BOYAR, a dignity of Old Russia conterminous with the his tory of the country (Russ. boyarin, plur. boyare). Originally the boyars were the intimate friends and confidential advisers of the Russian prince, the superior members of his druzhina or body guard, his comrades and champions. They were divided into classes according to rank, generally determined by personal merit and service. At a later day the boyars were the chief members of the prince's duma, or council. Their further designation of luchshie lyudi or "the best people" proves that they were gener ally richer than their fellow subjects;' and from the 11th century the druzhina asserts the privileges of an exclusively military caste with a primary claim upon the land.
Still later, when the courts of the northern grand dukes were established, the boyars appear as the first grade of a full-blown court aristocracy with the exclusive privilege of possessing land and serfs. Hence their title of dvoryane (courtiers), first used in the 12th century. On the other hand there was no distinction, as in Germany, between the Dienst Adel (nobility of service) and the simple Adel. The Russian boyardom had no corporate or class privileges (1) because their importance was purely local (the dignity of the principality determining the degree of dignity of the boyars) ; (2) because of their inalienable right of transmigra tion from one prince to another at will, which prevented the for mation of a settled aristocracy; and (3) because birth did not determine but only facilitated the attainment of high rank; e.g., the son of a boyar was not a boyar born, but could more easily attain to boyardom, if of superior personal merit. It was reserved for Peter the Great to transform the boyarstvo or boyardom into something more nearly resembling the aristocracy of the West.
See Alexander Markevich, The History of Rank-priority in the Realm of Muscovy in the 15th-1-8th Centuries (Russ.) (Odessa, 1888) ; V. Klyuchevsky, The Boyar Duma of Ancient Russia (Russ.) (Mos cow, 1888). (R. N. B.) the name given to the "bishop of the boys" (episcopus puerorum or innocentium), who, according to a custom very wide-spread in the Middle Ages, was chosen in connection with the festival of Holy Innocents (see FOOLS, FEAST OF). In England the boy-bishop was elected Dec. 6, the feast of St. Nich olas, the patron of children, and his authority lasted till Holy Innocents' day (Dec. 28). The election made, the lad was dressed in full bishop's robes with mitre and crozier and, attended by comrades dressed as priests, made a circuit of the town blessing the people. The boy and his colleagues took possession of the cathedral and performed all the ceremonies and offices except mass. Originally confined to the cathedrals, the custom spread to nearly all the parishes. Several ecclesiastical councils had attempted to abolish or to restrain the abuses of the custom, before it was prohibited by the council of Basle in 1431. It was, however, too popular to be easily suppressed. In England it was abolished by Henry VIII. in 1542, revived by Mary in 1552 and finally abolished by Elizabeth. It survived in Germany, in the so-called Gregoriusfest, in honour of St. Gregory, the patron of schools, at which a schoolboy was elected bishop. At Meiningen this custom survived till See Brand, Pop. Antiquities of Great Britain (19o5) ; Gasquct, Parish Life in Medieval England (1906) ; Du Cange, Glossarium (5884), s.v. "Episcopus puerorum."