On the issue of the aesthetics of the pre-Mongol Russia's ecclesiastical court (formulating the problem)

Recently, the problems of ecclesiastical court have attracted the attention of a wide range of researchers. However, among the many aspects of its activity, the question of the aesthetics and symbolism of the courts seems to be the least studied and developed. Moreover, this side of the trial is almost undeveloped in modern domestic historiography, even in relation to ordinary courts, while in pre-revolutionary Russian and Western European literature these questions were asked and received noteworthy answers. Meanwhile, researchers addressing the stated issues quite reasonably note that what happens during the trial goes far beyond the boundaries of law and endows both its participants and witnesses with a lot of emotions and, most importantly, meanings. Without taking into account this component of the process, its participants, procedures and decisions lose their value and lose their authority. Within the framework of this publication, an attempt was made to formulate and raise the issue of the aesthetics of the Church court in pre-Mongolian Russia. The article was written on the basis of the report presented at the conference «Church Law and Culture: Facets of Interaction» (SPbTA, 10/21/2022).