Стосунки пана і слуги "рукодайного" в контексті уявлень про вірність і зраду (Волинь та Наддніпрянщина в кінці XVI - першій половині XVII ст.)

Abstract

The author studies phenomenon of fidelity and treason as important component of the relations between lord and servant on the base of legal norms and everyday practices. From the first glance, these relations had the character of treaty, due to the stable ritual of establishing and breaking of these relations. However, in reality servant was giving himself into his lord’s power. This occurred due to several circumstances: the lack of clearly determined duties of servant and corresponding salary for these duties, because these relations were based not on the principles of sale but on the principles of gift, where the social pre-payment from lord’s side (i.e. the incorporation into gentry community of proper region) was to be paid by different services from servant's side, therefore the final account of lord’s «mercy» and servant’s «fidelity» was impossible; life of servant under his lord’s jurisdiction; approach to servant as his lord’s symbolic capital, that should insult lord’s honor in the case of breaking relations on servant’s initiative. Such a high degree of personal incorporation of contragents into relations and everyday practices caused the fact, that every action of servant that did not correspond to his lord views on good behavior was treated as breaking the loyalty, as treason. The article also examines different everyday practices that corrected the relations between lord and servant essentially, creating the conditions for the relative emancipation of servant from his lord’s power.