Boyar scions (Russian: дети боярские, сыны боярские; transliteration: deti/syny boyarskie) were a rank of Russian gentry that existed from the late 1300s through the 1600s. In the late 1700s—early 1800s descendants of the boyar scions who failed to prove nobility or regain it through the Table of Ranks were enrolled within the social group named odnodvortsy.
Origins Boyar scions is one of the most controversial social categories in Russian history. They are the subject of two contradicting trends: some historians hold that the Boyar scions are genealogically connected with boyars, while the others claimed they were nothing else but randomly recruited low-ranked servicemen. For example, these completely opposite positions on the subject-matter were held in the 18th century by General and Prince Mikhail Scherbatov. Boltin claimed boyar scions were merely servants of boyars, while Prince Scherbatov insisted they were actually descendants of noble families, yet, for their poverty, belittled by the wealthier nobility.Щербатов М.М. Примечания на ответ господина генерал-майора Болтина, на письмо князя Щербатова, сочинителя Российской истории. Электронная книга. Издатель: Directmedia, 24 окт. 2014 г.
The Russian-German historian, Gerhard Miller considered boyar scions descendants of junior princely druzhina.Миллер Г.Ф. Известие о дворянах российских. - 1790 Dmitry Samokvasov considered them impoverished descendants of boyar families, yet he believed they were successors of the junior druzhina: gridi and detskie.Михайлова И.Б. Служилые люди северо-восточной Руси в XIV-первой половине XVI века. Изд-во Санкт-Петербургского гос. университета, 2003. С. 17. This viewpoint was also taken by . He made a thorough analysis of the Russian serving gentry in the period from the Kievan Rus through the 17th century.Загоскин Н.П. Очерки организации и происхождения служилаго сословия в до-петровской Руси: изследование кандидата прав Николая Загоскина. — Казань: в Университетской тип., 1875. He believed that boyar scions could have to do with the category of the junior druzhina called detskie that evolved into 'deti boyarskie' in the 12th century.Загоскин Н.П. Очерки организации и происхождения служилаго сословия в до-петровской Руси: изследование кандидата прав Николая Загоскина. — Казань: в Университетской тип., 1875. C. 57. He also considered detskie the senior segment of the junior druzhina.
Zagoskin also had an interesting view of boyars. He refused the idea that boyar were initially a rank given by the prince. Instead, he believed boyars were distinguished lords who had superior standing in the community.Загоскин Н.П. Очерки организации и происхождения служилаго сословия в до-петровской Руси: изследование кандидата прав Николая Загоскина. — Казань: в Университетской тип., 1875. С. 48-49. Moreover, Zagoskin pointed to the division of boyars in the sources into senior and junior.Загоскин Н.П. Очерки организации и происхождения служилаго сословия в до-петровской Руси: изследование кандидата прав Николая Загоскина. — Казань: в Университетской тип., 1875. C. 51. He also noticed that the rank of boyar was formally introduced in the times of Ivan III, when the boyar duma was created, however as early as in the 14th century the rank of boyar was already mentioned.Загоскин Н.П. Очерки организации и происхождения служилаго сословия в до-петровской Руси: изследование кандидата прав Николая Загоскина. — Казань: в Университетской тип., 1875. C. 53.
Vasily Kluchevsky believed boyar scions were impoverished descendants of boyars who did not acquire the rank and served as average royal vassals.Ключевский В. Терминология русской истории. Лекция III. Thus he concluded that, by their status, boyar scions were the same as free servants (), yet of boyar descent. The 20th-century historian Vladimir Kobrin followed this point of view and believed that initially boyar scions were descendants of boyars who did not achieve the rank of boyars themselves.Кобрин В.Б. Власть и собственность в средневековой России, XV-XVI вв, "Мысль", 1985. С. 30. Ruslan Skrynnikov suggested that boyar scions could be junior members of the large and branched boyar families, who got impoverished because of divisions of their ancestral allods.Скрынников Р.Г. Великий Государь Иоанн Васильевич Грозный. Т.1 Смоленс, 1996. С. 97. The famous Russian historian Sergey Soloviev believed that boyar scions emerged as a result of the dissolution of the junior druzhina.Волков В. Под стягом Москвы. Войны и рати Ивана III и Василия III. Электронная книга. Litres, 5 сент. 2017 г. Unlike boyars they were barred from the Duma. However, unlike other members of the druzhina, they were distinguished by aristocratic descent and had the right to leave their sovereign without losing the land.
The historian noticed that between the 1300s and the first half of the 1500s, boyar scions made one social class together with boyars. However, not all of the boyar scions were privileged as to have a seat at the Duma.Михайлова И.Б. Служилые люди северо-восточной Руси в четырнадцатом-первой половине шестнадцатого века. Изд-во Санкт-Петербургского гос. университета, 2003. С. 16.
Irina Mikhailova carried out a profound study of the servicemen in the North-Eastern RusМихайлова И.Б. Служилые люди северо-восточной Руси в XIV-первой половине XVI века. Изд-во Санкт-Петербургского гос. университета, 2003. prior to the Tsardom period. She made a special review of the boyar scions. She had analyzed the historical documents and private legal acts, and concluded that, as a certain social group, boyar scions emerged only around the 1460s, when this term became a social rank.Михайлова И.Б. Служилые люди Северо-Восточной Руси в XIV - первой половине XVI века. Автореферат на соискание степени доктора исторических наук. Санкт-Петербург, 2004. С. 19. She had also concluded that in the late 16th century "boyar scions" already implied landed gentry in general, rather than actual descendants of boyars. In her study she pointed to the fact that amongst the boyar scions some were descendants of princes, while others were descendants of officials and even bonded servants, alongside actual boyars. Mikhailova made the following general definition of the boyar scions: ‘a category of serving gentry which emerged in the 14th — 15th centuries as a result of the dissolution of town communities and the military reorganization of the developing united Russian state’Михайлова И.Б. Служилые люди северо-восточной Руси в четырнадцатом-первой половине шестнадцатого века. Изд-во Санкт-Петербургского гос. университета, 2003. С. 141. At the same time, Mikhailova saw the development of their allodial land ownership in the division of communal lands and did not admit that the lands were granted by the princes on a large scale, because the Rurikids did not possess sufficient lands in private property.
Practically, almost every Russian noble family descended from the ancient Muscovite aristocracy had part of their ancestors in the rank of boyar scions.
History Boyar scions were first mentioned in the Chronicle of Novgorod in 1259. However, many historians believe those were actually members of the local boyar families. As a social group, boyar scions started to appear in the legal acts and documents in the second half of the 15th century. Nikolay Zagoskin noticed that boyars started to be associated with the Duma only from the reign of Ivan III, when the princely duma turned into the Boyar Duma. During the centralization process under the rule of Moscow in the late 1400s — 1500s, boyars of the formerly sovereign princes and archbishops were losing their status and acquired the collective name of boyar scions in the Moscow documentation.
Up until the late 16th century, boyar scions were a group of gentry just below the Moscow boyars but higher than .Михайлова И.Б. Служилые люди Северо-Восточной Руси в XIV - первой половине XVI века. Автореферат на соискание степени доктора исторических наук. Санкт-Петербург, 2004. С.24. Except for cases of felony, boyar scions were freed from the trial by the viceroys and were directly tried by the tsar's court.Горский А.Д. Законодательтво периода образования и укрепления Русского централизованного государства.Т. 2, Юрид. лит-ра, 1985.С 152.
Their main task was military service. However, they also occupied many offices and performed many important functions, yet lower than the members of the Boyar Duma, such as: taking part in the ceremonies at the royal court, including the royal weddings; diplomatic missions, including embassies and spying; supervising construction of fortresses; being voivodes and viceroys in towns and small regions; supervising governmental mining; resolving border conflicts; collecting tribute; negotiations with the Church; land survey; royal charters delivery; informing local population of royal decrees. heads of the Streltsy or Cossacks.Ляпин Д.А. Дети боярские Елецкого уезда в конце XVI - XVII вв./диссертация на соискание степени кандидата исторических наук. Воронеж, 2006. С. 58.
Boyar scions were free land lords. They had the right to choose their sovereign up until the 16th century. Thus in one such family, some members could be in service to the archbishops, while the others — to the dukes.
For a long time historians believed that boyar scions massively enfeoffed in exchange for military service, namely a prince giving away large lands in fiefdom to provide an armyМихайлова И.Б. Служилые люди Северо-Восточной Руси в XIV - первой половине XVI века. Автореферат на соискание степени доктора исторических наук. Санкт-Петербург, 2004. С. 21. This was to explain the development of their land ownership. However, Irina Mikhailova, on the basis of many legal acts, proved in her study that boyar scions' early landed estates were allodial, yet of medium to small size (settlements (selo), villages, lands). She analyzed the boyar scions of the Seltsy Volost, in service to the Bishop of Moscow, and concluded that their lands were not granted but taken by the families independently of the princes or bishops.Михайлова И.Б. Служилые люди Северо-Восточной Руси в XIV - первой половине XVI века. Автореферат на соискание степени доктора исторических наук. Санкт-Петербург, 2004. С. 22. In the 1300s—1400s these families possessed lands ranging from one settlement (selo, i.e. a large unwalled settlement having a church) to eight settlements with multiple villages, woods and fields attached to them.Михайлова И.Б. Служилые люди Северо-Восточной Руси в XIV - первой половине XVI века. Автореферат на соискание степени доктора исторических наук. Санкт-Петербург, 2004. С. 23. In the 16th century the families of the local boyar scions became impoverished because the families had grown too large over generations, and tradition required them to divide properties among the children.
In the late 16th century, under Ivan the Terrible the institution of fiefdom (called '') developed. The impoverished descendants of originally allodial families started to receive fiefs in exchange for service on the massive scale. The fiefs were meant as temporary landed estates to provide a living for a boyar scion, however, by the 17th century they were practically inherited and even given as dowries in marriages, yet they could not be sold. In the 18th century these fiefs had turned into private land properties with all due rights.