Venadian Boyars

The Venadian Boyars (Venadian: Бояре, transcript: Boyare) are the traditional noble caste of the Republic of Venadia. Venadian boyar families largely descend from the boyars of pre-unification Venadia. While Boyar originally referred to a specific title in Venadia, it became the general term for nobility in general during the 15th century, and all members of a boyar family have the right to title themselves 'boyar' in Venadia, although other titles such as Graf and Knyaz are restricted to actual title-holders. Other forms of nobility, such as state-granted peerage, was abolished in 1847 along with the majority of noble privileges. The native term for a male boyar is boyarin (Venadian: боярин) and a female boyar is a boyaryna (Venadian: боярыня).

Demographics

As of the 1st of January 2016, there is a total of 489,392 members of Venadian Boyar families, or 0.3% of the population. Despite being a small portion of the population, roughly 23% of Venadian land is owned by boyars, 18% of seats in the Great Veche are held by Boyars and 6% of military officers are Boyars. The vast majority of Boyars have some form of tertiary degree (91%), and a disproportinate number of Venadia's diplomatic corps (28%) and public administration (2%) are boyars. The Republic of Venadia recognizes a total of 26,253 boyar families, out of which 256 are 'Great Boyar Families' while 25,997 are 'Little Boyar Families'. Mapping the families and individuals that make up Venadian aristocracy is the responsibility of the Boyar Archive in Venagorod.

Rights and Privileges

While the majority of Boyar privileges was abolished in 1847 with the Venadian constitution, some privileges remain, particularly for the great boyar families. Great Boyars have the right to carry a great axe even inside towns and cities, have the right to establish ferry rides without the approval of local authorities, have the right to assemble village meetings at will by ringing church bells, raise a militia under the command of the Great Veche in times of war and have the right to use public buildings for the purposes of weddings and baptisms. All boyar families have the privilege to fish and hunt without a license, possess a family seal and motto and to challenge and accept legal duels the result of which carrying similar weight as courts of law (barring the supreme court and regional courts).