What were the harems in Russia

History shows many examples when one man supported several families. Polygamy is officially prohibited in our country. But has it always been like this?

In pre-Christian times, polygamy in Russia really existed. This is confirmed by the annals. Men could contain not only a few wives, but also concubines. The poor could not afford this. If a man had several wives, then this gave him some status. Simple mzhiks could have a maximum of two wives. To deal with these.

A striking example of polygamous relations is Prince Vladimir the Red Sun. The one that Russia baptized.

Before he converted to Christianity, he had five wives and 800 concubines. By the way, he himself was the son of Malushi - beloved concubine of Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich.

The prince did everything in time - he built the state and commanded the concubines. So lived the whole Russian nobility. Wives and concubines were in different towers, sometimes in different cities. This was the main thing, in which we differed from the eastern harem. Wives had a higher status. As a rule, they became the mothers of the heirs, the concubines were more for entertainment. They lived in a golden cage. But if the concubine gave birth to a child, her children had the same legal status as the children of a legal wife. Subsequently, they could become equal heirs. But the main difference between the concubine and the wife is that she was a thing. It could be sold, exchanged, gifted. Often they had to serve the prince's squad.

Everything was much simpler for a simple person. The harsh realities of life dictated their own rules.

If the first wife could not give birth to a son, then the second gave birth. If one wife was sick or was not nice, then the man could bring a new, younger one into the house. And no one limited him or condemned him. Women were even better off. Another working hands on the farm. The first is looking after the child, the second is cleaning the house, the third is washing clothes, the fourth is pleasing the husband. It’s harder for a man. Both wives and children need to be maintained and fed. And then ... Sometimes even with one you don’t know how to agree, and if there are five of them.

In those ancient times, not only married, but also in love. Only love often had a tragic ending. Such a story is known. The Galician prince Yaroslav had a beloved concubine Anastasia. And he decided one day to marry her. Opposed to this, his wife Olga. In order to remove this barrier, he sent her to the monastery for eternal settlement.

The boyars stood up to defend Olga. They staged a riot, burned the princely concubine alive, and forced her legal wife back. And he lived with her until the end of the century. After the adoption of Christianity, many princes did not abandon their habits and continued to contain concubines.

In 1313, the Golden Horde was headed by Uzbek Khan. He forced his subjects to convert to Islam. Those who disagreed were brutally dealt with. Burned and executed. Many of the survivors fled from the Horde and took the oath of office to Moscow. Among them were the Yusupovs, Tatishchevs, Suleshovs. They continued to live as they were used to in their native land. Therefore, harems existed in Russia until the 18th century. Only Peter the Great put an official end to this. By his order, women gained freedom.

Watch the video: Russian model denies being part of Berlusconi's harem (April 2024).