Honorary citizenship as the Russian Empire estate in national historiography

The paper analyses national scientific literature devoted to one of the pre-revolutionary Russian estates known as honorary citizenship. This estate was originally created by the legislation of Catherine the Great in 1785 and was called “notable citizens”. It included the most privileged part of the cities' dwellers. In 1832 Emperor Nicholas I signed the Manifesto, in which this category of the population was modernized and called “honorary citizens”. Honorary citizenship existed in Russia till November 1917, when it was cancelled by one of the first decrees of the Soviet power. The studying of notable and honorary citizenship in Russia started in the middle of the 19th century and continues at the present time.