Chapter 32: Patterns of Life

1
Chapter 32 Patterns of Life

• Section 3

2
Terms

• Icon - religious painting of Jesus, Mary, or a
  saint.
• Mir village commune, usually regulated village
  life by a council of men.

3
Russian Society

• Extreme separation of rich and poor caused
  discontent
• Russian nobles called boyars during the 1700s
  preferred to speak French rather than Russian.
• They adopted French culture but did not
  experience revolution like the French.
• Most of society consisted of serfs, their was
  little change or progression due to the
  autocratic rule of the czars

4
Serfs and Nobles

• Serfs were bound to land and were punished if
  they tried to escaped.
• Crop yields were small because there was no
  incentive to work the land for themselves

• Nobles lived in lavish comfort with about 100
  servants.
• Men served the food whereas women prepared the
  food.
• Nobles maintained discipline over their serfs by
  beating and flogging them.

5
The Russian Orthodox Church

• The Church was controlled by the Czar through
  appointment of officials and pay.
• The Church reported confessions and crimes told
  by people in confession.
• Priests gave comfort to peasants because their
  hard work on Earth would be rewarded in heaven.
• Festivals and religious holidays provided
  entertainment. Trinity week marked the beginning
  of Spring, St. Peters Day marked the start of
  the harvest.

6
Peasant Life

• Most peasants never traveled a few miles from
  home.
• Life revolved around the mir which regulated
  village life.
• Men were the head of households and controlled
  the rules of the mir.
• Peasants lived on sharecropping which had been
  the way of Western Europe centuries earlier.
• Young men who were drafted for the army had to
  serve for 25 years. Families mourned their sons
  when they were drafted because they knew he would
  either die or come home an older man.
• Newly weds lived in the husbands parents house.
• Most homes consisted of a wooden shack with one
  large room and one room for storage. The older
  family member slept closest to the warm stove.
• Most peasant ate bread and vegetable. Protein
  was rare.