historiography, sources, historical science, local lore, learned monks, Trinity-Sergius Lavra, Sergievski posad, Hieromonk Arseny
Abstract
Hieromonk Arseny, laic name Alexei Ivanov Lobovikov (1830–1907), was the author of scientifi c publications on the history of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra and Sergievski Posad. His works are widely used by present-day historians, but almost nothing is known about his life. Using archival sources has helped to reconstruct the biography of this learned monk. A. Lobovikov comes from the rural clergy of Vyatka diocese, received a systematic spiritual education and at the age of 23 decided to devote himself to the “vows of monastic life” in Trinity-Sergius monastery. From that moment on, his obedience was determined, this was work with manuscripts at the library of the Lavra. For several years, he successively passed through several stages of the monastic hierarchy: he was enrolled as a novice (1854), tonsured a monk (1856), ordained a hierodeacon (1858), and then a hieromonk (1860). In 1897, he was awarded a silver medal on the Alexander Ribbon to be worn on his chest in memory of the late Emperor Alexander III. The initial direction of the study of the history of the famous monastery was by the 1880s transformed into a study of Sergievski posad settlement that emerged from the villages and settlements surrounding the monastery. Until that moment, its history was in the shadow of the grandiose history of the Lavra and did not attract the attention of researchers. The articles of Hieromonk Arseny about the four parishes of the city were written with the involvement of a large number of sources, starting with legislative acts and princely charters, and ending with monastic clerical documentation and documents of the church population registration. They passed serious scientifi c testing in the Society of Russian History and Antiquities at the Moscow Imperial University and were published in its periodical, Readings. Hieromonk Arseny, born in the time of Emperor Nicholas I, lived during the reign of four monarchs and died in the time of Emperor Nicholas II. Before his death, he confessed and received communion, and after his death was buried in the monastery cemetery in the Lavra. His works are still in demand today.
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