The wars, conflicts and plagues that ravaged Europe at this time caused not only changes in geography but in the entire social structure.
Pavel Rumyantsev, c. 1460
The Rumyantsev family had progressed from serfdom to the landed gentry in three generations. Pavel Rumanyantsev's grandfather Mikhail had survived the Plague and was able to take advantage of the vacuum it left in parts of society to buy partial interest in a blacksmith's shop in Chernigov. He used his increased wealth to expand the shop and buy land, something that would have been unheard of for a serf just a generation before. On his new land he raised livestock, cows and sheep he had acquired as a dowry when he married Pavel's grandmother. They formed a cooperative with other new landowners where they sold the wool and made cheese from cows and sheeps milk. Mikhail was able to send Pavel's father Ivan and his uncles to school in Kiev, where they saw the fruits of the early Russian renaissance, painting and sculpture by Florentine artists like Fra Angelico.
Ivan Rumyantsev bought a small forest and started a lumber mill. The increasing liberalization of Russian society led to even more changes. In the time of Ivan's father if a lord died without heirs his lands would be acquired by the nearest next of kin, and if there was no next of kin the lands would be auctioned off wholesale, the cost serving to exclude all but the most wealthy. Now if there was no next of kin the land was divided and sold. Ivan bought more land, a manor home and partial interest in an iron mine at auction. This last purchase would prove to be even more advantageous than he realized at the time, as not long after the Tsar built a royal armory in Chernigov.
As of 1460 Pavel Rumyantsev owned a fancy manor house, a thriving smithy and lumber mill, part of an iron mine, and two hundred acres of farmland, pasture and woodland, a capitalist in all but name.
The various wings of the Rumyantsev family became prominent in court society, not only in Russia but all over Europe. There were Rumyantsev admirals, generals and artists. Pavel's brother Bogdan studied rhetoric and diplomacy and was appointed Chancellor to the Tsar. Bogdan had a brilliant mind for politics, but he had difficulty with the idea of deference. He was opinionated. Due to his knowledge, the Tsar tolerated Bogdan's behavior, but one day Bogdan pushed too far. During a visit from Byzantine dignitaries, Bogdan openly criticized the research practices of the Empire. This was too much. Not only had Bogdan embarrassed the Tsar in front of company, but he had openly discussed state secrets in the presence of foreigners, allies not withstanding, and that was a clear breach of the Espionage Act. Bogdan was arrested, tried and executed.
There were naturally those who were not happy with the changes; change is, after all, never easy. Nobles in the northern province of Viatka filed a formal grievance with the Tsar demanding the return of aristocratic rights, titles and privileges not only in Viatka but across the Empire. They also demanded that former serfs be re-tied to the land, forced back into servitude. Taken as a whole their demands, if they were met, would have reversed over fifty years of Russian social change. Under the leadership of Count Lev Adashev, the nobles gathered any army of some four thousand followers and prepared to siege the fortress of Khlynov. The Tsar, finding their demands outlandish and impertinent, ordered the revolt be crushed. Unfortunately the nearest forces were almost eight hundred miles away in Solikamsk. It would take months to reach Viatka. Seven regiments then stationed in Murom were also ordered against the rebellious nobles.