In the days of the Old Russian state, the formation of the basic principles and rules for the creation, execution, confirmation and storage of documents. Accordingly, special posts appear, representatives of which possessed skills in working with documentation. One of these posts is the clerk.
Etymology and meaning of the word
The word clerk is a derivative of the Greek word hypodiakons, where hupo means "under" and diakons means "servant." According to most explanatory dictionaries, the clerk is the lowest administrative position in the Russian state of the XVI-XVIII centuries. The duties of the people who occupied her included the main office work in central and local state institutions.
Scribe Responsibilities
As a result of the establishment of a centralized state in Russia, a certain structure of managerial bodies was formed, which was represented by the boyar duma, orders in the center and local order houses. A document flow was carried out between each governing body. With the help of these state institutions, the state was governed by the king.
The order (the central institution) was led by a clerk who was appointed from the duma ranks. At the disposal of the clerk was from one to three clerks (later, up to 6-10 clerks in large orders). The clerks, in turn, obeyed the clerk. Depending on their experience and knowledge, they were divided into senior, middle (middle arm) and junior. The main activity of clerks and clerks was paperwork. They executed reports, petitions, letters, etc. Older clerk and clerk of the middle hand could perform more responsible work. They were entrusted with storing cases, sealing archive chests, and preparing case decisions. The junior clerk is the lowest position in the administrative apparatus of the order. Usually, the younger clerk did not have much trust, their activities were strictly controlled.
It should be noted that most often the clerk is a native of the common people. Representatives of the nobility (for example, impoverished, ruined) also sometimes held the position of clerk, but most often they, after serving the clerk for a short time, quickly turned into clerks. Usually entered the service as a scribe at the age of 14-15 years. Moreover, the earlier the service began, the faster the promotion of the career ladder.
Square scribes
Areas clerks deserve special attention. This is a special group of written businessmen who worked under government supervision in urban areas. In ancient Russia, the square was the most common place for private acts requiring written execution.
Area clerks engaged in the design of merchants, barter, petitions, etc. These clerks included representatives of different classes (even grave ones), but they were not service people. It is worth noting that the area clerks formed artels and vouched for each other. In some cities, corporations of area clerks totaled 12 people, and by the end of the 17th century - up to 24 people. In Moscow, the local scribes were subordinate to the Armory, and in other cities they were led by the local noble corporation. Thus, we can say that the appearance and long existence of the position of the scribe became one of the components that laid the foundation for the modern bureaucratic system. The meaning of the word clerk, i.e. clerk, has not lost its relevance at the present time.