The evolution of the mentality of the military estates in the era of late feudalism

The subject of the study is the moral and psychological readiness of the Western European and Russian nobility for war and military service. The Western European military estate is regarded as the successor of medieval chivalry, which inherited its high moral and combat values. In the XVI – XVIII centuries, faced with the threat of ruin, it was forced to link its fate more closely with the army. Relying on the testimonies of contemporaries, the author argues that military service and war gradually became the main sources of a decent existence, while peaceful conditions brought the nobility need and stagnation. The economic situation in Eastern Europe was different. The local serf economy provided the Russian nobleman with modest but stable prosperity. Conversely, military service distracted the landowner from farming and undermined his well-being.  Relying on the comparative – analytical method, the author provides a comparison of the mentality of the domestic and Western European military estates. Chronologically, the article covers the period of late feudalism. The scientific novelty lies in the identification of general and special moral and psychological qualities in the portrait of the military estates, as well as in their differentiation in relation to the main type of activity, to war and military affairs. The moral and combat qualities of military estates are studied in the process of evolution under the influence of cultural and civilizational factors of the epoch. The author concludes that military service and war were the main sources of existence of the Western European nobility, while peaceful conditions brought him only need and stagnation. Cultural and civilizational specifics determined the disposition of the Western European nobility to war and military service, formed in it the corresponding moral and combat qualities.The Moscow military estate was burdened by the service and perceived it as a heavy burden. Peter the Great made an attempt to inspire "serving people" with Western European moral and martial values, which only partially displaced traditional views and ideas. The moral antipathy to military service developed over the centuries, as well as the rejection of war, became the main mental feature that distinguished the Russian military estate from the natural militancy of the Western European nobility.

Military estates, service people, European nobility, mentality, moral qualities, courage, glory, duty, chivalric code, Orthodox values