Церковь и Россия : Три лекции

The generally recognized master of Russian historical science, along with Karamzin, Solovyov and Platonov, V. O. Klyuchevsky (1841-1911) came from a poor family of tribal rural clergy: his great-grandfather was a sexton, his grandfather was a deacon, and his father was a priest. V. O. Klyuchevsky studied at the Penza Theological Seminary, but from it he moved not to the Theological Academy, but to the Faculty of History and Philology of Moscow University. Having abandoned the spiritual path, V. O. Klyuchevsky remained Orthodox and until the end of his days confessed the “great truth of Christ” (diary entry dated October 13, 1907), although he was stern about its historical manifestations. From 1871 to 1907, in addition to Moscow University, Klyuchevsky lectured on civil history at the Moscow Theological Academy. The proposed three public lectures by V. O. Klyuchevsky are united by a common theme: assistance to the Church and its individual representatives in the creation of the moral and political image of the Russian state. In them, V. O. Klyuchevsky deviates somewhat from his usual critical approach to historical facts and gives free rein to his cherished convictions and beliefs. At one time published in temporary editions and in the second (posthumous) collection of articles, these three lectures, due to their positive religiosity, were excluded from the eight-volume edition of Klyuchevsky's works, carried out in Moscow, in 1959. They are united for the first time.