A smerd () was a free

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 peasan ...

and later a

feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...

-dependent serf in the

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

Slavic states of East Europe. Sources from the 11th and 12th centuries (such as the 12th-century '' Russkaya Pravda'') mention their presence in

Kievan Rus' Kievan Rus', also known as Kyivan Rus,. * was the first East Slavs, East Slavic state and later an amalgam of principalities in Eastern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical At ...

and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

as the ''smerdones''. Etymologically, the word ''smerd'' comes from a common Indo-European root meaning "ordinary man" or "dependent man". In Kievan Rus', ''smerdy'' were peasants who gradually lost their freedom (partially or completely) and whose

legal Law is a set of rules that are created and are law enforcement, enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a Socia ...

status differed from group to group. Unlike

slave Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

s, they had their own

property Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, re ...

and had to pay fines for their delinquencies, legally the ''smerds'' never possessed full

rights Rights are law, legal, social, or ethics, ethical principles of freedom or Entitlement (fair division), entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal sy ...

; killing of a ''smerd'' was punished by the same fine as killing of a '' kholop'' (similarly to a slave). The property of the deceased was inherited by the ''

knyaz A , also , ''knjaz'' or (), is a historical Slavs, Slavic title, used both as a royal and noble title in different times. It is usually translated into English language, English as 'prince', 'king' or 'duke', depending on specific historical c ...

'' (prince). The ''Russkaya Pravda'' forbade torturing ''smerds'' during court examination without consent of the ''

''. During the 12th and the 13th centuries a number of sources mention the ''smerdy'' while narrating events in Halych-Volynia and in

Novgorod Veliky Novgorod ( ; , ; ), also known simply as Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the oldest cities in Russia, being first mentioned in the 9th century. The city lies along the V ...

. It appears that during this period the term ''smerd'' encompassed the whole rural population of a given region. Sources of the 14th and 15th centuries refer to ''smerds'' of Novgorod and

Pskov Pskov ( rus, Псков, a=Ru-Псков.oga, p=psˈkof; see also Names of Pskov in different languages, names in other languages) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in northwestern Russia and the administrative center of Pskov O ...

as peasant- proprietors, who possessed lands collectively (communes) or individually and had the right to freely alienate their own allotments. However, their personal freedom was limited: they were forbidden to seek a new master or princely

patronage Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, art patronage refers to the support that princes, popes, and other wealthy and influential people ...

. The ''knyaz'' could not accept complaints from ''smerds'' against their master. Also, ''smerds'' had to provide labor services and to pay tribute (''dan) to the benefit of the city as a collective feudal master. In Russia from the 14th century the word ''smerd'' as a denotation for peasants and other commonfolk was replaced with the word ''krestyanin'' ('' крестьянин''), meaning

. The change was connected to the dying out of

Slavic paganism Slavic paganism, Slavic mythology, or Slavic religion refer to the religious beliefs, myths, and ritual practices of the Slavs before Christianisation, which occurred at various stages between the 8th and the 13th century. The South Slavs, who ...

by that time, as well as to the

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

ization of the Golden Horde under Öz Beg Khan (ruled 1313–1341), which fostered the rise of Christian self-identification in the vassal Russian lands that were under

Mongol yoke The Mongol Empire invaded and conquered much of Kievan Rus' in the mid-13th century, sacking numerous cities such as Ryazan, Yaroslavl, Pereyaslavl and Vladimir, including the largest: Kiev (50,000 inhabitants) and Chernigov (30,000 i ...

. The old word ''smerd'' continued to be used in a pejorative meaning, often in a situation when a lord spoke to dependent people or even to lesser nobles. Also the word acquired a meaning of "one who stinks", with the related verb smerdet' '' (''смердеть'' or ''śmierdzieć'', to stink).https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D1%81%D0%BC%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B4#Russian

Notes

External links

The Smerd in Kievan Russia

"Smerdy" in The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition
Society of Kievan Rus' Peasants Economy of Kievan Rus' Polish farmers {{Poland-hist-stub

See also

Notes

External links