58 Muscovite Roots, 1462-1689
masters were supposed to provide them according to the 1556 service code.
Non-privileged elements comprised a large but unknown share of the cavalry
1evy's total complcmcnt.^7 The Kok;mna scrv·icc register vf l~77,shows that 268
servitors fielded 345 men, of whom 153 were well armed.^8 The ~ervitors were
listed roughly in order of seniority and wealth, and as one would expect the
better-off brought more men and horses.^9 The general impression M indigence
reflected the crisis of the 1570s. In Novgorod at this time only one master in
five could appear with a mounted servant, whereas three-quarters had been
able to do so in 1500.^10 The dependants' names, physical characteristics, or
exact social status were of no interest to the officials who registered them, and
desyatni compiled later provide even less information about them. Hellie
assumes that all these men were slaves. Most probably were, since lords will
have preferred to take household servants rather than agriculturalists who in
theory at least could pay them rent; but some may have been fellow-servitors,
or even kinsmen, who had fallen into personal dependence without signing
a slavery deed (kabala). Expectation of loot would have given such individuals
an incentive to accompany their masters on campaign.
In principle a lord was not allowed to loan a would-be debtor slave more
than 5 roubles,^11 and the debtor had to find 15 roubles in order to buy his
freedom. In the 1620s the loan limit, which had fallen to a mere 2 roubles or
even less during the Troubles, was fixed at 3 roubles.^12 This illustrates the
diminishing value of human life as Muscovite society settled into its rigidly
stratified state. In 1621 a servant (chelovek) belonging to L. Davydov, a ser-
1 Zimin's estimate of two-thirds (Reformy, p. 448) is probably too high: Hellie, Slavery, p. 467.
8 Storozhev, • Desyatni', pp. 1-58. There is some doubt as to the numbers since certain sheets of
the original document are missing. Hellie ('Muse. Mil. Slavery', p. I B) reckons that there were 280
servitors with 323 dependants, of whom 139 were 'combat slaves' and 184 'baggage-train slaves'.
(^9) The distribution (excluding novices) was as follows:
Compensation Dependants Dependants Dependants mounted
scale mounted on mounted on on ordinary horse
(quarters, war-horse ordinary designated for
roubles) (kon' )• horse (merin) carrying baggage
(s yukom)
----------------.
Top 10
dvorovye 350-400,^14 23 6 12
Bottom 10
dvorovye 200-250, 10-12 0 II 3
Top 10
gorodvye 200-300, 13-14 16 2 8
Bottom 10
gorodovye 100-150, 6-7 0 0 2
- including those in full armour but under-equipped, with a prostoy kon·.
10 Degtyarev, 'Dokhody', p. 89.
11 Sudebnik, 1550 g. § 78 (in Sudebniki); Alekseyev, '15-rublevyy maksimum', p. 111.
12 Hellie, Slavery, pp. 319-24.
11 AMG i. 144; cf. Hellie, Slavery, p. 122.