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Serfdom became the dominant form of relation between Russian peasants and nobility in the 17th century. Serfdom most commonly existed in the central and southern areas of the Tsardom of Russia and, from 1721, of the subsequent Russian Empire.
Serf legislation developed primarily in the core lands of the Muscovite state in order to secure labor for estates belonging to elites and military servitors. Beginning in the sixteenth century the majority of dependent peasants came under the control of individuals and families in state service.
Michael Lynch takes a fresh look at the key reform of 19th-century Russia – the end of Serfdom. In 1861 serfdom, the system which tied the Russian peasants irrevocably to their landlords, was abolished at the Tsar’s imperial command.
Apr 17, 2017 · Serfdom fully developed in Russia during the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Before that, peasants who worked for noble landowners still held the right to work for others on certain days of...
Our results indicate that the abolition of serfdom caused a 10% increase in grain productivity. This is a large effect comparable to 40 years of aggregate development; grain productivity, on average, was increasing by 2.5% per decade in the 19th century Russia.
Figure 1. The abolition of serfdom and agricultural productivity. Figure 2. The abolition of serfdom and peasant nutrition. Grain was the main commodity produced in the Russian empire in the 19th century. Our results indicate that the abolition of serfdom caused a 10% increase in grain productivity.
In Russia, serfdom gradually evolved from the usual European form to become de facto slavery, though it continued to be called serfdom. In the Austrian Empire, serfdom was abolished by the 1781 Serfdom Patent; corvées continued to exist until 1848. Serfdom was abolished in Russia in 1861.
