A Life Under Russian Serfdom

Today, we cover the miserable conditions that Russian serfs lived in. In particular, we will share quotes from the memoirs of one of the serfs, Savva Dmitrievich Purlevsky, who live in Russia between 1800 and 1868.

Transcript

Episode 307 - A Life Under Russian Serfdom

Last time, we finished up the series on the life of Princess Ekaterina Dashkova. Today, we will look at what life was like as a serf in Russia. In particular, we will use the memoirs of Savva Dmitrievich Purlevsky, who wrote about his time as a serf between 1800-1868.

Before we get into the memoir, we need to talk a bit about serfdom in Russia. It was different in many ways from the institutions of slavery in much of the world. Serfdom evolved over centuries, beginning in the 12th century during the Kyivian era. At first, it was the local peasants working for the landlords. They would sign contracts where they would be loaned money, seeds, or agricultural tools to work the land. In return, they would pay certain agreed-upon dues. 

This would last for centuries until the reign of Ivan III, or as he is known to history, Ivan the Great. He was the first ruler of Russia to claim the title of Tsar. Ivan also shed the yoke of the Tatars over the land in 1480. But he is also the one who would begin the enslavement of the peasants to the land and to the new boyar class he was creating to help him build his new army. Ivan would grant estates to the new nobles called pomestie. The grant was given in return for military service, something the old boyars were reluctant to give.

Then, in 1497, Ivan created a new law code known as the Sudebnik. While it was a broad set of laws, the ones that are important in today's discussion related to the right of peasants to leave the estates of their landlords. They could only leave for two weeks in the fall, after the harvests. In addition, there was a high exit fee, something few could afford to pay. The period that allowed the peasants' movement was one week before and one week following St. George's Day, November 26. 

This gave more power to the pomestie, as they could serve in the army knowing that there were peasants back on their estates who could farm the land, bringing them great wealth. The other nobles, who had hereditary estates known as votchina, had no obligations to the Tsar, meaning he had no intention of giving them any benefits from the new Sudebnik laws. So, instead of directly attacking the old boyars, Ivan just chipped away at their powers slowly but surely. Unfortunately for the peasants, they were now tied to the land as serfs.

Things would get harder and harder for the serfs throughout the following centuries. As Michael Kort puts it in his book A Brief History of Russia, "Thus Ivan accomplished two things: one by intention – building an autocratic state; and one unintentionally – laying the foundation for serfdom. Together, these institutions would have a defining – and deleterious – influence on Russia's development for centuries to come."

The suspension of the freedom of movement around St. George's Day ended in 1580, during the reign of Boris Godunov. It was supposed to be a temporary suspension, but it would last until the emancipation of the serfs under Tsar Alexander II in 1861. Under Godunov, the ukase of 1597 would end the temporary nature of the mandate, making it the law of the land and encasing the vast majority of peasants into serfdom. The 1597 ukase also extended the time that a serf who absconded the land could be searched for to five years. In 1607, that was extended to fifteen years and then abolished altogether a few decades later.

In his book Russia and the Russians a History, Geoffrey Hoskins writes, "In this way, the combined pressure of debt, the fiscal needs of the state, and the economic needs of the landowners gradually reduced the peasants from a relatively free state to one of serfdom, which did not differ greatly from slavery.” 

As we get closer to discussing the serf's life, partially as told by Savva Purlevsky, we need to talk about some numbers. It was estimated that between 80-85 percent of the Russian population in the early nineteenth century were peasants. Of that group, in the census of 1795-96, 57 percent of the male population were serfs. In the census of 1857, serfs were estimated to be 49 percent of the peasantry and 34 percent of the total of the Russian population. That represented about 10.7 million people. Many peasants lived on state and church lands and were afforded far greater freedoms than those owned by individuals. These numbers were about adult males only. According to the data from 1861, when Alexander freed the serfs, the total number was about 23 million.

The average landowner held a few hundred serfs, with some possessing hundreds of thousands. Around the time of Purlevsky, Sergei Stroganoff, for example, owned approximately 94,000 serfs. 

What is interesting is that Peter III, Catherine’s husband, laid the groundwork for the emancipation of the serfs. His mandate to remove mandatory military service for nobles coincided with the abolition of compulsory noble state service. This removed the need to keep serfs as the nobility could now tend to their farms. While they still needed the manual labor that the serfs performed, they could run the farms more efficiently. It was a problem having the serfs manage the land as they didn’t have any real incentive to do it profitably. It was under Catherine, though, that punishments for torturing or mistreating serfs were enacted.

By the early 1800s, serfs were being bought and sold without being attached to the land. This would lead to a growing outcry for abolishing serfdom as it was no longer about land and working it to produce food; it was now blatant slavery. This also led to an increase in rebellions. In Purlevsky's lifetime, there were 793 peasant riots and disturbances in central Russia alone. 

The main focus of peasant life was the village. Families tended to live together, typically with two or sometimes three generations in the same house. Traditions and the Church were two of the most important traditions within the village. The day-to-day customs helped to make life a bit more enjoyable, and the Church helped provide meaning to the harsh life of the serfs. 

So now that we have laid a foundation for life as a serf let's turn our attention to Savva Dmitrievich Purlevsky. He was born on January 5, 1800, in the town of Velikoe in the Yaroslavl Oblast. It is situated in the mid-western part of Russia, surrounded by the Tver, Moscow, Ivanovo, Vladimir, Kostroma, and Vologda oblasts. His town was approximately twenty-three miles from the central city of Yaroslavl.

While the average serf worked in agriculture, the land where Purlevsky lived was not as rich as the southern lands, which were far more capable of growing foods and raising farm animals. Because of this, the people of Velikoe were tradespeople specializing in making linen for sale at the markets. They were so good at it that in 1851, they won an award at London's famous International Exhibition at the Crystal Palace. 

Because of the region's non-agricultural nature, the serfs of Velikoe paid rent to their owners. When Purlevsky lived there, the owners were the Iakovlevs, who bought the town—yes, the whole town—for 250 thousand rubles. Catherine I originally gave the town as a gift to Prince Anikita Ivanovich Repnin, a military leader who was at the Battle of Poltava and served under Peter the Great. 

In 1835, there were 559 houses in the Velikoe, and 1,494 male souls were counted in the census. Around 400 looms were used to create the linens, and they produced 117 thousand yards of cloth annually, bringing in around 50,000 silver rubles. 

Also, many were allowed to move around the country due to the peasants not being tied to agricultural labor. These movements were seasonal, with most travel occurring from spring through early fall. In 1856, according to the introduction of the book, "…for example, 51,977 (19 percent) of Yaroslavl's 274,700 male serf peasants received travel documents for temporary migration, which often extended far beyond the given year."

One of the most essential serfs on most Russian estates was the steward. In Savva's case, that person was Ivan Savich Skvoznik. Here is what he had to say about Ivan: “…a shrewd person, enjoyed the unquestioned confidence of our lord. During his ten years of service as the lieutenant colonel, the steward studied him well, accommodated himself to all the lord's whims, and gained control of everything. He was incredibly accurate in maintaining records. Whenever the landlord wanted to check his finances, everything would seem to be in place to the last penny. Only it did not occur to him that with every sale of iron and copper, with every purchase for the estate's needs, Ivan Savich gained a huge profit, paid to him by the merchants and suppliers in order to get him to sell for less and buy for more. He made a fortune."

The head chef was the other person who benefited from the landlord's hands-off management of his estate. He also skimmed off money from the suppliers and would make the kitchen staff do all the work while he hung out with friends and merchants he dealt with most of the day. Because of this, many of the so-called lesser serfs barely received enough food to survive. 

When the landlord married Nastasia Borisovna, things began to change. Skvoznik was told to look for other work, but the chef was outright fired. For the following nine years, Savva reported that things in the village were the best they had ever been. That all ended when Nastasia passed away after giving birth to her seventh daughter. 

We are now in the year 1808, and the wars against Napoleon had forced the Russians to cease trading with their biggest partner, Great Britain. Savva writes that the consequences were dire: "Steel prices fell dramatically, and the estate mills' profits decreased so much that the lord was hardly able to sustain the mills' serfs. Luckily for the landlord, his elderly brother, who had no children, died. They found out that not only was he a miser, he had saved a considerable amount of iron, which became valuable in 1812, after Napoleon's invasion and the resumption of trade with Great Britain. The landlord made a significant donation to the state and was granted the title of general. He would die in 1817, leaving the estate to his five daughters and two married ladies. 

Savva then tells stories about his family, about which he knew very little before his grandfather. He does reveal that they acquired the last name Purlevsky because they lived in a hamlet known as Purlevo. Savva also tells us how his grandfather, Peter Petrovich, when he was elected bailiff, an agent who worked between the landlord and the serfs, turned things around. 

One of the biggest problems within the serf communities was apathy and a general distrust of their fellow residents. As he recalls his grandfather’s speech to the community when he became village bailiff, “’Listen,’ he said. ‘I’ll tell you how it is. The cause of our wretched life is not poverty but the absence of accord among us – the schism in our faith, and unfairness and deception among us. This is why we do not trust one another. Were we poor but still honest and just people, we would have abilities. Unpleasant talk spreads around us. Nobody will rely on us, because we cannot rely on ourselves. Let’s make a decision that from this day on we will all bail one another out for such an amount of money, according to each person’s ability and behavior.’”

What his grandfather did to further improve the plight of his fellow serfs was to put up a large sum of money, some 2,000 rubles, as a common fund. The money was to help the peasants get equipment to start a trade. They would repay him with six kopecks annually for every ruble they borrowed. That would come out to about a six percent rate of return as there were 100 kopecks per ruble. 

The effort proved to be wildly successful. As Savva relates, "From that time (this happened in 1794), our peasants seemed to be reborn and began to look after one another. In no more than three years, the formerly empty village square was lined with shops. They not only sold small articles but also luxury goods and everything the peasant household needed. Smithies were built. Instead of old-style shoes, the village shoemakers began to produce German boots with sharp toes and creaks. Even the neighboring lords bought them with pleasure. The villagers gradually built oil mills and put several brickyards into operation. The sale of flax and linen canvas expanded. The peasants also began to sell goods at distant markets.” Savva's grandfather passed away in October 1802 but left an incredible impression on him.

Savva moves on to talk about his childhood. He remembers fearing his father because he was quite a mischievous child, and his father's punishments could be quite brutal. This is not uncommon, as severe corporal punishment was the norm at the time. 

Purlevsky’s education was primarily done at home and, on occasion, with the village priest, Ivan Petrovich. Savva wanted to learn how to read, but his father wanted him to strictly learn from church books and sources. 

There was another problem facing the Purlevsky family, and that was the father's on-and-off drinking problem. As Savva would relate, his father could go a couple of years without touching alcohol, but at a moment's notice, he would begin binge drinking, getting drunk and violent. Still, it wasn't as bad of a life as most serfs endured. His home was one of the few that was built of stone and was 1 ½ stories tall. There was always ample food as the family worked hard and made a decent living. Savva admitted, "Our village was an exception. Trade and crafts brought us money and made us richer than other villages."

While things were going reasonably well for the Purlevsky family, they would take a decided turn for the worse in 1811 when Savva's father passed away due to his alcoholism. He was forty-two years old, and his young boy was only eleven. On top of that, we all know what happened in 1812; Napoleon and the Grand Armee of France invaded Russia. 

Luckily for Savva, he was able to buy some goods to sell as the French army didn't reach his town. He and his so-called advisor, Mikhailo, went toward Moscow to see what they could make in trade. They heard of the devastation and figured people were in need of supplies. They made out quite well, so well that they decided to make a quick trip to Moscow to see what happened.

As Savva puts the visit, “Nevertheless, I know scarcely any details of what happened then, because out region is about two hundred versts from Moscow. My curiosity about many significant events remained unsatisfied. I remember only that the bodies of the enemies, who were regarded as the servants of hell, were not buried but burned instead.”

In 1817, the landlord decided that everyone in the village would pay their rent two years in advance. Those who were unable to pay up would have their sons sent into military service. No one, but no one wanted to serve in the military. 

In 1818, Savva was of age to get married, and there was a young girl whose father was relatively well off who decided that the young man was the right choice for his daughter. Without asking, Peter Ivanovich made the decision, which was the day's custom, to bless the union and bring his and Savva's family together. The dowery paid by Peter, one thousand rubles, was enough to help the young man start a business. 

This realization of a better life was tempered by a demand by the children of the previous landlord that the village pay 200,000 rubles in rent. This was the normal amount for ten years, which was totally unavailable to the peasants. Then, as was increasingly the case in Russia at the time, the serf's male souls were mortgaged. For each of the 1,300 serfs, the new landlords received two hundred fifty rubles, totaling 325,000 rubles. In return, the rent increased to 30,000 rubles annually. Those unable to pay their share would be "… subjected to the following: young people to immediate conscription; those unfit for military service to work in the Siberian metallurgical mills."

This was a shock to all, especially Savva. As he puts it, “At that very moment, for the first time in my life, I tasted the sorrow of my status as a serf. At that very moment, for the first time, a grievous question arose in my naïve mind: ‘What are we?’ My heart was breaking into pieces and urging me to speak out, but looking around at the sorrowful faces, and hearing only solitary whispers, I managed to hold back and keep them inside me.”

This was happening all over Russia and was one of the impetuses for ending the institution of serfdom. Many of the serfs who were mortgaged were unable to pay the rents that were demanded of them, fighting back or simply abandoning their villages. This caused many landlords to default, losing their lands and the serfs they had owned for generations. 

Savva would share numerous other tales of woe among the serfs in his region. Unfortunately, his tale, in his own words, stops around 1832 when he was summoned by the landlord to explain some discrepancies in his books as he had been elevated to estate management. The landlord told him to head back to the village to "wait for further instruction." This scared Savva, and he disappeared, going to Moldova and then to Odessa, where he was allowed to stay in a region where other escaped serfs were safe from returning to their original masters. In 1856, having successfully becoming a wealthy merchant, he bought the freedom for his wife and only son for two thousand five hundred silver rubles. Savva Dmitrievich Purlevsky would die a free man in 1868.

Well, I hope you enjoyed today's episode. Join me next time when we cover one of the most pivotal military engagements in Russian and world history, the Battle of Borodino. 

So, until next time, Dasvidania eh Spasiba za Vinyamineya.