Zemsky Sobor

Common card · No. 411133

The Zemsky Sobor (Russian: зе́мский собо́р, IPA: [ˈzʲemskʲɪj sɐˈbor], lit. 'assembly of the land') was a parliament of the Tsardom of Russia's estates of the realm active during the 16th and 17th centuries. The assembly represented Russia's feudal classes in three categories: Nobility and the high bureaucracy, the Holy Sobor of the Orthodox clergy, and representatives of "commoners" including merchants and townspeople. Assemblies could be summoned either by the tsar, the patriarch, or the boyar duma, to decide current agenda, controversial issues or enact major pieces of legislation.

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