The Institute of Clerks in the Control System of the Royal Lands in the Russia of the 17th Century

About the author:

Larisa Yu. Varentsova, Cand. Sci. (Hist.), Associate Professor, Department of Theory and History of State and Law, Nizhny Novgorod Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia; l_varentsova.65@mail.ru

Abstract:

In the 17th century, there were Royal estates in many Russian districts. These estates complied to the special royal offices. The local authority belonged to governors or clerks, who managed the royal villages and small towns. Yet, despite all the importance of the royal domain in the field of feudal tenure, there is little research on the institute of the royal clerks.

This article aims to determine the role of clerks in the system of the royal lands management in Russia in the 17th century. The research relies on the works by famous pre-revolutionary scientists I. E. Zabelin, A.  I. Zaozerskii and B. Chicherin, as well as some modern researchers S. B. Veselovsky, S. K. Bogoyavlensky, and I. P. Yermolayev. As for the source material, the author has used the published and unpublished record keeping documentation. The methodological basis of the research includes the principles of historicism and scientific objectivity.

The author has studied the basic functions of the clerks and determined the range of their duties in the system of royal land tenure and agriculture. That included organizing the various sides of the royal household, and exercizing the administrative, judicial, and fiscal powers. The clerk was a permanent representative of the central government; his presence allowed a group of villages to become an administrative unit.

References:

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