Ch.J. Halperin Dvina during the Reign of Ivan IV

Abstract
The article examines the distinctive society of the Dvina region, the northernmost periphery of Muscovy on the White Sea (Pomor’e), as reflected in a collection of over 200 underutilized charters. Dvina lacked gentry or boyars; its population consisted of peasants and clergy. Socially it still had some elements in common with Central Muscovy, although often with a local twist. For example, Dvina followed Central Muscovite usage of denying redemption in sales or donation charters although they did not need to, but never authorized anyone to exercise the right of redemption. Families engaged in collective businesses, but without the dominance of brother-with-brother co-ownership. Evidence of Dvina resident identity is meager, but at least the word Dviniane for «Dvinians» existed. Particular attention is devoted to the role of secretaries, who, in addition to physically writing charters, also served as witnesses, a phenomenon that occurs very rarely in Central Muscovy but stands out here and certainly merits further study in Central Muscovy. This pattern sheds light both upon Muscovite documentary practice, a secretary could not witness a charter he wrote, and upon society: peasants must have enjoyed close relations with secretaries to afford them the opportunity to produce over three-quarters of the documents which have identified writers.

Keywords:

Dvina; Pomor’e; Ivan IV (Ivan the Terrible); Secretaries; Witnesses

For citation:
Halperin Ch.J. Dvina during the Reign of Ivan IV // The Historical Reporter. 2026. Vol. 57. P. 10–45. DOI:

Charles J. Halperin
Independent Scholar, Bloomington, Indiana, USA
E-mail: chalperi@iu.edu
ORCID: 0000-0002-6667-0555