In the history of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...

, and

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...

, arendator (literally "

lease A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial ...

holder") (, ) was a person who leased fixed assets, such as land, mills, inns,

breweries A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of beer ...

, or distilleries, or of special rights, such as the right to collect

customs duties A tariff is a tax imposed by the government of a country or by a supranational union on imports or exports of goods. Besides being a source of revenue for the government, import duties can also be a form of regulation of foreign trade and p ...

, etc. Individuals trusted by state officials were often given such rights to collect

rent Rent may refer to: Economics *Renting, an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property *Economic rent, any payment in excess of the cost of production *Rent-seeking, attempting to increase one's share of e ...

revenue In accounting, revenue is the total amount of income generated by the sale of goods and services related to the primary operations of the business. Commercial revenue may also be referred to as sales or as turnover. Some companies receive rev ...

and were allowed to keep a portion of the money in exchange for this service, sometimes as a reward for other services to the state. The practice is called "rent/revenue

farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is use ...

ing". The 1913 Webster's dictionary gives the following definition:"Arendator"
Webster, 1913

, , Ar`en*da"tor (?), n. L. arendator, arrendator, fr. arendare, arrendare, to pay rent, fr. arenda yearly rent; ad + renda, F. rente, E. rent. Cf. Arrentation and Rent.In some provinces of Russia, one who farms the rents or revenues.

Many estates of

absentee landlord In economics, an absentee landlord is a person who owns and rents out a profit-earning property, but does not live within the property's local economic region. The term "absentee ownership" was popularised by economist Thorstein Veblen's 1923 book ...

s in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth during the 16–18th centuries were managed by arendators. A significant part of them were

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

, which was an economic reason of

antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

. This extremely lucrative fiscal practice was also common in tax collecting in medieval Spain and France. There were frequently problems with corruption. The practice continued in the Russian Empire until the late 19th century.

References

{{Reflist Obsolete occupations Economic history of Poland Economic history of Ukraine Economic history of Russia Economic history of Spain Economic history of France