Sudebnik of 1589

a collection of legal norms of the Northern Pomor’e.

The sources of the Sudebnik of 1589 were local customary law, the Sudebnik of 1550, and, presumably, a lost ustavnaia gramota (charter) of Tsar Fedor I. The Sudebnik of 1589 represented an attempt to adapt the Sudebnik of 1550 to the specific conditions of the Russian north—namely, the absence of lay feudal ownership, the predominance of landownership by tax-paying peasants, the gradual disintegration of the peasant commune, and a pronounced differentiation among the urban and rural populace in terms of property. Although the Sudebnik of 1589 was never confirmed officially, it provided guidance for magistrates in the Dvina region from the late 16th century through the first half of the 17th century.