Penance and Punishment: Monastic Incarceration in Imperial Russia by A. Joy Demoskoff A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History Department of History and Classics University of Alberta © A. Joy Demoskoff, 2016 ABSTRACT This dissertation explores the practice of public penance as a way of thinking about the relationship between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian state during the imperial period. Public penance has a long tradition in the history of the Eastern Church and often took the form of performing monastic labour while undergoing seclusion in a monastery. In imperial Russia, this religious practice became conflated with the state’s incarceration of individuals in monastery prisons for the purpose of social control. The sources for this dissertation include imperial and canon law, the teachings on penance in the church journals and newspapers of the time, and the correspondence between the monastery abbot, the local bishop, the Holy Synod and the provincial and imperial state authorities. Focusing on the Nicolaevan era (1825-1855) as the period in which the practice peaked, a case study of the prison facility at Spaso-Evfimiev Monastery in Vladimir Diocese demonstrates the variety of circumstances to which public penance was applied. Religious dissidents from among the peasantry were confined at Spaso-Evfimiev in the hopes that they could be converted. Noblemen guilty of violent murders or crimes against the state were incarcerated there instead of being exiled to Siberia. Priests and monks who were considered insane were confined among the prisoners as well, along with those who had dishonoured their clerical position in some way. Monastic incarceration was a disciplinary measure applied to unusual incidents and the Russian Orthodox Church cooperated with the imperial state in the care and treatment of these individuals. By exploring the material conditions of life in a monastery prison, this dissertation reveals the extent to which authority over church affairs was worked ii out in day-to-day negotiations. Sometimes the church served the state’s goals, sometimes it acted in accordance with its own teachings and values, and much of the time the church and state had a shared understanding of the close relationship between sin and crime. Neither side consistently dominated the other, but rather, they cooperated in the process of imposing penance and punishment on the offending individuals. iii DEDICATION For Jeremy Thanks for making this possible. I am glad we walked this way together. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It is a great pleasure to recognize the debts of gratitude I have acquired over the course of this work. Heather Coleman is an outstanding supervisor. Her guidance has been thoughtful and thorough, her scholarship inspiring, and her generosity of spirit unstinting. I am deeply grateful. My defence committee also shaped my experience at the University of Alberta in meaningful ways. My thanks to Ryan Dunch, John-Paul Himka, David Marples, and Natalie Kononenko for engaging this work and also to Roy Robson at Penn State Abington for serving as external reader. Willi Braun, Dennis Sweeney, Frances Swyripa, Scott Kenworthy and Gregory Freeze also offered questions and criticisms that shaped my methodology. Over the course of my educational journey I have had more than my fair share of excellent teachers. In addition to Heather Coleman, Ryan Dunch, John-Paul Himka and David Marples at the University of Alberta, Beverly Lemire’s course on the rise of a consumer culture stimulated my interest in material history and laid the groundwork for much of this project. At Queen’s University, Christine Johanson introduced me to Russian history and Robert Shenton and Timothy Smith helped me to think about it comparatively. At Crandall University, Daniel Goodwin and Dennis Bustin introduced me to historical thinking and set me on this path. I thought then and I think now, “I want to do what they do!” I am also indebted to the expertise (and kindness!) of librarians and archivists in Canada, the United States and Russia. Particularly deserving of mention are the wonderful staff of the Slavic Library at the University of Illinois, Urbana- Champagne, Marina Viacheslavovna Talbaeva at the State Archive of Vladimir v Province, and the amazing services for distance students at the University of Alberta libraries. Aleksandr and Elena Kalmykov made me feel at home in St. Petersburg and Galina and Anya Korovko did the same in Vladimir. Funding was provided by the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, the Faculty of Arts and Science and the Department of History and Classics at the University of Alberta and by the Briercrest Faculty Competitive Research Fund at Briercrest College and Seminary. The administration at Briercrest has consistently supported my somewhat clumsy efforts to balance the preparation of new courses, a dissertation and the life of a young mother. Special thanks to Don Taylor, Cal Macfarlane, Wes Olmstead, and Brian Gobbett for assisting me in this process. Finally, there are many people who have invested in my sanity throughout this process. Rhoda Cairns, Barb Elich, Alan Guenther, David and Tenyia Miller, Lori Peters, Grant Poettcker, Glenn Runnalls, Susan Wendel, and Matthew Zantingh were participants in critical conversations that shaped my work. I am so thankful for their collegiality and friendship. My thanks also to the Miller, Poettcker, Wiensz, and Zantingh clans for sharing this stage of life with our family. Rebecca Carter-Chand, Deborah Shadd and Giselle Tranquilla have made my life look normal even though it may not technically be so. My in-laws, Fred and Eileen Demoskoff, have been loving and supportive and have provided much-needed childcare at crucial moments! My parents, Mark and Bonnie Jamer, and my brother, John Jamer, have shaped and nourished my happiness more than they could ever realize. Jeremy, Samuel and Alexander Demoskoff are great adventurers. I am delighted to journey with them. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ................................................................................................................ ii Dedication ........................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgements .............................................................................................. v Table of Contents ............................................................................................... vii Tables ................................................................................................................ viii Introduction .......................................................................................................... 1 Chapter I: Church and State in Imperial Russia: Living the Relationship ....... 17 Church and State .......................................................................................... 17 Methodology ................................................................................................ 32 Spaso-Evfimiev Monastery ......................................................................... 47 Chapter II: To Heal or Punish: Prescribing Penance in Church and State Law ................................................................ 61 Monastic Authority in Russian History ...................................................... 63 Canon Law ................................................................................................... 74 State Law ..................................................................................................... 85 Chapter III: Writing Penance: Negotiating Authority in the Confessional State ............................................................ 107 The History of Penance ............................................................................. 109 The Pastoral Literature .............................................................................. 116 Managing the Clergy ................................................................................. 137 Chapter IV: State Criminals in the Monastery ................................................ 162 Controlling Crime ...................................................................................... 163 Penance in the Army and Navy ................................................................. 177 Incarcerating Violent Criminals ................................................................ 179 Crimes Against the State ........................................................................... 180 Chapter V: Cooperation between Church and State ....................................... 190 Religious Dissent ....................................................................................... 192 Caring for the Insane ................................................................................. 201 Confining Violence.................................................................................... 212 Chapter VI: Complaints and Concerns in a Monastery Prison....................... 221 Historiography ........................................................................................... 222 Material Goods .......................................................................................... 225 Food Consumption .................................................................................... 236 Deprivations ..............................................................................................