The specific peasant is a category of serfs belonging to the Russian imperial house. That is, in fact, specific peasants were the property of the imperial family.
For the most part, specific peasants paid quitrents, but were also taxed with innocent labor. After the reform of 1861, they were allowed to redeem part of the specific land. The money paid by former serfs and specific peasants for earthen plots went to the state treasury.
The history of specific peasants in Russia
Before the reform of the specific peasants in 1797, these peasants were called palace and belonged to the royal family. They lived and worked on the palace lands, later destinies.
During the feudal fragmentation of the Russian principalities (XII-XV centuries), the institute of palace land ownership was formed. The duties of the first princely peasants were mainly to provide princely families with food and to maintain courtyards in order. In fact, the palace (specific) peasant is a servant of the royal family.
During the formation and strengthening of the centralized Russian state (end of the 15th century), the number of palace peasants increased significantly. According to historical documents, the palace lands were located in 32 counties.
Specific peasants as a gift
In the sixteenth century, a local system appeared, and it was customary to give palace peasants along with the lands as an encouragement to the nobles for exemplary service.
In the seventeenth century, as the territory of Russia increased, the number of palace peasants began to grow. In 1700, there were about 100 thousand yards belonging to the king. It was then that the imperial family began to actively distribute yards for services to the state.
Alexei Mikhailovich donated about 14 thousand households, and only in the first reign of Peter I the young tsar managed to give out about 24 thousand yards, most of which went to the tsar’s relatives and favorites.
In the future, the number of palace (specific) peasants was replenished by conquering new lands and taking land from disgraced nobles.
The history of serfdom in Russia
The origins of serfdom in Russia can be found in the XI century, but the full form of feudal exploitation, confirmed by the code of laws, began a little later. In the XII century, the exploitation of purchases and surrenders, that is, free smerds, who entered into an agreement with the feudal lord, began. Having borrowed money or property, the smerd settled on the land of the feudal lord and worked for him until the moment when the debt was considered paid. Hiding from the feudal lord, procurement became a serf, that is, a not free man.
Between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries there were more and more peasants, and less and less money, therefore more and more peasants entered into an agreement with the feudal lords. However, serfdom as such was not yet legalized.
Over time, the law began to limit the time of possible departure from the lands of the feudal lord, and then the number of people who could leave the land.
The decree of 1597 temporarily prohibited peasants from leaving estates (Preserve Summer). Subsequently, the measure became final. The same decree determined the amount of time during which the landowner had the right to search and punish the escaped peasant - five years. The 1607 decree imposed sanctions on those who hid or helped runaway peasants. Compensation should have been paid not only to the former owner, but also to the state treasury.
Most of the Russian nobility demanded a longer search period, because after five years of running the peasant became free. In the first half of the 17th century, the nobles sent a number of collective petitions to the authorities with a request to increase the terms for finding a fugitive. In 1642, the king established a new ten-year term. The code of laws of 1649 introduced a new, unlimited term, thereby condemning the peasants to life imprisonment.
Over time, three main groups of serfs were defined in Russia: landowners, state and specific peasants.
Landowner serfs
In the XIX century, the number of landowner peasants in Russia amounted to 10 694 445 souls (at that time only male peasants were considered), according to approximate estimates, there were about 22 million people of both sexes. The number of serfs in each county and province was far from the same. Most of them were concentrated in the central provinces, where there was little fertile land.
The landowner peasants were divided into two groups: the peasants who worked on the land of the landowners, and the yard, who completely belonged and depended on the landowners. Yard peasants were engaged in maintaining the estate in order, and also met any personal needs of the owners. According to estimates, the number of household peasants did not exceed 7% of the total.
Part of the landlord peasants paid dues, and part was on corvee. In some counties there were mixed duties.
State peasants
State or state peasants did not appear immediately, but as a result of the reforms of Peter I. All those rural residents who were supported by the state were ranked among state peasants. After secularization of a huge number of church lands, the status of state was given to the monastery peasants earlier.
According to historical data, the total number of state peasants in the 19th century was about 30% of all Russian peasants. Most of them paid the state a rent, which, depending on the province, could be from three to ten rubles.
In addition to the quitrent, state peasants were taxed with a number of duties. They could also be charged money for worldly needs and for the maintenance of infrastructure and various departments: maintenance of roads, construction and heating of barracks, salaries for officials, etc.
Specific peasants
The third group of peasants was specific peasants. They belonged to the imperial family and were formerly called palace. According to historian L. Khodsky, the total number of specific peasants before the reform was 851,334.
These were special peasants who lived in 18 provinces. The largest number of specific peasants was in Simbirsk (234 988 souls) and Samara (116 800 souls) provinces.
The lands on which the specific peasants worked were divided into two allotments: traction and reserve. The traction land was that which the peasant had to cultivate, and the peasant could take the spare lot at his discretion.
Despite the seemingly such convenient allotment of land, the specific peasants of the land often got less than the landlords and state. The specific department rarely agreed to issue spare plots to the peasants, and not every county had such plots.
Thus, the specific peasants lived for the most part in provinces with a small amount of fertile land, from the work on which they sometimes only had to earn money for wages and duties.
The specific peasant is a kind of scapegoat, because he paid a higher rent, because the money did not go to the state treasury, but directly into the pocket of the imperial family. In the 19th century, specific peasants paid 10 to 17 rubles in arrears per person, not counting in-kind duties and other monetary duties.
In addition, the specific peasants had to cultivate the lands of the specific department, the crop from which went to reserve hangars and was distributed to the peasants who suffered from crop failure. However, most often this crop was sold and enriched by officials of the department.
The legal status of specific peasants
The legal rights of specific peasants were the most limited of all categories. The real estate of specific peasants belonged to the department, and movable property could only be transported with the permission of officials.
The specific peasant is a completely bonded person. The "local self-government" of the specific peasantry was more of a joke than a lever of influence on the authorities and depended more on local officials than on the peasants themselves.
Even the individual rights of specific peasants were infringed more than state or landowners. It was more difficult for them to redeem or earn freedom. The specific department even controlled the marriages of the specific peasants assigned to it.