The Implementation of Peter the Great’s Church Policy in the Eastern Outskirts of the Russian Empire

Abstract

The church reform of Peter the Great was meant to exercise strict control over the church revenues and expenditures, as well as to heavily regulate parish life. In the outskirts of the empire this is clearly visible in the records of Eastern Siberia which was part of the Irkutsk diocese. Church construction was restricted. The government hoped that a decreasing number of churches would result in less spending by believers and a lessening of the parish clergy. In 1723 the Synod allowed to build new churches, without any special order, only in place of the burned and dilapidated ones, which was followed by a widespread ban on the construction of chapels. Peter the 1st limited the number of the non-pecuniary population, which included the clergy. Censorial (literacy, age) and staff (determined by the number of households in the parish) restrictions were introduced, as well as the system of control over the number of clergy (limiting access to its composition of the pecuniary population). Parish life was also regulated. Parishioners were required to attend temples regularly, to confess and commune, to partake in the Christian sacraments, to attend solemn services announced on various occasions, and to participate in public celebrations requiring attendance in church. In general, the church policy of Peter the Great was clearly aimed at gaining control over the process of church building, restraining the growth of the parish clergy, and formalizing parish life. The Synod became the organizer of this policy, and the episcopate became the guide.