Development of the Upper Don region in the first half of the 17th century: rural settlements of Yelets and Voronezh counties in 1615 and 1646

Importance. The development processes of the Upper Don region in the first half of the 17th century are considered. Despite the adjacent location of the territories under consideration, the processes taking place in them were not homogeneous. This fact testified to the differences in the approaches to conducting the census among the scribes. The influence of the military factor plays a major role in this issue. The increase in the number of odnodvorets was a consequence of the impossibility of creating a peasant farm in conditions of constant threat from the Tatars. The purpose of the research is to study the dynamics of rural settlement development, as well as the sociodemographic structure of Yelets and Voronezh counties based on the materials of the watch and census books of 1615 and 1646, respectively.

Research Methods. The main results of the study are obtained using statistical and comparative historical methods.

Results and Discussion. The positive and negative features common to Yelets and Voronezh counties are considered. The connection of foreign policy factors with the slowdown in the development of the territories under consideration has been established. The general trends typical for each region are revealed. One of the main differences was the fixation of different categories of residents in the counties. In the sources of the Yelets district, great importance was attached to the recording of minor children and minors. In Voronezh, there are peasant and bobylsky populations. There was also a greater variety of names of settlements. The main area of concentration of rural settlements is considered. The local groups created at the stage of colonization had not undergone drastic changes relative to their borders by the middle of the 17th century. The processes of founding new settlements accompanied the entire period under review, which, however, did not affect the expansion of the area of settlement of residents of the southern counties. In this regard, it is concluded that it is more profitable to live in those territories that were originally chosen by the first landlords.

Conclusion. The main result of the study is that a pattern has been established between the specificity of living conditions for a medieval person and the social composition of the southern regions of the Russian state in the first half of the 17th century.