Enserfment:
- Ivan tightened the system of serfdom, effectively binding peasants to the land they worked on and restricting their mobility. This limited their freedom and increased their dependence on landowners.
Legal Changes:
- The introduction of the Sudebnik (legal code) of 1550 brought certain legal protections for peasants. It set limits on the amount of feudal labor (barshchina) peasants were required to perform for their lords.
Taxation:
- Ivan raised peasant taxes and introduced new ones, increasing the financial burden on rural communities.
Land Policies:
- He confiscated lands from boyars (nobles) who opposed him and redistributed them to loyalist nobles and some peasants, potentially improving the landholdings of certain peasant communities.
Oprichnina:
- The establishment of the Oprichnina, a special administrative territory under Ivan's direct control, involved extensive land confiscations and brutal campaigns against certain areas, resulting in displacement and severe hardships for affected peasants.
Military Conscription:
- Large numbers of peasants were conscripted into the military to fight in Ivan's wars, leading to disruptions in agricultural labor and placing further strains on rural communities.
It's important to note that conditions varied across different regions of Russia and the experiences of peasants could differ depending on local factors and the actions of individual landowners. Nonetheless, Ivan's rule generally brought increased controls, heightened tax burdens, and a strengthening of serfdom, which affected the overall well-being and freedoms of the peasantry.