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Приход и приходское духовенство в России в XVI–XVII веках
In this book the author explores the social, economic and legal status of the Russian lower clergy (priests, deacons and sacristans), its role in the parish life and the institutional history of the Russian parish in the 16-17th centuries. The institution of proprietary or private churches (German Eigenkirchenwesen) is analysed and compared with the analogous phenomena in Byzantium and Western and Central Europe. Special attention is given to state legislation and policy, which influenced the status of the lower clergy, and the formation of the clerical estate (dukhovnoe soslovie). Various sources have been examined: the tsar’s immunity charters, cadastres, private contracts, letters, literary works, materials from the archives of the bishop’s chancelleries etc.