And the The Welcome to Russian History Retold, episode 157. Life on the Russian Country State Part 2.

Last time we covered how life estate, part two.

Well last time we covered how life was on a Russian country estate for the nobles in the

18th and 19th century.

Today we'll wrap things up primarily describing how life was for the serfs who served the nobles.

As we shall see today, there were good estateholders and bad ones.

Either way, life is a ser surf on a Russian country state was not an easy

one nor very pleasant. Even the best of the nobility, those who treated their surfs well, would have had their people turn on them in a

heartbeat if given the chance.

This was evidenced by the numerous rebellions that I mentioned in my series on the Great

Revolts. Sometimes the serfs would protect a benevolent

master, but many times they would turn on the whole family. Some nobles felt that this was

an excuse to abuse their serfs and to keep them fearful of retribution.

Sometimes this worked and sometimes it didn't.

Some nobles felt that it was important to educate their charges and some felt it better to keep them ignorant.

Many noblemen, as I mentioned last episode, felt that they had a strong obligation to take care

of their serfs, oftentimes viewing them as simple children who wouldn't be able to survive without their guidance.

This mindset was one of the reasons why abandoning serfdom was so difficult for the Russian nobility.

They just couldn't fathom how these poor folks could make it in the real world.

In her book on life on the country estate, Priscilla Roosevelt tells us about a P.I. Koshgorov, a wealthy man who had a firm grip over

his charges, but was considered rather benevolent.

His peasants were far better off than most, but he still treated them as though they were only property.

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