Life of a rural parish on the verge of Revolution of 1917 (wih Enisei Governorate as an example)
Abstract
This article studies a general state of rural parishes in Russia with Enisei diocese of the second half of the 19th — early 20th centuries as an example. The research draws on previously unpublished archival documents and materials from repositories of the State Archive of Krasnoyarsk Region. The aim of the research is to broaden the range of problems in determining the nature of the revolutionary crisis of 1917 and its consequences. The author of the article supposes that the origins of the revolution were associated, among other factors, with the spiritual state of the rural population, which can be assessed from the viewpoint of the study of parish church life. The article analyses the participation of farmers in church services, religious processions, their observation of church holidays, participation in parish life as well as other indicators of religiosity. Facts provide evidence that the level of religiosity in rural areas was decreasing. The question about the extent to which clergy could resist the danger of tumults in the state is answered drawing on the analysis of standards of life of parish priests. The article looks at their quality of life, which did not correspond properly to their social status. Special attention is paid to relations between rural population and rural clergy. According to the study, there were many problems in the life of the Orthodox parish before the February Revolution which were never solved by authoroties. It is not a pure coincidence that not only farmers but a sizeable proportion of clergy supported the revolution of 1917 and the overthrow of monarchy in Russia.
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