town

The article provides the analysis of the meschanstvo estate daily routine in the provincial Samara town in the 50–60s of the XIX century. The period of time which precedes the City Reform of 1870 is considered to be “the Golden age” of the meschanstvo estate identity due to the fact that in this very period of time meschanstvo acted especially actively within the town community.

The article analyzes the study of the economic aspects of medieval and early modern urban history by Ukrainian historians, primarily on the example of the study of urban guilds. The author draws attention to new approaches in the study of the issue and to the question of how the new understanding of culture and anthropological turn in historiography affect the study of the economy of towns. The article also indicates possible new perspectives for the study of the problem