Tsar Ivan IV went down in Russian history under the nickname Grozny, and there was every reason for this, however, in order to make an objective idea of his rule, one should take into account a number of state transformations he carried out, many of which were very progressive. One of them was Zemsky reform, which included the abolition of feedings (1556) and largely limited the arbitrariness of local authorities. What was this innovation?
Burden of the people
Before we start talking 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 peculiarities of the local government with which it is associated. The fact is that already in the middle of the XI century in Russia, a practice was established when the great and specific princes forced the population of the lands subject to them to keep officials (princely governors) at their own expense and to supply them with food and all other what is necessary for life.
This form of material support for the tsarist governors began to be called "feeding" and lasted until the middle of the XVI century. It should be noted that in the initial period it did not extend to the entire territory of Russia, and besides, it was episodic in nature. However, over time, bureaucracy in practice felt its benefits and made every effort for widespread dissemination. As for the abolition of feedings in 1556, it was a forced act, the reasons for which will be discussed below.
Legal requisitions
The legal justification for “feeding” was a collection of laws that appeared in Russia at the beginning of the XI century and was called “Russian Truth”. It contained a detailed list of all legal norms established at that time in territories subject to the Kiev princes. Among other things, this document indicated the categories of officials who were given the right to receive food allowances from the population for themselves and their servants. The law applied primarily to officials whose activities were related to the construction of new cities and the collection of taxes in favor of the treasury.
Despite the fact that the abolition of feedings (1556) is one of the progressive reforms carried out by Ivan the Terrible, it is commonly believed that during the 12th-14th centuries this form of arranging the administrative apparatus played a very positive role in organizing local government.
Feeding insatiable officials
According to the then established tradition, the grand dukes entrusted the administration of cities and volosts to their governors, as well as to service people subordinate to them - tyuns. 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 stockpile foodstuffs necessary for themselves, as well as family members and a large number of servants.
It was ordinary food, but besides it, there was also the so-called entry. His townspeople and villagers were to bring a newly appointed official to the courtyard immediately upon his arrival at the duty station. Entry food was also served by stocks of meat, bread, fish and other products. A separate article was feed for horses and various kinds of domestic animals of the official - cows, pigs, goats, etc. Since the end of the 16th century, the food tax was replaced by a monetary tax, and a ringing coin flowed into the purses of the princely governors. By the time feed was canceled in 1556, such a practice was accepted everywhere.
Feeding trough for corrupt officials
Despite the fact that the “feedings” generally corresponded to the normative acts of that time, their specific volumes were not established, which opened up the possibility of all kinds of abuses by 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-up statutory letters”, which indicated to whom and how much food and cash were put into. However, by that time, corruption among the service people had become so widespread that the princely circulars sent to their places were not able to rectify the situation. Illegal requisitions were becoming increasingly widespread and threatened with a social explosion.
Imperial reform
By the middle of the 16th century, the situation had become so aggravated that the only or only partial cancellation of feedings could be its stabilization. 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 levy taxes on the population in their favor. However, although feeding was canceled in 1556, nevertheless, until the end of the 16th century, its relapses appeared throughout Russia. This is evidenced by many historical documents preserved to this day.
Boris Godunov initiative
It is also noted that even in a later period, when the organization of state power radically changed, and feeding in its original form was a thing of the past, all the hardships associated with the maintenance of the bureaucratic apparatus remained with the common people. Only the external form of levying has changed.
So, one of the decrees of Boris Godunov, who persistently, but unsuccessfully tried to streamline the process of managing a huge state by progressive reforms, established a system of taxes - "fed farms" intended for the maintenance of the bureaucracy. The people still needed the funds necessary for its maintenance, but this was done more correctly, which, however, did not change the essence of the matter, but partly 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 they went to their 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 borne by the people. Thus, the abolition of “feedings” declared in the document of 1556, neither at that period nor in subsequent years, was fully implemented, and for its implementation it took a lot of time and effort.