Forbidden Years () were part of a tightening of the service obligations of serfs in Russia leading to full-scale serfdom in the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries. They were first instituted by Tsar Ivan IV (r. 1533–1584) in 1581 as a temporary measure, but eventually became permanent. Under the provisions of Article 57 of the Sudebnik of 1497 promulgated by Grand Prince

Ivan III Ivan III Vasilyevich (russian: Иван III Васильевич; 22 January 1440 – 27 October 1505), also known as Ivan the Great, was a Grand Prince of Moscow and Grand Prince of all Rus'. Ivan served as the co-ruler and regent for his bl ...

, serfs were permitted to transfer from one estate to another "once a year, during the week before and a week after St. George's Day in the autumn" (November 26, the Feast of the Dedication of the Church of St. George in Kiev) provided they had fulfilled all

corvée Corvée () is a form of unpaid, forced labour, that is intermittent in nature lasting for limited periods of time: typically for only a certain number of days' work each year. Statute labour is a corvée imposed by a state for the purposes of ...

(''barshchina'', барщина in Russian) and/or

quitrent Quit rent, quit-rent, or quitrent is a tax or land tax imposed on occupants of freehold or leased land in lieu of services to a higher landowning authority, usually a government or its assigns. Under feudal law, the payment of quit rent (Latin '' ...

(''obrok'', оброк in Russian) obligations and had paid a fee, the ''pozhiloe'' (пожилое), to the landlord they were leaving. In Ivan IV's Sudebnik of 1550, this right of transfer remained (Article 88), but the ''pozhiloe'' was increased and a tax (the transition fee or ''za povoz'' – за повоз) was added. Due to the hardships brought about by Ivan IV's

Livonian War The Livonian War (1558–1583) was the Russian invasion of Old Livonia, and the prolonged series of military conflicts that followed, in which Tsar Ivan the Terrible of Russia (Muscovy) unsuccessfully fought for control of the region (pr ...

(1558-1582), the excesses of the

Oprichnina The oprichnina (russian: опри́чнина, ) was a state policy implemented by Tsar Ivan the Terrible in Russia between 1565 and 1572. The policy included mass repression of the boyars (Russian aristocrats), including public executions and ...

(1565-1572), Tatar raids (such as the one on Moscow in 1571) and a series of crop failures and other natural disasters, the Tsar temporarily suspended this right of movement or transfer in an ukaz (decree) issued in 1581. See Chapter Eight of Ruslan Skrynikov's Boris Godunov: Zapovednye i urochnye rody Tsara Fedora Ioanovicha." (Moscow: Nauka, 1978). This move, in fact, proved permanent, as it was never lifted. His son's government made this limitation permanent in an ukas of September 1, 1597 (thought on November 24 of that year, it made the

statute of limitations A statute of limitations, known in civil law systems as a prescriptive period, is a law passed by a legislative body to set the maximum time after an event within which legal proceedings may be initiated. ("Time for commencing proceedings") In ...

(called " fixed years" – ''urochniye leta'', урочные лета) on the return of run-away serfs five years). The Ulozhenie of 1649 did away with this statute of limitations, and this is often seen as the final element of full-blown serfdom in Russia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forbidden Years * Serfdom