Serfdom and migration policy in Russia in the late 16th - early 17th centuries

Abstract

The decrees of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries restricting the migrations for the dependent people and peasants of the Russian state are closely connected with cross-border migration regimes that emerged after the wars for Livonia of the second half of the sixteenth century and as unifying tendencies between Russia and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth developed, and later as a result of the policy of the Militia and the government of Mikhail Romanov aimed at restoring “ranks” and limiting uncontrolled migration mobility. The article examines key legislative measures to maintain the “covenant” regime for the “departing” and “forced export” of people during the “years of limitations” in connection with international migration regulation under treaties between Russia and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1582-1619.