The Synod and the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Public Education in 1817–1824

The article is devoted to the reform of the management of the spheres of education and religion, undertaken in the Russian Empire in the 19th century, between 1817 and 1824. The reform affected the Holy Synod, introducing changes in the structure of administration of religious affairs. An attempt was made to administratively reorganize the supreme body of the Russian Church and to establish an integrated Ministry of Religious Affairs and Public Education, in charge of education and affairs of all religions of the Russian Empire. The unification of such different spheres of government ultimately led to the failure of the reorganization and the return of the state administration of these spheres to its original position. The article develops the provisions of the report made at the International Scientific Conference “The Holy Synod in the History of Russian Statehood” in St. Petersburg on May 26, 2016.