The Budget of the Vologda Archbishop House of St. Sophia in 1677/78

• Published in: Vestnik Volgogradskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Serii͡a︡ 4, Istorii͡a Istorii͡a, 2018-09, Vol.23 (4), p.30-39
• Main Author: Bashnin, Nikita
• Format: Article
• Language: eng ; rus
• Subjects: Archbishop of Vologda and Belozersk Simon; budget; history of the Russian Orthodox Church; Russian North; source study; Vologda diocese
• ISSN: 1998-9938; 2312-8704
• DOI: 10.15688/jvolsu4.2018.4.4

Investigation of goods-money and financial relations in the 16th – 17th centuries reveals the specifics of Russian State’s transition from the Middle Ages to the New Time. The detailed analysis of income-expenditure books, as well as other documents shows the economic ties between the regions and the specifics of the financial strategies of various church and secular institutions. The given research is aimed at calculating the budget of the Vologda Archbishop House of St. Sophia for one chronological period – 1677/78. The information on monetary expenditures and revenues is contained in the income-expenditure book, which was preserved and published. In general, the study of the budget shows that Archbishop Simon disposed of significant funds exceeding the cost of liturgical, cultural, economic, construction and other purposes. They were taken from the treasury for organizing a trip to Moscow and staying there, as well as for issuing loans. This observation suggests that in the 1670s the Vologda Archbishop House of St. Sophia was an organization with a high financial culture and significant resources that allowed not only to develop various sectors of the household, but also to pursue an independent policy in the interests of the Bishop’s House in Moscow.