Deviant behavior of the rural clergy and its effects on peasant community in the second half of the 19th – early 20th century (in the Tobolsk governorate)

The article is aimed to assess deviant behavior of the rural clergy and its effects on peasant community in the Tobolsk governorate in the second half of the 19th-early 20th century. Archives of the State Archive of the Kurgan region such as the Fund of the Tobolsk Consistory and funds of churches of the Kurgansky uyezd as well as the information published in “Tobolskie eparhialnye vedomosti” [Tobolsk Eparchial Journal] were used as a source of research. It sets the following objectives: to make analysis of the main deviations in the rural clergy behavior and to identify effects of these deviations on the relationship between the clergy and rural community. The modernization of Russia had a serious impact on the rise of official misconduct, delinquency and even crimes among the country clergymen. Drinking was the main type of deviation among rural clergy, though the clergy was the least drinking estate as compared to other estates of the Russian Empire. However, the archival documents provide evidence that the main subject of litigation in the Tobolsk Consistory were proceedings related to insobriety. The reasons for the spread of drunkenness among the clergy were very different: from material insecurity and personal family troubles to ordinary illness and the impact of the rural life. The article proves evidence that all other deviations of legal behavior of the clergy were largely due to their insobriety. It had a serious negative impact on the church authority and prestige, both in general and in relations with the rural community. However, in the second half of the 19th - early 20th century, in the period of destroying traditional values, the peasant community very often sought a solution in alcohol abuse. The authors cite a quite significant number of examples of misconduct and abuse by the rural clergymen, both in the clergy and in education, controlled by the church. The authors also note that a judicial system of the church was subjective, defective and prone to conceal deviations of the clergy. The deviant behavior of the rural clergy made the relationship between the “shepherds” and the “flocks” more complicated and resulted in an increased number of conflict situations between them. In conclusion, the authors consider that secularization, one of modernization components, along with the deviations of the clergy had a significant effect on the growth of religious indifferentism of the peasantry in the Russian Empire. During the 1920s and 1930s, the Russian Orthodox Church lost its leadership in the spiritual development of Soviet society largely because of this indifference. The authors declare no conflicts of interests.

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