This day in Russian history and the History of the world.

November 26

November 26, 303: Jur'ev Den'. (Yuri's Day) is the Russian name for either of the two feasts of Saint George celebrated by the Russian Orthodox Church (One of the Russian forms of the name George being Yuri.) Yuri's Day in the Autumn had a special significance on the calendar of Russian peasants during the centuries of Russian serfdom.

Because the two weeks' period around the Autumn Yuri's Day, was the only time of the year when the Russian peasants were free to move from one landowner to another. Later this right was abolished by Boris Godunov's administration. A popular Russian expression harking back to that unfortunate event survives to this day (roughly translated, it is "there you have it, Granny, Yuri's Day", referring to a promise that is not kept).

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