Clergy and Secular World: Everyday Life (St. Petersburg and Novgorod dioceses of the Second Half of the 19th Century)

The article discusses some aspects of the everyday life of Orthodox parishes in Novgorod and St. Petersburg provinces the second half of the 19th century Documents (the Archive of the Russian Ethnographic Museum, the Central State Historical Archive of St. Petersburg) used in the work, give the opportunity to see different facets of the relationship between clergy and laity, to assess the degree of religiosity of the peasants of the counties, to compare observations of the villagers and the opinions of the priest. The analysis of conflicts between clergy and parishioners shows the extremely important role of the economic factor, in the resolution of which both local and state government structures and spiritual authorities are involved. The article is an updated and revised version of the report presented at the round table “Life of an Orthodox parish: history as part of modernity”, organized by the Historical society of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy on February 22, 2019.