What is Boyar?
[[File:P.Potemkin by J.Carreno de Miranda (1681-2, Prado).jpg|200px|thumb|right|Portrait of Russian boyar Pyotr Potemkin by Juan Carreño de Miranda, 1681-1682]] A '''boyar''' was a member of the ruling [[nobility]] in [[medieval]] [[Russia]] and some other [[Slavic]] countries such as [[Bulgaria]]. The boyars held the most important jobs in the army. They met in a group called the [[duma]] and gave advice to the ruling [[prince]] or, in later times, the [[tsar]]. In the 13th and 14th centuries they were rich landowners who could advise the prince, but they were free to go and work for another prince if they wanted to. In Moscow from the 15th to the 17th centuries they were a closely bonded [[aristocracy]]. There were about 200 boyar families. Their [[ancestor]]s were former princes, or Moscow boyar families or foreign aristocrats.<ref>The New Encyclopedia Britannica, 15th edition, 1986; vol 2 p.445</ref> They were not nobility in the European sense. Many of them had bad manners and not many of them could read. They did not travel, and they were suspicious of anything foreign<ref>Orlando Figes: Natasha's Dance - A Cultural History of Russia; 2002; {{ISBN|0-713-99517-3}} p.17</ref> In the 17th century they started to lose power. In the early 18th century Tsar [[Peter the Great]] abolished the title of boyar. == References == {{reflist}} [[Category:Russian nobility| ]] [[Category:History of Russia]]