The Russian Orthodox Church and the Secret Chancellery in the Context of Reforms of Peter the Great

Abstract

Based on various sources, this article attempts to determine the scope and nature of the relationship between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Secret Chancellery during the reforms of Peter I. The chronological framework of the period under study is limited to 1718–1725. It should be noted that the number of works on this topic is rather small. The article dwells on the various aspects and forms of the relationship between the penal body and the Church as a whole. The starting point is the case of Tsarevich Alexei, which exposed the dissatisfaction of the clergy with the reforms of Peter I and initiated the strengthening of punitive policies, involving the tools of the Church. According to the author, the established relationship between the Church and the Secret Chancellery cannot be called sporadic, since there had been a certain unity of mutual interests between the parties. It is emphasized that contradictions had been accumulating between them, related to the violation of the secrecy of confession, lack of legal regulation of official relations, and structural vagueness of the institutions of the Most Holy Synod that had contacts with the Secret Chancellery. Nevertheless, in practice there had been developed a certain procedure for coordinating various issues, which both sides refrained from violating. Further, the author analyses the case of Tsarevich Alexei and the role of the first chief procurators of the Most Holy Synod in the context of the development of the relationship between the Church and the Secret Chancellery. Further, the article indicates the reasons for not only mutual interest, but also the subsequent crisis in their relationship that occurred in 1725. The author concludes that the relationship between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Secret Chancellery was in line with the policy of forming a police state.