AP World History Practice Exam 2025 – The Comprehensive All-in-One Guide to Exam Success!

The boyars were members of the old aristocracy in Russia, holding a position just below the princes in the social hierarchy. Throughout the Kievan Rus' and in the subsequent periods, boyars were significant landowners and often served as high-ranking advisors or administrators for the ruling princes and later tsars. Their power and influence were prominent during the feudal era, where they played key roles in governance and military leadership, shaping the political landscape of medieval Russia.

Understanding the position of boyars reveals much about the structure of Russian society during this period. While the economic elites such as merchants played a role in urban centers, their status was distinctly different from that of the boyars, who were woven into the fabric of noble lineage and landholding power. Peasants, while essential to the agrarian economy, were generally subjected to the authority of boyars and did not share this aristocratic status. Similarly, military leaders held a significant role but were not necessarily part of the aristocracy unless they were also of noble birth. Thus, the defining aspect of boyars lies in their aristocratic heritage and governance functions rather than in mercantile, peasant, or purely military roles.