(^46) Muscovite Roots, 1462-1689
such rights and duties. A holder's younger brothers, sons, and nephews would
normally be 'ascribed' (pripuskar ·sya) to his land until they had been mustered
and received an allocation of their own. This intensified the pressure on the
holder's resources, even ir he received an additional grant in ~ompensation;
only the more influential dependant kinsmen managed to secure a separate
property while the holder was still alive.^42 In the seventeenth century the laws
were liberalized somewhat to protect the interests of widows of deceased ser-
vitors with young children to bring up: they would receive a small portion for
their subsistence until death or remarriage.^4 J Orphaned children were similarly
provided for, the boys being enlisted as soon as they reached th'e age of maturity
(15, later raised to 18) and the girls married off-to other servitors, needless to
say!
Seventeenth-century pomeshchiki were also permitted to exchange their
lands provided that they registered the deed. Their main purpose in concluding
such deals was to consolidate their holdings and so make them more
manageable.^44 From 1649 onwards they could also exchange their holdings for
patrimonial land. This undermined the old principle that the territories
exchanged should be of equal value. ~j Another concession was to allow service
tenures to be leased under certain conditions. They were not supposed to be
mortgaged or sold-but by the 1670s both these kinds of transaction are
documented.^46
In the t:arly seventeenth century, according to a modern demographer,
privileged secular owners or holders had 66 per cent of the theoretical max-
imum or arable and pasture;~^7 the clergy held 16 per cent and the rest was split
between the crown and 'black' (taxpaying) peasant communities. The break-
down between votchiny and pomest ·ya is not known. The latter's share had
been swollen by the population transfers and military reforms effected by Ivan
Ill and Ivan IV. Throughout thi\ period there was a massive expropriation of
'black' land to satisfy the appetite of the service class, particularly its more
privileged elements. On the other hand, the effects of the oprichnina were felt
by medium and low-ranking servitors as well as by those men who were the
tyrant's o~tensible targets. Bet ween 1573/4 and 1584/5 the number of holdings
Jl This was called version 'ye 1• o/vud: for an t:xample see AMG ii. 271 ( t646); cf. DRV xvi. 335
( 1632); Brix, Grschichle, pp. 133-4; S1a,he''~Y. 'Sluzh. sosloviye', p. 24. The main legislative
source, apart from !he 1649 U/uzheniye, i5 the Uku•naya kni/iU Pom. prikaw, reprinted in PRP v.
431-82.
•' Uk. k11iga, PRP. ~~ti, 52; Ulo1hc11iyc, \1. x, W-11. lx-22, 56: Gofye, Ocherk, pp. 50-3;
Pavlov-Silvamky, Gos. 1/11zh. ly11<1i. rr 198-9 (a 1111nc of information on these and related issue~).
•• lkllic, 1"11wr/i11e111. p. 46.
•' (io1'yc. Ocherk. p. 6.l; l'ad1n·.'-,1han'k" "'"· ''"'" ly11di, pp. 200-1; Novosel'sky,
'Ka,pac.J', p. 2~1; Va1.hin,ky, /e111/nlarle111ye. p. H6 l·or kgi,la11on: Uk. kniga, PRP, ~ 36;
Ulo1hc11iyc. ,,;. 2-7: PS/ ii. 6J.1. 6~4. 7(Hl
"" Gol^0 Yl'. Od1erk, p. 64; S1ashL"'ky. 'Slu1h. "'sloviyc', r. 26.
•' 6.6 111. Jc,yallncs out of a l<llal of l(l.O 111. (including wa'1c bu! excluding undeveloped land,
also that hclJ by town> or Co"achl. In the later \'01onc1h xu/Jemiya the proportion in secular
hamh wa' "'high as x7 per cent: Vodar,k\', 'Chi,knnmt'', pp. 220-1.
wang
(Wang)
#1