![Noble assembly by V](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/Noble_assembly_by_V._Chambers.jpg)
The Russian nobility (russian: дворянство ''dvoryanstvo'') originated in the 14th century. In 1914 it consisted of approximately 1,900,000 members (about 1.1% of the population) in the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
.
Up until the
February Revolution
The February Revolution ( rus, Февра́льская револю́ция, r=Fevral'skaya revolyutsiya, p=fʲɪvˈralʲskəjə rʲɪvɐˈlʲutsɨjə), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and somet ...
of 1917, the
noble estates staffed most of the Russian government and possessed a
Gentry assembly
Assembly of the Nobility (russian: дворянское собрание, благородное собрание) was a self-governing body of the sosloviye (estate) of the Russian nobility in Imperial Russia from 1766 to 1917. Their official st ...
.
The
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
word for nobility, ''dvoryanstvo'' (), derives from Slavonic ''dvor'' (двор), meaning the
court
A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance ...
of a prince or duke (''
kniaz
, or (Old Church Slavonic: Кнѧзь) is a historical Slavic title, used both as a royal and noble title in different times of history and different ancient Slavic lands. It is usually translated into English as prince or duke, dependin ...
''), and later, of the
tsar
Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East Slavs, East and South Slavs, South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''Caesar (title), caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" i ...
or emperor. Here, ''dvor'' originally referred to servants at the estate of an
aristocrat
The aristocracy is historically associated with "hereditary" or "ruling" social class. In many states, the aristocracy included the upper class of people (aristocrats) with hereditary rank and titles. In some, such as ancient Greece, ancient Ro ...
. In the late 16th and early 17th centuries, the system of hierarchy was a system of seniority known as ''
mestnichestvo
In Russian history, ''Mestnichestvo'' (russian: ме́стничество, ; from ме́сто, a position) was a feudal hierarchical system in Russia from the 15th to 17th centuries. ''Mestnichestvo'' was a complicated system of seniority wh ...
''. The word ''dvoryane'' described the highest rank of
gentry
Gentry (from Old French ''genterie'', from ''gentil'', "high-born, noble") are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past.
Word similar to gentle imple and decentfamilies
''Gentry'', in its widest ...
, who performed duties at the royal court, lived in it (''Moskovskie zhiltsy''), or were candidates to it, as for many
boyar scions
Boyar scions (Russian: дети боярские, сыны боярские; transliteration: ''deti/syny boyarskie'') were a rank of Russian gentry that existed from the late 1300s through the 1600s. In the late 1700s—early 1800s descendants of ...
(''dvorovye deti boyarskie'', ''vybornye deti boyarskie''). A nobleman is called a ''dvoryanin'' (plural: ''dvoryane''). Pre-
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
Russia shared with other countries the concept that nobility connotes a status or social category rather than a title. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, the title of the nobleman in Russia gradually became a formal status, rather than a reference to a member of the aristocracy, due to a massive influx of
commoner
A commoner, also known as the ''common man'', ''commoners'', the ''common people'' or the ''masses'', was in earlier use an ordinary person in a community or nation who did not have any significant social status, especially a member of neither ...
s via the
Table of ranks
The Table of Ranks (russian: Табель о рангах, Tabel' o rangakh) was a formal list of positions and ranks in the military, government, and court of Imperial Russia. Peter the Great introduced the system in 1722 while engaged in a s ...
. Many descendants of the former ancient Russian aristocracy, including royalty, saw their formal standing change to
merchant
A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...
s,
burgher
Burgher may refer to:
* Burgher (social class), a medieval, early modern European title of a citizen of a town, and a social class from which city officials could be drawn
** Burgess (title), a resident of a burgh in northern Britain
** Grand Bu ...
s, or even
peasant
A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasants ...
s, while people descended from
serf
Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which developed ...
s (like
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...
's father) or clergy (like in the ancestry of actress
Lyubov Orlova
Lyubov Petrovna Orlova (russian: link=no, Любовь Петровна Орлова ; – 26 January 1975) was a Soviet and Russian actress, singer, dancer and People's Artist of the USSR (1950).
Life and career
She was born to a family o ...
) gained formal nobility.
History
Middle Ages
The nobility arose in the 12th and 13th centuries as the lowest part of the feudal military class, which comprised the court of a
prince
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...
or an important
boyar
A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the Feudalism, feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Kievan Rus', Bulgarian Empire, Bulgaria, Russian nobility, Russia, Boyars of Moldavia and Wallachia, Wallachia and ...
. From the 14th century land ownership by nobles increased, and by the 17th century, the bulk of
feudal lords
Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structur ...
and the majority of landowners were nobles. The nobles were granted estates out of State lands in return for their service to the Tsar, either for as long as they performed service or for their lifetime. By the 18th century, these estates had become private property. They made up the Landed army (russian: поместное войско)—the basic military force of Russia.
Peter the Great
Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...
finalized the status of the nobility, while abolishing the
boyar
A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the Feudalism, feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Kievan Rus', Bulgarian Empire, Bulgaria, Russian nobility, Russia, Boyars of Moldavia and Wallachia, Wallachia and ...
title.
Early modern era in Russia: westernization
Overview
The adoption of the fashions, mannerisms, and ideals of
Western Europe
Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context.
The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...
by the Russian nobility was a gradual process rooted in the strict guidelines of
Peter the Great
Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...
and the educational reforms of
Catherine the Great
, en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes
, house =
, father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst
, mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp
, birth_date =
, birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anhal ...
. While cultural
westernization
Westernization (or Westernisation), also Europeanisation or occidentalization (from the ''Occident''), is a process whereby societies come under or adopt Western culture in areas such as industry, technology, science, education, politics, economi ...
was mostly superficial and restricted to court, it coincided with the efforts of Russian autocrats to link Russia to Western Europe in more fundamental ways – socially, economically and politically. However, Russia's existing economic system, which lacked a sizable middle class and which relied heavily on
forced labor
Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, violence including death, or other forms of ex ...
, proved an insurmountable obstacle to the development of a
free market
In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any o ...
economy. Furthermore, the lower classes (an overwhelming majority of the Russian population) lived virtually isolated from the upper classes and the imperial court. Thus, most of the nobility's “western” tendencies were largely aesthetic and confined to a tiny proportion of the populace.
As different rulers ascended the throne in the 19th century, each figure brought a different attitude and approach to ruling the nobility. Yet, the cultural impact of Peter I and Catherine II was set in stone. Ironically, by introducing the nobility to political literature from Western Europe, Catherine exposed Russia's autocracy to them as archaic and illiberal. While the nobility was conservative as a whole, a liberal and radical minority remained constant throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, resorting to violence on multiple occasions in order to challenge Russia's traditional political system (see
Decembrist Revolt
The Decembrist Revolt ( ru , Восстание декабристов, translit = Vosstaniye dekabristov , translation = Uprising of the Decembrists) took place in Russia on , during the interregnum following the sudden death of Emperor Al ...
,
Narodnaya Volya
Narodnaya Volya ( rus, Наро́дная во́ля, p=nɐˈrodnəjə ˈvolʲə, t=People's Will) was a late 19th-century revolutionary political organization in the Russian Empire which conducted assassinations of government officials in an att ...
).
Before Peter the Great
Although Peter the Great is considered to be the first westernized ruler of Russia, there were, in fact, contacts between the Muscovite nobility and Western Europe before his
reign
A reign is the period of a person's or dynasty's occupation of the office of monarch of a nation (e.g., Saudi Arabia, Belgium, Andorra), of a people (e.g., the Franks, the Zulus) or of a spiritual community (e.g., Catholicism, Tibetan Buddhism, N ...
.
Ivan III
Ivan III Vasilyevich (russian: Иван III Васильевич; 22 January 1440 – 27 October 1505), also known as Ivan the Great, was a Grand Prince of Moscow and Grand Prince of all Rus'. Ivan served as the co-ruler and regent for his blin ...
, starting in 1472, sent numerous agents to
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
to study
architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...
. Both
Michael Romanov (1613–1645) and his son
Alexis (1645–1676) invited and sponsored European visitors – mostly military, medical, and building specialists – who came to Moscow in foreign dress, speaking foreign languages. When the boyars began to imitate the westerners in dress and hairstyle,
Tsar Alexis
Aleksey Mikhaylovich ( rus, Алексе́й Миха́йлович, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsʲej mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ; – ) was the Tsar of Russia from 1645 until his death in 1676. While finding success in foreign affairs, his reign saw several wars ...
in 1675 and then
Tsar Feodor in 1680 restricted foreign fashions to distinguish between Russians and outsiders,
but these were not effectively enforced until the 1690s.
Under Peter the Great
Peter the Great was, first and foremost, eager to do away with Russia's reputation as an Asiatic land and to propel his new empire onto the political stage of Western Europe. One of the many ways he hoped to achieve this was by changing the upper-class culture; he believed that forcing selected features of western fashion, education, and language onto the nobility would hasten Russia's rise to international prestige. In 1697, he began to send nobles on compulsory trips abroad to England, Holland, and Italy. While the Tsar primarily designed these expeditions for naval training, he also encouraged the noblemen to learn about the arts of the west. Furthermore, Peter prioritized sending Russian natives as opposed to foreign expatriates; he was intent on “breeding” a new nobility that conformed to western customs but represented the
Slavic people
Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout northern Eurasia, main ...
as a whole. When the travelers returned to Moscow, Peter tested them on their training, insisting on further education for those whose accumulated knowledge was unsatisfactory. By 1724, he had established – for the purpose of scientific study and discovery – the
Academy of Sciences
An academy of sciences is a type of learned society or academy (as special scientific institution) dedicated to sciences that may or may not be state funded. Some state funded academies are tuned into national or royal (in case of the Unite ...
, which he modeled after “the ones in Paris, London, Berlin, and other places”.
Peter's westernizing efforts became more radical after 1698 when he returned from his expedition through Europe known as the
Grand Embassy
The Grand Embassy (russian: Вели́кое посо́льство, translit=Velíkoye posól'stvo) was a Russian diplomatic mission to Western Europe from 9 March 1697 to 25 August 1698 led by Peter the Great.
Description
In 1697 and 1698, Pe ...
. Upon arriving Peter summoned the nobility to his court and personally shaved almost every beard in the room. In 1705 he decreed a
beard tax
A beard is the hair that grows on the jaw, chin, upper lip, lower lip, cheeks, and neck of humans and some non-human animals. In humans, usually pubescent or adult males are able to grow beards.
Throughout the course of history, societal a ...
on all men of rank in Moscow and ordered certain officers to seek out noble beards and shave them on sight. He only allowed peasants, priests, and
serfs
Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which developed ...
to retain the ingrained and religious Russian tradition of wearing beards, which the
Orthodox
Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to:
Religion
* Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...
populace considered an essential aspect of their duty to convey the image of God. He also reformed the clothing of the nobility, replacing the long-sleeved traditional Muscovite robes with European clothing. Beginning in 1699 the tsar decreed strict dress requirements borrowing from German, Hungarian, French and British styles, fining any noblemen who failed to obey. Peter himself, who usually wore German dress and had a trimmed mustache, acted as a prime example. While the nobility universally followed Peter's fashion preferences at court, they greatly resented these styles, which they saw as blasphemous. Away from
St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, very few noblemen followed Peter's guidelines and enforcement was lax.
Peter also demanded changes in mannerisms and language among nobles. To supply Russians with a basic set of “proper” morals and habits, he ordered publication of manuals on Western etiquette. The most popular of these was ''The Honourable Mirror of Youth or A Guide to Social Conduct Gathered from Various Authors'', a compilation of rules of conduct from numerous European sources, initially published in St. Petersburg in 1717. He also encouraged the learning of foreign languages especially
French, which was the foremost political and intellectual language of Europe at the time. For the nobility, these changes felt even more forced than fashion regulations. As with clothing, there was uniform acceptance of Western mannerisms at court but general disregard for them outside of St. Petersburg. Furthermore, when Westerners visited Peter's court they found the image and personality of the courtiers to appear forced and awkward.
Friedrich Christian Weber
Friedrich Christian Weber (died 1739) was an 18th-century German diplomat and writer.
He was born in Hanover and, after the succession of fellow Hanoverian George I of Great Britain to the throne of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1714, represen ...
, a representative of Britain, commented in 1716 that the nobles “wear the German Dress; but it is easy to observe on many, that they have not been long used to it”.
Between the Greats
While none of the rulers in power from 1725 to 1762 focused as strongly on cultural westernization, Peter sparked a transformation that was now unstoppable. Through their education and travels, some members of the nobility began to understand the extent to which Russia lagged behind Western Europe in the complexity of their political and educational systems, their technology and economy. By 1750, the ideas of
secularism
Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on Secularity, secular, Naturalism (philosophy), naturalistic considerations.
Secularism is most commonly defined as the Separation of church and state, separation of relig ...
,
skepticism
Skepticism, also spelled scepticism, is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the pe ...
and
humanism
Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry.
The meaning of the term "humani ...
had reached sects of the elite class, providing some with a new worldview and giving Russia a taste of
the Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment or the Enlightenment; german: Aufklärung, "Enlightenment"; it, L'Illuminismo, "Enlightenment"; pl, Oświecenie, "Enlightenment"; pt, Iluminismo, "Enlightenment"; es, La Ilustración, "Enlightenment" was an intel ...
, of which they had experienced little. While even the most educated of the nobility still supported the autocracy that upheld the
feudal system
Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structur ...
on which they depended, some considered how to make it more representative and to improve the bureaucracy.
The period between Peter I and Catherine II represents gradual yet significant developments in western culture among the nobility.
Empress Anna
Anna Ioannovna (russian: Анна Иоанновна; ), also russified as Anna Ivanovna and sometimes anglicized as Anne, served as regent of the duchy of Courland from 1711 until 1730 and then ruled as Empress of Russia from 1730 to 1740. Much ...
gave many privileges to the nobility. In 1730 she repealed the
primogeniture
Primogeniture ( ) is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate child to inherit the parent's entire or main estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some children, any illegitimate child or any collateral relativ ...
law introduced by Peter the Great allowing the sub-division of estates. In 1736 the age at which nobles had to start service was raised from 15 to 20 and length of service was changed to 25 years instead of life and families with more than one son could keep one to manage the family estate. In 1726
Catherine I
Catherine I ( rus, Екатери́на I Алексе́евна Миха́йлова, Yekaterína I Alekséyevna Mikháylova; born , ; – ) was the second wife and empress consort of Peter the Great, and Empress Regnant of Russia from 1725 un ...
and in 1743
Empress Elizabeth
Elizabeth Petrovna (russian: Елизаве́та (Елисаве́та) Петро́вна) (), also known as Yelisaveta or Elizaveta, reigned as Empress of Russia from 1741 until her death in 1762. She remains one of the most popular Russian ...
further regulated noble dress in a Western direction. In 1755 also during Elizabeth's reign, advanced secondary schools and the
University of Moscow
M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...
were founded with curricula that included foreign languages, philosophy, medicine and law; the material was chiefly based on imported texts from the west. Most significantly
Peter III freed the nobility from obligatory civil and military service in 1762, allowing them to pursue personal interests. While some used this liberty as an excuse to lead lavish lives of leisure, a select group became increasingly educated in Western ideas through schooling, reading, and travel. As before, these changes applied to few and represented a gradual shift in noble identity rather than a sudden or universal one.
Marc Raeff
Marc Raeff (1923–2008) (pronounced RY-eff) was a specialist in Russian history who taught at Columbia University in New York, 1961–88. He held the Bakhmeteff chair in Russian Studies.
Harvard University historian Richard Pipes says, "He was ...
in ''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
When Catherine II ascended the throne, she quickly made her political and philosophical opinions clear in the
“Instruction” of 1767, a lengthy document which she prepared for the nobility, drawing largely from and even plagiarizing ideas from the west, especially those of
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolu ...
. The point she emphasized first and foremost was that Russia was a truly European state, and her reforms of the court and education reflect this belief. While Catherine was primarily preoccupied with impressing westerners (especially the
philosophers
A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...
, with whom she corresponded in writing), in doing so she also made significant efforts to educate the nobility and expose them to western philosophy and art. She designed an imperial court in the style of
Louis XIV
, house = Bourbon
, father = Louis XIII
, mother = Anne of Austria
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
, death_date =
, death_place = Palace of Vers ...
, entertaining the nobility with performances of western theatre and music. She encouraged the understanding of French, German, and English languages so that nobles could read classic, historical, and philosophical literature from the west. For the first time in the history of the Russian court, “intellectual pursuits became fashionable”. When foreigners visited the court, Catherine expected the noblemen and their ladies to flaunt not only their western appearance but also their ability to discuss current events in western languages.
Catherine also made specific reforms in institutional education that pushed the nobility's culture further westward. She based Russian education on that of Austria, importing German textbooks and adopting in 1786 a standardized curriculum to be taught in her newly created public schools.
[Dukes, Paul. 1967. Catherine the Great and the Russian nobility: a study based on the materials of the Legislative Commission of 1767. London: Cambridge U.P. p. 241.] While many members of the lower classes were allowed into these schools, Catherine hoped that they could become educated enough to rise through the meritocratic
Table of Ranks
The Table of Ranks (russian: Табель о рангах, Tabel' o rangakh) was a formal list of positions and ranks in the military, government, and court of Imperial Russia. Peter the Great introduced the system in 1722 while engaged in a s ...
and eventually become nobles themselves. Catherine also established the Society for the Translation of Foreign Books, “to bring enlightenment to those Russians who could not read either French or German.” It is clear that, like Peter I, Catherine the Great desired to construct a new nobility, a “new race,”
which would both resemble western noblemen and prove knowledgeable in discussions of modern issues. And, according to accounts from foreign visitors, the noblemen did, in fact, resemble those of Western Europe in their dress, topics of discussion, and taste in literature and performance.
She also gave away 66,000 serfs in 1762–72, 202,000 in 1773–93, and 100,000 in one day: 18 August 1795. Thus she was able to bind the nobility to herself. 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 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 in 1785 by the Russian empress Catherine II.
It recognized the corps
Corps (; plu ...
. The Charter introduced an organization of the nobility: every province (''
guberniya'') and district (''
uyezd
An uezd (also spelled uyezd; rus, уе́зд, p=ʊˈjest), or povit in a Ukrainian context ( uk, повіт), or Kreis in Baltic-German context, was a type of administrative subdivision of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, the Russian Empire, and the ea ...
'') had an
Assembly of Nobility
Assembly of the Nobility (russian: дворянское собрание, благородное собрание) was a self-governing body of the sosloviye (estate) of the Russian nobility in Imperial Russia from 1766 to 1917. Their official st ...
. The chair of an assembly was called Province/District
Marshal of Nobility. In 1831
Nicholas I restricted the assembly votes to those with over 100 serfs, leaving 21,916 voters.
Late modern era
By 1805 the various ranks of the nobility had become confused, as reflected in ''
War and Peace
''War and Peace'' (russian: Война и мир, translit=Voyna i mir; pre-reform Russian: ; ) is a literary work by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy that mixes fictional narrative with chapters on history and philosophy. It was first published ...
.'' In the era of the
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
, there were
count
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...
s who were wealthier and more important than
prince
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...
s and noble families whose wealth had been dissipated partly through lack of
primogeniture
Primogeniture ( ) is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate child to inherit the parent's entire or main estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some children, any illegitimate child or any collateral relativ ...
, partly through extravagance and due to poor estate-management. Young noblemen served in the military but did not thereby acquire new landed estates. Tolstoy reported later improvements: some nobles paid more attention to estate management, and some, like
Andrey Bolkonsky, freed their serfs even before the
tsar
Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East Slavs, East and South Slavs, South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''Caesar (title), caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" i ...
did so in 1861. Of Russia's nobles, 62.8% were
szlachta
The ''szlachta'' (Polish: endonym, Lithuanian: šlėkta) were the noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth who, as a class, had the dominating position in the ...
from the nine western gubernii in 1858 and still 46.1% in 1897.
''
Obrok
The term ''serf'', in the sense of an unfree peasant of tsarist Russia, is the usual English-language translation of () which meant an unfree person who, unlike a slave, historically could be sold only with the land to which they were "attach ...
'' or cash rent was most common in the north while ''
barshchina'' or labor rent was found mainly in the southern Black Earth Region. In the reign of
Nicholas I (1825–1855) the latter brought three times the income of cash rent (though this needed less administration). In 1798 Ukrainian landlords were banned from selling serfs separately from land. In 1841 landless nobles were banned also.
Descended from the gentry, the landholding, but not serf-owning,
odnodvortsy
Odnodvortsy (Russian: ''однодворцы'') was a social group of the Russian gentry in the late 17th — mid-19th centuries. Those of this group who failed to prove nobility or regain it through the Table of Ranks were ranked with the state p ...
were between peasants and nobles. They emerged as frontier settlers recruited from the class of
boyar scions
Boyar scions (Russian: дети боярские, сыны боярские; transliteration: ''deti/syny boyarskie'') were a rank of Russian gentry that existed from the late 1300s through the 1600s. In the late 1700s—early 1800s descendants of ...
. The status of the odnodvortsy changed gradually from singleholding farmers to taxed state peasants.
The nobility was too weak to oppose the
Emancipation reform of 1861
The emancipation reform of 1861 in Russia, also known as the Edict of Emancipation of Russia, (russian: Крестьянская реформа 1861 года, translit=Krestyanskaya reforma 1861 goda – "peasants' reform of 1861") was the first ...
. In 1858, three million serfs were held by 1,400 landlords (1.4%) while 2 million by 79,000 (78%). In 1820 a fifth of the serfs were mortgaged, half by 1842. By 1859, a third of nobles' estates and two-thirds of their serfs were mortgaged to noble banks or to the state.
[Orlando Figes, A People's Tragedy, page 48] The nobility was also weakened by the scattering of their estates, lack of
primogeniture
Primogeniture ( ) is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate child to inherit the parent's entire or main estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some children, any illegitimate child or any collateral relativ ...
and the high turnover and mobility from estate to estate.
After the
peasant reform of 1861 the economic position of the nobility weakened. The influence of the nobility was further reduced by the
new law statutes of 1864, which repealed their right of electing law officer. The reform of the police in 1862 limited the landowners' authority locally, and the establishment of all-estate
Zemstvo
A ''zemstvo'' ( rus, земство, p=ˈzʲɛmstvə, plural ''zemstva'' – rus, земства) was an institution of local government set up during the great emancipation reform of 1861 carried out in Imperial Russia by Emperor Alexander ...
local government did away with the exclusive influence of nobility in local self-government.
These changes occurred despite the nobles keeping nearly all the meadows and forests and having 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. Ninety percent of the serfs who got larger plots lived in the eight ex-Polish provinces where the Tsar wanted to weaken the
Szlachta
The ''szlachta'' (Polish: endonym, Lithuanian: šlėkta) were the noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth who, as a class, had the dominating position in the ...
. The other 10% lived in
Astrakhan
Astrakhan ( rus, Астрахань, p=ˈastrəxənʲ) is the largest city and administrative centre of Astrakhan Oblast in Southern Russia. The city lies on two banks of the Volga, in the upper part of the Volga Delta, on eleven islands of the ...
and in 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 of their land in
Tiflis
Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million pe ...
province, in
Kutaisi
Kutaisi (, ka, ქუთაისი ) is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and the third-most populous city in Georgia, traditionally, second in importance, after the capital city of Tbilisi. Situated west of Tbilis ...
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, 1861–1884). 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
A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to:
Administrative-territorial entities
* Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township
** Communes of ...
and by 1900 two thirds of the nobles' arable land was rented to the peasantry).
Between 1900–1914, over 20% of remaining noble land was sold but only 3% of the 155 estates over 50,000 ''destiny''. According to the 1897 census, 71% of the top 4 ranks 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 to 30.7% in 1897. There were 1.2 million nobles, about 1% of the population (8% in Poland; compare with 4% in Hungary and 1 to 1.5% in France). Their military influence waned: in the
Crimean War
The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia.
Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...
90% of officers were noble, by 1913 the proportion had sunk to 50%. They lived increasingly away from their estates: in 1858 only 15 to 20% of Russian nobles lived in cities, by 1897 it was 47.2%.
By 1904 of noble land was mortgaged to the noble bank.
During the
1905 Russian Revolution
The Russian Revolution of 1905,. also known as the First Russian Revolution,. occurred on 22 January 1905, and was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire. The mass unrest was directed again ...
3,000 manors were burnt (15% of the total).
Non-Russian nobility
The Russian imperial nobility was multi-ethnic. Native non-Russians such as the
Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in Ce ...
,
Georgians
The Georgians, or Kartvelians (; ka, ქართველები, tr, ), are a nation and indigenous Caucasian ethnic group native to Georgia and the South Caucasus. Georgian diaspora communities are also present throughout Russia, Turkey, G ...
,
Lithuanians
Lithuanians ( lt, lietuviai) are a Baltic ethnic group. They are native to Lithuania, where they number around 2,378,118 people. Another million or two make up the Lithuanian diaspora, largely found in countries such as the United States, Uni ...
,
Tatars
The Tatars ()[Tatar]
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different , and
Germans
, native_name_lang = de
, region1 =
, pop1 = 72,650,269
, region2 =
, pop2 = 534,000
, region3 =
, pop3 = 157,000
3,322,405
, region4 =
, pop4 = ...
formed an important segment of the noble estate. The
Baltic German nobility
Baltic German nobility was a privileged social class in the territories of today's Estonia and Latvia. It existed continuously since the Northern Crusades and the medieval foundation of Terra Mariana. Most of the nobility were Baltic Germans, but ...
was particularly prominent. According to the 1897 census, 0.87% of Russians were classified as hereditary nobles versus 5.29% of Georgians and 4.41% of Poles, followed by Lithuanians, Tatars, Azerbaijanis, and Germans. After the abolition of serfdom, the non-Russian nobility, with the exception of
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
, lost their special status. Later, many of the impoverished or déclassé Polish and Georgian nobles became leaders of nationalist and radical political movements, including
Bolshevism
Bolshevism (from Bolshevik) is a revolutionary socialist current of Soviet Marxist–Leninist political thought and political regime associated with the formation of a rigidly centralized, cohesive and disciplined party of social revolution, fo ...
.
Quoting historian
John Armstrong, Andrei Znamenski describes the Baltic Germans as a "mobilized diaspora" who acted as the Russian Empire's cultural and diplomatic envoys.
Russian Revolution
After the
October Revolution
The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...
of 1917, the new Soviet government legally abolished all classes of nobility. Many members of the Russian nobility who fled Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution played a significant role in the
White Emigre
White is the lightness, lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully diffuse reflection, reflect and scattering, scatter all the ...
communities which settled in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
, in
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
, and in other parts of the world. In the 1920s and 1930s, several Russian nobility associations were established outside Russia, including groups in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
,
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
, and the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. In New York, the
Russian Nobility Association in America
The Russian Nobility Association in America is a non-political, not-for-profit organization in the United States of America.
History
The Russian Nobility Association in America was founded in New York City in 1933. Its original efforts were to pr ...
, was founded in 1933. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 interest among Russians in the role that the Russian nobility played in the historical and cultural development of Russia has grown.
Organization
![Peter_der-Grosse_1838](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/Peter_der-Grosse_1838.jpg)
Nobility was transferred by inheritance or was bestowed by a
fount of honour The fount of honour ( la, fons honorum) is a person, who, by virtue of his or her official position, has the exclusive right of conferring legitimate titles of nobility and orders of chivalry on other persons.
Origin
During the High Middle Ages, ...
, i.e. the
sovereign
''Sovereign'' is a title which can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the Latin , meaning 'above'.
The roles of a sovereign vary from monarch, ruler or ...
of the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
, and was typically ranked as per below, with those of the highest noble prestige ranked first.
* Ancient nobility (descendants from Middle Ages)
* Titled nobility:
** Prince (''
knyaz
, or ( Old Church Slavonic: Кнѧзь) is a historical Slavic title, used both as a royal and noble title in different times of history and different ancient Slavic lands. It is usually translated into English as prince or duke, dependi ...
'' Князь): e.g.
Prince Potemkin
Prince Grigory Aleksandrovich Potemkin-Tauricheski (, also , ;, rus, Князь Григо́рий Алекса́ндрович Потёмкин-Таври́ческий, Knjaz' Grigórij Aleksándrovich Potjómkin-Tavrícheskij, ɡrʲɪˈɡ ...
** Count (''graf'' Граф): e.g.
Count
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...
Tolstoy
Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...
** Baron (''baron'' Барон): e.g.
Baron
Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...
Pahlen
The House of Pahlen (german: von der Pahlen; russian: link=no, Пален, Palen) is a German, Estonian, Russian, Lithuanian, Swedish and Baltic German noble family of Pomeranian origin.
History
The family probably originated from Pomerania, ...
* Hereditary nobility: inherited by all legitimate male-line descendants of a nobleman
* Personal nobility: granted for the life of the recipient only
* Estateless nobility: obtained without the grant of a
landed estate
In real estate, a landed property or landed estate is a property that generates income for the owner (typically a member of the gentry) without the owner having to do the actual work of the estate.
In medieval Western Europe, there were two compet ...
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
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...
, higher ranks of state service (see
Table of Ranks
The Table of Ranks (russian: Табель о рангах, Tabel' o rangakh) was a formal list of positions and ranks in the military, government, and court of Imperial Russia. Peter the Great introduced the system in 1722 while engaged in a s ...
) were automatically granted nobility, not necessarily associated with land ownership.
Russian did not in general employ a
nobiliary particle
A nobiliary particle is used in a surname or family name in many Western cultures to signal the nobility of a family. The particle used varies depending on the country, language and period of time. In some languages, it is the same as a regular p ...
before a
surname
In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community.
Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...
(as ''
von
The term ''von'' () is used in German language surnames either as a nobiliary particle indicating a noble patrilineality, or as a simple preposition used by commoners that means ''of'' or ''from''.
Nobility directories like the ''Almanach de ...
'' in
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
or ''
de'' in
French), however the Russian name suffix -skij which means “of” and is equal to “von” and “de” was used in many noble surnames especially topographic surnames as nobiliary particle. Russian noblemen were accorded an official salutation, or
style
Style is a manner of doing or presenting things and may refer to:
* Architectural style, the features that make a building or structure historically identifiable
* Design, the process of creating something
* Fashion, a prevailing mode of clothing ...
, that varied by rank: ''your
high born'' (russian: ваше высокородие), ''your
high well born'' (russian: ваше высокоблагородие), ''your
well born'' (russian: ваше благородие), etc.
Titled nobility
Titled nobility (russian: титулованное дворянство) was the highest category: those who had titles such as
prince
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...
,
count
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...
and
baron
Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...
. The latter two titles were introduced by
Peter the Great
Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...
. A baron or count could be either proprietary (actual) ( владетельный (действительный))—''i.e.,'' who owned land in the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
—or titular (титулярный), ''i.e.,'' only endowed with a rank or title.
Hereditary nobility
Hereditary nobility (russian: потомственное дворянство) was transferred to wife, children, and further direct legal descendants along the male (
agnatic
Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritanc ...
) line. In exceptional cases, the emperor could transfer nobility along indirect or female lines, ''e.g.,'' to preserve a notable family name.
Personal nobility
Personal nobility (russian: личное дворянство) could, for instance, be acquired by admission to
orders of knighthood of the Russian Empire. It was transferable only to the wife.
Estateless nobility
Estateless nobility (russian: беспоместное дворянство) was nobility acquired by state service, but without a grant of land.
Ancient nobility
In addition, the
ancient nobility (russian: Древнее дворянство) was recognised, descendants of
Rurik
Rurik (also Ryurik; orv, Рюрикъ, Rjurikŭ, from Old Norse '' Hrøríkʀ''; russian: Рюрик; died 879); be, Рурык, Ruryk was a semi-legendary Varangian chieftain of the Rus' who in the year 862 was invited to reign in Novgoro ...
,
Gediminas
Gediminas ( la, Gedeminne, ; – December 1341) was the king or Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1315 or 1316 until his death. He is credited with founding this political entity and expanding its territory which later spanned the area ranging from t ...
and historical
boyar
A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the Feudalism, feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Kievan Rus', Bulgarian Empire, Bulgaria, Russian nobility, Russia, Boyars of Moldavia and Wallachia, Wallachia and ...
s and
knyaz
, or ( Old Church Slavonic: Кнѧзь) is a historical Slavic title, used both as a royal and noble title in different times of history and different ancient Slavic lands. It is usually translated into English as prince or duke, dependi ...
es, ''e.g.,'' the
Shuyskies,
Galitzin
The House of Golitsyn or Galitzine was one of the largest princely of the noble houses in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire. Among them were boyars, warlords, diplomats, generals (the Mikhailovichs), stewards, chamberlains, the richest m ...
s,
Naryshkins,
Khilkoff
The House of Khilkoff or Khilkov (russian: Хилков) is a Rurikid princely family descending from sovereign rulers of Starodub-on-the-Klyazma. The descendant of the Great Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich, the Christianizer of Russia, Prince Iv ...
s,
Gorchakov
Gorchakov, or Gortchakoff (russian: Горчако́в), is a Russian princely family of Rurikid stock that is descended from the Rurikid sovereigns of Peremyshl, Russia.
Aleksey Gorchakov
The family first achieved prominence during the reign of ...
s,
Belosselsky-Belozerskys and
Chelyadnin
Chelyadnins (Челяднины) was an old Russian boyar family of Radsha and St Varlaam lineage via Akinfovs (Акинфовы), extinct in the 16th century.
Notable Chelyadnins
Boyar Andrey Fyodorovich Chelyadnin (?-1503), the first of ...
s.
Privileges
Russian nobility possessed the following privileges:
* The right to own estates populated with estate-tied
serf
Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which developed ...
s (until 1861), including virtual ownership of the serfs who worked on the estates.
*
Style
Style is a manner of doing or presenting things and may refer to:
* Architectural style, the features that make a building or structure historically identifiable
* Design, the process of creating something
* Fashion, a prevailing mode of clothing ...
, that varied by rank: ''The
High Born'' (russian: ваше высокородие), ''The
High and Well Born'' (russian: ваше высокоблагородие), ''The
Well Born'' (russian: ваше благородие), etc.
* Freedom from compulsory military service (1762–1874; later compulsory military service was introduced which did not exempt the nobility).
* The right to enter specially designated educational institutions, such as
Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum,
Imperial School of Jurisprudence
The Imperial School of Jurisprudence (Russian: Императорское училище правоведения) was, along with the Page Corps, a school for boys in Saint Petersburg, the capital of the Russian Empire.
The school for would-be ...
and
Page Corps
The Page Corps (russian: Пажеский корпус; french: Corps des Pages) was a military academy in Imperial Russia, which prepared sons of the nobility and of senior officers for military service. Similarly, the Imperial School of Jurisprud ...
.
* Freedom from
corporal punishment.
* The right to bear and use a
coat of arms
A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...
, introduced by the end of the 17th century.
Noble titles of the Russian Empire
The Russian Tsardom came into being around the
Grand Duchy of Moscow
The Grand Duchy of Moscow, Muscovite Russia, Muscovite Rus' or Grand Principality of Moscow (russian: Великое княжество Московское, Velikoye knyazhestvo Moskovskoye; also known in English simply as Muscovy from the Lati ...
by the incorporation of various political entities surrounding it. After
Peter the Great
Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...
returned from his
grand tour
The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tuto ...
he implemented reforms aimed at westernization of his realm, including officially adopting the title of
Emperor of All Russia
The emperor or empress of all the Russias or All Russia, ''Imperator Vserossiyskiy'', ''Imperatritsa Vserossiyskaya'' (often titled Tsar or Tsarina/Tsaritsa) was the monarch of the Russian Empire.
The title originated in connection with Russia' ...
, preceding the traditional Slavic title of
Tsar
Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East Slavs, East and South Slavs, South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''Caesar (title), caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" i ...
. Peter and his successors also streamlined the stratification of the Russian nobility, adopting European-style titles such as
Count
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...
and
Baron
Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...
and discontinuing the archaic titles of
Boyar
A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the Feudalism, feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Kievan Rus', Bulgarian Empire, Bulgaria, Russian nobility, Russia, Boyars of Moldavia and Wallachia, Wallachia and ...
s. The Russian system of noble titles evolved into its final form:
Acquisition
Hereditary nobility could be achieved in the following ways: 1) by Imperial grant to individuals or families; 2) by attaining a certain military or civil officer's rank while in active service; 3) by being awarded an
order of chivalry
An order of chivalry, order of knighthood, chivalric order, or equestrian order is an order (distinction), order of knights, typically founded during or inspired by the original Catholic Military order (religious society), military orders of the ...
of the Russian Empire.
Between 1722 and 1845 hereditary nobility was given to military officers who achieved the 14th rank of
ensign
An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...
, to civil servants who achieved the 8th rank of
Collegiate Assessor
The Table of Ranks (russian: Табель о рангах, Tabel' o rangakh) was a formal list of positions and ranks in the military, government, and court of Imperial Russia. Peter the Great introduced the system in 1722 while engaged in a s ...
and to any person who was awarded any order of the Russian Empire (since 1831 – except the Polish order of
Virtuti Militari
The War Order of Virtuti Militari (Latin: ''"For Military Virtue"'', pl, Order Wojenny Virtuti Militari) is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war. It was created in 1792 by Polish King Stan ...
).
Between 1845 and 1856 hereditary nobility was given to military officers who achieved the 8th rank of major/captain 3rd rank, to civil servants who achieved the 5th rank of
State Councillor
A state councillor () is a high-ranking position within the State Council, the executive organ of the Chinese government (comparable to a cabinet). It ranks immediately below the Vice-Premiers and above the ministers of various departments. Si ...
and to any person who was awarded the
Order of Saint George
The Order of Saint George (russian: Орден Святого Георгия, Orden Svyatogo Georgiya) is the highest military decoration of the Russian Federation. Originally established on 26 November 1769 Julian (7 December 1769 Gregorian) a ...
or the
Order of Saint Vladimir
The Imperial Order of Saint Prince Vladimir (russian: орден Святого Владимира) was an Imperial Russian order established on by Empress Catherine II in memory of the deeds of Saint Vladimir, the Grand Prince and the Baptize ...
of any class, or any order of the Russian Empire of the first class.
From 1856 to 1917 hereditary nobility was given to military officers who achieved the 6th rank of colonel/captain 1st rank, to civil servants who achieved the 4th rank of
Active State Councillor
Active State Councillor (russian: действительный статский советник, deystvitelnyi statskiy sovetnik) was the civil position (class) in the Russian Empire, according to the Table of Ranks introduced by Peter the Great ...
and to any person who was awarded the
Order of Saint George
The Order of Saint George (russian: Орден Святого Георгия, Orden Svyatogo Georgiya) is the highest military decoration of the Russian Federation. Originally established on 26 November 1769 Julian (7 December 1769 Gregorian) a ...
of any class or the
Order of Saint Vladimir
The Imperial Order of Saint Prince Vladimir (russian: орден Святого Владимира) was an Imperial Russian order established on by Empress Catherine II in memory of the deeds of Saint Vladimir, the Grand Prince and the Baptize ...
of any class (since 1900 - of the third class or higher), or any order of the Russian Empire of the first class.
Personal nobility could be acquired in the following ways: 1) by Imperial grant; 2) by attaining the 14th military rank of ensign or the 9th civil rank of
Titular Councillor; 3) by being awarded the orders of the Russian Empire unless those gave hereditary nobility; except merchants (unless those were awarded between 1826 and 1832), who acquired honorary citizenship instead. Personal nobility was not inherited by children but was shared by the recipient's wife.
Other ranks and positions
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Marshal of Nobility
*
Odnodvortsy
Odnodvortsy (Russian: ''однодворцы'') was a social group of the Russian gentry in the late 17th — mid-19th centuries. Those of this group who failed to prove nobility or regain it through the Table of Ranks were ranked with the state p ...
*
Okolnichy
Okolnichy (russian: око́льничий, ) was an old Muscovite court official position. According to the ''Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary'', directives on the position of ''okolnichy'' date back to the 14th century. Judging by t ...
*
Stolnik
Pantler (, , russian: сто́льник, ) was a court office in Lithuania, Poland, and Russia, responsible for serving the royal table, then an honorary court title and a district office.
Stolnik in Crown of Poland
In the Crown of Poland und ...
Gallery
File:M.V. Skopin-Shuyskiy (17th c., Tretyakov gallery).jpg, Prince Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky
Prince Mikhail Vasiliyevich Skopin-Shuisky (russian: Михаил Васильевич Скопин-Шуйский) (8 November OS (18 November NS) 1586 – 23 April OS (3 May NS) 1610) was a Russian statesman and military figure during the Ti ...
File:Justus Sustermans 049.jpg, Boyar Ivan Chemodanov
File:Ордин-Нащокин.jpg, Boyar Afanasy Ordin-Nashchokin
Afanasy Lavrentievich Ordin-Nashchokin (russian: Афанасий Лаврентьевич Ордин-Нащокин) (1605–1680) was a Russian statesman of the 17th century. He was the first junior noble to attain the '' boyar'' title and high ...
File:Evdokiya Streshneva (GIM, 18 c.) 2.jpg, Eudoxia Streshneva
Eudoxia Streshneva (, ''Yevdokiya Lukyanovna Streshneva''; 1608 – 18 August 1645) was the Tsaritsa of Russia as the second spouse of Tsar Michael of Russia.
Life
Eudoxia Streshneva was a daughter of the noble Lukyan Stepanovich Streshnev (d ...
File:Godfrey Kneller - Portrait of P.Potemkin (1682, Hermitage) - contrast.jpg, Boyar Pyotr Potemkin
Pyotr Ivanovich Potyómkin (Potemkin) (russian: Пётр Ива́нович Потёмкин; 1617–1700) was a Russian courtier, diplomat and namestnik of Borovsk during the reigns of Tsars Alexis I and Feodor III. He was a voivode during the R ...
File:Portrait of Prince Anikita Repnin (Russian Museum).jpg, Boyar Ivan Repnin
File:Matveyev Artamon portrait.jpg, Boyar Artamon Matveyev
Artamon Sergeyevich Matveyev (Артамон Сергеевич Матвеев in Russian) (1625–1682) was a Russian statesman, diplomat and reformer.
Biography
Because his father - Sergey Matveyev - was a notable diplomat, Artamon Matveyev ...
File:Marfa Matveevna by Workshop of Kremlin Armoury (before 1682, GRM).jpg, Marfa Apraksina
Marfa Matveyevna Apraksina (russian: Марфа Матвеевна Апраксина; 1664 – 1716) was a Tsarina of Russia and the second spouse of Tsar Feodor III of Russia.
Biography
Daughter of steward Matvey Vasilyevich Apraksin and Domna ...
File:Romodan.jpg, Prince Fyodor Romodanovsky
Prince Fyodor Yuryevich Romodanovsky (russian: Фёдор Юрьевич Ромодановский; ca. 1640 – 1717) was one of Peter the Great's foremost assistants in the task of modernizing Russia. He served as the country's first head of ...
File:Golytsin GIM.jpg, Prince Vasily Galitzine
Prince Vasily Vasilyevich Golitsyn (russian: Василий Васильевич Голицын, tr. ; 1643–1714) was a Russian aristocrat and statesman of the 17th century. He belonged to the Golitsyn as well as Romodanovsky Muscovite noble ...
File:Portrait of Tsaritsa Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina - Google Cultural Institute.jpg, Natalya Naryshkina
Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina (russian: Ната́лья Кири́лловна Нары́шкина; 1 September 1651 – 4 February 1694) was the Tsaritsa of Russia from 1671–1676 as the second spouse of Tsar Alexis I of Russia, and reg ...
File:Fedor Golovin.PNG, Prince Fyodor Golovin
File:Boris Sheremetyev by I.Argunov (1768, Kuskovo).jpg, Count Boris Sheremetev
Count Boris Petrovich Sheremetev (russian: Граф Бори́с Петро́вич Шереме́тев, tr. ; – ) was an Imperial Russian diplomat and general field marshal during the Great Northern War. He became the first Russian count in ...
File:Chancelor G.I.Golovkin by I.Nikitin (1720s, Tretyakov gallery).jpg, Count Gavriil Golovkin
Count Gavrila (Gavriil) Ivanovich Golovkin (russian: Гаври́ла (Гаврии́л) Ива́нович Голо́вкин) (1660 – 20 January 1734) was a Russian politician, statesman who formally presided over foreign affairs of the Russian ...
File:Dolgorukov Vasiliy Lukich (painted portrait).jpg, Prince Vasily Dolgorukov
File:Aleksey Mikhailovich Tcherkassky.PNG, Prince Alexey Cherkassky
Prince Alexey Mikhailovich Cherkassky or Tcherkassky (''Алексей Михайлович Черкасский'' in Russian, 1680–1742) was the Chancellor of the Russian Empire in the beginning of Empress Elizabeth's reign.
Life
Prin ...
File:A.P. Bestuzhev-Rumin by L.Tocque.jpg, Count Alexey Bestuzhev-Ryumin
Count Alexey Petrovich Bestuzhev-Ryumin (russian: Алексе́й Петро́вич Бесту́жев-Рю́мин; 1 June 1693 – 21 April 1766) was a Russian diplomat and Chancellor (Russia), chancellor. He was one of the most influential and ...
File:Rumjanzew-sadunaiski.jpg, Count Pyotr Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky
File:1814. Портрет Строганова Александра Сергеевича.jpg, Count Alexander Stroganov
Alexander Grigoriyevich Stroganov (russian: Алекса́ндр Григо́рьевич Стро́ганов; 31 December 1795 – 14 August 1891) was Russia's minister of the interior from 1839 to 1841 and then a member of the State Council fro ...
File:Tschernyschew Zachar2.jpg, Count Zakhar Chernyshev
Zakhar Grigoryevich Chernyshev (172231 August 1784) was a Russian noble, courtier to Catherine the Great, Imperial Russian Army officer, and Imperial Russian politician in the 18th century.
After made a courtier to then-Princess Sophie of Anha ...
File:Портрет2-5 сглажено .tif, Prince Nikolay Saltykov
Count, then Prince Nikolay Ivanovich Saltykov (russian: Николай Иванович Салтыков, 31 October 1736 – 28 May 1816), a member of the Saltykov noble family, was a Russian Imperial Field Marshal and courtier best known ...
File:Yekaterina Romanovna Vorontsova-Dashkova.jpg, Princess Yekaterina Dashkova
Yekaterina Romanovna Vorontsova (russian: Екатери́на Рома́новна Воронцо́ва) (28 March, 1743 – 15 January, 1810) This source reports that Prince Dashkov died in 1761. was an influential noblewoman, a major figure o ...
File:Alexei Ivanovich Musin-Pushkin by Lampi.jpg, Count Aleksei Musin-Pushkin
Aleksei Ivanovich Musin-Pushkin (Russian:Алексей Иванович Мусин-Пушкин; 27 March 1744, Moscow - 13 February 1817, Moscow) was a Russian statesman and historian, known for his large art and book collections.
Biography ...
File:S.R.Woronzov by T.Lawrence (1805-6, Hermitage).jpg, Count Semyon Vorontsov
Count Semyon Romanovich Vorontsov (or Woronzow, russian: Семён Романович Воронцо́в; 26 June 17449 July 1832) was a Russian diplomat from the aristocratic Russian Vorontsov family, whose siblings included Alexander Vorontso ...
File:Borovikovsky portrait of Kurakine A 1802.jpg, Prince Alexander Kurakin
File:Alexander Roslin, Count Andrey Kyrillovich Razumovsky (1776).jpg, Prince Andrey Razumovsky
Count (later Prince) Andrey Kirillovich Razumovskyrussian: Андре́й Кири́ллович Разумо́вский, , german: Andreas von Rasumofsky (2 November 1752 – 23 September 1836) was a Russian Imperial diplomat who spent man ...
File:Lobanov-Rostovsky Yakov Ivanovich, by unknown painter, before 1816.jpg, Prince Yakov Lobanov-Rostovsky
File:Counte Nicholas Demidoff.jpg, Count Nikolai Demidov
Count Nikolai Nikitich Demidov (9 October / November 1773 Chirkovitsi village near Saint Petersburg – 22 April 1828) was a Russian industrialist, collector and arts patron of the Demidov family.
Life
The son of Nikita Akinfiyevich Demido ...
File:Princess Anna Gagarina (1777-1805) by Jean-Louis Voille.jpg, Countess Anna Lopukhina
Princess Anna Petrovna Lopukhina (russian: Анна Петровна Лопухина) (8 November 1777 – 25 April 1805) was a royal mistress to Emperor Paul of Russia. In 1798, she replaced Catherine Nelidova as the chief mistress.
Family
...
File:Uvarov the elder.jpg, Count Sergey Uvarov
Count Sergey Semionovich Uvarov (russian: Граф Серге́й Семёнович Ува́ров; 5 September Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._25_August.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/> O.S._25_August">O ...
File:Alexander Sergeyevich Menshikov.jpg, Prince Alexander Menshikov Alexander Menshikov may refer to:
* Alexander Danilovich Menshikov (1673–1729), Russian statesman
* Alexander Sergeyevich Menshikov
Prince Alexander Sergeyevich Menshikov (russian: Князь Алекса́ндр Серге́евич Ме́н ...
File:Orlov A F-by Kruger.jpg, Prince Alexey Orlov
File:P.F. Sokolov 007.jpg, Prince Pyotr Vyazemsky
Prince Pyotr Andreyevich Vyazemsky ( rus, Пëтр Андре́евич Вя́земский, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐnˈdrʲejɪvʲɪt͡ɕ ˈvʲæzʲɪmskʲɪj; 23 July 1792 – 22 November 1878) was a Russian Imperial poet, a leading personality of t ...
File:Z.Volkonskaya by O.Kiprenskiy (1830, Hermitage).jpg, Princess Zinaida Volkonskaya
Princess Zinaida Aleksandrovna Volkonskaya (Зинаида Александровна Волконская; 14 December 1792 – 24 January 1862), was a Russian writer, poet, singer, composer, salonist and lady in waiting. She was an important f ...
File:Gorcakov A M chancellor.jpg, Prince Alexander Gorchakov
Prince Alexander Mikhailovich Gorchakov (Russian: Алекса́ндр Миха́йлович Горчако́в; 15 July 179811 March 1883) was a Russian diplomat and statesman from the Gorchakov princely family. He has an enduring reputation as ...
File:Samoylova Yuliya by Mitoire.jpg, Countess Yuliya Samoylova Yuliya Samoylova may refer to:
* Yuliya Samoylova (countess) (1803–1875), Russian countess
* Yuliya Samoylova (singer) (born 1989), contemporary Russian singer
{{hndis, Samoylova, Yuliya ...
File:AleksandrBaryatinsky 1870.jpg, Prince Alexander Baryatinsky
File:Tolstoy aleksey konstantinovich.jpg, Count Aleksey Tolstoy
File:Prince Beloselskiy.jpg, Prince Konstantin Beloselsky-Belozersky
File:Vasilchikov Boris Alexandrovich.jpg, Prince Boris Vasilchikov
Prince Boris Aleksandrovich Vasilchikov (russian: Бори́с Алекса́ндрович Васи́льчиков; 1863, Vybiti, Novgorod Governorate – 1931, Menton) — Russian politician.
Biography
Graduate of the Imperial School of Law ...
File:Georgy Lvov, 1919 LOC.jpg, Prince Georgy Lvov
Prince Georgy Yevgenyevich Lvov (7/8 March 1925) was a Russian aristocrat and statesman who served as the first prime minister of republican Russia from 15 March to 20 July 1917. During this time he served as Russia's ''de facto'' head of stat ...
File:Prince Felix Yusupov.jpg, Prince Felix Yusupov
Prince Felix Felixovich Yusupov, Count Sumarokov-Elston (russian: Князь Фе́ликс Фе́ликсович Юсу́пов, Граф Сумаро́ков-Эльстон, Knyaz' Féliks Féliksovich Yusúpov, Graf Sumarókov-El'ston; – ...
File:Nikolai Trubetzkoy.jpg, Prince Nikolai Trubetzkoy
Prince Nikolai Sergeyevich Trubetzkoy ( rus, Никола́й Серге́евич Трубецко́й, p=trʊbʲɪtsˈkoj; 16 April 1890 – 25 June 1938) was a Russian linguist and historian whose teachings formed a nucleus of the Prague School ...
File:Prince Andrey Petrovich Gagarin.jpg, Prince Andrey Gagarin
Prince Andrey Petrovich Gagarin (Russian: Андрей Петрович Гагарин; 9 July 1934, in Leningrad, USSR St. Petersburg, Russia] – 30 January 2011, in Maryland, United States, USA) was a professor of physics at Saint Petersbur ...
References
The Russian Nobility Association in Europe (Union de la Noblesse Russe)Official site of the Principal Russian Nobility AssociationThe Russian Nobility Association in AmericaOfficial site of the Imperial House of Russia
Further reading
*
Jerome Blum, Blum, Jerome. ''
''. Princeton University Press, 1951.
* Jenkins, Michael. "The Golden Years of the Russian Aristocracy" ''History Today'' (Feb1970), Vol. 20 Issue 2, pp 79-85 online, 1900-1917.
*
{{Nobility by nation
Society of the Russian Empire