The Noble Servitor and His World SS
less abolishing, the nobles' obligation to serve the state, and their position
in the official hierarchy now depended more completely than ever on the will
of the monarch and bureaucrats subservient to him. Under a weak ruler such as
the iegent Sofia 0682-9) they did not need to wurry unuuiy and couid expect
their background to be taken into account when appointments were made. But
where would they turn for protection when the throne was occupied by a
ruthless radical like Peter I?
The tsar-reformer would carry out a 'second service-class revolution', 91
greater in its impact than that of Ivan IV-one which, although it certainly
brought the privileged elements in society many benefits, temporarily halted
such progress towards civilianization as they had made in previous decades. In
the early eighteenth century a new military emergency would lead the central
vlast' to impose on the country's elite a more modern form of its traditional
bondage.
91 Hellie, 'Petrine Army'.