The article deals with the legal regulation of the social status of the peasant at the beginning of the XVIII century. The authors came to the conclusion that the legal changes carried out during the reign of Peter I, concerning the peasantry, contributed to the restriction of their legal capacity, regardless of which category they belonged to-serfs, state, etc., which was manifested in the prohibition of free-dom of movement, in increasing dependence on their "owners", in increasing the tax burden, attach-ing the peasant to the land or to the factory, etc.