Burgomasters as Representatives of the Merchant Elite of a Russian Provincial Town in the 18th Century (Based on the Materials of Vyazma)

Abstract

The article explores the life of a Russian provincial town of the 18th century on the basis of anthropological and systemic approaches. In particular, an attempt is made to find out who were the people elected by the inhabitants of Russian cities from their community to the position of burgomasters. Based on the analysis of doc- uments of the 17th and 18th centuries that are stored mainly in the funds of the Rus- sian State Archive of Ancient Acts, the origin of the Vyazma burgomasters has been clarified and the entrepreneurial activity of their ancestors and themselves has been investigated. The focus was on the problem of upholding the interests of the town citizens by the burgomasters in various conflict situations. The work considers the relations of burgomasters with the township society in general and with individual merchants in particular. A certain place is occupied by the study of the burgomasters’ personal qualities, which could affect the performance of their duties. The article has investigated accusations of their abuse by the town citizens. Our special attention is paid to the study of the conflict of the burgomaster F.T. Yudichev with residents of Vyazma. We have studied the issue of the participation of burgomasters and their close relatives in the construction of Vyazma temples, which makes it possible to identify this type of charitable activity as a way to increase the authority of these merchants among the urban community.