The Rural Society of Kyivan Rus’ and Its Environment

Abstract

The last representative survey of the rural society of Kyivan Rus’ dates from the late Soviet period and was dominated by the rules of Marxism-Leninism. This essay tries to take a fresh look at the subject by combining the analysis of written sources with the findings of archeology, of archaeobotany as well as those of archeozoology. It, thus, deals with the denomination, development, size and dispersion as well as with the environment of rural settlements, further with the categories, the judicial and social structure of the rural population as well as with its economic development and the relations of lords and farmers. The main results of this survey are as follows: First, the rural settlements used to be rather small and were located along the banks of rivers or lakes. Most of the settlements formed a cluster, which could have belonged to a rural community. Second, the personal liberty of the peasants lasted over the whole period even if they had to live on the property of a lord. Contrary to the statements of Soviet Historians the peasants were not forced to cultivate the land of their lords, but just had to pay a tax. A majority of them seem to have been even well-to-do. Third, the lords used to live in towns until the 12^th century, when some of them preferred to settle in the countryside despite the residence of their prince, above all, in the more densely populated parts of the country. This development leads to the beginnings of social diversification in the countryside from the middle of the 12^th century onwards.