Page Corps was a military academy in Imperial Russia, which prepared sons of the nobility and of senior officers for military service

Military service

Military service, in its simplest sense, is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, whether as a chosen job or as a result of an involuntary draft . Some nations require a specific amount of military service from every citizen...

. (The Imperial School of Jurisprudence

Imperial School of Jurisprudence

The Imperial School of Jurisprudence was, along with the Page Corps, the most prestigious school for noble boys in Saint Petersburg, the capital of the Russian Empire....

 prepared boys for civil service

Civil service

The term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....

). After the Russian Revolution

October Revolution

The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...

 the Page Corps was replaced with the Suvorov Military School

Suvorov Military School

The Suvorov Military Schools are a type of boarding school in the former Soviet Union and in modern Russia and Belarus for boys of 14-18. Education in such these schools focuses on military related subjects. The schools are named after Alexander Suvorov, the great 18th century general.Their naval...

.

History

The Page Corps was founded in 1759 in St.Petersburg as a school for teaching and training page

Page (servant)

A page or page boy is a traditionally young male servant, a messenger at the service of a nobleman or royal.-The medieval page:In medieval times, a page was an attendant to a knight; an apprentice squire...

s and chamber pages. In light of the need for properly trained officer

Officer (armed forces)

An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...

s for the Guard units

Russian Guards

Guards or Guards units were and are elite military units in Imperial Russia, Soviet Union and the Russian Federation. The tradition goes back to the retinue of a knyaz of medieval Kievan Rus' and the streltsy, the Muscovite harquebusiers formed by Ivan the Terrible by 1550...

, the Page Corps was reorganized in 1802 into an educational establishment similar to cadet

Cadet

A cadet is a trainee to become an officer in the military, often a person who is a junior trainee. The term comes from the term "cadet" for younger sons of a noble family.- Military context :...

 schools, which would accept the sons of the hereditary nobility of Russian land, and the sons of at least Lieutenant Generals/Vice Admirals or grandsons of full Generals/Admirals.

In 1802, the curriculum of the Corps des Pages was also changed, thereafter based on the ideals of the Order of St John

Knights Hospitaller

The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta , also known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta , Order of Malta or Knights of Malta, is a Roman Catholic lay religious order, traditionally of military, chivalrous, noble nature. It is the world's...

. In 1810, the school was moved to the palace of the Sovereign Order of St John of Jerusalem, also known as Vorontsov Palace. It continued at this location in St. Petersburg for over one hundred years (until the revolution).

During the period of reforms of military schools

Dmitry Milyutin

Count Dmitry Alekseyevich Milyutin was Minister of War and the last Field Marshal of Imperial Russia...

 in the 1860s, the Page Corps was turned into a seven-grade establishment, the first five grades being similar to military gymnasium

Gymnasium (school)

A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...

s, and the other two being modelled after military colleges.

Beginning in 1885, the Page Corps had seven general classes, where students learned the same sciences offered by cadet schools, and two special classes, where they were taught military science

Military science

Military science is the process of translating national defence policy to produce military capability by employing military scientists, including theorists, researchers, experimental scientists, applied scientists, designers, engineers, test technicians, and military personnel responsible for...

 and jurisprudence

Jurisprudence

Jurisprudence is the theory and philosophy of law. Scholars of jurisprudence, or legal theorists , hope to obtain a deeper understanding of the nature of law, of legal reasoning, legal systems and of legal institutions...

. By the 1880s separate infantry, cavalry and artillery departments were in existence.

While most graduates entered the Russian Imperial Army as officers, a minority opted for diplomatic or civil service careers.

Court role and privileges

The students served as pages at Court and provided services at ceremonies, including attendance upon individual members of the Imperial family.

The Graduates from the Corps des Pages had the unique privilege of joining any regiment of their own choice regardless of the existing vacancies (however, as a matter of etiquette, the consent of the unit's commander was sought long beforehand). They wore, on the left side of their tunic, the badge of the Corps des Pages, modeled after the cross of the Order of St John.
They received the rank of podporuchik

Poruchik

Poruchik was a military rank in several Slavic countries, such as the Russian Empire and the Republic of Poland, equivalent to Lieutenant. "Poruchik" means "messenger", "officer for orders". This is a Slavic copy of the term "Lieutenant" .In Russia this rank was first introduced in Strelets New...

 (cornet

Cornet (military rank)

Cornet was originally the third and lowest grade of commissioned officer in a British cavalry troop, after captain and lieutenant. A cornet is a new and junior officer.- Traditional duties :The cornet carried the troop standard, also known as a "cornet"....

 in cavalry

Cavalry

Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...

). Those who were not fit for military service would receive civil ranks of the 10th, 12th, and 14th classes.

Uniform

The Corps had a range of uniforms for different purposes. The most spectacular of these was the gala uniform worn for Court functions. This comprised a spiked helmet with white plume, a dark green tunic with gold braid covering the front, white breeches and high boots.

Disbandment

From its inception until 1917, the Corps graduated 4,505 officers. An additional 200 were unable to complete their courses because of the revolution of 1917. The school effectively ceased to function following the overthrow of Tsar Nicholas II in February 1917 but was finally closed in June the same year on the orders of Alexander Kerensky

Alexander Kerensky

Alexander Fyodorovich Kerensky was a major political leader before and during the Russian Revolutions of 1917.Kerensky served as the second Prime Minister of the Russian Provisional Government until Vladimir Lenin was elected by the All-Russian Congress of Soviets following the October Revolution...

, War Minister of the Provisional Government.

External links

• Russian Imperial Corps of Pages. An Online Exhibition Catalog // Rare Book & Manuscript Library (RBML) of Columbia University