| Titre | À propos de la notion de service dans la noblesse russe aux XVIIIe et XIXe siècles | |
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| Auteur | Michaël Confino | |
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Revue |
Cahiers du monde russe Titre à cette date : Cahiers du monde russe et soviétique |
| Numéro | volume 34, no 1-2, janvier-juin 1993 Noblesse, État et société en Russie XVIe - début du XIXe siècle | |
| Rubrique / Thématique | I |
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| Page | 47-58 | |
| Résumé anglais |
Michael Confino, The Russian nobility - service, blue blood, and honor: a reexatnination and a comparison.
The article attempts a re-examination of a current interpretation of the Russian nobility as "a service nobility", whose status ans prestige stemmed from the chin, and not from lineage, hereditary title, and honor. However, the attitude of the nobility indicates clearly that it attributed a foremost importance, not only to state service, but also to right of inheritance (of the title and of the landed estate), ancient origins, family distinction, and honor. The legislation and charters to the nobility, from Peter the Great to Catherine II, confirm explicitly these nobiliary norms and attitudes, and confer upon them the sanction of law and the approval of the sovereigns.
Was the notion of service much stronger in the ethos of the Russian nobility than in the West ? A comparison with several European nobilities tends to indicate two main features. First, service was a central notion in the Western nobilities, and closely linked to that of honor. Second, without belittling the influence of the "blue blood" myth, many families, even of most ancient aristocracy, had received their titles from the sovereign, who kept for himself (or herself) - in the West, too - the prerogative of being the sole "fountain of honors". As in Russia, the practice of anoblissement was widespread in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and apparently even more than in the past.
It appears, therefore, that in this respect the Russian nobility was quite similar to the other European nobilities, and did not represent in any meaningful way a case sui generis. Source : Éditeur (via Persée) |
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| Article en ligne | http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/cmr_0008-0160_1993_num_34_1_2333 |
