Self-Governance of Rural Community and Performing Public Positions in Palekh in the Second Half of the 18th Century — Early 19th Century

Abstract

This article is dedicated to self-governance and its transformation in Palekh (the large village in Vladimir province) in the context of extending labor migration, increasing of different fees and related socio-economic changes in the community. This work is based on documents of the Buturlins’ patrimonial archive (the Buturlins were landlords of the half of Palekh): account books, lists of tax rates for households, lists of sureties, community verdicts, petitions of peasants to their landlord, letters and decrees of the Buturlins to the community administration. The paper shows economy of Palekh including the scale and dynamics of labor migration in the second half of the XVIII century — the beginning of the XIX century including. The work describes variety of public positions in the rural community in that period, rules of the elections, social and age structure of elected persons. The author draws the conclusions about the main trends in rural self-governance: increase of the percent of payable positions, growth of cash reward for elected persons and the trend of employing by elected persons other peasants instead of themselves.