Many words in the Russian language that are already obsolete, sometimes cause bewilderment. A striking example is the pillar nobles appearing in the works of Pushkin, historical documents, etc.
How did the nobles appear?
To find the reason for this name, you must return to the time of the Grand Duchy of Moscow. It was then that the nobility arose as an estate, that is, a social group with its own laws. Initially, it was the lower part of the military service class. To him belonged people who were to perform administrative or military service in favor of the state. This group consisted of the court at large boyars or the prince himself.
To become a nobleman, a person needed to have noble ancestors, since belonging to this estate was inherited. In rare cases, the appropriate title could be obtained from the monarch himself.
Interesting fact: The meaning of the word “nobleman” is “courtier”, “a man from the princely court”. Such people served at the prince's court in various positions, performing judicial, administrative and other duties.
It is worth noting that only at first the nobles were considered the lowest social layer among the nobility. Gradually, their elevation took place. For example, starting from the XIV century, they began to be given land for service - this is how landowners appeared who were later allowed to buy land. Also in history marks the apogee of the nobility and sunset (in the 19th century).During the special heyday of this estate, the nobility was divided into several classes: ancient (just pillar), titled, foreign, hereditary and personal.
How did the pillar nobles come about?
The final formation of the noble class in the Grand Duchy of Moscow took place approximately in the XIII-XV century. This is directly related to changes in the agricultural industry. In addition to estates, there were also estates. Patrimony is a private land that was inherited. The estate is the land that the nobleman received for temporary use for his services in the service. As the territory of the principality gradually became more and more, the amount of land increased.
The noble landowners received land in accordance with a specific decree, which was called a column. The fact is that the document was in the form of a list in which the names of employees at court were indicated in a column (or column). In such decrees, the nobles looked for their names. The presence of the name in the column meant that the person had the right to land.
Interesting fact: A form of paper called columns or pillars was common in Russia between the 14th and 17th centuries. The columns consisted of narrow sheets of paper, which, if necessary, were glued together in a long ribbon. When finished, the document took the form of a scroll. The main code of laws of the Russian kingdom “Cathedral Code” of 1649 was originally presented in the form of such a tape, 317 meters in length.
Lists were updated often enough.Before making them public, it was necessary to assure the decrees of the king. To deserve such mercy from the ruler was considered a great honor. The king himself was able to control the number of people devoted to him. From here came the name pillar nobles - that is, those whose names were in columns.
An additional version of the origin of the name is a way of storing such documents. They were stacked vertically (in a column), due to which it was possible, if necessary, to quickly extract the desired document.
Initially, only a man could appear in such a column - female names appeared over time. If a woman was called a columnar noblewoman, it means she successfully married or had a noble birth, also owned an estate and occupied a special position in society. Status did not disappear, even if a woman became a widow. However, women very rarely owned this property in person. The nobleman’s wife or daughter could not transfer the estate to someone, sell it or lay it. It was believed that the land is under the tutelage of the king. If there was no one to transfer the land to, they would return to the state and could in the future be assigned to another nobleman.
Over time, confusion began with the lands and the rights to them due to the existence of estates and estates. Therefore, they decided to make them equal and attribute them to a single law. From that moment on, pillar nobles also received a full right to dispose of their possessions and transfer them by inheritance.
There is also one more stable phrase - “pole road”, which has become obsolete. Despite the similarity in terminology, it most likely has nothing to do with the nobility.In tsarist Russia, this was the name of the largest roads, along the entire length of which verst posts were installed. With their help, the distance was measured.
Later, the figurative meaning of a pillar road appeared. The phrase began to be used to indicate the main direction of development in any industry; the right way to anything.
Pillars were called nobles who initially received land from the prince as a reward for their devotional service at court. Later, they acquired the right to independently dispose of these possessions and transfer them by inheritance. The nobles got this name because of special decrees - columns. Namely in such documents appeared the names of people written in a column that received land. Getting into such a list was considered very honorable.
