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| WOMEN
IN RUSSIAN HISTORY 2 |
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It is largely
from folklore that we recreate the typical peasant woman.
Far better known to us was the fate of women of the privileged
class. Their high social status continued for a considerable time after the
Christianization of Russia [in the l0th century]. The Russian
historian Karamzin wrote that the circumscribing of women's freedom
bagan among the Slavs even before the Tatar-Mongol invasions, but based on the
texts of the
chronicles, we assert something closer to the contrary.
Russian princesses and boyar women took some part in managing
their husbands' principalities … and the chronicles offer
numerous
examples of their direct or indirect involvement in the political battles
of the time. There are examples from feudal Russia of women in power who
initiated major
reforms. Princess Olga … when she was ruler, carried out the
first financial reforms in Russia, setting a fixed sum for tribute
to be payed and a system for collecting it. She was the first to demonstrate that you
could conclude
agreements between states that benefited both
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sides equally
without resorting to war: during her rule Russia did not fight with
any of its neighbors. Written accounts of the l2th-l4th centuries testify to the
high educational level of women of the ruling class. They were
knowledgeable not only in sacred literature, but also in mathematics and the
philosophy of their time. A few princesses had substantial libraries. …
A number of researchers note that as Christianity strengthened
in Russia, women gradually got excluded from male society, and
there began a period in the history of Russian women known as the
"chamber seclusion." Some authors think it came in following the Byzantine model of
asceticism. …
The Russian historian Shulgin writes that the seclusion of
women came not from Byzantine influence but had to do with the overall
general status of women in society. The historian Zhelobovsky considers
important the fact that in the cities women took little part in the work of their
husbands, whether he was a merchant or an artisan, and having lost her
value as an active working family member, the woman lost her value in
general. Most researchers think it was in the mid-l3th-l4th centuries,
under the Tatar-Mongol yoke, that conditions led to the full seclusion
of women in society. Very indicative of this is that the Russian
chronicles of the l3th century say nothing about active women; the wives and
daughters of Russian princes are referred to only as "suffering persons, as
objects of seizure and
violence." It was the Tatar yoke on Russia that
strengthened norms of behavior humiliating for woman, sharply lowering her social
status.
The "Domostroi" became the moral-ethical code governing relations
between spouses - very reactionary compared to earlier times. … Prosperous
family women and daughters lived in seclusion and were not allowed to go out
and visit other people except when necessary and with permission. Most city
women spent their lives within the family circle. If rich, they were
relegated to total inactivity. The mass of Russian women were illiterate at
that time. Women of princely families often had direct influence on domestic and
foreign policy; as guardians of child tsars, they ran the government. … A
few were active in scientific and literary realms, for example, the sister of
Peter the Great, Natalia Alekseevna, who wrote several plays. Such women
however were exceptions rather than the rule, and for the most part they
were drawn more to power and politics than to art and literature. According to
the apt remarks of historian Zabelin, the women's tower-chamber, because it
was remote from the life of society, "began to stir up trouble in the
kingdom and revolution at court."
A sharp qualitative change for women came under Peter I [the Great].
The historian V. Shulgin characterized this in an interesting way,
considering that it was precisely in this period that woman regained her
place in society and her rights, in a higher and more developed form. In
culture, the secular predominated over the religious and Russian society
gradually joined in the achievements of world culture. By cruel and often
violent measures, Peter I broke the old patriarchal structure of society.
There was an end to the century of women's confinement. The new tsar, with
no tolerance for obstinacy, ordered his courtiers to bring their wives and
daughters to social gatherings and events.
The history of the l8th century is full of stories of unsuccessful
marriages and family tragedies. Marriage was often considered an empty
formality that didn't carry any obligations. Husband and wife usually each
had several liaisons on the side and didn't hesitate to talk openly about
them. … The Church did not sanction divorce; it was virtually impossible to get
one. The custom developed of "unauthorized divorce," which was recognized
even by the authorities. There are some well known cases where marriages
took place after unauthorized divorces. … Usually however the spouses simply
separated, giving each other full freedom, and the wife was able to share in
the property. Researchers have noted that there existed in Russia the principle of
dividing spouses' property, which to a certain degree guaranteed the
material independence of wives. If she was a very young wife, legally a minor, she
could on her own, without asking the permission of her husband, take charge
of her share which included the dowry and some personal property. At a time
when women in the West were usually receiving a dowry in the form of money,
Russian women from well-to-do families were getting property in addition to
their dowries. According to Russian law, the dowry could not be
appropriated by the husband, and if the wife died, it went to the children, and if there
weren't any, it returned to the wife's parents.
Maria Kotovskaya
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