Plaidoyer pour la noblesse moscovite [À propos des affaires d'honneur au XVIIe siècle]

In: Cahiers du monde russe et soviétique, Band 34, Heft 1, S. 119-138

Abstract

André Berelowitch, Plea for the Muscovite nobility. In respect of affairs of honor in the seventeenth century.
On basis of lawsuits for insults and the substantial damages they could yield, Muscovite nobles are often accused of being devoid of the sense of honor. Sources nearer to every-day life (informal letters for instance) show that in reality Muscovite honor is that of a "shame society" with its anthropological meaning. A careful examination of complaints for insults or precedence quarrels of Court nobility demonstrates, on the other hand, that these affairs follow a near-universal pattern: challenge, counter-challenge and redress. Physical punishments, and putting one's life in somebody's hand (vydacha golovoi) could be relics of a real or symbolic fight with the objective of defending one's honor in days of old.