Votchina is a form of ancient Russian land ownership that appeared in the 10th century on the territory of Kievan Rus. Just at that time, the first feudal lords appeared, who owned large areas of land. The original estate owners were boyars and princes, that is, large landowners. From the 10th century until the 12th century, the votchina was the main form of land ownership.
The term itself comes from the old Russian word "fatherland", that is, what passed to the son from the father. It could also be property received from a grandfather or great-grandfather. Princes or boyars received patrimony by inheritance from their fathers. There were three ways of acquiring land: redemption, gift for service, and ancestral inheritance. We althy landowners controlled several estates at the same time, they increased their property by buying out or exchanging lands, seizing communal peasant lands.
Fiefdom is the property of a particular person, he could exchange, sell, rent or divide the land, but only with the consentrelatives. In the event that one of the family members opposed such a transaction, the votchinnik could not exchange or sell his allotment. For this reason, patrimonial land tenure cannot be called unconditional property. Large land plots were owned not only by boyars and princes, but also by the higher clergy, large monasteries, and members of squads. After the creation of church-patrimonial land tenure, a church hierarchy appeared, that is, bishops, metropolitans, etc.
Votchina - these are buildings, arable land, forests, meadows, animals, inventory, as well as peasants living on the territory of the estate. At that time, the peasants were not serfs, they could freely move from the lands of one patrimony to the territory of another. But still, the landowners had certain privileges, especially in the sphere of legal proceedings. They formed the administrative and economic apparatus for organizing the daily life of the peasants. Land owners had the right to collect taxes, had judicial and administrative power over the people living on their territory.
In the 15th century, such a thing as an estate appeared. The term implies a large fief donated by the state to military or civil servants. If the estate is private property, and no one had the right to take it away, then the estate was confiscated from the owner upon termination of service or because it had a unkempt appearance. Most of the estates were occupied by lands cultivated by serfs.
At the end of the 16th century, a law was passed, according toto whom the estate could be inherited, but on the condition that the heir would continue to serve the state. It was forbidden to make any manipulations with the donated lands, but the landowners, like the estate owners, had the right to the peasants, from whom they levied taxes.
In the XVIII century, the estate and the estate were equalized. Thus, a new type of property was created - the estate. In conclusion, it is worth noting that the estate is an earlier form of ownership than the estate. They both imply the ownership of land and peasants, but the estate was considered personal property with the right to pledge, exchange, sale, and the estate - state property with a ban on any manipulation. Both forms ceased to exist in the 18th century.
