The Cultural Influence Of The Church

Question 1

What was the church?

Answer 1

-orthodox church close bond to Tsarist regime
-Tsar possessed divide right to rule - a saint on earth

Question 2

How did the tsar position in the church change?

Answer 2

-late 19th C church administration moved to holy synod + tsars position more secular
-not connected with religious or spiritual matters
-but Russia remained strongly orthodox + moral domination of church over peasantry hugely beneficial to regime as means of control

Question 3

What was religion like for the peasantry?

Answer 3

-significant part of life
-every peasant but had icon + religion was integral to peasant culture
-priests had close ties to villages

Question 4

What was the priests role in the villages?

Answer 4

-expected read imperial manifestos + decrees
-keep statistics e.g. on births, root out opposition +inform police of any suspicious activity
-encouraged pass on statements given in holy concessions to secular authority — forbidden in church law

Question 5

What were the powers of the church?

Answer 5

-under minister of education Ivan Delyanov gave church increased control over education
-possessed strict censorship controls
-church courts judged moral + social ‘crimes’ + could award punishments

Question 6

What was the impact of Alexander III Russification?

Answer 6

-enabled him promote orthodoxy
-became an offence convert from orthodox

Question 7

Who was persecuted as a result?

Answer 7

-old believers persecuted by the state
-Ukrainian + Armenian church subject to persecution + enforced baptisms of pagans
-over 50,000 pagans converted to orthodoxy + 40,000 catholics in Baltic regions