“This wealth is for no good”: Church land ownership as source of financial security of parish clergy of Central Black Earth in the second half — beginning of the 20th century

The fi nancial security of the Orthodox parish clergy was one of the most discussed questions during the Synodal period of the history of the Russian Orthodox Church. Parish priests played a signifi cant role in the life of the empire. Priests not only performed divine services but also established schools, participated in social service and charity. Sometimes, rural priests were the only educated persons in the parish, which provided them with considerable infl uence and authority. In the period of post-reform Russia the state intended to improve the welfare of the clergy in order to raise the social status of parishes. However, there were no opportunities for fi nancial support of the church. The government considered church land ownership as a possible source of material security of the clergy. This article studies church land ownership as a source of material security of the clergy of the Central Black Earth area in the second half of the 19th — the beginning of the 20th centuries drawing on archival and published sources. The author comes to the conclusion that land ownership played an important role in the material support of the clergy