Originally Russian entrepreneurs: how merchants lived, worked and grew rich
Posted: Wed Jan 29, 2025 6:24 am
Trade has always existed in Rus', but only by the beginning of the 18th century, when the merchant class was formed, did it acquire professional features. In pre-Petrine times, rich businessmen who conducted overseas trade were called guests. And this is not without reason: the first large traders really did come to Rus' to visit and brought with them what we did not have. Then local bigwigs began to be called guests, and everyone else was called trading men, or zakups.
Who were the predecessors of today's major entrepreneurs: where did they start, what did they trade, and how did they manage their businesses? Megaplan continues to explore the history of Russian entrepreneurship. We have already told you what the Ural merchants were famous for and how they did not always trade fairly , and also about the first entrepreneurs in skirts and those who stayed in business even after the revolution.
This article will also be useful for those who want to learn more about tunisia whatsapp list the life of early Russian entrepreneurs from the inside, to immerse themselves in everyday life and everyday affairs. We dedicated it to the Russian Entrepreneurship Day, which is celebrated on May 26, and decided to use illustrations to imagine what a merchant would be like today - in the era of gadgets, large shopping malls and a life of show.
How merchants appeared
Before Peter I, trade was carried out by the so-called living hundred - the highest class of Russian guests, mainly noble and wealthy landowners who received trade certificates from the Tsar. The word "merchant" appeared under Peter the Great: he ordered everyone who was engaged in trade to join merchant guilds.
Merchants who officially joined the guilds, which were essentially merchant unions, as well as members of their families, were exempted from many duties, were not subject to corporal punishment, and could receive ranks and awards. Thus, a merchant class with special habits and way of life began to form.
Later, the Russian merchant class began to be replenished with peasants and townspeople. Incidentally, it was considered good form to emphasize one's working roots: when indicating class affiliation during revisions, many continued to stubbornly write "such and such, peasant, merchant of the 2nd guild." At the same time, it was necessary to address members of the guilds exclusively as "Your Grace."
What and where did they trade?
In Rus', foreign weapons and expensive jewelry, spices and rare types of wood were valued. And Russian furs were exported: sable, marten, silver fox, and at high prices. One silver fox in the 17th century cost 8 rubles - as much as four work horses, because its fur shone even in the dark. All European nobility wore Russian fur coats.
Merchants traded in everything that the endless forests and fields provided: grain, honey, and hemp – wild hemp for the production of ropes and fabric. Foreigners eagerly bought ship pines, oaks, and aspens – already in the Middle Ages, there was a shortage of wood in Europe. In addition, Russian trade flourished thanks to mediation between the West and the East: the Great Silk Road and the route from the Varangians to the Greeks passed through Russian lands.
What and where did merchants trade?
The first large market was organized at the end of the 14th - beginning of the 16th century on the Mologa River in Kholopye Gorodok, now these places are flooded by the Rybinsk Reservoir. Germans, Poles, Greeks, Armenians, Persians, Italians, and Turks came to the place where the Mologa flows into the Volga. There were so many ships that they dammed the entire Volga - 500-600 meters wide, you could cross from bank to bank along them. On the banks there were tents where traders from all over the world exchanged goods and brought home things that had never been seen in their area.
Who were the predecessors of today's major entrepreneurs: where did they start, what did they trade, and how did they manage their businesses? Megaplan continues to explore the history of Russian entrepreneurship. We have already told you what the Ural merchants were famous for and how they did not always trade fairly , and also about the first entrepreneurs in skirts and those who stayed in business even after the revolution.
This article will also be useful for those who want to learn more about tunisia whatsapp list the life of early Russian entrepreneurs from the inside, to immerse themselves in everyday life and everyday affairs. We dedicated it to the Russian Entrepreneurship Day, which is celebrated on May 26, and decided to use illustrations to imagine what a merchant would be like today - in the era of gadgets, large shopping malls and a life of show.
How merchants appeared
Before Peter I, trade was carried out by the so-called living hundred - the highest class of Russian guests, mainly noble and wealthy landowners who received trade certificates from the Tsar. The word "merchant" appeared under Peter the Great: he ordered everyone who was engaged in trade to join merchant guilds.
Merchants who officially joined the guilds, which were essentially merchant unions, as well as members of their families, were exempted from many duties, were not subject to corporal punishment, and could receive ranks and awards. Thus, a merchant class with special habits and way of life began to form.
Later, the Russian merchant class began to be replenished with peasants and townspeople. Incidentally, it was considered good form to emphasize one's working roots: when indicating class affiliation during revisions, many continued to stubbornly write "such and such, peasant, merchant of the 2nd guild." At the same time, it was necessary to address members of the guilds exclusively as "Your Grace."
What and where did they trade?
In Rus', foreign weapons and expensive jewelry, spices and rare types of wood were valued. And Russian furs were exported: sable, marten, silver fox, and at high prices. One silver fox in the 17th century cost 8 rubles - as much as four work horses, because its fur shone even in the dark. All European nobility wore Russian fur coats.
Merchants traded in everything that the endless forests and fields provided: grain, honey, and hemp – wild hemp for the production of ropes and fabric. Foreigners eagerly bought ship pines, oaks, and aspens – already in the Middle Ages, there was a shortage of wood in Europe. In addition, Russian trade flourished thanks to mediation between the West and the East: the Great Silk Road and the route from the Varangians to the Greeks passed through Russian lands.
What and where did merchants trade?
The first large market was organized at the end of the 14th - beginning of the 16th century on the Mologa River in Kholopye Gorodok, now these places are flooded by the Rybinsk Reservoir. Germans, Poles, Greeks, Armenians, Persians, Italians, and Turks came to the place where the Mologa flows into the Volga. There were so many ships that they dammed the entire Volga - 500-600 meters wide, you could cross from bank to bank along them. On the banks there were tents where traders from all over the world exchanged goods and brought home things that had never been seen in their area.