The Dynamics of the Personal Composition of Landowners of the Dorogobuzh District (According to the Census Books of 1659, 1668, 1678): To the Statement of the Problem.

This article is dedicated to the study of a number of issues related to land ownership in the Dorogobuzh District (one of the four districts of Smolensk land that became part of the Moscow state as a result of the Russo-Polish War of 1654–1667). The object of the study is various groups of landowners in this region. The subject of the research is the dynamics of different categories of landownership over almost 30 years. Initial steps are taken to characterize the personal composition of the Dorogobuzh landowners. Their quantity, social and gender composition are considered, and possible reasons for the presence of representatives from certain service corporations or non-service communities among them are identified. The sources of the research include census books of the Dorogobuzh District compiled in 1659, 1668, and 1678. Data from the census books, including information about landowners, is transferred to databases. The study of the composition of landowners is conducted using historical-comparative (comparing information from sources of different periods) and historical-typological methods (highlighting categories of landowners). The historical-genetic method helps to make preliminary conclusions about the reasons behind the dynamics of specific landowning groups. For the first time in research practice, judgments about the state of land ownership in the Dorogobuzh District are made based on the analysis of primary information from the census books. It is confirmed that the overwhelming majority of landholdings were concentrated in the hands of the Smolensk gentry. Examples of female land ownership cautiously suggest that in Smolensk, it was preserved under conditions different from Russian estate or patrimonial law. The small number of "renegades" in the census materials indicates a relatively calm integration of the gentry into the community of service people of the Moscow state. The books reflect both successful attempts by the local elite to enter “Moscow ranks” and the emerging interest of Moscow's service people in the Dorogobuzh lands. The census also included Smolensk cavalrymen, Dorogobuzh Cossacks, artillerymen, townspeople, and representatives of other social groups among the district landowners. The gradual restoration of monastic land ownership in the district is shown. All this indicates a comparatively mild integration of the Dorogobuzh District (and more broadly, the Smolensk region) into the structure of the Moscow state.

Smolensk szlachta, Smolensk, Dorogobuzhsky uyezd, Russian-Polish war, census books, landowners, land ownership, Smolensk reiters, Dorogobuzh cossacks, service class people