Remember how in Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin's "The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish" the antagonist of the work - the greedy old woman did not want to be a "black peasant woman" anymore, but wanted to become a "pillar noblewoman"? It is quite obvious that the word "pillar" was added for a reason. The phrase formed with it means a very specific category of people. So, it’s worth figuring out who these “pillar nobles” were.
By the 15th century, the so-called local system had finally taken shape in Russia. Localism - this is a way of distributing government posts between representatives of the aristocracy based on the principle of antiquity and nobility of a particular noble family. The system was needed in order to reduce the number of disputes and disagreements between representatives of noble families. The problem of parochialism was that very often important positions were given not to those who really deserve it in terms of their abilities, but to those who had more “nobility”. The nobility of the family was determined by its ancestral reputation and antiquity.
By the 16th century, this system had completely outlived itself, turning into a frank burden for the state. However, it was impossible to simply get rid of it, since any attempts to defeat localism led to a harsh reaction from the richest and most noble families, who feared the loss of their power and wealth. At the same time, the Russian state began to centralize once again. Moscow is gradually gathering lands around itself. Knowing is getting bigger. To account for it, they begin to use the so-called "columns" - special registration lists of surnames and their land allotments.
In 1687, the locality system was abolished at the state level. The previously used columns are also discarded. They are replaced by a new system of registration and accounting of noble families and their land allotments - "Velvet Book". As a result, the Russian nobility, starting from the 16th century, continues the active process of splitting into two categories: the old ancestral nobles and the granted nobles. Old tribal nobles are the most ancient families, many of which traced their history back to the times that preceded Kievan Rus. Granted nobles are young families who have received titles and land for their service. For the first time, "commended" began to actively appear during the time of Ivan the Terrible. But most of all such aristocrats in Russia became during the time of Peter I.
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Although by the XVIII century for the state and the king (emperor) there was no longer any difference between tribal and granted, the ancient and young aristocratic families retained a certain antagonism. Belonging to an ancient family made it possible to consider oneself superior to others, despite the fact that such “belonging” most often did not give real bonuses. Especially if the ancient family at some point became impoverished. Nevertheless, the authority of such families was preserved. Because of this, they began to use the term “column nobility” in honor of those very “columns” in the days of localism. In other words, pillar nobleman - these are representatives of an aristocratic family that owned the title and nobility even in pre-Petrine times and could confirm this according to state documents.
If you want to know even more interesting things, then you should read about why did the knights templar live on average 30-40 years longer than others.
A source: https://novate.ru/blogs/111121/61226/