A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Bulgaria, Kievan Rus' (and later Russia), Moldavia and Wallachia (and later Romania), Lithuania and among Baltic Germans.

boyar, member of the upper stratum of medieval Russian society and state administration. In Kievan Rus during the 10th–12th century, the boyars constituted the senior group in the prince’s retinue and occupied the higher posts in the armed forces and in the civil administration.

The nobility arose in the 12th and 13th centuries as the lowest part of the feudal military class, which comprised the court of a prince or an important boyar. From the 14th century land ownership by nobles increased, and by the 17th century, the bulk of feudal lords and the majority of landowners were nobles.

Jul 1, 2023 · The meaning of BOYAR is a member of a Russian aristocratic order next in rank below the ruling princes until its abolition by Peter the Great.

Portrait of Russian boyar Pyotr Potemkin by Juan Carreño de Miranda, 1681-1682. A boyar was a member of the ruling nobility in medieval Russia and some other Slavic countries such as Bulgaria. The boyars held the most important jobs in the army. They met in a group called the duma and gave advice to the ruling prince or, in later times, the ...

May 21, 2018 · BOYAR. In the broadest sense, every privileged landowner could be called a boyar; in a narrower sense, the term refers to a senior member of a prince's retinue during the tenth through thirteenth centuries, and marked the highest court rank during the fourteenth to seventeenth centuries.

The Boyar Class was a noble class in Russia during the medieval period, characterized by land ownership, significant political power, and a strong influence on governance.

BOYAR (Russ. boyarin, plur. boyare), a dignity of Old Russia conterminous with the history of the country. Originally the boyars were the intimate friends and confidential advisers of the Russian prince, the superior members of his druzhina or bodyguard, his comrades and champions. They were divided into classes according to rank, most ...

Apr 5, 2025 · However, as the grand princes of Muscovy consolidated their own power, they managed to curb boyar independence. From the 15th to the 17th centuries Muscovite boyars formed a closed aristocratic class drawn from about 200 families. They retained a stake in princely affairs through their membership of the boyar duma or council. Ivan IV (the ...

Sep 7, 2021 · The oldest Slavic form of the term boyar, boljarin (болярин), was dated in the early 10th century and associated with the First Bulgarian Empire. It is believed to have been transformed from the Urbulgarian noble title Boil, as the aristocracy in the Empire called themselves, to Boilar or Biljar.