Socio-caritative Activity of Arkhangelsk Governorate Practical Orthodox Monasteries at the cusp of the XIXth -XXth Centuries

Abstract

The paper explores the history of caritas activity and social care provided by the early Orthodox monasteries on the coast of the White and Barents Seas in the sub-Arctic areas of Arkhangelsk County. Our study relies on the archived documents from local sources — economic and administrative records — as well as oral sources. An attempt is made to identify the key lines of social support and caritas available from the sub-Arctic Orthodox monasteries in their home areas. Methodological framework encompasses the historical and anthropological concepts that can best highlight the history of the sub-Arctic Orthodox monasteries’ caritas and social care in the period under study. The study uses the methods of critical and comparative analysis of sources and involves source studies to achieve a comprehensive analysis of documented records and author’s personal sources. The study is novel in that its object — sub-Arctic’s early Orthodox monasteries as sources of caritas activity and social care for the Pomor communities — has not been covered by sufficient research. For the Arctic coastal communities, the early Orthodox monasteries had been sources of considerable social and economic assistance, including in the areas of medical care, children’s education, communication between counties and provinces, and safety of navigation in the local waters. The monastic initiatives involved peasant communities, serving as a bonding element in the economic efforts of the Church as an institution and the state in person of peasantry.