Tsar Ivan IV entered Russian history under the nickname the Terrible, and there were good reasons for that, however, in order to get an objective idea of his reign, one should take into account a number of state reforms carried out by him, many of which were very progressive. One of them was the Zemsky reform, which included the abolition of feeding (1556) and largely limited the arbitrariness of local authorities. What was this innovation?
The burden of the people
Before starting a conversation about the abolition of feedings carried out in 1556, we should dwell in more detail on the meaning of this term itself, or rather, on the features of local government with which it is associated. The fact is that as early as the middle of the 11th century, a practice was established in Russia when the great and specific princes forced the population of the lands subject to them to support officials (princely governors) at their own expense and, during the entire service life, supply them with food, as well as everything else, what is necessary for life.
This formmaterial support of the royal governors became known as "feeding" and lasted until the middle of the XVI century. It should be noted that in the initial period it did not spread to the entire territory of Russia, and besides, it was of an episodic nature. However, over time, the bureaucracy in practice felt its benefits and made every effort to spread it everywhere. As for the cancellation of feedings in 1556, it was a forced act, the reasons for which will be discussed below.
Legislative Extortions
The legal justification for "feedings" was a collection of laws that appeared in Russia at the beginning of the 11th century and was called "Russian Truth". It contained a detailed list of all the legal norms established at that time in the territories subject to the Kievan princes. This document, among other things, indicated the categories of officials who were given the right to receive allowances from the population in the form of food for themselves and their servants. The effect of the law extended primarily to officials whose activities were associated with the construction of new cities and the collection of taxes in favor of the treasury.
Despite the fact that the abolition of feeding (1556) is one of the progressive reforms carried out by Ivan the Terrible, it is generally accepted that in the period of the XII-XIV centuries this form of arrangement of the administrative apparatus played a very positive role in the organization of local government.
Feeding insatiable officials
According to the then established tradition, the Grand Dukes instructedmanagement of cities and volosts to their governors, as well as to their subordinate service people - tiuns. At the same time, the local population was obliged to support them and three times a year - on Easter, Christmas and Peter's Day, celebrated on June 29 (July 12) - to supply food supplies needed by themselves, as well as family members and numerous servants.
It was ordinary food, but besides it, there was also the so-called entry. Its townspeople and villagers were supposed to bring the newly appointed official to the yard immediately upon his arrival at the duty station. Introductory food was also supplied with stocks of meat, bread, fish and other products. Feed for horses and various household animals of an official - cows, pigs, goats, etc. was a separate article. From the end of the 16th century, the food tax was replaced by cash, and voiced coins flowed into the purses of princely governors. By the time feedings were canceled in 1556, this practice was universally accepted.
Feeding trough for corrupt officials
Despite the fact that the “feedings” as a whole corresponded to the normative acts of that time, their specific volumes were not established, which opened up the possibility for all sorts of abuses on the part of the Grand Duke's governors. To prevent this, in the middle of the 15th century, the Moscow authorities made an attempt to regulate the size of the bureaucratic content and even introduced the practice of issuing special “fed statutory letters”, which indicated who and how much food and cash were due. However, to thattime, corruption among the service people took on such a wide scale that the princely circulars sent to the places were not able to correct the situation. Illegal requisitions were on the rise and threatened with a social explosion.
Tsarist reform
By the middle of the 16th century, the situation had deteriorated so much that the only way to stabilize it could be the complete or at least partial cancellation of feeding. In 1556, Tsar Ivan the Terrible carried out his famous Zemsky reform, which largely changed the order of local government and contributed to the strengthening of centralized state power.
According to one of its provisions, officials at all levels were transferred to state support, and they were forbidden to collect taxes from the population in their favor. However, although feeding was canceled in 1556, nevertheless, until the end of the 16th century, its relapses manifested themselves throughout Russia. This is evidenced by many historical documents that have survived to this day.
Boris Godunov's Initiative
It is also noted that even in a later period, when the organization of state power itself changed radically, and feeding in its original form became a thing of the past, all the hardships associated with the maintenance of the bureaucracy were still assigned to the common people. Only the external form of levying has changed.
Thus, one of the decrees of Boris Godunov, persistently, but unsuccessfully trying to progressivereforms to streamline the process of managing a huge state, a system of taxes was established - "farmed farming", intended for the maintenance of the bureaucracy. The people were still charged the funds necessary for its maintenance, but this was done more correctly, which, however, did not change the very essence of the matter, but somewhat complicated the situation.
According to the new rules, money from the population, before settling in the pockets of officials, went to the treasury, and only from there was it sent to its recipients. This seemingly reasonable decision in practice was the reason for the emergence of a series of intermediaries between the "breadwinners" and those whom they supported, and therefore entailed additional costs covered by the people. Thus, the abolition of "feedings" declared in the document of 1556 was not fully implemented either in that period or in subsequent years, and it took a lot of time and effort to implement it.
