Abstract: This article examines the historical and theological aspects of evolution of the two different practices at the Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts in the XIV – XX centuries. Relevance of this topic is substantiated by the recently emerged polemics on correspondence of these practices with the Apostolic Tradition and Patristic Heritage. An attempt is made to consider the historical context alongside the development of two different practices at the Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts in the XIV – XX centuries. The goal of this work is the analysis of the historical and theological documents of the indicated timeframe concerning the topic at hand, as well as the historical-theological materials of the matter. A conclusion is made that in the XIV – XX centuries, the Orthodox East retained the established practice to drench Holy Bread in the blood of Christ, which takes its roots from the undistorted Apostolic Tradition and the tradition of the Eastern Orthodox Churches. Although successionally, the preceding canonists did not recognize such action, which once again is unambiguously proven in the “Pidalion” by Nicodemus the Hagiorite. But the XX century has marked the emergence of some new Greek publications that acknowledge the tradition of soaking the Holy Bread in the blood of Christ at the Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified that must be considered as derogation from the canons and Apostolic Tradition.

Keywords: transubstantiation, history of Christianity, Orthodox theology, Nicholas Cabasilas, Simeon Of Thessalonica, Professor Uspensky, Smirnov-Platonov, fathers of the Church, Of The Presanctified Gifts, Liturgy

Abstract: This article is dedicated to the estimation of gnoseological importance of identification of the determinant role of the Russian political elites of Modern Time in terms of institutionalization of the Russian autocracy and establishment of the supra-estate political regime of authoritarian type. Based on the synthesis of the political legal, sociocultural and micro-historical approaches towards studying the carriers of legal information of the period of the state legal reforms of Peter the Great, the author is able to trace the evolution of his theoretical views upon the nature and concept of the nominal decrees. The author believes that the focus of Tsar aimed at activation of the regime of lawfulness was a result of interaction between the “patrimonial” traditionalism, penetration onto the Russian soil of the theoretical-legal constructs of the European Enlightenment based on the doctrine of state paternalism, and the pressing need of political practice in establishment of the model of the professional legal consciousness of officialdom founded on the ideal of the “public good”. On the example of reconstruction of the doctrinal bases underlying the separate decrees of legislative character, aimed at modernization of the political legal and administrative practice of the Russian State of the studied period, the conclusion is made their paternalistic orientation was mediated by the idea on the absence of legal limitations of the will of autocratic monarch, common to an old-Moscovian[WU1]  legal consciousness affected by a set of historical and sociocultural factors. Thus, the pragmatic interest of the ruling elite towards the consolidation of law and lawfulness encouraged not only the exaltation of monarch over the nationals and formation of the supra-estate model of authoritarian political regime, but also the contributed to the development of legal nihilism at the various social levels, which by the beginning of 1720’s got tired of the costs of Peter the Great’s modernization and the cause by it crisis of the political system of Russian Empire.  [WU1]

Keywords: the legal consciousness of the elite, institutions of autocracy, authoritarian political regime, the reforms of Peter I, political and legal approach, historical and legal science, personal and ideological factor, the rule of law, legal nihilism, the supra-estate monarchy

Abstract: The relationship between the government and Masonic lodges have always aroused genuine multifaceted interest. The goal of this research is to provide a historiographical analysis to the enclosure “Lit. A” to the note of special clergy of the Police Ministry. The author establishes the authenticity of the source and precision of the data contained within, as well as the year, title, legal value, purpose, completeness and meaning of the source. The foundation for this study served the works on the source started by V. I Semevsky, G. V. Vernadsky and A. I. Serkov. The author compares the rules of 1811 and the Decree of Prussian King of 1798; demonstrates the meaning of the rules for the legislative regulation of the activity of Mason lodges; and provides the historiographical analysis of the rules of 1811. The introduction of rules served as an example of the Russian version of modernization of the legislative regulation of Masonry.

Abstract: The subject of this research is the historical role of the Russian Academy of Sciences in academic exploration of the near-Arctic territories of the European North of Russia during the 1920’s and 1930’s. The author analyzes the sociopolitical reforms that led to inclusion of the Academy of Sciences into the Soviet industrial-political project. Special attention is given to the expeditionary work of the Academy of Sciences that unfolded in the 1920’s – 1930’s on the territories of Kola Peninsula and Northern Krai and led to a number of discoveries, valuable for the development of separate disciplines and geography overall, as well as nature and population of the northern territories of the country. The article proves that the industrial development of the North within the framework of industrial modernization of the country is considered one of the tasks that was proclaimed by the Bolshevik authorities and “imposed” upon the Soviet Academy of Sciences. The academic community of the country proposed and implemented a number of interdisciplinary promising projects on the Kola Peninsula and Northern Krai that resulted in discovery of the immense mineral deposits in the European North, opening the vast prospects for the economic and cultural development and potential status of one of the important economic regions of the country.    

Keywords: Pechora Brigade, Kola Complex Expedition, European North of Russia, industrial development, USSR Academy of Sciences, scientific research, Polar Commission, Kola Peninsula, Northern Region, productive forces

Abstract: The subject of this research is the initial period of establishment of the hunting and fishing industry in the territories of northern Chita Region. The harsh climatic conditions and mountain-taiga landforms substantiated the specific development of the new economic branches, among which stood out the most ancient industry – hunting. The importance of the development of the riches fur resources encouraged the vigorous activity of Soviet people, and the subsequent collectivization led to the creation of regional system of planned use of all assigned to communal farms hunting areas. One of the urgent problems throughout the entire chronological timeframe examined in the article was the management of hunting labor, which affected all indexes of the extraction of down and fur raw materials. This article is the first to introduce into the scientific discourse of the previously unstudied archival materials from the State Archive of Zabaykalsky Krai, as well as the comprehensive approach towards examination of the problems of history of the development of hunting and fishing industry in the region. Based on a broad circle of sources, the author concludes on the erroneousness of the initial hunting establishment and its consequences.

Keywords: brigade, procuring office, technical support, fishing, pre-field exploration, preparation for fishing, organization of labor, hunting and fishing industry, personnel, fur and fur raw materials

Abstract: The subject of this research is the agrarian scientific heritage of the German Professor of Agriculture Carl Joseph Birnbaum, whose work “Guidance to Agriculture” achieved special prominence on Russia; the formation of surrounded him academic community and associated with it discourse; and the determination of scholar’s contribution into the development of agrarian science. The “Guidance to Agriculture” contains the theoretical bases of agricultural activity, and determination of important factors and circumstances affecting the progress of agriculture. Using the general scientific and special research methods, the authors note that C. Birnbaum through the profound retrospective analysis of the development of agrarian production of various peoples deduces the concept of the formation of state from the evolution of agriculture. A conclusion is made that the agrarian views of C. Birnbaum became a substantial breakthrough in establishment of the scientific methodology in agrarian sphere, as the questions discusses by the scholars and proposed for consideration within academic community of that time, remain relevant nowadays. Trying to develop his research strategy, C. Birnbaum analyzes the factors affecting the efficient agrarian production, among which he lists the labor, capital and land, as well as reasons on possibility of their mutually beneficial synthesis in the context of agricultural industry.

Keywords: agronomists, Thayer, agronomy, Germany, agricultural science, agriculture, Carl Birnbaum, history, agricultural education, agrarian production

Abstract: This article meticulously examines the current situation of the development of historical science, as well as the dynamics of its changes pertinent to the methods of acquisition and validation of the historical knowledge. Special attention is given to the questions of the methodology of history, particularly associated with the “digital turn”, as well as the reassessment of the role of specialization and professional knowledge within the historical community. Under the new circumstances, the teaching the discipline “Quantitative Methods in Historical Research” should assume new importance, and the course itself – the new content. The author comes to a conclusion that the process of professional education of a contemporary historian fundamentally relates to the formation of methodological knowledge of the future specialists, familiarization with the structure and multifacetedness of the modern methodological space within which currently exists the historical community. The updated course “Quantitative Methods in Historical Research” is addressed to a student, who expects to solve the heuristic tasks namely in the context of information society, where dimension will become the key instrument of cognition.

Keywords: quantitative data, mass historical data, datification, the dimension of the past, big data, the digital turn, methods of historical research, quantification, history department, Moscow State University

Abstract: The object of this research is the reward signs bestowed upon the students of secondary and higher education for academic achievements and behavior in prerevolutionary Russia (the late XVIII – the early XX centuries); stages of the establishment of reward system; marks of distinction, etc. The author underlines the versatility of educational rewards, their tangible values, as well as the value in case of employment. The authors review the mechanism of ensuring credibility of such rewards, as well as describes the particular marks of distinctions of the various higher education facilities (medals, rings, tokens, etc.). Based on analysis of the collected data with the use of historical-hermeneutic methodology, the work defines the origins, peculiarities and development stages of the rewards system. Determines its levels, and underlines the moral and material aspects. The authors systematize the records on the rewards of secondary and higher schools of Imperial Russia, turning attention to the holistic character of many of the marks of distinction (moral rewards, tangible rewards, sign of corporate solidarity). A conclusion is made on the merits of prerevolutionary rewards system due to the presence of tangible component, and advantages in recruiting for government service, etc.

Keywords: school, inducement, medal, Tsarist Russia, gymnasia, university, award system, education, jesuits, traditions

Abstract: The object of this research is the system of non-state higher education in Russia over the period from the late XIX until the early XX century. The subject is the history of organization of the private and public universities in prerevolutionary Russia. The author examines the emergence of educational facilities of the new type that received the title of people’s universities. This article helps to fill the gaps in the history of the national non-state education that emerged due to the long-term neglect in the Russian historiography of the questions regarding the functionality of the private higher education establishments. Moreover, during the Soviet period, multiple positive moments present in the prerevolutionary higher school, were consigned to oblivion. The history of evolution of the non-state higher education is viewed with consideration of the political, economic and sociocultural factors, which helps to understand the causes that affected the spread of such phenomenon in prerevolutionary Russia. The scientific novelty of this work lies in generalization of the historical path experienced by the non-state higher education in Russian over the period from the second half of the XIX until the firs decades of the XX century, involving the new previously unknown archival materials. Despite the insufficient knowledge of the private and public universities of the examined period, many of the scholars and educators had worldwide recognition due to their research in the breakthrough fields of knowledge, using the contemporary to that time methods. The first classical scientific schools originated within the private universities. The knowledge about the system of non-state higher education of prerevolutionary period is extremely relevant today, as over the two recent decades Russia observes the increase in the number of students of the non-state universities.

Keywords: reform of higher education, Society of People's Universities, democratization of education, enlightenment, People's Universities, non-state higher education, Higher Women's Courses, private initiative, pre-revolutionary Russia, University statutes

Abstract: This article is dedicated to one of the most complicated and paramount questions discussed at the 1917–18 Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church in terms of the political freedom, secularism and non-confessionalism of the state. Over the recent decade, this topic has repeatedly become a subject of attention of the national historians and theologians, but unfortunately never exceeded the scope of the empirically real side of the church, as a social institution, passing over its conceptual-mystical core – theocentricism, sociality and totality. The goal of this work is to demonstrate whether the Council had its own political and religious discourse based on the traditional social doctrine of the church that it “already” belongs to the Kingdom of God, developed the “middle way” in the church-state relationship and returned onto the “historical paths”. The analysis of the actions and decisions of the 1917–18 Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church allows concluding that despite the enticement of the “free theocracy” the Council still was under the thumb of the political moment and targeted the religious policy of the new state. Thus, the derived from the Council final document – “On the Legal Status of the Russian Orthodox Church” was based on the idea of mutual compromise and mutual restrictions, which the church addressed to the state. This was an attempt of the “militant church” to embark upon the path of mediation, correlativity of the mystical and rational, which in the Russian Orthodoxy and Russian Orthodox Church is one of the unique experiences of similar type.

Keywords: social teaching, cooperation, sobornost, concordat, secular state, theocracy, church state relations, Local Council, Russian revolution, theology of power