Geistliche als Ermittler: Die Kirche und das Ermittlungsverfahren in der zweiten Hälfte des 18. Jahrhunderts in Russland

Jahrbucher fur Geschichte Osteuropas. 2021. Vol. 69. No. 3. P. 395–419.

Marasinova, Elena

The topic of the article is connected with the complex and multifaceted problem of the relationship between the authorities and the church in Russia during the synodal period.
The work examines the impact on the criminal process of such postulates as the susceptibility of any subject to a state court in anticipation of the inevitability of God's judgment and the identification of a serious crime with sin. In particular, the phenomenon of attracting the clergy to conduct an investigation, little studied in historiography, is analyzed in the context of limiting the use of torture during interrogation. The article is based on extensive archival material and contains new information about the actualization of religious consciousness, eschatological ideas, church practices and the authority of faith in the course of investigating serious crimes. The conclusions made in the course of the study will expand the understanding
not only about the implementation of the criminal legislation of the second half of the 18th century in the context of the relationship between church and state, but also about the daily life and consciousness of contemporaries.

Keywords: пытки, исповедь, смертная казнь, confession, death penalty, repentance, покаяние, penance, tortures