?ñThe stories of Herberstein, a German ambassador, reveal important details about 16th-century Russia.ñ
Although Herberstein (1486-1566) was dazzled by the sumptuous Russian court, he did not fail to notice the harsh lives of the ordinary people. In a series of anecdotes, he drew a lively portrait of Russian customs, which differed significantly from German ones. For instance, he relates that a father could sell his son into slavery. Serfs could be freed by their masters, but once free, they did not have any other way to survive than to sell themselves to another master.
The lives of the peasants were so wretched that they did not have the chance to rest on religious holidays. They worked six days a week for their master and only on the seventh for themselves. He also wrote about young men of one village who kicked and fought those of another as a sport. There were decrees against drunkenness. The sale of alcohol was restricted, except to some members of the nobility. To get supplies of alcohol, however, they had to send out to a lower-class suburb especially built for that purpose.
Herberstein wrote little about Russian women. They seldom left the house and then only to go to church. They lived in a special part of the house where they stayed busy, looking after children, spinning, and sewing. A young man did not ask a girl to marry him. Instead his future father-in-law chose the young man, saying: "I have a girl, and I want you for a son-in-law."
Obliged to travel throughout the country as part of his duties, Herberstein paid particular attention to matters related to transport, including horses, sleds, and postal relay stations, which he judged to be very well organized. He looked at the country with the eye of an economist, noting the resources and products of the regions he travelled through. He also warned his readers against Moscow merchants, who had such a bad reputation that they often pretended to be from another city. Some of the customs mentioned by Herberstein still exist today, such as offering salt and bread as a gesture of hospitality to a honoured guest.ì ₧ û
