Aspects on the methodology of the attestation, confirmation and recognition of the privileged status of some autochthonous social categories from Bessarabia (1812–1847)

Abstract

The importance of the multi-aspectual study of the complex political and social processes, which followed after the annexation of Bessarabia to the Russian Empire, derives from the need to establish a concrete model for the incorporation of privileged native social categories into the socio-administrative system of the Russian Empire based on old documents preserved in families. For this reason, approaching the documentary aspect of the process is indispensable and enlightening, contributing to the studies of previous authors. The research undertaken is focused on the typological characterization of the respective documents and on the interdependence between the rights of the autochthonous privileged social categories in Bessarabia and the documentary evidence of their attestation, confirmation and recognition.