nobles. Heads were in military service only during a campaign or war.

All service people according to the “fatherland” had to appear for service “on horseback, armed and with people,” that is, on horseback, with weapons and with people.

The earliest information about the composition and armament of the nobles and children of the boyars has been preserved from 1556, when a review was carried out in the city of Kashira by the boyars Kurlyatev and Yuryev and the clerk Vyluzga. For analysis, we will take only those nobles and boyar children whose local salaries are shown; There are 222 such people in tenths. In terms of their property status, these persons belonged mainly to the middle-class nobility: they had estates of 100–250 quarters. Everyone, without exception, came to the review on horseback, and many even with two horses. The weapons of these persons were as follows: saadak - 41 people, spear - 19, spear - 9, ax - 1 person and without any weapons 152 people. In addition, 49 people had protective weapons (armor).

The review was also attended by 224 noble serfs (except for the baggage train), including 129 unarmed people. The remaining 95 people had the following weapons: saadak and saber - 15 people, saadak and spear - 5, saadak and spear - 2, saadak - 41, spear - 15, spear - 16 and arquebus - 1 person. Of the 224 people, 45 were in protective equipment, all had horses. Consequently, there were no fewer serfs than the landowners themselves, and they were armed no worse than the landowners.

How the noble cavalry changed at the end of the 16th century is shown by the tenth in Kolomna in 1577. Kolomna nobles and boyar children (283 people) also belonged to the average landowners and came to the review better armed than the Kashirs. Almost all of them had the same weapons: saadak and saber. It is necessary to take into account, however, that the review in Kolomna was accompanied by an analysis and issuance of local and monetary salaries with the simultaneous issuance of salaries. The landowner was ordered in advance to “be” on duty with weapons and a certain number of people.

The imperfection of the weapons of the nobles and the children of the boyars was explained mainly by the fact that the government did not establish what kind of weapon the landowner was obliged to show up for service with. At the end of the 16th century. the government made some attempts to strengthen combat capability local cavalry. Thus, in 1594, during an inspection of the children of the boyars of the city of Ryazhsk, most of them were ordered to serve with arquebuses.

The attempt to arm all the boyars' children with arquebuses and create a permanent organization of hundreds was caused by the military situation and was temporary. She didn't receive further development, and in the 17th century. the weapons of the noble cavalry were as diverse as in the period under study.

In addition to unsatisfactory weapons, the local militia had another major drawback, namely weak military discipline. The government took measures against violations of service, reduced local and monetary salaries or completely deprived them of land and monetary salaries, etc. However, all these measures turned out to be of little effect. Discontent and escapes from service continued to grow, becoming widespread, and the government, interested in serving people, did not apply punishments consistently and strictly enough. Failure to perform service and weak discipline were the most convincing indicators of the beginning of the disintegration of the local militia. This process reached its highest development at the beginning of the 17th century. and ultimately led to the gradual replacement of the noble cavalry with other branches of the army.

Regarding the total number of local militia at the end of the 16th century. There are indications in the special work of S. M. Seredonin on the armed forces of the Russian state. The author came to the conclusion that total number nobles and boyar children at the end of the 16th century. did not exceed 25 thousand people. Seredonin calculated that these landowners, having an average of 200 quarters of estates or estates, had to bring 2 people with them. Thus, total number The cavalry of nobles and boyar children with their people amounted to approximately 75 thousand people. These author's calculations need clarification. From 200 quarters of land, the landowner had to bring, according to the Code of 1556, not two, but one armed man, since from half of the specified land (100 quarters) he personally served. Consequently, the total number of the noble militia was not 75, but 50 thousand people. Surviving tithes for the second half of the 16th century. show that the nobles and boyars' children very carelessly brought with them armed people who were owed them under the Code of 1556, and therefore the figure of the noble cavalry of 50 thousand people should be considered the maximum.

The management of service people in the “fatherland” was under the jurisdiction of the Rank Order. The functions of the Rank Order to provide serving people in the “fatherland” with lands were continued by the Local Order. Based on local salaries established in the Rank, the Local Order carried out the actual allocation of land (“dacha in salary”).

Service people in their homeland in Russia in the 17th century (nobles).

Nobles occupied a more privileged position in Russian society of the 17th century. Οʜᴎ amounted to highest level sovereign people who served the fatherland. Nobles owned estates that were inherited, subject to the continuation of the heir's service to the sovereign. By the mid-17th century, the nobles became the main support of tsarist power in Russia. It is worth noting that the only noble title that was inherited was the title of prince. The remaining ranks were not inherited, but assigned, and first of all, they meant a position, but gradually they lost their official meaning.

The clearest hierarchy reflecting official significance was in the ranks of the Streltsy army. The regiment commanders were colonels, the commanders of individual detachments were semi-colonels, then came the heads and centurions.

In the 17th century in Russian society, most ranks did not have a clear division by type of activity. The highest ranks were considered to be the Duma ranks, people who were close to the tsar: Duma clerk, Duma nobleman, okolnichy, boyar. Below the Duma ranks were the palace or court ranks. These included: steward, solicitor, military leader, diplomats, compilers of scribe books, tenants, Moscow nobleman, elected nobleman, courtyard nobleman.

The lower strata of service people included recruited service people. These were archers, gunners, and serving Cossacks.

Peasantry in Russian general

17. Government and nobility in 17 – trans.
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even 18th century (decree on unified inheritance and Table of Ranks)

By decree of January 16, 1721, Peter declared service merit, expressed in rank, to be the source of nobility of the nobility. The new organization of civilian service and its equation with the military in the sense of obligatory for the nobility created the need for a new bureaucratic structure in this area as well. civil service. This was achieved by the establishment of the “Table of Ranks” on January 24, 1722. In this table, all positions were distributed into three parallel rows: land and naval military, civilian and court. Each of these series was divided into 14 ranks, or classes. The series of military positions begins, going from the top, with Field Marshal General and ends with Fendrik. These land positions correspond in the navy to the admiral general at the head of the rank and the naval commissioner at the end. At the head of the civilian ranks is the chancellor, behind him is the actual privy councilor, and below are the provincial secretaries (grade 13) and collegiate registrars (grade 14). The “Table of Ranks” created a revolution not only in the service hierarchy, but also in the foundations of the nobility itself. Having made the basis of the division into ranks a position that was filled through merit based on personal qualities and the personal suitability of the person entering it, the Table of Ranks abolished the completely ancient division based on birth and origin and eradicated any meaning of aristocracy in the Russian state system. Now everyone, having reached a certain rank through personal merit, was promoted to the corresponding position, and without going up the career ladder from the lower ranks, no one could reach the highest. Service and personal merit become the source of nobility. In the paragraphs that accompanied the Table of Ranks, this was expressed very definitely. It says there that all employees of the first eight ranks (not lower than major and collegiate assessor) and their descendants are ranked among the best senior nobility. In paragraph 8, it is noted that, although the sons of the most noble Russian nobility are given free access to the court for their noble breed, and it is desirable that they should in all cases be distinguished from others in dignity, however, none of them is given any rank for this, until they show their services to the sovereign and the fatherland and receive character (that is, state position expressed in rank and corresponding position) for them. The table of ranks further opened up a wide path to the nobility for people of all classes, once these people got into military and civil service and moved forward through personal merit. Because of all this, the final result of the Table of Ranks was the final replacement of the old aristocratic hierarchy of breed with a new bureaucratic hierarchy of merit and seniority.

From this innovation, first of all, high-born people suffered from this innovation, those who had long been a select circle of the family tree of the nobility at court and in the government. Now they are on the same level as the ordinary nobility. New people, coming from not only the lower and seedy service ranks, but also from lower people, not excluding serfs, penetrated into the highest government positions under Peter. Under him, from the very beginning of his reign, A.D. Menshikov, a man of humble origin, took first place. The most prominent figures of the second half of the reign were all people of humble origin: Prosecutor General P. I. Yaguzhinsky, Peter’s right hand at that time, Vice-Chancellor Baron Shafirov, Chief of Police Devier - they were all foreigners and non-residents of very low origin; inspector of the Town Hall, vice-governor of Arkhangelsk Kurbatov was one of the serfs, and so was the governor of the Moscow province Ershov. Of the old nobility, Prince Dolgoruky, Prince Kurakin, Prince Romodanovsky, Prince Golitsyn, Prince Repnin, Buturlin, Golovin and Field Marshal Count Sheremetev retained a high position under Peter.

In order to elevate the importance of his unborn companions in the eyes of those around him, Peter began to bestow upon them foreign titles. Menshikov was elevated to the rank of His Serene Highness Prince in 1707, and before that, at the request of the Tsar, he was made a Prince of the Holy Roman Empire. Boyar F.A. Golovin was also first elevated by Emperor Leopold I to the dignity of a count of the Roman Empire.

Along with the titles, Peter, following the example of the West, began to approve the coats of arms of the nobles and issue certificates of nobility. Coats of arms, however, became a big fashion among the boyars back in the 17th century, so Peter only legitimized this tendency, which began under the influence of the Polish nobility.

Following the example of the West, the first order in Russia, the “cavalry” of St. Apostle Andrew the First-Called, was established in 1700 as the highest sign of distinction. Once the noble dignity acquired by service since the time of Peter is inherited, as granted for length of service, which is also news, unknown XVII century, when, according to Kotoshikhin, nobility, as a class dignity, “was not given to anyone.” "So, according to the table of ranks,- said Professor A. Romanovich-Slavatinsky, - a ladder of fourteen steps separated every plebeian from the first dignitaries of the state, and nothing prevented every gifted person, having stepped over these steps, from reaching the first ranks in the state; it opened wide the doors through which, through the rank, “vile” members of society could “ennoble” and enter the ranks of the nobility.”

[edit] Decree on unified inheritance

Main article:Decree on unified inheritance

The gentry of the times of Peter the Great continued to enjoy the right of land ownership, but since the foundations of this right changed, the nature of land ownership itself changed: the distribution of state-owned lands into local ownership ceased by itself as soon as the new nature of the noble service was finally established, as soon as this service, having concentrated in regular regiments, it lost its former militia character.
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Local distribution was then replaced by the granting of inhabited and uninhabited lands to full ownership, but not as a salary for service, but as a reward for exploits in the service. This consolidated the merger of estates and estates into one that had already taken place in the 17th century. In his law “On movable and immovable estates and on joint inheritance,” issued on March 23, 1714, Peter did not make any distinction between these two ancient forms of service land ownership, speaking only about immovable estate and meaning by this expression both local and patrimonial lands.

The content of the decree on single inheritance is that a landowner with sons could bequeath all his real estate to one of them whom he wanted, but certainly only to one. If the landowner died without a will, then all real estate passed by law to one eldest son. If the landowner did not have sons, he could bequeath his estate to one of his close or distant relatives, whomever he wanted, but certainly to just one. If he died without a will, the estate passed to the next of kin. When the deceased turned out to be the last in his family, he could bequeath real estate to one of his maiden daughters, a married woman, a widow, whomever he wanted, but certainly only one. The real estate passed to the eldest of the married daughters, and the husband or fiancé was obliged to take the surname of the last owner.

The law on unified inheritance concerned, however, not just the nobility, but all “subjects”, whatever their rank and dignity. It was forbidden to mortgage and sell not only estates and estates, but also courtyards, shops, and any real estate in general. Explaining, as usual, the new law in the decree, Peter points out, first of all, that “If the immovable property will always go to one son, and the rest will only have movable property, then state revenues will be more manageable, because the master will always be more satisfied with the big one, although he will take it little by little, and there will be one house, not five, and he can better give benefits to his subjects, and don't ruin.

The decree on unified inheritance did not last long. He caused too much discontent among the nobility, and the nobility tried in every possible way to bypass him: the fathers sold part of the villages in order to leave money younger sons, obligated the co-heir by oath to pay the younger brothers their share of the inheritance in money. A report submitted by the Senate in 1730 to Empress Anna Ioannovna indicated that the law on single inheritance caused among members of noble families “hatred and quarrels and prolonged litigation with great loss and ruin for both sides, and it is not unknown that not only some brothers and neighbors relatives among themselves, but the children also beat their fathers to death. Empress Anna abolished the law on single inheritance, but retained one essential feature of it. The decree abolishing single inheritance ordered “from now on, both estates and votchinas will be called equally one immovable estate - votchina; and it is the same for fathers and mothers to divide their children according to the Code, and it is the same for daughters to give a dowry as before..

In the 17th century and earlier, service people who settled in the districts of the Moscow State lived in a fairly united social life, which was created around that case, they had to serve “even until death.” Military service collected them in some cases in groups, when each had to settle down on their own so that they could all serve the review together, elect a governor, prepare for a campaign, elect deputies to the Zemsky Cathedral, etc. Finally, the very regiments of the Moscow army were formed by each of the nobles one locality, so that neighbors all served in the same detachment.

Service people in their homeland in Russia in the 17th century (nobles). - concept and types. Classification and features of the category "Service people for the fatherland in Russia in the 17th century (nobles)." 2017, 2018.