Zemtsy

(1) Petty, unprivileged landed proprietors in Rus’ from the 12th to the 16th century. They were an intermediate stratum between the peasants and the feudal lords. In the Novgorod area, they were called svoezemtsy.

(2) Delegates to the zemstvos, the bodies of local self-government created by the Zemstvo Reform of 1864.