In these perfectly trained and equipped Boyars, all the might of western cavalry is combined with the speed of the east. Certain Europeans may call the Boyars a relic of feudalism, but none would say this to their face! The Boyars were the hereditary feudal elite of Russia from the 10th all the way through the 17th century. The Boyar class was highest among service class people, entitled not only to sit in the Boyar duma, but to hold the highest status in it. However, the abolition of Mestnichestvo (the feudal hierarchical system of the time) in 1682 seriously undermined the power of the Boyars, and the Boyar title was eliminated by Peter the Great at the beginning of the 17th century.
