The Promise of the Road: Legal Peasant Movement for Short Distances and the Limits of Serfdom.

Russian serfdom was characterized by the tension between the need of the state and of the nobility to restrict peasant mobility and the simultaneous need of both parties to keep peasants moving in order for the economy to function. Previous studies have examined this movement through the lens of long-distance peasant migration. This article shifts the focus to short-distance movement in which serfs traveled on their estates, to neighboring villages, and to nearby towns and cities. Serfs journeyed in order to carry freight for themselves and for their serfowners, to conduct business at nearby markets and district towns, and to find work. Travel brought many dangers for peasants, which could result in economic and physical harm. Peasants endured these hardships because the road offered the advantages of financial gain and the pleasures of social interaction. Moreover, travel offered moments of autonomy during which serfs were not directly supervised by their owners. Some serfs enjoyed their autonomy so much that they changed the itineraries on their travel documents, moved beyond the spatial or temporal limits of their documents, or engaged in flight in an effort to escape the personal control of their owner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]