TheRussian nobility ordvoryanstvo (Russian:дворянство) arose in theMiddle Ages. In 1914, it consisted of approximately 1,900,000 members, out of a total population of 138,200,000.^[1] Up until theFebruary Revolution of 1917, the Russian noble estates staffed most of the Russian government and possessed a self-governing body, theAssembly of the Nobility.

TheRussian word for nobility,dvoryanstvo derives from Slavonicdvor (двор), meaning thecourt of a prince or duke (knyaz), and later, of thetsar or emperor. Here,dvor originally referred to servants at the estate of anaristocrat. In the late 16th and early 17th centuries, the system of hierarchy was a system of seniority known asmestnichestvo. The worddvoryane described the highest rank ofgentry, who performed duties at the royal court, lived in it (Moskovskie zhiltsy, "Moscow dwellers"), or were candidates to it, as for manyboyar scions (dvorovye deti boyarskie,vybornye deti boyarskie). A nobleman is called advoryanin (plural:dvoryane). Pre-Soviet Russia shared with other countries the concept that nobility connotes a status or social category rather than a title. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, the title of the nobleman in Russia gradually became a formal status, rather than a reference to a member of the aristocracy, due to a massive influx ofcommoners via theTable of ranks.

Many descendants of the former ancient Russian aristocracy, including royalty, saw their formal standing change tomerchants,burghers, or evenpeasants, while people descended fromserfs (likeVladimir Lenin's father) or clergy (like in the ancestry of actressLyubov Orlova) gained formal nobility.

The nobility arose in the 12th and 13th centuries as the lowest part of the feudal military class, which comprised the court of aprince or an importantboyar. From the 14th century land ownership by nobles increased, and by the 17th century, the bulk offeudal lords and the majority of landowners were nobles. The nobles were granted estates out of State lands in return for their service to the Tsar, either for as long as they performed service or for their lifetime. By the 18th century, these estates had become private property. They made up the Landed army (Russian:поместное войско,romanized: pomestnoe voisko)—the basic military force of Russia.Peter the Great finalized the status of the nobility, while abolishing theboyar title.

The adoption of the fashions, mannerisms, and ideals ofWestern Europe by the Russian nobility was a gradual process rooted in the strict guidelines ofPeter the Great and the educational reforms ofCatherine the Great. While culturalwesternization was mostly superficial and restricted to court, it coincided with the efforts of Russian autocrats to link Russia to Western Europe in more fundamental ways – socially, economically and politically. However, Russia's existing economic system, which lacked a sizable middle class and which relied heavily onforced labor, proved an insurmountable obstacle to the development of afree market economy. Furthermore, the lower classes (an overwhelming majority of the Russian population) lived virtually isolated from the upper classes and the imperial court. Thus, most of the nobility's “western” tendencies were largely aesthetic and confined to a tiny proportion of the populace.

As different rulers ascended the throne in the 19th century, each figure brought a different attitude and approach to ruling the nobility. Yet, the cultural impact of Peter I and Catherine II was set in stone. Ironically, by introducing the nobility to political literature from Western Europe, Catherine exposed Russia's autocracy to them as archaic and illiberal. While the nobility was conservative as a whole, a liberal and radical minority remained constant throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, resorting to violence on multiple occasions in order to challenge Russia's traditional political system (seeDecembrist Revolt,Narodnaya Volya).

Although Peter the Great is considered to be the first westernized ruler of Russia, there were, in fact, contacts between the Muscovite nobility and Western Europe before hisreign.Ivan III, starting in 1472, sent numerous agents toItaly to studyarchitecture. BothMichael Romanov (1613–1645) and his sonAlexis (1645–1676) invited and sponsored European visitors – mostly military, medical, and building specialists – who came to Moscow in foreign dress, speaking foreign languages.^[2] When the boyars began to imitate the westerners in dress and hairstyle,Tsar Alexis in 1675 and thenTsar Feodor in 1680 restricted foreign fashions to distinguish between Russians and outsiders,^[3]but these were not effectively enforced until the 1690s.^[4]

Peter the Great was, first and foremost, eager to do away with Russia's reputation as an Asiatic land and to propel his new empire onto the political stage of Western Europe. One of the many ways he hoped to achieve this was by changing the upper-class culture; he believed that forcing selected features of western fashion, education, and language onto the nobility would hasten Russia's rise to international prestige. In 1697, he began to send nobles on compulsory trips abroad to England, Holland, and Italy. While the Tsar primarily designed these expeditions for naval training, he also encouraged the noblemen to learn about the arts of the west. Furthermore, Peter prioritized sending Russian natives as opposed to foreign expatriates; he was intent on “breeding” a new nobility that conformed to western customs but represented theSlavic people as a whole. When the travelers returned to Moscow, Peter tested them on their training, insisting on further education for those whose accumulated knowledge was unsatisfactory.^[5] By 1724, he had established – for the purpose of scientific study and discovery – theAcademy of Sciences, which he modeled after “the ones in Paris, London, Berlin, and other places”.^[6]

Peter's westernizing efforts became more radical after 1698 when he returned from his expedition through Europe known as theGrand Embassy. Upon arriving Peter summoned the nobility to his court and personally shaved almost every beard in the room. In 1705 he decreed abeard tax on all men of rank in Moscow and ordered certain officers to seek out noble beards and shave them on sight. He only allowed peasants, priests, andserfs to retain the ingrained and religious Russian tradition of wearing beards, which theOrthodox populace considered an essential aspect of their duty to convey the image of God. He also reformed the clothing of the nobility, replacing the long-sleeved traditional Muscovite robes with European clothing. Beginning in 1699 the tsar decreed strict dress requirements borrowing from German, Hungarian, French and British styles, fining any noblemen who failed to obey. Peter himself, who usually wore German dress and had a trimmed mustache, acted as a prime example. While the nobility universally followed Peter's fashion preferences at court, they greatly resented these styles, which they saw as blasphemous. Away fromSt. Petersburg, very few noblemen followed Peter's guidelines and enforcement was lax.

Peter also demanded changes in mannerisms and language among nobles. To supply Russians with a basic set of “proper” morals and habits, he ordered publication of manuals on Western etiquette. The most popular of these wasThe Honourable Mirror of Youth or A Guide to Social Conduct Gathered from Various Authors, a compilation of rules of conduct from numerous European sources, initially published in St. Petersburg in 1717. He also encouraged the learning of foreign languages especiallyFrench, which was the foremost political and intellectual language of Europe at the time. For the nobility, these changes felt even more forced than fashion regulations. As with clothing, there was uniform acceptance of Western mannerisms at court but general disregard for them outside of St. Petersburg. Furthermore, when Westerners visited Peter's court they found the image and personality of the courtiers to appear forced and awkward.Friedrich Christian Weber, a representative of Britain, commented in 1716 that the nobles “wear the German Dress; but it is easy to observe on many, that they have not been long used to it”.^[7]

While none of the rulers in power from 1725 to 1762 focused as strongly on cultural westernization, Peter sparked a transformation that was now unstoppable. Through their education and travels, some members of the nobility began to understand the extent to which Russia lagged behind Western Europe in the complexity of their political and educational systems, their technology and economy. By 1750, the ideas ofsecularism,skepticism andhumanism had reached sects of the elite class, providing some with a new worldview and giving Russia a taste ofthe Enlightenment, of which they had experienced little. While even the most educated of the nobility still supported the autocracy that upheld thefeudal system on which they depended, some considered how to make it more representative and to improve the bureaucracy.^[8]

The period between Peter I and Catherine II represents gradual yet significant developments in western culture among the nobility.Empress Anna gave many privileges to the nobility. In 1730 she repealed theprimogeniture law introduced by Peter the Great allowing the sub-division of estates. In 1736 the age at which nobles had to start service was raised from 15 to 20 and length of service was changed to 25 years instead of life and families with more than one son could keep one to manage the family estate.^[9] In 1726Catherine I and in 1743Empress Elizabeth further regulated noble dress in a Western direction.^[10] In 1755 also during Elizabeth's reign, advanced secondary schools and theUniversity of Moscow were founded with curricula that included foreign languages, philosophy, medicine and law; the material was chiefly based on imported texts from the west. Most significantlyPeter III freed the nobility from obligatory civil and military service in 1762, allowing them to pursue personal interests. While some used this liberty as an excuse to lead lavish lives of leisure, a select group became increasingly educated in Western ideas through schooling, reading, and travel. As before, these changes applied to few and represented a gradual shift in noble identity rather than a sudden or universal one.^[11]Marc Raeff inOrigins of the Russian Intelligentsia has suggested this was not a noble victory but a sign the state didn't need them as much now that they had plenty of trained officials.^{[12][page needed]}

When Catherine II ascended the throne, she quickly made her political and philosophical opinions clear in the“Instruction” of 1767, a lengthy document which she prepared for the nobility, drawing largely from and even plagiarizing ideas from the west, especially those ofJean-Jacques Rousseau. The point she emphasized first and foremost was that Russia was a truly European state, and her reforms of the court and education reflect this belief. While Catherine was primarily preoccupied with impressing westerners (especially thephilosophers, with whom she corresponded in writing), in doing so she also made significant efforts to educate the nobility and expose them to western philosophy and art. She designed an imperial court in the style ofLouis XIV, entertaining the nobility with performances of western theatre and music. She encouraged the understanding of French, German, and English languages so that nobles could read classic, historical, and philosophical literature from the west. For the first time in the history of the Russian court, “intellectual pursuits became fashionable”. When foreigners visited the court, Catherine expected the noblemen and their ladies to flaunt not only their western appearance but also their ability to discuss current events in western languages.^[13]

Catherine also made specific reforms in institutional education that pushed the nobility's culture further westward. She based Russian education on that of Austria, importing German textbooks and adopting in 1786 a standardized curriculum to be taught in her newly created public schools.^[14] While many members of the lower classes were allowed into these schools, Catherine hoped that they could become educated enough to rise through the meritocraticTable of Ranks and eventually become nobles themselves. Catherine also established the Society for the Translation of Foreign Books, “to bring enlightenment to those Russians who could not read either French or German.”^[15] It is clear that, like Peter I, Catherine the Great desired to construct a new nobility, a “new race,”^[14] which would both resemble western noblemen and prove knowledgeable in discussions of modern issues. And, according to accounts from foreign visitors, the noblemen did, in fact, resemble those of Western Europe in their dress, topics of discussion, and taste in literature and performance.^[16]

She also gave away 66,000 serfs in 1762–72, 202,000 in 1773–93, and 100,000 in one day: 18 August 1795.^[17] Thus she was able to bind the nobility to herself. From 1782, a kind of uniform was introduced for civilian nobles calleduniform of civilian service or simplycivilian uniform. The uniform prescribed colors that depended on the territory. The uniform was required at the places of service, at the Court, and at other important public places. The privileges of the nobility were fixed and were legally codified in 1785 in theCharter to the Gentry. The Charter introduced an organization of the nobility: every province (guberniia) and district (uezd) had anAssembly of Nobility. The chair of an assembly was called Province/DistrictMarshal of Nobility. In 1831Nicholas I restricted the assembly votes to those with over 100 serfs, leaving 21,916 voters.^[18]

By 1805 the various ranks of the nobility had become confused, as reflected inWar and Peace. In the era of theNapoleonic Wars, there werecounts who were wealthier and more important thanprinces and noble families whose wealth had been dissipated partly through lack ofprimogeniture, partly through extravagance and due to poor estate-management. Young noblemen served in the military but did not thereby acquire new landed estates. Tolstoy reported later improvements: some nobles paid more attention to estate management, and some, likeAndrey Bolkonsky, freed their serfs even before thetsar did so in 1861.^[19] Of Russia's nobles, 62.8% wereszlachta from the nine western gubernii in 1858 and still 46.1% in 1897.^[20]

Obrok or cash rent was most common in the north whilebarshchina or labor rent was found mainly in the southern Black Earth Region. In the reign ofNicholas I (1825–1855) the latter brought three times the income of cash rent (though this needed less administration).^[22] In 1798 Ukrainian landlords were banned from selling serfs separately from land. In 1841 landless nobles were banned also.^[23]

Descended from the gentry, the landholding, but not serf-owning,odnodvortsy were between peasants and nobles. They emerged as frontier settlers recruited from the class ofboyar scions. The status of the odnodvortsy changed gradually from singleholding farmers to taxed state peasants.^[24]

The nobility was too weak to oppose theEmancipation reform of 1861. In 1858, three million serfs were held by 1,400 landlords (1.4%) while 2 million by 79,000 (78%).^[25] In 1820 a fifth of the serfs were mortgaged, half by 1842.^[26] By 1859, a third of nobles' estates and two-thirds of their serfs were mortgaged to noble banks or to the state.^[27] The nobility was also weakened by the scattering of their estates, lack ofprimogeniture and the high turnover and mobility from estate to estate.

After thepeasant reform of 1861 the economic position of the nobility weakened. The influence of the nobility was further reduced by thenew law statutes of 1864, which repealed their right of electing law officer. The reform of the police in 1862 limited the landowners' authority locally, and the establishment of all-estateZemstvo local government did away with the exclusive influence of nobility in local self-government.

These changes occurred despite the nobles keeping nearly all the meadows and forests and having their debts paid by the state, while the ex-serfs paid 34% over the market price for the shrunken plots they kept. This figure was 90% in the northern regions, 20% in the black-earth region but zero in the Polish provinces. In 1857, 6.79% of serfs were domestic, landless servants who stayed landless after 1861.^[29] Only Polish and Romanian domestic serfs got land. Ninety percent of the serfs who got larger plots lived in the eight ex-Polish provinces where the Tsar wanted to weaken theSzlachta. The other 10% lived inAstrakhan and in the barren north.^[30] In the whole Empire, peasant land declined 4.1% - 13.3% outside the ex-Polish zone and 23.3% in the 16 black-earth provinces.^[31] Georgia's serfs suffered the loss of1⁄5 of their land inTiflis province,1⁄3 inKutaisi province.^[32] These redemption payments were not abolished till January 1, 1907.

The influx of New World grain caused a slump in grain prices, forcing the peasants to farm more land. At the same time, despite their efficiency, large peasant households split up (from 9.5 to 6.8 persons per household in central Russia, 1861–1884).^[33] The resulting land hunger increased prices 7-fold and made it easier for nobles to sell or rent land rather than farm it themselves. From 1861 to 1900 40% of noble land was sold to peasants (70% of this went to theCommune^[34] and by 1900 two thirds of the nobles' arable land was rented to the peasantry).^[27] Between 1900–1914, over 20% of remaining noble land was sold but only 3% of the 155 estates over 50,000destiny.^[35] According to the 1897 census, 71% of the top 4 ranks of the civil service were nobles.^[36] But in the civil service as a whole, noble membership declined from 49.8% in 1755 to 43.7% in the 1850s and to 30.7% in 1897.^[37] There were 1.2 million nobles, about 1% of the population (8% in Poland; compare with 4% in Hungary and 1 to 1.5% in France).^[38] Their military influence waned: in theCrimean War 90% of officers were noble, by 1913 the proportion had sunk to 50%.^[39] They lived increasingly away from their estates: in 1858 only 15 to 20% of Russian nobles lived in cities, by 1897 it was 47.2%.^[40]

By 19041⁄3 of noble land was mortgaged to the noble bank.^[42]During the1905 Russian Revolution 3,000 manors were burnt (15% of the total).^[43]

The Russian imperial nobility was multi-ethnic. Native non-Russians such as thePoles,Georgians,Lithuanians,Tatars, andGermans formed an important segment of the noble estate. TheBaltic German nobility was particularly prominent. According to the 1897 census, 0.87% of Russians were classified as hereditary nobles versus 5.29% of Georgians and 4.41% of Poles, followed by Lithuanians, Tatars, Azerbaijanis, and Germans. After the abolition of serfdom, the non-Russian nobility, with the exception ofFinland, lost their special status.^{[clarification needed]} Later, many of the impoverished or déclassé Polish and Georgian nobles became leaders of nationalist and radical political movements, includingBolshevism.^[45][46]

Quoting historianJohn Armstrong, Andrei Znamenski describes the Baltic Germans as a "mobilized diaspora" who acted as the Russian Empire's cultural and diplomatic envoys.^[47]

The nobility, members of which had played an active role in theFebruary Revolution of 1917 and still occupied many positions in politics and state administration (e.g. PrinceGeorgy Lvov), was suppressed and abolished in theOctober Revolution by the new Soviet government run by theBolsheviks with a decree of November 10/November 23, 1917. All classes of nobility ceased to exist as a class defined by state law.

The vast majority of wealthy and high-ranking nobles left Russia as "White émigrés" or fell victim to theRussian Civil War or theRed Terror by the Bolsheviks. Countless nobles died in the civil war after the October Revolution - in theWhite Army units there were entire regiments that consisted exclusively of noble officers.^[48] Others emigrated, especially toSwitzerland, preferably toGeneva, toPoland,Germany andFrance, whereParis became the center of Russian emigrants (the “princely taxi drivers” were a stereotype there in the 1920s)^[49] and from there often to theUSA, where a large part of the surviving members of the Imperial Family of Russia, theHouse of Romanov, and their descendants live today. TheRussian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia quickly developed.

Under Bolshevik rule, many nobles were persecuted, imprisoned, tortured, and shot. EmperorNicholas II and his family were banished toYekaterinburg and murdered there. Thousands of dissidents, devout Christians, members of non-Russian peoples, communist officials and many nobles who remained in the Soviet Union later fell victim to the “purges” underStalin. However, a significant number of the (mostly untitled) small nobility, who had inconspicuous names, had previously served as civil servants and mostly owned little land, came to terms with the circumstances. Some of them even took part in building the new state - such asLenin himself,^[50] Foreign MinisterGeorgy Chicherin as well as intelligence chiefFelix Dzerzhinsky and his successorVyacheslav Menzhinsky, both of whom came from Polish noble families; also Stalin's secret service chiefVsevolod Merkulov, MarshalsMikhail Tukhachevsky andKonstantin Rokossovsky. Occasionally, members of prominent aristocratic families also adapted to the circumstances, either becoming Bolsheviks themselves, like the diplomat Leonid LeonidovichObolensky (1873−1930), father of the actorLeonid Obolensky, or supporting the new system, like the writerAleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy or the actorMikheil Gelovani. Some married into the proletariat and the next, Soviet-influenced generation was accepted into the Soviet academic elite, such asGeorgy Golitsyn,Vladimir Vladimirovich Golitsyn orAndrey Gagarin.

Many members of the Russian nobility who fled Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution played a significant role in theWhite Emigre communities which settled inEurope, inNorth America, and in other parts of the world. In the 1920s and 1930s, several Russian nobility associations were established outside Russia, including groups inFrance (theUnion de la Noblesse Russe (UNR) is a member organization ofCILANE),^[51]Belgium, and theUnited States. In New York, theRussian Nobility Association in America, was founded in 1933.

The number of descendants of noble families still living in Russia today is difficult to estimate after more than 70 years of communism, but with around 100 million inhabitants in 1917 it could be at least 50-60,000. While most of the descendants of the princely and comital houses have lived in western countries since the revolution, many members of lower-ranking families have remained in Russia.^[52]

After theDissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, aristocratic associations and organizations that maintained noble traditions were permitted again in Russia, but the Russian nobility no longer exists as a social class. The historical noble families are known from the sources. However, in Russia, as everywhere in Europe, according to historical aristocratic law, the nobility was only passed on in themale line. The acceptance of descendants through the female line, which is contrary to tradition and is now practiced by some of the more recent associations, is therefore very controversial.^[53]

The various aristocratic associations have different opinions not only with regard to aristocratic law, but also with regard to the succession of the pretenders to the Russian tsar's crown. Some seeGrand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna of Russia as the legitimate heir to the throne, but she is not recognized by the other remaining branches of the Romanov family. In particular, she has come to terms with the new Russian elite around PresidentVladimir Putin and awards some historicaldynastic orders of the Tsars and sometimes even newly created orders such as theOrder of the Archangel Michael (founded in 1988) or theLadies' Order of Saint Anastasia (founded in 2010) to their members. She even goes so far as to raise such people “to the nobility.” In 2007, she is said to have ennobled the former head of the Russian domestic secret serviceFederal Security Service (FSB),Nikolai Patrushev, who is considered one of Vladimir Putin's closest confidants (and one of his possible successor candidates).^[54] Patrushev himself described the FSB employees in an interview as “our new nobility” because of their sense of dedicated service.^[55]

The aristocratic associations are therefore faced with the question of how to deal with such “new aristocrats”, who usually have no biographical or cultural connection to the traditional nobility, but are often historically connected to theCPSU or theKGB and are often influential. Some of these associations have taken this line and recognize such “nobility” as legitimate. Most, however, reject it, because Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna is neither the undisputed pretender to the throne nor does she - who is not a reigningmonarch - have any constitutional authority to ennoble herself. Neither the RussianCILANE member association, theUnion de la Noblesse Russe based in Paris, which largely consists of descendants of the “White Emigrants”, nor the Association ofBaltic knighthoods, which unites the families of the Baltic-German enrolled nobility of the former Russian Empire, recognize Maria Vladimirovna or anyone else as holder of the throne with the power of ennoblement.^[53] However, the fact that influential “would-be nobles” make up a significant proportion of the members of the new Russian aristocratic associations^[56] leads to major conflicts within and between the Russian aristocratic associations. Since membership in the nobility is neither legally recognized nor protected, a large market for fake titles and coats of arms has developed since 1991. Supposedly originalletters of nobility “from the Tsarist era” or confirmation diplomas from dubious associations can even be purchased on the Internet.^[57]

Nobility was transferred by inheritance or was bestowed by afount of honour, i.e. thesovereign of theRussian Empire, and was typically ranked as per below, with those of the highest noble prestige ranked first.

• Ancient nobility (descendants from Middle Ages)
• Titled nobility:
  • Prince (knyaz Князь): e.g.Prince Potemkin
  • Count (graf Граф): e.g.CountTolstoy
  • Baron (baron Барон): e.g.BaronPahlen
• Hereditary nobility: inherited by all legitimate male-line descendants of a nobleman
• Personal nobility: granted for the life of the recipient only
• Estateless nobility: obtained without the grant of alanded estate

Unlike the ancient nobility, which was exclusively hereditary, the remaining classes of nobility could be acquired.

A newly designated noble was usually entitled tolandownership. A loss of land did not automatically mean loss of nobility. In laterImperial Russia, higher ranks of state service (seeTable of Ranks) were automatically granted nobility, not necessarily associated with land ownership.

Russian did not in general employ anobiliary particle before asurname (asvon inGerman orde inFrench); however, the Russian name suffix -skij which means “of” and is equal to “von” and “de” was used in many noble surnames especially topographic surnames as nobiliary particle. Russian noblemen were accorded an official salutation, orstyle, that varied by rank:yourhigh born (Russian:ваше высокородие,romanized: vashe vysokorodie),yourhigh well born (Russian:ваше высокоблагородие,romanized: vashe vysokoblagorodie),yourwell born (Russian:ваше благородие,romanized: vashe blagorodie), etc.^{[citation needed]}

Titled nobility (Russian:титулованное дворянство) was the highest category: those who had titles such asprince,count andbaron. The latter two titles were introduced byPeter the Great. A baron or count could be eitherproprietary (actual) (владетельный (действительный))—i.e., who owned land in theRussian Empire—ortitular (титулярный),i.e., only endowed with a rank or title.

Hereditary nobility (Russian:потомственное дворянство) was transferred to wife, children, and further direct legal descendants along the male (agnatic) line. In exceptional cases, the emperor could transfer nobility along indirect or female lines,e.g., to preserve a notable family name.

Personal nobility (Russian:личное дворянство) could, for instance, be acquired by admission toorders of knighthood of the Russian Empire. It was transferable only to the wife.

Estateless nobility (Russian:беспоместное дворянство) was nobility acquired by state service, but without a grant of land.

In addition, theancient nobility (Russian:Древнее дворянство) was recognised, descendants ofRurik,Gediminas and historicalboyars andknyazes,e.g., theAminoffs,Shuyskies,Galitzins,Naryshkins, Khilkoffs,Gorchakovs,Belosselsky-Belozerskys andChelyadnins.

Russian nobility possessed the following privileges:

• The right to own estates populated with estate-tiedserfs (until 1861), including virtual ownership of the serfs who worked on the estates.
• Style, that varied by rank:TheHigh Born (Russian:ваше высокородие),TheHigh and Well Born (Russian:ваше высокоблагородие),TheWell Born (Russian:ваше благородие), etc.^{[citation needed]}
• Freedom from compulsory military service (1762–1874; later compulsory military service was introduced which did not exempt the nobility).
• The right to enter specially designated educational institutions, such asTsarskoye Selo Lyceum,Imperial School of Jurisprudence andPage Corps.
• Freedom fromcorporal punishment.
• The right to bear and use acoat of arms, introduced by the end of the 17th century.

The Russian Tsardom came into being around theGrand Duchy of Moscow by the incorporation of various political entities surrounding it. AfterPeter the Great returned from hisgrand tour he implemented reforms aimed at westernization of his realm, including officially adopting the title ofEmperor of All Russia, preceding the traditional Slavic title ofTsar. Peter and his successors also streamlined the stratification of the Russian nobility, adopting European-style titles such asCount andBaron and discontinuing the archaic titles ofBoyars. The Russian system of noble titles evolved into its final form:

Noble titles of theRussian Empire

Title	Crown	Application	Style of Address
Emperor of All Russia His Imperial Majesty The Sovereign, Emperor and Autocrat of All Russia (Его Императорское Величество Государь Император и Самодержец Всероссийский)		The ruler of theRussian Empire and its constituent entities.	Your Imperial Majesty (Ваше Императорское Величество)
Tsesarevich His Imperial Highness The Lord Heir Tsesarevich and Grand Prince (Его Императорское Высочество Государь Наследник Цесаревич и Великий Князь) *		Heir apparent of theRussian Empire.	Your Imperial Highness (Ваше Императорское Высочество)
Grand Prince His Imperial Highness The Grand Prince (Его Императорское Высочество Великий Князь) *		Descendants of theHouse of Romanov. After the introduction of the title Prince of Blood Imperial, the title of Grand Prince was reserved for sons and grandsons of Romanov emperors.	Your Imperial Highness (Ваше Императорское Высочество)
Prince of the Blood Imperial His Highness the PrinceFirstname Patronymic of the Blood Imperial (Его Высочество Князь Крови Императорской)		Introduced byAlexander III on January 24, 1885 in order to reduce the number of members of theHouse of Romanov titledGrand Princes (as each Grand Prince received 200,000rubles annually from the state budget and enjoyed other high privileges). The male-line great-grandchildren of the Romanov emperors and their male-line descendants were titled Prince of the Blood Imperial to distinguish them from those of the noble Russian families titled simplyPrince.	Your Highness (Ваше Высочество)
Prince His Serenity The Prince (Его Сиятельство Князь) *		List of Russian princely families	Your Serenity (Ваше Сиятельство)
Duke His Highness the Duke (Его Светлость Герцог) **		Applied to some French and German relatives of the Romanov dynasty. Also used by dukes in Russian service,[citation needed] which were bestowed with ducal dignity by other monarchs and therefore did not officially belong to the Russian nobility.	Your Grace (Ваша Светлость)
Marquis His Serenity The Marquis (Его Сиятельство Маркиз)		Used by marquises residing in Russia and/or in Russian service,[citation needed] which were bestowed with marquisal dignity by other monarchs and therefore technically did not belong to the Russian nobility.	Your Serenity (Ваше Сиятельство)
Count His Serenity the Count (Его Сиятельство Граф)			Your Serenity (Ваше Сиятельство)
Baron The Well Born Baron (Его Благородие Барон)		There were landed and landless barons in the Russian Empire.	The Well Born (Ваше Благородие)
Dvoryanin /Pomeshchik		The lowest ranks of hereditary nobility.Dvoryanin comes fromdvor (the court of a ruler or a high nobleman). Originally these were free commoners in the service of noblemen who also had serfs.Pomeshchiks were thelanded gentry.	Your Well Birth (Ваше Благородие)
Baltic knights		Baltic Noble Corporations ofCourland,Livonia,Estonia, andOesel (Ösel) were medievalfiefdoms formed by German nobles in the 13th century in vassalage to theTeutonic Knights or Denmark in modernLatvia andEstonia. The territories continued to have semi-autonomous status from 16th to early 20th century under Swedish and Russian rule. The dukes, princes, counts, and barons of Courlandish, Livonian, Estonian and Oesel extraction were gradually absorbed into the Russian nobility due to their services to the realm. The Russian medieval equivalent ofknights (thearmored boyars, thevityazes) was ultimately abolished by the reforms ofPeter the Great. The ethnically German knights of Baltic extraction retained their social prominence and equalled the RussianPomeshchiks due to their wealth and lands.	Your Well Birth (Ваше Благородие)
* The Russian Empire used the traditional Slavic titleKnyaz, usually translated as "prince" in Western European traditions. ** Upon the death ofElizabeth of Russia, the male Romanov line was extinguished, and the Russian throne was inherited byKarl Peter Ulrich von Oldenburg, the heir apparent of theDuchy of Holstein-Gottorp. With that event, the ruling dynasty of the Russian Empire became theHouse of Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov, while the female-line heirs continued to refer to themselves simply as the House of Romanov. As there were some nobles with titles and estates in both theRussian andHoly Roman Empires, Russia adopted the German formHerzog or "Gertsog" (Герцог), instead of the FrenchDuc or its English formDuke.

Hereditary nobility could be achieved in the following ways: 1) by Imperial grant to individuals or families; 2) by attaining a certain military or civil officer's rank while in active service; 3) by being awarded anorder of chivalry of the Russian Empire.

Between 1722 and 1845 hereditary nobility was given to military officers who achieved the 14th rank ofensign, to civil servants who achieved the 8th rank ofCollegiate Assessor and to any person who was awarded any order of the Russian Empire (since 1831 – except the Polish order ofVirtuti Militari).

Between 1845 and 1856 hereditary nobility was given to military officers who achieved the 8th rank of major/captain 3rd rank, to civil servants who achieved the 5th rank ofState Councillor and to any person who was awarded theOrder of Saint George or theOrder of Saint Vladimir of any class, or any order of the Russian Empire of the first class.

From 1856 to 1917 hereditary nobility was given to military officers who achieved the 6th rank of colonel/captain 1st rank, to civil servants who achieved the 4th rank ofActive State Councillor and to any person who was awarded theOrder of Saint George of any class or theOrder of Saint Vladimir of any class (since 1900 - of the third class or higher), or any order of the Russian Empire of the first class.

Personal nobility could be acquired in the following ways: 1) by Imperial grant; 2) by attaining the 14th military rank of ensign or the 9th civil rank ofTitular Councillor; 3) by being awarded the orders of the Russian Empire unless those gave hereditary nobility; except merchants (unless those were awarded between 1826 and 1832), who acquired honorary citizenship instead. Personal nobility was not inherited by children but was shared by the recipient's wife.^[58]

• Boyar scions
• Marshal of Nobility
• Odnodvortsy
• Okolnichy
• Stolnik

• 
  PrincessMaria Staritskaya
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  PrinceMikhail Skopin-Shuisky
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  BoyarAfanasy Ordin-Nashchokin
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  Eudoxia Streshneva
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  BoyarPyotr Potemkin
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  BoyarIvan Repnin
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  BoyarArtamon Matveyev
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  Marfa Apraksina
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  PrinceFyodor Romodanovsky
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  PrinceVasily Golitsyn
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  Natalya Naryshkina
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  PrinceFyodor Golovin
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  CountBoris Sheremetev
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  CountGavriil Golovkin
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  PrinceVasily Dolgorukov
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  PrinceAlexey Cherkassky
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  CountAlexey Bestuzhev-Ryumin
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  CountPyotr Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky
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  CountAlexander Stroganov
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  CountZakhar Chernyshev
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  PrinceNikolay Saltykov
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  PrincessYekaterina Dashkova
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  CountAleksei Musin-Pushkin
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  CountSemyon Vorontsov
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  PrinceAlexander Kurakin
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  PrinceAndrey Razumovsky
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  PrinceYakov Lobanov-Rostovsky
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  CountNikolai Demidov
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  PrinceAlexander Shakhovskoy
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  CountessAnna Lopukhina
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  CountSergey Uvarov
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  PrinceAlexander Menshikov
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  PrinceAlexey Orlov
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  PrincePyotr Vyazemsky
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  PrincessZinaida Volkonskaya
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  PrinceAlexander Gorchakov
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  CountessYuliya Samoylova
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  PrinceAlexander Baryatinsky
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  CountPyotr Shuvalov
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  CountAleksey Tolstoy
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  PrinceKonstantin Beloselsky-Belozersky
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  PrinceIvan Obolensky
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  PrincessMaria Tenisheva
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  PrinceBoris Vasilchikov
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  PrinceGeorgy Lvov
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  PrinceFelix Yusupov
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  PrinceNikolai Trubetzkoy
• 
  PrinceAndrey Gagarin

• The Russian Nobility Association in Europe (Union de la Noblesse Russe)
• Official site of the Principal Russian Nobility Association
• The Russian Nobility Association in America
• Official site of the Imperial House of Russia

• Blum, Jerome.Lord and Peasant in Russia from the Ninth to the Nineteenth Century. Princeton University Press, 1951.
• Jenkins, Michael. "The Golden Years of the Russian Aristocracy"History Today (Feb1970), Vol. 20 Issue 2, pp. 79–85 online, 1900–1917.
• Smith, Douglas (2012).Former People: the Last Days of the Russian Aristocracy. London: Macmillan.ISBN 9780374157616.

• Russian nobility
• Society of the Russian Empire

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