Миряне вологодской и великоустюжской епархии перед лицом «внезапной смерти»

Abstract

The article is dedicated to lay people who died an "unexpected death", in other words, those who did not have possibility to make confession before their death. In this heterogeneous group, the composition of which underwent certain changes in the early modern period, were those who drowned or were killed by lightning as well as victims of robbers, and, of course, suicides. Christian burial was possible for them only after a positive decision by the diocesan bishop, which the latter took either after a detailed study of the case by the parish priest or based on the results of a petition submitted by relatives of the deceased (for suicides, such a positive decision could be made if it turned out that the suicide was committed in madness). Of course, the main task of the researcher was to obtain direct and indirect evidence of suicides. The data on Vologda analyzed in the article relates to the 17th century, that for Veliky Ustyug concerns the 18th century. Despite the fact that suicide was criminalized in secular law in the 1715 Military article, the 17th-century Vologda cases turn out to be similar to the 18th-century Veliky Ustyug ones. In both cases, the parish clergy preferred to "negotiate" with the families of the victims, which minimized the number of refusals to Christian burial.