Abstract: The subject of this article is the public and parliamentary discussions concerning the issue of the withdrawal of bishops belonging to the Church of England from among the ranks of legislators. The object of this study is the course of these discussions, their connection with the overall political context, and the arguments of the supporters of the idea of excluding prelates from parliament. The discussion was most often conducted within the framework of the general debate on church reform which had been developing since the 1780s and which became particularly relevant in the 1830s when the position of the Church was undermined by three acts of the "constitutional revolution". The aim of this work is to investigate how the idea of excluding bishops from the House of Lords appeared in English journalism, press and parliamentary debates of 1830-1840, to examine the arguments of its supporters, and to reveal its connection with the political life of the period. The methodological basis of this work are the principles of historicism and scientific objectivity, and other specific scientific methods: the historical-genetic and the historical-typological approaches. The goal itself set before the author determines the scientific novelty of the article. Some sources are utilized for the first time in Russian historiography. The author comes to the conclusions that: the idea of excluding bishops from the House of Lords was closely connected to the idea of reducing the influence of the executive power on the parliament; it was defended by appealing to both religious and political arguments, as well as through historical arguments and appeals to public opinion; it was used as an instrument of political pressure on prelates during the "constitutional revolution"; it was not supported by the government and did not have strong support among the legislators of that time.

Keywords: economical reform, parliamentary reform, Lords Spiritual, House of Lords, British Parliament, the episcopacy, Church of England, church reform, the constitutional revolution, anticlericalism

Abstract: The subject of this study are the negotiations with the government of the Russian Empire and the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian army held in the summer and autumn of 1916 by two representatives of the Czech-Slovak National Council: a deputy from the Czech Agrarian Party, Josef Durich, and a citizen of the French Republic, Milan Rastislav Stefanik, a Slovak by birth. The author pays particular attention to the contacts of these politicians with Emperor Nicholas II and officials of the foreign political and military departments of the Russian Empire. The author also examines in detail another important aspect of this topic: the position of the Russian side regarding the issue of the transfer of Austro-Hungarian prisoners of war of Czech and Slovak origin to the Western Front. The variety of sources on this topic made it possible to apply the historical-genetic method of research, which has allowed to identify the successive stages in the process of the formation and development of the issue of sending Czech-Slovak prisoners of war from the Russian Empire to France. The use of the historical-comparative method made it possible to compare the projects of Russian military and diplomats in solving the question of the participation of prisoners of war in combat operations on the fronts of the First World War. The scientific novelty of this study lies in its use of historical sources previously inaccessible to researchers. These are documents on the process of the formation of the Czech-Slovak corps in Russia. Of particular interest among these sources are the memoirs of J. Durich and M. Jeanin, which have rarely been used in scientific works. The use of these materials made it possible to evaluate the activities of Durich and Stefanik in the Russian Empire in 1916. The author's examination has allowed him to come to the conclusion that the latter's trip to Russia is undoubtedly crucial for the further resolution of the issue of creating an autonomous Czech-Slovak army on the Western Front.

Keywords: Kiev Agreement, prisoners of war, Czech-Slovak army, Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, military department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Council of Ministers, France, Russian Empire, First World War

Abstract: This article is devoted to the analysis of the social composition and labor structure of the repressed population in the Altai and Oirot Autonomous Oblast in the period from December 1934 to July 1937. On the basis of the available information concerning the types of labor given to the repressed population and the data of the 1939 census, the author developed and analyzed the classification of labor divided into social groups and professional categories. The subject of this study is the social structure of the repressed population in the two regions under consideration on the basis of the developed classification. The author proves the thesis that during the period under study the overwhelming majority of the repressed population were peasants and workers - ordinary Soviet citizens. The article uses general historical methods (historical-comparative method, analysis, structural method) and quantitative methods (statistical analysis) for the examination of this topic. Based on the author's classification of the labor categories of the repressed population, the conducted analysis showed that the total percentage of repressed workers employed in collective farm constructions and petty employees was 66.7% and 68.8% for the Altai and Oirot Autonomous Oblast, respectively. Contrary to the existing opinion in scientific literature on repression as a form of "social cleansing", among "socially dangerous elements" the percentage of repressed people contrary to Soviet society is much smaller, which confirms the thesis put forward by the author during the period under study.

Keywords: Oirot Autonomous Region, classification of employment, USSR population census, social groups, labor structure, Memorial database, books of memory, employment statistics, Altai Region, political repressions

Abstract: The research subject of this article is the gender and age structure and demographic situation of the Golden Horde populations in the Lower Volga region. The author considers the ratio of men and women in this population, as well as the number of burials of children. Additionally, the author determines the general age of survival for men and women and identifies the peak age of mortality. The author also highlights the average life expectancy of the studied population and calculates the ratio of the adult to child population. And finally, the author carries out an osteometric study of the child and adolescent population during the period of the Golden Horde and determines the main age cohorts and mortality peaks specific to this child population. The methodology applied in this work corresponds to the methods of paleodemography. The whole of the anthropological material is divided into five-year age intervals, on the basis of which the tables of mortality are built. The last age group is 50 or more years (50+). The author conducted an osteometric study of a child and adolescent sample. This group was divided into five age cohorts. In this study, for the first time in a scientific literature, the data on infant mortality during the Golden Horde era on the territory of the Lower Volga region is presented. The information obtained during the course of this research demonstrates the sequence of extinction of a certain simultaneously born generation. Mortality tables reflect patterns of mortality change in population groups with similar extinction order. The presented work gives the possibility to analyze the mortality curves, built on the data of survival tables. During the course of research, the author identified the average age of mortality for different population groups. For the first time in scientific studies, the characteristics of the child and adolescent cohorts of the Golden Horde population are given.

Keywords: demography, population, peak mortality, life expectancy, osteometry, cohorts, children, Golden Horde, infant mortality, anthropology

Abstract: The aim of this article is to review the activities of veterinary expeditions on the prevention, research, localization, and elimination of northern reindeer diseases (species Rangifer tarandus) under the conditions of extreme everyday life in the Berezovsky Uyezd in the beginning of the 20th century. In this case, the urgency manifested itself in the complex natural and climatic environment of this region and the frequent unavoidable contacts with infected animals. Moreover, the expeditionary activity in its specifics carries extreme features with elements of deprivation and force majeure. Throughout the 19th century, almost every decade, epizootics took place, which caused serious damage to the economy of the region under study. Only at the beginning of the 20th century was scientific research on the cases of domestic deer in the Bereza Uyezd was conducted using equipment, technologies, and specialists. The methodological approach of this study includes the methods of the local approach, the subject of which is the Berezovsky Uyezd as an isolated region in connection with its local periphery. The systemic approach identifies reality as a system of interrelated and interacting objects. The results of this study are reflected in the conclusions, the main of which are the following: before 1917, the Bereza Uyezd of the Tobolsk Governorate lacked not only a veterinary network but also elementary veterinary control; numerous epizootics and their large-scale consequences in the Bereza Uyezd in the late 19th - early 20th centuries had a decisive influence on the formation of the first scientific expeditions; thanks to the expeditions of 1912-1913 important discoveries were made in the field of bacteriology, zoology, anatomy, medicine, all of which allowed to organize a stationary veterinary system on the territory of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug and to minimize the likelihood of new outbreaks of diseases.

Keywords: Tobolsk province, autochthonous, anthrax, extreme daily, Berezovsky district, reindeer, epizootics, expedition, veterinary science, agriculture

Abstract: In the presented article the subject of research is the source study of notes on books. The object of this research is the notes on old-printed Cyrillic script books that contain references to representatives of the Stroganov family. This article is a continuation of the author's previous article on the Stroganov family which demonstrated the systemic and completeness of information that book notes contain. In this new article, the author shows the contribution by representatives of the Stroganov family not only to the book culture of Russia in general, but also to the education of their peasants, servants, and so on, in particular. The article's research method consists in the search and analysis of notes on books in the old-printed Cyrillic script mentioning the Stroganovs, as well as their inclusion in the necessary socio-cultural context of the era. To a large extent, the attitude of the Stroganovs towards books set an example to others. Not without reason, the servers of the most active contributors (Nikita and Grigory Stroganov) themselves proved to be active contributors. In the 18th century, the Stroganovs withdrew from the practice of active contribution, but the relay was caught by their "people". The fate of the books that were the contributions of both the Stroganovs and their "people" can be truly considered a historical and cultural "cut".

Keywords: notes on books, old-printed Cyrillic, book culture, genealogy, social history, churches, monasteries, source studies, archaeography, Stroganovs

Abstract: In this article, for the first time in historiographical literature, the author identifies small wooden blocks with marks and some playing boards divided into fields as Medieval games. These objects were discovered during excavations in Novgorod inside the strata from the turn of the 10th - 11th centuries up to the middle of the 13th century. The closest analogies to these objects were found among the pieces for the Scandinavian "game-race with direct combat" of Daldos and Sahkka, known from the 19th century in Denmark, Norway and in the north of Finland through the study of ethnographers. By applying the comparative method to the archaeological and ethnographic sources, the author was able to establish that the examined blocks from Novgorod, being playing dice, and the game boards both belonged to a game that was close in nature to those of the other regions. Most scientists tie the origin of the Daldos and Sahkka games to the territory of the Middle East, from where it got to Scandinavia. However, there is no consensus opinion about the way these games were distributed North. The findings from Novgorod support the hypothesis of the introduction of Daldos and Sahkka into Northern Europe along the river routes of Eastern Europe at the end of the Viking Age. In Novgorod, this game took root, it was adapted and existed from the turn of the 10th - 11th centuries up to the middle of the 13th century.

Keywords: definition of artefacts, sahkku, daldøs, gaming boards, gaming dices, board games, Scandinavia, Medieval Novgorod, wooden objects, objects with marks

Abstract: The Socio-Economic Crisis in the Nizhny Novgorod Governorate and its Role in the Loss of Legitimacy of the New Democratic Government during the Period of February-October 1917 (Based on the Materials of the Press of Nizhny Novgorod)The subject of this study is the particular features of the social and economic crisis in the Nizhny Novgorod governorate between February and October 1917, as well as its influence on the level of confidence and the legitimacy of the new democratic power among the governorate's population. On the whole, the revolutionary euphoria that prevailed in the governorate and the spontaneously formed popular consensus provided a huge opportunity for the new government to become truly legitimate. The aim of this article is to establish: why in October the population of Nizhny Novgorod turned their backs on the new democratic government, which was enthusiastically welcomed only eight months previously. The study is based on the main methodological principles of historical science: historicism, objectivity and the social approach to historical phenomena. In addition, concrete historical methods were used: logical, comparative-historical, and problem-chronological. As the principal source for the study of this topic, for the first time in scientific literature, the materials of local periodicals were used. Their analysis allowed the author to more accurately assess the socio-economic and political situation in the named governorate between February and October 1917, the mood of the population, to identify the main factors behind the failure of the economic and, above all, food policy of the authorities of Nizhny Novgorod. The authors come to the conclusion that local authorities during March-October 1917, having become hostage to the inability of the Provisional Government to solve the two main issues for peasants - land and food -, and unable to cope with the socio-economic problems nor with the public chaos and anarchy in the governorate, lost the support and trust of the citizens of Nizhny Novgorod.

Keywords: diarchy, systemic crisis, economic crisis, food crisis, social stratification, legitimacy of power, Nizhny Novgorod governorate, October Revolution, February Revolution, Great Russian Revolution

Abstract: The research subject of this study is the "Periplus of the Baltic Sea", a text by Laskaris Kananos, who was the first Byzantine to travel to the countries of Northern Europe and who left a brief description of his trip. From the end of the 19th century, when this text was discovered and published, and up to today scientists dispute the time of its creation. There are several variants of the dating of this text in historiography, the most recognized of which is 1438-1439, the beginning of the Ferrara-Florence council. The article examines in detail all existing hypotheses, each of which has its drawbacks. The author sets as his goal the establishment of a new, supported by the source itself, dating of the "Periplus of the Baltic Sea". The main scientific method of this article is to compare the information contained in the text with the historical realities of the Baltic countries during the 15th century with the perceptions of the Byzantine contemporaries of this region. By identifying the similarities and differences, the author determined the degree of originality of the message of the Byzantine traveler and the approximate period to which it corresponds. The main contribution of the author to the study of this topic is the establishment of a new dating of the text of Laskaris Kananos. The most probable time for a Byzantine to have traveled to the Baltic countries is 1442-1448 or 1457-1466. Given the approximate time required to return from the trip and to write the essay, the source can be finally dated to the 1440s-early 1450s or 1460s.

Keywords: Laonikos Chalkokondyles, Gemistus Pletho, Claudius Ptolemy, periplus, medieval geography, Baltics, Scandinavia, Byzantium, John Kananos, Laskaris Kananos

Abstract: The research subject of this study is the negotiations on supplying Italian aircrafts and aircraft material to the USSR in the period from 1939 to May 1941. The aim of this work is to study the little-known in Russia aspects of the Soviet Union's relations with Italy in the field of aviation. Much attention in the article is paid to the analysis of Italian archival sources. An attempt is made to show the importance of further examining this topic in light of the current development of cooperation between Russia and Italy in the sphere of culture and economy. The methodological base of this study is grounded on the principles of historicism, objectivity, and systematics. Particular attention is paid to the application of the interdisciplinary approach to the study of Soviet-Italian relations in the field of aviation. For this purpose, this work utilized the historical-genetic and comparative-historical methods, which make it possible to reveal the general and particular aspects in the patterns of the development of Soviet-Italian relations in the field of aviation in the period under study. This work presents an important scientific novelty, due primarily to the source base used. The author draws new archival documents in Italian from the Central State Archives of Rome (Italy), which have not been previously studied by researchers from Russia. The author draws the conclusion that, contrary to popular opinion, during the period under study, neither the ideological antagonism nor even the Second World War that began in Europe became an obstacle to the negotiations on supplying aircrafts and aircraft equipment to the USSR, and transport of raw materials to Italy from the USSR, because, in all likelihood, Italy's economic cooperation with the Soviet Union did not directly depend on the latter's relations with Germany.

Keywords: Boris Efimovich Stein, Galeazzo Ciano, Italo Balbo, Benito Mussolini, Italian planes, aviation history, Italy, USSR, the State Archives of Rome, Soviet-Italian relations

Abstract: The subject of this research is the unique veneration of certain icon images by Old Believers in the Ural region at the end of the 18th century.Orthodox priests, who were sent on an «expedition» in 1780, surveyed several villages of the Chelyabinsk Ecclesiastical District. Their task was to expose "indecent icons" and to record them in a special "Register". At the time, the term «indecent icons» stood for not only icons "unskillfully painted", but also for icons "painted with schismatic folly". This is why the priests focused particular attention on the icons they found in the homes of Old Believers.This article is based on the principles of historicism and objectivity, while the methodological base of the research is grounded on the historical-genetic method, the content of which I. D. Kovalchenko identified as "a consistent disclosure of the properties, functions, and changes of the studied reality in the process of its historical movement, which makes it possible to approach the reproduction of the real history of the object".On the basis of the above-mentioned "Register", the author of the present article has composed a table showing the frequency of certain icon narratives. In a total of 123 homes in 11 villages, 258 painted icons were discovered. Among these particular icon narratives clearly predominated: «the Resurrection of Christ and Descent into Hell» (78 images, 30.2%), the Theotokos «Joy of All Mourners» (39 images, 15.1%), and St Nicholas the Miracle-Worker (16 images, 6.2%). The author comes to the conclusion that the only explanation of the popularity of these icons is in terms of their "multifunctionality". The uneducated populace venerated a particular icon not only as an object of worship but also as an intercessor from various evils and an aide in various conflicts in life. Using both ethnographical material and new data, the author demonstrates how icon images were interpreted in popular consciousness and what hopes the population of the Ural region placed on them in the 18th century.

Keywords: cult of saints, popular interpretation, multifuctionality of icons, Ural, Chelyabinsk District, Resurrection of Christ, Theotokos, St Nicholas, Old Believers, indecent icons

Abstract: The research subject of this article is one of the most important factors of the Swedish emigration to America in the second half of the 19th century: religion. The research object under study is the Swedish emigrants who left their homeland specifically for religious motives. The author examines in detail such aspects of the topic as pietistic movements and religious contradictions in Swedish society that indicate a certain kind of split within the Church of Sweden, which was closely tied to the social life of the country. Particular attention is focused on the role of religious "pioneers" and their contribution to the overall course of the Swedish emigration. The methodological basis of this work is the chronological and problematic approaches, as well as the method of new historical demography which has made it was possible to link social processes with demographic ones. The author comes to the conclusion that religious motives in the Swedish emigration came to nothing only after the reforms adopted by the state in the 1870s. The freedom granted to citizens from then on erased the existing disagreements within the Swedish society. The novelty of this study lies in that the author highlights religion out of all the reasons for emigration among the Swedish population.

Keywords: janssonists, läsare, revivalism, Swedish religion movements, Swedish migration causes, USA emigration, migration, Sweden, Augustana Synod, Swedish Church

Abstract: The subject of this research is the conflict situation in South Ossetia in 1989-1991, while the object of research is the policy and activity of the South-Ossetian movement "Adamon Nykhas". The author examines in detail such aspects of the subject as the ethnic composition of the area at the time of the tension escalation, the driving forces of the Ossetian national movement, and also the battle tactics for achieving the goals set by the leaders of "Adamon Nykhas". Special attention is paid to the ideological component in the rhetoric of the movement, as well as to studying the situation without touching upon the questions concerning Ossetian war, a more traditional subject in historiography. The methodological basis of this research is the comparative-historical approaches within the framework of which the activity of the movement "Adamon Nykhas" is investigated at different stages of the development of the ethnopolitical situation. The main conclusions of the conducted research are the following two main consequences: first, despite the difficult economic, political and humanitarian situation in the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast, the movement consistently pursued the aim to consolidate society in the aspiration to assert the rights of the autonomous region. Secondly, to overcome the information vacuum in the policy of the leadership of the USSR regarding the South Ossetia question, seeking not to allow the spread of chauvinistic sentiments in the region. The article's particular contribution to the study of this subject is the possibility of using the presented material when developing courses in the field of conflictology and ethnopsychology. In its turn, the novelty of this research lies in that the study of the activity of "Adamon Nykhas" remains a very little studied page in the history of the Georgian-Ossetian question.

Keywords: national movement, South Ossetia, Adamon Nykhas, Georgia, ethnopolicy, autonomous region, USSR, conflict situation, nationalism, national sovereignty

Abstract: The research subject of this article is the participation of two categories of rulers with the titles of Hou and Bo in the ritual gift exchange and collection of tribute in the state of the Shang-Yin. The author compares the data of synchronous sources (inscriptions on oracle bones) regarding taxes on the part of the hou and bo, and evaluates their quantitative ratio. Particular attention is focused on the group of inscriptions concerning the "taking" of bo (取伯), which are usually interpreted by Chinese researchers as pertaining to the levying of tribute from conquered leaders of peripheral polities. Unlike the majority of researchers, the author uses only those inscriptions that specifically refer to a certain hou or bo (where the title is indicated), which thus avoids inaccuracies in the analysis of data, since the interpretation of many oracle inscriptions is ambiguous. The article's main conclusions are that the inscriptions pertaining to the "taking of bo" recount the capture of Bo, and not to the collection of tribute, and therefore we have no reason to assert that the degree of economic exploitation of the bo was higher. A sufficiently large number of inscriptions on offerings from the hou permit us to affirm only that there existed more intensive links (not only economic, but also political and ritual) between the hou and the king, but not that there was an economic exploitation as such since the exchange of resources was two-sided.

Keywords: Chinese excavated texts, Shang dynasty, Yin dynasty, Chinese feudalism, Ancient China, tribute, oracle bone inscriptions, Chinese history, early state, bronze age China