Introduction
Much has been written about Europe’s political past, however a reader would be surprised to note that there is little literature coverage of women’s political roles during the period. This situation can be attributed to the cultures of this period.
During this time, women were used to being ignored in political roles. Women never held any office, sat in political meetings, nor served as judges. They were reduced to serving as sextons, house cleaners, and churchwardens.
By the start of the early modern Europe, estimated to be early 1500s, Russia was remarkably diverse with respect to its communal and cultural patterns. However, it was not until the 18th century that the country experienced heady models of gender relations.
Notably, the country did not enjoy the economic prosperity enjoyed by other neighbouring countries like Poland during the early modern times. As such, gender politics in early modern Russia were less diverse compared with that of Poland (Clements 2012, P.12).
In the 16th and 17th centuries, gender relations in Russia were influenced by the communal and financial strategies of the Muscovite state. This paper focuses on gender politics in early modern Russia.
Early 16th century
Muscovite politics dominated much of the early modern Russia. During this time, honour and leadership was centred on male authority. Men who protected the chastity and reputations of their women were honoured in the society.
The most powerful politicians in this regime were referred to as boyars (Kollmann 1987, p.1). A number of these politicians constituted a council of advisors. They were supposed to administer justice, led military campaigns, represented the state in foreign matters, and advised Tsar.
These positions were filled with men from different clans. It should be noted that during the start 16th century women were exempted from political positions. Even the privileged and royal women did not enjoy political opportunities as the Polish women did.
Despite this, some historians such as Isolde Thyrêt assert that 16th century Russian women were an important facet of Muscovite politics. Thyrêt substantiates her claims using the stories about Tsar Aleksei Mikhailovich, his wife, and sisters.
Through this, she illustrates that women were required to pray for the leaders, give advice to the leaders, and act as their leaders’ mediators.
Although the Old Belief and the Church were quiet about the political roles played by women in the early modern Russia, there were female leaders who became very influential and achieved a lot compared to their male counterparts from 17th century onwards.
How influential were the women in the 17th century Russia?
In the 17th century, influential women in Muscovite emerged. These women included Boyarina Feodosii Morozova, Elena Khrushchev, Evpraksiia Nashchokin, and Evdokiia Petrovna Naryshki. Both females and males valued these women.
A majority of them had thousands of male servants who respected and obeyed them. It is alleged that male leaders respected them because of their influence on the convents. These women did not only come from the Muscovite boyar clans, but also from varied social classes.
According to these historians, the most influential female leader in Muscovite history was Morozova. This woman is renowned because she was the only woman in the 17th century who became the subject of an old believer referred to as Vita (Michels 1995, p. 431).
Morozova used to communicate with another leader known as Avvakum through letters. In the letters, the woman appears to be larger than life saint with great religious conviction. These letters indicate that Morozova used to live in a palace in Moscow.
In the year 1662, when her husband died, the woman inherited one of the largest properties in the state. Through this property, she received control over a large territory with thousands of servants.
Unlike other widows who were defeated to manage their husbands’ properties, Morozova managed her property with exceptional leadership skills.
For instance, she ordered the parish priest to apprehend parishioners failing to attend church services. Those who went against her directives, were held, questioned, and disciplined.
In years to come, she maintained her power over her husband’s vast lands despite some efforts by a few individuals who tried to strip her of the property. Between the years 1666 and 1667, a number of church officials who had been exiled by other believers found refuge in the woman’s palace.
In the palace, the woman informed the refugees that she was their sole leader and one word from her could destroy their lives.
After the death of Morozova’s son, her life took a dramatic change. She gave up on earthly things and dedicated her life to the church. She later prayed and fasted for the rest of her life.
Another influential female leader in the history of the Russian Old Belief was Elena Khrushchev. The woman belonged to unpopular boyar clan. Despites the clan’s unpopularity in politics, the men from the clan were renowned for their cruelty towards their women.
Khrushchev managed to be a nun after divorcing her clan. Thereafter, she became one of the most dreaded and respected woman in the early modern Russia. The woman was very determined and had desired leadership skills.
Under the reign of Patriarch Nikon, the woman was chosen as a manager of rituals in Vosnesenskii monastery. By mid 1660, the woman had become very powerful. During the year 1664, she planned the removal of Nikon from the throne.
In the subsequent years, the woman got into more troubles. Soon after becoming Nikon’s enemy, she got into a disagreement with the abbess of her convent. Khrushchev argued that the abbess was illiterate and that he was not fit for being a leader.
Later, the abbess proved her wrong when she provided evidence before tsar that he was literate. Because of her ill motives, Khrushchev was later fired and her position replaced by a male official. After losing her position, the woman was forced into exile in Kaluga.
Other religious women leaders who became very popular and influential in the early modern Russia include Evpraksiia Nashchokin and Evdokiia Petrovna Naryshki.
As a substitute of admitting isolation, the above women decided to venture into the male dominated fields and became important personalities.
Without a doubt, most of them were so influential that whole convents and their servants abided by their religious teachings. As indicated above, others saved some religious rebels from being persecuted by hosting them as refugees.
These women have inspired several feminists across Europe. Their power and influence continues to amaze historians because they triumphed in an male dominated era.
In the late 17th century, Muscovites economic, social, and political policies began to change. These changes were attributed to the rise of Italian Renaissance virtues (Meade & Wiesner 2004, p.368). The learned clerics from Kiev and Polotsk campaign for these virtues.
When Peter the Great took power over muscovite in the year 1682, these changes were stepped up. He formed an orderly state that contained military and police forces.
Similarly, he adopted European philosophies and cultures with the aim of transforming the Muscovites into civilized citizens. Peter the Great believed that self-conscious and civilized population was resourceful to the state.
Through this bid to transform the state, he forced all the citizens to dress, learn, and behave like the Europeans. Historians assert that his motives were politically inclined. Through his initiatives, the European Enlightenment influenced Muscovites.
In the 1790s, these transformations had led to a number of educated women. More women began to question their role in the leadership of their state. This led to the rise of Russia’s first feminist (Stites 2000, p.16).
Despite the Russians interest in the European Enlightenment, they lagged behind other European countries. However, it should be noted that the enlightened women and other feminists took keen interests at what was happening across Europe.
18th century
One of the major female leaders of the 18th century was Catherine the Great. She was the wife of Peter the Great. Catherine is renowned because of her audacious acts. In the year 1762, the woman together with her secret lover organized a successful coup to remove her husband from the throne.
After her husband was captured, he was murdered. Later the military and the church declared the woman as autocrat of all the Russians and become an empress. The woman triumphed in her leadership because she was a far more able politician compared to her husband.
As such, the woman was determined, intelligent, and realistic. She dedicated the rest of her life leading Russia. It is alleged that Catharine success as a female leader was attributed to her earlier role of merging European ideas about queens with Russians cultures.
In the eyes of the common Russians, she presented herself as a classy affiliate of cosmopolitan Europe royalty. She often urged her distracters to embrace enlightenment.
During her reign, Catherine introduced an education system for Russian girls. Apart from building more girls’ schools, she funded the establishment of more tertiary institutions across Russia. Equally, through her influence she allowed more women to participate in legal transactions.
Unlike before, women could attend court sessions and signed their own names in sales contracts. Some women could even sue their husbands.
The above illustrations indicate that the history of gender politics in early modern Russia is rich. Therefore, historians should do more researches to identify more of the female leaders whose records were lost.
We cannot rely on the church to uncover the history of the early modern church because they were part of the oppressive regime.
Conclusion
It should be noted that gender politics in Russia have evolved for centuries. Muscovy politics dominated much of the early modern Russia. During this time, honour and leadership were centred on male authority.
Men who protected the chastity and reputations of their women were honoured in this society. During the start of 16th century, women were exempted from political positions. Even the privileged and royal women did not enjoy political opportunities as the Polish women did.
Although the Old Belief and the Church were quiet about the political roles played by women in the 17th century, there were female leaders who became very influential and achieved a lot compared to their male counterparts.
These women did not only come from the Muscovite boyar clans, but also from varied social classes.
These women included Morozova, Khrushchev, Nashchokin, and Naryshki. Morozova is renowned because she was the only woman in the 17th century who became the subject of an old believer referred to as Vita.
She maintained her power over her husband’s vast lands despite some efforts by a few individuals who tried to strip her of the property. Similarly, some female leaders like Khrushchev were also very influential and had thousands of followers even after being exiled from Moscow.
One of the major female leaders of the 18th century was Catherine the Great. She was the wife of Peter the great. Catherine is renowned because of her audacious acts. In the year 1762, the woman together with her secret lover organized a successful coup to remove her husband from the throne.
Instead of admitting isolation, the above women decided to venture into the male dominated fields and became important personalities. Without a doubt, most of them were so commanding that whole convents and their servants abided by their religious teachings.
As indicated above, others saved some religious rebels from being persecuted by hosting them as refugees. Considered that the history of gender politics in early modern Russia is rich, historians should do more researches to identify more of the female leaders whose records were lost.
References
Clements, B, E 2012. A history of women in Russia: from earliest times to the present..: Indiana Univ. Press, Bloomington, Ind.
Kollmann, N 1987, Kinship and politics: the making of the Muscovite political system, 1345-1547, Stanford University Press, Stanford, Calif.
Meade, T. A., & Wiesner, M 2004, ‘Self, Society and Gender in Early Modern Russia and Eastern Europe’ A companion to gender history , Blackwell Pub, Malden, MA, pp. 358-370.
Michels, Georg,1995, ‘Muscovite Elite Women and Old Belief’, Harvard Ukrainian Studies, 19, pp. 428–450.
Stites, R 2000, The women’s liberation movement in Russia: feminism, nihilism, and bolshevism, 1860-1930, Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J