Crime and Punishment in Early Modern Russia

An online lecture with Dr. Nancy Kollmann

Was there despotism in early modern Russia? In her lecture, Nancy Kollmann will explore the practice of criminal law in 17th-century Russia. She will discuss how, although Russia was an autocracy, it was not a despotism. In fact, Russia had a well-functioning judicial system. Criminal law and procedure, codified in the 1649 Law Code, were applied consistently in practice. Dr. Kollmann will argue that Russia was no more violent in its punishments than its European counterparts.

The talk will draw on numerous examples from more than 400 criminal cases that Dr. Kollmann examined in Russian archives.

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About the Speaker

Now the William H. Bonsall Professor in History, Dr. Nancy Kollmann have been teaching at Stanford since 1982. She is a specialist in early modern Russian politics. Her books include a study of the boyar elite at Ivan the Terrible’s court, two studies of the criminal law in practice, a survey history of the Russian empire 1450-1800, and a recent monograph on  visual images of Russia and Russians in 16th-century European print culture.