Diocesan Bishops in the Second Half of the 19th and Early 20th Centuries as Heads of Theological Seminaries in Their dioceses (Based on the Example of the Vologda Diocese)

The Statute of 1867 for theological seminaries defined that a diocesan bishop was “the head of the theological schools in his diocese”. Bishops had the highest supervision over the implementation of the Statute’s provisions in seminaries, regularly visited them and paid much attention to all the management’s details. Significant extension of diocesan bishops’ powers with respect to seminaries can be traced even after introducing the Statute of 1884. This article attempts to consider the significance of the diocesan bishops’ activities in the Vologda Diocese in the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries in relation to the Vologda Theological Seminary. The sources for the research were the materials of the Russian State Historical Archive (RSHA), the State Archive of the Vologda Region (SAVR), as well as an important source of a private character — a diary of the Vologda Theological Seminary’s graduate Nikifor Ilyinsky, who worked as an assistant inspector at his native theological school for more than 30 years. These materials have been introduced into the scientific circulation for the first time. The materials of the regional periodical press were used as additional sources.