Moscow's Men on Horseback 23
functions were enumerated according to rank, from members of the dynasty
down to junior gentrymen (deli boyarskiye) who looked after the tsar's horses
or battle standard. Senior commanders (voivodes) were usually titled aristo-
crats.29 A recent study of the registers for 1520-50 shows that, of 1,018
regimental command positions, 771 went to members of princely clans; the
rate rose from 61.5 per cent under Vasiliy II I (1505-33) to 79.4 per cent in the
ensuing period of 'boyar rule'.^30 A distinction was drawn between 'palace' and
'regimental' commanders. The former, who included the treasurer (dvoret-
skiy), mounted guard over the notables and supervised the ordinary gentry-
men; the latter were assigned to the various regiments (polki) or to the artillery
(naryad), supply train, etc.^31 The term regiment is a little misleading: in pre-
Petrine Russia this was a large unit, usually combining different arms, as is
clear from the record (which is unusually full) of Ivan's march on Polotsk in
1563: the 'tsar's regiment' had 6, 73 I men-15 per cent of the total (32,000)-
of whom 5,566 were privileged servitors; the others varied in size from 5,789
for the main regiment down to 1,877 for the scouting force (ertoul).3^2 From
1550 regiments were ranked in order of seniority or precedence: right wing,
vanguard (peredovoy), left wing, and rearguard (storozhevoy); the artillery
stood somewhat apart.33
The reason for this was the curious practice of 'place-seeking' (mestni-
chestvo) which grew up among courtiers in the late fifteenth century and later
spread downwards through much of the elite. Recent research has done much
to clarify the character, origins, and significance of this important institu-
tion. 34 R. 0. Crummey defines 'the rules of the game' as follows: 'no one
could be made to serve in a subordinate position to someone to whom he was
superior according to the ranking system, which was based on a combination
of one's genealogical distinction and the service record of oneself and one's
29 Alef, 'Crisis', pp. 27, .5.5. Jo Kleimola, 'Mil. Service', p. .51.
JI Buganov, 'K izucheniyu', p. .57 (1.549); cf. DRV xiv. 3.50-2 (1578).
32 Yepifanov, 'Voysko', p. 368; 30,000 horsemen were also fielded in the 1578 campaign: ibid ..
p. 343.
33 PRP iv. 582-3.
14 See particularly the works of A. Kleimola (with full bibliography); Crummey, 'Renections';
and Shmidt, 'Mestnichestvo i absolyutizm'. Markevich, /st. mestnichestva, remains the classic
study.
B. Men recruited for service (s/uzhiliye lyudi po pri/Joru)
I. Old formation (russkiy stroy)
a) Musketeers (stre/'tsy)
b) [Serving] cossacks (gorodovye kazak1)
c) Artillerymen and fortress guards (pu.shkari, zantinshchiki, vorotnik1)- New formation (novyy [inozemskiy] ~troy)
a) Infantrymen (soldaty)
b) Cavalrymen (reytary)
c) Dragoons (draguny)
Based on Filippov, Uchebnik, p. 438.