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Article: Catherine's Russia.(Catherine the Great)
- Article from:
- Calliope
- Article date:
- May 1, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2009 Carus Publishing Co. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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At the time of Catherine's in 1729, Russia was home to about eight million people, most of whom lived in rural areas. Each one's political status, occupation, and social life were all determined by the group to which he or she belonged.
The tsar and his family naturally held the highest rank. Next came the boyars, or nobles, and then the lower-ranking nobles and estate owners. In the 1500s and early 1600s, the rules governing the second and third groups changed. Estates and titles that had passed from one generation to the next were now connected to service, which meant that if a noble served the tsar, his reward was land. Below ...