Patterns of Life 32-3

1. Patterns of Life32-3 By: T.J. Z

2. Lesson Questions • How was Russia society organized? • How did religion support the social system? • What Daily activities shaped peasant life?

3. Vocabulary • Icon- A religious painting of Jesus, Mary, or a saint • Mir (Meer)- A village commune • Serf- Peasants who worked for nobles and had almost no rights

4. Russian Society • In the late 1700’s, after the enlightenment in Europe and America, many Russians became European • Started talking French and dressing as the French did • Autocratic czars prevented any real reform from occurring • Nobles owned the land • Serfs worked for the Nobles • Nobles never changed their ways leaving the serfs desperately poor • Nobles spent winters in either Moscow or St. Petersburg • In the summer, they went back to their country estates so the serfs could work for them

5. The Russian Orthodox Church • Supported political and social order • Gov’t Appointed officials and financially supported them • Every peasants home had an icon • Peasants were the main followers of the church • They were baptized young, married by Church Law, and received blessings as they lay dying

6. Peasant Life • The Mir was the center of peasant life • If a boy was called to serve in the army, he would be gone 25 years • Families were patriarchal, extended families, the oldest man had the final word • Women were lower than men and could not inherit the land • Arranged marriages based on property • Lived in a small wooden house that had one large room an 1 or 2 storage rooms • They ate very abundant foods • In the 1800’s they added potatoes and tea to their diet