In the history of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

, and

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

, 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, mines, 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 be ...

, or

distilleries Distillation, also classical distillation, is the process of separating the component substances of a liquid mixture of two or more chemically discrete substances; the separation process is realized by way of the selective boiling of the mixt ...

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

customs duties A tariff or import tax is a duty (tax), duty imposed by a national Government, government, customs territory, or supranational union on imports of goods and is paid by the importer. Exceptionally, an export tax may be levied on exports of goods ...

, taxes, or the right to

mint Mint or The Mint may refer to: Plants * Lamiaceae, the mint family ** ''Mentha'', the genus of plants commonly known as "mint" Coins and collectibles * Mint (facility), a facility for manufacturing coins * Mint condition, a state of like-new ...

money, for example. Individuals trusted by state officials were often given such rights to collect rent or

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

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 used fo ...

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

, , 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 b ...

s in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth during the 16–18th centuries were managed by arendators, many of whom were

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

. This led to significant resentment and antisemitic violence during the

Khmelnytsky Uprising The Khmelnytsky Uprising, also known as the Cossack–Polish War, Khmelnytsky insurrection, or the National Liberation War, was a Cossack uprisings, Cossack rebellion that took place between 1648 and 1657 in the eastern territories of the Poli ...

(1648-1657). 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

External links

THE ARENDA SYSTEM (A Boon or Bane For Jews)
kehilalinks.jewishgen.org
Leaseholding
YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe (yivoencyclopedia.org) Obsolete occupations Economic history of Poland Economic history of Ukraine Economic history of Russia Economic history of Spain Economic history of France

See also

References

External links