At the beginning of the 16th century, the formation of the Russian state was completed. The Russian people conquered and developed new territories - Siberia, the Volga region. A striking figure of the 16th century is the first Russian Tsar Ivan the Terrible, who made many state transformations. How did people live at that time?
Instructions
Step 1
The two main social classes in Russia in the 16th century are boyars and peasants. Boyars lived in tall wooden chambers, which were skillfully built in 3-4 floors. The servants of the yard lived below, and the owners of the house on the upper floors. Such towers were fenced with palisades to protect against thieves and robbers. There were many outbuildings for livestock and fodder in the yard. An interesting fact is that boyar women could not leave the house without asking, most of the time they sat in their rooms on the upper floors of the tower, locked up, doing needlework.
Step 2
Boyars dressed in the Eastern style - in long brocade robes, caftans and fur coats, which were not removed even in the warm season. The sign of the genus was not only rich clothing, but also a corpulent physique, as well as a long beard. To keep in shape, the boyars often ate and drank too much alcohol.
Step 3
In his domain, the boyar was a full-fledged owner, he could execute or pardon his slaves. For such a free life, he paid taxes to the prince's (and then to the royal) treasury. If the economy did not go well, the boyar could himself enter the tsarist service.
Step 4
Many slaves worked in the boyar estates, but most of the population were black-mown peasants who lived in small villages and worked together: plowing, sowing, and uprooting the forest. Later, family plots were allocated - plots of land for individual use, but still it was customary to do the hard work together.
Step 5
The peasant huts did not look like boyars' houses - they were wooden, in one room. The peasants' clothes were homespun, shoes were not worn until the onset of cold weather.
Step 6
Peasant women, like men, worked collectively. Sometimes in the evenings, after a hard day's work, gatherings with songs and dances were arranged for young people. The peasants got married early. An independent age for a boy was considered to be 16-18 years old, for a girl - 12-13 years old. Weddings were arranged in late autumn, after all the field work. The traditional marriage took place with the ransom of the bride, a wedding ceremony, and a three-day feast.
Step 7
The centers of literacy in the 16th century were monasteries, where books and manuscripts were kept. The peasants and more than half of the boyars were illiterate.
