According to one of two versions, serfdom was entrenched in Russia in a specifically stated law of 1592. It finally established the unequal rights of the landowner and the peasant, and serfdom in Russia was fixed at the official level. In another presentation, it arose gradually and led to the complete loss of any independence among the poor peasants. The royal manifesto abolished serfdom in 1861, February 19.
History of occurrence
As we noted, there are two versions of the origin of the concept. Between themselves, historians call them "indicative" and "uninstructed." They originate in the middle of the 19th century. We learn what serfdom is based on two versions.
Proponents of the first version argue that in 1592 a law was passed on the final ban on the freedoms of peasants. According to its results, the peasants were forbidden to "travel" from one landowner to another. The whole family was forever assigned to the landowner and completely dependent on him.
XVIcentury, they did not produce good paper, and, as a result, no documents that could confirm the authenticity of the first version exist. Therefore, some historians who study what serfdom is in Russia adhere to the second version. In it, the assignment of peasants to landowners is described as a gradual action that took several centuries.
Credibility of the first description of events
The so-called fictitious version was refuted by V. O Klyuchevsky. The researcher found records of peasants that date back to around 1620-1630. As a result of the analysis of the letters, Klyuchevsky found out that the peasants had an ancient right that allowed them to "free themselves" from the landowner. This directly contradicts the first version, according to which the serfs were assigned forever to one owner.
What is serfdom? Definition
In the explanatory dictionary of D. N. Ushakov, two descriptions of the word are given. In order to simplify the concept, the article conveys a non-verbal transfer of the text, but with the preservation of the meaning.
- This is a social form of interaction that is subject to a single "slave-slave owner" scheme.
- Noble worldview based on the ideology of serfdom.
Soviet researchers wondered what serfdom was. As a result, they agreed that this is a form of class inequality, characterized by the exploitative attitude of one person (landowner) to another (serf).
