The consecration and chirotesia. Legislative regulation of the appointment is sacred-and clergymen in the XVIII - early XX centuries and the practice of representation in the office (on the materials of the State archive in Tobolsk)

The choice was based on the fact that a fundamental change in cultural, political and economic situation in our country, the transformation of social relations and social consciousness at the turn of XX-XXI centuries brought the problem of preservation, use and protection of objects of cultural heritage. And documents of the Russian Orthodox Church is recognized as one of these objects. In this regard, the relevant is the study of information features of documents of the Russian Orthodox Church, including documentation of parish churches, which are a valuable historical source not only about the Church but about the state as a whole. The aim of the study is the analysis of normative legal acts, regulating the appointment to places (churches and Church agencies) of sacred- and clergymen in the XVIII - early XX centuries, as well as the identification of a package of documents accompanying the process of appointment of the clergy. Main documentary basis of our study constitute the materials of the State archive in Tobolsk. Important sources are the materials of Certification office. They presented petitions of candidates for the sacred- or clergy places, materials about their ordination and laying on of hands. These materials allow us to trace what requirements for the candidates for the priest, deacon or Church readers place, what were the conditions and procedure for receiving Holy orders. A special kind of source - legislative acts, which have not only legal value, primarily legislative acts of the Central government, in particular, the Holy governing Synod, and published “Complete collection of laws of Russian Empire”. During the reign of the Holy Synod (1700-1917) the government by its legal and normative acts controlled all aspects of life of the Russian Orthodox Church, including the appointment of clergymen. In the XVIII - early XX centuries the appointment of sacred- and clergymen was regulated by decrees of the Senate and Synod. A large number of normative legal acts stipulated rules of ordination and laying on of hands. Publishing of most decisions falls on the XVIII - beginning of XIX centuries later, to the beginning of XX centuries almost did not appear in the new laws and continued to operate previously approved orders. The appointment of alergyman to the sacred office was quite a complicated procedure and executed a significant set of documents. As it could be seen from cases of “ordination”, the main document was a candidate's petition for the “ordination” (the document initiating the case), the interview and the oath. This documentation is important for genealogy, documental research and researches on historical geography, like other Church documents, which preserve the memory of the lives of individuals, families, parishes, dioceses and people, the country as a whole.

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