English Anti-Catholicism of the XVII–XIX Centuries in Russian Historiography

The study examines the process of investigation of English anti-Catholicism in the XVII–XIX centuries in Russian historiography. The aim of the study is to delineate the main stages in the scholarly treatment of anti-Catholicism and to characterize their specific features. Three stages of research are distinguished: the pre-1917 period, the Soviet period, and the modern period. Pre-revolutionary Russian historians (N.I. Kareev, A.N. Savin) in their writings touched upon the problems of Anticatholicism indirectly, in connection with the analysis of religious aspects of the revolutions of the XVII century. In Soviet times, the emphasis was on the study of socio-political issues, and the study of anti-Catholicism receded into the background. Starting from the 1990s, the situation began to change. A considerable number of articles have appeared by such authors as T.L. Labutina, L.V. Sidorenko, E.P. Makarov, M.S. Stetckevich, V.N. Erokhin who examined various manifestations of Anticatholicism, emphasizing the importance of its role in English history. The significant expansion of the source base and the overcoming of ideas about the secondary importance of religious and political issues open up prospects for new research.