Illegitimate in Russia: How they were treated and whose surname they bore

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

If today women can give birth “for themselves”, then just a couple of centuries ago, being born as a result of a sinful relationship meant living a life full of misfortunes, barriers and humiliations. "Bastards" - this was the name for illegitimate children in Europe, while in Russia derivatives from the word "fornication" were widespread - bastard, geek, bastard. Now these words carry a pronounced negative connotation, and this is not without reason, this is how they treated children born out of wedlock. Let their guilt in the sins of their parents was not at all.

Pure in blood

Mixing blood would threaten the complete degeneration of the aristocracy as such. And even despite the fact that the representatives of the "blue bloods", having married the same aristocrat as themselves, did not at all refuse to have ties with commoners, this did not play any role, because bastards were not considered equal to children born in marriage. It was almost impossible to marry a commoner, misalliances were not allowed, and arranged marriages were the absolute norm.

In this situation, the mistresses of the masters were many, but their offspring were not taken seriously and were not placed on a par with the children from the legal wife. Almost like horses - thoroughbred was valued too highly. Among people, it happened by the same analogy, any humiliation of the bastards did not allow the boundaries to blur, separating the aristocrats from the commoners and raising the first.

There is another side to the medal, the concern was not only the purity of the blood, but also the financial issue. The bastard had no right to claim any part of his parents' property. A wealthy father could benefit from certain benefits, but this happened extremely rarely. More often than not, the illegitimate person faced the fate of the "superfluous" person. Sons most often went to serve in the army for several decades in order to somehow feed themselves. Girls often ended up in a monastery or went the other way, opposite to the monastery, becoming girls of easy virtue. They had very few chances to arrange their lives. Most often it was believed that these were state children, and therefore the state could use them in its own interests.

However, a woman could also give birth to a bastard, and she had much wider opportunities to do it secretly, and even bring a claimant to the inheritance into the house. In a patriarchal society, wives who did not give birth to children from a legitimate husband preferred to get rid of the child as soon as possible, giving him up to be raised in a large family in some distant village, condemning him to poverty and suffering.

Despite such an unambiguous position on the part of the public, bastards were not at all uncommon, especially in the royal palaces. The servants willingly gave birth to the aristocracy, and even more so, from those who are related to the royal family. Therefore, a huge number of mistresses, and most importantly the number of children born by them, inflated the court community, making the palace intrigues even more sophisticated and harsh. It is worth recognizing that it was at the palaces that the illegitimate children of some high-ranking nobles, officials and dukes were partly recognized and could get a job.

Decals for bastards

Even though some bastards were very, very successful people, society has always tried to poke them with their origin. so, in Western Europe, a special tape was provided, which was attached to the family coat of arms. So the identification mark, on the one hand, spoke of a high origin, on the other hand, of illegitimacy. Despite the fact that in the history of Russia there are examples that the bastards managed to overcome all obstacles in life, they were threatened with the life of outcasts and half-breeds.

For example, Prince Vladimir Krasno Solnyshko was born from the relationship between the prince and the housekeeper. Despite the fact that Vladimir was brought up in an official family and the official spouses of the prince (pagans did not exclude polygamy), they still treated him accordingly, but this did not prevent him from sitting on the throne and baptizing Russia.

Laws for bastards

After Christianity was adopted, the attitude towards bastards did not change much, but their fact of birth began to be recognized, dividing children, even those born in marriage, into those who were born of sin. The Church reckoned only with marital relations, everything that goes beyond them, considering adultery. So, even if a child was born into a family, but earlier than the due date, then he was recorded as illegitimate, because his mother got married already being pregnant. In Tsarist Russia, children were considered illegitimate who:

• were born out of wedlock, even if the parents later legalized the relationship in the church; • born as a result of adultery; • those who were born 306 days after the death of their father or divorce; • born in a marriage that was declared invalid;

Children who fell under these points were recorded in the registers of birth in the name of the mother. In fact, this meant a strong restriction of the child's rights for the rest of his life. Such children had no right to the father's surname, to his inheritance. But a woman was not always out of work, many families willingly accepted a woman with a child, because she had already demonstrated that she could give birth, which means she would be a good wife, capable of giving birth to more children - workers and heirs. Therefore, despite the harsh laws, one should not forget that in Russia, even a century and a half ago, life was more fun than what is written in the registers of births.

What surnames were given to the bastards?

The simple-minded villagers sometimes spitefully, and sometimes out of the simplicity of their soul, called them bastards, found, walked. Although there are also more offensive "seven-sided" and "stray".

Since it was impossible to give them a father's surname, it became customary to give them surnames and names according to a certain principle. Most often they were not even included in the official metric, and sometimes priests marked such children for themselves, thus giving them new names. It turned out different Judas and Christiards.

Often such definitions, used to designate bastards, became the basis of their surname and first name. Such children were often called Bogdans. God-given - this is how the concept of a foundling was interpreted. So it became accepted that illegitimate children were called Bogdans. Like, not recognized by fathers, children of God. In folklore, this is reflected as: "Bogdanushka all priests", "if the baby is not baptized, then Bogdan."

Bogdans, in this interpretation, are in many surnames, even noble dynasties. The Turgenev family has a Bogdanovskaya line, the artist Bogdanov-Belsky said that the first part of his surname appeared because he was illegitimate. Chekhov wrote that there are a lot of Bogdanovs and bastards on Sakhalin. The name Bogdan is not in the calendar; Fedot is used instead. The name was also often used to denigrate infants born "outlawed".

Over time, society began to treat such children more loyally, believing that "the glass is half full", they were named with official names, not forgetting to add the prefix "Semi". The same principle could be used for the patronymic, adding a prefix to the mother's name - "Polunadezhdin" "Poluyanov".

Unusual, rare names were often used to distinguish illegitimate children from the rest. Confirmation of this can always be found in the classical literature. Neznamov at Ostrovsky, Katyusha Maslova Tolstoy, who bears the mother's surname.

"Nobody's" child

The church did its job and the constant preaching that an illegitimate child is a second-class person bore fruit, despite the fact that the number of such children only grew, the attitude towards them did not become more lenient. Moreover, even according to the documents, they were completely strangers to their parents. Moreover, this issue was resolved locally and completely depended on the opinion of one clergyman.

The creation of a regular army and recruitment largely contributed to the fact that the number of children born to strangers grew. No wonder, if the husband was taken into the army for 25 years, then what do you order his official wife to do? Wait a quarter of a century and then give birth to children ?! Therefore, no one was surprised by the fact that in the family, where the father of the family seems to be, but apparently not, children were added.

However, if a woman whose husband went to work lived with his family, then pregnancy could become a death sentence for herself, therefore, in such cases, they tried to attach the babies to other families. At the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, the murders of illegitimate children became, if not massive, then very regular, since mothers understood that the fate of such a child was unenviable, she would not be able to raise him on her own, and leaving him would also destroy herself.

Bastards of noble families

Nevertheless, the aristocrats tried to remain humane and even though they could not award their children out of wedlock with titles or excellent education, they still tried to arrange their fate. Often they were sent abroad, considering this the best option, because out of sight and attached, which means that their conscience is clear. Surnames in such cases were given modified, not as clearly bastard as among the peasants. Most often, the syllable, the prefix was removed, the Trubetskoys became the Betsky, the Golitsins - the Litsins, the Dolgorukovs - the Rukins, the Potemkins - the Temkins. Sometimes annograms were used, such as in the case of Charnaulsky - Lunacharsky.

Another way out of the situation was to give a surname by geographic location. For example, Catherine II rewrote the land and estate located in Bobriki to her illegitimate son, and he himself became Bobrinsky.

Digging into their genealogy, they often found surnames that belong to their dynasty, but no one wears them anymore and gave them to their illegitimate children. For example, the children of Alexander II from Ekaterina Dolgorukova were recorded as the Yurievs - that is how the Romanovs were called earlier.

The situation began to change relatively only by the 20th century, when children born out of wedlock began to receive the names and surnames that were given to them by their parents or one parent. However, it was much more difficult to change public opinion than the legislative framework, and therefore a condescending and derogatory attitude towards children who were born out of wedlock.

By the way, despite the fact that "blue blood" was present in them only half, history remembers many bastards who not only managed to get rid of their shameful nicknames, but left their mark on history.