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?
Instruction manual
1
The two main social classes in Russia in the 16th century are the boyars and peasants. The boyars lived in high wooden towers, which were skillfully built on 3-4 floors. Downstairs lived servants, and on the upper floors the owners of the house. Such towers were fenced with picket fences to protect against thieves and robbers. In the courtyard there were many farm buildings for livestock and feed. An interesting fact is that the boyar women could not leave the house without demand, most of the time they sat in their rooms in the upper floors of the tower locked up, doing needlework.
2
The boyars dressed in an oriental manner - in long brocade robes, caftans and fur coats, which were not removed even in the warm season. A sign of the genus was not only rich clothing, but also a stout physique, as well as a long beard. To maintain their shape, the boyars often ate a lot and also drank too much alcohol.
3
In his patrimony, the boyar was a full owner, could execute or pardon his servants. For such a free life, he paid taxes to the princely (and then to the royal) treasury. If the economy did not go well, the boyar himself could enter the royal service.
4
Many servants worked in the boyar estates, but the majority of the population were black-walled peasants who lived in small villages and worked together: they plowed, sowed, and uprooted the forest. Later, family allotments stood out - plots of land for sole use, but still it was decided to do the hard work together.
5
Peasant huts were not like boyar towers - they were wooden, in one room. The clothes of the peasants were homespun, shoes were not worn until the onset of cold weather.
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. Peasants married early. An independent age for a young man was considered to be 16-18 years old, for a girl - 12-13 years old. Weddings were held in late autumn, after all field work. The traditional marriage took place with the redemption of the bride, a wedding ceremony and a three-day feast.
7
Monasteries were literacy centers in the 16th century, and books and manuscripts were kept in them. Peasants and most of the boyars were illiterate.
