Коллективное самоубийство крестьян Спасова согласия в эпоху Николая I: микроисторический анализ

Tatiana  I. Khizhaya

doi:10.21638/spbu17.2024.315

Authors

Tatiana I. Khizhaya Vladimir State University named after Alexander and Nikolay Stoletovs, 87, ul. Gor’kogo, Vladimir, 600000, Russian Federation https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1846-5060

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu17.2024.315

Abstract

The article analyses and contextualizes a case of mass suicide of the Russian peasants-Spasovites in the village of Kopeny, Saratov province in 1827. The work is based on unpublished archival documents: records of several court cases, as well as officials’, ethnographical and clerical researches of the Saratov Old Believers. To get as complete picture on the tragedy as possible, the author draws on materials presenting a background of the event. The paper attempts to clarify the motives behind the collective suicide, religious practices related to it, and seeks to expand our knowledge of the little-studied Spasovite movement and of the government discourse regarding religious dissidents in the early reign of Nicholas I. The causes of the suicide are identified as multi-faceted. Underlying eschatological views and soteriological ideas according to which death was thought of as a way to expiate sins were influential. This was layered with anxiety and traumatic experiences connected with the local social context: the expectation of future persecution against the Spasovites’ beliefs, as well as fear and indignation caused by the crimes of the village authorities. The sources present diverse suicide practices used by Spasovites in the early 19th century, unusual details of these practices, and discourse of tolerance and leniency towards sectarians – along with repressive one – in the official rhetoric. The investigation into the suicide had wide-ranging consequences, acting as a motivation and occasion for the local authorities to develop and implement severe measures against all Old Believers, including Popovtsy.

Keywords:

Old Believers, Priestless Old Believers, Spasovite Covenant, collective suicide, Saratov province

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References

Литература

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