Khlopko Uprising of 1603

Khlopko Uprising of 1603

 

a movement of bondmen and peasant serfs in Russia in the first period of the Peasant War of the early 17th century; it was led by Khlopko. The uprising was a result of intensified feudal oppression and the official state sanction of serfdom. The famine of 1601–03, which sparked the uprising, was accompanied by mass escapes of bondmen and peasants, who formed “robber” bands in 19 western, central and southern districts of the country. In the summer of 1603 some of the rebel bands were concentrated near Moscow. In September, during fighting in which the tsarist voevoda (military governor) I. F. Basmanov was killed, the insurgents were crushed. Some of the rebels fled south; those captured were executed.

REFERENCE

Koretskii, V. I. Formirovanie krepostnogo prava i pervaia krest’ianskaia voina v Rossii. Moscow, 1975.