Relationship of the vyg-leksa common community with the state in the first quarter of the eighteenth century

The state policy towards the Old Believers in the early XVIII century acquired a pragmatic character, which allowed the largest northern community of the Old Believers to legalize its settlement. On the basis of the Vyg charters and documents of official character, an attempt is made for the first time to study the principles of communication between the Vyg settlement and the outside world represented by the state. In order to avoid persecution and devastation of their settlement the leaders of the Vyg community made a compromise with the state authorities. The decisive moment in the implementation of the Old Believers’ plans for their community legalization was a good geographical location of the Vyg common community, which neighbored the area where strategically important factories were built and iron ore and copper deposits were developed. The article discusses the issues of how the Vyg community memberes positioned themselves before the secular authorities, and what structures within their organization they had to create. It is emphasized that the creation of the zemstvo system of administration was the result of the forced contact with the outside world. The desires to preserve their faith and survive in the new conditions were the main motivations of the Old Believers.