LADYGIN D.YU. “Servant City” as a Professional Reserve for Conducting Military and Administrative Activities During the Defense of Smolensk in 1609–1611

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.15688/jvolsu4.2026.1.17

Dmitry Yu. Ladygin,

Postgraduate Student, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Sojuza Pechatnikov St, 16, 190121 Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation,

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https://orcid.org/0009-0008-4879-597X

Abstract. Introduction. The events of the defense of Smolensk in the early 17th century make it possible to trace the role of the “servant city” in solving administrative and military tasks at the local level and to show what orders the military men received from the commanders during the siege. This is unique information about the administrative practices of the city voivodes of the Muscovite state in the 17th century. Materials and methods. The study is based on documents from the Smolensk Archive, most of which relate to the period of the city’s defense in 1609–1611. The military and administrative appointments of servicemen can be traced through administrative documents, primarily through voivode orders, reports, and, less frequently, through various lists. Analysis. The article examines the role of people who served in the fatherland in the implementation of local government measures to organize the defense of Smolensk in 1609–1611. It reconstructs a list of individuals from this group whom the Smolensk voivodes entrusted with carrying out their orders alongside prikaz clerks. It is shown that both noble lineage and previous “service” were taken into account in appointments. A selection system (“personnel policy”) of the voivodes has been identified, such that servicemen who performed poorly in organizing border outposts in 1609 were not subsequently assigned to special official duties. Results. Service classes were involved not only in military operations but also in administrative activities. Their particular role in food distribution is noted. The “servant city” was a kind of “personnel reserve” for the defense; voivodes actively recruited “appointees” from among the service people who did not hold formal commissioned posts. For example, “overseers” belonging to the city’s elite were responsible for maintaining order. This practice was made possible by the fact that the voivodes held both military and administrative authority in Smolensk. Certain nobles who had previously served the impostors were “pardoned” and enlisted to help organize the defense, as they had professional and familial ties to the “servant city.”

Key words: Time of Troubles, defense of Smolensk 1609–1611, local administration of the Muscovite state, servant city, prikaz clerks.

Citation. Ladygin D.Yu. “Servant City” as a Professional Reserve for Conducting Military and Administrative Activities During the Defense of Smolensk in 1609–1611. Vestnik Volgogradskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya 4. Istoriya. Regionovedenie. Mezhdunarodnye otnosheniya [Science Journal of Volgograd State University. History. Area Studies. International Relations], 2026, vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 203-212. (in Russian). DOI: https://doi.org/10.15688/jvolsu4.2026.1.17

This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) 

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