V. G. Vovina-Lebedeva. Peasant Elections in Verkhovazhye at the Turn of the 17th–18th Centuries // Petersburg Historical Journal, no. 4, 2025, pp. 95–105.

DOI: 10.51255/2311–603X_2025_4_95

Abstract:

The article under scrutiny herein undertakes a thorough analysis of the election documents of
1704 for the Pezhemskaya volost, which have been preserved in the Archives of the St. Petersburg Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences. These materials serve to supplement extant information regarding Pezhma for a previously documented period, and have been incorporated into the scholarly discourse for some time. The analysis demonstrates that the peasants of the Pezhemskaya volost were compelled to hold elections in 1704 to fulfil certain obligations to the state on at least 17 occasions. Nevertheless, the notion of a total elective principle that became entrenched in the lives of northern peasants during the 17th century is not
without its limitations. In the event of a clear and demonstrable connection between the world and state power through the elected, the internal life of the volost, which did not concern the collection of taxes or other duties to the authorities and was outside the electoral traditions, remained largely in the shadows.

Key words: Pezhemskaya volost, M. M. Bogoslovsky, peasant self-government, zemsky burgomaster, Archive of the St. Petersburg Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Author:

Vovina-Lebedeva, Varvara Gelievna — Dr. of Sci. in History, Leading Researcher at the
Department of Medieval History of Russia, Saint Petersburg Institute of History, Russian Academy of Sciences (St. Petersburg, Russia).
E-mail: Varvara_Vovina@mail.ru
ORCID: 0000-0003-1465-4139

References:

Baklanova, E. N. Krestyanskii dvor i obshchina na Russkom Severe. Konets XVII–XVIII v. [Peasant Yard and Community in the Russian North. Late 17th–18th Centuries. In Russ.]. Moscow, Nauka publ., 1976. 224 p.

Kamkin, A. V. Obshchestvennaya zhizn severnoi derevni XVIII v.: (Puti i formy krestyanskogo obshchestvennogo sluzheniya): Uchebnoe posobie. [Social Life of the Northern Village in the 18th Century: (Ways and Forms of Peasants Public Services): Textbook. In Russ.]. Vologda, VGPI publ.; VPPO publ., 1990. 95 p.

Kolesnikov, P. A. Osnovnye etapy razvitiya severnoi obshchini. [The Main Stages of Development of the Northern Community. In Russ.]. In Yezhegodnik po agrarnoi istorii. Iss. 6. Vologda, 1976. P. 16–18.

Kopanev A. I. Krestyanstvo Russkogo Severa v XVII v. [The Peasantry of the Russian North in the
17th Century. In Russ.]. Leningrad, Nauka publ., 1984. 244 p.

Kopanev A. I. Kurostrovskie stolbtsi XVI v. [Kurostrov Columns of the 16th century. In Russ.]. In Materialy po istorii Yevropeiskogo Severa SSSR: Severnyi arkheograficheskii sbornik. Iss. I. Vologda, 1970. P. 208–227.

Nosov, N. E. Stanovlenie soslovno-predstavitelnikh uchrezhdenii v Rossii: izyskaniya o zemskoi reforme Ivana Groznogo. [Formation of Class-Representative Institutions in Russia: Research on the Zemsky Reform of Ivan the Terrible. In Russ.]. Leningrad, Nauka publ., 1969. 601 p.

Proskuryakova, M. E. “Vybor” v krestyanskie starosty v Olonetskom uezde 1670–1680-kh gg.: Formulyary aktov ob izbranii. [“Election” of Peasant Elders in the Olonetsky District in the 1670–1680s: Forms of Acts of Election. In Russ.]. In Bibliografiya. Arkheografiya. Istochnikovedenie. Iss. 5. St. Petersburg, 2021. P. 15–24.

Proskuryakova M. E. Mekhanizm izbraniya krestyanskikh starost v karelskoi derevne (poslednyaya
chetvert’ XVII v.). [The Mechanism of Electing Peasant Elders in a Karelian Village (Last Quarter of the 17th Century). In Russ.]. In Carelica. 2018. No. 1, pp. 38–55.

Shveikovskaya, E. N. Russkii krestyanin v dome i mire: Severnaya derevnya kontsa XVI — nachala XVIII veka. [Russian Peasant in the House and the Community: Northern Village of the Late 16th — Early 18th Centuries. In Russ.]. Moscow, Indrik publ., 2012. 368 p.

Vasilyev, Yu. S. Sbornye pamyati po Troitskoi volosti Vazhskogo uezda kontsa XVI — XVII v. [Collected Pamyats of the Troitskaya Volost of the Vazhsky District in the Late 16th — 17th Centuries. In Russ.]. In Materiali po istorii Evropeiskogo Severa SSSR: Severnyi arkheograficheskii sbornik. Iss. III. Vologda, 1973. P. 355–379.

Vasilyev, Yu. S. Vliyanie krestyanskikh mirov Pomorya na podatnuyu politiku pravitelstva v XVI–
XVII vv. [The Influence of the Peasant Communities of Pomorye on the Tax Policy of the Government in the 16th–17th centuries. In Russ.]. In Sotsialno-pravovoe polozhenie severnogo krestyanstva (dosovetskii period). Vologda, 1981. P. 25–40.

Vovina-Lebedeva, V. G. Krestyanskoe pis’mo XVI v.: po materialam aktov Antonievo-Siiskogo monastyrya. [Peasant Writing of the 16th Century: Based on the Acts of the Antonievo-Siysky Monastery. In Russ.]. In Istoriya pis’ma ot Antichnosti do Novogo vremeni. Ocherki po epigrafike, paleografii i diplomatike. Moscow; St. Petersburg, Alians-Arheo publ., 2022. P. 338–368.

Similar Posts

|

PHJ №1 (45) 2025 — T. A. Bazarova. PETRINE ST. PETERSBURG AND THE WATER ELEMENT

The waters of the Neva and the Gulf of Finland were a source of danger for the inhabitants of Petersburg. In the city, an alarm was organized for the time of the opening and freezing of the Neva, as well as for the beginning of the flooding. The article analyses the decrees of Peter I and the orders of the local administration, which were designed to minimize the damage, and established standards for the construction of new buildings and piers. The article is accompanied by a letter of the Kotlin commander Vasily Poroshin on the consequences of the flood of 5 November 1721.

PHJ № 2 (46) 2025 — R. A. Davydov. INSTRUCTION OF THE ARKHANGELSK MEDICAL BOARD OF 1837 ON THE PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF SCURVY ON NOVAYA ZEMLYA AND SPITSBERGEN

This work is a publication of the document “Instruction for the prevention of mortality occurring on Novaya Zemlya and Spitsbergen from scurvy”. The document was prepared at the suggestion of the military governor of Arkhangelsk after a number of deaths from scurvy among Russians engaged in hunting on Spitsbergen in the mid-1830s. The text of the document was drafted at the Arkhangelsk Medical Board in 1837 and printed as a pamphlet at the provincial printing house in the same year. The pamphlets were sent to the local police departments of the province to supply shipowners involved in organizing hunting expeditions to the Arctic archipelagos of Novaya Zemlya and Spitsbergen. One of the copies of the pamphlet is currently kept in the State Archives of the Arkhangelsk region. This document is interesting because it describes the main symptoms and the course of the disease in a laconic form, in a language understandable to a non-specialist. In particular, to prevent scurvy, those who hunted in the Arctic archipelagoes were advised to use sour products, i. e. sauerkraut, horseradish, cloudberries, cranberries and lingonberries. These products were easily available to the provincial population and could be stored for long periods during hunting expeditions. For the treatment of scurvy, it was recommended to “drink with the juice of cranberries or cloudberries” and a decoction of conifers, more precisely a decoction of pine cones. Thus, in 1837 — almost a century before vitamin C was officially discovered, artificially synthesised and the dependence of scurvy on a deficiency of this vitamin in the body was proven — doctors in Arkhangelsk gave recommendations for the prevention and treatment of scurvy patients, focusing on providing people with foods rich in vitamin C.богатыми именно витамином C.

|

PHJ №1 (45) 2025 — T. V. Anisimova. ARCHAIC FEATURES OF TIKHONRAVOV CHRONOGRAPH WRITING

The article explores the archaic graphic and orthographic features of the 13th-century antigraph reflected in the letter of the first half of the Tikhonravov chronograph (dating from the end of the 15th — beginning of the 16th centuries), in particular cases of writing the letter “г” with the so-called “hammer”, and the use of the forms of the asigmatic aorist of the verb “рѣщи”: “рѣхъ”, “рѣхомъ”, and the preservation of reduced forms in combination with smooth forms: *tъ-rъ-t, *tъ-lъ-t. Examples of dialect features of writing and relatively later (16th century?) cinnabar marginal notes are given, indicating the creation and existence of the manuscript in the Western Russian contact zone. A close similarity was found between the drawings of pointing fingers on its margins and similar drawings on the margins of the Vilna chronograph. It is noteworthy that there are no extant examples in the historiography of the use of the grapheme “г” with a “hammer” by ancient Russian scribes. However, in the Tikhonravov chronograph, these letters are present in various sources of its text and thus uniquely mark the initial layer of articles of the manuscript’s antigraph, which ends with an extensive prophetic compilation. The archetype of this compilation served as the source of the “Philosopher’s Speech” in the Tale of Bygone Years. The absence of archaic traces in the rest of the text may indicate some kind of mechanical connection in its antigraph of different-time manuscripts.

| |

PHJ № 3 (47) 2025 — Wan Park. THE ACTIVITIES OF JAPANESE MILITARY ATTACHÉS DISPATCHED TO RUSSIA DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR

This study focuses on Japanese Army attachés dispatched to Russia during the First World War, analyzing the nature of their deployment, their intelligence-gathering activities, their assessments of Russia’s military capabilities and revolutionary movements, and how the information they collected was reflected in Japan’s postwar military policy as part of the “lessons of the Great War”. Following Japan’s entry into the war as a member of the Allied Powers in August 1914, the Japanese Army dispatched military attachés to various countries, with a particular emphasis on Russia. Among all the Allied nations, Russia received the largest contingent of Japanese attachés, many of whom held senior ranks. Russia also treated the Japanese attachés most favorably, assigning them to frontline headquarters and permitting their presence at the general headquarters. In addition to official attachés, the Japanese Army also sent personnel to Russia under the cover of diplomats and students, although their number was smaller than those sent to Britain or France. In early 1915, Japan dispatched a support unit to Russia to assist with the assembly, deployment, and instruction of heavy and mountain artillery that had been transferred to the Russian military. This unit represented Japan’s only practical combat support mission to an Allied country during the war. Initially, Japanese attachés stationed in Russia evaluated the morale, unity, and general atmosphere of the Russian military command favorably. However, as Russia’s military repeatedly faltered on the Eastern Front, their assessments became increasingly pessimistic regarding Russia’s prospects for victory. Their focus then shifted toward gathering intelligence on the German forces engaged against Russia. Following the outbreak of revolution, the attachés observed growing disorder and disintegration within the Russian military. They began to recognize the dangers of blind obedience without understanding or awareness, especially amid the spread of liberal and socialist ideologies. At the same time, they interpreted Russia’s wartime difficulties and revolutionary upheaval both as a threat to Japan and as an opportunity to modernize Japan’s military capabilities and expand its imperial interests. Some even advocated for the deployment of Japanese troops to Europe. After the October Revolution, as tensions mounted due to the Soviet-German armistice and peace negotiations conducted without Allied consent, Japanese military personnel, including attachés, began withdrawing from Russia in early 1918. Upon their return, some expressed high regard for German military operations and proposed emulating them in planning future campaigns against the Soviet Union. Others, pausing in Manchuria on their way home, began preparations for what they called another imperialist war: the Siberian Intervention.

|

PHJ № 3 (47) 2025 — V. A. Veremenko, Ju. V. Sutula. “THE ART OF PERSUASION” — FOREIGN INFANT FORMULA ON THE RUSSIAN MARKET IN THE LATE 19TH — EARLY 20TH CENTURIES

The article, drawing upon a comprehensive array of sources including advertising materials, professional literature by hygienists and physicians, publications from the specialist and women’s press, as well as corporate records, undertakes a thorough analysis of the pivotal role of advertising agencies in the dissemination of foreign infant formula within the domestic market during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. During this period, more than 20 foreign companies offering breast milk surrogates were represented in Russia. The significant cost of these products meant that they were accessible only to the wealthy segment of the country’s population. The advertisement, which promised high-quality, useful and easy-to-use products, was aimed at this educated public. The position of doctors, some of whom participated in the formulas’ advertising, the presence of these companies’ products at all hygiene exhibitions, with the attribution of “proper nutrition”, as well as a well-thought-out advertising campaign, provided foreign manufacturers with an almost monopoly position in the artificial baby food market.

| |

PHJ № 3 (47) 2025 — S. G. Nelipovich. THE ROMANIAN CAMPAIGN: COMBAT LOSSES (SEPTEMBER 1916 — JANUARY 1917)

The combat losses of the opposing armies are indicative not only of the casualties and the intensity of the fighting, but also a factor in assessing the combat effectiveness of the troops. The article, which is based on documents from the State Military Historical Archive of Bulgaria (DVIA), the Russian State Military Historical Archive (RGVIA), the Austrian State Archive (ÖStA), the Bavarian Main State Archive (BayHSA), and information collected by researchers from different countries, identifies and clarifies the losses of the armies of Bulgaria, Romania, Austria-Hungary, the German, Ottoman and Russian Empires during the Romanian campaign (September 1916 — January 1917). The substantial losses sustained by the Romanian army in Transylvania, particularly in Dobrudzha, were a contributing factor to the defeat of the Romanian forces in the autumn and winter of 1916. This ultimately resulted in the loss of Wallachia and Bucharest. Researchers have not yet reached a consensus on the precise figure for the size of the losses suffered by the Romanian army, which is estimated to be between 300 thousand and 500 thousand men. The losses sustained by the Russian armies of the Romanian Front are documented for the first time (totalling up to 262 thousand men). The losses sustained by the armed forces of the Quadruple Alliance during the Romanian campaign of 1916 were significant, with a total of 167,000 casualties recorded. This was primarily attributable to the intensity of the hostilities. The Bulgarian army suffered significant losses, with estimates reaching up to 55,000 casualties.