“Statistical data on the number of clergy sentenced to punishment in the decade from 1893 to 1902”: information potential of the source and possibilities to use it, studying the orthodox clergy history of the late 19th - early 20th centuries

The article analyzes the archival document previously used by researchers of the Russian Church history of the late Synodal period when considering the issue of church proceedings and deviant behavior of clergy. This document is statistical tables compiled by N. Peretersky. When compiling this document, an attempt was made to show the number of clergy sentenced to punishment in the decade from 1893 to 1902. That is, the compilers set the goal to show the criminal atmosphere among the clergy, in the narrow sense, presenting it in the form of statistical tables. In this case, the following questions arise: how reliable are the data provided in them? What range of crimes does the document under analysis cover? What information potential does it have? To answer the questions above, the data obtained from the analysis of the document discussed are verified by means of another group of sources - reports on the clergy sentenced to punishment in 1893-1902, which were submitted by the secretaries of the Chernigov Clerical Consistory. Based on the comparison of the information on crimes of the clergy of Chernigov diocese in both types of sources, the degree of reliability of “Statistical data…” by N. Peretersky is determined, as well as the possibility of using these statistical tables in studying the history of church proceedings and clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church in the late 19th - early 20th centuries.