The charter to the nobility begins a new stage in the history of this estate. After the adoption of the document, the nobles became a legislatively privileged layer and received wide opportunities and rights.
The charter to the nobility was accepted by the great reformer Catherine 2. No one suspected that a woman who had no rights to the Russian crown could become the second Great Empress after Peter 1. Her policy went down in history as "enlightened absolutism." And indeed it is. With her diploma, she made the nobility the most noble class.
The charter to the nobility of 1785 freed the nobles from compulsory service. But it is worth noting that the beginning of such a legal registration of the rights of this estate was laid by Peter 3 in his Manifesto on the freedom of the nobility. This document gave the right to the nobles to continue their service of their own free will, and they were also allowed to enter the service in other states, but on the condition that at the first request of the Russian Empire they would arrive back at the location of the already Russian army.
The charter to the nobility also decided that for children under 18, only information about the place of study should be provided. The content of this Manifesto caused doubts in Catherine, and she convened a special commission to correct the document. After that, on the basis of already existing provisions, they issued a Letter of Complaint. It had its own structure and was divided into 4 parts:
- personal benefits;
- assemblies and reform of the noble society;
- instructions for compiling genealogical books;
- proof of origin.
The new document freed the nobles from corporal punishment, allowed a man to give her his status if he married a non-noble woman, and a woman was not granted such a right if she married a non-noble.
Also, this document of Catherine II fixed the following provision: only a court equal to him and no one else could judge a nobleman. The nobles received the right to gather their societies and meetings - this speaks of their self-government. It is worth noting that the letter leveled all clans: from noble to ordinary. Thus, all noble families had the same rights and opportunities. A distinctive feature of that time was the creation of genealogical books, by the presence of which they judged the nobility of the family.
Charters granted to the nobility and cities became a symbol of enlightened absolutism during the time of Catherine II. Accepted on her birthday, they became as symbolic as the figure of the Great Empress. The adoption of these documents was of great importance forfinal social stratification of Russian society.
The charter to the nobility was adopted at the end of the 18th century. She consolidated the privileges of the nobility, determined the conditions for their life and great opportunities for disposing of the peasants. The document was an excellent opportunity for the development of managerial and entrepreneurial qualities of the estate, as well as for the formation of confident noble self-government.
