Russian nobility
Encyclopedia
Nobility
Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...
( Dvoryanstvo) arose in the 14th century and essentially governed Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
until the October Revolution
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
of 1917.
The Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
word for nobility, Dvoryanstvo (дворянство), derives from the Russian word dvor (двор), meaning the Court of a prince or duke (kniaz) and later, of the tsar
Tsar
Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...
. A nobleman is called dvoryanin (pl. dvoryane). As in other countries, nobility was a status, a social category, but not a title
Title
A title is a prefix or suffix added to someone's name to signify either veneration, an official position or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may even be inserted between a first and last name...
.
Categories
Fount of honour
The fount of honour refers to a nation's head of state, who, by virtue of his or her official position, has the exclusive right of conferring legitimate titles of nobility and orders of chivalry to other persons.- Origin :...
.
- Ancient nobility—which the descendants of RurikRurikRurik, or Riurik , was a semilegendary 9th-century Varangian who founded the Rurik dynasty which ruled Kievan Rus and later some of its successor states, most notably the Tsardom of Russia, until 1598....
and Gediminas and boyarBoyarA boyar, or bolyar , was a member of the highest rank of the feudal Moscovian, Kievan Rus'ian, Bulgarian, Wallachian, and Moldavian aristocracies, second only to the ruling princes , from the 10th century through the 17th century....
s inherited: e.g., the Shuyskies, Galitzins, NaryshkinNaryshkinNaryshkin is a Russian surname and may refer to:* Members of the Naryshkin family* Sergey Naryshkin , a politician* Two men of the name Kirill Naryshkin...
s, Khilkoffs, GorchakovGorchakovGorchakov, or Gortchakoff , is a Russian princely family of Rurikid stock, descended from the Rurikid sovereigns of Peremyshl, Russia.-Aleksey Gorchakov:The family first achieved prominence during the reign of Catherine II...
s, Belosselsky-Belozerskys and Chelyadnins. - Titled nobility—there were three titles:
- Prince (knyazKnyazKniaz, knyaz or knez is a Slavic title found in most Slavic languages, denoting a royal nobility rank. It is usually translated into English as either Prince or less commonly as Duke....
Князь): e.g., Prince Potemkin or Prince Felix YusupovFelix YusupovPrince Felix Felixovich Yusupov, Count Sumarokov-Elston , was best known for participating in the murder of Grigori Rasputin, the faith healer who was said to have influenced decisions of Tsar Nicholas II and Tsaritsa Alexandra Feodorovna.-Biography:... - Count (graf Граф): e.g., Count TolstoyLeo TolstoyLev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist...
- Baron (baron Барон): e.g., Baron PahlenPahlenvon der Pahlen is a noble Russian, Lithuanian and Swedish family of Baltic German origin. The family probably originated from Pomerania but in the beginning of 15th century moved to Livonia...
- Prince (knyaz
- Hereditary nobility— routinely inherited by heirs
- Personal nobility—granted for the personal merits of the recipient.
- Unpropertied nobility—was obtained without the allotment and securing of a landed estate.
Unlike the ancient nobility, which was exclusively hereditary, the remaining classes of nobility could be acquired. A newly designated noble was usually entitled to landownership. A loss of land did not automatically mean loss of nobility. In later Imperial Russia, higher ranks of state service (see Table of Ranks) were automatically granted nobility, not necessarily associated with landownership.
Titled nobility (титулованное дворянство) was the highest category: those who had titles such as prince
Prince
Prince is a general term for a ruler, monarch or member of a monarch's or former monarch's family, and is a hereditary title in the nobility of some European states. The feminine equivalent is a princess...
, count
Count
A count or countess is an aristocratic nobleman in European countries. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is...
and baron
Baron
Baron is a title of nobility. The word baron comes from Old French baron, itself from Old High German and Latin baro meaning " man, warrior"; it merged with cognate Old English beorn meaning "nobleman"...
. The latter two titles were introduced by Peter the Great. A baron or count could be either proprietary (actual) ( владетельный (действительный))—i.e., who owned land in the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
—or titular (титулярный), i.e., only endowed with the title.
Hereditary nobility (потомственное дворянство) was transferred to wife, children, and further direct legal descendants along the male line. In exceptional cases, the emperor could transfer nobility along indirect or female lines, e.g., to preserve a notable family name.
Personal nobility (личное дворянство) was transferable only to the wife and was of much lower prestige.
Unpropertied nobility (беспоместное дворянство) was nobility gained by state service, but which was not entitled to land ownership.
In addition, the ancient nobility
Immemorial nobility
Immemorial nobility is nobility that is established as existing since before normal records of noble title. In its restrictive meaning, it refers to noble families whose origins can be tracked back to the fall of the Roman Empire circa 490...
(Древнее дворянство) was recognized, descendants of historical boyar
Boyar
A boyar, or bolyar , was a member of the highest rank of the feudal Moscovian, Kievan Rus'ian, Bulgarian, Wallachian, and Moldavian aristocracies, second only to the ruling princes , from the 10th century through the 17th century....
s and knyaz
Knyaz
Kniaz, knyaz or knez is a Slavic title found in most Slavic languages, denoting a royal nobility rank. It is usually translated into English as either Prince or less commonly as Duke....
es.
Russian did not employ a nobiliary particle
Nobiliary particle
A nobiliary particle is used in a family name or surname in many Western cultures to signal the nobility of a family. The particle used varies depending on the country, language and period of time. This article is dedicated to explain how noble families of different countries identify themselves by...
(as von in German or de in French) before a surname, but Russian noblemen were accorded an official salutation that varied by their ranks: your nobility (ваше благородие), your high nobility (ваше высокоблагородие), your high ancestry (ваше высокородие), etc.
History
The nobility arose in the 12th and 13th centuries as the lowest part of the feudal military class, which composed the court of a princeFürst
Fürst is a German title of nobility, usually translated into English as Prince.The term refers to the head of a principality and is distinguished from the son of a monarch, who is referred to as Prinz...
or an important boyar
Boyar
A boyar, or bolyar , was a member of the highest rank of the feudal Moscovian, Kievan Rus'ian, Bulgarian, Wallachian, and Moldavian aristocracies, second only to the ruling princes , from the 10th century through the 17th century....
. From the 14th century land ownership by nobles increased, and by the 17th century it composed the bulk of feudal lords
Fiefdom
A fee was the central element of feudalism and consisted of heritable lands granted under one of several varieties of feudal tenure by an overlord to a vassal who held it in fealty in return for a form of feudal allegiance and service, usually given by the...
and constituted the majority of landowners. They made Landed army - the basic military force of Russia. Peter the Great finalized the status of the nobility, while abolishing the boyar
Boyar
A boyar, or bolyar , was a member of the highest rank of the feudal Moscovian, Kievan Rus'ian, Bulgarian, Wallachian, and Moldavian aristocracies, second only to the ruling princes , from the 10th century through the 17th century....
title.
Tsarina Anna
Anna of Russia
Anna of Russia or Anna Ivanovna reigned as Duchess of Courland from 1711 to 1730 and as Empress of Russia from 1730 to 1740.-Accession to the throne:Anna was the daughter of Ivan V of Russia, as well as the niece of Peter the Great...
gave many privileges to the nobility. In 1730 she repealed the primogeniture
Primogeniture
Primogeniture is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn to inherit the entire estate, to the exclusion of younger siblings . Historically, the term implied male primogeniture, to the exclusion of females...
law of Peter the Great so estates could be subdivided again. In 1736, the age when they had to start service was raised from 15 to 20, service was now for 25 years not life and families with more than one son could keep one to manage the estate.
In 1762 Peter III
Peter III of Russia
Peter III was Emperor of Russia for six months in 1762. He was very pro-Prussian, which made him an unpopular leader. He was supposedly assassinated as a result of a conspiracy led by his wife, who succeeded him to the throne as Catherine II.-Early life and character:Peter was born in Kiel, in...
abolished compulsory military service for nobles. Marc Raeff (Origins of the Russian Intelligentsia) has suggested this was not a noble victory but a sign the state didn't need them as much now that they had plenty of trained officials.
Catherine the Great gave away 66,000 serfs 1762-72, 202,000 1773-93 and 100,000 in one day: 18 August 1795. Thus she was able to bind the nobility to her.
From 1782, a kind of uniform was introduced for civilian nobles called uniform of civilian service or simply civilian uniform. The uniform prescribed colors that depended on the territory. The uniform was required at the places of service, at the Court, and at other important public places. The privileges of the nobility were fixed and were legally codified in 1785 in the Charter to the Gentry
Charter to the Gentry
Charter for the Rights, Freedoms, and Privileges of the Noble Russian Gentry also called Charter to the Gentry or Charter to the Nobility was a charter issued by the Russian empress Catherine II....
. The Charter introduced an organization of the nobility: every province (guberniya
Guberniya
A guberniya was a major administrative subdivision of the Russian Empire usually translated as government, governorate, or province. Such administrative division was preserved for sometime upon the collapse of the empire in 1917. A guberniya was ruled by a governor , a word borrowed from Latin ,...
) and district (uyezd
Uyezd
Uyezd or uezd was an administrative subdivision of Rus', Muscovy, Russian Empire, and the early Russian SFSR which was in use from the 13th century. Uyezds for most of the history in Russia were a secondary-level of administrative division...
) had an Assembly of Nobility
Assembly of Nobility
Assembly of the Nobility was an self-governing body of the sosloviye of the Russian nobility in Imperial Russia during 1766-1917. Their official status was defined by the Charter to the Gentry in 1785. The Nobility Assemblies were at the guberniya and uyezd levels...
. The chair of an Assembly was called Province/District Marshal of Nobility
Marshal of Nobility
Marshal of Nobility was an elected position in Russian local self-government prior to the Russian Revolution of 1917.- History :Nobility of each province formed a corporation, Noble Society , governed by the Assembly of Nobility with an elected Marshal of Nobility at its head...
.
In 1831 Nicholas I
Nicholas I
Nicholas I may refer to:* Pope Nicholas I , or Nicholas the Great* Nicholas Mysticus, patriarch Nicholas I of Constantinople * Nicholas I, Bishop of Schleswig between 1209 and 1233...
restricted the assembly votes to those with over 100 serfs, leaving 21,916 voters.
By 1805, the various ranks of the nobility had become confused, as is apparent in War and Peace
War and Peace
War and Peace is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published in 1869. The work is epic in scale and is regarded as one of the most important works of world literature...
. Here, we see count
Count
A count or countess is an aristocratic nobleman in European countries. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is...
s who are wealthier and more important than prince
Prince
Prince is a general term for a ruler, monarch or member of a monarch's or former monarch's family, and is a hereditary title in the nobility of some European states. The feminine equivalent is a princess...
s. We see many noble families whose wealth has been dissipated, partly through lack of primogeniture
Primogeniture
Primogeniture is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn to inherit the entire estate, to the exclusion of younger siblings . Historically, the term implied male primogeniture, to the exclusion of females...
and partly through extravagance and poor estate management. We see young noblemen serving in the Army, but we see none who acquire new landed estates that way. (This refers to the era of the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
. Tolstoy reported some improvement afterwards: some nobles paid more attention to estate management, and some, like Andrey Bolkonsky, freed their serfs even before the tsar
Tsar
Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...
did so in 1861.) 62.8% of Russia's nobles were szlachta
Szlachta
The szlachta was a legally privileged noble class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges during the 1333-1370 reign of Casimir the Great. In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of...
from the 9 western gubernii in 1858 and still 46.1% in 1897.
Serfs owned by European Russian landlords
| No. of serfs | 1777 % | 1859 % |
|---|---|---|
| +1000 | 1.1 | |
| 501-1000 | 2 | |
| 101-500 | 16 (101+) | 18 |
| 21-100 | 25 | 35.1 |
| -20 | 59 | 43.8 |
Obrok or cash rent was most common in the north while barshchina or labour rent was found mainly in the southern Black Earth Region. In Nicholas I's reign the latter brought three times the income of cash rent though this needed less administration. In 1798, Ukrainian landlords were banned from selling serfs apart from land. In 1841, landless nobles were banned also.
The nobility was too weak to oppose the emancipation of the serfs. In 1820 a fifth of the serfs were mortgaged, half by 1842. By 1859, a third of noble's estates and two thirds of their serfs were mortgaged to noble banks or the state. The nobility was also weakened by the scattering of their estates, lack of Primogeniture
Primogeniture
Primogeniture is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn to inherit the entire estate, to the exclusion of younger siblings . Historically, the term implied male primogeniture, to the exclusion of females...
and the high turnover and mobility from estate to estate.
| Year | % nobles in landowner families |
|---|---|
| 1861 | 80 |
| 1877 | 72 |
| 1895 | 55 |
| 1905 | 39 |
| 1912 | 36 |
After the peasant reform of 1861 the economic position of the nobility was weakened. The influence of nobility was further reduced by the new law statutes of 1864
Judicial reform of Alexander II
The judicial reform of Alexander II is generally considered one of the most successful and the most consistent of all the reforms of Alexander II. During the reform a completely new court system and a completely new order of legal proceedings were established...
, under which their right of electing law officers was repealed. The reform of the police in 1862 limited the landowners authority locally, and creation of all-estate Zemstvo
Zemstvo
Zemstvo was a form of local government that was instituted during the great liberal reforms performed in Imperial Russia by Alexander II of Russia. The idea of the zemstvo was elaborated by Nikolay Milyutin, and the first zemstvo laws were put into effect in 1864...
local government did away with exclusive influence of nobility in local self-government.
This was despite the fact that the nobles kept nearly all the meadows and forests, had their debts paid by the state while the ex serfs paid 34% over the market price for the shrunken plots they kept. This figure was 90% in the northern regions, 20% in the black earth region but zero in the Polish provinces. In 1857, 6.79% of serfs were domestic, landless servants who stayed landless after 1861. Only Polish and Romanian domestic serfs got land. 90% of the serfs who got larger plots were in the 8 ex Polish provinces where the Tsar wanted to weaken the Szlachta
Szlachta
The szlachta was a legally privileged noble class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges during the 1333-1370 reign of Casimir the Great. In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of...
. The other 10% was in Astrakhan
Astrakhan
Astrakhan is a major city in southern European Russia and the administrative center of Astrakhan Oblast. The city lies on the left bank of the Volga River, close to where it discharges into the Caspian Sea at an altitude of below the sea level. Population:...
and the barren north. In the whole Empire, peasant land declined 4.1%,13.3% outside the ex Polish zone and 23.3% in the 16 black earth provinces. Georgia's serfs suffered the loss of 1/5 of their land in Tiflis province, 1/3 in Kutaisi
Kutaisi
Kutaisi is Georgia's second largest city and the capital of the western region of Imereti. It is 221 km to the west of Tbilisi.-Geography:...
province. These redemption payments were not abolished till January 1, 1907.
The influx of New World grain caused a slump in grain prices,forcing the peasants to farm more land. At the same time, despite their efficiency, large peasant households split up (from 9.5 to 6.8 persons per household in central Russia, 1861–84). The resulting land hunger increased prices 7 fold and made it easier for nobles to sell or rent land rather than farm it themselves. From 1861 to 1900 40% of noble land was sold to peasants (70% of this went to the Commune
Commune
Commune may refer to:In society:* Commune, a human community in which resources are shared* Commune , a township or municipality* One of the Communes of France* An Italian Comune...
and by 1900 two thirds of the nobles' arable land was rented to the peasantry. 1900–1914, over 20% of remaining noble land was sold but only 3% of the 155 estates over 50,000 desiatiny.
According to the 1897 census,71% of the top 4 rans of the civil service were nobles. But in the civil service as a whole,noble membership declined from 49.8% in 1755 to 43.7% in the 1850s and 30.7% in 1897. There were 1.2million nobles, about 1% of the population (8% in Poland,4% in Hungary and 1-1.5% in France). Their military influence waned: in the Crimean War
Crimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
90% of officers were noble, by 1913 it was 50%. They lived increasingly away from estates: in 1858only 15-20% of Russian nobleslived in cities, by 1897 it was 47.2%.
| Year | % 1861 noble land still in their control |
|---|---|
| 1867 | 96.3 |
| 1872 | 92.6 |
| 1877 | 88.4 |
| 1882 | 81.7 |
| 1887 | 76.7 |
| 1892 | 72.4 |
| 1897 | 67.1 |
| 1902 | 61 |
| 1905 | 58.8 |
| 1909 | 52.3 |
| 1913 | 47.6 |
| 1914 | 47.1 |
By 1904 1/3 noble land was mortgaged to the noble bank.
During the 1905 Russian Revolution 3,000 manors were burnt (15% of the total).
| Year | Noble land (desiatinas) |
|---|---|
| 1861 | 105,000,000 |
| 1877 | 73,077,000 |
| 1905 | 52,104,000 |
After the October Revolution
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
of 1917 all classes of nobility were legally abolished. Many members of the Russian nobility who fled Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution played a significant role in the White Emigre
White Emigre
A white émigré was a Russian who emigrated from Russia in the wake of the Russian Revolution and Russian Civil War, and who was in opposition to the contemporary Russian political climate....
communities that settled in Europe, in North America, and in other parts of the world. In the 1920s and 1930s, several Russian nobility associations were established outside Russia, including groups in France, Belgium, and the United States. In New York, the Russian Nobility Association in America was founded in 1938. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, there has been a growing interest among Russians in the role that the Russian nobility has played in the historical and cultural development of Russia.
Acquisition of nobility
Nobility could be acquired by several means, including military service.Between 1722 and 1845 hereditary nobility was bestowed on long-serving military officers, civil servants who attained the 8th rank of Collegiate Assessor, as well as any person who received any grade within an order of the Russian Empire.
Between 1845 and 1856 hereditary nobility was bestowed for long service at the 5th rank of major and State Counsellor and to all recipients of the Order of Saint George, the Order of Saint Vladimir, the Order of Saint Anne, and the Order of Saint Stanislaus
Order of Saint Stanislaus
The Order of Saint Stanislaus , also spelled Stanislas, was an Order in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and The Kingdom of Poland between 1765 and 1831 and of Russian Empire from 1831 to 1917.-History of the Order of Saint Stanislaus:Stanisław August Poniatowski, King of Poland, established the...
.
From 1856, hereditary nobility was given to those who rose to the 4th rank of colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
, captain of the first rank, and actual state counsellor, as well as to all recipients of the Order of Saint George,the Order of White Eagle, the Order of Saint Vladimir, the award 'first class' of the Order of Saint Anne and the award 'first class' of the Order of Saint Stanislaus
Order of Saint Stanislaus
The Order of Saint Stanislaus , also spelled Stanislas, was an Order in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and The Kingdom of Poland between 1765 and 1831 and of Russian Empire from 1831 to 1917.-History of the Order of Saint Stanislaus:Stanisław August Poniatowski, King of Poland, established the...
.
Later, automatic entitlement to the rank of hereditary nobility was further restricted. Only a recipient of the award of 'first class' (grade) of any order of Russian Empire, and (from 1900) the order of Order of Saint Vladimir of the third class (or higher), could become an hereditary noble. Those awarded lesser grades within the orders of Russian Empire, or receiving one of the lesser grades in the Order of Saint Vladimir, might attain personal nobility.
Privileges of the nobility
Russian nobility possessed the following privileges:- The right to own estates populated with estate-tied serfs (until 1861), including virtual ownership of the serfSERFA spin exchange relaxation-free magnetometer is a type of magnetometer developed at Princeton University in the early 2000s. SERF magnetometers measure magnetic fields by using lasers to detect the interaction between alkali metal atoms in a vapor and the magnetic field.The name for the technique...
s who worked on the estates. - Freedom from compulsory military service (1762–1874; later compulsory military service was introduced which did not exempt the noble estate)
- Freedom from zemstvoZemstvoZemstvo was a form of local government that was instituted during the great liberal reforms performed in Imperial Russia by Alexander II of Russia. The idea of the zemstvo was elaborated by Nikolay Milyutin, and the first zemstvo laws were put into effect in 1864...
duties (until the second half of 19th century) - The right to enter specially designated educational institutions (Tsarskoye Selo LyceumTsarskoye Selo LyceumThe Imperial Lyceum in Tsarskoye Selo near Saint Petersburg also known historically as the Imperial Alexander Lyceum after its founder the Emperor Alexander I with the object of educating youths of the best families, who should afterwards occupy important posts in the Imperial service.Its...
, School of Jurisprudence and Page CorpsPage CorpsPage Corps was a military academy in Imperial Russia, which prepared sons of the nobility and of senior officers for military service....
) - Freedom from corporal punishmentCorporal punishmentCorporal punishment is a form of physical punishment that involves the deliberate infliction of pain as retribution for an offence, or for the purpose of disciplining or reforming a wrongdoer, or to deter attitudes or behaviour deemed unacceptable...
. - The right to bear and use a coat of armsCoat of armsA coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
, introduced by the end of the 17th century.