The English version of the site is under reconstruction. Английская верcия сайта находится на реконструкции.

Тюрьмы в Кирилло-Белозерском монастыре в XVII–XIX вв.The English version of the site is under reconstruction. Английская верcия сайта находится на реконструкции.

RU

EN

Contact number

+7 (8332) 20-89-64

Prisons in the Kirillo-Belozersky monastery in the 17th–19th centuries

Identificator
EDN: ZOQVTR ; УДК: 343.812"16/18"
Authors
Belova Nadezhda Alexeevna, PhD in Historical Sciences, associate professor, associate professor of the Department of Humanities and Social and Economic Sciences, Vologda Institute of Law and Economics of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia. Russia, Vologda. ORCID: 0000 -0002 -5564 -5426. Е -mail: nade -belova@yandex.ru
Journal
HERALD OF HUMANITARIAN EDUCATION №4 (40), 2025
Section
NATIONAL HISTORY
Pages
16-27
Abstract
This article, based on published and, mainly, unpublished archival documents, as well as a historiographic analysis of research works, attempts to reconstruct the history of prisons that existed in the 17th–19th centuries on the territory of one of the largest Russian monasteries – Kirillo-Belozersky. The relevance of this topic is due to the complex and ambiguous nature of monastic penitentiary practice, an appeal to which, using the example of a specific monastery, allows us to identify its uniqueness and better understand the place of monasteries in the domestic penal system. The methodological basis of the study is formed by the principles of historicism, scientificity and objectivity, as well as the methods: comparative-historical, descriptive and critical interpretation of sources. Particular attention in the article is paid to the structure and penitentiary practice of the monastery dungeon, which operated on the territory of the monastery in the 17th–18th centuries. The reasons for the imprisonment of prisoners, the conditions of their detention in isolation are characterized, and the composition of the prison contingent is analyzed. It is shown that the prisoners were not only punished but also brought to repentance. It is revealed that the monastery's integration into the penitentiary system was not completed with the closure of the monastery prison. From the 1770s to the 1870s, a district prison operated in the former monastery prison premises, leased by the monastery to the city of Kirillov, and then captive highlanders were temporarily held. One of the main results of the study is that after the secularization reform of 1764, the importance of the penitentiary activities of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery gradually decreased, and as a result, by the last quarter of the 19th century, the monastery was completely freed from it.
Keywords
the history of the penitentiary system of Russia Kirillo-Belozersky monastery monastery prison county prison
Recieved
18.06.2025
Published
19.02.2026

References

  1. Akty i gramoty Kirillo-Belozerskogo monastyrya (Iz arkhiva Saratovskoy uchenoy arkhivnoy komissii) [Acts and Letters of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery (From the Archive of the Saratov Scientific Archival Commission)] / with a preface by A. A. Geraklitov // Trudy Saratovskoy uchenoy arkhivnoy komissii – Proceedings of the Saratov Scientific Archival Commission. 1914. Is. 31. Pp. 1–27.
  2. Akty, sobrannyye v bibliotekakh i arkhivakh Rossiyskoy Imperii Arkheograficheskoyu ekspeditsiyeyu Imperatorskoy akademii nauk [Acts collected in libraries and archives of the Russian Empire by the Archaeographic Expedition of the Imperial Academy of Science]. Vol. 3. 1613–1645. SPb., 1836. 518 p.
  3. Antipin G. G. Krepost' Kirillo-Belozerskogo monastyrya [Kirillov Fortress of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery]. Kirillov, 1934. 40 p.
  4. Arsenyev F. A. Ot Sheksny do Kubenskogo ozera (Putevyye ocherki) II. V Kirilov [From Sheksna to Lake Kubenskoye (Travel Essays) II. In Kirilov] // Drevnyaya i novaya Rossiya – Ancient and Modern Russia. 1878. Vol. 2. No. 6. Pp. 89–98.
  5. Voronicheva O. V. Restavratsiya Kazanskoy bashni ansamblya Kirillo-Belozerskogo monastyrya [Restoration of the Kazan Tower of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery ensemble]. Kirillov, 2015. 10 p.
  6. SAVR (State Archive of the Vologda Region). F. 496. Op. 1. D. 555.
  7. Gernet M. N. Istoriya tsarskoy tyur'my [History of the Tsarist Prison]. In 5 vols. Vol. 1: 1762–1825. M., 1960. 384 p.
  8. Zabeck N. N. Krepostnyye sooruzheniya XVII veka v Kirillove [Fortress structures of the 17th century in Kirillov] // Sbornik issledovaniy i materialov Artilleriyskogo istoricheskogo muzeya Krasnoy armii : v 2 t. T. 1 – Collection of studies and materials of the Artillery Historical Museum of the Red Army : in 2 vols. Vol. 1. L., 1940. Pp. 154–178.
  9. Iz rukopisey Ye. V. Barsova [From the manuscripts of E. V. Barsov] // Chteniya v Imperatorskom obshchestve istorii i drevnostey rossiyskikh pri Moskovskom universitete – Readings at the Imperial Society of Russian History and Antiquities at Moscow University. 1885. Book IV. Vol. V. Pp. 1–3.
  10. Izvlecheniye iz arkhivnykh knig i del Kirillova-Belozerskogo monastyrya [Extract from the archival books and files of the Kirillov-Belozersky Monastery] / Soobshcheny nastoyatelem Kirillova monastyrya arkhimandritom Iakovom – Communicated by the abbot of the Kirillov Monastery, Archimandrite Jacob // Drevnosti: Trudy Moskovskogo arkheologicheskogo obshchestva – Antiquities: Works of the Moscow Archaeological Society. 1880. Vol. 8. Pp. 135–154.
  11. Istoriko -statisticheskoye opisaniye Kirillo-Belozerskogo (Uspenskogo) muzhskogo pervoklassnogo monastyrya Novgorodskoy yeparkhii [Historical and statistical description of the Kirillo -Belozersky (Assumption) first -class men's monastery of the Novgorod diocese] / comp. by Gerontiy (G. M. Kurganovsky). M., 1897. 161 p.
  12. Kirpichnikov A. N., Khlopin I. N. Velikaya gosudareva krepost' [The Great Sovereign's Fortress]. L., 1972. 252 p.
  13. Kochetkov I. A., Lelekova O. V., Podyapolsky S. S. Kirillo-Belozerskiy i Ferapontov monastyri: Arkhitekturnyye pamyatniki [Kirillo -Belozersky and Ferapontov Monasteries: Architectural Monuments]. M., 1994. 63 p.
  14. Kochetkov I. A., Lelekova O. V., Podyapolsky S. S. Kirillo -Belozerskij monastyrʹ [Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery]. L., 1979. 172 p.
  15. Muravyov A. N. Russkaya Fivaida na Severe [Russian Thebaid in the North]. SPb., 1855. 507 p.
  16. Nikolsky N. K. Kirillo-Belozerskiy monastyr' i yego ustroystvo do vtoroy chetverti XVII veka (1397–1625) [Kirillo -Belozersky Monastery and its structure up to the second quarter of the 17th century (1397–1625)]. Vol. 1. Is. 1. SPb., 1897. 457 p.
  17. MD RSL (Manuscripts Department of the Russian State Library). F. 17. D. 1204.3.
  18. MD RSL (Manuscript Department of the Russian State Library). F. 570. Op. 1. D. 43.
  19. Pavlushkov A. R. Penitentsiarnaya praktika severnykh monastyrey XVII -XIX vv. : dis. ... kand. ist. nauk [Penitentiary practice of northern monasteries of the 18th–19th centuries : dis. ... PhD in Historical Sciences. Vologda, 2000. 309 p.
  20. RSAoAA (Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts). F. 196. Op. 2. D. 14.
  21. RSAoAA. F. 196. Op. 2. D. 51.
  22. RSAoAA. F. 1441. Op. 2. P. 1. D. 1227.
  23. RSAoAA. F. 1441. Op. 2. P. 2. D. 5330.
  24. RSAoAA. F. 1441. Op. 2. P. 3. D. 6759.
  25. RSAoAA. F. 1441. Op. 2. P. 3. D. 8081.
  26. RSAoAA. F. 1441. Op. 3. D. 183.
  27. RSAoAA. F. 1441. Op. 3. D. 1858.
  28. RSAoAA. F. 1441. Op. 3. D. 1929.
  29. RSAoAA. F. 1441. Op. 3. D. 1945.
  30. RSAoAA. F. 1441. Op. 3. D. 2006.
  31. RSAoAA. F. 1441. Op. 3. D. 2137.
  32. RSAoAA. F. 1441. Op. 3. D. 2625.
  33. RSAoAA. F. 1441. Op. 5. D. 61.
  34. RSAoAA. F. 1441. Op. 6. D. 127.
  35. RSAoAA. F. 1441. Op. 2. P. 3. D. 8081.
  36. Smirnov I. A. Kirillo-Belozerskiy monastyr' v 1764–1924 gg. [Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery in 1764–1924] // Kirillov: krayevedcheskiy al'manakh – Kirillov: local history almanac. Is. 2. Vologda, 1997. Pp. 52–76.
  37. Terebova L. V. Iz istorii razvitiya politseyskoy sistemy v Kirillove i Kirillovskom uyezde v kontse XVIII – nachale XX veka [From the history of the development of the police system in Kirillov and Kirillovsky district in the late 18th – early 20th centuries]. Kirillov, 2018. 7 p.
  38. Uspensky N. P. Drevnosti Kirillo -Belozerskogo monastyrya (prodolzheniye) [Antiquities of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery (continued)] // Novgorodskiye yeparkhial'nyye vedomosti – Novgorod Diocesan Gazette. 1899. No. 9. Pp. 630–639.
  39. Uspensky N. P. Okhrannaya opis' rukopisyam Kirillo-Belozerskogo monastyrya [Security inventory of the manuscripts of the Kirillo -Belozersky Monastery]. SPb., 1901. 173 p.
  40. Shalyapin S. O. K voprosu ob ustroystve srednevekovykh monastyrskikh temnits [On the structure of medieval monastery dungeons] // XIII Lomonosovskiye chteniya: sbornik nauchnykh trudov – XIII Lomonosov Readings: collection of scientific papers. Arkhangelsk, 2001. Pp. 152–157.
  41. Shalyapin S. O. Tserkovno-penitentsiarnaya sistema v Rossii XV–XVIII vekov [Church-penitentiary system in Russia in the 15th–18th centuries]. Arkhangelsk, 2013. 240 p.
  42. Shevyrev S. P. Poyezdka v Kirill-Belozerskiy monastyr': vakatsionnyye dni professora S. Shevyreva v 1847 godu [Trip to the Kirillo -Belozersky Monastery: vacation days of Professor S. Shevyrev in 1847]. In 2 parts. Part 2. M., 1850. 134 p.
Full article
Download JATS

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License