Peculiarities of the One-Courtyard People Inflow Into the Cities of the Central Chernozem Region in the XVII–XIX Centuries

Abstract

Relevance. The article is devoted to the topical urbanization issue, which the author considered on the example of the one-courtyard people of the Central Chernozem Region (hereinafter – CC). The novelty of the study lies in a comprehensive analysis of the mass of unpublished and narrative sources, which showed that the aforementioned topic has not really received a serious assessment in the scientific literature. This article contains a number of useful conclusions both for the study of urban migrations in general and for the study of the smallholders estate in particular. Purpose is to determine the features of the influx of the military service people and their descendants into the urban conglomerations of the Central Chernozem region from the beginning of the XVII-th to the middle of the XIX-th centuries. Objectives are to study: the geography of the inflow; the phenomenon of the transition of smallholders villages to the cities; the estate composition of the migrants; various difficulties that prevent the descendants of the military service people from moving to the urban area. Methodology. In the process of working on the study were used the principles of macro- and microhistorical analysis, the combination of common and unique phenomena, as well as statistical, cartographic and historical-comparative, typological and genetic methods. Results. The nature of the urbanization processes among the one-courtyard people changed for the reason that from the centers of settlement and fortresses, the cities are being transformed into commercial and industrial centers. According to the researcher, during the migrations to the urban area, the greatest mixing took place within the framework of the one-courtyard people estate between the descendants of the recruited military service people and the descendants of the boyar children. This phenomenon was especially reflected in their mentality. The evolution in the geography of the influx of the military service people and their descendants into the cities of the Central Chernozem region consisted in the dominance of distant migrations in the XVII-th century, and in the XVIII-th–XIX-th centuries – nearby resettlements. Conclusion. The author identified the main and additional factors that increase migration to the city for the military service people and their descendants. To the additional factor it is necessary to attribute the massive transition of one-courtyard people villages to the cities in the XVIII-th century, and in the XIX-th century – bureaucratic simplification that accompanies relocation to urban areas. To the main factors it is necessary to attribute the forced resettlement of the military service people from different localities to the cities in the XVII-th century, and for the XVIII-th–XIX-th centuries – the growth of commodity-money relations.