Statistical accounting of old believers in the Ryazan diocese in the Synodal period

One of the important components of the study of the history of the Old Believers is the analysis of statistical data. Statistics helps to identify periods of growth or decline of the Old Believer population in a particular area and determine the causes that influence this phenomenon. In full, this thesis can be attributed to the analytical study of the life of the Ryazan Old Believers, especially since the Ryazan land was no exception for the settlement of its territory by the Old Believer communities. The Old Believers, in spite of the opposition of the state, led a full-fledged communal life, built prayer houses, supported their scribes and priests. If the religious and everyday side of the Ryazan Old Believers is currently being systematically studied, then there are no generalizing works on the study of the statistical dynamics of the development of the Old Believers in the Ryazan diocese during the Synodal period. In addition, a huge array of sources has now been accumulated, in which there are statistical data. These are “Reviews of the Ryazan province”, “Reports of the diocesan bishops to the Holy Synod”, “Reports of the Brotherhood of St. Basil, Bishop of Ryazan. The last source should be singled out separately, since one of the tasks of the Brotherhood of St. Vasily (St Basil), there was a mission among the Old Believers and the collection of statistics helped the members of the missionary organization to monitor their achievements in missionary work. The article is written on the basis of unpublished and published archival sources, some of which are being introduced into scientific circulation for the first time.