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The Flight of Latvian Peasants in the 18th Century

Sometimes, in soul revisions (censuses of the serf population), you may come across notes stating that a peasant had fled or that someone was captured and brought back. Why did they flee, and where did they go? Who was responsible for capturing runaway peasants, and how was it done?


Peasant escaping
Created by DALL-E

In one of the soul revisions for Smiltene Manor, I came across this note about a 24-year-old named Pēteris: “his parents had once fled from Count von Brown’s Sigulda estate, were reclaimed from the Vircava Manor in Courland, and were relocated here in 1790.”


I sought more information on why peasants fled and found a comprehensive read in Manfred von Bötticher's article “The Duchy of Courland as Destination of Fleeing Peasants from Livonia. On the Flight of Serfs during the 18th Century”. The article is available in German here.


The article primarily discusses the flight of peasants from Vidzeme in the 18th century. Following the Great Northern War (1700–1721), Vidzeme came under the Russian Empire’s rule, and it was during the 18th century that serfdom became particularly harsh. Peasants were entirely subject to the landlords, with no right to change their place of residence.


After the Great Northern War, Vidzeme was devastated, and the subsequent plague had killed many people, leaving the survivors to work under extremely harsh conditions. The economy remained archaically feudal, relying on unpaid labor (corvée) rather than paid work. By the end of the century, a new type of tax—the poll tax—was also introduced, which every registered male taxpayer had to pay.


At that time, Courland was still a duchy under Polish rule. Although serfdom was also present there, life seemed freer, and opportunities for a better life appeared greater. The language on both sides of the Daugava River was the same, and crossing the river posed no problem.


Courland’s landowners gladly accepted fugitives, giving them work since labor was scarce. They were also interested in hiding fugitives rather than handing them over. The article describes an instance where, upon the arrival of bounty hunters, a local landlord secretly sent a messenger to warn the fugitives so they could hide in the forest. At other times, Courland landlords transferred fugitives to their estates in Lithuania or Poland, where they were even harder to find.


In Courland, fugitives also worked as farm-hands on farms, but some managed to become farm managers (farms were still owned by landlords). There are even a few cases mentioned where fugitives succeeded in living like a free men—one became an innkeeper, and another a miller. Many married local women and had children.


However, the situation was precarious, as landlords retained the right to reclaim their runaway serfs for up to 100 years, although the process was far from simple. In court, it was necessary to prove that the person was indeed the runaway peasant, requiring witnesses. Vidzeme residents who came to Courland to search for and verify information about fugitives could be arrested for espionage.


Strict prohibitions and even promises of pardon upon return did not help. Finally, in 1762, the Governor-General of Vidzeme, George (or Georg) von Braun, appealed to the government in St. Petersburg for help, stating that several thousand peasants had already fled.


A Russian representative, with the Duke of Courland’s permission, arrived with a small military unit to capture those who could not present a passport. The number of fugitives in Zemgale was reportedly so large that the small unit could not arrest them all. Eventually, an agreement was reached between the Russian Empire and the Duchy of Courland: within two months, Courland landlords had to return the fugitives, or they would face a fine of 200 thalers.


The Vidzeme landlords appointed a special commissioner, Samuel Simon Schmuel, whose task was to find Vidzeme fugitives. He was protected by a special “protection letter,” and Schmuel was paid three, and later even five, thalers for each fugitive he identified. Naturally, things didn’t go smoothly. Courlanders contested the extradition demands, especially the 200-thaler fine, in various ways. The struggle largely ended when the Duchy of Courland was incorporated into Russia in 1795.


Returning to the aforementioned peasant, Pēteris, it seems he was unlucky to be a serf belonging to Governor-General Braun himself, and special efforts were likely made to return Braun's runaways. It is unknown how many years the family spent in Courland. It’s possible that Pēteris was born in Courland and only came to Vidzeme as an adult.

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