Otezd

Ot”ezd 

(departure), a term used in Russian sources from the 14th to the 16th century to denote the right of feudal lords to transfer their services from one suzerain to another. The right of of’ezd, exercised by boyars and vol’nye slugy (free servitors), was guaranteed in contractual documents; the last such agreement was concluded in 1531. After the political unification of the principalities of northeastern Rus’, the conditions for ot”ezd disappeared in this area. In the first half of the 16th century, some feudal nobles interpreted ot”ezd as the right to go abroad freely; the central government however, began to regard ot”ezd as treason.

REFERENCE

Cherepnin, L. V. Obrazovanie Russkogo tsentralizovannogo gosudarstva v XIV-XV vv. Moscow, 1960.