What class was considered the highest why. third estate

Class division was characteristic of medieval Europe, and usually included the aristocracy, priests and community members. In a number of states, the latter were divided into burghers (bourgeois, philistines) and peasants. As a rule, belonging to estates is inherited.

The first legislative assemblies of Europe were based on the estate principle; characteristic examples were the tricameral States General in France and the bicameral Parliament of England.

Estates of Ancient Rome

Estates in Plato

Estates are described by Plato in the VIII book "States". The entire population in such a state is divided by Plato into three estates:

philosopher-rulers
guardian warriors
demiurges.

France

The so-called "Old Regime" in France (that is, the one that existed before the revolution) divided society into three estates: the first (priests), the second (aristocrats) and the third (communes).

The duties of the First Estate included: registering marriages, births and deaths, collecting tithes, exercising spiritual censorship of books, performing moral police duties and helping the poor. The clergy owned 10-15% of the land in France; they were not taxed.

The total number of the First Estate in 1789 was estimated at 100 thousand people, of which about 10% belonged to the higher clergy. The system of succession to the eldest son that existed in France led to the fact that younger sons often became priests.

The second estate was the aristocracy, and, in fact, the royal family, with the exception of the monarch himself. The nobility was divided into "cloak aristocrats", representing justice and civil service, and "sword aristocrats".

The number of aristocrats was about 1% of the population; they were exempted from labor service for road construction, as well as from a number of taxes, in particular the gabel (tax on salt), and the traditional taglia tax.

The special privileges of aristocrats included the right to wear a sword and the right to a family coat of arms. Also, aristocrats collected taxes from the third estate, relying on the traditional feudal system.

The taxable estates in the Muscovite kingdom included peasants and townspeople.

The lowest stratum of the population consisted of non-free serfs.

Russian empire

On November 10, 1917, the Decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars "On the destruction of estates and civil ranks" eliminated all estate privileges and restrictions and proclaimed the equality of citizens.

Literature

Laws on States (St. Legislative Vol. IX, ed. 1899) with additional legalizations, clarifications of the Rules. Senate, Circulars of the Ministry of the Interior and an alphabetical index. Comp. Palibin M.N. St. Petersburg, 1901]
Pipes, Richard. Russia under the old regime / transl. V. Kozlovsky. Moscow: Nezavisimaya Gazeta, 1993.

Links

Anpilogova E. S. Public life of women of the upper classes at the turn of the XVII-XVIII centuries // Electronic journal “Knowledge. Understanding. Skill ». - 2009. - No. 6 - History.

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Synonyms:

See what "Estate" is in other dictionaries:

Estate ... Spelling Dictionary

Among the bookish Slavicisms that entered the active composition of the Russian literary language during the period of the so-called "second South Slavic influence" (XIV-XVI centuries), the word estate is included. A. G. Preobrazhensky thought that it represents ... ... The history of words

Rank, status, rank, guild, caste, class, corporation, sect, shop. He is from a simple rank. .. Wed… Synonym dictionary

Modern Encyclopedia

ESTATE, estates, cf. 1. A social group formed on the basis of the class relations of feudalism, a class organization with hereditary rights and obligations fixed by law (historical, pre-revolutionary, foreign). "The importance of every person in the state ... Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov

estate- ESTATE, a social group in many pre-capitalist societies that has rights and obligations enshrined in custom or law and inherited. For the estate organization of society, usually including several estates, ... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

A social group that has rights and obligations enshrined in custom or law and inherited. For a class organization, usually including several estates, a hierarchy is characteristic, expressed in the inequality of their position and ... ... Political science. Dictionary.

ESBE about the third estate

Literature

Classical work on the history of the third estate - Augustin Thierry, "Essai sur la formation et les progrès du Tiers Etat" (1850, translated into Russian, M., 1899);
Smirnov, "The Commune of Medieval France" (Kazan, 1873);
A. Lucheire, "Les Communes françaises à l "époque des Capé tiens directs" (P., 1890);
J. Flach, "Les origines Communales".

Monographs on the history of individual cities and regions

E. Bonvalot, "Le Tiers État, d'après la charte de Beaumont et ses filiales" (P., 1884);
Désmolins, "Mouvement communal et municipal au moyen âge";
Bardoux, "La bourgeoisie française";
Perrens, "La démocratie en France au moyen âge";
Giraud-Teulon, "La royauté et la bourgeoisie";
A. Babeau, "La ville sous l'ancien regime".

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Cumberland (county)
Edward Martyr

See what the "Third Estate" is in other dictionaries:

THIRD ESTATE- THE THIRD ESTATE, the taxable population of France in the 15th-18th centuries. merchants, artisans, peasants, from the 16th century. also the bourgeoisie and the workers (the first two other classes are the clergy and the nobility) ... Modern Encyclopedia

THIRD ESTATE- taxable population of France 15-18 centuries. merchants, artisans, peasants, from the 16th century. also the bourgeoisie and workers (unlike the third estate, the first two estates, the clergy and the nobility, were not taxed by talis) ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

third estate- taxable population of France 15-18 centuries. merchants, artisans, peasants, from the 16th century. also the bourgeoisie and workers (unlike the third estate, the first two estates, the nobility and the clergy, were not subject to direct taxation) ... Historical dictionary

§ 8. Estates in Russia. Their number and distribution on the face of the Russian land.

The class system in Russia is, according to the just remark of prof. N. Korkunov, nothing more than the remnants of those that took place in the 18th century. attempts to instill in Russian life the beginnings of the Western European estate system, in which the entire population was divided in the Middle Ages into four strictly isolated estates: the nobility, the clergy, the townspeople and the peasants, each of which enjoyed special rights and constituted a united whole, opposed to other estates. In modern state life Zap. In Europe, this class division has disappeared; remained, as a special privileged estate, only the nobility, and then significantly changing its character. At present, the nobility in most states enjoys only honorary privileges and does not constitute a united whole¹*. In Russia, before Peter I, there were no estates in the proper sense of the word, and in the language of Muscovite Rus' one cannot even find words to express such concepts as “estate system”, “estate institutions”, “estate prejudices”²*. The estate system of Russia is the creation of the last centuries of Russian history. But while in Zap. In Europe, the population is no longer divided into separate estates, Russian legislation still retains a class grouping of the population, a grouping alien to our history, borrowed by us from the West in an era of blind imitation of everything foreign. “The estate system (in the sense of Western Europe), says further prof. N. Korkunov, could never take any deep roots in our life, and the reforms of Alexander II deprived him of his last support. Thanks to this, modern Russian legislation, which still preserves the basis of estates, finds itself in a strange contradiction with the actual conditions of Russian life. Class principles, stubbornly preserved by Russian legislation, are in fact so alien to Russian life that it is not uncommon for us to meet a person who himself does not know to which estate he belongs. The general provision placed at the beginning of Volume IX of the “Code of Laws” shows that “all the natural inhabitants of Russia are supposed to be divided into four main types of people: 1) nobles, 2) clergy, 3) urban inhabitants, 4) rural inhabitants (peasants, Cossacks , aliens). The law gives them the name of the estates (Article 4), but most of them do not at all form a single whole, even the nobles are divided into hereditary and personal, the clergy - by religion, the urban estate - into honorary citizens, merchants, philistines and guilds; among the peasantry there are also a number of varieties. Further, some of the "class conditions" are not hereditary, not even lifelong and generally not closed. According to Korkunov, only nobles, honorary citizens, philistines and peasants can be recognized as estates in Rus', but even in these “estates” life has made big gaps. Official statistics paint the following picture of the distribution of Russian inhabitants by class (Finland is not taken into account). The following table, compiled on the basis of the 1897 census, shows the absolute number of persons of different classes. This year there were:

		For every thousand people
Nobles hereditary
Nobles personal and officials not from the nobility
Persons of the clergy of all Christian denominations
Hereditary and personal honorary citizens


Peasants
Troop Cossacks
foreigners
Finnish natives
Persons not belonging to the aforementioned classes
Persons who did not indicate their estate
foreigners

For every thousand of the population there are: 771 peasants, 106 bourgeois, 66 foreigners, 23 Cossacks, 10 nobles, 5 from the clergy, 5 honorary citizens, 8 “others”⁴*. Foreigners and Cossacks are, so to speak, varieties of the peasantry.

Foreigners live mainly in Central Asia and Eastern Siberia, and in European Russia they are found only in the provinces of Astrakhan and Arkhangelsk and in the Caucasus, in the Terek region and Stavropol province. In total, 8,297,965 foreigners were counted, and even those in many places are quickly dying out under the pressure of the conditions created for them by the “development of Russian trade” and the “regulation” of foreign life by the labors of the Russian administration⁵*. As for the Cossacks, they were counted in 1897 2,928,842 people. For every thousand Cossacks, there are 400 Don Cossacks, 228 Orenburg Cossacks, 410 Kuban Cossacks, 179 Terek Cossacks, 18 Astrakhan Cossacks, 179 Amur Cossacks, 291 Trans-Baikal Cossacks, 62 Primorye Cossacks, 109 Akmola Cossacks, 42 Semipalatinsk Cossacks, 30 Semirechensk Cossacks, 177 Ural Cossacks. If we count foreigners and Cossacks together with peasants, then Russia turns out to be a real peasant kingdom: a group of so-called. “rural dwellers” make up 86% of the total population in it, while the group of other classes is only 14%, i.e., almost 7 times less. But even these 14% do not yet constitute the so-called. commanding class, - because this number includes, for example, philistines, guilds, etc. In certain parts of the state, the peasant group of rural inhabitants is distributed as follows: the largest percentage of them is observed in Central Asia (97.2%), then Siberia (90%), in the Caucasus (86.7%), in European Russia (86.2%) Privislinsky Krai (73.1%). As for the other estates, they are distributed in different parts of Russia as follows:

1. Nobility . The highest percentage is observed in the Caucasus (24 per thousand inhabitants), then in Poland (19 per 1000), in Europe. Russia (15 per 1000), Siberia (8), Cf. Asia (4). The provinces of many nobility are as follows: Petersburg (72 per 1000), Kutaisi (68), Kovno (68), Vilna (49), Warsaw (41), Minsk (36), Elizavetpol (35), Moscow (32), i.e. All foreign, with the exception of St. Petersburg and Moscow, two central government.

2. Clergy . The largest percentage of it is in the Caucasus (6 for every thousand inhabitants), then in Europe. Russia (5), Siberia (3), Poland (1). Most of all, the percentage of clergy is in the provinces: Kutaisi (22), Yaroslavl (14), Arkhangelsk (12), Kostroma, Moscow, Orenburg (11 each), Tver, Tiflis (10 each).

3. Honorary citizens and merchants. This class is even more rarefied. For every 1000 inhabitants there are merchants and honorary citizens: in Europe. Russia 6 each, Caucasus 4 each, Siberia 3 each, Wed. Asia and Poland 1 each. These figures perfectly illustrate the antediluvian and absurd division of the townsfolk into estates. It turns out that in such an industrial area as Poland, there are extremely few members of the merchant class. Obviously, only other estates are interested in trade, in other words, the estate has nothing to do with it.

4. Philistines. This estate is the most common in Poland (235 people for every 1000 inhabitants), then in Europe. Russia (106), Caucasus (81), Siberia (56), Cf. Asia (20). Particularly rich are the faces of this estate of the lips. Warsaw (330), Petrokovskaya (316), Kherson (274), Grodno (250).

By gender and by locality, the estates are distributed as follows.

	European Russia	middle Asia

Nobles hereditary
Nobles personal
Clergy of all Christian denominations
Hereditary and personal honorary citizens


Peasants

Aliens

It is impossible not to see from this tablet that hereditary male nobles make up only a small group, less than half a million people, but they are still much more than merchants and honorary citizens.

It is interesting to take a closer look at the distribution of persons of the non-peasant class in cities and villages. It turns out that in 1897 more than half of the hereditary nobles (52.7%) lived outside the cities. After the events of 1905‑1906. this distribution changed significantly in many provinces, and many hereditary nobles moved out of their estates. Personal nobles and officials are fairly evenly distributed throughout the Empire, with the exception of Cf. Asia, where they make up only 0.2% of the population. Representatives of this class live mainly in cities (75%), as well as merchants (of which 80% are city dwellers). Most of the townspeople are also townspeople (56%). As for the peasants, only 6.7% of their total number are in the cities, but there are many of them in large, rapidly developing centers: in 1897 there were 745,905 of them in St. Petersburg and 661,628⁶* in Moscow. In recent years, thanks to the landlessness of the peasants under the law on November 9, 1906, in the hunger strike of 1911-1912, in very many cities there has been an unprecedented confluence of villagers looking for work and food.

Let us now see which estates are increasing over time, which are decreasing in numbers? Official statistics give us the opportunity to partly judge this. Compared with 1870, the following changes took place: the relative number of the nobility (hereditary and personal - we will talk about hereditary below, especially) has become larger. In 1870, there were 13 people for every 1000 * * and in 1897 already 15. On the contrary, the clergy moved back (from 9 people for every 1000 population in 1870 to 5 people for the same number in 1897). The percentage of nobles personal and employees remained unchanged. The percentage of urban estates (merchants, philistines, honorary citizens) increased greatly by 1897 (from 93 to 111.).

Let us now try to outline, so to speak, a statistical description of the main estates, namely the nobility, hereditary and personal, bureaucratic and military, then the clergy.

¹* Korkunov. Russian State Law. Ed. 7th vol. I, pp. 274, 280.

²* Ibid. Page 274.

³* There. Page 275.

⁴* Yearbook Center. Art. Committee of 1905 and 1909. The same is in the "General Compendium of Census Results".

⁵* For terrible facts illustrating this extinction, see P. Berlin's "Stepsons of Civilization". Ed. G. Lvovich, and N. Yadrintsev “Foreigners of Siberia”.

⁶* This information and the above table are borrowed by us from Art. D. Richter from 4 volumes. to Enz. words. Brockhaus.

⁷* Stat. Vremnik. Issue. X 1875

In Russia, the term "estate" appeared only in the 18th century, therefore it is believed that there were no estates, as in Western states, in pre-Petrine Rus'. However, the social division into groups, whose members differed in their legal status, was observed in Kievan Rus already in the 10th century.

social ladder

The princes and the clergy, who owned the lands, belonged to the upper class. Then came the warriors serving the prince. At the top of this privileged were the boyars and were called the oldest squad. Below were the youths or the younger squad.

Below the social ladder were the so-called free people who did not serve the prince: in the city - merchants, artisans, community members, in the countryside - peasants, taxed. The non-free population dependent on the landowner as servants or serfs. Even lower along the class ladder were smerds - mob or slaves, which were available both in the city and in the countryside.

In the middle of the 11th century, the so-called purchases and ryadovichi appeared. Purchases were called debtors of landowners, they occupied a position between the free population and the serfs. Ryadovichi were people who concluded an agreement (row) with a landowner in favor of their farm.

Outcasts stood apart in society - people who found themselves outside the social strata: bankrupt merchants, ransomed and even noble citizens, rejected by their class groups.

By money and status

The estate structure was finally formed in the second half of the 18th century. In addition to hereditary, personal nobles appeared, to whom the nobility was granted for services to the state, for example, for military prowess. A number of noblemen received honorary citizens, but, as a rule, they did not become noblemen. The clergy still remained a privileged social group. The merchant class was divided into three guilds, belonging to which was determined by the size of the merchant's capital.

Raznochintsy included people of uncertain social status, for example, children of personal nobles. The urban population - artisans, merchants, homeowners began to be called philistines. The Cossacks were singled out as a separate estate with their own privileges.

The peasant estate was made up of categories formed according to the principle of land ownership: state, monastic, landlord peasants, as well as those who lived on the imperial lands, assigned to factories and single-palaces - in fact, peasant border guards.

The estate division was abolished in November 1917 by the Decree of the Council of People's Commissars "On the destruction of estates and civil ranks."

First estate: Aristocrats, boyars.

Rights: The upper class in the country. They owned lands, herds of cattle and serfs as personal property. Their power over the serfs was practically unlimited, and often any atrocities were committed against them. The rights of the boyars could be limited only by representatives of their own estate, or the royal family.

Responsibilities: To serve for the benefit of the state. This service consisted in holding government posts, that is, administrative activities, military and diplomatic activities. These are ministers, generals, governor-generals of large regions, ambassadors in major powers. For this they are called "service people"

Estate: nobles and boyar children(lower strata of aristocratic society)

Rights: Similar to the first estate, but they had few lands and serfs, they obeyed the boyars in everything.

Responsibilities: Serving obligatory (until the 18th century) service for the benefit of the state. "Service people". Most often they occupied managerial positions of a lower rank. This class included officers, ambassadors of small principalities, more often Asian ones, governors and mayors of insignificant provinces.

Condition: Sagittarius

Rights: The lowest class of all "service people" was traditionally called "instrument people" (that is, those who were called up to the army from the outside). They received monetary and food salaries from the state, as well as the right to use land plots. They lived in the streltsy settlements on the outskirts of the city "posads". These are the wealthy segments of the population.

Responsibilities: Military service for the benefit of the state. This is the regular army of Russia. Their commanders were noblemen and boyar children. Sometimes the archers themselves became commanders (they were called "initial people")

Estate: Posad people(lower strata of city dwellers, commoners)

Rights: Minimum. Submit to all the higher classes and work for them. These are artisans called "black people". Personally free.

Responsibilities: To serve the "tax"(a system of duties and taxes in favor of the state), for this they were called "tax people." It was most often quitrent or payment of taxes. For example, a city dweller served for some time in the service of a coachman and brought income from the service to the treasury. They did not have the right to own land, they lived in communities, the community owned the land, obeyed it.

Estate: Peasants

Rights: Minimum. Until the end of the 18th century, the peasants did not even have the right to complain about the cruelty to them of the state. Personally free. Also "Tight people", "black people", "black souls", residents of "black settlements".

Responsibilities: Work on communal land (they did not have private ownership of it), submit to the community, pay a lot of taxes to the treasury.

Estate: Serfs:

Rights: Zero. Full property of the master. They can be killed, maimed, sold or separated from the family by order of the master. The murder of a serf was not considered murder by law, the owner did not answer for it - only the killer of someone else's serf answered with a fine. The lowest class of the whole society. They did not even treat "hard people." They did not answer before the court for theft or other offense, because they were not considered subjects of the law, only the master could punish. They did not pay taxes to the treasury, the master decided everything for them.

Responsibilities: To work for a gentleman, to serve a corvée, that is, the amount of labor in favor of the owner, even unbearable. In general, the rights and obligations of a slave. It was possible to sell oneself into slaves for debts. They performed menial work, sometimes handicraft.

19th century table of estates

Class: nobles

Rights: This is the feudal privileged class. A nobleman could simultaneously belong to the clergy. Until 1861, the nobles were mainly landowners in Russia - the owners of land and peasants. After the reform, the right to own people was taken away from them, but most of the lands and lands remained in their possession. They had their own estate self-government, freedom from corporal punishment, the exclusive right in the country to buy land.

Responsibilities: Officers were recruited from among the nobles, but the military and state service has not been compulsory since 1785. Local power - gubernatorial, city self-government in large cities, in the 19th century was exclusively from the nobility. Most of the nobles also sat in the zemstvos. There was a personal and hereditary nobility. The first was appointed for services to the Fatherland and could not be inherited.

Class: clergy.

Rights: They were freed from corporal punishment, taxes and duties, they had class self-government inside. The clergy were only half of one percent of the total population of the country. They were exempted from military service (and recruitment from their abolition during the reform of 1861).

Responsibilities: They served in churches - Russian Orthodox, Catholic or other denominations. Part of the clergy could inherit their estate. Some acquired it only for the duration of their lives. If the priest took off his rank, he returned to the estate in which he had been before taking the rank.

Condition: urban. It was divided into five very dissimilar states. These included honorary citizens of cities, merchants, philistines, artisans and workers. Merchants, in turn, were divided into guilds according to the degree of the number of privileges.

Rights: Merchants have the right to be called the merchant class only as long as they pay the fee to their guild. Honorary citizens, like nobles and clergy, were exempt from corporal punishment. Honorary citizens (not all) could transfer their fortune in the estate by inheritance.

Responsibilities: Workers and artisans (since they united in workshops, they were also called guild people, they had practically none of the privileges. The urban estate did not have the right to move to the villages (as well as the peasants were forbidden to move to the city). The urban estate paid the bulk of taxes in the country.

Estate: peasants

Rights: Peasants received personal freedom only in 1861. Prior to this, there were virtually no free peasants in Russia - they were all serfs. According to the principle of who they belonged to, the peasants were divided into landowners, state-owned, that is, state and property (belonged to the enterprise). They had the right to file complaints against their landowners for ill-treatment. They had the right to leave the village only with the consent of the landowner (or a representative of the administration). Those at their own discretion gave them passports.

Responsibilities: To work for the owner, serve a corvee, or, working outside his household, bring him quitrent in monetary terms. They didn't have land. The peasants received the right to own land or rent it from the landowner only after 1861.

Class courts according to the "Institution for the management of provinces" 1775

Provincial reform of 1775, district and provincial governments.

On November 18, 1775, Empress Catherine II issued the "Institution for the Administration of the Provinces of the Russian Empire", in accordance with which in 1775-1785.

Estates in the Russian Empire

a radical reform of the administrative-territorial division of the Russian Empire was carried out. The task of the provincial reform of 1775 was to strengthen the power of the nobility in the field in order to prevent peasant uprisings.

The provinces of the Russian Empire were divided into provinces, and the provinces into counties. According to the new decree, the provinces began to be divided only into counties. The main goal of the reform was to adapt the new administrative apparatus to fiscal and police matters.

The division was carried out without taking into account geographical, national and economic characteristics; it was based solely on a quantitative criterion - the population.

According to the new decree, from 300 to 400 thousand souls lived in the territory of each province, and about 30 thousand souls lived in the territory of the county.

At the head of the province was the governor, appointed and dismissed by the monarch. In his activities, he relied on the provincial government, which included the provincial prosecutor and two centurions. The Treasury was in charge of finance and economic affairs. Schools and charitable institutions - The order of public charity, in which elected representatives of the estates sat under the chairmanship of an official.

Supervision of legality in the province was carried out by the provincial prosecutor and two provincial lawyers.

The executive authority in the counties was the lower zemstvo court, headed by a police captain, elected by the local nobility. In county towns, power belonged to the appointed mayor.

The leadership of several provinces was entrusted to the governor-general, who was under the direct control of the empress and the Senate.

The governor-general controlled the activities of the governors of the provinces and regions subordinate to him, exercised general supervision over officials, and monitored the political moods of the estates.

In connection with the adoption of the provincial reform of 1775, the judicial system completely changed. It was built according to the class principle: each class had its own elective court.

The landowners were judged by the Upper Zemsky Court in the provinces and the county court in the counties, the state peasants were judged by the Upper massacre in the province and the Lower massacre in the county, the townspeople - by the city magistrate in the county and the provincial magistrate in the province. All of these courts were elected, with the exception of the lower courts, which were appointed by the governor. The Senate became the highest judicial body in the country, and in the provinces - the chambers of the criminal and civil courts.

New for Russia was the classless Constituent Court, designed to stop strife and reconcile those who quarrel.

The provincial reform led to the elimination of colleges, with the exception of Foreign, Military and Admiralty.

The functions of the collegiums were transferred to local provincial bodies. In 1775, the Zaporozhian Sich was liquidated, and most of the Cossacks were resettled in the Kuban.

During the implementation of the reform of 1775, measures were taken to strengthen the power of the nobility in the center and in the regions. For the first time, a document appeared in Russian legislation that determined the activities of local government bodies and the court. The system created by this reform was preserved until 1864, and the administrative-territorial division until 1917

Class courts according to the "Institution for the management of provinces" 1775

The document that determined the direction of the new provincial reform was “Institutions for the administration of the provinces of the All-Russian Empire“ (1775).

The ongoing reform planned to carry out the disaggregation of the provinces, their number was doubled, twenty years after its start, the number of provinces reached 50.

The division into provinces and counties was carried out strictly administrative principle, without taking into account geographical, national and economic characteristics.

The main purpose of the division was to adapt the new administrative apparatus to fiscal and police matters.

The division was based purely quantitative criterion-Population

At the head of the province was governor, appointed and removed by the monarch. In his work, he relied on provincial government, which included the provincial prosecutor and two centurions.

Financial and fiscal issues in the province were solved by treasury chamber.

Health and education issues were in charge order of public charity.

Supervision of legality in the province carried out provincial prosecutor And two provincial lawyers. Solved the same problems in the county county attorney.

At the head of the county administration (and the number of counties also doubled under the reform) was district police officer, elected by the county nobility, as well as a collegial governing body - lower district court (in which, in addition to the police officer, there were two assessors).

The zemstvo court led the zemstvo police, oversaw the implementation of laws and decisions of provincial governments.

Positions were established in the cities mayor.

The leadership of several provinces was entrusted general- governor.

The governors obeyed him, he was recognized as the commander-in-chief on his territory, if there, at the moment, the monarch was absent, he could introduce emergency measures, directly address the emperor with a report.

The provincial reform of 1775 strengthened the power of the governors and, by disaggregating the territories, strengthened the position of the administrative apparatus in the field.

In the course of this reform, the estate judicial system.

For nobles in each county, a county court was created, whose members (county judge and two assessors) were elected by the nobility for three years.

The court of appeal for the county courts was upper district court consisting of two departments: criminal and civil cases.

The Upper Zemstvo Court was created one for the province. He had the right to audit and control the activities of county courts.

The Upper Zemstvo Court consisted of appointed by the emperor, chairman and vice-chairman and ten assessors elected for three years by the nobility.

2. For citizens the lowest court was city magistrates, whose members were elected for three years.

The court of appeal for city magistrates was provincial magistrates, consisting of two chairmen and assessors elected from among the townspeople (provincial city).

State peasants sued in the county bottom reprisal, in which criminal and civil cases were considered by officials appointed by the authorities.

The court of appeal for the lower massacre was top violence, cases in which were brought under a cash deposit within a week.

4. In the provinces were established conscientious courts, consisting of class representatives (the chairman and two assessors): nobles - for noble affairs, townspeople - for townspeople, peasants - for peasant affairs.

The court was conciliation court, considered civil claims, as well as the nature of a special court - in cases of crimes of juveniles, insane and cases of witchcraft.

Court of Appeal and Audit in the province of steel judicial chambers (on civil and criminal cases).

The competence of the chambers included the review of cases considered in the upper zemstvo court, the provincial magistrate or the upper massacre.

A substantial cash deposit was attached to the appeal.

6. Senate remained the highest judicial body for the courts of the entire system.

Reform of 1775

made an attempt to separate the court from the administration. The attempt failed: the governors had the right to suspend the execution of sentences, some sentences (to death and deprivation of honor) were approved by the governor.

The chairmen of all courts were appointed by the government (representatives of the estates could only elect assessors).

Estates are a sign of a feudal society, says the Marxist theory of socio-economic formations. Formally, modern Russia is a capitalist industrial and post-industrial state.

20. The legal status of the nobility, clergy, urban population and peasantry in the 18th century.

In fact, the picture looks different. As a result of the liberal "exercises" of the last 25 years, neo-feudalism is taking shape in our country with all the ensuing consequences, among which the formation of estates becomes visible to the naked eye.

It is for this reason that many monarchists propose to legitimize the class division of society.

This will make it easier in every way. So it will be more honest and fair to call a spade a spade. The emperor suggested what estates could be in modern Russia, taking into account the historical experience of a hundred years ago.

The closest historical experience related to the class division of society is documented in the Code of Laws of the Russian Empire, which are in force on the territory of the Sovereign State of the Imperial Throne.

Analysis of the historical experience of estates in the Russian Empire

The last class structure of society that existed in Russia comes from the 19th century, when in the legislation of the Russian Empire society was divided into four classes: the nobility, the clergy, the peasantry, and city dwellers.

Nobility

Noble family of the early twentieth century

The nobility in the 19th century, as in the previous period, was an economically and politically active class.

The nobles owned most of the land, were the owners of enterprises, infrastructure. The nobles served in the army of the Sovereign Emperor, and therefore were not taxed. Until 1861, they had a monopoly on the ownership of serfs. They formed the basis of the state apparatus, occupying all the key positions in it.

During the reign of Alexander I, the nobility received new capitalist rights: to have factories and factories in the cities, to conduct trade along with the merchants. Also, the nobility was obliged to carry the spiritual meaning of their privileges - noble virtues, which was reflected in the Law "On the Nobility" of the Imperial Throne.

Clergy

Clergy at the beginning of the 20th century

The clergy in the 19th century, as always, was divided into black and white.

However, the legal status of the clergy finally turned into a service one. On the one hand, the ministers of the church themselves received even greater privileges. On the other hand, the clergy included people directly serving in the church. The church was part of the state, and its affairs were managed by the Holy Synod, headed by a high-level official - the Chief Procurator.

Also in the 19th century, the practice of endowing individual members of the clergy with noble privileges became widespread.

The best ministers of the church were given personal and hereditary nobility.

In total for the period 1825-1845. more than 10 thousand representatives of the clergy received noble rights.

During the 19th and early 20th centuries, the clergy practically did not change quantitatively.

His social and legal status did not change.

Peasants

Peasants in the early twentieth century

Until 1861, feudal dependent peasants made up the bulk of the population of the Russian Empire.

They were subdivided into landlord, state, sessional and appanage, that is, belonging to the royal family. Particularly difficult and ineffective for the level of development of agriculture in the 19th century was the situation of the landlord peasants, whom the landowners considered their property and disposed of their lives as they wanted.

The state over the years has taken a number of measures to improve the situation of the landowning peasants.

On February 20, 1803, a decree on free cultivators was adopted. According to this decree, the landowners received the right to release their peasants into the wild for a ransom established by them. However, in fact, the law turned out to be incapacitated. No more than 1% of the serfs were freed. Since 1816, part of the state peasants was transferred to the position of military settlers.

They were supposed to be engaged in agriculture and carry out military service. In 1837, a reform of the management of state peasants was carried out. The Ministry of State Property was established to manage them. The quitrent taxation was streamlined, the allotments of the state peasants were somewhat increased, and the organs of peasant self-government were regulated. In 1842, a decree on obligated peasants appeared. The landlords could provide the peasants with land for use, for which the peasants had to bear certain duties.

The labor of the sessional peasants was unproductive, as a result of which the use of hired labor began to increase more and more in industry. In 1840, breeders were allowed to free the possessive peasants.

After the peasant reform of Emperor Alexander II, the serfdom of the landlords over the peasants was abolished forever, and the peasants were declared free rural inhabitants with the empowerment of their civil rights.

The land on which the peasants worked belonged to the landlords, and until the peasants redeemed it, they were called temporarily liable, and bore various duties in favor of the landowners. The peasants of each village who emerged from serfdom united in rural societies. For the purposes of administration and court, several rural societies formed a volost.

In the villages and volosts, the peasants were granted self-government.

Urban population

Merchants of the early 20th century

Urban population in the first half of the XIX century.

was divided into five groups: honorary citizens, merchants, craftsmen, petty bourgeois, small proprietors and working people, i.e. employed.

A special group of eminent citizens, which included large capitalists who owned capital over 50 thousand rubles. wholesale merchants, owners of ships from 1807 were called first-class merchants, and from 1832 - honorary citizens.

Honorary citizens were divided into hereditary and personal. The title of hereditary honorary citizen was awarded to the big bourgeoisie, children of personal nobles, priests and clerks, artists, agronomists, artists of imperial theaters, etc. The title of personal honorary citizen was awarded to persons who were adopted by hereditary nobles and honorary citizens, as well as those who graduated from technical schools, teacher's seminaries and artists of private theaters.

Honorary citizens enjoyed a number of privileges: they were exempted from personal duties, from corporal punishment, etc.

The merchant class was divided into two guilds: the first included wholesalers, the second - retailers. As in the previous period, merchants retained their privileges. The group of workshops consisted of artisans assigned to the workshops. They were divided into masters and apprentices. The workshops had their own governing bodies. The majority of the urban population were philistines, a significant part of whom worked in factories and factories for hire.

Their legal status has not changed.

The law distinguished four main estates: the nobility, the clergy, the urban and rural population. A special class group of honorary citizens was singled out from the city dwellers.

The current state of estates in Russia

According to Russian monarchists, in modern Russia there can be three estates - the nobility, the clergy, the Cossacks and the city dwellers.

How will modern estates differ from what was in Russia 100 years ago?

The first two estates will most quickly and successfully be able to adapt to the criteria established by the Code of Laws of the Russian Empire.

The nobility and clergy in modern Russia are represented by those social groups that are able to pass on a high social status by inheritance. In the case of the Russian nobility, these are big officials and businessmen. The clergy can also be distinguished according to the same criteria of church service as before the revolution.

The Cossacks must become a true service class in Russia.

It will be a modern contract army, which is formed on the principles of continuity of generations. The main feature of the Cossacks should be the granting of privileges for the duration of service.

Most of the problems are in the class definition of other categories of Russian citizens, which, as a result of the separation of the nobility and clergy, will remain approximately 80% of the population. The class "City dwellers" should be subdivided into entrepreneurs, the creative class, and employees.

Entrepreneurs should include farmers, as well as small and medium-sized businesses in cities.

The social group "Creative class" is represented by people whose income is formed due to the work of intellectual property. Employees are all other workers who sell their labor and time for money.

Class system of the Russian Empire in the XIX - early. XX centuries

The crisis of the feudal-serfdom system in Russia, aggravated as a result of the defeat in the Crimean War, could only be overcome by fundamental reforms, the main of which was the abolition of serfdom. This reform was carried out in the reign of Alexander II.

After a long preparation, on February 19, 1861, the tsar signed a manifesto on the abolition of serfdom.

Peasants. In accordance with the new laws, the serfdom of the landlords over the peasants was abolished forever and the peasants were declared free rural inhabitants with the granting of civil rights to them.

Peasants had to pay a poll tax, other taxes and fees, gave recruits, could be subjected to corporal punishment.

The peasants of each village who emerged from serfdom united in rural societies.

For the purposes of administration and court, several rural societies formed a volost. In the villages and volosts, the peasants were granted self-government.

Nobility. Having lost the free labor of millions of peasants, part of the nobility was never able to rebuild and went bankrupt. Another part of the nobility entered the path of entrepreneurship. Despite the reforms, the nobility managed to maintain their privileged position. Political power was in the hands of the nobility.

Entrepreneurs.

The peasant reform opened the way for the development of market relations in the country. A significant part of the business was the merchant class. The industrial revolution in Russia at the end of the 19th century. turned entrepreneurs into a significant economic force in the country.

Under the powerful pressure of the market, the remnants of feudalism (estates, privileges) are gradually losing their former significance.

As a result of the industrial revolution, the working class is formed, which begins to defend its interests in the fight against entrepreneurs.

In the second half of the XIX century. marked by significant changes in the social system. The reform of 1861, having freed the peasants, opened the way for the development of capitalism in the city.

Russia is taking a decisive step towards transforming the feudal monarchy into a bourgeois one.

The position of estates in Russia in the XX century.

in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. the Code of Laws of the Russian Empire, which determined the provisions of the estates, continues to operate.

The law distinguished four main estates: the nobility, the clergy, the urban and rural population.

A special class group of honorary citizens was singled out from the city dwellers.

The nobility retained most of the privileges. The most significant changes in his rights occurred as a result of the peasant reform of 1861.

The nobility continued to be the ruling class, the most cohesive, the most educated, and the most accustomed to political power.

The first Russian revolution gave impetus to the further political unification of the nobility.

In 1906, at the All-Russian Congress of Authorized Noble Societies, the central body of these societies, the Council of the United Nobility, was created.

The development of capitalism in Russia led to a significant growth of the bourgeoisie and the strengthening of its influence in the economy. The bourgeoisie at the beginning of the 20th century represents the most economically powerful class in Russia.

The Russian bourgeoisie began to form into a single and conscious political force during the years of the first revolution of 1905-1907.

Peasants made up about 80% of the population of Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. And after the abolition of serfdom, they continued to be the lowest, unequal class.

Revolution 1905-1907 stirred up the millions of peasants.

Year by year the number of peasants increased.

The revolutionary movement in the country and the struggle of the peasants forced the tsarist government to cancel some of the decrees of the feudal system. In March 1903, mutual responsibility was abolished in rural society; in August 1904, the corporal punishment of peasants, which was applied by the verdict of the volost courts, was abolished.

Under the influence of the revolution of November 3, 1905. A manifesto was published on improving the welfare and alleviating the situation of the peasant population. Manifesto on January 1, 1906, redemption payments were reduced by half, and from January 1, 1907

collecting them completely stopped.

On November 9, 1906, the decree On supplementing some of the provisions of the current law concerning peasant land ownership and land management, according to which each householder received the right to demand the provision of a land allotment in private ownership.

An important role in the implementation of the reform was played by the Peasant Bank, established in the 19th century.

Agrarian reform 1906-1911

did not affect landownership, did not liquidate the pre-capitalist order, led to the ruin of the mass of peasants, exacerbated the crisis in the countryside.

The development of capitalism in Russia led to the creation of a working class-proletariat.

The working class of Russia was the social force capable of leading the revolutionary struggle of the broad masses of the people against tsarism.

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Estates in the Russian Empire.

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Estates in the Russian Empire.
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The population of a state may consist either of various ethnographic groups, or of one nation, but in any case it consists of different social unions (classes, estates).
estate- a social group that occupies a certain position in the hierarchical structure of society in accordance with its rights, duties and privileges enshrined in custom or law and inherited.

in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century.

the Code of Laws of the Russian Empire, which determined the provisions of the estates, continues to operate. The law distinguished four main estates:

nobility,
clergy,
urban population,
rural population.

The urban population, in turn, was divided into five groups:

honorary citizens,
merchants,
workshop craftsmen,
tradesmen,
small proprietors and working people, those.

employed

As a result of the class division, society was a pyramid, at the base of which were broad social strata, and at the head was the highest ruling stratum of society - the nobility.

Nobility.
Throughout the XVIII century. there is a process of strengthening the role of the nobility as the ruling class.

Serious changes took place in the very structure of the nobility, its self-organization and legal status. These changes took place on several fronts. The first of these consisted in the internal consolidation of the nobility, the gradual erasure of differences between the previously existing main groups of service people “in the fatherland” (boyars, Moscow nobles, city nobles, boyar children, residents, etc.).

In this regard, the role of the Decree on Uniform Succession of 1714 was great, eliminating the differences between estates and estates and, accordingly, between categories of nobility that owned land on patrimonial and local rights.

After this decree, all noble landowners had land on the basis of a single right - real estate.

There was also a big role Tables of ranks (1722) finally eliminated (at least in legal terms) the last remnants of parochialism (appointments to positions “according to the fatherland”, i.e. the nobility of the family and the past service of the ancestors) and established for all nobles the obligation to start service from the lower ranks of the 14th class (ensign, cornet , midshipman) in the military and naval service, collegiate registrar - in the civil service and consistent promotion through the ranks, depending on their merits, abilities and devotion to the sovereign.

It must be admitted that this service was really difficult.

Sometimes a nobleman did not visit his estates for most of his life, because. was constantly on campaigns or served in distant garrisons. But already the government of Anna Ivanovna in 1736 limited the term of service to 25 years.
Peter III Decree on the liberties of the nobility of 1762 abolished compulsory service for the nobles.
A significant number of nobles left the service, retired and settled on their estates. At the same time, the nobility was exempted from corporal punishment.

Catherine II, during her accession in the same year, confirmed these noble liberties. The abolition of the obligatory service of the nobility became possible due to the fact that by the second half of the 18th century. the main foreign policy tasks (access to the sea, the development of the South of Russia, etc.) had already been resolved and there was no longer any need for extreme exertion of the forces of society.

A number of measures are being taken to further expand and confirm noble privileges and strengthen administrative control over the peasants.

The most important of them are the Establishment for the Administration of Provinces in 1775 and Letter of commendation to the nobility in 1785

By the early 20th century, the nobility continued to be the ruling class, the most cohesive, the most educated, and the most accustomed to political power.

The first Russian revolution gave impetus to the further political unification of the nobility. In 1906, at the All-Russian Congress of Authorized Noble Societies, the central body of these societies was created - Council of the United Nobility. He had a significant influence on government policy.

Clergy.
The next privileged estate after the nobility was the clergy, which was divided into white (parish) and black (monasticism). It enjoyed certain estate privileges: the clergy and their children were exempted from the poll tax; recruiting duty; were subject to ecclesiastical court according to canon law (with the exception of cases “according to the word and deed of the sovereign”).

The subordination of the Orthodox Church to the state was a historical tradition rooted in its Byzantine history, where the emperor was the head of the church.

Based on these traditions, after the death of Patriarch Adrian in 1700, Peter 1 did not allow the election of a new patriarch, but first appointed Archbishop Stefan Yavorsky of Ryazan as locum tenens of the patriarchal throne with a much smaller amount of church power, and then, with the creation of state colleges, among them was formed An ecclesiastical college composed of a president, two vice presidents, four counselors, and four assessors to manage church affairs.

In 1721 the Theological College was renamed into Holy Governing Synod. A secular official was appointed to oversee the affairs of the Synod - Chief Prosecutor of the Synod subordinate to the Attorney General.
The synod was subordinated to the bishops who headed the church districts - dioceses.

After creation Synod, the lands were again returned to the church and the church was obliged to maintain part of the schools, hospitals and almshouses from its income.

The secularization of church property was completed by Catherine II. By decree of 1764, the church began to be financed from the treasury. Its activities were regulated by the Spiritual Regulations of 1721.

Reforms of church administration were carried out not only in the Orthodox Church, but also in Muslim. To manage the Muslim clergy in 1782

was established Muftiate. The head of all Muslims of the Russian Empire - the mufti was elected council of high Muslim priests and was approved in this position by the empress. In 1788, the Muslim Spiritual Administration (later transferred to Ufa) was established in Orenburg, headed by a mufti.

Urban population.
Posadskoye, i.e. the urban trade and craft population constituted a special estate, which, unlike the nobility and clergy, was not privileged.

It was subject to the “sovereign tax” and all taxes and duties, including recruitment duty, it was subject to corporal punishment.

Urban population in the first half of the XIX century. was divided into five groups: honorary citizens, merchants, craftsmen, petty bourgeois, small proprietors and working people, i.e.

employed.
A special group of eminent citizens, which included large capitalists who owned capital over 50 thousand dollars.

rub. wholesale merchants, owners of ships from 1807 were called first-class merchants, and from 1832 - honorary citizens.

Philistinism- the main urban taxable estate in the Russian Empire - originates from the townspeople of Moscow Rus', united in black hundreds and settlements.

The philistines were assigned to their urban societies, which they could leave only with temporary passports, and transfer to others with the permission of the authorities.

They paid a poll tax, were subject to recruitment duty and corporal punishment, did not have the right to enter the state service, and upon entering the military service did not enjoy the rights of volunteers.

Petty trade, various crafts, and work for hire were allowed for the townspeople. To engage in craft and trade, they had to enroll in workshops and guilds.

The organization of the petty-bourgeois class was finally established in 1785. In each city, they formed a petty-bourgeois society, elected petty-bourgeois councils or petty-bourgeois elders and their assistants (the councils were introduced from 1870).

In the middle of the XIX century. petty bourgeois are exempted from corporal punishment, since 1866 - from poll tax.

Belonging to the bourgeois class was hereditary.

Enrollment in the petty bourgeois was open to persons obliged to choose a way of life, for state (after the abolition of serfdom - for all) peasants, but for the latter - only upon dismissal from society and permission from the authorities

The tradesman was not only not ashamed of his estate, but was even proud of it ...
The word "bourgeoisie" - comes from the Polish word "misto" - a city.

Merchants.
The merchant class was divided into 3 guilds: - the first guild was merchants with a capital of 10 to 50 thousand rubles.

rub.; the second - from 5 to 10 thousand rubles; the third - from 1 to 5 thousand rubles.

honorary citizens divided into hereditary and personal.

Rank hereditary honorary citizen was assigned to the big bourgeoisie, children of personal nobles, priests and clerks, artists, agronomists, artists of imperial theaters, etc.
The title of personal honorary citizen was awarded to persons who were adopted by hereditary nobles and honorary citizens, as well as those who graduated from technical schools, teacher's seminaries and artists of private theaters.

Honorary citizens enjoyed a number of privileges: they were exempted from personal duties, from corporal punishment, etc.

Peasantry.
The peasantry, which in Russia accounted for over 80% of the population, practically ensured the very existence of society with their labor.

It was it that paid the lion's share of the poll tax and other taxes and fees that ensured the maintenance of the army, navy, the construction of St. Petersburg, new cities, the Ural industry, etc. It was the peasants as recruits that made up the bulk of the armed forces. They also conquered new lands.

Peasants made up the bulk of the population, they were subdivided into: landowners, state-possessional and appanage belonging to the royal family.

In accordance with the new laws of 1861, the serfdom of the landlords over the peasants was abolished forever and the peasants were declared free rural inhabitants with the empowerment of their civil rights.
Peasants had to pay a poll tax, other taxes and fees, gave recruits, could be subjected to corporal punishment.

The land on which the peasants worked belonged to the landowners, and until the peasants redeemed it, they were called temporarily liable and carried various duties in favor of the landowners.
The peasants of each village who emerged from serfdom united in rural societies. For the purposes of administration and court, several rural societies formed a volost. In the villages and volosts, the peasants were granted self-government.

By the middle of the 19th century, in addition to merchants, breeders, bankers, there appeared in cities new intelligentsia(architects, artists, musicians, doctors, scientists, engineers, teachers, etc.).

The nobility also began to engage in entrepreneurship.

The peasant reform opened the way for the development of market relations in the country. A significant part of the business was the merchant class.

The industrial revolution in Russia at the end of the 19th century. turned entrepreneurs into a significant economic force in the country. Under the powerful pressure of the market, estates and estate privileges are gradually losing their former significance ....

The Provisional Government, by its Decree of March 3, 1917, abolished all class, religious and national restrictions.

Liberty Loan of the Provisional Government.

In memory of the remarkable estates of the Russian Empire, the oldest Russian company "A.I. Abrikosov's Sons Partnership" has released a collection of souvenir chocolates under the general name - "Class Chocolate".

For more information about the ASSORTMENT of the Association of AI Abrikosov Sons, see the appropriate section of the site.

Nobility: rights and obligations

The nobility remained the ruling class. During the formation of an absolute monarchy, there was consolidation this estate. The special position of the feudal aristocracy (boyars) already at the end of the 17th century.

severely limited and then eliminated. An important step in this direction was the act on the abolition of parochialism (1682).

Aristocratic origin loses its position when appointed to leading government posts. It is replaced by length of service, qualifications and personal devotion to the sovereign and the system.

Later, these principles will be formalized in Tables of ranks(1722); the function of the civil service unites the nobility (at first, Peter I wanted to call this class "gentry") into a politically and legally consolidated group.

completed economic consolidation Decree on unanimity(1714), who eliminated the legal differences between the patrimony and the estate and united them into a single legal concept of "real estate".

The nobility became the only service class, and the service became the main sphere of application of its strength and energy. In 1724, legislative measures were taken to limit the promotion of non-nobles.

The Table of Ranks turned the old idea of localism upside down: the title and rank from the basis for obtaining a position turned into the result of promotion. Having reached a certain rank, it was possible to turn from a non-nobleman into a nobleman, i.e.

receive personal or hereditary nobility. By the end of the 20s. XVIII century the number of those who rose to the nobility amounted to a third of the entire nobility.

In the interests of the nobility, the process of further enslavement of the peasants. In 1722-1725. a census was conducted, which provided the basis for the enslavement of the categories of the peasantry, which had previously had a different status.

In 1729 bonded (personally dependent, but not serfs) and "walking" people were attached. Repeated attempts were made to extend serfdom to the Cossacks and odnodvortsy, however, these groups continued to occupy an intermediate position between state peasants and service people.

land property remained the economic basis for the existence of the nobility.

Along with the public service, land ownership was its most important social function. However, serious contradictions quite often arose between these areas of activity: the nobility, who sought to use the service to acquire land and ranks, began to be weary of the mandatory public service as such.

Duty of public service since the middle of the 17th century.

became the main criterion for the distribution of the land fund. The redistribution of manorial and patrimonial lands, with the indispensable consideration of this criterion, was carried out in 1678 and 1679.

In 1682 the system of parochialism was abolished and the principle of length of service was brought to the fore. Since 1686 new genealogical books were compiled, with new surnames that rose from the "lower ranks", in 1680-1700. a new nomenclature of ranks was made: colonels, majors, lieutenants, warrant officers, captains.

Reiters and dragoons belonged to the lower service ranks.

Serving landowners were united into a single estate by the Decree of Single Succession (1714) and the Table of Ranks (1722).

Officially title of nobility was approved, however, only by the Manifesto of 1762, the acts of the Commission of 1767 and the Charter to the nobility of 1785.

The composition of the nobility (in the 20s.

18th century - nobility) court people entered; clerks and clerks who owned estates and estates; hierarchical nobles and boyar children; family members of the Little Russian foreman (general, regimental and hundred); Tatar princes and murzas. Many nobles and children of the boyars, who lived in remote areas, did not fall into the gentry estate and were enrolled in the estate of single-palaces, who, by their position, were close to the state peasants.

The transition to the nobility for them was associated with a promotion.

Table of ranks for the first time she divided the service into military and civil, and the last - into civilian and court. Military ranks (there are 14 of them, as well as civilian ones) were preferable to civil and court ranks; no civil rank corresponded to the highest military rank of field marshal general. Those who rose to the eighth rank were ranked among the hereditary nobility (“pillar”) with the right to transfer the rank to children.

The charter to the nobility of 1785 extended this right to personal nobles, whose father and grandfather also had personal nobility.

To manage the affairs of the nobility under the Senate in 1722, a position was established king of arms, supervised the compilation of noble lists and the training of underage nobles.

According to the Table of Ranks, the title "nobility" was received by all ranks up to the chief officer.

The entire estate was defined as "noble" in 1754 and finally approved in this rank in 1762 (Manifesto). Since 1797, a general set of noble coats of arms began to be drawn up.

Since 1714, it was established compulsory primary education for noble children. Special maritime and military schools were created, foreign business trips were made to train young nobles who were applying for an officer rank.

In the guards regiments (Semenovsky and Preobrazhensky), the ranks were a step higher than in the army.

According to the General Regulations of 1720, the preparation of civil ranks was carried out in colleges. Children of the nobility, who later wanted to enter the civil service, received general education in the Cadet Corps, founded in 1731.

This education system was established

by a special Decree of 1748. Already in the first half of the 18th century. a number of normative acts were adopted, (Un-cheating official duties of the nobility: from 1727 officers

and the rank and file of the nobles are sent home on leave to put their estates in order. Graduates of the gentry corps signed up for service immediately in the officer rank. In 1736, the term of obligatory noble service was limited to 25 years, one of the noble sons was completely released from service and remained on the farm.

The Senate reverses the order unanimity, introduced in 1714 (this procedure was previously avoided: part of the estates was sold until the death of the testator, cattle, bread and implements, as movable property, were distributed among all sons, etc.). The procedure for dividing "estate estates" in equal shares was established.

In 1753 the state noble bank, granting loans secured by real estate.

Published in 1754 boundary instruction, along which a general survey of noble lands was carried out.

Landowners and peasants

In 1754, the Senate decided to issue fugitive peasants to the landlords according to the “revision tales” of the first revision of 1719 (before that, materials from various censuses were used in disputes about fugitives). Serfdom continued to strengthen: since 1736, the landowner himself determines the punishment for the peasant for escaping, in 1758

the landowners were given the duty to monitor the behavior of their serfs, in 1760 the landowners were given the right to exile their serfs to Siberia for settlement (and by offsetting them as recruits), in 1765 the nobles could send peasants even to hard labor.

For the peasants, all exits from the serfdom were closed: they were forbidden to voluntarily enlist in the soldiers, to be obligated by centuries of settlements, to act as guarantors, to complain about their masters.

Decrees of 1729 and 1752.

fugitives, vagabonds, etc. were given into serfdom to the landowners. In 1739, it was forbidden to acquire serfs to persons who did not own villages, and according to the revision instructions of 1743, serfs could be registered for soldiers and clerks. The contradictions of the legislation on serfs did not change the general trend - serfdom turned into noble monopoly.

In practice, persons of non-noble rank in exceptional cases could own serfs and lands.

These owners included: unfree boyar people, bishops and monastic servants, merchants, townsmen and state peasants, single-palace residents, personal nobles who did not rise to the rank of chief officer. Decrees of 1730, 1740, 1758 survey instruction of 1754

the compilation of a new genealogical book began. The rank of civil service was raised (according to the Table of Ranks), which gave the right to hereditary nobility.

The monopoly of the nobility on land was consistently consolidated by the acts of 1714, 1754 and 1766. (Decree on single inheritance and instructions to mezhovshchik).

This right was regulated in the most detailed way in the Letter of Complaint of 1785.

Until the middle of the XVIII century.

serfs could have people of all classes and ranks, paying a soul tax for them. Merchants bought serfs to use their labor in enterprises or to return recruits (for themselves). Peasants bought to factories were attached to the enterprise, and not to the personality of the owner. The right to acquire settled lands remained the monopoly right of the nobility.

Noble Corporation

According to the Decree of 1714

the younger sons of the nobles received the right to become merchants, in 1726 the nobles received the right to trade in agricultural products, in 1727 - the monopoly right to distillation and the use of bills.

1754 a noble land bank was established.

Nobility: rights and obligations

Since 1762, the nobles will be allowed to export and trade in bread abroad, in 1766 - exemption (temporarily) from export duties. The letter of grant further expanded the commercial and industrial rights of the nobility (to open factories in the villages, participate in wholesale trade and fairs, sign up for guilds, enter into farms and contracts, own shops and barns, etc.).

The nobility became a closed elite corporation, which became more and more difficult for unborn people to penetrate.

The hereditary nobility acquired rights to real estate (on patrimonial law), an estate monopoly on serfs, broad administrative and police rights to peasants, the right to sell peasants without land and a simplified procedure for detecting fugitives, the right to cheap state credit, etc.

the admission to the civil service of persons of taxable estates was prohibited. Since 1790, an accelerated, in comparison with non-nobles, period of production to the highest ranks for the nobles was established (in 1798, “my ban on the production of non-noble persons to the highest ranks” was introduced). Public service for the nobility became not only a duty, but also a privilege.

The military charter of 1716 freed the nobles from torture (if it was not state crimes).

Punishments with a whip, whips and batogs were abolished for the nobles from 1754, which was once again confirmed by the Letter of Complaint of 1785. Corporal punishment for the nobles was finally banned only in 1801.’

The nobles were a significant part of the structure emerging bureaucratic class: in its upper strata (senators, heads of collegiums, offices, orders, governors, vice-governors) they were monopolists.

The vast majority of senior officials (from collegiate advisers to assessors) also consisted of nobles.

The table of ranks equated the civil service with the military. Promotion along the hierarchical ladder of ranks was possible only starting from the lowest rank. Service for a nobleman was a duty and continued until the end of his life.

a census of nobles aged 10 to 30 was made; since 1722, defamation was appointed for failure to appear for service. As early as 1727, a partial exemption of the nobility from military service was introduced. Since 1736, the term of public service was limited to twenty-five years.

In 1762, the obligatory service of the nobility was abolished, the nobleman was given freedom of choice.

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