[3] In the Livonian Confederation, farmers living in the castle districts retained personal freedom and self-government, but were forced to perform military and civilian duties and pay taxes.
[4] After the devastation caused by the Livonian War, the political influence and power of the manor owners increased over the peasants.
In legal terms, the royals were no different from the nobles, they did not pay regular dues and did not comply with the clauses, and they were the complete determinants of the land they cultivated themselves or with the help of paid labor.
[6] Since Livonian nobility provided much needed resources to support Sweden's wars it had sufficient leverage to maintain laws and social order as they see fit.
[7][8] Once Livonia, Estonia and Duchy of Courland and Semigallia became part of Russian Empire local voices for abolition of serfdom emerged.
[10] In 1794, Garlieb Merkel advocated abolition of serfdom in Livonia and Estonia in his influential book German: Die Letten vorzüglich in Liefland am Ende des philosophischen Jahrhunderts, Ein Beytrag zur Völker- und Menschenkunde ("The Admirable Latvians of Livonia at the end of the Century of Philosophy, with an Addendum on Peoples and Anthropology") which was promptly translated into French, Danish and Russian.
[11] Russian Empress Catherine the Great had annulled an act by Peter III that essentially freed the serfs belonging to the Orthodox Church.
[19] 23 May 1816 the Livonian Peasant Law was adopted and came into force in 1819, abolishing serfdom; the peasantry could also acquire real estate; financial leasing was introduced as a burden.
[21] After a long debate, in April 1817, the Landtag of Kurzeme adopted a decision on the release of the peasants, which was approved on 8.25.1817 and announced at a solemn ceremony in the presence of Emperor Alexander I on 8.30.1818 in Jelgava.
For this, as well as for other works dedicated to the release of peasants, the monarch granted the author a lifetime pension of 300 silver rubles.