Penza serif line: history of creation and study

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the history of the study of the Penza fortress line, which accounts for more than two and a half centuries, but has not yet become the subject of historiographical analysis. There are three main stages can be distinguished in the study. The interest to the fortifications of the saddle line appeared in the last quarter of the XVIII century, when the information about them appeared in the notes of travelers and writers: P.S. Pallas, P.I. Sumarokov. Since the second half of the XIX century archivists and regional ethnographers began to collect archival documents on the Penza fortification line. Their efforts were aimed at localizing the earth ramparts, establishing the time of creation of military settlements, and publishing the texts of ancient acts. Along with documents, they used the data of legends and local legends. The beginning of the second stage refers to the middle of the XX century, when the studies of the Penza fortification line acquired a systematic character. V.I. Lebedev becomes its main researcher. Along with a wide use of the archival data, he turned to the field research, which allowed to fill the gaps in the documents, lost as the result of fires in the archives of the Prikaz Kazan Palace. Great work in search of the ancient acts was carried out by Penza archivists and local historians: G.V. Eremin, S.L. Shishlov and V.M. Sharakin in publication’s preparation: «The Fortress-City of Penza», by order of the Second Secretary of Penza Regional Committee of the CPSU G.V. Myasnikov. As a result of common efforts, the fortifications of the Penza Line were localized on the ground, the exact dates of their construction were established, and the composition of the servicemen was determined. The results of the research were summarized in the two editions of V.I. Lebedev’s monographs of 1986 and 2006. At present the studies of fortifications of serfdom are carried out mainly by archaeological methods, but their results are rather modest.