The legal consciousness of peasants of the Vologda province and its impact on the composition of village gatherings in the second half of XIX - beginning of XX century

The results of the study of gender and quantitative composition of village gatherings in the Vologda province from the position of legal consciousness of peasants, which refers to the level of their awareness of customary law and normative act, are presented. In particular, the conditions of admission of women to participation in secular meetings and recognition of the legitimacy of the adopted sentences are considered. Under the law, the gatherings were made up of the peasants-householders and elected officials. Since the late 1870s, on a par with men this opportunity was provided to women. However, the analysis of sources showed that regardless of marital status, the peasant woman was allowed to take part in “gatherings” not always and not everywhere. In practice, their participation in matters of intra-communal life was regulated by the traditions of the village, and the rights and powers had been enshrined in customary legal norms. In most of the provincial territory, the peasant woman took part in the gatherings in case of replacement of the absent for any reason husband and also after becoming a widow-housewife and used public land allotment.By the law, the verdict had acquired legal force if it was supported by half of the householders present, and issues related to land, finance and the removal of peasants from the society - 2/3 of their number. The last norm, under the influence of continuing tradition of collective decision-making at the gathering, in consciousness of peasants has undergone transformation. Therefore, in many rural societies, for recognition of the “gathering” held, and the verdict be legitimate, the participation of at least 2/3 of all householders regardless of the problem was necessary.As a result, it was concluded that at the formation of gatherings the peasants actively applied rules of unwritten law when that didn’t contradict the law.