B. N. Shakhovskoy Reports on the Internal Problems of the Antiochian Patriarchate (1909–1910)
Numerous reports by B. N. Shakhovskoy (Consul General of the Russian Empire in Damascus in 1907–1914) are an important source for the characteristic of the domestic life of the Syrian territories under the control of the Antiochian patriarchy. These documents consider some general issues of the Otto...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Russian Orthodox Church. Ekaterinburg Theological Seminary of the Ekaterinburg Eparchy
2023-07-01
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| Series: | Вестник Екатеринбургской духовной семинарии |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://epds.ru/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/5_N42-2023_Grouchevoy.pdf |
| _version_ | 1797742151816183808 |
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| author | Aleksandr G. Grouchevoy |
| author_facet | Aleksandr G. Grouchevoy |
| author_sort | Aleksandr G. Grouchevoy |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Numerous reports by B. N. Shakhovskoy (Consul General of the Russian Empire in Damascus in 1907–1914) are an important source for the characteristic of the domestic life of the Syrian territories under the control of the Antiochian patriarchy. These documents consider some general issues of the Ottoman Empire as well as some peculiarities of life of the Christian population of Syria at the beginning of the 20th century. The article contains commented texts of the two reports by B. N. Shakhovskoy, sent from Damascus to the Russian Embassy in Constantinople (December 9, 1909 and May 11, 1910). Both touch the question of the Royal subsidy, i. e. the financial support to Antiochian Patriarchate directly from the Russian Imperial administration.
In the first document, B. N. Shakhovskoy gave the detailed description of the life hardships in the Syrian Christian communities and tried to find out their origin. Among them: 1) high and never decreasing expenses for representative functions, especially those related to the post and telegraph, supply of the Patriarch and his entourage, and regular baksheeshes for the Ottoman officers of all rates; 2) reduction of the earnings from occasional religious services and the inflows from the eparchies; 3) massive pauperization of the Christian Syrian population and, as a result, the increased number of those who hung on the Patriarch support as a single source of their livelihood.
In the early 20th century both the Antiochian and the Jerusalem patriarchies almost completely depended on St. Petersburg, and in his second report B. N. Shakhovskoy proposed and substantiated his method of distribution and control for the funds sent to the region. He was concerned that without such a control a certain part of the subsidy would never reach those to whom the subsidy had been intended and the money most probably would stay in the pockets of the important hierarchs of the Antiochian Church. Shakhovskoy considered those controlling measures as the key to solving financial problems of the Patriarchy.
This is the main thing done by B. N. Shakhovskoy. It was not the first attempt to reform the system of the subsidy payment, but the first step to controlling the use of funds by the recipients. This system was introduced; it showed effectiveness and functioned until the outbreak of the World War I. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T14:36:52Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-144c9886b0474714a0addaf826b8f317 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2224-5391 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T14:36:52Z |
| publishDate | 2023-07-01 |
| publisher | Russian Orthodox Church. Ekaterinburg Theological Seminary of the Ekaterinburg Eparchy |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Вестник Екатеринбургской духовной семинарии |
| spelling | doaj.art-144c9886b0474714a0addaf826b8f3172023-08-17T04:20:37ZengRussian Orthodox Church. Ekaterinburg Theological Seminary of the Ekaterinburg EparchyВестник Екатеринбургской духовной семинарии2224-53912023-07-014220723110.24412/2224-5391-2023-42-207-231B. N. Shakhovskoy Reports on the Internal Problems of the Antiochian Patriarchate (1909–1910)Aleksandr G. Grouchevoy0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3966-2867Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of SciencesNumerous reports by B. N. Shakhovskoy (Consul General of the Russian Empire in Damascus in 1907–1914) are an important source for the characteristic of the domestic life of the Syrian territories under the control of the Antiochian patriarchy. These documents consider some general issues of the Ottoman Empire as well as some peculiarities of life of the Christian population of Syria at the beginning of the 20th century. The article contains commented texts of the two reports by B. N. Shakhovskoy, sent from Damascus to the Russian Embassy in Constantinople (December 9, 1909 and May 11, 1910). Both touch the question of the Royal subsidy, i. e. the financial support to Antiochian Patriarchate directly from the Russian Imperial administration. In the first document, B. N. Shakhovskoy gave the detailed description of the life hardships in the Syrian Christian communities and tried to find out their origin. Among them: 1) high and never decreasing expenses for representative functions, especially those related to the post and telegraph, supply of the Patriarch and his entourage, and regular baksheeshes for the Ottoman officers of all rates; 2) reduction of the earnings from occasional religious services and the inflows from the eparchies; 3) massive pauperization of the Christian Syrian population and, as a result, the increased number of those who hung on the Patriarch support as a single source of their livelihood. In the early 20th century both the Antiochian and the Jerusalem patriarchies almost completely depended on St. Petersburg, and in his second report B. N. Shakhovskoy proposed and substantiated his method of distribution and control for the funds sent to the region. He was concerned that without such a control a certain part of the subsidy would never reach those to whom the subsidy had been intended and the money most probably would stay in the pockets of the important hierarchs of the Antiochian Church. Shakhovskoy considered those controlling measures as the key to solving financial problems of the Patriarchy. This is the main thing done by B. N. Shakhovskoy. It was not the first attempt to reform the system of the subsidy payment, but the first step to controlling the use of funds by the recipients. This system was introduced; it showed effectiveness and functioned until the outbreak of the World War I.https://epds.ru/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/5_N42-2023_Grouchevoy.pdfb. n. shakhovskoyantiochian patriarchyantioch eparchiesroyal subsidya. p. belyaev |
| spellingShingle | Aleksandr G. Grouchevoy B. N. Shakhovskoy Reports on the Internal Problems of the Antiochian Patriarchate (1909–1910) Вестник Екатеринбургской духовной семинарии b. n. shakhovskoy antiochian patriarchy antioch eparchies royal subsidy a. p. belyaev |
| title | B. N. Shakhovskoy Reports on the Internal Problems of the Antiochian Patriarchate (1909–1910) |
| title_full | B. N. Shakhovskoy Reports on the Internal Problems of the Antiochian Patriarchate (1909–1910) |
| title_fullStr | B. N. Shakhovskoy Reports on the Internal Problems of the Antiochian Patriarchate (1909–1910) |
| title_full_unstemmed | B. N. Shakhovskoy Reports on the Internal Problems of the Antiochian Patriarchate (1909–1910) |
| title_short | B. N. Shakhovskoy Reports on the Internal Problems of the Antiochian Patriarchate (1909–1910) |
| title_sort | b n shakhovskoy reports on the internal problems of the antiochian patriarchate 1909 1910 |
| topic | b. n. shakhovskoy antiochian patriarchy antioch eparchies royal subsidy a. p. belyaev |
| url | https://epds.ru/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/5_N42-2023_Grouchevoy.pdf |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT aleksandrggrouchevoy bnshakhovskoyreportsontheinternalproblemsoftheantiochianpatriarchate19091910 |