title: Female Monasticism in an Age of Challenge: The Convent of the Intercession in Suzdal (1700–1800)
metadata.name: dc.contributor.author
metadata.value: Miller, Marlyn
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.date.accessioned
metadata.value: 2017-01-13T10:07:08Z
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.date.available
metadata.value: 2017-01-13T10:07:08Z
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.date.issued
metadata.value: 2016-12
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.identifier.citation
metadata.value: Miller M. Female Monasticism in an Age of Challenge: The Convent of the Intercession in Suzdal (1700–1800). Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. History, 2016, issue 4, pp. 87–103.
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.identifier.other
metadata.value: 10.21638/11701/spbu02.2016.408
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.identifier.uri
metadata.value: http://hdl.handle.net/11701/5926
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.description.abstract
metadata.value: This study examines how the eighteenth-century assault on monastery property and privilege
  through secularization attempts affected female monasticism, using as a case study the Convent of the
  Intercession (or the Protection) of the Mother of God in Suzdal, one of the largest and wealthiest of
  female cloisters. To some degree, the Intercession convent resembled any large monastery, and hence
  conclusions about this particular convent may indicate larger patterns in other first-tier monastic
  institutions. Two avenues are explored: first, how the attempts to sequester church property by
  Peter the Great and subsequently Catherine II affected the economic position of female monasteries
  in general and the Convent of the Intercession in particular, and second, how attempts to prevent
  tonsures influenced both the number of monastics and their social estate. At the Intercession Convent,
  rationalizing measures under Peter and full-scale secularization under Catherine that sequestered large
  tracts of land and thousands of peasants resulted in steady decline in monastic assets and revenues.
  The expropriation of monastic wealth institutionally and economically preceded the final and formal
  sequestration by Catherine II in 1764. The decline in wealth also had consequences for the number
  of monastics and their social estate. Coupled with restrictions on tonsure and ultimately the closure
  of many monasteries, the number of monastics in the empire and at the Intercession Convent fell by
  about three-quarters over the course of the eighteenth century, causing widespread displacement. As
  a result of this contraction and a number of social forces, the estate profile of the convent changed
  as well; in the early eighteenth century large numbers of noblewomen lived at the convent, but by
  the end of the eighteenth century their number was negligible—they had been replaced by peasants
  and members of the clerical estate. Unwittingly, Peter’s attempts to reduce the number of monastics,
  in tandem with his selectivity in placement, meant that the nobility were essentially driven out of
  convent life, allowing for a greater influx of non-nobles. With the secularization of church lands in
  1764, Catherine finished what Peter had not been able to do. Although the seizures brought hardship
  to many monasteries and destroyed complex and long-standing communities, they likely made
  convents less attractive to elites, which helped accelerate two important processes: the feminization of
  monasticism, and its democratization, which in turn helped strengthen the bond between the Church
  and the people, in particular, women. The flowering of monasticism, ironically, owes much to these
  secularizing rulers. Refs 71.
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.description.sponsorship
metadata.value: This research was supported by grant N 15-18-00119 from Russian Science Foundation
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.language.iso
metadata.value: en
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.publisher
metadata.value: St Petersburg State University
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.relation.ispartofseries
metadata.value: Vestnik of St Petersburg University. Series 2. History;Issue 4
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: The Intercession Convent
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: secularization
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: Peter I
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: Catherine II
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: restrictions on tonsure
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: estate profile
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: number of monastics
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.title
metadata.value: Female Monasticism in an Age of Challenge: The Convent of the Intercession in Suzdal (1700–1800)
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.type
metadata.value: Article
metadata.lang: en_GB
resources.filename: 08-Miller.pdf
resources.url: https://dspace.spbu.ru/bitstream/11701/5926/1/08-Miller.pdf
resources.format: Adobe PDF
resources.size: 193,09 kB