In Imperial Russia, snokhachestvo referred to illicit sexual relations between a pater familias (bolshak) of a Russian peasant household (dvor) and his daughter-in-law (snokha) during the minority or absence of his son. With a view to attracting additional workers to the household, marriages in rural Russia were frequently contracted when the groom was six or seven years old. During her husband's minority, the bride often had to put up with advances of her assertive father-in-law. Snokhachestvo… (More on Snokhachestvo)