Nikitin, A. V. Antigovernment Activity of Representatives of the Orthodox Church in the Years of the First Russian Revolution: the Case Study of Church Proceedings

Abstract: The article is devoted to peculiarities of church proceedings on antigovernment activity of representatives of the Orthodox Church in the Russian Empire in the years of the fi rst Russian revolution (1905 – 1907). The present topic is understudied by historical sciences. Even though the repressive infl uence of the hierarchy on oppositional clerics is commonly known, a specifi c content of particular cases have been rarely a focus of attention of researchers and academicians. However, even though the current base of sources is insuffi cient to create a full picture, it still allows to progress in studying this phenomenon. Viewing the materials of court proceedings, the author of the present article compares approaches of different governmental institutions to the problem of suppressing anti-government activity of the priesthood and provides examples of behavior of priests in this crisis situation. According to the author, there was also the complex interaction between state authorities and church authorities (both central and eparchial ones). The Holy Synod played a decisive role in strengthening consistorial sentences in a number of cases. Uncertainty of criteria of political unreliability made participants of legal proceedings to use argument of subjective character. There were also cases when calumniatory claims were made with the intention to solve domestic problems for one’s benefi t in the parish.

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