Votchina

[2] The term votchina is now generally used in Russian historical terminology in reference to the main form of feudal landownership.

An owner of a votchina, known as a votchinnik (Russian: вотчинник), not only had property rights to it, but also some administrative and legal power over people living on its territory.

In the mid-15th century, the right of certain categories of peasants in some votchiny to leave their master was limited to a period of one week before and after Yuri's Day (November 26).

[7] The policy under Ivan IV of Russia greatly enlarged the pool of votchiny and enabled the tsar to reward servitors.

[3] The Law of Single Inheritance (Russian: Указ о единонаследии), published on 24 March 1714, merged votchiny and pomestya and stipulated that the estates could only be passed to one heir.

[12] During the reign of Catherine II, the Charter to the Nobility of 1785 granted nobles and their heirs the right to hold land without requiring state service.