PEASANTS AND LANDLORDS IN THE SYSTEM OF SERFDOM RELATIONS IN PRE-PETRINE RUSSIA

Abstract

The evolution of landowners ‘ ownership rights to land and peasants in Russia of the XVII century has been considered. Throughout the century, there has been a tendency to strengthen local land ownership in Russia, which was expressed in the legal and actual merger of the patrimony and the estate, in the attachment of peasants to the owner and the introduction of an indefinite search and return of fugitive peasants. At the same time, the mandatory life-long service of the nobility remained an unshakeable condition for strengthening local land ownership. The rights of landlords in relation to the peasants were strengthened, but their relatively legitimate basis remained service in the army. Meanwhile, in the second half of the century, the modernization of the armed forces gradually unfolded, pushing the noble cavalry and transferring the service to a monetary salary.