Townspeople (Posadsky)

Categories / Population/Social Classes
TOWNPEOPLE (POSADSKY), name of the taxpayer populations (including St. Petersburg) in the 17th - the early 18th century. From 1721 townspeople were officially named "citizens", divided on regular lines of status - individuals possessing capital, artisans or representatives of professions (traders, doctors), and irregular lines - individuals of hired labour, receiving income from tilling the land. However, the term “posadsky” continued to be used. Regular citizens (merchants) were divided into three guilds, depending on status, and artisans were divided by their specialties. In 1775 townspeople (citizens) were divided into 3 classes: merchants, bourgeoisie and artisans. The number of townspeople of Russian descent present in the city in the first half of the 18th century was unknown: in 1737 there were a total of 4,769 Orthodox townspeople (the entire Orthodox community consisted of 68,000 people). By the late 18th century the term "posadsky" was slowly dropping out of use. The memory of those townspeople has been saved in the names of Bolshaya Posadskaya and Мalaya Posadskaya streets (on the Petrograd Side).

Reference: Семенова Л. Н. Быт и население Санкт-Петербурга (XVIII в.). М.; СПб., 1998. С. 5-28.

A. Y. Chistyakov. Bolshaya Posadskaya St./Saint Petersburg, city
Malaya Posadskaya St./Saint Petersburg, city
Семенова Л. Н. Быт и население Санкт-Петербурга (XVIII в.). М.; СПб., 1998 Handicraft (overview)
Merchants
Bourgeoisie