THE ELITE OF RIGHT-BANK UKRAINE IN THE 19TH CENTURY IN THE MATERIALS OF THE DISTRICT COURT: A MICROHISTORICAL DIMENSION IN THE CONTEXT OF EVERYDAY LIFE

Abstract

The object of the article is to analyze the judicial and investigative practice of Uman County Court to find out the reasons for taking to court the representatives of the ruling and wealthy elite of the society at that time. Such materials are a valuable source of information for local, regional and everyday history and serve to personify history and expand its human-centrism. The reasons for taking nobles, gentry, landowners and merchants to court can serve as a kind of marker of the public morality state. The scientific novelty lies in the fact that for the first time the materials of Uman County Court were comprehensively used, which complements the knowledge about the competence of the county courts, confirms their comprehensiveness, expands the boundaries of understanding the internal life of society and sheds light on the relations between different layers of society and the state. It was found that representatives of the privileged top of society were brought to justice. Out of 1817 court cases for the years 1800–1872, the archive of Uman County Court contains 111 cases brought against the nobles, the Potocki family, the gentry, landowners and merchants. The reasons for court proceedings were most often debt collection, minor offenses (theft, forgery of documents, issuance of false certificates, seizure of land, hayfields, forest areas), illegal acquisition of other people's property, fights, beatings, living in fornication, voluntary transfer to foreign citizenship. They were brought to court for living without a “residence permit”, for hiding fugitive recruits, deserters, for violating the terms of contracts, for supplying low-quality goods. Court cases were conducted against the Potocki family for seizing other people’s property and for supporting the Polish patriotic movement. The division of property between heirs, assessment of the economic condition of estates, provision of information on the estates and solvency of their owners were also part of the judicial and investigative practice of Uman County Court. It is noted that the materials of the court archive are a valuable historical source that requires comprehensive research. Thus, the information about the defendant’s farm or property, which can supplement the agrarian and social history of Ukraine, was delayed in court cases. They have various references with economic statistics. The materials of the judicial and investigative practice of the county court contain personal data of the participants of the historical process of the specified chronological boundaries. The reasons for bringing people who enjoyed livelihood privileges to justice can serve as a peculiar marker of society’s morality.