The History of The Novgorodian Pomest'e: 1480-1550 (Russia)
Hammond, Vincent Elwood
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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/70498
Description
Title
The History of The Novgorodian Pomest'e: 1480-1550 (Russia)
Author(s)
Hammond, Vincent Elwood
Issue Date
1987
Department of Study
History
Discipline
History
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
History, European
Abstract
This study is concerned with the legal development of the Russian military fief (pomest'e) in the first half of the sixteenth century. This investigation was undertaken to determine the legal distinction between the early sixteenth century pomest'e and the votchina, an alodial tenure which had existed from Kievan times.
This study relies on the cadastral records of the censuses of the Novgorodian land conducted in 1500 and 1540. The cadasters of 1500 show the pomest'e system's operation during the first generation after the first middle service class dvoriane and deti boiarskie were settled on the former lands of the exiled Novgorodian boyars. The records of the 1540 census are also important; they reveal the degree to which the sons of the first generation retained their fathers' lands. The study focuses on the Shelonskaia and Vodskaia piatiny, the two provinces with the highest concentrations of pomest'ia and the only provinces with surviving returns from both censuses.
The study found pomeshchiks exchanging land on their own initiative and without the crown's prior approval before 1500. There is also evidence that the first generation of pomeshchiks could sell or donate pomest'ia. This is extremely significant because the ability to exchange or alienate land is attribute of alodial rather than conditional landholding.
The study also found that pomeshchiks preferred to consolidate their holdings near their manor, which was usually located near other family members' holdings. In most cases the additions to their dacha (pridachi) periodically received by pomeshchiks came from the lands of deceased or retired relatives located in the same parish.
The most significant finding involved the low rate of turnover of the pomest'e. Most of the Shelonskaia and Vodskaia pomeshchiks of 1540 were sons, brothers, or cousins of the pomeshchiks of 1500. This shows that the pomeshchiks preferred to keep their lands in the family.
The continuity of the pomest'e within the middle service class servingman's family negates the traditional distinction between the conditional pomest'e and alodial votchina. As long as the adult male members of the pomeshchik's family served the crown, the family kept its land from generation to generation.(Abstract shortened with permission of author.)
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